CMLL invited talent from around the world to compete for the International Grand Prix on Friday night (Aug. 7, 2026). Wrestlers arrived from AEW, NJPW, ROH, MLW, RevPro, and MLP. In the end, Hechicero made Don Callis proud by winning the whole enchilada from Arena Mexico.
The Grand Prix was an 11 versus 11 torneo cibernetico. One squad represented Mexico. The other side represented the rest of the world. Bandido was the outlier choosing to be on the World team by calling AEW his home. The full teams
included:
- Mexico: Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Volador Jr., Hechicero, Bárbaro Cavernario, Angel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Templario, Mascara Dorada, Titan, Xelhua
- World: Bandido (Mexico) from AEW, Claudio Castagnoli (Switzerland) from AEW, El Bastardo PAC (UK) from AEW, Orange Cassidy (USA) from AEW, Roderick Strong (USA) from AEW, Douki (Japan) from NJPW, Yujiro (Japan) from NJPW, Blake Christian (USA) from ROH, Austin Aries (USA) from MLW, Leon Cage (UK) from RevPro, Rohan Raja (UK) from MLP
National pride was on the line with pomp and circumstance. Mexico grabbed the early lead with the first two eliminations. Orange Cassidy hit the superman punch on Barbaro Cavernario to even the score. After trading eliminations, Mexico jumped back up with a two-man advantage when Hechicero pinned Roderick Strong on a fancy roll-up.
Things got chippy when Bandido pulled off Soberano Jr.’s mask. Soberano returned the favor, and they brawled to the back. Both men were out of the competition.
Claudio Castagnoli scored a pair of eliminations, and that brought us down to the nitty-gritty with 4 versus 3 in favor of Mexico. Cassidy clocked Angel de Oro with the superman punch. Hechicero stretched Cassidy on a surfboard submission. The Death Riders went to work. PAC pinned Mascara Dorada on a shooting star press. That move by PAC was particularly insulting, because that is the finisher for Mascara Dorada. PAC assisted Claudio for a spike Neutralizer to Mistico. That brought us down to the final three.
Hechicero overcame the odds for victory. The Alchemist pinned PAC off a headscissors driver, then he tied Claudio into a pretzel. Claudio held out as long as he could. The pain became too much, and Claudio tapped out. Hechicero was the last man standing for the win.
The final showdown was served with meaning. It was Hechicero who ended Claudio’s reign with the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship, so this result was another log on the fire of that feud. Claudio should grow hair, so he can challenge Hechicero to mask versus hair.
Enjoy the highlight reel with every elimination from the Grand Prix.
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