Rayo de Jalisco Jr.

Early life

Rayo de Jalisco Jr. was born on January 1, 1960, in Guadalajara, the son of legendary wrestler Rayo de Jalisco and the nephew of wrestlers Tony Sugar and Black Sugar. He was not initially trained by his father as his father did not want his son to follow into his profession; instead he trained under Diablo Velazco.

Professional wrestling career

The future Rayo de Jalisco Jr. turned professional at the age of 15 and initially wrestled under the name "Rayman" to keep his father from finding out he was wrestling. After working as a wrestler for a year he finally revealed to his father that he was wrestling and that he was serious. After seeing his son wrestle, Rayo de Jalisco Sr. decided to allow his son to work as "Rayo de Jalisco Jr." and wear the lightning bolt mask that was synonymous with the Rayo de Jalisco character. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. worked most of the 1970s alongside his father, receiving further training along the way. By the early 1980s he was working for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), Mexico's largest professional wrestling promotion. In 1982, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. began a wrestling storyline, called a feud, with MS-1 that ended when Rayo de Jalisco Jr. defeated MS-1 in a Luchas de Apuestas, mask vs. mask match to unmask the hated rudo ("bad guy"). Throughout the early 1980s, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. teamed up with equally popular Cien Caras to form a very successful team, working main events all over Mexico. On January 8, 1984, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. captured his first singles championship as he defeated Pirata Morgan to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship.

Over the next couple of years, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. won the Mexican National Heavyweight Title on a further two occasions, defeating Gran Markus Jr. and El Egipico to win the title. His third and final reign ended on February 21, 1994, when he lost to Pierroth Jr. On April 18, 1997, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. lost the title to Steel after a slow building storyline between the two. A few months after unmasking Steel, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. became a two-time CMLL World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Universo 2000 for the belt. He successfully defended the championship against Cien Caras and Mascara Año 2000, before losing it back to Universo 2000. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. was injured in the match against Universo 2000, as a mistimed tombstone piledriver injured his neck, forcing him out of the ring for over six months and almost causing him to retire.

In 2001, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. dropped the "Junior" part of his name as his son, who had wrestled for two years, took the "Rayo de Jalisco" name, sometimes billed as el Hijo de Rayo de Jalisco Jr. ("the son of Rayo de Jalisco Jr.") and other times simply Rayo de Jalisco Jr.. The confusing name changes only lasted for a couple of months, before his son changed his name to Hombre sin Nombre ("the man without name"), as part of a storyline where the son was trying to get out from the father's shadow. His son would later begin working as "Rayman", the same name that Rayo de Jalisco Jr. originally used. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. only worked a few matches for CMLL in mid-2010 but returned to the promotion in early 2013. He was on hand for a press conference, announcing that CMLL's annual Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show would pay tribute to his father, Rayo de Jalisco Sr. During the press conference, he was confronted by longtime rival Universo 2000, who challenged him to a match for the Dos Leyendas show. At the show, Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Shocker and Rush defeated Universo 2000, Mr. Niebla and El Terrible by disqualification. Two days later, on March 17, 2013, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. competed in a four-way, steel cage match billed by IWRG as Prison Fatal ("Deadly Prison") against Cien Caras Jr., Máscara Año 2000 Jr. and Pirata Morgan. During the match, Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 interfered, which caused Pirata Morgan Jr. to enter the match as well to escalate the rivalry between Los Piratas and Los Capos Junior. The match ended with Pirata Morgan being the last man in the cage and thus had his hair shaved off.

Championships and accomplishments

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • CMLL World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Atlantis
  • CMLL World Trios Championship (1 time) – with El Canek and Black Warrior
  • Mexican National Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • Mexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tony Benetto
  • Mexican National Trios Championship (1 time) – with Ringo Mendoza and El Kiss
  • NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Copa de Arena Mexico: 2002 – Black Warrior and Lizmark Jr.
  • International Gran Prix (1994)
• Federación Internacional de Lucha Libre
  • FILL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Nueva Generación Lucha Libre
  • NGLLHeavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
• World Wrestling Association
  • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
  • WWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rayman

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Footnotes

References

References

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6. (October 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". MS-1.
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21. (January 19, 2003). "2002: considerar detrás". Box y Lucha Magazine.
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29. (December 8, 2013). "El Rayo de Jalisco Jr. rapó a Súper Parka". MedioTiempo.