Tag: AAA on Twitch

Recapped: 11/11/2018

All matches aired live from Coliseo La Concordia, Orizaba, Veracruz

Matches:

Mini Psycho Clown, Samoano, Samoano 2 beat Halcón 78 Jr., Solaris, Tromba
(5:10, Samoano splash Solaris, ok)

Lanzelot, Parka Negra, Toxin beat Arcángel Divino, Dinastía, Dragón Bane
(10:52, Parka Negra top rope splash Dinastia, good)

Aerostar, Niño Hamburguesa, Súper Fly beat Black Danger, Taurus, Último Maldito
(8:48, Aerostar super Canadian Destroyer Último Maldito, ok)

Cíclope (DTU) & Miedo Extremo beat Joe Lider & Pagano
(12:16, Ciclope Flaming Wizard Joe Lider, ok)

Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata beat La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
(11:39, Máximo kiss La Mascara, ok)

Angelikal, Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid beat Carta Brava, Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana
(10:48, Laredo Fly on Carta Brava, good)

Dr. Wagner Jr., Drago, Psycho Clown beat Hijo del Fantasma, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Kross
(14:04, Drago Dragon’s Lair Hijo del Fantasma, ok)

What happened:

Máximo challenged La Mascara to a hair match. La Mascara fouled him, the rudos beat up the exoticos, and the challenge didn’t seem to be officially accepted.

Parka Negra replaced Aramis, though whomever’s running the entrances was unaware of that change. Lanzelot appears to be a rudo now, attacking unmasking his brother after his match (though Parka Negra gets the pin because he’s the only pushed guy of this group.)

Black Danger & Último Maldito are back to those identities, though they’re acknowledged as being Espectro & Kahoz in the Copa Antonio Pena. Monster Clown tried to surprise attack Aerostar, and Aerostar at least kept it even until a foul. Super Fly saved him from more but also got fouled. Averno made a surprise run-in to also make the save. Monster Clown seemed to signal for a trios match, though it’s not clear what form that’d take.

The opener was really the dark match, starting as the announcers were previewing the show. Hades was seconding the rudas and was given a Samoano mask.

In a segment missing audio, and cut away from oddly, Niño Hamburguesa got a letter from a secret admirer. Or at least it was a secret from us. This aired right before the exotico match. Every time AAA does this angle, it’s an exotico as the admirer.

A message from Scarlett was played, but the sound also didn’t work for this bit. She stripped in silhouette in the background. She’s presumably coming back to AAA soon.

Earlier, Fantasma challenged (the not-present Fenix) to a title versus title match. Jose Manuel Guillen did bring up the Laredo Kid challenge, which hasn’t gone anywhere in a couple of months. Drago interrupted to challenge for a shot at Fantasma’s title. Fantasma told him to go wrestle the minis, shoved Drago down and turned around to pose. Drago fought Fantasma, Fantamsa ripped up Drago’s mask, Psycho Clown made the save, and Los Mercenarios ran in after him to beat up both técnicos.

Jarrett wrestled about half the main in a mask to hide his bald head. (It’s not that bald after a couple weeks.) Wagner eventually chased Jarrett to the stage, where Blue Demon appeared and attacked Wagner. Drago made the title challenge again after pinning Fantasma, only for the rudos to again beat up the técnicos.

Thoughts:

The main event was the usual Wagner & Psycho showcase, with a lot of Jarrett screwing around and more Kross suplexes than usual. Fantasma, in theory trying to challenge for the biggest title in the promotion, came off as the fifth or sixth most important person. The entire finish was overshadowed by Demon beating up Wagner in the background. AAA’s not playing around about which feud is the important one here. Drago was alright in setting up the match with Fantasma and doing this in the main event at least is a half effort chance of making it work. It’s just surrounded by so much that didn’t work.

The semi-main was a big opportunity for the técnicos, and they made the most of it. Angelikal picked the right moment to pull out a double moonsault, Vikingo had lots of cool offense and Laredo Kid finished the match strong. The team lacked a common thread, but they individually looked very effective. Poder del Norte was more interesting when their offense was something other than chair shots. They at least can keep up with the técnicos when they’re going at a fast pace, and these técnicos were pushing that pace. Vikingo might have been better of taking a breath and letting some of his offense sink in at it times, but it did keep the match interesting with the técnicos were in charge. This would’ve been easily a grade higher if the rudos could vary their offense a little more.

The fifth match was the usual exotico showcase, which worked for well for crowd reactions and not so much in taking the rudos seriously. It was much the same match they do all the time, though it seemed to work better for this crowd. The Los Mercenarios are having a tough time being taken seriously while being in a feud with a comedy team, but maybe La Mascara taking his cousin’s hair will help.

The fourth match really wasn’t going to be for me, but it also seemed counterproductive. Pagano seemingly took 70% of the match, not the ideal thing when Ciclope & Miedo Extremo are debuting and seemingly supposed to be built up as threats. Pagano had a pretty shaky match, even by Pagano standards, but he got his desired crowd reaction and that seems to be the important thing to him. Ciclope & Miedo looked a lot more polished in the moments they got, though AAA’s camerawork didn’t help much on Flaming Wizard spot. If you missed this one, I’m sure you’ll get about the same in Juarez.

There’s definitely some potential with Taurus teaming with the two young rudos (whatever name we’re calling against them this week), but they didn’t really reach it here. Maldito’s sloppy powerbomb caused Aerostar to pick up a leg injury and seemed to derail the last half of the match. The rest was a lot of usual Niño Hamburguesa stuff. Super Fly being weirdly included seems to be going somewhere, though it’s strange to see the OGTs as técnicos.

The actual opener eventually turned into a good match, but it left a lot on the table. The first half of the match, thru the dives and the Lanzeloth/Dinastia sequence, was pretty sloppy. People were running past each other on spots, people were being thrown to the top rope but not making it there, things just didn’t look right. I’m not sure if they just calmed down, but it did go a lot smoother once they got back to their corners. Toxin and Dragon Bane had good moments late. Lanzleot being a rudo opposite of Dinastia would give both a direction, if it’s followed up on.

It was neat to see the dark match, getting a glimpse at people who mostly had been on TV once or twice over the last two years but hadn’t been seen lately. No one stood out positively like they needed to be on TV, but it was at least interesting to see people like Hades and Solaris still exist. Samoans were alright flattening the técnicos – who never got the comeback you’d expect in this sort of match – and Hades as their mastermind is an idea that might have some legs on a less crowded roster. Didn’t get as much a sense of the others, but it wasn’t really about them. Halcón 78 failing to get out of the ring properly must feel terrible.

Recapped: 10/28/2018

Matches: 

All matches took place in Gimnasio Miguel Hidalgo, Puebla, Puebla

Faby Apache © defeated Scarlett Bordeaux, Starfire, Keyra  to keep the AAA’s Reina de Reinas Tournament match
(7:14, Faby Apache Dragon Suplex Starfire, good, 00:28:05)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata and Aerostar, Drago, Angelikal
(8:46, Mocha Cota Spanish Fly Angelikal, good, 00:55:20)

Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. © beat Bandido & Flamita and Laredo Kid & DJZ for the AAA World Tag Team Championship
(11:04, Texano lasso shot DJZ, good, 01:15:37)

Pagano beat Chessman, Kahoz, Hijo Del Vikingo, Súper Fly, Parka Negra, Hijo del Fantasma, Espectro, Averno, Niño Hamburguesa to win the Copa Antonio Pena
(19:30, below average, 01:46:20)

00:00 Super Fly & Hijo del Vikingo start
01:04 Espectro enters
02:25 Kahoz enters
03:56 Niño Hamburgesa enters
05:16 Parka Negra enters
06:46 Chessman enters
07:05 Hijo del Vikingo out
08:14 Super Fly out
08:15 Averno enters
09:33 Hijo del Fantasma enters
10:23 Chessman out
10:37 Parka Negra out
10:50 Pagano enters
13:13 Averno out
13:28 Kahoz out
13:44 Espectro out
14:30 Niño Hamburgesa out
19:20 Fantasma out

Murder Clown & Psycho Clown beat Killer Kross & Monsther Clown in a cage match
(11:47, ok, 02:21:34)

05:59 Murder Clown escapes
08:28 Killer Kross escapes
11:47 Psycho Clown escapes

Dr. Wagner Jr. beats Jeff Jarrett in a hair match
(13:37, Wagner guitar shot, below average, 02:47:00)

What happened:

Jeff Jarrett lost his hair to Dr. Wagner in the main event, though only after lots of interference and cameos which meant nothing on this show.

In a bit that insulted the intelligence of anyone who watches AAA, Blue Demon Jr. earlier in the night helped out Wagner and asked to be his second. Demon has been a rudo in AAA, returned on the last taping and turned rudo, cut a rudo promo for the internet, and was clearly going to turn on Wagner, except Wagner was the only person too dumb to figure it out. It didn’t matter. Hijo del Tirantes being taken out of the match (claiming an injury, removed by Vampiro for Copetes) didn’t matter either, because Copetes did the same heel stuff. Karen Jarrett & Rey Escorpión interfered, Psycho Clown ran them off, and Wagner hit Jarrett with a guitar to get the win. Jarrett got his head shaved in the ring.

The tag match was changed to a domed cage match, which led to a lot of very big wrestlers looking very uncomfortable climbing out of the hole in the top of the cage. Psycho Clown climbed up that hole and splashed Monster Clown thru a table, then escaped on his own. Monster Clown was the surprise wrestler, which was not much of a surprise. Aerostar attacked Monster Clown, yelled at him, and unmasked him after, payback for Monster’s attacks (including earlier in this show.)

The Copa Antonio Pena was fought under royal rumble rules, and with La Mascara, Australian Suicide, Dragon Bane and La Mascara advertised but not appearing. The newest version of Kahoz and Espectro debuted, as foreshadowed with the announcers talking about them as former Antonio Pena characters in an earlier tribute to him. Espectro is Black Danger, and Kahoz is Último Maldito. The finish saw Texano & Escorpión save Fantasma from elimination (by an already eliminated Niño Hamburgesa), only for Fantasma to get (barely) knocked off the apron a moment later by Pagano. Ciclope and Miedo Extremo attacked Pagano after the match to hype their match in Juarez.

Andrew Everett could not wrestle in the three-way tag match after a knee injury in Tijuana. Laredo Kid replaced him (and Angelikal replaced him in the three-way tag.) The finish seemed intended to be a flaming lasso spot, only the lasso did not light.

Lady Shani asked Faby Apache for a(nother) shot at the Reina de Reinas championship. Faby accepted but refused a handshake

Thoughts:

I don’t know if I’d call Heroes Inmortales a disappointment. It certainly wasn’t any better than OK, but it’s nothing something I felt let down by. The card wasn’t that good to begin with.

Jeff Jarrett & Dr. Wagner Jr. was exactly what you’d think a 2018 AAA match would be: a lot of stalling, a lot of punching, some Karen offense that looked horrendous but not much less horrendous than some of the Jarrett stuff, and way overbooked. I found the Blue Demon stuff more offensive than the match; when AAA treats people who watch their show within such a low regard, it’s rude and a turnoff. I know they did it to heat up Wagner/Psycho vs Demon, but Demon’s turn happened well before the finish and was completely forgotten in the post match. It didn’t mean a thing. This match didn’t mean much to me either. I guess the crowd cared and it could be worse, but I would love it of the old man division wasn’t also the main event. AAA’s La Parka seems like he’s on the road to Octagon-ville, but they’re replacing him with new people not much better.

I was really down on a bonus cage match, the tag match in general, and Monster Clown as a surprise wrestler, but it all turned out pretty OK. The guys – especially Kross – didn’t seemed thrilled to be climbing around the cage, but it was nice short brawl with a crazy Psycho Clown finish. It was also the rare AAA cage match with no interference. I would not call it an actual good lucha libre cage match but it’s usually worse than this.

The Copa Antonio Pena was an average at best AAA rumble that went off the rails with Fantasma and Pagano in the end. Pagano’s sections looking bad is no news, but Fantasma wasn’t far behind him. The finish was overbooked to get in a clever finish save that was quickly ignored – if Fantasma is going to pull off a trick to not be eliminated, he needed to come close to getting Pagano out at least once. Instead, Pagano mostly whiffed at swinging at Fantasma and out he went again. Fantasma has lost whatever momentum he had coming off the mask match. Pagano’s refusal to sell the Ciclope/Miedo beating doesn’t do much for that feud, but it gets Pagano over and that’s what the point is here anyway. Someone needs to fix Kahoz’ hair, because it was clearly messing him up. Black Danger looked pretty much the same as Espectro but Último Maldito Kahoz was nothing special. Hijo del Vikingo also really didn’t get to do much beyond his elimination; I think he and Super Fly were meant to do stuff at the start, but no one gave them the cue to start fighting, and this match instead had them awkwardly waiting for it for a minute.

The tag title match was a lot of good action. Being the third straight multiman/team match, the third straight match that was just about how much offense they could do and how fast they could do it, made it has less impact. I think this one might work better out of context, just to watch all the big crazy spots. This wasn’t the biggest match for Mexablood, but they looked sharp. Los Mercenarios came off as the stars by the end, which gave the match more of a purpose than these usually have. The double superplex by Texano looked impressive and poor DJZ got killed by Escorpion’s powerbomb before the finish. I wish DJZ and Laredo got to do something more here than be in multiman matches, but they do pull those off well.

The three-way tag had what felt like a million things going on all times. It held together all things considering, with the exoticos having a better match than usual and the flyer getting in a new nice spots. Nothing you have to go out of your way to see but full of highlights. It was more balanecd than the usual Poder del Norte trios matches, with them taking less of the action than usual. I’m not sure why this wasn’t just a trios title match given Poder del Norte were winning anyway, but it makes more sense than a Monster Clown/Aerostar feud.

The four way could’ve been a little better, but it was still a fun opener. Keyra looked off – there was a forearm exchange where Faby where she was lost – and the time didn’t let the match turn in more than the hurried one on ones for the most part. Even with those limitations, they just turned about as good they could fit in the time. Scarlett had good offense, lived thru the corner dropkick, and fit in fine. The match turned into a Star Fire/Faby Apache suplex battle down the stretch, which was really fun. I’d like to see them in a singles match more than anything else. Crowd didn’t start out caring about this but did get into it by the end.

Recapped: 10/21/2018

Matches: 

Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Starfire beat Faby Apache, La Hiedra, Vanilla
(6:24, Star Fire headscissors cradle Faby Apache, good,00:10:22)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Ciclón Ramírez, Golden Magic, Jack Evans
(11:16, Mocho Cota Jr. Spanish Fly Ciclon Ramirez, ok,00:37:50)

Aerostar, Bengala, Hijo Del Vikingo beat Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Metaleón
(9:00, Aerostar Springboard frontcracker Impossible, good,00:57:42)

Joe Lider & Pagano and Laredo Kid & Taurus did not have a result
(11:35, ok, 01:21:05)

Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown beat Electroshock & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
(18:40, Psycho Clown casita Dr. Wagner Jr., ok,01:49:16)

What happened: 

In an earlier in-ring interview, Hijo de Wagner and Rey Wagner got into a fight. The younger Wagner got the best of it, Electroshock ran in for no particular reason to help, and Psycho Clown came thru the crowd to run them off. The bit seemed to only exist so Wagner and Wagner could tease a singles match.

Ciclope & Miedo Extremo showed up as Lider & Pagano seem close to winning the semi-main. Miedo Extremo tries to give Pagano a Spanish Fly thru a table and a light tube, but the table just tips over instead. Laredo Kid adds a splash, which seems like it might be for the pinfall, but the Macizos pull Laredo off the pin and break the light tube that didn’t break in the table spot over Pagano. Laredo Kid decides he’s no longer interested in covering or this match entirely, and he and Taurus bail. No DQ is called. Time is as of the run-in, when the match essentially ceases to exist. Ciclope and Extremo destroy Pagano & Lider with light tubes, making sure they bleed a lot, then taunt them on the microphone by saying they’re the best extreme wrestlers. Pagano challenges them to a match in Juarez.

Metaleon replaced Demus – in New York on an Hijo del Santo show instead – but no one’s paying attention and they show Demus’ video instead. Monster clown attacked Aerostar and ripped up his mask post-match.

Star Fire taunted Faby after her win. Keyra might have been meant to do something, but finding a working mic proved to be surprisingly difficult. Faby said she’d be ready for them on 10/28.

Thoughts: 

The main event was the usual AAA brawling match, something that wasn’t much special watching it on a screen but seemed a lot more fun if you were in the arena and people were brawling 10 meters from you. It was a match for Rey Wagner to bleed in order to get his son over as a top guy. It didn’t work this time, though Wagner came across less limited than in previous appearances. He’s still not a spectacular worker, but he’s at better than taller than the usual guy stuck in the main event for being tall. Electroshock existed. The crowd loved Psycho Clown and they gave them plenty of Psycho Clown.

Pagano continues on his quest to redefine himself as more than an extreme wrestler, unaware no one actually wants to see that and that he’s not really good at it. Laredo Kid helped a lot; the reverse suplex spot looked really cool and I’m not sure it works with many other people. The upside of a Pagano/Joe Lider team is the guarantee of at least one spot during a match where it’s not clear if they messed something up or that was something they thought was good. It was definitely the “legdrop?/senton?” spot. In no way did it feel like Laredo Kid was headed to a big title match in this one, but I suppose it’s actually not that big. (It’s possible Laredo was actually supposed to get the pin and he really decided not to bother once the light tube spot happened, but it wouldn’t have meant much in the situation.) The run-in was super effective for the match AAA really is building; I may not like Pagano but the crowd sure did and wanted to see that tag match bad.

The Aerostar lead trios match was a lot of fun. It was a fast paced all action match, just never ending 1v1 sequences with everyone working well with each other. Bengala wasn’t always as spectacular as everyone else – the sequence of big moves peaking with a Bengala shoulderbreaker was a bit odd – but he was obviously trying hard to make an impression after not being on TV for so long and he had a lot of crowd support. The new facepaint made it feel like he was still invested in the Bengala character, not just treating it like something he was doing when he couldn’t be Super Nova. Emperdaor Azteca looked stronger than usual, sometimes literally. Imposible’s red/green mask was very evocative of Fuerza Guerrera; in a better world, he’d be playing his junior. The weakest part of this match was the camera switching, causing us to miss parts all of some of the bigger moves. It was an issue all night.

The Poder del Norte match was less than you’d expect given the time and people involved. It just wasn’t very smooth early on, and only got going well for a couple minutes in the end. Ciclon Ramirez appeared to mess up the usual opening roll evasion spot in a way I didn’t know it was possible to mess up. He has looked inconsistent at best in his AAA matches; I think he’s got potential, but it’d be fair to give other people his chances instead. I’ve taken for granted how clean the careta headscissors spot in CMLL. It did not go as well here, with Golden Magic crashing down on the pile. Even the double standing moonsault spot saw Golden Magic land on own head and arm. Jack whiffed on catching Tito Santana on his dive and had an otherwise forgettable match.

The women’s trios was not quite at the level as some of the previous ones. It seemed more a function of time than effort. They really didn’t have enough space to do as much as in the previous matches, though they did add in new stuff. The Keyra/Lady Maravilla double Spanish Fly spot would’ve looked cool if they find a way to get it on screen. Everyone did at least fine and it was a solid build to the title match. There probably should be some realization on the Elite women’s part that they’re going to be facing each other, but AAA wrestlers are not allowed to be self aware. Vanilla has one tornillo spot that didn’t look good, but that seemed like it was more on Keyra for being in the wrong place.

Recapped: 09/22/2018

All matches aired live from Salón Rojo, Toluca, Estado de México

Matches: 

Máscarita Sagrada (original) & Mini Psycho Clown beat Espectrito & Mini Coco Amarillo  
(9:38, Mascarita casadora cradle Mini Coco Amarillo, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Starfire beat Faby Apache, La Hiedra, Lady Shani  
(10:12, Keyra inside cradle on Faby Apache, great,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Aerostar, Argenis, Niño Hamburguesa vs Ciclón Ramírez, Demus, Emperador Azteca
(10:35, Ciclon super headscissors on Argenis, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Mamba & Máximo beat Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. and Golden Magic & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
(10:09, Mamba powerbomb Golden Magic, good,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Hijo de LA Park, Laredo Kid, Taurus beat Joe Lider, La Parka, Pagano
(13:08, Laredo Fly on Lider, ok, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Hijo del Fantasma & Psycho Clown beat Electroshock & LA Park
(17:26, Psycho Clown casita Electroshock, good)

What happened: 

The frame rate drops badly during portions of the main event, which presumably won’t be an issue when it airs on YouTube. Los Mercenarios beat up and unmasked Psycho afterward.

After the semi-main, a video introducing Los Nomadas aired, with them challenging Ciclope & Miedo Extremo.

Los Mercenarios attacked Mamba & Máximo after their match, though the exoticos eventually ran them off.

Keyra is no longer challenging Faby Apache, she’s telling Faby she’s going straight up win the title. Star Fire decides to challenge too, saying her generation is coming for Faby. Faby agrees to take them both on.

It appears to be the original Máscarita Sagrada in the opener, which would make his first appearance in 20 years. The rudos may be people working with him on indies, and they use a Club America flag to get heat. This is also AAA mini champion Mini Psycho Clown’s only appearance on AAA TV this year; he’s a técnico tonight after previously being a rudo.

Thoughts: 

I wasn’t strongly into most of the matches on the show but they seemed like the crowd enjoyed them. The crowd enjoyed the brawl a lot in the main event, that’s for sure. The low stakes didn’t help but I think my mind just wasn’t ready for more lucha. Electroshock seemed to be walking from spot to spot when they were in the ring early but did brawl fine. The Fantasma/LA Park stuff got good reactions even that seems like the wrong dynamic. LA Park selling Fantamsa’s dive more than Electroshock sold the finish was wonderful.

The semi-main was about as good as a match with that motley crew of AAA técnicos was going to be. The Elite side worked very hard Pagano stopped for a moment to think about everything he was going to do as to avoid turning into a GIF this week. I could’ve done with it being a little bit shorter, I could’ve done without La Parka singly handily beating up Laredo Kid & Taurus, but I guess this match had to happen and so it did. Parka making sure to beat up La Parka was nice Secret highly of the end sequence is watching to see how quickly La Parka gets out of the way of Pagano’s dive.

I didn’t have much of a feel for the third or fourth matches but liked the three-way tag a little more. The match flowed well, they did a lot of team stuff, and the finish made the most sense. The worst team, lost. Texano and Escorpion sure seemed to disappear for a long time at a finish only to beat up everyone after, and they might as well have won if that was the idea, but this was just about keeping that issue going. Golden Magic did well. Wagner needs to be in a rudo role the whole time but felt less exposed at this level than he did on his previous run on top.

The tercera had some good parts and didn’t come together in a good way. They weren’t hitting on all cylinders – directors too, since they missed both of Aerostar’s dives to show Argenis instead. Aerostar was good but not doing his most impressive stuff. Demus looked promising as a base for the flyers but didn’t get to do a lot of it. He did get to punch Aerostar in the face and seemed very excited about this. Ciclon and Emperador Azteca were kind of plain. The most useful thing to take from this match is AAA really wanted Elite to win this competition again since they could’ve flipped the outcome here without affecting anything.

The women’s match was super, the sort of hard-hitting and fast paced match that they’re great at lately. This was the best Keyra and Lady Maravilla have looked in this run, mixing up well with Faby and just hitting everyone hard. Lady Maravilla also showed more personality as ruda than I can recall seeing from her at any time before. Last year’s La Hiedra would’ve been totally out of place is the match, this one fits in fine, and I’m not sure what happened. The match kept building nicely. Starfire and Shani didn’t get to stand out as much as some of the others, and there was a little shakiness in the first half of this match, but they took up several level as they went down the stretch. I was disappointed to see they’re not on the next show, because the women’s matches have been as reliable good as anything.

The minis match was an odd surprise including and take some generosity to rate as a major league level match The rudos came off low-level indie guys early. Espectrito did better as a base later on, but they didn’t feel TV level. Mini Psycho Clown did surprisingly well as a técnico and is about Dinasita’s size. It’d be worth giving him a new gimmick, except AAA has two dozen guys his side and the idea of Mini Psycho Clown is probably getting over easy on the spot shows. Máscarita Sagrada had a couple of spots and got the win, but the rudos did a lot of the work for him like many an old guy.

Recapped: 09/30/2018

Matches:

Dinastía, Drastik Boy, Hijo Del Vikingo beat Australian Suicide, King Balam, Villano III Jr.
(9:42, Hijo del Vikingo imploding 450 splash King Balam, good, twitch @ 00:31:37)

Angelikal, Lady Shani, Niño Hamburguesa beat Arez, Lady Maravilla, Parka Negra
(11:54, Niño Hamburguesa splash Arez, good, twitch @ 00:51:23)

Golden Magic & Puma King beat Aerostar & Drago
(7:54, Puma King Gedo Clutch, good, twitch @ 01:20:42)

La Parka & Murder Clown beat Monsther Clown & Dave the Clown
(6:45, DQ for Monster Clown fouling Murder Clown, ok, twitch @ 01:37:31)

Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata beat La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
(12:16, DQ for La Mascara fouling Pimpinela, below average, twitch @ 01:54:54)

Hijo del Fantasma & Jeff Jarrett beat Blue Demon Jr. & Psycho Clown
(9:54, Fantasma pin Psycho Clown, ok, twitch @ 02:16:19)

What happened:

Konnan announced Hijo del Tirantes would be the referee for Dr. Wagner Jr. versus Jeff Jarrett at Heroes Inmortales. This was obviously done with the idea he’d be favoring Jarrett and Tirantes himself teased the idea, but Tirantes was less a focus on the rest of the show than normal. He did ignore the foul and guitar shot in the main event.

Blue Demon replaced Dr. Wagner, who was working in El Paso instead. Demon played the usual legend role, mostly brawling with Jeff Jarrett, before fouling Psycho Clown at the end. Demon was a rudo before he suddenly disappeared from AAA, so it does make more sense that he’d still be one. Jarrett hit Psycho with a guitar and Fantasma tried to recreate the guitar pin spot from earlier this year. Los Mercenarios helped unmask Psycho Clown, and were run off by the exoticos. The two sides had an unending faecoff while the show was being wrapped up

La Mascara fouled Pimpinela for the DQ there.

Dave the Clown replaced Taurus in the fourth match. Monster Clown fouled Murder, only after Dave had done the same to a Parka.

Aerostar walked out after he lost the match. Drago seemed frustrated, and it was teased they were done as a team.

This King Balam is Dizzy/Ruigdo getting another new name.

Thoughts:

I watched the main event, shrugged, and moved on with my life. They did the same matches they’ve been doing with LA Park, Psycho, and Fantasma, including some of the same table spots. To no one’s great surprise, it was worse with Jeff Jarrett & Blue Demon involved instead. It was not terrible, but it seemed house show weightless, like most of this show. There’s been bits with Fantasma & Psycho in all of these matches and they just have the same match next week, and Blue Demon making an unexplained appearance made it feel less like it was going to be remembered a week from now.

The semi-main is an easy skip. It was long and not particularly interesting. Los Mercenarios slapping around the exoticos is not interesting. The exoticos getting their revenge by beating up Samoano is not so interesting. This match actually might have worked as a change of pace between the two opening matches, but no way would these guys happily work in that spot on the card. The comeback has to really be hot to make this format useful, and it was instead the same exoticos spots as always. This feud really needs a destination to give it some momentum, instead of just running in place doing the same matches every week. It’s not so good to just be thrown out there.

Murder Clown was the best wrestler in the fourth match, which probably tells you all you need to know. They tried to make up for their lack of ability with energy, and it didn’t completely work. La Parka was trying to do things on offense, and it ended as it must, with La Parka and the Clowns messing up in embarrassing fashion. The timing on some other spots wasn’t great and people were in wrong places at times. The evil-er clowns almost didn’t get catch Murder Clown on his dive, which would’ve been really bad. At least it was quick.

I’ve got the three first-half matches all rated as good, but the AAA vs ELITE match was best of all of them. It had big moves, and it also had the smoothest action of the undercard. Puma worked well with Aerostar & Drago, like they’d been wrestling against each for a while, while still having some new ideas. Golden Dragon had a steady match. Aerostar wasn’t as crazy as he’s been at times, doing more of his usual offense but doing it well. This had a lot more to it than they’d seem to be able to fit in the time. Puma’s cradle finish seemed not to be liked by a lot of people. I think I worked for the story they were telling – Drago shouldn’t have lost like that – but I’ve also seen Puma use it a lot lately so it didn’t strange to me.

The second match suffered from being too match the same as the first match, a lot of moves and nothing really more. The spots weren’t as spectacular here – Angelikal wasn’t on the level of Vikingo – though they also did not have as much that went wrong. Parka Negra remains a great rudo, working the best of anyone with Shani and saving her from near doom on a dive. Niño Hamburguesa got over doing his usual stuff and Arez looked sharp.

The opener was exciting at times and really sloppy a times with a lot of spots. King Balam, who took special effort to expose himself as Dizzy by the end of the match, wasn’t the greatest base for Vikingo and they were off badly on a spot early on. There were other moments where it didn’t look quite right, but they were also trying so many things that it worked it good overall. Dinastia had some crazy dives. Villano III looked super impressive and it’s too bad he’s not an every TV show guy. Hijo del Vikingo looked great when he was on, and this was a good team effort. Suicide joining MAD at TripleMania seems pointless if he’s going to be wrestling in the same matches and the MAD bit not even matter – like, he could’ve at least hung out with Konnan and Jarrett later – but so much of these angles seem kinda pointless.

Recapped: 09/08/2018

All matches aired live from the Plaza de Toros in Cancún, Quintana Roo

Matches: 

Keyra, La Hiedra, Scarlett Bordeaux beat Lady Maravilla, Lady Shani, Vanilla
(9:42, Keyra Code Red Maravilla, good, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Angelikal, Australian Suicide, Hijo Del Vikingo  
(8:37, Mocho Cota Jr. frogsplash Angelikal, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Golden Magic & Jack Evans beat Laredo Kid & Sammy Guevara
(9:24, Jack Evans foul + bridging backslide Sammy Guevera, ok, Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

La Máscara, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. beat Aerostar, Máximo, Pagano  
(11:35, La Mascara foul Maximo, ok,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

Brian Cage & Hijo del Fantasma beat Fénix & Psycho Clown
(11:26, Hijo del Fantasma mask pull Psycho Clown, good,Lucha Libre AAA (Twitch))

What happened: 

Psycho Clown nearly won with a casita in the main event. Cage might have distracted the referee from three, or Fantasma might have kicked out, it wasn’t especially clear. Fantasma got away with a mask pull for the win second later. Los Mercenarios came out and helped unmask Fenix after the match.

Rey Escorpión and Texano pulled Copetes away from the ring when Maximo had a winning pin in their match, and Mascara snuck in a foul. La Parka made his only appearance of the show to run off the rudos post-match.

After her win, Keyra asked Vampiro for a title match. Vampiro said yes.

Dr. Wagner Jr. repeated his challenge to Jeff Jarrett for a hair match.

Thoughts: 

Main event had a good effort even if the execution seemed off. Psycho Clown is trying to do more stuff, though he still felt like he couldn’t quite keep up with the speed Fenix & Cage wanted to work. Cage & Fantasma are a good team, though they also didn’t do that much while in control. They did hit some of the bigger spots (except for that dive catch spot) pretty well and Fenix came off as a bigger part of things than he had prior to TripleMania.

I had forgotten I was supposed to care about Mascara and Máximo fighting. They did a good job with it, the crowd really got behind Máximo when he finally came back at Los Mercenarios and Mascara. The long section of the rudos working people over didn’t do much for me, but it got the intended reaction. Aerostar & Pagano were limited to just offense early and dives, but those were good. This worked fine as a TV match even if it’s nothing you need to see later.

There were definite highlights in the 2v2 tag, but there was so much sloppiness. Jack had a rough start to the match, and Golden Magic caught the disease later on. I don’t know what move Magic & Guevera did near the end of the match. I did love the multiple moonsault bit Jack did, and Guevera coming back with SSPs were nice. Laredo Kid found new ways to cause grievous harm to himself, but also took out Jack’s ribs on the springboard 450 splash. Something clearly didn’t happen right on the finish, because Laredo was very confused about what he was supposed to be doing after he hit the move on Golden Magic. This was not bad, but it had some really obvious flaws.

Did you realize the second match was Suicide teaming with his two title challengers from this year? It is weird watching a promotion where many months of the year are decided not to have happened, but I guess that must be what it’s like to follow WWE. Matches set up to fail are not ever going to be recommendable watches, and this was one an obvious failure from the moment it was put on paper. Poder del Norte did about as well as they’ve done of late in these type of matches until Suicide’s walkout made it all moot. They gave the tecnicos a really good opening run and some offense later that made beating them feel like it meant something. Vikingo didn’t get in as much as Monterrey but he and Angelikal looked good in what they did. Vikingo’s corner dive was super impressive.

The AAA women’s trios are the opposite of the CMLL versions. The Arena Mexico matches look rehearsed and fake. This AAA trios match, like many of them, was chaotic and impactful. It was as if Keyra make a deal that she’d get to win as long as she was kicked hard in the face a few times. Maravilla & Shani lived up their part of that deal. Hiedra continues to looked improved, and this was Vanilla’s steadiest match since her first one. Bordeaux didn’t make a big impact, but that’s perfectly fine. She seemed to do what she was asked and never got into trouble. It’d be best if they could trade in a few of the loose looking headscissors for armdrags or other moves, but this was overall good.