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When Worlds Collide ( es, Cuando Los Mundos Chocan) was a
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
(PPV) event that took place on November 6, 1994, at the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park (Los Angeles), Exposition Park, in the University Park, Los Angeles, University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial ...
in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. It was scripted and produced by the Mexican ''
lucha libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...
'' company ''Asistencia Asesoría y Administración'' (AAA), now known as
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Antonio Peña Promotions, S.A. de C.V. d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Commonly referred to as simply AAA (pronounced "triple A"; an abbreviation of its or ...
, and their American partner, International Wrestling Council (IWC). The show was produced by the technical staff of
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...
(WCW). WCW Executive Vice-President
Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...
had helped AAA secure the show to be broadcast by American pay-per-view providers, marking the first time a non-US-based wrestling promotion was shown live on US PPV television. The show was broadcast in both English and Spanish. Chris Cruise and
Mike Tenay Michael William Tenay (born March 1, 1955) is an American podcast presenter and retired professional wrestling play-by-play announcer known for his time as an announcer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA ...
called the action in English, while Arturo Rivera and Andrés Maroñas handled the Spanish announcing. This event also marked Tenay's first commentating role in professional wrestling. It is one of the few pay-per-view events not made available for streaming on the
WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...
service. The PPV is considered the first time most viewers in the United States were exposed to the ''lucha libre'' style of wrestling, and contributed to several AAA workers, especially
Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. He was a prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero is ...
,
Rey Misterio Jr. Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest profe ...
,
Konnan Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964),''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Dave Meltzer, ed., May 10, 2010, issue.Sims, Steve"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame/Founded by Dave Meltzer - Konnan". Accessed August 1, 2016. O ...
,
Psicosis Dionicio Castellanos Torres (born May 19, 1971) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Psicosis (sometimes Anglicised as Psychosis) and Nicho el Millonario. He is best known for his appearances with the promotions Luc ...
, and
Juventud Guerrera Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández (born November 23, 1974) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Juventud "Juvi" Guerrera. Guerrera is best known for his appearances with the Mexican professional wrestling promot ...
, working regularly in the United States for promotions such as
Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...
(ECW), World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF, later WWE). The show is also notable for being the last appearance by
Art Barr Arthur Leon Barr (October 8, 1966 – November 23, 1994) was an American professional wrestler. While he wrestled briefly for World Championship Wrestling, he found his greatest success in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion. ...
, who died 17 days later. The main event of the show was a
steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
between long-time rivals
Konnan Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964),''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Dave Meltzer, ed., May 10, 2010, issue.Sims, Steve"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame/Founded by Dave Meltzer - Konnan". Accessed August 1, 2016. O ...
and
Perro Aguayo Pedro Aguayo Damián (18 January 1946 — 3 July 2019) better known as "(El) Perro Aguayo" (Aguayo the dog) and El Can de Nochistlan (The Nochistlan Dog) was a Mexican wrestler through the 1970s to the 1990s. Aguayo was the first person ever ...
, while the semi-main event was a
tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
''
Lucha de Apuestas Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...
'', Mask vs. Hair match between the popular duo of
Octagón Juan Escalera (born March 27, 1961) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado (masked professional wrestler) better known as Octagón. He is best known for working for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), having worked for the company since it ...
and
El Hijo del Santo Jorge Ernesto Guzmán Rodríguez (born August 2, 1963) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler and political activist, best known under the ring name, El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint"). Guzmán is the yo ...
taking on '' La Pareja del Terror'' ("The Terror Team"; Art Barr and
Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. He was a prominent member of the Guerrero wrestling family, being the son of first-generation wrestler Gory Guerrero. Eddie Guerrero is ...
). While not the main event of the show, the semi-main event was rated 5 stars by the
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
, which also voted La Pareja del Terror the
Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...
and Art Barr the Heel of the Year. After the match, Barr and Guerrero first cut off each other's hair and then had the last of it shaved off as a result of their loss.


Background

The event featured five
professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing, scripted feuds, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either
heels The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exert ...
(referred to as ''rudos'' in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or
faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...
(''técnicos'' in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The driving storyline behind When Worlds Collide was the emergence and dominance of a group known as ''
Los Gringos Locos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...
'', who had become the top ''rudo'' group in AAA. Initially after joining AAA, Eddie Guerrero had teamed up with El Hijo del Santo to form a tag team known as ''La Pareja Atomics'' "("The Atomic Team"), with AAA booker
Antonio Peña Antonio Hipolito Peña Herrada (June 13, 1951 – October 5, 2006) was the founder of the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in 1992. Peña's promotion reached its height of popularity in the e ...
invoking the fact that their famous fathers,
Gory Guerrero Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexico ...
and
El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the mo ...
, had formed a very successful tag team in the past. The ''Los Gringos Locos'' storyline began as Art Barr started to convince Guerrero that he was in the shadow of Hijo del Santo, just like his father had been in the shadow of El Santo. The storyline tension between the tag team partners was bolstered by the fact that Guerrero and Hijo del Santo did not get along behind the scenes, but teamed up because it made sense business-wise. After some prodding by Barr, Guerrero turned on his partner and joined with Barr to form a team that became known as ''La Pareja del Terror'' ("The Terror Team"), but also earned the nickname ''Los Gringos Locos'' after a commentator stated that "those Gringos are Loco". With the turn, Peña wanted the team to play up their "Americanness", with Barr and Guerrero wrestling in red, white, and blue gear and the two reminding the audience that the "American way" was better, as they cheated their way to victory. El Hijo del Santo received backup in the form of Octagón, a very popular masked ''técnico'' who had starred in several Lucha Libre Films in the past. The feud between the two teams would evolve into Barr and Guerrero recruiting other wrestlers, most importantly Konnan, who up until joining ''Los Gringos Locos'' was one of the most popular ''técnicos'' in Mexico. They were also joined by Madonna's Boyfriend,
Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...
, and Chicano Power, forming what was the first real "stable" in Mexico. Guerrero and Barr focused on Hijo del Santo and Octagón, using ''Los Gringos'' as backup whenever they needed them. On November 5, 1993, Hijo del Santo and Octagón defeated ''La Pareja del Terror'' to become the first team to hold the
AAA World Tag Team Championship The AAA World Tag Team Championship (''Campeonato en Parejas AAA'' in Spanish) is the main tag team title contested for in the Mexican lucha libre promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). In 1993 AAA created the first version of the AAA World T ...
. On July 23, 1994, ''La Pareja del Terror'' won the tag team titles, with the storyline being that the duo had paid off the referee to call the match in their favor. The referee, known as "El Tirantes" (the Suspenders), became a ''rudo'' referee from that day on. The "theft" of the tag team championship led Hijo del Santo and Octagón to lay down what is considered the ultimate challenge in ''Lucha Libre'', a ''
Lucha de Apuestas Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...
'', or bet match. For the match, Hijo del Santo and Octagón would "bet" their masks against the hair of Barr and Guerrero, a challenge that ''La Pareja del Terror'' eagerly accepted, and the match was set for the When Worlds Collide show in Los Angeles. The other ''Los Gringos Locos''-related storyline started when Konnan joined sides with Barr and Guerrero, switching from being a ''tecnico'' that was highly favored by the crowd to being a hated ''rudo'', as he turned on his long-time partner
Perro Aguayo Pedro Aguayo Damián (18 January 1946 — 3 July 2019) better known as "(El) Perro Aguayo" (Aguayo the dog) and El Can de Nochistlan (The Nochistlan Dog) was a Mexican wrestler through the 1970s to the 1990s. Aguayo was the first person ever ...
in a match against ''Los Gringos Locos'' in August 1994. The storyline played off the fact that years previously, Perro Aguayo had forced Konnan to unmask when he pinned Konnan in a ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match in CMLL. Konnan and Aguayo would face off several times over the following months, often as the captains in six-man tag team matches, most of which ended with inconclusive outcomes and both wrestlers hitting each other with chairs and other objects. On August 6, 1994, on a show called ''Night of Champions'' in the
Los Angeles Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...
, Konnan teamed up with
Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...
to defeat the team of Aguayo and Vampiro Canadiense in two straight falls. After the match, the two enemies agreed to a
steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
, which would be the main event of When Worlds Collide. The third match on the show was billed as "AAA vs. IWC", presented as an inter-promotional match between the Mexican AAA and the US-based International Wrestling Council (IWC). IWC was the promotional name used for AAA shows in the United States, which meant they were not two separate entities behind the scenes. For this match, the IWC representatives were three wrestlers who had not worked for AAA, only IWC, as the Canadian
Pegasus Kid Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling ...
teamed up with
2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name 2 Cold Scorpio (sometimes spelled Too Cold Scorpio). He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extrem ...
and
Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...
in Santana's highest profile match after leaving the World Wrestling Federation. The ''rudo'' trio of Blue Panther,
La Parka Adolfo Margarito Tapia Ibarra (November 14, 1965) is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' ( masked professional wrestler), who currently performs as L. A. Park for Major League Wrestling in the United States, where he is a former MLW World Tag ...
, and
Jerry Estrada Jerry Estrada (full name, Gerardo Hernández Estrada; born January 10, 1958, Monclova, Coahuila) is a semi-retired Mexican people, Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (professional wrestler). For most of his career, he has portrayed a ''rudo'' (H ...
represented AAA in a match where the lead up to the show focused more on the issues between La Parka and Estrada in the months prior to When Worlds Collide. La Parka had won the
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Semicompleto'' in Spanish) is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the ''Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.'' (''Mexico City ...
on September 4, 1994, which led to Parka's regular partner Estrada starting to ask for a title match, feeling that he had earned one. In the weeks prior to When Worlds Collide, the fans had begun to support La Parka, taking to his more comedic wrestling style and very distinctive skeleton body suit and mask, sowing the seeds for La Parka potentially turning to the ''tecnico'' side, but prior to this point he was still working the ''rudo'' side. The second match of the show centered around one of the classic tropes in ''Lucha Libre'' in which one or more young wrestlers tried to earn the respect of veteran wrestlers, often with the veteran wrestlers portraying the ''rudo'' role and putting the rookies "in their place". In this case, the "veteran" was
Fuerza Guerrera Fuerza Guerrera (born December 13, 1953) is a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) who made his debut in 1978. In his career Guerrera has worked for every major wrestling organization in Mexico including Consejo Mund ...
, who felt that the 19-year-old
Rey Misterio Jr. Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest profe ...
had not earned his sport, pushing for his own son,
Juventud Guerrera Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández (born November 23, 1974) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Juventud "Juvi" Guerrera. Guerrera is best known for his appearances with the Mexican professional wrestling promot ...
, as the future superstar of Lucha Libre. The Guerreras were also involved in a long-running storyline against the then-reigning
Mexican National Tag Team Champions Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
Heavy Metal and
Latin Lover Latin lover is a stereotypical stock character, part of the Hollywood star system. It appeared for the first time in Hollywood in the 1920s and, for the most part, lost popularity during World War II. In time, the type evolved, developing var ...
over the championship. The Guerreras had aligned themselves with
Psicosis Dionicio Castellanos Torres (born May 19, 1971) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Psicosis (sometimes Anglicised as Psychosis) and Nicho el Millonario. He is best known for his appearances with the promotions Luc ...
, a peer of Juventud Guerrera, who fought Rey Misterio Jr. on several occasions before the two of them joined AAA. For unexplained reasons, Fuerza Guerrera and Psicosis were not teamed up with Juventud Guerrera for the show but instead were teamed with ''Gringo Loco'' member Madonna's Boyfriend for the match against Heavy Metal, Latin Lover, and Rey Misterio Jr. The opening match was another chapter in a long-running storyline between two of AAA's top ''
Mini-Estrella The term ''Mini-Estrella'' (Spanish for "Mini-Star") is used in lucha libre to describe a division of short professional wrestlers or ''luchadors'', some of whom have dwarfism. The Mexican ''Mini-Estrellas'' is comparable to Midget wrestling pra ...
s'',
Mascarita Sagrada :''At least three wrestlers have wrestled under the name "Mascarita Sagrada". This article is about the original.'' Mascarita Sagrada (Spanish for Little Sacred Mask, real name not known, born January 11, 1965) is a Mexican Mini-Estrella, Mini Luc ...
and
Espectrito Mario Pérez Jiménez (December 18, 1966 – January 23, 2016) was a Mexican Mini-Estrella luchador, or Mini professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Espectrito. Jiménez worked for the World Wrestling Federation as "Mini Vader ...
, a storyline that actually predated the creation of AAA in 1992. The ''tecnico'' Sagrada and the ''rudo'' Espectrito had been booked as rivals from the beginning of
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...
's (CMLL) ''Mini-Estrella'' division, as established by Antonio Peña when he worked for CMLL. Mascarita Sagrada defeated Espectrito in the tournament to determine the first-ever CMLL World Mini-Estrella Champion in what was one of the early highlights of their storyline feud. When Peña decided to break away from CMLL to create AAA, a large part of the ''Mini-Estrellas'' division left with him, including the champion Mascarita Sagrada and Espectrito, vacating the championship in the process. In AAA Peña got the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission to sanction the creation of the
Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship The Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Mini-Estrella'' in Spanish), also referred to as the Mexican National Minis Championship, is an inactive professional wrestling championship sanctioned by ''Comisión de Box y ...
, a title that Espectrito won by defeating Mascarita Sagrada in the finals of a tournament. Mascarita Sagrada defeated Espectrito on April 16, 1993, as their feud continued to develop. Espectrito played a part in Mascarita Sagrada losing the championship to Jerrito Estrada on February 4, 1994. At this point in time, the storyline was expanded to also include
Octagoncito Octagoncito (born April 24, 1974) is a Mexican ''Luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler, who works in the ''Mini-Estrellas'' ("Mini-Stars") division on the Mexican Independent circuit. He is the first wrestler to work as Oct ...
as well as Jerrito Estrada and saw Octagoncito defeat Estrada to become the fourth Mexican National Mini-Estrella Champion. The highlight of the Mascarita Sagrada/Espectrito storyline came on the "Night of Champions" on August 6, 1994, when the two faced off in a ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match with their masks on the line. After splitting the first two falls, Espectrito was caught cheating in the third fall, losing the match by disqualification and being forced to unmask afterwards.


Event

Prior to the start of the show, the producers from WCW/
Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
made several changes to the format, including reducing the overall time by 40 minutes. This forced AAA to change the first three matches from the traditional best-of-three falls to a single fall. The producers also cut back on the elaborate entrances that AAA usually had for their major shows and did not allow AAA to have a
dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...
before the broadcast started to rev up the crowd. The producers also pushed to change the semi-main event to a singles match between El Hijo del Santo and Eddie Guerrero, but in the end, the match went on as originally planned and advertised. The opening ''Mini-Estrellas'' tag team match featured fast, high-flying action from all four wrestlers, with Octagoncito starting out easily controlling the match against both his opponents, but when the , Sagrada tagged in the much larger opponents (Espectrito , , Estrada , Jerrito Estrada is an example that illustrates that not all ''Mini-Estrellas'' have
Dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...
but can be wrestlers who are simply shorter than average.
) used their size advantage to control the match. During the match, the four demonstrated that their smaller size allowed them to wrestle at a faster pace and perform moves not expected of people of their stature, including a dive through the ropes to the floor and leaps off the top rope. The end came when Espectrito slipped on the top turnbuckle and landed awkwardly on the top rope; moments later, Mascarita Sagrada pinned his long-time rival while Octagoncito forced Jerrito Estrada to submit to ''La Escalera'', a Russian leg sweep into an armbar submission. For the second match, Fuerza Guerrera was designated the captain of the ''rudo'' team while Heavy Metal served as the captain of the ''tecnico'' team. To win the match, a team would either pin or force the captain to submit, or pin both of the other team members. The two captains started off the match fighting each other before Rey Misterio Jr. and Psicosis quickly took over. Under the ''Lucha Libre'' rules, a tag team partner can enter the ring when the other wrestler tags out or leaves the ring, unlike normal tag team rules. At one point, Rey Misterio Jr. threw Psicosis to the outside; Psicosis then ran away from ringside to avoid falling victim to a diving attack from his opponent. Moments later, Madonna's Boyfriend entered the ring and used his superior size to throw Rey Misterio Jr. around before Latin Lover took over for him. After about 10 more minutes of wrestling, Heavy Metal missed a dive, which Fuerza Guerrera took advantage of by locking in an arm submission hold that quickly caused Heavy Metal to tap out. In ''Lucha Libre'', submissions quickly end the first or second fall, but in this case, the end came off so quickly that the announcers questioned if this had turned into a best-of-three falls match. This was one clear example of how plans had changed from three falls to one right before the show. In the third match of the night, "Pegasus Kid" Chris Benoit was the captain on the IWC team which also included 2 Cold Scorpio and
Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...
. This was Santana's first PPV appearance since leaving the World Wrestling Federation. Blue Panther was the captain of the AAA team, having the task of trying to keep the peace between his partners La Parka and Jerry Estrada, as they had not been getting along in the weeks leading up to the match. The dissension started early on, as La Parka took offense to Estrada quickly stepping on the apron to let La Parka start the match. To counter, La Parka stepped out on the apron next to Estrada as well, leaving a confused Blue Panther to step back inside the ring while his teammates squabbled on the apron. Later on, as La Parka tried to pin his opponent, Estrada interfered and broke up the pinfall attempt and instead tried to be the one to win for his team. The two took turns throwing each other off their opponent, trying to win the match for their team while a confused Blue Panther looked on. Late in the match, it appeared as though Estrada and La Parka had put their differences aside, as Estrada held Tito Santana outside the ring, motioning for La Parka to dive onto Santana. When La Parka dove out of the ring, Santana moved and La Parka hit Estrada instead, which caused the two partners to fight. Moments later, 2 Cold Scorpio dove off the top rope to the floor, knocking down La Parka, Estrada, and Santana with the move. This left the two captains in the ring fighting it out until Pegasus Kid was able to roll up Blue Panther for the victory. After the match. the IWC team and Blue Panther left the ring while La Parka and Estrada fought each other, with the crowd solidly behind La Parka. The tag team ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match was the only match of the night conducted under best
two-out-of-three falls Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
rules. During their introductions, Art Barr made "swimming" motions as the team walked down the aisle, mockingly invoking the image of illegal immigrants swimming across the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
to incite the Mexican attendees in the crowd. Barr and Guerrero had Madonna's Boyfriend in their corner while Hijo del Santo and Octagón had Blue Panther in their corner, playing off Panther's past history with Barr. ''La Pareja del Terror'' tried to take control of the match early by attacking their opponents before the bell had even rung, but were quickly tossed out of the ring as the US crowd began to chant "Mexico". Once the match actually started, Hijo del Santo and Guerrero started off the match. After just a few minutes of wrestling, Barr lifted Hijo del Santo up on his shoulders, allowing Guerrero to leap off the top, taking Hijo del Santo down with a '' Huracanrana'' head scissors takedown, followed by a quick pinfall. Under the rules, that was not the end of the first fall, as both wrestlers on a team had to be pinned or forced to submit to end the fall. Moments later, Guerrero threw Octagón off the top rope with a
Superplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featu ...
, placing him in position for Barr to perform a
Frog Splash Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefer ...
diving move off a different turnbuckle to pin Octagón for the first fall. Between the first and second falls, Barr began to mockingly perform
jumping jacks ''Jumping Jacks'' is a 1952 American semi- musical comedy film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. The film was directed by Norman Taurog, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was one of the military comedies that marked the duo's ea ...
in the ring, showing how little physical exertion it took to win the first fall. This was followed by Guerrero once again mocking the Mexican crowd by pretending to be swimming to infuriate the crowd. Guerrero and Hijo del Santo started out the second fall as they had the first, locking up in the center of the ring. When Octagón entered the ring, Guerrero dropped to his knees, feigning an apology for a moment, before poking Octagón in the eye to gain the advantage. Later on, Hijo del Santo entered the ring and all four men ended up in the ring at the same time, until the ''tecnico'' team sent ''La Pareja del Terror'' to the floor, followed by a double ''Topé Suicida'' ( Suicide dive headbutt) by Hijo del Santo and Octagón. Later in the match, Guerrero performed a ''Huracanrana'' with Hijo del Santo sitting on the top rope and gained a pinfall, leaving Octagón at a disadvantage in the second fall. Barr and Guerrero double-teamed Octagón, with Barr throwing Octagón up on the air, thinking Guerrero caught him for a move. Instead, Octagón rolled up Guerrero for the pinfall as Barr celebrated, mistakenly thinking Guerrero got the pinfall. Moments later, the unsuspecting Barr was rolled up into Octagón's trademark submission hold ''La Escalera'' and was forced to submit, tying the match at one fall each. As in falls one and two, Guerrero and Hijo del Santo started out against each other. At one point, Guerrero applied Hijo del Santo's own submission hold, ''La de a Caballo'' (
camel clutch Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a Submission wrestling, submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ri ...
), on him to mock his opponent, but was not able to make Hijo del Santo submit before Octagón saved his partner. Later in the fall, with the referee distracted, Barr was able to surprise Octagón and execute a kneeling reverse piledriver, a move that would have been an automatic disqualification in ''Lucha Libre''. Moments later, Barr was able to pin Octagón to eliminate him from the match. In Lucha Libre, the piledriver is treated as a very dangerous move, something that was sold during this match by Octagón being taken from the arena on a stretcher during the closing moments of the third fall. Minutes later, Hijo del Santo was actually able to kick out of the Superplex/Frog Splash combo by ''La Pareja del Terror''. At one point, both Hijo del Santo and Guerrero were on the floor, which distracted the referee long enough for Blue Panther to enter the ring and perform a piledriver of his own on Barr in retaliation for what was done to Octagón. The move was not seen by the referee but allowed Hijo del Santo to pin Barr, leaving just Hijo del Santo and Guerrero still in the match. A minute or two later, Hijo del Santo was able to roll up Guerrero for the final pinfall and the victory for his team. Following their loss, both Guerrero and Barr visibly cried in the ring, selling the severeness of the loss as they cut off each other's hair with a pair of scissors. This was followed by an AAA official shaving off the rest of their hair with electric clippers backstage. The main event steel cage match could be won only by climbing over the top of the cage all the way to the floor to win the match. Pinfalls and submission did not count, neither opponent could be disqualified, and the door to the cage would be locked for the entire match. As the cage lowered, Mike Tenay introduced the match and then handed the microphone over to AAA announcer Arturo Rivera to give the introductions in Spanish. Konnan came to the ring with both the
IWC World Heavyweight Championship The International Wrestling Council (IWC) World Heavyweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial de Peso Completo de la IWC in Spanish) was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion, Luc ...
and the UWA Double Power Cup Championship that he had won from Perro Aguayo, although neither was on the line in the match. Once the door was locked, the two wrestlers began to brawl, with Aguayo trying to use Konnan as a ladder to climb out of the cage on more than one occasion. After a few minutes of fighting, Konnan dropped Aguayo face-first on the wire mesh cage, causing Aguayo to bleed (either by sheer impact or Aguayo secretly cutting himself to sell the brutality of the match). Once Aguayo started to bleed, Konnan began to focus on attacking Aguayo's forehead, including rubbing Aguayo's face across the cage. Moments later, both wrestlers found themselves on the top rope, fighting each other as they held on to the cage until Aguayo knocked Konnan off the top rope. Moments later, Aguayo attempted a pinfall even though the rules stated a pinfall did not matter. As the match progressed, sweat began to mix with his blood, causing his face to turn red. As Aguayo tried to climb out of the ring, Konnan leapt up with a low blow to keep his opponent in the cage. At that point, the cameras showed Eddie Guerrero and Madonna's Boyfriend watching the show from backstage, then moments later leaving the backstage area. As Aguayo climbed the cage, ''Los Gringos'' came to ringside and threw a cup of liquid in Aguayo's face. He then passed a set of
brass knuckles Brass knuckles (variously referred to as knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, knucklebusters, knuckledusters, knuckle daggers, English punch, iron fist, paperweight, or a classic) are "fist-load weapons" used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles ...
to Konnan to use in the match. While at ringside, Guerrero got into a fistfight with several fans who were upset over his actions, forcing the security guards to step in and stop the fight. Following the assist by ''Los Gringos Locos'', Konnan continued to attack Aguayo, with Aguayo ending up with his face and chest covered in blood from his head wound. At one point, Guerrero attacked the ringside referee,
Pepe Casas Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms *Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira, ...
, preventing him from stepping into the cage to check on Aguayo. When Konnan tried to escape, ''Los Hermanas Dinamita'' (
Cien Caras Carmelo Reyes González (born October 18, 1949) is a Mexican retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Cien Caras ("Hundred Faces"). He is best known for his appearances with the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Personal l ...
,
Máscara Año 2000 Jesús Reyes González (born 10 March 1958) is a Mexican ''Luchador'', or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Máscara Año 2000 or Máscara Año Dos Mil. His ring name is Spanish for "Mask of the year 2000", originally referri ...
, and
Universo 2000 Andrés Reyes González (April 18, 1963 – May 1, 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, who was best known under the ring name Universo 2000. Reyes made his professional wrestling debut in 1985 and worked for Consejo Mundial de ...
) ran to ringside, attacking Guerrero and Madonna's Boyfriend at ringside. As Konnan straddled the cage, Cien Caras climbed up and knocked Konnan off the top and back inside the cage, allowing Aguayo to attack his opponent. Moments later, Aguayo dove off the top rope with a double stomp on Konnan and then climbed out of the cage to victory.


Aftermath

Seventeen days after the show, on November 23, Art Barr died in his home in
Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...
. The official cause of death was never officially confirmed, although it was claimed by some sources to be drug-related. Barr and Guerrero were the reigning AAA World Tag Team Champions at the time of Barr's death and AAA opted to retire the championship instead of vacating the championship and finding new champions. Between 1994 and 2007 AAA's primary championship was the
Mexican National Tag Team Championship The Mexican National Tag Team Championship ''()'' is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by the (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission) and competed for by two-man tag teams. The championship was created in ...
, until AAA brought back the AAA World Tag Team Championship at the 2007 ''
Rey de Reyes The Rey de Reyes (English: "King of Kings") is an annual tournament held by Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) comparable to WWE’s King of the Ring tournament. For the first six tournaments the format consisted of four-way elimination matches with f ...
'' show on March 18, 2007. Following When Worlds Collide, AAA owner Antonio Peña was working on a storyline that would have Barr and Guerrero turn on Konnan, turning Konnan ''tecnico'' in the process. The start of the storyline was planted during the show, as Barr was not at ringside to help Konnan during the match. The conclusion of the storyline would come at Triplemanía III at
Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...
, where AAA was hoping to sell out the 130,000 seat arena. Barr died before AAA had a chance to move on with the storyline after When Worlds Collide. Barr's death was followed shortly afterwards by the
Mexican peso crisis The Mexican peso crisis was a currency crisis sparked by the Mexican government's sudden devaluation of the peso against the U.S. dollar in December 1994, which became one of the first international financial crises ignited by capital flight. ...
, which meant most of the US-based wrestlers were able to earn only a fraction of what they were used to while working for AAA. The peso crisis led to Eddie Guerrero working for the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
-based
Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...
(ECW) instead. At the time of Barr's death, both wrestlers were in negotiations to work for ECW part-time, which became full-time in 1995. Guerrero would later end up working full-time for World Championship Wrestling, which had produced When Worlds Collide. After Barr's death, AAA retired the AAA World Tag Team Championship in Barr's honor. With Barr dying and Guerrero leaving, ''Los Gringos Locos'' was abandoned as well. A week after When Worlds Collide, Perro Aguayo followed up his steel cage win by winning the
IWC World Heavyweight Championship The International Wrestling Council (IWC) World Heavyweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial de Peso Completo de la IWC in Spanish) was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion, Luc ...
from Konnan in a match that was originally designed to be part of the storyline in which Konnan turned ''tecnico'' after Los Gringos were unable to help him retain his title, but that aspect of the storyline was dropped a few weeks later. Konnan turned ''tecnico'' in the wake of Barr's death and teamed up again with Perro Aguayo, especially as they fought against ''
Los Capos Los Capos (Spanish for "The Bosses") was a Lucha Libre stable consisting of Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000 (often written as "Dos Mil") and Universo 2000, and at one point also included Apolo Dantés. Los Capos is also often referred to as ''Los ...
'' (brothers
Cien Caras Carmelo Reyes González (born October 18, 1949) is a Mexican retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Cien Caras ("Hundred Faces"). He is best known for his appearances with the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Personal l ...
and
Máscara Año 2000 Jesús Reyes González (born 10 March 1958) is a Mexican ''Luchador'', or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Máscara Año 2000 or Máscara Año Dos Mil. His ring name is Spanish for "Mask of the year 2000", originally referri ...
) in what would be the new main storyline in AAA leading to Triplemanía III. Aguayo and Konnan ended up challenging for both the IWC World Heavyweight Championship and the
UWA World Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial peso Completo de UWA'' in Spanish) was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally promoted by Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) until it closed in 1995. Aft ...
but lost by disqualification. By 1996 Konnan had also left AAA and would begin to work for WCW on a regular basis. After Triplemanía III, Aguayo began teaming with his son
Perro Aguayo Jr. Pedro Aguayo Ramírez (July 23, 1979 – March 21, 2015) was a Mexican ''luchador'' or professional wrestler and promoter who achieved fame in lucha libre as Perro Aguayo Jr. or El Hijo del Perro Aguayo ("The Son of Perro Aguayo"). He was the re ...
as the latter began his professional wrestling career. El Hijo del Santo would work for AAA until mid-1995 and then leave the promotion due to disagreements over pay and position on the shows, jumping to rival CMLL in the process. In subsequent years, Hijo del Santo expressed a lot of criticism of AAA, but did work with them for one match in 2009; he then claimed AAA did not pay him what they had agreed on. Hijo del Santo's partner at When Worlds Collide, Octagón, remained with AAA for years, becoming one of their key players and trademark wrestlers, and working opposite several "evil clones" known as
Pentagón Pentagón is a lucha libre, or professional wrestling, persona also referred to as a gimmick that has been portrayed by a number of different people over the years. The gimmick was created as an Evil twin of professional wrestler Octagón and is ...
, an event that spawned a storyline successor, Octagón Jr. Octagón left AAA in 2014. The fight between Jerry Estrada and La Parka at the end of their When Worlds Collide match led to La Parka turning full-fledged ''tecnico'', quickly becoming a popular fan favorite. Estrada ended up winning the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship on March 28, 1995. One hundred and thirty-one days later, La Parka reclaimed the championship as their storyline continued to evolve. In 1996, La Parka was one of many AAA wrestlers who also began working for WCW on a regular basis and eventually left AAA. With the La Parka character being so popular, Peña decided to replace the man under the mask with a New La Parka and forced the original to change his name to "L.A. Park", as AAA owned the trademark for the name. During the show, English-language commentator Chris Cruise stated, "Rey Misterio jr. at 5 foot 2, 145 lbs, may be the future of Mexican wrestling". Rey Misterio Jr. ended up working for WCW until the company closed in 2001, then later on for the WWE as "Rey Mysterio" where he held the
WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown' ...
once and the World Heavyweight Championship twice. Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera also ended up working regularly for WCW and had stints with the WWE as well. With the demise of WCW in 2001, the WWE bought the rights to all WCW footage, which included When Worlds Collide, and has included select matches as part of their DVD releases. The second match of the night was featured on the "Rey Mysterio, the Littlest Big Man" DVD released in 2012. The ''La Pareja del Terror'' tag team match was featured on the "Eddie Guerrero, Cheating death, stealing life" DVD released in 2004. When the
WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American entertainment company WWE. It primarily distributes original professional wrestling events, films, television and ...
was launched in 2014, When Worlds Collide was one of only a few WCW-produced PPVs not made available on demand. While the event was never shown on the WWE Network, clips of the opening match, the second match, and the main event steel cage match were shown on WWE.com. They also posted the full semi-main event match.


Reception

John Molinaro of the ''Canadian Online Explorer'' described When Worlds Collide as one of the most critically acclaimed shows in wrestling history and stated that the tag team ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match was "incredible, a five-star performance and ranks as one of the greatest matches in PPV history".
Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...
, who created the ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
'' (WON), also gave the match 5 stars, his highest rating, and the show was cited as a big part of why ''La Pareja del Terror'' was the WON Tag Team of the Year, and Art Barr was the Heel of the Year in 1994. The ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' review of the main event steel cage match stated that "Tons of activity outside the cage, in–ring psychology, and intense fan heat made up for a largely mediocre athletic performance by the two men", referring to Konnan and Perro Aguayo. It added that "the wrestling contained on this card impressed those responding to the Torch poll". The Torch rated the opening match at three-and-a-half stars, the second match at four stars, the third match at two and three-quarter stars, the tag match at four and a quarter stars, and the main event at three stars. The tag team match is rated "9.02" out of a possible 10 by the registered users of cagematch.net. When the WWE posted clips from the show on their website, they described the show as "the Best PPV you have never seen".


Lawsuit

Eastern Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...
- which had promoted an event titled
When Worlds Collide ''When Worlds Collide'' is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie; they also co-authored the sequel ''After Worlds Collide'' (1934). It was first published as a six-part monthly serial (September 1932 through Fe ...
in May 1994 - sued World Championship Wrestling for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
over the use of "When Worlds Collide". The case was settled out of court. As part of the settlement, WCW agreed to supply three of its contracted wrestlers for an ECW event on November 18, 1994: Kevin Sullivan,
Sherri Martel Sherry Schrull (née Russell; born February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri. Martel began her professional wrestling career in the ...
, and
Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
(later replaced by
Brian Pillman Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Ch ...
).


Results


Footnotes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:AAA When Worlds Collide Lucha libre Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide shows 1994 in professional wrestling Professional wrestling in Los Angeles Professional wrestling joint events World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view events 1994 in Los Angeles November 1994 events in the United States