Earlier this week, it was announced on Twitter that Lucha Libre AAA: Worldwide and Tijuana-based Mexican promotion The Crash were cutting ties permanently. This ends their working alliance which began back in 2014 and can be seen present up until The Crash’s January 28 show, where AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Flip Gordon.
The popular Tijuana promotion just turned 10 years at the end of last year. While it is still unclear how this alliance ending may impact their product going forward, The Crash is particularly known for an excellent mix of lucha libre legends, current lucha libre stars, and some of the best and most popular foreign wrestlers available.
Proof of this statement can be found just by looking at their most recent events which included bona fide legends like El Hijo Del Santo, Octagón, and Rayo de Jalisco, modern Mexican stars like Bandido, Flamita, and Dragon Lee, and international superstars like PCO, Willie Mack, and Rich Swann.
AAA and The Crash Part Ways
Why Does This Alliance’s Dissolution Matter?
The Crash is an independent promotion that usually runs all their shows out of Tijuana and in the same venue, the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez. The company is largely reliant on major companies such as AAA, Major League Wrestling, IMPACT Wrestling, and All Elite Wrestling, allowing their contracted wrestlers to work these shows.
The Crash might be fine in the immediate future without any AAA involvement thanks to their other relationships and the vast independent wrestler market. If this alliance ending is indicative of a major problem between both promotions, it might mean that wrestlers who regularly work for both companies -and more- such as Bandido, the Lucha Brothers or their new World Champion Hijo del Vikingo, could be blocked from working The Crash on AAA’s part.
This is all speculative, of course, but it’s fair to assume that an alliance formally ending in a way such as this probably means we shouldn’t expect AAA’s wrestlers on the Crash’s shows and vice versa.
One final factor to consider in all this mess is Konnan’s involvement; it may be a little-known fact, but within “K-Dogg’s” immense resumé lays credit for founding The Crash a little over 10 years ago. He played the role of the middle man between his company and all others they had a relationship with up until his departure in 2017, a few months before his current run with AAA began.
Konnan has been and still is a prominent figure in both pro wrestling and lucha libre. If this split between Mexican promotions resulted in any bad blood between the real-life Carlos Santiago Espada and the company he helped found over a decade ago, the influence he still possesses over the entire industry may spell bad news for The Crash.
What’s Next for Both Organizations?
AAA shouldn’t have much to worry about considering their size and national coverage. However, public reception following the biggest company in the country opting out of the biggest alliance they had in-country and choosing to ally with other foreign companies such as All Elite Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling may be worth noting.
For The Crash, the situation might be a little more complicated. However, to be perfectly honest, AAA-contracted wrestlers have never been the main attraction of The Crash’s shows. In fact, The Crash’s alliance with MLW is not only still active but it seemingly is better than ever. MLW currently hosts a special show on The Crash’s home turf promoted as MLW/The Crash: Azteca Underground and MLW vs The Crash. This aforementioned show was taped on December 3, 2021, and premiered on January 6 of this year to a mostly positive fan reaction. It’s fair to assume there could be more from these joint promotions in the future.
To conclude, it is unquestionable that this alliance ending will affect The Crash more than it will affect AAA. With that said, taking into account The Crash’s current relationship with MLW, their growing reputation in Mexico, and the independent wrestlers they are able to book seemingly without the help of Konnan or AAA should be enough for fans to remain calm and continue looking forward to the hottest Mexican independent wrestling promotion.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
