What is the Gran Alterntiva Tournament? Who’s won in previous years?
CMLL (Mexico City) occasionally holds a tournament to highlight promising young wrestlers, called the Gran Alterntiva tournament. The tournament creates 8 or 16 teams of undercard wrestlers with higher profile legends who match them in tecnico/rudo stytle but usually don’t team together. The teams meet in a typical single elimination single fall tournament over one or two shows. The winning young wrestler typically gets a reward of being spotlighted in some extra way.
As far as I’ve been able to find, these are the past Gran Alterntiva Tournaments.
(Edit: The large tournament tables mess up the main page for some browsers/monitors, so please click on the link to read on.)
Edit Count: 3
(Thanks to Rob on filling in a lot of blanks.)
1994
Pro Wrestling History.com lists the 1997 edition of this tournament as the 4th yearly occurance. While I’ve been able to find results for 1996 and now 1995, I have no information about the the 1994 tournament.
No one’s been able to find any info about 1994, and there’s contradictory evidence that 1995 was the first one, so I’ll assume there was no 1994 until other proof is offered.
1995
Commentary for the 1995 indicated it was the first tournament.
(Older stars are always listed before )
Dr. Wagner Jr./Astro Rey Jr.-----
|Wagner/Astro-------
Mocho Cota/Guerrero De La Muerte- |
|Wagner/Astro-
Atlantis/Atlantico--------------- | |
|Atlantis/Atlantico- |
MS-1/MS-1 Jr.-------------------- |
|Wagner/Astro-
Bestia Salvaje/Corazon Salvaje--- |
|Bestia/Corazon----- |
Emilio Charles Jr/Halcon Negro--- | |
|King/Shocker-
Silver King/Shocker-------------- |
|King/Shocker-------
Pierroth Jr./Chiacgo Express-----
Reward: Main event trios matches for the finalists, semi-main event trios matches for the semifinalists.
1996
Two seperate tournaments this year.
The first (which ProWrestlingHistory.com incorrectly credits to 1997) happened on 06/07/96.
Bestia Salvaje/Chicago Express-
|Salvaje/Chicago----
Dos Caras/Bronco--------------- |
|Salvaje/Chicago----
El Hijo Del Santo/Olimpus------ | |
|Santo/Olimpus------ |
Felino/Astro Rey Jr.----------- |
|Salvaje/Chicago
Rambo/Guerrero De La Muerte---- |
|Rambo/Muerte------- |
El Brazo/Olimpis--------------- | |
|Atlantis/Atlantico-
Atlantis/Atlantico------------- |
|Atlantis/Atlantico-
Apolo Dantes/Rey Bucanero------
Reward: Chicago Express wrestled in some Arena Mexico semi main events, which led to a NWA LH Title match against El Dandy.
The second tournament started in November. This tournament is diferent from the ones that followed it, because a qualification round led into the tournament. 20 young wrestlers were split into 4 divisions for round robin matchups. Top two from each division moved on to the normal tag team tournamnet, only being assigned partners in that stage.
According to this recap, the divisions particpants were:
1) Mascara Magica, Astro Rey Jr, Principle Frankie, Kung Fu Jr., Filoso
2) Rey Bucanero, Atlantico, Alacran, Ultraman Jr., America
3) Mr. Niebla, Jaguar, Brandon, Linx, Ultimatum
4) Olimpico, Karloff Lagarde Jr., Olimpus, Corazon Salvaje, Mano Negro Jr.
The tournament itself proceeded like this:
Felino/Astro Rey Jr.---------
|Satanico/Karolff-
Satanico/Karolff Lagarde Jr.- |
|Emilio/Rey---
Lizmark Jr./Jaguar----------- | |
|Emilio/Rey------- |
Emilio Charles/Rey Bucanero-- |
|Emilio/Rey
Hector Garza/Mr. Niebla------ |
|Garza/Niebla----- |
Atlantis/Atlantico----------- | |
|Garza/Niebla-
Rayo de Jalisco/Olimpico----- |
|Dos/Magica-------
Dos Caras/Mascara Magica-----
Reward: Rey got apparently got semi-main in Arena Mexico for this match. Which is fair, since the main event was Santo turning rudo. Rey got a few semimains after.
1998
Emilio Charles Jr and Tony Rivera beat Bestia Salvaje and Guerrero De La Muerte to win the tournament on 7/14/98, en route to building up hair/hair matches for the younger rivals, which Tony won.
1999
There were actually two tournaments held in the ’99 year, though the last one was late enough in the year to almost considered in the 2000 version.
According to the this recap, the first tournament on 04/02/99 went like this.
Blue Panther/Ultimo Guerrero-----
|Panther/Ultimo---
Fuerza Guerrera/Rey Bucanero----- |
|Panther/Ultimo---
Emilio Charles Jr./Tony Rivera--- | |
|Emilio/Tony------ |
Satanico/Violencia--------------- |
|Panther/Ultimo
Mr. Niebla/Atlantico------------- |
|Niebla/Atlantico- |
Felino/Starman------------------- | |
|Niebla/Atlantico-
Shocker/Astro Rey Jr.------------ |
|Shocker/Astro----
Apolo Dantes/Karolff Lagarde Jr.-
Reward: Panther was enthused with the victory and talked about Ultimo joining his Panther/Black Warrior/Dr. Wagner faction. Ultimo Guerrero’s reward was three weeks in a row in the main event of Arena Mexico. The first two weeks were Giant Silva handicap matches. The third was a Wagner/Scorpio/Ultimo vs Negro/Niebla/Tinieblas Jr. of no particular merit to Ultimo
Some articles about Ultimo’s win here imply Ultimo gets a NWA Middleweight Title Shot the third week, but I believe that came from an unrelated Cibernetico. One could say he rode the wave of one tournament success to win another, but they weren’t directly related.
(Additional info from Satanico’s Ultimo Guerrero bio, and La Esquina del Dolor))
The second tournament was on 12/17/99. It was also a 16 team tournament, though I could not find records for some of the one round and out particpants.
Ringo Mendoza/Ricky Marvin-----
|Ringo/Ricky---
Apolo Dantes/Alan Stone-------- |
|Felino/Tigre--
Felino/Tigre Blanco------------ | |
|Felino/Tigre-- |
Mascara Ano 2000/Sangre Azteca- |
|Felino/Tigre
Scorpio Jr./Fugaz-------------- |
|Scorpio/Fugaz- |
Lizmark Jr./Sombra de Plata---- | |
|Scorpio/Fugaz-
Negro Casas/Flecha------------- |
|Negro/Flecha--
Bestia Salvaje/Moto Cross------
(Info culled from Highspots’s Sangre Azteca and Ricky Marvin bios. Parts of this tournament can be found on tape at WrestleholicsVideo.com)
Reward: Nothing in particular.
2001
I watched this show and wrote down the full brackets! What a brilliant man I was three years ago! What happened?
Quarterfinal Semifinal Final
Blue Panther/Virus---
|--Panther/Virus-------
Mr. Niebla/Alan Stone |
|--Olimpico/Psicodelico
Olimpico/Psicodelico- | |
|--Olimpico/Psicodelico |
Gran Markus Jr./Dr. X |
|--Olimpico/Psicodelico
Atlantis/Volador Jr.- |
|--Atlantis/Volador Jr. |
Mascara Ano 2000/Enemigo Publico | |
|--Warrior/Azteca------
Black Warrior/Sangre Azteca |
|--Warrior/Azteca------
Black Tiger/Tiger Blanco
(CANZ also recapped this show and arguably had a better grip on what was going on. The tape of this also at WHV.)
Reward: Psicodelico got a semi-main in Arena Mexico, which confused the heck out of me when I watched this show for the first time.
2003
Villano IV and Alan Stone defeated Mascara Ano 2000 and Sagrado
Reward: Again, I’m not sure. Nothing in particular.
2004
This tournament took place 08/20/04
El Santo/Mistico--------------
|Santo/Mistico----
Misterioso I/Misterioso II---- |
|Santo/Mistico-
Atlantis/Volador Jr.---------- | |
|Atlantis/Volador- |
Perro Aguayo Jr/Sangre Azteca- |
|Santo/Mistico
Ultimo Guerrero/Dr. X--------- |
|Guerrero/X------- |
Ultimo Dragon/Neutron--------- | |
|Guerrero/X----
Shocker/Alan Stone------------ |
|Shocker/Alan-----
Mascara Sagrada/Sagrado-------
No particular reward has been announced.
Summary Of Winners
Date Winners Had a better future? xx/xx/95 Dr. Wagner Jr. and Astro Rey Jr. Yes 06/07/96 Bestia Salvaje and Chicago Express No 11/15/96 Emilio Charles Jr. and Rey Bucanero Yes 07/14/98 Emilio Charles Jr. and Tony Rivera No 04/02/99 Blue Panther and Ultimo Guerrero Yes 12/17/99 Felino and Tigre Blanco No 08/14/01 Olimpico and Sicodelcio Jr. No 01/01/03 Villano IV and Alan Stone No (too soon?) 08/20/04 El Hijo Del Santo and Mistico Too Soon To Tell
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Villano IV/Alan Stone was actually 2003 and I’ll dig up the 1995 results tomorrow(Shocker/Silver King won over Dr. Wagner Jr./Astro Rey Jr.[Mephisto]).
I have much more to add but work has been hectic lately. This was a FANTASTIC piece though and I wish you’d post it on Fredo’s board to *maybe* spark some discussion.
Rob
Woo-hoo, free time! So let’s see how I can add to all this…
1994 – I have no record of any tournament taking place. Furthermore, in the commentary for the 1995 tournament, they mention it’s a first so I’m going to assume, unless it can be proven otherwise, that Pro Wrestling History is wrong.
1995 – I don’t have fancy little brackets, I’ll leave that to you.:)
Dr. Wagner Jr. and Astro Rey Jr. beat Guerrero De La Muerte and Mocho Cota
Atlantis and Atlantico defeated MS-1 and MS-1 Jr.
Corazon Salvaje and Bestia Salvaje beat Emilio Charles Jr. and Halcon Negro
Silver King and Shocker defeated Pierroth Jr. and Chicago Express
Dr. Wagner Jr. and Astro Rey Jr. beat Atlantico and Atlantis
Silver King and Shocker defeated Bestia Salvaje and Corazon Salvaje
Silver King and Shocker beat Dr. Wagner Jr. and Astro Rey Jr. to win the Torneo Gran Alternativa
A pretty fun tournament with the entire show making television. The finals would have been a MOTYC but 95 was loaded with amazing matches from AAA so it got largely ignored.
Reward: A little bad luck + semi-main/main events for all the semi-finalists. The week after this tournament, Shocker teamed with Corazon De Leon(Jericho) and Silver King to face Astro Jr., Wagner and Charles. The bad luck part would be Wagner blew catching Shocker on a dive and he got KO’ed. Not the best way to make your main event debut. The semi-main had Atlantis/Atlantico/Dandy vs Bestia/Corazon/Felino. So as you can see, even the losers got rewarded since up until that point, Atlantico and Corazon Salvaje were absolute nobodies. The push for Shocker/Astro Rey Jr. continued for another 3 weeks before they disapeared back into mid-card hell. However one can clearly point to this tournament as the start of Shocker’s rise to the top. By the end of the year he was main eventing the Year End Spectacular and winning the mask of Kahos(surprise surprise, Astro Rey Jr.’s daddy).
1995 = success.
1996 – Hold the phone. There were *TWO* tournaments this year. The Bestia/Chicago win was 6/7/96 and the Bucanero/Charles win was 11/15/96. So we’ll take them one by one…
6/7/96:
Bestia Salvaje and Chicago Express defeated Dos Caras and Bronco
El Hijo Del Santo and Olimpico beat Felino and Astro Rey Jr.
Rambo and Guerrero De La Muerte defeated Olimpus and El Brazo
Atlantis and Atlantico beat Apolo Dantes and Rey Bucanero
Bestia Salvaje and Chicago Express defeated Olimpico and El Hijo Del Santo
Atlantis and Atlantico beat Rambo and Guerrero De La Muerte
Bestia Salvaje and Chicago Express defeated Atlantis and Atlantico to win the Torneo Gran Alternativa
Notice how a lot of guys kept getting second(and eventually third) chances?:) Definitely the worst tournament yet with no stand-out matches and just look at that final and think about who they passed up to get Chicago/Atlantico in the finals.
Reward: Chicago Express got to work a bunch of semi-main events, leading all the way to his challenging El Dandy for the NWA Light Heavyweight Title at Arena Coliseo. As much as I love Chicago and miss him dearly, I’m sure this is something El Consejo would take back in a heartbeat if they could.
11/15/96 – You are correct, this was a different way of doing things. Some of the round robin stuff made television and you could hear the crickets chirping away in Arena Mexico. Nobody gave a shit as out of the group of 16, there were only 3 or 4 guys the fans actually cared about. So the round robin stuff was pretty much just a complication as everyone knew the guys getting the push at the time were Olimpico, Magica, Niebla and Bucanero. The tag team portion was really fun and the finals were surprising to most. I’m doing this by memory so I may be wrong but I think Bucanero was left alone against Niebla and Garza and ended up beating both of them to win.
Reward: Bunch of semi-main events for Bucanero which had absolutely no effect on his rise to being a superstar. The fans took him a LITTLE more seriously but he was still just another mid-carder whose claim to fame was his relation to Pirata Morgan. Bucanero’s career never really took off till he joined up with Guerrero and Satanico to form the (at the time) newest Infernales version.
1996 = First part = gigantic failure which led to the second part = success… though you had to wait 3 years to realize it.
1997 – I have no listing for any tournament taking place in 1997. This could possibly be b/c of the two 1996 tournaments.
1998 – I only have the finals which says Emilio/Rivera went over Bestia Salvaje/Guerrero De La Muerte. This seems to be more of a case of pushing the current feuds rather than crowning a new top youngster. Emilio and Bestia were feuding as were Rivera and Muerte who eventually had a hair match a few weeks later with Rivera winning. The win did nothing for Rivera who stayed in the same spot he always had, still has and will always have.
1998 = Failure.
1999 – Is there a even a doubt that this was a success? You are correct that the NWA Middelweight Title show came from an unrelated Torneo Cibernetico BUT without this tournament win and the fans getting used to Guerrero as a star, that title match would have been a failure. He was major over in that match and you can definitely attribute half that to him main eventing the weeks before. The other half obviously being the Japan vs Mexico angle.
Sidenote: The irony of Shocker/Astro Rey Jr. teaming in the first round.
Sidenote #2: Thankfully this was the last we’d see of Atlantico. Losing for four straight years may have given him some sort of message.
1999 = Huge success.
2000 – Yes, I consider it 2000 even though it took place in 1999. The full results…
Felino and Tigre Blanco defeated Mascara Ano 2000 and Sangre Azteca
Ringo Mendoza and Ricky Marvin beat Apolo Dantes and Alan Stone
Negro Casas and La Flecha defeated Bestia Salvaje and Moto Cross
Scorpio Jr. and Fugaz beat Lizmark and Sombra De Plata
Felino and Tigre Blanco defeated Ringo Mendoza and Ricky Marvin
Scorpio Jr. and Fugaz beat Negro Casas and La Flecha by DQ
Felino and Tigre Blanco defeated Scorpio Jr. and Fugaz to win the Torneo Gran Alternativa
It still boggles the mind as to how Ricky Marvin DIDN’T win the tournament but CMLL loves doing these swerves(as you’ll see in my predictions for the upcoming tournament). Fugaz going to the finals was a surprise at the time. I had picked a Marvin/Ringo vs MA2K/Azteca finals and granted I have a Sangre Azteca bias, it seemed like the most logical thing at the time. The semi’s and finals made TV, all clipped to death of course. Tigre Blanco winning was… weird.
Reward: Your guess is as good as mine. It could have been a DELAYED reward b/c eventually Blanco got the Mexican National Welterweight Title but that was over 16 months later. Stil, just like Bucanero’s win, this year would be one of those years where you had to wait to see what would happen.
2000 = Failure. This is my opinion only of course and I’m not saying Tigre Blanco was a failure himself as he was never given the chance to really run with any ball. I’m only saying it’s a failure b/c Los Hermanos Stone were *HOT* at the time, Sangre Azteca needed the win big time and Ricky Marvin was ready to break through but it was all wasted away.
2001 – Oh what a horrible tournament. I wish I could find the old e-mails where I expressed my hapiness when the teams were revealed and the sadness when the results came in. In some ways, very reminicent of 2000. Virus, Volador Jr., Alan Stone and Sangre Azteca… all prime candidates to win and they give the win to someone as undeserving as Sicodelico Jr. *sigh*. Then you also have to mention TIGRE BLANCO was in the tournament again. One must obviously ask… WHY? This entire tournament was just one giant screwup on the part of Guerrero Del Futuro(who was booking the Coliseo shows at the time I believe).
Reward: A couple of semi-main events and then a fast plunge to the bottom of the card and in his best trick of all, eventually Sicodelico Jr. disapeared.
2001 = Disaster.
2002 – Nothing.
2003 – I don’t have full results but on 1/1/2003, Villano IV and Alan Stone beat Mascara Ano 2000 and Genetico(Sagrado) to win the Gran Alternativa. I remember the tournament being loaded with many of the new Guapos candidates and Volador Jr. was in there somewhere.
Reward: We still don’t know b/c aside from being named an official Guapo, Alan has yet to regularly work with them and seems to jump week to week from being regular undercard guy to leader of new generation of Guapos.
2003 = ???
I’ll make my 2004 picks in reply to the newest entry.
Rob
Silver King/Shocker’s win was 4/7/95.
Rob