El Solitario
| El Solitario | |
|---|---|
El Solitario in his trademark golden mask
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| Birth name | Roberto González Cruz |
| Born |
May 22, 1946 Yahualica, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Died | April 6, 1986 (aged 39) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Hijo del Santo El Solitario El Zica El Zica II Othon Banzica II |
| Trained by | Joe El Hermoso |
| Debut | 1960 |
Roberto González Cruz (May 22, 1946 – April 6, 1986) was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled under the name El Solitario. During his career he held both the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship. After achieving stardom in Mexico's oldest promotion, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, Cruz joined the breakaway promotion, the Universal Wrestling Association, where he held four more world championships in the early 1980s.
Cruz came from a working-class family and was the youngest of seven children. At the age of twelve, his older brother Jesús, who was also a professional wrestler, began teaching him basic wrestling moves. In 1959, Cruz's brother was killed in the ring while wrestling as Othon Banzica, but rather than becoming deterred, Cruz drew inspiration from his death and dedicated himself to lucha libre. He began training under the tutelage of Joe el Hermoso and made his wrestling debut in 1960 at the age of fourteen.
Cruz was initially billed as being the son of the legendary wrestler El Santo but later changed his name to El Zica II in honor of his deceased brother.
Cruz moved to Tijuana to pursue his career as a luchador but had a difficult time finding regular work as he was young and still small at the time. He continued working local arenas until he began making a name for himself as he grew physically and refined his wrestling skills. Cruz realized that in order to take his career to the next level, he would have to select a more crowd pleasing name and character. He chose the name El Solitario, derived from the popular comic book character El Llanero Solitario ("The Lone Ranger"'). He also adopted his now trademark gold and black colored costume and golden mask with a fringe around the eyes representing the Lone Ranger's mask. After the change, promoters and fans took notice of the new dynamic wrestler.
On November 16, 1965, El Solitario faced Panchito Ramirez in Arena Coliseo located in Guadalajara. He would make his debut in Arena Coliseo Mexico City on September 6, 1966, when he defeated Tony Reyna. In 1966, El Solitario defeated and unmasked Águila Tapatía, that was followed by a win over Mano Blanca. He won his first world title when he defeated Occident Welterweight champion Luís González.
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