CMLL 80th Anniversary Show

The CMLL 80th Anniversary Show was a professional wrestling event produced by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that took place on September 13, 2013, in CMLL's home arena Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico. The event commemorated the 80th anniversary of CMLL, the oldest professional wrestling promotion in the world. CMLL's anniversary show is their biggest, most important show of the year, comparable to the Super Bowl for the National Football League or WrestleMania for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Background
The event featured seven professional wrestling matches, in which some wrestlers are involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines and others are teamed up with no backstory. Wrestlers themselves portray either villains (referred to as "Rudos" in Mexico) or fan favorites ("Technicos" in Mexico) as they compete in matches with pre-determined outcomes. In the weekly following the CMLL 79th Anniversary Show, CMLL began talking about el camino de 80 Aniversario, or "The road to the 80th Anniversary", making it clear that they were intending to make build to the 80th Anniversary show a priority in the year leading up to the show. During a CMLL press conference on March 21, 2013 long time rivals Atlantis and Último Guerrero talked about their rivalry and then proceeded to sign a match for a Lucha de Apuestas but with no specific date mentioned. A Luchas de Apuestas, or bet match, is the most prestigious match form in Lucha Libre and means that the participants put their wrestling mask on the line and the loser will be forced to remove it after the match and never wrestle wearing it again. The act of signing a Luchas de Apuestas match between two of the top ranked CMLL workers without announcing a specific date has let people to speculate that it would take place at the 80th Anniversary show. CMLL officials explained that due to various prior commitment both in Mexico and in Japan and the United States they were not sure when the Lucha de Apuestas match could take place, but they wanted to get the contract signed first and then figure out the schedule. The two rivals found themselves on opposite sides in the semi-finals of the 2013 Gran Alternativa tournament. The tournament saw Atlantis team up with rookie Hombre Bala, Jr. while Último Guerrero teamed up with Guerrero Negro, Jr.. After both teams won their first two matches the semi-finals saw Atlantis and Hombre Bala, Jr. defeat the two Guerreros to earn a spot in the finals of the tournament. In the week following his tournament victory Atlantis was quoted as saying that "Último Guerrero would look good in my trophy case". During the celebration of Atlantis' 30th anniversary as a wrestler Guerrero appeared after a match to berate Atlantis, which turned out to only be a distraction for the real Último Guerrero to attack Atlantis from behind. The two identically dressed Guerreros proceeded to beat up Atlantis and tear his mask apart. Following the match Último Guerrero introduced his brother "Gran Guerrero". It was not been verified if Gran Guerrero actually is the brother of Último Guerrero, someone not related to Guerrero, or as speculated by many his son who wrestled for CMLL as Taurus. On August 2, it was announced that at the 80th Anniversary Show, Atlantis and Guerrero would team up against two other rivals, La Sombra and Volador Jr., in a Relevos Suicidas match, with the winning team advancing to the Mask vs. Mask match.

Event
After a build-up that lasted most of 2013, CMLL decided not to go through with the Mask vs. Mask match between Atlantis and Último Guerrero as they were defeated by La Sombra and Volador Jr. in the Relevos Suicidas match. Fans in attendance were vocal about their displeasure over the bait-and-switch move with chants of "fraude" for the rest of the event. The main event saw La Sombra defeat Volador Jr., forcing his longtime rival to unmask, revealing his real name as Ramón Ibarra Rivera.