Recapped: 08/10/2019
All matches took place in Lienzo Charro Prof. Enrique Gonzalez, Saltillo, Coahuila
Matches:
Komander, Eclipse, Lady Shani beat Australian Suicide, Villano III Jr., La Hiedra
(11:14, Lady Shani northern lights suplex Villano III Jr., good, 00:18:43)
Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Tito Santana beat Argenis, Dinastia, Niño Hamburguesa
(10:25, Cota top rope splash Dinastia, good, 00:55:27)
Golden Magic, Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. beat Dave The Clown, Monsther Clown, Parka Negra
(11:28, Hijo del Vikingo Reverse 450 splash Cuerno de Vikingo Dave The Clown, good, 01:15:16)
Averno, Chessman, Súper Fly beat Aerostar, Drago, Willie Mack
(13:03, Super Fly foul Drago, good, 01:36:32)
Fénix © beat Laredo Kid, Puma King, Taurus for the AAA World Heavyweight Championship
(15:59, Fenix spinning valagueza driver Laredo Kid, great, 02:00:05)
Dr. Wagner Jr. Psycho Clown beat Blue Demon, Rey Escorpión,
(15:08, Dr. Wagner Jr. casita Blue Demon, good, 02:27:51)
What happened:
Dr. Wagner Jr. is not retiring from lucha libre. The combined effort of Psycho Clown, Nino Hamburguesa and Hijo del Vikingo pleaded with him to rethink his decision, as did the fans. It was finally Blue Demon’s arrogance which convinced Wagner that he was robbed at TripleMania and he should continue fighting. Wagner continued fighting in the main event, cleanly defeating Demon. This was before the traditional AAA ending of Los Mercenarios beating everyone and posing with Psycho Clown’s mask. Texano took part in the no DQ part of the match despite not otherwise being on the card. Eterno also appeared in the main event, seemingly just to take a table bump.
Fenix got his wish and defended the AAA Mega Championship on this card. He beat Laredo Kid cleanly for his first TV defense after a year.
Super Fly beat Drago with a foul after Drago had misted Averno. Monster Clown attacked Aerostar after his match and the OGTs beat up the other tecnicos.
La Parka’s music and slow walk halfway to the ring was enough to distract Dave the Clown in his match. Vikingo might have won anyway but definitely won after.
Argenis betrayed Nino Hamburguesa late in their match, then declared it was the fans fault for not supporting him enough.
Thoughts:
Another strong AAA TV card, with every match worth watching and some great. The unannounced title match was great, though the Wagner un-retirement angle was probably the best thing on the show. There was a lack of crowd reactions on this show; there’s a lot of matches that feel the same but have different levels of difficulty, and that may be a factor. If you just want more of AAA, they’re giving you it.
The main event was the match that broke the form from the rest of the show most by fitting the mold of most AAA main events. Tecnicos got destroyed for a long time, came back to do all their big spots, and Psycho went thru a wooden object. The twist was an actual clean finish, but AAA got back on the well-trodden path by having the rudos beat him up with no one making the save after. There’s plenty of reasons Wagner isn’t actually retiring – no one actually retiring in Mexico being the big one – but it stands out that one big reason is the Wagner/Demon is really over. The fans legitimately dislike Demon, instead of just booing him because he happens to be a rudo right now. Wagner’s un-retirement bit was great and was really over because the crowd is so into him after the TripleMania match. It won’t last forever, it didn’t last long when Wagner lost his mask, but it makes sense to keep running with this. I expect there will be another Demon/Wagner match before the end of the year.
Fenix clapping, desperate for some sort of reaction, felt like a replay of his match with Bandido & Flamita from Aguascalientes. The crowd did come around late as the near falls became bigger, though it still felt like a great match for a crowd not totally prepared for it. (A segment setting up the match, rather the four being thrown out there with no notice, would’ve helped a great deal.) Ignoring the reaction, this title match was a lot of fun and the reason Fenix becoming Mega champion was so exciting in the first place. If Fenix is involved, the title match is going to be great, and this was great. The other three guys matched him. This felt like Puma King’s best performance in AAA, pulling off stuff we’ve rarely seen from him. Taurus seems to have taken something from the well respected PWG match and decided to build in more spots of him just destroying everyone in the ring. It worked especially well for a multiman match like this, and they pulled it off a couple of times. Laredo Kid versus Fenix was as good as hoped and really as good as it’s been in the past. I just was left a bit surprised Laredo was the one who ate the pin. Maybe they wanted to clear up challengers before getting to Omega, maybe they feel Laredo/Fenix is so good that they can keep going back to it no matter the finish, or maybe Laredo’s just bumped into a ceiling he can’t break thru again.
The Aerostar led trios had trouble matching some of the insanity that preceded it. It was still a solidly worked match with some highlights. Super Fly versus Drago is an interesting direction if AAA plans on following it, though it’ll take more before believing it’s a real thing. Aerostar did cool stuff without falling from a high place, who knew. The crowd had no idea who Willie Mack was, but he knows which spots get over with a new crowd and they worked here too.
Dave the Clown, Monster Clown, and Parka Negra aren’t exactly the best trio in the world to get over the Jinetes. Doesn’t matter. The Jinetes have reached a point where they can have exciting highspot matches even with Dave the Clown. Golden Magic and Myteziz had good moments and really didn’t seem that far behind Hijo del Vikingo. It’s just the Vikingo kid still does a few things that no one else can do. There was a point where Vikingo started a Si Se Puede chant and it was totally absurd – we can’t do what he can. The AAA crowd has latched on to Vikingo as a star and he plays to them better than most guys trying his highspots. Vikingo probably shouldn’t need help to beat Dave the Clown, but you pick your battles and La Parka got a big reaction doing literally nothing.
Poder del Norte matches are always good. Their match here was a lesser version of it; like the Jinetes match, it mostly seemed to exist to give the established team a win in a strange fashion. Argenis was fine but is surpassed in skills by the younger tecnicos and isn’t as over as the older ones. I don’t know that a rudo act is going to work for him, but what he was doing at the moment had no chance. (I also don’t know if he’s going to be back any time soon to follow up on it, given how low he seems on the depth chart.) Dinastia lived after the finish but I’m not sure how.
The opener seemed to speed up and slow down for no reason and similarly flipped between each side being in control at random moments. It had enough action to cover up those deficiencies. Komander’s dive looked great, probably would’ve been a lot better had someone caught it, not exactly sure I blame people for not wanting to catch that. Komander may have gotten more over as a repeated victim to Australian Suicide and Villano III Jr.’s big moves. They worked well as a weirdo team here. Shani pinning Villano III Jr. (again!) feels like it should set up something but there’s no setting up things with AAA title matches. They just happen.
