The Who's Who In AAA: The Luchadores Everyone's Talking About

Hola mis amigos, ¡es hora de hablar de Lucha Libre profesional nuevamente! While I'd love to do this whole piece in Spanish, I don't trust Google Translate enough for it to be 100% accurate.

Anyway, back in April 2025, it was announced that WWE had purchased Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, with the deal officially going through over the summer. It was a piece of news that stunned a lot of people as it was very clear that AAA had been looking to sell for some time, but no one expected WWE to simply buy the promotion as a working relationship probably would have worked just as well. However, the company is now under the WWE umbrella, meaning that the WWE Universe now gets the chance to learn a whole new set of names, see a whole new style, and be able to broaden their horizons content-wise.

That is who this piece is aimed at, the fans who have seen or heard a few things about AAA but don't really know where to start as getting access to their events is extremely difficult outside of Mexico if you don't have a VPN. So what better way to start than by talking about the thing in wrestling that is arguably the most important when it comes to getting fans invested, the characters?

Long time fans of wrestling will already be familiar with AAA thanks to their previous relationship with AEW, and the amount of stars on their roster that were part of the Lucha Underground cast, but for the new fans, this one is for you. So sit back, relax, and join me on a journey to Mexico City where we break down some of the biggest, and most popular stars in AAA for you to get behind immediately.

There's probably no better place to start when it comes to AAA than with the current man at the top of the company. At the time of writing, Vikingo is the current AAA Mega Champion, but that could all change at the upcoming TripleMania XXXIII pay-per-view on August 16 as he will have to fight off Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and El Grande Americano. With that said, Vikingo is probably the right man to start with as he has already made a big name for himself in the United States in recent years.

Vikingo signed with AAA back in 2017 after just turning 20, and over the next four years, he carved out a reputation for being one of the most awe-inspiring high-flyers of his generation. Seeing Vikingo in his formative years performing some of the most insane moves ever conceived, with some moves being invented on the fly while he was wrestling, was probably a lot like what seeing a young Rey Mysterio was like when he wrestled for AAA in the 1990s.

In 2021, he began his first reign with the AAA Mega Championship, and held on to it for 833 days, surpassing the previous record held by AEW's Kenny Omega of 765 days, but had to vacate the title due to injury in March 2024. He has also made appearances for AEW and ROH, which included a match with Omega in March 2023 that is often cited as one of the best matches in "AEW Dynamite" history. If Vikingo is able to strut his stuff on WWE's main roster, and if the long list of injuries haven't derailed his style, he has all the makings of a worldwide Lucha Libre megastar.

While Vikingo is the man at the top of the card for AAA, the man that WWE fans have gravitated towards more than anyone is none other than Mr. Iguana.

The green and black luchador from Culiacan, Sinoloa, Mexico is a 16 year veteran of the business, debuting back in 2009, and originally tried to become a member of the CMLL roster but was turned away due to his slim physique. CMLL's loss was AAA's gain once he put on the face paint and joined forces with a plushie named La Yesca, becoming a fan favorite for AAA in the process.

Iguana is currently one half of the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champions alongside La Hiedra, a title the duo have held since December 2024, proving that he is more than just a man who wrestles with a plush toy in his mouth, he can have championship caliber matches when the time calls for it.

However, once WWE fans caught a glimpse of him at the Worlds Collide Premium Live Event in June 2025, Iguana's career has reached new heights, even appearing on a recent episode of "WWE SmackDown," and WWE's recent pair of live events in Mexico. There are people within WWE that see Iguana as a main roster level talent, especially with how marketable he is to younger fans, so while he might not be in the main event scene in AAA, Mr. Iguana (and La Yesca) will be featured heavily from here on out.

Here are two men who if you bumped into them walking down a dark alley in the middle of the night, you would probably have nightmares about them for the rest of your life.

Underneath the clown mask, Psycho Clown is actually a third generation member of the legendary Alvarado wrestling family, and has been in the business for 25 years at the time of writing. A former AAA Latin American, World Tag Team, and World Trios Champion, Psycho Clown is another man who has recently featured on "WWE SmackDown" and will likely be getting a lot more bookings going forward given how well known he is north of the border, already making appearances for GCW, MLW, and TNA in recent years.

Pagano is genuinely someone who, if he is featured on WWE's main roster any time soon, many long-time AAA fans will be pleasantly surprised due to the simple fact that he is an absolute lunatic. He is the company's resident deathmatch wrestler, which was established to the AAA audience back in 2016 during a feud with none other than Psycho Clown himself. A former AAA World Tag Team Champion in his own right, Pagano doesn't really care about championships as much as he does hurting others, and hurting himself in the process, wrestling in countless deathmatch tournaments around the world, which includes the NGX King of Deathmatch tournament in Monterrey that he won back in March of this year, winning the company's Extreme Championship in the process. It's unlikely Pagano will ever get to do a deathmatch on WWE TV, but here's hoping because he's unlike anyone on the AAA roster.

Lucha Libre royalty up next with El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., or as some people call him Wagner III. As the name suggests, he is the grandson of the legendary Dr. Wagner who was a household name for EMLL and the UWA during the 1960s and 70s, and the son of Dr. Wagner Jr., who is just as legendary and is going to enter his 40th year as a professional wrestler if he continues being an active performer in 2026.

Arguably one of the most traditional wrestlers on the AAA roster. You won't be seeing him execute 630 sentons like Vikingo, or rolling around in a pool of his own blood like Pagano, but you will likely see him in and around the main event scene now that he's back wrestling full-time in his home country. Dr. Wagner III has been primarily working in Japan over the past few years, with Pro Wrestling NOAH being his home promotion.

During his time in NOAH, the masked man managed to achieve more than some Japanese legends get to achieve. He won the GHC Tag Team Championships with former WWE Superstar Rene Dupree on two separate occasions, held the GHC National Championship for almost a full calendar year, and in February 2024, became the 24th different man to hold the GHC Heavyweight Championship, defeating Kenoh to become champion, but lost it to Kaito Kiyomiya 90 days later. He left NOAH in January to return to Mexico, with AAA being the promotion to pick him up on a full-time basis, and it's safe to say that there will be gold in his future if he keeps the momentum of the last few years going.

A true journeyman of the wrestling business who has featured in some of the most beloved, and most chaotic wrestling promotions of all time.

Currently the AAA Latin American Champion, and the man who recently exiled Alberto El Patron from AAA entirely, El Mesias has gone by many names throughout his wrestling career. He made his name in Puerto Rico as Ricky Banderas, which was the name he used in the short-lived but always talked about Wrestling Society X promotion in 2006. From there, he would sign with AAA and be thrown into an active volcano...yes really, but this was only done in storyline to let him wrestle in Puerto Rico, with the El Mesias gimmick being born upon his return to AAA in 2007.

In that same year, Mesias had a brief run with TNA Wrestling that would end in early 2008 following a feud with Abyss, which included one of only five Barbed Wire Massacre matches in the history of the company. He was also a beloved member of the Lucha Underground cast where he wrestled as Mil Muertes, a character who did a lot worse things to people than throwing them into active volcanoes.

However, AAA would continue to be his home promotion until 2018 when he left due to unhappiness over being forced to work through an injury, and would briefly appear for their rivals CMLL in his years away from AAA. But all roads lead to home, and after six years away, he returned to AAA in 2024 and has remained with the company ever since. 

If Dr. Wagner III can be called Lucha Libre royalty thanks to his family, then Negro Casas can be called Lucha Libre royalty for being one of the greatest luchadors of all time.

Realistically, it's unlikely that Casas will be appearing on WWE TV any time soon for the simple fact that he turned 65-years old in January 2025, but if you ask any long-time fan of Mexican wrestling, they'll tell you that age is just a number for some people, and Casas is one of those people. Debuting all the way back in 1979, Casas is someone who has put butts in the seats of Arena Mexico for generations as he was a staple of the CMLL (formerly EMLL) roster since his formative years in the business, but left the promotion in 2023 (as did his wife Dalys la Caribena (or Dalys for short) after years of simply being in a gatekeeper role to younger, more exciting talents.

AAA, always wanting to get one over at the expense of CMLL, signed Casas and his wife to contracts, which may not sound too ground-breaking to the WWE fans who only started watching AAA this year, but allow us to give you an example of how big of a deal this was when it happened. Imagine a world where The Undertaker never retired, was shuffled down the card, and then at one of AEW's pay-per-views, "The Deadman" showed up despite how much of a legend he is in WWE, that is the equivalent.

Originally, Laredo Kid wasn't going to make the cut for this list of stars new AAA fans need to know as he is technically under contract with TNA Wrestling, and has been for many years. However, he has featured at both the Worlds Collide Premium Live Event, and an episode or two of "WWE NXT" as of late, so he deserves a mention.

The current AAA World Cruiserweight Champion, Laredo Kid is one of the most exciting luchadors that both AAA and TNA have at their disposal right now. A 20 year veteran, which if anything means he should stop calling himself a kid at 38-years old (which has started to happen in TNA), Laredo Kid is also one of the most recognizable faces in AAA thanks to how much time he has spent north of the border.

Even after his original appearances for TNA when the company was called Impact Wrestling, Laredo Kid made a handful of appearances for AEW in that company's formative years, crossing paths with the likes of Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and The Good Brothers along the way before returning to TNA and becoming a full-time member of their X-Division. While he has never won the TNA X-Division Champion, Laredo Kid can be relied on for excellent matches each time he goes out to the ring, hence why WWE trusted his ability enough to challenge for the NXT North American Championship at Worlds Collide.

There's been a lot of talk about the men in this list, but is only because WWE have yet to highlight or profile any of the female members of the AAA roster yet. Of all the Luchadoras on the AAA right now, the woman you have to talk about is the current AAA Reina de Reinas Champion (the AAA equivalent of the WWE Women's Championship), Lady Flammer.

Flammer has held on to that championship for two years at the time of writing, dethroning current AEW and ROH star Taya Valkyrie to commence her reign, and after making five successful defenses of her title, it seems that there is no woman in the world who can stop her. This is especially true when considering that she will always have her friends lurking in the distance.

We can't really mention Flammer without mentioning the group she is a part of, Las Toxicas. The group currently consists of Flammer, La Hiedra, and Lady Maravilla, who have been a three-headed force of nature since they formed back in 2021, with "WWE NXT" Superstar Lola Vice getting a first-hand taste of what it's like to come into contact with them at a recent AAA TV taping. Of course, this reign of dominance could all come to an end at TripleMania XXXIII when Flammer defends her title against Lady Apache and WWE's Natalya, with Flammer wanting to continue her quest of becoming the longest reigning AAA Reina de Reinas Champion in history, a record currently held by the woman she dethroned back in 2023, Taya Valkyrie.

Unlike El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Octagon Jr. doesn't come from wrestling royalty, and the man currently under the famous mask is actually the third man to portray Octagon Jr..

The previous two men to portray Octagon Jr. are two names many fans will be familiar with. Former WWE Superstar Kalisto, who continues to do good "Lucha Things" as Samuray Del Sol on the independent scene, and after him, Flamita donned the mask for a brief time, but left AAA and dropped the gimmick out of respect for the original Octagon, and would have standout performances in both PWG and ROH afterwards. The gimmick laid dormant for many years until late 2019 former AAA World Trios Champion Golden Magic took the gimmick and made it his own.

Since portraying the younger version of the legendary luchador, Octagon Jr. has gone on to win the AAA Latin American Champion, forge a path for himself as one of the most promising members on the AAA roster, and has already caught the eye of those working within WWE. Following his performance at the 2025 Worlds Collide Premium Live Event, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime when he was given a WWE Intercontinental Championship match against Dominik Mysterio that same day at the Money in the Bank Premium Live Event, but proved no match for "Dirty Dom" who walked away with the win. With that said, given his track record and how high his ceiling is, expect more from Octagon Jr. in both AAA and WWE in the coming years.

Rounding off with one of the only full blooded Americans on the AAA roster, and a man who is actually the brother of someone WWE fans have known for many years. 

Sam Adonis is actually a former member of the WWE roster as he was briefly in their former developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) back in 2011 as Buddy Stretcher, but was released after suffering an injury. However, unlike some people, WWE wasn't the path that was meant for the man who would go on to have a lot of success in Mexico. In 2016, he would make his debut for CMLL as a pretty boy, pro-Donald Trump supporter, and became, at one point, the most hated man in Mexico. He was routinely booed out of Arena Mexico for his gimmick given the political situation in Mexico and the United States at the time, but by the time he left CMLL in 2018, things would only go up for Adonis.

After the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, Adonis arrived in AAA at the end of 2021, still portraying an all-American Trump supporter, but would transition into a softer, more pro-American character as the years went on. He would win the AAA World Trios Championships in 2022, and has continued to be featured on AAA programming on a regular basis. As for the man who Sam Adonis calls his brother, that would be none other than WWE color commentator Corey Graves, who not only trained his brother, but will now get to call his matches as it's been confirmed that Graves will be the AAA English language commentator moving forward.