AAA Roundup: Reina de Reinas challenger, Cage booted out of MAD, Pagano through a flaming table

Welcome to the weekly roundup of AAA news and wrestling action. Lady Shani has a new challenger for her Reina de Reinas championship, Maximo gave Rey Escorpion a stiffy in the ring, Cage was kicked out of MAD, and Pagano went crazy with a fiery table in an extreme rules match.

New Reina de Reinas contender

A new contender to Lady Shani’s Reina de Reinas title has emerged.

It appears that Lady Maravilla is next in line, although, don’t be surprised if it becomes a multi-luchadora match. It sounds like Maravilla pinned Shani in the ring at the Christmas day AAA vs Elite event. Maravilla said Shani was looking for rivals, and here she is.

I guess that money matchup between Lady Shani and Taya won’t be going down anytime soon. Rey de Reyes is AAA’s first major event of the year. The date hasn’t been announced yet, but it is usually in March. Shani vs Maravilla could happen at the first TV taping of 2019 even though that has not been AAA’s style in the past.

Gira de las Estrellas

AAA held a recent press conference in which they announced a name change for their television show. Gira de Conquista will now be called Gira de las Estrellas, Tour of the Stars. I think that is the deal if I understood correctly.

Also of note, AAA plans to run shows in South America, Japan, and Europe. AAA would like to return with a second tournament of Lucha Capital on Facebook.

Ticket price comparison

Also mentioned in the AAA press conference, the first official TV taping of 2019 will take place January 19 at the Pepsi Center in Mexico City.

AAA isn’t the only promotion taping television in Mexico City. Impact is returning this weekend (Jan. 11 - 12) for shows at Frontón Mexico.

The two companies in large venues made me curious about ticket prices, so let’s see where they stand. Not including service charges, the prices are very similar.

AAA’s tickets cost 650 pesos ($33.98 USD) for ringside and 400 pesos ($20.91 USD) for the fourth row and back in the ring area. The cheapest are 185 pesos ($9.67 USD).

Impact’s tickets cost 600 pesos ($31.36 USD) for ringside and 400 pesos ($20.91 USD) from the third row and back at ringside. The cheapest are 200 pesos ($10.46 USD).

As you can see, there is not much difference between the two pricing structures. I have nothing deeper to glean from those details other than it is a relatively reasonable price for a night out to see some fights.

Maximo, are you okay?

Are you okay, Maximo?

Here’s a goofy little video of Maximo grooving to Michael Jackson’s, “Smooth Criminal,” while waiting to use the bathroom.

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Gira de Conquista: Orizaba and Ciudad Juarez

AAA started the new year with a double city edition of Gira de Conquista (here). The timeline is right after Héroes Inmortales XII with Dr. Wagner Jr. and Jeff Jarrett in hair vs hair and starts the road to Guerra de Titanes. To refresh your memory, Guerra de Titanes was the event with two title changes and a main event of Dr. Wagner Jr. & Psycho Clown against Blue Demon Jr. & Killer Kross.

Las Fresas Salvajes defeated Los Mercenarios

Texano, Rey Escorpion, and La Mascara repped Los Mercenarios, while the exotico crew of Pimpinela Escarlata, Maximo, and Mamba had a new official team name as the Wild Strawberries. Fresa also has a double meaning. Fresa can mean preppy, but the word seems to also refer to being a tease from how I’ve heard it used in my Spanish experiences. That would make more sense with the way the exoticos act.

The match (at 6:00) was full of exotico comedy bits. The highlight was when Rey Escorpion had Maximo secured from behind. Maximo swiveled his hips on Rey Escorpion’s crotch to escape. It was at that moment that Maximo turned around and pointed to Rey Escorpion’s groin to claim he was hard in the trousers.

Lucha Libre AAA

For the finish, the exoticos did a triple kiss to Los Mercenarios. Texano and Rey Escorpion were knocked out of the ring. Maximo kissed Mascara again and rolled him up. Pimpi and Mamba piled on to secure the victory.

After the match, there was a backstage promo with pieces of a post-match promo spliced in. In the ring, Maximo challenged Mascara to hair vs hair. Mascara’s response was to kick Maximo in the balls.

Laredo Kid, Hijo del Vikingo, & Angelikal defeated El Poder del Norte

This match (at 24:00) was full of high-flying moves and teamwork maneuvers. The top highlight for me was a unique double team by the tecnicos. Hijo del Vikingo executed an outside in springboard Codebreaker. Vikingo held his opponent down onto his knees, while Laredo Kid took flight for a brutal 450 splash sandwich.

Lucha Libre AAA

For the finish, Laredo Kid kipped up with life for an enziguri to his opponent up on the turnbuckles. Laredo connected on a Laredo Fly, which is a Spanish Fly with a hug instead. That was good enough for the three count and huge upset win. After the match, the young guns challenged the champs. Challenge accepted.

Cage is booted off MAD

La Parka and Psycho Clown were in the ring calling Blue Demon Jr. a traitor for turning his back on Dr. Wagner Jr. at Héroes Inmortales XII. Konnan came out with Hijo del Fantasma, Texano, and Cage. Fantasma called them jealous that the fans applaud more for Blue Demon.

Fantasma welcomed Cage to Mexico as the crowd booed. Fantasma said Cage has a match with Fenix. If Cage wins, then Fantasma will be the number one contender. Cage was not on board with this idea. “You don’t tell me what to do, buddy.”

Konnan chimed in, “No, but I do.” Konnan said that Fantasma is the captain for that night’s match and Cage will listen to Fantasma. Cage used his machine line and then said he didn’t like the way Konnan was talking to him. Cage followed with a not so polite request, “You need to change that attitude.”

Konnan challenged, “What are you going to do about it?” Cage grabbed Konnan, so Fantasma and Texano smashed Cage from behind. The three bad guys put the boots to Cage as La Parka and Psycho Clown stood there and watched.

Eventually, the good guys got involved to clear the ring. Konnan pleaded in the corner until Blue Demon appeared to whack some fools with a chair. The bad guys cleaned up and it looks like we have our main event for next week’s episode of Gira de Conquista.

Lucha Extrema: Pagano & Joe Lider defeated Ciclope & Miedo Extremo

Before the bout, there was a backstage promo of Pagano putting on his clown face and talking about his hometown of Ciudad Juarez. There were some scenes of Pagano interacting with fans. Without a clown, there is no party.

This extreme rules match (at 51:00) was payback for when Los Macizos ambushed Pagano at Héroes Inmortales XII. I thought Miedo Extremo was named Medio Extremo. Extreme Fear makes much more sense than Medium Fear.

These four luchadores were not messing around. Joe Lider brought a bag of thumbtacks to the ring as a sign of things to come. There were chairs, light tubes, tables, and fire.

Highlights include a frog splash by Ciclope onto a chair on top of Pagano, a flying elbow drop by Pagano to his opponent who was hung over the guardrail down below, a four luchador suplex off the apron through a table (Lider was the only one to miss the target and crash hard onto the floor), a moonsault by Pagano while holding a chair, Pagano being curb stomped onto light tubes, and Lider with a rolling fireman’s carry slam to Miedo Extrermo off the turnbuckles to the outside.

For the finish, Pagano set up a flaming table. Good thing El Hijo de Tirantes was there. He pulled the plastic bottle of lighter fluid off the table as Pagano was lighting it up. The result was a Spanish Fly with Ciclope onto the table of fire.

Lucha Libre AAA

Ciclope’s back was aflame afterward. Miedo Extremo helped put him out. Pagano rolled over to pin and win.

After the match, Ciclope cut a promo. He started with praise for Pagano and Lider. They defended their house like anyone would. Handshake. Ball kicks by the rudos. The war is not over.

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That was a mighty fine episode of Gira de Conquista. It was the best I’ve seen in terms of story advancement since I began covering AAA. Each match had a direction afterward to keep the story flowing.

Then, there was that insane lucha extrema. I’m generally not a fan of those types of fights, although, I enjoyed this one. It wasn’t too gruesome, but it sure was physical. I have to give a virtual round of applause to Pagano, Joe Lider, Ciclope, and Miedo Extremo for their efforts. Clap, clap, clap.

Turning Cage to a good guy is a confusing choice, in my view. I can’t figure out the booking motivation. MAD doesn’t seem to be as prominent a faction at the moment as they once were. The full crew is rarely present at the same time. It is not like AAA needs help anyway to defeat MAD. Could it be a showdown with Killer Kross? I would be eager to see that bout. However, that direction doesn’t make a ton of booking sense on the surface. When Kross eventually gets a beating, wouldn’t AAA want a Mexican star to get the rub? With all that said, I sure am curious and will look forward to watching how the story unfolds, however long it takes.

What did you think about Gira de Conquista? Are you interested in La Mascara against Maximo in hair vs hair? Do you want to see Cage get revenge? Did you enjoy the lucha extrema?