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.
The tournament was held in staged, with winners from various buildings qualifying or otherwise chosen in the final. Full results from the various brackets are not known.The tournament is said to have lasted two months
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
tournament match, May 17th, Pista Arena Revolucion
- La Fiera versus Gran Cochise
The winner from this building would advance to the greater tournament.
Final Bracket
First Round, May 23rd, Arena Coliseo DF (via Box y Lucha 1437)
- Shazam [Fraternidad del Santo] versus Solar I [Mora]
- El Faraon versus Satanico
- Villano I [Mora] versus El Signo
- Ringo Mendoza [1st Arena Coliseo tournament winner] versus Gran Cochisse [Pista Arena Revolcuion tournament winner]
Those don't match the later results; Tony Salazar and eventually winner Cachorro Mendoza are not mentioned.
Box y Lucha 1436's preview of the tournament included seven of those names. They also had Sangre Chicana [2nd Arena Coliseo tournament winner], who did end up participating, and Impacto [the DF Middleweight Champion]. It does not include Signo.
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.
