AAA Héroes Inmortales XIII review: Kenny Omega is new Mega Champ, Vikingo wins Copa, more!

AAA’s Héroes Inmortales XIII event rock and rolled from Orizaba, Veracruz. It featured two title changes in the three championship bouts, the Copa Antonio Peña coming down to a viking and a bull, and a steel cage tag team four-way main event that made no sense. The caliber of action was a mixed bag highlighted by two amazing battles.

Check out the preview and predictions along with the live results to get up to speed. Time to jam through the card.

Kenny Omega is your new AAA Mega Champ

The biggest international news coming out of Héroes Inmortales XIII is Kenny Omega defeating Fenix to become the AAA Mega Champion. Those two warriors put on a classic. It was in the style of emptying the full arsenal of maneuvers with riveting kick outs due to tremendous heart and determination. Fenix may have broken his nose from a running knee three-quarters of the way through the 20 minute match and still carried on with his bloody desire to defeat Omega.

The duel started with some mat work and a feeling out process. Fenix was first to get a major strike on a floating, twisting, rotating leap over the ropes to the outside.

Kenny would gain control and deliver a backbreaker reminiscent of what Bane did to Batman. Just look at how Fenix’s body arches to sell the impact.

It was going to take more than that to keep down the man of one thousand lives. He would fight back with a nifty transition to a German suplex and an over-the-shoulder sitdown piledriver.

The story for Kenny Omega was trying to set up his One Winged Angel finisher. Omega hit several, maybe five or six, running knee V-Triggers throughout the bout, but Fenix would escape off Omega’s shoulders when attempting the One Winged Angel.

The tide finally turned when Omega reversed a super hurricanrana into a super powerbomb. Two count on the cover. Omega hit a double underhook sitdown piledriver. Fenix kicked out on the cover. Omega connected on one last V-Trigger then successfully executed the One Winged Angel.

This time, Fenix did not kick out. Omega ended the 420-day reign of Fenix as AAA Mega Champion.

After the match, Fenix refused medical assistance. He offered a handshake out of respect to his rival. Omega responded by taunting Fenix with the Megacampeonato belt.

There has been fan discussion about how, if at all, Omega’s new title will play into AEW stroytelling. We’ll have to wait until Wednesday Dynamite to find out, but what we do know is that one Young Buck wants to see a rematch on AEW turf.

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Hijo del Vikingo wins Copa Antonio Peña

The Copa Antonio Peña honored AAA’s founder. It was an 11-luchador Royal Rumble with sixty-second intervals. Elimnations had to be by force. There were no self-eliminations for luchadores that wanted to fly out of the ring on their own accord. The final two luchadores would compete in a one fall match to determine the winner.

The climax came down to Hijo del Vikingo and Taurus. Vikingo was making his return to AAA after six weeks on the sideline with a knee ligament injury. He entered with style in his full viking helmet and cape costume.

If it wasn’t for Kenny Omega and Fenix, Vikingo and Taurus would have stolen the show by several miles. They had an amazing one-on-one confrontation for the grand prize. They were ripping off big move after big move: German suplex by Taurus, head-over-heels lariat by Taurus, springboard facebuster by Vikingo, springboard double stomp by Vikingo, Mexican Destroyer by Vikingo, springboard reverse hurricanrana by Vikingo, and a springboard 450 splash by Vikingo.

For the closing sequence, Taurus obliterated Vikingo with a rodeo driver on the apron.

Taurus followed up with a super hammerlock butt slam driver. Vikingo amazingly kicked out at two. He rebounded with a super hurricanrana. Taurus kicked out at two. Vikingo kept the pressue with a sunset flip powerbomb on the apron.

Vikingo slayed the beast with a reverse 450 splash to win.

The surprise entrants were Hijo del Vikingo, Taurus, Iron Kid, and Tritton. Tritton made his AAA debut. You may recognize him as Triton from CMLL. I can understand if that extra T threw you off. He impressed with this doozy of a springboard moonsault.

The order of elimination with entrance number in parentheses was:

1. Iron Kid (5) by La Hiedra via Mexican Destroyer and clothesline
2. La Parka Negra (1) by Faby Apache via hip toss
3. Tritton (3) by Taurus via push
4. La Hiedra (7) by Faby Apache via dumpage
5. Aerostar (8) by Monster Clown vis tossed out
6. Monster Clown (9) by Murder Clown via clothesline
7. Dave the Clown (10) by ??? (camera missed it)
8. Murder Clown (11) by Faby Apache & Taurus via monkey flip by Taurus then dropkick by Faby
9. Faby Apache (6) by Taurus via overhead press toss
10. Taurus (4) pinned by Hijo del Vikingo via reverse 450 splash
Winner: Hijo del Vikingo (2)

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Main event cage match made no sense

The main event was a four-way tag bout inside a steel cage. To add even more intrigue, the teams were made of rival partners: Psycho Clown & Rey Escorpion, Pentagon & Texano, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Averno, Pagano & Chessman. The last luchador remaining was the loser.

Prior to the event, I wondered how AAA would book this bout to play out. I didn’t see any consequence for teammates fighting each other. Apparently, neither did the participating luchadores. There was no incentive, aside from pride, not to be the loser. The teammates all fought each other right from the get-go. It was a mass brawl with eight luchadores trapped in the ring. The rudos controlled the action for the first half. It resembled a free-for-all in a drunk tank.

The tecnicos would eventually rebound with flurries of offense. Notable moments were Psycho Clown pulling Texano’s pants down to show butt-cheeks and Psycho Clown leaping off the cage for a flying crossbody.

The final three remaining luchadores were Pentagon, Rey Escorpion, and Chessman. The rudos tied Pentagon’s mask tail to the ropes then threw chairs at his legs. It was a very effective strategy until Rey Escorpion decided to untie Pentagon instead of climbing the cage. Chessman would escape leaving Pentagon and Rey Escorpion as the last two.

Pentagon and Rey Escorpion had a physical little tussle. Escorpion slammed Pentagon through a table, but Pentagon was tougher in the end as he destroyed Escorpion with a package piledriver onto open chairs. Pentagon flew the coop, but his night wasn’t over.

The full foursome of Los Mercenarios ran down to pummel Pentagon during his celebration. Fenix and Psycho Clown chased off the bad guys to close the show. I didn’t piece together why this was happening, but Luchablog put it in perspective.

Texano and Rey Escorpion lost the tag team titles to the Lucha Bros at Rey de Reyes back in March. Since then, the Lucha Bros were busy trading wins and losses with the Young Bucks. A rematch betwen Los Mercenarios and the Lucha Bros would make sense for a big main event at AAA’s final major show of 2019, Guerra de Titanes.

Here is the full order of escape:

1. Dr. Wagner Jr.
2. Texano
3. Pagano
4. Averno
5. Psycho Clown
6. Chessman
7. Pentagon
Loser: Rey Escorpion (and his partner Psycho Clown too?)

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Rest of the card:

Daga is the king of Latin America

Ever since Daga returned to AAA, he has been focused on winning all the belts. Daga finally achieved step one by winning the Latin American Championship from Drago. This bout was a slower pace. Daga was in control for the majority of the contest. He would frequently hit some cool combo sequences then pause to interact with the crowd.

In the end, Drago used GREEN MIST, but he made a strategic error not spraying it at Daga. Daga’s second was Abismo Negro Jr. Abismo pulled the referee out of the ring during a Drago pin attempt. Abismo tried to attack Drago, but he was met with GREEN MIST. Daga capitalized on the distraction with a huge kick to Drago’s nuggets. The referee re-entered the ring and counted the 1, 2, 3.

Konnan vs Vampiro

The opening segment saw La Parka come down to warm up the crowd. He was interrupted by Konnan and his band of goons. They stomped La Parka, so out came Vampiro. He slammed the baddies then rained punches down on bitter rival Konnan. The ever resourceful Konnan low-blowed Vamp, then the rudos went back to stomping. They stood tall as the segment closed.

I’m not sure what to make of this encounter between Konnan and Vampiro. The fisticuffs didn’t seem to advance toward a bout between the two that was teased two years ago. I’m thinking this was just a scene to pop the crowd and get them feeling good. There was no pre-show match, so La Parka, Vampiro, and Konnan may have been used as a star-powered bang. If that is indeed the case, then it worked as intended. It is always fun to watch Vampiro and Konnan get physical with each other.

Bye, bye Hamburger Boy

Lady Maravilla and Villano III Jr. retained their Mixed Tag Team Championships against Big Mami & Niño Hamburguesa and Keyra & Latigo. The finish involved Villano with a cutter to Niño off the apron onto a table and Maravilla whacking Mami in the head with a chair for the winning pin.

My favorite maneuver in the bout was a rag doll Spanish Fly by Maravilla to Keyra. It looks more brutal than a standard Spanish Fly.

Maravilla also had a sweet teamwork missile dropkick into a powerbomb moment with her partner Villano.

After the match, Niño Hamburguesa was slapped, not once but twice. Lady Maravilla let him know in front of the whole world that she was only using him. Now that she has power with the title, she has no need for him anymore. Slap! Big Mami also dumped Niño. She was mad that he fell for Maravilla’s fake knee injury again. The same tactic occurred at Triplemania XXVII when they lost the belts. Mami had enough of Niño’s trifling ways. Slap!

Keyra was a replacement for Chik Tormenta, who is temporarily retired due to pregnancy. This was Keyra’s return to AAA after being sidelined with a leg injury. She moved well and looked good in the ring. It was kind of a circle in storyline karma. Chik Tormenta had bad mojo after pushing Keyra out of her wheelchair when she vacated the Reina de Reinas belt at Triplemania XXVII, and then Keyra got a shot at Mixed Tag gold by replacing Chik.

Baby oil bonanza

The opener was an atomicos four-vs-four tag match between Lady Shani, Octagoncito, Draztick Boy, & Pimpinela Escarlata against Vanilla, Demus, Mamba, & Australian Suicide. Shani picked up the victory for her squad with a bridging suplex on Mamba. Prior to the pin, there was a spot with the luchdores taking turns jumping onto everyone else outside the ring. Vanilla had an impressive flying corkscrew crossbody to show her improving skills.

The bout was overshadowed by AEW’s Michael Nakazawa. He was there to support Mamba. At several points in the match, Nakazawa squirted excessive amounts of baby oil on the tecnicos. It was funny in a weird way, but it didn’t do anything to make the match any better.

Argenis was scheduled for this bout, but he didn’t appear on the card.

Lumberjack match

The powers that be must have decided that the trios bout between Octagon Jr., Puma King, & Dinastia and Abismo Negro Jr., Arez, & Super Fly needed some sizzle. Enter lumberjacks with straps. It backfired. Instead of letting the high-flyers loose, they were forced to stay inside the ring. They did get a chance to soar, but the action wasn’t as cool as it could have been. The best moment was when hated referee Hijo del Tirantes was tossed to the outside and strapped by all the lumberjacks. For the finish, Octagon Jr. connected on a 450 splash to pin Abismo Negro Jr.

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Héroes Inmortales XIII was a mixed bag overall. It was anchored by two super awesome matches definitely worth watching when they get released on Conquista Total in about six weeks from now. Kenny Omega vs Fenix was a dandy. Royal Rumbles are always cool, so that portion of the Copa Antonio Peña was enjoyable. The final stanza with Hijo del Vikingo and Taurus was up there in quality alongside Omega vs Fenix. Daga vs Drago was very solid.

The rest were a jumbled mess with exciting high spots sprinkled in. AAA often tends to walk that fine line between ‘What the heck is going on? That was fun!’ and ‘What the heck is going on? That was stupid!’ I’d put all four of the remaining contests on the lame side. There was too much disorganized activity that resulted in the matches having no flow. But, it was AAA so you know the lucha libre flying maneuvers add enough spice to not make it a bore.

What did you think of Héroes Inmortales XIII? Does Kenny Omega vs Fenix crack your rankings for best matches of 2019? Which match or luchador stole the show?