The wrestling landscape was forever changed over Wrestlemania weekend this year. It was revealed on the pre-show panel that WWE had acquired one of the biggest wrestling promotions in Mexico, AAA. Very few details have been revealed other than WWE are expected to have a 51% controlling share in AAA going forward and the deal is expected to wrap up by the third quarter of 2025.
Whether this is good or bad for wrestling is a debate on its own, but this does bring a lot of exciting possibilities for the future of WWE. One of them is already happening here with Worlds Collide, a co-promoted event featuring WWE, NXT and AAA talent.
Not a whole lot of storylines going on at this show, this appears to be more of match quality focused PLE. Still, this should be a lot of fun. It’s time to lock in your enemies in a tirabuzón and take them down with a hurricarrana. I learned those words today thanks to WWE’s YouTube.
Show Time
The opening video package is narrated in Spanish by Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio. He does a great job of promoting the importance of WWE acquiring AAA and calls this moment a revolution for Lucha Libre in the wrestling world. This was a solid opening package.
We are introduced to the event by Corey Graves who hypes up the wrestlers we see arriving to the venue. I am excited to hear Graves doing lead commentary, he is joined by AAA legend Konnan. What a unique commentary line up.
In the ring is the President of AAA Marisela Pena along with Shawn Michaels and Triple H. What I assume is the Mexican national anthem us sung, followed by the American national anthem. A few luchadores hold a AAA coat of arms with the face of Antonio Pena, the founder of AAA. Lillian Garcia put her entire SOUL into the American national anthem.
Booyaka
The legendary Rey Mysterio comes down to the ring. Last night he was awarded the Legend Impact award by the National Hispanic Media Coalition. He says the first ever Worlds Collide was back in 1994, 31 years ago. Rey thought that Lucha Libre would be exclusive to Mexico, but he is proud it has spread worldwide.
Most of this promo was in Spanish with some English splashed in there so I picked up as much of it as I could. I understand opening the show with the antithesis of Lucha Libre. He kept it short and brief.
LWO & Lince DoraDo vs Octagon Jr, Mr Iguana & Aero Star
The LWO is being represented here by Joaquin Wilde and Dragon Lee. Cruz Del Toro was booked for this match, but he got shoot knocked out on WWE Speed so he is not cleared to compete here, which is a shame. His replacement is the returning Lince Dorado, who was released in 2021 but was resigned earlier in 2025 as an NXT coach. He was a key feature on 205 Live before forming Lucha House Party and suffering terrible creative decisions. It’ll be nice to see Dorado make an appearance, I always thought he was great to watch. We are familiar with these guys, let’s meet their opponents.
Aero Star is the guy in the black mask with his eyes concealed. He has been a mainstay for AAA since debuting in 2003. He made one appearance in AEW alongside Samuray Del Sol (FKA Kalisto) to challenge FTR for the tag championships. 1 time tag champion and a 1 time mixed tag champion in AAA, as well as a few tournaments such as Rey de Reyes & Alas de Oro.
Mr Iguana is, well, the green guy. That should be obvious. He is the current Mixed Tag champion alongside La Hiedra. Little is known of Mr Iguana, a fan favourite known primarily as a comedy wrestler. He is a rare unmasked wrestler in AAA, choosing to don face paint instead. Apparently he is a lot of fun to watch.
Octagon Jr currently competes in TNA alongside Laredo Kid as the Aztec Warriors. He is a former Trios champion alongside Myzteziz Jr & the current AAA Mega champion, El Hijo De Vikingo. Octagon Jr is the third man to don the character, adopting the gimmick in late 2019 during his second year with AAA.
The Match
Mr Iguana crawls down to the ring with an Iguana in his mouth. I can tell I am going to like this guy. Corey puts this trio over as 3 of the most popular stars from AAA. The LWO get the loudest pop I have ever heard them get. Dominik Mysterio is seen at ringside. Konnan rags on Dom for the way he has treated his father.
Octagon Jr & Cruz Del Toro start the match and shake hands. I expect this to be incredibly hard to follow. Octagon and Cruz trade fast counters and pin attempts before reaching a stalemate. Iguana and Lince Dorado tag in, the fans really like Iguana. Lince drops him with a with a chop. Iguana grabs his Iguana puppet (named Yasca) and locks up with him. The green man shows some incredibly unique arm drags and places Yasca on him for the pin
Dragon Lee and Aero Star now. They trade some flashy enziguiris and we see a cool tornillo from Aero Star. Team LWO fall to the outside. Aero, Iguana & Octagon all hit huge dives to the outside. Aero and Dragon have a nice exchange before Cruz & Iguana tag in. Cruz is on fire in this match.
Mr Iguana tricks Lince Dorado by putting Yasca on his hand whilst he takes out Cruz with a headscissors. Dorado is pissed and he stomps the shit out of Yasca, hitting the toy with a Spanish Fly. Huge boos from the crowd. Iguana is mad, he takes him down with a spinning headscissors. Lince Dorado hits a Shooting Star press but Aero breaks pin.
Lince super ranas Octagon from the top rope. All 6 men take turns hitting big moves on each other. Cruz with a tight rope dropkick to Igauna. Dragon Lee tope con hilo on Iguana. Aero suicide dives on to Dragon. Cruz hits a top rope tornillo wiping them all out. Lince and Octagon are the last 2 standing in the ring, trading blows. Octagon hits an awesome moonsault fallaway slam from the top rope.
Analysis
B Grade – I am taking into account that we are watching Lucha Libre, not American wrestling, so my expectations are different. This was exactly what an opening match should have been. A hot opening match full of big spots and some fun interactions for the crowd to be invested in. Aero Star and Octagon Jr were the more exciting wrestlers, but Mr Iguana was a lot of fun. Sure, the toy puppet is a bit daft, but it is entertaining.
Cruz Del Toro was the absolute MVP of this match. Konnan put him over pretty hard, saying he never saw him wrestle this good and he might be right. Cruz saw this as a moment to shine and he did. I hope he gets more features on WWE programming.
Speaking of Konnan, I understand why he is here and on commentary, but he shouldn’t be. He might have the most boring, monotone voice I have ever heard. Any time he tries to tell backstory of the wrestlers I just want to go to sleep. Take a drink every time he says “let me just say one thing”. Konnan also keeps calling the spots before they happen which is incredibly infuriating.
Dirty
The celebrations are ruined by Dominik Mysterio who disparages Rey Mysterio and the AAA talent in the ring. He shoves Octagon Jr. Octagon pulls him over the barrier and attacks him. Referees come out and try to separate the two but they keep fighting. Mr Iguana threatens to throw Yasca at Dominik. Dom says to Octagon Jr “I’ll see you at Money in the Bank and I’ll make sure the title is on the line.”
Huge developments there. This was a great post-match segment. Dominik brought the heat and now we will see some AAA representation at MITB. I am glad, I was worried about a 4 match PLE card.
Stephanie Vaquer & Lola Vice vs Dalys & Chik Tormenta
We have seen the former NXT women’s champion Stephanie Vaquer get into heated arguments with Dalys & Chik Tormenta over the past couple of weeks, leading to the NXT General Manager Ava setting up a tag team match. Lola Vice approached Vaquer and offered to be her partner, which Vaquer graciously accepted. Vaquer is pulling double duty today as she is also competing in the Money in the Bank ladder match later on tonight. This could be a big night tonight for La Primera.
Dalys is the one who looks like Quagmire’s dad/mom in Family Guy. She is 50 years old and is the wife of the legendary Negros Casas. Because of this, and the claim that she gets a lot of opportunities despite not being that good, she is often accused of profiting from nepotism. I have never watched her wrestle before so I will form my opinion. She is a former World Women’s & Japanese Women’s champion in CMLL.
Chik Tormenta is a 40 year old, near 20 year veteran who has been with AAA since 2018. She hasn’t had much success and I cannot seem to find a stand out match in her career. I have a suspicion that Vaquer & Vice have to put in the extra work tonight to carry this match.
The Match
Konnan does a solid job describing the long history Stephanie Vaquer and Dalys have. They start the match. Vaquer uses her quickness and agility, but Dalys is able to over power her. She goes for the Devil’s Kiss but it is counter. Chik Tormenta tags in and beats down Vaquer. Snap suplex by Vaquer, she tags Lola Vice. 619 by Vaquer, a kick by Lola gets a 2. Huge discus forearm by Chik but Lola barely sells it. Chik locks in a Boston Crab. Lola barely lands a headscissors take down on Tormenta. Dalys & Chik are set up as Lola Vice runs back and forth with huge hip attacks.
Tormenta takes down Lola Vice on the outside. Dalys hits a silly looking diving double Axe Handle to the outside. Tormenta and Dalys dominate Lola. An assisted powerslam gets a near fall for Tormenta. Running dropkick by Dalys to Lola. She slowly beats up Lola Vice until she finally manages a tag to Stephanie Vaquer. Vaquer takes out Dalys with a diving crossbody. She runs back and forth with boots for both her opponents, then a dragon screw to Dalys gets a 2.
Vaquer and Vice to stereo Devil’s Kiss’ to Dalys & Tormenta whilst Konnan gets all horny on commentary. Vaquer & Dalys have an awkward back and forth until Stephanie hits SVB to win.
Analysis
C Grade – This was fine. A pretty basic tag match, mostly here to put over Stephanie Vaquer and give Lola Vice a rub too. It was pretty clear that Vice & Vaquer were carrying the match.
Vaquer was also quite reserved in this match, Lola was the more prominent member of the team. It makes sense as to not risk her going into the Money in the Bank match later hurt. Like I say, this was fine. I wasn’t very impressed by Dalys or Chik Tormenta, not enough to go seek out any of their matches.
Legado Del Fantasma vs Pagano, Psycho Clown & EL HiJo De Dr. Wagner Jr
We have seen tensions between Berto and Santos Escobar develop over the past few months ever since Rey Fenix debuted in WWE. Andrade has been whispering in Berto’s ear, telling him he deserves better than how Santos treats him. Berto’s cousin Angel is caught in the middle of the drama. In an attempt to regroup, Santos announced this 6-man tag against three more members of the AAA roster.
First we have El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr, which is far too much of a mouthful for a name. His father, Dr Wagner, is a legendary luchador. Incredibly decorated during his 16 years in CMLL as well as a 3 time AAA Mega Champion. El Hijo has impressed fans across the world with his ability, even winning the top prize in Pro Wrestling NOAH, the GHC Heavyweight Championship. He is currently one half of The Crash Lucha Libre tag champions alongside Galeno.
If you assumed the guy with the clown face paint and the red hair was Psycho Clown, you would be mistaken. That is Pagano, primarily a hardcore wrestler in AAA who had a brief run in TNA. He did used to be masked, but he lost his first Luchas de Apuestas match and he was forced to unmask. He is a psychotic clown character, he wore a clown mask initially but now he just paints his face like one. Pagano found international fame when he joined AAA and feuded with his partner here tonight, Psycho Clown.
Psycho Clown is a 25 year veteran and 19 of those have been with AAA. One of AAA’s iconic roster members, Psycho Clown is a brawler who also thrives in hardcore matches. He has won AAA’s tag titles, trios titles and the Latin American championship.
The Match
Legado refuse a handshake which pisses off Psycho Clown. Berto and Wagner start the match. Wagner runs the ropes with speed and takes Berto down with a headscissors. Angel comes in and beats down on Wagner, but El Hijo tags in Psycho Clown. A huge Psycho elbow and a powerslam gets a near fall. Berto, Angel and Psycho exchange standing switches, Psycho hits them with a double German suplex. Psycho Clown hits a suicide dive through the gap in the turnbuckle, which Konnan tries to call before he hits.
Pagano takes out Los Garza with a double diving dropkick. He goes for a huge dive on Berto, but Santos Escobar runs in and moves Berto out of harms way. Pagano lands hard. Legado work over Pagano now. Three tandem kicks by Legado. Konnan tries to tell us that this is the first time we have seen Legado wrestle together as a trio which is, wildly incorrect. Legado get a lot of heat from the crowd by sneak attacking their opponents. Pagano finally fights back with a blockbuster and tags Psycho Clown to cause havoc. Basement dropkick by Psycho to Angel stuck in a tree of woe. He drops Berto with a Code Red for a near fall.
El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr is in and takes out all of Legado with dragon screws, which Konnan claims Dr Wagner popularised. Tatsumi Fujinami says hello. Stereo dives by Team Psycho. We see a Psycho Driver onto the apron to Berto. Huge moonsault by Angel which Konnan claims his father popularised. Mando Guerrero & The Great Muta say hello. All 6 men take turns hitting big moves, Berto wipes out everyone leaving Santos and Wagner left standing.
Super Rana by Santos on Wagner gets a near fall. Santos and Wagner trade big strikes and pin attempts until Santos hits the Phantom Driver and wins the match
Analysis
B- Grade – This is another good multi-man tag. The action was just below the quality of the opening match. There were a few mistakes and awkward moments in this one. The booking was similar too but a lot more heel work being done by Legado Del Fantasma. The heel faction led this match and kept things moving at a good pace. El Hijo Del Dr Wagner Jr was able to keep up with the flow. Psycho Clown did alright, Pagano was the weaker link.
The ramblings and lies of Konnan were in full force here. Spinning nonsensical stories. Towards the end whilst Legado were setting up a huge move in the corner he decides to butt in and tell a story about a relative of Los Garza who died. Dude, please, stop.
Ethan Page (c) vs Je’von Evans vs Rey Fenix vs Laredo Kid, NXT North American Championship
Ethan Page defeated Ricky Saints for the NXT North American Championship on the May 27th episode. We haven’t seen Saints since, supposedly injured after a violent assault with a chair by Ethan. Ethan Page’s celebration was interrupted by one of his rivals Je’Von Evans who revealed he would be one of his challengers for the title at Worlds Collide. A further 2 more challengers were revealed by him, Smackdown’s Rey Fenix and AAA’s Cruiserweight champion, Laredo Kid.
Laredo Kid is well travelled and a proven talent. He has been able to wrestle various styles of wrestling across AEW, TNA, AAA, GCW and now WWE. Laredo is a 2 time AAA cruiserweight champion, a former trios champion and a former TNA Digital Media champion.
The Match
Canada, America and Mexico all represented in a North American title match. That’s cool. Konnan tells a story about how Rey Fenix cried because he couldn’t meet Rey Mysterio. He also takes credit for discovering him. Je’Von Evans and Rey Fenix take out Ethan Page and Laredo Kid, going head to head in the ring. Evans shows his agility, so Rey one-ups him with an incredibly flashy arm drag from the top. They wrestle to a stalemate, Ethan shoves Rey into Evans and I think they bump heads. Laredo takes down Ethan, Rey takes down Laredo, Ethan Page pulls out a hurricanrana! Lucha Ethan.
Je’Von eyes up a dive but Rey chops him and hits a spider kick. Laredo takes out Evans & Page with a beautiful moonsault. Fenix takes all 3 of them out with a tornillo dive. A step-through DDT from the apron by Rey gets a near fall. The embarrassing wrestling fans chant “we want tables” and Konnan rightfully says “why do they want tables in a match like this?” Imagine chanting for tables. Cringe. Ethan Page hits a top rope splash for a near fall. Laredo drops Rey with a Michinoku Driver. He follows up later with an awesome front flip DDT onto Rey Fenix.
Evans wipes out Ethan on the outside with a crazy dive, he gets so high up. Konnan wished he took out the Spanish announcers. Je’Von Evans hits Laredo Kid, stuck in the tree of woe, with a coast to coast front flip kick. Wow. Evans hits a springboard cutter on Rey but Ethan breaks the pinfall. Ethan Page grabs Fenix and talks trash. Rey strikes him with the Goodbye Amigo kick. He takes down Laredo with kicks and a stomp, landing what looked like an Emarald Flosion for a near fall.
All four men hit big moves and we have a quadruple down. The crowd decide to chant for R-Truth now. Ethan Page hits the Ego’s Edge on Rey Fenix but Evans breaks it up with a frog splash. The crowd pop for that. Laredo and Evans trade blows and hits the Springboard Cutter, he throws Evans out of the ring into Rey Fenix. Page hits the Twisted Grin and pins Laredo Kid to retain.
Analysis
A Grade – What an absolute banger. This was the perfect blend of the jaw-dropping athleticism from Lucha Libre, and the pacing and storytelling of American wrestling. All 4 men were fantastic.
Laredo Kid was mostly here to eat the pin, he didn’t have many stand out moments but he was part of some great sequences with all of his opponents. Rey Fenix put on another exciting presentation of how he is one of the greatest luchadores in the world. He was botch-free tonight too, which is always a delight. Ethan Page was the perfect heel, whilst also playing to the crowd but doing some high-risk offence to fit the vibe of the event.
Je’Von Evans, like a lot of the time, was the highlight of the match. He has came so far in a short time and he once again proved himself to be one of the best NXT has to offer. My suspense was held numerous times, I thought he might have walked out of here with the win but Ethan Page stole it from him. Although we have already seen these two in a feud recently, I wouldn’t mind if they run it back one more time.
El Hijo Del Vikingo (c) vs Chad Gable, AAA Mega Championship
One of the recurring stories on WWE Raw for over 6 months is Chad Gable’s beef with luchadors. After big losses to Dragon Lee and Penta, Chad went away to undergo training and when he returned, we also saw the debut of El Grande Americano. Although Gable and Americano look similar, wrestling similar and are never in the same place at the same time, Gable is adamant that he is not El Grande Americano. I am inclined to believe him. If I didn’t, then I would mention that Chad would be pulling double duty today like Vaquer is.
Chad Gable mocked and attacked Vikingo at ringside, who repaid the favour by costing him his Money in the Bank qualifier. At least El Grande Americano managed to win his. El Hijo De Vikingo is only 28 years old but he has captured the attention of wrestling fans worldwide for his crazy agility and high-flying offence. Vikingo is a 2 time AAA Mega champion. HIs first reign lasted for 833 days, ending due to an injury. On the 31st of May, Vikingo defeat the controversial Alberto El Patron to win the AAA Mega title, making this match vs Gable a championship match.
I would absolutely love to see Chad Gable win here, it would be great television. I don’t think he will though. Whilst I cannot deny that Vikingo has some crazy athleticism, I have never been impressed by his ability as a wrestler. A lot of botches, a lot of standing around to set up spots, a lack of ring psychology and selling. He is an incomplete package. Rey Mysterio has told him to slow it down, I hope he listens. He is in there with good company tonight.
The Match
Interestingly, the footage of Vikingo winning the AAA Mega Championship never showed Alberto El Patron’s face and I think that is intentional. I highly doubt WWE are willing to bring him into the universe once again. Konnan tells the biggest lie of the night, claiming that “Fluffy” Gabriel Iglesias is funny. Konnan also claims that Vikingo’s father, King Vikingo, was an Olympic wrestler too and trained Vikingo. Ha ha, okay.
The crowd are duelling chants for and against Chad Gable. Gable & Vikingo mat wrestling, Chad shines with chain wrestling and mocking Vikingo. Chad focuses on returning to the arm bar after each sequence of grappling. The pace is slow to start, but they showcase some incredibly transitions and hold attempts. Gable counters an armbar into an ankle lock but Vikingo escapes. He mocks Vikingo, dropping him with a back suplex. Gable goes for a crossbody, Vikingo catches him but Chad swings out of the Uranage.
Counter for counter. I think Vikingo botched a move in the corner because he was just hanging upside down for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was awkward. Vikingo takes Chad down with a unique headscissors and to the outside. Vikingo hits a 450 senton to Gable on the outside.
He goes for a shooting star press but Gable gets the knees up. Chad pulls out a table from under the ring. Gable and Vikingo trade blows on the outside of the ring, leaving the table out there for now. Gable takes him down with a monkey flip. He tries to lock in an Abdominal Stretch but he injured his arm earlier in the match and struggles to apply it. A German Suplex gets a 2 count. Gable goes for a top rope dive, Vikingo tries to meet him in mid-air with a codebreaker but it looks awkward.
Vikingo sets Gable up on the ropes for a diving double stomp, which the camera barely catches. Vikingo drops him with an enziguiri. He hits a springboard corkscrew 450 from the apron for a near fall. Gable drops Vikingo with an inside sit-out powerbomb from the top rope! That looked insane. Vikingo just manages to kick out. Vikingo dropkicks Gable off the ropes to the apron. He jumps from the ring post and murders Gable with a Mexican Destroyer on the apron, but Chad kicks out! Vikingo sets Chad on the table, Gable pushes him off the top rope and puts Vikingo on there instead. Moonsault by Gable through the table!
The referee counts and both men make it in before 10. The trade blows in the ring. Gable counters a kick and locks in the Ankle Lock! German Suplex transition, Vikingo flips out. Vikingo has hurt his foot but still manages to hit a poison rana! Vikingo on one foot hits a 630 splash onto Gable for the win to retain.
Analysis
A Grade – Mad props for Chad Gable going out there and wrestling this level of a match when he has to go and compete in the MITB match later on as El Grande Americano.
This match was awesome. Vikingo benefited from being in the ring with Gable who helped him slow the match down, sell the spots and build to the finish. This is the best I have seen Vikingo wrestle. He showed that he could compete on a technical level and not just throw out a plethora of spots. Both men sold everything really well.
There was only really that one moment where Vikingo was in the corner and I didn’t know what he was trying to do. Other than that, he was on form. I am hoping that the arm injury for Chad Gable comes into play later at Money in the Bank because it was set up with no pay off in this match, so it should really be paid off later.
Most definitely the match of the night.
The show goes off the air with AAA wrestlers celebrating with El Hijo de Vikingo.
Final Thoughts
A- Overall Grade – A very fun night of wrestling. There was a bit of something for everyone here. The show went by at a good pace. The first 3 matches did their job of exciting the crowd but not overshadowing the 2 main features of the card, the title matches.
Both the North American and AAA Mega title matches were bangers. Both were great fusions of Lucha Libre and American style wrestling.
The presentation was strong. I think Corey Graves did a fantastic job as a lead commentator, I hope he gets more opportunity to do it. Hey, bin Vic Joseph and make Corey Graves the voice of NXT. The biggest negative of the show was Konnan who had poor timing when telling anecdotes about wrestlers, plus just spouting bullshit nonsense.
This was a successful event and I look forward to whenever they decide to do another. I assume a WWE x AAA x TNA Worlds Collide is inevitable.
Check out my deep dive into one of the worst Royal Rumble events ever, the 2022 edition.
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