AAA Lucha Libre World Cup: Pentagon Jr. leads Mexico to dramatic triple overtime win

Wrestlers from around the world congregated in Guadalajara, Mexico with one goal in mind. World domination!

AAA presented the Lucha Libre World Cup with talent from AEW, Impact, NWA, DragonGate, QPW (Qatar Pro Wrestling), and beyond.

The men’s teams for the AAA Lucha Libre World Cup included:

• Dream Team: Alberto El Patron, Psycho Clown, & Hijo del Vikingo
• Mexico: Pentagon Jr., Taurus, & Laredo Kid
• USA: John Morrison, Sam Adonis, & Christopher Daniels
• Canada: Vampiro, Josh Alexander, & PCO
• Japan: Kuukai, La Estrella, & Nishikawa
• Europe: Thom Latimer, Joe Hendry, & Heddi Karaoui
• Latin America: Carlito, Zumbi, & Hop Hop Man
• Rest of the World: Rage, Bhupinder Gujjar, & Classy Ali

Lucha libre trios rules in effect. Matches had a ten-minute time limit. In the case of a draw, the contest resumed with five-minute periods of sudden death singles bouts.

AAA Lucha Libre World Cup quarterfinals

The Dream Team and Latin America went into overtime in the opening contest. Alberto faced rival Carlito. El Patron hit a DDT to set up an armbar. Carlito countered for a backcracker. Carlito brought out an apple, because that’s cool. His intent was to spit chunks at Alberto’s kisser, however, Alberto moved and referee Tirantes had a face full of apple. Alberto seized the moment for a backcracker on Carlito. Tirantes gave a fast count to three as payback for the embarrassment. The Dream Team was victorious.

USA handled business against Japan. The Japanese team had momentum with flying moves to the outside. Daniels shoved Estrella off the turnbuckles and took control to finish. The Fallen Angel hit an STO and followed with the Best Moonsault Ever to pin Estrella.

Mexico made the home fans proud by besting Rest of the World. Gujjar had the upper hand on Laredo Kid with power moves. When Gujjar climbed the corner, Laredo sprang up for a Spanish Fly to win.

Europe pulled the upset on Canada. At least in my book, it was an upset. PCO wowed the crowd with flying moves for a man of his size. Vampiro and Alexander both had moments to shine as well. Hendry was the difference-maker for Europe. PCO planted Karaoui on a Scorpion Death Drop then landed a moonsault. Hendry was there to break the pin and pound PCO on a chokeslam spinebuster for victory.

AAA Lucha Libre World Cup semifinals

Holy smokes! The Dream Team lost. That is absolutely shocking.

The Dream Team ran up against USA. Psycho Clown and Adonis brawled from the get-go with chairs and other foreign objects, while the rest of the wrestlers actually wrestled. Alberto took down Morrison and Daniels on a flying crossbody to the outside. Vikingo added to his highlight reel with a 630 cannonball onto the bodies below.

Psycho and Adonis were fighting with chairs in the ring. Time was running out. Psycho went for a flying splash onto a chair, Adonis moved, and Psycho landed on steel. Adonis capitalized to connect on a frog splash. Morrison piled on top of Adonis for the pin with less than ten seconds remaining. A strange thing happened. Referee Tirantes refused to count. I couldn’t tell if he didn’t understand the rules, lost track of time, was biased in favor of Mexico, or just incompetent. There is a chance that all four are true. The result was a draw. Morrison shoved Tirantes hard into the corner.

Overtime! Psycho and Adonis continued their battle. Psycho hit a Mexican Destroyer. Kick out by Adonis. Adonis came back for a powerbomb. He climbed the corner, but Psycho zoomed up for a Spanish Fly. USA manager Jack Fancy distracted the referee to prevent the three-count. Adonis cheated with a low blow for the easy pin on Psycho. USA advanced to the finals. Psycho remained in the ring asking the Mexico fans for forgiveness.

Mexico rumbled with Europe on the other half of the bracket. Mexico was close to victory when Laredo nailed a suicide dive on Hendry, Taurus pop-up Samoan dropped Karaoui, and Pentagon used Taurus as a stepping stool for a Mexican Destroyer to Latimer. Double pin, double kick outs. Europe had a close call as well, but Laredo made the save on the situation to continue the match.

Taurus took over in the end. He charged for a double spear to Hendry and Latimer. The bull picked up Karaoui in a military press and tossed him out of the ring onto Latimer. Hendry rallied with a cutter and a pop-up powerbomb. Taurus kicked out. Hendry lost focus as local fans chanted for Mexico. Taurus countered for a ripcord headbutt. A backbreaker punched the ticket for Mexico to advance to the final.

AAA Lucha Libre World Cup final

There was high drama in the final between Mexico and USA. With a match of this magnitude, surely there would be overtime, right? You bet. In fact, the action went to triple overtime.

USA mauled Mexico for most of the ten-minute time period. Daniels landed the Best Moonsault Ever, but Pentagon punted him to break the pin. Pentagon executed a package piledriver to Daniels with under twenty seconds remaining. Manager Jack Fancy struck again to distract referee Piero El Internacional, and time ran out. Penta superkicked Fancy after the ball.

Morrison and Pentagon represented their teams as captains in overtime. Morrison dominated from the start with a sucker punch on a handshake. Johnny Superstar got dirty with cookie sheets and trashcan lids, but he couldn’t close the deal on Moonlight Drive. Time was expiring, so Johnny made a mad dash for rapid roll-ups. Penta kept kicking out, and a second overtime loomed.

Penta found his fire to control this round. He planted Morrison with a pumphandle driver. Johnny kicked out on the cover. A backcracker led to the package piledriver. 1, 2, Morrison shockingly kicked out of Pentagon’s finisher. Wow! Under thirty seconds and both luchadores were trading punches. A double clothesline laid them flat on their backs, and time ran out again.

Morrison gained the edge to start the third overtime. He placed a chair around Pentagon’s neck and rammed the masked man into the ring post. Morrison hit Starship Pain, but Pentagon refused to lose. The tide turned with a package piledriver on the apron. Penta followed for a flying double stomp. A table was set up in the ring. Pentagon and Morrison worked for position on the turnbuckles. Penta won that battle to win the war with a super Mexican Destroyer though the table. 1, 2, 3. Pentagon led Mexico to victory.

Fantastic finish with great drama.

For the women’s World Cup tournament, USA (Kamille, Jordynne Grace, & Deonna Purrazzo) triumphed over Mexico (Flammer, La Hiedra, & Sexy Star). Get the full details here.

The judges panel of El Fantasma, Mascara Año 2000, Cien Caras, Negro Casas, and Shocker handed out awards during the closing ceremony. PCO won Best Luchador on the men’s side, and La Hiedra earned the same honor for the women’s side. Hijo del Vikingo was chosen for the best dive award on his 630 cannonball. The vote for best match went to Dream Team versus USA.

This show wasn’t the smoothest, it wasn’t the cleanest, it didn’t make sense at times, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. If you are familiar with the AAA experience, then you know what I’m talking about. The tournament format had built-in drama, and AAA maximized that effect with surprising upsets and riveting overtime. Pentagon had a superstar performance carrying his team to victory.

The AAA Lucha Libre World Cup replay is available through Fite TV. The show starts slow with an opening ceremony, the Mexico national anthem, and fighter jets flying overhead. The opening round matches were predictable but amusing. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. was honored during intermission. The action really picked up hot in the second half of the show.

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