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The Leyenda de Azul (Spanish for "the Blue Legend") is a lucha libretournament held seven times by the Mexicanprofessional wrestling promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) between 2000 and 2008 and again in 2011 and 2012. The tournament honors Blue Demon, or Demonio Azul as he's sometimes referred to. The tournament is not nearly as prestigious as CMLL's annual Leyenda de Plata tournament. The winner is given a plaque with a Blue Demon mask on it and a championship belt featuring Blue Demon as well. There was no Leyenda de Azul in 2009 and no plans for a 2010 tournament has been announced so far. All tournaments have taken place in Arena México in Mexico City and all were held on Fridays during CMLL's Super Viernes show. In 2009 Blue Demon Jr. threatened to take legal action against CMLL on behalf of the National Wrestling Alliance over CMLL's use of three NWA branded championships.[1] While CMLL did not publicly respond to the threat they dropped the tournament from their schedule for two years. In July 2011, CMLL, still not on good terms with Blue Demon Jr., announced the return of the tournament. The tournament would instead be endorsed by Blue Demon's biological son and Blue Demon Jr.'s adopted brother, El Hijo de Blue Demon.
The first Leyenda de Azul tournament took place on October 27, 2000, just 21 days after the 2000 version of the Leyenda de Plata tournament. 16 men competed in a Torneo cibernetico match for the trophy. Only the second half of the match was shown on television, which means that the order of the first eight eliminations is only known to the people in attendance at Arena México that night. The first eight are listed alphabetically. During the match Máscara Año 2000 allowed himself to get pinned by Shocker while he himself had Shocker pinned to ensure that Shocker was eliminated from the tournament. Blue Panther won the torneo cibernetico when he pinned Mr. Niebla.[2][11][12]
CMLL did not hold a Leyenda de Azul in 2001 or 2002 but did promote the tournament in 2003. Like the first Leyenda de Azul, the second version also centered around a 16-man Torneo cibernetico match. The match came down to Shocker and Tarzan Boy, at the time both mid-card wrestlers hoping to move into the main event picture. Tarzan Boy pinned Shocker to win the 2003 Leyenda de Azul trophy.[3][13]
The third Leyenda de Azul tournament took place on October 8, 2004 and like the two previous Leyenda de Azul tournaments featured a 16-man torneo cibernetico. The final two wrestlers in the match were Canek and Universo 2000. Universo 2000 pinned Canek to win the tournament, gaining a small measure of revenge on the man that beat him for his mask only three weeks prior at the CMLL 71st Anniversary Show.[4][14]
The fourth Leyenda de Azul took place on July 15, 2005. Unlike previous years' tournaments CMLL did not use the torneo cibernetico format but instead opted for a 16-man, one night tournament to take place on the July 15, 2005 CMLL Super Viernes show. The winner of the tournament would also be considered the first CMLL World G1 Heavyweight Champion and win a place in New Japan Pro Wrestling's (NJWP) upcoming G1 Climax tour in August, 2005. While it was never confirmed officially it is believed that NJPW actually decided who they wanted to tour with them and thus who won the tournament. The final match saw Lizmark Jr. pin Último Guerrero to earn both the Leyenda de Azul trophy and the CMLL World G1 Heavyweight Champion. The G1 championship was never referred to again after July 15, 2005, not even when Lizmark Jr. competed in NJPW.[5][15]
The 5th Leyenda de Azul took place on November 4, 2006 and was like the 2005 version a one night, 16-man single elimination tournament. CMLL used the same tournament format as the previous year as they had the winner of the first and the last match of the first round face off in the finals. The finals saw Rey Bucanero defeat Atlantis to win the trophy and belt.[6][16]
The sixth Leyenda de Azul took place on December 12, 2008 and was the focal point of CMLL's Friday night CMLL Super Viernes show. This tournament was the first Leyenda de Azul tournament to see the winner being crowned as a result of outside interference as Ephesto and El Texano Jr. helped El Terrible overcome Marco Corleone to win the tournament.[7][17]
On July 25, 2011, CMLL released a poster for an event, which revealed that after a two year break, Leyenda de Azul would return on July 29.[18] While CMLL was still on bad terms with Blue Demon Jr., the tournament was instead endorsed by his adopted brother and Blue Demon's biological son, El Hijo de Blue Demon, who also presented Mr. Niebla with the trophy after his win.[19]
The eighth Leyenda de Azul tournament took place on October 12, 2012 on CMLL's Super Viernes show.[20][21] The match included 16 wrestlers in total and saw Diamante Azul win the tournament.[9]
After no Leyenda de Azul tournament in 2013 CMLL promoted the ninth version of the event on June 20, 2014 as the main event of their weekly Super Viernes ("Super Friday") show. The tournament format saw 16 men complete in a Torneo cibernetico elimnation match. The finals of the match saw Atlantis eliminate long time rival Último Guerrero to win the tournament.[10][23][24][25]
^SuperLuchas staff (January 5, 2003). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2003". Super Luchas (in Spanish). issue 40.
^SuperLuchas staff (January 24, 2005). "Número Especial - Lo mejr de la lucha ilbre mexicana durante el 2004". Super Luchas (in Spanish). issue 91.
^SuperLuchas staff (January 3, 2006). "2005 Lo Mejor de la Lucha Mexicana". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). issue 140.
^Ocampo, Jorge (November 4, 2006). "Bucanero se lleva la Leyenda Azul" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved June 11, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
