AAA on Twitch: 2020-02-22 (Tonalá)

Recapped: 2020-02-22

Matches:

Aramis, Mascarita Sagrada, Nino Hamburguesa beat Demus, Draztick Boy, Látigo
(10:31, Hamburguesa splash Draztick Boy, good, 00:25:42)

Lady Shani lost to La Hiedra and Lady Maravilla
(8:02, Lady Maravilla top rope double stomp + both Hiedra/Marvilla covered, below average, 00:53:42)

Parka Negra & Súper Fly beat Hijo de LA Park & LA Park vs Argenis & Arez
(11:20, Parka Negra foul/unmask Hijo de LA Park, ok, 01:12:11)

Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. beat Averno, Chessman, Rey Escorpión
(15:01, Octagon Jr. rope flip moonsault Chessman, great, 01:31:21)

Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. © beat La Hiedra, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. to retain the AAA World Trios Championship
(1:50, Cuerno de Vikingo on Hiedra, n/r, 01:55:03)

Fénix & Pentagón Jr. beat Taurus & Australian Suicide and Laredo Kid & Puma King
(13:16, Fenix Black Fire Driver Australian Suicide, good, 02:05:04)

La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco beat Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Pagano
(21:48, LA Park spear Monster Clown, ok, 02:31:39)

What happened:

Chessman attacked Pagano late in the main event, throwing him off the stage. That left the other two Clowns easy pickings for Los Ingobernables.

Los OGTs attacked Penta & Fenix after the tag title match. Averno particularly went after Penta.

Los Mercenarios attacked Jinetes del Aire after their match and demanded a trios title match right now. Vikingo accepted, the two teams fought briefly, Vikingo landed the 630 on Hiedra, and Tirantes counted a pin. The English announcers were confused if this was meant to be a real match or not, though the Spanish announcers were clearer that it was meant to be a defense.

Rey Escorpion seconded La Hiedra, interfering freely (but late needing a distraction to get involved again.) La Hiedra & Lady Maravilla fought during the match, but then both covered Lady Shani at the end. Tirantes counted three while both were covering, but was confused at what to make of it. Escorpion raised Hiedra’s arm, then Tirantes raised both arms.
Nino Hamburguesa & Mascarita Sagrada were this show’s Ingobernable beatdown victims, after the opening match, to make sure the rudos got booed later. Konnan appeared with Los Ingobernables for the first time since Guerra de Titanes, though he never got in the ring with them and only posed with them after. (By including him in that way, it only shows how extraneous he is to the concept.)

AAA advertised Daga despite him working the Impact show instead. Four of the six matches were changed around as a result. AAA had issued a new card a couple of days prior to the event when the venue was moved around but did not update the lineup.

Thoughts:

Ingobernables matches work best when the crowd loudly reacts to their wild antics. The acoustics of this building (or the micing of it) didn’t allow for that all night. It was a problem and most of all for the main event. The violent beatdown by the rudos came off less so than in previous matches when it felt like no one was reacting to it. It also went on for a lot longer; these are always going to be long matches with LA Park involved, but they didn’t quite have the people for it to work. The holes in this matchup stood out more with a weak atmosphere.

The Lucha Brothers three-way tag was a step below the Guerra de Titanes equivalent, though Australian Suicide seemed to make more out of his involvement here than in that match. It may have been hurt by being yet another match of people doing big moves and someone else breaking them out; no one seems to kickout of moves and the saves aren’t particularly dramatic. Only Suicide near the end got in a near fall during the match, the rest was just more moves. The high points of the action were good and sometimes dangerous, but there were off-track moments and people getting in each other’s way. Fenix was upset about something at one point, but it stood out more when Puma & Taurus went through a table and Penta & Laredo picked the same side of the ring to do a package piledriver and nearly fell off onto them. Laredo came off as a guy in the mix but not a particularly important one, which is weird going into a title match (but admittedly not so weird for AAA.)

Chessman crashed and burned on a tornillo so the Jinetes del Aire match was great. That’s pretty much it. The tecnicos looked good, even without going full out. The rudos worked very hard to keep up with their moves, with Averno especially seeming to do more than usual. This match built better than anything else on the show, and the action held together the best. It was the best match of the night. The two minute title match leading out of it was at least a pleasant change from just having rudo teams beat down the tecnicos after most matches. Doing an actual pinfall was truly weird. The booking felt like an indie show but the action was nice while it lasted.

The early three way tag was a clunky match built around the Hijo de LA Park & Parka Negra feud. Parka Negra usually looks good but didn’t as much in this feud. I can’t say anyone really did; there were a few moments for everyone, but it never came together. Rudo versus rudo matches have worked in AAA but they have the intensity to make this one work, and this just felt like a lot of people thrown together. The six-man suplex was all-time bad, from Arez tripping jumping into Argenis being lost at where to stand to everyone being on different timing. It felt like this was missing someone in charge directing things – both the suplex spot and the match in general.

The worst AAA match of the year isn’t saying much because it’s been a pretty good year. The women’s match effort wasn’t terrible and there will be worse matches than this in most year. It was just such a mess, far below their usual standards. The three way match on Lucha Capital were all better thought out than this one. Rey Escorpion interfering all match but then needing a distraction to interfere again made no sense. Hiedra & Maravilla fighting each other and then getting a pin together made no sense. This went wrong.

AAA concerned they didn’t have all six man match shows, so they added Demus & Hamburgesa to this. The opener didn’t get to the insanity of previous shows, a more solid match building around Mascarita Sagrada highlights. Draztick Boy drew Nino Hamburguesa so he didn’t get to show much, but the crowd loves Hamburguesa so it worked fine for them. The Aramis & Latigo sequence at the start was creative and held together, which doesn’t often work.