top six stories of the last two weeks

  1. CMLL’s road to the Anniversary show focused on Volador versus Sombra, including Volador laying out Sombra with brass knuckles and beating him in a singles match. Ultimo Guerrero has spent a lot of time feuding with former protege Rey Escorpion (beating him in Arena Mexico, losing to him in a title match in Arena Puebla) and little interacting with Atlantis. Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero will meet in a singles match this week, but CMLL has put the emphasis on building up the feud between the younger luchadors.
  2. AAA’s sole taping of the last two weeks took place in Queretaro and did not progress stories much. Psycho Clown is still chasing Texano Jr. for a title shot and La Parka and Parka Negra remain feuding. AAA has begun to hype Heroes Inmortales, their next big show, but no date or location has been announced.
  3. CMLL announced a second (or third) match for the Anniversary show: Blue Panther and Averno will conclude their summer long feud with a hair match, where only submissions count. This will help ticket sales, which appear to be moving okay – the first three rows are already sold out. The match was announced after Averno and his friends had destroyed Panther last week, following a well received CMLL maestros versus independent maestros match in honor of Panther’s 35th anniversary.
  4. Eterno & X-Fly won the IWRG tag team titles from Trauma I & Negro Navarro as part of the Familia de Tijuana (Eterno/X-Fly/Super Nova) versus Traumas feud. The Traumas later put Super Nova out of action with a knee injury, and teased switching to the rudo side of this feud.
  5. CMLL announced the first block for it’s annual CMLL Universal tournament of champions. Rush is the favorite in the 08/23 block which also includes Mistico, Averno, Rey Escorpion, Terrible, Mascara Dorada, Polvora, and La Mascara. The 08/30 block seems to be setting up a Sombra vs Tanahashi final, with Valiente, Diamante Azul, Dragon Rojo, Virus, Titan and Mephisto (beat La Mascara for the Mexican Light Heavyweight Title at the last minute to fill out the bracket with no Liger around) also in that group.
  6. NJPW announced Tanahashi will be in from this Friday until the end of the Universal tournament, and Tomohiro Ishii will arrive in time for the Anniversary show (which will also be Ishii’s Mexico debut.) Tanahashi will miss that show, heading back to Japan to defend the tag team titles with Lyger against Tama Tonga & Rey Bucanero.
  • SuperLuchas reported CMLL may be taking away the lucha show in Zocalo spot from Hijo del Santo. Neither CMLL or Hijo del Santo (or the official promoters of the show.) Those involved in Santo’s proposed LA Park/Santo/Wagner show seem confused on the date; Santo is saying the end of September, while Wagner is still talking about the 09/01 date. Both are unlikely.
  • Electrico won the vacant Mexican Lightweight Championship (a title originally for normal sized wrestlers but brought out of mothballs as a minis championship.) There’s still no explanation of what happened to former champion Pierrothito, but he appears to be outside of CMLL.
  • AAA, Pro Wrestling Revolution and Masked Republic announced a AAA seminar/tryout taking place in San Jose in the middle of July September.
  • No title changes happened on IWRG’s Night of Championships show.
  • Hijo de Dos Caras, a forgettable washout in WWE and a completely anonymous luchador when (if?) he was wrestling in Mexico before his WWE stint, will main event WWL’s next shows in Mexico. There is no better example of what having a famous name will do for you in Mexico.