As Charro
Profile
| As Charro (Ace Horseman) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
As Charro was born on June 8th, 1949 in Michoacán, Mexico. He said he was made fun of as a child due to his surname of "Huaracha". He started practicing greco-roman wrestling in 1961 and won a national title in it.
He was trained by El Lince, Felipe Ham Lee and Florentino Martinez. He debuted on the independents at the age of 15 in June 1964 when he was known as "Apache Lopez". He later met a wrestler named Yuma, and the two decided to form a team with Charro taking on the "Yuma II" name. The team broke up by 1971 when Charro moved back to Mexico City.
He settled on the name of "As Charro" in 1972, which means "Ace Horseman". The name refers to a "Charro", which is a Mexican cowboy or a horseman. He wore a mask with a large black ace and often wore a Mexican poncho that had his mask on it. The gimmick was created by Valente Pérez, who ran Lucha Libre magazine.
He lost his mask on July 30th, 1973 in an unusual situation. Angel Infernal ripped Charro's mask and prior to the 3rd fall, Charro went to the back to get a new mask. When he returned, he had been counted out and declared the loser of the match. Charro protested this decision with the lucha libre commission, and the decision was later overturned. While this process went on, he competed as "Barba Roja", which means "Red Beard", and was likely a pirate gimmick. According to Charro, the gimmick was recommended to him by El Caballero Tigre.
He made some appearances for EMLL in 1975, but during a match with Demonio Blanco, he broke a bottle over Blanco's head and glass from the bottle was left on the floor. An un-named wrestler stepped in it and the two later had a fight over it that led to Charro getting suspended from EMLL for a while. On October 11th, 1975, he grabbed one of the first major wins of his career when he and Gallo Tapado defeated Chicano Power and Sangre Fria for their masks in a 16 man double mask vs mask tournament that also had money on the line. The win was no small feat as both Fria and Chicano were frequent cover stars of the Lucha Libre magazine. The win helped jump start Charro's career as he soon started appearing on bigger shows. Weeks later on November 1st, 1975, he won the mask of El Polaco, who would go on to become El Cuchillo.
On January 14th, 1977, Charro and Adorable Rubi made it to the finals of a one-night tag team tournament where they were defeated by Cachorro Mendoza and Ringo Mendoza. He soon after started teaming up with Sangre Chicana. The pair started feuded with Los Tigres del Ring and took their masks in a double mask vs mask match on January 16th, 1977. He was defeated by Demonio Blanco in the first round of a tournament for the Mexican Middleweight Championship on March 25th, 1977. The pair had met many times and Charro was considered one of Blanco's best rivals.
He started feuding with Chino Chow in April 1977 and the pair met in a mask vs hair match on May 15th, 1977, which Charro won. Charro also had another shot at the Mexican National Middleweight Championship on July 29th, 1977, but was again defeated by Jose Luis Mendieta. Medietta would go onto to become more well known as Rambo. He closed out 1977 by making it to the finals of a tag team tournament where he and partner Huroki Sito were disqualified against Dardo Aguilar and Mano Negra.
He received a rare shot at Harley Race's NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated on April 21st, 1978. Two days later, he challenged for Solar's UWA World Welterweight Championship, but again could not win it. His 1978 did end on a solid note though, as he captured the hair of Principe Azteca on October 22nd, 1978. He also captured the hair of El Polaco (after taking his mask years earlier) on December 31st, 1978.
Charro was involved in the July 12th, 1981, Ruleta de la Muerte with each team putting their masks on the line. The show had a star-studded line-up with Los Villanos, El Santo and Blue Demon as a team, plus Canek, Fishman and others and drew over 27,000 fans. Charro had Anibal as his partner and the pair barely escaped in the three team final round by defeating Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata. Later that year, he captured the hair of Luis Mariscal, though the exact date is unknown. On June 12th, 1983, he beat Dr. O'Borman Sr. for his hair, which was either the last or one of the last apuestas matches for the legendary luchador.
Charro was known for taking many wild bumps throughout his career and was famous for his Patada Charra kick. This has become known as the Rider Kick in Western circles, due to its use in the kid's series, Kamen Rider. The kick forces the attacker to land hard on their hip and back and this bump amongst others, shortened his career.
He lost his mask to Mogur at EMLL's 54th Anniversary Show as Mogur was seen as a possible future star at the time. Charro had finished up with EMLL by 1988 and his only real highlight of the year was capturing the Distrito Federal Heavyweight Championship over Jaque Mate on May 29th, 1988. He lost his hair to a young Konnan on February 24th, 1989, which was said to be a bad match and later also lost his hair to a wrestler named Universo on April 28th, 1991. He began competing as "El Violento" around this name, which he thought fit his style well.
He retired in 1996 due to hip problems and later became involved with physical therapy. He had a brother named Charro de Jalisco, who wore a similar looking mask with an ace on it and whom he was often teamed with. In 2015, a wrestler named Diamante took up the As Charro name. Also around 2015, a wrestler who claims to be Charro's nephew appeared under the name as Nuevo As Charro.
As Charro passed away on April 28th, 2018, at the age of 68.
Luchas de apuestas record
| Date | Apuesta | Winner(s) | Loser(s) | Arena and/or Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973/07/30 | mask[1] | Angel Infernal | As Charro | Cancha de San Pedro - Puebla, Puebla |
| 75/10/11 | masks (1) | As Charro & Gallo Tapado | Chicano Power & Sangre Fría | Plaza México - Mexico City |
| 75/11/01 | hair | As Charro | El Polaco | Arena Xochimilco - Xochimilco, Mexico City |
| 77/01/16 | masks | Sangre Chicana & As Charro | Los Tigres del Ring | Plaza de Toros - Torreón, Coahuila |
| 77/05/15 | hair | As Charro | Chino Chow | Arena Coliseo - Mexico City |
| 78/10/22 | hair | As Charro | Príncipe Azteca | Tlalnepantla |
| 78/11/01 | hair | As Charro | El Polaco | Mexico City |
| 81/??/?? | hair | As Charro | Luis Mariscal | unknown |
| 83/06/12 | hair | As Charro | Dr. O'Borman | Arena Puebla - Puebla, Puebla |
| 87/09/18 | mask | Mogur | As Charro | Arena México - Mexico City |
| 89/02/24 | hair | Konnan | As Charro | Auditorio de Tijuana - Tijuana, Baja California |
| 91/04/28 | hair | Universo | As Charro | Arena Xalapa - Xalapa, Veracruz |
| (1) 16 men tag team Torneo de la Muerte | ||||
- ↑ [Box y Lucha #1073 August 10, 1973]
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