El Santo

This article is about the 20th-century wrestler and actor. For the medieval Spanish English king, see Ferdinand III of Castile. For other uses, see Santo (disambiguation).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Guzmán and the second or maternal family name is Huerta.
El Santo
El Santo, c. 1960s
Born
Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta

(1917 -09-23)23 September 1917
Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico
Died5 February 1984(1984-02-05) (aged 66)
Mexico City, Mexico
Resting placeMausoleos del Ángel, Mexico City
Spouses
María de los Ángeles Rodríguez
​
​
(m. 1942; div. 1975)​
Mara Vallejo Badager
​
​
(m. 1981⁠–⁠1984)​
Children11, including El Hijo del Santo
Family
  • Black Guzmán (brother)
  • Pantera Negra (brother)
  • Jimmy Guzmán (brother)
  • Axxel (grandson)
  • Santo Jr. (grandson)
  • Rocker II (grandson)
Ring name(s)El Demonio Negro
El Enmascarado
Hombre Rojo
Murciélago Enmascarado II
Rudy Guzmán
Ruddy Guzmán
El Santo
Billed height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Billed weight95 kg (209 lb)[1]
Trained byBlack Guzmán
Debut1934 or 1935
Retired1982
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Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), best known by his ring name El Santo (English: "The Saint"), was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (or masked professional wrestler), actor and folk hero. He is one of the most famous and iconic Mexican luchadores, and has been referred to as one of "the greatest legends in Mexican sports". His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became a folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in luchador films and comic books telling fictionalized stories of El Santo fighting for justice.[2][3] He starred or co-starred in at least 53 movies between 1958 and 1982.[4]

During his career, he mainly wrestled for Mexican promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, where he won the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship,[5] Mexican National Middleweight Championship,[6] Mexican National Tag Team Championship[7] with Rayo de Jalisco, Mexican National Welterweight Championship,[8] NWA World Middleweight Championship and the NWA World Welterweight Championship.[9] Early in his career, he worked under a variety of ring names and gimmicks both masked and unmasked, before becoming El Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata ("The Man in the Silver Mask"), in 1942.

Santo's brothers were also luchadores, with Black Guzmán being the first to make his debut and later Pantera Negra and Jimmy Guzmán joining them in wrestling as well. Only one of his eleven children followed him into professional wrestling, El Hijo del Santo ("The Son of the Saint") making his debut in 1982. El Hijo del Santo's son made his debut as "Santo Jr." in 2016. Another grandson (not a son of El Hijo del Santo) originally wrestled as "El Nieto del Santo" ("The Grandson of Santo"), but now works under the name Axxel.

Santo is said to have popularized professional wrestling in Mexico just as Rikidōzan did in Japan.[3] He was buried in his silver mask, in one of the biggest funerals in Mexico. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre honors him with the annual Leyenda de Plata ("The Silver Legend") tournament. In 2018, WWE inducted Santo into their Hall of Fame's Legacy wing.[10]

  1. ^ a b "El Santo". WWE. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  2. ^ Various (2005). "The Silver Masked-Man". Lucha Libre> Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. pp. 280–285. ISBN 968-6842-48-9.
  3. ^ a b Madigan, Dan (2007). "El Santo". Mondo Lucha a Go Go: the bizarre& honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 71–78. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  4. ^ F. Molinaro, John (11 February 2000). "The legend of El Santo". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  5. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Middleweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 293. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  7. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 393–394. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  8. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Welterweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Welterweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  10. ^ "2018 WWE Hall of Fame legacy wing inductees are ..." www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved 6 April 2018.