Acronym | CMLL |
---|---|
Founded | 1933 |
Style | Lucha libre |
Headquarters | Mexico City |
Founder(s) | Salvador Lutteroth |
Owner(s) | Paco Alonso |
Formerly | Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre NWA-EMLL |
Website | www |
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre co.ltd (CMLL; Spanish pronunciation: [konˈsexo munˈdjal de ˈlutʃa ˈliβɾe], "World Wrestling Council") is a lucha libre professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion is also referred to by its previous name Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest professional wrestling promotion still in existence.
CMLL has been nicknamed "The serious and the stable" , referencing their very conservative booking style and their traditional structure to how wrestlers are used and allowed to express themselves. Outside of live television broadcasts CMLL, has not shown matches where one of the competitors bleed. They have a few steel cage matches and on occasion have Super Libre matches where there are no disqualifications, but otherwise do not promote any variety of matches that would be considered hardcore wrestling, nor match types such as Ladder matches. CMLL has on occasion fired wrestlers for excessive violence, like the use of chairs, during a match or for using profanity while addressing the crowd during a show.
CMLL currently recognizes and promotes twelve "World Championships" for various weight divisions and classifications, six national level and six regional level championships. The CMLL Anniversary Show series is the longest running annual major show, starting in 1934, with the CMLL 83rd Anniversary Show being the most recent. CMLL also regularly promotes major events under the names Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to two legends"), Sin Piedad ("No Mercy"), Sin Salida ("No Escape"), Infierno en el Ring ("Inferno in the Ring") during the year. CMLL has promoted their regular weekly Super Viernes ("Super Friday") on a regular basis since the 1930s. Founder Salvador Lutteroth funded the building of Arena Coliseo in 1943, making it the first building in Mexico built specifically for professional wrestling.