Francisco Javier Mar Hernández (December 4, 1926 – May 4, 2000) was a 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 ...

and promoter, known by the ring name "El Orgullo de Oriente" ("The pride of the Orient") Sugi Sito. He was born in

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

to a Mexican father and Chinese mother. In the 1950s, Sito left Mexico and gained a measure of great success wrestling in the United States, especially the

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

area. In the early 1970s, Sugi Sito and Chin Lee worked for

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pr ...

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 establish ...

. Sito later returned to Mexico where he became a wrestling promoter.

Professional wrestling career

Francisco Mar was trained by Rolando Vera for his professional wrestling career and made his debut in 1943. He adopted the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name 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, or projectin ...

"Sugi Sito" to play off his mother's oriental ancestry, making him an instant ''

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 ...

'' during World War II. Sito's career highlights in Mexico came in the early part of the 1950s, as he was 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). On September 21, 1950 Sito defeated

Tarzán López Carlos López Tovar (28 August 1912 – 28 August 1975) was a luchador who was active in the 1930s and 1940s, better known by the ring name Tarzán López. Known as "Tarzan" because of his bodybuilder's physique, Lopez held the Mexican national ...

to win the

NWA World Middleweight Championship The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican ''lucha libre'' promotion Consejo Mundial d ...

, one of the most prestigious championships in Mexico at the time. Sito's first title reign lasted 368 days, ending when Enrique Llanes won the belt from him on September 24, 1951. Sito regained the Middleweight title in 1953 when he once again defeated López to win the title. This time he held it until January 1, 1954 when he was defeated by

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 ...

and lost the title. From 1954 and forward Sito travelled all over the United States and Canada to wrestle for various promotions. His first stop was in

where he worked for Southwest Sports, Inc. (the future World Class Championship Wrestling). Sito earned a reputation for having some of the hardest hand strikes in professional wrestling while working in Texas, a reputation that started when he accidentally fractured

Danny McShain Danny McShain (October 30, 1912 – July 14, 1992) was an American professional wrestler. He competed in the southern United States from the 1930s to the 1960s. Early life McShain was born on October 30, 1912, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He made hi ...

's skull during a match. He teamed up with another Mexican native in

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. ...

to win the

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-basedWorld Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NWA ...

from Ivan Kalmikoff and Karol Krauser. Due to sparse records from that time it is not known who defeated Sito and Romero for the titles. In the late 1960s Sito began working for

Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...

(GCCW) based out of Alabama. In GCCW he began teaming with Mitsu Sito, a storyline brother, defeating Rocket Monroe and Flash Monroe for the

NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship The NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship was the main tag team championship in Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling or NWA Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast tag team championship is the successor for GCCW's version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ...

on February 21, 1969. The team only held the title for 5 days before being defeated by Bob Kelly and Ramon Perez. Following his stint in the south eastern United States Sito travelled north to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

to work for

. Over the course of the next two years Sito held the Calgary version of the

NWA International Tag Team Championship ''This was a regional NWA championship based in Japan. For the version of this title that was promoted in NWA All Star Wrestling in Canada, see NWA International Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version).'' The NWA International Tag Team Champ ...

three times, twice with Chin Lee and once with

Tor Kamata McRonald Kamaka (March 9, 1937 – July 23, 2007) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler known by the ring name Tor Kamata. He won several heavyweight and tag team championships, most notably the PWF World Heavyweight Championship in A ...

Personal life

Francisco Mar Manuel was part of a large wrestling family. His three brothers (Huroki Sito, Panchito Robles and Manuel Robles) were all luchadores, as well as his son-in-law (El Mexicano), nephews (

Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bomba ...

, El Jabato and Pánico) and even his daughter who wrestles as La Briosa. Francisco Javier Mar died on May 4, 2000.

Championships and accomplishments

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...

) *

( 1 time) – with Mitsu Sugi * Southwest Sports, Inc. :*

( 1 time) - with

''(Calgary version)'' ( 3 times) - with Chin Lee (2) and

(1)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sito, Sugi Mexican male professional wrestlers Mexican sportspeople of Chinese descent Sportspeople from León, Guanajuato Professional wrestlers from Guanajuato 1926 births 2000 deaths Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA World Middleweight Champions Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions