Triplemanía XXVI was a professional wrestling event produced by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). It took place on August 25, 2018, in the Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City , Mexico. This was the seventh consecutive Triplemanía to be held at the arena, and marks the 26th year in a row that AAA had held a Triplemanía show, and the 32nd show held under the Triplemanía banner since 1993. The annual Triplemanía show is AAA's biggest show of the year, serving as the culmination of major storylines and feature wrestlers from all over the world competing in what has been described as AAA's version of WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event.
159-580: The announced feature match of the show was billed as Póker de Ases or "Poker Aces", a four-way match held under Lucha de Apuestas , or "bet match", rules where one of the competitors was forced to unmask as a result of the loss. Via AAA's partnership with the American Impact Wrestling and Major League Wrestling promotions, wrestlers from both companies appeared on the show, including Andrew Everett , DJZ , Brian Cage , A. C. H. , Shane Strickland and Rich Swann . 2018 marked
318-409: A rudo (villain) . He turned his attention away from the matches and instead try to win the approval of the fans, often costing his team the match because he was distracted. Caras himself explained this behavior by stating that he "hurt his shoulder, but bravely stayed in the arena". After hinting at a change for weeks Caras finally cemented his villainous persona on 11 April 2009, the second member of
477-534: A Batista Bomb . Six days later at the Royal Rumble , Del Rio entered the Rumble match at number 27 and performed well, but was eliminated by Batista who went on to win the match. On the 3 February episode of Raw , Del Rio confronted and ultimately assaulted Batista, which led to Batista powerbombing Del Rio through the broadcast table the following week. Before that, Del Rio squashed Dolph Ziggler. This led to
636-526: A luchador and luchadora respectively. In 2000, the all-female promotion company Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) was founded. Lucha Libre has a division called the "Mini-Estrella" or "Minis" division, which unlike North American midget wrestling , is not just for dwarfs but also for luchadores that are short. The maximum allowable height to participate in the Mini division was originally 5 feet, but in recent years wrestlers such as Pequeño Olímpico have worked
795-453: A luchador code of honor. For instance, a luchador who has lost a wager match would prefer to endure the humiliation of being unmasked or having his head shaved rather than live with the shame that would come from not honoring his bet. Rudos have also been known to make the transition into técnicos after a career-defining moment, as was the case with Blue Demon , who decided to become a técnico after his wrestling partner, Black Shadow ,
954-475: A Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas . At Héroes Inmortales IX , El Patrón retained the Mega Championship against Johnny Mundo. After Rodríguez returned to WWE and it became clear that he would not return to AAA to defend the Mega Championship and was therefore stripped of the title on 9 November. WWE had allowed him to participate at Guerra de Titanes but when the event was canceled, WWE rescinded
1113-464: A Last Man Standing match to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio made his first successful title defense on 27 January at the Royal Rumble , defeating Big Show in another Last Man Standing match, after Rodriguez duct taped Big Show's legs to the ropes. After repeated attacks from Big Show to both himself and Rodriguez, Del Rio and Big Show faced off in a singles match on 17 February at Elimination Chamber , where Del Rio submitted him to
1272-561: A Mexican luchador named El Superbeasto. The Main Antagonist of the animated film Despicable Me 2 , El Macho, sports a costume resembling that of a luchador, consistent with his theme of Mexican culture. Television shows have also been inspired by lucha libre, especially animated series such as ¡Mucha Lucha! Cartoon Network also produced an animated miniseries based on the luchador El Santo. The WB television series Angel episode entitled " The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco " told
1431-540: A WWE contract in August 2012 and was assigned to the promotion's developmental territory NXT under the ring name Memo Montenegro, but was released in July 2013. Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture . Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling , training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández. He earned
1590-523: A World Championship match. Later that night, El Patrón defeated Lashley in controversial style to win the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. However, El Patrón relinquished the title the following night due to the controversial victory and faced EC3 in a World Championship number one contenders match on the 16 March episode of Impact Wrestling , which he won, becoming the number one contender. On
1749-584: A box, labeled with the date, to be treasured. Female wrestlers or luchadoras also compete in Mexican lucha libre . The CMLL World Women's Championship is the top title for CMLL 's women's division, while the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship is a championship defended in an annual tournament by female wrestlers in AAA. AAA also recognizes a World Mixed Tag Team Championship , contested by tag teams composed of
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#17328024111671908-495: A folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies , while the sport received an unparalleled degree of mainstream attention. Other legendary luchadores who helped popularize the sport include Gory Guerrero , who is credited with developing moves and holds which are now commonplace in professional wrestling; Blue Demon , a contemporary of Santo and possibly his greatest rival; and Mil Máscaras (Man of A Thousand Masks), who
2067-502: A golf club where Ray González Sr. (who had been feuding with several of Ortega's protégés) was playing a round. There it was revealed that the former WWE ring announcer had been sent on behalf of El Patrón, delivering a sign of disrespect as a "personal message" before fleeing the scene. The following week a match between both was confirmed for Septiembre Negro, where González Sr. defeated and injured Rodriguez (now promoted as "El Emisario del Patrón") and immediately challenged El Patrón to
2226-449: A lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year. After not competing at the 2000 Olympic games, Rodríguez turned to the family business, and trained with his father to become a professional wrestler. He made his debut appearance on 9 May 2000 as Dos Caras Jr. when he ran in during an AAA (now known as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide) show to save his father from a beat down from El Texano and Pirata Morgan . Over
2385-519: A ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. On 23 May episode of Raw , Del Rio slapped Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Big Show was run over by Del Rio's car, driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury. Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down. On 19 June at Capitol Punishment , Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when he
2544-421: A large number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in his final bout or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying a loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask. The mask is considered sacred to a degree, so much so that fully removing an opponent's mask during
2703-474: A lot. On 25 June 2010, episode of SmackDown , Rodríguez appeared on a taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio. Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on SmackDown promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, Del Rio wrestled his first match at a house show in Brisbane , Australia and
2862-404: A match at WWC Aniversario . On 24 September 2014, the storyline with Rodriguez continued, when he was depicted calling Ortega to confirm the presence of El Patrón at Aniversario. However, after being announced he was unable to make an appearance and the storyline digressed, with Hernandez supplanting him at Aniversario. On 7 November 2015, WWC resumed the angle with El Patrón, beginning with
3021-525: A match between Del Rio and Batista at Elimination Chamber , which Batista won. The following night on Raw, Del Rio defeated Batista in a rematch from the previous night. At WrestleMania XXX , Alberto Del Rio participated in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal and made a number of eliminations before being eliminated by Sheamus. On the 2 June episode of Raw , Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler to qualify for
3180-625: A match for the number one contender for the Lucha Underground Championship. However, on 13 May 2015, Alberto was defeated by Hernandez after Mundo threw him against a window, losing his opportunity. Then, Alberto and Mundo feuded until Ultima Lucha , where Mundo defeated Alberto after an interference from Melina , Mundo's girlfriend. Del Rio made a surprise return to the WWE at Hell in a Cell on 25 October 2015, with Zeb Colter as his manager , and defeated John Cena to win
3339-494: A match is grounds for disqualification. During their careers, masked luchadores will often be seen in public wearing their masks and keeping up the culture of lucha libre, while other masked wrestlers will interact with the public and press normally. However, they will still go to great lengths to conceal their true identities; in effect, the mask is synonymous with the luchador . El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealing his face only briefly in old age, and
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#17328024111673498-644: A maximum capacity of 22,300 spectators. This was the seventh consecutive Triplemanía ( XX , XXI , XXII , XXIII , XXIV and XXV ) held at the venue. AAA's Triplemanía is their biggest show of the year, AAA's equivalent of the WWE 's WrestleMania or New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Kingdom event. The Triplemanía XXVI show will feature an undetermined number of professional wrestling matches , with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines . Wrestlers portray either heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray
3657-529: A national pop-culture phenomenon. In 1942, lucha libre would be forever changed when a silver-masked wrestler, known simply as El Santo ( The Saint ), first stepped into the ring. He made his debut in Mexico City by winning an 8-man battle royal . The public became in love with the mystique and secrecy of Santo's personality, and he quickly became the most popular luchador in Mexico. His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became
3816-496: A no contest after Sheamus attacked Big Show. On the 31 December episode of Raw , Big Show chose to defend his title against Ricardo Rodriguez. As Rodriguez was about to lose the match, Del Rio attacked Big Show from behind, causing a disqualification and re-igniting a feud between Del Rio and Big Show. On the 11 January episode SmackDown , as Del Rio's character transitioned into a hero of the Latino fanbase, he defeated Big Show in
3975-569: A non-title match to Rob Van Dam , after Ricardo Rodriguez's interference backfired, which led to Del Rio viciously attacking Rodriguez post-match. On the 9 August episode of SmackDown , Del Rio again lost to Christian in a non-title match. On 18 August at SummerSlam , Del Rio successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian. Upon Rodriguez's return, he aligned himself with Rob Van Dam, accompanying him to matches and helping him defeat Del Rio in
4134-415: A non-title match to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On the 13 September episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Rodriguez in a single match. On 15 September Night of Champions , Van Dam defeated Del Rio by disqualification after Del Rio refused to relinquish the cross armbreaker, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship in result. After the match, Van Dam attacked Del Rio and executed
4293-445: A non-title match. The next week on Raw SuperShow , Del Rio wrestled Dolph Ziggler to a no contest in a Contract on a Pole match for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, both Del Rio and Ziggler were entered into the championship match four days later on SmackDown , where Sheamus retained the title after pinning Ziggler. Del Rio received another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship on 15 July at Money in
4452-419: A non-title rematch after a distraction by AJ. On the 29 July episode of Raw , Del Rio re-entered a feud with Christian after losing to him in a non-title match. On the 2 August episode of SmackDown , after Christian won a triple-threat match to become the number on contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, Del Rio attacked him during a post-match interview. On the 5 August episode of Raw , Del Rio lost
4611-400: A number of appearances for World Association Of Wrestling (WAW) promotion, El Patrón defeated Robbie Dynamite via pinfall then El Patrón defeating Chris Masters in the same event and won WAW Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship. In 2019, Rodríguez and Chavo Guerrero Jr. created their own promotion, Nación Lucha Libre , which aired their first show on a television channel. During
4770-482: A number of appearances for the What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) promotion, ending Big Damo 's WCPW career in his first match before challenging unsuccessfully for WCPW's Internet and Tag Team Championships. He was forced to miss the "Delete WCPW" PPV on 30 November 2016, due to flight issues but was at their "Loaded" episode taping the following day, defeating Johnny Mundo. El Patrón made
4929-471: A number one contender "I Quit" match at Extreme Rules on 19 May, which Del Rio won. In the following weeks, Del Rio would face Ziggler's enforcer Big E. Langston in a series of matches, which Del Rio won 3–2. Del Rio finally received his title shot on 16 June at Payback , and during the match, a double-turn occurred; Del Rio turned heel once again by repeatedly and ruthlessly targeting Ziggler's head after his recent concussion to defeat Ziggler and regain
Triplemanía XXVI - Misplaced Pages Continue
5088-627: A place in the final, defeating Héctor Garza to win the prize. While working in Japan, Caras had taken to teaming with another second-generation wrestler, Lizmark Jr. , and when both found themselves in CMLL they were teamed up once again with the team's famous fathers being the selling point. Over the next year Caras found himself without much direction, he worked storylines with Último Guerrero and Kenzo Suzuki but nothing long term came of it. Caras received two opportunities to challenge Universo 2000 for
5247-847: A place on the Mexico national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments. In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic . He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games . Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , Australia , but due to
5406-502: A priest-turned-luchador was inspired by the story of Father Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Catholic priest who wrestled as Fray Tormenta to make money for his church. The documentary feature Lucha Mexico (2016) captured the lives of some of Mexico's well known wrestlers. The stars were Shocker , Blue Demon Jr. , El Hijo del Perro Aguayo and Último Guerrero . Directed by Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz. Rob Zombie 's animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto stars
5565-572: A racist joke. On 11 August 2014, AAA announced that after bring fired by WWE, Rodríguez would be returning to the promotion at Triplemanía XXII . In a press conference on 14 August, Rodríguez acknowledged that WWE owned the Alberto Del Rio name and also revealed that he would be working for AAA under the new ring name El Patrón ("The Boss"). He was nicknamed this in WWE by Ricardo Rodriguez, during ring introductions and Spanish commentary, but it
5724-522: A real-life vampire invasion of New York. The Fox Kids live-action series Los Luchadores (2001) starred a trio of masked wrestlers consisting of Lobo Fuerte, Maria Valentine, and Turbine who not only participate in wrestling tournaments but also fight to protect their home of Union City from numerous threats (both natural and supernatural). Lucha libre is a recurring motif in nearly every game directed by Suda51 , starting from his directorial debut Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout . Most prominently,
5883-548: A rematch against Edge at Extreme Rules on 1 May. However, when Edge unexpectedly retired from professional wrestling on 11 April episode of Raw , Del Rio was instead booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, after Christian won a battle royal. On 25 April episode of Raw , Del Rio was drafted to the Raw brand. Ricardo Rodriguez moved to Raw with him, while Brodus Clay remained on SmackDown. At Extreme Rules, Del Rio lost to Christian in
6042-531: A rematch for the WWE Championship on the 28 November episode of Raw SuperShow , but lost after Punk dropped him onto an exposed turnbuckle, managing to avoid a disqualification, which would have cost him the title. On 18 December at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Del Rio failed again to regain the WWE Championship from Punk in a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, also involving The Miz. The next night on Raw SuperShow , Del Rio suffered
6201-432: A result, the tag team formula and pacing which has developed in U.S. tag matches is different from lucha libre because the race to tag is not a priority. There are also two-man tag matches ( parejas ) and "four on four" matches ( atomicos ). Masks ( máscaras ) have been used dating back to the beginnings of lucha libre in the early part of the 20th century, and have a historical significance to Mexico in general, dating to
6360-475: A retired luchador character called Angel de la Plata (The Silver Angel), played by Joaquin Cosio . In the storyline, Angel de la Plata (probably based on El Santo ) was a major masked wrestling star in Mexico, appearing both in the ring and in a series of movies in which his character battled all manner of foes including vampires. A knee injury ended his career but he is called upon to use his fighting skills against
6519-550: A segment on the Abraham Washington show at the 6 August taping, Rodríguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas. When he revealed his face, he was criticized by some Mexicans for revealing, to which he responded that only a few people know why he lost the mask in that way. During WWE's WrestleMania Revenge tour of Europe in April 2010, he made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for
Triplemanía XXVI - Misplaced Pages Continue
6678-421: A segment where he assaulted Ray González's son, El Hijo de Ray González , during a training session at Texas Wrestling Academy in retaliation for the injury that his father inflicted on Rodriguez. The following day, Ray González Sr. challenged El Patrón to a match. The majority of the promotional skits were filmed before he returned to WWE, but was given continuity, being the only external appearance cleared by
6837-474: A six-man tag team match. The next night on Raw , Del Rio and Miz teamed up with Tommy Dreamer to defeat 3MB in another six-man tag team match. On the 28 December episode of SmackDown , Ricardo Rodriguez was awarded a title match against World Heavyweight Champion Big Show, but Big Show knocked Rodriguez out backstage. Del Rio was then awarded the title match in Rodriguez's place, however, the match ended in
6996-424: A story broke that Rodríguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract. Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose, but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When he lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE, with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in
7155-464: A storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar . Two weeks later, he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions on 19 September. Despite declining the match, on the 24 September episode of SmackDown Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio
7314-436: A tag-team match with Lashley. On the 20 July episode of Impact , after LAX held El Patrón's family hostage, El Patrón put on their T-shirt. He attacked them shortly after. This led to a handicap match between El Patrón and LAX on the 27 July episode of Impact , which he won. After the match, he was attacked by the others members of LAX, but was saved by Dos Caras and El Hijo de Dos Caras . The following week, The Patron Family
7473-524: A torn groin muscle, which required surgery and sidelined him for four to six weeks. Del Rio returned at a WWE house show in San Francisco on 11 February 2012, arm wrestling Sheamus to a no contest. On 19 February at Elimination Chamber , Del Rio made an appearance to show support to Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis . Del Rio returned on the 2 April episode of Raw SuperShow , confronting World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and vowing to become
7632-402: A triple threat match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. The next week on SmackDown , Del Rio suffered a legitimate concussion, which led to WWE pulling him from his scheduled World Heavyweight Championship match against Sheamus at No Way Out . Del Rio returned on the 18 June episode of Raw SuperShow , defeating United States Champion Santino Marella in
7791-442: A week later, he made his television debut on the 20 August episode of SmackDown by defeating Rey Mysterio in the main event by submission with the cross armbreaker . As part of his act, Del Rio made his entrances in an expensive car, while he was introduced by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez . The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane , giving him
7950-442: Is Dos Caras Jr. Lucha Libre has crossed over into popular culture, especially in Mexico, where it is the second most popular sport after soccer . Outside of Mexico, lucha libre has also crossed over into popular culture, especially in movies and television. Depictions of luchadors are often used as symbols of Mexico and Mexican culture in non-Spanish-speaking cultures. The motion picture Nacho Libre , starring Jack Black as
8109-504: Is a Mexican-American professional wrestler , professional wrestling promoter , sports commentator , and mixed martial artist , signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a commentator. He also makes appearances for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) as a wrestler, where he is the current AAA Mega Champion in his second reign. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his time in WWE under
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#17328024111678268-462: Is also known for its tag team wrestling matches. The teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the United States. These three-man teams participate in what are called trios matches, for tag team championship belts. Of these three members, one member is designated the captain. A successful fall in a trios match can be achieved by either pinning the captain of
8427-474: Is an illegal move in wrestling and grounds for immediate disqualification, although some variants are legal in certain promotions; or when he hits his opponent in the groin (foul); when he uses outside interference; when he attacks the referee; or when he completely rips off his opponent's mask. Most matches are two out of three falls, which had been abandoned for title matches in North America and Japan in
8586-480: Is credited with introducing the high flying moves of lucha libre to audiences around the world. He achieved international fame as one of the first high-flyers, something he was not considered in Mexico, where he fell under the mat-power category. Luchadores are traditionally more agile and perform more aerial maneuvers than professional wrestlers in the United States , who more often rely on power and hard strikes to subdue their opponents. The difference in styles
8745-505: Is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that luchadores in the cruiserweight division ( peso semicompleto ) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Luchadores execute characteristic high-flying attacks by using the wrestling ring 's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds. Rings used in lucha libre generally lack
8904-467: Is known as "Catch". Lucha libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (singular luchador ) and often come from extended wrestling families who form their own stables. One such line integrated to the United States professional wrestling scene is Los Guerreros . In 2018, Mexican lucha libre was declared an intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City . The rules of lucha libre are similar to American singles matches. Matches can be won by pinning
9063-470: Is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form of the genre, characterized by colorful masks , rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, and "high-flying" maneuvers , some of which have been adopted in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. The wearing of masks has developed special significance, and matches are sometimes contested in which
9222-845: The AAA Mega Championship once. He returned to WWE in 2015, winning the United States Championship twice, before departing again in 2016. He subsequently signed with Impact Wrestling and won the Impact World Championship title at Slammiversary XV . Born in San Luis Potosí into one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families, his father is noted luchador Dos Caras , while his uncles are Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico. His cousins, Sicodelico Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, are also wrestlers. His younger brother Guillermo signed
9381-530: The 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match which later became for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship ; Del Rio would lose the match to John Cena. On the 4 July episode of SmackDown , Del Rio unsuccessfully challenged Sheamus for the United States Championship. He defeated Ziggler on the 7 July episode of Raw to earn another United States Championship opportunity against Sheamus, but
9540-533: The 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match . At Money in the Bank, Del Rio was unsuccessful as the match was won by Dean Ambrose . During the 2016 WWE draft , Del Rio was drafted to the SmackDown brand. On the 26 July episode of SmackDown Live , Del Rio participated in a 16-man battle royal to determine who would advance in a number one contenders tournament for the WWE World Championship , he
9699-563: The AAA Latin American Champion El Hijo del Fantasma . On May 18, Fantasma and Clown won to Kevin Kross and Hernandez, after the fight, Juventud Guerrera appeared of surprise and pushed Psycho, which collided with Ghost and led to both attacking each other. On June 5 at a press conference, he revealed two other fighters for Poker Aces and turned out to be L.A. Park and Pentagón Jr. who make their return to
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#17328024111679858-685: The AAA Mega Championship in which he emerged victorious winning the title for the second time and after the fight, Fenix saves the talent director of AAA Vampiro and the others and then face Konnan. On August 2, Fenix defeated Flamita and Bandido to be the number one contender and face Jarrett for the title in Triplemanía XXVI. First established in 2007 the AAA Hall of Fame has inducted one or two lucha libre -related people each year at Triplemanía. The initial class of
10017-645: The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship in 1992, making it the oldest Minis championship still in existence today. Minis are often patterned after "regular-sized" wrestlers and are sometimes called "mascotas" ("mascots") if they team with the regular-sized version. In 1994, AAA promoted the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view in conjunction with the U.S. promotion company World Championship Wrestling (WCW). When Worlds Collide introduced U.S. audiences to many of
10176-551: The French Intervention in Mexico , when Enrique Ugartechea, the first Mexican wrestler, developed and invented Mexican lucha libre from Greco-Roman wrestling . In the early 20th century, professional wrestling was mostly a regional phenomenon in Mexico until Salvador Lutteroth founded the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ( Mexican Wrestling Enterprise ) in 1933, giving the sport a national foothold for
10335-606: The Impact Wrestling tapings on 2 March 2017, Rodríguez debuted for Impact Wrestling , under the ring name Alberto El Patrón. He interrupted Bruce Prichard and Lashley in an attempt to insert himself into the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship picture. El Patrón was then interrupted by Ethan Carter III , who insisted that Alberto had to earn his shot at the title, but Lashley disagreed and granted El Patrón
10494-721: The ROH World Television Championship . Rodríguez competed for the World Wrestling League defeating champion Glamour Boy Shane and Ricky Banderas to capture the WWL World Heavyweight Championship in January 2015. The title was vacated on 19 September 2015, after a controversy during a defense against Ricky Banderas. On 17 January 2015, Lucha Underground announced that Rodríguez had signed with
10653-528: The Raw brand . One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian . The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent Raw and SmackDown shows. Later, Rodríguez said that he hated his time in FCW, but that he learned
10812-464: The Van Terminator . On 6 October at Battleground , Del Rio defeated Van Dam in a Hardcore match by submission to again retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The next night on Raw , Del Rio lost to Ricardo Rodriguez after Vickie Guerrero announced his Hell in a Cell opponent as John Cena. Afterwards, Del Rio brutally attacked Rodriguez. On 27 October at Hell in a Cell, Del Rio lost
10971-402: The luchador is uncommon: months can pass without it happening, because fans are the toughest of critics, booing the luchador if they are not pleased with their performance. Booing may happen regardless of the perceived virtuousness of the luchador's persona. The luchador , after receiving such an act of honor, will pick up the money and save it as a symbolic trophy, putting it in a vase or
11130-750: The "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico: Luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos (lit. "tough guys", who are "bad guys", or " heels "), who bend or break the rules, and técnicos (the "good guys", or " faces ", literally "technicians"), who play by the rules and their moves are much more complex and spectacular. Técnicos tend to have very formal combat styles, close to Greco-Roman wrestling and martial arts techniques, whereas rudos tend to be brawlers. Técnicos playing
11289-418: The "bad guys") or faces ( técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they follow a series of tension-building events, which culminate in wrestling matches. On February 2, AAA director Dorian Roldan and AAA's talent director Vampiro announced a meeting entitled Poker of Aces. This encounter will be one of Fatal 4-Way bets in a Steel Cage Match, where until now the only confirmed are Psycho Clown and
11448-415: The "good guy" role, and rudos playing the "bad guy" role is very characteristic of Mexican lucha libre, which differs from U.S. professional wrestling, where many technical wrestlers play the role of heels (e.g., Kurt Angle ), and many brawlers play as "faces" (e.g., Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock ). Although rudos often resort to using underhanded tactics, they are still expected to live up to
11607-499: The 11 January episode of Raw , Del Rio lost the United States Championship to Kalisto , regained the championship on the 14 January episode of SmackDown , but lost it again to Kalisto at Royal Rumble . After scoring three tag team victories over Kalisto and his partner Sin Cara , Del Rio demanded a two-out-of-three falls match for the United States Championship at Fastlane , which Del Rio then lost 1–2. At WrestleMania 32 , Del Rio
11766-517: The 1970s. A unique rule in lucha libre applies during team matches (i.e., when a team's legal wrestler touches the ground outside the ring, a teammate may enter the ring to take his place as a legal competitor). Since the legal wrestler can step on the floor willingly, it is not necessary to tag a teammate to enter the match. This often allows for much more frantic action to take place in the ring than would be possible under standard tag rules. The antecedents of Mexican wrestling date back to 1863, during
11925-430: The 2009 Royal Rumble . However, he remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four-year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE. On 17 June 2009, Rodríguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory , but directly to the main roster. Furthermore, he would retain
12084-625: The 2023 Lucha Libre World Cup . He was part of the "Dream Team" that was defeated in the semi-final, and wrestled as a técnico . On 27 April 2024 at Triplemanía XXXII: Monterrey he lost to Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) in a match for the vacant AAA Mega Championship . At Triplemanía XXXII: Mexico City on 17 August 2024, El Patrón reclaimed the title from Nemeth, turning rudo and aligning himself with Konnan and Dorian Roldán. After making his professional wrestling debut in 2000, Dos Caras Jr. decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts (MMA). Dos Caras most notably faced Mirko Cro Cop in
12243-567: The 26th year since 1993 that the Mexican professional wrestling company Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) or Triple A held their annual Triplemanía show and the 31st Triplemanía show promoted by AAA, as they held multiple Triplemanía shows over the summers of 1994 to 1997. The 2018 event took place on August 25, 2018, at the Arena Ciudad de México (Mexico City Arena), an indoor arena in Azcapotzalco , Mexico City , Mexico that has
12402-484: The 27 July episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Mysterio in a fatal four-way match to again become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. The title match, originally set for SummerSlam , was moved to the 10 August episode of SmackDown , after Del Rio threatened to press charges against Sheamus for stealing his car on the 6 August episode of Raw , which would have prevented Sheamus from appearing at SummerSlam. However, before
12561-603: The 4 May episode of Impact Wrestling , El Patrón defeated Eli Drake and become the number one contender to the GFW Global Championship . On the 11 May episode of Impact Wrestling , he defeated Magnus to win the GFW Global Championship. On the 1 June episode of Impact Wrestlling , El Patrón defeated Ethan Carter III in a Six Sides of Steel Cage match and kept his number one contendership At Slammiversary , El Patrón defeated Lashley to unify
12720-624: The AAA. On October 1, Lady Shani won the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship against Ayako Hamada in Héroes Inmortales XI (in which she vacated Sexy Star ) a month ago. In November, Faby Apache became the challenger for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship . On December 16, Apache and Shani fought for the title in which they ended up with no result, which retains Shani, after the fight, Apache attacks Shani mutually. On January 26 at Guerra de Titanes , Apache defeated Shani to win her third title, starting her fiefdom. On February 2 at
12879-736: The Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team started doing promotions involving lucha libre. A luchador mask in Diamondback colors was a popular giveaway at one game. In 2013 a Diamondbacks Luchador was made an official mascot, joining D. Baxter Bobcat. The first 20,000 fans at the July 27 game against the San Diego Padres were to receive a luchador mask. In Spain , professional wrestling has commonly been called catch (from catch-as-catch-can wrestling ) and pressing catch . In Peru ,
13038-433: The Bank , where he again lost to Sheamus. The next night on Raw SuperShow , Del Rio was looking to take out his frustrations on Zack Ryder , but his post-match assault was interrupted by his longtime rival Rey Mysterio making his return and attacking him. Four days later on SmackDown , Del Rio and Ziggler lost to Mysterio and Sheamus by disqualification after Rodriguez interfered, but Del Rio viciously attacked Sheamus. On
13197-684: The CMLL World Heavyweight title but came up short until his third attempt on 8 July 2007 when he became the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. While in wrestling promotions outside of Mexico the Heavyweight title would indicate that he was the top man in the federation, Mexican wrestling promotions tend to put more emphasis on the lower weight divisions over the heavyweights. After the contract dealings with WWE surfaced he began showing signs of becoming
13356-551: The GFW Global Championship and the Impact Wrestling Championship. On the 6 July Impact he was referred to as the "Unified Champion" and the "Unified World Champion". In the main-event, El Patron was defeated by Lashley by disqualification after interference by LAX , saying that he was the new member of the faction. However, on the 13 July episode of Impact , El Patrón refused to join LAX, and defeated them in
13515-758: The Hall of Fame included AAA founder Antonio Peña and Rey Misterio Jr. Later inductees have included Eddie Guerrero (2008), Pepe "Tropi" Casas (2009), Octagón (2011), Perro Aguayo (2012), Abismo Negro (2013), El Brazo (2014), Rayo de Jalisco Sr. (2014), Héctor Garza (2015), El Hijo del Perro Aguayo (2015), Art Barr (2016), and Joaquin Roldan (2016). Lucha de Apuestas Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Lucha libre ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlutʃa ˈliβɾe] , meaning " freestyle wrestling " or literally translated as "free fight")
13674-586: The Latin American version such as more weight classes than professional wrestling in North America post World War II. Like "old school" European (especially British) wrestling, some Japanese wrestling and early 20th-century American wrestling, Lucha libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxing . Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in lucha libre, as defined by
13833-473: The Minis division despite being 1.69 m (5 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) tall. The Minis division was first popularized in the 1970s with wrestlers like Pequeño Luke and Arturito (a wrestler with an R2-D2 gimmick) becoming noticed for their high flying abilities. In the late 1980s/early 1990s CMLL created the first actual "Minis" division, the brainchild of then-CMLL booker Antonio Peña . CMLL created
13992-564: The Ring tournament. In the tournament the next week on Raw , he made United States Champion Daniel Bryan submit in the first round, but was defeated by John Morrison in the semifinal after being distracted by Mysterio who was inside his car. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on 19 December, Del Rio competed in a fatal four-way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship , which
14151-552: The Rodríguez family to be a heel (after his uncle, El Sicodélico Sr). Caras's run with the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship remained largely uneventful with only four title defenses in the 533 days that he held the championship, before losing it and departing for WWE. He made brief appearance for WWE as a security guard on June 30, 2008 episode of Monday Night Raw . By the fall of 2008,
14310-897: The U.S. on the Spanish-language cable networks Galavisión and LA TV. Lucha Underground is a television series produced by the United Artists Media Group which airs in English on the El Rey Network and in Spanish on UniMás . It features wrestlers from the American independent circuit and AAA. AAA also owns a percentage of Lucha Underground. The series, which is taped live in Boyle Heights, California, finished season 4 finale. In 2012,
14469-460: The United States Championship. The next night on Raw , Del Rio revealed that he and Zeb Colter had started their new country "MexAmerica" and unofficially renamed the United States Championship the "MexAmerican Championship". In November, Del Rio took part in the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship , defeating Stardust in the first round and Kalisto in the quarterfinals, before being eliminated by Roman Reigns in
14628-420: The World Heavyweight Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 133 days. Del Rio received his rematch for the title on 24 November at Survivor Series , but again lost to Cena. The following night on the 25 November episode of Raw , Del Rio teamed up with Randy Orton in a losing effort against John Cena and Big Show in a tag team match. On the 2 and 9 December episodes of Raw , Del Rio suffered upset losses to
14787-546: The World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio later explained that he targeted Ziggler's head the same way Ziggler targeted Del Rio's injured leg when Ziggler cashed in Money in the Bank to win the title from Del Rio. On 14 July at Money in the Bank , Del Rio defeated Ziggler by disqualification to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, after Ziggler's girlfriend AJ Lee hit Del Rio in the face with her Divas Championship belt. The next night on Raw , Del Rio defeated Ziggler in
14946-425: The World Heavyweight Championship. The next night on Raw , Del Rio defeated Swagger and Zeb Colter in a Two-on-one handicap match after forcing Swagger to submit to the cross armbreaker. After that, Del Rio lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Dolph Ziggler who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ending his reign at 90 days. After losing the title, Del Rio would continue feud with Swagger and Ziggler over
15105-494: The YUKI-BOM-BA-YE event. Rodríguez returned to Japan the following year wrestling for Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). After wrestling for Zero1 primarily throughout 2002 and 2003, Rodríguez joined Hustle , debuting on their inaugural Hustle 1 event. He would continue to wrestle for Hustle under the ring names Dos Caras Jr. and Hustle Kamen Gold until October 2004. In 2005, Caras
15264-464: The bottom rope. On the 24 August episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Randy Orton by submission to once again become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the 7 September SmackDown , Del Rio filed assault charges against Sheamus, after Sheamus had attacked him and Rodriguez on the 3 September episode of Raw , which led to Booker T banning the Brogue Kick with
15423-522: The caveat that Sheamus would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship if he used the move again. However, on 16 September at Night of Champions , Booker T concluded his investigation into the dangers of the move and lifted the ban. In the match that followed, Sheamus used the Brogue Kick to defeat Del Rio and retain the World Heavyweight Championship. With his rivalry with Sheamus behind him, Del Rio moved on to feuding with Randy Orton, with
15582-407: The championship to John Cena, but gained it back on 2 October at Hell in a Cell by defeating Cena and Punk in a Hell in a Cell match. On 23 October at Vengeance , Del Rio successfully defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in a Last Man Standing match , after The Miz and R-Truth interfered. On 20 November at Survivor Series , Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to Punk. Del Rio received
15741-729: The character Mask de Smith from killer7 is a playable lucha libre wrestler, featuring a mask and cape. The popular video game franchise Pokémon introduced the Fighting/Flying-type Pokémon Hawlucha, which is a hawk-like humanoid creature with elements of a lucha libre wrestler. The masked Luchador fighter and chef El Fuerte was introduced to the Street Fighter franchise in Street Fighter IV . Alberto el Patr%C3%B3n José Alberto Rodríguez Chucuan (born 25 May 1977)
15900-533: The company was racist. They were interrupted by the Los Perros del Mal stable. After one of the members laid his hands on Caras, El Patrón ran after the stable and cleared house, while officials reminded him that he has the no-compete clause from the WWE. The show ended with El Patrón attacking Los Perros del Mal leader El Hijo del Perro Aguayo , after his win in the main event. In early September 2014, Rodríguez's lawyers had resolved his issues with WWE and he
16059-595: The company. Reportedly, Rodríguez was unhappy with WWE, claiming he had been given empty promises, including a main event push, when he made his return in October 2015. On 9 September, WWE officially announced that they had come to terms with his release from the company. Following his second departure from WWE, Rodríguez would begin taking bookings on the independent circuit , returning to his Alberto El Patrón ring name. He stated that he did not want to sign with any promotion and would limit himself to 60 dates per year for
16218-430: The competition on 18 January. The following week the rookies competed in a fatal-four-way match, of which the winner could change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro. After the conclusion of NXT , Del Rio hired Clay as his bodyguard. At the Royal Rumble on 30 January, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants, last eliminating Santino Marella , to win the Royal Rumble match and earn
16377-412: The contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio Gaona won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to the tradition. The following match types are variants of Luchas de Apuestas matches with different types of wagers. Since lucha libre has its roots more in Latin American professional wrestling than North American professional wrestling, it retains some of the basics of
16536-648: The cross armbreaker to retain his title. Del Rio then began a feud with his new number one contender, Jack Swagger, over his opposing political views regarding immigration in America. The feud escalated on the 18 March episode of Raw , when Swagger broke Rodriguez's ankle with his Patriot Lock submission. Del Rio continued feuding with Swagger on the 1 April episode of Raw , defeating Swagger's manager Zeb Colter via disqualification after Colter hit Del Rio with Ricardo Rodriguez's crutch. On 7 April at WrestleMania 29 , Del Rio defeated Swagger via submission to retain
16695-474: The dam conference, a rematch between Apache and Shani was announced but it would be a mask fight against hair. On March 4 at Rey de Reyes , Apache defeats Shani in a non-title fight, with the help of Estrella Divina. On March 6 at a press conference, the fifth edition of the Copa Triplemanía was announced, but it was later canceled. It was also announced that Alberto el Patrón would have a match at
16854-461: The days of the Aztecs . Early masks were very simple with basic colors to distinguish the wrestler. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals , gods , ancient heroes and other archetypes , whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Virtually all wrestlers in Mexico will start their careers wearing masks, but over the span of their careers,
17013-432: The event against a mystery opponent. However, on August 21, 2018, it was announced Alberto will not appear at the event. El Patrón explained he wouldn't appear since he had a discussion with Dorian Roldán over the money and the terms of his contract. On June 3 at Verano de Escándalo , Jeff Jarrett made his return to the company joining as a member of MAD adding in the fight between Rey Wagner and Rey Mysterio Jr. for
17172-408: The exchange victorious, after Christian returned from his injury and attacked Del Rio. On 18 March episode of SmackDown , Del Rio and Christian finally had their first one–on–one match in a steel cage , in which Christian won. At WrestleMania XXVII, Del Rio was unsuccessful in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Edge. On 8 April episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Christian to earn
17331-419: The finish. The next night on Raw , Del Rio once again lost to Orton in a two-out-of-three-falls match, ending the feud. On 16 December at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Del Rio turned face when he saved Ricardo Rodriguez and the Spanish announcers from 3MB ( Drew McIntyre , Heath Slater , and Jinder Mahal ). Later in the event, Del Rio teamed with The Miz and The Brooklyn Brawler to defeat 3MB in
17490-418: The first time. The promotion flourished and quickly became the premier spot for wrestlers. As television surfaced as a viable entertainment medium during the 1950s, Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, subsequently yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Moreover, it was the emergence of television that allowed Lutteroth to promote lucha libre's first breakout superstar into
17649-708: The following year as Alberto Del Rio. In WWE, he became the first Mexico -born world champion in WWE history after he won the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship twice each. He also won the 2011 Royal Rumble and the 2011 Money in the Bank ladder match , making him the only professional wrestler to win both in the same calendar year. Rodríguez departed WWE in 2014 and wrestled as Alberto El Patrón in other promotions such as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), Ring of Honor (ROH), Lucha Underground , Japanese and Puerto Rican promotions, and various United States independent promotions . In AAA, he won
17808-508: The gimmick has recently attained a more flamboyant outlook. Luchadores , like their foreign counterparts, seek to obtain a campeonato (championship) through winning key wrestling matches. Since many feuds and shows are built around luchas de apuestas (matches with wagers), title matches play a less prominent role in Mexico than in the U.S. Titles can be defended as few as one time per year. The two biggest lucha libre promotions in Mexico are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), which
17967-461: The group officially disbanded after Del Rio and Rusev walked out on Sheamus during a six-man tag match against Kalisto, Cesaro and Sami Zayn . On the 2 May episode of Raw , Del Rio was involved in a Battle Royal to determine the No. 1 contender for Kalisto's United States Championship, but was eliminated by Zack Ryder . On the 26 May episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Zack Ryder to qualify for
18126-403: The importance placed on masks in lucha libre, losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult, and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasked wrestler. Putting one's mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tradition in lucha libre as a means to settle a heated feud between two or more wrestlers. In these battles, called luchas de apuestas ("matches with wagers"),
18285-766: The loser must permanently remove his mask, which is a wager with a high degree of weight attached. Tag team wrestling is especially prevalent in lucha libre , particularly matches with three-member teams, called trios . Although in English the term specifically refers to the Mexican style of theatrical professional wrestling, in Spanish it can refer to other kinds of wrestling, including competitive freestyle wrestling ( es:lucha libre olímpica ) and professional wrestling in general ( es:lucha libre profesional ) in addition to Mexican professional wrestling in particular ( es:lucha libre mexicana ). However, in Spain (as with other non-Anglophone European countries) professional wrestling
18444-550: The main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash , which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican-born WWE Champion. Del Rio made his first televised title defense the next night on Raw , defeating Rey Mysterio to retain his title. On 18 September at Night of Champions , Del Rio lost
18603-403: The match began, Del Rio attacked Sheamus along with men posing as police officers, which led to SmackDown General Manager Booker T taking away his number one contender's status in result. However, the next week, Sheamus had the title match put back on for SummerSlam on 19 August, where Del Rio again failed in another attempt to dethrone Sheamus after the referee did not notice Del Rio's foot on
18762-400: The match by Team Raw's CM Punk . At Survivor Series on 21 November, in the traditional five-on-five elimination match, Del Rio captained a team against Rey Mysterio's team. Despite Del Rio's team losing, he was removed from the match after Big Show knocked him out with a WMD. On the 26 November episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of
18921-450: The new AAA Mega Champion. With the win, Rodríguez became the first wrestler to have held both the CMLL and AAA world heavyweight championships. On 24 May 2015, Alberto came together with Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr. to form the "Dream Team" for AAA's Lucha Libre World Cup . The trio eventually won the tournament, defeating Johnny Mundo , Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson in the finals. At Triplemanía XXIII , El Patrón defeated Brian Cage in
19080-493: The next champion. On the 6 April episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Sheamus in a non-title match by disqualification to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. On 20 May at Over the Limit , Del Rio failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Sheamus in a fatal four-way match, also involving Chris Jericho and Randy Orton . On the 25 May episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Kane and Randy Orton in
19239-515: The next couple of years, Caras worked both in Mexico and Japan to gain experience in the ring. In Mexico he worked exclusively for AAA making appearances at shows such as the 2002 Verano de Escándalo , where he teamed with El Gronda and El Hijo del Solitario to defeat the trio of Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana and El Brazo . Rodríguez's first foray into puroresu was in 2001 for the Battlarts promotion, where he defeated Kazunari Murakami at
19398-402: The next two years before retiring from professional wrestling. Rodríguez was scheduled to return to AAA on 2 October at Héroes Inmortales X , but ended up no-showing the event. The following day, Rodríguez claimed that he had been attacked by a "knife-wielding criminal" at a restaurant prior to the event, suffering multiple lacerations on his arm and other parts of the body. El Patrón made
19557-471: The next year, while also becoming the first wrestler in history to win a Royal Rumble and a Money in the Bank match in the same year. Following the orders of Vince McMahon , Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by Punk before he could do so. Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on 14 August at SummerSlam , challenging CM Punk after
19716-449: The offer. In 2018, it was announced that El Patrón would make his return at Triplemanía XXVI , facing a mysterious opponent. However, during a press conference on 21 August, AAA did not mention El Patrón's match as part of the final card. Rodríguez explained he would not appear since he had a unsuccessful discussion with Dorian Roldán over money and they did not find an opponent for him. Roldán said that Rodríguez had no communication with
19875-422: The opponent to the mat for the count of three, making him submit, knocking him out of the ring for a predetermined count (generally twenty), or by disqualification. Using the ropes for leverage is illegal, and once a luchador is on the ropes, his opponent must release any holds and he will not be able to pin him. Disqualifications occur when an opponent uses an illegal grab or move, such as the piledriver , which
20034-439: The opposing team or by pinning both of the other members. A referee can also stop the match because of "excessive punishment". He can then award the match to the aggressors. Falls often occur simultaneously, which adds to the extremely stylized nature of the action. In addition, a wrestler can opt to roll out of the ring in lieu of tagging a partner or simply be knocked out of the ring, at which point one of his partners may enter. As
20193-479: The previous month. This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle . Mysterio returned on the 8 October episode of SmackDown , and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match. On the 15 October episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights on 24 October, but during the pay-per-view event, he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from
20352-584: The promotion after the enactment of a new contract. On 5 December 2015, González Sr. defeated El Patrón (who, by then was the WWE United States Champion ) by disqualification in WWC's season closing event, Lockout. On 15 October 2016, El Patrón returned to World Wrestling Council (WWC) at the second night of WWC's annual Aniversario event, where he faced Ray Gonzalez in a "Jaula de la Muerte" match. On 1 November 2014, Rodríguez, working under
20511-539: The promotion, so they did not include him in the final card. On 24 August 2014, the World Wrestling Council began a storyline by airing a backstage segment where heel manager Juan Manuel Ortega talked by telephone with someone only identified as "patrón" and referenced a reunion previously held at WrestleMania XXX. The following week featured a segment where the manager picked Ricardo Rodriguez from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and drove to
20670-575: The promotion. He debuted at the promotion's television tapings in Los Angeles, California later that same day. During his debut, Rodríguez, billed as Alberto El Patrón, was attacked by his AAA rival El Texano Jr., who was also making his debut. This led to a match on the 25 March episode, where he successfully defended the AAA Mega Championship against El Texano Jr. in a Bullrope match . On 6 May, Alberto defeated Johnny Mundo in
20829-715: The rankings, this was further supported when he received matches for both the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship inside a three-week period. The following year on 31 March 2006 Caras was entered again into the La Copa Junior tournament and earned a return victory over Dr. Wagner Jr. who knocked him out of the tournament the previous year. He also won against Heavy Metal and Apolo Dantés to gain
20988-546: The returning Sin Cara. Del Rio finally defeated Sin Cara on the 6 January 2014, episode of Raw . After the match, Del Rio insulted the soon-to-be returning Batista and that he would eliminate Batista in the Royal Rumble to get everyone talking about him. On the 13 January episode of Raw , he defeated Rey Mysterio and after the match, once again confronted Batista. On the 20 January episode of Raw , after he defeated Rey Mysterio, Batista returned and attacked Del Rio with
21147-429: The right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII on 3 April. The next night on Raw , Del Rio chose to compete for Edge's World Heavyweight Championship. At Elimination Chamber on 20 February, Del Rio attacked Edge, after he had successfully defended his title and solidified his spot as Del Rio's opponent at WrestleMania. However, Edge managed to come out
21306-410: The rights to his name, mask and image, but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009. Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW under the name Dos. He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado. During
21465-494: The ring name Alberto Del Rio , and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Alberto El Patrón . Before working for WWE, Rodríguez used the name Dos Caras Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan, achieving success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) by winning the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship once. Rodríguez signed with WWE in 2009 and made his debut on their main roster
21624-686: The ring name "Alberto", made his debut for the Japanese Wrestle-1 promotion, defeating Masakatsu Funaki . On 11 December 2014, Ring of Honor (ROH) announced that Rodríguez, billed as "Alberto El Patrón", had signed to make his debut for the promotion on 3 January 2015. He defeated Christopher Daniels in his debut match. During the ROH Winter Warriors tour on 30–31 January, El Patrón defeated A. C. H. and Roderick Strong . On 1 March 2015, at ROH 13th Anniversary Show , El Patrón unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for
21783-485: The semi–finals at Survivor Series . On the 30 November episode of Raw , Del Rio joined Sheamus ' new stable, The League of Nations , and a week later ended his association with Zeb Colter. After retaining his championship against Jack Swagger , in a chairs match , at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Del Rio reignited his feud with John Cena, after the latter returned on 28 December. On
21942-1017: The spring supports added to U.S. and Japanese rings; as a result, lucha libre does not emphasize the "flat back" bumping style of other professional wrestling styles. For this same reason, aerial maneuvers are almost always performed on opponents outside the ring, allowing the luchador to break his fall with an acrobatic tumble. Lucha libre has several different weight classes, many catered to smaller agile fighters, who often make their debuts in their mid-teens. This system enables dynamic high-flying luchadores such as Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , Super Crazy and Místico , to develop years of experience by their mid-twenties. A number of prominent Japanese wrestlers also started their careers training in Mexican lucha libre before becoming stars in Japan . These include Gran Hamada , Satoru Sayama , Jushin Thunder Liger , and Último Dragón . Lucha libre
22101-766: The story of a family of luchadores called "Los Hermanos Números" who also fought evil. Angel must help the remaining brother, Numero Cinco, defeat the Aztec warrior-demon that killed his four brothers. In the British TV show Justin Lee Collins : The Wrestler , Colins competes as the rudo El Glorioso , or The Glorious One, against the exótico Cassandro in The Roundhouse , London, ultimately losing and being unmasked. The book and television series The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan , features
22260-403: The term cachascán (from "catch as can") is used and the wrestlers are called cachascanistas . In Bolivia , wrestling Cholitas – female wrestlers dressed up as indigenous Aymara – are popular and have inspired comic books . Some lucha libre wrestlers had careers in various mixed martial arts promotions, promoting lucha libre and wearing signature masks and attire. One of the most famous
22419-457: The title. On the 29 April episode of Raw , Ricardo Rodriguez defeated Big E Langston and Zeb Colter in a three-way match to give Del Rio the right to choose the stipulation of his three-way match at Extreme Rules and chose a ladder match. However, Ziggler would suffer a legitimate concussion at a SmackDown taping, thus removing their match from Extreme Rules. In result of Ziggler's injury, Del Rio instead would be booked to face Swagger in
22578-590: The top luchadores in Mexico at the time. In recent years, several luchadores have found success in the United States. Notable luchadores who achieved success in the U.S. are Eddie Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero , Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , L. A. Park , Super Crazy , Alberto Del Rio , Psicosis , Místico , Kalisto , Aero Star , Drago , Andrade El Idolo , Pentagon Jr. , Fenix , El Hijo del Fantasma , Bandido , Flamita , Puma King , Rush , Soberano Jr. , Dragon Lee , Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. CMLL lucha libre shows are broadcast weekly in
22737-420: The true identity of a person losing his mask is previously unknown, it is customary for that person to reveal his real name, hometown and years as a professional upon unmasking. The first lucha de apuestas was presented on July 14, 1940, at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago (Velázquez) was so much lighter than his challenger ( Octavio Gaona ), he requested a further condition before he would sign
22896-467: The two attacking each other on the 28 September episode of SmackDown . The rivalry built to a singles match on 28 October at Hell in a Cell , where Orton emerged victorious. On the 31 October episode of Main Event , Del Rio teamed with The Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil ) to face Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara in six-man tag team bout that ended with Orton pinning Del Rio for
23055-439: The win. On the 6 November episode of SmackDown , Del Rio was again defeated by Orton in a Falls Count Anywhere match , after taking an RKO onto the ringside steel steps. The two were then on opposing teams for the traditional five-on-five elimination tag match on 18 November at Survivor Series . Del Rio's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, defeated Orton's team, led by Mick Foley , despite Del Rio being eliminated by Orton prior to
23214-399: The wrestlers "wager" either their mask or their hair. In a lucha de apuesta (betting match), wrestlers make a public bet on the outcome of the match. The most common forms are the mask-against-mask, hair-against-hair, or mask-against-hair matches. A wrestler who loses his or her mask has to remove the mask after the match. A wrestler who loses their hair is shaved immediately afterward. If
23373-546: Was "a loser and a backstabber" and confronting Jeremy Borash . Later that night, he interrupted the main event by attacking Johnny Impact and Eli Drake . El Patrón was released from Impact on 7 April 2018 after legitimately no-showing the Lucha Underground vs Impact Wrestling event in New Orleans the previous night. On 19 March 2023, El Patrón made his first appearance in AAA in over seven years at
23532-412: Was again unsuccessful after a Last Man Standing match the following night on Main Event . At Battleground he participated in a battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship but was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. Del Rio lost several matches over the following weeks and was fired from WWE on 7 August, due to "unprofessional conduct" following an altercation with an employee who allegedly made
23691-635: Was defeated by LAX after an interference o LAX newest member, Low Ki . El Patron was scheduled to defend his Unified GFW World Heavyweight Championship against Low Ki at Destination X . On 12 July 2017, El Patrón was suspended by GFW due to a personal domestic violence issue with his real-life girlfriend Paige . As a result of the suspension, on 14 August, he was stripped of the Unified GFW World Heavyweight Championship. On 5 November 2017, at Bound for Glory , El Patrón returned from suspension, claiming that everyone
23850-673: Was eventually buried wearing his silver mask. More recently, the masks luchadores wear have become iconic symbols of Mexican culture. Contemporary artists like Francisco Delgado and Xavier Garza incorporate wrestler masks in their paintings. Although masks are a feature of lucha libre, it is a misconception that every Mexican wrestler uses one. There have been several maskless wrestlers who have been successful, particularly Tarzán López , Gory Guerrero , Perro Aguayo and Negro Casas . Formerly masked wrestlers who lost their masks, such as Satánico , Cien Caras , Cibernético and others, have had continued success despite losing their masks. With
24009-498: Was founded in 1933, and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA). One characteristic practiced in Mexico is with fans honoring wrestlers by throwing money into the wrestling ring after witnessing a high-quality match. With this act fans honor the luchador in a symbolic way, thanking the luchador for a spectacular match demonstrating they are pleased with their performance, showing the match is worth their money and worth more than what they paid to witness such an event. This act of honoring
24168-550: Was no longer restricted by the 90-day no-compete clause. On 14 September, Rodríguez, now billed as "El Patrón Alberto", made his AAA in-ring return teaming with Myzteziz and La Parka in a six-man tag team main event, where they defeated Aguayo, Averno and El Texano Jr. Alberto then began feuding with El Texano Jr. over the AAA Mega Championship . On 28 November, Ricardo Rodriguez made his AAA debut, once again becoming Alberto's personal ring announcer. On 7 December at Guerra de Titanes , Alberto defeated El Texano Jr. to become
24327-444: Was not trademarked. Rodríguez also stated that for the moment he was under a 90-day no-compete clause, which would prevent him from wrestling for AAA. He later also revealed that as part of his departure from WWE, Del Rio was banned from wrestling in the United States for one year. On 17 August at Triplemanía XXII, El Patrón and his father Dos Caras appeared to open the show, speaking on coming to AAA and addressing WWE, claiming that
24486-414: Was part of a six-man tag match along with his fellow League of Nations members Sheamus and Rusev , against The New Day , where his team won when Sheamus pinned Xavier Woods . After WrestleMania, The League of Nations began to dissolve when King Barrett was ejected from the group on the 4 April episode of Raw , where Del Rio and the rest of the group attacked him. On the 28 April episode of SmackDown ,
24645-408: Was signed to a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In his first test in the company, Caras competed in the 2005 La Copa Junior , but the storyline of the tournament saw him defeated in the semi-final by Dr. Wagner Jr. Caras's advancement to the semi-final of the cup, mere months after signing with the company was an indicator that the bookers were interested in elevating him up
24804-450: Was ultimately unsuccessful in the match. His last appearance in WWE was on the 16 August episode of SmackDown Live , in which Del Rio was defeated by John Cena. On 18 August 2016, Rodríguez was suspended for thirty days for his first violation of WWE's wellness policy. On 30 August, it was reported that Rodríguez would be exercising an opt-out clause from his WWE contract, allowing his departure should he be unhappy with his position within
24963-513: Was unable to continue the match due to a pre-match assault by Mark Henry . On 27 June episode of Raw , Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again after interference from Henry. On 17 July at Money in the Bank , Del Rio defeated Alex Riley , Evan Bourne , Jack Swagger , Kofi Kingston , The Miz , R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match for a future WWE Championship match whenever and wherever over
25122-400: Was unmasked by the legendary Santo . Tag teams are sometimes composed of both rudos and técnicos in what are called parejas increibles (incredible pairings). Parejas increibles highlight the conflict between a luchador ' s desire to win and his contempt for his partner. A staple gimmick present in lucha libre since the 1950s is exótico , a character in drag. It is argued that
25281-485: Was won by Edge and also included Kane and Rey Mysterio. On 7 January 2011 episode of SmackDown , Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a two-out-of-three-falls match , with help from Ricardo Rodriguez by holding Mysterio out of the ring to end his long feud with Mysterio. On the fourth season of NXT , starting in December 2010, Del Rio mentored rookie Conor O'Brian , who became the second contestant to be eliminated from
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