This week’s Wrestling Observer was full of interesting AAA news.
- Rocky Romero unexpectedly and suddenly gave his notice after the 07/04 taping. He was asked to take a pay cut, and that’s what people believe is the reason. He’s not listed on any future AAA cards. WON speculates he’ll end up with Masked Warriors (which makes a lot of sense) – perhaps Grey Shadow or Black Tiger will make a return. AAA will need a new opponent for Jack Evans for Verano, or a new match.
- Chessman is out of action for a few months. He hurt his neck taking the Wagner Driver on the 07/02 show, so he was going to miss the 07/04 taping already. However, backstage for that show, Nicho attacked Chessman with a padded club (?), and leaving Chessman with a fractured ankle. “It wasn’t broken up quickly as Chessman wasn’t very popular among a lot of the wrestlers.”
- Heavy Metal being on probation with a promotion doesn’t seem as much news as the status quo
- Meltzer has the Merida taping as “12,000 fans, which was a little shy of full.” That newspaper article said 6,000, but they did have other facts wrong – Chessman wrestling – so they may have guessed wrong there too. I didn’t think you could have 12,000 people in the Poliforum, but I can never remember the seating capacity of buildings. Didn’t look just shy of full in the pictures.
Not in the Observer, but discussed on the latest Figure Four interview with Dr. Lucha, Shocker may have no-showed himself out of a big payday. The talk inside CMLL was that they were going to do Shocker vs Mr. Niebla in a hair vs mask match for the anniversary show. It’s not been the most exciting feud, but it’s one with length – Niebla took Shocker’s mask after they broke up as a team. This time would be Shocker getting that win back, with Niebla being punished by losing his mask on the biggest show of the year. (It doesn’t make logic to me, but it does give an insight into how those in power and those in the ring see things.) No one definitively said the match was certain and they were sure there’d have to be a strong semimain, but Niebla/Shocker seemed to be the big idea, as long as both guys stayed out of trouble and didn’t start no-showing beforehand. Shocker – quite possibly unaware of all of this – did not show up Tuesday, so this is all probably off.
Photos from the CMLL contract signing reveal Diamante needs to buy a suit coat. Also, this article (and every single other one) mentions Histeria not actually signing the contract. He’s says he’ll be in the match, but he refused to agree to defend his mask in the 07/18 match until he defends it in the 07/12 match. No hint of a replacement if Sombra should happen to be the big winner on Monday. Edit: Estrellas del Ring quotes Panico as saying they’ll just go with 11 if Histeria loses his mask.
Juvi, Charly, and Oriental taped an appearance on TV de Noche, which will air on July 14.
On AAA’s website, Alex Koslov explains why he decide to take the red (normally female) Mixed Tag belt – red fits his theme. Also, the deal with the team is Christina Von Eerie is only interested in Alex in a professional manner, and Alex would like to change that. An admirable goal.
Rey Guerrero lost his hair to Principe Rebelde in Juarez. In Arena Aficion, Sexy Alondra lost his hair to Caricia. DJ Spectro posts video of that one, and notes Alondra appeared to be drunk.
Metro (UK) has a brief positive review of SLAM, a new lucha libre photobook. More info on that book here.
DJ Spectro has an interview with As Charro.
Segunda Caida has it’s daily Black Terry review.
LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.
Lineup
CMLL (TUE) 07/13 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Nube Roja vs Black Metal
2) Astaroth & Samurai vs Drago & In Memoriam
3) Hierro & Leo vs Ráfaga & Rey Trueno
4) Metal Blanco, Stuka Jr., Valiente vs Averno, Exterminador, Máscara Mágica
5) Máximo & Sagrado vs Héctor Garza & Texano Jr.
Rematch of this past week’s finish.
If Niebla is supposed to be the one losing his mask, how is Shocker the one no-showing himself “out of a big payday”? Isn’t it the guy who loses the hair or mask the one making all the money? Think about it.
Cubs will be proven right again, when Anniversary is a cage multi-mask match.
@LLL: Not ALL the money. Being in the main event of the biggest show of the year when most people are paid by percentage means a lot of money. Mask loss is a bonus on top of that.
(Though Shocker was mentioned as one of the few people under guaranteed deals a while back, so it may not mean as much to him.)
look this post,is the from the bicentenario of Mexico,CMLL tv show
http://djspectro.blogspot.com/2010/07/historias-de-un-ring-sagrado.html
Oh boy! so Alondra is getting into an spiral of self destruction? I was at Arena Aficion the night he lost his mask against Bugambilia by DQ early this year… his wrestling was awful!
The SLAM book is amazing. I say that with total bias but I really do think everyone should look into it. The pictures are top notch!
@Jake:
Any idea if/when it’ll get a US release? I’m interested but would hate to spend god knows how much on shipping the thing from the UK.
I’m waiting for Katinka to let me know…. I checked shipping thru Amazon. It’s not outrageous. But not cheap.
Multi-man Cage Match = my prognostication
@thecubsfan: In terms of stip matches, where someone loses hair or mask, we always talk in terms of the loser getting the big payday. For example, it was said that Villano 3 got $20,000 or $30,000 to lose his mask. I’d imagine Atlantis got no more than 20% of what Villano did. But clearly, Shocker could be no-showing himself out of a job.
@LLL: Why do you say that? AAA allows druggies (Heavy Metal), unprovoked backstage attacks (Nicho) and wrestlers completely not in any shape to be in a wrestling ring (Konnan/Vampiro). If anything Shocker is auditioning for an AAA gig.
Surprised nobody even blinks an eye at the AAA turmoil…
1. In what kind of company is attacking someone backstage with a foreign object putting them out of action for months allowed?
2. Is this just a sign that Chessman has finally given up? The guy used to work through EVERYTHING b/c he just loved working and didn’t want to lose his spot. Now an injured neck and fractured ankle are keeping him out for months? Doesn’t jive.
3. Romero being asked to take a paycut… how should I be reading that?
a) They were paying him way too much in the first place and just wanted to lower it?
or
b) AAA isn’t making enough money to pay all the foreigners they have?
4. I e-mailed both Dave and Bryan photos of the crowd shots from Merida (during the main event). Can you take a screenshot of the next Observer when a retraction on the attendance is printed?
@Rob: I feel bad for Chessman. Sounds like a few people were in on it too. He’s in a hostile work environment and needs to leave.
I though Heavy Metal was clean for now.
Sombra needs to take Niebla’s mask.
Maximo needs to take Niebla’s mask.
@KrisZ: Niebla is super over. I think attendance went up when La Peste Negra returned. People dress up like them, and seem to enjoy the act.
Niebla losing soon would be a disgrace. Maybe CMLL thinks the gimmick will still be over without the mask.
CMLL has to get him to drop the mask before it’s too late. Who knows when he’s going to have another “injury”?
Can someone hook me up with a history lesson – when there was the false Niebla, was that because Niebla was “injured” and they tried to pull a fast one, or was that pure angle from the start?
I have said on here in the past, but I do not understand Rocky Romero’s career choices. Yes, we do not know his side of the story yet, but this just seems like another case of him burning a bridge. He isn’t being used by NJPW anymore, I can’t see CMLL taking him back, Ring Warriors (if headed there) isn’t going to provide the dates/$$$ that AAA did. Unless he is has something lined up already, I just do not see how walking away from AAA this way is a good career move long term.
@Nikita: The fake Niebla was more an argument over who owned the gimmick. IWRG thought they did and created their own. By the time the IWRG Niebla showed up in Arena Mexico, CMLL had won the case and they companies were on good enough terms to get rid of the IWRG by just having him lose his mask.
@thecubsfan: CMLL booking was fun back then. Niebla vs. Fake Niebla and Shocker vs. Niebla were great feuds.