Miguel Ángel Delgado Reyes (August 28, 1947 – February 7, 1983) was a Mexican ''

Luchador ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

'', or

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

that wrestled under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

''El Cobarde'' (Spanish for "The Coward"). Delgado was born and died in

Ciudad Juarez Ciudad () is the Spanish word for "city". Ciudad or La Ciudad may also refer to: * La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona * La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico * ''La ciudad'', a novel by Mario Levrero published ...

Personal life

Miguel Ángel Delgado was a second-generation wrestler, son of the original Dr. X and the brother of wrestlers "Impostor" (later known as El Cobarde II) and "Legendario" He was the uncle of wrestlers Hijo del Cobarde, El Cobarde, Jr. and Impostor, Jr.

Professional wrestling career

El Cobarde was one of the first ''luchadors'' to travel and perform in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where he would compete in a number of matches, including unsuccessfully challenging for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

. He lost his mask in a ''

Luchas de Apuestas ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

'' ("Bet match") against his lifelong friend Fishman who he had originally trained at the start of Fishman's career. After the loss of his mask he remained with

Empresa Mexicana 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 (EMLL) (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest profe ...

(EMLL), turning from ''

rudo Rudo ( sr-cyrl, Рудо) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 7,963 inhabitants, while the town of Rudo has a population of 1,949 inhabitants. It is famous throughout form ...

'' (people who portray the bad guy characters in wrestling) to a '' tecnico'' ("Good guy") and receiving standing ovations from crowds across Mexico, but especially in

, having become a "national idol".

Death and legacy

After losing his mask, Delgado struggled to stay in a prominent position, he eventually left the scene after learning he had

Leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. He died on February 7, 1983, from the disease. After his death his brother Francisco (who had wrestled as El Impostor up until this point) took over the ''El Cobarde'' ring persona and mask, becoming "El Cobarde II". The Cobarde II character spawned two different wrestlers working under the ring name "El Cobarde, Jr.", one the brother of El Cobarde (I and II) while the other was the son of El Cobarde II, another son wrestled under the names Hijo del Cobarde ("Son of El Cobarde").

Championships and accomplishments

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 Promociones Mora y Asociados and ...

UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Semi Completo de UWA'' in Spanish) was a singles professional wrestling championship initially promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling based promotion Universal Wrestling As ...

( 1 time) *Other championships **Northern Mexico Middleweight Championship (1 time) **Northern Mexico Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Golden Boy

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Notes

References

{{UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship 1947 births 1983 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers People from Ciudad Juárez Professional wrestlers from Chihuahua (state) Deaths from leukemia in Mexico 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers UWA World Light Heavyweight Champions