Tag: AAA TV Recap

Recapped: 04/17/2017

Matches: 

All matches were taped at Arena Neza on March 31, 2017 and can be seen on AAA’s channel. There are also handheld highlights on Estrellas del Ring’s channel.

1. Mamba defeated Estrella Divina (4:58, powerbomb, OK)
2. Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria defeated Aerostar & Drago to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship (7:00, Cuervo crossface on Drago, OK)
3. Australian Suicide, Dr. Wagner Jr., Lanzeloth, Máscara de Bronce, Psycho Clown beat Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota Jr., Monsther Clown, Murder Clown, Soul Rocker (6:48, Wagner casita Mocho Cota Jr., good)

What happened: 

The main event is originally billed as a trios match with Lanzeloth, Mascara de Bronce (in a new and totally different outfit) and Australian Suicide against Nuevo Poder del Norte. About two minutes into the match, with the rudos in control, Dr. Wagner’s music played him to ringside. He didn’t actually get in the ring, just stood on the ramp watching as Psycho’s music also played and he came down to the ring. The match came to a stop as they face off, and then they both attacked the rudos who attacked him for a DQ. This was not a DQ. Monster and Murder Clown ran in, first throwing the referee to the floor, then attacking Wagner & Psycho (and also Carta Brava, for whatever reason.) Everyone brawled for about a minute before Vampiro made his own appearance, though he had to wait until the music kicked into his part to appear. Vampiro played to the crowd and made a 5v5 match, though Wagner wasn’t much interested in teaming with the técnico 4. Wagner eventually participated with no issues, but did steal the pin from Psycho Clown.

Aerostar, already hurting from his match with Super Fly, was attacked by Cuervo & Escoria in the locker room. Aerostar proceeds not not really sell the attack in any noticeable way – he’s not hurt, he’s not delayed to the ring, he doesn’t angrily go after the Sect, he just does his normal entrance. The rudos gave Aerostar a spike martinete late, then submitted Drago soon after. In true AAA form, the new champions haven’t even been handed their belts before they’re interrupted by Pagano’s (very well done!) music video. Pagano hands over the belts himself, mugs for the crowd, gets in his catch phrases, mocks the new champions to their faces, steals their champagne, and lays them both out when they try to come after him.

There’s a one second shot of Texano getting his neck looked at by a doctor. Texano is back wrestling on non-TV shows, so this injury can’t be as bad as it’s being teased

Estrella vs Mamba is explained was Vampiro ordered it. Both this and the first part of the main event were officiated by a new unnamed referee.

An argument between Super Fly & Ricky Marvin aired, which seemed to foreshadow Super Fly replacing him last week! It’s one week off, but I guess at least they filmed it.

Thoughts: 

The main event was pretty fun, though I can only imagine what people at home thought when they started that trios match as the final match of the TV show and actually committed to letting it play out for a few minutes. (It’s the sort of slow play bit that AAA could use in other things and it was good to say it here.) The crowd was inescapably there for Wagner & Psycho and no one else, but having a hot match and hanging out with a top guys as near equals did a lot for the others here. The skinny flying técnicos got to do their flashy offense in a match that mattered to the crowd, and did not seem overshadowed at all. Nuevo Poder del Norte got beat, but they got in some on Wagner and Psycho and it didn’t feel just perfunctory. This was also just a really fun match for the time it lasted, and one the crowd actually cared about. This was totally enjoyable.

The tag title match never really found it’s rhythm, and just seemed awkwardly slower than expect at parts. Aerostar getting attacked and nothing really coming of it also threw me off, but I figured the two times the rudos got cut off going for a dive was going to lead to them finally hitting it on the third time as part of a really hot finish. And then Scoria & Cuervo did a totally illegal martinete, and did a sequence with Drago that seemed messed up, and somehow that was it. Cuervo & Scoria often seem like they could be good in trios and have a habit of not coming up big in big matches, and it happened again here. There was surprisingly little to this match and the crowd didn’t care about any part of it, even the martinete spot especially done to get heat. It seemed like it could’ve been a micing issue until Pagano came out, and then it was just clear the fans cared about that guy and not the rest of this. Same could be said about the people in charge. No one takes Cuervo & Scoria seriously to begin with, the tag titel win didn’t do much for them, and the bit with Pagano made sure everyone knew the new tag team champions were jokes. I don’t understand why AAA even bothered with this – they could’ve easily gone Aerostar/Drago vs Pagano/Mesias if they wanted. Maybe Cuervo & Escoria agreed to do some crazy stunt with Pagano coming up, maybe there’s some other reason that makes this worthwhile. It came off as a worthless waste of time here.

Mamba/Divina was a short if moved filled take on a CMLL lightning match. (They could’ve gotten to a more normal CMLL length by doing the pointless mat work, but they skipped it.) This was billed, as if it was a surrpise match but they had clearly worked out it long in advance. Mamba gave Divina most of the match, getting in a few key shots and the powerbomb at the end, but Divina doing a lot of moderately agile spots without an issue. Divina wrestled fine for a (virtual) TV debut, good enough to be used more and with better potential for good matches than Pimpi, though not anything must see. Neither woman did the usual exotico spots, interestingly.

Recapped: 04/11/2017

Matches: 

All matches were taped at Arena Neza on 03/31/2017.

• Súper Fly beat Niño Hamburguesa (powerbomb 2:46, OK)

• Dalton Bragg, Dave The Clown, La Hiedra, Mini Abismo Negro beat Bengala, Dinastía, Joe Lider, Lady Shani (Shani backcracker La Hiedra, 11:30, ok)

• Argenis & Hijo del Fantasma beat Averno & Chessman (Hijo del Fantasma Thrill of The Hunt Averno, 8:48, ok)

What happened: 

Ricky Marvin seconded his OGT teammates, but was more of a hindrance than a help. He pulled out the referee when Chessman & Fantasma had pins; Chessman didn’t see the other and blamed Marvin for costing him a chance to win. Averno also had a chance to win after a Devil’s Wings, but Ricky came in the ring (in theory to cut off Argenis, but the timing looked way off) and Argenis dropkicked Marvin into the pin. The técnicos won directly after.

Averno screamed and shoved Ricky post match. Ricky attacked Averno, and then Chessman, getting the best of both. Super Fly came out of the crowd, took out Marvin, then unzipped his jacket to reveal an OGT shirt. He’s replacing Marvin in the group.

Earlier, Super Fly complained about his match being restarted at Rey de Reyes, declared he wasn’t done with Vampiro, and said he was too much of a star to face a Nino Hamburguesa. He did reluctantly, and won easily.

Argenis got a pre-match vignette with his newly won sword, sort of positioning as a hero for kids who dream of being luchadors.

Dalton Bragg was introduced as a Vampiro find – and introduced as by Jesus Zuniga as “hipster Alton”. The other announcers corrected him on the name.

Texano, in a neck brace, started the show by announcing he had a second degree neck strain, and a third degree neck strain could end his career. Everyone weirdly treats this as if he could be ending his career right now, even though he just said he didn’t have that neck sprain. Texano asks everyone to support AAA in his absence. In NotiAAA, Fantasma’s Thrill of the Hunt is specifically blamed for this injury.

Noti AAA featured Twitter comments on Vampiro’s new era, all praising him for doing a great job.

Hijo del Tirantes now has a man bun, so he may still be a rudo.

Thoughts: 

A weak show after last week’s manic behavior. None of the matches were particularly good. The first two had no hope. They tried to get there in the third and it just didn’t really come together. They came off really short on names on this one, with two matches featuring a lot of people who wouldn’t be on TV if they were so short on depth. You can see AAA trying to do something to fix that perception – Argenis getting the Rey de Reyes win and the vignette to boost him up – but it’s going to take some time.

It was also hurt by the Ricky Marvin stuff. The bit where he got in the ring to stand in front of the pin and get kicked into it looked so bad. The entire angle came off more like Ricky was betraying the OGT rather than Averno & Chessman booting him out. And if you stop to think about it any of it, it didn’t really make sense for Super Fly to be hanging in the crowd waiting for a breakup that was supposed to be unexpected to do a dramatic reveal. (If Super Fly really wanted to help, he probably should’ve shown up when the match was still going.)

They could’ve used some skit, no more than a minute, setting up the context of that story before it happened: Averno & Chessman mistreating Ricky in a way to justify him maybe turning later, and teasing a new member. They could’ve used a vignette for other reasons. It was an 18 minute break (plus commercials) from when the squash opener ended and the next match started. There wasn’t anything much of value the whole time. We got the same upcoming events bit shown many times, the Panini segment we see every week, the new staple of repeating what we’ve seen in case you tune in late, and eight long pointless entrances for the match. Sending them all out at once seemed to last one taping. There has to be a more entertaining way of handling that, or at least keeping people from turning away.

The opener wasn’t much but wasn’t meant to be much. I’m not sure it did much for Super Fly, who got a win but can’t look that impressive with Nino Hamburguesa involved, and Hamburguesa didn’t have time to do anything himself.

The atomicos wasn’t much either. They tried to hide Dalton Bragg’s weaknesses by having him only work with Joe Lider, but it kind of only exposed how limited he was. The moment where he walked out of the way of Dinastia handspring move because he’s been told to just pay attention to Joe is not good at all. Bragg passed the audition of taking a very dumb move for no particular purpose, but his offense was just there and he didn’t have much of a presence. Bragg has a unique look, which I’d guess is what made him stand out to Vampiro, but TV is a hard place to get better.

The match seemed laid out weird, like they were going back to the usual AAA tag style (brief tecnico open, rudo beatdown, tecnico showcase) but then had Bragg wait to do anything until it was supposed to be the técnico’s turn, because that was the only way they make sure everyone but Lider would stay out of the way. The last section all kind of felt disjointed, and there was no strong attempt to explain why Shani was on the tecnico side for this night. Dinasita looked like a star, got little to do, no change there.

AAA really wanted to keep the Perros del Mal faction and name apart of their group, but we’re now a couple months out and they’re doing nothing with it. It’s not even clear if Lider is a tecnico or a rudo at this point – he cost La Parka the Rey de Reyes match, but was a tecnico tonight. Maybe that’s just got lost in the changes, but outside Ayako’s nod to the faction, there’s nothing there.

Recapped: 04/05/2017

All matches were taped at Arena Jose Sulaiman, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon on March 19, and aired on their TV show.

Matches: 

Ayako Hamada defeated Taya to win the AAA Reina de Reinas championship (12:55, Michinoku Driver, ok)

Johnny Mundo defeated Hijo del Fantasma and Texano Jr. to retain the AAA Latin American Championship and win the AAA Cruiserweight & Heavyweight Championship (16:27, Fin de Mundo, good)

Aerostar beat Súper Fly to keep Aerostar’s mask & win SuperFly’s hair (8:28 + 0:03 on the restart, rana, good)

What happened: 

Aerostar took Super Fly’s hair, though Vampiro appeared to be 99% responsible for the win. Super Fly used concealed knuckles to knock out Aerostar. A light show and music heralded Vampiro to the ring, where he dramatically kicked out the referee responsible (Copetes) and ordered the match restarted. Before Super Fly even realized the match was happening, Aerostar cradled him for three. Super Fly tried to leave, but Vampiro brought him back to the ring to get his head shaved. The match had been no DQ and falls count anywhere up to that point.

Johnny Mundo won all three men’s singles titles, in a three way that was turned into a title match by an off camera Vampiro. (They saved his reveal until the main event.) Fantasma and Texano had differing views on how handle this match: Texano wanted to straight team up to take out Mundo, while Fantamsa wanted it to be every man for themselves. This eventually cost Texano, who relented on hitting his friend with a chair. Fantasma repaid the kidness by giving Texano a Thrill of the Hunt on that same chair. Texano was put in a neck brace and on a stretcher and that’s the end of him for now. (This came off like an angle, though perhaps one to explain an already existing Texano injury. He didn’t seem quite himself.) Mundo only won after the second ref bump, instigated by the debuting Kevin Kross. Kross wasn’t named, and the editing made it tough to tell where he came from, but he laid out Fantasma to set up the win for Mundo and presented him with the belts after the match.

Ayako Hamada cleanly defeated Taya to win the Reina de Reinas championship.

Noti AAA focuses on a childen who tried out for La Llave de la Gloria. AAA is for the kids. There does seem to be more than 30 people here but it’s hard to get idea from what they show.

AAA was part of filming for a Ni Tu Ni Yo movie. People are drinking wine at a lucha show in Arena San Juan, which is the most unlikely thing I’ve seen.

Enterances are back this week, and the new idea is to mix shots of a video of the wrestler as they walk out.

Where can I watch it: 

This was the better show of the two Rey de Reyes and one where it felt like things were happen. The matches just didn’t totally live up to the occasion; two finishes were totally in service of new angles and the third match just never clicked.

Aerostar/Super Fly was great for the first eight minutes. I’m not sure how badly Super Fly was hurt – his elbow and arm had pads he usually doesn’t have and seemed to be protecting it at times – but it didn’t stop him from giving a full effort. Starting a match by diving to the floor to hit no one is the message, and he made the brawling really work well. AAA was better prepared to cover a crowd brawl than usual, and while they missed some points (like whatever wound caused Aerostar to lose 10% of his blood), it was easier to watch than usual. Notably, and very happily, this wasn’t the old AAA singles match where the rudo second took half the match and the tecnicos second stood around dumbly until getting in one dive. There were no seconds, and all the attention was on the guys actually in the match. Super Fly & Aerostar were on a great pace, they just lacked a few (maybe five?) minutes to do near falls to play off the drama of the moment. Instead, they got about one minute, a silly ref bump and Vampiro becoming the true winner of the match.

There was no confusion about who was the man of the moment. Aerostar was dead from the moment he got hit until four minutes later when Vampiro restarted the match, then dead again after the pin. Vampiro literally had the bright lights shined on him and played to the crowd, and it’s he who has the feud with Super Fly going forward. Aerostar was incidental to the while thing, and Super Fly was only involved to give Vampiro someone to foil. It’s hard to appreciate a match when it’s so obviously been repurposed to be someone else’s moment in the end.

The intention might have been to do something along the lines of Dario Cueto restarting the Chavo Guerrero versus Rey Mysterio Jr. loser leaves town match, with the match being restarted because the stakes were so high, but that Lucha Underground match continued for three more minutes. It gave time for the focus to shift back to the people in the match, and the statement there was they’d have a decisive winner in a big match. AAA already had a decisive winner in this match – there’s no explanation why chairs were legal but knucks were not – and ending it immediately after the restart kept the focus on Vampiro’s decision to restart it. Even if they absolutely had to do a spot where Vampiro does something positive to re-enforce it being a “new era”, it shouldn’t have been a weapon spot. Those are going to keep on happening anyway. It should’ve been Hijo del Tirantes running in, fast counting for Super Fly, and Vampiro declaring Tirantes’ antics were over to blow off that storyline instead of ignoring it. They had part of that idea by kicking out Copetes (who also has been a rudo at times), but they either didn’t execute it well. Or they executed it perfectly to make Vampiro the focus, because they feel like they need new top stars and decided to go with Vampiro. The original idea seemed to elevate Aerostar, but it did the least for him out of everywhere involved.

Texano versus Fantasma versus Mundo didn’t live up to it’s potential early, but got there at the end. They just seemed out of sorts at first, with Mundo blowing a springboard that couldn’t be hidden, then later doing a neat escape dive onto his feet on the floor but everyone being totally confused as to what they were supposed to do next. Even when the moves were going right, they didn’t seem to be landing well. The one part I did like early on was everyone pulling each out and into another cradle, something I’ve not see quite that way before. Still, I could’ve happily skipped most everything that happened before the first ref bump. (Lot of ref bumps on this show.)

Texano appeared heavier than usual and, while he didn’t take it totally easy, he seemed to do less than usual to the point where I was watching it trying to figure out if he had just come into the match with a neck strain and this was their way of writing him out. It flowed a lot better with Fantasma and Mundo, and Fantamsa’ tope on this show was his best in AAA in a long time. Mundo trying a half dozen times to cheat was a good character bit, and he seemed to be the most over rudo of the night. Kross looked impressive in his moves, especially the back suplex, and the extra-bit of Mundo still hitting his finish made a difference. This was a setup for a new direction but at least the direction looked promising.

Taya/Ayako didn’t work at all; it’s generous to call it even OK. They did a match heavily built around strikes while seemingly being cautious about actually touching each other. Every slap of the mat was super loud, and even the side kicks to chest were making no sound. I don’t know if they were both just concerned about being too hard with a person they didn’t know, but it just didn’t look good for most of the way, slightly picked up in the last few minutes and then still had those same problems. Crowd didn’t care about this at all, which isn’t too surprising: it’s a ruda versus someone they haven’t seen in years (and was a ruda then), and Ayako’s doesn’t play up being a tecnica strong enough to make it work. Taya’s work is not great but it’s more Ayako not being even as into the match as she was the goofy elimination match either and sleep walking in what should be a big match. It never feels that way, and Taya’s long title reign ends just quietly.

Recapped: 03/27/2017

Results:

Dark Cuervo & Dark Scoria defeated El Mesías & Pagano in a #1 cotnenders cage match (14:54, escape, OK, video link)

Ayako Hamada won a six women’s elimination match to earn a Reina de Reinas title match (OK, video link)
00:03 Faby Apache thrown over the top (Goya Kong)
01:48 Goya Kong pinned (Big Mami splash)
05:30 La Hiedra pinned (Big Mami behind the back faceslam)
05:45 Big Mami pinned (Lady Shani backcracker)
11:08 Lady Shani pinned (Ayako Hamada Michinoku Driver)

Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown defeated Monsther Clown & Murder Clown (8:25, simiilteanous pins on powerbomb & Wagner Driver, OK, video link)

Argenis won the 2017 Rey de Reyes match (15:52, OK, video link)
00:00 Joe Lider, Elegido, Nino Hamburguesa, Pimpinela Escarlata start
01:21 Chessman enters
02:01 Argenis enters
02:46 Averno enters
03:28 Bengala enters
04:13 La Parka enters
05:27 Pimpinela Escarlata out (Nino Hamburugesa)
05:37 Nino Hamburguesa out (everyone)
07:19 Elegido out (Chessman & Joe Lider)
08:11 Joe Lider out (La Parka)
09:03 La Parka out (Joe Lider pulling him off the apron after being elimianted)
09:58 Chessman out (Averno)
10:18 Bengala out (self elimination on Asai moonsault)
15:52 Argenis pinned Averno via moonsault

What happened: 

Argenis won Rey de Reyes, in a match which was only announced as happening at the start of the program. The match was held under usual AAA rumble rules, with four people starting and over the top eliminations until the final two. Argenis defeated Averno to get the surprise win (though the star power was generally so low that anyone besides La Parka could’ve been called a surprise win.) Averno accidentally caused Chessman to be eliminated, which could be something or just the usual rudo bumbling. Joe Lider eliminated La Parka after being eliminated, which also could be a rudo turn for him or just the kind of thing that happens in a battle royal. In a true miracle, Argenis’ wife and small child just happened to travel all the way up to Monterrey to see a show Argenis wasn’t even scheduled to be on, in a bit that appeared to a repeat of Fantamsa’s family being at ringside after winning the cruiserweight title.

The returning Ayako Hamada is the new top contender to the Reina de Reinas championship, defeating Lady Shani in the final of a six women elimination match. (It was scheduled to be seven; Mary Apache appeared in a head bandage and a neck brace she didn’t appear to have last week, but did not wrestle.) Ayako was wearing Perros del Mal gear but wasn’t given any special re-introduction. No one on the show except those entering the Rey de Reyes match got any sort of introduction, with AAA cutting out what they could to fit four matches in the time. Faby Apache was surprisingly first out, eliminated less than five seconds into the match via over the top elimination. She was the only person eliminated without being pinned, and the other luchadoras didn’t seem to even try an over the top elimination the rest of the match.

Cuervo & Scoria earned a tag team title shot by defeating Pagano & Mesias in a cage match. Pagano & Mesias had one miscommunication moment late, but it proved to be irrelevant and they were pals after the match. They both essentially worked the match as fan favorites. Mesias speared Cuervo thru the mesh of the fence, and Scoria climbed out the cage (which was missed by the cameras.)

Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner cleanly defeated Murder Clown & Monster Clown. The Traidor Clowns controlled most of the match while Wagner wanted nothing to do with his partner and eventually walked out. The Doctor heroically returned to the match to make the save and help set up the victory. They barely had time to react to the ring before the unlikely trio of Mocho Cota Jr., Carta Brava Jr. and Soul Rocker attacked both men, including ripping up Wagner’s mask. Monster Clown tried to help but was attacked as well. There’s no explanation given for this attack, or why Monster & Murder betrayed Wagner in the first place.

AAA has new intro, borrowing the artwork it did for the Panini sticker book as visuals. However, since some of those people in the book are no longer around, we get glimpses of guys like Gronda and Elegido who are also never around (and it spotlights how few people are around by implication.) Looks nice anyway.

Leo Riano was also part of the announce team this week, and seemed to be taking an anti-Vampiro position, specifically in reaction to Vampiro having the power to change the card however he wants. (This mirrors what he wrote in his column, explaining those comments as being in character.) There were clips of Vampiro winning the Rey de Reyes previously and celebrating victoriously, leaving viewers with the definite impression Vampiro was going to end up wrestling again before long. This was also part of a show long push of a New Era of AAA.

Total match time was 50 minutes and 19 seconds, twice as much as normal.

What was good: 

Uh. Lots of things were happening, shiny lines and bright noises, all very interesting. The matches weren’t as much interesting. They finally got time, but not a lot of interesting stuff happened.

Both of the elimination matches followed the same pattern: forgettable stuff until a good section when they finally got the final two. Argenis & Averno was a solid CMLL lightning match, cut a little shorter than usual and the crowd reacted well to his win. The battle royal before it was useless, with people consistently putting themselves in dumb positions so they could be easily eliminated and topped off by Bengala eliminating himself for no reason. The two things I got out of this was La Parka was one of the few guys who seemed really over on the show (the crowd seemed unusually quiet for an AAA show most of the night) and they didn’t understand that the final two was decided by pinfall – they cheered big when Avenro went out and were confused when Argenis dove onto him.

Ayako versus Shani did not conclusively solve the “Is Lady Shani actually good?” mystery. Shani definitely looked competent, but Ayako shined so much brighter than everyone in the match that it was hard to compare. Ayako jumping in ahead of everyone diminishes the people who were there – Shani & Hiedra were back to being ruda jobbers – but she was also clearly the best person in the match. The section before the final two wasn’t much good. Faby’s elimination and participation was a joke. Goya was pinned for a one count, Ayako jumped off her back to cut people off, and Tirantes decided that was close enough to a three count. Announcers were baffled and understandably so. A lot of the match seemed built around Big Mami, more than I needed.

The cage match was the same lucha match as ever, with guys just doing spots and occasionally teasing escaping but nothing meaning anything until the finish kicks in. Mesias spearing Cuervo looked good. Scoria taking a powerbomb thru a table, and then popping back to the life to escape (in something never quite shown) was not good. This match felt like they were dropping the Mesias/Pagano breakup angle cold despite them losing and now having the actual reason to break up. On the other hand, it was also clear they were the better team and Secta were just lucky that Cuervo got speared thru the fence. They came up with a spot that they can show a lot if they want, but I’m not sure the outcome did much for anyone.

The other tag match was just an angle instead of a match. It felt like Wagner turning tecnico, especially with him getting attacked by even more rudos after the match. And Monster & Murder went from a random top rudo push to being easily put down, maybe plans changed there. Crowd had no idea what to make of Cota and crew getting involved.

Next week looks like it should have the better matches and meaningful events. This one suffered from the poor Rey de Reyes card lineup they had to start with.

Recapped: 03/21/2017

Matches:

All matches taped at Plaza de Toros Rodolfo Rodriguez el Pana, Apizaco, Tlaxcala on 03/05/2017 

Carta Brava Jr., Mocho Cota, Soul Rocker defeated Lanzeloth, Máscara de Bronce, Venum (9:02, Carta Brava hanging double stomp on Máscara de Bronce, good, video link)

Angélico & Australian Suicide defeated Dark Cuervo & Joe Lider and Hijo de Pirata Morgan & Pirata Morgan to (possibly) earn an AAA tag team championship match (5:39, Angelico Fall of the Angels on Joe Lider, OK, video link)

Texano Jr. defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. and Psycho Clown to keep the AAA Heavyweight Championship (7:43, Texano backcracker on Wagner, OK, video link)

What happened: Texano Jr. is still the AAA heavyweight champion, despite being forced into defending the championship in a three way match with Psycho Clown & Dr. Wagner. He got a little help. Mystery assailants kidnapped Psycho Clown prior to the match. Psycho made it back about six minutes into the match, just long enough to get a near pinfall on Texano via a destroyer (Wagner pulled out the ref) and then distract Dr. Wagner into a loss. Psycho claimed not to know who had attacked him.

Angelico & Australian Suicide may have won a tag team championship match. The announcers mentioned the three way match as for a title match, but it wasn’t mentioned in the graphics and may have been quietly dropped. Joe Lider took the loss after he and Cuervo had a miscommunication, and Cuervo & Scoria beat up Lider for his mistake after the match. Lider is now 0-2 since the Perros del Mal have left and has been humiliated by his partners after both matches.

Mary Apache revealed her injury is a skull fracture and talked about her history of head injuries. A previous injury kept her out for three years. It’s unclear when she’ll return.

Aerostar & Super Fly argued some. The show ended with the Lucha Underground trailer for Netflix.

There were 22 minutes and 24 seconds of action on this show

Thoughts: 

They broke the AAA formula. The matches came off not as regimented as usual, or at least with new ideas and didn’t feel as much like the different people being plugged into the same setup. The openers are usually a brief tecnico warmup, a sub two minute beatdown, tecnico dives and that’s it. This opener had a little of that, but it kept going back and forth between the two sides for the last few minutes, to the point where even the final sequence between Bronce & Carta Brave could’ve gone either way. The tag team title match was in the mold of the really fun matches from Angelico & Jack Evans tag title run, with a fast pace and lots of pinfall breaks ups. It didn’t have the time or the quality of the others ones, but the effort was there. The main event felt more like a CMLL lightning match, with Wagner & Texano rushing into get pinfall chances (and not just aimlessly brawling for eight minutes before they did the ‘real’ stuff.) There’s no one right way to have matches, but it gets numbing if you have them the same way all the time. Shaking those things up is an obvious positive of the creative change. I didn’t think the matches were great (and I’d still like to see one get time) but it feels like they’re trying to get there.

There was still a lot of Vampiro on this show, but it didn’t feel like the show was about Vampiro this week. It’s hard to know what the show was about; they spent some time on the Rey de Reyes show and it was impossible to miss how nothing on this show had anything to do with that lineup. But it still feels more like something is happening here much more than before.

The other obviously immediate change is the return of vignettes. There were the Apaches discussing (and reinforcing) what had happened last week, Psycho & Wagner both taunting poor Texano about how they were going to take the title away from him, Psycho getting stuffed into a van. AAA’s felt like they were mostly just rolling out matches for the last year, and now it feels like there’s more effort in making them matter.

The changing matches thing is still something to wait and see about. It’s a normal US thing and not as much in Mexico. The crowd was very unhappy when they didn’t think Psycho Clown was going to wrestle in the main event as scheduled. He got a big reaction when he turned up, but only showing up for about 90 seconds might have left people disappointed.

That opener was really good. Soul Rocker struggled a bit, but everyone else was really good and Mascara de Bronce’s tornillo looked great. They’re still having trouble catching all the dives these guys do, but they looked spectacular when we saw them.