Mexican National Middleweight Tournament, 1980

In late 1977, Sangre Chicana won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, and started a reign which is said to included 38 title defenses. After his final defense, in March of 1979, the Mexico City Box Y Lucha commission forced him to vacate the championship, as they did not actually recognize him as champion. (The reasons for not recognizing him are unclear.)

The commission immediately began a tournament to determine a new champion. The tournament included wrestlers from many promotions, including EMLL, LLI and Super Libres, as well as the former champion.

Full tournament brackets have not been found, only a few matches.

The tournament is said to have lasted two months, and an early-round match may have been Cachorro Mendoza over Villano I.

tournament match, May 10th, Pista Arena Revolucion

• Gran Cochisse beat Aguila India

(Box Y Lucha 1436 mentions the match in passing and says it happened on Saturday the 10th "the previous week", though the magazine seemed to be published before the 10th.)

Semifinals, June 1st, Arena Coliseo DF

• Cachorro Mendoza defeated Tony Salazar
• Sangre Chicana defeated Shazam

Finals, June 8th, Arena Mexico

• Cachorro Mendoza defeated Sangre Chicana

Confusingly, Box Y Lucha 1437 lists Ringo Mendoza defeating Sangre Chicana in a semi-final.

Sources

• Cronicas y Leyendas