Lucha Libre World Cup (2016)

Lucha Libre World Cup (2016)
Lucha Libre World Cup (2016)
	Official poster for the tournament
Promotion	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
Date	June 3, 2016; June 5, 2016
City	Mexico City, Mexico
Venue	Palacio de los Deportes
Event chronology
← Previous; Rey de Reyes	Next →; Triplemanía XXIV
Lucha Libre World Cup chronology
← Previous; 2015	Next →; 2017

The Lucha Libre World Cup was a two-day professional wrestling event and tournament organized by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) with the financial backing of the Grupo Modelo brewery, with Victoria Beer as the official sponsor. The tournament included a number of three-man tag teams, referred to as trios in Lucha Libre, teams and wrestling promotions already announced are AAA, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Lucha Underground and Pro Wrestling Noah among others. The tournament was announced as "Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup".

Production

Background

The Mexican lucha libre promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), with the financial support of the Mexican brewing company Grupo Modelo organized the first ever Lucha Libre World Cup over the summer of 2015. The tournament itself was a one-night eight-team tournament for trios, or tag teams of three wrestlers. AAA reached out to several promotions both in Mexico and around the world and arranged for six of the eight teams to come from outside of AAA. Japanese wrestling promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah.^[2] Both Total Nonstop Action and Ring of Honor, based in the United States, also sent representatives to the tournament, in each case bolstered by representatives of Lucha Underground, an AAA joint-venture project based on Los Angeles.^[3] The tournament took place on May 25, 2015, and had the AAA labelled "Dream Team" of Rey Mysterio Jr., El Patrón Alberto and Myzteziz win the tournament, defeating Team TNA/Lucha Underground (Matt Hardy, Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo) in the finals.^[4]

Storylines

The event featured various professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or faces (técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Wrestlers and promotions from around the world, Pro Wrestling Noah, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Lucha Underground, Pro Wrestling Wave and Oz Academy, were announced as being involved. The inclusion of Wave and Oz Academy meant that female wrestlers were going to be included too as they are all-female wrestling promotions.^[1] On April 22, 2016, AAA made their first official press release confirming the 2016 version of the Lucha Libre World Cup. The statement confirmed that there would be two qualifying matches for the Cup during the April 29 show in Xalapa, Veracruz, but did not reveal a date for the tournament nor any other participants.^[5] The first qualifier was a three-way match between Perros del Mal ("The Bad Dogs") teammates Joe Líder, Daga and Pentagón Jr., with the winner becoming part of a team representing AAA.^[5] The other qualifier was announced as current AAA Mega Champion El Texano Jr. wrestling against Taurus and Garza Jr.^[5] Of all the announced participants only Texano Jr. had participated in the previous year's Lucha Libre World Cup.^[4] The third qualifying match for Team AAA took place during the May 14 show in Orizaba, Veracruz and it was originally a three-way match between Nicho el Millonario, Ricky Marvin and El Hijo del Pirata Morgan but later due to a request from Psycho Clown he was added to the match and eventually won.^[6]

Tournament rules

AAA vice president Dorian Roldán explained the rules in a video uploaded to AAA's official YouTube channel last year. The tournament would consist of trios matches structured in quarterfinals, semi-finals and a final, plus an extra match to determine the third place. The bouts are slated to have a 15-minute time limit. If the time limit is reached without a clear winner, each of the participating teams selects one member, and the two picked wrestlers face off in a 5-minute sudden death in which the winning wrestler gets the victory for his team. There will be as many sudden deaths as necessary to determine a victor.

Teams

Men's Division
Team	Team member	Ref.
Team AAA	Pentagón Jr.	^[7]
	El Texano Jr.	^[7]
	Psycho Clown	^[8]
Team Noah	Taiji Ishimori	^[9]
	Naomichi Marufuji
	Maybach Taniguchi
Team Ōdō and Zero1	Masato Tanaka	^[10]
	Akebono
	Ikuto Hidaka
Team Mexico Leyendas	Canek	^[8]
	La Parka	^[8]
	Blue Demon Jr.	^[11]
Team Mexico International	Rey Mysterio Jr	^[8]
	Dr. Wagner Jr.	^[12]
	Dragon Azteca Jr	^[12]
Team TNA	EC3	^[13]
	Eli Drake
	Tyrus
Team Lucha Underground	Chavo Guerrero Jr.	^[14]
	Johnny Mundo
	Brian Cage
Team Resto del Mundo	Mil Muertes	^[15]
	Rockstar Spud
	Apolo

Women's Division
Team	Team Member	Ref.
Team Mexico	Faby Apache	^[8]
	Mari Apache	^[8]
	Lady Apache	^[16]
Team Japan	Aja Kong	^[17]
	Yuki Miyazaki
	Sumire Natsu
Team Canada	Taya	^[18]
	Allie
	K. C. Spinelli
Team USA	Santana Garrett	^[19]
	Sienna
	Cheerleader Melissa

Tournament bracket

Men's division

1st Round		Semifinals		Final

Team AAA	Win

Team Ōdō and Zero1	—
		Team AAA	Win

		Team Noah	—
Team Noah	Win

Team Resto del Mundo	—
				Team AAA	—

				Team Lucha Underground	Win
Team Mexico Leyendas	—

Team Lucha Underground	Win
		Team Lucha Underground	Win	3rd Place

		Team Mexico International	—
Team Mexico International	Win			Team Noah	—

Team TNA	—			Team Mexico International	Win

Women's division

1st Round		Final

Team Mexico	Win

Team USA	—
		Team Mexico	Win

		Team Japan	—
Team Japan	Win

Team Canada	—	3rd Place


		Team USA	—

		Team Canada	Win

Results

Night 1 (June 3)
No.	Results	Stipulations	Times^[20]
1	Team Mexico (Faby Apache, Lady Apache, and Mari Apache) defeated Team USA (Cheerleader Melissa, Santana Garrett, and Sienna)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Women's Division first round trios match	5:45
2	Team Japan (Aja Kong, Natsu Sumire, and Yuki Miyazaki) defeated Team Canada (Allie, K. C. Spinelli, and Taya)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Women's Division first round trios match	7:32
3	Team Ōdō and Zero1 (Akebono, Ikuto Hidaka, and Masato Tanaka) vs. Team AAA (El Texano Jr., Pentagón Jr., and Psycho Clown) ended in a time-limit draw	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division first round trios match	10:00
4	Masato Tanaka (Team Ōdō and Zero1) vs. Pentagón Jr. (Team AAA) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match	5:00
5	El Texano Jr. (Team AAA) defeated Ikuto Hidaka (Team Ōdō and Zero1)	Sudden death singles match	3:51
6	Team NOAH (Maybach Taniguchi, Naomichi Marufuji, and Taiji Ishimori) defeated Team Resto del Mundo (Apolo, Mil Muertes, and Rockstar Spud)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division first round trios match	7:46
7	Team Lucha Underground (Brian Cage, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Johnny Mundo) (with Dario Cueto) defeated Team Mexico Leyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division first round trios match	9:09
8	Team Mexico International (Dr. Wagner Jr., Dragon Azteca Jr., and Rey Mysterio Jr.) vs. Team TNA (Eli Drake, EC3, and Tyrus) ended in a time-limit draw	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division first round trios match	10:00
9	Dr. Wagner Jr. (Team Mexico International) vs. Eli Drake (Team TNA) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match	5:00
10	EC3 (Team TNA) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (Team Mexico International) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match	5:00
11	Dragon Azteca Jr. (Team Mexico International) defeated Tyrus (Team TNA)	Sudden death singles match	3:03

Night 2 (June 5)
No.	Results	Stipulations	Times^[21]
1	Team Canada (Allie, K. C. Spinelli, and Taya) defeated Team USA (Cheerleader Melissa, Santana Garrett, and Sienna)	Trios match for third place in the Lucha Libre World Cup: Women's Division	8:16
2	Team Resto del Mundo (Apolo, Mil Muertes, and Rockstar Spud) defeated Team Ōdō and Zero1 (Akebono, Ikuto Hidaka, and Masato Tanaka), Team Mexico Leyendas (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka), and Team TNA (Eli Drake, EC3, and Tyrus)^[a]	Victoria Cup battle royal	12:57
3	Team AAA (El Texano Jr., Pentagón Jr., and Psycho Clown) defeated Team NOAH (Maybach Taniguchi, Naomichi Marufuji, and Taiji Ishimori)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division semifinal trios match	9:18
4	Team Lucha Underground (Brian Cage, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Johnny Mundo) (with Dario Cueto) defeated Team Mexico International (Dr. Wagner Jr., Dragon Azteca Jr., and Rey Mysterio Jr.)	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division semifinal trios match	9:57
5	Team Japan (Aja Kong, Natsu Sumire, and Yuki Miyazaki) vs. Team Mexico (Faby Apache, Lady Apache, and Mari Apache) ended in a time-limit draw	Lucha Libre World Cup: Women's Division final trios match	10:00
6	Aja Kong (Team Japan) vs. Faby Apache (Team Mexico) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match	5:00
7	Mari Apache (Team Mexico) defeated Yuki Miyazaki (Team Japan)	Sudden death singles match	3:40
8	Dr. Wagner Jr. (Team Mexico International) vs. Naomichi Marufuji (Team NOAH) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match for third place in the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	5:00
9	Dragon Azteca Jr. (Team Mexico International) vs. Maybach Taniguchi (Team NOAH) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match for third place in the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	5:00
10	Rey Mysterio Jr. (Team Mexico International) defeated Taiji Ishimori (Team NOAH)	Sudden death singles match for third place in the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	4:04
11	Team AAA (El Texano Jr., Pentagón Jr., and Psycho Clown) vs. Team Lucha Underground (Brian Cage, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Johnny Mundo) (with Dario Cueto) ended in a time-limit draw	Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division final trios match	10:00
12	Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Team Lucha Underground) vs. El Texano Jr. (Team AAA) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match for the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	5:00
13	Brian Cage (Team Lucha Underground) vs. Psycho Clown (Team AAA) ended in a time-limit draw	Sudden death singles match for the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	5:00
14	Johnny Mundo (Team Lucha Underground) defeated Pentagón Jr. (Team AAA)	Sudden death singles match for the Lucha Libre World Cup: Men's Division	4:12

↑ Order of elimination: Eli Drake, Rockstar Spud, Blue Demon Jr., Apolo, Canek, Akebono, EC3, Masato Tanaka, La Parka, Ikuto Hidaka, Tyrus

References

1 2 3 4 5 "Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
↑ "AAA: Se anuncian los integrantes de los Grupos AJPW y Noah para la Lucha Libre World Cup". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
↑ "Equipo listo de TNA-LU para el Mundial de Lucha Libre". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
1 2 Boutwell, Josh (May 24, 2015). "AAA Lucha Libre World Cup Results - 5/24/15 (Live results)". Wrestleview. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
1 2 3 Lucha Libre AAA Worldwiden (April 22, 2016). "En Xalalpa, Los Perros del Mal chocarán entre sí". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved April 24, 2016.
↑ "Fuego en Orizaba rumbo a #VdE2016 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
↑ "Locura la Arena Xalapa rumbo Verano Escandalo" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. April 30, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
1 2 3 4 "Equipos y participantes de Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
↑ "Equipo Japón NOAH - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
↑ "Equipo Japón Oudou Zero1 - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
↑ "VIDEO: #AAAenXalapa Parte 1 – Mayo 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
↑ "Equipo México Internacional - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
↑ "Equipo USA-TNA - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
↑ "Equipo USA Lucha Underground - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
↑ "Equipo Resto del Mundo - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
↑ +LuchaTV (2016-05-17), Lady Apache orgullosa de compartir ring con las Apache en el mundial de lucha, retrieved 2016-05-18
↑ "Equipo Japón femenil - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
↑ "Equipo Canadá femenil - Lucha Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
↑ "Equipo USA femenil - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
↑ "AAA Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup - Tag 1". Cagematch. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
↑ "AAA Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup - Tag 2". Cagematch. Retrieved May 26, 2026.

External links

[22] Order of elimination: Eli Drake, Rockstar Spud, Blue Demon Jr., Apolo, Canek, Akebono, EC3, Masato Tanaka, La Parka, Ikuto Hidaka, Tyrus

[2016Cup-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2016.

[JapaneseTeams-2] "AAA: Se anuncian los integrantes de los Grupos AJPW y Noah para la Lucha Libre World Cup". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 24, 2015.

[TeamTNALU-3] "Equipo listo de TNA-LU para el Mundial de Lucha Libre". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.

[ResultsWV2015-4] 1 2 Boutwell, Josh (May 24, 2015). "AAA Lucha Libre World Cup Results - 5/24/15 (Live results)". Wrestleview. Retrieved May 24, 2015.

[FirstPress-5] 1 2 3 Lucha Libre AAA Worldwiden (April 22, 2016). "En Xalalpa, Los Perros del Mal chocarán entre sí". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved April 24, 2016.

[6] "Fuego en Orizaba rumbo a #VdE2016 - Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2016-05-17.

[7] "Locura la Arena Xalapa rumbo Verano Escandalo" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. April 30, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.

[:3-8] 1 2 3 4 "Equipos y participantes de Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-15.

[9] "Equipo Japón NOAH - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.

[:1-10] "Equipo Japón Oudou Zero1 - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.

[11] "VIDEO: #AAAenXalapa Parte 1 – Mayo 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-15.

[12] "Equipo México Internacional - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-21. Retrieved 2016-05-21.

[13] "Equipo USA-TNA - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2016-05-20.

[14] "Equipo USA Lucha Underground - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-22. Retrieved 2016-05-22.

[15] "Equipo Resto del Mundo - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-21.

[16] +LuchaTV (2016-05-17), Lady Apache orgullosa de compartir ring con las Apache en el mundial de lucha, retrieved 2016-05-18

[17] "Equipo Japón femenil - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-11.

[18] "Equipo Canadá femenil - Lucha Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-18.

[19] "Equipo USA femenil - Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup 2016". Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (in European Spanish). 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2016-05-21.

[20] "AAA Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup - Tag 1". Cagematch. Retrieved May 25, 2026.

[21] "AAA Lucha Libre Victoria World Cup - Tag 2". Cagematch. Retrieved May 26, 2026.

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Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide events
Lucha Libre World Cup	2015 2016 2017 2023
Current	Triplemanía (1993–present) Rey de Reyes (1997–present) Verano de Escándalo (1997–present) Guerra de Titanes (1997–2019, 2023–present) Héroes Inmortales (2007–2021, 2023–present) Worlds Collide (2025–present) Noche de Los Grandes (2026–present) Ola de Calor (2026–present) Eternal Glory (2027–present)
Former	When Worlds Collide (1994) World Wrestling Peace Festival (1996) TripleSEM (2007) AAA vs. Elite (2018) Lucha Invades NY (2019) Super Series 2020 2022 2023 AAA Invades WrestleCon (2022) Noche de Campeones (2022) The World is a Vampire: NWA vs. AAA (2023) Lucha Libre World Cup (2015–2017, 2023)