CMLL champions retain prior to the Universal tournament, Luchatitlan opening soon?

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del RingEstrellas del RingFuego en el RingKaiser SportsR de RudoThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. b Difunto & Inquisidor CMLL | Halcón Suriano Jr. y Hombre Bala Jr. derrotan a El Difunto e Inquisidor (posted by mluchatv) Halcón Suriano Jr. y Hombre Bala Jr. derrotan en lucha de relevos sencillos a Inquisidor y Difunto (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:12.
2) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Capitán Suicida, Flyer, Fuego CMLL | Virus, Luciferno y Cancerbero vencen a Flyer, Fuego y Capitán Suicida (posted by mluchatv) Virus, Cancerbero y Luciferno derrotan a Fuego, Flyer y Suicida (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
18:01. Flyer replaced Audaz earlier in the week.
3) Magia Blanca © b Rey Cometa [MEX WELTERCMLL - CAMPEONATO NACIONAL WELTER / REY COMETA VS MAGIA BLANCA /ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Magia Blanca retiene el Campeonato Nacional Welter ante Rey Cometa (posted by mluchatv)
16:24. 2nd defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Yota CMLL - YOTA - NIEBLA ROJA - B. CAVERNARIO VS TITÁN - SOBERANO JR. -ATLANTIS JR.ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr. y Titán vencen a Yota, Bárbaro Cavernario y Niebla Roja (posted by mluchatv) Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr. y Titán triunfan ante Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja y Yota (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:11.
5) Volador Jr. b Templario [lightningCMLL | Volador Jr. derrota en match relámpago a Templario (posted by mluchatv)
7:40. Templario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOSCMLL - CAMPEONATO MUNDIAL DE TRIOS/LOS GUERREROS LAGUNEROS VS LOS INFERNALES /ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Los Infernales retienen el Campeonato Mundial de Tríos ante Los Guerreros (posted by mluchatv) Mephisto y Euforia ponen fuera a G Guerrero y Stuka Jr, mientras Hechicero rinde a Último Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
17:11. 2nd defense. Hechicero submitted UG, who got strechered out.

A fun show. The two title matches were strong, match four went a ways longer than you’d expect, everything else was about as you’d expect. You should watch this one when it turns up on YouTube. Ultimo Guerrero getting stretchered out seemed just to be an intentional distraction from him losing again, but he also he did lose again. We keep waiting for him to get that big win again and it’s not happening so far. Rey Cometa did well in a singles match, as he alaywas does. Volador/Templario was a shorter version of their FantasticaMania match; I’m still a bit curious at what Angel de Oro/Volador would’ve been.

There are no title matches announced for next week, so it appears there won’t be any last-minute title changes before the Universal tournament.

CMLL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Galaxy & Shockercito b Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito Facebook video (posted by )
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Cachorro, Eléctrico, Leono Facebook video (posted by )
Team Disturbio is Los Dementes and is calling their triple submission finish La Indestructible.
3) Halcón Suriano Jr. b Astral [lightningFacebook video (posted by )
4) Magnus, Rugido, Zandokan Jr. b Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma Facebook video (posted by )
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora Facebook video (posted by )
6) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota Facebook video (posted by )

Disturbio’s team got a name before the Polvora trio. (Also, CMLL’s focused on getting as many teams as possible when that is a team.) In other team news, Rey Samuray is officially meant to be part of Fuerza Poblana. Zandokan is more a freelancing pirate not part of Los Depredadores.

CMLL (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Neón, Robin b Grako, Nitro, Raider
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Espíritu Negro, Panterita del Ring, Volcano b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Kráneo
Tecnicos took 2/3. Pantera del Ring replaced Dulce Gardenia.
4) Akuma TLDRAW Furia Roja (Jalisco) [lightning]
10 minute draw
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Infernales took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón b Fuerza Guerrera, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3. Gran Guerrero replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday

Akuma and Furia Roja going to a draw is a bit random. Not much else going on here.

Puebla tonight has Volador & Soberano vs Barbaro Caverario & Templario.

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena México
1) Fantasy vs Pequeño Violencia [lightning]
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Disturbio, Grako, Nitro
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
4) Pólvora vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Kráneo Niebla Roja, Mephisto, Yota
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Titán

It would be fun to see another Soberano/Titan match, but that’s probably more a “we booked Euforia and Soberano for this show, guess they have to team” situation. Polvora and Felino Jr. used to be tag team champions not so long ago. Crixus turns up on the main show.

CMLL (FRI) 03/31/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Fuego vs Raider [lightning]
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr.
4) Niebla Roja vs Magnus [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.

The main event continues whatever didn’t happen with Volador/Angel de Oro last week (plus Soberano/Dragon Rojo.) Los Malditos make a rare Friday appearance. Magnus and Niebla Roja wrestled last year in a trios match but those are two guys who otherwise haven’t been on the same matches since the 2011 Forjaido un Idolo tournament (when Niebla Roja was still Angel de Plata.) Magnus did win that time. The first half of the card could be a lot of action. I have no idea when/how I’m watching this but I don’t want to miss it.

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo 80th Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Minos
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Rey Samuray vs CrixusÁngel RebeldeMax StarTonalliBrillante Jr.Hijo de Stuka Jr.Vaquero Jr.MultyNeón [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 lineup was announced on Informa a few weeks back. CMLL’s made no changes so far (but there’s no official poster yet so changes are possible.) This annual show usually makes YouTube, though not usually live – you’ll probably have to find some other wrestler to watch on Saturday.

AAA

AAA on Space was another skippable episode. This was the first half of the AAA/NWA show. People there said those matches weren’t good and they didn’t come across better on TV. Nothing tragic, just pieces that didn’t fit together (and not much of a match in the Murdoch/Psycho main event.) AAA has a lot of good wrestlers and some of those wrestlers have been having great matches elsewhere, but AAA’s TV itself hasn’t had much in the way of great matches for this first quarter of the year. Hopefully the second half of the AAA/NWA show will be better.

Universidad Anahuac Mexico is hosting a series of presentations this week for it’s entertainment business management school. AAA VP of Marketing and Commerical Alejandro Montes appeared today. You can watch it on YouTube; the audio streaming has some issues throughout. Montes does these presentations once or twice a year for different audiences. It’s a lot of the same presentation each time; there are social media metrics, talk about their international work, about how many shows they run a year, and various partners they’ve worked with. There wasn’t much new there; maybe Disney being presented as still ongoing was the most interesting part. A slide in a video highlighting the agreement mentioned there’d be at least one Marvel Lucha Libre match a month, and that hasn’t happened since 2021. There was a funny story about AAA giving Marvel a big presentation way back at the beginning of the relationship and the Marvel official cutting it of 15 minutes in, because he already realized they were a good match – they both do super heroes.

Octagon Jr. made a surprise appearance at the end, which the students seemed to like. The Q&A portion included someone asking about the Adrian Marcelo/Chessman situation; Montes said Marcelo wanted to wrestle and it was leading to a match, but a 1v1 wouldn’t be a fair scenario. He didn’t acknowledge the TikTok video as best as I could tell.

The other news bit also came up in a story from Revista Central; the Luchatitlan project is opening very soon. It was originally scheduled for March 2023 and March 2023 is about over. Montes said it would open in “the next week”, while Revista Central specifically says it’s opening Saturday. This is the AAA staffed lucha libre arena in a Cancun mall, which will run six days a week. (No shows on Monday.) It’s a big project both for AAA and others, so there’s probably a press conference coming soon.

You may have noticed the most recent AAA TV YouTube upload seems shorter than usual. This week’s upload is just two matches, as they’ve cut out the NGD/LFI main event. AAA’s uploads have missed matches in the past by accident; this one seems more about not posting Cuatrero content at the moment. The match is no great loss. (AAA’s also slipped an extra week behind, as usually happens when there’s a PPV on a Sunday.)

Komander is working the VS show in California on Wednesday, so he’s not scheduled to be part of the (not yet announced) ROH taping as part of the AEW show on Wednesday.

Add a June 18th Puebla stop to the AAA TV schedule. That’s got to be a relatively recent addition to the schedule, since TripleMania Tijuana was originally June 17th. This’ll now probably be the last TV to air before the rescheduled July 15th show.

IWRG

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Latino Boy & Último Caballero b Cosmic & Steel Dragón
2) Dehyna & Zebra Maciel b Candela & Danessa
3) Balak, Memphis, Nativo b Milagro, Seminarista, Skanda
4) Arceus, Garrobo Punk, Príncipe Nahual b Águila Enmascarada, Rey Eclipse, Thunder Storm
5) Gannicus b Rey HalcónFussion [IWRG REY DEL AIRE, #1 Contenders]
6) Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Ajolotl, Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Kenji, Legado, Súper Boy b Abismo Raider, Bestia Azteca, Billytronik Jr., Crazy Star, Lobo Azteca, Psycotic Boy, Rey Azteca, Rey Kingstone [Copa Higher Power]
coaches Black Terry and Billy Tronik (ALLP). John Tito beat Lobo Azteca to win. Rest of names not confirmed.

This should turn up IWRG’s YouTube channel in a week or so.

IWRG (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Dariux b Milagro LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Caballero de Plata, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly b Centvrión, Eddie Rodríguez, Fussion LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
3) Luka & Super Mario AK47 b Apolo Estrada Jr. & Maniacop 360 LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Imposible & Yorvak b León Dorado & Mr. Leo LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Imposible unmasked Leon Dorado to beat him.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Hijo de Canis Lupus LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Pirata won via foul. The two fought at the interview area post match
6) Cheese Burger, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Diva Salvaje, Gannicus, Hellboy, Jessy Ventura LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Hip Hop Man invited Cheese Burger to join his group, and he accepted.

The attendance at the end looked bad, but it was still a lot better than the first match.

ESTO has an interview with Gannicus, who was a big fan of ancient Rome and wrestling when he was growing up. He actually wanted to use the name Crixus first but the Guadalajara wrestler got it first.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report for the week of 03/06.

Laredo Kid was back at Impact taping this weekend. Black Taurus hasn’t been around there of late but was back as well; you will not be surprised to find out they wrestled.

Actor/mexican cultural icon Chabelo (Xavier Lopez, 88) passed away on Saturday. He hosted children’s show on Televisa every Sunday for 47 years. Luchadors would appear on the show from time to time. Chabelo himself actually had a wrestling background. ESPN says he was a grecoreoman wrestler who won a spot on the Olympic team at the age of 17 for the Helsinki (1952) games. Chabelo said he later found out that the Mexico Olympic organization expected him to pay the expenses, he and his family didn’t have the 40,000 pesos it would’ve cost, and the wrestler Chabelo beat was sent instead. Alberto el Patron tells a similar story, that he qualified for an Olympic team but didn’t go when he found out he’d half to pay his own way.

One thought to “CMLL champions retain prior to the Universal tournament, Luchatitlan opening soon?”

  1. Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr. Could be a nice trio if they are looking to elevate Audaz. Also where’s Terrible?

Comments are closed.