The CMLL Universal Championship (2016) () was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

tournament produced and scripted by ''

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as (EMLL) (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest profe ...

'' (CMLL). The tournament took place from October 14, 2016 and ran for three '' Super Viernes'' shows with the finals on October 28, 2016. The

CMLL Universal Championship The CMLL Universal Championship (''Campeonato Universal'' in Spanish) is an annual lucha libre tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 2009. The tournament format is a "tournamen ...

is an annual tournament exclusively for wrestlers holding CMLL-recognized champions; first held in 2009, making the 2016 version the eight overall tournament. Being a professional wrestling tournament, it is not won legitimately; it is instead won via predetermined outcomes to the matches that is kept secret from the general public. The 2016 tournament saw CMLL World Trios Champion Valiente defeat his regular Trios partner

Volador Jr. Ramón Ibarra Rivera (born January 26, 1981), better known by his ring name Volador Jr., is a Mexican ''luchador'' (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a '' técnico'' ("good guy") wrestli ...

in the finals of the tournament to win his first Universal Championship tournament.

Background

The tournament featured 15

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

under

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

rules, which means that wrestlers would be eliminated from the tournament when they lose a match. All male "non-regional" CMLL champions at the time of the tournament are eligible to participate in the tournament. The

CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship The CMLL World Mini-Estrellas Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Mini-Estrellas de CMLL'' in Spanish), also known as the CMLL World Pequeño Estrellas Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Pequeno Estrellas de CMLL'' in Spanish) is a professional w ...

and

Mexican National Lightweight Championship The Mexican National Lightweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional de Peso Ligero'' in Spanish) is a Mexican professional wrestling singles championship created and sanctioned by ''Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.'' ("the Mexico City ...

are both exclusively for CMLL's ''

Mini-Estrella The term ''Mini-Estrella'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mini-Star") is used in lucha libre to describe a division of short professional wrestling, professional wrestlers or ''luchadors'', some of whom have dwarfism. The Mexican ''Mini-Estrell ...

'' division and thus not eligible for the tournament. Regionally promoted championships such as the

CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship The CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Campeonato de Parejas de la Arena Coliseo del CMLL'') is a professional wrestling Tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Mexican Luch ...

and the Occidente championships promoted in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

have not been included in the tournament in the past; only titles that have been defended in CMLL's main venue

Arena Mexico An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances or sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may ...

are normally included, although exceptions have been made to allow

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW) champions to compete if they were in Mexico at the time. For the 2016 version of the tournament only 15 out of the 16 participants had competed in at least one Universal Championship tournament before, only

Rey Cometa Mario Alberto González (born March 11, 1983), better known by his ring name Rey Cometa (Spanish language, Spanish for "King Comet"), is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (or professional wrestler), working for the Mexican professional wrestling ...

(the Mexican National Welterweight Champion) was a first time competitor.

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

( Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion) and

Último Guerrero José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for ''Last Warrior''), is a Mexican (or Professional wrestling, professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CML ...

( NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion) were the only former tournament winners to participate in the 2016 tournament. Mephisto's ( CMLL World Welterweight Champion and Mexican National Trios Champion) participation made him the only wrestler to participate in seven out of the eight Universal Championship tournaments up until that point.

Negro Casas José Casas Ruiz (born January 10, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler (called a ''Lucha libre, Luchador'' in Spanish language, Spanish) and professional wrestling trainer working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) under the ring name Ne ...

( CMLL World Tag Team Champion), La Máscara (

CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion The CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial de Peso Semicompleto del CMLL'' in Spanish) is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 1991. As it is a ...

), Último Guerrero and

( NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion and CMLL World Trios Champion) all marked their sixth Universal Championship tournament. CMLL originally announced that Cavernario would be part of the tournament, despite having lost the Mexican National Welterweight Championship to Rey Cometa on June 10, 2016. They later corrected the participant list, replacing Cavernario with Rey Cometa.

Eligible champions

Tournament

References

{{Portal bar, Mexico 2016 in professional wrestling CMLL Universal Championship October 2016 in Mexico