Gronda - The Most Popular Luchador in 2015

Yes the most popular luchador here in 2015 was Gronda.
This 6 foot tall, 220 pound beast beat out Máscara Divina, Angel Azteca Jr., Pimpinela Escarlata and Angel de Oro for the top spot.
But he has not only been Gronda.
He was also called Gran Master, Groond XXX, Gronda XXX and Groon XXX.
Although he is offically retired, he still pops up now and then in International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), Federacion Universal de Lucha Libre (FULL) and other wrestling promotions.

Triple AAA Luchador - Gronda

Not a lot is known about the masked luchador Gronda. I mean not a lot at all! We don’t know his real name, but we know when and where he was born...August 20th, 1960 in Mexico City, Mexico. I imagine this is because of some disclosures the wrestling promotions have to make to the Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. (the Mexican commission of Boxing and Professional Wrestling)
Anyway, yep...Gronda will be turning 54 this year. But you wouldn’t know it by just looking at him. This guy is Batista/bodybuilder big. He's 6 feet tall and weighs 220 and it looks like all of that is solid muscle.
Gronda was trained by luchadors Flash, Aullido and Fuerza Guerrera. He has always wrestled masked. First as Maximo el Gladiador, then Drago, the El Magnate (once), then Luzbel and finally Gronda.
Actually there are two Grondas now, similar to the situation they had with La Parka and LA Park. And to tell you the truth...neither are really good wrestlers.
They are just REALLY big!

Luchador Averno - CMLL

The last time I did a write up on masked luchador Averno he was masked.
That was back in 2007.
But on June 17th, 2011 at Juicio Final, Averno was defeated by La Máscara in a Mask vs Mask match and he revealed that his real name was Renato Ruíz Cortes (his father is CMLL referee Rodolfo Ruíz) and that he was 34 years old and originally from Mexico City.

Renato is still wrestling and on April 26th, 2013 at the Arena Mexico 57th Anniversary Show Averno defeated Místico La Nueva Era to win the vacant Mexican National Welterweight Championship.

Atlantis - CMLL

It's been quite a while since I have done anything on masked luchador Atlantis.
2007 actually.
Of course no one knows Atlantis' real name as is the case with most masked wrestlers.
We do know that he was born on September 28th, 1962 in Los Altos, Jalisco and his brother wrestled under the name Atlántico.

He made his debut back on June 12th, 1983 and was trained by "Diablo" Velazco.
Atlantis has worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since his debut, actually starting out when they were still called Empressa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL).
He has held almost every major title in CMLL as well as titles in Lucha Libre Azteca, Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Universal Wrestling Entertainment.
Besides wrestling, he has appeared in three movies, La Fuerza Bruta ("The Brute Power") in 1991, Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the revenge") in 1992 and Atlantis al rescate ("Atlantis to the rescue") in 2007.

CMLL Luchador Artillero

CMLL Luchador Artillero (Artilleryman) is one half of the Los Hombres del Camoflaje tag team.
His partner is his brother, Super Commando.

                                     CMLL Luchador Artillero

Although their real names are not known, we do know that Artillero is the son of luchador Príncipe Odín (Prince Odin).
He was trained by his father and Tony Salazar and made his pro wrestling debut on February 18th, 2005 at the Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, Mexico.
Along with his brother, he has held the Queretaro State Tag Team Championship in the Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Queretaro promotion.

    CMLL Luchadors Super Commando and Artillero

Arkangel - Arkangel de la Muerte (Archangel of Death)

CMLL luchador Arkangel aka Arkangel de la Muerte was born on July 16th, 1966 in La Venta del Astillero, Jalisco, Mexico.
He was trained by Diablo Velazco, El Mariscal, El Yaqui, El Carnicerito, Pepe Casas, Satánico and Franco Colombo, amd made his lucha libre debut in April of 1985.

His debut though was under the name Mister Cid, not Arkangel.
During his career he has held numerous titles, most notably the the CMLL World Welterweight Championship and the Mexican National Welterweight Championship.
Arkangel is the real-life brother of luchador El Cerebro/Torbellino (Antonio Pasilla Dorado).
Along with Nitro, Hooligan and Skándalo, he was part of the Los Guerreros Tuareg in CMLL.
I say "was" because when I checked CMLL's website, I didnt see Arkangel on the roster.

However I did find his Facebook page and he seems to still be active in CMLL
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arkangel-de-la-Muerte-CMLL-Oficial/111295525621135

Arkangel Vs Tigre Blanco

CMLL Rudo Angel del Mal

I don't have a lot of info about CMLL luchador Àngel del Mal.
He's a rudo (heel).
He was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
And he held the Occidente Welterweight Championship until being defeated by Metal Blanco on April 4th, 2010 in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara.

CMLL Luchador Angel de Oro

Masked CMLL luchador Angel de Oro was born on March 21st, 1988 in Gomez Palacio, Mexico.
Her is the son of luchador Apolo Chávez and the brother of Ángel de Plata .
He, de Plata and Ángel Azteca, Jr. form Los Ángeles Celestiales ("The Celestial Angels") that I mentioned in the last entry.
Angel de Oro was trained by Gran Cochisse, Corsario Rojo, Diabolico, Satanico and Franco Colombo and made his lucha libre debut in his hometown on July 14th, 2005.
So far in his career he has held the 2011 Reyes del Aire (Kings of the Air) title and the Mexican National Trios Championship (with Rush and Diamante).

Angel Azteca Jr. - Lucha Libre

Masked luchador Angel Azteca Jr. is not really the son of the original Angel Azteca, but he did get permission to use the name before the Angel passed away in 2007.
He was trained by Angel Azteca, El Indio Chirikawa and Satánico and made his pro wrestling debut in 1995 at the age of 15 as Cobrita Oriental ("Little Asian Cobra").
After that he took on the name Fantastico II and teamed with Fantastico I to form Los Fantasticos.
As Angel Azteca Jr., he is part of a team called Los Ángeles Celestiales ("The Celestial Angels") along with Ángel de Oro and Ángel de Plata.
He currently works for CMLL.

AAA Luchador Argos

http://luchalibreaaa.com/

Masked luchador Argos was born on October 14th, 1985 in Mexico City, Mexico.
If his mask and demeanor in the ring look familiar, it's because he is the brother of Místico, who you may know better as WWE Superstar Sin Cara.
That makes Argos the son of Manuel Almanza (Dr. Karonte), the brother of luchadors Astro Boy and Argenis, the cousin of Magnus and the nephew of CMLL booker Tony Salazar.
Argos was trained by Dr. Karonte, Tony Salazar and Franco Colombo and made his pro wrestling debut in 2002.
He is five foot eight and weighs 190 pounds.
Argos has worked for CMLL, AAA and IWRG.
He joined the stable Real Fuerza Aérea AAA in 2011.

La Parka - Lucha Libre AAA

I cannot believe that this blog has been around since January 2007 and I have never done a write up on the famous luchador La Parka!
I dont know what I was (or wasn't) thinking.
Adolfo Tapia Ibarra was born on November 14, 1965 in Querétaro, Mexico.
He was trained by luchadors Alberto Mora and Raúl Reyes, and made his Lucha Libre debut in 1982 at the Deportivo Arena 47 in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico.
Adolfo has wrestled under many names, Adolfo Tapia, El Gringo, El Minero,El Asesino de Tepito, Príncipe Island, Invasor Del Norte I, La Parka/La Parka and finally, L.A. Park.
He is the brother of El Hijo Del Cien, Super Parka, Johnny Ibarra and Desalmado are his uncles and Black Spirit (or El Hijo de L.A. Park) is his son.

La Parka has wrestled for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and almost every minor wrestling promotion in Mexico, and he's wrestled in Japan.

As you might have guessed from his long career, he has held several titles including:
In Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion he has held the IWC World Championship and the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship four times.
In Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre he held the CMLL World Tag Team Championships with Shocker.
In Independent Wrestling Revolution / Revolucha, he held the IWR / Revolucha Heavyweight Championship.
In the National Wrestling Alliance, he held the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship.
In the World Wrestling Association, he held the WWA Light Heavyweight Championship twice.
And in Xtreme Latin American Wrestling, he held the XLAW Xtreme Heavyweight Championship twice.

Lucha Libre AAA - Marco Corleone

This six foot six, 265 pound literal beast of a man is Marco Corleone, who works for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in Mexico.
Before that he worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
But here in the States, you may know him better as Mark Jindrak from the WCW and WWE.

Mark was born on June 26, 1977 in Auburn, New York.
He was trained at the WCW Power Plant by Paul Orndorff, and made his pro wrestling debut in 1999.
Mark had a decent career in WCW, winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice with Sean O'Haire.
As a matter of fact, Mark and Sean helped form the wrestling stable, The Natural Born Thrillers in WCW.

When the WWF bought WCW back in 2001, Mark made the transition over to the new wrestling promotion.
He was released from his contract in 2005, and went to New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2006.

In Late 2006, Mark went to CMLL and adopted the ring name "Marco Corleone".
In CMLL, Mark (along with Shocker, El Terrible and El Hijo del Texano) were banned from wrestling in Tijuana, Mexico for a year, after an incident where he pulled down the tights of an opponent during a match.
Did all four do it?

Anyway, in 2009, Mark jumped from CMLL to the rival Mexican wrestling promotion AAA.

You can keep up with Marco at his MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/markjindrak

Luchador - Argenis

Argenis is a Mexican luchador that is in the "Real Fuerza Aerea" stable with Aero Star, Laredo Kid, and Super Fly I mentioned in the last entry.
He has a questionable Lucha Libre lineage because some sources claim he is the brother of famed luchador Mistico, and some claim he is his cousin.
If either one is true (his ring gear does resemble Mistico's) that makes him related to Mistico, Astro Boy II, Dr. Karonte Jr., Dr. Karonte and Tony Salazar.
Either way, he was trained by the legendary Gran Apache.

Argenis started out in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in 2006, but was unhappy that he didn't get a push there despite being related (somehow) to Mistico.
He then moved to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and joined the "Real Fuerza Aerea" stable where he hasnt faired much better.

Besides CMLL and AAA, Argenis has worked for International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG).


Argenis, posted to http://theluchadores.blogspot.com/ on Sept 22nd, 2009

Luchador - Volador Jr

Volador Jr. was born on January 26th, 1981 in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico.
He is the son of luchador Volador (Super Parka).
His uncles are luchadores Johnny Ibarra and El Desalmado, and his cousins are La Parka and Suplex.
He was trained by his father and Satánico, and made his Lucha Libre debut in October of 1997 at the Arena Neza.
Volador Jr. works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), but has also done work for TNA wrestling.
During his career, he has held the National Trios Titles twice ( with Safari and Felino and with La Sombra and Sagrado), the CMLL World Tag Team Championship (with La Sombra), he won the Reyes de Aire (Kings of the Air) in 2005 and 2007, and he (along with Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero and Averno) won the 2008 TNA World X Cup.

Lucha Libre - Virus

The Luchador known as Virus was born Ricardo Amezquita Cardeño on December 9, 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico.
He is unique in that he started out as a "Mini"( a division that I have overlooked here and I will be correcting that soon) and moved into the regular division.
Ricardo was trained by Luchador El Fuerza Aérea, and made his Lucha Libre debut on April 20, 1986 at Auditorio Municipal de Ozumba in Estado de Mexico.
He started out in the Universal Wrestling Association promotion as "Bird Boy" and usually worked the low end of the card because of his size (5'5, 170 pounds).
On July 27, 1991 he won the UWA World Featherweight Championship (even though the feather weight class in Lucha Libre is usually 130-140 pounds).

Even before he lost the UWA World Featherweight Championship to El Coralillo on August 25, 1992, Ricardo had started wrestling for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). After he lost the title, he became a CMLL luchadore full time. And when booker Antonio Peña left CMLL to form his own promotion, Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), Virus stayed with CMLL to try to revive the Minis Division since most of them left with Pena.
Since most of the Minis are "minature" versions of the big names, Ricardo was renamed Piratita Morgan, a mini version of Pirata Morgan.
The original Piratita Morgan that had left CMLL to join AAA.
When Pirata Morgan left CMLL to join AAA, Ricardo was renamed "Damiancito El Guerrero" after CMLL wrestler "Damian El Guerrero".
During this time he toured Japan, and when he returned he defeated Máscarita Mágica to win the CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship on February 27, 1996.

But in 1998, he moved to the regular division as "Virus" and no mention was made that Virus was also Damiancito El Guerrero and held the CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship.
Virus then proceeded to defeat Akira to win the Mexican National Lightweight Championship.
The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship problem was resolved when CMLL announced that Ultimo Dragoncito had won the title on an undisclosed day in October, 1999.

Virus has held several wrestling titles during his career:
Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) World Featherweight Championship
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) Japan Super Lightweight Championship
CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship
CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship
Mexican National Lightweight Championship
Reyes del Aire ("King of the Air") Tournament (2007)

Luchadores, Universo 2000

Andrés Reyes González was born on April 18th, 1963, in Santa Anita, Jalisco, Mexico.
He is a Mexican Luchador best known in Lucha Libre as Universo 2000.
Universo was trained by Diablo Velazco and Rafael Salamanca, and made his wrestling debut on June 15, 1985 at Arena Ecatepec in Ecatepec, Mexico State wrestling under the name Espacial.
Like many other lucha libre stars he comes from a wrestling family. Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000 are both his brothers, and Máscara Año 2000 Jr. is his nephew.
Universo wrestled masked until September 17, 2004, when he lost his mask to Canek at Arena México.
During his career, he has held the National Trios Titles (with his brothers Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000), the WWO World Heavyweight Title, the CMLL World Heavyweight Title (three times), the CMLL World Trios Titles (with Black Tiger and Dr. Wagner Jr.), and won the 3rd Annual Leyenda de Azul Tournament.

Luchadores, Último Guerrero

http://www.elmistico.com.mx/

Último Guerrero (The Last Warrior) is a Mexican Luchador that wrestles for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Ultimo is not related to the famous Gory Guerrero or any of his children.
"Guerrero" is the Spanish word for warrior.
He was trained at "Gimnasio El Ranchero" by Tinito and Halcón Suriano and made his lucha libre debut as "Halcón Dorado" in September 1990 at the Gómez Palacio, Durango.

Último Guerrero is a charter member of Los Guerreros de Infierno / Los Guerreros de Atlantida and besides CMLL, he has worked for TNA where he was part of Team Mexico, and won the 2008 World X Cup.

Ultimo has held sevral titles during his lucha libre career including the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship, the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, the CMLL World Tag Team Championship (5 times), the CMLL World Trios Championship (2 times), he won the Copa de Arena Mexico Tournament in 1999 with Rey Bucanero and Satanico, he won the Junior Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007, he won the Torneo Gran Alternativa twice, once with Blue Panther in 1999 and with Dragón Rojo, Jr. in 2008 and he won the Universal Tournament in 2009.

Outside of CMLL, he won the World Wrestling Association (WWA) World Tag Team Championship with Perro Aguayo, Jr.

And of course he won the TNA 2008 World X Cup with his partners Volador Jr., Rey Bucanero and Averno.

Lucha Libre: El Texano, Jr.

Lucha Libre star El Texano, Jr. was born Juan Aguilar Leos on July 31th, 1984 in Mexico City, Mexico.
He mainly works for the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling promotion in Mexico, though he has toured with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
Juan is the son of luchador Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui, who wrestled as El Texano until his death in 2006.
Juan started out as wrestling masked as Kempo Kid.
This went on for two years until he was unmasked by Stuka in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in a match.
After the match, he was recognized as the son of El Texano and began working as El Texano, Jr.
Juan was trained by El Texano, Rambo, Satanico and Shocker.
He made his pro wrestling debut in 2001 in Arandas, Jalisco (as Kempo Kid).
Besides his late father, Juan's brother wrestles as Super Nova and his cousin, Jonathan de Jesus Navarro Gimenez, wrestles as Mictlan.

In Lucha Libre, Juan has held the Mexican National Trios Championship with Sagrado and Maximo, the Occidente Tag Team Titles with Terrible and the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

Satanico / El Satanico

Daniel López López was born on October 26, 1949 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, but he is better known in Lucha Libre as Satánico or El Satánico.
After a long career as a luchador, he is now a trainer for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
He was trained by Diablo Velazco and made his pro wrestling debut on June 17, 1973 in his hometown of Guadalajara.

In his long career, Satánico has held many titles including.....

The Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Mexican National Trios Championship twice, once with Mephisto and Averno, and once with MS-1 and Pirata Morgan.
The Mexican National Middleweight Championship three times.
The CMLL World Middleweight Championship once.
The CMLL World Trios Championship three times, once with MS-1 and Pirata Morgan, once with Emilio Charles Jr. and Rey Bucanero, and once with Averno and Mephisto.
He was the CMLL World Welterweight Champion.
He held the NWA World Middleweight Championship five times.
The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship four times.
And he won the Copa de Arena Mexico Tournament in 1999 with Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero.
Satánico also held the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
And he held the Universal Wrestling Association World Middleweight Championship.

He was also inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2001.

Sangre Azteca

Sangre Azteca (Aztec Blood) was born on October 5, 1975, in Mexico City, Mexico.
He is a Mexican pro wrestler (luchadore) who works as a "rudo", or heel, for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Sangre is part of the "Poder Mexica" stable along with Dragon Rojo Jr. and Black Warrior.
He trained with Scorpio and Raúl Reyes, and made his pro wrestling debut on October 5, 1997, at the Arena Naucalpan.
He started out with International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) and moved to CMLL in 1988.
There he became a member of "Grupo Cibernetico" and was further trained by Guillermo "Memo" Díaz and Negro Casas.

He has held the Mexican National Trios Championship twice, once with Dr. X and Nitro, and once with Dragon Rojo Jr. and Black Warrior.
He has also held the Mexican National Welterweight Championship.
Sangre and Ramstein also held the Distrito Federal Tag Team Championship at one time.