The one year anniversary of AAA being purchased by WWE is rapidly approaching, and the Mexican company has undergone a number of changes since being taken over. The company’s biggest show of the year, TripleMania, saw a number of records broken in attendance and viewing figures. A brand new television deal with FOX was secured in Mexico and South America, and a number of roster members have managed to cross over and feature on WWE programming. To say the acquisition has been a success, and someone who has followed what’s been happening south of the border since the purchase was made has been Dave Meltzer, who covered what he thinks have been the biggest changes for AAA in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The biggest thing Meltzer noted was the Americanization, or “WWEification” of AAA. Stars like El Hijo del Vikingo, known for being one of wrestling’s premier high-flyers, no longer flies in the way he used to because he’s a heel, something WWE has used for years to get fans to stop cheering wrestlers with exciting arsenals. There’s also more run-ins than before, and a lot more promos, with all the fans in attendance mainly there to see the WWE Superstars who’ve traveled to Mexico rather than the AAA roster itself.
Meltzer also pointed out a case of WWE trying to either rewrite or simplify AAA’s history, with commentary consistently saying that La Parka was going for his sixth win in the Rey De Reyes tournament. While the character of La Parka has won the tournament five previous times, the man who previously portrayed La Parka died in 2020, which commentary never mentioned in order to make things less complicated.
With all that said, Meltzer did have some positives regarding the current incarnation of AAA. He claimed that the production is a lot better, to the point where it’s better than AAA’s main rival CMLL. The crowds are always hot, and unlike the North American crowds, they actually care about the matches and aren’t focused on only the finish or if any of the participants have any aura. While Meltzer did say that some of the matches, particularly the women’s bouts, aren’t that great, the vast majority of matches end up being entertaining, and with AAA selling out nearly every show over since WWE took over, Meltzer concluded by saying that AAA’s weekly show is more entertaining TV product WWE currently produces.
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