Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, commonly referred to as simply AAA, is a Mexican professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded as Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos, the promotion has been dubbed "La Caravana 3 Veces Estelar" due to its extensive touring schedule.
The promotion was founded in 1992, when Antonio Peña, a booker from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, broke away from CMLL to set up his own promotion with the backing of Televisa that would provide him more creative freedom. Under Peña's direction, AAA incorporated telenovela-inspired sports entertainment elements into its product and developed a reputation for outlandish gimmicks and characters. In addition to the conventional "squared circle", the promotion occasionally uses a hexagonal wrestling ring and features much more extreme match styles compared to CMLL's conservative in-ring style. AAA, like all other wrestling promotions, does not promote legitimate sporting contests but rather athletic theater performances, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that put performers at risk of serious injury or death if not performed correctly.
AAA has had working relationships with other Mexican promotions, like the International Wrestling Revolution Group, and with American promotions such as the National Wrestling Alliance, Major League Wrestling, and All Elite Wrestling. AAA primarily hosts its major events in Mexico, but has also promoted international events in the United States and Japan. The promotion previously aired its events on Gala TV in Mexico and on TUDN in parts of Mexico and the United States. AAA events began airing on Fox properties in Mexico and Latin America in 2026.
In April 2025, American wrestling promotion WWE, a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, announced it would acquire AAA in partnership with Mexican company Fillip. This acquisition was finalized in August 2025 with WWE holding a 51% controlling stake.
History
Formation and early years
Between April and May of 1992, Antonio Peña, booker of the Mexico City-based Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, broke with the promotion in favor of establishing his own group, along with Konnan and much of the younger talent from CMLL. This split resulted in the founding of the Televisa-backed Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos promotion. AAA would look for talent from other markets outside Mexico City, as they found and signed Tijuana natives Rey Misterio Sr., Rey Misterio Jr., and Psicosis. The promotion became known for signing top talent away from CMLL, such as El Hijo del Santo, Octagón, Blue Panther, Heavy Metal, Cien Caras, and Perro Aguayo. Peña would quickly sign up top UWA draws for AAA, including El Canek, Dos Caras, and Los Villanos.In 1994, AAA co-promoted the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view event with World Championship Wrestling, with WCW airing the event in the United States. The event was critically-acclaimed and is credited for popularizing lucha libre in the United States. Weeks after the show, Art Barr died while visiting his family. AAA subsequently vacated the AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship, which Barr held with Eddy Guerrero, and Barr's Los Gringos Locos stablemates Guerrero and Madonna's Boyfriend made their departures from AAA. In the aftermath of When Worlds Collide, El Hijo del Santo also departed the promotion as a result of creative problems. When the Mexican economy began to slow down due to the 1994–1995 peso crisis, AAA's ability to offer consistent work was impaired, leading to wrestlers like Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther departing the promotion. Talent such as Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera would depart AAA in 1996 to join Konnan's short-lived TV Azteca-backed Promo Azteca before landing in the US-based Extreme Championship Wrestling and WCW promotions.
In the mid-1990s the name of the promotion was changed to simply be AAA, with Televisa maintaining ownership of the original Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos name, after Peña bought out Televisa's ownership stake and became independent of the media conglomerate. AAA events would continue to air on Televisa after the purchase. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with the World Wrestling Federation, with several AAA luchadores appearing at the WWF's 1997 Royal Rumble event.
AAA developed a working relationship with American wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in early 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent the luchadores Juventud Guerrera, Héctor Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Águila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico, defeating Team USA in the finals to win the cup. TNA and AAA's initial working relationship would end in late 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadores, but opted to contract them individually rather than booking them through AAA.
2006–2014
On October 6, 2006, AAA founder Antonio Peña died of a heart attack. Following Peña's death, his sister Marisela Peña took over the management of AAA's finances, while Joaquín Roldán and Dorian Roldán became AAA's operational managers. Konnan would take over the booking of AAA. In 2006, AAA would again partner with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, co-promoting TNA's inaugural event in Mexico, held at Arena Monterrey in November 2006. This partnership would end after AAA booker Konnan left TNA in June 2007 and filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the promotion; the lawsuit was later dismissed. TNA would maintain a relationship with AAA rival CMLL from 2007 to 2009, but would begin another working relationship with AAA in February 2010.In 2008, Lucha Libre USA presented AAA's Legendary Battles of Triplemania program on American pay-per-view. In 2009, AAA announced the development of a video game titled AAA El Videojuego. The game was later retitled Lucha Libre AAA: Héroes del Ring and released on October 12, 2010.
2014–2020
On January 12, 2014, it was announced that, with the backing of Mark Burnett, AAA would co-produce a show for the American El Rey Network in the second half of the year. The one-hour weekly program would be accompanied by monthly and quarterly specials as well as live pay-per-view events. The show, titled Lucha Underground, premiered on October 29, 2014. The series ran for four seasons, and received generally positive reviews.Beginning in March 2015, the promotion announced that it would be known as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide from that point on, marking the second name change since its founding in 1992.
On April 8, 2017, AAA operational manager Joaquín Roldán died. On June 14, AAA events began airing on the Front Runner TV free-to-air channel in the United Kingdom.
In April and May 2018, some Lucha Libre Elite talent including Teddy Hart, Juventud Guerrera, and Taurus made their returns to AAA wearing their Elite jerseys, launching an interpromotional angle between the two promotions. On June 4, at Verano de Escándalo, Jeff Jarrett returned to AAA after three years away from the promotion to defeat Rey Wagner and Rey Mysterio Jr. and win the AAA Mega Championship. Jarrett was assisted in the match by Konnan, who also returned to AAA at the event after two years.
On February 1, 2019, AAA announced the end of their relationship with Televisa after 27 years, with the promotion's programming moving to the Multimedios television station. On February 3, AAA announced that they had reached an agreement with TV Azteca to broadcast their programming on Azteca 7.
On April 4, 2019, AAA announced that it would be holding an event in the United States, AAA Invading NY, which would take place at New York City's Madison Square Garden on September 15, 2019. The promotion also announced that it would hold a second event in the United States, titled AAA Invading Los Angeles, at The Forum in Inglewood, California on October 13, 2019. On August 16, 2019, it was reported by Pro Wrestling Insider that AAA Invading NY would be moved to the nearby Hulu Theater due to poor ticket sales. AAA Invading NY was held on September 15 at the Hulu Theater, headlined by Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr. in a No Disqualification match. AAA Invading Los Angeles would later be canceled.
COVID-19 pandemic and aftermath
AAA would postpone and cancel its televised events in mid-March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its final pre-pandemic event being the AAA vs. MLW Super Series on March 13. In April 2020, AAA hosted a tournament called Lucha Fighter, which consisted of 12 male wrestlers and 8 female wrestlers; all Lucha Fighter matches were held without a live audience.As a response to the indefinite recess of live sporting events in Mexico, on July 20, 2020, AAA announced a project called AutoLuchas, which consisted of events at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez where fans could attend from their car.
In December 2020, FactoryMade Ventures, one of the co-producers of Lucha Underground, filed a lawsuit with AAA; claiming to have exclusive rights to distribute AAA events and merchandise outside of Mexico. The lawsuit resulted in the geo-blocking of AAA's YouTube and Twitch channels in the United States.
On February 2, 2021, AAA secured an alliance with SECTUR to promote Mexico's tourist destinations. The alliance resulted in the launch of the Lucha por la Identidad Nacional Tour shows, which were held behind closed doors and included major AAA events like Rey de Reyes and Verano de Escándalo.
On August 14, 2021, Triplemanía XXIX was held at Arena Ciudad de México. It was the first AAA event since the COVID pandemic began to have a limited number of ticketed fans in attendance. October's Héroes Inmortales XIV would also have a limited live audience present.
Acquisition by WWE
On April 19, 2025, shortly after announcing a joint event between its NXT brand division and AAA, WWE commentator Michael Cole announced during the WrestleMania 41 pre-show that WWE had reached an agreement to acquire AAA, as part of a joint venture with Mexican sports and entertainment company Fillip. The following month, it was reported that WWE will own 51% of AAA with Fillip owning the remaining 49%; the acquisition closed on August 1, 2025.On November 25, 2025, WWE announced a media rights agreement with Fox, which will see AAA events air on Fox properties in Mexico and Latin America beginning in 2026.
International partnerships
In 1997, AAA partnered with the Titan Sports-owned World Wrestling Federation to bring in a number of luchadores for the WWF's Royal Rumble event.In April 2014, wrestling promoter Jeff Jarrett, who was credited with launching the AAA and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling working relationship, left TNA. Jarrett's new promotion Global Force Wrestling would begin working with AAA after its founding later in 2014. After the end of the AAA–GFW working relationship, TNA and AAA would begin to work with each other again, including collaborating on events such as the Lucha Libre World Cup on May 24, 2015.
In July 2015, Canadian-based International Wrestling Syndicate announced a talent partnership with AAA.
In August 2018, AAA started a working agreement with the American-based Major League Wrestling. AAA would also co-produce 3 special events with MLW, titled the Super Series, with the first event being AAA vs MLW held on March 13, 2020 at the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The show was aired in four parts as part of MLW's weekly show MLW Fusion between April 11, 2020 and May 9, 2020. On September 18, 2022, MLW and AAA would hold another [MLW MLW Super Series (2022)|Super Series (2022)|Super Series] event in association with the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate at the Espacio Discotheque in Norcross, Georgia, airing in five parts between December 1, 2022 and January 5, 2023 as episodes of Fusion. The final Super Series show would be held on February 10, 2023 at the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico and would air between May 25, 2023 and June 1, 2023 as episodes of Fusion with additional matches being aired on August 3, 2023 and August 10, 2023. The AAA–MLW partnership ended in September 2023 after MLW entered into an alliance with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
In February 2019, it was announced that AAA would be partnering with Tony Khan's All Elite Wrestling promotion. The AAA–AEW partnership disintegrated in late 2022 after AAA's Noche de Campeones event, after Khan believed the circumstances in which AEW tag team FTR lost the AAA World Tag Team Championship to Dragon Lee and Dralístico at the event, followed by Lee immediately vacating the title and announcing his signing to WWE, constituted a double-cross on AAA's part.
In August 2021, AAA entered into a working agreement with the American-based National Wrestling Alliance owned by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan with various AAA wrestlers making appearances at various NWA events along with Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf of La Rebelión defending the NWA World Tag Team Championship at AAA Invades WrestleCon. On March 4, 2023, AAA and the NWA would hold a show at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico titled The World is a Vampire: NWA vs. AAA. The event would air on April 9, 2023 and April 15, 2023 on AAA's YouTube channel and May 13, 2023 and May 20, 2023 on the NWA's YouTube channel.
In April 2025, it was announced that AAA would be partnering with WWE on its Worlds Collide event in June 2025, which will be a cross-promotion event with its NXT brand division. In June 2025, WWE's Los Garza won the AAA World Tag Team Championship at Triplemanía Regia III, marking the first AAA championship and the third non-WWE championship in total to be won by wrestlers under WWE contract. WWE would later acquire AAA in August 2025.
Shows and tournaments
Each year AAA promotes a number of signature events and tournaments: some shown as pay-per-view or streaming events and others presented as television specials. The annual shows and tournaments, shown in order of occurrence during each year, include:| Event | Most recent date | Notes |
| Lucha Libre World Cup | March 19, 2023 | International trios or tag team tournament. |
| Rey de Reyes | March 22, 2025 | A tournament held traditionally in the early part of the year. |
| Verano de Escándalo | July 11, 2025 | Annual end of the summer event. |
| Triplemanía | August 16, 2025 | Traditionally AAA's biggest show of the year. |
| Worlds Collide | September 12, 2025 | A show themed around interpromotional matches between AAA and WWE wrestlers; is held multiple times a year. |
| Antonio Peña Memorial Show/Héroes Inmortales | October 25, 2025 | Typically hosts the Copa Antonio Peña tournament in memory of AAA's founder Antonio Peña; held around the anniversary of Peña's death. Renamed from the Antonio Peña Memorial Show to Héroes Inmortales in 2009. |
| Guerra de Titanes | December 20, 2025 | AAA's end-of-year show, usually held in November or December. Was held in January in 2016, 2017, and 2018. |
Championships and accomplishments
Initially, AAA had few restrictions on the number of championships it promoted, often allowing wrestlers to defend titles from other promotions; such as the Universal Wrestling Association. This long-standing practice ended in December 2008, after the promotion announced it would no longer recognize or promote any non-AAA title.Current championships
As of,.Retired championships
| Championship | Final champion | Date created | Date retired |
| AAA World Mini-Estrella Championship | Dinastía | September 14, 2008 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since November 5, 2022 |
| AAA Americas Heavyweight Championship | Sangre Chicana | February 2, 1996 | 2006 |
| AAA Americas Welterweight Championship | Zorro | Unknown | 1990s |
| AAA Campeón de Campeones Championship | Cibernético | June 15, 1996 | 2005 |
| AAA Fusión Championship | El Hijo del Fantasma | November 3, 2012 | August 17, 2014 |
| AAA Northern Middleweight Championship | The Tigger | prior to July 3, 2006 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since December 7, 2019 |
| AAA Northern Light Heavyweight Championship | Lemús Jr. | prior to November 18, 2013 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since March 26, 2018 |
| AAA Northern Women's Championship | La Hiedra | prior to November 17, 2014 | Never officially retired, but no subsequent defenses have occurred |
| AAA Mascot Tag Team Championship | El Alebrije and Cuije | December 13, 2002 | April 7, 2009 |
| AAA Northern Tag Team Championship | La División del Norte | prior to February 15, 2004 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since 2017 |
| AAA Parejas Increibles Tag Team Championship | Cibernético and Konnan | June 12, 2010 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since 2010 |
| AAA Americas Trios Championship | Los Villanos | March 8, 1996 | 1997 |
| LLL Mini-Estrellas Championship | Mascarita Sagrada | 2000s | 2000s |
| La Leyenda Azul Blue Demon Championship | Arez | December 28, 2022 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since March 6, 2024 when Arez departed AAA |
| Marvel Lucha Libre Championship | Aracno | December 28, 2022 | Never officially retired, but no defenses occurred after Aracno became the inaugural champion as AAA's working agreement with Marvel Comics ended |
| IWAS World Heavyweight Championship | Konnan | January 26, 1996 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since 1999 when AAA split from IWAS |
| IWAS World Light Heavyweight Championship | Máscara Sagrada Jr. | January 31, 1996 | 1999 |
| IWAS World Tag Team Championship | Konnan and Rey Misterio Jr. | prior to August 17, 1996 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since 1999 when AAA split from IWAS |
| IWC World Heavyweight Championship | El Mesias | November 13, 1993 | September 16, 2007 |
| IWC World Middleweight Championship | Rey Misterio | August 29, 1993 | Never officially retired, but no defenses have occurred since 1995 when AAA split from IWC |
| IWC World Minis Championship | Super Muñequito | March 12, 1994 | July 8, 1995 |
| GPCW SUPER-X Monster Championship | La Parka | December 10, 2004 | September 16, 2007 |
| Mexican National Heavyweight Championship | Charly Manson | 1926 | December 2008 |
| Mexican National Middleweight Championship | Octagón | 1933 | December 2008 |
| Mexican National Welterweight Championship | El Torero | June 17, 1934 | 1998 |
| Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship | La Parka | 1955 | 2007 |
| Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship | Mascarita Sagrada 2000 | 1992 | June 21, 2007 |
| Mexican National Women's Championship | Lady Apache | November 13, 1983 | December 8, 2008 |
| Mexican National Tag Team Championship | Octagón and La Parka | June 14, 1957 | December 25, 2011 |
| Mexican National Women's Tag Team Championship | La Rosa and La Sirenita | April 10, 1990 | 1997 |
| Mexican National Trios Championship | Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera, and El Signo | March 10, 1985 | 2001 |
| Mexican National Atómicos Championship | Chessman and Los Psycho Circus | August 9, 1996 | January 24, 2009 |
| UWA World Heavyweight Championship | Dr. Wagner Jr. | August 15, 1977 | October 7, 2011 |
| UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship | Chessman | November 25, 1975 | September 16, 2007 |