Tag: AAA on Twitch

Recapped: 02/16/2019

Matches:

Draztick Boy, Latigo, Dragon Bane beat Látigo, Mini Monster Clown, Mini Murder Clown
(8:10, Dragon Bane 630 senton Latigo, ok, 00:30:59)

Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Villano III Jr. beat Golden Magic, Niño Hamburguesa, Starfire
(11:04, Keyra German suplex Star Fire, ok, 00:52:39)

Laredo Kid beat Sammy Guevara to win the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
(12:33, Laredo Kid Laredo Fly, good, 01:14:33)

Parka Negra, Super Fly, Faby Apache beat Myzteziz Jr., Dinastia, Lady Shani
(10:05, Faby Apache Tiger Suplex Dinastia, good, 01:39:33)

Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata beat Chessman, La Máscara, Taurus
(11:42, Pimpinela cradle La Mascara, ok, 01:59:06)

Aerostar, Drago, Hijo Del Vikingo beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(11:23, Vikingo reverse 450 splash Tito Santana, good, 02:19:20)

Jeff Jarrett, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. beat Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown
(13:49, Texano crucifix powerbomb Pagano thru a table, ok, 02:39:38)

What happened:

Jeff Jarrett hit Wagner with a guitar late in the main event. The two were dead on the apron for the rest of the match. Pagano tried to put Texano thru a table but, of course, went thru it himself.

Earlier, La Parka (in a neck brace) appeared to say he was working with Los Jinetes del Aire to get revenge on the OGTs and Los Mercenarios for their recent attacks. Villano III Jr. and La Parka were seconds in the title match, with La Parka eventually running V3 off after he interfered a second time. After Laredo won, Los Mercenarios attacked Laredo. Vikingo, Myzetziz and Parka ran him off.

Faby Apache & Hijo dell Tirantes mostly got along, at least for them. Tirantes slow count Faby once but then counted the finish fine. They still ended up fighting after the match.

Brazo de Plata was brought out to speak to the crowd early in the show. La Mascara interrupted to tease an attack, Psycho Clown quickly ran him out off and threatened him.

La Parkita was injured, seemingly seriously, on a diving headscissors to the floor late in the match. His head bounced off the floor and he needed a lot of medical attention to be put on a backboard. AAA later said Parkita was out of danger but would be out for a while.

Announcer Jesus Zuniga returned to AAA after being off since Christmas day. He worked as ring announcer and occasional interviewer and appears to be AAA full time going forward.

Thoughts:

The standard AAA main event ended the show. Psycho Clown threw himself around a lot, a bit too his own detriment. Jeff Jarrett was careful to pick his spots (yet still took a bad legdrop from Pagano) and bizarrely got to take out Wagner with a guitar in what appears to be his final performance. Pagano had one of his cleaner matches, though a spot where he headbutts a chair to block is dumb on many levels. The weirdest was an AAA rudo winning clean, though they got back on trap by unmasking Psycho Clown for no real reason.

The semi-main struggled off the bat, with Aerostar whiffing on a back springboard and then he and Tito just looking completely lost on a running spot. It was tough to imagine how good the match was going to end up being when it got rolling. These matches are built towards Vikingo doing really big spots, and Vikingo is delivering on the really big spots. The double rope spot with Vikingo & Aerostar was incredible and probably would’ve been a great finish, though they did get in a couple of cool dives. Aerostar recovered with his usual tope into the fifth row. Drago & Poder del Norte were solid as usual. It was the most complete match on the show.

The exoticos matches were about the same as always. A lot more exotico spots, or maybe I just noticed them more because Vampiro & Suicide couldn’t stand them. Máximo is trying hard and his partners were not bad but tehir match wasn’t much. It did get over better than some others.

This fourth match was just a good solid trios match. Myzteziz did some fantastic things and also landed on his face. It leaned more towards the good stuff, though Parka Negra didn’t have his super power basing here. Dinastia did overall well with a different group of people than he usually works against. Super Fly probably was a better person for this match than Jack Evans would’ve been, the extra base helped.

Laredo Kid continues to have really fun matches, though he and Guevera had to get around some limitations on him. Interference spots and the post-match seemed to only exist to give La Parka something to do at the expense of the rest of the match. Pierro not understanding the crotch spot Sammy wanted to do was also hilarious. Still, the athleticism in the closing of the match was incredible. This was the best Sammy’s been in AAA, playing the rudo character that’s worked well elsewhere and it gave the match more of a dynamic than people just trying moves. The moves were cool though. This was borderline good/great for me.

Segunda wasn’t quite as good as usual. Star Fire turned out to be a significant dropoff from Lady Shani, having a match where she looked off at a couple of big moments include the finish. Keyra’s stuff was not as sharp as usual. Villano & Golden Magic were good, and this was the same Lady Maravilla and Niño Hamburgesa finish as we’ve seen a few times. Those other times were better.

The opener was entertaining but very sloppy at times. La Parkita was trying bigger spots than last time out in something that seemed to be a spotlight for him. It ended up not going well for him. He had trouble on the apron headscissors spot and far more on the one all the way to the floor. Latigo & Dragon Bane had the best-looking highlights of a match that didn’t come all together.

This was billed as the start of regular AAA English language streams. AAA had earlier announced they were going to let anyone co-stream their show, because that what was they were doing. Australian Suicide & Vampiro watched the show on a tiny delay, and over the top of the Spanish language feed. This meant the action and crowd noise was very much turned down. Suicide had the funnier lines and a better grasp of AAA storylines than Vampiro, who would get more frustrated with the chat room or having to explain the action when he didn’t like was going on. (He didn’t much like the exoticos match.) Suicide was good enough where he could be part of a good team if he stuck around and had a good partner or two to work off of, but he suggested this was his one and only night at it from the start. He is on the next show.

Recapped: 02/10/2019

All matches aired live from Auditorio Amado Nervo, Tepic, Nayarit.

Matches:

Dinastía, Lady Shani, Niño Hamburguesa beat Lady Maravilla, Lanzelot, Villano III Jr.
(11:41, Niño Hamburguesa frog splash Lanzelot, great,00:28:42)

Hijo Del Vikingo beat Jack Evans and Taurus
(9:32, reverse 450 splash, great,00:52:36)

Aerostar, Máximo, Taya beat Faby Apache, La Máscara, Monsther Clown
(10:57, Taya inside cradle Faby, ok,01:11:00)

Laredo Kid beat Drago and Flamita
(11:38, Laredo Fly on Drago, great,01:34:01)

Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Blue Demon Jr. in a street fight match
(12:49, Wagner Driver, good,01:55:19)

La Parka, Psycho Clown, Puma King beat Hijo del Fantasma, Killer Kross, Rey Escorpión
(24:45, Puma King bodyscissors Fantasma, good,02:18:52)

What happened:

Laredo Kid worked twice, replacing La Parka in the main event after Friday’s injury angle. (It is possible Drago was initially supposed to replace Parka, since he was not in on the original card but around for the weekend.) La Mascara attempted to help Fantasma win but it backfired into a Puma King cradle. The técnicos celebrate for roughly five seconds before the rudos beat them up and left them unmasked.

Faby Apache seconded Blue Demon in the street fight. Wagner had no second, though Taya ran out to attack Faby after about 9 minutes in. Monster Clown ran in to attack her, which normally would mean Aerostar to balance him. Instead, it was Joe Lider (in his only appearance on the weekend) helping out his Perro del Mal ally and putting Monster Clown thru a table. Wagner, face covered in blood, beat Wagner cleanly. Both Taya & Faby attack Hijo del Tirantes after the match.

Faby accidentally dropkicked Hijo del Tirantes, who fast counted a pin for Taya on Faby immediately after.

Lady Maravilla again tried to stop Niño Hamburgers from winning the match, but Lady Shani was able to take her out with a backcracker this time.

A leading off the show segment included Parka talking about his injury on Friday night’s show at Fantasma’s hands. He thanked Laredo, Vikingo, and Myzteziz (who was not there) and challenged Fantasma to any type of match he wanted. Dr. Wagner interrupted to back up Parka and also challenge Demon. One of the Unefon masked men, who usually throw out prizes to the crowd before the official show open (they switched the order this time) pretended like he was a fan of Wagner & Parka only to attack them. He was Blue Demon in disguise. Fantasma showed up in a Blue Demon mask to help and pass the mask to Demon. Vikingo & Laredo eventually made the save.

English commentary was announced as starting with next Saturday’s show.

Thoughts:

The main event was, in a thin fashion, a lot like AAA’s normal main events. The rudos attacked before the whistle, beatdown the técnicos for a while, and the técnicos made a comeback. It differed greatly from there. There was no showcase of técnicos spots one by one, but instead fast-paced offense and back and forth to a big finish. I thought the opening beatdown was too long (around nine minutes before the técnicos made their comeback, and a few more before it really turned around) and that made the match too long, but it never seemed like they lost the crowd. They picked up for a big near ending during the match and were able to take it back down and keep going for a while longer. They’ve turned Killer Kross’ unpinned streak from something that only seemed to exist in Twitter promos into something that’s an important moment in matches with the near misses (on this show with Laredo Kid following all the técnicos moves, on the previous show with Vikingo.) Regular match wins and losses are not usually taken all that seriously in AAA but they’ve kind of made some progress on making that win mean something if they ever get around to make it happen. The técnicos showed surprising chemistry for a team that’s never been before and may never be again. Puma in particularly played well off Máximo & Psycho on these shows, in a way where they’d be a fun spot show act. Rey Escorpión and Psycho Clown are going to have a great match once they get around to it. Psycho Clown is not particularly clean, but it’s amazing to see him try to get better when a lot of people in his position would coast. That includes him at times in the past, and I’d love to know what’s brought on the urge to add tope arm drags to his matches. This was a strong ending to a strong show.

Blue Demon/Dr. Wagner was not something I particularly wanted to see, but they used Wagner’s blood to connect with the audience in a way this feud really had not the post. The overbooking craziness was reminiscent of the Shani/Apache TripleMania match, but was more effective here since the expectations were less. Demon & Wagner out there in a straight match would’ve been death, and four other people involved made it work. Joe Lider saving Taya because they are old Perros del Mal friends was a nice touch. And also we only had to see Joe Lider for the run-in.

It was really hard for the Laredo Kid three-way to follow the other three way, but they did enough interesting stuff to still stick out and handled it better when things didn’t go perfect. Laredo Kid had some incredible moments in this. He was clearly the best guy, something that hasn’t always been true, but seemed the case in the end. That’s even with a stronger Flamita performance than on Friday; he’s not pulling out the apron shooting star shoulderblock (?) that often. Drago kept up in something that moved fast, though I was still surprised to see him take the pin.

The tercera was a Mascara/Maximo match, which was fine and got attention to the feuds they wanted and could not follow the match the Vikingo three-way match. La Mascara may have gone thru the weekend without taking a bump. Taya & Faby are ok against each other but they’ve didn’t hit high gear this weekend. Monster & Aerostar haven’t had the same magic they had in their one singles match but they were OK. This kept the plates spinning and at least was a nice buffer between the two action matches.

Taurus started off the second match by UG-like catching Vikingo on a dive and powerbombing him to doom. The match kept going from there, somehow. Hijo del Vikingo isn’t a finished product, there are some headscissors here that didn’t go well (and a top rope splash he and Jack saved into an armdrag nicely), but he what can already do is pretty incredible. The walking the ropes hanging double stomp was new to me from him and followed him getting flattened on a German suplex. Taurus remains a great opponent, destroying Vikingo well when not basing for him. Jack was really good here, and this match flowed really strongly to the end.

The show started off with a great opener. The action built on Friday’s match and surpassed it. Dinastia did well here, maybe his best match in a while, with creativity and speed. The sequence with his and Maravilla leading to Maravilla reversing the behind the back piledriver into a submission was great. The Maravilla/Hamburguesa story is perfect for an early match trios, and they changed up the ending this time.

Recapped: 02/08/2019

The matches took place in Centro de Usos Múltiples, Mazatlán, Sinaloa.

Matches:

Lady Maravilla, Lanzelot, Villano III Jr. beat Dinastía, Lady Shani, Niño Hamburguesa
(10:50, Lanzelot release spinning Devil’s Wings Dinastia, good,00:18:03)

Laredo Kid beat Taurus
(10:58, Laredo Fly, great,00:53:04)

Faby Apache & Monsther Clown beat Aerostar & Taya
(8:43, Faby Apache german suplex Taya w/Tirantes help, ok,01:11:33)

Drago © beat Jack Evans, Hijo Del Vikingo, Flamita for the AAA Latin American Championship
(8:30, Drago flipping DDT, good,01:32:34)

Blue Demon Jr., Hijo del Fantasma, La Máscara beat Dr. Wagner Jr., Máximo, Puma King
(11:40, Blue Demon foul Dr. Wagner, ok,01:50:56)

Killer Kross & Rey Escorpión beat Hijo Del Vikingo, La Parka, Laredo Kid, Psycho Clown
(14:37, Killer Kross back suplex, good,02:14:57)

What happened:

The main event saw La Mascara trap/distract Piero while Fantasma gave La Parka a martinete, ending his participation in the match. Laredo Kid came thru the crowd and replaced him, but was eventually taken out. Hijo del Vikingo than ran into replace Laredo, nearly beat Kross, and was pinned.

Blue Demon snuck in a foul to beat Wagner in the semi-main.

Taya got a shoulder up on the German suplex, but Hijo del Tirantes forced the shoulder back down and quick counted three.

Nino let himself get distracted by a Lady Maravilla hug, causing his team to lose. Lady Shani was very unhappy with him after.

An in-ring bit included Fantasma challenging Fenix (not there) again and Rey Escorpión boasting about his tag title reign. Vampiro introduced a Lucha Brothers promo from Vegas where they said they’d be challenging for the tag titles at Rey de Reyes. A fight involving Los Mercenarios, Konnan, Vampiro, Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid, Faby Apache, and Taya ensued.

Thoughts:

The main event felt long, but it had a lot of different sections to break it up. The Vikingo run at the end was the best. He took the pin but got to look cool beforehand, while poor Laredo Kid doesn’t get in much before he’s vanished out of existence. I’m not quite sure why he was even there. Kross got more out of throwing Vikingo around then selling for Parka. Rey Escorpión did well with Psycho Clown, saving him on one dive and taking his tope armdrag well. I like that feud better than whenever the Parka stuff is going.

The semi-main was fine, no more. Fantasma is in this tough spot where he can play off the comedy of Máximo & Puma King well, but he sort of needs to be taken more seriously. Dr. Wagner still knows how to get sympathy, though Blue Demon didn’t show enough aggression to make it worth it. La Mascara knows where he’s supposed to be, he just doesn’t seem like he cares to be there.

The chaos of the fourway match didn’t really benefit. They packed in lot of stuff, but it didn’t have much of a direction outside of needing Flamita & Jack to disappear for the finishing stretch. There were cool move sand Vikingo getting a lot of offense to offset him taking the pin. Jack looked good and Flamita did well with what he did, but the structure of the match caused him and Drago to just disappear for a while. I liked the match but it looks better in names than what it turned out to be.

Most of the Aerostar/Taya vs Faby Apache/Monsther Clown match was built on getting heat for Monsther Clown. Watch a match about Monsther Clown unmasking and cutting open Aerostar is not really the most exciting thing, and the técnico comeback spots weren’t interesting enough to make it worth the time. Nothing fundamentally went wrong with the execution, it just wasn’t an interesting story.

Laredo/Taurus was a match with no story, only exists because the card had to be shuffled around, featuring one guy who hasn’t had any purpose since coming back to AAA and another one who is just suddenly getting a main event push. It worked perfectly because they’re both really good. Laredo Kid was good all the way thru the Lucha Capital, and this was Taurus showing he could go at the same level if given the chance. He looked impressive in the big moments, with his pounce and Taurus Driver looking super. The tornillo to the floor going a little bit off was funny, but he showed more than basing, come off as a real threat. Laredo Kid continues to be on fire, looking super with everything he did here. They completely had the crowd by the 450 splash and with everything that followed it in the last minute. I’d like something with more to it than this, but this near as good as you’re going to get for a match coming out of nowhere.

The opener had some fun action in front of the crowd who was very into Niño Hamburguesa drama. The six worked fit well together. Villano III Jr. is eager but maybe the guillotine legdrop to the floor is not his best move. Dinastia’s dropkick bump to the floor looked even worse and clearly was worse since Lanzelot had to hold up on a dive. There were some slight timing issues, though nothing that prevented this from being a pleasant xperience.

Recapped: 12/02/2018

Matches:

All matches aired from Palenque de la Feria, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes.

Arkángel Divino, Dark Finder, Discovery beat Príncipe Seir, Último Maldito, Xtreme X
(10:31, Arkangel Divino high speed Mistica, good, 00:20:08)

Lady Shani beat Faby Apache ©, La Hiedra, Scarlett for AAA’s Reina de Reinas championship
(6:59, Lady Shani backcracker Faby Apache, below average, 00:55:33)

La Máscara, Parka Negra, Taurus beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata
(9:04, La Mascara double knee smash Máximo, ok, 01:16:23)

Angelikal Myzteziz Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana © fto win the AAA World Trios Championship
(10:28, Hijo del Vikingo shooting star press Mocho Cota, great, 01:40:00)

La Parka, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. beat Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
(5:30, DQ Averno for mask pull, ok, 02:01:31)

Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. beat Joe Lider & Pagano and Cíclope & Miedo Extremo to keep the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a hardcore rules match
(17:28, Texano & Escorpión two man powerbomb Pagano, good, 02:11:30)

Drago beat Hijo del Fantasma © to win the AAA Latin American Championship
(14:34, dragon’s tale cradle, good, 02:43:35)

Blue Demon & Killer Kross beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown
(10:13, Kross & Demon pin Wagner, below average, 03:15:46)

What happened:

Scarlett is with Kross, as on Lucha Capital, and it seems to be permanent thing going forward. Scarlett interfered in the match, which strangely caused Vampiro to come out to grab her. Before Vampiro could chokeslam the woman, Kross hit Vampiro in the back. Vampiro ended up leaving grabbing his neck. Kross snuck in a foul on Psycho and suplexed him, and Demon beat Wagner clean with the Devil’s Wings. Or that was the plan, except Tirantes held up at two for reasons no one really understood. He might have had a problem with Kross helping pin Wagner, but then he let Demon & Wagner pin him at the same time anyway. The show ended with the rudos unmasking Psycho Clown and celebrating.

The Fenix/Cage title match didn’t happen. Cage sent in a video (translated by Melissa) saying he’d been injured a few days ago and was not able to wrestle. Fenix appeared in front of the live crowd to talk about his injury. He got some boos for the match not happening, which upset him. Laredo Kid interrupted, put over Fenix for being professional enough to show up anyway, and asked if he was still getting a title shot. Fenix assured him that Laredo was first on his list for challenges when he was healthy again.

Both the Mercenarios & Macizos beat up Pagano & Lider after the match, so it does not appear the Ciclope & Miedo Extremo vs Pagano & Joe Lider program is done.

In an in-ring bit early in the night, La Parka brought on Angelikal, praised him, and unveiled gear for him for a new character: Myzteziz Junior. (Myzteiz was the identity Carístico used in AAA.) Angelikal wrestled under the new identity in the title match, which his team won. Parka congratulated the winners after the match, saying he knew Myzteziz would bring them luck. The OGTs interrupted, insulted Parka, and got into a fight with the técnicos. They took out Hijo del Vikingo with a shoulder injury in the process. Parka challenged OGT to an immediate match, which ended with Averno unmasking Parka (after first only getting the top of his mask) and later taking the other two masks.

A series of vignettes aired with Brazo de Platino trying to convince Máximo and La Mascara to reunite, with Mascara insisting he wasn’t a Brazo but a Mercenario. (These had been airing on Space the last couple of weeks in real time but had not yet aired on Twitch.) Brazo de Platino brought out La Mascara to again plead with him. Mascara faked agreeing and attacked him. This came across like a role Super Porky was intended to play for sympathy but is not physically able to at this point.

Kerya was scheduled for the title match but did not appear, because she was trying out for WWE in Chile. Hijo del Tirantes helped Scarlett out of a Faby tapatia to break up a spot where everyone was in a hold. Scarlett walked out of the match a moment later, confusing everyone. Tirantes and Faby went back to feuding, which led to Shani beating Faby when she was distracted. Faby seemed to be a tecnica in this match. Outside of Scarlett being a heel, it was tough to tell what role anyone was supposed to be in.

The opener was an added dark match, with Último Maldito & Arkangel Divino coming home to work with other Aguascalientes wrestlers.

Thoughts:

The main event was the usual not much Blue Demon/Dr. Wagner main event. Some weak brawling, a run-in to push the never happening Vampiro/Kross match, and a really poor looking finish. Not great night for referees being able to count to three. Demon slapping hands with all the fans and then working rudo in the match didn’t work, but I’m not sure anything he’s going to do will work. It’s just cold.

Drago/Fantasma was a slow-paced match feeling like it might building to something, but taking forever to get there. They never totally found that extra gear though it did get better as they went along. Drago bleeding a lot was a strong visual that didn’t play equally strong into the match. They did build drama with the near falls but the typically quiet Aguascalientes crowd didn’t seem that into it. Fantasma’s offense doesn’t look as sharp as it once did, with the big tope never coming off strong. Drago’s escape out of the Thrill of the Hunter came off well, but Copetes hesitating on the winning three count hurt the drama of the moment. There already wasn’t as much drama in that moment as there should’ve been.

This was the best of three Macizos/Pagano/Lider matches so far. It was a more balanced match between three teams and escalating well, which was important given how long it went. The last couple minutes were clunky to get Pagano to finish the match, but he wasn’t as much a problem as in the other ones with more people to surround them. Los Macizos looked sharp thru the match and took a lot of punishment; they’re still clearly here just to give Pagano & Lider something to wrestle, but they’re coming off as the better team. Rey Escorpión was relatively up for the extreme spots in the match and pulled off a cool powerbomb catch for the finish. Texano did not seem to be as much interested in killing his opponents got thru it fine. There are some obvious not great spots, both in ideas and execution (that table spot near the end didn’t come close to looking like a Canadian Destroyer), but this was good for what it was.

The title switch was the best Poder del Norte/Laredo squad match yet. Other matches may have a few more shocking moves at the very top end, but this one had plenty close while building to a bigger end game. This seemed like it would be a title change going in and “Myzteziz Jr.” clinched it before it started, yet they were still able to put together a moment where it looked like Poder del Norte might win. They wrestled fast and they kept it interesting. The técnicos went over very strong in the end. Poder del Norte still looked good enough, here and in general, that they’re still useful as contenders down the line. The follow up on trios match really wasn’t much, with Myzteziz getting a few spots and Laredo doing much less. It was a chance for Parka to do his thing, which isn’t much of a thing to see and didn’t have a purpose here.

This tapings version of the Máximo/Mascara match was slightly better than normal only because Parka Negra & Taurus. They looked super, especially early in the match, and one or the other should be used as a challenger for Drago right away. There isn’t much else to say about the rest of the action. The crowd didn’t care about the feud any more after the dramatic intervention of Brazo de Platino, but then this crowd didn’t care about a whole lot.

The women’s match was a big disappointment. I’m not sure if there was drama putting together the match, but it came off like a match no one was really happy with, especially the people who had to watch it. The match made no sense except if they decided Shani had to beat Faby for the title but also that Faby wasn’t going to lose clean. Apache working as a tecnica and feuding with Tirantes made no sense given months of storylines except to set up for that finish. It also made the end of the match a mess, and it wasn’t a match that was going along that great. The match got worse once Scarlet left. It wasn’t that she was great (she was fine), but the weirdness of the match was exposed to less people involved in it. It just kind of meandering to a lame finish with none of the impact or fun of the recent matches. If AAA had to do the finish this way to tie up the Faby/Shani feud and are moving onto anything else, then maybe it was a necessary evil (though one that should’ve come months ago.) It’s even worse if this just the start of more with them.

The dark match was an attempt to repeat similar previous matches but didn’t reach those heights. The Tijuana guys match here last on the previous Aguascalientes got last time but was an easier superior match. Everyone was willing to take big bumps, but the offense and layout made it feel too indie match. They did everyone does a Canadian Destroyer spot, but slower and less well than previous ones, and it doesn’t help to do direct comparisons when it is going to be something worse. Último Maldito & Arkangel Divino did their usual sequence, though ti it felt a bit of a walkthru. Maldito’s dive looked cool, but it also required the match to stop for a minute while he searched for a suitable chair. The solution there can’t be “find another chair” when “do a different dive is a possibility.” They got money thrown in, but they really need encouragement to try something different.

Recapped: 11/25/2018

This was a sponsored show for the Emperador cookies. The show took place from a fairly full Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera. Jesus Zuniga and Leo Riano were the announcers.

The usual music was replaced by generic music for reasons not explained. Also, “OGT” was never called by that name and did not wear that merchandise, which seemed like a sponsor request.

Matches: 

Hijo Del Vikingo & Máscara de Bronce beat Australian Suicide & Dave The Clown
(14:01, Vikingo & Bronce 450 splash Suicide & Dave, good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Gif: 4058/4243/4341/4443

Dinastía & Máscarita Sagrada beat Mini Histeria & Mini Psycho Clown
(8:18, Máscarita Sagrada small package Mini Psycho Clown, ok, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch)

Aerostar, Angelikal, Argenis vs Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(9:55, Aerostar frontcracker Carta Brava Jr., good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Guardián Emperador I, Guardián Emperador II, Psycho Clown beat Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
(14:01, Guardian II legdrop Chessman, ok, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

What happened:

The Guardian Emperadors are masked wrestled representing the sponsor. The smaller Guardian (I) did a lot of cool springboards and revealed himself to be Golden Magic on twitter. The bigger Guardian did not do as much. The rudos have control about 12 minutes in when Máscarita Sagrada runs in, which appears to be totally legal. He helps them win and gets a Guardian mask post-match.

Chessman, with Averno & Super Fly, taunted Máscarita Sagrada after the match. Chessman teased press slamming Sagrada out of the ring, mimicking the commercial campaign that set up this show. This time, he ended up slapping and stomping Sagrada down.

Thoughts:

This was a different show than usual for AAA. The main event was a bit more comedy and playing to the crowd for reactions than they’d do on a normal TV show, which there’s already a lot of. The match worked for the live crowd but a little bit dragged for me. The rudos were kind of taking it easy, which was the same for most people. Golden Emperador was the standout, and didn’t seem affected by his outfit.

Poder del Norte versus three técnicos was about what you’d expect, a decent amount of lying though nothing extraordinary. Angelikal stood out less than usual, with Aerostar doing the majority of the interesting spots for his side. The rudos were solid too, though it felt a little bit down effort-wise than usual from a normal TV taping. This was still interesting enough, though maybe not far away from the thrice-weekly CMLL midcard trios matches that I get bored with.

Like the other Máscarita Sagrada matches, this was one where he needed someone to help him out by carrying most of the action. Dinastia did so, making it better than some of the Lucha Capital matches but not really something worth watching. The rudos did what they could but he just can’t do much. I assume Sagrada is here because the sponsors specifically asked for him. It doesn’t make much sense otherwise.

They got more time for the opener they would for this on a regular show and it helped a bit. It gave the técnicos more of a chance to show off early. It was Was funny to see Suicide work the opening exchange with Bronce, Dave get in one knee to send Bronce, then tag out himself so Suicide could carry the load against Vikingo too. It was for the best. Dave wasn’t at his worst, but Suicide was definitely better. The rudos did offense and comedy when they were in control, and it built back up nicely for thee end. Mascara de Bronce looked as good as any of the guys who usually work openers in his first appearance in five months. I feel like there has to be a story behind him getting so completely shuffled out of the mix in the new regime, but maybe things will change again and he’ll be back part of it next year.

Recapped: 11/18/2018

All matches aired from Gimnasio Municipal Josué Neri Santos, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua

Matches:

Mr. Alfa, Centinela, Villano III Jr. beat VIP, Syrus, Rey Puma
(6:15, Villano III headstand rope flip moonsault Syrus, ok, 00:17:16)

gif: 1741/2159

Lady Shani, Starfire, Vanilla beat Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Zafiro
(8:39, Lady Shani spinning Gori Special Lady Maravilla, ok, 00:33:38)

Angelikal, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(8:57, Hijo del Vikingo reverse 450 splash Tito Santana, good, 01:10:56)

Joe Lider & Pagano beat Cíclope & Miedo Extremo
(13:44, Pagano Spanish Fly “thru” a table Ciclope, ok, 01:33:00)

La Máscara, Monsther Clown, Rey Escorpión beat Mamba, Máximo, Murder Clown
(9:25, La Mascara fouled Máximo, ok, 02:07:09)

Brian Cage, La Parka, Psycho Clown beat Blue Demon, Hijo del Fantasma, Texano Jr.
(11:04, Cage F5 Texano, ok, 02:29:28)

What happened:

After the second match, Psycho Clown & La Parka came out to complain about teaming with the traitor Blue Demon. They were interrupted by Konnan, Fantasma, and Texano. Fantasma also called Drago a midget and said he has no chance against him. Fantasma also said Cage would give him the title after he beat Fenix at Guerra de Titanes. Cage didn’t like that, things escalated quickly, and the other rudos attacked Cage. Parka & Psycho thought about it, made the save, teased attacking Konnan, and were attacked by Blue Demon from him. Cage shook hands with Parka & Psycho afterward. Cage and Demon switched places in the match and Cage wrestled as a técnico.

Los Macizos fouled Lider & Pagano after.

Vampiro appeared to explain Scarlett wasn’t here and Zaifro would replace her. Keyra and Lady Shani each side they’d be the next Reina de Reinas and got into a fight after the match. Keyra and Shani ripped each other’s masks and had to be pulled apart twice.

VIP attacked his partners after the match, giving Syrus a sit-down piledriver. This came across as the wrestlers doing their own angle.

Thoughts:

The main event was an average AAA main event, with the weirdness of Brian Cage doing spots with Blue Demon. Demon looked old and not entirely convincing as a main event heel, though he tried to make it up with aggressive brawling at times. Cage got to throw people around before his title match, and it sure seems like they’re setting him up for more than just a title challenge.

The semi-main was a thoroughly average match which had no change in following the craziness of the last one. The crowd was out of it until Murder Clown did his 619 and splash. The Mascara/Maximo issue has gotten months of build and didn’t come across as any special deal here. The crowd is into Máximo’s comedy, but they were also into Mamba outside of the feud.

The extreme match definitely wasn’t for me – it was extreme spots without meaning or build – but I didn’t think it wasn’t a great exhibition. Pagano was bad in this match, as often. Pagano was taking forever to do spots, and then screwing them up. Pagano did spots about not wanting to get hit by light tubes right after he no sold chair shots to the head (and didn’t sell those light tubes all that much.) Pagano’s clumsiness probably wasn’t responsible for the double suplex going bad, but it sure was a lot to do with the finish not going well. Pagano is willing to do stupid stuff to himself and he was way over so he can continue being bad at wrestling but it doesn’t make it great to watch. The other guys were fine, and Ciclope & Miedo Extremo came across better here than their previous match. But this was only enjoyable to see Pagano be bad.

The tercera was another exciting match between these two teams, if not as clean as their previous ones. The match was rough mostly in terms of guys actually being caught. Poder del Norte whiffed both on Laredo and Angelikal’s dives, and there were some hard landings earlier. There was also a little bit too many two counts where Copetes had to pause counting because someone wasn’t quick enough to break up pins. These are things they can clean up with another try, and at least Poder del Norte was kept to only one chair shot this time. I don’t know what the deal was with the weapon Cota used either though.

The women’s match wasn’t really as the level of the recent ones, though it was still alright. They did a lot more triple spots than normal for these matches, and it kind of got more silly than serious. AAA nearly missed Shani’s finish for a second straight show, which is almost as impressive as Keyra’s unwilling to take it easy on dropkicks. Vanilla maybe needs to get a lot better at the tornillo or stop doing the tornillo, because it was really not good here. The brawl felt more real than usual.

The opener had some good spots and was also pretty rough at times. The early portion of the match, where the rudos setup up flashy técnico spots, looked the best. Though even that was was a bit slow, enough to feel artificial. They were less able to stay on their plan as the match went along, which made some stuff look brutal but also sloppy. It was fine enough as a local match goes. Villano III Jr. had a great senton but his finish didn’t really come that close to hitting.