Torneo Gran Alternativa (2017)

The Gran Alternativa 2017 is an ongoing professional wrestling tournament event produced by the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; Spanish "World Wrestling Council") that began on June 2, 2017 and will take place over three editions of CMLL's Friday night Super Viernes shows. The Torneo Gran Alternativa (Great alternative tournament) was first held in 1994 and is CMLL's oldest recurring tournament. The 2017 Gran Alternativa tournament will be the 22nd tournament held. In the Gran Alternativa a Novato, or rookie wrestler, team up with an experienced or "veteran" wrestler for a tag team tournament. The rookie winner is often elevated up the ranks of CMLL as a result of winning the tournament, but there is no specific "prize" for winning the tournament beyond a symbolic trophy.

Torneo Gran Alternativa (2017)
Poster for the June 16, 2017 tournament final.
PromotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
DateJune 2, 2017
June 9, 2017
June 16, 2017
CityMexico City, Mexico
VenueArena México
Event chronology
← Previous
61. Aniversario de Arena México		 Next →
Universal Championship
CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa chronology
← Previous
2016		 Next →
—

The team of novato El Soberano and veteran wrestler Carístico won the 2017 Torneo Gran Alternativa by defeating the team of Sansón and Último Guerrero in the finals on June 16, 2017. This marked the third time Carístico had won the tournament and the first time that Soberano had won the Gran Alternativa.

History

Starting in 1994 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) created a special tournament concept where they would team up a novato, or rookie, with a veteran for a single-elimination tag team tournament.[1][2] The tournament was called El Torneo Gran Alternativa, or "The Great Alternative Tournament" and became a recurring event on the CMLL calendar. CMLL did not hold a Gran Alternativa tournament in 1997 and 2000 held on each year from 2001 through 2014, opting not to hold a tournament in 2015. The 2016 Gran Alternativa tournament will be the 21st overall Gran Alternativa tournament. All tournaments have been held in Arena México, CMLL's main venue and up until 2016 all tournaments had taken place on Friday nights, with the 2016 tournament being the first time the Gran Alternativa was held as part of CMLL's Tuesday night shows.[3] I 2017 the tournament returned to Friday nights, being held on the June 2, June 9 and June 16, 2017 Super Viernes shows,

Tournament background

The tournament features 15 professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers teaming up, some of which may be involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines while others are simply paired up for the tournament. Wrestlers portray either villains (referred to as Rudos in Mexico) or fan favorites (Técnicos in Mexico) as they compete in wrestling matches with pre-determined outcomes. The tournament format follows CMLL's traditional tournament formats, with two qualifying blocks of eight teams that compete on the first and second week of the tournament and a final match between the two block winners. The qualifying blocks were one-fall matches while the tournament finals will be a Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match. Each qualifying block started with all 8 Novatos competing in a "seeding" battle royal to determine the brackets for the block.

Gran Alternativa participants
Block Rookie Veteran Ref(s)
Block AEl CuatreroMáscara Año 2000[4]
Block AEsfingeAtlantis[4]
Block AEspanto Jr.Kraneo[4]
Block AForasteroShocker[4]
Block APegassoBlue Panther[4]
Block ASansónÚltimo Guerrero[4]
Block AStar Jr.Místico[4]
Block AStigmaTitán[4]
Block BAkumaPierroth[5]
Block BAstralValiente[5]
Block BCanelo CasasNegro Casas[5]
Block BDroneNiebla Roja[5]
Block BFlyerVolador Jr.[5]
Block BOro Jr.Ángel de Oro[5]
Block BRazielMephisto[5]
Block BSoberanoCarístico[5]

Tournament results

Tournament brackets
Round of 16   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
                           
Pegasso and Blue Panther W  
Star Jr. and Místico [4]     Pegasso and Blue Panther [4]  
Espanto Jr. and Kráneo [4]   Sansón and Último Guerrero W  
Sansón and Último Guerrero W       Sansón and Último Guerrero W  
Forastero and Shocker W       Esfinge and Atlantis [4]  
Stigma and Titán [4]     El Forastero and Shocker [4]
El Cuatrero and Máscara Año 2000 [4]   Esfinge and Atlantis W  
Esfinge and Atlantis W       Sansón and Último Guerrero 19:39[6][7]
Canelo Casas and Negro Casas W       Soberano[lower-alpha 1] and Carístico W
Astral and Valiente 04:45[5]     Canelo Casas and Negro Casas W  
Akuma and Pierroth W   Akuma and Pierroth 00:00[5]  
Drone and Niebla Roja 08:07[5]       Canelo Casas and Negro Casas 06:37[5]
Flyer and Volador Jr. W       Soberano Jr. and Carístico W  
Mephisto and Raziel 06:53[5]     Soberano Jr. and Carístico W
Soberano Jr. and Carístico W   Flyer and Volador Jr. 08:28[5]  
Ángel de Oro and Oro Jr. 07:58[5]  

Footnotes
  1. CMLL changed Soberano Jr.'s name to Soberano before the tournament finals.

References
  1. "CMLL Gran Alternativa #1". Pro Wrestling History. December 30, 1994. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  2. Flores, Manuel (July 18, 2008). "Histórico de ganadores del torneo: La Gran Alternativa". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  3. "CMLL Gran Alternativa History". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  4. Aiken, Chris (June 4, 2017). "CMLL Arena Mexico Results: La Gran Alternativa tournament begins". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  5. Aiken, Chris (June 10, 2017). "CMLL Arena Mexico Results: La Gran Alternativa tournament continues". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  6. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (June 16, 2017). Lucha Libre VIernes Espectacular de Arena Mexico 16 de Junio del 2017 Function Completa [Professional Wrestling Friday Spectacular in Arena Mexico June 16, 2017, full show] (Television production) (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: YouTube. Event occurs at 1:50:45. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  7. "Carístico y Soberano Jr. conquistan 'La gran alternativa 2017'". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.