By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
AAA Triplemania
August 16, 2025, in Mexico City, Mexico, at Arena CDMX
Streamed live on the WWE YouTube page
The show started off with a cold open video package that featured words from Rey Mysterio, Nino Hamburguesa, Faby Apache, and El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr. They all talked about how important the event was and hyped up TripleMania…
Corey Graves opened up the show on commentary. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, HBK, Dorian Roldan, and various AAA dignitaries were in the ring. Aida Cuevas sang the Mexican National Anthem…
Shots of Rey Mysterio, Dr. Wagner Jr, El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr, El Hijo Del Vikingo, and Judgement Day were shown arriving at the arena. Vikingo drew huge boos (which has been happening ever since WWE forced AAA to take the belt off Del Rio before Worlds Collide for PR purposes)…
The Mexican announce team was introduced first. The camera panned over to the English announce table. Graves introduced John Bradshaw Layfield and Konnan as his fellow commentators on the English side. JBL and Konnan talked about their history with TripleMania and how big the event was. Jesus Zuniga was the ring announcer…
Jesus did an introduction for the Bardahl Cup. Graves explained that the Bardahl Cup is similar to the Royal Rumble, but you are also able to eliminate wrestlers via pinfall and submission in addition to throwing wrestlers over the top rope…
La Parka made his entrance first to some bootleg sounding version of Thriller. Laredo Kid was out 2nd…
1. The Copa Bardahl Match. La Parka beat up Laredo a bit and did his signature strut. Laredo Kid turned the tables and chopped Parka in the corner. Kid planted Parka with a Michinoku Driver. Kid hit Parka with a 450 for a nearfall. The next wrestler out was WWE’s Joaquin Wilde. Graves noted that Wilde has wrestled in TripleMania before (as DJ Zema Ion). Wilde took down both opponents with DDTs and got a two count off both of them with a double pin attempt.
Abismo Negro Jr was out next. Taurus was the next member out. Taurus (not AEW’s Black Taurus) took down the wrestlers in the ring. Wilde took down Abismo down with a huracanrana. Taurus used a Giant Swing to send Wilde into Abismo’s dropkick. Next out was Aerostar, who a lot of fans would remember as a featured wrestler from Lucha Underground. Aerostar hit Wilde with a cutter.
Aerostar hit Abismo with a slingshot double stomp. Aerostar hit Abismo with a suicide dive. Aerostar dodged Kid’s corkscrew moonsault. Laredo Kid was eliminated by Aerostar. The next wrestler out was Mecha Wolf. Wilde skinned the cat when Wolf tried to eliminate him. Wolf did a Triple H like water spray with some mist. Wolf hit Taurus with a Michinoku Driver to stand tall. Out next was WWE’s Cruz Del Toro. Toro hit Abismo with a diving huracanrana. Kid and Wilde took down Wolf with a assisted hip toss.
The LWO swarmed Taurus in the corner. Wolf spat mist at a diving Wilde and then tossed him over the top rope to eliminate him. Abismo skinned the cat when Toro tried to eliminate him. Out next was Out next was WWE’s Otis of the Alpha Academy. Otis cleaned house. He caught Aerostar out of the air and then dumped him to ringside for the elimination. Otis did the Caterpillar on Abismo. Graves said that looked like a sand worm rather than a worm.
Konnan joked about the Mexican pronunciation of Otis. Exotico wrestler Pimpinela Escarlata made her entrance. Pimpi hit Abismo and Cruz with an Old School Rana combo. Taurus broke up a potential kiss between Pimpi and Otis. Pimpi and Otis used a clothesline to eliminate Taurus. JBL said it looks like Otis is in heat. Otis cradled Pimpi, but accidentally eliminated her after Wolf’s dropkick. Out next was Cibernetico. Cibernetico hit a few moves on the wrestlers in the ring.
Graves noted that Cibernetico was in the Royal Rumble the same year Mil Mascaras eliminated himself. The next wrestler out was a MLW regular, the Mini Microman (where’s Mister Saint Laurent when you need him?)!!! JBL said Microman is a master of hand to knee combat, just as Micro gave Abismo a Dragon Screw. Bradshaw also noted that Microman is the king of the stepladder match. Micro rana’d Wolf into Abismo. Abismo and Wolf dumped Cibernetico over the top rope to the apron when he went after Microman. Otis used Microman as a battering ram to eliminate Cibernetico.
WWE’s Omos made his entrance. Konnan asked “wasn’t he in Japan?”. Omos came out in his anime looking ring gear. Omos took down the wrestlers one by one. Konnan wondered why the wrestlers were taking turns. Otis and Microman were standing “tall”. Omos felt someone poking him on the leg, but took his time to find Microman. Omos hit Microman with a little boot which drew boos. Konnan joked that Microman might have a concussion.
Omos pulled Microman to the top rope. The rest of the wrestlers dogpiled Omos, but he powered out. Omos eliminated Toro and Abismo. The last entrant was Octagon Jr. Omos shrugged off Octagon and Wolf. Omos and Microman were the only standing. Microman hit Otis with a splash for the pinfall elimination. JBL called Microman a dummy for eliminating the only man that was helping him. Konnan joked that the possible concussion from earlier might have impeded Microman’s judgement.
Omos lifted up Microman like a basketball.Omos eliminated Microman on top of Toro and Abismo. Omos crew “Culero” (asshole) chants. Parka and Octagon assisted Wolf in swarming Omos. JBL and Konnan said it was weird that they started turning on each other before eliminating Omos. Parka did his strut after taking down Wolf and Octagon. Omos was selling in the corner for a long time.
Parka eliminated Wolf. Omos, Octagon, and Parka were the final three. Octagon ate a big boot by Omos to get eliminated. Parka crotched Omos on the top rope and got him on the apron. Omos used a choke to drag Parka over the top to win the match.
Omos won the Copa Bardhal Match in 26:30.
Omos held up the Bardhal Cup…
John’s Thoughts: A fun and well paced royal rumble clone match. I’m happy they decided to stick to a small number instead of going with 20 or 30 wrestlers as it allows newer viewers to not get overwhelmed by a bunch of “who?” names. If you watched Lucha Underground or MLW, they did have a lot of the wrestlers you might recognize from there. I’m happy that WWE allowed to AAA to keep some of it’s fun cultural staples like the minis or exoticos. Microman, as he usually is, was the star of the match. It was really smart to have him stand opposite of the giant Omos to really sell the size difference.
Evolve’s Chuey Martinez interviewed Dragon Lee about his upcoming match. Lee spoke in Spanish a bit and also called Dom Mysterio a fraud and sell-out. He said he was going to prove himself as the future of Lucha Libre when he wins the AAA Mega Championship..
Maricela Pena, Alberto Fasja, Nick Khan, and Triple H were at ringside. Influencer Pipe Punk was shown. The Original Dr. Wagner Jr was also shown in the crowd. Dorian Roldan and El Mesias were shown walking backstage…
A hype package aired for the Mesias vs. Wagner Jr. match…
John’s Thoughts: Note on the production so far, huge plus with no flaws so far. The WWE production values have really improved the usually low quality of the show. The camera angles especially stand out. This has been the best AAA has looked since they had the Lucha Underground production values. Graves has been doing a solid job as play-by-play with JBL and Konnan doing a great job splitting the Mike Tenay professor role. While it may kill the emersion a bit, I was a fan of Konnan playing the role of the fan watching the show from home and wondering some of the weird and illogical decisions television characters make. Konnan is also showing more energy tonight compared to Worlds Collide and has definitely enhanced the commentary booth. One more note, I’m okay with them not having a six sided ring, as you don’t want to have that thrown randomly on the WWE wrestlers.
El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr. made his entrance first. El Mesias was out next wearing Dr. Doom themed gear, which Dr. Wagner Sr. would usually wear. TNA or Lucha Underground fans would remember Mesias as Judas Mesias or Mil Muertes…
2. El Mesias (w/Dorian Roldan) vs. El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA Latin American Championship. Mesias hit Wagner with a forearm. Konnan talked about Mesias’s long history with the company. Wagner dumped Mesias to ringside and hit him with a cannonball. Konnan booed and was hating on Dr. Wagner Sr. Mesias recovered and slammed Wagner for a two count. Mesias hit Wagner with a DDT on the apron.
Mesias controlled the match with his usual methodical pace. Mesias hit Wagner with a tackle for two count. Dorian and Mesias got in Father Wagner’s face. Mesias teased ripping off the mask of Hijo Wagner Jr. in front of his dad. Hijo Wagner Jr got a window of opportunity after a clothesline. Wagner hit Mesias with a Dragon Screw and followed up with a splash for a two count. Wagner hit Mesias with a Power Bomb and Dr Driver for a good nearfall.
Dorian Roldan got on the apron for the distraction. Father Wagner jumped the guardrail and dragged Dorian to ringside. Dorian put on Wagner’s signature match, but ate a punch from Wagner Sr. Mesias hit a distracted Wagner Jr with a spear for a good nearfall. Wagner and Mesias went to the top rope. Wagner hit Mesias with a Superplex into a Wagner Driver for the victory.
El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr defeated El Mesias via pinfall in 10:18 to become the new AAA Latin American Champion.
Konnan was extremely butthurt about the Wagners being successful tonight. He said Father Wagner was a major glory hound. Vero Rodriguez interviewed Hijo Wagner after the match. Wagner did the signature “bien” catchphrase and said Viva Mexico. Konnan said Hijo Wagner was being a major ass kisser…
John’s Thoughts: A well paced match with the young hypeness in Wagner Jr winning the title. Mesias is a year away from 50 years old, but he hasn’t missed a beat. He’s one of the best wrestlers out there who can wrestle a methodical pace without losing the crowd (Mesias and Rey Fenix have had some of the best “death matches” I’ve seen live, and these are Death Matches that don’t use a ton of weapons all over the place). The viewers aren’t really sure why Konnan hates Wagner so much, but it was still fun nonetheless.
Chuey Martinez was backstage with the Judgement Day. Finn Balor said he was feeling great and this is the biggest TripleMania because of Judgement Day. Dom Mysterio said he’s going to be the new Mega Champion. Dom’s dad Rey Mysterio showed up to confront Judgement Day. Rey and Dom traded words in Spanish. Dom said Rey can go sit down to see a Mysterio do something Rey couldn’t do, be Mega Champion Finn and crew gassed up Dom…
Influencer Natalia MX was shown in the crowd…
Entrances for the next match took place…
John’s Thoughts: A lot of this generic royalty-free music for the AAA wrestlers are bad, but they aren’t as buttass as some of the Def Rebel music. Judgment Day aren’t even using their cool Adam Copeland music these days (did WWE lose the rights to the Alter Bridge theme and were forced to use Def Rebel’s buttrap in its place?).
3. “Judgment Day” Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez) vs. Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa, and Lola Vice in a mixed tag match. Raquel and Lola started the match out. Lola ducked a clothesline and shook her hips a bit. Lola worked on Raquel with her TKD kicks. Lola countered a body slam into a Juji Gatame. Lola rallied with strikes and a arndrag. Balor tagged in, but this is mixed tag rules, so a man has to enter on the other side.
Iguana crawled under Lola’s legs to confront Balor. Iguana hit Balor with a rebound armdrag. Balor tagged in JD. Iguana hit JD with a huracanrana for a two count. Nino tagged in. JBL said Nino is a street vendor’s worst nightmare. JD and Nino had a shoving match. Raquel slapped JD to fire him up. Nino no sold JD’s tackles. Roxanne gave JD some protein drink. Nino caught JD out of the air and hit him with a body slam.
Nino stacked JD and Balor in the corner with a stinger splash. Lola trapped Raquel in the other corner. Lola and Burger hit their opponents with stereo “I’m a Latina” strikes in the corner. JD dodged a Banzai Drop from Burger after the distraction from Perez. JD and Balor trapped Burger in the corner with isolation offense. The crowd gave Judgment Day “culero” chants. JD even mocked Lola a bit with a hip dance.
Vice took out Rodriguez at ringside with a cannonball. Burger countered a double suplex with a double suplex of his own on both opponents. Burger used the window of opportunity to tag in Mr. Iguana and La Yezca. Yezca “bit” JD and allowed Iguana to hit JD with an Old School Rana. Iguana hit JD with a flip dive. Finn Balor pulled out a Demon Puppet, which shocked Iguana and Yesca. The Demon ate Yesca and gave Iguana an armdrag.
Burger pulled out two hamburgers like he was cheesburger Eddie. Balor accepted the peace offering. Iguana dropkicked Balor after Balor took a bite of the sandwich. Burger hit Balor and JD at ringside with a Suicide Dive. Lola hit Raquel with a backfist. Perez shoved Lola off the top rope. La Hiedra ran out and tackled Vice. Hiedra then chased Roxanne to the back. Rodriguez hit Vice with a big boot and Texana Bomb for the victory.
The Judgment Day defeated Lola Vice, Nino Hamburguesa, and Mr. Iguana via pinfall in 11:51.
John’s Thoughts: A fun mid-show match. Yes, I usually hope for banger matches involving wrestlers like Balor or JD, but they played well into the lightheartedness here. Mr. Iguana, Balor, and Hamburguesa had the fun moment in the middle of the match with the two puppets and two cheeseburgers. The finish was a bit wonky and overbooked (though we’ve seen worse from AAA). It would have helped to have a video package set up why the hell La Hiedra did what she did? She just attacked women in both teams. Finish aside, this was a good light-hearted buffer match.
Pagano and Psycho Clown were shown psyching each other up backstage. Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza were also shown warming up. The show cut to the tag team title match hype package…
Celebrity Brian Shulito Calderon was shown in the crowd…
John’s Thoughts: The WWE is seeping in. They’re even doing the regular celebrity shots in the crowd as much as they can. This isn’t a bad thing as AAA really needed help to step up their production values. No matter what you may think, you can’t deny that WWE is best in terms of the production aspect of live television in the industry and AAA really benefits from inheriting that top tier presentation.
Entrances for the tag team title match took place…
John’s Thoughts: I don’t like the American Wolves fake tatoos, but I did like the gear Garza and Berto wore here. They looked like Aztec warriors or something and looked very badass. Way better than the midcard mid guys that WWE present them as back on Smackdown.
4. “Los Garzas” Angel and Berto vs. Psycho Clown and Pagano in a street fight for the AAA Tag Team Championships. The Garzas took down their opponents and tossed in a bunch of weapons in the ring. The Garzas had the higher ground with kendo sticks. The Garzas beat down their opponents with kendo sticks. Garza and Berto tried to dual wield, but Pagano and Clown held their own. The challengers were trapped in Trees of Woe, where they ate Kendo Stick shots to the gut. Pagano caught Berto with Magnum.
Clown used his belt to hit Angel a bit. Clown hit Garza with a tilt a whirl and pop up punch. Clown hit both opponents with a double German Suplex on steel chairs. The two Clowns mugged for the crowd. The clowns hit their opponents with kendo sticks. The clowns hit Angel with a double team Trash Con-chair-to. Psycho hit Berto with a Chair Suicide Dive. Pagano hit Angel with a drop kick for a nearfall.
Pagano missed a chair assisted Moonsault. Angel dodged Psycho to send him into the steel steps. Berto got a two count on Pagano. The Garzas set up a table in the ring. The Garzas gave Pagano a double Super Body Slam through the table. Psycho broke up the pin by the Garzas. Psycho dragged a table into the ring. The Garzas swarmed Psycho with overhead blows. Pagano speared both Garzas into the table set up in the corner.
An “Este Lucha” (This is Lucha) chant ensued. Pagano and Garza traded Yay-Boo punches on the apron. Berto stacked both clowns on Garza on the apron. Berto hit Psycho with a springboard Disaster Kick which sent Angel and the Clowns falling through the tables at ringside. Psycho kicked out of Berto’s pin in the ring. Pagano put Barbed wire in his mouth and then punched Berto with a Superman punch.
The clowns wrapped Berto in the barbed wire. Pagano hit Angel with a step up flip dive. Psycho hit Berto with a Spanish Fly for the victory.
Psycho Clown and Pagano defeated Los Garzas via pinfall in 12:54 to become the new AAA Tag Team Champions.
Clowns from the Psycho Circus faction ran out to celebrate with the new tag team champions…
John’s Thoughts: A fun tag title match with a nice title change. WWE is booking this show as well, so why can’t they get the tag team division right on Raw and Smackdown? The Garzas looked great and on another level here (they were solid during their NXT run recently too). It just takes putting out simple feuds. Hopefully Hunter can see this as a way to simplify things and properly push his tag divisions. Psycho and Pagano looked great as well. It was actually kinda refreshing seeing Pagano not overdo it with the garbage wrestling (he’s under WWE’s limitations of course). Psycho has become a very solid wrestler over the years following his awkward booking during Vampiro’s time as head of booking AAA.
Vero Rodriguez interviewed El Hijo Del Vikingo backstage in Spanish. The crowd gave Vikingo huge boos (because they are behind Alberto Del Rio and felt that WWE screwed him out of the title). Vikingo hyped up the main event…
John’s Thoughts: So far, the announce team, even with Konnan who has been booking the show around the situation, have not addressed the boos of Vikingo in favor of Alberto El Patron. Just knowing what (alleged) drugs can do to people and change them at the moment, I pray that Alberto Del Rio has took accountability for his self destruction over the past few years and has cleaned up his act. The guy is immensely talented and I am always a proponent of forgiveness and 2nd chances.
The ring announcer Jesus Zuinga introduced Rey Mysterio to the ring. Rey Myserio made his entrance for the AAA Hall of Fame ceremony. Rey spoke in spanish. They tried to translate it in english, but it was hard to hear over the live event (they should use Closed Caption!). Rey did a speech to introduce Konnan as the latest entrant in the AAA Hall of Fame. Rey talked about how Konnan helped push Lucha Libre and did a lot of work for the Cruserweights in pro wrestling.
The show cut to a Konnan Hall of Fame video package that featured clips from Konnan in WWE, WCW, and AAA. Rey then introduced and handed the mic over to Konnan. Konnan thanked the crowd and soaked in cheers. Konnan said it took them 30 years, but he finally got this award. Konnan thanked the people who helped him throughout his career, like Antonio Pena, Perro Aguayo, Rey Mysterio, and others.
Konnan then narrated his path in pro wrestling and talked about how he started as a fan to where he is today. Konnan then doubled back to thanking everyone who made him the pro wrestling personality that he is today. Konnan weaved in a few jabs at the fans booing him, even throwing in a “chinga tu madre” (F you) to a fan at ringside. Konnan also thanked Triple H and Jeremy Borash before ending his promo…
John’s Thoughts: A bit hard to translate due to the two voices talking over each other. Maybe they might want to consider Closed Captioning next time (and due to Google and AI, you don’t even have to transcribe)? I did get most of the presentation though and it was a solid and well deserved honoring of the legend Konnan. It’s been a roller coaster ride for him. Homie keeps it real and 100, which even got him fired at one point, but he’s way too talented and smart to be kept away (and saved AAA from those weird Vampiro days. How the hell was Vampiro allowed to book a company? I semi kid, I semi kid). Great to see him get his roses and good to see him in good shape. He’s one of the best talent scouts in the business and underrated with how great he is on the mic. Definitely one of my favorite promos to watch on any night.
Chuey Martinez interviewed El Grande Americano and said he’s more grande than usual. Grande then hyped his upcoming match. He spoke slowly, but pronounced his Spanish well enough…
The show cut to a hype package for the Reina de Reina’s match…
John’s Thoughts: Ah dang, it sucks that Taya Valkyrie isn’t in WWE at the moment. She was a huge star in the AAA Women’s division and had a great run as the Reina de Reina’s champion. WWE seemed high on her too but she was a victim of Vince McMahon’s bad booking during the NXT 2.0 era.
Influencer Brianna Moreno was shown in the crowd. Mascarita Sagrada, El Fantasma, and Lady Shani were shown in the crowd…
Entrances for the next match took place. For some reason Natalya had personal security with her (she’s been wrestling at WWE approved Indies with a bit of an edgy gimmick)…
5. Lady Flammer vs. Faby Apache vs. Natalya Neidhart for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. Flammer tossed aside Natalya and Faby early on. Faby caught Flammer with a shotgun dropkick. Flammer came back with a huracanrana on Faby. Faby came back with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Natalya tripped Faby. Natalya smothered Faby with strikes and tackles in the corners. Faby reversed Natalya into a reverse Figure Four. Natalya reversed the move into the Hart Sharpshooter.
Flammer broke up the submission. Faby gave Nattie a clothesline. Falmmer hit Faby with a mule kick. Faby hit Flammer with a Mafia Kick. The heel ref did a slow count for two . The heel ref drew “culero” chants. Flammer hit Faby with Eat De-feet for a normal two count. JBL congratulated the ref for improving his pinfall so soon. Faby put Flammer into an Alligator Roll and reverse Juji Gatame.
Natalya put Flammer in an ankle lock at the same time. Natalya hit Faby with aggressive ground and pound. Natalya put Flammer in a Surfboard, which Faby broke up with a Shotgun Dropkick. Natalya went for aggressive ground and pound on Faby, but Faby fought back with a body scissors to the gut of Natalya. Faby and Natalya traded submission counters. All three women traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Flammer hit both opponents with a double clothesline and got two counts on both women.
Nattie hit Faby with a discus clothesline. Nattie hit Flammer with a legsweep. Nattie put Flammer and Faby both in a Sharpshooter. Flammer and Faby escaped and took each other out with boots. Faby kicked Flammer with a superkick and got a nearfall. Konnan compared Lucha Libre to hip hop, talking about how Hip Hop started in one place and then spread all around the world with different regional iterations. Konnan talked about how Lucha has become appreciated and regionalized worldwide.
Faby slammed Flammer. Natalya broke up the pin. Natalya put Faby in a counter Ankle Lock. Faby rolled up Faby and got a two count that was really close. Natalya put Faby in a Sleeper. Graves wondered if the heel ref was to blame for the nearfall. Faby hit Natalya with a Michinoku Driver. Flammer rolled up Faby. The heel ref did a fast count for the victory.
Lady Flammer defeated Faby Apache and Natalya via pinfall in 10:45 to retain the AAA Reina de Reina’s Championship.
Natalya and Faby brawled after the match. The heel ref separated both women…
John’s Thoughts: I’m aware of Natalya’s new edgy gimmick that she’s been doing on the indies recently, but this is the first time I saw it flourish in the ring. It was very good, and I hope it finds its way back to Raw or Smackdown. All three women were solid. I’m very familiar with Faby since I saw a lot of her when I watched AAA. She even had runs in TNA. I’ve heard the name Flammer a lot, but haven’t seen a lot of her work. She was solid. I’m assuming she’s the heel due to her teaming with the heel ref (is she a part of that Toxic Attraction clone that AAA has? I think I heard that)
WWE hyped World’s Collide for September 12th in Las Vegas…
Corey Graves hyped up the World’s Collide event and hoped that Konnan and JBL will join him there…
Graves sent the show to the world title match hype package…
Several Mariachi members lined up on the ramp. El Grande Americano made his entrance singing the classic Aye Yai Yai Yai song. His good pronunciation of the language won over the crowd…
John’s Thoughts: To break kayfabe a bit, there’s a reason I’ve been a fan of Ludwig Kaiser’s talking ability (I was a bigger fan of his than Gunter when they were a team in Progress). This guy is a great orator and can even do it in Spanish.
Dragon Lee came out to a very cool Asian style dragon entrances with asian drums and a Chinese lion dance dragon. He also came to the ring with cool Batman wings (better that whatever the hell Lyra Valkyria does). Dominik Mysterio made his entrance with his unloaded mask. He also had a Viking themed vest on top of his gear. Dom wore a skirt with Liv Morgan’s portrait on front at his crotch area.
Out last was El Hijo Del Vikingo who got the WWE-style camera follow entrance. Vikingo and Rey fist bumped backstage. Vikingo also fist bumped an older man (is that El Padre del Vikingo?). El Hijo Del Vikingo made his entrance to boos. The fans in the front row were okay slapping hands with him. Jesus Zuniga handled the formal in-ring championship match introductions. Dom Mysterio got the best reaction while Vikingo got the most negative heat. Konnan acknowledged Grande Americano and Dom getting more cheers than Vikingo…
John’s Thoughts: So? Is the way they get rid of the Del Rio heat for Vikingo by putting the belt on Dom? That would be interesting because WWE gets their cake and eats it too because the only reason Vikingo is being booed because the fans are booing WWE’s booking. I can’t see Vikingo going heel as he hasn’t proven himself as a character yet. He doesn’t necessarily need to because he’s arguably one of the top, if not top, high flyer in the world (who does have a lot of milage on those legs though). Americano serenaded the crowd enough to to the point where they want to see him win too!
6. El Hijo Del Vikingo vs. El Grande Americano vs. Dominik Misterio vs. Dragon Lee for the AAA Mega Championship. Americano and Dom teamed up taking down Lee and Vikingo. Lee took down Americano with a dropkick. Lee was getting boos for associating with Vikingo. Lee and Vikingo hit the other two opponents with Suicide Dives. Lee rolled up Vikingo for a two count. Both men traded pin attempts and ended in a stalemate after an agility showcase.
Dom and Americano beat up Lee and Vikingo at ringside. Lee put Dom in the Tree of Woe and hit him with a double stomp for a nearfall. Lee hit Americano with a Hesitation Dropkick. Dom tangled Lee in the corner. Americano tied Lee’s mask to the bottom rope so he and Dom can stomp a mudhole in him. Konnan noted that it was shocking that this is Dom’s first match in AAA, especially since Rey has been a mainstay with over 300 matches in the company.
Americano and Dom then were at odds with both men wanting to win the title. Vikingo dumped both opponents to the corners. Lee and Vikingo hit stereo corner moves on both opponents. Vikingo hit Lee with a quick Trouble in Paradise. Dragon hit Vikingo with a power bomb. Dom hit Lee with a Destroyer. Americano hit Dom with a knee.
Vikingo hit Americano with a Codebreaker to leave all four men on the ground. Lee hit Vikingo with a Snap German and Superkick. Vikingo hit Dragon with a Poisonrana for a good nearfall. Vikingo hit Lee with a meteora in the corner and hit him with a Shooting Star. Americano broke up the pin and dragged Vikingo to ringside. Americano cleared the English Announcer table. JBL noted that the Spanish table was the safe table in Mexico.
Dom and Americano power bombed Vikingo through the table. The crowd chanted “otra”. Dragon sent Dom and Americano across the Spanish announce table. The action actually messed up the commentary feed. Finn and JD grabbed Lee’s feet and allowed Dom to hit him with a 619. No DQs in a multi person match. Americano broke up Dom’s pin. The two LWO guys ran out and brawled with Finn and JD.
Lee took down Americano in the ring. Lee hit Americano with a crossbody for a nearfall. The commentary feed was back after repairs. El Grande Dos and Tres ran out. Dos hit Lee with a Gamengiri. Americano hit Lee with a Blockbuster for a close nearfall. The clones handed Americano his lead piece. Dragon kicked Americano before he can load it. Lee hit Americano Dos and Tres with a flip dive.
Dragon hit Americano with Destino. Vikingo broke up the pin to huge boos. Vikingo hit Lee with a 450 for a nearfall. Dom put the mask on and loaded it with lead. Dom dumped Vikingo to ringside and hit Americano with the loaded headbutt. Dom hit Lee with a Loaded Flying Jalapeño. Dom hit Lee with a Frog Splash. A masked ninja ran out and broke up the pin.
The ninja was AJ Styles. AJ hit Dom with a Styles Clash. Vikingo went to the top rope and hit Dom with the 630. Vikingo picked up the win after AJ threw the ref back in the ring.
El Hijo Del Vikingo defeated Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and El Grande Americano via pinfall in 15:05.
Highlights from the match aired. Dom mugged from a distance while Vikingo celebrated his win in the ring to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A really good main event with solid work and logical outside shenanigans (even though the looming Alberto Del Rio heat on Vikingo did make things somewhat eyebrow raising). It almost ended up being a pseudo Tornado Tag with the bizarro outcome of Dom and Americano being the babyface team while Vikingo and Lee were the fan-picked heels. Dom and Vikingo were the best parts of the match with their in-ring and character work. I’m starting to like Americano’s gimmick again with him invoking Kage No Bunshin No Jutsu with his two shadow clones who may or may not be the British Strong Style tag team.
The AJ interference got a huge pop from the crowd and made sense given AJ’s recent feud with Dom. They had a weird random Eddie Guerrero tribute at Summerslam which made the feud feel filler. This presumably continues the feud and makes it feel less filler. AAA does have a Vikingo-Del Rio problem though. I don’t know what weird work-shoot thing WWE can pull for this too as they legitimately don’t want to do business with Del Rio it seems (and I wouldn’t blame the either. While Mexico would be happy, the US crowd will get outraged over WWE associating with Del Rio).
Again, Del Rio is radioactive and had done toxic things. I pray and hope he’s turned things around and if he can prove himself somehow, I personally wouldn’t mind him back (but simple fans aren’t as deep thinking and forgiving as I and others are, so they’ll just outrage no matter what. I also grew up with a preacher as a dad which makes me more forgiving than most). We’ll see how WWE handles this. I would have just put the belt on Dom, and WWE would have gotten their hand picked champion without the heat.
Overall, I would say this was a solid show. While TripleMania is billed as their “WrestleMania”, this was more of a reset of the AAA brand under the WWE banner. Where that shined was in the production values. Longtime AAA fans in America may not like them taking away the six sided ring, blood, and low production, but those fans are more fans of goofy niche stuff that doesn’t appeal to those seeking quality entertainment. I thought this was a good WWE-style PLE with AAA still having their landmarks like the Lucha Libre, luchadores, heel refs, melodramatic finishes, melodramatic interferene. Looking forward to the next World’s Collide show to see if WWE will continue to take this latest investment seriously. I’ll be back in a bit for the Dot Net Members and Patreon patrons with my audio review of the show.
Best PLE of the year. By a lot
Production value is excellent… the announcing was a little outrageous but in a very Joey styles / ECW type of way.
Definitely a WWE style of Lucha… But they did retain a lot of their cultural standards which I enjoyed
Matches themselves I thought we were quite good
I’m a fan of keeping the belt on Vikingo… He seems like a decent guy and it’s a little unfair that the fans have targeted him, but this is the way to make a true heel haven’t seen fans this upset at the main event since back in the nWo days
This all really worked for me
I think your comments about simple fans not being deep thinking is problematic. Plenty of people can think deeply about it, and still decide they don’t want a domestic abuser on their programme, whether they can forgive someone or not. Hasn’t he already had his second and third chance? I think it’s a bit patronising to indicate you’re more forgiving than most and pre-empting dissenting voices by saying people will be outraged no matter what. It shuts down the debate. Forgiveness isn’t the sole purview of the religious,
Practically, sponsors won’t want anything to do with him. He isn’t a draw enough for them to look past the fan response.,
Enjoyed your review, though.
I totally understand your point, but also understand that I meant no harm to anyone specifically. I personally think it’s a fault of mine for being so forgiving.
If anything, if a person who commits sins refuses to atone for such things, then they should be grinded by judgement. What I just hope is that well thinking and kind hearted people don’t resort to fighting hate with hate. I just wish the best in people and hope that they have it in them to forgive.
When I say simple, I don’t mean most people. I’m usually pointing at people who get their rocks off with spewing the hate in their heart.
Spot on
Good convo here and I, too, appreciate the forgiving, compassionate angle. That’s pretty much my jam.
Finn Balor being completely serious when he revealed the demon puppet and was working it with Mr Iguana was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time.
Feel bad for Vikingo, he’s taking all the heat for WWE’s booking decision.
SIGN MICROMAN!
Can we please lose JBL on commentary.He Doesn’t add anything and is not funny at all. Go back to just Konnan and Corey Graves