CMLL Announces 'Mask Vs Mask' Tag Team Tournament With Unique Caveat

By Eric Mutter

For months, lucha libre fans have followed AAA's Ruleta de la Muerte tournament taking place across the first two TripleMania XXX shows, with the final, a mask vs. mask match between Penta Oscuro and Villano IV, set for TripleMania XXX: Mexico City this October. Now, AAA's rival, CMLL (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) has announced that they, too, are doing a tournament building towards an Apuesta (bet) match at their biggest show — with a unique twist.

As announced yesterday, first on CMLL Informa and later on social media, CMLL announced a special, one-night tag team tournament that will take place at the 89 CMLL Aniversario (Anniversary Show) on September 16. The four-team field is made up of rivals forced to team together, with lucha libre legend Atlantis paired with fellow legend Fuerza Guerrera (father of Juventud Guerrera), Soberano Jr. teaming up with Templario, Averno teaming up with Ultimo Guerrero, and Atlantis' son, Atlantis Jr., teaming with Stuka Jr.

According to CMLL, a battle royal will be determined at the Aniversario to seed the field, followed by semi-final matches and the finals. The last team standing will then face each other in the Aniversario main event, either in a mask vs. mask match, or a hair vs. hair match in the event that the team of Guerrero and Averno win — neither man wears a mask. Unlike Ruleta de la Muerte, in which the losing luchadores advanced, the winning team will advance.

This is the second time CMLL has done a scenario like this to determine the main event of the Aniversario. In 2013, the promotion ran a special tag match at the 80 Aniversario between the teams Atlantis and Guerrero and La Sombra and Volador Jr. Sombra and Volador defeated Atlantis and Guerrero to move on to the main event, where Sombra defeated Volador to jeers from the crowd, who had been hoping to see long-time rivals Atlantis and Guerrero face off.

In the end, the CMLL decision proved fruitful, as the fan's rejection of Sombra would lead to a heel turn and the formation of Los Ingobernables, a stable that would branch out beyond CMLL into New Japan. Atlantis would unmask Guerrero a year later at the 81 Aniversario, an event that saw CMLL become just the second promotion ever to draw a $1 million gate in North America. In a full circle moment, Atlantis would unmask Sombra at the 82 Aniversario in 2015, leading Sombra down the path toward becoming former WWE and current AEW star Andrade El Idolo.

It's unclear at this time which of the four teams will be favored to move on to the Aniversario main event. The Atlantis/Guerrera and Averno/Guerrero (who both wrestled for Impact back in 2008) teams are the most well-known, while Soberano/Templario are two of the promotion's fastest rising stars and Atlantis Jr. and Stuka Jr. have had perhaps the most heated rivalry in the promotion this year. It's also possible that Atlantis and Atlantis Jr. will have to collide in the semi-final or final of the tournament, in order to secure a mask match with their respective rival.

The CMLL Aniversario is the oldest major show in pro wrestling, with the first one having taken place back on September 21, 1934, headlined by La Maravilla Enmascarada vs. Frank Gou. The show will be held in CMLL's home base Arena Mexico and, like the upcoming CMLL International Gran Prix, will air on Ticketmaster Live.

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