La Copa Junior (2016)

La Copa Junior (2016) (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 January 5, 2016 to January 19, 2016 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 2016 version of the La Copa Junior was the eight tournament held by CMLL.

La Copa Junior (2016)
Official poster for the January 19 show depicting finalists Puma and Esfinge
Promotion	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre[1]
Date	January 5, 2016 January 12, 2016 January 19, 2016 [1]
City	Mexico City, Mexico[1]
Venue	Arena México[1]
Event chronology
← Previous Sin Piedad Next → Fantastica Mania
La Copa Junior chronology
← Previous 2014 VIP Next → 2017

The format of the 2016 tournament matched the 2012 version of the tournament and a number of CMLL's other annual tournaments. The 16 wrestlers were divided into two groups of eight that wrestle in a torneo cibernetico elimination match on January 5 and January 12, the survivor of each qualifying torneo cibernetico then faces off against each other in the finals on January 19, 2015. Puma won the first cibernetico and Esfinge won the second cibernetico to qualify for the finals. On January 19 Esfinge defeated Puma to win the 2016 La Copa Junior tournament

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.[2] 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.[3] The original La Copa Junior was won by Héctor Garza.[4]

CMLL would not hold another La Copa Junior until the 2005 tournament (won by Shocker),[5] followed by a 2006 tournament won by Dos Caras Jr.[6] The tournament did not return until 2010 where Dragón Rojo Jr. won the 2010 version.[7] In 2012 third-generation luchador La Sombra won the Junior cup[8]

In 2014, CMLL held two La Copa Junior tournaments, first a tournament on January 1, won by Super Halcón Jr., [9], followed by a VIP tournament, featuring higher card wrestlers than the usual tournaments, which was won by Máximo[10] The semi-regular tournament returned in 2016, won by Esfinge[11] In 2017, Soberano Jr. won the La Copa Junior Nuevos Valores[12][13]

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.[14]

Family relationship

Wrestler	Family	Relationship	Group	Ref(s).
Blue Panther Jr.	Blue Panther	Father	Block A	[15]
Canelo Casas	Pepe Casas	Grandfather	Block B	[16]
Cuatrero	Cien Caras	Father	Block A	[17]
Esfinge	Magnum	Father	Block B	[18]
Espanto Jr.	Espanto Jr.	Father	Block B	[19]
Hijo del Signo	El Signo	Father	Block A	[20]
Hombre Bala Jr.	Hombre Bala	Father	Block A	[20]
Magnus	Tony Salazar	Father	Block A	[21]
Oro Jr.	Plata	Father	Block A	[22]
The Panther	Blue Panther	Father	Block B	[15]
Puma	El Felino	Father	Block A	[16]
Sansón	Cien Caras	Father	Block B	[17]
Skándalo	Juan Manuel Mar	Father	Block A	[2]
Soberano Jr.	Euforia	Father	Block B	[23]
Super Halcón Jr.	Super Halcón	Father	Block B	[20]
Tiger	El Felino	Father	Block B	[24]

Tournament

Order of elimination

Block A January 5, 2016

#	Eliminated	Eliminated by[25]
1	El Hijo del Signo	Oro Jr.
2	Magnus	Skándalo
3	Cuatrero	Hombre Bala Jr.
4	Oro Jr.	Puma
5	Skándalo	Blue Panther Jr.
6	Hombre Bala Jr.	Puma
7	Blue Panther Jr.	Puma
8	Winner	Puma

Block B January 12, 2016

#	Eliminated	Eliminated by[26]
1	Soberano Jr.	Sansón
2	Espanto Jr.	Super Halcón Jr.
3	Canelo Casas	The Panther
4	Super Halcón Jr.	Tiger
5	Sansón	Esfinge
6	The Panther	Tiger
7	Tiger	Esfinge
8	Winner	Esfinge

Results

January 5

No.	Results[25]	Stipulations
1	Angelito and Fantasy defeated Pequeño Nitro and Pequeño Universo 2000	Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match
2	Flyer, Robin, and Star Jr. defeated Akuma, Artillero, and Espanto Jr.	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
3	La Amapola, La Seductora, and Zeuxis defeated Estrellita, La Vaquerita, and Princesa Sugehit	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
4	Guerrero Maya Jr. defeated El Sagrado	"Lighting match", 1 fall, 10 minute time limit 08:36
5	Puma defeated Blue Panther Jr., Magnus, Skándalo, Hombre Bala Jr., El Cuatrero, Oro Jr., and El Hijo del Signo	2016 La Copa Junior semifinal 10-man torneo cibernetico elimination match
6	Kráneo, Niebla Roja, and Ripper defeated Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy, and Stuka Jr.	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match

January 12

No.	Results[26][27]	Stipulations
1	Robin and Sensei defeated Artillero and El Cholo	Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match
2	Disturbio, Nitro, and Okumura defeated Pegasso, Star Jr., and Starman	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
3	Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr., and Titán defeated Boby Z, Hechicero, and Virus	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
4	Esfinge defeated The Panther, Tiger, Sansón, Soberano Jr., Canelo Casas, Súper Halcón, Jr., and Espanto Jr.	2016 La Copa Junior semifinal 10-man torneo cibernetico elimination match
5	Máximo Sexy defeated Ripper	Best two-out-of-three falls match
6	Atlantis, Dragon Lee, and Marco Corleone defeated Bárbaro Cavernario, Mephisto, and Último Guerrero	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match

January 19

No.	Results[11]	Stipulations	Times
1	Fantasy and Stukita defeated Mercurio and Pequeño Nitro	Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match	13:30
2	'Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Cancerbero, Nitro, and Raziel) defeated Oro Jr. and Los Principes del Ring (Soberano Jr. and Star Jr.)	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match	18:48
3	La Amapola, La Comandante, and Reyna Isis defeated La Vaquerita, Marcela, and La Silueta	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match	15:50
4	Esfinge defeated Puma	2016 La Copa Junior final match	11:11
5	Blue Panther, Pegasso, and Rey Cometa defeated Pierroth, Pólvora, and Vangellys	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match	12:24
6	La Peste Negra (El Felino, Negro Casas, and Rey Bucanero) defeated Máximo Sexy, Brazo de Plata, and Valiente	Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match	06:27

References

1. "Hoy en Vivo: CMLL Informa" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
2. Madigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
3. "El nuevo luchador presentado por el CMLL". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). July 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
4. "Copa Junior Tournament 1996". Pro Wrestling History. February 23 – March 31, 1996. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
5. "Copa Junior Tournament 2005". Pro Wrestling History. January 21 – February 4, 2005. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
6. "Copa Junior Tournament 2006". Pro Wrestling History. March 31, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
7. "Copa Junior Tournament 2010". Pro Wrestling History. December 10–25, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
8. Mexicool, Rey (December 15, 2012). "La Copa Jr. 2012 es para... ¡La Sombra!". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved December 28, 2012.
9. 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 January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
10. 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 11, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
11. Peralta, Gonzalo López (January 20, 2016). "Lucha Libre función martes 19 de Enero". Yahoo! Deportes (in Spanish). Yahoo!. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
12. "Resultados Arena México - Viernes Espectacular" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on April 30, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
13. 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.
14. 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: HarperColins Publisher. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3. featuring clearly distinguished good guys and bad guys, or técnicos and rudos
15. Angelita (November 19, 2014). "CMLL: Conferencia de prensa de Infierno en el Ring". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved November 19, 2014.
16. Muñoz, Javier (August 19, 2009). ""Siempre me he divertido luchando": Negro Casas". Box y Lucha (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2009.
17. Valdés, Apolo (December 1, 2015). "Herederos de Cien Caras cerca de debut en Arena México". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
18. "Resultados Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara – Domingos Familiares" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. June 21, 2015. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
19. "Espanto Jr. se presenta este 18/Sep/12 en la Arena México". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). September 15, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
20. "Estos son los integrantes de la "Generacion 2011 del CMLL"". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). January 13, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
21. Boutwell, Josh (August 26, 2011). "Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly". WrestleView. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
22. "La Precentacion de Oro Jr". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 17, 2011. issue 410. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
23. "Murio el Soberano I". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 27, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
24. Lopez, Gonzalo (February 3, 2010). "Felino al Doube". Fuego en el Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved February 28, 2010.
25. "Puma, finalista de la Copa Jr. del CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
26. "Esfinge, segundo finalista de la Copa Jr". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
27. "Lucha Libre función martes12 de enero". Yahoo! Deportes (in Spanish). January 13, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2019.