CMLL (MON) 12/09/2013 Arena Puebla [El Popular, Poblanerias]
1) Águila Egipcia & Bengala b El Malayo & Zayco
Malayo’s first match here since August.
2) Leono & Robin b Espíritu Maligno & King Jaguar
3) Camorra, Cancerbero, Raziel b Sagrado, Starman, Stigma
Camorra defeated Stigma. Stigma demanded a singles match next week. Camorra responded by fouling him.
4) Kráneo, Mr. Águila, Olímpico b Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., Titán
Olimpico beat Maya with the cristo negro.
5) Averno b Blue Panther
Averno beat Panther clean.
6) Atlantis & Mistico DQ Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3, UG fouling Atlantis.

The Camorra/Stigma feud hasn’t been followed up on Sundays in weeks but continues in Puebla. Perhaps it’s been moved over to here. It feels like Arena Mexico has a no-apuesta rule in place right now if they’re even pushing Stigma/Camorra out.

Mr. Aguila told Cinco Radio 2013 was great for the Invasors and 2014 will be even better with Dr. Wagner Jr. I think Mr. Aguila was just messing with everyone. I don’t think Wagner’s coming to CMLL, but he’d definitely have better things to do than be part of the Invasors if he did.

Enjoyed this picture of Spider-Cancerbero.

CMLL Gaceta previews tonight’s Arena Mexico show as the return of La Sombra, and specifically notes his Twitter response about not liking the idea of this tecnico Volador. They also push the Dark Angel/Dallys match, which will probably only be seen live.

CMLL’s changed Friday and Sunday’s lineup. Marco must not be ready to return, because he’s out of Friday’s semimain and Valiente is moved up to his spot. Negro Casas now faces Blue Panther in the lightning match, their first singles match in Arena Mexico since their 2012 hair match draw. Mistico replaces Maximo in Sunday’s main event, which means he’s facing Comandante Pierroth for the very first time.

Dranzer and Scravos lost their masks to Epydemius & Demenzia in Monterrey.

Angelica defeated Estrella Explosiva for her hair on LLF’s Anniversary show. (I was wrong.) LuchaMania has a post match interview with the loser. Lady Puma and internet favorite Lady Flammer won the LLF Tag Team titles.

Brazo Jr. won the Sureste championship from Hijo del Fishman at a show with no date or location.

Negro Navarro talks about his Arena Coliseo Guadalajara appearance.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Rob has highlights of 09/27/13 CMLL.

Lucha Libre in Japan

NJPW will hold a FantasticaMania autograph session for their fan club members on 01/19, the final day of the tour. Mistico, Sombra, Rush and Mascara Dorada will be signing.

The correct spelling of the new NJPW character is “El Desperado”.

Links

AAA posted the second part of their interview with Ciberentico & Perro Aguayo, in better times.

Ohtani’s Jacket reviews Black Terry vs Rocky Satana from 2004 and the 11th match from the Best of the 80s DVDs.

Eric R reviews the 11/23 CMLL Azteca show.

Today’s ACM show is the battle of the Pumas.

Violento Jack vs Aero Boy has been added to the DTU 6th Anniversary show.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 12/15/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Capitan vs El Piraña
2) Halcón de Plata & Javier Cruz Jr. vs Acertijo & Sádico
3) León Blanco vs Magnum
4) Esfinge, Gallo, Leo vs Demonio Maya, Infierno, Maléfico
5) Diamante Azul, Titán, Tritón vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Espectrum, Ráfaga
6) La Máscara vs Gran Guerrero

This probably should be the week where La Mascara gets the win back.

AAA TV (SAT) 12/14/2013 Hard Rock Hotel, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
1) El Elegido, Jennifer Blake, Mascarita Sagrada vs Dark Cuervo, Mini Abismo Negro, Taya Valkyrie
2) Angélico, Australian Suicide, Jack Evans vs Daga, Steve Pain, Toscano
3) Blue Demon Jr., Cibernético, Fénix vs Hijo del Fantasma, Pentagón Jr., Silver King

Air Date: 01/18, which is probably around when we should expect the next taping. (12/28, 01/04, 01/11 are best of under the normal system. AAA TV schedule info remains Top Secret so we’re guessing here.)

Everyone has a nice three day vacation and also they put a house show on TV. It’s listed as a three match card – maybe they’ll bring in some locals to make the card a little longer, but they really don’t need to for this audience. This should be a fun paid trip.

It’s a house show type lineup – Toscano being on the wrong side is very much AAA house show, though he’ll be better on that side. That second match would be very good on a normal but expectations should probably be kept in check for this sort of event.

Nothing really dependent on Guerra de Titanes (which means it won’t be until the end of January where anything follows up on that.) Does it bug AAA that they have to frequently bring in Blue Demon to have a big name people recognize? This would be bug me.

AAA TV (SUN) 12/08/2013 Auditorio de la Gente, Tepic, Nayarit
***Guerra de Titanes, 2013***
1) Dinastía, Ludxor, Venum b El Apache, Machine Rocker, Mini Charly Manson
Venum pinned Machine.
2) Angélico, Fénix, Jack Evans b Juventud Guerrera, Pentagón Jr., Steve Pain
Juvi replaced Eterno (injury). Fenix got the pin. Rudos attacked the tecnicso after the match, and Mexican Powers ran them off. Everyone danced.
3) Pimpinela Escarlata L Taya Valkyrie, Mamba, Jennifer Blake, Faby Apache, Pasion Kristal, Polvo de Estrellas, Sexy Star [cage, hair]
Mystery person was the returning Sexy Star. Polvo de Estrellas replaced Yuriko. Last two were Mamba and Pimpi, with Sexy Star coming back in to stop Pimpi from leaving and getting out herself again. Mamba and Pimpi both bled, both tried to leave but were blocked. Mamba finally escaped and Pimpi lost his hair. Mamba avenged his mask loss to Pimpinela.
4) Blue Demon Jr. b Electroshock [AAA LA]
Blue Demon Jr. is champion and kept his title with a half crab/amrbar. First defense. Seconds were Aerostar and Fenix.
5) Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Psycho Clown b Hijo del Fantasma, Silver King, Texano Jr. [AAA TRIOS]
Psycho Circus are champions and kept the titles with Canadian Destroyers on Texano Jr. and Silver King (who took the pin.) Third defense.
6) Cibernético, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, El Mesías, La Parka b Daga, Jeff Jarrett, Parka Negra, Psicosis
Mesias pinned Jeff Jarrett and then a billion things happened. Consejo ran out to help the rudos. Perro turned on the tecnicos post match, so maybe the Perros del Mal are together after all. Zorro came out for the save, but also turned rudo. Karen went after Marisela, Faby made the save, but Sexy Star attacked her. Konnan and Dorian announced all the rudos (Consejo, Perros del Mal, Zorro, Sexy Star, possibly more) are part of a new La Sociedad.

Air Date: 12/14 and 12/21, probably.

AAA recap here.

Let’s handle the undercard in one paragraph: some good matches, and somehow we ducked out of getting the Mexican Powers in a match on this show. That was great. There’s no explanation about why Yuriko was not in the cage match; AAA never mentioned Eterno’s injury so I guess it could be the same thing. First two matches sound like there were also great – they’ll probably air on UTDN so that’s something to be excited about. Everything else was keeping the status quo.

And the main event was the return to the status quo. As best I can figure, this a return to La Sociedad after about 10 months, with the last iteration ending when Dorian and Konnan were fired back in February. It’s really hard because there’s no clean delineation – Konnan and Dorian showed up back on TV with hand wave explanations in the same roles. If there were ever supposed to be actual differences between La Socieded and the foreign legion and Konnan and Dorian with the Perros del Mal, they’ve never come thru on TV. Maybe if you’re completely enveloped by the product, you see how this is different than which came before it, but they can’t and haven’t gotten that idea across. The people on this side of the barricade look see as a 10 year unbreaking stretch of Konnan (and later Dorian) leading an army of the same heels against the same tecnicos.

This is not just the cranky people in the luchablog sphere reacting negatively. There’s 82 comments right now on AAA’s Facebook message about the new Sociedad, and they seem to be 82 comments groaning about this idea coming back. Reaction elsewhere has pretty much the same. It’s not people being upset their tecnico heroes were foiled, it’s people frustrated we’re back to this bit once again.

Here’s the thing: Konnan and Dorian are smart people. Smart enough to know this would go over like a lead balloon. This is a pretty objectively unappealing concept, one you only do if the the other options are even less appealing. You’re always going to make what you believe is the best option at the moment, which means AAA must’ve had a pretty dismal view of how things had been going in the 10 months without La Sociedad.

And so the next move is to continue moving everything back to what it was 2012. They walked back the tecnico Perro tease (as a plan which makes no sense, and something that should’ve been a much bigger deal since the TV has been focused on it), Zorro’s reset back to the crazy rudo he was before the last time Sociedad turned on him, and more is probably coming. (Sexy Star’s getting her belt back real soon.) Sociedad didn’t include Consejo back in the day, and it’s about time to let that concept go anyway.

Regressing is not interesting, but maybe it’s more profitable. We have no reliable measures of how AAA’s business is doing, but maybe they know a lot about how 2013 did compared to 2012. Sometimes the best business decisions aren’t the best creative ones.

AAA loves running big angle at Guerra de Titanes. It always seems the worst time of the year to me, since you’re putting everything on ice thru the holidays and intentionally doing little in February. It seems like a sure fire way to reduce any impact. I’m glad for AAA doing it that way this year. AAA has another taping left, but this should be the last one to air this in 2013 before the usual two/three weeks of Best Of. It’ll be nice to have a break.

IWRG (SUN) 12/08/2013 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Fulgor I & Fulgor II b Atomic Star & Electro Boy
2) Bugambilia, Diva Salvaje, Miss Gaviota b Avisman, Fulgor I, Imposible
Fulgor I worked twice, replacing Kalim Black
3) Bombero Infernal, Dragón Celestial, Golden Magic b El Hijo del Diablo, Picudo Jr., Tony Rivera
Bombero beat Rivera.
4) Apolo Estrada Jr. b Dr. Cerebro [WWS WELTER]
Vacant title. Dinamic Black was previous champion. Hijo del Diablo (Apolo’s second) hit Cerebro with a chair to give Apolo the first fall. Doc seemed about to win the third fall when referee Capu stopped him from striking with a closed first, and Apolo took advantage to get in a power bomb for the straight fall title win.
5) Fuerza Guerrera, Trauma I, Trauma II b Alan Extreme, Toscano, Veneno
Rudos took 1/3. Veneno seemed about to finish Trauma I when Fuerza (previously eliminated) hit Veneno with a chain to give the rudos a win.

Sunday’s Tercera Caida special was all from Friday night’s Tijuana show, including footage of the top two matches and interviews with Hijo del Santo and Rey Misterio Sr.

CMLL promo for next Friday’s show.

Atlantis rates this year a 10 (out of 10), because he (kind of) risked his mask in the 80th anniversary. He’s going on vacation in a couple weeks – this interview appeared to have been done last Monday, so he’s probably done in seven days. He hopes to get that mask match in 2014.

Hijo del Signo says there’s nothing to rumors of him going to AAA. What? Atlantis makes more sense than Hijo del Signo. Signo isn’t lighting CMLL on fire but would be an atrocious fit with AAA.

Chik Tormenta wants to prove she’s a better luchadora from Guadalajara than Silueta.

Gym del Valle held it’s holiday party/award presentation.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 12/15/2013 Arena Naucalpan
1) Alfa & Omega vs Fulgor I & Fulgor II
2) Dragón Celestial, Hip Hop Man, Látigo vs Araña de Plata, Kaling Black, Zurdog
3) Diva Salvaje, Golden Magic, Miss Gaviota vs Douki, Imposible, Oficial 911
4) Alan Extreme, Máscara Púrpura, Veneno vs Fuerza Guerrera, Súper Nova, X-Fly
5) Dr. Cerebro vs Apolo Estrada [hair]

That main event could go either way with those two guys. Should at least be interesting. Apolo’s already taken Oficial AK47’s in the last few weeks. Oficial AK47 was out of his mind on last night’s TV.

There’s a Tuesday (FILL) show and a Sunday show announced for next week, but no Thursday show. Maybe there’s not one? Maybe FILL airs on AYM? That would be amazing. Maybe they just haven’t gotten around to promoting Thursday’s show.

CMLL (SUN) 12/15/2013 Arena Mexico
1) Leono & Robin vs Akuma & Inquisidor
2) Astral, Fantasy, Shockercito vs Demus 3:16, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Warrior
3) Súper Halcón Jr. vs Cancerbero [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Sagrado, Stuka Jr. vs Misterioso Jr., Puma, Sangre Azteca
5) Blue Panther, Rush, Thunder vs Pólvora, Rey Bucanero, Tiger
6) Máximo, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Felino, Negro Casas, Pierroth

Looks like Negro Casas versus Volador is a real thing; the timing may depend on if/when Volador is going on vacation for the holidays. Will Rey Bucanero actually return this week?

No Namajague this week. I have no idea why I’m putting this in this paragraph, but NJPW announced a new masked man named El Desparade El Desperado would debut on their 01/05 (day after Tokyo Dome) show. No CMLL luchadors on the Tokyo Dome show this year, as was the case last year.

SV (FRI) 12/06/2013 Auditorio de Tijuana [The Gladiatores]
1) Kanalla & Pitbull b Dementor & TG Power
2) Black Zygon, Camaleon De Oro, Rubi Gardenia, Venum Black Jr. b Cholo, Dinamantina, King Azteca, Shamu
Cholo and Black Zygon were added to the match. Gardenia beat Azteca.
3) Mascarita Sagrada & Nino de la Calle b Pentagoncito Black & Pirata Morgan
Originally billed as for a random minis title, but no title was mentioned. Nino de la Calle replaced Tzuki.
4) Hijo de Rey Misterio II & LA Park b Dr. Wagner Jr. & El Hijo del Solitario
Hijo de Rey Misterio replaced Rayo de Jalisco. Misterio/Park 2/3, with a Misterio foul on Wagner setting up a Park pin in the third.
5) Rayo de Jalisco Jr. b Super Parka [hair]
Rayo replaced Hijo del Santo. Halloween turned up as Super Parka’s second. Hijo de Rey worked as Rayo’s. Match was one fall. It was billed in the days up that Santo’s mask would stay on the line, but it appears it was actually Rayo’s when the match started. It never came close to mattering. Halloween frequently interefered, Misterio finally took him out and Rayo beat Parka. Parka refused to get his hair cut, demanding 2 out of 3, Rayo hit him with a hair, and some hair was cut off. Super Parka got the kind of hair cut you might pay $12USD for at a SuperCuts and by no means got his head shaved.

One to remember the next time the old guys complain about the new guys disgracing lucha libre. It doesn’t like Super Parka was healthy enough to have that match in any circumstance.

CMLL (SUN) 12/08/2013 Arena Mexico [CMLL, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Herodes Jr. & Zayco b Metatrón & Oro Jr.
Rudos took 2/3 in a typical opening match which fell apart near the finish. Announcers said Leyenda de Plata was coming soon (which they did not seem to say on Friday.)
2) Boby Zavala, Hooligan, Sangre Azteca b Pegasso, Sensei, Stigma
Sensei replaced Starman. Rudos took 1/3 in a long match.
3) Blue Panther, Fuego, Sagrado b Misterioso Jr., Namajague, Puma
Fuego was announced on Monday as a replacement for Angel de Oro (injury). Tecnicos took 1/3 in a good match.
4) Diamante Azul b Dragón Rojo Jr. [lightning]
6:22. Azul won via German suplex in a thankfully quick match.
5) Máscara Dorada, Thunder, Valiente b Averno, Euforia, Tama Tonga
Tecnicos took 2/3, Dorada pinning Averno with the Gold Rush.
6) Máximo, Rush, Volador Jr. DQ Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
Tecnicos took 2/3. Volador mostly got along with his partners. Negro fouled Volador at the finish for the DQ, though it took a couple of tries.

Show was fine. Tercera seemed like best match. Main event might be setting up a Negro/Volador feud, which would be fun. Fans generally cheered Volador but seemed to favor Negro over him.

That could’ve been it for Namajauge – except this would be the third or fourth time we thought it was it for Namajague and he just keeps showing up. He’s not spending any more money on hair dye at any rate.

CMLL (SUN) 12/08/2013 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [@acogdl]
1) El Brillante b Samael
One fall.
2) Ángel del Mal & Demonio Rojo b Martin Escobedo & Tony Escobedo
Rudos tok 1/3.
3) Sádico DQ El Divino
One fall. Sadico tried to pull Divino’s mask but was caught for the DQ.
4) Demonio Maya, Espectrum, Infierno b El Ídolo, Esfinge, León Blanco
Rudos took 2/3.
5) Gallo, Solar I, Stuka Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Negro Navarro, Ráfaga
Tecnicos took 1/3, Stuka beating Barbaro. Money thrown in.
6) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Atlantis & La Máscara
Rudos took 1/3, Gran Guerrero getting away with stealing La Mascara’s mask in the third.

Gran Guerrero continues to find success away from Mexico City.

Rob has highlights of 09/24/13 CMLL.

LuchaWorld has KrisZ’s news update.

Othani’s Jacket watches Villano III vs Flama Roja.

DJ Spectro has about a dozen posts, including the time a Ray Mendoza/Solitario match only went a handful of minutes, Sangre Chicana vs MS1 hair match, a list of Perro Aguayo hair losses, an el Cobarde bio, a Red Terror bio, a bio of Cesar Curiel, and a bio of Hermano Muerte II.

Elegido will sign autographs in Puebla, apparently still exists. The era of Los Mirreyes sure came and went quick.

Lucha Libre in Japan

12/08 NJPW: Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask IV & La Sombra [O] b Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Masato Tanaka, Yujiro Takahashi & Gedo [X]
That’s the end of his tour. The two things I’ve gotten out of this tour: 1) Dave Meltzer is very concerned Sombra has gotten too big (and he’s kind of got a point) and 2) NJPW is not really concerned because they’ve given him wins they didn’t have to give him. I would expect he gets some big title match on FantasticaMania – Naito versus Sombra for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship would make a lot of sense as Naito’s first defense, but there’s no reason think Naito’s actually winning that title. Sombra/Nakamura III is a possibility. There are also a lot of interesting possibilities for Sombra in CMLL proper – the only logical reason left for why CMLL did the Volador turn when they did is they wanted it all to happen while Sombra was out of town to set up something else – and I’m more concerned about what they pull off.

12/08 AJPW: Ultimo Dragon [O], Dark Ozz, Dark Cuervo b Jun Akiyami, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SUSHI [X]
Tour over. I have no idea why this tour happened. Hope they had fun.

Looks like Marcela, Comandante, and Isis are booked for a show in Japan on 01/19. Isis must be leaving for her REINA stay before then, and it’s possible Comandante could be staying over from her 12/22 appearance.