Lucha Libre AAA
TripleMania XXX: Monterrey
April 30, 2022
Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey
Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

Watch: FITE

AAA runs the first of three TripleManias this Saturday night, kicking off a year-long tournament. In proper manic AAA form, the card includes what could be the best match of the year in Mexico and a couple that could contend for the worst. 

Saturday’s TripleMania show airs on FITE in English and Spanish for 20 USD. The FITE app makes it difficult to switch back and forth between languages, but the idea is you’ll get both feeds no matter which one you click buy on. ProWrestlingTV will also be airing the show for the same price and using the same commentary, as best as I can tell. Both streams start at 8 pm CT. (The in-arena event also includes a couple of inconsequential matches to be aired later.) AAA typically posts these shows on their YouTube channel for free two weeks later, though this event will go up in parts, and you may have to wait longer for everything. All the airings will be available worldwide. 

Saturday’s show is the first of three TripleManias in 2022. It’s a strategy AAA is bringing back from the 90s. However, it’s truly happening because someone ran the numbers and realized calling this event “TripleMania” would make sure fans—especially international fans—pay attention. People like myself will check out this show if it is under a lesser name like “Guerra de Titanes,” but the most expansive group of fans pay attention to AAA only for the shows called “TripleMania.” Voila, here’s some more TripleManias. AAA is coming off two years where the pandemic severely damaged revenues, so any short-term way to get another big gate is worth trying.

The attempt at a big gate comes with many big names, some in addition to matches. 2000s AAA star turned crossover entertainment celebrity Latin Lover will appear on those shows. Vampiro was announced as likely appearing, though no one seemed 100% sure. Both may set up matches for future shows, and there’s even a chance those matches happen. AAA is hoping all these stars draw strongly for a market that may be starving for lucha libre. Monterrey typically has about a dozen local shows a month, but no one has run in the city since the last big AAA card. An ongoing war between a new head of the lucha libre commission and luchadors over licensing drove all the promoters to run elsewhere, if they’re running at all. That conflict shouldn’t affect AAA, but don’t be surprised if some inconsequential bureaucratic nonsense slips onto the event. 

This Monterrey TripleMania usually takes place in December, and AAA moved to April this year to fit their mask plans. It’s the first part of a single-elimination tournament that’ll extend over all three shows, where someone will end up losing their mask in October. These tournaments are commonplace in Mexico, though the exact rules – the loser of each match moves onto the next round, not the winner – may initially confuse non-lucha libre watchers. AAA’s announced the first-round matchups but has kept the overall brackets secret for the moment. 

The Villano IV vs. LA Park first-round match illustrates the possibilities in this particular tournament. Villano IV has had a great career, highlighted by many tag team championships and an unlikely stint in WCW. Any wrestler would be proud to have Villano IV’s run. He’s also never been a top singles star, hasn’t won a significant mask in thirty years, was semi-retired before the pandemic, and rarely wrestled the last two years. Villano IV isn’t as big a star as the other seven people in this tournament. There’s a good chance Villano IV would’ve lost his mask on a mid-level show already had 2020 or 2021 had regular shows, and he’s easily the least expensive option for a mask payout in this field. Villano IV would be the lock to lose this Ruleta de la Muerte in a normal situation. 

LA Park’s interviews leading into this first-round match with Villano IV have instead focused on this not being a standard version of this tournament. Most of these “Ruleta de la Muerte” tournaments occur over a single night. This one is staggered, and only two wrestlers will get the honor of a big TripleMania main event, with the rest winning out of the competition months prior. A normal ruleta de la muerte can be a bit of a shell game: many well-known names are named, but one of the less-heralded wrestlers loses because it’s bad business to give away a big 1v1 final without time to hype it. AAA will have four months to promote the mask final in this format, which is really about as much time as they usually spend promoting the year’s big match.

LA Park’s repeatedly talked about purposefully losing his first two matches because it’d give him a chance to have the top match on a big show and unmasked a big name. LA Park is a man who never likes to lose, and I don’t think that’s about to change now, but it’s still a good point. This tournament’s Mexico City final in October will be a big deal. Like a “first paragraph in the obituary” level deal for whichever two wrestlers end up in the final. It will also be big money: the Mexico City ticket prices are the highest ever for a lucha libre show. They may not even need to sell out to break the Mexican wrestling gate record. Guys like Park, Demon, Canek, and Rayo likely figure they’ll never lose their n mask. There’d be no chance they’d ever lose in a normal Ruleta de la Muerte. AAA could make any of them think twice if they offer a big check (perhaps along the lines of $250K paid to Dr. Wagner Jr. to lose his mask five years ago) and if they have months to sell tickets. Most fans assume it’ll just be Psycho Clown defeating Villano IV in the final, and I tend to believe the same. Any win by Villano IV completely changes the tenor of this whole concept. 

The most famous Monterrey mask match is the original Blue Demon unmasking the original Rayo de Jalisco in 1989. Demon & Jalisco were a combined 124 years old on that day, both were just about retired, and it wasn’t a huge surprise either would cash in their mask. (It’s a rare big name mask match where the outcome was truly in doubt.) Blue Demon Jr. and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. meet in the first round of this mask tournament at a combined age of 118, and retirement doesn’t appear close. Both talk about retiring in the next two to three years and have been for a decade. They’re going to go until they physically can not, and beyond if someone will pay them. Their story for this match is focused on Rayo avenging his father’s bitter defeat. I can’t get past how long these two have hung around. The early 90s TV fueled boom stars have had extraordinarily long careers and seem to plan to keep wrestling as long as promoters call them up. 

There’s an obvious problem with hanging around forever, which the Canek vs. Psycho Clown also showcases. Canek is indisputably the most valuable heavyweight champion in the history of Mexican wrestling ever. Mil Mascaras held a title for longer, others held more famous belts in the US, but Canek’s long and numerous runs as UWA Heavyweight Championship carried a promotion unlike those others (and unlike any heavyweight champion since.) Canek’s slam of Andre the Giant is part of Mexican wrestling folklore as Hulk Hogan’s one to the US, and he’s one of the ten most famous Mexican wrestlers of all time. Canek is also turning 70 in June and has been wrestling immobile for two decades. Give him credit for what he’s able and willing to do; it’s just not a lot. Putting Canek in a singles match adds a big name and a match that will be a struggle. The hope must be that Psycho Clown and enough smoke and whistles can carry it, like how LA Park probably is expected to carry the lion’s share of the load with Villano IV. Maybe Blue Demon Jr. & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. will get some interference to help them out. Still, all three of those matches risk being as bad as the infamous Villanos/Psycho Circus match, or as bad as anything you’ll see in a major promotion in 2022. It’s a downside of trying to reach everyone with one show: the long-time Mexican wrestling fans won’t care a lick about how bad these matches are if they get to see their guys one time while not caring nearly as much about the main event. AEW fans tuned in to see a Young Bucks match might also see a lot of older men they barely know moving very slowly when they’re moving at all. One of these matches with limitations would be a simple change of pace. Three on a card may make for a painful viewing experience.

Ultimo Dragon is no spring chicken either, but at least he’s been wrestling reasonably regularly in a high-level promotion. His match with Pentagon Jr. will probably be fine, and probably not more than that. It’s been more intriguing for the alliance shifting: Dragon was CMLL-adjacent before the pandemic, and working with AAA came out of nowhere. AAA does have plans on the book to run in Japan in 2022, and maybe there’s some upcoming business connection there. 

The prudent thing for this tournament will be to eliminate the oldest guys if they’re not going to lose their masks. Elimination here means winning, so I’d have Villano IV over LA Park, Canek defeating Psycho Clown, and Pentagon Jr. beating Ultimo Dragon. Throw in Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeating Blue Demon since Demon’s more often around AAA of the two. Those are a lot of weird results; it doesn’t seem like great business for the face of the AAA to lose to a 70-year-old man who can barely move. Maybe expect some head-scratching screwy finishes in addition to the questionable matches.

The rest of the card isn’t much bigger on matches featuring actual AAA talent. Recent AAA minimizes the regular product on TripleMania, but there are usually at least a couple of matches that carry it. Nothing here was set up by wrestlers interacting in televised wrestling matches on AAA’s show. There are hints of rivalries that might play out later, but AAA seemingly abandoned their television shows and live events as vehicles to build their major show. AAA’s TV isn’t in a great spot, and maybe outside big names will draw more, but it’s a bizarre strategy. 

At least the mixed tag match has been built on social media, though that build is “AAA’s booking makes no sense.” The initially scheduled setup had Latigo & Maravilla, Octagon Jr. & Sexy Star (the second one), and AEW’s Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti as three teams. Guevera & Conti are in AAA specifically and only because they want to win the mixed tag titles and later realized the current champions (Arez & Chik Tormenta) weren’t in the match. The AEW couple posted a promo threatening not to come to Monterrey unless that changed. Conti’s also doing a running bit of confusing Arez with Austin Aries, which seemed to annoy the champions enough into accepting, turning this into a four0way match. Arez & Tormenta kinda look like chumps if they lose here, but AAA has consistently been thirsty to get their belts on US television. The outcome is not in doubt. The goal here isn’t to get over the AAA people. The goal is to convince AEW to put the titles on the line whenever Conti & Guevara face VanZant and her partner. 

The other two undercard tag matches feel like the product of “we booked all these people, I guess we gotta find a spot for them.” Dragon Lee & Dralistico, in search of FTR and the tag team titles, instead find the unlikely combinations of Taurus & Johnny Superstar and Laredo Kid & a surprise wrestler. (That surprise was Alberto el Patron at one point, as reported by Fanbyte, then no longer Alberto following days of hostile reaction to that idea.) AAA used Willie Mack in this spot last year, and he’s as good a guess as any. Everyone here is capable. It’s just an odd combination with no reason to exist. 

The strangest match is the sole trios match on this Mexican wrestling card. A one-in-a-lifetime team of Andrade, Cibernetico, and Deonna Purrazo face Bandido, Pagano and Taya. Cibernetico and Pagano have a simmering issue that’s part of AAA TV, a true rarity. Deonna and Taya have a feud that’s almost entirely taken place on Impact. Andrade and Bandido have no issue unless I missed some PWG shows. These last two come off as an overcorrection to the old-men-focused tournament or a consequence of promising many people a spot on this show. Whatever the reason, many of these matches would be better with half as many people booked. 

AAA is this chaotic and mildly confusing on big shows all the time. And, pretty much every time, the AAA show is still worth watching because Hijo del Vikingo is amazing. His match at last year’s Verano de Escandalo with Laredo and the Lucha Brothers was among the best Mexican wrestling matches in 2021. His Megachampionship win on the last TripleMania Monterrey show was the highlight of that card, and Vikingo’s had outstanding matches with Johnny Superstar and Demonic Flamita this year. The most satisfying AAA does right now is to give Hijo del Vikingo the freedom and opponents to have fantastic matches. There are not a bunch of teams or weird stipulations in Vikingo matches. AAA’s just putting him in positions to excel and hoping he cracks the WON’s “match of the week” bullet point. Vikingo is getting to do it here, and it’s likely to be given that sort of space to operate with under a theoretical US contract.

The other guys in the match aren’t half bad either. Young Bucks versus Fenix & Vikingo has unlimited potential both in quality and GIFs that cause people who hate the Bucks to lose their minds. The one limiting factor is the health of the Mexicans. Vikingo (and AAA) gave into doctor’s orders and spent most of April resting a knee strain. Fenix is back in training, but he and AAA have repeatedly pulled the rug out on the announced return date. This main event will be the first match in a while for either of those guys. Vikingo looked spectacular even while dealing with his injury and Fenix seemed back to his old self on Wednesday’s Dynamite, so it should work out fine on Saturday.

The outcome doesn’t matter as much as the fun of the match, assuming they’re both there. Either team winning works fine, even if this is a rare time of a coherent long-term AAA plan. Konnan teased a big Fenix versus Hijo del Vikingo match for Tijuana months ago, and that’s June TripleMania location. Maybe AAA sets up its next Megachmpionship fight with a big breakup. Maybe it’s just a challenge and a handshake. Whatever the deal, the bit that will sell people on seeing it is the quality of this match, not whatever happens after it.

There are parts of TripleMania that might be a bear to get through, and fans who don’t have a lot of history with the older luchadors might struggle to get through this show. It still seems definitely worth getting for that main event alone if it happens as scheduled. Anything else turning out well is a bonus.