Category: news

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México
1) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario
4) Arkalis & Atlantis vs Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. and El Suicida & Titán and Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Blue Panther & Cachorro and Neón & Stuka Jr. and Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa]

This is a battle royal, four quarterfinals and two semifinals, with the last two meeting next week.

Panterita del Ring Jr. looks like the winner on paper. Panterita del Ring may not be the winner and may not be advancing even to the final. The Panteritas, father & son, are among those booked for a show in Saltillo next Friday. Lineups can change, but it looks likely the best prospect CMLL has will not be in Mexico City for the finals of the best prospect tournament. Raider (& Gran Guerrero) and Suicida (& Titan) seems the most likely final now. That match should be very good and both guys would be logical winners if Panterita didn’t exist. Suicida/Titan going from opponents on the Noche de Campeones show to partners as winners in the Gran Alternativa would be a good story. I haven’t seen Cachorro on that level but I would have no objections to Blue Panther in a big match next week.

The tercera could be great if they want it to be great. And if everyone is healthy. Niebla Roja is still listed, so his knee injury on Saturday.

The Tuesday Arena Mexico shows will return to CMLL’s own digital media channels starting this week. The shows will be live, free and available worldwide on both YouTube and Facebook. CMLL had one-off live streams the last two years, and this is a return to a weekly free live wrestling show.

Tuesday shows have been airing on MarcaClaro, with CMLL getting a small rights fee in exchange. MarcaClaro streamed the Friday shows. I suspect this is more likely MarcaClaro getting out of this business (for the time being.)  MarcaClaro’s transmissions had far more frequent issues than CMLL self-produced streams, and were limited to Mexico only; they wouldn’t be missed if they were gone. It is possible, but less likely, this is MarcaClaro going back to Friday shows and replacing TicketmasterLive there. That has it’s advantages and disadvantages, none of which are worth worrying about unless it actually happens. All December Friday night CMLL shows remain listed on TicketmasterLive.

I’ve been using a VPN and proxy servers to download these shows and put them on the Google Drive, and that process has been annoying and lengthy. I’m very glad not to have to deal with that any more. I may continue to archive any important matches on the Google Drive like I’ve done for pre-2020 years in case CMLL’s YouTube channel ever disappear, but not the whole shows. There’s no point.

CMLL announced their lineups for Christmas Day and the two Best of 2022 shows. (The 01/01 lineup has not been fully announced yet.)

CMLL (SUN) 12/25/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pierrothito
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Yota
4) Atlantis, Hijo de Octagón, Octagón vs Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Templario
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

Christmas Day is sometimes a free stream. It’s OK if they don’t stream it this year. The main event could be fun but I rather spend Christmas Day sad and alone than watching an Octagon match.

The problems with the Micro division are they don’t have many wrestlers, and their top face act are rudos Micro Gemelos Diablos. CMLL has addressed this problem by adding a heel to team with them, which is likely to be usual partner Micro Angel getting a new gimmick.

CMLL (MON) 12/19/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Siki Ozama Jr. vs Black Tiger & Espíritu Maligno
2) Fuego, Halcón Suriano Jr., Príncipe Odín Jr. vs El Perverso, Millenium, Prayer
3) Princesa Sugehit © vs Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]
6th defense
4) Hijo de Octagón, Stigma, Valiente vs Cavernario, Templario, Yota
5) Místico & Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This is the first eight PM start time show. They’re also doing a bit where fans who buy tickets in the first few rows can come in the ring and take a photo with the wrestlers in the main event after the match. Those decisions in pairs feel like attendance-driven moves. CMLL Arena Mexico doing less rivaliest to be more friendly to tourist/super casual fans works for them, but is a bit of a problem for locations that are mostly regular weekly fans. Guadalajara’s gone with a different formula to work there and Puebla may eventually need to do the same. There definitely is something local going on with Hijo de Octagon showing up here and only here consistently.

CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Black Boy, Estrella Oriental Jr., Mortis
2) Luminoso, Minotauro, Quka vs Cris Skin, Gallero, Javier Cruz Jr.
3) Ángel Rebelde, Draego, Optimus, Trono vs Barboza, JKR, Persa, Temerario
4) Luna, Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs La Magnifica, Nexy, Sol (Jalisco), Valkyira
5) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr.

There are so many people booked. Guadalajara isn’t drawing that much better than the Tuesday/Sunday CMLL shows and they’re booking more people. It leads to certain assumptions about the rate of pay for some of these guys.

The main event is an unusual combination for regular CDMX people, Dulce Atrapsuenos usually don’t get up to the Guerreros level. Semi-main is all four Cavernario brothers.

I’m sure the woman named “Sol” had that name before she got booked in Guadalajara. In any other country, the promoters would either ask Sol to use a slightly different name to prevent confusion or (more often) dictate the name she’ll use when working for this group. That just doesn’t seem to happen in Mexico outside of the biggest groups, which apparently Arena Coliseo Guadalajara isn’t one. I’ve got her listed as Sol (Jalisco) as to not confuse her with Sexy Sol and also the Mexico City male wrestler named Sol, but I’m not even sure she’s from Jalisco. Princesa Tiger appears to be a Michoacan based wrestler.

Guadalajara also has a free show this Sunday with no lineup. Those have streamed on Facebook as of late.

CMLL (FRI) 01/06/2023 Arena México
1) Mercurio vs Angelito
rematch from 2022-05-27 (minis title match)
2) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
rematch from 2022-11-25
3) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Titán
rematch from 2022-01-23 (CMLL tag title change); Maya replacing Volador Jr.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
rematch from 2022-09-30 (then a trios title match)
5) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
rematch from 2022-07-29 (Leyenda de Plata final)

Soberano/Templario is worth redoing and feels like it belongs on a best of show. The rest are really good matches but not as notable. The trios title match had the one good Gemelo Diablo spot, though it’s strange that the match of September 2022 is that one and not either of the two mask matches.

CMLL (FRI) 01/13/2023 Arena México
1) Esfinge & Fugaz vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
rematch from 2022-10-28 (then for MEX TAG)
2) Dulce Gardenia vs Virus
rematch from 2022-02-12 (Arena Coliseo)
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
rematch from 2022-04-19
4) Hechicero vs Euforia
rematch from 2022-08-19 (then for CMLL HEAVY)
5) Averno & Místico vs Rocky Romero & Volador Jr.
rematch from 2022-03-18 (Rocky Romero replacing TJP)

This is a good time to go over the process for these shows

1. matches occur!
2. CMLL picked about a half dozen matches per month for a vote on their website
3. fans vote for their favorites
4. CMLL picks some of those winners for these shows

Fugaz & Esfinge vs Rugido & Magia Blanca was not a good match – Fugaz had a bad night – but those wrestlers have enough of a fan base to get lots of votes in a poll. I don’t recall match 3 at all, but Ola Negra has support that always shows up so it’s not a surprise they’re represented somewhere in here. The Gardenia/Virus match only turned up as highlights, so it’s just the people in the building who know it if was good. The main event too neatly fits into the Volador/Romero story for me to believe that was totally a fan-decided match.

No sign of the Atlantis family or the Guerreros. That’s not too surprising, considering fan voting was involved and the Guerreros do not have strong social media fanbases. No women’s matches as well is shocking given that fan voting setup, where the women always do very well. Also, it just looks bad not to have a women’s match on Best of shows. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more vocal unhappiness about that, from both the fans and the wrestlers. It could easily be that no one’s just paying attention to these lineups yet. Alfredo theorized that maybe CMLL is waiting until FantasticaMania week to do something with the women, since they’re not going on that trip, and that’s as good as guess any.

No matches from June or December were selected. December is impossible to make it the way the polling is done. June could’ve been Euforia versus Terrible or Titan vs Fugaz. It might have also been Los Guerreros vs Los Soberanos, a match that doesn’t seem possible to happen now with whatever’s going on with Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero.

There are no Mexican luchadors announced for NJPW’s 01/04 Tokyo Dome show. This is a battle royal with all surprise participants, so it’s possible Titan or someone could pop up as a surprise. NJPW also announced loosening crowd noise restrictions. It’s not completely back to pre-pandemic and it’s only announced for that show. It’s a a good sign there will be similar cheering freedom on the FantasicaMania shows in February, at least the ones in Korakuen Hall.

El Universal has an interview with Bengala about the cage match. Bengala acknowledges he had a previous name and identity – he’s believed to be the former Sombra de Plata – and talks about how older guys looked down at him, thinking wrestlers under 90 kg weren’t any good and could only fly. Now he’s the old guy who does the “classic” style wrestling and sees guys flying too much. He cites Mogur as a tough opponent: “he hit you so hard in your chest that your back hurt, you had to get in the ring to defend yourself against him, or quit.” He credits Damian (666?) as teaching him various dramatic exists (salidas) from the ring that helped his style.

A person in Matamoros is passing themselves off as a former Mistico.

AAA

This week’s AAA TV on Space

• Güero Bandido, Monaguillo, Samuray VIP vs Johan Kind, Ráfaga Jr., Serpiente Blanco Jr (locals)
• Reina Dorada, Sexy Star, Sussy Love vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
• Arez, Bandido, Octagón Jr. vs Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, Villano III Jr.
  • maybe some build for Bandido vs Viking too

It’s on at 6:30 pm. I may be able to stream it at the correct time.

Below is the current card for Saturday’s taping in Ciudad Madero.

AAA TV (SAT) 12/17/2022 Domo Madero, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas [BWT Banana]
1) Dark Spíritu, Electroshock, Hijo del Picudo, Nygma vs ?, Avorto, Chaneke, Loco Castillo
2) Aerostar, Reina Dorada, Sexy Star vs Demus, La Hiedra, Maravilla
3) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs SB KENTo & Takuma
4) Arez & Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis & Parka Negra
5) Aramis, Octagón Jr., Willie Mack vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © [AAA TRIOS]
2nd defense
6) Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer
7) Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Gringo Loco & Villano III Jr.
Vampiro guest referee
8) Komander, Pagano, Taurus vs Cibernético, Dralistico, Rush
Originally Fenix vs Komander vs Taurus for the Latin American championship. Fenix announced (locally) as being off the show late on 12/14, with the new trios main event in it’s place. First Rush match in AAA since the onset of the pandemic.

The local promoter announced changes on Wednesday night, AAA updated their poster on Thursday.

Fenix & Penta have been announced as appearing at the Republic of Lucha on this day since at least November 28th, a week after the original card was announced. This is a late announcement both sides must’ve been aware of the date conflict for a while. It seems unlikely Fenix would’ve wanted to do an intense match for AAA when he’s in the middle of a demanding series of matches in AEW.

It’s AAA, so I’m unsure how seriously to take the changes. They could actually run the trios main event match, or it could’ve just been the simplest decision on Wednesday and they’ll wait to Saturday to decide what matches they’re actually going to run. Local fans seem happy with Rush as a replacement, though going from Komander vs Taurus vs Fenix to that announced main event is a significant downgrade in quality. Dralistico wasn’t good in his match in ROH last weekend, and it’d take a big Taurus effort to fix that here. Taurus doesn’t make sense on his side of the tag match but there’s no obvious place to put him. Vampiro is still listed as being the referee in the semi-main, but that seems like it’ll change. It’s an AAA card, they’ll wait to see who’s actually there and change half the card.

Still not sure if the Sammy/Tay match is meant to be a mixed-tag title defense. Doesn’t seem likely to change hands either way. I feel like I should ask on Twitter if they’re actually coming, but that may be too much trouble-making out of me.

This is the next AAA TV taping to air. I’m not sure if that means it airs starting next Saturday or if AAA/Space will go into repeat mode for the next two holiday Saturdays.

Dorian Roldan appears to be in (or was in) Qatar watching the World Cup and meeting with a local promoter.

Warrior Wrestling announced the winner of Saturday’s Johnny Warrior versus Sam Adonis match will face Hijo del Vikingo on 01/21 for both the AAA Megachampionship and the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship.

IWRG

The 60th Anniversary show

IWRG (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan
***60th Anniversary show***
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 [Copa IWRG]
all surprise names
2) Keyra vs Diosa Quetzal [IWRG IC WOMEN, final]
3) Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Abismo Negro Jr., Baby Xtreme, Hell Boy
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © vs ?, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura [EdM Trios]
8th defense
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Rey León © vs Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense
6) Blue Demon Jr., Heavy Metal, Tinieblas Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan
7) Tonalli vs Puma de Oro vs Aster Boy [mask]

This is a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show. It’s the 60th anniversary of the Moreno family promoting lucha libre shows in Mexico State, starting with Adolfo Moreno. The first home for the promotion was a rented rooster fighting arena, and tonight’s main event will likely be only slightly less bloody.

They’re going to try really hard to make the main event special. I think it’s just their ideas of what makes a special match just differs from what I’m looking for. I’ll probably watch anyway; IWRG will start before CMLL but stands a good chance of ending after. They’re pushing the idea Tonalli is done with IWRG after this show, even doing an interview with him and Ultimo Guerrero to continue to tease he’s headed to CMLL.

The third match looks like the next batch match on the show. The hope is this is a hot and packed crowd, and everything feels big.

The ESTO IWRG interview to promote this show quotes Ivanna Moreno, which indicates it’s age.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha gave out their 2022 awards Thursday night, with actual plaques and a ceremony. And vertically filmed video. These were all decided by Facebook voting via emoji.

• Faction: Black Generation
• Entrance: Bandido
• Luchadora: Sussy Love
• Luchador Revelacion: Dito
• Luchador International: Yutani
• Team: Los Gorilla Brothers
• Rudo: Flamita
• Moment of the year: Bandido becoming first Big Lucha champion
• Referee: El Mosco
• Tecnico: Gravity
• Luchador: Bandido
• Surprise: Bandido to AEW
• Match: Flamita vs Bandido for the Big Lucha championship
• Show: Big Lucha 1st Anniversary

There were also a bunch of special recognition awards handed out to people who helped through the year.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this latest Lucha Report.

The Cassandro dramatic will premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January. The important thing about this film is it’ll create unity of the correct “2s” spelling of Cassandro’s name should is be a hit, rather than the alternate 1s spelling. Also, it’s probably meant to be getting some award consideration if it’s showing up at Sundance, and award-contending wrestling often affects the local wrestling scene greatly in ways not easily to foresee – I’m not sure anyone guessed Jerry Lynn as ROH champion or Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania as outcomes when that movie was about to debut. The spelling part is slightly more important to me at this moment.

Aeroboy & Violento Jack won a three-way tag match to main event DTU’s 15th Anniversary show in Arena Aficion. The show drew just OK, with the lower half about half full and the upper level empty. SB KENTo and Takuma won the DTU Nexo Tag championships on the show, which should turn up on Mas Lucha.

RIOT announced Blake Christian is off their show on Saturday. AEW is taping Dark in Orlando this weekend; he may have been called there.

PWG announced their first-round BOLA matches. Some relevant matches

• Latigo vs Komander
• Aramis vs Shun Skywalker
• Bandido vs Black Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 12/12/2022 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Millenium & Retro b Nitro & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Stephanie Vaquer b Princesa Sugehit [lightning]
Vaquer demanded Sugehit make good on her word and give her a title match for winning.
3) Kráneo, Okumura, Yota b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Volcano
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
best match of the night
5) Ángel de Oro, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Místico, Stigma, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles] 
Valiente replaced Niebla Roja (injury?). Volador cheated Mistico to win.

This is the last 9 pm show (for now, anyway.) The new 8 pm start time starts next week. Volador and Mistico had issues going back to last week’s US/Mexico match. And for the last decade or so, I suppose.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Marca, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video)]
1) Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito b Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua  
Pierrothito replaced Minos
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela b Hera, Metálica, Olympia 
Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Astral, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 
Electrico return from injury. Tecnicos took 2/3
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black 
Rudos took 2/3, with Cancerbero & Virus challenging Esfinge & Fugaz for the national tag titles
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]   
rudos took 1/3

The main event pushed the idea of Stuka joining the Guerreros permanently, but it was a relevos increibles so it probably doesn’t mean anything. Cancerbero & Virus should win the tag titles. They probably won’t win the tag titles. Electrico returned after six months from a knee injury.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, thecubsfan]
1) Nexy, Sexy Sol, Valkiria b Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sol (Jalisco) 
Sexy Sol and Sol are two different women
2) Crixus, Sagrado, Vegas b Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. 
Vegas & Crixus replaced Gemelo Diablos (moved up)
3) Blue Panther & Dark Panther b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. and Flyer & Volador Jr. and Misterioso Jr. & Misterioso Negro [Torneo Heredero, semifinal] 
4) Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II and Felino & Felino Jr. and Euforia & Soberano Jr. [Torneo Heredero, semifinal] 
Gemelo Diablos replaced Valientes (Valiente Jr. believed to be COVID positive) on Monday
5) Atlantis Jr. b Dark Panther [Torneo Heredero, final] 

This was the shortest Guadalajara show I can recall. The stream is missing about 10 minutes of entrances and the first fall of the opener, but it still doesn’t seem to be a two hours show. They’re typically closer to two and half hours, and longer than that. I think they assumed the fourways would go long. They did not; the second one may have been five minutes, and the main event wasn’t much longer.

The four ways tags were essentially eight ways with an ally, so everyone had to get pinned. Panterita Jr. beat Volador, which isn’t super meaningful but still a bit surprising.

CMLL (SAT) 12/17/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr., Retro vs Apocalipsis, Nitro, Zandokan Jr.
3) Panterita del Ring Jr. © vs Inquisidor [MEX LIGHT]
2nd defense, rematch from July
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Negro Casas, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

The previous Panterita/Inquisidor title match was said to be among the best match of the year. These shows are said to be taped for Heraldo TV and there is a CMLL show listed on their programming grid, but I’ve never seen any sign of anyone watching it (much less putting it online.) The irregularly updated CMLL Twitch channel airs matches from random TV matches and has never aired one from Arena Coliseo. I’m sure these are being taped but I’m not sure if these are actually going anywhere beyond someone’s hard drive in CMLL. It’s so weird.

There’s no set up to the title match, and Inquisidor fits more with the second match cage people instead of Suriano. Maybe there was a change there. Panterita del Ring Jr. should actually lose, because he should win a world title instead and be facing more people.

This is the final Arena Coliseo show of the year, they’re back after the holidays on 01/07.

CMLL (SUN) 12/18/2022 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Inquisidor, Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Cholo, Halcón Suriano Jr., Leono [Relevos Increíbles]
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Volcano vs Felino, Felino Jr., Kráneo
5) Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto

I still assume there’s a big show coming on the 25th, but there’s no big match clear for that show. Maybe it’s unclear to CMLL if they were planning on doing something with the injured (?) Niebla Roja. Other title matches could come out from that main event.

CMLL Informa has Mistico, Dalys, Templario, Fugaz, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring, and Inquisidor.

Sin Embargo has an article from Mexican diploma Erik del Angel talking about the Copa Bicentenario that he helped put together.

AAA

Just some additional notes on the Hijo del Vikingo US streaming issue

• Anyone booking Vikingo knew the no streaming deal. They were told up front it wasn’t changed on them later. They were OK with bringing in Vikingo knowing the restrictions and the unhappiness that would result. How they decided to handle that situation is up to them
  • Part of the calculus in that choice had to be “everyone knows AAA is mess, we can shift the blame entirely on them, and people aren’t going to get made at us.” And they seem right. AAA’s image is so broken outside of Mexico that they’re easy heat magnets. AAA wants to be bigger in the US but doesn’t care about its image. AAA wants to be seen as a fun party to attend and is actually seen as a hot mess that can be entertaining and needly dramatic. This story feeds into the latter.
  • There were also a lot of people concerned about what this would mean to the GCW FITE feed in particular – would there be a 20-minute blackout in the middle of the show? I don’t know what they’re doing, but again everyone’s had months to think about it and figure it out, so they’ve probably figured it out.
• The Hijo del Vikingo streaming agreement covers digital media. It does not cover physical media. PWG DVDs are unaffected. Super Dragon has won the game. GCW could put a Vikingo in the US DVD after his run if they were so inclined.
• This is only a Vikingo policy. It doesn’t apply to anyone under contract (and, as always, there are a lot of people who show up on AAA TV who are not under any sort of contract.)
• I don’t think AAA is going to go after people for posting video of Vikingo US matches themselves. They have not gone after people for posting video of AAA shows and tapings themselves. The most that’ll happen is they’ll apply to monetize the video themselves, but they’ll leave it up. I can’t guarantee this will be the same going forward, but it’s not a big concern.
• AAA does want video of Vikingo’s US matches for their own purposes. It’s likely to be cut down to highlight to share as social media or maybe TV, and not shown in full.
• The common assumption is the policy will not be in effect, or at least enforced, for every. It’s just a guess that policy changes sometime after the Los Angeles show, there’s no hard cut off, but AAA’s shown that initial big plans can change or be abandoned over time.

IWRG

There’s not much going on here. No Thursday show with their anniversary show on Friday. The main event is guys who’ve been around since IWRG started their Tryout competition two years ago, so Mas Lucha is running a lot of footage from when they were first introduced.

Nacion Lucha Libre

I was going through this week’s Nacion Lucha Libre show, and it was the usual low quality effort. It does seem to have clicked to someone that they actually need do matches between their bigger names, and so a Cinta de Oro/Alberto el Patron feud sprung up out of nowhere. The rest of the was a lot of squashes. It also started about 15 minutes early for no obvious reason.

Nacion was supposed to have done three tapings this year, they’ve done two advertised tapings, and it’s getting a little late to announce a third show in December. This week included matches in an empty arena mixed in with their November Juan de la Barrera. I’m not sure if those matches were taped earlier in the day or some other time to replace that third show. Nacion Lucha Libre has always seemed to exist primarily as an international TV play, but the TV seems completely uncompelling, especially this empty arena footage.

You shouldn’t spend time watching Nacion Lucha Libre but everyone’s figured that out already. No one talks about this show. I wonder if it failed so quickly and is so forgettable that it might not stick Alberto. It won’t be another bad story going on his record if everyone forgets it happened in the first place. The video guys stopped caring immediately after finding out they wouldn’t be able to record it for themsleves, and no one else much covers things outside of press conferences or live events. You can fail in silence in Mexico pretty easily.

(In a similar vein: AAA’s TV show has aired on Azteca in weeks. I think it’s because the whole boxing/lucha block has gotten bumped for World Cup coverage, but no one’s appeared to notice.)

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

PWG will announce their BOLA match ups tomorrow, and tickets go on sale later that night.

02/26 The Crash/KAOZ/Robles

• Mr. Electro vs Pierroth Jr. vs Hijo del Medico Asesino vs Aeroboy vs Septimo Dragon vs Cobrade [mask]
• Flip Gordon, Faby Apache, Mecha Wolf vs ?, Natalia Markova, Daga

I’m not really sure who these matches are for. They’re running at Monterrey’s baseball stadium, with tickets from 2000 pesos to 100. That’s TripleMania prices for just matches with some random names thrown together. Good luck to all involved.

The Crash says they’ll return to Tijuana for their 11th Anniversary show on 01/28.

Coahuila luchador Principe Rayo needed medical attention after a hardcore match; I’m not sure why this was an article; it sucks for him but it doesn’t seem unusually severe.

Box y Lucha 3531 has the Copa winners on the cover.

GCW’s announced two things for 12/16 I’d been waiting to hear officially. Hijo del Vikingo will face Blake Christian (the only name of note not yet assigned to a match on that card) and Hijo del Vikingo will not appear on the FITE stream. GCW had the unenviable duty of being the first to reveal Vikingo can’t appear on streamed broadcasts. Vikingo’s been announced for other places, including Warrior Wrestling and Dreamwave, and those promotions will eventually be making the same announcements. It’s a total blackout: not on the stream, not on the VOD after. If a Vikingo match is taped, AAA owns the footage. The only* way you’ll seeing Vikingo on these shows is if you’re there in person. This Vikingo rule (among other rules) has been discussed among indie promotions over the last two months, with some fighting unsuccessfully to remove it and others deciding to pass on using Vikingo altogether.

AAA thinks they want the yet-to-be-announced Los Angeles WrestleMania weekend show to be as big a success as possible. They believe more people will go out of their way to attend if they haven’t been able to see Vikingo in the US to that point, and they believe keeping Vikingo off of streaming will help keep him fresh. AAA’s ideal world would be for Hijo del Vikingo to actually not wrestle in the US until that (not official) Los Angeles date, but Vikingo working in the states is something he’s wanted to do for years, and AAA has limited control to prevent it. AAA’s policy is to find a middle ground, allowing him to work some in the US but not in a way they feel threatens their own plans. AAA also has been increasingly concerned with presenting their wrestlers in a certain caliber of the environment – they’re selling the vibes of an exciting AAA show as much as any of the wrestlers – and may feel the venues US indie promotions are running in would diminish their brand somehow.

Keeping Hijo del Vikingo off streaming is a foolish strategy. Fans seeing Vikingo via streaming is why they want to see him in the first place. AAA banning promotions from streaming the matches will in no way prevent them from being streamed. That “only*” is because anyone who’s thought about this knows the matches are going to be bootlegged by fans in the US just like so many of them are done in Mexico, and just like was done with the Tempe show. AAA hasn’t stopped the video of Vikingo’s matches from getting out, they’re just made the process worse and less rewarding for everyone involved. If AAA doesn’t have the time and resources to go after my Twitch channel, they’re probably not going to spend energy on going after your iPhone recording. And there’s little incentive for GCW to stop people from raising their phones up and recording the match either.

AAA is trying to make Vikingo more valuable in the US in the long term for themselves while damaging his value personally for at least for the short term. Vikingo has lost bookings because the value isn’t there with these requirements. There are no known restrictions on using Komander or Aramis or Laredo Kid or Aerostar or Drago or a dozen other guys who can give promotions 75-90% of what Vikingo has to offer, who are also coming in at much lower cost. (That’s even if the promotion feels like paying for a flight from Mexico.) Vikingo is a special in-ring talent, but he has yet to prove to be any sort of huge ticket mover in Mexico. His heralded US debut in Tempe didn’t move tickets until Cain Velasquez was added. The reasons why are another 1000-word post on its own, but Vikingo isn’t Okada or Tanahashi or Naito at this point. He’s an impressive wrestler most interested US people have seen once or twice a year on stream, not one they’ve invested years of emotion into and have been dying to finally see live. Vikingo’s not that guy, not yet, and this just gives a reason for promoters to pass on him for now, and for Vikingo not to get the sort of chances he was hoping to get when he finally got his US visa.

This chronic lack of understanding of the US wrestling business is far more likely to tell tall in Los Angeles. It’s another short-side decision that achieves nothing except building ill will towards their own brand. You hope they’d figure it out someday, but there’s no sign of that happening.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/09/2022 Arena México [CMLL, CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (text), thecubsfan]
1) Fuego, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Dark Magic, Disturbio, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Relevos Increíbles] 
14:20
2) Dalys & Lluvia b La Jarochita & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, seeding battle royal]
3) Ivelisse & La Jarochita b Avispa Dorada & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal] 
7:04
4) Dalys & Lady Frost b Alex Gracia & Lluvia [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal] 
6:55
5) Dalys & Lady Frost b Ivelisse & La Jarochita [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, final]   
5:53.
6) Gran Guerrero DQ Atlantis Jr.   
15:09. Atlantis grabbed Edgar to stop a three count, which Edgar ruled was a disqualification. Atlantis Jr. argued the call and shoved the commissioner when he came in the ring tp back up the call.
7) Místico & Último Guerrero b Hechicero & Volador Jr. [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, seeding battle royal]
8) Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. b Hechicero & Matt Taven [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal] 
9:27. Hechicero and Taven fought post match (in something CMLL didn’t seem to expect to see)
9) Místico & Rocky Romero b Kenny King & Último Guerrero [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal] 
8:45.
10) Místico & Rocky Romero b Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, final]   
9:43. Romero demanded a NWA WELTER title from Volador after beating him; Volador refused. Both the men’s and women’s winners got their trophies and shook hands with Mexico and US diplomats to end the show.

The diplomats on hand were Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath (US Deputy Chief of Mission in Mexico), Erik del Angel (Mexico Coordinator of the council of sports diplomacy and cooperation) and Miguel Malfavon (recent former Mexico ambassador to Ireland, and seems to be a general member of Mexico foreign relations at the moment.) This tournament was explicitly said to be organized by CMLL, the US Embassy, and the Mexico foreign relations department. It’s nice that CMLL got to be part of it, it’s notable that it was important to hold a lucha libre tournament to honor 200 years of Mexico and USA relations. I don’t know if that’d happen with Japan and the USA, for instance.

This was not the Gran Prix. It wasn’t the fault of the wrestlers really and other was a decent amount of ceremony. The fans just saw this yet another random CMLL tournament and it was no different than any other show. Maybe they were even less excited because they saw the same people quite a few times. CMLL saw this tournament as a big deal – they gave the wins to the most important teams instead of spreading out the winners as normal – probably because the diplomatic agencies they were working with seemed happy with the presentation. It was a success on that count, and also nothing you’ll feel too bad about having missed.

On Informa, Rocky Romero challenged CMLL to offer him a one-year contract if he won this tournament. He won this tournament and was still demanding that one-year contract (though it appeared he forgot about the challenge until the press reminded him.) He’s surely coming back in CMLL’s orbit again to do that title match with Volador, either in Arena Mexico or next February on FantasticaMania. Lince Dorado also seems to be coming back, perhaps when/if Mascara Dorada is ever allowed to travel between the US and Mexico.

Hechicero and Taven fight felt like one or both came off their own angle. Don’t know that for a fact, but that was the feel. Avispa Dorada had a bad night, including the second failed tope con giro in a short time. The first spot of that match went wrong and it didn’t get a lot better. Dorada was a fun luchadora in her previous runs but this tour has been a disappointment, with more disappointing than good. Lady Frost looked like a standout on this show again, but Ivelisse and Alex Gracia were doing better than Avispa as well, despite less CMLL experience. She may have finished up this weekend with the other foreigners, hope she can regroup and come back better if she’s back next year.

The Atlantis Jr./Gran Guerrero finish was different. Grabbing the referee’s hand to stop him from making a three count was a signature Rush spot, though others may have done it first. Others definitely have done it after. It’s not as blatant as pulling the referee out of the ring to prevent a count, but it’s still something outside the rules that’s been allowed to happen because it’s seen as making for better dramatics. This ending seemed to be a planned attempt to undo that finish and re-write it as a disqualification. It also gave Gran Guerrero a win over Atlantis Jr. without ‘actually’ beating him. It was too chaotic to be clear it was a planned finish, but the commissioner jumping in the ring immediately led me to believe it was the planned ending. Atlantis Jr. shoved the commissioner, which often leds to a minor suspension. Gran Guerrero challenged Atlantis Jr. to a mask match; this is the first time of what may be dozens of times I write that line.

CMLL (SAT) 12/10/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Full Metal, Mercurio, Pierrothito b Angelito, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito 
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Difunto, Nitro, Zandokan Jr. b Bengala, Oro Jr., Retro 
Straight falls. Usual feuding towards the cage match
3) Alex Gracia, Avispa Dorada, Marcela b Hera, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) El Coyote, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Magnus, Pólvora, Rugido
Team Bucanero took 1/3.
5) Euforia, Kenny King, Yota b Ángel de Oro, Lince Dorado, Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles] 
Team Euforia took 1/3. Niebla Roja picked up a right knee injury in what turned out to be late in the match

Niebla Roja needed help to limp to the back, so he might need some time to recover.

CMLL (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena México [CMLL, The Gladiatores]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Kaligua & Shockercito
2) Bengala, Neón, Oro Jr. DQ Apocalipsis, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
straight falls, Apocalipsis unmasking Neon
3) Amapola, Olympia, Stephanie Vaquer b Alex Gracia, La Jarochita, La Maligna
4) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Lince Dorado, Stuka Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Kenny King, Último Guerrero

That’s it for the foreigners for this run. Kenny King also filmed a promo to appear on an Impact TV episode while in Mexico; not sure if he did it while at a CMLL show or not.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Olímpico
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia
3) Astral, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

That’s a very old main event for the new talent show. Electrico has been out with injury since June and he’s right back teaming with his pal Astral.

CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México
1) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario
4) Arkalis & Atlantis vs Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. and El Suicida & Titán and Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Blue Panther & Cachorro and Neón & Stuka Jr. and Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa, battle royal]
5) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
6) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
7) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
8) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
9) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
10) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]

Nothing new on the tournament, just a reminder the final is on the 12/23 show. I hate ending a show with an unfinished tournament, it’s an underwhelming goodbye rather than something that gets people to come back the next week. The tercera should be the main event instead.

Cavernario and Templario make surprising returns in that tercera. The caveman is back early; his injury timeline suggested he wouldn’t be around until January. Templario was the other way, taking longer to return from his shoulder injury than originally announced. (Also, as much as I fantasy-booked Templario to rejoin Los Guerreros last week, it’s probably worth remembering that it was Ultimo Guerrero who put Templario out of action and cost him a spot on Aniversario.) The second match has a slight chance of setting up a trios title match. Opener is a lightning match for numbers reasons.

According to an interview with EFE, the CMLL programming department is officially

• Juan Manuel Mar (aka Panico) – head of department
• Edgar Noriega (aka referee Edgar)
• Jose Luis Feliciano (aka Guerrero del Futuro)
• Julio Cesar Rivera

This is the first time I can recall announcer Julio Cesar Rivera officially listed as officially part of the programming committee, though he (and others) has been talked about as sharing ideas with that department. This should not be trusted to be a definitive list. CMLL would never reveal if an active wrestler as part of the programming department, so we can’t be sure if they left names or if this is a definite list.

Cesar Rivera says lineups are worked 1.5 to 2 months ahead of time, though there are always last-minute changes. Salvador Lutteroth Jr. reviews all the decisions. JCR, in taking about the weekly shows, says the Saturday Arena Coliseo crowd is the toughest audience because it’s mostly fans who’ve watched lucha libre all their life. The Arena Mexico cards are put together with the idea there are a lot of foreign fans who don’t know the rivalries and need to see more spectacular performances. Or, it seems, more tournaments.

Guadalajara’s La Mafia (Vaquero Jr., Omar Brunetti and Leo) will appear on the 12/26 Arena Puebla card. That’s another unusual Guadalajara/Puebla cross over.

Lio Rush & YOH defeated Titan & BUSHI in both team’s final league match in the Super Juniors Tag Team tournament. That meant Rush & YOH went to the final and Titan & BUSHI were done. By my count, that’s 25 NJPW junior tournaments (singles and tag) where a CMLL wrestler has participated and failed to reach the final. (Dr. Wagner Jr. reached the finals of the BOSJ in 1998.) They’ll likely get another chance in May. This should probably be a story in these tournaments by now, but it also makes CMLL look rather poor, so perhaps there’s a reason it’s not talked about.

Mistico beat (NJPW) Misterioso on the NJPW Strong tapings.

AAA

AAA on Space aired the main event and a couple of other matches from the Ciudad Juarez taping, with the rest next week. All the matches were fine and there’s not much to say about them. This was one of those tapings which really suffered from the way AAA produced their TV. The Juarez crowd looked like they were hot for the show, especially for hometown boy Pagano in the main event. It barely came through on TV, with the crowd reactions lost deep in the mix behind the announcers. A hot crowd can turn some average matches into something special, they had a hot crowd and some average matches, and it just didn’t come through. AAA wants to sell vibes more than matches, but you can’t get those vibes if all you’re hearing is the announcers.

On his podcast, Konnan mentioned Lady Shani was visiting a doctor to get her knee examined this past week and there was fear it was a serious injury. Shani missed a show in Guadalajara on Sunday but hasn’t indicated her status otherwise. Konnan also mentioned the plan for the Luchatitlan show is two shows daily each in the afternoon, and AAA had been auditioning actors and wrestlers (for different roles) in recent days.

Hijo del Vikingo was added to the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles as the 17th participant. There are usually 16, and 17 probably means there’s a three-way first-round match. First round match ups will be announced Thursday and tickets will go on sale then.

Gringo Loco defends the Dreamwave Alternative Title against Hijo del Vikingo, Black Taurus, and Rey Hours on 02/11 in LaSalle. That’s great news for me, the show is about an hour down the road from me. It’s great for Dreamwave, which went dormant from a couple of years and is now trying to get attention for its relaunch. It is a significantly smaller size promotion than I thought Vikingo would be wrestling in the US on these shows.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) John Tito b Kenji 
2) Diosa Quetzal b Sagitarius [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal]  
3) Hell Boy & Sick Boy DQ Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
4) Keyra DQ Lolita [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal] 
5) Galeno del Mal b Hijo De Canis Lupus 
Galeno del mal after the referee slow counted Canis Lupus, then Galeno del Mal used the ropes to win.l
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
Mamba got the win, then announced he woulnd’t be around for Friday’s title match and Paymon was actually the one who’d team with Las Shotas.

I was going to write “ah, IWRG kinda makes more sense, they just had to announce the full card before the trios title feud caught up with it”, but then Mamba announcing Paymon was replacing him put it back into nonsense land. . Why book Mamba and have Mamba win if Mamba isn’t in the title match? Who knows. Galeno del Mal apparently won in a very screwy fashion because he and his brother are (likely) losing in a very screwy fashion next week. Keyra/Lolita had so many problems that even IWRG’s recap acknowledged the accidents.

This show drew horribly for a Sunday show. Some of that is probably people passing on this one when they know a bigger show is just right around the corner. Next Friday is the 60th Anniversary and there’s no doubt they’ll sell out for the mask match and for the anniversary aspect. I think this week’s show is more indicative of where IWRG is at than Friday, but that’s just one person’s opinion.

ROH/AEW

Mascara Dorada lost to Jeff Cobb on the ROH Final Battle preshow, and Dralistico & Rush lost to AR Fox and Blake Christian on the PPV opener. Dralistico appeared to kick out before 3 from AR Fox’s pin in that match. Rush & Dralistico attacked their opponents post-match. I’m out of the business of speculating on Munoz family finishes after getting the Dragon Lee one very wrong, so all I can write here is the finish was confusing to viewers. Whatever  happened will likely be reported out soon or later. Dralistico was neither terrible but nor particularly impressive. There are conservatively 50 Mexican wrestlers I believe would do better in an AEW or ROH ring than Dralistico, but there are only three Munoz brothers and Rush already betrayed Dragon Lee (in something yet to be followed up on) so Dralistico had to be in that spot.

Also of note on the show, FTR lost their ROH Tag Team Championships to the Briscoes. It appears FTR will be losing AEW, ROH, AAA and IWGP title tag matches all within the course of a few weeks. FTR wore gear with dates indicating the start of their ROH title reign and the end of it, which seemed to telegraph the result. It may have been meant to correspond only to their feud with the Briscoes (the exact same dates) and absolutely didn’t affect most people’s great enjoyment of the match. I would recommend AAA ask them to go a different wardrobe direction for Noche de Campeones.

The biggest news going forward was the reveal of Tony Khan’s plans for ROH. Khan had stated there’d be news on ROH’s TV deal around Final Battle. The broadcast ended with no TV news, which seemed a Very Bad Sign. I had expected no more than a streaming network deal, given the negative current climate for wrestling shows on TV, and it turned out to be less than that. ROH TV apparently will be just a weekly TV show airing as part of a redesigned $10/month Honor Club. Live PPVs will remain separate purchases through Bleacher Report and will go up on Honor Club on a 90-day delay. The start date for ROH TV is not set; Khan pushed those would come after AEW’s bigger January events and NJPW’s 01/04 Tokyo Dome event. Khan also framed the new ROH TV as a home for both AEW wrestlers and international wrestlers, including NJPW and “our lucha libre partners.” Khan noted this show included both AAA (Dralistico) and CMLL (Mascara Dorada) wrestlers; Dorada’s shown more willingness to work alongside of AAA wrestlers as his residency situation continues to prolong indefinitely.

In 2021, Ring of Honor TV was available both for free on a variety of streaming sites (including Honor Club) and on various Sinclair Broadcasting Group TV stations. I liked that Ring of Honor, but that wasn’t strong enough to keep that version of Ring of Honor going. In 2023, Ring of Honor’s visibility will be only behind a $10/month subscriber wall. The 2022 ROH PPVs have reportedly done the best of any ROH PPVs ever, but those were vastly built via promotion on AEW’s TNT and TBS shows, and Khan indicated that would no longer be happening. I presume ROH TV is going behind a paywall because the ROH brand needs some income to survive (and “make it free on YouTube” would provide far far less revenue), but it’s hard to imagine this version of ROH growing to any great extent.

The best comparison for 2023 ROH is NJPW’s Strong show. That one started as something to do when NJPW’s previous plans for US travel had to be scuttled due to the pandemic, and “monthly taping of a few weeks of TV” was the simplest solution to keep going. It has eventually built up a fanbase, but it’s also a brand that generally does a few hundred of fans to most of its events and is definitely looked at as a developmental territory. Khan has pushed that Ring of Honor wouldn’t be a developmental territory, but it’s going to be tough to shake that impression if AEW is on national TV and ROH is lives behind a paywall to a fraction of the audience. NJPW Strong is also unlikely to be profitable on it’s own; it does as well as it does because the Japan side is keeping it afloat. It’s seen where as much as it’s seen because it’s an additional part of the NJPW World subscription, nothing something standing alone.

If you’re just looking as a fan, news of a ROH TV is plain good news. It’s something to check out if it’s good enough to get your $10, and it’s one of the million other things to skip and not worry about if it doesn’t go well. Khan’s description of the show sounds like it has some Mad Scientist/I Can’t Believe That Person Showed Up Here vibes, and that’s right in my wheelhouse. There’s a good chance I’ll sign up for it. A lot more people will probably sign up for Honor Club than the last version, even if it’s a lesser deal.

If you’re looking at this announcement as what it means for the bigger picture, this ROH TV is a very bad sign. A real TV deal for ROH would’ve likely meant the addition of permanent wrestling jobs, both in front of and behind the camera. A ROH existing on subscriber fees may mean more people are visible for a show at a time, but isn’t going to open up a full-time ROH-excluisve job for a Dragon Lee. This is the lucha libre content to this whole digression: it truly didn’t matter how well Dralistico fit because anyone in his spot seems to have a max upside of once-in-a-while tapings appearances. I take Khan at his word that this ROH project will include lucha libre appearances, but Flamita and Rey Horus aren’t exactly going to be getting their jobs back. And the next Flamita and Rey Horus aren’t either. They all may appear from time to time, but ROH in this form can’t be that sort of promotion, not unless they’re just going to pay people to pay people. (It also means a crowded AEW roster is going to stay crowded; there’s no moving someone over to a full time ROH spot if there is no full-time ROH work.)

ROH itself seems to be in about the same spot it was in 2021, existing as a short-term money loser in hopes of cashing in big via sale or TV contract down the line. Tony Khan’s love of Ring of Honor is going to cause him to stick with it a lot longer than Sinclair, but it’s fair to ask if running a second wrestling brand is the best use of his time when the primary one is going to have a very important year getting a TV deal. And no 2023 TV deal for ROH is a concerning sign for AEW’s own TV future; it clarifies that AEW’s success so far hasn’t convinced TV/streaming networks that anything Khan produces is immediately worth jumping on, and they could be similarly less enthused than expected when AEW’s own TV rights go on the market.

(AAA, which will likely be Spanish-focused, is probably dealing with a whole different selection of stations, and AEW/ROH’s ability or inability may not related directly to AAA’s hope of getting their own deal. Still, the overall environment for wrestling on US TV seems negative. If AAA has a chance at real AAA TV, as Dorian Roldan suggested a week ago, this news would make me more willing to take a ‘worse’ deal on paper rather than a wait for another offer that may not be out there)

The worst case is this lack of ROH TV deal is a turning point, a first disappointment signaling bigger ones to come. The best case is ROH TV on Honor Club keep some momentum to the product, and it does well enough to get bundled into that next AEW deal or spun out into its own deal sometime in the next 6-18 months. I’m more negative than I’m positive about this situation now, but then I’m almost always that.

Other news

Tamaulipas area luchador Sexy Fly (no name given, “about 30” years old) passed away Friday following a car accident. That name doesn’t show up in many posters, but he was listed as wrestling as recently as September.

Five aspiring luchadors earned their license in Villahermosa.

Segunda Caida writes about some Panamian lucha libre.

Ludark Shaitan won the XPW Women’s Championship on Saturday.

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 12/09/2022 Arena México
1) Fuego, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Dark Magic, Disturbio, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Dalys & Lady Frost vs Ivelisse & La Jarochita and Alex Gracia & Lluvia and Avispa Dorada & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, seeding battle royal]
3) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal]
4) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinal]
5) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, final]
6) Atlantis Jr. vs Gran Guerrero
7) Místico & Rocky Romero vs Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. and Kenny King & Último Guerrero and Hechicero & Matt Taven [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, seeding battle royal]
8) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal]
9) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinal]
10) ? vs ?? [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, final]

I have this listed as a single elimination tournament. Who knows. It’ll probably be good fun as weird as it turns out. None of the foreigners seem locked in appearing again before the next Gran Prix, so it doesn’t seem to matter which one of them actually win. Atlantis Jr. and Gran Guerrero has more immediate meaning. Panterita del Ring Jr. always has a chance to do something. This is on Ticketmaster as usual.

The Mexico government has been part of promoting this show. I’d expect some sort of official presence; I’m sure if that means the US ambassador to Mexico or some lesser official, but something along those lines seems likely.

CMLL still hasn’t put tickets on sale for Christmas. They’re definitely running. If they’re doing something beyond a normal holiday show, they figure to announce it soon.

CMLL Informa included interviews with most of the tournament participants. Matt Taven missed it to go work a match on AEW Dark. The message CMLL wanted to get across was ‘CMLL is a great place for foreigners to work. All the foreigners who’ve worked here would love to come back for longer.’ Some of that took the forms of jokes suggesting they’d come back for a long time, like Rocky Romero saying he’d sign a one-year contract if he and Mistico win tonight. Fantasy booking Ivelisse as a third member of Chica Indomable or Kenny King finding a Mexican girlfriend was more typical.

In Lady Frost’s case, Julio Cesar Rivera mentioned CMLL had specifically extended an offer for her to return for a longer stretch. Frost played it off like she was surprised at this news and didn’t expect it to be mentioned during the broadcast. (A Fightful Select article released seconds indicated AAA has an interest is bringing in Lady Frost as well as the CMLL mentions seconds prior. Fightful doesn’t report on Informa typically.) I would be surprised if Lady Frost signed a deal with anyone after just coming out of an unhappy contract situation with Impact Wrestling.

CMLL (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena México
1) Kaligua & Shockercito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Bengala, Neón, Oro Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
3) Alex Gracia, La Jarochita, La Maligna vs Amapola, Olympia, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Lince Dorado, Stuka Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kenny King, Último Guerrero

Probably the last night for the visitors. Maligna, here in the second match, hasn’t wrestled on the Mexico City shows since August. The second match is all cage match guys, and we’ll be seeing a lot of them grouped together for the next three weeks.

CMLL (MON) 12/12/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Millenium & Retro vs Nitro & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Princesa Sugehit vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
3) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Volcano vs Kráneo, Okumura, Yota
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Místico, Stigma, Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

CMLL very specifically set up Vaquer/Sugehit for this show and that’s not happening. Not sure why, seemed like it was still happening on Wednesday when they brought it up on Informa.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs Nexy, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
2) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
3) Flyer & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. and Euforia & Soberano Jr. and Blue Panther & Dark Panther and Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. and Felino & Felino Jr. and Misterioso Jr. & Misterioso Negro and Valiente & Valiente Jr. [Torneo Heredero]

I still don’t know what the other family tournament matches were about or if this is a single-elimination tournament or what. I do know Flyer hasn’t been booked in CMLL outside this tournament since his incident in Arena Coliseo.

CMLL Informa announced the participants for the 01/01 Sin Salida cage match

• Oro Jr.
• Neon
• Bengala
• Retro
• Nitro
• Inquisidor
• Principe Odin Jr.
• Apocalipsis
• Difunto
• Zandokan Jr.
• Valiente Jr.
• Milenium

It’s the names you’d expect, given the feuds over the last couple of months. Asturiano’s timeline has him healthy well before 01/01, but being out of action for the announcement seems to have cost him what might be his only chance to main event an Arena Mexico show. Maybe they’ll run another cage match next year and he’ll get a chance, because that’s a hard break. Bengala, Inquisidor, Principe Odin Jr., and Apocalipsis all fit “prelim guys who have been around forever” who typically lose on this show and nowhere else. (Nitro might be able to get himself an actual singles program.) Apocalipsis has appeared the favorite to lose his mask since he started these feuds. The winner is harder to figure; I’m guessing Zandokan because CMLL seems highest on him, but it’s not a safe pick.

CMLL also announced the Gran Alternativa would return to close the year. It’s an eight team field over two weeks. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on 12/16, and the final will stand alone on 12/23. The field:

• Atlantis & Arkalis
• Volador Jr. & Panterita del Ring Jr.
• Titan & Suicida
• Soberano Jr. & Halcon Suriano Jr.
• Valiente & Valiente Jr.
• Blue Panther & Cachorro
• Stuka Jr. & Neon
• Gran Guerrero & Raider

This is clearly Panterita del Ring Jr.’s tournament. He’s the guy. The only question is if the best option for Panterita is winning himself or giving Raider a big win now to help Panterita later. Raider’s been the Panterita’s opponent so far but is usually booked about a match below him. Raider will get moved up with a win. Still, Panterita is such an obvious future top star that it’d benefit him to get this spotlight and the history of this tournament to have him as a winner. It’s going to be a surprise if the 12/23 final is anything beside Gran Guerrero & Raider versus Volador Jr. & Panterita del Ring. Maybe Titan & Suicida would be a great pick in any other year.

The story about a “new Arena Puebla” turned out to be nothing lucha libre related, just people reading too much into the name. Government officials planned a 10,000 seat auditorium and put “Arena Puebla” on the paper without thinking about the lucha libre building that also uses that name. They’ve released it as a mistake and will change the name in an updated filing.

AAA

A source close to Cain Velasquez says WrestlingInc.’s report of AAA signing him to a five-date contract is false. AAA and Velasquez could definitely work together, but it’s said nothing’s been agreed to, and definitely not a five-date agreement.

The WON lists an attendance of 3,129 for the Tempe show, with “about 1,000” comped. They also report “only a few hundred tickets” were sold before the Velasquez announcement. It seems like people turned out far more for him than AAA, though the news around Velasquez might have been the first time many people realized there was an AAA show happening. AAA wants to run in the area again but may hold a future show in Glendale instead, figuring they’ll draw more Mexican-American fans there.

The newsletter also mentions Konnan has not attended recent AAA tapings due to kidney issues, and is booking/writing/ordering finishes via group chat. He’s hoping to make the 12/28 show.

AAA on Space tomorrow will have the first part of the Ciudad Juarez taping. (Results here.) No idea which matches. Arez, Bandido, and Octagon Jr. vs Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, and Villano III may have been the best match on the show.

I’m not sure what I’m doing with the stream. I’m not going to run an AAA stream against an AEW or ROH PPV with Mexican wrestlers, rather just watch that live and the AAA later. Right now, there are no Mexican wrestlers on the ROH show, but I expect that’ll change later tonight. I also have another obligation that may make me unavailable for part of AAA is streaming. My guess is I’ll do a stream later that night, but keep an eye on Twitter for more.

No big AAA shows this weekend. The next taping is Saturday in Madero.

AAA wrestlers made a trip to visit the children of La Magia de un Deseo for a holiday party on Wednesday. It’s sort of a Mexico version of Make a Wish, and it’s something they’ve done for many years.

A spot show in Ecatepec Thursday night (with “Psycho Producciones” as one of the local promoters) seemed to draw well. Corsario Negro Jr. joined the Vipers on the undercard, which is probably just a one night bit. Karis La Momia Jr. was added to the card, teaming with Mr. Iguana. Karis has been more visible than usual this week as part of the Panam sneakers promotion; he wore his father’s mask to promote the La Parka shoes on Monday, then did autograph signings later in the week as Karis. He’s been around AAA for years now and is never used for TV matches. Teaming with Iguana on this random show clicked that putting Karis in the Iguana, Hamburgesa, Microman group would be a good way to utilize him if they did want to use him on TV.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) John Tito vs Kenji
2) Diosa Quetzal vs Sagitarius [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal]
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Hell Boy & Sick Boy
4) Keyra vs Lolita [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinal]
5) Galeno del Mal vs Hijo De Canis Lupus
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.

I presume Mamba is the super partner for the Anniversary show as well, but then why is it a surprise?

IWRG has a form up to sign up for the 2023 Tryout competition. There’s no mention of requirements outside of having a wrestling license (and even that doesn’t seem mandatory.)

No new IWRG Retro. IWRG says the project is still active.

Big Lucha

I thought we were generally done with Big Lucha news for the year. I was incorrect. There’s a shot in Ecatepec on Christmas Day.

AAA , Big Lucha (SUN) 12/25/2022 Centro Civico Nueva Aragon, Ecatepec, Estado de México
1) Carito & Sussy Love vs Goya Kong & Lady Maravilla
2) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Black Skayde, Forneo, Hijo De Skayde
3) Argenis, Elipse, Niño Hamburguesa, Orbita vs Carta Brava Jr., Iku, Panic Clown, Vengador
4) Gravity, Pagano, Rey Horus vs Bendito, Elemental, Emperador and Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Bandido © vs Hijo Del Vikingo [Big Lucha CHAMP]

Bandido versus Hijo del Vikingo is also the main event of 12/28 Acapulco show that’s airing live on FITE. It’s not great for AAA to have that same match happening three days prior. Perhaps they all agreed to this home & home deal and we’re just finding out about it, perhaps AAA is finding out with everyone else and there will be an urgent request to change the match. This is listed as a Mas Lucha airing but I can’t imagine AAA will want to stream this show free and live.

Penta has a show in the same town on the same night starting an hour earlier, with himself and Panic Clown vs Latigo & Toxin. I believe Panic Clown is the former Kill  (Tio) Korton, who stopped wrestling under that name shortly after Panic Clown debuted and goes way back with Penta and Fenix. Korton has been seen around AAA shows this year prior, including working as a lumberjack back in Monterrey.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

Violento Jack defeated Aeroboy in an ultraviolent match Thursday night in Tulancingo. It’s a Mas Lucha subscriber show. If you like either man’s past extreme matches, you’ll probably like this one and it’s worth paying for. There’s a clip of it here.

Insolito defeated Asombro Jr. in a mask match Thursday in Arena Olimpico Laguna. Asombro Jr. is Sergio Alberto Castro Castro, 27 years old, 15 years a wrestler. It’s the third mask Insolito has won in 2022.

It’s not officially announced as I type this, but it appears Saturday’s ROH PPV show (or maybe the pre-PPV free show) looks to have Rush, Preston Vance (ex-10), and Dralistico versus Alex Reynolds, John Silver, and Evil Uno of the Dark Order. A video posted on social teased Dralistico coming in to join his brother and his new protege on Twitter. There are plenty of spaces for extra matches on the show and pre-show and it’s something that looked to be announced tonight as part of Rampage.

MLW’s TV show last night appears to have written off Cesar Duran (ex-Dario Cueto.) Court Bauer is now both in charge of MLW in real life and on-screen, which was Duran’s role. It’s possible Duran could be a manager or other personality, but the change was done off-camera with no sign of Duran, which means he wasn’t brought in to whatever taping they made the change. Duran is still listed on January’s TV taping talent list for Philadelphia. Duran seemed to be an attempt to pull in some ex-Lucha Underground watchers, though I didn’t get a sense many LU viewers stuck with MLW after checking in early.

Bandido is the 15th person announced for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles. That leaves one more person as a two day tournament historically means 16 people. Both Vikingo and Takeshita make sense for the 16th spot, and it’s harder to imagine PWG passing on Takeshita.

GCW announce Hijo del Vikingo for their 01/20 show in Charlotte. They still have not announced an opponent for his debut with the group next Friday in Los Angeles. I have not been following this closely but I believe Blake Christian is also missing a match for that show. GCW also announced Arez vs Cole Radrick for their 01/07 show in Chicago, which is almost enough for me to go in to Chicago.

GLEAT has Flamita & Yutani and Issei Onitsuka & Shigehiro Irie challenging tag team champions Hayato Tamura & Check Shimatani on 12/30. Familiar faces Gringo Loco and Jack Cartwheel also appear in a trioss withSeptmo Dragon. I think that show turns up on YouTube.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 12/05/2022 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Excelsior, Heraldo de Pueblo, Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika b Dark Soul & Dreyko
2) Alex Gracia, Ivelisse, Lady Frost, Princesa Sugehit b Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer 
Vaquer pinned Sugehit to set up a title match, though apparently, a lightning match might happen first
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa © b Arkalis, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [MEX TRIOS] 
fourth defense, 3rd time Fuerza Poblana challenging
4) Hijo de Octagón, Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Kenny King, Lince Dorado, Matt Taven, Rocky Romero 
Volador & Octagon rep
5) Gran Guerrero © b Euforia [CMLL HEAVY]
first defense

The loaded lineup helped put a lot more people in the building than usual. More so in the upper area than the ringside seats, which suggest the lower ticket prices for kids in those section may have had a role to it as well. Two title matches and foreigners also got the show much more coverage than usual.

Porra Fresa, which used to have a blogger page to post about Arena Puebla shows, has been writing on their personal Facebook page about these shows of late. That’s the only way I’m getting a result for the opener.

The state of Puebla government published documents on Monday indicating a they plan to build a new “Arena Puebla” in the town of San Andres Cholula, about 20 minutes to the west of the city of Puebla. MTP Noticias noted the filing and concluded this was a new lucha libre arena. There’s nothing in the note that specifically says it’s a lucha libre arena; it could be some Puebla equivalent of Arena Ciudad de Mexico. There probably will be more details about it to come this month. The planning stage is listed as lasting through September, so this is a long way off from behind build and we’ll find out what it longer before.

CMLL (TUE) 12/06/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Marca, The Gladiatores]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia 
Ultimo Dragon and Pequeno Violencia replaced Pequeno Magia and Pierrothito on Monday
2) Leono, Milenium (Puebla), Sangre Imperial DQ Cholo, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr. 
Sangre Imperial replaced Valiente Jr. (positive COVID test) on Monday. Inquisidor unmasked Milenium for the DQ and to tease another mask match. Tecnicos took 2/3.
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita b Amapola, Metálica, Tiffany 
Tecnicas took 1/3.
4) Sagrado © b Star Black [MEX HEAVY] 
first defense
5) Negro Casas, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota 
Volador Jr. replaced Soberano Jr. on Monday. Tecnicos took 1/3.

Minos got caught in the ropes on a tope and went down hard. He seemed to turn over enough to avoid a head injury. I have not seen much more of this show beyond those clips; it was still downloading on my slow VPN last I cehcked.

Millenium may be getting Asturiano’s spot in the cage, and now we know for sure it’s a cage match. CMLL Informa announced they’ll talk about Sin Salida on Informa, officially announcing the long expected cage match for 01/01. For whatever reason, New Year’s Day is the day CMLL does the prelim apuesta match historically and Christmas Day is something else. CMLL says “details” but not “all the details” so there’s wiggle room not to announce the full card yet. It’d be nice to get an answer to ‘will people outside of Mexico get to see this live?’ question but I don’t expect that answer.

This year was the year where it occurred to me “why do they call in Sin Salida if most of the match is people escaping?? Hay mucha salida.”

CMLL (TUE) 12/06/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el Ring]
1) Jabalí, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno ?? Exterminador, Maléfico, Thunder Boy
match left off the stream, no result recorded
2) Black Boy, Persa, Temerario b Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Obelisk 
3) Bestia Negra, Dark Magic, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II b Draego, JKR, Optimus, Trono 
JKR & Dark Magic added to the match, Draego replaced Halcon Negro Jr.
4) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico b Barboza, Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. 
5) Magia Blanca © b Ángel Rebelde [MEX WELTER] 
6) Stephanie Vaquer b Alex Gracia, Avispa Dorada, Ivelisse, Lady Frost, Lluvia, Maligna, Valkiria 
billed as an atomicos, but effectively an eight way elimination match. Vaquer beat Gracia to win.
7) Rocky Romero b Kenny King, Lince Dorado, Matt Taven, Difunto, Dulce Gardenia, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr. 
Zandokan replaced Averno over the weekend. Billed as an atomicos, but effectively an eight way elimination match. Romero beat Ultimo Guerrero to win.

The wrestlers knew what the match rules were, the people who advertised the show knew what the match rules were, it’s just those were two different rules. They stood in corners as if it was a four way tag match, but then everyone just hung out at whatever corner they ended up in when they tagged out. That’s kind of the way the fourway tag matches have been working in Guadalajara of late, but it didn’t seem like there were actual partners. I hope it’s more clear on Friday. Matches still seemed like they were fine. Rebelde/Blanca was said to be good until the finish.

BUSHI & Titan defeated Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles in the Super Junior Tag League on Wednesday. They’re now 6-2, as are 4 other teams. LIJ have to win on Friday (over Lio Rush & YOH) and need to have one of two other matches to finish in their favor.

CMLL did acknowledge Mistico is wrestling in Los Angeles on NJPW Strong on Sunday but did not mention NJPW Misterioso as his opponent.

Informa today has all the expected United States visitors, some of the Mexicans involved, and a Gran Guerrero to discuss being an alleged poor friend.

CMLL (SAT) 12/10/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pierrothito
2) Bengala, Oro Jr., Retro vs Difunto, Nitro, Zandokan Jr.
3) Alex Gracia, Avispa Dorada, Marcela vs Hera, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Magnus, Pólvora, Rugido vs El Coyote, Felino, Rey Bucanero
5) Ángel de Oro, Lince Dorado, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Kenny King, Yota [Relevos Increíbles]

This is more notable for who’s checking out early (Romero, Taven, Ivelisse, Frost) than anything particularly happening on this card. Everyone in match 2 is headed to the cage.

AAA

WrestlingInc reports AAA and Cain Velasquez have agreed to a deal for “about five more shows”, with an option for more. Dorian Roldan, in an interview with Record, says AAA would like to hire Velasquez to be a key player in their US shows, but future dates have not yet been confirmed. It’s possible there’s a deal agreed to in principle but it hasn’t been technically signed yet so both stories are accurate. Roldan, with Record, confirmed Velasquez’s manager reached out to AAA originally to talk about Velasquez working the Tempe show.

Velasquez’s impact figures to lessen the more times he appears, but AAA likes him a lot and he is a bigger US star than pretty much anyone else they have. That number hints at AAA having plans for about five more shows in the US in the next year or so; the possible WrestleMania weekend show is the only one known to be in the planning stages. Maybe this is a positive sign for a Tempe return. I am assuming Velasquez can not leave the country until his attempted murder charges get resolved, and AAA is assuming Velasquez’s attempted murder charges play out where he remains available for their future dates. This whole situation is strange so those may not be safe assumptions, but the nature of the agreement is Velasquez is likely only getting paid if he can make the shows.

AAA and Panam announced Psycho Clown, Pentagon Jr., and La Parka sneakers on Tuesday. They’ll be a limited quantity, sold in Panam stores in Mexico and online. It doesn’t appear they’ll be sold outside of Mexico. Reception seemed mostly positive to the designs. Panam’s commercial promoting the sneakers includes Psycho Clown and Karis La Momia Jr. as La Parka.

Mas Lucha talked to Dorian Roldan about the collaboration and a lot of other recent news. He said it was important to AAA, as a Mexican company, to partner with other Mexicans companies like Panam and jersey manufacturer Charly. Roldan was asked about the Tempe event; he was happy with the show. He put the attendance as “over 3,000”, saying it was bigger than any wrestling promotion without TV did in the US this year. He says the crowd was into the show from the first match all the way through. Hijo del Vikingo was said not to be 100% yet from his arm injury, but still did well for his first match in the US. Komander got cited as doing well.

AAA wants to go to the US in 2023 and Dorian Roldan wants those shows to feel like the shows they do at the Showcenter and similar locations in Mexico in terms of production, not smaller than that. (AAA is selling an experience maybe more than they’re selling the actual matches themselves, so they’re not going to run a smaller show if it compromises on that experience.) AAA has thought about running in Los Angeles for WrestleMania week since meeting with various podcasters at Ric Flair’s Last Match, nothing is set right now, but Roldan says to expect some good news on that coming soon. Roldan said, in addition, they’re talking with a touring company in the US about possibilities for a project in the summer. They’re also talking to a TV network that would be a “no-brainer”, but noted these things have to get farther down the road before they’re official. Roldan revealed his two favorite bands are the Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so he was thrilled to work with Billy Corgan on the Pumpkins/NWA/AAA “The World is a Vampire” festival in Mexico City. Roldan liked the spirit of mixing wrestling into a music festival setting, and both NWA & AAA hope the festival into something that can be taken into other countries.

Dorian Roldan says the three TripleMania idea was very successful and “I don’t see why we wouldn’t do something very similar [in 2023.]” This December Acapulco show is also meant to be a yearly event, which means a lot of tentpole shows on the card. Jose Manuel Guillen asked about the possible return of events like “Guerra de Titanes” and “Heroes Inmortales” and Roldan says they have and they will continue to meet with various local promoters to see their appetite for running those shows. (The local promoters are more responsible for that tier of event, while AAA is their own local promoter for the TripleMania shows.) Roldan’s gotten feedback that those promoters are interested, and it’s just about trying to find space in a busy 2023 calendar.

Penta now has “Pentagon Jr.” sneakers with Panam in Mexico and “Penta el Zero M” with Diadora/Champs in the US. I don’t think you can get one from the other country without someone helping you out; they’re only in competition for the collectors who have to get everything.

I’m catching up to this story midstream: the mayor of Guadalajara defended paid Vampiro 290,000 pesos to train police. Mayor Pablo Lemus explained he’d previously worked with Vampiro in Zapopan, where he helped reduce gang presence in popular areas, and would work with Guadalajara police on crime prevention programs in various neighborhoods. It looks like the money was previously reported as Vampiro training 100 police officers in self-defense, which is a fair bit different. For obvious reasons, there are people in Guadalajara who are skeptical of giving that much money to a luchador to train police officers.

The 49ers have a brief video on George Kittle meeting Penta from a couple of Monday ago.

IWRG

IWRG (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan
***60th Anniversary show***
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 [Copa IWRG]
all surprise names
2) ? vs ?? [IWRG IC WOMEN, final]
3) Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Abismo Negro Jr., Baby Xtreme, Hell Boy
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © vs ?, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura [EdM Trios]
8th defense
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Rey León © vs Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense
6) Blue Demon Jr., Heavy Metal, Tinieblas Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan
7) Tonalli vs Puma de Oro vs Aster Boy [mask]

They’re pushing it as three wrestlers who all came out of IWRG’s Tryout main eventing their biggest show. Tonalli is the one most teased to lose the main event, but there are fake outs and fake fake outs. Tonalli’s talked about this being the last match for him in IWRG, which prompted Mas Lucha’s Jorge Livan to jokingly speculate he must be taking Atlantis Jr.’s spot with Los Guerreros.

This is a Friday show, unusually so. “IWRG” has only been around since 1996. Adolfo Moreno started promoting shows in 1962 and this is the continuation of that; some initials to describe it just weren’t necessary for the first half of the promotion’s existence. As you might expect, this is a 60th-anniversary show that will be a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show, of course.

The funniest outcome on this show would be the IWRG tag team titles returning to Naucalpan, only for the Wagners to win them immediately and not get around to defending them for three years. Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. is still GHC (NOAH) National Champion and is definitely not losing here.

La Pandemia winning via foul was supposed to be the excuse to come back with the title match anyway, though that feels like a weak setup. Not that really matters; this will be a packed house regardless of how the fourth-biggest match was built.

Baby Xtreme was in IWRG back in July 2021, showed up at a Negocio Traumado press conference to declare he quit IWRG and was going to team with the other guys who quit IWRG, then never teamed with Neogocio Traumado and just went back to Monterrey. I do no understand what happened there but it didn’t seem to work well for Baby Xtreme, and he’s making his return to IWRG on this show.

The two IWRG women’s semifinals will take place this Sunday: Diosa Quetzal vs Sagitarius and Keyra vs Lolita. I’d put my money on Quetzal if I was forced to wager money on IWRG women’s championship matches.

Alejandro Alvarez was billed as the IWRG director of programming at the press conference. I think the Morenos are still involved in that part of the business.

No Thursday IWRG show, so there should be a new episode of IWRG Retro.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha , GALLI (SUN) 01/22/2023 Walther Christian Academy, Melrose Park, Illinois
1) Missa Kate vs Sussy Love
2) Torero & Viajero (Indie) vs El Potro de Oro & Sobrino Azteca
3) Dreamerbreaker vs El Bandolero, Skayde [GALLI DISCOVERY]
4) Bendito & Elemental vs Gravity (Indie) & Komander (Indie) and Joey Marx & Mason Conrad
5) Bandido (Indie), Galeno del Mal, Rey Horus vs Action Jackson, Emperador Azteca, Flamita and Axel Rico, Chuko, J. Manny [Copa Beginning]

When you’re bringing Viajero to Chicago, Big Lucha is really bringing anything. I was expecting Bandido and maybe a few other guys, but it’s a really a Big Lucha card in GALLI.

Big Lucha will give out awards based on Facebook polling, with the voting opening today and lasting for two days.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

A ROH media call is ongoing as I finish this up. It reads like ROH will announce some sort of TV deal on their Final Battle show this Saturday, and there may be less mixing between AEW and ROH going forward. It’s worth watching as far as which AEW wrestlers (Rush, Bandido?) are suddenly revealed to be ROH-focused, and if this means people hanging around the edges like Dragon Lee will pick up a contract. No Mexican wrestlers have been announced for the ROH PPV as of yet, but the full lineup isn’t out yet.

PWG announced Latigo for the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles on Tuesday. That’s pretty much the biggest match of his life so far. They didn’t announce on Monday, so #16 now seems scheduled for Friday.

DTU (THU) 12/15/2022 Arena Aficion
1) Black Miner, Maddy La Hija De Barrio, Rencadio vs Shao, Struendo, Werito Power
2) Magia vs Raúl Vidal Jr. (Veracruz), Samuray Azteca, Rey Eclipse (Estado De México), Ryu (Puebla), Discipulso 13
3) Adrian Alanis, Lima Gray, Shocko vs Camuflaje, Kaleth, Soberbia
4) Mamba vs Exótico
5) Lunatik Extreme, Ovett Jr., Súper Boy vs Demon Boy, Disturbio (Tamaulipas), Hard Boy
6) Arez vs Lokillo
7) Aero Panther & Fight Panther Jr. © vs Sb Kento & Takuma and Kastigador & Vengador [DTU TAG]
8) Aero Boy & Violento Jack vs Makabre & Paranoiko and Avorto & Demus

This is the last of three DTU Anniversary shows, and the biggest of the three. It may stream live on Mas Lucha; they did say they’ll be covering the DTU show on Sunday at Arena Mamas Lucha. The main event is meant to be an ultraviolent match. Arez/Lokillo could be pretty good.

12/17 RIOT

• Erik Ortiz vs Blake Christian
• Demonio del Aire vs Rey Horus
• Latigo, Bandido, Toxin vs Iron Kid, Arez Jack Evans, Willy Banderas
  • Latigo, Jack Evans, Toxocin vs Iron Kid, Bandido, Willy Banderas
• Byron & Kaientai vs Prometeo & Kratoz
• Jimmy vs Aeroboy – new

Lucha Memes says their March Coliseo Coacalco has “a huge possibility” of being their last one in that venue.

Milenio has a review of a Rene Guajardo biography. It’s framed as if it was a new release, though it appears it came out back in 2015. I would like to read it – i have a better chance of making it through it now than I would’ve seven years ago – but the only place I see it in stock is charging about 90 USD for it and I don’t want to read it that bad.

IndieWire has a photo of Gael Garcia Bernal as Cassandro in the upcoming film of the same name. It’s been a while since the movie’s gotten an update; there it’s said to be on Prime Video in “2023.”

Hidalgo luchador Ultimo Samauary passed away on Monday. No age, but Box y lucha reports he debuted in 1987 and his four sons in lucha libre.