An update on the politics of Mexican wrestling impacting who can appear on AEW TV.
Earlier this month, Dave Meltzer reported that Mexican talent are not able to feature on AEW television when CMLL talent are also present, however this was later shot down by Fightful Select, who reported that AEW had outright denied this, pointing to a show featuring both CMLL talent and Komander.
During today’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer provided an update on the situation, reaffirming that other Mexican talent, particularly those with ties to AAA, are prevented from appearing on AEW television during shows that feature CMLL talent competing, with the aforementioned example of Komander cited as an exemption to the rule due to a late situation. Additionally, AEW’s original crop of Mexican talent are unsurprisingly said to be unhappy about this rule being in place.
“Regarding the situation with the CMLL talent, while obviously things can change, the quote from an AEW official regarding the situation after claims that what we reported last week was inaccurate is that it was accurate and that going forward “AAA wrestlers and CMLL wrestlers are very unlikely to be on the same branded show.” At this point the talent from CMLL has not been wrestling on a show with anyone else born in Mexico wrestling. There was a show with CMLL talent doing a run-in and Komander was a late addition to the show and he wrestled, but they didn’t. We were told that while it happened, that was an exception to the rule because of a late situation. The original Mexican talent in AEW has been told they can’t appear on a show where CMLL guys wrestle and as noted last week some aren’t happy about it.”
-WON
Historically, AEW’s Mexican talent have been prevented from appearing on Forbidden Door due to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s loyalty to CMLL’s wishes. In terms of the current situation, Meltzer noted that the ball is essentially in CMLL’s court as the relationship continues to build between themselves and AEW.
The report then delves deeper into the specifics of who these rules apply to, first noting that whilst the restrictions are based on CMLL’s hatred for AAA, this does not cover all talent to have appeared for AAA in the past, as the likes of Johnny TV and Brian Cage are said to be able to work on the same show as CMLL talent.
On the other hand, both Rey Fenix and Bandido are said to be unable to feature on the same shows as CMLL talent, whilst Rocky Romero, a non-Mexican CMLL regular, is allowed to feature on the same show as Rey Fenix and Penta.
As of writing, the original rules of all Mexican talent being prevented from featuring on the same AEW TV show as CMLL talent are said to still be in place, although this doesn’t not affect tapings altogether, as it was highlighted that non-CMLL Mexican talent could feature on an episode of Rampage taped during the same night as CMLL’s stars appear on Dynamite.
Later in the report, Meltzer provided an insight into the beginnings of CMLL’s relationship with AEW, reporting that AAA’s decision to have Dragon Lee announce that he’s heading to WWE immediately after defeating FTR led to AEW feeling double-crossed, and with Tony Khan already having a relationship with Rocky Romero, the pair decided to get the ball rolling.
“With Romero, they are pretty much trying to do the deal where CMLL, NJPW and AEW are partners. Vikingo is under contract to AAA while Penta is under contract to AEW. While they worked through it to a degree, AAA made a real bad political move by having Dragon Lee score the pin over FTR to win the AAA tag titles and immediately have Lee announce he was going to WWE and have WWE release to ESPN the story right away. AEW felt double-crossed on that, and then when CMLL started getting hot and with Romero and Khan as friends, the ball started rolling.”
-WON
In terms of these restrictions on talent potentially changing, Meltzer pointed out that we’ll be able to tell that this is the case as soon as CMLL talent appear on the same episode of AEW television as other Mexican talent.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on CMLL restricting Mexican talent from appearing on AEW TV as soon as we hear more.
