CMLL has a bunch. I’m going to list them in order of importance from top at the top, to bottom at the bottom. This order is imo, so obviously they could be shuffled around. :

CMLL Universal Championship

What is it?

A yearly tournament where all the champions on CMLL are in a single elimination tournament. The winner of which is crowned the yearly CMLL Universal Championship. Basically the winner of it is considered the best champion of the company.







When is it?

Has happened anywhere from June-October since 2009. The last 2 have been in October relatively a month after CMLL’s Anniversary Show which is their biggest show of the year. It’ll likely fall in October again this year, so has not happened yet.

Leyenda de Plata (“Silver Legend”)





What is it?





Another singles tournament, whose rules can be a little confusing. The Silver Legend it’s in honor of is El Santo, the trophy for winning it is a silver mask on a plaque in honor of El Santo. This was the #1 tournament for years, before 2009 rolled around and the Universal Championship became a thing.

This isn’t a tournament in the way we traditionally think of tournaments. What happens is there is a torneo cibernetico, which is a multi-man elimination match.

All participants start at the same time, but there are only suppose to be 2 men in the ring at the same time. Like a lucha libre tag match, if one man rolls out or exits another can join in his place. The last few years… the winner of this 12 man torneo cibernetico then has to take on the winner of last years torneo cibernetico. The winner gets that years Leyenda de Plata plaque which is one of the highest honors of the company.







When is it?

It’s run all around the year and isn’t really settled into a spot, I don’t think it’s 2017 version has happened yet. It’s been an annual event since 1998, despite the fact El Hijo del Santo working on and off with CMLL since then and being far from a regular in CMLL. They continue to use the Santo likeness because I think they own the rights. Since the OG El Santo was a EMLL creation. (EMLL being what CMLL was before the early 90’s name change, like WWF to WWE)





CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles(CMLL National Tournament of Incredible Pairs)





What is it?

The biggest annual tag team tournament of CMLL, it see’s a Rudo(heel) team with a Tecnico(face) vs other teams of the same. The trophies they get aren’t some huge thing. More like a little glass trophy keepsake, but the tournament is normally very good. It is also often used to turn a good guy>bad or a bad guy>good. Being corrupted or cured by their teaming with someone from the other side of the spectrum. Single elimination like you would expect from what we think of in the US as a ‘normal’ tournament.





When is it?

Takes place anywhere from Feb-April annually since 2010, this year’s already happened in February.





Leyenda de Azul(“Blue Legend”)





What is it?





Second Banana to Leyenda de Plata for sure. This is basically what Andre The Giant Battle Royal to the Royal Rumble. Except if the Andre Battle Royal still had a decent amount of top guys in it. This one is in honor of Blue Demon instead of El Santo.

It’s still an honor, but not the huge deal that Plata is(despite the trophy being basically the same thing). It’s just more likely to be left off the yearly event calendar whereas Plata has rarely not happened since it’s inception. Azul has happened 10 times in it’s 17 year history while Plata has happened 14 times in 19 years.

Much like Plata, it’s a torneo cibernetico. However because of it’s spotty on and off status it’s just the torneo cibernetico and not a final vs the winner of the last iteration like how Plata works.





When is it?





Not as long running as it’s counterpart. It started in 2000, but has skipped years since it’s inception(2001-2002, 2007, 2009-2010, 2013, 2015). Just like Leyenda de Plata, this one is very scatter shot and can happen anywhere. Last years was in November, though that by no means they won’t have another one until the fall.





Torneo Gran Alternativa(Grand Alternative Tournament)





What is it?





Their second most important annual tag team tournament. It’s a single elimination bracket with 2 blocks, the winners of each taking each other on in the finals. Much like the other tag team tournament, this one has a gimmick team set up of Old & New vs Old and New. A rookie and vet taking on other teams of the same make-up.

Despite being a much older tournament than the other tag tournament, I’d call the other one a bigger deal. Mostly because the talent in the other tournament are more established guys.





When is it?





This years version of the tournament just took place over the last 3 weeks, happening on their friday shows June 2nd, 9th, 16th. Normally this tournament happens in the spring and has for the most part taken place in the spring since 1994. One of the vets from 1994… was still a vet in the 2017 version : Negro Casas.





CMLL International Gran Prix





What is it?





This and the next one are basically tied. They are both tournaments that are sometimes won by Mid-carders, but with the right talent can be a bigger deal. International Gran Prix is an old staple of CMLL that started in 1994, but has often been forgotten about for years.

Currently it’s a torneo cibernetico featuring 2 teams, Mexico and International. 8 men on each team and each eliminated until it gets down to 2 who will fight to win either for Team Mexico or Team International.from 2009-2015 there was no Gran Prix so it fell off the face of the earth for a while.





When is it?





Last years took place July 1st and it’s confirmed that this year’s will be in early September a few weeks before CMLL’s Anniversary show and will soon be announcing participants and have already announced King Haku who made it to the finals of the first tournament(back when it was singles elimination). Historically it’s taken place mostly in the spring or early Summer.





CMLL Reyes del Aire(King of the Air)





What is it?





Another torneo cibernetico tournament, this time themed on high flyers. The more Dive-y luchadores all get in a match where they can see who is the best at flying about the ring. Flips, ranas and the like rule the match up. It’s a good notch on one’s belt, but this tournament has hit some stagnation. Despite only being around since 2005 it has 2 people who have won 3 times and another who has won twice. So while they are fun to watch, it suffers from having too many people who have won multiple times and the fact CMLL have sometimes held 2 a year. 1 in Arena Mexico and a 2nd in one of the smaller arena CMLL works in.





When is it?





It fluctuates, though this year’s has already happened in April. It has happened in other years in the fall and spring. So really it’s a toss up for when this is going to happen exactly, but with this years in April we likely won’t get another til calendar year 2018. Unless, CMLL makes a second one in one of their smaller arenas like mentioned above which has happened 2007(Arena Coliseo), 2012(Arena Guadalajara) and 2014(Arena Puebla) so it’s not crazy to think they could do it again this year.





La Copa Junior(The Junior Cup)





What is it?





Another long running tournament, this one is last of the current one’s they have done recently(last year or 2). The gimmick behind this one is that everyone in it has to be related to an older Luchador. Hence the use of Junior here meaning Junior and not lightweight like NJPW’s use of Jr.

This one is the lowest one mostly because it’s seen as a stepping stone and not a notch on your belt like most of these tournaments. No one normally wins this twice, because once you’ve won it once you will step up to the more major tournaments. Also, if you win this you basically beat all the rookies. You aren’t going to beat a top tier talent in this tournament because no one is top tier in the brackets.

The format for this tournament is 2 8 man torneo ciberneticos, where the winners of each will face off one on one in a 2 out of three falls match. Much like the Leyenda de Plata instead of fighting last year’s winner, you face the other winner of their own torneo cibernetico.





When is it?





This one like many of the others can basically happen at any time, though this year’s event has already happened in April. So we likely won’t get another until the new calendar year starts and it could happen in January of 2018 as it happened that month in 2016.





This one was actually much easier than the last two because I basically already had it typed up for a reddit comment about the best tournaments out there. Unless CMLL decides to add a new tournament this will basically stay this way since there isn’t much to add. I may highlight tournament matches though and make a second tournament page dedicated to linking to them.