Espanto III

Espanto III
Vázquez wearing the distinctive Espanto mask, from the cover of a wrestling magazine in 1964
Birth name	Miguel Vázquez Bernal[1]
Born	February 11, 1940[1] Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico[1]
Died	December 8, 1996 (aged 56)[1] Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico[1]
Cause of death	Heart attack[1]
Children	Espanto IV and V (sons)[2]
Family	José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (brother)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Mickey Vázquez Espanto III "Miguel Vázquez Cisneros"
Debut	before November 13, 1962
Retired	1984[1]

Miguel "Miguelito" Vázquez Bernal (February 11, 1940 – December 8, 1996), was a Mexican luchador or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto III ("Terror 3"). During his career in lucha libre he formed a long running, successful trio known as Los Espantos ("The Terrors") with his brother José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (known as Espanto I) and Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (Espanto II).

Los Espantos was one of the first examples of an identical trio, where all three members of the team used the same name, mask and wrestling gear only distinguished by a number. After his retirement he trained his sons for a professional wrestling career, following in his footsteps as Espanto IV and Espanto V.

Early life

Miguel Vázquez Bernal, affectionately known as "Miguelito" to his friends and family, was born on February 11, 1940 in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. He was seven years younger than his brother José Eusebio and possibly had more brothers or sisters. José Eusebio became a professional wrestler or luchador around 1953, which inspired his younger brother to also follow in his footsteps when he was old enough.

Professional wrestling career

Miguel Vázquez trained for his professional wrestling career in the local wrestling school in Torreón, the ame place where his brother José Eusebio first stepped inside a wrestling ring. Records are unclear on exactly when he made his in-ring debut, but records show that he worked as "Mickey Vázquez" in the early 1960s.^[1]

Los Espantos

In 1958 or 1959 José Eusebio had begun working as "El Espanto" ("The Terror") and a short time after José Eusebio's best friend Fernando Cisneros Carrillo adopted the character Espanto II, becoming a regular tag team known as Los Espantos.^[3] By November 1962 both Espanto I and Espanto II had lost their maks in Lucha de Apuestas, or bet matches.^[3] At this point Miguel Vázquez donned the distinctive black and white mask of Los Espantos and became Espanto III. With the addition of Espanto III Los Espantos' became a regular trio, one of the first ever trios to work as an "identical trio", using the same name ony with numbers to distinguish themselves, a tradition that exists even today in lucha libre.^[4] Initially he mainly supported Espanto I and II as they fought against rivals El Santo and Rubén Juárez respectively, serving as their corner man during Lucha de Apuestas , or "bet matches".^[3][5] Not long after his debut as Espanto III, he won his first Lucha de Apuestas, defeating Javier Escobedo on a show in Guadalajara, Jalisco, forcing Escobedo to be shaved bald as a result.^[3]

The Los Espantos trio got their biggest win ever when they defeated the "dream team" of Mexican tecnicos (those that portray the good guys) El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras/^[1] In the early parts of 1964 Espanto III won two additional Lucha de Apuestas matches, laving both Alex Montaña and Humberto Garza without their hair as a result.^[3] The Apuesta wins were used to build a storyline feud between Espanto III and Huracán Ramírez through the first half of 1964. The storyline came to a conclusion on June 12, 1964 where Espanto III was unmasked after losing a Lucha de Apuestas match to Ramírez. It should be noted that as each Espanto lost their mask they claimed that their last name was "Vázquez Cisneros", combining their last names to hide the fact that they were not all brothers.^[3]

On May 30, 1968 Miguel's older brother José , as well as fellow wrestler Popeye Franco, was killed by the owner of a cantina during a bar fight. At the time of his death, Los Espantos were set to do a world tour with dates planned for Germany, France, Spain and Japan. The promoters offered Espanto II the opportunity to go alone or with Espanto III, but he declined due to the loss of his close friend. After the death of his brother, Miguel wrestled less regularly and by the early 1970s both Miguel and Cisneros became semi-retired from wrestling, working only a limited schedule in Northern Mexico. As Espanto II and III, the duo held the Northern Tag Team Championship at one point in the 1970s before Espanto II retired in 1979.^[1] At one point during the 1970s Espanto III lost a Lucha de Apuestas match to La Sombra,^{[Note 1]} marking the first time he had to shaved his hair off as a result of losing a Lucha de Apuestas match.^[3] In 1984 he lost another Lucha de Apuestas match, to Black Charly. A short time later he retired from wrestling.^[3]

Personal life

After his retirement from in-ring competition Vázquez took part in training for a professional wrestling career, they would eventually become known as Espanto IV and Espanto V. On December 8, 1996 Miguel Vázquez died from a heart attack in his hometown of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.^[1][6][2]

Legacy

The Los Espantos trio influenced several subsequent teams and individual wrestlers to use the Espanto name, not just limited to his sons Espanto IV and V. In 1984 Vázquez and Cisneros allowed Jesús Andrade Salas to adopt the identify of "Espanto Jr.", who was presented as the son of Espanto I and wore the signature black and white mask of Los Espantos.^[7] Andrade would be succeeded by his son, who in 2012 also began working as Espanto Jr.^[8] The surviving Espantos also gave permissionfor Los Hijos del Espanto to use the name and masks.^[9] in 1998 Cisneros, as the last surviving Espanto endorse the Mini-Estrella El Espantito ("The Little Terror"), to use the name and mask.^[10]

Championships and accomplishments

• Chihuahua State wrestling

• Northern Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[1]
• Northern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Espanto II^[1]
• Ciudad Juárez Lucha Libre Hall of Fame (2010)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date	Notes
Espanto III (mask)	Javier Escobedo (hair)	Guadalajara, Jalisco	Independent Show	1962	[3]
Espanto III (mask)	Alex Montaña (hair)	Tampico, Tamaulipas	Independent Show	1964	[3]
Espanto III (mask)	Humberto Garza (hair)	Mexico City	EMLL Show	May 1, 1964	[3]
Huracán Ramírez (mask)	Espanto III (mask)	Mexico City	EMLL Show	June 12, 1964	[3]
La Sombra (hair)[Note 1]	Espanto III (hair)	Torreón, Coahuila	Independent Show	1970s	[3]
Black Charly (hair)	Espanto III (hair)	Torreón, Coahuila	Independent Show	1984	[3]

Footnotes

1. Not the same wrestler as the most recent La Sombra.

References

1. "Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre". Espanto I (in Spanish) (Portales, Mexico). November 2008. p. 23. 17.
2. Madigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizare & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
3. Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Los Espantos (in Spanish) (Mexico). pp. 27–28. Tomo II.
4. Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
5. Encyclopedia staff (October 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Santo (in Spanish) (Mexico). pp. 29–30. Tomo IV.
6. Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espanto IV y V (in Spanish) (Mexico). p. 29. Tomo II.
7. Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espanto Jr. (in Spanish) (Mexico). p. 30. Tomo II.
8. "Confecencia de prensa 79 aniversario del CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. August 27, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
9. Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Los Hijos del Espanto (in Spanish) (Mexico). p. 44. Tomo II.
10. Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espantito (in Spanish) (Mexico). p. 31. Tomo II.