AAA TripleMania: 2018-08-25 

Recapped: 08/25/2018.

All matches aired live from Arena Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México.

This is very long and GIF heavy. Click the title to read the recap.

Astrolux, Dragón Bane, Freelance beat Aramis, Draztick Boy, Látigo
(7:42, Freelance super reverse huracanrana Latino, good, Twitch)

The opener had a tone of highspots, maybe so many that no one really got to have the standout moment. It was also a bit sloppy early, with Freelance looking off and even the usual good Astrolux/Freelance stuff being a little off. Dragon Bane got into the most spectacular dives, with Aramis not far behind despite playing rudo. Astrolux’s powerslam looks neat only if you understand what it’s supposed to be, and that’s tough the first time you see it. The Spanish Fly/snap mare driver (?) to the floor back to back spots really put over the insanity of the match and the finish went well. The match could’ve been better with a little more time for the rudo, but the show on this night was better for it to go exactly as long as it did.

Villano III was added to the AAA Hall of Fame by Dorian Roldan and Marisela Pena at this point. This was a late addition; AAA had only announced the other two before Villano’s passing. Villano III’s wife and two sons were part of the ceremony. Villano III Jr. was in his gear and spoke to the crowd. He worked as an extra lumberjack.

Sammy Guevara beat Australian Suicide ©. Shane Strickland, ACH to win the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
(5:58, Sammy Guevera 630 senton Australian Suicide, good, Twitch)

What Happened: After the match, Killer Kross attached Strickland, ACH, and Guevera, and handed his MAD shirt to Suicide. Suicide pondered the decision without committing in this segment.

Review: The cruiserweight match wasn’t helped by having to follow another crazy match. Some of the spots were pretty close to what we had just seen, and there was no emotional attachment to anyone involved. They had to go above and beyond what we had just seen, and it’s tough to create a reason to care in a four-way. It played a little better on the rewatch, though it was strange to see so much Shane Strickland in the match and little of the two guys who’d decide the finish. The Strickland springboard slip and repeat was not very good, but I guess they had no way out of it since it was setting up the finish. It would seem to me that the more effective way to recruit Suicide would’ve been to help him before he lost the title, but it worked out for Kross & MAD so who am I to argue. I would argue this segment made the cruiserweight title look very unimportant but it kind of had that feeling already. The MAD shirt was the real prize.

Dr. Alfonso Morales & El Apache were added to the Hall of Fame. Both segments were tough to watch live due to stream problems. Those stream issues were fixed prior to the official start of the show.

Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa © defeated Hijo Del Vikingo & Vanilla and Dinastía & Lady Maravilla and Angelikal & La Hiedra to keep the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship
(9:17, Niño Hamburgeusa Hamubrger splash Hijo del Vikingo, good, Twitch )

What Happened:  Dinastia wore a ECW Super Crazy tribute outfit. Vanilla catches the ropes going thru on a dive, which the camera mostly misses. There’s concern she may be hurt, but she returns to the match. La Hiedra & Vanilla have a strange pull apart after the match, which appears to have some real emotion behind it. They seem fine later when they’re out for the lumberjack match.

Review: This was the best laid out match of the show, at least as far as giving different feeling sections of the match it went along. Teams got to work as a team early, they built to a crazy dive train, the three male cruiserweights got to do evasive maneuvers, and the finish worked. It was a little sloppy earlier on (and late; they still could’ve used a normal rudo in this match) but most of it was pretty well done. Vikingo got all sorts of cool offense before getting beat, and the match built in a way where the crowd got the finish they wanted to see. Vanilla deserves credit for continuing to return from injuries mid matches where others might take the rest off, but also it would be better if Vanilla went thru a match without getting hurt. We already have one Pagano and that may be one too many. If AAA’s not going to anything else with Dinastia, and they’re probably not, they really ought to keep him around in the mixed tag mix because the size difference isn’t as big an issue (except with the champs, I guess.) He works well with the women, and seemed so delighted when Lady Maravilla did a moonsault. He loves the flips.

Bandido & Flamita beat Aerostar & Drago and Golden Magic & Laredo Kidand Andrew Everett & DJZ in a ladder match and for to win a shot at the AAA World Tag Team Championship

(16:56, Bandido retrieves the briefcase, excellent, Twitch )

What Happened: As Flamita & Bandido were leaving, Konnan’s music interrupted and MAD came to ringside. Flamita & Bandido seemed confused, though it came off as a slight tease of them joining the group.

Review: This ladder succeeds where most of AAA ladder matches struggle: the action looks impressive and get more so as the match goes on, the ladder never seem to fail them, and there’s actually something hanging up there for them to reach towards. I would not like to think too hard about the history of AAA ladder matches, but this seems like it would have to be the best one they’ve done in recent memory, and among the best gimmick matches they’ve done at all. Everything works, is fun, and makes as much sense as they’re going to in this structure. There’s a few contrived spots (like setting up the ladder for DJZ to dive thru), but no more than normal for a ladder match. There was plenty of stuff that was shocking in the course of the match. The Everett headscissors on Laredo Kid worked great because Laredo destroying people for a while distracted from Everett heading back in the ring. Aerostar’s ladder walk powerbomb on Flamita was massive. Laredo taking a powerbomb into the side of a ladder looked even more brutal. The lights going when Laredo Kid & Aerostar were hanging from the cable was weird since neither guy was going to win so why would they start changing the lines, but it did set up a great Drago spear. The finish sequence was nice, though table could’ve sold a little better. I wish MAD wouldn’t have interrupted the post match unless there was something specific involving Flamita & Bandido. The small consolation I’ll take is they at least let those two celebrate for a while instead of immediately cutting it off like with the Cruiserweight match.

MAD was Konnan, Juventud Guerrera, Killer Kross, Australian Suicide, Jeff Jarrett and Teddy Hart. Konnan briefly talks about keeping the heavyweight title before making fun of Vampiro. Jarrett does his usual bit. Pagano & Murder Clown run down, apparently ordered so by Vampiro on the Spanish commentary. Pagano tosses Suicide into Teddy & Juventud to take them out. Murder and Kross have a face off. Time stands still as Vampiro is supposed to come in the ring to face off with Konnan, but no one plays his music. Murder & Pagano wander off. Vampiro’s music finally plays. He orders everyone but Konnan out of the ring. Vampiro offers Konnan a contract where the loser leaves AAA & Mexico forever. Konnan signs while saying he’ll tell Vampiro’s daughter that Vampiro’s gay. Vampiro promises all the AAA fans his going to break Konnan, in harsher language than that.

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata and Hijo de LA Park, Puma King, Taurus
(8:20, Mocho Cota top rope splash Hijo de LA Park, good, Twitch )

Review: Another hectic match that felt like a little too much live but felt better when I was able to space out this show a bit. It’s just all action with no breath in between. Nine wrestlers can keep the pace up a lot, though maybe something with a bit more of a story would’ve been a better fit at this spot. (They didn’t want to put Shani/Apache this early for reasons, but something different like that might have helped.) The Exoticos were fine together without less time for their comedy than usual and Poder del Norte were as normal. I was most impressed by how quickly the Elite team came together. There’s more planning that goes into a TripleMania match than normal, but Taurus & Puma sold the idea of being a real team well (by doing Tiger & Puma spots) and Hijo de LA Park had two good nights in a row even if he took the loss. This match would’ve stood out a lot more on a normal TV taping.

Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Jack Evans, Juventud Guerrera, Teddy Hart in a lumberjack rules match
(12:27, Super Fly powerbomb Teddy Hart, ok, Twitch)

What Happened: Lumberjacks were Andrew Everett, DJZ, Vanilla, La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla, Kahn-Del-Mal, Parka Negra and Villano III Jr. The last three did not wrestle on the show.

Poder del Norte ran in before the finish to fight OGT, and were entirely ineffective. Super Fly beat Teddy Hart seconds later, though Chessman & Jack got into a very real fight at the same time. Poder del Norte beat up Averno after.

Review: The lumberjack bit worked against this match, though not in a usual fashion. It’s typically a match handicapped because the lumberjacks steal the attention. This time, the crowd desperately wanted the lumberjacks to get involved because that was the only part of the match they cared about. The six wrestlers having aback and forth match with both sides playing rudo and the fans not really caring about the stakes. This match itself going long didn’t help, but it also felt like the one either least planned out or least able to go along with the plan of all night. The Poder del Norte run-in seemed early live and actually late watching it again, with Averno & Guerrera more obviously stalling for a run-in that just won’t happen. The camera cuts to Jack shaking his head no and it’s obvious it’s gone bad by then. Everything past that looks badly improvised. Jack losing it on Chessman after Chessman no sells a kick and slams him stands out, but you can also pick up Averno repeatedly yelling at Teddy to get up and come at him until finally Super Fly just walks over and grabs him. Copetes doesn’t count the pin right away because he’s distracted by Chessman & Jack, but also because he has no idea a pinfall was coming. The post match attack makes no sense but Poder del Norte were probably desperate to get some heat back. It’s no wonder they nearly got into a fight with a fan, and that Averno had to come back to get them out of there. This was the worst match on the show with question, though not nearly as bad usual for TripleMania worst matches.

La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. defeated Joe Lider, Murder Clown, Pagano in a street fight match
(15:04, Texano flaming lasso Joe Lider, good, Twitch)

What Happened: Kahn-Del-Mal wisely stays far away from this match while it’s happening, but comes out after to check on injured Joe Lider. Pagano is put in an ambulance with a right shoulder injury. Murder, Lider, and Khan have a weird backstage confrontation with Los Mercenarios.

Review: Remember last year, when there was the Pagano/Mesias match that seemed like it was going to be a big extreme match, and then was bad with a worse ending? I guess they saved up all the extreme spots they were going to do in that match and added them to this one because there was so much of them. Many light tubes died to make this a watchable show. Some tables were wounded, some thumbtacks were wasted, and a lot of lighter fluid was poured. There was even a shopping cart, solely to do one spot, and the spot went well. In true Pagano form, he got powerbombed into a shopping cart, dropkicked out of the shopping cart, and then immediately went on offense (so he could set up his neck stunt.) No one hurts themselves more and doesn’t bother to settle it like Pagano. This was both the ultimate Pagano in every stunt he could’ve ever wanted was done in this match, and also not a good once because he and his team got beat pretty handily. Lider, who hardly seemed to get in any offense and Pagano were pretty well destroyed. They got over because their stunts went better than usual, so this was a successful match. La Mascara participated well in a match he wouldn’t normally seem to want any part of, and Rey Escorpión and Texano adapted well to the sequence. Escorpión really fits in well with whatever they throw him in. This was not something I was really interested in but it was about as good as possible was going to be given the people involved.

Lady Shani beat Faby Apache in a mask vs hair match

(12:11, Lady Shani backcracker Faby Apache, good, Twitch)

What Happened: Niño Hamburguesa & Taurus are meant to be the seconds, but Taurus takes out Hamburgesa with a spear and a chair shot to the knee early on. Parka replaces him, chokeslamming Taurus right away. Tirantes also favors Faby until he takes an errant dropkick. Shani gets Faby to tap while there’s no referee. Copetes finally arrives when Tirantes recovers. Tirantes charges Copetes and takes a quebradora and a dropkick.

Faby Apache and Lady Shani felt personal and felt big. The blood added a lot to the moment, though getting Shani bleeding seemed to slow sidetrack the match early. Faby bled quickly and massively. The action between them was as solid as it ever was, with both showing up very well in the big moment. It was a shame their big moment was overshadowed by Parka needing to get in one, and the referees also needing to fight. Parka was probably more about him, but the referee bit seemed more about making sure the crowd was into the match – the referee fight spot happens a lot because it’s always an easy reaction. They reacted here too, but the crowd was surprisingly strong into the stakes of the women’s match already. It would’ve been better for me if the finish to the match got more space and wasn’t just something incidental after a referee fight (like if they had given it even 30 more seconds.) The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, so I can’t fault the idea – I still just like the January match significantly more.

Fénix beat Jeff Jarrett ©,  Brian Cage, Rich Swann to win the AAA World Heavyweight Championship
(15:21, Fenix cutter Jarrett, good, Twitch)

What Happened: Jarrett teases being hurt right at the start, then comes back. Maybe he was meant to break up a pin, but he didn’t and it came off as random. Late in the match, Marisela Pena threw a cup of something in Jarrett’s face. Fenix dived onto Jarrett, but mostly went over him and his foot collided with Marisela. Everyone at ringside, including Vampiro, and both doctors from the back rushed over to check on her and huddled around her until the match completed. After Jarrett used a second guitar to knock out referee Piero and fouled Fenix, La Parka slowly walked to the ring in a referee shirt. Announcers were sure this was Konnan, repeating the bit done at Verano de Escandalo. “Parka” counted two, then held up, confronted Jarrett, and unmasked to reveal himself as Dr. Wagner Jr. Jarrett was shocked and immediately beaten by Fenix.

Review: This Mega title match didn’t hold up well on the rewatch. It’s about as low on Good as I can get. There are reasons to like it: Fenix’s dive is incredible on many levels, there are good sequences with him and Swann and Cage, the fans eventually understood the finish (though they were clearly reacting to La Parka as if he was the actual La Parka at first, and either not knowing or remembering the Verano de Escandalo angle.) The match was just less the sum of its parts. There was a Fenix/Jarrett story and there was Fenix/Swann/Cage doing spots as separate things. They crossed over for instants, but it was mostly Swann & Cage vanishing for long stretches of the match. The ending takes so long to develop that those guys could’ve left a couple minutes early. The more problematic disappear was earlier, after Jarrett finally got his first guitar shot to make contact. The camera guy shouldn’t shoot Fenix blading and Fenix should be better at hiding that he’s doing it, but the production can be slightly forgiven because there was nothing else going on. Maybe they wanted the moment to sink in (doesn’t sound like AAA!) but also maybe no one shoots Fenix cutting himself if Cage & Swann are in the ring instead of whatever void they disappeared to. It didn’t help that when they were in, the fans seemed disinterested in anything they did or any pinfall Swann or Cage attempted. AAA never even tried to convince people that there was a real outcome here outside of Jarrett or Fenix walking away with the title and the fans paid attention to that, reacting only to Cage’s feats of strength. Jarrett’s guitar misses were a bit bad, though worse was the finish focusing on Wagner/Jarrett as the big issue over the title win. The finish also come off as way too close the finish of the last match, where referee shenanigans lead to the face winning instantly. I’m not sure if any match with these particular people and parts involved was going to be any better than the one AA delivered, but it still didn’t come together. Maybe title matches build around Fenix will be better but, just looking at this show, it seems like any AAA singles match with have the same bits they did on this show. They can’t not do them.

LA Park beat Psycho Clown, Hijo del Fantasma, Pentagón Jr. in a four way mask match
(25:58, great, Twitch)

1. Pentagon Jr. escapes (5:54)
2. Psycho Clown escapes (7:51)
3. LA Park spear Hijo del Fantasma (25:58)

Loser: Hijo del Fantasma
Match Time: 25:58
What Happened: LA Park wheels Pierroth down the entrance ramp to have him be part of this moment. Vampiro gets up from the desk to hug LA Park before he goes in for whatever reason.
Fantasma has a chance to escape and does a dive off the cage instead. Pentagon and Psycho end up on top of the cage, and Pentagon blows fire at Psycho before escaping. Psycho rallies back to escape next.
Tirantes helps Fantasma in the finish. Fantasma tries tossing his mask to LA Park to draw the DQ when Tirantes is down, but Park does the same. Tirantes teases calling a DQ for either man, then tosses their masks back at them and demand they finish it themselves. Fantasma later gets in a foul without Tirantes seeing it, only for LA Park to kick out. Fantasma argue the count, Park fouls him and it is again only two. Fantasma eventually rips Tirantes shirt for not counting three, turns into a spear, and Tirantes does count three.

Hijo del Fantasma is Jorge Luis Alcantar Bolly, 34 years old, 18 years a wrestler. He calls LA Park a legend. LA Park says he gains respect for those who he’s beaten in mask matches, like Pierroth and respects Fantasma. He has less respect for Fantasma Sr., ripping him for not giving him the rights to the La Parka name and challenges him to a hair match. He and Fantasma embrace.

Park is thanking AAA and the Pena family for the opportunity even though he’s not part of AAA, when Dr. Wagner interrupts him. The house lights are turned on for some reason, and you can see how many people have left or leaving, which takes away from the moment. Wagner takes his time coming to the ring. Wagner says he’s part of AAA and wants a mask vs hair match with Park next year at TripleMania. They try to play the segment off, but Park refuses, showing off the Fantasma mask and bragging that he knows how to defend a mask unlike Wagner. Park offers to give Wagner classes. Wagner is glad Park accepted and congratulates him. The music tries to play Park off a second time, but he still insults Wagner before leaving.

Review: TripleMania’s main event turned became the LA Park show. It was for the best. The last third of the match feel into Park big match cliches – referees really have to stop grabbing people from behind in his matches, it always ends badly – but he does them because they worked and they worked well for the main event. Fantasma hung with him on the brawl, got to do his own dive at least once, and took the spear well. This wasn’t on the Rush or Wagner levels of brawls, with Park relying on referee bits and spending more time inside the barricade than usual. Park showed has a good feel for what he can do impressive well; there was no moment where he looked as old as Wagner felt last year, despite being in much worse condition than Wagner. The match could’ve used a bit more of Fantasma showing his own personality instead of playing the generic Park opponent, but that’s not really who the fans seemed to want to see anyway. They also didn’t seem to want to see Psycho. He was loudly booed in every big moment beside his escape. It would’ve been backfired badly if AAA had done Psycho/Fantasma as the finish, and it really felt like a bullet dodged. Pentagon was in out without making a huge impact, though he still got his mask ripped and blew fire out of the way. They almost could’ve put anyone else in that spot. The closing moments of the match felt like it was a big-time event and I think the whole presentation worked, though I wouldn’t put among the best match of the year.

Wagner’s introduction is much quicker than it seemed live. It ends up feeling slow because Wagner takes his time getting to the ring, and then there’s a problem with one of the microphones working over the stream but apparently not for the live crowd. Watching it later (and knowing what I’m supposed to know), Park accepting Wagner’s challenge comes across clearly – though, from the way they play the music right after Wagner finishes, it seems like there wasn’t even a plan for him to talk there. There was no particular reaction to Wagner making the challenge or Park accepting, which AAA has to hope is a just the effect of a long show and not disinterest.