Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (2019)

Since 1996 the Mexican wrestling company Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (Spanish for "World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) has held a show in March each year to commemorate the passing of CMLL founder Salvador Lutteroth who died in March 1987.[2] For the first three years the show paid homage to Lutteroth himself, from 1999 through 2004 the show paid homage to Lutteroth and El Santo, Mexico's most famous wrestler ever[3] and from 2005 forward the show has paid homage to Lutteroth and a different leyenda ("Legend") each year, celebrating the career and accomplishments of past CMLL stars. Originally billed as Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth, it has been held under the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to two legends") since 1999 and is the only show outside of CMLL's Anniversary shows that CMLL has presented every year since its inception. All Homenaje a Dos Leyendas shows have been held in Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico which is CMLL's main venue, its "home".[4] Traditionally CMLL holds their major events on Friday Nights, which means the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas shows replace their regularly scheduled Super Viernes show.[4] The 2019 show will be the 25th overall a Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show produced by CMLL.

The Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show featured six professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either heels (referred to as rudos in Mexico, those that portray the "bad guys") or faces (técnicos in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[5]

The storyline that led to the main event of the 2019 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show started during the 2019 Universal Championship tournament. Both Niebla Roja and El Terrible won their tournament block and faced off in the finals on February 15, 2019. For the match Niebla Roja had his brother, Ángel de Oro, in his corner while La Bestia del Ring from Los Ingobernables accompanied Terrible for the match. During the match La Bestia helped El Terrible defeat Niebla Roja, leaving to all four wrestlers fighting after the match.[6] On February 19 it was announced that Los Hermanos Chavez (Ángel and Roja) would face El Terrible and La Bestia del Ring in the main event of the 2019 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show, where both teams would "bet" their hair in a Lucha de Apuestas match.[1]

In September 1933 Salvador Lutteroth González founded Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), which would later be renamed Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Over time Lutteroth would become responsible for building both Arena Coliseo in Mexico City and Arena Mexico, which became known as "The Cathedral of Lucha Libre".[2][4] Over time EMLL became the oldest wrestling promotion in the world, with 2018 marking the 85th year of its existence.[7] Lutteroth has often been credited with being the "father of Lucha Libre" introducing the concept of masked wrestlers to Mexico as well as the Luchas de Apuestas match. Lutteroth died on September 5, 1987.[2] EMLL, late CMLL, remained under the ownership and control of the Lutteroth family as first Salvador's son Chavo Lutteroth and later his grandson Paco Alonso took over ownership of the company.[8]

The life and achievements of Salvador Lutteroth is always honored at the annual Homenaje a Dos Leyenda' show and since 1999 CMLL has also honored a second person, a Leyenda of lucha libre, in some ways CMLL's version of their Hall of Fame. For the 2019 show, CMLL will honor the life and career of Blue Demon as well.[1] Blue Demon, real name Alejandro Muñoz Moreno (April 24, 1922 – December 16, 2000), was one of the most popular and well-known names in the golden age of Lucha Libre as well as Lucha films, considered one of the "big three" of the golden age (the other two being El Santo and Mil Máscaras) and an icon of lucha libre.[9] During his 41-year career, Blue Demon won a number of championships, including the Mexican National Tag Team Championship with Black Shadow,[10][11] the Mexican National Welterweight Championship three times,[12] and the NWA World Welterweight Championship twice.[13] He was also part of the Class of 1996 inductees in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.[14] Muñoz' adopted son made his debut as Blue Demon Jr. in 1985, continuing the legacy. CMLL holds a Leyenda de Azul tournament on a semi-regular basis in honor of Blue Demon, with the most recent taking place in 2017.[15][16] His movie career began in 1961 with La Furia del Ring (The Fury of the Ring) and spanned until 1970 where he starred in Misterio en las Bermudas (Mystery in Bermuda).[17] He would later also be the focus of a 1989 documentary called Blue Demon, el Campeón (Blue Demon, The Champion).[17]