Brazo de Plata

Brazo de Plata’s children held a brief press conference at his wake. Psycho Clown said Super Porky had passed away from a heart attack. Brazo de Plata had heart issues during his wrestling career, it’s been unclear how many heart attacks he’s had (compared to other issues or just angles.) Psycho Clown said the fatal heart attack was Brazo de Plata’s third one. The previous two happened at Arena Coliseo, one when Psycho was 8 years old (which would mean around 1994) and at the show, the other “three or four years later” at the same building. Brazo de Plata had been feeling ill recently, checked into the hospital, and had asked to be released after feeling better. Super Porky appeared with his sons on the July 15th Arena Aficion show and twice said it’d be the last time he’d be here, including telling the fans to support his sons after he’s gone. Daughter Muneca de Plata said Brazo de Plata had been saying goodbye to many friends and told her he was going to die soon and he’d cry a lot. His children all tried to talk him out of that depressive mindset and now see it as Brazo de Plata knowing he was leaving soon.

The news of Brazo de Plata’s passing broke during Mas Lucha’s En+Carados show; the last 90 minutes of the show are dedicated to showing historical clips about him.

SuperLuchas has a detailed Brazo de Plata obituary.

Box y Lucha reposted an interview with Brazo de Plata from a couple of years back. He mentions Paco Alonso continuing to support him after he no longer wrestled for CMLL and that he was spending his retirement working on his reading and writing.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 07/27/2021 Arena México [CMLL, CMLL, De Luchas TV, Kaiser Sports, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores]
1) Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia b Acero & Aéreo  
2) Diamond & Sonic b Espanto Jr. & Nitro  
3) Dalys, La Comandante, Stephanie Vaquer b La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Princesa Sugehit  
Brazo de Plata was remembered with applause before the match. Dalys wore a Brazo de Plata mask and shirt to the ring.
4) El Audaz, Esfinge, Fugaz b Cancerbero, Raziel, Rey Bucanero  
5) Ángel de Oro, Mephisto, Terrible b Panterita del Ring, Star Jr., Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]  
Mephisto was dressed in a Brazo de Plata mask and shirt. Rudos took 1/3

Mephisto & ex-Ephesto continue to face off. Audaz is back from injury.

CMLL (TUE) 07/27/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Avispón Negro Jr., Cosmos, Tigre Blanco ?? Conde, Persa, Relámpago Azul
2) Bello Antuan, El Divino, Guerrero Vikingo b Gran Kenut, Javier Cruz Jr., Paymon
3) Joker, Omega, Vaquero Jr. DDQ Halcón Suriano Jr., Misterioso Jr., Rugido
4) Estrella Blanca Jr. I & Estrella Blanca Jr. II b Misterio Blanco & Misterio Negro
5) Flash & Gallo © b Mr. Trueno & Rey Trueno [OCCIDENTE TAG]
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b Niebla Roja, Principe Daniel, Volador Jr.

Back on Sunday, many of the Guadalajara wrestlers wrestled in Arena Queretaro, going to a draw against the locals. Flash & Gallo suggested they’d defend against two of them next. The third match was the first live (not-empty arena) CMLL match for Halcon Suriano Jr. since the pandemic; they’re adding a Laguna/Guadalajara rivalry as well.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara will run a special Friday show on August 13th. They’ve run the “Mexican Madness” shows in the past. It’s surprising to see a Friday show back before the Sunday shows have resumed; there’s been no sign of those coming back. The Sunday shows seemed to draw much less than the Tuesday shows (though they also had much less star power on the lineups) and perhaps we’re a long way from seeing those come back. If they come back.

Friday’s Mexico card is up.

CMLL (FRI) 07/30/2021 Arena México
1) Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma vs Dark Magic, El Coyote, Okumura
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia © vs Amapola & Dark Silueta [MEX WOMEN TAG]
third defense
3) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Negro Casas vs Blue Panther, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Vangellys & Volador Jr. vs Euforia & Forastero [Relevos Increíbles]
5) Templario vs Titán [Leyenda de Plata, final]

Vangellys & Volador as a semi-main team is so weird. It’s not hard to figure out Vangellys was meant to be in the opener with his two partners and got moved up. Someone decided it would be easier/cheaper to add Coyote to the card instead of another normal top wrestler to replace whoever was supposed to team with Volador (or otherwise been in match 3/4.) It’s not good for a show quality at all but that may not matter. Like the Bandido/Volador show, this show is going to be remembered only if the main event is excellent; hope everyone else gives them time to do so. Vangellys in that semifinal is all the more reason for it to be cut to under ten minutes to pass the time to Templario and Titan.

This is show is supposed to air on Ticketmaster but there’s no way to buy it if you haven’t already got the full month package. There’s no Ticketmaster listing because someone at Ticketmaster moved the entry for July 30th to August 27th seemingly by mistake. It’s supposed to work for people who bought the package, but that link may also now work only for August 27th. I flagged this issue to Ticketmaster and got no response. This seems like something both sides should address before they get lots of angry messages on Friday but it’s unclear if anyone cares about angry messages. The match should air on CMLL Televisa TV the following week and on YouTube August 15th, so we may be able to have a spirited/dumb debate about if CMLL streamed a better match than AAA the weekend of TripleMania.

Arena Puebla got the all-clear to re-open after passing a health inspection, local Puebla government Ana Lucía Hill Mayoral. announced on Monday. The Puebla government official said the building had opted to delay opening immediately, which appeared to be related to the 30% capacity limit at first. That doesn’t seem to be the actual hold up now. Ticketmaster now lists an Arena Puebla show on August 9th, which appears to be the plan at one point. El Sol de Puebla caught up with Arena Puebla logistic manager Emir Ortiz. (Normally, these interviews are with building administrator/ex-luchador Benjamin Mar.) Ortiz says they had hoped to re-open in the first two weeks of August, and now believe it will be mid-August instead. That sounds like August 15th. The delay is blamed on “logistics.”

Arena Puebla will be able to sell tickets to 672 fans, just under 30% of the maximum 2400 capacity. That ticket number leaves room for 42 wrestlers & staff to get to 30%; 24 wrestlers were booked on the canceled show. Arena Puebla seems like it drew around 1,000 fans, though that’s a guess, CMLL doesn’t release attendance totals. There are definitely been shows where it’s seemed like less than 500 fans. Ortiz mentions CMLL had to work out if they could run profitable shows before getting the OK to rerun. The July 5th announced/canceled card had mostly wrestlers coming in from Mexico City which suggests it’s decently profitable. The easiest way to save money would’ve been to go heavier on the local Puebla luchadors.

CMLL Informa has Titan, Templario (Leyenda de Plata), Shocker & Pequeno Violencia (hair), and CMLL women (probably Dark Silueta & Amapola to talk the mixed tag match.) CMLL Informa blew of Dr. Alfonso Morales’ passing and the Brazos have a poor relationship with people in power in CMLL, so I’m not sure if there will be any Brazo de Plata talk on this show.

Other Notes

Sam Adonis is heading to Mexico; he hasn’t been at an AAA since Rey de Reyes. Hugo Savonvich is in Mexico. AAA’s either running another press conference or taping something else to promote TripleMania in the next few days. (I could be a TV taping, but I’m under the impression the next normal AAA TV taping isn’t until after TripleMania.) Maybe we’ll hear something tomorrow.

IWRG’s Thursday lineup, streaming on Mas Lucha.

IWRG (THU) 07/29/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Spider Fly vs Black Shadow II
2) Bengalee & Sussy Love vs Amazonika & Satania
3) Aster Boy, Legendario, Noicy Boy vs Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
4) Chef Beneito, Dick Angelo 3G, Lunatik Xtreme, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón vs Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol [Copa Higher Power]
FILL (Black Terry) vs Try Out (Karaoui)
5) Estrella Divina, Hijo del Fishman, Tyson Maddux vs Diva Salvaje, Hijo del Espectro, Jessy Ventura

Tyson Maddux is a Georgia wrestler of little notoriety and no obvious connection to Mexico, but somehow is working a weekend of shows between IWRG and Lucha Time.

Warrior Wrestling announced Jay White versus Sam Adonis for their 08/21 show. NJPW wrestlers facing AAA wrestlers is a bright red line that NJPW has been unwilling to cross in the past due to their relationship with CMLL. I don’t know if Sam Adonis is actually under AAA contract but that technicality wouldn’t be important to CMLL. They know AAA from what they see (or someone tells them what they saw on TV, no one in CMLL is watching their own show much less AAA) and Sam Adonis looks like a guy working for AAA on AAA TV. I hope this works out for Warrior Wrestling and Sam Adonis and it’ll be news if it happens.

NJPW’s Young Lions Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji are having farewell matches on August 1st. Tsuji has consistently and frequently expressed a wish for his learning excursion to take place in Mexico. NJPW hasn’t confirmed that’s going to happen yet and probably won’t until at least after that match. It’s not a great time to come to Mexico, but it’s better than it was a few months ago and it appears Mexico City lucha libre will be allowed to continue no matter the COVID cases. (He should definitely get his shots before coming to Mexico; I believe all the NJPW staff got one already, but obviously, that’s the most important part of any timing.)

Tsuji is a bigger-sized wrestler than the NJPW guys who usually come to CMLL, but CMLL plainly could just use another body at this point. They seem to have less than usual midcard and up people, so a new face could make an impact (and just be welcome for being a new face.) CMLL hasn’t had a NJPW trainee since the January 2020, when Kawato’s ill-fated trip ended. Raijin & Fujin were the previous NJPW long-term guests, except they seemingly got moved to ROH faster than anyone expected. Both CMLL & NJPW could really use Tsuji working out better. And, if Tsuji talks about going to Mexico for years and doesn’t end up coming to CMLL, it would say a lot more about the state of the CMLL/NJPW relationship than any press release. He really has to wrestle in Arena Mexico at this point.

Hector Pliegro, who portrayed El Santo in photocomics in the 1970s, passed away on Tuesday. He never wrestled as El Santo, just took photos, and the obituary suggests the comic didn’t have Santo’s approval, but they were marketed under the El Santo name.

LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.

Box Y Lucha 3482 has Cavernario Galindo on the cover.

Brazo de Plata, also known as Super Porky (José Luis Alvarado Nieves, 58) passed away Monday. Brazo de Plata is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and held the most important trios titles of his day, but he’ll be remembered above all for his incredible charisma. He was among the greatest comedy wrestlers of all time, capable of getting sympathy and laughs at the same moment. Porky began his career as a lightweight wrestler, but he’s most famous as an increasingly overweight one, with his large gut making his agile movements even more of a spectacle. Brazo de Plata was the last living member of the famous Los Brazos brothers trio; El Brazo passed in 2013, Brazo de Oro in 2017. His survivors include luchadors Goya Kong, Muneca de Plata, Maximo, and AAA top star Psycho Clown, who wrestled as Brazo de Plata Jr. when he first arrived in AAA.

Brazo de Plata was the second of the Brazo siblings to make his debut. Journeyman luchador Shadito Cruz wrestled and then became a referee; his sons worked jobs at the wrestling show and competed in amateur wrestling. Older brother Brazo de Oro took that name from a movie, his brother played off the name with his own metallic color, and many more siblings would follow suit. Brazo de Plata started his career in 1977, as Promociones Mora/UWA had gained momentum and created many new spots for wrestlers. Brazo de Plata & Brazo de Oro were a regular team by 1979, making occasional Toreo appearances while also becoming regulars at Arena Naucalpan.

El Brazo joined as a trio and created a natural rivalry with the Villano brothers. Those units, as well as the Misionerios del Muerte, were the first regular set trios units in Mexico, and their feud helped popularize the concept. The Villanos & Brazos feuded through the 80s, ending with a legendary (if hard to find) mask match in Monterrey, where the Brazos were all unmasked. Brazo de Plata was already a charismatic luchador, and was able to show even more emotion unmasked. The team stayed popular working in both UWA and EMLL, and sticking with EMLL after the AAA split. They split apart in 1995, and Brazo de Plata stayed popular as a singles comedy wrestler. Super Porky would eventually become known as for losing hair match after hair match, but he started out as successful in those in the 90s. Perhaps they eventually discovered people were going to love Brazo de Plata the same even if he lost the big match, and he was content taking the payoff.

Brazo de Plata spent most of his post-trio career in CMLL, though not all of it. He jumped to AAA in 2006, unhappy about his role and CMLL’s limited plans for his children outside of Maximo. Porky brought along his other son, who had floundered as Kronos in CMLL, and returned him to his Brazo de Plata Jr. gimmick. That didn’t work out all that much better, but it got that wrestler in AAA when they were casting for new clown characters and turned Porky’s son into Psycho Clown. Brazo de Plata’s own time in AAA didn’t seem to go as well as he hoped – AAA was leaning into a more a serious presentation and didn’t always seem to have an idea what to do with Super Porky – but his move changed the promotion’s future.

Super Porky returned to CMLL in 2009, eventually becoming an incredibly useful asset for their increasingly tourist-centric shows. He was no longer the athlete of years past, yet he was a great guy to entertain those who had no idea what was going on with his silly comedy moments. There are few who could get the crowd to react as easily as he could, and even fewer now.

Brazo de Plata’s last few years were unpleasant. Porky had publicized heart issues, to the point of doing fake heart attacks in matches as comedy spots. He broke a leg in 2016, lacked the resources to get it properly fixed, and was told by doctors that he’d first have to lose weight before he could be operated on. He needed a walker and a wheelchair at various points, though he’d been moving better of late. He’d be left poor, blaming it on being swindled in various relationships, and appeared to largely be supported by his children. Video of an argument between Porky and those who he felt owed him money got some attention a couple of weeks ago; it didn’t put either side in a positive light. There had always been stories of a quick temper and personal issues in the past, though those had been overshadowed by his wrestling career. Brazo de Plata remained beloved by wrestling fans at shows until the end, but life was harder for him away from that spotlight.

Brazo de Plata’s last great rival was Rey Escorpion. The two had a memorable hair match in 2013, one which seemed to be set up by the son Maximo avenging his father later on. CMLL never got around to it and Rey Escorpion left the promotion. He eventually ended up in AAA, where he started feuding with another son Psycho Clown. Brazo de Plata will be remembered in the weeks and days ahead, and quite likely in the main event of TripleMania in a few weeks. Brazo de Plata be remembered there and every other lucha libre show for a while to come.

CMLL (FRI) 07/23/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, W Deportes, Yahoo! Deportes]
1) Grako & Magnus b Arkalis & Sangre Imperial   
9:44.
2) Amapola & Dark Silueta b La Jarochita & Lluvia   
15:02. Rudas took 1/3 to set up a tag title match.
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Panterita del Ring b Mephisto, Okumura, Raziel   
17:34. Tecnicos took 2/3. Okumura replaced Cancerbero. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja worked as normal tecnicos, with the focus on Panterita/Mephisto as ex-partners.
4) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. b Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón   
13:25. Tecnicos took 1/3, Monito getting the winning splash.
5) Carístico & Virus b Negro Casas, Titán, Rey Cometa, Pólvora, Fugaz, El Felino Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, battle royal]
6) Fugaz b Rey Cometa [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
2:34.
7) Titán b Felino Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
8) Negro Casas b Pólvora [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
2:25
9) Carístico b Virus [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
0:56
10) Titán b Fugaz [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
1:59.
11) Carístico b Negro Casas [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
1:41.
12) Titán b Carístico [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]  
3:39. Titan moved onto face Templario in next week’s final.

There’s no time management going on in CMLL, so this was a second straight week where the tournament matches – the thing the show was promoted on – were all incredibly rushed to meet the two-hour limit. (They still didn’t come close, going five minutes over.) There’s no reason to have this many matches on a show where they have to get done in a 120 minutes, and there’s no reason for the second and third matches, in particular, to go as long as they did even on a non-limited show. I’d call this embarrassing but I don’t think CMLL management cares about what they’re producing to feel embarrassment. Titan/Templario should be a super match next week, but you should be rooting for it be listed as the semi-main, so they’ll get all the time they need instead of being rushed at the end. This show will go up on YouTube on August 8th but you need not bother – just watch the highlights from the tournament and you’re good.

Mephisto/Panterita would be a great secondary show mask match, maybe even an Homenaje a Dos Leyendas one in a normal world. It’s also been a decade of CMLL teasing a Mephsito mask match with a tecnico and going nowhere, so don’t take it seriously.

CMLL (SUN) 07/25/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports (minis), Kaiser Sports (rest), Mas Lucha]
1) Inquisidor b Leono 
2) Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro b Diamond, Eléctrico, Oro Jr. 
Rudos took 1/3
3) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit b Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer 
Tecnicas took 1/3.
4) Pequeño Violencia L Último Dragóncito, Pierrothito, Shockercito, Pequeño Olímpico, Kaligua, Mercurio, Fantasy, Pequeño Joker, Angelito, Aéreo, Acero [mask, hair, cibernetico] 
Escape by pinfall/submission: Aereo (beat Mercurio), Yoker (Acero), Mercurio (beat Shockercito), Angelito (Kaligula), Ultimo Dragoncito (Pierrothito), Kaligula (Acero), Pierrothito (Shockercito), Acero (Olimpico), Fantasy (Shockercito), Pequeno Olimpico (Violencia), Shockericto (Violencia) leaving Violencia as the loser – he lost his hair.
5) Atlantis TLDRAW Blue Panther 
a 15 minute draw, a rare CMLL main event with a time limit. Atlantis thanked the crowd.

Weak turnout for the hair match. Hopefully Pequeno Violencia didn’t get paid on the house, or it’s one of the softest payments for a CMLL apuesta loss in sometime. CMLL did mention the main event had a time limit but didn’t emphasize it; didn’t seem like people cared it went to a draw. The month of celebrating Atlantis ended at two wins, a loss, and a draw. This’ll air on AMX August 6th.

There’s not much going on Tuesday’s lineup:

CMLL (TUE) 07/27/2021 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Diamond & Sonic vs Espanto Jr. & Nitro
3) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, La Comandante, Stephanie Vaquer
4) El Audaz, Esfinge, Fugaz vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Rey Bucanero
5) Panterita del Ring, Star Jr., Valiente vs Ángel de Oro, Mephisto, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/25/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Caballero de Plata & Hellboy b Cyber & Sobredosis 
2) Satania & Therius DQ Bengalee & Karisma (Laguna) 
DQ for ref attack
3) Hijo del Pantera & Pantera Jr. b Iron Kid & Noisy Boy 
4) Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Freelance b Karaoui, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka 
5) Asterboy & Puma de Oro b Fly Warrior & Villano III Jr. 
V3 unmasked and pinned
6) Diosa Atenea, Hijo Del Vikingo, Tonalli b Diosa Quetzal, El Bandido, Hijo del Alebrije 
Team Tonalli cheated to win, pushing Tonalli/Alebrije and Atenea/Quetzal feuds

I had this on while working on other projects and it was not a great show to have on. The main event was good at what it was intending to be – a spotlight for the regular guys taking advantage of the star power of the guest – rather than the Vikingo/Bandido showcase it could’ve been. They built all match to those guys facing off and they did, but it was a minute or so of fighting and getting out of the way for the screwy finish. Vikingo and Bandido were announced for a 08/06 show in Arena Neza and maybe that’ll be more the direct outing.

IWRG announced they were switching from 60% to 40% capacity because Mexico State had slipped back in to orange color. There’s no clear reason why it’s 40% and not 30% as it had been previously in orange, nor any great belief IWRG is keeping to those numbers. Elsewhere in Mexico State, a show in Toluca was shut down because no public events are supposed to happen in orange. Mexico State continues to leave it up to the individual cities and municipalities to make the rules. Naucalpan has been permissive for IWRG under green, yellow, and orange letting them run regardless. I’m not sure what will happen if the state goes all the way to red again.

Last night’s show may have been kept to 40%, or may have just not drawn well. Bandido & Vikingo seem like they should’ve been a bigger deal, but IWRG also didn’t promote them as appearing until two days prior to the show. I’m also wondering if the ticket-buying public is going to be more cautious than the government or the promoters at this point. Promotions can put on these shows but if fans don’t feel safe going, it doesn’t really matter what’s on the show. IWRG and CMLL have increased the visibility of their cleaning procedures and emphasized facemask wearing, but it’s tough to fight with a map that’s turning a dark shade.

Other News

Fenix & Penta appear on AEW’s Dark Elevation YouTube show tonight facing Dark Order’s 5 & 10.  This is Fenix’s first match since April 21st. The show starts on YouTube at 6 pm CT, that match is the main event, so it may not be up until 7 or so. Fans at the taping say it was among the best matches on the show.

This is not important but it’s bugging me. Many AAA TV recent episodes have included either Puma King & DMT Azul or those two doing a promo or Sam Adonis sending in a video promo. All talk about how they’re going destroy everyone and lead us to believe they’re the La Empresa team at TripleMania. AAA will then immediately cut to a graphic of Chessman, Pagano and Murder Clown versus Puma King and two mystery people. The promos seem to make it clear the two mystery people are Adonis & DMT Azul, but then the graphic has never been updated. Is it supposed to still be a mystery? Can AAA just not bother to update the graphics for TripleMania on their own show? I generally struggle to believe people in either AAA or CMLL watch their TV shows because this is very weird for a viewer but very normal for a Mexican wrestling show.

In a greater sense, TripleMania is now less than three weeks away: this seems like a good time to start announcing the many mystery people on TripleMania daily to get people thinking about the show. Federacion did that with their Copa Federacion, and maybe AAA will do the same. Hugo is in Mexico, so maybe something’s happening along those lines (or maybe it’s for Alberto’s group.)

The Hecho en Mexico show, which has added both Orlando Colon and Ray Gonzalez this past week, has sold 68 additional tickets in that time. Lucha libre crowds historically buy the day of the show and, and they can also give away tickets if the priority is to look good ahead of making money. There probably should be some self-reflection on what is not working (it’s not 2013 and Alberto is not over to the ticket-buying audience) but that’s the least likely outcome. The Monday before the show was the day where the Federacion show got the plug pulled on it; Robles Patron continues to promote this show and it is on.

Arena Jalisco, closed this week due to breaking COVID rules, says they hope to re-open next Sunday. (Mas Lucha pointed this out.)

The CMLL produced Nuestra Lucha Libre documentary will disappear from Netflix (US) on August 15th.

Vampiro is now part of a diabetes awareness health campaign.

El Diario de Xalapa has a profile of many local luchadors, from a 15 year old girl to a 65 year old man.

NVI Noticias talks to the 2013 version of Mascarita Sagrada.

Milenio interviews Baja California luchadora La Baronessa.

An interview with Baja California Sur luchador Ninja (ex-Steel) Dragon.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.

CMLL has block two of the Leyenda de Plata tonight. It’s another $5 TicketMaster Live show. Many matches from the show will go up on YouTube in just over two weeks.

CMLL (FRI) 07/23/2021 Arena México
1) Arkalis & Sangre Imperial vs Grako & Magnus
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Amapola & Dark Silueta
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Mephisto, Raziel
4) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Carístico vs Negro Casas, Titán, Virus, Rey Cometa, Pólvora, Fugaz, El Felino Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]

Not much beyond the tournament. The third and fourth matches could be watchable if people try, but that can’t be presumed. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja have been booked back as normal tecnicos in Guadalajara and here, no idea yet if it’s a switch out of Los Ingobernables or just randomness. Probably just randomness.

As part of his virtual media interview this week, Caristico said Hijo del Santo would be thrilled for his protege to win the Leyenda de Plata. I believe Caristico believes this and I believe Hijo del Santo is still too annoyed about CMLL using El Santo’s name without his permission to care who wins it.

Sunday’s lineup

CMLL (SUN) 07/25/2021 Arena México
1) Leono vs Inquisidor
2) Diamond, Eléctrico, Oro Jr. vs Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Nitro
3) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Dalys, Stephanie Vaquer
4) Último Dragóncito vs Pierrothito, Shockercito, Pequeño Olímpico, Kaligua, Mercurio, Pequeño Violencia, Fantasy, Pequeño Joker, Angelito, Aéreo, Acero [mask, hair, cibernetico]
5) Atlantis vs Blue Panther

The main event ends the July of Atlantis. An interview with Blue Panther revealed they’ll have a 15 minute time limit, which is probably a great idea for an Atlantis singles match. It might catch people off guard if it’s a draw though.

Pequeno Joker from Puebla gets the last minis spot. CMLL hasn’t introduced him (and has him listed as “Yoker”), so that’s just my best guess at the identity. He hasn’t wrestled much since the start of the pandemic. A more cynical promotion would bring in an unknown guy to an apuesta match just to have him lose, but I don’t believe that’s is what is happening here. Violencia, Mercurio or Aereo getting a haircut is more likely.

Caristico & Mistico retained the CMLL Tag Team Championships over (locals) Gemelo Diablos in Matamoros on Thursday.

AAA

Azteca is broadcasting the Olympics in Mexico, which means it’s taking over the main stations. AAA’s aired has its last episode on Azteca7 until TripleMania; they’ll be airing on nominal news station ADN40 Saturdays at 8:30 pm for the next three weeks. If you’re someone who’s obsessively watching/recording all the AAA action, that’s a better time slot than the “Sunday 1 AM ish” they’ve been on, though my sense is ADN40 is a much less watched network. This doesn’t affect the Space airing; if you’re watching it on Twitch, there’s nothing going to change. We don’t have hard numbers for the viewership of the weekly shows, though past TripleManias have been viewed about three times as much on (over the air) Azteca than (cable) Space, so that may be a big chunk of AAA’s viewership who won’t be able to find AAA the next few weeks. On the other hand, the show was airing at 1 AM so maybe not exactly a lot of people were seeing it, AAA’s not really doing much on TV to hype TripleMania and Azteca hyping it during the Olympics would help a lot.

Saturday’s AAA on Space show (6:30 pm) should be the second part of the Amealco taping. AAA hasn’t announced matches yet; they didn’t last week either. The Villano 3 Jr./Lady Maravilla vs Chik Tormenta/Arez mixed tag title match was to be taped on that show, so maybe that’ll air. That looks to be the last normal TV show before TripleMania. AAA is out of completely fresh tapings, but they’ve taped extra matches at every taping they’ve done before and will likely patch them into two weeks of TV. (These are the matches that have aired on Azteca but not on Space.)

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says Laredo Kid is headed back to Impact “and expected to get a push.” It won’t be too soon, Impact’s already taped the next month of TV. Maybe take the push part with a grain of salt in a world where Black Taurus has been spending most of his recent time as a second, but Laredo to Impact makes sense. Laredo Kid’s never had many big moments with Impact but he’s been in and out of there a lot, showing up at random occasions between 2017 and 2019. He probably would’ve been back earlier if the pandemic hadn’t ended Impact’s shows in Mexico City, and Laredo’s got a bigger higher profile from his AEW guest appearances.  He’s the simplest way of fulfilling the AAA logo tease for the next PPV. Impact could run an AAA cruiserweight title match, though no telling if AAA would acknowledge a title change this time either.

Psycho Clown was to wrestle Brandon Kirk last Saturday night in New Jersey. There were a few drizzles as they talked before the match, and then it just poured. The match is quite the visual.

IWRG

IWRG (THU) 07/22/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Bengalee & Karisma (Laguna) b Amazonika & Satania 
2) Hip Hop Man & Kaoma Jr. b Pibe Argentno & Silver (Tamaulipas) 
3) Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol b Chef Benito, Dick Angelo 3G, Lunatik Xtreme, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón [Copa Higher Power] 
4) Asterboy b Noicy Boy 
5) Dr. Cerebro b Tonalli, Toxin 
Dr. Cerbero challenged Toxin to an IWRG Mexico title match.

Semimain was set better than expected

Sunday’s card has a notable main event.

IWRG (SUN) 07/25/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Caballero de Plata & Hellboy vs Cyber & Sobredosis
2) Bengalee & Karisma (Laguna) vs Satania & Therius
3) Hijo del Pantera & Pantera Jr. vs Iron Kid & Noisy Boy
4) Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Freelance vs Karaoui, Ra-Zhata, Shil-Ka
5) Asterboy & Puma de Oro vs Fly Warrior & Villano III Jr.
6) Diosa Quetzal, El Bandido, Hijo del Alebrije vs Diosa Atenea, Hijo Del Vikingo, Tonalli

I’m not sure people in Mexico understand how Vikingo is one of the more popular Mexican wrestlers outside of Mexico right now. Pairing him with Bandido in a main event is a big deal; they could’ve put this behind the paywall and this would’ve drawn some curiosity subscriptions. Glad to get it for free. Not as sure about putting the inconsistent women in with them.

The semimain has a chance to be something as well.

Other News

The health color codes officially mean nothing in Mexico City, according to the Mexico City government. The combination of cases, hospitalization and deaths mean Ciudad de Mexico is now is back in the orange health code, but the head of government has said there will be no changes in policy as a result. No business shutdowns and no capacity limits beyond what is already in force. Mexico City will instead start offering vaccinations for everyone over the age of 18 next week, speeding up that policy. TripleMania looks safe just because no one’s interested in doing anything that might hurt the economy, though they may not be thrilled with the capacity.

Jose Contreras Massa (ex-wrestler, current promoter, member of the Mexico City lucha libre commission) announced he was bringing back the Sindicato National de Luchadors at a press conference Thursday. He will be the head of it for the next six years. It’s what was generally thought of as the old luchador union. The union was a powerful group of luchadors going back to the 60s. It fell apart in the early 90s, a combination of internal mismanagement (and alleged crimes), the creation of AAA (with its own company union), and the collapse of the UWA fracturing the group. Contreras was joined by a group of old and retired luchadors; it was noticeable there was no one under 50 on the panel. (It was also all men, though there were luchadoras in the crowd watching.) There are other unions; CMLL has an in-house one that may privately help but makes no public noise. Octagon has started his own union, though it never seems to have caught on.

The idea of the luchador’s union is to pool monthly dues and other resources to take care of each other when encountering health issues. Contreras had already secured some donations to this end. It’s not clear how this will work beyond that. As Grafico’s story on the press conference notes, there’s going to be a struggle getting young people aboard. The older wrestlers are bringing this concept back because they or their friends could use the support of the younger wrestlers, but they’re not offering the younger wrestlers anything in exchange. I think this is going to be yet another announcement which is rarely mentioned again. The only path to success I can is the Mexico City commission – who was heavily present at the press conference – pushing licensed wrestlers to also join this union. Even that seems to be a long shot, since the commission hasn’t been too successful in influencing luchadors to do or not do things during the pandemic. There is potential in a union, but it’s got to be led and run by guys thirty and forty years younger than those involved and these older wrestlers would have to take a big step back. Neither seems likely.

lucha libre ROH matches for their Philadelphia shows, which are streaming on HonorClub service for $10/month

08/20

• Bandido (c) vs Flip Gordon for the Ring of Honor Championship
• Violence Unlimited (Brody King, Tony Deppen, Chris Dickinson, Homicide) versus La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush, Dragon Lee, Kenny King, Bestia del RIng)

08/21

• Bandido & Rey Horus vs Rush & Dragon Lee
• Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs Flip Gordon & Demonic Flamita

Ricky Marvin is fronting new promotion “La Cuerna de Dragon”, which has its first show on 07/31 at Gym Mictklan. He’ll face Bandido in the main event. In a press conference hyping the show, Marvin said the promotion will add absolutely nothing new. He feels everything has been done, he just wants to do it better and take it a bit more seriously.

GCW announced Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy for their 09/03 and 04 shows in the Chicago area. This is what happens when the younger luchadors start to get signed.

LuchaWorld has the latest LuchaWorld Podcast.

SuperLuchas has a great obit for 70s/80s luchador Memo Arenas, who passed away Thursday.

Chiapas luchador Diamantina was apparently knocked out in a match last Friday. The description sounds like it was a concerning scene and a relief that he was diagnosed with only slight damage to his fifth vertebrae. He’ll be out at least a month.

Infobae tracked down the television news story announcing El Santo’s death.

CMLL

CMLL (TUE) 07/20/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports]
1) Cholo b Apocalipsis [lightning]
2) Disturbio, Hijo del Signo, Magnus b Drone, Eléctrico, Robin
Electrico replaced Sonic, Signo replaced Espanto on Tuesday. Magnus appears to be a full time rudo.
3) Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys b Cachorro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring Jr.
Cachorro & Panterita del Ring replaced Audaz & Magia Blanca on Tuesday
4) Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible b Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr.
5) Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero b Dulce Gardenia, Místico, Star Jr.
Guerreros took 1/3

Nothing happening here. An all rudo night.

CMLL (TUE) 07/20/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara [Fuego en el Ring]
1) Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre b Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro
2) Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Rugido b Leo, Mr. Samurai, Príncipe
3) Difunto, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga b Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono
Team GDL beat Team QRO.
4) Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer, Valkiria b Isis Queen, Náutica, Sexy Sol
Isis Queen is Reyna Isis, unclear why the name change. Silueta beat Isis, asked for a title match.
5) Mr. Trueno, Nitro, Rey Trueno b Crixus, Flash, Gallo
Truenos asked Gallo & Flash for a OCCIDENTE TAG title match, tecnicos accepted as long as they do a mask match after. (That mask match rarely happens.)
6) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón DQ Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Principe Daniel
Niebla Roja unmasked Sanson

I was double-checking to see if Sanson had a singles title I forgot about – no, it’s Niebla Roja CMLL LH title I’ve forgotten – and I realized Sanson hasn’t won a singles match since 2019. He’s had four singles matches in CMLL to Caristico, lost them all.

“Isis Queen” isn’t even the words in the correct order. That’s going to be so annoying. She hasn’t said anything about a name change as of yet.

Mas Lucha has an interview with Rugido about wrestling here and his hopes and dreams (being full-time in CMLL), though they don’t exactly explain how a recent Welcome to Mi Barrio guy ended up wrestling in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. The closest thing to an answer is a mention he’s currently training under Volador Jr.

Friday’s lineup

CMLL (FRI) 07/23/2021 Arena México
1) Arkalis & Sangre Imperial vs Grako & Magnus
2) La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Amapola & Dark Silueta
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Panterita del Ring vs Cancerbero, Mephisto, Raziel
4) Atlantis Jr., Valiente, Volador Jr. vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
5) Carístico vs Negro Casas, Titán, Virus, Rey Cometa, Pólvora, Fugaz, El Felino Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
7) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
8) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
9) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
10) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
11) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
12) ? vs ?? [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal]

Nothing too notable outside of the tournament. The semi-main has all the players for a mailed-in match, maybe they’ll surprise. Magnus has gone from not being around to being booked on every show, an oddity for this moment. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja being tecnicos is weird, being in the same match as Cancerbero & Raziel is weirder.

Templario won the first half of Leyenda de Plata, so it’s probably a tecnico coming out of the other half. It’s Caristico, Titan, Rey Cometa, and Fugaz in order of likelihood though Titan, Rey Cometa, Caristico and Fugaz in order of what final I’d like to see. (I don’t trust Fugaz in a singles match yet.)

CMLL appears to have a hard two-hour limit on shows due to COVID restrictions. The Mexico City government announced that when they increased capacity a month ago, but it wasn’t clear it was being enforced at first. The last few Friday night shows have felt like they’ve been rushing to get it done as close to two hours as possible (though it’s not a hard shutdown, they were still doing the post-match after the two-hour mark last week.) It is possible that some of the changes CMLL’s made – first two matches being one fall only, a five-match card instead of six – are happening because of that two-hour time limit in mind. They may all be reverted when/if that limit is removed. It also makes the decision to go with a single-elimination tournament instead of a cibernetico hard to understand, because they’re losing additional time with entrances and breaks after matches.

CMLL’s Monday Twitch stream was Star Jr., Magia Blanca, Guerrero Maya Jr. versus Felino, Povlroa, Rey Bucanero from the June 18th Friday show. This aired on PPV but was cut from the TV version, so it makes as much sense as anything. That also means there’s no more ‘new’ material turning up here; I didn’t want empty arena stuff, but had some hope they’d air the bigger matches from Tuesdays there. CMLL had some issues streaming the show; this is where I’ll let you know you can just schedule videos to go live on Twitch and don’t actually have to stream them (though you have to dig into the settings to find it.)

There’s no Ticketmaster Live listing for the July 30th PPV. I think this is an error. The actual tickets for a seat on that day are still on sale. Those who already bought the show – the people who bought the full month package – received an email saying the event had been rescheduled for August 27th. My guess is August 27th is the next ‘premium’ CMLL PPV and someone made an error in setting it up. It will cost CMLL money if they can’t figure out no one can buy the July 30th show, but they’ve still got some time to notice it.

CMLL Informa has Caristico, Virus, Templario (Leyenda de Plata), Atlantis & Blue Panther (Sunday main event) and Fantasy & Mercurio (minis cibernetico) today.

Other News

Fernando Robles, of Robles Parton Promotions, posted an all-caps message on his own Facebook, angry about an erroneous news article claiming the 07/31 show in Hidalgo, Texas has been canceled. That show is still on, even though tickets haven’t moved much with 10 days left. Robles said they had sold as many tickets as a WWE show three weeks later. He’s presumably referring to the San Antonio show on August 16th, about four hours away. WrestleTix has 87% of the tickets to that WWE show have been sold or otherwise made unavailable as of July 10th, while 28% of the Robles Patron Promotion show have been sold or are otherwise unavailable. Shorter version: WWE has sold a lot more tickets. Given recent patterns, WWE probably would’ve already canceled or moved their show if they had sold the same as the Robles Patron show.

AAA posted another Tormenta/Arez/Abismo/Latigo/Toxin skit about their mystery texter. I hope they solve this mystery soon or at least come up with a group name to make it easier for me. Still weird AAA is spending so much time on these guys when they don’t spend time on much else, but it does sort of suggesting it’s ultimately not about these guys. Maybe AAA’s airing the reveal this week and that’s why they’re getting these vignettes out.

Chik Tormenta mentioned on Twitter that she’s the Mucha Luchas (Guadalajara) Women’s champion. She didn’t win the title, it turns out she never lost it. She announced she was giving up the title due to her pregnancy in October 2019, but lost contact with the promoters. Tormenta reconnected with them recently, they explained they didn’t accept her relinquishing the title feeling she shouldn’t have to give it up to have a kid, and she’s still champion. She seems thrilled to find this out.

Thursday’s IWRG card

IWRG (THU) 07/22/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Bengalee & Karisma vs Amazonika & Satania
2) Pive Argentno & Silver vs Hip Hop Man & Kaoma Jr.
3) Chef Benito, Dick Angelo 3G, Lunatik Xtreme, Puma de Oro, Rey Halcón vs Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunatik Fly, Sol [Copa Higher Power]
4) Asterboy vs Noicy Boy
5) Tonalli vs Toxin vs Dr. Cerebro

These lineups seem, uh, scaled down to match the expected ticket revenue by booking a lot of young wrestlers. Or maybe they’ve handed the Thursday shows over to the MexaWrestling booker and he’s booking it more like his undercard. Asterboy & Noicy Boy are guys who can be entertaining with good opponents but may not be good opponents for each other. Tercera is Tryout students versus FILL students, which seems about the same thing.

Arena Jalisco held a big show Sunday to celebrate 47 years of existence. Dr. Wagner Jr. somehow lost to long ago CMLL luchador Mr. Power in the main event via foul, which must be planned to set up a hair match in the near future. It won’t be happening too near; Arena Jalisco was shut down on Monday for violating local health rules. The arena looks completely packed in photos. It’s not surprising a lucha libre arena is breaking COVID regulations, it’s more notable they got in trouble for it. There does seem to be an uptick in these shutdowns in the last week.

Murder Clown demanded to be included in the tournament for the vacant IWRG IC Heavyweight Championship, so I guess the title is vacant. Fresero Jr. is the most recent champion so it would make sense that it’s vacant, there was just no press release like got the lightweight title.

The Crash posted an Andrade promo and teased AAA names. That suggests they’re back on the same page with Konnan, though it’s indie wrestling so it could also be someone who was in AAA in the past.

MLW’s Battle Riot will air on YouTube (at BeIN Sports in the US) on Saturday at 9 pm. This should include Arez & Aramis. I’d presume new episodes will start to air after. VICE is notably not mentioned in the announcement; MLW programming hasn’t appeared on VICE in a few weeks after prior talk about it being for the promotion – a recent MLW Twitter post mentioned they’re off until the fall (maybe just airing when there are new Dark Side of The Ring Episodes?)

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report, with more on the Negocio Traumado and this week’s Poster-Mania.

Box y Lucha 3481 has Rayo de Jalisco on the cover.

Mas Lucha has the latest episode of En+Carados.

R de Rudo has a story on the Perro Aguayo of Bolivia; literally, the promoter suggest he already wrestled like Aguayo so he used that name until he retired in 2005.

El Universal had an interview with Hera.

CMLL (FRI) 07/16/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan, WDeportes]
1) Pequeño Violencia b Angelito [lightning]  
3:52. No injury, Violencia just won quick.
2) La Guerrera, La Jarochita, Lluvia b Amapola, Dark Silueta, Reyna Isis  
9:10
3) Fugaz, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. b Blue Panther Jr., Cachorro Lagunero, Dark Panther  
16:17. Originally listed as Blue Sr/Dark/Cachorro, then Blue Sr/Dark/Blue Jr., and finally Cachorro/Dark/Blue Jr. Fugaz return from a shoulder injury (still taped.) Paneritas took 2/3, though Panterita Jr & Cachorro went to a double pin before the finish.
4) Euforia, Felino, Felino Jr. b Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]  
10:28. Team Cavernario shoved Olimpico for the first fall DQ. Cavernario pinned Felino in the second fall with outside help from Angel de Oro. Felino pinned Cavernario with the superbomb in the third, then asked for the hair match soon. Cavernario declined.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr. & Templario b Volador Jr., Místico, Mephisto, Star Jr., Espíritu Negro, Raziel [Leyenda de Plata, battle royal]
6) Star Jr. b Mephisto [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
3:42.
7) Místico b Espíritu Negro [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
2:16
8) Volador Jr. b Raziel [Leyenda de Plata, 8f]
3:12
9) Templario b Dragón Rojo Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, 8f] 
2:45
10) Mephisto b Místico [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
3:57
11) Templario b Volador Jr. [Leyenda de Plata, quarterfinal]
4:12
12) Templario b Místico [Leyenda de Plata, semifinal] 
7:51. Templario advances to the final on 07/30.

It was not clear Leyenda de Plata would be a singles elimination tournament until the battle royal was announced as seeding the tournament. Leyenda de Plata is always a cibernetico and it’s a braindead move to switch it to a series of small matches. I thought the eight generally worked hard and tried to make the most of the time, but there’s not much you’re getting across in 2:45. It served no purpose except to make for worse matches.

Templario winning was a nice surprise, and he did it impressively. He’s still the underdog versus whoever comes out of the other side – likely Caristico, maybe Titan.

Nothing too major on the rest of the show. Felino pushing for the hair match to happen now is noteworthy; CMLL probably hopes to be running it in 8-9 weeks instead, though there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to do so. They’d be better off getting it in quick just to be sure, except Felino probably would be expecting a bigger payday than about a 1,500 capacity crowd would provide.

CMLL (SUN) 07/18/2021 Arena México [De Lucha TV]
1) Leono & Sangre Imperial b Bengala & Sonic
2) Espanto Jr., Grako, Magnus b Diamond, Drone, Eléctrico [Relevos Increíbles]
Listed as Relevos Incredibles but CMLL also said Magnus was debuting as a rudo. Grako replaced Akuma. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys b Pegasso, Stigma, Volcano
Embajadores took 1/3
4) Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus © b Dark Panther, Esfinge, Star Jr. [MEX TRIOS]
first defense, Cancerberos took 2/3. Dark Panther replaced Audaz.
5) Gran Guerrero & Último Guerrero b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr.
Guerreros took 2/3. Ultimo Guerrero pulled Atlantis’ mask and beat him, the first defeat for Atlantis in this month long Sunday run of main events honoring him.

Of course Ultimo Guerrero defeats Atlantis on the shows meant to honor Atlantis. The title match should air on AMX July 30th.

Barbaro Cavernario announced he was a new first-time father on Instagram.

Sunday was Arena Puebla’s 58th Anniversary, which normally would mean today is a big Arena Puebla show. No show, no date of a return, just an article talking about the history.

CMLL (TUE) 07/20/2021 Arena México
1) Cholo vs Apocalipsis [lightning]
2) Drone, Robin, Sonic vs Disturbio, Espanto Jr., Magnus
3) El Audaz, Guerrero Maya Jr., Magia Blanca vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
4) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Stuka Jr. vs Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible
5) Dulce Gardenia, Místico, Star Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero

The names are split between the three weekly CMLL shows evenly at the moment but Tuesday seems to be the third most important show at the moment. Sunday’s getting slightly more angles.

CMLL (TUE) 07/20/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Adrenalina, Estrella Oriental, Minotauro vs Bobby Black, Carlo Roggi, Fúnebre
2) Leo, Mr. Samurai, Príncipe vs Bestia Negra, Demonio Maya, Rugido
3) Isis Queen, Náutica, Sexy Sol vs Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer, Valkiria
4) Ángel Rebelde, Halcón Negro Jr., Optimus, Trono vs Difunto, Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Crixus, Flash, Gallo vs Mr. Trueno, Nitro, Rey Trueno
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Principe Daniel vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón

Guadalajara continues going to their own beat – Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja are handsome tecnicos here. Though it’s a nice touch that they’re teaming with Cavernario’s brother, after generally teaming with Cavernario back in Mexico City. The fourth match is the Queretaro/Guadalajara rematch. I presume “Isis Queen” is Reyna Isis put through Google Translate, but I don’t know if that’s a mistake or a change. The only Rugido I know is the one who used to be Dizzy and used to be working for AAA, so that’s a strange name to see in a Guadalajara segunda.

IWRG

IWRG (SUN) 07/18/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Black Shadow II & Rey Halcón Jr. b Cheff Benito & Hellboy  
2) Alas de Oro & Alas De Plata b Iron Kid & Noicy Boy 
3) Hijo del Pantera, Internacional Pantera, Pantera Jr. b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemónium 
4) Aster Boy, Freelance, Redimido b Mr. Puma, Oficial AK47, Zumbi 
5) Canek Jr. DQ Hijo De Dos Caras  
6) Hijo del Alebrije, Murder Clown, Myzteziz Jr. b Abismo Negro Jr., Tonalli, Toxin 

Hijo del Alebrije did work this show as normal after partnering with the Negocido Trauma’s the night prior. Didn’t hear much about this otherwise.

Prior to the show, Negocido Traumado’s Demonio Infenral, Fresero Jr. and Trauma I held a press conference a little ways away to talk about their issues with IWRG. This aired on Mas Lucha’s YouTube channel, just before the IWRG show aired on YouTube. It’s up on other YouTube channels too, but Mas Lucha working with both sides of what appears to be a legitimate dispute is unusual for wrestling.

R de Rudo recapped the opening of the press conference, starting with what we know: Los Traumas quit IWRG because the promotion was paying them on 30% capacity and they believed they were selling more tickets than that. (It has never visually looked like IWRG has limited themselves to 30% or any capacity number outside of maybe the first few shows after they’ve started.) Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr. were suspended from working Arena Naucalpan due a chair break brawl, but still forced to work dates through IWRG’s office. They worked an Arena Lopez Mateos show where they walked out wearing Trauma masks, and that was enough for IWRG to blow up at them again. They claimed this greatly differed from how the promotion treated Hijo de Canis Lupus & Dragon Bane, saying they were not punished after an out of control match including an ugly spitting incident with CIMA & Tomahawk in 2020 which almost cost IWRG that relationship.

Rob has more highlights from the press conference on Twitter. IWRG is trying the network of non-Mexico City promotions talent share put together by Francsico Flores which lead to UWA in their PALL group. Getting those groups to work together probably was tough back in the 70s and it may be tougher now. The luchadors talked about being caught between promotions said to be all part of working with PALL but also working against each other. The Monterrey situation, where KAOZ and Lucha Time are both said to be working with PALL but not with each other, came up specifically. Roberto Figueroa, who is notionally a journalist but has essentially become the Konnan of Monterrey in trying to work with every group at once, came under fire for telling falsehoods and getting wrestlers caught in the middle.

The wrestlers were asked about the likelihood of lawsuits over contracts the various wrestlers have been signing. Baby Xtreme did not appear at the press conference, and he’s the one that’s come up most as possibly seeing legal action. Fresero Jr. said he didn’t believe it was an issue; these promoters aren’t putting much money into their wrestlers, so they’re probably not going to put much money into lawyers either. The general luchador sense is these contracts are no more than a publicity bit.

IWRG did not respond directly to the press conference. They did lead off their show with a charity food giveaway.

The Sad COVID cancelation section

Both Vangaudria’s Saturday show with GCW and DTU’s Sunday show were indefinitely postponed after Pachuca reached COVID color light red and sports venues were to be closed. Both promotions operate in the state of Hidalgo. Less well-known local Pachuca group CLLT also canceled their shows; local reporting says all lucha libre shows in the state were postponed except for Arena Aficion, who are just haven’t been caught.

DTU’s show is an outdoor show and they were rained out last month. Their press mentions unnamed people in and around the roster have caught COVID and are in quarantine, and others are suspected positives. Despite those cases, it still wasn’t until the day prior to the show, with new rules in place, when DTU announced the postponement.

Vanguardia’s cancelation seems more directly about the government saying no fans were allowed. Vanguardia (and DTU) ran during shutdowns with no fans prior, but the added expense of the GCW wrestlers probably made that untenable this time around. Vanguardia says they hope to bring back the GCW wrestlers someday.

Ciclope & Miedo Extremo was scheduled to defend the GCW Tag Team titles on the Vanguardia show. They ended up losing them to G-Raver and Jimmy Lloyd on the Zona 23 show Sunday instead. That ends Los Mazisos three year reign, most of it when they were unable to come to the United States.

Arena Queretaro says they’ll be forced to go back on hiatus if conditions get worse in the state. They’re currently open at 50% capacity, would be limited to 30% if COVID cases continue to rise in Queretaro. They can’t generate enough ticket revenue at 30% capacity to run, so the shows there would be canceled again. The next show in the venue is scheduled for July 25th, with some Guadalajara wrestlers coming in.

RIOT’s 08/20 & 08/21 La Rina tournament has been postponed due to COVID situation in Monterrey. Those shows are still a month away, but they’ve decided to call the show off early rather than have a last-minute change of plans as they did with their March 2020 show.

Puebla’s Arena Coliseo San Ramon appears to have been shut down for overcrowding Sunday night.

These situations are all away from Mexico City. The message on Friday from Mexico City’s government was to focus on vaccinations and not shut things down. The case count is approaching the December 2020 total when Mexico City did shut down for a second time, but the death count is much lower at the moment. The government doesn’t want to hurt businesses again by doing a shut down, but both those case and death counts figure to continue to rise over the next month. There’s obviously a case AAA should follow RIOT’s example and announced a postponement now before they spend more and get caught off guard by another shut down, but there’s no guarantee there will be a shutdown and figuring out dates for Omega/Purrazzo/Andrade might be a challenge.

Other News

AAA Azteca, around 1 AM, aired a Kenny Omega/Andrade confrontation. They did put it up on YouTube, so I did as well. I thought this had the same silliness issue as some of Omega’s recent stuff with Jungle Boy in AEW. AAA also posted a vignette where Abismo Negro Jr. is now getting the same mystery messages as Arez, Latigo, Chik Tormenta, and Toxin. It’s strange to be putting these on the internet and not in their main TV show where people might see them. It’s also weird to be spending storyline time on a mystery about a group of midcarder rudos, none of whom are currently booked on TripleMania. I’m happy to see guys I like getting attention, it just sticks out as noteworthy when AAA has an interest in progressing maybe two storylines at a time and this is one of them.

The only other notable thing that happened on TV was another Psycho Clown/Rey Escorpion brawl, but it appears they’ve run out of creative ways to do them for the moment.

Bandido’s BIG Lucha debuted on Saturday

Big Lucha (SAT) 07/17/2021 Bandido Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal [R de Rudo]
1) Chaman, El Bendito, Elemental b Cometa Maya, Gravity, Orbita
win via interference
2) Mil Almas b Skayde
win via foul/evil referee
3) Dementor, La Bestia Del Ring, La Máscara DQ Demonio Infernal, Hijo del Alebrije, Trauma I
Dementor was the surprise teaming with Bestia & Mascara. Hijo del Alebrije replaced Trauma I, seemingly joining Negocio Traumado (but he was back in IWRG the next day.) Win via foul.
4) Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Komander b Emperador Azteca & Látigo [super libre]
Latigo replaced Flamita (worked Martinez instead). Rudos unmasked Komander and pinned him.
5) El Bandido DQ Rush and Fresero Jr.
Rush gave Bandido a martinete for the DQ. A three way brawl broke out between members of Negocio Traumado (Fresero), Los Ingobernbles and Bandido’s Gym after the match, spilling into the crowd.

They drew well and the crowd likely left thinking about the riot that broke out after the main event. Still, it’s an auspicious start for a promotion where every match has interference/cheating finish somehow. Bandido got over in the US because people cared when he won and when he lost; those results meant something to those watching. None of those resuls up there meant much. Bandido “won” the main event on the scoreboard but lost it in any meaningful fashion.

Rush worked twice on Saturday. He was scheduled to main event the Arena Neza show in a tag with Puma King against Espectro & LA Park. The Big Lucha show ran very late, leaving a long gap between matches in Arena Neza waiting for Rush to show up. They eventually sent out Espectro, Puma and Hijo de LA Park (working twice) to have a three way to eat up some of the time, but they were still killing time after that. Rush ended up facing LA Park in a singles match, which would’ve been a huge match had it been the planned one. I’ve not seen the video, but the reports of the match say it was great. LA Park beat Rush clean, which was not a finish Bandido could get out of Rush in his own promotion.

Deonna Purrazzo retained the Impact Knockout Championship on Saturday’s Slammiversary show, which means the Faby Apache/Deonna Purrazzo match is still on for TripleMania. Impact and the NWA seemed to set up a future Purrazzo/Mickie James match for September. That would suggest Purrazzo is winning at TripleMania (and that was already the more likely outcome) but they didn’t specifically say that James/Purrazzo match would be for a title.

Impact also announced an October show in Las Vegas with AEW, AAA, and NJPW participation. AAA and NJPW being on the same show makes sense with Impact’s relationship but flies counter to the NJPW/CMLL relationship. A poster by NJPW’s Rocky Romero suggests heavily NJPW isn’t interested in working with AAA.

Psycho Clown was among those scheduled to wrestle on an outdoor show Saturday in New Jersey. There was a drenching thunderstorm. They wrestled anyway. It was said to be a very memorable match.

Lady Shani & La Hiedra did wrestle in Guatemala on their scheduled Robles Promotion booking, which didn’t seem a certainty after Texano jump from AAA to Robles Patron. CMLL would’ve pulled them for sure. AAA could be thinking Robles isn’t long for this world, at least in “3rd national promotion” form, so why make a fuss.

Pirata Morgan & Damian 666 agreed to a hair match at one the RGR shows in the Los Angeles area this weekend. Neither man has much left to lose.

Ultimo Guerrero unsurprisingly got pulled from the Martinez Entertainment show on Saturday, seemingly due to AAA wrestlers (Laredo Kid) also being booked. Laredo Kid versus Danny Limelight was on the few matches advertised for the show – they never listed Guerrero in anything specific – so I guess that made the decision simpler for them. Rush, Psycho Clown, Bestia del RIng, Psicosis (II) and Samuray del Sol are advertised for the 09/24 show, which is the first Samuray del Sol in-ring I’ve heard about.

The Crash announced Andrade will appear on their first show back, though no date was announced. Given The Crash’s style of working with big names and Andrade being available, that was a foreseeable ending.

Masked Republic will be part of a Comic-Con@Home panel talking about Video Games, Art, and Mexican Culture Friday at 4 pm CT.

Lucha Central has a good interview with Gabe Ramirez of Pro Wrestling Revolucion.

NVI Noticias has a profile of local wrestler Endeavor, who started wrestling as Atlantis before being informed there was one of those already. He switched to Discovery and found out about that one too.