CMLL

CMLL (MON) 02/05/2024 Arena Puebla [CMLL, El Sol de Puebla, Grada, Kaiser Sports, Porra Fresa]
1) Hijo del Perverso & Perverso b Millenium & Rayo Metálico
2) Fuego b Prayer [lightning] 
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia b Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard 
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stigma b Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr.
5) Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero 
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS] 
first defense. Cavernario beat Volador

Atlantis, Star and Volador go down as a footnote. They were the team that happened to be around when Los Infernales broke up, defended the belts zero times, and held it as long as they did only because Dragon Rojo Jr. got hurt at the wrong time. Maybe this match will go up on subscription site.

El Sol de Puebla has an article on local “super hero”/police officer Pegasso heading to Japan.

CMLL (TUE) 02/06/2024 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Grako & Sangre Imperial b Astral & Oro Jr.
Oro suffered a serious seeming knee injury right before the finish
2) Hera & Olympia b La Vaquerita & Maligna
a bad match
3) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
Los Barbaros first appearance in Arena Mexico since winning the trios titles on Monday
4) Atlantis Jr. b Niebla Roja [lightning]
9:52. Atlantis Jr. won via frog splash right before the time limit.
5) Místico b Soberano Jr., Máscara Dorada, Ángel de Oro, Volador Jr., Templario, Flip Gordon, Zandokan Jr., Titán, Villano III Jr., Esfinge, Star Jr. [Reyes del Aire]
Mistico won his first ever Reyes del Aire.

This was the second straight week with a disaster stream. The feed was fine for the first hour of the show (the wrestling was not fine), and then started buffering and sputtering during entrances during the Reyes del Aire. CMLL, as is their pattern, ignored that it was happening during the show despite getting a lot of messages about it. CMLL took down the VOD immediately after the show. (I was scrolling through it to see it was any better without the buffering; it was not.) I imagine they’re going to put up a VOD at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet if you’re still reading this sentence. Subscribers should start sending in complaints if there’s no explanation given on Informa.

CMLL’s live streams since the new YouTube issues were introduced tiers

• 01/31 Arena Mexico: stream has issues
• 02/01 Informa: stream has issues (and the studio has some dead mics)
• 02/03 Arena Mexico: stream was fine!
• 02/06 Arena Mexico: stream has issues

CMLL did not put up a fixed VOD when the subscriber feed failed last Tuesday. They did put up a fixed VOD of the free Informa show, because that’s the one the people in charge actually care about. This failure was so embarrassing that CMLL may act upon on it, but there’s still no plan to handle bad nights. It’s just a pattern of pretending nothing bad will ever happen, and then ignoring that it happened.

The rest of the show was fine at best. The opener ended badly, the women looked out of their depth and the two other tag matches were fine. The Reyes del Aire didn’t look super memorable from what I could see, but I was put in a bad mood by the whole thing.

Oro Jr. seemed to severely injury his right leg in the opener; it was bent the wrong way when he was tied in the ropes. SuperLuchas writes that Oro Jr. on his Facebook (in a video only visible to follows I think) posted a video where he says he tore a ligament and meniscus in his right knee and will need surgery. He’s expected to be out 5-6 months.

CMLL Informa has:

• Los Barbaros (new Trios champs)
• Marcela & Skadi, Panterita del Ring, Felino (Arena Coliseo chaht)
• Futuro & Neon (team name?)
• Brillante Jr. (Gran Alternativa)
• Hombre Bala (?)
• Magnus, Pegasso, Difunto (FantasticaMania)

Forneo was doing one of CMLL’s usual radio spots to promote Friday’s show, which suggests they see him as one of the more important people in Torneo de Escuelas. (And, yes, CMLL wrestlers do radio spots in Mexico City every week to promote their shows.)

Hechicero, Mascara Dorada and Volador Jr. face Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson tonight on AEW Dynamite in Phoenix. My impression is Mistico will also be in Phoenix and may wrestle. Other CMLL people may be there as well.

CMLL (SAT) 02/10/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Eléctrico & Leono vs Inquisidor & Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Capitán Suicida, Diamond, El Audaz vs Felino Jr., Misterioso Jr., Vegas
3) Panterita del Ring vs Felino [lightning]
4) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi vs Hera, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard
5) Fugaz, Star Black, Valiente vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Flip Gordon vs Ángel de Oro, Gran Guerrero, Niebla Roja

CMLL announcing they’d upload two matches from these shows has me taking a harder look at which two matches I’d actually want to see. (This is not a real issue because CMLL hasn’t uploaded anything yet.) I guess the main event by default, but I’m not even strong about that.

In a Mas Lucha interview from a show this past weekend Guadalajara show, Rey Horus teased that fans might see him soon in Arena Mexico. There is something to this, but I don’t have anything definite about how or when.

Brillante Jr. and Mistico are on the cover of Box y Lucha 3589.

Guerrero Maya Jr. is celebrating reaching 20 years of wrestling.

AAA

Mesias is on some AAA spot shows lineups. That could be local promoters adding him, but it seems likely he’ll show back up on TV during the Origenes tour. He and AAA had issues over the name after he left in 2018, but that’s a long time ago in wrestling time.

Hijo del Tirantes, promoting a show on 03/15 in Xalapa, feels people are still just returning to lucha libre following the pandemic.

TNA president Scott D’Amore is no longer TNA president; parent company Anthem  Sports & Entertainment announced Wednesday they had fired him and replaced him with a Anthony Cicione, a non-wrestling person already in their employ. Impact sort of cruised along for many years doing just OK and Anthem seemingly being OK with Impact just being OK. Over the last few months, Impact reverted back to that old TNA name and Anthem seemed to be increasing spending on the product. Increased resources are always great but are typically paired with increased expectations. It was going to be a big challenge to move TNA away farther from the NWA/MLW level of promotions and closer to AEW and I was skeptical that could be achieved even with a great effort. It was a situation I had back in my head to keep an eye on, it was something where I figured D’Amore would get at least the calendar year to see what he could before any changes might be made. He got two tapings – two that even seemed successful! – before getting the axe. The timing of D’Amore’s firing is so sudden that I’m waiting for another shoe to drop. If D’Amore was removed for purely business reasons and even the last couple of shows weren’t good enough, then TNA not only returned to the old name but the old fears about it’s long term viability.

Where this leaves the AAA/TNA relationship is unknown for the moment; Scott D’Amore and AAA were close. I suspect the new guy in charge (Cicione) will be handing off the creative end to someone else, but we don’t know who that else yet or how they’ll feel about AAA or lucha libre in general. D’Amore (like QT Marshall) is a useful wrestling brain for promotion’s looking to break into the US market, assuming he hasn’t done something here that makes him untouchable.

Other Notes

IWRG issued a press release demanding Blue Demon Jr. return the IWRG IC Heavyweight Championship he never actually won. Ivan Rokov and his masked accomplice presented it to Demon, though DMT Azul actually won their title match by DQ. This seems like IWRG playing off their issues over the trios title belts.

RIOT announced Erik Ortiz vs Low Rider for 03/02.

El Horizonte has a piece on lucha libre arenas in Monterrey, focusing on Arena el Jaguar.

Chicago Mag has a photo article on Chicago luchadors. To show how little I know, I’ve been watching el Torero for years and never realized he was the son of the GALLI promoter.

Somos Hermanos has an article on the Brazo Celestial promoted show this past weekend, which supported hurricane relief. No amount is mentioned.

An update on the Arena Coliseo Monterrey destruction; the venue now has no roof. It’ supposed to be finished in mid-March.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena México [AS, CMLL, FDDE, Kaiser Sports, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico DQ Acero & Pierrothito [Relevos Increíbles]  
11:01. Acero unmasked Angelito, who demanded a rematch next week.
2) Crixus, Raider, Vegas b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora   
16:13
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Tabata b Hera, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis   
10:31. Debut of Tabata, who had previously wrestled masked as Katara in Guadalajara (and is Lluvia’s daughter.) Zeuxis replaced Catalina (illness).
4) Tessa Blanchard b Dark Silueta [lightning]  
8:59. Blanchard offered a handshake after the match, Dark Silueta refused (and crowd sided with Blanchard.)
5) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. b Soberano Jr., Templario, Último Guerrero   
13:09.
6) Brillante Jr. & Místico b Máscara Dorada & Neón [Gran Alternativa, final]   
17:38. Great match.

The Gran Alternativa has been up and down, but they nailed the final. They pulled off the big spots you’d expect, they changed things up a little bit from normal, and they kept it moving the whole way. Easy recommendation.

It was a big night for Brillante. Winning was big, looking like he belonged was bigger. Neon’s more ready to have great matches right now, Brillante did plenty well enough to prevent it coming off as a terrible decision. (I also like the team of Futuro & Neon and that would’ve gone away if Neon got moved up right now, so maybe I’m biased.) The crowd was also super pro-Mistico, and Neon winning in that environment would’ve not gotten the reaction that was supposed to happen for a Gran Alternativa winner. Brillante has been prone to mishaps in his short CMLL career but found that missing consistency throughout this tournament.

The usual prize for winning the Gran Alternativa is getting in the main event, but Brillante Jr. is too busy heading to Japan for the next couple of weeks to get that. That tour does make me think this was always the plan. Andrade showing up to endorse his cousin doesn’t hurt. There’s been speculation that Brillante Jr. will end up as “La Sombra” since he’s shown up, and winning this tournament does move things more in that direction.

Mistico is the first person to win the Gran Alternativa four times; once as a rookie (with Hijo del Santo) and now three times as vet (La Sombra, Panterita del Ring, Brillante Jr.)

The semi-main was a professional CMLL Trios match, except for Sobernano and Ultimo Guerrero doing their best to ignore each other’s existence.  The lightning match was fine, though the timing was off on the finish. Tabata’s not really for Friday nights but CMLL’s on a youth kick and they’ve got to work to get better. Match two wasn’t much but Crixus is starting to get a strong female reaction. The minis feud is going somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you where.

The CMLL Friday stream worked fine. It’s going to work fine most of the time. They never fixed the Tuesday stream, they hadn’t put up last Friday’s show when I checked as scheduled on Sunday, and there was no sign of the Coliseo matches.

CMLL (SAT) 02/03/2024 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Valiente Jr. b Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Nitro
Valiente Jr. replaced Valiente on Friday (or, more likely, they just listed the wrong name)
3) Disturbio b Dulce Gardenia [lightning]
Disturbio snuck in a foul on Dulce
4) Reyna Isis, Tessa Blanchard, Tiffany b Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis
Tiffany replaced Catalina (illness)
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Felino, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
6) Flip Gordon, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Euforia, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]

Not a lot here. Not even sure which two matches I’d want to see.

Mistico defeated Averno in MLW on Saturday. This one got lost in everything else going on, as seems to happen a lot with MLW. They completely got their thunder stolen by the CMLL/AEW stuff; if you were curious enough to check out CMLL, you could do it on TV instead of PPV. Dario Cueto seconded Mistico to counter Salina de la Rena with Averno, which just feels weird. Mistico will challenge Rocky Romero for the MLW Middleweight Championship on the next show. I assume Rocky will win, but Kojima (seconded by Okumura) won the MLW main title on the same show, so who knows what can happen there.

CMLL (SUN) 02/04/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II b Átomo & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Astral b Eléctrico [lightning]
9:56 (or 4 seconds left on the clock)
3) Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido b Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray, Stigma
4) Hera, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard b Amapola, Metálica, Persephone
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
Rudos took 1, rudos got DQed for excessive violence in the second, and tecnicos took 3.

Blanchard went 3-0 on the weekend.

CMLL (TUE) 02/06/2024 Arena México
1) Astral & Oro Jr. vs Grako & Sangre Imperial
2) La Vaquerita & Maligna vs Hera & Olympia
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible
4) Atlantis Jr. vs Niebla Roja [lightning]
5) Místico vs Soberano Jr., Máscara Dorada, Ángel de Oro, Volador Jr., Templario, Flip Gordon, Zandokan Jr., Titán, Villano III Jr., Esfinge, Star Jr. [Reyes del Aire]

It’s a Tuesday show but this is really the big CMLL show of next week. The Gran Alternative should be great, and I’ve got no idea who’s will take it. Atlantis Jr. and Niebla Roja is nice bonus match. There’s some hope for match 3. Maybe not those first two.

CMLL (TUE) 02/06/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Leo & Temerario vs Bestia Negra & Rav
2) Fantástico & Halcón de Plata vs Cowboy & Omar Brunetti
3) Arlequín & Garabato vs Adrenalina & Obek
4) Johnny Dinamo vs Principe Daniel [lightning]
5) Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
6) Andrómeda, Dark Silueta, Valkiria vs La Maligna, Persephone, Tessa Blanchard
7) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Internacional Pantera vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Satánico
8) Euforia & Mephisto vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero

The opening three matches here are listed as “(Guadalajara) Gran Alternativa Presentation” matches. This building has been teasing running their own Gran Alternativa during January, and it’s not totally clear if those are first round matches or just the teams teaming in pre-tournament exhibition matches. It’s a 12 team tournament, so that would make sense as a one half of the first round. I don’t need a CMLL Guadalajara Informa, I don’t even watch the IWRG one most weeks, but it would be helpful to know what’s going on in between shows.

Temerario, Rav, Halcon de Plata, Cowboy, Garabato and Obek are the rookies in this batch. There was a Halcon de Plata here around 2011-12, I think the name is recycled, but there’s a chance he could’ve been wrestling on indie shows in Jalisco for some time. (Whatever the deal is, he’s been wrestling with the Romans who work some opening matches here.)

CMLL (FRI) 02/09/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Pierrothito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
rematch
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio
3) Marcela & Skadi vs Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard
4) Max Star, Rugido, Volador Jr. vs Averno, Euforia, Mephisto
5) Alom, Astro Boy Jr., Dragón de Fuego, Forneo, Hunter, Legendario vs Emperador Jr., Infarto (Laguna), Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Platino Kid (Laguna), Viento Negro [Torneo de Escuelas, semifinal]

The Torneo de Escuelas matches last year were never main events, even the final, so it certainly sticks out that CMLL’s giving that spot on this show. (This is probably the only Arena Mexico most of the losing team will ever get.) Volador being in the semiman stick out; he’s the only FantasticaMania wrestler on this show. It feels like CMLL’s holding back the actual main event, but they may just have deep faith in this concept.

CMLL/AEW

I guess this is a separate section for a while.

Let’s get the biggest stuff out of the way: AEW wrestlers, specifically members of the Blackpool Combat Club, are likely to arrive in Arena Mexico at some point. I don’t like saying this stuff without having dates of when things are going to happen, and I don’t have dates or that sort of solid info – this is just conjecture. It’s obvious that’s the direction they’re going right now. This is based on a Jon Moxley promo (distills to “maybe we’ll come to your place”) and a Volador promo (distills to “I dare you to show up.”) Watch enough AEW & CMLL and you know they’re only doing that sort of thing if there’s a plan to make it happen. It’s happening. I just don’t know when – the FantasticaMania tour is weirdly an obstacle in CMLL’s international plans? – and I suspect the first BCC appearance will be an unadvertised surprise. Homenaje a Dos Leyendas is the logical date for a match.

Hechicero/Danielson was outstanding. It was a total effort to make Danielson appear in real trouble from the outsider and barely squeeze out the win. Hechicero did his thing: a whole lot of stuff that US audiences hadn’t seen and did them well. He even brought back the fire entrance, which hasn’t been done in Mexico in years, and came off great on US TV. It was every bit a star-making performance as Black Taurus against Hijo del Vikingo on the Ring of Honor PPV, and in front of a crowd that was excited to see him. (Go back and listen to the reaction when he’s announced from Monterrey; this was a Mexico-friendly crowd.) He lost, it didn’t matter. It was a complete success.

(FWIW, Zack Sabre Jr. brought up the Hechicero/Danielson match in a promo to build his match with Danielson in NJPW Sunday. He pointed out he’s defeated Hechicero too – in PWG in 2018 – and threatened to come to Arena Mexico this year. Sabre made the same vague promise to show up in NJPW last year after the tag match with Virus, and nothing came of it. I don’t feel like writing anything off right now.)

The CMLL contingent (Mistico, Volador Jr., Mascara Dorada, and Hechicero) defeated Matt Mernard, Angelo Parker, Christopher Daniels, and Matt Sydal on Rampage in a good match. Volador, Dorada, and Hechicero are back on AEW Dynamite on Wednesday against Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castignoli. The CMLL guys have to get a win to keep that feud meaningful.

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 02/03/2024 Campo Militar 1, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal [AAA, Record, thecubsfan]
***Rey de Reyes 2024***
1) Faby Apache b La Hiedra, Pimpinela Escarlata [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
2) Lady Shani b Sexy Star, Flammer [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
3) Laredo Kid b Argenis, Aerostar [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
4) Texano Jr. b Cibernético, Electroshock [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
5) Hijo Del Vikingo b Sam Adonis, Psycho Clown [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
6) Lady Shani b Faby Apache [Torneo Reina de Reinas, final]
8:07. Dalys attacked Faby Apache after the match.
7) Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Mr. Iguana b Bengala, Kento, Takuma
10:35. Iguana beat Bengala, then immediately got beat up by Kento & Takuma.
8) Hijo Del Vikingo b Laredo Kid, Texano Jr. [Rey de Reyes, final]
17:05. Texano took a knee to the head from a Vikingo SSP off the apron close to 12 minutes in and left the match on a stretcher. Laredo got his hand on the ropes after getting hit by Cuerno del Vikingo. Vikingo kicked out of the inverted Laredo Fly and then landed his own Spanish Fly for the win.

My biggest complaint with AAA of late is the lack of good matches. They tried to book some good matches here. Mixed success, but they tried.

Laredo, Texano, and Vikingo had their working boots on in the main event. The last five minutes with just Vikingo/Laredo were at the level of their previous big matches; it just didn’t go as long. It was still strong with Texano in there; they just could focus better as a 1v1.

Texano’s injury was treated seriously. Vikingo landed on him hard around the head. It also didn’t seem to affect the match; either Texano was just about done anyway, or Laredo and Vikingo did a smooth job of adapting without him.

The trios match moved well, and they had some fun ideas. The ramp set up Iguana getting tossed into the rudos, but they had little room to work with there. It was solid for what they had time. Two straight matches with post-match attacks meant nothing was so AAA.

Lady Shani/Faby Apache makes sense on paper as the match to run but it wasn’t good. It’s been a while since she Shani had a positively impressive match; I’m not sure if that’s on her or simply a general AAA women’s division thing because match quality hasn’t mattered there at all. Faby didn’t look great either. The AAA women need some new blood but AAA tried that last year and then those women all left; maybe that’s got be the part to be fixed.

The new Bengala is Lucha x el Barrio winner Legendario, which he freely admitted on Instagram and in a post-show interview with Mas Lucha; it’s not meant to be a secret. The Bengala character has not gotten over with Ricky Marvin, Super Nova or Arkangel Divino, so it seems unlikely it will work on the fourth try with that baggage. He (and the AAA announcers) are pushing that it’s a difference because it’s a rudo gimmick this time. It’s a rudo gimmick that lost his first match too, though. “Bengala” may just be just a generic gimmick they were going to give the winner of the Lucha x el Barrio tournament regardless just to put them on TV, and they’ll give him a better one if/when they have actual plans for him. I would’ve thought AAA would’ve kept Legendario and Dick Angelo together, and maybe they still will come up with a matching second gimmick.

AAA had a Legendario who is now a Bengala. CMLL has both a Bengala and a Legendario, at least as long as he’s alive in the schools tournament. People who don’t follow lucha libre Mexicana frequently are confused by “Mistico” and also confused at how Mexican fans have no problem with it. The Mistico name stuff is the easy mode, he’s over and known at least.

Hijo del Vikingo and Lady Shani were given ceremonial Machuilas from the Mexican military instead of the usual sword/axe.

In the preliminary rounds (which will air next week), Sam Adonis suffered a broken hand wound taking a broom shot from Psycho Clown. He’ll need six weeks to heal. It could be worse; he should be fine in time for TripleMania. Fightful has a recent interview with Adonis; he mentions he hasn’t been under contract during his CMLL and AAA stints, which is partly by his choice. It sounds like he would rather stay outside a contract in case to make sure he stays available in case something else comes up, but he’d always work with AAA to leave right away if that did happen. Post-match interviews seemed to set up a Cibernetico/Sam Adonis feud.

SEDENA reported the 8,400 attendance. They had said the previous year’s show had 8,400. The bleachers looked slightly more empty this year, but maybe there was more of them? It’s an outdoor show, so the seating areas were enveloped by darkness in the portion we saw and it’s tough to get a total picture of it.

Aerostar suffered an injury in his match. Aerostar seems to suffer an injury in almost every match.

The live portion of these shows included a flyover by military helicopters. One of the helicopters got a bit too close to the Mexican flag and chopped off pieces. This went viral. (Though not as viral as a year-old clip of Vikingo doing a 630 through a table at a GCW show.)

AAA’s show in Aguascalientes on Thursday sold out. It’s a strong week for AAA business with the sell-out in Arena Aficion a couple of days earlier.

Big Lucha

Big Lucha World (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [Big Lucha, thecubsfan]
1) Maniacop & Satania b Alfa Jr. & Diosa Nix 
6:35
2) Big Tao Tao & La Brava b Cósmico & Sussy Love 
6:04
3) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo b Godspeed (Costa Rica), Intocable (Costa Rica), Pesadilla (Costa Rica) 
Intocable replaced Pesadilla Jr.
4) Flamita & Torito Negro b Tirano & Viajero 
18:07. Pinfall seemed to come unexpectedly or the count was otherwise messed up. Torito Negro declared he and Limbo (current #1 contenders) would win the tag titles.
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan b El Potro de Oro © [BIG LUCHA WORLD] 
10:12. Lokos Evans (actually with Jack Evans!) came to ringside late in the match, which seemed to distract Pirata. Potro got a pinfall attempt, but Lokos Evans pulled out the referee to stop the count. Pirata took advantage of a distracted Potro and beat him to win the title. Lokos Evans offered Pirata a spot post match; he was non-committal. Potro had issues with Lokos Evans (and Orbita again didn’t get along with his partners.) Flamita confronted Pirata and declared himself the next challenger.

There were parts of the top matches went well, they just the land the planes safely. The main event set up a couple of feuds going forward, but it’s always a risky idea to do screwy finishes with your main title. The semi-main was pretty good, with a flat ending. Tirante has shown more in more serious opportunities of late, but could stand to improve the impact of his strikes. Delta Force looked good in what they could control of the trios match, and Big Tao Tao did as well. Satania didn’t look AAA quality in the AAA tryouts and didn’t look Big Lucha quality in the opener. (She also hurt Alfa Jr. on her shooting star press to the floor.)

Someone who I assume was Pesadilla Jr. was sitting in the crowd with a sling, so that may explain the match change.

AVE (Wotan/Trauma)

AAA , AVE (SAT) 02/03/2024 Arena Lopez Mateos [@ptotime, thecubsfan]
1) Troyano b Atomic Star, Sol, X-Devil Jr., Venganza, Steven Manson, Íkaro, Belial, Impulso, Drago Kid, Calibus, Mini Vikingo 
2) Dragón King b Jack Evans [IWC LEGACY CRUISER] 
3) Cometa & Reina Dorada b Abismo Negro Jr. & La Hiedra 
3) Abismo Negro Jr. & La Hiedra b Cometa & Reina Dorada 
Flammer helped Hiedra
4) Dr. Karonte Jr., Esquizofrenia, Gran Markus Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool and Centauro, Jefe Del Norte, Pistolero Negro 
13:44. Challenges followed.
5) Forastero & Sansón b Demonio Infernal & Trauma II, Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. [AAA TAG] 
35:40. Challenges followed.
6) Aeroboy b Hijo Del Vikingo, Aramis, Ovett Jr.
11:35. Aeroboy beat Aramis.
7) Psycho Clown b LA Park, Fresero Jr., Pig Destroyer
16:23.
8) Trauma I b Wotan [mask] 
33:08. Referee 19.5 favored Wotan and was replaced by Chiquilin mid match. Wotan is Ruben Torres, 46 years old, 24 years a wrestler

I’m hoping to get the Tapatia awards done this week. (I’ll gesture at the rest of this post as the reason why it may be delayed. There’s a bunch of FantasticaMania stuff too I thought I’d get done this weekend before Things Started Happening.) One of the trends that’ll be evident in the voting is there are a lot more people watching and enjoying these style of Mexican wrestling shows than might be evident. You can find some writing and talking about it, but it still seems underserved. They also show I’ve mostly shrugged off as Not For Me, but the votes pushed me to think I need to pay more attention when it’s something important from this part of this scene. This mask match was important and worth jumping into the Mas Lucha subscriber pool for at least this month.

The AVE show and the mask match didn’t exactly convince me I had to make more time for all of this. The pacing is the one real thing that sticks out when going from CMLL or AAA to current Mexican indies. CMLL matches are generally between 10-15, and they’re going at a snappy pace. Indie matches go much longer and at a much more leisurely pace. The timing issues might have been related to Vikingo and Psycho needing to make it over from Rey de Reyes, but even the main event was meandering before the referee change. Vikingo and Psycho probably weren’t necessary; it felt like most of the crowd was wearing one Trauma shirt and would’ve been there just for that main event. The Pigs felt like an expired act, but the Negocio Traumado guys were way over on this show (and the Wotan fans only a vocal minority.)

The last half of the mask match was good, though maybe not the Wotan brawling fans he wanted to see. The four-way match with Vikingo was clearly thrown together, but they’re good enough to make that entertaining. If there was a Mexico promotion that consistently booked singles matches and even booked a singles feud, I’d love to see Aramis and Aeroboy work an actual program – their small interactions in this stood out. I only caught the matches after Rey de Reyes; this entire show a five hour stream that ended about 1 AM, and no one’s got time for all of that.

That IWC Legacy title match comes courtesy this week’s strangest use of money. US lucha promotion IWC Legacy coming to Mexico City to get their title belts endorsed by Mexico City lucha libre commission El Fantasma. Even pretending “endorsing belts” is meaningful, it’s unclear what a wrestling commission in Mexico City would have to do with approving belts for a US promotion. This was also an attempt to get the Mexico City press more interested in IWC Legacy, a promotion that runs shows thousands of miles away and whose shows (sometimes) turn up on Mas Lucha months after they occur. The big idea is they will eventually run four shows at Arena Lopez Mateos. IWC Legacy also seemed to find a way to get a title match onto that AVE card. SuperLuchas left this press conference thinking IWC Legacy was based in Atlanta. They’re based in Denver. It wasn’t even great at building awareness.

IWRG

IWRG , RGR (SUN) 02/04/2024 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, La Tijera, Mas Lucha]
1) La Sádica b Bengalee, Satania, Dehyna, Princesa Azul, Amazonika [RGR WOMEN, #1 Contenders]  
2) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. b Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [IWRG IC TAG]   
fifth defense
3) Tonalli b Black Destiny [RGR MIDDLE]  
first defense
4) Estrella Divina, Lolita, Vito Fratelli b Big Mami, Niño Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata 
Chuy Molina helped the Fratelli team and challenged Hamburguesa to a match
5) Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus b Coronel VIP & Hijo del Pirata Morgan [RGR TAG, torneo] 
Both Reyes Rosas and Hijo del Tirantes got involved. Canis Lupus, earlier said to be out two weeks, was cleared just in time to wrestle anyway.
6) DMT Azul © DQ Blue Demon Jr. [IWRG IC HEAVY] 
DMT Azul retains? Maybe? Ref Hijo del Tirantes got taken out, Ivan Rokov ran out and attacked Azul, encouraging Demon to cover. Demon hesitated. A Galeno Del Mal shaped man in a DMT Azul mask and shirt ran in next, teasing hitting Demon before hitting Azul. Tirantes saw that one and called a DQ, raising Azul’s (knocked out) arm. Rokov and the mystery man blocked Tirantes from giving the belt to Azul, giving it to Demon and putting it on him instead. Demon didn’t want it but ended up leaving with it as if he were the winner anyway.

The finish is enjoyably horrid. The fight over the chair, Tirantes bump, Azul’s kick that doesn’t come near Demon, Azul giving up on his finish hold well before the run-in happens, and the complete nonsense that follows. Tonalli/Black Danger was said to be good, at least.

IWRG (SUN) 02/11/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Ajolotl vs Histeriosis
2) Bengalee & Zuzu Divine vs Dehynna & Lolita
3) Fussion, Keira, Tornado vs Águila Roja, Rey Halcón, Sádika
4) Asterboy, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Abigor, Puma de Oro, Yorvak
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus, Mamba, Tonalli vs Hijo del Fishman, Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Wesley Pipes
6) Hell Boy © vs Ivan Rokov [AIWF CHAMP]

I’m unsure what the AIWF championship is. I’m unsure if Fantasma has endorsed said championship.

Other Notes

Today is the 40th anniversary of El Santo’s passing. By the time you read this, there will have been a tribute to him at his statue in Tulancingo.

El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. won NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Championship from KENOH on Sunday, becoming the first Mexican and second foreigner (Eddie Edwards) to hold that championship. Wagner’s victory seems to be a well-recovered surprise; he’s gotten good reviews for his work there, but it didn’t seem like he was expected to win. Wagner may be a short-term champion, but many thought he’d be holding the National Championship, which he held forever. Wagner joins Diamante as Mexican wrestlers currently holding the heavyweight championship of a Japanese promotion.

Elsewhere on that NOAH show, Daga kept the GHC Junior Heavyweight championship, and Los Golpeador failed in their challenge for the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team championship. They still hold the junior version of those titles. (Edit: nope, they lost it and I didn’t notice!)

The reopening of Arena San Juan for a show promoted by “The Wolf Kingdom” looked to be a sell-out. The Parks beat Los Traumas and Wagner on top. They set up a Super Boy Jr. vs Rokambole Jr. vs Brazo Celestial mask match for 03/01. That’s an Ovett son versus a Villano V son versus (I think) a Super Brazo son, and I think Super Boy’s the slight favorite to lose.

Diva Salvaje broke their leg on a show in Saltillo on Saturday. Jessy Ventura is trying to raise money for medical bills; more information in that link. Laredo Kid was also raising money at Sunday’s Arena Neza’s show. You can see the incident at the tail end of this video; Salvaje went for an Asai moonsault, and two people were there to catch them. It’s not a great catch, but it still seems more a freak occurrence based on the impact. Salvaje was one of the most active luchadors in 2023.

When Rey Fenix vaguely tweeted about “getting used to the new hip”, I thought maybe he got surgery or maybe it was Rey Fenix being his obtuse self on social media. Rey Fenix, Sunday on Instagram, called a SuperLuchas report that he got surgery “fake news.” It is better never to pretend to understand what Rey Fenix means.

Segunda Caida write sabout more Monterrey.

The Dragon has a video of Titan’s top ten moves.

ProCine previews the upcoming El Halcon movie.

CMLL, the stuff happening in the ring

CMLL (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena México
1) Acero & Pierrothito vs Angelito & Pequeño Olímpico [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Crixus, Raider, Vegas vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Tabata vs Hera, La Catalina, Reyna Isis
4) Tessa Blanchard vs Dark Silueta [lightning]
5) Atlantis Jr., Flip Gordon, Volador Jr. vs Soberano Jr., Templario, Último Guerrero
6) Brillante Jr. & Místico vs Máscara Dorada & Neón [Gran Alternativa, final]

My gut is Mascara Dorada & Neon goes over because Brillante Jr. is not ready to be pushed higher than he is right now. Neon isn’t perfect either but he’s better. That would mean Mascara Dorada winning this tournament two years in a row (odd) and Mistico losing (also odd.) It also likely would mean the end of Neon & Futuro as a team, which would be a little sad. I’m still surprised this is the final – I think they’re both good prospects, I think I would’ve held off on them for one more year. Just the fact that we’re seeing Mistico and Mascara Dorada as opponents is surpsiing.

Otherwise, it’s not the most exciting card. Maybe something comes out of the opener. Maybe something comes out of Soberano and Templario teaming.

This will be the first show on the 25 (and 35) USD tier. It should stream as well as Tuesday shows do. Well, most Tuesdays. I think there’s still going to be a lot of people who aren’t paying attention between Fridays and will have no idea that a) it’s off PPV and b) it’s now only part of an expensive plan. There were times, deep into the empty arena era, when it appeared there might not be more than ten people watching these shows digitially. Those times might be back tonight.

The Arena Queretaro 42nd Anniversary show on Thursday night, headlined by Mistico, Titan, Volador and Ultimo Guerrero, looks like it was a sell out.

CMLL (SAT) 02/03/2024 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Oro Jr., Robin, Valiente Jr. vs Dr. Karonte I, Enfermero Jr., Nitro
Valiente Jr. replaced Valiente on Friday (or, more likely, they just listed the wrong name)
3) Dulce Gardenia vs Disturbio [lightning]
4) Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Zeuxis vs Reyna Isis, Tessa Blanchard, Tiffany
Tiffany replaced Catalina (illness)
5) Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero
6) Euforia, Templario, Volador Jr. vs Flip Gordon, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]

La Catalina is listed but says she’s out this weekend due to a health issue. A lucha libre promotion announcing a sub and a wrestler filming a video to acknowledge it, definitely the most remarkable thing in lucha libre.

Averno and Mistico are wrestling for MLW on Saturday night. That’ll stream on Triller (FITE) at 7 pm. I assume MLW thought that was going to be a great bit to lure in CMLL-curious fans, but now those people have an AEW show to watch as well.

CMLL (SUN) 02/04/2024 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I & Micro Gemelo Diablo II vs Átomo & Periquito Sacaryas
2) Eléctrico vs Astral [lightning]
3) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido
4) Hera, Olympia, Tessa Blanchard vs Amapola, Metálica, Persephone
5) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Hijo de Blue Panther vs Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible

Maybe another Octagon stint with some open top spots in February. It makes it unclear why I’m requesting CMLL adding Sunday shows to their streaming package, not really sure I need to see that. No Lluvia and Jarochita means many ruda/rudas matches coming up. Lightning match is the long ago tag team partners (who both seem fading out of CMLL.)

CMLL, the stuff they announced on Informa

CMLL led off Informa with a discussion of the new YouTube subscription tiers. It was clear CMLL heard the loud criticism for their steaming prices. It was also clear CMLL wasn’t going to change those prices, at least for now. Their message instead was the same math I did here; these are cheaper options if you bought everything. This is true. I suspect it’s also true that only a small percentage of people were buying everything. The rest of those people, who might tune in for one big show or once a month, are not suddenly going to start paying more.

The part that irritated me greatly was Julio Cesar Rivera saying YouTube would be much better as far as outages and issues. The Tuesday stream the night before was unwatchable due to buffering issues. Those same buffering skips were happening, to a much lesser degree, on that very Informa program. (CMLL did reupload that Informa program.) The early difference between Boletia and CMLL is the stream will eventually not work in both places, but CMLL or Boletia would send a refund when it stopped working for them, and CMLL alone is going to pretend like it doesn’t happen. All CMLL had to do to pass their first test was to acknowledge the feed went down and put up a clean version. They failed.

Other YouTube streaming notes: they plan to put historical content starting with Volador’s first matches next week. The Saturday matches will be whichever two CMLL selects and there was no mention of when they’d go up (or even when that would start.) They brought up the idea of including Puebla sometime down the road, though there was no firm commitment. FantasticaMania Mexico was mentioned along with other shows requiring the highest tier to see live. They’re still figuring out that list, among other things.

If I look at this selfishly, this new CMLL YouTube digital plan is a positive development. I am the person who is buying everything, and this plan saves a few dollars. I will no longer need to make sure I buy each  PPV each week and that the purchase goes through; it’s just a subscription through Google, it should be fine. For the majority of you who do not purchase and instead dip into the Google Drive to watch CMLL, this will ensure I continue to get the shows and eventually post them. CMLL’s change in strategy will also give you access to matches you wouldn’t have previously. It make it less likely I’ll ever miss a show, and so you’ll have more access. This should be good news for me personally.

The YouTube plan does not feel like good news. The goal of this site – the goal of most everything I do in the wrestling space – is to make lucha libre more accessible to more people. CMLL wrestlers showing up on US TV as a big deal was a great step forward in that area, something I wouldn’t have dared to dream of at any previous time. This YouTube plan, positioning CMLL as something only for a niche diehard (and cash-rich) audience, is a big step backward in accessibility. There are workarounds, but the route to getting more people interested in CMLL and lucha libre in general does not go through a Google Drive. Lucha libre Mexicana has to be really good and really available for people to give it a chance. CMLL’s got half of that equation worked out, but only half. This weekend should be a big success story for CMLL and lucha libre, but this feels like a defeat.

The 02/06 Reyes del Aire tournament full 12 person field

• Zandokan Jr.
• Villano III Jr.
• Flip Gordon
• Esfinge
• Angel de Oro
• Mistico
• Titan
• Templario
• Soberano Jr.
• Star Jr.
• Mascara Dorada
• Volador Jr?

Julio Cesar Rivera included Mistico twice. He likely meant Volador. We still have no idea if “starts” means anything at all.

CMLL announced the teams for the Torneo de Escuelas. It was announced as a pairs tournament for this year, but was back to being 6v6 ciberneticos when explained on Wednesday. Matches will take place on Friday nights during February, overlapping the period where a bunch of names will be in Japan for Fantastica Mania. There are no announced coaches this year, so the pairings were instead determined by drawing balls out of a tumbler. I was very confused live and hopefully will do a better job here than I did on Twitter Wednesday. The overall schedule is:

• 02/09: Team Comarca Lagunera versus Team Mexico City
• 02/16: Team Guadalajara versus Team Puebla
• 02/23: the finals

Comarca Lagunera is the official name for the region, including the cities of Torreon and Lerdo in Coahuila, and Gomez Palacio in Durango. I often will shorten it to to “La Laguna” and wrestlers will all themselves Laguneros; the area has a lot of lagoons (“Lagunas”), hence the name.

The Comarca Lagunera team

• Infarto – wrestles primarily in ARena Coliseo Tony Arellano
• Viento Negro – the latest name from Gran Jefe VI/Tarantula
• Platino Kid – challenged Futuro for the national lightweight title
• Emperador Jr. – goes by “Emperador Azteca Jr.” locally but shortening it to avoid confusion in Mexico City
• Misterio Blanco – returning
• Misterio Negro – returning

You can find video of all of these wrestlers on Angel el Elegante’s YouTube channel. The most exciting prospect from this area is a kid named Zonik, but he’s very much a kid and CMLL is going to wait for him to get a little older before doing anything with him. Exotico La Fashion, originally from Chihuahua but wrestling around Torreon a lot, seemed like a name who could’ve been on this list. They may be waiting for a bigger spot for him.

Team Mexico City

• Astro Boy Jr. – a nephew of Mistico, using the name multiple people in the family have used
• Dragon de Fuego – undercard wrestler on those The Wolf King/The Phantom Wolf shows
• Foreno – a familiar name if you’ve been following the Big Lucha, showed a lot of growth over his time there and feels like he could fit in the CMLL roster
• Legendario – not the guy who just finished second in AAA’s talent search (but that makes it hard to find much about him)
• Hunter – can’t find much about this one. He translated his name to Cazador and a wrestler by that name has worked some recent Lucha Meme sshow but that may be a different person.
• Alon – is a 6′ 4″ wrestler, noticeably taller than the rest of the crew. Seemed to spell his name as “Alom” on the indies. Showed up on FILL 100 as a Gym Hip Hop Man training (teaming with Historico from last year’s tournament.) Also turned up on Valiente shows when hose were a thing. Doesn’t seem to have wrestled in 2023.

Team Puebla are all Arena Puebla regulars, many of whom have made one off cameos in CDMX prior

• Rey Apocalipsis – who was a standout for a time during the streams, and then seemed to get bored. Was Rey Samuray’s rival at on epoint.
• Xel Hua – previously spelled as Xelhua
• Rayo Metalico
• Novato – has looked a lot like a Novato in his brief CDMX experiences
• Malayo
• Hijo de Centella Roja

Team Guadalajara are likewise Arena Coliseo Guadalajara regulars, with a couple repeats from last year. They’re making a point of not repeating from Gran Alternativas.

• Calavera Jr. I
• Calavera Jr. II – brothers, using an old gimmick
• Fantastico
• Adrenalina – the two members of the local champion tecnico trio that weren’t in the Gran Alternativa
• Barboza – an old friend of Zandokan and a fellow pirate
• Persa

I don’t have a strong feeling about which team will win. Guadalajara won last year.

Katara had her CMLL CDMX debut on Informa. Also, her farewell. Katara & Hatanna won the Occidente Tag Team Championships in Guadalajara and Katara was scheduled to make her CMLL debut tonight. She talked about that win and her excitement. Julio Cesar Rivera mentioned she was a third generation wrestler and a member of the Sangre Chicana family. Then, a surprise: Katara explained she’d be wrestling unmasked in Mexico City and voluntarily unmasked during the show. She’ll be wrestling under her name of Tabata, and they revealed she was Lluvia’s daughter. Katara/Tabata, being Lluvia’s daughter, was known in some circles but had not been publicly acknowledged.  Tabata had appeared on CMLL Informa ages ago; she was into boxing then and didn’t have a plan to become a wrestler. She later worked as an edecan for Robles Promotions.

Tabata will be joining Lluvia & Jarochita on their trip to Japan; she’s wrestling KOHAKU on 02/25. They’re all leaving on 02/08 and returning around 03/01. Ice Ribbon announced Lluvia & Jarochita will team with Tsukina Umino vs Ancham, YuuRI and JC Storm on 02/11.

Daniel Barba of Barba Producciones appeared on Informa to talk about working with CMLL going forward. As previously mentioned, he’s based in Saltillo and is running matches at the Vive Latino festival. He’s also run shows internationally and plans to bring CMLL wrestlers to Spain, Chile, and other countries. That sounds like big talk, but he did run a tour of shows in Spain last year. Salvador Lutteroth appeared on the segment to endorse CMLL’s participation on these shows.

CMLL, the stuff happening in AEW

A lot happened

• AEW announced Hechicero will wrestle Bryan Danielson this Saturday on AEW Collison
• Hechicero, Mistico, Volador Jr., and Mascara Dorada watched the opening match from the crowd to promote that match
• Jon Moxley, who is part of the Blackpool Combat Club with Danielson, wrestled Jeff Hardy in that opener. He ended over the rail in the match, shoved Mistico and flipped off the entire group
• Moxley won, then continued to taunt the CMLL wrestlers from inside the ring
• The CMLL wrestlers jumped the rail and laid out Moxley
  • Volador was so red
  • shooter Mascara Dorada took down and choked Moxley fairly easily
• Security tried to intervene and the CMLL wrestlers took them out. A collection of AEW wrestlers (Daddy Magic Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Christopher Daniels, and Matt Sydal) ran off the CMLL crew. The other BCC members were said not to be at this show this week.
• Jon Moxley, in a promo taped after the match and put on social media, expressed some respect for CMLL and their wrestlers but threatened to take the fight to CMLL itself.

This set up a bunch of matches

• the AEW wrestlers who made the save – Daniels, Sydal, Martell, and Parker – will face the CMLL crew on AEW Rampage Friday night. This match was already taped on Wednesday and was said to have gone well.
• Bryan Danielson will wrestle Hechicero this Saturday on AEW Collision.
• Danielson, Moxley, and Claudio Castagnolli will take on Hechicero, Volador, and Mascara Dorada next Wednesday.

We can assume that Wednesday is the stopping point for the moment. The following AEW Collision is on 02/10. Those four wrestlers will be on the NJPW FantasticaMania tour starting on 02/12. Danielson himself is wrestling ZSJ on the 02/11 NJPW show. Before any of this happened, I had been thinking it would be a fun easter egg sort of thing if Hechicero came in a day early and sat in the crowd for Sabre/Danielson but there was no chance that would ever happen. Now, I guess there’s a real chance they’d actually do an angle there.

AEW is pushing Hechicero as the focal point of this issue since he’s the guy facing Danielson. This entire storyline feels like an idea for which Danielson had a lot of input. Another thing on Danielson’s wishlist has been to wrestle in Arena Mexico. Moxley teasing that he, Danielson, and others would come to Arena Mexico was a strong message from his promo. Those guys are not confirmed to come, but they teased it as a possibility. CMLL logically would want to do something like that on the 03/29 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show, but the dates the AEW wrestlers are available make a bigger difference.

If CMLL will continue to be a presence on AEW TV past these two shows, those guys need to Danielson/Hechicero match on Collision or the trios match on Dynamite. (AEW could keep them around even with losing both, but they’d mean a lot less to fans of both promotions.) It’s easier to come up with Team CMLL winning the trios match but, as long as the CMLL side needs a win, there’s a shot they get it on Saturday with Hechicero/Danielson. It’s the highest profile US match of Hechicero’s career regardless.

I can not express strongly enough what a big deal it is for CMLL (and for their Mexican fans) that CMLL wrestlers were involved in an angle with top AEW wrestlers and treated on their level. Foreign promoters tend to book Mexican wrestlers against Mexican wrestlers, figuring it’ll deliver the best match. They’re usually correct, but Mexican fans want to see their top guys treated as top guys against other promotion’s top guys. They don’t want to see their wrestlers treated as a lower-level sideshow. They want their guys to be treated as important as they believe they are. And what they really want to see is those top guys from other places come to Mexico and battle their top guys there. Moxley teasing that was a huge deal.

(PETA will check if I keep beating this dead horse, but compare this CMLL appearance to how Laredo Kid and Black Taurus have been used in Impact. Night and day.)

I’d be fascinated to know if there was any measurable increase in VIX subscribers this week. They’re the Mexico home of AEW. I’m guessing no, but it’d still be worth knowing. The amount of Mexican wrestling Facebook pages that normally pay little to no attention to AEW being excited about this angle really stood out.

Volador Jr. now has a Twitter account (or Alexis Salazar created a Volador Jr. twitter account) for this angle.

Komander wrestled as part of this same edition of Dynamite. His graphic mentioned him as AAA Cruiserweight Champion, though he didn’t have the belt. Taya faced Deonna Purrazzo on the show. Those two feuded over the AAA Reina de Reinas championship, something that AEW would normally reference and didn’t seem to (or I missed it.) Hijo del Vikingo and Penta worked a match before the live broadcast, seemingly taped for Ring of Honor. You can sum up the evidence differently and come to different conclusions on what it means to the AEW/AAA relationship.

Everyone will agree that AAA would’ve loved to have run the same storyline. Hijo del Vikingo and the Lucha Brothers and Komander have been presented as individuals, never a collective force, and often at a much lower level than the guys like the BCC. AAA being treated as an equal to AAA would’ve meant a lot for AAA both business-wise and mentally, and it just didn’t happen. AAA fans have been dying for guys like Moxley and Danielson to show up at TripleMania and the idea – just the idea! – that they might show up in Arena Mexico will cause heads to explode. Konnan’s podcast listens should be up this week just from people checking in to see if he erupts like a volcano about all of this. The AAA wrestlers themselves are probably unhappy; and some have even hinted at it publicly – they feel like they should been getting these same opportunities in AEW and AAA either didn’t come through or actively prevented it. I don’t know that’s accurate, but CMLL people showing up in AEW has affected AAA’s relationship with AAA luchadors.

I think CMLL/AEW stuff is a result of Bryan Danielson and Tony Khan having an affinity for CMLL prior to AEW. AAA didn’t have that and couldn’t build that interest even as they started working together. AAA’s business model also doesn’t rely on Bryan Danielson or Tony Khan liking what they do. AAA may be bitter about how this has all gone down and it could affect the AAA/AEW relationship, but they’ll live or die for a million other more important reasons. AAA could use the energy overall as motivation to put on a more appealing show (maybe book some great matches again?) or put on something their fans will enjoy and shut out the outside world. Maybe they’ll use it to make another attempt to get in with WWE. I just hope the people in charge use this information instead of rejecting it for not being something they want to hear.

(While we’re on AEW stuff, Fenix indicated he’s gotten a hip replacement. I’m no 100% sure, Fenix’s rare Twitter posts can be vague and confusing.)

AAA 

AAA has Rey de Reyes on Saturday. There’s a lot of missing info on this show, partly because it’s at a military base and they clearly don’t want non-military people to try and crash the show. Partly it seems like it’s just the way AAA does business in 2024, they don’t put out much info about anything they’re doing. What we the broadcast starts at 8 pm on Space and HBO Max (Mexico and a couple of other Latin American countries, not the US, I’m not going even to mention HBO Max on Twitter because there’s no amount of times I can ‘it’s not on MAX in the US’ that will get people to listen.) We don’t know if 8 p is the actual time the live event starts; it seems unlikely, so Space is probably getting the last 3-4 matches as always. AAA will not profit off the people who might buy this show on FITE if it was offered.

The Space broadcast should start with the announcers briefly recapping the already taped matches and any angles that took place. They haven’t done that in the past.

AAA TV (SAT) 02/03/2024 Campo Militar 1, Miguel Hidalgo, Distrito Federal
***Rey de Reyes 2024***
1) Faby Apache vs La Hiedra, Pimpinela Escarlata [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
2) Sexy Star vs Flammer, Lady Shani [Torneo Reina de Reinas, semifinal]
3) Laredo Kid vs Argenis, Aerostar [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
4) Cibernético vs Texano Jr., Electroshock [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
5) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Sam Adonis, Psycho Clown [Rey de Reyes, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Torneo Reina de Reinas, final]
7) Colmillo de Plata, Garra de Oro, Mr. Iguana vs ?, Kento, Takuma
8) ? vs ??, ??? [Rey de Reyes, final]

Sam Adonis won Rey de Reyes last year as a lead up to him losing his hair at Copa TripleMania. Sexy Star won the Reina de Reinas tournament as a lead up to doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the year. AAA is generally doing nothing of note, leading me to think this is the latter. It’s hard to speculate on a winner given there are no stakes. I’ll guess Lady Shani makes the women’s tournament; the tecnicas seem to win the tournament to balance Las Toxicas winning everything else. Shani/Apache is the best possible final. Vikingo/Adonis/Psycho should be good, but I don’t have great hopes from the other matches. Cibernetico is my pick, setting him up for a bigger match just like Adonis last year.

The mystery person in the semi-main could be the new Taurus; AAA’s first appearances tend not to be on the posters they’re listed for, so he’s likely to turn up before the Show center.

Whatever doesn’t air this week will probably air on 02/10.

Pagano & Psycho Clown defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. & Texano Jr. in the main event of Arena Aficion’s 72nd Anniversary show on Thursday. (Full results.)

The La Parkita that sometimes wrestles here (but not often) said he’s from Pachuca when promoting that Arena Aficion show.

Other Shows

They’re back in the gym tonight.

Big Lucha (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena Big Lucha, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Maniacop & Satania vs Alfa Jr. & Diosa Nix
2) Big Tao Tao & La Brava vs Cósmico & Sussy Love
3) Cometa Maya, Morfosis, Radioactivo vs Godspeed (Costa Rica), Pesadilla (Costa Rica), Pesadilla Jr. (Costa Rica)
4) Flamita & Torito Negro vs Tirano & Viajero
5) El Potro de Oro © vs Hijo del Pirata Morgan [BIG LUCHA WORLD]

Pirata can have good matches, but I’m not sure how he’ll treat this sort of show. Tirano has an open chance for a good match in the semi-main. The Costa Rican are all from LuchaMania Costa Rica and have been training with Ricky Marvin this week. Cosmico is “Rey Cosmico Jr.” but they only give him one name here. (Luchadors should have multiple-word names. Every one-word name is being used by someone else already.) It still confuses me that Maniacop gets to be Maniacop outside of IWRG; I would’ve bet they owned that one.

TKP (FRI) 02/02/2024 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Fantasma De La Ópera II vs Bélico, Dragón de Fuego, Hausser, Juan Diego, Fantasma de la Ópera, Bélico II, Visionario, Sumed Black, Divino
2) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Amnesia & Gallego and Chicanito & Osiris and ? & Lunatik Fly
3) Rokambole Jr. & Villano V Jr. vs Brazo Celestial & Brazo Cibernetico and Lunatik Extreme & Súper Boy Jr.
4) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. and Bugambilia, Joe Lider, Máximo
5) Hijo de LA Park, LA Park, LA Park Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Trauma I, Trauma II

The first show in Arena San Juan since June 2023, following a fire in the general building complex that claimed two lives. They should acknowledge that before getting on with the silliness. This looks like a normal show in the Lucha Libre Boom “here’s way too many recognizable people for any good matches to happen” style. There will be eight versions of this show on YouTube by Monday morning.

AAA , AVE (SAT) 02/03/2024 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Lady Shani & Octagón Jr. vs Cometa & La Hiedra
2) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Aeroboy, Aramis, Ovett Jr.
3) Pig Decapitador, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Centauro, Jefe Del Norte, Pistolero Negro and Dr. Karonte Jr., Esquizofrenia, Gran Markus Jr.
4) Forastero & Sansón vs Demonio Infernal & Trauma II and Cíclope & Miedo Extremo and Hijo de LA Park & LA Park Jr. [AAA TAG]
5) Psycho Clown vs LA Park, Fresero Jr., Pig Destroyer
6) Trauma I vs Wotan [mask]

Trauma/Wotan has a chance of being that big indie match that people rally around. It’s a Mas Lucha subscriber show, so it’ll have less visibility than other matches, but it’s been built up to such a big deal that people who are into these guys will probably have no issue putting money down to see them. The rest of this card doesn’t even matter, though it’s funny to see Vikingo working second from the bottom (and Octagon Jr. working the opener isn’t great either.) It’s an Arena Lopez Mateos show, they’ll probably add a bunch of matches no one really wanted to see.

IWRG , RGR (SUN) 02/04/2024 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee vs Satania, Dehyna, Princesa Azul, La Sádica, Amazonika [RGR WOMEN, #1 Contenders]
2) Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. vs Noisy Boy & Spider Fly [IWRG IC TAG]
fifth defense
3) Tonalli vs Black Destiny [RGR MIDDLE]
first defense
4) Big Mami, Niño Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Estrella Divina, Lolita, Vito Fratelli
5) Coronel VIP & Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Hell Boy & Hijo de Canis Lupus [RGR TAG, torneo]
6) DMT Azul © vs Blue Demon Jr. [IWRG IC HEAVY]
second defense

This is the RGR show announced a month ago. Matches 2/3 have a chance. I don’t think IWRG or RGR has announced a replacement for Hijo de Canis Lupus, who’s supposed to be out with a neck injury.

There’s a Zacatecas lucha libre museum (!) and they’re running a contest to submit a script for a short lucha libre film. The winner will get to produce their film.

CMLL

CMLL (MON) 01/29/2024 Arena Puebla [Grada, Porra Fresa]
1) Asturiano & Rayo Metálico b Blue Shark & Millenium
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia DQ Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis 
excessive violence (wouldn’t stop doing mounted punches)
3) Okumura b Pegasso [lightning]
4) Apocalipsis, Cholo, Disturbio b Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa 
5) Bárbaro Cavernario & Último Guerrero b Atlantis Jr. & Flip Gordon [seeding battle royal]
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. b Flip Gordon, Máscara Dorada, Valiente Jr. [semifinal]
7) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero b Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible [semifinal]
8) Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible b Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. [final] 
sets up a trios title match next week

Barbaros/Tecnicos looks like the title match for 02/04. CMLL clearly wanted to get the titles to that rudo team before Dragon Rojo Jr. got hurt. The only reason they don’t it this time is because it’s Puebla – but it is a special Puebla holiday show.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Galaxy & Pequeño Magía b Full Metal & Minos
2) Diamond b Halcón Suriano Jr. [lightning]
8:32
3) Andrómeda, Marcela, Skadi b Amapola, Olympia, Persephone
11:08
4) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. DQ Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
11:06 or thereabouts. Akuma faked a foul from Virus to get the DQ. Virus angrily demanded a rematch, Akuma accepted, then Los Cancerberos still beat up Ola Negra.
5) Flip Gordon b Ángel de Oro
16:40
6) Atlantis, Star Jr., Titán b Euforia, Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr.
12:45

The matches were not much. That we got to see of them, anyway. It’s been a long time since a CMLL stream died as many times as the show did tonight. Long buffering periods started even as CMLL introduced the show and took place in almost every match. It was just an annoying mess.

Any other subscriber service would immediately acknowledge the issue with the stream, promising to put up a clean version and then putting up that clean version. CMLL has said nothing as of press time.

Nothing CMLL announced with the YouTube tiers should’ve affected how CMLL streamed on Tuesday. Those new tiers don’t even matter until Friday (and so there’s no point in moving onto them yet.) It was some other issue. That issue could actually be on YouTube’s side, but I didn’t see any widespread outage noted when searching around. Streaming issues will happen, it’s all about how you handle them. Wrestling streaming sites that cost a 1/3rd of what CMLL is asking for would normally acknowledge the issue as it’s happening, promise to fix in, and then upload a clean copy. CMLL, as ever, has done none of these things. They may eventually upload something, but they won’t say a word about anything that happened until they have something up there. That’s unacceptable for how much they’re charging for this service.

CMLL (TUE) 01/30/2024 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Mas Lucha]
1) Eclipse Jr., Gran Kenut, Relámpago Azul b Quka, Sangre Azul, Último Ángel
2) Estrellita Mágica, Lady Amazona, Lady Metal b Náutica, Sexy Sol, Valkiria
3) Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel b Fúnebre, Johnny Dinamo, Minotauro
win via foul
4) Okumura, Elemental, Yutani b Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
5) Crixus, Difunto, Star Black b Ángel Rebelde, Gallero, Halcón Negro Jr.
6) Barboza & Zandokan Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II
straight falls
7) Averno, Soberano Jr., Templario b Atlantis Jr., Explosivo, Vaquero Jr.
Vaquero and Soberano, Gran Alternativa partners, refused to fight and Vaquero helped Soberano’s team win

The Guadalajara programming branch doesn’t seem to pay close attention to Mexico City. It means you get some different ideas, but also you get matches that the wrestlers decide don’t make much sense. The main event was essentially a 4v2 match because Soberano and Vaquero decided fighting didn’t make that much sense.

Guadalajara announced they’re running a Sunday show on 02/25 with Mascara Dorada and asked the fans if they’d rather a noon or 5 pm start. The sponsored shows they run occasionally on Sundays usually start at noon, the pre-COVID regular Sunday shows started at 5 pm. The bigger issue here is Mascara Dorada is scheduled to be in Los Angeles for Prestige Wrestling on 02/25, wrestling Rey Horus. As far as I know, right now, that Prestige match is still happening.

CMLL Informa has a lot to cover today. They said this week will cover the last six people for Reyes del Aire. They’re also set to announce the full list of participants and the format of this year’s Torneo de Escuelas. I’d expect we’ll hear more about the AEW/CMLL relationship and get a hard sell for the upgraded YouTube tiers.

Announced guests

• Titan, Templario, Soberano Jr., Star Jr. (Rey del Aire? the weekly Arena Coliseo interview)
• Tessa Blanchard (she’s back)
• Lluvia, La Jarochita, Katara (Katara introduction)
• Neon & Brillante Jr. (Gran Alternativa)
• Torneo de Escuelas

Mascara Dorada, Mistico, Volador Jr., and Hechicero are in New Orleans for the AEW Dynamite/Rampage tapings. Their Rampage match (or matches) will likely be announced during Dynamite. I still think it’s notable AEW hasn’t just announced the default tag match.

CMLL (MON) 02/05/2024 Arena Puebla
1) Millenium & Rayo Metálico vs Hijo del Perverso & Perverso
2) Fuego vs Prayer [lightning]
3) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Tessa Blanchard
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stigma vs Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr.
5) Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero vs Hijo del Villano III, Villano III Jr., Zandokan Jr.
6) Atlantis Jr., Star Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Terrible [CMLL TRIOS]
first defense

This is a 5 pm holiday start. There’s no mention on the poster of this being a streaming event. We did keep thinking Los Indestructibles would lose their trios titles and they haven’t left, so there’s at least some hope for this random trios champ.

Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr. are teaming up again as Andrade family. I’m unsure if there’s any interest in them without La Sombra, but they’re probably there to lose to the locals.

On Saturday, Hechicero talked with Estrellas del Ring and mentioned how excited he is to go over the place. He says he’s doing to three continents and five countries. Mexico, the United States, and Japan are well known. Hechicero brings up Costa Rica’s CWE, which regularly works with CMLL and foreign wrestlers; he’s there on March 17th. That leaves a country and continent; Hechicero just mentions surprises. The safe guess is he’s booked for RevPro again; they’ve talked about CMLL news to come.

(It looks like Hechicero pops up on a NJPW FanasticaMania preview too, if I’m guessing right about the person behind the ? bubble)

Rodrigo Barba, of Saltillo’s Barba Producciones, posted a photo of himself with Salvador Lutteroth to promote CMLL and BARBA working together on the Vive Latino shows. He pushed the two groups will continue to work together. BARBA had previously worked with AAA, who seem to be using other local promoters for their upcoming Saltillo taping.

A luchador named Rey Diablo debuted Sunday in Arena Coliseo. In a post-match interview, Rey Diablo revealed he’s the son of Rey Bucanero and La Diabolica (del Caribe.) Rey Bucanero confirmed the story and says he hopes to pass on the Rey Bucanero name to him, and that he makes it to the CMLL roster.

Box y Lucha 3588 has the Gran Alternativa final.

AAA

AAA held a press conference on Monday in Monterrey. It mostly repeated a lot of info given in Mexico City last week for the local press while pushing that tickets are on sale for both the upcoming events in the area. It was a rare AAA press conference not attended by Dorian Roldan, which signaled its importance. Alejandro Montes was the AAA representative instead.

There were a few news bits. The plan is for four Showcenter events in 2023. AAA hasn’t kept strictly to those numbers in the past year. The plan is for those four to be TV tapings, which the Showcenter means will be a big percentage of AAA’s TV this year. It also means less of AAA’s roster appearing on these shows; they seem to send fewer people and fill out TV matches with locals for those shows. It will be hard for a fringe AAA roster member to be on TV much in 2024 between those shows and the Origenes concept.

The “Taurus” appearing on the 02/18 Showcenter event was said to be a debut, acknowledging the previous one has left.

Vampiro and Alberto were brought on to talk about appearing on TripleMania Monterrey. There is a Big Idea that Alberto’s opponent (or maybe opponents) would be a singles match against (probably) a foreign wrestler. It wasn’t clear to me how this was supposed to work, but an Alberto interview suggests AAA already has three outside names, and fans will pick from one. Asking fans on social media something involving Alberto is asking for mayhem. There will be a follow-up press conference in late February, after the Showcenter event, and they’ll announce some of the matches then. There was a mention that the deal between Multimedios (which owns the baseball stadium) and AAA for TripleManias at this venue had originally been for five years and now was extended. They didn’t mention how long it was extended and hadn’t mentioned it was a five-year deal prior, as far as I can find.

That press conference did not mention a Laredo Kid/Antifaz del Norte mask match. It wasn’t hinted at.

AAA had an additional press conference on Saltillo on Tuesday and mentioned the top four matches for that show. Tickets for that show go on sale today.

AAA TV (SAT) 03/09/2024 Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila [Saltillo Al Raz De Lona]
4) Aerostar, Myzteziz, Negro Casas vs Dark Cuervo, Dark Ozz, Dark Scoria
5) Dulce Kanela, Jessy Queen, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
6) Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Forastero & Sansón [AAA TAG]
4th defense (2nd on TV)
7) Hijo Del Vikingo, Octagón Jr., Vampiro Canadiense vs Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown

That’s the first Forastero TV appearance since La Hiedra’s WhatsApp messages were released. Pagano & Psycho Clown could certainly be tag champs, but AAA also usually takes no action unless there are criminal charges. I do no know what they will do, though that outcome looks more interesting on paper than the quality of any matches. Jessy Queen is the newest name for Jessy Ventura.

SuperLuchas notes Konnan was asked if AAA would bring in former NXT wrestler Patrick Clark (Velveteen Dream), who’s been on a recent image rehab tour. He was bounced from the WWE system following allegations of an improper relationship with a minor, among other misdeeds. (He was never formally charged for those incidents, though he’s had other brushes with the law.)  Konnan said no, AAA wasn’t running the Red Cross and fixing everyone. He was then asked the difference between Clark and Alberto el Patron and Marty Scurll. Konnan said he knows those two guys “personally and professionally” enough to trust them, and they both know they’re gone if anything happens. Konnan allowed that he may give Clark that same allowance if he got to know him, and just doesn’t know him. That bit matches a recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter bit where AAA was said to be bringing in Alberto and another unnamed controversial person to TripleManias this year under a zero-tolerance policy. Most assumed Marty Scurll was that unnamed person, and Konnan confirmed it. I will get screamed at on Twitter during some TripleMania card announcement when AAA mentions him in a match; it’ll be quite a time. He might be one of Alberto’s opponents, which would just multiply it.

IWRG

Big news: La Pandemia got IWRG trios title belts on Tuesday’s Revolucionando news show. The short version, again: Navarros walked out of the promotion as champion half a decade ago, the belts passed through various hands before Poder del Norte got them, Poder del Norte was supposed to lose them to La Pandemia, Poder del Norte no-showed and claimed it was a pay issue. IWRG had threatened legal action if Poder del Norte didn’t return the belts. IWRG showed off belts, and La Pandemia now has gotten what they won by forfeit. There is the very small matter that the belts La Pandemia have are very clearly different title belts – meaning Poder del Norte likely didn’t give back those trios belts after all and IWRG just had some new ones made, something they could’ve just done years ago to cut off all this madness – but perhaps we’re not supposed to notice that.

Hijo de Canis Lupus is out two weeks selling a martinete DMT Azul gave him this past Sunday. DMT Azul and Blue Demon headline this Sunday’s RGR show in Naucalpan.

Other

Saltillo luchador Aguila Mixteca was hospitalized with a serious head injury; he was riding on his motorcycle when hit by a car. (The driver tried to run, but was stopped by other drivers.)

On the 01/28 Big Lucha show in Merida, Potro de Oro kept their title over local Eterno Alcander. You may remember Alcander for popping up on AAA TV last year as a fill in on Rey de Reyes, seemed to fit in fine. Potro retaining the title is no surprise. The surprise was Eterno Alcander announcing he was retiring immediately, unmasking himself and revealing his real name is Jesus Antonio Patron Romero, 37 years old. He handed his mask down to his young son. 37 is oddly early to retire as a luchador, but his area of Mexico doesn’t have many shows.

Bestia 666 announced he’s leaving the NWA on Instagram Tuesday. He seems to have left AAA with him working The Crash. There’s probably another announcement coming.

RIOT says they’ll run 03/02 in Monterrey’s “867 Venue”. It’s a small concert hall with overhangs, so plenty of room for someone to do something crazy.

KAOZ says they’ll introduce a Blue Demon III on 03/24. Demon Jr. had recently talked about introducing a successor this spring. It reads like he’s appearing but not necessarily wrestling. Blue Demon III feels like it should be a big deal, but it’s KAOZ – they’ve got a history of announcing stuff and it not going anywhere. They’ve also put a lot of people in gimmicks (old and new) that get placed in main events but don’t really mean anything, like the new Pierroth. Blue Demon Jr. surely has completely control over who’s Blue Demon III, but that doesn’t inspire confidence eithher.

El Sol de Hidalgo has a history of Arena Aficion, which turns 72 years old this week. A column elsehwere notes it’s a building that is showing it’s age and could use a lot of fixing up. When Arena Coliseo Monterrey finally started getting torn down and I thought about other buildings that are in similar stages of decline which may not survive, Arena Aficion was first to come to mind.