Mario Pérez Jiménez (December 18, 1966 – January 23, 2016) was a Mexican

Mini-Estrella The term ''Mini-Estrella'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mini-Star") is used in lucha libre to describe a division of short professional wrestling, professional wrestlers or ''luchadors'', some of whom have dwarfism. The Mexican ''Mini-Estrell ...

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 Mini

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 ...

, best known 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 ...

Espectrito. Jiménez worked for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

as "Mini Vader" and "El Torito" between 1997 and 1999. Jiménez was the first ever Mexican National Mini-Estrella Champion and IWC World Mini-Estrella Champion. Jiménez was originally an enmascarado, or masked wrestler, under the Espectrito name but lost it to

Mascarita Sagrada Mascarita SagradaAt least three wrestlers have wrestled under the name "Mascarita Sagrada". This article is about the original. (Spanish, 'Little Sacred Mask', real name not known, born January 11, 1965) is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado ( ...

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 ...

'' match, a bet match where each wrestler puts his mask on the line. The Espectrito ring character is a Mini-version of wrestler ''Espectro'', who was a well-known Luchador from the 1960s-1980s.

Professional wrestling career

Mario Jiménez made his professional wrestling debut in 1984 under the ring name ''Centellita'', working as a

, or "Mini", division; working in the Mini division does not necessarily mean that Jiménez has

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

, as short wrestlers can also work in the "Mini" division. In 1989 Jimenez became part of

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 ...

's (EMLL) newly created Mini-Estrella division. He was given the ring persona of "Espectrito" (Spanish for "Little Ghost"), a mini version of a wrestler named

Espectro I Antonio "Toño" Hernández Arriaga (February 9, 1934 – October 13, 1993) was a Mexican professional wrestler or ''luchador'' best known under the ring name ''El Espectro I'' ("The Specter"), at times referred to as ''Espectro de Ultratumba'' (" ...

(Ghost) who had been very successful in the 1960s and 1970s. As Espectrito he began working a storyline feud against

. In 1992 CMLL created the

CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship The CMLL World Mini-Estrellas Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Mini-Estrellas de CMLL'' in Spanish), also known as the CMLL World Pequeño Estrellas Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Pequeno Estrellas de CMLL'' in Spanish) is a professional w ...

and held a one-day tournament to find the first champion. Espectrito defeated

Octagoncito Octagoncito (born April 24, 1974) is a Mexican '' Luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler, who works in the '' Mini-Estrellas'' ("Mini-Stars") division on the Mexican Independent circuit. He is the first wrestler to work as O ...

in the first round but lost to rival Mascarita Sagrada in the finals. A few months after the creation of the Mini-Estrella title

Antonio Peña Antonio Hipolito Peña Herrada (June 13, 1951 – October 5, 2006) was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter who founded the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion in 1992. Peña's promotion reached its height of popularit ...

, the creative force behind the Mini-Estrella division and a CMLL Booker decided to leave CMLL to create his own promotion,

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración Promociones Antonio Peña, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (commonly referred to as simply AAA, pronounced "Triple A" – an abbreviation of its original name Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos ...

(AAA). Both Espectrito and Mascarita Sagrada decided to leave CMLL for AAA, staying loyal to the man that was responsible for creating the Minis division. The storyline between Espectrito and Mascarita Sagrada continued in AAA; AAA created their own Minis title, the

Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship The Mexican National Mini-Estrella Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Mini-Estrella'' in Spanish), also referred to as the Mexican National Minis Championship, is an inactive professional wrestling championship sanctioned by ''Comisión de Box y ...

and this time it was Espectrito who defeated Mascarita Sagrada to become the first champion. Espectrito would only hold the Minis title for three months before Sagrada defeated him for the belt. On August 6, 1994 Espectrito lost his mask as a result of losing a ''

'' match, a "bet match" where the loser would unmask afterwards. On May 5, 1995 Espectrito defeated Mascarita Sagrada to win the IWC World Mini-Estrella Championship, holding it for two months before it was merged with the Mexican National Minis title in July, 1995 when Espectrito lost to

Super Muñequito ''Super Muñequito'' (born October 26, 1966, in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico) is the most well known ring name of a retired Mexican ''Luchador enmacarado'' or masked professional wrestler. He started his career under the name ''Ag ...

. Espectrito became a two time Mexican National Minis champion only days later when he defeated Super Muñequito for the title on July 26, 1996. Espectro's second title reign lasted less than two months, ending when Mascarita Sagarda, Jr. defeated him for the belt. In 1997 AAA began a working agreement with the North American-based

, which meant that several AAA workers appeared on WWF television programming. Jiménez was given the ring personal "Mini Vader", a miniature version of WWF wrestler Vader as he bore a striking resemblance both physically and facially. Mini Vader made a couple of appearances in early 1997, at times teaming with "Mini Mankind", Jiménez' real life brother. In mid-1997 all the "Minis" that worked for the WWF were repackaged and Jiménez became "El Torito" (Little bull), a "human bull" character. As Torito he would work a series of matches against Mascarita Sagrada, repackaged as "Mini Nova" (after Super Nova) and Mascarita Sagrada, Jr. who had been repackaged as "Max Mini". Jiménez made one

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

appearance for the WWF, teaming with

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

and Tarantula (his brother under a new name) losing to the team of Mini Nova, Max Mini and

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

at the 1998

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

. After AAA and WWF stopped working together in 1999 Jiménez still made appearances as El Torito until 2001 where he lost the mask in a ''Luchas de Apuestas'' against

Pierrothito Pierrothito (real name unrevealed; born October 2, 1967) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler. Pierrothito is a part of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's (CMLL) Mini-Estrella, or "Mini", division and is a former CMLL ...

. Between 2002 and 2003 Jiménez made regular appearances for Lucha VaVOOM, worked for over a year in CMLL and made appearances for

International Wrestling Revolution Group International Wrestling Revolution Group (Grupo Internacional Revolución in Spanish language, Spanish; the Spanish name is used for the promotion while the English initials are used for the title governing body) is a Lucha Libre professional wres ...

. He wrestled his last match in 2014.

Personal life

Mario Pérez Jiménez was the brother of twins Alejandro Jiménez, who wrestled as ''Espectrito II'', and Alberto Jiménez, who wrestled as the original ''La Parkita''. The Jiménez twins were both murdered on June 29, 2009, in a crime that was covered worldwide.

Death

Mario Pérez Jiménez died on January 23, 2016.

Championships and accomplishments

(AAA) **

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) **IWC Mini-Estrella Championship (2 times)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Notes

References

{{Portal bar, Biography, Mexico 1966 births 2016 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers Midget professional wrestlers Mini-Estrella wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Oaxaca People from Oaxaca City Mexican murder victims Mexican National Mini-Estrella Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Mexican professional wrestlers