Lucha Libre AAA
TripleMania XXVIII
December 12, 2020
Arena Ciudad de México
Mexico City, Mexico

Watch: YouTube y Facebook

Meet our reviewers:

Ricardo Gallegos: Having an empty arena Triplemania is kind of sad, but Ricardo is confident that this is going to be a crazy lucha party. Follow him on Twitter @wallyrgr

Griffin Peltier: The VOW AAA review team is back and Griffin couldn’t be more excited for the return of big match AAA. When not busy playing Among Us, working, or getting schoolwork done, Griffin sends wild(ly bad) Tweets via his Twitter @HiImGriffinP.

PODER DEL NORTE (CARTA BRAVA JR., MOCHO COTA JR., & TITO SANTANA) DEF. DINASTÍA, MÁXIMO, MR. IGUANA, & NIÑO HAMBURGUESA

Ricardo: A perfect Triplemania opener where everybody worked his ass off (even Máximo!) to deliver an awesome match. Poder del Norte is always a highlight in these undercard matches because they can fit with any type of opponents and their styles come off as brutal; despite being in the receiving end of a bunch of dives, they destroyed the tecnicos. The finishing stretch saw Mr. Iguana trying to repel PDN with Yeska, but it was too much for him. The rudos surrounded him like a pack of wolves and beat the crap out of him for the win. Crazy dives, table bumps, random MLW shout out, Hugo alternating between English and Spanish. I missed AAA. ****

Griffin: The show started 16 minutes late on YouTube because this is AAA. I love AAA! Dinastia is an injury replacement for Niño Hamburguesa. This was the perfect AAA opener – where the action is full throttle at breakneck speeds! I can’t think of any other promotion in the world where the opener features an air raid crash on the ring apron for a show with no fans. Poder del Norte are easily one of the best trios in the world and demonstrated just how great they are in this one. The tecnicos team tried their best but fell victim to too many weapon shots, table bumps, and could not beat the established team. This has me hyped for the rest of the show! Poder del Norte should get as many opportunities as possible all over the globe. They are fantastic! ****

AAA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: LUCHA BROTHERS (FÉNIX & PENTAGÓN JR.) © DEF. LOS JINETES DEL AIRE (MYZTEZIZ JR. & OCTAGÓN JR.) & LOS MERCENARIOS (REY ESCORPIÓN & TEXANO JR.)

Ricardo: Corkscrews, shooting stars, tope con giros, you name it. This had it all. Another match with ferocious pace and a nice blend of styles. Los Mercenarios were merciless and their control periods gave breathing space to the bout. Escorpión showed his tremendous base skill and executed some risky maneuvers himself. He also used a barbed wire bat to hit Penta’s knee which was the perfect excuse to limit his participation in the match (he wasn’t 100% healthy). After some good rudo action, Pentagón returned to set-up the Miedo Driver for the win. This flew by and was a great follow-up of the Triplemania XXVIII opener. ****

Griffin: Another great fast-paced match where Fénix showed why he’s one of the best wrestlers in the world. Pentagon Jr. was taken out of the match early on via a barbed wire bat attack by Rey Escorpion and then we were off to the races with Los Jinetes del Aire and Los Mercenarios trading the advantage. Escorpion and Texano used their dastardy heel tricks – tying Octagon’s mask to the top rope and unmasking Fenix to beat him up – but that wasn’t enough when Pentagon Jr ran back out against doctor’s orders and the Lucha Brothers finished things with the Miedo Driver! After the match, Taurus came down to join Los Mercenarios in a beatdown on the tecnicos, but El Hijo del Vikingo made his return from being a wife guy and amazed me with his insane dives and flying abilities. Another very good match. We’re getting the best of AAA so far tonight! ****

 

COPA TRIPLEMANIA FEMENIL: LADY SHANI DEF. LADY MARAVILLA, LA HIEDRA BIG MAMI, HADES, PIMPINELA ESCARLATA, MAMBA, CHIK TORMENTA, & FABY APACHE

Ricardo: The first half of this timed battle royal was quite entertaining. Chik Tormenta’s work was strong and there were some surprise entrants like Pimpinela and Mamba that gave a boost of energy to the match. However, when La Hiedra, Lady Maravilla and Lady Shani were left standing, everything fell apart. Their sequences were atrocious and Tirantes didn’t help with his idiotic decision making. After Hiedra was eliminated, Maravilla and Shan wrestled for what felt like 30 minutes. They were sloppy and couldn’t chain a single move. Finally, Shani submitted Maravilla with a sick submission hold. It wasn’t enough to salvage this unnecessarily long match though. **¾

Griffin: Order of elimination was Hades, Big Mami, Pimpinela Escarlata, Mamba, Chik Tormenta, Faby Apache, La Hiedra, and finally, Lady Maravilla . As a big La Hiedra fan, I was sad when she was eliminated. This was a fun rumble style match but it felt flat on a few occasions down the line after most of the eliminations occurred. Lady Shani isn’t that great and tried to go for so many covers during the portion of the match where pinfalls did not count. Lady Shani and Lady Maravilla were the final two (and first two! Shades of Shawn and Bulldog!) and this match really fell apart and went wayyyyy too long. It was fun when it was a rumble but was not fun when it became a singles match. ***

PSYCHO CIRCUS (MONSTER CLOWN, MURDER CLOWN, & PSYCHO CLOWN) DEF. BLUE DEMON JR., HIJO DE LA PARK, & LA PARK

Ricardo: This match was exactly what I expected it to be: a dumb fun brawl. LA Park used a a big blue barrel to impart pain, Monsther Clown decided to wrestle with his mask again (he lost it one year ago), there were lots of sloppy dives and when things were starting to slow down, the Park family decided to offend tag team partner Blue Demon Jr., who replied by trying to bash their skull with a freaking hammer. The Psycho Circus team got the win and jumped like kids in the middle of the ring while big flames went off in the background. Seconds later, LA Park and Blue Demon started to brawl on the outside. Yes, this was a blast. ***¾

Griffin: This was an absolute train wreck, but I loved it. This was essentially a greatest hits of Psycho Circus (Monsther Clown even wore his mask for the entire match) but the real drama came when the partnership between Blue Demon Jr. and the Parks devolved and Demon went after his partners with his patented hammer. The walk and brawl was fun and both Monsther Clown and Murder Clown nearly killed themselves on dives to the outside. Psycho Clown was the star of the match, the true ace of the universe, and he got the win over Hijo de LA Park. Not a match with any replay value, but it was fun while it lasted. ***½

 

MARVEL LUCHA LIBRE EDITION: TERROR PURPURA & VENENOIDE DEF. ARCANO & LEYENDA AMERICANA

Ricardo: This was a very fun guessing game. Twitter, Slack, everyone was going crazy trying to figure out who were behind the masks of these Marvel inspired luchadores. Venenoide was clear from the get go, but there was some confusion around Terror Púrpura (was it Cage or Wardlow?). Maybe the toughest one to guess was Leyenda Americana because he was such a JAG and failed to show an ounce of charisma… but that was the clue: he was Daga. Anyway, if you are still confused, the other names were: Lio Rush as Arcano, Taurus as Venenoide and Brian Cage as Terror Púrpura. Despite having four good-to-great workers, they couldn’t connect with each other and the match never took off. However, the whole thing was an entertaining marketing exercise that ended with Terror Púrpura cheating to defeat Arcano. After this surreal experience, Captain Marvel showed up in the middle of the ring to say that “this was only the beginning”. Seems like the Infinity War is coming to AAA and I’m pumped for it ***

Griffin: I’m really conflicted on this match. While I think it worked as the debut match for Marvel Lucha Libre Edition, it fell really flat considering the talent in the match. The in-ring work was fine, and Arcano stole the show with his Spider-Man mannerisms (Spider-Mannerisms anyone?) but I think it should’ve been more than what it was considering it was the big Marvel match. Terror Purpura won with the Drill Claw in a quite average match. It wasn’t good but it wasn’t bad. ***

AAA MEGA CHAMPIONSHIP: KENNY OMEGA © DEF. LAREDO KID

Ricardo: Match started cold and for the first time in the evening, I truly missed the crowd. However, the match spilled to the outside, Vikingo made an appearance and, alongside Laredo, dived from the top of a pile of tires toward Kenny and Nakazawa (here as Kenny’s second). After this spot, the match started escalating. Kenny missed a big tope con giro and Laredo immediately took advantage by using a Laredo Bomb to take control of the match. Kenny started using V-Triggers, but couldn’t never quite put Laredo away. The Mexican challenger used some spectacular counters to take Kenny out of his game and pile up the drama.

Then, the match took another turn. Instead of just going for high-flying moves, Laredo started working on Kenny’s leg with ruthless accuracy. This is the first time Kenny has had to face a challenge like this in AAA; it was an excellent storytelling decision that differentiated this from previous Megacampeonato title bouts. Kenny almost tapped out to Laredo’s great leg submission hold, but managed to hold on. The last five minutes were straight fire as both men emptied the tank, Lared masterfully countered the One Winged Angel and almost gets the win with the Laredo Fly. Nakazawa distracted Laredo during a crucial moment and allowed Kenny to climb the ropes and hit an Avalanche One Winged Angel for the win. ****¼

Griffin: The Best Bout Machine showed up in Mexico City! I think Hugo summed it up the best: “One heck of a battle!” Laredo Kid did some terrific leg work during the match. There was a spot where both Hijo del Vikingo (Laredo’s second) and Laredo dove off tires used on the set onto Kenny and Michael Nakazawa (Kenny’s second). All the dives were fantastic… except for one when Nakazawa channelled the spirit of The Miz and refused to catch Omega. There was a small lull in the middle stretch but this was really hot at the end when Laredo Kid almost one it on a few occasions and had a beautiful reversal of the One Winged Angel. In the end, Kenny Omega connected with an avalanche One Winged Angel from the top rope to seal the deal. A great match and I hope we get Omega versus Hijo del Vikingo down the line. ****¼


HAIR VS. HAIR: PAGANO DEF. CHESSMAN

Ricardo: God bless AAA. This was absolutely insane and exceeded all my “this is gonna be a fun train wreck” expectations. You just couldn’t take your eyes off the carnage that Chessman and Pagano were delivering. Think of any dangerous spot and you might find it in this match with the added caveat of having two very sloppy workers attempting it. Chessman dived right into a pyramid of chairs, Pagano did the most outrageous of maneuvers, the table bumps were very nasty and, at some point, both men could’ve been literally impaled by a broken ladder. Of course, there was lots of blood. To top it all off, in the last minutes of the match, Chessman decided to do a WrestleMania XIX homage and smash a guitar in Hugo Savinovich’s head. Pagano took advantage, climbed a dumb structure with Chessman and Air Raid Crashed Chessman’s body unto a truck. What in the hell did I just watch? This was a dangerous, dumb and unforgettable match in which both men gave everything to entertain us. Thank you, you wonderful loonies. How can I give a rating to this wholesome Triplemania XXVIII? I guess ****½ is equal to the raw amount of fun and cringe I had.

Griffin: This was a match built on bad ideas but goddamn did it work! Pagano and Chessman did not have their working boots on, they wore full on combat boots! There were so many moving parts of destruction that this looked like a car crash when it was all said and done. Lady Shani was Pagano’s second but ate a top rope powerbomb and had to get stretchered out. Pagano and Chessman both took massively unsafe table bumps that looked bowling shoe ugly. The match descended into chaos when Chessman destroyed a guitar over Hugo Savinovich’s head… and HUGO BLADED! Hugo was taken away on a stretcher and then they went to the finish where the two bloodied luchadors climbed to the top of the set and Pagano hit an Air Raid Crash off the top through a table in the bed of a truck! That was enough for the three to mercifully put an end to this one. After the match, Chessman was carted off a stretcher but told the paramedics to stop operating on him as he rolled into the ring to have his head shaved, as per the stipulation. In a final act of defiance against his enemy, Chessman threw his hair at Pagano to finalize the victory. This was a great main event that made me forget that it was in an empty arena. The wrestling was not anything to write home about, but the atmosphere and the sheer danger of what they were doing was a spectacle. I love AAA for this car crash environment. Overall, this was a fun show and I hope we get more regular AAA shows going forward. ****