Before even making their first defense of the belts, Raj Dhesi & Satnam Singh have vacated the AAA Tag Team titles.
Dhesi (former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal) & Singh were crowned the new champions in a three-way match at Triplemania Mexico City in August 2024. It was their first time ever teaming together — and the two have not teamed up anywhere since then. Lucha Libre AAA announced today that, due to their 214-day period of inactivity, the tag titles are now vacant with new champions to be crowned in the future.
Details regarding how the new champions will be determined have not been announced.
Negro Casas & Psycho Clown were the AAA Tag Team Champions prior to Desi & Singh, who won the belts at Triplemania Mexico City when Jeff Jarrett gave Casas a guitar shot. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno Del Mal were the other team in the three-way match.
Desi is currently a free agent, while Singh is contracted to AEW.
AAA has announced the card for Triplemania XXXII Mexico City.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, August 17, 2024, at the Mexico City Arena in Azcapotzalco. A press conference was held on Monday to announce the lineup.
Raj Dhesi, formerly known as WWE’s Jinder Mahal, has been announced for the show. He will team with Satnam Singh and challenge for the AAA Tag Team Championships in a triple threat match against Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno del Mal and title-holders Psycho Clown & Negro Casas. They will be managed by Jeff Jarrett.
AAA also confirmed that Mega Champion Nic Nemeth will defend his title against Alberto El Patron on the show. Nemeth defeated El Patron for the vacant title at Triplemania Monterrey in April.
Vampiro will also wrestle an as-of-yet-unnamed opponent in a casket match at Triplemania Mexico City. It was said that this will be a cinematic match and Vampiro’s final match in Mexico City.
Matt Riddle will also be back for the promotion. He’ll face Laredo Kid in a singles match.
LuchaBlog has been posting live updates from the press conference on X.
TripleMania Mexico City is an actual TripleMania, not what they did for Monterrey and Tijuana. There's stuff that might be good, there's stuff that might be important, there's "only in AAA" weird stuff and there's the annual no effort women's title match – it is true AAA. https://t.co/p16piaDbbw
AAA Triplemania Mexico City announced lineup for August 17 —
Domo de la Muerte (domed cage): Dark Ozz vs. Dark Cuervo vs. Cibernetico vs. Psicosis vs. Abismo Negro Jr. vs. El Fiscal vs. more named to be announced
AAA Mega Champion Nic Nemeth defends against Alberto El Patron
Vampiro vs. TBA in a cinematic casket match (billed as Vampiro’s last match in Mexico City)
AAA Tag Team Champions Psycho Clown & Negro Casas defends against Dr. Wanger Jr. & Galeno del Mal and Raj Dhesi & Satnam Singh
Matt Riddle vs. Laredo Kid
AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Lady Flammer defends against the winner of a multi-person match at Verano de Escandalo
The Copa Bardahl battle royal: Participants to be announced at a later date
The 7 foot 4 inch Singh has been moved to the broadcast team section of the AEW roster page, perhaps indicating he is set to begin working as a commentator.
The change in role for Singh could be part of AEW’s plans to expand its presence in India. Singh told the Hindustan Times late last year that there are plans to bring AEW to his home country.
“We are planning to bring AEW to India and expose it here so that the people in this country know what it is. This is important. The youth should know that something can be done with wrestling too,” he said during the interview.
Our own Dave Meltzer addressed WWE’s deal with Netflix opening the door for AEW in international markets such as India in the April 29, 2024 edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“An offshoot of the Netflix deal that hasn’t been talked about is the potential for another company to capitalize on that with AEW likely having the best chance,” Meltzer wrote. “Like with Sony Six in India, there are television stations around the world that have had long relationships with WWE. These are stations used to having American pro wrestling and can pay moderate money, or in the case of Sony Six in India, pretty huge money, for the programming. If these stations want to continue with pro wrestling, it would open the door to AEW.”
AEW announced a TV rights deal with Eurosport India in 2021. The length of the deal has not been disclosed.
Singh last wrestled at AAA Triplemania Tijuana on June 15. He teamed with Parker Boudreau, Sam Adonis, and QT Marshall to defeat Vampiro, Alberto El Patron, Dave the Clown, and Murder Clown. Singh pinned Vampiro to pick up the win for his team. His last AEW match took place on the June 12 Rampage taping when he defeated Rosario Grillo.
Satnam Singh says he chose to sign with AEW over WWE in order to make history for Indian wrestlers in the promotion.
The 7ft 3inch former basketball player spoke with Ruby Arora recently and commented on what led to his decision.
“I had given trials for WWE as well and I liked it very much as well. And I liked AEW as well. AEW is, like, brand new. It’s only been a couple of years, right? And it’s really fire. I thought that if I go to AEW, I would be the first again. First wrestler from India. I will make another history for India in AEW.”
Singh continued to say that WWE already having Indian wrestlers factored into his decision to sign with AEW.
“If I go into WWE, that would be amazing but amazing, why? Because they already have Indian people over there, they have Indian wrestler. Why don’t I go start there where there are no Indian guys and create history again after reaching there? Not for me, for the Indian wrestlers. For everyone.”
Singh’s debut in AEW is said to be tied to the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger. AEW airs on Eurosport India, which is owned by Discovery. AEW President Tony Khan commented on Singh’s debut getting international attention last week during an episode of Busted Open Radio.
“I think it created a lot of buzz. Satnam’s debut has been the most watched thing out of the show and frankly, it’s gotten international attention I’ve wanted it to get,” he said.
Tony Khan says he wishes he had handled Satnam Singh’s debut differently.
The 7ft 3inch former basketball player debuted following the main event of AEW Dynamite this week. After Samoa Joe defeated Minoru Suzuki, the lights in the building went out and when they came back on, Singh was in the ring. He then aided Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt in their attack on Joe.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, the AEW President addressed criticism of the angle.
“I could have done it better. It’s one of those things, I wish I had done it a little differently,” Khan said.
“There were things about it I probably should have done differently, now I see in hindsight. To be honest, it wasn’t my idea to turn the lights out but I am the ultimate filter, I’m the person who everything goes through. I put the outline of the show together and when I came in Wednesday, I thought it was the best outline I’ve ever put together, one of them, at least.”
The AEW President continued to say that Singh is an important performer for the company. Our Dave Meltzer previously reported that the angle was designed to build the AEW brand in India, and has much to do with the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger.
“People might not have liked it. Satnam is an important person for us. It was important to debut him in a meaningful way and to show that with Jay Lethal, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Khan continued. “At the same time, turning the lights out for somebody people didn’t recognize, it’s a great point. To be honest, the person who brought up turning the lights off has over 30 years of experience in pro-wrestling. When they brought it up to me, I was only looking at the pros and I should have thought about the cons.”
“We had all these people in the room and somehow not one person when that idea came up brought up the negatives and then when we did it, all of a sudden all of the negatives were very obvious.”
He continued to say, however, that while the angle has been criticized, it has also garnered the international attention he was hoping for.
“I think it created a lot of buzz. Satnam’s debut has been the most watched thing out of the show and frankly, it’s gotten international attention I’ve wanted it to get,” he said.
Khan continued to say that the response to the angle has been a learning experience for him, however.
“I appreciate what their feedback was and now as I am in my third year of doing this, I would not do that that way again and these are the things you learn going into year three that I would do different in year four or five.”
Happy Wednesday! Join on-camera personality Denise Salcedo as she reviews the April 13th edition of AEW Dynamite. This was a loaded episode where there is plenty to talk about including CM Punk vs. Penta Oscuro, Minoru Suzuki vs. Samoa Joe, the debut of Satnam Singh, plus lots more! Tune in for a fun and honest review!
Satnam Singh made his debut on AEW television at the close of tonight’s Dynamite, aligning himself with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal.
After Samoa Joe defeated Minoru Suzuki on tonight’s show, Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt appeared outside the ring, with Lethal holding a gift. Lethal said he had a present for Joe. At first, he put his hand through the present and gave Joe the middle finger. But then the lights went out, and when they came on, Singh appeared and attacked Joe from behind.
Joe attempted to fight off Lethal and Dutt, but Singh again grabbed him and laid him out with a vice grip on the head. He then brought up Joe, allowing Lethal to hit the Lethal Injection on Joe. The show ended with Lethal posing with the ROH Television Championship.
It was reported in September that Singh had signed with AEW and would be training under Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall. Standing at 7’3, he was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2015. His draft rights were then traded in 2019 to the Memphis Grizzlies. While he played in the NBA Summer League, Singh never played a regular season NBA game.
Prior to signing with AEW, Singh took part in a WWE Performance Center tryout in 2017.
Satnam Singh, the first-ever Indian-born player to be drafted into the NBA, has signed a deal with AEW.
While not called a developmental deal, the 25-year-old will begin his training to be a pro wrestler at the Nightmare Factory in Atlanta, Georgia, under the tutelage of Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall.
While he was ineligible to play in college, Singh was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 52nd overall pick after playing for the IMG Academy. His draft rights were traded in 2019 to the Memphis Grizzlies. While Singh played in the NBA Summer League, he never played in a regular season game.
A 2017 Netflix documentary was made on his path to the NBA called “One in a Billion.”
The release specifically mentions that AEW began airing in Eurosport India in early-August.
In the release, AEW’s Tony Khan said, “While we’ve recently secured some of the hottest free agents on the planet, I’m also deeply committed to cultivating our own homegrown stars and the next generation of extraordinary professional wrestlers. In addition to Satnam’s commanding 7’3” stature, I was impressed with his high level of athleticism and charisma. He’s an exciting addition to our roster, and I’m looking forward to our fans getting to know Satnam’s personality and watching his development.”
