Rey Mysterio officially signs with AAA; debut dates set

Guess we need to change this post to read "Rey's first post-WWE match in the U.S. against a familiar opponent".

Because at a press conference held yesterday in Mexico City, Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) officially announced that Rey Mysterio was joining fellow ex-WWE wrestlers Alberto El Patrón (formerly Del Rio) and Myzteziz (the original Sin Cara) in the promotion.

Rey will debut next weekend at the company's Rey de Reyes show on Sunday, March 15th.  The full card for that show in Guadalajara has not been announced yet, so all we know is that Mysterio will be there.

In a flurry of announcements intended to emphasis AAA's intentions to compete in the global pro wrestling market with WWE (similar to New Japan Pro Wrestling's announcement of their New Japan World streaming service last year), the company did confirm that they will be running a World Cup-style trios tournament for the first time since 2006.  The May 23rd show, an "International Tournament of Lucha Libre" will feature three Mexican teams, a Japanese team, a U.S. team and a "rest of the world" squad.  It's expected that Rey, El Patrón and Myzteziz will form the AAA trio, with "indy" and "legends" teams also representing the host country.

One of the points emphasized at the press conference was AAA's expansion into the English-speaking market with Lucha Underground.  There was no mention of when Mysterio will join the program that currently airs on El Rey Network and UniMás, but it's likely they will follow the same model they did with Alberto and inform the press shortly before he'll appear at a taping.  Filming is already wrapped for LU episodes that will air into May, so it may be a month or two before the former WWE champ officially joins the show.

Excited for Rey's return to lucha?  Can AAA really compete in the U.S. and other markets with Vince McMahon?  What does it say that the three biggest Latino stars WWE has tried to push in this century are now united in their home country?

You've got to admit - these guys look happy...

A photo posted by Rey Mysterio (@mr.619er) on Mar 3, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

Muchas gracias to the excellent Luchablog for their reporting on the press conference.  Head over there for more in-depth analysis of the events of the day, and for all your South of the border wrestling needs.