The tournament featured 15 professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers teaming up, some of which were involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines while others were simply paired up for the tournament.
Wrestlers portrayed either villains (referred to as Rudos in Mexico) or fan favorites (Técnicos in Mexico) as they competed in wrestling matches with pre-determined outcomes.
The tournament format followed CMLL's traditional tournament formats, with two qualifying blocks of eight teams that competed on the first and second week of the tournament and a final match between the two block winners.
The qualifying blocks were one-fall matches while the tournament finals will be a best two-out-of-three falls tag team match.
Each qualifying block started with all eight Novatos in the block competing in a "seeding" battle royal to determine the brackets for the block.

2012 Gran Alternativa participants
Raziel was billed as a rookie for the 2012 tournament, ignoring the fact that he had been a professional wrestler for 16 tears at the time of the tournament.
He had previous worked as Caligula but in late 2009 was given a new name and mask, with no acknowledgement of his previous identity.
At 39 years of age Raziel became the oldest "rookie" to compete in a Gran Alternativa tournament.
Tritón had been part of the 2011 CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa tournament, using the name "Metal Blanco", something CMLL did not refer to in 2012.
Among the veterans the biggest ongoing storyline was the feud between Rush and El Terrible, who were both in Block A, expecting to clash at some point during the first night of the tournament.

The field featured several former tournament winners, including Rey Escorpión and Último Guerrero who had won the 2011 Gran Alternativa as a team, as well as Negro Casa, the first rookie winner in 1994.
Previous winners Rey Bucanero, Blue Panther, El Felino, and La Máscara also competed.
The tournament featured 15 professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers teaming up, some of which were involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines while others were simply paired up for the tournament. Wrestlers portrayed either villains (referred to as Rudos in Mexico) or fan favorites (Técnicos in Mexico) as they competed in wrestling matches with pre-determined outcomes. The tournament format followed CMLL's traditional tournament formats, with two qualifying blocks of eight teams that competed on the first and second week of the tournament and a final match between the two block winners. The qualifying blocks were one-fall matches while the tournament finals will be a best two-out-of-three falls tag team match. Each qualifying block started with all eight Novatos in the block competing in a "seeding" battle royal to determine the brackets for the block.
2012 Gran Alternativa participants
Raziel was billed as a rookie for the 2012 tournament, ignoring the fact that he had been a professional wrestler for 16 tears at the time of the tournament. He had previous worked as Caligula but in late 2009 was given a new name and mask, with no acknowledgement of his previous identity. At 39 years of age Raziel became the oldest "rookie" to compete in a Gran Alternativa tournament. Tritón had been part of the 2011 CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa tournament, using the name "Metal Blanco", something CMLL did not refer to in 2012. Among the veterans the biggest ongoing storyline was the feud between Rush and El Terrible, who were both in Block A, expecting to clash at some point during the first night of the tournament.
The field featured several former tournament winners, including Rey Escorpión and Último Guerrero who had won the 2011 Gran Alternativa as a team, as well as Negro Casa, the first rookie winner in 1994. Previous winners Rey Bucanero, Blue Panther, El Felino, and La Máscara also competed.
Torneo Gran Alternativa (2012)