Lucha Libre AAA put on their first week of Noche de los Grandes on Saturday, May 30, 2026 from Arena Monterrey. While being promoted as essentially a one-match show, this event also included big title matches. Some were more exciting than others, so let’s examine how this event played out along with the huge Mask v. Mask main event.
Your English commentators for the night were Corey Graves, John Layfield, and AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio. This event is available on WWE’s YouTube channel for replay if you wish to check it out.
Laredo Kid (c) v. Rey Fénix – AAA World Cruiserweight Championship Match
The beginning of this two hour show started out with lots of spins and kicks to satisfy the masses. Laredo Kid played the chicken heel with lots of repeated tactics in this one. Exposed turnbuckles and attempted low blows was Laredo Kid’s strategy to do his own dirty work, but they would backfire thanks to Fénix’s quick thinking. A total of two Mexican Muscle Busters, formerly called the Black Fire Driver, put away Laredo Kid for the victory and the title win.
A new champion in the first match made Fénix look great while putting over Laredo Kid’s desperation to beat him unfairly. Fénix has been wasting away in WWE, but at least he can feel a bit more free in AAA here. There was a great pop for the win, and it’s surprising to see finisher kickouts in the first match. It really fooled me.
El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (c) v. El Hijo De Vikingo – AAA Latin American Championship Match
With Dorian Roldán at ringside cheering Vikingo on, “The Two Hijos” took to executing some moves one would just rarely think of. Vikingo usually impresses with his 630 Splashes and Crucifix Drivers, and this match was no different. The defending champion Wagner Jr. would go back and forth with Vikingo until the run-ins came fairly early (and often). Omos would trip up Wagner Jr. to help Vikingo, but then Galeno (Wagner’s brother) and Mini Vikingo ran in to help Wagner.
This match ended with Vikingo’s 630 Splash pinning Wagner Jr. to crown a new AAA Latin American Champion. Ultimately, this one fell flat of exercising actual competitive spirit between the two opposing groups. The actual wrestling between Wagner Jr. and Vikingo early got cancelled out by constant interference. On top of all that, the heel won to deflate the crowd. All in less than 10 minutes, boo.
Pagano & Psycho Clown (c) v. War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) – AAA World Tag Team Championship Match
Now we come across the lowest point of the night, as the action in this Tag Title match felt severely underwhelming. The slow-moving Pagano and Psycho Clown couldn’t make for a convincing comeback when the War Raiders consistently double teamed them. I do really enjoy the War Raiders’ reckless abandon style of tag wrestling, but not even they were immune to some miscommunications in the ring this night. The dives towards the end of this one got exciting, but then the finish would come out of nowhere.
The DTM (Double Team Maneuver) from the War Raiders put away Psycho Clown for new Champions to be crowned. Three matches, and three title changes in a row. After the match, Pagano dramatically left the ring and walked up the ramp while Clown got abandoned to be pounced on by both of the Raiders. The frustration caused by some accidental attacks on each other during the match boiled over in a big way by Pagano and Clown.
“The Original” El Grande Americano v. “The Current” El Grande Americano – No DQ Lucha de Apuestas, Mask v. Mask Match
Right away, the presentation for this match was above anything we’ve seen thus far tonight. The crowd reacting accordingly to everything bolstered up the emotion as The OG Americano got booed out of the building. The current Americano’s entrance received an ovation that made CM Punk in Chicago look tame in comparison. Then the match started with Gable (the OG) hitting Kaiser (the current) over the head with a guitar. The No Disqualification stipulation got added very late into proceedings, so there were chair shots galore, bullropes, and ripping at each other’s masks. It all ramped up the devastation of the No DQ stipulation, with both men also drawing blood from the other.
Gable’s blood spilled a lot more than Kaiser’s, but the pure heart left in the ring belonged only to Kaiser. Gable’s ultimate heeling elicited a ton of negativity from the crowd. He cinched in that Ankle Lock and yelled at Kaiser’s girlfriend, Andrea Bazarte. The OG also got in the face of Alexis Arroyo, a blind Mexican comedian who OG had harassed before. That led to comeuppance in the form of Arroyo hitting OG in the head with his walking stick!
Speaking of interferences, a returning Pimpinela Escarlata would strike Gable Grande in the head with a guitar. Vengeance was officially achieved from the attack Gable gave Escarlata a few months ago. Of course let’s not forget about Bruto Creedo & Julio Creedo (Brutus Creed & Julius Creed), then Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano (Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne) running out to help their respective sides. That portion of the match culminated with a stage dive from Bravo onto the other three.
All of this insanity and I still have yet to mention the table spot, the tantalizing nearfalls, and the emphasis on the crowd’s nuclear reactions. A flying headbutt from Kaiser Grande would win the match to the biggest building-shaking pop of the entire night. The OG unmasked himself as per the stipulation after the match, emotional as he introduced his family to the audience and promised to return to AAA.
Photo credit, Lucha Libre AAA
Now, Let’s Gush About The Match!
First off, The Original El Grande Americano was Chad Gable this whole time?! No way!! I could’ve sworn that it was Mark Henry under that mask! I kid, but thank goodness WWE took the Lucha de Apuestas stipulation seriously. The weight of losing one’s own mask is basically the same as losing one’s own identity, and two non-Mexican performers committing fully to this gimmick was beautiful. WWE essentially creating their own luchadors within their canon should not have worked on paper, but the execution was flawless.
It was the culmination of multiple months of facepalming anger in the eyes of the average WWE viewer. Who can forget when Gable turned into El Grande Americano over a year ago? We all thought the gimmick would flop on its face. Now here we are with the ending that stuck the landing above all else. It stuck the landing so well that all the proverbial judges erased their white “10” cards to write a big “11” on there in sharpie.
Big props go to Ludwig Kaiser to propel the “Current” El Grande Americano’s mystique and presentation to Mexican audiences. The emotion he garnered through crowd work alone is going to be placed into wrestling history and study tapes for future babyfaces to study decades from now. Kaiser doing little things like reaching out to the crowd while struggling in a submission hold from Gable just made him instantly sympathetic and heroic. It’s seriously crazy that WWE had to pop a lucha gimmick onto him to make him a huge deal in wrestling, but it has worked!
Of course, Gable selling the stipulation and the atmosphere throughout this entire match and post-match ceremony complemented Kaiser’s character unbelievably well. A great good guy can only work when paired against a detestable villain, and Gable fulfilled that role to perfection.
This whole ordeal felt like a “Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30” happy accident, where the company will pretend that they’ve orchestrated this whole plan since day one. Us fans receiving this superb payoff after months of buildup much like the Yes! Movement could have us looking back on this whole Americano experiment fondly. That’s classic WWE-styled propaganda for ya.
Overall, this whole event was a success, all thanks to the main event, which was one of WWE’s best produced matches in a long time. I can confidently say that not since CM Punk v. John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011 have we seen a crowd this loud for an isolated match in WWE’s elongated history. If you’re at all skeptical of Kaiser’s abilities as a luchador hero or WWE’s ability to book Lucha de Apuestas correctly, watch the main event.
Lucha Libre AAA’s Noche de los Grandes is a one-match show, but holy shit. What a match.
 was one for the ages at AAA & WWE's Noche de Los Grandes.){kind=link}