WWE X AAA Worlds Collide Review

This past April during Wrestlemania weekend, WWE announced that they purchased the long running Lucha Libre promotion AAA. A promotion that is responsible for the likes of El Hijo del Santo, Octagón, Blue Panther, the Casas brothers (Negro Casas and Heavy Metal), Eddie Guerrero, Cien Caras, Konnan, and Perro Aguayo, among many more through their long tenure.

This is the first cobranded show that WWE has run in quite some time, with perhaps the most recent one being EVOLVE's 10 year anniversary back in 2019. But before that? Who knows.

This show opens up with a pretty amazing video package going over the history and legacy of lucha libre as a wrestling art form narrated by the legend Rey Mysterio. A great way to introduce newer fans to what lucha libre is like, including myself.

I've seen bits of lucha libre here and there, and I was a massive fan of Lucha Underground when it was around, but outside of that I don't really watch that much or know anything about it. I recognize some names on this card such as Aerostar, El Hijo Del Vikingo, and El Hijo De Dr. Wagner Jr...while everyone else is unknown to me.

We then get to see the commentary team is Corey Grave and Konnan! Which I think is pretty great to get a good view point of both WWE and AAA representation to inform about all of the possible aspects. Such a great thing to see and showing some care and attention to detail.

This is followed by performances of both the Mexican and American national anthems, which were both beautiful and amazing performances. This is then followed by a promo from Rey Mysterio thanking the crowd and showing his gratitude and love for Lucha Libre and wrestling fans, which was really cool and a sweet moment to have with such a legend.

Match 1

6-Man Tag Team Match

Octagon Jr, Aerostar, & Mr. Iguana vs LWO (Dragon Lee, Cruz Del Toro, & Lince Dorado)

We get into our first match packed full of luchadors, including the returning to WWE Lince Dorado.

The crowd is hot from the moment the entrances happen and stay loud for all of it. A great way to start the show with a lot of talented and exciting talent doing what they do best. Cruz Del Toro and Octagon Jr. start off the match and have some great chemistry, getting the fans louder with exciting technical showcases and great moves.

This then goes into Lince vs Iguana, with the crowd going wild for Iguana. I personally have never even seen Mr. Iguana before, so seeing his super weird mannerisms and massive amount of charisma is pretty awesome. He is a lot of fun to watch with a style of wrestling I have never seen before and is incredibly inventive and creative.

He takes down :ince and then puts on his Iguana puppet to loud cheers, including some pretty fun and creative moments and moves that really blew me away. Iguana is super impressive, and his fun character work with the puppet had the crowd going wild while not being super distracting. It's comedy, but still works in a wrestling way which I can appreciate.

Dragon Lee and Aerostar are up next, the two I know the most about from this match. They are both incredibly talented and Aerostar especially is so incredibly athletic and creative. He has done some amazing and pretty ridiculous things in a wrestling ring, so seeing him on a pretty big stage is great to see. The crowd loves them both and they put on a pretty great showcase for a bit.

This goes into a bit of a brawl followed by a bunch of dives to the outside, which does end with Octagon Jr just planting on the floor which looked rough, but he got back up after a bit so I think he is okay. Just his opponent was out of position, which happens.

The crowd quickly got into "This Is Awesome" chants, which is something that is so overdone yet this time it felt appropriate. While that happens, the LWO shows some pretty great chemistry and teamwork with some cool tag team moves in order to keep the advantage and isolate Aerostar for a bit. That is until Aerostar is able to tag in Iguana, who fights off against Cruz Del Toro for a bit. Cruz is somebody I've been a fan of since his NXT days as Raul Mendoza, and I've even seen him live back them. He is super talented and deserves a bigger way to showcase his ability, and I hope that this is just the start of that. He is amazing.

We then get more comedy as Lince Dorado attacks the iguana puppet, including a Spanish Fly which I found hilarious and the crowd was going wild for. A comedy bit that was ridiculous and over the top but fun nonetheless.

Iguana goes crazy and starts to whip the LWO with the puppet, but it has no effect and the LWO give him a triple Superkick, as well as Lince hitting a double Handspring Stunner on Aerostar and Octagon while the LWO goes on a big run of moves and taking out their opponents. The crowd got louder and cheered like crazy for all sorts of high flying and chaos, which sometimes leads to moves being missed by the camera which sucks.

We get Lince and Octagon fighting it out, including a pretty awesome Avalanche Hurricanrana that looked incredible, followed by Aerostar hitting some unique offense and everyone getting a move in to lay everyone out once again. So many moves I can't even explain or recap because it's all impressive and amazing to witness. Just go watch this match!

More dives to the outside, including an absolutely bonkers Tornillo by Cruz Del Toro that looks incredible, followed right after by some LOUD chops from Lince and Octagon that shows how Lucha Libre isn't just flying. It's everything you can think of. Octagon hits a wild and beautiful Moonsault Fallaway Slam off the top rope to get the win for his team, with the crowd going bonkers for the match.

Result: Octagon Jr, Aerostar, and Mr. Iguana win

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

After the match, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio cut the celebration short from the crowd. Cutting a promo about how the wrestlers are Rey Mysterio fans (Dominik's father) and insults his dad, including calling the wrestlers and fans stupid. Octagon Jr gets out of the ring and in his face while Dominik insults him in Spanish, leading to the two brawling at ringside while the crowd goes wild. Referees run out to seperate them while the crowd was going wild, which leads to something I was not expecting at all:

Dominik Mysterio vs Octagon Jr for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Money In The Bank...which is raking place right after this show. Pretty awesome to hear and I love that Octagon is getting a chance to show off his skill in front of a mainstream WWE audience.

We get a video package talking about the history of AAA and it's founding back in 1992. A fun and well made video package that does a lot of informing and education that I loved.

We see some AAA legends in the crowd getting great receptions and little videos showing their history, which is awesome to see and a great thing for lucha libre fans. We then get to the normal WWE thing with showing celebrities in the crowd, which is always great to see.

Backstage, we see Legado Del Fantasma getting interviewed and cutting a promo that was great to see them being treated like big deals, which they have needed for a LONG time.

We then get a great video package for our next match, a women's tag team match. Stephanie Vaquer (who is also competing in the women's Money in The Bank match later on in the night) teaming with NXT's Lola Vice against AAA legends Dalys and Chik Tormenta. I have never seen Chik or Dalys wrestle, so I'm excited to see how they do.

Match 2

Tag Team Match

Stephanie Vaquer & Lola Vice vs Dalys & Chik Tormenta

We start off the match with Vaquer and Dalys, with the crowd already hot and loud for everything tat they do. Dalys showed off some amazing strength and power before tagging in Tormenta, the two working very well together to beat down on Vaquer. Lola gets tagged in and we get some great team work briefly from them before we see Tormenta and Vice trading stiff strikes back and forth that was great to see.

Tormenta shows off some great technical prowess with a nice catch of a kick into a submission hold before Lola lays into her with great kicks, and even shows off some Lucha Libre moves we haven't seen from her like a Hurricanrana. Lola takes out both women with Hip Attacks and the crowd clearly loves her, which is great to see.

Lola has a very unique style where it is all strikes and submissions, which is great to showcase in a show that is sure to have a lot of high flying excitement. Lola is different and unique on this show, which is great to see and something that is a whole lot of fun with the crowd clearly loving it.

Lola starts to get worked over and beaten down by Tormenta and Dalys, slowing the match down with the crowd doing what they are supposed to do by cheering on Vice and booing the AAA talent, since that are working as the heels. And building for the hot tag to Vaquer that should make the crowd go wild.

Vaquer got the tag and the crowd barely reacted, which was really a shame. Vaquer went on a good run of offense, taking out both of her opponents by herself for a bit with some high flying and high impact moves. But then we get Vaquer and Vice both hitting Vaquer's signature Devil's Kiss move, which is often times something that gets the crowd hot on its own. The crowd did the noises that Booker T did for it on NXT, and it was a great moment. Vaquer and Dalys traded more moves back and forth before Vaquer finally hit the SVB and was able to get the win in what was ultimately a bit of a whatever match.

Felt a little slow at times and I understand that Vaquer didn't want to go TOO crazy since she has a multi woman ladder match later on in the night.

Result: Stephanie Vaquer & Lola Vice win

Rating: 3/5 Stars

We hear some quick words from Vice and Vaquer, saying that Vaquer is great and is going to win the Money In The Bank ladder match.

We then go backstage to one of the men in the main event match, Chad Gable. He has had a storyline for a while where he has been unable to defeat Luchadors and said he was going to "conquer the dark art of Lucha Libre" yet he been unable to do so. He is facing AAA superstar El Hijo Del Vikingo for the AAA Mega Championship, which is their top title in the promotion. What is sure to be a GREAT match.

Match 3

Six Man Tag Team Match

Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Berto, and Angel) vs Psycho Clown, El Hijo De Dr. Wagner Jr, and Pagano

Legado are a team in WWE I have loved for quite some time and totally think should be doing better things, much like the LWO members. I am hoping that this future with AAA does a lot for them.

Meanwhile, I have not seen anything of Psycho Clown or Pagano, but I am quite familiar with Wagner Jr from his time in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He is quite an awesome talent and can put on amazing matches, so I'm very excited to see how this match goes.

The crowd is super hot for this match, especially the AAA talent. Wagner and Berto start off with some great back and forth before Angel comes in, followed quickly by Psycho Clown coming into the ring and showing off some great striking and power. Some serious speed and intensity that has the crowd going wild. Psycho even hit a Double German Suplex onto Angel and Berto, which had the crowd really light up. Clown showed all sorts of awesome moves, including a Tope Suicida through the turnbuckles onto Santos on the floor. The crowd loved him and he showed off his skill and why he's so popular.

Pagano comes in next, and is a little bit sloppy but the commentators make it seem like that's his character. I've never seen him wrestle before so I don't know how he normally wrestles, but he had quite a lot of moments of messiness. He goes for a Tope Suicida, but Legado Del Fantasma work together and make Pagano flip onto his back and land right on the floor. The crowd went wild and this makes me think that Pagano is a hardcore type guy who does crazy bumps here and there.

Legado Del Fantasma were working together on Pagano and were really showing a whole lot of chemistry and great skill, once again just showing that they deserve more success and victories in WWE. They had some great moments and some awesome tandem manuvers and even Berto showing off some unique and fun offense.

Psycho Clown is back in the match after Pagano got a chance to tag out. Psycho Clown is really showing a whole lot of intensity and skill and power that makes him my favorite of the match, which is crazy considering how big a fan I have been of Wagner for years at this point. Psycho Clown was showing off a whole lot of exciting moves and the crowd absolutely loved him.

We then get to see Escobar and Wagner fight it out, which is a match I would totally love to see between them. He is so talented and amazing, taking out all of Legado on his own before we get a bunch of awesome dives from the AAA people that had the crowd lighting up once again.

Wagner showed off some great skill and nearly won the match before Legado began to work together again and beat down on Wagner. Berto and Angel take Wagner to the top rope and hit a great Avalanche Gorilla Press Slam before they get taken out. Psycho Clown hit a rather terrifying Psycho Driver (Air Raid Crash) on the apron to Berto, followed by a Moonsault to the floor by Angel, followed by a Crossbody from Pagano, followed by a crazy Cannonball off the steps by Wagner onto Escobar. The chaotic flying around and dives were amazing to watch, if a bit hard to keep up with.

Angel broke the pinfall attempt and everyone got their chance to hit big moves like often happens in these matches, but it usually works in making everyone look good and impressive. Berto hits a Spear that takes out Pagano, Clown, Angel, and himself through the barricade. Wagner and Escobar are left alone in the ring to fight it out. Escobar hits a very impressive Avalanche Hurricanrana for a nearfall. There is some more fighting back and forth before Escobar finally gets the win for his team with a Phantom Driver.

Result: Legado Del Fantasma wins

Rating: 4/5

I was surprised that Legado Del Fantasma got the victory, and honestly even more so that Wagner was the one to take the pinfall. But this does WONDERS for Legado Del Fantasma and is a major win that they so desperately needed. I just hope that means they get a decent bit of a push in the future.

We get a backstage interview with AAA Mega Champion El Hijo Del Vikingo, talking about how he is going to beat Chad Gable.

We see some more talent in the roster like Savio Vega, Damian Priest, and Lucha legend Blue Demon.

Match 4

NXT North American Championship Four Way

Ethan Page (c) vs Laredo Kid vs Je'Von Evans vs Rey Fenix

This match is basically guaranteed to be a wild and chaotic spot fest of high flying and dives and high speed. I am very excited for this.

Fenix is one of the best high flyers in the entire world and has some innovative and awesome stuff. And the exact same thing can be said for Je'Von Evans, who is so young but so talented and creative. Laredo Kid I really only know from his matches in AEW and ROH, and he had some great performances there, but I'm excited to see what he does here. And then Ethan Page is the bad guy who doesn't do the lucha stuff and is more of a power guy that the flying people can do stuff off of.

There is a great sequence between Fenix and Evans, who teamed together a few weeks ago on WWE Friday Night Smackdown, but were distracted by Page which lead to them losing. They have good chemistry and similar styles which is so much fun to watch.

The match is of course fast paced and hard to keep up with with all sorts of bouncing off the ropes and Hurricanranas, including one from Page himself that got a good reaction. Nobody really has the advantage, as the entire match is just going back and forth between them every few seconds.

Laredo Kid hits a beautiful Moonsault to the floor onto Page and Evans, followed up by Fenix hitting a great Tornillo onto all of them to stand tall for a bit.

The smaller guys all have moments to shine until page starts to use his strength advantage and dirty tactics to have the advantage for a bit, taking out Evans and Kid.

I can't even keep up with the action to say what is going on. It is just pure chaos and exciting moves and wild stuff. All sorts of big dives and big moves, especially giving Evans time to shine with wild dives and a Coast to Coast type move involving a flip. Page stopped Evans from winning, leading to the two getting very angry and progressing their feud that seems like a great direction for NXT in the long run.

We see Page and Fenix fight, which is wild considering just a year and a half ago they were both in AEW. Wild how time flies and how things can change.

Fenix takes out Page and then nearly wins the match pinning Evans, but Evans kicks out. We get more just chaotic fighting and moves. Again, I struggle to keep up with this and think that you just need to go watch this match. It is seriously amazing.

Page nearly pins Fenix to win with the Ego's Edge, but it gets broken up by Evans and a big springboard dive that looked great.

Evans goes on a run and looks for his finishing move the OG Cutter, but Page is able to pull Kid into the way and take the move. Page throws Evans out of the ring and onto Fenix, hitting Kid with a Twisted Grin to make sure and get the victory.

Result: Ethan Page retains the NXT North American Championship

Rating: 4.75/5 Stars

We follow that match with an incredible video package before we go into our main event match, which is sure to be a legendary battle.

Main Event

AAA Mega Championship Match

El Hijo Del Vikingo (c) vs Chad Gable

The match starts off very technical and slow. Showing off both men being technical masters, with Gable getting the advantage since he is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. The crowd is also very split, which makes this match even cooler and more special.

The match was so incredibly paced and built. The super impressive and unique submission holds back and forth as it builds a bit more and more. Vikingo is able to start doing his high speed, fast paced offense which is breath taking and mesmerizing. Including some great evasions and so many flips and spins its hard to count.

Vikingo does his first truly crazy thing with a rope walk 630 Senton to a standing Gable on the floor, which had the crowd really light up as he shows off just how crazy and athletic he is. Such a wild moment that shows that WWE isn't really holding Vikingo back or telling him not to wrestle his style, which is great to see.

Vikingo goes for a Shooting Star Press off the apron, but Gable gets his knees up to survive, followed by throwing Vikingo into the steel steps and taking some time to breathe.

Chad Gable takes out a table from under the ring, meaning that this is going to become a truly special and fun match that I am excited to see how it gets used. Gable tries to hit a German Suplex through the table, but Vikingo reverses. The two men fight around the table until Gable flips Vikingo inside out with a Lariat on the floor.

They go back into the ring where Gable dominates and beats down on Vikingo, getting time to show his methodical and technical pace. Some aggression and brutality we haven't seen from Gable in a while. A great way to showcase his character and skill in what is sure to be great for his future prospects.

Vikingo is able to fight back briefly until Gable catches Vikingo's arm into a draping Arm Bar over the ropes, still targeting Vikingo's arm. Gable goes for a dive, but Vikingo catches him in a Codebreaker which looked awesome.

I think it's weird that Gable is targeting the arm of Vikingo instead of the legs since...well Vikingo is all about flying and flips but whatever.

Gable goes to throw Vikingo out of the ring, but Vikingo bounces off the ropes so smooth and nice which allows Vikingo to fight back with his crazy offense. He drapes Gable over the middle rope and hits a wild Jumping Foot Stomp off the top rope for a nearfall.

I know there's the whole joke of Chad Gable and El Grande Americano being different people, but the fact that Gable is wrestling this high intensity and high impact match when he is also going to be wrestling as Americano in Money In The Bank later on in the night is absolutely wild. Dude deserves every title.

Vikingo fights back and hits a wild outside to inside springboard...I don't even know. Phoenix Splash? It was just so wild to see and even though I have watched Vikingo before, he is just so talented and crazy to see wrestle.

Vikingo goes for a handspring move, but Gable catches him into a Gory Special (a move that has a lot of history in Lucha Libre) before transitioning into a Flipping DDT type thing that looked awesome. Gable goes high flying and goes for a Moonsault, but lands on his feet when Vikingo rolls out of the way.

The two men fight on the top rope when Gable hits a Avalanche Sitout Powerbomb which I've never seen him do before. The impact looked ROUGH and I feel bad for their tailbones, but Vikingo survived and the match continues on.

Vikingo fights back and sends Gable to the apron, jumping off the ring post and hitting a Canadian Destroyer onto the apron. Now, this is a move I have seen Vikingo do before...but the fact that I am seeing this spot on a WWE show is what is so shocking and surprising to me. Somehow Gable kicked out, so Vikingo put Gable on the table on the outside, but Gable gets up and pushes Vikingo off the top rope and onto the floor. Gable sends Vikingo onto the table now and quickly climbs to the top rope, hitting a gosh darn Moonsault through the table that looked absolutely wild. I honestly don't know if I've ever seen a Moonsault through a table, but here we are.

The crowd was actually quiet afterwards, almost like they weren't sure what they were seeing and unsure if the two guys were even able to continue. Both men get into the ring at 9 in a great bit of drama and the crowd applauds them in what really is a great match.

The two start to trade stiff strikes back and forth until Vikingo goes for a Corkscrew Kick, but Gable dodges and locks in a Ankle Lock. Vikingo was selling it great until Gable goes for a German Suplex, but Vikingo landed on his feet and hit a Corkscrew Kick. Vikingo sells the leg really well, even if Gable doesn't really act on it super well. But hey, Vikingo hits a wild Diving Inverted Frakensteiner which looked insane and awesome so we got that.

Vikingo hits a Meteora in the corner followed by a 630 Senton in order to get the victory as the crowd goes absolutely wild.

Result: El Hijo Del Vikingo retains the AAA Mega Championship

Rating: 5/5 Stars

This show top to bottom was packed full of amazing matches and awesome moments. The last two matches were incredible, the two 6-man tags were packed full of wild fun and seeming to add future direction to this acquisition which is great to see, and the women's tag did what it needed to do with making Stephanie Vaquer truly feel like a star. This show was incredible and really makes me excited for the future of this "brand" or whatever AAA becomes.

Overall Rating: 8/10