Talent jumping from AAA to CMLL or CMLL to AAA is pretty common in the lucha libre scene. The most notable change so far this year occurred in January when the legendary Negro Casas left CMLL to join AAA for the first time in his career. Now, in July, CMLL is getting a bit of revenge, securing a now former AAA star just one day after he turned 25 years of age.
On last night's edition of the YouTube show "CMLL Informa," CMLL luchador El Hijo del Villano III announced that his brother, Villano III Jr., had jumped from AAA to CMLL. Villano III Jr. appeared to emotionally embrace his brother, before sitting down with "Informa" host Julio Cesar Rivera to discuss his move to the promotion.
The son of the late legendary luchador Villano III, Villano III Jr. began wrestling for AAA in 2017 as part of the La Llave a la Gloria competition, alongside future AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo. He achieved decent success within the promotion, but at times appeared to stall out in AAA, to the point he even briefly left in the fall of 2020 before returning the following year.
Villano III Jr.'s defection to CMLL not only reunites him with his brother but puts in him in the same promotion as Atlantis Jr. The two are connected via the rivalry between their two fathers, which culminated in a mask vs. mask match 23 years ago, where Atlantis won Villano III's mask. The match is still considered to be one of the greatest matches in lucha libre history.