Backstage reaction to Nino Hamburguesa’s AAA release
In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gave an update on Nino Hamburguesa’s release from Lucha Libre AAA.
Hamburguesa (Ivan Flores) was fired from AAA after video of a fan incident he was involved in went viral on social media. In the clip, Hamburguesa could be seen sitting on a fan’s lap, giving the fan three soft elbow strikes, and then delivering another more significant blow. Meltzer notes that WWE — which acquired AAA last year — saw the video and made the decision to release Hamburguesa.
Lo que hizo Niño Hamburguesa debería traer sanción de parte de @WWE @undertaker
— Ricardo Cariño 🕊️ (@ricardocarino) March 6, 2026
Nadie lo agredió físicamente. Le dijeron de cosas (algo que es normal) por resbalarse al intentar subir y éste se desquita golpeando directamente al aficionado. Eso cruza cualquier línea permitida.… pic.twitter.com/cLkjHHe2kN
The fan incident happened at an AAA-affiliated indie show on March 3. By March 6, the heavyweight Hamburguesa had been released and the AAA roster was warned against doing anything similar to what he did. Meltzer notes that Hamburguesa was very popular in the locker room, so other wrestlers were unhappy about the news.
“He didn’t appear to hurt the guy at all but it got a lot of media traction and WWE officials saw it and fired him. Talent was told about this on 3/6 and to never touch a fan,” Meltzer wrote. “There has been talent that has done this at other shows, although we were told that it’s usually based on something far more serious, usually a fan attacking or being threatening and not just somebody laughing at them for slipping. But since it never went public nothing ever transpired from those incidents.
“Flores was very popular with the talent who were unhappy that it happened and wished the outcome was different, but also understood that while if it was the old AAA, it would be just considered under the sh*t happens category, with WWE owning, you can’t be doing stuff like that. Worse for him, AAA is not allowing any of its talent to work independent shows that he’s on, meaning he’s losing most of his indie booking as well. Hamburguesa had won the Rey de Reyes tournament in 2025 but was not in the final four for this year.”
It’s believed that a fan laughing at Hamburguesa for slipping is what led to this incident.
Along with winning the 2025 Rey de Reyes tournament, Hamburguesa was a one-time Mixed Tag Team Champion during his AAA career.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.