IWRG Rey del Ring

The IWRG Rey del Ring (Spanish for "King of the Ring") refers both to an annual tournament and a professional wrestling championship promoted by the Mexican Lucha libre professional wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). From 2002 until 2011 the IWRG Rey del Ring only referred to an annual 30-man tournament, but as of the 2011 tournament there is also a physical championship belt that is and can be defended throughout the year.

IWRG Rey del Ring Championship
El Pantera, winner of the 2011 Rey del Ring tournament and first holder of the Rey del Ring Championship
Details
Promotion	International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG)
Date established	June 16, 2011[1]
Current champion(s)	Emperador Azteca[2]
Date won	May 20, 2018[3]
Statistics First champion(s) El Pantera[1] Most reigns Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 and Oficial Factor (2 reigns) Longest reign El Pantera and Orifical 911 (350 days)[1] Shortest reign Hijo de Pirata Morgan (42 days)[4][5] Oldest champion Pantera (47 years)[6] Youngest champion Hijo de Pirara Morgan (20 years)[7] Heaviest champion Ricky Cruz (123 kg (271 lb)) Lightest champion Hijo de Pirata Morgan (80 kg (180 lb))[7]

As it is a professional wrestling championship, the championship was not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers.[lower-alpha 1] On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline,[lower-alpha 2] or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the championship,[lower-alpha 3] or leaving the company.[lower-alpha 4]

Rey del Ring tournament

Originally the Rey del Ring tournament was a 30-man elimination match, starting with four wrestlers in the ring, then when a wrestler was eliminated through pinfall, submission, count out or disqualification another participant was added until 29 men had been eliminated. In 2008 IWRG changed the format to be more like World Wrestling Entertainment's Royal Rumble match; two men start in the ring and a new wrestler joins the match at a specific time interval. Unlike the Royal Rumble throwing a wrestler out of the ring did not result in elimination. The first tournament, the 2002 Rey del Ring was held on June 6, 2002, in IWRG's primary arena, Arena Naucalpan in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico. The tournament was won by Último Vampiro when he eliminated Bombero Infernal as the last participant.[12] In 2004 the winner of that year's Rey del Ring tournament was also awarded the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship; the match saw Fantasy eliminate Avisman as the last participant to win the tournament and the championship.[13] Cerebro Negro won both the 2005 and 2006 tournaments, making him the only person to win the tournament twice.[14][15] In 2007 the Rey del Ring was won by Yamato, the first non-Mexican to win the tournament.[16] Yamato worked for IWRG through a deal struck with Japanese wrestling promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) that allowed AJPW to send young wrestlers to Mexico to gain in-ring experience. The 2008 Rey del Ring was won by Scorpio, Jr. while the 2009 Rey del Ring tournament was won by Puerto Rican Ricky Cruzz.[17] The two Rey del Ring winners would later team up to win the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship from Los Junior Dinamitas (El Hijo de Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000, Jr.).[18] IWRG did not hold a Rey del Ring tournament in 2010 and never gave an official explanation as to why not. In 2011 IWRG introduced the Rey del Ring Championship to be awarded to the winner of the 2011 Rey del Ring tournament winner El Pantera.[1] Pantera would vacate the Championship on the date of the 2012 Rey del Ring tournament, allowing tournament winner Oficial Factor to become the new champion as well.[19] After Oficial 911 won the 2013 Rey del Ring tournament Oficial Factor handed over the championship belt to 911.[20]

Rey del Ring Championship

El Pantera became the first ever Rey del Ring Champion as a result of winning the 2011 Rey del Ring tournament on June 16, 2011 when he eliminated Último Gladiador as the last tournament participant.[1] He was awarded with an actual championship belt, to be work for IWRG matches and defended when appropriate between tournaments. Pantera made the first ever championship defense on July 10, 2011 when he successfully defeated Último Gladiador to retain the championship. The championship was vacated for the 2012 Rey del Ring tournament so that the winner of the tournament could become the new Rey del Ring Champion at the same time. Oficial Factor won the tournament, lastly eliminating Hijo del Pirata Morgan to win the Championship.[19] on August 12, 2012 Hijo del Pirata Morgan became the first person to win the Rey del Ring Championship outside of the tournament when he defeated Oficial Factor.[4] He held the championship for a total of 42 days, until September 23, 2012 when Oficial Factor regained the championship.[5] Factor won the title in a Relevos Suicidas match that also included Trauma I and Mascara Ano 2000 Jr., and as a result of his victory Factor also won the IWRG Junior de Juniors Championship from Hijo del Pirata Morgan.[5]

Rey del Ring Tournament winners

Year	Winner	Date	Location	Notes
2002	Último Vampiro	June 9, 2002	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[12][17]
2003	Unknown	2003	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[lower-alpha 5][21]
2004	Fantasy	March 18, 2004	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	Won the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship as a result.[13]
2005	Cerebro Negro	November 17, 2005	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[14]
2006	Cerebro Negro	2006	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	Only two-time winner.[15]
2007	Yamato	July 26, 2007	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[16]
2008	Scorpio, Jr.	July 24, 2008	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[17]
2009	Ricky Cruzz	July 16, 2009	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[17]
2010	N/A	N/A	N/A	No Rey del Ring tournament was held in 2010
2011	El Pantera	June 16, 2011	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[1]
2012	Oficial Factor	May 31, 2012	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[19]
2013	Oficial 911	May 19, 2013	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[20]
2014	Hijo de Máscara Año 2000	May 4, 2014	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[22]
2015	Ricky Cruz	April 5, 2015	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[23]
2016	Máscara Año 2000 Jr.	December 11, 2016	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[24]
2017	Imposible	May 14, 2017	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[3]
2018	Emperador Azteca	May 20, 2018	Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico	[2]

Rey del Ring Championship history

Key

No.	Overall reign number
Reign	Reign number for the specific champion
Days	Number of days held
N/A	Unknown information
(NLT)	Championship change took place "no later than" the date listed
†	Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
+	Current reign is changing daily

No.	Champion	Championship change			Reign statistics		Notes	Ref.
		Date	Event	Location	Reign	Days
1	El Pantera	June 16, 2011	Rey del Ring (2011)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	350	Awarded a championship belt after winning the 2011 Rey del Ring tournament.	[1]
—	Vacated	May 31, 2012	—	—	—	—	Vacated for the 2012 tournament.	[19]
2	Oficial Factor	May 31, 2012	Rey del Ring (2012)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	91	Won the 2012 Rey del Ring tournament.	[19]
3	Hijo de Pirata Morgan	August 12, 2012	Caravan de Campeones (2012)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	42		[4]
4	Oficial Factor	September 23, 2012	IWRG show	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	2	238		[5]
5	Oficial 911	May 19, 2013	Rey del Ring (2013)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	350		[20]
6	Hijo de Máscara Año 2000	May 4, 2014	Rey del Ring (2014)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	154		[22]
7	El Hijo de Dos Caras	October 5, 2014	live event	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	98
8	Hijo de Máscara Año 2000	January 11, 2015	live event	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	2	84
—	Vacated	April 5, 2015	—	—	—	—	Vacated for the 2015 tournament.	[23]
9	Ricky Cruz	April 5, 2015	Rey del Ring (2015)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	2	616		[23]
—	Vacated	December 11, 2016	—	—	—	—	Vacated for the 2016 tournament.	[19]
10	Máscara Año 2000 Jr.	December 11, 2016	Rey del Ring (2016)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	154		[24]
—	Vacated	May 14, 2017	—	—	—	—	Vacated for the 2017 tournament.	[3]
11	Imposible	May 14, 2017	Rey del Ring (2017)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	371	Won the 2017 Rey del Ring tournament	[3]
—	Vacated	May 30, 2018	—	—	—	—	Vacated for the 2018 tournament.
12	Emperador Azteca	May 20, 2018	Rey del Ring (2018)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	364	Won the 2018 Rey del Ring tournament
—	Vacated	May 19, 2019	—	—	—	—
13	Demonio Infernal	May 19, 2019	Rey del Ring (2019)	Naucalpan, State of Mexico	1	453+	This was a 30-man battle royal where Demonio Infernal won by lastly eliminating Huracan Ramirez Jr.

List of combined reigns

As of August 14, 2020.

Symbol	Meaning
†	Indicates the current champion
+	Indicates that the number of days held by this individual changes every day.

Rank	Wrestler	No. of reigns	Combined days
1	Ricky Cruz	1	616
2	Emperador Azteca	1	364
3	Imposible	1	371
4	El Pantera	1	350
5	Oficial 911	1	350
6	Oficial Factor	2	329
7	Demonio Infernal †	1	453+
8	Hijo de Máscara Año 2000	2	258
9	Máscara Año 2000 Jr.	1	154
10	El Hijo de Dos Caras	1	98
11	Hijo de Pirata Morgan	1	42

Rey del Ring (2002)

Rey del Ring (2002)
Promotion	International Wrestling Revolution Group
Date	April 21, 2002[25]
City	Naucalpan, State of Mexico[25]
Venue	Arena Naucalpan[25]
Event chronology
← Previous IWRG 6th Anniversary Show Next → El Castillo del Terror (2002)
Rey del Ring chronology
← Previous First Next → Rey del Ring (2004)

The very first 'Rey del Ring tournament was held on April 21, 2002, produced and scripted by IWRG and held in Arena Naucalpan. While most of the match results are known, sources are unclear on who competed in the Rey del Ring Torneo Cibernetico match, only recording that Bombero Infernal won the match.

Results

No.	Results[25][26]	Stipulations
1	Avisman defeated Maligno	Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
2	Black Jaguar defeat Zonik 2000	Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
3	Cirujano and Paramedico defeated Los Megas (Mega and Ultra Mega)	Best Two Out Of Three Falls Tag Team Match
4	Los Payasos Tricolor (Coco Blanco, Coco Rojo and Coco Verde) defeat Comando Delta, Engendro and Toro Irisson	Best Two Out Of Three Falls Six Man Tag Team Match
5	Winner: Bombero Infernal	Rey del Ring Torneo Cibernetico elimination match

Rey del Ring (2004)

Rey del Ring (2004)
Promotion	International Wrestling Revolution Group
Date	March 18, 2004[27]
City	Naucalpan, State of Mexico[27]
Venue	Arena Naucalpan[27]
Event chronology
← Previous IWRG 8th Anniversary Show Next → El Castillo del Terror (2004)
Rey del Ring chronology
← Previous Rey del Ring (2002) Next → Rey del Ring (2005)

The 2004 Rey del Ring show was a Mexican lucha libre, or professional wrestling supercard show held March 18, 2004. The show was produced and scripted by International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) and was held in Arena Naucalpan, IWRG's main venue, located Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico. The show marked the second time IWRG hed a ""Rey del Ring" ("King of the Ring") and it would later grow into an annual tradition. Due to minimal record keeping for professional wrestling the full show results are not known. It is only known that Fantasy won the "Rey del Ring" tournament, and as a result won the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship as a result.

Results

No.	Results[27][28]	Stipulations
1	Fantasy won the tournament, opponents undocumented	Rey del Ring elimination match for the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship

Footnotes

1. Hornbaker (2016) p. 550: "Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win/loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities – but on now much, or how little they were pushed by promoters"[8]
2. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 271, Chapter: Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [World Class, Adkisson] "Championship held up and rematch ordered because of the interference of manager Gary Hart"[9]
3. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 20, Chapter: (United States: 19th Century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IW, ECW, NWA) NWA/WCW TV Title "Rhodes stripped on 85/10/19 for not defending the belt after having his leg broken by Ric Flair and Ole & Arn Anderson"[10]
4. Duncan & Will (2000) p. 201, Chapter: (Memphis, Nashville) Memphis: USWA Tag Team Title "Vacant on 93/01/18 when Spike leaves the USWA."[11]
5. Reference to the 2003 tournament has been found but no winner was identified.

References

• Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

1. Mexicool, Rey (June 17, 2011). "IWRG (Resultados 16 de junio): El nuevo Rey del Ring es El Pantera". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved January 29, 2013.
2. Lizarraga, Alfonso (May 21, 2018). "Emperador Azteca es el nuevo Rey de Naucalpan". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved September 22, 2018.
3. Lizarraga, Alfonso (May 15, 2017). "Imposible Rey del Ring 2017". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved May 15, 2017.
4. "Noche de Campeonato en IWRG". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). August 13, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
5. "¡Factor, nuevo bicampeón de IWRG". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). September 23, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
6. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 - 2008 :344 Pantera". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. August 2008. October 2008.
7. "El tesoro del Hijo del Pirata". Mi Lucha Libre (in Spanish). May 25, 2011. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
8. Hornbaker 2016, p. 550.
9. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 271.
10. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 20.
11. Duncan & Will 2000, p. 201.
12. "2000 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 2001. pp. 2–20. issue 2488.
13. "Número Especial - Lo mejor de la lucha libre mexicana durante el 2004". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). January 24, 2005. 91.
14. "2005 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). January 3, 2006. 140.
15. "Lo Mejor de la Lucha Libre Mexicana duranted el 2006". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). December 23, 2006. issue 192. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
16. "2007 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). December 26, 2007. issue 244. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
17. "Rey del Ring". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
18. Reyes, Eduardo (August 9, 2009). "Resultados IWRG, Ricky Cruzz y Y Scorpio Jr, Nuevos Campeones Mundiales de Parejas" (in Spanish). Estrellas del Ring. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
19. "Factor Campeón del Rey del Ring". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). June 1, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
20. Mejía Eguiluz, Diego (May 20, 2013). "Oficial 911, nuevo Rey del Ring". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved May 20, 2013.
21. "Número Especial - Lo mejor de la lucha libre mexicana durante el 2003". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). January 5, 2004. 40.
22. Mejía Eguiluz, Diego (May 5, 2014). "El Hijo de Máscara Año Dos Mil, Rey del Ring 2014". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved May 6, 2014.
23. Mejía Eguiluz, Diego (April 6, 2015). "Ricky Cruz nuevamente Rey del Ring". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved August 5, 2015.
24. Lizarraga, Alfonso (December 12, 2016). "Mascara Año 2000 Jr. Rey del Ring de IWRG 2016". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved December 16, 2016.
25. "IWRG". CageMatch. April 21, 2002. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
26. "IWRG @ Naucalpan - Rey del Ring 2002". Wrestling Data. April 21, 2002. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
27. "IWRGIWRG Rey del Ring 2004". CageMatch. March 18, 2004. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
28. "IWRG @ Naucalpan - Rey del Ring 2004". CageMatch. March 18, 2004. Retrieved October 19, 2018.