Chessman “apologizes”, tag title unification

There’s not much today. It’s quiet before it gets much bigger this weekend, with both Homenaje a Dos Leyendas and the Lucha Libre World Cup on the same weekend, which is busy with other shows. There is no update about the Cuatrero/Vaquer situation so far, but I expect something Thursday – every hearing has become public on that so far.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/13/2023 Arena Puebla [Arena Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Centella Roja & Rayo Metálico b Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) El Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray b Diamond, Eléctrico, Valiente Jr. Facebook video (posted by )
3) La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis b Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai Facebook video (posted by )
Zeuxis used the ropes to beat Marcela. Marcela wants a rematch next week.
4) Atlantis, Stigma, Titán b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Niebla Roja
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico, Rocky Romero b Ángel de Oro, Averno, Templario [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )

Rocky was again working as a tecnico here. Next Monday is the Homenaje a Dos Leyenda show, so it’s more possible they’ll skip ahead to the Marcela/Zeuxis singles match.

The next Puebla show is Sunday, not Monday. The national day off for Benito Juarez’s birth is on Monday. I think that’s the reason behind trying to run a Sunday show. (That lineup should be out in a moment.) It may also be why both AAA and CMLL ended up running major shows on the same weekend.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel b Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3) Amapola, Olympia, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4) Luciferno b Fuego [lightningCONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
6) Oráculo, Rocky Romero, Sagrado b Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)

Coyote, Okumura and Polvora continue to be an unnamed but official trio. Romero & Oraculo won cleanly going into Friday. Micros did not have a good night.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera b Celeste, Eclipse Jr., Mágico Martes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial )
2) Atilius, Optimus, Trono vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor Martes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
3) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., La Fashion (Chihuahua) b Cris Skin, Crixus, Principe Daniel Martes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
4) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b Reyna Isis, Sumie Sakai, Valkiria Martes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Bestia Negra, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr. Martes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Dulce & Bestia Negra feuding.
6) Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte © b Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin © [Arena Coliseo TAG, OCCIDENTE TAGMartes de Glamour 14 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Hombre Bala & Robin fall on their fifth defense. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte second defense. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte are the 11th modern champ.

The main event indeed was title versus title. I’m not sure if they’ll be permanently unified, but one less title in CMLL is a victory for everyone. Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte exist as old angry unmasked rudos who will lose their hair at some point; challenges were made after the match. Guadalajara’s big show is in June.

La Fashion is from Chihuahua but mostly wrestles around Torreon of late, continuing the cross over of wrestlers from that area. This stream included a lot of promotion for the Guadalajara guys heading to Arena Coliseo Tony Arellano in Torreon tonight.

CMLL (SAT) 03/18/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia
2) Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Cachorro vs Raider [lightning]
4) Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Difunto, Kráneo, Zandokan Jr.
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
6) Atlantis Jr. Euforia, Soberano Jr., Templario vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Possibly notable that Volador Jr. is on the cards this weekend. Romero, Oraculo and Angel de Oro are all missing. So is Atlantis Jr.; he was on that lineup for about eight hours on Tuesday.

Zandokan is back in Mexico City in the fourth match. Cachor

CMLL (SUN) 03/19/2023 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Leono, Neón, Valiente Jr. vs Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
3) Oro Jr. vs Sangre Imperial [lightning]
4) Astral, Flyer, Volcano vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
5) Dark Panther, El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino, Felino Jr., Hijo del Villano III
6) Atlantis, Octagón, Valiente vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Fuerza Guerrera, Último Guerrero

Fuerza Guerrera is back from surgery. Back to tying Octagon’s mask to the ropes, surely.

CMLL Informa has the four main people from H2L (Rocky Romero, Volador, Oraculo, Angel de Oro), Sumie Sakai, Okumura, Furia Roja and Guerrero de la Muerte. I assume Okumura is there to talk about his new trio but it would be funny if CMLL thought they needed him to translate Japanese for Sakai. CMLL has all their April Arena Mexico & Coliseo shows on sale this weekend, which might mean some lineup announcements on Informa.

AAA

The Chessman visit to Monterrey didn’t advance the story as much as I thought this week. He did appear on Multimedios to offer the apology Adrian Marcelo but Marcelo wasn’t there so the angle didn’t progress past that. Chessman declared he was sorry he caused trouble for AAA and Multimedios but noted many fans had congratulated him for slapping Marcelo and Marcelo owed some people apologies himself. This is now so obviously setting up a match that Multimedios hosts asked Chessman about it, and he said he wouldn’t wrestle anyone who wasn’t licensed to wrestle. (Marcelo did previously mention training to wrestle.) Given all the issues in Monterrey around licensing wrestlers over the last couple of years, a non-wrestler getting approved to wrestle is going to be a bit amusing.

This step in the angle again got a lot of media attention I think they need to announce the match now to keep people’s attention, but they’ve strung people along well so far without getting that point. Sunday’s World Cup would normally be a great place to do the next angle, though AAA has treated the World Cup as a place with no angles and as a totally serious wrestling competition in the past.

EMW is announcing various people in addition for the 04/22 taping, so the lineup should be coming out soon.

AAA will have the English version of the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup on their YouTube channel Saturday night. I think it probably needs to be out a little earlier in the week if they hope people check it out before the 2023 one, but it’s a good idea. My unsolicited digital media advice of the day is AAA needs to open an English language channel and start putting up the matches they’ve put up on the Spanish side. I don’t think anyone going back to through the archives to watch that first Showcenter event, so why not create a channel and put it up the English version there to catch some more eyeballs?

I previously wrote in this space that I believed Vikingo would appear in AEW whenever AAA, AEW, and Vikingo could figure out a date. My understanding is Vikingo isn’t wrestling in Mexico during the middle of the week for the rest of the month. He’s not in Winnipeg tonight for Dynamite, but expect to hear news about him turning up on future shows AEW soon. Maybe even name-checked tonight.

Taya seems likely to debut in AEW tonight. All the signs point to her being Jade’s opponent. Taya’s also unafraid to shoot down false stories about her career, hasn’t said a word about this one and is keep her location quiet today.

Other Notes

Big Mami talked to La Aficion about being bullied and mistreated about her size. Among other stories, she says promoters used to call her not to book her, but to try and get hold of her sister (Super Nina), who was much thinner. Martha Villalobos gave her the Big Mami idea and gave her the confidence to continue.

The Bandido La Mole autograph signing has been moved to Saturday, so he looks to be OK for GCW on Friday.

04/15 GCW (St. Louis) has Nick Wayne, Jordan Oliver, Myron Reed vs Gringo Loco, Arez, and Komander.

A history of Mexicali lucha libre arenas.

A collection of Barbie-like dolls in Bolivia include some cholitas.

Box y Lucha put up a sample of a 1969 magazine. I can promise you that if you actually buy the magazines, it’s not horribly watermarked and you can actually read it.

Mistico defeats Atlantis, weekend results, Vaquer/Cuatrero

Daylight Savings Time

You should’ve moved your clocks forward on Sunday. Mexico did not and will not. Mexico generally is no longer doing DST; they got rid of the law last year, and only towns that border the US will change their clocks. Mexico City will not change, and that’s where most of the TV and streams come from. That means all streams from Mexico from until November 5th is one hour later in the US and anywhere else that changes their clocks.

Going over the frequently seen streams

  • CMLL Friday
    • 8:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
    • 9:30 pm US Central Daylight Time
  • CMLL Tuesday
    • 7:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
    • 8:30 pm US Central Daylight Time
  • AAA on Space
    • 6:30 pm Mexico City Central Standard Time
    • 7:30 pm US Central Daylight Time

March to November is most of the year, so these are now essentially the time you’ll get used to seeing these shows. The people who are jumping in for a show every once in a while will struggle more. AAA would help themselves out if they made it clear when the Lucha Libre World Cup is airing in various time zones, because it’s just a confusing period. The good part is you’ll just be early if you get confused on the times, you’re not going to miss anything.

(If you’re a Mexican fan who watches WWE or AEW and lives away from the border, those programs now air 1 hour earlier for most of the year.)

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RingKaiser SportsR de RudoThe Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr. CMLL | Cachorro, Leono y Sangre Imperial derrota a La Nueva Ola Blanca (posted by mluchatv)
11:05.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. b Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider CMLL | Diamond, Oro Jr. y Valiente Jr. derrotan a Raider, Inquisidor y Disturbio (posted by mluchatv)
11:15. Diamond wrestled only sparingly in the match and had an obvious finger injury
3) Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III b Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma [Relevos IncreíblesCapitán Suicida, H. de Villano III y Dark Panther derrotan a Stigma, Felino Jr. y Guerrero Maya Jr. (posted by mluchatv)
14:13.
4) Stephanie Vaquer b Lluvia [lightningCMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / LLUVIA VS STEPHANIE VAQUER / ARENA MEXICO / 10-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:05. Vaquer cleanly submitted Lluvia.
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos IncreíblesCMLL-ORÁCULO-TEMPLARIO-VOLADOR JR. VS DRAGÓN ROJO JR-ÁNGEL DE ORO-ROCKY ROMERO/ARENA MEXICO/10-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
17:55. Angel de Oro was eliminated by Oráculo, came back in and attacked Volador Jr. (as he was about to beat Romero) for the win. Everyone fought after the match, and Templario and Dragon Rojo ripped masks during it.
6) Místico b Atlantis Jr. [lightningCMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / MÍSTICO VS ATLANTIS JR. / ARENA MEXICO / 10-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
9:45. Teased the timelimit draw with Mistico getting La Mistico just before the ending. No angle after.

This show was fine for a random Friday night show. Mistico and Atlantis tried to squeeze in a much bigger match in 10 minutes and it went well. Lluvia and Vaquer did well with the opportunity. I don’t think the outside-the-ring story has changed Vaquer’s in-ring story – the foreigners have consistently won leading into Copa Irma Gonzalez – though perhaps it changed how it was accomplished. Vaquer was still the rudas but less overtly so. She won cleanly. Suicida getting the win in the third match was a good sign for him, though it’s bad to read too much into a single CMLL match booking.

The semimain was strange for Romero team ending up as the tecnicos at night. Oraculo seems most likely to lose his hair, the usual setup is him winning the week before, and he indeed beat Angel de Oro. At the same time, they teased Volador finally getting that win over Rocky Romero before getting it taken away. Oraculo’s losing is the least exciting finish next week, Volador beating Romero the most exciting, and they booked towards both directions.

CMLL (SAT) 03/11/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito
2) Apocalipsis, Disturbio, Nitro b Astral, Eléctrico, Robin
Rudos took 1/3. Grako was scheduled to have his first match since September but was replaced by Disturbio.
3) La Catalina, Metálica, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita
Rudas took 2/3.
4) Fugaz b Dark Magic [lightning]
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Infernales took 1/3.
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero
tecnicos took 2/3

A show that occurred. Fugaz reversed something Dark Magic did for the win and we will never see what it was. Or maybe you went to Arena Coliseo or gets the mysterious Heraldo TV show and know, I shouldn’t assume.

CMLL (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro b Eléctrico & Leono
Misterios take 1/3 in the first match officially on the roster.
3) Espanto Jr. b Difunto [lightning]
4) El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora b Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
Team Coyote took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Felino, Kráneo, Niebla Roja
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Sumie Sakai made it into Mexico early enough to wave to the crowd on this show. She starts tonight in Puebla.

Polvora, Coyote, and Okumura had matching gear and did a promo talking about wanting to be a group. They need a name.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Galaxy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs Amapola, Olympia, Tiffany
4) Fuego vs Luciferno [lightning]
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring vs Oráculo, Rocky Romero, Sagrado

Weird to see half of the H2L protagonists and not the other half. Coyote, Okumura and Polvora appear to be an unofficial unit, as pointed out to me. CMLL may not be explicitly pushing them as one, but this is the sixth time that combination has teamed up this year already. My hunch is it’s more a booking quirk than a plan though they might as well give them a name if they’re going to keep it up.

CMLL (TUE) 03/14/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Celeste, Eclipse Jr., Mágico vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera
2) Cris Skin, Optimus, Trono vs Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor
3) Ángel Rebelde & Halcón Negro Jr. vs Crixus & Principe Daniel
4) Reyna Isis, Sumie Sakai, Valkiria vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Bestia Negra, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr.
6) Hombre Bala Jr. & Robin © vs Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte © [Arena Coliseo TAG, OCCIDENTE TAG]

The description of the main event makes it sound like both titles are on the line, though I’m not completely certain. The Calaveras are part of the Oro family and have shown up ni parts of Jalisco where I don’t get many lineups. There was a Celeste wrestling in this arena in the 80s, so there’s a chance they’re elated.

Milenio has an interview with Virus. He first tried out for CMLL in 1992, passed the test, and then was told he’d be in the Pequeno Estrellas division. (The original CMLL minis had ceased to exist when most of the people involved jumped to AAA; Virus came along as they were looking to restock.) Virus wasn’t thrilled about that as he’d been working as regular-sized wrestler on the indies but it was a way to get into “the best company in the world” so he endured it. He started as Piratita Morgan, Pirata Morgan jumped to AAA in 1993 and told him to come with, but the future Virus declined and got renamed as Damiancito el Guerrero. Virus won the famous cibernetico in 1997 to move to the regular division and says it was meant to be only for three matches. CMLL booking him back as a mini in early 1998 and he fought the idea. He eventually convinced the programming committee to let Virus stay, though Paco Alonso required them to come up with a new name – he couldn’t be a ‘-cito’ as part of the regular division – and that’s where the Virus name came in.

Friday afternoon, CMLL held a panel discussion with female wrestlers and front office staff as part of nationwide International Women’s Day activities. (Recap here if you don’t have the hour.) The wrestlers included were Amapola, Lluiva and Reyna Isis. The luchadoras stories are familar. The staff included Analletzin Diaz Alcala (commentator on ESPN in 2000; that would’ve been IWRG), Sandra Granados (in CMLL’s press department for decades) and Balbina Clasing (“Interinstitutional Relations Coordinator”; she appears to be the liaison with the Mexican government on various projects and has two more jobs on top of it according to LinkedIn.)

AAA

This week’s AAA on Space had no good matches. The main event was low effort and had no finish; AAA’s TV show ran out of time for the first occasion in the program’s history. The women’s match was messy, and the opener had two teams that didn’t gel well. Next weekend is an overloaded weekend and you make some time for yourself by cu

I think AAA might be going with ‘all multi-man matches are no DQ’. That means the weapon shots make sense coming back on the last taping, and the women’s match on this show, fits with AAA’s rules. Still, it’s incredibly challenging to get over the “we’re taking DQs seriously” when most of the matches are under no DQ stipulation.

In a bit that didn’t air on TV (or didn’t air on the version I saw), Estrellita received a phone call from Pagano asking her to join a new group he was forming. Estrellita had not made up her mind yet. An interview with Antifaz del Norte pushed his feud with Laredo Kid did air; I wonder if those two vignettes got swapped. I have no idea what a Pagano/Estrellita alliance would be.

The next Monterrey press conference is Monday in Monterrey. Not sure of a time; I guess it didn’t happen yet if you’re reading this paragraph. I think that’s still a big deal, but I’m also sure people will want to ask about the Cuatrero/Vaquer situation. It may overshadow what AAA has planned.

The Lucha Libre World Cup is Sunday. There are still plenty of tickets left, but they appears to be moving decently well for this pace of an AAA show. AAA is promoting it a lot on social media. There appears to be no chat about the show beyond that. Maybe it’ll pick up close to the weekend.

The AAA spot show in Aguascalientes on Friday drew very well. The show was headlined by DMT Azul vs Blue Demon, which hasn’t been featured on TV at all. AAA wrestlers were on the show but they weren’t building off TV programs. Sexy Star II wrestled on the undercard and appeared to hurt her ankle at the end of the match,

Rush & Dralistco were pulled from a 03/25 AAA/BARBA show in Saltillo. No replacements have been announced as of yet. I haven’t been following Ring of Honor as close this time around, but I have the impression they needed to tape TV before Superccard of Honor by some quirk, and maybe that’s why those guys got pulled.

On Konnan’s podcast, he mentions Daga will be out two months recovering from his knee injury. He’s also asked about Taya leaving Impact to go elsewhere and mentions Taya has something big coming up soon. There were already fans speculating Taya was the mystery Canadian surprise to face Jade Cargill on Wednesday’s AEW show and Konnan’s comments fit with that idea. Konnan’s belief was AAA would take no action towards Cuatrero unless he were convicted of a crime. The segment was taped before Cuatrero was arrested but I do not expect that will change at this point.

Konnan will appear on WWE TV, inducting Rey Mysterio Jr. into their Hall of Fame. This is the only note of the WWE HOF in this post; I’m happy for the people who are happy but I had also already figured out on my own that Rey Mysterio Jr. was an all-time wrestler. Mysterio didn’t become better because he’s in the WWE HOF, the WWE HOF became better because Rey Mysterio is part of it. Anyway, Wrestling Observer Radio notes that WWE wasn’t going to let Konnan participate if he was under MLW contract (due to the ongoing MLW/WWE lawsuit) and it turns out Konnan was not under MLW contract.

Stephanie Vaquer & Cuatrero

Mexico City police took Cuatrero into custody late Friday after a match in Aguascalientes. He’s been arrested on charges of femicide (an intentional murder attempt with a gender-related motivation) and domestic violence after accusations made by Stephanie Vaquer about an incident on March 2nd. A hearing was held on the weekend, and  the judge ruled Cuatrero would continue to say in jail until the next hearing on Thursday. Cuatrero’s side wants to get him out of jail as soon as possible. ESPN’s report on the situation states that it’s the additional charge of femicide that’s keeping Cuatrero locked up as a preventive measure. We probably won’t know any more until Thursday.

NGD were not listed on any upcoming TV tapings before this announcement. We don’t yet know the complete card for the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey event, so it’s possible they would’ve been used on that show. Mascara 2000 Jr. filled in for Cuatrero on a show in Juarez and figures to be the replacement as long as Cuatrero is unavailable.

Cuatrero’s side says they have a witness who disputes Vaquer’s side of the story, and will bring audio recordings to the court proceedings to prove it. Cuatrero’s version is it was just a break-up, nothing more. The breakup might be a point of agreement. Vaquer’s version includes her questioning Cuatrero about who he was texting and an argument coming out of it, which also sounds like a breakup. It’s what happened after that’s in dispute.

The fact that the accusations follow a break-up is notable because of a La Pasala follow-up story. A woman reached out to the paper after seeing the Cuatrero/Vaquer report saying a similar incident had happened with her and Cuatrero at the end of their relationship. The woman, whose name is not mentioned, is originally from Brazil and met Cuatrero on a TuriLuchas Turibus trip. (She provided photos to La Pasala to prove they had a relationship.) Cuatrero and the unnamed woman dated from 2015 to 2017 and were close enough that Cuatrero took her to Lagos de Moreno to meet his friends and family. Her description of the relation was of one that had issues: she believed Cuatrero was constantly cheating on her and having affairs with various fans. She also mentions Cuatrero being jealous of Dragon Lee, believing he was stealing women from him, which she read as Cuatrero projecting out his own infidelity. The woman eventually wanted to end the relationship due to the issues, and he reacted badly. She says Cuatrero threw her down on a bed and choked her after hearing the news. She says she faked passing out to trick him into releasing the choke. He later cried and begged her not to report him. She believes that if she had not faked passing out, he would’ve continued suffocating her until she died. The woman did not go to the authorities because she didn’t think people would believe her as a foreigner, and she knew Cuatrero was from a big powerful family of wrestlers who could make trouble for her. She was also just scared and in shock. She and Cuatrero haven’t seen each other since the breakup, and she’s still concerned something might happen with him or his fans. The woman feels partially responsible for what happened to Vaquer; if she had reported it, she believes it wouldn’t have happened again. She pledged to help Vaquer in any way possible.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Baby Star & Kenji b Dariux (Hidalgo) & Súper Boy LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
Super Boy replaced Rey Minos
2) Hades (Indie) & Sagitarius b Satania & Therius LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón b Chicano, Eddie Rodríguez, Hazel LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
Chicano’s latest return to IWRG.
5) Fussion & Jessy Ventura b Gannicus & Hijo del Alebrije LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
Alebrije got his shoulder up at 2, the referee counted 3 because he was looking at the wrong shoulder. Seemed to be an angle playing off recent referee legit screwups. Alebrije threw a fit, shoved his partner, and walked out.
6) Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba b Aeroboy, Aster Boy, Hell Boy LIVE 🔴 | Primer vs segundo lugar del IWRG Tryout 2023, Las Shotas, Mamba, Aeroboy (posted by IWRG tv)
Hell Boy replaced Wesley Pipes (done already?)

Doing angles about how bad your referees is never a good sign. The fourth match sure seemed to feature a legit brawl after a dive wasn’t caught. Things don’t appear to be going well here at the moment. They’re not drawing well (but they also probably don’t have as many expenses with this roster.)

IWRG (THU) 03/16/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja & Baby Star vs Kenji & Leo
2) Lolita, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Arcángel Divino, Destiny, Lady Lee
3) Joey Marx & Mason Conrad vs Medico Brujo & Sick Boy and Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan
4) Coronel Vip vs Hijo de Canis Lupus
5) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Larry Miranda, Mamba vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool
6) Pimpinela Escarlata vs Jessy Ventura

This is a show built on RGR, Lucha Time and GALLI wrestlers coming in (though I’m not sure it’s all that meaningful.) Marx & Conrad are the GALLI/Chicago wrestlers, who were briefly IWRG tag team champions last year. Marx was a Jack Evans clone a thousand years ago, Conrad is a typical midwest heel tag team guy.

Other Notes

Cachorra Flores (Dora Gabriel Vazquez, 44) passed away Sunday. She wrestled in Veracruz from at least 2000 to 2019 and was a second-generation wrestler.

Komander and Arez’s trip to wXw’s 16 Karat went about as expected results-wise: Komander beat Arez, Komander lost in the next round, they wrestled some tag matches to round out the weekend. The performance aspect sounds like it went even better than hoped. Komander was one of the most impressive wrestlers on the weekend, and both the singles match with Arez and the trios match on the final night seem to be well received. Doing well in that tournament seems like a jumping-off point for many more bookings in the general European area, and Komander particularly seemed to earn himself more work. Komander has risen quickly to a position where he can make a nice bit of money just working indies for the foreseeable future and doesn’t necessarily need to sign with AEW or WWE right now, but there’s no also guarantee AEW and WWE will still be interested in him when he’s ready to move on.

Bandido appears to be advertised as appearing both at the La Mole comic convention on Friday and for GCW on Friday. He can’t do both.

Brunoticias has an interview with La Piedad, Michoacan’s Princesa Tiger, who’s recently appeared in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara.

The Tijuana lucha libre and collection museum is adding another floor to its exhibits as it celebrates six years of existence on Wednesday. My memory from going there is the top floor was used for a different exhibition, so they’re probably adding something new.

Mistico/Atlantis lightning match tonight, upcoming AAA plans, Arena Coliseo Anniverasry

Daylight Savings Time begins in the US and Canada this Sunday. It doesn’t affect tonight’s show or tomorrow’s AAA. Mexico has ceased Daylight Savings Time, so the time differences coming Sunday will stay that way through November. (If you’re in Japan or somewhere else that also doesn’t change clocks, you’re fine.)

CMLL

Tonight’s show

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer [lightning]
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr. [lightning]

On CMLL Informa, Julio Cesar Rivera noted this was the first Arena Mexico show to the main event with a lightning match. He also pushed back on criticism of it being a certain time limit draw by framing it as a situation where the time limit meant both men would have to go very hard for the start to try to get that win. That’s how every lightning match is supposed to work. It still seems likely to be a draw. I’m not sure which person winning would better set up more matches between them, but I don’t think this is the end of it; they’re teaming on Homenaje a Dos Leyendas for a reason.

The semi-main has the four guys who are main eventing next week. It also has Dragon Rojo & Templario, who may headline their own show this year. Lluvia versus Stephanie Vaquer continues the foreigners versus Mexicans women’s feud over the last month; Vaquer figures to get another win before it reverses in Copa Irma Gonzalez. It’s also Vaquer’s first match here since her accusations became public, though she obviously knew about them last Friday. The bottom half of the card is giving a lot of people their once-every-three-months Friday night appearance. The relevos increibles match exists to set up Suicida versus Stigma, if it exists for a reason at all. Raider with Diamond or Valiente Jr. could be good. The opener looks like a challenge.

The show is on TicketmasterLive as always. It’ll go up on YouTube on 03/26.

CMLL (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Micro Ángel
2) Eléctrico & Leono vs Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro
3) Difunto vs Espanto Jr. [lightning]
4) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Kráneo, Niebla Roja
6) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Los Misterios start on the CMLL roster here. CMLL Informa also said the finalists in the ciberneticos = Brillante Jr., Tonalli, Rey Samuray, Crixus, Angel Rebelde – will also be part of the CMLL roster. Rey Samuray and maestro Black Tiger are out with unspecified health issues, so it might be a little bit longer before seeing those two. CMLL cards don’t really expand past this size, so more people being added means fewer matches for others.

CMLL (MON) 03/13/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Centella Roja & Rayo Metálico vs Espíritu Maligno & Sombra Diabólika
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Valiente Jr. vs El Asturiano, Millenium, Rey Samuray
3) Marcela, Skadi, Sumie Sakai vs La Catalina, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis
4) Atlantis, Stigma, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Niebla Roja
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Místico, Rocky Romero vs Ángel de Oro, Averno, Templario [Relevos Increíbles]

Sumie Sakai starts with CMLL here. Rayo Metalico is either a young Puebla wrestler (debuted in mid 2021) or a much older Leon one.

The streaming link for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is up. It’s the usual 199 pesos (11 USD) big show price. CMLL usually puts up the whole month at once and now is only doing it two shows in advance. There’s no reason to buy these shows in advance so that’s fine; I’m always dreaming there’s some end to this coming.

Sumie Sakai did a press conference (via teleconference) with the CMLL media to introduce herself. She mentioned she saw Arena Mexico twenty years ago but never got to go inside, so being in Copa Irma Gonzalez is a big moment for her. The press emphasized her judo background.

CMLL Informa announced the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show lineup:

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo
***Arena Coliseo 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 show often ends up as the one Arena Coliseo event put on YouTube; it showed up on a week delay last year. The names in the tournament certainly suggest other people who may be sticking around.

CMLL put out a statement in support of Stephanie Vaquer and against domestic violence late Wednesday night. CMLL didn’t announce any actions, so this was more notable for guessing what motivated them to release it when they did – why did it take most of a week? Why was it done in the middle of the night? It ultimately doesn’t matter much. The statement against domestic violence doesn’t mean much either; I’m not going to go over Oraculo’s background again right now (got to save it for next week), but it’s impossible to reconcile “we take violence against women very seriously” and Oraculo main eventing Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. Both those things can’t be true. The sentiment in that statement is as weightless as everyone (not just CMLL) who posted a graphic of all the women who work for them as a ‘celebration’ of International Women’s Day this past week. It’s coasting off a virtue while demonstrating no willingness to live up to it.

Cuatrero nor Vaquer are reposting supportive stories on Instagram and moderating the replies to their posts to filter out negative comments. They’re not directly addressing the stories.

AAA

No taping this week, they’re back next Sunday for the World Cup.

03/11 AAA on Space

  • Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Kuukai & Nishikawa
  • Dalys vs Flammer vs Maravilla vs Taya vs Estrellita
  • Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón vs La Bestia Del Ring, Rey Escorpión, Rush for the AAA World Trios Championship

This is part one of two episodes taped on a military base as a special show only for the military and their family. The main event did not sound like it finished well, but there weren’t the usual video and reviews of a Mexico City adjacent shows. This taping was a parking lot converted to an arena, with big bleachers around the ring. Might look cool, might look weird.

Space’s listings are not completely reliable more than about four days out, but it doesn’t appear they’re airing the Lucha Libre World Cup live. Space would normally be advertising it on air by now and I haven’t seen anything. You’re watching this one via FITE or waiting quite a few weeks.

Social media influencer Adrian Marcelo and Chessman will be in a match on the 04/16 TripleMania Monterrey show. It’s not official yet, but it’s clear that’s the direction this angle is headed. Marcelo appeared on Multimedios on Wednesday to call Dorian Roldan live on air. Marcelo demanded Chessman either apologize in person or be suspended indefinitely. They settled with the idea Chessman would come to Monterrey next week to apologize in person. That apology obviously will not go well, and AAA will set up the match with whatever happens there. I do not believe it will be a 1 v 1 match.

(Capital Lucha Libre has Chessman booked on 03/18 in Arena San Juan and is hinting Chessman will still be there. He shouldn’t be if he’s still suspended, he will be if the angle next week in Monterrey causes the suspension to be dropped. I think Capital has been told that, and not been told enough to play along.)

Again, this Chessman/Marcelo angle seems to be a hit in Mexico; even if most people think it’s a work, they’re interested in following the story at least until they get a definite answer.  We won’t find out if that attention translates into ticket sales until the match is announced but it looks promising. It’s not something that anyone outside of Mexico is going to get – Marcelo is generally popular just in that country – but AAA looking to draw more interest in Mexico is a positive strategy. Perhaps the important part of that news is that means AAA may announce the rest of their TripleMania lineup next week before whatever incident happens. I’d thought it would wait until after the World Cup.

That press conference should also announce Rush’s replacement partner for Pagano. It’s almost definitely LA Park. AAA put out social media posts asking fans who’d they’d like to see as Rush’s partner, knowing that the response was going to be LA Park. AAA wouldn’t be teasing this unless they had LA Park locked in for the spot.

Alberto’s gone from talking about possibly 20,000 fans to 25,000 for TripleMania Monterrey. I guess AAA could sell tickets in the outfield bleachers if they wanted to, but those seats would be very far away, and they aren’t currently on sale. AAA announced an attendance of 13,637 for last year’s TripleMania Monterrey. I don’t think they’re putting in an extra 11,000 people but I’m also pretty sure no will call Alberto on just making things up.

Back at the last Lucha Libre World Cup press conference, Alberto mentioned he was planning on wrestling no more than 2-3 matches a month. He’s listed as working four shows in April so far.

Daga has a left knee injury and will rest for four to six weeks before determining the next medical step. The report reads like the ACL and MCL were damaged but not torn, which would be a much longer recovery. The injury means Daga is definitely off the 04/08 San Luis Potosi taping, where the main event was supposed to be a Perro del Mal reunion. Someone like Mr. Aguila, X-Fly or Joe Lider may end up as the replacement Perro, though AAA seemed like they were going somewhere with Pentagon vs Daga as well. AAA still is promoting the original main event.

Dalys will replace Christi Jaynes on Team Rest of the World for the Lucha Libre World Cup. Jaynes is said to be out due to a visa issue. (Jaynes has not wrestled in 2023 so there may be more to that story.) Team World is facing Team USA (Deonna Purrazzo, Kamille, Jordynne Grace) in the semifinals. That seemed like a pretty solid Team USA win before and it’s a bit closer to a toss-up with Dalys involved.

AAA had a third press conference for the Lucha Libre World Cup with Hijo del Vikingo in attendance. It wasn’t streamed and there doesn’t seem to be anything important announced from what I’ve see in tweets.

EMW released a promotional photo for the 04/22 AAA TV Tijuana taping. Beyond the regular names, the Lucha Brothers, Rush, Dralistico, and Taya are pictured. AAA still has no tag team champions and no stated plans to fill that vacancy, but LFI and Lucha Brothers fit as a possible new champion match. These posters don’t always line up with the actual matches by the way. Those are probably a couple of weeks away.

The Business of the Business podcast had Mike Weber of FITE on their recent show. AAA briefly comes up. Weber mentions FITE will be doing four AAA shows this year, which means it’s just the World Cup and the three TripleManias on the schedule at this point. Weber also mentioned a desire to move AAA on to the FITE+ subscription service later this year. This came across much more like a FITE aspiration and maybe not something that AAA has officially signed on as yet, but it makes some sense. The AAA Twitch shows streamed live because AAA was getting an upfront payment from Twitch, and AAA would probably do the same if FITE was offering enough to make it worth their time. Again, AAA on FITE+ is just a FITE idea at this point and it does not sound like anything has been firmly agreed upon.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Zona Ruda]
1) Súper Boy b Rey Espartano LIVE 🔴 | Grupo Internacional Revolución vs Travis Banks, Puma de Oro y Hellboy (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly b Samuray Azteca (Queretaro) & Tortuga Leo LIVE 🔴 | Grupo Internacional Revolución vs Travis Banks, Puma de Oro y Hellboy (posted by IWRG tv)
3) Jhon Tito & Noisy Boy DQ Avisman & Cerebro Negro Jr. LIVE 🔴 | Grupo Internacional Revolución vs Travis Banks, Puma de Oro y Hellboy (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Maniacop 360 b La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 LIVE 🔴 | Grupo Internacional Revolución vs Travis Banks, Puma de Oro y Hellboy (posted by IWRG tv)
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Travis Banks LIVE 🔴 | Grupo Internacional Revolución vs Travis Banks, Puma de Oro y Hellboy (posted by IWRG tv)

Tryout is over and I’m back to not paying attention. This one didn’t draw well. They’re full into the “foreigners stealing the IWRG name” angle, now with Adrian Mendoza as the special ring announcer for that team.

IWRG (SUN) 03/12/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Dariux (Hidalgo) & Rey Minos vs Baby Star & Kenji
2) Hades (Indie) & Sagitarius vs Satania & Therius
3) León Dorado & Mr. Leo vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly
4) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Rey Halcón vs Chicano, Eddie Rodríguez, Hazel
5) Gannicus & Hijo del Alebrije vs Fussion & Jessy Ventura
6) Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba vs Aeroboy, Aster Boy, Wesley

Lots of tryout wrestlers on the undercard. It would’ve made sense to tell the four finalists all to keep a Sundays open in case any of them won, especially if it was actually a legit competition, and then IWRG has to find spots for them for a moment. Still, it’s probably also a relatively inexpensive way to run these shows.

There’s an AAA spot show in Arena Nuaclapan on April 7th, with Alberto, Hijo del Vikingo, Taurus, Nino Hamburgesa, Octagon Jr., Abismo Negro Jr., Parka Negra and Dizzy (the promoter.) That should be an easy sell out.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Komander and Arez are just about to wrestle in WXW’s 24 16 Karat tournament as I write this. WXW doesn’t air live but they’ve been really fast about putting up VOD in the past.

The Crash’s 03/24 card included an Octagon & Super Asro vs Fuerza Guerrera & Pirata Morgan match. Wednesday, they announced CMLL was blocking Octagon and Fuerza Guerrera from coming in. CMLL works with another promoter in Tijuana, and I guess that confirms they have some control over Octagon & Fuerza’s bookings. The replacement match will be Super Astro, Super Astro Jr., Tinieblas Jr. versus Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, and Pirata Morgan Jr.

04/01 The Wrld on Lucha

04/21 GCW in Atlanta has Komander vs Hijo del Vikingo.

Xalapa luchador Samuray Jr. posted that he’s retiring. He’s appeared in DTU from time to time and is young for a retiring luchador.

AAA issues statement on Cuatrero, update on Chessman/influencer bit, CMLL results

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 03/06/2023 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Espíritu Maligno, Hijo del Perverso, Multy b Dark Soul, Dreyko, Rencor
2) Fuego, Rey Samuray, Volcano b El Perverso, Kráneo, Prayer Facebook video (posted by )
Perverso left the match early, bleeding from the face after Samuray’s 450
3) Mercurio © b Angelito [CMLL MINIFacebook video (posted by )
5th defense
4) Sagrado © b Rey Bucanero [MEX HEAVY]
3rd defense
5) Gran Guerrero b Averno Facebook video (posted by )
Averno tried to win via mask pull, failed and got pinned
6) Oráculo & Volador Jr. DQ Ángel de Oro & Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
Angel de Oro fouled Orauclo

All these DQs are the most Ingobernable thing Angel de Oro has done in quite some time.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Bengala & Retro CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3) Amapola, Reyna Isis, Tiffany b Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4) Star Black b Akuma [lightningCONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Oráculo, Rocky Romero b Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Oraculo and Rocky had minor issues, still won.

Not much here. Minis match was the best one. The lightning match was OK too, but you can skip all of this and be fine.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Eclipse Jr. b Black Boy, Mortis, Thunder Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel b Obelisk, Raven, Temerario
3) La Catalina, Quimera, Valkiria b Hera, Nexy, Olympia Martes de Glamour 07 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial )
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr. Martes de Glamour 07 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
5) Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte b El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin Martes de Glamour 07 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Furia Roja & Guerrero de la Muerte challenged for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship
6) Ángel Rebelde, Atlantis Jr., Último Guerrero b Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Principe Daniel [Relevos IncreíblesMartes de Glamour 07 marzo 2023 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)

The poster had “Kimy”, which is maybe short for Quimera? I don’t know. This show was not a memorable show as well

CMLL (SAT) 03/11/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Fantasy, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Astral, Eléctrico, Robin vs Apocalipsis, Grako, Nitro
3) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita vs La Catalina, Metálica, Zeuxis
4) Fugaz vs Dark Magic [lightning]
5) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Fugaz versus Dark Magic are two pieces that don’t seem to work together at all.

CMLL Informa has Pequeno Sky Team (talking about being a full unit), Atlantis Jr. (Fantastica Mania & Mistico?), Oraculo (H2L), and Satanico, Blue Panther, Virus, Angel Rebelde, Crixus, Brillante Jr., Tonalli (Torneo de Escuelas). That’s one wrestler from each team except from Puebla, no Black Tiger either. That Puebla match seemed set up to make Rey Samuray the big star, except it did not go well for Rey Samuray. The Guadalajara team has two wrestlers, and overall winner Angel Rebelde brings a lot of the same flying as Rey Samuray.

Rocky Romero is scheduled to defend the CMLL World Historic Welterweight Championship against Dan the Dad on March 18th. That’s the day after Homenaje a Dos Leyendas. The loser of that match is likely sticking around Mexico long enough for everyone to see his bald head; Romero taking off to St. Louis the next day makes it less likely he’s the one taking the loss.

AAA

AAA addressed the domestic violence allegations towards Cuatrero in a statement on Monday night. AAA wrote they supported equality for women, rejected gender violence, and so were concerned about the accusations. (You can read those in the previous news post.) AAA said they would watch and respect the legal process. It did not appear they were taking any actions against Cuatrero at this point. AAA’s announcement led to many media outlets mentioning the story for the first time; few wanted to touch it strictly on La Pasala’s report.

Tuesday morning, AAA issued another press release saying Chessman was suspended two weeks for slapping social media influencer Adrian Marcelo. Chessman is listed on a 03/18 San Juan show and over the next two weeks; he’s not on a TV taping or in the Lucha Libre World Cup. (It’s possible he’s got other dates, those are just the only posters I could find.) On the other hand, Chessman also claimed he wasn’t wrestling on AAA/NWA that show due to an injury in Marcelo’s vlog of the confrontation posted Tuesday. Despite not wrestling, Chessman was in full face paint. Marcelo also mentioned he’d been training to wrestle for a long time. The slap and the argument leading up to it came off even more as a setup to an eventual match in the context of Marcelo’s own video. Marcelo has gone quiet since posting the video (he was very active prior) and hasn’t commented on the suspension. Chessman’s suspension gave this story another round of press.

AAA used the same press release format to write the real Cuatrero/Vaquero situation and the presumed Chessman angle. (There were already some who believed both must be a storyline, as they believe everything in wrestling is a storyline.) This led to a day of smaller Mexican promotions sending out ‘press releases’ of their own, parodying AAA. AAA’s actions to treat real and (presumed) fake the same was in poor taste, but also parodying a press release about a (alleged) domestic violence incident seemed lame. It was just a miserable day.

SI has an interview with Komander.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy vs Rey Espartano
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly vs Samuray Azteca (Queretaro) & Tortuga Leo
3) Jhon Tito & Noisy Boy vs Avisman & Cerebro Negro Jr.
4) La Momia, Luka, Super Mario AK47 vs Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Maniacop 360
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko vs Hell Boy, Puma de Oro, Travis Banks

A few of the Tryout names showing up in the undercard here.

Other Notes

Mas Lucha will be running a ruleta suicida de mascaras at some point in the future. (Probably April.) Former CMLL wrestler Camaleon is the first wrestler announced.

03/24 The Crash has a match for the vacant The Crash and KAOZ tag team titles. (Dragon Lee & Dralistico were previous champs; Dragon Lee started his new job last night.) The match is Dragon Bane & Alpha Wolf versus a mystery team, which they’re teasing as the Lucha Brothers. It’d be weird to book the Lucha Brothers and only tease it, I guess the Crash could be that weird.

Luchador turned referee Pensamiento Negro (Miguel Álvarez Camacho) passed away Tuesday, according to Box y Lucha. I don’t have an age, but he started wrestling in 1984 to give you an idea.

International Women’s Day profiles: Lady Metal from Puebla and Star Fire. There are these profiles every year, focusing on young luchadoras, if they feel like they get the same chances as men (they do not feel that way), if they would do it again (generally yes) and if they would let their children wrestler (generally no.) It must be a story that plays well with editors because it feels like the only story about women in lucha libre told on these days.

Box y Lucha #3541 has lots of CMLL stories.

lucha libre match roundup, week of 2023-02-17

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and just never posted it. It’s been busy. I’ll try to get 02-24 or later this week.

This one covers the first half of Fantastica Mania, and I watched a DTU show and I watched an IWRG show. And this is the week with the Vikingo/Aeroboy/Aramis/Taurus, which should probably be on this list.

Rating match aired taped
great SB KENTo & Takuma vs Aero Panther & Fight Panther © [DTU NEXO] DTU | Takuma y SB Kento vs Aero Panther y Fight Panther Campeonato Nexo, desde Santiago Tulantepec (posted by mluchatv) DTU
2023-02-23
2023-01-28
great Averno & Místico vs Soberano Jr. & Templario [Torneo Incredible de Parejas] and in a tournament final match ¡La mejor pareja increíble del 2023! Místico y Averno derrotan a Soberano Jr. y Templario (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL-FINAL TORNEO INCREÍBLE DE PAREJAS / MÍSTICO-AVERNO VS SOBERANO JR.-TEMPLARIO/A. MEXICO/17-02-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
good Resplandor vs Canibal Jr.Amenaza Negra Jr.RenacidoWerito in a tournament match DTU | Takuma y SB Kento vs Aero Panther y Fight Panther Campeonato Nexo, desde Santiago Tulantepec (posted by mluchatv) DTU
2023-02-23
2023-01-28
good Aéreo, Angelito, Shockercito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito CMLL | Acero, Angelito y Shockercito vencen a Pequeño Violencia, Pequeño Pierroth y Mercurio (posted by mluchatv) CMLL: Pierrothito, Mercurio y Pequeño Violencia Vs Shockercito, Angelito y Kaligua (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX
2023-02-18
2023-02-07
good Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Mije vs Átomo & Chamuel ¡Microdiablura!, Mije y Micro Gemelo Diablo I derrotan a los rudos y aguerridos Chamuel y Átomo (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) 20230217cmll_match1Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Mije vs Átomo & Chamuel.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
good Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora 20230217cmll_match3Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) Virus lleva a Los Cancerberos a la victoria, derrotando a los rudísimos Pólvora, Okumura y El Coyote (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
good Marcela vs Zeuxis in a lightning match 20230217cmll_match4Marcela vs Zeuxis in a lightning match.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) CMLL - MATCH RELÁMPAGO / MARCELA VS ZEUXIS / ARENA MEXICO / 17-02-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Marcela y Zeuxis llegan al cuadrilátero de la Arena Mexico, listas para un explosivo mano a mano (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
good Gran Guerrero, Oráculo, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Titán 20230217cmll_match5Gran Guerrero, Oráculo, Último Guerrero, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Titán.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) CMLL - RELEVO ATÓMICO INCREÍBLE / ARENA MEXICO / 17-02-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) R.Romero, Ángel de Oro, B.Cavernario y Titán derrotaron a Volador, Oráculo, Ú.Guerrero y G.Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
good Blue Panther & Virus vs Black Tiger & Satánico [Torneo de ESCUELAS] and [seeding] CMLL | Satánico vs Blue Panther vs Virus vs Black Tiger (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Maestros de las escuelas del CMLL: Satánico Vs Blue Panther Vs Virus Vs Black Tiger (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
good Místico & Volador Jr. vs Atlantis Jr. & Templario in a relevos increíbles match NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23
ok Mr. Solo & Rebel vs Black Pistón & Vairom DTU | Takuma y SB Kento vs Aero Panther y Fight Panther Campeonato Nexo, desde Santiago Tulantepec (posted by mluchatv) DTU
2023-02-23
2023-01-28
ok Kaleth vs ShockoNishikawa DTU | Takuma y SB Kento vs Aero Panther y Fight Panther Campeonato Nexo, desde Santiago Tulantepec (posted by mluchatv) DTU
2023-02-23
2023-01-28
ok Bugambilia, Crazy Boy, Máximo vs Demon Boy, Paranoiko, Talaxys DTU | Takuma y SB Kento vs Aero Panther y Fight Panther Campeonato Nexo, desde Santiago Tulantepec (posted by mluchatv) DTU
2023-02-23
2023-01-28
ok Rey Minos vs Koji Luchas y Calificaciones Team Cannis y Team Imposible | IWRG TRYOUT (posted by mluchatv) IWRG , TRYOUT
2023-02-23
2023-02-02
ok Destello (Morelos) vs Rey Espartano Luchas y Calificaciones Team Cannis y Team Imposible | IWRG TRYOUT (posted by mluchatv) IWRG , TRYOUT
2023-02-23
2023-02-02
ok Centvrión vs AqueoÁngel De Plata (Puebla) Luchas y Calificaciones Team Cannis y Team Imposible | IWRG TRYOUT (posted by mluchatv) IWRG , TRYOUT
2023-02-23
2023-02-02
ok Eléctrico, Leono, Oro Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Nitro CMLL | Nitro, Enfermero Jr. y Dr. Karonte I derrotan a Leono, Eléctrico y Oro Jr. (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Nitro, Hermano Karonte I y Enfermero Jr Vs Leono, Oro Jr y Eléctrico en la Arena México (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL Guerreros del Ring on 52MX
2023-02-18
2023-02-07
ok Diamond, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor 20230217cmll_match2Diamond, Sangre Imperial, Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Enfermero Jr., Inquisidor.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) Diamond, Sangre Imperial y Valiente Jr derrotan a los rudísimos Disturbio, Inquisidor y Enfermero Jr (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL iPPV
2023-02-17
2023-02-17
ok Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado CMLL | Atlantis, Panterita del Ring y Valiente vencen a Sagrado y Los Gemelos Diablo I y II (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Lucha estelar Atlantis, Valiente y Panterita del Ring Vs Sagrado, Gemelo Diablo I y Gemelo Diablo II (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
ok Leono & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo CMLL | El Cholo y Apocalipsis vencen a Leono y Retro (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Relevos sencillos del CMLL: El Cholo y Apocalipsis Vs Retro y Leono (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
ok Acero, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito vs Minos, Pequeño Polvora, Pierrothito CMLL | Último Dragoncito, Acero y Fantasy derrotan a Pequeño Pierroth, Minos y Pequeño Pólvora (posted by mluchatv) CMLL: Último Dragoncito, Acero y Fantasy Vs Pierrothito, Minos y Pequeño Pólvora (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
ok Flyer vs Luciferno in a lightning match CMLL | Flyer vence en match relámpago a Luciferno (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Flyer Vs Luciferno en match relámpago al estilo CMLL con máximo de 10 minutos (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
ok Pegasso, Robin, Stigma vs Difunto, El Coyote, Pólvora CMLL | Pólvora, Difunto y Coyote derrotan a Robin, Stigma y Pegasso (posted by mluchatv) CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES DE ARENA MEXICO CON STREAMING GRATUITO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Pólvora, Difunto y Coyote Vs Robin, Stigma y Pegasso en la Arena México del CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL YouTube
2023-02-21
2023-02-21
ok Hiroshi Tanahashi & Místico vs Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero in a relevos increíbles match NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok El Desperado, Rey Cometa, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, SHO, Templario NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok Kosei Fujita, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr. vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok Dulce Gardenia, Tiger Mask, YOH vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok Magia Blanca & Ryohei Oiwa vs Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok Capitán Suicida & Yuto Nakashima vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori NJPW World
2023-02-22
2023-02-22
ok Capitán Suicida & Ryohei Oiwa vs Gedo & Taiji Ishimori NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23
ok Dulce Gardenia, Master Wato, Tiger Mask vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Hijo del Villano III, Okumura NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23
ok Kosei Fujita, Ryusuke Taguchi, Soberano Jr., YOH vs Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Titán NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23
ok El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Último Guerrero vs Hechicero, Magia Blanca, SHO in a relevos increíbles match NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23
ok Rey Cometa & Yuto Nakashima vs Douki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NJPW World
2023-02-23
2023-02-23

Guadalajara wins CMLL Torneo de Escuela, AAA/NWA, Chessman slaps an influencer

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/03/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RingKaiser SportsR de RudoRecordThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores (video)]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Mercurio, Minos, Pierrothito CMLL | Pequeño Magia, Kaligua y Angelito derrotan a Minos, Pequeño Pierroth y Mercurio (posted by mluchatv) CMLL lucha inicial: Angelito, Pequeño Magia y Kaligua Vs Mercurio, Pierrothito y Minos (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
10:39. The minis tecnicos are the Pequenno Sky Team or the Mini Sky Team. Minos needed medical help after a Kaligula 450 attempt ended up with his foot hitting Minos’ jaw.
2) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit Catalina, Zeuxis y Stephanie Vaquer Vs Lluvia, Jarochita y Princesa Sugehit en duelo de Amazonas (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL-LLUVIA-JAROCHITA-PRINCESA SUGEHIT VS ZEUXIS-LA CATALINA-STEPHANIE VAQUER/ARENA MEXICO / 3-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Stephanie Vaquer, La Catalina y Zeuxis vencen a Lluvia, Jarochita y Princesa Sugehit (posted by mluchatv)
10:17. Vaquer beat Sugehit. CMLL debut of La Catalina
3) Virus TLDRAW Satánico [lightningMaestros: Satánico Vs Virus empatan en el Torneo de Escuelas del CMLL en la Monumental Arena México (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Mije and KeMonito interfered. After the match, “Ghostface” from Scream appeared to lead into a trailer for the upcoming movie.
4) Futuro, Historico, Max Star, Neón, Tonalli, Vegas b Adrenalina, Ángel Rebelde, Crixus, Explosivo, Fantástico, Vaquero Jr. [Torneo de Escuelas, final¡Ganó la Escuela Tapatía! ¡Ángel Rebelde vence a Tonalli, quién sale en camilla! (posted by Revista BOX Y LUCHA) CMLL - FINAL TORNEO DE ESCUELAS / GUADALAJARA VS CDMX / ARENA MEXICO / 03-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | ¡La escuela de Guadalajara se lleva el Torneo de Escuelas 2023! (posted by mluchatv) Jalisco vence a CDMX, gran ganador de torneos de escuelas del CMLL: Ángel Rebelde sobre Tonalli (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
29:24. CDMX vs Guadalajara. Historico replaced Principe (COVID positive) on Thursday. Order of elimination: Historico (via Fantastico), Adrenalina (Futuro), Neon (Vaquero Jr.), Explosivo (Max Star), Max Star (Crixus), Fantastico (Tonalli), Futuro (Crixus), Vaquero Jr. (Vegas), Crixus (Tonalli), Vegas (Angel Rebelde), Tonalli (Angel Rebelde), leaving Angel Rebelde as the winner for team Guadalajara. The team members and Satanico all got medals.
5) Soberano Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario [lightningCMLL | Soberano Jr. derrota en match relámpago a Bárbaro Cavernario (posted by mluchatv) Soberano Jr Vs Bárbaro Cavernario mano a mano en la Arena México con el CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
8:43. Soberano seemed to be dealing with a lower back injury.
6) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Volador Jr. DQ Atlantis Jr., Oráculo, Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles (posted by Revista BOX Y LUCHA) CMLL - ÁNGEL DE ORO-VOLADOR JR. - MÍSTICO VS ORÁCULO-ATLANTIS JR. -ROCKY ROMERO/ARENA MEXICO/3-03-23 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL | Volador Jr., Ángel de Oro y Místico derrotan a Rocky Romero, Oráculo y Atlantis Jr. (posted by mluchatv)
10:25. straight falls. Rocky fouled Volador and taunted him again. Angel de Oro high fived each other. Atlantis Jr. also challenged Mistico and two briefly followed.

The schools match was the best of the night once again. I liked the one on the previous Friday before, though that might be because that one surprised me and this one I knew that I was getting into. Both are worth watching. Soberano seemed banged up in his match and that wasn’t much. The women’s match went fine (and the foreigners keep winning.) Virus & Satanico was good but they also had Mije & KeMonito out there to give Satanico some rest breaks.

Tonalli was limping for the last few minutes of the match. He was stretchered out, but CMLL now stretchers out anyone with any injury. Tonalli says he’ll be out at least a week recovering.

La Catalina’s WWE stint was not long or super notable, but because she had that ex-WWE stamp (and because that’s more novel in CMLL), there was a bit of extra media attention on her debut. She did fine and indicated she’ll be around CMLL more.

CMLL has promoted movies before – there was once a free show in Arena Mexico promote a Hulk movie, with Rey Bucanero wrestling as the Hulk and Terrible as the Abomination (no photos sorry) – but this Scream promotion came off stranger than usual. It wasn’t clear it was meant to be a non-wrestling thing when the Ghostface figure came out up until the trailer started to play. It also added about five minutes onto the longest show in months. (Although a ‘long show’ by CMLL standards is 2h30m, much shorter than a long show anywhere else. I’m writing most of this post on Saturday night because of how long another promotion is surely going to go.)

CMLL (SAT) 03/04/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Chamuel, Micro Ángel, Periquito Sacaryas
Gemelo Diablo II is back
2) Hera, Olympia, Tiffany b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, La Vaquerita
3) El Felino Jr., Kráneo, Pólvora b Capitán Suicida, Hombre Bala Jr., Volcano
Volcano replaced Fuego (moved up.) Rudos took advantage of a friendly fire tope between Bala & Volcano to get the win.
4) El Coyote b Fuego [lightning]
Fuego replaced Dulce Gardenia, and lost to a mask pull.
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Oráculo DQ Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr.
Angel de Oro fouled Oraculo

Just a normal Saturday show.

CMLL (SUN) 03/05/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Full Metal & Pequeño Violencia
2) Leono, Retro, Sangre Imperial b Dr. Karonte I, Inquisidor, Príncipe Odín Jr.
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Flyer, Robin, Volcano
4) Pólvora b Fugaz [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Black b Hijo del Villano III, Misterioso Jr., Rey Bucanero
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Rocky Romero DQ Ángel de Oro, Oráculo, Templario
straight falls, Dragon Rojo unmasking Templario for the DQ.

Standard stuff here as well.

Today’s Puebla show has two title matches; a title match would be a surprise in either case.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena México
1) Bengala & Retro vs Apocalipsis & Cholo
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
3) Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Skadi vs Amapola, Reyna Isis, Tiffany
4) Star Black vs Akuma [lightning]
5) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
6) Esfinge, Panterita del Ring Jr., Soberano Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Oráculo, Rocky Romero

Rocky and Orcaulo haven’t worked too many Tuesday Arena Mexico shows. The poster lists the tecnico minis as Mini Sky Team; they were Pequeno Sky team on Friday.

CMLL (TUE) 03/07/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan, Eclipse Jr. vs Black Boy, Mortis, Thunder Boy
2) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Último Ángel vs Obelisk, Raven, Temerario
3) Kimy, La Catalina, Nexy vs Hera, Olympia, Valkiria
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Leo, Omar Brunetti, Vaquero Jr.
5) El Audaz, Hombre Bala Jr., Robin vs Arlequín, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte
6) Atlantis Jr. & Último Guerrero vs Capitán Suicida & Dark Panther [Relevos Increíbles]

Main event Capitan Suicida = someone really liked FantasticaMania. Semimain follows the feud from Arena Coliseo Mexico City.

CMLL (FRI) 03/10/2023 Arena México
1) Cachorro, Leono, Sangre Imperial vs Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
2) Diamond, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
3) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer [lightning]
5) Oráculo, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr. [lightning]

I can’t recall ever seeing a lightning match as a main event. I guess they’re saving the real signles match for another day, but it’s still strange.

Semi-main is one last build-up trios. Vauqer and Lluvia follows the recent women’s matches. The bottom half of the card is a bit random but they could be setting up Suicida/Stigma again. This is fine for a pre-major show card.

Ex-Arena Puebla luchador Toro Bill (Jose Roberto Rosete, 59) passed away this past weekend. A post on Facebook mentions he suffered from an extended illness. Toro Bill wrestled as a rudo in Arena Puebla from at least 1987 to 2010, including hair matches with El Jabato (current Arena Puebla head Manuel Robles), Mascarita Magica (Fire), Furia Chicago and Leono. His son, Toro Bill Jr., passed away suddenly last year.

He was active on indie shows as recently as December.

AAA

AAA TV , NWA (SAT) 03/04/2023 Foro Sol, Iztacalco, Distrito Federal [ESTO (part 1)ESTO (part 2)ESTO (part 3)]
1) Komander & Octagón Jr. b Cyon & Homicide
2) Arez & La Hiedra b Aron Stevens & Natalia Marakova
3) Kerry Morton © b Sal The PalJack Cartwheel [NWA JH]
4) Kamille © b Flammer [NWA WOMEN]
5) Chris Masters, Kratos, Thom Latimer b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © [AAA TRIOS]
6) Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf b Blue Demon Jr. & Vampiro [NWA TAG]
Damian 666 helped La Rebellion often.
7) Psycho Clown b Trevor Murdoch
8) Tyrus © b Daga [NWA HEAVY]
short match, Daga suffered a knee injury

The card order is definitely wrong; they moved some of the last few matches to the first session.

This didn’t seem to be a AAA TV taping on the press conference earlier and then was a TV taping the day of the show. Probably some miscommunication there. The NWA also taped the show, no word on when they’ll air it. Daga suffered a left leg injury in his match serious enough to end it early. There was no word on Saturday about the severity of the injury; it seemed like it will keep him out for a while, but it’s too early to know. Not a lot of thoughts about the other matches.

The big news from the taping was a viral video of Chessman slapping social media personality Adrian Marcelo, who responded by throwing a beer at him. This appears to be a planned bit. Marcelo is both popular and controversial, having been involved in similar incidents in the past and does interviews where he purposefully asks stupid or trolling questions to get a reaction. The idea here is Marcelo went too far on that bit and it got out of control. It seems  obviously a plan on Marcelo’s side – the person he takes the beer from is planted in place to be ready for that spot – and I guess there’s the slightest chance Chessman wasn’t in on it. I strongly believe he was. The video most people saw was posted by Roberto Figueroa, who’s job is to promote AAA under the guise of being a real journalist. (He was pushing the “Pagano really got attacked by two guys” angle from a few weeks back.) Once Figueroa posted it, it was clearly an angle. Everyone else is treating the incident as real, including Marcelo posting a video demanding AAA make it right or he’ll sue and AAA posting a statement that they’re looking into it. Media stories covering the incident are also covering it as if it’s real, or as if they don’t know if it’s real.

That media coverage looks silly, because very few fans who are reacting to slap believe it was real. They also jumped to speculating on a Marcelo/Chessman match at one of the TripleManias instead. (Chessman would be a logical AAA pick to help a celebrity through a match; he just worked as a useful opponent for a soldier having a wrestling match on the recent military base taping.) It was still is a great video – even though nearly everyone reacting to it believed it was an angle, they still all reacted to at a huge volume. It follows that Pagano bit as the second nontraditional AAA angle to get that sort of attention. There have been other tries at this lately – Fresero and a musician, Diamante Azul accussing Blue Demon Jr.’s friends of attacking his car’ – and probably more to come. Most of them don’t catch on as well as this one did.

MNI Noticias says the World is a Vampire festival drew 35,000 fans and gave it a strongly positive review. Melo Magazine is positive though a little less so, not happy with the scheduling at times and mostly ignoring the wrestling. Sopitas says the lucha libre was a partial success; the fans generally did not know who the wrestlers were and AAA did not play the commentary over the speakers for the first wrestling session (!), so the fans weren’t into it. They fixed that in session two and fans seemed to enjoy it more.

AAA aired the rest of Rey de Reyes on Saturday. You have to grade AAA on a curve right now. The onscreen viewing experience doesn’t compare to CMLL (either in Mexico or Japan) because of the persistent audio issues, and things like Mr. Iguana’s comedy falls flat when there’s no crowd noise to react to it. Given that context, I thought everyone worked hard in the three matches and they were all in the good range. The opener trios worked a lot better than the lumberjack match back in Queretaro, and Eterno Alacendar did well in his cameo before being finished off. Dalys fit in on the five way women’s match, and the main problem there was there have been so many simliar versions of these matches the last year or two and there was no particular story in this one. (Eliminations would’ve helped both the men’s and women’s matches.) The Sexy Star and Sam Adonis wins made sense in terms of the moves they used, but the endings felt like they were just a product of the rest of the people in the match disappearing after a move on the outside.

Vignettes included a setup for a Chik Tormenta/Lady Shani match in the near future. They didn’t wrestle on the next taping at the military base. They didn’t wrestle on the NWA show. They won’t wrestle on the Lucha Libre World Cup. Maybe they’ll have a singles match on TripleMania Monterrey but a standalone singles women’s match would be unprecedented in recent times.

There’s a 2×1 ticket promotion for the Lucha Libre World Cup, which is standard for AAA big shows.

PWInsider reported Taya is finishing up with Impact Wrestling. Taya’s repeatedly said she’s not actually under contract to anyone, so the only reason for her to finish up with Impact is if she’s signing a contract with someone, like WWE or AEW. Taya is still AAA Reina de Reinas champion, though she hasn’t appeared on AAA TV since TripleMania Mexico City in October. She’ll be back for the Lucha Libre World Cup, but she’s not on the other AAA TV shows. If she’s finishing up (still uncertain!), Taya’s next time to lose the title in AAA would be TripleMania Monterrey on April 16 – except that’s also an Impact PPV date, if she’s still doing those.

(Flammer would get a nice reaction if she won the title from Taya, but I don’t see it as a big harm if it doesn’t happen. Titles don’t mean much in AAA, this specific title has been mostly irrelevant to AAA for years, and life went on the last two times Taya vacated it. Taya vacating a title a third time would make AAA look very silly but I don’t think they care.)

There’s a tribute show for Villano IV on 04/15 in Mexico City. That’s the day before TripleMania Monterrey. Villano IV said he’d retire in January 2023 after his mask loss. There was never a retirement show, but he hasn’t wrestled since Christmas. He is scheduled on some US shows in a couple of weekends.

Stephanie Vaquer & Cuatrero

CMLL’s Stephanie Vaquer filed a criminal complaint against AAA’s Cuatrero over domestic violence recently, according to La Planchitas. The two had been a couple and were public with their relationship for a couple of years. A longer story ran in La Pasala on Sunday, taken from Vaquer’s statement to the police. The incident took place on Thursday and began with a discussion between Vaquero & Cuatrero over who Cuatrero was sending messages to on his phone. It escalated, and Vaquer claims Cuatrero grabbed her by the neck and threw Vaquer into the wall, where a painting also fell off the wall and onto her. (The police report includes photos of bruises on Vaquer’s neck.) Vaquer says she ran to her bedroom, locked the door, and called the police. Cuatrero was gone by the time they arrived. Paramedics treated Vaquer, told her the attack almost broke her trachea and advised Vaquer to file a criminal complaint. The next step in that process is March 10th.

La Pasala asked Cuatrero about the situation at the NWA/AAA show; he said that was his personal life and he would only answer questions about wrestling. Vaquer has not commented on the story but did have a Facebook post on Friday (before her match) calling it one of the most difficult days of her life. A lawyer representing Cuatrero posted a statement reminding the media that Cuatrero has not been proven guilty, complaining about media jumping to conclusions and warning people not to use Cuatrero’s real name or face. (I didn’t know this, but media in Mexico is legally not allowed to use the real name and face of someone who’s only accused of a crime; you can use an alias, a first name and a last initial and/or a blurred photo instead. Calling him Cuatrero in this situation is fine, but you’d be open to a lawsuit if you used his real name in connection to this story.) Neither AAA nor CMLL has commented on the situation.

We’ll likely only hear more about this story if either party wants to talk. Similiar situations have been public when the complaint was filed and then little more gets revealed or resolved. These sorts of criminal records don’t seem to be easily publicly available in Mexico.

Vaquer is right to stand up for herself and go to the authorities if her accusations are true. I’m not sure if she can count on having support from all her fellow luchadors against a member of a famous wrestling family, as both a woman and a foreigner. (No one’s stopped using Maximo after India Sioux made her accusations.) The break in her favor is they’re in different promotions, and I doubt CMLL’s office will hold anything against her for accusing someone who left the promotion on bad terms. I hope this works out the best possible for everyone. I have little confidence it will.

When it came to Alberto, Konnan mentioned on his podcast that he was surprised Alberto didn’t end up in jail or otherwise in trouble for his various incidents, and he wasn’t going to punish Alberto if the authorities had not. My guess is that means AAA will also not take Cuatrero off TV or do anything else themselves; they’ll leave it to the law to sort it out.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 03/05/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Fussion b Eddie Rodríguez [IWRG TRYOUT, semifinalLIVE (posted by mluchatv)
2) Gannicus b Haziel [IWRG TRYOUT, semifinalLIVE (posted by mluchatv)
3) Hijo del Alebrije b Imposible LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
4) Eli Isom, Hell Boy, John Tito b Estrella de Oro, Genex, Yorvak LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Tryout 2021 vs Tryout 2022. Eli Isom replaced Tonalli (injury)
5) Gannicus b Fussion [IWRG TRYOUT, finalLIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Gannicus is the 2023 winner.
6) Aramis & Hijo de Canis Lupus b Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura and Hijo del Fishman & Hijo del Pirata Morgan LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Canis beat Pirata, who kicked out before three.

On Thursday, IWRG’s ring announcers said the Tryout finals would be Sunday and the stream announcers declared would be next Sunday. It turned out to be this Sunday after all. I’ve watched every other match so I’ll probably watch this tomorrow. Gannicus is a bit of a surprise, a person who had some coin toss results that could’ve knocked him out earlier, and I’m a little surprised he won. This show built around the tournament didn’t draw particularly well.

The Hip Hop Man, Shocko, Heddi Karaoui group is now named “Group Internacional Revolucion,” with announcer Adrian Mendoza being onscreen credited with the idea to parody the name of the promotion. The idea is “IWRG” itself is unhappy and threatening to sue.

Aramis, Rey Horus, and Viento had a great match with  Black Taurus, Toxin, and Latigo on Saturday in West Coast Pro Wrestling (available on IWTV.) Aramis appeared to pick up an injury in that match, but still ended up wrestling here in IWRG the next day.

Other News

Ciclope & Miedo Extremo lost the GCW Tag Team championships to the Motor City Machine Guns on Sunday. I’m surprised they lost before the Wrld on Lucah show. The Vikingo/Zayne match on Saturday was said to be pretty good.

Shocker says his jaw injury is happening at the end of March. I’ve lost track of how many times that’s supposed to have happened.

Animal Politco has a very good interview with luchadora Miku, who actually was a WWE fan when she was a kid (and she’s only 17 so she’s still really a kid.)

An article about debuting wrestlers in Cuatula, including someone who’s starting in wrestling at age 34.