Black Man
Profile
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Biography
The best worker (by a mile) from the legendary trio Los Fantásticos, but also the lesser star. Trained in his native Guadalajara with Diablo Velazco and was an lucha olimpica champion at 57 kg before switching to pro. Debuted in 1965 as La Gacela; magazines showcased him as doing pro-springboard moves and he had a small feud with lightweight champion Tauro. Also worked as Spider Man (sometimes shortened to Spider), and lost his mask to Dr. O'Borman in 1966 in Tijuana. He was a very good lightweight, but way too small to be a star.
Luckily for him, a decade later, Francisco Flores pushed talented lightweights to the moon. In 1977, he became Black Man and got a push on the Northern division and El Toreo later, winning the UWA Lightweight title on 09/10/78, defeating El Matemático in a rare 'técnico vs. técnico' tournament final that got rave reviews. He had the belt during three years and defended it 69 times. Formed a tag team with White Man (Alberto Muñoz), but later feuded with him and unmasked him.
After the initial 83-86 run of Los Fantásticos, Black Man stayed at El Toreo and tried to reform the team with Kendo and Avispón Negro (El Monarca) without success. He had an excellent feud with Blue Panther, who he defeated on 02/09/86 for the UWA Welterweight title, but lost his mask against him just a week later. After that, every Fantásticos reunion failed because only one of them had his mask.
On 04/91 he got himself a new mask and outfit as El Celestial. He was chubbier than before, but still could all his spots, including his trademark headstand on the corner. Well, until he realized people would notice who he is if he kept doing it. He won a few luchas de apuestas and the UWA Welterweight title with that name on 06/92, and lost it to Super Delfin (who he probably sold it to) on 05/93 in Japan. Also lost his Black Man mask to Super Delfin in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall on 03/13/93. After a guest stint as Celestial in IWRG on its first days in 1996 -he mentored a Blackmancito and a Whitemancito in the minis division of Naucalpan's promotion- he retired and moved to Monterrey where he owned a lucha gym and a restaurant. As a fun fact, he once was El Santo's high risk move double in a movie!
Luchas de apuestas record
Gallery