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WWE acquired Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) ahead of WrestleMania 41 in 2025 and the growth of the Mexican promotion over the last year may be one of the underrated stories in professional wrestling over the past 15 months.
AAA attracted a lot of attention with the build-up to its Máscara vs. Máscara match between El Grande Americano and El Grande Americano Original, Worlds Collide in June 2025 was a great way to reintroduce Lucha Libre to an American audience and TripleMania will be a two-night event for the first time in the company’s history.
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El Grande Americano enters the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, accompanied by Rayo Americano and Bravo Americano during Monday Night RAW on May 4, 2026. (Georgina Dallas/WWE)
“I think it’s the hottest show in the world right now. It’s amazing. They have amazing characters,” WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview.
He recalled working in Mexico early in his career and how amazing it was in the country when he performed there.
“I would go there and work and people have thought since then if Lucha Libre ever takes off, like I 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 fantastic. There are incredible characters. There is an incredible passion, especially with the Mexican fans. I’ve always liked working there. I always say you have to work in some arenas to make it in life. You have to work at the Sportatorium, you have to work at Staples Center, you have to work at The Garden, you have to work at Budokan, you have to work at Earls Court; anywhere in Mexico it’s like that.
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JBL makes his entrance during WWE RAW at the American Airlines Center on January 20, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (WWE/Getty Images)
“It’s just incredible. The passion that the people have there, I love it. And I think AAA has done an incredible job. Jeremy Borash, who is incredibly talented, Undertaker, who is a good friend of mine and also a very smart guy, I think they have 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 The Great American defeat the Original The Great American, who was later revealed 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 saw 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 the Mask vs. Mask match 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 was hoping to see it, but I don’t know if I would ever see a match like the one I saw between Finlay, St. Clair, 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. It all 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 eager to see 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 like on episodic television like ‘The Walking Dead’ when the governor dies and it’s like, ‘What are you going to do now?’ And suddenly you have a new villain,” he told Pak Gazette Digital. “The first day of the next season you’re like, ‘Oh, great! This is amazing.’ I’m watching ‘Blacklist,’ and as soon as they get rid of one villain, another one comes in… And you’re thinking what could top that?
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“As soon as we’re done with Mask vs. Mask, Jeremy Borash starts bringing back Los Perros del Mal, this incredible group. That image of them there, I thought, Oh my God, this is incredible. Now we have something for, I don’t know for how long, next year or whatever it is. But this is going to be an incredible new journey that’s going to be for The Great American.”
