La Copa Junior (1996) (Spanish for "The Junior Cup") was a professional wrestling tournament produced and scripted by the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLLl; Spanish "World Wrestling Council"). The tournament ran from February 23, 1996 to March 1, 1996 in Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico. CMLL's recurring La Copa Junior tournament featured second, third or fourth generation wrestlers completing against each other. The 1996 version of the La Copa Junior was the first held by CMLL. The first show featured the opening round of the tournament, while the second show featured the Quarter finals, semifinals and the finals of the tournament. Héctor Garza defeated Emilio Charles Jr. in the final to win the La Copa Junior.
Starting in 1996 the Mexican professional wrestling promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ("World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) held their first ever La Copa Junior tournament. CMLL held the tournament to celebrate the fact that lucha libre in Mexico is often a family tradition, with a large number of second, third, or even fourth generation wrestlers following the footsteps of their relatives.[1] The premise of the tournament is that all participants are second-generation or more, although at times the family relationship is a storylines family relationship and not an actual one. One example of this is Dragón Rojo Jr. being billed as the grandson of Dragón Rojo, when in reality that is simply a storyline created by CMLL.[2] The original La Copa Junior was won by Héctor Garza.[3]
The tournament featured a number of 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.[13]
^ abcdefghijklMadigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 128–132. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^Madigan, Dan (2007). ""Okay... what is Lucha Libre?"". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 31. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3. featuring clearly distinguished good guys and bad guys, or técnicos and rudos
^ ab"Luchas 2000". La Dinastia Wagner (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 1–35. Especial 23.
^"Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Hijo del Gladiador (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. September 2007. p. 25. Tomo II.
^Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers Inc, New York. 2005. pp. 296–297. ISBN1-933045-05-1.
^"Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre". Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (in Spanish). Portales, Mexico. November 2008. p. 48. 17.