Tag: Pentagon Jr.

Pentagon Jr., Daga and Garza Jr. have just quit AAA, jumped to the Crash

thecubsfan 12 Comments

Tonight’s The Crash show is ongoing as I type this. It looks good in highlights, but internet issues meant the stream never was broadcast. It’s too bad, because there was something to see even beyond the matches. Early in the night:

https://twitter.com/wrestlewords/status/823032059866320897

AAA Konnan saying obscenities at AAA is basically normal podcast material for him. Tonight, it turned into a little more of that.

They weren’t alone.

https://twitter.com/wrestlewords/status/823058229244661760

As far as I can tell, no one said they were quitting at AAA, but that’s obviously the implication. Pentagon would only change his name if he was leaving – AAA owns the name, and trademarked Cero Miedo when they previously were scared of him leaving – and showing up on a Konnan booked promotion in 2017 is pretty much handing your resignation to AAA.  It’s notable they had the Perros del Mal gear with them, since that also takes the most popular stable in AAA.

Daga & Pentagon are booked on the next two AAA TV tapings, and Garza is booked on the first one, next Friday. That show on Friday in Toluca will might be the first time we get an idea of what’s going on. There probably will be questions asked if AAA holds a TripleMania press conference on Tuesday as ESPN Mexico reported.

This is a significant blow to AAA if this is permanent (and really, all we have is an in-ring bit.) The promotion is already low on names and stars, and losing Pentagon in particular messes up more of their main events. It’s not clear if AAA was told in advance: Pentagon losing would make some sense if they knew it was his last night, but they couldn’t have known Daga was losing or they wouldn’t have set him up as the next challenger for Johnny Mundo.

(AAA said they were going to announce the Tlaxcala lineup this past week, and did not. I thought it was just a timing thing, and now I wonder if more was going on. AAA had a private and likely free show at Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera tonight. I don’t think there was ever a public lineup, but perhaps Daga or Garza didn’t show for that and that’s when AAA found out? Pentagon Jr. was working an indie in San Diego, which made coming to this show easy to do.)

The Crash has talked about running 20-30 shows this year. This gives them more full times names to do it. These guys aren’t jumping to work four shows a year either, and it’s not worth the coming war with AAA unless they’re running a lot more shows. This is probably the first of a lot of news for the Crash, and a lot of hard back and forth between the two promotions. Konnan also personally gains a lot of power, since he’ll be helping booking out the two most popular Mexican guys to indie promotions going forward.

This also does give an indication of what Pentagon believes about Lucha Underground status. Either he’s been assured AAA won’t be able to affect his Lucha Underground status, or he believes LU is a long enough shot to return that he’s not risking much by leaving AAA. If LU had been running tapings this month, or if LU had already gotten live shows and merchandise coming in where these guys were being paid more during the taping breaks, it might have been a much harder decision. This is the cost of LU not getting deals done. Hopefully, Pentagon Dark is still on Lucha Underground in Season 4, but he (and Daga and Garza) now go on the unknown status list with Sexy Star, Fenix and Jack Evans.

I’ll add more to this post if they say anything more after the show.

Edit:

Juventud Guerra had a few quick words from the guys who jumped. No one says all that much but everyone seems in a good mood.

Edit 2:

On Twitter, Konnan says this is the same as 1996. That’s when Konnan and others exited AAA to for Promo Azteca.

Edit 7:20AM: On Facebook, Pentagon confirms he’s out of AAA and completely independent. (I’ve checked the headline to this post.)  Pentagon – or, Penta El 0M – says he’s talking to the person in charge of Perros del Mal to see if they’re continue using that name.

Earlier, Perros del Mal said they had no idea guys were going to jump and will release official information on their plans going forward. Joe Lider is the only Perros del Mal member who’s still in AAA, so the group would either cease to be or a lot of people who haven’t previously been part of the group will suddenly be sporting the shirt.

Daga and Garza Jr. should not have name issues. Garza Jr. appears to have trademarked his own name after appearing on AAA TV with it. Daga used his name prior to coming to AAA.

We can safely assume AAA will try to fight this somehow.  The question going forward is who will be on each side. There’s people still in AAA who associated with Konnan behind the scenes; Hijo del Fantasma and Taya are the biggest names to come to mind. At the same time, the more people who leave, the more likely AAA’s handing out better deals to keep people to stay.

Who are Fenix, Drago, and Pentagon Jr.?

thecubsfan
fenix
Fenix


FENIX: 23 years old, from Mexico City. Tecnico greatly influenced by Japanese juniors wrestling; it was his dream to one day wrestle in Japan and he broke down in tears after his first match there. Joined AAA in 2011 and quickly rose to the midlevel. Won the new AAA Fusion championship in 2013 with the idea of making him the centerpiece of an AAA satellite promotion based on exciting young luchadors in small venues. (That sounds vaguely familiar.) Fenix is the quintessential AAA young guy: clearly anointed by the promotion as a next big star but left adrift in months as a time. The latest idea in AAA itself is to make Myzteziz his veteran mentor, but his success in Lucha Underground could reshape his future again.
(photo)

Recommended match: Ricky Marvin & Super Crazy vs Fenix & Pesadilla, 2013-01-26 – Ricky Marvin & Super Crazy are NOAH regulars at this point. This match back in Veracruz is a very transparent tryout for the other two, who aren’t a regular team. The veterans definitely look better but Fenix generally does well and both mean earn tours in Japan. (Let’s not talk about how that went for Fenix.)

Deep Cut: Fenix vs Dinamic Black, 2013-03-21 – you have to take Fenix out of AAA for him to actually get singles matches, and his highest profile one was against IWRG’s rising star (at the time) Dinamic Black. What starts as a friendly meeting of two high flyers who generally do a US style derails a bit after a miscommunication, and then completely goes off the rails when both guys angrily decide to stop with the lucha libre and delve into something else. This is not a good match at points, but it turns into quite a fight.

drago
Drago

DRAGO: 39 years old from from Mexico City. AAA 2000s utility player who has spent time as a Michael Jackson themed luchador, a skateboarding kid, and a cat (sponsored by a battery company.) Lived on the fringe of the roster until being cast as new gimmick Drago. The character is one of the bigger design successes of AAA’s current era; Drago’s not ben involved in a lot, but he’s popular and looked much more confident in the ring with the promotion behind him. His unique look – that weird tongue! – keeps him interesting even when he doesn’t win.

Recommended match: Angélico, Drago, Jack Evans vs Carta Brava Jr., Eterno, Steve Pain, 2013-06-14 – Drago’s AAA title matches have just been okay (usually for other people involved in there), but he’s been involved in a lot of good trios match. This is mostly a random match, with Drago teaming with the current tag champions against the Anarquia’s Eterno & Super Pain and random eviledoer Carta Brava, but it’s a good exhibition for all six guys.

Deep Cut: Atomic Boy, Gato Eveready, Pimpinela Escarlata vs Pasion Kristal, Polvo de Estrellas, Yuriko, 2009-07-17 – before he was Drago, he was Gato Eveready, a battery sponsored cat with an exotico admirer. That was a real sentence. Pimpinela’s coming to Lucha Underground soon, might as well see her too.

pentagonjr
Pentagon Jr.

PENTAGON JR.: 29 years old, from Mexico City. Came in to AAA around 2011 and wrestled Fenix many times and had great matches all the time, which springboard both into bigger positions in the company. Carries himself like an ax murder and looks the part. Appears to have gone this year from a guy who’s used to make others to a guy AAA wants to make himself, it may be just a matter of time before he picks up his first big mask win. Pentagon can do all the crazy moves the other two can, but he really shines at holding a match together and making a high flyer look good. He probably won’t be the public star as the other two right away, but Pentagon’s the guy close watching fans will appreciate the most.

Recommended match: Australian Suicide vs Pentagón Jr., 2014-05-10 – Pentagon Jr. hsa spend most of the year torturing a kid from Australia. Australian Suicide finally gets some revenge in their first match, though indications are it won’t be their last.

Deep Cut: Arez vs Pentagon Jr. 2014-06-21 – Arez is not Australian Suicide and this is not AAA, so no chance for revenge, only room for Pentagon Jr. to murder a guy