Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''

lucha libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

based in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest professional wrestling promotion still in existence. CMLL currently recognizes and promotes twelve "World Championships" for various weight divisions and classifications, six national level and six regional level championships. The

CMLL Anniversary Show Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

series is the longest-running annual major show, starting in 1934, with the

CMLL 87th Anniversary Show The CMLL 87th Anniversary Show ( es, 87. Aniversario de CMLL) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, scripted and produced by the Mexican '' lucha libre'' wrestling company Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; Spanish for "World Wres ...

being the most recent. CMLL also regularly promotes major events under the names ''

Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ''Homenaje a Dos Leyendas'' (Spanish for "Homage to Two Legends") is the collective name of a series of annual '' lucha libre'', or professional wrestling major show promoted by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha ...

'' ("Homage to two legends"), ''

Sin Piedad ''Sin Piedad'' (Spanish for "No Mercy" or "No Pity", not to be confused with a similarly-titled series of PPV's hosted by WWE) is the collective name of a series of annual '' lucha libre'', or professional wrestling major show promoted by Mexican ...

'' ("No Mercy"), ''

Sin Salida ''Sin Salida'' (Spanish for "No Escape") was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that took place on December 4, 2009. The main event of the event was a ''Lucha de Apuestas'', hair vs. hair m ...

'' ("No Escape"), ''

Infierno en el Ring ''Infierno en el Ring'' is the name of an annual professional wrestling super show or pay-per-view (PPV) event held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 2008. The term ''Infierno en el Ring'' ...

'' ("Inferno in the Ring") during the year. CMLL has promoted their regular weekly '' Super Viernes'' ("Super Friday") on a regular basis since the 1930s. Founder Salvador Lutteroth funded the building of

Arena Coliseo Arena Coliseo is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico located at República del Perú 77 in the Cuauhtémoc, D.F., Cuauhtémoc Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District, borough. The arena is primarily used for professional wrestling, or ''lucha ...

in 1943, making it the first building in Mexico built specifically for professional wrestling.

History

Prior to 1933, ''

'' shows in Mexico were primarily promoted by foreign promoters doing the occasional match through Mexico or a few scattered local promoters, especially along the U.S. border, who brought in American professional wrestlers as their main attractions.

Creation

In 1929,

Salvador Lutteroth González Salvador Lutteroth González (21 March 1897 – 5 September 1987) was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter of the mid-twentieth century. Lutteroth's organization, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), was the dominant Mexican wrestling pr ...

, who at the time was a property inspector for the Mexican tax department, moved to

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

, near the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...

. During a trip to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, Lutteroth witnessed a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

show and was intrigued by it, especially the main event, Greek wrestler Gus Pappas. Four years later, Lutteroth, along with his financial backer Francisco Ahumada, chartered Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL; literally "Mexican Wrestling Enterprise"), the first Mexican-owned wrestling promotion in the country. EMLL held their first show on September 21, 1933, considered the "birth of Lucha libre", and which led to Lutteroth being known as "the father of Lucha Libre". EMLL initially tried to book Arena Nacional, the premier boxing venue in

, but the promoters would not let him rent it, forcing Lutteroth and EMLL to take up residence in Arena Modelo, an abandoned and run-down facility that Lutteroth was able to use as his home base. The concept of Lucha Libre quickly became very popular, so much so that the

EMLL 1st Anniversary Show The EMLL 1st Anniversary Show ( es, 1. Aniversario de EMLL) was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL, later renamed Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, CMLL) that took place on September 21, 1934, ...

drew a sold-out crowd of 5,000 paying fans. In 1934, an American wrestler debuted in Mexico under a black leather mask, and Lutteroth dubbed him La Maravilla Enmascarada or "The Masked Marvel". In the United States the concept of the masked wrestler was more of a mid-level attraction, but the reaction to La Maravilla Enmascarada led to Lutteroth and EMLL officials to introduce more masks, starting with a wrestler known simply as El Enmascarado ("The Masked Wrestler"), and later El Murciélago Enmascarado ("The Masked Bat"). Through the use of the masks and ring characters EMLL helped create the sacred position of the mask in ''Lucha libre'', making it the ultimate status symbol for ''luchadors''. In the early days of EMLL, most of the top names were Americans, but with time EMLL introduced several Mexican natives that became so popular that they began to main-event most of the EMLL shows. To expand their business, EMLL began working with a number of local wrestling promoters across Mexico, allowing them to use the EMLL name and some of their contracted wrestlers while also gaining access to local wrestlers in return. Each booking office was independent of each other, but the main office in Mexico City had the final say if there were disputes over who would be able to book certain wrestlers. In 1942, a masked wrestler clad in silver, simply known as

El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the mo ...

("the Saint"), a man who go on to become a cultural icon in Mexico and is often cited as the greatest Mexican wrestler of all time. With the popularity of El Santo as well as other Mexican stars such as

Bobby Bonales Roberto Aceves, (September 25, 1916 – June 26, 1994), better known under the ring name Bobby Bonales, was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler who was active during the early days of ''Lucha Libre'' in Mexico, making his debut in ...

Tarzán López Carlos López Tovar (28 August 1912 – 28 August 1975) was a luchador who was active in the 1930s and 1940s, better known by the ring name Tarzán López. Known as "Tarzan" because of his bodybuilder's physique, Lopez held the Mexican national ...

Cavernario Galindo Rodolfo Galindo Ramirez (September 27, 1923 – July 19, 1999) was a Mexican luchador and film actor, best known by his ring name Cavernario Galindo (Caveman Galindo), who was active in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre from the 1930s to the 1990s. W ...

and

Gory Guerrero Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexico ...

Arena Modelo eventually became too small to accommodate the demand for tickets. To solve the problem Lutteroth financed the construction of

in Mexico City, the first arena in Mexico built specifically for professional wrestling and the first sports building in Mexico to have built in air conditioning. The arena, nicknamed the "Lagunilla Funnel" due to its interior shape would hold over 8,800 spectators when configured for ''Lucha libre'' or boxing. Arena Coliseo began hosting EMLL's annual Anniversary shows starting with the 10th Anniversary show. In 1953, Salvador Lutteroth joined the US based

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA), becoming the official NWA territory for all of Mexico, known as "NWA-EMLL" outside Mexico. By joining the NWA, Lutteroth and EMLL gained control of the

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). For the majority of its existence the title was promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libr ...

. They were also able to re-brand their "World Middleweight Championship" to become the

NWA World Middleweight Championship The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican '' lucha libre'' promotion Consejo Mundial ...

and their "World Welterweight Championship" became the

NWA World Welterweight Championship The NWA World Welterweight Championship ( es, Campeonato Mundial Welter de NWA) is an inactive professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and most recently promoted by NWA Mexico. The championship was ori ...

. In the early 1950s television became as a viable entertainment medium in Mexico which was set to bolster the popularity of EMLL, but Arena Coliseo was not equipped properly for television transmissions. As it turns out luck was on Lutteroth and EMLL's side as Lutteroth and the personnel at Arena Coliseo bought a lottery ticket worth 5 million

Pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

. Lutteroth used his portion of the winnings to finance the construction of

Arena México Arena México is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico, located in the Colonia Doctores neighborhood in the Cuauhtémoc borough. The arena is primarily used for professional wrestling, or ''lucha libre'', shows promoted by Consejo Mundial de Luc ...

, on the location where Arena Modelo used to sit. Arena México enabled EMLL to broadcast their weekly wrestling shows across Mexico, yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Starting in 1956, with the

EMLL 23rd Anniversary Show The EMLL 23rd Anniversary Show ( es, 23. Aniversario de EMLL) was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) that took place on September 21, 1956, in Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico. The event ...

all anniversary shows were held in Arena México, except the

EMLL 46th Anniversary Show The EMLL 46th Anniversary Show ( es, 46. Aniversario de EMLL) was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) that took place on September 21, 1979 in Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Mexico. The event ...

. Over time the arena became known as "The Cathedral of Lucha Libre". Over time, Lutteroth retired from the day-to-day operations of EMLL leaving the company in the hands of his son Salvador "Chavo" Lutteroth Jr. In 1975, local promoter Francisco Flores, along with EMLL trainer

Ray Mendoza José Díaz Velázquez (July 6, 1929 – April 16, 2003) was a Mexican ''Luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time W ...

broke away from EMLL, citing their displeasure with EMLL's conservative, restrictive promotional style. The two took a number of EMLL's younger wrestlers with them to form ''Lucha Libre Internacional, S. C'', later known as the

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

(UWA). With the creation of the UWA EMLL faced a rival national promotion for the first time.

Becoming CMLL

In the mid-1980s, Chavo Lutteroth II retired, allowing his nephew

Paco Alonso Francisco Alonso Lutteroth (September 19, 1952 — July 6, 2019), commonly referred to as Paco Alonso was the owner of the professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), the world's oldest wrestling promotion. Alonso wa ...

, grandson of Chavo Lutteroth I, to take control of EMLL. In the late 1980s EMLL decided to leave the NWA, seeking to distance themselves from the political infighting in the National Wrestling Alliance. In 1991 EMLL changed their name to ''Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre'' (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council") to establish a new identity after the NWA split. From 1991 through 1993 CMLL created eight "CMLL World" titles in addition to the three NWA branded titles they retained and a slew of other championships. At the start of the 1990s the company began appearing on the national

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

network, which led to a second big boom in business due to the renewed national television exposure, in the mid-1970s through the 1980s, magazines and newspapers were the sole medium of Lucha Libre for most Mexicans.

AAA split and rivalry

In the mid-1980s, retired wrestler

Antonio Peña Antonio Hipolito Peña Herrada (June 13, 1951 – October 5, 2006) was the founder of the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in 1992. Peña's promotion reached its height of popularity in the e ...

became one of the main bookers for EMLL, helping determine who would win matches, what storylines to use and so on, he was also a driving force behind the name change to ''Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre''. Peña would often clash with Juan Herrera, the other main booker for CMLL at the time. Herrera wanted to maintain the old style of booking with heavyweights such as

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

El Dandy Roberto Gutiérrez Frías (born October 2, 1962) is a Mexican former professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, best known under the ring name El Dandy. He is the cousin of professional wrestler Juan Conrado Aguilar, known as El Texano, and t ...

and

El Satánico Daniel López López (born October 26, 1949) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (professional wrestler) and trainer, best known under the ring name El Satánico (Spanish for "The Satanic One"). He was originally an ''enmascarado'' (masked wrestler), but l ...

, while Peña wanted to feature younger, faster moving wrestlers such as

Konnan Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964),''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Dave Meltzer, ed., May 10, 2010, issue.Sims, Steve"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame/Founded by Dave Meltzer - Konnan". Accessed August 1, 2016. O ...

Octagón Juan Escalera (born March 27, 1961) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado (masked professional wrestler) better known as Octagón. He is best known for working for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), having worked for the company since it ...

Máscara Sagrada Máscara Sagrada (born November 6, 1959) is a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) who has worked for every major Mexican wrestling promotion over the last 20 years. His ring name is Spanish for "Sacred Mask" and is ...

. In the end CMLL owner Paco Alonso decided to go with Herrera's booking style. After Paco Alonso chose to ignore Peña's booking ideas, Peña began negotiations with ''Televisa'' television channel to fund a new wrestling promotion that would provide ''Televisa'' with weekly wrestling shows. In 1992 Peña started a booking agency, providing wrestlers and matches for the ''Televisa'' owned

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración Antonio Peña Promotions, S.A. de C.V. d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Commonly referred to as simply AAA (pronounced "triple A"; an abbreviation of its o ...

(AAA) promotion. While Peña technically owned the promotion ''Televisa'' owns the rights to the AAA name. In a move that mirrored Flores' departure in the 1970s Peña left the promotion alongside a number of young wrestlers who were unhappy with their position in the promotion. With the creation of AAA the promotion replaced the UWA as Mexico's other main wrestling promotion, creating a long running rivalry between CMLL and AAA. Starting in 1996 CMLL began promoting an annual show in March, first paying homage to Salvador Lutteroth, then later Lutteroth and El Santo and then finally becoming the ''

'' ("Homage to Two Legends") annual show series.

CMLL in the 21st century

Hiroshi Tanahashi at BCW East Meets West

From 2007 to 2009, CMLL had a working relationship with American promotion

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

, which saw CMLL's Averno,

Rey Bucanero Arturo García Ortiz (born July 19, 1974) is a Mexican ''luchador'' or professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the ki ...

Último Guerrero José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for ''Last Warrior''), is a Mexico, Mexican (or Professional wrestling, professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Li ...

and

Volador Jr. Ramón Ibarra Rivera (born January 26, 1981), better known by his ring name Volador Jr., is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''Face (professional ...

winning the 2008 TNA World X Cup and TNA worker

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and physical therapy clinician, better known by the ring name, Alex Shelley, makes appearances with Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestl ...

winning the 2008 CMLL International Grand Prix. In 2008, CMLL established a working relationship with

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

as part of "G-1 World", several wrestlers have since toured between the two companies winning titles, including

Místico Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde (born December 22, 1982), better known by his ring name Místico (Spanish for "Mystic"), is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler), who currently works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Li ...

winning the

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may ho ...

and

Jushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

winning the

CMLL Universal Championship The CMLL Universal Championship (''Campeonato Universal'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is an annual lucha libre tournament held by the Mexico, Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 2009. The tourname ...

tournament. Since 2011, the two promotions have annually co-promoted events in Japan, under the name ''

Fantastica Mania ''Fantastica Mania'', sometimes spelled as ''Fantasticamania'', is a series of annual professional wrestling major show co-promoted by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wre ...

''. In 2011, CMLL established a working relationship with Japanese women's promotion Universal Woman's Pro Wrestling Reina and announced that the two promotions would create a new championship for women who have been in the professional wrestling industry for less than ten years, called the

CMLL-Reina International Junior Championship The CMLL-Reina International Junior Championship (''Campeonato Internacional Junior del CMLL-Reina'' in Spanish; in Japanese) is a women's professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Reina Joshi Puro ...

. This was followed by the establishment of the

CMLL-Reina International Championship The CMLL-Reina International Championship (''Campeonato Internacional del CMLL-Reina'' in Spanish; in Japanese) is a women's professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Reina Joshi Puroresu. The cham ...

one year later. On March 16, 2010, a video was posted on YouTube featuring an interview David Marquez had with NWA Executive Director and Legal Counsel

Robert Trobich The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a g ...

. Trobich announced that CMLL did not have permission to use the NWA trademark. The rights to usage of the NWA trademark in Mexico is now held by NWA Mexico, represented by

Blue Demon, Jr. Blue Demon Jr. (born July 19, 1966) is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is the adopted son of the original Blue Demon and is the first Mexican and the second masked wrestler to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship thus making him a one- ...

CMLL replaced the three championships with the

NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Historico de Peso Semicompleto de la NWA'' in Spanish) is a professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). CMLL had held the NWA ...

NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship The NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Historico de Peso Medio de la NWA'' in Spanish) is a professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The title, being a professional wr ...

and the

NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship The NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Historico de Peso Welter de la NWA'' in Spanish) is a professional wrestling championship governed by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). CMLL had held the NWA World Welt ...

. On September 19, 2014, CMLL became only the second promotion in the Americas, after

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, to draw a $1 million gate with their 81st Anniversary Show, headlined by a Mask vs. Mask match between

and Último Guerrero. On November 6, 2014, the promotion made an alliance with the Mexican independent group

Lucha Libre Elite Lucha Libre Elite, also referred to as simply Elite, is a ''lucha libre'' (Mexican professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. The promotion, founded in 2014 as Asociación de Lucha Libre É ...

to help bring independent wrestlers into CMLL which ended in early 2018. On July 6, 2016, NJPW announced that they would broadcast CMLL Friday shows in their video-streaming service,

NJPW World , also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi ...

. On August 10, CMLL announced a working relationship with American promotion

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

(ROH). The two promotions were linked through their separate relationships with NJPW. The alliance with ROH ended on April 27, 2021. On July 7, 2019, CMLL announced the death of the president of the company

(who died a day before, on July 6). On July 10, CMLL appointed Sofía Alonso as the president of said company. On August 26, 2019, it was revealed that Sofía Alonso had been relieved of her position and returned to the company's public area, appointing Salvador "Chavo" Lutteroth III as chairman.

Style and television

CMLL regularly runs seven shows on five days in a week. The biggest weekly show being the Friday night Super Viernes ("Super Friday") show held in the famous

Arena Mexico An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

in Mexico City. CMLL runs show at Saturday in

, at Sunday (two shows) in Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Monday in Arena

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, and Tuesday in Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. The Super Viernes, the Monday Arena Puebla, and the Tuesday Arena Mexico show are televised. Of all the major professional wrestling promotions in the world, CMLL is one of the most conservative, having earned the nickname "The serious and the stable" (''La Seria y Estable'') over time. Matches with blood are not broadcast unless it accidentally happens during a live event. CMLL rarely uses specialty or "gimmick matches" outside a limited number of

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

es and the occasional ''Super Libre'', no-disqualification matches. While other promotions have adopted matches such as the

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

, CMLL remains much more traditional. They also have strict rules for what they will allow to happen during their shows, on one occasion a match between

Dr. Wagner Jr. Juan Manuel González Barrón (born August 12, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (Spanish for "professional wrestler") who is best known under the ring name Dr. Wagner Jr., having used that name since 1987. He is the son of Manuel González Rivera ...

and

L. A. Park Adolfo Margarito Tapia Ibarra (November 14, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' ( masked professional wrestler), who currently performs as L. A. Park for Major League Wrestling in the United States, where he is a former MLW World Tag ...

during the

CMLL 75th Anniversary Show The CMLL 75th Anniversary Show ( es, 75. Aniversario de CMLL) was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that took place on September 19, 2008 in Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico. The event com ...

degenerated into a brawl on the floor that was so out of control that both wrestler were fired by CMLL a short time later. CMLL also has strict rules on what wrestlers can and cannot say during their shows, a rule illustrated in 2015 where L.A. Park was fired from the promotion only three weeks after returning due to a profanity laden rant during a CMLL show. CMLL's main programming, hosted by Alfonso Morales, Leobardo Magadan and Miguel Linares, is broadcast regularly on

in Mexico, on

LATV LATV (; originally pronounced on-air as from 2007 to 2014 and, since 2014, serving as a backronym for its on-air slogan, "Latino Alternative Television") is an American bilingual broadcast television network, digital publisher and media company ...

in the United States, and formerly on

Telelatino TLN (formerly Telelatino) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by TLN Media Group. The channel primarily broadcasts lifestyle programming surrounding the Latin American and Italian cultures, including cooking and travel-related ...

in Canada and

The Wrestling Channel The Fight Network (formerly The Wrestling Channel, TWC and TWC Fight!) was a free-to-air digital satellite television sports channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, devoted to airing programming related to boxing, mixed martial arts, pro-w ...

in the United Kingdom. CMLL also had a syndicated show called "Sin Limite de Tiempo" ("with no time limit") which shows matches from

shows and matches they could not fit onto the regular broadcast. It aired in Los Angeles on

KWHY KWHY-TV (channel 22) is a Spanish-language independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by Meruelo Broadcasting alongside Garden Grove–licensed KBEH (channel 63); the two stations share RF channel 4 u ...

and Also Air in San Francisco on

KEMO-TV KEMO-TV (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Fremont, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of the Spanish-language network Estrella TV. Owned by HC2 Holdings, the station maintains studios ...

. This show was followed up by "Guerreros del Ring" on Canal 52MX. Also, Spanish-language American sports channel Fox Sports en Español recently started broadcasting CMLL programming. Recently CMLL also added the Mexican network Cadena Tres to its list of networks airing CMLL Wrestling. Galavision began airing CMLL wrestling in the spring of 2011. Galavision shows only a one-hour version while LATV has shown a two-hour version. In 2015, several of CMLL's shows became available live on their YouTube channel and they have held a number of internet-

Pay Per View Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

s (PPVs).

Recurring shows

Each year CMLL promotes a number of signature events, some shown as pay-per-view events and others shown on regular television. Over the last couple of years CMLL have held three regular events each year and a number of one off, special events. The Major show, shown in order of when they happen during the year, include:

Roster

Current championships

;CMLL-promoted world championships ;CMLL-promoted secondary championships ;CMLL Guadalajara championships ;Co-promoted championships ;No longer promoted / Inactive

Tournaments

CMLL conducts several annual tournaments which usually signify a big push. Tournaments have been left out of the schedule for unexplained reasons. Some tournaments are conducted as ''

torneo cibernetico A ''torneo cibernetico'' is a multi-man professional wrestling elimination match that was created and primarily used in Mexican ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotions, especially in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The match format ...

s'', a large multi-man tag team elimination match, others are normal single elimination tournament.

Active tournaments

Past annual tournaments

These are all the tournament that have been held in the past by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre but have not been promoted in the last two years. {, class="wikitable" !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Tournament !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Last winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Last held !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Notes , - , , Team Tall
, , A one night tournament for trios teams. The winners earns a trophy; each team comes up with a name for their trio. The tournament was only held in 1999, 2001, and 2002. In 1999, the winners were

and

as "Team Guerreros del Infierno". The 2001 winners were Black Warrior, Shocker, and

Apolo Dantes Apolo may refer to: * Apolo, La Paz, a town in the La Paz Department in Bolivia * Apolo Anton Ohno, a US-American Olympic gold medal-winning short track speed skater who also won ''Dancing with the Stars'' in 2007 * Apolo Kivebulaya, Ugandan Angli ...

as "Team Shocker". , - , ,

Ángel de Oro Miguel Ángel Chávez Velasco (born August 18, 1988), better known by his ring name Ángel de Oro (Spanish for "Angel of Gold" or "Golden Angel"), is a Mexican professional wrestler who works for the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundia ...

, , A 16-man tournament with the purpose of identifying which of the "Rookies" in the tournament would move up the ranks of the promotion. , - , ''

Torneo Sangre Nueva ''Torneo Sangre Nueva'' ("The New Blood Tournament") is a professional wrestling tournament promoted by the Mexican lucha libre promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), first held in 2012. The tournament focuses primarily on younger wrestl ...

''
("New Blood Tournament") ,

Soberano Jr. El Soberano or Soberano Jr. (born August 12, 1993 in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler currently working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Luch ...

, , Tournament for the younger and lower ranked wrestlers in CMLL. , - , Torneo Increibles de Parejas, Arena Puebla ,

and

, , An elimination tag team tournament where a''rudo'' (bad guy) and a ''tecnico'' (good guy) team up. , - , {{unbulleted list, {{nobr, ''

En Busca de un Ídolo ''En Busca de un Ídolo'' (Spanish for "In search of an idol") is an annual professional wrestling tournament promoted by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 2012 with the purpose of identifying ...

'', {{small, ("In Search of an Idol") , ,

Boby Zavala Boby Zavala (born February 12, 1991) is a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler. He is best known for working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) between 2011 and 2017, where he portray ...

, , {{dts, August 21, 2015{{cite web , url=http://www.cmll.com/01_cartelera/c_arena_mexico_m.htm , title=Arena Mexico Martes 26 de Mayo '15 , publisher=CMLL , language=es , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402062720/http://www.cmll.com/01_cartelera/c_arena_mexico_m.htm , archive-date=April 2, 2015 , An eight-man tournament with the purpose of identifying which of the "Rookies" in the tournament would move up the ranks of the promotion.

Broadcasters

Domestic: * TDUN (2020–present) * Ticketmaster Live *

Televisión Mexiquense Mexiquense TV is the public television network of the Mexican State of Mexico. It is operated by the Sistema de Radio y Televisión Mexiquense, a state agency which also owns six radio stations. It consists of two high-powered television trans ...

MVS TV MVS TV (stylized ''MVStv'') is a Mexican general entertainment programming cable television network owned by MVS Comunicaciones. The cable channel was launched along with the wireless cable television company MVS Multivision in Mexico City, now ...

* 52MX *

Nu9ve Nueve (English: Nine) (stylized Nu9ve) is a Mexican free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The primary station and network namesake is Channel 9 of Mexico City (also known by its call sign XEQ-TDT), though the network has na ...

Megacable Megacable Holdings S. A. B. de C.V., doing business as Megacable Comunicaciones, is a Mexican cable operator and provider of internet and phone service. It has its headquarters in, Guadalajara, Jalisco.Nuestra Visión Nuestra Visión (translation: ''Our Vision'') is an American Spanish language free-to-air television network, owned by Publicidad y Contenido Editorial S.A. de C.V. a subsidiary of América Móvil. The network launched on November 21, 2017 and is ...

* VideosOficialesCMLL *

Claro Sports Claro or CLARO may refer to: Companies * Claro (company) or Claro Americanas, a mobile and fixed voice and data communications company **Claro Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay **Claro Brasil **Claro Colombia ** Claro El Salvador ** Claro Guatemala ...

Multimedios Televisión Canal 6 (alternately known as Multimedios Televisión) is a network of Spanish language television stations primarily concentrated in northeastern Mexico and the southwestern United States. The system is part of Grupo Multimedios. The flagship sta ...

TVC Deportes TVC Deportes is a Mexican sports channel, founded August 11, 2007. Currently only can be viewed through cable television systems in Mexico. Its programming combines both national and international sports, a sports news program (''TVC Deportes Tot ...

* El Heraldo TV *

Imagen Televisión Imagen Televisión is a national broadcast television network in Mexico, owned by Grupo Imagen. It launched on October 17, 2016, at 8 p.m. History Imagen on television In 2006, Imagen's parent, Grupo Empresarial Ángeles, acquired XHRAE-T ...

* Fox Deportes Mexico * Televisa Guadalajara * TeleFórmula International (current): *

Azteca América Azteca América (, sometimes shortened to Azteca) is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by INNOVATE Corp., which acquired the network from the Azteca International Corporation subsidiary of TV Azteca. Headquartere ...

Nuestra Visión Nuestra Visión (translation: ''Our Vision'') is an American Spanish language free-to-air television network, owned by Publicidad y Contenido Editorial S.A. de C.V. a subsidiary of América Móvil. The network launched on November 21, 2017 and is ...

Galavisión Galavisión is an American Spanish-language pay television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network is unrelated to the earlier Mexican channel of the same name, though both broadcast Televisa-produced programming. As of February 2015 ...

KWHY-TV KWHY-TV (channel 22) is a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-language Independent station (North America), independent television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by Alex Meruelo, Meruelo Bro ...

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

Fighting TV Samurai Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

Fight Network Fight Network is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. The network broadcasts programming related to combat sports, including mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, and professional wre ...

* Fight Network USA * Fight Network Turkey * Fight Network International * VideosOficialesCMLL * CMLL On Twitch Worldwide: *

* VideosOficialesCMLL * CMLL On Twitch International (former): *

FITE TV Fite (stylized as FITE by Triller) is an American digital video streaming service launched on May 20, 2012, that is dedicated to combat sports-related programming (including boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling). The network dist ...

The Fight Network Fight Network is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. The network broadcasts programming related to combat sports, including mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, and professional wre ...

* Fox Deportes USA *

Honor Club Honor Club is an OTT streaming service owned by professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. Development of a VOD service was announced on November 9, 2017 by ROH COO Joe Koff. Honor Club was formally announced on February 2, 2018 and the ser ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

{{Commons category *{{Official website, www.cmll.com (in Spanish) {{CMLL {{Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre championships {{Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre {{CMLLShows {{Navboxes, , titlestyle = color:#FFFFFF; background:#3944bc; {{box-shadow border, a, #f7ef8a, 2px , list1= {{Professional wrestling in Mexico {{New Japan Pro Wrestling {{Ring of Honor {{The Crash Lucha Libre {{Total Nonstop Action Wrestling {{National Wrestling Alliance {{World Wonder Ring Stardom {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre Mexican professional wrestling promotions 1933 establishments in Mexico Lucha libre National Wrestling Alliance members