The war between the El Grande Americanos is officially over after the original iteration unmasked himself as Chad Gable at last weekend’s AAA Noche de los Grandes event in Monterrey, Mexico. Amongst many fans, the Mask vs. Mask match preceding it has been perceived as a work of great art. For WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, the artfulness extends well beyond that.
“The beauty of the simplicity of things,” Ray said on “Busted Open Radio.” “We love one guy, we hate the other. Now, if there’s one thing that I can say about Mexican wrestling fans, Lucha Libre fans, AAA fans, anybody who has enjoyed that style of wrestling, they are quite passionate. Anything down in those areas, Mexico, South America, they’re very passionate about their wrestling. They’re very passionate about their sports. And when something hits, it hits big and it hits hard.
“The El Grande Americano OG and El Grande Americano story has hit hard. The explanation is so simple and is the same explanation that we’ve had for Danhausen. It’s over. He’s over. The story is over. It worked. Once again, go back and watch the match with your ears, from the entrances to the actual match, to the run-ins, to the aftermath, the everything.”
The story between the Americanos dates back to 2025, when Gable took on a Lucha Libre alter ego known as El Grande Americano. When Gable then sustained a shoulder injury last summer, Ludwig Kaiser stepped up in his place, also under a mask, as another version. Kaiser would remain as the sole on-screen El Grande Americano character until early 2026, when Gable, then known as Original El Grande Americano to differentiate the two, returned to action. Kaiser and Gable feuded across WWE and AAA programming in the months following, leading to the latter calling for the aforementioned Mask vs. Mask match.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
