Submitted by Robert Bihari
Myzteziz began the show coming out to a mixed reaction. He cut a sort of rudo promo on Rey Misterio Jr. & also La Sociedad. He specifically said he doesn’t want to join them and doesn’t need help winning his matches unlike wrestlers such as Fantasma & Pentagon. He left to more boo’s than cheers.
AAA Reina De Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie vs. Goya Kong vs La Hiedra vs Lady Shani vs Lady Maravilla
This was Taya’s first title defense since winning the title 18 months ago at Triplemania. Both Lady Shani & Lady Maravilla were listed as surprises although Shani debuted 2 weeks ago in Monterrey so it was presumed she’d be one of the mystery women. Lady Maravilla is relatively unknown but has been working the Mexico City area & training under Gran Apache (who is the head AAA trainer). This was one fall instead of elimination and no tags needed so it was all action. Maravilla looked good in her debut & Goya Kong seemed extra motivated – both doing and taking lots of moves you wouldn’t expect someone her size to do.
They did a dive train ending with Goya doing a somersault off the apron onto everyone. At one point Lady Maravilla did a great combo submission/German Suplex spot. Finish saw Taya use her Northern Lights Suplex/Double Stomp combo on Hiedra to keep her title. Match exceeded all expectations and was actually quite good.
AAA Tag Team Champions Joe Lider/Pentagon Jr. (champs) vs Jack Evans/Angelico vs Steve Pain/Daga
Even though they’ve been portrayed as not being on the same page on TV, Lider/Pentagon/Daga all came out wearing Perros Del Mal shirts which was confusing. Steve Pain must have not got the memo. This was the usual AAA multi-team match with everyone taking turns doing their big moves while other guys just watched from the outside. Angelico hit a big running somersault dive onto a pile at one point. Later Angelico picked up Daga in a fireman’s carry and Jack moonsaulted off Daga’s chest to the floor on Pentagon. The match was going well until Joe Lider brought out thumbtacks for no reason at all and took forever setting up a suplex off the top rope onto them.
Daga hit a gorgeous somersault dive onto a pile and then brawled up onto the stage with Angelico where they were met by Myzteziz who superkicked Angelico. Myzteziz then hit the ringside area seemingly to help one of the rudo teams but instead dragged Pentagon outside the ring to break up a pin after a Package Piledriver and then crotched him on the ringpost as Joe Lider stood by watching and being confused. Steve Pain got a great nearfall on Jack Evans but then Jack pinned him with the bridging backslide to get the win. Very good match with some great moves & hopefully the end of Pentagon Jr. being wasted in the tag division.
Drago/Fenix vs Brian Cage/Mesias
The rudos took the advantage early on with Cage doing lots of his usual power moves on the tecnicos. They built up to the tecnico comeback which included a slingshot rana to the floor by Drago & a double stomp on the apron from Fenix to Mesias which looked absolutely brutal. Really good back and forth from that point on with the tecnicos doing all their great flying spots & the rudos throwing them around when they could catch them. Fenix assisted Drago into a huge corkscrew dive and then hit a Brillo Cometa (2nd rope step-up double corkscrew) which looked spectacular! They did lots of nearfalls which got great reactions.
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They teased problems with Cage/Mesias at one point but it went nowhere. At the end Fenix went for a springboard frankensteiner off the top rope but Mesias caught him and power bombed him at the same time as Cage hit his finisher on Drago for the win. After the match Mesias stole Fenix’s mask and a little child in a Fenix mask at ringside was shown looking very sad. This was another very good match that really was the perfect type of match that should have been on Triplemania two months ago when more eyes were on the product.
The entire roster came out to honor Antonio Pena. Crowd was respectful & started a ‘Tono’ chant as Marisela Pena looked to be on the verge of tears.
Copa Antonio Pena
This was the yearly 10 man Royal Rumble style elimination match where participants entered every 30 seconds. The entrances are generally a formality which is why they breeze through them. Aero Star started with Hijo De Pirata Morgan. Aero took him out with a bullet tope suicida immediatly. Averno was next and brought a chair to attack Aero Star. Nino Hamburguesa followed and hit everyone with a somersault dive through the ropes. Electro Shock was next followed by La Parka. The buzzer then hit and the surprise luchador came out… TAURUS! A new charachter who appears to resemble a bull or if you’re a longtime AAA fan – surprise 2007 Triplemania wrestler The Animal. He was immediatly put over as a huge threat by eliminating Aero Star, Pirata & Nino Hamburguesa as Cibernetico, Blue Demon Jr. & Chessman hit the ring to round out the participants. Electro Shock was dumped by Averno & Chessman.
In a complete stunner as Cibernetico & Demon were brawling near the ropes, Taurus walked over and ELIMINATED THEM BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! La Parka eliminated Chessman and then Averno soon afterwards setting the stage for him to win this match for a 4th time for no reason at all… except no! Parka got cocky and as his back was turned Taurus snuck up behind him and threw him over the top rope for the shocking win in his debut! Crowd was stunned. Taurus got his trophy and left as the announcers speculated who he was and what an impressive debut it was. Not much of a match in terms of quality but a great way to introduce a new charachter in a strong way & a memorable moment for sure.
(Should note big Lucha Underground fan Casey who is @luchagringo on twitter noted there may be a Lucha Underground tie in to all this as there’s a scene in season 1 where Dario is in his office writing names down & one name happens to be TAURUS. Also, this Taurus charachter resembles a bull… the same type of bull Dario had on his desk throughout season 1 that was focused upon many times before scene cutaways.)
Rey Misterio Jr./Psycho Clown/Garza Jr. vs Texano Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma/Myzteziz
Garza Jr. was the surprise wrestler. He’s the ex-Hijo de Ninja from Monterrey and is part of the Garza extended family which is why he used this name. He is not Hector Gara’s son. Crowd didn’t really know him but they got into him because of his looks and he was doing a Hector Garza tribute act right down to tearing off the pants & doing his same style clothesline. Match started with Rey being presented flowers only for Myzteziz to destroy them. He ran from Rey early on but was dropkicked to the floor by Psycho Clown. The tecnicos hit a triple tope but soon afterwards the rudos took over. The storyline was Myzteziz was all over Rey but didn’t want to take part in any triple teaming by his teammates. Rey led the comeback with a rana off the apron to the floor.
Garza Jr. did a moonsault dive to the floor. Psycho Clown went crazy with his belt and smacked everyone including Tirantes Jr. in the face. At one point Rey Jr. got assisted into a silla on the floor on Myzteziz which was a neat spot. Finish saw Psycho take out Texano with a somersault dive, Rey Jr. hit Fantasma with an asai moonsault dive & then Myzteziz caught Garza Jr. coming off the ropes with a backcracker and put him away with a Swanton Bomb. Crowd was 100% boo’ing Myzteziz by the end of the match. Rey Jr. cut a promo with the announcers afterwards saying you can’t win all the time but Myzteziz should realize he didn’t pin him and they’ll meet again soon.
AAA Mega Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron vs Johnny Mundo
Heavy on the Mexico vs USA theme. Mundo had Brian Cage with him, Alberto had Psycho Clown. Alberto hit a wild tope suicida early on. They set up a table on the floor. Mundo started running from Alberto including hurdling into the crowd and stealing chips from a vendor to throw at Alberto who was chasing him. Alberto eventually caught Johnny trying to sneak under the ring but Johnny found water and blinded Alberto to take the advantage. He put Alberto through one of the tables at ringside. Slowest paced match of the night so far. Alberto hit his tree-of-woe double stomp for a nearfall and the Guerrero Especial for another nearfall. Mundo hit his running knee for a nearfall. Mundo escaped the armbar at one point by grabbing the ropes. Mundo went for his kick off the ropes but both Alberto & referee Maya ducked to tease a ref bump… except one second later Maya did get taken out by Alberto by accident.
Alberto had the match won but no referee so he signalled to send someone else out. Who else would come but Hijo De Tirantes! Everyone knew the usual AAA bullshit was coming. It looked like Mundo was gonna try to suplex Alberto over the top to the floor through another table but Alberto countered into the armbar. Mundo refused to give up and held on long enough for Cage to slid in a guitar (???) and Mundo smashed Alberto over the head with it. The crowd hated this because Tirantes didn’t call the DQ and they throught Alberto was about to get screwed for the 3rd straight time in his hometown. But as Mundo covered, Tirantes counted 1… paused… and then raised Alberto’s hand for the DQ win as confetti was shot all over. Kind of a flat finish but protects Mundo for the rematch & there was no time to be angry because Cage hit the ring and both Alberto/Psycho Clown were beat down.
Rey Jr. ran out for save and hit a double 619 only for Myzteziz to hit the ring and take out Rey including stealing his mask. La Sociedad then hit the ring in a very eerie Triplemania-esque moment but there was no confusion here this time… they went right after Myzteziz and beat him down. Fantasma cut a promo on Myzteziz saying he should have listened to La Sociedad instead of opposing them. Cibernetico then broke a guitar over Myzteziz’s head. Alberto/Rey regrouped on the floor and never helped Myzteziz. Mundo cut a promo in half English/half Spanish on Alberto. Eventually Alberto/Rey hit the ring to chase off La Sociedad and stand tall. Alberto closed the show cutting a heavy pro-Mexico promo.
Unlike Triplemania this show at least ended with the lines firmly drawn. Myzteziz is a loner with no friends or any loyalty to either tecnicos or rudos. He wants Rey and only Rey. La Soceidad are done trying to recruit Myzteziz & Fantasma is in place as the new leader. Alberto/Rey Jr./Psycho Clown are the top tecnicos opposing them.
Notes/Opinion:
AAA needed to deliver and certainly did. The feed was perfect the entire night with only a minor glitch or two reported from many folks watching on twitter. The show had two memorable debuts to freshen things up & the wrestling was top notch with all 6 matches ranging from good to great. The live crowd was into everything & it felt like a major show even with little build on TV.
The most impressive part of the show was for the first time in MANY YEARS AAA managed to avoid the things they’ve been addicted to for the longest time. There was no stupid rudo referee nonsense & aside from Joe Lider pulling out thumbtacks for no reason there was not a single moment a match turned into amateur hour. Some could argue the main event finish was weak but it appears this is heading somewhere instead of just being a fuck finish for the sake of doing one.
Pretty much this show was the anti-Triplemania. Unfortunately there were likely way more eyes on Triplemania but if AAA keeps doing shows like this hopefully they can win those fans back. First thing’s first though – hopefully the people running AAA read why people enjoyed this show & keep to this format rather than reverting back to the things that keep turning so many new fans off (read: Hijo de Tirantes).
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