WWE has announced that it has acquired Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA along with an upcoming crossover event set to take place involving the 2 companies.
The announcement was made on the WrestleMania 41 pre-show with Paul Levesque, by Michael Cole, WWE’s contingent of Mexican wrestlers, AAA wrestler Vikingo, AAA GM Dorian Roldan Pena, AAA president Marisela Pena, and Fillip co-founder Alberto Fasja Cohen all in attendance to make the news official. The acquisition is the first time that the company has purchased a promotion since the WCW but out back in 2001.
During the WrestleMania main card, the announcement was reiterated before and after the match between EL Grande Americano and Rey Fenix, who served as the replacement for an injured Rey Mysterio. Additionally, the upcoming WWE x AAA Worlds Collide was announced for June 7th at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, California.
Triple H Comments On Latest WWE Acquisition
Speaking at the WrestleMania post-show press conference, Triple H said the following about the AAA acquisition:
“Very exciting time for us. Very exciting opportunity, I think, for us to continue to grow Lucha Libre. It’s woven into the fabric of the culture. It resonates with everybody. It’s impressive to see. We want to make sure that not only exists, but continues to thrive and continues to grow. I’m a big fan of lucha as a style. I think having all styles is incredibly valuable. Obviously, we have a particular one that we like to do with WWE, but that does not mean we’re looking to massively revamp anything. I’m looking to keep traditional Lucha Libre as traditional Lucha Libre within that world and just help it to grow, and help the athletes who grew up fans of it in those markets to realize their dream, just like we’re helping to do in the US. That will be our goal globally. To have the best of the best from around the world, and we will continue to do that. Very excited about that,”
Later in the press conference, Triple H elaborated on the goals moving forward:
“The intent is to grow it and grow Lucha Libre,” he said. “It has such a cultural impact in South American, Central America, Mexico. Then, you come into the United States, there was a New York Times article where they talked about the power of Lucha Libre and what it means, especially in markets in the US like [Los Angeles]. The intent is to grow it, to grow that brand. NXT started [small] and over time it became massive. When done right. Shawn [Michaels] mentioned it last night; when you look at WrestleMania now, most of it came directly out of NXT. A large percentage of it. That’s the success of it. Mexico, AAA, Lucha Libre, it opens up the door for those athletes as well to not only grow to be the biggest thing in lucha, but if their desires are to go beyond that.
“You can call it what you want, sport, sports entertainment, what we do is the greatest form of that entertainment in the world,” he continued. “It’s a global thing. There are places in the world where it is culturally significant to them. We’re not looking to take away from that culturally significant product, we’re looking to enhance it, to grow it, to make it bigger. To give opportunities for talent to grow beyond that and become worldwide celebrities as opposed to, not that there is anything wrong with it, but as opposed to a certain genre of something. There is room for everybody. As people grow through their careers, they don’t have to stay in one place. From a learning standpoint, to learn different styles and techniques, it’s important and it’s powerful for us to be in those markets and to be able to grow our talent in that manner.”
H/t to Fightful.
Featured image: WWE
