# Lucha Libre World Cup (2017)

The Lucha Libre World Cup was a two-day professional wrestling event and tournament organized by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) with the financial backing of the Grupo Modelo brewery, with Victoria Beer as the official sponsor. The tournament took place on October 9 and October 10 in Tokyo's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring and Korakuen Hall venues, marking the first time the tournament has been held outside AAA's home country of Mexico. The 2017 edition of the tournament also marked the first to feature traditional two-man tag teams, as the previous tournaments had featured a number of three-man tag teams, referred to as trios in Lucha Libre. The tournament showcased teams representing numerous international promotions such as the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), Impact Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Noah among others.

## Background

The Mexican lucha libre promotion AAA, with the financial support of the Mexican brewing company Grupo Modelo organized the first ever Lucha Libre World Cup in the summer of 2015. The tournament itself was a one-night eight-team tournament for trios, or tag teams of three wrestlers. AAA reached out to several promotions both in Mexico and around the world and arranged for six of the eight teams to come from outside AAA. Japanese wrestling promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah both sent teams. Both Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Ring of Honor (ROH), based in the United States, also sent representatives to the tournament, in each case bolstered by representatives of Lucha Underground, an AAA joint-venture project based on Los Angeles. The tournament took place on May 25, 2015, and had the AAA labelled "Dream Team" of Rey Mysterio Jr., El Patrón Alberto and Myzteziz win the tournament, defeating Team TNA/Lucha Underground (Matt Hardy, Mr. Anderson and Johnny Mundo) in the finals. A second World Cup was held in the summer of 2016. The second edition featured two tournaments, one for male wrestlers and another for female wrestlers. The men's tournament was won by Brian Cage, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Johnny Mundo of Team Lucha Underground while the women's tournament was won by Faby Apache, Lady Apache, and Mari Apache of Team Mexico.
AAA officially announced the 2017 tournament and the participating teams on September 29.

## Teams

| Team | Team member |
| Team Japan IGF | Kendo Kashin |
| Team Japan IGF | Nosawa |
| Team Japan Noah | Hi69 |
| Team Japan Noah | Taiji Ishimori |
| Team Mexico AAA | Pagano |
| Team Mexico AAA | Psycho Clown |
| Team Mexico Lucha Underground | Aero Star |
| Team Mexico Lucha Underground | Drago |
| Team Rest of the World | Mil Muertes |
| Team Rest of the World | Vampiro |
| Team USA Impact | Andrew Everett |
| Team USA Impact | DJZ |
| Team USA Lucha Underground | Marty Martinez |
| Team USA Lucha Underground | Son of Havoc |
| Team USA Noah | Cody Hall |
| Team USA Noah | Quiet Storm |

## Results
### October 9

| No. | Results | Stipulations |
| 1 | Aero Star defeated Marty Martinez | Singles match |
| 2 | Angélico and Son of Havoc defeated Masamune and Taiji Ishimori | Tag team match |
| 3 | Team Mexico AAA (Pagano and Psycho Clown) defeated Tokyo Gurentai (Minoru Fujita and Nosawa) | Tag team match |
| 4 | King Cuerno defeated Drago | Singles match |
| 5 | Mil Muertes vs. Vampiro ended in a no contest | Singles match |

### October 10

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| 1 | Team Mexico AAA (Pagano and Psycho Clown) defeated Team USA Noah (Cody Hall and Quiet Storm) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup quarter final | 9:08 |
| 2 | Team Japan IGF (Kendo Kashin and Nosawa) defeated Team Rest of the World (Mil Muertes and Vampiro) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup quarter final | 6:09 |
| 3 | Team Japan Noah (Hi69 and Taiji Ishimori) defeated Team USA Lucha Underground (Marty Martinez and Son of Havoc) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup quarter final | 8:11 |
| 4 | Team USA Impact (Andrew Everett and DJZ) defeated Team Mexico Lucha Underground (Aero Star and Drago) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup quarter final | 7:51 |
| 5 | Heidi Katrina, Recca, and Taylor Adams defeated Danny Jones, Diego, and Sumire Natsu | International trios match | 13:42 |
| 6 | Team Mexico AAA (Pagano and Psycho Clown) defeated Team Japan IGF (Kendo Kashin and Nosawa) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup semi final | 5:14 |
| 7 | Team Japan Noah (Hi69 and Taiji Ishimori) vs. Team USA Impact (Andrew Everett and DJZ) ended in a draw | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup semi final | 10:00 |
| 8 | Taiji Ishimori defeated DJZ | Singles match Lucha Libre World Cup semi final sudden death match | 2:11 |
| 9 | King Cuerno defeated Angélico | Singles match | 11:08 |
| 10 | Team Mexico AAA (Pagano and Psycho Clown) defeated Team Japan Noah (Hi69 and Taiji Ishimori) | Tag team match Lucha Libre World Cup finals | 6:38 |

### Tournament bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| Team Mexico AAA | Team Mexico AAA | Pin | | | | | | |
| Team USA Noah | Team USA Noah | | | | | | | |
| Team USA Noah | Team USA Noah | | Team Mexico AAA | Team Mexico AAA | Pin | | | |
| | | | Team Japan IGF | Team Japan IGF | | | | |
| Team Japan IGF | Team Japan IGF | DQ | Team Japan IGF | Team Japan IGF | | | | |
| Team Rest of the World | Team Rest of the World | | | | | | | |
| Team Rest of the World | Team Rest of the World | | | | | Team Mexico AAA | Team Mexico AAA | Pin |
| | | | | | | Team Noah Japan | Team Noah Japan | |
| Team Noah Japan | Team Noah Japan | Pin | | | | | | | Team Noah Japan | Team Noah Japan |
| Team USA Lucha Underground | Team USA Lucha Underground | | | | | | | |
| Team USA Lucha Underground | Team USA Lucha Underground | | Team Noah Japan | Team Noah Japan | Pin | | | |
| | | | Team USA Impact | Team USA Impact | | | | |
| Team USA Impact | Team USA Impact | Pin | Team USA Impact | Team USA Impact | | | | |
| Team Mexico Lucha Underground | Team Mexico Lucha Underground | | | | | | | |