A Marvel-themed lucha libre show is headed to Disney+.
During the third and final night of Triplemanía XXX in Mexico City, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (also known as Triple A or simply AAA) announced a new wrestling show set to debut on Disney+ as part of the Marvel Lucha Libre Edition initiative. The show will seemingly be titled El Origen de la Máscara, which translates to The Origin of the Mask. "Discover the untold secret of the fight between heels and faces," the on-screen text in an official promotional video reads (translated from Spanish). "Inspired by Marvel heroes." At this time, it is unclear if the lucha libre program will be available on Disney+ worldwide, or only in Mexico.
Marvel initially unveiled its lucha libre-themed initiative in October 2020. At the time, the comic book publisher announced various pieces of merchandise inspired by Mexican professional wrestling, as well as the fact that AAA would be introducing Marvel-inspired characters to its roster.
Marvel and AAA Make for Quite the Tag Team
"This collaboration with AAA represents an opportunity to participate in an iconic part of Mexican culture, such as wrestling and offering attractive content and experiences to the whole family that can be further celebrated with spectacular consumer products inspired by this discipline which is valuable for fans and consumers," Luis Lomelí, Head of Licensing and Consumer Products area at The Walt Disney Company in Mexico, said at the time. "While developing these storytelling and content creation initiatives, the premise has been to stay true to the essence of Mexican wrestling at all times by bringing together AAA's experience in terms of wrestling and Marvel's experience in terms of story and character development. The potential of wrestling is unlimited. Its quality, color and talent are increasingly valued in the world."
In December 2020, AAA introduced four wrestling characters as part of Marvel Lucha Libre Edition. There were two tecnicos (i.e. babyfaces): El Aracno and El Leyenda Americana, based on Spider-Man and Captain America, respectively. There were also two rudos (i.e. heels): El Terror Purpura and El Venenoide, based on Thanos and Venom, respectively. Terror Púrpura (played by Brian Cage) and Venenoide (played by Black Taurus) ultimately defeated Aracno (played by Lio Rush) and Leyenda Americana (played by Daga) in an exhibition tag team match at Triplemanía XXVIII in 2020.
AAA (originally known as Asistencia Asesoría y Administración) was founded in 1992 by the late Antonio Peña, who had broken away from the long-standing Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). AAA ran the first iteration of its Triplemanía event in 1993. Triplemanía is AAA's biggest show of the year, effectively serving as the Mexican promotion's equivalent of WWE's WrestleMania or New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom.
That being said, AAA's influence has expanded well beyond Mexico. Over the years, the company has entered working relationships with numerous American promotions, including WWE (formerly known as the WWF), Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling), Major League Wrestling (MLW) and, most recently, All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Source: Triplemanía XXX, via YouTube