The John Report: AAA Noche de Los Grandes – El Grande Americano vs. Original El Grande Americano (Mask vs. Mask) Review 05/30/26
This is a review of WWE’s AAA Noche de Los Grandes Mask vs. Mask match between El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano.
I watched the El Grande Americano match at the AAA Noche De Los Grandes event on Saturday night, May 30th, and I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t review it as I watched. That’s what I’m here to do today.
It’s Monday at 11 A.M. ET as I post this, and the video of AAA Noche De Los Grandes on WWE’s YouTube channel has over 1.6 million views as of this writing.
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AAA Noche de Los Grandes
Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
May 30, 2026
I am only going to write a detailed review of the Mask vs. Mask match. Prior to that match, there were three title matches, and all of them had title changes.
* Rey Fénix defeated Laredo Kid (c) by pinfall to win the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
* El Hijo del Vikingo (with Dorian Roldán) defeated El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (c) by pinfall to win the AAA Latin American Championship
* The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) defeated Pagano and Psycho Clown (c) by pinfall to win the AAA World Tag Team Championships
Before I get into the review of Mask vs. Mask, I have really enjoyed watching the clips of El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano’s rivalry. It’s a unique thing where the majority of people know the wrestlers under the masks, and one of the guys hasn’t even been under the mask for even a year, yet the story has been so compelling. The reason it has been so compelling is that they have made it clear that the Original El Grande Americano is the heel, and the other El Grande Americano has embraced the Mexican culture and is beloved by the fans for it. The fans don’t care that El Grande Americano is a German guy portraying a Mexican. The fact that Ludwig Kaiser has fully embraced being this character is what has led to this gimmick being so successful.
I think WWE and AAA have done an incredible job of building this match up to be a big deal. That led to this match in the main event of a sold-out special in Monterrey.
There was a long video package that set up the El Grande Americano story, using comic book graphics.
The Original El Grande Americano was up first and was booed heavily. The crowd was chanting and singing at him because they didn’t like the guy.
The commentary team is Corey Graves, Rey Mysterio, and John Bradshaw Layfield. Mysterio is also the AAA GM.
El Grande Americano’s entrance was a spectacle, with the fans going crazy for him. Using the band on the stage to play him out there gave it a perfect feeling, and the fans were absolutely on fire for Grande as usual.
Mask vs. Mask: El Grande Americano vs. Original El Grande Americano
For the sake of this review, I’ll refer to Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable) as Original, and I’ll refer to El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) as Grande. The head NXT referee, Adrian Butler, was the referee. The match is No Disqualification, with the finish happening in the ring.
During the introductions, Original grabbed a guitar and hit Grande with the guitar on the head. AAA General Manager called for the match to begin. Original was in control with strikes and a back body drop suplex. As Grande threw some punches, the fans were cheering loudly. Original fought back with punches of his own. Grande headbutted Original and hit a delayed vertical suplex. Grande sent Original into the ring post after a monkey flip. Grande hit a suicide dive, along with a dropkick on the floor. Original hit a back body drop on the floor. Original sent Grande face first into the ring post. Grande came back with a rolling senton slam on the floor. Grande set up a table on the floor, so Original tackled Grande on the floor. Original sent Grande into the steel steps. Original sent Grande face first into the steel steps a few times. Original went for a slam off the steel steps and it was like an Angle Slam on the floor. Back in the ring, that got Original a two count. Original ripped at Grande’s mask a bit and the fans were screaming mad about it. Original kept on pulling on the mask, but Grande managed to hold onto the mask. Grande got a hold of Original on the apron and hit an Air Raid Crash through the table to the floor. When Grande went for a running kick, Original caught him and hit a German Suplex on the floor. Original used a piece of the broken table to hit Grande in the head. Original threw a leather chair at Grande two times. Original threw a steel chair at Grande as well. Original suplexed Grande on the floor. Original tossed Grande over the commentary table.
It was Original back in control inside the ring. Grande was bleeding from the right side of his head. Original hit an Exploder Suplex for two. Original set up Grande on the top rope and hit a belly-to-back suplex off the top. That was a big move, and they sold it that way. Original worked over Grande with punches, which led to Grande firing back up, and the fans were getting loud for the comeback as Grande hit multiple chops to the chest. Grande jumped off the turnbuckle with a Blockbuster neckbreaker for a two count. JBL kept on being the heel announcer about how Grande stole the character from Original, which is true. Grande went to Original’s mask and ripped the top half of the mask. They went to the floor as Grande spun Original around and slammed him face first into the steel steps. The camera stayed on Grande while Original was down doing a blade job, and when we saw Original again, he was a bloody mess from the forehead. Grande hit a running dropkick into the steel steps. Grande attacked Original with punches and a running kick to the chest for two.
Grande tossed three chairs into the ring and wedged a chair in between the turnbuckles. Original was back up with a German Suplex. Grande had a chair and hit the chair that Original was holding. Julio and Bruto Creedo, aka The Creed Brothers, showed up to attack Grande. Julio and Bruto gave Grande a double spinebuster onto the commentary table, but it wasn’t enough to break the table. Julio picked up Grande and slammed him through the table. It broke this time. Back in the ring, Original hit a diving headbutt off the top for a two count. El Grande Americano’s buddies Rayo and Bravo Americano (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) went down to the ring, so Julio and Bruto fought with them to the backstage area. Rayo used a kendo stick to beat up both Creedo boys. Bravo climbed up a 15-foot high structure by the fans and jumped off with a cross body block onto the other three girls. Great move!
Analysis: That was a cool spot to use the Creeds and Rayo/Bravo in the match, while also taking them out of the match to set up a clean finish.
Original sees the blind comedian Ojitos de Huevo in the crowd, and they had issues in the past. Ojitos hit Grande with the walking stick a few times, which the fans loved. Grande hit a Blockbuster on Original on the floor. Grande hugged Ojitos, and the fans were chanting for Ojitos. Original hit a rolling Liger kick to knock Grande off the apron to the floor. A masked guitar player was in the ring and hit Original in the head with the guitar. The masked person revealed themselves to be Pimpinela Escarlata, who is a Mexican wrestling legend, and the fans popped big for Escarlata’s reveal. Grande was back in the ring with a running forearm for a two count. That was a great nearfall! Original had a history with Escarlata as well. Grande found some bull rope under the ring. Original hit a low blow kick to stop a bullrope attack. Original attacked Grande with bullrope strikes to the back. Original used the bullrope to stomp Grande’s head into the steel chair.
It was Original still in control with some choking by the ropes as Andrea Bazarte, who works for AAA as a host and interviewer, made her way down to the ring in the crowd. Original got her fired in the story, so this time she said she was there because she bought a ticket. The fans cheered for her being there. Original left the ring and got in Andrea’s face. Grande jumped on Original and attacked him with the bullrope to the back. They went back into the ring, and Grande hit a twisting DDT on a steel chair for two. The crowd was on fire, chanting “This is Lucha” in Spanish (thanks, Graves). Grande and Original were exchanging punches while the fans were reacting to every strike they did. Original gave Grande an overhead belly-to-belly suplex into the turnbuckle. Original went up top and hit a moonsault on Grande for two. Grande used a steel chair to strike Grande’s left knee/ankle by the steel steps. Original applied an Ankle Lock on the left ankle, but Grande countered it and pulled back on the head with a knee to the back in a move called La Cavaneria. Original got out of it and applied the Ankle Lock again with the kneebar submission added to it. Grande teased tapping out, but then he kept on fighting and managed to stand his way out of it. Grande hit a back suplex. Grande tried to run the ropes, but then he collapsed to the mat to sell the left ankle injury. Grande hit the Chaos Theory (rolling German Suplex) for just a two count. Original charged, Grande moved and Original hit the middle turnbuckle. Grande ran the ropes, picked up speed and hit a running headbutt to the chest for the one…two…three! Great flipping bump by Original into the pin. And the crowd goes wild! It went 33:20.
Winner by pinfall: El Grande Americano
Analysis: ***** That was awesome. I’m giving it five stars. I absolutely loved it. I’m sure some reviewers could nitpick certain things, and there were a few things that could be picked apart, but I loved the entire presentation of the match. I liked the spots involving other people, like the wrestlers’ allies, plus three other people who were originally upset in the story. They then set up the finish with Grande winning about as clean as it can be. There was blood from both guys to put over the intensity and the importance of the match, which we used to see in wrestling a lot before WWE was a PG product. The blood added a lot to the match because it put over the personal nature of the rivalry. The way the crowd responded to everything, especially the little things in the match, makes it that much better. You can’t ignore the crowd reactions when evaluating and appreciating a match because it’s such a big part of the pro wrestling experience. Once again, kudos to Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser for putting on an outstanding match that we won’t soon forget. To me, the entire thing was a five-star performance, and everybody involved deserved a lot of the credit. Listen to that crowd. They bought into the story so well for over 30 minutes, and the response for the finish was massive. That’s the art of pro wrestlign at its best.
The fans were going crazy for El Grande Americano getting the win. That was such a loud reaction for the pinfall win.
El Grande Americano was announced as the winner. He celebrated with Andrea Bazarte, Rayo, Bravo, and Pimpinela Escarlata.
After the match, the Original El Grande Americano was a bloody mess. Original said he put on the mask so he could defeat the luchadores that he hated. The original said he learned everything he could about AAA, Mexico, and the Mexican culture. Original said that it hurts him to say this, but tonight, he could not overcome the Mexican spirit. Original told his opponent that he will always be the Original El Grande Americano. Original told his opponent that from now on, you are the only El Grande Americano.
The Original El Grande Americano took off his mask while his wife, two daughters, and son were in the ring. Original revealed himself as Chad Gable, as we all knew. The fans cheered and even chanted “Gable” for him. Chad Gable said he was born March 8, 1986, in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States of America. Gable said he wrestled in the Olympic Games in Greco-Roman Wrestling and he’s wrestled as a pro wrestler for 13 years. Chad said this is his beautiful family, and the fans cheered. There were more “Gable” chants. Gable said he doesn’t know when or how, but he said he will be back in AAA.
Analysis: That was very well done. I loved the fans chanting “Gable” repeatedly as a sign of respect for the performer that Gable is.
Chad Gable presented his bloody mask to El Grande Americano: “From now on, this is yours.” The fans were chanting, “Thank You, Gable.” Chad Gable left with his wife and three kids while El Grande Americano celebrated in the ring.
El Grande Americano continued to celebrate for the fans for a few minutes. That was the end of the show.
Analysis: I assume the next step for El Grande Americano is to beat Dominik Mysterio for the AAA Mega Championship. El Grande Americano is the top babyface in the promotion, so it makes sense to do that in September at TripleMania 34.
AAA Noche de Los Grandes had a runtime of 2:15.
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Final Thoughts
I enjoyed Mask vs. Mask a lot. Great performances by El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano aka Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser. These guys aren’t used to having 30+ minute matches in WWE, but they showed how capable they are when given the chance. I certainly hope Gable gets more of a push in WWE moving forward, but I’m not sure if he will ever have a feud as hot as this one was.
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