By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
AAA “Lucha Libre World Cup”
March 19, 2023 in Guadalajara, Mexico at Estadio Panamericano de Guadalajara
Streamed on FITE TV
Joe Dombrowski and Larry Davis provided commentary via remote. This show is built around a trios tournament. Matches have a 10-minute time limit; if there isn’t a winner after 10 minutes, each team sends one member into the ring for a five-minute overtime.
* This is an outdoor baseball stadium. The show opened with a lengthy ceremony with the wrestlers on the show; the ring is set up on the pitcher’s mound area, and wrestlers entered through a stage set up around second base. I’ll put the crowd in the 2,000 range; there are a lot of empty seats in this big venue.
* I really hate the quick-cuts in AAA’s production. It is jarring how often they switch cameras, and they leave the action far too often to show us images of fans in the stands. It is really distracting, and they miss too many big spots. Also, no one’s names were displayed on the screen, leaving me to scramble to find the names I didn’t know.
1. “Team Mexico” El Hijo Del Vikingo, Psycho Clown, and Alberto El Patron defeated “Team Latin America” Carlito, Zumbi, and Hip Hop Man in a first-round match in 13:52. I haven’t seen Alberto in years; he wore a large sombrero hat to the ring. Psycho Clown and Zumbi started. Vikingo and Hip Hop Man traded quick reversals. Carlito and Alberto entered at 3:30; Alberto removed his shirt and he’s in great shape. Vikingo re-entered and hit double armdrags on Carlito’s teammates.
Team Mexico hit triple dives through the ropes at 7:00. Everyone kept brawling and we had a countdown to the 10-minute mark (which is right on with my clock), so we are in “overtime.” Alberto hit a DDT on Carlito for a nearfall. Carlito hit the Lungblower; he opened a bag and pulled out an apple and bit into it. However, Carlito accidentally spit it at the referee! Alberto hit a Lungblower on Carlito for the pin. Adequate; Vikingo didn’t get a chance to show off his mind-blowing moves.
* Carlito’s teammates were angry at him; Dombrowski said all he had to do was go for the pin rather than go for his apple.
2. “Team USA” Sam Adonis, Johnny Caballero (f/k/a John Morrison), and Christopher Daniels defeated “Team Japan” La Estrella, Takuma Nishikawa, and Kuukai in a first-round match at 8:19. Team USA came out to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA!” Daniels started with Kuukai. Adonis and Nishikawa traded blows, then Johnny entered at 2:30 to take on the much smaller, masked La Estrella. Team USA worked over a smaller Japanese wrestler for several minutes. Estrella hit a tornado DDT on Daniels at 7:00. However, Daniels hit the Best Moonsault Ever on Estrella for the pin.
3. Pentagon, Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus defeated Bhupinder Gujjar, Rage, and Classy Ali in a first-round match at 7:03. Dombrowski said this is one of Laredo Kid’s first match since he had an intestinal injury last fall that required surgery. Quick reversals from everyone in the first minute. Rage hit a German Suplex on Black Taurus. Pentagon hit a double DDT at 4:30, then he nailed a flip dive to the floor. In the ring, Gujjar hit a sit-out powerbomb on Laredo Kid for a nearfall. Laredo fired with a Spanish Fly to pin Gujjar.
4. “Team Europe” Joe Hendry, Thom Latimer, and Heddi Karaoui defeated “Team Canada” Josh Alezander, PCO, and Vampiro in a first-round match at 8:49. Team Europe came out to “The Final Countdown” by Europe. All six brawled at the bell. Hendry and Alexander traded offense in the ring, with Hendry hitting a delayed vertical suplex. Heddi, who is a bald French man, tied up PCO on the mat. Alexander hit German Suplexes on each of the Team Europe guys. PCO hit a dive through the ropes at 4:00.
They all brawled on the floor again, with PCO hitting a top-rope moonsault onto everyone. In the ring, Latimer and Vampiro traded chops. Latimer hit a sit-out powerbomb. Alexander hit his crossbody block through the ropes onto Latimer. PCO hit an inverted DDT, then a top-rope moonsault on Heddi. However, Joe Hendry hit a big chokeslam to pin PCO! That was a shock; the production team actually started playing the wrong music after the match.
5. “Team USA” Jordynne Grace, Deonna Purrazzo, and Kamille Brickhouse defeated Taya Valkyrie, Natalia Markova, and Dalys la Caribena in a first-round match at 9:08. Team USA wore red-white-and-blue jackets and are acting like arrogant heels. Deonna and Taya started with standing reversals. Larry Dallas correctly said that Taya appeared on virtually every channel last week. Dalys and Kamille locked up at 1:30. Jordynne and Natalia tagged in at 3:00. Team USA began working over Natalia.
Taya hit a Blue Thunder Bomb on Grace for a nearfall at 5:30, then a Curbstomp for a nearfall. Deonna applied a Fujiwara Armbar on Taya. Everyone fought in the ring again, and suddenly everyone was down at 7:00. Kamille and Natalia traded forearm shots. Taya hit a pop-up kneestrike on Deonna. Kamille cut Natalia in half with a spear for the pin. Good match.
6. “Team Mexico” Sexy Star II, Flammer, and La Hiedra defeated “Team Japan” Emi Sakura, Akino, and Mayumi Ozaki in a first-round match at 15:08. Dombrowski noted that Sakura is a 27-year pro. All of Team Mexico wore similar outfits and masks so I’m struggling to tell them apart. Team Mexico hit simultaneous kicks on Emi at 6:00. Emi hit her backbreaker over her knee and applied a surfboard maneuver. Ozaki put a dog collar around Sexy Star’s neck! She threw Sexy Star through the ropes and choked her with it! The crowd loudly booed this. One Japanese woman blew red mist accidentally into her teammate’s face! All six brawled in the ring. We reach the 10-minute mark, so we are headed to overtime. (I kept stopwatch rolling as each team selected someone to fight in overtime.)
Akino and La Hiedra hop in the ring, and Akino applied a Rings of Saturn, but La Hiedra reached the ropes. They traded forearms. La Hiedra hit a suplex for a believable nearfall. Akino hit a Saito Suplex for a nearfall. Hiedra hit a powerbomb move for the pin. I enjoyed this, and the crowd loved seeing Team Mexico advance.
7. “Team USA” Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, and Sam Adonis defeated “Team Mexico” Alberto El Patron, Psycho Clown, El Hijo Del Vikingo in a semi-final match at 13:24. Team USA jumped from behind to kickstart the match, and everyone brawled on the floor. Johnny and Albert brawled in the ring while Adonis and Psycho Clown were near ringside, while Daniels and Vikingo vanished into the crowd. In the ring, Psycho Clown used a Singapore Cane across Adonis’ back at 3:00, then he hit a low blow for a nearfall, then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee for a nearfall.
Vikingo did a double jump-into-an-armdrag on Daniels; it wasn’t perfect. Alberto put Johnny in a cross-armbreaker. Alberto hit a top-rope dive to the floor at 6:30. Vikingo walked on the top rope to the middle (between the ring posts) and hit a springboard 630 Splash. In the ring, Clown hit Adonis with a chairshot to the head. Vikingo choked Daniels against the guardrail on the floor. Adonis hit a top-rope frogsplash on Clown at 10:00. The ref didn’t make the count because the time limit had expired. Johnny got angry at the ref and shoved him.
So, it is just Adonis vs. Psycho Clown in overtime. Clown hit a powerslam for a nearfall. Adonis ripped at Clown’s mask and got loudly booed. Clown hit a Canadian Destroyer for a believable nearfall. Clown nailed a top-rope Spanish Fly, but the ref got distracted. Adonis hit a low blow to get the cheap pin on Clown. The American trio scrambled to the back, as Dombrowski and Dallas said this was supposed to be the Mexican “Dream Team” that was going to win the tournament.
8. Pentagon, Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus defeated “Team Europe” Joe Hendry, Heddi Karaoui, and Thom Latimer in a semi-final tournament match at 6:57. Latimer and Pentagon started, with Pentagon of course shoving his fingers in Thom’s face. Heddi tied Pentagon in a knot in the middle of the ring. Taurus hit a backbreaker over his knee on Heddi. Laredo dove through the ropes onto Hendry at 3:00. In the ring, Pentagon hit a Canadian Destroyer on Thom. Pentagon set up for a package piledriver, but Hendry made the save.
Team Europe began working over Laredo Kid. Pentagon hit a top-rope crossbody block. Taurus gave Heddi a military press over the top rope to the floor. Taurus hit a lungblower move on Hendry for the pin. That was a good (albeit short) non-stop sprint.
9. “Team USA” Kamille Brickhouse, Jordynne Grace, and Deonna Purrazzo defeated “Team Mexico” Flammer, Sexy Star II, and La Hiedra to win the women’s trios tournament at 4:49. I love the USA jackets the ladies wore, and they also all wore sunglasses, even though it is now night. All six brawled at the bell, and the Team Mexico trio beat up Kamille and got a nearfall, but Deonna made the save. Team Mexico hit a triple suplex on the Americans. Deonna and Jordynne flipped two opponents over the guardrail and into the crowd. Meanwhile in the ring, Kamille hit a spear for a nearfall at 4:00; the ref stopped counting because Jordynne and Deonna piled on top. So, Kamille hit a second spear for the pin.
10. Pentagon, Laredo Kid, and Black Taurus defeated “Team USA” Christopher Daniels, Johnny Caballero, and Sam Adonis to win the men’s trios tournament at 27:26. Team Mexico hit stereo dives to the floor. In the ring, Pentagon hit a top-rope dropkick between Daniels’ legs. All six brawled on the floor, with Daniels fighting Taurus into the crowd at 3:00. Laredo and Johnny began climbing a scaffolding beam at ringside! They came back down before getting too high. Adonis hit some chops on Pentagon against the guardrail, in front of the fans.
In the ring, the Americans began working over Taurus. Laredo got in the ring, but the Amercans overpowered him too. Daniels hit a Death Valley Driver on Laredo for a nearfall at 6:00. Johnny hit a corkscrew dive to the floor on Taurus. Daniels hit the Best Moonsault Ever on Laredo, but Pentagon made the save. Pentagon hit a superkick on Daniels, then a package piledriver! A manager for the USA team stopped the ref from counting, and we reached the 10:00 mark, sending us to overtime!
Pentagon and Johnny will represent their teams in overtime. Johnny shook hands but immediately began punching Pentagon, and he ripped open Pentagon’s mask. They brawled on the floor; the other four wrestlers are still at ringside but are away fro the action. In the ring, Johnny hit him over the head with a thin cookie sheet and got a nearfall at 13:30. Johnny nailed the Moonlight Drive swinging neckbreaker for a nearfall. Johnny got more rollups but the five-minute time limit expired.
We had maybe a 30 second break and the action continued with the same wrestlers; I thought different partners would enter the match, but that wasn’t the case. Pentagon hit a sling blade clothesline, then a flip dive to the floor at 18:00. On the floor, Pentagon hit Johnny over the head with a garbage can lid and cookie sheets. In the ring, Pentagon hit a pumphandle sit-out powerbomb for a believable nearfall. Pentagon hit a lungblower for a nearfall at 20:30. He hit a package piledriver for a believable nearfall. They traded more chops, and the second overtime ended.
After another short break, the match resumed and they immediately traded forearm shots. Johnny hit a fallaway slam. On the floor, Adonis attacked Taurus. Johnny beat up Pentagon on the floor. In the ring, Johnny hit Starship Pain corkscrew press for a believable nearfall at 25:30. Pentagon hit a package piledriver on the ring apron! He then hit a top-rope doublestomp to Johnny’s chest for a nearfall. Pentagon hit a top-rope Code Red through a table set up in the ring to pin Johnny. Really good match.
* Ribbons and trophies were given to the winning teams on the stage, and we had a fireworks show to conclude the event.
* This was a fun event. I enjoy watching the Team USA guys heel it up in Mexico. The main event was really good, especially when it got down to just Johnny and Pentagon. I was surprised to see Alberto El Patron, as I thought he was essentially blackballed from major promotions.
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