Production
Background
In early 1992 Antonio Peña was working as a booker and storyline writer for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Mexico's largest and the world's oldest wrestling promotion, and was frustrated by CMLL's very conservative approach to ''Storylines
The Triplemanía show featured seven professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either heels (referred to as ''rudos'' in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or faces (''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. Initial plans for the 1995 Triplemanía III series of events included a storyline where '' Los Gringos Locos'' members Eddy Guerrero and Art Barr would turn on teammate Konnan in the fall of 1994. This was supposed to turn ''técnico'' and set up a '' Lucha de Apuestas'', or bet match, between Konnan and Art Barr where both would put their hair on the line. AAA booker Antonio Peña was hoping to actually sell out the 130,000 seat Estadio Azteca inEvent
This first two matches of the show were not broadcast on Television as part of AAA's weekly wrestling show on Televisa but were dark matches that only the fans in attendance at the Plaza de Toros de la Concordia bull fighting arena saw. The opening match featured AAA's women's division with Martha Villalobos, La Nazi and Neftali taking on a trio of women who had primarily worked for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), La Sirenita, Irma Gonzales and Irma Aguilar. The UWA trio was working the show due to a work agreement with the UWA, a promotion that was one of the major Mexican promotions in the 1970s and 1980s but by 1994 was close to going out of business and actually would close in 1995. Villalobos, La Nazi and Neftali defeated the UWA trio, although no records indicated who was pinned. The second Dark Match of the show featured a trio known as '' Los Misioneros de la Muerte'' ("The Missionaries of Death"), also originally from the UWA but by this time AAA regulars taking on the team of El Torero, El Mexicano and Dragón de Oro. ''Los Misioneros'' originally consisted of El Signo, Negro Navarro and El Texano and later on brought in Black Power II to replace El Texano while working in the UWA. When the group joined AAA Black Power was replaced by a mask wrestler known as Misionero, which may have been Black Power under a mask or possibly former ''Misionero'' Rocky Santana, but the identity was never confirmed. ''Los Misioneros'' defeated Torero, Mexicano and Dragón de Oro. The third match of the night was also the first match to be shown on AAA later on, first airing on July 1, 1994 on Televisa along with the fourth match and the main event steel cage match. The fourth match of the night, another traditional ''lucha libre'' [ix-man tag team match contested under best two-out-of-three falls rules featured another trio that made its name as part of the UWA but was transitioning to AAA by 1994, ''Los Villanos'', in this case Villano I, Villano III and Villano IV facing one of AAA's top ''rudo'' trios ''Los Payasos'' ("The Clowns"; Coco Rojo, Coco Verde and Coco Amarillo) who had held the Mexican National Trios Championship on two occasions prior to Triplemanía III-A. ''Los Villanos'' won the first fall when they simultaneously pinned all three ''Payasos'' and then won the second fall by disqualification when ''Los Payasos'' pulled off ''Los Villanos'' masks to cause the disqualification, giving ''Los Villanos'' the match two falls to none. The fifth match of the night was one of the featured matches of the night as Super Caló teamed up with rival Ángel Mortal to fight against Winners and Marabunta in what is called a '' Professional wrestling tag team match types#Parejas Suicidas, Relevos Increibles Suicidas'' ("Incredible pairs suicide" match). The concept of that type of match is that two storyline enemies are forced to team together against another team of rivals, in this case their opponents were also their regular tag team partners. The losing team would then be forced to wrestle against each other in a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match as a "punishment" for losing the tag team match. For most of the match Ángel Mortal and Marabunta did not wrestle against each other while Winners and Super Caló only faced off once during the match. Marabunta forced Super Caló to submit, then moments later his ''Los Diabolicos'' Ángel Mortal pinned Marabunta to even the sides. Moments later Winners applied a submission hold, forcing Ángel Mortal to tap out. THis allowed Winners and Marabunta to escape with their masks for the night. Traditionally ''Lucha de Apuestas'' matches are held under "best two-out-of-three falls" rules, but due to the ''Relevos Increibles Suicidas'' stipulation Super Caló and Ángel Mortal fought in a single fall match with their masks on the line, a match Super Caló won by pinfall. Following the match Ángel Mortal tried to escape the arena but was forced back in the ring where he was unmasked and revealed that his real name was Juan Manuel de la Rosa. In the semi-main event four different storylines intersected in an eight-man "Atómicos" tag team match featuring the top feuds of AAA at the time. Perro Aguayo was accompanied to the ring by his son Perro Aguayo Jr. who was slated to make his in-ring debut at the following Triplemanía III show. For most of the match the rival pairs worked against each other with Perro Aguayo and Máscara Año 2000, Konnan and Cien Caras, La Parka and Jerry Estrada and finally Octagón and Pentagón pairing off. In the end the ''técnicos'' side of Aguayo, Konnan, La Parka and Octagón won the match. The main even steel cage match included referees on the outside of the cage to determine when a wrestler had successfully left the cage and a special ''Mini-Estrella'' referee, El Tirantio (a shorter version of referee ''El Tirantes'') inside the cage. During the introductions it was announced that since Espectrito I has just lost a ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match to Octagoncito 10 days earlier he was not allowed to compete in the match since he had no hair to "bet" on the match. Initially Espectrito I and his brothers, Espectrito II and La Parkita, tried to keep him in the ring but eventually the other 10 ''Mini-Estrellas'' ganged up on him and threw him out of the door of the cage. When the bell run the only way to get out of the match with their mask would be to climb over the top of the 15 foot tall steel cage and climb all the way to the floor. Payacito Azul was the first man to escape the cage only a few minutes into the match, leaving his tag team partner Payacito Rojo behind. The final four competitors were Espectrito II, Octagoncito, Super Muñequito and Payacito Rojo, When Octagoncito tried to escape Espectrito I, who had remained at ringside during the match, climbed up the cage and blocked Octagoncito's exit. Later on he did the same to Super Muñequito preventing him from leaving so that Espectrito II would not end up losing the match. After fighting on top of the cage, then while clinging to the outside of the cage Espectrito II jumped to the floor safely, followed moments later by Octagoncito. After wrestling against each other for a minute or two Super Muñequito took advantage of a mistake by Payasito Rojo and climbed out of the cage as the last man. With his victory he was given credit for Payacito Rojo's mask loss. Following the match Payacito Rojo removed his mask and announced that his real name was Raymundo Rodriguez, better known to the wrestling fans as "Piratita Morgan" ("Little Morgan the Pirate").Aftermath
This show marked the last time that Raymundo Rodriguez worked under the ring name "Payasito Rojo: as he resumed working as "Piratita Morgan" afterwards and later on also worked as the masked character Battalion in the World Wrestling Federation in 1997 and 1998. It was also the end of ''Los Payasitos'' in AAA as his tag team partner Payasito Azul changed his ring name to "Fuercita Guerrera", taking over the ring character for the original Fuercita Guerrera who retired not long after Triplemanía III. At Triplemanía III-B the ''Mini-Estrella'' division was featured in the first ever ''Mini-Estrellas'' Eight-man "Atómicos" tag team match as Torerito, Super Muñequito, Octagoncito and Mascarita Sagrada defeated Fuercita Guerrera, La Parkita, Espectrito I and Espectrito I when Super Muñequito pinned Espectrito I. Super Muñequito would later lose the Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship to Espectrito I as part of their long running rivalry. Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 would go on to Triplemanía III-B where they defended their UWA World Heavyweight Championship and IWC World Heavyweight Championship respectively against Perro Aguayo and Konnan in a tag team match with both championships on the line. In the end Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 retained their championships when Perro Aguayo was disqualified in the third and final fall of the match. Konnan would later on move to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and work in the United States for years, putting an end to his rivalry with Cien Caras. Aguayo's rivalry with Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 would carry on for years, even beyond Aguayo's initial retirement from wrestling as Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 brought him back for one more ''Luchas de Apuestas'' match as part of CMLL's 2006 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show. At Triplemanía III-B Perro accompanied his son to the ring as he made his debut against Juventud Guerrera, son of Fuerza Guerrera who was at ringside with his son as well. During the match Fuerza Guerra interfered in the match, helping his son gain a victory over Perro Jr. That match started a father/son storyline between the Aguayos and the Guerrera family and would include the two teams fight over the Mexican National Tag Team Championship held by the Guerrera family. The feud ended when Fuerza Guerrera left AAA in late 1995. La Parka and Estrada found themselves on opposite side of multi-man tag team matches at the subsequent Triplemanía III shows with La Parka's side winning one and Estrada's team winning the second match. On August 6, 1995 La Parka regained the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship from Jerry Estrada as their feud continued into 1996. The storyline between Octagón and Pentagón would continue to evolve, stretching out for several years, including the original Pentagón being replaced in 1996 when he had to retire due to health problems. The replacement of the original Pentagón was never officially acknowledged by AAA since Pentagón wore a mask that covered almost his entire face and ring gear that covered everything but his fingertips. The storyline between Octagón and his "evil twin" stretched into 2002 where Octagón finally unmasked Pentagón, although at this time it was a third man under the mask. AAA originally intended to carry the storyline forward into the next "generation" as they introduced Octagón Jr. in 2012 as well as a character supposed to be his rival in Pentagón Jr. In the summer of 2013 the wrestler playing Octagón Jr. left AAA for WWE, cutting any planned storylines short. The storyline between the team of Winners/Super Caló and ''Los Diabolicos'' led to Winners and Marabunta facing off in a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match at the subsequent Triplemanía III-B on June 18, 1995. Winners defeated Marabunta, forcing him to unmask and reveal his real name. As part of the storyline a third and final ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match took place on June 30, 1995 and was the main event of Triplemanía III-B Per the stipulation of the previous matches Winners and Super Caló were forced to face off against each other with their masks on the line. In the end Super Caló won, forcing Winners to unmask and reveal his real name, Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González. Palomeque continued to work as Winners for over a year after unmasking, before being given a new ring character, bringing him back as the masked "Abismo Negro" ("Black Abyss"), playing a cheating ''rudo'' character, totally opposite of the character he portrayed while working as Winners. Super Caló would be unmasked at Triplemanía XV under similar circumstances as he was forced to wrestle his tag team partner Super Fly as a result of losing an earlier tag team match to Laredo Kid and Gran Apache. In the end Super Fly pinned Super Caló, forcing him to umask after the show and reveal his real name, Rafael García.Reception
John Molinario, who writes about wrestling for the Canadian Online Explorer, called the three "an outstanding TripleMania series" when reviewing the first five years of Triplemanía in a 2000 article.Results
Steel cage order of escape
Footnotes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triplemania 03A 1995 in professional wrestling Triplemanía June 1995 in Mexico