CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa

The Torneo Gran Alternativa (Spanish for "the Great Alternative Tournament") is an annual lucha libre (professional wrestling) tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The tournament was not held in 1997, 2000, or 2002, but was held twice in 1996 and 1998. The most recent Torneo Gran Alternativa tournament was held in December 2021. The tournament has always been held in Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, the main arena of CMLL.

Torneo Gran Alternativa
Último Guerrero, won the tournament both as a novato and a veteran
Details
PromotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Date establishedJuly 13, 1994
Current champion(s)Star Jr. and Valiente[1]
Date wonOctober 19, 2019[1]
Statistics
First champion(s)Negro Casas and Héctor Garza
Most reignsÚltimo Guerrero/Carístico (3)

Up until 2010 the tournament format was that of eight tag teams facing off in a one night, single elimination tournament, sometimes with a match to determine the seeds for the tournament. In 2010 the field of competitors was doubled to 16 and the tournament would take place over three shows, with eight teams facing off in Block A, the other eight in Block B and the two block winners would wrestle the following week. All tournament matches except the finals are single fall matches, while the finals are a best two-out-of-three falls per lucha libre traditions.

The concept of the tournament is to team a young up-and-comer with a veteran and use the tournament to help showcase the younger talent, the young winner is often someone CMLL has plans for, although at times it has not always had the desired result.

Último Guerrero and Carístico are the only wrestlers to have won the tournament three times. Último Guerrero won in 1999 as the rookie and in 2008 and 2011 as the veteran of the team. Carístico, then known as "Místico" won in his rookie year in 2004 and then as a veteran in 2007 and again in 2017. Héctor Garza and Rey Escorpión have both won the tournament twice, once as a rookie and once as the "veteran" and Emilio Charles Jr. has won it twice as a veteran. Complete results have not been found documented for the 1998 event, but based on known information at least 187 individual wrestlers have participated in 22 tournaments as of 2017. Atlantis is both the wrestler and the veteran with most tournament appearances, 15, and has always been on the veteran side of the teams. Último Guerrero is second with 13 tournament appearances. Astro Rey Jr. and Sangre Azteca has worked the most tournaments on the novato side, five in total and none as a veteran.

Tournament winners
Carístico, three-time tournament winner, in Michinoku Pro Wrestling in September 2016
Year Winners Date Note
Rookie Veteran
1994 Héctor Garza Negro Casas December 30, 1994 [2][3]
1995 Shocker Silver King April 7, 1995 [3][4]
June 1996 Chicago Express Bestia Salvaje June 7, 1996 [3][5]
November 1996 Rey Bucanero Emilio Charles Jr. November 15, 1996 [3][6]
1998 Tony Rivera Emilio Charles Jr. (2) July 14, 1998 [3][7]
April 1999 Último Guerrero Blue Panther April 2, 1999 [3][8]
December 1999 Tigre Blanco El Felino December 17, 1999 [3][9]
2001 Sicodelico Jr. Olímpico August 14, 2001 [3][10]
2003 Alan Stone Villano IV January 1, 2003 [3][11]
2004 Místico El Hijo del Santo August 20, 2004 [3][12]
2005 La Máscara Atlantis July 1, 2005 [3][13]
2006 Misterioso Jr. Perro Aguayo Jr. June 2, 2006 [3][14]
2007 La Sombra Místico (2) June 29, 2007 [3][15]
2008 Dragón Rojo Jr. Último Guerrero (2) July 18, 2008 [16]
2009 Okumura Yujiro September 25, 2009 [17]
2010 Pólvora Héctor Garza (2) April 30, 2010 [18]
2011 Escorpión Último Guerrero (3) April 8, 2011 [19]
2012 Euforia El Terrible April 13, 2012 [20]
2013 Boby Zavala Rey Escorpión (2) April 26, 2013 [21]
2014 Bárbaro Cavernario Mr. Niebla February 14, 2014 [22]
2016 Esfinge Volador Jr. May 5, 2016 [23]
2017 Soberano Carístico (3) June 16, 2017 [24]
2018 Flyer Volador Jr. (2) May 18, 2018 [25]
2019 Valiente Star Jr. October 19, 2019 [1][26]

Tournament history
Soberano, novato winner in 2017.

Starting in 1994 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) created a special tournament concept where they would team up a novato, or rookie, with a veteran for a single-elimination tag team tournament.[2][3] The tournament was called El Torneo Gran Alternativa, or "The Great Alternative Tournament" and became a recurring event on the CMLL calendar. In 1996 and 1999 CMLL held two tournaments, but since then has held one a year at most. CMLL did not hold a Gran Alternativa tournament in 1997 and 2000 held on each year from 2001 through 2014, opting not to hold a tournament in 2015. The 2017 Torneo Gran Alternativa was the 22nd version of the tournament.

CMLL holds other similar tournaments focusing on younger wrestlers, such as La Copa Junior,[27] En Busca de un Ídolo ("In Search of an Idol"),[28] Torneo Sangre Nueva ("New Blood Tournament"),[29] and Forjando un Ídolo ("Forging an Idol"),[30] although all of those tournaments focuses on singles competition. The "Novato/Veteran" team competition has been adopted by other Mexican wrestling companies, including International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) who held the Proyeccion a Nuevas Promesas tournament in 2010[31] and 2011,[32] and from 2012,[33][34] on has held a novato/veteran tag team tournament in January each year under the name El Protector.[35]

As of the 2017 tournament, 187 wrestlers competed in one or more of the tournaments held, with Atlantis holding tor record for most tournaments, a total of 15. He is also the wrestler to have worked most tournament as a veteran as all his appearances were on the veteran side. Sangre Azteca and Astro Rey Jr. (now known as Mephisto) are tied for most tournaments as a novato, with five each. Raziel is the novato that has gone the longest between his first and most recent appearance as a novato, seven years between the 2010 tournament and the 2017 tournament. Último Guerrero and Místico/Carístic are the only wrestlers to win the tournament three times, once as a novato and twice as a veteran each. Héctor Garza and Rey Escorpión are the only other wrestlers to have won the tournament as both a novato and a veteran. Silver King has appeared under three different ring names, Silver King, Bronco and Black Tiger. Several others have worked different tournaments under different names/masks, usually without CMLL officially acknowledging the connection; El Sagrado as both Genetico and Sagrado, Fuego as Flash and Fuego, Máscara Dorada as Metalik and Máscara Dorada, Tritón as Metal Blanco and Tritón, Ramstein as Fugaz and Ramstein, Titán as Palacio Negro and Titán.

References
  1. Martinez Lopez, Uriel (October 19, 2019). "Star Jr. se adueno de la Gran Alternativa del Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre" (in Spanish). TUDN. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  2. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #1". Pro Wrestling History. December 30, 1994. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  3. Flores, Manuel (July 18, 2008). "Histórico de ganadores del torneo: La Gran Alternativa". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  4. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #2". Pro Wrestling History. April 7, 1995. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  5. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #3". Pro Wrestling History. June 7, 1996. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  6. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #4". Pro Wrestling History. November 15, 1996. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  7. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #5". Pro Wrestling History. July 14, 1997. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  8. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #6". Pro Wrestling History. April 2, 1999. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  9. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #7". Pro Wrestling History. December 17, 1999. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  10. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #8". Pro Wrestling History. August 14, 2002. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  11. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #9". Pro Wrestling History. January 1, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  12. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #10". Pro Wrestling History. August 20, 2004. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  13. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #11". Pro Wrestling History. July 1, 2005. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  14. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #12". Pro Wrestling History. June 2, 2006. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  15. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #13". Pro Wrestling History. June 29, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  16. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #14". Pro Wrestling History. July 18, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  17. Marquina, Alva (September 25, 2009). "CMLL- (Resultados en vivo 25 septiembre de 2009) – Último Guerrero venció a Liger. Yujiro y Okumura se llevan el Torneo la Gran Alternativa". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  18. Rivera, Manuel (May 1, 2010). "Resultados Arena México (30 abril 2010): ¡Pequeño Warrior destapa a Bracito de Oro! ¡Pólvora recibe la Gran Alternativa!". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  19. Salazar López, Alexis A. (April 8, 2011). "La Gran Alternativa 2011 fue para Escorpión y Último Guerrero !!". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  20. Ruiz Glez, Alex (April 14, 2012). "Terrible y Euforia ganadores del Torneo la Gran Alternativa 2012". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved April 15, 2012.
  21. "¡Boby Zavala y Rey Escorpión ganan "La Gran Alternativa 2013"!". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 26, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  22. "Resultados - Viernes 14 de Febrero '14". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). February 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  23. "Volador y Esfinge ganan la Gran Alternativa". Plantilla Deportivo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  24. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (June 16, 2017). Lucha Libre VIernes Espectacular de Arena Mexico 16 de Junio del 2017 Function Completa [Professional Wrestling Friday Spectacular in Arena Mexico June 16, 2017, full show] (Television production) (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: YouTube. Event occurs at 1:50:45. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  25. Rosas Plata, Arturo (May 19, 2018). "¡Se apareció L.A Park!". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  26. "Valiente y Star Jr., ganadores del Torneo de La Gran Alternativa". Marca Claro (in Spanish). October 19, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  27. Peralta, Gonzalo López (January 20, 2016). "Lucha Libre función martes 19 de Enero". Yahoo! Deportes (in Spanish). Yahoo!. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  28. "Arena Mexico Martes 26 de Mayo '15" (in Spanish). CMLL. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  29. Ocampo, Ernesto, ed. (March 12, 2013). "Soberano Jr gana el Torneo Sangre Nueva 2013". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Impresos Camsam, SA de CV. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  30. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. "fase de eliminacion". Forjando un Idolo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  31. Ruiz Glez, Alex (January 1, 2010). Ocampo, Ernesto (ed.). "IWRG (1 de enero 2010): Torneo relámpago "Proyección a nuevas promesas de la lucha libre"". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Impresos Camsam, SA de CV. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  32. Reyes Ruiz, Eduardo (January 13, 2011). "Scorpio Jr y Comando Negro se llevan el Torneo de Proyección a Nuevas Promesas". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  33. Ocampo, Ernesto (ed.). "IWRG (Resultados 12 de enero): "El Protector" fue para X-Fly e Imposible". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Impresos Camsam, SA de CV. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  34. Redaccion (January 13, 2012). "X-Fly e Imposible se imponen en el Protector". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  35. Mejía Eguiluz, Diego (February 1, 2016). "Atomic Star y Herodes Jr. se llevaron el Protector". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved February 1, 2016.
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