1. Averno – (28) – (5’9″, 174 lbs, 15 yr. pro): Had an incredible 2011. Was probably the second biggest story out of Mexico. The only story that eclipsed the Averno story was Mistico leaving CMLL and joining WWE as Sin Cara. Leader of the rudo trio known as Los Hijos del Averno with Mephisto and Ephesto. Wrestled in Japan as part of the joint CMLL/New Japan Fantasticmania shows in late January. On the second show he lost to long-time rival Mistico in what was one of Mistico’s final matches as part of the CMLL promotion. Los Hijos del Averno had a long-running feud against Generacion Dorada (La Sombra, Mascara Dorada & La Mascara). Averno was successful in defending the NWA World Historic Middleweight Title at the 3/18 Dos Leyendas show against Mascara Dorada. During skits introducing Sin Cara on WWE television, there was a masked wrestler that looked physically similar to Averno. The rumors started and in late May the big story was that Averno was reportedly heading to WWE. The story grew as the plan by that point was to come up with a big payday for a mask match, given Averno figured he wouldn’t be wrestling with a mask or at least would be getting a new identity once he joined WWE. The decision was made within a few weeks that La Mascara would face Averno in a mask match on June 17th. Averno kept denying rumors that he was heading to WWE leading up to the mask match. On June 17th, Averno lost the mask match to La Mascara and was revealed to be Renato Ruiz Cortés. Everyone assumed it was a matter of time before he left. As lineups for upcoming shows came up, everyone assumed Averno would be losing his title on the way out and would lose a few more matches as well. Instead a few things happened. For one, Averno without his mask showed tons more charisma than he ever did with the mask. He came across as a bigger star. The other thing that happened, he kept winning. Along with Mephisto and Ephesto won the CMLL World Trios Titles on July 15th from Generacion Dorada. He continued his feud with La Mascara and won in matches were he defended the NWA World Historic Middleweight Title. Then Sin Cara violated the WWE wellness policy and the rumors of Averno leaving died down. Averno continued to roll along in CMLL. He lost in the finals of the Universal tournament to La Sombra (another fun match) on September 16th. On November 22nd, Averno lost the NWA World Historic Middleweight title to La Mascara. There were some rumors briefly that AAA had tried talking Averno into jumping, but he remained with CMLL. He continued the remainder of 2011 as a top headliner for CMLL.

2. L.A. Park – (2) – (6’0″, 255 lbs, 29 yr. pro): Spent most of 2011 as part of La Sociedad. There was always a bit of friction between L.A. Park and the rest of La Sociedad as L.A. Park wanted a shot at the AAA Mega World title going back to 2010, but Konnan kept telling him to wait his turn and used him instead to eliminate any enemies that La Sociedad had. Continued his heated feud with El Mesias in 2011. He also had an on-again/off-again feud with Dr. Wagner Jr. In the Rey de Reyes finals, L.A. Park and El Mesias feud erupted once more and the two spent most of their time brawling outside and were both counted out. L.A. Park accepted El Mesias mask vs. hair challenge for Triplemania. L.A. Park won the match and felt that after that big win, he should get a shot at fellow La Sociedad member and AAA Mega World Champion Jeff Jarrett. He received a shot, but in a three-way match also involving Dr. Wagner Jr. However, Konnan told L.A. Park his job was to make sure Jarrett kept the title. Jarrett won the match by pinning L.A. Park after, Chessman dressed as the masked Zorro attacked L.A. Park. This was Konnan’s way of keeping the belt on Jarrett and getting L.A. Park to chase after El Zorro. L.A. Park’s frustration with Konnan and La Sociedad continued as the year progressed. At the AAA Guerra de Titanes show, L.A. Park defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA Latin American Title.

3. Blue Panther – (23) – (5’7″, 194 lbs, 33 yr. pro): Another veteran that had an exceptional 2011. “El Maestro Lagunero” spent much of 2011 feuding with Negro Casas. They had an excellent match on April 24th at Arena Coliseo. Continued to provide strong performances in CMLL trios matches. Teamed with Dragon Rojo Jr. in the National Parejas Increibles tournament were they lost in the finals to Atlantis and Mascara Dorada. Blue Panther was the mentor of the Delta group in the Forjando Un Idolo tournament. He teamed with Fuego and Polvora in the trios portion of the tournament. The feud between Casas and Panther eventually was going to lead to a hair match, but Felino got involved, so at the 12/16 Sin Piedad show, Blue Panther won the hair of Felino via disqualification. Blue Panther also made appearances on independent shows in matches involving other veterans like Negro Navarro, Black Terry and Solar I. Matches were usually pretty great as well.

4. Virus – (17) – (5’5″, 174 lbs, 26 yr. pro): Based solely on number of quality matches, Virus might have had the best year in lucha libre for 2011. His body of work in the ring was pretty amazing. He’s never gonna be the top guy because at best he’s a semi-main event guy, who usually ends up in third matches on big shows. Last year with CMLL just pushing and de-pushing everyone, Virus had an amazing year. Its a lock that Virus will always have a good spot in CMLL. He might not be a main event guy, but his value to the promotion is probably far more important than casual fans could imagine. For the young CMLL tecnicos he’s the middle veteran rudo they must go through to reach main event or semi-main event status. In the last couple of years, CMLL has given him a better push and he’s become the leader of one of CMLL’s rudo factions, Los Cancerberos. In early 2011, had a feud with Demus 3:16, who had followed a similar path that Virus had taken previously from going from being in the minis division to the regular-size male roster. This did not sit well with Virus and this eventually led to the two setting up one of the great stipulation matches of all-time. Virus and Demus 3:16 agreed to a hair match. Virus then felt that Demus 3:16 should he lose, should return to the minis division. Demus 3:16 accepted, but suggested that if he won, Virus would lose leadership of Los Cancerberos and Demus would become the new leader. They agreed on all stipulations. On March 11th, Virus beat Demus 3:16 in the hair match at Arena Mexico sending his rival back to the minis division. Virus won the vacant CMLL World Super Lightweight title on June 8th in an excellent match over Guerrero Maya Jr. Had successful title defenses against Stuka Jr. and Dragon Lee. Teamed frequently with other members of Los Cancerberos in trios matches. The faction had a brief rudo vs. rudo feud with the Guerreros Tuareg.

5. Negro Casas – (16) – (5’8″, 185 lbs, 33 yr. pro): Continued to have consistently good matches in 2011. Part of the popular rudo faction of La Peste Negra with Mr. Niebla, Felino and Zacarias El Perico. Spent 2011 feuding with Blue Panther. Feud included one of the better matches of 2011 as they faced off in a singles match on April 24th. The two kept facing off in trios matches. Mentored the Alpha Group in the Forjando Un Idolo tournament. Made a few appearances in the A&E reality series, “El Luchador”. Most notably when Felino was showing Casas and Mr. Niebla some gear he thought would look great. The Casas and Blue Panther feud heated up late in 2011 and it looked like they were set to face off in a big singles match at the big year-end show for CMLL called “Sin Piedad”. At the press conference were Casas and Blue Panther were set to sign contracts for a hair match, Felino begged his brother, Negro Casas, to let him have this opportunity to take on Blue Panther in the hair match. Casas initially resisted, but decided to agree and let Felino have the singles match. Casas cost Felino the match when he interfered to stop him from using the “martinete” (piledriver) on Blue Panther. Referee saw the interference and called for a DQ on Felino. The Blue Panther – Negro Casas feud continued…

6. Trauma I – (45) – (5’10″, 198 lbs, 10 yr. pro): Had a pretty amazing year. Tons of great matches in 2011. Teamed frequently with his father, Negro Navarro, and his brother, Trauma I. Los Traumas had a feud with the Apache sisters early in 2011. In IWRG, he began feuding with Los Piratas (Pirata Morgan, Hijo de Pirata Morgan and Barba Roja). On March 27th, won the IWRG Junior de Juniors Championship by beating Hijo de LA Park and Hijo de Pirata Morgan. He had successful title defenses against both Hijo de LA Park and Hijo de Pirata Morgan later in the year. He teamed with Negro Navarro to challenge for the IWRG IC Tag Team Titles against Pirata Morgan and Hijo de Pirata Morgan. Los Traumas won the AULL Tag Team Titles. In December, Trauma I along with Negro Navarro and Trauma II began feuding with Los Oficiales. It led to a relevos increibles tag team match with Trauma I & Oficial AK47 teaming up to face off against Trauma II & Oficial 911 on December 22nd at Arena Naucalpan. Trauma II & Oficial 911 won the tag match which led to the losing team facing off in a mask vs. mask match. Oficial AK47 was initially awarded the victory, but the referee reversed his decision when he realized Oficial AK47 had used the ‘martinete’ (piledriver) to get the win. Fans were upset at the initial result and were very glad to see the decision reversed. Oficial AK47 was forced to unmask, while Trauma I was selling the effects of being caught in the “martinete”.

7. Volador Jr. – (3) – (5’7″, 170 lbs, 14 yr. pro): One of the more athletically gifted luchadores in Mexico. Had a bit of an interesting 2011 were it seemed he was phased out some by the promotion. There were rumors that he was one of the CMLL wrestlers who had a try out with WWE in the past couple of years and it seemed like the promotion was a bit lukewarm in pushing him. Had a very respectable first half of 2011 were he continued to have strong performances, but wasn’t really doing anywhere near as much as one would expect. Most of his highlights were that he would wear some great outfits like that of Venom and as the year progressed he dressed like Darth Maul, Green Lantern and even wore KISS gear. Then around late August when Hector Garza turned tecnico, Volador Jr. found his place as part of Los Invasores and really brought new life to that faction as he fit their style better than Garza did. On September 18th, Volador Jr. was unsuccessful in a match for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Title against La Sombra. Two days later, he teamed with Psicosis II and Olimpico to win the Mexican National Trios Titles from Angel de Oro, Rush and Diamante. He followed that up by winning the first stage of the Leyenda de Plata which was a torneo cibernetico with the winner then heading to the finals to face off against Jushin “Thunder” Liger. That was then followed by Volador Jr. winning the Lucha Libre Azteca championship in Nuevo Leon on September 25th. Volador Jr. then won the Leyenda de Plata trophy on October 7th by beating Liger. Volador Jr., Olimpico and Psicosis II began feuding with Los Reyes de la Atlantida (Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr., & Delta). They lost the Mexican National Trios titles to Los Reyes de la Atlantida on December 16th. By late 2011, Volador Jr. had firmly reestablished himself as a very popular rudo.

8. Negro Navarro (15) – (5’7″, 198 lbs, 37 yr. pro): Veteran luchador is known for being one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. He continues to have some great matches and doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. He’s very much in demand on the independent circuit in Mexico. Continued to have his awesome series of matches with Solar I with the Americas Title at times on the line. Teamed with rival, Black Terry, in a feud with Gran Apache & Angel Mortal. Navarro even teamed with Black Terry against his sons, Los Traumas, on an independent show. In IWRG, Navarro teamed with his two sons in a feud with Pirata Morgan & Hijo de Pirata Morgan. Choked out Nicho El Millonario (Original Psicosis) on October 15th at a DTU show in a match that was a styles clash as Nicho used a hardcore style were he brought in light tubes to the match, while Navarro went with submission wrestling.

9. La Sombra (1) – (5’10″, 175 lbs, 8 yr. pro): Last year’s #1 ranked luchador in the LuchaWorld 100 had yet another strong year in 2011. Made several trips to Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestled at the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show were he teamed with Mascara Dorada to defeat Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Hector Garza. Lost to Jushin “Thunder” Liger at the 1/22 New Japan/CMLL Fantasticmania show. He made another trip to Japan to take part in the annual August G1 Climax tournament for New Japan. He won two matches over Wataru Inoue and Strongman and lost the rest, which is the norm for most luchadores invited to take part in tournaments in Japan. In Mexico, La Sombra continued to feud with Los Hijos del Averno with teammates Mascara Dorada and La Mascara (known as Generacion Dorada). On March 13th, he defeated Mephisto for the NWA World Historic Welterweight title. He went on to have successful title defenses against Psicosis II and former tag team partner/turned rival, Volador Jr. On April 24th, La Sombra won the Lucha Libre Azteca title in a 3-way match involving Atlantis and Volador Jr. in Nuevo Leon. He later in the year lost it to Volador Jr. in another 3-way match. Generacion Dorada lost the CMLL World Trios titles to Los Hijos del Averno on July 15th at Arena Mexico in an excellent match. La Sombra won the Universal title on September 16th in the final against Averno in yet another excellent match.

10. El Mesias – (4) – (6’0″, 240 lbs, 14 yr. pro): One of AAA’s top tecnicos since turning a few years ago and apologizing to the Mexican fans for past transgressions against their favorite heroes. Continued his ongoing feud with La Sociedad and in particular with L.A. Park. The two continued to have some of the best brawls in wrestling whenever they met, be it a singles match or matches involving others. It didn’t matter, these two went at after each other. At the 2011 Rey de Reyes show, El Mesias and L.A. Park brawled on the outside and were eliminated via countout. El Mesias challenged and lost to L.A. Park in a hair vs. mask match at Triplemania. El Mesias feud with La Sociedad would eventually lead to him saving another former rival, Dr. Wagner Jr. from an attack by La Sociedad at Verano de Escandalo. As part of the AAA-TNA working agreement, Sting made his first appearance in Mexico and El Mesias was chosen to be his opponent at the October 9th Heroes Inmortales show. Their match ended in a no-contest (draw) when La Sociedad members got involved. Jarrett started telling Sting to finish off Mesias, but Sting refused and helped El Mesias instead. Jeff Jarrett then announced that he had placed a bounty on El Mesias. TNA wrestlers AJ Styles and Rob Terry came in to collect on the bounty at the December 16th Guerra de Titanes show, but El Mesias beat both of them.

11. Mascara Dorada – (5) – (5’8″, 165 lbs, 6 yr. pro): Had another great year, but in some ways his travels to Japan made him miss some opportunities with CMLL. Toured with New Japan Pro Wrestling several times in 2011. First appearing at the Wrestle Kingdom 1/4/11 Tokyo Dome show teaming with La Sombra against Hector Garza and Jushin “Thunder” Liger. Held a multitude of titles and actually vacated a few late in 2010 and in early 2011. Lost the CMLL World Welterweight Title at the 1/22 Fantasticmania show to Ryusuke Taguchi. Returned to Japan and challenged Jushin “Thunder” Liger for the CMLL World Middleweight Title at the May 3rd Wrestling Dontaku show. Mascara Dorada then participated in the annual New Japan Best of the Super Junior Tournament. On June 18th Mascara Dorada regained the CMLL World Welterweight title from Ryusuke Taguchi. He also participated in the New Japan J Sports Crown trios tournament. Since he was traveling in Japan for part of May and much of June it was believed that had he not been in Japan, he would have been the one getting the shot at Averno’s mask that instead went to La Mascara. Won the National Parejas tournament for a second time with Atlantis. Held the CMLL World Trios titles with La Sombra and La Mascara. The trio feuded with Los Hijos de Averno throughout 2011. They lost their trios titles to Los Hijos del Averno on July 15th. He feuded with Mephisto primarily during the second half of the year with Mascara Dorada having defended the CMLL World Welterweight title successfully against him a few times including the two having a really good match in November.

12. Guerrero Maya Jr. – (NR) – (5’10″, 194 lbs, 7 yr. pro): Had a big year as he went from being a lower card wrestler to start the year to main event status as part of a top tecnico trio. Teamed with Maximo in the Gran Alternativa tournament. He was part of the Forjando Un Idolo tournament in CMLL as part of Charly group with mentor Shocker. While the tournament was going on, Guerrero Maya Jr. was part of a tournament for the vacant CMLL Super Lightweight Title. The first part of the tournament were two torneo ciberneticos were the finalists would face in a singles match for the title. Guerrero Maya Jr. won the May 24th torneo cibernetico in grand fashion by using a “martinete” (piledriver) on Palacio Negro, which after seeing some of the holds that he had used built him a different reputation to any other tecnico in the promotion. Lost to Virus in the final match on June 7th at Arena Mexico in an excellent match. Teamed with Atlantis and Delta as “Los Reyes del Atlantida” and began feuding with Los Guerreros del Atlantida. The trio eventually won the Mexican National Trios Titles from Los Invasores (Volador Jr., Olimpico & Psicosis II) at the 12/16 Sin Piedad show. His use of submission holds separates him from all other young, high-flying CMLL tecnicos.

13. Atlantis – (42) – (5’8″, 202 lbs, 28 yr. pro): Wrestled on the New Japan/CMLL Fantasticmania shows in Japan in January. Lost to Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson in an IWGP World Tag Team Title matchup teaming with Okumura. Teamed with Mascara Dorada to win the National Parejas tournament on February 25th, 2011. On March 26th, teamed with Ultimo Guerrero to win the UWE Tag Team Titles after defeating Hector Garza and Olimpico in the tournament finals. During the summer as the Forjando Un Idolo tournament entered its next phase, Atlantis replaced Shocker as the trios partner for Guerrero Maya Jr. and Delta. This didn’t sit well with Ultimo Guerrero and tensions built up until they eventually split up, ending a long-running partnership. Atlantis formed a new trio with Guerrero Maya Jr. and Delta called “Los Reyes de la Atlantida” and they immediately started feuding with Los Guerreros Del Infierno/Atlantida (Ultimo Guerrero, Dragon Rojo Jr. & Rey Escorpion). Atlantis teamed with Guerrero Maya Jr. to challenge for the CMLL World Tag Team titles held by Ultimo Guerrero and Dragon Rojo Jr. The trio was soon challenged by Shocker and his new faction consisting of Metro, Titan and Triton, but that group lasted less time than the press conference they were introduced at. Los Reyes del Atlantida turned their attention towards the Mexican National Trios titles held by Los Invasores (Volador Jr., Olimpico & Psicosis II). At the 12/16 Sin Piedad show, Los Reyes del Atlantida won the Mexican National Trios titles from Los Invasores.

14. Rey Escorpion – (NR) – (5’9″, 203 lbs, 16 yr. pro): Had a huge year in 2011. He went from being a lower card wrestler to main event level wrestler quicker than I think anyone ever imagined possible. Was always regarded as a good worker. Spent some time in AAA and was in that final grouping of Los Guapos VIP before AAA disbanded the group. While in AAA he was always more of a spot show guy, so when he jumped to CMLL it was no surprise he wasn’t pushed early, but his rise was very unexpected. Might be the most successful wrestler, as far as push goes, to go from AAA to CMLL. Lost a hair match to Loco Max on March 14th in Puebla. Despite being a veteran, but still since he was new to CMLL, he was placed in the Gran Alternativa tag team tournament teaming with Ultimo Guerrero. The two showed they had great chemistry in the tournament and eventually won it by beating Mascara Dorada and Metal Blanco in the finals. From there Rey Escorpion was placed in the Forjando Un Idolo tournament were he truly showcased his rudo charisma. He was placed in the Bravo Group mentored by Ultimo Guerrero and the two butted heads a few times, but Ultimo Guerrero respected his ability. Rey Escorpion eventually replaced Atlantis in the Guerreros de la Atlantida trio and has been a top rudo in CMLL since then.

15. Black Terry – (7) – (5’6″, 178 lbs, 36 yr. pro): Another great year out of Black Terry. Not as strong as his 2010 were he was a central figure in a pretty great program in IWRG against Los Gringos VIP. One of the best brawlers in pro wrestling, who can also still take it to the mat and give fans a traditional lucha match. Had a feud with AAA maestros Gran Apache and Angel Mortal which led to Black Terry teaming with rival Negro Navarro in their feud. Lost a hair match to Angel Mortal on January 23rd in Naucalpan. Had a lot of matches with other veterans throughout the year. He continued to team with Navarro against other veteran teams as well as Navarro’s two sons, Los Traumas. He was still part of the Terrible Cerebros with Dr. Cerebro and Cerebro Negro. Later in the year, Black Terry introduced a new faction called “Los Nuevos Temerarios” in IWRG, but the young guys didn’t really seem to gain any traction with fans and by late 2011 the group was kind of phased out. Continues to be one of the more popular luchadores among die-hard lucha fans.

16. Dr. Wagner Jr. – (11) – (5’10″, 216 lbs, 26 yr. pro): One of the more popular wrestlers in Mexico. Was one of the main AAA wrestlers feuding with La Sociedad. His long-running feud with L.A. Park also continued on independent shows and AAA. Their feud has also involved their sons. Dr. Wagner Jr. has teamed a bit with his son, Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. Became the first AAA Latin American Heavyweight Champion by beating TNA’s Rob Van Dam on June 18th at Triplemania. Challenged Jeff Jarrett in a 3-way match (also included L.A. Park) for the AAA World Mega Title at the July 31st Verano de Escandalo show. Lost due to the interference of Karen Jarrett. Focused his attention on Los Perros Del Mal. At the Heroes Inmortales show on October 9th, he successfully defended the AAA Latin American Title against Hijo del Perro Aguayo. However after the match, Doc was attacked by former teammates and AAA tecnicos, La Parka and Octagon. Konnan assigned L.A. Park to handle Dr. Wagner Jr. with the promise that if he beat Doc, he would then get a shot at Jarrett. Dr. Wagner Jr. lost the AAA Latin American Title to L.A. Park at the Guerra de Titanes show on December 16th.

17. Ultimo Guerrero – (13) – (5’8″, 210 lbs, 21 yr. pro): Held both the CMLL World Heavyweight and CMLL World Tag Team Titles in 2011. Ultimo Guerrero and Dragon Rojo Jr. held the tag titles for all of 2011. Had successful World heavyweight title defenses against La Sombra, Mr. Niebla, Hirooki Goto and Rush. He lost the title to Hector Garza on August 12th at Arena Mexico. He was involved in the Forjando Un Idolo tournament as a mentor to the Bravo Group. He initially didn’t like that Rey Escorpion would use rudo tactics to win his matches, but eventually they got along. During the 2nd stage of the tournament were each mentor teamed with his top two students (Angel de Oro and Rey Escorpion), he became upset with Guerreros del Atlantida teammate, Atlantis, who had replaced Shocker as mentor to the Charly Group (teaming with tecnicos Guerrero Maya Jr. and Delta). This led to the eventual break-up of Los Guerreros del Atlantida with Ultimo Guerrero and Dragon Rojo Jr. adding Rey Escorpion to replace Atlantis. Spent the second half of 2011 feuding with Atlantis. He also had a brief feud with Jushin “Thunder” Liger. Ultimo Guerrero is part of the CMLL booking committee so he has some influence in the promotion.

18. La Mascara (32) – (5’9″, 187 lbs, 12 yr. pro): 2nd-generation wrestler finally reached the next level of stardom in CMLL. Part of the legendary Alvarado (Los Brazos) family. His family connection probably helped as in most wrestling promotions being a second-generation wrestler opens more doors and that’s helped him in CMLL. Had a disappointing trip to Japan for the joing New Japan/CMLL Fantasticmania shows. Held the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Title throughout 2011 with successful defenses over Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Bucanero. Spent much of 2011 feuding with Los Hijos del Averno with his trios partners La Sombra and Mascara Dorada. The trios feud spawned a singles rivalry during the summer between La Mascara and Averno. Amid rumors of Averno possibly departing CMLL to join WWE, CMLL (and Averno) decided to have these two battle in a mask match. La Mascara won the mask of Averno on June 17th at Arena Mexico. Their feud continued and a few weeks later La Mascara, La Sombra and Mascara Dorada lost the CMLL World Trios Titles to Los Hijos del Averno. La Mascara beat Averno for the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship on November 22nd.

19. Oficial AK-47 – (26) – (5’9″, 190, 15 yr. pro): Long-time IWRG regular and member of the trio known as Los Oficiales. The trio has had a ton of success in IWRG since they formed back in 2006. Los Oficiales held the IWRG IC Trios titles and faces a variety of challengers in early 2011 given the working agreement between IWRG, AAA, Los Perros Del Mal and other independent promotions. They became involved in a feud with several trios including Los Psycho Circus, members of Los Perros Del Mal and other AAA wrestlers. Los Oficiales lost the IWRG IC Trios titles to Joe Lider, Silver Kain and Ultimo Gladiador on March 3rd, 2011. They continued to challenge for those trios titles as well as others in the indie scene in Mexico. In December, Los Oficiales rivalry with La Dinastia de la Muerte (Negro Navarro and Los Traumas) led to a relevos increibles match involving Oficial AK47, Oficial 911, Trauma I and Trauma II with all four wrestlers putting their mask on the line. Oficial AK47 and Trauma I faced off in the final portion of the mask match. Oficial AK47 lost the match when the referee reversed the decision when it turned out Oficial AK47 had used a “martinete” (piledriver, which is an illegal move in lucha libre) to get the pin on Trauma I, which in lucha libre is an automatic disqualification.

20. Valiente (20) – (5’7″, 180 lbs, 15 yr. pro): One of the great high flyers in CMLL. Known for some of the more spectacular dives in lucha libre. He’s now pretty much a semi-main event wrestler, who at times can be booked in main event trios matches. Always a highlight in trios matches he’s in due to his big dives. Held the Mexican National Welterweight Title since August 2009. In 2011 he had successful title defenses against Dragon Rojo Jr., Virus and Polvora. He would eventually lose the title to Polvora on July 15th at Arena Mexico. Probably one of the most consistent wrestlers in Mexico as far as just producing good performances which can be a bit hard given the schedule some luchadores have and the amount of CMLL that airs on television nowadays.

21. Demus 3:16 – (10) – (5’3″, 176 lbs, 14 yr. pro): Started the year as part of the regular-size men’s division in CMLL. He started feuding with Virus and the two threw out challenges at each other which resulted in one of the greatest stipulations added to a wrestling match. Demus 3:16 had followed a similar path to that of Virus from winning his way from moving out of the CMLL minis division to the regular-size men’s division. Virus felt Demus 3:16 was trying to take his spot, so they made a challenge for a hair match. They added the stips that winner would lead the Cancerberos faction (Virus was the leader at that time) and the loser would return to the minis division. Match was held on March 11th, 2011 at Arena Mexico and Demus 3:16′s lost and eventually had to return to the minis division. He continued his awesome rudo ways in the minis division wrestling the mini tecnicos like Electrico and long-time rivals Bam Bam and Mascarita Dorada. He also had a brief feud with Pequeño Warrior, who he ended up beating in a hair match on September 18th. While Mascarita Dorada left CMLL to go back to AAA, the two did continue to have matches on independent shows.

22. Trauma II – (48) – (5’9″, 160 lbs, 9 yr. pro): One of the most in-demand independent luchadores in Mexico. Wrestles in a number of indie promotions, but is probably best known for wrestling in IWRG. Teamed frequently with his brother, Trauma I, and his father, Negro Navarro. Los Traumas wrestled Fabi & Mari Apache in January 2011 that received praise and was listed as a Match of the Year candidate. Along with his brother won the AULL Tag Team Titles from Iron Love and Chucho El Roto. Trauma II was part of the tournament to crown an IWRG IC Welterweight Champion in early September were he lost to Golden Magic in the quarterfinals. In December, La Dinastia de la Muerte (Los Traumas & Negro Navarro) had a rivalry with Los Oficiales which led to a relevos increibles tag team match with masks on the line involving both Traumas and Oficiale 911 & Oficial AK47. Trauma II saved his mask that evening.

23. El Hijo Del Santo – (64) – (5’7″, 185 lbs, 30 yr. pro): All-time great in Mexico. He host his own TV show on TVCDeportes called “Experiencias Con El Hijo Del Santo” were he interviews a variety of guests from the world of pro wrestling and shows us his museum were he keeps his father and his memorabilia. He’s pretty much public enemy #1 with both CMLL and AAA and both promotions refuse to work with him or allow any contracted talent to work his shows. He’s still a top independent wrestler. His drawing power has slipped in the last couple of years, but the guy can still go. Had a surprising run late in 2011 working on his Todo X El Todo shows were he feuded with second-generation wrestlers El Hijo del Solitario and Angel Blanco Jr. Lost the WWA World Welterweight Title to Angel Blanco Jr. in December. Wrestles quite a bit outside of Mexico including tours to Europe.

24. Rush – (84) – (6’0″, 205 lbs, 4 yr. pro): Young tecnico has become one of CMLL’s top stars. He receives far more boos than any other wrestler in the promotion since Mistico despite being a tecnico. The one big difference is that he plays off it really well and comes off as a cocky heel. The fan interaction works great when Rush is facing off against a popular rudo like Volador Jr. or Ultimo Guerrero. Teamed with Angel de Oro and Diamante to win the Mexican Trios titles on January 9th at Arena Mexico. The trio held the titles for much of 2011 until they lost them on September 20th to the Invasores trio of Volador Jr., Psicosis and Olimpico. Rush would add another title in 2011 as he won the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title on February 22nd from Ephesto. He went on to have several successful defenses against Rey Bucanero, Psicosis, Mr. Aguila & El Terrible. The match-up with El Terrible started a rivalry between the two that continued to heat up late in 2011. Has shown glimpses of being a really good brawler which will probably turn him into a Perro Aguayo type star in the very near future. He has also become a top challenger to the CMLL World Heavyweight Title. In 2011 challenged Ultimo Guerrero for the title and when Garza left the promotion, he was one of the top challengers to the title.

25. Dr. Cerebro – (8) – (5’6″, 180 lbs, 15 yr. pro): Long-time IWRG regular. He’s one of the better all-around luchadores for the better part of the last 15 years. Your almost always guaranteed a few great matches from him every year. He entered 2011 holding two titles, but that wouldn’t last too long. He lost the IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship on January 30th, 2011 to Comando Negro at Arena Naucalpan. In early June he lost the WWS World Welterweight Championship to Multifacetico. Continued his team known as Los Terrible Cerebros with Black Terry and Cerebro Negro. He made appearances for AAA in trios matches. Teamed with Eterno and Cerebro Negro in competing the AAA World Trios tournament. Lost a hair match to Coliseo Coacalco local Magnifico on October 10th.

26. Hector Garza – (14) – (5’11″, 209 lbs, 19 yr. pro): Had a very busy year in 2011. Made his first appearance for New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Wrestle Kingdom show on January 4, 2011. He teamed with Jushin “Thunder” Liger and lost to La Sombra and Mascara Dorada. He made a return trip to Japan in July. After spending most of the year as a rudo, CMLL had him turned tecnico. A move that Garza wasn’t in favor of. On August 12th, Hector Garza beat Ultimo Guerrero to become the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. He only had one defense after against Rey Hechicero in Monterrey that ended in a draw. While it might seem strange for someone to win a title and not defend it, CMLL has a track record with that title in the past going years without being defended. Despite Garza being world champion and just turned tecnico, he seemed to be in the same position he was in and might have gotten a bit stale with all the turns he’d had while being a part of CMLL. On November 11th, Los Perros Del Mal held a press conference that Hector Garza had joined the Perros Del Mal promotion and was back with his old friends. Garza made his debut on November 13th helping Los Perros Del Mal on their own show. The next day Garza appeared on a AAA show helping Los Perros Del Mal. The strange part in all this was that Garza was still CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. CMLL didn’t make any announcement about Garza’s departure. Garza showed his professionalism by working his final bookings with CMLL and when asked if he still had the CMLL World Title in his possession, he stated that he had returned the title to CMLL. He also thanked them for his time and opportunity there.

27. Oficial 911 – (25) – (5’8″, 185 lbs, 10 yr. pro): Part of the awesome trio of Los Oficiales with AK47 & Fierro. An IWRG regular who mostly competes in trios matches. Los Oficiales lost the IWRG IC Trios Titles in early March to Silver Kain, Ultimo Gladiador & Joe Lider. They were involved in a feud between several trios including the trio they lost the titles to from AAA along with Los Psycho Circus and members of Los Perros Del Mal. Had a brief feud with the latest wrestler to use the Multifacetico gimmick in IWRG. Challenged Multifacetico for the WWS World Welterweight Title on June 26th. One month later, they had a rematch with both putting their masks on the line. Oficial 911 won that match. In December, Los Oficiales rivalry with Los Traumas and Negro Navarro got hot again. They had a tag team match, which led to a relevos increibles match with everyone putting their masks on the line. He teamed with Trauma II and they beat Oficial AK47 and Trauma I to keep their masks.

28. Amapola (36) – (5’3″, 130 lbs, 14 yr. pro): The top ruda in CMLL and the top female wrestler in Mexico for 2011. Successfully defended the CMLL Women’s Title several times in 2011 against Marcela, Lluvia and Estrellita. Her long running feud with Marcela continued in 2011 and made its way to Japan as part of the newly formed Reina promotion. Had a feud that started in the summer with Estrellita. Amapola lost the CMLL World Women’s Title on October 28th to Marcela. Amapola had held that title going back to November 16th, 2007 and heading into that match she had a long winning streak in title matches against Marcela.

29. Daga – (NR) – (3 yr. pro): One of the talented young stars of 2011. Had a rather quick rise from being a relative unknown, to internet darling and to becoming a part of the AAA roster. Uses a wrestling style that is more popular on the indie scene in the US and by junior heavyweights in Japan. His first few years in he built up a pretty good rep in IWRG and smaller indie promotions. He teamed and feuded with Eterno. Daga was part of a tag match at the pre-show leading into the 6/18 Triplemania show. It wasn’t until IWL’s first iPPV on July 31st that he really gained prominence to a larger audience and became a bit of an internet favorite. He and veteran Mike “El Suicida” Segura had an outstanding match on that iPPV that was widely considered one of the best matches of 2011. From that point it was all uphill for Daga. Held the IWL International Junior Heavyweight Title. He held the title going back to 2010, but he vacated it in October 15th with the reason being he had suffered a losing streak that included losses to Joe Lider, Davey Richards and Juventud Guerrera. The more likely reason was that Daga had been trying to move to a bigger promotion as he was one of the luchadores revealed to have been involved in WWE tryouts during WWE’s tour of Mexico in October. Was involved late in 2011 in AAA’s series “Quién Pinta Para la Corona”, which he won the men’s division of this series. He was quickly put in a role as part of the AAA army.

30. Jack Evans – (34) – (5’8″, 165 lbs, 12 yr. pro): A pretty big year for the high-flyer, who has been really popular since turning tecnico (babyface) a few years back in AAA. Teamed with Extreme Tiger to win the AAA World Tag Team Titles from Silver Kain & Ultimo Gladiador on March 21st in Leon. Had a couple of successful title matches against Abyss & Mr. Anderson at Triplemania and Billy El Malo & Escoria. In September AAA remembered Jack Evans was also the AAA Cruiserweight Champion, so he had a successful title defense against Escoria. At the Heroes Inmortales show in Monterrey on October 9th, Jack and Extreme Tiger lost the tag team titles to Abyss and Chessman. Jack started teaming with a variety of partners in the ongoing feud with La Sociedad. This eventually led to a rivalry between Jack and El Hijo del Perro Aguayo. They finished the year and entered the new year feuding.

31. Stuka Jr. – (43) – (5’9″, 190 lbs, 7 yr. pro): Talented high-flyer continues to be one of the more consistent luchadores in CMLL. Held the Mexican National Trios Titles, but after Mascara Dorada decided to vacate his portion of the titles, that left Stuka Jr. and Metro in limbo. They eventually teamed with Delta. The trio lost the Mexican National Trios titles to Rush, Angel de Oro and Diamante on January 9th, 2011. Had a great match with Virus for the CMLL World Super Lightweight title on August 30th at Arena Coliseo Guadalajara. Has held the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles with Fuego for years. They defended the titles at Arena Coliseo on October 19th against Skandalo and Arkangel de la Muerte in yet another great match. He later won the Torneo Revolución Mexicana (torneo cibernetico) in Guadalajara in November. He’s established himself as a semi-main event wrestler in the last couple of years.

32. El Hijo Del Texano – (41) – (6’1″, 220 lbs, 13 yr. pro): Spent most of 2011 in CMLL teaming with long-time partner El Terrible. They had a feud with Maximo and Super Porky, which led to a hair match on March 18th that El Hijo del Texano & El Terrible won. Formed a trio with El Terrible and Rey Bucanero called Fuerza TRT. They worked high on the card, but they didn’t have a specific feud following their feud with Super Porky & Maximo. He helped Rey Bucanero in his feud with Felino and La Peste Negra in trios matches and he was thrown into the cage main event at the September Anniversary show. Challenged Jushin “Thunder” Liger for the CMLL World Middleweight title on October 24th at Arena Puebla. Right after Hector Garza left CMLL in early November and the CMLL World Heavyweight title situation appeared to be in limbo, everyone assumed the ideal guy to take Garza’s spot would eventually be either Ultimo Guerrero, Rush or El Hijo del Texano. A few weeks later, rumors surfaced that El Hijo Del Texano was also leaving CMLL. He appeared at CMLL’s annual bodybuilding competition and then wrestled on the November 22nd Arena Mexico show. That night, he announced he left CMLL and was now independent and appeared in photos with Los Perros Del Mal. Everyone assumed he would eventually go to AAA. Sure enough, El Hijo del Texano along with ex-CMLL wrestler Toscano and never-been in CMLL wrestler Máscara Año 2000, Jr. debuted at the December 16th Guerra de Titanes show as a group now called “El Consejo” (a spoof on CMLL) who were out to prove they were better than AAA.

33. Pierrothito – (24) – (5’1″, 165 lbs, 20 yr. pro): One of the best minis and all-around best rudos in Mexico. Held the Mexican National Lightweight Title throughout 2011. He has held that belt since it was brought back in September 23rd, 2008, making him one of the longest reigning champions. He had three successful title defenses in 2011. Once against Astral which was a really good match on April 5th and twice against Bam Bam later in 2011. Pierrothito also won the hair of Bam Bam on August 21st after they both were in the finals of a tournament were every mini luchador put his hair or mask on the line.

34. Mike “El Suicida” Segura – (96) – (5’6″, 167 lbs, 20 yr. pro): One of the most underrated wrestlers by lucha fans who may have only heard of him or seen him a few times, but for die-hard fans, Mike Segura has been a favorite for as long as he’s been around. Probably best known for his death-defying dives at Arena Naucalpan over the years. In 2011, El Suicida wrestled in a bunch of independent shows including IWRG. Had a feud with the Neza Kid and lost a hair match to him in May 2011. He also wrestled in a tag match during the pre-show leading up to Triplemania. He wrestled on IWL shows were he had a rivalry with young, up-and-comer Daga. The two had one of the best matches of 2011 on IWL’s iPPV on July 31st. The match ended in a draw, but they had a rematch on September 16th and that time Suicida won. After Daga left the IWL promotion, the IWL International Junior Heavyweight Title was vacated. IWL held a 3-way match on October 22nd between Suicida, Joe Lider and Low Rider. Suicida won the title in that match.

35. Mephisto – (35) – (5’9″, 198 lbs, 23 yr. pro): CMLL rudo is part of Los Hijos de Averno with Averno and Ephesto. Lost the NWA World Historic Welterweight title on March 13th at Arena Mexico to La Sombra. Spent most of the year feuding with La Generacion Dorada (La Sombra, Mascara Dorada & La Mascara) in singles and trios matches. This led to several CMLL World Trios Title match-ups and Mephisto along with Averno and Ephesto would finally win the titles on July 15th at Arena Mexico. Mephisto challenged Mascara Dorada for the CMLL World Welterweight title three times. He was unsuccessful in those matches as well as in a challenge late in the year for the NWA World Historic Middleweight title held at that time by La Mascara. Very solid in trios matches and his rudo style suits the high-flying style used by many of CMLL tecnicos. He’s also very good in trios matches.

36. Marcela – (70) – (5’1″, 130 lbs, 27 yr. pro): One of the top 3-4 female wrestlers in Mexico. Her long-running feud with long-time rival Amapola continued in 2011 and they wrestled numerous times in singles and trios matches. She challenged Amapola for the CMLL World Women’s Title four times in 2011. The first time was an excellent match-up in late January were she lost the match. The previous week she had won a torneo cibernetico to earn that shot. She went on to lose the next two title matches to Amapola including a match-up in the newly formed REINA promotion out of Japan. Marcela then challenged Amapola for the fourth time in 2011 on October 28th at Arena Mexico. Marcela entered the match with a 12-match losing streak when facing Amapola in a title match. Marcela won the match! Her title reign would be short-lived as she lost the title to AYUMI in late November while on a tour of Japan. She also challenged Princesa Blanca for the Mexican National Title twice.

37. El Terrible – (53) – (6’1″, 231 lbs, 14 yr. pro): Teamed with Texano Jr. for much of 2011. The duo feuded with Maximo and Super Porky early in the year and it led to the two teams headlining the Dos Leyendas show on March 18th at Arena Mexico in a hair match. Terrible and Texano Jr. won the hair match. They soon formed a trio with Rey Bucanero called Fuerza TRT. They sided with Rey Bucanero in his feud with Felino, which led to a rudos vs. rudos match against La Peste Negra in September leading up to the Anniversary show. Terrible was part of the cage match main event at the 9/30 Anniversary show. Challenged Rush for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title in mid-November. El Terrible changed his body quite a bit late in the year as he lost weight and got a more toned down build that allowed him to be in the CMLL bodybuilding competition in November. His long-time tag partner, El Texano was also in that competition, but rumors were swirling before and after that he was leaving CMLL. He eventually did the next day after wrestling a CMLL show at Arena Mexico. El Terrible stayed with CMLL due to loyalty (HA! Take that Dwight Howard!) and soon he and Rey Bucanero would add Tiger to be part of Fuerza TRT. The newer version of that trio seemed to provide Terrible with a little more of a leadership role as the previous version it felt like all three guys being veterans all came off as having equal footing on the team. El Terrible finished off the year as a top contender to the CMLL World Heavyweight Title, which was vacated after Hector Garza had left the promotion. Also started a feud with Rush late in the year.

38. Psicosis II – (29) – (5’9″, 181 lbs, ??): Part of the Invasores faction in CMLL. He’s a total effort guy. Someone who isn’t as flashy or as technically skilled as others in CMLL, but his effort puts him near the top of the card. Had a feud with La Sombra early in 2011. He lost to La Sombra in a match for the NWA World Historic Welterweight Title in early April 2011. Teamed with Mr. Aguila to challenge for the CMLL World Tag Team Titles held by Ultimo Guerrero and Dragon Rojo Jr. on July 31st in Guadalajara. Teamed with Olimpico and Volador Jr. (new to the Invasores) to win the Mexican National Trios titles from Rush, Angel de Oro and Diamante on Sept. 20th at Arena Mexico. The trio actually had a nice mix with Volador Jr. bringing his colorful wrestling style (along with great costumes), Olimpico being more of a power-based wrestler and Psicosis being the effort, hard-working guy. Began feuding with Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr. and Delta later in the year and the two trios would face off at the December 16th show were Los Invasores dropped the titles. Many people have said that Psicosis II has surpassed the original Psicosis in the ring.

39. Solar I – (77) – (5’8″, 195 lbs, 36 yr. pro): One of the true maestros of lucha libre. Continues to be one of the more popular independent luchadores in Mexico. Continued his ongoing feud with Negro Navarro. They continued to have their usual stellar matches. Won the FLLM Masters title in a match against Negro Navarro in June at a show in Japan. He successfully defended the title against Negro Navarro and El Dandy in 2011. Solar I found himself wrestling a far larger amount of wrestlers as their seemed to be more veterans popping up in various independent shows in Mexico. Several promotions also started booking more matches based around “maestros” facing off against each other or teaming against one another. Wrestled for a number of promotions from IWRG, Todo X El Todo, AULL, Viva La Lucha, Toryumon Mexico and so many more.

40. Mr. Niebla – (95) – (5’9″, 200 lbs, 21 yr. pro): Despite being a rudo, one of the most popular wrestlers in Mexico. He’s more of a comedy wrestler nowadays doing more of a sleazy, dirty character than in his youth being more of a serious wrestler. Leads the popular trio of La Peste Negra (w/ Felino and Negro Casas) and is always accompanied by the mascot, Zacarias El Perico. Mostly headlined shows and did comedy which fans liked. As far as what he did in the ring, he’s probably known for 2 big moves, his wacky submission finisher known as “La Neblina” and the disgusting “SMS” spot. “SMS” in Spanish is “sudor, mocho, y saliva”, which in English translates to “sweat, booger, and saliva”. Basically, Mr. Niebla spits in the air, at opponents, touches and smells his and other people’s armpits. Mr. Niebla started wearing different costumes which followed what Volador Jr. was doing with tributes to comic book characters. Mr. Niebla and Zacarias El Perico dressed as the Incredible Hulk and as Hellboy. Mr. Niebla won the 2011 Leyenda de Azul torneo cibernetico in July. Mr. Niebla also had a brief feud with Atlantis, which came duringa time that Atlantis seemed to be feuding with a few other people. One of the better promo guys in Mexico and he’s become a mentor and father-figure to Zacarias El Perico!

41. Mascarita Dorada – (18) – (4’5″, 110 lbs, 12 yr. pro): One of the most exciting wrestlers around the world. His small stature makes every move he attempts even more awe-inspiring. If you ever have a chance to see him at a live event, I strongly recommend you go. You will not be disappointed. Split his time in 2011 wrestling for practically every lucha promotion. In the US, he continued to appear on Lucha Va Voom shows as the Lil’ Chicken. He also wrestled a few times on Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors shows. He wrestled primarily for CMLL while in Mexico. CMLL didn’t appear to be pushing the minis division like they had in previous years, so Mascarita Dorada left the promotion. He appeared on El Hijo del Santo’s Todo X El Todo shows as Mascarita Plateada, a gimmick that was an homage to El Santo. Mascarita Dorada also made his way back to the promotion were he first gained national exposure, AAA. Still wrestled CMLL rival, Demus 3:16 on independent lucha shows in Mexico and the US.

42. Felino – (31) – (5’8″, 189 lbs, 29 yr. pro): Member of the very popular rudo trio known as La Peste Negra. Frequently accompanied by Zacarias El Perico. In early 2011 feuded with El Gallo in Guadalajara. He eventually lost the Occidente title to El Gallo on January 30th. After Rey Bucanero split from La Peste Negra to join Fuerza TRT and with Felino also being a part of A&E Mexico’s lucha reality based TV show, “El Luchador”, tensions arose between the two, which led to a feud between former partners. In the September anniversary show, CMLL held a 10-man cage match with everyone putting their hair on the line. Felino and Rey Bucanero were the last two remaining in the cage. Felino won the match and the hair of Rey Bucanero. He lost Tiger to Rey Bucanero when Tiger sided with Rey Bucanero and also joined Fuerza TRT. The week leading up to the final big CMLL show of 2011, CMLL held a press conference were Negro Casas and Blue Panther were going to sign contracts for a hair match. Felino interrupted and asked his brother, Negro Casas, if he could have this hair match to defend the Casas family name against Blue Panther. Negro Casas agreed. Felino ended up losing the hair match to Blue Panther on December 16th when Casas interference backfired and cost him the match.

43. Angel De Oro – (100) – (5’10, 183 lbs, 6 yr. pro): A big year for Angel de Oro in 2011. CMLL did everything possible to move him out of the glut of the similar style high-flying tecnicos. He’s reached semi-main event status. Had a strong back-to-back start to the year as he won the Reyes del Aire torneo cibernetico on January 1st and the next day he teamed with Rush and Diamante to win the #1 contenders to Mexican National Trios tournament final. The trio then won the trios titles one week later. Was part of the Forjando Un Idolo round-robin tournament. He was in the Bravo group mentored by Ultimo Guerrero. He won the first stage of the Forjando Un Idolo tournament by beating Polvora in one of the best matches of 2011. The second stage of the tournament featured the top two of each group tagging up with their mentors in trios matches. Angel de Oro teamed with Rey Escorpion and Ultimo Guerrero. Lost the Mexican National Trios Titles to Los Invasores (Volador Jr., Psicosis & Olimpico).

44. Drago – (46) – (5’9″, 175 lbs, 14 yr. pro): Started 2011 under the Gato Eveready gimmick. AAA had to drop the “Eveready” off his name when Eveready Battery stopped their sponsorship deal. He then appeared as just “Gato”. On April 20th, AAA regimmicked him in a dragon-looking outfit as Drago. He kept the same fast-paced style that he has used throughout his career. Although in the last 2-3 years he’s really turned the corner as a great all-around worker in AAA compared to more of a fun, high-flying style he had as Alan in the Barrio Boys. He was rewarded in 2011 working higher on the card on AAA shows. He was part of the AAA army feuding with La Sociedad. He also joined La Parka’s Inframundo faction.

45. Rey Bucanero – (63) – (5’10″, 207 lbs, 20 yr. pro): A very busy year for Rey Bucanero. Not only was he very active in the ring, he continued to do some announcing on CMLL TV shows. Most notably and regularly the show on CadenaTres. Started 2011 as part of La Peste Negra. In April, he left that group to form a new trio with Texano Jr. and El Terrible known as Fuerza TRT. Zacarias El Perico went along with the new trio, but during an episode of Ras De Lona, Rey Bucanero kicked him, beat him and told Zacarias he wasn’t part of this team. Heartbroken, Zacarias returned to La Peste Negra were he would experience a new wave of popularity (more on that later!). Rey Bucanero challenged Rush for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title, but could not get the win. Rey Bucanero would bounce back nicely by winning the vacant NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Title in a match against El Hijo del Fantasma were he was tope’d not once, not twice, but three times consecutively in the third fall and still came out victorious. Bucanero made appearances outside of Mexico as well in 2011 for prominent US indie promotions. In January he appeared on the PWG show held during late January’s WrestleReunion convention in Los Angeles. He and Atlantis also appeared on a Chikara show during the summer. During the late summer, Rey Bucanero was part of the cast of a lucha reality-based series airing on A&E Mexico called “El Luchador”. The build-up to the conclusion of the show’s finale was going to coincide with the September anniversary show for CMLL which looked like it was going to be geared towards a singles hair match pitting Rey Bucanero vs. Felino. The two had been feuding leading up to that show, but CMLL ended up turning it into a multi-person cage match. Rey Bucanero lost the cage match and had his head shaved. The feud with Felino continued as Rey Bucanero turned Felino’s son, Tiger on him and when Texano Jr. left CMLL in late November, Tiger was added to the trio.

46. Oficial Fierro – (27) – (5’8″, 183 lbs, 14 yr. pro): Part of the awesome IWRG trio known as Los Oficiales along with 911 & AK47. He wrestled primarily in trios matches. Held the IWRG IC Trios Titles for over 2 and half years before losing them to Joe Lider, Silver Kain & Ultimo Gladiador in a 4-way cage match that also involved Los Psycho Circus and Los Perros Del Mal. Was involved in feuds with outsider trios from AAA, Los Perros Del Mal, DTU throughout 2011. Rivalry with Los Terrible Cerebros (Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro & Cerebro Negro) continued during 2011, but wasn’t a focal feud for them. The other two Oficiales had higher profile singles matches, but the trio had a ton of trios matches with a number of different trios.

47. Comando Negro – (55) – (??, ??, 3 yr. pro): Continued his strong 2010 finish with a strong start in 2011 in IWRG. One of the better young wrestlers on the indie scene in Mexico. Teamed with Scorpio Jr. to win the Torneo Proyeccion in January. The tournament was similar to CMLL’s Gran Alternativa were a veteran teams with a younger wrestler. Won the IWRG IC Lightweight Title from Dr. Cerebro in Arena Naucalpan on January 30th. He followed that up with 2 successful title defenses against Multifacetico and Eterno. He lost the title in November to another youngster, Dinamick Black.

48. Fenix – (NR) – (5’10″, 176 lbs, 5 yr. pro): First noticed Fenix when he wrestled for DTU. He was actually on one of the Viva La Lucha PPVs from April in a multi-person match from DTU and was pretty impressive. That was a fun match and if it ever airs again, definitely check it out. He joined AAA early in 2011 and became a part of the AAA army of guys who would come out to defend Joaquin Roldan. Wrestled in a lot of fun trios matches in AAA. He’s a pretty fun high-flyer and it probably helps that his brother (Dark Dragon) is also part of AAA and is a very good rudo as well who wrestles opposite Fenix a lot. AAA seems to be very high on him as they have had him involved in matches with main event guys like Los Perros Del Mal and even had him team with Dr. Wagner Jr.

49. Maximo – (67) – (5’7″, 176 lbs, 12 yr. pro): Teamed frequently with his father, Brazo de Plata/Super Porky in 2011. They had a feud with El Terrible and Texano Jr. that led to a hair match at the Dos Leyendas show on March 18th. Maximo and Super Porky were the loses in that match. Lots of tears by these two. Maximo was pretty active on shows in 2011 which led to a ton of matches featuring Maximo on CMLL TV shows. LOTS of Maximo matches. Was involved in the many tournament-laden shows in CMLL. Late in 2011, teamed with Rush and the returning Marco Corleone to form a trio called “El Bufete del Amor” (The Love Buffet). Very entertaining and is someone that fans enjoy seeing.

50. Freelance – (38) – (5’1″, 125 lbs, 10 yr. pro): One of the top independent luchadores in Mexico. After spending most his time in the IWRG promotion in previous years, he spread his wings in 2011 and wrestled in several other independent groups along with IWRG. Wrestled in Arena Neza as the Neza Kid were he had a mask vs. hair match against Mike Segura in May. Wrestled in a match on the pre-show to Triplemania teaming with Daga against Eterno & Mike Segura. In IWRG continued to feud with Avisman which eventually led to a hair match between the two. Freelance won the hair match. Soon after that match in June, Freelance spent the second half of the year wrestling outside of Naucalpan. Wrestled for the IWL promotion and was part of a fun trios match on the 7/31 iPPV card. Won IWL’s version of Reyes del Aire in October.

51. Raziel – (NR) – (5’8″, 198 lbs, 15 yr. pro): Part of Los Cancerberos in CMLL. Teams regularly with long-time tag team partner Cancerbero. One of the better workers in CMLL. Holds up his end of matches he’s involved in and does a great job carrying the younger tecnicos. Spent most of the year working trios matches. Was involved in a rudo feud between Los Cancerberos and Guerreros Tuareg. Feud didn’t seem to amount to much and seemed to be split over the course of the first half of the year and then one match during the summer at Arena Coliseo. In an ideal CMLL world, Raziel and Cancerbero would make a great regular tag team, but CMLL right now is on a tournament craze. Oddly enough, Raziel wasn’t in a tournament in 2011 beyond torneo ciberneticos. A shocking feat for a regular member of the roster.

52. Gran Apache – (NR) – (5’6″, 189 lbs., 36 yr. pro): Cut down his schedule in 2011. Spends more time behind-the-scenes for AAA and training young talent. Only had one match on AAA TV in 2011 and that was in January. Continued to be part of the AAA vs. IWRG feud in Naucalpan in early 2011. He teamed with Angel Mortal against Negro Navarro and Black Terry. He wrestled primarily on the independent circuit in Mexico and turned from being a rudo to tecnico. Was involved in AAA’s series to find new stars called “Quién Pinta Para la Corona”. Still an excellent wrestler despite his age.

53. Angel Mortal – (NR) – (5’7″, 205 lbs., 33 yr. pro): Veteran rudo has been a part of the trio of Los Diabolicos since 1994. They were used in AAA to help develop the young high-flying tecnicos. Actually made appearances for IWRG in late 2010 were he began a feud with Black Terry. Made his way back in January 2011 siding with Gran Apache against Black Terry and Negro Navarro in a feud pitting AAA maestros against IWRG maestros. After two tag team matches (the second being a “super libre” match), Angel Mortal and Black Terry faced off in a singles hair match. Angel Mortal came out victorious in a very bloody match on January 23rd in Naucalpan. Wrestled a few more matches at Arena Naucalpan and wrestled a few more times on the independent circuit.

54. Polvora – (NR) – (5’8″, 185 lbs., 12 yr. pro): Part of Los Cancerberos faction in CMLL. Has the body type that several in power in CMLL are very high on. Teamed with Virus and Euforia to challenge for the Mexican National Trios Titles against Rush, Angel de Oro and Diamante in February. Lost to Valiente in a match for the Mexican Welterweight title on April 5th at Arena Mexico. Was part of the Forjando Un Idolo tournament in the Delta group mentored by Blue Panther. He lost in the finals to Angel de Oro on May 27th in a real good match. It was later revealed that was just phase 1 of the Forjando Un Idolo tournament as there were additional trios matches after. Polvora won a match relampago against Valiente on June 24th and demanded another match against Valiente for the Mexican National Welterweight title, which he got. Polvora beat Valiente on July 15th for the title. Established himself as an upper mid-card wrestler in CMLL.

55. Palacio Negro/Titan – (NR) – (5’7″, 187 lbs., 3 yr. pro): Exciting high-flyer has been a Guadalajara local favorite for a few years now. Made his way into the main roster of CMLL in late 2010 as part of a tournament to crown new Mexican National Trios Champions. Teamed with regular Guadalajara partner Metal Blanco and Sagrado in this tournament and reached the finals were they lost to Rush, Angel de Oro and Diamante. Followed that up by being a part of the Gran Alternativa and Forjando Un Idolo tournaments. Teamed with Averno in the Gran Alternativa and reached the semi-final round were they lost to Mascara Dorada and Metal Blanco. In the Forjando Un Idolo tournament held in April and May, he was part of Ultimo Guerrero’s Bravo Group. He only won one match, but impressed enough folks to continue to be a regular at Arena Mexico/Arena Coliseo (DF) shows. He was now working a heavier schedule. Beat Mr. Trueno for the Occidente Middleweight Title at Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara on August 14th. He was involved in the Leyenda de Plata tournament in September. After that appearance in Arena Mexico, Palacio Negro wrestled primarily in the smaller arenas for a few months. He made his way back to the national level when at a press conference Shocker introduced a new trio consisting of Metro and the newly re-gimmicked and renamed Palacio Negro (now Titan) and Metal Blanco (now Triton). The group was formed as Shocker’s way to gain revenge on Atlantis for stealing Delta and Guerrero Maya Jr. away from him while he was ‘injured’ and unable to continue with the Forjando Un Idolo tournament. The group was short-lived as Metro never really teamed with them and actually might have teamed more often with Atlantis group and Shocker was kept away by CMLL to resolve his issues. Now known as Titan, he continued to team with long-time partner Triton and has shown tons of promise. He’s even garnered a fan base on twitter that refers to itself as #porraTitan.

56. Fabi Apache – (54) – (5’3″, 139 lbs, 14 yr. pro): One of the top female wrestlers in the world. In 2011 continued her long-running feud with Sexy Star. The difference in the past couple years is that their feud went from a family storyline to part of the AAA vs. La Sociedad storyline. Fabi and the rest of AAA tecnicas feuded with women that are part of La Sociedad (Sexi Star & Jennifer Blake) and TNA Knockouts. Fabi and Pimpinela lost the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles to Jennifer Blake and Alan Stone in March. Teamed with her sister, Mari Apache, to wrestle Los Traumas in early 2011. She also wrestled a few times in Japan.

57. El Hijo Del Perro Aguayo – (89) – (5’9″, 194 lbs, 16 yr. pro): Didn’t do a lot early in 2011. One of the benefits of being part of a large faction allowed him to take time off and have other members of Los Perros Del Mal work in trios matches. On April 8th, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo had emergency surgery to have a golf-sized tumor removed from his stomach. Aguayo missed about a month of action and returned on May 8th on a Perros Del Mal show were he resumed to be part of the feud against Los Psycho Circus. He was in and out of action for much of the summer, so AAA booked him less often since he still wasn’t at 100%. Challenged Dr. Wagner Jr. for the AAA Latin American Title at the 10/9 Heroes Inmortales show. In late 2011 began a feud with Jack Evans.

58. El Hijo Del Fantasma – (30) – (5’11″, 198 lbs, 11 yr. pro): Talented high-flyer, who speaks a number of languages. Due to this, his name is often brought up as someone likely to leave CMLL to join WWE. His name has been brought up the last couple of years, but he’s still in CMLL. He’s in that mix of midcard/upper midcard tecnicos who haven’t really separated from the rest of the field. Lost in the finals to crown a new NWA Historic Light Heavyweight Champion to Rey Bucanero on June 21st at Arena Mexico. Teamed with Jushin “Thunder” Liger to win a tag team tournament at Arena Coliseo on October 23rd. Was involved in the CMLL World Heavyweight Title torneo cibernetico in late December despite technically not being a heavyweight.

59. Pantera – (NR) – (5’7″, 187 lbs, 26 yr. pro): One of the veterans of IWRG. Dropped his mask years ago to Misterioso Jr., but has been wearing it again which seems to be a bad trend in Mexico lately. Had several matches in IWRG in 2011. Won the 2011 Rey del Ring match outlasting 29 other luchadores. Successfully defended his Rey Del Ring title against Trauma I on November 30th in Arena Naucalpan. Match received some very good reviews from fans. Despite cutting down his schedule in recent years is still one of the better all-around workers in Mexico.

60. Pimpinela Escarlata – (62) – (5’9, 189 lbs, 23 yr. pro): A busy year for the “First Lady of Lucha Libre”. Pimpi and Fabi Apache lost the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles to Alan Stone and Jennifer Blake on March 13th in Michoacan. Pimpi continued to feud with La Sociedad. Teamed with Nicho El Millonario to represent AAA at the Guerra de Empresas show in Arena Naucalpan and the duo won the tournament final over Máscara Año 2000 Jr. & Veneno (team IWRG) on April 24th. Wrestled a few times in IWRG including being involved in the annual Rey del Ring match. At the July 31st Verano de Escandalo, Pimpinela Escarlata won the AAA Reina de Reinas Title. Pimpinela feuded with several exoticos in both AAA and at Arena Solidaridad. On August 21st, won a hair match against Orquídea Negra at Arena Solidaridad. In AAA, several exoticos joined up and attacked Pimpinela. Cassandro would eventually return to AAA to team with Pimpi in an exoticos vs. exoticos feud against the rival group (Polvo de Estrellas, Pasion Kristal, Yuriko). Lost the AAA Reina de Reinas title to Sexy Star in a lumberjack match at the 12/16 Guerra de Titanes show.

61. Chessman (37) – (6’0″, 231 lbs, 15 yr. pro): Part of La Sociedad. Does a lot of the dirty work for La Sociedad and is known for taking crazy bumps in big matches. Formed a trio with Silver Kain and Ultimo Gladiador called La Maniarquia. They were involved in feuds with Heavy Metal, Electroshock and other AAA tecnicos. In September 2011, Konnan decided to pull Chessman out of the group and had him rejoin the Legion Extranjera sub-group in La Sociedad to team with TNA wrestlers like Brutus Magnus and Abyss. Chessman teamed with Abyss to win the AAA World Tag Team Titles from Jack Evans and Extreme Tiger at the Heroes Inmortales show in Monterrey on October 9th.

62. X-Fly – (51) – (5’6″, 250′ish lbs, 16 yr. pro): Spent 2011 as part of the faction Los Perros Del Mal and wrestled in a number of promotions. Held a number of titles in 2011 for a variety of promotions. Teamed with Bestia 666 and held the IWL Tag Team Titles. They held those belts for most of the year until they were stripped of them for refusing to defend them on October 5th. Also held the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship. He had two successful defenses against Super Crazy. He also held the Perros Del Mal Extreme Title throughout 2011. As part of Los Perros Del Mal, he to joined in the feud against AAA and Los Psycho Circus. Won the AAA World Trios Titles in the finals held at Triplemania on June 18th against Los Psycho Circus. Teaming with Damian 666 and Bestia 666 won the IWRG IC Trios Titles in a 4-way match on August 28th in Naucalpan. Wrestles primarily in hardcore matches.

63. Jushin “Thunder” Liger – (12) – (5’7″, 209 lbs, 28 yr. pro): New Japan legend had another extended tour in Mexico during late 2011. Unlike the previous year were he appeared in CMLL as a rudo, he was brought in as a tecnico. Liger being on that side seemed to lack less memorable moments. Gone were the awesome promos, the hypnotic dancing and the match quality wasn’t quite up to par. As a tecnico, he just seemed like one of the guys and Liger is/was one of the few wrestlers from Japan that fans actually felt mattered. Successfully defended the CMLL World Middleweight Title against La Sombra and Mascara Dorada in Japan. Made his way to Mexico in September. Lost in the Finals of the Leyenda de Plata tournament to Volador Jr. Had a successful CMLL World Middleweight title defense against El Texano in Arena Puebla in late October. He feuded with Los Guerreros Del Infierno which led to a singles match with Dragon Rojo Jr. He put his title on the line and lost it to Dragon Rojo Jr. on November 18th at Arena Mexico. Match was pretty underwhelming. He finished off his trip losing to Ultimo Guerrero.

64. Extreme Tiger – (74) – (5’3″, 148 lbs, 13 yr. pro): Exciting high-flyer has formed a fun tag team with Jack Evans in AAA. The duo won the AAA World Tag Team Titles from Silver Kain & Ultimo Gladiador on March 21, 2011. The duo had successful title defenses against Mr. Anderson & Abyss, Billy Boy & Escoria and Abyss & Chessman. He’s part of the AAA army that usually went out to defend Joaquin Roldan whenever La Sociedad were around. Extreme Tiger’s in that upper mid-card group that at times work main event trios matches or part of multi-person main events.

65. Rey Cometa – (78) – (5’8″, 183 lbs, 12 yr. pro): One of CMLL’s exciting high-flyers. He’s still a mid-carder in the promotion. Teamed regularly with long-time partner Pegasso in various trios. With the amount of television programming that CMLL has had in the past 2 years, he’s been more of a regular on TV. In 2011, CMLL not only had the Gran Alternativa tournament in which Rey Cometa teamed with Toscano and lost in an early round, CMLL also created another tournament called “Forjando Un Idolo”. Rey Cometa was involved in this new concept and was in Grupo Bravo with Ultimo Guerrero as the mentor. Rey Cometa didn’t have much success during that tournament. He had a really fun lightning match against El Hijo del Signo that ended in a draw in early July.

66. El Hijo Del Diablo – (21) – (5’8″, 172 lbs, 32 yr. pro): Veteran rudo continued to be a regular for the IWRG promotion out of Naucalpan. He didn’t have quite the same year in 2011 as he did in 2010 with just a ton of great matches. In 2011 with there being more AAA and other independent wrestlers involved in IWRG, he wasn’t as pushed. One of the better promos in Mexico. He’d make a really good announcer. Led the Gringos VIP in 2011, but with Gringo Loco not around, he and Avisman teamed with a variety of partners like Destroyer, Kid USA (Low Rider under a mask), and Apolo Estrada Jr. Feuded with Los Oficiales.

67. Mari Apache – (90) – (5’3″, 140 lbs, 15 yr. pro): Teamed primarily with her sister, Fabi Apache for much of 2011. They continued to feud with Sexy Star, Jennifer Blake and TNA Knockouts brought in as part of La Sociedad. It felt like the women’s division in AAA took a bit of a back seat to other storylines and feuds in AAA during 2011, but its also possible due to their TV being all over the place and at times cut short (or in the US case, disappearing off Galavision), that it was more something forced on AAA and not something intentional. Early in the year, she teamed with Fabi to face off against Los Traumas in a really good match. Won the mask of Super Estrella in Guadalajara on March 6th. She and Fabi wrestled a few shows in Japan with the WAVE and Oz Academy promotions.

68. Cassandro – (39) – (5’5″, 170 lbs, 22 yr. pro): One of the luchadores that travels the world more than most. Cassandro has become very popular as part of the Lucha Va Voom lucha libre & burlesque shows in the US and Canada. He is also a regular traveling to Europe as part of El Hijo Del Santo’s shows. Competed in other shows in the US. He also wrestled in Mexico for a number of promotions. He wrestles for the Perros Del Mal promotion. Made his return to AAA helping Pimpinela Escarlata in an exoticos feud. A very talented entertainer and has even done some crazy dives off very high places.

69. Dragon Rojo Jr. – (52) – (5’10″, 175 lbs, 10 yr. pro): Member of Los Guerreros Del Infierno with Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Escorpion. Held the CMLL World Tag Team Titles throughout 2011 with Ultimo Guerrero. The duo defended the belts successfully a few times in 2011 against some pretty good opponents in La Mascara & Stuka Jr., La Mascara & La Sombra, Mr. Aguila & Psicosis, Atlantis & Guerrero Maya, Mascara Dorada & Shocker AND Mr. Guerrero & V-57! He sided with Ultimo Guerrero in his feud with Atlantis when Atlantis left the Guerreros Del Infierno trio after Ultimo added Rey Escorpion and was upset over Atlantis replacing Shocker in trios matches teaming with Guerrero Maya Jr. & Delta. He’s best suited in trios and tag team matches. He’s not the level of worker to have good singles matches, which leads to some underwhelming performances in singles matches like his match against Jushin “Thunder” Liger for the CMLL World Middleweight Title. He won that title in a pretty average match on November 18th. He has the type of build that several in charge like, so he’ll continue to get a pretty big push.

70. Silver Kain – (61) – (5’9″, 216 lbs, 26 yr. pro): Part of La Sociedad throughout 2011. Held the IWRG IC Heavyweight Title for all of 2011. Started the year as one-half of the AAA World Tag Team Champions with Ultimo Gladiador. Teamed with Joe Lider and Ultimo Gladiador to win the IWRG IC Trios Titles from Los Oficiales on March 3rd, 2011 in Arena Naucalpan. Lost the AAA World Tag Team Titles to Jack Evans and Extreme Tiger on March 21st in Leon. That was then followed by the trio of Silver Kain, Joe Lider & Ultimo Gladiador losing the IWRG IC Trios Titles on April 24th to the Psycho Circus in a 4-way cage match. Teamed with regular partner Ultimo Gladiador and Chessman to form a new faction in AAA known as La Maniarquía. The group feuded with Heavy Metal and Electroshock. They also were part of the bigger heel faction known as La Sociedad.

71. Ephesto – (85) – (5’10″, 185 lbs, 29 yrs. pro): Part of the trio known as Los Hijos Del Averno (or La Triada del Terror) with Averno and Mephisto. Veteran rudo has been in CMLL for well over a decade now. Lost the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title to Rush in February. Teaming with Mephisto and Averno they feuded with La Generacion Dorada (La Mascara, La Sombra and Mascara Dorada). They won the CMLL World Trios Titles from them in an outstanding match on July 15th in Arena Mexico. The win was at the time considered a bit of a surprise given that there were rumors floating around about Averno’s impending departure form the promotion. The trio held the titles for the remainder of 2011.

72. El Zorro – (9) – (5’9″, 201 lbs, 18 yr. pro): Had one of the stranger years for a top star in lucha libre. After years of being considered by many as the most underutilized luchador on the AAA roster, he won the AAA Mega World Title at the end of 2010 and entered 2011 as the #1 guy in AAA. Then it just fizzled from that point forward. His title run was very underwhelming and featured a horrible title defense against Charly Manson at Rey de Reyes in March. He then lost the title to Jeff Jarrett at Triplemania in another bad match. Left La Sociedad early in 2011 and joined the AAA army. He then began a feud with L.A. Park after L.A. Park was told by Konnan to finish off El Zorro and he’d get a shot at the AAA Mega World Title.

73. Euforia – (97) – (6’0″, 209 lbs, 21 yr. pro): Tall, lanky veteran rudo is part of the Canceberos faction in CMLL. Was part of the last version of Los Infernales and once Satanico retired, seemed to be in limbo with regular tag team partner Nosferatu. Worked primarily in the midcard in trios action. His son, Soberano Jr., is already working early matches for CMLL. He seems to be a guy content with his position within the promotion. He always gives an effort and probably should be higher on the card. He’s also a mask maker and appeared on an episode of Mexico’s A&E show, El Luchador, were he was shown coming up with mask ideas.

74. Super Crazy – (68) – (5’9″, 219 lbs, 24 yr. pro): Former ECW & WWE luchador spent 2011 traveling the globe. He toured Japan a few times in 2011 wrestling in the SMASH promotion were he had a match with long-time rival Tajiri. Followed that up with wrestling in All Japan and later in the year for Zero-One. In Mexico, he wrestled for several promotions. He joined the Perros Del Mal promotion and aligned himself with Los Perros in their feud with Los Psycho Circus. He wrestled as part of that faction in AAA and in IWRG. Lost his hair in a cage match in May were he teamed with Hijo del Perro Aguayo and Damian 666 against Los Psycho Circus. Challenged X-Fly for the Mexican National Heavyweight Title, but couldn’t beat him for the belt. Had a feud with Juventud Guerrera as well.

77. 76 & 75. Los Psycho Circus (Monster Clown, Psycho Clown & Murder Clown) – (NR): Trio was heavily pushed in AAA during 2011 for the first time after having an undefeated streak that spanned several years. Despite being undefeated during several years they were usually only working mid-card matches. In 2010 they suffered their first loss and their feud with Los Perros Del Mal would catapult them into the upper card status. Spent most of 2011 embroiled in a feud with Los Perros Del Mal that spanned a number of promotions. Their feud has featured more of a hardcore/garbage style as AAA and several independent promotions (including the Perros Del Mal promotion) have gone more that route. Los Psycho Circus won the IWRG IC Trios titles in April in Arena Naucalpan in a 4-way dance. They would lose the trios titles to members of Los Perros Del Mal 4 months later in another 4-way match. At Triplemania 19, Los Psycho Circus lost in the finals of a tournament to crown the first AAA World Trios Champions to Damian, Halloween & X-Fly. At the Heroes Inmortales show on October 9th in Monterrey, Los Psycho Circus would get their biggest win as they won a masks vs. hair cage match against Damian 666, Halloween & Nicho El Millonario (Los Perros Del Mal).

78. Decnnis (40) – (5’8″, 179 lbs, 12 yr. pro): Was part of La Sociedad and the sub-group La Milicia. I recall him being the leader of the group briefly, but lost that spot to Superfly and later Octagon who turned rudo. Terrific worker and does a great job of putting over the AAA high-flying tecnicos. Spent most of his time in trios matches, but they were usually some of the better midcard matches in Mexico. With AAA having more of an open-door policy with other promotions, Decnnis appeared for other promotions like IWRG and DTU.

79. Metro/Diamante Azul – (92) – (6’0″, 215 lbs, 4 yr. pro): Young CMLL tecnico has shown a ton of promise early in his career. He’s more of a power-based luchador. Uses a german suplex as his finisher. He also uses a move called “El Escudo” which is an over the neck backbreaker submission hold. Also uses a senton from the ramp to the floor on his opponents. Worked primarily in mid-card matches for much of 2011. Was unsuccessful in two attempts for the Mexican National Trios Titles with different partners. In November, he was placed into a new faction with Shocker as a leader along with Titan & Triton. This group would really never do much together as Shocker disappeared for some time and CMLL rarely booked them together. CMLL repackaged Metro as Diamante Azul in early 2012.

80. Mr. Aguila – (71) – (5’10″, 200 lbs, 18 yr. pro): Part of Los Invasores in CMLL. Was kind of the 2nd in charge behind Garza with Psicosis II slightly behind. When Garza left and Volador Jr. became a regular in the group it seemed Mr. Aguila slipped down to about 3rd or 4th behind Olimpico. Still one of the better high-flyers. Was in several matches were he challenged for titles including a tag title match in Guadalajara teaming with Psicosis II and challenging Rush for the CMLL Light Heavyweight Title. He was unsuccessful in both matches. He wrestled on a few of those shows in Tamaulipas that featured guys like Colt Cabana, Carlito and Chavo Guerrero Jr. When some CMLL wrestlers left during the year (primarily when Garza and Texano Jr. left), his name was always at the top of fan’s list of guys who might leave, but he stayed in the promotion. Started painting half his face to look like the Venom character.

81. Eterno – (NR) – (5’8″, 170 lbs, 5 yr. pro): One of the better young luchadores on the independent circuit. In 2011 Competed for various promotions including IWRG, DTU, AULL, IWL, Perros Del Mal and a few other indy groups. He also made an appearance for AAA as part of the trios tournament teaming with Dr. Cerebro & Cerebro Negro. Beat Pollo Asesino in a hair match on March 27th at Arena Naucalpan. Teamed with Mike Segura against Daga and Freelance in a pre-show match prior to Triplemania. His long-running feud with Daga kept going in 2011 on some independent shows. Late in the year he was quite active winning the WWS and IWRG IC Welterweight Titles. In the span of 2 weeks in December lost a hair match to Bugambilia del Norte (now Chicano) and won a hair match against Demoledor. His feud with Bugambilia late in the year was a highlight of 2011. Eterno is also part of a faction known as Los Masizos with Araña de Plata and Ciclope (not the WCW version, a different guy).

82. Golden Magic – (NR) – (5’6″, 165 lbs, 2 yr. pro): Young, up-and-coming IWRG wrestler had quite a big year in 2011 for IWRG. He started off under different names as Brazo Metalico and Magia Jr. As Brazo Metalico was part of a juniors version of Los Brazos. He showed a lot of promise in his first year and in 2011 he was given a push by the promotion. Won one of the torneo ciberneticos that were booked often in IWRG. He was part of the IWRG Gym team that won against Ojo de Tigre Gym in early June. Won the IWRG IC Welterweight Championship in a one-night tournament on September 8th by beating Trauma II (quarterfinals), Apolo Estrada Jr. (semi-finals) and Bestia 666 (Finals). He followed that up with successful title defenses against Carta Brava Jr. and Bestia 666. He also wrestled for Perros Del Mal as part of a 6-way match for the Perros Del Mal Light Heavyweight Title. He lost the IWRC IC Welterweight Title to Eterno on December 22nd in Arena Naucalpan.

83. Misterioso Jr. – (59) – (5’9″, 209 lbs, 17 yr. pro): Talented CMLL mid-card rudo. Wasn’t in any big feuds in 2011. He was more of a ‘utility’ luchador in that he would fill-in as the third guy in trios with guys who are parts of established factions. He’s one of the few rudos that wasn’t in a faction in 2011. I’m sure he tried to create one, but he spent most of his time all on his own. Teamed with Alebrije and Olimpico to challenge Rush, Angel de Oro & Diamante for the Mexican National Trios titles. Teamed with La Sombra in the National Parejas tournament in 2011 and later in the year teamed with Mr. Niebla in another tournament were he and Mr. Niebla reached the finals and lost.

84. Electrico – (NR) – (5’5″, 159 lbs, 9 yr. pro): Exciting, high-flyer was part of CMLL’s minis division. Moved up a notch in December 2010 when he unmasked Pequeno Warrior and became the main tecnico in the minis division with Mascarita Dorada wrestling sporadically in CMLL and eventually leaving late in 2011. Had feuds with all the CMLL mini rudos, but had a really fun match with Demus 3:16 in Guadalajara. Mostly wrestled in trios matches, but he did have a couple of match relampagos were he was on the losing end.

85. Halloween – (86) – (5’9″, 209 lbs, 24 yr. pro): “La Calabaza Asesina” continued to be a part of Los Perros Del Mal throughout 2011. Was part of the long rivalry with Los Psycho Circus that not only had the two groups feuding in AAA, but in the Perros Del Mal promotion and other independent lucha shows. Teamed with Damian 666 & X-Fly at Triplemania on June 18th to become the first AAA World Trios Champions by beating Los Psycho Circus in the tournament finals. Had a feud with ex-XPW wrestlers, Kaos and Supreme, that showed up to work a Perros Del Mal show in Mexico. The majority of his time was occupied feuding with Los Psycho Circus. At the Heroes Inmortales show on October 9th, he teamed with Nicho El Millonario and Damian 666 and lost a hair vs. mask cage match to the Psycho Circus. Halloween tends to mainly work hardcore matches, but he’s in the past shown he can also wrestle a more traditional lucha libre style.

86. Bam Bam – (65) – (5’3″, 152 lbs, 9 yr. pro): The CMLL minis division took a few hits in 2011 with Mascarita Dorada leaving and CMLL going more with the women’s division and endless tournaments. Bam Bam seemed to appear less on shows. When he did appear on TV, he was still pretty great. One of the better high-flyers in CMLL. Lost the CMLL minis title in early February to Pequeño Olimpico. Continued his ongoing feud with Demus 3:16 once he returned to the minis division. However his big feud for 2011 was with Pierrothito. Lost a hair match to him on August 21st which was the final match of a minis tournament were the loser would either drop his mask or hair. Challenged Pierrothito for the Mexican Lightweight Title twice in 2011.

87. Olimpico – (NR) – (5’11, 188 lbs, 20 yr. pro): Gotta admit when he first made his way back to CMLL in 2010 as part of the “Invasores” angle, I wasn’t a big fan. Olimpico’s last few years in CMLL weren’t much to talk about. Due to injuries he wasn’t very good. However, in 2011, he really had a nice comeback. The Invasores added Volador Jr. to the group and it really helped the rest of that faction find their roles. Olimpico’s role as the third guy in a trio that features a great high-flyer in Volador Jr. and a hard-working Psicosis II seemed to light a bit of a fire in him. That trio of Invasores won the Mexican National Trios Championship from Rush, Angel de Oro & Diamante on September 20th. They became involved in a feud with Los Reyes Del Atlantida (Atlantis, Delta & Guerrero Maya Jr.) and eventually lost the trios titles to them on December 16th at the Sin Piedad show. His high-flying days are long over due to age and injury. He’s more of a power/submission wrestler these days. He’ll do a dive once in a while.

88. Bestia 666 – (NR) – (5’9″, 187 lbs, 2 yr. pro): Another second-generation wrestler who made his mark in 2011 not only in Mexico, but in the US. Part of Los Perros del Mal promotion and faction throughout 2011. As part of the open-door talent exchange amongst a number of promoters in Mexico, Bestia 666 was very active competing not only for Perros Del Mal, but in AAA, IWRG, IWL and other indy groups. In the US, he wrestled for the Urban Wrestling Federation. He also made an appearance on the Smackdown tapings held in Mexico. Being bilingual puts him high on the list of guys who might get a chance with WWE. Due to being part of the Perros Del Mal faction, he too joined in on the feud with Los Psycho Circus, usually in matches against the clowns on indy shows. He and X-Fly held the IWL International Tag Team Titles going back to late 2010 and while they did defend the tag team titles during the first half of the year, they were stripped of the titles on October 5th, 2011, when they refused to defend them. At the Perros Del Mal show at the Lucha Libre Expo on July 24th, Bestia 666 became the first Perros del Mal Light Heavyweight Champion after he won a 6-way match. He held the belt for a few months, until losing it to Super Nova on Nov. 13th in another 6-way match. This loss would lead to a feud with Super Nova and Bestia 666 would gain revenge in a super libre match in December. In IWRG, Bestia 666 teamed with his father, Damian 666, and X-Fly to win the IWRG IC Trios Titles from The Psycho Circus in a 4-way match. (Note to Champions: DO NOT DEFEND TITLES IN MULTI-PERSON MATCHES!) They would eventually lose those trios titles to the Junior Dinamitas on December 1st.

89. Tigre Cota – (NR) – (5’8″, 175 lbs): Second-generation wrestler is the son of ’80s EMLL star, Manuel “Mocho” Cota. He’s been around for a while now. Part of La Sociedad’s 2nd-tier faction known as La Milicia (The Militia). Wrestled primarily low on the card for AAA. Teamed often with Decnnis and Tito Santana II. Mostly feuded with whoever Konnan told La Milicia to take care of that was siding with AAA. Had a very good consistent 2011 working in trios and tag team matches. He does a great job in his role and apparently doesn’t care who leads La Milicia as that group had leadership issues during the year.

90. Escoria – (NR) – (5’9″, 181 lbs, 13 yr. pro): Long-time member of the Black Family had a pretty solid 2011 as part of Cibernetico’s Bizarros. Known for his high-flying, he’s also had to become more of a bump-taker as part of the Bizarros. Helped Cibernetico in his feud with La Parka. Also formed one of AAA’s better tag teams last year teaming with Billy El Malo. The duo challenged Jack Evans and Extreme Tiger for the AAA World Tag Team Titles. 5 days later, Escoria challenged Jack Evans for the AAA World Cruiserweight Title. He was unsuccessful in both title matches.

91. Hooligan – (75) – (5’9″, 209 lbs, 24 yr. pro): Had the most consistent year of any of the Guerreros Tuareg in the ring. Not a flashy worker, just a good guy to have against younger tecnicos. Would probably be an ideal third member for one of the trios that are higher on the card, but he’s been around a long time and seems content as part of the Tuareq group. The group itself seems to have taken a back seat to the Cancerberos group. The two groups actually had a torneo cibernetico match during the summer at Arena Coliseo. Hooligan is also known for his awesome mask and gear.

92. La Parka (AAA) – (69) – (6’0″, 216 lbs, 24 yr. pro): Continued a long-running feud with former friend Cibernetico for much of 2011. With Cibernetico having his Bizarros by his side and AAA feuding with La Sociedad, La Parka decided to create a faction of his own called El Inframundo (The Underworld). La Parka’s group consisted of Ozz, Cuervo, Espirtu, and the new character Drago. The Cibernetico-La Parka feud also involved La Parka’s son were there was a strange angle were accusations were thrown at an injury suffered by La Parka’s son. At the Triplemania XIX on 6/18, La Parka’s team lost an eight-man tag match to Los Bizarros due to being distracted by Bizarro member Tabu holding La Parka’s son. It was revealed that Tabu was La Parka’s brother. At the October 9th, Heroes Inmortales show, after Dr. Wagner Jr’s match against Hijo del Perro Aguayo, La Parka and Octagon attacked Dr. Wagner Jr. and turned their backs on AAA. They became a part of La Sociedad. About 2 weeks later at the first TV tapings since the Heroes Inmortales show, La Parka cut one of the better promos of 2011. He spoke about how he put so much into the La Parka character over the past 15 years and the fans and AAA didn’t care and would rather root for L.A. Park and Cibernetico. He blamed them for forcing him into working injured. That same show he worked in a trios match were he was now a rudo, but still teaming with AAA tecnicos against Cibernetico, Billy El Malo & Scoria. While the match isn’t Match of the Year worthy, it was a great at building the storyline as La Parka worked the match and refused to get involved. When he did get involved, he wrestled using one arm for much of the match to further point the injury history that he’s suffered on one of his arms and shoulders. AAA rushed into teaming La Parka and L.A. Park in early December.

93. Arkangel de la Muerte – (83) – (5’9″, 185 lbs, 26 yr. pro): Veteran CMLL rudo continues to be the leader of Los Guerreros Tuareg. Was more in the background early in the year as the group for about 4-5 months main storyline was a feud between the late Dr. X and Fuego that was building up to a mask match. Arkangel got involved in that feud late by helping Dr. X in a singles match against Fuego. With all the build-up, the feud was nixed and eventually Dr. X left CMLL. Mostly wrestled in trios matches with various members of his faction. He was part of one of the better matches of 2011 when he teamed with Skandalo in a match challenging Fuego and Stuka Jr. for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team titles on October 9th. He also had his old CMLL Japan feud revived when Mr. Cacao made his way to Mexico and they wrestled against each other in trios matches.

94. Cancerbero – (NR) – (5’11″, 198 lbs., 14 yr. pro): One of the better undercard CMLL rudos. Really got his first push within the promotion after years of being in somewhat obscurity. Mostly due to CMLL having several TV shows has he been able to make far more appearances than in the past. Long-time partner of Raziel. The two are one of the better tag teams in Mexico, but are mostly placed in trios matches. The two are part of Virus’ faction known as Los Cancerberos. One of his roles in the promotion is to help improve the young, high-flying tecnicos. His best match of 2011 was a trios match were he teamed with Raziel and Virus against Angel de Oro, Angel de Plata and Angel Azteca Jr. in Arena Mexico on February 4th.

95. Nicho El Millonario – (57) – (5’6″, 190 lbs, 23 yr. pro): Was a tecnico during the early part of 2011 teaming with Joe Lider and siding with AAA against La Sociedad. Suffered an “injury” at the hands of La Maniarquía (faction consisting of Chessman, Silver Kain & Ultimo Gladiador and part of La Sociedad) that would keep him out of the Triplemania show. Lider teamed with Heavy Metal and Electroshock against La Maniarquía at Triplemania and Nicho tried to get involved, but wasn’t allowed by AAA boss Joaquin Roldan, who eventually suspended Nicho for 3 months. Nicho voiced his displeasure at being suspended and threatened to leave the promotion and go elsewhere. Nicho threatened Roldan at one point, but Lider calmed him down. Nicho would later turn on Lider and that would break-up their La Hermandad team. Nicho attacked Lider a few times after and eventually after one attack removed his shirt to reveal a Perros Del Mal t-shirt. At the October 9th AAA show, Heroes Inmortales, Nicho teamed with Damian 666 & Halloween in a cage match against Los Psycho Circus were the losing team would either lose their hair (Perros Del Mal) or masks (Psycho Circus). Joe Lider helped the Psycho Circus win the match and that resulted in all three Perros del Mal getting their heads shaved. He also had a match against Negro Navarro were Nicho was in a way representing hardcore wrestling, while Navarro showcased traditional lucha libre. It resulted in Navarro choking out Nicho for the win. Very entertaining match for what it was. Nicho didn’t really have a lot of great matches in AAA. Feels like he regressed a bit and stuck too much into hardcore/garbage wrestling.

96. Aerostar – (44) – (5’7″, 152 lbs, 8 yr. pro): A down year for one of the better high-flyers in the world. Wasn’t as featured by AAA as he had been in the past when he was part of the Fabi Apache vs. Sexy Star feud. AAA seemed to revive the Real Fuerza Aerea faction early in the year when they brought back Laredo Kid and had Argenis and Argos as part of the group. The faction didn’t have the same ability that the original Real Fuerza Aerea had, but it did give Aerostar something to do. Problem was that with two members being brothers of Sin Cara/Mistico, and Aerostar having already been a long-time mid-card guy in AAA, he was less likely to be pushed. At the end of the year, rarely made TV. There were other guys like Fenix and Daga who were going to get more of a push as they were newer to the fans.

97. Turbo – (73) – (5’3″, 137 lbs., 12 yr. pro): Exciting high-flyer continues to provide consistency as one of the top independent workers in Mexico. Wrestled in practically every indy promotion in Mexico during 2011. Continues to have a strong rivalry with Black Thunder which included the two having a really good match on the Perros Del Mal portion of the Lucha Libre Expo event during the summer. He was part of a real fun trios match on the 7/31 IWL iPPV teaming with Freelance and Naruto against Kansuke, Tribal and Chicago luchador Samuray Del Sol. Continued to hold the NWA Mexican Welterweight Title for 2011.

98. Pequeño Warrior – (56) – (5’5″, 155 lbs, 16 yr. pro): One of the top mini rudos in CMLL. Didn’t have the level of year that he had in 2010 when he was a far more featured mini wrestler and really in general the minis division in 2011 wasn’t as pushed like it was in 2010. Had a brief feud with fellow rudo, Demus 3:16 that started in August while working relevos increibles matches. The two rudos faced off in a hair match at CMLL’s 9/18 show. Lost the hair match to Demus 3:16. One month later the two were back teaming again. Very good in the ring.

99. Jennifer Blake – (NR) – (5’7″, 125 lbs, 4 yr. pro): One of the better female wrestlers that wrestled in Mexico in 2011. She pulled double-duty in AAA both representing La Sociedad in the ring as a wrestler and also helping the rest of the members of this faction as a second ringside for many of their matches. She did both roles very well. Is a really good bump-taker for the AAA tecnicas like the Apache sisters and Lolita. Usually teamed with the other full-time female member in La Sociedad, Sexy Star. She can also hold her own against the minis and some of the smaller guys in the promotion. She teamed with Alan Stone in early March and won the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles from Fabi Apache and Pimpinela Escarlata. They had a successful defense in early 2011 against Lolita and Elegido.

100. Billy El Malo – (60) – (5’6”, 163 lbs, 14 yr. pro): Started the year as part of La Milicia and the larger rudo group known as La Sociedad. He was revealed to be the mole in the group and joined Cibernetico’s Bizarros on March 13, 2011. The group mainly did Cibernetico’s bidding against La Parka for most of the year. They also did a lot of losing to the Psycho Circus whenever the clowns didn’t face Los Perros Del Mal on AAA shows. Billy El Malo and Escoria were basically the two carrying the wrestling end of things for Los Bizarros somewhere between Charly Manson going to jail and the Cibernetico-La Parka feud fading into the background. Teamed with Escoria to challenge Jack Evans and Extreme Tiger for the AAA World Tag Team Titles in September. Ever since the end of the Apache family feud, Billy El Malo (or as he was known in the past, Billy Boy) has been mostly just used to fill a faction.