90 Years of CMLL: 1970's
Perro Aguayo, Fishman, and Ringo Mendoza rise while Rayo De Jalisco, Dr. Wagner, and Angel Blanco solidify their legacies.
It’s 1933 in Mexico City and the promotion that would come to be known as CMLL begins as EMLL (Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre). Fast forward to 2023 and the company produces a series of videos commemorating their 90th anniversary. These are their highlighted moments and images celebrated throughout the series along with a few extra notes that I found interesting.
Watch the full CMLL produced series with this YouTube Playlist. I’ve linked to Luchawiki profiles as well as LuchaDB throughout to help people learn more about these important figures in lucha libre history.
(Note: I’d recommend opening this in a web browser so you can see all the images. There are a lot of really interesting ones.)
Don’t miss the bonus notes section at the end to learn more about the names mentioned below.
1970’s
1970: A packed Arena México witnesses El Solitario retain his National Middleweight Championship against René Guajardo, while Ray Mendoza defeats Coloso Colosseti in a hair vs. hair match (Jul. 31). Arena Coliseo hosts many great battles including Atila winning the hair of Milo Ventura (The future Ultraman) (Sept. 8) along with standouts like Los Indios Bravos (Águila India & Gran Cochisse), Rodolfo Ruiz, and El Greco.
1971: Arena Revolución is home to high-stakes matches. Halcón Dorado claims the mask of Bleda (Jun. 12), Renato Torres wins the hair of Ciclón Veloz (Sept. 24). El Astro, El Cóndor, and Tauro collide in a triangular mask match with Tauro ultimately unmasking El Astro as Tony Sugar (Dec. 4)
1972: Estrella Blanca unmasks Tauro (Feb. 26). Salvador Lutteroth González receives the prestigious Adolfo López Mateos Medal, recognizing his monumental contributions to Mexican sports (Oct. 2). Over two nights (Dec. 1 and 8), Arena México hosts an historic triangular apuestas between El Solitario, Alfonso Dantés, and Ángel Blanco. On the first night, El Solitario claims the hair of Dantés. On the second night, El Solitario unmasks Ángel Blanco as José Ranchero Vargas after a bloody, brutal battle.
1973: An emergence of rising young stars. Arena México's 12th Anniversary Show features Ciclón Veloz Jr. & Alberto Muñoz triumphing over César Valentino & El Vikingo in a hair match. At the 40th Anniversary Show, Ringo Mendoza defeats both Ángel Blanco and Kim Chul Won in a hair match after his partner Ray Mendoza is eliminated early.
1974: At Arena Mexico, The charismatic exotico Adorable Rubi defeats Paco Pardines in a hair match, René Guajardo retains his World Middleweight Championship against England's Steve Wright (Mar. 1). At Arena México's 18th Anniversary, Steve Wright and Anibal defeat René Guajardo and El Tigre Colombiano in a mask & hair vs. mask & hair match to a packed crowd (Apr. 26).
1975: Ricky Starr, considered the world’s best exotico, debuts at Arena Mexico, amazing fans with his ability (Feb. 7). At the 42nd Anniversary Show, Los Gemelos Diablo win a hair vs. hair match with Adorable Rubi and Coloso Colosseti. Fifteen days later, El Santo wins Perro Aguayo’s hair in one of the decade’s most memorable matches.
1976: At Arena México's 20th Anniversary Show, Fishman unmasks El Faraón as José Luis Barajas. Tony Salazar takes Cacique Mara’s hair. The epic Ringo Mendoza & Tony Salazar rivalry begins and Mendoza wins a hair match. A double main event features Mano Negra defeating Demonio Blanco in a bloody battle and Gran Markus taking El Tigre Colombiano’s hair (Dec. 10).
1977: At Arena Revolución, Estrella Blanca unmasks Irazu and Perro Aguayo retains the World Middleweight Title against Blue Demon (Apr. 30). An historic apuestas tournament is held over two nights at Arena Mexico (Jul. 22 & 29). Alfonso Dantés loses his hair to El Halcón then Mil Máscaras unmasks El Halcón. The legendary Fishman, El Cobarde, and Sangre Chicana triangular match is part of the 44th Anniversary (Sept. 23 & 30). First, Fishman unmasks Sangre Chicana, then he unmasks El Cobarde.
1978: The long rivalry between Ringo Mendoza and Tony Salazar continues with Salazar capturing Mendoza’s World Middleweight Title (Aug. 18) and his hair (Aug. 25). Los Fantasticos (Kato Kung Lee and Kung Fu) unmask El Jalisco I & II (Oct. 27). Then at the Juicio Final, Kung Fu claims the mask of El Idolo (Dec. 8).
1979: The future Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama, conquers lucha libre defeating Alfonso Dantés in a hair match at Arena México (Jun. 15). El Santo teams with Robot R2 in a mask vs. mask match against El Supremo and El Vikingo. Robot R2 is unmasked as Jesús Reyes. The year’s hottest rivalry concludes in a double hair vs. hair match with El Faraón and Águila India defeating the rudo team of Sangre Chicana and Tony Salazar to shave their heads (Dec. 7).
Up next, the 1980’s ushers in the likes of Atlantis, Rayo De Jalisco Jr. and El Satanico.
Bonus Notes
The big news in the 1970’s is the formation of Lucha Libre Internaciónal in 1975 as a rival group to EMLL. It’s more commonly referred to as the UWA which was the sanctioning body used for the championships. By this point, a lot of the top names in EMLL would leave and work non-EMLL affiliated independents where they could keep all of their booking fee. LLI presented an opportunity for their wrestlers to work more independently. The first show is headlined by Anibal vs. Rene Guajardo, a major feud from EMLL. Also on the card are notable EMLL alumni like Rayo De Jalisco, El Solitario, Mil Mascaras, Dory Dixon, and Ray Mendoza. Names like El Santo, Dr. Wagner, Perro Aguayo, and Fishman would join as the 70’s progressed. The promotion also saw the rise of Los Villanos, El Canek and Dos Caras. The promotion establishes working agreements with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation and plays host to a lot of international stars throughout the 80’s. It fades in the 90’s as AAA rises to prominence.
Perro Aguayo is regarded as one of the most successful Mexican wrestlers to start without wearing a mask. He works his way up the card in the early 70’s until he has a big performance against El Santo in 1975 in the Mask vs. Hair match. Perro ripped Santo’s mask and bloodied the living legend. Perro wins the hair of wrestlers like Ringo Mendoza, Marty Jones, Karloff Lagrade in the 70’s. He leaves for LLI in 1978 and big match with El Solitario. Aguayo works often in EMLL in the 80’s which are a great decade for him. His son Perro Aguayo Jr. becomes a top star in the 2000’s as the leader of Perros Del Mal before tragically dying in the ring in 2015. Perro Sr. dies in 2019.
Anibal becomes a big name in early 70’s before making the jump to UWA. He wins a Wrestler of the Year Award in 1974. His feud with René Guajardo lasts several years. He remains a prominent name through the mid-80’s when injuries took him away from the ring. He returns in the early 90’s but his health is poor. His Mask vs. Mask match with Mascara Ano 2000 in 1991 sells out Arena Mexico. He dies in 1994 of a brain tumor at the age of 54.
Fishman established himself as a brutal rudo and earned the nickname of El Veneno Verde ("The Green Poison"). He ascended to the top of the EMLL cards and carried that over to great success in the UWA throughout the 80’s. He dies in 2017 of a heart attack at the age of 66.
Ringo Mendoza would dominate the World Middleweight Title and became a consistent presence in EMLL through the 1990’s when he transitioned to more of a trainer role. He often teamed with his brother Cachorro.
El Santo began appearing more frequently in the late 70’s including a major loss to Perro Aguayo. The lucha film craze begins to fade in the late 70’s as well. Blue Demon remains a steady presence in 70’s EMLL.
El Faraón adopted his name as a reflection of Egyptian Pharaohs. He actually achieved much more success after being unmasked by Fishman in 1976. Faraón becomes a staple of EMLL throughout the 80’s.
As part of his excursion, Satoru Sayama spent a lot of time in EMLL and was heavily featured on the cards before returning to New Japan to don the iconic Tiger Mask gimmick.
Américo Rocca and Lizmark are two emerging stars very late in the 70’s. El Satanico is also rapidly rising the ranks heading into the 1980’s.
Been loving this series. Such a shame we don’t have footage from this era after hearing about all these bloodbaths.