Full cards for four nights of Fantasticamania in Korakuen this month sees three title bouts, Family tag tournament, Black Cat memorial
Full Fantasticamania cards and schedule!
Watch Fantasticamania 2020 on January 16, 17, 19, 20 LIVE and in English on NJPW World!
the annual celebration of Mexican wrestling culture that is CMLL Fantasticamania will kick off this Friday in Osaka, and will reach its climax with four nights from Korakuen between January 16 and 20; all four with thrilling cards that give fans in Japan and worldwide the chance to sample top flight lucha libre from CMLL.
Highlighting the first two nights on January 16 and 17 is the CMLL Family Tag Team Tournament. The four team tournament initially started in 2018 as the brothers tag tournament, which was won by Gran and Ultimo Guerrero. In 2019, the concept of the tournament was expanded beyond just siblings to a family tournament, won by Ryu (then Dragon) Lee and older brother Mistico; the pairing would then beat Los Guerreros in a follow up match to seize overall glory.
This year, the tournament will be made up of Soberano Junior & Euforia, Cuatrero & Sanson, Niebla Roja & Angel De Oro and Tiger & Negro Casas.
Euforia and Soberano Junior are a father and son pairing new to CMLL family tag tournament competition. Euforia was in fact the original Soberano Junior before he passed on his name and mask to his own son. With Gran Guerrero and Ultimo Guerrero not in the tournament this year, it’s these two who will fly the flag of Los Guerreros Laguneros in the single elimination affair.
La Sangre Dinamita, Cuatrero and Sanson, won the third place playoff of the 2018 brothers tournament, and the elctric finals of the 2019 tournament. Can they finally go one step further and win in 2020?
Representing Los Hermanos Chavez, Niebla Roja and Angel De Oro will look to improve on their two losses in the 2018 brothers tournament, and for Oro, a disappointing Fantasticamania last year as well, ending as it did with a failed challenge of the Mexican National Trios titles against La Nuebla Generacion Dinamita.
Negro Casas and Tiger round out the field. Veteran Casas is a Mexican legend, who shot to fame in Japan for his rivalry with the recently retired Jyushin Thunder Liger. Here he teams with nephew Tiger, who is wrestling in japan for the very first time during Fantasticamania.
All four teams will meet in a single elimination tournament, with semi finals on January 16, and finals and third place playoffs happening on January 17.
On January 19, the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship is up for grabs as Satoshi Kojima challenges the champion Ultimo Guerrero. At the time of the title bout, Guerrero will be a whopping 460 days and six defences of this second reign with the title, which is being defended in Japan for the first time since 2017. Satoshi Kojima will step up to challenge; Kojima made his CMLL debut late in his career in 2017, and since then has been involved in high profile singles bouts in Fantasticamania 2018 and 2019. Both of those bouts, against first Rush and then Terrible, ended in defeat; can Kojima turn that around and score his first championship gold of any kind in three years?
January 19 will be headlined by the traditional Black Cat Memorial Match. Every year, NJPW celebrates the life of Black Cat who was an influential wrestler and liaison between Japan and Mexico. This year, Negro Casas, Euforia and Barbaro Cavernario will face Tiger Mask, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Caristico in the bout.
January 20 will be headlined by two championship matches. The National Trios Championship will be at stake when La Nuebla Generacion Dinamita of Forastero, Cuatrero ad Sanson will face the challenge of Titan, Niebla Roja and Angel De Oro. This formidable team of rudos has held the trios titles for over 900 days, setting themselves as the third most dominant team in the titles’ history. Can they be stopped in Korakuen?
The main event on January 20 will see a battle over the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship, Caristico defending against Barbaro Cavernario. Coming under the auspices of CMLL in 2010, the title has beenheld by familiar names like Pricne Devitt in the past, before now being worn by the influential Caristico. In his path is Barbaro Cavernario, a man who unsuccessfully challenged Caristico in CMLL last summer, but whose reckless high risk offense could reap big dividends, and a thrilling bout.
Join us for all the action of Fantasticamania in Korakuen, live and in English on NJPW World!
