AAA Triplemanía XXXIII Discussion

[Kamran]

This is AAA's biggest show of the year, taking place on Saturday 16th August and we'll be able to watch free via YouTube. 

 

MATCHES

• AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee vs. El Grande Americano
• AAA Reina de Reinas Championship: Flammer (c) vs. Faby Apache vs. Natalya
• AAA Latin American Championship: El Mesías (c) vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
• AAA World Tag Team Championship - Street Fight: Los Garza (Berto and Angel) (c) vs. Pagano and Psycho Clown    
• The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Raquel Rodriguez) vs. Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa, and Lola Vice
• Bardahl Cup Triplemanía XXXIII match

 

Edited August 16, 2025 by Kamran

[BomberPat]

Only one match with no WWE talent involved, and no apuestas match at all, having already sacked off a match they spent something like 18 months building to. WWE really know how to respect the tradition and identity of lucha libre.

[Merzbow]

I bet there's no Vampiro fuck up, either. Sad, dark days.

[BomberPat]

8 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I bet there's no Vampiro fuck up, either. Sad, dark days.

something I find genuinely telling about WWE's version of AAA is that there's no room for the old boys. Eventually, assuming they don't just co opt the entire company, WWE are going to get bored of sending actual names down there, and the novelty of WWE acts on AAA shows will wear off, and they will be left with just their very small core roster. 

They're not using guys like Dr Wagner Jr, LA Park, or Blue Demon Jr, or Vampiro, their use of Negro Casas is pretty limited. There's an argument that AAA over-relied on the old guard for too long, but some of their best matches of the last decade have been old man brawls, and those old men are often their biggest draws. If WWE don't give a shit about them, even in terms of paying lip service to the idea of "tradition", I can see AAA audience numbers dwindling if the WWE stars disappear and those names never come back.

It seems like a massive misread of AAA and Lucha Libre to think, "oh the Mega Championship, that's basically their World Title, so that's the main event", when at Triplemania the main event is almost always a mask/hair match, usually between older luchadores who have built up a lot of equity in their masks. That there's no apuesta match to speak of - and that they scrapped the Alberto/Latin Lover match they'd been building to, and didn't replace Alberto with anyone in that angle - is mad. I think it's something like 25 years since there wasn't a mask/hair match at Triplemania, and even then, there were still apuesta matches on that card for other stakes.

 

I also find it very interesting where they've decided to slot Psycho Clown on the card. He had taken a bit of a step back in the last couple of years, and was arguably a fair bit behind Alberto in the babyface pecking order, but Psycho is one of their consistently biggest babyface stars, and was in the highest rated North American wrestling match this century. He's a guy you can reliably always slot into a big match or a Triplemania mask match and him not look out of place. That he's in a midcard tag team match for Tag Titles isn't the most unusual thing, he's been challenging for those belts for a while, but one stands out is that he's no longer teaming with Negro Casas, and that he's challenging a team he already lost to on Smackdown, in an unannounced match, where he was playing second fiddle to undercard comedy act Mr Iguana. I love Mr Iguana and I've been talking him up longer than anyone, but if I were Psycho Clown I'd be concerned about the writing on the wall there, in terms of where WWE sees his spot as being.

[HarmonicGenerator]

7 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

... That there's no apuesta match to speak of - and that they scrapped the Alberto/Latin Lover match they'd been building to, and didn't replace Alberto with anyone in that angle - is mad. I think it's something like 25 years since there wasn't a mask/hair match at Triplemania, and even then, there were still apuesta matches on that card for other stakes.

Is that the same Latin Lover who was in the 1997 Royal Rumble?

[westlondonmist]

This is basically Clash at the Castillo isn't it? Surely they could have at least done an El Grande American mask vs hair match, where they chuck out a random as El Grande Americano and a different one steps out with the mask 30 seconds later. 

[Merzbow]

Oh the whole thing is entirely playing into the false vision that Americans have of Lucha, other companies have been guilty of that too to a lesser extent. It's kinda gross, watering down a culture as if the masses of the US are too thick to accept the real deal.

[Snitsky's back acne]

6 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Is that the same Latin Lover who was in the 1997 Royal Rumble?

Yes,

[WyattSheepMask]

Even if they didn’t want to do a proper Hair v Mask Match, they should’ve at least put Dom’s tache on the line 

[Kamran]

The show begins at 2am UK time:

 

[Merzbow]

Just love how they forced Triple H to be front and center in the ring at the start, poor guy.

[Kamran]

37 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Just love how they forced Triple H to be front and center in the ring at the start, poor guy.

Nick Khan looked thrilled to be there 

[TheScarlettChad]

Peacemaker sponsoring it is interesting. Would've thought AEW had WB sponsors locked down. 

[Infinity Land]

37 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Peacemaker sponsoring it is interesting. Would've thought AEW had WB sponsors locked down. 

AAA airs on HBO MAX in Mexico. 

[JLM]

Hunter has been wanting a Triplemania ever since The Rock got Smackdown. Let him have this.