Mexican National Middleweight Tournament, 1980
In late 1977, Sangre Chicana won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, and started a reign which is said to included 38 title defenses. After his final defense, in March of 1979, the Mexico City Box Y Lucha commission forced him to vacate the championship, as they did not actually recognize him as champion. (The reasons for not recognizing him are unclear.)
The commission immediately began a tournament to determine a new champion. The tournament included wrestlers from many promotions, including EMLL, LLI and Super Libres, as well as the former champion.
Full tournament brackets have not been found, only a few matches.
The tournament is said to have lasted two months, and an early-round match may have been Cachorro Mendoza over Villano I.
tournament match, May 10th, Pista Arena Revolucion
- Gran Cochisse beat Aguila India
- La Fiera beat Vengador
Box Y Lucha 1436 mentions the matches and says it happened on Saturday the 10th "the previous week", though the magazine seemed to be published before the 10th. A final between Fiera & Cochisse to determine the winner from the building was to take place the following week.
Semifinals, June 1st, Arena Coliseo DF
- Cachorro Mendoza defeated Tony Salazar
- Sangre Chicana defeated Shazam
Finals, June 8th, Arena Mexico
- Cachorro Mendoza defeated Sangre Chicana
Confusingly, Box Y Lucha 1437 lists Ringo Mendoza defeating Sangre Chicana in a semi-final.
