four way CMLL feud?, IWRG Tryout, Casas/AAA

The Tapatia awards voting closes Tuesday night.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/27/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del Ring, Kaiser Sports, La Presna, MedioTiempo, Publimetro, R de Rudo, Record, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido  
11:45.
2) Metálica, Reyna Isis, Tiffany b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit 
11:34. Metalica & Isis beat Jarochita & Lluvia, setting up a mex tag title defense
3) Capitán Suicida b Virus [lightning]  
6:17.
4) Dragón Rojo Jr. b Místico, Templario, Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Fugaz, Stuka Jr., Soberano Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Bárbaro Cavernario [Rey del Aire]   
34:49. Rudos vs tecnicos sides. Order of elimination: Barbaro Cavernario (via Mistico), Fugaz (via Stuka), Atlantis Jr. (Gran Guerrero), Stuka Jr. (Soberano), Soberano (Templario), Panterita (Dragon Rojo), Mistico (Gran Guerrero – this left only rudos left), Gran Guerrero (Templario) and Templario (Gran Guerrero)
5) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. DQ Oráculo, Rocky Romero, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]   
6:21. Straight falls. Romero brought a cake for Volador’s birthday the day before and smashed it into his face. Fouls all around until Rocky got caught fouling Angel de Oro. Both Angel de Oro & Volador Jr. and Orcaulo & Romero had issues post-match in addition to the usual feuds.

This was a short Friday night show with a short main event. CMLL used the top two matches to get over angles, which may be necessary but didn’t make for a great show on this night.

I really hope CMLL is doing the Informa teased Dragon Rojo/Templario mask match, because it was a cold way to end the Reyes del Aire as is. It didn’t seem like most fans knew it was meant to be a rivalry and weren’t ready for them to be the final two. They both tried to add some flying, including Dragon Rojo pulling off his ramp dropkick spot, but it didn’t feel like a Reyes del Aire. Anyone else would’ve had trouble winning over the crowd after Soberano got eliminated, though a final three of Dragon, Templario and Gran Guerrero just came off as weird.

The main event seemed to change the direction of last week’s tag feud into a four-way. Orcaulo and Romero had problems post-match, as did Angel de Oro and Voldaor. A four-way is less interesting because Oraculo is still just a guy with not a lot of importance, everyone’s going to suspect him to be lose the match if only one person is losing. Volador’s week included a short and moved up match in Guadalajara on Tuesday, a short match on Friday, and being removed from Sunday’s show. Maybe there’s an injury? Maybe nothing.

Caked Volador Jr. is the cover of Box y Lucha 3536.

Rocky Romero told the press that no one wants a father and son to have a hair match, Orcaulo says he only trusts Lince Dorado, while Angel de Oro only trusts Niebla Roja.

The women’s feud last week was Sugehit/Isis, and was switched to the tag feud this week. Not sure why. It may be a better match this way.

CMLL (SAT) 01/28/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Mercurio, Minos
2) Apocalipsis, Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II b Cachorro, Leono, Retro
3) Eléctrico b Inquisidor [lightning]
4) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Skadi b Amapola, Hera, Olympia
5) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Volcano
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
Titan replaced Atlantis Jr. a few hours before the show. Tecnicos took 2/3, and Atlantis Jr. challenged Stuka to a NWA LH title match.

We probably won’t get to see Atlantis Jr/Stuka Jr., but it’s another singles match on a show CMLL wouldn’t have done much last year. It’s going to make for a more exciting 2023 with more spotlight matches, though it risks overexposure if they do the same people doing the same matches too often. (That seemed to be the problem pre-pandemic.) This match itself isn’t a problem, just something to watch for.

CMLL (SUN) 01/29/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Fantasy, Galaxy, Shockercito b Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Robin b Cholo, Nitro, Raider
3) Sangre Imperial b Disturbio [lightning]
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
Ola Negra cheated to win using outside leverage. Dulce AstrapSuenos demanded a rematch.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Templario b Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente
6) Esfinge, Místico, Titán b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
Atlantis replaced Volador on Friday, but ended up being replaced by Esfinge.

The feud in the fourth match is peculiar. Dulce AtrpaSuenos are national trios champs, but Ola Negra can’t challenge for those titles with US born Dark Magic on the team. Though if they’ll bend the nationality rules for Stephanie Vaquer, maybe they could. That doesn’t seem the way it’s going, so maybe it’s just a normal match next week and they move on?

CMLL (TUE) 01/31/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, Cachorro, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Inquisidor
3) Fuego, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Raider
4) Stigma vs Virus [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro, Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Oráculo, Rey Bucanero
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black [CMLL TRIOS]
1st defense

A title change is unlikely. Oraculo seemed to be done after Friday originally, but was later added to the Puebla show and is on this one. Maybe a late enough change that CMLL just added Angel de Oro to both as atomicos rather than change more matches around. Virus shouldn’t lose two singles match in a row, which means maybe they’re setting up a title match there.

That Puebla atomicos tonight also has Ultimo Guerrero and Soberano on different sides. I guess it’s easier to keep them apart with eight people in the match.

CMLL (TUE) 01/31/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Celeste, Johnny Dinamo vs Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Tigre Blanco
2) Atilus, Aurelius, Maximus vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Crixus vs Gallero
4) Cosmos, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pierrothito, Raven
5) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Barboza, Draego, Persa
6) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
7) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado

Diamante actually gets to team with the other Depredardores is the real highlight. CMLL somehow can mix and match Fuerza Poblana combinations but struggles with that team for some reason. (Also, Halcon Negro Jr is back from injury.) Not as much star power as usual but the Dulce Atrapsuenos seem good for that building.

CMLL (FRI) 02/03/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Flyer vs Magnus [lightning]
3) Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Volcano vs Felino, Felino Jr., Kráneo
4) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Metálica & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]
12th defense (10th on CMLL shows)
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Templario

The main event looks good on paper but may just be a setup to Templario & Dragon Rojo issues. More hope in the semimain. Las Chicas Indomables should not lose the titles but CMLL seems out of ideas for those belts and so a title change just for the sake of it is always possible. Felino hasn’t been around streams much of late; if he wins, this might be the first time he talks to the press since his brother Negro Casas left town.

Chris Jericho announced Rocky Romero will defend the (NWA) Historic Welterweight championship against Yuya Uemura during Jericho’s cruise (February 2-6). CMLL retweeted the announcement so they’re aware and happy with it. A CMLL title being defended on an AEW ship is something, but I think it’s more “CMLL loves Rocky Romero right now, has always loved Chris Jericho, and is very open to small ideas they suggest.” AEW and CMLL working together is a big idea and this doesn’t meant they’re there yet.

Blue Panther and Satanico appeared on a panel discussion as the Guadalajara Capital Mundial del Libro (book fair). CMLL’s had a presence at that event for many years.

Rey Bucanero talks about his side job of building wrestling rings.

NJPW Strong had the Misterioso vs Mistico match this week. Nothing must see, but a decent Mistico exhibition in a (small/dark) building. NJPW announced they’re dropping the standalone NJPW Strong tapings that match aired on going forward and will instead use their PPV content as (time delayed) ‘weekly’ content. In practice as a CMLL fan, that means you can either pay 20 USD to see the atomicos with Rocky Romero, Volador Jr. and Mascara Dorada live, or you can wait 2-6 weeks to see it on NJPW World as part of that ~7USD subscription. I expect NJPW will continue to have one or two CMLL wrestlers on these periodic shows but also just in undercard matches; it’s good the shows will eventually be on NJPW World because I don’t see ordering the PPVs just for that.

AAA

This week’s AAA TV, finishing off Night of Champions, had a few extra skits. A couple of them didn’t add much. No one who puts together these show seems to know when they’re going to air, so there was a Psycho Circus bit wishing us a Happy New Year in late January. There was also a couple of minutes of FTR ranting in English about how unfair the main event was (with no captions or translations ); Hijo del Tirantes eventually came along to defend himself. None of that seems to be going anywhere. There was a bit where Vampiro cautioned Pagano not to hang out with La Rebelion; we still have not seen Pagano actually be friends with La Rebelion. A more useful bit was Nino Hamburgesa congratulating Mr. Iguana for getting closer to La Hiedra, while telling him to be careful after what happened to him and fellow La Toxica Maravilla. Iguana was more concerned about Crazy Boy and his Japanese friends, suggesting they go to Konnan and ask for a match that’ll keep outside people out like a lumberjack match or a cage match. That actually gives a reason for the lumberjack match in Queretaro (airing over the next two weeks) – this was a good logical AAA segment.

Dalys is officially the surprise luchadora for Torneo Reina de Reinas on Sunday. She seems a good bet to win. Negro Casas isn’t officially announced for that show, though it seems a safe bet he’ll be involved somehow. Expect to see one when you see the other.

After working AAA spot show in Arena Neza, Negro Casas did an interview talking about wrestling in that building for the UWA as Hijo del Pepe Casas many years ago. (I think this is that show.)  The title of the video is about Negro Casas believing that he’ll die in the ring, but it’s a little bit taken out of context – he’s talking about not being scared to face any opponent, including heavyweights and foreigners (Taurus & Fresero in the match that night, Konnan and King Haku in the past), not literally desiring to die in the ring. Though I guess I wouldn’t rule that out. Casas seemed annoyed by some negative online feedback to his move, kinda saying that people (and especially internet people) are too critical. When asked about wrestling with Dalys, Casas said he once was asked by Paco Alonso who he would like to face at an Anniversary, and he jokingly suggested wrestling against Dalys. Casas also brought up he’d like to fight El Hijo del Santo one more time. AAA and Santo don’t get along, but AAA doesn’t ban their wrestlers from working with Santo as CMLL does so that’s an option again.

Hijo del Vikingo is the first person announced for 04/01 The Wrld on Lucha, so he’ll be around for shows WrestleMania weekend. I think he’ll pick up more bookings. He probably wouldn’t have if the streaming ban still existed.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 01/29/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Águila Oriental & Águila Roja b Kenji & Súper Boy 
Aguila Roja replaced Baby Star, Super Boy replaced Leo
2) Hades (AAA) & Sagitarius b Black Fury & India Mazahua 
Sagitarius issued a challenge to Diosa Quetzal for the IWRG Women’s championship
3) Spider Fly © b Águila Oriental [IWRG IC Light] 
John Tito won a #1 contenders match last week. Aguila Oriental, Kenji, and Aguila Roja interrupted the title ceremony to accuse John Tito of not actually making lightweight. Tito said he would have no problem weighing in to prove it. The commission brought out a scale and Tito was indeed over the 75kg lightweight limit. Puma de Oro came to the ring, declaring his respect for Tito and offering a match for any of his three titles on the upcoming El Protector show (02/19). Spider Fly still wanted to defend the title, so Aguila Oriental got the title match instead. First defense.
4) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
Gran Pandemonium got hurt, and the foreigners won 3×2 to set up a title match.
5) Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Hell Boy & Hijo De Canis Lupus 
Fishman & Pirata are “Los Reyes del Oceano” (Ocean Kings). Challenges followed.
6) Asterboy, Puma de Oro, Tonalli b Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón 
challenges over the Jacuan name continued.

That was a strange weight angle; like the idea was the commission wasn’t checking weights until the tecnicos got involved. And I’m not sure why they got involved. It definitely was something unique.

IWRG aired their team assignments for the 2023 Tryout competition on Friday. They’ve got you covered if you want to watch 40 minutes (!) of people pulling paper slips out of a container. They thankfully summed it up later. Teams:

• Hijo de Fishman: Amnesia, Tony Diaz, Riesgo, Kariel, Menphis, Nubilus
• Hijo del Pirata Morgan: Zenick, Bionic, Black Belt, Vendval, Ultimo Tiger, Samuray Azteca, Principe Luna
• Diosa Quetzal: Aerocat, Azteca, Brave Star, Emperador del Aire, Garrobo Punk Jr., Golden Power
• Imposible: Angel de Plata, Centvrion, Aqueo, X-Dragon, Pyrot, Nativo
• Hijo de Canis Lupus: Silver Dragon, Destello, Rey Minos, Rey Espartano, Koji, Lince Xtreme, Magic Boy
• Hijo del Alebrije: Carinoso Jr., Ultimo Cabllero, Eddy Lee, Gannicus, Hazel, Hipnos, Osiris
• Las Shotas: Dark Diablo, Rey Kratos, Esdrasn, Fussion, Latino Boy, Mandibula Jr., Principe Arcano
• Aramis: Yako, Dariux, Emperador X, Red Fenix, Kratos Dios de la Guerrera, Metal Spider, Neron/Eddy Rodriguez

IWRG announced the teams again on social media, with some names missing. X-Dragon and Silver Dragon do not appear on those lists, so I presume they left the competition already. Eddie Rodriguez appears where Neron should be on Aramis’ team, not sure if name change or a replacement. It looks like the same guy is in the group at the end. (Though no one will believe it, a much better way to stand out in a Mexican indie promotion today would be to use a real-ish name, rather than a generic gimmick and mask.)

Most of those names are too inside for me; people I’ve seen listed on posters or in an opener on a Mas Lucha show but know nothing about. Centvrion is the most famous wrestler included: he came up through the IWRG school the same time as Imposible, had a few good years in IWRG and on Arena San Juan shows but got stuck at a certain level and faded out the last few years. He’s with the rookies in hopes of restarting his career. Garrobo Punk has been on a lot of Lucha Memes. I think there may only be one luchadora involved out of a fifty plus person roster.

Magic Boy, Destello, Tony Diaz, Fussion, and Mandibula Jr. are all from Morelos. Dairux is from Tulancingo.

Mas Lucha and IWRG will air daily videos following the competition. The series appears to be largely taped already (in place of the mid-week shows the last few months); usually, it’s just the final that’s live.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Segunda Caida watches some Brazos in Panama.

I haven’t been checking on Nacion Lucha Libre consistently since it went into repeats, but ImagenTV did air boxing in that time slot this week. Might have done it last week, not sure. They’re done for now, though Alberto getting on all the AAA shows in a spotlight role increases the chances someone’s going to give him money to try and fail with Nacion Lucha Libre a third time.

The 01/14 Big Lucha show, previously a subscriber-only Mas Lucha premium show, is now available for free on Big Lucha’s channel. It has some post production (graphics, a new vignette, some new ads), it’s not specifically the same file. No idea if this will be a regular thing.

The Crash’s event on Saturday was said to be a sellout of Auditorio de Tijuana. Toto taking Proximo’s hair in a cage match was the headliner, a midcard feuding that was finishing on this event. The big name match was DMT Azul, Texano Jr., Pierroth Jr. defeating Blue Demon, Dr. Wagner Jr., and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. when Azul got away with a martiente on Demon. DMT Azul continued to attack Demon after, and Demon left the building in an ambulance. (The news report notes that Demon, on his request, returned was taken to his hotel room and not an ambulance.) DMT Azul also left Demon laying on Sunday in a tag match in Ecatepec. Blue Demon isn’t taking these losses unless he’s getting a big one back later; this isn’t them shopping for a promotion to do the apuesta match like LA Park & Rush were doing for many years, this seems like they’ve got the deal done and are focused on building it up. It’s great for The Crash to get a big house with a main event around two guys who aren’t normally main events, but I think that turnout also speaks to interest in Blue Demon versus DMT Azul.

That The Crash show was supposed to include a ASF vs Destiny vs Travis Banks vs Adam Brooks match, which was switched to Xtreme Tiger & Destiny vs Travis Banks & Adam Brooks. I presume ASF just didn’t go after being outed for his creepy behavior. The Crash using Banks suggests The Crash isn’t going to get involved on those decisions but I don’t know that as a fact. Their next show is 02/24.

On Saturday’s Arena GDL show, La Pantera (unrelated to all other Pantera’s) retained the local women’s championship and then declared she was giving up the title because she had no challengers. She won the title back in August and doesn’t appear to have been on any of their shows since September, so she may have a point. It’s also a very un-Mexican wrestling thing to do to give up a title just because you have no one to defend it again.

Viral video star Medio Metro’s appearance in Arena Neza got some mainstream coverage, which was it’s intended purpose. It got enough attention that there’s an accusation that this is a fake Medio Metro. I will not try to explain this or figure this out. Medio Metro, or whomever it is, did the same bit for DTU earlier in the weekend and that didn’t get as noticed.

Aztlan defeated Dunamis for his mask on Sunday in Iztapalapa. Dunamis is Jonathan Flores, 3 years a wrestler, from that same part of Mexico City.

Gravity wrestled Kip Sabian on the most recent AEW Dark tapings. That’ll air on YouTube sometime in the next four weeks. Gravity isn’t signed by AEW; this was a one night appearance. It’s not a big deal spot and it seems like a lot of the enhancement spots go to wrestlers who are recommended by current AEW people in one way or another. As enjoyable as Gravity can be in Big Lucha, there’s people (far) ahead of him, and this is more a reflection of Bandido vouching for his brother than AEW seeking Gravity out. Gravity still has a long way to go before he’s actually on US TV roster but this will be a nice memory no matter how his career goes.

(This was the first time most AEW followers knew Gravity existed, so there was roughly a hundred “PAC vs GRAVITY” joke posts. Meanwhile, most Mexican lucha libre fans don’t follow AEW to the extent they understand what ‘Dark’ is; AEW needs dozens of wrestlers to fill out these tapings, and most work one time and are never mentioned again. The concept of a squash match doesn’t exist in Mexico and there’s no context to this sort of work.)

Pachuca’s Arena Aficion celebrates it’s 71st anniversary with a show this Tuesday. Milenio talks to the people who run it, some of whom have been in the same role for 50 years. The “Arena Aficion” name comes from the a local newspaper of that name, which was the only one covering wrestling at that time.

Impact announced they’re coming to the Cicero Stadium, near Chicago, three times for six shows in 2023. It looks like TV tapings on April 28 & 29 and July 28 & 29 and PPV Bound for Glory on 10/21 and another TV 10/22. Impact brought in Bandido and Rey Horus for last year’s show in Cicero and they seemed to do well. Local lucha promoter GALLI pushed this announcement, so there is plenty of reason to suspect there may be more Mexican wrestling involvement.

Voices of Wrestling posted its results of their Match of the Year poll. Their poll is open to anyone who writes about wrestling anywhere who wants to participate. 208 people did, up from last year. Any match happening anywhere is eligible, and 18 matches from Mexico got votes. The highest finisher was the Villano IV vs Pentagon Jr. mask match at 34. Matches listed by promotion:

• 8 CMLL (2 top 100)
• 6 AAA (4 top 100)
• 1 Lucha Memes
• 1 Vanguardia
• 1 Big Lucha
• 1 Zona 23

That’s 18 total, up from 13 last year. There was only one CMLL match on the 2021 list, and only three AAA matches. (The high finisher last year with Vikingo/Arez from RIOT, who did not put out anything on video in 2022.)

The thing that really stuck out to me from this year’s VOW poll was this section:

This year, 208 voters representing 23 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay)

That’s a really wide group of countries. It doesn’t include Mexico. I haven’t asked VOW about it but I know them well enough they reached out to as many people as possible, and that surely includes some Mexicans. There’s a lot of people covering wrestling in Mexico, and no one scrapped together a list of ten matches they liked to send it in.