| Valiente | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Valiente |
| Billed height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 92 kg (200 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | Mexico City, Mexico[1] |
| Trained by | Fuerza Aerea[2] Hijo del Gladiador[2] Guerrero del Futuro[2] Franco Colombo[2] |
| Debut | May 30, 1996[2] |
Valiente is a Mexican luchador enmáscarado, or masked professional wrestler, and is mainly known for his work in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Valiente's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.[3] Valiente is Spanish for "Valiant", expressed by the sword icon on his mask.[4] Valiente won the 2008 Rey del Aire and is a former Mexican National Welterweight Champion.
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Valiente made his debut in 1996, working on the Mexican independent circuit. After not making much headway Valiente actually retired from professional wrestling in the late 1990s. After almost five years away from the ring Valiente returned to wrestling in the early 2000s, hoping to make a name for himself.[5]
By 2005 Valiente began working regularly for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) while also training under Hijo del Gladiador and Guerrero del Futuro to hone his skills. Valiente worked as a low to mid-card wrestler, a high flying tecnico (good guy or face character) who's high risk moves contradicted his short, overweight stature.[5] Valiente took part in the 2006 Reyes del Aire (Spanish for "Kings of the Air") tournament, unfortunately he was the first wrestler eliminated.[6] Valiente also participated in the Reyes del Aire in 2007, eliminating Nova before being eliminated himself.[7] Valiente also earned a spot at that year's Anniversary show, teaming with Métalico and Stuka, Jr. to defeat Los Infernales (Euforia and Nosferatu) and Loco Max, with Valiente making the winning pin on Euforia.[8]
After participating in all previous Reyes del Aire except the first one, 2008 was finally Valiente's year to shine as he outlasted Loco Max, Stuka Jr., Virus, Flash, Diamante Negro, Máscara Purpura, Euforia, Ephesto, Volador, Jr., Mr. Águila, La Máscara, Misterioso, Jr., La Sombra and Sangre Azteca.[9] A month later Valiente worked CMLL's Infierno en el Ring event, teaming with Rocky Romero and El Sagrado in a losing effort against Averno, Mephisto and Ephesto.[10] 2008 turned out to be Valiente's "breakthrough" year, winning Reyes del Aire and making several major show appearances.[5] He even competed in the Leyenda de Azul tournament on December 12, 2008 but did not win.[11] In early 2009 Valiente became less visible, returning in mid-2009 after having lost excess weight, looking sleeker and more determined than ever. On August 16, 2009 Valiente defeated Sangre Azteca for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship, his first wrestling title.[12] By virtue of holding the Mexican National Welterweight Championship Valiente participated in the 2010 Universal Championship tournament. He was part of "Block B" that competed on the August 6, 2010 Super Viernes show where he was eliminated from the tournament when he lost to Volador, Jr. in the first round.[13] On July 15, 2011, Valiente lost the Mexican National Welterweight Championship to Pólvora, ending his reign at 698 days.[14] On November 24, 2011, Valiente won CMLL's annual Bodybuilding Contest and was as a result granted the nickname of "Mr. CMLL".[15]
Valiente was scheduled to make his first appearance for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Chikara as part of the 2010 King of Trios tournament that runs from April 23 - April 25 at The Arena in in Philadelphia. Valiente was to team with Skayde and Turbo to form "Team Mexico". Their first round opponents were scheduled to be Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Claudio Castagnoli, Ares and Tursas), Chikara's top heel group at the moment.[16] However, on April 22, Chikara announced that they no longer expected Valiente to honor his commitment with the company, after he stopped returning their phone calls and didn't board his flight to Philadelphia.[17] Doubts later arose if Skayde ever actually contacted Valiente about arrating the booking or not. In April 2010 it was announced that Valiente and Mascara Dorada would travel to Japan in early May to participate in New Japan Pro Wrestling's first ever Super J Tag Team tournament.[18] In the first round of the tournament they lost to former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Ryusuke Taguchi and Prince Devitt in just under eight minutes.[19] On January 4, 2012, Valiente returned to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he teamed with Atlantis, Taichi and Taka Michinoku in an eight man tag team match, where they were defeated by Jushin Liger, KUSHIDA, Máscara Dorada and Tiger Mask IV.[20]
Valiente is the uncle of wrestlers Valiente, Jr. and Hijo de Valiente, who asked Valiente's permission to use the name once he made his breakthrough in CMLL.[5]
| Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mask | Valiente | Explosion 2000 | Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes | January 11, 2007 | [Note 1][2][4] |
| Hair | Valiente | Sergio Romo, Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | March 12, 2008 | [Note 2][2][5] |