Rayo de Jalisco Sr.

Máximino Linares Moreno (November 22, 1932 – July 19, 2018) was a Mexican ''luchador'' (professional wrestler) and lucha film star, better known under the ring name Rayo de Jalisco ("The Lightning Bolt from Jalisco"). He is considered to be one of the best wrestlers of his generation. Linares' son followed in his footsteps and is working under the name Rayo de Jalisco Jr., wearing the same distinctive black mask with silver lightning bolt on it when wrestling. One of Linares' grandsons is also a wrestler, known as "Rayman".

During his career, Linares held the NWA World Middleweight Championship on three occasions as well as the Mexican National Tag Team Championship with ''lucha libre'' icon El Santo. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996 and the AAA Hall of Fame in 2014. Linares worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre for a large part of his career and was honored by them in 2013 as part of their annual ''Homenaje a Dos Leyendas'' show.

Early life

Máximino Linares Moreno was born on November 22, 1932, in Milpa Alta, Mexico City, Mexico. He was the middle of three Linares brothers, older brother Antonio and younger brother Dionisio.

Professional wrestling career

By the late 1940s, both of Max Linares' brothers had become professional wrestlers, which led to Max himself training for a professional wrestling career under his older brother Antonio. Linares made his wrestling debut in February 1950, under the name "''Mr. Misterio''". He would later appear in Mexico City under the name "''Aguila Negra''" ("Black Eagle"). in 1954 Linares began working in the Mexican state of Torreón where he adopted a masked character known as Dr. Curtis, or Doc Curtis. While in Torreón he worked a storyline feud with one of the top names in the state, Orlando Santa Cruz. The feud led to a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' or "bet match" between the two on December 12, 1954. After the loss, Linares was forced to remove his Dr. Curtis mask and state his birth name as part of the ''Lucha de Apuestas'' tradition. He continued to work as Dr. Curtis and later on "Tony Curtis".

In 1960, he appeared under the name "''El Rayo''" and in 1962, he finally appeared as "''Rayo de Jalisco''", wearing his trademark black mask with a lightning bolt across the face. Success soon followed for Rayo, winning the National Wrestling Alliance Middleweight Championship and Occidente Welterweight Championship. Rayo would also win a series of matches against another famous luchador Chino Chow. He unmasked his rival La Bestia (The Beast) in a mask vs. mask match in 1964. Rayo would become the tag team partner of the legendary Blue Demon and was named "The Best Wrestler" of 1963. Rayo feuded with Blue Demon near the end of both their careers. Blue Demon actually came out of retirement to face Rayo in a mask vs mask match. Rayo was defeated, revealing his face to the world as Maximo Linares Moreno.

Film career

Rayo also starred in luchador films along with other famous masked ''luchadors''. His films included; ''Superzam el Invencible'' ("Superzam the invincible"; 1971), ''El Robo de las Momias de Guanajuato'' ("The Robbery of the Mummies of Guanajuato"; 1972), ''Vuelven Los Campeones Justicieros'' ("The Return of the Champions of Justice"; 1972) and ''El Triunfo de los Campeones Justicieros'' ("The Triumph of the Champions of Justice"; 1974). In the ''Campeones Justiceros'' he worked together with a number of ''lucha libre'' legends such as Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Tinieblas and El Médico Asesino.

Family

Linares' son followed his father into professional wrestling and became known as Rayo de Jalisco Jr., since Junior has never lost his mask in the ring his real name is not a matter of public knowledge. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. married Josefina Tapia Rosas, who wrestled under the name "Mitzuki Wong". Linares' grandson also became a luchador, for a while known as El Hijo de Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (literally "The Son of Rayo de Jalisco Jr."), but took the name Rayman in 1999. Max Linares' older brother worked under the name "Tony Sugar", while his younger brother was the masked wrestler "Black Sugar".

Death

On July 19, 2018, Linares' family announced that he had died from natural causes at age 85.

Legacy

Rayo is considered a regional hero in the Mexican state of Jalisco. In 1996, he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame. Rayo de Jalisco Sr. was honored by CMLL at their 2013 ''Homenaje a Dos Leyendas'' show on March 15, 2013, recognizing him for his contributions to wrestling over the years. Jalisco was inducted into the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) Hall of Fame on August 17, 2014, at Triplemanía XXII.

Championships and accomplishments

* Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración
**AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2014)
*Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
** EMLL Arena México Tag Team Championship (1 time) with El Santo
**Mexican National Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with El Santo
**NWA World Middleweight Championship ( 3 times)
**Occidente Welterweight Championship (1 time)
*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
**Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ( Class of 1996)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Filmography

*''Superzam el Invencible'' (''Superzam the invincible''; 1971)
*''El Robo de las Momias de Guanajuato'' (''The Robbery of the Mummies of Guanajuato''; 1972)
*''Vuelven Los Campeones Justicieros'' (''Becoming the Champions of Justice''; 1972)
*''El Triunfo de los Campeones Justicieros'' (''The Triump of the Champions of Justice''; 1974)

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayo de Jalisco Sr.
1932 births
2018 deaths
Masked wrestlers
Mexican male professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from Mexico City
Mexican National Tag Team Champions
NWA World Middleweight Champions
20th-century professional wrestlers