AAA
Gimnasio Agustin Millan (Toluca, Mexico)
2014 Rey de Reyes Semi-Final
This is going to sound elitist (there is no two ways around it) but something about a promotion’s big annual single tournaments being a set of four qualifying elimination four ways that leads to a four way final sort of offends my pro wrestling sensibilities. It just feels like a waste. What’s the point of having a tournament when all of the matches are four ways, which generally do not produce memorable matches to begin with? I am sure I am late to the party, but watching this match I saw the value – at least under the right circumstances – of running the kind of tournament format that AAA runs for its Rey de Reyes.
The Block A match of the 2014 Rey de Reyes wasn’t very good. I was half-planning on skipping the rest of the tournament, but then I watched the trios match on the 2/8 Sin Limite show. The crowd was hot for the match (which itself was fine) so I pressed on to the Block B semi-final featuring La Parka, his dark doppelganger, Chessman, and Blue Demon Jr. I am glad that I did.
The crowd was hot for all four participants and that hammered home the point of the tournament format for me. If the luchadores are over and the crowd is hot, the four way is a good format for letting the fans see all of these over-wrestlers in one ring, battling for one ultimate prize. Match quality doesn’t matter as much. It is all about having a bunch of wrestlers the fans want to see together in one ring. It isn’t all that different from the allure of the Royal Rumble.
With that said, this was a pretty good match as well. Parka Negra and Blue Demon Jr. – that latter of whom I’ve never been a big fan of – started off with a quick opening exchange. The match got a little chaotic right after that as these AAA four-ways (and trios matches for that matter) tend to get. La Parka really shined throughout with a nice tope, hurricanrana, and quality punches sprinkled throughout.
The move of the match came courtesy of Chessman who recklessly speared Blue Demon Jr. off of the apron all the way to the floor, as you can see below.
Chessman and Demon get counted out as a result of the move leaving La Parka and Parka Negra as the final two. The final segment is good, but relatively short, with Park advancing after getting Negra to submit to a surfboard. A hot crowd and good action make this a fun match, particularly once you get by the first few minutes.
Four Way | Worthwhile | Quality
