The CMLL World Mini-Estrellas Championship (Campeonato Mundial Mini-Estrellas de CMLL in Spanish), also known as the CMLL World Pequeno Estrellas Championship (Campeonato Mundial Pequeno Estrellas de CMLL in Spanish) is a professional wrestlingchampionship promoted by the Mexican Lucha libre wrestling-based promotionConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; Spanish for "World Wrestling Council"). The championship is exclusively competed for in the Mini-Estrellas, or Minis, division. A "Mini" is not necessarily a person with dwarfism, as in North American Midget wrestling; it can also be short wrestlers who work in the Mini-Estrellas division.[b] The championship was created in 1992 and is the oldest active Mini-Estrella title in Mexico;[c] both the Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship and the Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) World Mini-Estrella Championship were introduced after CMLL created their Mini-Estrella championship.[d][4] As it is a professional wrestling championship, it is not won legitimately; it is instead won via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline.[e] All title matches take place under two out of three falls rules.[f]
The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship was created in early 1992 to give CMLL's Mini-Estrellas division a championship as its focal point. The first champion was Mascarita Sagrada, who won a four-man tournament on March 1, 1992, by defeating Espectrito in the final.[a] When the creator of CMLL's Minis division, Antonio Peña, left CMLL to form his own promotion, AAA, Mascarita Sagrada and many other Minis left CMLL to join AAA.[g] After Mascarita Sagrada left the promotion, the title was vacant until September 1992, when Orito won the championship in a match against El Felinito.[h] In 1999, in a so-called "Phantom title switch", then-champion Damiancito el Guerrero had the championship stripped and given to Último Dragoncito without a match taking place. Damiancito had begun working under the ring name "Virus" in the "regular-sized" division for more than a year and thus no longer qualified as a Mini. Instead of vacating the title or making Virus lose it in a match, CMLL announced that Último Dragoncito had "won" the title on an undisclosed date in October 1999.[i]
In addition to being the first champion, Mascarita Sagrada is also the first wrestler to have vacated the title; he is also the wrestler to have held the title the shortest amount of time, at 110 days. Último Dragoncito is the current champion in his record-setting third reign. He defeated Mercurio on November 17, 2023, at Super Viernes. Pequeño Olímpico has held the title the longest of any champion, at 1,442 days for a single reign and 2,744 for his combined two reigns.[7]
CMLL held a tournament in early 1992 to determine the first CMLL World Mini-Estrella Champion; the semi-finals were held on February 23, 1992, and the finals on March 1, 1992.
Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, ON: Archeus Communications. ISBN0-9698161-5-4.
Hornbaker, Tim (2016). "Statistical notes". Legends of Pro Wrestling - 150 years of headlocks, body slams, and piledrivers (Revised ed.). New York, New York: Sports Publishing. p. 550. ISBN978-1-61321-808-2.
Madigan, Dan (2007). Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
