Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

[Prime Time]

I've heard that there's some interesting stuff going on in AAA at the moment, so much so that I think it's got to be worth seeing if they can sustain their own thread, rather than just lumping all Lucha conversation in together.

So anything related to the AAA promotion, from the 1992 split right the way up to the present day, goes here!

[mizfan]

I watched some of the stuff from earlier this year and OUCH is all I can say to describe it. Some of the undercard stuff was good but there was a Johnny Mundo vs. Rey Wagner (the former Dr Wagner Jr) match that felt right out of the worst of Russo, courtesy of Vampiro.

But yeah, I hear that things are looking up in a major way. Mysterio booked for an upcoming event is a great sign, and they've brought back some other notable guys recently like Jack Evans and Juventud Guerrera, as well as Cult's other favorite Teddy Hart.

[Prime Time]

Thought I was getting a bit wiser to lucha, then found out AAA have a guy called... Psycho Clown?!

They're not shy about having the names be right on the nose, are they?

[mizfan]

Subtlety isn't exactly a hallmark of lucha, you know! They've actually got a whole bunch of clowns over there, Psycho is just by far the biggest name of them. He's pretty good too, in my opinion, though his mask is potential nightmare fuel:

[Cult Icon]

The clown gimmick is a AAA staple; it started shortly after the promotion's inception with the very popular Los Payasos stable and then brought back in 2007 with Los Psychos Circus, which is how Psycho Clown came to be. Konnan based the stable and their look off the bad movie classic Killer Clowns from Outer Space; they ended up getting really popular and Psycho (who is the son of Brazo de Plata, aka former WWE star Super Porky) in particular became one of the most beloved luchadores in Mexico. He's the ace of AAA right now (and an underrated worker overall in my book, though he is somewhat choppy) while his former partners, the hilariously named Monster and Murder Clown, are a midcard tag team. There's two other clowns in AAA in addition to them; Pagano, a death match wrestler and Dave the Clown, who might just be the worst wrestler I have ever seen. The dude makes Big Cass look like Negro Casas in his peak.

But enough about the clowns; big AAA show tonight. It's their fifth biggest event of the year, Verano de Escandalo, it'll take place in a Monterrey bull ring and will feature Rey Mysterio challenging Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA World title, a six man hair match between Los OGT's and Poder del Norte, the aforementioned Psycho Clown, Juventud Guerrera, the return of Konnan and potentially some even bigger, game changing announcements. Oh, and it'll be available for free on Twitch at 7:30! I recommend everyone watch this.

[mizfan]

Awesome knowledge drop with the clown stuff! And shit, that sounds like a loaded show indeed. And free to boot!

[LWO4Life]

So I couldn't watch last night, but how in the hell is Jeff Jarrett champion? This is confusing.

[mizfan]

Um, ok, so I was feeling excited about AAA's new direction, but surely this seems like 1 million percent the wrong way for them to take??? And I saw he's supposed to be the leader of MAD too???

[LWO4Life]

I think maybe Konnan might have over booked MAD. Like when they had the group in the early 2010's, with OG LA Park, and others, it was cool. But by putting the title on Jarrett, I'm confused. And I guess they are going to have a new Fenix. Like WTF?

[Cult Icon]

That's not a new Fenix; that is Fenix. He is working BOTH AAA and CMLL.

Here's what happened, as best I can piece together. I know for a fact that Jarrett wasn't supposed to win the title initially; in fact judging by his run in at the end I would guess it was Fenix. Whoever it was, the call was overruled by Marisela Pena Roldan because she wanted an established older star; that's how Jarrett was chosen and that's why we got what we got in horrible fashion. The good news is he isn't the leader; Konnan is (he returned last night himself) and the longest Jarrett is going to be around for is a few months at most. It was an absolutely horrible call, especially since it could've been Fenix, Kevin Kross or Juventud Guerrera in the role instead, but it's mostly just a minor setback. Konnan should be able to overcome it and the rest of the show, save for a sloppy six man match that had to be called early due to Drago getting injured, was pretty good and would've been great if they had picked anyone other than Jarrett. AAA is still a lot more interesting going forward today than they were a few months ago.

[mizfan]

Ok, that's good to know. Makes me worried there will be more unexpected changes from above Konnan's head though. The sooner they drop Jarrett again the better, didn't he show up drunk to Triplemania just last year? If he had some kind of intrinsic value and he really is clean then maybe I could see it, but I just don't. Is Jarrett supposed to be really over in Mexico? Do they mistakenly think this will drum up American interest instead of disgust? Did they just want a guy with a WWE HOF ring in the spot?

If it had been Fenix winning the belt that would have been stupendous. I do love that he is apparently working every major lucha libre company in existence now.

[Cult Icon]

The sooner they drop Jarrett again the better, didn't he show up drunk to Triplemania just last year?

He did and the fucker got away with it (not counting Impact icing him) because everyone decided to focus on the Sexy Star/Rosemary incident. He largely has gotten a pass for it from American fans and clearly some people in AAA have forgiven him too.

This was an odd situation though. Dr. Wagner Jr. revealed today he is gone from AAA; I'm told it's a combination of a) his feud with his son being scrapped once Konnan came in and b) being told he was dropping the title. Once he chose to walk that put the decision squarely in Marisela's hands (which normally doesn't happen; Dorian and Konnan are the primary guys making creative calls with Vampiro still somewhat involved) and Marisela is the type of person who thinks the only workers of value are the established older stars. That's why Imposter Parka keeps getting main event spots and programs despite the fact that my cell phone could out work him. And because Jarrett was a star at one point she wanted him over who Konnan wanted (which judging from his appearance was Fenix); it's dumb and even dumber because she had fucking Juventud Guerrera right there as a guy who's a bigger star in Mexico than Jarrett has ever been, not to mention someone who can still work and cut a promo. But yeah, my understanding is she probably made the call in this situation.

Now that being said it's not the end of the world, like I said earlier. If it was, Konnan would've walked after the show (he did not) and Fenix would've appeared. So Konnan was at the very least amicable about this decision and how he could work with it, and Fenix clearly knows he's going to be used okay because otherwise he'd be gone. So there's no reason to worry right now. It's disappointing that neither Fenix or Juvy got the gold, but I guarantee Jarrett won't be long for AAA and things will look more promising on that main event front soon. And even if not, the undercard is so great right now that AAA is still far better off than they were when Wagner and Mundo were recreating 1999 WCW finishes.

[mizfan]

That was genuinely horrible, so you're right, things are looking way up even if Jarrett as world champion is pretty '99 WCW in and of itself!

[Prime Time]

The ch..ch..chosen one!

(Cue Kid Rock ripoff)

[Cult Icon]

Perhaps we were wrong about Jarrett. I am personally reporting that there is an AAA show scheduled for MADISON SQUARE GARDEN later this year. This comes out the day after Jarrett wins the title. Coincidence? I think not!