The time has finally come once again to witness by far the biggest lucha libre spectacle of the year in Mexico. Lucha Libre AAA: Worldwide comes back to the home of the previous nine Triplemanias, Arena Ciudad de México, to present the twenty-ninth consecutive edition of their equivalent to WrestleMania, Triplemania XXIX.
As you may be able to assume, AAA comes from maybe their toughest 18 month period in company history as uncertainty on when crowds would be coming back basically meant a full stop to all their programming. In fact, this is the very first show with any kind of live audience for AAA since early 2020 as they’ll hold approximately seven thousand people this Saturday night.
Before the pandemic, it certainly looked like AAA was taking a more aggressive global approach to their brand by adding “worldwide” to the branding of their name. They also held shows in New York and California and made partnerships with IMPACT and AEW that have allowed talent like Taurus and the Lucha Brothers respectively to work shows for both companies.
With this in mind and seeing how this could hopefully be the beginning of the return of fans to Mexican arenas, AAA has a lot of work to do if they want their product to be seen in the same light as their equivalents up north and play a part in the current constant tie-ins between IMPACT, AEW, and even the NWA.
Triplemania XXIX (8/14/2021) Card & Predictions
Marvel Exhibition Match: Team Leyenda Americana vs. Team Terror Purpura
There isn’t much to preview about his match other than the somewhat small speculation over who will play the roles of the fictional marvel luchadores this time. For this match, the only names that have been announced as of this writing are the ones mentioned in the team names based on Marvel characters Captain America and Thanos respectively.
When the Marvel concept was first introduced it was Daga and Brian Cage who played Leyenda and Terror respectively. However, when travel restrictions made it impossible for these two to reprise their roles it was reportedly Octagon Jr and Texano donning the masks.
With this concept not picking up as much steam as AAA and Marvel were probably looking for and for wrestlers like Cage himself or Lio Rush, who originally played Aracno and has since announced his retirement from professional wrestling, being increasingly more difficult to actually show up we might be seeing the beginning of the end of the pro wrestling superheroes hybrid.
Prediction: Team Leyenda Americana. I guess.
Copa Triplemanía Bardahl: Drago vs. Mamba vs. Mr Iguana vs. TBA.
Once again, there isn’t much to preview as there is only a small announced number of participants and based on previous years it could literally go from 12 to 30 participants. It really is just a match specifically designed to pop the live audience with surprise appearances.
There are a few names on the AAA roster that we can usually expect to see on AAA’s shows like the members of Poder del Norte, Máximo, Pimpinela Escarlata, and Octagón Jr that we can easily assume will be part of this match. To add to the list we can also assume some of the ladies who have been active in AAA’s recent shows will be involved in the match such as Lady Shani, Keyra, Big Mami, and the members of Las Toxicas: Lady Flammer, Lady Maravilla and La Hiedra.
Prediction: Mamba. Sure.
Chessman, Murder Clown and Pagano vs. La Empresa: DMT Azul, Puma King, and Sam Adonis.
Back in Rey de Reyes in May, the faction of La Empresa was first introduced when the three members made their AAA debut by attacking Chessman, Pagano, and Psycho Clown. Now, a little over three months later this feud comes to a head when Chessman has to team up with the man who shaved his head at last year’s Triplemania main event in Pagano and Murder Clown to take on the up and coming invading ruthless rudos.
While on the surface this may look like just another match to stack the Triplemania card by giving some major names a match, it is this previously mentioned story that makes this match somewhat special. The two former bitter rivals aligning with a known defender of the company’s honor battle the debut of the stable formed by three former CMLL stars looking to make AAA their new home.
For this match, we believe that the only logical finish would be either Chessman turning on his team to cost them the match or Chessman turning on his team after they somehow lose the match to La Empresa.
In other words, there is no way Chessman walks out without fighting Pagano at some point and there is no way La Empresa loses the match.
Prediction: La Empresa; DMT Azul, Puma King, and Sam Adonis.
AAA World Tag Team Championship: Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr and Rey Fénix) vs. Los Jinetes del Aire (El Hijo del Vikingo and Laredo Kid) vs. Taurus and TBA.
Yet another match where the entirety of the participants haven’t been announced yet but this time there is a clearer picture on who’s walking out as champions even if there is no story to the match other than Vikingo and Laredo Kid teaming as regularly as they could for the past couple of months.
In the other two corners, we have the current champs and All Elite Wrestling stars the Lucha Brothers; they have been the champs for roughly 790 days since winning the belts back in June 2019. This is important because in all that time, mainly due to the pandemic, they have managed just five defenses of the belts, and more importantly, they rarely, if ever, are acknowledged as the champions on AEW Television.
And finally, we have Taurus who will likely team with IMPACT Wrestling’s Crazzy Steve. While AAA is known for regularly making decisions that make no sense to fans this seems to be a slam dunk since Taurus has been an active part of IMPACT since February of this year and has been teaming with Steve ever since.
To be perfectly honest, any of these teams could easily walk away with the belts but keeping in mind how Pentagon and Fenix are pretty much never in AAA due to their AEW commitments, how Taurus seems to be staying for the time being in IMPACT, and finally how Vikingo and Kid are slowly becoming one of the most attractive teams in AAA and the potential they have to be presented internationally as the champions they have our vote to win this match.
Prediction: Los Jinetes del Aire; Hijo del Vikingo and Laredo Kid.
Title vs. Title: Faby Apache vs. Deonna Purrazzo.
In the first of what will be two matches where a foreign championship is on the line, Deonna Purrazzo continues her path of dominance that started ever since she stepped foot in IMPACT Wrestling. In that time she has won the Knockouts championship twice with 8 defenses in her current reign and Homecoming Queen tournament earlier this month.
On the other hand, we have Faby Apache, daughter of the late great Gran Apache and 4 times and current Reina de Reinas champion. She is one of the most decorated and experienced female wrestlers in the whole Mexico scene making her the perfect roadblock on Purrazzo’s road to glory.
While there has been some controversy down in Mexico over who should have faced Deonna at Triplemania between Faby and her rival Lady Shani, as Shani has become increasingly popular over the last few years even winning Faby’s hair at Triplemania just three years ago, we believe Faby to be the right choice for the match as her intense technical style and veteran status will help sell the match as the best of the best against the best of the best.
Finally, we firmly believe Faby Apache to be the best female wrestler in the AAA roster and to be the best choice for a dream international match against someone the caliber of Purrazo. Ultimately though, we think this match is the perfect way to cement The Virtuosa as the top female wrestler in the world, maybe even to eventually work a match against AEW champ, Britt Baker.
Prediction: Deonna Purrazo.
AAA MegaChampionship: Kenny Omega vs. Andrade.
Where to begin with this match. When Andrade was first released by the WWE back in March it seemed like the world was full of match-of-the-year opportunities for El Ídolo. Still, no one was ready when AAA shocked the world and announced this absolute dream match to be taking place at this year’s Triplemania.
Ever since he showed up at AAA and even before that, Kenny Omega has been on the run of his life winning the AAA, IMPACT Wrestling, and AEW world titles in a matter of months. Even if he hasn’t defended the belt or even showed up to AAA much since, Kenny has delivered top performances against the likes of Dragon Lee, Fénix, and Laredo Kid.
This dream match, a result of the partnership that AAA and AEW have held ever since the inception of AEW in 2019, will also serve as Andrade’s first-ever match with AAA and first match back in Mexico since his departure to WWE in 2015.
While there is no way of predicting how the fans will react to the match or to the finish of the match there is no doubt in our minds that when these two finally collide in the ring we will bear witness to a showcase of athleticism and explosive wrestling we wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else. This is a true modern dream match.
We have no doubt this will be a fantastic Match of the Year automatic contender, but who will come out on top? While a victory for Andrade would put him on a fast track back to superstardom in Mexico and would also probably help his status as a member of the AEW roster, we believe there is far more to the story of Kenny Omega with as many world titles as possible and with Kenny retaining that would mean he will eventually be back to battle another member of AAA and honestly, that sounds like the best-case scenario.
Prediction: Kenny Omega.
Mask vs. Hair: Psycho Clown vs. Rey Escorpión.
What is currently slated to main event this Saturday’s mega show, Clown vs. Escorpion immediately looks to be in the same unfortunate position Triple H and Chris Jericho were 19 years when having to follow The Rock and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18.
Not a knock on neither Escorpion nor Clown as they both have been consistently some of the best in AAA and have worked hard to hype this feud as much as possible but right now a few days before the show it looks like an impossible task to follow Omega vs. Andrade.
This match seems to have been booked to follow the tradition of the biggest event in Mexico resulting in somebody either losing their mask or their hair but to be honest, there seems to be a disconnect from fans as the feud between the two isn’t exactly red hot and given Psycho Clown’s recent track record for big matches and the recent tragic passing of his father there looks to be a clear cut winner.
It goes without saying that in spite of these obstacles, these two men will still give us a worthy ultimate bet match that will almost certainly involve some weapons, blood, a crazy bump or two, and a ton of interference as it is AAA tradition.
At the end of the day, we will probably see a good match between these two as they both are capable of a main event caliber performance but truth be told, it is so abundantly obvious that Rey Escorpion is not winning that it will end up hurting the overall quality of the match and the show itself if not handled correctly.
Prediction: Psycho Clown.
How to Watch Triplemania XXIX Card
Triplemania XXIX will take place on August 14 and airs at 8 pm CT, although there will likely be an added pre-show starting earlier.
Currently, there is no way to watch this show outside of Mexico, in Mexico it is airing on a number of different services, mainly AAA’s Facebook page. International fans will have to dig a little in order to watch the show, but it WILL definitely be available for international fans somewhere.
