Recapped: 10/21/2018
Matches:
Keyra, Lady Maravilla, Starfire beat Faby Apache, La Hiedra, Vanilla
(6:24, Star Fire headscissors cradle Faby Apache, good,00:10:22)
Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Ciclón Ramírez, Golden Magic, Jack Evans
(11:16, Mocho Cota Jr. Spanish Fly Ciclon Ramirez, ok,00:37:50)
Aerostar, Bengala, Hijo Del Vikingo beat Emperador Azteca, Imposible, Metaleón
(9:00, Aerostar Springboard frontcracker Impossible, good,00:57:42)
Joe Lider & Pagano and Laredo Kid & Taurus did not have a result
(11:35, ok, 01:21:05)
Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown beat Electroshock & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
(18:40, Psycho Clown casita Dr. Wagner Jr., ok,01:49:16)
What happened:
In an earlier in-ring interview, Hijo de Wagner and Rey Wagner got into a fight. The younger Wagner got the best of it, Electroshock ran in for no particular reason to help, and Psycho Clown came thru the crowd to run them off. The bit seemed to only exist so Wagner and Wagner could tease a singles match.
Ciclope & Miedo Extremo showed up as Lider & Pagano seem close to winning the semi-main. Miedo Extremo tries to give Pagano a Spanish Fly thru a table and a light tube, but the table just tips over instead. Laredo Kid adds a splash, which seems like it might be for the pinfall, but the Macizos pull Laredo off the pin and break the light tube that didn’t break in the table spot over Pagano. Laredo Kid decides he’s no longer interested in covering or this match entirely, and he and Taurus bail. No DQ is called. Time is as of the run-in, when the match essentially ceases to exist. Ciclope and Extremo destroy Pagano & Lider with light tubes, making sure they bleed a lot, then taunt them on the microphone by saying they’re the best extreme wrestlers. Pagano challenges them to a match in Juarez.
Metaleon replaced Demus – in New York on an Hijo del Santo show instead – but no one’s paying attention and they show Demus’ video instead. Monster clown attacked Aerostar and ripped up his mask post-match.
Star Fire taunted Faby after her win. Keyra might have been meant to do something, but finding a working mic proved to be surprisingly difficult. Faby said she’d be ready for them on 10/28.
Thoughts:
The main event was the usual AAA brawling match, something that wasn’t much special watching it on a screen but seemed a lot more fun if you were in the arena and people were brawling 10 meters from you. It was a match for Rey Wagner to bleed in order to get his son over as a top guy. It didn’t work this time, though Wagner came across less limited than in previous appearances. He’s still not a spectacular worker, but he’s at better than taller than the usual guy stuck in the main event for being tall. Electroshock existed. The crowd loved Psycho Clown and they gave them plenty of Psycho Clown.
Pagano continues on his quest to redefine himself as more than an extreme wrestler, unaware no one actually wants to see that and that he’s not really good at it. Laredo Kid helped a lot; the reverse suplex spot looked really cool and I’m not sure it works with many other people. The upside of a Pagano/Joe Lider team is the guarantee of at least one spot during a match where it’s not clear if they messed something up or that was something they thought was good. It was definitely the “legdrop?/senton?” spot. In no way did it feel like Laredo Kid was headed to a big title match in this one, but I suppose it’s actually not that big. (It’s possible Laredo was actually supposed to get the pin and he really decided not to bother once the light tube spot happened, but it wouldn’t have meant much in the situation.) The run-in was super effective for the match AAA really is building; I may not like Pagano but the crowd sure did and wanted to see that tag match bad.
The Aerostar lead trios match was a lot of fun. It was a fast paced all action match, just never ending 1v1 sequences with everyone working well with each other. Bengala wasn’t always as spectacular as everyone else – the sequence of big moves peaking with a Bengala shoulderbreaker was a bit odd – but he was obviously trying hard to make an impression after not being on TV for so long and he had a lot of crowd support. The new facepaint made it feel like he was still invested in the Bengala character, not just treating it like something he was doing when he couldn’t be Super Nova. Emperdaor Azteca looked stronger than usual, sometimes literally. Imposible’s red/green mask was very evocative of Fuerza Guerrera; in a better world, he’d be playing his junior. The weakest part of this match was the camera switching, causing us to miss parts all of some of the bigger moves. It was an issue all night.
The Poder del Norte match was less than you’d expect given the time and people involved. It just wasn’t very smooth early on, and only got going well for a couple minutes in the end. Ciclon Ramirez appeared to mess up the usual opening roll evasion spot in a way I didn’t know it was possible to mess up. He has looked inconsistent at best in his AAA matches; I think he’s got potential, but it’d be fair to give other people his chances instead. I’ve taken for granted how clean the careta headscissors spot in CMLL. It did not go as well here, with Golden Magic crashing down on the pile. Even the double standing moonsault spot saw Golden Magic land on own head and arm. Jack whiffed on catching Tito Santana on his dive and had an otherwise forgettable match.
The women’s trios was not quite at the level as some of the previous ones. It seemed more a function of time than effort. They really didn’t have enough space to do as much as in the previous matches, though they did add in new stuff. The Keyra/Lady Maravilla double Spanish Fly spot would’ve looked cool if they find a way to get it on screen. Everyone did at least fine and it was a solid build to the title match. There probably should be some realization on the Elite women’s part that they’re going to be facing each other, but AAA wrestlers are not allowed to be self aware. Vanilla has one tornillo spot that didn’t look good, but that seemed like it was more on Keyra for being in the wrong place.