Can’t Knock The Hustle: WWE x AAA Worlds Collide: Las Vegas Review

My wife’s birthday and our wedding anniversary are next week, so her family decided to take us out for a celebratory dinner. Therefore, I wasn’t able to catch this show live, but I’m here now, having completely avoided seeing any results or spoilers.

The Cox Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada is the home of this show, further solidifying WWE’s working relationship with Vegas. According to WrestleTix, we’re looking at approximately 2,500 fans in attendance for what is probably a sold out show (at last update, there were 52 tickets remaining on the morning of the event).

Let’s have some fun.

The show is officially underway with the arrival of Penta, who comes out to a good reaction, as is expected.

Penta is there for a “rah-rah” speech about Lucha Libre and the business relationship between WWE and AAA. It’s similar to what we’ve seen from Rey Mysterio on AAA shows since the company was purchased by WWE. He’s doing his speech in Spanish, and it’s funny to watch the people in the crowd that don’t understand what he’s saying simply going along with the rest of the crowd when they cheer for things.

On commentary, the same trio of Corey Graves, Konnan, and JBL are back to call the show. Is that going to be a good thing or a bad thing? Only time will tell.

Laredo Kid, La Parka, Octagon Jr. & Mascarita Sagrada vs Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, Lince Dorado & Mini Abismo Negro – Eight-Man Lucha Showcase Tag Match

A loud “Lucha Libre” chant breaks out at the sound of the opening bell.

No story here. Just a showcase, as the title suggests, with eight exciting competitors in the ring to get the crowd going from the jump.

Del Toro and Wilde are a lot of fun to watch in the first place, but when they’re in a habitat like this, that level of fun becomes amplified.

The crowd is hot for everything, but they went nuts when Masacarita Sagrada tagged in. He is put over on commentary as the best “mini” in pro wrestling history. It might be difficult to argue with that point. He is incredibly entertaining. WWE fans might remember him from his time as El Torito, the “mascot” of Los Matadores, especially his WeeLC match against Hornswoggle that might be the ultimate “this had no business being as fun as it ended up being” match.

Sagrada with a Falcon Arrow to Wilde, who is taller than Sagrada by a good 15 inches! That was impressive, and then Sagrada follows it up immediately by ascending to the top turnbuckle and diving at Mini Abismo Negro at ringside, nailing him with a beautiful headscissors. Great, great flurry of offense by Sagrada, who singlehandedly took out all four opponents in the span of a minute or so. The crowd is loving every bit of it, too, showering him with “holy shit” chants.

The action in this one has been balls to the wall from the start. My goodness gracious. There’s no way I’d be able to cover this with play-by-play.

Sagrada gets the pin on Mini Abismo Negro. That was a blast. Great choice for an opener. They were given nearly 20 minutes to work with, and that gave all eight men a chance to show what they do best. Of course, Mascarita Sagrada is the star here, and he gave the Vegas fans everything they were looking for. 4 Stars

Natalya vs Faby Apache – #1 Contender Match for the AAA Reina de Reinas Title

Once again, she is announced as “Natalya,” but she is clearly “Nattie Neidhart” for the match. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that there’s a huge difference between the two.

Bad blood between these two, and that’s evident right away. Stiff strikes are raining down, and we’ve already seen both women slap their opponent across the face.

The crowd is chanting for Faby, and unfortunately for Ms. Apache, that only seems to piss off Nattie, who just starts hitting her opponent harder.

Kudos to Corey Graves, who correctly points out that Faby doesn’t have her arms in the right spots during an Ankle Lock, taking away some of the effectiveness of her own move. It wasn’t a huge screwup or anything, but it was pretty clear that it wasn’t locked in properly.

In a match that was completely different than what we saw in the opener, Nattie picks up the win to become the new #1 Contender for Lady Flammer’s Reina de Reinas Title. Lady Flammer has held that title since August 2023. Could her reign be coming to an end soon?

This was fun while it lasted. It didn’t reach the ten-minute mark, but they packed a good amount of action in to what they had. 3.25 Stars

In a funny moment, we get a video package for WrestleMania heading to Saudi Arabia in 2027. When the package comes to an end, the crowd is booing and chanting “you sold out” until it almost seems like WWE turned the crowd mics down. Yikes.

Pagano & Psycho Clown vs Kofi Kingston & Grayson Waller – AAA World Tag Team Title Match

This was supposed to be Kofi and Xavier Woods getting the title shot, but Woods reveals that, thanks to a Mexican Destroyer from Penta, he had to have surgery on his head yesterday. He says he risked his health and the possibility of blood clots to fly to Las Vegas and support his brother less than 24 hours after having his head cut open. Funny.

At ringside, Woods is revealed to suffer from coulrophobia, which is a fear of clowns. Psycho Clown sneaks up behind him and frightens him, causing him to scream and back away.

Quite the clash of styles here. Kofi and Big G are looking to pick up the pace and use their speed and athleticism, while Pagano and Psycho Clown are trying to looking to beat the hell out of their opponents in any fashion.

Kofi and Waller are working well together so far. Waller has been an entertaining addition to the New Day act since Austin Theory was put on the shelf with an injury, ending the A-Town Down Under team.

Kofi goes to hit Pagano with a Superplex from the top, but it looked like Pagano slipped on the turnbuckle a bit. To his infinite credit, Kofi was still able to hit the move, combining veteran savvy with a surprising amount of power to get Pagano over as clean as possible.

Psycho Clown gets the pin on Waller to help his team retain the titles. Good stuff here. Like I said, it was a clash of styles, with both teams going back and forth in an attempt to get their style and pace going strong. 3.5 Stars

As the winners are about to be interviewed in the ring after the match, the lights in the arena go out, and The Wyatt Sicks are here. “Holy shit” chants break out as Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy, Dexter Lumis, and Nikki Cross attack the AAA Tag Team Champions. The crowd isn’t happy. Both Pagano and Psycho Clown are put through tables, and the crowd has decided to change their minds, chanting “this is awesome” as the Wyatts stand tall, holding up both sets of Tag Team Titles to close the segment. Are we getting a Title vs Title match soon? Sure seems like it.

Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice vs Finn Balor & Roxanne Perez – Mixed Tag Team Match

We know we’re going to see La Yesca. Are we going to see Demonito, as well?

During the Judgment Day’s entrance, Finn is carrying a black bag, similar to the ones that Jake “The Snake” Roberts used to carry his snakes in. Dear God, Demonito is here! I’m not sure that Las Vegas can handle Demonito’s wrath. He’s like a mixture of Valak The Defiler, Ted Bundy, and Lamb Chop.

While I think Mr. Iguana’s popularity has cooled a little bit since he was first introduced to the WWE Universe, he remains super over, and he has the potential to be a very rich man thanks to some crazy merchandise sales.

Earlier in the match, Mr. Iguana took Finn’s bag and threw it underneath the ring. Just now, with Finn in the ring, cameras cut to Demonito himself appearing over the apron. Good God Almighty! LMAO @ Finn seeing Demonito, telling him that he’s going to get hurt, telling him to wait, and then shoving him underneath the ring skirt. You know, I don’t think Finn gets the credit he deserves for his comedy work. He’s not the first name you think of when it comes to comedy wrestling, but he has quite the sense of humor and uses it well when need be.

The bag is brought back in, and Mr. Iguana goes to get Demonito out. It’s a swerve, though! Demonito isn’t in the bag! Suddenly, Finn appears behind Mr. Iguana with Demonito! Demonito with a Tope to the outside onto La Yesca!

In the ring, Lola takes advantage of the chaos to pick up the pin and the win on Roxanne. This definitely wasn’t designed to be an all-time classic or anything, but it was put together well as a good mixture of comedy and exciting action. 3.25 Stars

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Dragon Lee vs JD McDonagh vs “All Ego” Ethan Page – Fatal Four-Way for the AAA Latin American Title

The pace is ridiculously fast at the start of the match. This could be a lot of fun.

I like that all four men in this one bring a different in-ring style to the table. It makes these types of things more fun to watch.

LOL @ the arena lights randomly coming up during the match. It’s bright as all hell in the arena right now, and the crowd is chanting “turn the lights off” because of it. After about 30 seconds or so of looking like a scene from Oppenheimer, the lights go back down, and we’re back to how the show looked before.

An exciting flurry of offense from McDonagh is appreciated by the crowd, who chant “J-D” for him. I can’t remember the last time McDonagh received a positive chant from a live crowd.

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. picks up the win to retain his title. I don’t think the match hit the ten-minute mark, but it was close. They went all out, though, packing as much as they could in a relatively brief period of time. Four men, four different styles, and that made for a fun one. 3.5 Stars

El Hijo del Vikingo vs Dominik Mysterio – AAA Mega Title Match

Main event time. Is it also Double Belt Dom time?

Both competitors are shown walking backstage. Dom gets face pops, and Vikingo gets booed. The reactions aren’t as strong as they would’ve been if the show was taking place in Mexico, though. Those Mexican fans really, REALLY dislike Vikingo, and they have really, REALLY grown to love Dom.

While we’re on the subject of people that wrestling fans dislike, Logan Paul is shown sitting in the front row for this one. Naturally, Logan gets booed by the Las Vegas fans. You know… Vikingo vs Logan Paul would be a blast. I’m just saying.

We’re only a few minutes in, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but I think JBL has already mentioned Rey Mysterio being a “deadbeat” six or seven times.

Dom, holding the AAA Mega Title as he looks at Konnan: “You ever win that?!?”

Konnan, in response, on commentary: “SHUT UP!” Godson and Godfather, folks.

Vikingo seems to be working more of a slower pace than he usually does. He’s not moving around like El Gigante or anything, but he seems a lot less focused on flying all over the arena than he normally is.

Finn Balor and JD McDonagh run out, and McDonagh lands a headbutt on Dom behind the referee’s back, but it only gets a two count. Dragon Lee runs out, but the numbers advantage for the Judgment Day takes him down until Rey Mysterio runs out with a steel chair. All four men fight their way to the back.

El Grande Americano is here! He grabs the ref and breaks up a Vikingo pin attempt.

Vikingo focuses his attention on EGA, who slides the metal plate to Dom while nobody is looking. Dom loads up his entrance mask, drills Vikingo with it, then hits a Frog Splash. One… two… three… we have a brand new AAA Mega Champion, and the crowd goes wild. Double Belt Dom is now upon us.

During an earlier backstage segment, Rey Mysterio agreed that he would personally present Dom with the Mega Title if Dom were to win the match. Rey is a man of his word, apparently. He makes his way back to the ring and hands the title to Dom, who demands that Rey put it around his waist. Rey does so, much to his chagrin, and leaves the ring just as Judgment Day and El Grande Americano enter the ring to congratulate the new champion. We go off the air with Dom calling himself the “King Of Luchadores” and soaking in the crowd reaction.

Good stuff there, even though the final stretch was overbooked, with five extra wrestlers, two referees, and an “international object” getting involved. The match, as a whole, didn’t quiiiiite reach “great” status, but I’m giving it 3.75 Stars, anyway. As I mentioned, the pace was slower than your normal Vikingo match, but I’m not complaining in the slightest.

This was probably the best AAA show since they were acquired by WWE. Every match served its purpose, and served it well. I was entertained in one way, shape, or form by everything. That works for me. I’m giving this a big recommendation if you didn’t already check it out.