Just when you thought WrestleMania 41 weekend couldn’t get more unpredictable, WWE officially announced its acquisition of Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, sending lucha fans, talent rosters, and AEW group chats into a tailspin.
The Worlds Collide event on June 7 will mark the beginning of what WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque called a “new era” of lucha libre—one he promises won’t strip the art of its identity but will supercharge it with WWE’s infrastructure, resources, and most importantly, budget.
“I don’t want to change lucha,” said Triple H during WrestleMania Saturday’s post-show. “I want to amplify it.”
According to Fightful Select, this merger has been quietly cooking for months, particularly after the WWE-TKO merger and the AEW x CMLL: Grand Slam Mexico announcement, which seemingly triggered WWE to lock it down. Consider it the corporate version of “who’s your real best friend?” Now, WWE is not just expanding into Mexico—they’re planting a flag in it.
🤝 The Plan for AAA:
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Lucha stays lucha. Triple H says the mask, style, and culture will be preserved.
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WWE’s NIL & ID programs will integrate with AAA’s system, bringing college athletes and unsigned prospects into the lucha world.
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Worlds Collide (June 7) will serve as the first major crossover, possibly setting up title vs. title scenarios, dream matches, and likely some deeply dramatic backstage hallway stare-downs.
😬 The Alberto Del Rio Situation:
Let’s address the sombrero-wearing elephant in the room. Alberto Del Rio (aka Alberto El Patron) is currently AAA’s Mega Champion—and also a former WWE main eventer turned real-life lawsuit generator. While WWE has, for years, issued a “hard no” on anything involving El Patron due to allegations of abuse and controversial public behavior, some insiders now say…
“The relationship is no longer contentious.”
In short: the door may not be wide open, but it’s definitely unlocked with a nervous intern guarding it.
Del Rio’s camp claims talks have happened, and while WWE hasn’t confirmed anything, the sudden radio silence on his exclusion from press materials speaks volumes. Whether he appears at Worlds Collide, gets quietly dropped, or somehow ends up face-to-face with Cody Rhodes on a SmackDown in July, remains unknown.
WWE’s track record on controversial returns is… let’s just say flexible when business is involved.