The ''Torneo Gran Alternativa'' (2016) was 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 ...
tournament event produced by the Mexican wrestling promotion
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
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 ...
(CMLLl; Spanish "World Wrestling Council") that began on March 22, 2016 and ran over the course of three of CMLL's Tuesday night shows in
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 ...
through April 5. The ''
Torneo Gran Alternativa'' (Great alternative tournament) concept sees a ''Novato'' or rookie team up with an experienced wrestler for a
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
tournament. The rookie winner is often elevated up the ranks of CMLL as a result of winning the tournament, but there is no specific "prize" for winning the tournament beyond a symbolic trophy.
After not holding a ''Gran Alternativa'' in 2015 CMLL brought the concept back in 2016, this time holding the first block of the tournament on their Tuesday show in Arena México as opposed to previous years where they held it on their Friday night ''
Super Viernes'' shows. The 2016 tournament was the 21st ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament that CMLL has held since its inception in 1994 and was won by
Esfinge
Esfinge (born June 14, 1993 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) is the ring name of a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler, currently working for the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling promotion. Esf ...
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 ...
as they defeated
Fujin and
Rey Escorpión
Fabián Núñez Napoles (born January 20, 1979) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (professional wrestler), better known by the ring name Rey Escorpión. He is currently working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where he portrays a ''rudo'' or bad guy ...
in the finals.
History
Starting in 1994 the Mexican
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 ...
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
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 ...
(CMLL) created a special tournament concept where they would team up a ''novato'', or rookie, with a veteran for a single-elimination
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
tournament.
The tournament was called ''
El Torneo Gran Alternativa'', or "The Great Alternative Tournament" and became a recurring event on the CMLL calendar. 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 2016 ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament will be the 21st overall ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament. All tournaments have been held in
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 ...
, CMLL's main venue and up until 2016 all tournaments had taken place on Friday nights, with the 2016 tournament being the first time the ''Gran Alternativa'' was held as part of CMLL's Tuesday night shows.
Tournament background
The tournament features 15
professional wrestling matches
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 ...
with different wrestlers teaming up, some of which may be involved in pre-existing
scripted
''Scripted'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Icon for Hire. It was released on Tooth & Nail Records on August 23, 2011, and went on to break the label's new artist record for albums sold during the first week of release.
Backgr ...
feuds or
storylines while others are simply paired up for the tournament. Wrestlers portray either
villains
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...
(referred to as ''Rudos'' in Mexico) or
fan favorites (''Técnicos'' in Mexico) as they compete in wrestling matches with pre-determined outcomes. The tournament format follows CMLL's traditional tournament formats, with two qualifying blocks of eight teams that compete on the first and second week of the tournament and a final match between the two block winners.
[ The qualifying blocks were one-fall matches while the tournament finals will be a best two-out-of-three-falls tag team match. Each qualifying block started with all 8 ''Novatos'' competing in a "seeding" ]battle royal
Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...
to determine the brackets for the block.[
;''Gran Alternativa'' participants
]
Block A of the 2016 tournament marked the first time Rocky Casas, El Cuatrero, Flyer, Fuji, Magia Blanca and Super Halcón Jr. has competed in a ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament. The tournament also marked the CMLL debut of Rocky Casas and Arena México debut of Magia Blanca. Oro Jr. previously competed in both the 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
and 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
; tournaments while Tritón was part of the 2012 tournament, and also worked the 2011 tournament under his previous identity of "Metal Blanco". For Block B the 2016 tournament marked the first time CMLL regulars Esfinge, Raijin, Sansón and Stigma competed in the tournament, with Raijin and Sansón making their CMLL debut in 2016. Warrior Steel and Yago had not worked regularly for CMLL prior to the tournament, but primarily worked for the CMLL-affiliated ''Lucha Elite'' promotion while Golden Magic had never worked a CMLL show prior to his entry in the ''Gran Alternativa''. Pegasso
Pegasso (born February 25, 1978) is a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Pegasso worked from Asistencia Asesoría y Ad ...
was the lone rookie to have competed before, having been part of the 2010 ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament, six years prior.
On the veteran side Último Guerrero had won the tournament twice, in 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
as a ''novato'', and in 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
as a veteran. In 2008 Guerrero won the tournament with Rey Escorpión as the rookie, two years later Rey Escorpión teamed up with 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 ...
to win the 2013 tournament.[ Rey Bucanero won the second 1996 tournament as a rookie and Atlantis won the 2005 tournament as a vet.] Block B veterans included Comandante Pierroth
Arturo Muñoz Sánchez is a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler who is best known for his time performing Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), portraying a '' rudo'' ("Bad guy") wrestling ...
for the first time in his career, including previous stints in CMLL as "Poder Boricua" and "Poder Mexica". For the 2016 tournament veteran winner of the 2012 ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament El Terrible
Damián Gutiérrez Hernández (born April 12, 1976), better known by his ring name El Terrible, is a Mexican professional wrestler who currently works for the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''ru ...
was teamed up with rookie Sansón.[
]
Tournament results
Block A of the 2016 ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament started out with all eight ''novatos'' fighting in a battle royal
Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...
where the order of eliminations helped determine the team match-ups for the first round. Magia Blanca and Oro Jr. outlasted Flyer, Rocky Casas, Super Halcón Jr.Fujin, El Cuatrero and Tritón which meant that those two teams would face off in the last first round tournament match, giving them longer to rest before having to wrestle again.[ Due to their early elimination Flyer and Rocky Casas had to compete in the first tournament match moments after the battle royal concluded. Atlantis and Flyer defeated Rocky and Negro Casas to advance to the second round. They would be joined by Fujin and Rey Escorpión, Tritón and Místico and finally Magia Blanca and Último Guerrero.][ In the second round Japanese wrestler Fujin and Mexican Rey Escorpión defeated Atlantis and Flyer, which the ''tecnico'' team of Tritón and Místico defeated the ''rudos'' Magia Blanca and Último Guerrero.][ The final match of the March 22 show saw Fujin and Rey Escorpión defeat Tritón and Místico to qualify for the finals of the ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament.][
In Block B the rookies followed the same pattern of first competing in a seeding battle royal. For the match Yago came to the ring wearing a spiked mask that resembled that of his "veteran" partner ]Mephisto
Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition.
Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film
* Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German- ...
as well as the robes normally worn by Mephisto's team ''Los Hijos del Infierno
''Los Hijos del Averno'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Sons of Hell") was the most well known name of a Mexico, Mexican professional wrestling group, called a Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stable in the Mexican ''Lucha Lib ...
'' ("The Sons of the Inferno", Mephisto, Ephesto
Ephesto (born June 10, 1965) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"). Ephesto's real name has not been officially documented, a tradition in Mexican lucha libre where masked wrestlers' real names often are n ...
and Luciferno
Jesús Parra Ramírez (born January 11, 1972) is a Mexican ''Luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler best known under the ring name Hooligan. He is currently working under the ring name Luciferno. Ramírez has worked for Cons ...
) as a sign of team unity. Golden Magic and Warrior Steel were the last two competitors, earning the rights to compete last in the tournament.[ Pegasso and Máscara Dorada defeated Sansón and El Terrible while Yago and Mephisto's unity and team work brought them the victory in the all-''rudo'' match against Commandante Pierroth and Raijin. The teams of Esfinge and Volador Jr. and Golden Magic and Rush rounded out the last two teams to advance.][ In the second round, Yago and Mephisto continued to work well together, defeating Pegasso and Máscara Dorada to advance to the semi-finals. In the other quarter-final match Rush got himself intentionally disqualified when he pulled off Esfinge's mask in front of the referee. Afterwards, he showed little remorse over losing the match and little interest in his partner Golden Magic.][ In the semi-final, Mephisto pinned Volador Jr. but Esfinge ended up pinning the ''rudo'' veteran to earn his team a spot in the finals of the tournament.][ In the tournament finals Esfinge and Volador Jr. defeated Fujin and Rey Escorpión in the main event of the April 5 ]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 ...
in a best two-out-of-three falls match to win the tournament. The victory marked the first time that both rookie Esfinge and veteran Volador Jr. won the ''Gran Alternativa'' tournament.[
]
Tournament brackets
Tournament shows
;March 22, 2015 CMLL Martes
;March 29, 2016
;April 5, 2016
References
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Torneo Gran Alternativa'' (2016)
2016 in professional wrestling
CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa
March 2016 events in Mexico
April 2016 events in Mexico