Atlantis vs Rocky vs Mistico tonight, Adrian Marcelo fails wrestling exam and faces accusations, AAA in SLP

CMLL

Tonight’s CMLL show

CMLL (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Templario, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr.Rocky Romero [CMLL Universal, semifinal]

Mistico brought up last year’s “pick a ball/get a bye” rules during Informa, suspecting that Rocky Romero would somehow get himself that by. Host Julio Cesar Rivera quickly explained that wouldn’t happen this year: the fans demanded these matches have all three wrestlers in the ring simultaneously, CMLL listens to their fans, so that’s what will happen in this match. I kinda didn’t mind the other way but this will be a lot of easier to understand. Any one of the three wrestlers in the match could logically win.

Atlantis Jr. is still set on facing Mistico in a mask match as the 90th Aniversario main event. Mistico said he was open to it. Romero repeatedly argued that he and Mistico were ‘men’ and Atlatnis Jr. was still only a child. Romero also believes he’s already won the championship and will get paid twice (one for each belt.)

Volador and Gran Guerrero will be a lot of the usual. Templario and Dragon Rojo are on opposite sides of the fourth match. Fuerza Poblana/Dulce Atrapsuenos matches are usually good, and the women’s matches in this feud have been enjoyable. The minis in the opener aren’t the hottest group of minis but that division has been pretty reliable of late. It’s available on PPV and will go up on YouTube on 04/23.

CMLL (MON) 04/10/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Rayo Metálico vs Brave Star & Espíritu Maligno
2) Black Tiger & El Hijo De Centella Roja vs Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II
3) Valiente Jr. vs Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Atlantis, Octagón, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Soberano Jr. vs Templario

This would be a fun show to stream. Soberano/Templario probably won’t have Arena Mexico effort but will still be good. Valiente Jr/Enfermero Jr. is an interesting deepcut. Enfermero, through inactivity and usage, has been passed up in the ranks of promising young CMLL rudos but maybe a good opponent would get him going.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Demonio Rojo, Mágico, Metatrón vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
3) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Ráfaga vs Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Misterioso Jr.
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Crixus, Max Star, Vegas
5) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Gallero vs Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte

Barbaro Cavernario working the semimain is odd on a show with few CDMX guys, but that’s where his brothers are I guess. See the same for Misterioso. Vegas impressed in the Torneo de Escuelas and hasn’t been around since.

Esfinge & Fugaz talked about their chances of winning the CMLL Universal tournament. Their chances are low.

Atlantis talked to MiedoTiempo’s Sin Mascaras interview. He said he doesn’t want to retire because he feels like he’ll die that day, which he’s said before. Atlantis notes his 40th anniversary is coming up this year and gives his debut as July 11, 1983. That’s always the date he and others give, which makes it weird that I’ve stumbled onto Atlantis wrestling in Arena Mexico as early as April that year. He’s even in a title tournament on July 1st. I’ve never figured out what the deal is there. The important thing is CMLL likes to celebrate round anniversaries and they like to celebrate Atlantis, so figure on some big show around July 11 this year. That’s a Tuesday.

Vaquero Jr., in an interview with Mural, mentions his other job is as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital. He’s 34, which is older than I would’ve guessed. He also has an only in Mexico wrestling origin story. Vaquero Jr. was a wrestling fan (big Atlantis fan) but never considered wrestling. He was into bodybuilding, but couldn’t find a place to work out to meet his needs, and others told him he should try training at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara because they had better weights and he’d get a good workout. He did.

Sagrado, when talking about his recent career, claimed that Los Gemelos Diablos were offered to various other luchadors as a team, but he was the one who wanted them. It makes so much sense to see them with similar masks that it’s surprising they were offered to others.

AAA

The two main singles matches for TripleMania Monterrey – one week away from Sunday in a baseball stadium – remain up in the air.

Hijo del Vikingo is the more pressing mystery. AAA said they’d announce an opponent for the mega championship match after Vikingo’s defense in Ring of Honor. That was now a week ago. I guess they don’t have a name locked in – or they have a name locked in but are hoping for a bigger name. (That’s more or less what happened last year with the Jeff Hardy replacement.) There are still ways to hype a Vikingo defense until AAA figures out what they’re doing. For now AAA’s not saying anything.

The biggest match for the local audience is Chessman versus Adrian Marcelo, and I have no idea what’s happening there. Maybe that’s the wrong way to say it: a lot has happened there, and I’m unsure how this ends up.

Monterrey’s lucha libre commission ran a wrestling licensing exam on Wednesday afternoon in Arena Jose Sulaiman, specifically so Marcelo could get his license to wrestle next Sunday. Marcelo won’t be getting his license from that exam; he quit during drills and walked off in the first hour of a three hour test. Villano V and Difunto I were among those working as trainers and judges. Difunto I mentioned on Facebook that two trainees quit the exam, four more didn’t pass, and only two got licensed among the eight who participated. Villano V talked about the exam process to Mas Lucha, noting that the standards to pass are easier now than they were 10-15 years ago, which has dropped the quality of wrestling. Villano and Difunto clarified that Marcelo would need to find a better trainer and train a lot more to earn his license.

Adrian Marcelo appeared on Multimedios later that night, on a TV show that was meant to be a birthday celebration and was surely intended to promote TripleMania. Multimedios posted a segment asking if Marcelo if he will be part of TripleMania. Marcelo says he’ll be at TripleMania yet is careful to avoid saying he’ll wrestle at TripleMania. I don’t want to parse words too closely as non-Spanish speaker, but it doesn’t seem to bring up the licensing exam directly. He vaguely refers to something that happened at Arena Jose Sulaiman earlier in the day and emphasizes he’s been training wrestling for months and respects lucha libre. He also defiantly talked about how lots of people in the media and wrestling don’t want to see him on TripleMania and don’t think he’s ready for the show, then takes off his shirt to show his body is in good shape. Marcelo and the other hosts (including Roberto Figueroa) never just say “the match is on”, giving plenty of space for Marcelo to appear on the show but not wrestle. I didn’t catch it in this video, but AS reports Marcelo also asked to meet the head of the lucha libre commission to make his case he should be allowed to wrestle.

The Mexico news media that’s been covering the rest of this story was slow to pick up on the licensing failure. Other parts of this story have been heavily pushed by people like Roberto Figueroa, out to the media. Figueroa ignored the licensing failure and just posted on Facebook about Marcelo saying he’ll be at TripleMania. Many people eventually found the Mas Lucha video, though this bit still isn’t covered as much as past incidents in this story.

I can’t reliably say I know what’s going on here. Obviously, the funniest and most AAA situation is a bunch of old wrestlers weren’t in on AAA’s plan and/or were upset about AAA disgracing wrestling by having a celebrity in the ring, so they ran him off in a licensing exam and now everyone’s scrambling. That situation is also too juicy to be true. I think the most likely outcome is Marcelo will participate in TripleMania and whatever happened Wednesday set up a lot of fun speculation that might be meaningless.  Maybe the test failure was legit and AAA will have to ‘convince’ the commission to let him participate anyway. Maybe the test failure is some part of this story and Marcelo will heroically get his license after all. There’s an easy out with the head of the commission giving it to him, though that would put a lot of heat on the commissioner. AAA will figure out a way for the show to go on.

Generally, this slap story has progressed normally to this point and whatever happened with this licensing exam doesn’t seem to fit smoothly in the story. It hurts AAA in Mexico if there’s a story going around that “Marcelo vs Chessman is happening” by now, just like it hurts AAA for those internet PPV buys if there’s no Vikingo match to promote.

That’s the fun Adrian Marcelo story of the day. It’s not the only one. A woman listing her name as Carolina Lerma accused Marcelo of sexual assault in posts on Facebook and Instagram. (She also accused another man in a separate incident.) Lerma says the incident with Marcelo took place in February 2022 while both were in a car. She was trying to turn down his advances, and Marcelo instead exposed himself, touched himself, and attempted to force himself on Lerma. She got away from him and they did not talk after that. Lerma, who does not seem to be a celebrity or someone with many followers, posted a photo of herself with Marcelo and a Whatsapp audio message as evidence they knew each other. It does sound like Marcelo in the audio, though it’s not absolute proof he sent this audio to this specific woman (and it more about him trying to pursue a  relationship, not an admission of guilt.)

Lerma’s objective seems to be to bring attention to these men’s actions and to offer support to others who’ve gone through the same situation. Lerma’s posts were circulated heavily on social media on Thursday and started to be picked up by media outlets later that night. Marcelo seemed to be referencing Lerma’s posts with a “Here we go again” GIF tweet, but otherwise said nothing. It does not appear Lerma filed charges or will be filing charges.  AAA’s policy seems to be that they won’t take action unless there are charges. Marcelo works for Multimedios, Multimedios is also working with TripleMania on this show, and so the Multimedios officials are ultimately the ones likely to make the call on Marcelo working TripleMania. Again, I suspect the show will go on.

TripleMania Monterrey still isn’t listed on FITE. The streaming network themselves said all three TripleMania would be there, so this is probably a hold-up on AAA’s side. It may be they’re waiting for that Vikingo announcement to announce it.

AAA tapes TV in San Luis Potosi on Saturday

AAA TV (SAT) 04/08/2023 Auditorio Miguel Barragan, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí
1) Mini Vikingo vs Fulgor vs Baby Extreme
2) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Chik Tormenta, Látigo, Toxin
3) Mr. Iguana vs Puma King
Guest referee La Hiedra
4) Dalys, Jack Cartwheel, Negro Casas vs Argenis, Dinámico, Toscano
5) Dralistico, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid vs Antifaz del Norte, Flamita, Gringo Loco
6) Daga, Damián 666, Pentagón Jr. vs Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernético, Taurus

This is the last TV taping before TripleMania. I think AAA is airing TripleMania live and this taping will air out of order around May 6th and 13th, but not sure.

No one expects Daga actually to be in the main event – he should still be out with a knee injury – but AAA’s kept him listed on the show all along. Likewise, Toxin is not wrestling due to injury but AAA hasn’t replaced him. Maybe it’s possible for Dralistico to get from Rhode Island to San Luis Potosi, maybe AAA and Dralistico have actually worked it out, but that will be a hard trip. The local promoter did post Dralistico promos and Dralistico is still mentioning the AAA TV on Instagram.

Antifaz wrestling in his mask on a show airing after TripleMania may end up confusing but I don’t think that bothers AAA much. AAA was good about having one designated “good match” on their shows in 2022, which hasn’t worked out on the last few tapings. That semi-main is supposed to be in here, but Antifaz hasn’t seemed like he can go on the level of the other guys so far. This card is going to change so it’s not worth thinking about it.

AAA also has a spot show in Acapulco, which they’ve been promoting on social media more than most spot shows. It’s the same building as Noche de Campeones. That show did not draw well and there’s no reason to suspect this will do much better. It’s a big feather in Alberto’s cap if it does fine. Interestingly, AAA’s updated the poster for this show, with Parka Negra, Emperador Azteca, Baby Xtreme, and Villano III Jr. all being removed. (Cuatrero may have also been booked for this show at one point.) Mascara de Bronce (under that name) has been added and there’s a mystery mini spot in the opener. Maybe some of those names are being used as replacements on the TV taping but that is the thing – AAA found it important enough to release a corrected lineup for the non-TV show in Acapulco, but has continued to promote an in correct lineup for the TV taping in San Luis Potosi on the same day. Their local Acapulco partners may require a correct lineup because it’s unlike AAA to bother doing that on their own.

AAA’s picked up a new TV deal with a familiar name. Claro Sports says they’ll start airing AAA tonight, and every Friday night going forward at 10 pm local. It’ll air both on ClaroSports cable channel and their (usually geo-blocked) internet stream. AAA will continue to air on Space, Azteca, Multimedios and Space; this is just another option. Claro has been promoting this on their own broadcasts for a few days; I just heard about it on Thursday.

Claro is not airing live AAA TV tapings at this time. The article left it a little bit confusing, but this is just the same TV show that airs on Space (and Azteca and Multimedios.)

AAA on Space starts airing the Lucha Libre World Cup this week. Not sure which matches air first. I’ll keep an eye on it in case they add any new content in addition to what aired on FITE, but I’m not expecting much.

I actually made a list of stuff I need to catch up on and remembered I never watched part one of Rey de Reyes. I only saw bits and pieces of it that week. Komander vs Abismo Negro Jr. vs Bandido vs Psycho Clown was really good; lots of action, everyone worked off each other well, I wanted to see more Abismo Negro Jr. in those types of matches. The effort was there in all of those matches, that just was the one that was best at overcoming the library-like atmosphere for me.

IWRG

IWRG posted a new Retro episode last night:

  • 2007-10-11: Freelance and Tortuguillos Ninja I y II vs Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro and Oficial 911
  • 2005-04-07: La Corporación (Black Tiger, Pentagon Black, Dr. Cerebro, Cerebro Negro, Veneno, Scorpio Jr. and Pantera) vs Negro Casas, Felino, Heavy Metal, Matrix, Black Dragon, Mike Segura and Fantasma Jr.

Neither match was previously on YouTube.

There is a non-IWRG Arena Naucalpan show tonight.

AAA , ROSALES (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Galio, Golden Jacket, Kingoo vs Hellboy, Noisy Boy, Rey Halcón
2) Astuto, Hijo De Dos Caras, Niño Hamburguesa vs Kuukai, Nishikawa, Tiago
3) Lady Shani & Octagón Jr. vs Joe Lider & La Hiedra and Dark Scoria & Sexy Star
4) Daimo vs Hijo Del VikingoTaurusAstor
5) Alberto el Patrón, Dizzy, Murder Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., Charly Manson, Parka Negra

Not sure if Mas Lucha is streaming this, but it’ll likely turn up on fancams this weekend.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

Mas Lucha starts their Torneo Suicida Sunday night. This show will stream on their YouTube channel for free and includes just the tournament’s first round. (The later rounds will air on future shows.) I assume Mas Lucha will be airing both this and IWRG at the same time.

La Noticia has an interview with Metalik (Mascara Dorada), who says he got into Arena Mexico originally from a 20-25 wrestler tryout. He feels Lucha House Party was always more popular than they were pushed and complains their fans could never find merchandise to buy. He’s still thankful to WWE, because he wouldn’t be living in the US without them. His focus is on continuing to wrestle in the US. It reads like he’s working for AEW/ROH on a per-night deal.

Box y Lucha has a bio of Dulce Tormenta, which would’ve been more useful a week ago.

Box y Lucha also put up a new group of 1971 digital issues. They just put up the last one a week and half ago, after none for months. I haven’t even gotten through that one yet. (I haven’t gotten through in part because the first issue has EMLL lineups and results that directly conflict with lineups and results we already have and I haven’t figure out how to handle it yet.) I will of course be buying this immediately anyway.

I will now tell you an unsurprising story: I was hanging around the Ukrainian Cultural Center after the Wrld on Lucha, waiting for people to be ready to go. It wasn’t people who were on the show. There were also some luchadors still there and other people from GCW. I could’ve mingled to make connections, I could’ve asked some questions to get some scoops for later, or just generally gotten some insight from people who are smarter about many things than me. I instead stood quietly near various walls, looking down at my phone through that previous batch of 1970s Box y Luchas for cool stuff, some of which I posted on Twitter dot com. I’m terrible at this parts of this gig that people actually care about.

GCW is bringing Hijo del Vikingo back for their 05/26 show in Las Vegas. That’s AEW Double or Nothing weekend.

The latest Lucha Memes and Zona 23 shows have gone up on IWTV.

DoradaFan has a Latigo music video.

CMLL early week results (Soberano/Templario?), IWRG lineups

CMLL

CMLL released Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show on Monday night. They did not reach the 5,000 likes they were requesting before releasing it. I hope to watch this later this week.

CMLL (MON) 04/03/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Astro & Meyer b Dark Soul & Dreyco
2) Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama b El Asturiano & Novato Facebook video (posted by )
3) Millenium, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider Facebook video (posted by )
4) Okumura b Magnus [lightning]
5) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma b Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, El Hijo del Villano III [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Templario DQ Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. Facebook video (posted by )
Templario unmasked Soberano for the DQ.

That’s the second straight week for that finish, so expect a Templario/Soberano singles match next week. It still seems like CMLL is taping the occasional Arena Puebla and not airing it anywhere so we may not see it then. We probably will see it later; Soberano/Templario is running away with the (belated) January match of the month poll. Astral/Suicida is surprisingly doing the same with the February one. CMLL will likely run those matches back next January. I haven’t dug into the numbers but I suspect these polls aren’t getting a lot of votes (they don’t get a lot of attention) and it wouldn’t take much to push them in a specific direction.

Members of Porra Fresa (Stigma, Pegasso, Guerrero Maya, Rey Samuray) signed autographs before the show, which is part of a month long promotion that’ll come to Guadalajara. (This happens in Mexico City too; it’s free in Puebla and Guadalajara.) Members of the Puebla FC soccer team also appeared at the end of the autograph signing, giving Stigma a personalized jersey. Attendance looked open, which could be related to the autograph signing.

Samuray’s 450 is officially known as Giro Samuray.

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Full Metal b Galaxy [lightningCONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi b Metálica, Olympia, Tiffany CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Flyer, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4) Rugido b El Audaz [lightningCONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5) Capitán Suicida, Esfinge, Star Black b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Capitan Suicida replaced Fugaz late on Tuesday.
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)

I was going to catch up on last Friday’s show but then I passed out my couch for a few hours. That caused me to stay up to 1 AM catching on things, then I’ll be tired tomorrow and be behind again. It’s not a great cycle. I watched this while I worked; this also wasn’t a great show. I liked the opener the best because both guys took nutty bumps. Olympia needs to rethink handsprings. Malditos are working on group submissions. Capitan Suicida is strangely now one of the more charismatic guys on the roster; how did that happen?

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan b Canalla, Demonio Maya, Thunder Boy Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial )
2) Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico b Black Boy, Mortiz, Ponzoña Jr. Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
4) Arlequín, Brillante Jr., Gallero b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
5) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion b Bestia Negra & Cris Skin Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
challenges followed
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. Martes de Glamour04 Abril 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)

Guadalajara seems like it drew well. I skimmed through this just to get the results and was confused by Soberano Jr. winning the main event with a frogsplash.

CMLL (SAT) 04/08/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Neón, Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Grako, Nitro, Raider
3) Lluvia vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Valiente Jr., Volcano vs Difunto, Furia Roja (Jalisco), Zandokan Jr.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Mephisto vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota
6) Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Último Guerrero

Nothing is happening so there’s nothing to write about here. Women’s lightning matches are rare.

CMLL (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Micro Ángel, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas
2) Valiente Jr. vs Neón [lightning]
3) Crixus, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Virus vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Yota
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr.

Crixus is with Los Depredadores, which seems possibly as a full time thing.

Rocky Romero suggested the idea of a “Azucarmania” show in Mexico this year, featuring wrestlers from CMLL, NJPW, AEW, Impact and the indies. General sentiment seems to be that people would like to see it, but the Mexican fans don’t believe it’s actually possible. There’s also some skepticism if it happened, because previous shows featuring big outside names haven’t drawn well in Mexico, and a belief the CMLL fans will have no idea about people outside of CMLL. I would like to see it anyway. This sound a bit like the All Star Junior festival in the US idea floated earlier, and maybe those two things are related.

Rocky Romero will be on CMLL Informa today, so we might know how much of this is a Rocky Romero idea and how much of it is a CMLL one. Informa also has Mistico, Atlantis Jr. (CMLL Universal block Friday), Zandokan, Difunto, Rey Samuray, Valiente Jr. and Neon scheduled.

AAA

I got very little of Saturday’s show, not enough to really talk about. They’ll have a repeat next week, and I’ll try to get it then. AAA’s airing the Lucha World Cup the next 2-3 weeks, which will be new to most but not to people like me who paid for it on FITE, and that’ll be a good chance to catch up.

The usual 2×1 ticket deal for the next big AAA show has begun. As always, it’s for the cheaper seats.

Lady Shani talked about her upcoming lucha libre/freestyle rap show to ESTO. The article doesn’t seem to mention the date of the show (April 15th, in Mexico City.)

Komander faces Sammy Guevara tonight on AEW Dynamite. The only other time they two have been in a match was last year’s TripleMania Monterrey, where Guevara was in the match technically but not really (for medical reasons.) Komander isn’t yet booked on TripleMania. Hijo del Vikingo also still doesn’t have an opponent. I don’t think AAA’s doing the rematch but I can’t say I know what AAA is doing. AAA does have Vikingo merch now so that’s good.

IWRG

No show this Thursday.

IWRG (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja vs Rey Astaroth
2) Danessa & Sagitarius vs Dehyna & Satania
3) Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr. vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Puma de Oro © vs Gannicus [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
first defense
5) Asterboy, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, John Tito, Maniacop 360, Tonalli vs Daisuke Sasaki, Gianna Valetta, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Kodai Nosaki, Shocko [Copa High Power]

I haven’t been following DDT so I don’t know why Daisue Sasaki is hanging around Mexico this week (he’s working Lucha Memes as well) but he is here part of a main even Mexico vs the World match. Kosai Nosaki (who actually spells his name with a Z) was traveling around Europe last month and somehow ended up in Mexico; he says he’s expecting to wrestle about 10 times this month. He’s from small Japanese promotion Kyushu Pro Wrestling.

Puma de Oro no-showed his last IWRG title match and IWRG pretended like he didn’t exist, so I don’t know how this title defense is going to go. Brazos/Pandemonium could be promising.

The IWRG Guerra de Golfo show is 04/16, and it’ll be a Mas Lucha premium show.

IWRG , RGR (THU) 04/20/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Kenji & Rey Halcón
2) Faby Apache & Hades (Indie) vs Keira & Lolita
3) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Bugambilia, Karaoui, Shocko
4) Coronel Vip vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [RGR HEAVY]
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Rokambole Jr., Villano IV, Villano V Jr.
6) ?, Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool

California RGR running another bigger budget Naucalpan show. I presume the main event was supposed to include Cuatrero, who’s court case is expected to keep him in prison at least into May. Sanson was asked about the situation over the weekend and just said it’s in the hands of God and the laywers. Mascara 2000 Jr. is joining the replacing him in the trio going forward.

Other News

Emperador Azteca will defend the Big Lucha Championship on the 04/16 GLEAT show in Tokyo. Soma Watanbe will challenge.

Record has an interview with Arena CM’s Cristero.

There’s a new book about the lucha libre in Guadajaara. I know nothing about it beyond that photo but I sure would like to get it.

Arena Coliseo 80th Anniversary, WRLD on Lucha

CMLL

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, ESTO]
***Arena Coliseo 80th Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Minos 80 Aniversario Arena Coliseo: Shockercito y Último Dragoncito derrotan a Minos y Mercurio (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Facebook video (posted by )
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit b La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis 80 Aniversario Arena Coliseo Jarochita, Lluvia y P.Sugehit derrotan a La Catalina, S.Vaquer y Zeuxis (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Facebook video (posted by )
3) Rey Samuray b CrixusÁngel RebeldeMax StarTonalliBrillante Jr.Hijo de Stuka Jr.Vaquero Jr.MultyNeón [Torneo Nueva Generacion] 80 Aniversario Arena Coliseo: Eliminatoria Torneo Nueva Generación CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Facebook video (posted by )
Order of elimination: Multy (by Max Star), Max Star (Brillante Jr.), Tonalli (Vaquero Jr.), Crixus (Stuka Jr.), Neon (Angel Rebelde), Brillante Jr. (Rey Samuray), Neon (Crixus), Crixus (Vaquero Jr.), Vaquero Jr. (Rey Samuray) leaving Rey Samuray as the winner. He had a new look mask.
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón b Felino, Satánico, Virus 80 Aniversario Arena Coliseo: Octagón, Atlantis y B. Panther derrotan a El Satánico, Felino y Virus (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Facebook video (posted by )
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles80 Aniversario Arena Coliseo: Eliminatoria Torneo Nueva Generación CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) Facebook video (posted by )
Mistico’s latest idea: a three apuesta way match with him, Averno, and Volador

This show drew exceptionally. The lower bowl was sold out in advance, which hasn’t happened in Arena Coliseo in many years. CMLL’s beauty shot of the attendance doesn’t show the top deck completely, but you hardly ever see the top two levels in use and they’re pretty full. The most recent capacity number known for Arena Coliseo is 5,250 and I would guess 5,000 for this show. (ESTO has it as 6,000) This was more a special show rather than a special lineup/ I thought CMLL should’ve done more. It turned out they did enough.

CMLL’s also doing a bit where they’ll put the show up on YouTube if their Instagram post gets 5,000 likes. It was about 500 short last I checked. No one in wrestling asking for likes has ever not ended up doing the thing anyway; it’ll probably go up next weekend.

 

Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli did a number of short (2 minutes-ish) press interviews at the show to promote it. Maybe the most notable thing he said was they planned on celebrating the 100th Arena Coliseo, suggesting they will keep running here for the foreseeable future. It’s not like they will mention something negative on an Anniversary show, but that’s a more positive outlook on Arena Coliseo than usual.

This show made the cover of Box y Lucha 3545.

CMLL (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Retro b Cholo [lightning]
2) Astral, Cachorro, Diamond b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Luciferno, Magia Blanca, Rugido b El Coyote, Pegasso, Stigma [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Luciferno took 2/3.
4) Valiente & Valiente Jr. b El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr.
Valientes took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring b Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Rocky Romero b Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán
Rudos took 2/3.

Rocky returning with a win is the most notable thing on this show.

AAA

AAA did air the 2nd half of NWA/AAA show this week. I haven’t seen it yet; I know I have one match on the first airing and maybe the other parts in the second half. They did air a bunch of vignettes and I’ll try to catch up on those Wednesday.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy b Kenji IWRG | Mano a mano: Súper Boy vs Kenji | Lucha completa (posted by mluchatv) Súper Boy Vs Kenji con IWRG en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
2) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly El GIR: Hip Hop Man, Karaoui y Shocko Vs Jhon Titto, Baby Star Jr, y Spider Fly en Arena Naucalpan (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) IWRG | Grupo Internacional Revolución c/Lic. Bambu vs Baby Star, Spider Fly y Jhon Tito (posted by ) LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Baby Star left the match early due to medical issues. IWRG wrestlers ran off the GIR team after the match.
3) León Dorado b Imposible LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
mask challenges followed.
4) Asterboy & Hell Boy b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Later, Hellboy and Hip Hop Man agreed to a match where Hellboy put the IWRG MEXICO championship on the line, but Hip Hop Man must dress up as Excelsa (an Argentinean comedy character on Mexican TV)
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Hijo de Canis Lupus & Travis Banks LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Travis Banks replaced Gianni Valetta
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Morgana, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor Barack y Menfis Vs Karma y Orgullo con AULL en la Arena López Mateos (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Morgana rebuffed Pig Destroyer’s romantic advances; Morgana fouled him and got the win

They’re really all in on the Hip Hop Man group as lead (regular) heels. Attendance seemed better than the last few shows. Guerra de Golfo is the next big event.

Other Notes

GCW (SAT) 04/01/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California [thecubsfan, Voices of Wrestling, Zona Ruda]
1) Jack Cartwheel b El MagoWillie MackBobby FlacoJimmy LloydShane Mercer
2) Dulce Tormenta b Sexy Star
3) Cíclope (Indie) & Miedo Extremo b Bestia 666 & Damián 666
4) Aramis, Komander (Indie), Rey Horus b Arez, Black Taurus (Indie), Látigo
5) Negro Casas b Tony Deppen
6) Gringo Loco (Indie) b Psycho Clown
7) Hijo Del Vikingo b Laredo Kid

This was a good show and somehow that ended up being a disappointment. The Wrld on Lucha was on Day 2 of WrestleMania weekend last year, going up against multiple other events including what turned out to be the first AEW ROH show. It ended up on Day 3 this year with no competition. The problem was it was Day 3 of a long weekend and the luchadors are now the guys carrying a lot of shows on Day 1 and 2. It left this event as one where many guys were trying to get through their last tough match of the weekend. Those who stood out the best had worked the least; I don’t think Tormenta and Star had worked in Los Angeles previously this weekend and they got a lot of time for an “let’s just do everything” sort of match that went well. There were a vocal group of latino fans flirting with Sexy Star before the match, but the crowd largely didn’t know either and the women won that crowd over. Psycho Clown too didn’t wrestle much this weekend, so was fresh to have a crazy hardcore brawl with Gringo Loco, who snuck out a win with a cradle in the end while also bleeding a ton. Vikingo/Laredo was more a story telling match (“Laredo has Vikingo’s number”) than Vikingo doing a lot of crazy stuff. It was pretty good, but didn’t touch their best work. The trios match was the same. I liked Casas/Deppen better than Casas/Ultimo Dragon, though obviously the latter meant a lot more to the fans. The scramble was fine, the tag match was fine. This just had a sleeper chance of being the best show of the weekend and had to settle for being one of the better shows of the weekend because everyone was kinda done. It’s still easily worth watch at FITE+ prices.

I spotted WWE’s Angel Garza, Humberto Carrillo and Cruz del Toro (ex-Jinzo) at this show. There may have been others; this show felt packed and it was hard to see who was all there. This was the only GCW show I went to on the weekend, so maybe Spring Break or Bloodsport had more people but it’s hard to believe they could fit more people into that building.

WWE and UFC will be one company by the end of the year, as announced today. Vince McMahon will officially be back in charge of the wrestling portion, though he’d quietly reasserted some level of control there over the last few months. No one knows exactly how this is going to play out but everyone can have a guess. My hunch is this will lead to a heavier push into a base in Mexico and more aggressive competition against both CMLL and AAA.

Saturday’s Arena Lopez Mateos show isn’t particularly interesting on paper. The card completely changed, they ended up with a Wagners/Traumas/NGD main event, it seemed to draw pretty and the results are unimportant. It did get some attention because of multiple fights in the crowd during the fan. Mas Lucha has a video showing the fights while decrying them; they later turned the video private. La Tijera has a glimpse of one of them. Skirmishes in the crowd during a lucha libre match are uncommon but do happen, there just seemed to be more of them than usual on this show.

A viral video from Saturday shows the aftermath of Shocker getting into a fight with a fan and trying to get away while the police get involved. Shocker was reportedly drunk.

Box y Lucha reports Bolivian luchadora Carla Greta (25) passed away on Monday.

Luchatitlan to open today, AAA in Tijuana, WrestleMania weekend notes

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/31/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RingKaiser Sports]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito ¡La afición enardece con estos grandes lances de Angelito, Pequeño Magia y Kaligua! (posted by Revista BOX Y LUCHA) Angelito, Pequeño Magia y Kaligua derrotaron a los rudísimos P. OlÍmpico, P. Pierroth y Full Metal (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL | El Pequeño Sky Team vence a Pequeño Pierroth, Pequeño Olímpico y Full Metal (posted by mluchatv)
2) Fuego b Raider [lightning¡El Fuego arrasa en el Match Relámpago! ❤️‍ (posted by ) CMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / RAIDER VS FUEGO /ARENA MÉXICO/31-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Fuego vence a Raider en match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) Fuego se lleva la victoria en el Match Relámpago al derrotar a Raider en un espectacular mano a mano (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
3) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black ¡Así sellaron el triunfo Capitán Suicida, Panterita del Ring Jr. y El Audaz! (posted by ) #CMLL| Esfinge, Fugaz y Star Black son derrotados por Audaz, Capitán Suicida y Panterita del Ring Jr (posted by mluchatv) CMLL - LA FUERZA TAPATIA VS EL AUDAZ - CAP. SUICIDA - PANTERITA DEL RING JR. / ARENA MÉXICO/31-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Panterita del Ring Jr., Capitán Suicida y El Audaz derrotan a Star Black, Esfinge y Fugaz (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Team Suicida took 1/3.
4) Niebla Roja b Magnus [lightning¡Match Relámpago para Niebla Roja esta noche! (posted by ) 7:02 bastaron para que el Ingobernable Niebla Roja diera cuenta del Depredador Magnus (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL | Niebla Roja venció en match relámpago a Magnus Depredador (posted by mluchatv)
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente DQ Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado ¡Gran coordinación de Atlantis, Atlantis Jr. y Valiente! (posted by ) CMLL | Atlantis, Valiente y Atlantis Jr. vs Los Gemelos Diablo I y II y El Sagrado (posted by mluchatv)
straight falls (Malditos DQ in 1st)
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr. ¡Gran respuesta del público ante el triunfo de Místico, Volador Jr. y Soberano Jr.! (posted by ) CMLL | Místico, Volador Jr. y Soberano Jr. vencen a Ángel de Oro, Dragon Rojo Jr. y Stuka Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CMLL-DRAGÓN ROJO JR.-STUKA JR.-ÁNGEL DE ORO VS SOBERANO JR.-VOLADOR JR.-MÍSTICO/A. MÉXICO/31-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Místico y la Mística dan el triunfo a Volador Jr y Soberano Jr ante Á. de Oro, D. Rojo Jr y Stuka Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
tecnicos took 2/3.

I appreciate CMLL doing absolutely nothing of note when I’m out of town. I’ve seen bits and pieces of  this and it seemed fine. Not really enough to have a big take.

Tiger Infante (Metalico) also appeared with his medal-winning kid olympic-style wrestlers during the show.

Felino is in tonight’s Arena Coliseo legends match; he noted to Razon that spot would’ve gone to Negro Casas in the past, and it hurt he wasn’t considered on that level. He’s going into the match with something to prove.

CMLL (MON) 04/03/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Meyer vs Dark Soul & Dreyco
2) El Asturiano & Novato vs Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama
3) Millenium, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
4) Magnus vs Okumura [lightning]
5) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, El Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Templario

Puebla keeps booking Stigma and Suicida on opposite sides and it hasn’t gotten to a title match yet. Dreyco (usually Dreyko) turned up here prior at the end of 22021 and early 2022.

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena México
1) Galaxy vs Full Metal [lightning]
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs Metálica, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Flyer, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) El Audaz vs Rugido [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Rocky getting the full car wash of bookings. Rugido is the most exciting person in the Rugido/Audaz match up (but that should be a rivalry, I think.)

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan vs Canalla, Demonio Maya, Thunder Boy
2) Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa vs Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano
4) Arlequín, Brillante Jr., Gallero vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion vs Bestia Negra & Cris Skin
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. vs Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr.

Father & son tag team main event. Semi-main continues a recent feud. Astro Oriental is a new name (and maybe that’s a new Thunder Boy?)

CMLL (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Templario, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero [lightning]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr.Rocky Romero [CMLL Universal, semifinal]

In theory, CMLL’s running two singles matches with the guys in the main event and we won’t know which one it is until Friday. In reality, they only used those rules last year and might change them again. It does seem unnecessary to have a semi-main lightning match on this show. but I guess anything not to do an atomicos. Rey Samuray gets a Friday appeareance, Sanely steps in Sugehit’s spot in the one feud in the women’s division.

Templario wants Dragon Rojo Jr. in the 90th Aniversaio main event.

Sanely told Sin Mascaras her father (Mano Negra) didn’t want her to become a wrestler because he saw what the luchadoras of his age went through and didn’t want her to go through the same. She’s heard bad stories but says she hasn’t had those experiences herself. I didn’t pick up on it last week, but Sanely had a Black Warrior Jr. themed mask. She mentioned how his death, following an in-ring injury, had hear nervous and scared a bit as she returned to the ring herself.

AAA

Today on Space

  • NGD vs Thom Latimer, Kratos, Chris Adonis [AAA TRIOS]
  • Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs Blue Demon Jr. & Vampiro [NWA TAG]
  • Kamille vs Flammer [NWA WOMEN]
  • Tyrus vs Daga [NWA HEAVY]

This was said to be the better half of the show. Maybe that’s Kamille/Flammer? Tyrus/Daga ended in injury.

AAA announced a lineup for the Tijuana show.

AAA TV (SAT) 04/22/2023 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Arkángel Divino, Fantastik, Rayo Star, Último Maldito vs Dinámico, Genio del Aire, Kamik-C, Skalibur
2) Niño Hamburguesa & Willie Mack vs Látigo & Toxin
3) Dalys, Octagón Jr., Persephone vs Chik Tormenta, Flammer, Villano III Jr.
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Jack Cartwheel, Komander vs Emperador Azteca, Gringo Loco, Puma King
5) Juicy Finau, Negro Casas, Rey Horus vs Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
6) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Psycho Clown vs Antifaz del Norte, Sam Adonis, Taurus

This will probably not be the final lineup; only AAA would announce a wrestler for a match the day after he said he’ll be out 4-6 weeks; Toxin’s not due to back until May.

The main event continues to point towards Laredo/Antifaz in the cage match. Octagon and Villano get to hear up their rivalry in the tercera.

Juicy Finau worked the MLW tapings here and fits the random sort of person who appears on these AAA Tijuana shows. Mascara 2000 gets to be a semi-main guy because they needed another Dinamita. AAA ran an angle to set up Komander and Cartwheel as a team on TV this week and now they’re actually going to be a team. It looks like eight or nine weeks between the setup of that angle and when it airs on TV, but the thought is nice. The Vikingo/Gringo feud resurfaces; I thought there was an outside chance of that being the TripleMania Monterrey title match.

No idea who Persephone is. It’s possible it’s a new AAA character because I can’t find an indie wrestler that’ll work. (Maybe it’s a different spelling and I’m missing it?)

The Luchatitlan project opens today. Sam Adonis had a Tweet up pitching this as “Medieval Times but with lucha libre instead” and that’s a great way to explain what’s happening here. It’s a stage show, something where they’re going to be telling the same story even night for a new audience. The show centers around a character named El Monarca and will be presented in English and Spanish. TV Azteca has a couple phots of the impressive setup. All the wrestlers will be characters created for this show specifically. The hope is this is something. they can franchise to other tourists stops in Mexico and, best case, to the US as well. This idea has been in the works since June of 2020 and took longer because of the pandemic.

AAA’s main contribution to this project appears to be giving insight on the wrestling end. They’re not responsible for the day to day running, which is probably the best for them. Tickets for the show will run from 70 to 109 USD, which are the most expensive tickets for a non-major lucha libre show in Mexico. They’re only seating 600 people a day, so high prices are needed to make this work. They’re going for tourists who have lots of money to spend and want to see lucha libre in a safe environment.

Wrestlers complaining about bad airlines is a social media staple. Lady Shani complaining about Aeromexico – they oversold a flight to Mexicali and she missed the show – got a lot of attention for whatever reason.

Adrian Marcelo’s licensing exam will take place on Wednesday. In letter, that tryout is open to all wrestlers in Monterrey. I wonder if that’ll be something. Dr. Wagner Jr. is against this idea of Marcelo wrestling and wrote as much in his column. I believe he feels that but also that he’s smart enough to want to be part of this story.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/30/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, Zona Ruda]
1) Rey Aztaroth & Rey Eclipse b Águila Roja & Golden Power LIVE | Tonallí vs Brazo de Oro Jr. en mano a mano y el Campeonato de Tríos del Edomex en juego (posted by mluchatv)
2) Avisman b Jhon Tito Avisman vs John Tito | IWRG Thursday Night Wrestling en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
3) Lolita b SataniaDehynaHades (AAA)SagitariusDark Infernum Lolita vs Hades vs Satania vs Sagitarius vs Dehyna vs Dark Infernum | IWRG en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
4) Brazo De Oro Jr. b Tonalli Mano a Mano: Brazo de Oro Jr. vs Tonalli | IWRG en la Arena Naucalpan (posted by mluchatv)
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Asterboy, Gannicus, Hell Boy [EdM Trios] Campeonato de Tríos: Hip Hip Man, Karaoui y Shocko (c) vs Hell Boy, Gannicus y Aster Boy (posted by mluchatv)
2nd defense

I heard good things about Brazo de Oro Jr. vs Tonalli, and I hope to catch it when I get back home.

IWRG (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy vs Kenji
2) Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly vs Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko
3) León Dorado vs Imposible
4) Asterboy & Hell Boy vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Gianni Valetta & Hijo de Canis Lupus
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Morgana, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor

I probably won’t be hurrying to see this one. Gianna Valetta has returned from Malta.

Travel Notes

I’ve been to three shows so far this WrestleManis weekend, with the Wrld is Lucha coming later tonight. The big points

  • Hijo del Vikingo is the star of the weekend so far. The Komander/Vikingo/Taurus match was the best of the Mark Hitchcock WrestleCon show on Thursday night, and the Komander/Vikingo was arguably the best from the ROH Supercard show. The Speedball/Vikingo match later Friday night had a spot or two notable that went wrong but sounds like it may have ended up the best match of that show too. Even the Vikingo/Blake Christian match – taped Wednesday, aired on Thursday while other things were going on – was said to be something really good. Tony Khan said he talked to Vikingo after his ROH match and wants to use him more often on his shows.This is all great news for Hijo del Vikingo; he’s established himself as a special performer even beyond everyone else. (This weekend happening the same time as Rey Mysterio Jr. is entering the WWE Hall of Fame has had a lot of people throwing around that specific comparison.) It’s probably not great for AAA in the long term: the timeline of Vikingo going from a regular part of AAA’s roster to a special guest performer like Fenix & Penta looks like it’s going to happen a lot sooner than people might have expected. The short term is great for AAA though: their sales pitch for the three TripleMania shows just needs to be “Vikingo vs [X]” and they’ll have international fan’s attention. AAA did not immediately announce Vikingo’s Monterrey opponent after ROH, which seems like a slight miss. They’ll make up for it if it’s a big enough name, and I know they’re going after some big outside names.
  • Komander also did well for himself, especially in the Ring of Honor show. He’ll be on Dynamite this Wednesday against Sammy Guevara. (The two were in the mixed tag title match last TripleMania Monterrey, though Sammy was really in that match only by name.) Komander also looks to be getting a more AEW/ROH work in the future if everything can be worked out. In a way, he’s taken off faster than Vikingo. Hijo del Vikingo was on plenty of non-Mexico people’s radars for years, but it was the visa issue holding him back. Komander got attention international attention only in the last year, and made it nearly as far.(It is sad/disheartening that the third equally important part of the match on Thursday, Black Taurus, is relegated to “wrestling Laredo Kid or losing to whoever the X-Division champion is” on Impact now and forever. No one can’t be certain he’ll do any better in AEW/ROH. They’ve got a lot of people and it’s easy to get lost. But, we know what ideas Impact seems to have for Taurus and it would be interesting and they’re not much, it wouldn’t hurt to see him elsewhere.)
  • The Lucha Brothers won the Ring of Honor tag team champions on Friday night, something that was overshadowed by a horrible leg injury to Dante Martin on the last big spot of the match. AEW has posted positive statements but haven’t said exactly what the injury is. I hope he’s OK, qand I hope it’s not as career-changing as it seemed.The Lucha Brothers moving over to Ring of Honor seemed to be in the plans for a while. Fenix and Penta losing to Powerhouse Hobbs on recent Rampages were classic “we’ve about to move you on, so you can lose on your way out” jobs. The Lucha Brothers just finished the AEW trios title program, don’t really fit in AEW tag title picture at the moment and there’s no real path for them as singles’ wrestlers right now. Going to Ring of Honor is a demotion in visibility, but it’s something new and something that might help interest in that product. (Fenix & Penta were clearly two of the most over wrestlers on the Ring of Honor show.) My guess was the Lucha Brothers were long planned for Ring of Honor; they would’ve fit perfectly as the Briscoe Brothers foils. (This guy who seems to know things agreed.)
  • If you’re looking to go back and watch things, I’d easily recommend both the Ring of Honor show and the Wrestlecon show. The NJPW/Impact show I went to seemed fine but I wasn’t too into it (I picked standing in a horrible place to see but an easy place to stand for 2.5 hours, and I was ok with that tradeoff.) Everything on the ROH show seemed good, with Komander/Vikingo, the ladder match, Claudio/Kingston and Joe/Briscoe standing out. Gotta have some faith in some of the booking decisions working out long term to enjoy it, though. The WrestleCon show was generally good, with Vikingo/Taurus/Komander, both trios matches and Irie/Speedball workling the best for me. The lucha trios match had focused on making Galeno del Mal a star and that worked out completely; I expect he’s going to pick up a fair amount of non-lucha US indie bookings after this weekend. Crowd was respectful to Ultimo Dragon and Negro Casas and they were fine, maybe good. It felt like there was a (hispanic) portion of the crowd into Casas and the rest didn’t know him as much. A pre-match Chris Jericho video definitely helped.
  • I’m headed to Wrld on Lucha tonight. It’s listed as a 10 pm start time local; it’s a real lucha show so it’ll probably start late. They’ve added a scramble with Jack Cartwheel, Rey Horus, Willie Mack, Shane Mercer, Mago and Drago Kid. They’ve also never announced a replacement for Toxin, so I assume someone’s getting moved up to his trios spot. (Mago seems to fit best.) This airs on FITE+ and seems like the final notable indie show of the weekend. We’ll see what Vikingo has left with Laredo Kid.
  • I haven’t seen it, but Konnan’s induction speech at the WWE Hall of Fame was said to be great.
  • Also didn’t catch the Dragon Lee debut in NXT. I was following along on Twitter and it seemed like there were multiple points where half the people on social media believed Dragon Lee had seriously injured himself, only for him to keep going. Seems normal. Dragon Lee got a big entrance, kept his name (which still surprises me) but didn’t win the North American title.
  • If, by chance, you ever go through TSA and someone takes your laptop and you end up with theirs, go track down the TSA email address for that airport and send them an email with all the info you have on both computers. It works.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Golden Fly took Jhonny Rock’s hair in Guadalajara.

Legado del Fantasma had cool Villanos gear on SmackDown.

TripleMania Monterrey announcements (Chessman/Influencer), WM weekend, CMLL early week results

Programming notes

I’m off to Los Angeles for the next few days. I may have news updates Friday and Monday, but things may be abnormal here for the next week. I’ll still be recording and putting matches up on Google Drive, it just may be later than usual.

My schedule is currently the Mark Hitchcock and the NJPW/Impact shows on Thursday, ROH on Friday and WRLD on Lucha on Saturday. That’s all I have tickets for right now; I’m half talking myself into going into other shows because four shows doesn’t seem like enough.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/27/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Brave Star, Hijo de Centella Roja, Rayo Metálico b Hijo del Perverso, King Jaguar, Rencor
Debut of Brave Star.
2) Chamuel, Micro Ángel, Periquito Sacaryas b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado Facebook video (posted by )
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b El Novato, Halcón Suriano Jr., Millenium Facebook video (posted by )
Halcon Suriano Jr. replaced Pegasso, crowd was unhappy, Suriano left the match quickly after an elbow to the head. Ola Negra took 1/3.
4) Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus Facebook video (posted by )
5) Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. DQ Bárbaro Cavernario & Templario Facebook video (posted by )
Barbaro Cavernario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday. Templario unmasked Soberano for the DQ.

The funny bit of the week is Arena Puebla filming the main event like usual, but with vertical video and while never moving his phone. You get to see the middle third of the ring and absolutely nothing else.

Halcon Suriano Jr. said he suffered a fractured cheekbone in an Instagram Story. He may be out six weeks if he needs surgery.

Pegasso said he’s healthy and there are reasons for him not appearing on this show but he didn’t explain why.

Grada has an interview with Puebla luchador Asturiano,

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RingKaiser Sports, The Gladiatores]
1) Fantasy b Pequeño Violencia [lightningCMLL | Fantasy derrota a Pequeño Violencia en match relámpago (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Disturbio, Grako, Nitro b Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial CMLL | Disturbio, Nitro y Grako vencen a Sangre Imperial, Oro Jr. y Robin Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. b Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. CMLL | Zandokan Jr., Difunto y Crixus derrotan a Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. y Flyer (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 1/3. Flyer left hurt (again) taking Crixus’s finish
4) Pólvora b Felino Jr. [lightningCMLL | Pólvora derrota en match relámpago a Felino Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5) Mephisto, Niebla Roja, Yota b Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano CMLL | Yota, Mephisto y Niebla Roja vencen a Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring y Volcano (posted by mluchatv) CMLL en Arena México: Mephisto, Niebla Roja y Yota Vs Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring y Volcano (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Rudos took 2/3. Niebla Roja replaced Kraneo on Monday.
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Titán b Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL | Titán, Gran Guerrero y Bárbaro Cavernario derrotan a Hechicero, Euforia y Soberano Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Estelar CMLL: Titán, Bárbaro Cavernario y Gran Guerrero Vs Hechicero, Soberano Jr y Euforia (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Team Titan took 2/3.

I had this on while working on my taxes. This show was better than my taxes. After running a lot of angles earlier in the year, CMLL’s slowed down quite a bit.

Flyer may actually be hurt this time, but he’s also acted as if he’s suffered a serious injury in his last two losses on streaming. (He may be doing it more often, that’s just the two I’ve seen.) There’s an issue there that isn’t just physical.

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Fuego en el Ring]
1) Johnny Dinamo, Luminoso, Quka b Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Yaky Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel b Gran Kenut, Jabalí, Minotauro Martes de Glamour 28 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial )
3) Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. b Barboza, Draego, Persa Martes de Glamour 28 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
4) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Fashion (Chihuahua) DQ Bestia Negra, Cris Skin, Ráfaga Martes de Glamour 28 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Bestia Negra and Cris Skin threw the masks to Dulce and Fashion to draw the DQ. Challengers followed
5) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Dark Magic, Okumura, Principe Daniel Martes de Glamour 28 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Principe Daniel replaced Zandokan (double booked)
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Averno, Satánico, Último Guerrero [Relevos IncreíblesMartes de Glamour 28 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)

Fashion/Dulce vs Bestia/Skin is meant to be a tag feud, though not sure if it’ll go anywhere.

CMLL (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena México
1) Retro vs Cholo [lightning]
2) Astral, Cachorro, Diamond vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
3) El Coyote, Pegasso, Stigma vs Luciferno, Magia Blanca, Rugido [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Valiente & Valiente Jr. vs El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja
6) Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Rocky Romero

Rocky Romero is back, prior to his part in the Universal tournament next Friday. Hijo del Stuka makes his ‘official’ debut after appearing in the schools tournament, against another father son combination. That tercera sure is weird.

Hechicero popped up on CNN en Espanol talking about CMLL. The promotion has a booth at the Tianguis Turístico tourist expo, as they’ve done in past years. This year’s expo is in Mexico City, which makes it easy for wrestlers to drop by; Hechicero was part of the presentation on Monday. He talked to CNN about CMLL drawing international fans and the upcoming 90th Aniversario. Lluvia and Los Micro Malditos were at the booth on Tuesday.

Atlantis Jr., in an interview with Box y Lucha, says he’d like to have a title match against his father. He’d also like to wrestle in England to learn more styles; he got a lot out of his FantasticaMania trip. He’s also looking for a rematch against Terrible when Terrible returns from injury.

CMLL has a press release talking about the history of Arena Coliseo.

CMLL Informa today has Atlantis & Octagon (talking about their team and Fuerza Gurrera), Star Black, Esfinge, Fugaz (something with Fuerza Tapatia?), Stuka Jr. & HIjo de Stuka Jr. (teaming on Sunday) and Crixus, Max Star and Rey Samuray (new stars ciberentico on Saturday.)

AAA

AAA held a press conference Tuesday to announce the full card for the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. It turned out not to be the full card.

AAA TV (SUN) 04/16/2023 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
***TripleMania XXXI Monterrey***
1) Laredo Kid vs Antifaz del NorteOctagón Jr.Villano III Jr.ArgenisMyzteziz Jr.AerostarParka NegraAbismo Negro Jr.Taurus [cage, losers advance]
Dralistico originally announced, then replaced by Abismo Negro Jr. on 03/28.
2) ?, Baby Extreme, Flammer, Toscano, Zorro vs Arez, Dave The Clown, Lady Shani, Látigo, Negro Casas [Copa TripleMania]
3) Alberto el Patrón & Pentagón Jr. vs Psycho Clown & Sam Adonis [Guerra de Rivalidades, quarterfinal]
4) Chessman vs Adrian Marcelo
5) ? vs ?? [mask]
mask match set by earlier cage match
6) ? © vs ?? [AAA MEGA]
7) Blue Demon Jr. & DMT Azul vs LA Park & Rush [Guerra de Rivalidades, quarterfinal]
Rush was originally teaming with Pagano, then Pagano was “injured” on 02/18 and eventually replaced by LA Park on 03/28.

I’m not sure if that’s the final card order. AAA hasn’t sent out the official poster yet and probably won’t until that last match gets settled, we’ll know then.

The story AAA’s going with here is they held a poll to decide Pagano’s replacement, 80% of the fans picked LA Park as Rush’s partner, and AAA is a promotion that listens to their fans so they got LA Park. The poll itself looks so very suspect, but Rush’s mythical rival was obviously going to be the pick to have a mask match with him. This outcome was probably the plan from the start – Pagano/Rush likely was announced as a misdirect, knowing Pagano would be taking time off and AAA could give the fans the team they knew they’d ask for. I still think Demon/Azul is the eventual mask match.

There was no Megachampionship match announcement. Dorian Roldan brought up the Komander/Vikingo match on Ring of Honor on Friday, and said the winner of that match would defend it at TripleMania Monterrey. Technically Taurus could win it the night before, but this particular match discussion was also about pushing the strength of the AAA (newly) very positive relationship with AEW/ROH. Dorian said the challenger would be from AEW, and there would be AEW presence on the other TripleManias this year as well. The match-up will be announced on social media.

(The dream scenario for AAA is the TripleMania title match is actually set up on the Ring of Honor show. A bit as simple as someone coming out after the title match to make title motions at Vikingo would be fantastic as far as getting those fans aware of TripleMania. No idea if that’s going to happen.)

Chessman tried to explain the Tiktok video of himself and Marcelo training by admitting it was an authentic video but everyone had misunderstood what had happened. Chessman’s story is Toscano invited both to his gym without telling each other about it, theoretically, to work out their issues. Those were not worked out. Marcelo ended up slapping Chessman at this press conference, which moves the story on. Chessman got dragged away before he could retaliate. It’s hard to keep it feeling real while actually doing a match, but they’re trying hard. Roldan even notes the match wasn’t official yet, because they had to wait to see if the commission would license Marcelo for the match.

This seems to have worked at getting the desired attention. The media outlets who’ve covered the show so far covered this revenge slap and the (potential) match. The social media reaction has been more people patting themselves on the back for figuring out a wrestling angle was indeed a wrestling angle, but it still shows a lot of interest.

(Marcelo will get licensed, but it’s funny timing. Wrestling in the city of Monterrey is now on about an 18 month hiatus because the commission won’t honor the licenses of indie wrestlers from other commissions, but they are going to end up licensing someone who’s trained for a couple of months. The purpose of these stricter Monterrey commission rules is to keep unqualified people out of the ring, and they’re going to let someone with few qualifications wrestle. This Monterrey licensing story hasn’t gotten any attention locally, so it’ll probably just something talked about within wrestling.)

The Copa TripleMania has some weird teams. It’s less weird than the graphic makes it look. Babo from Cartel Santa looks like he’s on the Monterrey team, but the rapper is only supposed to be accompanying Toscano, not (officially) participating. A fifth Monterrey participant is to be announced. (I was confused by this, and many outlets are reporting Babo is in the match.) It’s nice Negro Casas is making his TripleMania debut but it’s not an impactful way. Zorro wrestled a lot in Monterrey early in his career but was born in Guadalajara. Toscano will be honored on the show; that seems like keeping a tradition of honoring someone on each TripleMania, but maybe there’s an angle coming.

The reaction to this card was a tale of two markets. There’s some US excitement about the possibility of LA Park and Rush as a team (and much later as a match), but otherwise a show with no Vikingo-caliber match has no strong interest outside of Mexico. It’ll get better whenever that Mega title match is up and it may work out very well for match quality depending on which two names are in the mask match. (Antifaz/Laredo still seems most likely.) Those aren’t set yet, so there’s not much here for people who want to see good matches. The Chessman/Marcelo stuff has gotten minimal attention outside of Mexico and a lot of attention inside, and I think that’s still drawing a lot of interest in this lineup for the local fans. A general issue is it’s tough to heat up the Guerra de Rivalidades matches; the focus is on the rivalries between the partners and the results, but the matches themselves haven’t been built up.

Seven matches seems short for a TripleMania, but they did the same seven in Tijuana last year and eight for Mexico City. More time is better than more matches. The show is listed as a 4:30 pm local start. April 16th also has NJPW US and Impact shows, with all three airing on FITE. AAA kicks off first, if they’re actually starting at 4:30 local. AAA’s show is the only one of the three not yet listed on FITE yet. Part of TripleMania will likely air on Space live as well.

Dralistico and Hijo del Vikingo posted on Instagram that they’re headed to the AEW show in St. Louis today. ROH will tape before Dynamite tonight (in place of the usual Dark Elevation tapings) and I expect both will appear.

Toxin announced he’d suffered a torn retina. He’s undergoing laser surgery to fix it this week and, if it goes well, he’ll be out 3-4 weeks. Toxin had a couple of high profile bookings on WrestleMania weekend and was supposed to be back on AAA TV for the first time in months in San Luis Potosi, so this is unfortunate timing.

Cibernetico also hasn’t appeared on AAA TV this year and is scheduled to make his first appearance in San Luis Potosi. That also might be changing but for a different reason; Cibernetico is now part of the cast of MasterChef Celebrity Mexico. I’m not sure what the taping schedule is like for that; he’s working on a kitchen island, not a tropical one, so he may still be fine to make the AAA taping. Masterchef appears on Azteca so that might be an AAA tie-in.

Luchatitlan’s social media is counting down to April 1st, so that is indeed the opening day. They’re running a show a day from Tuesday to Saturday at 6 pm. 19 performers (wrestlers and actors) will be on each show. There likely will be a bigger announcement on April 1st, which is unfortunately not the best day to get attention as an international wrestling travel destination.

AAA announced a new taping for May 20th in Morelia. They haven’t been back to Morelia for a taping since 2019; a September 2020 announced date was canceled due to COVID.

AAA’s Orizaba promoter says they have a AAA TV taping on July 8th, but the information coming out of Orizaba hasn’t been reliable. This promoter previously said they had a taping in May. July 8th would be a week before TripleMania Tijuana and it doesn’t make sense for AAA to tape that week; TripleMania will be there TV for the next several weeks after, this wouldn’t air until August.

Luchadors on non-WrestleMania WrestleMania Weekend

I’m skipping the shows that aren’t streaming and I’m probably missing something. I’m working off the VOW list. Also assume that I’ve messed up a time change somewhere.

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Highspots Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow (Highspots.TV, $15/month) – 6pm CDT
    • Negro Casas vs Utlimo Dragon
    • Hijo del Vikingo vs Taurus vs Komander [AAA MEGA]
    • Rey Horus, Aramis, Galeno del Mal vs Toxin Laredo Kid, Latigo, Arez
  • Circle 6: Vinnie Massaro’s Pro Wrestling Combine (free on YouTube) – 6pm CDT
    • Torito Negro scheduled to appear

Friday

  • Circle 6: Jake Crist’s Fire Starters (free on YouTube) – 2pm CDT
    • Sonico vs Mr. Iguana
  • DDT vs GCW (Fite+) – 5pm CDT
    • Ciclope, Miedo Xtremo, Gringo Loco, Alec Price vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Daisuke Sasaki, KANON, Takeshi Masada
  • ROH Supercard of Honor – 6pm CDT (Bleacher Report in US, FITE outside of US)
    • Lucha Brothers vs The Kingdom vs Aussie Open vs LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs Top Flight for the ROH World Tag Team Championships in a Reach for the Sky Ladder match
    • Hijo del Vikingo vs Komander [AAA MEGA]
    • AR Fox, Metalik, Blake Christian vs Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona for the ROH Six Man Champiosnhips
  • GCW Spring Break – 10pm CDT (FITE+)
    • Hijo del Vikingo vs Mike Bailey

(Dragon Lee also makes his NXT debut Friday morning.)

Saturday

  • GCW Gringo Loco’s the Wrld on Lucha 2 – 11:59 pm (FITE+)

GCW (SAT) 04/01/2023 Ukrananian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California
1) Sexy Star vs Dulce Tormenta
2) Negro Casas vs Tony Deppen
3) Cíclope (Indie) & Miedo Extremo vs Bestia 666 & Damián 666
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Laredo Kid
5) Black Taurus (Indie), Látigo, Toxin vs Aramis, Arez, Komander (Indie)
6) Gringo Loco (Indie) vs Psycho Clown
(Maybe another match?)

(Rey Mysterio vs Dominic Mysterio probably also happens Saturday night.)

There was supposed to be an AAA show this WrestleMania weekend. It wasn’t coming together and so it didn’t happen. I would’ve liked to see an AAA show in Los Angeles but I’m wondering if it didn’t work out better for everyone involved. If AAA is running, are Vikingo & Komander still working on Ring Of Honor’s show this week – does AAA run Friday or want exclusivity? If Ring of Honor isn’t using Vikingo & Komander for their show, do either of them debut in AEW in the last few weeks? Does it impact Konnan’s ability to show up at WWE’s Hall of Fame if AAA’s running in the market? The way it worked out seems to have been gone for AAA.

Bandido is also missing from these shows, after being a big part of them in recent years. He’s wrestling around Torreon this week instead.

Rocky Romero was announced for the Mark Hitchcock WrestleCon show, and quietly disappeared for the lineup. He’s not hurt; he’s working the same venue a few hours later for NJPW/Impact. My impression is CMLL told Romero not to work a show with AAA wrestlers and he was unable to change their minds. There is no CMLL presence in Los Angeles this weekend, at least that I’m aware of.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/30/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja & Golden Power vs Rey Aztaroth & Rey Eclipse
2) Avisman vs Jhon Tito
3) Satania vs LolitaDehynaHades (AAA)SagitariusTherius
4) Tonalli vs Brazo De Oro Jr.
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko vs Asterboy, Gannicus, Hell Boy [EdM Trios]
2nd defense

Tonalli/Brazo de Oro Jr. could be pretty good.

Other News

I think I get the Mas Lucha Ruleta Supremo idea. They explained it on their show Monday night and I listened to it many times. This is what I’ve got:

  • There will be 4 singles matches on 04/09. They were set by random draw.
    • Belial vs Saruman
    • Mr. Leo vs Ultimo Legendario
    • Dinastia vs Camaleon
    • Dinamic Black vs Dante
  • Fans can vote who they want to advance between each match on Facebook. Voting will be open for a week.
  • They’ll bring back the winners of the four polls for a second round in April. The final will take place in May.
    • The May show will be for members only.

The Arena Neza results I saw this weekend had a weird typo, where Yutani was listed in regular Mexica’s spot. It didn’t make sense to me that Yutani would be back since he’s wrestling in GLEAT in a few weeks; but the video has started to turn up and Yutani is indeed back in Mexico.

Jornada BC has a really great interview with Irma Gonzalez and Irma Agiuilar.

12 wrestlers earned wrestling licenses in Puebla: Astoreth, Princesa Star, King Flamer, Rey Espartano, Dragon Cristh, Mini Súper Fly, Inedito, Mr. Corsario, Búfalo Negro, Titanium, Blue Shark and Red Power. They tried out last November and just got the license this past weekend.

TJ Sports writes about Tijuana’s Arandu, as part of their recap of the recent The Crash show.

Box y Lucha #3544 has the Infernales, Damian 666 and Art Barr on the cover.

A visit to the Blue Demon exhibit to Mexico City.

Trauma II says he’s nervous to wrestle his brother this weekend and Robles Promotions has a chance to scare AAA and CMLL. Sure.

CMLL champions retain prior to the Universal tournament, Luchatitlan opening soon?

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/24/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Cronista del RingEstrellas del RingFuego en el RingKaiser SportsR de RudoThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. b Difunto & Inquisidor CMLL | Halcón Suriano Jr. y Hombre Bala Jr. derrotan a El Difunto e Inquisidor (posted by mluchatv) Halcón Suriano Jr. y Hombre Bala Jr. derrotan en lucha de relevos sencillos a Inquisidor y Difunto (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
11:12.
2) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Capitán Suicida, Flyer, Fuego CMLL | Virus, Luciferno y Cancerbero vencen a Flyer, Fuego y Capitán Suicida (posted by mluchatv) Virus, Cancerbero y Luciferno derrotan a Fuego, Flyer y Suicida (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
18:01. Flyer replaced Audaz earlier in the week.
3) Magia Blanca © b Rey Cometa [MEX WELTERCMLL - CAMPEONATO NACIONAL WELTER / REY COMETA VS MAGIA BLANCA /ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Magia Blanca retiene el Campeonato Nacional Welter ante Rey Cometa (posted by mluchatv)
16:24. 2nd defense
4) Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr., Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja, Yota CMLL - YOTA - NIEBLA ROJA - B. CAVERNARIO VS TITÁN - SOBERANO JR. -ATLANTIS JR.ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr. y Titán vencen a Yota, Bárbaro Cavernario y Niebla Roja (posted by mluchatv) Soberano Jr., Atlantis Jr. y Titán triunfan ante Bárbaro Cavernario, Niebla Roja y Yota (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
16:11.
5) Volador Jr. b Templario [lightningCMLL | Volador Jr. derrota en match relámpago a Templario (posted by mluchatv)
7:40. Templario replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto © b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero [CMLL TRIOSCMLL - CAMPEONATO MUNDIAL DE TRIOS/LOS GUERREROS LAGUNEROS VS LOS INFERNALES /ARENA MEXICO/24-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Los Infernales retienen el Campeonato Mundial de Tríos ante Los Guerreros (posted by mluchatv) Mephisto y Euforia ponen fuera a G Guerrero y Stuka Jr, mientras Hechicero rinde a Último Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
17:11. 2nd defense. Hechicero submitted UG, who got strechered out.

A fun show. The two title matches were strong, match four went a ways longer than you’d expect, everything else was about as you’d expect. You should watch this one when it turns up on YouTube. Ultimo Guerrero getting stretchered out seemed just to be an intentional distraction from him losing again, but he also he did lose again. We keep waiting for him to get that big win again and it’s not happening so far. Rey Cometa did well in a singles match, as he alaywas does. Volador/Templario was a shorter version of their FantasticaMania match; I’m still a bit curious at what Angel de Oro/Volador would’ve been.

There are no title matches announced for next week, so it appears there won’t be any last-minute title changes before the Universal tournament.

CMLL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Galaxy & Shockercito b Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito Facebook video (posted by )
2) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Cachorro, Eléctrico, Leono Facebook video (posted by )
Team Disturbio is Los Dementes and is calling their triple submission finish La Indestructible.
3) Halcón Suriano Jr. b Astral [lightningFacebook video (posted by )
4) Magnus, Rugido, Zandokan Jr. b Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma Facebook video (posted by )
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora Facebook video (posted by )
6) Soberano Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota Facebook video (posted by )

Disturbio’s team got a name before the Polvora trio. (Also, CMLL’s focused on getting as many teams as possible when that is a team.) In other team news, Rey Samuray is officially meant to be part of Fuerza Poblana. Zandokan is more a freelancing pirate not part of Los Depredadores.

CMLL (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Neón, Robin b Grako, Nitro, Raider
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Espíritu Negro, Panterita del Ring, Volcano b Dark Magic, Espanto Jr., Kráneo
Tecnicos took 2/3. Pantera del Ring replaced Dulce Gardenia.
4) Akuma TLDRAW Furia Roja (Jalisco) [lightning]
10 minute draw
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Infernales took 2/3.
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón b Fuerza Guerrera, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3. Gran Guerrero replaced Angel de Oro (COVID) on Thursday

Akuma and Furia Roja going to a draw is a bit random. Not much else going on here.

Puebla tonight has Volador & Soberano vs Barbaro Caverario & Templario.

CMLL (TUE) 03/28/2023 Arena México
1) Fantasy vs Pequeño Violencia [lightning]
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Disturbio, Grako, Nitro
3) Flyer, Hombre Bala Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
4) Pólvora vs Felino Jr. [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Kráneo Niebla Roja, Mephisto, Yota
6) Euforia, Hechicero, Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Titán

It would be fun to see another Soberano/Titan match, but that’s probably more a “we booked Euforia and Soberano for this show, guess they have to team” situation. Polvora and Felino Jr. used to be tag team champions not so long ago. Crixus turns up on the main show.

CMLL (FRI) 03/31/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
2) Fuego vs Raider [lightning]
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr.
4) Niebla Roja vs Magnus [lightning]
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.

The main event continues whatever didn’t happen with Volador/Angel de Oro last week (plus Soberano/Dragon Rojo.) Los Malditos make a rare Friday appearance. Magnus and Niebla Roja wrestled last year in a trios match but those are two guys who otherwise haven’t been on the same matches since the 2011 Forjaido un Idolo tournament (when Niebla Roja was still Angel de Plata.) Magnus did win that time. The first half of the card could be a lot of action. I have no idea when/how I’m watching this but I don’t want to miss it.

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo 80th Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Minos
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Rey Samuray vs CrixusÁngel RebeldeMax StarTonalliBrillante Jr.Hijo de Stuka Jr.Vaquero Jr.MultyNeón [Torneo Nueva Generacion]
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón vs Felino, Satánico, Virus
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Soberano Jr. vs Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This lineup was announced on Informa a few weeks back. CMLL’s made no changes so far (but there’s no official poster yet so changes are possible.) This annual show usually makes YouTube, though not usually live – you’ll probably have to find some other wrestler to watch on Saturday.

AAA

AAA on Space was another skippable episode. This was the first half of the AAA/NWA show. People there said those matches weren’t good and they didn’t come across better on TV. Nothing tragic, just pieces that didn’t fit together (and not much of a match in the Murdoch/Psycho main event.) AAA has a lot of good wrestlers and some of those wrestlers have been having great matches elsewhere, but AAA’s TV itself hasn’t had much in the way of great matches for this first quarter of the year. Hopefully the second half of the AAA/NWA show will be better.

Universidad Anahuac Mexico is hosting a series of presentations this week for it’s entertainment business management school. AAA VP of Marketing and Commerical Alejandro Montes appeared today. You can watch it on YouTube; the audio streaming has some issues throughout. Montes does these presentations once or twice a year for different audiences. It’s a lot of the same presentation each time; there are social media metrics, talk about their international work, about how many shows they run a year, and various partners they’ve worked with. There wasn’t much new there; maybe Disney being presented as still ongoing was the most interesting part. A slide in a video highlighting the agreement mentioned there’d be at least one Marvel Lucha Libre match a month, and that hasn’t happened since 2021. There was a funny story about AAA giving Marvel a big presentation way back at the beginning of the relationship and the Marvel official cutting it of 15 minutes in, because he already realized they were a good match – they both do super heroes.

Octagon Jr. made a surprise appearance at the end, which the students seemed to like. The Q&A portion included someone asking about the Adrian Marcelo/Chessman situation; Montes said Marcelo wanted to wrestle and it was leading to a match, but a 1v1 wouldn’t be a fair scenario. He didn’t acknowledge the TikTok video as best as I could tell.

The other news bit also came up in a story from Revista Central; the Luchatitlan project is opening very soon. It was originally scheduled for March 2023 and March 2023 is about over. Montes said it would open in “the next week”, while Revista Central specifically says it’s opening Saturday. This is the AAA staffed lucha libre arena in a Cancun mall, which will run six days a week. (No shows on Monday.) It’s a big project both for AAA and others, so there’s probably a press conference coming soon.

You may have noticed the most recent AAA TV YouTube upload seems shorter than usual. This week’s upload is just two matches, as they’ve cut out the NGD/LFI main event. AAA’s uploads have missed matches in the past by accident; this one seems more about not posting Cuatrero content at the moment. The match is no great loss. (AAA’s also slipped an extra week behind, as usually happens when there’s a PPV on a Sunday.)

Komander is working the VS show in California on Wednesday, so he’s not scheduled to be part of the (not yet announced) ROH taping as part of the AEW show on Wednesday.

Add a June 18th Puebla stop to the AAA TV schedule. That’s got to be a relatively recent addition to the schedule, since TripleMania Tijuana was originally June 17th. This’ll now probably be the last TV to air before the rescheduled July 15th show.

IWRG

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 03/25/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Latino Boy & Último Caballero b Cosmic & Steel Dragón
2) Dehyna & Zebra Maciel b Candela & Danessa
3) Balak, Memphis, Nativo b Milagro, Seminarista, Skanda
4) Arceus, Garrobo Punk, Príncipe Nahual b Águila Enmascarada, Rey Eclipse, Thunder Storm
5) Gannicus b Rey HalcónFussion [IWRG REY DEL AIRE, #1 Contenders]
6) Águila Oriental, Águila Roja, Ajolotl, Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Kenji, Legado, Súper Boy b Abismo Raider, Bestia Azteca, Billytronik Jr., Crazy Star, Lobo Azteca, Psycotic Boy, Rey Azteca, Rey Kingstone [Copa Higher Power]
coaches Black Terry and Billy Tronik (ALLP). John Tito beat Lobo Azteca to win. Rest of names not confirmed.

This should turn up IWRG’s YouTube channel in a week or so.

IWRG (SUN) 03/26/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Dariux b Milagro LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Caballero de Plata, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly b Centvrión, Eddie Rodríguez, Fussion LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
3) Luka & Super Mario AK47 b Apolo Estrada Jr. & Maniacop 360 LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Imposible & Yorvak b León Dorado & Mr. Leo LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Imposible unmasked Leon Dorado to beat him.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b Hijo de Canis Lupus LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Pirata won via foul. The two fought at the interview area post match
6) Cheese Burger, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Diva Salvaje, Gannicus, Hellboy, Jessy Ventura LIVE🔴 | México vs Resto del mundo (posted by IWRG tv)
Hip Hop Man invited Cheese Burger to join his group, and he accepted.

The attendance at the end looked bad, but it was still a lot better than the first match.

ESTO has an interview with Gannicus, who was a big fan of ancient Rome and wrestling when he was growing up. He actually wanted to use the name Crixus first but the Guadalajara wrestler got it first.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report for the week of 03/06.

Laredo Kid was back at Impact taping this weekend. Black Taurus hasn’t been around there of late but was back as well; you will not be surprised to find out they wrestled.

Actor/mexican cultural icon Chabelo (Xavier Lopez, 88) passed away on Saturday. He hosted children’s show on Televisa every Sunday for 47 years. Luchadors would appear on the show from time to time. Chabelo himself actually had a wrestling background. ESPN says he was a grecoreoman wrestler who won a spot on the Olympic team at the age of 17 for the Helsinki (1952) games. Chabelo said he later found out that the Mexico Olympic organization expected him to pay the expenses, he and his family didn’t have the 40,000 pesos it would’ve cost, and the wrestler Chabelo beat was sent instead. Alberto el Patron tells a similar story, that he qualified for an Olympic team but didn’t go when he found out he’d half to pay his own way.