Sobearno/Averno tonight in Arena Mexico, Virus & Cavernario to NJPW US, Big Lucha

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 05/05/2023 Arena México
1) Astral, Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
2) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Guerrero Maya replaced Dulce Gardenia on Thursday.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Yota
5) Soberano Jr. vs Averno
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán [Relevos Increíbles]

This is a non-tournament show but normal CMLL Friday shows generally seem good. The main event has a good mix, and this is the last Friday for Titan for a while. Averno gets a rare singles match with Soberano. Yota is still listed on the show, and it will be amazing if he comes back to beat up Esfinge again. Hombre Bala/Zandokan could be interesting. It’s on PPV for the usual price.

Espiritu Negro seems to be having a bad travel day.

(Copa Junior VIP starts May 19th, not next week like I previously wrote.)

All the PPVs are up for this month. All of them 99 pesos.

CMLL (MON) 05/08/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Fantasy & Rayo Metálico vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rey Apocalipsis vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) La Jarochita, Princesa Sugehit, Sanely vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Rey Samuray vs PegassoMilleniumHijo de Centella RojaAsturianoPrayerPerversoEspíritu MalignoMultyDark Soul [Torneo Cinco de Mayo]
5) Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Místico, Stigma vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr.

Some of the Puebla luchadors were on CMLL Informa this week to talk about match 4. CMLL’s trying to establish a Torneo Cinco de Mayo as an annual Puebla tradition. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Battle of Puebla, and that’s the one part of Mexico that celebrates the holiday.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena México
1) Galaxy vs Mercurio [lightning]
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Robin vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Magnus vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Valiente vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja

Just a random group of names. Two lightning matches instead of a 2v2 match. Good luck to the tecnicos in a match two.

CMLL (TUE) 05/09/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel, Xelhua
4) Felino & Felino Jr. vs Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte
5) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Ángel Negro, Arlequín, La Fashion
6) Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Euforia & Soberano Jr.

Father/son main event. Xelhua is a figure in Azteca mythology, but he might be a new name for Cavernario brother Canalla.

On Informa, Polvora, Coyote, and Okumura announced their new trio is Los Chacales (Los Jackals), a name that’s been used by others in CMLL previously (Bestia Salvaje, Emilio Charles Jr and Sangre Chicana.) This time, the name was said to be picked by a fan, who will be getting a mask or facemask from each wrestler.

CMLL mentions their Televisa TV show (“CMLL Pura Lucha”) will air at 1:15 pm this Saturday. The show normally airs around 4:30 pm Mexico City time and airs matches from the previous Friday; this Saturday will have the CMLL Universal final. I’m not sure exactly why it’s moving – online programming listings still have it at the normal slot, and Mexican TV companies are really bad at updating those – but I suspect it has something to do with coverage of Canelo Alvarez’s boxing match on Saturday.

05/21 NJPW US (Los Angeles)

  • Stephanie Vaquer vs Mercedes Mone in a NJPW Strong Women’s championship semifinal
  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Bad Dude Tito vs Virus & Barbaro Cavernario

I was guessing that Vaquer counted as the usual one CMLL rep on the show. Not so fast. Virus and ZSJ on opposite sides of a tag match will be a cool thing. Team CMLL is probably losing both matches but it’s possible they can beat Bad Dude Tito.

Panteirta del Ring Jr. says he used to think about Raider or Gran Guerrero as his biggest rivals after facing them in the Gran Alternativa final, but now believe it’s Templario after the match two weeks ago. Panterita’s current goal is to win all the national championships, with him noting it’ll take a long time to achieve.

Difunto feels his career in Guadalajara was stunted a bit because of grudges people had against his father (Monje Cavernario) and was happy to break through into Arena Coliseo Guadalajara finally. Before that, he was wrestling on the indies and did not like it – he feels there are a lot of people who are barely trained and doing unsafe things on those shows. Difunto’s father was his first trainer and hard on him, but Difunto believes he’s a better wrestler for it.

AAA

AAA on Space finishes off the Lucha Libre World Cup this Saturday.

Vampiro now says he was hospitalized after TripleMania Monterrey, he has more than 26 bruises on his head, and one more bad blow could kill him. (Vampiro wrestled a few days later.) He also says he’s in talks with AAA about a retirement show. I suspect Vampiro will be honored at TripleMania Mexico City.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 05/04/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star Jr. b Ei Bi Ci LIVE🔴 | Por el CAMPEONATO de MÉXICO: Hellboy (C) vs Gianni Valetta + 4 luchas más (posted by mluchatv)
2) Gannicus & John Tito b Mr. Mike & Rey Halcón LIVE🔴 | Por el CAMPEONATO de MÉXICO: Hellboy (C) vs Gianni Valetta + 4 luchas más (posted by mluchatv)
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Asterboy & Puma de Oro and Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. LIVE🔴 | Por el CAMPEONATO de MÉXICO: Hellboy (C) vs Gianni Valetta + 4 luchas más (posted by mluchatv)
Leon Dorado & Mr. Leo challenged Puma de Oro to title matches.
4) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Lolita, Super Mario AK47 b Kuukai, Miss Kath, Nosaki LIVE🔴 | Por el CAMPEONATO de MÉXICO: Hellboy (C) vs Gianni Valetta + 4 luchas más (posted by mluchatv)
Kuukai replaced Nishikawa
5) Hell Boy © b Gianna Valetta [IWRG MEXICO] LIVE🔴 | Por el CAMPEONATO de MÉXICO: Hellboy (C) vs Gianni Valetta + 4 luchas más (posted by mluchatv)
2nd defense. Hell Boy retained despite Nozaki interfering.

The main event looks like a generic indie title match with lots of interference until it backfired to set up the finish.

IWRG’s added an entrance video board. They’re going to have to figure out how to handle substitutions (Nishikawa’s video played for Kuuaki, changes happen a lot here) but it’s a nice upgrade. The current Arena Naucalpan look came from remodeling as part of filming scenes for Nacho Libre there and the video board is the biggest upgrade since.

IWRG (SUN) 05/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Fussion vs Rey Aztaroth & Rey Halcón
2) Spider Fly vs Águila Roja [IWRG IC Light]
3rd defense
3) Tonalli © vs Aramis [IWRG IC WELTER]
3rd defense
4) 1 vs 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930 [Rey del Ring]

This is IWRG’s annual royal rumble match, with no participants announced in advance. Tonalli versus Aramis is the third match in the series. The first was a draw, Aramis won match two, I’d expect Tonalli to win match three. My guess is Tonalli isn’t as much in CMLL as it seems on screen if they’re letting him work this feud, though even that seems inconsistent – they cut ties with Faby Apache for teh same thing.

This is a Mas Lucha premium show. I think they’ll be running last week’s IWRG show prior on Sunday.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (SAT) 05/27/2023 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Aeroqueen & Reiya vs La Brava & Vórtice
2) Cometa Maya & Radioactivo vs El Machote & Máscara Año 2000 Jr.  [BIG LUCHA MIXA, semifinal]
3) Skayde, Tirano, Viajero vs Brujo De Iztapalapa, Cobarde Jr., Forneo
4) Bendito & Flamita vs Sol & Torito Negro [BIG LUCHA MIXA, semifinal]
5) El Potro de Oro, Gravity, Rey Horus vs Iku, Jack Evans, Vengador
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [BIG LUCHA MIXA, final]
7) El Bandido & Galeno del Mal vs Emperador Azteca & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Súper Nova & Texano Jr.

This is the next streaming show. The big news is the introduction of tag titles, called “Mixa” here. All the finals which don’t involve a member of the Los Dinamtias sound good, and it gives new people a big match which might not be Black Generation versus Golden Guns. I still am skeptical Bandido is making these shows.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Dean Rasmussen of the Death Vallery Driver Video Review passed away on Thursday. I read his and the rest of the crew’s reviews of wrestling regularly in the 90s and 00s, and posted on their board a bunch. He was intensively creative in what he was interested in and how he wrote about it. He’ll be missed.

Dralistico beat Rey Escorpion in their match in NOAH on Thursday. It sounds like Rey Escorpion did well (and that they tried to work a rematch in post match promos.) Dralistico is headed to Orlando for ROH tapings this weekend. Daga betrayed Eita in their tag match. Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. retained the GHC National Championship on the same show. The older Dr. Wagner Jr. was not considered an impressive wrestler in his early years until he started touring Japan and everything clicked in to place for him. His son has taken after him in a lot of ways. Wagner 3 has gotten very strong reviews in his last few defenses as if everything clicked in place for him as well.

AAW has Fenix versus Gringo Loco this Saturday, and it streams live on Highspots. I have a ticket to this show but I’m not yet sure if I’ll be able to make it. (Or how to get there, it’s a new venue and there’s not much parking.)

GCW announced Hijo del Vikingo vs Metalik for their 06/23 show in Chicago. Metalik previously was avoiding indie shows with AAA wrestlers as part of staying loyal to CMLL. I think he still would prefer to go back to CMLL, but he’s got fewer options now that it’s taken so long for whatever visa/residency paperwork he’s been waiting for to get approved.

AULL announced Baronessa would not appear on their 05/21 show due to health reasons and that she’ll be out an extended period of time. Baronessa wrestled this past weekend with no obvious injury, though she was strangely forced to give up Robles Promotion’s Women’s championship.

An article about the history of wrestling in Puebla pre-Arena Puebla seems good, but ends with suggesting that there has been no other lucha libre arena in Puebla until the opening of “Arena Divina Independencia.” That is not true; arenas like Arena Coliseo San Ramon have been running for some time.

Pistolero Negro wrestled at the school he graduated from.