| Torneo Gran Alternativa (1994) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:H%C3%A9ctor_Garza.jpg) Héctor Garza, the first rookie winner of the Gran Alternativa | |||
| Promotion | Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre | ||
| Date | December 30, 1994 | ||
| City | Mexico City, Mexico | ||
| Venue | Arena México | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| Torneo Gran Alternativa chronology | |||
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The Torneo Gran Alternativa (1994) (Spanish for "Great Alternative Tournament") was the very first CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa professional wrestling tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; Spanish for "World Wrestling Council"). The tournament was held on December 30, 1994, in Mexico City, Mexico at CMLL's main venue, Arena México. CMLL made the Torneo Gran Alternativa an annual event in 1995, only skipping it four times between 1994 and 2017. Since it is a professional wrestling tournament, it is not won or lost competitively but instead by the decisions of the bookers of a wrestling promotion that is not publicized prior to the shows to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.[1]
The Gran Alternativa tournament features tag teams composed of a rookie, or novato, and a veteran wrestler for an elimination tournament. The idea is to feature the novato wrestlers higher on the card that they usually work and help elevate one or more up the ranks. The finals saw the team of veteran Negro Casas and rookie Héctor Garza defeat the team of Satánico and rookie Arkangel de la Muerte. In the subsequent years, Héctor Garza would rise up through the ranks in CMLL as well as working stints for World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the U.S. and becoming a fixture on the CMLL main event scene.
- ^ Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. p. 550. ISBN 978-1-61321-808-2.
Professional wrestling is a sport in which match finishes are predetermined. Thus, win–loss records are not indicative of a wrestler's genuine success based on their legitimate abilities - but on how much, or how little they were pushed by promoters