win the UWA World Heavyweight Championship, a title still promoted 10 years after the UWA closed. The championship change was part of a long running storyline between the two, a storyline set to culminate in a four-way Lucha de Apuestas match at the CMLL 71st Anniversary Show. In the week prior to the show Manuel González died, which led to a surge of sympathy for Dr. Wagner Jr. This led to the crowd being solidly behind the until-then hated Dr. Wagner Jr. as he put his mask on the line against El Canek, Universo 2000 and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. In the end El Canek defeated Universo 2000 to take his mask. As result of the newfound popularity of Dr. Wagner Jr. CMLL decided to turn El Canek rudo (villain), allowing for the rivalry to continue. Later on when Dr. Wagner Jr. moved on to a feud with Atlantis, the story repeated itself as the crowd turned against Atlantis, forcing CMLL to turn him from técnico (hero or good guy) into one of the bad guys of the storyline. The rivalry continued for several months until Dr. Wagner Jr.'s focus shifted to newcomer L.A. Park, resulting in a series of very violent, out of control matches between the two. On April 27, 2008, Wagner led a protest march for anyone who believed they were being mistreated by their bosses to join. About 200 people joined the march, including Fuerza Guerrera and wrestlers from IWRG. Wagner claimed he was not being used because he criticized CMLL in the press, and claimed he was in talks with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The rivalry between Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A Park reached its CMLL climax at the CMLL 75th Anniversary Show where Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A. Park wrestled each other in a match that ended in a disqualification due to excessive brawling outside the ring. A short time later Dr. Wagner Jr. was fired from CMLL, officially for breaking CMLL's strict rule about not bleeding during matches or using weapons. Japan (1988–2004) Starting in 1988 Dr. Wagner Jr. began making regular trips to Japan primarily working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) through their relationship with the UWA. Later on he would also work for the Japanese Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) and Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotions. During a BJW tour in 1996 Dr. Wagner Jr. lost the CMLL World Light