AAA’s ‘Noche de Los Grandes’, at least the first part of it, took place this weekend in Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. Honestly though, not sure how you top this weekend’s show considering a lot of the most notable talent in the promotion and the most anticipated matchups went down on this week’s show. The least of which certainly not being Americano vs Americano. I’ve rarely ever seen a crowd so hot and electric for a matchup from the very beginning of their entrances, all the way through to the final bell. The energy in that arena was absolutely rocking! So, without further ado let’s get into it and break this thing down.
The show started off with one half of the Lucha Bros Rey Fenix taking on Laredo Kid for the Cruiserweight Championship. I’ve seen these dudes wrestle a couple times already on AAA’s weekly show and they are both such high flying and dynamic competitors that they are incapable of putting on a bad match with one another so I really didn’t mind seeing it again, and they made this match feel fresh still considering they’ve faced each other a lot recently, so there’s something to be said for that. The 2 battled back and forth in a quick paced matchup with the heel Laredo Kid trying to utilize dirty tactics sporadically throughout to ground Fenix and hold onto the championship, exposing turnbuckles and attempting low blows while the ref’s back was turned. Fenix blocked a low blow later in the contest and countered with a cutter on Laredo for a near fall. Fenix followed with a spinning Mexican muscle buster but the champ kicked out at 2 and a half. Laredo Kid fought back and this time landed a low blow on Fenix before connecting with a picture-perfect Frog Splash from the top rope, but Fenix was still able to get the shoulder up at 2 and a half. Laredo attempted a big splash in the corner, but Fenix moved out of the way and he sent himself face first into the exposed turnbuckle that he himself exposed earlier in the matchup. Fenix capitalized on the dazed champ and hit another Mexican muscle buster for the pin and win. Hell of a match all around though.
Next up, El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. put his Latin American Championship on the line against El Hijo del Vikingo. I’ve stood up for Vikingo on this blog before because the crowd was giving him the Roman Reigns circa 2015-16 treatment when he was Mega Champion and booing/rejecting his big push to the top and I just didn’t get it because I thought he was an incredible in-ring performer. I get that it went a little deeper than that though and fans were mainly upset at some backstage politics and the overall force feeding of him, so it was probably smartest to just turn him heel for now and get him over that way and that’s precisely what they’ve done. The 2 battled back and forth until Vikingo’s running mate ‘The Nigerian Giant’, Omos made his way down to ringside. As Vikingo’s manager buddy distracted the referee, Omos shoved Wagner Jr. off the top rope and set Vikingo up to lay him out with a running double knee followed by his 450 Splash, but Wagner Jr. kicked out to the shock of Vikingo and his posse. Wagner Jr’s brother ‘Galeno del Mal’ made the save on his behalf and got into a scrap with Omos on the outside, meanwhile while the referee was distracted Mini Vikingo made his way into the ring and laid out Vikingo as well. All of this and Vikingo still ultimately got the shoulder up at 2 and a half. Chaos ensued on the outside of the ring as Omos laid out Galeno before connecting with a cheap shot right hand to lay out Wagner Jr. Vikingo followed up with a 630 off the top rope for the pin and win to become new Latin American champ. Match full of shenanigans but I enjoy both of these guys, especially Vikingo, so it was still fun enough.
Next up, the World Tag Team Championships were on the line as the champs Pagano and Psycho Clown put their titles on the line against The War Raiders. There have been a lot of questions surrounding Pagano and Clown’s trust and loyalty to one another coming into this match because tensions have been high and patience for one another has worn thin within the Psycho Circus as of late. The bigger and meatier War Raiders dominated the early portions of this matchup and kept Clown isolated from making the tag into Pagano as they laid in the beatdown. When Clown did get the tag into Pagano though they were able to shift the momentum for a moment. Pagano laid out Erik with an Emerald Fusion and eventually tagged Clown back in who delivered a Death Valley Driver but Erik kicked out. Later, Pagano laid out Ivar with a top rope leg drop and Clown followed with a Frog Splash right after, but the big man still kicked out. Later on, as the champs continued to try and build momentum and keep the dazed big men down, Pagano kicked Ivar into Psycho Clown before accidentally leveling him with a clothesline as well. Or maybe accidentally? The challengers capitalized on the moment, laying out Pagano before hitting their patented tag team finish ‘DTM’ on Psycho Clown for the pin and win to become new tag team champs. After the match, Clown and Pagano argued back and forth in the ring until Pagano turned his back on Clown which opened up the door for the Raiders to beat him down 2-on-1 in the ring as Pagano walked out and left him helpless.
Then, it was time for one of the most well told stories and anticipated matchups in all of professional wrestling at the moment as El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano went to battle in a Mask vs Mask matchup. The crowd was insanely hot for this one from the jump, heavily booing The Original with venomous hate and heavily cheering El Grande with adoring love from the moment they made their entrances. Original went on the attack immediately, smashing a guitar that he ripped from a mariachi player’s hands over El Grande’s head and raining down on him with punches and stomps. Original dominated the early moments of the match and garnered a lot of heat and boos from the crowd as he ripped and tore at the beaten El Grande’s mask until he fended him off and drove the Original through a table. Action continued to heat up around ringside as the Original continued the beating on El Grande before tossing him over the barricade and relishing in the boos from the audience. El Grande began to fire a comeback and the crowd came alive in full support. El Grande then started ripping and tearing at the mask of the Original himself before sending him face first into the ring steps and busting him wide open. El Grande continued the attack on the Original with a steel chair until Los Hermanos de Americanos (Julio & Bruto) made their presence known at ringside and beat down El Grande before driving him through the announce table. They tossed him back into the ring and the Original followed up with a diving headbutt, but El Grande still managed to kick out at 2 and a half! Rayo and Bravo then came down to the aid of El Grande and fought Julio and Bruto off. Bravo took a daring dive onto the mass of competitors in a moment that the crowd erupted for. Pimpinela Escarlata then wandered into the ring, disguised in an El Grande mask, and laid out a confused and distracted Original before revealing themselves. El Grande followed up with a massive running headbutt, but Original kicked out at 2 and a half. Original got the momentum back thanks to a bullrope he used to whip and choke El Grande with. El Grande’s girlfriend Andrea, who the Original has tormented El Grande with as of late, then appeared at ringside with a ticket and motivated him back into the match. Original tried to stay on the attack with a Chaos Theory and a pair of brutal Ankle Locks, but nothing would keep El Grande down on the night. He fought out of the Ankle Lock and brought the fight to The Original before delivering another running headbutt for the pin and win. An absolute war.
After the match, Original unmasked and was revealed to be Chad Gable. Obviously. He cut a promo talking about how he came to not only accept but embrace lucha culture through his time under the mask and said he would always be the Original El Grande Americano, but now he was the only before handing his mask to El Grande Americano and exiting the ring to a crowd that was then cheering both competitors for the performance they just put on and the story they told that led up to it. That’s what I mean man. That match really was what pro wrestling was about. Everyone knows who’s under those masks in reality, but it doesn’t matter because they’re invested and they care. I do too, and that’s all that matters in pro wrestling. Get the people to buy in and care and that’s exactly what they did. In a story that started out just to be a silly little gimmick for Chad Gable turned into something else entirely for not only him, but Ludwig ‘El Grande Americano’ Kaiser as well. Especially him.
Match Ratings: 1-10 scale (.25 applicable)
AAA Cruiserweight Championship match: Laredo Kid (c) vs Rey Fenix- 8.25/10
AAA Latin American Championship match: El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. (c) vs El Hijo del Vikingo- 7/10
AAA World Tag Team Championship match: Pagano & Psycho Clown (c) vs The War Raiders- 7.25/10
Mask vs Mask match: El Grande Americano vs Original El Grande Americano- 10/10
That’ll do it for this one though! Thanks for the time Make sure to like the page on social media or come back to the website often and check out all my latest content over pro wrestling, horror films (new & classic), newly released films, and more! Until next time, be good to one another out there.
