6. Los Villanos Vs. The Psycho Circus (AAA, August 9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q75c7Lq1fcs The five Villano brothers have become legends in Mexico, but none is as celebrated as Arturo Diaz Mendoza, or Villano III. Even after losing his mask to Atlantis in the Wrestling Observer's Match of the Year for 2000, Villano III continued to rack up wins, leading to a record of over 50 victories in Luchas de Apuestas ("matches with wagers", typically masks or hair). Still, everybody's gotta hang it up sometime, and lucha libre giant Asistencia Asesoría y Administración let Villano III do it at their grandest show of the year, TripleMania. In the bout, the 63-year-old Villano III teamed with two of his brothers - 50-year-old Villano IV and 53-year-old Villano V - to take on longtime AAA heel stable The Psycho Circus. Unfortunately, the result was a complete mess of a match that some fans called among the worst of all-time. Villano III, who suffered a stroke earlier in the year, wasn't in the physical condition to perform, and storylines in the match (such as Psycho Clown refusing to pin Villano because of his stature as a legend) didn't get over with the crowd. The Villanos won, and a teary post-match celebration did what it could to make up for the lack of quality in the in-ring action.
Scott Fried
Contributor
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
See more from
Scott