CMLL

CMLL (MON) 10/04/2021 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla]
3) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia b Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
Dalys asked for a rematch next week.
4) Ángel de Oro, Okumura, Templario b Atlantis Jr., Rugido, Stigma
Rudos took 2/3.
5) Felino Jr. & Pólvora b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © [MEX TAG]
2nd defense and a surprise title change. Cometa messed up a dive (Brillo Cometa?) and may have hurt his knee. Polvora beat Espiritu Negro (Super Polvora Driver), Cometa beat Polvora, Felino beat Cometa.

I said I’d be shocked if this main event was a title change, and I’m shocked. Not a taped show, not even something they sent a photographer to cover. (CMLL eventually posted a photo taken by the ring announcer, an hour or so after the title change.) It’s CMLL, so it’ll be all the same people competing for those tag titles no matter who is champion assuming CMLL keeps making tag title matches.  There still was more gas left in the Cometa/Negra title reign. Felino Jr. has been in CMLL since 2005 and this is his first title reign.

CMLL (TUE) 10/05/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha]
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito b Angelito, Kaligua, Shockercito
Rudos took 2/3. Mercurio beat Shockercito and asked for a title match.
3) Akuma, Disturbio, El Coyote b Cachorro, Panterita del Ring Jr., Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 2/3. Magnus, Diamond and Magia Blanca were pulled from the show, replaced by Coyote, Disturbio, and Akuma.
4) Reyna Isis © DCOR Marcela [MEX WOMEN]
second defense, first in 2021. First known draw result for this title since 2001 (Lady Apache/Tiffany)
5) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible b Felino, Negro Casas, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
Angel de Oro challenged Felino to a title match

Two title match challenges and one actual title match is a lot for a CMLL Tuesday night. Felino was champion only because CMLL was doing the generic things to build up his hair match with Barbaro Cavernario and that might be over. Mercurio defeating Shockercito would be more of a surprise.

The women’s title match certainly reads like Marcela was unwilling to put over another woman and come off as anything less than a top woman in the decision. Marcela did lose to Metalica a couple of times in 2019 so it’s not like she’s totally unwilling to do it, but I’m not sure why they’re doing a tie finish outside of not being able to get to the originally planned one. Even if they were starting a longer feud, someone would’ve cheated to win this one.

CMLL (TUE) 10/05/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, Arena Coliseo Guadalajara (video)]
1) Estrella De Jalisco I & Estrella De Jalisco II b Conde & Persa
2) Joker, Principe Daniel, Vaquero Jr. b Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
3) Dark Magic, Okumura, Rugido DRAW Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr.
Rafaga & Okumura went to a double pin
4) Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi b Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Furia Roja & Satánico
Ultimo Guerrero fouled Satanico, challenged him to a title match next week.

Ultimo Guerrero wants Satanico’s maestro title. Ultimo Guerrero must be going through bad withdrawal shakes to not have a title belt, he stands a good chance of winning this.

CMLL (MON) 10/11/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Sonic vs Prayer
2) Halcón Suriano Jr. vs Perverso
3) Pegasso & Stigma vs Okumura & Rugido
4) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
5) Titán, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto

As you can tell from the rematch challenges, the Japanese women are sticking around after the Gran Prix. Japanese tours have tended to be Friday to Friday or weekend to weekend, but this one appears to be lasting through next Tuesday. They’re wrestling in Arena Mexico on Sunday, then here on Puebla and Guadalajara again to finish up.

Sonic/Prayer and Suriano/Perverso sound like interesting singles matches. Oh well. Rugido is getting booked on the b-arenas but not the main ones. The last Depredador member was never revealed; maybe they forgot that bit.

Today’s CMLL Informa has the entire Rest of the World team (so Avispa Dorada & Sonya’s returns), La Jarochita and new tag champs Felino & Polvora.

Tickets are on sale for the Friday night 11/05 Dia de Muertos show are now on sale. They run from 210 to 780, so slightly more expensive than the usual big show of the month prices.

Lucha Memes says they’re officially running Arena Coliseo, though they have no date to announce yet. One of the running Lucha Memes bits for the entire existence of the promotion is the promoter wanting to run Arena Coliseo and hoping to run it soon. This bit has going on so long that the promoter and I were getting along when it started, it’s been so very long. This Lucha Memes announcement sounds like they’re close to happening but you may want to wait until there’s a date to believe it.

No wrestling show open to the public has been run at Arena Coliseo since the start of the pandemic. It has been seen used for TV/movie work. It’d be wild if an indie promotion ran it before CMLL did, and would suggest CMLL’s making a business decision to keep it closed, not a health/COVID one.

Other Notes

Mas Lucha announced the brackets for their tournament on Friday. The winner of Emperador Azteca/Laredo Kid faces the winner of Villano III Jr./Sangre Azteca and The winner of Bandido/Jessy Ventura faces Rayman/Cuatrero. There will be two non-tournament matches: Dick Angelo 3G, Puma de Oro, and Tonalli vs Mexica, Noisy Boy and Sol, and ASF, Cometa Maya, Kratoz, and Prometeo vs Ciclon Infernal, Elemental, Manchas, and Mr. Leo. I’m looking forward to this show.

Laredo Kid will also be on Impact’s Before The Impact, facing Matthew Rehwoldt. Rehwoldt has been shown watching Laredo’s last couple of matches and cut a promo on him last week, so this is probably more than a one-week thing. This show goes up on Impact’s YouTube too, though the timing is slightly different (maybe because of the lack of commercial breaks?)

I believe Arez vs Aramis vs Tajiri vs Myron Reed for the MLW Middleweight Championship airs on MLW’s show on Fusion Thursday night at 10 pm CT. Their website doesn’t but I believe they mentioned that previously. This show does not appear to be airing on YouTube.

IWRG (SUN) 10/10/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Cheff Benito & Sol vs Kenji & Shalom
2) Caballero de Plata & Hell Boy vs Cyber & Limbo
3) Legendario & Noicy Boy vs Dick Angelo 3G & Puma de Oro
4) Akbar, Mexica, Rey Quetzal vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo De Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro vs Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike [EdM Trios, torneo]
restart of this tournament
6) Hijo del Espectro Jr. & Hijo del Fishman vs Medico Brujo & Sick Boy and Halloween Jr. & Hijo del Pirata Morgan and Hijo del Alebrije & Toxin

IWRG’s restarting the Mexico State trios tournament. Their main trios titles are still held by Navarros, never stripped despite quitting the company for reasons unclear. These Mexico State trios titles were held in part by Demonio Infernal, who’s no longer around. IWRG began a tournament for them in April and May, then canceled it off after Pasion Kristal’s death. Las Shotas had advanced to the final and were implied to be the planned winners. Hopefully, this goes better.

GALLI has their 500th show on 11/07. No venue is announced; the prices are the same as Cicero Stadium this past week, though the Odeum also came up as a possibility. Psycho Clown, the entire La Empresa, Mesias, Arez, Aramis, Ricky Marvin, Mr. Iguana, Dulce Tormenta, and AEW’s Dante Martin are booked. Top Flight worked GALLI before they became AEW wrestlers and maybe this is going back for fun, or maybe there’s an old owed booking here.

I never wrote about the GALLI show here last weekend. It was good, though they were just short of a great match a couple of times. Mil Muertes/LA Park was the only disappointment because they just did the standard LA Park referee match, but I guess that should be expected from them at this point. Crowd was way into the matches; it’s the most any show has felt like a pre-pandemic show, for better or worse. It was very loud. I uploaded the Arez/Aramis vs Gringo Loco/Golden Dragon match here.

Blue Demon was asked his removal from the Disney TV show “Ultra Violet & Blue Demon” at the premiere of La Lucha Libre en Tiempos de COVID premiere by El Sol de Mexico. Demon’s version of events is that there were many situations he wasn’t happy with, he didn’t feel the production understood lucha libre and he decided to remove himself from the project with a plan to do his own thing later. Demon explained his reversal in running for political office was because he was just too busy wrestling to give himself 100% to politics but may run for office for real some day. There’s a lot of things Blue Demon may do – he talks about a painting career as well – but one thing he won’t do is talk about the charges of spousal abuse that came out between the mayoral tease and the removal from the TV show; he wasn’t asked about them here.

Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado were not part of WWE’s recent draft, which was not a big surprise after Metalik asked for his release. They’ll probably be gone from WWE whenever the next wave of releases, and it’s not clear exactly when that might be – WWE seems to cut people after their quarterly investor calls, so figure early November (and a no-compete through early next year) if you have to take a guess.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report and this week’s Poster-Mania.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 10/01/2021 Arena México [CMLL, DeLuchaTV, Estrellas del Ring (highlights), Kaiser Sports, mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Disturbio & Inquisidor b Eléctrico & Sonic   
2) Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma   
Rudos took 1/3. Magic & Okumura invited Coyote to join their team in the post match promo
3) Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi b Amapola, La Jarochita, Marcela    
Japanese visitors took 1/3 in their first match on this tour.
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente b El Felino Jr., Felino, Pólvora  
Tecnicos took 2/3.
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. b Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Hechicero    
Tecnicos took 1/3.

The idea of a Mistico/Atalntis Jr. team was pushed with masks (and makes the cover of Box y Lucha.) It’s a decent idea, but CMLL were just playing around with the concept of rudo Atlantis Jr. a couple of weeks ago. It’s impossible to know which idea will stick, if any. Even more so with Coyote and the Embasadors – that just seems like Volcano & Kraneo’s quest for a three Gorila that never went anywhere.

CMLL (SUN) 10/03/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO]
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito b Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Dalys, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer b La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit
Rudas took 2/3
3) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus b Akuma, Disturbio, Espanto Jr.
Depredadores took 1/3.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado b Blue Panther, Dark Panther, El Audaz
Dark Panther replaced Blue Panther Jr. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible b Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Cavernario took 1/3.

and Barbaro Cavernario joining the Los Ingobernables also went nowhere…

CMLL (TUE) 10/05/2021 Arena México
1) Bengala, Leono, Retro vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Príncipe Odín Jr.
2) Angelito, Kaligua, Shockercito vs Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
3) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Cachorro, Panterita del Ring, Sangre Imperial
4) Reyna Isis © vs Marcela [MEX WOMEN]
second defense, first in 2021
5) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible vs Felino, Negro Casas, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]

… though they’re doing it a lot again. Niebla Roja hasn’t been here since the end of July, and was only aroun one month before his last disappearing act.

I presume Isis is getting the win over Marcela to retain the title and that’s the sort of results they need to do if women like Isis & Jarochita are now meant to be the stars of the decision, but I’m not confident of a direction. Tercera is Depredadores versus unaligned CMLL young guys. Retro seems to have fallen behind other people of his experience level; I forgot he was even around until I saw him on TV this past weekend.

Puebla tonight has Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro defending the national tag team championships against Felino Jr. & Polvora. A title change there would be shocking.

CMLL lists Friday’s Gran Prix de Femenil as another $13 PPV. I went as far in the order screen as I needed to see if there was still a regionblock – there is not, at least so far – and haven’t actually ordered it. CMLL hasn’t advertised the PPV portion at all, just focusing on tickets.

It’s gobsmacking to sell a PPV based on international names the very next show after you cut off the PPV for everyone outside of Mexico without telling them in advance. Just no thinking at all about what they’re doing. I’m sure the women will work very hard in the Gran Prix. You should go buy a ticket if you’re in Mexico City to see it. You should not buy this show on PPV. If someone else puts it out there for free, well, it’s going to be free in two weeks anyway so might as well go watch it. I think I need to buy it for archival purposes but even then I’m not entirely sure if I’m going to do it.

The Friday Dia de Muertos tickets go on sale Wednesday. That’ll probably be the next PPV.

Silueta won the Queretaro Women’s Championship, so now she’s a rare two-region champion after previously winning the Occidente Women’s Championship.

The match with Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi in Arena Jaguar was streamed on Facebook; their match starts around 1h18m.

AAA

AAA announced Heroes Inmortales will air at 8 pm CT on Saturday. Just the last four matches on the show will air live on Saturday, with the rest of the show airing next week. This requires AAA to get those three matches done before 8 pm (as well as any local matches; one local poster says there are three of those.) AAA hasn’t tried this before with a live broadcast so it’ll be an adventure.

The current lineup also has the Lucha Brothers versus Vikingo/Laredo as the TV opener. I think that’ll probably change, but you may want to tune in straight at eight just to be safe. The Copa Antonio Pena is listed as 12 names and only 9 people have been announced so far.

I’ll be streaming this on Twitch like always. I’ll probably start streaming before 8 pm just in case they show up early, though it’s equally as possible the taping runs late and the live stuff starts late as it did it on Heroes Inmortales.

Nothing too great on this week’s TV. AAA’s switched from none of the matches mattering at all to the outcomes being so important that they can’t actually have finishes for half the matches. There’s also so much interference that none of the interference means anything. The opener and the second match were watchable, though that second match might have been a 4v3 match since Goya Kong was just doing spots whenever. The main event seemed like it was going along better than expected until it got cut for the world running. NGD, Puma, Diamante Azul, and two masked people holding the entire locker room to a standoff was something. I’m still not convinced NGD found the spark they lost in CMLL; there’s probably more money in NGD beating Poder del Norte but I’m not sure that’s the right outcome. Actually, based on what we’re seeing on TV, I think I should expect no finish.

All the Heroes Inmortales matches have stories. Good or explained stories? No, not really, but they do have stories.

Other News

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 10/02/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Desastre & Último Caballero b Blue Star & X-Boy 
2) Blue Win, Rey Minos, Súper Cometa b Perseo, Rey Azaroth, Súper Boy 
3) Baby Star Jr., Garra Mortal Jr., Spider Fly b Carnicero, Cyber, Vudu Max 
4) Amnesia Jr. (Baja California), Gallo Extreme (Baja California), Taliban (Baja California) b Black Dragón, Death Metal, Rey Halcón 
5) Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Fussion, Sol, Tonalli, X-Devil b Golden Fly, Gran Arak, Hannibal, Mercury, Pantera Blanca Jr., Rey Marte and Dragón Boy, Falcón, Jeff Killer, Lobo Blanco, Rey Dragón, Símbolo Azteca 
Kingdom vs FILL vs Vanguardia. Aster Boy won despite injuring his nose and bleeding badly, defeating Lobo Blanco in the end. Team Vanguardia and Sick Boy & Medico Brujo fought near the end, setting up the Sunday main event.

This looks like a usual trainee show – a lot of young kids trying big things they may or may not be able to pull off at this point.

IWRG (SUN) 10/03/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Vudu Max b Guerrero Olímpico  
2) Kenji & Rey Halcón b Baby Star & Sol 
Halcon & Kenji talked about forming a rudo team.
3) Puma de Oro & Satania b Diosa Quetzal & Toxin and Bengalee & Relámpago 
Relampago replaced Aster Boy (nose)
4) Fly Warrior, Halloween, Hijo del Fishman b Arkano, Bobby Lee Jr., Hijo del Alebrije 
5) Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro, Puma de Oro b Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Hijo del Villano III, Veneno, Villano V Jr. 
Hijo del Villano III (the CMLL one) showed up as a surprise. Puma de Oro worked twice. Officals and Villanos feuded.
6) Medico Brujo & Sick Boy b Cíclope & Miedo Extreme 
Halloween Jr. helped the Monterrey duo to win.

The third lineup of the week wasn’t released until very late. Hijo del Villano III seems to be doing a “I’m better than you because I’m a CMLL guy” bit, so he’s not leaving CMLL off of this. We rarely see CMLL luchadors in IWRG but there’s no one they’d have an issue with on this show. Puma de Oro working twice does suggest this was a late decision (or someone else no showed.)

Octagon told Multimedios that he would put up his mask for roughly fifteen million pesos, which people weirdly took seriously. Fifteen million pesos is 734,000 USD, an amount neither Octagon nor anyone else would ever be offered for a mask match in Mexico in 2021. WWE wrestlers have made over a million for individual WrestleMania matches, but no Mexican promotion is making WWE money. Not really any other US ones. I think something like Atlantis vs Octagon would draw a full house at Aniversario prices, though I’m not even sure CMLL would offer him 100K USD at the moment (based on their own thriftiness) and it’d be surprising if AAA and Octagon ever worked together again. That price is just a way of saying he’ll never lose his mask, or he lost track of the numbers of zeros.

Negro Navarro versus Jonathan Gresham did happen in Coliseo Coacalco for Lucha Memes. I don’t think we hear enough about much about what happened until it turns up on IWTV in three weeks, but it’s impossible to cover a promotion that exists as no more than a poster and a few photos.

Mas Lucha announced the first round matches of their Supremo tournament airing Thursday

• Laredo Kid vs Emperador Azteca
• Bandido vs Jessy Ventura
• Rayman vs Cuatrero
• Villano III Jr. vs Sangre Azteca

I’m not sure if those feed into each other in that order. Laredo, Bandido, Cuatrero, and Villano III Jr. all seem like favorites. Emperador Azteca doesn’t lose much, so I think he might be the best chance for an upset. Rayman versus Cuatrero is the old Rayo de Jalisco/Hermanos Dinamitas rivalry (going all the way back to 1984); they met once in a trios match in 2018 but that’s it.

DTU says their next show will be on 10/17 in Ecatepec with many other promotions.

Ricky Marvin faces “Kiwi Buzzsaw” on his 10/24 La Cueva del Dragon show. Kiwi Buzzsaw is obviously Travis Banks. I guess the idea is to hide Banks identity by calling him Kiwi Buzzsaw, he’s from New Zealand, his girlfriend is also booked and his face is on the poster – they’d have to be quite dumb to think this was going to go under the radar. I know other promotions had an interest in using Banks on their shows and have changed their mind, including one who was on the fence until they saw the reaction to the Marvin card and accepted booking Banks wasn’t a good idea. Banks was hanging around the Lucha Libre Expo in Ecatepec on Sunday; a show with lots of promotions and no announced matches seemed like an obvious place for someone to get him booked. I haven’t seen results from that event. The Banks is still not a situation being talked about publically at all in Mexico.

(This is a problem with Mexican wrestling coverage in Mexico; there likely are people as bad or worse at Travis Banks in their own way and it’s well known in some group chat, but it never makes it out of those. Everyone’s so focused on making lucha libre look good that the bad stuff is allowed to fester quietly until it’ll eventually blow up in a bad way. Even Whatsapp being down for hours won’t get it brought up elsewhere.)

ROH announced Jonathan Gresham was now going after the World Championship. The end of the last PPV made it very clear that Bandido’s next title matches are ex-WWE wrestler Alex Zayne (in a couple of weeks), cult leader Vincent and Gresham likely on ROH’s Final Battle show in December. I would be surprised if Bandido remained champion after that match. The promotion has shifted towards Gresham’s style since its pandemic relaunch and Gresham winning the title is the natural endpoint of the last year of stories. I suspect the reason ROH ran with Bandido as champion right now is ROH correctly determined Gresham’s crowning match would be much better against Bandido than it would be against Rush. (Rush’s knee surgery became urgent once his role in this drama was likely only to lose to Bandido again; that may be Zayne’s spot now.) That’s also likely why Alex Shelley won a title shot against Bandido in PWG last week, just PWG being polite enough to not do the Gresham/Bandido match before ROH can get to it.

(This must all be confusing for Mexican wrestling fans, planning title programs ahead of time and not just rushing to throw together that big show with no forethought or direction past it. It’s OK.)

Milenio has an interview with Diosa Quetzal, who says she was a musician who was looking for a way to stay in shape when she took up lucha libre.

Segunda Caida reviews the 1995 CMLL Juicio Final.

Tonight’s CMLL show

CMLL (FRI) 10/01/2021 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Sonic vs Disturbio & Inquisidor
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura
3) Amapola, La Jarochita, Marcela vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente vs El Felino Jr., Felino, Pólvora
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Hechicero

This isn’t said to be airing live. The main event might be good. The women’s match would be a good chance to see how the Japanese women will fit with the CMLL roster, except we probably won’t see the full match until after the Japanese women finish up. Sonic may actually be able to wrestle this time around, or maybe CMLL hasn’t gotten around to updating the poster yet – there’s been no late card changes this week.

CMLL (SUN) 10/03/2021 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, Metálica, Stephanie Vaquer
3) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Akuma, Disturbio, Espanto Jr.
4) Blue Panther, Blue Panther Jr., El Audaz vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
5) Ángel de Oro, Bárbaro Cavernario, Terrible vs Gran Guerrero, Negro Casas, Titán [Relevos Increíbles]

CMLL spent two weeks building up Angel de Oro versus Mistico and now Mistico isn’t there. I have no idea. Maybe Angel de Oro/Titan next week? Maybe nothing in particular.

CMLL (TUE) 10/05/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Estrella De Jalisco I & Estrella De Jalisco II vs Conde & Persa
2) Joker, Principe Daniel, Vaquero Jr. vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
3) Dark Magic, Okumura, Rugido vs Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga, Zandokan Jr.
4) Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi vs Dark Silueta, Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer
5) Furia Roja & Satánico vs Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero

They’re not doing the Satanico/UG singles match, at least not yet. This’ll actually be the first match with the Japanese women for people to be able to see in full, since Guadalajara streams live. It may be the only one to air live. Maybe Rugido just got dropped into Vangellys’ spot?

CMLL officially announced an alliance with Ice Ribbon on CMLL Informa. CMLL previously had a relationship with small Japanese promotion REINA for many years; the ownership and administration of that group seemed to change every other year and it may no longer exist. They switched over to Lady’s Ring in 2019 and will still be running with them, but that’s a group that seems to be planning to run only a few times a year in normal conditions. Ice Ribbon is a full-time promotion; Cagematch says they’ve run 92 shows this year, and 102 last year even despite COVID restrictions. If/when CMLL sends people to Japan, they’ll at least have a chance to work regularly. CMLL pushed the idea that they and Ice Ribbon will be interchangeably talent regularly, perhaps as a response to the fan complaints about CMLL rarely bringing NJPW talent in.

CMLL gains an international relationship, at a time when they’re trying to show to their fans that they’re an important worldwide player with active relationships. Ice Ribbon also gets to talk about their international relationships, gets a solid place to wrestle when they send wrestlers to Mexico for photoshoots, and has access to bring in a few new people for their shows if they’d like. The popularity of these two promotions is skewed by Twitter – there was roughly 30x more attention for CMLL Informa solely from Ice Ribbon fans – and Ice Ribbon fans seem more intensely into their promotion. Still, CMLL seems to outdraw Ice Ribbon even in the worst of all times for Arena Mexico, and everyone in charge still believes CMLL will just snap back to normal whenever COVID leaves and tourists return. I’m not convinced CMLL will go back to doing three to seven thousand crowds on the regular on Fridays, but it’s obviously a good deal for the Ice Ribbon wrestlers if they can get that experience.

Miruhon has an article following around Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi in the first couple of days in Mexico. Japanese automated translation tends to be much worse than Spanish, but the translation I’m reading mentions the luchadoras had to take a PCR test before being allowed to come to Arena Mexico. That’s likely the same test CMLL wrestlers are taking weekly. They did a lot of media, even TV after Informa. I’d guess Avispa Dorada and Sonya may be doing the same next week.

Julio Cesar Rivera also announced the Noches de Campeones fan voting will now be a yearly concept, after being the Aniversario show idea for the last two years. JCR indicated they weren’t exactly sure when they’d run it; I’d guess the hope is the Aniversario could return to being a traditional big apuesta matcha but no one knows for sure right now. I still sense it’s only a subset of the CMLL fanbase who cares about the fan voting matches, but that’s still more than the none who care about whatever random tournament it’d displace.

AAA

10/02 AAA on Space

• Arez, Latigo, Villano III Jr. vs Sexy Star 2, Nino Hamburguesa, Dulce Canela
• Poder del Norte vs Aramis, Myzteziz Jr., Octagon Jr.
• NGD vs Pagano, Murder Clown, Monster Clown

That seems to finish out all the shows AAA taped in August. Space is either airing Heroes Inmortales live next week or a grab bag of left-over matches from earlier in the year. They’ll make it official sometime in the next few days, maybe even during this show.

I plan on streaming Heroes Inmortales on Twitch. I’m also planning on passing all Twitch revenue I make from the month of October to charity Casa de la Amistad, which helps children in Mexico battling cancer. I made good money on TripleMania, I want to do something for other people if the Twitch goes nuts again this time around.

AAA wrestlers were set to appear on a spot show in Zinacantepec (near Toluca) tonight. That show was canceled and the venue is being sanctioned for violating local COVID rules. The show had said they were going to limit to 40% capacity, but all public events were banned again starting September 17th. The local promoters continued to promote the show this week until getting official word on Thursday. This is the second October AAA show to be canceled this week, following the Merida one set for next weekend. I don’t think this means anything specifically about Heroes Inmortales, these are all local decisions. Those promoters are counting down the days with no apparent concerns.

AAA promoters in Mexicali say they’re going to run soon. Tijuana and Mexicali shows are typically paired together, though I’m not even sure how that works with The Crash using AAA wrestlers now.

On AEW Dynamite, Andrade told Fenix & Penta that two luchador friends of his were going to challenge the Lucha Brothers for the AAA Tag Team championships. (I heard it as Andrade and a partner originally, but it’s clear Andrade said he’s bringing in two friends watching back.) Fenix & Penta have to be champions for that bit to play out, AEW hasn’t yet announced that for next week, and the match happening any time later than that means Fenix & Penta have to beat Laredo Kid & Hijo del Vikingo at Heroes Inmortales. Maybe it’ll happen on next Friday’s Rampage show, it’s really too soon to know and AEW has tended not to give away their promotional partner’s results like that. Still, I thought the only reason AAA would run back Vikingo/Laredo vs Penta/Fenix again this soon is for Vikingo/Laredo to finally win and maybe that’s not the case.

Andrade’s two friends are a mystery. AEW Fans seemed to think it was Los Ingobernables, though there was no overt hint in that direction when it would’ve been very easy to make one. FWIW, Rush & Dragon Lee aren’t showing up in AEW without ROH permission. (Rush has both claimed to be out seven more months and teased he’s showing up in AEW soon this week.) There’s also a lot of guesses of other people showing up, including Vikingo and Laredo. I tend to lean towards AEW having a dozen of tag teams already who aren’t too busy and Andrade could claim to be friends with any one of them. Andrade is actually friends with the Good Brothers, so I’ve set my expectations there. I think most people are expecting something much bigger.

Other News

Laredo Kid took the loss to Trey Miguel in the opening match of Impact’s X-Division tournament in a match also with Alex Sayne, as expected. It was a fun exciting match. Black Taurus faces Steve Maclin and Petey Williams in next week’s tournament match; it’d be a surprise if Taurus won. Laredo appears to be headed to a feud with Drama King Matt. It’s probably good Impact isn’t just forgetting about him, but that promo did not exactly inspire me that this is something I should see.

The WON mentions Laredo Kid missed this past week’s PWG show with a back injury suffered in Saltillo; he couldn’t stand up or walk the next day.

IWRG (THU) 09/30/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Baby Star & Spider Fly b Limbo & Shalom
2) Noicy Boy & Sol b Rey Halcón & Tortuga Leo 
Rey Halcon suffered a neck injury taking a top rope poison rana on the finish
3) Amazónika & Satania b Benga Lee & Diosa Quetzal 
4) Akabl, Mexica, Toxin DQ Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. 
5) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike b Halloween Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Sick Boy 
Chico Che and Sick Boy feuded.

Just about a normal Thursday show. The opening match didn’t stream; hope that doesn’t happen next week. Rey Halcon Jr. got hurt taking a move you could only half see because the lights are turned down so low.

AAW has Gringo Loco & Arez vs Laredo Kid & Aramis tonight. That’ll air on FITE TV for $13 and their shows end up on their $7/month streaming service about a month later. I presume Laredo Kid is good to go now, haven’t heard anything different.

GALLI has GALLIMANIA this Sunday in Cicero, with Mil Muertes vs LA Park among many other names. It’s an ambitious lineup and I hope it goes well for them. I think I”m making it to the AAW show but I’m not sure about GALLI yet.

Mas Lucha put out the poster for the Mas Lucha Supremo tournament. It’s just the tournament and one additional match but doesn’t mention who’s in it. Tirantes will be a referee, which seems like a terrible fit for a serious tournament like this aspires to be and a great fit if you want to see wrestlers trolled.

IWRG is running a “fan books the show” contest for the 10/17 show. It’s not a poll like CMLL, they’re giving a list of available names, telling fans to come up with their own full card, and submit it on Whatsapp. (They didn’t put the Whatsapp number on the poster, but it’s on Facebook.)  The winner will get a pass for a year of IWRG shows and a laptop and they’ll run the card. Entries are due by next Friday at 12 pm.

The big lucha libre event this weekend is the Lucha Indy Fest in Ecatepec on Sunday, a marathon show/convention featuring wrestlers from many indie promotions. No matches appear to be announced. Entry is free. They’re running three shows, starting at noon, though the shows are either short or the show is going to run very late.

Robles Promociones is returning to Mexico City on November 12th, though they’re running Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera and not the Pepsi Center. I suspect that’s a cheaper building. They’re also bringing in fewer big names. Alberto isn’t working any of their upcoming Mexico City shows, though he’s still booked with the promotion in the US.

Pachuca’s Deportivo 11 de Julio is reopening for lucha libre this week. Lucha libre in the stage has generally been shut down for the last couple of months (though Arena Aficion has been running shows for a few weeks; almost no one attends them so I guess it’s fine.) DTU and Vanguardia haven’t announced plans to return as of yet.

There’s a slight local controversy in Torreon over Arena Coliseo Tony Arellano bringing in Misterioso for their 10/28 show. The Misterioso they’re using is the California/NJPW USA Misterioso, not the local/CMLL Misterioso. Fans accused the building of bringing in a “cloned Misterioso”, and the promotion responded in an all caps message saying the California one has the rights also while saying they have no issue with the local guy. My best understanding of the story is the original Misterioso just sold “exclusive” rights to the name to multiple wrestlers over time and they all have as much right to it as each other. It’s still a bit surprising a Torreon promotion would bother stirring up that hornet’s nest when it’s unlikely most people in Torreon know much about the California Misterioso.

A documentary telling the story of lucha libre during COVID premiered last night at Arena Lopez Mateos. It seems bizarre to finish a documentary like that while COVID is still going on.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 09/28/2021 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, The Gladiatores]
1) Acero & Aéreo b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Leono, Retro b Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
Leono replaces Sonic, who keeps getting advertised despite not appearing. Tecnicos took 1/3.
3) Amapola & Marcela b La Comandante & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
Marcela took 1/3, beat Isis to set up a title match.
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring
Cancerbrors took 2/3.
5) Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Terrible DQ Atlantis, Felino, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Cavernario (worked as the rudos) took 2/3. Felino fouled Cavernario

Cavernario/Felino are still feuding. Isis/Amapola for the national women’s title appears set for next week, which means the Japanese women are heading to Guadalajara (and will stream live on Facebook for the people who want to see them) or there will be another ultra-rare CMLL show with two women’s matches.

CMLL (FRI) 10/01/2021 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Sonic vs Disturbio & Inquisidor
2) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura
3) Amapola, La Jarochita, Marcela vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
4) Fugaz, Star Jr., Valiente vs El Felino Jr., Felino, Pólvora
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Hechicero

Los Infernales debut – except Dragon Rojo instead of Mephisto. Volador teams with no Depredadores. Atlantis Jr. is a tecnico this week.

Not streaming as far as we know. It’ll air on TV on 10/09, YouTube on 10/16.

CMLL (MON) 10/04/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Astro vs Joker
2) Cachorro vs Disturbio
3) Dalys, La Jarochita, Lluvia vs Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi
4) Atlantis Jr., Rugido, Stigma vs Ángel de Oro, Okumura, Templario
5) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Felino Jr. & Pólvora [MEX TAG]
2nd defense

It feels like Felino Jr. has been in every Mexican National Tag Team title match, but I checked and it’s not true. Rugido being a semi-main guy in his debut is true if strange. It may just be because of they don’t have many male wrestlers booked but he’s still ahead of Cachorro.

CMLL (FRI) 10/08/2021 Arena México
1) Diamond, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Okumura
2) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
3) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero
4) Amapola, Dark Silueta, La Jarochita, Lluvia, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit, Reina Isis vs Avispa Dorada, Dalys, Momo Kohgo, Sonya, Stephanie Vaquer, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi [Gran Prix de Amazonas]

This is next week’s lineup earlier than usual to market the women’s Gran Prix. CMLL seems to be charging normal prices for that show though.

Avispa Dorada left Mexico in March 2020 seemingly with plans to return, and that break has gone on longer than expected. She hasn’t wrestled in the US as far as I’ve seen, but she’s coming back to Mexico for this. Sonya is the Costa Rican wrestler who appeared in singles matches in 2018 and 2019 and also probably would’ve been back sometime in 2020 had it been possible. She’d been posting CMLL memories recently on social media, which probably should’ve been a clue.

This would be a good show to stream in a normally operating wrestling company. It’s CMLL so who knows. ESTO’s article on the show does say it’ll be streaming, but there’s no sign of that on Ticketmaster.

Momo Kohgo, Tsukasa Fujimoto, and Tsukushi made it to Mexico last night in time to catch part of the CMLL show. They’ll be on Informa. I wonder if everyone’s made enough fun of the Informa host’s behavior towards women, especially foreign ones, that he’ll become self-aware of it today. Probably not.

The next event after Gran Prix de Femenil is de Dia de Muertos shows. CMLL announced they’ll run three of those this year, on November 2 (Tuesday), 5 (Friday), and 7 (Sunday.) CMLL ran one empty arena Dia de Muertos show last year and two in 2019, so this is scaling back up. It felt like the concept was overdone when they ran three shows in 2018, but we probably won’t see the three shows and they’ll probably all draw well with reduced capacity. Maybe the Friday show will stream and others will turn up on TV later.

Last night’s Guadalajara show (video) included Ultimo Guerrero fouling everyone in the main event only for Satanico to confront him. They’re headed to a singles match. Indie luchadora Aradia did a run-in early on the show; I believe she’s the one who used to be an edecan in that arena.

AAA

A 10/10 AAA spot show in Merida has been postponed due to COVID. The 10/11 show in (relatively) nearby Cancun seems to still be on, as does the 10/09 Heroes Inmoratles. Orizaba is far away and under it’s own state’s rules – this shouldn’t concern you beyond the general “any show may be canceled at any time due to COVID” general concerns.

That still exists as a general concern, one impending AAA on running their business. Konnan, on his podcast a couple of weeks ago, disappointingly indicated AAA hoped to be back to normal TV tapings after Heroes Inmoratles and are instead expected to continue taping at cultural locations. Everyone hoped AAA(/Mexico/the world) would be in a better position by now but there’s still no clear idea when events can go back to normal. That’s a problem for a touring promotion who needs to figure out likely locations months in advance. That brings us to Dorian Roldan doing a Twitter poll asking if AAA should buy an arena, which theoretically would fix that location problem. I initially treated that poll with disdain – running a poll to ask if you should buy a building is something I would expect from a group the size of Kriminal Lucha Libre, not the biggest wrestling company in Mexico. (Toxin would do it on Instagram, a vital difference.) The more I’m thinking about it though, the more I think AAA probably does need to get themselves an arena for 2022 to make sure they have actually have a secure place in 2022 to sell tickets. Just not sure if a decision on how you’re fundamentally running your business should be a poll on twitter. Maybe the poll question might be if it’s better to rent an arena for an extended time or buy one outright.

(It’s worth noting that if AAA has the money to buy an arena, I would personally prefer they use it to settle their ongoing litigation so I don’t have to pirate their content. Or maybe pay the wrestlers better. We can’t always get what we want.)

AAA posted a promo of Deonna Purrazzo asking why no one’s challenged for the promotion, She’s new in AAA, she’s doesn’t know that no one ever makes title challenges, there are just random title matches and no one talks about the champions when they’re not already set up for a title match. No one’s brought up Taurus’ title the entire time he’s had it – Villano III Jr. is more interested in getting revenge on Octagon Jr. from the title match than he is about the actual title.

Pluto TV has recently run some apparently newly taped AAA promos. They generally just air older stuff, though Lucha Fighter was on there for a while. It’s hard to figure how AAA can still be on PlutoTV internationally but not YouTube or Facebook; I’d presumed it was just an existing deal that would quietly be wound down, but it’s not winding down if they’re filming new promos.

Australian Suicide mentioned he’s got to wait 7 more months for his marriage visa to arrive, so no Mexico for him until next May maybe.

Other News

Aramis versus Arez airs on MLW today on YouTube. That’ll stay up after show airs at 6 pm CT, at least until they change their content strategy again. Those in attendance who didn’t know those two guys beforehand said they were impressed.

Laredo Kid versus Trey Miguel versus Alex Zayne airs on Impact Thursday. That’s the first part of a tournament to decide a new X-Division champion. I’d be surprised if Laredo made it to the next round.

IWRG (THU) 09/30/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Spider Fly vs Limbo & Shalom
2) Benga Lee & Diosa Quetzal vs Kendy Rebel & Satania
3) Rey Halcón & Tortuga Leo vs Noicy Boy & Sol
4) Akabl, Mexica, Toxin vs Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
5) Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike vs Halloween Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Sick Boy

Sick Boy continues his war against the strippers. This is the last normal IWRG show for a bit because the weekend is different.

IWRG , FILL (SAT) 10/02/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Desastre & Último Caballero vs Blue Star & X-Boy
2) Perseo, Rey Azaroth, Súper Boy vs Blue Win, Rey Minos, Súper Ometa
3) Baby Star, Halcón Mágico, Spider Fly vs Carnicero, Cyber, Vudu Max
4) Black Dragón, Death Metal, Rey Halcón vs Amnesia Jr., Gallo Extreme, Taliban
5) Golden Fly, Gran Arak, Hannibal, Mercury, Pantera Blanca Jr., Rey Marte vs Aster Boy, Caballero de Plata, Fussion, Sol, Tonalli, X-Devil and Dragón Boy, Falcón, Jeff Killer, Lobo Blanco, Rey Dragón, Símbolo Azteca
Kingdom vs FILL vs Vanguardia

A FILL show for the first since the pandemic, and the first Saturday show since 2018. The rare Saturday shows are usual another promotion coming in and I don’t immediately understand why IWRG is changing their own day on their own. Unless maybe they’re running Saturday as well?

The show after that at Arena Naucalpan is the Mas Lucha Supremo tournament on 10/07. Still no full card, but they’ve announced the eight people in the single-elimination tournament:

• Jessy Ventura
• Laredo Kid
• Bandido
• Emperador Azteca
• Rayman
• Villano III Jr.
• Cuatrero
• Sangre Azteca

None of those 8 were in last year’s 16 person Torneo Mas Supremo; that one was more pulling from the partner Mas Lucha promotions and this one seems an attempt at an all-star bit. I’d be happy with a final four of Laredo, Bandido, Villano, and Cuatrero, though I’m less certain about that as they go along, and sure there will be different names involved. It’s going to be intriguing to see what Cuatrero shows as a single outside of CMLL and if Ventura’s popularity holds up against some bigger outside names. Three Bandido and/or Laredo matches in one night is an easy way to sell a show to me.

The full Crash card for next Friday

The Crash (FRI) 10/08/2021 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Terror Azteca, Torito Negro, Toto vs Kamik-C, Próximo, Skalibur
2) Aramis & Destiny vs Black Danger & Dinámico
3) Faby Apache & Sexy Star 2 vs Christi Jaynes & Deonna Purrazzo
4) Hijo Del Vikingo vs Rey Horus vs Flamita vs Rich Swann
5) Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf and Masada & Moose

Bestia & Mecha were added to the main event like someone forgot to book them. They should keep the match from falling apart. It’s going to be tough for Sexy Star 2 as she gets out there, though tougher here where the fans might actually identify her under her Hija de Gatuebla name.

Sports Illustrated talked to Rush about his current status. Rush explains his doctor told him that “if I didn’t have surgery in a few years, it would make my situation worse and worse over time.” So he got the surgery now. Rush continues to state he’ll be out eight months. Take the under. Rush confirms his contract expires at the end of the year and ROH and he has not talked about a new contract. I think we’re supposed to take away thoughts about Rush’s future locations, but I wonder what position ROH is in to give long-term contracts. Fans read Homicide showing up on AEW last week as some thaw in the relationship with ROH, but I believe the reality is some of the people who appear on ROH TV are not under a contract; a promotion running no shows is probably not in a great position to talk contracts until they figure out what their 2022 will look like.

Andrade hasn’t made it back to Torreon to wrestle yet, so El Siglo de Torreon went to Saltillo two hours away to check him out  at the BARBA show this past Saturday. I know Mas Lucha was recording that show but I hadn’t seen anything about it and was shocked how badly that drew. That promotion filled the building just about the start of the pandemic and the bleachers look very empty this time out. I’m under the impression that promotion is running shows for fun and not money, but that’s got to be disappointing.

Psycho Clown debuts for GCW on their 10/23 show in Los Angeles. No opponent named. AIW’s podcast today mentioned tickets for their November show with only Psycho Clown announced are moving well; I believe those are only available through their Patreon right now.

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania and the latest Lucha Report.

El Sol de Mexico has the story of a Mexican who ended up moving to Germany and starting a lucha libre styled promotion. Or the story of why “GWF” footage sometimes ends up on lucha libre YouTube channels, I suppose.

There’s a Mexico State lucha libre licensing exam on October 23rd.

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México [CMLL, El Universal, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]   
15:41. vacant title, last held by Octagon. Templario is 61st champion.
2) Titán & Volador Jr. b Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]   
17:13. Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL. Volador & Titan are 43rd champions.
3) Hechicero b Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]    
14:06. Originally for MEX HEAVY. Guerrero falls on 11th defense. Hechicero is 21st champion. Satanico seconed Hechicero and asked him to reform Los Infernales with Euforia & Mephsito post-victory. Hechicero accepted.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © b Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]   
14:29. 1st defense.
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © b Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]   
14:19. 4th defense.

This was better than last week’s show. Hechicero defeating Ultimo Guerrero was a good/great match and was a happy moment; it was the one result on this show the fans were very investing in seeing happen and CMLL gave it to them. Everything else was fine, with big show effort if not always the results. I think I’m the low person on Templario/Dragon Rojo; Rojo did make it through the match in one piece and it was a good showcase for Templario. Time management was better than recent shows, though it did seem people were still hurrying to finish their matches at all.

The downside includes the fans weren’t really into the matches that got voted into the top spots. They didn’t reject either national tag match, they were just quiet for most of it. This is always part of the deal with fan voted matches on the internet: most of the votes come from a small group of people very invested in seeing their favorite person won, and the wider group of who barely vote or don’t vote at all aren’t invested it. The men’s tag match wasn’t much good – Espanto Jr. kicking Rey Cometa’s teeth out by accident is the most memorable moment, and I missed that live. The main event women’s tag match seemed like they weren’t doing much early, tried to pack a lot in the last third, and then weren’t able to perform their complicated finish. The double women’s dive off the stage bit probably is more impressive if you haven’t seen it every month by someone. The Gemelos were unsurprisingly not ready for this level of this match (and I’m not sure if they ever will be) and Volador took the night off, which would’ve been unthinkable on an Aniversario at one point.

Satanico announced Hechicero, Mephisto, and Euforia as the newest version of Los Infernales after his title win. This is a good idea, because it’s a concept the remaining CMLL fans have strongly positive feelings and it gives more value to wrestlers like Hechicero & Euforia. It’s also good because, like Los Depredadores, it’s another idea mentioned by luchadors in their interviews that actually produced a result on screen, a welcome change from previous patterns. It’s not great the new idea is for wrestlers who are early 40s or early 50s when CMLL desperately needs young stars. Mephisto has long history with this group name, but they needed someone CMLL can build for the future more than him. It also fits the recent pattern of nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake – CMLL’s creative has no interest in making an interesting promotion for 2021 and is instead bringing back all the things they personally enjoyed in the early 80s with no idea of what to do with them beyond that. A way to approach this is CMLL’s not going to get better so it’s nice they doing something with Hechicero.

Ultimo Guerrero is leaning way into the “cancer of CMLL” bit. It’s good to have an over heel, though he still tries to get the crowd to cheer him at times.

I think Titan is in Los Depredadores but they didn’t spell it out.

Tuesday, CMLL and the Mexico government released a video advertising Mexico and lucha libre to people outside of Mexico. If you were an international person who was interested in CMLL’s lucha libre on Friday, you were out of luck. The TicketmasterLive PPV was not available to people with addresses outside of Mexico. I thought it was a mistake – no previous CMLL PPV was limited to Mexico and surely CMLL or TicketMaster would explain that change if it happened. I was very wrong on both accounts. The Aniversario was only available for those who had a Mexican IP address with no prior warning. Both Ticketmaster and CMLL ignored all requests about the situation prior to the show. I have no information on if this is a permanent change or a one-time thing. Obviously, I recommend against spending any more money on CMLL shows until they explain the situation. I’d be shocked if CMLL did at this point, they do not care and appear as if they’d be happier if everyone just left them alone.

I felt at my lowest ebb as a lucha libre fan after Friday night. Both CMLL and AAA have made at least part of the product unwatchable outside of Mexico. Neither of the shows are all that good right now. AAA’s major shows generally are fun at this point and there’s a handful of regular TV episodes that’ll click, but 10 good TV shows in 52 weeks is not a great use of time. CMLL’s not doing even that good. And it’s not like there’s even a lot of indie stuff that’s exciting me or the ones I want I can even see. I don’t know. I did think, after the fiasco on Friday, that I probably would’ve given up watching CMLL at that point if I was just a person who watched CMLL and didn’t have a whole blogging/database/wiki thing attached. It’s not healthy or productive to watch something you don’t enjoy (and may actively dislike you), not when there are so many options of other things to do in this world.

I hit 20 years of writing about lucha libre this month (congrats to me) and there have been other times when I’ve hit or nearly hit a breaking point. It’s usually been about the “luchablog” stuff preventing me from enjoying the rest of my life, and then I make some changes or feel a little differently about things and I keep going. It’s rarely been about the lucha libre itself, but the lucha libre and the people who put the shows are intensely frustrating at the moment. Maybe it’ll get better, maybe I’ll get over it, but I thought it was worth spelling out until I figure out how to handle. It shouldn’t be hard to read I’m unhappy with things at the moment, and maybe if you’re a person just looking to find out if a match is any good should keep that in mind when trying to decipher my reviews.

CMLL (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena México [CMLL, De Luchas TV, ESTO, Kaiser Sports]
1) Leono, Robin, Sangre Imperial b Apocalipsis, Cholo, Nitro
Robin replaced Sonic, Nitro replaced Grako a few hours after the card was posted
2) Amapola & La Metálica b La Comandante & Reyna Isis
Reina Isis replaced Tiffany on Saturday. Team Amapola took 1/3.
3) Okumura, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr. b Flyer, Pegasso, Stigma
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring b Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Raziel
Tecnicos took 2/3. Felino Jr. replaced Luciferno a few hours after the card was posted on Thursday.
5) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Negro Casas b Blue Panther, Místico, Stuka Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Rudos took 1/3. Angel de Oro used the ropes to beat Mistico this week.

That’s two weeks in around for Mistico/Angel de Oro, so they’ll likely have a singles match on 10/03. Four subs on this show ahead of time; they all might not be COVID, but this is now a regular thing.

CMLL (TUE) 09/28/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
2) Cachorro, Retro, Sonic vs Enfermero Jr., Grako, Nitro
3) Amapola & Marcela vs La Comandante & Reyna Isis [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Dark Panther, Esfinge, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Atlantis, Felino, Negro Casas vs Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

Felino and Cavenario matched up in the main event. The concept of Amapola & Marcela seemed thoroughly rejected in the Aniversario poll, but it’s an idea CMLL hasn’t tried yet so they’re going to run with it anyway.

CMLL (MON) 09/27/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Cosmo, Raven, Último Ángel vs Infierno, Ponzoña Jr., Relámpago Azul
2) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Persa vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Difunto
3) Náutica & Sexy Sol vs Miss Delicious & Valkiria
4) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Dark Silueta & Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gallo, Místico, Zandokan Jr. vs Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero

Main event is the 2006 tribute act. Miss Delicious, mostly seen in IWRG, seems to have gotten swooped up by the Guadalajara booking office. She’s here and on the Queretaro shows they’re booking. Two women’s matches on a show are rarer than women’s main events in CMLL right now; the semimain is probably leading to a tag title rematch for next week.

Puebla has Espiritu Negro & Rey Cometa versus Polvora & Felino Jr., which likely sets up a title match on 10/04.

CMLL Televisa aired the first four matches from 09/17 show, which means no Felino/Cavernario hair match. The same matches always show up on YouTube the following week. That hair match wasn’t much good but I understand why people will be disappointed not to see it. There’s probably a Drive where you can find all the matches from that show.

CMLL announced Tsukasa Fujimoto, Momo Kohgo, Tsukushi will be coming in from Japan starting next Friday. They’d been previously announced as coming in Japan. There’s no great explanation for why it’s possible for Japanese women to come to CMLL and not Japanese (or even American) men to come to CMLL, except the obvious bit that the women are probably more inexpensive to book.

CMLL also announced the first even Gran Prix Femenil on 10/08. The past Gran Prixs have been Mexico versus the World, though there doesn’t seem to be enough foreign women in CMLL as is to do that style. The three Japanese women coming, Panama’s Dalys, and Chile’s Stephanie Vaquer gets CMLL to five. The US’s Avispa Dorada would be a welcome return but there’s no indication that’s happening. Maybe they’ll go back to pretending La Comandante is from Argentina. I see people on Twitter hoping that Puerto Rico’s Zeuxis will return to CMLL for this. She did get mentioned by Satanico in the same press interview that suggested this Los Infernales group, so it’s at least a possibility. CMLL could tone down the Mexico/World aspect.

The winners from the Aniversario show attended a party on Mexico’s World Trade Center on Saturday.

An article about Mistico retaking the gimmick and hoping to restart a boom got picked up in a lot of international papers for whatever reason. Didn’t seem like there was anything new to it.

Other News

AAA , ROSALES (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Majestic, Niño Águila, Radiante b Beebop, Kingu, Silver Boy
2) Faby Apache b Lady Shani, Lady Maravilla  
Lady Maravilla replaced La Hiedra
3) Daimoo & Toxin b Cobre & Golden Jacket and Galio & Látigo and Astuto & Radiante [Copa Rosales]
4) Astor & Raptor b Joe Lider & Rey León (California) and Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Astor is the new name for the ex-Mascara de Bronce.
5) Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown b Abismo Negro Jr., King Balam, La Parka Negra

This did not air live but will slowly start to turn on YouTube anyway. I had to convince my database that “Astor” was not a typo. I’m still not totally convinced. Maybe the most notable thing that happened on this show is edecan Bere accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in the middle of the ring.

Saltillo luchador El Chompiras (Alberto Ramirez Dominguez, 73) passed away Thursday according to El Diario de Coahuila. He worked as a trainer and was in charge of local wrestling licenses in recent years. There’s a great group of photos in the article.

Fans attending shows in Quintana Roo are now required to show proof of vaccination. This report mentions it happening at 150 fan indie show, so they’re asking it for all events. I haven’t heard of proof of vaccination for events in Mexico prior, though it’s only been recently where vaccinations were open to everyone.

The city of Leon has banned lucha libre, among other public events, for the time being.

Head Hunter was prohibited from wrestling in Arena Neza this weekend because he’s a very large man at an advanced age and he has some of the obvious health problems you might expect given those priors even if you’re not a doctor. (High blood pressure was announced.) The surprise was there was actually a doctor at the show to check these things.

Bandido retained the PWG World Championship on their show Sunday night over Davey Richards. Black Taurus & Flamita lost to Brody King & Tommy End in a match for the vacant PWG World Tag Team Titles. Dragon Lee defeated Aramis earlier on the card. Laredo Kid didn’t show up, not only costing himself future bookings but taking Rey Horus off the card when the match was changed to a 1v1 instead of the planned 2v2. Lee/Aramis was said to be one of the better matches of the show. Alex Shelley won a title shot against Bandido for a later show over Jonathan Gresham; it sure looks like the Gresham/Bandido match is being saved for ROH’s December show instead.

(Alex Zayne is on ROH’s podcast today but they don’t reveal when the likely already taped Zayne/Bandido title match is airing.)

DMT Azul’s latest press conference included a claim the Mexico City lucha libre commission isn’t officially recognized by Mexico City. That would be very weird after all these years but can’t rule it out when it comes to lucha libre. I guess the idea is to say they would have no legal standing to strip DMT Azul for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship, but it would seem like they’d have no legal standing to create or manage championships in the first place. The titles can’t be meaningful without the commission having some standing, so I don’t understand how this helps DMT Azul outside of keeping the story in the news.

Hijo del Vikingo vs Rey Horus vs Flamita vs Rich Swann has been added to the 10/08 The Crash show, as is Sexy Star 2 & Faby Apache vs Deonna Purrazzo & Christi Jaynes. It’s weird to me that The Crash is bringing in the AAA champion but AAA is not on the same weekend but I suppose it doesn’t matter.

CM Punk told a random Twitter user his dream matches included himself and Bryan Danielson versus the Lucha Brothers in a double hair versus mask match, which caused Mexican media (and AAA) to embarrassing fall over themselves for the slightest acknowledgment in a thrown off tweet. Mexican wrestling insists it’s the best wrestling in the world but acts as if it’s a small-time outpost anytime a US star acknowledges them. Maybe it is.

The LA Parks face 5150 (Danny Rivera/Limelight, Slice Boogie, Dr. Julius Smokes)  on MLW’s show this Saturday in Philadelphia. 5150 debuted as “LAX” on the previous taping, a lot of people were surprised MLW had the rights to use the Impact-owned LAX name, and I guess changing to 5150 indicates they didn’t have the rights to that name after all. That bit up I linked there doesn’t name anyone in 5150 so I guess it could be another combination; Smokes doesn’t wrestle much.

A bust of Salvador Lutteroth was unveiled in Colotlan, Jalisco, where he was born. They also named the street after him. Salvador Lutteroth’s son sent a thank you video. The article notes Lutteroth built a primary school, employed people from the city at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, and started building a nursing home before he passed away.

Netnoticas has an interview with Juarez luchadora La Sirenita, which goes into personal stuff. She started training as a luchadora young and ended up having two kids by the age of sixteen, thanks to a luchador that wasn’t supposed to watch over her.

Peridocio La Voz looks back at Chicano Power, who passed away three years ago.

CMLL

CMLL 88th Aniversario tonight. The one lingering bit was the main event. Reyna Isis announced she will be able to wrestle on tonight’s Aniversario show, after testing negative on her most recent COVID test. That completes the card:

CMLL (FRI) 09/24/2021 Arena México
CMLL 88th Aniversario
1) Templario vs Dragón Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]
vacant title, last held by Octagon
2) Titán & Volador Jr. © vs Gemelo Diablo I & Gemelo Diablo II [CMLL TAG]
Originally a Misico/Caristico defense, vacant after Mistico II left CMLL.
3) Hechicero vs Último Guerrero © [CMLL HEAVY]
Originally for MEX HEAVY, 11th defense.
4) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa © vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]
5) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Dark Silueta & Reyna Isis [MEX WOMEN TAG]

You can buy the show via TicketmasterLive, though I had some issues doing so. I think someone on Ticketmaster has this show marked as a physical ticket, not an email, and it’ll be available everywhere if they just uncheck that box. That’s maybe one of those reasons CMLL should be using a company focusing on streaming shows for these, not a ticket-seller website doing it on the side.

The Aniversario show remains live only, no VOD. CMLL said the opener will air on AMX next week, which I think means the rest sure turn up on Televisa and YouTube eventually. I don’t want to promise that because I have no idea what CMLL is going to do, but I don’t think anyone’s betting their life on the ability to see CMLL matches. In-person tickets seem to be tracking towards a sell-out; the Aniversario name is such that people who haven’t gone to a show since pre-pandemic will try to show up for this one. No one outside of the CMLL bubble knows or cares this show is happening, but the bubble itself is still large enough to fill up the building (as allowed) for an Aniversario. It’s the other shows that are the problem.

Samurai TV will air matches from both this week and last week’s show on October 7th. They typically air Aniversario every year. I expect it’ll also turn up on NJPW World.

I think it’ll be a better show than last week. Nothing here feels like a sure bet to be one of the best matches of the year, but most of them seem like they’ll be good and everyone’s usually better on a show like this.

matches ranked in order of my certainty in the results, from most to least certain

• Rey Cometa & Espiritu Negro vs Akuma & Espanto Jr. [MEX TAG]: CMLL’s already setting up the next title defense in Puebla, this is more about Akuma & Espanto proving (or disproving) they deserve more shots.
• Templario vs Dragon Rojo Jr. [MEX MIDDLE]: Templario’s the guy and Dragon Rojo just getting this far is his victory
• La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]: the challengers already have their own titles, too soon for the champs to lose, but other promotions might do a title change in the main event to make it more historic
• Ultimo Guerrero vs Hehicero [CMLL HEAVY]: the single result that would make people watching this show the happiest is Hechicero beating Ultimo Guerrero; CMLL does not exist to make you happy
• Volador & Titan vs Los Gemelo Diablos [CMLL TAG]: close to a coin toss; Volador & Titan are slight favorites but neither side winning should be a surprise.

It really hurts CMLL that tonight’s PPV is live only. People who just want to watch a big show tonight are going to pick the AEW one, but they might check out the CMLL one over the weekend if something hits well. Some of those people still might but they won’t be paying CMLL or Ticketmaster to do so.

We don’t know when the next CMLL PPV will be, just that they only seem to be doing them on big weeks. November 1st is a Friday this year, so that lines up perfectly for Dia de Muertos, but it’d be a longer wait for a show than usual. I’m sure another tournament is coming, I don’t know which one it’ll be.

Sunday lineup

CMLL (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena México
1) Leono, Sangre Imperial, Sonic vs Apocalipsis, Cholo, Grako
2) Amapola & La Metálica vs La Comandante & Tiffany
3) Flyer, Pegasso, Stigma vs Okumura, Sagrado, Universo 2000 Jr.
4) Esfinge, Fugaz, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Raziel
5) Blue Panther, Místico, Stuka Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Negro Casas [Relevos Increíbles]

Last week’s main event had Angel de Oro cheating Mistico, so we’d expect that again. Flyer seems to have been passed by a few tecnicos. Esfinge hasn’t been around in six weeks.

Other News

IWRG (THU) 09/23/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Fussion & Hell Boy b Shalom & Skanda 
2) Legendario, Noicy Boy, Sol b Kenji, Rey Halcón, Vudu Max 
3) Diosa Atenea & Kendy Rebel b Lolita & Sagitarius 
4) Halloween Jr., Medico Brujo, Sick Boy b Big Boy, Big Chico Che, Big Mike 
Sick Boy & Medico Brujo avenged Espectro’s busted tooth from last week’s show against the Big Strippers.
5) Aster Boy, Bengalee, Galeno del Mal, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Tonalli, Toxin b Eli Surge, Giant Orión, Liiza Hall, Lil Blay, Miles Deville, Sidney Steele, Sweet Daddy Soul 
Hijo del Pirata Morgan & Wagner beat Giant Orion to win.

Mexico triumphed over Canada. A proud day for all.

Sunday’s Arena Naucalpan show is actually an AAA spot show:

AAA , ROSALES (SUN) 09/26/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) ? vs ??
2) Golden Jacket & Rey León vs Cobre & Galio and Astuto & Tiago and Daimo & Toxin [Copa Rosales]
3) Lady Shani vs La Hiedra vs Faby Apache
4) Ex-Mascara De Bronce & Raptor vs Emperador Azteca & Head Hunter and Diva Salvaje & Jesys Ventura
5) Murder Clown, Niño Hamburguesa, Psycho Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., King Balam, La Parka Negra

Guess which luchador is the promoter. These don’t always stream, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had one and so who knows. I believe Mascara de Bronce has announced a new name, wrestled once, and then disappeared for six months at least twice prior. I hope he’s doing well. Head Hunter is working a bunch of shows this weekend.

IWRG and Lucha Time people posed with a government official earlier on Thursday. This is the most I’ve seen Lucha Time in months.

AEW Rampage tonight has the Lucha Brothers & Santana & Ortiz vs The Butcher and the Blade and Private Party. I’ve read the reactions for the LB team were very strong.

09/25 AAA on Space

• Latigo, Arez, Argenis vs Dulce Kanela, Komander, Dinastia
• Octagon Jr., Lady Shani vs Abismo Negro Jr., Mamba
• Chessman, Pagano vs Puma King, DMT Azul

I’m not checking this but I feel like Dinastia has appeared on TV more times the year than past, because he’s always been available (few outside dates) and he only gets used when they’re just throwing matches out there to fill time. That’s most of these shows. I’m not smart enough to figure out why Abismo Negro Jr. is on the same show as his friends and not teaming with them.

Dorian Roldan teased doing Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega in AAA after seeing the match in AEW. Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega will probably not be happening in AAA. It’d be neat if they were teasing Danielson versus Psycho Clown, like the AEW guy actually threw out there this week, but I’m not sure AAA’s all that interested in the people they have until they go elsewhere and make a name for themselves.

PWG on Sunday includes

• Dragon Lee & Laredo Kid vs Aramis & Rey Horus
• Black Taurus & Demonic Flamita vs Brody King & Malakai Black
• Bandido vs Davey Richards for the PWG World Championship

Those matches sound good. The previous show not coming out on DVD before this one is not good.

Villahermosa luchador Mr. Demoledor (Juan Antonio Catzin Caraveo) passed away Wednesday after a battle with COVID-19 according to El Heraldo de Tabasco. The local promotion held a benefit show for him about a week ago. Going through his Facebook, Demoledor apparently broke a leg on a bad dive around August 23rd, then was back in the hospital in serious conditions on September 7th. He’s believed to be the first luchador from the state of Tabasco to die of COVID; there’s not as much wrestling in that state as others.

Mascara Sagrada is trying to raise money for surgery.

Rey Bucanero will be out two or three more weeks with knee rehab.

Dralistico, talking with Lucha Azteca, says he’s briefly talked with AAA since leaving CMLL but has no dates with them right now. He wants to team with Dragon Lee against the Lucha Brothers.

GALLI announced Mil Muertes versus LA Park for their big 10/03 in Cicero. We’re many years away from when Mesias & LA Park had some of the best matches of the year but it’s a good match to book to see if any of the magic is still there.

Mas Lucha asked fans to follow them on YouTube channel Mas Lucha Jr. and on their Facebook page. They continue to post videos on their normal YouTube channel and haven’t announced any further change; they were streaming Thursday’s IWRG show on both channels. In my experience, starting a similar second channel usually happens when you’ve got some concern about that first channel going down. The original Mas Lucha channel going down would be painful for that media company and devastating for the lucha libre community – I’m sure 90% of the videos would be gone from the public forever because there never would be the time to upload it all, much less the interest. Mas Lucha has never gotten a verification flag; having that relationship with YouTube seemed to help AAA when they got in copyright trouble over the lawsuit. That’d be an avenue I’d try, but perhaps they’ve already tried it. I hope it works out positively for them.

The 10/08 The Crash show at Auditorio de Tijuana will have a main event of Psycho Clown & Pagano versus Moose & Masada. Mexican wrestling promotions love Masada.

Kriminal Lucha Libre posted a graphic for the WWE UK Title Tournament, which has gotten no more or different reaction than their other Facebook posts. I presume that’s a tease to bringing in Travis Banks. It’s important to note Travis Banks hasn’t been officially announced but who else is going to be from the 2017 WWE UK tournament? Like I said previously, Big Lucha might be a rare promotion in Mexico to even be apologetic for using Banks. Everyone is going to be excited to have a”real-life legitimate WWE (UK) star” that nothing else matters; young Mexican wrestlers generally lose their mind over working with someone who’s been a name elsewhere. (Look at the Canadian wrestlers in IWRG last night, who are relatively not even that much of a star.) I don’t know if Toxin knows the reaction to Banks working Bandido’s show – it was a story only on English-speaking Twitter, never broke into the general Mexican wrestling discussion, and Toxin’s not someone I see on Twitter much – but I’m also not sure if it would change anything.

La Jornada talks to Lady Apache, who questions why there’s never been a female star on the level of Santo or Blue Demon, and answers it as because of the “machismo” in Mexican wrestling.

Laredo Kid beat John Skyler, again, on Before the Impact. That’s the good news. The less good news is Laredo Kid drew Trey Miguel and the debuting Alex Zayne in the first round of a tournament for the vacant X-Division match on next week’s show, and he’d probably got the worst chances of advances. I guess we’ll for sure know where Impact sees him.

LuchaWorld has the Lucha Report.