The Mexican professional wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) has produced and scripted a number of wrestling shows since their creation on January 1, 1996 by promoter Adolfo "Pirata" Moreno. Some of these shows have become annual events, some are special one-off events, normally indicated by a special main event match or being promoted under a special name, and some are IWRG's normally scheduled Wednesday or Sunday shows. Many of the annual and special events are headlined by a Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", where a wrestler will put his wrestling mask or hair on the line.
The longest-running recurring IWRG show is the Arena Naucalpan Anniversary Show, which started in 1978, making it the second longest-running professional wrestling recurring show series, only surpassed by the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Anniversary Shows that began in 1934. It is the only regular IWRG show that predates the creation of IWRG itself. IWRG's second-longest-running show is their IWRG Anniversary Shows, starting on January 1, 1997, and held within the first couple of days of January. Throughout the year IWRG promotes several other recurring events such as the El Castillo del Terror ("The Tower of Terror"), Legado Final ("Final Legacy") or Guerra del Golfo ("The Gulf War"). They also hold several annual tournament such as El Protector, Rey del Ring ("King of the Ring") and Rebelión de los Juniors amongst others.
History Wrestler-turned-promoter Adolfo "Pirata" Moreno began promoting wrestling shows in his native Naucalpan de Juárez, State of Mexico, bringing in wrestlers from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) to Naucalpan as well as featuring wrestlers from the Mexican independent circuit. Later on he would promote shows mainly in "Arena KO Al Gusto" and served as the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) partner, using the name Promociones Moreno as the business name for his promotional efforts. In 1977 Moreno bought the run down Arena KO Al Gusto and had Arena Naucalpan built in its place, an arena designed specifically for wrestling shows, with a maximum capacity of 2,400 spectators for the shows. Arena Naucalpan became the permanent home for Promociones Moreno, with very few shows held elsewhere. The Arena Naucalpan 1st Anniversary Show was held in December 1978, becoming an annual show for Moreno. The Arena Naucalpan Anniversary Show is the second oldest annual professional wrestling show, only predated by the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Anniversary Shows that started in 1934. In the 1990s the UWA folded and Promociones Moreno worked primarily with EMLL, now rebranded as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
In late 1995 Adolfo Moreno decided to create his own promotion, creating a regular roster instead of relying totally on wrestlers from other promotions, creating the International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG; sometimes referred to as Grupo Internacional Revolución in Spanish) on January 1, 1996. From that point on Arena Naucalpan became the main venue for IWRG, hosting the majority of their weekly shows and all of their recurring and named shows as well. The first verified recurring show held by IWRG was the Arena Naucalpan 19th Anniversary show held in December 1996.
Recurring shows Over the years IWRG has created a number of recurring events, some on an annual basis that IWRG has held year after year since the show was created, other events that they will run on a regular basis although not always at the same time each year, sometimes holding multiple events in one year, other times not holding a specific event in a year. Each year on or close to January 1 IWRG holds their IWRG Anniversary Shows to celebrate their creation on January 1, 1996. Some years the show is promoted specifically under that label, other times they combine the anniversary celebration with another of their annual shows.
The oldest show after the anniversary shows is the IWRG Prisión Fatal ("Deadly Prison") show, with the first being held in 2000, then again in 2009 and then 2012, from then on a regular basis since then. The main event of the Prisión Fatal is a multi-man steel cage match contested under Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", rules where the loser would be forced to unmask. the Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match is one of IWRG's signature matches as they promote a number of those matches each year on a regular basis such as IWRG El Castillo del Terror ("Tower of Terror") and IWRG Guerra del Golfo ("Gulf War"). They have also held various one-off steel cage centered shows such as IWRG Guerra del Sexos ("Battle of the Sexes"), an inter-gender match that allows both male and female wrestler to fight each other. Other steel cage match shows have included IWRG La Jaula del Honor ("The Cage of Honor") and IWRG La Jaula de la Muerte ("The Cage of Death").>
IWRG also holds a number of annual tournaments, the oldest still ongoing tournament being the IWRG Rey del Ring ("King of the Ring"), an annual 30-man tournament held almost every year since 2002. In 2011 IWRG began holding an IWRG La Gran Cruzada ("The Great Crusade") tournament, with the winner challenging the Rey del Ring champion at a later date. Since 2010 IWRG has held the IWRG El Protector tournament once a year, a tag team tournament where a rookie and a veteran wrestler are teamed up for a one-night tournament. In the fall IWRG often holds IWRG La Guerra Revolucionaria ("The Revolutionary War"), a one night multi-man torneo cibernetico elimination tournament.
Mexican professional wrestling has a very strong family tradition and IWRG honors this with various shows and tournaments throughout the year, including the father/son tournament IWRG Legado Final ("Final Legacy"), as well as their annual IWRG Rebelión de los Juniors ("The Junior Rebellion"), and finally their recurring IWRG Guerra de Familias ("War of the Families") show.
Pre IWRG shows DateEventMain Event Arena Naucalpan 1st Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 2nd Anniversary Show Black Man, El Santo, and Mil Máscaras vs. Dr. Wagner, Negro Navarro, and Villano III Arena Naucalpan 3rd Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 4th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 5th Anniversary Show Los Misioneros de la Muerte (El Signo, El Texano and Negro Navarro) vs. Los Villanos (Villano I, Villano II and Villano III in a best two-out-of-three-falls six-man tag team match Arena Naucalpan 6th Anniversary Show Trio Fantastico (Black Man, Kato Kung Lee, and Kung Fu) vs. Los Misioneros de la Muerte (El Signo, Negro Navarro, and El Texano) Arena Naucalpan 7th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 8th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 9th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 10th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 11th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 12th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 13th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 14th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 15th Anniversary Show Bestia Salvaje vs. El Dandy for the CMLL World Middleweight Championship Arena Naucalpan 16th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 17th Anniversary Show Unknown Arena Naucalpan 18th Anniversary Show Kraneo vs. Sable in a Lucha de Apuestas match
IWRG shows in the 1990s DateEventMain Event First IWRG Show Fantastik and Mr. Niebla (c) vs Antifaz and Scorpio Jr. for the Naucalpan Tag Team Championship Máscara vs. Máscara Dr. Cerebro vs. Cerebro Arena Naucalpan 19th Anniversary Show Unknown IWRG 1st Anniversary Show Unknown Máscara vs. Máscara Neblina vs. La Cobra IWRG show Villano III vs. El Mastodonte Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Máscara vs. Máscara Bombero Infernal vs. Neblina Máscara vs. Máscara Bombero Infernal vs. Enemigo Publico Máscara vs. Máscara Pantera vs. Bombero Infernal Arena Naucalpan 20th Anniversary Show Unknown IWRG 2nd Anniversary Show Judo Suwa, Shiima Nobunaga and Sumo Fuji (c) defeated Los Super Payasos (Bruly, Circus and Rody) for the Distrito Federal Trios Championship Máscara vs. Máscara Dr. Cerebro vs. Oro Jr. Cabellera vs. Cabellera Suicida vs. Bombero Infernal Cabellera vs. Cabellera Suicida vs. Star Boy Arena Naucalpan 21st Anniversary Show Eight-man Ruleta de la Muerte tournament IWRG 3rd Anniversary Show Unknown Máscara vs. Máscara Kato Kung Lee Jr. vs. Punch Power La Guerra Sin Escape El Brazo, Brazo Cibernético, Mr. Niebla, Moon Walker, Kato Kung Lee and El Salsero vs. Bombero Infernal, Fireman and Los Oficiales (Maniacop, El Vigilante, Oficial and Guardia) in a steel cage match Máscara vs. Cabellera Bombero Infernal vs. Fireman Relevos Suicida El Matador and El Torero vs. Fuerza Guerrera and Suicida Cabellera vs. Cabellera Bombero Infernal vs. Kato Kung Lee Arena Naucalpan 22nd Anniversary Show El Hijo del Santo vs. Scorpio Jr. for the El Copa del Mileno trophy
IWRG shows in 2000 DateEventMain Event IWRG 4th Anniversary Show Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda vs. Black Dragón and Fantasy, tournament final for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship Prisión Fatal 12-man Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Máscara vs. Máscara Guardia, Oficial, and Vigilante vs Cyborg, Maniacop, and Vader Cop, "Captain's Mask" match Relevos Suicida El Millonario and Fantasy vs Punch Power and Star Boy Cabellera vs. Cabellera Cyborg vs. Rody Cabellera vs. Cabellera Ciclón Ramírez vs. Bombero Infernal El Castillo del Terror multi-man Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Arena Naucalpan 23rd Anniversary Show Último Vampiro vs. Oficial in a Lucha de Apuestas match Máscara vs. Máscara Bestia Rubia vs Zonik
IWRG shows in 2001 DateEventMain Event IWRG 5th Anniversary Show Bombero Infernal, El Enterrador and Los Megas (Mega and Super Mega) vs. Black Dragon, Kato Kung Lee, Mike Segura and Tony Rivera Copa Ovaciones El Felino vs. Blue Panther Máscara vs. Máscara El Hijo del Santo vs Dr. Cerebro Cabellera vs. Cabellera Suicida vs. Súper Mega Cabellera vs. Cabellera Rambo vs. Oficial Cabelleras vs. Cabelleras Suicida and Último Vampiro vs. Masada and Nosawa Cabelleras vs. Cabelleras Villano III vs. Rambo Cabellera vs. Cabellera Fantasy vs. Bombero Infernal Arena Naucalpan 24th Anniversary Show Último Vampiro vs. El Enterrador in a Luchas de Apuestas match
IWRG shows in 2002 DateEventMain Event IWRG 6th Anniversary Show El Pantera and Pentagón Black vs. Bombero Infernal and Último Vampiro Rey del Ring 30 man Rey del Ring tournament El Castillo del Terror 10-man Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Arena Naucalpan 25th Anniversary Show El Hijo del Santo vs. Scorpio Jr. in a Lucha de Apuestas match
IWRG shows in 2003 DateEventMain Event IWRG 7th Anniversary Show Último Vampiro vs Bombero Infernal in a Luchas de Apuestas match El Castillo del Terror 10-man Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Arena Naucalpan 26th Anniversary Show Avisman vs. Cerebro Negro in a Lucha de Apuestas match
IWRG shows in 2004 DateEventMain Event IWRG 8th Anniversary Show Brazo de Plata, Fantasy and El Felino vs. Cerebro Negro, Mike Segura and Scorpio Jr. Rey del Ring 30 man Rey del Ring tournament El Castillo del Terror Multi-Man Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match Arena Naucalpan 27th Anniversary Show Dr. Cerebro vs. Masada in a Lucha de Apuestas match.
IWRG shows in 2005 DateEventMain Event IWRG 9th Anniversary Show Unknown La Copa Black Shadow Villano III and Gallo Tapado Jr. vs. Rambo and Bobby Lee Jr.vs. Brazo de Plata Jr. and Brazo de Oro El Castillo del Terror 10-Man steel cage match Rey del Ring 30 man Rey del Ring tournament Arena Naucalpan 28th Anniversary Show / Guerra del Golfo El Felino vs. Mephisto vs. Pierroth vs. Stuka Jr. vs. Ultra Mega vs. Matrix vs. Nitro vs. El Pantera vs.El Sagrado vs. Némesis
IWRG shows in 2006