On Wednesday, former WWE Superstars Alberto El Patron (aka Alberto Del Rio) and Chavo Guerrero Jr. announced the creation of a new wrestling promotion in Mexico, Nación Lucha Libre. Under the leadership of El Patron and Guerrero and with reportedly solid financial backing, Nación Lucha Libre hopes to show more honor to former lucha legends, as well as show more stars from Mexico’s independent scene. They seem intent on bringing the fight to Mexican lucha heavyweights Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). While other Mexican promotions, such as The Crash Lucha and the hardcore Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU), have found success being content being below the big companies, Nación is looking to start a change in Mexican wrestling. They’ve already secured a national television deal with Imagen TV, the network that also airs one-hour versions of WWE’s Raw and SmackDown. The first show will air in their timeslot of Sunday nights at 10:30 pm starting on July 13.
https://twitter.com/NacionLucha/status/1138671902296293377
The first show was announced for Friday, July 11 at Sala de Armas in Mexico City, Mexico. While not as famous a venue as CMLL’s Arena Mexico or AAA’s Mexico City Arena, Sala de Armas was the home venue for Perros Aguayo Jr.‘s Perros del Mal and Ultimo Dragon‘s Toryumon Mexico promotions in the late 2000s. The opening card features a who’s who of some top stars – some of which work for AAA and/or CMLL – as well as some underused stars from various independents. In a follow-up interview with Excelsior, the news department for Imagen TV, Alberto stated that Nación hoped to run their “season-ending show” at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the same venue where All Elite Wrestling (AEW) just ran their debut PPV, Double or Nothing.
As for the company’s schedule, in another interview, Alberto stated they planned on 35 shows a year, mostly throughout Mexico, but also in Texas and Vegas. He also mentioned that they planned to set up a health care plan for the roster. “We will cover the medical expenses of a fighter if something happens inside the ring,” Alberto told Record. “We want to work with the government, as other companies and sports do, we want to work with them, our boys will have insurance for day-to-day, we will look for funds for retirement and other things that I want to look for.”
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And it does not matter that just 24 hours, the Mafias of Wrestling, in their fear and trying to stop us, blocking fighters and places when they do not even have an exclusive contract with any of my brothers/fighters,” Alberto stated in the Spanish portion of his Instagram post. “Nación, for its part, has no grudges and wishes success to the other companies and to the talent that decides not to acquire its passport and be part of the change.”
Here was the initial card announced for the first show on July 11.
- Team Mexico (Alberto El Patron, Dr. Wagner Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma) vs. Team Puerto Rico (MVP, El Mesias (aka Mil Muertes), Apolo)
- The Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Mecha Wolf 450
- Damian 666 vs. El Solar vs. Negro Navarro vs. El Canek
- Fresero Jr. & Mr. Iguana vs. Bestia 666 & Black Taurus vs. The Laredo Kid & The Tiger
- Flamita & Daga vs. Rey Horus & Puma King
- Sexy Dulce (aka Sexy Star), Lady Flammer & Reina Oscura vs. Thunder Rosa, Cristy Jaynes & Stephanie Vaquer
- Bram, La Mascara, & Batab El Guerrero vs. Hijo de Dos Caras, Hijo de Wagner & Dual
- Relampago vs Heddi Karaoui
Nación Lucha Libre also plans to honor different lucha icons at each show, starting with UWA and AAA legends Dos Caras and Tinieblas. In August, they will honor Fantasma, father of popular current Mexican star El Hijo de Fantasma (aka Lucha Underground‘s King Cuerno). Alberto’s former valet from his WWE days, Ricardo Rodriguez, will be a referee for Nación Lucha Libre.
You can watch the full press conference below:
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