The tournament featured 15 professional wrestling matches under single-elimination tournament rules, which means that wrestlers were eliminated when they lose a match. There were no specific storylines that build to the tournament, which has been held annually since 2009. All male "non-regional" CMLL champions at the time of the tournament were involved in the tournament with the exception of the reigning CMLL World Mini-Estrella and Mexican National Lightweight Champions, who have never taken part in the tournament. Regionally promoted championships such as the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship and the Occidente championships promoted in Guadalajara, Jalisco were not included in the tournament; only titles that have been defended in CMLL's main venue Arena Mexico were included. The tournament was divided into two qualifying blocks, which took place on August 23 and August 30, while the final took place on September 6, 2013.[3]
2013 Universal Championship tournament
When CMLL announced the 2013 tournament the following champions were eligible to participate:
Block B took place on August 30, 2013, and featured eight champions wrestling for a place in the finals. Diamante Azul was scheduled to take part in the block, but had to pull out due to an injury and was replaced by CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team ChampionOkumura.[2][7][8]
The finals of the tournament took place on September 6, 2013, and saw Tanahashi defeat Rush two falls to one to become the 2013 Universal Champion.[3][9][10]