Mistico/Atlantis lightning match tonight, upcoming AAA plans, Arena Coliseo Anniverasry

Daylight Savings Time begins in the US and Canada this Sunday. It doesn’t affect tonight’s show or tomorrow’s AAA. Mexico has ceased Daylight Savings Time, so the time differences coming Sunday will stay that way through November. (If you’re in Japan or somewhere else that also doesn’t change clocks, you’re fine.)

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer [lightning]
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr. [lightning]

On CMLL Informa, Julio Cesar Rivera noted this was the first Arena Mexico show to the main event with a lightning match. He also pushed back on criticism of it being a certain time limit draw by framing it as a situation where the time limit meant both men would have to go very hard for the start to try to get that win. That’s how every lightning match is supposed to work. It still seems likely to be a draw. I’m not sure which person winning would better set up more matches between them, but I don’t think this is the end of it; they’re teaming on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas for a reason.

The semi-main has the four guys who are main eventing next week. It also has Dragon Rojo & Templario, who may headline their own show this year. Lluvia versus Stephanie Vaquer continues the foreigners versus Mexicans women’s feud over the last month; Vaquer figures to get another win before it reverses in Copa Irma Gonzalez. It’s also Vaquer’s first match here since her accusations became public, though she obviously knew about them last Friday. The bottom half of the card is giving a lot of people their once-every-three-months Friday night appearance. The relevos increibles match exists to set up Suicida versus Stigma, if it exists for a reason at all. Raider with Diamond or Valiente Jr. could be good. The opener looks like a challenge.

The show is on TicketmasterLive as always. It’ll go up on YouTube on 03/26.

CMLL (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Eléctrico & Leono vs Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro
3) Difunto vs Espanto Jr. [lightning]
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Kráneo, Niebla Roja
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Los Misterios start on the CMLL roster here. CMLL Informa also said the finalists in the ciberneticos = Brillante Jr., Tonalli, Rey Samuray, Crixus, Angel Rebelde – will also be part of the CMLL roster. Rey Samuray and maestro Black Tiger are out with unspecified health issues, so it might be a little bit longer before seeing those two. CMLL cards don’t really expand past this size, so more people being added means fewer matches for others.

CMLL (MON) 03/13/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Rayo Metálico vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Valiente Jr. vs El Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray
3) Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis, Stigma, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Niebla Roja
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico, Rocky Romero vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

Sumie Sakai starts with CMLL here. Rayo Metalico is either a young Puebla wrestler (debuted in mid 2021) or a much older Leon one.

The streaming link for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is up. It’s the usual 199 pesos (11 USD) big show price. CMLL usually puts up the whole month at once and now is only doing it two shows in advance. There’s no reason to buy these shows in advance so that’s fine; I’m always dreaming there’s some end to this coming.

Sumie Sakai did a press conference (via teleconference) with the CMLL media to introduce herself. She mentioned she saw Arena Mexico twenty years ago but never got to go inside, so being in Copa Irma Gonzalez is a big moment for her. The press emphasized her judo background.

CMLL Informa announced the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show lineup:

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Minos
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Rey Samuray vs Crixus, Ángel Rebelde, Max Star, Tonalli, Brillante Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Vaquero Jr., Multy, Neón [Torneo Nueva Generacion]
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Felino, Satánico, Virus
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This show often ends up as the one Arena Coliseo event put on YouTube; it showed up on a week delay last year. The names in the tournament certainly suggest other people who may be sticking around.

CMLL put out a statement in support of Stephanie Vaquer and against domestic violence late Wednesday night. CMLL didn’t announce any actions, so this was more notable for guessing what motivated them to release it when they did – why did it take most of a week? Why was it done in the middle of the night? It ultimately doesn’t matter much. The statement against domestic violence doesn’t mean much either; I’m not going to go over Oraculo’s background again right now (got to save it for next week), but it’s impossible to reconcile “we take violence against women very seriously” and Oraculo main eventing Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Both those things can’t be true. The sentiment in that statement is as weightless as everyone (not just CMLL) who posted a graphic of all the women who work for them as a ‘celebration’ of International Women’s Day this past week. It’s coasting off a virtue while demonstrating no willingness to live up to it.

Cuatrero nor Vaquer are reposting supportive stories on Instagram and moderating the replies to their posts to filter out negative comments. They’re not directly addressing the stories.

AAA

No taping this week, they’re back next Sunday for the World Cup.

03/11 AAA on Space

• Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Kuukai & Nishikawa
• Dalys vs Flammer vs Maravilla vs Taya vs Estrellita
• Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rey Escorpión, Rush for the AAA World Trios Championship

This is part one of two episodes taped on a military base as a special show only for the military and their family. The main event did not sound like it finished well, but there weren’t the usual video and reviews of a Mexico City adjacent shows. This taping was a parking lot converted to an arena, with big bleachers around the ring. Might look cool, might look weird.

Space’s listings are not completely reliable more than about four days out, but it doesn’t appear they’re airing the Lucha Libre World Cup live. Space would normally be advertising it on air by now and I haven’t seen anything. You’re watching this one via FITE or waiting quite a few weeks.

Social media influencer Adrian Marcelo and Chessman will be in a match on the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. It’s not official yet, but it’s clear that’s the direction this angle is headed. Marcelo appeared on Multimedios on Wednesday to call Dorian Roldan live on air. Marcelo demanded Chessman either apologize in person or be suspended indefinitely. They settled with the idea Chessman would come to Monterrey next week to apologize in person. That apology obviously will not go well, and AAA will set up the match with whatever happens there. I do not believe it will be a 1 v 1 match.

(Capital Lucha Libre has Chessman booked on 03/18 in Arena San Juan and is hinting Chessman will still be there. He shouldn’t be if he’s still suspended, he will be if the angle next week in Monterrey causes the suspension to be dropped. I think Capital has been told that, and not been told enough to play along.)

Again, this Chessman/Marcelo angle seems to be a hit in Mexico; even if most people think it’s a work, they’re interested in following the story at least until they get a definite answer.  We won’t find out if that attention translates into ticket sales until the match is announced but it looks promising. It’s not something that anyone outside of Mexico is going to get – Marcelo is generally popular just in that country – but AAA looking to draw more interest in Mexico is a positive strategy. Perhaps the important part of that news is that means AAA may announce the rest of their TripleMania lineup next week before whatever incident happens. I’d thought it would wait until after the World Cup.

That press conference should also announce Rush’s replacement partner for Pagano. It’s almost definitely LA Park. AAA put out social media posts asking fans who’d they’d like to see as Rush’s partner, knowing that the response was going to be LA Park. AAA wouldn’t be teasing this unless they had LA Park locked in for the spot.

Alberto’s gone from talking about possibly 20,000 fans to 25,000 for TripleMania Monterrey. I guess AAA could sell tickets in the outfield bleachers if they wanted to, but those seats would be very far away, and they aren’t currently on sale. AAA announced an attendance of 13,637 for last year’s TripleMania Monterrey. I don’t think they’re putting in an extra 11,000 people but I’m also pretty sure no will call Alberto on just making things up.

Back at the last Lucha Libre World Cup press conference, Alberto mentioned he was planning on wrestling no more than 2-3 matches a month. He’s listed as working four shows in April so far.

Daga has a left knee injury and will rest for four to six weeks before determining the next medical step. The report reads like the ACL and MCL were damaged but not torn, which would be a much longer recovery. The injury means Daga is definitely off the 04/08 San Luis Potosi taping, where the main event was supposed to be a Perro del Mal reunion. Someone like Mr. Aguila, X-Fly or Joe Lider may end up as the replacement Perro, though AAA seemed like they were going somewhere with Pentagon vs Daga as well. AAA still is promoting the original main event.

Dalys will replace Christi Jaynes on Team Rest of the World for the Lucha Libre World Cup. Jaynes is said to be out due to a visa issue. (Jaynes has not wrestled in 2023 so there may be more to that story.) Team World is facing Team USA (Deonna Purrazzo, Kamille, Jordynne Grace) in the semifinals. That seemed like a pretty solid Team USA win before and it’s a bit closer to a toss-up with Dalys involved.

AAA had a third press conference for the Lucha Libre World Cup with Hijo del Vikingo in attendance. It wasn’t streamed and there doesn’t seem to be anything important announced from what I’ve see in tweets.

EMW released a promotional photo for the 04/22 AAA TV Tijuana taping. Beyond the regular names, the Lucha Brothers, Rush, Dralistico, and Taya are pictured. AAA still has no tag team champions and no stated plans to fill that vacancy, but LFI and Lucha Brothers fit as a possible new champion match. These posters don’t always line up with the actual matches by the way. Those are probably a couple of weeks away.

The Business of the Business podcast had Mike Weber of FITE on their recent show. AAA briefly comes up. Weber mentions FITE will be doing four AAA shows this year, which means it’s just the World Cup and the three TripleManias on the schedule at this point. Weber also mentioned a desire to move AAA on to the FITE+ subscription service later this year. This came across much more like a FITE aspiration and maybe not something that AAA has officially signed on as yet, but it makes some sense. The AAA Twitch shows streamed live because AAA was getting an upfront payment from Twitch, and AAA would probably do the same if FITE was offering enough to make it worth their time. Again, AAA on FITE+ is just a FITE idea at this point and it does not sound like anything has been firmly agreed upon.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Zona Ruda]
1) Súper Boy b Rey Espartano 
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly b Samuray Azteca (Queretaro) & Tortuga Leo 
3) Jhon Tito & Noisy Boy DQ Avisman & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Maniacop 360 b La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Travis Banks 

Tryout is over and I’m back to not paying attention. This one didn’t draw well. They’re full into the “foreigners stealing the IWRG name” angle, now with Adrian Mendoza as the special ring announcer for that team.

IWRG (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dariux (Hidalgo) & Rey Minos vs Baby Star & Kenji
2) Hades (Indie) & Sagitarius vs Satania & Therius
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón vs Chicano, Eddie Rodríguez, Hazel
5) Gannicus & Hijo del Alebrije vs Fussion & Jessy Ventura
6) Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba vs Aeroboy, Aster Boy, Wesley

Lots of tryout wrestlers on the undercard. It would’ve made sense to tell the four finalists all to keep a Sundays open in case any of them won, especially if it was actually a legit competition, and then IWRG has to find spots for them for a moment. Still, it’s probably also a relatively inexpensive way to run these shows.

There’s an AAA spot show in Arena Nuaclapan on April 7th, with Alberto, Hijo del Vikingo, Taurus, Nino Hamburgesa, Octagon Jr., Abismo Negro Jr., Parka Negra and Dizzy (the promoter.) That should be an easy sell out.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Komander and Arez are just about to wrestle in WXW’s 24 16 Karat tournament as I write this. WXW doesn’t air live but they’ve been really fast about putting up VOD in the past.

The Crash’s 03/24 card included an Octagon & Super Asro vs Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan match. Wednesday, they announced CMLL was blocking Octagon and Fuerza Guerrera from coming in. CMLL works with another promoter in Tijuana, and I guess that confirms they have some control over Octagon & Fuerza’s bookings. The replacement match will be Super Astro, Super Astro Jr., Tinieblas Jr. versus Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, and Pirata Morgan Jr.

04/01 The Wrld on Lucha

• Los Macizos vs Familia de Tijuana
• Laredo Kid vs Hijo del Vikingo
• Tony Deppen vs Negro Casas
• Sexy Star II vs Dulce Tormenta
• Psycho Clown vs Gringo Loco – new

04/21 GCW in Atlanta has Komander vs Hijo del Vikingo.

Xalapa luchador Samuray Jr. posted that he’s retiring. He’s appeared in DTU from time to time and is young for a retiring luchador.