El Hijo del Santo | |
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Silver Mask and suit. |
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Ring name(s) | El Hijo del Santo El Korak |
Billed height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1] |
Billed weight | 82 kg (180 lb)[1] |
Born | August 2, 1963 Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal, Mexico |
Billed from | Tulancingo, Mexico[1] |
Trained by | Rafael Salamanca El Enfermero |
Debut | February 6, 1982 |
Jorge Guzmán Rodríguez (born August 2, 1963), better known as El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint"), is a Mexican professional wrestler, political activist and one of the most successful stars in Lucha Libre. He is the youngest son of the legendary professional wrestler, film actor and Mexican folk hero El Santo.
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"Santito", as he is often called, was the only one of his father's 10 children to become a professional wrestler. He began wrestling without his father's consent in February 1982 as "El Korak" but he made his official debut as "El Hijo del Santo" in October of that year after he earned his college degree in Communication Science per his father's request. He shared his father's look, the silver mask, tights and cape, and moves but he was shorter and, although he would never become the same cultural icon, he would become a better in-ring performer than his father.[2][3]
Early in his career, he was wrestled mainly for World Wrestling Association (WWA) (The Tijuana circuit) and Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) (a promotion that worked in the Mexico City area) but he did make his debut for Empressa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) the promotion that later became Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Arena Mexico in the summer of 1983. He also was voted "Rookie of the Year" in Mexico.[2]
He won his first title, the UWA World Lightweight Championship, on October 1985 and traded the title with Aristóteles.[4] He next feuded with Espanto, Jr. (whose father feuded with the original El Santo) and el Hijo del Santo took his mask. Espanto Jr. took el Hijo del Santo's title but el Hijo del Santo regained it in 1988 and took Espanto, Jr.'s hair as well after winning a Luchas de Apuestas (Spanish for "Bet match").[4] During this time, he also feuded with Negro Casas, who would become his most important opponent, and took his hair in a 1987 match in the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium.
In 1990, he debuted in Japan for Gran Hamada's Universal Lucha Libre promotion and moved up a weight class by winning the UWA World Welterweight Championship as well as the WWA Welterweight Championship.[5][6] In late 1991, he left WWA and vacated the Welterweight title but continued to wrestle for UWA until the formation of Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA).[6] El Hijo del Santo regained the WWA Welterweight title and brought it with him to AAA. One of the first feuds he was put in was again Negro Casas' youngest brother, Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal took el Hijo del Santo's WWA Welterweight title and won the Mexican National Welterweight Championship but el Hijo del Santo would come out on top of the feud and took both titles from Heavy Metal before he lost them again to another young star, Psicosis.[5][7]
His most memorable feud during his time with AAA was against the obnoxious American team, Los Gringos Locos. Eddy Guerrero's stiffer Japanese style offense, combined with "Love Machine" Art Barr's cocky mannerisms made Los Gringos Locos a very exciting yet hated tag team. During the feud, the played up the old Pareja Atómica tag team which consisted of the original El Santo and Eddie's father, Gory Guerrero. Eddie turned on Santo, leading to a hair vs. mask challenge for the AAA When Worlds Collide pay-per-view. The match was changed at the last minute when Barr pleaded with AAA officials to be included on the show which would be broadcast in the United States. The new match was a double hair versus double mask match with Santo teaming with Octagón against Los Gringos Locos. El Hijo del Santo and Octagón were victorious in the critically acclaimed match that would revieve a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer but it was the last stand for Los Gringos Locos. Barr died shortly afterwards and the rest of the group broke up abruptly. AAA owner Antonio Peña tried to run an angle with an evil version of El Santo called "El Santo Negro" who supposedly came from South America. When the other members of Santo's family objected, the feud was scrapped and El Hijo del Santo jumped to CMLL in 1995.
The object of the jump was to revitalize his feud with Negro Casas. El Hijo del Santo lost a match to Casas at the CMLL 63rd Anniversary show on September 20, 1996 and took a brief hiatus.[8] While gone, Negro Casas turned técnico (face) and his former allies, Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje said they had a surprise for Casas. In a shocking angle, the long time babyface El Hijo del Santo turned rudo (heel). The set-up was a trios match with Negro Casas, El Dandy and Héctor Garza on the face side against Felino, Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje on the heel side. Felino was Casas' brother and when he came to the ring, he halted before entering and watched as his brother was attacked by Scorpio and Salvaje. The fans were expecting Felino to help his brother but Felino took off his cape and mask, revealing himself to be El Hijo del Santo in disguise.
The fans were irate and fist fights broke out in the crowd as El Hijo del Santo attacked Casas. The feud helped ease sagging business caused by the split with AAA and the downturn of the Mexican economy. The following week, the two trios had a rematch and both El Dandy and Negro Casas challenged Santo to a hair vs. mask match. The match was made a triangle match on December 6, 1996. Santo took El Dandy's hair in a bloody match in front of sold out crowd in Arena Mexico. The feud would continue until the 64th anniversary show on September 19, 1997 where Negro Casas and El Hijo del Santo faced off in a dramatic hair vs. mask match.[9] El Hijo del Santo won the match and began a slow face turn.
Although the angle was very successful and drew a lot of money for CMLL, El Hijo del Santo continued to wrestle as a babyface throughout the country, even teaming with Rey Mysterio in Tijuana. El Hijo del Santo began to be at odds with his heel allies, namely Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje. Finally, in September 1998, the face turn was made official when El Hijo del Santo's partners, Villano III and Fuerza Guerrera turned on Santo. Scorpio, Jr. and Salvaje joined in on the beat down, leading Santo's next big feud.
Negro Casas and El Hijo del Santo began teaming together and chased Scorpio and Salvaje's recently won CMLL World Tag Team Championship.[10] El Hijo del Santo and Casas defeated Scorpio and Salvaje for the titles on February 5, 1999 by disqualification but El Hijo del Santo and Casas refused to accept the titles. The big match in the feud was a mask/hair versus mask/hair tag match between the two teams. Santo and Casas were victorious and took the tag titles as well.[10] El Hijo del Santo had a brief falling out with CMLL management and the tag titles were vacated.[10] He returned and won the tag titles again with Casas from Los Guerreros del Infierno (Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero) but later lost them back to Los Guerreros in 2002.[10] El Hijo del Santo took another sabbatical from CMLL with Perro Aguayo, Jr. filling in his spot on the roster. He returned to CMLL in the summer of 2004, initially to work with Místico to help him become a main eventer and to feud with Perro Aguayo, Jr. and his La Furia del Norte group. After the feud ended, he had a program with young Guerreros recruit Averno and they had a WWA Welterweight title match on October 22 where el Hijo del Santo retained and ended his tour with the company.[11]
El Hijo del Santo has continued wrestling as an independent worker doing shows all over Mexico. El Hijo del Santo even started his own promotion called Todo x el Todo. the Promotions man show so far was a "25 Year Anniversary Show" shown by Televisa, a testament to el Hijo del Santo's appeal as Televisa rarely show independent promotions. the show featured a Relevos Suicidas tournament where the losing teams advance until the finals where the final team would fight each other over who would unmask. El Hijo del Santo ended up unmasking Pentagón Black in the finals, which meant that he booked himself to lose three times during the tournament.[12] Around the time of el Hijo del Santo's 25th Anniversay the World Boxing Council (WBC) named el Hijo del Santo their "WBC Wrestling Champion" compete with title belt due to his "Significant accomplishments in wrestling".[13] While the title is technically an honorary championship el Hijo del Santo defended it several times in 2008. In 2008, El Hijo del Santo began running shows in London, England featuring independent talent from Mexico.
Like his father, el Hijo del Santo has also crossed over into other medias. He is the subject of a comic book published and appeared on the Mexican reality show Día de Perros. He was also the star of a 5 episode animated series on the Mexican version of Cartoon Network titled Santo Contra Los Clones (Santo Vs The Clones).
In the summer of 2007, he gained notoriety for his campaign to save sea turtles as the spokesperson for Wildcoast, an environmental non-profit organization, on the Gulf of Mexico from extinction. He has also been involved on gray whale campaigns as well as Tijuana clean ups on behalf of Wildcoast.[14]
Hijo del Santo has appeared in several films, first with his father and then on his own or with other famous luchadores. In 2000 he starred in the film Infraterrestre, which received positive reviews from critics such as the respected Mexican film critic, David Wilt.[15] In 2007 he appeared in the film Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy (also known as Mil Mascaras: Resurrection),[16] which also received positive reviews.[17]
Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
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Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Pierroth | Veracruz, Veracruz | October 31, 1982 | [2][3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Buitre | Pachuca, Hidalgo | July 28, 1983 | [2][3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Lobo Rubio | Veracruz, Veracruz | October 28, 1983 | [2][3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Galáctico | Pachuca, Hidalgo | February 26, 1984 | [2][3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Chamaco Castro | Panama City, Panama | September 4, 1984 | [2][3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Guerrero | Acapulco, Guerrero | January 27, 1985 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Porro | Tijuana, Baja California | February 26, 1985 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Richard | Naucalpan, Mexico State | March 17, 1985 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Diluvio | Texcoco, Mexico State | March 23, 1985 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Cosmonauta | Apatlaco, Mexico State | March 30, 1985 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles I | Naucalpan, Mexico State | July 28, 1985 | [25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Tornado Negro | Tijuana, Baja California | August 9, 1985 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles II | Acapulco, Guerrero | November 27, 1985 | [25] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Ninja | Tijuana, Baja California | December 13, 1985 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Tony | Veracruz, Veracruz | December 18, 1985 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Skeletor | Monterrey, Nuevo León | December 22, 1985 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles I | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | March 9, 1986 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto, Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | August 31, 1986 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Kato Kung Lee | Tijuana, Baja California | August 31, 1986 | [26] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Flama Azul | Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico State | January 30, 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Black Terry | Irapuato, Guanajuato | March 9, 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Richard | Morelia, Michoacán | April 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Lobo Rubio | Naucalpan, Mexico State | June 7, 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Negro Casas | Los Angeles, California, USA | July 18, 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto, Jr. | Torreón, Coahuila | August 2, 1987 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Silver King | Tijuana, Baja California | November 13, 1987 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Principe Island | Apatlaco, Mexico State | November 21, 1987 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Estudiante | Mexicali, Baja California | March 28, 1988 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Tarahumara | Saltillo, Coahuila | April 9, 1988 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto, Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | May 8, 1988 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | León Chino | Tijuana, Baja California | August 19, 1988 | [27] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Brujo | San Lorenzo, Mexico State | October 22, 1988 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Cuchillo | Naucalpan, Mexico State | October 30, 1988 | [28] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Brujo | San Lorenzo, Mexico State | November 26, 1988 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Starman | Cancún, Quintana Roo | December 2, 1988 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | La Momia | Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca | March 26, 1989 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Masdek | Tijuana, Baja California | May 19, 1989 | [Note 1][3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto, Jr. | Naucalpan, Mexico State | September 17, 1989 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | All Star | Mexico City, Mexico | December 8, 1989 | [Note 2][29] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Tornado Negro | Tijuana, Baja California | February 9, 1990 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Brazo de Oro | Naucalpan, Mexico State | January 13, 1991 | [25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Black Shadow, Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | December 15, 1991 | [Note 3][30] |
Hairs | El Hijo del Santo and Octagón | La Pareja del Terror (Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero) |
Los Angeles, California, USA | November 6, 1994 | At AAA When Worlds Collide.[3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Dandy | Mexico City, Mexico | December 6, 1996 | [Note 4][25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Negro Casas | Mexico City, Mexico | September 19, 1997 | At the CMLL 64th Anniversary Show[3][9] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Guerrero del Futuro | Mexico City, Mexico | July 17, 1998 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Gacela del Ring | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | September 28, 1998 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Gacela del Ring | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | December 6, 1998 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Asterisco | Reynosa, Tamaulipas | December 20, 1998 | [Note 5][3] |
Mask and Hair | El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas | Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje | Mexico City, Mexico | March 19, 1999 | [25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Misterioso | Anaheim, California, USA | September 5, 1999 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Nuevo Huracán Ramírez, Jr. | Celaya, Guanajuato | February 2, 2000 | [Note 6][3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Dr. Cerebro | Naucalpan, Mexico State | March 1, 2001 | [25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Nicho "el Millonario" | Tijuana, Baja California | April 6, 2001 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Scorpio, Jr. | Naucalpan, Mexico State | December 19, 2002 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Super Parka | Tijuana, Baja California | October 9, 2003 | [25] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Hijo del Cobarde | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | February 29, 2004 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Dandy | Tijuana, Baja California | October 29, 2004 | [3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Scorpio, Jr. | Los Angeles, California, USA | July 16, 2005 | [3] |
Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Cyber Vikingo | Monterrey, Nuevo León | August 21, 2005 | [Note 7][3] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Mano Negra | Tijuana, Baja California | November 26, 2006 | [25] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Cassandro | Los Angeles, California, USA | July 14, 2007 | [Note 8] |
Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Mano Negra | Tijuana, Baja California | November 26, 2006 | [Note 9][12] |
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