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El Grande Americano Draws Thunderous Reactions in Mexico as Wrestling World Raves Over Mask vs Mask Match

Reactions continue to pour in about Saturday night's Mask vs. Mask Match at AAA Noche De Los Grandes, with many saying the videos are must watch.
Rick Ucchino|
El Grande Americano
El Grande Americano | Netflix

Just because a storyline or a match has a predictable outcome does not mean it's going to fall flat.

There was no greater example of this than Saturday night's Mask vs. Mask Match at AAA Noche De Los Grandes between El Grande Americano and the "Original" El Grande Americano.

From the moment he first donned the mask, wrestling fans knew that Chad Gable was the "Original" El Grande Americano. It was a gimmick that was widely panned at first, but when Gable went down with an injury and Ludwig Kaiser assumed his identity, the character took off. Especially with the Lucha Libre AAA crowds.

El Grande Americano received a hero's ovation Saturday night inside a jam-packed Arena Monterrey. His entrance was worthy of the grand stage at WrestleMania 42, but the reaction he received in Mexico likely blew any reception he would have gotten in Las Vegas out of the water. And many fans took note it.

What an entrance for El Grande Americano at AAA Noches De Los Grandes

"This entrance was f*cking surreal. El Grande Americano is the most over wrestler in WWE right now. Holy sh*t." - Wrestling Pics & Clips wrote on X.

"WHAT AN OVATION" - Roman Reigns SZN exclaimed in all caps with a fire emoji.

"El Grande Americano just arrived with one of the greatest wrestling entrances of all time for the Mask vs. Mask Match in Mexico. The biggest babyface in all of Mexico. PURE GOOSEBUMPS."

Everything played out so well on Saturday night, that ESPN's Andreas Hale admitted he was wrong about Mask vs. Mask needing to take place at the 'Showcase of the Immortals' this year.

"Doing it at AAA in Mexico was the perfect culmination of one of the best angles of the year," Hale wrote on social media.

There was only one possible outcome for Mask vs. Mask

El Grande Americano
El Grande Americano | WWE.com

Given his megastar status in AAA, there was no way that Kaiser could have lost on Saturday. After a half-hour-long, chaotic, no-holds-barred spectacle, the right booking decision was made.

El Grande Americano went over the OG Americano with a running headbutt, and the crowd inside
Arena Monterrey nearly blew the roof off the facility.

"[Steve] Austin pop. Gable attacking the mat like that on the final bump too… Great stuff," our own Jon Alba wrote on X.

"On God , Mexico needs a WrestleMania. Look at that pop," Kazeem Famuyide proclaimed.

Deonte DDJ called Mask vs. Mask "GENERATIONAL" during his reaction video.

Mask vs. Mask proves that WWE still has its fastball

There's been a great deal of talk ahead of Sunday afternoon's Clash in Italy Premium Live Event about WWE leveling off creatively, or even flatlining, when compared to that product that rival AEW is producing right now.

The culmination of the Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser rivalry in Lucha Libre AAA is proof that WWE can still produce some of the best wrestling content in the world, and Mask vs. Mask is receiving high praise from the critics.

"If you haven't watched the Chad Gable vs. Kaiser match, you really should stop whatever you are doing and watch it now. One of the great match presentations of all-time," the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer wrote.

"It’ll be extremely difficult for anything on today’s Clash in Italy card to top last night’s Mask vs. Mask match. That bar has been set exceptionally high heading into today. If anything manages to come close, it’ll go down as one hell of an in-ring weekend for WWE," WrestleVotes said on their social media accounts.

"El Grande Americano vs. El Grande Americano OG was easily one of the best matches of the year! Even one of the best stories of the year!" Joey Karni wrote. "Kayfabe aside: Chad Gable & Ludwig Kaiser having a main event like that was not on my 2026 bingo card. Bravo boys!"

As of this writing, it appears that Mask vs. Mask is receiving top marks across the board. Cory Hays of False Finish has pointed out that Gable and Kaiser currently have the 19th-highest rated match of all-time on Cagematch.

In his first public comment since revealing his true identity to the world, Chad Gable said that the mask may have died for him, but he suddenly feels more alive than ever.

If you don't believe the hype, you can go check out the match for yourself. It's available to stream on all WWE and Lucha Libre AAA social channels.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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