Lucha Libre Roundup: CMLL is back, Gael García Bernal to star in exotico movie, more!

Welcome to the Lucha Libre Roundup. CMLL is back! They aired an empty-arena show on Friday night. Let’s break that show down, as well as other news items from the lucha libre world, including a superplex breaking the ring and a new masked luchador named Coronavirus.

After 139 days, CMLL is back, baby! Well, sort of. They aired a taped empty-arena show last night on Mexican TV.

The Mexico State Lucha Libre & Boxing Commission has given the green light for virtual lucha libre shows. CMLL is expected to announce future plans this week, and AAA has been working on a new Auto Luchas concept for fans to watch live matches from their cars.

Let’s jump right into the CMLL action from Friday night. The hour-long show featured three bouts. Watch the replay here.

Some rudo luchadores wore face masks over their exposed mouths, which seems counterintuitive. Tecnicos wearing face masks would have sent a better example for the public. The rudos should have been the ones threatening to breath their germs on the tecnicos. The referees and production staff wore face masks and laboratory goggles. Fake crowd noise was piped in. The lights were off over the empty seats to hide them in darkness. All bouts kept the traditional best-of-3 format.

Caristico, Angel de Oro, & Star Jr. defeated Gran Guerrero, El Terrible, & Templario. The main event was the best bout and most action-packed of the bunch. For the third fall, Templario pinned Star on a super gutwrench powerbomb. Angel evened the odds by trapping Terrible in a hurricanrana pin. Angel took the win home by making Templario quit in a rocking chair submission. The top move of the match was a Sasuke Special from Templario during the first fall.

Stuka & Guerrero Maya Jr. defeated Okumura & Vangellys. The big move of the third fall was a Tower of Doom superplex with Vangellys at the base and his partner Okumura at the top. The tecnicos were victorious with a flying splash from Stuka to pin Vangellys and a unique facebreaker from Guerrero to pin Okumura.

Sanely & La Jarochita defeated Amapola & Reina Isis. The tecnicas won the third fall with a pair of submissions.

It has been a few weeks since the last Lucha Libre Roundup, so let’s catch up on the fun and interesting tidbits of news.

Gael García Bernal has signed to play luchador Cassandro in a story of the exotico’s life. Cassandro is known as the, “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” Filming is scheduled to begin in November. Cassandro also recently debuted a new beer from Old Sheepdog Brewery.

ROH wrestler Jonathan Gresham has been working with Lucha Memes to bring pure wrestling back. Aero Boy, Aramis, Virus, and Arez are also on board. This partnership has been brewing since February, but it seems like plans have been stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Once shows can return, this will be something to keep an eye on.

Sexy Star was the winner of Mas Lucha’s women’s tournament. You can watch that tournament, along with other unique lucha libre shows, on the Mas Lucha channel for a 99 peso ($4.42 USD) monthly subscription.

For fans of Nick Aldis, we may be seeing him in AAA one day. In a conversation with Alex Shelley and Aldis praising Konnan, the bookerman for AAA chimed in about bringing Aldis to Mexico.

Time for two crazy items in the wild world of lucha libre. First, Epydemius executed a superplex to Hijo del Espectro Jr. at a Lucha Time event and the ring broke. Based on commentary, this felt like a planned spot rather than an accident. Watch it here starting at the 45:45 mark. The ring breaking is great fun.

Second, there is a new luchador in town going by the name of Coronavirus. He has a green mask with a crown. Watch Coronavirus’ infectious antics here. Beware, he is a fan of using light tubes.

We’ll close with a cool photo of LA Park and Rush brawling. If they ever do sign on the dotted line for mask vs hair, expect blood, sweat, and beer.