Tag: AAA Twitch

Recapped: 2020-01-25

Matches: 

Lady Maravilla & Villano III Jr. © beat Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa and Dinastía & Vanilla and Arez & Keyra for the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship
(11:26, Lady Maravilla pin Dinastia, great, 00:21:05)

Máscarita Sagrada, Mr. Iguana, Taya beat Abismo Negro Jr., Demus, La Hiedra
(13:46, Masarita Sagrada tiejras into a cradle Demus, good, 00:47:06)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Dragon Bane, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr.
(10:59, Mocho Cota frog splash Dragon Bane, good, 01:19:26)

Rey Escorpión, Taurus, Texano Jr. beat Hijo Del Vikingo, Murder Clown, Puma King
(12:24, Taurus super Rosa Driver Hijo del Vikingo, good, 01:43:12)

Aerostar, Drago, Pagano beat Blue Demon Jr., Chessman, Monsther Clown
(11:38, Blue Demon disqualified for weapon usage, ok, 02:08:54)

Fénix, Pentagón Jr., Psycho Clown beat La Bestia Del Ring, LA Park, Rush Toro Blanco
(24:59, DQ for triple unmasking, good, 02:29:32)

What happened: 

The rudos fouled all the tecnicos but took time to debate it with Tirantes before covering and didn’t get three. They unmasked the tecnicos and Tirantes did call the DQ.

Demon spit mist in Drago’s face and hit him with a hammer. He was caught with the hammer for the DQ. Demon continued to use the hammer post-match and handed it to Monster Clown to use. Monster Clown refused, so the rudos attacked him. Psycho & Murder Clown made the save, reuniting the Psycho Circus. Faccion Ingobernable attacked them, going straight into the main event.

Rey Escorpion demanded a trios title match after his team defeated Vikingo.

Argenis attacked Myzteziz after this match and unmasked him.

There was a bit of confusion over which bit they were doing first in the post-match of the mixed trios match. Mascarita Sagrada grabbed the microphone to talk but they left it off. Instead, Keyra came out to challenge Taya for the Reina de Reinas championship she never lost. Taya accepted a singles match. Mascarita Dorada then was honored for 26 years in wrestling with lots of clips of him being Mascarita Sagrada. They announced the AAA poll had been in favor of him returning to the Sagrada identity. As he was putting on the mask, Faccion Ingobernables got in the ring and destroyed him. LA Park and Rush talked for a while, establishing their team and promising to destroy everyone in AAA. They talked about their feud and teased that maybe they’d still fight at some point.

Thoughts:

There are new people in the AAA main events but they haven’t changed all that much: rudos jump the tecnicos, tecnicos make a comeback with a pose, the tecnicos run thru their offense and then there’s a finish. The difference was there wasn’t much of a finish but the matchups were a lot better than usual. Psycho and Rush came across strong, LA Park and Penta teased that again. Fenix and Bestia is less of a good idea. The ending was flat; the Ingobernables style of constant disqualifications (to get out of finishes) doesn’t fit in AAA’s style (of screwjob finishes, to get out of clean finishes); cheating to beat Psycho or someone else would’ve fit better in that spot.

The hammer spots livened up a semi-main that was otherwise a bit calm by the standards of the rest of the show. Aerostar tried a new rope flip spot, which looked good but didn’t quite come through perfectly. Pagano really loves headbutting chairs and it wasn’t even the silliest way he killed himself in this match. Monster Clown re-joining the Psycho Circus was a great moment though it’s harder to figure out how it’s going to work long term.

The Mercenarios trios didn’t do totally click but it still was good. Fans chanting for Puma even when he wasn’t in was surprising. He did well when he was actually in. That Vikingo dive would’ve been an all-timer if they could finish it. He didn’t get as much in this one, with the rudos mostly beating him up, but he looked sharp with the rest. Mercenarios need to win every while to be taken seriously, and this win set up something.

Poder del Norte seemed a little off in their match. Carta Brava being in the wrong place to catch Dragon Bane’s dive was the most obvious error, but they seemed a little slower than usual all match. Even the finishing sequence had the spacing on the moves a bit off. Still, there was tons of action, plenty enough to make it worthwhile. Myzteziz outshined his partners from early on, looking sharp on his moves. There were a lot of dives but the triple tornillo impressed the most; it’s gotta be hard to all grab the ropes in a way where they don’t pull it away from each other.

The mixed tag had some clunky moments but was overall fun. The finish didn’t totally work as planned – the cradle was more of a thumb – but the Dorada dive into a tijeras on Demus was great. The Iguana comedy seemed fun but there wasn’t a strong reaction to it. Iguana balancing it out with some headscsisors spots, later on, kept him from just looking like a comedy guy. Abismo Negro was better than he’s been.

The opener was the perfect insane match for AAA after a break. Lots of huge spots, constant action and a big pile up on the outside, exactly what you’d expect from an AAA match with lots of people. The teams, except maybe the makeshift Dinastia/Vanilla one, showed a lot of teamwork spots. Arez & Keyra came off surprisingly well. Maravilla took a lot of abuse before sneaking out the pin, though the bit with her (not very bald) head reveal kind of got spoiled by taking one move too many and losing her cap. The post-match attack was a bit random but worked with the over the top nature of the match.

Vanilla replaced Lady Shani. Maravilla stole a pin on Dinastia after he was flattened by a Hamburguesa splash. Big Mami declared her friendship with Nino Hamburguesa was more important than the tag team titles and wanted to keep teaming. They may have been about to kiss, but they were attacked by Stronghearts (CIMA, T-Hawk, Lindaman.)

Recapped: 11/17/2019

Matches:

Demus, Keyra, Lady Maravilla beat Big Mami, Máscarita Dorada, Niño Hamburguesa
(13:39, Maravilla frog splash Big Mami, good, 00:16:27)

Arez, La Parka Negra, Monsther Clown beat Mamba, Murder Clown, Pimpinela Escarlata
(9:51, Monster Clown powerbomb Pimpienla Escarlata, ok, 00:55:53)

Daga beat Taurus, Brian Cage, Flamita for the AAA Latin American Championship
(9:44, Daga foul/feet on the ropes Cage, good, 01:20:56)

Ayako Hamada, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr. beat Nicho el Millionario, Hijo del Vikingo, Taya
(15:22, Texano powerbomb into a ladder Nicho, ok, 01:39:32)

Dr. Wagner Jr., Psycho Clown, Pagano beat Averno, Blue Demon Jr., Chessman
(17:00, Pagano powerbomb Chessman, good, 02:04:58)

What happened:

An early segment with Chessman & Pagano ended with Pagano & Psycho Clown attacked by various rudos. Rey Escorpion again attacked Psycho Clown after the main event. Blue Demon & Dr. Wagner disappeared from the main event, brawling out of sight.

Mamba betrayed Pimpienla, leading to the loss. Mamba declared she was more famous than Pimpinela Escarlata as an explanation. Monster Clown screamed about taking Aerostar’s mask on 12/01.

Mami bled after some Maravilla chair shots. Maravilla did accept Mami’s hair match challenge after the match, which feels like a slight change in plans. There was a local referee in the opener with Piero for reasons unexplained.

There was no English feed for about the first hour of the show.

Thoughts:

I have few notes about the main event, but my recollection was it was a slightly better brawl than the ususal AAA format. Wagner & Demon disappearing before the finish for no reason was amusing. The other guys were fine and it was a good crowd for the match.

A few good sequences from Vikingo were enough to rescue this match, though only enough to rescue it from being a complete mess. This was more inoffensively boring for the large part than bad, though the inexplicable dueling referee was lame. This local tecnico wasn’t even good at it. Nicho looked fine, but it seems like he’s just here to fill in the numbers while part of the crew was elsewhere. I’m not sure if there was a purpose for the ladder beyond the ending spots.

The title match had tons of action, including some Flamita/Taurus stuff that pointed towards unexplored fun out of that matchup. Taurus throwing Cage in a German suplex was impressive – all of what Taurus did was impressive, honestly. It just didn’t get much of a reaction The crowd didn’t care about the match at all. They weren’t really given a reason to care about it coming and the match didn’t build towards giving someone to root for. A lot of people doing moves work fine if the people are popular and didn’t work great here. It was still solid action and got out at the right time.

The exoticos had some inconsistent offense. Arez did well early but this was more about him and Parka Negra bumping for the tecnicos, and a ten-minute match to set up a prelim turn.

This show had an unexpectedly brutal opener, with the action being built around a chair and occasionally swung chair. A bloody and disoriented Big Mami is more serious than this feud has been to this point. Demus & Mascarita Dorada did enough not to feel cheated by having there, just maybe not as much as they would’ve done on another occasion. The concept was to build heat up quickly for the hair match, which sure seems to be coming quicker than expected. Hamburguesa and Keyra weren’t involved much in this but didn’t get in the way. This was effective at what it was trying to accomplish.

Recapped: 11/09/2019

Matches:

Komander & Mr. Iguana beat La Parkita Negra & Mini Psycho Clown
(8:13, Mr. Iguana pin Mini Psycho Clown, good, 00:18:16)

Laredo Boy, Bengala, Big Mami beat Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Último Maldito
(9:53, Big Mami pin Maravilla after chair shot, ok, 00:51:03)

Dinastía, Lady Shani, Niño Hamburguesa beat Arez, La Hiedra, Villano III Jr.
(9:57, Nino Hamburguesa splash Villano III & Arez, ok, 01:14:37)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Flamita, Hijo Del Vikingo, Octagón Jr.
(11:39, Mocho Cota splash Octagon Jr., good, 01:35:31)

Aerostar, Murder Clown, Nicho el Millionario beat Killer Kross, Monsther Clown, Taurus
(12:29, Monster Clown inverted sleeper slam Aerostar, good, 01:58:18)

Dr. Wagner Jr., Pagano, Psycho Clown beat Blue Demon Jr., Chessman, Rey Escorpión
(12:46, Dr. Wagner foul Blue Demon Jr., ok, 02:24:05)

What happened:

Kross beat up the tecnicos after the main event and helped beat them up after the semi-main. No matches were set up.

Aerostar & Monster Clown feuded heavily in their match, with Monster Clown winning cleanly after a Tirantes slow count (and maybe a screw up earlier.)

A Konnan promo threatened to bring dark times back to AAA and set up a Villano III Jr. & Blue Demon alliance. Neither of these things seemed to go anywhere during this show, though the segment did end with V3 Jr. & Blue Demon getting the better of Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal.

Mami challenged Maravilla before the match for a hair match, and Maravilla said no, Mami wasn’t on her level. Mami rammed Maravilla into a chair to set up the win and challenged again, with Maravilla again rejected the idea until Mami could cleanly defeat her.

Thoughts:

AAA ended the show with the usual main event format. Rey Escorpion attacked Psycho Clown, Wagner & Demon brawled and wasted a lot of drinks. Pagano was involved to bleed and leap off things but this didn’t have much more than the usual main event otherwise.

The semi-main overachieved. The Monster Clown/Aerostar feuding was really good, to the point where it’ll be disappointing if they don’t settle things in the cage match. Nicho seemed sprier than expected from him at this point. Much like Kross, he didn’t really have a purpose here but he was good in what was asked from him. It appeared Tirantes messed up the count on the first finish but they smartly just kept going for about a minute more before trying it again and tried to turn it into an angle. Points for effort.

The Poder del Norte trios match flew by. I had it as over eleven minutes but it really seemed a lot quicker than that. Poder del Norte repeat as many spots as CMLL teams do, but they do things faster and with more impact than their matches, and these continue to be entertaining. Flamita & Octagon looked on through the match, with Vikingo being a little bit off. Vikingo being a little off still involved throwing himself out of the ring at a high rate of speed with no target.

This Hamburguesa match seemed like it fell apart in parts. It was really good in other sections; Arez/Shani was a combination worked better than expected, as did Dinastia/Hiedra. Hamburguesa seemed off, losing Dinastia on the start of a double team spot that seemed to throw them off for a while. His slipped on his plancha at the end too. This was a borderline match for me, with some moments that might be worth zoom through the rest.

The Spanish Fly spot to was crazier than anything in last week’s version of this match. The rest was a little bit slower and tamer, even with Laredo Boy doing well. Bengala & Maldito did their usual. This wasn’t bad and the finish was a good way to play off the chair shot from the previous finish, it just didn’t seem that overall memorable.

The show opened well. The tag opener had some good action and got done before it ended. The finish came as a bit a surprise – Mr. Iguana is getting a win wasn’t exactly expected – but it really was one that felt like either team could win. Komander looked cool and didn’t kill himself, which is an improvement by 50% over the last time out. The kids and families seemed to love Yesca. We’ve barely seen Parktia Negra but he looked like there’s a lot he can do.

Recapped: 08/10/2019

All matches took place in Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila

Matches:

Komander, Eclipse, Lady Shani beat Australian Suicide, Villano III Jr., La Hiedra
(11:14, Lady Shani northern lights suplex Villano III Jr., good, 00:18:43)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Argenis, Dinastia, Niño Hamburguesa
(10:25, Cota top rope splash Dinastia, good, 00:55:27)

Golden Magic, Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. beat Dave The Clown, Monsther Clown, Parka Negra
(11:28, Hijo del Vikingo Reverse 450 splash Cuerno de Vikingo Dave The Clown, good, 01:15:16)

Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Aerostar, Drago, Willie Mack
(13:03, Super Fly foul Drago, good, 01:36:32)

Fénix © beat Laredo Kid, Puma King, Taurus for the AAA World Heavyweight Championship
(15:59, Fenix spinning valagueza driver Laredo Kid, great, 02:00:05)

Dr. Wagner Jr. Psycho Clown beat Blue Demon, Rey Escorpión,
(15:08, Dr. Wagner Jr. casita Blue Demon, good, 02:27:51)

What happened:

Dr. Wagner Jr. is not retiring from lucha libre. The combined effort of Psycho Clown, Nino Hamburguesa and Hijo del Vikingo pleaded with him to rethink his decision, as did the fans. It was finally Blue Demon’s arrogance which convinced Wagner that he was robbed at TripleMania and he should continue fighting. Wagner continued fighting in the main event, cleanly defeating Demon. This was before the traditional AAA ending of Los Mercenarios beating everyone and posing with Psycho Clown’s mask. Texano took part in the no DQ part of the match despite not otherwise being on the card. Eterno also appeared in the main event, seemingly just to take a table bump.

Fenix got his wish and defended the AAA Mega Championship on this card. He beat Laredo Kid cleanly for his first TV defense after a year.

Super Fly beat Drago with a foul after Drago had misted Averno. Monster Clown attacked Aerostar after his match and the OGTs beat up the other tecnicos.

La Parka’s music and slow walk halfway to the ring was enough to distract Dave the Clown in his match. Vikingo might have won anyway but definitely won after.

Argenis betrayed Nino Hamburguesa late in their match, then declared it was the fans fault for not supporting him enough.

Thoughts:

Another strong AAA TV card, with every match worth watching and some great. The unannounced title match was great, though the Wagner un-retirement angle was probably the best thing on the show. There was a lack of crowd reactions on this show; there’s a lot of matches that feel the same but have different levels of difficulty, and that may be a factor. If you just want more of AAA, they’re giving you it.

The main event was the match that broke the form from the rest of the show most by fitting the mold of most AAA main events. Tecnicos got destroyed for a long time, came back to do all their big spots, and Psycho went thru a wooden object. The twist was an actual clean finish, but AAA got back on the well-trodden path by having the rudos beat him up with no one making the save after. There’s plenty of reasons Wagner isn’t actually retiring – no one actually retiring in Mexico being the big one – but it stands out that one big reason is the Wagner/Demon is really over. The fans legitimately dislike Demon, instead of just booing him because he happens to be a rudo right now. Wagner’s un-retirement bit was great and was really over because the crowd is so into him after the TripleMania match. It won’t last forever, it didn’t last long when Wagner lost his mask, but it makes sense to keep running with this. I expect there will be another Demon/Wagner match before the end of the year.

Fenix clapping, desperate for some sort of reaction, felt like a replay of his match with Bandido & Flamita from Aguascalientes. The crowd did come around late as the near falls became bigger, though it still felt like a great match for a crowd not totally prepared for it. (A segment setting up the match, rather the four being thrown out there with no notice, would’ve helped a great deal.) Ignoring the reaction, this title match was a lot of fun and the reason Fenix becoming Mega champion was so exciting in the first place. If Fenix is involved, the title match is going to be great, and this was great. The other three guys matched him. This felt like Puma King’s best performance in AAA, pulling off stuff we’ve rarely seen from him. Taurus seems to have taken something from the well respected PWG match and decided to build in more spots of him just destroying everyone in the ring. It worked especially well for a multiman match like this, and they pulled it off a couple of times. Laredo Kid versus Fenix was as good as hoped and really as good as it’s been in the past. I just was left a bit surprised Laredo was the one who ate the pin. Maybe they wanted to clear up challengers before getting to Omega, maybe they feel Laredo/Fenix is so good that they can keep going back to it no matter the finish, or maybe Laredo’s just bumped into a ceiling he can’t break thru again.

The Aerostar led trios had trouble matching some of the insanity that preceded it. It was still a solidly worked match with some highlights. Super Fly versus Drago is an interesting direction if AAA plans on following it, though it’ll take more before believing it’s a real thing. Aerostar did cool stuff without falling from a high place, who knew. The crowd had no idea who Willie Mack was, but he knows which spots get over with a new crowd and they worked here too.

Dave the Clown, Monster Clown, and Parka Negra aren’t exactly the best trio in the world to get over the Jinetes. Doesn’t matter. The Jinetes have reached a point where they can have exciting highspot matches even with Dave the Clown. Golden Magic and Myteziz had good moments and really didn’t seem that far behind Hijo del Vikingo. It’s just the Vikingo kid still does a few things that no one else can do. There was a point where Vikingo started a Si Se Puede chant and it was totally absurd – we can’t do what he can. The AAA crowd has latched on to Vikingo as a star and he plays to them better than most guys trying his highspots. Vikingo probably shouldn’t need help to beat Dave the Clown, but you pick your battles and La Parka got a big reaction doing literally nothing.

Poder del Norte matches are always good. Their match here was a lesser version of it; like the Jinetes match, it mostly seemed to exist to give the established team a win in a strange fashion. Argenis was fine but is surpassed in skills by the younger tecnicos and isn’t as over as the older ones. I don’t know that a rudo act is going to work for him, but what he was doing at the moment had no chance. (I also don’t know if he’s going to be back any time soon to follow up on it, given how low he seems on the depth chart.) Dinastia lived after the finish but I’m not sure how.

The opener seemed to speed up and slow down for no reason and similarly flipped between each side being in control at random moments. It had enough action to cover up those deficiencies. Komander’s dive looked great, probably would’ve been a lot better had someone caught it, not exactly sure I blame people for not wanting to catch that. Komander may have gotten more over as a repeated victim to Australian Suicide and Villano III Jr.’s big moves. They worked well as a weirdo team here. Shani pinning Villano III Jr. (again!) feels like it should set up something but there’s no setting up things with AAA title matches. They just happen.

Recapped: 07/06/2019

The entire show was broadcast from PALCCO in Zapopan. The arena, such as it was, seemed narrow and long with a lot of fans being far away from the action. The crowd was into the show but this would not be a good building to use again.

Matches:

Keyra, Low Rider, Mini Psycho Clown beat Aramis, La Parkita, Vanilla
(11:54, Keyra Devi’s Wings Vanilla, good, 00:27:51)

Big Mami, Dinastía, Niño Hamburguesa beat Arez, Hijo del Tirantes, Lady Maravilla
(12:13, Nino Hamburguesa top rope splash Arez, ok, 00:51:09)

Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. beat Chik Tormenta, Eterno, La Parka Negra
(14:14, Vikingo reverse 450 splash Parka Negra, great, 01:14:10)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata
(11:25, Mocha Cota frog splash Mamba, ok, 01:38:16)

Drago © beat Daga for the AAA Latin American Championship
(18:30, DQ for weapon usage, below average, 01:57:15)

La Parka, Murder Clown, Puma King beat Dave The Clown, Rey Escorpión, Texano Jr.
(8:35, La Parka chair shot Dave the Clown, ok, 02:21:31)

Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Aerostar, Pagano, Psycho Clown
(13:51, Super Fly splash → Chessman pin Pagano, ok, 02:38:58)

What happened:

The TripleMania card may have forgotten the Chessman/Pagano feud but he has not. The show opened with Pagano asked for any sort of stipulation match with Chessman, who declared he was too big of a star to wrestle Pagano. That started a fight which eventually included all of the main eventers. After Aerostar accidentally took out Psycho Clown with a dive, OGT defeated Pagano cleanly.

Hijo del Tirantes started as referee for the Daga/Chessman match but was replaced by Piero in mid match for allowing Daga to use the knucks. Tirantes stuck around as Daga’s second and distracted Piero at other times. Daga finally was caught using the knucks to knock out Drago and Piero disqualified him. (The following match also had a KO finish with a weapon and was not a DQ.) An angry Daga knocked out a security person and was eventually misted by Drago.

Nino Hamburguesa again refused to hurt Lady Maravilla and stopped Big Mami from doing so. Mami still managed to middle splash Maravilla. Maravilla was urgently strechered out of the match, apparently knocked unconscious via splash and Nino Hamburguesa left with her. The tecnicos were close to winning when Hamburguesa came back for his splash. He angrily walked out on Mami after the match.

Keyra and Vanilla fought after their match in something that didn’t seem to fit in a storyline.

Thoughts:

This wasn’t as strong overall as the Wednesday show, but the peak of the matches might have been better. The AAA early match luchadors continue to be talented and have the freedom to show the talent. It goes a long way to make these cards enjoyable.

The top two matches could fit into the same category. Standard AAA trios matches which were professional if not particularly memorable. Los Mercenarios weren’t in the main event and so got an easier night for once, having a simple match before Parka got a win over Dave the Clown. The main event was a bit more in depth, with Chessman running from Pagano. It had a little more action too, with Psycho Clown probably doing the most out of anyone of his team. The payoff to Chessman/Pagano – Super Fly doing a frog splash and Chessman happening to be the one to cover – really wasn’t much for the attention put on it. That seemed like time for a finish to lead to a specific stipulation match but maybe they haven’t figured it out yet.

Daga versus Drago was a disappointment. Drago hasn’t even been a strong long singles match wrestler and this match played against his strengths. Daga was the bigger sore spot. He felt like a random foreign Impact wrestler brought into AAA from years past, with AAA doing a million things to distract from the match up not being good. Daga should be good. Daga came into AAA a long time ago as a guy who was so good at the wrestling part of wrestling that he didn’t need a gimmick in a promotion full of them. Now he’s a guy using a hidden object and a heel referee to get heat in his matches. I don’t know what happened here but it just feels like the whole Daga character is lost at this point. There is a space for a rudo character who is good at wrestling while being arrogant and entitled about it – essentially the character Tessa’s done in other promotions – but instead, Daga has the sort of stuff they’d give to Ciber the Main Man when he physically can have a good match. The knucks spots worked fine in the context of this match but not in the context of the promotion – both in what makes sense in the rules and what is actually working on these shows. This AAA stint has just been a negative for Daga; I hope the DQ is a way to the close the chapter on the knucks bit, but I fear Daga not winning a title here means matches with Fenix or Laredo Kid down the road. Not all of that is on Daga but singles title matches are so rare in AAA – this was only the third this year – that it’s extra frustrating to see them be wasted like this.

Exoticos/Poder del Norte was a little better than expected. Maximo seemed to be in a mood to do a lot and his partners weren’t a problem. Poder del Norte were as efficient as always and it was nice to see them get a win, but the match felt a few minutes long for this matchup and could’ve ended after the usual kiss spot.

There was a messy section in the middle of the match – that’s where it always seems to be – but it was more than made up by work at other points. They’ve figured out how to make Jinetes del Aire consistently look like stars in these fast moving trios matches as long as the tecnicos can hit their spots. They hit them well on this show. Eterno has been great in every shot AAA’s given him this year and they’re steadily giving him more. He’s always been good and seemingly lacked a strong gimmick or look to get him a bigger chance, so maybe his IWRG team with Demonio Infernal was the best thing to happen to him. The crazy run of moves at the end was strong and Parka Negra & Hijo del Vikingo did well in their extended sequence.

Never much new to report in the Big Mami/Nino Hamburguesa/Lady Maravilla matches. Arez did some cool stuff and matched up well with Dinastia. Hijo del Tirantes didn’t get in the way. The storyline continues to dominate these matches. The story is better than these matches. Mami isn’t listed in Aguascalientes, so this might be the last running in place trios for this storyline, or at least running in this particular place.

The opener was lots of fun, easily the second best of the show. There was a lot of energy from those who aren’t on TV a lot. Vanilla seems like she may have improved on the constant spot show loop. Low Rider was crazy. Aramis had some cool sequences, especially with Keyra. Keyra looked more like a killer than last time out; the post-match scrum made me wonder if perhaps she had been too much of a killer for Vanilla’s liking. La Parkita remains super hit or miss but didn’t knock himself out this time. This was a little out of control at times while still original.

Recapped: 1/26/2019

Matches:

All matches were from Centro de Convenciones, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas

Lady Maravilla, Chicano, Villano III Jr. beat Máscara de Bronce, Raptor, Lady Shani
(7:00, Lady Shani guillotine choke Chicano, good, 00:20:24)

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Bengala, Mamba, Niño Hamburguesa
(7:10, Mocho Cota Jr. splash Mamba, ok, 00:37:02)

Drago © beat Argenis, Parka Negra, Golden Magic for the AAA Latin American Championship
(10:56, Dragon’s Tail cradle Golden Magic, good, 00:55:21)

Myzteziz Jr., Hijo del Vikingo, Murder Clown beat Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
(15:01, Hijo del Vikingo reverse 450 splash Averno, great, 01:15:21)

Aerostar, Dr. Wagner Jr., Psycho Clown beat Hijo del Fantasma, Monsther Clown, Rey Escorpión
(16:29, Aerostar springboard frontcracker Monsther Clown, good, 01:42:55)

Cíclope & Miedo Extremo beat Joe Lider & Pagano
(13:39, Ciclope German Suplex Joe Lider, good, 02:14:13)

What happened:

Nothing and everything. There’s really no meaningful storyline progress on this shows. The most you can say is Vikingo, Aerostar and Los Macizos picked up big wins. Those don’t always go somewhere in AAA. They still seemed big in the moment.

Almost everything changed. Between travel issues (Laredo Kid & La Hiedra, mentioned at the top of the show), people booked elsewhere (Jack Evans & Australian Suicide, not mentioned) and Drago listed twice on the cards for reasons never explained, half the matches changed. The matches still turned out well. Also, the Ciclope & Miedo Extremo versus Pagano & Joe Lider match was moved to the main event, since they were going to litter the ring with objects.

Argenis, Bengala, and Pagano all left hurt. Pagano seemed to suffer a shoulder injury on a backdrop out of the ring onto a table. Argenis may have suffered a head injury taking a powerbomb on the floor from Parka Negra. That appeared to be the final spot of the match for both, so they could’ve been more storyline injuries. Bengala’s injury seemed more clearly legit, getting hurt taking the Poder del Norte tope doomsday device on the floor and landing on his right shoulder (which I believe is the one he’s had trouble with in the past.) Bengala was hurt before he got to do much in the match and might have played a bit in the next bit not going right.

A Lady Maravilla distraction caused Niño Hamburguesa to not do his splash and Mamba to get pinned. (Maravilla was late out for the distraction, which made it look awkward.) This might be a continuation of the long forgotten secret admirer of Niño Hamburguesa storyline or just a way to get out of the finish.

Rey Escorpión now appears to definitely be working his own feud with Psycho Clown.

The English commentary went back to just popping up randomly rather than explaining the context of things in advance.

Thoughts:

The main event was what you’d expect it to be. Actually, not sure if you specifically expected a staple in the tongue and broken beer bottle shards laying on the mat for most of the match, but it was the same sort of extreme match these two teams have been handing. They didn’t use fire, though what they did use seemed as dangerous as anything they’ve done. It’s unclear how there’s an easy way to land on shredded glass. Pagano had the courtesy to not die until he was done with the match (a trend on this show) and Los Macizos really destroyed Lider at the end. This would be the time to move onto the next step for Ciclope & Miedo Extremo if there was a logical next step. Instead, it looks like they’re leaving with the win for the next great while.

Monsther Clown and Aerostar came off hungry to make an impression in the (not quite) main event and it went pretty well. The finish looked a little off, but they pulled off the best parts of the main event otherwise. Monsther Clown based for Aerostar’s trickiest moves better than could’ve been figured. The other four weren’t bad, it’s just a lot of what they normally do in these matches all the time. Having a little different blood helps.

OGTs vs Vikingo, Myzteziz, and replacement Jiente Murder Clown was a lot of fun. They gave a big opening to the kids to look great and they did it again. There are some nits to pick; this match was thrown together like many of the other matches tonight and you could see it with how some of the spots looked a bit off. Still, they got the big stuff as they came together and it built into a big match by the end. OGTs have slowed down by a bit, but they’re still really good bases for a match like this and also skilled enough to get amusingly squashed by Murder Clown. They did a great job of escalating to the finish and they gave a surprisingly clean finish for an AAA show.

There was a lot of action in the four-way but it didn’t feel any special. Some of the moves would’ve looked a little better without time to set up them up but there were a lot of moves. Drago came off as the best guy by a little bit, though didn’t get to stand out as champion as much with needing to get everyone their moment. I can’t say I’ll remember a lot of this match later but I guess it was worth watching. I liked the opener more.

The ending of the second match was super flat. Not sure if Maravilla was late, or if they were missing a Bengala spot, or what, but it wasn’t at the level of the usual Poder del Norte matches. It was worse than usual already, with really only Bengala good at working with Poder del Norte. Niño Hamburguesa & Mamba did their usual, which get reactions but doesn’t make for a great match.

The opener was far for smooth. Raptor’s attempted Dragon Lee apron tijeras on Villano III Jr. was a perfect example of something that aimed high and didn’t always get there. Still, they had a lot of fun getting to the finish, with Villano III & Chicano killing themselves every time they get on TV. Maravilla & Bronce were bound and determined to do that Spanish Fly and did eventually pull it off. Bronce showed a little bit of what made people excited about him what seems like a very long time ago. Lady Shani, the best woman, submitting a guy who is barely on streams is the right call but a decision they’d always thin to make.