LUCHA LIBRE AAA WORLDWIDE
GUERRA DE TITANES 2019
DECEMBER 14, 2019
DOMO MADERO
CIUDAD MADERO, TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO

Watch: Twitch

MEET OUR REVIEWERS

Griffin Peltier: Has watched every single AAA show on Twitch since TripleMania because lucha libre is fun. He thinks Psycho Clown is a 1B to Hiroshi Tanahashi as Ace of the Decade. He doesn’t know any Spanish, so everything is always a surprise. Follow him on Twitter @Hollywd12 for terrible takes and bad Tweets.

Ricardo Gallegos: Is convinced AAA is one of the best wrestling promotions in the world right now and is hoping for another outstanding show to cap off a great year. Follow him on Twitter @theunderwally for lucha takes and obsessive film awards season coverage. Also, follow me @luchajobbers for lucha coverage in Spanish!

PATRIARCHA, PECADOR, SHURA, AND SINDROME DEF. HARLEY, HIJO DE ECLIPSE, DISTURBIO, AND LUMINO 

Griffin: This was fine for an unannounced local match before the official start of the show. Nothing really stood out but the fans got a bit invested in the match when the dives started happening. **

Ricardo: A showcase of local luchadores that was harmless yet unremarkable. Despite the nervousness of some participants, the match had a nice finish with lots of dives and the crowd got invested in the action. The commentators tried to put over Harley and Síndrome, but they didn’t impress. **

ARAMÍS, DINASTÍA, AND OCTAGONCITO DEF. MINI PSYCHO CLOWN, AREZ, AND LA PARKITA NEGRA

Griffin: We got a superkick party early on! This match was all action, with nobody taking a break to breathe. All six luchadors shone in this match, but Arez and Dinastia were awesome. Arez provided a good base for a lot of the fun spots of the match, but the highlight was Arez countering a Aramis tope suicida into a Spanish fly on the ramp. It was a thing of beauty and looked absolutely painful. A very fun match to kick off the show. ***¾ 

Ricardo: This one started slow but developed into a crazy, fun spotfest. As I expected, Aramis and Arez were the standouts: they showed their tremendous chemistry and gifted us with the best highlights of a stacked match, including an insane tope suicida to spanish fly on the ramp. Minutes before, Arez executed a fantastic double Saharawi Suplex on Octagoncito and Dinastía, but Aramis stopped the pin with a cool double stomp. The last couple of minutes were a barrage of exciting dives that ended with Dinastía hitting Parka with a Frankensteiner and a standing shooting star press for the win. Keep your eyes on Arez and Aramis: they’re already two of the best mexican wrestlers and I think they will have a breakthrough 2020. ***¾

 

NIÑO HAMBURGUESA, MASCARITA DORADA, AND MR. IGUANA DEF. DEMUS, VILLANO III JR., AND LÁTIGO

Griffin: Another fun match filled with some great extended sequences between Mascarita Dorada and Demus – they always bring out the best in each other and I hope we get a singles match between the two at some point in 2020. Villano III Jr. is super good and he shone in this match with some of his dives and character work. This was fun, and Nino Hamburguesa’s cannonball spot was super over. I loved the finish with Demus taking off Dorada’s mask, with a kid coming down to give him a replacement Sagrada mask, that gave Dorada/Sagrada the boost he needed to win and pin Demus after spinning right round and taking him down. ***¾ 

Ricardo: Hell yeah. This beauty of a match showcased some of the brightest stars in the Mexican scene. Mr. Iguana has been fantastic since becoming a AAA regular and is getting himself over in every show: this was no exception. Everything Niño Hamburguesa did got big pops from Ciudad Madero. Villano III Jr. and Villano were as good as always, but the ones that took the spotlight were Demus and Mascarita Dorada: the former was very aggressive and after giving him hell throughout the match, he unmasked Mascarita. Fortunately, a kid in the crowd gave Dorada a Mascarita Sagrada mask, which allowed him to continue. Mascarita then proceeded to pin Demus with an incredible, orgasmic tijeras-pinfall combination. Now my wet dream is getting a Demus/Mascarita Apuestas match. ***¾

LUMBERJACK MATCH
PODER DEL NORTE (MOCHO COTA JR., TITO SANTANA, AND CARTA BRAVA JR.) DEF. TAYA VALKYRIE, FABY APACHE, AND OCTAGÓN JR. & ABISMO NEGRO JR., AYAKO HAMADA, AND KEYRA

Griffin: This went way too long and the wrestling wasn’t good, but it had some fun spots but the finish was terrible. We had the usual dives to the outside onto all the lumberjacks, and things broke down when Dorada and Demus got into it at the same time as Hamburguesa and Villano III Jr., but the in-ring portion of the match is skippable. Poder del Norte were great in their kick ass and take no prisoners role, but there was too much story around Hijo del Tirantes as referee. He did his shtick at the end by refusing to count the three for Faby Apache, and then did the fast count for Poder Del Norte. If they stuck to his one spot of running around the ring being hit by the lumberjacks, that would’ve been fine, but the extended bullshit doesn’t sit well with me. **½ 

Ricardo: Yeah, lumberjack matches suck and this was no exception to the rule. The first half was super messy and there was too much stuff going on, but I can tell you that Octagon Jr. looked good. A cool thing to come out from this was that Demus and Mascarita – who were ringside as lumberjacks – started brawling and even got in the ring to keep the heat going.

The second half got better thanks to more crazy dives, but again, it was too much. At the end, we got Hijo del Tirantes (*sigh*) refusing to count Fabi Apache’s pinfall attempt. Poder del Norte took advantage of this and beat the beejesus out of Fabi to win the match. Of course, Hijo del Tirantes helped out with a lightning-fast three-count. Despite some fun stuff, this was what I expected but worse thanks to Tirantes. **¾

TABLES, LADDERS, AND CHAIRS ATÓMICOS MATCH
KILLER KROSS, TAURUS, TEXANO JR., AND CHESSMAN DEF. WILLIE MACK, PUMA KING, MURDER CLOWN, AND PAGANO 

Griffin: Willie Mack replaced Brian Cage. The match started, music played, and everybody looked confused when Rey Escoprion came out to do commentary. The camera stayed on him for a bit too, so we missed the start of the match. There were some good big bumps in this match, with Murder Clown and Texano both having two of the bigger one. There was no huge Pagano bump, which is a little disappointing, but the match was still fun to watch. Plunder matches with no real purpose are always fun. After Kross got the win on Mack, Escorpion jumped in and attacked the tecnicos with the rudos. SIN CARA, going by that name with the same mask, ran down to make the save. He cut a promo, but the audio cut out on the feed. I’m sure he said something cool! (if I say otherwise he might find me) ***

Ricardo: This is the point of the show where I need a breath from so much craziness. We got some nasty bumps here: Murder Clown was put through a table, then he got revenge by doing a big splash from the top of a ladder to poor Texano on a table. Puma did the same, but he fell into a bunch of guys on the floor. With everybody out of the picture, Killer Kross hit Willie Mack with an anticlimactic Saito Suplex for the win. What can I say? Everybody put in the effort, but man, am I tired of this pace. Griffin already mentioned it: Sin Cara appeared and it looks like AAA is his new home. Wonder what will happen with the 90 day no compete rule. ***

 

CAMPEONATO EN PAREJAS AAA
PENTAGÓN JR. AND FÉNIX © def. AUSTRALIAN SUICIDE AND REY HORUS & EL HIJO DEL VIKINGO AND MYZTEZIZ JR.

Griffin: I loved every minute of this match. You had five of the best flyers in the world today and Pentagon Jr. is also a great wrestler in his own right and provides the alternative to the others. A lot of fun dives in this one, and I think Hijo del Vikingo is one of the best luchadors – if not the best – in Mexico today. Fantastic stuff with the Lucha Brothers retaining. Post-match, Killer Kross and Argenis came down with Konnan and beat down the tecnicos until Vampiro came out to confront Konnan – who may or not still be associated with Rush and LA Park. Who knows? Vampiro was left laying in the end. ****¼ 

Ricardo: After so much insanity in the show, I kind of wanted something a bit more ‘relaxing’ (I know, I’m crazy), but this is AAA so we got the exact opposite: we had a match involving some of the best high flyers in the planet together in one ring, and the result was awesome. I’m not even sure what to highlight. if you like lucha libre or spotfests, watch this: as simple as that. Maybe in another context, I would’ve loved this match a little more, but right now I’m tired of watching spotfests. ***¾

As for the post match angle (described by Griffin up here), it was just the usual Konnan/Vampiro  shtick, but with Killer Kross involved. This is not good because it’s a fact of life that anything involving Killer Krossed is bound to be disappointing.

LUCHA DE APUESTAS – HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH
BIG MAMI DEF. LADY MARAVILLA

Griffin: This started off hot and Big Mami had a crimson mask almost immediately. Pure hatred spewed between these two. Hijo de Tirantes was the ref, so he had some shenanigans, unfortunately. There was an ugly spot where Mami accidentally powerbombed Maravilla to the floor outside the ring, but she quickly followed it up by driving Maravilla through a table perched up against the guardrail. Big Mami took control and bloodied up Maravilla, who seemed to hit a gusher. Big Mami flew outside the ring from the top rope and was an absolute star in this match! Keyra ran down, gave a beer bottle to Maravilla, and it exploded over Mami’s head. With Keyra, Villano III Jr., Hijo de Tirantes, and Lady Maravilla all against her in the ring, Big Mami’s saving grace ran down to the ring… it was Nino Hamburguesa! He did the right thing, took out all three interfering rudos, and then dropped Maravilla with a powerbomb to give Mami the opportunity to hit the big splash for the win! Our favorites are back on the same page! Lady Maravilla held up her end of the deal and cut her hair, but most importantly the good guys won one! Long live Big Mami! This was exactly what it needed to be, but the Tirantes bullshit took away from the match one too many times. ****½ 

Ricardo: Some people act as if this Big Mami vs. Lady Maravilla feud is a joke, but it is not. It has been crafted with care for nearly a year, it has had some excellent character development and the blow-off match was TREMENDOUS. 

Some people are going to hate this comparison but earlier in the year, Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Suzuki feuded for months and promised to kill each other during the build-up. When their blow-off match came… they just grappled. Meanwhile, Big Mami vs. Lady Maravilla which has also been built for months and has featured betrayal as well as some nasty stuff from Maravilla, started with Mami bleeding in the first few minutes of the match. This is what an Apuestas match is all about. This is exactly what an intense feud should be like.

The battle was great, sometimes a bit sloppy, but you could feel the hate between the competitors and that kept pushing the match forward. Soon enough, Lady Maravilla started bleeding too and there was no going back. We got a ton of interference, first from Villano III Jr., then from Hijo del Tirantes and finally from Keyra: all were there to help out Lady Maravilla and I would be lying if I say I wasn’t annoyed. I felt the interference was too much… but then everything clicked. 

Before the match, we saw a great backstage promo where Niño Hamburguesa said he wanted to be Mami’s second and help her out during the match, but Big Mami prohibited that from happening: after so many disappointments, Niño couldn’t be trusted anymore. Big Mami could only trust herself. So… back to the match, there was a point where Villano, Tirantes and Keyra all started stomping Big Mami: the crowd was furious and the situation looked hopeless for the lovable Mami… then Niño Hamburguesa appeared. He destroyed the villains that had been making Mami’s life a living hell. But then, it was time for the final exam. Lady Maravilla was up and ready to fool Niño Hamburguesa. She tried to charm him, she tried to trick him again. Niño hesitated, but didn’t give in: he kissed Maravilla and powerbomb her. With evil vanquished, Big Mami climbed the top rope and hit a splash on Maravilla. It was all over. 

This might sound weird, but we had just seen Niño Hamburguesa’s one year character arc came to a close in perfect fashion. He showed maturity and finally looked past Maravilla’s look to make himself trustworthy again. A great way to cap off what was an incredible feud. This was some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in AAA in years, and some of the best I’ve seen in all of wrestling in 2019. ****½

After the match, Big Mami cut a heartfelt promo: “Hamburguesa, I forgive you. I want us to keep tagging and keep breaking hearts. Hamburguesa, my tag partner forever!” And in case you don’t think AAA is awesome enough, Hamburguesa gave Mami a present to celebrate her victory: the Strippers Big came out and gave Mami a strip dance with Backstreet Boys as background music. As I said, everything about this feud was gold.


NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH
BLUE DEMON JR., REY ESCORPION AND RUSH EL TORO BLANCO DEF. PSYCHO CLOWN, DR. WAGNER JR., AND DRAGO

Griffin: Rey Escorpion replaced La Bestia del Ring. Merry early Christmas to me. It didn’t take long for this match to descend into chaos with some lucha brawling all over the arena. The brawling did showcase two of the bigger feuds heading into 2020, Rush vs. Psycho Clown and Blue Demon Jr. vs. Drago. When the action returned to the ring, this became one loooooong beatdown in favor of the rudos, with the main focus on Rush beating the shit out of the Clown. The tecnicos started to make a comeback, but LA Park came out alongside Killer Kross and Konnan to continue the beatdown. Rush put Psycho through a table for the win. This new group took the masks off Psycho Clown, Drago, and Blue Demon Jr., showing that they are MAD at AAA and dislike everybody! The match was fine, it established Rush as being the new big bad against Psycho Clown and set up the post-match angle. It did suffer from a lack of heat after the Big Mami and Lady Maravilla match, which should have main evented the show. ***¼ 

Ricardo: A standard AAA main event: a big dumb brawl. And it was an okay big dumb brawl. Rush and Psycho went hard at each other, which probably means they’ll feud throughout 2020. It was non-essential viewing… until LA Park showed up. He and Killer Kross (who was wearing an Ingobernables shirt) helped Rush get the victory. They kicked Blue Demon, Drago and Pyscho’s butt, then Park cut a promo that featured about thirty insults directed to the crowd. It looks like the new Ingobernables are: Rush, LA Park, Killer Kross and Konnan. ***

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Griffin: I love AAA shows and this was a great show. The main event felt a little flat because it had to follow the awesome Big Mami and Lady Maravilla Lucha De Apuestas. That was a great match and something that can be considered a Lucha Libre Match of the Year. AAA rarely has a bad show and has been a fantastic product to follow in 2019, and I am sure 2020 will top it with this new AAA versus The World angle.

Ricardo: With an outstanding Apuestas match, the introduction of a new Ingobernable group and some cool spotfests, AAA Guerra de Titanes 2019 was a great way to end the year for AAA. My only issue was that there was too much plunder in the first half of the show and I was burned out by it, but the hot angles and blow off of the Maravilla/Niño/Mami feud lifted my spirits. 

There’s no doubt AAA was one of the best wrestling promotions of 2019: they had consistent good shows (that were also free to watch), they sold a bunch of tickets, Triplemania was a success, they put out many Match of the Year Contenders, they had a Feud of the Year contender, pushed the right people, and created stars. It has been a blast watching AAA this year and they should be praised for creating such a cool, unique product that you won’t find anywhere else.