The fourth International Gran Prix was a one night, 16-man single elimination tournament consisting of Mexican natives and a number of foreign wrestlers, some of which worked for CMLL on a regular basis (such as Steele and Último Dragón) and others who were invited specially for the tournament (such as Leatherface). The final match saw Steel defeat Rayo de Jalisco Jr. to win the International Gran Prix.
In 1994 the Mexican professional wrestling promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) organized their first ever International Gran Prix tournament. The first tournament followed the standard "single elimination" format and featured sixteen wrestlers in total, eight representing Mexico and eight "international" wrestlers.[1] In the end Mexican Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeated King Haku in the finals to win the tournament.[1] In 1995 CMLL brought the tournament back, creating an annual tournament held every year from 1995 through 1998 and then again in 2002, 2003 and finally from 2005 through 2008.[1]
Storylines[]
The CMLL Gran Prix show featured four professional wrestling matches where wrestlers were matched up specifically for the tournament instead of as a result of pre-existing scripted feuds. The wrestlers themselves portray either faces (técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) or heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") as they perform for the fans before, during and after the matches.