For the international portion of its 2026/2027 schedule release, the NFL enlisted the help of CMLL and a couple of the promotion’s wrestlers.
It was revealed today that the NFL will return to Mexico City on November 22 when the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. The announcement was made via a video with CMLL’s Mascara Dorada and Soberano Jr. representing the respective teams. Estadio Banorte (Estadio Azteca) will be hosting the game.
“Whether you’re a rudo or tecnico, the showdown awaiting us on November 22 at Estadio Banorte will be unforgettable!,” NFL Mexico wrote. “Are you Team Vikings or Team Niners?”
No importa si eres rudo o técnico, ¡la lucha que nos espera el 22 de Noviembre en el Estadio Banorte será imperdible! 🏈🇲🇽
CMLL had a stellar business year in 2025 and was voted Promotion of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. The oldest active promotion still in existence, CMLL also collaborated with Pokemon for a show last year and recently had the South Korean K-pop supergroup BTS attend one of its events.
A larger than usual issue with a wide variety of stories and tons of history: *The fixed fight accusations from Saturday’s UFC show, what happened, how Dana White and UFC handled it, fixed fights in the early days of MMA and the different motivations then vs. now, and a look back at history with a former world heavyweight boxing champion who later became one of the biggest stars of his era in pro wrestling. *A look at the third quarter TKO business, covering mostly UFC and WWE. How each category is doing and explanations as to why. *Nick Khan talks WWE ticket prices and booking decisions on live events *Full coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event and business notes on the show *Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Farewell in Gifu and 30 minutes that capsulized the best aspects of the past, present and future of pro wrestling *Notes on the Tokyo Dome advance *Finals of the Best of the Super Juniors tag team tournament *Notes on the upcoming heavyweight tag team tournament *Lots of notes regarding AEW Full Gear *The real history of the original NWA national heavyweight championship *Matches likely to happen at Full Gear *The final installment of our Hall of Fame series, covering international and non-wrestlers, where we talk about the cases of people including Spyros Arion, Dominic DeNucci, George Gordienko, Ted Boy Marino, Billy Joyce, The Royal Brothers, Dave Brown, Zane Bresloff, Bobby Bruns, Bob Caudle, Joe Higuchi, Jim Johnston, James Melby, Bill Mercer, Gorilla Monsoon, Rossy Ogawa, Reggie Parks, Morris Siel, Tony Schiavone, George Scott, Kevin Sullivan, Mike Tenay, Ted Turner, Jesse Ventura, Roy Welch, Stanley Weston, The Grand Wizard and Koichi Yoshizawa. *Notes on the death of Victor Conte Jr. *Tank Davis kills his last payday and Netflix’s big fight for the fall is out the window and thank God for that *DDT has one of its biggest shows of the year *Betting odds for pro wrestling matches last week and this week *The most complete look at the television ratings of wrestling shows over the past week. How these numbers compare in placings to past years, where other than pro wrestling is hurting with the new ratings, competition for each show and placings for the time slot *CMLL has four straight sellouts and coverage of the main matches including a major return this week *What wrestler is having the best year for someone their age in wrestling history *Notes on a very confusing tournament coming up *What young wrestler sold out in a singles with Mistico this past week *Notes from the last AAA tapings *AAA booking huge arena for a taping *Stardom big show plus notes on the tag team tournament *Will Vince McMahon write a book? *Former pro wrestling star elected Mayor *How network, cable and streaming numbers have affected NASCAR in 2025 *Update on Blue Demon Jr. *More on Smashing Machine including Dwayne Johnson comments *Jerry Lawler returns to WMC *Athletic commission in trouble over a sponsored women’s championship *El Hijo del Santo retirement tour hits Europe *More WBD sale talks *Blood & Guts news *A poll on AEW viewership and how people watch the TV and PPV shows *Advance ticket sales for WWE, AEW, TNA, MLW and RAF *BJ Penn arrested again *WWE sets gate records *Paul Levesque’s booking *How much Dwayne Johnson’s TKO stock is worth *Notes on the WWE arena business going forward *The Ridge Holland story
— My weekend show with Garrett Gonzales talked about all the news of the last week, including the fallout to the UFC fixed fight, Saturday, 2025 Awards, Full Gear, Victor Conte, weekly ratings, AEW creative and more. I’ll be back with Bryan Alvarez tonight talking about the weekend news.
— The return of Soberano Jr. after knee surgery led to a surprise sellout of Arena Mexico on Friday night with 16,000 fans. Soberano Jr. & Angel de Oro beat titan & Atlantis Jr. in the main event. Austin Aries was also there wrestling Mascara Dorada. Anyway, Soberano Jr. is a huge star, probably more than most recognized. There were banners and many with his masks. The unique aspect is that he’s a rudo and he was cheered like crazy by the women. I compare him to Gino Hernandez except he’s a far better wrestler and Gino as a heel never got cheered like that.
— Kazuchika Okada will be facing Hiroshi Tanahashi in Tanahashi’s retirement match on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome. Okada flew to Japan to appear at Anjo and come out after Tanahashi beat Yuto Ice. He was also at a press conference today saying that Saturday was a throwback with his old music and Gedo, and Gedo will be with him at the Tokyo Dome, but he’s coming as AEW Okada not New Japan Okada. He said he might beat Tanahashi with a low blow and humiliate him in his retirement match.
— New Japan did talk to Tetsuya Naito about the match. Naito, who is in Japan and met with Okada, said New Japan discussed it with him and he was willing to do it. But they chose Okada for the spot. As far as Shinsuke Nakamura goes, the only thing I know is he was interested in doing it.
— Added to the Tokyo Dome is Sho vs. El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori with the winner becoming the top contender for Douki’s IWGP jr. heavyweight title. Why that match isn’t at a show in the next few weeks and Douki’s title defense against the winner isn’t at the Dome is an unanswered question.
— The Sydney Sweeney movie on Christy Martin (“Christy”) opened on Friday and almost nobody that I know was even aware of it. I didn’t even know until Thursday. Anyway, the estimate is that it will do $1.3 million on 2,011 screens. Smashing Machine did $4.8 million in its opening weekend and was considered a bomb. It is believed to be the worst grossing full national release movie (2,000 screens) in its opening weekend in 13 years.
— Mercedes Mone was in Rome, Italy, today defending the BetYa women’s title over Queen Maya, with the match ending when The Beat Mortos speared Maya.
— Konosuke Takeshita worked for DDT today in Kumamoto, Japan, teaming with Sanshiro Takagi & Harahsima over To-y & Daicdhi Sato & Yuki Ishida.
— Also in Japan, Megan Bayne & Hanako won their tag team tournament match over Ami Sohrei & Lady C in Kissei. They also beat Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara yesterday in Gunma. They are 2-0 so far. Bayne will be back in the U.S as she becomes the first person to do both a tag team tournament in the U.S. and Japan at the same time.
— Yoshiki Inamura beat KENTA yesterday at Korakuen Hall in Japan to win the GHC title. This and yesterday’s Ace Austin vs. Kyle Fletcher were the matches I’ve heard the most about. Hank Walker & Tank Leder won the GHC tag titles from Masa Kitamiya & Takshi Sugiura. Inamura defends against Kaito Kiyomiya on 12/7 at Korakuen Hall
— The deal with Miranda Alize & Nixon Newell from last night at AEW Collision is that they walked out before the match with Anna Jay & Tay Melo because they felt it was going to be a squash match. It was not about doing the job so much as wanting a longer match and not doing a second match after what they believed was a squash match earlier. Still, people were shocked that they walked out. They were evidently told they’d get some offense in but they felt people would see it as a squash because it was going so short. They left and Hyan & Maya World were put in the match instead.
— While few caught it, for those in the Boston area who did, Dynamite will be in Boston on the 19th. They had a wrong graphic up that Tony Schiavone read listing the 19th for Reading, PA. I’m not sure exactly what happened but AEW confirmed the show is in Boston and there was a mistake made. They weren’t even aware of the mistake until after the show was over. One year ago this week, they ran Reading, PA for Dynamite and somehow something went wrong and that ended up on the air. The other cities in that read for the next few weeks were correct.
— The Observer Hall of Fame issue will be out on Friday. Multiple new people were voted in. Most of the people who have to be in got in and there were some, I wouldn’t say surprises, but vote totals. We will also do a show covering it on Friday.
— Solofa Fatu (Rikishi) said that his emergency surgery was six hours long but didn’t go into details past saying the experience has changed his outlook on life.
— Google trends for a quiet weekend from a mainstream standpoint saw 20,000 for Charlotte Flair which was No. 149 for the weekend, based on a wardrobe malfunction and another 10,000 for Smackdown likely related to that. The UFC show yesterday had 40,000 which is very low. Josh Hokit got 5,000 for doing his promo which sounded like he was imitating Chael Sonnen imitating Superstar Billy Graham.
— Claudio Castagnoli was at the New Jersey Devils hockey game last night to promote Full Gear.
— Stephanie Vaquer was at the Rangers vs. Islanders hockey game last night to promote the Raw show on the 17th in Madison Square Garden.
— Joe Hendry worked last night’s NXT show in Tampa teaming with Je’Von Evans & Tavion Heights to beat Dark State’s Dion Lennox & Saquon Shugars & Cutler James.
— Regarding the Newell story, Truth Magnum did a comedy post this morning relating to that saying “Turbo and I almost walked out last night when there was no Caesar’s salad in catering.”
— Invicta will be airing a highlights show on Friday night at both 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern time airing some of the best recent fights. Tom Hannifan of TNA will host the show.
— A correction from Friday’s Observer. In the coverage of Yoshihiro Takayama we mistakenly wrote his paralysis was in 2007 but it was in 2017. (thanks to Jose Santana)
— With Jerry Lawler coming to Memphis Wrestling for the taping of the Christmas show, he would be the only person to appear in every incarnation of Memphis TV Wrestling from the WHBQ days through 1977 to the modern incarnation. Jimmy Valiant has been in every incarnation post the Jarett-Gulas split in 1977.
— Prestige and West Coast Pro in Los Angeles for the final Prestige show: Aiden Andrews & Bryce Kouza & Kaori Leon b Hadar Hovits & Ori Gold & Jiah Jewell, Travis Williams b Alpha Zo, Maya World b Miko Alana, Andrew Cass b Adrian Quest to retain the West Coast Pro Golden Gate title, Johnnie Robbie b Amira to retain the West Coast Pro women’s title in the match of the night, Titus Alexander & Starboy Charlie b Michael Miro & Vishnu Akli to keep the West Coast Pro tag titles, Kevin Blackwood b Judas Icarus to keep the Prestige title, Vinnie Massaro b Royce Isaacs to keep the West Coast Pro title (thanks to Chris Champol).
–Ricochet appeared at last night’s Chicago Wolves minor league hockey game to promote World’s End.
— Today is the 28th anniversary of the 1997 Survivor Series with Bret Hart being manipulated into losing a match he was expecting to win via DQ. It ended up becoming one of the most talked about controversies in wrestling history and is to this day one of the five most famous U.S. matches of all-time.
— David Otunga did a show on this and said that in his opinion Hart didn’t have creative control because Vince had already told him he was prepared to breach his contract prior, so thus the creative control stipulation and contract were invalid. Vince had not yet breached the contract in actuality but had said at one point he would if Hart wouldn’t negotiate a lower deal. He also said the clause was vague.
— And speaking of referees screwing up a famous match, Nick Patrick turned 66 today. Chris Jericho turned 55 and posted a photo of him with abs showing. Pete Dunne turned 32. So I guess that means Rayo of Los Americanos is also 32. Rube Wright, who was also Lu Kim, a giant powerhouse who Stu Hart thought was one of the toughest wrestlers of his era, passed away on this day 42 years ago. Joe Scarpello, a legendary NCAA champion who had a long pro career passed away on this day 26 years ago. He was the guy killed by the Bombs Away by Ray Stevens in the original movie “The Wrestler” in 1974. Today is also the 40th anniversary of the interview Arn Anderson did when he was out there with Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and Ole Anderson where he used the term Four Horsemen, just as a throw away line. (thanks to Tony Richards)
A CMLL trios showcase match is now on the docket for this Tuesday’s AEW Dynamite taping in Austin, Texas.
Former Ring of Honor men’s TV Champion Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada & Templario will face Soberano Jr., Volador Jr. & Magnus in the match. It’s assumed it will be taped for next week’s ROH TV show as it has yet to be formally announced for Dynamite.
Of the six, only Soberano Jr. and Templario have yet to appear on either AEW or a Tony Khan-era ROH show.
CMLL talent is also scheduled for this Saturday’s AEW Collision in Houston, Texas, as Sammy Guevara, Dark Panther & Fuego vs. Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario & Soberano Jr. was announced on Thursday.
As of this writing, only two other matches have been announced for Tuesday’s taping which is being done due to the crew heading to Australia for Grand Slam Australia:
AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin w/MVP) defend against The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn)
AEW has booked a couple of new matches for this weekend’s event in Texas.
With Collision taking place in the Houston area this Saturday, AEW sent out a Spanish-language announcement today advertising two ROH taping matches for that night. ROH Television Champion Komander is putting his title on the line against Lee Johnson. Plus, there will be a trios match involving five CMLL stars. It will be Sammy Guevara, Fuego & Dark Panther vs. Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario & Soberano Jr.
Komander has been ROH TV Champion since winning the belt at Final Battle in December 2024. Johnson earned this title shot by going to a 10-minute time limit draw against Komander in a Proving Ground match on ROH TV last week.
Fort Bend County Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas is the venue for Saturday’s event. Here is everything that has been announced:
AEW Collision (Saturday, February 8) —
Harley Cameron concert
Bandido vs. Bryan Keith
Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe
Thunder Rosa vs. Penelope Ford
Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs. Shane Taylor & The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) vs. Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
ROH taping —
ROH TV Champion Komander defends against Lee Johnson
Sammy Guevara, Fuego & Dark Panther vs. Hechicero, Barbaro Cavernario & Soberano Jr.
There were also three ROH matches taped at AEW Dynamite last night. Spoilers can be found here.
NJPW’s Rocky Romero, NJPW Los Angeles dojo Young Lion Clark Connors, ROH’s Jonathan Gresham, and CMLL’s Soberano Jr. will be taking part in the Super J-Cup. There are three entrants left to be announced for the tournament.
TJP, Dragon Lee, SHO, Caristico, Ryusuke Taguchi, Taiji Ishimori, YOH, BUSHI, and Amazing Red are the other entrants that have been confirmed for the tournament thus far.
Jushin Thunder Liger is the producer of the Super J-Cup and will be wrestling in non-tournament action on all three nights.
The Super J-Cup will begin at the Temple Theater in Tacoma, Washington on Thursday, August 22. The second night is taking place at the San Francisco State University Student Life Event Center in San Francisco, California on Saturday, August 24. The tournament will then conclude at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on Sunday, August 25.
The lineup for ROH’s Summer Supercard event is starting to take shape.
Alex Shelley will be challenging for the ROH World Championship at the show. Matt Taven is the current champion and is defending his title against Jay Lethal at ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem television tapings on July 20.
After taking a hiatus from pro wrestling in July 2018, Shelley returned at June’s post-Best in the World tapings and set up that he’d be challenging the winner of Taven vs. Lethal. Shelley, Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. The Kingdom (Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) is set for ROH’s Mass Hysteria show on July 21.
A CMLL trios match has also been announced for Summer Supercard. Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. will team against Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario. Cavernario and Templario will be making their ROH debuts in the match.
Summer Supercard is being held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Friday, August 9, which is during SummerSlam weekend in the city. Summer Supercard will feature wrestlers from ROH, NJPW, CMLL, and the NWA. The show will air live on HonorClub.
Since NJPW’s G1 Climax will still be going on, none of the participants in the tournament will be wrestling at Summer Supercard.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis will defend his title against a member of Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, Brody King, or Flip Gordon) at Summer Supercard. In storyline, Scurll gets to choose which of the four Villain Enterprises members will get the title shot.
A recap of Matt Taven winning the ROH World Championship at Madison Square Garden opened the show.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman called the action from ringside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Matt Taven came to the ring alone. The crowd littered the ring with streamers. Taven said, “I earned this…and I deserve this.” He ran down his own accolades. The crowd was actually supporting him respectfully.
As Taven was ranting about someone needing to earn an opportunity, the lights went out and Flip Gordon’s music hit. Gordon walked out on the ramp wearing a suit and said that he already earned his shot by winning the Sea of Honor tournament last year.
Gordon said that his knee is 100 percent and that ROH officials have declared him the number one contender. Gordon said he’s ready to challenge Taven.
A recap of the Jonathan Gresham and Silas Young feud aired.
Silas Young defeated Jonathan Gresham
An intense Code of Honor handshake started it off as Gresham was not going to be intimidated by the larger Young. A double hip toss sent both men to the floor. Outside of the ring, they exchanged some chain wrestling, which included a series of headlock takeovers.
Back in the ring, Young grounded Gresham as he showboated. Gresham finally fought free and landed a monster chop that got Young’s attention. This started a chop exchange that Gresham got the better of by using a closed fist. Young had gotten to him.
Next, Young used some nice chain wrestling to get the upper hand. Each man threatened a closed fist. Gresham attempted to counter out, but Young kept reversing into a wristlock. Gresham eventually got out of the hold with a dropkick that sent Young flying.
Young bailed to the floor and grabbed both a chair and the ring bell hammer. As referee Todd Sinclair took away the chair, Young blasted Gresham with the hammer. He then hooked on an abdominal stretch on Gresham. The referee had no choice but to stop the match as Gresham was out.
A replay of the finish of Kelly Klein defeating Mayu Iwatani at Madison Square Garden aired. This was to set up the angle that happened after that match with the Allure group debuting, featuring Mandy Leon, Angelina Love, and Velvet Sky.
Klein cut a promo saying that the Women of Honor World Championship was about wrestling, and that she’s going to give Allure the attention they desire. Klein said she’s there to clean up the hot mess they created.
ROH replayed the entire Rush vs. Dalton Castle match from Madison Square Garden, which Rush won in 16 seconds. This set up the heel turn by Castle as he destroyed the Boys post-match.
Riccaboni and Coleman talked about the disgusting actions of Bully Ray laying out Tenille Dashwood. This led to a promo by Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams. They said they are going to handle Bully Ray, but before they do, they’re going to take out The Kingdom.
The Briscoes defeated Soberano Jr. & Caristico
Mark Briscoe started it off with Soberano. Some kicks by Soberano set up a springboard hurricanrana onto Mark, who then tagged in Jay Briscoe. Caristico got Jay’s attention by hitting a back handspring flip and a hurricanrana of his own. Caristico used a springboard flipping arm drag to send Jay to the floor, where The Briscoes then regrouped.
After the break, Jay was beating up Caristico in the ring. He tagged in his brother Mark, who unloaded with punches. The Briscoes cut the ring in half, isolating Caristico in the corner. Finally, a double back handspring caught both Briscoes and gave Caristico the space he needed to tag in Soberano.
The two luchadores used some tandem flying maneuvers to send the Briscoes to the floor. Soberano did a running backflip dive on the brothers and Caristico followed that up with a high crossbody off the top turnbuckle.
Caristico was in the ring with Mark, who got hit with a kick and a flying crossbody — but Caristico only got a two count. Soberano hit a Doomsday-style crossbody off of Caristico’s shoulders, but Jay broke up the pin.
Jay landed a Spicolli driver for a two count. The Briscoes hit Redneck Boogey, but Soberano kicked out at two. Jay then hit a Jay Driller and Mark followed that up with the Froggy Bow to get the win.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
