Black Panther | |
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Birth name | Unrevealed |
Born | Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico [1] |
Parent(s) | Blue Panther (father) |
Relatives |
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Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
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Billed height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) |
Billed weight | 84 kg (185 lb) |
Trained by |
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Debut | 2011 |
Dark Panther (born 1998) is the ring name of a Mexican luchador enmascarado (or masked professional wrestler), working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a tecnico ("Good guy") wrestling character. His 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. [3] He is the son of Genaro Vazquez Nevarez, better known as Blue Panther, and is a brother of wrestler Blue Panther Jr. and Chachorro Lagunero. Initially wrestling in secret under the ring name Silver, he adopted his father's former ring name Cachorro (Spanish for "Cub") in 2014, which played off the Blue Panther name. He has since changed his ring on three more occasions: firstly to The Panther (2014–2018), secondly to Black Panther (2018–2021), and then to his current ring name in 2021.
Black Panther is a son of professional wrestler, Genaro Vazquez Nevarez, better known under the ring name Blue Panther and a brother of Blue Panther Jr. and Chachorro Lagunero. [4] His full given name is not a matter of public record in accordance with Lucha libre traditions where the true identity of masked wrestlers is kept private whenever possible. [4] Both of Nevarez' oldest sons were featured in interviews around their father well before they became professional wrestlers, their names were never explicitly stated and they always wore the same Blue Panther mask that their father used to conceal their identifies and that of the then masked Nevarez. [5] He is the cousin of Jesus Toral López, better known as Black Warrior, a long time wrestler. While he wanted to become a professional wrestler, his father disapproved of the idea, while his mother supported him from the beginning. [1] In April 2020 a younger brother was introduced to the wrestling world, using the ring name Chachoro Lagunero ("The Lagunero Puppy"), wearing a version of his father's Blue Panther mask design. [2]
CMLL originally stated that the wrestler known as Black Panther made his professional wrestling debut in early 2014 when he began working under the "Cachorro" ring name, but later on revealed his true debut year as 2011. [6] In 2020, Black Panther revealed that he began training for a professional wrestling career without his father knowing about it. He made his debut, wrestling as the masked character "Silver" without the knowledge of anyone in his family. [1] When his father later discovered that his son was already a wrestler, he relented but asked his son to change his ring name to "Chachorro", like he himself has been known as early in his career. He was first introduced as "Cachorro" and wearing a black and white version of his father's Panther themed mask during a show to honor his father's 35th anniversary as a wrestler in the fall of 2013. At the time his older brother was also introduced to the wrestling world as Black Panther with a similar mask, but no announcement of his official CMLL debut date was given at the time.
Cachorro made his official in-ring debut under that name as one of 12 men to complete in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's 2014 La Copa Junior on January 1, 2014. All competitors were second, or third-generation wrestlers competing in a torneo cibernetico elimination match. Both Chachorro and Black Panther were on the rudo ("Bad guy") team to even out the numbers between the two sides. The match also included Canelo Casas, Dragon Lee, Hijo del Signo, Guerrero Negro Jr., Herodes Jr., Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr., Robin, Stigma and eventual tournament winner Super Halcón Jr. During the match Cachorro eliminated Dragon Lee, but was himself eliminated eighth by Super Halcón Jr. [7] Following La Copa Junior both Cachorro and Black Panther stated to team up with their father for six-man tag team matches, with the trio being billed as Los Divinos Laguneros ("The divine from the Lagoon"). They quickly began to face La Dinastia Casas ("The Casas Dynasty"; El Felino and his two sons Tiger and Puma), continuing a long running storyline between Blue Panther and the Casas family. Later that month Cachorro entered the 2014 Torneo Gran Alternativa ("Great Alternative") tournament, which is an annual tag team tournament that has a wrestling rookie team up with an experienced wrestler for the tournament. Cachorro was teamed up with his father for the tournament, defeating the team of El Rebelde (rookie) and Averno in the first round before losing to Oro Jr. (rookie) and La Sombra in the second round of the tournament. [8]
On March 23, Cachorro competed in a 16-man tornero cibernetico match, competing for one of eight spots in CMLL's annual En Busca de un Ídolo ("In search of an idol") tournament. Cachorro, along with Cavernario, Dragon Lee, Guerrero Negro Jr. Hechicero, Star Jr., Soberano Jr. and Super Halcón Jr. qualified for the tournament while Black Panther, Canelo Casas, El Rebelde, Espiritu Negro, Flyer, Herodes Jr., Metálico and Oro Jr. were all eliminated. [9] The first round of the tournament saw Cachorro face off against all 7 opponents in a round-robin tournament format. After the matches each wrestler was given points by a panel of judges as well as points off an online poll. After the first round Cachorro ended up ranked third, winning four of the matches, gaining 216 points from the judges and 137 points from the online poll. In the second round of the tournament Cachorro only defeated eventual tournament Cavernario and ended up in 4th place, 3 points behind 3rd place and 55 points behind the highest point scorer. [10] On August 25, it was announced that Cachorro would team up with fellow rookie Dragon Lee for the CMLL 81st Anniversary Show, marking Cachorro (and Dragon Lee's) first appearance at CMLL's Anniversary Show, the promotion's most important show of the year. They were scheduled to compete in the first match against the brother-duo of Puma and Tiger. [11]
"With his ability and being the son of Blue Panther, his future with his new name, The Panther, I see him as an almost sure-fire superstar for decades unless his ring style leads to early injuries that take him down."
Dave Meltzer on Cachorro in January 2015. [12]
During a press conference on November 19, Cachorro announced that he was changing his ring name to "The Panther" and adopting a new mask as well. At the same press conference, Black Panther announced he was taking the name "Blue Panther Jr." [13] On December 19, 2015 The Panther and Guerrero Maya Jr. teamed up to defeat La Comando Caribeño ("The Caribbean Commando"; Misterioso Jr. and Sagrado) to win the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, The Panther's first CMLL championship. [14] In the fall of 2015 The Panther became involved in a storyline rivalry with Súper Comando, a low ranked masked rudo, part of a team known as Los Hombres del Camuflaje . Over the course of several months the two often faced off on opposite sides of tag team and six-man matches, often with Súper Comando targeting his younger opponent, tearing his mask to push the storyline that he wanted to teach the rookie a lesson. [15] [16] In early December CMLL announced that Súper Comando and The Panther would joint 10 other wrestlers; Blue Panther Jr., Puma and Tiger, Cancerbero, Esfinge, Fuego, Pegasso, Raziel, Sangre Azteca and Tritón in the main event of the 2015 Infierno en el Ring show. [17] The Infierno en el Ring match came down to Súper Comando and The Panther being the last two wrestlers in the steel cage, with The Panther forcing Súper Comando to submit. Afterwards Súper Comando was forced to unmask and announce his real name. [18] In 2018, during a match on Arena Mexico's Tuesday show, the announcer kept calling The Panther "Black Panther", the first ring name of his brother.
In January 2016, The Panther made his Japanese debut by taking part in the CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) co-produced Fantastica Mania 2016 tour. [19] On the fifth show of the tour, he and The Panther successfully defended the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship against Bobby Z and Okumura. [20] On November 3, 2016 The Panther made his debut for the US based Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion at their Survival of the Fittest double show in Texas. On night one The Panther defeated Will Ferrara, Silas Young and Yohey to advance in the "Survival of the Fittest" tournament. [21] On the following night he lost a six-way match when he was eliminated by Dalton Castle in a match that was won by Bobby Fish. [22]
Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
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The Panther (mask) | Súper Comando (mask) | Mexico City, Mexico | Infierno en el Ring | December 25, 2015 | [a] [23] |
Genaro Vázquez Nevarez is a Mexican professional wrestler and trainer, best known under his ring name Blue Panther. He made his in-ring debut in 1978. Since then, he has worked for most major Mexican professional wrestling promotions, including the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración (AAA). He was one of the first wrestlers to leave CMLL for AAA when it was created in 1992, but returned to CMLL in 1997 where he has competed ever since.
José Leobardo Moreno León, better known by his ring name Euforia, is a Mexican luchador working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Euforia's real name was 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, until his unmasking at the 91st Anniversary show, against Hechicero. Euforia has a son, Soberano Jr., who also wrestles in CMLL.
Delta is a Mexican Luchadorenmascarado, or masked professional wrestler currently working for the Mexico City based professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Delta's 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. Delta is the son of wrestler Trueno and previously wrestled as Hijo del Trueno, his brother currently works for CMLL wrestling under the ring name Trueno like their father, although the family relationship has not been publicly acknowledged by CMLL.
Guerrero Maya Jr. is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, currently working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a tecnico wrestling character. Guerrero Maya Jr.'s 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. He is the son of Esteban Mares Castañeda, better known under the ring names Black Terry and Guerrero Maya. He has previously competed as the enmascarado characters Samba and Multifacético.
Los Hombres del Camuflaje was a Mexican sibling professional wrestling tag team consisting of Artillero and Súper Comando. The team is working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) portraying rudos wrestling characters. Los Hombres del Camuflaje are second generation wrestlers, sons of wrestler Principe Odin, with several of their brothers being professional wrestlers. Artillero is a Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler while Súper Comando worked as an enmascarado until December 25, 2015. Artillero's 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. Artillero and Super Comando are the brothers of CMLL low card wrestler Bengala, although it is not openly acknowledged by CMLL. The two used a military theme, reflected in their ring gear, mask and trunks which is at least partially camouflage.
Gran Guerrero is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is the current CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, in his first reign. He portrays a rudo wrestling character. He was originally introduced to the wrestling world under the ring name Último Guerrero Jr. in 2009 as the storyline son of Último Guerrero, and later made his wrestling debut under the name Taurus. In 2013 he was given a new image, re-introduced under the ring name "Gran Guerrero", officially acknowledging that he was the much younger brother of Último Guerrero. Gran Guerrero's 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.
Stigma is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) portraying a tecnico wrestling character. Stigma's 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. While his real name is not public knowledge it has been confirmed that he is the brother of CMLL wrestler Skándalo, son of former wrestler El Jabato and grandson of Manuel Robles, making him a third-generation wrestler.
Leonardo Moreno Ayala, better known by his ring name Bárbaro Cavernario, is a Mexican luchador, working for Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a rudo wrestling character.
The CMLL 81st Anniversary Show was a major professional wrestling event produced by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that took place on September 19, 2014, in CMLL's home arena Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico. The event commemorated the 81st anniversary of the creation of CMLL, which is the oldest professional wrestling promotion in the world. CMLL's anniversary show is their biggest, most important show of the year, comparable to the Super Bowl for the National Football League or WrestleMania for World Wrestling Entertainment. The CMLL Anniversary Show series is the longest-running annual professional wrestling show, starting in 1934.
Blue Panther Jr. is the ring name of a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, formerly known as Black Panther. He is working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) portraying a tecnico wrestling character. Blue Panther Jr's 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. He is the son of Genaro Vazquez Nevarez, better known as Blue Panther, and the older brother of wrestler The Panther.
Hechicero / Rey Hechicero is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. He portrays a rudo wrestling character. Hechicero has also made appearances on the Mexican independent circuit, as well as in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and in the United States for CMLL partner promotions Ring of Honor (ROH) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
In October 2014 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) held a total of five CMLL Super Viernes shows on Friday nights as there were no special events to replace their regular Friday night shows. Some of the matches from Super Viernes were taped for CMLL's weekly shows that air on television in Mexico in the following week. The first and second Super Viernes show in October featured the first and final rounds of the La Copa Junior VIP tournament, the second such tournament of 2014, which featured higher ranking wrestlers than the January 1, 2014 version. In the end Máximo defeated Mephisto to win the tournament. The October 31st Super Viernes saw the return of L.A. Park, who had not worked for CMLL since 2008, along with his son El Hijo de L.A. Park.
In November 2014 the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) will hold a total of five CMLL Super Viernes shows on Friday nights as they have not currently announced any special events to replace their regular Friday night shows. Some of the matches from Super Viernes are taped for CMLL's weekly shows that air on television in Mexico in the following week. The Super Viernes events features a varying number of professional wrestling matches, in which some wrestlers were involved in pre-existing scripted feuds or storylines and others were teamed up with no backstory reason as such. Wrestlers themselves portrayed either villains or fan favorites as they competed in matches with pre-determined outcomes.
Star Jr. is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is one-third of the CMLL World Trios Champion, and Major League Wrestling (MLW). He portrays a tecnico wrestling character. Star Jr.'s 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. Star Jr. is the son of professional wrestler Isaías Hernández Muñoz, who is better known under the ring name Star Boy, and previously worked as "Star Boy Jr." prior to working for CMLL. He has previously also worked under the ring names Apolo Múñoz and Tigre Mágico II.
Canelo Casas is the ring name of a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler currently working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) portraying a rudo wrestling character. His birth name has not been revealed, but he is a member of the extensive Casas wrestling family and a third-generation luchador, being the grandson of wrestler-turned-referee Pepe Casas and the nephew of Negro Casas, El Felino and Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal originally wrestled as Canelo Casas, but this Casas claims to not be a son but a nephew of the original Canelo Casas. He has previously worked as the masked character "Bengala" as well as "Canelo Casas, Jr."
Esfinge is the ring name of a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler, working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is the current Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion, in his first reign. Esfinge's 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. He is the son of professional wrestler Magnum and the grandson of wrestler "Halcon Furia" and has previously also worked under the name "Halcon Furia Jr." Esfinge is Spanish for Sphinx.
Flyer is the ring name of a Mexican Luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler. He is the grandson of Ramón Ibarra Banda who has wrestled as "Volador" and "Super Parka" over the years and the nephew of Ramón Ibarra Rivera who has wrestled all over the world as "Volador Jr.". Flyer currently works for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as a tecnico. El Flyer's full birth 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.
Infierno en el Ring (2015) was a major professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that will be produced by the Mexican lucha libre promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that took place on Friday December 25, 2015 in Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico. The show replaced CMLL's regularly scheduled CMLL Super Viernes show as is tradition with most of CMLL's signature events. The 2015 event marked the seventh time CMLL has held a show under that name with previous shows in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Each of the shows were main evented by a multi-man steel cage match, contested under Lucha de Apuestas, or bet match rules referred to as Infierno en el Ring. According to the rules the loser of the match, the last person to remain in the cage, would be forced to have his hair shaved off per Lucha Libre traditions.
The Torneo Gran Alternativa was a professional wrestling tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. The tournament was held on April 2, 1999, in Mexico City, Mexico at CMLL's main venue, Arena México. The Gran Alternativa tournament features tag teams composed of a rookie, or novato, and a veteran wrestler for an elimination tournament. The idea is to feature the novato wrestlers higher on the card that they usually work and help elevate one or more up the ranks. CMLL made the Torneo Gran Alternativa an annual event in 1995, only skipping it four times between 1994 and 2017. since it is a professional wrestling tournament, it is not won or lost competitively but instead by the decisions of the bookers of a wrestling promotion that is not publicized prior to the shows to maintain the illusion that professional wrestling is a competitive sport.
The Blue Panther 40th Anniversary Show, or more properly Funcion Homenaje Festejano los 40 Años de Blue Panther was a professional wrestling super card held on October 19, 2018. The show was produced and scripted by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and took place at Arena México in Mexico City, Mexico. The special edition of CMLL's Super Viernes show honored CMLL wrestler Blue Panther for his 40th anniversary as a professional wrestler.