Since it happened, I have sat back and watched the glowing reaction to the El Grande Americano mask match and barely been able to contain my anger towards it. I get it; it was a high quality match. But sometimes match quality is less important than what the match represents, and what that match represented was WWE deciding they could stick two non-luchadors in masks and build the promotion around them, while making the lucha talent secondary. But in case it wasn’t obvious that the luchador had become secondary in a lucha promotion, that Undertaker quote makes it obvious. Because in his mind, before WWE came to town, lucha libre was just a bunch of small guys doing flips with no psychology, no storytelling, and all that b******t American wrestling legends like to say about wrestling that doesn’t conform to their small minds.

Here’s what Undertaker, savior of lucha libre, may not know; lucha libre has been telling stories, and in my opinion telling them better than American wrestling has done, for a long time. As AAA’s new “face,” Undertaker should know this, given that AAA founder and booker, Antonio Pena was one of the greatest storytellers in history, the creator of Konnan vs. Cien Caras, the Gringos Locos vs. El Hijo del Santo/Octagon feud, the telenovela esq story involving the Apache Family and Billy Boy, and other memorable stories. And that’s just AAA; CMLL has Atlantis vs. Villano III from 2000, and Mistico vs. MJF from just last year, among others. IWRG did a mask match between Trauma I and Canis Lupus ten years ago, one of the best mask matches I’ve ever seen. And yet Undertaker is going to sit here, with Rey Mysterio grinning like a spineless coward, and tell me there’s no storytelling in lucha libre until WWE rode in on a white horse and changed things, in between the two taking shots at CMLL cause they insecure dorks?

Basically what Undertaker’s words tell me are the same thing Mysterio’s quote from Worlds Collide last year about how WWE put lucha libre on the map; these are men, and this is a company, that don’t understand what lucha libre is, something really sad in Mysterio’s case. If they did, you wouldn’t get comments like this, and Undertaker wouldn’t believe he had only just unlocked the secret sauce missing to lucha libre, even though it’s been there the whole time. All I see here is a bunch of clueless individuals who don’t know a thing about what they talk about. So if I were Undertaker, I’d stop basking in the credit and saying dumbf**k comments and maybe try to learn about the part of the business I’m now part of. Maybe then he’ll learn how out of touch he sounds.

AAA is quickly becoming one of the most talked about brands in professional wrestling, in large part thanks to the saga of El Grande Americano and the buzz surrounding that story. However, the decision for WWE to have one night of AAA’s biggest show of the year, TripleMania, take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, puzzled a lot of fans. 

However, in the latest episode of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer explained that the reason behind WWE moving one night of TripleMania to the United States is because the company wants important people to see AAA for themselves.

“This show is not done to maximize a gate, or maximize attendance, it is done for the reason of getting this product to be watched live by important people who will then, in some form, invest in this product in the United States.” Meltzer went on to say that WWE didn’t buy AAA because the powers that be want AAA to be the most popular company in Mexico, or even because it was popular in Mexico. WWE bought AAA so the company could make as much money world wide for WWE as humanly possible.

As for what WWE are hoping to get out of these people, the main thing would be a TV deal in the United States as AAA runs solely on YouTube outside of Mexico. “They’re looking for sponsors and for TV deals, those people aren’t going to fly to Monterrey, they’re not going to fly to Mexico City. You bring it to–it had to be L.A., or it had to be Vegas and I think that it’s probably easier to get those people to Vegas. So they run the show in Vegas, and they want to run in a nice, small location…the smaller the location, in many ways, the more intimate the location, the better the show is for the people in the building.” AAA does have a TV deal with FOX that showcases the promotion’s weekly show in Central and South America, but that won’t be impacted if the company got on to American stations in the near future.

Please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

After spending the last 20 years being professional wrestlers, entering the reality TV scene, creating a beauty line, and starting a podcast, The Bella Twins have become a staple in mainstream culture, having inspired many who are looking to begin a career in wrestling, fashion or entrepreneurship. However, during an episode of “The Nikki & Brie Show,” the sisters reflected on which celebrities inspired them in their teenage years, with Brie Bella crediting American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani for having a fashion impact on generations of women.

“Sol Ruca and I were actually talking cause I was like, ‘Do you get some of your inspo from Gwen Stefani?’ Just cause that’s when I finally transitioned to Brie Mode. My inspo was Gwen Stefani because obviously middle school, obsessed with her. And granted, when you and I dressed like her in middle school, it was JNCO’s and crop tops and we’d put the jewels, but with my wrestling gear, I tried to mock her as much as I could … So, you think of how far apart in age Sol and I are. But both inspired by Gwen. And that’s what Gwen is. Like it doesn’t matter the age you are. She inspires every age group, every era. She’s timeless, but also she has such a funky cool style and for someone to make that timeless means you’re a legend.”

After stepping away from wrestling full-time for seven years, The Bella Twins both returned to WWE within the last year. That said, while Brie Bella is currently enjoying a WWE Women’s Tag Team Title run with Paige, Nikki Bella has been on the sidelines due to an ankle injury, which caused her to miss this year’s WrestleMania.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Nikki & Brie Show” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

The WWE Shareholders trial that was supposed to begin this week was canceled on Sunday as the parties reached a settlement that still needs to be approved by the court. The trial was only scheduled to last a week and Vince McMahon along with several TKO executives would have testified. 

On a recent episode of “My World” Jeff Jarrett weighed in on the lawsuit cancellation. “Someone is going to write a big, fat check and lawyers are going to walk away with a lot of money and TKO is going to keep marching on down the road, making a little bit more money and a little bit more money.” He thinks it will “be a non-issue until the earnings come out” and “it will be a 24 hour news cycle” when it does.

Details of the settlement are unknown, but it has been speculated that the amount will not be enough to harm TKO financially. It is also unclear if WWE’s insurance will cover the payments of several employees including Nick Khan and Paul Levesque’s part of the settlement. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit My World with Jeff Jarrett and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.