CMLL/NJPW/AEW FantasticaMania Mexico 2025
June 20, 2025
Arena Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico
Watch: YouTube
CMLL completes the third night of its Semana Internacional on Friday with the latest edition of FantastiaMania Mexico. This Arena Mexico show will feature wrestlers from AEW, ROH, and New Japan, possibly for the only time this year. All the matches feature CMLL wrestlers facing outsiders in their first-ever matches. There are many interesting encounters on this lineup, which might be the biggest problem with this show. Trying to squeeze all of this in one night might prevent the individual matches from fulfilling their potential.
FantasticaMania streams on CMLL’s YouTube on Friday at 8:30 pm local time. (That’s Mountain Time if you’re in the US and switch your clocks.) The show is available exclusively to subscribers at the Fan Leyendas level (35 USD/month); CMLL will not make the show available to lower tiers, not even as a VOD. The 35 does give you access to the entire CMLL library, but it’s a hefty fee.
There are nine matches on this card. Nine! AEW PPV watchers get a similar number of matches over a four-hour card or longer. CMLL believes most shows should last two hours. Fridays get fifteen minutes extra, maybe another fifteen if it’s a massive show, but they don’t want to run more than 2.5 hours. There’s a lot of great stuff here on paper, but there’s no way they all live up to the expectations without running their longest event ever. This show would be better with two or three fewer of these matches scheduled for another night.
Red Velvet versus Kira
Kira might be among the best female high flyers in Mexico’s history, though most of that is because there haven’t been many female flying wrestlers. She fits the classic archetype of that type of male wrestler: she’s small, she can throw herself around easily, and she can get thrown around just the same. It’s the person on the other side that has been in the issue; there also haven’t been many great female bases, and Kira’s performances can vary greatly depending on who she’s matched up with. Kira’s not a standout personality, either, but her offense makes up for the missing charisma. Red Velvet seems to be a CMLL office favorite, and I have no idea how she and Kira will mesh.
La Jarochita versus Thunder Rosa
Thunder Rosa has such an unusual career, being the most Mexican possible Mexican wrestler, but also never actually wrestling in Mexico that much. She started in the US, she’s worked a few small shows and The Crash, but she’d never been in a major promotion until Wednesday. I was curious what reaction she was going to get; she got a loud one. Jarochita seems to enjoy hitting people hard and is unafraid of being hit back hard, which I think will work well with Rosa. I’m doubly concerned that these two women’s openers might end up under five minutes.
Difunto, Magnus, Rugido, Zandokan Jr. versus Action Andretti, Lio Rush, Robbie X, Rocky Romero
This match makes no sense. On the surface, it’s “CMLL Rudos versus AEW Rudos (and Robbie X).“ It doesn’t seem to play out that straight. Magnus and Rugido are calling Rocky Romero “uncle“ nowadays and have declared they won’t fight him. Romero has claimed he’ll put his family ties aside for this one. There’s enough talent here to make a good match; they just might not be going in the direction of a good match with this one. I wish Difunto and Zandokan had something a bit more to do in this week’s shows; the two rudo rising stars of this year have earned some spotlight on a show seen by new eyes.
Mercedes Moné © vs La Catalina for the CMLL World Women’s Championship
Moné should bury this title. It’s not the concept of a CMLL women’s champion, just the physical belt. CMLL hasn’t updated the title since at least 1997. It resembles a cheaper plastic version of the CMLL belts from that era rather than a world championship belt. I’m decidedly not a belt person. I just really need that one belt to get fixed. I wouldn’t cry if it got lost somewhere.
La Catalina had been oddly missing from this week’s shows, given how much she’s been on Ring of Honor. She’s a logical choice as a first challenger and is playing it up strongly as an outsider. Catalina complained that Moné received a title shot instead of one of the 19 CMLL women who are there every day, working, traveling, and enduring hardships to be the best for CMLL. It’s the meta-story internet discussion about Moné having all these belts, though, turned into an onscreen storyline where it might work. It is somewhat amusing for Catalina to cite her struggles for two years when almost everyone in CMLL has struggled for longer (and perhaps harder), but her heart is in the right place.
I have no strong feelings about who should beat Moné if Moné is losing it back to someone in CMLL down the road. There are many options, but no definitive one. The next few months might be a race between different CMLL women to prove why they should get a giant victory. Catalina gets the first chance to make her case in this one.
Kevin Knight versus Neón in a lightning match
Kevin Knight looked super impressive in his appearance on the 90th Aniversario. The match was built to get him over, totally worked – and then he’s strangely never been back following that weekend. I’m glad he’s back for this one as a sort of late-minute sub for Komander. Neón remains an exciting wrestler when he’s on a specific track, and it would benefit him to grow beyond that one role in the long term. The CMLL house style sometimes forces wrestlers to excel at performing the same five or so spots in every match and then repeat those same five spots for the next twenty years. It’s the house style because it works, but it also limits the luchador’s ceiling – if you don’t try something you may fail at, then you’re never going to learn something new. There were signs of new ideas on Tuesday with Hologram, and facing another outsider may continue to spur that growth in him.
Último Guerrero versus Yota
Yota is in Mexico for a single day and will spend part of the day chopping the guy who trained him during his Mexico excursion. Yota just forgot to ask for a chance at the prestigious MLW Openweight Championship. I guess it’ll be another time. There’s a possibility of a hard-hitting good match here, but it’s also worth noting that Yota is in town for just one show, and Ultimo Guerrero is in his 50s. These two might raise their hands first when it comes to asking who’ll give up time to keep this show moving.
Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Titán versus Francesco Akira, Templario, TJP
Titán and Templario do not have a mask match scheduled for this year’s Anniversario, yet the show is three months away, and the only feud that feels like it could be the main event is between Titán and Templario. They’ve been fighting each other since Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (when one or the other hasn’t been in Japan), and last week’s great singles match between the two escalated it to a mask-ripping situation. Again, they’re not having a mask match against each other; it just doesn’t make any sense, and it’s a sign of the lack of obvious planning toward September. Titan/Templario has just reached that level of intensity. That combination of names looks like a Day 8 match on an NJPW tour. The match is instead meant to be Titán and Templario pulling in their allies for a big blowoff match. This trios setup will be a test to see if the other guys understand that this is a serious match, not a fun one.
Volador Jr. versus Ricochet
It’s a 2016 BOSJ rematch. Ricochet, a man without many friends these days, has acknowledged that he’s been friends with Volador since that tour and has watched him prior. Ricochet is still 2025 arrogant Ricochet, and he’s just approached this match with a little bit more respect than usual. The 2025 Volador Jr. is not the 2016 Volador Jr., but he’s also not the late 2024 Volador Jr. that appeared completely broken. He no longer is wrestling in matches as if his knees are finally about to break; they just seem to hurt a lot. He’s been smartly trying to pick his spots, and that might leave him with a little bit extra here. Neither man is the wrestler they were nearly a decade ago, yet they still have talked this up as chasing those old versions of themselves and attempting to have the best match of the night. It’s going to take a lot to get them there.
Máscara Dorada & Místico versus El Bandido & Hologram
CMLL planned to culminate their international week with CMLL’s Sky Team facing off against the AEW equivalent for the CMLL World Trios Championship. Komander’s injury altered those plans, and CMLL has promised to reschedule the match for a later date. (The Aniversario show seems the right spot if everyone is available.) This near-rematch of Homenaje a Dos Leyendas takes the trio title match’s place. That match in March was excellent, even despite Mistico walking in hurt and suffering an additional injury early in the match. I love Komander and think Bandido might be a better fit here. He can fly nearly as well, and his power and basing ability are going to make the CMLL team look like stars. The Sky Team has reached its peak when it has people with complementary abilities to play off of each other. Bandido seems to have everyone’s abilities, and we saw on Tuesday what he can do when he’s the opposition to a high flyer instead of just being one himself. Mistico versus Bandido is an exciting singles match on the table, one that both men have talked about wanting to do, and even the tease of it here could make for a big reaction.
I’m a little hesitant to recommend this show. I’d like to know that everything will get sufficient time before advising people to spend USD 35 on a show for new subscribers. It’s unlikely to happen. The best case might be a couple of matches being absurdly short by CMLL standards, so everyone else is hurt less. There is a possibility that everything could go short or a rush to get that final match in when it should be something special. Still, CMLL and Arena Mexico are having an outstanding week, and it’s hard to bet against them finding a way to have another memorable night.
