Things were so good that something surely had to go wrong, and boy did it ever. While Vampiro and Konnan were selling out show after show, the tension between Peña and Juan Herrera was starting to boil over into a power struggle. Both were now politicking to Alonso that their vision should be the one CMLL should go with, leading to factions of the locker room picking a side. Behind Peña were most of the young luchadors such as Konnan, Octagón and Máscara Sagrada, while Herrera was backed by Bestia Salvaje, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera, guys attached to the older lucha libre style. It became such a hostile situation that it ended up affecting booking decisions, with Konnan legitimately getting screwed out of the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship because Herrera booked Konnan on shows he couldn’t make, causing it to appear like he no showed. Despite all the good business they were doing from a ticket sale and TV perspective, it was apparent that CMLL had become too big for both Peña and Herrera and that Paco Alonso would have to choose between the two of them. Much like his grandfather did 17 years earlier, Alonso made a huge mistake. Whether it was his unwillingness to bend from CMLL’s longtime formula or something else, he ultimately decided that Herrera’s vision was the way to go. In that moment, Antonio Peña realized that if he were to ever have a chance to bring his vision of lucha to life, it would have to be somewhere other than CMLL.
Luckily for Peña, he had both the connections, the financial backers and the talent behind him to move quickly. As he had worked out the deal between CMLL and TV conglomerate Televisa, Peña was able to secure a TV deal for his new promotion almost immediately, as well as financial backing by Televisa himself. All that was left for him to do at that point was approach the two luchadors he trusted the most; Konnan and Octagón. With their loyalty secure, Peña and Televisa announced the formation of AAA on May 15th, 1992, with no notice given to CMLL prior. In a scene almost identical to what UWA did to CMLL seventeen years earlier, AAA made off with almost all of CMLL’s biggest talent, from established stars like Konnan, Octagón, Máscara Sagrada, El Hijo del Santo, Perro Aguayo, Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000, Universo 2000, Jerry Estrada and Blue Panther to young, promising luchadors such as Ángel Azteca, Winners, Super Calo, Canelo Casas (who’d go onto become a star as Heavy Metal), all the Mini-Estrellas and Peña’s soon to be superstar creation La Parka. Even members of the roster loyal to Herrera, like Fuerza Guerrera, bolted in favor of bigger paychecks. By the time the smoke cleared the only star luchadors still left in CMLL were Jalisco, Atlantis (who turned down an AAA contract out of loyalty to Alonso), El Satánico, El Dandy, Negro Casas and Vampiro, who stayed because Konnan’s departure left him in the clear to be the number one guy. By 1993, almost everyone else had gone over to AAA, who had the TV time and the money thanks to Televisa.
Make no mistake; the AAA exodus made the UWA one look like a minor incident. Back then CMLL at least still had a TV deal and enough top talent to still remain ahead by UWA, if only by a little. Not this time. Peña didn’t just form another competitor when he formed AAA; he stole CMLL’s TV deal and took with him the biggest stars in lucha libre at the time, including the most popular luchador of the past two decades in Konnan. For the first time ever, CMLL was not the number one promotion in Mexico, and wouldn’t be again for another four years as AAA went on one of the greatest runs in the history of wrestling. Within a year, Herrera was let go of his position as head booker, an acknowledgement by Alonso that he had indeed made the wrong call. It did little to curb his anger towards AAA, in particular Peña, Konnan and Octagón. In one of the first public signs of his legendary temper, Alonso made clear that Peña, Konnan and Octagón would never appear on a CMLL show ever again. For the most part he has been correct; Peña would never return to Arena Mexico before his death in 2006, while Konnan’s ban was so serious that he was at one point not even allowed to enter Arena Mexico to watch a show as a fan. Only Octagón has worked CMLL since, returning a few weeks ago for a show in Arena Puebla.
