AAA still hopes to run TripleMania this year, if only just. The current plan, announced at a press conference this afternoon, is to run the show originally scheduled for August in December. It will remain in Arena Ciudad de Mexico. The show is dependent on the Mexico City health traffic color improving for the current orange status and/or permission granted by the local government. There are no assurances of either happening by December.
AAA did not announce commit to a day. TripleMania is generally on a Saturday, so they’re looking at the 5th, 12th, 19th, or 26th. The traffic light health update is scheduled for November 6th and takes place every two weeks. I’m guessing AAA needs at least two-week notice to declare a date, which means they’ve got to get approval by the November 20th announcement to run in early December. December 4th is probably the make or break point for TripleMania to happen this year, though they could just continue to push it back into January. Dorian Roldan said there are no plans for running an empty arena show. Fans who bought tickets for the August show (and who haven’t gotten a refund) will retain their seats as long as it meets whatever health protocols set down by the government.
(The most recent health update indicated COVID-19 cases are back on the way up in Mexico. I’d love to see Mexico City reach yellow health conditions by December for many reasons, but it does not seem like something I’d bet on. On the other hand, all it takes is one well-placed government official to say “yes, we’ll let you run anyway” and they’ll be able to run. AAA has been working with the Ministry of Culture on the AutoLuchas shows, so they have a connection. AAA could very well have inside info we don’t know, but it seems like a coin toss from the outside.)
Three matches were announced for what is now a seven-match card.
- Laredo Kid challenges Kenny Omega for the AAA (o)Mega Championship
- Pagano challenges Chessman in a hair versus hair match
- Aracno and Leyenda Americana vs Terror Púrpura and Venenoide
Laredo Kid and Kenny Omega is the match originally scheduled for Rey del Reyes. Laredo seemed likely to have a great match but not win. AEW seems to be telling a story of newly motivated and unbeatable Omega, which will likely carry into AAA.
Pagano & Chessman have kept their feud going over Lucha Fighter and AutoLuchas. It certainly appears people have seen a lineup where that match is a falls count anywhere match, but it has not been formally announced. It’s Pagano & Chessman in an apuesta match on a big show, so we know no disqualification will be called and it’s just a question of if they do pinfalls outside the ring. Keeping distance between the wrestlers and the fans may be a health issue, but someone could still fall off a stage.
Aracno, Leyenda Americana, Terror Púrpura, Venenoide are part of a tie-up between AAA and Marvel Latin America. Those four are the first of a group of Marvel characters to show up in AAA. They’re all Latin American themed versions of existing Marvel characters. Aracno & Venenoide are Spider-Man and Venom, Leyenda Americana is the Capitan America, and Terror Púrpura looks to be Thanos. (Why would you make a Latin America USA hero? Weird.) The press conference mentioned talks about the tie-up going back to February, and the characters were unveiled in comic books and FunkoPops already. I wonder if the timing got messed up by the pandemic, that these concepts were scheduled to debut in August at TripleMania before the merchandise came out. It’s unclear who will be portraying these wrestlers – my first guess is any of the indie guys in the opening matches who’ve signed deals, but the preview video suggests larger sized people. The idea is we’ll be seeing these characters going forward in AAA.
Roldan said the AAA/Marvel match would be the third match on the card, which suggests AAA has a full card laid out already. There’s only four matches left and a lot of regular names missing. Maybe the annual mixed tag match to figure out the new mixed tag champs, a Copa TripleMania, something involved the Lucha Brothers (or Fenix/Daga), and a Reina de Reinas (Taya/Shani) match to fill it out? That’s going to leave a lot of people on the side. I would prefer a shorter, slimmer TripleMania compared to recent years but I don’t have to keep luchadors happy.
The mask match tournament (Aerostar/Drago vs Lucha Brothers vs Parka Negra/Dave the Clown vs Octagon Jr./Myzteziz Jr.) leading into a TripleMania was not brought up, so it may be now off. Dorian Roldan generally talked up the card as the TripleMania level event AAA usually provides to counter fears it may be scaled down a lot, but I’d still expect it to be scaled down some. Dorian Roldan told fans and media to follow AAA’s social media networks for more news about the card in the upcoming weeks. He was asked about LA Park & Rush’s status and said they were independents but he was interested in using them. He brought up their recent promos on each other and is intrigued about doing that match, but made no firm commitment. Questions about Cinta de Oro or other foreign wrestlers also got opened ended answers. It’s possible a lot of these questions can only be answered if/when AAA has some idea about how many tickets they’re allowed to sell.
TripleMania will be aired live but Roldan was not ready to specify how. There will be an internet stream and they’re talking to their usual TV partners (Azteca, Space, and Multimedios) about it. Everything’s tied together and there may be no answer on how it’ll air until it’s known when it can take place.
La Parka will be added to the AAA Hall of Fame at TripleMania. AAA also promoted the AutoLuchas shows for 11/01 heavily. There was no mention of any additional events between then and TripleMania.
IWRG (SUN) 10/25/2020 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Mexica b Atomic Star 
2) The Tiger b Toxin
The Tiger wants a title shot.
3) Big Chico Che, Big Mike, Big Ovett b Apolo Estrada Jr., Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro
4) Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal b Estrella Divina & Tiago
5) Hijo de Canis Lupus, Súper Nova, Veneno b Cerebro Negro, Eragón, Freelance
6) Dragón Bane b Demonio Infernal © [IWRG IC MIDDLE]
first defense (Demonio won it back on New Year’s Day)
I thought Dragon Bane was going to win because he was currently without a singles title, Demonio Infernal also has Rey del Ring title, and balancing the belts is what lucha promotions love to do. I was right but for the wrong reasons: Dragon Bane’s celebratory photo includes him also holding the IWRG Rey del Aire championship. Dragon Bane lost that title to Baby Extreme back at the September Mexa Wrestling show. I have no idea how he got it back; maybe something taped for Lucha Time which hasn’t aired yet? I was told this Dragon Bane/Demonio Infernal match was interesting but I haven’t yet watched it.
Next week’s show is the Castillo del Terror show. It’s on Mas Lucha Premium. Not sure if AYM/InterneTV will stream it as well.
IWRG (SUN) 11/01/2020 Arena Naucalpan
1) Diosa Quetzal & Lady Cat vs Diosa Atenea & Hija De Gatubela
2) Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal vs Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47
3) Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr.
4) Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hijo De Dos Caras vs Capo Mayor & Súper Beast
5) Trauma I vs Capo del Norte, Capo del Sur, Galeno del Mal, The Tiger, Trauma II, Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Espectro (Laguna), Toxin, Eragón [cage, mask]
Last person loses their mask. They may be doing the final two to a pinfall/submission instead of escape as in recent years. Eragon is not pushed at all, which makes it feel like a bigger deal if/when one of the Capos gets unmasked instead. I don’t know that any of them are a big deal.
Super Beast is a North California big guy, so they’ve brought other Big Guys to have a Big Guy match.
The Arena Neza Principe Aereo show raised 18,500 pesos for his family. (Tickets were 100/200 pesos, so you can estimate the turnout.) The promotions paid for COVID testing, would’ve been massive for a show with at least 55 luchadors. Principe Aereo’s mother was in attendance, thanking the wrestlers & promotions for the support and for showing her that her son was loved by so many friends.
WWE filed new US trademarks on Sin Cara, according to Fightful. Both Sin Cara Caristico and Sin Cara Cinta de Oro have been referred to as “Sin Cara” on the occasional poster, and this probably exists to prevent that from happening in the future.
I think Demonio Infernal is good but holy fuck did he get dragged into a Dragon Bane match. I don’t think either of them sold a single move the entire match. 2 straight cross-armed piledrivers and Bane is up after a 2 count going on offense. Not even the generic ‘I’m exhausted’ selling. Everything wrong with Bane was CLEARLY evident in this match.