Mil Mascaras | The Man of a Thousand Masks

In the colorful tapestry of professional wrestling history, one name has donned more colors across his face than most: Mil Mascaras. Masked in mystery, this larger-than-life figure transcended the squared circle to become a global wrestling sensation, captivating audiences with his extraordinary athleticism and unforgettable masked persona.

With a career that spanned over five decades and a legacy that continues to influence the world of professional wrestling, Mil Mascaras was more than just a wrestler; he was a symbol of Mexican wrestling tradition, a pioneer of lucha libre, and a timeless symbol of heroism and intrigue.

Mil Mascaras –
The Start of Something Special

Mil Mascaras’ journey to wrestling stardom began with his debut on the independent scene aged twenty in the city of Pachuca, Mexico, in 1963. It was a year of highs and lows across the world, though many would not have predicted the meteoric rise that would follow for the man in the mask. He paired up with ‘the black bullet’ Dorrel Dixon in a tag team match where they defeated Benny Galant and the notorious El Nazi.

Variations of this match would shape the early years of Mil Mascaras’ career, where he would team with experienced tecnicos such as Espanto II and the legendary Blue Demon to take on the pair and Karloff Lagarde.

The heavyweight and his various allies would not lose for over two years, even picking up the Torneo de Parejas trophy at EMLL in 1965 with his then-partner Black Shadow.

The first match where Mascaras was on the losing end would come only a week after his trophy win in a trios match with Dixon and Black Shadow against Henry Pilusso & Los Rebeldes (Karloff Lagarde & Rene Guajardo), with the latter duo in the opposing trio playing antagonist to Mascaras and Black Shadow for almost a year.

He would also have his first recorded singles matches against Los Rebeldes during the feud too, coming out on top both times.

By 1967, Mil Mascaras’ time on the apron was drawing to a close. Dory Dixon & Mil Mascaras were defeated in that year’s Torneo de Parejas by Henry Pilusso and Mascaras’ former partner Black Shadow.

From then on, Mascaras would be pushed by EMLL as a singles star and the focal point of any trios matches that featured him.

Mil Mascaras the Movie Star

EMLL knew that they had a star on their hands, and they were not the only ones who had realized Mascaras’ star potential. In 1966, Mil Mascaras made his big screen debut as the star of his self-titled movie.

Mexican cinema had entered a phase in which movies, especially horror movies, featured masked wrestlers, and Mil Mascaras fitted the bill for director Luis Enrique Vergara. The movie painted Mil Mascaras as a superhero, going as far as to give him an albeit tragic comic book-style origin story.

Prior to this, Vergara’s top movie stars El Santo and Blue Demon had left the movie scene for various reasons, creating an opening for Mascaras, which would see him star in nineteen movies from the sixties to the nineties with a final installment coming much later in 2007.

By all accounts, the movies that starred Mil Mascaras were received relatively well. The final installment, Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy, found its place at festivals all over the world as it was screened in English. The film remained somewhat of a cult classic for years after.

Across the Border

Wherever Mascaras went in Mexico, he was met with the fans’ adoration. The only thing that could make Mascaras an even bigger star in his home country was a title belt around his waist, and that’s exactly what EMLL gave him.

In January 1967, Mascaras won his first singles title, the Mexican National Light Heavyweight title, in a match against one of the top rudos in the company – Dr. Wagner.

He would then go on to successfully defend it against Espanto I and again in a rematch with Dr. Wagner before dropping the belt in Mexico City ten months later to El Nazi.

After losing his title and failing to regain it when the opportunity arose against Alfonso Dantes, Mil Mascaras’ future looked to be out of the title picture. Even so, his technical ability and unique mask designs sent crowds into a frenzy whenever he appeared.

Mil Mascaras found himself at the top of the card, the top of Mexico mentioned in the same breath as other superstars of lucha libre like El Santo. His name was on the lips of every wrestling fan in Mexico, and Mascaras had no intention of losing what he had worked so hard to gain.

Mil Mascaras had garnered interest from elsewhere, and not being one to shy away from the limelight, and he leapt at the chance to showcase his skills and image to new audiences across the border in California with the World Wrestling Alliance.

In a stint that lasted a year, he defeated Luke Graham in a wire fence match, sent Jim Osborne packing in a loser leaves California match, went back and forth with Freddie Blassie, and captured the WWA Americas Heavyweight title.

Mascaras would’ve been the last ever WWA heavyweight champion before the WWA merged with the NWA had he not dropped the belt to fellow countryman El Mongol.

The end of the sixties saw Mascaras return home to Mexico with EMLL to work a number of trios matches and compete in that year’s Torneo de Parejas with El Santo as his partner.

The legendary duo were unsuccessful in the tournament, and Mil Mascaras once again left to wrestle in the US, this time with the NWA in Hollywood.

Here Mil Mascaras would win the NWA Americas Tag Team titles with former rival Alfonso Dantes and would regain the Americas Heavyweight title, now under the NWA name, against the Sheik during the reign.

This marked the start of his first major rivalry in the NWA with Black Gordman and ‘Apache’ Bull Ramos in both tag team and singles competition. Each would pick up wins over one another, and the titles would change hands multiple times over the course of the year.

Next up for Mil Mascaras was the Great Kojika, a Japanese expert of both hardcore and death matches who still competes to this day for the promotion he co-founded – Big Japan Pro Wrestling.

Mil Mascaras would frequently team with Rocky Johnson to do battle with Kojika and whoever he could find to try and take the stars down. This rivalry ended in defeat for Mascaras, losing his title to Kojika in a cage match and failing to win the Pacific Coast Heavyweight title the following month against Don Carson.

Things didn’t get much better for Mascaras on the title scene. While he was booked strong in singles competition, Mascaras would only draw to Dory Funk Jr in a sixty-minute Iron Man match for Funk’s World Heavyweight title. Johnny Valentine’s Texas Heavyweight title also evaded Mascaras, who couldn’t pick up a win against the Cowboy.

Unable to find gold alone, Mascaras ended up back on the scene as a tag team competitor to some success with Ray Mendoza. Just when fans thought Mendoza had helped reinvigorate Mascaras after he finally beat Valentine for the title, Mascaras lost to Valentine again merely a week later.

Despite his losses, the NWA elevated Mascaras to new heights. Top stars from the US, Japan, and countries across the globe would share a ring with the masked star and from there, his name would spread around the world.

It wasn’t long before everyone wanted Mascaras at their events to show off his masks and the lucha libre style to their audiences too.

International Mask of Mystery

News of the Great Kojika defeating a mysterious masked wrestler who dived through the ropes and leapt from great heights had reached Asia. Soon the whole of Japan would join the world in wondering who the man behind the mask was and how he would perform against their own stars.

Mil Mascaras produced feats that a Japanese audience had never seen before. By no means was Mascaras the greatest of high flyers but in a country where planchas and suicidas were near enough unheard of, Mascaras brought a little taste of cruiserweight flash with his heavyweight style, making him an oddity in the country.

At the JWA Golden Series, Mil Mascaras would make his Japanese debut and go on to defeat a whole host of Japanese talent, including old rival Kojika. Mascaras was on the losing end only once in a tag match against the team of Giant Baba & Hiro Matsuda.

It was in the same year that Mil Mascaras became the first-ever masked wrestler to compete in Madison Square Garden when he defeated the Spoiler. This was a feat previously thought impossible due to New York’s strict laws, laws that were lifted specially for Mascaras so that he could compete.

Not long after, during a turbulent time in Japanese wrestling due to the fall of the JWA, Mascaras returned to the east in the All-Japan Giant Series and again in the Summer Action Series, where he would enjoy moderate success all over the country during a rivalry with the Destroyer.

This experience breathed new life into Mil Mascaras. The fans had the same admiration for him here as fans in his home country did and it was no secret or surprise that he coveted this feeling.

With his time in Japan coming to a close, Mascaras sought to return home to Mexico to ensure that he would not be simply left to collect dust in Mexican wrestling’s history books.

Sky High

Upon his return to Mexico, it became clear that both the bookers and the fans had not forgotten one of their brightest stars. Mil Mascaras worked on independent shows, reconnected with old allies and enemies in EMLL, and even featured on the debut show for the newest Mexican promotion at the time – the UWA.

Come 1975, he was featured on cards across Mexico with El Santo and El Solitario. While their appearances together were few and far between, fans couldn’t get enough of seeing their favorite legends on the same side and voted them as the team of the year.

He was also voted the most popular wrestler of the year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

His success in the ring in Mexico spilled over to other promotions under the NWA banner along with the then WWWF. Mascaras dominated the IWA back in the US and defended the IWA Heavyweight title multiple times in fierce rivalries with Eric the Red, Ivan Koloff, and Ernie Ladd.

The exact lineage of the title is unknown, though it was synonymous with Mascaras, who held and defended the title well after the Ohio promotion had closed down.

These victories solidified Mil Mascaras as a real main-event player in the States, something he had likely hoped to have been much earlier. Before long, Mascaras became the WWWF champion, defeating ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham at Madison Square Garden during a feud that saw Mascaras accused of refusing to take the fall for Graham.

He graced the rings of promotions, both known and unknown, making sure that wherever you went, you would hear a tale of the man with an M on his mask.

Even All-Japan could not resist the temptation to bring Mascaras back, setting him up for another lengthy feud with the Destroyer and a tag team run with his talented brother Dos Caras.

This turned out to be a wise move by All-Japan as Mascaras would stay with them through the seventies into the mid-eighties. Tokyo Sports even rated Mil Mascaras’ match with Jumbo Tsuruta as the match of the year in 1977.

The eighties saw Mil Mascaras join the then-WWF as the untouchable international superstar that he was. The masked man would dispatch wrestlers in a timely fashion each week as Peter Maivia, Sgt. Slaughter, George ‘the Animal’ Steele, and many more fell victim to Mascaras’ diving crossbody.

The nineties followed, and much changed in the wrestling world. The collapse of the NWA, the creation of AAA in Mexico, and the creation of Genichiro Tenryu’s new promotion WAR in Tokyo, yet one thing remained the same, and that was the success that kept coming for the aging Mil Mascaras.

Mascaras stayed active in Japan for Tenryu’s promotion and made frequent appearances for both CMLL and AAA, where he would continue to successfully defend his IWA Heavyweight title.

His tenure in the US looked to have reached its end until one January in 1997, Mil Mascaras made his return at the Royal Rumble in that year’s Royal Rumble match. Mascaras immediately went to work on the Sultan, taking him down with a flying cross chop.

The return of Mil Mascaras was not the only surprise for audiences that night as, after eliminating Pierroth from the match, Mil Mascaras climbed to the top turnbuckle and eliminated himself by diving onto the man he had just thrown over the top rope.

The Later Years

By the turn of the century, Mil Mascaras was in his late fifties and still more than happy to go to the top rope week after week in his home country. Occasionally Mascaras would return to the US and Japan for one-off, usually tag or trios, matches.

By 2004, Mascaras had stopped wrestling weekly and only appeared in-ring every few months. Even still, the gold was never too far away for Mascaras as he defended his coveted IWA World Heavyweight title against Canek and, in 2008, even won the Eight-Man Tag Team Titles with his brother Dos Caras, Perro Aguayo & Sicodelico Jr. in FCW.

Not long after, in 2012, Mil Mascaras was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his nephew, then known as Alberto Del Rio.

This string of occasional matches continued well into the 2010s, where Mil Mascaras would defend his IWA World Heavyweight title once more in Mexico and lastly, in 2016, during a long-running feud with NOSAWA Rongai, where Mascaras and Dos Caras added another belt, the Tokyo World Tag Team Title, to their collection.

Mil Mascaras’ final match was in March 2019, where he, along with Captain Atomo and Dragon Lee defeated La Bestia Del Ring, Rey Bucanero & Valiente in a trios match at Lucha Libre Acapulco in Acapulco.

What the Pros Say

Mil Mascaras’ Hall of Fame career spanned an astonishing five decades where he worked with many of the all-time greats, a category he can no doubt place himself into.

Stars had differing views on Mascaras; each most respected the career he had, but some have suggested that Mascaras was not always the easiest to work with.

Chris Jericho mentioned Mil Mascaras in his autobiography, A Lion’s Tale: Around The World In Spandex, as Jericho had spent some time in Mexico during the early nineties. Jericho called Mascaras ‘rotten’ and that,

“He didn’t want my partner or me to do any offensive moves… he did nothing in the ring besides flexing his saggy pectorals and dancing around like he had antalones in his pantalones. But the massive crowd went nuts for him anyway.”

Clash of the Champions X played host to Mil Mascaras vs. Cactus Jack Manson (Mick Foley), where Mil Mascaras defeated Manson in a match where Foley took a horrific bump to the back of his head when Mascaras drop-kicked him off the apron.

In Foley’s autobiography, Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Foley states that he

“found him to be selfish, redundant, and lousy. He seemed too afraid to pull off any high-impact move and didn’t trust his opponents.

I wondered if having the ability to suck in your stomach and walk on your tiptoes for twenty-five years was really all it took to become a legend in this business.”

Mil Mascaras responded to such criticisms by saying that

“If a guy doesn’t execute a move, I don’t pretend that he did. If I miss a move, then I don’t ask anyone to make me look good.”

On the other hand, Mascaras’ proud nephew, Alberto Del Rio, said at the 2012 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that Mascaras’ induction was

“so important for my entire family… for my entire country. We don’t have too many successful people from Mexico, and my uncle is one of them.”

Mil Mascaras – His Place in History

Not many can say they have had a career like Mil Mascaras. Maybe no one can. In another life, Mil Mascaras could’ve been an Olympian in 1964 had he not walked away from it over a pay dispute.

Instead, under Diablo Velasco in Mexico’s biggest wrestling school at the Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara, Mil Mascaras became an icon of the ring and later a star of Mexican film.

Mil Mascaras, the man of a thousand masks, has left his unique mark on the world of professional wrestling. His journey from the indies in Pachuca to the grand stage of Madison Square Garden and beyond is a testament to his legacy.

A flawless Luchas de Apuestas record where, amongst others, he took the prestigious masks of Gran Markus Jr, El Halcón (twice), and the hair of Alfonso Dantes only added to his legend.

Though opinions about working with Mascaras may vary, there’s no denying his immense impact on the wrestling world.

He defied gravity with his aerial maneuvers, displaying a style that was ahead of its time. Mascaras’ influence extended to the global stage, making him a sought-after attraction for promotions worldwide.

From his early days in Mexico to his final appearance in the ring, he remained a source of pride for Mexico and for fans around the world.

Mil Mascaras’ induction into the WWE Hall of Fame was a fitting tribute to a man who lived the dreams of many, and as we reflect on his storied career, we end with a quote from Mil Mascaras at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony:

“In my profession, I paid the price, but the prize is beautiful.”

Notes:

• Mascaras’ quote on why he didn’t sell comes from an issue of Filmfax in 2012: