CMLL
CMLL (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) is the oldest active promotion in the world. It's the promotion which runs Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, and has done so for decades. The first show was held on September 21, 1933, and they hold a annual anniversary show, one of the biggest show in Mexico of the year.
The Lutteroth family owns CMLL. It was started by Salvador Lutteroth, and is currently owned by his grandson, Paco Alonso. Paco and his family have always considered themselves as boxing promoters who happen to also run lucha libre events (though the lucha libre is far more profitable), and their main contribution to the direction of the company is their long standing dislike for Antonio Pena and his rival AAA promotion. Most of the day to day decisions are made by a former wrestlers who are now part of the front office.
The promotion names CMLL and EMLL are functionally interchangeable. Technically, the name change occurred in 1991, but the company didn't change in any other way at the time.
Current Champions
Starting in 1991, and CMLL created a set of World Championships, as direct replacements for NWA titles. Titles are far less emphasized in CMLL than most promotions in the world. Wrestlers treat winning them as a great achievement, but CMLL only occasionally does title chase stories. It's common for title belts to be nearly forgotten for months, even years. Titles are also often defended in small arenas, gaining no press, and making the title look inactive.
CMLL has five different weight divisions. In different times, weight divisions were stritcly adhered to in Mexico, but they're almost always ignored at the present.
The current champions are
- Heavyweight: Universo 2000
- Light Heavyweight: Rey Bucanero
- Middleweight: Averno
- Welterweight: Mephisto
- Super Lightweight: Rocky Romero (title managed by Los Angeles' NWA Pro promotion; unclear if CMLL still recognizes it.)
- Minis: Mini Olimpico
- Women's: Hiroka
- Tag Team: Mistico & Negro Casas
- Trios: Los Guerreros del Atlantida (Atlantis, Tarzan Boy, Ultimo Guerrero)
CMLL's roster also includes wrestlers who hold UWA, WWA, NWA, Mexican National, IWRG, and other titles. As long as they have a belt with them, CMLL will seems to have no problem in acknowledging their championships.
Major Events
CMLL's calendar is dominated by two annual events, one of which has nothing directly to do with wrestling.
Every winter, CMLL will close down it's main arena, Arena Mexico, and shift those weekly Friday shows to the smaller Arena Coliseo. (The break is to allow the circus to take up the space instead, and to make some general repairs.) The break from Arena Mexico creates a pseudo off season for CMLL, with many stars taking time off during the period. It also creates easy markers for major shows: CMLL will run a major show to open the Arena Mexico season (January / February - varies depending on business) and one to close the season (December), though they're not always exactly the first and last show.
Every year, CMLL will run a major show on or near September 21st, to commemorate the birth of the promotion, which is generally treated as the birth of lucha libre. CMLL will usually try to aim to have a major mask or hair mask on this date. (See: CMLL Anniversary Show Results)
CMLL will usually have another major show scheduled around late June, and may have more big shows, or none at all, depending on how business is going and the availability of major matches to headline those shows.
Weekly Events
Most weeks, CMLL will directly promote three events: a Friday show at Arena Mexico, and a Tuesday and a Friday show at Arena Coliseo, both in Mexico City. CMLL will also contract out it's wrestlers to other arenas and promoters around the country (and the world), who pay CMLL for the use of talent and are on their own to promote them. CMLL will mention some of these other events on it's website and it's television show - the shows at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara and Arena Puebla in particular - but most promoters are on their own.
CMLL is also currently has four hours of television from it's events on air. There's a weekly 2 hour show, mainly featuring matches from Arena Mexico, and two one hour shows mainly featuring matches from the Sunday Arena Coliseo show. (See: Lucha Television Information)
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