Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; Spanish pronunciation: [konˈsexo munˈdjal de ˈlutʃa ˈliβɾe], "World Wrestling Council") is a Mexican professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) (Mexican Wrestling Enterprise). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest professional wrestling promotion still in existence.

CMLL currently recognizes and promotes 12 World Championships in various weight divisions and classifications, six national level and six regional level championships. The CMLL Anniversary Show series is the longest-running annual major show, starting in 1934, with the CMLL 92nd Anniversary Show being the most recent. CMLL also regularly promotes major events under the names Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to two legends"), Sin Piedad ("No Mercy"), Sin Salida ("No Escape"), Infierno en el Ring ("Inferno in the Ring") during the year. CMLL has promoted their regular weekly Super Viernes ("Super Friday") on a regular basis since the 1930s. Founder Salvador Lutteroth funded the building of Arena Coliseo in 1943, making it the first building in Mexico built specifically for professional wrestling.

Prior to 1933, lucha libre shows in Mexico were primarily promoted by foreign promoters doing the occasional match through Mexico or a few scattered local promoters, especially along the U.S. border, who brought in American professional wrestlers as their main attractions.

In 1929, Salvador Lutteroth González, who at the time was a property inspector for the Mexican tax department, moved to Ciudad Juárez, near the Mexico–United States border. During a trip to El Paso, Texas, Lutteroth witnessed a professional wrestling show and was intrigued by it, especially the main event, Greek wrestler Gus Pappas. Four years later, Lutteroth, along with his financial backer Francisco Ahumada, chartered Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL; literally "Mexican Wrestling Enterprise"), the first Mexican-owned wrestling promotion in the country. EMLL held their first show on September 21, 1933, considered the "birth of Lucha libre", and which led to Lutteroth being known as "the father of Lucha Libre".

EMLL initially tried to book Arena Nacional, the premier boxing venue in Mexico City, but the promoters would not let him rent it, forcing Lutteroth and EMLL to take up residence in Arena Modelo, an abandoned and run-down facility that Lutteroth was able to use as his home base. The concept of Lucha Libre quickly became very popular, so much so that the EMLL 1st Anniversary Show drew a sold-out crowd of 5,000 paying fans. In 1934, an American wrestler debuted in Mexico under a black leather mask, and Lutteroth dubbed him La Maravilla Enmascarada or "The Masked Marvel". In the United States the concept of the masked wrestler was more of a mid-level attraction, but the reaction to La Maravilla Enmascarada led to Lutteroth and EMLL officials to introduce more masks, starting with a wrestler known simply as El Enmascarado ("The Masked Wrestler"), and later El Murciélago Enmascarado ("The Masked Bat"). Through the use of the masks and ring characters EMLL helped create the sacred position of the mask in Lucha libre, making it the ultimate status symbol for luchadors. In the early days of EMLL, most of the top names were Americans, but with time EMLL introduced several Mexican natives that became so popular that they began to main-event most of the EMLL shows. To expand their business, EMLL began working with a number of local wrestling promoters across Mexico, allowing them to use the EMLL name and some of their contracted wrestlers while also gaining access to local wrestlers in return. Each booking office was independent of each other, but the main office in Mexico City had the final say if there were disputes over who would be able to book certain wrestlers.[

In 1942, a masked wrestler clad in silver, known simply as El Santo ("The Saint"), made his debut. He would go on to become a cultural icon in Mexico and is often cited as the greatest Mexican wrestler of all time. With the popularity of El Santo as well as other Mexican stars such as Bobby Bonales, Tarzán López, Cavernario Galindo and Gory Guerrero Arena Modelo eventually became too small to accommodate the demand for tickets. To solve the problem Lutteroth financed the construction of Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, the first arena in Mexico built specifically for professional wrestling and the first sports building in Mexico to have built in air conditioning. The arena, nicknamed the "Lagunilla Funnel" due to its interior shape would hold over 8,800 spectators when configured for Lucha libre or boxing. Arena Coliseo began hosting EMLL's annual Anniversary shows starting with the 10th Anniversary show.

In 1953, Salvador Lutteroth joined the US based National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), becoming the official NWA territory for all of Mexico, known as "NWA-EMLL" outside Mexico. By joining the NWA, Lutteroth and EMLL gained control of the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. They were also able to re-brand their "World Middleweight Championship" to become the NWA World Middleweight Championship and their "World Welterweight Championship" became the NWA World Welterweight Championship. In the early 1950s television became as a viable entertainment medium in Mexico which was set to bolster the popularity of EMLL, but Arena Coliseo was not equipped properly for television transmissions. As it turns out luck was on Lutteroth and EMLL's side as Lutteroth and the personnel at Arena Coliseo bought a lottery ticket worth 5 million Pesos. Lutteroth used his portion of the winnings to finance the construction of Arena México, on the location where Arena Modelo used to sit. Arena México enabled EMLL to broadcast their weekly wrestling shows across Mexico, yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Starting in 1956, with the EMLL 23rd Anniversary Show all anniversary shows were held in Arena México, except the EMLL 46th Anniversary Show. Over time the arena became known as "The Cathedral of Lucha Libre".^{[citation needed]}

Over time, Lutteroth retired from the day-to-day operations of EMLL leaving the company in the hands of his son Salvador "Chavo" Lutteroth Jr.