Champion’s Road 2K22: a recap of champions in Argentina’s top indie promotions
The Argentinian wrestling scene has been on a tear recently, with many promotions being surprisingly active during 2021, in spite of the covid lockdown. And in every promotion there are Champions, this article will focus on short profiles of the current belt holders on the indie scene.
Catch Argentino
Full Gas - National Champion
One could call Full Gas a veteran among the current crop of indie wrestlers in Argentina. He recovered from an injury in late 2020, one that had forced him to vacate the title. His quest during 2021 was to regain what he never lost using his polished technical skills.
Full Gas was trained in the celebrated “Colosos de la Lucha” wrestling school, home to the Garcilazo Brothers, part of a family of wrestlers. From the get-go, he showed quite the talent and began building his move repertoire before moving to Catch Argentino full time.
At the start of the year, he was part of the “Torneo Condor,” a 20 man tournament organized by Catch Argentino, and reached the finals, having a really close defeat against Razor. He was part of many shows, usually flanked by CLS, his stable composed of other talented wrestlers such as Pandemia, Hunter, and Exodus.
At the end of the year during Catch Argentino’s last show, he defeated Fackzilla and Razor in a triple threat and got the title he had to vacate two years prior. With CLS by his side, it is difficult to speculate when he will lose the title.
J-Master - Metropolitan Champion
One of the youngest champions on the circuit, J-Master is a product of Catch Argentino’s wrestling academy. He is a daring high-flier with a technical streak who had an amazing year, performing with excellence in any match he was involved in.
The big feud that marked his year was his long-running rivalry with Alex Strong, another student from Catch Argentino’s wrestling academy. Their feud boiled over until ATL (editor’s note: Catch Argentino event “A Todo Lucha”), where J-Master finally got the decisive victory.
He is an amazing young talent, with high-flying moves and some decent grappling on top of that. During the last show of Catch Argentino in 2021 he won a Battle Royale that granted him a chance for a title. He used it during the same show and inserted himself into the match of Adriano and “Wild Card” Mike Brooks, capitalizing the confusion and winning the whole thing.
J-Master will have to prove that his win during “El Juego de Money” wasn’t a fluke, as he will start 2022 defending his title with the responsibility of holding the title against any challengers.
Duelo de Leyendas
Bobby Cruz - Argentine Champion
An all-rounder with charisma, technical skills, and some grit, Bobby Cruz has been a long-running part of Duelo de Leyendas who finally got his dues this year, reaching the title in their last show of the year as it was vacated earlier in the year.
He trained in Duelo de Leyendas since the start of his career and developed as a wrestler participating in their shows. He recently had a guest appearance in Legion Nueva Era’s “Ultima Cena” show in December, as part of the Battle Royale.
During last year he participated in all of Duelo de Leyendas shows, always putting in an excellent performance, even attempting to win the title from its previous owner, Johnny Fox, before the champion vacated. His match against Ricky Rocca was pretty good, he also had a great showing against Frankie Legrand.
He is a fresh champion starting the year without any noticeable alliances and having antagonized the GM, Ripper “The Immortal”, during his title win, we can surmise he might have a difficult time next year trying to keep his title.
Aaron Zero - National Champion
Aaron Zero is a striker with a varied arsenal of moves that stands atop the mid-card scene in Duelo de Leyendas. Trained by his father and by Hip Hop Man, a celebrated Argentine Wrestler currently working in the Mexican scene, he started training very young, around 2011.
Aaron Zero has been part of Duelo de Leyendas from the very beginning and has competed on many occasions against all the mainstays of the promotion, such as Bobby Cruz, Brian Sabbath, Lyon Riot, and Ripper “The Immortal.”
He won his title in October 2019, being one of the longest running current champions in Argentina and defended it for the first time in 2021, at the first event of Duelo de Leyendas, against Ripper “The Immortal”, the GM of the promotion.
Aaron seems to be unshakable in his position as champion and seems to be angling to obtain the Tag Titles with one of his usual collaborators in the near future. Only time will tell if he keeps his current belt or if he manages to go for a dual championship reign.
Legion Nueva Era Argentina
Maikol - Maximum Champion
After a rocky start in 2021 in Legion, Maikol soon developed into arguably one of the most fearsome strikers in the local scene. His arsenal of kicks seems to be ever-expanding, using his range to his advantage.
Maikol began his career back in “Super Estrellas de la Lucha” where he held the Tag Team Belts for a long stretch before losing them and heading out on his own as an independent wrestler. He participated in events for Duelo de Leyendas before making the jump to Legion.
Some of his biggest matches this year were his hard-hitting duology with Pandemia (the second one being the victory that gave him the title), and the excellent Fatal Fourway during “Compadritos” that cemented him as a contender to be feared.
Only time will tell how long his reign will be, but I’m sure we will see many challengers to the crown getting their heads kicked in until somebody manages to put him down.
Frankie and Cassidy (Conurbardo) - Tag Champions
Frankie Legrand and Cassidy, who had been feuding for the better part of the year, decided to let bygones be bygones after their brutal Ladder Match at “This Is Halloween” and using the contract won from said match, Frankie recruited Cassidy to chase the Tag Titles.
Frankie is a hard-hitting, mostly ground-based, brawler. Capable of taking untold amounts of punishment and dishing out in equal measure. His charisma with the audience can’t be denied and he gained the respect of many thanks to his performances this year.
Cassidy is a high-flying prodigy, capable of making moonsaults and Swanton bombs look absolutely effortless. He has been on a warpath this year, appearing in many promotions and excelling in every single one.
As singles wrestlers both had very strong performances during the year, Frankie facing Johnny Fox was incredibly good in “Volvemos” early in the year, with Cassidy also having a stellar performance in the same show main event against Pandemia. As a tag team, they debuted in their title match, defeating Nemesis.
Their alliance seems quite strong, but both of them are volatile and competitive, so who knows what we can expect from them during this year. But if they match their performance with what they showed in December, taking the titles from them will be quite difficult.
Twitter (Frankie)
Instagram (Frankie)
Instagram (Cassidy)
Lucha Extrema
Angeloff - Youth Division Champion
During the first event Lucha Extrema held in years, Angeloff managed to shock everyone and take down Doctor Plaga, the previous Youth Division Champion. He had been working his way up the ladder in the Youth Division until this moment.
A product of Lucha Extrema’s wrestling school, he has been training since 2018 and has unmatched loyalty for his promotion. He is a high-flier with a daring arsenal of moves, which served him right when it came to winning his current title.
He didn’t have important matches this years prior to his champsionship win as Lucha Extrema has been inactive during most of the lockdown when it comes to show, so it falls on him to showcase his talent as the champion, defending it during the upcoming year.
