I’m going to be honest straight out of the gate and admit that I have seen very little lucha save for one CMLL show I went to in Mexico City last year and all of Lucha Underground. Frankly, Lucha Underground probably doesn’t count as it’s very heavily produced. From its inception in 1992 as Antonio Peña’s offshoot of CMLL until late 2007, AAA promoted other company’s championships and champions with very little restriction. Then, they held a tournament in which the International Wrestling Council Championship, the Grand Prix Championship Wrestling SUPER-X Monster Championship, the Mexican National Championship, and the Universal Wrestling Association Light Heavyweight Championship were all defended. The winner became the AAA Mega Champion by unifying those titles. The Mexical National title was eventually reestablished as its own thing, but three out of four ain’t bad.
October 7, 2007 – Guadalajara, Jalisco
El Mesias def. Chessman {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Verano de Escandalo. This was the tournament finals. Chessman came in as the UWA champ, Mesias as the holder of the other three titles (sort of; the current Mexican National Championship lineage doesn’t recognize him as a former champion). I know Mesias from LU, so at least I’m easing myself into things. Anyway, this was bad. It was basically a crappy ECW main event, where they brawled, hit a big ladder or chair spot, then whoever was left on his feet walked around rather than pressing the action. At one point, Mesias went for a dive off of a very tall ladder onto Chessman on a table on the floor, but fell short and just hit the floor. So that caused him to separate his shoulder and the match couldn’t really continue. Chessman quickly hit Mesias with wrapped knuckles for the win at 19:14. But then the referee found the foreign object and reversed the decision. Mesias won the inaugural title match by disqualification in a match that up until that point had no disqualifications. He never got to celebrate with the title. I give this match one star because early on it had one of the best super jumps I’ve ever seen in wrestling. *
March 30, 2008 – Monterrey, Nuevo León
Cibernetico def. El Mesias {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Rey de Reyes. Luckily, Mesias was only out of action for a month and actually defended the title successfully once before this. The hype video sure made this seem like it was a gigantic deal. O Fortuna tends to have that effect, though. And Mesias comes out to Lux Aeterna and Cibernetico uses Seek & Destroy, so they’re hitting a lot of epic tropes. This was more grounded, if kind of boring. You had Mesias controlling most of it, with some help from his group La Secta. Mesias and his crew tried to powerbomb Cibernetico through a flaming table, but one of Cibernetico’s boys saved him. The distraction allowed Cibernetico to hit a stunner, a low blow, and a chokeslam for the win at 12:20. Not good, but not embarrassing at least. Cibernetico defended the title against Mesias’s crew for most of the year. **
December 21, 2008 – Orizaba, Veracruz
El Mesias def. El Zorro {AAA Mega Championship Ladder Match}
From Guerre de Titanes. Cibernetico quit the company when Konnan’s faction took (worked) control of AAA. From what I can gather it was a storyline that turned into a real life, two-year departure from AAA for Cibernetico. Mesias would have to join Konnan’s Legión Extranjera if he lost. Charly Manson was the referee. I’m not sure what a special ref can do in a ladder match. This was a ladder match in that the belt was hanging above the ring and there were spots done with ladders, but you’d never know that either guy wanted to reach the title based on what they did in this match. Chessman interfered and misted both guys, then tried to bribe Manson into letting him climb the ladder and get the belt. This happened halfway into the match, before either of the wrestlers who were actually in the match ever climbed a ladder. Chessman attacked Manson when Manson wouldn’t allow it. Then a bunch of guys like Superfly, Vampiro, and La Parka ran out to stop Chessman. Konnan’s crew then came out to beat up the helpers. Apparently the match is still going on. Zorro climbed the ladder and Mesias was supposed to knock him over onto the stable of foreigners, but much like Mesias in 2007 he fell short and it looked dumb. At least nobody got hurt. The cherry on top was that when Mesias grabbed the belt, he didn’t unhook it and the apparatus holding it came down too like a bungee jump. Mesias finally unhooked the belt at 15:19. This was clearly a colossal mess, but I had fun watching the car crash so it falls into the so bad it’s good category. Konnan and company (Teddy Hart, Jack Evans, and Kenzo Suzuki) attack Mesias after the match, but the same crew as before makes the save. *½
June 13, 2009 – Mexico City, Mexico
Dr. Wagner Jr. def. El Mesias {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Triplemania XVII. Finally, a title change I could sink my teeth into. In a turn of events I didn’t expect, they worked this like a major main event from the ‘70s. It was broken up into different large segments, all of which had Mesias in control and Wagner just barely hanging on. Thanks to that, the crowd was rabid for Wagner by the end. There was some serious big match energy here. The only trace of modernity really was the table spot, which itself worked quite well at putting down one of Wagner’s comebacks. It probably could have been shorter, but I was never bored. And I wish Mesias would do more to push the action forward than just mug after a big move, but perhaps that’s why he lost in the end. Wagner hit the Wagner Driver, his second of the match, for the win at 36:15. ****
December 27, 2009 – Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas
El Mesias def. Dr. Wagner Jr. {AAA Mega Championship Domo de la Muerte Match}
From Guerra de Titanes. This cage looks more like the Thunderdome than the WWE Thunderdome. It also doesn’t fit the ring the same way the Six Sides of Steel does, but then it’s not meant to be a typical cage match. Most of the match was both guys hitting each other with small garbage bins. The match saw rope breaks despite being no disqualification dome of death match. What would happen had Mesias not let go of his hold? The crowd liked this a lot more when they traded wrestling moves than when they mindlessly hit each other with weapons. This didn’t need to be nearly as long as it was. There were moments when the brawl felt intense, but not many of them. There was an awkward interference attempt that went nowhere and led to nothing and made those trying to interfere look really dumb. It looked like the finish was supposed to be Mesias hitting an avalanche DVD through a table, but Wagner’s shoulders couldn’t be pinned on top of the debris. So Mesias hit a Tombstone Piledriver for the win at 36:38. Mesias beat up the referee after the match for making things difficult for him. ***
March 21, 2010 – Querétaro City, Querétaro
Electroshock def. El Mesias and Mr. Anderson {AAA Mega Championship Triple Threat Match}
From Rey de Reyes. Anderson was representing TNA here. I guess I should clench my cheeks and do the TNA/Impact Championship one of these days. This felt totally inessential, as if they’d selected two opponents for Mesias at random so he could have a win to pad his stats but then decided last minute to go another way with it. Anderson sent Mesias to the floor and Mesias couldn’t get back into the ring in time to stop Anderson from tapping out to Electroshock’s seated abdominal stretch at 11:04. It wasn’t convincing at all. The match was fine, but very much just fine and felt more like a midcard TV match than the headliner of a big show. I looked at the card for the whole show and it all looked pretty bad, so I guess this match was appropriate. **½
June 6, 2010 – Mexico City, Mexico
Dr. Wagner Jr. def. Electroshock {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Triplemania XVIII. Nice to see Electroshock dropped the Giant Gonzalez gear for this match. This was solid. It never really felt like Electroshock was going to retain though. Everytime he cheated it was right in front of the referee, so it wasn’t a threat. Wagner sort of just rolled through him. I suppose that’s good for the semi-main event of your marquee show. Wagner won in 14:54 with the Wagner Driver. ***
December 12, 2010 – Zapopan, Jalisco
El Zorro def. Dr. Wagner Jr. {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Guerra de Titanes. Zorro looks a lot less like Zorro than the last time I saw him. Konnan interfered liberally any time Wagner had Zorro in a submission hold. I found that annoying until Joaquin Roaldan did the same thing to Zorro later on. When we did get to see Wagner fight Zorro, it was fun. But it didn’t happen often as the match was really just an excuse for the promoter battle. Wagner got his hands on Konnan’s clubs and fought off Konnan’s goons, but then Konnan hit Wagner, Zorro rolled Wagner up, and the referee made a fast count at 13:37. Lots going on here that doesn’t work for me out of context. If you were into AAA and knew about the father vs. son Roldan feud at the time this might have landed better for you. **½
June 18, 2011 – Mexico City, Mexico
Jeff Jarrett def. El Zorro {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Triplemania XIX. So now there’s a full blown TNA invasion of AAA. This match, for the company’s top title, was third from the top behind an LA Park vs. Mesias mask vs. hair match and a Wagner vs. Rob Van Dam match for a new championship. The first half of this match was fine for the midcard of a random show, but lacking given its place on the biggest show of the year. Once Jarrett started in with the escalating cheating with the help of Karen Jarrett, things started to get cute. I liked that some of the cheating worked and sometimes Jarrett ended up with a face full of his own powder. A guitar shot only got two but Jarrett scored the win with a cane-assisted Stroke at 15:34. ***
April 1, 2012 – Zapopan, Jalisco
El Mesias def. Jeff Jarrett {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Rey de Reyes. Mesias lost his match at Triplemania and I think he looks good with short hair. There was a cute bit here where Jarrett handcuffed Mesias to the ropes, but it backfired because while the ref was trying to deal with that, Extreme Tiger came in and attacked Jarrett. The rest of the match was kinda bad. It was all punches and kicks and ref bumps and guitar shots. Park came out to help Mesias, allowing Mesias to guitar Jarrett and hit a splash off the top for the win at 11:08. Nothing to see here. **¼
December 15, 2012 – Zapopan, Jalisco
El Texano Jr. def. El Mesias {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Guerra de Titanes. Now this is the epic feel I want in a title match. These two grungy dudes started off having a good ol’ fashioned lucha-style wrestling match. Then, Silver King started interfering on Texano’s behalf and things got kind of rote and lame for a bit. But then Texan and Mesias got busted open and started throwing bombs at each other. That’s what I want in a match where the premier title is on the line! Octagon Jr (Kalisto) tried to help Mesias fend off King, but got his ass whooped. King’s interference allowed for Texano to hit a double powerbomb for the win at 13:59 (shown of) 29:12. He held the title for two straight years after this. ***¼
July 12, 2014 – Zapopan, Jalisco
El Patron Alberto def. El Texano Jr. {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Guerra de Titanes. We didn’t even really get a chance to see how boring Alberto could be here because most of the match was Perro Aguayo Jr. running in and cheating all over the place. A ref got bumped so a second plump ref ran out to save the day. Mesias got involved on Alberto’s behalf and celebrated with him after he won the title with the cross armbreaker at 15:28. It was impossible to get invested in this because Texano and Alberto fought less than Alberto and Aguayo, I think. Alberto held the title for almost a year and then bailed on the company to re-sign with WWE. **½
April 2, 2016 – San Luis Potosí City, San Luis Potosí
El Texano Jr. def. El Mesias {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Rey de Reyes. These two beat Wagner and Psycho Clown in a tag team match to earn the right to fight each other for the title here. Well, it was a match without any interference of garbage nonsense to speak of, so there’s that. That said, it didn’t set the world on fire. As a change of pace I appreciated the simplicity. Also, Texano winning straight up with a powerbomb at 12:17 caught me off guard. Given that, the match probably had a few more minutes left in it, as the finished didn’t feel like much of a finish at all **¾
March 19, 2017 – Monterrey, Nuevo León
Johnny Mundo def. El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma {AAA Mega Championship vs. AAA Latin American Championship vs. AAA World Cruiserweight Championship Triple Threat Match}
From Rey de Reyes. Though all three titles were on this line, this was not a unification match. After Mundo won the titles, he lost all three of them on separate occasions to separate people. Well, he lost the LA and WC titles on the same night, but in separate matches. This was a mixed bag. The action was at least as good, and in most cases much better, than in any of the matches that came before it in this review. But the booking around it was pretty weak. Fantasma hit Texano with the Thrill of the Kill on a chair, and somehow EMTs immediately knew to come out and take him away when he’d only been on the mat for less than a minute (the referee had been knocked out and couldn’t make a count, let alone call for EMTs). Then the finish saw Killer Kross come out and hit Fantasma with the Doomsday Saito Suplex before Mundo hit the End of the World at 16:30 for the win. Lame booking, fun match otherwise. ***¼
January 26, 2018 – Mexico City, Mexico
Rey Wagner def. Johnny Mundo {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Guerra de Titanes. Rey is the good doctor, unmasked and looking like your cool and dangerous uncle. You probably don’t have that uncle and neither do I, but he’s out there. Vampiro is the special guest referee. This turned into Mundo, Hernandez, and a heel turning Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Vampiro and Rey Wagner. It’s a shame, because it seemed like the actual participants in the match were up for a real match, but the booking was silly once again. In the end, Vampiro hit Mundo with a chokeslam which gave Wagner the win at 10:05. Lame again. I’d like to blame this on the TNA partnership, but this crap was going on before that started. **½
June 3, 2018 – Monterrey, Nuevo León
Jeff Jarrett def. Rey Wagner and Rey Mysterio Jr. {AAA Mega Championship Triple Threat Match}
From Verano de Escandalo. This one wasted no time in bringing the nonsense, as the referee (who I can’t identify) was biased against Wagner and eventually kicked him during a count. So Wagner took him out La Parka came out to replace him as ref. But then Parka also wouldn’t count for Wagner and then made a fast count for Jarrett at 16:20 (much less was actually shown, maybe half) after he hit dick shots on both opponents. He unmasked and revealed that he was actually Konnan. This was barely a match and a huge waste of Mysterio. Fenix ran out and attacked everyone after the match. *½
August 25, 2018 – Mexico City, Mexico
Fenix def. Jeff Jarrett, Brian Cage, and Rich Swann {AAA Mega Championship Four Way Match}
From Triplemania XXVI. This was a lot of fun for quite a while. Swann is really talented and Cage can do freakish things in the ring. The real story was between Fenix and Jarrett, and they incorporated the other two into their fight very well. The problem is the same thing the problem always is in AAA Mega Championship title change matches, which is that nothing that happens matters because some gaga happens at the end and that’s all that makes a difference. Here, it’s La Parka coming out, Jarrett presuming that it’s Konnan under the mask again, but this time it’s Wagner and he counts the pin for Fenix at 15:27 after an Ace Crusher. The finish just ruined the match for me and made me wonder what the point of having Cage and Swann in there at all was. ***¼
October 19, 2019 – Orizaba, Veracruz
Kenny Omega def. Fenix {AAA Mega Championship Match}
From Heroes Immortales XIII. This matchup seems like a sign that AAA wasn’t going to screw around with the match. Given that at this point they’d presumably ended their agreement with Impact after Jarrett left and were working with AEW (and MLW), it appeared like a step in the right direction. There’s not much to say about this one other than it was a hard fought match, there was no nonsense, and Omega got to win the thing clean. It’s a bummer that I had to wait until a match in 2019 to see that, and that it was nine years earlier when the last AAA Mega Championship change happened without interference. Omega hit a superbomb, a tiger driver, the V Trigger and the One Winged Angel for the win at 19:38. ***¾
Oof, this review was a bummer. The sense I got from AAA was that they’re the WWE of lucha, which is something I’d heard before. It’s odd that this product is more geared towards children and yet there’s a ton of blood. In any event, I do hope that after the pandemic, they continue the shift toward exciting wrestling and away from crash TV silliness. One has to wonder when they’ll even be able to get their champion back across the border.