EMLL 49th Anniversary Show

The EMLL 49th Anniversary Show was a professional wrestling major show event produced by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) that took place on September 17, 1982 in Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico. The event commemorated the 49th anniversary of EMLL, which would become the oldest professional wrestling promotion in the world. The Anniversary show is EMLL's biggest show of the year, their Super Bowl event.

EMLL 49th Anniversary Show
Promotion	Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
Date	September 17, 1982[1]
City	Mexico City, Mexico[1]
Venue	Arena México[1]
Attendance	16,000[1]
Event chronology
← Previous 26. Aniversario de Arena México Next → Juicio Final
EMLL Anniversary Show chronology
← Previous 48th Anniversary Next → 50th Anniversary

Production

Background

The 1982 Anniversary show commemorated the 49th anniversary of the Mexican professional wrestling company Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (Spanish for "Mexican Wrestling Promotion"; EMLL) holding their first show on September 22, 1933 by promoter and founder Salvador Lutteroth.[2] EMLL was rebranded early in 1992 to become Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ("World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) signal their departure from the National Wrestling Alliance.[3] With the sales of the Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner in 1988 EMLL became the oldest, still-operating wrestling promotion in the world.[3] Over the years EMLL/CMLL has on occasion held multiple shows to celebrate their anniversary but since 1977 the company has only held one annual show, which is considered the biggest show of the year, CMLL's equivalent of WWE's WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event. CMLL has held their Anniversary show at Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico since 1956, the year the building was completed, over time Arena México earned the nickname "The Cathedral of Lucha Libre" due to it hosting most of EMLL/CMLL's major events since the building was completed.[3] Traditionally EMLL/CMLL holds their major events on Friday Nights, replacing their regularly scheduled Super Viernes show.[3]

Storylines

The event featured six 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.

The main event of the show was supposed to see Ric Flair defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Halcón Ortiz, but Flair was unable to work the previous week's CMLL Super Viernes show as well as the Anniversary show due to issues with the visa he needed to allow him to be more than just a tourist.

Event

With Ric Flair being unable to compete EMLL booked Halcón Ortiz to defend his Mexican National Heavyweight Championship against rival Dr. Wagner instead. Ortiz was successful in turning back the challenge of El Galeno del Mal ("The Bad Doctor") in a best two-out-of three falls match.[4][5][6][7] The main event of the show saw both Perro Aguayo and Tony Salazar put their hair on the line in a Lucha de Apuesta, the most prestigious match type in Mexican Wrestling. Aguayo defeated Salazar two falls to one, which meant that Salazar was shaved completely bald after the match.[1][4][5][6][8]

Aftermath

Halcón Ortiz would hold the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship until August, 1983 when he lost it to Pirata Morgan.[7] Ortiz never got a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Results

No.	Results[1][4][5][6]	Stipulations
1	Belcebu and Bello Adan Vs. Águila de Plata and El Dorado - Winners unknown	Best two-out-of-three falls Tag team match
2	Chamaco Valaguez, Franco Colombo and El Solar II Vs. El Salvaje, La Fiera and Mocho Cota - Winners unknown	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man "Lucha Libre rules" tag team match
3	Halcón Ortiz (c) defeated Dr. Wagner	Best two-out-of three falls match for the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship[7]
4	Fishman (C) defeated Ringo Mendoza	Best two-out-of-three falls match for the UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
5	Cesar Curiel, Lizmark and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeated Alfonso Dantés and Los Infernales (MS-1 and El Satánico)	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man "Lucha Libre rules" tag team match
6	Perro Aguayo defeated Tony Salazar	Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match[8]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References

1. "49th Anniversary Show". Pro Wrestling History. September 17, 1982. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
2. "Los Lutteroth / the Lutteroths". Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. 2005. pp. 20–27. ISBN 968-6842-48-9.
3. Madigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
4. "Historia de Los Aniversarios del CMLL". The Gladiatores Magazine (in Spanish). September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
5. "Historia de Los Aniversarios" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
6. Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 7, 2010). "CMLL: 79 historias, 79 Aniversario, las 79 luchas estelares". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved October 20, 2012.
7. Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
8. "Luchas 2000". Perro Aguayo y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 12–15. Especial 30.