 El Pantera in January 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francisco Javier Pozas (1964-02-03)February 3, 1964 (age 62) Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names |
|
| Billed height | 1.71 m (5 ft7+1⁄2 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 85 kg (187 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico[1] |
| Trained by | Carnicerito Pirata Moreno Rafael Salamanca Raul Reyes |
| Debut | 11 November 1985 |
Francisco Javier Pozas (born February 3, 1964) is a Mexicanprofessional wrestler, orluchador, who is best known under thering nameEl Pantera, but has also worked as Pantera II, El Manaya, América, Tritón and Tanaka over the years. Pozas made his wrestling debut in 1985, working as anenmascarado (masked wrestler) with apanther-inspired mask to go with hisring character of "El Pantera". Over the years Pozas has worked in Mexico, Japan and the United States; In Mexico he has worked forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL),Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA),International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), in Japan he's worked forUniversal Lucha Libre (ULL) andAll-Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and in the United States he's most known for his work in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 1999 andChikara where he has worked shows since 2007. In 2006 Pantera lost his mask as a result of a match. He, however, continued wearing the mask when working for Chikara and in 2011 also began wearing it again in Mexico.
Pozas made his professional wrestling debut in 1985, adopting the ring nameEl Pantera (Spanish for "the Panther"), anenmascarado who wore apanther-inspired mask and outfit.[2] On August 9, 1987 El Pantera defeated Guerrero Samurai to win theMexican National Lightweight Championship, a title he would hold and defend for the next 298 days before losing it back to Guerrero Samurai on June 2, 1988.[3] After the title loss Pantera began teaming withÁguila Solitaria andCiclón Ramírez to form a group known asLas Saetas del Ring (Spanish for "The Arrows of the Ring"). TogetherLas Saetas won the Nuevo León State Trios Championship and the Veracruz State Trios Championship, before winning the 'Distrito Federal Trios Championship fromLos Tarascos in April, 1991.[4]La Saetas later lost theDistrito Federal Trios title toLos Metalicos (Oro, Plata andBronce).[4] In 1992 Pozas changed his ring character, adopting a colorful yellow, red and blue outfit and mask and the nameAmérica as he began working full-time forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).[5] On March 8, 1992 América defeatedFuerza Guerrera to win theCMLL World Welterweight Championship, officially moving from thelightweight division (with a weight limit of 70 kg (150 lb)) to theMiddleweight division (with a weight limit of 87 kg (192 lb)).[6][7] América held the title for 131 days before losing the title toEl Felino.[6]
In 1993 Pozas abandoned the América ring persona and became El Pantera once more.[5] CMLL even acknowledge the change in characters as he was billed as a two time CMLL World Welterweight Champion when he defeated El Felino on June 21, 1994. Pantera held the title for over 600 days, with several successful defenses in the period. By March 1996 Pantera had decided to leave CMLL and lost the Welterweight title toSuper Delfin while on tour in Japan. The title change was not sanctioned by CMLL, who stripped Pantera of the title and vacated it.[6] Pantera ended up working forInternational Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) where he became the first everIWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Champion when he defeated Tony Rivera in the finals of a tournament.[8] Pantera held the title for 157 days in total before being defeated byEl Hijo del Gladiador
In early 1998.[9] in 1997 Pantera began working for theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), working a limited number of matches between 1997 and 1999, his highest profile match while in the WWF was a title match with thenWWF World Light Heavyweight ChampionTaka Michinoku atNo Way Out of Texas: In Your House.[10] He worked for WWF'sSuper Astros programming until the program ended in August 1999. By 2001 Pantera had mended fences with CMLL and began working for the promotion due to a working agreement between CMLL and IWRG. On March 2, 2001 Pantera defeatedNosawa to win his third CMLL World Welterweight Championship, holding it for just 31 days before Nosawa won the title back.[6] After his brief run with the CMLL title Pantera focused more on IWRG winning their Middleweight title once more, defeating Ultimo Vampiro on January 24, 2002. 90 days later he lost the championship to Bombero Infernal.[9] In 2005 Pantera joined a group calledLa Corporacion, a group that also includedBlack Tiger andPentagon Black among others, together the three defeatedLos Villaños in a tournament to become the newIWRG Intercontinental Trios Champions on June 2, 2005.[11] The trio held the title for 88 days until they lost to the Casas brothers (Negro Casas, El Felino andHeavy Metal).[11] At some point during the early part of 2006 Pantera leftLa corporacion and began teaming with El Felino, who defeatedDr. Cerebro andCerebro Negro to win theIWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship on June 29, 2006.[12] On July 14, 2006 Pantera lost aLucha libre#Luchas de Apuestas (bet match) toMisterioso, Jr., and as a result he was forced to unmask and reveal his real name per. Lucha Libre traditions.[2] Only 16 days later Pantera became a double champion as he pinned El Venero to win the IWRG Middleweight title for the third time. His reign was ended byNitro on October 9, 2006.[12] The team of Pantera and Felino defended the title on several occasions until the CMLL/IWRG working agreement ended in 2007 and the team lost the titles to Los Junior Capos (Hijo de Cien Caras andHijo de Mascara Año 2000) on May 31, 2007.[12] Pantera began making appearances for the U.S. basedChikara, wearing his mask when working in the U.S. In 2008 Pantera teamed up withLince Dorado andIncognito to win the2008 King of Trios tournament.[1] On September 16, 2015Los Panteras lost the IWRG tag team titles toLos Gringos VIP (Apolo Estrada Jr. andEl Hijo del Diablo) in aSteel cage match that also includedLos Traumas.[13]
Pozas is the uncle ofluchadorÚltimo Gladiador, and the father ofEl Hijo del Pantera.[14]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Pantera (mask) | Mohicano I (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | |
| El Pantera II (mask) | Bravo Kid (hair) | Acatitlán, State of Mexico | Live event | N/A | |
| El Pantera II (mask) | Mr. Cid (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | September 4, 1988 | [2] |
| El Pantera II (mask) andCanelo Casas (hair) | Mr. Cid (haur) and Bestia Verde (hair) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | September 11, 1998 | |
| El Pantera (mask) | Mr. Fama (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | February 11, 1989 | |
| El Pantera (mask) | Tarasco IV (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | January 14, 1990 | |
| El Pantera (mask) | Tarasco III (mask) | Mexico City | Live event | June 24, 1990 | |
| El Pantera (mask) and Joe Mercado (hair) | Tarasco I (hair) and Tarasco II (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | July 22, 1990 | |
| El Pantera (mask) | Romano García (hair) | León, Guanajuato | Live event | December 3, 1990 | |
| El Pantera (mask) | Bombero Infernal (mask) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | December 7, 1997 | [2] |
| Misterioso Jr. (mask) | El Pantera (mask) | Mexico City | Live event | July 14, 2006 | [Note 1][2] |
| El Dandy (hair) | El Pantera (hair) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | June 19, 2008 | [1] |
| Trauma I (mask) | El Pantera (hair) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | February 25, 2010 | [Note 2][20][21] |
Media related toPantera (wrestler) at Wikimedia Commons
