Villano III

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz and the second or maternal family name is Mendoza.
Villano III
Villano III in July 2018
Birth nameArturo Díaz Mendoza
Born(1952-03-23)March 23, 1952[1]
Mexico City, Mexico[1]
DiedAugust 21, 2018(2018-08-21) (aged 66)[2]
Guadalajara, Mexico
Spouse(s)La Infernal (wife)
Children
Parent(s)
Relatives
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Búfalo Salvaje
  • Mancha Roja
  • Pulpo Blanco
  • Ray Rosas
  • Rokambole
  • Villano III
Billed height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Billed weight96 kg (212 lb)[1]
Trained by
DebutJanuary 29, 1970[1]
RetiredMay 13, 2017

Arturo Díaz Mendoza (March 23, 1952 – August 21, 2018), best known by his ring name Villano III (Spanish: "Villano Tercero"; English: "Villain the third"), was a Mexican luchador (or professional wrestler). A second-generation wrestler, he was son of luchador Ray Mendoza and the father of luchador enmascarados Villano III Jr. and El Hijo del Villano III. All five of the Díaz brothers used the Villano name; José de Jesús (Villano I), José Alfredo (Villano II), Tomás (Villano IV) and Raymundo (Villano V). Of the five Villanos, Arturo was considered the most successful in terms of championship and Lucha de Apuesta ("bet match") wins, as well as the most talented luchador in the family.[4] He retired from wrestling in 2015, due to health issues stemming from wrestling. A few days after his death, he was inducted in the AAA Hall of Fame.

During his 35-year career, Díaz was one of the featured performers for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), and for all the all major Mexican wrestling promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), as well as numerous notable smaller Mexican promotions like International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). Díaz was an luchador enmascarado (or masked professional wrestler) up until 2000, where he lost to Atlantis and had to unmask as a result. The match against Atlantis was later voted "Match of the Year" in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter year-end awards. In contrast one of his last matches ever, at Triplemanía XXIII was voted the "worst match of the year" in 2015.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference PWI64 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Falleció el legendario Villano III por un infarto cerebral" [The legendary Villano III passed away due to a cerebral infarction]. MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Almarez, Lau (August 21, 2018). "Muere Villano III". Cultura Colectiva (in Spanish). Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ReyVillano was invoked but never defined (see the help page).