WWE Acquires AAA, Announces Worlds Collide Crossover Event (WWE News)

WWE shockingly purchases major Mexican wrestling promotion AAA.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE AAA
WWE

While Paul Heyman screwing both CM Punk and Roman Reigns to allign with Seth Rollins might have come as quite the shock at WrestleMania 41 Night 1, arguably even more surprising is the news that WWE has acquired AAA.

This acquisition was announced by Michael Cole during the WrestleMania Saturday pre-show, which came hot on the heels of WWE earlier announcing a Worlds Collide event between AAA and the NXT brand.

As for that acquisition, that's in partnership with Mexican sports and entertainment holding company Filip. At this stage, no details whatsoever are known about the terms of this purchase and what this means for existing AAA content and future events for the promotion.

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With Michael Cole announcing this news, he was joined by Triple H, AAA President Marisela Pena, AAA GM Dorian Roldan, Filip co-founder Alberto Fasja Cohen, AAA star Vikingo, and several WWE stars, including Rey Mysterio, Penta, and Rey Fenix.

Triple H later took to X:

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Once WrestleMania Night 1 got going, Marisela Pena, GM Dorian Roldan, and Alberto Fasja Cohen were all shown in the Allegiant Stadium crowd, as was Vikingo.

Not just was Vikingo - more commonly known as El Hejo del Vikingo to wrestling fans, but identified simply as Vikingo by WWE - there to watch the 'Mania action, for he would get physical as part of the Rey Fenix vs. El Grande Americano match, with Fenix a last-minute replacement for the injured Rey Mysterio.

With El Grande Americano taunting the crowd prior to the bell ringing for the start of the match, Vikingo gave him a swift kick to the head. Post-match, we'd also see Vikingo get in the ring to assist Fenix after the WWE newcomer had lost to Americano thanks to El Grande once again loading his mask with a piece of metal.

As for AAA x NXT: Worlds Collide, that will take place on Saturday 7 June from Inglewood, California's Kia Forum.

WWE WrestleMania Night 1 Rey Fenix Vikingo
WWE

For those not too familiar with AAA, it's one of the top two promotions - alongside CMLL - in Mexico, being formed in 1992 by Antonio Pena after Pena split from CMLL. Antonio would sadly pass away in 2006, with AAA these days run by his sister Marisela and nephew Dorian.

Over the decades, AAA has worked with US promotions such as TNA, MLW, and AEW, and they previously put on an oft-praised When Worlds Collide special with WCW back in 1994; a special that helped introduce a wider audience to the likes of Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Konnan.

Interestingly, the current AAA Mega Champion - the promotion's top prize - is Alberto El Patron, aka Alberto Del Rio. WWE has previously given a "hard no" to ever working with Alberto again, while the talent himself has said at certain points how he would never work with WWE again. On that topic, Fightful Select adds how those close to El Patron say that the relationship between him and WWE is no longer "contentious", and that possible appearances have been discussed.

This development will mark WWE's first major acquisition since the purchase of WCW back in 2001.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.