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Manuel Leal (born June 8, 1939), better known as Tinieblas ("Darkness"), is a Mexican luchador.


Professional wrestling career

Tinieblas began as a
body builder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...
and
stunt man A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
who was spotted by luchadores Black Shadow and
Dory Dixon Dorrel "Dory" Dixon (born February 1, 1934) is a Jamaican retired professional wrestler who worked for the majority of his career in Mexico, where he eventually became a Mexican citizen. He is currently a pastor for the Seventh-day Adventist Churc ...
. Impressed by Leal's physique they convinced him to begin a career as a " luchador". In 1968, ''"Lucha Libre"'' magazine editor Valente Pérez, came up with the idea of a character that would act as a rival for luchador Mil Mascaras. He created a character with a faceless hood and named him "Tinieblas" (''Darkness''). Perez selected the former body builder turned luchador to wrestle as that character. Tinieblas debuted as a face on August 20, 1971. He would become a large draw in Mexico and toured internationally. Tinieblas was also one of the first luchadores to tour Japan in 1974. He wrestled at 80 years old on August 18, 2019.


Comic series

''Tinieblas'' was the second luchador (after
El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), best known by his ring name El Santo (English language, English: "The Saint"), was a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador Wrestling mask, enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestlin ...
) to have a comic book series based on his character. His first comic book was printed between 1976 and 1979. In 1991, a second series titled, "Tinieblas, El Hijo de la Noche" (''Tinieblas, Son of the Night'') was created. It was printed until 1995. The ''Tinieblas'' comic series was relaunched in the year 2000.


Film career

Tinieblas also made appearances in luchador films. In 1971, he starred as a member of a squadron of masked superheroes in the film '"Los Campeones Justicieros"' (The Champions of Justice). Membership in the Champions of Justice included such legendary Mexican wrestling figures as Mil Mascaras, Blue Demon, El Rayo de Jalisco Sr., El Medico Asesino, El Fantasma Blanco and Superzan. He guest-starred in many low-budget foreign series, such as Vendetta and Rederiet.


Legacy

Tinieblas debuted at a relatively old age of 32, so he never reached the same physical peak as many other popular luchadores of his generation. However, his character remains popular with young lucha libre fans, primarily due to his appearance in comic books and films. Tinieblas still wrestles occasionally and has appeared alongside his son Tinieblas Jr.


Videogames

The 2D wrestling
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...
'' Saturday Night Slam Masters'' released by Japanese game company
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
in 1993 featured a final boss character called "El Escorpión" (''The Scorpion''), whose appearance was inspired by ''Tinieblas''. The character's name in the original Japanese edition of the game was "The Astro" (アストロ, ''Asutoro'').


Filmography

* ''Los Campeones justicieros'' (''The Champions of Justice'') (1971) (credited) * ''Superzan el invencible'' (''Superzan the Invincible'') (1971) * ''Una rosa sobre el ring'' (''A Rose in the Ring'') (1973) co-starring Mil Mascaras * ''El Castillo de las momias de Guanajuato'' (''The Castle of the Mummies of Guanajuato'') (1973) * ''Leyendas macabras de la colonia'' (''Macabre Legends of the Colony'') (1974) (co-starring Mil Mascaras) * '' Las Momias de San Ángel'' (''The Mummies of San Angel'') (1975) * ''El Investigador Capulina'' (''Investigator Capulina'') (1975) * ''El Puño de la muerte'' (''Santo in "Fist of Death"'') (1982) co-starring Santo * ''La Furia de las karatecas'' (''Santo in "Fury of the Karate Experts"'') (1982) co-starring Santo


Championships and accomplishments

*
World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
**
WWA World Heavyweight Championship The World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling All-Stars. It was the primary championship in the WWA. The title was sanctioned by WWA as their wor ...
( 1 time)


''Lucha de Apuesta'' record


Footnotes


References

;General sources - Championship Information * ;General sources - Career * * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Tinieblas 1939 births Living people Masked wrestlers Mexican male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Mexico City 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Mexican professional wrestlers