Mid 20th Century
94-592: The CMLL World Welterweight Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Peso Welter del CMLL ) is a professional wrestling world championship in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The official definition of the welterweight division in Mexico is between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb) but the official weight limits are not always adhered to. As with other professional wrestling championships, it
188-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
282-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
376-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
470-449: A tecnico (a good guy character, called a face in wrestling) since 1992, Olímpico turned rudo (villain or Heel ) on February 20, 2004 as he turned on his tag team partners El Felino and Virus during a match, allowing the team of Zumbido , Violencia and Veneno to win the match. Following his turn he joined a group called Los Guerreros del Infierno with Último Guerrero , Rey Bucanero , and Tarzan Boy . While his rudo turn
564-454: A 10-man Torneo cibernetico elimination match to determine the next champion. Negro Casas and Máscara Dorada outlasted the other eight competitors; Delta , Fuego , Kamaitachi , Pólvora , Rey Cometa , Sangre Azteca , Titán and Tritón . A week later Máscara Dorada defeated Negro Casas to become the 29th CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. On September 27, 2019, CMLL fired then-reigning CMLL World Welterweight Champion Dragon Lee , but at
658-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
752-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
846-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
940-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1034-470: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Ol%C3%ADmpico Joel Bernal Galicia (born December 6, 1965) is a Mexican retired Luchador , or professional wrestler , better known under
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#17327915101911128-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1222-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1316-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1410-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1504-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
1598-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
1692-586: A number of matches. During a trios tournament on the August 13, 2010 Super Viernes show Olímpico caused his team to be disqualified and then attacked his former teammates, ending their tentative relationship. As a result of his actions after the match Olímpico, Último Guerrero and Atlantis were all added to the main event of the CMLL 77th Anniversary Show , a 14-man steel cage Lucha de Apuesta , mask vs. mask match. The match came down to Olímpico and La Sombra after
1786-600: A press conference where Olímpico was presented as part of the Los Invasores group, a group portrayed as an "invading force" from the independent scene to fight against CMLL wrestlers. On July 12, 2010, at the Promociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show Olímpico participated in a match where 10 men put their mask on the line in a match that featured five pareja incredibles teams, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other with their mask on
1880-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
1974-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
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#17327915101912068-407: A year, with CMLL allowing him to take the championship with him to Japan. During his tour of Japan Máscara Dorada lost the championship to Bushi , which was officially acknowledged by CMLL. The championship is designated as a welterweight title, which means that the championship can officially only be competed for by wrestlers weighing between 70 kg (150 lb) and 78 kg (172 lb). In
2162-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
2256-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
2350-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
2444-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
2538-409: Is not won or lost competitively but is instead scripted by the bookers of a wrestling promotion. The title is awarded after the chosen wrestler "wins" a match. Overall there has been a total of 34 official championship reigns, shared between 22 different wrestlers. Titán is the current champion, having defeated Soberano Jr. in the finals of a tournament for the vacant championship. Máscara Dorada
2632-419: Is the 34th overall champion. Mephisto has the longest combined reigns,2,191 days, divided over two separate reigns, he also holds the record for the longest individual reign of all champions at 1,141 days from 2004 to 2007. The first champion Fuerza Guerrera is also the person who has held the title the shortest time, 22 days, except possibly for Mascara Magica, whose second reign was shorter; no specific date for
2726-493: Is the only wrestler to hold the championship four times. Mephisto's first reign was the longest individual reign, for 1,141 days from 2004 to 2007. The championship has been defended in Mexico and Japan, with three title changes in Japan. The championship has been vacated three times, and CMLL has held three tournaments for the championship. In the late 1980s, CMLL left the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) but retained control of
2820-610: The CMLL World Welterweight Championship from Karlof Lagarde, Jr. , the first singles title of his career. On October 23, 1998, Olímpico headlined his first CMLL show, losing the CMLL Welterweight title to Halcón Negro. A week later Olímpico once again faced Halcón Negro in the main event, this time defeating Negro in a Luchas de Apuesta , winning the mask of his opponent. On February 27, 1999, Olímpico made his first trip to Japan, losing
2914-550: The IWGP Tag Team Championship , when the Japanese duo made a trip to Mexico; Tanahashi and Nakamura successfully defended the title. Over the next three years Olímpico worked the semi-main and sometimes main event Trios matches but never got the "big" match or won any championships. In late 2008 Perro Aguayo, Jr. and his group Los Perros del Mal left CMLL, citing their unhappiness with their position in
CMLL World Welterweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-660: The NWA World Welterweight Championship as their main championship of the welterweight division . They also promoted the Mexican National Welterweight Championship as a secondary title for the Welterweight division. In 1991 they decided to create a series of CMLL-branded world championships, one of which was for the welterweight division. They held a four-man tournament on February 15, 1992, to crown
3102-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
3196-507: The fibula and tibia in his right leg. He had surgery the following day. Due to the injury the Welterweight championship became inactive for several months, as Místico was unable to compete. During a press conference on November 19, 2014, Místico announced that he was not ready to return to the ring, which led to the CMLL World Welterweight Championship being declared vacant. On December 26, 2014, CMLL held
3290-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
3384-637: The ring name Olímpico . Olímpico is sometimes Anglicised as "Olympico", and means "Olympian" in Spanish . From his debut in 1992 until late 2008 Olímpico worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL); since then he has worked for promotions including Perros del Mal , International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), World Wrestling Association (WWA) and other promotions on the Mexican independent circuit before returning to CMLL in mid-2010 as part of Los Invasores . For many years Olimpico's real name
3478-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
3572-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
3666-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
3760-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
3854-401: The 20th century Mexican wrestling enforced the weight divisions more strictly, but in this century the rules have occasionally been ignored for some weight divisions. The heaviest welterweight champion on record is Olímpico who was announced as weighing 92 kg (203 lb), 14 kg (31 lb) above the maximum weight limit. While the heavyweight championship is traditionally considered
CMLL World Welterweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
4042-558: The CMLL Welterweight title to Super Delfin . Back in Mexico Olímpico worked a feud against Rey Bucanero , a feud that involved mask ripping every time the two were in the same ring, building to a Luchas de Apuesta between the two. The match never happened however; instead Rey Bucanero lost his mask to Shocker leaving the Olímpico / Bucanero storyline unfinished. On March 30, 2000, Olímpico, Mr. Niebla , and Safari defeated
4136-765: The Mexican National Welterweight Championship was returned to CMLL, making it a tertiary title behind the CMLL and NWA branded world championships. In 2010 CMLL returned the NWA World Welterweight Championship to the NWA but immediately replaced it with the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship . In early 2015 then-champion Máscara Dorada signed a contract to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) for
4230-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
4324-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
4418-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
4512-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
4606-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
4700-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
4794-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
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#17327915101914888-405: The championship change, choosing not to vacate the title rather than recognizing the title change. CMLL put together a 16-man tournament to crown a new champion, and Máscara Mágica defeated El Felino in the final to become the seventh official CMLL World Welterweight Champion. Máscara Mágica would later defeat Super Delfin to put an end to any questions about the lineage of the championship. In 1998
4982-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
5076-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
5170-640: The concept of "Olímpico", "the Olympian", inspired by the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona , Spain . Olímpico wore a white mask with the Olympic Rings on it, a white Olympic wrestling style singlet and white boots. Later on he changed the Olympic rings to five lines with the colors of the Olympic rings as CMLL had not gotten permission to use the official Olympic symbol. Initially Olímpico worked in
5264-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
5358-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
5452-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
5546-542: The finals the following week. The following week Titán defeated Sobreano Jr. two falls to one, to become the 34th CMLL World Welterweight Champion. Madigan, Dan (2007). Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling . New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3 . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
5640-532: The first and second matches of the show, improving his skills while continuing to train under Hijo del Gladiador at the CMLL Gym. In 1996 he was given a chance to stand out from the other low card wrestlers when he was placed in a storyline feud with Damián El Guerrero. The feud saw Olímpico win his first Luchas de Apuestas match (a "bet match" where both competitors put their mask on the line), unmasking Damián El Guerrero. On September 16, 1998, Olímpico won
5734-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
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#17327915101915828-518: The first welterweight champion. The participants were Fuerza Guerrera , El Felino , América and El Khalifa; in the finals, Fuerza Guerrera defeated El Khalifa to become the first champion. On July 16, 1992, the Mexican National Welterweight Champion defeated CMLL Welterweight Champion América, vacating the Mexican National Welterweight Championship. In 1993 control of the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
5922-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
6016-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
6110-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
6204-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
6298-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
6392-518: The line. His partner in the match was Atlantis, facing off against the teams of Místico and El Oriental , La Sombra and Histeria , El Alebrije and Volador Jr. , and Último Guerrero and Averno . Olímpico and Atlantis were the last team that escaped the match, leaving El Oriental and Místico to wrestle for their masks, which ended with Místico defeating El Oriental. A few months after returning to CMLL Olímpico teamed up with his old Guerreros de la Atlantida partners Atlantis and Último Guerrero for
6486-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
6580-488: The most prestigious weight division in professional wrestling, CMLL places more emphasis on the lower weight divisions. All title matches promoted in Mexico take place under best two-out-of-three falls rules, while championship matches promoted in Japan follow the local custom, decided by a single fall. Titán is the current champion after defeating Soberano Jr. at a CMLL show in Arena Mexico on December 8, 2019 He
6674-399: The other 12 men had escaped the cage; La Sombra pinned Olímpico to force him to unmask. After the match Olímpico announced that his name was Joel Bernal Galicia from Mexico City , that he was 44 years old and had been wrestling for 19 years. On September 20, 2011, Olímpico, Psicosis II and the new leader of Los Invasores , Volador Jr., defeated Ángel de Oro , Diamante and Rush to win
6768-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
6862-513: The promotion and the lack of attention they were given. Aguayo formed his own professional wrestling promotion called Perros del Mal Producciones ; one of the first "Non-Perro" wrestlers they announced was Olímpico, who had left CMLL for the same reason as Aguayo. Olímpico became a regular on Perros del Mal shows, as well as working for International Wrestling Revolution Group and various Independent wrestling promotions all over Mexico. On March 20, 2009, Olímpico defeated Angel Blanco, Jr. to win
6956-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
7050-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
7144-506: The start of the reign has been confirmed, so his reign may have been as short as 6 days. On February 15, 1992, CMLL held a one-night, four-man tournament to crown the first ever CMLL World Welterweight Champion. The welterweight championship was the fifth CMLL branded world championship created after the CMLL World Heavyweight , CMLL World Light Heavyweight , CMLL World Trios and CMLL World Middleweight Championship . In
7238-603: The team of Blue Panther , Fuerza Guerrera , and El Signo to win the Mexican National Trios Championship . In 2002, CMLL decided to create a Mini-Estrella version of Olímpico called Pequeño Olímpico , a short wrestler who wore an outfit patterned after Olímpico's outfit at the time. On June 23, 2003, Olímpico, Mr. Niebla, and Safari lost the Trios title to Los Nuevo Infernales , the team of Averno , Mephisto , and Satánico . After working as
7332-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
7426-509: The time did not mention any plans for the championship itself. It was not until November that CMLL announced their plans, as they revealed a tournament to crown a new champion that would start on December 1, 2019. The tournament started with a 12-man torneo cibernetico elimination match to determine the two finalists. The match saw Soberano Jr. and Titán outlast Audaz , Negro Casas , Drone , Fuego , Fugaz , Dulce Gardenia , Rey Cometa , Star Jr. , Stigma , and Templario to qualify for
7520-521: The tournament finals Fuerza Guerrera defeated El Khalifa to win the championship. In 1996 CMLL decided not to acknowledge that La Pantera had lost the CMLL World Welterweight Championship during a tour of Japan, declaring the title vacant instead. They held a 16-man tournament from May 7 to May 21, 1996, to crown a new champion. In the finals Máscara Mágica defeated El Felino to become the seventh champion. On May 2, 2015, then-reigning CMLL World Welterweight Champion Místico crashed his motorcycle, breaking
7614-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
7708-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
7802-504: The vacant WWA Middleweight Championship , although some confusion exists as a different WWA Middleweight Championship is used around the Monterrey area. Olímpico later stated that he was never actually given the championship belt after the match, putting the legitimacy of the title victory further in doubt. On May 17, 2010, Olímico returned to CMLL, running in during the main event of the show to attack Máximo . Five days later CMLL held
7896-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
7990-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
8084-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
8178-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
8272-567: Was not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans. He was unmasked on September 3, 2010, and had to reveal his real name as is traditional. Bernal Galicia grew up watching his father, Roy Aguirre, wrestle and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. After training with his father he made his professional wrestling debut in Mexico City , Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). It
8366-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
8460-425: Was rare for CMLL to have a wrestler actually made his debut on in their "home venue", but they were in need of young talent after a large number of young wrestlers had left CMLL for rival promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in early 1992. In his first match he used the ring name Popoca, Jr. but after the match it was decided that he needed a different ring persona. CMLL owner Paco Alonso came up with
8554-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
8648-497: Was surprising, it was soon overshadowed when Atlantis turned rudo and joined Los Guerreros in early 2005, relegating Olímpico to the secondary trios teams, working with Tarzan Boy and other Los Guerrero's associates while the team Último Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, and Atlantis was the main Guerreros del Infierno team. On September 30, 2005, Olímpico and Atlantis were chosen to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura for
8742-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
8836-408: Was transferred from CMLL to rival promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In 1996 the championship was vacated after then-champion El Pantera lost the championship to Super Delfin while on tour in Japan. Pantera left CMLL for AAA after the tour, and lost a match to Super Delfin in Japan, intending to surrender the championship to him. CMLL knew that Pantera was leaving and nullified
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