Niño Hamburguesa is back in AAA just six months after getting fired over an ugly incident with a fan, and Dave Meltzer says his return was never much of a surprise behind the scenes. The company wanted to make an example out of him in March, but Hamburguesa remained well-liked enough that people expected him to eventually find his way back.
Hamburguesa was fired from AAA in March after video circulated of him striking a fan during an independent event. The incident took place at Arena Afición in Pachuca after Hamburguesa ended up in the crowd and delivered multiple elbows toward a spectator.
At the time, the situation was treated as much bigger than one bad interaction. Ringside News previously covered claims that WWE wanted the firing to send a message to the rest of the AAA roster, with talent being made aware that physical interactions with fans could cost them their jobs.
Fast-forward to TripleMania 34 Night Two, and Hamburguesa suddenly resurfaced during the Copa Bardahl. While discussing the return on Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez reminded listeners that Hamburguesa had been fired in March before Meltzer explained why nobody around AAA expected the separation to last forever.
“Yeah, yeah. This was his return. And everyone knew he would be back at some point because everybody liked him. It was just a thing that, you know, they had to— you know, they had to fire. They felt they had to fire him because they had to send a message to everybody that you cannot, you know, you can’t elbow fans in the face. That’s it.”
That lines up with what was coming out of the locker room immediately after his firing. Ringside News previously noted that Hamburguesa was very popular with AAA talent and several people wished the situation had ended differently. Talent understood the standards had changed with WWE’s involvement, but there clearly wasn’t a situation where Hamburguesa had burned every bridge inside the company.
The March firing was also described as something designed to establish a line nobody on the roster was supposed to cross. Ringside News covered claims at the time that the decision came from WWE rather than the previous AAA administration and was meant to establish what could happen if talent violated company standards. By September, that message had already been sent — and Hamburguesa was back in front of the AAA audience.
Alvarez said the response when he appeared in the Copa Bardahl made it pretty clear fans were happy to see him again. Hamburguesa entered the match and immediately got one of the biggest reactions of the segment before eventually getting involved with Omos.
“You know, so he comes out and the place went fucking crazy for this guy. And Omos beats him down. And Omos tosses Iguana. And then Sagrada comes off the top, and he knocks Omos over the top rope. He lands on the floor. So Sagrada is out, but Omos is hanging on with one hand. Place is going crazy. Nino almost tosses Omos, but Omos holds on, tosses Hamburguesa over, and he wins.”
So Hamburguesa’s firing appears to have accomplished what AAA and WWE wanted at the time without permanently ending his run. He got sent home, the roster got the message about putting hands on fans, and the company eventually brought back a wrestler who remained popular with both the locker room and the audience. Six months later, that door wasn’t just cracked open — Hamburguesa walked right through it to a huge reaction.
Do you think AAA was right to bring Niño Hamburguesa back after firing him to send a message to the roster, or should the fan incident have kept him out of the company for good? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
