Neon/Dorada to the Gran Alternativa final, AEW/CMLL, CMLL YouTube tiers

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser SportsLa PresnaThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. b Diamond & Oro Jr. Capitán Suicida y Halcón Suriano Jr. se imponen a Oro Jr. y Diamond en un duelo de relevos sencillos (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL - ORO JR. - DIAMOND VS HALCÓN SURIANO JR. - CAPITÁN SUICIDA / ARENA MÉXICO / 26-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Halcón Suriano Jr y Capitán Suicida vs Oro Jr y Diamond ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
10:13
2) Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. b Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. CMLL - H. DEL VILLANO III-VILLANO III JR. VS HOMBRE BALA JR.-GRO. MAYA JR./ARENA MÉXICO / 26-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) H. del Villano III y Villano III Jr vencen a Hombre Bala Jr y Guerrero Maya Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Villano III Jr e Hijo del Villano III vs Guerrero Maya Jr y Hombre Bala Jr ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
12:14. Villano III Jr. accidentally smashed a knee into Maya’s head on the finish
3) Zandokan Jr. b Akuma [lightningCMLL - MATCH RELÄMPAGO / AKUMA VS ZANDOKAN JR. / ARENA MÉXICO / 26-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) En intensa batalla a punto de llegar a los 10 minutos, Zandokan Jr lleva al conteo de tres a Akuma (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Zandokan/Kemalito vs Akuma MATCH RELÁMPAGO/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
8:59.
4) Futuro & Guerrero de la Muerte b Draego, Furia Roja, Max Star, Neón, Valiente Jr., Vaquero Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]
5) Furia Roja & Último Guerrero b Valiente & Valiente Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Último Guerrero y Furia Roja dejan en el camino de la Gran Alternativa a Valiente y Valiente Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Valiente y Valiente Jr vs Último Guerrero y Furia Roja GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
6:03
6) Max Star & Volador Jr. b Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Max Star y Volador Jr eliminan a Soberano Jr y Vaquero Jr en la Gran Alternativa (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Volador Jr y Max Star vs Soberano Jr y Vaquero Jr GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
8:05
7) Máscara Dorada & Neón vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Máscara Dorada y Neón se imponen a Bárbaro Cavernario y Draego, colocándose en la Gran Alternativa (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Máscara Dorada y Neón vs Bárbaro Cavernario y Draego GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
8) Atlantis Jr. & Futuro b Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Atlantis Jr y Futuro continúan en la Gran Alternativa dejando fuera a Averno y Guerrero de la Muerte (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Atlantis Jr y Futuro vs Averno y Guerrero de la Muerte GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
6:18
9) Max Star & Volador Jr. b Furia Roja & Último Guerrero [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinalVolador Jr y Max Star logran dejar fuera de la Gran Alternativa a Último Guerrero y Furia Roja (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Volador Jr y Max Star vs Último Guerrero y Furia Roja GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
7:34
10) Máscara Dorada & Neón b Atlantis Jr. & Futuro [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinalMáscara Dorada y Neón están a un duelo de la gran final al lograr vencer a Atlantis Jr y Futuro (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Máscara Dorada y Neón vs Atlantis Jr y Futuro GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
5:23
11) Máscara Dorada & Neón b Max Star & Volador Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinalCMLL - 2a. FASE DEL TORNEO LA GRAN ALTERNATIVA / ARENA MÉXICO / 26-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Máscara Dorada y Neón dejan en la lona a Volador Jr y Max Star llevándose la segunda eliminatoria (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Volador Jr y Max Star vs Máscara Dorada y Neón GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
10:05

I liked matches 2/3 as good weekly matches, nothing extraordinary. The tournament was better than last week and finished better, though there were still some bumpy moments in a few matches. It’s a tournament of rookies, that’s sort of to be expected. Neon & Mascara Dorada had great gear; the colors and outfits made them look otherworldly. Max Star so blew his teased Phoenix Splash before the main event finish that it was actually a sort of relief he didn’t win. I’ve come to the conclusion that Furia Roja is better than Guerrero de la Muerte in that team.

Tampa Bay Ray Randy Arozarena visited Friday’s show. Arozarena was born in Cuba and defected to Mexico.  Last year, during the World Baseball Cup, he wore a Mistico mask in the clubhouse for fun. He got to meet the actual Mistico on Friday.

CMLL (SAT) 01/27/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono & Retro b Príncipe Odín Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dark Panther b Felino Jr. [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto DQ Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
Averno unmasked Hechicero for the DQ.
6) Místico b Soberano Jr.

Averno/Hechicero sounds like the next singles match here.

Mistico and Soberano worked Arena Lopez Mateos early in the night. (Hechicero & Solar defeated Virus & Negro Navarro in the semimain, which has gotten good reviews.) The building looked about 75% full, which is better than the last show that featured CMLL wrestlers but still not a big number. That building will be full next weekend when the Trauma I/Wotan mask match is scheduled. There’s always been some separation between the fans who attend CMLL shows (even the diehards, not just the tourists) and those fans who attend indie shows. There seems to be more cross over between AAA & indies.

CMLL (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Robin b Grako & Nitro
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Kráneo, Raider, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán b Crixus, Euforia, Zandokan Jr.
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Místico b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Nothing jumps out as important here.

CMLL’s AMX show aired matches from the 01/14 show. (As always, they’re on the drive.) Live results noted Bengala left early with an injury. The video explains it: Dr. Karonte I tried to suplex Bengala on the apron, failed to put own Bengala down flatly, and Bengala ended up with a knee injury because of the bad landing. Dr. Karonte I seems to have far more of these incidents than anyone else in CMLL.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena México
1) Galaxy & Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal & Minos
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond [lightning]
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi vs Amapola, Olympia, Persephone
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Flip Gordon vs Ángel de Oro
6) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán vs Euforia, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.

The Villanos have caught back up with Atlantis Junior! That feud seemed long gone a year ago, but Villano III Jr. coming over sure has changed the arc of things.

CMLL (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Pierrothito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Crixus, Raider, Vegas vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) Katara, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Hera, La Catalina, Reyna Isis
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr., Templario, Último Guerrero
6) Brillante Jr. & Místico vs Máscara Dorada & Neón [Gran Alternativa, final]

The Gran Alternativa is always interesting for which rookie is going to get the big spotlight. It seems more interesting this year to see which veteran is going to win. Neither Mascara Dorada nor Mistico lose big matches in Arena Mexico right now. It’s a tag match and not a singles match, so the rules are a little different, but it’s a fascinating match up.

The semimain is the first time Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero have been in the same match since Soberano became a rudo. Will they both be tagging Templario?

Tessa Blanchard has to be winning this time, right? It doesn’t seem worth flying her in to lose all of there singles matches.

Katara, who just won the Occidente Tag Titles with Hatanna, is a third generation wrestler making her Arena Mexico. A lot of people know who her second generation is and I suspect CMLL will make it clear on Informa.

The opener is a bit strange. The mins feuding has largely been dropped after the cage match (which always happens.)

CMLL’s digital video strategy is changing again

This is the third change in about eight months. CMLL jumped onto Ticketmaster Live during the pandemic. They switched to a combination of a YouTube subscription and Boletia/Neerme in July 2023. It’ll be only the YouTube subscription tier beginning in February 2024.

Everything in one place on YouTube is the good news. The bad news is, instead of adding the content to the current plan, CMLL is adding new and very expensive tiers.

  • 199 MXN/9 USD per month: Tuesdays live, Fridays on 9 day delay
    • this is the pre-existing plan
  • 499 MXN/25 USD per month: Tuesdays & Fridays live – EXCEPT for the special shows
  • 699 MXN/35 USD per month: Tuesdays & Fridays live, the specials (listed as Aniversario, Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, both Gran Prixs, and Dia de Muertes) live, and “two matches a week from Arena Coliseo”

It’s a lot. The difference between the two plans is 16 USD just to watch the live Friday shows, and that doesn’t cover all the Friday shows. 25 USD is more expensive than any wrestling streaming service than I can think of, more than most general streaming services. That’s 25 USD for about 4.5 hours of live TV a week (and not all weeks.)

It’s technically cheaper with these plans than it was under the old system, if you were buying every single PPV. The YouTube subscription cost 9 USD, and each of the 4* January PPVs cost 6.31 USD with fees and tax. That’s 34.23 USD under the old system, and 25 USD under the new system. The difference is going to be less for Special Show months – they’re charging 10 extra for those when it was more like 6 on PPV – but there’s still some savings in there. There’s also the removal of the bizarre “show is only available for 48 hours” VOD rule – it’ll be up forever – and whatever value you put on the Saturday Coliseo shows.

(* CMLL actually did 5 PPVs in January, but one was free to anyone who bought the previous week and one was a non-Friday holiday show.)

The biggest plan is a plan, but only if you buy every single PPV. Very few people do that. CMLL was getting their money before and may still get that money now. They will no longer be getting the person dipping in for a show once a month. A 5-6 USD price is an impulse buy. $25 is not. You’ll get more content for 25 USD, but that’s not the calculus when you’re just interested in one show. Those people and their money are just going to be gone. Even for people who were buying most or all the PPVs, they were paying in bits and pieces. I can explain how it’s actually cheaper for those people, but “$25” or “$35” is a big sticker shock.

I’m uncomfortable writing about this part, but it is too big of an elephant not to mention in this discussion. The big turnaround in CMLL international perception in 2023 had much to do with the wrestlers’ great matches. It also took the programmers putting them in situations to have those great matches. It also had to do with international fans having an easy-to-access, low-cost way to watch those matches. “2023 CMLL” would’ve been thought of a lot differently if there was nothing like my Google Drive and if the two people who consistently post on Twitter about CMLL vanished. Dave Meltzer, when he’s giving some star rating to a CMLL match that causes hundreds of people to seek it out, didn’t watch that match through a PPV he purchased on Boletia. Voices of Wrestling Joseph Montecillo, or whomever your favorite review person who wrote talked a lot about CMLL this past year, aren’t hustling to watch every Friday PPV within 48 hours on VOD. And none of those people are about to start paying for a 25/month plan to keep up. I want to say AEW, RevPro, MLW, and whoever else would’ve figured out CMLL was doing good on their own with those sorts of people creating buzz for the promotion, but that’s the reality is that doesn’t happen. Most people outside of Mexico ignore Mexican wrestling unless those who watch it are super loud about it and make it easy to watch. I can be as loud as I want, but no one’s watching it if it only exists behind a 25 USD paywall. CMLL loves the international attention they’ve got, the fact they’ve got people like AEW asking to use their wrestlers, and that’s not a result of a bunch of people paying CMLL directly to see it. CMLL has the numbers; they know how many people are watching compared to how many people are paying, and they should know what is working to get people to watch their shows and what isn’t.

Put me and that morally complex Google Drive to the side for the moment. The match that woke people up to CMLL in 2023 was the January 20th Rocky Romero versus Volador Jr. match. It alerted people because those two wrestlers had a great match and because CMLL made it a free YouTube stream that anyone could watch after word got around about it. Both parts had to happen for it to hit like it did. That doesn’t happen with shows locked behind a 25 USD plan without someone finding a way to make those matches more accessible.

A bunch of questions I have about these CMLL plans:

  • Is that list of special shows the full list? Will other shows be added? Is there a guaranteed amount? Will the schedule remain the same? CMLL currently has one major show in March, then shows in August, September and October. Is there going to be anything extra (beyond the two Coliseo matches) for the highest tier people during those long stretches without the shows?
  • What happens to the “bonus” shows that occasionally show up, like the Arena Coliseo and Arena Puebla anniversary shows? Will they continue? Will they be on all three tiers? Just a higher one?
  • Which plans will have the New Year’s Day PPV? Will the Christmas Day show remain free? Are all the “Dia del Muertos” shows on the higher tier, or just the Friday one?
  • Which two Saturday matches will be posted? Will it always be the top two? Why is it two and not the entire show? When do those Saturday matches go up? Does this start this week or include this past Saturday?
  • What happened to the ‘new’ historical content, promised in the July 2023 launch and never delivered?
  • Why aren’t the Sunday shows, which are broadcast on TV, included? Why aren’t the Puebla shows included?
  • When will those two Saturday matches go up? Will there be a regular schedule? Will CMLL keep to a regular schedule, which they’ve struggled with on Friday->Sunday uploads?
  • Is CMLL aware that people on Apple devices (phones, etc) aren’t allowed to pay for a YouTube subscription on their device? Are they going to have to make other people aware of this?
  • Does this affect the Guadalajara streams at all?
  • How can we get answers to any questions? CMLL’s communication is one-sided messages on CMLL Informa if there’s any information. “No more PPVs” was stated on one of Alexis Salazar’s personal Instagram pages in a quickly disappearing story. It is great to know, but not a place where most people will see it, nor is it a useful communication strategy. Are they prepared to get by people asking why the show isn’t available on PPV this Friday?
  • How much of this pan solely relies on Alexis Salazar doing everything? If he goes to FanasticaMania – I think he is – does this content stop going up for a week or two?

This is a lot of thinking by me on something CMLL probably didn’t do much thinking. It may have been a short talk – “How much did these PPVs cost? We’ll just make a new tier about that much and make it higher for big shows.”

I will probably get the 35 plan*, because archiving all the content is part of what we do. It’s hard to imagine almost anyone else paying the 35 USD monthly fee. 25 USD is more the “normal” person plan, but I don’t think there are many people – normal or otherwise – who will pay 25 or 35 USD a month for CMLL. It’s just not realistic; it’s only going to be a few people who do so, and then it will be a question if CMLL feels like keeping their promises when they’re not making much money on it. There’s also no compelling reason to pay for that highest plan most months of the year; eight extra matches isn’t worth 10 USD.

(* Even I’m not technically paying the 35 USD myself. Though I don’t solicit it and make it clear it’s unnecessary, some people send me money to defray that cost and ensure the videos remain accessible.)

CMLL’s PPV data should reveal how many people are paying for every single PPV, and are likely to sign up for these expensive plans. I don’t have that data, so my guess that very few people will can only be a guess. I’m sure CMLL would make more money if they offered a single plan that was in line with what (most) every other streaming service does: a single price between 8-15 USD that covers every show; the increase they’d get in people would more than offset the cost drop. CMLL is instead going to keep trying a much less proven road.

CMLL/AEW

AEW introduced CMLL’s Hechicero, Mascara Dorada, Volador, and Mistico on Saturday’s TV show and announced they would debut in New Orleans this Wednesday. Their match will air Friday on Rampage, opposite the usual CMLL Friday night show. This is big news for the relationship, which had simply been “Mistico shows up as one off” previously. My understanding is this CMLL appearance is not a one off.

Notably, AEW didn’t announce a specific match. Volador/Hechicero versus Mistico/Mascara Dorada is the most likely combination on paper, but saying nothing suggests something else may be planned. Rampage matches are usually announced during Dynamite.

I have written this two dozen times and I’m not sure it’s getting through but I’ll write it one more time here: if AAA/AEW split it apart, it’s going to be due to issues between those two promotions, not because CMLL forces AEW to do anything. Another way of putting it is how the Black Taurus situation was handled is a bigger indicator of their relationship than any CMLL announcement. AEW is going to want to keep working with everyone, AAA is going to want to make sure there’s no obstacles to using people like Penta and Taya, they’re motivated to keep the connection alive. If it goes away, it’s about those two companies.

AAA

AAA will have a TripleMania Monterrey press conference today around 5 pm CT. It’s too early to get a whole card; maybe a main event and an Alberto appearance. They should once tease Laredo Kid versus Antifaz del Norte if that’s again the plan.

AAA aired a Rey de Reyes special instead of new matches on Saturday. This episode was a studio show, where the studio was the Luchatitlan ring, and the hosts were Luchatitlan in-house announcers Jesus Zuniga and his daughter Jessibeth. They repeated some basic Wikipedia Rey de Reyes stats, showed the last three Rey de Reyes finals, and set up shorter clips of the previous years. They pushed that Rey de Reyes would air live next week at 8 pm, but didn’t mention any matches or participants. The goal was to sell the event itself as an idea deal instead of anything that might be happening on it.

The upside of an episode of TV like that is it’s one more week AAA doesn’t need to tape. AAA appears to be trying to tape as few television events as possible in the last six months. That’s a concerning sign. AAA makes money by selling their TV tapings to local promoters, and either those local promoters can’t be found or there’s not strong/interested enough to pay for AAA right now.

From a viewing perspective, this means the second half of Mexico City taping won’t air until at least February 17th. Both it and the Queretaro taping will 5-6 weeks after the show has been taped.

AAA’s TV announced they’ll tape in Saltillo on March 9th. They’ve previously said Vampiro’s retirement tour will start there, which I presume means Vampiro will wrestle. Happy to be wrong.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reports Sam Adonis is working without AAA a contract, though he’d sign one. As I’ve written here many times previously, most everyone wrestling in AAA has been working without an AAA contract since COVID. AAA changed tactics in the last few months of 2023 and is now trying to get everyone under a written deal. Adonis fits as someone who probably was on a verbal deal prior, so this report is unsurprising for those in the know. Over the last few weeks, Fightful has reported various foreign wrestlers (most Bullet Club ones) for NJPW are under contacts that expire soon. That too was also unsurprising – NJPW contracts are traditionally are one-year deals that expire at the end of January. The ‘news’ instead came off like the NJPW wrestlers leaking their contract status to see if the added publicity would get open any door for them elsewhere and to manufacture some leverage in their negotiations with NJPW. Sean Ross Sapp does not report on AAA, contracts or otherwise, so it’s seems pretty clear where this news is coming from and why the “but he’s still happy with AAA” message was included. It’s a smart thing to do; most people don’t know what the contract status is for AAA wrestlers and it gets Adonis more attention.

Reina Dorada registered as a pre-candidate representing the “Citizens Movement” party for deputy of District 30 in Naucalpan. I don’t know Mexican elections, consult your local library instead, but I believe this means she’s putting her name in the hat to run for this office, and the party itself will decide which of the interested people they’ll put forward for the general election in June. (That’s done by primary election in the US, and seems to be more the local party leaders decide in Mexico.) The big wrestling questions when a masked wrestler runs for office is always “What name will they use? Will they run masked?” and there don’t appear to be answers to that yet.

The “big” AAA social media of the weekend was WWE wrestler Bayley appearing on screen at the Royal Rumble with a La Parka mask tied to her waist. There was a definite feel of “the cool kids at school acknowledged us!” in the reactions.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/26/2024 Zocalo, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, Estrellas del Ring, La Tijera, R de Rudo, thecubsfan]
1) Krissta, Nix, Sussy Love b Ariana Mami, Lolita, Satania
6:00
2) Dragón Solar, Obelyus, Rey Espectrito DRAW Piraña, Reiyel, Zenky
A time limit draw of a different kind; match was stopped due to daily ceremonial lowering of the Mexican flag, and didn’t resume.
3) Éxtasis & Ricky Marvin b Alfa Jr. & Platino
7:31
4) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Cody 1-8, Mr. Win, Viajero b Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo, Maniacop
6:31
5) Limbo & Torito Negro b Cometa Maya & Morfosis and Sol & X-Devil [BIG LUCHA MIXA, #1 Contenders]
4:41.
6) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. b Trauma I & Trauma II [BIG LUCHA MIXA]
13:09. Trauma I got the Lo Negro de Lo Negro on Texano, Super Nova pulled out the ref, Trauma I argued and then walked into Tornado Texano for the pin.
7) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Estrella de OroConquistadorRey Cósmico Jr.HeliosRed DragónKrisstaRusoFulgorM2RNordicoBlue Danger [Torneo de la Juventud]
22:39

This went up on Sunday’s Big Lucha show. It was a show of two halves: an undercard where everyone was super concerned about getting everything done in a short time span and a top two where matches had no particular plan or time cue. (Match 2 isn’t on the video.) I liked the first half better. The tag title match was veterans just trying to get through a match with no plan. I could either write 300 words about how bad the rumble was, or I gave up and fast-forwarded through by ten minutes in. My repeated criticism of Big Lucha World shows are the matches are too long for the wrestler’s experience. That wasn’t an issue here: they just had enough time to get their stuff in and no more. Match 5 was probably a lot better than it would’ve been as the 20 minute match in the gym; they had no time to fool around and do a million near falls, they just got to the big spots and first pinfall wins. I liked it a lot and would take more of it.

Match 3 showed that Ricky Marvin is going to be a really useful addition here if he does end up sticking. His style of matches bring some structure to a promotion that could use it. There are going to be clear tecnicos, there are going to be tags, and people are going to stand in their corners when they’re not the legal man (and definitely not blankly in the ring waiting for their next spot, like both teams did in the tag title match.) Marvin is still good at making young wrestlers look much more complete than they actually are; this was a better night for Alfa Jr. then his Lucha x el Barrio performance.

INJUVE and Big Lucha reported “over 10,000 people” attending this shows. It’s an unticketed public gathering, and there’s no normal way to measure those things; it’s just a crowd estimate. It doesn’t look like 10,000 to me in the photos but, if you figure in all the people who may have wandered past and hung out for a while before moving on, it’s certainly possible they had that number in the general area over the course of a couple of hours.

I didn’t see many photos of Big Lucha’s tour in the southeast of Mexico. What I didn’t suggests it wasn’t any sort of draw.

Forneo hasn’t appeared here since October and is teaming with Limbo on indie show as “Los Rebeldes”, so I assume he left here and it just got lost in everyone else moving on.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Fussion b Osiris
2) Sagitarius & Tornado b Kali & Rey Aztaroth
3) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. [super libre]
sets up a (previously announced) tag title match for next week
4) Carnicero, Granjero, Leñador, Minero b Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance
5) Tonalli b Hip Hop Man [Cofre del Pirata Moreno]
A battle royal. Results don’t list full participants.
6) Ivan Rokov b Hell BoyHijo del Pirata Morgan
sets up an Rokov/Hell Boy
7) Hijo del Fishman b Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG JUNIORS]
4th defense. DMT Azul helped Fishman win. Crowd chanted FRAUDE.

A promotion noting the crowd chanted Fraude at the main event is something. IWRG also talks about Tonalli returning to IWRG; he was on the show on the 14th. I feel like I’m not understanding a lot. Neither Mas Lucha or IWRG lists the names of the participants.

I’ve really become a strong battle royal hater in general. It’s another thing Mexican wrestling promotions have taken from US wrestling that they don’t understand how or why it works, and so you get nonsense like the Big Lucha one and the IWRG ones usually aren’t any better. It’s also a nuisance from a database standpoint; no one ever mention who’s in battle royals, so it’s just a slow process of watching a match, I don’t like and trying to see if I can figure out all the people involved.

Tijuana

The Crash (FRI) 02/23/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Bamboo & El Rey vs Khavall & Psycodelia
2) Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Rey Furia vs Ángel Metálico, Mirage, Mr. Maldito
3) Alan Stone, Máximo, Toto vs Arandú, Tony Casanova, Zarco
4) Destiny, Noisy Boy, Rey Horus vs Action Jackson, Emperador Azteca (Indie), Flamita
5) Dralistico & Rush vs Black Taurus & Rey Escorpión (Indie)
6) Bestia 666, Blue Demon Jr., Mamba vs D Luxe, DMT Azul, Pierroth

That card doesn’t look so great. The main event is supposed to be built around the DMT Azul/Blue Demon Jr. feud, which is in the same place it was a year ago (except maybe in a slightly different promotion) and will have teh same outcome.

Rey Escorpion showing up looks like he’s another one out of AAA. He barely appeared in AAA last year – he hasn’t been on a TV show since April Tijuana taping, and only appeared on one other show. He hasn’t been wrestling much anywhere and it’s unclear if he was hurt or doing something else. I believe “Black Taurus” is no longer supposed to use the world “Taurus” and promoters have been told, but that’s something US promotions would take seriously and Mexican promotions would be too inattentive to notice. Rush says he’s out with a hamstring injury so we can assume it won’t be an issue by this point.

Michael Jackson impersonator/wrestler Santana Jackson was listed as wrestling on the last The Crash show, didn’t appear, and now listed as appearing on the next AAA EMW show in Tijuana. I don’t want to believe there’s a promotional war over Santana Jackson but I also can’t rule it out.

Other News

02/04 NOAH has

  • El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. challenging KENOH for the GHC World Heavyweight Championship
  • Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf challenging Jack Morris & Anthony Green for the GHC World Tag Team Championship
  • Hajime Ohara challenging Daga for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship

This airs on Wrestle Universe. NOAH seems to be marketing this heavily toward Mexican fans. I’m not sure if they will pay 900 JPN ($6 USD/month) to sign up for something (and that’s much cheaper than CMLL.)

The luchador formerly known as Black Taurus is listed as working the 02/23 The Crash show. The Crash does use “Black Taurus” on the Facebook post and in their lineup, but not on the photo. I believe he’s no longer supposed to use the “Taurus” name anywhere, but Mexican promotions don’t always care about things like that.

An article about (a) Vampiro Metalico, who now works as a stuntman.

Gran Alternativa Block B tonight, Gran Alternativa, Big Lucha/Zocalo

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond & Oro Jr.
2) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
3) Akuma vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
4) Max Star & Volador Jr. vs Furia Roja & Último Guerrero and Atlantis Jr. & Futuro and Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego and Máscara Dorada & Neón and Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]

Mistico & Brillante winning the first block really knocks down the possibilities from this half of the Gran Alternativa. Max Star & Volador could work as rudos against them in the finals, and it’s hard to come up with alternativs. Furia Roja & Ultimo Guerrero and Draego & Barbaro Cavernario make sense on paper, but both of those “rookies” haven’t been featured in Arena Mexico when they’ve made visits from Guadalajara. They’re fine, but they’re also not standouts in their home building either, and not obvious fits for Mistico & Brillante opponents. Everyone else would be a big surprise, though thee should be good matches getting there. Even if Mascara Dorada & Neon ‘can’t’ win, they should go to the block final and that should create some fun action.

I have high hopes for Akuma/Zandokan, and the tag match prior could be really good as well.

This is on PPV as always. It’ll be up on YouTube on 02/04.

CMLL (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Mije & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Robin vs Grako & Nitro
3) El Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs Kráneo, Raider, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán vs Crixus, Euforia, Zandokan Jr.
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Could be a good main event. Maybe match 5 would be good if they can work around people.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Quka, Sangre Azul, Último Ángel vs Eclipse Jr., Gran Kenut, Relámpago Azul
2) Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria vs Estrellita Mágica, Lady Amazona, Lady Metal
3) Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel vs Fúnebre, Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro
4) Dark Magic, Elemental, Yutani vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Crixus, Difunto, Star Black vs Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
6) Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II vs Barboza & Zandokan Jr.
7) Atlantis Jr., Explosivo, Vaquero Jr. vs Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario

An odd mix of people in the main event, and lots of the Guadalajara guys from the main roster coming back in matches 5/6.

CMLL Informa announced half the field for the 02/06 Rey del Aire show

  • Zandokan Jr.
  • Villano III Jr.
  • Flip Gordon
  • Esfinge
  • Angel de Oro
  • Mistico

The other half will be revealed next Wednesday. They’re going for bigger names than usual for a Rey del Aire. That’s normally a useful thing to do, except this year’s crop of midcarders (Neon, Futuro, Brillante, Max Star) would’ve been fun all by themselves. It’s unclear if anyone of them will be included.

The other bit is both the advertisement and Julio Cesar Rivera are careful to say “the Rey del Aire starts on 02/06″, with no clarification on what “starts” is meant to imply. It could mean the final two meet in a singles match on 02/13, but CMLL will usually just outright say that it if it’s the plan. A two week tournament would also eliminate Mistico from winning since he’ll be off to FantasticaMania by the 13th, unless the plan is to hold the final some other time or place. There’s some game being played here but I’m lost at what it is.

Informa also announced the 02/05 Arena Puebla show would be a holiday (Constituion Day) 5 pm start. Stigma & Pegasso versus Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr. and Villanos & Zandokan Jr. (this week going by El Tringulo Imperial) versus Los Guerreros Laguneros are already announced. I expect at least one title match will come out of this Monday’s show. A holiday show means CMLL is more likely to record and air the show up as a YouTube subscriber bonus, though far from a guarantee. The 12/25 Puebla show was advertised as going on the subscriber channel, appeared to be taped, and never was posted to the YouTube channel.

CMLL will additionally announce the Torneo Escualas field and format next Wednesday.

Master Wato is off all upcoming NJPW shows due to an ACL injury. He was booked on most of the FantasticaMania shows, and NJPW announced replacements Thursday. Dragon Gate wrestler Strong Machine J will take the spot in Osaka, while MUSASHI fills in the rest of the shows. MUSASHI wrestled in Mexico in 2018 and 2019, even trained in the CMLL school. He never made it onto a regular CMLL show but did wrestle on CMLL spot shows (including teaming with Kawato/Master Wato.) MUSASHI teamed with old friend YOH in last year’s Super Junior Tag League and recently announced he’d leave his home promotion of Michinoku Pro at the end of February. Those two things in combination have caused people to guess he’s ending up in New Japan, and wrestling more New Japan shows will fuel that speculation. Strong Machine J is a second-generation wrestler, so of course, he belongs on a CMLL tour. His father was a long-time NJPW wrestler; his son ended up in Dragon Gate instead and wrestled in NJPW as part of an occasional series of matches where NJPW guys wrestle outsiders in prelim matches. Dragon Gate included Strong Machine J – who started off wrestling as if he was a robot and now is a breakdancing robot – as one of their six young guys who will lead the promotion, though J seems like he’s in the lower half of that six. They’re all just doing trios and atomicos matches, so it may have taken longer to read this paragraph than you’ll see either of them in the ring on any show.

AAA 

AAA this Saturday looks to be starting around 4:29, two hours early. They’ll have the second half of the Mexico City taping:

  • Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Reina Dorada vs Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Lady Wing
  • Arez, Jessy Ventura, La Parkita, Lady Shani vs El Elegido, Estrellita, Mini Charly Manson, Pimpienla Escarlata
  • Forastero, Sanson and Negro Casas vs Charly Manson, Super Calo, Zorro

Sanson appeared seconding his cousin Forastero at last week’s Guerra de Campeonatos, and that turned out to be the most newsworthy part of that show. Jorge Livan of Mas Lucha asked him a general question about a lot of news about him and NGD the last few days. It’s something Sanson could’ve quickly answered with a non-answer. You ask those questions because sometimes people will do what Sanson did here and just give you way more information than you would’ve expected. Sanson said the WhatsApp conversations between Vaquer & Hiedra should’ve only stayed in the prosecutor’s office, and he questions how the journalist got ahold of it. That fits his theory of a conspiracy against the Dinamitas, but also confirms those are real messages. His defense is that it’s the bits and pieces of the story manipulated to paint them in a bad light but isn’t telling the full story. Sanson says he and La Hiedra will film a video soon to explain their truth of the matter. Sanson vaguely but repeatedly mentions these allegations affecting his work. Sanson has not appeared on any AAA TV lineups this year. That doesn’t definitely mean anything because the Retro/Origenes gimmick means a lot of spots that would’ve gone to regulars are instead filled with names from the past. Sanson’s comments make it worth watching AAA to see if there’s anything more to his status.

Today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentions Alberto el Patron has a zero-tolerance agreement with AAA; he’s gone if there’s another incident. The WON mentions that “another controversial wrestler looking to rehab their career” is also coming to AAA this year. There’s no more information on the name. AAA’s Tijuana affiliate EMW has been using Marty Scurll regularly and Konnan’s involved in the booking of those shows, so he’d be the logical name. However, there are plenty of other “controversial” wrestlers in Mexico and elsewhere, so it’s no certainty. AAA would get a strong negative reaction from foreign fans on social media if they brought Scurll onto TV events, but AAA has largely forsaken that audience anyway and are unlikely to be moved by a negative reaction. These people are likely to be in top matches; “rehab” here isn’t really changing their US image (impossible to do while working in AAA or Mexico in general) but rehabbing their value as wrestlers in hopes a promotion elsewhere will want to bring them in and sell them as changed people.

Other News

Big Lucha has their Zocalo show today at 5 pm. Again, they’ve said they will stream it, but I wouldn’t hold them to it. They had trouble streaming in their own gym last week, an outdoor show in a busy area is asking a lot. A press release on the show mentions it as an INJUVE/Big Lucha combo show. For what it’s worth, Los Traumas and Ciclon Ramirez Jr. are listed as Big Lucha wrestlers, and Extasis as an INJUVE one. Ciclon Ramirez was originally part of the Big Lucha roster but left in 2022. Some of that may just be trying to source up the numbers on the Big Lucha side, since they’ve got another group (Potro, Lokos Evans, Tirano, Big Tao Tato) heading to southeast Mexico for the weekend, and all of Black Generation still in Japan for GLEAT. The Zocalo show is going to be most of impressive but I wonder if the southeast shows are actually the most important; it’d help the promotions and the wrestlers a lot if those were successful and led to more regular work. The Zocalo show is going to do well because it’s part of a free festival, the GLEAT shows are more a GLEAT deal, those shows in Campeche, Merida and Cancun are more a test to see what the Big Lucha brand name means far away from home.

A bunch (10) of Luchamania Costa Rica wrestlers are headed to Big Lucha for a couple of weeks of training.

ESTO interviews Los Serial Killers (Sable King and Necro Mastema), who say they were influenced by lucha libre and documentaries about Ted Bundy.

Penta will wrestle in GALLI on 05/19. He’s back doing US indie matches after only doing meet and greets for a while.

AAA schedule announcements, Rey de Reyes, early week CMLL results

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Black Tiger & Millenium b Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona b Enigmática, La Vaquerita, Lady Metal Facebook video (posted by )
3) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray Facebook video (posted by )
Okumura snuck in a foul on Pegasso
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio Facebook video (posted by )
Disturbio fouled Dulce Gardenia
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr.
Cavernario snuck in a foul on Volador
6) Máscara Dorada b Templario Facebook video (posted by )

Grada is very high on the main event. All three of those odd finishes seem to be setting up something for next week.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial b Enfermero Jr. [lightningFUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
8:24
2) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito b Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico FUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3) Felino, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero b Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano FUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4) Reyna Isis © b Skadi [MEX WOMENFUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
16:14. Second defense. Marcela and Angel de Oro as seconds.
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther b Difunto, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II FUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario b Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán FUNCIÓN COMPLETA DESDE LA ARENA MÉXICO MARTES 23 DE ENERO DE 2O24 SOLO MIEMBROS (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
straight falls for the rudos, setting up a Angel de Oro/Flip Gordon

The only thing I caught of this was the women’s match. Skadi was better than I expect but Reyna Isis’ stuff looked no good at all. The finish is rough, Isis going for sentons three times in a row and just whiffing on them. That was finish though, so they couldn’t just try something else.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Cosmos b Demonio Rojo, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero
2) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano b Obek, Rav, Temerario
3) Ángel Negro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Tonkawa b Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
Tonkawa is the former Gran Jefe VI
4) La Fashion b Furia Roja
5) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
CMLL debuts of Elemental and Yutani
6) Hatanna & Katara b Adira & La Pantera [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, final]
Hatanna & Katara are the new champions
7) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama Jr.
8) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis b Hera, Olympia, Persephone

A moderate surprise in the tournament final. Hatanna was the woman who suffered an arm injury in training and was selling masks to help pay some bills, so it’s a nice turnaround story for her. The match itself was not so good, neither was the turnout for this show.

Yutani and Elemental were mentioned as training with Ultimo Guerrero, so they’re firmly in the CMLL system. It’s a big system, so who knows when/if they’ll turn up again. It might be Torneo de Escualas, it might be another Guadalara show.

CMLL Informa has

  • Misico & Brillante Jr. (last week’s Gran Alterntavia)
  • Averno (this week’s Gran Alternativa)
  • Angel de Oro & Angel de Oro (Tuesday match)
  • Zandokan Jr., Villano III Jr. (Friday matches?)
  • Esfinge, Espanto Jr.: ???

CMLL (SAT) 01/27/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Leono & Retro vs Príncipe Odín Jr. & Sangre Imperial
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor
3) Dark Panther vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Hechicero, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
6) Místico vs Soberano Jr.

The top matches on this show look fun.

CMLL (MON) 01/29/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Asturiano & Rayo Metálico vs Blue Shark & Millenium
2) Pegasso vs Okumura [lightning]
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
5) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible and Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente and Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [torneo]
6) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
7) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [semifinal]
8) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ?????? [final]

Barbaros and world trios champs seem likely to meet in that tournament. Match four has the former national champions and the current ones. Match three is even the national tag champs. One of these has to set up a title match next week, because people are leaving for Japan the week after. Pegasso is probably getting a singles win before he heads out of town.

Titan appeared at the kickoff press conference for Mexico City’s Vive Latino music festival on 03/16 and 17. AAA wrestlers had matches on those shows for a couple of years. They left to join Billy Corgan’s festival last year (which doesn’t appear to be coming back) and indie wrestlers wrestled instead on the shows intead. Vive Latino billed it as CMLL wrestlers in 2024, but it’s more of a mix.

Wrestlers announced:

  • CMLL: Andromeda, Atlantis Jr., Euforia, Lluvia, Nitro, Raider, Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Stephanie Vaquer, Titan, Ultimo Guerrero, Zeuxis
  • Other: Action Jackson, Bendito, Century, Chico Calavera, Diablito, el Bravo, el Conquistador, el Vaquero, King Rex, Kratoz, Lobus, Potro, Prometeo, Relampago, Ryoshi, The Mummy, Tiger Lee, Toki Matsuda, Turbo

That’s a odd collection of indie names; a couple of Big Lucha, some from Monterrey, some I have no idea who are. It’s more a BARBA show (Saltillo) using CMLL wrestlers on top.

The 02/25 Lucha Fiesta show in Tokyo will have Lluvia & La Jarochita versus Sayaki Unagi & Mei Suruga. This is the Lady’s Ring show, the sponsor of Lluvia & Jarochita’s trip to Japan.

AAA

That AAA TripleMania press conference I was wondering about Monday? It happened on Tuesday. AAA did not stream it live and told the media not to stream it live. They put it up later that afternoon and all the media put up their versions right after, if you want to see the same video from five feet apart. This led to the usual mismatch of some things being reported live and others slipping through until later. It’s not ideal. AAA could’ve also said they would publicize the video later in the day, but did not. I think the AAA theory is people are going to be upset with them anyway so why bother.

The big news was the official announcements of this year’s TripleMania dates. (They had started to leak on Monday.)

Last year’s Tijuana show was originally June 17th, then got bumped back a month. They’re still tightly packed; all three shows will happen within 16 weeks. There was no mention of a Lucha Libre World Cup this year. This schedule means AAA will exist internationally for only about three months this year, since only those events are marketed outside of Mexico.

The other major events on AAA’s calendar

  • Rey de Reyes will be at a military base on 02/03.
  • Verano de Escandalo will take place in Aguascalientes
    • No date was given, but Aguascalientes is typically late July/early August.
  • Heroes Inmortales will take place in Guadalajara
    • No date was given, but they’ve run an event as part of the lengthy Fiesta de Octubre fair (technically in Zapopoan) the last year two years. The date may be September 29th or October 6th.
  • Guerra de Titanes will take place in Ciudad Juarez
    • No date was given, but AAA perenially goes to Juarez on the third Sunday of November. That means November 17th this year.

These are all easy picks for AAA to run big shows. Rey de Reyes and Heroes Inmoratles are sold events with free/cheap admission. The Juarez show sells out every year, and Aguascalientes might AAA’s strongest local promotion. Juarez is a relatively smaller building, but the other three shows and the three TripleMannis will likely be AAA’s six biggest attendances of the year.

AAA also announced the lineup for Rey de Reyes. They may have mentioned the location during the press conference, but they don’t list the location or the time on the poster. I guess they don’t want non-military people to show up. I am assuming it’s the same military base as last year; that’s what it sounded like at the press conference.

AAA TV (SAT) 02/03/2024 Campo Militar 1, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal
1) Faby Apache vs La HiedraPimpinela Escarlata [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
2) Sexy Star vs FlammerLady Shani [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
3) Laredo Kid vs ArgenisAerostar [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
4) Cibernético vs Texano Jr.Electroshock [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
5) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Sam AdonisPsycho Clown [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Torneo Reina de Reinas, final]
7) Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Mr. Iguana vs ?, Kento, Takuma
8) ? vs ????? [Rey de Reyes, final]

AAA said Space will be airing this show starting at 8 pm. I presume the live event is starting prior to 8 pm – again, AAA lists no time on the poster – which would mean week 1 of TV with the finals of the tournament and week 2 of TV with the prelim matches. No one else would do it that way, but AAA did that multiple times last year, so it seems possible. I don’t know this for sure.

The mystery person in match eight did not come off like it was meant to be a big name. That was treated more like an opener that was positioned later in the card to give a break between tournament matches.

There were a lot of other minor announcements, but one big thing missing from the announcement was any sort of tournament connecting the two TripleManias. It’s January, there will be at least two more press conferences before the Monterrey show, AAA could still announce something along those lines. The tournament announcements did come on this kickoff press conference the last two years now.

AAA instead focused on different people who would appear on the Origines tour. The backstory is now that Faby Apache suggested a one-off Retro idea, and it got so much attention that they decided to make it the year’s theme. Faby, Cibernetico, and Charly Manson appeared to represent past wrestlers who would be returning to AAA as part of this year’s events. (All appeared in 2022 events.)

Vampiro was also introduced at the press conference. Vampiro sadly announced his farewell to AAA on August’ Monterrey taping, leaving his boots in his ring. It got a big reaction, so AAA’s pretending it didn’t happen and doing it all over again. If you count his Facebook post after his disastrous TripleMania Monterrey match, this was his third retirement announcement in nine months. Vampiro will have a retirement tour starting on March in Saltillo and continuing through the rest of the year.

Dorian Roldan also hyped AAA’s great alliance with TNA, saying it would lead to more Mexicans on the US. Wrestlers from TNA would participate in big shows this year, as well as wrestlers from AEW and “US wrestlers who are free agents and not associated with any company.” Penat’s name came up in other interviews, so it’s probably him “wrestlers from AEW” –  maybe other people who’ve got a past in AAA additional. Matt Cardona was teased as coming into AAA-affiliated EMW promotions in Tijuana, and I believe he’s one of the “free agents’ who will be coming to AAA big shows. A Konnan interview in Queretaro hinted that Nic Nemeth (ex-Dolph Ziggler) would also be coming in. The biggest outside name was saved for last: Alberto el Patron is returning to AAA as a regular in 2024. Alberto said he’d be exclusive to AAA in 2024. This probably means Alberto works some, but not all, TV tapings and the big shows. The reason for all of this was stated again near the end of Dorian Roldan’s interview with Mas Lucha; AAA feels they need to have those outside names to sell those three annual PPVs.

I disagree with the thought that it has to be outsiders to sell PPVs – I think people buy shows because they’re billed as Big Events and are interested in the wrestlers, and AAA’s problem is more about not building interest in their in-house wrestlers. Putting that aside – AAA has buyrate numbers, and I just have arguments – you can see how that viewpoint informs other decisions. The second-tier Rey de Reyes-level shows aren’t on PPV and aren’t getting English commentary because AAA sees them as events that won’t sell outside of Mexico since they’re not bringing in outside names for those shows. Same thing with why the weekly TV isn’t on FITE or wherever; AAA is convinced it’s not worth their time and also – based on this press conference – seems to have an aversion to steaming live. The flipside of this is that if AAA doesn’t believe their wrestlers are marketable to people in the US on their produce, why would TNA (or anyone else) believe AAA stars are worth investing time on their US TV shows?

(Roldan also mentioned possibilities of AAA running in the US, but the plans were less expansive than usual – they were talking to people but he didn’t commit.)

Roldan called attention to social media interest in seeing Dark Ozz or Alberto challenging Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Megachampionship. Alberto has been lobbying for the match in every interview he’s done in the last week. That match seems certain to happen, probably at a TripleMania. The Ozz one comes from the social media post seeing Vikingo as a kid posing with Ozz and Ozz’s previous role as a tall, promising guy whom AAA teased doing big things with at times but never really followed through. There’s nothing Ozz himself has done to get himself popular and he wrestled the least often of all the La Secta/Dark Family wrestlers since leaving AAA, so I have least confidence about him holding up in 2024. It’s fans who saw Dark Ozz never getting his due hoping he gets the chance now (and fans bored of the Vikingo reign and thinking that something else will be more exciting.) I think the Ozz/Vikingo this is something that got momentum among a small group of fans and would not do well as an actual match, though it’s not like there are an overwhelming amount of great ideas for Vikingo. Maybe there’s some hope that all the current AAA wrestlers who aren’t getting their due now will get some fan support ten or fifteen years from now.

Almost nothing announced makes me more excited for AAA. The one thing I skipped over is the Lucha x el Barrio concept is coming back later in 2024 with the idea of expanding it to allow more people to enter from all over Mexico, and those things can be fun. The rest of it doesn’t so anything for it. Roldan is to the point where he’ll admit 2023 was not a good year, but he’ll also talk about changes for 2024. Those changes aren’t visible if they exist. The nostalgia stuff is a good way to buy time to implement changes, but the novelty of seeing Dark Scoria in an AAA ring will not be long-lived. I would’ve liked to see something exciting tossed out like a life preserver to people who like the AAA stars of today and instead were left to drown.

A highlight of the post-press conference interviews was Cibernetico admitting he had no idea who he was facing at Rey de Reyes, and the interview admitting he had also forgotten. Dorian Roldan termed 2023 as a reconstruction of AAA: it’s unclear what was constructed. Reina Dorada mentioned she had signed an AAA contract for 2024. Alberto seems to talk about fans not having seen him on TV in three or four years; again, he was on AAA TV multiple times last year. Maybe he means US TV, but that’s now much longer than 3-4 years.

The 2/18 lineup has changed.

AAA TV (SUN) 02/18/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) Drago vs TaurusMr. IguanaEpydemius
5) Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla vs Dulce Kanela, Lady Shani, Sexy Star
6) Laredo Kid © vs Antifaz del Norte [Showcenter Championship]
7) El Patrón Alberto & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chessman & Mecha Wolf

Mecha Wolf was in the spot that Texano Jr. had previously. Matches 4/5 are new. I do not believe Black Taurus is working any more dates for AAA, so that’s either a false listing or a new Taurus. There’s no picture of the old Taurus on the poster, so I guess they’re already throwing someone new under the mask. Matches 1-3 are probably Lucha Time people and other locals you’ll be confused about seeing on TV for two weeks.

It’s not that I expect Laredo Kid and Anitfaz to end with mask match challenges, it is that I pray and hope it does so there’s not another year of them feuding once every three months.

Other News

The Big Lucha World card for the Zocalo is out. It’s weird.

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/26/2024 Zocalo, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal
1) Ariadna Mami, Lolita, Satania vs La Brava, Sangre Nueva, Sussy Love
2) Dragón Solar, Obelyus, Rey Espectrito vs Piraña, Reiyel, Zenky
3) ? vs ???????????????????? [Torneo de la Juventud]
4) Alfa Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Platino vs Blue Monsther, Éxtasis, Ricky Marvin
5) Ciclón Ramírez Jr., Cody 1-8, Mr. Win, Viajero vs Auzter, Black Skayde, Brujo, Maniacop
6) Limbo & Torito Negro vs Cometa Maya & Morfosis and Sol & X-Devil
7) Súper Nova & Texano Jr. vs Trauma I & Trauma II [BIG LUCHA MIXA]

This looks like as much a INJUVE/Bridage Dos de Tres show with Big Lucha wrestlers as much as anything. Plus the Traumas for some reason. It would take something weird like this for guys like Extasis and Ciclon Ramirez Jr. to pop back up here. Match 6 could be good. The winner of match 3 (no participants announced) will get a title shot against Potro on another date.

IWRG’s lineup for Sunday:

IWRG (SUN) 01/28/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Fussion vs Osiris
2) Bengalee & Tornado vs Kali & Rey Aztaroth
3) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [super libre]
4) Auzter, Caballero de Plata, Dr. Cerebro Jr., Freelance vs Carnicero, Granjero, Leñador, Minero
5) Ivan Rokov vs Hell BoyHijo del Pirata Morgan
6) Hijo del Fishman vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG JUNIORS]
4th defense

The previous Fishman/Canis Lupus match got good reviews.

Ntr Zacatecas has a story on local wrestler Latigo 2000 Jr., who’s part of this season’s IWRG tryout. That is supposed to start airing the first week of February.

WWE and Netflix announced a broadcast deal starting in January 2025. For Latin America, it means all WWE programming will air on Netflix. WWE programming currently airs on Fox Sports. Probably very currently no matter when you’re reading this; those shows are wallpapered on to their family of networks (and so changes are probably coming there.) That was one of the big advantages of the current WWE/Mexico deal; any restaurant with TVs had them on the sports channels, and so WWE programming felt ubiquitous. Netflix is popular in Mexico, but it’s not going to be ever-present in the same way. (My info is few years out of date now; people in Mexico say those TVs don’t sit on Fox Sports between games as much as they used to.) Existing WWE fans in Mexico seem really happy with the deal – they can ditch Fox Sports, they don’t have to deal with Fox Sports Premium to buy the PPVs, and they may be paying for Netflix already. I’m less certain if new potential fans will discover WWE now on streaming, but that’s not a Mexico specific issue.

Canada’s Jacques Rougues Wrestling Academy is holding a talent search content, where the four winners will also go a trip to Big Lucha.

Japan’s Dr. Lucha brought Fuerza Guerrera over for an interview and visit to Japan with his family. Some notes are in his column this week. Dr. Lucha is an old school lucha libre fan, so he’d love to see an Atlantis/Octagon/Fuerza mask match at the Aniversario, but Guerrera rejected the idea. Guerrera has no interest in betting on his mask; he feels the people who make the mask lose at the end of their career for the money burn through it quickly and end up poor again. He thinks it’s better to keep the brand as a masked man. Guerrera is also in no need of the money, because he’s got a successful bird feed business and is doing quite well.

Tu Plan de Juego writes about visiting Arena Coliseo for the first time.

Brillante & Mistico advance in Gran Alterantiva, AAA in Queretaro, Rey de Reyes

The Tapatia awards are still open to vote. One thing I will change next year is to shorten the voting period. It used to take weeks in the new year for all the stuff from the previous year to finish airing naturally. There’s still stuff airing late in 2024 but it’s much less of a factor and there’s much less a chance it’ll be watched.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena México [ASCMLL, Kaiser Sports, thecubsfan]
1) Valiente Jr. b Felino Jr. [lightningCMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / FELINO JR. VS VALIENTE JR. / ARENA MÉXICO / 19-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Valiente Jr. derrota al Felino Jr. en un match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) Match relámpago: Valiente Jr detiene el reloj a los 08:48 minutos dejando en la lona a Felino Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
8:48
2) Futuro & Neón b Magnus & Rugido CMLL - RUGIDO - MAGNUS VS FUTURO - NEÓN / ARENA MÉXICO / 19-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Futuro y Neón derrotan a Rugido y Magnus (posted by mluchatv) Neón y Futuro logran dar cuenta de los Depredadores Magnus y Rugido (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Neón y Futuro vs Magnus y Rugido ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
11:10. rematch from 10/13, with the non-champions winning the non-title match
3) Máscara Dorada DQ Bárbaro Cavernario CMLL - MANO A MANO / B. CAVERNARIO VS MÁSCARA DORADA / ARENA MÉXICO / 19-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Bárbaro Cavernario le quita la incógnita a Máscara Dorada y es descalificado (posted by mluchatv) Máscara Dorada se lleva la victoria luego de que Bárbaro Cavernario es descalificado (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Máscara Dorada vs Bárbaro Cavernario ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
18:44.Rrematch from 12/30. Cavernario pulled Dorada’s mask for the DQ after KeMalito interfered.
4) Ángel Rebelde & Crixus b Brillante Jr., Explosivo, Halcón Negro Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Raider, Rey Samuray [Gran Alternativa, battle royalLos 8 ahijados se encuentran en el ring para definir los enfrentamientos de la Gran Alternativa (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
5) Atlantis & Rey Samuray b Esfinge & Halcón Negro Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Atlantis y Rey Samuray dejan en el camino a Esfinge y Halcón Negro Jr. en la Gran Alternativa 2024 (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Atlantis y Rey Samuray vs Esfinge y Halcón Negro Jr GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
6:59
6) Raider & Templario b Explosivo & Titán [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Templario y Raider dejan en el camino de la Gran Alternativa 2024 a Titán y Explosivo (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Templario y Raider vs Titán y Explosivo GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
5:23
7) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Místico y Brillante Jr vs Stuka Jr e Hijo de Stuka Jr GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring) Padrino de Oro: Místico y Brillante Jr vs Stuka Jr e Hijo de Stuka Jr en la Gran Alternativa CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
6:44
8) Crixus & Euforia b Ángel Rebelde & Star Jr. [Gran Alternativa, 8F] Euforia y Crixus derrotan a Star Jr. y Ángel Rebelde rumbo a la Gran Alternativa 2024 (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Euforia y Crixus vs Star Jr y Ángel Rebelde GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring)
3:58
9) Raider & Templario b Atlantis & Rey Samuray [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinalRaider y Templario vs Rey Samuray y Atlantis GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring) Templario y Raider primeros finalistas rumbo a la Gran Alternativa, vencen a Atlantis y Rey Samuray (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
5:07
10) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Crixus & Euforia [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinalMístico y Brillante Jr vs Euforia y Crixus GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring) Místico y Brillante Jr. dan cuenta de Euforia y Crixus rumbo a la Gran Alternativa 2024 (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
6:13
11) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Raider & Templario [Gran Alternativa, semifinalCMLL - 1a. FASE DEL TORNEO LA GRAN ALTERNATIVA / ARENA MÉXICO / 19-01-24 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Místico y Brillante Jr vs Raider y Templario GRAN ALTERNATIVA 2024/ARENA MÉXICO (posted by Estrellas del Ring) Místico y Brillante Jr, 1ros. finalistas de la Gran Alternativa 2024, derrotan a Raider y Templario (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Místico y Brillante Jr. están en la final de la Gran Alternativa tras vencer a Templario y Raider (posted by mluchatv)
9:35

This block of the tournament had decent stuff early on, but got messed up in the end in very CMLL fashion. It’s actually an isuse through lucha libre Mexicana, as they adapt stuff seen and done in US wrestling without always understanding it. Over in Big Lucha, they keep calling bonus opening matches “Darkmatch.” They know a “Darkmatch” is a thing, they just haven’t put together that a dark match is something that doesn’t air and is only seen by the live crowd – the satellites are dark, more or less. In CMLL, they’ve picked up the concept of “Go Home” – an instruction from whomever’s timing the show to the referee and the wrestlers to tell them their time is up. They know it’s a thing that’s done, they just don’t understand how it’s done. Rob explains this on Twitter better than I will here. In US wrestling, a referee telling the wrestler to Go Home means the wrestlers should go to their finishing stretch and hopefully finish in about a minute. In CMLL, telling wrestlers to Go Home means the match is completely over, and the referee will count three on the next pinfall no matter what’s happening. That situation will go poorly most of the time: it leaves the participants in the match scrambling. A one-minute warning gives the wrestlers time to change their match and still do the intended finish. What we got here was a mess: Templario being pinned when he seemed to kick out, Brillante and Raider both being confused, and Mistico calling for a Mistica just to get them out of there. Edgar seems to have the most problems with finishes, maybe because he’s usually doing the Friday main events, and those are the ones running into the end of CMLL’s internal time limit. Edgar also seems to create his own problems, though.

Mascara Dorada and Barbaro Cavernario was a great match with a bad finish. CMLL generally needs to tone down the KeMalito stuff, though here, I believe they would’ve just found some other way of getting out of the match. Mascara Dorada will win every match except against the tippy top guys in CMLL at this point, and CMLL may consider Cavernario one of those guys. Dorada/Cavernario, from a quality and a star power standpoint, would big enough apuesta match to headline a major show. There was no direction that was the plan here; the action was just so good that it would’ve fit that sort of level.

Magnus/Rugido versus Neon/Futuro didn’t quite have the excitement of the previous match but the work was really close. The tecnicos pulled off everything they needed to, and the rudos looked great working with them. The finish naturally sets up a third match, but it didn’t seem like CMLL was headed in that direction soon.

CMLL (SAT) 01/20/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral & Diamond b Nitro & Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi b Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Zeuxis
4) Averno, Euforia, Mephisto b Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther
5) Star Black © b Magnus [MEX HEAVY]
first defense
6) Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario DQ Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán
Soberano faked a foul from Mistico

No title change, as expected. Main event seems like next week’s feud.

CMLL (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Sangre Imperial b Bengala, Leono, Retro
Sangre Imperial replaced Dr. Karonte II
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía DQ Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
Pequeno Olimpico unmasked Pequeno Magia
3) Okumura & Pólvora b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa
4) El Coyote, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado b Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr.
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Último Guerrero b Volador Jr.

Ultimo Guerrero’s singles win is his first in Arena Mexico since 2022 over Mesias. (He only wrestled lightning matches in 2023, losing to Atlantis and Mascara Dorada and going to a draw with Averno.) He was so out of the mix in 2023 that getting a win like this early feels like a really good sign for him.

The full Soberano/Templario match from last Friday aired both on Televisa and on CMLL’s YouTube channel. As I suspect, there was some massive production issue on CMLL’s side – the stream that night died because CMLL’s production went down. CMLL edited in a couple of cameras from the crowd that they don’t normally use – or just use for crowd shots. It looked strange enough that I think an average fan paying attention would notice something was off, but the finish was still plainly visible.

(I may be a little later than usual posting the show, I still need to patch it together on my end.)

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial vs Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
2) Angelito, Pequeño Magía, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico
3) Fuego, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Felino, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero
4) Reyna Isis © vs Skadi [MEX WOMEN]
second defense
5) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Hijo de Blue Panther vs Difunto, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
6) Flip Gordon, Místico, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario

Not a particularly strong show. The third match is full of veterans who probably assumed they wouldn’t be working match three at this point in their careers. I’d be surprised if Skadi won the title, but it is the national women’s championship, anyone can win it. The bigger test is for Skadi to have a good singles match. Hijo de Blue Panther has been sidelined with injuries from an accident and returns here.

CMLL (FRI) 01/26/2024 Arena México
1) Capitán Suicida & Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Diamond & Oro Jr.
2) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr.
3) Akuma vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
4) Max Star & Volador Jr. vs Furia Roja & Último Guerrero and Atlantis Jr. & Futuro and Bárbaro Cavernario & Draego and Máscara Dorada & Neón and Soberano Jr. & Vaquero Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Averno & Guerrero de la Muerte [Gran Alternativa, semifinal, battle royal]

Brillante and Mistico coming out of Block A makes it very unlikely Mascara Dorada & Neon (or any tecnico team) is coming out of this block. Max Star & Volador Jr. might be the exception, as they could slide over to the rudo side easier the rest. I think Furia Roja and Ultimo Guerrero have a shot as well. I don’t think that CMLL would trust Draego in a main event match with how little he’s been booked, and I’m have trouble seeing Vaquero Jr. or Guerrero de la Muerte at that level this quick too.

Akuma & Zandokan could be a lot of fun, as could be the tag match. The opener is Suicida and people who aren’t as interesting as him.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara had a full house for a free show on Sunday. Those free/sponsored shows usually do OK, some do good, and this one seemed to sell the entire 4,500 seat building up. It’s rare Coliseo Guadalajara opens the upper level, even for the bigger local shows. They filled that one up this time. There were no matches announced and it was just the local guys working the show, so it’s probably all due to the sponsor (a local union). No matches announced also means I don’t have full results, or I don’t until I have time to look through the videos.

For whatever reason, there’s a bunch of fake Homenaje a Dos Leyendas logos floating around on Facebook, with the idea they’re “revealing” which wrestler will be honored. LA Park got confused by a Pierroth one. (This had the effect of starting a small social media push to make Pierroth the pick. I assume it’s already been decided.) CMLL hasn’t announced anyone yet and that announcement will be made on a CMLL Informa when it’s for real.

Dutch reality show “Wie Is De Mol?” (which you may faintly remember as “the Mole” when it aired in the US”) happened to visit last July’s Arena Coliseo Aniversario show in their most recent episode. That was an Arena Coliseo show CMLL streamed; you could see the contestants, but it wasn’t clear they were on a reality show at the time.

AAA

AAA aired the first part of their first 2024 show on Saturday. I’m not sure if it’s an accident or one-off or a purposeful change, but some of the matches from that show are listed as going up this week on AAA’s YouTube channel. A faster turnaround is going to help AAA, though ther’e no substitute for live.

The one match to watch from the batch was the three way mixed tag team title match. Like the Aramis/Mecha Wolf/Octagon match from last week, there was no story to it and it was a lot of the usual multiperson matches bits, but they worked hard and fast and it turned out well.

The trios match is a strong avoid. Electroshock and Heavy Metal did almost nothing, Angel (wrestling in his long ago lost mask) didn’t look good either. Electroshock seemed so lazy that I would’ve thanked him for his work and not brought him in again; naturally, he’s in angle on the next taping.

The main event was nothing special either. The announcers drew attention to the fact the AAA super tecnico foursome got booed against La Secta. The crowd that attended this AAA show are not into the current product, and just wanted to see the old guys. AAA’s also booking the current guys as lesser; Los Vipers got smoked twice on this show.

The Konnan, Vampiro, Cibernetico thing is very long and doesn’t really accomplish much. What stuck out to me is the people in the ring described Vampiro and Konnan hugging as getting a big reaction, live video I saw had it as a big reaction, and yet it doesn’t sound like anything special on the TV version. It hurts that AAA decided to play music right then over the top of the reaction, but it’s not mixed well, regardless.

Last week’s TV had Arez wanting to be back in the Vipers, but no one in the group except maybe Psicosis wanting to accept him. This week’s TV had Cibernetico being confused by Arez being back in the Vipers. Cibernetico’s reaction was great, but also AAA skipped the step of the rest of the Vipers wanting him back in the group. AAA is so bad at that kind of stories.

AAA also taped TV on Saturday.

AAA TV (SAT) 01/20/2024 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro [FB: Evlyn Ramírez., FB: LuchaMex, FB: Sully Cano, IG: victorpajaro26]
1) Dark Crazy, Kastigador, Vengador b Galáctico Dragón, Murciélago Plateado Jr., Ursus LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
7:35
2) Éxtasis (Puebla) & Radioactivo b Colmillo de Plata & Garra de Oro LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
8:01 (or thereabouts)
3) Dalys, La Hiedra, Maravilla b Estrellita, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata Facebook video (posted by ) LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
13:26. Faby Apache and Hijo del Tirantes had issues again. Dalys beat Estrellita.
4) Belcegor, Dinámico, Parka Negra b Drago, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
12:05
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. b Aerostar, Mr. Iguana, Súper Fly Facebook video (posted by )
7:00. Electroshock distracted Super Nova and Myzteziz landed the SSP for the win. Parka Negra attacked Aerostar to continue their (long, never progressing) feud, while Electro attacked Super Fly as part of their ancient issue.
6) Electroshock & Zorro b Chessman & Pagano Facebook video (posted by ) LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
10:00. Electroshock and Zorro took out Pagano earlier in the night. He and Chessman had an argument during the show backstage, and Pagano made a delayed arrival a few moments into the match. Chessman speared a table when Zorro moved, and Zorro covers him for the win.
7) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown, Psycho Clown b Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria Facebook video (posted by ) LUCHA LIBRE AAA EN QUERETARO 2024 EVENTO COMPLETO // AAA ORIGENES (posted by )
11:09. Earlier, Konnan and Vampiro were talking in the ring when Alberto appeared as a surprise and made peace with both of them. Alberto also said he was going for the Megachampionship. Cibernetico was ready to Garra Cibernetica (chokeslam) Psycho but stopped because the Vipers’ music played and they slowly walked towards the ring from twenty feet away. Psycho speared Cibernetico though a table for the win. (AAA played Psycho’s music before the three count.) Vipers attacked La Secta after the match. Psycho Circus left the ring. Vampiro and Alberto made the save (no obvious reason why they’d be saving Cibernetico.) Psycho Circus came back in the ring to celebrate after the Vipers were disposed off.

The only thing AAA felt was important enough to post on social media about this taping was Alberto’s return. I was also able to piece together the show via fans posting things on social media. The full taping is available on YouTube if you’re OK with a crowd-shot version with some very loud horns. AAA may have been correct; there really wasn’t much noteworthy on this show outside of Alberto showing up. (Alberto showing up does cost a pretty penny, so it’s a bit strange they would’ve done it unadvertised. This was played up like a big return but Alberto just wrestled here in October.) The common thread between these two tapings is pushing a Vipers/Secta feud – and the old guys making the Vipers look like jobbers on each show.

Matches 1 (the dark match), 2 and 4 were Good. The main event event and the women’s match were about what you’d guess, and the Electroshock/Zorro versus Chessman/Pagano was very boring. Electroshock attacked Super Fly based of a feud from 2008; Super Fly seemed to be getting a push as a rising star, they had him feud with Electroshock, Electroshock destroyed Super Fly in their match never putting him over, and AAA apparently decided Super Fly wasn’t a rising star and dropped the feud. He was never over as a tecnico again. I assume AAA did it as a gag here with no real plan, because there is no real plan at any time. Electroshock has looked terrible and disinterested in his AAA appearance and it looks like time had passed Super Fly by as well, doing anything more with them would be a tremendous waste of time and resources.

AAA claims a sell out for the show. I could’ve sworn I saw empty upper-level sections seemingly unsold, but maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there.

Referee Suavecito worked this taping, along with regulars Hijo del Tirantes and Piero. He had previously worked a lot of the Lucha x el Barrio. Tirantes Sr. works some tapings, and AAA hasn’t had another regular referee in years.  Ex-WWE/Lucha Underground referee Marty Elias came in for big shows in 2022 because AAA seemed to lose confidence in their regular crew handling fast-moving matches with foreigners. He was not used in 2023. Neither Piero nor the two Tirantes are good referees at this point. It is part of both Tirantes’ gimmicks to be terrible referees, but they are also bad at the job when they’re not trying to be bad at it. The general state of referee work in Mexico is not great. Suavecito seemed fine on this taping and in his previous work.

Space advertised Rey de Reyes as airing live on February 3rd. AAA has said nothing; as of post-time, there’s no lineup or location. The Bardahl show had a similar lack of information because it was a sold show, and no tickets were offered to the general public. It looks like it may be the same for Rey de Reyes. It doesn’t say great things for AAA’s business if they’re running one of their marquee events without selling tickets. In a bigger picture, AAA is running a system that wants the world’s attention for the TripleMania shows and makes the same promotion oddly difficult to follow for every other show.

There is info on the taping after Rey de Reyes. A little info. Showcenter, which actually is in the business of selling tickets, has the main event matches for 02/18:

AAA TV (SUN) 02/18/2024 Showcenter Complex, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon
1) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
4) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
5) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
6) Laredo Kid © vs Antifaz del Norte [Showcenter Championship]
7) El Patrón Alberto & Hijo Del Vikingo vs Chessman & Texano Jr.

Alberto wrestles here, though one show later than originally advertised. Alberto pushed the idea of challenging for the AAA Megachampionship, which is probably not a great idea but also maybe the first time in years someone in AAA has shown interest in that title prior to being announced for a title match.

Roberto Figueroa had mentioned those matches previously, just as he’d mentioned an AAA press conference in “late January.” It’s hard to get much later in January than this week, so it presumably is happening in the next few days. No announcement, no attempt to build interest in it from AAA so far.

The big AAA/TNA partnership led to Laredo Kid wrestling on Xplosion on both tapings this past weekend. Xplosion has just returned to the schedule, and naturally Laredo Kid has returned back to the B-show where Impact most often booked him. He did win one of the matches, so he’s not the lowest person on the totem pole – just really close.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Rey Cósmico Jr. & Sairely b Conquistador & Tigre De Acero
5:20
2) La Brava b Diosa Nix
11:09
3) Ancestral & Blue Monsther b Dankar & Platino
11:16
4) Auzter, Black Skayde, Fulgor b Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro
9:24
5) Cody 1-8 & Mr. Win b Elipse & Orbita
13:40.

Last week’s Big Lucha World seemed like a mostly normal show that was billed as a Big Lucha World. This was very much the opposite, a lot of guys on the fringes of the roster with Black Generation in Japan. Orbita and Elipse got a main event chance and looked completely overwhelmed; Cody 1-8 was clearly frustrated with their performance during the match and may have ended up with a leg injury. If those guys are going to be Big Lucha’s centerpiece, it will not go well.

This was a skippable show. The rudos/rudos trios match was the best of the four, messy though at least they were trying to have something to big. The maestro match was fine at best. Diosa Nix seemed just as annoyed with La Brava Rebel in their match, which was clunky. Sussy Love seems to be returning from a length injury, which may be why Big Lucha is booking women’s matches again.

The stream died multiple times in the opener. Big Lucha says they’re going to stream live next week. I hope they have a backup plan because getting a good signal outside from the Zocalo seems unlikely.

Andy Panda Jr./Morfosis and Diosa Nix were advertised for the secret rival “Mexico Wrestling” show, but ended up being replaced.

Other News

The Crash ran on Friday night.

The Crash (FRI) 01/19/2024 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California [The Crash, TJ Sports, Zona Ruda]
1) Noisy Boy b BambooEl ReySpider Fly (Estado De México)KhavallPróximo [Copa Juvenil 2024]
Mexa Boys won as a team, then had a singles match between themselves to determine the winner. Bamboo & El Rey are brothers.
2) Anubis, Gallo Extreme, Rey Furia vs Ángel Metálico, Mirage, Mr. Maldito
3) Baby Extreme & Julissa b Dark Zorro & Keyra
Dark Zorro replaced Emperador Azteca
4) Trauma I & Trauma II b Arandú & Zarco
post match, Trauma I talked about his upcoming mask match with Wotan (02/03) and said this might be the last time he’d be here with his mask
5) Alan Stone, Mamba, Microman, Toto b D Luxe, J2 Matiolli, Tony Casanova
Alan Stone replaced Santana Jackson
6) Destiny, Extreme Tiger, Rey Horus b Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria
7) Matthew Riddle b Bestia 666DralisticoBrian Cage
Bestia and Mamba argued earlier over who was the face of the promotion. Bestia suffered (or sold) a knee injury on the finish.

This appears to have been a sell out. The building in Tijuana is slightly bigger than the building in Queretaro, which means this was the biggest crowd La Secta happened to wrestle this weekend. It’s more notable they wrestled in both; wrestlers have gotten kicked out of AAA for wrestling in The Crash previously. Maybe they took the booking before AAA got them, but maybe those hard rules about wrestling in both places aren’t as hard as they’re played. The Crash is back on 02/23 with Rush, Blue Demon Jr., DMT Azul, Maximo, Flamita, and Taurus (or whatever he’s called by then.)

While there, Dralistico told TJ Sports that he had signed a four-year contract with AEW. Promoter Ignacio de la O. was happy with the turnout.

LLB (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Demencia, Gaona, Reptil b Bitter, Juan Ma Sanchez, Mr. Maicool
2) Hijo De Sparta & Príncipe Centauro b Argus & Oro Blanco and Eurus & Voltio and Gravedad Cero & Minos II and Rey Azteca Jr. & Sparta [Copa Boom]
3) Águila Oriental, Belial, Fandango, Sol, Steve Manson, X-Devil b
4) Fly Star, Noisy Boy, Osiris, Spider Boy, Tornado b Amnesia, Lunatik Extreme, Lunatik Fly, Súper Boy, Toto
5) Canis Lupus Jr., Dr. Cerebro Jr., Hell Boy, Puma de Oro b Calibus, Cíclope, El Mago, Miedo Extremo
6) Místico b Ángel de OroAvernoMáscara Dorada

Mistico’s return to Arena Naucalpan seemed to draw very well, though the match itself wasn’t notable.

The original Mascara Sagrada held a press conference to talk about his current health issues (he needs a hip replacement) and to introduce a Mascara Sagrada Jr. There’s been at least two other wrestlers working for years as Mascara Sagrada’s sons (or “sons”) and I’m sure if this meant to be one of those are a new one. None of them have gone onto much of note.

Segunda Caida watches more Monterrey lucha.

Gran Alternativa Block A tonight, AAA in Queretrao, Big Lucha

sorry aggregators, no hot signings news signings to mention today

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena México
1) Valiente Jr. vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
2) Futuro & Neón vs Magnus & Rugido
rematch from 10/13
3) Máscara Dorada vs Bárbaro Cavernario
rematch from 12/30
4) Brillante Jr. & Místico vs Crixus & Euforia and Explosivo & Titán and Raider & Templario and Atlantis & Rey Samuray and Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr. and Ángel Rebelde & Star Jr. and Esfinge & Halcón Negro Jr. [Gran Alternativa, battle royal]

If we presume Mascara Dorada & Neon are the favorites in the other block, then it’s probably a rudo team coming out of this block. Crixus has been pushed hard (but they also seem to know he’s not good.) Raider & Templario would be the best, but it would also make the final feel like a repeat. I wouldn’t have given the Stukas much of a chance before, but it seems more likely now that we know Stuka is facing Dorada on FantasticaMania. It’d fit as a FantasticaMania main event now.

Matches 2 and 3 could be great. Valiente Jr./Felino Jr. could be good, but it’s hard to remember the last standout Felino Jr. match. This show depends on how that tournament works out, could be really enjoyable depending on who gets the block final. It’s on PPV, and it’s free if you have the coupon code from last week. Hopefully it works.

Mistico says he’s going to retire – at some point. Like every other wrestler, he wants to retire young. He gives no dates to this, which saves me the time of not believing them.

CMLL (SAT) 01/20/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) Astral & Diamond vs Nitro & Sangre Imperial
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Skadi vs Dark Silueta, La Catalina, Zeuxis
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
5) Star Black © vs Magnus [MEX HEAVY]
first defense
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Templario

I’d be oddly intrigued in the title match if it aired. A title change seems unlikely.

CMLL (SUN) 01/21/2024 Arena México
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Mercurio, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa vs Okumura & Pólvora
4) Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Coyote, Rey Bucanero, Sagrado
5) Atlantis, Flip Gordon, Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Volador Jr. vs Último Guerrero

The promised Volador/UG match, on a Sunday, not a Tuesday.

CMLL (MON) 01/22/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Black Tiger & Millenium vs Hijo del Perverso & Sombra Diabólika
2) Enigmática, La Vaquerita, Lady Metal vs Dark Silueta, Diablita Roja, Lady Amazona
3) Arkalis, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
5) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
6) Máscara Dorada vs Templario

The main event is the expected Dorada/Templario title match.

CMLL (TUE) 01/23/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Cosmos vs Demonio Rojo, Ponzoña Jr., Rumbero
2) Atilus, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Obek, Rav, Temerario
3) Ángel Negro, Halcón Suriano Jr., Tonkawa vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
4) Dark Magic, El Elemental, Yutani vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Adira & La Pantera vs Hatanna & Katara [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, final]
6) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. vs El Malayo, Rey Apocalipsis, Siki Osama Jr.
7) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs Hera, Olympia, Persephone

An unusual women’s main event here, though it is Las Infernales teaming up. The Guadalajara duo of Adira & Pantera are favorites to win the vacant tag titles. Elemental and Yutani resurface. No idea who Tonkawa is.

AAA

AAA tapes in Queretaro this week

AAA TV (SAT) 01/20/2024 Auditorio General José María Arteaga, Querétaro, Querétaro
1) Dark Crazy & Kastigador vs Hijo del Picudo & Ursus and Galáctico Dragón & Murciélago Plateado Jr.
2) ?, ??, ??? vs ????, ?????, ??????
3) Estrellita, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Dalys, La Hiedra, Maravilla
4) Drago, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa vs Belcegor, Dinámico, Parka Negra
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. vs Aerostar, Mr. Iguana, Súper Fly
6) Chessman & Pagano vs Electroshock & Zorro
7) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown, Psycho Clown vs Cibernético, Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria

Matches four and five could be good. Match 1 is the dark match, match 2 is probably the Lucha x el Barrio show. The Mexico City taping starts airing this week, so this looks like it’s airing on 02/03 and 02/10. AAA probably has a new taping to announce around those dates.

Elegido told ESTO the heartwarming story of how his fellow AAA wrestlers beat him up for years because they thought he wasn’t any good. He feels strong to have gone through it all. It is weird to tell this story before an AAA TV taping.

LuchaTitlan’s next periodic big show is on 02/10.

The great AAA/TNA alliance led to Vikingo and Laredo winning none of their matches this past weekend, with Laredo Kid taking a pinfall on last night’s Impact TV show. That’s nothing new, just sticks out a bit more after the ‘news’ of this past week.

I am certain there will be more/new AAA people in TNA. AAA wants to prove to their wrestlers they’ll get them to the US, and TNA always could use a few new faces. They may even run something like Ultraclash in reverse, just to say they’ve done it. I just both AAA and TNA do it a lot better than they’ve handled this relationship in the past. It is striking that two sides couldn’t figure out a way to give an AAA wrestler a win right after the announcement of their great deal; it shows the lack of seriousness about all of this.

a brief summary of recent events in the Vaquer/Cuatrero case

That doesn’t look good for La Hiedra. The testimony is from July, after well after Cuatrero has been arrested. Hiedra then says Vaquer believed Cuatrero was cheating on him and that’s where the argument started between them. She also plays down the wounds, saying they looked like a couple of scratches.

I am a little curious about how and why a reporter who mostly seems to cover some serious stuff – not that isn’t serious, but you can scroll down his timeline and find reports on cartels, extortion, and murders – end up with all this information and decided to put it out. It could be as simple as Cuatrero’s family asking for more attention on the case earned them the sort of attention they didn’t want. They clearly don’t believe that’s the situation: Cuatrero’s family and friends held a protest in the streets near Arena Mexico on Wednesday, blocking traffic in the area to get noticed.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha (FRI) 01/19/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) La Brava vs Diosa Nix
2) Ancestral & Blue Monsther vs Dankar & Platino
3) Brujo, Limbo, Torito Negro vs Auzter, Black Skayde, Fulgor
4) Cody 1-8 & Mr. Win vs Elipse & Orbita

Lokos Evans and Cody 1-8 cost each other matches last week, setting up the main event. Match 2 is maestros (Monster, Platino) and their trainees. Big Lucha hasn’t booked many women’s matches of late but they do like booking La Brava.

Big Lucha mentioned they were running on the 19th and the 26th. What they didn’t mention is the 26th is a show in the Zocalo. That always seems like a cool scene for a wrestling show, though I’m not sure about the streaming out there. This is part of Big Lucha’s partnership with INJUVE, who is hosting a lot of youth-focused events in the historical heart of Mexico City. That show, in terms of people hanging out in the general vicinity of the ring, will probably be the biggest attended Big Lucha show yet.

Bandido posted a note on Instagram officially leaving Big Lucha. You may recall Bandido leaving Big Lucha month, but that puts you ahead of some people. The story as I understand it is some people – especially non-Mexican people who don’t really follow lucha libre but want to come to wrestle in Mexico anyway – still didn’t understand Bandido left Big Lucha months ago and were still contacting him for info about the promotion and the gym. This was an attempt to remedy that. Please understand the country and promotion you’re trying to work.

Other News

Former Coliseo Coacalco regular Kazuchika Okada has announced his intentions to wrestle in the US in 2024. I hope it works out for him. There’s some decent similarity between Okada going to AEW or WWE and Mistico going to WWE. Both guys taking off led to their whole scene going through a boom. Both are leaving their home when that boom seems on the downside, though there still was a lot left to it. I know I had the fear that when Mistico left – and when Andrade and Mascara Dorada and others left – that Mexico wouldn’t be able to keep their top stars anymore. To some extent that’s worked true – Penta and Fenix and Rush and Bandido have all followed to the US instead of main eventing promotions in Mexico, and guys like Komander were swooped up before it even got that far. It hasn’t been everyone, and it also hasn’t been devastating. Having those talent around would patch over some holes, but CMLL’s instead use those holes to keep their push different people, and has done well when those new talent have done well. The contract imbalance does loom over a lot of decisions; for example, Andromeda’s a far from finished product, but CMLL’s probably got to start pushing her before she ready, because she’ll be plucked off the tree by someone else by then. Everyone’s just got to adjust to the reality they’re living in, instead of idly complaining about the changes and hoping it’ll snap back to the way it used to be.

FantasticaMania, Black Taurus, lots of CMLL announcements, Vaquer/Hiedra

I’m busy this week on work that actually pays me, so this post is late. Friday’s post may be Saturday’s post or non-existent. For time considerations, I’ll have the more obvious news from the last few days today and dig deeper late on. In the meantime, you can hear me talk about the year in lucha libre over on popular video streaming site YouTube and vote in the Tapatia awards

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/15/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada]
1) Amnesia & Blue Shark b Espíritu Maligno & King Jaguar Facebook video (posted by )
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Chamuel & Periquito Sacaryas
3) Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama b Capitán Suicida & Diamond Facebook video (posted by )
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Star Black b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Zandokan Jr. [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )
5) Esfinge © b Stuka Jr. [MEX LHFacebook video (posted by )
3rd defense. Stuka hit Esfinge with his boot, with the title, and with a foul, but it wasn’t enough. Stuka demanded a rematch in Torreon.
6) Atlantis Jr., Máscara Dorada, Star Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario Facebook video (posted by )
Templario unmasked Mascara Dorada for the DQ, setting up a singles match next week.

Stuka just needs a few more weapons and he’ll get Esfinge for good. Glad CMLL is running the big singles match in Puebla after they’ve run it on a stream, instead of the other way for once.

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Eléctrico & Oro Jr. b Grako & Inquisidor
2) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Max Star b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi b Amapola, Persephone, Reyna Isis
4) Volcano b Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
5) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja © b Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. [CMLL TAG]
22:07. 13th defense (nearly exactly two years in)
6) Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
Volador challenged UG again, UG said they’d do the match Sunday

I’d have last weeks’ Panther/Villanos match a little ahead of the tag final, but both are worth going out of your way to watch. Panthers match was just a little bit better building to the final (though that’s the one case where the tournament helps.) The Chavez said their goal now is to set the tag team defense record; what the record actually is may be a harder to figure.

Volcano/Zandokan ended up being the “heavy guy is too heavy for other guy to lift” match with a twist; it looked like Volcano was legitimately too heavy for Zandokan to lift and that bit wasn’t the actual plan. It didn’t go well.

CMLL (TUE) 01/16/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [De Golpes y Caidas]
1) Black Boy, Thunder Boy, Yaky Boy b Destello, Destructor, Jabalí
Black Boy’s debut unmasked
2) Hatanna & Katara b Emperatriz & Miss Guerrera [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, semifinal]
Katara & Hatanna advance to the final
3) Adira & La Pantera b Lady Amazona & Lady Metal [OCCIDENTE WOMEN TAG, semifinal]
Adira & La Pantera advance to the final
4) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga
5) Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b Futuro, Max Star, Neón
Rudos cheated to win
6) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther DQ Euforia, Hijo del Soberano, Soberano Jr.
Hijo del Soberano unmasked Blue Panther Jr.

Added here for completeness; I’ve not seen a single second of the show and have nothing to add.

CMLL went nuts with events announcements on Informa:

  • Rey del Aire will return on February 6th (a Tuesday) and will include 12 wrestlers
  • The Torneo Esuelas returns on February 9th and runs through the 23rd. It will change to a tag team format, but will still include the same four schools as last year.
  • The Parejas Increibles tournament returns on March 15th, with a final on March 29th
  • That same March 29th will all be this year’s Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. The legend to be honored is TBA.

Another way of looking at this is the Friday night schedule for the next couple of months:

  • 01/19: Gran Alternativa Block A
  • 01/26: Gran Alternativa Block B
  • 02/02: Gran Alternativa final
  • 02/09: Torneo Escuelas Part 1
  • 02/16: Torneo Escuelas Part 2
  • 02/23: Torneo Escuelas Final
  • 03/01: nothing announced yet
  • 03/08: nothing announced yet
  • 03/15: Parejas Increibles Block A
  • 03/22: Parejas Increibles Block B
  • 03/29: Parejas Increibles Final, Homenaje a Dos Leyendas

Hope you like tournament blocks with tag teams.

We also now know all the tag teams for the Gran Alternativa

Gran Alternativa Block A (01/26)

Gran Alternativa Block B (01/26)
Neon & Mascara Dorada
Futuro & Atlantis Jr.
Valiente Jr. & Valiente
Max Star & Volador
Guerrero de la Muerte & Averno
Vaquero Jr. & Soberano Jr.
Furia Roja & Ultimo Guerrero
Draego & Cavernario

Box y Lucha #3586 has the Gran Alternativa.

Sandra Cuevas, the mayor of Cuauhtémoc, held a political rally at Arena Mexico to announce she was forming a new political party starting in 2025. You may remember her from the press conference to announce the CMLL Tunel. Cuevas did a wrestling style entrance to Eye of The Tiger, which is Konnan’s theme song (and so unlikely to be played in Arena Mexico.) Other lucha libre fans mocked the ceremony by comparing Cuevas’s entrance to Shawn Michaels all white wrestling gear.

Mistico will wrestle on Highspots’ Mark Hitchcock Memorial show (part of WrestleMania weekend) on 04/04 at the ex-ECW Arena. There will be other CMLL wrestlers booked (and so that means no AAA wrestlers booked.)

2024 Fantastica Mania

The lineups came out late Wednesday night. Overall, I was very wrong on my guesses. I’m a little disappointed about not having more big matches or different stuff than they’ve done before, but this is a tournament for people who get to see these guys once a year and the promotion(s) gives those fans the greatest hits package. There are seven shows scheduled.

CMLL, NJPW (MON) 02/12/2024 OSAKA PREFECTURAL GYM 2, Osaka, Japan
1) Difunto & Douki vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori
2) Tiger Mask vs Magnus [lightning]
3) Brillante Jr., Desperado, Ryusuke Taguchi, Stigma vs Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
4) Dark Panther, Pegasso, Satoshi Kojima vs Master Wato, Okumura, YOH [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Atlantis Jr., Templario, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr.
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

The opener has the usual FantasticaMania tropes: a random non-Mexican foreigner being included for the week (Akira) and Tiger Mask versus undercard rudo. Templario is on the tecnico side but still a rudo for this tour. All his matches are Relevos Incredible, including the one I forgot to list there. (Titan’s matches are not.)

Hiromu Takahashi claims the Kamaitachi appearing on this tour is a new Kamaiatchi and definitely not him since he already lost the mask. (“Namajague” used to do the same bit on these shows.)

CMLL, NJPW (TUE) 02/13/2024 Towa Pharmaceutical Ractab Dome Sub Arena, Osaka, Japan
1) Difunto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
2) Pegasso & Tiger Mask vs Magnus & Taiji Ishimori
3) Brillante Jr., Satoshi Kojima, Stigma, YOH vs Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
4) Atlantis Jr., Dark Panther, Master Wato vs Gedo, Hechicero, Okumura
5) Desperado, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Douki, Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Romero & Soberano team here, and continue to do so all tour. NJPW US commentary pushed the idea that Soberano & Rocky had talked about forming a team in CMLL. I didn’t recall that, but it looks like the NJPW idea at the moment.

CMLL, NJPW (WED) 02/14/2024 Takamatsu City General Gymnasium 2, Kagawa, Japan
1) Brillante Jr. & Ryusuke Taguchi vs SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
2) Difunto & YOH vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Dark Panther, Master Wato, Pegasso vs Douki, Magnus, Okumura
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima, Stigma, Tiger Mask vs Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán
5) Máscara Dorada, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Atlantis Jr., El Desperado, Místico vs Francesco Akira, Hechicero, Último Guerrero

A lot of this shows are just random tour shows; there will probably be a good match here (match 5?) but nothing neccesary. I really need to fix the tecnico/rudo sides on some of these NJPW folks.

CMLL, NJPW (FRI) 02/16/2024 NAGOYA CONGRESS CENTER EVENT HALL, Nagoya, Japan
1) Difunto & Tiger Mask vs SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
2) Dark Panther & Satoshi Kojima vs Francesco Akira & Okumura
3) Brillante Jr. & El Desperado vs Kamaitachi & Tetsuya Naito
4) Atlantis Jr., Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOH vs Hechicero, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Máscara Dorada, Místico, Templario vs Brillante Jr., Douki, Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Magnus & Volador Jr. vs Pegasso & Stigma [Faction, semifinal]
7) Bushi & Titán vs Stuka Jr. & Último Guerrero [Faction, semifinal]

LIJ is the other fourth faction team I just could not figure out. The winner of this tournament is likely coming out of their semifinal match.

CMLL, NJPW (SAT) 02/17/2024 Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall 1, Chiba, Japan
1) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs ? & ??
2) Difunto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima vs Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji
3) Atlantis Jr., Dark Panther, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOH vs Hechicero, Okumura, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru
4) Brillante Jr. & Soberano Jr. vs Douki & Templario [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Francesco Akira, Máscara Dorada, Místico vs El Desperado, Rocky Romero, Tiger Mask [Relevos Increíbles]
6) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [FACTION, third place]
7) ? & ?? vs ??? & ???? [FACTION, final]

CMLL is the most powerful promotion in the world; only they can get NJPW to book a women’s match on their shows. (Because no one who cares about uppercase Women’s Wrestling cares about CMLL luchadoras, that’s most a speculation zone about if Stardom wrestlers will appear. Las Chicas Indomables were previously announced as doing their own tour in Japan, and CMLL women tend to work with women from the smaller promotions on most of those tours.

CMLL, NJPW (SUN) 02/18/2024 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Pegasso, Satoshi Kojima vs Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, YOH
2) Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji vs Magnus, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi
3) Titán vs Brillante Jr.
4) Atlantis Jr., Dark Panther, Master Wato vs Douki, Hechicero, Okumura
5) El Desperado, Máscara Dorada, Místico, Stigma vs Difunto, Francesco Akira, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
7) Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero

The main event is the big feud from 2023, the semi-main is the big feud from 2022 (and some from 2023.) Brillante Jr. gets his chance to shine again Titan; the outcome is known but what he does with the moment is less clear.

CMLL, NJPW (MON) 02/19/2024 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Brillante Jr., Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH vs Francesco Akira, Pegasso, Stigma
2) Bushi, Kamaitachi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán vs Difunto, Magnus, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanamaru
3) Dark Panther vs Okumura
4) Atlantis Jr. vs Hechicero
5) El Desperado, Master Wato, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, Rocky Romero, Soberano Jr., Tiger Mask [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Último Guerrero
7) Máscara Dorada vs Stuka Jr.

Mascara Dorada versus Stuka headlining over Ultimo Guerrero versus Mistico appears a definite statement about NJPW’s plans for the young ex-panther. That match will be great, too. Atlantis Jr. is a quite part of this tournament but could have some fun with Hechicero. (They might as well bill that as “G1 Appeal match”, since those are the two people who might have a chance.) Dark Panther gets the annual Okumura showcase.

As always, I will not be putting NJPW matches on my Google Drive – you have to subscribe to NJPW World to see them. The Tuesday show in Osaka and the following Wednesday show in Kagawa are listed as NOT airing; the rest will stream live at 3 or 3:30 AM Mexico City time.

AAA

“Black Taurus” is no more. The guy under the mask is fine. Let’s call this man “Bert” (not a real name) to make this paragraph less confusing. AAA owns the “Taurus” gimmick, that’s not in dispute. Bert portrayed the Taurus character in AAA from 2015 to 2016. Bert then left AAA, modified both the outfit and the name ever so slightly, and portrayed “Black Taurus” for a couple of years. Bert also registered the Black Taurus name and outfit, and appeared on TV in Mexico (for Lucha Libre Elite) as that character. Bert returned to AAA in 2018. He resumed using the “Taurus” gimmick on AAA shows, but kept the “Black Taurus” branding for his outside and independent work. That outside work included his time in Impact Wrestling, where Bert was billed as “Black Taurus.” AAA appeared OK with that. AAA raised no objections of Bert using “Black Taurus” on indie shows or on merchandise. Bert, again under “Black Taurus,” appeared in an ROH show and an AEW show. AAA has been less OK with that. To me, there are three ways this could’ve gone:

  1. AAA could’ve let the “Black Taurus” gimmick go of any issues because of their great friendship and alliance with AEW
  2. AEW could’ve decided Bert’s ownership of the Black Taurus character was legally sound, and just stuck with the character over AAA’s objections.
  3. AEW could decide to modify the “Black Taurus” character and name to something slightly more distinct from “Taurus” to avoid any legal issues.

Option 2 wasn’t a real choice. I think Bert (and AEW) would have a strong case, but AEW recently settled a lengthy lawsuit over the Luchasaurus mask. I expect they’d rather not deal with that for another character, especially one they’ve only recently and barely put on TV. Option 1 seems a great possibility if AAA and AEW were on good terms. It’s going to be Option 3; I’m told Bert was prepared for that to be a possible outcome. I don’t know exactly what Bert will look like or be called when you see him on TV again, but I’m expecting his name won’t have the word “Taurus” in it

TV is the key here. AAA’s probably not this upset if Bert is working untelevised indies, and there’s no reason for Bert to invest into a new character without TV promotion to get it over. It may take a few days for you to read this same information behind a paywall, but this means Bert’s got a AEW/ROH deal.

This Taurus issue may be another aspect of that AAA/TNA announcement; there was a definite spirit of “Friendship Ended with X, Now Y is my best friend” to that deal. It’s also possible someone could end up as the new Taurus in AAA, just as there are new Octagons and Myzteziz. It’s debatable if that strategy helps the wrestlers, but AAA feels it helps AAA.

Space lists “CDMX” as this week’s show description, so they’ll start on the 2024 shows this Saturday

let’s just put the troublesome situations into it’s own area

Antonio Nieto, who lists himself as a columnist for the nmas media outlet in his Twitter bio, posted screenshots of a Whatsapp conversation between Stephanie Vaquer and La Hiedra from right after Cuatrero allegedly hit Vaquer. La Hiedra was dating Cuatrero’s brother Sanson, and Hiedra and Vaquer were friends. Hiedra told Vaquer she needed to cover up the bruises and make sure Cuatrero wasn’t implicated. Hiedra revealed that Sanson had also hit her, only stopping when her sister heard it and got involved. Vaquer comes off as undecided what she was going to do. Nieto says this photos are evidence in the ongoing criminal proceedings against Cuatrero. I’m not a laywer, I’m not sure they actually prove anything directly towards the case -it’s technically still just Vaquer’s side of the incident – but they may be reasoning in why the judge has decided to keep Cuatrero in jail – there’s been pressure to keep Vaquer from talking from day one, and it’d only increase if he was out to participate it. He’s been in jail, and Sanson and Hiedra have been the ones leading the marches against Vaquer. Hiedra, on social media, has claimed these messages aren’t true.

Nieto goes on to say that Cuatrero’s defense is there was indeed a fight between him and Vaquer, but it wasn’t as serious as Vaquer has made it sound. Nieto says Vaquer started the fight, and Cuatrero had “no choice” but to fight back – it wouldn’t be becoming of a macho Mexican man just to let a woman hit him. Cuatrero’s backers – both in public and privately – have been pushing a similar story of Vaquer striking first, and Cuatrero defending himself.

There’s the real problem of domestic violence here, and there’s the far less serious problem of what a goofy wrestling promotion is going to do about it. Sanson & Forastero winning the AAA tag team titles seemed half a belief AAA was going to eventually get something positive out of those guys, and half a gesture of support. It’s not a great look to have Sanson accused of domestic violence and representing AAA now, but I’m not sure that’ll change. AAA took Cuatrero off of TV when he was criminally charged, not just when the accusations were leaked. La Hiedra is unlikely to press charges. NGD haven’t been used on TV yet his year – they do fit the “Retro” concept, but haven’t shown up on the first two TV tapings. I expect they’ll be back anyway.

Juana Barraza Samperio appeared in a new documentary about various Mexican serial killers. Barraza Samperio is better known as La Matavijetas, and claims to have been a luchadora under the name La Dama del Silencio. “Claims” is important; she was involved with the wrestling business as a promoter, but is believed just to have taken a few photos and never actually wrestled a match. It’s hard to believe that someone linked to 16 murders could be telling some lies about her personal life. The “lucha libre killer”  bit isn’t true, but the people reporting on her are more interested in a great story than the truth. The documentary apparently goes along for that ride. Barraza Samperio claims she did a TV interview alongside former CMLL wrestler Tony Rivera at Arena Coliseo, and said something that convinced the police she was killing older people. The odds of a non-CMLL wrestler doing a TV interview at Arena Coliseo are about nil. She goes on to accuse the police of beating a confession out of her and her trial of being corrupt. Those things do happen, though are unlikely.