Recapped: 12/02/2018
Matches:
All matches aired from Palenque de la Feria, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes.
Arkángel Divino, Dark Finder, Discovery beat Príncipe Seir, Último Maldito, Xtreme X
(10:31, Arkangel Divino high speed Mistica, good, 00:20:08)
Lady Shani beat Faby Apache ©, La Hiedra, Scarlett for AAA’s Reina de Reinas championship
(6:59, Lady Shani backcracker Faby Apache, below average, 00:55:33)
La Máscara, Parka Negra, Taurus beat Mamba, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata
(9:04, La Mascara double knee smash Máximo, ok, 01:16:23)
Angelikal Myzteziz Jr., Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana © fto win the AAA World Trios Championship
(10:28, Hijo del Vikingo shooting star press Mocho Cota, great, 01:40:00)
La Parka, Laredo Kid, Myzteziz Jr. beat Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly
(5:30, DQ Averno for mask pull, ok, 02:01:31)
Rey Escorpión & Texano Jr. beat Joe Lider & Pagano and Cíclope & Miedo Extremo to keep the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a hardcore rules match
(17:28, Texano & Escorpión two man powerbomb Pagano, good, 02:11:30)
Drago beat Hijo del Fantasma © to win the AAA Latin American Championship
(14:34, dragon’s tale cradle, good, 02:43:35)
Blue Demon & Killer Kross beat Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown
(10:13, Kross & Demon pin Wagner, below average, 03:15:46)
What happened:
Scarlett is with Kross, as on Lucha Capital, and it seems to be permanent thing going forward. Scarlett interfered in the match, which strangely caused Vampiro to come out to grab her. Before Vampiro could chokeslam the woman, Kross hit Vampiro in the back. Vampiro ended up leaving grabbing his neck. Kross snuck in a foul on Psycho and suplexed him, and Demon beat Wagner clean with the Devil’s Wings. Or that was the plan, except Tirantes held up at two for reasons no one really understood. He might have had a problem with Kross helping pin Wagner, but then he let Demon & Wagner pin him at the same time anyway. The show ended with the rudos unmasking Psycho Clown and celebrating.
The Fenix/Cage title match didn’t happen. Cage sent in a video (translated by Melissa) saying he’d been injured a few days ago and was not able to wrestle. Fenix appeared in front of the live crowd to talk about his injury. He got some boos for the match not happening, which upset him. Laredo Kid interrupted, put over Fenix for being professional enough to show up anyway, and asked if he was still getting a title shot. Fenix assured him that Laredo was first on his list for challenges when he was healthy again.
Both the Mercenarios & Macizos beat up Pagano & Lider after the match, so it does not appear the Ciclope & Miedo Extremo vs Pagano & Joe Lider program is done.
In an in-ring bit early in the night, La Parka brought on Angelikal, praised him, and unveiled gear for him for a new character: Myzteziz Junior. (Myzteiz was the identity Carístico used in AAA.) Angelikal wrestled under the new identity in the title match, which his team won. Parka congratulated the winners after the match, saying he knew Myzteziz would bring them luck. The OGTs interrupted, insulted Parka, and got into a fight with the técnicos. They took out Hijo del Vikingo with a shoulder injury in the process. Parka challenged OGT to an immediate match, which ended with Averno unmasking Parka (after first only getting the top of his mask) and later taking the other two masks.
A series of vignettes aired with Brazo de Platino trying to convince Máximo and La Mascara to reunite, with Mascara insisting he wasn’t a Brazo but a Mercenario. (These had been airing on Space the last couple of weeks in real time but had not yet aired on Twitch.) Brazo de Platino brought out La Mascara to again plead with him. Mascara faked agreeing and attacked him. This came across like a role Super Porky was intended to play for sympathy but is not physically able to at this point.
Kerya was scheduled for the title match but did not appear, because she was trying out for WWE in Chile. Hijo del Tirantes helped Scarlett out of a Faby tapatia to break up a spot where everyone was in a hold. Scarlett walked out of the match a moment later, confusing everyone. Tirantes and Faby went back to feuding, which led to Shani beating Faby when she was distracted. Faby seemed to be a tecnica in this match. Outside of Scarlett being a heel, it was tough to tell what role anyone was supposed to be in.
The opener was an added dark match, with Último Maldito & Arkangel Divino coming home to work with other Aguascalientes wrestlers.
Thoughts:
The main event was the usual not much Blue Demon/Dr. Wagner main event. Some weak brawling, a run-in to push the never happening Vampiro/Kross match, and a really poor looking finish. Not great night for referees being able to count to three. Demon slapping hands with all the fans and then working rudo in the match didn’t work, but I’m not sure anything he’s going to do will work. It’s just cold.
Drago/Fantasma was a slow-paced match feeling like it might building to something, but taking forever to get there. They never totally found that extra gear though it did get better as they went along. Drago bleeding a lot was a strong visual that didn’t play equally strong into the match. They did build drama with the near falls but the typically quiet Aguascalientes crowd didn’t seem that into it. Fantasma’s offense doesn’t look as sharp as it once did, with the big tope never coming off strong. Drago’s escape out of the Thrill of the Hunter came off well, but Copetes hesitating on the winning three count hurt the drama of the moment. There already wasn’t as much drama in that moment as there should’ve been.
This was the best of three Macizos/Pagano/Lider matches so far. It was a more balanced match between three teams and escalating well, which was important given how long it went. The last couple minutes were clunky to get Pagano to finish the match, but he wasn’t as much a problem as in the other ones with more people to surround them. Los Macizos looked sharp thru the match and took a lot of punishment; they’re still clearly here just to give Pagano & Lider something to wrestle, but they’re coming off as the better team. Rey Escorpión was relatively up for the extreme spots in the match and pulled off a cool powerbomb catch for the finish. Texano did not seem to be as much interested in killing his opponents got thru it fine. There are some obvious not great spots, both in ideas and execution (that table spot near the end didn’t come close to looking like a Canadian Destroyer), but this was good for what it was.
The title switch was the best Poder del Norte/Laredo squad match yet. Other matches may have a few more shocking moves at the very top end, but this one had plenty close while building to a bigger end game. This seemed like it would be a title change going in and “Myzteziz Jr.” clinched it before it started, yet they were still able to put together a moment where it looked like Poder del Norte might win. They wrestled fast and they kept it interesting. The técnicos went over very strong in the end. Poder del Norte still looked good enough, here and in general, that they’re still useful as contenders down the line. The follow up on trios match really wasn’t much, with Myzteziz getting a few spots and Laredo doing much less. It was a chance for Parka to do his thing, which isn’t much of a thing to see and didn’t have a purpose here.
This tapings version of the Máximo/Mascara match was slightly better than normal only because Parka Negra & Taurus. They looked super, especially early in the match, and one or the other should be used as a challenger for Drago right away. There isn’t much else to say about the rest of the action. The crowd didn’t care about the feud any more after the dramatic intervention of Brazo de Platino, but then this crowd didn’t care about a whole lot.
The women’s match was a big disappointment. I’m not sure if there was drama putting together the match, but it came off like a match no one was really happy with, especially the people who had to watch it. The match made no sense except if they decided Shani had to beat Faby for the title but also that Faby wasn’t going to lose clean. Apache working as a tecnica and feuding with Tirantes made no sense given months of storylines except to set up for that finish. It also made the end of the match a mess, and it wasn’t a match that was going along that great. The match got worse once Scarlet left. It wasn’t that she was great (she was fine), but the weirdness of the match was exposed to less people involved in it. It just kind of meandering to a lame finish with none of the impact or fun of the recent matches. If AAA had to do the finish this way to tie up the Faby/Shani feud and are moving onto anything else, then maybe it was a necessary evil (though one that should’ve come months ago.) It’s even worse if this just the start of more with them.
The dark match was an attempt to repeat similar previous matches but didn’t reach those heights. The Tijuana guys match here last on the previous Aguascalientes got last time but was an easier superior match. Everyone was willing to take big bumps, but the offense and layout made it feel too indie match. They did everyone does a Canadian Destroyer spot, but slower and less well than previous ones, and it doesn’t help to do direct comparisons when it is going to be something worse. Último Maldito & Arkangel Divino did their usual sequence, though ti it felt a bit of a walkthru. Maldito’s dive looked cool, but it also required the match to stop for a minute while he searched for a suitable chair. The solution there can’t be “find another chair” when “do a different dive is a possibility.” They got money thrown in, but they really need encouragement to try something different.
