Mexican National Middleweight Tournament, 1980

In late 1977, Sangre Chicana won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, and started a reign which is said to included 38 title defenses. After his final defense, in March of 1979, the Mexico City Box Y Lucha commission forced him to vacate the championship, as they did not actually recognize him as champion. (The reasons for not recognizing him are unclear.)

The commission immediately began a tournament to determine a new champion. The tournament included wrestlers from many promotions, including EMLL, LLI and Super Libres, as well as the former champion.

Full tournament brackets have not been found, only a few matches.

The tournament is said to have lasted two months, and an early-round match may have been Cachorro Mendoza over Villano I.

tournament match, May 10th, Pista Arena Revolucion

• Gran Cochisse beat Aguila India
• La Fiera beat Vengador

Box Y Lucha 1436 mentions the matches and says it happened on Saturday the 10th "the previous week", though the magazine seemed to be published before the 10th. A final between Fiera & Cochisse to determine the winner from the building was to take place the following week.

Semifinals, June 1st, Arena Coliseo DF

• Cachorro Mendoza defeated Tony Salazar
• Sangre Chicana defeated Shazam

Finals, June 8th, Arena Mexico

• Cachorro Mendoza defeated Sangre Chicana

Confusingly, Box Y Lucha 1437 lists Ringo Mendoza defeating Sangre Chicana in a semi-final.

Sources

• Cronicas y Leyendas