Day: March 17, 2014

AAA TV (SUN) 03/16/2014 Plaza de Toros La Monumental, Monterrey, Nuevo León [AAA, MT (cage), MT (else), MT (main)]
***Rey de Reyes, 2014***
1) Alan Stone, Dinastía, Faby Apache, Pimpinela Escarlata b Mamba, Mini Charly Manson, Sexy Star, Silver King
Alan Stone replaced El Elegido. Pimpi beat Mamba. Sexy Star & Pentagon attack Faby Apache to repeat their challenge from previous TV shows. Pentagon Jr. said he would not rest until AAA finally booked the mixed tag title match.
2) Daga b Argenis, Australian Suicide, Súper Fly [AAA CRUISER]
Daga is champion. Taya got on the show by accompanying Daga. Daga beat Argenis, Super Fly (armbar), and Suicide (top rope Destroyer) in order. Pentagon attacked Suicide after the match, and Drago & Faby Apache ran them off. Faby then challenged Daga to a title match. Daga attacked, Faby got the better of him, and Daga got away. Daga’s 4th defense, first on TV.
3) Chessman b Villano IV [AAA LA]
Villano IV replaced Blue Demon Jr., facing Chessman for the vacant title. Demon appeared in a pre-tape, vacating the title and saying he couldn’t be there due to family issues. He’s the second straight champion to vacant (following LA Park, who was champion when his contract expired.) Match was moved to earlier in the card and was a violent bloody match. Seconds appeared to be Fantasma and Alan Stone. Chessman is the 4th Champion.
4) Steve Pain L Fénix, Crazy Boy, Joe Lider, Niño Hamburguesa, Juventud Guerrera, Pentagón Jr., Eterno [cage, domed cage, hair, mask]
They had immense problems setting up the cage; it was 45 minutes between the end of the previous match and the luchadors entering for this one. Ultimo Gladiador replaced Juventued Guerrera (injury, not cleared by doctor.) Order of escape went Gladiador, Hamburguesa (with help from Alan, Argenis, and Suicide), Crazy Boy, Eterno, Joe Lider, Pentagon
5) Angélico & Jack Evans b Hijo del Fantasma & Psicosis and Aerostar & Drago and Demon Rocker & Machine Rocker [AAA TAG]
Angelico, Jack Evans came in as champions. Elimination order went Fantasma/Psicosis, Aerostar/Drago, Rockers. First defense.
6) Cibernético, Electroshock, Psycho Clown b Jeff Jarrett, Máscara Año 2000 Jr., Texano Jr.
Cibernetico beat Jeff Jarrett with a guitar shot after some Roldan/Karen fighting.
7) La Parka b Zorro, el Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Black Warrior [Rey de Reyes, final]
Elimination order went Black Warrior, Zorro and then Perro Junior. Parka’s fifth Rey de Reyes win. He was given the sword by Joaquin Pena and presented it to Marisela Pena to end the show.

Air Date: 03/23 & 03/30.

Very much the status quo show it seemed to be. Attendance looked down from last year in the same venue; the upper most level looked to only have a few rows full on some sides and there might have been less floor seats. Last year’s attendance was reported as 10-11,000, this looked under 10,000.

AAA had a group selling official merchandise, with a partner named Live Show Merchandising. (Note the AAA logo now lists the name as “Lucha Libre Worldwide”.) They promoted a Rey de Reyes shirt, a Blue Demon shirt, a La Parka shirt, and Blue Demon & La Parka water bottles. The designs could be more creative, but it’s been long over due for AAA to be selling this sort of thing. There’s a Coming Soon spot for AAA merchandise in their webstore.

Sexy Star appears to have done a tornillo dive in her match. I can’t wait to see that.

I think the Faby/Daga stuff was just a post match scrum, but I suppose it’s possible it was meant to be a title match (it’s not that different sounding than Texano’s impromptu title matches last year, except Texano won those.)

None of the three missing luchadors – Juvi, Elegido or Blue Demon Jr. – were mentioned as missing the show in advance. They obviously knew about Demon not being on this show well enough in advance to film an interview with him at the belt and to bring in Villano IV. I think it’s a better deal to let people know in advance, but it’s more common in Mexico not to mention it. Demon’s interview pushed the idea that he would automatically get a title shot when he comes back, but there’s no sense when that would be – or even IF that would be, because it’s unclear if AAA’s ever gotten him to sign a full time contract. Chessman being a champion for no particular reason is a fine enough outcome until they figure out what’s next.

Steve Pain, a man with a short hair cut, loses his hair and wasn’t that broke up about it. He shouldn’t be, he’s not listed as appearing on TV for a month and he’ll probably be back to the same hair by then. It did produce a moment of happy Fenix on Twitter.

Not too many reviews of the matches themselves. Apolo @ MT said he liked the show and the only two disappointing matches were the last two. The tag match sounds like it was the best match during the show.

It looked like it started to clear out during the main event, probably more because of the length of the show than the match. The problem with the cage setup added probably an extra half hour to the whole thing. It didn’t seem like they cut any of the matches to get back on time. That’s a big advantage of the show not actually being on iPPV. The Jarrett trios sounds short, but that’s normal for that match.

No Sin Cara, who has not been seen since they were in Mexico City and might not be seen again until they go back. No anyone else jumping. No “the surprise that wasn’t in Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera”, unless that was Alan Stone, Villano IV or Ultimo Gladiador (who had a busy night.) The idea that the winner of Rey de Reyes would get a shot at the title at the heavyweight title has not yet been mentioned on screen, so I wouldn’t expect that to necessarily happen. (It wouldn’t be a great match, but it would be Texano beating someone who’s on top.)

AAA can point to Fenix and Daga getting big wins as a success of this show. Daga beating everyone in his match (even with some help from Taya to finish Suicide) was the best use of that match. Fenix can brag about winning a hair for a while. AAA still needs to follow up with these guys to keep them meaning something, but at least they’ve reached a starting point again. A lot of the rest of the show had no real point, but there are a few things to build on.