By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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AAA Invades WrestleCon
Streamed on FITE TV
March 31, 2022 in Dallas, Texas at Fairmont Dallas
The show was held in the smaller ballroom. The crowd was disappointingly small at maybe 200. This was one of six events held in this venue over the three days (also the same site as New Japan and Impact Wrestling).
The announcing was entirely in Spanish. I saw nearly this entire roster appear on other shows over the weekend, particularly the GCW “Wrld on Lucha” event that occurred the next day.
1. The Filip Brothers defeated Ryan Kidd and Christi Jaymes at 6:39. Jaymes is either from Brazil or Argentina, with a similar size and look as Tay Conti. The brothers don’t wear masks and are either twins or really close in age. Jaymes hit a top-rope moonsault to the floor. The twins hit the (FTR Big Rig) team double knees to back on Jaymes to pin her. Good lucha action, but as always, I have to object to intergender action, as James was clearly too small to be a serious competitor here.
2. Taya Valkyrie, Micro Man, and Nino Hamburguesa defeated Rey Escorpion, La Hiedra, and Abismo Negro in a lumberjack match at 12:56. If you haven’t seen Micro Man on MLW, he is maybe two feet tall. One of the heels immediately stomped on him, and the crowd booed. However, Micro Man hit a huracanrana, which popped the crowd. You really have to suspend your disbelief when he’s in the ring. When one of the heels rolled to the floor, the lumberjacks whipped him with straps.
La Hiedra and Taya squared off at 3:00. Valkyrie hit a crossbody block and a flying double knees to the face. The male heels worked over Taya. Hiedra put Micro Man over her knee and spanked him. Micro Man hit a 619 on La Hiedra at 7:30. The hefty Hamurguesa hit a shoulder block, sending a heel flying over the top rope.
Taya hit a huracanrana on Abismo Negro. Negro hit a package piledriver on Taya at 11:00. Hamburguesa hit a big frogsplash on Negro. Micro Man, then Hamburguesa, hit rolling cannonballs into the cormer. Micro Man got a rollup on Rey Escorpion for the pin. Good, crowd-pleasing match.
3. Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf defeated Aero Star and Drago to retain the NWA Tag Team Titles at 7:47. Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf worked over Drago early. As expected, fast reversals at the start, and the babyfaces hit simultaneous dives to the floor at 4:00. Aero Star hit a 619 and a top-rope corkscrew press. Drago hit a Code Red.
Aero Star hit a Canadian Destroyer. This is non-stop action. Everyone was down at 6:30. Drago hit a powerbomb and Aero Star followed that up with a springboard frogsplash for a nearfall. La Rebellion hit the (FTR Big Rig) double knees to the back to pin Drago. Good match and definitely should have gone longer.
4. Octagon Jr., Aramis, and Mr. Iguana defeated Arez, Abismo Negro Jr., and Faby Apache at 14:11. Arez and Aramis have appeared a lot in MLW, and Faby Apache would appear on the Impact Multiverse of Matches the next day. I am less familiar with the others. As you might expect, Mr. Iguana wears green and is a crazy, Delirious-type gimmick; he carries a rubber iguana to the ring and that would matter later. Mr. Iguana and Faby Apache traded humor-based offense.
Arez hit a top-rope double stomp to Mr. Iguana’s chest at 4:00. Negro hit a top-rope missile dropkick at Octagon’s groin or lower abdomen. Faby hit a backbreaker over her knee on Aramis. The heels beat up on Mr. Iguana’s rubber iguana in the ring, and the crowd mockingly sold their aghast. The babyfaces hit triple dives to the floor on the rudos at 7:30.
Octagon hit a huracanrana, then a nice airplane spin huracanrana at 9:00 on Abismo Negro Jr. Arez and Aramis traded fast-paced offense; they clearly work together a lot. Iguana hit a enzuigiri on Abismo Negro, then a flip dive to the floor. Aramis hit a top-rope flip dive to teh floor at 13:30. In the ring, Mr. Iguana hit a huracanana, rotating around Negro’s body, until he pulled him down for a rollup and the pin. Non-stop, fun, lucha action.
5. Pagano, Drago Kid, and Jack Cartwheel defeated Puma King, Sam Adonis, and Gringo Loco at 17:17. I said this in another recent review, but Drago Kid is really short, probably under 5 feet tall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is younger than 18. Adonis is white, blond, and the brother of Corey Graves; he has been competing recently in NWA. Cartwheel is short and has really been impressing in the West Coast indy scene. Pagano’s makeup makes me think of the Joker.
Cartwheel and Adonis traded some fast offense; Adonis is much, much taller. Gringo Loco and Drago Kid squared off, and Drago Kid walked on his hands. Drago Kid hit a huracanrana on Adonis at 5:00. Pagano and Puma King squared off. Drago Kid gave Gringo Loco a huracanrana. Pagano went for a dive to the floor, but Gringo Loco cut him off with a chairshot at 9:00.
In the ring, the rudos beat up Drago Kid. Adonis hit an impressive 450 Splash on Pagano. Cartwheel hit a top-rope huracanrana on Puma King, then a top-rope twisting press to the floor at 13:00. Pagano and Adonis traded hard chops in the ring. Pagano hit a top-rope huracanrana, then a flipping dive to the floor. In an awkward spot, Cartwheel went for a running shooting star press and came up well short of his target; I don’t think that was intentional.
Loco hit his top-rope spinning powerbomb for a nearfall on Drago Kid; that usually gets him the win. Cartwheel hit a top-rope Shooting Star Press, this time launching well into the ring. Wow! Cartwheel hit his handspring-back-flip dive to the floor. Pagano hit a running Air Raid Crash on Logo to score the pin. Incredible action and athleticism throughout.
6. Laredo Kid defeated Bandido and Flamita in a three-way to retain the AAA Cruiserweight Title at 8:21. I recognize one thing said by the announcers: “Dream match.” Quick reversals by all of them early on. Flamita hit a top-rope frogsplash on Bandido at 2:30. Laredo Kid hit a huriacanrana on Bandido. Laredo hit a top rope corkscrew splash on both opponents.
Laredo Kid stacked his opponents, then hit a 450 splash for a nearfall on Bandido at 4:30. Bandido got Flamita up for a Gorilla Press. Bandido had both opponents on his back and dropped them both to the mat. Cool spot. Flamita did a top rope moonsault, caught the heads of both opponents and turned it into a double DDT at 7:00. The crowd chanted “lucha!” Flamita hit a standing powerbomb. Bandido got a rollup on Flamita for a nearfall. Laredo Kid hit a top-rope Spanish Fly to pin Flamita. Incredible action and I wish it had been longer.
7. Psycho Clown defeated Black Taurus. Psycho Clown shook hands with fans and is the babyface here. Early in the match, he hit a pair of dives on the floor. He hit a bodyslam in the ring for a nearfall at 3:30, and the crowd was behind him. He hit a second-rope moonsault to the floor.
Psycho Clown hit a twisting senton to the floor at 6:30; he has dominated the action. Taurus hit a pair of backbreakers over his knee and a clothesline, and the crowd loudly booed him. He got a table from under the ring. Psycho Clown got a strap and whipped Taurus with it; it made a loud sound that popped the crowd. Psycho Clown hit a Frankensteiner from the corner, then he slammed Taurus through the table, now set up in the corner, to score the pin. Fast and furious action.
Jeff Jarrett ran into the ring and attacked Pyscho Clown! Karen Jarrett, Puma King, Gringo Loco and Sam Adonis were with him. Adonis spoke in Spanish, then in English, telling us that Jarrett is the boss. Jarrett got back on the mic and said he is the brains and the money behind a faction in AAA. Adonis ripped off the mask of Psycho Clown, who buried his face, and the crowd loudly booed this travesty. The crowd chanted “you suck!”
Final Thoughts: I admittedly don’t watch a lot of lucha action. The good stuff is the action is non-stop. The bad news is there isn’t much selling, which means there isn’t much story-telling in the ring. All the matches felt the same in style and substance. It was fun, but also a bit repetitive. The last three matches were all really good. Even with it being so short, I’ll still give Bandido vs. Laredo Kid vs. Flamita the best match honors.
At just 2 hours, 15 minutes, I wish they had let a few of the matches go a little longer, because it was good, nonstop action. The biggest disappointment was the small crowd. I know there were a lot of events that weekend (and truthfully this is one of the last I am getting around to watching), but I’m sure they expected a lot more people here.
I remember the first time I saw Zach Gowen in action and I thought he was so cool, going out there having a match with just one leg. It was quite inspiring. But over time, I realized that every Gowen match was exactly the same, because there was a limit on what he could do. That is exactly what I think of Micro Man. He will wow and dazzle you the first time you see him fly around, but after that, every match is redundant and repetitive.
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