Inquisidor (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for

Inquisitor An inquisitor was an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literall ...

) is the current

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 ...

of Juan Miguel Escalante Grande (born March 24, 1977, in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

) who is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'', or masked

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 ...

currently working for the Mexican

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

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

(CMLL) portraying a ''

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 ...

'' ("Bad guy") wrestling character. Unlike most ''enmascarados'' Inquisidor's birthname is a matter of public record, often masked wrestlers in Mexico keep their private lives secret from the wrestling fans, but Inquisidor used to wrestle unmasked under the ring names Vaquerito ("Little Cowboy") and Vaquero ("Cowboy").

Personal life

Juan Escalante is the brother of a professional wrestler who works under the

Pólvora, the cousin of wrestlers Mictlán, Súper Nova, Texano Jr. and the nephew of El Texano.

Professional wrestling career

Escalante started out wrestling in the ''

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 ...

'' division, which in Mexico is more than just Midget wrestling exclusively for little people, but also includes a number of wrestlers who just happen to be short compared to the average. He competed under the ring name ''Vaquerito'' ("Little Cowboy") and worked primarily on the Mexican

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

. Around 2000 he began appearing for

(CMLL) as well, working a storyline feud with Mascarita Mágica ("Little Magic Mask") that lead to the two men meeting in consecutive '' Luchas de Apuesta'' ("bet matches") where both competitors put their hair on the line, Vaquerito won the first match and has Mascarita Mágica shaved bald after the match, but lost the rematch some months later and had to be shaved bald himself.

Vaquero (2000–2008)

In 2000 Escalante's brother made his professional wrestling debut, working under the name Polvóra ("Gunpowder"), which lead Vaquerito to leave the ''Mini-Estrellas'' division and work as simply "Vaquero" ("Cowboy"). The brothers mainly worked as a

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 establis ...

on the Mexican independent circuito Vaquero also helped train his cousin (later known as Super Nova) for his professional wrestling career around 2002. By 2005 both Pólvora and Vaquero began working for

(CMLL), mainly on the promotions minor shows or in the opening match of their big shows from Arena México. In early 2008 Vaquero got involved in a storyline against Metal Blanco, that escalated until the two met in a ''Luchas de Apuesta'' match where Vaquero risked his hair and Metal Blanco risked his mask. The match took place on April 5, 2008, and saw Vaquero lose both the match and his hair. On June 22, 2008, Pólvora and Vaquero participated in a tournament for the vacant

CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship The CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Campeonato de Parejas de la Arena Coliseo del CMLL'') is a professional wrestling Tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Mexican Luch ...

, but lost in the opening round to Mictlán and

Fabian el Gitano Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

. The two brothers teamed up with mixed success from 2005 until mid-2008.

Inquisidor (2008–present)

The loss of the ''Apuesta'' match was not an indicator that CMLL had no plans for Escalante going forward; on the contrary they decided to give him a new ring image, making him into an ''enmascarado'' called "Inquisidor". He made his in-ring debut on July 8, 2008, unveiling his new look that included a mask that covered his entire face except for his eyes with a design that was mainly black but with a stylized red axe on the front of it. Neither CMLL nor Inquisidor nor his brother Pólvora admitted the true identity of Inquisidor, with the brothers claiming that Inquisidor was a younger brother and that Vaquero had been forced to retire due to injuries. He competed in CMLL's 2008 Bodybuilding contest and won the "Beginners" group. On April 7, 2009, Inquisidor participated in a 10-man ''

Torneo cibernetico A ''torneo cibernetico'' is a multi-man professional wrestling elimination match that was created and primarily used in Mexican ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotions, especially in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The match format ...

'' for the vacant CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship. The other participants included Pólvora,

Rey Cometa Mario Alberto González (born March 11, 1983), better known by his ring name Rey Cometa (Spanish language, Spanish for "King Comet"), is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (or professional wrestler), working for the Mexican professional wrestling ...

, Pegasso, Tiger Kid, Ángel Azteca, Jr., Súper Comando, Ángel de Oro, Ángel de Plata and eventual winner Máscara Dorada. On November 25, 2009, Inquisidor repeated his performance from the 2008 CMLL Bodybuilding tournament as he once again won the "Beginners" tournament. The fact that CMLL never openly admitted that Inquisidor was the former Vaquero led to him being classified as a "rookie" and was entered in the 2010 '' torneo Gran Alternativa'', where a rookie and a "veteran" wrestler teamed up for a

tournament. Inquisidor teamed with veteran

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

for the tournament; together they defeated El Terrible and

Disturbio Disturbio (born March 30, 1979) is the ring name of Israel Aguilar Alvarez, a Mexico, Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'', or professional wrestling, professional wrestler working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de L ...

in the first round, but lost to Diamante and

La Sombra Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza (born November 3, 1989) is a Mexican professional wrestler. , he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the WWE SmackDown (brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Andrade (formerly Andrad ...

in the second round. On July 18, 2010, Inquisidor made his first appearance on a major CMLL show as he teamed up with

Cholo ''Cholo'' () was a racial category used in 18th-century Spanish America to refer to people who were three-quarters Amerindians, Amerindian by descent and one-quarter Spanish people, Spanish. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for Multi ...

in the opening match of the 2012 '' Infierno en el Ring'' show, only to lose to the team of

Tigre Blanco Sergio Guzmán Silva () is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, Luchador'', or professional wrestling, professional wrestler, who has worked for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) for most of his professional ...

and

Metatron Metatron (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''Meṭāṭrōn''), or Matatron (), is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam. Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum, and in mystical kabbalah, Kabba ...

two falls to one. On February 27, 2011, Inquisidor unsuccessfully challenged Metal Blanco for the Occidente Welterweight Championship. Since his feud and ''Apuesta'' match with Metal Blanco came before he adopted the Inquisidor character no official mention of their history was made. During Averno's storyline feud with La Mascara Inquisidor was used in a ploy by Averno to trick La Mascara, by having Inquisidor dress up as Averno to distract La Mascara. Helping Averno did not mean that Inquisidor was invited to join Averno's group ''

Los Hijos del Averno ''Los Hijos del Averno'' (Spanish for "The Sons of Hell") was the most well known name of a Mexican professional wrestling group, called a stable in the Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' (Professional Wrestling) promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CM ...

'' ("The Sons of Hell") While Inquisidor's history prior to 2008 was not officially recognized, CMLL used him as one of the "veteran" ''rudos'' in their 2011 storyline with ''Generacion 2011'', who joined the company in 2011. Inquisidor, Los Rayos Tapatío and a number of other low or mid-card ''Rudos'' such as Apocalipsis fought ''Generacion 2011'', Dragon Lee,

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

, Hombre Bala Jr. and Super Halcón Jr. In March 2013 Inquisidor was one of 18 wrestlers who competed in the second annual ''Torneo Sangre Nueva''. He competed in qualifying block B on March 5, 2013, for a place in the finals, the other wrestlers in Block B included Genesis, Robin,

Sensei The term "先生", read in Chinese, in Japanese, in Korean, and in Vietnamese, is an honorific used in the Sinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before". It is generally used ...

, Oro, Jr.,

, Guerrero Negro, Jr., Super Halcón Jr., Taurus and Zayco who competed in a ''

torneo cibernetico A ''torneo cibernetico'' is a multi-man professional wrestling elimination match that was created and primarily used in Mexican ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotions, especially in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The match format ...

'', multi-man elimination match. He was eliminated as the second wrestler over all when he was pinned by Sensei.

Championships and accomplishments

:*CMLL Bodybuilding Tournament: Winner Beginners 2008, 2009

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inquisidor 1977 births Mexican male professional wrestlers Living people Masked wrestlers Mini-Estrella wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Guadalajara, Jalisco