El Hijo del Vikingo is set to challenge the former Alberto Del Rio for the AAA Mega Championship next month.
AAA has revealed most of the lineup for their Guerra de Titanes event scheduled for November 10, with Alberto El Patron defending the Mega title against Vikingo atop the card. Dorian Roldan will be in El Patron’s corner, while Latin Lover will second the challenger.
Vikingo was forced to vacate the Mega title earlier this year after suffering a ruptured knee ligament and torn meniscus. Nic Nemeth defeated El Patron to win the vacant championship in April at a Triplemania XXXII event, then El Patron defeated Nemeth for the title at a Triplemania XXXII event in August.
— Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (@luchalibreaaa) October 9, 2024
Vikingo made his return to the ring for AAA on September 29 after missing seven months of action due to his injury. Currently the acclaimed high-flyer is touring Japan for GLEAT.
The announced lineup for the Sunday, November 10 AAA Guerra de Titanes show:
AAA Mega Champion Aberto El Patron defends against El Hijo del Vikingo
AAA Latin American Champion Octagon Jr. defends against El Mesias
Alberto El Patron is making his return to Lucha Libre AAA.
At a press conference regarding the promotion’s 2023 schedule on Tuesday, AAA revealed that the former Alberto Del Rio will be returning to the company to take part in two tournaments: the Lucha Libre World Cup and Guerra de Rivalidades.
El Patron will be teaming with El Hijo del Vikingo & Psycho Clown in the Lucha Libre World Cup. The tournament is being held on March 19 and will feature seven other teams that have yet to be announced. There will also be a women’s Lucha Libre World Cup taking place alongside the men’s tournament.
El Patron is listed as representing Nacion Lucha Libre on AAA’s Lucha Libre World Cup graphic.
El Patron & Pentagon Jr. are partnered together in Guerra de Rivalidades. That tournament also includes Psycho Clown & Sam Adonis, Rush & Pagano, and Blue Demon Jr. & DMT Azul. The tournament will play out over three Triplemania events that are taking place in 2023.
The Triplemania shows are being held in Monterrey on April 16, Tijuana on June 17, and Mexico City on August 12. The first round of the tournament will happen at the Monterrey event, then the losing teams will advance to the next round in Tijuana. The teammates that lose in Tijuana will then face off against each other in Mexico City in a singles match where their mask or hair will be on the line.
This will be El Patron’s first time wrestling for AAA since 2015. He posted a tweet today about returning home to AAA and thanked AAA management.
The sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping case against Alberto El Patron was dismissed today after a witness did not appear, according to court records. El Patron had been facing the possibility of between five years and life in prison.
Bexar County, Texas court records indicate that after being arraigned today, a hearing and trial were held, and the case was dismissed due to a missing witness. El Patron was released from pre-trial supervision, his bond was returned, and he was released of liability in the case, which is now closed.
El Patron, real name Jose Rodriguez Chucuan, had been charged with four counts of second degree sexual assault and one count of aggravated kidnapping in connection with a May 2020 incident. El Patron’s accuser had alleged that he had hit her in the head, tied her hands and sexually assaulted her on May 3, 2020. El Patron was then arrested and charged on May 9, 2020.
El Patron’s trial was originally set for January 25, 2021, then was postponed to May 3, postponed again to August 2, again postponed to October 25, then finally postponed until today.
Alberto El Patron has filed a lawsuit against MMA promotion Combate Global for breach of contract.
PW Insider reports that Patron filed suit against Combate in July in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging the contract breach, unjust enrichment and conversion.
El Patron is seeking payment that he alleges he is owed for an MMA fight against Tito Ortiz, interest on the money he says he is owed, plaintiffs’ costs and attorney’s fees, such other and further relief as may be just and proper, plus return of control of his social media accounts.
In the lawsuit, El Patron alleges that he was promised $500,000 to promote his December 2019 fight against Tito Ortiz, plus an additional $250,000 for fighting. The suit states that El Patron was not paid the additional $250,000 and that Combate has ignored invoices.
El Patron alleges that Combate maintained control of his social media accounts that they had used to promote the fight with Ortiz, which would fall under unjust enrichment and conversion in the lawsuit.
Combate has not filed an official response to the lawsuit, but have filed documentation with the District Court regarding their legal representation in the matter.
El Patron lost the fight in question to Ortiz by submission.
El Patron is awaiting trial on one count of aggravated kidnapping and four counts of sexual assault related to a May 9, 2020 arrest. His trial has been postponed several times, but is currently set for October 25 in San Antonio.
Former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Alberto Del Rio/Alberto El Patron has been indicted on one count of aggravated kidnapping and four counts of sexual assault according to the Bexar County (Texas) District Attorney’s office.
The charges for Jose Rodriguez Chucuan stem from a May 3rd incident in which he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman he was in a relationship with after he accused her of being unfaithful, an incident that she said wasn’t isolated to that night.
According to the arrest report, she denied his claims of infidelity and he responded by slapping her in the head and forcing her to dance for him. He tied her hands with boxing straps, put a sock in her mouth, and sexually assaulted her for several hours using various objects. She also said Chucuan told her not to cry because he would take her son and “drop him off in the middle of the road somewhere” if she did.
According to court records, he will be arraigned Friday with a trial date to come. The case will be prosecuted by the Family Violence Division in the 226th District Court and because the case is pending trial, the District Attorney’s office cannot make any comment until then.
If convicted of the aggravated kidnapping charge alone, Chucuan faces a minimum sentence of five years with a maximum of life in prison. For the sexual assault charges, he faces a minimum of two years to a maximum of 20 years if convicted. In both cases, fines would be up to $10,000.
The return of major shows in the U.S. and how the different companies are dong them is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at UFC’s plans, how the PBR handled their first event which was the first sports event back, what UFC’s plans are for May 23, lineups for the UFC shows, Dana White, doctors and others talk about UFC going back, the shows AEW and WWE is putting on, how the fighters are preparing differently, how UFC is handling backstage, how all three companies are handling testing, plus comments from other promoters.
The new issue also covers:
Preview Money in the bank, AEW Double or Nothing II, and update New Japan’s plans and cancellations. We also look at the AEW PPV scene, Big Japan needing crowd funding and going through all of the WWE released talent and look at their future prospects.
How COVID-19 has affected the ratings of every show, the variations and what lessons can be learned by the ratings drops.
Risks involving Roman Reigns, FOX airing a special head-to-head with UFC PPV, update on how WWE financials look with new information and stock value, Becky Lynch acting, New WWE TV show, WWE injury updates, wrestler who left the promotion apologizes for behavior, U.K. ratings, Matt Riddle talks heat and his meeting with Vince McMahon, Mike Bennett talks leaving WWE, When WWE tried to work with CMLL, Orlando Colon talks leaving and certain naievete, most watched sports on television, Paul Levesque selling stock, Next week’s TV, and most watched shows of the past week on WWE Network.
Supreme, the Southern California indie star who was one of the top stars of XPW, including looking back at his career, his FMW tag title run, and the famous ECW/XPW brawl at a PPV show.
Maryland commission ruling regarding the Kenny Omega match with Jon Moxley in Baltimore.
What happened to Hiroshi Hase.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight with all the news from Raw. You can also send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]. We’re looking for your thoughts on UFC 249 and WWE Money in the Bank, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Becky Lynch’s announcement on Raw tonight will include vacating the women’s title and Asuka will be announced as the new champion based on her winning Money in the bank last night. Or that is at least what was being talked about earlier today. PWInsider had this earlier and we’ve gotten that as well.
TMZ had additional details on the Alberto Rodriguez arrest and sexual assault charge against a woman he was in a relationship with. The woman claimed the beating and sexual assault lasted 4 1/2 hours from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. late Sunday and early Monday of last week. She alleged he beat and choked her and she was left feeling woozy and dizzy and police had photographed evidence of bruising on her face, arms, legs and neck.
The rating is expected to be way up tonight between an expected bump from the PPV, the curiosity over Lynch and the return to Raw of both Edge and Randy Orton.
FOX announced its fall television season with Smackdown renewed for a second season. Smackdown is under contract in that Friday at 8 p.m. slot through late 2024 so this was expected.
Post Wrestling reported earlier today that a limited amount of crossover between Raw and Smackdown (wild card rule) will be back and announced on tonight’s show. It was a lock a move that was significant would be announced after the drop in both the Raw and Smackdown ratings of a week ago. They also announced a decision would be made regarding the IC title. Sami Zayn is the champion and due to the pandemic had made the decision not to wrestle. While the story is that nobody would lose standing if they didn’t come, it looks like the decision has been made to change the title.
WWE
Raw and Smackdown for this week are both being taped today at the Performance Center. Next week’s Raw and next week’s Smackdown will be taped tomorrow. NXT will go live-to-tape Wednesday and also tape the 5/20 show on Wednesday.
Money in the Bank was the sixth most searched term on Google yesterday with 200,000 searches, the exact figure we predicted yesterday and what would be considered normal level for such a show. UFC 249 was at 2.65 million.
The janitor mopping the floor in the MITB presentation last night was Kane Prichard, Bruce’s son, who in fact, was named after Glenn Jacobs.
WrestleMania III airs from 8-11 p.m. tomorrow night on FS1.
UFC
Conor McGregor was all over Twitter, name-calling Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov. He indicated he expects to face Gaethje next.
Kelvin Gastelum had accepted a nine month suspension which was shortened to five months after a positive test for marijuana taken on the 11/1 show in New York. he suspension, announced today, would already be over. The sentence was reduced after he completed a drug treatment program. It was his second marijuana positive. USADA tests for significant quantities only as the threshold is high and also only tests at fight time as marijuana is not tested for out of competition.
AEW
Wednesday’s Dynamite currently has Brodie Lee vs. Christopher Daniels, MJF vs. ?, Chris Jericho vs. Suge D, Penelope Ford vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander with the winner likely facing Nyla Rose for the title at Double or Nothing II, Best Friends vs. Jurassic Express and Lance Archer appears. AEW, UFC and NXT go head-to-head Wednesday night.
MISCELLANEOUS
Impact will start its No. 1 contenders tournament on tomorrow night’s show on AXS TV.
Prestige Wrestling has announced it will be shutting down for the rest of the year and into early 2021.
Mick Foley announced dates for his speaking tours for May and June. The dates are:
10/14 in Springfield, MO
10/15 in Little Rock, AR
10/16 in Cape Girardeau,. MO
11/8 in Tampa, FL
An article on Bronson Rechsteiner, the son of Rick Steiner, who has signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He has talked about getting into pro wrestling down the line.
When it comes to MMA, the beleaguered Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has had quite a month, beginning with UFC 247 which featured several bizarre decisions including a major conflict of interest where a judge trained with one of the fighters he was judging.
On Wednesday, it continued as MMA Junkie reported that Tito Ortiz’s lopsided win over Alberto El Patron at December’s Combate Americas PPV has been changed into a no decision. Junkie got a quote from a state official which said the result was changed “pending further investigation.”
Junkie also reported that the promotion was made aware of the change Tuesday, but they were unable to offer any further information. As of now, neither Combate CEO Campbell McLaren, Ortiz, or El Patron have commented publicly.
Because Ortiz won that night in Hidalgo, the result being changed likely means the issue is with him and not the former WWE star. However, the official gave no details as to what the investigation is regarding and who.
It was the first MMA fight for the former Alberto Del Rio since 2010 while Ortiz had fought the year prior against Chuck Liddell for Oscar De La Hoya’s failed MMA promotion.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz submitted former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio via first round submission in the Saturday main event of Combate Americas’ debut pay-per-view in Hidalgo, TX.
The submission came at 3:10 in a fight that was so in the lightest sense of the word.
Del Rio posed no semblence of offense as Ortiz got the fight to the ground quickly and after working for a guillotine, Ortiz started landing some ground and pound. Ortiz eventually got a rear naked choke and Del Rio tapped quickly.
With the victory, Ortiz won Del Rio’s WWE title belt. Had Del Rio won, he would have taken home Ortiz’s UFC light heavyweight title.
Wearing a t-shirt that had a similar style to the classic Saturday Night’s Main Event logo, Ortiz walked out to “Real American” by Rick Derringer, the iconic walkout song for Hulk Hogan during his 80s WWF run. The promotion carried a “What side are you on?” tag line designed to play off the U.S. vs. Mexico border war narrative. This was despite the fact Ortiz is Mexican-American and Del Rio is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
This was both the promotional debut for both men and the first MMA fight for Del Rio since February 2010. Ortiz came out of retirement again for this fight after defeating Chuck Liddell last November for Oscar De La Hoya’s one-and-only MMA event.
Former WWE Champion Alberto El Patron will fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz in the main event of Combate Americas’ debut pay-per-view on December 7th in Hidalgo, Texas, announced on Ariel Helwani’s ESPN show.
The fight will be at a 210 pound catchweight and the event itself will cost $39.99.
The former Alberto Del Rio signed with Combate last October, returning to a sport he hasn’t competed in since 2010. During that run, the 42-year-old went 9-5 and famously was knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop while wearing a mask at a 2003 PRIDE event. Helwani said El Patron (Jose Rodriguez) has been training with Bellator two-division champion Ryan Bader and UFC light heavyweight C.B. Dolloway for the fight.
After a tumultuous few years that saw El Patron released from both WWE and Impact Wrestling, he has been relatively quiet on the wrestling scene outside the co-creation of Nacion Lucha Libre with Chavo Guerrero.
The 44-year-old Ortiz is coming out of retirement again after runs with Bellator and a one-off fight with Oscar De La Hoya’s failed MMA effort last November when he knocked out Chuck Liddell. He signed with Combate, the brainchild of UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren, earlier this year. He has won four of his last five dating back to May 2014.
The two had a slight confrontation in August at a Combate event:
The plans for a rumored fight between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio are indeed moving ahead.
Combate Americas founder Campbell McLaren (seen above with Del Rio) confirmed as much while doing an interview with Spanish YouTube show Generacion MMA while giving no date or venue.
MMA Fighting reported the fight is being looked at for the final quarter of 2019 and that it would be at a 210-pound catchweight. In a February interview with Marca, Del Rio said he would doing one last fight this November at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV.
The 44-year-old Ortiz signed a deal with Combate in April while Del Rio (Jose Alberto Rodriguez) signed last October. While Ortiz has fought as recently as last November, Del Rio hasn’t competed in MMA since 2010.
The former wrestling star fought several times in Japan and Mexico between 2001 and 2010, compiling a record of 9-5. Most of his opponents were relatively unknown, although he did score a stoppage win over former UFC fighter Brad Kohler in the DEEP promotion in Japan in 2003.
Combate has made some headlines lately with good viewership numbers on Univision, edging out both UFC and Bellator in the same weekend. They also have a deal with DAZN.
Dulce Maria Garcia Rivas, otherwise known as Sexy Star in Lucha Underground and AAA, has signed a deal to fight in Combate Americas.
The former Lucha Underground world champion and Gift of the Gods champion will make her MMA debut on Friday, April 12th in Monterrey, Mexico. Her opponent has not yet been named.
The 36-year-old Rivas carries a 5-0 pro boxing record and went 3-0 in 2018, last competing in August with a decision victory.
She first started in wrestling back in 2006, beginning with AAA and Lucha Libre AAA before her multi-year run in Lucha Underground. She made headlines last year for winning the LU title in an Aztec Warfare match before dropping it to Johnny Mundo, and also gained some notoriety for a 2017 altercation in a match with Rosemary.
Rivas won’t be the only pro wrestler competing for Combate Americas as former WWE and international star Alberto Rodriguez (aka Alberto del Rio, Alberto el Patron) is expected to make his promotional debut this year after a near decade absence from fighting, something he did 14 times between 2001 and 2010.
El Patron said the plan is for him to fight at the first pay-per-view in Combate Americas’ history. El Patron mentioned that he’d be facing a “former super champion” who is well known in Mexico and the United States, but it was noted that the deal for his opponent hasn’t been finalized yet.
Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren said they’re targeting February 2019 for the PPV, and El Patron brought up Arena Ciudad de Mexico as a possible venue for it.
El Patron said he thinks his return will only be for one fight, but he and McLaren both indicated that they weren’t closing the door on it being more than just a one-and-done thing.
El Patron has been working with Combate Americas as an ambassador and an announcer. He said his working relationship and friendship with McLaren started when McLaren wanted him to fight for the promotion, but El Patron was doing professional wrestling at the time and wasn’t that hungry to fight again. El Patron mentioned that the wrestling business has changed and, while others love how it’s going, he doesn’t enjoy it anymore.
El Patron fought several times in Japan and Mexico between 2001 and 2010, compiling a record of 9-5. Most of his opponents were relatively unknown, although he did score a stoppage win over former UFC fighter Brad Kohler in the DEEP promotion in Japan in 2003.
That win built El Patron up for the most high-profile fight of his MMA career, where he was knocked out in less than a minute by Mirko Cro Cop on the first Pride Bushido show. He was unique in the sense that he fought wearing a Lucha Libre mask and using his pro wrestling persona of Dos Caras Jr.
Impact Wrestling announced Saturday night via Twitter that they have severed ties with Alberto El Patron, effective immediately.
PWInsider was the first to report the news. Patron has yet to respond via Twitter or other outlets.
On Friday, the former Alberto Del Rio in WWE no-showed the Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground event where he was supposed to team with Pentagon Jr. to take on Impact Wrestling champion Austin Aries and Fenix.
He was in New Orleans, LA, this WrestleMania weekend as he was in the crowd at WaleMania Thursday night and even appeared at an Impact press conference Friday to build up his main event match against Aries on Impact’s Redemption PPV on April 22nd.
The 40-year-old has had a turbulent last few years out of the ring. He signed with Impact in March 2017 and won the company’s world title shortly thereafter. He was suspended in July and stripped of the belt in August after domestic violence allegations arose involving then-girlfriend Paige. He returned to action for the company in November.
Alberto El Patron has been booked for this August’s AAA Triplemania event, but reportedly there is interest within WWE to bring him back to their fold.
AAA announced today that Triplemania will take place on August 25 in Arena Ciudad de Mexico during a press conference. They also announced that El Patron will be a part of the show, facing an international wrestler that has yet to be named.
Around the same time that was announced, PWInsider reported that El Patron was at WWE’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut last week to film material related to an upcoming WWE project on Rey Mysterio, and met with Vince McMahon while in Stamford as well. The report also said that there have been indications that Vince McMahon is interested in bringing back El Patron (known in WWE as Alberto Del Rio), mentioning that he has always been high on el Patron’s work as a performer.
This comes at a time where El Patron’s contract with Impact is set to expire next month. The report says that Impact has made it a priority to meet with talent who’s contracts are coming up soon. They said that results so far have been positive and they remain hopeful that the talents, including El Patron, will be signing new deals.
He left the WWE in 2016 after reportedly being unhappy about where he was slotted on the roster. He was originally set to return to AAA for 2016’s Heroes Inmortales X, but no showed after saying he was attacked outside his resturant he was operating at the time. Since then, he’s worked for Impact Wrestling and has also worked in the UK with Five Star Wrestling.
El Patron’s next high profile match will be with Impact, where he will headline their next PPV on April 22, Redemption, challenging Austin Aries for the Impact World title.
GFW Champion Alberto El Patron is being investigated for an alleged domestic violence incident at the Orlando International Airport yesterday.
Orlando police made a statement confirming that El Patron was detained at the airport: “There was an incident at the Orlando International Airport at about 3 p.m. Sunday involving Jose Rodriguez (DOB 5/25/1977). The reported incident was a domestic violence battery, and it is still under investigation. No arrests have been made as of this time, but the case remains open. That is all the information we have for release at this time.”
In a report from TMZ Sports, it was noted that witnesses confirmed that El Patron was arguing with a woman in an airport terminal until cops were called when things escalated, with one witness saying that there was “an altercation.”
Police wouldn’t release the name of the alleged victim, but witnesses told TMZ that El Patron’s fiancee Paige was at the airport with him. He and Paige had broken up a few weeks ago, but were back together days later.
El Patron had been in Orlando all week for the GFW/Impact television tapings, but he missed a booking for Delgado Promotions in El Paso, Texas yesterday. Airline problems were the reason given by the promotion for him missing that show.
PWInsider first reported the incident earlier today.
UPDATE: TMZ posted audio of some of the incident, confirming that it was between El Patron and Paige.
