 Negro Navarro in the ring in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Miguel Calderón Navarro[2] (1957-06-12)June 12, 1957 (age 68)[1] Mexico City, Mexico |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Chupacabras Negro Navarro Último Vampiro |
| Billed height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 90 kg (198 lb)[1] |
| Trained by | Florentino Martínez[1] |
| Debut | June 12, 1975[1] |
Negro Navarro (born June 12, 1957) is thering name ofMiguel Calderón Navarro, a Mexicanluchador, orprofessional wrestler. Navarro works as afreelancer on the Mexicanindependent circuit as well as making regular appearances forInternational Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). Navarro often teams with his sons, who are known asTrauma I andTrauma II. Negro Navarro was part ofLos Misioneros de la Muerte ("The Missionaries of Death") withEl Signo andEl Texano; a team that is credited with popularizing theTrios match in Mexico to the point that it became the most common match for Trios teams in Mexican Lucha Libre.
Navarro was born on June 12, 1957, in Mexico City and grew up idolizing the Mexicanluchador (professional wrestler)Black Shadow, deciding at a young age that he wanted to pursue the same career as his idol and become a professional wrestler. He trained under Florentino Martinez, a local Mexico City wrestling trainer. Later in life Navarro would marry a woman who was the cousin of his wrestling partner Juan Conrado Aguilar, also known asEl Texano. Together they have two children who have also become professional wrestlers. They currently work as theenmascarado (masked) charactersTrauma I andTrauma II, keeping their birth name private per lucha libre traditions. Navarro is related through marriage to Juan Aguilar Leos, known in wrestling circles asEl Texano, Jr andSuper Nova, both sons of Juan Aguilar. Miguel Navarro's brothers are also wrestlers, working under the ring names Apolo Navarro and Drako. He is also related through marriage to wrestlers Jonathan de Jesus Navarro Jímenez (works under the nameMictlán), Juan Miguel Escalante Grande (known asInquisidor),Pólvora (enmascarado) and Roberto Gutiérrez Frías, better known asEl Dandy.
Unlike a lot of professional wrestlers in Mexico Navarro did not start out as anenmascarado, or masked wrestler, opting to simply go with a variation of his birth name as hisring name,Negro Navarro, (Spanish for "Black" Navarro), inspired by his childhood idol Black Shadow. He made his professional wrestling debut on June 12, 1975, his 18th birthday. At that point in time the heavyweight wrestlers were considered the "main events" and lighter wrestlers like Navarro were relegated to the lower ranks.
In the late 1970s, Navarro began working forUniversal Wrestling Association (UWA) as they wanted to feature more wrestlers in the lighter divisions to strengthen their shows, having seen how popular these divisions were starting to become elsewhere. UWA promoterFrancisco Flores wanted to build some of the lesser known lightweights into high card workers and decided put Navarro together with two similarly sized wrestlers, El Texano and Antonio Sánchez Rendón, known under the ring nameEl Signo, to formLos Misioneros de la Muerte ("The Missionaries of Death"). They were paired up against a trio of young, lightweight and high flying brothers dubbedLos Mosqueteros de Diablo (The Devil's Musketeers),Brazo de Oro ("Golden Arm"),Brazo de Plata ("Silver Arm") andEl Brazo ("The Arm"). Early in the storyline Brazo de Oro defeated El Texano in aLuchas de Apuestas, or bet match, which forced El Texano to unmask. The storyline expanded and saw the unmasked Misionaros clash with the masked Mosqueteros on UWA promoted cards all over Mexico. The fan reception to those matches and the positive coverage in various Lucha Libre magazines was so big that other promoters around Mexico wanted to book them on their shows, not as individuals but as teams, which was the start of the trios match becoming more and more prominent in Lucha Libre. With the team being so in demand, UWA started to feature Los Misioneros more often and by 1981Los Misioneros began working high on the card, often working the main event match starting a trend of having trios matches instead of singles matches as the regular main event match format, something that helped make that match format the most common match type in Lucha Libre since then.[3]
In 1981 theLos Misioneros de la Muerte name became a household name after a match inEl Toreo de Quatro Caminos ("The Bullring with four corners"), UWA's main venue. During the main eventLos Misioneros faced off against then 64-year-oldEl Santo, teaming withHuracán Ramírez andRayo de Jalisco. In that match El Santo collapsed in the middle of the ring, suffering a heart attack during the match. His life was only saved due to the quick witted actions of Ramírez.[4] After the match the Lucha Libre magazines, prompted by Francisco Flores, played off the real life tragedy by promotingLos Misioneros as the team that nearly killed the biggest name in Lucha Libre ever.[4] The event made the team the most hated trio in Mexico for years to come and helped fillEl Torero arena to the brim whenLos Misioneros teamed up withPerro Aguayo to face El Santo,Gory Guerrero, Huracán Ramírez andEl Solitario in El Santo's retirement match.[4][5] Following Santo's retirementLos Misioneros feuded with the topfaces (wrestlers portraying "good guy" characters) such asLos Tres Caballero (Aníbal, El Solitario andVillano III) both in trios and in individual competition. During the storyline El Solitario turned on his two partners, when he attacked El Signo with a bottle and costLos Tres Caballeros an important match. The attack made the smallerLos Misioneros more sympathetic to the crowd, who began to support them more and more despiteLos Misioneros being booked on the shows asheel characters ("bad guys"). Their popularity as a trio also led to them being invited to tourJapan, facing off againstNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) lightweight wrestlers such asGran Hamada,Tiger Mask,George Takano,Akira Maeda, andOsamu Kido. In 1984Los Misioneros won theUWA World Trios Championship for the first time, although the length of their reign is not documented.[6] On January 1, 1985, Negro Navarro won his first singles championship, theUWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, when he defeated the then championAníbal. The title run only lasted 50 days, ending on February 25, 1985 when he lost toMano Negra.[7] In the mid 1980s the "War" between the UWA and EMLL had cooled off enough forLos Misionerios to actually wrestle on theEMLL 53rd Anniversary Show, losing a triosLuchas de Apuestas toRingo Mendoza,Américo Rocca, andTony Salazar.[8][9] Los Misionerios regained the UWA World Trios Championship in 1987 defeatingLos Villanos (Villano III,Villano IV andVillano V), after what was considered the "peak" ofLos Misionerios. With an influx of other popular trios both in the UWA and in Mexico in generalLos Misioneros days on the top of the Trios scene came to an end, which was followed by the end ofLos Missioneros de la Muerte in its original form. During a UWA World Trios Championship match againstLos Villanos El Texano threw in the towel to save his partner El Signo any more punishment. After the match and title loss his partners turned on El Texano and attacked him. The attack was done primarily to write El Texano out of the UWA storyline as he had given notice that he was leaving.
UWA Promoter Francisco Flores decided to try to keep theLos Misioneros de la Muerte team active even after the departure of El Texano and experimented with a number of different partners for Navarro and El Signo. Teaming with the masked wrestler Black Power,Los Misioneros defeatedLos Villanos (Villano I, Villano IV, and Villano V) to win the UWA Trios Championship. Negro Navarro won theUWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Shu El Guerrero on December 27, 1993, and held the title until the promotion closed in 1995.[10] The trio held on to the Trios Championship for 454 days, until May 1, 1993, where they lost it to El Engendro, Shu El Guerrero, andScorpio, Jr. They regained the championship later that year on December 25, and held it into 1994 where they lost the belts back to Engendro, Shu El Guerrero, and Scorpio, Jr.[6] Black Power was later replaced by Rocky Santana and the new version ofLos Misioneros won the UWA World Trios Championship on two occasions, and were the last team to hold the title before the UWA closed in 1995.[6] Near the end of the UWALos Misioneros made a few appearances forAAA, UWA's successor of sorts and one of the two biggest wrestling promotions along with CMLL. The appearances included a match atTriplemanía III-A where a version ofLos Misioneros (Navarro, Signo, and a masked wrestler called "Misionero") defeated the team ofEl Torero, El Mexicano, andDragón de Oro.[11]
After the closure of the UWA in 1995 Negro Navarro and El Signo split up, going their separate ways on the independent circuit, only teaming together on special occasions. One such occasion was for theSalvador Lutteroth Memorial Tag Tournament held as part ofConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; formerly known as EMLL)'s 1999Homenaje a Dos Leyendas: El Santo y Salvador Lutteroth show on March 19, 1999. Navarro and El Signo teamed up to represent the "old school" wrestlers of Lutteroth's era and defeatedOlímpico andTony Rivera in the first round of the tournament. In the semi-finals they lost to eventual tournament winnersMr. Niebla andShocker.[12] In the mid-1990s Navarro had a brief stint as the masked characterÚltimo Vampiro, although others used the name and character after him and are more identified with that name. In 2003 Navarro worked a number of matches for AAA, including a match where the originalLos Misioneros were reunited for AAA's 2003Guerra de Titanes show where they defeated El Brazo,Sangre Chicana, andPirata Morgan.[13] He also worked a few shows as "El Chupacabras", a masked gimmick invented by AAA but abandoned it after only a few shows. Navarro and El Signo began teaming with Juan Aguilar Leos, son of El Texano who had adopted the ring nameEl Texano, Jr.
Navarros' two sons made their professional wrestling debut in 2002 and by the mid-2000s it was public knowledge that they were the sons of Negro Navarro as they often worked together; whenever Navarro teamed with one of both of his sons the team was referred to asLa Dinastia de la Muerte, a name that refers both to the fact that they are a family (a "dynasty") and also referring toLos Missioneros. Navarro also wrestled a long series of matches againstEl Solar, a luchador of a similar age, drawing great reviews for their "old school" type matches that often resulted in fans throwing money in the ring after the match, a traditional sign of respect in Mexico.[2][14] The two wrestlers often fought over the Americas Light Heavyweight Champion, a title with no promotional backing but was considered more a "personal title" that Navarro and El Solar used to help promote their matches.[15] The Americas title was on some occasions billed as the South America Light Heavyweight Championship, with the story being that it was actually a title fromPanama. Navarro and Trauma I competed in a tournament for theIWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship in a father/son tournament, but lost to Pirata Morgan andHijo de Pirata Morgan in the finals.[16] Navarro initially worked "legends" matches against El Solar on IWRG shows, but by 2010 worked for them on a regular basis, often teaming with his sons. On March 18, 2012, Navarro and Trauma I defeated Pirata Morgan and Hijo de Pirata Morgan to win the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[17] In late 2012 Navarro supposedly won the FMLL Masters Championship in Japan, although it is thought to be a storyline to explain why Navarro replaced the Americas title with a new belt for some shows. On March 31, 2013,Los Traumas competed in IWRG'sLa Guerra de Familias ("War of the Families") tournament. The team defeatedLa Familia de Tijuana (Mosco X-Fly andEterno) in the first round. During the match Trauma I reaggravated an old knee injury and was not allowed to compete in the finals where Trauma II lost to Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 and Cien Caras, Jr. Following the lossLos Junior Dinamitas challenged Trauma I and Negro Navarro to defend their titles a week later.[18][19] A week laterLos Junior Dinamitas wrestled Trauma I and Negro Navarro for the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, but lost.[20] On August 11, Navarro and Trauma I lost the IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship toLa Familia de Tijuana (Eterno and X-Fly).[21] On August 9, 2015 Negro Navarro andLas Traumas won theIWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship from Los Piratas (Pirata Mogan,Pirata Morgan Jr. andEl Hijo de Pirata Mogan).[22]
On December 25, 2016 Negro Navarro andBlack Terry, two independent wrestlers who do not work for CMLL, defeated the team ofGuerrero Maya Jr. andThe Panther for theCMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, the match took place at the Lucha Memes show "Chairo 7: Hell In a Christmas Cell", a non-CMLL show.[23] On February 19, 2017 Navarro and Black Terry made their first successful defense against CMLL wrestlersSanson andCuatrero at aLucha Memes show. On March 26, 2017 Navarro and Black Terry made their second successful defense against CMLL wrestlersHechicero andVirus at aLucha Memes show. On April 12, 2017 Navarro and Black Terry made their third successful defense against CMLL wrestlersBlue Panther andThe Panther at a CMLL show.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Cobarde II (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | |
| MS-1 (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | [28] |
| Negro Navarro (hair) | Pepe Casas (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | [1] |
| Negro Navarro (hair) | Lobo Rubio (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | [1] |
| Negro Navarro (hair) | Roller (hair) | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Live event | N/A | [1] |
| Negro Navarro (hair) | El Brazo (hair) | Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico | Live event | N/A | [1] |
| Momia de Guanajuato (mask) and Huichol Tapatío (hair) | Black Terry (hair) and Príncipe Dorado (mask) | Guadalajara, Jalisco | February 9, 1975 | N/A | [29] |
| Gran Hamada,Kobayashi andEnrique Vera (hair) | Los Misioneros de la Muerte (hair) (El Signo,El Texano and Negro Navarro | Mexico City | Live event | June 7, 1981 | [30] |
| Los Misioneros de la Muerte (hair) (El Signo,El Texano and Negro Navarro | Kobayashi,Saito andTakano (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | June 13, 1982 | |
| Perro Aguayo (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Tijuana, Baja California | Live event | May 27, 1983 | [31] |
| Los Misioneros de la Muerte (El Signo,El Texano and Negro Navarro) (hair) | El Dandy,Talismán andJerry Estrada (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | September 5, 1986 | [1] |
| Ringo Mendoza,Américo Rocca andTony Salazar (hair) | Los Misioneros de la Muerte (hair) (El Signo,El Texano and Negro Navarro | Mexico City | EMLL 53rd Anniversary Show | September 19, 1986 | [8][9] |
| Perro Aguayo (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Live event | June 2, 1991 | [31] |
| Tony Rivera (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Puebla, Puebla | Live event | February 1, 1999 | |
| Negro Navarro (hair) | Brazo de Oro (hair) | Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico | Live event | June 1, 2001 | |
| El Dandy (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico | Live event | September 3, 2001 | |
| Justiciero (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Coacalco de Berriozábal, State of Mexico | Live event | November 29, 2002 | [Note 2] |
| Cuchillo (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | 2003 | |
| Rocky Santana (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico | Live event | June 29, 2003 | |
| Pierroth II (hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Tizayuca, Hidalgo | Live event | November 20, 2005 | [Note 3] |
| Don Ramon (Hair) | Negro Navarro (hair) | Distrito Federal | Triplemania 16 | October 4, 2017 |
Media related toNegro Navarro at Wikimedia Commons
