Atlantis | |
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Atlantis with a couple of fans
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Born |
Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico |
September 28, 1962
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Atlantis |
Billed height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
Billed weight | 82 kg (181 lb) |
Billed from | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico |
Trained by | Diablo Velazco |
Debut | June 12, 1983 |
Atlantis (born September 28, 1962) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado (masked professional wrestler), working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) where he performs as a Técnico (face or "good guy" character). Atlantis was trained by Diablo Velasco, made his in-ring debut in 1983 and has always wrestled under the ring name Atlantis, named after the sunken city of Atlantis. Atlantis has held a large number of professional wrestling championships over the years, both in Mexico and in Japan, both individually and as a tag team. He has also won the mask of several prominent wrestlers through his career including Kung Fu, Villano III, Último Guerrero and La Sombra.
Atlantis earned the nickname El idolo de los Niños (The idol of the children) as he was always a favorite with the younger fans. He even retained the nickname when he worked as a Rudo (a wrestler who portrays the bad guy) for several years Atlantis' 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. In the 1990s Atlantis starred in a couple of Lucha films, including one where he teamed up with Octagón called Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the revenge").
Atlantis made his professional wrestling debut on June 12, 1983, after training under world-renowned Mexican wrestling trainer Diablo Velazco for just under a year. He adopted the masked ring persona of "Atlantis", a supposed warrior from the lost city of Atlantis, complete with a mask that had the image of two fish on it. After working for various Mexican promotions for the first year of his career Atlantis became a regular for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), Mexico's oldest professional wrestling promotion. On November 30, 1984, Atlantis defeated Jerry Estrada to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, the first wrestling title of his career. Atlantis held the Middleweight title for 457 days, with several high profile title defenses that helped establish the young wrestler's reputation for good matches. On March 2, 1986 Atlantis lost the Middleweight title to Talismán. By 1988 Atlantis had formed a regular tag team with Ángel Azteca and on March 6, 1988, the duo defeated Los Infernales (Masakre and MS-1 to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship. Three months later Atlantis became a double champion when he defeated Kung Fu to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship, the highest championship in the middleweight division. Atlantis only held the title for 37 days before losing it to Emilio Charles, Jr. in his firstdefense. He quickly regained the title, defeating Charles, Jr. on July 20, 1988, and held it for two weeks before losing the title back to Emilio Charles, Jr. On May 25, 1990, after an 811-day reign, Atlantis and Ángel Azteca lost the Mexican Nation Tag Team Championship to Pierroth Jr. and Bestia Salvaje. The loss of the title was used as a storyline motivation for Ángel Azteca turning Rudo (villain or heel by attacking Atlantis. The feud between the two continued off and on over the years until Ángel Azteca's death in 2007. The two fought in several intense and bloody battles, but remained close friends backstage.