taped 2014-11-17 @ Domo de la Feria, Leon, Guanajuato Read More
Category: news
CMLL NJPW FantasticaMania 2015 Day 6 Results
CMLL (MON) 01/19/2015 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1) Jushin Liger, Kushida, Stuka Jr., Tiger Mask b Gedo, Okumura, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI
9:28. Stuka Jr. hit Okumura (and Mima seperately) with a torpedo splash. OK.
2) Ryusuke Taguchi & Tetsuya Naito b Captain New Japan & Tritón
6:51. Naito submitted CNJ to the Puma Blanca. Comedy match with a lot of time spent on Taguchi’s masked act. Syuri appeared before the match to hand Taguchi & Naito flowers. OK.
3) Mephisto & Yujiro b Ángel de Oro & Stigma
Yujiro replaced Gran Guerrero on Sunday. 10:22. Super Devil’s Wings on Stigma. OK>
4) Bárbaro Cavernario b Rey Cometa
11:28. Fantastic (Excellent) rematch, with a lot of their huge spots back from the Anniversary and a few new ones thrown in. Cometa obviously still had a knee injury but battled well, including (barely) pulling of Brillo Cometa. Cavernario also did the top rope splash to the floor among plenty of other moves. They were going hard from the whistle. Barbaro ultimately survived the 450 splash to put Cometa in a cavernaria for a win.
5) Mistico b Pólvora
11:28. Mistico was clearly limited, but they worked around it. La Mistico for the win. OK match smartly worked.
6) Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero, Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Último Guerrero
11:47. Gran Guerrero replaced Mr. Niebla on Sunday. Atlantis submitted Gran Guerrero to an Atlantida.
7) La Sombra b Máscara Dorada
Mascara Dorada was announced as joining NJPW on a one year contract prior to the match. Not the crazy spot exhibition of last year’s match, but one of of big spots building towards a finish. Sombra seemed off and hampered by leg issues, but it was still a great match. Dorada pulled off the over the top rope apron headscissors (the successor to the over the top dropkick Dragon Lee has been doing.) Sombra had mild interaction with guest announcer Yuji Nagata and a match between the two was teased. Sombra was able to sidestep a springboard flip tornillo attempt and beat Dorada with a Shadow Driver. Sombra thanked the fans and left, while Dorada stuck around to take part in the usual tour ending celebration. (Mr. Niebla was not seen.)
The Mascara Dorada signing is the big news. NJPW full time contracts are (usually) one year deals that quietly get renewed every year about this time. BUSHI came to NJPW from AJPW on a similar one year loan, and just never went back. That has to be considered a possibility for Dorada as well. At the same time, Mascara Dorada was also a guy rushing out of Arena Mexico on Friday nights to get on the last bus to Guadalajara so he could make it home to his family, which doesn’t sound like the sort of guy who’s going to want to be full time in Japan. It’s an great opportunity but one that requires quite a bit of personal sacrifice, and it’s possible no firm decision will be made until this time next year.
I’m going to have to rewatch the main event at some later point. I really was thrown off by the news. I think Sombra was hurt early, because he had a handful of spots where he couldn’t finish and didn’t look like himself. There was a super inverted huracanrana where it seemed like both men were actually going to land on their head which might have been than way because of the injury too.
There’s an obvious story here is Dorada spends a year in New Japan, defends his CMLL Welterweight title once or twice, challenges for IWGP titles once or twice, learns things, and comes back next year to be Sombra to show his growth. The obvious story doesn’t always happen, but that fits. NJPW also kept cutting back between Nagata & Sombra post match; I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Sombra in NJPW for this year.
We’ll probably find more about the Dorada situation today. If this goes well, I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens with Sombra down the road. To be honest, Sombra’s the guy I always thought this would happen with, but he’s also the guy CMLL would have a harder time letting go.
Mistico and Mephisto had a brief skirmish after Mistico’s match, so that’s supposed to still be a thing. Only, Mistico’s really not 100%. It’s too soon to know what percent he’ll actually be getting to, but he looked like a guy who needed more time off before returning. There probably won’t be any changes to CMLL’s cards based on injuries from this tour until they all get back home, but I’d expect to see a few. Polvora’s surprisingly good sense at making singles matches work comes up again.
Like UG & Atlantis yesterday, Cometa & Cavernario had a match worthy of following the Anniversary one. They stole the show and made names for both of themselves. Cavernario got over huge and will obviously be back in NJPW. Between Dorada and the other guest appearances, maybe you’ll want to hold onto your NJPW World subscription a while longer.
Cavernario/Cometa, the main event, and the fun atomicos prior to it are worth going out of your way to see. This card is by far the best of the tour (including the ones we haven’t seen) and is worth getting a subscription alone. The rest of the matches were alright, but you can pick and choose here.
Besides Cavernario & Cometa, Angel de Oro impressed NJPW fans. Gran Guerrero got put in tough spots and did fine for his experience level, though I still wish they’d back off him a bit. Stigma struggled in his big mach but was OK in the others. Triton had a good showing and Polvora and Stuka got over as characters.
No sign of Mr. Niebla. Nakamura did a little bit of the Niebla dance while wearing his Niebla hood, but that’s the only sign of him on this show. Niebla did not appear in the annual post show celebration. He would’ve been there if it was just an injury. Niebla really screwed up this time. I hope he’s OK, but CMLL was teasing Niebla vs Atlantis as a genuine possible mask match this year and he’s proven they can possibly do that. It’s possible we might not see him around at all for a while.
CMLL weekend results, Chilanga Mask, Leyendas Inmortales, FM changes
CHILANGA MASK (SAT) 01/17/2015 Arena Coliseo San Ramón, Puebla, Puebla [Tercera Caida Facebook]
1) Orion DQ Keira
Keira hit the ref for the DQ.
2) Asturiano b Judas el Traidor
3) Arez, Belial, Impulso b Rey Dragon, Rey Fenix, Tonak
Good match, money thrown in.
4) Trauma I & Trauma II b Tigre Rojo Jr. & Toro Bill Jr.
5) Black Terry & Negro Navarro b Tigre Rojo & Toro Bill Sr.
Porra Fresa said it was a pretty good show. It looks like a pretty full building, so maybe they’ll be back. Clips should turn up on +LuchaTV.
CMLL (SAT) 01/17/2015 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Leono b Camorra
Leono plancha to win.
2) Sensei b Hijo del Signo
Signo missed a plancha and Sensei armbared him.
3) Astral b Pequeño Nitro
Astral submitted Nitro.
4) Virus b Star Jr.
Crowd liked Virus, he won with a motocicleta.
5) Zeuxis b Princesa Sugehit
Zeuxis goes into her title match on Monday on a winning streak, winning over Sugehit with the Caballete
6) Niebla Roja & Rey Bucanero b Blue Panther & Blue Panther Jr.
First team of Panther & Panther as a pair. Rudos took 2/3, Bucanero helping Niebla Roja beat Panther Jr. after he was already been eliminated.
7) Misterioso Jr., Negro Casas, Sagrado b Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., La Máscara
Mascara did not get along with his partners. Negro pulled Mascara’s mask and pinned him.
so much for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team feud? Virus & Star Jr. was said to be a bueno lucha by a mostly bored onlooker.
CMLL (SUN) 01/18/2015 Arena México [@therealfredo, CMLL]
1) Bengala & Metatrón b El Rebelde & Espanto Jr.
below average bout.
2) Hombre Bala Jr., Robin, Súper Halcón Jr. b Akuma, Artillero, Súper Comando
Tecnicos took 1/3. Said to be good. Robin replaced Molotov, who does not appear to exist but continues to be booked on shows.
3) Cancerbero b Pegasso [lightning]
Cancerbero submitted Pegasso to a motocicleta in 8:42. OK.
4) Delta, Fuego, Guerrero Maya Jr. b Boby Zavala, Sangre Azteca, Virus
Rudos took 2/3. OK. Strange match with a near 15 minute first fall, with Fuego & Sangre Azteca especially going a long way in the opener – seemingly killing time rather than building towards something, then ending with moves the rudos don’t normally use as finishes. Rest of the falls were more normal.
5) Blue Panther, Máximo, Valiente b Ephesto, Hechicero, Niebla Roja
Tecnico took 1/3. Said to be good.
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Marco Corleone, Super Porky b Kráneo, Olímpico, Rey Bucanero
Tecnicos took 2/3 in a heavy comedy main event.
There were no stories coming in or out of this show. Some good TV matches but nothing must see. The fourth match is going to look good based on the time and those involved, but it really was not. I don’t know what was going on but it was clear something was off the rails for quite a while. This show went almost as long as last week’s with no dance numbers or other extra material.
The news from the show was actually the announcers (both on commentary and the ring announcer) heavily pushing the All Elite show. They treated it with the same amount of promotional push they’d give for a Dos Leyendas or a Sin Piedad major CMLL show, and repeatedly mentioned the outsider names (LA Park, Dr. Wagner, Fuerza Guerrera) who wouldn’t be part of any CMLL show. Again, I’m not sure what’s going on here but it’s clear something is going on here. Either All Elite is backing up the truck to pay off CMLL for this promotion, or people in CMLL are weirdly using the All Elite group as a front to book people “CMLL” can’t book. It’s a pretty big leap to get the latter idea, but it’s a weird situation for CMLL to be treating it like it’s own show even when it’s not. Presumably, Toryumon/Dragon’s sponsors pay a fair bit for Arena Mexico every year, but this is not something CMLL does for him.
The advertisements gave the impression this would be the regular 02/08 show – really, they gave the impression this was a CMLL special show subtitled “All Elite” – so it now leans towards it airing on Terra. We probably won’t know until lineups come out for that week, but this is very strange.
I had all sorts of trouble recording the show – long story short, what they’ve done means it’s unlikely the feed will die completely, but means sometimes they’re not even offering the higher quality feeds, which is a problem when you’re trying to record those feeds – so the video links won’t be live until later and will be in lesser video quality than usual. They went way long like last week, only this time it automatically flipped over into another feed instead of losing the show entirely like last week. 7:18 local appeared to be cut off time, for whatever reason.
They’d announced they’d be back in Arena Mexico next week. They’re usually back in Arena Coliseo on in January, but maybe Sabados Retros have changed things.
LI (SUN) 01/18/2015 Auditorio de Santo Tomas Chiconautla, Ecatepec, Estado de México
2) La Hielera & Miss Janeth b Xena & Yuca La Potranquita
Xena replaced Lady Apache.
3) Corsario Negro Jr., Magnifico, Ojo de Tigre Jr. b Brujo Maya, Hijo De Villano III, Villano III Jr.
4) Aguila Solitaria, El Hijo de Aníbal, Solar I b Histeria II, Perro Del Ring, Rambo
Solar challenged Rambo to a singles match.
5) Canek, Heavy Metal, Villano III b Máscara Año 2000, Mr. Jack, Shu el Guerrero
Villano III replaced Fantasma. Mascara brawled with Heavy Metal post match. Heavy demanded a hair match.
The Leyendas Inmortales show is now being produced by the Tercera Caida/+LuchaTV crew. They started with the Arena Aficion show this past week. It’s easy to tell the difference; the show looks much better, the interviews are tighter and better produced, and the matches get some time. I’m so far behind that I haven’t posted recaps of some of the other shows, but the previous versions of the show was not entertaining or effective (I really did not like them); if you’re like me, it’s probably worth your time to give the show another chance.
The last FantasticaMania show is in a few hours, airing live on NJPW World. It’s the best show of the tour on paper. Rey Cometa should be good to go against Barbaro Cavernario and Sombra/Dorada will either be one of the best matches of the year or there are going to be a lot of fantastic matches this year.
There’s no official update on Mr. Niebla’s situation. NJPW’s recap mentioned Rey Cometa’s knee injury when he was out, but did not give a reason for Niebla. I’d like to give Niebla the benefit of the doubt, but his history is not good. NJPW evidently made the decision to take Niebla off both shows before the Korakuen Hall show; Yujiro becoming quick friends with Mephisto was a setup for changes on the upcoming card. Mephisto & Yujiro (instead of Gran Guerrero) now face Stigma & Angel de Oro, while Gran Guerrero moves up to take Niebla place in the semimain atomicos.
(It doesn’t really matter, but Mephisto splitting from Ephesto going with TRT would actually work fine with me. Ephesto and Hombre Sin Nombre can either find another third partner and move down the card, or just become auxiliary Guerreros.)
NJPW photos and report on their annual autograph party with some of the tecnicos
There’s no match announced yet, but Goya Kong and Muneca de Plata are pictured on the 02/15 REINA show so they’re heading back to Japan at some point.
Enrique & Oscar preview AAA’s taping in Naucalpan this Friday.
Cronicas y Leyendas looks back at Mil Mascaras vs TNT.
LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update and the latest edition of the LuchaWorld podcast, where Kurt has actually watched a lot of lucha libre.
Segunda Caida recaps some random CMLL, including the Dragon Lee/Kamaitachi match which kicked off their feud.
SuperLuchas looks back at El Dandy vs Blue Panther in a 1992 title match and an El Torero show from 1982. Somehow I have 12 shows from that day, but that not that or the Arena Naucalpan show that Teddy found. (Bad picture taking, probably.)
Bobby Lee talks about his career and his new book.
01/17 Lucha Underground results (02/04 & 02/11 episodes)
There’s Lucha Underground results for the first two shows in February after the break.
Originally, it was important to get the Lucha Underground results out so we could get an idea of what this show actually was going to be, and even that took at least half the season to figure out. I’m putting results up because it’s what I would want to read if I was a reader to this website, and it doesn’t detract from enjoyment of the show. I know that’s not the case for everyone, some people would rather just not know anything and just be surprised. I’m going to try to do this in a way to make it workable for all
- Lucha Underground results will only be posted on the blog portion of the site until they air. I’m not going to keep them in the database until after the show airs. It’ll always be after the break, so you’ll have to click on something to see it.
- non spoiler match listings will continue to be posted on the non spoiler match listing page
- please limit your discussion of unaired results to the Lucha Underground results posts.
If this doesn’t work, we’ll try something else. Please remember I can only control how they appear here – if you go to wikipedia, someone may have them up.
The one ‘spoiler’ that’s already out is Alberto el Patron making his first appearance on Lucha Underground on these shows. Alberto had said he was going here for months, then said he wasn’t two days ago, so either he was lying for effect or something got done at the last second. (The LAW says the deal was only done on Wednesday, so perhaps Alberto was telling the truth at the time.) He appeared to close the tapings with the AAA World Championship, and Lucha Underground sent out a press release confirming at the same time since it was obviously going to be the thing that got out. The press release is wrong; Alberto did not actually wrestle, but spoke to the crowd. Unsure if that’s confusion or changing plans. If nothing is moved around, Alberto will debut on the 02/11 TV show.
None of the other well known US based names appeared on the shows and no one jumped from CMLL. There was one other new non-Mexico name (which has been mentioned before and didn’t make TV) and one other AAA luchador debuted in a non-match segment. That one’s gotten out on social media but hasn’t been written about yet.
CMLL NJPW FantasticaMania 2015 Day 5 Results
CMLL (SUN) 01/18/2015 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan [NJPW]
1) Ángel de Oro, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask b Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI
10:40. Tiger Mask beat Gedo
2) Kushida & Tritón b Bárbaro Cavernario & Okumura
7:29. Mr. Niebla & Rey Cometa were dropped from the match. Cometa seconded his team, Niebla did not appear at all. Triton and Cavernario (splash to the floor). Okumura half crab on Triton to win it. Cavernario attacked Cometa as soon as the match ended and both men talked up their match for tomorrow (to make it clear it was still on.)
3) La Sombra, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tetsuya Naito b Captain New Japan, Mascara Don, Máscara Dorada
10:24. Sombra rope flip moonsault on Captain New Japan. Heavy on Mascara Don comedy, but Dorada & Sombra feuded to set up next week’s match.
4) Volador Jr. © b Gran Guerrero [NWA WELTER]
10:24. Spanish Fly for the win. Volador Jr.’s second defense.
5) Mephisto © b Stuka Jr. [MEX LH]
13:06. Stuka kicked out of a Super Devil’s Wings and landed back to back torpedo splashes, but Mephisto still beat him with another Super Devil’s Wings to win a very formula match. Mephisto’s 11th defense
6) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico, Stigma b Kazuchika Okada, Pólvora, Shinsuke Nakamura
11:56. annual Black Cat tribute match. Stigma wrestled in a half Black Cat mask. Mistico, in obvious right knee pain late, beat Polvora with La Mistica. Polvora said tomorrow would have a different result.
7) Último Guerrero b Atlantis
Guerrero Special in a very good match.
Main event was another good match in the Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero rivalry. They did enough different to make it feel worth watching; it’s borderline Great by my weird scale. The 2nd and 3rd matches were good, and the 4th match was the Volador showcase in the usual style. I’m kind of tired of that but it was better than it looked on paper. Cavernario and Triton did very well in their match and Dorada & Sombra were locked in (despite it being a semi-comedy match.)
Mephisto & Stuka was the opposite of Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero – they did a couple extra finish kickouts but otherwise the same match they would’ve done on a random Tuesday in July. Stigma & Mistico were set up to have big spots in their trios match and just couldn’t totally pull it off. Mistico is looking like a guy who was not ready to be on this tour and he probably shouldn’t be on Friday’s Arena Mexico show either. If his limp was as bad as it looked, he won’t be (and even tomorrow’s match has to be a question mask.) Opener was just a match.
(so the ratings are ok, good, good, good, ok, ok, great)
Mephisto joining the Bullet Club looks to just be a way to sell the Bullet Club Latin American t-shirts. They should’ve just gotten Terrible on this tour.
NJPW usually posts details a few hours after the show takes place – Club NJPW gets them immediately – so I’ll update this when they give the Mr. Niebla explanation. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt but history is not on his side. It’s a shame Rey Cometa had to miss another show, though at least this gives him another day of rest before fighting the caveman.
CMLL FantasticaMania 2015 Day 1 quick review
Tonight and tomorrow’s’s CMLL FantasticaMania show will be available on NJPW World for subscribers. Two other shows will air weeks from now on SamuraiTV. The first show of the tour is already out, on RealHero’s DailyMotion channel. Quick reviews:
Rey Cometa & Tritón vs Bárbaro Cavernario & Mr. Niebla [OK]: was going OK until Niebla decided to be a klutz and fell on Triton’s knee. Triton really shouldn’t have tried the dive after, but it’s his first match in Japan so of course he would. Cometa got out of the match well and I have no idea how he got hurt. Must’ve been something between the shows. Crowd did like Peste Negra quickly, though some of Niebla’s antics were going over their heads.
Ángel de Oro vs Okumura in a lightning match: [OK] incredible generic lightning Angel de Oro match, CHECK. I’m thinking this one which had to play a lot better to people not used to Angel de Oro, and Angel de Oro actually had to find something new to do around minute 8, but this also might have been better in CMLL because there’s no way they would’ve got 10 minutes. Okumura’s DDT on the apron looked cool and he was trying. Polite applause for a draw was kind of weird.
Jushin Liger & Mistico vs Gedo & Pólvora [ok]: Mistico did very little early and did not look good doing it, but was redeemed in the last couple minutes with some good near falls. Mistico didn’t do much that would cause him to stick out if he wasn’t already Mistico. Polvora really didn’t show much either and Gedo & Lyger were just there to be names. The rudo section really dragged, and only the last few minutes saved it from being below average.
Stigma, Stuka Jr., Tiger Mask vs Mephisto, Shinsuke Nakamura, YOSHI-HASHI: [good] nice trios match to build up Mephsito/Stuka, which came across like a feud that’s been going for some time (and not one just invented for this tour.) Stigma did well, even if stealing Stukita’s pose is no bueno. This felt like Nakamura was fighting much beneath his weight but he also didn’t mail it in.
Captain New Japan, Kushida, Máscara Dorada vs La Sombra, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tetsuya Naito: [good]: kind of want to declare Dorada/Sombra a MOTYC days before it occurs just based on the interactions in this match. They are more than ready for this match and it’s going to be fantastic. This was good too, with both teams mixing well; the Taguchi/Naito/Sombra side worked particularly well. I could use a little less Captain New Japan, but that’s the match they were working.
Atlantis, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kazuchika Okada, Último Guerrero [good]: best match on the show, with guys going out a little stronger for the main event. Ultimo always steps it for Japan and he was working hard here. Gran Guerrero impressed, working well with Volador after an early stumble and breaking out new offense. It looked like he might be okay with Volador after all; it gave me much more hope for that for sure. Atlantis did Atlantis things, Volador showed off a lot, and Tanahashi & Okada were their normal self. It was weird when Atlantis & Ultimo Guerrero were hyping up their match and I suddenly understood half the things which were being said.