 Olímpico (before he was unmasked) againstSuper Parka (with his back turned) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joel Bernal Galicia (1965-12-06)December 6, 1965 (age 59) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names |
|
| Billed height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Billed weight | 92 kg (203 lb) |
| Billed from | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Trained by |
|
| Debut | September 1992 |
| Retired | September 4, 2020 |
Joel Bernal Galicia (born December 6, 1965) is a Mexican retiredLuchador, orprofessional wrestler, better known under thering nameOlímpico. Olímpico is sometimesAnglicised as "Olympico", and means "Olympian" inSpanish. From his debut in 1992 until late 2008 Olímpico worked forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL); since then he has worked for promotions includingPerros del Mal,International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG),World Wrestling Association (WWA) and other promotions on the Mexicanindependent circuit before returning to CMLL in mid-2010 as part ofLos Invasores. For many years Olimpico's real name was not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.[2] He was unmasked on September 3, 2010, and had to reveal his real name as is traditional.
Bernal Galicia grew up watching his father, Roy Aguirre, wrestle and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. After training with his father he made his professional wrestling debut inMexico City,Mexico forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). It was rare for CMLL to have a wrestler actually made his debut on in their "home venue", but they were in need of young talent after a large number of young wrestlers had left CMLL for rival promotionAsistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in early 1992. In his first match he used thering name Popoca, Jr. but after the match it was decided that he needed a different ring persona. CMLL owner Paco Alonso came up with the concept of "Olímpico", "the Olympian", inspired by the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona,Spain.[3] Olímpico wore a white mask with the Olympic Rings on it, a white Olympic wrestling style singlet and white boots. Later on he changed the Olympic rings to five lines with the colors of the Olympic rings as CMLL had not gotten permission to use the official Olympic symbol.[4] Initially Olímpico worked in the first and second matches of the show, improving his skills while continuing to train underHijo del Gladiador at the CMLL Gym. In 1996 he was given a chance to stand out from the other low card wrestlers when he was placed in astoryline feud with Damián El Guerrero. The feud saw Olímpico win his firstLuchas de Apuestas match (a "bet match" where both competitors put their mask on the line), unmasking Damián El Guerrero.[4]
On September 16, 1998, Olímpico won theCMLL World Welterweight Championship fromKarlof Lagarde, Jr., the first singles title of his career.[5] On October 23, 1998, Olímpico headlined his first CMLL show, losing the CMLL Welterweight title to Halcón Negro.[5] A week later Olímpico once again faced Halcón Negro in the main event, this time defeating Negro in aLuchas de Apuesta, winning the mask of his opponent.[4] On February 27, 1999, Olímpico made his first trip to Japan, losing the CMLL Welterweight title toSuper Delfin.[5] Back in Mexico Olímpico worked a feud againstRey Bucanero, a feud that involved mask ripping every time the two were in the same ring, building to aLuchas de Apuesta between the two. The match never happened however; instead Rey Bucanero lost his mask toShocker leaving the Olímpico / Bucanero storyline unfinished. On March 30, 2000, Olímpico,Mr. Niebla, andSafari defeated the team ofBlue Panther,Fuerza Guerrera, andEl Signo to win theMexican National Trios Championship.[6] In 2002, CMLL decided to create aMini-Estrella version of Olímpico calledPequeño Olímpico, a short wrestler who wore an outfit patterned after Olímpico's outfit at the time.[7] On June 23, 2003, Olímpico, Mr. Niebla, and Safari lost the Trios title toLos Nuevo Infernales, the team ofAverno,Mephisto, andSatánico.[6] After working as atecnico (a good guy character, called aface in wrestling) since 1992, Olímpico turnedrudo (villain orHeel) on February 20, 2004 as he turned on his tag team partnersEl Felino andVirus during a match, allowing the team ofZumbido,Violencia andVeneno to win the match.[8] Following his turn he joined a group calledLos Guerreros del Infierno withÚltimo Guerrero,Rey Bucanero, andTarzan Boy. While hisrudo turn was surprising, it was soon overshadowed whenAtlantis turnedrudo and joined Los Guerreros in early 2005, relegating Olímpico to the secondary trios teams, working with Tarzan Boy and other Los Guerrero's associates while the team Último Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, and Atlantis was the mainGuerreros del Infierno team. On September 30, 2005, Olímpico and Atlantis were chosen to challengeHiroshi Tanahashi andShinsuke Nakamura for theIWGP Tag Team Championship, when the Japanese duo made a trip to Mexico; Tanahashi and Nakamura successfully defended the title.[9] Over the next three years Olímpico worked the semi-main and sometimes main event Trios matches but never got the "big" match or won any championships.
In late 2008Perro Aguayo, Jr. and his groupLos Perros del Mal left CMLL, citing their unhappiness with their position in the promotion and the lack of attention they were given. Aguayo formed his ownprofessional wrestling promotion calledPerros del Mal Producciones; one of the first "Non-Perro" wrestlers they announced was Olímpico, who had left CMLL for the same reason as Aguayo. Olímpico became a regular on Perros del Mal shows, as well as working forInternational Wrestling Revolution Group and variousIndependent wrestling promotions all over Mexico. On March 20, 2009, Olímpico defeated Angel Blanco, Jr. to win the vacantWWA Middleweight Championship, although some confusion exists as a different WWA Middleweight Championship is used around the Monterrey area. Olímpico later stated that he was never actually given the championship belt after the match, putting the legitimacy of the title victory further in doubt.[10]
On May 17, 2010, Olímico returned to CMLL, running in during the main event of the show to attackMáximo. Five days later CMLL held a press conference where Olímpico was presented as part of theLos Invasores group, a group portrayed as an "invading force" from the independent scene to fight against CMLL wrestlers.[11] On July 12, 2010, at thePromociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show Olímpico participated in a match where 10 men put their mask on the line in a match that featured fivepareja incredibles teams, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other with their mask on the line. His partner in the match was Atlantis, facing off against the teams ofMístico andEl Oriental,La Sombra andHisteria,El Alebrije andVolador Jr., and Último Guerrero andAverno.[12] Olímpico and Atlantis were the last team that escaped the match, leaving El Oriental and Místico to wrestle for their masks, which ended with Místico defeating El Oriental.[13] A few months after returning to CMLL Olímpico teamed up with his oldGuerreros de la Atlantida partners Atlantis and Último Guerrero for a number of matches. During a trios tournament on theAugust 13, 2010Super Viernes show Olímpico caused his team to be disqualified and then attacked his former teammates, ending their tentative relationship.[14] As a result of his actions after the match Olímpico, Último Guerrero and Atlantis were all added to the main event of theCMLL 77th Anniversary Show, a 14-mansteel cageLucha de Apuesta, mask vs. mask match.[15] The match came down to Olímpico and La Sombra after the other 12 men had escaped the cage; La Sombra pinned Olímpico to force him to unmask. After the match Olímpico announced that his name was Joel Bernal Galicia fromMexico City, that he was 44 years old and had been wrestling for 19 years.[1]
On September 20, 2011, Olímpico,Psicosis II and the new leader ofLos Invasores, Volador Jr., defeatedÁngel de Oro,Diamante andRush to win the Mexican National Trios Championship.[16] They lost the title to Atlantis,Delta andGuerrero Maya, Jr. on December 16, 2011.[17] During mid-2013, Olímpico began working inGuadalajara under a mask as "Super Popular".[18]
On September 4, 2020, Olímpico announced his retirement as a professional wrestler, dedicating himself as a full-time referee.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olímpico (mask) | Damián El Guerrero (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | 1996 | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Halcón Negro (mask) | Mexico City | Live event | October 30, 1998 | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Brazo de Platino (mask) | Cuernavaca, Morelos | Live event | July 27, 2000 | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Brazo de Platino (hair) | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | Unknown | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Bestial (mask) | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | May 16, 2001 | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Bestial (hair) | Cuernavaca, Morelos | Live event | July 26, 2001 | [4] |
| Olímpico (mask) | Fuerza Boricua (mask) | Querétaro, Querétaro | Live event | September 3, 2002 | [4] |
| La Sombra (mask) | Olímpico (mask) | Mexico City | CMLL 77th Anniversary Show | September 3, 2010 | [Note 1][1] |
