Tag: arena mexico

Daily Update: WWE SmackDown, European tour, Arena Mexico

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ8LOaWM1tw

Join us in Las Vegas for our annual F4W Convention

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Highlights include:

*Wrestler and Performer of the week

*Lots of new news regarding AEW plans, new television show, how this impacts AEW, who will be the stars of the different shows and more.

*WWE creates a new world championship belt, the story behind it, the draft and changes in draft plans, and what NXT talent is ready now and can be stars later

*Full coverage of Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom, one of the biggest women’s events of the past 25 years. We look at business, Mercedes Mone, creation of a new championship, PPV numbers, the count out finish with match-by-match coverage with star ratings.

*The lawsuit filed by former WWE writer Britney Abrahams against the company, including stereotyping wrestlers, comments by writers, and much more

*WWE and AEW major shows between now an the end of August, matches, tickets out, interest levels and top feuds

*The next TripleMania show with the El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega rematch

*UFC full coverage from Saturday, results, details, business and future prospects

*The most detailed look at al the television ratings this past week, including what competition means, how things compare to a year ago, and what major change this week in television and how that impacts prime time wrestling

*Dragon Gate’s next major show

*All Japan Champion Carnival update

*Will Ospreay future

*New Japan Best of the Super Junior notes

*Notes on the New Japan shows this week

*Aaron Henare talks his greatest match with Shingo Takagi

*One of the greatest woman wrestlers of all-time, at 61 wins a tag team title

*The story of Don Luce, one of the most respected pro wrestling historians

*One of the all-time greats will have a statue put up in his home town

*Notes on the new season of Dark Side of the ring

*Devon Nicholson talks about the claims of Abdullah the Butcher

*New book deal about a gangland murder of a major 80s star

*Promotions piggybacking around AEW at Wembley Stadium

*MLW TV future notes

*Owen Hart Cup

*Kota Ibushi update

*Notes from All Access

*ticket advances for WWE & AEW shows

*Streaming and international TV numbers

*Two legendary wrestlers who later did MMA have documentaries out on them and finalists for Emmy Awards

*Bellator’s return to Hawaii

*Business notes on Tank Davis vs Ryan Garcia and crossover with the pro wrestling audience

*All of what went down with Nate Diaz in New Orleans

*Peacock business number and what that means for WWE

*Changes in Raw

*Law firm investigating WWE merger

*Lots of WWE injuries and talent questioning some of the training

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

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Friday Update

Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing a show with Steve Keirn, talking Florida wrestling, WWE training, The Fabulous Ones and more today, and talking about his new autobiography. Bryan Alvarez and I will be doing our weekend show talking the draft tomorrow night.

Smackdown tonight is in Corpus Christi, TX for the first draft show. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Usos for the tag titles is the key match plus the draft. The building was set up for 7,536 fans. Cora Jade, Pretty Deadly and A.J. Styles are all there. No Drew McIntyre even though he’s listed as being drafted tonight.

Both WWE shows today are sold out, as the Belfast, Northern Ireland show has been sold out for weeks.

We’re looking for reports on these weekend shows:

*Smackdown tonight in Corpus Christi (dark matches and anything off the air)

*Impact TV tapings tonight in Chicago

*NXT house show tonight in Jacksonville

*WWE house show Saturday in Beaumont, TX

*WWE house show Saturday in Paris, France

*Impact TV tapings Saturday in Chicago

*WWE show Sunday in Bossier City, LA 

We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights from all these events to [email protected]

Tonight is the 67th anniversary of pro wrestling at Arena Mexico. The first show was April 26, 1956. The show is being headlined by the finals of the Universal champion of champions tournament with Templario vs. Atlantis Jr. vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. Plus Princesa Sugehit defends the women’s title against Zeuxis.

Results from today’s WWE house show in Belfast, Northern Ireland:

*Bianca Belair b Iyo Sky-DQ for the Raw women’s title

*Belair & Asuka b Damage Ctrl 2 vs. 3 when Belair pinned Dakota Kai with the KOD

*Damian Priest b Dolph Ziggler due to help from Dominik Mysterio

*Dominik Mysterio b Dexter Lumis with his feet on the ropes

*Rick Boogs b Baron Corbin with a press powerslam

*Seth Rollins b The Miz with a curb stomp

*Alpha Academy b Maximum Male Models

*Austin Theory won a three-way over Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed to keep the U.S. title by pinning Reed after Lashley speared Reed

*Cody Rhodes b Finn Balor in a great match. Rhodes thanked Balor for inventing Bullet Club and without him there would have been no American Nightmare. He said he hoped to come back to Belfast with the title. (thanks to James S and Nfallon)

Here are the Backlash current odds from BetOnline

Brock Lesnar -150 Cody Rhodes +110

Seth Rollins +110 Omos -150

Austin Theory -125 Bronson Reed +150 Bobby Lashley +185

Rhea Ripley -1600 Zelina Vega +700

Matt Riddle & Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn -300 Usos & Solo Sikoa +200

MLW champion Alex Hammerstone said that the injury he recently received was a torn adductor muscle.

Those who signed up for the pre-sale for the AEW show at Wembley Stadium should have received their code earlier today. The idea of unique codes was to prevent scalpers. Those who have subscriptions to the AEW FITE service (a paying service in Europe where you get commercial free Dynamite & Rampage live) are also getting special codes and will have the first crack at tickets. VIP ticket sales are Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. local time. For those who got codes the presale will be Tuesday from 11 a.m. until Thursday at 8 p.m.

Among the matches scheduled to be taped tonight for Impact in Cicero, IL are

*Steve Maclin & Champagne Singh & Mahabali Shera vs. PCO & two mystery partners

*Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bailey

*Masha Slamovich vs. Killer Kelly

*Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Eddie Edwards & Kenny King

*Yuya Uemura vs. Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Moose & Brian Myers

*Jody Threat vs. Alisha Edwards

*The Coven vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Jordynne Grace

UFC has a full ESPN+ show from the Apex in Las Vegas from 4:30 – 10:30 p.m Eastern time tomorrow

*Hailey Cowan (137.5) vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth (135.5) – Cowan missed weight and had to forfeit 20 percent of her purse

*Journey Newson (138.5) vs. Marcus McGhee (140)

*Stephanie Egger (135) vs. Irina Alekseeva (140) – Alekseeva missed weight by four pounds and had to forfeit 30 percent of her purse

*Cody Durden (126) vs. Charles Johnson (125.5)

*Martin Buday (265) vs. Jake Collier (265.5)

*Josh Quinlan (169) vs. Trey Waters (171)

*Marcos Rogerio de Lima (262.5) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (258)

*Julian Erosa (145.5) vs. Fernando Padilla (145.5)

*Rodolfo Vieira (186) vs. Cody Brundage (185.5)

*Caio Borralho (185.5) vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk (185.5)

*Song Yadong (136) vs. Ricky Simon (136)

Braun Strowman will serve as the Pace Car driver at the NASCAR race in Dover, DE on Sunday. It will air on FS1.

The Bamboozle, a New Jersey music festival that was going to host GCW shows, was canceled today. The festival was from 5/5 to 5/7 . The city of Atlantic city said that Bamboozle did not receive final permits after organizers failed to submit the necessary paperwork by the city’s deadline.

70s and 80s star Ron Fuller will get back in the ring on 5/6 in Rocky Top, TN, teaming with Mike Jackson for a tag team match.

Cody Garbrandt is expected to face Mario Bautista on the 8/19 UFC show according to MMA Fighting.

Other Notes

Abdullah the Butcher will appear for AIW Wrestling on 5/20 in Eastlake, OH at Force Sports.

XICW on 5/27 in Lincoln Park, MI at the Community Center features an autograph appearance of Kurt Angle.

WAR on 5/20 in Lima, OH at the Empowered Sports Center.

House of Glory Wrestling on 5/19 at the NYC Arena in Jamaica, NY has Jacob Fatu vs. Matt Cardona for the HOG title plus Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin vs. Midas Black & Jay Lyon

In the current issue of the Observer, there was a mention of Canadian wrestler Michael Blais doing an eight hour Infinity Gauntlet match on 5/13 as a fundraiser for the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. It will be live streamed on YouTube from 10 a.m. to 7 pm. Eastern time. For more info on this you can go here.

LFA on 6/16 in Owensboro, KY at the Owensboro Sportscenter has John Sweeney (12-3) vs. Allan Begosso (7-2-1) for the interim bantamweight title and Dylan Budka (5-1) vs. Azamat Bekioev (15-3). It will air live on Fight Pass.

ISW tonight in Avenel, NJ, has a steel cage TLC match with Crowbar vs. Rick Recon. Also on he show is Bull James, Maven and Danny Morrison.

Floyd Mayweather’s next exhibition fight will be against John Gotti III on 6/11 from the Florida Live Arena in Sunrise, FL 

NJPW’S Jeff Cobb, TJP announced for November 19 CMLL show

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW’s Jeff Cobb and TJP have been announced for the Friday, November 19 CMLL show at Arena Mexico in Mexico City. 

No opponents have been announced for the United Empire members, nor whether the two will be teaming or in singles competition on the show. 

Cobb was the runner-up in NJPW’s G1 Climax 31 B Block last month, losing just once in his nine tournament matches. He dropped his final Block match to eventual tournament winner Kazuchika Okada. 

Cobb became the fourth member of the United Empire stable at the start of NJPW’s 2020 World Tag League, teaming with founding member Great-O-Khan in the tournament. Will Ospreay, O-Khan and Bea Priestley were the group’s original trio. Ospreay kicked Priestley out of the group at the 2021 New Japan Cup finals. Priestley eventually moved to WWE’s NXT UK, where she now appears under the ring name Blair Davenport. 

TJP joined the United Empire at the NJPW Strong Autumn Attack tapings on September 26 of this year. The week prior, Aussie Open’s Mark Fletcher and Kyle Davis joined the group at RevPro’s High Stakes 2021 event.

CMLL Arena Mexico results: Gran Alternativa tournament finals

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL. Photography: Alexis Salazar.

The atmosphere in Arena Mexico became proverbially electric when hosting an outstanding match in the Gran Alternativa tournament finals on Friday night in Mexico City.

The main event featured Caristico teaming with Soberano Jr. to win the tournament in a tag team match against Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson. The annual CMLL tag team tournament pairs veteran luchadores with young up-and-comers the promotion wants to establish as future stars.

Amongst the brawling and trios matches that filled out the undercard, Dragon Lee and Barbaro Cavernario did what they could in trying to steal the show with the ten minutes they got in a lightning match.

The entire show is available to watch for free via CMLL’s YouTube channel:

While closing with a tag team match, the show also opened with one as well.

Virus & Raziel defeated Sangre Imperial & Magia Blanca

The rudos captured the first and third falls to take the match. In the first fall, Virus pinned Blanca after dropping a flying elbow, and Raziel tied Imperial in a knot to submit him. The tecnicos began a comeback in the second fall, leading to Imperial submitting Virus and Blanca submitting Raziel.

The rudos would curtail a tecnicos rally in the third fall, with Raziel pinning Blanca after Raziel delivered a neckbreaker while Virus held Blanca in a Romero Special. Virus then submitted Imperial with a stump puller to win the match.

Misterioso Jr., Polvora & captain Dragon Rojo Jr. defeated Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr. & captain Stuka Jr.

The rudos won the second and third falls en route to taking the match. The first fall had a triple roll-up spot by the tecnicos for a near fall. Right afterwards, the rudos tried triple roll-ups of their own for a two count. To end the first fall, Drone and Stuka stretched the other two rudos as Guerrero Maya pinned rudo captain Dragon Rojo after a hurricanrana.

To end the second fall, Dragon Rojo came off the top with a double foot stomp for a pinfall on Guerrero Maya while Polvora also covered Drone after giving him an off the top rope sit-out version of Farooq’s Dominator.

The tecnicos fired up as the third fall got underway, but not before Dragon Rojo took time to tear at Drone’s mask. To end the match, Misterioso dropped Stuka into a Gory Bomb and covered the tecnico captain for the pinfall. Misterioso also stole Stuka’s mask.

Vangellys, El Terrible & captain Shocker defeated Kraneo (w/ Mije), Pierroth & captain Rush

The match started as a wild brawl during the introductions as Los Ingobernables attacked. They brawled all around the ring. When they got back in the ring, Pierroth jumped off the middle rope into a senton to pin Vangellys. To end the first fall, Rush charged into a corner on Terrible for an assist in setting up Kraneo pinning Terrible.

The brawling continued like this was 1979 and they were in a concession stand in Tupelo, minus the condiments. Los Ingobernables looked to keep on dominating, but their opponents rallied. Terrible applied a Boston crab on Rush to submit the rudo captain, evening the falls.

Into the third fall, Los Ingobernables left Kraneo hanging at one point as they did a Zbyszko stalk. Terrible eliminated Kraneo when he pinned him after a splash off the top. Rush then eliminated Terrible by pinning him.

Pierroth covered Vangellys for a pinning attempt, but the referee was distracted trying to get Terrible out of the ring. Pierroth went to confront the ref when Vangellys fouled Pierroth with a blatant low blow. With his back turned, the ref never saw the foul. Vangellys​ covered Pierroth, which the ref did see as he counted three for the deciding pinfall.

Vangellys cut a promo on Pierroth afterwards. Rush responded with a promo of his own. Since the beef remains between Vangellys and Pierroth, this feud must continue.

Dragon Lee defeated Barbaro Cavernario in a lightning match

Being a one fall match hampered by a ten-minute time limit, they had a great bout while it lasted. The first dive by Dragon Lee came a minute and a half into the match. Moments later, he jumped off the top rope with a frog splash for a near fall. Shortly thereafter, Cavernario cut him off and took control.

Cavernario set him up for Shattered Dreams but instead gave him into a codebreaker. The action spilled to the outside, where Cavernario did his crazy tope suicida through the turnbuckles. An even crazier DDT by Cavernario got a near fall. For another near fall, Dragon Lee caught Cavernario​ with a running Spanish Fly.

With the clock ticking past the eight-minute mark, Cavernario splashed Dragon Lee and covered him for a two count. Dragon Lee finished off Cavernario with a Del Rio double foot stomp, followed by a pinfall with about 30 seconds of time remaining.

Angel de Oro, El Valiente (w/ KeMonito) & captain Niebla Roja defeated Negro Casas (w/ El Perico Zacarias), Euforia & captain Gran Guerrero

Valiente replaced Diamante Azul, who was advertised as part of the tecnico side of this trios match. The tecnicos won in two straight falls, though that included a disqualification in the second fall. In a scene similar to a previous trios match on the card, the rudos ambushed the tecnicos during an entrance.

Los Guerreros Laguneros were back to their routine of administering a beatdown on Niebla Roja. Still, the tecnicos made a comeback to win the first fall. Angel de Oro pinned Euforia with a hurricanrana, and Valiente submitted Casas with a Romero Special.

The rudos again gained an advantage as the beatdown resumed. That led into Niebla Roja leading a comeback that culminated in a parade of dives. Gran Guerrero unmasked Niebla Roja for a DQ to end the match.

Following the DQ, Gran Guerrero cut a promo on Niebla Roja. That could possibly lead to a match down the line for Roja’s light heavyweight title that he recently won.

Caristico & Soberano Jr. defeated Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson in the Gran Alternativa tournament finals

The tremendous atmosphere inside Arena Mexico hosted an outstanding match, which is worth going out of your way to see.

In the first fall, Guerrero ripped Soberano’s mask as Sanson also tore at Caristico’s mask. Guerrero catapulted Sanson into a double foot stomp on Soberano, followed by Sanson pinning Soberano. Guerrero then applied Pulpo Guerrero on Caristico for a submission to win the first fall.

Caristico and Soberano made a comeback in the second fall, leading to some spectacular flying that lit the crowd on fire. Soberano ripped the mask of Sanson. Evening the falls, Soberano pinned Guerrero with a victory roll while Caristico submitted Sanson with the Black Widow.

The place was electric as the climactic final fall began. A spectacle of flight gave way to a brawl on the floor. That set up Guerrero doing his signature spot of leaping over the barricade into a flying body block.

Guerrero became a base for Soberano to fly, but he would also deadlift Soberano into a superplex. Guerrero also went back to the top rope to give Soberano a super gourdbuster. Soberano kicked out at two and a half, and he countered seconds later with a Frankensteiner off the top for a two count.

Sanson and Caristico tagged in to trade near falls as they squared off. Guerrero made the save on a cover, then he and Caristico traded near falls. Guerrero powerbombed Caristico off the top rope, and Guerrero took a Frankensteiner off the top from Caristico.

Soberano and Sanson fought each other in the closing moments. Sanson lifted Soberano in a torture rack, then spun him around into a sit-out powerbomb. Upon a save by Caristico that also brought Guerrero back into the ring, Soberano executed a guillotine moonsault on Guerrero to eliminate him via pinfall

As that unfolded, Caristico launched into the application of La Mistica to submit Sanson and win the match.

Having joined Ultimo Guerrero as the only luchadores to win the tournament on three separate occasions throughout the years, Caristico was under the guise of a different name when he won previously in 2007 (as Mistico teaming with La Sombra) and 2004 (as Mistico teaming with El Hijo del Santo).

Soberano Jr. gets another tournament victory as the rocket stays firmly attached to his back in his continuing push up the cards.

The winners stuck around afterwards, but so did Ultimo Guerrero. He shook hands and posed for selfies with adoring fans gathered at ringside. The masses were sent home with a happy ending to conclude a stellar show.

CMLL Arena Mexico results: La Gran Alternativa tournament continues

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

An annual lucha libre tournament continued at Arena Mexico on Friday night in Mexico City where veteran stars teamed with younger luchadores.

Caristico teamed with Soberano Jr. to win the B Block of the Gran Alternativa tournament, advancing to the grand final next week where they meet the A Block winners. Soberano got victories over some very established stars on the way to him and Caristico winning the block.

Dragon Lee and Volador Jr. were home again in Arena Mexico after being in Japan and having taken part in the Best of the Super Juniors. Volador had already appeared on the card this past Tuesday since returning to Mexico, but this show was the first appearance for Dragon Lee at Arena Mexico since the conclusion of the Super Juniors tournament.

Volador found himself in yet another tournament, whereas Dragon Lee teamed with two of the promotion’s top stars in a trios match against Los Guerreros Laguneros. The matchup was a departure for the Guerreros, whose routine lately is beating up Niebla Roja and taking his mask. Ultimo Guerrero even stole his mask again this past Monday night at Arena Puebla. On this Friday night show, though, they just had a heck of a match without all the theatrics of their ongoing storyline.

Instead, someone else unmasked Niebla Roja during a tag team match in the tournament. After that particular match, Vangellys attacked Pierroth in a follow up from the angle last week where Vangellys tried in vain to join Los Ingobernables.

The rest of the tournament arguably was far better than last week, with the pairings of the B Block giving great performances in intriguing matchups. Pitting high flyers against each other resulted in some incredible displays of movement and aerial artistry.

Although the tournament’s battle royal was again unnecessary, the match itself was even much better than last week despite one terribly botched spot.   

The show itself opened with a tag match where Tiger replaced Arkangel de la Muerte for a late substitution.

Metalico & Tiger defeated Principe Diamante & Robin

In the first fall, Tiger pinned Diamante with a sunset flip powerbomb, and Metalico then pinned Robin after a sit-out powerbomb. Into the second, Robin pinned Metalico with a senton bomb. Diamante then pinned Tiger after a plancha.

They went into the third fall where Tiger catapulted Diamante into the air for Metalico to powerbomb him. Tiger then finished off Robin with a Canadian Destroyer to conclude the third fall of the opener.

Estrellita, Marcela & captain Princesa Sugehit defeated Amapola, Zeuxis & captain Dalys

The focus of the match was on the ongoing feud between Sugehit and Zeuxis. The tecnicas won the match in two straight falls. The rudas looked to gain an advantage as they cut off the tecnicas in the second fall, but it was to no avail.

During the first fall, Sugehit springboarded into a plancha on the ramp to dispatch Zeuxis. Meanwhile, Estrellita pinned Amapola with a backslide into a bridging cradle, and Marcela submitted Dalys with the Romero Special to end the first fall.

For a tecnica sweep in the second fall, Sugehit submitted Zeuxis with a hold similar to a Black Widow. Moments after being eliminated from the match, Zeuxis got the rest of the ruda team disqualified by jumping back in the ring to attack Sugehit.

Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Misterioso Jr. ended in a double countout

This was a lightning match, meaning one fall with a ten-minute time limit.

Misterioso tried to tear at Guerrero Maya’s mask. They were fighting outside the ring when the referee counted them both out. They just kept fighting, so the ref went to break them up only to get chopped and thrown into the barricade by Misterioso.

The brawling continued as they simultaneously​ unmasked each other. They each put on the other’s mask, and squared up to proceed fighting. The ref finally broke them up. Judging from a finish like that, THIS FEUD MUST CONTINUE.

Gran Guerrero, Euforia & captain Ultimo Guerrero defeated Dragon Lee, Atlantis (w/ KeMonito) & captain Mistico

During his entrance, Dragon Lee wore football shoulder pads with spikes looking like a wickedly cool mashup of Bruce Lee and the Road Warriors.

Los Guerreros Laguneros took a break on this night from what has become their usual beatdown and unmasking of Niebla Roja. The rudo faction instead had a good match with an accomplished team of tecnicos, just like they used to do before the vendetta with Niebla Roja recently consumed them.

The first fall ended with a triple submission in what could be described as a Gory Special do-si-do square dance. Now turn your partner round-and-round as the trifecta of submissions gave Los Guerreros Laguneros an early advantage.

The second fall gave way to stereo dives with Dragon Lee and Mistico each doing a tope con hilo. Evening the falls at one apiece for each team, tecnico captain Atlantis submitted rudo captain Ultimo Guerrero with La Atlantida.

Going into the third fall, the crowd was hot. Dragon Lee got to shine with a flurry of flying moves. Mistico showcased his aerial arsenal as well. The wily veteran Atlantis even joined the parade of flying as he did a tope suicida through the ropes, showing the youngsters a thing or two.

The finish saw Euforia powerbomb Mistico as Gran Guerrero gave Dragon Lee a wacky release pumphandle suplex. Winning the deciding fall for the rudos, Euforia pinned Mistico and Gran Guerrero pinned Dragon Lee.

Gran Alternativa B Block Battle Royal

Oro Jr. & Soberano Jr. were the survivors of this melee. That began a big night for Soberano. The order of elimination determined the seeds for the tag team tournament. Being eliminated first meant that luchador and his veteran teammate were first to wrestle, and so on in descending order.

Canelo Casas was eliminated first in a spot he botched. Astral was eliminated next, followed by Drone and Akuma. Flyer was the next-to-last elimination, and the final luchador sent over the ropes was Raziel.

B Block quarterfinals —

Negro Casas (w/ El Perico Zacarias) & Canelo Casas defeated El Valiente & Astral

Astral went for a moonsault on Casas only to eat knees as they went into the finish. Casas countered with La Casita to roll up Astral for the pin. Canelo Casas submitted Valiente with a guillotine choke.

Pierroth & Akuma defeated Niebla Roja & Drone

This got more time than the previous tournament match, giving them all ring time since neither team would actually go on. An angle afterwards ensured even the winners ended up losing out on advancing further.

Akuma gave Niebla Roja a modified muscle buster, but Drone made the save on a pinning attempt. Drone then began putting together a flurry of offense that led to him getting a pin on Akuma.

However, Pierroth cut him off to deliver an inverted Gotch piledriver to pin Akuma. Behind the referee’s back, Pierroth then kicked Niebla Roja with a low blow before he also unmasked him. With Niebla Roja trying to cover his face while selling his groin, Pierroth covered him just as the ref turned around to make a three count.

Pierroth looked unstoppable, but it wasn’t for long. Suddenly, Vangellys attacked Pierroth on the ramp with a baseball bat. Vangellys was in street clothes that included a leather jacket. Dude, it is freaking summer time. Anyway, this was a violent attack where Vangellys targeted an arm. He threw Pierroth into the barricade and generally administered a beatdown.

Vangellys cut a promo in the ring. He was also in a pre-taped promo earlier in the show plugging the card for next Friday in a bit of foreshadowing. More likely, it was CMLL revealing their hand before the bets are placed. Either way, Vangellys has beef with Los Ingobernables.  

Volador Jr. & Flyer defeated Mephisto & Raziel

This was wild with good sequences and flying. Fittingly, there was flying since one of the luchadores was indeed named Flyer. He and Volador popped the crowd with stereo running flip dives over the ropes to the floor.

In another crazy spot, Mephisto gave Flyer a neckbreaker while Raziel had Flyer in a Rito Romero Special. For a close near fall, Volador kicked out after taking a Falcon Arrow off the top from Raziel. Flyer executed a Spanish Fly on Raziel before covering him for a pin. Volador then did a Frankensteiner off the top rope to score a pinfall on Mephisto​.

Caristico & Soberano Jr. defeated Angel de Oro & Oro Jr

This was wilder than the previous wild match. They started slow before quickening the pace and throwing in a lot of near falls. Soberano did a crazy corkscrew plancha from the top to the outside.

For the finish, Soberano springboarded into a guillotine lionsault to pin Oro Jr. while Caristico submitted Angel del Oro with La Mistica. Medical personnel with a stretcher came into the ring tending to Angel de Oro. Caristico helped him to his feet and Oro stumbled out of the ring and limped away.

B Block semifinals —

Negro Casas (w/ Zacarias) & Canelo Casas defeated Pierroth & Akuma by default

Still selling his arm during his entrance, Pierroth was met on the ramp by an official from the commission. He would not allow Pierroth to compete after the injury angle earlier. Pierroth & Akuma protested to no avail as the official forced them to forfeit by default. Los Casas basically received a bye to the B Block final. 

Caristico & Soberano Jr. defeated Volador Jr & Flyer

This was a spectacle of flight. All four involved were high flyers, so they took to the air early and often. Amid all the flying around, Flyer ripped and tore at the mask of Soberano.

The crowd was buzzing as they went into the finishing sequences, which included a hip toss over the ropes to the floor, planchas, an escape of La Mistica, a moonsault, a Canadian Destroyer, a reverse rana, and a backdrop over the top.

To conclude the chaos, Soberano pinned Volador after a Frankensteiner off the top before Caristico submitted Flyer with La Mistica.

B Block final —

Caristico & Soberano Jr. defeated Negro Casas (w/ Zacarias) & Canelo Casas to advance to the grand final of the Gran Alternativa tournament

Not nearly quite as spectacular as the other B Block matches, the atmosphere along with the work of Negro Casas kept the match interesting. Zacarias got involved at one point. In a surprisingly quick conclusion, Soberano and Caristico scored consecutive pinfalls with dual la magistral cradles.

Caristico and Soberano Jr. advance to meet Ultimo Guerrero and Sanson in the grand finale of the tournament next week.

CMLL Arena Mexico results: La Gran Alternativa tournament begins

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

Veteran luchadors teaming with young up-and-comers was the theme of an annual CMLL tournament that began at Arena Mexico on Friday night in Mexico City.

In the A Block of the Gran Alternativa tournament, Ultimo Guerrero teamed with Sanson to win the block and advance to the finals.

The tournament gave the show a different structure than a typical card seen at the “Cathedral of Lucha Libre,” which is normally filled with trios matches. This show only had a pair of trios bouts to go along with a lightning match on the undercard, as well as a plethora of tag team matches for the tournament.

The card was likely too stacked with bouts, leaving a need to rush through matches in order to finish on time.

The 2017 Alternativa tournament began with a battle royal that determined the order of tag matches in the A Block. The idea of the tourney is to help establish the younger luchadors as stars in order to move them up the cards. The success of such varies.

An angle in one of the undercard trios matches saw a luchador turn on his teammate in a bid to join Los Ingobernables. He was rebuffed and beaten down by a father and son duo.

The show itself opened with a minis tag match.

Shockercito & Stukita defeated Mercurio & Pequeno Violencia

In the first fall, Stukita splashed and pinned Mercurio before Shockercito submitted Violencia with an armbar. The rudos evened the score in the second fall as Mercurio pinned Stukita after a spike piledriver and Violencia pinned Stukita after an assisted neckbreaker.

For the deciding third fall, Stukita did a trifecta of moonsaults to pin Violencia and Shockercito pinned Mercurio upon doing a sunset flip.

Fuego, Drone & captain Guerrero Maya Jr. (w/ KeMonito) defeated Disturbio, Misterioso Jr. & captain Virus

Early on in the first fall, mat wrestling and grappling gave way to a few high spots. The rudos singled out Guerrero Maya to triple-team him, and Disturbio charged into a corner with a running double knee strike on him. Disturbio then pinned the tecnico​ team captain for the rudos to gain the first fall.

The rudos continued to dominate into the second fall until the tecnicos fired up into a comeback started by Fuego. Drone did a handstand on the top rope into a falling double knee strike to pin Misterioso, while Guerrero Maya springboarded into a Nestea Plunge of sorts to score a pin on Disturbio.

With the teams evening the falls at one apiece, the match reset in a lead-up to the pace quickening and a parade of high spots that concluded the third fall. Guerrero Maya used a double-underhook version of an ushigoroshi and covered Virus. With a team captain pinning the opposing captain, the tecnicos won the match with that pinfall.

Dragon Rojo defeated Rey Cometa

This was a lightning match, meaning one fall with a ten-minute time limit. Dragon Rojo fired a musket during his entrance as he has before, which continues to be unintentionally hilarious every week because of the calamity that ensues. The impact of the blast this week inadvertently knocked off his large hat from atop his own head.

The match itself was rushed, starting a trend of matches being short on time the rest of the night. Cometa flew through the ropes into a tope suicida early on. Rojo missed a double foot stomp off the top rope, then Cometa followed up by flipping over the ropes into a senton.

Back in the ring with several exchanges, Cometa got a near fall from a moonsault press. Cometa missed on an attempted senton bomb moments later, allowing Dragon Rojo to regroup and deliver a double foot stomp off the top. Rojo then pinned Cometa at about the six-minute mark.

Hechicero, Pierroth & captain Rush defeated Vangellys, Rey Bucanero (w/ La Comandante) & captain Negro Casas (w/ El Perico Zacarias)

In a rudos against rudos match, the team of Los Ingobernables and Hechicero won in two straight falls. The story of the match was Vangellys turning on Casas in a bid to join the Los Ingobernables stable.

Except for him briefly doing a spot in the first fall, Vangellys mainly just loitered around ringside. He otherwise stayed out of the way until his team’s comeback when he turned on his teammate, Negro Casas.  

Los Ingobernables dominated from the outset as father and son teamed up on Casas. Pierroth gave Casas a powerslam to pin the team captain, ending a short first fall.

The second fall had much of the same dominance by Los Ingobernables and Hechicero. Casas and Bucanero​ were finally able to rally into a comeback when the treacherous act occurred. Vangellys suddenly struck Casas and began pummeling him before giving him a brainbuster. Pierroth leapt into a senton and pinned Casas to win the second fall with a team sweeping their opponents.

The angle continued afterwards as Vangellys said he turned on Casas because he wanted to join Los Ingobernables. Pierroth rejected him, so Vangellys shot in for an attack. Rush jumped in to help his father as Hechicero also joined in for a beatdown on Vangellys​.

The beating continued at ringside where Rush grabbed cups of beer and threw it on Vangellys as he lay prone on the floor. Rush hopped the barricade and tried to swipe another beer, only to get drenched in beer as spectators doused the rudo.    

Gran Alternativa tournament battle royal

Efinge and Cuatrero were the sole survivors.

All of the Dinamitas involved entered together and jumped the tecnicos at the start of the battle royal. While ideally a free-for-all, it was essentially a brawl between rudos and tecnicos with over the top rope eliminations that ended with two sole survivors. Arguably, it was completely unnecessary and further cluttered the card with needless matches. The storyline reasoning was the battle royal determined the order of the tag team matches in the tournament.

Pegasso was the first eliminated, then Star Jr. soon followed. Espanto Jr. was eliminated next. Sanson was knocked off the apron and eliminated. Stigma climbed up the ropes, only to get shoved out and eliminated. Esfinge then shoved Forastero over the ropes. That left Esfinge and Cuatrero as the sole survivors.

Those results seeded the order of the tournament tag bouts.

Opening round tournament matches —

Mistico & Star Jr. defeated Blue Panther & Pegasso

Star Jr. pinned Blue Panther with a la magistral cradle and Mistico submitted Pegasso with La Mistica.  

Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson defeated Kraneo (w/ Mije) & Espanto Jr.

Sanson executed a guillotine knee drop to pin Kraneo while Guerrero submitted Espanto with Pulpo Guerrero.

Shocker & Forastero defeated Titan & Stigma

Forastero submitted Titan with a cross-armbreaker. Shocker catapulted Stigma in the air for Forastero to catch and powerbomb him. To finish him off, Forastero leapt off the top rope into a senton bomb. Shocker then stood over Stigma and pinned him with only one foot covering him.

Atlantis & Esfinge defeated Mascara Ano 2000 & Cuatrero

Cuatrero tried to save Mascara Ano but inadvertently landed on him with a senton. Esfinge then covered Mascara Ano as Atlantis cradled Cuatrero for dual pinfalls.

Tournament quarterfinals —

Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson defeated Mistico & Star Jr.

Sanson hoisted Mistico into a torture rack and then spun him around into a sit-out powerbomb. Sanson pinned Mistico as Guerrero submitted Star Jr. This was better than the opening round matches, with more heat and intensity.

Atlantis & Esfinge defeated Shocker & Forastero

Atlantis cradled Forastero and Esfinge also cradled Shocker for simultaneous pinfalls in a short match.

Tournament semifinal —

Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson defeated Atlantis & Esfinge to advance to the finals of Torneo La Gran Alternativa 2017

Sanson pinned Atlantis via a victory roll. Guerrero pinned Esfinge after delivering the Guerrero Special (reverse superplex). Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson won the A Block and they now await the finals.

The Gran Alternativa tournament continues next Friday night in Arena Mexico with the B Block. Plus, Dragon Lee and Volador Jr. return to Arena Mexico after competing in the Best of the Super Juniors.

The B Block has the following teams:

  • Caristico & Soberano
  • Mephisto & Raziel
  • Volador Jr. & Flyer
  • Negro Casas & Canelo Casas
  • Niebla Roja & Drone
  • El Valiente & Astral
  • Angel de Oro & Oro Jr.
  • Pierroth & Akuma

The lineup for the rest of the card next Friday night:

  • Mistico, Atlantis & Dragon Lee vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia & Gran Guerrero
  • Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Misterioso Jr. in a lightning match
  • Estrellita, Marcela & Princesa Sugehit vs. Dalys, Zeuxis & Amapola
  • Principe Diamante & Robin vs. Metalico & Arkangel

JNPO: Dave Doyle on Arena Mexico, UFC Sweden, Roy Nelson

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: MMAJunkie.com

Memorial Day Weekend is here in the U.S. and your trusted friend is back with a new edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, ideal for BBQs, road trips, or late night raves.

Joining Josh is friend of the site and MMA Fighting scribe Dave Doyle. The appearance was perfect timing given Dave’s debut piece for our site ran Friday. That’s timing, people.

On the topic board:

– Dave talked about his trip to Arena Mexico for CMLL and his feature for our site

– Five somewhat good minutes on this weekend’s UFC Sweden show, focused on Alexander Gustafsson vs. Glover Teixeira

– Roy Nelson’s signing with Bellator and what that means for both him and company’s heavyweight division in the future

– Whether the guys feel that Demetrious Johnson vs. TJ Dillashaw is the fight to make

– What Dave is looking forward to this summer for big fights…and more.

Click below to listen:

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CMLL Arena Mexico results: Final stage in the turn of Niebla Roja

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

A turn that was built up for months was the highlight of the CMLL card this past Friday night at Arena Mexico on a show where controversy loomed outside the ring.

The card on paper looked average, but the show in Mexico City more than delivered with good matches and a hot crowd providing an atmosphere unlike any other place that hosts weekly wrestling cards.

The booking was arguably lazy at times, with several finishes involving roll-ups and illegal unmaskings. Nonetheless, the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show. The repetitive finishes actually did little to nothing in hurting match quality as the matches still delivered with plenty of exciting action.

The biggest news coming out of the show had nothing to do with what happened on the card itself. An act of vandalism the morning of the show became major news when a video surfaced online showing the destruction of Ultimo Guerrero’s car.

The strange story involved members of the Alvarado family apparently becoming angry over Ultimo Guerrero (Jose Gutierrez) being chosen to head the wrestler’s union. Likewise, Guerrero in a recent meeting supposedly made unkind remarks concerning the recently deceased Brazo de Oro (Jesus Alvarado). He was a patriarch of the Alvarado family and the previous union boss.

The viral video shows apparent members of the Alvarado family allegedly taking part in the destruction of the car. La Mascara (Felipe Alvarado) and Maximo Sexy (Jose Alvarado) watch on as their family members destroy the vehicle. For their involvement in the incident, CMLL reportedly fired both La Mascara and Maximo Sexy after the incident went public. Marco Corleone replaced Maximo in the main event on the Friday night card.

The ramifications of the incident included that one change on the card, but there was no mention of the controversy on the broadcast. Ultimo Guerrero was involved in an angle built up for months with Niebla Roja finally turning on his now-former stablemates. That took place in the semi-main trios match.

The rest of the show mostly featured trios matches, except for one singles match in the middle of the card and a tag team match that opened the show.

Sensei & Magnus defeated Akuma & Espiritu Negro

The tecnicos won the match by taking the first and third falls. Magnus in the first fall springboarded off the top rope into a senton bomb to pin Espiritu, then Sensei submitted Akuma with a head-and-arm choke.

The rudos cut off the tecnicos late in the second fall, leading to Akuma lifting Sensei in the air for Espiritu to swoop in with a codebreaker and a pinfall. The rudos then both executed a double powerbomb on Magnus to pin him.

In the third fall, the tecnicos​ fired up as Sensei submitted Espiritu with a leglock submission. Magnus followed that by executing a Spanish Fly to pin Akuma, winning the match for the tecnicos.

Jarochita, Silueta & captain Princesa Sugehit defeated Amapola, Zeuxis & captain Dalys

After splitting two falls, an illegal unmasking by a ruda gave the tecnicas the win. The rudas looked strong even if they technically lost. Zeuxis and Princesa Sugehit reignited their rivalry, which led to the unmasking that continues to tease the need for a mask match down the line.

In the first fall, Amapola pinned Jarochita with a sit-out suplex bomb and Dalys pinned Silueta with a sit-out powerbomb. From there, the rudas ganged up on Sugehit as the second fall began. She eventually would escape their clutches to lead a tecnicas rally.

Jarochita submitted Amapola with a leglock and Silueta pinned Dalys with a fisherman’s buster to end a short second fall. Going not much longer than the second, the third fall came to an abrupt end with a disqualification. Amidst dives and a melee, Zeuxis unmasked Sugehit for the DQ.

Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr. & captain Stuka Jr. defeated Sagrado, Polvora & captain Dragon Rojo Jr.

The tecnicos were looking to run wild in the first fall when the rudo trio cut them off. In doing so, the rudos quickly went on to take the fall as Dragon Roja held Guerrero Maya in a hold while Polvora pinned Stuka and Sagrado pinned Drone.

An onslaught by the rudos continued in the second fall until the tecnicos launched into a comeback to even the falls. Guerrero Maya pinned Sagrado after a springboard body block and Drone pinned Dragon Roja with a split-legged moonsault.

The third fall was wild and very heated before ending abruptly with a DQ finish similar to the previous match. Polvora went a step further than Zeuxis did by doing two blatantly illegal acts to get disqualified. He first fouled Stuka with a low blow kick to the groin. Polvora then also unmasked Stuka to ensure the DQ.

Barbaro Cavernario defeated Titan

This was a lightning match, meaning one fall with a ten-minute time limit. The match mostly was all action, ending with under a minute of time to spare. They fought in the ring and at ringside before Cavernario suplexed Titan on the ramp. Cavernario fittingly fought like a wild caveman, though he also did the worm at one point as well.

Breaking up his rampage and putting a halt to any breakdancing, Titan popped the crowd with a springboard moonsault off the top rope to the floor. Titan climbed back to the top rope only for Cavernario to cut him off to deliver a superplex.

With under a minute of time remaining in the match, they picked up the pace going even faster than before. Cavernario caught Titan and applied La Cavernaria to win via submission.

Angel de Oro, Valiente (w/ KeMonito) & captain Atlantis defeated Niebla Roja, Gran Guerrero & captain Ultimo Guerrero

More of an angle than a match, the storyline dissension within Los Guerreros Laguneros was evident from the start. Much like in the past several months, Niebla Roja was uncooperative and argumentative with his stablemates. His conscience was seemingly regretting his rudo ways. With the proverbial pot being stirred while things have simmered for a long while now, it finally boiled over here.

Niebla would not fight his brother, Angel de Oro. Instead, they hugged it out. The enraged Guerreros stormed into the ring to knock Niebla aside before administering a beatdown on Oro.

As the two Guerreros dispatched the other tecnicos, Niebla Roja wanted nothing to do with the viciousness. Los Guerreros held Oro for Niebla Roja to strike him, but Roja refused to hit his brother.

At the end of the first fall, Niebla Roja tripped Ultimo Guerrero. That distracted an infuriated Guerrero, allowing Atlantis to roll him up with a schoolboy for a pinfall. A team captain pinning the opposing captain won the fall for the tecnicos with a singular pin.

An angry Guerrero confronted Niebla Roja, cornering him at ringside. He pleaded his innocence and begged off. Guerrero let him slide for the time being as the second fall began. Moments later, Niebla Roja saved his brother Oro from a dive by shielding him. The relentless rudos attacked Oro even more viciously.

Guerrero set up for his signature leap over the barricade. As Guerrero got a running start, Niebla Roja stepped in his path and mowed him down with a kick. Gran Guerrero jumped in to attack Niebla Roja, and Ultimo Guerrero soon joined in putting the boots to him. They stomped on him and tore at his mask.

With the ripping of the mask preoccupying the rudos, the tecnicos capitalized to win the match in two straight falls. To end the second fall and conclude the match, Valiente cradled Gran Guerrero with a roll-up for a pinfall while Oro rolled up Ultimo Guerrero with a schoolboy for another pin.

In an angle afterwards, Ultimo Guerrero cut a promo on Niebla Roja. He officially fired him from the stable and wanted him to return the mask, as it is synonymous with Los Guerreros Laguneros. Niebla Roja replied by daring Guerrero to come take the mask. Guerrero rushed into the ring and did so after a brawl ensued. Guerrero unmasked Niebla Roja and left the scene with the mask.

Marco Corleone, Caristico & captain Mistico defeated Mephisto, Ephesto & captain Negro Casas (w/ El Perico Zakarias)

This main event trios match was somewhat anti-climactic having to follow the angle in the previous match along with the rest of the card. The tecnicos won the last two falls after dropping the first fall.

Mephisto punted Caristico with a kick and covered him for a pinfall, and Ephesto delivered a shoulder breaker to pin Mistico. The rudos looked dominant in winning the first fall, leaving the tecnicos reeling as they headed into the next fall.

The tecnicos quickly rallied, making a comeback in a brief second fall. Corleone took out Casas with a plancha off the apron. Mephisto was crotched on the top rope to set up Mistico springboarding into a hurricanrana. Just as Mistico pinned Mephisto, Caristico used a hurricanrana to also score a pinfall on Ephesto.

They started going home a few minutes into the final fall. A parade of spectacular dives was a prelude to a closing in-ring showdown between Corleone and Casas. When Casas went for a kick, Corleone countered with a schoolboy to roll up Casas for a pinfall. With Corleone pinning a team captain, that clinched the deciding fall for the tecnicos to give them the win.

Corleone returns to the main event in Arena Mexico next Friday, and so does Caristico. They team with Valiente against Los Ingobernables. For the semi-main, the story continues involving the turn by Niebla Roja. He teams with his brother, Angel de Oro, in a trios alongside Mistico to face Los Guerreros Laguneros.

The full lineup for next Friday night in Arena Mexico (streaming on ClaroSports.com):

  • Flyer & Oro Jr. vs. Cancerbero & Raziel
  • Fuego, Star Jr. & Stigma vs Misterioso Jr., Sagrado & Virus
  • Blue Panther Jr., The Panther & Rey Cometa vs. Puma, Sam Adonis & Tiger
  • Stuka Jr. vs. Polvora in a lightning match
  • Ángel de Oro, Mistico, Niebla Roja vs. Euforia, Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero
  • Caristico, Marco Corleone & Valiente vs. Mr. Niebla, Pierroth & Rush

Today in Arena Mexico is an afternoon show with this lineup:

  • Bengala & Fiero vs. Cholo & Yago
  • Flyer, Magia Blanca & Robin vs. Cancerbero, Espanto Jr. & Raziel
  • Oro Jr., Pegasso & Soberano Jr. vs. Cuatrero, Forastero & Sanson
  • Johnny Idol, Stuka Jr. & Valiente vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Kraneo & Sam Adonis
  • Atlantis, Caristico & Marco Corleone vs. Gran Guerrero, Mr. Niebla & Ultimo Guerrero

The Monday night card in Arena Puebla may change with the recent firings, but the announced lineup for tomorrow night in Arena Puebla (streaming on the CMLL YouTube channel) includes:

  • Arkalis, Espíritu Maligno & Zaeta Roja vs. Camorra, El Malayo & King Jaguar
  • Marcela, Princesa Sugehit & Sanely vs Amapola, Reyna Isis & Tiffany
  • Ángel de Oro, Johnny Idol & Stigma vs Dragón Rojo Jr., Niebla Roja & Polvora
  • La Mascara (recently fired so he’s questionable), Pierroth & Rush vs. Marco Corleone, Mr. Niebla & Mascara Ano 2000 in a wild card match with rudos and tecnicos teaming together
  • Atlantis, Mistico & Valiente vs. Euforia, Gran Guerrero & Ultimo Guerrero

CMLL Arena Mexico results: The next generation and new renovations

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

The next generation of luchadors and new renovations at Arena Mexico were seemingly the themes for the CMLL show on Friday night in Mexico City.

Although the card included plenty of veterans, the younger luchadors got to shine on a lot of the undercard. Nevertheless, tradition is still a major influence on the entire culture, so many in the younger generation carry on family legacies with the personas or characters they portray. Someone with a junior suffix even won a title in the most exciting match on the show.

That title change (in a thrilling high-flying spectacle) stole the show. Up-and-comer Soberano Jr. continues to get a push with him winning the Mexican National Welterweight Championship on this show after also winning the Copa Junior tournament several weeks ago.

In hindsight, the title match arguably should have closed the show. Nonetheless, the main event was a trios match featuring established stars and veterans. However, even they had a generational aspect as Rush was teaming with his father. What actually got featured most on the show was something newly renovated.

Sometimes in superhero stories, locations or facilities take on such a prominent role in a narrative that the places almost become characters altogether. For example, the Batcave in the realm of the Batman universe epitomizes that role. Likewise, Sherwood Forest is ever present in the story of Robin Hood.

On this show, the Freedom Sports Bar & Grill took on a similar role by getting more camera time than anything else as a prominent fixture throughout the broadcast.

The Freedom Sports Bar & Grill is a new restaurant inside Arena Mexico that opened this week. This show itself opened with a view of the restaurant from inside the arena, which has seating that includes a bird’s eye view of the ring. The new facilities include a great new mural that was commissioned as part of the renovation project.

Leono & Sensei defeated Artillero & El Hijo del Signo

The tecnicos won the first and third falls. In the first, Sensei submitted Artillero with a head-and-arm choke. Leono then pinned Signo after dropkicking him as he was draped in the ropes.

Evening the score in the second fall, stereo leglock submission holds by the rudos led to them getting their win back as Artillero submitted Sensei and Signo made Leono submit. Into the third fall, Sensei submitted Signo with a cross-armbreaker and Leono submitted Artillero.

Cancerbero, Raziel & captain Virus defeated Astral, Principe Diamante & captain Robin

Cancerbero started the match by taking Diamante to the proverbial woodshed before he fired up on him. Likewise, Astral squared off with Raziel. Then, the two captains faced off.

The rudos ran roughshod in a flurry late in the first fall as they left Robin reeling. They then used teamwork to score pinfalls. Virus assisted with a dropkick as Cancerbero was hoisting up Astral for a powerbomb, followed by a pin. Cancerbero then submitted Astral to clinch the first fall for the rudos.

In a short second fall, the tecnicos made a comeback leading to team captain Robin submitting rudo captain Virus. By the way, Robin’s gear was a throwback to Los Brazos.

The tecnicos all got to shine heading into the third fall. The rudos shut them down, and Raziel jumped off the top rope with a guillotine legdrop as Cancerbero held Robin in position. Raziel then pinned the tecnico team captain to win the deciding fall.

Cuatrero, Forastero & captain Sanson defeated Drone, Esfinge & captain Guerrero Maya Jr.

The story of the match was that the rudos, Nueva Generacion Dinamita, were simply a better team with them all having a connection to a legacy that began with the legendary Los Hermanos Dinamita (“The Dynamite Brothers”). The rudos would win the first and third falls using teamwork, even if it was underhanded at times.

The rudo faction took the first fall as Forastero pinned Esfinge after Sanson assisted with a flying knee drop. Sanson also assisted Cuatrero in executing a version of the old Demolition finisher, and Cuatrero pinned Drone to take the fall.

The rudos continued their onslaught heading into the second​ fall with a series of triple-team attacks. The tecnicos rallied into a comeback that led to Drone pinning Cuatrero after a modified Spanish Fly. Guerrero Maya moments later used a neckbreaker similar to an ushigoroshi, then he pinned Forastero for the tecnicos to win the second fall.

Late into the third fall, the two captains faced off. Having dispatched the other two tecnicos, the rudos then ganged up on Guerrero Maya like predators on prey. Guerrero Maya was held in place for Forastero to run down the ramp, springboard off the top rope, and hit a missile dropkick. Rudo team captain Sanson pinned tecnico captain Guerrero Maya to score the deciding pinfall.

Marco Corleone endorsed a pineapple flavored beverage in a commercial. The ad spot even had a caricature of Corleone as a flexing cartoon pineapple.

Soberano Jr. defeated Rey Cometa to win the Mexican National Welterweight title

For the seconds, Dragon Lee was in the corner of Soberano and Fuego was in Cometa’s corner. Everybody involved was a tecnico except for the rudo referee, Tirantes. His heel antics would play a part in the match later on.

Two falls ended rather quickly, giving way to a climactic third fall. The defending champion, Cometa, took the first. Soberano ran the ropes and charged towards him only to run into a Spanish Fly. Cometa then scored a pinfall to end the initial fall. Soberano fired up again in the next fall, pinning Cometa after springboarding into a guillotine moonsault. That evened the falls in short order.

They upped the ante in the more lengthy third fall with high-risk moves. Cometa springboarded into a corkscrew plancha, and Soberano leapt into a Fosbury Flop. Cometa jumped off the apron to catch Soberano with a hurricanrana on the floor. Cometa connected on a tope suicida, but wiped out when he crashed into the barricade. Leaping off the top turnbuckle, Soberano did a crazy corkscrew plancha to the floor.

As the action eventually returned to the ring, both got near falls with the heel referee doing a slow count. While the seconds in the corner and the crowd grew more angry over the slow counts, Tirantes progressively counted slower in an even more exaggerated manner. That was the only thing slow about the match.

The high flying still continued at a rapid pace. Cometa did an Asai moonsault and got a close near fall after a Spanish Fly off the top rope. Soberano also got a near fall in the closing moments with a sit-out tombstone.

Out of nowhere, Soberano struck with a Canadian Destroyer to score the deciding fall. Tirantes had no choice but to count the pinfall as Soberano cradled Cometa to win the title. In a show of good sportsmanship, the former title holder strapped the belt around the waist of the new champion.

Angel de Oro, Dragon Lee & captain Valiente defeated Negro Casas, Cavernario & captain Mr. Niebla

The rudo faction, La Peste Negra (“The Black Plague”), started off strong en route to taking the first fall as Cavernario splashed and pinned Dragon Lee. Casas then applied a scorpion deathlock to submit Angel de Oro, quickly ending a short fall.

The second fall was shorter than the first. The tecnicos launched into a rally. With Cavernario hanging in the ropes, Dragon Lee jumped off the top rope with a double foot stomp. Lee pinned Cavernario and the other rudos were counted out of the ring, awarding the fall to the tecnicos.

In a micro showdown, El Percio Zakarias and KeMonito slugged it out. KeMonito fell off the apron for a plancha on Zakarias. From there, they all went home and headed into the finish.

Dragon Lee got to shine with a flurry of high-flying offense in the closing moments with the tecnicos finishing strong in the third fall. Valiente applied La Tapatia for a submission on Casas while Oro cradled Niebla for a three count, winning the match for the tecnicos.

Stuka Jr., Diamante Azul & captain Atlantis defeated Pierroth, La Mascara & captain Rush

Of course with the rudos being Los Ingobernables, they were unruly rule breakers as usual. Rush renewed his rivalry with Atlantis in this match. I’m still crossing my fingers that a singles match between them with major stips is the main event of this year’s anniversary show, but that is merely wishful thinking on my part for the time being. 

The first fall of this bout began with a brawl as Los Ingobernables attacked the tecnicos just as the ring announcer was wrapping up his introductions​. The rudos went on to pummel the tecnicos throughout much of the match. Unlacing the strings on their masks, Los Ingobernables tied all three tecnicos to the ropes with the laces of their own hoods. That led to a disqualification, though rudo ref Tirantes took his time in calling for the DQ.

Undeterred by technically losing the first fall, the onslaught by Los Ingobernables continued into the second fall with even more of a beatdown. They went about trying to annihilate the tecnicos one at a time. Rush charged into a corner and dropkicked Atlantis. La Mascara then pinned the tecnico team captain, so the rudos evened the falls. The last fall began with Los Ingobernables continuing their beatdown.

Rush and his Los Ingobernables cohorts taunted Atlantis, leading to Atlantis hulking up. The tecnicos all then fired up into a comeback. From there, the match settled into a more traditional structure as opposed to a brawl. However, Los Ingobernables soon instigated more brawling in living up to their “ungovernable” moniker.

Rush ripped at Atlantis​’ mask. A few moments later, Atlantis fired up again and ran wild with tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Stuka sailed off the top to the floor with a torpedo splash. Azul got a running start in leaping off the ramp into a senton.

The team captains headed into the finish in the ring, where Atlantis submitted Rush after applying La Atlantida, winning the final fall with a captain submitting another captain. The heroes vanished the villains in the end, yet the rudos live on to fight another day.

CMLL returns to Arena Mexico today with a matinee show and the following card:

  • Caristico vs. Euforia
  • Atlantis, Marco Corleone & Maximo Sexy vs. Mephisto, Luciferno & Ephesto
  • Titan, Blue Panther & Johnny Idol vs. Gran Guerrero, Kraneo & Dragon Rojo
  • Stigma, Esfinge & Pegasso vs. Disturbio, Puma & Sangre Azteca
  • Electrico, Stukita & Fantasy vs. Mercurio, Pequeno Olimpico & Pequeno Violencia

CMLL Arena Mexico results: A son’s tribute to his legendary father

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

A son honored the memory of his father with a tribute inside the cathedral of lucha libre in Mexico City on Friday night. For the main event, La Mascara and Volador Jr. headlined a CMLL card at Arena Mexico in what became a memorial to Brazo de Oro on the day of his passing.

The Friday card was only the beginning of a busy weekend for lucha libre with Children’s Day (el Dia del Nino) on Sunday. CMLL also has a show that day with a heavily-promoted mascot tag team match geared towards drawing kids. Likewise, countless smaller independent shows in various rather random venues over the weekend are all part of festivities related to Children’s Day.

Plans for a weekend of focusing on youth became altered upon the death of a legend. Fate intervened in changing the theme of the Friday night card from focusing on the children to honoring the legacy of a father.

Legendary luchador Brazo de Oro passed away yesterday morning. That evening his son, La Mascara, was scheduled to headline against Volador Jr. in the main event at Arena Mexico.

Though he could have understandably canceled because of the death in his family, La Mascara instead chose to honor the memory of his father by performing in a venue where Brazo de Oro is known as a beloved figure in the history of lucha libre. He is from the the legendary Los Brazos trios and the famed Alvarado family. La Mascara looked to carry on that legacy as the show must go on.

The legacy of family was on display elsewhere on the show during a weekend that celebrates the next generation. The finals of a tournament involving second generation luchadors culminated in Soberano Jr. winning La Copa Junior Nuevo Valores. In addition, the rest of the undercard featured trios matches with a minis tag match opening the show.  

Joining the announce team as the opening match began, luchadora Amapola provided guest commentary during the card.

Electrico & Fantasy defeated Pequeno Olimpico & Pequeno Nitro

The tecnicos won after dropping the first fall then winning two straight. For the first fall, Nitro assisted with a dropkick so Olimpico could pin Electrico. Meanwhile, Fantasy was counted out of the ring to give the rudos the opening fall.

The tecnicos evened the score in the second fall with Electrico pinning Olimpico after a Spanish Fly while Fantasy submitted Nitro. To end the third fall and decide the match, Electrico jumped off the middle rope with a guillotine lionsault to pin Nitro. Olimpico was also counted out.

La Metalica, Sanely & captain Estrellita defeated Marcela, Zeuxis & captain Dalys

The story of the match was Marcela’s teammates turning on her. Their opponents swept them in two straight falls.

They all took turns squaring off at the start. The rudas then went on to dominate in the first fall. Estrellita took out Dalys with a tope suicida before Sanely rolled up Zeuxis for a pin after a sit-out bomb. Metalica also flew into a senton bomb and pinned Marcela.

The tecnicas made a comeback heading into the second fall, or at least they all seemed like tecnicas at first. Dissension within the team emerged after some miscommunication stirred the pot. It boiled over when Marcela inadvertently hit Dalys with a missile dropkick, and they began to fight amongst themselves.

The ruda team swooped in as Estrellita rolled up Zeuxis with a schoolgirl as Sanely did the same to Dalys for dual pinfalls, winning the match in two straight falls. Angry over losing and blaming Marcela for the loss, Zeuxis and Dalys put the boots to her afterwards as they stomped on Marcela.

Soberano Jr. defeated Sanson to win La Copa Junior Nuevo Valores tournament

For the finals of the tournament, the luchadors had seconds in their respective corners. Dragon Lee was the second for Soberano and El Cuatrero was in Sanson’s corner. En route to winning the Copa Junior tournament final, Soberano won the first and third falls.

Soberano executed a guillotine lionsault to pin Sanson in the first fall. Quickly retaliating, Sanson jumped off the top rope with a guillotine knee drop to pin Soberano in a short second fall.

They went on to trade big moves in the third fall. They even brawled on the ramp, where Sanson took a running powerslam. Soberano followed that by leaping high off the stage into a plancha. Back at ringside, Soberano leapt off the barricade into a senton in the aisleway dividing the ringside seats.

Soberano practically flew all over the place heading into the closing moments. Sanson had cut off Soberano only for Soberano to launch into a quebrada. From there, he hoisted Sanson for a jumping sit-out piledriver before pinning him in the deciding fall.

Winning the tournament of second generation luchadors, Soberano celebrated with his trophy commemorating La Copa Junior Nuevo Valores. The cheerful atmosphere was remarkably different a few moments later.

The triumph of the Copa Junior gave way to a more somber occasion afterwards. Officials and fellow luchadors joined La Mascara in the ring to honor the memory of his father, Brazo de Oro. A video tribute aired and Mascara said a few words. Other luchadors also joined him in a chant for Los Brazos.

Marco Corleone, Diamante Azul & captain El Valiente defeated Kraneo, Ripper & captain Hechicero

After some shenanigans at the outset, the rudos dominated a quick first fall. Hechicero pressed mascot KeMonito overhead and teased hurling him into the crowd. In the ring, Kraneo pinned Corleone and Ripper pinned Valiente to capture the fall.

The rudos continued their onslaught until Corleone fired up as the tecnicos made a comeback. Azul and Valiente rushed into the ring and Corleone ran down the ramp to leap over the ropes into a crossbody on all the rudos. All three tecnicos covered the rudos for a dogpile pinfall, winning the second fall.

The mascots got involved again when KeMonito splashed Kraneo. The rudo mascot, Mije, taunted Corleone at one point. Later during the finish, Corleone press slammed Mije high into the air and he crashed down onto Kraneo.

Corleone then covered Kraneo while Azul used a German suplex with a bridge on Hechicero. They simultaneously pinned them to end the third fall and win the match. The tecnicos fought back from defeat to win a crowd-pleasing trios match.

Dragon Lee, Caristico & captain Mistico defeated Mephisto, Barbaro Cavernario & captain Negro Casas

Though the match itself was entertaining enough, arguably the most spectacular flyer in the match was mostly overshadowed by his teammates. The story of the match involved Dragon Lee slugging it out with Casas while Mistico and Caristico got to shine with their flying arsenal.

Despite only being part of a subplot within the body of the match, Dragon Lee did eventually get to shine in the finish by scoring the deciding fall.

The tecnicos were like a proverbial house of fire at the outset, leading to a dive by Dragon Lee. The rudos quickly put out the fire as Mephisto pinned Mistico and Cavernario pinned Caristico in the first fall.

A brawl erupted in the second fall and the rudos had a triple-team advantage on Dragon Lee. Caristico flew in to make the save, followed by Mistico flying in as well. In a double submission to win the second fall with each applying La Mistica, Mistico submitted Cavernario and Caristico submitted Mephisto.

As the third fall began, Mistico and Caristico mirrored each other again with both doing planchas leaping off the stage with major hang time as they glided down to the entrance ramp.

Caristico and Mistico did more dives as the action built to Dragon Lee squaring off with Casas. Perched on the turnbuckles, they fought into the finish. Dragon Lee jumped off the top rope with a double foot stomp as Casas hung in the ropes. Lee covered Casas for a pinfall on the team captain to win the third fall.

La Mascara defeated Volador Jr.

No matter what outcome was originally planned nor what direction was intended for this main event singles match, that all changed with the passing of Brazo de Oro. Whether or not he would have otherwise done so, La Mascara almost had to go over here in this match on an emotional night where the promotion was paying tribute to his late father.

Mascara and Volador went on to showcase their talents in a good enough main event considering the circumstances. Normally a rudo as part of Los Ingobernables, the character dynamic for La Mascara was different than usual with the crowd sympathetic to him over the loss of his father.

Before the horn sounded to start the match, Volador rushed towards Mascara on the ramp and they began brawling. Not long into the first fall, Mascara was pummeling Volador until suddenly Volador caught him with a superkick. Volador followed with a lung-blower to score a pin in the opening fall.

Having taken the first fall, Volador went into the second doing handsprings, followed by a running leap over the ropes into a dive on the floor. Mascara countered with superkicks along with running double knees in a corner, scoring a sudden pinfall on Volador in another quick fall.

The climactic final fall began with them brawling around ringside and out into the crowd. They whipped each other into the barricade and fought in the front row before eventually getting back into the ring. The action spilled outside again when Mascara did a tope suicida, followed by a plancha off the top to the floor.

Mascara climbed the turnbuckles and missed a senton bomb with Volador rolling out of the way. Volador went up the ropes to spring into a quebrada, but Mascara got his feet up to block it.

They traded near falls and Mascara argued with the referee about the count. Mascara held on and stayed hooked after delivering a superplex, rolling through to execute a brainbuster for another near fall. Mascara ran up the turnbuckles again only to get caught with a spectacular Frankensteiner.

They each went to the air once more before Mascara tied up Volador in a submission hold. Volador submitted and Mascara won on an emotional night for himself and his family.

The crowd showered Mascara with love and chants for his father as the show closed. Before leaving, Mascara went into the crowd to grab a banner with a message about Brazo de Oro. He brought it in the ring and displayed the banner. Mascara left the ring clutching the banner that honored his legendary father, ending a tribute to Brazo de Oro on the day of his unfortunate passing.

CMLL Arena Mexico results: Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

A middleweight title defense headlined the CMLL card on Friday Night in Arena Mexico, along with the beginning of the Copa Junior tournament highlighting the undercard. Ultimo Guerrero defended his NWA World Historic Middleweight title against Atlantis in the main event. In an elimination match, Soberano Jr. advanced in the tournament, winning the first block of La Copa Junior Nuevo Valores.

Elsewhere on the show, mascots did an angle to build interest for an upcoming special attraction tag match. Also, further dissension developed within Los Guerreros Laguneros in the semi-main. The show from Mexico City opened with a minis match.  

Mercurio, Pequeno Nitro & captain Pierrothito defeated Stukita, Ultimo Dragoncito & captain Shockercito

The rudos won the first and third falls. They took the first fall when Pierrothito submitted Dragoncito. Then the rudos ganged up for a beatdown on Stukita. After a volley of moves, Nitro pinned him.

The rudos stayed in control during the second fall until Shockercito started making a comeback, leading to a tecnicos rally. Stukita did a trifecta of moonsaults before pinning team captain Pierrothito, thusly winning the fall and evening the score.

The third fall built to the closing moments where Stukita splashed Nitro on the entrance ramp. The moment of glory for the tecnico side was fleeting, though. Back in the ring, Pierrothito reversed a hurricanrana to pin Dragoncito and Mercurio pinned Shockercito after a package piledriver.

In a brief interview with two women fans, they both most identified themselves as rudas and liked Ultimo Guerrero.

Soberano Jr. won an elimination match to advance in La Copa Junior Nuevo Valores tournament

The other Block A participants in the eight-man elimination match besides Soberano included Cuatrero, Canelo Casas, The Panther, Espanto Jr., El Hijo de Signo, Drone, and Oro Jr. The match played out somewhat like a Survivor Series match with rudos and tecnicos on opposing sides and ending with a sole survivor. Eliminations occurred via pinfall.

For the first elimination, The Panther pinned Signo after a springboard missile dropkick. Canelo Casas next eliminated Oro Jr. upon delivering a half nelson slam. The rudos stalled a rally, but the tecnicos eventually fired up. Drone eliminated Espanto Jr. after doing a handstand on the top turnbuckle into a falling knee smash. Cuatrero eliminated Panther with a splash mountain powerbomb.

The match was then two-on-two, leading into the tecnicos doing dives. Soberano really began to shine from here onwards. Soberano eliminated Canelo Casas after executing a sit-out tombstone. Since any version of the tombstone is protected in Mexico as a devastating move, a doctor came to the ring and tended to Casas.

As only three luchadors remained, Cuatrero eliminated Drone following a springboard into a flying elbow drop. With only two remaining, they brawled on the ramp where Soberano leapt high off the stage for a plancha.

Soberano draped Cuatrero in the ropes for a guillotine lionsault to score the final pinfall. Soberano advances to the finals of the Copa Junior having won Block A.  

Angel de Oro defeated Hechicero

This was a lightning match, meaning it had a 10-minute time limit. They were in a tough spot having to follow the previous spectacle. The crowd saw a lot already and it was all before the third match.

Oro at one point loosened his mask and slightly lifted it off to check his face. Hechicero seemingly potatoed him inadvertently as Oro was rolling away on a botched spot. Oro did a moonsault off the middle turnbuckle to the floor just before checking his face, so it’s safe to assume he is okay and relatively unscathed from the potato.

After about the five-minute mark, Hechicero gave Oro a Muscle Buster and cradled him for a near fall. Hechicero then wiped out Oro with a flying lariat for a two count. The rudo tried using a submission hold on Oro to no avail.

Another near fall brought the match past the eight-minute mark and Oro kicked out again. Oro then fired up and hooked Hechicero for the pinfall in just under nine minutes.

Diamante Azul, Stuka Jr. & captain Valiente defeated Sam Adonis, Mephisto & captain Negro Casas

With a Trump supporter gimmick in front of an Arena Mexico crowd, Adonis had a lot of heat whether it be cheap or otherwise. Not just his character but all the personalities, combined with the crowd buying into them, carried this trios match more so than the lucha itself.

In the first fall, Azul assisted using a catapult so Stuka could fly in to splash and pin Mephisto. Azul then gave Adonis a delayed German suplex with a bridge and pinned him for the tecnicos to take the fall.

The rudos evened the falls when Mephisto pinned tecnico team captain Valiente. A brawl ensued as the third fall began with the rudos continuing their onslaught. The mascots got involved at various times. Adonis at one point used an American flag to choke mascot KeMonito.

Mephisto tried to unmask Stuka only for Stuka to eventually make a comeback, leading to the tecnicos finishing strong. Valiente pinned Mephisto after a tombstone codebreaker. Azul then gorilla pressed Casas into a falcon arrow before pinning him to win the deciding fall.

In an angle building towards a special attraction match, Ultimo Guerrero hosted a segment in the ring with two mascot teams. Guerrero first introduced the crowd to Micro Man and Gallito before Mije and El Perico Zacarias also joined them in the ring.

The two pairs of mascots are in an upcoming tag match on April 30th, so naturally the rudos attacked Micro Man and Gallito for heat. The program is likely intended as a draw for a show happening on Children’s Day.

Dragon Lee, Caristico & captain Mistico defeated Niebla Roja, Gran Guerrero & captain Euforia

The story of the match itself involved the rudos and a rift forming within Los Guerreros Laguneros. Niebla Roja continued to alienate himself from the group. The rudos won the opening fall only to lose two straight.

Euforia powerbombed, then pinned Dragon Lee in the first fall. Roja began arguing with his teammates as they looked to finish off Mistico. That spared Mistico. The rudos still regrouped enough for Gran Guerrero to submit Caristico and take the first fall.

The tecnicos made a comeback in the second fall. Dragon Lee pinned Niebla Roja with a schoolboy and Mistico submitted Gran Guerrero with La Mistica. The rudos continued to have issues in the third fall.

Niebla Roja and Dragon Lee slugged it out, then shook hands. The rudo teammates became irate with such a display of sportsmanship. After being shoved down, Niebla Roja abandoned ship and left the scene.

The tecnicos capitalized on the skirmish as Caristico dispatched Gran Guerrero with a dive to the outside. Team captain Mistico applied La Mistica on rudo captain Euforia to win the third fall.

In more hype for the upcoming mascot tag match, Zacarias cut a promo about the April 30th card. CMLL sure is promoting the heck out of the mascot match, more so than almost anything else they usually push. The exception is the Dragon Rojo souvenir cup. The promotion is really pushing that drinking cup to the crowd. Most of the segments plugging their products on the show featured that drink cup. 

NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion Ultimo Guerrero defeated Atlantis to retain his title

In their respective corners, Stuka Jr. was Atlantis’ second while Gran Guerrero was the second for Ultimo Guerrero. Early on, Atlantis would quickly win the opening fall only for the champion to retain by winning the last two falls. The atmosphere for the last fall was proverbially electric.

The first fall was all grappling on the mat when Atlantis surprised Guerrero by cradling him for a quick pin to leave the champion down by one fall just five minutes into the title match. The second fall was even shorter than the first, ending in under a minute when Guerrero submitted Atlantis.

The climactic third fall was more lengthy with sustained drama. The seemingly timeless Atlantis did a dive through the ropes, which is beyond impressive for someone of his age that debuted in the early 1980s. Moments later, Atlantis escaped a Gory Special and also kicked out of a cover.

The fight spilled to the outside and Guerrero did his signature leap over the barricade. Atlantis recovered and leapt back into the ring with a flying crossbody. Guerrero rolled through and covered Atlantis for a two count. With them perched on the turnbuckles, Guerrero powerbombed Atlantis. Heroically, Atlantis managed to kick out again for a close near fall.

In the closing minutes, Atlantis sent Guerrero sailing off the top turnbuckle to cover him for a near fall. The referee was out of position and late on the count, allowing the hero to save face. Atlantis escaped a roll-up. Guerrero then cheated on another roll-up by putting his feet on the ropes. The referee caught him.

Heading into the finish, Atlantis applied La Atlantida but Guerrero used the ropes to break the hold. Atlantis climbed the ropes looking to finish off a reeling Guerrero. However, Guerrero scaled the ropes behind him and executed a reverse superplex. Guerrero then pinned Atlantis to retain his title.

CMLL Arena Mexico results: Reyes del Aire

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: CMLL

Lucha libre from Arena Mexico on Friday night featured the Reyes del Aire tournament showcasing the “Kings of the Air” in a high flying spectacle.

The 2017 Reyes del Aire featured one lengthy mesmerizing elimination match with a group of tecnico high flyers joined by rudos as their solid bases for an arsenal of high spots. The format allowed for almost constant action as the 16 participants tagged in and out with eliminations occurring via pinfall or submission.

Though not technically on teams like in a Survivor Series match, the tecnicos and rudos did mostly work as two factions throughout the match. The teamwork began to deteriorate as the match progressed and more eliminations whittled away at the field. Much like The Highlander, in the end there can be only one. That sole survivor won.

The main event was also supplemented with an undercard.

Pequeno Nitro & Mercurio defeated Aereo & Acero

After dropping the first fall, the rudos went on to win the last two falls. In the first, an assist from Acero led to Aereo landing a flying dropkick and pinning Nitro. Acero then springboarded into a quebrada and pinned Mercurio.

In the second fall, Nitro pinned Acero after a plancha off the top rope before Mercurio powerbombed and also pinned Aereo.

The third fall built to Aereo applying an armbar, leading to Mercurio breaking the hold by jumping in. That started a series of saves with Acero making a save and so did Nitro.

A series of intricate spots in the closing moments led to Nitro cradling Aereo, scoring a pinfall for the rudos. For the tecnicos, Acero swooped in to score a pin on Nitro only for rudo Mercurio to subsequently deliver a package piledriver for the deciding fall.

Silueta, Skadi & captain Princesa Sugehit defeated La Metalica, Reyna Isis & captain Dalys

The first fall built to the captains squaring off. Dalys begged off, backpedaling from Sugehit. Her teammates then scored pinfalls with a moonsault press by Silueta on Reyna and Skadi also delivering a backbreaker on Metalica.

Dalys instigated a brawl at the start of the second fall, benefiting the rudas. Team captain Dalys caught the opposing captain in a submission hold to even the falls.

The rudas continued to dominate into the third fall. Sugehit led the charge for a tecnicas comeback. After a parade of dives, Sugehit submitted Dalys to win the deciding fall.

Special edition drink cups featuring Dragon Rojo are available, and continued to get plugged weekly with a sexualized commercial in addition to women modeling the drinkware live in the arena.

Sam Adonis defeated Rey Cometa

Cometa holds the Mexican National Welterweight Championship, but this was a lightning match so it was non-title and had a 10 minute time limit. It ended after the nine minute mark.

During his entrance, Adonis waved an American flag with Donald Trump’s face on it as part of his over-the-top heel American character. That got him a ton of heat in Arena Mexico.

As the match got underway, Adonis flipped over the ropes on a dive to the outside sending Cometa reeling. Cometa quickly recovered with an Asai moonsault. Back in the ring, Cometa sailed into a corkscrew plancha only to get cut off on a tilt-a-whirl.

Adonis briefly got heat on Cometa until Cometa fired up. He climbed the turnbuckles but Adonis tripped him up to set up a superplex.

They traded near falls. Cometa applied a submission hold but Adonis got a rope break. Moments later, Adonis put his feet on the ropes for leverage as he underhandedly pinned Cometa to win the non-title lightning match.

Stuka Jr., Diamante Azul & captain Atlantis defeated Kraneo, Negro Casas & captain Ultimo Guerrero

The rudos overtook the tecnicos​ at the outset when they jumped them at the start of the first fall. Guerrero ripped at Atlantis’ mask, playing on their rivalry where Guerrero previously lost his mask to Atlantis. The rudos took the first fall as Kraneo pinned Stuka and Guerrero submitted Atlantis.

The rudos maintained their advantage heading into the second fall. Tearing at his mask again, Guerrero revealed a portion of Atlantis’ face. An angry Atlantis fired up and tore into Guerrero. Suddenly the tide turned.

Stuka splashed and pinned Kraneo, followed by Azul gorilla pressing Casas into a falcon arrow for another pin to take the second fall.

During the third fall, Guerrero and Atlantis built anticipation for their showdown. Guerrero either begged off or powdered out whenever Atlantis tried to square off with him as the fall began. They would eventually collide in the ring.

Meanwhile, Azul ran down the ramp and leapt into a senton on the floor. Casas followed that with a dive off the apron. In the ring, team captain Atlantis applied La Atlantida on opposing captain Guerrero for a submission to win the deciding fall.

Afterwards, Atlantis cut a promo on Guerrero. He challenged him to a title match for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship. Ultimo Guerrero accepted the challenge.

Angel de Oro won the 2017 Reyes del Aire in an elimination match

The tecnicos and rudos stood across from each other outside of the ring at the start. In the ring, the lucha was one-on-one with a rotating cast hopping on the apron to tag in. The tag rules eventually gave way to bedlam. It was definitely one of those don’t blink or you’ll miss something kind of matches.

Soon into the match everybody got involved as a melee developed with a parade of dives and wild moves. For the first elimination, Volador pinned Luciferno after a superkick and a backstabber.

The parade of high flying continued into the next elimination. Mephisto launched Titan in the air for Cavernario to annihilate him with a flying dropkick. Cavernario then pinned Titan.

Angel de Oro was bumping around and looked on the brink of being eliminated when Gran Guerrero walked into a superkick by Oro. Guerrero fell backwards and Maximo Sexy flew into the ring to splash him. Maximo pinned Gran Guerrero for an elimination.

Teamwork played into two luchadors getting eliminated next. Dragon Lee superplexed the much larger Mephisto while Hechicero simultaneously powerbombed Lee. For dueling eliminations, Volador leapt off the middle rope into a quebrada to pin Mephisto as Hechicero tied up Dragon Lee and submitted him.

Valiente got major hang time moonsaulting off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Cavernario did his infamous crazy splash off the top to the outside. That started a chain of dives seeing Mistico fly and Niebla Roja sail through the ropes. Maximo joined in too.

La Mascara tried dispatching Volador by whipping him into the barricade. Mascara went on to target Valiente with superkicks and flying knees in a corner. Mascara pinned Valiente for an elimination.

Mistico next eliminated Cavernario by submission with La Mistica. That led into a series of exchanges and big moves, one after another in succession.

Hechicero eliminated Maximo Sexy via pinfall when he executed a swinging backbreaker after being kissed by Maximo.

Caristico submitted La Mascara using La Mistica. The rudos then jumped Caristico for a beatdown. Mistico flew in for the save. Oro once again just fed into a high spot as his star would not shine until the end.

Volador pinned Hechicero after delivering a backstabber to eliminate him. Tecnicos squared off when Volador and Caristico had issues that led to Volador ripping Caristico’s mask. Mistico tried to make peace and a shoving match began. Euforia took advantage of the tension among the tecnicos. He caused Caristico to accidentally superkick Volador. Euforia then submitted Caristico to eliminate him.

Soon after, Niebla Roja eliminated Mistico with a flapjack bomb off the ropes. That left the final four. Volador tried a frankensteiner that almost went horribly wrong on Roja. Nevertheless, Volador still pinned Roja for an elimination and three luchadors remained.

Volador was shining the most when Oro trapped him in a submission hold and Roja broke it up. Oro did a dive onto Volador on Roja. They caught him and threw Oro into the first row. Euforia also found himself deposited into the first row for a setup to Volador springboarding into a plancha to ringside.

Volador ate boots when he went for a moonsault on Oro. Euforia then applied a submission hold to eliminate Volador.

Angel de Oro swooped in to submit Euforia for the final elimination to win the 2017 Reyes del Aire.

Original Mistico returns to Arena Mexico (Updated)

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

As reported earlier today, Urive, was announced as wrestling on a 10/25 show at the arena, promoted by Lucha Libre Elite.

He came to the ring and cut an interview right before the Universal title block B tournament matches were to start.

Although he pretty well turned heel, but was more a tweener in AAA, he acted like a babyface here.

This is a very interesting move because Lucha Libre Elite only runs scattered shows, while AAA is the biggest television wrestling promotion in Mexico right now, and he was in the middle of a program with Rey Mysterio Jr.

In what was essentially Mexico’s version of Lex Luger showing up on the first Nitro, Luis Urive did an interview at last night’s Arena Mexico show, after having worked the night before on a AAA show in Xalapa.  He was not booked for AAA last night, but is scheduled for a show tonight in Veracruz.

Urive, who was a huge drawing card in Mexico as Mistico, then signed with WWE as the first Sin Cara, and after that went to AAA, where he was known as Myzteziz.  Originally he was brought in as the top star in AAA, but with he signing of Alberto El Patron and Rey Mysterio Jr., he had fallen to No. 3, and then turned heel, then tweener, with his role to feud with Mysterio Jr.

Urive came out, never said his name, and the announcers never acknowledged his appearance in later commentary in the Universal title match that followed. He came out with his ring music, and talked about how he was born at Arena Mexico and that since he left, nobody has been able to get to his level.  AAA owns the name Myzteziz, and he did acknowledge that once he left AAA, he would no longer use that name. CMLL owns the name Mistico, but has another wrestler using that name.

It was announced that he would be appearing for Elite Lucha Libre on 10/25 at Arena Mexico, a promotion that runs occasional big shows in the building and advertises with CMLL. But it makes no sense for him to walk about of AAA, where he was in a key feud with Rey Mysterio Jr., which was planned to build to next year’s TripleMania main event, just to do one match.  The impression is that he’ll eventually be back with CMLL.

Urive, under his mask, talked with the press after and said he would work the rest of his AAA dates announced, but was leaving the promotion after that.  It’s unclear if AAA would even want him on those shows given they were blind sided by this move.  He was booked on an  AAA show on 10/25 in Durango.

AAA, which taped television last night, hasn’t made any comments at this point.

Myzteziz reportedly at Arena Mexico tonight

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

In a very interesting political move, Luis Urive, the most famous Mistico, currently Myzteziz, is said to be at Arena Mexico right now.

The belief is that he is there to announce he would be wrestling for the Lucha Libre Elite promotion that has a show scheduled on 10/25 at Arena Mexico.

Myzteziz is one of the top stars of the rival AAA promotion, and is currently feuding with both heels Los Perros Del Mal, and even more, is the big rival of Rey Mysterio Jr., having turned on Mysterio Jr. in their match at TripleMania, a feud that has continued at television tapings, last week’s Heroes Inmortales show, and on several upcoming TV shoots.

Urive was the biggest drawing card since the early 90s boom as Mistico at Arena Mexico.  He left the promotion on bad terms to join WWE as the first Sin Cara, and flopped in the role and was fired.

CMLL has a long standing history of never letting people back who have left on bad terms, but recently bringing back L.A. Park and Dr. Wagner Jr., and seeing the houses increase greatly, may have slightly changed that.

Lucha Libre Elite, formerly All Elite, runs big shows at Arena Mexico and advertises at the CMLL shows.  Park and Wagner Jr. were their big stars, along with the top CMLL talent.  However, after Park was fired and Wagner Jr. quit, CMLL said they would not allow either to wrestle in their owned building, even with another promotion.