The Best Lucha de Apuestas of the XXI Century

On May 30th, Lucha Libre AAA presents La Noche de los Grandes, an event that will feature the climax of one of the most intense rivalries in the recent years of the Mexican promotion, a Mask vs Mask Lucha de Apuestas between El Grande Americano vs The Original Grande Americano, a match long awaited by the Mexican fans ever since the once controversial character made its debut last year on the company after the purchase by WWE. If you aren’t familiar with the concept: A Lucha de Apuestas is the most important stipulation in Lucha Libre culture and is used as as the culmination of an important rivalry that has seen the fall of the most important Masks in history, the iconic hairstyles and on some occasions: A name of a character on the line. It is very common that when a Luchador loses his mask, he reveals all the information about their “secret” identity, such as their real name, birthplace and the exact years they’ve been wrestling as its very common on Lucha Libre that this information is kept private until they lose a match with said stipulation or pass away.

Today, we will review what are possibly the most important Lucha de Apuestas from the year 2000 onwards in preparation to the collision between the two Grande Americanos.

10.) Pentagon Jr vs Villano IV – Triplemania XXX: Mexico City (October 15th, 2022)
AAA tried doing multiple dates of Triplemania for several years on different locations of Mexico to try and give more importance to the name of the event. In the year 2022, AAA had a tournament named Ruleta de la Muerte, the concept of the tourney was that the losers of the matches would “avance” towards the finals, in said finals, both competitors would put their Mask on the line. The tournament involved heavy names such as Rayo de Jalisco Jr, Blue Demon Jr, L.A Park, Psycho Clown, Canek, Último Dragón and the two finalists: Pentagón Jr (Penta) and the legend Villano IV. Match was remembered as a violent showcase between both competitors, a 57-year-old Villano IV taking bumps on the floor outside the ring, Pentagon Jr’s mask getting ripped and dripping blood after constant and violent attacks by Villano IV that would end up with the iconic picture of Penta holding up Villano’s mask and the emotional speech by the legend after taking his mask off and subsequently retiring from the industry less than a year later.

9.) La Parka vs Cibernético – Triplemania XII (June 20th, 2004)
Right off the bat, this is the type of match many fans are expecting from both Grande Americanos, an overbooked extravaganza. On the year 2004, AAA founder Antonio Peña’s mark of liking to do dramatic, over the top stuff on every single major match the company featured was part of the magic that made AAA special and very different to what CMLL was. La Parka vs Cibernético is proof of that as the match isn’t really remembered by what happened inside the ring but for what happened around the ring during the contest such as the kidnapping on an ambulance of the original TV character “Televisa Deportes” by Los Vipers before Antonio Peña himself saved him after a motorcycle chase to said ambulance (this was shown on the broadcast of the match) and would end with Gronda, Octagon and many more Luchadores coming to the rescue of La Parka before a rollup finish secured the victory for the skeleton and subsequently winning the mask of “El Main Man de la Lucha Libre”, as Cibernético has said on multiple occasions, this is the match that made his bond with Chuy (Parka) stronger than ever as they were close friends in real life.

8.) Nicho el Millonario (Psicosis I) vs Psicosis III – Triplemania XIII (May 15th, 2005)
Many people remember the popular character Psicosis/Psychosis during the ECW and WCW days and even his short WWE run during the Ruthless Aggression era, little do they know that he’s had a history of several Lucha de Apuestas in his long tenure as a Luchador, losing his mask TWICE, on in Mexico to Rey Mysterio Jr and one in the United States to Billy Kidman. After wrestling many years outside of AAA, he lost a legal dispute for the name during the year 2000, becoming Nicho el Millonario on the independent scene while AAA gave the Psicosis name to another competitor who would go on wrestling with the iconic mask for 27 years. On Triplemania XIII, both Psicosis faced each other on a violent and iconic Lucha de Apuestas that involved brawls throughout the Plaza de Toros in Guadalajara, Mexico and the use of several objects to see who was worthy of keeping the Psicosis name. During the final moments of the match, longtime friend of Nicho, Histeria, interfered on the contest and attacked Psicosis II, only to end up betraying Nicho when he tried to open the box and opening the box himself, resulting in a no contest ending that evolved into a story of Histeria calling himself Psycho-Histeria as he said he owned the name after taking the “legal documents.” AAA would end up reversing this decision as Histeria was not an official competitor of the match, leaving Psicosis II with the name while Nicho El Millonario continued under this name until his departure from Lucha Libre AAA.

7.) Atlantis vs La Sombra (Andrade) – CMLL 82nd Anniversary (September 18th, 2015)
By the year 2015, Atlantis was considered one of Mexico’s greatest Luchadores ever after taking some of the most iconic masks in history while on the other hand, you had the young rising star La Sombra, who two years before this contest won a Lucha de Apuestas against the iconic Volador Jr, which cause La Sombra to work a more intense and rudo style that stablished him as one of the top acts of the company. Over the summer of 2015, Los Ingobernables (Rush & La Sombra) would wrestle several of the tecnicos tag teams to start making a name for themselves as one of the biggest threats until they ended up facing Atlantis on several occasions, which ignited the rivalry between La Sombra and Atlantis, with Sombra attacking the legend on constant occasions, which resulted in a match between both winner of the two previous Anniversary Shows, resulting in an epic two-out-of-three falls with Atlantis emerging once again victorious on a Lucha de Apuestas. La Sombra would unmask himself and subsequently became Andrade “Cien” Almas and making the jump to WWE, capitalizing on all the eyes generated from this match.

6.) L.A Park vs La Parka – Triplemania XVIII (June 6th, 2010)
A match that felt like watching a mirror for a generation. Many people remember the iconic, skeleton like masked Luchador La Parka from WCW, who started using this gimmick on AAA and was part of the group of Luchadores that wanted to mark a difference outside Mexico. But there was a big factor in this story, and it was AAA’s own founder: Antonio Peña, who felt that he couldn’t have his product without the iconic Parka character and ended up giving it to 29-year-old luchador, Karis La Momia, thus becoming the second incarnation of La Parka. Adolfo Tapia (the first Parka) would go on saying the way they revoked the name from him was unfair as he built a name with all his effort, thus renaming himself La Parka Original, later L.A Park (L.A meaning “La Autentica Parka”, The Authentic Parka). After Park left WCW, he competed in the independent circuit and CMLL, while La Parka became one fo AAA’s most important roster members and also winning the already mentioned Cibernético mask, until Park returned in 2010, laying out the challenge that he should be the only man known as La Parka and not a “wannabe impostor”, this would lead to tensions for several months until Triplemania XVIII. The winner of the match would be the rightful owner of the name the same way it previously happened with both Psicosis. The match featured the interference of Joaquin and Dorian Roldan, who became the two people in charge of AAA after its founder, Antonio Peña, passed away in 2006. Dorian originally sided with Park but mid match betrayed him until the final moments of the contest when popular stable Los Perros del Mal interfered and dragged Park’s body to a knocked-out Parka, subsequently winning the match and originally keeping the name. The Mexico City Boxing and Lucha Libre Commission would later revert the results of this match as the involved of Los Perros del Mal was controversial and La Parka kept the name while L.A Park continued with this name and worked as a freelancer with the company but not with all the negative critics of the chaotic match.

5.) Psycho Clown vs Dr Wagner Jr – Triplemania XXV (August 26th, 2017)
Starting strong with the top five Lucha de Apuestas comes one of the most controversial ones that took place in Triplemania XXV. The story started a year prior during the main event of Triplemania XXIV, which featured Psycho Clown vs Pagano. Wagner interfered during this match to rescue Psycho from an attack by Nicho el Millonario and Damian 666, only for him to betray Psycho with a low blow followed by a Wagner Driver. Despite this, Psycho would go on and win the match, shaving Pagano’s head. Wagner would challenge Psycho to a mask vs mask match that would go on and build for an entire year before reaching its climax. As Triplemania was getting closer, Psycho Clown got betrayed by Monster and Murder Clown, with whom they created the original trio of Psycho Circus. Despite all this, Wagner Jr assisted Psycho in multiple tag matches against the now rudo clowns. Finally, when the match occurred, Psycho Clown secured the victory with a Code Red after almost 30 minutes, marking the end of an era for such an iconic Luchador like Dr Wagner Jr. This decision caused very negative comments, as Wagner got called a sellout for allowing this to happen, which is something AAA wasn’t expecting back then as they visioned Psycho Clown as the next top Tecnico of the promotion. Wagner Jr would then rename Rey Wagner and would continuously switch between both names every time he wrestled.

4.) Blue Panther vs Villano V – CMLL 75th Anniversary (September 19, 2008)
The Imperial Dynasty, or Los Villanos, were indeed, Villains to the Wrestling industry as they are some of the most memorable rudos that the industry has ever witnessed, you combine this with Blue Panther who is arguably one of the most influential wrestlers ever, not just in Mexico, but on the world as his innovative style is reflected on many icons the world has seen, especially on the likes of Bryan Danielson. This was an emotional contest, as both legends were accompanied by then rising stars Hijo del Perro Aguayo/Perro Aguayo Jr on Villano V’s side and Místico on Blue Panther’s side. And, after 21 minutes of a very acclaimed technical match, Villano V pinned El Maestro Lagunero and taking his mask, revealing the face of Blue Panther to the world as the man known as Genaro Vazquez Nevarez. Despite this, Blue Panther still wears his iconic mask with previous authorization for matches he considers special while Villano V would lose his mask a year later against Ultimo Guerrero.

3.) Místico vs Black Warrior – CMLL 73rd Anniversary (September 29th, 2006)
Anybody that has followed Mistico for a long period has heard who Black Warrior was, as he is the man responsible for Mistico’s boom during the mid 2000’s due to their iconic rivalry that reached its highest point at the CMLL 73rd Anniversary Show when both individuals put their masks on the line in the main event of the evening. This event was remarkable as CMLL had a long list of veterans that could’ve been the main event of that evening, but it all came to the newest generation of Luchadores willing to proof their worth. The two-out-of-three falls match lasted for over 15 minutes; the first fall came three minutes into the match when Black Warrior submitted Mistico with La Tapatia. During the second fall, Warrior ripped Mistico’s mask off to a classic look of a beaten-up Principe de Plata y Oro, but Black Warrior’s confidence backfired and Mistico tied the score with a pinfall. Then, during the third and final fall, Mistico returned the favor to Black Warrior, ripping his mask to a very invested crowd and continued to go back and forth until Mistico finally locked in La Mistica to beat his rival in his second Lucha de Apuestas and probably his most iconic one until the contest with El Negro Casas years later.

2.) Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero – CMLL 81st Anniversary (September 19th, 2014)
To many individuals, this was the last time a Lucha de Apuestas had a heavy weight until what will come on May 30th at Noche de los Grandes. A culmination of many years of rivalry between two former tag team partners. The rivalry was reignited to a high point during the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles by forcing both individuals to tag team once again despite of years being rivals until they lost the finals of the tournament during 2013’s edition of Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, causing frustration on both Atlantis and UG, causing a brawl between them that ended up with Atlantis ripping off Guerrero’s mask. Later, they both signed a contract to seal a deal for a Mask vs Mask match without announcing a date and during Atlantis’ 30th Anniversary as a wrestler, Ultimo Guerrero attacked him, seeking vengeance after many months of verbal and physical altercations. The match was planned for the 80th Anniversary but plans never came to fruition until the 81st Anniversary after the event Juicio Final in 2014 at which the match was made official. Ultimo Guerrero pinned Atlantis for the first fall while Atlantis tied the score with a submission with one of Ultimo Guerrero’s favorite holds, El Pulpo. You could feel the tension in this match as both legends never lost a Lucha de Apuestas before this match with such a resume between the two with an actual possibility of Atlantis, a real-life superhero for the children, losing his mask. After almost 18 minutes of war, Atlantis locked in La Atlantida and ended the almost decade-long rivalry, unmasking Ultimo Guerrero who couldn’t avoid getting emotional, breaking into tears during the post-match ceremony and giving up his mask to Atlantis.

1.) Atlantis vs Villano III – CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2000: Juicio Final (March 17th, 2000)
One could say anything about this match, but there’s no doubt it’s the best Lucha de Apuestas in history and one of the greatest wrestling matches the mankind has ever seen. A lot of words could be said, but why hear or read it? Watch it and witness it yourself with your own eyes.
VILLANO III vs ATLANTIS Máscara vs Máscara