Day: March 30, 2017

Recapped: 03/27/2017

Results:

Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria defeated El Mesías & Pagano in a #1 cotnenders cage match (14:54, escape, OK, video link)

Ayako Hamada won a six women’s elimination match to earn a Reina de Reinas title match (OK, video link)
00:03 Faby Apache thrown over the top (Goya Kong)
01:48 Goya Kong pinned (Big Mami splash)
05:30 La Hiedra pinned (Big Mami behind the back faceslam)
05:45 Big Mami pinned (Lady Shani backcracker)
11:08 Lady Shani pinned (Ayako Hamada Michinoku Driver)

Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown defeated Monsther Clown & Murder Clown (8:25, simiilteanous pins on powerbomb & Wagner Driver, OK, video link)

Argenis won the 2017 Rey de Reyes match (15:52, OK, video link)
00:00 Joe Lider, Elegido, Nino Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata start
01:21 Chessman enters
02:01 Argenis enters
02:46 Averno enters
03:28 Bengala enters
04:13 La Parka enters
05:27 Pimpinela Escarlata out (Nino Hamburugesa)
05:37 Nino Hamburguesa out (everyone)
07:19 Elegido out (Chessman & Joe Lider)
08:11 Joe Lider out (La Parka)
09:03 La Parka out (Joe Lider pulling him off the apron after being elimianted)
09:58 Chessman out (Averno)
10:18 Bengala out (self elimination on Asai moonsault)
15:52 Argenis pinned Averno via moonsault

What happened: 

Argenis won Rey de Reyes, in a match which was only announced as happening at the start of the program. The match was held under usual AAA rumble rules, with four people starting and over the top eliminations until the final two. Argenis defeated Averno to get the surprise win (though the star power was generally so low that anyone besides La Parka could’ve been called a surprise win.) Averno accidentally caused Chessman to be eliminated, which could be something or just the usual rudo bumbling. Joe Lider eliminated La Parka after being eliminated, which also could be a rudo turn for him or just the kind of thing that happens in a battle royal. In a true miracle, Argenis’ wife and small child just happened to travel all the way up to Monterrey to see a show Argenis wasn’t even scheduled to be on, in a bit that appeared to a repeat of Fantamsa’s family being at ringside after winning the cruiserweight title.

The returning Ayako Hamada is the new top contender to the Reina de Reinas championship, defeating Lady Shani in the final of a six women elimination match. (It was scheduled to be seven; Mary Apache appeared in a head bandage and a neck brace she didn’t appear to have last week, but did not wrestle.) Ayako was wearing Perros del Mal gear but wasn’t given any special re-introduction. No one on the show except those entering the Rey de Reyes match got any sort of introduction, with AAA cutting out what they could to fit four matches in the time. Faby Apache was surprisingly first out, eliminated less than five seconds into the match via over the top elimination. She was the only person eliminated without being pinned, and the other luchadoras didn’t seem to even try an over the top elimination the rest of the match.

Cuervo & Scoria earned a tag team title shot by defeating Pagano & Mesias in a cage match. Pagano & Mesias had one miscommunication moment late, but it proved to be irrelevant and they were pals after the match. They both essentially worked the match as fan favorites. Mesias speared Cuervo thru the mesh of the fence, and Scoria climbed out the cage (which was missed by the cameras.)

Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner cleanly defeated Murder Clown & Monster Clown. The Traidor Clowns controlled most of the match while Wagner wanted nothing to do with his partner and eventually walked out. The Doctor heroically returned to the match to make the save and help set up the victory. They barely had time to react to the ring before the unlikely trio of Mocho Cota Jr., Carta Brava Jr. and Soul Rocker attacked both men, including ripping up Wagner’s mask. Monster Clown tried to help but was attacked as well. There’s no explanation given for this attack, or why Monster & Murder betrayed Wagner in the first place.

AAA has new intro, borrowing the artwork it did for the Panini sticker book as visuals. However, since some of those people in the book are no longer around, we get glimpses of guys like Gronda and Elegido who are also never around (and it spotlights how few people are around by implication.) Looks nice anyway.

Leo Riano was also part of the announce team this week, and seemed to be taking an anti-Vampiro position, specifically in reaction to Vampiro having the power to change the card however he wants. (This mirrors what he wrote in his column, explaining those comments as being in character.) There were clips of Vampiro winning the Rey de Reyes previously and celebrating victoriously, leaving viewers with the definite impression Vampiro was going to end up wrestling again before long. This was also part of a show long push of a New Era of AAA.

Total match time was 50 minutes and 19 seconds, twice as much as normal.

What was good: 

Uh. Lots of things were happening, shiny lines and bright noises, all very interesting. The matches weren’t as much interesting. They finally got time, but not a lot of interesting stuff happened.

Both of the elimination matches followed the same pattern: forgettable stuff until a good section when they finally got the final two. Argenis & Averno was a solid CMLL lightning match, cut a little shorter than usual and the crowd reacted well to his win. The battle royal before it was useless, with people consistently putting themselves in dumb positions so they could be easily eliminated and topped off by Bengala eliminating himself for no reason. The two things I got out of this was La Parka was one of the few guys who seemed really over on the show (the crowd seemed unusually quiet for an AAA show most of the night) and they didn’t understand that the final two was decided by pinfall – they cheered big when Avenro went out and were confused when Argenis dove onto him.

Ayako versus Shani did not conclusively solve the “Is Lady Shani actually good?” mystery. Shani definitely looked competent, but Ayako shined so much brighter than everyone in the match that it was hard to compare. Ayako jumping in ahead of everyone diminishes the people who were there – Shani & Hiedra were back to being ruda jobbers – but she was also clearly the best person in the match. The section before the final two wasn’t much good. Faby’s elimination and participation was a joke. Goya was pinned for a one count, Ayako jumped off her back to cut people off, and Tirantes decided that was close enough to a three count. Announcers were baffled and understandably so. A lot of the match seemed built around Big Mami, more than I needed.

The cage match was the same lucha match as ever, with guys just doing spots and occasionally teasing escaping but nothing meaning anything until the finish kicks in. Mesias spearing Cuervo looked good. Scoria taking a powerbomb thru a table, and then popping back to the life to escape (in something never quite shown) was not good. This match felt like they were dropping the Mesias/Pagano breakup angle cold despite them losing and now having the actual reason to break up. On the other hand, it was also clear they were the better team and Secta were just lucky that Cuervo got speared thru the fence. They came up with a spot that they can show a lot if they want, but I’m not sure the outcome did much for anyone.

The other tag match was just an angle instead of a match. It felt like Wagner turning tecnico, especially with him getting attacked by even more rudos after the match. And Monster & Murder went from a random top rudo push to being easily put down, maybe plans changed there. Crowd had no idea what to make of Cota and crew getting involved.

Next week looks like it should have the better matches and meaningful events. This one suffered from the poor Rey de Reyes card lineup they had to start with.