CMLL

CMLL (MON) 04/10/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Genickbruch]
2) Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II b Black Tiger & El Hijo De Centella Roja
3) Enfermero Jr. b Valiente Jr. [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray, Stigma DQ Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
Zandokan unmasked Stigma
5) Atlantis, Octagón, Titán b Bárbaro Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Soberano Jr. b Templario 

Arena Puebla has more of the main event than recent weeks, which is good timing because it seemed and we wouldn’t be able to see any other way. Porra Fresa (and family) went on vacation to Acapulco, so no video from the rest of the show and the undercard results are only because a reader of one of the German wrestling sites sent them in.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Porra Fresa]
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy b Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia 
2) Sangre Imperial b Retro [lightning] 
3) La Guerrera, La Maligna, Skadi DQ Amapola, Hera, Reyna Isis 
Amapola DQed for grabbing the referee to stop a count. Seemed to be an unplanned DQ. Maligna’s first match here this year.
4) Dark Panther b Zandokan Jr. [lightning] 
5) Cancerbero, Rey Bucanero, Virus b El Audaz, Star Black, Valiente 
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota 
Atlantis & Octagon won, then asked for a tag title shot!

Atlantis & Octagon is a good marketing idea as a special tag team title match challenge. Maybe too good for a Tuesday, feels like it should be on a better show. As a match, it’s going to be a test to see how good the Chavez are at carrying people. Octagon, Atlantis and Mascara Sagrada were trios champions 32 years ago, the only time they’ve been champs together.

(Next Friday is supposed to be the CMLL champions in the Universal tournament, so Octagon and Atlantis could find their way in at the last second. A title change seems unlikely.)

Dark Panther/Zandokan was a disappointment. Zandokan did a lot of heel stuff and didn’t look as impressive here. This stream had some issues (it’d slow down and get far behind, then go double speed to catch up.) The Friday stream had issues too.

Amapola was so stunned by the DQ. I think that’s the first time they’ve called that in a woman’s match, but the roster is still getting used to that being a rule. Bestia Negra didn’t even seem to realize it was a DQ at first, and I wonder if someone in his earpiece insisted on him calling the DQ.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, thecubsfan]
1) Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera b Demonio Rojo, Mágico, Metatrón 
2) Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria b Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol 
3) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Ráfaga b Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Misterioso Jr. 
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico b Crixus, Max Star, Vegas 
5) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Gallero b Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte 
6) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono b Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel 

Nothing notable as far as angles here. Max Star was said to look good in his match; he did well on the 04/01 Arena Coliseo show as well.

Sagrado and Angel de Oro talked about the Universal tournament. There’s an interview with Panterita del Ring Jr. too, who did Olympic wrestling from the age of 9 always with the plan to go to CMLL one day. The pandemic may have sped that day up; his wrestling gyms were closed during the pandemic, the Arena Mexico one was open, so he started doing lucha libre just to stay active at first.

CMLL (SAT) 04/15/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Minos & Pequeño Polvora
2) La Magnifica vs Olympia [lightning]
3) Flyer, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
4) Rey Samuray vs Difunto [lightning]
5) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Volcano vs Felino, Gemelo Diablo II, Kráneo
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Valiente vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Rey Samuray vs Difunto could be a thing.

CMLL Informa has Atlantis Jr. (last week’s Universal tournament), Sagrado, Magia Blanca, Panterita del Ring (this week’s Universal tournament), Stuka, Gran Guerrero, Audaz and Hera.

NJPW says they’ll announce the Best of Super Juniors lineup during their April 27th show. I have no inside info, but Titan is a NJPW guy so he should be in it and I think it’s fairly likely Soberano Jr. will be in instead.

AAA

AAA’s poster for the show lists Chessman versus a mystery person. Adrian Marcelo’s silhouette is still on the poster, leading most fans to believe that the match is still happening and AAA is just doing it as a surprise. On Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said AAA’s current plan is to run an angle on Sunday and then hold the match at one of the other two TripleManias. I’ve been told there’s a decent chance Marcelo will not appear at all; failing the wrestling test is one thing, but the sexual assault allegations are more concerning to him personally, and he’s being advised to get out of the spotlight for the moment. (He’s been quier on social media outside of Instagram stories, which tend towards picturing him as a nice family man.) AAA themselves probably wants to do an angle with Marcelo and Chessman to keep it going, but they’re not going to go against the commission on this one and they’re going to have to convince Marcelo to show up still. Marcelo’s Multimedios TV show airs on Wednesday nights, and that could clarify the situation. It’s also AAA, so nothing is absolutely certain until they get to the ring.

I don’t think we’ll get a Chessman replacement opponent name until they turn up. The plan is probably to send out a famous name (think Vampiro, don’t think Goldberg) so it’s not a letdown. I’m not sure how those fans are going to react if the some other match happen. I believe the fans all think Marcelo is going to wrestle, they think the AAA is doing some angle to bring him out as a surprise, and a lot of people are going to be surprised if it doesn’t happen. Maybe AAA could mitigate that by saying Marcelo won’t be appearing (if that is the case) but I think those fans would still believe it’s part of the story.

I think the Tijuana or Mexico City commissions may have been more willing to allow Adrian Marcelo in the ring if AAA had gone to them first, but those are both visible commissions and everyone knows Marcelo failed the first test. The dilemma is now to figure out some way to license Marcelo while those groups don’t kill their credibility. (Maybe it’s as simple as another ‘test’, but with no cameras involved.) Marcelo is also more popular in Monterrey than in other cities, and keeping interest in this is going to be hard. I don’t see AAA letting go of this angle, because they really had something at one point, but it’s obviously not a ideal bit.

Dorian Roldan appeared on the Sport Innovation Society podcast. Roldan’s appeared at the SIS conference in Mexico City in recent years. The episode went up on Tuesday, not sure when it was taped.

A lot of the discussion was on introducing AAA and lucha libre to unfamiliar podcasts listeners, and talking about the Luchatitlan project in Cancun. It originally started as Dorian Roldan wanting an AAA arena in Mexico City for years (feeling they could do the same sort of tourist business CMLL does, but better.) As he talked to partners and investors, the idea of running in Cancun came into shape. Luchatitlan is running one show a night, with a plan to expand to running more often once summer starts. Each show has three matches: an exotico/mini/male trios matches, a woman’s mask versus mask match, and a battle between two brothers over who will take over their father’s famous character. (They’re having lucha libre matches, but this is closer to being a stage show or a theatre presentation where they’re running the same story every night.)

The Luchatitlan project originally was scheduled to cost five million dollars to get off the ground. Costs increased during the project, and the final price was closer to ten million due to pandemic-related shortages and other issues. There was a lot of energy and time spent on the project, and he learned that the best way for him to succeed is to focus on what he does well and work with trusted partners to let them do what they do well. His biggest role in the project was to get investors on board, which was difficult when it ended up costing twice as much as they expected. AAA themselves have a 50% ownership stake, which suggests they put in five million on their own. I was caught off guard by it being that much after previous coverage. Roldan, as he has in that other coverage, expressed hope to take the concept to other beach towns and to the US.

The WWE/UFC new company came up as a major topic in the podcast. Roldan says he was shocked when UFC was valued so highly when Endeavor bought them originally and sees the (high) valuation of the new company as positive news for everyone involved in the industry. Roldan had guessed it’d be either Endeavor or NBC Universal who’d end up with WWE, and believes the new company will attempt to add a boxing component next. Roldan felt WWE/UFC will make a move into Mexico soon, and used it to frame the Luchatitlan project interestingly. He seemed to imply WWE & UFC would offer big events that would be hard to compete with, but Luchatitlan or similar ideas would be compete in the wrestling sphere in a fashion that WWE/UFC wouldn’t easily be able to match.

Roldan notes the Luchatitlan project started in the fall of 2020 and took until April 2023 to complete, as an example about how long these ideas take to get done. He mentioned there was another project AAA’s already been working on for fourteen months, and in expects to finish by the end of 2023. He said it’s going to be big not just for us, “but for a lot of companies in Latin America.” Roldan mentioned he wanted AAA to be half WWE, half Disney, and implied this was something to do with the Disney half. AAA is generally in a growth stage, with their head count increasing.

Roldan also mentioned “a couple of weeks ago”, AAA had signed a new deal to start to develop a project in the US. “I think next year we’ll have a real presence in America.” He later noted previous “failures in the market”, and emphasized the importance of “know how, and know who.” Near the end, Roldan’s asked about his favorite arenas and picks Madison Square Garden; “It’s really iconic, and it was a really difficult show.” It sounded like he could do another podcast just on that experience.

Konnan appeared on the Haus of Wrestling podcast on Wednesday. Most of the conversation was WWE focused. The host (and me listening) were surprised to find out Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard had reached out to Konnan about a WWE latino project a couple of years ago; Konnan never heard more about it. The only AAA talk was going over the TripleMania mega title match. Konnan’s very positive about Swerve Strickland, likes Rich Swann, thinks it’s going to be a great match, but also made it clear that they were at least the fifth choice to go in the match. Omega was the first choice and told Konnan he couldn’t come to TripleMania because he wasn’t sure if he was going to sign with AEW or WWE. Konnan seemed to believe Omega had signed or would soon be signing with AEW, and so Omega would be available later in the year. Konnan said he talked to “a couple of other people” about coming in but they were both busy, another one was injured, and then he got to Strickland.

A similar sequence of events – Konnan going for a big name, getting turned down, and eventually ending up with someone lower on the list – happened with the Jeff Hardy replacement last year in Tijuana and with the Kenny Omega replacements a year and a half ago in Monterrey. This time, Konnan seems to be coming away with a verbal promise Omega will return to AAA later this year. This is and will be reported everywhere else as “Omega contract news!” but I’m wondering if it’s actually “Kenny Omega isn’t interested in coming up to AAA, and is finding polite excuses rather than bluntly saying no.” Recently, on Konnan’s own podcast, he briefly mentioned trying to book Chris Jericho for AAA a dozen times and Jericho coming up with a dozen different excuses, which Konnan took as Jericho not wanting to work AAA and just not saying it. I have my thoughts but they’re unimportat. We’ll know if Omega is doing the same after the next two TripleManias.

(The other thing is Konnan was talking about Omega not being on this TripleMania but later in the year for a few weeks. It made it to the WON a few weeks ago. There’s still a decent gap of time between that and when the title match happened. Was AAA waiting on other people making decisions? Should they start working on Tijuana today if this process keeps going down to the wire? Maybe this is a thing only important to me and it’s not a big deal to AAA; it doesn’t feel like it’s a big deal to them if they’re letting it keep happening.)

One commonality between both the Dorian Roldan and Konnan podcasts is how little AAA in-ring wrestling came up. They were both working to their intended audience – the SIS podcast wants to hear ambitious business plans, Haus is looking for WWE/AEW stuff – but the only time an AAA match came up between the two was when Haus brought up the mega title match. Roldan plugged Luchatitlan as the thing to see at the end of his interview, Konnan plugged his podcast. I’m used to Tony Khan or Court Bauer turning every answer into a way to plug their next big event.

Space says they’ll be airing TripleMania from 6:30 pm on. That may mean the last four matches, but not sure what’ll end up being the last four matches.

Arez warned Babo that he doesn’t know what he’s getting into if gets involved in the Copa TripleMania match. Babo has to be knocking out someone, I hope it’s Dave for Arez’s sake.

Hijo del Vikingo and Komander wrestle in Defy on 06/24. If you want to see AAA regular wrestlers wrestle each other in singles matches, you need to go watch non-AAA promotions.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 04/13/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Golden Power vs Kenji & Rey Eclipse
2) Águila Roja & Spider Fly vs Rey Aztaroth & Rey Halcón
3) Aster Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo del Alebrije vs Gianni Valleta, Rocky Casas, Shocko
4) Cerebro Negro & Hip Hop Man vs ? & Hell Boy
5) Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.

Pigs vs Pandemonium seems like it should be a notable match. Cerebro Negro attacked Hell Boy last Sunday to set up that feud; no idea who the mystery man is.

Other News

Metalik challenges for the ROH World Championships against Claudio Castagnoli on Thursday’s TV show.

Mas Lucha announced Dinasita, Dante, Saurman, and Ultimo Legendario advanced in their Ruleta de Suicida. That’s not a foursome that interests me much.

Another lucha libre themed streaming show, Mascara contra Caballero, is coming to the Disney-owned Star+ service in Latin America. (It’s not caballeo, it’s Mask versus Man.) It’ll be on Disney+ in some countries; Canada and Australia are mentioned, the US are not. It’s an eight episode, thirty minute series. It’s scheduled to be released a week from today (April 19th.)

Meanwhile, El Muerto, a comic book movie starting Bad Bunny as a luchador themed super hero announced last year, appears not to be happening, at least any time soon. Bad Bunny was asked about it an interview with Time and “feigned confusion.” His publicist said the movie was “at a standstill” and “in development.”

Box y Lucha 3546 has Atlantis Jr. & Solitario on the cover.

There’s a new lucha libre exhibit in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

AroLucha updated their WeFunder page for the first time in over a year this past March. In a remarkable coincidence, the funding on their project closes in a few days. They claim to have raised over 300,000 USD, which most likely means someone invested a big number early on to get it rolling based on the number of investors.

Segunda Caida writes about some Panamanian lucha.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Quadratin, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, thegladiatores.com]
1) Acero, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito b Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora  
9:47
2) La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis b La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely  
12:02. Zeuxis beat Jarochita with some outside help from Vaquer. Tecnicas demanded a rematch for next week.
3) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa b Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma   
14:07.
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Templario, Titán b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]   
19:00
5) Volador Jr. b Gran Guerrero [lightning]  
9:11
6) Atlantis Jr. b Místico, Rocky Romero [CMLL Universal, semifinal]   
22:34. Atlantis Jr. bled during the match. All three in the ring elimination rules. Rocky unmasked Mistico but Mistico kicked out, got his mask back, and beat Rocky with La Mistica. Mistico immediately ran into La Atlantida, giving Atlantis Jr. the submission win. Atlantis advances to the final on April 28th.

I really don’t like the “one person gets eliminated, then someone else gets eliminated” bit CMLL does, and they do it too often, but the main event was pretty good. The show was pretty good. Maybe the minis was the weakest match but it was still watchable. Match 4 was really good and continued the Templario/Dragon Rojo feud. Rey Samuray looked good in a big Friday test. The woman’s feud seems to be working.

CMLL had a big crowd for this show and knew it. I want to guess 10,000 but I’m bad at guessing these. The crowd was into the show, though I’m thinking the uptick may have been more to the holiday weekend than any of the matches booked. It’s strange that the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show was the only ‘down’ show of the recent stretch.

CMLL (SAT) 04/08/2023 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Grako, Nitro, Raider b Neón, Robin, Sangre Imperial
3) Reyna Isis DQ Lluvia [lightning]
Lluvia DQed for shoving referee Olimpico
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Valiente Jr., Volcano b Difunto, Furia Roja (Jalisco), Zandokan Jr.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Mephisto b Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota
6) Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. b Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Último Guerrero
Volador escaped the Diablo Armbar and gave Romero a powerbomb for the win. Volador demanded a NWA WELTER title match, Rocky said he could get it – if Volador beats him next Saturday in DC on the NJPW US show.

I like Volador’s chances. That match next Saturday’s been changed due to other card issues. It’ll be Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor, The DKC, Lio Rush, and Clark Connors vs Volador Jr., Mike Bailey, Gabriel Kidd, Kevin Knigth and KUSHIDA. Romero talked about wanting to run a show with CMLL, NJPW, AEW and Impact, and they’re all in that one match. Volador will team with El Desperado versus Kevin Knight and Delirious on Sunday.

CMLL (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado b Micro Ángel, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas
2) Neón b Valiente Jr. [lightning]
3) Crixus, Magia Blanca, Magnus b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Virus b El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente b Felino, Rey Bucanero, Yota
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán b Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr.

Not much going on. Romero went from winning all his matches to losing most of them, which sure seems like his time here is closer to the end than the start. Crixus isn’t a Depredador but he felt part of the group in the post-match promo. He trains with those guys so it’s really more about making it official.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Aéreo, Fantasy vs Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia
2) Retro vs Sangre Imperial [lightning]
3) La Guerrera, La Maligna, Skadi vs Amapola, Hera, Reyna Isis
4) Dark Panther vs Zandokan Jr. [lightning]
5) El Audaz, Star Black, Valiente vs Cancerbero, Rey Bucanero, Virus
6) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Octagón vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota

This is not an appetizing card but I’m locked in on that Dark Panther/Zandokan match. Dark Panther has good lightning matches with everyone and we’re going to learn a lot about how good Zandokan can be right now.

CMLL (FRI) 04/14/2023 Arena México
1) Angelito vs Pierrothito [lightning]
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Rugido [lightning]
4) Místico, Titán, Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
5) Ángel de Oro vs Templario, Panterita del Ring Jr., Sagrado, Fugaz, Esfinge, Magia Blanca, Dulce Gardenia, Rey Cometa, Espíritu Negro [CMLL Universal, semifinal]

This is the National Champions block; we’ll have to wait and see if Angel de Oro gets his wish to be in both this and the world title block. I’m still thinking Templario here. Angel de Oro and maybe Rey Cometa are the other ones who seem like they have a shot. The fourth match should be solid (though is Titan ever going back to NJPW?) Maya/Rugido is a good test for Rugido. The women’s match is probably setting up a tag title match next week. Angelico vs Pierroth should be fine.

AAA

AAA TV (SAT) 04/08/2023 Auditorio Miguel Barragan, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí [AAA]
1) Jack Cartwheel b Mini Vikingo, Fulgor, Baby Extreme
Jack Cartwheel was added to the match, won, and got beat up by the Vipers (Tormetna, Ciber, Psiscosis, latigo and Abismo Negro Jr.)
2) Chik Tormenta, Látigo, Psicosis II b Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown
Psicosis II replaced Toxin (injury). Vipers survived the Fiesta Sorpera to win.
3) Puma King b Mr. Iguana [lumberjack]
Guest referee La Hiedra helped Iguana win, then Konnan overturned the decision.
4) Dalys & Negro Casas b Argenis & Toscano
changed to a 2v2 match, Casas won, Hiedra attacked Dalys.
5) Dralistico, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid DQ Antifaz del Norte, Dinámico, Gringo Loco
Antifaz unmasked Laredo Kid for the DQ. Dinamico replaced Flamita (GLEAT).
6) Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernético, Taurus b Damián 666, Pentagón Jr., Psicosis I
Psicosis I was a surprise replacement for Daga (injury), but they lost due to the Vipers interfering

I don’t believe even AAA knows when this show is airing; they may have a date in mind, but it may not be set. It’ll definitely air after TripleMania Monterrey, when the Laredo Kid/Antifaz bit may be way out of date. They honored Perro Aguayo Jr. during the show and then used that to get heat on the Vipers by beating up the remaining Los Perros at the end.  Semi-main still sounds the best; I still can’t believe Dralisitco made it here, but he has the Instagram photos to prove it. Even with him making it, five out of six matches changed.

AAA’s show in Acapulco on Saturday drew appeared to draw as poorly as the December show. I hope they’re sold shows. Maybe that’s even a credit to Alberto and the others who appeared because it should’ve been worse with a lesser card. (On the other hand, this was on a Saturday, and the last one was on a Wednesday.) The building indicated AAA would be back again in December.

AAA apparently has a Mega title match for TripleMania. Early Monday morning, FITE put up a listing for the Monterrey show with Vikingo defending against Komander, Rich Swann, and Shane Strickland. AAA themselves hadn’t announced the match, but it seems official. It could be AAA’s waiting for some promos to be sent to them;  that’s what they did the last time they threw together a mega title match in Monterrey with people who hadn’t appeared in AAA. You can buy the standalone show on FITE, or you can get all three shows for 60 USD (saving 9 USD) in a package deal. TripleMania is listed as a 6 pm CDT start time. AAA’s tickets have said 4:30 pm local (CST), so that seems about right.

Rich Swann wrestled for the Mega championship on the 2018 Mexico City TripleMania. That was a situation where the title was going from Jeff Jarrett to Fenix, AAA didn’t believe a singles match between the two would be good, so they just added some random other people. Swann also appeared in the 2019 Lucha Capital tournament and holds a win over Hijo del Vikingo from 2019 Impact TV. Impact has a PPV the same day as TripleMania Monterrey and I’m surprised Rich Swann is available. Shane Strickland worked the opener of that same 2018 Mexico City TripleMania; the AAA special of a bunch of guys doing big moves and then a heel group attacking them all after the match. Strickland had an amusingly bad spot during the match and was otherwise fine. My impression is non-Mexican fans are generally happy with these names; Strickland is seen as someone really good in AEW but not doing much there, so getting a match with Vikingo is a big deal. The news hasn’t really reached Mexico, the expectations there have been Omega/Ibushi levels of names, and these guys aren’t on that level. Even Komander hasn’t been pushed as a Mega championship-caliber star in AAA until this match. Komander is no more important than Octagon Jr. or Myzteziz Jr. in AAA’s booking, he’s in this spot because he got over in a bunch of match that the regular AAA fan probably did not see and only may have heard about. The match is going to be great, it’s enough to get Vikingo curious people to seek out the show, but the live reactions to the match might need some help.

My own thought is I don’t want to see fourways with no build for the top title in a promotion. Strickland/Vikingo would’ve been fine, even though it would’ve been weird not to see Komander on this show. But I think I’m in the minority there.

Adrian Marcelo versus Chessman is in some sort of peril. Marcelo quitting his licensing exam on Wednesday was a real event, not planned by AAA or Marcelo as part of this story, and that’s the peril. I believe AAA still wants to run that match, and this strict Monterrey commission isn’t going to look the other way for someone wrestling without a license. Marcelo will be at TripleMania Monterrey and I’m not sure what exactly happens beyond that. I believe AAA’s stopped promoting the match because they don’t yet have a solution, and announcing Marcelo wrestling until they have a solution will cause the commission to blow up on them and everything will spiral into a bigger mess.  I think we might not know what’s happening with that match until it happens.

In addition, the Nuevo Leon prosecutor’s office said they’re investigating the accusations against Adrian Marcelo. This would be a great time to cut AAA’s losses and move on, but they don’t have a big attraction for this TripleMania show without Marcelo.

The FITE listing also has Hijo de LA Park listed in the Copa Triplemania Monterrey vs Mexico City 5v5 tag match. It probably wasn’t ever supposed to be a ‘mystery’, but listing Hijo de LA Park would’ve given away LA Park’s addition later in the press conference.

AAA’s TV usually starts with highlights of the previous action – some matches, some vignettes. The show from two weeks ago started including Estrellita talking on the phone about joining a group Pagano was forming and the Vipers taunting Arez before a show. The Estrellita bit aired back on the military show. The Arez/Vipers bit had never aired; AAA showed a flashback of something they never aired in the first place. This week’s show kicked off with the graphics misidentifying the people on screen. It’s just AAA.

Anyway, last week’s AAA TV had a bit of Pagano (using a cane to get around and still looking to be in some pain) asking Charly Manson to join his new group. Charly accepted the offer, so add him to Estrellita to this potential group. The NWA/AAA matches were moreover in the week one but not memorable; maybe Flammer/Kamille was the best. Crowd didn’t care about Daga/Tyrus at all before the injury. The announcers loudly claiming Tyrus was a pop culture figure in the US and hyping him appearing on “Gutfeld!” to an audience of Mexican rock fans who just wanted the wrestling to end so they could go see the next concert was amusing. Tyrus was the NWA guy in the NWA/AAA match but also somehow the face, so they had him wave the AAA flag after his win.

This week’s AAA show also included a two-minute interview with Jose Manuel Guillen and Hip Hop Man to get his character. I’m not sure Hip Hop Man is booking again in AAA any time soon. There was also a vignette with Pentagon Jr. showing his truck had been defaced by a mystery attacker. AAA got cold feet about that one. It’s clear in the video that someone wrote “puto” on the truck, and AAA’s tried (and didn’t completely succeed) to blur it out.

Space is airing part of TripleMania on Sunday; the commercial doesn’t list a start time, but it’ll probably end up being the last half of the show as usual. It appears they’re not airing any AAA on Saturday, though their schedule often changes during the week.

In an interview promoting Luchatitlan, Dorian Roldan said the next big star of lucha libre will be a woman. The article suggest Lady Shani and La Hiedra as possibilities. This was a throwaway comment to help a writer fill out an article, someone not to think about, but I couldn’t help it. On paper, the next big star of Mexican wrestling as a woman makes sense – it’d be something that hadn’t been done, and the success of Ronda Rousey in MMA suggests it could work huge if the right woman came along. I’m not sure that the right woman is in Mexican wrestling right now, and I’m more skeptical AAA (or CMLL) would push the right person to that level even if they did make themselves obvious. She’d either get run off by lecherous behavior, or plateau as an interesting midcarder who gets nothing to do or get swooped up by WWE before the Mexican promotions got it because those women are the one an aspiring star wants to follow.

This really isn’t connected to that but did you know Kamille has appeared in AAA as often as Taya since their title match at TripleMania Mexico City? Both did the World Cup, Taya did the military show, Kamille did the NWA show.  Two shows for each in the last six months. They might as well have had Kamille win the title at TripleMania, she could’ve defended it with the NWA title. This situation is also a more specific reason why AAA’s next big star won’t be a woman, they’re way too comfortable with just tossing away a year of doing anything with the women they had. The only two women booked on TripleMania Monterrey are in the throwaway ten person tag.

IWRG

AAA , ROSALES (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan [Estrellas del Ring]
1) Andressa Del Rey, Ángel de la Muerte, Rey Amon b Calibre, Candela, Estrella Del Ring  
2) Dark Scoria, Golden Jacket, Kinggoo DQ Hellboy, Noisy Boy, Rey Halcón  
3) Lady Shani & Octagón Jr. b Joe Lider & La Hiedra and Galio & Sexy Star  
4) Astuto, Hijo De Dos Caras, Niño Hamburguesa b Kuukai, Nishikawa, Tiago  
5) Taurus b Daimo, Hijo Del Vikingo, Astor  
Joaquin Roldan was rembered before the semimain
6) Alberto el Patrón, Dizzy, Murder Clown b Abismo Negro Jr., Charly Manson, Parka Negra  

This show drew well, which Alberto believed was 100% because of him in an post show interview. The show the next day in Acapulco with Alberto on top tanked, as did the shows he headlined as part of Nacion Lucha Libre. Alberto also declared himself better than 70% of the wrestlers in the WWE Hall of Fame, and demanded HHH let go of their grudges at put him in their Hall of Fame. There was a lot of that sort of stuff in the interview.

The AAA spot shows in Arena Naucalpan always draw well. Promociones Rosales only runs them there once or twice a year, so there must be some other part of the equation that doesn’t work out for them to happen more often.

IWRG (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Rey Astaroth b Águila Roja
2) Dehyna & Satania b Danessa & Sagitarius
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. b Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr.
4) Puma de Oro © b Gannicus [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
First defense. Puma de Oro still around for a while.
5) Daisuke Sasaki, Gianna Valetta, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Kodai Nosaki, Shocko b Asterboy, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, John Tito, Maniacop 360, Tonalli [Copa High Power]
Cerebro Negro betrayed Team Mexico (and Hell Boy in particular) to give Team World the win.

This didn’t stream after all; Mas Lucha streamed only their own show on Sunday. IWRG says they’ll put it up on their own YouTube channel on Sunday before the next live show.

IWRG didn’t post the losing team’s names in the main event so there could’ve been a sub there.

Other News

Mexico State area luchador Perro de Guerra Jr. (Omar Tacomol Ricardo, 33) passed away this weekend. No cause of death is known, but Guerra wrote about taking a break from wrestling due to some health issues (both physical and mental) back in February. Perro de Guerra Jr. wrestled in a bunch of Mexico state arenas but I’ll always think of him as a regular in Coliseo Coacalco for Lucha Memes the last few years, one of the more constant figures in the promotion over the last few years.

Puebla luchador Gorila Osorio (Raul Osorio, 91) passed away Friday due to “health complications.” He started wrestling in Arena Puebla in the 50s and eventually became a trainer. There’s not a lot of documented 50s/60s Puebla lucha libre history, but he also wrestled in the Mexico City’s Arena Coliseo between 1959 and 1965.

The Lucha Libre Vangaurdia show scheduled for Sunday was canceled a day prior. They said it was due to problems outside of their control, implying the local authorities did something to block it (or at least weren’t supporting them.)

Mas Lucha has the Facebook polls up to vote on which wrestlers should advance in their Torneo Suicida.

• Ultimo Legendario vs Mr. Leo
• Dinastia vs Camaleon
• Dinamic Black vs Dante
• Belial vs Saruman

You don’t necessarily need to watch the show to pick who should advance; you’re just picking which guys you’d think should advance to the next round. You do need to have a Facebook account.

I still have no idea what the voting process is here, but I’ve decided to treat up as an older version of IWRG Tryout and pick which guys I’d most like to see wrestle again. Ultimo Legendario was a nose better than Mr. Leo but I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them again. Dinastia & Camaleon was the opposite; there were a couple of good spots but they were a bad fit for each other. Dinamic Black looked better than Dante, even though Dante got the win with a fake injury spot. Belial looked a lot better than Saruman.

Attendance seemed good in places this week. Arena Lopez Mateos, with a Parks/Traumado main event, seemed close to a full house. Arena Neza, with Psycho Clown, Dr. Wagner, Chessman and Pig Destroyer in the main, seemed to do pretty well. The 2nd New Exotic show in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera seems to have struggled similar to their first show. (Psycho Clown worked that show too; it’s interesting he worked around Mexico City rather than either of the two AAA significant shows they had on Saturday.) The Mas Lucha show at Arena CM didn’t seem to be any special draw for that small building.

Arez replaced Komander against Gringo Loco on the 04/27 Demand Lucha show in Toronto.

DEFY announced Gringo Loco vs Nick Wayne vs Komander vs Arez on 05/05 in Tacoma.

DoradaFan has a Rey Cosmico Jr. music video.

CMLL

Tonight’s CMLL show

CMLL (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Templario, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Rocky Romero [CMLL Universal, semifinal]

Mistico brought up last year’s “pick a ball/get a bye” rules during Informa, suspecting that Rocky Romero would somehow get himself that by. Host Julio Cesar Rivera quickly explained that wouldn’t happen this year: the fans demanded these matches have all three wrestlers in the ring simultaneously, CMLL listens to their fans, so that’s what will happen in this match. I kinda didn’t mind the other way but this will be a lot of easier to understand. Any one of the three wrestlers in the match could logically win.

Atlantis Jr. is still set on facing Mistico in a mask match as the 90th Aniversario main event. Mistico said he was open to it. Romero repeatedly argued that he and Mistico were ‘men’ and Atlatnis Jr. was still only a child. Romero also believes he’s already won the championship and will get paid twice (one for each belt.)

Volador and Gran Guerrero will be a lot of the usual. Templario and Dragon Rojo are on opposite sides of the fourth match. Fuerza Poblana/Dulce Atrapsuenos matches are usually good, and the women’s matches in this feud have been enjoyable. The minis in the opener aren’t the hottest group of minis but that division has been pretty reliable of late. It’s available on PPV and will go up on YouTube on 04/23.

CMLL (MON) 04/10/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Rayo Metálico vs Brave Star & Espíritu Maligno
2) Black Tiger & El Hijo De Centella Roja vs Dr. Karonte I & Dr. Karonte II
3) Valiente Jr. vs Enfermero Jr. [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Crixus, Difunto, Zandokan Jr.
5) Atlantis, Octagón, Titán vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero
6) Soberano Jr. vs Templario

This would be a fun show to stream. Soberano/Templario probably won’t have Arena Mexico effort but will still be good. Valiente Jr/Enfermero Jr. is an interesting deepcut. Enfermero, through inactivity and usage, has been passed up in the ranks of promising young CMLL rudos but maybe a good opponent would get him going.

CMLL (TUE) 04/11/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Demonio Rojo, Mágico, Metatrón vs Calavera Jr. I, Calavera Jr. II, Hijo del Calavera
2) Dulce Kitty, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Atenea, Nexy, Valkiria
3) Estrella de Jalisco I, Estrella de Jalisco II, Ráfaga vs Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Misterioso Jr.
4) Adrenalina, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Crixus, Max Star, Vegas
5) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Arlequín, Dulce Gardenia, Gallero vs Bestia Negra, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte

Barbaro Cavernario working the semimain is odd on a show with few CDMX guys, but that’s where his brothers are I guess. See the same for Misterioso. Vegas impressed in the Torneo de Escuelas and hasn’t been around since.

Esfinge & Fugaz talked about their chances of winning the CMLL Universal tournament. Their chances are low.

Atlantis talked to MiedoTiempo’s Sin Mascaras interview. He said he doesn’t want to retire because he feels like he’ll die that day, which he’s said before. Atlantis notes his 40th anniversary is coming up this year and gives his debut as July 11, 1983. That’s always the date he and others give, which makes it weird that I’ve stumbled onto Atlantis wrestling in Arena Mexico as early as April that year. He’s even in a title tournament on July 1st. I’ve never figured out what the deal is there. The important thing is CMLL likes to celebrate round anniversaries and they like to celebrate Atlantis, so figure on some big show around July 11 this year. That’s a Tuesday.

Vaquero Jr., in an interview with Mural, mentions his other job is as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital. He’s 34, which is older than I would’ve guessed. He also has an only in Mexico wrestling origin story. Vaquero Jr. was a wrestling fan (big Atlantis fan) but never considered wrestling. He was into bodybuilding, but couldn’t find a place to work out to meet his needs, and others told him he should try training at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara because they had better weights and he’d get a good workout. He did.

Sagrado, when talking about his recent career, claimed that Los Gemelos Diablos were offered to various other luchadors as a team, but he was the one who wanted them. It makes so much sense to see them with similar masks that it’s surprising they were offered to others.

AAA

The two main singles matches for TripleMania Monterrey – one week away from Sunday in a baseball stadium – remain up in the air.

Hijo del Vikingo is the more pressing mystery. AAA said they’d announce an opponent for the mega championship match after Vikingo’s defense in Ring of Honor. That was now a week ago. I guess they don’t have a name locked in – or they have a name locked in but are hoping for a bigger name. (That’s more or less what happened last year with the Jeff Hardy replacement.) There are still ways to hype a Vikingo defense until AAA figures out what they’re doing. For now AAA’s not saying anything.

The biggest match for the local audience is Chessman versus Adrian Marcelo, and I have no idea what’s happening there. Maybe that’s the wrong way to say it: a lot has happened there, and I’m unsure how this ends up.

Monterrey’s lucha libre commission ran a wrestling licensing exam on Wednesday afternoon in Arena Jose Sulaiman, specifically so Marcelo could get his license to wrestle next Sunday. Marcelo won’t be getting his license from that exam; he quit during drills and walked off in the first hour of a three hour test. Villano V and Difunto I were among those working as trainers and judges. Difunto I mentioned on Facebook that two trainees quit the exam, four more didn’t pass, and only two got licensed among the eight who participated. Villano V talked about the exam process to Mas Lucha, noting that the standards to pass are easier now than they were 10-15 years ago, which has dropped the quality of wrestling. Villano and Difunto clarified that Marcelo would need to find a better trainer and train a lot more to earn his license.

Adrian Marcelo appeared on Multimedios later that night, on a TV show that was meant to be a birthday celebration and was surely intended to promote TripleMania. Multimedios posted a segment asking if Marcelo if he will be part of TripleMania. Marcelo says he’ll be at TripleMania yet is careful to avoid saying he’ll wrestle at TripleMania. I don’t want to parse words too closely as non-Spanish speaker, but it doesn’t seem to bring up the licensing exam directly. He vaguely refers to something that happened at Arena Jose Sulaiman earlier in the day and emphasizes he’s been training wrestling for months and respects lucha libre. He also defiantly talked about how lots of people in the media and wrestling don’t want to see him on TripleMania and don’t think he’s ready for the show, then takes off his shirt to show his body is in good shape. Marcelo and the other hosts (including Roberto Figueroa) never just say “the match is on”, giving plenty of space for Marcelo to appear on the show but not wrestle. I didn’t catch it in this video, but AS reports Marcelo also asked to meet the head of the lucha libre commission to make his case he should be allowed to wrestle.

The Mexico news media that’s been covering the rest of this story was slow to pick up on the licensing failure. Other parts of this story have been heavily pushed by people like Roberto Figueroa, out to the media. Figueroa ignored the licensing failure and just posted on Facebook about Marcelo saying he’ll be at TripleMania. Many people eventually found the Mas Lucha video, though this bit still isn’t covered as much as past incidents in this story.

I can’t reliably say I know what’s going on here. Obviously, the funniest and most AAA situation is a bunch of old wrestlers weren’t in on AAA’s plan and/or were upset about AAA disgracing wrestling by having a celebrity in the ring, so they ran him off in a licensing exam and now everyone’s scrambling. That situation is also too juicy to be true. I think the most likely outcome is Marcelo will participate in TripleMania and whatever happened Wednesday set up a lot of fun speculation that might be meaningless.  Maybe the test failure was legit and AAA will have to ‘convince’ the commission to let him participate anyway. Maybe the test failure is some part of this story and Marcelo will heroically get his license after all. There’s an easy out with the head of the commission giving it to him, though that would put a lot of heat on the commissioner. AAA will figure out a way for the show to go on.

Generally, this slap story has progressed normally to this point and whatever happened with this licensing exam doesn’t seem to fit smoothly in the story. It hurts AAA in Mexico if there’s a story going around that “Marcelo vs Chessman is happening” by now, just like it hurts AAA for those internet PPV buys if there’s no Vikingo match to promote.

That’s the fun Adrian Marcelo story of the day. It’s not the only one. A woman listing her name as Carolina Lerma accused Marcelo of sexual assault in posts on Facebook and Instagram. (She also accused another man in a separate incident.) Lerma says the incident with Marcelo took place in February 2022 while both were in a car. She was trying to turn down his advances, and Marcelo instead exposed himself, touched himself, and attempted to force himself on Lerma. She got away from him and they did not talk after that. Lerma, who does not seem to be a celebrity or someone with many followers, posted a photo of herself with Marcelo and a Whatsapp audio message as evidence they knew each other. It does sound like Marcelo in the audio, though it’s not absolute proof he sent this audio to this specific woman (and it more about him trying to pursue a  relationship, not an admission of guilt.)

Lerma’s objective seems to be to bring attention to these men’s actions and to offer support to others who’ve gone through the same situation. Lerma’s posts were circulated heavily on social media on Thursday and started to be picked up by media outlets later that night. Marcelo seemed to be referencing Lerma’s posts with a “Here we go again” GIF tweet, but otherwise said nothing. It does not appear Lerma filed charges or will be filing charges.  AAA’s policy seems to be that they won’t take action unless there are charges. Marcelo works for Multimedios, Multimedios is also working with TripleMania on this show, and so the Multimedios officials are ultimately the ones likely to make the call on Marcelo working TripleMania. Again, I suspect the show will go on.

TripleMania Monterrey still isn’t listed on FITE. The streaming network themselves said all three TripleMania would be there, so this is probably a hold-up on AAA’s side. It may be they’re waiting for that Vikingo announcement to announce it.

AAA tapes TV in San Luis Potosi on Saturday

AAA TV (SAT) 04/08/2023 Auditorio Miguel Barragan, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí
1) Mini Vikingo vs Fulgor vs Baby Extreme
2) Dave The Clown, Murder Clown, Panic Clown vs Chik Tormenta, Látigo, Toxin
3) Mr. Iguana vs Puma King
Guest referee La Hiedra
4) Dalys, Jack Cartwheel, Negro Casas vs Argenis, Dinámico, Toscano
5) Dralistico, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid vs Antifaz del Norte, Flamita, Gringo Loco
6) Daga, Damián 666, Pentagón Jr. vs Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernético, Taurus

This is the last TV taping before TripleMania. I think AAA is airing TripleMania live and this taping will air out of order around May 6th and 13th, but not sure.

No one expects Daga actually to be in the main event – he should still be out with a knee injury – but AAA’s kept him listed on the show all along. Likewise, Toxin is not wrestling due to injury but AAA hasn’t replaced him. Maybe it’s possible for Dralistico to get from Rhode Island to San Luis Potosi, maybe AAA and Dralistico have actually worked it out, but that will be a hard trip. The local promoter did post Dralistico promos and Dralistico is still mentioning the AAA TV on Instagram.

Antifaz wrestling in his mask on a show airing after TripleMania may end up confusing but I don’t think that bothers AAA much. AAA was good about having one designated “good match” on their shows in 2022, which hasn’t worked out on the last few tapings. That semi-main is supposed to be in here, but Antifaz hasn’t seemed like he can go on the level of the other guys so far. This card is going to change so it’s not worth thinking about it.

AAA also has a spot show in Acapulco, which they’ve been promoting on social media more than most spot shows. It’s the same building as Noche de Campeones. That show did not draw well and there’s no reason to suspect this will do much better. It’s a big feather in Alberto’s cap if it does fine. Interestingly, AAA’s updated the poster for this show, with Parka Negra, Emperador Azteca, Baby Xtreme, and Villano III Jr. all being removed. (Cuatrero may have also been booked for this show at one point.) Mascara de Bronce (under that name) has been added and there’s a mystery mini spot in the opener. Maybe some of those names are being used as replacements on the TV taping but that is the thing – AAA found it important enough to release a corrected lineup for the non-TV show in Acapulco, but has continued to promote an in correct lineup for the TV taping in San Luis Potosi on the same day. Their local Acapulco partners may require a correct lineup because it’s unlike AAA to bother doing that on their own.

AAA’s picked up a new TV deal with a familiar name. Claro Sports says they’ll start airing AAA tonight, and every Friday night going forward at 10 pm local. It’ll air both on ClaroSports cable channel and their (usually geo-blocked) internet stream. AAA will continue to air on Space, Azteca, Multimedios and Space; this is just another option. Claro has been promoting this on their own broadcasts for a few days; I just heard about it on Thursday.

Claro is not airing live AAA TV tapings at this time. The article left it a little bit confusing, but this is just the same TV show that airs on Space (and Azteca and Multimedios.)

AAA on Space starts airing the Lucha Libre World Cup this week. Not sure which matches air first. I’ll keep an eye on it in case they add any new content in addition to what aired on FITE, but I’m not expecting much.

I actually made a list of stuff I need to catch up on and remembered I never watched part one of Rey de Reyes. I only saw bits and pieces of it that week. Komander vs Abismo Negro Jr. vs Bandido vs Psycho Clown was really good; lots of action, everyone worked off each other well, I wanted to see more Abismo Negro Jr. in those types of matches. The effort was there in all of those matches, that just was the one that was best at overcoming the library-like atmosphere for me.

IWRG

IWRG posted a new Retro episode last night:

• 2007-10-11: Freelance and Tortuguillos Ninja I y II vs Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro and Oficial 911
• 2005-04-07: La Corporación (Black Tiger, Pentagon Black, Dr. Cerebro, Cerebro Negro, Veneno, Scorpio Jr. and Pantera) vs Negro Casas, Felino, Heavy Metal, Matrix, Black Dragon, Mike Segura and Fantasma Jr.

Neither match was previously on YouTube.

There is a non-IWRG Arena Naucalpan show tonight.

AAA , ROSALES (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Galio, Golden Jacket, Kingoo vs Hellboy, Noisy Boy, Rey Halcón
2) Astuto, Hijo De Dos Caras, Niño Hamburguesa vs Kuukai, Nishikawa, Tiago
3) Lady Shani & Octagón Jr. vs Joe Lider & La Hiedra and Dark Scoria & Sexy Star
4) Daimo vs Hijo Del Vikingo, Taurus, Astor
5) Alberto el Patrón, Dizzy, Murder Clown vs Abismo Negro Jr., Charly Manson, Parka Negra

Not sure if Mas Lucha is streaming this, but it’ll likely turn up on fancams this weekend.

Other News

LuchaWorld has the latest Poster-Mania.

Mas Lucha starts their Torneo Suicida Sunday night. This show will stream on their YouTube channel for free and includes just the tournament’s first round. (The later rounds will air on future shows.) I assume Mas Lucha will be airing both this and IWRG at the same time.

La Noticia has an interview with Metalik (Mascara Dorada), who says he got into Arena Mexico originally from a 20-25 wrestler tryout. He feels Lucha House Party was always more popular than they were pushed and complains their fans could never find merchandise to buy. He’s still thankful to WWE, because he wouldn’t be living in the US without them. His focus is on continuing to wrestle in the US. It reads like he’s working for AEW/ROH on a per-night deal.

Box y Lucha has a bio of Dulce Tormenta, which would’ve been more useful a week ago.

Box y Lucha also put up a new group of 1971 digital issues. They just put up the last one a week and half ago, after none for months. I haven’t even gotten through that one yet. (I haven’t gotten through in part because the first issue has EMLL lineups and results that directly conflict with lineups and results we already have and I haven’t figure out how to handle it yet.) I will of course be buying this immediately anyway.

I will now tell you an unsurprising story: I was hanging around the Ukrainian Cultural Center after the Wrld on Lucha, waiting for people to be ready to go. It wasn’t people who were on the show. There were also some luchadors still there and other people from GCW. I could’ve mingled to make connections, I could’ve asked some questions to get some scoops for later, or just generally gotten some insight from people who are smarter about many things than me. I instead stood quietly near various walls, looking down at my phone through that previous batch of 1970s Box y Luchas for cool stuff, some of which I posted on Twitter dot com. I’m terrible at this parts of this gig that people actually care about.

GCW is bringing Hijo del Vikingo back for their 05/26 show in Las Vegas. That’s AEW Double or Nothing weekend.

The latest Lucha Memes and Zona 23 shows have gone up on IWTV.

DoradaFan has a Latigo music video.

CMLL

CMLL released Saturday’s Arena Coliseo show on Monday night. They did not reach the 5,000 likes they were requesting before releasing it. I hope to watch this later this week.

CMLL (MON) 04/03/2023 Arena Puebla [El Sol de Puebla, Porra Fresa]
1) Astro & Meyer b Dark Soul & Dreyco
2) Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama b El Asturiano & Novato 
3) Millenium, Pegasso, Rey Samuray b Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider 
4) Okumura b Magnus [lightning]
5) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma b Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, El Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles] 
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Templario DQ Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. 
Templario unmasked Soberano for the DQ.

That’s the second straight week for that finish, so expect a Templario/Soberano singles match next week. It still seems like CMLL is taping the occasional Arena Puebla and not airing it anywhere so we may not see it then. We probably will see it later; Soberano/Templario is running away with the (belated) January match of the month poll. Astral/Suicida is surprisingly doing the same with the February one. CMLL will likely run those matches back next January. I haven’t dug into the numbers but I suspect these polls aren’t getting a lot of votes (they don’t get a lot of attention) and it wouldn’t take much to push them in a specific direction.

Members of Porra Fresa (Stigma, Pegasso, Guerrero Maya, Rey Samuray) signed autographs before the show, which is part of a month long promotion that’ll come to Guadalajara. (This happens in Mexico City too; it’s free in Puebla and Guadalajara.) Members of the Puebla FC soccer team also appeared at the end of the autograph signing, giving Stigma a personalized jersey. Attendance looked open, which could be related to the autograph signing.

Samuray’s 450 is officially known as Giro Samuray.

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena México [CMLL, thecubsfan]
1) Full Metal b Galaxy [lightning] 
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi b Metálica, Olympia, Tiffany 
Tecnicas took 2/3.
3) Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr. b Flyer, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. 
4) Rugido b El Audaz [lightning] 
5) Capitán Suicida, Esfinge, Star Black b Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado 
Capitan Suicida replaced Fugaz late on Tuesday.
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. b Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero 

I was going to catch up on last Friday’s show but then I passed out my couch for a few hours. That caused me to stay up to 1 AM catching on things, then I’ll be tired tomorrow and be behind again. It’s not a great cycle. I watched this while I worked; this also wasn’t a great show. I liked the opener the best because both guys took nutty bumps. Olympia needs to rethink handsprings. Malditos are working on group submissions. Capitan Suicida is strangely now one of the more charismatic guys on the roster; how did that happen?

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan b Canalla, Demonio Maya, Thunder Boy 
2) Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico b Black Boy, Mortiz, Ponzoña Jr. 
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa b Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano 
4) Arlequín, Brillante Jr., Gallero b Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga 
5) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion b Bestia Negra & Cris Skin 
challenges followed
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. b Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr. 

Guadalajara seems like it drew well. I skimmed through this just to get the results and was confused by Soberano Jr. winning the main event with a frogsplash.

CMLL (SAT) 04/08/2023 Arena Coliseo
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía vs Pequeño Olímpico, Pequeño Violencia, Pierrothito
2) Neón, Robin, Sangre Imperial vs Grako, Nitro, Raider
3) Lluvia vs Reyna Isis [lightning]
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Valiente Jr., Volcano vs Difunto, Furia Roja (Jalisco), Zandokan Jr.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Euforia, Mephisto vs Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr., Yota
6) Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán, Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Último Guerrero

Nothing is happening so there’s nothing to write about here. Women’s lightning matches are rare.

CMLL (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena México
1) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Micro Ángel, Mije, Periquito Sacaryas
2) Valiente Jr. vs Neón [lightning]
3) Crixus, Magia Blanca, Magnus vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) Cancerbero, Felino Jr., Virus vs El Coyote, Okumura, Pólvora
5) Atlantis, Panterita del Ring, Valiente vs Felino, Rey Bucanero, Yota
6) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Titán vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr.

Crixus is with Los Depredadores, which seems possibly as a full time thing.

Rocky Romero suggested the idea of a “Azucarmania” show in Mexico this year, featuring wrestlers from CMLL, NJPW, AEW, Impact and the indies. General sentiment seems to be that people would like to see it, but the Mexican fans don’t believe it’s actually possible. There’s also some skepticism if it happened, because previous shows featuring big outside names haven’t drawn well in Mexico, and a belief the CMLL fans will have no idea about people outside of CMLL. I would like to see it anyway. This sound a bit like the All Star Junior festival in the US idea floated earlier, and maybe those two things are related.

Rocky Romero will be on CMLL Informa today, so we might know how much of this is a Rocky Romero idea and how much of it is a CMLL one. Informa also has Mistico, Atlantis Jr. (CMLL Universal block Friday), Zandokan, Difunto, Rey Samuray, Valiente Jr. and Neon scheduled.

AAA

I got very little of Saturday’s show, not enough to really talk about. They’ll have a repeat next week, and I’ll try to get it then. AAA’s airing the Lucha World Cup the next 2-3 weeks, which will be new to most but not to people like me who paid for it on FITE, and that’ll be a good chance to catch up.

The usual 2×1 ticket deal for the next big AAA show has begun. As always, it’s for the cheaper seats.

Lady Shani talked about her upcoming lucha libre/freestyle rap show to ESTO. The article doesn’t seem to mention the date of the show (April 15th, in Mexico City.)

Komander faces Sammy Guevara tonight on AEW Dynamite. The only other time they two have been in a match was last year’s TripleMania Monterrey, where Guevara was in the match technically but not really (for medical reasons.) Komander isn’t yet booked on TripleMania. Hijo del Vikingo also still doesn’t have an opponent. I don’t think AAA’s doing the rematch but I can’t say I know what AAA is doing. AAA does have Vikingo merch now so that’s good.

IWRG

No show this Thursday.

IWRG (SUN) 04/09/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Águila Roja vs Rey Astaroth
2) Danessa & Sagitarius vs Dehyna & Satania
3) Brazo Celestial, Brazo Cibernetico, Brazo De Oro Jr. vs Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Puma de Oro © vs Gannicus [IWRG REY DEL AIRE]
first defense
5) Asterboy, Hell Boy, Hijo de Canis Lupus, John Tito, Maniacop 360, Tonalli vs Daisuke Sasaki, Gianna Valetta, Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Kodai Nosaki, Shocko [Copa High Power]

I haven’t been following DDT so I don’t know why Daisue Sasaki is hanging around Mexico this week (he’s working Lucha Memes as well) but he is here part of a main even Mexico vs the World match. Kosai Nosaki (who actually spells his name with a Z) was traveling around Europe last month and somehow ended up in Mexico; he says he’s expecting to wrestle about 10 times this month. He’s from small Japanese promotion Kyushu Pro Wrestling.

Puma de Oro no-showed his last IWRG title match and IWRG pretended like he didn’t exist, so I don’t know how this title defense is going to go. Brazos/Pandemonium could be promising.

The IWRG Guerra de Golfo show is 04/16, and it’ll be a Mas Lucha premium show.

IWRG , RGR (THU) 04/20/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Noisy Boy & Spider Fly vs Kenji & Rey Halcón
2) Faby Apache & Hades (Indie) vs Keira & Lolita
3) Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura, Mamba vs Bugambilia, Karaoui, Shocko
4) Coronel Vip vs Hijo de Canis Lupus [RGR HEAVY]
5) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Rokambole Jr., Villano IV, Villano V Jr.
6) ?, Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor, Pig Pool

California RGR running another bigger budget Naucalpan show. I presume the main event was supposed to include Cuatrero, who’s court case is expected to keep him in prison at least into May. Sanson was asked about the situation over the weekend and just said it’s in the hands of God and the laywers. Mascara 2000 Jr. is joining the replacing him in the trio going forward.

Other News

Emperador Azteca will defend the Big Lucha Championship on the 04/16 GLEAT show in Tokyo. Soma Watanbe will challenge.

Record has an interview with Arena CM’s Cristero.

There’s a new book about the lucha libre in Guadajaara. I know nothing about it beyond that photo but I sure would like to get it.

CMLL

CMLL (SAT) 04/01/2023 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha, CMLL, ESTO]
***Arena Coliseo 80th Aniversario***
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Minos  
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit b La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis  
3) Rey Samuray b Crixus, Ángel Rebelde, Max Star, Tonalli, Brillante Jr., Hijo de Stuka Jr., Vaquero Jr., Multy, Neón [Torneo Nueva Generacion]  
Order of elimination: Multy (by Max Star), Max Star (Brillante Jr.), Tonalli (Vaquero Jr.), Crixus (Stuka Jr.), Neon (Angel Rebelde), Brillante Jr. (Rey Samuray), Neon (Crixus), Crixus (Vaquero Jr.), Vaquero Jr. (Rey Samuray) leaving Rey Samuray as the winner. He had a new look mask.
4) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Octagón b Felino, Satánico, Virus  
5) Ángel de Oro, Místico, Soberano Jr. b Averno, Templario, Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]  
Mistico’s latest idea: a three apuesta way match with him, Averno, and Volador

This show drew exceptionally. The lower bowl was sold out in advance, which hasn’t happened in Arena Coliseo in many years. CMLL’s beauty shot of the attendance doesn’t show the top deck completely, but you hardly ever see the top two levels in use and they’re pretty full. The most recent capacity number known for Arena Coliseo is 5,250 and I would guess 5,000 for this show. (ESTO has it as 6,000) This was more a special show rather than a special lineup/ I thought CMLL should’ve done more. It turned out they did enough.

CMLL’s also doing a bit where they’ll put the show up on YouTube if their Instagram post gets 5,000 likes. It was about 500 short last I checked. No one in wrestling asking for likes has ever not ended up doing the thing anyway; it’ll probably go up next weekend.

 

Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli did a number of short (2 minutes-ish) press interviews at the show to promote it. Maybe the most notable thing he said was they planned on celebrating the 100th Arena Coliseo, suggesting they will keep running here for the foreseeable future. It’s not like they will mention something negative on an Anniversary show, but that’s a more positive outlook on Arena Coliseo than usual.

This show made the cover of Box y Lucha 3545.

CMLL (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Retro b Cholo [lightning]
2) Astral, Cachorro, Diamond b Dr. Karonte I, Dr. Karonte II, Enfermero Jr.
tecnicos took 2/3.
3) Luciferno, Magia Blanca, Rugido b El Coyote, Pegasso, Stigma [Relevos Increíbles]
Team Luciferno took 2/3.
4) Valiente & Valiente Jr. b El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Stuka Jr.
Valientes took 1/3.
5) Atlantis, Blue Panther, Panterita del Ring b Euforia, Mephisto, Niebla Roja
Tecnicos took 2/3.
6) Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero, Rocky Romero b Atlantis Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr., Titán
Rudos took 2/3.

Rocky returning with a win is the most notable thing on this show.

AAA

AAA did air the 2nd half of NWA/AAA show this week. I haven’t seen it yet; I know I have one match on the first airing and maybe the other parts in the second half. They did air a bunch of vignettes and I’ll try to catch up on those Wednesday.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy b Kenji  
2) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly   
Baby Star left the match early due to medical issues. IWRG wrestlers ran off the GIR team after the match.
3) León Dorado b Imposible 
mask challenges followed.
4) Asterboy & Hell Boy b Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr. 
Later, Hellboy and Hip Hop Man agreed to a match where Hellboy put the IWRG MEXICO championship on the line, but Hip Hop Man must dress up as Excelsa (an Argentinean comedy character on Mexican TV)
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. b Hijo de Canis Lupus & Travis Banks 
Travis Banks replaced Gianni Valetta
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Morgana, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. b Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor  
Morgana rebuffed Pig Destroyer’s romantic advances; Morgana fouled him and got the win

They’re really all in on the Hip Hop Man group as lead (regular) heels. Attendance seemed better than the last few shows. Guerra de Golfo is the next big event.

Other Notes

GCW (SAT) 04/01/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California [thecubsfan, Voices of Wrestling, Zona Ruda]
1) Jack Cartwheel b El Mago, Willie Mack, Bobby Flaco, Jimmy Lloyd, Shane Mercer
2) Dulce Tormenta b Sexy Star
3) Cíclope (Indie) & Miedo Extremo b Bestia 666 & Damián 666
4) Aramis, Komander (Indie), Rey Horus b Arez, Black Taurus (Indie), Látigo
5) Negro Casas b Tony Deppen
6) Gringo Loco (Indie) b Psycho Clown
7) Hijo Del Vikingo b Laredo Kid

This was a good show and somehow that ended up being a disappointment. The Wrld on Lucha was on Day 2 of WrestleMania weekend last year, going up against multiple other events including what turned out to be the first AEW ROH show. It ended up on Day 3 this year with no competition. The problem was it was Day 3 of a long weekend and the luchadors are now the guys carrying a lot of shows on Day 1 and 2. It left this event as one where many guys were trying to get through their last tough match of the weekend. Those who stood out the best had worked the least; I don’t think Tormenta and Star had worked in Los Angeles previously this weekend and they got a lot of time for an “let’s just do everything” sort of match that went well. There were a vocal group of latino fans flirting with Sexy Star before the match, but the crowd largely didn’t know either and the women won that crowd over. Psycho Clown too didn’t wrestle much this weekend, so was fresh to have a crazy hardcore brawl with Gringo Loco, who snuck out a win with a cradle in the end while also bleeding a ton. Vikingo/Laredo was more a story telling match (“Laredo has Vikingo’s number”) than Vikingo doing a lot of crazy stuff. It was pretty good, but didn’t touch their best work. The trios match was the same. I liked Casas/Deppen better than Casas/Ultimo Dragon, though obviously the latter meant a lot more to the fans. The scramble was fine, the tag match was fine. This just had a sleeper chance of being the best show of the weekend and had to settle for being one of the better shows of the weekend because everyone was kinda done. It’s still easily worth watch at FITE+ prices.

I spotted WWE’s Angel Garza, Humberto Carrillo and Cruz del Toro (ex-Jinzo) at this show. There may have been others; this show felt packed and it was hard to see who was all there. This was the only GCW show I went to on the weekend, so maybe Spring Break or Bloodsport had more people but it’s hard to believe they could fit more people into that building.

WWE and UFC will be one company by the end of the year, as announced today. Vince McMahon will officially be back in charge of the wrestling portion, though he’d quietly reasserted some level of control there over the last few months. No one knows exactly how this is going to play out but everyone can have a guess. My hunch is this will lead to a heavier push into a base in Mexico and more aggressive competition against both CMLL and AAA.

Saturday’s Arena Lopez Mateos show isn’t particularly interesting on paper. The card completely changed, they ended up with a Wagners/Traumas/NGD main event, it seemed to draw pretty and the results are unimportant. It did get some attention because of multiple fights in the crowd during the fan. Mas Lucha has a video showing the fights while decrying them; they later turned the video private. La Tijera has a glimpse of one of them. Skirmishes in the crowd during a lucha libre match are uncommon but do happen, there just seemed to be more of them than usual on this show.

A viral video from Saturday shows the aftermath of Shocker getting into a fight with a fan and trying to get away while the police get involved. Shocker was reportedly drunk.

Box y Lucha reports Bolivian luchadora Carla Greta (25) passed away on Monday.

CMLL

CMLL (FRI) 03/31/2023 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports]
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Pequeño Magía b Full Metal, Pequeño Olímpico, Pierrothito   
2) Fuego b Raider [lightning]    
3) Capitán Suicida, El Audaz, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black    
Team Suicida took 1/3.
4) Niebla Roja b Magnus [lightning]   
5) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Valiente DQ Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado  
straight falls (Malditos DQ in 1st)
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Stuka Jr.    
tecnicos took 2/3.

I appreciate CMLL doing absolutely nothing of note when I’m out of town. I’ve seen bits and pieces of  this and it seemed fine. Not really enough to have a big take.

Tiger Infante (Metalico) also appeared with his medal-winning kid olympic-style wrestlers during the show.

Felino is in tonight’s Arena Coliseo legends match; he noted to Razon that spot would’ve gone to Negro Casas in the past, and it hurt he wasn’t considered on that level. He’s going into the match with something to prove.

CMLL (MON) 04/03/2023 Arena Puebla
1) Astro & Meyer vs Dark Soul & Dreyco
2) El Asturiano & Novato vs Rey Apocalipsis & Siky Ozama
3) Millenium, Pegasso, Rey Samuray vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Raider
4) Magnus vs Okumura [lightning]
5) Felino Jr., Guerrero Maya Jr., Stigma vs Capitán Suicida, Dark Panther, El Hijo del Villano III [Relevos Increíbles]
6) Místico, Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Rocky Romero, Templario

Puebla keeps booking Stigma and Suicida on opposite sides and it hasn’t gotten to a title match yet. Dreyco (usually Dreyko) turned up here prior at the end of 22021 and early 2022.

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena México
1) Galaxy vs Full Metal [lightning]
2) La Magnifica, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs Metálica, Olympia, Tiffany
3) Flyer, Fuego, Hombre Bala Jr. vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
4) El Audaz vs Rugido [lightning]
5) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
6) Atlantis, Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Rocky Romero, Stuka Jr., Último Guerrero

Rocky getting the full car wash of bookings. Rugido is the most exciting person in the Rugido/Audaz match up (but that should be a rivalry, I think.)

CMLL (TUE) 04/04/2023 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Astro Oriental, Avispón Negro Jr., Bello Antuan vs Canalla, Demonio Maya, Thunder Boy
2) Carlo Roggi, Destello, Destructor vs Exterminador, Javier Cruz Jr., Maléfico
3) Barboza, Draego, Persa vs Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano
4) Arlequín, Brillante Jr., Gallero vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Dulce Gardenia & La Fashion vs Bestia Negra & Cris Skin
6) Euforia & Soberano Jr. vs Panterita del Ring & Panterita del Ring Jr.

Father & son tag team main event. Semi-main continues a recent feud. Astro Oriental is a new name (and maybe that’s a new Thunder Boy?)

CMLL (FRI) 04/07/2023 Arena México
1) Acero, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pequeño Polvora
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Sanely vs La Catalina, Stephanie Vaquer, Zeuxis
3) Pegasso, Rey Samuray, Stigma vs Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa
4) Panterita del Ring Jr., Templario, Titán vs Ángel de Oro, Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero [lightning]
6) Místico vs Atlantis Jr., Rocky Romero [CMLL Universal, semifinal]

In theory, CMLL’s running two singles matches with the guys in the main event and we won’t know which one it is until Friday. In reality, they only used those rules last year and might change them again. It does seem unnecessary to have a semi-main lightning match on this show. but I guess anything not to do an atomicos. Rey Samuray gets a Friday appeareance, Sanely steps in Sugehit’s spot in the one feud in the women’s division.

Templario wants Dragon Rojo Jr. in the 90th Aniversaio main event.

Sanely told Sin Mascaras her father (Mano Negra) didn’t want her to become a wrestler because he saw what the luchadoras of his age went through and didn’t want her to go through the same. She’s heard bad stories but says she hasn’t had those experiences herself. I didn’t pick up on it last week, but Sanely had a Black Warrior Jr. themed mask. She mentioned how his death, following an in-ring injury, had hear nervous and scared a bit as she returned to the ring herself.

AAA

Today on Space

• NGD vs Thom Latimer, Kratos, Chris Adonis [AAA TRIOS]
• Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs Blue Demon Jr. & Vampiro [NWA TAG]
• Kamille vs Flammer [NWA WOMEN]
• Tyrus vs Daga [NWA HEAVY]

This was said to be the better half of the show. Maybe that’s Kamille/Flammer? Tyrus/Daga ended in injury.

AAA announced a lineup for the Tijuana show.

AAA TV (SAT) 04/22/2023 Auditorio de Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California
1) Arkángel Divino, Fantastik, Rayo Star, Último Maldito vs Dinámico, Genio del Aire, Kamik-C, Skalibur
2) Niño Hamburguesa & Willie Mack vs Látigo & Toxin
3) Dalys, Octagón Jr., Persephone vs Chik Tormenta, Flammer, Villano III Jr.
4) Hijo Del Vikingo, Jack Cartwheel, Komander vs Emperador Azteca, Gringo Loco, Puma King
5) Juicy Finau, Negro Casas, Rey Horus vs Forastero, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000, Sansón
6) Laredo Kid, Pentagón Jr., Psycho Clown vs Antifaz del Norte, Sam Adonis, Taurus

This will probably not be the final lineup; only AAA would announce a wrestler for a match the day after he said he’ll be out 4-6 weeks; Toxin’s not due to back until May.

The main event continues to point towards Laredo/Antifaz in the cage match. Octagon and Villano get to hear up their rivalry in the tercera.

Juicy Finau worked the MLW tapings here and fits the random sort of person who appears on these AAA Tijuana shows. Mascara 2000 gets to be a semi-main guy because they needed another Dinamita. AAA ran an angle to set up Komander and Cartwheel as a team on TV this week and now they’re actually going to be a team. It looks like eight or nine weeks between the setup of that angle and when it airs on TV, but the thought is nice. The Vikingo/Gringo feud resurfaces; I thought there was an outside chance of that being the TripleMania Monterrey title match.

No idea who Persephone is. It’s possible it’s a new AAA character because I can’t find an indie wrestler that’ll work. (Maybe it’s a different spelling and I’m missing it?)

The Luchatitlan project opens today. Sam Adonis had a Tweet up pitching this as “Medieval Times but with lucha libre instead” and that’s a great way to explain what’s happening here. It’s a stage show, something where they’re going to be telling the same story even night for a new audience. The show centers around a character named El Monarca and will be presented in English and Spanish. TV Azteca has a couple phots of the impressive setup. All the wrestlers will be characters created for this show specifically. The hope is this is something. they can franchise to other tourists stops in Mexico and, best case, to the US as well. This idea has been in the works since June of 2020 and took longer because of the pandemic.

AAA’s main contribution to this project appears to be giving insight on the wrestling end. They’re not responsible for the day to day running, which is probably the best for them. Tickets for the show will run from 70 to 109 USD, which are the most expensive tickets for a non-major lucha libre show in Mexico. They’re only seating 600 people a day, so high prices are needed to make this work. They’re going for tourists who have lots of money to spend and want to see lucha libre in a safe environment.

Wrestlers complaining about bad airlines is a social media staple. Lady Shani complaining about Aeromexico – they oversold a flight to Mexicali and she missed the show – got a lot of attention for whatever reason.

Adrian Marcelo’s licensing exam will take place on Wednesday. In letter, that tryout is open to all wrestlers in Monterrey. I wonder if that’ll be something. Dr. Wagner Jr. is against this idea of Marcelo wrestling and wrote as much in his column. I believe he feels that but also that he’s smart enough to want to be part of this story.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 03/30/2023 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha, Zona Ruda]
1) Rey Aztaroth & Rey Eclipse b Águila Roja & Golden Power 
2) Avisman b Jhon Tito 
3) Lolita b Satania, Dehyna, Hades (AAA), Sagitarius, Dark Infernum 
4) Brazo De Oro Jr. b Tonalli 
5) Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko b Asterboy, Gannicus, Hell Boy [EdM Trios] 
2nd defense

I heard good things about Brazo de Oro Jr. vs Tonalli, and I hope to catch it when I get back home.

IWRG (SUN) 04/02/2023 Arena Naucalpan
1) Súper Boy vs Kenji
2) Baby Star, Jhon Tito, Spider Fly vs Hip Hop Man, Karaoui, Shocko
3) León Dorado vs Imposible
4) Asterboy & Hell Boy vs Cerebro Negro & Cerebro Negro Jr.
5) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Gianni Valetta & Hijo de Canis Lupus
6) Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Morgana, Pirata Morgan, Pirata Morgan Jr. vs Pig Decapitador, Pig Desenterrador, Pig Destroyer, Pig Destructor

I probably won’t be hurrying to see this one. Gianna Valetta has returned from Malta.

Travel Notes

I’ve been to three shows so far this WrestleManis weekend, with the Wrld is Lucha coming later tonight. The big points

• Hijo del Vikingo is the star of the weekend so far. The Komander/Vikingo/Taurus match was the best of the Mark Hitchcock WrestleCon show on Thursday night, and the Komander/Vikingo was arguably the best from the ROH Supercard show. The Speedball/Vikingo match later Friday night had a spot or two notable that went wrong but sounds like it may have ended up the best match of that show too. Even the Vikingo/Blake Christian match – taped Wednesday, aired on Thursday while other things were going on – was said to be something really good. Tony Khan said he talked to Vikingo after his ROH match and wants to use him more often on his shows.This is all great news for Hijo del Vikingo; he’s established himself as a special performer even beyond everyone else. (This weekend happening the same time as Rey Mysterio Jr. is entering the WWE Hall of Fame has had a lot of people throwing around that specific comparison.) It’s probably not great for AAA in the long term: the timeline of Vikingo going from a regular part of AAA’s roster to a special guest performer like Fenix & Penta looks like it’s going to happen a lot sooner than people might have expected. The short term is great for AAA though: their sales pitch for the three TripleMania shows just needs to be “Vikingo vs [X]” and they’ll have international fan’s attention. AAA did not immediately announce Vikingo’s Monterrey opponent after ROH, which seems like a slight miss. They’ll make up for it if it’s a big enough name, and I know they’re going after some big outside names.
• Komander also did well for himself, especially in the Ring of Honor show. He’ll be on Dynamite this Wednesday against Sammy Guevara. (The two were in the mixed tag title match last TripleMania Monterrey, though Sammy was really in that match only by name.) Komander also looks to be getting a more AEW/ROH work in the future if everything can be worked out. In a way, he’s taken off faster than Vikingo. Hijo del Vikingo was on plenty of non-Mexico people’s radars for years, but it was the visa issue holding him back. Komander got attention international attention only in the last year, and made it nearly as far.(It is sad/disheartening that the third equally important part of the match on Thursday, Black Taurus, is relegated to “wrestling Laredo Kid or losing to whoever the X-Division champion is” on Impact now and forever. No one can’t be certain he’ll do any better in AEW/ROH. They’ve got a lot of people and it’s easy to get lost. But, we know what ideas Impact seems to have for Taurus and it would be interesting and they’re not much, it wouldn’t hurt to see him elsewhere.)
• The Lucha Brothers won the Ring of Honor tag team champions on Friday night, something that was overshadowed by a horrible leg injury to Dante Martin on the last big spot of the match. AEW has posted positive statements but haven’t said exactly what the injury is. I hope he’s OK, qand I hope it’s not as career-changing as it seemed.The Lucha Brothers moving over to Ring of Honor seemed to be in the plans for a while. Fenix and Penta losing to Powerhouse Hobbs on recent Rampages were classic “we’ve about to move you on, so you can lose on your way out” jobs. The Lucha Brothers just finished the AEW trios title program, don’t really fit in AEW tag title picture at the moment and there’s no real path for them as singles’ wrestlers right now. Going to Ring of Honor is a demotion in visibility, but it’s something new and something that might help interest in that product. (Fenix & Penta were clearly two of the most over wrestlers on the Ring of Honor show.) My guess was the Lucha Brothers were long planned for Ring of Honor; they would’ve fit perfectly as the Briscoe Brothers foils. (This guy who seems to know things agreed.)
• If you’re looking to go back and watch things, I’d easily recommend both the Ring of Honor show and the Wrestlecon show. The NJPW/Impact show I went to seemed fine but I wasn’t too into it (I picked standing in a horrible place to see but an easy place to stand for 2.5 hours, and I was ok with that tradeoff.) Everything on the ROH show seemed good, with Komander/Vikingo, the ladder match, Claudio/Kingston and Joe/Briscoe standing out. Gotta have some faith in some of the booking decisions working out long term to enjoy it, though. The WrestleCon show was generally good, with Vikingo/Taurus/Komander, both trios matches and Irie/Speedball workling the best for me. The lucha trios match had focused on making Galeno del Mal a star and that worked out completely; I expect he’s going to pick up a fair amount of non-lucha US indie bookings after this weekend. Crowd was respectful to Ultimo Dragon and Negro Casas and they were fine, maybe good. It felt like there was a (hispanic) portion of the crowd into Casas and the rest didn’t know him as much. A pre-match Chris Jericho video definitely helped.
• I’m headed to Wrld on Lucha tonight. It’s listed as a 10 pm start time local; it’s a real lucha show so it’ll probably start late. They’ve added a scramble with Jack Cartwheel, Rey Horus, Willie Mack, Shane Mercer, Mago and Drago Kid. They’ve also never announced a replacement for Toxin, so I assume someone’s getting moved up to his trios spot. (Mago seems to fit best.) This airs on FITE+ and seems like the final notable indie show of the weekend. We’ll see what Vikingo has left with Laredo Kid.
• I haven’t seen it, but Konnan’s induction speech at the WWE Hall of Fame was said to be great.
• Also didn’t catch the Dragon Lee debut in NXT. I was following along on Twitter and it seemed like there were multiple points where half the people on social media believed Dragon Lee had seriously injured himself, only for him to keep going. Seems normal. Dragon Lee got a big entrance, kept his name (which still surprises me) but didn’t win the North American title.
• If, by chance, you ever go through TSA and someone takes your laptop and you end up with theirs, go track down the TSA email address for that airport and send them an email with all the info you have on both computers. It works.

Other Notes

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Golden Fly took Jhonny Rock’s hair in Guadalajara.

Legado del Fantasma had cool Villanos gear on SmackDown.