The 2nd Annual Lucha World Cup will be held the first week of June in Mexico City. It’s a single elimination trios tournament, with each trio representing a different country (and, in some cases, a different promotion.) This year, there are tournaments for both men and women.
The presenting sponsor of this show is beer company Victoria. AAA hosts the Lucha World Cup this year, but it’s not presented as an AAA event. It’s an international competition, where knowledge of ongoing AAA storylines is largely unneccesary.
The eight teams in the men’s bracket are
- Japan (NOAH): Taiji Ishimori, Naomichi Marufuji, Mayback Taniguchi
- Japan (Ouduo/Zero One) Masato Tanaka, Akebono, Ikuto Hidaka
- Mexico (AAA): Pentagon Jr., Texano Jr., Psycho Clown
- Mexico (Leyendas): Canek, La Parka (AAA), Blue Demon Jr.
- Mexico (Internacional): Rey Mysterio, Dragon Azteca Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr.
- US (TNA): Ethan Carter III, Eli Drake, Tyrus
- US (LU): Brian Cage, Johnny Mundo, Chavo Guerrero Jr.
- Rest of the World: Mil Muertes, Rockstar Spud, Apolo
The four teams in the women’s bracket are
- Japan: (WAVE/OZ) Aja Kong, Yuki Miyazaki, Natsu Sumire
- Mexico (AAA): Lady Apache, Mary Apache, Faby Apache
- US: Santana Garrett, Sienna (Allysin Kay), Cheerleader Melissa
- Canada: Taya, Allie (Cherry Bomb), KC Spinelli
The Mexico AAA team was determined via qualifying matches. All other teams were announced as selections. (It’s unclear how much input each participating promotion had in choosing those who would represent them.)
The bracket match ups are unknown at this time. Last year, they were not announced until the morning of the start of competition.
The competition will be held over a few days:
Foreign wrestlers will arrive June 1st or June 2nd, and there will be a press event in the days before the first show.
June 3rd (Friday)’s show will take place in Puebla, at the Centro Expositor (convention center), with a listed starting time of 8:30pm Central Time. The first round for both brackets will take place on this show: the quarterfinal matches in the men’s division, and the semifinal matches in the women’s matches. (That is six total scheduled matches.)
June 5th (Sunday)’s show will take place in Mexico City, at the Palacio de los Deportes, with a listed starting time of 4:00pm Central Time. The semifinals, third place match and finals of the men’s division, and the third place and final’s of the women’s division will all take place. (That is six total scheduled matches.) Also, a judges panels of past luchador stars will select winners for best match, best dive, and best luchador awards.
The tournament format means all four women’s teams will wrestle on both shows, with the losing trios facing off in a third place match. The larger men’s field, and no 5th/7th place matches, appear to suggest the men who lose in Puebla will not appear at all in Mexico City. However, the listed 4pm start time is earlier than normal for an AAA show, maybe allowing time for the eliminated wrestlers will be featured in a bonus match.
Both show will be taped to air on television, though the plans for this have yet to be announced. Officially, AAA has announced nothing about these shows airing, either live or on iPPV. Unofficially, there has been a lot of talk about changed plans about of this airing. The one confirmed bit is Japan’s Samurai TV has said they’ll be airing both shows later in June.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AAA’s original idea was to try to air both shows on conventional PPV in the US, Canada, Mexico. That later changed to just the Sunday show, and now is said to not be happening at all on conventional PPV. Hugo Savonvich and TNA’s Josh Mathews were slated to announce the show in English when it was on PPV, with Mathews being used as part of the agreement to bring in AAA luchadors (and to allow TNA to promote their own PPV for the following week.) There’s been no updated about the announcing situation now that it appears not to be on normal PPV in the US/Canada. Some combination of the usual AAA announcers (Jesus Zuñiga, Andres Maroñas, Arturo Rivera and Leo Riano) will announce the show in Spanish.
It’s assumed both shows will be available worldwide on iPPV, but AAA has not said anything. Location and cost are unknown. AAA’s major shows have typically been streamed on iPPV on internetvluchalibreaaa.com, but no card streamed since October, with the most recent event in March apparently not airing due to a last minute issue between the streaming company and AAA.
The events will likely air as part of AAA’s regular TV show, but it’s unclear when. An edited version of the competition also aired on broadcast TV in Mexico.
Last year’s results:
First: Mexico Dream Team (Rey Mysterio Jr., Alberto el Patron and Myzteziz)
Second: US-TNA/Lucha Underground (Johnny Mundo, Ken Anderson, Matt Hardy)
Third: US-Lucha Underground/ROH (Brian Cage, ACH, Moose)
Fourth: Team Mexico-Leyendas (Dr. Wagner Jr., Blue Demon Jr., Solar)
eliminated in quarterfinal
Atsushi Kotoge, Taiji Ishimori, Takayama
Hijo del Fantasma, Psycho Clown, Texano Jr.
Kenzo Suzuki, Masamune, Tiger Mask III
Angélico, Drew Galloway, El Mesías
Victoria has indicated they’d like to take this competition to Japan in 2017.