El Gigante Cholulteca, Xelhua, levanta la mano y responde al reto abierto de Claudio Castagnoli para enfrentarse en un duelo por el Campeonato Mundial de Peso Completo del CMLL, este viernes 30 de enero en la Arena México.#CMLL #AEW pic.twitter.com/FTPnGzYWXg

— Lucha Libre CMLL (@CMLL_OFICIAL) January 26, 2026

Considered one of the most technically sound luchadors in the world despite being only 21 years old, Xelhua is very familiar to AEW and Ring of Honor fans thanks to his battles against ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty. The two have wrestled three times since the end of July, with Xelhua, wrestling to a time limit draw in their first match before Moriarty defeated Xelhua at ROH Death Before Dishonor and last Saturday’s CMLL event in Arena Coliseo, retaining the title on both occasions.

Xelhua vs. Castagnoli will be the latter’s third defense of his CMLL World Heavyweight Championship reign, and will also serve as Xelhua’s first ever challenge for said championship, though he has previously challenged Atlantis Jr. and Guerrero Maya Jr. for the World Historic Light Heavyweight and Mexican National Middleweight Championships. Having come up short in those two matches, a win over Castagnoli would give Xelhua his first ever CMLL championship.