The Lucha Libre World Cup was a two-day

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- ...

event and

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

organized by Mexican

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Promociones Antonio Peña, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (commonly referred to as simply AAA, pronounced "Triple A" – an abbreviation of its original name Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos ...

(AAA) with the financial backing of the

Grupo Modelo Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico owned by Anheuser-Busch that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include '' Corona'', ''Modelo'', and '' Pacífico''. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely ...

brewery, with Victoria Beer as the official sponsor. The tournament took place on October 9 and October 10 in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Shin-Kiba 1st Ring Shin-Kiba 1st Ring is an arena in Tokyo, which holds 290 people. It was opened in 2001, its first event being a JDStar "Grapple Beauty" show, even though the inside of the building was not even close to being completed. It has quickly become a ...

and

Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...

venues, marking the first time the tournament has been held outside AAA's home country of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The 2017 edition of the tournament also marked the first to feature traditional two-man

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

s, as the previous tournaments had featured a number of three-man tag teams, referred to as ''

trios Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

'' in ''

Lucha Libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

''. The tournament showcased teams representing numerous international promotions such as the

Inoki Genome Federation The (IGF), also known in China as International Glory Fighting, was a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007. History Antonio Inoki founded the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) after se ...

(IGF),

Impact Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busine ...

, and Pro Wrestling Noah among others.

Background

The Mexican ''

lucha libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

AAA, with the financial support of the Mexican brewing company ''

'' organized the first ever Lucha Libre World Cup in the summer of 2015. The tournament itself was a one-night eight-team tournament for trios, or

tag teams Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

of three wrestlers. AAA reached out to several promotions both in Mexico and around the world and arranged for six of the eight teams to come from outside AAA. Japanese wrestling promotions

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

(AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah both sent teams. Both

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

(TNA) and

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH), based in the United States, also sent representatives to the tournament, in each case bolstered by representatives of

Lucha Underground Lucha Underground was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by United Artists, United Artists Media Group. ''Lucha Underground'' also refers to its weekly television program, which featured List of former Lucha Underground p ...

, an AAA joint-venture project based on Los Angeles. The tournament took place on May 25, 2015, and had the AAA labelled "Dream Team" of Rey Mysterio Jr., El Patrón Alberto and Myzteziz win the tournament, defeating Team TNA/Lucha Underground (

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he a former List of TNA World Tag Team Champions, three time TNA Wor ...

, Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo) in the finals. A second World Cup was held in the summer of 2016. The second edition featured two tournaments, one for male wrestlers and another for female wrestlers. The men's tournament was won by

Brian Cage Brian Christopher Joseph ButtonChavo Guerrero Jr. Salvador Guerrero IV (born October 20, 1970) better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Fe ...

, and Johnny Mundo of Team Lucha Underground while the women's tournament was won by

Faby Apache Fabiola Balbuena Torres (born 26 December 1980) is a Mexican '' Luchadora'', or female professional wrestler, best known for her time with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) where she performed as Faby Apache (sometimes written as "Fabi Apache"). Be ...

Lady Apache Sandra González Calderón (born June 26, 1970) is a Mexican professional wrestling, professional wrestler or ''Lucha Libre, luchadora'', best known under the ring name Lady Apache. As Lady Apache, González has mainly worked for Consejo Mundia ...

, and

Mari Apache Mariella Balbuena Torres (born October 19, 1979) is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, Luchadora'', or female professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Mari Apache (sometimes written as "Mary Apache"). She is the daugh ...

of Team Mexico. AAA officially announced the 2017 tournament and the participating teams on September 29.

Teams

Results

October 9

October 10

Tournament bracket

References

External links

AAA's official Japanese-language Twitter accountOfficial Twitter accountOfficial Facebook page
{{Lucha Underground 2017 in professional wrestling

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2017 in Tokyo Events in Tokyo Professional wrestling in Tokyo October 2017 in Japan Pro Wrestling Noah shows Lucha Underground shows Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows