El Hijo del Santo
| El Hijo del Santo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 2, 1963 Mexico City |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Korak El Hijo del Santo |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (85 kg) |
| Trained by | Rafael Salamanca El Enfermero |
| Debut | February 6, 1982 |
El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint") is a Mexican professional wrestler and one of the most successful stars in Lucha Libre. He is the son of legendary wrestler/actor, El Santo
Career
"Santito," as he is sometimes referred, was the only one out of El Santo's eleven 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 as per his father's request. He shared his father's look, the silver mask, tights and cape, and moveset 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.
Early in his career, he was wrestled mainly for WWA (The Tijuana circuit) and UWA (a promotion that worked in the Mexico City area) but he did make his debut for EMLL (the promotion that later became Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre) in Arena Mexico in the summer of 1983. He also was voted 'Rookie of the Year."
He won his first title, the UWA World Lightweight title, on October 1985 and traded the title with Aristóteles. He next feuded with Espanto, Jr. (whose father feuded with the original El Santo) and Santo took his mask. Espanto took Santo's title but Santo regained it in 1988 and took Espanto's hair as well. 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 Welterweight title as well as the WWA Welterweight title. 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. 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 took Santo's WWA Welterweight title and won the National Welterweight title but Santo would come out on top of the feud and took both titles from Heavy before he lost them again to another young star, Psicosis.
His most memorable feud during his time with AAA was against the obnoxious American team, Los Gringos Locos. Eddie Guerrero's stiffer Japanese style offense, combined with Art Barr's cocky mannerisms made Los Gringos Locos a very exciting 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 Santito, leading to a hair vs. hair challenge for the When Worlds Collide Pay-Per-View. The match was changed at the last minute when Art Barr pleaded with AAA officials to be included on the show which would be broadcasted in the United States. The new match was a double hair vs. double mask match with Santo teaming with Octagón against Los Gringos. Santo and Octagón were victorious in the critically acclaimed match but it was the last stand for Los Gringos Locos. Art Barr died shortly afterwards and 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. Santo lost a match to Casas at the CMLL 63rd Anniversary show in September, 1996 via disqualification and took a brief hiatus. 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 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 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 Dandy and 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 in September 1997 where Casas and Santo faced off in a dramatic hair vs. mask match. Santo won the match and Santo began a slow face turn.
Although the angle was very successful and drew a lot of money for CMLL, Santo continued to wrestle as a babyface throughout the country, even teaming with Rey Mysterio in Tijuana. 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 Santo's partners, Villano III and Fuerza Guerrera turned on Santo. Scorpio, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje joined in on the beat down, leading Santo's next big feud.
Casas and Santo began teaming together and chased Scorpio and Salvaje's recently won CMLL Tag Team titles. Santo and Casas defeated Scorpio and Salvaje for the titles on February 5, 1999 by disqualification but Santo and Casas refused to accept the titles. The big match in the feud was a mask/hair vs. mask/hair tag match between the two teams. Santo and Casas were victorious and eventually took the tag titles as well. Santo would have a brief falling out with management and the tag titles were vacated. He returned and won the tag titles with Casas from Los Guerreros del Infierno (Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero) but later lost them back to Los Guerreros in 2002. 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 the rub to Místico 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 Santo retained and ended his tour with the company. Other than teaming with Místico and Último Dragón for a few matches at the end of the year, Santo has continued wrestling as an independent.
Other than his work as a wrestler, he is the subject of a comic book, starred in three films, the most recent being Infraterrestere in 2003, and appeared on the Mexican reality show Día de Perros.
Titles/Accomplishments
- 7-time WWA World Welterweight Champion
- 2-time UWA Welterweight Champion
- 3-time UWA World Lightweight Champion
- 1-time Mexican National Middleweight Champion
- 1-time Mexican National Middleweight Champion
- 1-time AAA/IWC/PNW World Tag Team Champion (with Octagón)
- 1-time Mexican National Trios Champion (with Super Muñeco & Ángel Azteca)
- 2-time CMLL World Tag Team Champion (with Negro Casas)
- 1-time WWA World Tag Team Champion (with Perro Aguayo, Jr.)
Lucha de Apuestas record
| Wager lost/won | Winner | Loser | Where | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Pierroth | Veracruz, Veracruz | 10/31/82 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Buitre | Pachuca, Hidalgo | 7/28/83 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Lobo Rubio | Veracruz, Veracruz | 10/28/83 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Galáctico | Pachuca, Hidalgo | 2/26/84 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Chamaco Castro | Panama City, Panama | 9/4/84 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Guerrero | Acapulco, Guerrero | 1/27/85 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Porro | Tijuana, Baja California | 2/26/85 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Richard | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 3/17/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Diluvio | Texcoco, Mexico State | 3/23/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Cosmonauta | Apatlaco, Mexico State | 3/30/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles I | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 7/28/85 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Tornado Negro | Tijuana, Baja California | 8/9/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles II | Acapulco, Guerrero | 11/27/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Ninja | Tijuana, Baja California | 12/13/85 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Tony | Veracruz, Veracruz | 12/18/85 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Skeletor | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 12/22/85 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Aristóteles I | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | 3/9/86 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 8/31/86 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Kato Kung Lee | Tijuana, Baja California | 8/31/86 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Flama Azul | Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico State | 1/30/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Black Terry | Iraputo, Guanajuato | 3/9/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Ray Richard | Morelia, Michoacán | 4/??/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Lobo Rubio | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 6/7/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Negro Casas | Los Angeles, California | 7/18/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto Jr. | Torreón, Coahuila | 8/2/87 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Silver King | Tijuana, Baja California | 11/13/87 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Principe Island (La Parka) | Apatlaco, Mexico State | 11/21/87 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Estudiante | Mexicali, Baja California | 3/28/88 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Tarahumara | Saltillo, Coahuila | 4/9/88 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 5/8/88 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | León Chino | Tijuana, Baja California | 8/19/88 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Brujo | San Lorenzo, Mexico State | 10/22/88 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Cuchillo | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 10/30/88 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Brujo | San Lorenzo, Mexico State | 11/26/88 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Starman | Cancún, Quintana Roo | 12/2/88 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | La Momia | Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca | 3/26/89 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Masdek | Tijuana, Baja California | 5/19/89 | 1 |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Espanto Jr. | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 9/17/89 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | All Star | Mexico City | 12/8/89 | 2 |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Tornado Negro | Tijuana, Baja California | 2/9/90 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Brazo de Oro | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 1/13/91 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Black Shadow Jr. | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 12/15/91 | 3 |
| Hairs | El Hijo del Santo & Octagón | Art Barr & Eddie Guerrero | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 11/6/94 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Dandy | Mexico City | 12/6/96 | 4 |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Negro Casas | Mexico City | 9/19/97 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Guerrero del Futuro | Mexico City | 7/17/98 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Gacela del Ring | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | 9/28/98 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Gacela del Ring | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | 12/6/98 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Asterisco | Reynosa, Tamaulipas | 12/20/98 | 5 |
| Mask & Hair | El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas | Scorpio, Jr. & Bestia Salvaje | Mexico City | 3/19/99 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Misterioso | Anaheim, California | 9/5/99 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Nuevo Huracán Ramírez Jr. | Ceyala, Guanajuato | 2/2/00 | 6 |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Dr. Cerebro | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 3/1/01 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Nicho el Millionario | Tijuana, Baja California | 4/6/01 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Scorpio, Jr. | Naucalpan, Mexico State | 12/19/02 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | Super Parka | Tijuana, Baja California | 10/9/03 | - |
| Mask | El Hijo del Santo | El Hijo del Cobarde | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua | 2/29/04 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | El Dandy | Tijuana, Baja California | 10/29/04 | - |
| Hair | El Hijo del Santo | Scorpio, Jr. | Los Angeles, California | 7/16/05 | - |
| mask | El Hijo del Santo | Vikingo del Futuro | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 8/21/05 | 7 |
- Three way match with León Chino
- Three way match with Fuerza Guerrera
- Relevos Suicidas match with Black Shadow and Santo vs. Octagón & Fuerza Guerrera
- Three way match with Negro Casas
- Three Way match with Felino
- Relevos Suicidas match with Santo & Huracán vs. Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera
- Six way cage match featuring Centurion Negro, Diluvio Negro I, Gato Volador and Silver Star
References
- 1 - La Arena bio