{"id":91353,"date":"2021-05-15T13:40:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T17:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=91353"},"modified":"2021-05-15T13:40:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T17:40:59","slug":"aaa-mega-championship-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/05\/15\/aaa-mega-championship-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"The AAA Mega Championship: A Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since <strong><b>Kenny Omeg<\/b>a<\/strong> won the AAA Mega Championship\u00a0back in October 2019 at <strong><em>Heroes Inmortales XIII<\/em><\/strong>, there has been heavy criticism regarding him not wearing the belt on <strong>AEW<\/strong> or <strong>IMPACT Wrestling<\/strong> TV. This, combined with a lack of title defenses due to the global pandemic, has led to Omega having, as of this writing, a mostly forgettable run as <strong>Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide<\/strong>\u2019s world champion. Let&#8217;s travel down memory lane and revisit the short but rich history of AAA\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"403\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26291 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/09\/RICKY-e1537372847609.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2>The First-Ever AAA Mega Champion<\/h2>\n<p>Back in 2007, a tournament was held to unify a mixture of independent world championships to create the one and only world championship for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide; the promotion was simply known as AAA at this point. The tournament included <strong><b>El Mes\u00edas<\/b><\/strong>, known for his time in <strong>Total Nonstop Action Wrestling<\/strong> as <strong>Judas Mesias<\/strong> and <strong>Lucha Underground<\/strong> and <strong>Major League Wrestling<\/strong> as <strong>Mil Muertes<\/strong>. The tournament also featured <strong><b>Cibernetico<\/b><\/strong>, <strong>Chessman<\/strong>, <strong>Charly Manson<\/strong>, <strong>La Parka<\/strong>, <strong>Mr. Niebla<\/strong>, <strong>El Zorro<\/strong> and even former <strong>WWE<\/strong> Tag Team and United States Champion <strong><b>Kenzo Suzuki<\/b><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament ended on <em><strong><b>Verano de Escandalo<\/b><\/strong><\/em> in a singles match between Chessman and El Mes\u00edas, portrayed by <strong>Ricky Banderas<\/strong>; the latter would win the match and the title that night. Banderas was the world champion for 182 days and only defended the title once, at <strong><em>Guerra de Titanes 2007<\/em><\/strong> against Cibernetico and El Zorro in a triple threat match before dropping it to Cibernetico at <strong><em>Rey de Reyes 2008<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;El Patr\u00f3n&quot; Alberto vs Texano Jr. Megacampeonato AAA | Guerra de Titanes 2014\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NrqDxSYs_V0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>The Best Title Matches<\/h2>\n<p>Mexican lucha libre is internationally known for having its best matches and feuds revolve around wrestlers betting their masks or their hair. However, the following two matches went against said tradition. They stole the show, delivering two of the best matches in AAA history with only the Mega Championship up for grabs.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2014, <strong><b>Alberto del R\u00edo<\/b><\/strong>, now known as <strong>Alberto El Patron<\/strong>, was released by WWE in August and quickly showed up in AAA as the conquering hero looking to end <strong><b>El Texano Jr.<\/b><\/strong>\u2019s record-breaking 735-day reign. At <em><strong><b>Guerra de Titanes<\/b><\/strong><\/em> that same year, they got the chance to main event in a 15-minute classic that featured blood, chairs and even a table spot.<\/p>\n<p>This match is considered one of the best ever thanks in most part to the audience reception to both El Patron and Texano. They arrived to the event as the top babyface and heel respectively. The match was also majorly enhanced by its managers as <strong><b>El Hijo del Perro Aguayo<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0managed Texano and <strong><b>El Mes\u00edas<\/b><\/strong> managed El Patron; the constant interference from the managers only made the crowd louder and louder throughout the entire match. This only made the story being told in the ring better, with the first-ever champion endorsing Alberto and one of the biggest rudos of all time in Mexico endorsing Texano.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, El Patron walked out of Zapopan, Jalisco that night as the new AAA Mega Champion when he made Texano submit with his patented cross armbreaker. <strong>Joaquin Roldan<\/strong>, the then-owner of AAA, alongside most of the babyface wrestlers, came out to present El Patron with the championship belt. This match is without a doubt a classic in AAA history, not replayed enough due to El Patron\u2019s negative recent reputation. Regardless, it&#8217;s a must-watch for any lucha libre fan.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lucha Por El Megacampeonato El Mes\u00edas (C) Vs Dr Wagner Jr (R) En Triplemania XVII\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n6wnc4Wu1MU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The next match in our list is considered by some the best match, or at the very least the best title bout, in <em><strong><b>Triplemania <\/b><\/strong><\/em>history. The year is 2009 and El Mes\u00edas was in his is second reign as Mega Champion. After a recent babyface (or T\u00e9cnico) turn, one of the biggest active legends in lucha libre at the time, <strong><b>Dr. Wagner Jr.<\/b><\/strong>, made his surprise debut in AAA at <strong><em>Rey de Reyes 2009<\/em><\/strong>. He challenged Mes\u00edas right after he successfully defended the belt against Chessman. With the challenge made, Mexican fans could not wait for the encounter between one of the biggest names in lucha libre history in Wagner and the rising fan favorite in Mes\u00edas.<\/p>\n<p>The match did not disappoint as these two gave their everything that night in Mexico City in a 39-minute instant classic. Even though it did not main event the show, these competitors made it impossible for any other match to follow them. In the end, after a vicious Wagner Driver, a variant of a Michinoku Driver, Wagner came out victorious in arguably one of the best matches in his illustrious career. Following this, Wagner would be the Mega Champion for 181 days in the first of his eventual 3 reigns, cementing his legacy as one of the best AAA has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think of the AAA Mega Championship? Does it rank highly with the other world championships in pro wrestling today?<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for 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.\u00a0 Subscribe to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/luchalibreaaa\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AAA on Twitch<\/a>\u00a0to see more from Mexico\u2019s top company.<\/p>\n<p>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since Kenny Omega won the AAA Mega Championship\u00a0back in October 2019 at Heroes Inmortales XIII, there has been heavy criticism regarding him not wearing the belt on AEW or IMPACT Wrestling TV. This, combined with a lack of title defenses due to the global pandemic, has led to Omega having, as of this writing, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3858,"featured_media":91678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,13,2192],"tags":[7703,193,1349,5399,386],"class_list":["post-91353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aaa","category-international","category-wrestling","tag-aaa-mega-championship","tag-alberto-el-patron","tag-el-mesias","tag-el-texano-jr","tag-kenny-omega"],"modified_by":"Robbie Sutter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3858"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}