WWE’s move into AAA may not be a quick takeover story. The bigger battle could be with CMLL, and that fight may be a lot harder than anything WWE has dealt with in the past.
The situation has become one of the biggest stories in the wrestling business, because WWE-backed AAA is now being positioned against a company that has deep roots in Mexico. CMLL is not some shaky promotion waiting to fall apart. It has history, buildings, loyal fans, and a business model that has kept it alive through generations.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said WWE’s push with AAA is already looking like the start of a much longer fight. He explained that when WWE sees another wrestling company doing well, the company tends to go right at it.
“And, and that’s just how WWE operates. If somebody’s doing good, man, they go head on. And it’s going to be very interesting a couple months and not just September because this is just, this is just like week, you know, week one of this thing, this thing will be going on for. This will be going on for years until it’s going to go on until, you know, one stomps the other one out.”
Meltzer then made it clear that CMLL will not be an easy target. He said this could be the toughest company WWE has ever tried to go after, mainly because CMLL owns its buildings and has a cultural connection in Mexico that other wrestling companies did not have.
“And this will be the toughest of all the companies WWE has tried to stomp out for a lot of reasons. This will be the toughest because they own their own buildings. They are more culturally relevant than any company that WWE has ever gone after or ever been. You know, like they were far, far, far, far, far more culturally relevant than WCW, which also, you know, WCW also self destructed and beat itself.”
That is the big difference here. WWE has gone after wrestling companies before, but CMLL is not built like WCW or the old territories. Meltzer said CMLL’s steady approach actually makes it harder to beat, because the company is not likely to destroy itself with reckless creative moves.
“But, and these guys just the nature of their business. It’s like, I don’t want to say they can’t beat themselves because everybody can, but I. It’s because they don’t take risks at all. You know, CMLL, I mean they just basically do basic wrestling every Friday, you know, and all those days it’s like they’re not going to do anything stupid like WCW, which just did like one stupid thing after another.”
Talent raids could still become part of the fight. Meltzer said CMLL has lost talent before and survived, but losing a name like Mistico would take some of the edge off the company.
“You know, they could lose talent but you know they’ve, they have lost talent many times. You know, Mystico is a big one though. I mean it’s like losing him, like it won’t kill him, but the edge will come off. He, he’s the only one. But they could take like Dorada and I don’t know that it even makes a big difference or Soberano. Soberano would hurt.”
Even then, Meltzer does not see this as a quick win for WWE. He said this is not like going against Verne Gagne, Jim Crockett, WCW, or promotions in the United Kingdom. CMLL is a different kind of opponent, and this fight could last for a very long time.
“So Barano would hurt. But you know, I mean it’s like this is going to be a. It ain’t going to be easy. This isn’t going to be going against Vern Ganya, it ain’t going to be going against Jim Crockett or even WCW or, or anybody like, or, or you know, any of the promotions in the UK or whatever. You know, this is going to be, it will not. This is not going to be a three year thing. It’s going to be going on for a long, long time.”
WWE’s AAA push may have opened the door to a major lucha libre power struggle. AAA now has WWE’s machine behind it, but CMLL has tradition, buildings, history, and a fan base that will not be easy to shake. This could turn into one of the most important wrestling business fights of the next several years.
Do you think WWE-backed AAA can eventually overtake CMLL in Mexico, or is CMLL too deeply rooted to be knocked down? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
