Say what you will about tonight’s TripleMania Regia event from Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, but it sure as hell wasn’t dull. Nothing ever is when it comes to Lucha Libre AAA. TripleMania, in front of a packed house at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey (the first packed show Lucha Libre AAA has had since early 2020) was full of things you’d expect from a big Lucha Libre AAA show; surprises, production issues, huge dives, unexpected match changes, a late start time and me yelling at my TV screen in both delight and anger. So what does that make it as a whole in the end? I don’t know. If you stripped this all down to match quality, I’d think you would have to admit this was a pretty good show. Of the seven matches that aired, only one was below the standard of good (although it was well below), and several matches were great. Unfortunately those matches were also overshadowed by curious decisions, from the arrival of a legend nobody wanted to the retaining of tag titles by a team no one in Mexico seems to want (or at least want badly). The bad stuff on this show was as bad as the good stuff was good. In the end however, there was one thing Lucha Libre AAA needed to do coming out of this show and, as the featured image gives away, they did. So I guess that means the show was a success in the same way 2015 Chicago Cubs season was a success; they made the playoffs, more things went right than wrong, and a lot of work was still needed to get to where they needed to go. The same goes for Lucha Libre AAA…but that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s talk about the show at hand.
Flammer, La Hiedra and Lady Maravilla (La Toxicas) defeated Faby Apache, Lady Shani and Sexy Star II after Maravilla pinned Sexy Star after a Flammer Codebreaker and a Hijo del Tirantes fast count. This was then followed by Hijo del Tirantes and Tirantes (who took over for ref midway before being distracted by allies of his son) seemingly challenging each other to something. Hopefully it’s one of those matches where other people wrestle for them. Ultimately Faby took Hijo del Tirantes out to end the segment. This match wasn’t supposed to air on the show, was inexplicably a lumberjack strap match and despite all that GREATLY exceeded expectations. This was one of the Lucha Libre AAA matches where overbooking worked to the match’s advantage, and the wrestling in between it was really strong, which isn’t that surprising. La Toxicas are all really capable workers, Faby and Lady Shani are great and Sexy Star II had shown promise going in, so it was all about whether they’d get the chance to strut their stuff. They did. Sexy Star looked great, especially with Lady Maravilla (as the two traded All Japan style German Suplexes), Lady Shani brought some stiff shots of her own (as well as some nice technical work) and everyone else was just as game. The effort level was really high here, which makes sense; this was only TripleMania Regia after all! I was pleasantly surprised by this; a strong opener. *** 1/2
TAYA VALKYRIE IS BACK! AND SHE CHALLENGED DEONNA PURRAZZO FOR THE LUCHA LIBRE AAA REINA DE REINAS CHAMPIONSHIP! Kevin Kleinrock now owes me another Laredo Kid t-shirt I’m pretty sure.
No sooner did Taya return did Cibernetico follow in his footsteps. I know; you can’t believe it either! The Los Vipers founder interrupted a Konnan promo by riding in on a motorcycle to a big pop. He did appear to get lost trying to make the ring, but did eventually get there on foot and cut a promo to the delight of the crowd. Pretty much a classic Lucha Libre AAA segment; promos were cut, silliness occurred and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Cuatrero, Forastero and Sanson (NGD) defeated Abismo Negro Jr., Arez and Psicosis II (Los Vipers) and Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr. and Tito Santana (Poder del Norte) after Forastero pinned Arez after a good ole Dinamitas assist Monkey Flip through a table. Cibernetico, not done basking in the glory of this Monterrey crowd, returned after the match to take out both the NGD and Poder del Norte, officially joining the new Los Vipers. Altogether now.
This match was INSANE! Lucha Libre AAA decided to book it as a Lucha Extrema match and while I’ve seen crazier in Lucha Libre AAA, that didn’t stop this from being out of its mind. Goya Kong frequently got involved, numerous weapons were used and basically everyone involved went through something or put someone through something. Most importantly, everyone was working their asses off. I am not the biggest Psicosis II fan in the world but boy did he step up here, doing some crazy moves for a man his age (he’s 54 years young), including going through a table of light tubes! That’s dedication. Another awesome spot was Brava Jr. and Santana holding Abismo Negro Jr. up outside the ring, allowing Cota Jr. to hit a suicide dive on Negro Jr. through a table, ending Abismo for the second time in a week (see last week’s TV taping!). In between there were more weapon shots, Arez finding the time to do some super cool wrestling and the Dinamitas, once again in a big show setting, showing signs of giving a damn. You love to see it. I’m still not sure why Los Vipers have to keep losing, but they were the odd team out here and Ciber’s return afterwards is definitely a shot in the arm. Whether it turns into anything remains to be seen. But yeah; awesome match, and another one that exceeded my expectations (and I thought this would be a strong match). ****
Product placement with Jesus and Goya Kong! This actually lasted awhile so Lucha Libre AAA could synchronize the show with Space starting it’s broadcast, which was nice because I got to grab some Doritos!
DMT Azul, Puma King and Sam Adonis (La Empresa) defeated Chessman, Dave the Clown and Murder Clown after Puma King pinned Dave after a bunch of clowns swarmed the ring and attacked the technicos, revealing themselves to be La Empresa all along. There was a post match attack as well, which involved Sam Adonis attempting a moonsault on Chessman while he was on a stretcher, only he pulled a Ricky Vaughn and was just a big outside. Unfortunate for Adonis, as he and Murder Clown were basically the only good things about this mess of a match. The guys tried, but this match following another hardcore match was a bad idea and an even worse idea when it involved spots that saw DMT Azul exchanging strikes with Dave the Clown. Grodd bless them, they tried like I said, but it was no good. And worse, it meant it sidelined more talented guys like Puma and Chessman, who largely felt like afterthoughts. Even worse, the crowd was clearly turning on the match towards the end, after being into the whole show up until this point. Throw that in with all the chaos at the end which was overbooking gone wrong, and this was…woof. Not great Bob! It’s a good thing the first two matches on this show were strong because otherwise this type of match would normally be a death sentence. – *
The Lucha Brothers, Fenix and Pentagon Jr., came out to cut a promo, both to hype up their title match with FTR and I presume to get the crowd back after the tragedy we had just witnessed. They are eventually interrupted by FTR and Vickie Guerrero, who then used poor Hugo Savinovich to translate a very mean promo about Mexico to get heat for the match. The good news; all three cut a good promo to promote the match. The potential bad news; I’m not sure how much heat FTR got. Definitely not a bad idea though and the execution of the segment was strong by all five.
Dragon Lee & Dralistico defeated Laredo Kid & Willie Mack after Lee pinned Wille with a V-Trigger. As you can tell, Willie Mack turned out to be the surprise partner for Laredo Kid in this match and it turned out to be one of the best decisions made on this show, as Willie Mack went from a guy known for being really talented to the Negro Casas of Monterrey. I couldn’t believe how over he got in this match, and not just from his sick dance moves.
Jagger wishes he could move like Big Willie
The best thing about Willie getting over is that a) he’s great, b) it gave this match heat and c) that was all it needed for these four to tear the house down. Dragon Lee and Laredo Kid had an absolutely amazing striking sequence early on, right after Willie’s dance sequences got the crowd hot, and it was off to the races from there. I wouldn’t say Dralistico was super great, but he made no mistakes, worked hard, delivered several cool spots and didn’t look out of place. Lee and Laredo Kid were as majestic as expected, together or not, and I for one am thrilled AAA appears to be setting up a Cruiserweight Championship match between the two coming out of this. But the story was Willie. The current Impact star and former Lucha Underground standout has always been great, but this may have been the accomplishment of his career. Just a sensational performance, both in getting the crowd behind him and then delivering in the ring with two guys I’m pretty sure he’s unfamiliar with. I mean this guy got a nearfall on Lee that had Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey losing their mind, and Lee got huge heat for beating him! That’s incredible shit right there. An excellent match that got the show back on track after that La Empresa miss. **** ½
Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (FTR) (c) defeated Fenix & Pentagon Jr. (The Lucha Brothers) in a ladder match to retain the AAA World Tag Team Championships. Second title defense for FTR. Why was this match a ladder match instead of a regular one like originally advertised? Beats me! Frankly I was alright with the change though. None of the other Lucha Brothers-FTR matches have done a whole lot for me, either going too long, both teams being on different pages or both. Here the match was shorter, both FTR and the Lucha Brothers appeared to be on the same page and as a result I thought it was honestly the best match these two had. I’m probably very alone in that thought! It certainly could’ve gotten a few more minutes and the thought of FTR continuing to hold these belts with no clear end game is just…odd, but overall I thought FTR adapted to Mexico (and a ladder match) far better than one would’ve expected, Pentagon Jr. was great (the spot where he removed his mask when tied to the ropes to knock FTR off the ladder was well done) and Fenix did really well when he was featured (which admittedly was less than I expected. Maybe he does have an injury?). I’ll probably go far higher on this than most, but I enjoyed the match a lot more than I expected to. *** ¾
Cain Velasquez, Pagano and Psycho Clown defeated Black Taurus, LA Park and Rey Escorpion after Velasquez submitted LA Park with a Cross Armbar following a distraction from, you guessed it, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. I’ll say that again; Rayo…de…Jalisco…Jr.
Let’s talk about the match first before I blow a gasket. The match itself was a ton of fun! LA Park, as per usual, was the man, and he and Velasquez were magic in this match, primarily working together and generating a ton of heat (most towards Velasquez, as Park was mostly cheered). Elsewhere Pagano was putting in his usual high effort performance, and he looked better than usual due to Taurus basing for him. And I don’t think I need to tell you that Psycho Clown and Rey Escorpion were good together, as they always were. The match basically went as expected; everyone looked good, Velasquez impressed once again (he honestly looked like he hadn’t lost a beat), Park was a mega star, the Baby Parks interfered and it was all very good stuff. And then RAYO DE JALISCO JR. HAD TO GET INVOLVED! I think I honestly would’ve preferred a clone of Bobby Fish. Rayo de Jalisco wasn’t good in his thirties, and he’s even worse now in his near sixties, so AAA bringing him in for anything just reeks of stupidity, with a hint of desperation. It also makes you wish even more Junior dos Santos would’ve made this show! The finish was dumb, and then things got dumber when AAA had a long promo segment where the Dinamitas came out and got beat up by Jalisco (who feuded with their dad/uncles years ago), although by that point I was seeing white spots. Just atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. The match was good and I don’t mean to take anything away from the rest of the guys, but the finish and everything after that was a catastrophe. If Rayo de Jalisco Jr. is going to headline shows for AAA, then Grodd help us all. Match: *** ½. Finish and promo segment: -*****
Hijo del Vikingo defeated Bandido, Bobby Fish, Jay Lethal and Samuray Del Sol to win the AAA Mega Championship after pinning Samuray Del Sol with an Inverted 450 Splash. Vikingo becomes the 19th AAA Mega Championship, the 12th luchador to hold the title, the youngest AAA Mega Champion in history at 24 years old, the shortest AAA Mega Champion in history, the first full time AAA luchador to hold the title since 2017 and BAH GRODD, ENOUGH STATS BECAUSE IT’S TIME TO PARTY!
By the time this show got to this match, Lucha Libre AAA needed a) this match to be the bomb diggity, b) Vikingo to win and c) Vikingo to have a nice post match celebration. On a night where Lucha Libre AAA didn’t always get things right, they nailed all three. I think the earlier tag team match with Dragon Lee, Dralistico, Laredo Kid and Willie Mack may have been slightly better, but at worse this match was only slightly off. Samuray Del Sol was the weakest link here, but he was decent enough that he didn’t detract, while Bandido was awesome, Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish (to my pleasant surprise) adapted to the situation well and Vikingo was, rightfully, out of this world as the show stealer. They went about fourteen and a half minutes, the pace was always on point, everyone got to look impressive, no one got lost; as disappointing as it was to get this match, it went about as well as it could, and then stuck the landing with Vikingo getting the victory. And the post match made it even better, from Vikingo’s stunned, exuberant reaction, to top stars like Psycho Clown, Pagano, Lady Shani and Laredo Kid (the one guy who definitely needed to be out there given his and Vikingo’s history) coming out to celebrate. And best of all, there was no one coming out to attack Vikingo and get heat! I would’ve bet the farm on that one and instead Lucha Libre AAA just let him have the moment. This was the only scenario that worked for this match, and to Lucha Libre AAA’s credit, they realized it, like the rest of us, pulled it off and let things fall as they did. This was not an all time great Lucha Libre AAA show and this match, while certainly great, wasn’t one of the best matches in company history. But as far as closing this show on a high note, Lucha Libre AAA couldn’t have done this any better. Congratulations Vikingo! Long may you reign. **** ½
And with that, the job is done. I’m off to relax for the next day, but I will be back to review Lucha Libre AAA once they resume their TV tapings, either this year or (more likely) next. Perhaps I’ll even review a CMLL show in the medium, if I’m feeling frisky. One way or another, you’ll see more lucha libre content from me down the road. Till next time.
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