April 6, 2022

AAA Lucha Libre Invades Wrestlecon 

AAA Lucha Libre Invades Wrestlecon 

 

March 31, 2022 

 

We’re in Dallas, Texas at the Fairmont Hotel. This is the first show from the Fite Fest package or the Wrestlecon shows. It’s another delightful change of gear too as we have a full-on lucha libre show. Hosts are Dave Sturchio and Larry Dallas. At least on the English feed. If I could speak Spanish I’d be listening to Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera.  

 

Natural Classics vs. Ryan Kidd & Christi Jaynes 

The Filip Brothers are from Australia. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them work in MCW. It’s a bit odd they start the AAA show with four people who aren’t from Mexico. It feels like they’re paying lip service to the lucha on the banner with the match they have. I have no idea what to make of Ryan Kidd, who is a weird comedy guy. Jaynes looks awkward in the more complicated sequences. The Filip Brothers try to make amends by doing a bunch of high spots. Natural Classics get the win with the Mother of All Bombs and Ryan Kidd trudges to the back looking dejected. Bye then. *½ 

 

Lumberjack Match 

Rey Escorpion, La Hiedra & Mini Abismo Negro vs. Nino Hamburguesa, Taya & Micro Man 

I cannot take my eyes off Micro Man. He’s 3’ 3”.  

LOOK AT HIM! He’s so smol. As the match progresses it becomes apparent there is no good match up here. It peaks with Escorpion threatening to pitch Micro Man into the crowd. For some bizarre reason AAA give it 13 minutes. This is a long weekend gang, let’s see less of this. Big boy Nino Hamburguesa is probably the most entertaining worker out there but a lot of his stuff is comedy. The match is a real mish-mesh of lazy spots and ‘hey look at this shit’ stuff. Micro Man eventually rolls up Mini Abismo Negro for the win. *¾ 

 

NWA World Tag Team Championship 

La Rebelion (c) vs. Aero Star & Drago  

Fuck Mecha Wolf.

Mexicans are so weird man.  

Aerostar and Drago are both very capable wrestlers. This is by the numbers with La Rebelion botching a few double teams. It’s sloppy as hell at times and minimal effort wrestling with massive high spots thrown in for shits and giggles. There’s a random Canadian Destroyer in the middle of a sequence. They also have a terrible spot where the ref gets distracted by Damien 666 in the middle of a near fall. If it wasn’t possible for me to hate this match any more. Champs retain. This was flaming hot trash. Awful spotfest porn. * 

 

Aramis, Mr Iguana & Octagon Jr vs. Abismo Negro Jr, Arez & Faby Apache 

Iguana seems to think he’s an iguana.  

“He is colour green” announces the ring announcer. He certainly is. This is immediately awkward too. Historically I’ve never been able to get into lucha libre. There’s always too much waiting around to get hit with spots, bad refereeing and sloppy work.  

Haha, he’s playing dead. He uses a ‘pet’ iguana (Jessica) as a hand puppet and ‘bites’ people with it. This is some well thought out gimmick work gentlemen and I am here for it. Arez superkicking the iguana off his hand is amazing. Abismo Negro Jr gets really into the spirit of things by piledriving the ‘pet’. All while a devastated Mr Iguana looks on. Get Mr Iguana and Micro Man booked on a UK tour, and I’d turn up for it. The rest of the match is the same spotty nonsense as the last match but I am happy to award points for great character work. Aramis is the most frustrating guy in there because he’s incredible sometimes and sometimes he stinks. There are more bad spots involving Aramis than anyone else. Iguana steals the show with his multiple rotation spots and Jessica. An amazing multiple rotation bulldog finishes. This was wildly inconsistent. **¾ 

 

Gringo Loco, Puma King & Sam Adonis vs. Drago Kid, Jack Cartwheel & Pagano 

Jack Cartwheel is one of those dudes that broke out during the pandemic. He is FAST. I appreciate him doing a load of cartwheels. Cartwheel by name, Cartwheel by nature. Pagano infuriates me by doing a springboard thing on the ropes for no reason. I’ve seen him before and he’s not my cup of tea. I hate tea too btw. Sam Adonis is a decent worker. I’ve seen him in Japan and he struggled but here he’s capable. Taking all the wacky lucha bumps.  

Puma King vs. Pagano is the kind of match you’d get to see in hell. On a loop. If they weren’t in this match, it would probably rule. As it is, they drag it down. Puma King looks like a bumbling drunk who takes his bumps 3 seconds too late. How is he only 31? He moves like a 50-year-old. Cartwheel and Drago Kid would have been over like crazy in old ECW. Pagano ends up getting the pin after the two flippy lads have done dives. This was a mixed bag. Some promising performances, ultimately dragged down by a couple of shitty wrestlers. **½ 

 

AAA Cruiserweight Championship  

Laredo Kid (c) vs. Bandido vs. Flamita  

I generally don’t like multiple person matches unless everyone is good. Well, everyone is good in this. It’s a breakneck pace with Flamita playing heel and bailing to allow the other two to fight each other. It’s smart because it plays into his character and also doesn’t mean someone has to do dumb selling.  

It quickly breaks down and if you’re going to do a spotfest, do good spots. This is clean as fuck. There is the odd spot, like Flamita doing a backflip into a double DDT, where the other two guys are just standing around waiting for it. Bandido gets taken out and Laredo Kid beats Flamita with Spanish Fly. I thought Flamita was the standout here. Bandido was also very good, and Laredo Kid was decent. All around good fun and easily the best match on this show. Not even close. ***¾ 

 

Black Taurus vs. Psycho Clown 

I love Black Taurus. Seeing him live is what did it. He’s so powerful, agile and hard hitting. It’s a great combo. Psycho Clown is ok. There’s a lot of gimmick involved but he’s a decent worker. The match is pretty good. They clip along at a good pace and the work is acceptable. It does feel like they’re going through the motions a bit and I can’t ‘feel’ the match but there’s nothing technically wrong with it. Bar a terrible springboard from Psycho Clown early doors but he modifies the landing and the recovery is fine. Psycho Clown finishes with a great super rana and a spear through a table. This was solid and the second best match on the card. *** 

 

Post Match: 

Jeff Jarrett runs out here with all the Yankies and they beat Psycho Clown down.  

The match you never knew you needed; Jeff Jarrett vs. Vladimir the Superfan from the WWF shows in the 80s. Jarrett declares he’s the brains and the money behind the Yankee invasion of AAA.  

“My name a Jeff”

 

The 411: 

Hoo, boy. This wasn’t a good show. AAA didn’t feel the need to put on a major card here and instead relied on a few undercard guys to deliver for them. They had a big audience to draw into their product and they couldn’t be bothered. A few characters got over like Micro Man, Nico Hamburguesa, Mr Iguana and Jack Cartwheel but the overall vibe of the show was an afterthought. This is not an important cog in AAA’s machine. The thing is, I’ve seen many big AAA shows and it’s not much better when they do try hard. AAA is the more Americanised of the two major Mexican promotions so I can see why they’ve had a go. CMLL is harder to get into. Easily the worst of the three shows I’ve seen so far.  

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