Castagnoli conquers Arena Mexico.
On the August 23, 2024 edition of CMLL's "Viernes Espectacular" event, CMLL hosted the 2024 edition of the International Showcase Elimination tag match, the Grand Prix. The match pitted Team Mexico (Máscara Dorada, Volador Jr, Esfinge, Euforia, El Valiente, Templario, Místico, Titán, Ultimo Guerrero & Atlantis Jr.) facing Team World (Claudio Castagnoli, Yota Tsuji, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Mansoor, Ikuro Kwon, Flip Gordon, Robbie X, AKIRA, Rocky Romero & Kyle Fletcher), which featured a mix of talent of AEW, ROH, MLW, NJPW, Rev-Pro, and more.
After a long match, the ending sequence was sorted between Volador Jr. and All Elite Wrestling's own Claudio Castagnoli. After a heated back and forth between the "Depredador Mayor" and the Blackpool Combat Club's "Swiss Cyborg", the finish came with Claudio blasting Volador Jr. with a vicious uppercut and hitting Swiss Death (Running Lariat) before ending things with a vicious Gotch-Style Piledriver to pick up the win.
Despite having a brief stint in Mexico back in 2005 and 2006, this was Castagnoli's second match for CMLL, last competing on the 3/29 edition of CMLL's "Homenaje a Dos Leyendas" by teaming with Matt Sydal & BCC's Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley against Volador Jr., Blue Panther, Mistico & Ultimo Guerrero. He also became the first-ever Swiss wrestler to win the Gran Prix and the sixth non-Mexican wrestler to win the match.
¡El triunfo es para Suiza! Claudio Castagnoli derrota a Volador Jr. y se convierte en el ganador del #GrandPrixCMLL 2024. #ViernesEspectacularCMLL
— Lucha Libre CMLL (@CMLL_OFICIAL) August 24, 2024
EN VIVO https://t.co/boa1cwihUG @ClaudioCSRO @AEW pic.twitter.com/z8JuZRVdDc
For more details on the show, check out the results here.
