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TJR: 5 Thoughts About WWE’s Production Of AAA TripleMania 33

By John Canton • Published Aug 18, 2025 10:40 EDT
AAA TripleMania WWE 33

The WWE influence was definitely felt during the 33rd edition of AAA’s TripleMania.

The 33rd edition of AAA TripleMania aired on Saturday night from Mexico City. I’ll be the first to admit that, historically, I’m not a regular AAA viewer. I have seen some things from shows over the years and even some full shows. I’ve also never reviewed a AAA show until this year’s WWE-AAA Worlds Collide event

I thought about reviewing AAA TripleMania 33, but I didn’t get around to it on Saturday and I was busy Sunday doing family stuff. I watched it and wrote a results post on TJRWrestling on Saturday night.

If you missed AAA TripleMania 33, it’s available for free on WWE’s YouTube channel in both English and Spanish.

The commentary was Corey Graves, joined by AAA Hall of Famer Konnan and WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield. They worked well together and did a nice job as a team.

If I had to rate it out of 10, I would probably give it 7.5 or 7.75. It was a lot of fun to watch, and the crowd was hot. The fact that you can watch it on YouTube for free is a wonderful thing too.

Rather than doing a full review, I’m going to mention five things I thought about the show.

5. Omos Winning The Bardahl Cup Was A Great Idea

They started the show with the Bardahl Cup, a modified version of the Royal Rumble featuring 14 entrants instead of 30. The spot with the giant Omos standing at 7″3″ and staring down Microman, who is under 3’3″ tall. The Omos-Microman spot was silly, and it may be a part of pro wrestling that serious wrestling fans don’t like, but I have no problem with it. That clip was shared all over social media and even by major sports accounts. It got tens of millions of views just because of how silly it was.

Otis had a lot of fun moments in the battle royal too. I think Otis and Omos are guys who can be used very well in spots like that, but on a regular basis in WWE, they probably aren’t going to stand out, considering how talented the roster is.

Omos got the win by last eliminating La Parka, who started the match. The reason I loved this is not because of the match quality. It’s because WWE finally realized a way to use Omos. Maybe he won’t be a regular on Raw or SmackDown, but imagine him as a regular in AAA and a monster who nobody can seem to stop? I think he could thrive in AAA.

4. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. Defeating El Mesias Was Booked Very Well

I didn’t know much about El Hijo del Wagner Jr. before the match, but Konnan did a great job of commentary, talking about how Wagner is a “loser” who had never won a title before. Mesias did an excellent job as the veteran wrestler who looked dominant throughout the match.

This match worked so well because El Hijo’s father, Dr. Wagner Jr., got involved, and it led to a compelling comeback from El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. to get the win. It’s classic pro wrestling storytelling where you don’t have to know the background of every wrestler or match, but you can still enjoy it because that’s the magic and art of pro wrestling.

The crowd popped huge when El Hijo Del Wagner Jr. was presented with the AAA Latin American Championship, and it was treated like a big moment.

3. The Street Fight Tag Was Better Than The Mixed 6-Person Tag

The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor, JD McDonagh & Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez) beat Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa & Lola Vice in what was just an average tag team match. The fans loved Iguana and Nino for being unique characters. Finn Balor had his own hand puppet, “Demonico,” to fight with Iguana’s puppet, and that was so silly, but listen to the crowd reaction? They cared. After Roxanne Perez got involved, Raquel got the win by hitting the Tejana Bomb on Lola, who is a talented NXT star. This show had a lot of babyface wins, but it was fine to have The Judgment Day heels win here.

There was also a AAA World Tag Team Championship Street Fight that saw Pagano & Psycho Clown beat Los Garza’s Angel & Berto in a great match. This match was different from everything else on the show because they were able to use weapons. There were some dangerous table bumps in the match, but hopefully everyone was okay. Pagano put barbed wire around Berto’s body and hit a Spanish Fly off the top rope for the pinfall win. That was a result that the fans loved, and it was fitting for a show like TripleMania.

Angel & Garza didn’t have a long run as the AAA Tag Team Champions, but I’m glad they held the titles for a few months because they weren’t doing much on SmackDown.

2. Natalya Needs To Bring “Nattie” To WWE TV

The AAA Reina de Reinas Title match was the company’s equivalent to the Women’s Title. Flammer retained the title in a match with Faby Apache and WWE’s Natalya, who was in full “Nattie” gear. Apache hit Natalya with a Michinoku Driver, and then Flammer rolled up Apache for the pinfall win. It was controversial because Apache’s foot was on the bottom rope, but the referee didn’t see it. After the match, Natalya fought with Apache briefly. The referee tried to separate them, so Apache left.

Natalya’s real name is Nattie Neidhart, and in her matches outside of WWE for promotions like Bloodsport, she’s been using the “Nattie” name. It’s more of a grappling persona that reminds people that the Hart family member is a badass submission wrestler. It was about a year ago when Natalya re-signed with WWE, and in the year since then, they barely put her in matches on WWE TV. I’m writing this on the morning of August 18th and Natalya is against Becky Lynch on Raw, so I hope that’s a match that is given plenty of time. I also hope Natalya goes into the match as “Nattie” so she can show off that side of her.

Another approach is to have Lynch win on Raw, followed by her mocking Natalya, saying she’s not as good as she used to be. This prompts Natalya to realize she needs to change to compete in today’s WWE, leading to weeks of transformation, and ultimately, “Nattie” arrives.

Reinvention is a big part of pro wrestling. Natalya has turned heel and face numerous times in her 17-year WWE career, but she hasn’t changed that much. By bringing the “Nattie” badass submission wrestler to WWE TV, it would be a change for Natalya that could be the boost she needs to become a featured performer again. I know I may be biased for my fellow Canadian, but I think Nattie would be a welcome sight on Raw or SmackDown. Give her a chance to do something different because I think it could work very well.

1. It’s Only A Matter Of Time Until Dominik Mysterio Is AAA Grand Champion

In the main event, El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser in a mask) to retain the AAA Mega Championship, which is the equivalent of a World Title in AAA. I thought it was a very entertaining match that was full of interference. I think I would have rated it **** (out of five) if I were rating it.

The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh got involved to help Dominik, but the LWO’s Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro showed up at ringside to fight with them. Americano nearly won thanks to masked Americano guys, but he couldn’t secure the victory. Dominik Mysterio put a mask on and loaded it with a piece of metal. After Dominik hit Americano and Lee with the loaded mask headbutt, Dominik hit a Frog Splash. A masked wrestler pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. The masked wrestler was the legendary AJ Styles, and the fans cheered loudly for him. Styles hit Dominik with the Styles Clash. Vikingo went up top and hit a 630 Splash on Dominik for the pinfall win.

What was very noticeable throughout the match is that the fans booed Vikingo even though he was a babyface. Even after he won the match and held up the AAA Grand Champion, the fans booed Vikingo. Dominik Mysterio also stared at Vikingo from a distance, so that’s likely going to be a singles match down the road.

The next AAA-WWE Worlds Collide event is on Friday, September 12th, in Las Vegas and I think that’s the night that Dominik Mysterio wins the AAA Grand Championship from El Hijo Del Vikingo. The fans are reacting to Dominik as a major star with boos, but they also cheer him because they know he’s a great performer. I’m not sure if Dominik will still be Intercontinental Champion when he wins the AAA Grand Championship because I’d like to see AJ Styles with the IC Title because he’s probably going to retire in the next year or two. If you’re going to put the AAA Grand Championship on Dominik, then he doesn’t need the IC Title too.

Could you imagine a big match down the line where Dominik defends the AAA Grand Championship against Rey Mysterio in Mexico? That would be a huge match, especially since Rey never won that title, since he spent so many years in WWE. You could even do that as a retirement match for Rey whenever he decides to call it a career. I think Dirty Dom as AAA Grand Champion is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Just before I posted this, WWE announced El Hijo Del Vikingo against Dominik Mysterio at Worlds Collide on September 12th. I expect a title change there.

Final Thoughts On AAA-WWE TripleMania

I enjoyed it. While there are some things different than what WWE does, it certainly felt like a WWE production, and that’s not a bad thing because they are so good at producing big events.

That’s all from me. Thanks for reading.

John Canton

Email: [email protected]

Twitter/X: @johnreport