TripleMania XXXIII: WWE Cleans Up the Picture Without Scrubbing Out the Weirdness

The Copa Bardahl is twenty-six minutes of AAA asking a simple question: how many different shapes can professional wrestling take before Omos walks in and makes all of them look small? The answer is most of them. La Parka provides the eventual emotional anchor, Otis gets comedy, Pimpinela Escarlata gets a veteran reaction and Microman becomes the person everyone waits to see stand next to Omos.

That confrontation is the match. Omos finally looks down, Microman attacks a leg that is almost at eye level, and the arena reacts because wrestling is occasionally best when the joke requires no translation. Omos later launches Microman out and eventually eliminates La Parka to win.

Cagematch currently rates the Copa 6.60, Meltzer's reported rating is 3.25 stars, Hall goes B-minus and Cook is cooler at 2.5 stars. WrestleFile lands at B- / 7.2. The match is too long and too loosely structured to climb higher, but the spectacle works and the finish gives Omos the exact kind of special-attraction win he should be getting.

This match is built less around innovation than inheritance. El Mesías has history with Dr. Wagner Jr., Wagner's son is now standing across from him, and the camera can find the father at ringside whenever the story needs another layer. Dorian Roldán's involvement makes sure nobody forgets this is AAA.

The wrestling is solid and occasionally heavy, especially once Mesías starts treating the mask like part of the feud rather than equipment. Wagner's comeback is straightforward, the father finally neutralizes Roldán, and a Wagner Driver gives the younger Wagner the Latin American Championship.

Cagematch currently sits at 5.75, Meltzer's reported rating is three stars, Cook also goes three stars and Hall gives it C-plus. WrestleFile lands at C+ / 6.7. The result matters more than the bell-to-bell work, but the family history gives an otherwise ordinary title change enough texture to keep it useful.

Trying to grade this like a conventional trios match would miss the assignment. Finn Bálor pulls out a small demon puppet to confront Mr. Iguana's iguana. Niño Hamburguesa brings food into the discussion. Bálor takes a bite of a cheeseburger. Somewhere in the middle, professional wrestling continues happening.

The comedy works because the WWE wrestlers commit rather than standing around waiting for AAA to be strange around them. Lola Vice and Raquel Rodriguez provide the most conventional physicality, while Mr. Iguana and Hamburguesa get to control the tone. Roxanne Perez and La Hiedra eventually create the interference that lets Raquel pin Lola.

Cagematch currently rates the match 6.31 and Meltzer's reported rating is three stars. Hall goes B-minus, while Cook is cooler at 2.5 stars. WrestleFile lands at B- / 7.3 because entertainment value counts, especially on a crossover card. It is not technically special. It is, however, one of the matches people are most likely to describe correctly from memory a year later.

This is the match where the new production package stops mattering and old TripleManía instincts take over. Los Garza bring furniture into the ring, Pagano and Psycho Clown answer with barbed-wire weapons, and the match spends twelve minutes trying to find a table that has not already been promised to somebody else's back.

The violence escalates cleanly enough to keep the spots from feeling random. Los Garza power through the challengers and create several believable near falls. Pagano and Psycho Clown answer with the kind of reckless commitment that has always made AAA street fights feel less like stipulations than local weather. The finish puts Berto through the final surge and sends the crowd home from the match with new champions.

Cagematch currently rates it 7.26, while Meltzer's reported rating is 4.25 stars. Cook goes three stars and Hall is colder at C, illustrating how much taste matters with weapon-heavy AAA wrestling. WrestleFile lands at A- / 8.5. It is not elegant, but it is the match on the card that most clearly understands what a Mexico City TripleManía audience came to feel.

The names promise more than the match delivers. Faby Apache has enough history with AAA to make the title scene feel anchored, Natalya brings international recognition and a submission-heavy style, and Flammer enters as the champion with every reason to let the challengers damage one another.

There are useful stretches, especially when Faby and Natalya trade holds, but the match never finds a rhythm that makes the three-way structure feel necessary. El Hijo del Tirantes' presence creates the familiar referee tension, and Flammer eventually steals the pin on Faby after Natalya has done much of the late work.

Cagematch currently rates the match 5.06, the lowest matchguide score on the card. Meltzer's reported rating is 3.25 stars, Cook goes 2.25 and Hall gives it C. WrestleFile lands at C- / 5.8. Nothing collapses, but on a flagship event this late in the show, merely surviving is not enough.

The main event has two matches happening at once. The first is the athletic four-way: Vikingo and Dragon Lee accelerating whenever they share space, Dominik stealing opportunities and El Grande Americano using power and loaded-mask menace to interrupt the prettier sequences. The second match is between the crowd and the booking. Mexico City wants Dominik, loudly, and the longer he stays alive the more the championship begins to feel available.

The athletic portion is excellent. Dragon Lee's double stomps, Vikingo's aerial counters and the rapid exchanges keep the match from settling into the usual one-person-sleeps-while-three-work rotation. Dominik's frog splash near fall is the emotional peak because the building is ready to accept the title change.

Then the neighborhood arrives. Judgment Day interferes, the LWO answers, extra El Grande Americanos appear and AJ Styles eventually pulls the referee out before hitting Dominik with the Styles Clash. Vikingo follows with the 630 and retains. The interference is effective storytelling for Dominik's next feud and rematch, but it also means the best wrestling on the show is denied a clean final act.

Cagematch currently rates the match 8.09, highest on the card, and Meltzer's reported rating is 4.5 stars. Hall gives it B, Cook 3.25 stars, while TheSportster is among the warmer outlets on the match. WrestleFile lands at A / 9.2. The pace, crowd investment and near falls are excellent; the only reason it misses A territory is that the ending asks the wrestling to clear the stage for an entire crossover universe.