Dorian Roldán Details Thought Process Behind Selling AAA To WWE, Says First Talks With WWE Were In 2010

Insight from Dorian Roldán about the sale of AAA.

A new recording of Bajo La Piel was put out, and it featured a sit-down chat with Lucha Libre AAA’s Dorian Roldán.

Roldán spoke candidly about the thought process behind selling AAA to WWE (translation by Fightful’s Luis Pulido).

“I think Mexicans, in particular, naturally love their country, but suddenly, they don’t trust Mexican products as much. I don’t want to use the word ‘malinchism,’ but we believe we’ll find a better product abroad, and that’s very common. Today, it makes me chuckle a little when people say, ‘It’s made in China,’ but China already produces things you’d die for. We’ve had this generational mindset for so long that it’s hard to shake it off right away. As I explained earlier, my uncle (Antonio Peña) founded the company, and he wanted Mexican wrestling to reach the whole world and for his legacy to be seen worldwide. In recordings, he says, ‘I want to bring Mexican wrestling to the whole world.’ The family has made tremendous efforts. Back then, we partnered with MGM, Robert Rodriguez, and top-tier talent to take this to the next level, but something always held us back from getting where we wanted to go. A few years ago, we had the opportunity to sit down with the folks at WWE. I have many friends who aren’t that into Mexican cinema; they’d rather watch a Hollywood blockbuster. Right now, Hollywood has entered the world of Mexican wrestling. So you have the world’s largest company taking over a Mexican company and giving us the best talent in the world. Not just talent: people from the camera crew, design, and marketing teams. In other words, you have access to the best platforms. Plus, the scale and volume of business they can generate are insane. The reality today is that joining this platform means stepping back a little, because you want your brand to reach the whole world. If I ask you who created Coca-Cola, I think you’d have a hard time telling me. The important thing is that my uncle is clearly part of wrestling history, but we wanted to take AAA to the next level, and I think we’re succeeding.”

He then got into the finer details of the sale process and stated that AAA’s talks with WWE date back to 2010.

“We had talks with them on three occasions. The first was in 2010, before they entered the Mexican market. They were still a family-owned business at the time, and we didn’t reach an agreement. Later, in 2017, my father (Joaquín Roldán) passed away, and we had some discussions then. That was important because I came to understand—and one of the things they told me during the entire ‘due diligence’ process—that the company wasn’t institutionally ready to be sold to a publicly traded company in the United States. Back then, it was a $4 billion company; today it’s perhaps worth $30 billion. It’s crazy. I ended up taking the reins of the company; that’s why I’m going back to the academic side of things—how to institutionalize and professionalize the company to prepare it for this process. I think that if you have a property or a cartoon, you want Disney to own it because it’s the best platform to elevate it.”

Roldán continued speaking about the reasons for the sale. One of the reasons he shared had to do with the possibility of WWE buying out CMLL, which would leave AAA to battle both companies.

He stated that WWE was going to enter the Mexican market with or without AAA, so he figured, why not jump on that train.

“There are several reasons for the sale. The first is my uncle’s legacy. Second, there was also the possibility that they would buy out the competition (CMLL). If they buy out the competition, having to fight both the competition and them would have been crazy. Third, they were going to enter Mexico with or without me. They’ve struck a massive global deal with Netflix for a lot of money, which requires them to start expanding into other territories, and they have money to spare. So, do you want to jump on that bandwagon or not? I believe a business’ ultimate goal is to make money. I’ve been fortunate to have great mentors, and one person once told me: ‘Fall in love with money, not with the business, because there are a lot of people who fall in love with the business, and the business has its ups and downs.’ The point is, if you’re at a great moment, with a high valuation, and you started the business to make money, why wouldn’t you sell it? What I’m getting at is that it’s a matter of personal ego.”

Roldán is regularly featured on-screen on WWE’s presentation of AAA. He is a member of El Ojo with Omos and Dominik Mysterio.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Bajo La Piel with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.