6/5 AAA Lucha Libre World Cup Finals: Teams from AAA, TNA, Lucha Underground, NOAH, and more compete

IF YOU STARTED PWBOOM PODCAST AUDIO, CLICK SPEAKER ICON (on the right half of the purple podcast box above) TO MUTE BEFORE LEAVING BROWSER WINDOW

imgresAAA Lucha Libre World Cup Finals
Palacio de los Deportes, Ciudad de Mexico
Report by Dot Net staffer Zack Zimmerman

The scheduled start time was 4 pm, and at about 10 after (which is pretty solid by AAA standards) they kicked off the opening ceremony. The delegations: Japan, “Rest of the World”, Canada, USA, and Mexico, were all introduced. Of note, Dario Cueto came out swinging the American flag. All of the reactions were relatively subdued until Team Mexico came out. The introductions were followed by the presentation of the Mexican flag and the National Anthem.

Josh Matthews and Hugo Savenovich handled the English commentary, and Lucha Underground announcer Melissa Santos joined the usual AAA announcer for joint duty.

1. Team Canada (Taya, Allie, and KC Spinelli) defeated Team USA (Cheerleader Melissa, Sienna, and Santana Garrett) in the Lucha World Cup Third-Place match in the Women’s Division. This was not particularly good, but picked up a bit when Taya got the tag towards the end. Taya got the expected win for her team in this one with a suplex which she floated over into a standing double-stomp.

2. Team World (Mil Muertes, Rockstar Spud, and Apolo) beat Team Japan Freelance (Akebono, Masato Tanaka, and Ikuto Hidaka), Team USA TNA (Ethan Carter III, Tyrus, and Eli Drake), and Team Mexico Legends (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in a special battle royal. This was a bit of a mess, with EC3 visibly cracking in the corner watching some of it.
– Blue Demon eliminated Eli Drake.
– Spud e. himself respectfully when he exhausted all other efforts against Akebono.
– EC3 e. Blue Demon.
– Canek e. Apolo.
– Akebono e Canek.
– EC3, Mil Muertes, and Parka e. Akebono. This was a bit scary, as Akebono appears to be in really rough shape and his leg got twisted up in the ropes, though he appeared to be OK.
– Tyrus e. EC3 [sic].
– Parka e. Tanaka.
– Hidaka e. Parka.
– Muertes e Hidaka.
– The final two were Muertes and Tyrus. At which point it became a singles match. Muertes pinned Tyrus with a Flatliner. Spud bouncing around the ring in celebration with a huge grin and thumbs up between the stoic giants Muertes and Apolo was a sight to behold. He also had a moment of glory with the trophy before being knocked down a peg by Apolo.

3. Team Mexico AAA (Pentgon Jr., Psycho Clown, and Texano Jr.) over Team Japan Noah (Naomichi Marufuji, Taiji Ishimori, and Maybach Taniguchi) in a Lucha World Cup Semi-Final match. This one was good. Psycho Clown got the pin for his team with a super Codebreaker and Frog Splash.

4. Team USA LU (Cage, Johnny Mundo, and Chavo Guerrero) beat Team Mexico LU (Rey Mysterio, Dr. Wagner, and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in a Lucha World Cup Semi-Final match. Team USA came out to “Born in the USA” and were led by Dario Cueto who cut a promo for good heat pre-match. This one was also good, probably better than the previous match. It looked like it was going to reach the 10-minute time limit, but Cage spiked Dragon Azteca with a Screwdriver and scored the pin with seconds remaining.

5. Team Mexico (Mary Apache, Faby Apache, and Lady Apache) beat Team Japan (Aja Kong, Sumire Natsu, Yuki Miyazaki) to win the Lucha World Cup in the Women’s Division. The first match went to the 10-minute draw and into singles overtime. Aja Kong and Faby Apache went to a 5-minute draw in sudden death, with Faby kicking out of just about everything Kong has. In the second round of sudden death, Mary Apache pinned Miyazaki with a Michinoku Driver.

6. Team Mexico LU (Rey Mysterio, Dr. Wagner, and Dragon Azteca Jr.) beat Team Japan Noah (Naomichi Marufuji, Taiji Ishimori, and Maybach Taniguchi) in a Lucha World Cup Third-Place match. Naturally being AAA, they changed the rules on the fly with no explanation, skipping the actual match and going right to sudden death singles. Wagner and Marufuji went to a 5-minute draw, as did Taniguchi and Azteca Jr.. Finally, Mysterio pinned Ishimori following a 619 and Frog Splash with a minute remaining.

7. Team USA LU (Cage, Johnny Mundo, and Chavo Guerrero) defeated Team Mexico AAA (Pentgon Jr., Psycho Clown, and Texano Jr.) to win the Lucha World Cup. The match went to a 10-minute draw, with Pentagon connecting on the Package Piledriver with seconds to spare, but no time to make the cover. Chavo and Texano went to a 5-minute draw which felt like it went 15. Psycho and Cage also went to a draw, though it was quite a bit better than the preceding round. In the end, Mundo pinned Pentagon with Fin del Mundo. This is the second AAA show I’ve been to and the second AAA show to feature a main event finish that completely and totally deflates the crowd. The show closed with Dario Cueto cutting a promo putting over Lucha Underground and offering an invitation to the Temple to anyone who wants to challenge themselves, but with the caveat that they may not get out alive.

In the post-show awards ceremony, Johnny Mundo was awarded most spectacular dive, Mexico LU vs. USA LU was awarded best match, Mary Apache won best luchadora, and Pentagon was named best luchador.

WE VALUE YOUR PRIVACY

Be the first to comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.