AAA Triplemania XVIII
Opening - They showed a video that was all about war, had a bunch of of real life war from WWII to Cartels to ISIS to Spartans. It was kinda weird, but it eventually led to actual AAA footage. Marisela Peña then opened with her Antonio Peña urn that will never not be awkward.
AAA World Mini-Estrellas Championship TLC Match
Mascarita Sagrada, Octagoncito, and Mini Charly Manson stole the match in my opinion, they had some of the better offence, and in the case of Manson, the best bumps. Octagoncito won when it came down to him and Mini Abismo Negro, with the former dropping the latter from the ladder to a table and going back up for the title.
Losers must be the winner's slaves for a month.
Sexy Star is the current Reina de Reinas Champion, she came out with an LGBT flag.
The match started with some tornado tag chaos and I'd argue that was some of the best stuff of the match, they were doing 3-person spots, trading control. Once they started pairing up and getting near falls, we started seeing Hijo del Tirantes break up pins and attack the babyfaces, and it just kinda led to Blake hitting Faby with a broom and the fast count from Tirantes for the win.
Post-match - La Legion Extranjera dressed the losers with a maid's uniform. Disgusting Hijo del Tirantes was out there trying to grab on Rain. The tecnicas accepted their loss, but still cleared the ring.
AAA World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Elimination Tag Match
Shiozaki's nameplate on the broadcast said "Go Shio Sake". Before the match started, we saw Dorian Roldan telling the 187s that Konnan is on commentary and that if they touch him, they'll be suspended.
Shiozaki and Aoki dominated early, they were easily the best wrestlers in the match. Konnan claimed that they were part of La Legion Extranjera, but that was a lie, they never joined, they actually won the titles from Taiji Ishimori & Takeshi Morishima, who represented La Legion Extranjera. Unfortunately, Aoki and Shiozaki were the first eliminated by Lider.
187s were the next eliminated by Beer Money when Konnan distracted them. Final two wasn't that good, they hit a terrible tower of doom and then, when it seemed that Beer Money had it won, but Silver Cain got Storm with a DVD for the win. Some good stuff early on, but once Shiozaki and Aoki were gone, the match got pretty bad.
Post-match - Los Capos challenged Los Maniacos for the titles.
Pierro vs Hijo del Tirantes Hair vs Hair Cage Match
This is the usual AAA stupidity of cage matches, were you must leave your team in a disadvantage in order to win the match.
Octagon and Kozlov were the fist out. Hernandez and Pimpi had a decent exchange right before Pimp escaped too, but not before kissing Hernandez and Hijo del Tirantes. Hernandez and Chessman double teamed Heavy Metal for a bit, Hernandez hit a huge plancha from the top of the cage, right before escaping. Chessman then one-upped him with a Moonsault, but Metal moved out of the way. Chessman escaped after Metal was hit with a chair right as he had reached the top of the cage.
Match was kinda shitty, we had two bit spots and that was it.
Post-match - Pierro got shaved, but then attacked Tirantes with a chair after Tirantes kept mocking him.
Extreme Rules Match
The booking here was a mess. Vampiro and Konnan are feuding, but when Konnan called out la Legion, they all attacked Abyss, who is in the other team. Cibernetico cleared the ring, and to makes things worse, Hernandez taking out Vampiro accidentally led to Konnan doing a Fuji on Vampiro so that Ciber could hit the Garra Cibernetica for the win, AND THEN! La Legion come back and attack the men that Konnan just aided to win! Who the fuck is with who!?
Match itself was meh, not really that 'extreme' nor well wrestled enough to make up for it.
Post-match - La Legion control Abyss and Ciber until Nicho and Joe Lider come out and help Ciber clear the ring before Vampiro and Konnan could come to blows.
AAA Cruiserweight Championship Match
This originally was supposed to be a '4 nations' match with Kozlov instead of Jack Evans, making it Russia vs USA vs Mexico vs Japan, but Kozlov would end up being moved to the cage match.
Match was good, a lot of great action. Not the fast pace you would imagine given the participants, but the moves were definitely up to it, a high flying X Division style match.
Extreme Tiger hit a top rope 450 to the floor on NOSAWA for a near fall. He would be eliminated a minute later after a footstomp. Second eliminated was Tiger at the hands of Daniels when Relampago came out to distract him, giving Daniels the opening for a School Boy. Daniels and Evans had some good near falls, one with Daniels locking in a single leg Boston Crab for a near submission and another with the BME. Evans would make a comeback with a bunch of jumping knee attacks and a failed 630, and a final 630 Phoenix Splash for the win. Mexico loves Jack Evans, they were wild for the win.
Daniels got busted open really early in the match, and it didn't seem on purpose.
Dr. Wagner Jr. Promo - Good, basic stuff.
Los Maniacos Promo - Good. Electroshock congratulates Silver Cain and UG. Cain told Electroshock that they won't interfere in his match with Wagner because they believe he can do this alone.
AAA Megachampionship Match
This is the first one-on-one match of the night and we're almost done with the show. This was awesome, it was straight up wrestling, none of the hardcore bullshit that AAA is full of. Fans at one point even shat on the match because Electro and Wagner were chain-wrestling on the mat, and even commentary had to remind you that THIS is what Lucha Libre is.
Story here was that Electro had the size advantage early on, but as the match went on, Wagner had better stamina and slowly started to gas out Electro. They traded a bunch of submissions and near falls as the match went on, and at the end, Wagner was completely in control until he dropped Electro with the Wagner Driver for the win.
Post-match - El Mesias came out and awarded Wagner with the Megachampionship.
"La Parka" Name Rights on the Line
La Parka definitely got the bigger pop of the two, which at this point is understandable since L.A. Park is part of La Legion Extranjera. As the match goes on, more and more people started getting behind Park until they were divided in half.
This got violent really quick. The feud between these two is legendary without actually feuding, it's all fueled by real life politics that in a way, is neither wrestler's fault, but AAA's management.
Match saw L.A. Park DOMINATE La Parka for the first 10 or so minutes of the match, he beat the shit out of him, tore his mask, used chairs, broke tables, just complete dominance by Park. It wasn't until Park went for a second table that Parka managed to throw Park into the table to finally get some offense. Parka's comeback was awesome. He tore Park's mask too, he brawled into the crowd, he was out there hitting Tope Suicidas.
Both men started going back and forward. Park started going for Parka's back, while Parka went for the head, in a really cool way, they were both using Backstabber and Codebreakers respectively, showing their similarities, but contrast nonetheless.
Towards the end of the match, for different reasons, both men started arguing with Copetes, the referee. The spot ended with Park hitting a Tope on both Parka and Copetes, except Parka got out of the way, and Copetes took a ref bump with a full Tope. This led to Park hitting a Piledriver on Parka, which is an illegal move in Mexico.
Dorian gave Park a chair to attack Parka, but Joaquin tried to stop him. Park went after Joaquin, so Doria had a change of heart, turned on Park in order to defend his father. In return, Park attacked both Roldans. Dorian managed to recover and hit Park with a chair, but the, suddenly, two men wearing Perros Del Mal shirts jumped in, took out Dorian, pulled Park on top of Parka's body, and Hijo del Tirantes ran out for the pin.
Post-match - The rest of Los Perros del Mal came out, were talking about 20 bodies. At the end, Perro Aguayo Jr came out to a huge ovation. He cut a promo that AAA needed a new direction, and it was coming at the hands of Los Perros del Mal. He said that the best and real Parka had always been L.A. Park.
We got the announcement that the commission nullified the decision of the match since Hijo del Tirantes was not official for this match and him counting the finish, and thus La Parka had not lost the name.
This felt like a huge show. Looking at the card before the start, you're seeing people from all over the world, you're seeing big title matches, and at the top, one of the most legendary matches anyone could book in wrestling history. The wrestling was up and down depending on the match, the less people the match had, the better it came out.
LE* = Representing La Legion Extranjera
AAA World Mini-Estrellas Championship TLC Match
Mini Abismo Negro (C) vs Octagoncito vs Mini Charly Manson vs Mascarita Sagrada vs Mini Psicosis vs Mini Histeria vs Mascarita Sagrada vs Mini Chessman vs La Parkita - 7/10
Mascarita Sagrada, Octagoncito, and Mini Charly Manson stole the match in my opinion, they had some of the better offence, and in the case of Manson, the best bumps. Octagoncito won when it came down to him and Mini Abismo Negro, with the former dropping the latter from the ladder to a table and going back up for the title.
Losers must be the winner's slaves for a month.
Las Gringas Locas (Sexy Star, Rain & Jennifer Blade) (LE*) vs Cinthia Moreno & Las Apache (Faby Apache & Mari Apache) - 4.5/10
Sexy Star is the current Reina de Reinas Champion, she came out with an LGBT flag.
The match started with some tornado tag chaos and I'd argue that was some of the best stuff of the match, they were doing 3-person spots, trading control. Once they started pairing up and getting near falls, we started seeing Hijo del Tirantes break up pins and attack the babyfaces, and it just kinda led to Blake hitting Faby with a broom and the fast count from Tirantes for the win.
Post-match - La Legion Extranjera dressed the losers with a maid's uniform. Disgusting Hijo del Tirantes was out there trying to grab on Rain. The tecnicas accepted their loss, but still cleared the ring.
AAA World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Elimination Tag Match
Go Shiozaki & Atsushi Aoki (C) vs Los Maniacos (Ultimo Gladiador & Silver Cain) vs La Hermandad 187 (Joe Lider & Nicho El Millonario) vs Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm) (LE*) - 6.5/10
Shiozaki's nameplate on the broadcast said "Go Shio Sake". Before the match started, we saw Dorian Roldan telling the 187s that Konnan is on commentary and that if they touch him, they'll be suspended.
Shiozaki and Aoki dominated early, they were easily the best wrestlers in the match. Konnan claimed that they were part of La Legion Extranjera, but that was a lie, they never joined, they actually won the titles from Taiji Ishimori & Takeshi Morishima, who represented La Legion Extranjera. Unfortunately, Aoki and Shiozaki were the first eliminated by Lider.
187s were the next eliminated by Beer Money when Konnan distracted them. Final two wasn't that good, they hit a terrible tower of doom and then, when it seemed that Beer Money had it won, but Silver Cain got Storm with a DVD for the win. Some good stuff early on, but once Shiozaki and Aoki were gone, the match got pretty bad.
Post-match - Los Capos challenged Los Maniacos for the titles.
Pierro vs Hijo del Tirantes Hair vs Hair Cage Match
Team Hijo del Tirantes (Alex Koslov, Chessman, & Hernandez) (LE*) vs Team Pierro (Heavy Metal, Octagón, & Pimpinela Escarlata) - 5.5/10
This is the usual AAA stupidity of cage matches, were you must leave your team in a disadvantage in order to win the match.
Octagon and Kozlov were the fist out. Hernandez and Pimpi had a decent exchange right before Pimp escaped too, but not before kissing Hernandez and Hijo del Tirantes. Hernandez and Chessman double teamed Heavy Metal for a bit, Hernandez hit a huge plancha from the top of the cage, right before escaping. Chessman then one-upped him with a Moonsault, but Metal moved out of the way. Chessman escaped after Metal was hit with a chair right as he had reached the top of the cage.
Match was kinda shitty, we had two bit spots and that was it.
Post-match - Pierro got shaved, but then attacked Tirantes with a chair after Tirantes kept mocking him.
Extreme Rules Match
Abyss & Cibernetico (LE*) vs El Zorro & Vampiro - 4/10
The booking here was a mess. Vampiro and Konnan are feuding, but when Konnan called out la Legion, they all attacked Abyss, who is in the other team. Cibernetico cleared the ring, and to makes things worse, Hernandez taking out Vampiro accidentally led to Konnan doing a Fuji on Vampiro so that Ciber could hit the Garra Cibernetica for the win, AND THEN! La Legion come back and attack the men that Konnan just aided to win! Who the fuck is with who!?
Match itself was meh, not really that 'extreme' nor well wrestled enough to make up for it.
Post-match - La Legion control Abyss and Ciber until Nicho and Joe Lider come out and help Ciber clear the ring before Vampiro and Konnan could come to blows.
AAA Cruiserweight Championship Match
Extreme Tiger (C) vs Christopher Daniels (LE*) vs NOSAWA vs Jack Evans - 8/10
This originally was supposed to be a '4 nations' match with Kozlov instead of Jack Evans, making it Russia vs USA vs Mexico vs Japan, but Kozlov would end up being moved to the cage match.
Match was good, a lot of great action. Not the fast pace you would imagine given the participants, but the moves were definitely up to it, a high flying X Division style match.
Extreme Tiger hit a top rope 450 to the floor on NOSAWA for a near fall. He would be eliminated a minute later after a footstomp. Second eliminated was Tiger at the hands of Daniels when Relampago came out to distract him, giving Daniels the opening for a School Boy. Daniels and Evans had some good near falls, one with Daniels locking in a single leg Boston Crab for a near submission and another with the BME. Evans would make a comeback with a bunch of jumping knee attacks and a failed 630, and a final 630 Phoenix Splash for the win. Mexico loves Jack Evans, they were wild for the win.
Daniels got busted open really early in the match, and it didn't seem on purpose.
Dr. Wagner Jr. Promo - Good, basic stuff.
Los Maniacos Promo - Good. Electroshock congratulates Silver Cain and UG. Cain told Electroshock that they won't interfere in his match with Wagner because they believe he can do this alone.
AAA Megachampionship Match
Electroshock (C) vs Dr. Wagner Jr. - 9/10
This is the first one-on-one match of the night and we're almost done with the show. This was awesome, it was straight up wrestling, none of the hardcore bullshit that AAA is full of. Fans at one point even shat on the match because Electro and Wagner were chain-wrestling on the mat, and even commentary had to remind you that THIS is what Lucha Libre is.
Story here was that Electro had the size advantage early on, but as the match went on, Wagner had better stamina and slowly started to gas out Electro. They traded a bunch of submissions and near falls as the match went on, and at the end, Wagner was completely in control until he dropped Electro with the Wagner Driver for the win.
Post-match - El Mesias came out and awarded Wagner with the Megachampionship.
"La Parka" Name Rights on the Line
L.A. Park (w/Dorian Roldan) vs La Parka (w/Joaquin Roldan) - 9.5/10
La Parka definitely got the bigger pop of the two, which at this point is understandable since L.A. Park is part of La Legion Extranjera. As the match goes on, more and more people started getting behind Park until they were divided in half.
This got violent really quick. The feud between these two is legendary without actually feuding, it's all fueled by real life politics that in a way, is neither wrestler's fault, but AAA's management.
Match saw L.A. Park DOMINATE La Parka for the first 10 or so minutes of the match, he beat the shit out of him, tore his mask, used chairs, broke tables, just complete dominance by Park. It wasn't until Park went for a second table that Parka managed to throw Park into the table to finally get some offense. Parka's comeback was awesome. He tore Park's mask too, he brawled into the crowd, he was out there hitting Tope Suicidas.
Both men started going back and forward. Park started going for Parka's back, while Parka went for the head, in a really cool way, they were both using Backstabber and Codebreakers respectively, showing their similarities, but contrast nonetheless.
Towards the end of the match, for different reasons, both men started arguing with Copetes, the referee. The spot ended with Park hitting a Tope on both Parka and Copetes, except Parka got out of the way, and Copetes took a ref bump with a full Tope. This led to Park hitting a Piledriver on Parka, which is an illegal move in Mexico.
Dorian gave Park a chair to attack Parka, but Joaquin tried to stop him. Park went after Joaquin, so Doria had a change of heart, turned on Park in order to defend his father. In return, Park attacked both Roldans. Dorian managed to recover and hit Park with a chair, but the, suddenly, two men wearing Perros Del Mal shirts jumped in, took out Dorian, pulled Park on top of Parka's body, and Hijo del Tirantes ran out for the pin.
Post-match - The rest of Los Perros del Mal came out, were talking about 20 bodies. At the end, Perro Aguayo Jr came out to a huge ovation. He cut a promo that AAA needed a new direction, and it was coming at the hands of Los Perros del Mal. He said that the best and real Parka had always been L.A. Park.
We got the announcement that the commission nullified the decision of the match since Hijo del Tirantes was not official for this match and him counting the finish, and thus La Parka had not lost the name.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
This felt like a huge show. Looking at the card before the start, you're seeing people from all over the world, you're seeing big title matches, and at the top, one of the most legendary matches anyone could book in wrestling history. The wrestling was up and down depending on the match, the less people the match had, the better it came out.
LE* = Representing La Legion Extranjera