It’s safe to say 2023 has been a very good year for Lucha Libre. As the years go, there have obviously been many rivalries in Lucha Libre that hold a lot of significance. 2023 will without a doubt not break that tradition at all. There are some possible contenders for the most important Lucha rivalry of 2023, but it’s clear that one in specific stands out amongst the others. The rivalry just happens to include a Prince of the Ring, a Red Dragon, and a Lion Warrior. It’s time to dive deeper into the rivalry between Soberano Jr., Dragón Rojo Jr., and Templario.
The Beginning of the Prince vs the Templar
Since around 2017, Soberano Jr. & Templario started facing off as some sort of rivals. The beginning of this feud didn’t include too much hatred from either superstar. In fact, Soberano Jr. was a bit busy with another luchador for quite some time, before the focus eventually shifted to his rivalry with Templario. When the departure of La Nueva Generacion Dinamita finally came, it was time for Soberano to set his eyes on a new rivalry. He would now focus his attention on a rival he already had, but who was never as important to him as Sanson.
In 2021, this rivalry develop as much as the audience might have wanted. The cause of this was Soberano’s injury which left him out of action for a couple of months. Soberano didn’t return until the near end of 2021, at which point he won not only the Torneo de la Leyenda Azul, but also the vacant CMLL World Middleweight Championship.
2022 Begins & The Dragon’s First Strike
Around the beginning of 2022, Soberano tried to defend his title against Dragón Rojo Jr., but he ended up losing the championship after only 112 days. Throughout the first half of this year, we saw the rivalry between Templario & Soberano Jr. grow more and more as weeks passed by. It did not matter if they were facing one on one or in a six man tag match. These men had nothing but hate towards each other.
At this point, Dragón Rojo Jr. didn’t have much to do with the rivalry at all besides taking the title off Soberano. In usual lucha libre fashion, a rudo like Dragón Rojo Jr. hated Soberano Jr., but there was no major rivalry or hate between them. If a big rivalry between them was to happen, something would have to occur to shift Soberano’s focus off Templario & onto Dragón Rojo Jr.
La Leyenda De Plata
Every year since 1998, CMLL has been holding its annual Leyenda De Plata tournament, which is dedicated to El Santo, and 2022 was no different. On July 15th, 2022, we got the match that determined the first finalist of the tournament. The first person to make it to the finals of this legendary tournament was Soberano Jr and the following week, Templario became the 2nd finalist. Finally, on July 29th, 2022, Soberano Jr. faced off against Templario to determine 2022’s La Leyenda De Plata winner. After an incredible showing from both men, Templario triumphed over Soberano and was crowned the winner. This match of theirs was like no other. Both men showed they were 2 of the best talent CMLL had to offer, and that they would do anything to win this legendary tournament.
CMLL’s 89th Anniversary
After La Leyenda De Plata tournament ended, we were only 2 months away from CMLL’s 89th Anniversary event. In August of 2022, people were speculating that the Lucha de Apuestas between Soberano & Templario would happen at the anniversary. It was eventually revealed that they would have a mini rivals tournament to decide which Lucha De Apuestas would be happening at the anniversary. Unfortunately, Templario got injured shortly before the anniversary. People thought this meant that Soberano Jr. would be out of the mini-tournament. Thankfully, Dragón Rojo Jr. stepped in and become Soberano’s tag partner for the tournament. Sadly, Dragón Rojo Jr. & Soberano Jr. lost against Stuka Jr. & Atlantis Jr. in the finals.
Templario’s Return
When Templario eventually returned, it was very clear that things were going to get heated between all 3 men. Soberano would now have to worry about both Dragón Rojo Jr. & Templario wanting to take his mask. Although that was the case, some infighting had started between Dragón Rojo & Templario because they both believed they should get a Lucha de Apuestas against Soberano. The rivalry had now become an all out war between three warriors.
All Out Anger Between the 3 Warriors & The Start of 2023
As 2022 ended, it was apparent that all three warriors wanted to take each other’s masks badly. Once 2023 began, the rivalry began to be less about Soberano and Templario but more about Dragón Rojo & Templario. On a CMLL Informa, both men discussed why they thought they should face Soberano Jr. in a mask vs mask match. The CMLL Informa ended up with both men thinking that maybe they should have a mask vs mask first and the winner should face Soberano Jr. for his mask.
Rey Del Aire VIP 2023 & El Torneo Increible De Parejas 2023
In January of this year, CMLL held the Rey Del Aire VIP tournament which included Soberano, Templario, & Dragón Rojo. The match had moments where Templario & Soberano faced off, but the match didn’t reach its peak until we got down to the final 2 of Dragón Rojo Jr. & Templario. The match ended with Dragón Rojo Jr. being crowned the Rey Del Aire VIP 2023 winner.
During early February, el Torneo Increible De Parejas took place. One of the teams in this tournament was Soberano Jr. & Templario. Dragón Rojo Jr., on the other hand, was teaming with Titan. In the semi-finals, Soberano & Templario faced Titan & Dragón Rojo Jr., but Soberano & Templario focused more on Dragón Rojo Jr. than Titan. Unfortunately, Soberano Jr. & Templario were defeated in the finals by Mistico & Averno.
Post FantasticaMania & Campeonato Universal Tournament
After FantasticaMania, Templario & Soberano Jr. both returned, but things had shifted a bit. There was supposed to be a six-man tag match at Homenaje A Dos Leyendas that included all three luchadors, but Soberano was suddenly pulled out of the match and replaced with Atlantis. After this happened, we would see a lot more tension between Dragón Rojo Jr. & Templario. On April 7th, Templario declared in a post-match promo that he didn’t care about Soberano anymore and was now focused on Dragón Rojo. After defeating Templario on April 10th’s Arena Puebla show, Soberano told him that he wants to face him in a mask vs mask match at the 90th Anniversary. Templario responded by telling him that it didn’t really matter if it was Dragón Rojo Jr. or Soberano. He would accept either match, as long as they gave him the contract to sign.
On the Friday of that week, Templario overcame nine other national champions to become the second finalist in CMLL’s Campeonato Universal Tournament. In the last elimination round, which occurred on April 21st, Dragón Rojo Jr. defeated the nine other world champions and became the third finalist. Now, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario, & Atlantis Jr. will face off on April 28th to decide the holder of this year’s Campeonato Universal. It’s most likely that this match will be a factor, if not the breaking point, that causes Dragón Rojo Jr. vs Templario in a mask vs mask match at CMLL’s 90 Aniversario. Thankfully, all of our questions should be answered soon enough.
Stay tuned to the Five Star Network for all updates on the world of Joshi, Puro, and more!