CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship

CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship

A picture of the masked wrestler posing on the ring ropes before a match

La Máscara, the current and fifteenth CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion
Details
Current champion(s) La Máscara
Date won April 8, 2016[1]
Date established September 26, 1991[2]
Promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

The CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial Semi Completo de CMLL in Spanish) is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 1991. As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately; it is instead won via a scripted ending to a match or on occasion awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline.[3] The official definition of the Light Heavyweight division in Mexico is between 92 kg (203 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb), but the weight limits are not always strictly adhered to. Because Lucha Libre puts more emphasis on the lower weight classes, this division is considered more important than the heavyweight division, which is considered the most important championship by most promotions outside of Mexico.

La Máscara is the current CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion in his first reign, who won it by defeating Ángel de Oro on April 8, 2016. La Máscara is the 15th over-all champion and the 14th wrestler to hold the championship. The title has only been vacated once since's its creation in 1991.

History

The Mexican professional wrestling promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) was founded in 1933 and initially recognized a series of "Mexican National" wrestling championships, endorsed by the Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission). The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship was created in 1942 as EMLL began promoting matches for that championship with the approval and oversight of the wrestling commission.[4][5] In the 1950s EMLL became a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and began promoting the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship in the late 1950s. Previously the championship had been promoted in the US but the NWA gave EMLL full control of the championship in 1958, positioning the NWA title as the highest ranking title in the Light Heavyweight division and the Mexican National title positioned as the secondary championship.[5][6]

In the late 1980s EMLL left the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to avoid the politics of the NWA and would later rebrand themselves as "Consejo Mundal de Lucha Libre" (CMLL).[7] In 1991 CMLL decided to create a series of CMLL branded world championships, with The CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship created as the second CMLL branded championship, after the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.[8] Jerry Estrada was chosen as the first champion, with CMLL booking the tournament for the championship to end with Estrada defeating Pierroth Jr. to become the first champion.[2] In 1996 the then champion Dr. Wagner, Jr. lost the championship to Aquarius on a show in Japan but the title change was not approved by CMLL and thus was never officially recognized by CMLL. 8 days later Dr. Wagner, Jr. won the title back before returning to Mexico.[2][9] Since the title change was not officially recognized CMLL considers Dr. Wagner, Jr. a two-time champion, not a three-time champion.[2]

On January 15, 2013 then reigning champion Rush voluntarily gave up the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship as part of his ongoing storyline feud with then CMLL World Heavyweight Champion El Terrible. As part of the storyline El Terrible stated that he would not defend against someone who represented a lower weight class.[10] CMLL held a 16-man torneo cibernetico elimination match to determine which two wrestlers should compete in the finals. On January 29, 2013 Rey Escorpión defeated Volador Jr. to become the 13th over all champion.[11]

Reigns

The masked Dr. Wagner Jr. walking to the ring, holding a professional wrestling championship belt in his hands.
Dr. Wagner Jr., who lost the championship in Japan without it being sanctioned by CMLL.

La Máscara is the current CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion in his first reign, after defeating Ángel de Oro on April 8, 2016.[1] Overall, there have been fifteen reigns shared beteween fourteen wrestlers. Only two men have held the title more than once, both Dr. Wagner, Jr. and Atlantis have officially held the title two times. Dr. Wagner has the longest combined reigns with 1,574 days, while Último Guerrero holds the record for the longest individual reign with 3 years, 213 days. Because Aquarius' 8-day reign in 1996 is not officially recognized by CMLL Jerry Estrada officially held the title the shortest, 175 days, in total.[2] Not only was Último Guerrero's reign the longest of any individual reign, he is also credited with the most successful championship defenses, defending the championship a total of 28 times before losing it.[12]

The championship lineage has remained intact except for one occasion where CMLL declared the championship vacant, which meant that there was no champion for a period of time. Oftentimes a championship is vacated due to an injury to the reigning champion or that champion stops working for the promotion, but in the case of the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship there was a storyline reason behind it being declared vacant. In late 2013 then light heavyweight champion was working a long running storyline rivalry with El Terrible. When El Terrible won the CMLL World Heavweight Championship CMLL decided to enhance the rivalry by having Rush voluntarily give up the light heayweight championship in order to receive a title match against El Terrible.[10] This allowed CMLL to advance the storyline as well as move the championship off Rush without having Rush lose a match, allowing Rey Escorpión to become the next champion.[11]

Rules

The official definition of the Light Heavyweight division in Mexico is from 92 kg (203 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb).[13] In the 20th century CMLL were generally consistent and strict about enforcing the actual weight limits.[8] However, in the 21st century the official definitions has at times been overlooked for certain champions. One example of this was when Mephisto, officially listed as 90 kg (200 lb), won the CMLL World Welterweight Championship, a weight class with a 78 kg (172 lb) upper limit.[13][14]

With a total of twelve CMLL promoted championships being labelled as "World" title the promotional focus shifts from championship to championship over time with no single championship being promoted as the "main" championship of the promotion. Championship matches usually take place under best two-out-of-three falls rules.[7] On occasion single fall title matches have taken place, especially when promoting CMLL title matches in Japan, conforming to the traditions of the local promotion.[Note 1][15] Outside of CMLL the light heavyweight championship has been defended on joint CMLL/Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) shows in 1993, on W*ING, Big Japan Wrestling, Dragondoor and New Japan Pro Wrestling shows in Japan.[2][16][17]

Tournaments

1991

CMLL held a 16-man tournament from September 15 to October 26, 1991 to crown the first Light Heavyweight champion. Documentation on Pierroth, Jr.'s path to the finals has not been found.

Tournament brackets[2][18]
First round   Semifinals   Final   Final
                           
 Jerry Estrada W  
 MS-1        Jerry Estrada W  
 Masakre      Mascara Año 2000    
 Mascara Año 2000 W        Jerry Estrada W  
 El Satánico W        Black Magic    
 El Hijo del Solitario        Satanico  
 Black Magic W    Black Magic W  
 Universo 2000          Jerry Estrada W
 Pierroth, Jr. W        Pierroth, Jr.  
 Unknown        Pierroth, Jr. W  
 Unknown      Unknown    
 Unknown          Pierroth, Jr. W
 Unknown          Unknown    
 Unknown        Unknown  
 Unknown      Unknown    
 Unknown    

2013

A picture of Delta sitting on the top rope of a wrestling ring, with Psicosis standing behind him tearing at Delta's mask.
Psicosis (behind, in red) and Delta (in front, in white) both competed in the 2013 torneo cibernetico qualifying match.

CMLL held a tournament to determine the next CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion, starting on January 22, 2013 and the finals held the following week. The first round of the tournament was a 16-man torneo cibernetico elimination match, with the last two men in the match qualifying for the finals the following week on January 29. The torneo featured two teams of eight wrestle against each other; Team A consisted of Delta, El Felino, La Mascara, Mephisto, Mr. Águila, Rey Escorpión, Stuka, Jr. and Volador, Jr. and Team B consisted of Atlantis, Blue Panther, Diamante, Euforia, Maximo, Morphosis, Psicosis and Sagrado. The match came down to Volador, Jr. Euforia and Rey Escorpión, Escorpión pulled off Volador, Jr.'s mask and threw it to rival Euforia causing Euforia to be disqualified, which meant that Escorpión and Volador, Jr. qualified for the finals the following week.[19] On January 29, Escorpión defeated Volador Jr. to become the 13th over all CMLL World Light Heavyweight champion.[11]

Cibernetico order of elimination[19]
# Eliminated Eliminated by
1 Sagrado Delta
2 El Felino Morphosis
3 Atlantis Rey Escorpión
4 Delta Euforia
5 Mephisto Blue Panther
6 Morphosis Mr. Águila
7 Diamante Stuka, Jr.
8 Blue Panther Volador, Jr.
9 Mr. Águila Máximo
10 Stuka, Jr. Máximo (double pin)
10 Máximo Stuka (double pin)
12 Psicosis La Máscara
13 La Máscara Volador, Jr.
14 Euforia Disqualification
15 Finalist Volador, Jr.
15 Finalist Rey Escorpión

Footnotes

  1. ↑ An example of this was Bushi winning the CMLL World Welterweight Championship in a one-fall match on a New Japan Pro Wrestling show.

References

  1. 1 2 Salazar, Alexis (April 8, 2016). "Viernes 8 de Abril '16". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "MEXICO: CMLL EMLL Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 395. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  3. ↑ Ed Grabianowski. "How Pro Wrestling Works". How Stuff Works. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  4. ↑ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  5. 1 2 "Los Reyes de Mexico: La Historia de Los Campeonatos Nacionales". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). 2004-12-20. Especial 21.
  6. ↑ Hornbaker, Tim (2006). "International Expansion". National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. pp. 13–29. ISBN 1-55022-741-6.
  7. 1 2 Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay ... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  8. 1 2 Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "MEXICO: EMLL CMLL". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 395–410. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ↑ "1996 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 10, 1997. pp. 2–28. issue 2280.
  10. 1 2 "Rush renunció al Campeonato Semicompleto del CMLL". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Mexicool, Rey (January 29, 2013). "Rey Escorpión ... ¡nuevo monarca mundial semicompleto del CMLL!" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana duranted el 2006". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). December 23, 2006. Issue 192. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  13. 1 2 Arturo Montiel Rojas (2001-08-30). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-03. Articulo 242: "Super medio 92 kilos / Semi Completo 97 kilos"
  14. ↑ "Número Especial – Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2004". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 24, 2005. 91.
  15. ↑ "Road to Tokyo Dome". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  16. ↑ Dark Angelita (January 17, 2014). "NJPW/CMLL: Resultados "Fantasticamania 2014" – Día 3 – 17/01/2014". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  17. ↑ Zellner, Kris (January 19, 2014). "Legendary lucha venue closing and more: The Lucha Report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ "1991 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 1992. pp. 2–28. issue 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Volador Jr. vs. Rey Escorpión por el Campeonato Mundial Semicompleto del CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. January 22, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2013.

External links

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