Jesús Alvarado Nieves ( October 7, 1959 – April 28, 2017) was a Mexican ''

luchador Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

'', or

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, who worked under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...

Brazo de Oro ( Spanish for "Golden Arm"). He was a part of the

Alvarado wrestling family The Alvarado wrestling family, also referred to as ''La Dinastia Alvarado'' ("The Alvarado Dynasty") in Spanish, is a Mexico City based family of professional wrestlers. The family works primarily in Mexico but have made appearances in the United ...

, the son of

Shadito Cruz Juan Alvarado Ibarra (January 7, 1915 - February 3, 2003) was a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Shadito Cruz. Best known as the patriarch of the Alvarado wrestling family that includes six of Alvar ...

and brother of

Brazo de Plata José Luis Alvarado Nieves (March 19, 1963 – July 26, 2021) was a Mexican luchador best known under the ring name Brazo de Plata, a name he had used since his debut in 1977. He is also well known for his appearances in WWE as Super Porky. A ...

El Brazo Juan Alvarado Nieves (July 30, 1961 – October 15, 2013) was a Mexican Luchador (professional wrestler). He was best known under the ring name El Brazo (Spanish for "the Arm"), which he used since his debut in 1980. Alvarado was part of the Alv ...

, Brazo Cibernético, Super Brazo and Brazo de Platino. His son Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza currently works as La Máscara for

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

. His nephews,

Máximo Sexy Maximo or Máximo may refer to: Arts * Capcom video game series ** '' Maximo: Ghosts to Glory'' (also known as just ''Maximo'') ** ''Maximo vs. Army of Zin'', the sequel to ''Ghosts to Glory'' * Maxïmo Park, a British indie rock band * Maximu or ...

and

Psycho Clown Psycho Clown (born December 16, 1985) is the ring name of a Mexican '' Luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler currently signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). Psycho Clown's ring character is that of a nightmarish clown a ...

are featured wrestlers for CMLL and

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Antonio Peña Promotions, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Mexico City, Mexico. Commonly referred to as simply ...

respectively. Alvarado made his debut in 1975 and for over a decade wrestled under a

wrestling mask A wrestling mask is a fabric-based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Lucha ...

, until he and his brothers Brazo de Plata and El Brazo lost a ''

Lucha de Apuestas Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique fo ...

'' match to ''Los Villanos'' in 1988 and was forced to unmask. Over the years he has teamed with his brothers to win various championships such as the

CMLL World Trios Championship The CMLL World Trios Championship (Spanish: "''Campeonato Mundial de Trios''") is a professional wrestling championship promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico. The title has existed since 1991 and is contested for by teams ...

Mexican National Tag Team Championship The Mexican National Tag Team Championship ''()'' is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by the (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission) and competed for by two-man tag teams. The championship was created in ...

Mexican National Trios Championship The Mexican National Trios Championship (''Campeonato National Trios'' in Spanish) is a three-man tag team professional wrestling championship, sanctioned by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (''Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling ...

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling ...

, NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Los Angeles version)'',

UWA World Tag Team Championship The UWA World Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. After the UWA's closing, the title was inactive unt ...

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various pr ...

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. A ...

and WWA World Trios Championship. He started focusing more on behind the scenes activities in the early 1990s, where he worked as one of the bookers for CMLL and served as the head of the wrestlers' union for many years.

Early life

Jesús Alvarado Nieves was born on October 7, 1959, in Mexico City, Mexico, the youngest son of Juan Alvarado Ibarra, better known as

. Growing up Jesús Alvarado often had to look after his younger brothers, especially when his father was touring Mexico, wrestling several days a week. In a 1991 interview, he recalled how he did not have time to play with other boys, as he was watching over all the Alvarado kids while both his father and mother had to work to make ends meet. At one point he began taking his younger brothers Juan and Pepe to the local wrestling arenas where they sold old wrestling magazines and worked as ushers for tips. Jesús Alvarado began training for a professional wrestling career while still a teenager, despite the misgivings of his father. Local promoter and trainer Felipe Ham Lee began training Alavardo and helped convince his father to let his oldest son train for a wrestling career. When his son was ready to make his in-ring debut Shadito Cruz allowed him to use one of Cruz' old ring names "El Hombre de Brazo de Oro" ("The man with the golden arm"), based on a movie starring

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

, but the younger Alvarado soon shortened to simply "Brazo de Oro".

Pro wrestling career

Alvarado made his debut as "Brazo de Oro" an enmascarado (masked wrestler) who worked mainly in

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

action with his brother who worked as

("Silver Arm") and in trios action with another brother known simply as

("the arm"). Los Brazos, as they were billed, wrestled all over Mexico and made appearances for the Los Angeles-based "NWA Hollywood Wrestling". While working for NWA Hollywood Oro and Plata won the

from Chino Chou and the Kiss on November 7, 1981. The brothers were also last holders of the Los Angeles version of the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

in 1982.

Losing the masks

Over the years Brazo de Oro and his brothers competed in a large number of Luchas de Apuestas ("Bet fights") where they put their masks or hair on the line against their opponents. Los Brazo's most famous Luchas de Apuestas occurred on October 21, 1988, when Plata, Oro and El Brazo all placed their masks on the line in a match against another well known Lucha libre family, Los Villanos, in this case

Villano I José de Jesús Díaz Mendoza (June 28, 1950 – January 4, 2001), known by the ring name of Villano I (Villano Primero), was a Mexican ''luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. He was the son of ''luchador'' Ray Mendoza, ...

Villano IV Tomás Díaz Mendoza (born April 9, 1965) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Villano IV (''Villano Cuarto''). Within the stable Los Villanos, he has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), AAA, and ...

and

Villano V Raymundo Díaz Mendoza Jr. (born March 22, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler, who has performed under the name Villano V (Villano Quinto, which means "Fifth Villain") until he was unmasked on March 20, 2009, after which he became known a ...

. The match was the culmination of a long feud (Storyline) between the two families and saw all six wrestlers bleed profusely during the bout. In the end Los Villanos won the match forcing all three Brazos to unmask and reveal their real names as is tradition in these types of matches. Despite losing their masks Los Brazos remained successful in the ring winning various tag team and trios titles such as the

and the WWA World Trios Championship By the 1990s Los Brazos worked mainly for

(CMLL) where Oro, Plato and El Brazo won the

from '' Los Infernales'' (

Pirata Morgan Pedro Ortiz Villanueva (born July 29, 1962) is a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, and wrestling trainer who is best known under the ring name Pirata Morgan. Ortiz made his professional wrestling debut in 1979 and has in the last 20 y ...

El Satánico Daniel López López (born October 26, 1949) is a Mexican '' luchador'' (professional wrestler) and trainer, best known under the ring name El Satánico (Spanish for "The Satanic One"). He was originally an ''enmascarado'' (masked wrestler), but ...

and MS-1) on April 6, 1993. Los Brazos lost the title to

Dr. Wagner Jr. Juan Manuel González Barrón (born August 12, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (Spanish for "professional wrestler") who is best known under the ring name Dr. Wagner Jr., having used that name since 1987. He is the son of Manuel González Rivera ...

, Gran Markus Jr. and

El Hijo del Gladiador Arturo Beristain (born September 5, 1949) is a retired Mexican professional wrestler, or ''Luchador'' in Spanish, who works as a wrestling trainer at the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's (CMLL) gym in Mex ...

. In the 1990s Brazo de Oro became the head of the wrestler's union, and also worked as a booker for CMLL. From that point on he only wrestled occasionally, on smaller CMLL shows outside of Mexico. In 2006 he announced his retirement, but ended up working select dates and matches until 2015 where he had his last known match.

Personal life

The

spans three generations starting with Shadito Cruz followed by his 6 sons who all took up wrestling, as well as a third-generation of Alvarados who followed in their father or grandfather's footsteps. Jesús Alvarado's younger brothers all adopted a variation of the "Brazo" name that he had made popular, as the began wrestling as El Brazo ("The Arm"), Brazo de Plata ("Silver Arm"), Brazo Cibernético ("Cyborg Arm"),

Brazo de Platino Daniel Alvarado Nieves (born March 7, 1973) is a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Brazo de Platino ("Platinum Arm"). He is a part of the extensive Alvarado wrestling family that was founded by his fath ...

("Platinum Arm") and

Super Brazo Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

(Super Arm). At least one of Jesús Alvarado's children followed in his footsteps as his son, Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza, began his wrestling career under the name "Brazo de Oro Jr." He later changed his name and became better known as La Máscara when all of the then-active third-generation Alvarados stopped using the "Brazo" name and created their own independent characters. In 2013 his daughter made her in-ring debut under the name "Aramís", wearing a modified version of the Brazos mask.

Death

Alvarado was rushed to a Mexico City hospital in the early hours of April 28, 2017, due to respiratory problems. A few hours later he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

Alvarado family tree

† = deceased

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata and El Brazo :*

( 1 time) – with

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – with Brazo de Plata and

*Federación Internacional de Lucha Libre :*FILL Trios Championship (1 time) – with Brazo de Plata and El Brazo *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California ...

( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata :* NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Los Angeles version)'' ( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata *

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata :*

( 3 times) – with Brazo de Plata and El Brazo *

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ''luchadores'' a ...

( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata :* WWA World Trios Championship ( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata and El Brazo *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

'' **

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

(Class of 2021) as part of '' Los Brazos'' *Mexican regional wrestling :* Distrito Federal Trios Championship ( 1 time) – with Brazo de Plata and El Brazo :*Distrito Federal Welterweight Championship (1 time) :*Distrito Federal Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*Puebla Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brazo de Plata :*Mexico State Welterweight Championship (1 time) :*Naucalpan Welterweight Championship (1 time)

''Lucha de Apuesta'' record

Notes

References

{{Navboxes, , list1= {{Portal bar, Biography, Mexico {{CMLL World Trios Championship {{Mexican National Tag Team Champions {{UWA World Trios Championship 1959 births 2017 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Mexican male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Mexico City Alvarado wrestling family Mexican National Tag Team Champions Mexican National Trios Champions CMLL World Trios Champions UWA World Trios Champions UWA World Tag Team Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions