# CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles (2018)

The CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles 2018 or "National Incredible Pairs Tournament 2018" is a tag team Lucha Libre tournament held by the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The tournament is based on the Lucha Libre Parejas Increíbles match concept, which pairs two wrestlers of opposite allegiance, one portraying a villain, referred to as a "rudo" in Lucha Libre wrestling terminology, and one portraying a fan favorites, or "técnico". The 2018 version of the tournament was the ninth time in a row that CMLL held the tournament since the first tournament in 2010. The winners are presented with a trophy but not given any other tangible reward for the victory.
The finals were originally scheduled to take place on Friday, February 16, 2018, but due to an earthquake hitting Mexico City on that day the show was canceled while the building was inspected for structural damage. The finals took place on March 23 instead. The 16-team tournament was won by the team of Rush and El Terrible, who had been long-time rivals from 2011 to 2013, and had previously teamed up for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 tournaments. The duo defeated Volador Jr. and Último Guerrero in the finals of the three-week tournament. After the tournament El Terrible joined Rush's group called Los Ingobernables and together they won the CMLL World Tag Team Championship

## History

The Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council") held their first Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament") in 2010, from January 22 through February 5, marking the beginning of an annual tournament. CMLL has previous held Parejas Increíbles tournaments on an irregular basis and often promoted individual Parejas Increíbles and Relevos Increíbles ("Incredible Relay", with teams of three or more wrestlers). The Parejas Increíbles concept is a long-standing tradition in lucha libre and is at times referred to as a "strange bedfellows" match in English speaking countries, because a Pareja Increible consists of a face (referred to as a técnico in Lucha Libre, or a "good guy") and a heel (a rudo, those that portray "the bad guys") teamed up for a specific match, or in this case for a tournament. The 2018 tournament was the ninth annual Parejas Increíbles tournament, and like its predecessors held as part of CMLL's regular Friday night CMLL Super Viernes ("Super Friday") shows.

## Tournament

The tournament featured 15 professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers teaming up, some of whom were involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines while others were simply paired up for the tournament. For the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles tournaments, CMLL often teamed up a técnico (those that portray the "good guys" in wrestling, also known as faces) and a rudo (the "bad guy" or heels) who are involved in a pre-existing storyline feud at the time of the tournament so that the tournament itself can be used as a storytelling device to help tell the story of escalating confrontations between two feuding wrestlers. The tournament format followed CMLL's traditional tournament formats, with two qualifying blocks of eight teams that competed during the first and second week of the tournament and a final match between the two block winners. The qualifying blocks were all one-fall matches while the tournament final was a best two-out-of-three-falls tag team match.

### Tournament participants
#### Block A

* Ángel de Oro (T) and El Cuatrero (R)
* Atlantis (T) and Mr. Niebla (R)
* Blue Panther Jr. (T) and Máscara Año 2000 (R)
* Carístico (T) and Euforia (R)
* Marco Corleone (T) and Shocker (R)
* Dragon Lee (T) and Sansón (R)
* Rush (T) and El Terrible (R)
* Stuka Jr. (T) and Forastero (R)

#### Block B

* Blue Panther (T) and Sam Adonis (R)
* Diamante Azul (T) and Comandante Pierroth (R)
* Místico (T) and Mephisto (R)
* Niebla Roja (T) and Gran Guerrero (R)
* Soberano Jr. (T) and Hechicero (R)
* Titán (T) and Bárbaro Cavernario (R)
* Valiente (T) and Rey Bucanero (R)
* Volador Jr. (T) and Último Guerrero (R)

### Ongoing storylines

The team of Rush and El Terrible had teamed together in two previous Parejas Increíbles tournaments, both as part of a long, heated storyline feud between the two that ran from 2011 through 2012. The storyline saw El Terrible defeat Rush to win the vacant CMLL World Heavyweight Championship, The two were teamed up for the 2012 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles as CMLL continued to build the feud. The two were able to work together well enough to make it to the finals of the tournament but lost to Atlantis and Euforia in the finals when they were unable to get along. After the loss Rush made a Lucha de Apuestas challenge to El Terrible. The storyline culminated on September 14 in the main event of CMLL's 79th Anniversary Show, where El Terrible lost and as a result, shaved bald. In March, 2013 El Terrible and Rush teamed up for the 2013 Torneo de Parejas Increíbles and were teamed up again for the 2017 Torneo de Parejas Increíbles unsuccessfully as they were eliminated Atlantis and Euforia in the second round.

### Tournament brackets

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Atlantis and Mr. Niebla | W | | | | | | |
| Ángel de Oro and El Cuatrero | 07:03 | Atlantis and Mr. Niebla | 07:41 | | | | |
| El Terrible and Rush | W | El Terrible and Rush | W | | | | |
| Forastero and Stuka Jr. | 07:50 | | | El Terrible and Rush | W | | |
| Carístico and Euforia | W | | | Carístico and Euforia | 02:00 | | |
| Dragon Lee and Sansón | 05:55 | Carístico and Euforia | W | | | | |
| Marco Corleone and Shocker | W | Marco Corleone and Shocker | 02:45 | | | | |
| Blue Panther Jr. and Máscara Año 2000 | 03:34 | | | | | El Terrible and Rush | W |
| Gran Guerrero and Niebla Roja | W | | | | | Volador Jr. and Último Guerrero | 19:41 |
| Blue Panther & Sam Adonis | 05:17 | Gran Guerrero and Niebla Roja | 05:57 | | | | |
| Mephisto and Místico | W | Mephisto and Místico | W | | | | |
| El Soberano Jr. & Hechicero | 06:01 | | | Mephisto and Místico | 07:41 | | |
| Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. | W | | | Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. | W | | |
| Bárbaro Cavernario and Titán | 04:36 | Diamante Azul and Pierroth | 04:33 | | | | |
| Diamante Azul and Pierroth | W | Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. | W | | | | |
| Rey Bucanero and Valiente | 02:45 | | | | | | |

### Tournament shows
#### February 2, 2018

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| 1 | El Coyote and Templario defeated Astral and Eléctrico | Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match | 11:37 |
| 2 | Audaz, Pegasso, and Rey Cometa defeated Kawato San, Misterioso Jr., and Virus by disqualification | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 14:19 |
| 3 | Diamante Azul and Valiente defeated Niebla Roja, Blue Panther, Soberano Jr., Místico, Volador Jr., and Titán | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles seeding battle royal | 02:08 |
| 4 | Gran Guerrero and Niebla Roja defeated Blue Panther and Sam Adonis | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 05:17 |
| 5 | Mephisto and Místico defeated Hechicero and Soberano Jr. | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 06:01 |
| 6 | Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. defeated Bárbaro Cavernario and Titán | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 04:36 |
| 7 | Diamante Azul and Pierroth defeated Rey Bucanero and Valiente | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 02:45 |
| 8 | Mephisto and Místico defeated Gran Guerrero and Niebla Roja | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles quarterfinal match | 05:57 |
| 9 | Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. defeated Diamante Azul and Pierroth | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles quarterfinal match | 04:33 |
| 10 | Último Guerrero and Volador Jr. defeated Mephisto and Místico | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles semifinal match | 07:41 |
| 11 | Ángel de Oro, Atlantis, and Carístico defeated Euforia, El Cuatrero, and Sansón by disqualification | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 09:30 |

#### February 9, 2018

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| 1 | El Hijo del Signo and Yago defeated Magia Blanca and Magnus | Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match | 12:14 |
| 2 | La Amapola, Dalys la Caribeña, and Zeuxis defeated Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela, and Princesa Sugehit | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 13:22 |
| 3 | Máscara Año 2000 and Shocker defeated Mr. Niebla, El Terrible, Euforia, El Cuatrero, Sansón, and Forastero | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles seeding battle royal | 04:26 |
| 4 | Atlantis and Mr. Niebla defeated Ángel de Oro and El Cuatrero | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 07:03 |
| 5 | Rush and El Terrible defeated Forastero and Stuka Jr. | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 07:50 |
| 6 | Carístico and Euforia defeated Dragon Lee and Sansón | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 05:55 |
| 7 | Marco Corleone and Shocker defeated Blue Panther Jr. and Máscara Año 2000 | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles first round match | 03:34 |
| 8 | Rush and El Terrible defeated Atlantis and Mr. Niebla | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles quarterfinal match | 07:41 |
| 9 | Carístico and Euforia defeated Marco Corleone and Shocker | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles quarterfinal match | 02:45 |
| 10 | Rush and El Terrible defeated Carístico and Euforia | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles semifinal match | 02:00 |
| 11 | Diamante Azul, Místico, and Volador Jr. defeated Bárbaro Cavernario, Kráneo, and Último Guerrero | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 06:48 |

#### February 23, 2018

| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
| 1 | Mercurio and Pierrothito defeated Stukita and Último Dragoncito | Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match | 11:13 |
| 2 | La Dinastia Casas (Puma and Tiger) and Kawato-San defeated Fuego, Stigma and Tritón | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 13:53 |
| 3 | Soberano Jr. vs. Niebla Roja ended in a time limit draw | Lighting Match (One fall, 10 minute time-limit match) | 10:00 |
| 4 | Diamante Azul, Marco Corleone and Stuka Jr. defeated Los Guerreros Laguneros (Euforia and Gran Guerrero) and Kraneo | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 11:17 |
| 5 | Ángel de Oro, Atlantis and Dragon Lee defeated Nueva Generación Dinamita (El Cuatrero, Forastero and Sansón) | Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match | 07:46 |
| 6 | Rush and El Terrible defeated Volador Jr. and Último Guerrero | Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles tournament finals | 19:41 |

## Aftermath

After the victory both Rush invited El Terrible to join Los Ingobernables, an offer El Terrible immediately accepted, joining forces with Rush and El Bestia del Ring. On July 13, Rush and El Terrible defeated Volador Jr. and Valiente to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship as part of an ongoing storyline between Los Ingobernables and Volador Jr. and his family.