WWE Accused of Disrespecting Lucha Libre Culture With Predictable AAA Title Change

During AAA’s latest event, El Hijo del Vikingo defeated Alberto Del Rio to reclaim the AAA Mega Championship. While some fans saw this as the right call considering Del Rio’s reputation, WWE has now been accused of disrespecting lucha libre culture by booking such a predictable title change.

While speaking on Lucha Libre Online, Hugo Savinovich criticized WWE for how they handled Alberto Del Río losing the AAA Mega Championship to El Hijo del Vikingo. He said there was no real build-up to the title change.

Del Río was still the Mega Champion, and fans expected him to be part of the WWE x AAA Worlds Collide event. Instead, he lost the title right before it, which surprised and upset many people. Savinovich wasn’t angry that Del Río lost, it was how WWE went about it that bothered him.

“There was no build-up for Alberto Del Río, who was still the reigning Mega Champion. Worse yet, the title change happened just before Worlds Collide. Fans expected Alberto Del Río to be featured, not dethroned like this. I didn’t want to speak out too harshly, but it made me angry—not because Alberto lost the title—but because of how WWE handled the business.”

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Savinovich compared Triple H to Vince McMahon, saying he’s making the same mistakes by dragging things out or making quick decisions that don’t help the story. WWE recently bought AAA, and Savinovich thinks they had a big chance to do something special with Del Río.

But instead, they rushed to make El Hijo del Vikingo the champion. While Vikingo is a great wrestler, Savinovich said he doesn’t have the star power that Del Río has from his time in WWE.

“The problem is that Triple H is repeating the same mistake Vince McMahon made with Roman Reigns, dragging things out for eight years until they finally got it right. Now they’ve bought AAA and had a golden opportunity with Alberto. Instead, they rushed to crown Hijo del Vikingo as champion—who, while talented, doesn’t have the mainstream appeal of an ex-WWE champion like Del Río.”

Savinovich called the decision poor business, stating that WWE should have promoted a major Two Worlds Collide match with Del Río defending against Vikingo. Instead, they hotshotted the title change and wasted a potentially powerful moment.

Savinovich felt the ending lacked meaning and failed to honor the traditions of lucha libre. He noted that if WWE claims to respect Mexican wrestling culture, then they should have known better than to script such a predictable and disrespectful result.

“This was poor business. Instead of promoting a marquee Worlds Collide match—Alberto defending the title against Hijo del Vikingo—they hotshotted the belt change before the big show. Triple H, you say you’re the boss—and you are—but don’t let that power blind you. There’s a way to handle stories. The ending tonight lacked meaning. It wasn’t respectful to the culture of lucha libre. If WWE is going to claim it honors lucha tradition, they should’ve known better than to script such an obvious and disrespectful outcome.”

The decision to make El Hijo del Vikingo the new AAA Mega Champion may have pleased some fans, but Hugo Savinovich believes the way it was done showed a lack of respect and thoughtful storytelling. Regardless, what’s done is done and now Vikingo will be facing Chad Gable at WWE x AAA Worlds Collide, so we’ll have to see how the match will turn out.

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