Date March 22, 1996 City Mexico City, Mexico | Venue Arena México | |
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Promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth (1996) 40. Aniversario de Arena México First Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth (1996) | ||
Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth (1996) (Spanish for "Homage to Salvador Lutteroth") was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), which took place on March 22, 1996 in Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico. The event was to honor and remember CMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth who died in March 1987. The annual March event would later be renamed Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to two legends") as CMLL honored both Lutteroth and another retired or deceased wrestler. The main event was a singles match between Rambo defeated El Brazo under Lucha de Apuestas rules, which meant that both men their hair on the outcome of the match and would have to be shaved bald if they lost the match. The show also featured a Six-man "Lucha Libre rules" tag team match for the CMLL World Trios Championship as champions Los Chacales ("The Jackals"; Bestia Salvaje, Emilio Charles Jr. and Sangre Chicana) defended against the team of Dos Caras, Héctor Garza and La Fiera. On the under card CMLL held the Torneo de Alto Rendimiento ("High Performance Tournament") an eight man torneo cibernetico elimination match as well as at least one additional match.
Contents
Background
Since 1996 the Mexican wrestling company Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (Spanish for "World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) has held a show in March each year to commemorate the passing of CMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth who died in March 1987. For the first three years the show paid homage to Lutteroth himself, from 1999 through 2004 the show paid homage to Lutteroth and El Santo, Mexico's most famous wrestler ever and from 2005 forward the show has paid homage to Lutteroth and a different leyenda ("Legend") each year, celebrating the career and accomplishments of past CMLL stars. Originally billed as Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth, it has been held under the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to two legends") since 1999 and is the only show outside of CMLL's Anniversary shows that CMLL has presented every year since its inception. All Homenaje a Dos Leyendas shows have been held in Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico which is CMLL's main venue, its "home". Traditionally CMLL holds their major events on Friday Nights, which means the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas shows replace their regularly scheduled Super Viernes show. The show was the first show to officially be labeled as honoring CMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth although CMLL had regularly held shows in the month of March prior to 1996, dedicated to Lutteroth or other wrestlers who had died.
Storylines
The event featured five professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or faces (técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Aftermath
The new CMLL World Trios Champions would hold on to the titles until early 1997 when Héctor Garza and the Championship had to be vacated. A tournament to determine the new Trios champions took place on the following year's Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth show.