Espanto I | |
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Birth name | José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal |
Born | 1930 Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico |
Died | May 30, 1968 (aged 37–38) Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico |
Cause of death | Bar fight |
Family | Miguel Vázquez Bernal (brother) Espanto IV and V (nephews) |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Torbellino Vázquez Espanto I "José Eusebio Vázquez Cisneros" |
Trained by | Carlos "Gorila" Ramos |
Debut | mid-1950s |
José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (1930 – May 30, 1968), was a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler from the mid-1950s until his death in 1968, best known under the ring name Espanto I (Spanish for "Terror I"), part of Los Espantos alongside his lifelong friend Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (Espanto II) and his younger brother Miguel Vázquez Bernal (Espanto III). As Los Espantos the three became one of the first "Identical teams" in Mexico.
During his professional wrestling career Vázquez held the Mexican National Tag Team Championship once and the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship on three occasions. He lost his mask to El Santo in 1963 as a result of a long-running storyline feud between the two. In 2010 he was inducted into the Ciudad Juárez Lucha Libre Hall of Fame along with the other two Espantos. The team of Espanto I and Espanto II are considered among the best rudo (those that portray the bad guys) teams in the history of lucha libre.
Vázquez, along with another wrestler, was killed during a bar fight in a Cantina in Monterrey, Nuevo León. Following Vázquez' death, both his brother and his best friend went into semi-retirement due to the loss. In the 1980s other wrestlers began using the Espanto name, such as his nephews who became Espanto IV and Espanto V and non-family members who were allowed to use the name such as Los Hijos del Espanto ("The Sons of Espanto"), Espanto Jr., Espantito and later on a second Espanto Jr.