El Canek
| Canek | |
|---|---|
Canek greets a young fan.
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| Birth name | Felipe Estrada |
| Born |
June 19, 1952 Frontera, Tabasco, Mexico |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Kanek / Canek / El Canek El Universitario Príncipe Azul |
| Billed height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Billed weight | 110 kg (240 lb; 17 st) |
| Trained by | Felipe Ham Lee Indio Azteca Maciste El Remington I El Chacal |
| Debut | 1972 |
Felipe Estrada (born June 19, 1952), known as Canek or El Canek, is a Mexican luchador enmascarado or masked professional wrestler best known for the 20 years he worked for the Universal Wrestling Association where he held the UWA World Heavyweight Championship a total of 15 times. As the major heavyweight working for the Universal Wrestling Association promotion, he became one of Lucha Libre's biggest attractions during the 1980s especially through his high-profile matches against non-Mexicans that sold out numerous shows and led to the UWA using the same formula of "Canek vs. the foreigner" for over a decade. He made his debut in 1972 as "El Universitario" at the age of 18 and would later work under the name "Principe Azul" (Spanish for "The Blue Prince"). In 1973 he adopted the ring name El Canek, a name inspired by the Mayan Indian leader Jacinto Canek, that he has used ever since. While he has worked in Mexico for the majority of his career he has also made several, frequent, tours of Japan and has worked in the United States as well as Europe.
In Lucha Libre it is tradition to keep the real name of any masked wrestler secret from the general audience, the newspapers and magazines in Mexico do not speculate on them nor do they publish clear photos of their faces. In the case of El Canek his real name is known since he competed in a Mixed Martial Arts match where he was billed as "Felipe "El Canek" Estrada, and actually fought with his mask on. Estrada has one son who is also a luchador under the name El Hijo del Canek ("The Son of El Canek") and a second, much younger, son who was introduced as "Canek Jr." but who has not yet worked any matches. Outside of the UWA Estrada has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) and a host of other Mexican independent promotions and appeared on the 1997 Royal Rumble pay-per-view for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). He is a former holder of the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, CMLL World Tag Team Championship, CMLL World Trios Championship, IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and the 2002 Rey de Reyes.
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