Current Lucha Talk

[sek69]

Taya just tweeted "Tomorrow is a new day" so that's probably a giveaway she's going to be on the show tomorrow.

[sek69]

Watching on delay and Taya did end up on the show in a video package challenging Deonna so she appears to be back. Estrellita showed up as part of the Legally Distinct CMLL heel group, and so far the best part has been FTR showing up in Los Gringos gear with Vicki as their manager. 

[sek69]

Laredo Kid's mystery partner ended up being Willie Mack, which I don't think anyone would have guessed but he's awesome and it's AAA so it works.

[sek69]

Dragon Lee/Dralistico challenge for the tag titles and Dragon Lee challenged Laredo Kid for the AAA cruiserweight title which sounds pretty fucking awesome. 

[sek69]

Also they got about 27,000 in the baseball stadium in Monterrey for this show which probably makes it the largest non WWE crowd in North America this year. 

[sek69]

Cain coming out with a Arizona State Sun Devils mask makes me realize his true calling is being a luchador. 

[sek69]

LA Park coming out in a leather jacket like lucha Onita just shows why he is the GOAT. 

[sek69]

Mexican hero Cain getting booed because he's beating up LA Park is why wrestling is great. 

[sek69]

So the main event was fun, no one looked out of place in spite of the universal "wtf?" reaction to Fish and Lethal. Vikingo won to send the folks home happy and he did all kinds of crazy stuff. Clearly the plan is to do the Omega match once he's healed up which should be bonkers. 

Also interesting that every match leading up to the main had the rudos go over (Cain's team won but the crowd was 100% behind LA Park so it was a rudo win for them), so right when you thought they were going to pull a WWE they did end up having the guy everyone wanted to win in the main event go over which actually ended up adding a little extra juice to the finish. 

All in all, a solid show. No MOTYs or anything but they made the best of losing Kenny and put together a fun if not typically chaotic show. 

[El-P]

So, no report of Fenix getting hurt ? He literally vanished from the match after taking that horrendous head bump on the apron and was never to be seen again apart from freeing Penta's mask. Vickie's outfit was glorious. Match was quite fun but I thought it was kinda underwhelming overall, because, well, Fenix vanished and it seems the match ended early.

I dunno, I watch so much great and fun wrestling on a weekly basis, the constant sloppiness of pretty much *everything* only gets you so far. And honestly the one thing I thought about was how I miss CMLL's great Friday shows, and the Dynamitas and Diamante Azul kinda looked out of place to me in AAA's clusterfuck environment. The Cain/Park stuff was fun, but if you don't care about MMA and therefore don't give a fuck about Cain, it really did not register to me as anything special. The interference at the end was soooo AAA in its total lack of efficiency (crowd totally shit on the guy, finish came off flat). The undercard match with the clowns had a few fun spots, but it was also pretty awful overall TBH. Dunno who Estrelitta is, but she was fun though. Monster Clown should just lose the mask. Too much fucking clowns in this promotion, it's unbearable. In other news, Psycosis tried to die again in 2021 and Poder del Norte are still the best trio in AAA in term of making the best of AAA's clusterfuck style, against anyone.

Favorite match to me was Dralistico & Dragon Lee vs Willie Mack & Laredo Kid, Mack kinda stole the show too. Dralistico & Dragon Lee vs FTR and/or Lucha Brothers could be awesome, but honestly I would rather see that match in a non AAA setting... Ditto Deonna vs Taya Valkyrie, which is kinda poetic justice as Taya is the one who passed the torch of the Impact title to Purrazzo.

Main event was quite fun too, Fish & Lethal looked good, Del Sol and Bandido looked like stars and the right guy won.

[sek69]

2 hours ago, El-P said:

. Dunno who Estrelitta is, but she was fun though.

She was in CMLL for a while as one of their top women, so she's a good fit for the invader group. She's not the greatest wrestler but as we saw on this show she has loads of charisma. 

[Rah]

Jack Evans seems to be being extorted by Mexico City police. He claims they planted drugs on him and he is facing charges if he doesn't keep paying. Scary situation to be in.
 

 

[sek69]

A lot of times foreigners get targeted for stuff like that with the idea they'll be too scared to refuse/not know where to turn for help. Jack's been around Mexico so he knows the deal so that's why he put it out there in case news comes out he got arrested. Funny thing is these cops must not know who he is or that his US boss could get him out of the country in a private jet within the hour if needed and his Mexico boss is almost certainly no more than 2 degrees of separation at most from some dudes that can cause way more damage than trying to extort some gringos. 

[sek69]

Probably not a surprise since Taya is back, but AAA announced their next big show will be headlined by Vikingo defending against JOHNNY MUNDO!

[BlastoSTG]

All the competitors have been announced for Riot's long postponed next La Riña tournament. For those who haven't seen it, it is basically a lucha equivalent of BOLA. The announced 12 are:

Demonio del Aire (AKA Baby Xtreme) 
Mr. Iguana
Rey Horus
Komander
Aeroboy
Blake Christian
Alex Zayne
King Rex
Erik Ortiz
Jimmy 
Tromba
El Mago

This is a good mix of Riot regulars, US indie workers, veterans and up and coming luchadores on the cusp of breaking out. Jimmy has been on a tear in Mexico since he came back from Dragon Gate. 

I would also say too for those who like Hijo del Vikingo but haven't seen him yet, Komander is going to be the next breakout luchador. He had a knee injury earlier this year but has come back strong. He is part of the Bandido Gym crew and is only getting better. He can do some absolutely insane stuff. 
 

[El-P]

When I think about Veracruz, I don't picture cold wind and rain. I guess it's Winter over there too. Probably did not help the show.

So, Taya won the fun multi-women match and challenged Deonna Purrazzo. As expected. Lady Maravilla took a spanish fly from the apron to the floor, because of course she would. She's low-key one of my favorite performer, she's always fun to watch, and she's bitchy as hell.

Tons of clusterfucks on the undercard, the mixed tag title (which is something IMPACT really should do) multi team strap lumberjack match was as fun and ridiculous as it sounds. The new Sexy Star looks quite good, plus she doesn't shoot on people, so there's that.

Nice tribute to Arturo El Rudo Rivera, he comes off like he was the Bobby Heenan of AAA. Also, Carlos Cabrera reunited with Hugo, but no one broke their table.

Rey de Reyes match was *there*. Laredo Kid and Bandido obviously were fun to watch, Psycho Clown was absolutely part of this match (I can't remember the last time I actually enjoyed him, he has to be the most annoying pushed guy in the world next to EVIL, for different reasons), Cibernetico hobbled his way into sucking and hey Heavy Metal showed up. What the fuck is this, WWE ? 

So, Fénix could not wrestle on the show, so it was Dralistico (wait, the first Dragon Lee who became the second Mistico in Mexico, right ? This guy has legit personality issues) vs Penta, and it was pretty okay although Dralistico was sloppy at times. Turned into an angle at the end, with Dragon Lee showing up and beating down Penta while Fénix was held back by security and the medics, really great at selling the despair of watching his brother get killed too. Lee's vs FTR vs Lucha Brothers incoming.

I was half-excepting Johnny Lucha, but we got Johnny Superstar. Got a chuckle out of that, how more literal can you be ? Was a total asshole too, which is his best role. Vikingo was out of this world again. One spot that had me die laughing was toward the end as Johnny tried to grab the camera from the guy taking pictures outside the ring, and the guy visibly would not give him, like, he wasn't gonna do it. Johnny had to give up and take a huge-ass light from the rampway instead, which did not look awkward at all. Finish was incredible though, as Johnny took a moonsault bump ONTO the rope rope, which Vikingo followed by a reverse rana from over there of course, before his usual finisher. Just insane looking sequence. Match was quite good all things considered.

AAA is such a clusterfuck though. The trios match in particular had Los Mercenarios show up at the end for a crappy DQ (although, La Hiedra, respectfully, as we say now apparently)... LA Park is 56 and really begins to show his age too, although he did a nice tope.

[ohtani's jacket]

56 is just warming up for a luchador. 

[NintendoLogic]

Yet another nail in the coffin for CMLL.

[Timbo Slice]

He saw the Bandido match with Bryan and is like “I can do better”

[TimCooke]

Volador Jr vs. Rocky Romero from a few weeks ago is worth watching, though it is not the ****3/4 match that Meltzer says it is.

[El-P]

Vikingo works Spring Break. Against Speedall Mike Bailey. Prepare your GIFs already. This is gonna be ridiculous.

[El-P]

Those CMLL Friday shows are just incredibly fun again. Talk about a rebound from the post-COVID slump.

[WingedEagle]

3 hours ago, El-P said:

Those CMLL Friday shows are just incredibly fun again. Talk about a rebound from the post-COVID slump.

FUN!  Perhaps not the best match I see each week but they are such an easy watch and so joyful.  A total breeze and enjoyable top to bottom.

[El-P]

CMLL in 2023 is the gift that keeps on giving.

First, the return of Tessa Blanchard, and after La Rosa Negra and her made up, I'm just glad I get to see a bit more of Tessa, I missed watching her in the ring. Her past backstage issues may still be a problem for US companies (yeah, the irony of that comment in the current context), but I'll be glad to see her pop up in CMLL from time to time at the very least.

And then, the teasing for Andrade coming back to Arena Mexico. I guess no one had this one on their 2023 (or 2024) bingo card.

[El-P]

Triplemania headlined by fucking Alberto is such a complete disgrace. Shame on Konnan. I get Nic Nemeth wanting to work everywhere, but jeeez. A little self-respect maybe ?

It's interesting that meanwhile AEW is all about the CMLL talents and showing up at Arena Mexico, the only two guys they send for Triplemania this year are QT Marshall and, *gasp* Parker Boudreaux, who apparently is still under contract (why in the hell is that, no idea). And that despite Dorian showing up at TNA Hard to Kill to underline the collaboration with TNA, there's actually no TNA contracted people at all on the card (unless Nemeth is one of them, but I'm not sure he is, he's basically working everywhere).

But yeah. Alberto ? AAA is such a shitshow.