CMLL
CMLL (Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) is the oldest active promotion in the world. It's the promotion which runs Arena México and Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, and has done so for decades. The first show was held on September 21, 1933, and they hold an annual anniversary show, one of the biggest show in Mexico of the year.
The Lutteroth family owns CMLL. It was started by Salvador Lutteroth, and is currently owned by his grandson, Paco Alonso. Paco and his family have always considered themselves as boxing promoters who happen to also run lucha libre events (though the lucha libre is far more profitable), and their main contribution to the direction of the company is their long standing dislike for Antonio Peña and his rival AAA promotion. Most of the day-to-day decisions are made by a former wrestlers who are now part of the front office.
The promotion names CMLL and EMLL are functionally interchangeable. Technically, the name change occurred in 1991, but the company didn't change in any other way at the time.
Current Champions
Starting in 1991, CMLL created a set of World Championships, as direct replacements for the NWA titles.
CMLL's roster also includes wrestlers who hold Mexican National, NWA Historic, Occidente, & Distrito Federal, championships. As long as they have a belt with them, CMLL will seem to have no problem in acknowledging their championships.
Major Events
CMLL's calendar is dominated by two annual events, one of which has nothing directly to do with wrestling.
Every winter, CMLL will close down its main arena, Arena México, and shift those weekly Friday shows to the smaller Arena Coliseo. (The break is to allow the circus to take up the space instead, and to make some general repairs.) The break from Arena México creates a pseudo-offseason for CMLL, with many stars taking time off during the period. It also creates easy markers for major shows: CMLL will run a major show to open the Arena Mexico season (January / February - varies depending on business) and one to close the season (December), though they're not always exactly the first and last show.
Every year, CMLL will run a major show on or near September 21st, to commemorate the birth of the promotion, which is generally treated as the birth of lucha libre. CMLL will usually try to aim to have a major mask or hair mask on this date. (See: CMLL Anniversary Show Results)
CMLL will usually have another major show scheduled around late June, and may have more big shows, or none at all, depending on how business is going and the availability of major matches to headline those shows.
Weekly Events
Most weeks, CMLL will directly promote a Monday show at Arena Puebla, a Tuesday, Friday & Sunday show at Arena México, a Tuesday show at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara, and a Saturday show at Arena Coliseo. CMLL will also contract out its wrestlers to other arenas and promoters around the country (and the world), who pay CMLL for the use of talent and are on their own to promote them.
CMLL is also currently has four hours of television from its events on air. There's a weekly 2 hour show, mainly featuring matches from Arena Mexico, and two one hour shows mainly featuring matches from the Sunday Arena Coliseo show. (See: Lucha Television Information)
Programming Department
- sometime in the past: Jesús Lomelín (came up with El Santo character)[1]
- 1989? to May 1992: Antonio Pena and Juan Herrera
- May 1992 to August 1992: Juan Herrera
- August 1992 to April 7, 1993: Marco Moreno, with involvement from Javier Llanes
- April to August, 1993: Masakre, Tigre Hispano, and Javier Llanes
- August 1993 to October 1993?: Tigre Hispano, Javier Llanes (mainly Arena Coliseo), Mario Prado Jr.
- October 1993 to January 1994: Mario Prado Jr., Javier Llanes & Negro Casas
- January 1994 to mid-1994: Mario Prado Jr., Franco Colombo, Jose Medina & Negro Casas
- mid-1994 to ??? (at least thru early 1996): Negro Casas, Jose Peonono - Peonono listed as programmer at a July 1994 press conference[2]
- ? to Aug 1998: Jose Medina (noted as booker in Feb 1998)[3]
- late-1998 to early 2002: Pierroth Jr. & Negro Casas
- September 1998 to ? 2011: Panico (lead, part of programming committee since at least 1997), Franco Colombo, José Luis Feliciano (in charge of TV), Edgar Noriega
- ? 2011 to March 2012: Ultimo Guerrero, Blue Panther (both not publicly acknowledged), Panico, Franco Colombo, José Luis Feliciano (in charge of TV), Edgar Noriega
- March 2012 to current: Blue Panther (lead), Ultimo Guerrero (both not publicly acknowledged), Franco Colombo, José Luis Feliciano (in charge of TV), Edgar Noriega. Panico remains the public lead of the programming committee; reports differ if he's actually still involved in the process.
