Lucha libre group, AAA returned to WWE’s Youtube channel for its second event broadcasted under the TKO banner, Triplemania in Mexico City this past weekend. As of this writing, the show, which was broadcasted in English and Spanish, garnered a staggering 4.3 million views, making it the most-viewed event in AAA history.
That right there is one of the biggest perks of the purchase by the WWE, the distribution of the product, as well as the ability to merchandise it, are exponentially bigger with the WWE machine behind it. The biggest takeaway from the Triplemania event is that there’s undoubtedly an audience for lucha libre beyond just the typical Mexican audience.
At the same time, while it’s a part of the process and not necessarily a total negative, Triplemania also provided examples of where TKO brass will have to bridge the gap so to speak with the cultural differences of lucha libre if they want to truly integrate the Mexican-based genre into the bigger platform of the WWE umbrella. That’s absolutely not to say that the office should change the structure of lucha libre, but rather find a way to present the traditional aspects of the sport in Mexico to the wider audience so that each portion of the show will be put into proper context.
The in-ring aspects of the six-match card is almost moot, mostly because the upside of the project is much bigger than any particular show, especially with the amount of money involved with media rights deals in the modern era. Triplemania as an event was less about the in-ring action and more about the prospects of the success, or potential pitfalls of the venture. Assuming the office can get the newer audience up to speed on the landscape of lucha libre and the history of AAA, similar to the way that Mike Tenay did brilliant work in WCW for the lucha bouts, there’s the potential for the AAA project to become another valuable entity within the ranks of the TKO corporation.
The opening battle royal was fun, even if it left a few of those gaps mentioned earlier not fully explained. In a scenario that happened a few different times throughout the night, there was a few competitors that weren’t booked for the When Worlds Collide show last month that were included on Triplemania that the non-Mexican audience would have no idea who they were or any reference point to truly understand their significance to the sport. Cibernetico, who was actually in the Royal Rumble in 1997 during the original WWF/AAA working agreement, has been one of the well-known names within lucha libre for more than thirty years, but to the majority of the fans that tuned into the event, at least on the English WWE Youtube page, he just looked like an older wrestler that was briefly in the ring. Of course, it’s going to take time for the WWE to properly put lucha legends in perspective to fully utilize their status so it’s not something that’s impossible to get over to a bigger audience, but it’s definitely going to take more than monthly events to establish the luminaries to the international audience.
It was good to see Omos back in the ring for Triplemania, mostly because he’s undoubtedly a marketable commodity, but not only has the way that the WWE used him, but also how the WWE used giants in general makes it a better option for him to be a part of the AAA project. Keep in mind, the more that the WWE used any giant that they could find, or basically the further they got away from the philosophy that they used for Andre back in the day, the less mystic the giants had in the grand scene of things. The Big Show started off as a major player when he debuted in the WWF in 1999, but when he was shipped down to OVW to lose weight just a few years later, he wasn’t protected the way the giants of the past were. Sure, when he would keep himself in shape, he would get a renewed push, but with the decline of his credibility, particularly who he would be booked to sell for, as well as the compromises to the credibility to his character with a series of baby face and heel switches, most of the aura of The Big Show diminished. Similar to how Andre was the benchmark for giants in the WWE in the previous era, when the status of Big Show declined, the dynamic of giants in the organization was less important as well. Keep in mind, The Great Khali had an initial push to the world heavyweight title before he became a comedy character.
When Omos was defeated in less than five minutes by Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania a few years ago, his time as a featured star in the WWE was basically over since it sacrificed his credibility as a force within the company. It goes without saying that when some grapplers are so tall that it affects their mobility, their style might not suite the modern era, but the doesn’t take away from the value of the performer under the right circumstances. The sport in Mexico, much like in Japan, still has the aura around giants in pro wrestling since the concept of a giant hasn’t been diluted the way that it was in America. This opens the door for Omos to have a fresh run and become an established star in AAA. The spot with Microman was too obvious not to book when you have both performers in the same building. With over 82 million views on social media, it puts a brighter spotlight on Omos than anything he did in WWE previously, and it goes without saying that Microman could be a very marketable star. Omos getting the win makes sense since it puts that previously mentioned spotlight on him.
The Latin America championship match was another example of the disconnect that there was between the narrative in the ring and the international audience. Clearly, there was a lot of drama and cache for what took place based on the reaction of the crowd in the building, but for those that weren’t aware of El Mesías, who wasn’t featured on the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view, and the rivalry with the Wagner family, the presentation didn’t have the drama that it would’ve had otherwise. Mesías, who originally made a name for himself working in Puerto Rico as Ricky Banderas, is a journeyman that has competed for several different organizations for nearly three decades, but he’s never had a major run in the United States that would’ve introduced him to American fans. He had a cup of coffee in TNA almost 20 years ago and was featured on MTV for the 2 or 3 weeks that Wrestling Society X was on the air, but the vast majority of the English audience probably had no idea who he was. Dr. Wagner Jr. is an absolute legend in Mexico, but his appearance didn’t have the same importance to most of the viewing audience since you’d have to be a diehard fan to be familiar with his accomplishments in Mexico.
The mixed trios match, the tag title match, and the women’s triple threat match were fine and an example of how WWE stars can be booked into the mix to bring more viewers to the AAA product, but those bouts were mostly par for the course. That’s not meant as a knock either, if matches like this are how the WWE talent are going to be booked in AAA then it’s probably going to be a successful formula, particularly because the AAA product isn’t being presented as secondary.
The main event was a four-way match that had mostly WWE talent, but Vikingo was victorious so it was another indication that AAA, at least on their own events, are going to be promoted on a similar level as the WWE guys. AJ Styles’ appearance had a dual purpose, as it furthers his storyline with Dominik Mysterio on Raw and adds an extra sizzle to Triplemania.
The next AAA event will be held September 12th with Dominik Mysterio vs. Vikingo already announced as the main event. It will be interesting to see if there will be some type of regular program to showcase AAA events, as there were other shows in Mexico that weren’t broadcasted on the WWE platform between the When Worlds Collide show and this Triplemania event. Maybe this will be a tailored integration of AAA programming onto the WWE platform, but at some point, if management truly wants to expand the lucha organization to a bigger audience and thus maximize the revenue possible, there will have to be some type of distribution on a regular basis. Considering the recent ESPN contract, it will be interesting to see if there will be a deal for the lucha content on a different platform.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on X (Twitter) @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
