Blue Demon - Professional Wrestling Career

Professional Wrestling Career

A chance meeting with the famous Mexican wrestler Rolando Vera piqued his interest in Lucha Libre, Vera even offering to tutor him and help him start a career. He began wrestling without a mask in Laredo, Texas. His first match was against Chema Lopez on March 12, 1948, which he won handily. Adopting the mask and persona of The Blue Demon, he headed back to Mexico to start a real career. His first appearance as The Blue Demon was in Mexico City in September 1948, where he fought Benny Arcilla. Blue began his career in the ring as a rudo (a bad guy). From there, he formed a famous tag-team with another well-known masked luchador named The Black Shadow, and the two became known as Los Hermanos Shadow (The Shadow Brothers).

In 1952, the famous wrestler Santo beat and unmasked Black Shadow in the ring, which triggered Blue's decision to become a técnico (a good guy) in the ring, and a legendary feud between The Blue Demon and Santo that culminated in Blue's beating el Santo in a well-publicized series of matches in 1952 and another in 1953. In 1953, Blue won the NWA World Welterweight Championship from Santo, and held it until 1958. Their rivalry never entirely abated in later years (although they co-starred over the years in a number of Mexican horror films) since Santo always remembered his defeat at the Blue Demon's hands.

During the 1960s, one of Blue Demon's greatest rivals was el Rayo de Jalisco. In 1988, the year he retired, Blue Demon finally beat Jalisco in a mask vs. mask match, taking the mask of another of Mexico's wrestling legends.