History Starting in 1957 the Mexican Lucha libre, or professional wrestling, promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ("Mexican Wrestling Enterprise"; EMLL) began promoting the Mexican National Tag Team Championship as the top championship of their tag team division. In 1991 EMLL was rebranded Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ("World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) after the promotion left the National Wrestling Alliance in the late 1980s.{{efn|Madigan (2007) p. 32: "in the late 1980s EMLL withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance" In 1992 then-CMLL executive Antonio Peña left CMLL along with a number of the promotion's wrestlers to form Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). Among the wrestlers that left CMLL were then-reigning Mexican National Tag Team Champions Misterioso and Volador. The Mexican National Tag Team Championship was not owned by CMLL but rather by the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission and the commission allowed AAA to take control of the championship. In early 1993 CMLL decided to create their own tag team championship to replace the Mexican National Tag Team Championship and introduced the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. The team of Canek and Dr. Wagner Jr. faced off against Vampiro Canadiense and Pierroth Jr. in the finals of a 16-team tournament to determine the first champions, with Canek and Wagner Jr. winning the match to become the first tag team champions. The duo would hold the title until El Canek left CMLL in November 1994. CMLL held a 32-team tournament from November 11 to December 16, 1994. In the finals "Los Cowboys" (Silver King and El Texano) defeated El Satánico and Emilio Charles Jr. to become the second ever CMLL World Tag Team Champions. Six months later Los Cowboys would lose the title to their longtime rivals los Headhunters. In September 1996 the champions, the team of Atlantis and Lizmark, were stripped of the championship after an inconclusive match against Los Headhunters. In the subsequent eight-team tournament brothers Silver King and Dr. Wagner Jr. captured the title with a victory over Dos Caras and Último Dragón. The title would be vacated once again only six months later as Silver King left CMLL to work for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Dr. Wagner Jr. teamed up with Emilio Charles Jr. and the two former champions won an eight-team tournament in August 1997. The title would be vacated once again in 1998 when one half of the tag team champions, Mr. Niebla, was injured.