Cook’s AAA TripleMania XXXI: Mexico City Review

Hey kids! I’m Steve Cook, and those of you familiar with my coverage of AAA TripleMania in the past may have been wondering where I’ve been at for the previous two editions of TripleMania XXXI. Simple answer: I was busy at my shoot jobs. Turns out I’m off this weekend though, and will be able to cover the third & final installment of TripleMania!

Indeed, I am one of those casual lucha libre fans that loves to check in on the major events. I’d be lying if I said I followed AAA religiously, but I do read luchablog and that’s probably close enough to following religiously. AAA has a tendency to not worry about things like storylines that make sense or properly building & ending feuds or establishing championship contenders or even having champions defend on the regular. These aren’t criticisms, as these features of AAA tend to help me enjoy the show more than I would if I was viewing like a typical wrestling critic expecting everything to make sense. It’s AAA, man. Buy the ticket and take the ride.

Cook’s AAA TripleMania XXXI: Mexico City Review

Our English announcers are still Joe Dombrowski & Larry Dallas. I have nothing against either guy, just surprised that AAA stuck with the same English announcers for a couple of years. They mention early on that the theme of the night is No Disqualification. So it’ll be like a typical AAA show with constant interference and general shadiness.

Dalys, Lady Shani & Sexy Star vs Chik Tormenta, La Hiedra & Maravilla: El Hijo Del Tirantes is the referee here, which probably won’t work out well for our tecnicos. We get Shani & Maravilla to start things out. Some basic wrestling exchanges to start. Tags to Star & Tormenta. Some back & forth. Tormenta goes to work on Star. Dalys comes in, gets splashed in the corner but hits a missle dropkick. Aother dropkick from Dalys. Dalys & Hiedra go at it. Rana by Dalys, but Hiedra hits an electic chair. Shani breaks up a stretch muffler attempt. Maravilla breaks up a Shani submission attempt. Things have broken down, and cookie sheet has been introduced to the fray. The rudos are not quite on the same page, and the technicos take advantage. Cookie sheet to the arse. Some biting on the top of the forehead going on. Maravilla gets hit with the cookie sheet. Time for a finisher exchange. Tormenta with the Meteroa. Codebreakers, vertical suplexes. Sexy with a tope suicida, then Dalys with a cross-body! We got a double DVD through a board. Tormenta goes up top, gets Iconclasamed for two. Shani with a shot for Tirantes, who cheap shots her afterwards. Tormenta DVDs Shani through the table, and Tirantes counts 3 pretty quickly.

Winners: Chik Tormenta, La Hiedra & Maravilla (13:32 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2

Tirantes Sr. comes in and goes to town on his son! Wonder when that match will happen.

Copa Bardahl: Komander vs Laredo Kid, Willie Mack, Dave The Clown, Pagano, Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Murder Clown, Arez, Octagón Jr., Myzteziz, Niño Hamburguesa: Octagon Jr. enters first. Aramis will be #2, so we’ll get a good pairing to start. They go back & forth for a minute, and the third entrant is Laredo Kid. Laredo goes crazy right away, hits a 450 on both but can’t get a pinfall. Arez is next out and he’s already got a ton of gold on his way to the ring. The king of strange style, as Joe says. Aramis with a huge dive to the floor. Komander comes in. He flips around like he usually does. Climbs on a man’s shoulders, gives another man a DDT. That’s how things go with Komander. Mr. Iguana is next! Iguana goes all around the world on Arez! Yeska the lizard trips up Laredo. Iguana with a shining wizard on Laredo. Bulldog on Aramis as the clock ticks down, and Murder Clown comes out. We might see some eliminations here. Or maybe not, as Murder is happy to gorilla press people in the ring. Hiedra comes down to protect Mr. Iguana, their relationship is apparently the Jim/Pam of AAA. I wouldn’t have predicted that. Iguana gets chucked outside, then everybody gangs up on Murder. Dave the Clown comes out and takes out the people going after Murder Clown. The clowns dominate everybody. Myzteziz is out next, giving some ranas to fools. Hamburgesa is next out and he’s plowing through people. He dives onto people on the floor, and Willie Mack comes out. Always a favorite of the fans. Mack does some dancing to the approval of Mexico City. The kind of stuff that lets Disco Inferno think he would have been over in Mexico. (Actually, he probably would have been. Mexicans always love to hate annoying Americans.) Eventually the action starts again and we see five moonsaults in stereo! Pagano will be next out, and that’s a crazy man. Texano attacks Pagano on the stage! Powerslam by Pagano, and Texano might be in a bad way. Maybe not, as Texano loads Pagano on a table. We got a fork lift, but Pagano has a fire extinguisher! So now Pagano is trying to light the tables on fire because that’s how he rolls. The fire isn’t really working and let’s hope that keeps being a thing. The forklift with Pagano & Texano keeps going up through the smoke, and Pagano eventually gets thrown down though one of the tables, landing on the ground. That wasn’t a great piece of business. Meanwhile, things are going on in the ring, Laredo eliminates Aramis after they doubleteam Dave. Dave goes out as well. Murder & Hamburgesa go at it. Willie eliminates Hamburgesa. Octagon hits a super fallaway slam and a 450 on Myztiez to elimate him. We’ve got some technical issues as Octagon & Mack go at it. Dombrowski & Dallas discuss the previous events & Pagano’s probable condition as we see a black screen. We return and there’s Komander & Laredo. Mexican Destroyer by Komander, Komander walks the ropes and hits a shooting star press for two. Laredo follows Komander up top, hits a reverse Spanish Fly that gets the three count!

Winner: Laredo Kid (29:46 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2

Still pretty fun even with part of the match missing. One of the best battle royals/Rumbles I’ve seen in quite some time even with the goofiness.

We see Taya’s recent run as Reina de Reinas, and Flammer becoming a top contender.

AAA Reina de Reinas Championship: Taya © (w/Lady Shani) vs Flammer (w/Las Toxicas): Flammer’s kid also comes out for the entrance, but doesn’t get involved in the action. Taya with some bright yellow hair tonight, and some shoulderblocks for Flammer. Big chops to Flammer’s chest. Flammer goes outside to regroup with her girls, Taya tries to break it up but gets a trash can shot from Hiedra. Maravilla with a chair to Taya, and now Taya’s bleeding from the forehead. Flammer works over the cut a bit, then goes for a suplex. That doesn’t work, but a slingshot legdrop eventually gets two. Las Toxicas get some furniture into the ring as Taya loses more blood. If you’re somebody that doesn’t enjoy women’s matches with blood this won’t be your thing. Flammer avoids the propped chair in the corner but Taya doesn’t. Taya spears Flammer through a board in the corner. Toxicas come in to eat some double clotheslines. Shani comes in with knees & dropkicks for the Toxicas. Taya dives onto Flammer, Maravilla & Hiedra on the floor. Taya gets a near-fall in the ring, then hits some kicks. A double-arm drop only gets two, then Taya goes for the curb stomp. Flammer blocks, then hits a flipping piledriver. Flammer splits Taya’s legs in the corner and dropkicks her low. Running dropkick in the corner gets two. Flammer rolls through a Road to Valhalla attempt and gets a two count. She doesn’t block the road this time, but Taya’s finisher only gets a two count. Curb stomp from Taya gets a two count thanks to Hiedra distraction the referee. Maravilla whacks Taya with a chair, Flammer hits a Rikishi Driver and gets the three count!

Winner: Flammer (9:57 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***

I thought both women put out a great effort here and enjoyed the match. One of Taya’s best showings in recent memory, and Flammer looked good. A bit much with the interference, but nothing surprising there. As I said in the match recap, if you’re one of those people that doesn’t want to see women bleed you won’t like it. Fantasma comes out to present Flammer with the championship. Flammer’s kid comes in to celebrate, and everybody has a good time. We then have a lengthy delay so the blood can be cleaned from the canvas & ringside.

We see the introduction for the nationally televised portion of the show, and the banners for Antonio Pena & Joaquin Roldan are brought out by Hijo del Vikingo & Octagon Jr. Marisela Pena has the urns with her.

We see a video recapping the various issues between Negro Casas & Nicho el Millonario.

Negro Casas (w/Aczino) vs Nicho el Millonario (w/Argenis): Two of the absolute legends of lucha libre here. Negro is part of a great wrestling family and was one of Mexico’s top seven wrestlers for at least four decades. Nicho is the original Psicosis, Rey Mysterio Jr.’s first rival. Negro has yet to score a TripleMania victory, largely thanks to Nicho. Aczino is apparently a champion battle rapper, while Argenis lost his mask back in April. He still wears it sometimes though. Casas avoids a charging Nicho, then splashes him on the floor. Argens hits Negro with a trash can lid, and Nicho takes advantage. Nicho props a chair in the corner & places Casas in the Tree of Woe. Nicho & Argenis representing for the Perros del Mal tonight. Nicho stretches Negros hamstrings with a chair and hits the chair with a chair. Argenis interferes while Tirantes is distracted, and sometimes when he isn’t distracted. Nicho hits Casas in the head with a kendo stick. Casas blocks the second with kicks, then crotches Nicho on the chair. Negro strikes away at Nicho, then dropkicks him in the corner. Argenis interferes again, and Aczino comes to the rescue. Nicho accidentally hits Argenis & ends up on the floor. Negro gets caught by Argenis on a dive attempt and hit with a chair. Aczino & Argenis go at it, then Aczino gets hit with a kendo stick. Casas gets hit with a trash can lid and is seated on a chair. Nicho goes up top and misses a hip attack. Aczino with some clotheslines on Argenis. Trash can & lid to Argenis, who has the can placed on top of him. Negro hits him with a chair. Nicho regains the upper hand and produces some multi-colored thumbtacks. Nicho goes for the powerbomb, but Casas blocks and hits a vertical suplex into the tacks. Negro eventually unties Nicho’s right boot. Argenis is prevented from intervening as the shoe & sock come off and Nicho’s foot is introduced to the tacks. La Casita rollup, and this one’s over.

Winner: Negro Casas (13:07 via pinfall)
Match Rating: *

I don’t have a lot of nice things to say about this match, so I’ll just say that it was nice seeing these guys out there and still able to compete in the ring. It wasn’t great at all, but it’s not worth getting upset over. Negro drops by the Spanish announce booth to say hello.

Legendary exotico Cassandro is honored with an induction into AAA’s Hall of Fame. A biopic on Cassandro is coming soon to Amazon Prime, and we see a clip from it. The sponsors of the event get their plugs in, including a dancing X-Gear mascot known as Dr. Simi. He talks too! I have no idea what’s going on but it’s pretty fantastic. There are at least three other Dr. Simis in the crowd. We’ve got a breakdancing La Parka and apparently there was a dance contest that people are voting on. Parka Negra & Chessman come out to give people plush dolls. Now Mortal Combat is being advertised and we’ve got characters fighting & posing on the stage. That was a segment of a wrestling show that happened.

AAA Latin American Championship Match: Pentagón Jr. vs QT Marshall vs. Dralistico vs. Texano Jr.: QT Marshall is in this match? To quote Jimmy McNulty, “What the fuck did I do?”. Texano replaces Brian Cage, who apparently wasn’t able to make it here tonight. Dralistico’s daughter accompanies him for his entrance. Pentagon’s entrance music is performed live and a bunch of people in masks dance around. QT attacks Penta outside, Dralistico & Texano dive, and our match has started. Dralistico & Texano fight in the ring. Dralistico hits a thrust kick but gets run over by Texano. Dralistico misses a moonsault but ranas Texano out of the ring. Dralistico runs into a thrust kick by Penta. Penta with a double stomp for one on Dralistico. Penta eats a satellite DDT from Dralistico. Then Penta suplexes Dralistico into the corner. QT attacks Penta from behind. Cartwheel into an elbow in the corner by QT, who then does a handspring into a kick. Texano & QT exchange strikes. Texano with a spine kick and a running clothesline for two. Dralistico gets kneed down by Texano, then Penta gets leg lariated. Texano gets his rope out and starts whipping fools. Dralistico hits a springboard legdrop on Penta, then a flip piledriver on QT. Another piledriver gets two thanks to Penta. Pentagon plays to the crowd & sends Dralistico to the apron. QT gets hit with a couple of sling blades. Dralistico gets piledriven, then Texano hits some strikes on Penta before getting him with a backstabber. QT has a garbage can lid and hits Dralistico & Penta before setting Texano up. QT with a popup Diamond Cutter on Dralistico, then on Texano. Then on Penta for a two count. Penta & QT exchange chops, which ends with QT poking Penta in the eye. QT runs into a kick, but forearms Penta down. QT and referee Hijo del Tirantes re-arrange some furniture. Dralistico takes Penta down for two, then gets backbroken by Texano for two. QT with a Dirt Sheet river for two. Penta breaks it up with the trash can lid. Penta with a dive onto Texano on the floor. Dralistico with a moonsault to Penta. QT with a dive of his own onto Texano. Back in the ring, Penta & Dralistico go at it. Dralistico locks in La Mistica, Penta gets the ropes. A flip piledriver on Penta gets two for Dralistico. A board is placed on four chairs, and after some arranging Penta hits a Fear Factor on the board. QT yanks Penta’s mask off, then rolls him up for three!

Winner: QT Marshall (17:44 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***

AAA sure does love putting their titles on AEW talent. Now they’ve put one on an office member. What’s next, is Tony Khan going to go after the Cruiserweight Championship? Solid match. QT is actually underrated as a wrestler but I can’t see him generating a ton of attention for AAA as Latin American champion. It’s not the crime that some people will say it is, but it’s also not going to make people want to watch some AAA like random Kenny Omega appearances do.

AAA Mega Championship Match: Hijo Del Vikingo © vs Mike Bailey vs. Daga vs. Jack Cartwheel: Spots spots spots spots is the story here. Arm drags & ranas are exchanged by all. Four way dropkick & kip up. Vikingo & Cartwheel dump their opponents to the outside, kick them down and hit dives. Vikingo had more flips in his if you’re scoring at home. Cartwheel with a twisting kick but gets blocked on a move & ranaed down. Daga trips Vikingo & tosses him into the crowd. Bailey & Daga doubleteam Cartwheel with a double backbreaker and a high/low kick. They immediately turn on each other. Daga has both men in submissions before Vikingo breaks it up with a top rope kick. Vikingo & Daga go at it, with Vikingo getting a headscissors before Daga hits a dropkick. Daga with a Gotch Piledriver into a backbreaker on Vikingo gets two. Daga gets double superkicked by Bailey & Cartwheel. Bailey kicks Vikingo’s head off, but Cartwheel hits a crucifix bomb on Bailey. Bailey gets dropped to the floor by a Cartwheel headscissors. Vikingo kicked to the floor, then Daga dives onto his three opponents. Daga & Vikingl back in the ring, Daga hits a DVD. Daga covers Cartwheel for two, then Vikingo for two. Daga threatens Tirantes before Bailey hits his rapid fire kicks. Daga fights back, hits a fisherman buster on Bailey. Bailey counters a powerbomb for two, they trade nearfalls before Bailey hits the 450 knees. Bailey stacks Vikingo & Cartwheel and hits the knees on them. Bailey hits a springboard Asai moonsault on all three on the floor. Back in the ring, Bailey hits a twisting kick on Cartwheel, but misses the Ultimo Weapon. Cartwheel with an enziguri, but Daga blocks the Jack Attack with a spear. Daga holds up Vikingo & Cartwheel, but Bailey hits the Ultimo Weapon on all of them. Bailey hits a buzzsaw kick on Vikingo for two. Cartwheel breaks it up. Space flying Cartwheel drop to the floor, Cartwheel goes up top and hits the Jack Arrow. Vikingo barely breaks up the pinfall there, then goes up top. Vikingo walks to the middle of the ropes and hits a 630 to the floor! He might have scraped his head on the apron there, and we see some blood a little later as reult of it. Bailey blocks another top rope Vikingo move, follows him up top. It’s Vikingo with a urinaki superplex! That gets two thanks to Daga. Daga lands a low blow that gets a two count. Daga squares off with Tirantes, Vikingo grabs him with a stalling German suplex. Cartwheel eats a poison rana & double knees in the corner from Vikingo, then a 630 off the top. Daga tries to break it up but doesn’t make it in time and the champion retains.

Winner: Hijo Del Vikingo (16:08 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***3/4

Some very impressive athleticism on display here. A couple of mis-steps, but that’s to be expected with the degree of difficulty and it wasn’t anything too bad. Vikingo continues his run that has made him one of the most must-see wrestlers in the world.

We see a video recapping the tournament that led to tonight’s main event. The last TripleMania event featured a tag team match with these four men that ended in a complete brawl.

Mascara vs. Mascara vs. Cabellera vs. Cabellera: LA Park vs. Psycho Clown vs. Rush vs. Sam Adonis: The real money main event here would be LA Park vs. Rush in a Mascara vs. Cabellera match, but good luck getting either of those guys to agree to lose. Adonis tries to get a kiss from Marisela Pena but she has no time for that. Various members of the Munoz family, Jose the Assistant & Preston Vance accompany Rush to ringside. Adonis & Rush wait for Park in the aisleway, and things break down once Psycho arrives. Psycho & Adonis pair off while Rush & Park go at it. Rush & Park go into the crowd and Rush hits Park with a chair. Nothing new there. Adonis tears at Psycho’s mask in the ring. Rush tears Park’s belt off of his skeleton outfit and uses it to whip Park while Adonis attacks Psycho with his flagstick. Adonis with a chair on the floor, then he tosses Psycho into the crowd. Psycho tosses some water but that doesn’t keep Adonis away. Park & Rush continue going at it in the ring. Rush with a chair as Adonis & Psycho return to the ring. Rush & Adonis stomp Park down, then go to work on Psycho. Psycho & Park temporarily work together and hit dives onto Adonis & Rush. Back in the ring, Park gets two on a rollup on Rush. Tirantes having some physical difficulties that keep him from counting Rush down. He & Park have quite the history too. Rush headbutts Park down and starts tearing at his mask. Psycho tosses Adonis into the third row. Psycho dives onto Adonis, at some point he did a mask change to replace his torn one. Back in the ring, Psycho has a chair, but Adonis found some barbed wire. Adonis ends up getting powerbombed onto it and that gets a two count. Adonis’s face got introduced to it and he’s all bloody. Michinoku Driver by Adonis on Psycho gets two. Adonis goes up top and hits a 450 splash, but Rush comes in and whips both men with Park’s belt. He wants to take Park’s mask, so he won’t let these other two guys end the match. Somebody runs down with a board while Park & Rush face off. Park with a blg clothesline knocking Rush down. Long two count from Tirantes. Snap German on Park, Rush gets a two count. Rush isn’t happy with Tirantes’ count either. Park with a powerslam for a two count. Rush with one of his own for a two count while Adonis has been busy losing all his blood. Clothesline by Park. Psycho & Adonis come in and score two counts on Rush & Park! Now it’s Adonis & Psycho going at it in the ring. Psycho whacks Adonis with a chair, then drops him back-first through it for a two count. Adonis spears Psycho through a board, which gets a two count. Psycho powerslams Adonis through a board for two. Adonis goes over the top rope on a clothesline, then gets moonsaulted by Psycho on the floor. Rush whacks Park with a chair back in the ring. Park rolls into the corner, Rush stomps him down, pushes Tirantes down. Rush’s associates come down and attack Psycho while Rush hits the Bull’s Horns on Park. All of Rush’s friends are in the ring now, nothing can be done since it’s no disqualification. Adonis hits a Tombstone on Psycho, and Bestia del Ring has a light tube. Thumbtacks are dropped on Psycho, we’ve got cinder blocks. Adonis goes up top, but gets crotched by Rush! Park with a spear on Rush! Psycho hits Adonis with a light tube, follows him to the top rope and hits a Spanish Fly! Park has Rush covered at the same time, but Rush kicks out at two while Adonis does not and will be losing his hair.

Winner: Psycho Clown (20:44 vis pinfall)
Match Rating: ****

Pretty much the type of brawl/spectacle you’d expect from everybody involved. Adonis losing was the most likely result, but still a satisfying one for the people.

Rush appears to be happy that he kept his hair. Park tries to wake up Psycho and we have a doctor in the ring. Psycho gets placed on a stretcher and Adonis also receives attention from the doctor & Park. Adonis’s blood-stained hair is shaved off and you can see the anger on his face. Adonis has some words for the fans & Psycho Clown. He loves Mexico but hates Mexicans, and is still better than Psycho Clown.

7.3

The final score: review Good

The 411

While there were some low points early, the matches that needed to deliver did exactly that. Wrestlers like Vikingo & Laredo Kid that ordinarily steal shows were on top of their game. Taya had her best match I've seen in awhile. QT as a champion of anything is a bit questionable, but the guy does a good job at what he does. The main event provided the drama necessary to close TripleMania out with a bang. Hopefully they'll have at least three shows like this one in the next 365 days.