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WWE acquired Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) ahead of WrestleMania 41 in 2025, and the Mexican promotion’s growth over the past year may be one of the underrated stories in pro wrestling over the past 15 months.
AAA got a lot of attention with the build up to their Mask vs. Mask match between El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano, Worlds Collide in June 2025 was a great way to introduce Lucha Libre to reintroduce Lucha Libre to an American audience, and TripleMania will be a two-night event for the first time in company history.
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El Grande Americano enters the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., accompanied by Rayo Americano and Bravo Americano on the May 4, 2026 Monday Night RAW. (Georgina Dallas/WWE)
“I think it’s the hottest show in the world right now. It’s unbelievable. They got unbelievable ratings,” WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield told Pakinomist Digital in a recent interview.
He recalled working in Mexico early in his career and how incredible the energy was in the country when he would perform there.
“I would go down there and work, and people since then have thought that if Lucha Libre ever takes off, when I would always say this is a sleeping giant, I think what people are now starting to see what we’ve known all along about Lucha Libre is just amazing. There are incredible characters. There’s incredible passion, especially with the Mexican fans. I’ve always enjoyed working there, to get some fans I’ve always enjoyed working. life You have to work at Sportatorium, you have to work in Staples Center, you have to work in The Garden, you have to work in Budokan, you have to work in Earls Court – anywhere in Mexico is like that.
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JBL makes his debut at WWE RAW at the American Airlines Center on January 20, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (WWE/Getty Images)
“It’s just incredible. The passion that people have down there – I love it. And I just think AAA has done an incredible job. Jeremy Borash, who’s incredibly talented, Undertaker, who’s a good friend of mine and also a very smart guy, I think they’ve just done an incredible job with the product.”
Mask vs. Mask was one of the first big hits since the WWE acquisition was announced.
It saw El Grande Americano defeat the Original El Grande Americano, who later revealed himself to be Chad Gable. The match had everything a professional wrestling fan could want – incredible characters, exciting build-up and one of the best matches of the year.
Bradshaw said there were two matches he’s seen in his career where he thought the men in the ring were doing a “different art form.” – Fit Finlay vs. Tony St. Clair in Europe and Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. He said that Mask vs. The Mask fight felt very similar.
“I felt the same way about Mask vs. Mask. I never thought I’d see another match (like that),” Bradshaw said. “I hoped I would, but I don’t know if I would ever see a match like I saw with Finlay and St. Clair and Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. I would put it in that category. I just thought it was absolutely incredible. The passion, the emotion that went with it. Everything about it worked.”
Now El Grande Americano has a new challenge – the revitalization of Los Perros del Mal.
The group recently reformed with Daga, Angel, Berto, Bronco Nima and Karmen Petrovic wreaking havoc on the AAA roster.
Bradshaw said he was looking forward to seeing where the new story goes.
Karmen Petrovic looks on during NXT at the WWE Performance Center on June 30, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Conor Kvatek/WWE via Getty Images)
“It just kills me with Los Perros del Mal. It’s kind of like in episodic TV like in ‘The Walking Dead’ when the governor dies and it’s like, ‘What are you going to do now?’ And then suddenly you have a new villain, he says to Pakinomist Digital. “The first day of the next season and you’re like, ‘Oh great! It’s fantastic.’ I watch ‘Blacklist’ and as soon as they get rid of one bad guy, another one comes in. … And you think what can top it?
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“As soon as we finished Mask vs. Mask, Jeremy Borash starts bringing back Los Perros del Mal—this incredible group. That image of them there, I was just like, oh my God, man, this is amazing. Now we’ve got something for, I don’t know how long, next year or whatever. But this is an incredible new journey, it’s going to look like for El Grand American.”
