La Copa Junior (1996)
Héctor Garza, winner of the first La Copa Junior
PromotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Date
  • February 23, 1996
  • March 1, 1996
CityMexico City, Mexico
VenueArena México
Event chronology
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La Copa Junior chronology
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2005

La Copa Junior (1996) (Spanish for "The Junior Cup") was a professional wrestling tournament produced and scripted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLLl; Spanish "World Wrestling Council"). The tournament ran from February 23, 1996 to March 1, 1996 in Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico. CMLL's recurring La Copa Junior tournament featured second, third or fourth generation wrestlers completing against each other. The 1996 version of the La Copa Junior was the first held by CMLL. The first show featured the opening round of the tournament, while the second show featured the Quarter finals, semifinals and the finals of the tournament. Héctor Garza defeated Emilio Charles Jr. in the final to win the La Copa Junior.

Production

Background

Starting in 1996 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ("World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) held their first ever La Copa Junior tournament. CMLL held the tournament to celebrate the fact that lucha libre in Mexico is often a family tradition, with a large number of second, third, or even fourth generation wrestlers following the footsteps of their relatives.[1] The premise of the tournament is that all participants are second-generation or more, although at times the family relationship is a storylines family relationship and not an actual one. One example of this is Dragón Rojo Jr. being billed as the grandson of Dragón Rojo, when in reality that is simply a storyline created by CMLL.[2] The original La Copa Junior was won by Héctor Garza.[3]

CMLL would not hold another La Copa Junior until the 2005 tournament (won by Shocker),[4] followed by a 2006 tournament won by Dos Caras Jr.[5] The tournament did not return until 2010 where Dragón Rojo Jr. won the 2010 version.[6] In 2012 third-generation luchador La Sombra won the Junior cup[7]

In 2014, CMLL held two La Copa Junior tournaments, first a tournament on January 1, won by Super Halcón Jr.,[8] followed by a VIP tournament, featuring higher card wrestlers than the usual tournaments, which was won by Máximo[9] The semi-regular tournament returned in 2016, won by Esfinge[10] In 2017, Soberano Jr. won the La Copa Junior Nuevos Valores[11][12]

Storylines

The tournament featured a number of 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.[13]

Family relationship

Wrestler Family Relationship Ref(s).
Emilio Charles Jr. Emilio Charles Father [1]
Apolo Dantés Alfonso Dantés Father [1]
Dr. Wagner Jr. Dr. Wagner Father [14]
Espectro Jr. Espectro I Uncle [1]
El Hijo del Gladiador El Gladiador Storyline father [15]
El Hijo del Santo El Santo Father [16]
Héctor Garza Humberto Garza Father [1]
Humberto Garza Jr. Humberto Garza Father [1]
Karloff Lagarde Jr. Karloff Lagarde Uncle [1]
La Fiera Hercules Poblano Father [1]
Mano Negra El Rebelde Father [1]
Rambo Pepe Mendieta Father [1]
Rayo de Jalisco Jr. Rayo de Jalisco Sr. Father [17]
Scorpio Jr. Scorpio Father [1]
Silver King Dr. Wagner Father [14]
Shocker Rubén Pato Soria Father [1]

Tournament

Brackets

First round Quarter finals Semi finals Final
        
Dr. Wagner Jr. W
Espectro Jr.  
Dr. Wagner Jr.  
Héctor Garza W
Héctor Garza W
Rambo  
Héctor Garza W
Apolo Dantés  
Rayo de Jalisco Jr. W
Karloff Lagarde Jr.  
Rayo de Jalisco Jr.  
Apolo Dantés W
Apolo Dantés W
El Hijo del Gladiador  
Héctor Garza W
Emilio Charles Jr.  
Silver King W
Humberto Garza  
Silver King W
Mano Negra  
Mano Negra W
El Hijo del Santo  
Silver King  
Emilio Charles Jr. W
La Fiera W
Scorpio Jr.  
La Fiera W
Emilio Charles Jr.  
Emilio Charles Jr. W
Shocker  

Results

February 23

No.ResultsStipulations
1Guerrero del Futuro and Guerrero Maya defeated Olímpico and OlimpusBest two-out-of-three falls tag team match
2Bronco, Máscara Mágica, and Pantera defeated Astro Rey Jr., Guerrero de la Muerte, and Mocho CotaBest two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
3Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Espectro Jr.1996 La Copa Junior first round match
4Héctor Garza defeated Rambo1996 La Copa Junior first round match
5Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeated Karloff Lagarde Jr.1996 La Copa Junior first round match
6Apolo Dantés defeated El Hijo del Gladiador1996 La Copa Junior first round match
7Silver King defeated Humberto Garza1996 La Copa Junior first round match
8Mano Negra defeated El Hijo del Santo1996 La Copa Junior first round match
9La Fiera defeated Scorpió Jr.1996 La Copa Junior first round match

March 1

No.ResultsStipulations
1Bronco, Máscara Mágica, and Pantera defeated Astro Rey Jr., Cadáver de Ultratumba, and Espectro Jr.Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
2Héctor Garza defeated Dr. Wagner Jr.1996 La Copa Junior quarterfinal match
3Apolo Dantés defeated Rayo de Jalisco Jr.1996 La Copa Junior quarterfinal match
4Silver King defeated Mano Negra1996 La Copa Junior quarterfinal match
5Emilio Charles Jr. defeated La Fiera1996 La Copa Junior quarterfinal match
6Héctor Garza defeated Apolo Dantés1996 La Copa Junior semifinal match
7Emilio Charles Jr. defeated Silver King1996 La Copa Junior semifinal match
8Héctor Garza defeated Emilio Charles Jr.1996 La Copa Junior final match

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Madigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  2. ^ "El nuevo luchador presentado por el CMLL". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). July 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "Copa Junior Tournament 1996". Pro Wrestling History. February 23 – March 31, 1996. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  4. ^ "Copa Junior Tournament 2005". Pro Wrestling History. January 21 – February 4, 2005. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  5. ^ "Copa Junior Tournament 2006". Pro Wrestling History. March 31, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  6. ^ "Copa Junior Tournament 2010". Pro Wrestling History. December 10–25, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  7. ^ Mexicool, Rey (December 15, 2012). "La Copa Jr. 2012 es para... ¡La Sombra!". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  8. ^ Salazar López, Alexis A. (January 2, 2014). "Resultados Arena México Miércoles 1º de Enero '14". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  9. ^ Reducindo, Miguel (October 10, 2014). "Resultados Arena Mexico Viernes 10 de Octubre '14". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  10. ^ Peralta, Gonzalo López (January 20, 2016). "Lucha Libre función martes 19 de Enero". Yahoo! Deportes (in Spanish). Yahoo!. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  11. ^ "Resultados Arena México - Viernes Espectacular" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  12. ^ Aiken, Chris (April 29, 2017). "CMLL Arena Mexico Results: A son's tributre to his legendary father". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  13. ^ Madigan, Dan (2007). ""Okay... what is Lucha Libre?"". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3. featuring clearly distinguished good guys and bad guys, or técnicos and rudos
  14. ^ a b "Luchas 2000". La Dinastia Wagner (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 1–35. Especial 23.
  15. ^ "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Hijo del Gladiador (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. September 2007. p. 25. Tomo II.
  16. ^ Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers Inc, New York. 2005. pp. 296–297. ISBN 1-933045-05-1.
  17. ^ "Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre". Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (in Spanish). Portales, Mexico. November 2008. p. 48. 17.
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