''Los Espantos'' (
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 Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
for "The Terrors"), sometimes referred to as ''Los Hermanos Espanto'' ("The Terror Brothers"), was a Mexican
professional wrestling
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 or ...
group, called a
stable. The original ''Espantos'' team consisted of
Espanto I (José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal) and
Espanto II
Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (August 25, 1932 – August 27, 2010), was a Mexican '' luchador'' or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto II ("Terror 2"). For most of his career he was closely associated with his tag team partner ...
(Fernando Cisneros Carrillo), but later expanded to a trio when
Espanto III (Miguel Vázquez Bernal), the younger brother of Espanto I, joined the group. They primarily worked as a ''
rudo
Rudo ( sr-cyrl, Рудо) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of 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 f ...
'' (a term used for wrestlers who portray the "Bad guys") faction for
Empresa Mexicana 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 ...
(EMLL) and on the Mexican
independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...
. As a team Espanto I and II held the
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 ...
and Espanto II and III held the Northern Mexico Tag Team Championship. The team of Espanto I and Espanto II are considered among the best ''rudo'' teams in the history of ''lucha libre''.
In the mid-1980s a new generation of ''Espantos'' appeared when
Espanto IV and Espanto V began teaming up, both sons of Espanto III, and with the emergence of
Espanto Jr., who was not related to any of the previous ''Espanto'' members but was given permission to use the name. Since then a third "wave" of Espantos have begun wrestling including
Los Hijos del Espanto
''Los Hijos del Espanto'' (Spanish for "the Sons of Espanto") is a Mexican professional wrestling tag team who has primarily worked as a ''rudo'' (term used for wrestlers who portray the "Bad guys") team consisting of El Hijo del Espanto I and ...
, who were trained by Espanto II but not related, and a new
Espanto Jr. who is the son of the original Espanto Jr.
History
Mexican
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 or ...
José Eusebio Vázquez began working as "El Espanto" ("The Terror") in either 1958 or 1959. Months later his childhood friend
Fernando Cisneros started to wrestle wearing the same black mask with a white cross on the face and took the name "Espanto II", collectively known as "''Los Espantos''". The two soon began working for
Empresa Mexicana 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 ...
(EMLL) in Mexico City and made their debut as a team on January 24, 1961.
The duo won a tag team tournament in their debut, defeating Tony López and Kiko Córcega in the finals.
The team would go on to win 34 weeks in a row on EMLL's regular Tuesday night show. Due to their success and fan reaction ''Los Espantos'' soon started working regularly on EMLL's main show, the Friday night ''
Super Viernes.'' During their run as a team they wrestled against
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...
, the visiting
NWA World Heavyweight Champion
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...
, with Thesz teaming up with
Blue Demon
Alejandro Muñoz Moreno (April 24, 1922 – December 16, 2000), better known by the ring name Blue Demon (''Demonio Azul'' in Spanish), was a Mexican film actor and ''luchador enmascarado'' (Spanish for masked professional wrestler). Blue D ...
on one occasion and
Huracán Ramírez
Daniel García Arteaga (April 9, 1926 – October 31, 2006), best known under the ring name Huracán Ramírez ( English: "Hurricane Ramírez"), was a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) and actor. García was n ...
on another.
In November 1962 Espanto I and II were joined by
Espanto III, Espanto I's younger brother Miguel Vázquez Bernal, forming an "identical trio" where all three members wore the same mask and used basically the same ring name just with a number to differentiate them.
Outside of teaming with Espanto III, Espanto I and II also regularly teamed up with
El Santo
Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the ...
, often headlining shows across Mexico. Teaming with El Santo was part of a storyline where Espanto I and II would attack El Santo after a match, turning Santo to the ''tecnico'' side (those that portray the "good guys") in the process. On Jun 22, 1963, Espanto I, II and El Santo lost a match to
Rito Romero
Rito Romero Loza (May 19, 1927 - January 18, 2001) was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors. ...
,
Rayo de Jalisco
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 ...
, and Henry Pilusso. Being disappointed with the loss Espanto II attacked El Santo, but ended up with his own mask torn up and his face covered in blood when El Santo fought back.
Espanto I and II also formed a team with
El Gladiador
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
, often facing El Santo and various partners. One particularly heated match saw ''Los Espantos'' and Gladiador fight their opponents,
Ray Mendoza
José Díaz Velázquez (July 6, 1929 – April 16, 2003) was a Mexican '' Luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time Wo ...
,
René Guajardo, and
Karloff Lagarde all the way back to the locker rooms in an era where such a thing was unheard of in Mexico.
At the
first EMLL 30th Anniversary show Espanto II 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 form ...
'', or "bet match" to Rubén Juárez and as a result was forced to unmask.
[ In ''Lucha libre'' losing an ''Apuesta'' match is seen as the ultimate humiliation and an ''Apuesta'' win is considered more prestigious than winning a championship.][ Three weeks later, on September 27, 1963 at the second EMLL 30th Anniversary show, Espanto I defeated Rubén Juárez in a ''Lucha de Apuesta'' and forced Juárez to have his hair shaved off.][ In the winter of 1963 Espanto II was forced to shave his hair off as El Santo defeated him in a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match.] A few weeks later they followed up the storyline with El Santo unmasking Espanto I.
The ''Los Espantos'' trio got their biggest win ever when they defeated the "dream team" of Mexican ''tecnicos'' El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras
Mil Máscaras (born Aarón Rodríguez Arellano, July 15, 1942) is a Mexican luchador (professional wrestler) and actor. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico – along with El Santo and Blue Dem ...
On June 12, 1964 Espanto III was unmasked after losing a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match to Huracán Ramírez
Daniel García Arteaga (April 9, 1926 – October 31, 2006), best known under the ring name Huracán Ramírez ( English: "Hurricane Ramírez"), was a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) and actor. García was n ...
. As each Espanto lost their mask and had to state their birth names per ''lucha libre'' traditions, they claimed that their last name was "Vázquez Cisneros", combining their last names to hide the fact that they were not all related like they had claimed. In 1966 Espanto I and II won the 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 ...
from El Santo and Mil Máscaras, but would later lose the belts to El Santo and Mil Máscaras in a rematch.[
On May 30, 1968 José Vázquez, as well as fellow wrestler Popeye Franco, was killed by the owner of a cantina during a bar fight. At the time of his death, Los Espantos were set to do a world tour with dates planned for Germany, France, Spain and Japan. The promoters offered Espanto II the opportunity to go alone, but he declined due to the loss of his close friend. By the early 1970s both Espanto II and III were semi-retired, wrestling a limited schedule in Northern Mexico. The duo held the Northern Tag Team Championship at one point before Espanto II retired in 1979.] Espanto III died on December 8, 1996, while Espanto II died on August 29, 2010
After the storyline with El Santo ''Los Espantos'' became one of the most reviled ''rudo'' trios in ''Lucha libre'' at the time. In 1999 the Mexican newspaper ''El Siglo de Torreón
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...
'' stated that the team of Espanto I and Espanto II was considered one of the best ''rudo'' teams in the history of ''lucha libre''. The statement was echoed by ''Super Luchas
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 ...
'' Magazine in 2010 when they wrote an obituary after Espanto II died.
Successors
Espanto IV and V
In 1992 the sons of Miguel Vázquez were introduced to the wrestling world as Espanto IV and Espanto V, forming a regular tag team in and around Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The duo lost their masks to the team of Blue Fish and Mongol Chino, although the team of Stuka and Stuka Jr. is also credited with unmasking them. It is possible that Espanto IV and V agreed to lose their masks to both teams, but in different locations in Mexico. Before the internet there were examples of ''luchadors'' getting an additional payment for losing their mask on multiple occasions. The brothers have worked for various Mexican promotions and toured Japan while working for the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation and Michinoku Pro
(originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...
. In Japan they unsuccessfully challenged the Great Sasuke
, born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly ...
and Gran Hamada
, better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro ...
for the UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship
The UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship created from the working relationship between the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and the Japanese Universal Lucha Libre (also called Universal Wrestling Federa ...
.
Los Hijos del Espanto
In 1993, a character known as "El Hijo del Espanto" ("The Son of Espanto") was introduced. Despite his name, he was not actually the son of any of the Espantos. He was trained by Fernando Cisneros and legally given the rights to use the "Espanto" name by Cisneros.[ In 2000 his older brother, who had been wrestling since 1988, took the name "El Hijo del Espanto II" as the brothers began competing as Los Hijos del Espanto.]
The first Espanto Jr.
In 1984 Jesús Andrade Salas was allowed to use the name "Espanto Jr." by Miguel Vázquez, adopting the distinctive black and white mask that all ''Espantos'' wore at some point in their career. As Espanto Jr. he began working for the 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) ...
(UWA). After working under the moniker for a few years he became embroiled in a feud with El Hijo del Santo
Jorge Ernesto Guzmán Rodríguez (born August 2, 1963) is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler and political activist, best known under the ring name, El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint"). Guzmán is the yo ...
, the feud between the two mirrored the feud between El Santo and Espanto, Jr.'s storyline father Espanto I, using the previous storyline to build interest in the matches between Espanto Jr. and El Hijo del Santo. The storyline feud between the two reached its high point as the two faced off in a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match, where both wrestlers put their mask on the line. El Hijo del Santo won, and just like Espanto I, Espanto, Jr. was forced to unmask and never wear the Espanto mask again. In 1995 he became the first wrestler to portray the Pentagón
Pentagón is a lucha libre, or professional wrestling, persona also referred to as a gimmick that has been portrayed by a number of different people over the years. The gimmick was created as an Evil twin of professional wrestler Octagón and is ...
character. He would later be forced to retire after being injured during a match and being clinically dead in the ring for moments before being brought back to life.[
]
The second Espanto Jr.
In 2012 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 ...
(CMLL) introduced a new Espanto Jr. as part of their ''Generacion'' 2012 group of wrestlers. In the weeks and months following the introduction of ''Generacion 2012'', Hijo del Espanto (unclear if it was I or II) publicly stated that he and his brother were the rightful holders of the rights to the Espanto name, given to them by the only remaining, living member of the original ''Los Espantos'', Espanto II. Hijo del Espanto demanded that Espanto Jr. changed his name, but neither the wrestler nor CMLL ever responded to the request.
El Espantito
In 1998 another wrestler was granted the rights to wear the black and white mask of ''Los Espantos''. In this instance they gave the rights to El Espantito ("The Little Terror"), a ''Mini-Estrella
The term ''Mini-Estrella'' ( Spanish for "Mini-Star") is used in lucha libre to describe a division of short professional wrestlers or ''luchadors'', some of whom have dwarfism. The Mexican ''Mini-Estrellas'' is comparable to Midget wrestling p ...
''. In the early 2000s he worked for AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and ...
in their ''Mini'' division. In 2009 Espantito and 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 ...
wrestled for the vacant NWA World Midget's Championship, which Octagoncito won.
Unauthorized Espantos
In 2001 a new version of "Los Hijos del Espanto" appeared in AAA, but the characters were dropped after only a few appearances due to complaints from the original Hijos del Espanto who held the rights to the name according to the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling commission. The two "impostor" Hijos del Espanto were revealed to be Sergio and César Andrade Salas, brothers of the first Espanto Jr.
Championships and accomplishments
*Empresa Mexicana 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 ...
:*Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Semicompleto'' in Spanish) is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the ''Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.'' (''Mexico Ci ...
( 3 times) – Espanto I
:*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 ...
( 1 time) – Espanto I and Espanto II
Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (August 25, 1932 – August 27, 2010), was a Mexican '' luchador'' or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto II ("Terror 2"). For most of his career he was closely associated with his tag team partner ...
* Mexican State Championships
:*Northern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Espanto II and Espanto III
''Luchas de Apuestas'' record
References
See also
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espantos, Los
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre teams and stables
Mexican promotions teams and stables