Box y Lucha #2120 October 15/93

Cover stories including Villanos winning the UWA Tag Team Titles from Silver King & Texano, La Diabolica becoming a double champion, Las Rockers re-forming in AAA after turning on La Monster (Bertha Faye who is WWF bound), Oso Negro debuting in Arena Mexico along with Ultimo Dragon returning & of course... you can be the Reina De Box y Lucha! (more on that later)

Ponzona is returning to action after being out for 6 months! He goes in-depth explaining the painful injury that kept him out of action. In reality, he went back to wrestling as Americo Rocca so he missed no time at all. This article appears to exist to explain why Ponzona suddenly re-surfaced on an Arena Coliseo show the week prior...

NOW WAIT JUST A MOMENT! Americo Rocca in main event & Ponzona in the segunda??? How can this be??? I don't have the answer. This Ponzona lasts one show & isn't heard from again. There used to be an Americo Rocca Jr. running around on the undercards of CMLL shows so one could guess this was him but I have no concrete proof.

During his "retirement" Konnan began doing a Box y Lucha column where he would answer questions from fans. This turned into Konnan petitioning the comission to allow him to return to wrestling based on being screwed by interference in the big Triplemania match. Here he gives the address where you can send letters to help his cause. Very WWF-inspired.

This is coded for "someone wrestled drunk" but we won't say who. This was at the 10/10/93 Pista Arena Revoluion show. The smart money is on Kung Fu who was a fucking disaster at this time period. Funny enough & showing the differences in culture + 1993 vs 2026 -> the magazine doesn't fault the wrestler at all. They fault the comission & doctors assigned by them who are supposed to check every wrestler before they are allowed to go to the ring. The blame is put on them for not stopping this drunk wrestler from being able to perform, not the wrestler themself from getting drunk before going out to wrestle.

Taking a shot at Mocho Cota saying how after recent failures attempting to be a promoter, he has learned it's easier to work for Chavo (Lutteroth) than promote against him. Cota had been attempting to promote shows in Northern Mexico (Monclova area). He also had been working for AAA before just recently jumping back to CMLL & in the process screwing over Antonio Pena/AAA who had built him up for a hair match against Latin Lover.

Another shot at someone for failing as a promoter. One thing you learn from reading so many lucha magazines - they love taking shots at people! In this case ex-very strict comissioner Rafael Barradas (grandfather of Estrellita). He was the one who banned women's matches from happening in Mexico City for many years. No comment.

Note about the former Arena Isabel in Leon (not to be confused with the one in Cuernavaca, no doubt a nuisance for The Cubs Fan) now being a five star hotel. WTF? It's not even in Tokyo! Joke about how guests can still hear the sounds of the ring in the middle of the night.

In an article recounting famous moments in the history of Lucha Libre, we are reminded of the first ever tag team match to occur in Mexico. With standard singles matches being 2/3 falls, this one was made 3/5 falls with the extra participants involved. I like it! Bring it back! (This concept does not stick around, in fact, I cannot remember if it ever returned)

Notes column ends with random things such as where did Nahur Kaliff disappear to? Former Pavillion Azteca guy who was left without a home when the building stopped running shows in 1989. No clue what happened to him. Then a mention of how UWA/LLI has not run any shows north of Queretaro. Their talent has worked northern Mexico but on their own with outside promoters. I think UWA/LLI had bigger problems to worry about around this time on their home turf. A shot at Konnan's autograph not being worth anything these days, Perro's goes for 20 pesos. In closing a mention about how Anibal disappeared after losing his mask, didn't wrestle another fall. Anibal passes away due to some form of cancer soon after this.

Carlos 'Tarzan' Lopez.

Irma Gonzalez in her stage of career working as 'La Novia Del Santo'. Didn't last long & had to be dropped for obvious reasons.

Los Guerreritos Del Futuro! Baby Virus as Damiancito El Guerrero here. I forget who the other two were. They were around from 1992 until 1997-ish. Damiancito sticks around, the other two do not. The minis weren't getting many opportunities. In their entire run they never had a TV match all together as a unit. Maya made TV maybe a handful of times, Futuro the same. Really shows you the difference between then & now. This month alone some of the least booked minis like Pequeno Polvora & Rostro De Acero will probably end up with 5 streaming appearences in the various arenas.

It's noted Negro Casas' wife just gave birth. And that's the last we would ever hear from her I believe...

There is a 16 team (that's 48 people total!) tournament in the works to crown new Estado De Mexico Trios Champions. I always confuse Estado De Mexico with Distrito Federal but these are the championships that would regularly be defended in Arena Naucalpan under the Moreno (Pirata) banner. The idea here is this concept will attract teams from all over & the winners may be in line for a shot at either the CMLL or UWA Trios Titles. Using my cheat sheet (LuchaDB) - this tournament doesn't actually occur until almost a year later. Cubs has a note the matches took place in various arenas but concluded in Arena Naucalpan. The winners ended up being Kraneo, Kahoz & Cadaver De Ultratumba. I can safely report that trio did not get a shot at the CMLL or UWA Trios Titles. One other thing you learn from reading so many lucha magazines... there are a lot of ideas/concepts thrown out there that go nowhere.

Another note about Arena Naucalpan is a listing of all the talent they are developing on their own. Special note about someone named Kraneo who they believe is destined to become a star. They nailed that one. This is, in fact, the same Kraneo who just left CMLL. They're right - at this time Arena Naucalpan was developing lots of talent who would find their way to CMLL. The groups sorta had a working agreement. That working agreement ends in late 1995 when the Morenos decide to become a non-exclusive building. CMLL reacts to that exactly as you'd expect so the Morenos start working with AAA & lots of Naucalpan talent ends up in AAA which is how Kraneo gets his start (as the new Mascara Sagrada, then Kraneo, then Alebrije). There's also a note about how ever since winning the CMLL Mini's Title, Ultratumbita went MIA. But don't worry, he's back this week on the Friday Arena Mexico show. No, I have no idea why he disappeared for a bit. Or why CMLL had an Ultratumbita who was basically a guy wrestling in an Espectrito outfit but using a different name while AAA had the actual Espectrito who was much more famous. Maybe they thought it bothered Pena since he used to work as an Espectro?

El Coloso says he debated retiring after losing his mask. He does not. He takes a bit of time off from lucha libre as I recall but pops back up in Promo Azteca as El Gitano, AAA as Vegas & of course most notably IWRG/CMLL first as Mr. Niebla IWRG, then Mr. Mexico once he loses his mask. I think these days he does nutrition/bodybuilding training. For a bodybuilder turned luchador, he did have quite a remarkable & lengthy career. In PROMELL he once pulled off one of the most amazing spots I've ever seen with the help of Ultimo Guerrero & Ultimo Rebelde.

The mysterious Oso Negro is debuting on the 10/15/93 Arena Mexico show. One of a few gimmicks CMLL started up around this time. Not much is known about this guy & unfortunately CMLL TV is hard to find in late 93/early 94. Not sure what happened but people just weren't recording or it wasn't airing. So little is known about this gimmick/person who only lasts about 3 months. Gone by February 1994. Cubs seems to remember something about this being one of the amateur wrestling trainers in CMLL. Maybe Memo Diaz was under the mask? Just a guess.

AIDS! YOU COULD HAVE IT! There are quite a few articles like this around this time. Including Tania La Guerrillera literally exclaiming "I DON'T HAVE AIDS!" I guess someone was accussing her of having it because she disappears from lucha libre for a while?

Among the lineups this is the Friday Arena Mexico show. Notable for the debut of Oso Negro & second appearence of Faraon (LA wrestler who's name escapes me for the moment). This is Ultratumbita's return to action & on the other side El Fierito making his debut. Strangely he's a tecnico here but soon after switches to the rudo side & stays there the rest of his career. He still wrestles in CMLL to this very day as Pequeno Violencia. One of the longest tenured CMLL wrestlers not named Atlantis or Ultimo Dragoncito.

Just an example of how loaded the AAA roster was at this time. 3 shows in different big cities with completely different lineups. Where would you have gone? Blue Panther vs Satanico in a title match is tempting but I'm partial to one of the first ever (maybe the first?) Rey Jr/Juvy singles matches. Would also give me a chance to figure out who the hell was playing Mini Psicosis in 1993. I doubt it was the guy we'd come to know as Mini Psicosis (current CMLL Alexius' father who also played Pequeno Black Warrior). The Gimnasio Juan De La Barera show was the one taped for TV this week.

Notable show to me for the strange future AAA gimmicks popping up on an AAA spot show years earlier. Histeria??? No idea. He pops up on a few other shows so this wasn't a one-off. Esquizofrenia was the first gimmick for Electro Shock when he started in AAA. Tarzan Boy is absolutely not THE Tarzan Boy, no way no how. Love random lineups like this.

Do you want to be the Queen of Box y Lucha??? Send a photo of your face & body to us through the mail! An amazing scam that went on for so many years in the world of lucha libre. You had an official Queen of Lucha Libre who would sit ringside at shows sometimes. Notably in 1991 was Vicky Palacios who would become Konnan's "girlfriend" - not sure legit or worked. The gimmick would expand to each magazine/promotion crowning their own queen so every magazine ever has an article about this every week whether it's the non-stop search for a new queen or something about the current queen. I can only imagine how many women got taken advantage in some way by promises of covers, free tickets, you name it. This would of course never fly in 2026 but it goes on much longer than you'd imagine in the magazines.

And that's that.

(this was a test to see if I enjoy doing stuff like this)

Current Lucha Libre Scene

I am currently in the midst of not having watched a CMLL show for nearly 6 weeks. The last event I recall watching was 3/31. It's not a total lucha libre blackout, I've put on random things like the Bandido/Zonik tag from Torreon & a Guerreros trios from Torreon. Neither is anything you need to see, FYI. So I'm not on a total lucha blackout as much as when I decide to sit down & watch something - when presented with two options where one is current stuff, 99% of the time I'm choosing whatever the other option is. Why's that? Well... I decided to put some thoughts down without editing myself or thinking it over too much. Just kinda letting out what's been bothering me over the last few months when it comes to wrestling in Mexico...

Why am I finding myself less interested in lucha libre?

I haven't become less of a lucha libre fan because the style has changed. Lucha Libre has changed many times since 1995 (the year I first began watching). I love the traditional lucha libre style going back to the 80's (when it was first available on video) but at no point have I ever claimed I want that style back nor am I dumb enough to think it would ever work in 2026.

I've become less of a lucha libre fan because the style doesn't have it's own identity any longer. Not to mention up until the last couple years I could make the argument lucha libre is the best kind of wrestling in the world. I literally had that argument with thousands of people over the years, including many supposed fans in Mexico who claimed otherwise.

I can't make that argument any longer.

Lucha Libre can be split into two parts these days - CMLL & non-CMLL.

CMLL has Americanized their product so much to the point it's not lucha libre. It's just pro wrestling that happens to take place in Arena Mexico. That's fine. There's still some good wrestlers there trying new things, the occasional good match that goes over 10 minutes & once in a while you see a glimpse of a style that is now largely faded away. But if I wanted to watch American wrestling, I have access to American wrestling. Too much, in fact. I have no need to see Mexicans doing American or even Japanese style pro wrestling, only worse. The kicker to all this is nobody was forcing CMLL to make any changes. They decided, on their own, we need to be more American. At least with AAA, WWE purchased them. You knew it was gonna become a WWE product. It was in their full right, they own it now. CMLL ownership didn't change hands. Business was as successful as ever. The change to make the product less Mexican, while proclaiming "orgullosamente Mexicana", wasn't even to battle WWE. It came from internal self-hatred.

Meanwhile non-CMLL is the worst of the worst US indy wrestling you will ever see. There are elements so bad occurring every weekend that wrestling twitter can't even imagine. It's the worst kind of professional wrestling I've ever seen. I suffer second hand embarassment any time I scroll past a clip on my timeline. These are not professional wrestlers, these are kids playing pro wrestlers. Backyard wrestling may have died in America but it continues to exist & has expanded in Mexico. IMO This is the future of Lucha Libre. Maybe WWE finds some TV $ & keeps running, maybe not. CMLL will wind up being tourist-centric shows, perhaps running daily events as part of a LuchaTitlan scenario done correctly due to existing infrastucture. The rest? It'll be like Europe in the 80's & 90's. A dead scene. Lucha Libre will still exist but it'll be on a small scale in front of tens instead of hundreds & it'll be performed by the furthest people from professionals you can imagine. It will go from being part of the culture to a sideshow circus act from an era gone by.

Do I sound bitter? I hope so because I certainly am. I think I have plenty reason to be bitter.

I didn't devote my fandom to lucha libre all these years just to be different. I did it because lucha libre WAS different. I felt like I was watching great pro wrestling, the best in the world. Now the more I watch, the more I feel I'm like just watching bad pro wrestling. Who wants to do that? Who wants to take credit as being a fan of the worst kind of pro wrestling? Not me.

Here's a personal anecdote... recently (no, not Wrestlecon so don't go guessing) I was helping certain Mexican wrestlers put together a match. I pitched one of the spots I used to love seeing, a spot that always got a big reaction from the crowd. A very LUCHA LIBRE spot. You know the one where everyone takes a turn missing a flying move? So it's just a 20 seconds of guys going SPLAT one after the other. This is a spot going back many years & one that appeared many times in the WCW lucha matches when the Mexican wrestlers started coming over to do trios matches. The reaction to me pitching this spot was general confusion & downright embarassment. "That seems so silly". Yes, the Mexican wrestlers thought a traditional Mexican wrestling spot was silly. Now, if the Young Bucks & Kenny Omega decided to do that spot on Dynamite next week, I have no doubt that spot would then show up all over Mexican wrestling shows left & right. Is that irony? Maybe the irony is I've literally seen those six guys do that spot back when they did indy shows - directly taking it from lucha libre - and the same Mexican wrestlers who look at those guys as the best wrestlers in the world refused to do the spot because 'it's too silly'.

This is what I mean about Lucha Libre losing it's identity. The Mexican wrestlers themselves these days are embarassed by traditional Lucha Libre. Not even just the bottom of the barrel awful backyarders, it goes right to the top. Some of your favorite luchadors in AEW/WWE now scoff at traditional lucha clips. It really bothers me.

It also makes me feel very silly. All this time I championed how great lucha libre was & now the people who have been left the reigns of this great sport/spectacle/whatever you wanna call it are all completely embarassed by the stuff that used to draw thousands of people to the thousands of arenas in all of Mexico compared to the hundreds (or less) that fill buildings now outside of CMLL or major WWE Mexico events. How else is it supposed to make me feel besides that I wasted my time fighting for validation of a style that is now looked at as embarassing? What does it bode for the future of Lucha Libre when the big names setting the example for the future are outright saying we have to do it like the Americans & Japanese do because that's what's right.

I found myself sitting down to watch lucha matches & dreading the next Destroyer or Spanish Fly or no-sell strike exchange or even just fireman's carry to set up a weak splash off the top rope. There was no more excitement over what creative sequence would come next, no getting a good laugh from comedy spots, no getting sucked into the emotion of fans cheering on one guy over the other. Every "esto es lucha" chant sickens me as much as a "this is awesome" chant these days.

What happened, and it was inevitable, is I have outlived lucha libre. As they say, nothing lasts forever.

The good news for those who always hated the fact a white Canadian kid actually knew his shit & was a loud supporter of true lucha libre - you guys have won. I'm just about out. You got what you wanted. It's in your hands now. Let's see how it plays out.

For now I'm immersing myself in old footage, which I take great joy in. I've never been the type to hate watch. Any kind of wrestling was always supposed to be an escape, something that makes me happy. So I want to watch things that do just that, not watching in fear of what repetitive spot or sequence I'll see next in a parody match.

I'm also drowning myself in collecting old results/lineups for the Lucha DB. Something else I take great enjoyment in doing! I find it poetic if we're being honest. I feel like doing this (filling in history gaps, preserving history for anyone who may want to look it up one day, reminiscing about all the fun eras of lucha libre I experienced) is the perfect way to end my fandom of lucha libre. One final thing to give back before I close the door & likely say adios to something I once loved. Bittersweet.