CMLL early week results, kids get in Noche de Campeones free, IWRG ruleta de la muerte

other content

I did a video talking about the big stories of 2022 in lucha libre

I still don’t know if I’m streaming new AAA on Saturday.

At some point I may have to make a MOTYC list.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 12/19/2022 Arena Puebla [El Sol del Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Siki Ozama Jr. b Black Tiger & Espíritu Maligno
2) Fuego, Halcón Suriano Jr., Príncipe Odín Jr. b El Perverso, Millenium, Prayer
Odin and Millenium feuded going into their 01/01 mask match. Odin got the win.
3) Princesa Sugehit © b Marcela [CMLL WOMEN]
6th defense. Stephania Vaquer scheduled as challenger announced off the show a few hours earlier due to health. Marcela replaced.
4) Hijo de Octagón, Stigma, Valiente b Cavernario, Templario, Yota Facebook video (posted by )
5) Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr. DQ Místico & Último Guerrero [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by ) Facebook video (posted by )
Volador faked a foul. Challenges followed.

The first 8 pm start time show drew very well. There are other factors (cheap tickets for kids all month long, increased promotion for this show because of the time change), but the first result was a positive sign. It also drew well despite a Puebla state order Monday morning requiring everyone attending the show to resume wearing face masks. These policies have long seemed to be only enforced upon entering the building; it’s hard to tell anything was different just by looking at photos. I think you’re better off wearing a face mask whenever you go to large public gatherings this winter but that seems a minority view.

Vaquer was still promoting a meet and greet on Friday after missing this show, so whatever kept her off doesn’t appear to be COVID or something else that’ll keep her sidelined for a while.

CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Kaligua b Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES CON STREAMING GRATUITO EN LA ARENA MEXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
2) Astral, El Suicida, Eléctrico b Disturbio, Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES CON STREAMING GRATUITO EN LA ARENA MEXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Halcón Suriano Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES CON STREAMING GRATUITO EN LA ARENA MEXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
Both Polvora (took a Bala tope) and Suriano (hurt leg on moonsault?) left the match with medical help
4) Esfinge & Fugaz © b Cancerbero & Virus [MEX TAGCONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES CON STREAMING GRATUITO EN LA ARENA MEXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)
4th defense
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Titán b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto CONSEJO MUNDIAL DE LUCHA LIBRE PRESENTA FUNCION DE MARTES CON STREAMING GRATUITO EN LA ARENA MEXICO (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL)

This streamed on YouTube with no major problems. The tag title match was fine; they didn’t really go for anything bit but also Fugaz didn’t have as terrible a day as he did last tag title defense. Otherwise, just an average Tuesday show.

CMLL’s YouTube Tuesday stream seems a bit to market attending Arena Mexico shows to casual fans. They had a minor league baseball-like filter on between matches, encouraging people to put on mask to get on screen. They also showcased some of the stands and atmosphere outside of Arena Mexico in a pre-show video. That’s good and helpful content to have. I think they’re still missing portion of the audience by being only thinking of ticket sales. The end of the show could use more information/encouragement for their Ticketmaster Live offerings, for the many people who might want to pay for more but aren’t close enough to do go in person.

CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara]
1) Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano b Black Boy, Estrella Oriental Jr., Mortis Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial )
Team Maximus (all from Ocotlan) got the win.
2) Cris Skin, Destructor, Javier Cruz Jr. b Luminoso, Minotauro, Tigre Blanco Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Tigre Blanco replaced Quka, Destructor replaced Gallero (moved up)
3) Lluvia, Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol b La Magnifica, Nexy, Sol (Jalisco), Valkyira Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Lluvia replaced Luna on Tuesday morning (debut?)
4) Draego, Gallero, Optimus, Trono b Barboza, Persa, Temerario, Vaquero Fantasma Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Vaquero Fantasma replaced JKR. Gallero replaced Angel Rebelde Jr. (moved up) Announcers mentioned the fourth Nuevos Coliseno/Queretaro luchador Halcon Negro Jr. is out due to health issues.
5) Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel b Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Cavernario used the ropes to win. Challenges followed.
6) JKR, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr. b Ángel Rebelde, Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa Transmisión en vivo de Arena Coliseo, MARTES DE GLAMOUR 20 DICIEMBRE 2022 (posted by Martes de Glamour Oficial)
Rey Bucanero replaced Gran Guerrero on Tuesday morning. JKR and Angel Rebelde added to the match for unclear reasons.

Two CMLL shows streaming on YouTube at the same time was something. the changes here were weird. They added more people to the show at the last second, not like big names, just local guys.

Silueta recently appeared with the local wrestlers and with no visible knee brace. Maybe she’ll be back soon.

CMLL Informa has the Octagons (Christmas show), Raider & Panterita (Gran Alternativa finalists) and Zandokan, Difunto and Millenium (non-CDMX Sin Salida participants). Octagon was pushing the idea of himself versus Fuerza Guerrera as the CMLL 90th Aniversario main event. That probably can’t be all of it, and it would take one of those two men being actual willing to lose, but it’s not out of the question.

Neon believes the cage match structure helps him. He believes that if he and Apocalipsis had a singles mask match instead, Apocalipsis’ great experience advantage would make him the odds on favorite. He still wants to face his rival at the end of the cage match.

Oro Jr. says he wants revenge on Nitro and Zandokan in the cage match and would like to go to the final with either of them. However, if they escape, he is getting right out of that cage and not risking his mask against anyone else.

Halcon Suriano Jr. feels like just facing the big names of CMLL in the Gran Alternativa was a victory for him.

AAA

Kids now get in free to next week’s Noche de Campeones show in Acapulco. 1 free kid per 1 paying adult, and those free tickets can only be acquired starting Friday. The current ticket sold situation is about what you’d expect for that news: they’ve cut down the areas where they’re selling tickets, and there are a lot of unsold tickets even in the open areas.

AAA announced a 01/21 taping in Queretaro and said it’ll be the first taping of the year. An AAA taping announcement lately means tickets have already gone on sale; they run from 255 to 1155 for this event. Of note, Hijo del Vikingo and Sam Adonis are scheduled to wrestle in South Bend for Warrior Wrestling on the same day of this taping.

Lineups for both Rey de Reyes and Queretaro started floating around Whatsapp and Facebook Tuesday. The local promoter called the lineup “completely fake.” AAA has said the same. The graphics contain spelling errors, poorly photoshopped images, and it just generally doesn’t seem reasonable that AAA has a definitive card for February at this point.

IWRG

IWRG says they’re taking Thursday off. They’re back Sunday:

IWRG (SUN) 12/25/2022 Arena Naucalpan
1) Jhon Tito & Rey Minos vs Baby Star & Kenji
2) Cerebro Negro vs Hell Boy
3) Jessy Ventura © vs Tonalli [IWRG IC WELTER]
4th defense
4) Cerebro Negro Jr., Diva Salvaje, Hijo de Pandemónium, Oficial 911, Rey León vs Keyra, Pandemónium Jr., Paymon, Puma de Oro, Spider Fly and Black Fury, Gran Pandemónium, Mamba, Oficial AK47, Vaquero Fantasma and Hijo De Canis Lupis, Hijo del Alebrije, Lolita, Rocky Casas, Yorvak [ruleta de la muerte]

I’ve got the 20-person main event listed as teams, but it’s not really teams in the conventional sense. Maybe closer to pools or groups. One person from each of the four pool will start in the ring, anyone getting a pin or submission escapes the match, and someone else from their pool takes over their spot. The last person left in the match loses their hair or mask. The Oficials and Rocky Casas seem like suspects. Black Fury is a masked woman who doesn’t appear here often. I’m not sure if there are three Vaquero Fantasmas running around (California, Guadalajara, this one) or just one guy who is on a Rey Leon-like traveling schedule.

Tonalli, after having his last ever match in IWRG on last Friday, is back on Sunday. Mexican wrestling.

If you want even more Naucalpan apuesta matches, they’re also running a cage match on 01/01. It is a Mas Lucha premium show.

Other News

Mascara Dorada & Lince Dorado are on NJPW Strong’s airing this week.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Box y Lucha 3532 has Panterita del Ring Jr. & Raider on the cover.

Panterita Jr. & Raider to Gran Alternativa final, Vikingo’s first US indie weekend, AAA in Ciudad Madero

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México [CMLL, ContraReplicaKaiser SportsR de RudoThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores (videos), thecubsfan]
1) Hombre Bala Jr. b Disturbio [lightningEn match relámpago que casi llega al límite de 10 minutos, Hombre Bala Jr. se impone ante Disturbio (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Magnus, Okumura, Rugido CMLL - ESPÍRITU NEGRO - REY COMETA - DULCE GARDENIA VS MAGNUS- RUGIDO- OKUMURA/ARENA MEXICO/16-12-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Con una ‘coqueta’ sobre Okumura, los Dulces Atrapasueños derrotan a Magnus, Rugido y Okumura (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
3) Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota
Hijo del Villano III Jr. replaced Niebla Roja (knee injury?)
4) Raider & Valiente Jr. b Arkalis, Cachorro, El Suicida, Halcón Suriano Jr., Neón, Panterita del Ring Jr. [Gran Alternativa, battle royal]
5) El Suicida & Titán b Blue Panther & Cachorro [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
6) Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. b Arkalis & Atlantis [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
7) Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. b Neón & Stuka Jr. [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
8) Valiente & Valiente Jr. b Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
9) Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. b El Suicida & Titán [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
10) Gran Guerrero & Raider b Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. [Gran Alternativa, semifinalCMLL - LA GRAN ALTERNATIVA / ARENA MEXICO / 16-12-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) Eliminatoria La Gran Alternativa Raider y Gran Guerrero enfrentarán a Volador Jr. y P. del Ring Jr. (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)

Panterita is not going to Saltillo after all; he and Raider will have their big match next week instead. Both have to be hoping for a better day next week. Panterita nearly suffered a severe knee injury on a springboard dive, and Raider seemed off on various moves. They’ve been great against each other in trios matches this year and a great final will wipe out the memory of the underwhelming lead up. They’re still capable of pulling it off.

Templario still had a shoulder taped, though he seemed otherwise fine. Cavernario seemed to be carrying a little less weight than we last saw him. Both they and the announcers played the idea of the teaming, but that seemed like just making up an idea for the day rather than a plan.

CMLL (SAT) 12/17/2022 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha]
1) Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Mercurio, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia Facebook video (posted by )
Tecnicos took 2/3
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr., Retro DQ Apocalipsis, Nitro, Zandokan Jr. Facebook video (posted by )
Straight falls. Oro & Retro unmasked Nitro & Zandokan for the DQ.
3) Panterita del Ring Jr. © b Inquisidor [MEX LIGHTFacebook video (posted by )
2nd defense, rematch from July. Panterita won with a standing shooting star press (after slipping going for a rope walking one)
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma Facebook video (posted by )
Malditos took 1/3
5) Negro Casas, Titán, Volador Jr. b Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto Facebook video (posted by )
Both Euforia (ankle?) and Negro Casas left the match with injuries.

Euforia walked off with help from medics. No idea on Negro Casas.

Panterita’s not great weekend continued here. He went for a walking the ropes shooting star press for the finish, and he slipped on the walking the ropes part. (Better than slipping on the shooting star press part.) I’ve been arguing here that Panterita is every bit as good as Komander but just not seen as much because spots from GCW shows go viral and spots from CMLL rarely do. The underlining reasons why Panterita might be better than Komander still exist, but it sure is a lot harder to prove it after this weekend.

CMLL (SUN) 12/18/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser SportsR de Rudo]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Cholo, Halcón Suriano Jr., Leono b Inquisidor, Robin, Sangre Imperial [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Suriano took 1/3
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
Tecnicas took 1/3
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Volcano b Felino, Felino Jr., Kráneo
Tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Titán b Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto
Tecnicos took 2/3.

Nothing too notable here. Same with the Sunday Arena Coliseo Guadalajara show, a free show for police and their families. They’ve used Satanico and other bigger names on these types of shows this year, but it was just midcarders and trainees who don’t make the Tuesday shows.

Today’s Puebla show is the first at the 8 pm start time. Princesa Sugehit defends the CMLL Women’s Championship against Stephanie Vaquer in the one notable match. Vaquer is great but a title change would be a shock. Mistico & Ultimo Guerrero face Voaldor & Averno in the maine vent.

CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Kaligua vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, El Suicida, Eléctrico vs Disturbio, Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Halcón Suriano Jr., Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Esfinge & Fugaz © vs Cancerbero & Virus [MEX TAG]
4th defense
5) Místico, Negro Casas, Titán vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

This is the first free streaming show on Tuesday. Everyone figures to be very excited until they realize they’re watching the Dr. Karontes. Main event could be fun though. It’s actually really smart to put Titan on the first free worldwide streaming show after his NJPW appearance, though I’d be stunned if CMLL did that on purpose.

CMLL (FRI) 12/23/2022 Arena México
1) Pequeño Magía vs Full Metal [lightning]
2) Oro Jr. vs NeónBengalaRetroValiente Jr.Milenium (Puebla)Zandokan Jr.ApocalipsisDifuntoNitroInquisidorPríncipe Odín Jr. [cibernetico]
3) Dalys, Faby, Princesa Sugehit vs Marcela, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Místico, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Averno, Templario, Yota
5) Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa, final]

This is a strong Friday show. The main event has a very high ceiling. Semimain look good and I’m not sure why I’m listing Templario as a tecnico. Faby returns in the tercera, which appears to be a setup to the teased singles match with Marcela. Second match is all the people in the cage match. Opener is a couple of young guys getting a shot. This looks good.

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 12/17/2022 Domo Madero, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas [@TampicososTV, BWT Banana, Lucha Libre Ciudad Victoria, Lucha Libre TM]
1) Dark Spíritu, Hijo del Picudo, Nygma b Disturbio, Gallo Dorado, Mafioso
Dark match
2) Demus, La Hiedra, Maravilla b Loco Castillo, Pekador, Reina Dorada
3) SB KENTo & Takuma b Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa
Crazy Boy got involved
4) Arez & Myzteziz Jr. b Argenis & Parka Negra
Argenis & Myzteziz feuded as always.
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © b Aramis, Octagón Jr., Willie Mack [AAA TRIOS]
2nd defense. Villano III attacked Octagon Jr. as always.
6) Aerostar & Sexy Star b Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer [AAA MIXED TAG, #1 Contenders]
Aerostar & Sexy Star were moved up to replace Sammy & Tay (visa issues). Listed as both for the titles and not for the titles originally, ended up a #1 contender match. Flammer now #1 contender for two different titles without any indication those matches are happening any time soon. Parka Negra attacked Aerostar as always.
7) Gringo Loco & Villano III Jr. b Dave The Clown & Murder Clown
8) Komander, Pagano, Taurus b Cibernético, Dralistico, Rush
Originally Fenix vs Komander vs Taurus for the Latin American championship. Fenix announced (locally) as being off the show late on 12/14, with the new trios main event in it’s place. First Rush match in AAA since the onset of the pandemic. Rush announced Dralistico was part of LFI earlier in the show. Both teams fell apart and Komander won somehow.

It’s AAA taping that’s not a big show, so nothing on the show that happens matters and I might as well start with the stuff that wasn’t on the show. AAA TV ran the same Sammy and Tay skit taped at AEW for the last three weeks. Sammy complains about people on the internet complaining about them not defending the mixed tag titles. The couple starts to suggest various dates they could come to AAA, only to ‘remember’ they have celebrity commitments for those days instead. We’re not supposed to believe their excuses and they’re intended to come across as vain and annoying, but there’s also no date or match promoted. The bit ends with them deciding that maybe they can come on December 17th, then declaring maybe they won’t. It turns out they were correct to be uncertain. Tay Melo took to Twitter to announce she and Sammy wouldn’t be in Ciudad Madero due to a visa issue. She wrote she believed everything would be fine for the 12/28 show. The tweet came off as if AAA had asked her to make a statement before the show started, not that something both sides had just found out, but I dunno.

At least Tay gave a reason for her and Sammy not showing up. AAA never gave a reason for Fenix not being there. Vampiro was also advertised and didn’t show up in photos. I think he was in Guadalajara based on Facebook status but I’m not 100 clear.

There are not a lot of notes about the quality of the matches; the Dragon Gate/Iguana/Hamburguesa was said to be good. Everyone was confused by the main event. Lady Flammer being #1 contender for two different titles with no apparent plans to do actually run those matches is delightful AAA madness.

The turnout for this show looked terrible. I saw one estimate of 50%, but it looked less than that in (early) photos. This is the third time AAA’s run this venue this year, which is unusual for AAA and didn’t seem to work out. The elevation of the multiple TripleManias does make everything else feel diminished, especially when the promotion is not hot. AAA has a lot of great wrestlers but doesn’t feel hot. LFI also doesn’t seem particularly hot; Rush coming back after two years didn’t move a lot of tickets.

AAA’s next taping is 12/28 in Acapulco, which airs live on FITE in both English and Spanish.

On this week’s AAA on Space TV, Arez, Bandido, Octagon Jr. versus Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, and Villano III Jr. was fun. Live reports had it as the best match on the taping and it came through that way on TV as well. Las Toxicas was the same match they’ve had all year. AAA aired Toxin vs Drago Kid from Zapopan rather than the local match; it was a bit long to make up the time. AAA aired a bits to build up Bandido/Vikingo and the three way for the Blue Demon match (even showing they had the built already.) It wasn’t anything special but it was doing what the normal things and even that shouldn’t be taken for granted with AAA.

Still waiting to find out if there’s a new episode next week.

Hijo del Vikingo debuted in GCW on Friday night against Blake Christian. It could’ve gone better. It was a short match, sandwiched on one side by a show going long and on the other side by one of the participants needing to be on a late night flight to make their next show. It was without a bottom rope due to it breaking earlier. It was the last match on the show after the fans had seen a lot, and had seen what was their real main event. (People left before the Vikingo match.) The match would’ve been earlier, and possibly better, if not for AAA’s prohibition from streaming the match. It’s even easier to see the match than if it had been on a stream – it’s just up for free on YouTube. It was also not both guy’s best performances, even beyond the circumstances they were in,

The Komander, ASF, Arez vs Gringo Loco, Toxin, Latigo match from Saturday’s GCW show is worth tracking down. Everyone looked great and Komander looked like the best flyer in the world. GCW announced Hijo del Vikingo versus Gringo Loco, so they’ll get to doing the singles match quicker than AAA. While I’m on GCW stuff, Los Macizos successfully defended the GCW Tag Team Championship against Joe Lider & Damian 666 and Lunatik Fly & Masada in Arena Lopez Mateos on Saturday.

Hijo del Vikingo’s match with Nick Wayne in DEFY on Saturday was said to have gone much better, with a long standing ovation after the match. Blake Christian wrestles in GCW a lot, but Nick Wayne is one of DEFY’s core guys, and I’m sure that helped the crowd feel like the match was more a part of the show. There are clips here and here. I haven’t seen the full match, though it looks like Defy was filming it. I was a little bit skeptical about Vikingo/Wayne going in and it looks like I was wrong to feel that way.

Denise Salcedo has an interview with Hijo del Vikingo (with English subtitles.) The #8 in PWI thing comes up again, and Vikingo says that Laredo Kid told him that now that he’s in the US, he can go for #1. Vikingo, when asked about Omega, said that if Omega doesn’t come to AAA for him, maybe he’ll go to Omega’s house to face him there. That’s the right thing to say to tease the match without promising anything. He also teases a hair/hair match with Gringo Loco, which is probably intended to happen in AAA at some point in 2023.

Night 1 of the AAA no-streaming Vikingo rule was a failure. People saw the match anyway and the rules forced AAA to put Vikingo in a harder position to succeed. Komander figuratively (and possibly literally) reaching new heights on the same show in large part because his match was streamed was the perfect example of why AAA’s Vikingo policy is so misguided. The start of the plan has been a success only if AAA’s goal was to make Komander a bigger star than Vikingo in the US. AAA would immediately drop their streaming policy for the next Vikingo appearance in the US if they took an honest look at the results of their decisions, and I’m left wondering what else is going in their heads if they don’t see the same things.

IWRG

IWRG (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, thecubsfan]
***60th Anniversary show***
1) Hijo del Alebrije b LegendarioRey Halcón Jr.Oficial AK47Bestia RubiaBombero InfernalSúper YensCerebro Negro Jr.Jhon TitoAvismanRelámpagoMega [Copa IWRG] MEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
All surprise names. Announced as a 10 person match. Results says 13 people participated but I can only spot 12 people. Hijo del Alebrije defeated Cerebro Negro Jr. for the win.
2) Diosa Quetzal b Keyra [IWRG IC WOMEN, finalMEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Quetzal is the 3rd champion (and first since 2007)
3) Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly ?? Abismo Negro Jr., Baby Xtreme, Hell Boy MEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Stream died during the match, came back after both teams were celebrating.
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © b Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Paymon [EdM TriosMEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
La Pandemia fall on their 8th defense
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Rey León © b Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [IWRG IC TAGMEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
first defense
6) Blue Demon Jr., Heavy Metal, Tinieblas Jr. DQ Dr. Wagner Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan MEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Dr. Wagner fouled both Blue Demon and the referee.
7) Puma de Oro L TonalliAster Boy [maskMEMBRESÍA | LIVE (posted by mluchatv)
Tonalli beat Puma de Oro for his mask. Puma de Oro is Sergio David Hernandez Lopez, 20 years of wrestling, 15 years in Arena Naucalpan, 10 years a wrestler.

The main event was the best possible match given the people involved. There were the usual IWRG tropes and a bit of overindulgence, but they made a lot of stuff count near the end of the match, and had a lot of emotion in the final few minutes. I thought Caballero del Plata/Hell Boy was going to be the IWRG viral match of the year, and I think this three way match would be it instead if it wasn’t behind the paywall. It’s worth your $8 to check it out.

They really did announce Puma de Oro as a 20-year-old who had been wrestling for 15 years. Jose Manuel Guillen further explained it on commentary: Puma de Oro started training (or more likely tumbling) at 5, and started actually wrestling at 10.

Keeping in the theme of the match (all young wrestlers who’d come up through schools recently), Ultimo Guerrero was there to second Tonalli. Guerrero has not previously appeared on other IWRG shows with his trainees, and this (quietly) meant AAA and CMLL wrestlers were on the same show. The on-screen story about this match being Tonalli’s final one before going to CMLL was said to be true backstage. It’s strange that the mask win went to someone who wasn’t sticking around, but that fits with IWRG trying to sell itself as a great place to get started in wrestling.

A strap on Diosa Quetzal’s top broke just moments into the match, which led to about two minutes of her trying to keep herself covered while also a wrestling match was going on. She eventually did a plancha to the floor, and someone very usefully handed her an IWRG jersey to put on.

This show was scheduled to start before CMLL’s show and actually ended nearly three hours after the CMLL one. The subscriber file is over 6 hours long, and that’s even with the stream going down during the Aramis trios match (and unknown minutes of that match missing.) It’s a testament to both the fans and the wrestlers that they were still very much into the mask match because it was an insanely long time to be sitting there. The show was listed as a 7:45 pm start and started closer to 8:20, and even then it started with a musical tribute followed by an overall long battle royal. I haven’t gone back to watch because it’s just too daunting. Even the announcers were complaining about the pace.

I don’t know who won the Aramis trios match. The stream came died in (presumably) the later stages of the match, and didn’t return until both teams were shaking hands and collecting money, then it died again for a bit. Mas Lucha said it was a power issue and that they would put up the match later in full. It still wasn’t up as of Monday afternoon. Both Mas Lucha and IWRG were inconsistent about posting results from the show – maybe that also was a power issue? – so the outcome remains a mystery. Or a mystery that I could solve by scouring Facebook and Instagram for more highlights but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Having to look through a royal rumble match multiple times just to figure out who was actually into it is insane as it is.

There may be some of you who follow Japanese wrestling, where promotions generally put up a quick “this guy beat this guy” website post for every show they run, something that could be looked at instantly. Never take that for granted.

IWRG (SUN) 12/18/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Carnicero, Osogbo, Skanda b Cosmic, Güero Tijuana, Último Caballero
2) Legado, Rey Minos, Rosel b Milagro, Rey Eclipse, Taurino
3) Súper Cometa, Villarreal, Yetti b Águila Oriental, Balak, Nubilius
4) Hell Boy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Kenji, Rey Halcón, Vaquero Fantasma
Hell Boy replaced Relampago
5) Charly Madrid, Furia Roja, Lasser Jr., Luzbel Jr., Troyano vs Águila Roja, Ajolot, John Tito, Rey Aztaroth, Súper Boy and Cometa Boy, Lince Xtreme, Makro, Pequeño Joker, Tiger Fly and Bizhota, Futuro, Karma II, Skayler, Visionario
Jhon Tito (FILL) fouled Pequeno Joker (Puebla) to help Troyano (UG) win in a match also including Mi Sagrada Lucha Libre (Futuro)

IWRG announced this trainee show on Saturday and it didn’t stream. These have turned up on a delay of late, so maybe it’ll be the same.

IWRG posted a half hour special on the history of the promotion that I probably should watch at some point, it looks good.

Other Notes

Nacion Lucha Libre aired a repeat Saturday night. (It also again started 10 minutes early.) There’s no next show announced, and their social media has stopped updating. Maybe they find some more unaired matches and send a new tape in next week, but it sure looks like they’re done again.

Mascara Dorada popped up on AEW’s Dark tapings this weekend. He continues to get work there, though I still think it’s something being done through NJPW and not a separate deal.

The current Camuflaje is leaving both DTU and that gimmick behind. DTU thanked him for his effort and talked about all the great people he got to wrestle. It reads like this current Camuflaje was training DTU’s students and someone else will be taking over both that and the gimmick, while he’ll keep wrestling under a new identity. Blaze also quietly left the promotion in the last couple of months. All people exiting DTU seem to end up in Lucha Libre Vanguardia eventually.

El Sol de Hidalgo has an interview with Super Crazy Jr., Super Crazy’s 14 year old daughter Ashley. She’s obviously young but I didn’t realize that young.

Segunda Caida posts a new 1987 EMLL match

CMLL Gran Alternativa tonight, IWRG three way mask match tonight, Rush returns to AAA tomorrow in Madero, CMLL best of shows

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México
1) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario
4) Arkalis & Atlantis vs Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. and El Suicida & Titán and Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Blue Panther & Cachorro and Neón & Stuka Jr. and Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa]

This is a battle royal, four quarterfinals and two semifinals, with the last two meeting next week.

Panterita del Ring Jr. looks like the winner on paper. Panterita del Ring may not be the winner and may not be advancing even to the final. The Panteritas, father & son, are among those booked for a show in Saltillo next Friday. Lineups can change, but it looks likely the best prospect CMLL has will not be in Mexico City for the finals of the best prospect tournament. Raider (& Gran Guerrero) and Suicida (& Titan) seems the most likely final now. That match should be very good and both guys would be logical winners if Panterita didn’t exist. Suicida/Titan going from opponents on the Noche de Campeones show to partners as winners in the Gran Alternativa would be a good story. I haven’t seen Cachorro on that level but I would have no objections to Blue Panther in a big match next week.

The tercera could be great if they want it to be great. And if everyone is healthy. Niebla Roja is still listed, so his knee injury on Saturday.

The Tuesday Arena Mexico shows will return to CMLL’s own digital media channels starting this week. The shows will be live, free and available worldwide on both YouTube and Facebook. CMLL had one-off live streams the last two years, and this is a return to a weekly free live wrestling show.

Tuesday shows have been airing on MarcaClaro, with CMLL getting a small rights fee in exchange. MarcaClaro streamed the Friday shows. I suspect this is more likely MarcaClaro getting out of this business (for the time being.)  MarcaClaro’s transmissions had far more frequent issues than CMLL self-produced streams, and were limited to Mexico only; they wouldn’t be missed if they were gone. It is possible, but less likely, this is MarcaClaro going back to Friday shows and replacing TicketmasterLive there. That has it’s advantages and disadvantages, none of which are worth worrying about unless it actually happens. All December Friday night CMLL shows remain listed on TicketmasterLive.

I’ve been using a VPN and proxy servers to download these shows and put them on the Google Drive, and that process has been annoying and lengthy. I’m very glad not to have to deal with that any more. I may continue to archive any important matches on the Google Drive like I’ve done for pre-2020 years in case CMLL’s YouTube channel ever disappear, but not the whole shows. There’s no point.

CMLL announced their lineups for Christmas Day and the two Best of 2022 shows. (The 01/01 lineup has not been fully announced yet.)

CMLL (SUN) 12/25/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pierrothito
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Yota
4) Atlantis, Hijo de Octagón, Octagón vs Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Templario
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

Christmas Day is sometimes a free stream. It’s OK if they don’t stream it this year. The main event could be fun but I rather spend Christmas Day sad and alone than watching an Octagon match.

The problems with the Micro division are they don’t have many wrestlers, and their top face act are rudos Micro Gemelos Diablos. CMLL has addressed this problem by adding a heel to team with them, which is likely to be usual partner Micro Angel getting a new gimmick.

CMLL (MON) 12/19/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Siki Ozama Jr. vs Black Tiger & Espíritu Maligno
2) Fuego, Halcón Suriano Jr., Príncipe Odín Jr. vs El Perverso, Millenium, Prayer
3) Princesa Sugehit © vs Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]
6th defense
4) Hijo de Octagón, Stigma, Valiente vs Cavernario, Templario, Yota
5) Místico & Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

This is the first eight PM start time show. They’re also doing a bit where fans who buy tickets in the first few rows can come in the ring and take a photo with the wrestlers in the main event after the match. Those decisions in pairs feel like attendance-driven moves. CMLL Arena Mexico doing less rivaliest to be more friendly to tourist/super casual fans works for them, but is a bit of a problem for locations that are mostly regular weekly fans. Guadalajara’s gone with a different formula to work there and Puebla may eventually need to do the same. There definitely is something local going on with Hijo de Octagon showing up here and only here consistently.

CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Black Boy, Estrella Oriental Jr., Mortis
2) Luminoso, Minotauro, Quka vs Cris Skin, Gallero, Javier Cruz Jr.
3) Ángel Rebelde, Draego, Optimus, Trono vs Barboza, JKR, Persa, Temerario
4) Luna, Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs La Magnifica, Nexy, Sol (Jalisco), Valkyira
5) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr.

There are so many people booked. Guadalajara isn’t drawing that much better than the Tuesday/Sunday CMLL shows and they’re booking more people. It leads to certain assumptions about the rate of pay for some of these guys.

The main event is an unusual combination for regular CDMX people, Dulce Atrapsuenos usually don’t get up to the Guerreros level. Semi-main is all four Cavernario brothers.

I’m sure the woman named “Sol” had that name before she got booked in Guadalajara. In any other country, the promoters would either ask Sol to use a slightly different name to prevent confusion or (more often) dictate the name she’ll use when working for this group. That just doesn’t seem to happen in Mexico outside of the biggest groups, which apparently Arena Coliseo Guadalajara isn’t one. I’ve got her listed as Sol (Jalisco) as to not confuse her with Sexy Sol and also the Mexico City male wrestler named Sol, but I’m not even sure she’s from Jalisco. Princesa Tiger appears to be a Michoacan based wrestler.

Guadalajara also has a free show this Sunday with no lineup. Those have streamed on Facebook as of late.

CMLL (FRI) 01/06/2023 Arena México
1) Mercurio vs Angelito
rematch from 2022-05-27 (minis title match)
2) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
rematch from 2022-11-25
3) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Titán
rematch from 2022-01-23 (CMLL tag title change); Maya replacing Volador Jr.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
rematch from 2022-09-30 (then a trios title match)
5) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
rematch from 2022-07-29 (Leyenda de Plata final)

Soberano/Templario is worth redoing and feels like it belongs on a best of show. The rest are really good matches but not as notable. The trios title match had the one good Gemelo Diablo spot, though it’s strange that the match of September 2022 is that one and not either of the two mask matches.

CMLL (FRI) 01/13/2023 Arena México
1) Esfinge & Fugaz vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
rematch from 2022-10-28 (then for MEX TAG)
2) Dulce Gardenia vs Virus
rematch from 2022-02-12 (Arena Coliseo)
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
rematch from 2022-04-19
4) Hechicero vs Euforia
rematch from 2022-08-19 (then for CMLL HEAVY)
5) Averno & Místico vs Rocky Romero & Volador Jr.
rematch from 2022-03-18 (Rocky Romero replacing TJP)

This is a good time to go over the process for these shows

  1. matches occur!
  2. CMLL picked about a half dozen matches per month for a vote on their website
  3. fans vote for their favorites
  4. CMLL picks some of those winners for these shows

Fugaz & Esfinge vs Rugido & Magia Blanca was not a good match – Fugaz had a bad night – but those wrestlers have enough of a fan base to get lots of votes in a poll. I don’t recall match 3 at all, but Ola Negra has support that always shows up so it’s not a surprise they’re represented somewhere in here. The Gardenia/Virus match only turned up as highlights, so it’s just the people in the building who know it if was good. The main event too neatly fits into the Volador/Romero story for me to believe that was totally a fan-decided match.

No sign of the Atlantis family or the Guerreros. That’s not too surprising, considering fan voting was involved and the Guerreros do not have strong social media fanbases. No women’s matches as well is shocking given that fan voting setup, where the women always do very well. Also, it just looks bad not to have a women’s match on Best of shows. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more vocal unhappiness about that, from both the fans and the wrestlers. It could easily be that no one’s just paying attention to these lineups yet. Alfredo theorized that maybe CMLL is waiting until FantasticaMania week to do something with the women, since they’re not going on that trip, and that’s as good as guess any.

No matches from June or December were selected. December is impossible to make it the way the polling is done. June could’ve been Euforia versus Terrible or Titan vs Fugaz. It might have also been Los Guerreros vs Los Soberanos, a match that doesn’t seem possible to happen now with whatever’s going on with Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero.

There are no Mexican luchadors announced for NJPW’s 01/04 Tokyo Dome show. This is a battle royal with all surprise participants, so it’s possible Titan or someone could pop up as a surprise. NJPW also announced loosening crowd noise restrictions. It’s not completely back to pre-pandemic and it’s only announced for that show. It’s a a good sign there will be similar cheering freedom on the FantasicaMania shows in February, at least the ones in Korakuen Hall.

El Universal has an interview with Bengala about the cage match. Bengala acknowledges he had a previous name and identity – he’s believed to be the former Sombra de Plata – and talks about how older guys looked down at him, thinking wrestlers under 90 kg weren’t any good and could only fly. Now he’s the old guy who does the “classic” style wrestling and sees guys flying too much. He cites Mogur as a tough opponent: “he hit you so hard in your chest that your back hurt, you had to get in the ring to defend yourself against him, or quit.” He credits Damian (666?) as teaching him various dramatic exists (salidas) from the ring that helped his style.

A person in Matamoros is passing themselves off as a former Mistico.

AAA

This week’s AAA TV on Space

  • Güero Bandido, Monaguillo, Samuray VIP vs Johan Kind, Ráfaga Jr., Serpiente Blanco Jr (locals)
  • Reina Dorada, Sexy Star, Sussy Love vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
  • Arez, Bandido, Octagón Jr. vs Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, Villano III Jr.
    • maybe some build for Bandido vs Viking too

It’s on at 6:30 pm. I may be able to stream it at the correct time.

Below is the current card for Saturday’s taping in Ciudad Madero.

AAA TV (SAT) 12/17/2022 Domo Madero, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas [BWT Banana]
1) Dark Spíritu, Electroshock, Hijo del Picudo, Nygma vs ?, Avorto, Chaneke, Loco Castillo
2) Aerostar, Reina Dorada, Sexy Star vs Demus, La Hiedra, Maravilla
3) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs SB KENTo & Takuma
4) Arez & Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis & Parka Negra
5) Aramis, Octagón Jr., Willie Mack vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © [AAA TRIOS]
2nd defense
6) Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer
7) Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Gringo Loco & Villano III Jr.
Vampiro guest referee
8) Komander, Pagano, Taurus vs Cibernético, Dralistico, Rush
Originally Fenix vs Komander vs Taurus for the Latin American championship. Fenix announced (locally) as being off the show late on 12/14, with the new trios main event in it’s place. First Rush match in AAA since the onset of the pandemic.

The local promoter announced changes on Wednesday night, AAA updated their poster on Thursday.

Fenix & Penta have been announced as appearing at the Republic of Lucha on this day since at least November 28th, a week after the original card was announced. This is a late announcement both sides must’ve been aware of the date conflict for a while. It seems unlikely Fenix would’ve wanted to do an intense match for AAA when he’s in the middle of a demanding series of matches in AEW.

It’s AAA, so I’m unsure how seriously to take the changes. They could actually run the trios main event match, or it could’ve just been the simplest decision on Wednesday and they’ll wait to Saturday to decide what matches they’re actually going to run. Local fans seem happy with Rush as a replacement, though going from Komander vs Taurus vs Fenix to that announced main event is a significant downgrade in quality. Dralistico wasn’t good in his match in ROH last weekend, and it’d take a big Taurus effort to fix that here. Taurus doesn’t make sense on his side of the tag match but there’s no obvious place to put him. Vampiro is still listed as being the referee in the semi-main, but that seems like it’ll change. It’s an AAA card, they’ll wait to see who’s actually there and change half the card.

Still not sure if the Sammy/Tay match is meant to be a mixed-tag title defense. Doesn’t seem likely to change hands either way. I feel like I should ask on Twitter if they’re actually coming, but that may be too much trouble-making out of me.

This is the next AAA TV taping to air. I’m not sure if that means it airs starting next Saturday or if AAA/Space will go into repeat mode for the next two holiday Saturdays.

Dorian Roldan appears to be in (or was in) Qatar watching the World Cup and meeting with a local promoter.

Warrior Wrestling announced the winner of Saturday’s Johnny Warrior versus Sam Adonis match will face Hijo del Vikingo on 01/21 for both the AAA Megachampionship and the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship.

IWRG

The 60th Anniversary show

IWRG (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan
***60th Anniversary show***
1) 1 vs 2345678910 [Copa IWRG]
all surprise names
2) Keyra vs Diosa Quetzal [IWRG IC WOMEN, final]
3) Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Abismo Negro Jr., Baby Xtreme, Hell Boy
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © vs ?, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura [EdM Trios]
8th defense
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Rey León © vs Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense
6) Blue Demon Jr., Heavy Metal, Tinieblas Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan
7) Tonalli vs Puma de Oro vs Aster Boy [mask]

This is a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show. It’s the 60th anniversary of the Moreno family promoting lucha libre shows in Mexico State, starting with Adolfo Moreno. The first home for the promotion was a rented rooster fighting arena, and tonight’s main event will likely be only slightly less bloody.

They’re going to try really hard to make the main event special. I think it’s just their ideas of what makes a special match just differs from what I’m looking for. I’ll probably watch anyway; IWRG will start before CMLL but stands a good chance of ending after. They’re pushing the idea Tonalli is done with IWRG after this show, even doing an interview with him and Ultimo Guerrero to continue to tease he’s headed to CMLL.

The third match looks like the next batch match on the show. The hope is this is a hot and packed crowd, and everything feels big.

The ESTO IWRG interview to promote this show quotes Ivanna Moreno, which indicates it’s age.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha gave out their 2022 awards Thursday night, with actual plaques and a ceremony. And vertically filmed video. These were all decided by Facebook voting via emoji.

  • Faction: Black Generation
  • Entrance: Bandido
  • Luchadora: Sussy Love
  • Luchador Revelacion: Dito
  • Luchador International: Yutani
  • Team: Los Gorilla Brothers
  • Rudo: Flamita
  • Moment of the year: Bandido becoming first Big Lucha champion
  • Referee: El Mosco
  • Tecnico: Gravity
  • Luchador: Bandido
  • Surprise: Bandido to AEW
  • Match: Flamita vs Bandido for the Big Lucha championship
  • Show: Big Lucha 1st Anniversary

There were also a bunch of special recognition awards handed out to people who helped through the year.

Other News

LuchaWorld has this latest Lucha Report.

The Cassandro dramatic will premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January. The important thing about this film is it’ll create unity of the correct “2s” spelling of Cassandro’s name should is be a hit, rather than the alternate 1s spelling. Also, it’s probably meant to be getting some award consideration if it’s showing up at Sundance, and award-contending wrestling often affects the local wrestling scene greatly in ways not easily to foresee – I’m not sure anyone guessed Jerry Lynn as ROH champion or Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania as outcomes when that movie was about to debut. The spelling part is slightly more important to me at this moment.

Aeroboy & Violento Jack won a three-way tag match to main event DTU’s 15th Anniversary show in Arena Aficion. The show drew just OK, with the lower half about half full and the upper level empty. SB KENTo and Takuma won the DTU Nexo Tag championships on the show, which should turn up on Mas Lucha.

RIOT announced Blake Christian is off their show on Saturday. AEW is taping Dark in Orlando this weekend; he may have been called there.

PWG announced their first-round BOLA matches. Some relevant matches

  • Latigo vs Komander
  • Aramis vs Shun Skywalker
  • Bandido vs Black Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo

CMLL early week results, Vikingo, Nacion

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 12/12/2022 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Millenium & Retro b Nitro & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Stephanie Vaquer b Princesa Sugehit [lightning]
Vaquer demanded Sugehit make good on her word and give her a title match for winning.
3) Kráneo, Okumura, Yota b Diamond, Magia Blanca, Volcano
4) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
best match of the night
5) Ángel de Oro, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Místico, Stigma, Último Guerrero [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )
Valiente replaced Niebla Roja (injury?). Volador cheated Mistico to win.

This is the last 9 pm show (for now, anyway.) The new 8 pm start time starts next week. Volador and Mistico had issues going back to last week’s US/Mexico match. And for the last decade or so, I suppose.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del RingKaiser SportsMarcaThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores (video)]
1) Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito b Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua 20221213cmll_match1Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) CMLL: Angelito, Fantasy y Kaligua caen ante Pequeño Olímpico, Full Metal y el gran Pierrothito (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
Pierrothito replaced Minos
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela b Hera, Metálica, Olympia 20221213cmll_match2La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Astral, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. 20221213cmll_match3Astral, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr..mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Electrico return from injury. Tecnicos took 2/3
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black 20221213cmll_match4Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Rudos took 2/3, with Cancerbero & Virus challenging Esfinge & Fugaz for the national tag titles
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles20221213cmll_match5Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Valiente in a relevos increíbles match.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive)) Bombarderos Laguneros: Último Guerrero, Stuka y Gran Guerrero vencen a Negro Casas, Valiente y Buca (posted by ) CMLL: Último Guerrero vuelve a hacer la triple (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
rudos took 1/3

The main event pushed the idea of Stuka joining the Guerreros permanently, but it was a relevos increibles so it probably doesn’t mean anything. Cancerbero & Virus should win the tag titles. They probably won’t win the tag titles. Electrico returned after six months from a knee injury.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, thecubsfan]
1) Nexy, Sexy Sol, Valkiria b Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sol (Jalisco) 20221213cmll_match1Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sol (Jalisco) vs Nexy, Sexy Sol, Valkiria.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Sexy Sol and Sol are two different women
2) Crixus, Sagrado, Vegas b Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr. 20221213cmll_match2Crixus, Sagrado, Vegas vs Bestia Negra, Difunto, Zandokan Jr..mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Vegas & Crixus replaced Gemelo Diablos (moved up)
3) Blue Panther & Dark Panther b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. and Flyer & Volador Jr. and Misterioso Jr. & Misterioso Negro [Torneo Heredero, semifinal20221213cmll_match3Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Flyer & Volador Jr. and Blue Panther & Dark Panther and Misterioso Jr. & Misterioso Negro [Torneo Heredero] and in a tournament semifinal match.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
4) Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II and Felino & Felino Jr. and Euforia & Soberano Jr. [Torneo Heredero, semifinal20221213cmll_match4Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II vs Felino & Felino Jr. and Euforia & Soberano Jr. and Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. [Torneo Heredero] and in a tournament semifinal match.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))
Gemelo Diablos replaced Valientes (Valiente Jr. believed to be COVID positive) on Monday
5) Atlantis Jr. b Dark Panther [Torneo Heredero, final20221213cmll_match5Dark Panther vs Atlantis Jr. [Torneo Heredero] and in a tournament final match.mp4 (posted by luchablog vault (Google Drive))

This was the shortest Guadalajara show I can recall. The stream is missing about 10 minutes of entrances and the first fall of the opener, but it still doesn’t seem to be a two hours show. They’re typically closer to two and half hours, and longer than that. I think they assumed the fourways would go long. They did not; the second one may have been five minutes, and the main event wasn’t much longer.

The four ways tags were essentially eight ways with an ally, so everyone had to get pinned. Panterita Jr. beat Volador, which isn’t super meaningful but still a bit surprising.

CMLL (SAT) 12/17/2022 Arena Coliseo
1) Pequeño Magía, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Polvora, Pequeño Violencia
2) Halcón Suriano Jr., Oro Jr., Retro vs Apocalipsis, Nitro, Zandokan Jr.
3) Panterita del Ring Jr. © vs Inquisidor [MEX LIGHT]
2nd defense, rematch from July
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Negro Casas, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

The previous Panterita/Inquisidor title match was said to be among the best match of the year. These shows are said to be taped for Heraldo TV and there is a CMLL show listed on their programming grid, but I’ve never seen any sign of anyone watching it (much less putting it online.) The irregularly updated CMLL Twitch channel airs matches from random TV matches and has never aired one from Arena Coliseo. I’m sure these are being taped but I’m not sure if these are actually going anywhere beyond someone’s hard drive in CMLL. It’s so weird.

There’s no set up to the title match, and Inquisidor fits more with the second match cage people instead of Suriano. Maybe there was a change there. Panterita del Ring Jr. should actually lose, because he should win a world title instead and be facing more people.

This is the final Arena Coliseo show of the year, they’re back after the holidays on 01/07.

CMLL (SUN) 12/18/2022 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pierrothito
2) Inquisidor, Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Cholo, Halcón Suriano Jr., Leono [Relevos Increíbles]
3) La Vaquerita, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
4) Blue Panther, Dark Panther, Volcano vs Felino, Felino Jr., Kráneo
5) Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Titán vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Mephisto

I still assume there’s a big show coming on the 25th, but there’s no big match clear for that show. Maybe it’s unclear to CMLL if they were planning on doing something with the injured (?) Niebla Roja. Other title matches could come out from that main event.

CMLL Informa has Mistico, Dalys, Templario, Fugaz, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring, and Inquisidor.

Sin Embargo has an article from Mexican diploma Erik del Angel talking about the Copa Bicentenario that he helped put together.

AAA

Just some additional notes on the Hijo del Vikingo US streaming issue

  • Anyone booking Vikingo knew the no streaming deal. They were told up front it wasn’t changed on them later. They were OK with bringing in Vikingo knowing the restrictions and the unhappiness that would result. How they decided to handle that situation is up to them
    • Part of the calculus in that choice had to be “everyone knows AAA is mess, we can shift the blame entirely on them, and people aren’t going to get made at us.” And they seem right. AAA’s image is so broken outside of Mexico that they’re easy heat magnets. AAA wants to be bigger in the US but doesn’t care about its image. AAA wants to be seen as a fun party to attend and is actually seen as a hot mess that can be entertaining and needly dramatic. This story feeds into the latter.
    • There were also a lot of people concerned about what this would mean to the GCW FITE feed in particular – would there be a 20-minute blackout in the middle of the show? I don’t know what they’re doing, but again everyone’s had months to think about it and figure it out, so they’ve probably figured it out.
  • The Hijo del Vikingo streaming agreement covers digital media. It does not cover physical media. PWG DVDs are unaffected. Super Dragon has won the game. GCW could put a Vikingo in the US DVD after his run if they were so inclined.
  • This is only a Vikingo policy. It doesn’t apply to anyone under contract (and, as always, there are a lot of people who show up on AAA TV who are not under any sort of contract.)
  • I don’t think AAA is going to go after people for posting video of Vikingo US matches themselves. They have not gone after people for posting video of AAA shows and tapings themselves. The most that’ll happen is they’ll apply to monetize the video themselves, but they’ll leave it up. I can’t guarantee this will be the same going forward, but it’s not a big concern.
  • AAA does want video of Vikingo’s US matches for their own purposes. It’s likely to be cut down to highlight to share as social media or maybe TV, and not shown in full.
  • The common assumption is the policy will not be in effect, or at least enforced, for every. It’s just a guess that policy changes sometime after the Los Angeles show, there’s no hard cut off, but AAA’s shown that initial big plans can change or be abandoned over time.

IWRG

There’s not much going on here. No Thursday show with their anniversary show on Friday. The main event is guys who’ve been around since IWRG started their Tryout competition two years ago, so Mas Lucha is running a lot of footage from when they were first introduced.

Nacion Lucha Libre

I was going through this week’s Nacion Lucha Libre show, and it was the usual low quality effort. It does seem to have clicked to someone that they actually need do matches between their bigger names, and so a Cinta de Oro/Alberto el Patron feud sprung up out of nowhere. The rest of the was a lot of squashes. It also started about 15 minutes early for no obvious reason.

Nacion was supposed to have done three tapings this year, they’ve done two advertised tapings, and it’s getting a little late to announce a third show in December. This week included matches in an empty arena mixed in with their November Juan de la Barrera. I’m not sure if those matches were taped earlier in the day or some other time to replace that third show. Nacion Lucha Libre has always seemed to exist primarily as an international TV play, but the TV seems completely uncompelling, especially this empty arena footage.

You shouldn’t spend time watching Nacion Lucha Libre but everyone’s figured that out already. No one talks about this show. I wonder if it failed so quickly and is so forgettable that it might not stick Alberto. It won’t be another bad story going on his record if everyone forgets it happened in the first place. The video guys stopped caring immediately after finding out they wouldn’t be able to record it for themsleves, and no one else much covers things outside of press conferences or live events. You can fail in silence in Mexico pretty easily.

(In a similar vein: AAA’s TV show has aired on Azteca in weeks. I think it’s because the whole boxing/lucha block has gotten bumped for World Cup coverage, but no one’s appeared to notice.)

Other News

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

PWG will announce their BOLA match ups tomorrow, and tickets go on sale later that night.

02/26 The Crash/KAOZ/Robles

I’m not really sure who these matches are for. They’re running at Monterrey’s baseball stadium, with tickets from 2000 pesos to 100. That’s TripleMania prices for just matches with some random names thrown together. Good luck to all involved.

The Crash says they’ll return to Tijuana for their 11th Anniversary show on 01/28.

Coahuila luchador Principe Rayo needed medical attention after a hardcore match; I’m not sure why this was an article; it sucks for him but it doesn’t seem unusually severe.

Box y Lucha 3531 has the Copa winners on the cover.

what I know and think about Vikingo and AAA’s US streaming rules

GCW’s announced two things for 12/16 I’d been waiting to hear officially. Hijo del Vikingo will face Blake Christian (the only name of note not yet assigned to a match on that card) and Hijo del Vikingo will not appear on the FITE stream. GCW had the unenviable duty of being the first to reveal Vikingo can’t appear on streamed broadcasts. Vikingo’s been announced for other places, including Warrior Wrestling and Dreamwave, and those promotions will eventually be making the same announcements. It’s a total blackout: not on the stream, not on the VOD after. If a Vikingo match is taped, AAA owns the footage. The only* way you’ll seeing Vikingo on these shows is if you’re there in person. This Vikingo rule (among other rules) has been discussed among indie promotions over the last two months, with some fighting unsuccessfully to remove it and others deciding to pass on using Vikingo altogether.

AAA thinks they want the yet-to-be-announced Los Angeles WrestleMania weekend show to be as big a success as possible. They believe more people will go out of their way to attend if they haven’t been able to see Vikingo in the US to that point, and they believe keeping Vikingo off of streaming will help keep him fresh. AAA’s ideal world would be for Hijo del Vikingo to actually not wrestle in the US until that (not official) Los Angeles date, but Vikingo working in the states is something he’s wanted to do for years, and AAA has limited control to prevent it. AAA’s policy is to find a middle ground, allowing him to work some in the US but not in a way they feel threatens their own plans. AAA also has been increasingly concerned with presenting their wrestlers in a certain caliber of the environment – they’re selling the vibes of an exciting AAA show as much as any of the wrestlers – and may feel the venues US indie promotions are running in would diminish their brand somehow.

Keeping Hijo del Vikingo off streaming is a foolish strategy. Fans seeing Vikingo via streaming is why they want to see him in the first place. AAA banning promotions from streaming the matches will in no way prevent them from being streamed. That “only*” is because anyone who’s thought about this knows the matches are going to be bootlegged by fans in the US just like so many of them are done in Mexico, and just like was done with the Tempe show. AAA hasn’t stopped the video of Vikingo’s matches from getting out, they’re just made the process worse and less rewarding for everyone involved. If AAA doesn’t have the time and resources to go after my Twitch channel, they’re probably not going to spend energy on going after your iPhone recording. And there’s little incentive for GCW to stop people from raising their phones up and recording the match either.

AAA is trying to make Vikingo more valuable in the US in the long term for themselves while damaging his value personally for at least for the short term. Vikingo has lost bookings because the value isn’t there with these requirements. There are no known restrictions on using Komander or Aramis or Laredo Kid or Aerostar or Drago or a dozen other guys who can give promotions 75-90% of what Vikingo has to offer, who are also coming in at much lower cost. (That’s even if the promotion feels like paying for a flight from Mexico.) Vikingo is a special in-ring talent, but he has yet to prove to be any sort of huge ticket mover in Mexico. His heralded US debut in Tempe didn’t move tickets until Cain Velasquez was added. The reasons why are another 1000-word post on its own, but Vikingo isn’t Okada or Tanahashi or Naito at this point. He’s an impressive wrestler most interested US people have seen once or twice a year on stream, not one they’ve invested years of emotion into and have been dying to finally see live. Vikingo’s not that guy, not yet, and this just gives a reason for promoters to pass on him for now, and for Vikingo not to get the sort of chances he was hoping to get when he finally got his US visa.

This chronic lack of understanding of the US wrestling business is far more likely to tell tall in Los Angeles. It’s another short-side decision that achieves nothing except building ill will towards their own brand. You hope they’d figure it out someday, but there’s no sign of that happening.

Copa Bicentenario, Electrico/Cavernario/Templario returns, ROH

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 12/09/2022 Arena México [CMLL, CMLLEstrellas del RingKaiser SportsR de RudoThe GladiatoresThe Gladiatores (text), thecubsfan]
1) Fuego, Okumura, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Dark Magic, Disturbio, Guerrero Maya Jr. [Relevos IncreíblesRegresando Fuego, Panterita del Ring Jr y Okumura vencen a Guerrero Maya Jr, Disturbio y Dark Magic (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
14:20
2) Dalys & Lluvia b La Jarochita & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, seeding battle royal]
3) Ivelisse & La Jarochita b Avispa Dorada & Reyna Isis [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinalIvelisse y Jarochita dejan sin chance a Reina Is1s y Avispa Dorada en la Copa Bicentenario Femenil (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
7:04
4) Dalys & Lady Frost b Alex Gracia & Lluvia [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, semifinalLady Frost y Dalys pasan por encima de Lluvia y Alex Gracia en la Copa Bicentenario Femenil (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
6:55
5) Dalys & Lady Frost b Ivelisse & La Jarochita [Copa Bicentenario Femenil, finalCMLL - COPA BICENTENARIO DE AMAZONAS  /  ARENA MEXICO / 9-12-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Dalys y Lady Frost ganan la Copa Bicentenario Femenil al derrotar a Jarochita e Ivelisse (posted by mluchatv) Dalys y Lady Frost campeonas al vencer a Ivelisse y Jarochita en la Arena México del CMLL (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
5:53.
6) Gran Guerrero DQ Atlantis Jr. CMLL - ATLANTIS JR.  VS  GRAN GUERRERO  /  ARENA MEXICO / 9-12-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Atlantis Jr descalificado ante Gran Guerrero por jalar al referí en el conteo de 3 palmadas (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre) CMLL: Gran Guerrero derrota a Atlantis Jr. en mano a mano (posted by mluchatv)
15:09. Atlantis grabbed Edgar to stop a three count, which Edgar ruled was a disqualification. Atlantis Jr. argued the call and shoved the commissioner when he came in the ring tp back up the call.
7) Místico & Último Guerrero b Hechicero & Volador Jr. [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, seeding battle royal]
8) Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. b Hechicero & Matt Taven [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinalCopa Bicentenario: Lince Dorado y Volador Jr eliminan a Matt Taven y Hechicero, continúan rivalidad (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
9:27. Hechicero and Taven fought post match (in something CMLL didn’t seem to expect to see)
9) Místico & Rocky Romero b Kenny King & Último Guerrero [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, semifinalCopa Bicentenario: Rocky Romero y Místico echan de la competencia a Kenny King y Último Guerrero (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
8:45.
10) Místico & Rocky Romero b Lince Dorado & Volador Jr. [Copa Bicentenario Varonil, finalCMLL - COPA BICENTENARIO  /  ARENA MEXICO / 9-12-22 (posted by VideosOficialesCMLL) CMLL: Místico y Rocky Romero ganan la Copa Bicentenario tras vencer a Volador Jr  y Lince Dorado (posted by mluchatv) Copa Bicentenario CMLL: Místico y Rocky Romero campeones ante Volador Jr y Lince Dorado (posted by La Tijera Lucha Libre)
9:43. Romero demanded a NWA WELTER title from Volador after beating him; Volador refused. Both the men’s and women’s winners got their trophies and shook hands with Mexico and US diplomats to end the show.

The diplomats on hand were Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath (US Deputy Chief of Mission in Mexico), Erik del Angel (Mexico Coordinator of the council of sports diplomacy and cooperation) and Miguel Malfavon (recent former Mexico ambassador to Ireland, and seems to be a general member of Mexico foreign relations at the moment.) This tournament was explicitly said to be organized by CMLL, the US Embassy, and the Mexico foreign relations department. It’s nice that CMLL got to be part of it, it’s notable that it was important to hold a lucha libre tournament to honor 200 years of Mexico and USA relations. I don’t know if that’d happen with Japan and the USA, for instance.

This was not the Gran Prix. It wasn’t the fault of the wrestlers really and other was a decent amount of ceremony. The fans just saw this yet another random CMLL tournament and it was no different than any other show. Maybe they were even less excited because they saw the same people quite a few times. CMLL saw this tournament as a big deal – they gave the wins to the most important teams instead of spreading out the winners as normal – probably because the diplomatic agencies they were working with seemed happy with the presentation. It was a success on that count, and also nothing you’ll feel too bad about having missed.

On Informa, Rocky Romero challenged CMLL to offer him a one-year contract if he won this tournament. He won this tournament and was still demanding that one-year contract (though it appeared he forgot about the challenge until the press reminded him.) He’s surely coming back in CMLL’s orbit again to do that title match with Volador, either in Arena Mexico or next February on FantasticaMania. Lince Dorado also seems to be coming back, perhaps when/if Mascara Dorada is ever allowed to travel between the US and Mexico.

Hechicero and Taven fight felt like one or both came off their own angle. Don’t know that for a fact, but that was the feel. Avispa Dorada had a bad night, including the second failed tope con giro in a short time. The first spot of that match went wrong and it didn’t get a lot better. Dorada was a fun luchadora in her previous runs but this tour has been a disappointment, with more disappointing than good. Lady Frost looked like a standout on this show again, but Ivelisse and Alex Gracia were doing better than Avispa as well, despite less CMLL experience. She may have finished up this weekend with the other foreigners, hope she can regroup and come back better if she’s back next year.

The Atlantis Jr./Gran Guerrero finish was different. Grabbing the referee’s hand to stop him from making a three count was a signature Rush spot, though others may have done it first. Others definitely have done it after. It’s not as blatant as pulling the referee out of the ring to prevent a count, but it’s still something outside the rules that’s been allowed to happen because it’s seen as making for better dramatics. This ending seemed to be a planned attempt to undo that finish and re-write it as a disqualification. It also gave Gran Guerrero a win over Atlantis Jr. without ‘actually’ beating him. It was too chaotic to be clear it was a planned finish, but the commissioner jumping in the ring immediately led me to believe it was the planned ending. Atlantis Jr. shoved the commissioner, which often leds to a minor suspension. Gran Guerrero challenged Atlantis Jr. to a mask match; this is the first time of what may be dozens of times I write that line.

CMLL (SAT) 12/10/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Full Metal, Mercurio, Pierrothito b Angelito, Fantasy, Último Dragóncito Facebook video (posted by )
Rudos took 1/3.
2) Difunto, Nitro, Zandokan Jr. b Bengala, Oro Jr., Retro Facebook video (posted by )
Straight falls. Usual feuding towards the cage match
3) Alex Gracia, Avispa Dorada, Marcela b Hera, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
Tecnicos took 1/3.
4) El Coyote, Felino Jr., Rey Bucanero b Magnus, Pólvora, Rugido
Team Bucanero took 1/3.
5) Euforia, Kenny King, Yota b Ángel de Oro, Lince Dorado, Niebla Roja [Relevos IncreíblesFacebook video (posted by )
Team Euforia took 1/3. Niebla Roja picked up a right knee injury in what turned out to be late in the match

Niebla Roja needed help to limp to the back, so he might need some time to recover.

CMLL (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena México [CMLL, The Gladiatores]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Kaligua & Shockercito
2) Bengala, Neón, Oro Jr. DQ Apocalipsis, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
straight falls, Apocalipsis unmasking Neon
3) Amapola, Olympia, Stephanie Vaquer b Alex Gracia, La Jarochita, La Maligna
4) Negro Casas, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Atlantis, Lince Dorado, Stuka Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Kenny King, Último Guerrero

That’s it for the foreigners for this run. Kenny King also filmed a promo to appear on an Impact TV episode while in Mexico; not sure if he did it while at a CMLL show or not.

CMLL (TUE) 12/13/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Fantasy, Kaligua vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Olímpico
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Marcela vs Hera, Metálica, Olympia
3) Astral, Eléctrico, Magia Blanca vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Negro Casas, Rey Bucanero, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

That’s a very old main event for the new talent show. Electrico has been out with injury since June and he’s right back teaming with his pal Astral.

CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México
1) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario
4) Arkalis & Atlantis vs Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. and El Suicida & Titán and Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Blue Panther & Cachorro and Neón & Stuka Jr. and Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa, battle royal]
5) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
6) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
7) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
8) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, quarterfinal]
9) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]
10) ? & ?? vs ???? & ???? [Gran Alternativa, semifinal]

Nothing new on the tournament, just a reminder the final is on the 12/23 show. I hate ending a show with an unfinished tournament, it’s an underwhelming goodbye rather than something that gets people to come back the next week. The tercera should be the main event instead.

Cavernario and Templario make surprising returns in that tercera. The caveman is back early; his injury timeline suggested he wouldn’t be around until January. Templario was the other way, taking longer to return from his shoulder injury than originally announced. (Also, as much as I fantasy-booked Templario to rejoin Los Guerreros last week, it’s probably worth remembering that it was Ultimo Guerrero who put Templario out of action and cost him a spot on Aniversario.) The second match has a slight chance of setting up a trios title match. Opener is a lightning match for numbers reasons.

According to an interview with EFE, the CMLL programming department is officially

  • Juan Manuel Mar (aka Panico) – head of department
  • Edgar Noriega (aka referee Edgar)
  • Jose Luis Feliciano (aka Guerrero del Futuro)
  • Julio Cesar Rivera

This is the first time I can recall announcer Julio Cesar Rivera officially listed as officially part of the programming committee, though he (and others) has been talked about as sharing ideas with that department. This should not be trusted to be a definitive list. CMLL would never reveal if an active wrestler as part of the programming department, so we can’t be sure if they left names or if this is a definite list.

Cesar Rivera says lineups are worked 1.5 to 2 months ahead of time, though there are always last-minute changes. Salvador Lutteroth Jr. reviews all the decisions. JCR, in taking about the weekly shows, says the Saturday Arena Coliseo crowd is the toughest audience because it’s mostly fans who’ve watched lucha libre all their life. The Arena Mexico cards are put together with the idea there are a lot of foreign fans who don’t know the rivalries and need to see more spectacular performances. Or, it seems, more tournaments.

Guadalajara’s La Mafia (Vaquero Jr., Omar Brunetti and Leo) will appear on the 12/26 Arena Puebla card. That’s another unusual Guadalajara/Puebla cross over.

Lio Rush & YOH defeated Titan & BUSHI in both team’s final league match in the Super Juniors Tag Team tournament. That meant Rush & YOH went to the final and Titan & BUSHI were done. By my count, that’s 25 NJPW junior tournaments (singles and tag) where a CMLL wrestler has participated and failed to reach the final. (Dr. Wagner Jr. reached the finals of the BOSJ in 1998.) They’ll likely get another chance in May. This should probably be a story in these tournaments by now, but it also makes CMLL look rather poor, so perhaps there’s a reason it’s not talked about.

Mistico beat (NJPW) Misterioso on the NJPW Strong tapings.

AAA

AAA on Space aired the main event and a couple of other matches from the Ciudad Juarez taping, with the rest next week. All the matches were fine and there’s not much to say about them. This was one of those tapings which really suffered from the way AAA produced their TV. The Juarez crowd looked like they were hot for the show, especially for hometown boy Pagano in the main event. It barely came through on TV, with the crowd reactions lost deep in the mix behind the announcers. A hot crowd can turn some average matches into something special, they had a hot crowd and some average matches, and it just didn’t come through. AAA wants to sell vibes more than matches, but you can’t get those vibes if all you’re hearing is the announcers.

On his podcast, Konnan mentioned Lady Shani was visiting a doctor to get her knee examined this past week and there was fear it was a serious injury. Shani missed a show in Guadalajara on Sunday but hasn’t indicated her status otherwise. Konnan also mentioned the plan for the Luchatitlan show is two shows daily each in the afternoon, and AAA had been auditioning actors and wrestlers (for different roles) in recent days.

Hijo del Vikingo was added to the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles as the 17th participant. There are usually 16, and 17 probably means there’s a three-way first-round match. First round match ups will be announced Thursday and tickets will go on sale then.

Gringo Loco defends the Dreamwave Alternative Title against Hijo del Vikingo, Black Taurus, and Rey Hours on 02/11 in LaSalle. That’s great news for me, the show is about an hour down the road from me. It’s great for Dreamwave, which went dormant from a couple of years and is now trying to get attention for its relaunch. It is a significantly smaller size promotion than I thought Vikingo would be wrestling in the US on these shows.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 12/11/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) John Tito b Kenji EN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv)
2) Diosa Quetzal b Sagitarius [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinalEN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv) LUCHAS LIBRE IWRG (posted by Internetv Deportes)
3) Hell Boy & Sick Boy DQ Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. EN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv)
4) Keyra DQ Lolita [IWRG IC WOMEN, semifinalEN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv)
5) Galeno del Mal b Hijo De Canis Lupus EN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv)
Galeno del mal after the referee slow counted Canis Lupus, then Galeno del Mal used the ropes to win.l
6) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. EN VIVO: Última función antes de Revolución 60 | Semifinales por el Campeonato Femenil IWRG (posted by IWRG tv)
Mamba got the win, then announced he woulnd’t be around for Friday’s title match and Paymon was actually the one who’d team with Las Shotas.

I was going to write “ah, IWRG kinda makes more sense, they just had to announce the full card before the trios title feud caught up with it”, but then Mamba announcing Paymon was replacing him put it back into nonsense land. . Why book Mamba and have Mamba win if Mamba isn’t in the title match? Who knows. Galeno del Mal apparently won in a very screwy fashion because he and his brother are (likely) losing in a very screwy fashion next week. Keyra/Lolita had so many problems that even IWRG’s recap acknowledged the accidents.

This show drew horribly for a Sunday show. Some of that is probably people passing on this one when they know a bigger show is just right around the corner. Next Friday is the 60th Anniversary and there’s no doubt they’ll sell out for the mask match and for the anniversary aspect. I think this week’s show is more indicative of where IWRG is at than Friday, but that’s just one person’s opinion.

ROH/AEW

Mascara Dorada lost to Jeff Cobb on the ROH Final Battle preshow, and Dralistico & Rush lost to AR Fox and Blake Christian on the PPV opener. Dralistico appeared to kick out before 3 from AR Fox’s pin in that match. Rush & Dralistico attacked their opponents post-match. I’m out of the business of speculating on Munoz family finishes after getting the Dragon Lee one very wrong, so all I can write here is the finish was confusing to viewers. Whatever  happened will likely be reported out soon or later. Dralistico was neither terrible but nor particularly impressive. There are conservatively 50 Mexican wrestlers I believe would do better in an AEW or ROH ring than Dralistico, but there are only three Munoz brothers and Rush already betrayed Dragon Lee (in something yet to be followed up on) so Dralistico had to be in that spot.

Also of note on the show, FTR lost their ROH Tag Team Championships to the Briscoes. It appears FTR will be losing AEW, ROH, AAA and IWGP title tag matches all within the course of a few weeks. FTR wore gear with dates indicating the start of their ROH title reign and the end of it, which seemed to telegraph the result. It may have been meant to correspond only to their feud with the Briscoes (the exact same dates) and absolutely didn’t affect most people’s great enjoyment of the match. I would recommend AAA ask them to go a different wardrobe direction for Noche de Campeones.

The biggest news going forward was the reveal of Tony Khan’s plans for ROH. Khan had stated there’d be news on ROH’s TV deal around Final Battle. The broadcast ended with no TV news, which seemed a Very Bad Sign. I had expected no more than a streaming network deal, given the negative current climate for wrestling shows on TV, and it turned out to be less than that. ROH TV apparently will be just a weekly TV show airing as part of a redesigned $10/month Honor Club. Live PPVs will remain separate purchases through Bleacher Report and will go up on Honor Club on a 90-day delay. The start date for ROH TV is not set; Khan pushed those would come after AEW’s bigger January events and NJPW’s 01/04 Tokyo Dome event. Khan also framed the new ROH TV as a home for both AEW wrestlers and international wrestlers, including NJPW and “our lucha libre partners.” Khan noted this show included both AAA (Dralistico) and CMLL (Mascara Dorada) wrestlers; Dorada’s shown more willingness to work alongside of AAA wrestlers as his residency situation continues to prolong indefinitely.

In 2021, Ring of Honor TV was available both for free on a variety of streaming sites (including Honor Club) and on various Sinclair Broadcasting Group TV stations. I liked that Ring of Honor, but that wasn’t strong enough to keep that version of Ring of Honor going. In 2023, Ring of Honor’s visibility will be only behind a $10/month subscriber wall. The 2022 ROH PPVs have reportedly done the best of any ROH PPVs ever, but those were vastly built via promotion on AEW’s TNT and TBS shows, and Khan indicated that would no longer be happening. I presume ROH TV is going behind a paywall because the ROH brand needs some income to survive (and “make it free on YouTube” would provide far far less revenue), but it’s hard to imagine this version of ROH growing to any great extent.

The best comparison for 2023 ROH is NJPW’s Strong show. That one started as something to do when NJPW’s previous plans for US travel had to be scuttled due to the pandemic, and “monthly taping of a few weeks of TV” was the simplest solution to keep going. It has eventually built up a fanbase, but it’s also a brand that generally does a few hundred of fans to most of its events and is definitely looked at as a developmental territory. Khan has pushed that Ring of Honor wouldn’t be a developmental territory, but it’s going to be tough to shake that impression if AEW is on national TV and ROH is lives behind a paywall to a fraction of the audience. NJPW Strong is also unlikely to be profitable on it’s own; it does as well as it does because the Japan side is keeping it afloat. It’s seen where as much as it’s seen because it’s an additional part of the NJPW World subscription, nothing something standing alone.

If you’re just looking as a fan, news of a ROH TV is plain good news. It’s something to check out if it’s good enough to get your $10, and it’s one of the million other things to skip and not worry about if it doesn’t go well. Khan’s description of the show sounds like it has some Mad Scientist/I Can’t Believe That Person Showed Up Here vibes, and that’s right in my wheelhouse. There’s a good chance I’ll sign up for it. A lot more people will probably sign up for Honor Club than the last version, even if it’s a lesser deal.

If you’re looking at this announcement as what it means for the bigger picture, this ROH TV is a very bad sign. A real TV deal for ROH would’ve likely meant the addition of permanent wrestling jobs, both in front of and behind the camera. A ROH existing on subscriber fees may mean more people are visible for a show at a time, but isn’t going to open up a full-time ROH-excluisve job for a Dragon Lee. This is the lucha libre content to this whole digression: it truly didn’t matter how well Dralistico fit because anyone in his spot seems to have a max upside of once-in-a-while tapings appearances. I take Khan at his word that this ROH project will include lucha libre appearances, but Flamita and Rey Horus aren’t exactly going to be getting their jobs back. And the next Flamita and Rey Horus aren’t either. They all may appear from time to time, but ROH in this form can’t be that sort of promotion, not unless they’re just going to pay people to pay people. (It also means a crowded AEW roster is going to stay crowded; there’s no moving someone over to a full time ROH spot if there is no full-time ROH work.)

ROH itself seems to be in about the same spot it was in 2021, existing as a short-term money loser in hopes of cashing in big via sale or TV contract down the line. Tony Khan’s love of Ring of Honor is going to cause him to stick with it a lot longer than Sinclair, but it’s fair to ask if running a second wrestling brand is the best use of his time when the primary one is going to have a very important year getting a TV deal. And no 2023 TV deal for ROH is a concerning sign for AEW’s own TV future; it clarifies that AEW’s success so far hasn’t convinced TV/streaming networks that anything Khan produces is immediately worth jumping on, and they could be similarly less enthused than expected when AEW’s own TV rights go on the market.

(AAA, which will likely be Spanish-focused, is probably dealing with a whole different selection of stations, and AEW/ROH’s ability or inability may not related directly to AAA’s hope of getting their own deal. Still, the overall environment for wrestling on US TV seems negative. If AAA has a chance at real AAA TV, as Dorian Roldan suggested a week ago, this news would make me more willing to take a ‘worse’ deal on paper rather than a wait for another offer that may not be out there)

The worst case is this lack of ROH TV deal is a turning point, a first disappointment signaling bigger ones to come. The best case is ROH TV on Honor Club keep some momentum to the product, and it does well enough to get bundled into that next AEW deal or spun out into its own deal sometime in the next 6-18 months. I’m more negative than I’m positive about this situation now, but then I’m almost always that.

Other news

Tamaulipas area luchador Sexy Fly (no name given, “about 30” years old) passed away Friday following a car accident. That name doesn’t show up in many posters, but he was listed as wrestling as recently as September.

Five aspiring luchadors earned their license in Villahermosa.

Segunda Caida writes about some Panamian lucha libre.

Ludark Shaitan won the XPW Women’s Championship on Saturday.