Cain Velasquez Made His Pro Wrestling Debut And AEW Stars Performed At AAA Triplemanía XXVII

AAA‘s Triplemanía XXVII featured dramatic matches between some of the biggest names in lucha libre, plus the pro wrestling debut of UFC legend Cain Velasquez and performances from All Elite Wrestling stars. Overall, it was an entertaining show and that pointed to some interesting developments that could play out in AAA, either in Mexico or on their upcoming shows in the United States, or in AEW.

Velasquez and the AEW guest stars appeared towards the end of the show, but Triplemanía’s undercard wasn’t without excitement. A love triangle storyline played a roll in the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championships changing hands from Niño Hamburguesa and Big Mami, who had held them for over 700 days, to Villano III Jr. and Lady Maravilla in a fatal four-way that also included the teams of Australian Suicide-Vanilla and Sammy Guevara-Scarlett Bourdeaux. The AAA World Trio Championship match included some crazy spots, especially by El Hijo del Vikingo, and Tessa Blanchard won a wild a seven-way TLC match for the vacant AAA Reina de Reinas Championship.

Cain Velasquez made his lucha libre debut in the third-to-last match on the card, teaming with top AAA star Psycho Clown and AEW EVP Cody against Taurus, Texano Jr., and Killer Kross. Velasquez first promoted his participation at Triplemanía by belittling lucha libre, but here his love of the art form was on display. He wore a mask and showed off some lucha moves before picking up the win for his team with an MMA move, tapping out Texano Jr. with a kimura lock.

Velasquez looked good in his first bout as a luchador and this won’t be his last. He told ESPN that he sees lucha libre as something he can continue after his MMA career is over and expressed his dedication to continuing his training, saying, “I want to be a black belt in lucha if they gave out belts. That’s my goal – to be the best luchador that I can be.”

Though he said in the same ESPN piece that he might return to fighting before the end of 2019, Velasquez also stated that he wants to be ready to perform on AAA’s upcoming shows in the United States this fall at Madison Square Garden in New York and at The Forum in Los Angeles, for which the cards have yet to be announced.

After their in-ring confrontation at Triplemanía, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Velasquez eventually wrestle Killer Kross in AAA, but it looks like another trios match might be in his more immediate future. When LA Park, who had returned to AAA earlier in the night by attacking Pagano, and his sons jumped Blue Demon Jr. backstage, Velasquez and Psycho Clown saved the techinico and faced off with the rudos.

Just after a huge MMA name made his AAA debut, a major pro wrestling star did the same. In a rematch from AEW Fyter Fest, the Lucha Brothers and Laredo Kid wrestled The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) in a six-man tag that was Omega’s first-ever match in Mexico. Reminiscent of how the Lucha Brothers won their AAA tag titles back from the Bucks in Mexico after failing to regain them at AEW Double or Nothing earlier this year, this match saw the luchadors get the win back over an AEW team that previously beat them.

After the match, Omega, who had been introduced to the AA audience with the new nickname of “The Finisher,” cut a promo in which he challenged for Fenix’s AAA Mega Championship. Fenix, who won this title from Jeff Jarrett at last year’s Triplemanía and has only defended it once since then, accepted the challenge. Omega and Fenix have only wrestled once before: a match for Northeast Wrestling in September 2018 that was politically very weird at the time because it was technically the AAA Mega Champion vs. the IWGP Heayvweight Champion and makes a lot more sense in retrospect now that AEW officially exists.

While these were all interesting developments, the most exciting part of Triplemanía was, appropriately, its main event, a hair vs. mask match between Rey Wagner and Blue Demon Jr. It was extremely bloody, included Demon attacking Wagner with a hammer, and ended with the brutal finish in the video above: Demon pinning Wagner after smashing him in the head with a cinderblock.

What did you think of this year’s Triplemanía (which is currently available to watch with a $5 subscription to AAA’s Twitch channel) and the developments that came out of it? Let us know in the comments!