Titan retains his title over Polvora, All Elite

photo from the Arena Neza show by Black Terry Jr.

All Elite (SAT) 11/15/2014 Arena Coliseo [KrisZ]
1) Flyer & Magnus b Dinamic Black & Principe Diamante
2) Ángel de Oro, Cachorro (CMLL), Dragon Lee II b Emperador Azteca (IWRG), Golden Magic, Metaleon
3) Hernandez & Súper Nova b La Máscara & Oriental
Hernandez & Super Nova got the win over the makeshift team – Mascara in for Rush, Oriental for Zumbi. Assuming Mascara gets Rush’s points, everyone but Oriental here has 3 points.
4) LA Park & Volador Jr. b Atlantis & Extreme Tiger  (posted by CHIVIS RIOS)
La Park & Volador win, are at 3 points. Atlantis & Tiger stay at 3 points.
5) Dr. Wagner Jr. & La Sombra DQ Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Último Guerrero  (posted by CHIVIS RIOS)
Ultimo pulled Wagner’s mask for the DQ. Sombra has 6 points, Wagner has 3, and the Guerreros have 3.

Be careful clicking on the links, the videos are very loud. By the way, I got the main event of the Puebla show wrong – at the press conference said Chavo & Ultimo got credit for the win over LA Park & Volador. There were two different results for the main event and the coin toss came up wrong.

All Elite Point Standings

6 La Sombra (#1!)
3 almost everyone else
0 Oriental/Zumbi

Next show was not announced. Chavo & Hernandez were very complimentary towards the promotion (and CMLL!) on Twitter. All Elite did manage to pull off these two shows – and pull a good crowd considering they were going up against the UFC show.

Titan dies, still wins

CMLL (SUN) 11/16/2014 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Flyer & Sensei b Akuma & Espanto Jr. Flyer & Sensei vs Akuma & Espanto Jr., on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Tecnicos took 2/3. Flyer looked very good.
2) Cholo, Metálico, Ramstein b Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Starman Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Starman vs Cholo, Metalico, Ramstein, on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Metalico had a Perdo Infante enterance, compelte with costume and lipsyncic. Rudos took 2/3.
3) Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. b Boby Zavala, Sagrado, Sangre Azteca Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Boby Zavala, Sagrado, Sangre Azteca, on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Zavala replaced Misterioso. Sangre Azteca returned from injury with a new look, but his team lost 2/3.
4) Bárbaro Cavernario, Pierroth, Shocker b Dragón Rojo Jr., Fuego, Máximo Dragon Rojo Jr., Fuego, Maximo vs Barbaro Cavernario, Pierroth, Shocker, on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Tecnicos took 1/3, when Cavernario snuck in a foul on Maximo (and Fuego ran around the ring complaining about it instead of breaking the pin.) Shocker challenged Maximo, Maximo challenged Shocker & Barbaro to a three way cage match, Shocker left without accepting.
5) Titán © b Pólvora [MEX WELTER] Titan u00a9 vs Polvora for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship, on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Titan took falls 2/3 to retain the title in a very good match very reminiscent of his title win versus Averno, including crashing and burning into the barricade on a tope and being brought in to take his opponents finisher, only to kick out. This collision looked even worse. Titan pulled out a La Mistica into a cradle to keep his belt. Titan’s sixth defense; he’ll almost certainly reach one year as champion on 12/01.
6) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. DQ Euforia, Mephisto, Negro Casas Atlantis, Mascara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Mephisto, Negro Casas, on DailyMotion (posted by thecubsfan)
Tecnicos took 2/3 in a very anticlimatic and rushed match. Mephisto kept avoiding Volador and fouled him in the end.

Titan/Polvora felt a lot like the last Titan/Averno. The last 90 seconds was laid out about the same way, only with Polvora’s finish instead and Titan pulling out a better closing move. I’d rate it as GREAT but missed a chuck of the second fall (and rating matches on Terra is very iffy for me because I’m spending half of it making GIFs and other such nonsense.) It was very dramatic I hope Titan stops doing the “flying full speed into the barricade” spot, it’s not a good idea for something to do often and it’s got to mess him up. I thought he legit knocked himself out this time.

Flyer was really good in the opener. Flyer probably wouldn’t have been good in this year’s En Busca de un Idolo – Dragon Lee, Soberano and Star Jr. cover a lot of the same ground and are a bit more experienced – but he’d be a fine fit in next year’s.

They’re back in Arena Coliseo next week, and it sounded as if that was the final show there for 2014.

CMLL (SUN) 11/16/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl, @Info_AlanR]
1) Reycko b El Tapatío
2) Javier Cruz Jr. b Thunder Boy
3) Jocker b El Divino
Joker replaced Evola and dropped Divino on his head for the win. Divino took a stretcher to the bcak.
4) Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno b Esfinge & Magnum and Sky Kid & Smaker and Demonio Maya & Furia Nazi
Magnum’s return to the tecnico side after three years. Maya & Nazi were out first, then Sky Kid & Smaker, and finally father/son Esfinge/Mangum when the Truenos stole Magnum’s mask.
5) Ángel de Oro & Tritón b Puma & Tiger
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) La Sombra DQ Último Guerrero
Sombra replaced Rush (injury). Sombra took 1/3, when UG was caught trying the rope kick foul again.

UG not winning all the matches is the biggest upset of the week.

Black Terry Jr. has photos of the Arena Neza show. Which means he might have video of the Arena Neza show!

Canis Lupus picked up the IWRG Welterweight Championship from Golden Magic tonight in IWRG. That was the expected outcome of the four man apuestas match, since Golden Magic had the only title on the line.

Alberto made his return to US rings with a surprise appearance on the House of Hardcore show on Saturday. As apparently part of his release, he’s not allowed to say anything bad about WWE but encouraged his ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez to do so. A story about the situation in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentioned Alberto had been offered his WWE job back – the guy he slapped was gone, so coast was clear – but he turned them down again. The report also stated Alberto was promised an apology, but it was taken out of the agreement at the last second; WWE didn’t want to apologize because they desperately anything to paint them as racist. Later on, the newsletter mentions WWE wants Rey Mysterio Jr. back as a regular shortly and his contract runs out in late April. WWE is short on names who mean anything and that’s likely the top motivation here. Rey returning would put him in awkward situation – any media person is going to want to ask him about the Alberto situation and that’s the last thing Rey or WWE are going to want to have him talk about. Still, the WON frames it as debate over how many shows a month he’ll work as the primary issue and seems to think Rey will be back there.

The toy museum’s Hall of Fame was opened on Saturday. It appears to be more museum style – they’re touting between 5 and 7,000 unique pieces of lucha libre and not something where people are getting inducted. The Mascaras brothers beat the Brazos in the main event. It appears Dos Caras Sr. wrestled, which would have been his first match in Mexico in exactly a year.

Negro Navarro vs Virus from Arena Olimpico Laguna made it to YouTube. Misterioso can’t be all bad if he booked that match.

BxB Fly has music videos of 08/11/2014 Puebla, 08/12/14 Guadalajara and 08/17/14 Arena Mexico.

Doradafan has highlights of 08/26/2014 CMLL.

Super Libre had the director of the Rayo de Jalisco movie in studio.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Segunda Caida has highlights of 07/13/14 CMLL on LATV.

An indy poster with CMLL luchadors for 11/29 lists India Sioux as wrestling in the semifinal. There had been talk she was coming back to the ring a little while back; it’d be her first known match in five years.

Matches from Japan on Daily Motion include Mystique & Star Fire in KorakuenTaichi & Desperado vs Taguchi & Fuego (where Taguchi appears to have stolen a hat from a leprechaun), and Bushi & Mascara Dorada vs KUSHIDA & Alex Shelley.

Delta & Guerrero Maya Jr. want a CMLL tag team championship match.

Lineups/Changes

Zeuxis vs Estrellita has been downgraded from a title match to a lightning match. No reason given. Maybe someone realized it didn’t make sense to have a title match when Zeuxis lost?

CMLL (SUN) 11/23/2014 Arena Coliseo
1) Astral & Eléctrico vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Flyer, Metatrón, Soberano Jr. vs Cholo, Disturbio, Ramstein
3) Cachorro, Oro Jr., Tritón vs Pierroth, Puma, Tiger
4) Fuego vs Sagrado [lightning]
5) La Máscara, Marco Corleone, Super Porky vs Morphosis, Terrible, Thunder
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr. vs Mephisto, Negro Casas, Niebla Roja

Volador/Mephisto again, so that seems like that’ll be a thing. I think I can call every spot in that match already. Still, should be a good main event and lightning match should be good.

No idea what Morphosis is doing in the semimain, or in life in general. (It’s as if Kraneo was busy and they just grabbed another Invasor.) If they’re going to waste Terrible anyway, can they just trade him with Pierroth to create one good match?

Good news Flyer, you’re in the segunda! Bad news, you still face Cholo & Ramstein.

CMLL (SUN) 11/23/2014 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Índigo vs Satara
2) El Brillante & Idolo vs El Yaqui & Thunder Boy
3) Exterminador vs Infierno
4) Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno vs Esfinge & Magnum
5) Omar Brunetti & Rey Cometa vs Jocker & Mr. Águila
6) Ángel de Oro & Titán vs Euforia & Gran Guerrero

Hmm, Truenos & Esfinge/Magnum rematch. Combine that with Magnum’s sudden and random turn and I’m thinking there might be one more big Arena Coliseo Guadalajara match before the year is out (or to ring in the new one.)

CARALUCHA (SAT) 11/29/2014 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal
1) ? vs ??
2) Rayo Star & Star Jr. vs Fly Star & Impulso [Copa Caralucha, semifinal]
3) Toxin Boy & Yoruba vs Belial & Oro Jr. [Copa Caralucha, semifinal]
4) Apolo Estrada, Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo vs Andy Boy, Danger, Guerrero Mixtico
Mexico vs US
5) ? vs ?? [Copa Caralucha, final]
6) Negro Navarro & Veneno vs ? & Bárbaro Cavernario

Main event is CMLL vs Indies and Vets vs Youth (so Navarro is going to stretch some kids.)

I wish my countryman luck in wiping out the scourge of the Neza Boys.

Yoruba’s back on all shows like nothing ever happened. And as far as he can remember, nothing did.

Rush out for two months, Marco in, Infierno en el Ring on

photo by CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 11/14/2014 Arena México [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Esfinge & Stigma b Disturbio & Nitro
2) Astral, Fantasy, Último Dragoncito b Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito
Dragoncito is back to flying into the crowd on his tope con giro into Pierrothito
3) Ángel de Oro, Titán, Valiente b Ephesto, Kamaitachi, Mephisto
Tecnicos took 1/3. Angel de Oro beat Mephisto with help of the ropes after Mephisto had twice tried to the the same. Kamaitachi looked good. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Hernandez appeared in the ring after this match, promoting the All Elite card.
4) Rey Bucanero b Volador Jr., Terrible, Máximo, Felino, Bárbaro Cavernario, Blue Panther, Máscara Dorada, Atlantis, Hechicero [cibernetico]
Hechicero replaced Vangellys. Tecnicos vs rudo sides. Eliminations went Hechicero (Dorada), Atlantis (Terrible), Dorada (Cavernario), Panther (Cavernario), Cavernario (Maximo), Felino (Maximo), Maximo (Bucanero), Terrible (Volador) leaving Rey Bucanero and Volador. Terrible came back in to foul Volador while the referee was distracted, and Bucanero go the pin. Volador, Maximo, Bucanero, Terrible, Felino and Cavernario brawled and argued, tecnicos against rudos.
5) Euforia, Thunder, Último Guerrero b La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush
Straight falls. Marco Corleone replaced Rush (broken leg) and fought as if he was a new Ingobernable – only Mascara & Sombra disrupted the count when he had UG beat. Tirantes cleared them out, and UG snuck in a foul on Marco for the win. Marco challenged UG to a hair match, and UG declared Marco loco.

The big news is the guy who didn’t wrestle. Rush will be out two months after breaking two bones in one of his legs on Thursday night’s Arena Puebla show. (This was announced on the All Elite press conference; as typical, CMLL said nothing until the main event.) It’s going to be sad not have crazy angry Rush around for two whole months, though this whole thing will likely make him crazier and angrier. Hopefully he can turn up on Informa or TV commentary just to lash out at various things. It sucks that Rush in the ring is done for 2014, but his last big match is the singles match with Ultimo Guerrero that airs on Azteca today, and that’s a strong match for him to finish up with. Worth checking out.

Two months would be almost exactly the day FantasticaMania starts. Rush hadn’t officially been announced as going on the tour, but it’s a pretty safe assumption that was the plan and that he was going to be getting at least one big match. It’s going to be a different plan now. CMLL & NJPW replaced Mistico II when he was in a similar situation injury situation and they’re likely to do the same with Rush. That means one more person is going on the tour, someone’s getting a big match they weren’t getting previously, and it’s probably a good thing CMLL never switched either trios titles to the Ingobernables.

Domestically, this changes some plans in the near future. Rush was in that cage match, and it looks like Marco’s being slipped into his place. Marco might be taking Rush’s place as an Ingobernable for the time being as well, though that finish left it less unclear. More likely, there’s just not going to be Ingobernables for a while: Sombra’s heading to Japan, Rush is in a cast, and Mascara is just left to be annoying by himself. Sombra will be back by the middle of December, but then it’s the winter off season where not a lot seems to happen (though more in recent years.) Rush’s injury has a significant effect short term – he and Ultimo Guerrero are the two guys who mean the most in that cage match – but there are worse times of the year for this to have happened.

Speaking of that cage match, CMLL put up a video promoting Infierno en el Ring for 12/05, so it’s now an official. They don’t say anything more than that, but Infierno en el Ring is usually the cage match and the highlights are of the guys we’d expect to be in the match. There’s eight people who made challenges last night – Felino, Bucanero, Terrible, Cavernario, Maximo, Volador, Marco, Guerrero – and both Shocker and Blue Panther have made challenges on other shows. CMLL figures to officially announce the match sometime in the next ten days.

MMA fighters and media were at the show, since they’re in town for the UFC event tomorrow.

All Elite’s second show is tonight in Arena Coliseo. Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez appearing on an Arena Mexico show is so weird. All I can figure is All Elite must be giving out some good money. La Mascara will take Rush’s place. Zumbi was explained as “not being able to make the show” (so no explanation.) There’s no update on Dr. Wagner Jr., which suggests he was fine. There’s also no mention of CMLL being upset with All Elite over Rush’s injury – the promotion and the wrestlers have previously expressed unhappiness with other indy promotions over injuries on outside dates. +LuchaTV has video from the press conference: Chavo talking about Lucha Underground, Hernandez on his match SaturdayChavo on wrestling in Arena Coliseo for the first time, and Xtreme Tiger on his indy wrestling. Chavo mentions he’s fighting the Wagners, so probably no Zumbi today either.

Alberto el Patron seems to be spending half his time in airplanes. He mentioned yesterday he was in Los Angeles. Not sure what for, but I’ve got some ideas. Just to reiterate a point from earlier this week, Lucha Underground is still in production and making changes to it’s show. They’re also completely comfortable with teasing things which may not start paying off until months down the line. (That last scene and the key Dario’s been wearing is one of those things.) The next live tapings aren’t until the middle of January, but I believe they have the ability to edit in scenes with Alberto if they want to and he’s as free as everyone thinks he is. I don’t know it’s happening, don’t report that it’s happening, but you should not be completely surprised if he pops up.

AAA’s already put up this week’s TV show.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Rob has a music video of 07/18/14 CMLL

BxB Fly has music videos of 08/04/14 Puebla, 08/05/14 Guadalajara, and 08/10 Arena Mexico

Angel del Amor picked up the AULL Welterweight title on the most recent Arena Lopez Mateos show. Building looked much fuller than usual with Myzteziz in the main event.

Misterioso Jr. says he got into the wrestling business when Dr. Wagner ran him over. That’s a unique story. He’s promoting the Arena Olimpico Laguna show with CMLL luchadors.

Aerostar talks up his upcoming matches with Super Fly.

Toro Bill talks up his hair vs mask match with Tigre Rojo.

Robbie E and Zema Ion start in Mexico on Sunday in Tulancingo.

Lineups

CMLL (FRI) 11/21/2014 Arena México
1) Black Panther & Starman vs Arkángel de la Muerte & Hijo del Signo
2) Dragon Lee, Pegasso, Rey Cometa vs Kamaitachi, Okumura, Virus
3) Blue Panther, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Felino, Rey Bucanero
4) Ángel de Oro vs Mephisto [lightning]
5) Shocker, Terrible, Vangellys vs Máscara Dorada, Máximo, Titán
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Thunder, Último Guerrero

Outside of the hair match setup (3rd, 5th and 6th), Angel de Oro vs Mephsito looks like a new feud based off the cheating finish this week. Angel de Oro had his title belt with him. He and Mephisto are champions in the same division. One or the other being on the line as a second match for Infierno en el Ring seems plausible, though it’d be nice if CMLL were building up matches for other weeks as well.

They’re booking really great segundas that aren’t airing on TV (though they were often not as great as we thought when we actually got to see them.)

The video promo is up for next week.

Rush and Wagner injured on first All Elite show, CMLL preview

All Elite (THU) 11/13/2014 Arena Puebla [@FlyDeportes, Periodico Enfoque]
1) Dinamic Black & Principe Diamante b Flyer & Magnus
CMLL vs indies.
2) Ángel de Oro, Cachorro (CMLL), Dragon Lee II b Emperador Azteca, Golden Magic, Metaleon
CMLL vs IWRG
3) Atlantis & Extreme Tiger b Hernandez & Súper Nova
Atlantis & Tiger picked up their first 3 points.
4) La Sombra & Rush b Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
A disaster of a match. Hijo de Wagner replaced Zumbi (the only wrestler at the press conference) and they worked normal teams instead of the indy/CMLL teams. Rush suffered an ankle sprain during the match – apparently landing on a missile dropkick and said to be serious enough to keep him out a few weeks – while Wagner needed mouth to mouth after the match due to a problem with his windpipe after the finish but left the building on his own power. Sombra & Rush earned 3 points.
5) LA Park & Volador Jr. DQ Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Último Guerrero
Park was not in good shape.

There was a heavy CMLL feeling to the show. Brazo de Oro was one of the referees, as he tends to be when they loan out CMLL talent for shows. CMLL’s Ivan was ring announcer as if it was a normal Puebla show. (Attendance was like a normal Puebla show, which means they lost money on the thing.) The only CMLL wrestlers to lose a match was Ultimo Guerrero, and that wasn’t clean.

Differing reports on Rush’s injury. The paper says he was hurt on a missile dropkick. Porra Fresa suggests it was a Wagner III caused accident. The Wagner injury in that match is a bit suspicious, because Dr. Wagner is enough of a worker to fake needing CPR to get sympathy and make people forget a loss. Periodico Enfoque says it happened after the finish, Sombra’s running double knee smash to the head, which doesn’t come thru the throat normally. (It also often doesn’t come near the victim’s head.) Hope he’s okay, whatever happened.

I’m not totally sure about the main event, because Fly Deportes actually has Chavo and Ultimo Guerrero winning that match but the other recap is pretty clear it went the other way. Valuable points are on the line here! Mamba was spotted at the show.

LA Park and Voaldor had matching Parka gear.

Zumbi may not have made the show, but he was profiled by a Brazilian site in town for the UFC. It took four authors to interview Zumbi.

Today’s CMLL show is built around Rush in the main event, so that’s not good. The main event is scheduled to be Mascara, Sombra, Rush vs Euforia, Thunder and Ultimo Guerrero, which seems like it should be setting up Rush and Ultimo Guerrero in a cage match to come but who even knows now. (Despite Rush being said to be out for weeks, I kind of figure he’ll limp thru this.) There’s a cibernetico which might be fun, and might just be there to add more people to the cage match – the one that only exists in my mind at this point.

If Rush is out for an extended time, the chance of CMLL saying anything about are what? 5%? 0%?

SegundaCaida has a recap of the 3rd Lucha Underground and Blue Panther, Héctor Garza, Shocker vs Averno, Mephisto, Terrible from June 2010.

LuchaWorld has a recap of this past week’s Lucha Azteca and the third Lucha Underground episode.

Rey Hechicero vs Black Terry has been added to the 11/23 ChilangaMask show. It’s much tougher to trap your opponent in a chair in Coacalco.

CMLL posted the Stellar Moments of the last week.

Murder Clown talks up his feud with the Hell Brothers.

Stigma talks about his career and his dream to wrestle internationally.

R de Rudo talks to indy wrestler Gran Danger, who’s hoping to make it to IWRG.

Alfonso Morales writes a bio of Alfonso Dantes.

11/15-16 lucha times

box.

Will continue to record the Teleformula slot just like I futilely record the Monterrey slot.

== AAA ==

Heroes Inmortales part 2 – opener atomicos, Hellbrother vs Psycho Clown, Alberto/Mesias vs Pero/Texano. En Tu Tele says this show starts fifteen minutes early (to accommodate soccer.)

== Lucha Underground ==

“Thrill of the Hunt” – first show with four scheduled matches, including the debut of King Cuerno and a Fenix/Pentagon match.

== CMLL ==

FOX2: listed as 10am start, with Guerreros vs Ingobernables and a Panther/Cavernario lightning match.

Azteca: Rush/UG, which was the best UG singles match since the Anniversary show.

52MX: Shocker vs Marco, if they show the main event this week.

Claro: the Terra show that didn’t air, with Valiente vs Niebla Roja and a messy main event.

C3: A show. Estrellita/Zeuxis progresses. C3 has really been rough of late.

TVC Deportes (Puebla): Atlantis, Maximo, Valiente vs Euforia, Niebla Roja, UG again. Probably airing Monday, not yet on the schedule again.

Terra Sunday: Titan vs Polvora, one more time.

== Other ==

Noches de Coliseo: reruns

IWRG (LAS/AYM): MAYBE FINALLY THE NINJA TURTLES. Or maybe they just won’t air it again.

Turtles unmasked, All Elite, Lucha Underground

turtle moonsault/photo by Black Terry Jr.

IWRG (WED) 11/12/2014 Arena Naucalpan [Black Terry Jr. (flickr), IWRG]
1) Power Bull b Black Niko
2) Anubis Black & Araña de Plata b Alfa & Omega
3) Black Terry, Dragón Celestial, Saruman b Liderk, Rayan, Spartan
4) Golden Magic, Metaleon, Relámpago b Apolo Estrada Jr., Avisman, Electro Boy
Electro Boy was wearing Gringo-themed gear. Apolo faked a foul in the second, but the tecnicos took 1/3.
5) Leo, Mike, Rafy, Teelo DQ Chicano, Eterno, Imposible, Spector
Eterno & Spector replaced Canis Lupus & X-Fly. Tecnicos took 2/3, the last when Eterno fouled Rafy and Spector took Leo’s mask.

wait, those turtle heads are masks???? No X-Fly versus the Turtles, a sad day.

Today’s the first All Elite shows. Chavo and Hernandez have both mentioned they’re on their way to Mexico; it’s always kind of an iffy thing when unknown Mexican indies promote bringing in guys from other countries because the track record there is not so great, but this one seems on the level (and bodes well for the rest of the card.)

It’s still going to be a strange situation with Chavo very much a part of AAA’s Lucha Underground and facing two of the most marketable guys from CMLL on these shows –  Volador today in Arena Puebla and Sombra on Saturday in Arena Coliseo – while teaming with Ultimo Guerrero, who’s said to have at least some role in programming CMLL. Chavo’s role in Lucha Underground is around the same as Konnan, and there’s no way in a million years CMLL would approve of their guys being in a match with (a healthy) Konnan. There’s a lot of history there with Konnan that’s not there with Chavo, obviously, but the original CMLL beef with Konnan was he was recruiting guys to go to AAA and Chavo’s definitely in a position to do exactly the same if he so desires.

The difference there is the other promotion was forming in Mexico, which meant both direct competition and that it was all happening nearby physically and easier to find out about. Lucha Underground is happening in another country and you’d need to make a moderate effort to find out about it, especially in Mexico. CMLL doesn’t make even a slight effort to learn about things outside of them, both among the wrestlers and even more so among the front office. I think it’s very possible CMLL is not objecting to Chavo on these shows because the key people have no idea there is a Lucha Underground and Chavo’s involved in it. Perhaps they’ll know a bit more after this weekend. The All Elite shows should have good matches but this an interesting story in itself.

Lucha Underground people have been pretty consistent and insistent that some of the spoilers out are wrong. Nothing makes me want to pick up my laptop and throw it at a wall more than having an incorrect result on this site, so I’ve been very curious as to what this could be. I’m 3 for 3 with match results so far, but I’m beginning to think that’s not what they mean. The Chavo promo segment last night was redone – live, he did his anti-Demon promo in the ring after the match, but we saw an edited interview with Vampiro last night. While the matches results have been correct so far, there’s plenty of room in between the matches to change things around and a TV company would see those as more meaningful changes than wrestling fans.

That’s one of the differences here: wrestling promotions may take a few takes to shoot something, but once it’s done it’s done and once a show is finished taping it’s not reopened. Lucha Underground seems to be shooting segments, editing segments, and then bringing back people again if they feel like they need to make something better. That’s why Pentagon and others have mentioned heading back to Los Angeles even after the tapings – they’re doing some press work, but they’re also still shooting things (and reshooting them for Unimas, which is being said not to have started until they finished up everything else.) Even though they’re not taping matches for the public, they’re still actively working on this show. This is a good sign.

This is going to be a bit harder once there’s a quicker turn around between when shows tape and when they air, but they probably won’t need as much time to get episode 15 right as episode 3 because they’ll have figured it out a bit.

Speculating aside, here’s the preview for episode four: “Thrill of the Hunt”

Sexy Star returns to fight Ivelisse; Cueto confronts Drago; Konnan warns Puma against interfering with Mundo’s fight against Big Ryck; Sexy Star seeks vengeance on Chavo.

This will be Hijo del Fantasma’s debut episode: he’s doing a hunter gimmick, so that’s where the title comes from.

Rob posted his thoughts on the show.

Porra Fresa has an article about Arena Coliseo San Ramon, the new Puebla arena where a lot of the locals luchadors from the Arena Puebla shows are now also wrestling. The promotion is centered around the Tigre Rojo/Toro Bill feud that’s gone on for years – they’re doing a mask vs hair match with the dads this weekend – and it’s cool to see them get a venue of their own after being limited to street shows and rare TV appearances for years. They look like they’re drawing a pretty decent crowd for a weekly show, though it’s only been running for a month. (Yes, Rey Apocalipsis worked the first show. No, I don’t have video.)

Tercera Caida had Dos Caras as a guest last night, and they went a half hour more after the show.

CMLL Informa continues to get more pointless. The final segment included the Ingobernables mocking the questions and the show – they were doing it as heels, but they weren’t exactly wrong, which kind of makes it worse. It’s interesting to hear Rush repeatedly say he has no interest in a hair match – and definitely not interest in a hair match with Ultimo Guerrero – when it’s reasonable to suspect that’ll be in a cage match for hairs with Ultimo Guerrero in the very near future.

Rey Cometa suffered a bad cut thanks to Puma; photo of the stitches are here, and CMLL tries to build it up as reigniting their feud. There’s no reason to believe CMLL will actually go anywhere with a midcard feud especially if there’s no title, hair, or mask to be put on the line. I wasn’t exactly beating down the door to see Angel de Oro versus Sagrado, but they couldn’t even bother to do a lightning match for that. (That said, more trios matches with them would be fun.)

SuperLuchas reprints a great interview with Teddy Baños: luchador, referee and historian. Teddy kept a journal of every match he was in (same as Corazon de Leon!) and developed a box score for lucha libre as part of his record keeping. As someone who has struggled to do the same, I’d be interested in seeing what he came up with. Teddy mentions one of his big goals is to get every lineup from a specific decade, with the hope that other people might be doing the same for other decades and they’d have a complete list. This is a great hope.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

AAA will be holding matches as part of Morbido Fest this Friday in Mexico City.

Kcidis draws a Lucha-Door.

Polvora says he’s prepared many surprises to take the welterweight title from Titan. Hope it’s the snake in a can bit.

Amapola claims she’s not invincible. I don’t buy it.

ChilangaMask has added Extreme Tiger, Impulso and Belial versus Dragon Lee, Stuka Jr., and Star Jr. to it’s 11/23 show. That’s the 7th match and it’s about 10 days away, so it might be about it.

Angelico is still trying to meet Ronaldinho. Someone please help this man.

Lucha Underground 1×3 (2014-11-12)

Sagrada tope con giro

the matches

Mascarita Sagrada beat Mariachi Loco (4:38, front facelock choke cradle)

Mil Muertes beat Ricky Mandell (2:37, flatliner)

Fénix [O] beat Pentagón Jr. [X], Drago (7:45, inverted huracanrana)

the developments

Dario Cueto and Konnan met prior to the first match, with Konnan explaining he’d brought the three top young talents from Mexico: Drago, Fenix, and Pentagon Jr. (Dario asked if there were visa problems, Konnan said they were cleared up.) Dario booked them in a three way match to prove who was best.

Dario came to the ring and mocked complaints that there weren’t enough lucha. He introduced Mariachi Loco as working at the Mexican restaurant down the street (with his band!) and would perform if he won. He did not win. Sagrada was introduced as part of Lucha Underground’s open door policy – anyone who shows up can fight.

Sagrada won cleanly, but was attacked and laid out by Chavo. A sit down interview with Vampiro and Chavo explained Chavo’s turn – he’s sick of playing the nice legacy carrier, he’s doing it his way now, and he thinks Blue Demon Jr. is just a famous name who’s never actually been any good.

Mil Muerte has a stone, has a stone punch

Chavo was later confronted by Konnan (who warned him about Mexicans coming after him for his attacks on Demon and Sagrada – no mention of Sexy all show) and Mil Muertes/Catrina (who were upset THEY didn’t get to beat up Demon.)

Mil Muerte’s backstory was explained: he’s Pascual Mendoza, his family were all killed in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake when he was a kid and the stone is from the wreckage. He’d like revenge on the world.

Johnny Mundo laid out Cortez and Castro again in route to demanding Cueto give him a match with Big Ryck next week. Cueto accepted, and Mundo vowed he’d take out Ryck and then Cueto. Cueto paid Ryck to take the match. He was seen in a prison like setting at the end of the show, apparently talking to a back up plan. (This part seemed to fit with the key he’s been wearing, as if Dario’s keeping his secret man in a, uh, uh, I can’t think of the word. Eh, can’t be that important.)

Another Prince Puma vignette was shown.

Fenix and Pentagon and Drago were awesome – classic situation where they all got over, though Fenix was slightly pushed above the other two.

Thoughts

Of all the shows where I was indirectly referenced in the first segment, this was my favorite.

how to beat a dragon

Fenix, Pentagon and Drago knocked it out of the park in their debut. That first minute would’ve been good enough, but they kept turning up the gas to the end and everyone looked like superman. Fenix’s stage dive looked crazy, especially since that’s the first we’ve seen anyone use the Temple in that sort of way. A lot of the spots would look familiar to people who’ve followed them in Mexico, but they all looked great and the finish was perfect. Fenix won but all three guys were made by the match, and it’s just a matter of following up on it. It looks like they do. Either Striker hadn’t seen a lot of these guys before or did a good job pretending they were knew, because he was totally (and pleasantly) caught off guard at times.

Mascarita looked good in his debut and they used him the right way: Mariachi got the better of him a lot, lost advantage when he didn’t take Sagrada seriously, and Sagrada used his speed to get the win. Crowd was into the character.

The regulars from the last few shows didn’t have matches, but they did a lot of work on moving the characters a little bit forward a step. The Chavo interview was great, both in terms of getting over his character and in terms of appealing to this particular author. The Johnny Mundo skit was straight of those action movies he’s looking to film (though poor Cortez/Castro have been dropped pretty low on the totem pole already. Someone’s got to be on bottom.) They set up a match for next week and a mystery for down the line. The Mil Muertes backstory was creative and we got answers a lot quicker than I’d expect.

This show is rolling on all cylinders right now. It’s not better than I thought it would be, it’s better than I thought it COULD be.

(more than a dozen more gifs on the full entry)

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