Review: AAA Triplemania XXXI - Mexico City
I get a sense of déjà vu when I sit down to write these AAA recaps, particularly in this second year since Triplemania once again became a thrice-yearly affair, as there’s only so often I can write about shambolic events, nonsensical finishes, poor refereeing, and feuds that are established and then drop off the face of the earth for no good reason. The final wing of 2023’s Triplemania trio of shows was perhaps less chaotic than some of its predecessors, though as is often the case in AAA that lack of chaos is accompanied by a lack of the promotion’s usual charm - that’s been a recurring theme throughout this year, as the company falls back on old tropes and non-finishes that hinder wrestlers and detract from what could be strong matches, and that’s only heightened by the amount that some of AAA’s best and brightest are regularly working multi-man extravaganzas elsewhere and have become something of a regular fixture on the American indies. It’s a poor state of affairs to say that the best way to see AAA wrestlers showcased to the best of their abilities is to watch them in GCW.
Before we get to the card itself, it’s worth noting that the show was beset by the usual production snafus. Camera cuts occurred seemingly at random, missing vital moments of matches, including the finish of the main event. At point the feed cut to black for an extended period. English commentators Larry Dallas and Joe Dombrowski recorded their commentary remotely, as they have done for some time now, and while they have become a better English team than any AAA have previously attempted, they are fighting an uphill battle - they have nobody in an equivalent to Chris Charlton’s role in NJPW to provide translations of Spanish promos, meaning the audience are often at a loss to understand what’s happening (even more than usual) and aren’t provided with full context for the night’s events, not helped by the fact that the English-language team clearly aren’t clued in to what to expect from the evening, often left scrambling to figure out who a wrestler is if they’re not on the booking sheet, or to explain why a match is different to what was advertised, or even what the rules of any given match are. It’s compounded by the sound quality - AAA made the decision last year to pipe the main commentary through the PA system, so it’s audible to the live audience, while the English commentary is simply an additional audio track layered on top of the live feed, meaning that not only is the arena and crowd sound flattened and often barely audible, but that you can sometimes hear Hugo Savinovich’s signature calls lower in the mix. It’s an imperfect situation that AAA have shown no interest in fixing.
On to the matches themselves.
——————————————————-
The opener was a women’s trios match, pitting the team of the newly unmasked Chik Tormenta and La Hiedra and Lady Maravilla of Los Toxicas against Dalys, Lady Shani and Sexy Star. It was a solid match, with Tormenta and Star in particular putting in a tremendous showing, while Dalys is yet to exactly dazzle, but regularly justifies her spot on the bigger shows since jumping ship to AAA earlier this year. The downsides are that we have seen various combinations of the women in this match in almost every possible configuration, and it becomes to difficult to care more about this time than about any time before - the tecnico contingent here also teamed together at the previous Triplemania in Tijuana, while everyone in this match bar Dalys were in a five-way at Rey De Reyes earlier this year, to name but two examples - and that women’s matches on AAA shows are often little more than a backdrop for Tirantes drama.
Ah, El Hijo del Tirantes. I have mentioned before that I have a soft spot for the big lug, but even my patience is wearing thin. There are only so many times a show you can play the guessing game of “did he do that because he’s a heel referee, or because he’s not a very good referee?” (or it’s counterpart when it comes to AAA’s other refereeing regulars - “was that a slow count for a reason, or because they’re very old?”). While a multi-purpose rudo referee, El Hijo del Tirantes reserves his most excessive schtick for AAA’s women’s division. An interminably long feud with Faby Apache was cut short when Faby left the company, and Lady Shani was simply slotted into her position as Tirantes’ female arch-rival, to undermine and cheat out of wins at every available opportunity. The two had a Hair vs. Hair match, lost by El Hijo del Tirantes, over a year ago, yet their feud continues with no end in sight. Here, Tirantes - in a prime example of heel ref vs. bad ref - was presumably supposed to slow count a pin by Shani, leading to her slapping him about, and him retaliating with a cookie sheet to the head and a fast count for the finish, but Tirantes being Tirantes, his “slow count” was, if anything, faster than his usual count, making a confusing mess of the entire sequence.
Post-match, as has happened for the past year or more, El Hijo del Tirantes’ father, the original Tirantes, ran in to confront his son and whip him with a belt, following up on this occasion with a flying mare and the tease of a Tope Suicida - something that, if the old man had hit it, would have elevated this to my show of the year. It’s an easy pop, and the kind of thing I can’t begrudge AAA shopping around the country on house shows and lesser events, bringing out a familiar face from the glory years - even if that face was a long-time rudo referee himself, time forgives all wrongdoing - for a bit of nostalgia and to send a heel stooge packing. But this exact thing has been happening after El Hijo del Tirantes-refereed women’s matches for over a year, maybe two years, at this point and has gone absolutely nowhere, just repeating the same spot, sometimes with the addition of the women’s roster joining in on whipping the rudo ref. But invariably both Tiranteses end up refereeing matches later in the show with no mention of their earlier involvement on the show, and it has yet to lead to a match - nobody particularly wants to see Daddy Tirantes lace up the boots, but a tag match or an endorsement of a tecnico to get their revenge on El Hijo del Tirantes is an obvious direction that AAA stubbornly refuse to take. When El Hijo del Tirantes does end up competing, as he did against Lady Shani last August, it is on lesser shows. Nothing inherently wrong with that, it would be hard to argue that El Hijo del Tirantes warrants a spot wrestling on the biggest show of the year, but perhaps if the match isn’t big enough for Triplemania, then we should also stop wasting time at AAA on building to that match, whether it’s ever going to happen or not?
Speaking of matches built to but not delivered - Lady Shani and Chik Tormenta agreed to a Cage Match earlier in the year, and observant readers will notice that this wasn’t that cage match. That match has yet to take place, and probably never will.
——————————————————-
Next up was the Copa Bardahl - for those unfamiliar, the Copa is a Triplemania tradition; sometimes, as in this case, named for their sponsor, sometimes it’s the Copa Triplemania, or the Copa Antonio Pena. It is usually, but not always, a Royal Rumble-like match, with timed entrants, and elimination usually, but not always, by pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. It’s a “get everybody else on the card” affair that’s usually an afterthought, but sometimes good for some fun spots, cameo appearances from old-timers, spectacular dives, and fun comedy, particularly from recurring Copa MVP, Mr. Iguana.
This was one of the more star-studded Copas in recent memory, relying little on the dregs of the undercard, and instead featuring some of AAA’s best and brightest. That made for a far better match than one would normally expect from the Copa, which can often reach early NJPW Rambo levels of confusion and tedium, but highlighted so many of AAA’s booking problems in one match that you’d think it would be by design. The beauty of AAA running three Triplemania-branded shows a year should be that matches and programmes can be set up across the three events, staggering the biggest matches, and allowing for storylines to be paid off at the third show. That has yet to be the case.
Within this match alone, here’s a handful of the stories that could have been told on this show, yet weren’t:
Komander and Arez, the current AAA Tag Team Champions, both entered this match and proceeded to wrestle each other almost exclusively - if they hadn’t both entered carrying their respective title belts, you’d be forgiven for not knowing they were even a tag team. Komander has been regularly featured on AEW and ROH television, is a regular guest at indies like GCW, and second only to El Hijo del Vikingo in producing spectacular GIFs; with Konnan’s oft-repeated aims to break the US market and help build AAA as an international brand, one would think that Komander would warrant a more prominent spot on the flagship show, but he has yet to be granted one.
Arez, meanwhile, deserves all of the plaudits and exposure that Komander has been getting and more. He is one the most exciting, dynamic, and creative workers on AAA’s roster, and while a regular midcard fixture in any number of AAA storylines, has yet to have the big breakout moment to get him on more people’s radar outside of those who follow Lucha Libre. It’s in part likely because he isn’t the American wrestling stereotype of a luchadore; he wrestles unmasked, and isn’t going to be trending for a rope-walk plancha any time soon - yet he would be an incredible fit as an import guest for almost any American or European promotion that wants him.
Storyline-wise, the last time we saw Arez and Komander in AAA it was at Triplemania Tijuana, where they interfered in the Vampiro/Jack Evans/Aramis vs. Pagano/La Rebelion trios match, leading to a complicated and confusing non-finish, as they brawled with La Rebelion. Logically, one would think that would warrant a Tag Team Title bout between the two teams at a later date, perhaps at the next Triplemania? Well, I’m still waiting on that one. La Rebelion were nowhere to be seen on this show, while Arez and Komander looked nothing like a tag team.Speaking of matches spinning out from that self-same trios match in Tijuana, Pagano was an official entrant in this match, but never made it to the ring as he was assaulted by Texano.
For some background, Pagano’s time off to recover from injury was explained as the result of an attack at the hands of mystery assailants, for which Pagano blamed his one-time friend Vampiro, and recruited La Rebelion to watch his back. Vampiro - despite tagging with La Rebelion in the NWA - tried to warn Pagano against befriending them as they weren’t to be trusted, further eroding their former friendship. In addition to the aforementioned interference by Arez and Komander, that match ended with the arrival of Texano Jr. and Taurus, revealing themselves as the men behind the attack on Pagano.
Naturally, one would assume that the follow-up would be a match pitting Pagano against Texano, or Pagano and Vampiro against Texano and Taurus. But no, why would they do that? While Pagano and Vampiro did team with Octagon Jr. against Texano, Taurus and Daga, fighting to a No Contest in a No DQ match (you read that right) at last month’s Verano De Escandalo, there was no match to follow up on that story at Triplemania Mexico City. Neither Vampiro or Taurus were booked to appear, and Texano, for his part, interfered in the Copa to assault Pagano before he made it to the ring, throwing him off the stage and through two stacked tables, after Pagano failed to light the lower table on fire. I say “through” two tables, the more accurate description would be that he was thrown on to two tables, as the top table refused to break, sending Pagano skidding horribly to the concrete floor. Once again, if the story is not to conclude, or progress meaningfully, at the biggest show of the year, then when? With at least two of the key players appearing on the show, why not against each other in a match? How does “Texano attacks Pagano again” further the story beyond where it already was?Laredo Kid has had his own running issues throughout the year with Antifaz del Norte, with run-ins, bottles smashed over heads, and all of the trappings of a blood feud. You can probably guess, then, that they were either side of a trios match at Verano De Escandalo, and have had no singles match, and no follow-up at Triplemania Mexico City, despite having clearly been focused in that direction on the Monterrey and Tijuana shows. Laredo is, of course, fantastic, and responsible for many of the best moments of the Copa - his reverse Laredo Fly, a kind of hybrid Top Rope German Superplex/Spanish Fly, has to be seen to be believed - but there was no continuation of a feud with his supposed arch-rival, despite months of build-up. To date, the two men have never had a singles match for any promotion, at any point in time, despite having shared the ring on multiple occasions since 2006.
Mr. Iguana, another in the Arez boat of being a highlight of every show he appears on, a wonderful character and an incredible wrestler, but not getting the exposure he deserves outside of Mexico for not fitting the narrow idea of what a “luchadore” should be - and also being held back by working what many would see as a “comedy” gimmick - has been involved in a will they/won’t they romance angle with La Hiedra throughout the year. You’d be forgiven for not knowing that here.
Laredo Kid ultimately won the match, as deserving a winner as you can find for a match that really carries no weight or meaning. He, like many of the competitors in this Copa, is above being slotted into the “we’ve got nothing else for you” match second on the card, particularly given that he had a ready-made feud built across the year. It’s a recurring theme.
——————————————————-
The Reina de Reinas Title match, in which Taya Valkyrie defended her championship against Lady Flammer, was one of only two singles matches on the card, and delivered on a number one contenders spot that Flammer won fourteen months earlier. I’d praise AAA for actually delivering on a long-promised match in this one case, but the fact is that there was no intervening storyline, they just seemed to forget about it, and Taya’s AEW commitments meant that she’s been unavailable to AAA for most of that time, last appearing at the Lucha Libre World Cup in March.
It’s through no fault of AAA’s that Taya has been unavailable - she won the Reina de Reinas belt (on an Impact PPV, not in AAA) last April, long before signing with AEW, and AAA has presented her since her return to the company as a top tier babyface, standing alongside the Lucha Bros and endorsed by both Konnan and chairwoman Marisela Pena. If AAA had any intention to elevate their women’s division and create a female crossover star, it’s likely that they were putting their eggs in the Taya basket. That’s not how it worked out in practice - Taya’s AEW and independent commitments largely kept her away from AAA, and meant that the majority of her title defences occurred outside of Mexico, while wrestling for other promotions. No bad thing in elevating the company name, but it helps when the champion is also making dates for the home promotion. As it happens, Taya’s sole title defence in AAA was at last year’s Mexico City Triplemania, where she bested the NWA’s Kamille, in a recurring issue for AAA on the big stage of platforming foreign outside stars of limited value over the homegrown talent that will actually show up every week.
This was only Taya’s third AAA appearance of the year, and clearly an exercise in getting the title belt back around the waist of a regular fixture. To Taya’s credit, it was anything but a token appearance to drop the title and right the ship, as she worked a AAA main event title match with all its flaws and nuances, from countless run-ins to an unexpectedly nasty blade job, staining her fluffy white ring gear red with her own blood. It wasn’t a match you’ll remember in a month’s time, but it was worth your time, presenting Taya as a genuine star, and a defiant, hard-fighting champion. Hopefully the win will reflect well on Flammer, but it’s just as likely that, even with the championship back on home turf, AAA will simply forget about it and we won’t see another title defence for six months. Still, one of the less egregious matches on the show.
——————————————————-
The second of two singles matches, and the only men’s singles match on the card, was also a rare example of a match that actually had been built up effectively across the previous two Triplemania shows, as the Legends spot went to Negro Casas and Nicho el Millionario; if the latter name is unfamiliar to you, you may recognise him as the original Psicosis in WCW, ECW, the WWE and beyond. If you thought he looked past his best during his WWE run in 2006, don’t have high hopes for him seventeen years later.
Both men are legends, it goes without saying - Nicho can honestly share credit with Rey Mysterio Jr. for modernising Lucha Libre, and for popularising it on the American stage, through a series of incredible matches in AAA, WCW and ECW, while Negro Casas, who jumped ship from CMLL to AAA in a major news story earlier this year, is an all-time great who can trace his career back to the early 1980s, has a litany of classic matches and feuds with every major name in Lucha Libre under his belt, and still capable of holding a crowd’s emotions in the palm of his hand to this day.
The story was simple - Nicho assaulted Negro at the year’s first Triplemania, accusing him of holding him back and refusing to work with him earlier in their careers, and now angry that he had come to AAA, Nicho promised to send Negro packing pack where he came from. After cheating to beat Casas in a multi-man at the second Triplemania, they were set up for a singles match at the third and final event.
Unfortunately, AAA can’t leave logical storytelling alone, and what could have been a compelling mix of Student vs. Teacher, the recurring AAA highlight of Lucha Libre Old Man Brawls, and the spectacle of the stalwart CMLL loyalist Negro Casas competing in his first AAA singles match and attempting to get his first “Triplemania moment”, was hampered by the last-minute inclusion of a secondary feud. Argenis - who lost a Mask vs. Mask match earlier in the year, but is now working a disrespectful rudo gimmick of refusing to honour tradition and still wearing his mask - was added to the mix as Nicho’s second, while Negro Casas had battle rapper Aczino in his corner, an unlikely pairing if ever there was one. The two seconds had an altercation at the previous Triplemania, and it was clearly an effort to pick up some mainstream or viral publicity through Aczino’s involvement, to reach his millions of TikTok and Instagram followers. Whether that worked or not, I can’t say, but adding a non-wrestler and expecting them to work spots dragged the match down to a crawl, as did an extended period where Negro Casas struggled for an uncomfortably long time to remove Millionario’s boot to set up an Atomic Drop to drive Nicho’s bare foot into thumbtacks.
Yes, you read that right, thumbtacks, in a Negro Casas match. Best suited at this stage to Maestros matches where his technical wizardry can be on full display, Casas is a poor fit for a pseudo-deathmatch walk-and-brawl, while commentators putting over Nicho as one of the all-time great high flyers precisely at the moment that he needed the steadying hand of Argenis to remain upright on the top rope was a bit of unfortunate timing that summed up this match.
The finish - Negro Casas executing La Casita (the move invented by Casas’ father, that almost everyone incorrectly calls the Magistral Cradle) into thumbtacks - meant that Casas likely ended up with more tacks stuck in him that Nicho did, and was a visual I never thought I’d see from Negro Casas in his mid-60s. The near two minutes spent unlacing Nicho’s boot meant that any enthusiasm for the match had died off by that point. Working overbooked nonsense matches in AAA may be preferable to barely getting booked any more in CMLL, but it seems like AAA haven’t yet figured out what to do with one of the sport’s legends, who still moves far smoother and crisper than his broken down, decade younger opponent.
A technical exchange would have played more to Negro Casas’ strengths, but wouldn’t have made sense in the context of this feud, but I don’t know if this kind of brawl is in his wheelhouse any more. It could have been improved with more weapon spots, more plunder, (I can’t believe I’m saying this on a AAA show) more run-ins, and by less involvement from Aczino. It’s sad to say that, as the match I was perhaps most looking forward to on the night, this is one that would have been better served as part of a multi-man match to hide both veterans’ weaknesses, in stark contrast to the flurry of multi-man matches that followed it.
——————————————————-
Cassandro was inducted in to AAA’s Hall of Fame next, as a crossover with the upcoming biopic on the legendary exotico, which is due for release on Amazon Prime next month, starring Gael Garcia Bernal in the title role, with appearances from El Hijo del Santo and Bad Bunny.
For all Cassandro’s success elsewhere, he was never a major part of AAA, but it was still a pleasure to see him. After a spate of major injuries, and a serious stroke suffered last year, Cassandro appeared on stage using a cane, and is still limited in their speech, but under the circumstances looked as good and healthy as can be. Anything that honours Cassandro is a welcome plus to any show for me.
That was followed by a lot of marketing guff - a prolonged dance segment featuring the mascot of a pharmaceutical company, and a Mortal Kombat tie-in that sadly doesn’t mean that Sub Zero and Scorpion will be wrestling at Triplemania, or that Pentagon Jr. will be in the next game. Shame.
——————————————————-
Similar to the Reina de Reinas Title match, the next match, for the vacant Latin American Championship, was all about getting a title back on home ground, or so we were told. The belt was vacated by Rey Fenix, because he can’t make AAA dates as much as a champion should (novel concept), and so AAA in their infinite wisdom chose to put the belt on the line in a match between Fenix’s brother and fellow AEW star Pentagon Jr., AEW’s Brian Cage, AEW’s QT Marshall, and Dralistico, who is a semi-regular for AEW and ROH, debuted for NOAH earlier this year, and had only previously appeared twice this year for AAA. The last time he was tasked with bringing a AAA championship home to the company, he and brother Dragon Lee beat FTR for the Tag Team Titles, and immediately vacated them thanks to Dragon Lee announcing his signing with WWE.
As it happens, Brian Cage ended up out of the match, apparently due to an injury sustained on AEW Rampage, so was replaced by Texano Jr., seen earlier in this show assaulting Pagano. That angle received no follow-up during this match, and you’d be forgiven for not remembering that Texano had his own story going on.
This match was fine. There was nothing you will remember moving forward beyond a typically convoluted and badly executed finish - Pentagon Jr. hit his “Fear Factor” Package Piledriver on Dralistico on top of a table balanced across four chairs, a contraption that fell apart and meant both wrestlers, along with El Hijo del Tirantes, no worse the wear from his earlier whipping, had to stop fighting and cooperate to put back together. The table didn’t break, the luchadores simply leaving a nasty dent in it, because wrestlers don’t seem to have figured out that table with the legs still folded underneath it is a lot sturdier than a table properly set up. Pentagon was unable to capitalise on the move, as QT Marshall pulled off Penta’s mask - ordinarily a DQ, but Konnan had apparently off-screen earlier decreed that this entire show was No DQ - and low blowed him as he attempted to cover his face.
QT Marshall is the new Latin American Champion, and it remains to be seen how often he will be showing up, but this is now two straight wins over Pentagon Jr., one of the company’s bigger names, after their previous Ambulance Match. It’s maybe not the smartest booking to start with the big violent, dramatic gimmick match and then move on to being two bodies in a multi-man match with completely different stakes, but who am I to tell AAA how to do their job?
Equally, when it comes to oddball decision-making, if the impetus for this match to was to get a championship off an AEW-contracted talent and on to somebody who is able to appear in AAA more regularly, then filling the match with AEW-contracted talent and putting the championship on one of them doesn’t seem like the right solution. It may be that QT has committed to a greater number of AAA dates moving forward, it may be that AAA like him for his willingness to dress up in stars and stripes gear and play every early ‘90s pro-American heel trope to the hilt, or it may be that giving a major push and a prominent position to a member of AEW’s office staff is a way to repair that somewhat fractious interpromotional relationship. If it’s the latter, I can only assume that Konnan lost the page of his rolodex headed “Double J”.
——————————————————-
One of the bigger, and most avoidable, issues with this show was that the closing stretch comprised of three straight fatal four way matches - the previous title match, this one, and the main event. All of them were avoidable, and all would have been better positioned as singles matches between any combination of the wrestlers involved. None more than in the case of the Mega Championship Match.
After defeating Kenny Omega in a long awaited title match, El Hijo del Vikingo issued an open challenge. As is often the case, AAA’s fans on social media immediately went wild with predictions - could it be Kota Ibushi, or CM Punk? No. It was answered by the recently returned to AAA Daga, who has been goading Vikingo into a match since his return, by Jack Cartwheel, who we last saw in AAA getting eliminated early in an opening match Copa Triplemania but who is now apparently World Championship material, and by “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
Any combination of the four in singles competition would make for an interesting match, if not a marquee one in all cases - Cartwheel is a young man of prodigious talent, capable of some feats of balance, strength and athleticism that make my core hurt just to think about them, and could work magic with Speedball or Vikingo. Daga has the germ of a legitimate feud brewing with the champion that would better warrant a singles match, while Speedball vs. Vikingo has all the makings of a dream match highlight reel. Instead, we get an opportunity for some admittedly mind-blowing spots, but in a format that allows little room for them to breathe, and zero drama behind them - at no point did it cross my mind that Vikingo might not win this match, it was just a matter of exchanging high spots until it was time to go home.
It comes down to the issue with El Hijo del Vikingo’s title reign in general. He was plucked from opening match obscurity and given the Mega Championship seemingly because clips of his best moves began to go viral, and because Kenny Omega wanted to wrestle him. Despite being an exceptional performer, with a fantastic look, despite gathering steam internationally as well as domestically, and seemingly being well-liked by AAA management as their (when it comes to Triplemania opening ceremonies, literal) standard bearer, he has never been treated as a genuine main event, World Champion level attraction.
Since winning the Mega Championship back in 2021, itself in a multi-person match predominantly featuring wrestlers from outside of AAA, Vikingo has only defended the title in singles contests on major AAA PPV events four times. At Triplemania-branded events since winning the title, Vikingo took the fall in a tag team match against the Young Bucks (which, thanks to El Hijo del Tirantes not realising it was the finish and simply not counting, meant that he was pinned for a visual seven or eight count), was defeated in a midcard five-way bout for a different title, defended against Fenix in all-babyface “dream match”, defended the title in a different four-way match against opponents contracted to other promotions, and, finally, the rematch against Kenny Omega. The big singles matches he has been granted have all been largely designed to attract international interest, with limited pre or post-match storyline investment. At no point has he been mixing it up with the likes of Psycho Clown at the true top of AAA’s card. He has been booked repeatedly as if he were a guest star on an independent event, or in a better class of opening match scramble, a “get everyone on the card” high spot showcase, rather than a match with a heated feud or major angle behind it. The closest thing to a rival Vikingo has been given since winning the championship is Kenny Omega, who has appeared in AAA once, or a recurring issue with Gringo Loco that largely plays out on lesser AAA shows and independent events, and wouldn’t pass muster as a Triplemania main event.
Naturally, El Hijo del Vikingo retained here. It was a match worth watching, but has to be held up against countless other Vikingo multi-man matches, both in and out of AAA, and sooner or later they all blur together and it would be hard to argue for watching this one over any other.
——————————————————-
The main event was - you guessed it - a Four Way match, with the hair of Sam Adonis and Rush, and the masks of Psycho Clown and L.A. Park on the line. If you had heard anything about this show ahead of time, it was likely the drama surrounding this match.
Attempting to capitalise on the surprising success of 2022’s Ruleta de la Muerte reverse mask tournament, the previous two Triplemania events laid the foundations with a rivals tag team tournament, where losing teams progressed to a singles match final in Mexico City. Observant readers will notice that this was not a singles match.
Before the previous event in Tijuana, Rush announced his intentions to quit AAA, and all but gave away that the main event of Mexico City’s show would come down to Sam Adonis vs. Psycho Clown, while Rush believed that paying off his long-running feud with L.A. Park would be a bigger and better match. In typical AAA fashion, they did nothing to address the story, and continued advertising Rush for the event, while L.A. Park found himself cast in the unlikely position of peacemaker, publicly calling for Rush to do the right thing for the fans and show up to Tijuana for the match.
As it transpired, Rush did show up to Tijuana, and the tournament came down to a draw following a double pin, with announcers and wrestlers scrambling to explain what happened next. At a press conference shortly after the event, it was revealed that all four men would compete at Mexico City - first explained as a Four Way single elimination match, then with a promise that rules would be revealed at a later date. There was no formal announcement of rules, and it turns out it was a single elimination four way. The confusion around the specifics could have something to do with the fact, admitted by Konnan on his podcast, that AAA hadn’t decided a finish for the Tijuana tag match until the show was already running, roughly two matches earlier.
This match promised to be a chaotic mess - Rush and L.A. Park are forces of nature, and capable of some of the most compelling and believable brawls in the business, and them fighting each other despite ostensibly being partners on the two previous Triplemania shows made for some of the more interesting matches on each respective night, while Psycho Clown and Sam Adonis have long-running issues dating back years. Whether through Fatal Four Way burnout or just the shortcomings of this particular match, it never delivered at the level I would have liked to have seen.
It was the heavyweight AAA formula, which usually works for me, replete with bleeding, mask-ripping and copious weapon shots, but it never coalesced into something greater than that. Psycho Clown had his mask ripped open to reveal his bleeding forehead in the early going, but very quickly replaced it with a fresh mask, rendering much of that work pointless, while the visual of L.A. Park stumbling through spots with his face largely visible through a torn mask is always compelling, but no longer novel. Production, which struggled to keep up with key events even in singles matches, missed several major points, reducing large swathes of the match to a confused, jumbled mess. Tirantes (Sr., that is), fell back on old habits and played his old rudo ref persona where L.A. Park was involved, refusing to count pins for him, complaining of imaginary back pain and leg cramps, and it simply added to the mess, rather than adding any additional heat or fresh layers to the story. It was needless, as much of this match was.
The cameras largely missed the finish. After Rush and his entourage - brother Dralistico, father Bestia del Ring, and AEW stablemate Preston Vance - joined forces with Sam Adonis to beat down Psycho Clown, Rush turned on Adonis, only to take a Spear from Park. Adonis, who had just hit Psycho Clown with a Martinete (Tombstone Piledriver), ended up crotched on the top rope long enough for Psycho Clown to recover and hit a single Spanish Fly. Clown and Park both made the cover at the same time, and the combination of bad camerawork missing the start of Tirantes’ count, and poor audio production meaning the count was inaudible, meant I (along with anyone else watching) only realised that he had actually counted three when, a moment later, he raised Psycho Clown’s arm from the mat.
Tirantes’ final count was stilted and awkward, as if he wasn’t sure this was the finish. The reason for the awkwardness may have been revealed in the aftermath, though it might have had something to do with the double pin - while L.A. Park had Rush pinned, Tirantes was focusing on the shoulders of Psycho Clown, and many who watched believe that the intention was for both Rush and Sam Adonis to visually “lose” the match, but for Tirantes to have only seen one pinfall, to add yet more chaos to the mix. If that were the plan, Rush was having none of it, and made sure to kick out on two, robbing L.A. Park of even an unofficial visual pinfall. If, indeed, that were the plan, and I’m not 100% convinced it was the case.
Sam Adonis, then, lost his hair. It was always obvious that he was going to, as the most likely candidate from the tournament’s announcement, though one always hopes for an unexpected curveball and a big name offering up their mask for the ample payday. Adonis had been growing his hair long throughout the year, and wearing his hair down and straightened, rather than in his usual braid, meant he may as well have walked to the ring telling everyone watching that he was doing the job. His face coated in blood, his hair was clipped away as he cut a promo - in Spanish - insulting Mexico, and Mexican women in particular. That’s that, then.
But that wasn’t the whole story. Psycho Clown wasn’t involved in the head shaving, and, as I mentioned, was still laying on the mat when Tirantes raised his arm in victory. L.A. Park called the doctor to the ring, and remained by Psycho Clown’s side, even leading the crowd in a chant of “Psycho” as Psycho Clown was stretchered out, immobile.
If it’s an angle, it’s a perplexing one. It distracts from the otherwise cathartic moment of top heel Sam Adonis having his head shaved in humiliation, and robs Psycho Clown of the opportunity to share in that moment. If the intention was to continue their feud even after Psycho Clown took Sam Adonis’ hair, and the apparent injury was being blamed on Sam Adonis’ Martinete, one has to question why Psycho Clown was able to hit a Spanish Fly from the top rope after receiving the offending move. I will be fully prepared to hold my hands up in embarrassed contrition if it comes out that this were unequivocally a work - and, after all, “this doesn’t make sense” has never stopped AAA before - and, indeed, I hope it is a work rather than a serious injury, but in the moment it felt very real to me. Aside from what I’ve mentioned already, Rush and his cronies brought a couple of cinder blocks and other weapons into the ring which were never used, or even teased. That suggests a match cut short, a finish called early. Perhaps the intention was for a double pin and the match to be restarted, and Psycho Clown’s condition forced a last minute adjustment. Perhaps we’ll never know.
Vikingo was also filmed backstage being stretchered out, having apparently collapsed backstage. He’s fine, and despite rumours that this was an angle for later use, it appears to have been a result of dehydration and exhaustion. If it had been an angle, I think that has little if any bearing on whether Psycho Clown’s injury was one also. Perhaps it was an abundance of caution on both counts, which is no bad thing.
If the idea was to continue the feud with Sam Adonis via an injury angle, it feels like an unnecessary step to get there - Sam Adonis still has ample motivation to continue his vendetta with Psycho Clown, and if that’s not enough, Park or Rush could easily have got the pin, to rob Clown of the decisive victory over his rival. It’s the most unusual route they could have taken to get to a simple destination. Again, this is AAA, it being a bad and confusing decision doesn’t go very far to support either argument about this.
——————————————————-
While there were moments of the final two matches worth watching, and moments on the undercard that were enjoyable at the time, nothing on this show was go-out-of-your-way must see, either in terms of great matches, huge spots, iconic moments, or the “so bad its good” enjoyment that many, sometimes unfairly, like to watch Triplemania for. It didn’t give us a match like Vikingo vs. Omega, but nor did it give us a Vampiro vs. Chessman, everything falling in a comfortable middle ground.
It’s a sign of the times for AAA that there was little hype around this show, even accounting for the Rush story attracting a lot of attention, the way Lucha Libre stories only ever breach containment when they might have an implication for AEW or WWE. I’ve seen even less discussion coming out of it. AAA is, despite a popular and dynamic young champion, and a roster stacked full of talent, a promotion with limited buzz, and very little to recommend it right now. It’s an infuriating watch.
More than that, every show feels like a reshuffling of the deck. Despite additions like Negro Casas and Nicho el Millionario to the mix, so much of this Triplemania felt like a rehash or a do-over of matches we’ve seen before. I have seen the same combinations of wrestlers, the same spots, the same structure, the same routines, over and over again. I can only see so many run-ins, so many table spots, and so many iterations of the Hijo del Tirantes Show, before it all stars to blur together in my mind, and none of it stands out. This time next year, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which matches took place in Mexico City, which in Tijuana, and which in Monterrey, if I can remember the matches at all. Chances are, this time next year, I will have watched another three multi-woman matches featuring the same women on this card in different configurations, I’ll have seen Mr. Iguana and Nino Hamburguesa in a Copa, and I’ll have seen Psycho Clown main event another Triplemania, just as I’ll have seen El Hijo del Vikingo hit more electrifying dives, and Laredo Kid wow on the undercard. But I’ll have seen nothing new.
I have always enjoyed AAA, despite its flaws, and always look forward to Triplemania every year. Watching it for the third time this year, I found myself watching the clock more than ever before. For the first time, I’m questioning whether it will be worth paying for Triplemania next year in the first place. There are matches they could announce that will keep me interested. A mask match with an unexpected legendary name. A genuinely compelling challenge for El Hijo del Vikingo, with a meaningful feud supporting it. Hell, give me Rush vs. Vikingo for the Mega Championship, and I’ll pay double. Give me Vikingo vs. Jeff Jarrett and I’ll give you the shirt off my back.
Something needs to change, something needs to be turned around, and that can only happen through a root and branch change of everything about how AAA currently operates, not through half-arsed promises to run bigger shows in the US that will never come to fruition, and not through half-arsing a title reign with a ton of goodwill behind it.
