Místico vs Templario, Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Fugaz, Stuka Jr., Soberano Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Bárbaro Cavernario [Rey del Aire]
Dave Meltzer raved about the Reyes del Aire, to the point where I’m not sure we saw the same match. or maybe my hopes were a lot different. Given the names involved, my hopes were set high on an ending with Soberano or Mistico or Panterita involved. Maybe missing out on that wasn’t as big a deal if you just didn’t have expectations. I liked Suicida/Virus the best of the Friday matches. What we got instead was fine but cold. Might be overrating Stigma/Virus, might be underrating the Tuesday atomicos.
I also watched the 01/14 INNOVA @ Arena Lopez Mateos show, which Mas Lucha posted last week. There’s nothing there I’d strongly recommend; it was fine, crowd seemed to enjoy it, I didn’t get it too much, and it felt fairly repetitive at time. Golden Jr. doing as many Komander spots as possible was interesting. Golden Girl and Princesa Azul stood out a bit in the women’s match, but I’d like to see them in a real match at some point. Hijo del Santo being in the main event was the reason to watch it, but he’s just in touring exhibition match mode and I don’t know if we’re ever going to see him go deeper than that – unless it’s part of a Cassandro movie. The ‘real’ stuff is just going to be the same mat work, gets beat up, does the corner dive, and get the big win. He doesn’t really need to break that formula, the crowd popped big when he just did the tijeras from the mat, and for the dive – the formula works. It’s was more interesting to see who Santo trusts to work with – a lot of Hijo del Fishman and some Herodes Jr.
These are the results for 2022 Tapatia Awards, honoring the best in lucha libre. Thanks to everyone who voted, and thanks to those who didn’t for still reading this. We had 136 ballots this year, twice as much as we have gotten in any other year. This was slightly up from last year, despite me still not doing much of a job promoting it.
One change I made this year is taking a hard line on cutting out non-Mexican wrestling candidates and votes. It wasn’t counted unless it was a match that happened for a Mexican wrestling promotion or a US promotion that was specifically a lucha libre promotion. They’ve been there in the past, but this year it got to a volume where I was annoyed enough to take more drastic action. It’s more fun to include the GCW lucha libre trios matches, but if I include them then why not include Ciclope vs Rina Yamashita? I’d just be picking favorite styles. If I decided to include Ciclope/Yamashita, then why not include Sadika vs Hoodfoot from central Illinois? I’d just be picking favorite promotions. Why not Mexican matches AEW? Why not Legado del Fantasma matches in NXT? Why not Dragongate? What’s the point of any of it?
The point of having these awards is to make sure the best stuff in Mexican wrestling each year gets recognized or at least recorded as happened. There are plenty of places recognizing all sorts of wrestling and where Mexican wrestling is all but ignored. These awards exist to make sure there’s one place where Mexican wrestling gets the spotlight, and the best way to do is to make sure it’s not sharing that light with a bunch of stuff that’s plainly not Mexican wrestling. There are a bunch of votes I threw out because it wasn’t in the spirit of what I’m trying to do. I went as far as not counting the Death Triangle votes for Group (which, as you’ll see, ended up making absolutely no difference) because I was that serious about not counting non-Mexican wrestling votes. I still absolutely kept in every eligible vote – there were people who seemed to be doing prank votes just to see if they’d stay in, and they did – but I didn’t have space for the ones that people knew wasn’t Mexican wrestling but voted for anyway in a Mexican wrestling poll.
(These numbers will probably shift when someone spots a duplicate I missed.)
Best Wrestler
2004: LA Park 2005: Perro Aguayo Jr. 2006: Mistico 2007: Gran Apache 2008: Blue Panther 2009: Negro Casas … 2017: Volador Jr. 2018: LA Park 2019: Hijo del Vikingo 2020: Laredo Kid 2021: Hijo del Vikingo 2022: Hijo del Vikingo
Name
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
4th Place
5th Place
Total
Hijo del Vikingo
40
27
10
6
2
499
Bandido
10
15
21
8
10
244
Villano IV
11
6
6
5
6
152
Atlantis Jr.
8
5
6
4
1
116
Titán
5
5
8
6
7
108
La Jarochita
6
6
3
3
7
100
Laredo Kid
0
10
7
8
7
94
Pentagón Jr.
2
5
7
8
6
84
Soberano Jr.
2
4
6
4
2
64
Fénix
1
3
6
7
8
63
Hechicero
4
3
2
3
2
61
Taurus
3
2
1
4
4
49
Komander
3
2
1
4
3
48
Ángel de Oro
2
4
0
3
1
43
Mistico
1
3
3
2
3
39
Reyna Isis
1
3
3
1
4
38
Psycho Clown
0
4
3
2
0
33
Pagano
3
0
1
0
2
29
Panterita del Ring Jr.
1
1
2
3
4
29
Rush
1
1
2
3
1
26
Volador Jr.
1
1
2
1
2
23
Sadika
2
1
0
0
0
21
Tonalli
2
0
1
0
2
21
Stuka Jr.
0
1
0
6
2
19
Hell Boy
2
0
0
1
0
18
Gringo Loco
1
1
0
0
3
16
Jessy Ventura
2
0
0
0
0
16
LA Park
1
1
0
1
1
16
Cibernetico
1
0
1
1
2
15
Arez
0
0
2
3
2
14
Puma de Oro
0
2
1
0
1
14
Taya Valkyrie
0
2
1
0
0
13
Drago Kid
0
0
3
1
1
12
Flamita
0
1
1
2
0
12
Lady Flammer
1
0
1
0
0
11
Stephanie Vaquer
0
2
0
0
1
11
Templario
1
0
0
1
1
11
Dalys la Caribena
1
0
0
1
0
10
Dragon Lee
0
1
0
2
1
10
Konnan Big
1
0
0
1
0
10
Parkita Negra
1
0
0
1
0
10
Puma King
1
0
0
1
0
10
Skayde
1
0
0
1
0
10
Baby Love
1
0
0
0
1
9
La Hiedra
1
0
0
0
1
9
Látigo
0
1
0
1
2
9
Alberto El Patron
1
0
0
0
0
8
Aster Boy
0
1
0
1
1
8
Mascarita Dorada
1
0
0
0
0
8
Micro Man
1
0
0
0
0
8
Nino Hamburguesa
1
0
0
0
0
8
Panic Clown
1
0
0
0
0
8
Parka Negra
1
0
0
0
0
8
Sexy Star II
0
0
1
2
1
8
Shocker
1
0
0
0
0
8
Soberano
1
0
0
0
0
8
Cinta de Oro
0
1
0
1
0
7
Faby Apache
0
0
1
2
0
7
Lady Maravilla
0
1
0
1
0
7
Solar
0
1
0
0
1
6
Baby Xtreme
0
1
0
0
0
5
Black Skayde
0
1
0
0
0
5
Dave the Clown
0
1
0
0
0
5
Demus
0
1
0
0
0
5
Electroshock
0
1
0
0
0
5
Emperador Azteca
0
1
0
0
0
5
Jessy Jackson
0
1
0
0
0
5
Negro Navarro
0
0
1
1
0
5
Sam Adonis
0
1
0
0
0
5
Virus
0
0
1
0
2
5
Jarochita
0
0
0
2
0
4
Keyra
0
0
1
0
1
4
Lady Frost
0
0
0
1
2
4
Ludark Shaitan
0
0
1
0
1
4
Mei Suruga
0
0
0
1
2
4
Negro Casas
0
0
1
0
1
4
Toxin
0
0
0
2
0
4
Yutani
0
0
1
0
1
4
Abismo Negro Jr.
0
0
1
0
0
3
Bendito
0
0
1
0
0
3
Blue Demon Jr
0
0
1
0
0
3
Caballero de Plata
0
0
0
1
1
3
Carlito
0
0
1
0
0
3
Ciclope
0
0
1
0
0
3
Dark Panther
0
0
1
0
0
3
Dralistico
0
0
1
0
0
3
El Hijo del Skayde (Big Lucha)
0
0
1
0
0
3
Hijo de Doctor Wagner Jr.
0
0
1
0
0
3
Jimmy
0
0
1
0
0
3
Juventud Guerrera
0
0
1
0
0
3
Murder Clown
0
0
1
0
0
3
Panterita del Ring
0
0
1
0
0
3
Ricky Marvin
0
0
1
0
0
3
The Tiger
0
0
1
0
0
3
Ultimo Guerrero
0
0
1
0
0
3
Violento Jack
0
0
1
0
0
3
Bestia del Ring
0
0
0
1
0
2
Black Terry
0
0
0
0
2
2
Blue Panther
0
0
0
1
0
2
Fugaz
0
0
0
1
0
2
Judas el Traidor
0
0
0
1
0
2
Lluvia
0
0
0
1
0
2
Mamba
0
0
0
1
0
2
Miedo Extremo
0
0
0
1
0
2
SB KENTo
0
0
0
1
0
2
Ultimo Dragon
0
0
0
1
0
2
Ayako Hamada
0
0
0
0
1
1
Camuflaje
0
0
0
0
1
1
Diamante
0
0
0
0
1
1
DMT Azul
0
0
0
0
1
1
Euforia
0
0
0
0
1
1
Luka
0
0
0
0
1
1
Niebla Roja
0
0
0
0
1
1
Shun Skywalker
0
0
0
0
1
1
Terror Purpura
0
0
0
0
1
1
Vampiro
0
0
0
0
1
1
Vangellys
0
0
0
0
1
1
Hijo del Vikingo wins for the third time in four years. I’m not sure he can be defeated outside of a significant injury or a US deal that takes him away from regular AAA dates. Bandido moved up a few spots from last year but didn’t get half the votes. Laredo Kid getting 0 first place votes and ending up seven is the most Laredo Kid outcome possible.
Best Match
2004: 09-03 Averno vs Zumbido 2005: 02-25 Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero 2006: 09-29 Black Warrior vs Mistico 2007: 07-29 Mistico vs Dr. Wagner 2008: 09-19 Blue Panther vs Villano V 2009: 06-13 Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Mesias
…
2017: 02-27 Barbaro Cavernario & Volador Jr. vs Ultimo Guerrero & El Valiente 2018: 06-22 L.A. Park vs Rush 2019: 06-09 Hijo del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid 2020: 12-12 Laredo Kid vs Kenny Omega 2021: 03-21 Hijo del Vikingo vs Arez 2022: 10-05 Pentagón Jr. vs Villano IV
(edit: fixed Cibernetico/Pagano placement on 02/26)
Name
1st
2nd
3rd
Total
10/15 Pentagón Jr. vs Villano IV
AAA
26
24
14
230
09/16 La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis
CMLL
20
8
15
154
10/23 Laredo Kid vs Hijo del Vikingo
AAA
13
7
7
100
10/15 Hijo del Vikingo vs Fenix
AAA
11
6
8
89
09/16 Atlantis Jr. vs Stuka Jr.
CMLL
3
13
8
70
04/30 LA Park vs Villano IV
AAA
7
5
4
58
07/29 Soberano Jr. vs Templario
CMLL
4
10
2
54
12/28 Bandido vs Hijo del Vikingo
AAA
4
2
8
42
09/23 Bandido vs Flamita
Big Lucha
3
6
3
39
06/18 Bandido vs Hijo del Vikingo vs Fenix vs Laredo Kid vs Taurus
CMLL
6
1
1
35
08/19 CMLL Men’s Gran Prix
CMLL
1
7
1
28
09/16 Hell Boy vs Caballero de Plata
IWRG
4
2
0
26
10/15 Cibernetico vs Pagano
AAA
2
4
1
24
10/16 Hechicero vs Jonathan Gresham
Lucha Memes
2
3
0
19
09/23 Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Blue Panther & Dark Panther
CMLL
2
2
1
18
08/19 Hechicero vs Euforia
CMLL
1
2
3
17
11/06 Emperador Azteca vs The Tiger
KAOZ
2
0
3
16
12/16 Aster Boy vs Tonalli vs Puma de Oro
IWRG
1
1
4
16
10/28 CMLL Women’s Grand Prix
CMLL
0
2
5
16
04/22 Titán vs Niebla Roja
CMLL
1
3
0
14
06/18 Psycho Clown vs Villano IV
AAA
0
2
4
14
09/30 Suicida vs Titán
CMLL
1
2
0
11
12/28 Hijo del Vikingo vs Bandido
CMLL
0
3
1
11
10/15 Taya vs Kamille
AAA
0
1
4
11
01/30 Ciclope & Lobo Blanco vs Damian 666 & El Mago
Vanguardia
1
1
1
10
03/06 Hechicero vs Matt Makowski
Lucha Memes
1
1
1
10
10/02 Hijo del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid vs Taurus
AAA
1
1
0
8
10/15 Marvel Lucha Libre match
AAA
1
0
1
7
12/23 Mistico & Panterita Del Ring Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Raider
CMLL
0
1
2
7
12/28 FTR vs Dragon Lee & Dralistico
AAA
0
1
2
7
03/31 Psycho Clown vs Taurus
AAA
1
0
0
5
04/28 Alberto El Patron, Carlito & Ultimo Dragon vs Cibernetico, Dr. Wagner Jr. & LA Park
KAOZ
1
0
0
5
04/29 Mistico vs Titán vs Templario
CMLL
1
0
0
5
09/18 Taya Valkyrie vs Lady Flammer
Republic of Lucha
1
0
0
5
09/30 Los Infernales vs Los Malditos
CMLL
1
0
0
5
10/05 Virus vs Tony Deppen
Lucha Memes
1
0
0
5
10/14 Bandido vs Yutani
Big Lucha
1
0
0
5
11/20 Keyra vs Bengalee
IWRG
0
1
1
5
10/25 CMLL Gran Prix Women
CMLL
0
0
2
4
02/06 Brazos vs Villanos
IWRG
0
1
0
3
04/17 Puma de Oro vs Black Terry
IWRG
0
1
0
3
05/06 Ultimo Guerrero vs Averno
CMLL
0
1
0
3
05/27 Atlantis Jr. vs Mistico
CMLL
0
1
0
3
08/05 Lady Shani vs Hijo del Tirantes
AAA
0
1
0
3
12/25 Hijo del Vikingo vs Bandido (Big Lucha)
Big Lucha
0
1
0
3
02/05 Blue Demon Jr. vs DMT Azul
Invasion Indy
0
0
1
2
03/12 Hijo del Vikingo vs Flamita
AAA
0
0
1
2
04/30 Canek vs Psycho Clown
AAA
0
0
1
2
05/15 Lunatik Fly, Osiris, Chucho el Roto, Amnesia vs Lunatik Xtreme, Ovett Jr., Super Boy, Vengaza
Zona 23
0
0
1
2
06/18 Lady Flammer vs Chik Tormenta
AAA
0
0
1
2
07/23 Panthers vs Pantheritas
CMLL
0
0
1
2
09/16 Ángel De Oro vs Mistico vs Volador Jr.
CMLL
0
0
1
2
10/14 Ciclope & Miedo Extremo vs El Mago & Drew Parker
Vanguardia
0
0
1
2
10/16 Joey Janela vs Pagano
Zona 23
0
0
1
2
10/21 La Jarochita vs Lluvia
CMLL
0
0
1
2
11/04 Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Ultimo Guerrero vs Mistico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr.
CMLL
0
0
1
2
12/02 Big Lucha Cage Match
Big Lucha
0
0
1
2
12/03 NGD vs Arez, Komander, Dave The Clown
AAA
0
0
1
2
12/08 Aeroboy vs Violento Jack
Luchando Libre
0
0
1
2
12/30 Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Titán & Volador Jr.
CMLL
0
0
1
2
For as much slack as AAA gets, they’ve also has the best match in Mexico for three of the last four years. (The fourth was AAA guys in RIOT.) La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis is the best finishing women’s match in the history of these awards. Bandido vs Flamtia in Big Lucha is the highest-finishing non-Big 2 match.
A tie for first is strange. A tie for for first, third, and fifth is just bizarre.
Best Unit
2004: Guerreros del Infierno (as Best Tag Team and Best Trio) … 2006: Los Guerreros del Atlantida 2007: Real Fuerza Aerea AAA 2008: Oficiales 2009: Peste Negra … 2017: Nueva Generación Dinamita 2018: Nueva Generación Dinamita 2019: Poder del Norte 2020: Lucha Brothers 2021: Lucha Brothers 2022: Lucha Brothers
Unit
Votes
Lucha Bros.
20
Hermanos Chávez (Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja)
15
Black Generation
13
Los Infernales
11
NGD
8
Los Vipers
6
Las Toxicas
5
Los Mazisos (Ciclope & Miedo Extremo)
3
Dulce Atrapasuenos
3
La Puerquiza Extrema
3
Golden Guns
2
La Empresa
2
Los Gorila Brothers
2
Negocio Traumado
2
Los Parks
2
Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
1
Carlito Colon & Primo Colon
1
Dalys & Lady Frost
1
Delta Force
1
Depredadores
1
Hamburguesa/Iguana/Microman
1
Hermanos Lee
1
Jinetes del Aire
1
La Jarochita & Lluvia
1
Los Malditos
1
Los NGDs
1
Los Porros NG
1
Los Un-Mexicans
1
Los Villanos
1
Lucha Squad
1
Panterita Del Ring/Panterita Del Ring Jr.
1
Psycho Circus
1
The Lucha Brothers barely teamed in Mexico in 222, but they did team. Hermanos Chavez did not get a single vote in 2021. Neither did Black Generation, but they weren’t really a thing.
Best Rivalry
2004: El Hijo del Santo vs Perro Aguayo Jr. 2005: Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero 2006: Mistico vs Black Warrior 2007: Billy Boy vs Gran Apache 2008: Blue Panther vs Villano V 2009: Negro Casas vs Mistico
…
2017: Princesa Sugehit vs Zeuxis 2018: L.A. Park vs Rush 2019: Big Mami vs Lady Maravilla 2020: Chessman vs Pagano 2021: Rey Escorpión vs Psycho Clown 2022: Atlantis Jr. vs Stuka Jr.
Name
Votes
Atlantis Jr. vs Stuka Jr.
37
Bandido Gym vs Black Generation (includes Bandido vs Flamita)
8
La Jarochita vs Reyna Isis
8
Soberano Jr. vs Templario
5
Hijo del Vikingo vs Fenix
4
Pagano vs Cibernético
4
Villano IV vs the Ruleta de la Muerte entrants
4
Brazos vs Villanos
3
Big Lucha vs Los Locos Evans
2
Dalys vs Lady Frost
2
La Empresa vs AAA
2
Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero
2
Albert El Patron and Cinta De Oro vs Carlito and Co.
1
Arez vs Taurus
1
Atlantis vs Fuerza Guerrera
1
Blue Demon Jr. vs DMT Azul
1
Caballero de Plata vs Hellboy
1
Dark Silueta vs Princesa Sugehit
1
El Gallo vs Rayman
1
Emperador Azteca vs The Tiger
1
La puerkiza extrema vs NGD
1
Laredo Kid vs. Hijo del Vikingo
1
Puma de Oro vs Tonalli vs Aster Boy
1
Satania vs Bengalee
1
Soberano Jr vs Ultimo Guerrero
1
Tonalli vs Aster Boy vs Puma de Oro
1
Ultimo Guerrero vs Mesias
1
CMLL got 3 of the top 4 spots after not winning this category for years.
Most Improved 2004: Olimpico 2005: Maximo 2006: Black Warrior, Marco Corleone, Mistico (tie) 2007: Super Fly & X-Pac (tie) 2008: Sombra 2009: Mascara Dorada … 2017: Soberano Jr. 2018: Templario 2019: Atlantis Jr. 2020: Diosa Quetzal 2021: Komander 2022: Atlantis Jr.
Improved
Votes
Atlantis Jr
18
Titán
17
Komander
12
Panterita del Ring Jr.
11
Bendito
5
CMLL
5
La Jarochita
4
Reyna Isis
3
Arez
2
El Hijo de Dos Caras
2
Hijo del Vikingo
2
Lady Frost
2
Mr. Iguana
2
Tonalli
2
Astral
1
Black Skayde
1
Caballero de Plata
1
Dalys
1
Dark Panther
1
Diamante
1
DMT Azul
1
Drago Kid
1
El Hijo de Villano III
1
El Suicida
1
Elemental
1
Emperador Azteca
1
Fishman Jr
1
Forneo
1
Gringo Loco
1
Hell Boy
1
La Parka Negra
1
Lady Flammer
1
Mini Vikingo
1
Myzteziz Jr.
1
Panic Clown
1
Raider
1
Rugido
1
Rush
1
Satania
1
Sexy Star II
1
Shun Skywalker
1
Star Jr.
1
Stuka Jr.
1
Super Crazy Jr.
1
Toxin
1
Atlantis Jr. is a predictable winner – and the first two time winner of most improved. Komander came close to that achievement by finishing third. It kinda makes sense for both of them.
Favorite Wrestler 2017: Barbaro Cavernario & Hechicero (tie) 2018: Pentagon Jr. 2019: Hijo del Vikingo 2020: Hijo del Vikingo 2021: Hijo del Vikingo 2022: Hijo del Vikingo
Favorite
Votes
Hijo del Vikingo
20
Bandido
13
Villano IV
8
Taurus
7
Titán
7
LA Park
6
Hechicero
5
Místico
5
Komander
3
La Jarochita
3
Laredo Kid
3
Panterita del Ring Jr.
3
Atlantis Jr.
2
Fenix
2
La Parka Negra
2
Pagano
2
Psycho Clown
2
Sadika
2
Sexy Star II
2
Virus
2
Ángel de Oro
1
Aramis
1
Bendito
1
Black Terry
1
Cibernetico
1
Dave the Clown
1
Dr. Wagner Jr
1
El Burrito
1
Faby Apache
1
Gringo Loco
1
Hell Boy
1
Jessy Ventura
1
Johnny Hardy
1
KeMonito
1
Konan Big
1
Luka
1
Mei Suruga
1
Micro Man
1
Pentagón
1
Puma de Oro
1
Reyna Isis
1
Shocker
1
Skayde
1
Soberano Jr.
1
Solar
1
Stephanie Vaquer
1
Stuka Jr
1
Templario
1
Villano III Jr.
1
Willie Mack
1
I presume someone will knock Vikingo off this perch, but I’m not sure who. Bandido came closest to consensus opposition.
What did you think of the year 2022 in Mexican wrestling, from 1 to 10?
I hope this is a useful metric if I or someone else keeps checking in every year. There’s not much context to it for year one, but here’s how the numbers were distributed: