Torneo Gran Alternativa (November 1996)


The Torneo Gran Alternativa was the a professional wrestling tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 1996. As it is a professional wrestling tournament, it is not won or lost competitively but instead by the decisions of the bookers of a wrestling promotion that is not publicized prior to the shows to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
In 1996 decided to host two Gran Alternativa tournaments, with the second one being held on November 15, 1996, in Mexico City, Mexico. Unlike any of the other Torneo Gran Alternativa tournaments before or after, this tournament featured a preliminary round of 20 rookies in a league style tournament to qualify for the actual tag team tournament. The rookies were divided into four groups of five, in a round-robin series of matches where the top two point earners would advance to the tournament. Qualifying for the tournament were Máscara Mágica, Rey Bucanero, Olímpico, Mr. Niebla, Astro Rey Jr., Atlantico, Karloff Lagarde Jr. and Jaguar. Emilio Charles Jr. and Rey Bucanero won the Torneo Gran Alternativa by defeating the teams of Lizmark Jr. and Jaguar, Satánico and Karloff Lagarde Jr. and Héctor Garza and Mr. Niebla. Rey Bucanero became one of CMLL's main players as he would become a key member of Los Guerreros del Infierno.

History

Starting in 1994 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre created a special tournament concept where they would team up a novato, or rookie, with a veteran for a single-elimination tag team tournament with the purpose of increasing the profile of the rookie wrestler.
CMLL had used a similar concept in August 1994 where Novato Shocker teamed up with veterans Ringo Mendoza and Brazo de Plata to defeat novato Apolo Dantés and veterans Gran Markus Jr. and El Brazo in the finals of a six-man tag team tournament. CMLL would later modified the concept to two-man tag teams instead, creating a tournament that would be known as El Torneo Gran Alternativa, or "The Great Alternative Tournament", which became a recurring event on the CMLL calendar. CMLL did not hold a Gran Alternativa tournament in 1997 and 2000 held on each year from 2001 through 2014, opting not to hold a tournament in 2015.

Tournament

For the November 1996 version of the Gran Alternativa, CMLL used a two-stage tournament, unlike any previous or future tournament. For the first round 20 rookies faced off against each other in four blocks of a round-robin series of matches where the top two point earners would advance to the tag team portion of the tournament.
Block 1Block 2Block 3Block 4
Máscara MágicaRey BucaneroOlímpicoMr. Niebla
Astro Rey Jr.AtlanticoKarloff Lagarde Jr.Jaguar
Principe FrankieAlacranOlimpusBrandon
Kung Fu Jr.Ultraman Jr.Corazón SalvajeLinx
Filoso AmerícaMano Negro Jr.Últimatum

Tournament background

;Gran Alternativa participants
RookieVeteran
Astro Rey Jr.El Felino
AtlanticoAtlantis
JaguarLizmark Jr.
Karloff Lagarde Jr.El Satánico
Máscara MágicaDos Caras
Mr. NieblaHéctor Garza
OlímpicoRayo de Jalisco Jr.
Rey BucaneroEmilio Charles Jr.

Tournament brackets

Aftermath

The Gran Alternativa victory signaled the beginning of Rey Bucanero's rise up the ranks of CMLL. In 1999 he became part of El Satánico's reformed Los Infernales group alongside Último Guerrero. The group later turned on Satánico to form Los Guerreros del Infierno. Bucanero and Guerrero worked as a regular tag team throughout the 2000s, leading to them being voted the "Best Tag Team of the Decade" by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Over the years Rey Bucanero would hold a number of CMLL championships, including: CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship,ref name=CMLLLHeavy> CMLL World Tag Team Championship four times, CMLL World Trios Championship, and the NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship.
The other rookie finalist, Mr. Niebla, would also advance up the ranks of CMLL. A year after the Gran Alternativa tournament he won the mask of Shocker in the main event of the CMLL 66th Anniversary Show. He would go on to work for a number of other Mexican wrestling promotions as well, such as AAA and International Wrestling Revolution Group. Over the years he would go on to hold various championships in CMLL: CMLL World Heavyweight Championship, CMLL World Tag Team Championship, CMLL World Trios Championship twice, Mexican National Trios Championship twice, as well as winning the 2014 Gran Alternativa, and the 2012 Torneo de Parejas Increibles.