Flamita is a third-generation professional wrestler. His real name is not a matter of public record as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico.[7]Dave Meltzer has called Flamita "one of the best [high-flying wrestlers] in the world",[8] comparing him toRey Mysterio.[9]
Both Flamita's father and grandfather were professional wrestlers; his father worked under the ring name El Retador ("The Challenger"), while his grandfather was known as Toro Negro ("Black Bull"). After five years of training, he made his professional wrestling debut on December 12, 2009, under the ring name Flamita ("Little Flame"), which he got from his uncle, who had wrestled under the name Flama Roja ("Red Flame").[6]
Flamita started his career wrestling on the Mexicanindependent circuit, becoming best known for his work in the Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) promotion,[10] where he captured the Alto Rendimiento Championship on two occasions.[11] In addition, he also worked for Alianza Universal de Lucha Libre (AULL), where he won the AULL Lightweight Championship in April 2012, only tovacate it two months later.[10]
On June 26, 2011, Flamita made his debut for one of Mexico's top promotions,Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), at a benefit show co-produced by AAA and DTU.[12] Throughout 2013, Flamita worked several AAA shows, mainly wrestling eitherdark or opening matches.[13] He was also part of the short-lived roster split, being recruited as part of the AAA Fusion roster.[14] AAA reportedly wanted Flamita to take over the role ofOctagón Jr., but he turned down the offer in order to continue working in Japan.[9]
Following his success in Japan and months of rumors that AAA were interested in signing him full-time,[15] Flamita returned to the promotion on July 10, 2015, now working under the new ring name Fireball and teaming with Ludxor in a tag team match, where they defeatedDaga and Steve Pain.[1] Following the appearance, Flamita announced he had not signed a contract with AAA and was still undergoing negotiations with the promotion.[16] Flamita started working for AAA as a regular in November 2015.[17]
On March 4, 2016, Flamita was repackaged as the second Octagón Jr.[3] He was quickly branded a "fraud" byOctagón, theluchador the character was based on, who stated that he had not given AAA the permission to introduce another Octagón Jr.[18] On April 10, Octagón Jr. was confronted and unmasked by Octagón during an autograph signing.[19][20] Three days later, Octagón introduced his own Octagón Jr. or "Hijo de Octagón", supposedly portrayed by his son.[21][22] On April 27, Flamita stated that out of respect toward Octagón, he was dropping the Octagón Jr. gimmick, leaving AAA and returning to the independent circuit under the Flamita name.[23] Following his departure from AAA, Flamita made hisArena México debut on June 9, 2016, working an event held byLucha Libre Elite.[24]
In October 2013, it was announced that Flamita, along with fellow Mexican Rocky Lobo, had been signed by the JapaneseDragon Gate promotion.[25] He made his debut for the promotion on October 26, 2013, as part of the Millennialsstable.[4] On December 5, Flamita and his stablematesEita andT-Hawk first won a one-night tournament to become the number one contenders to theOpen the Triangle Gate Championship and then defeatedMad Blankey (BxB Hulk,Cyber Kong andYamato) that same night to become the new champions.[26][27] They lost the title to Jimmyz (Jimmy Susumu,Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin andRyo "Jimmy" Saito) on December 22.[26][28] On March 16, 2014, Flamita won his first singles title in Dragon Gate, when he defeatedGenki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! for theOpen the Brave Gate Championship.[29][30] He held the title for the rest of the year, successfully defending it against the likes of Naoki Tanizaki,[31]Kzy,[32] andDragon Kid at the promotion's biggest show of the year,[33] Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival on July 20.[34] One of his title defenses also took place back in Mexico at a DTU event.[35] On December 28, Flamita's ninth title defense ended in a disqualification, after he was unmasked by his challengerPunch Tominaga. Following the win, Flamita refused to accept the title belt, leaving it behind him in the ring.[4][36] Three days later, Dragon Gate's office declared Flamita's reign over and title vacant.[37]
Flamita returned to Dragon Gate three months later and on March 24, 2015, received a rematch for the Open the Brave Gate Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion,Akira Tozawa.[29] On August 6, Millennials were forced to disband, when Flamita, Eita and T-Hawk were defeated in a three-way trios match.[38][39] On October 4, Flamita joined the Dia.Hearts stable.[40] During Flamita's hiatus from Dragon Gate, Dia.Hearts was disbanded. On July 2, 2016, Flamita returned to Dragon Gate, joining the Tribe Vanguard stable.[41] On July 24, at the Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, he was involved in a three-way elimination match for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, but Tribe Vanguard were the first stable to be eliminated when Over Generation's Peter Kaasa pinned Kzy.[42] Flamita would spend the majority of the September and October tours in tag and trios matches, and on November 3 at the Gate of Destiny, he rounded out the year with a defeat to Open The Brave Gate Champion Eita.[43] The following year saw him continue in much the same vein, and on July 23 at the Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival, he was defeated by Open The Brave Gate ChampionJimmy Kagetora.[44] Flamita returned to Dragon Gate in January 2018, and aside from tagging with his Tribe Vanguard stablemates, he also began wrestling withBandido which he would do on-and-off throughout the year. On March 3, at Champion Gate in Osaka, he had another shot at the Open The Triangle Gate Championship, but he, Yamato andYosuke♥Santa Maria were defeated by MaxiMuM (Jason Lee,Masato Yoshino andNaruki Doi).[45] On 23 December, at Final Gate, he and Bandido were involved in a four-way match for the vacant Open the Twin Gate Championship, but they came up short as Kagetora eliminated Bandido.[46] Flamita's final appearances for Dragon Gate took place during the summer of 2019, and culminated at the Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival in a defeat to Open the Brave Gate ChampionSusumu Yokosuka.[47]
In early 2016, while he was still in AAA, Flamita took part in the season two tapings ofLucha Underground under thering name "Night Claw".[2] On theJune 13, 2016 episode ofLucha Underground, he was involved in a seven-way elimination match for theGift of the Gods Championship, which was eventually won bySexy Star. In the match, he eliminated El Siniestro de la Muerte andDaga, before being eliminated byKillshot.[48] Under the ring name "Fireball", Flamita appeared in two triple threat matches, where he was unsuccessful on both occasions. Since they were dark matches, these matches were not shown on television.[49]
On September 1, 2017, Flamita made his debut for theSouthern California-basedPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), entering the2017 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, from which he was eliminated in the first round byRicochet.[50] He later appeared at All Star Weekend, where he was defeated bySammy Guevara in a three-way match that also involvedRey Horus.[51] This would be the last time that Flamita would wrestle at American Legion Post #308 inReseda, before PWG changed venues to the Globe Theatre inBroadway. (PWG would host three final dates in Reseda, but Flamita was not on the card for these shows.) His first time wrestling at the Globe was at Time is a Flat Circle, where he andBandido, a burgeoning tag team at the time, were defeated bythe Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier andZachary Wentz).[52] Flamita entered the2018 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, eliminatingPuma King in the first round,[53] before being eliminated in the second round by Bandido.[54] The event also saw an early incarnation of MexaSquad, but he, Bandido and Horus were defeated byCima and the Rascalz.[55] At Smokey and the Bandido, Puma King avenged his BOLA loss by defeating Flamita in a three-way match that also involved Horus.[56] At Mystery Vortex VI, Flamita received his first title shot as he and Horus unsuccessfully challenged the Rascalz for thePWG World Tag Team Championship.[57] Flamita did not participate in the2019 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, but he did appear in the event of night one, he and Bandido were defeated by theLucha Brothers (Penta el Zero M andRey Fenix).[58]
On August 2, 2021, at Mystery Vortex VII, Flamita (now going by thering name "Demonic Flamita"), returned to the promotion, following its extended hiatus due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. At the event, he defeatedArez, and after the main event betweenPWG World Champion Bandido andBlack Taurus, he attacked Bandido and began an alliance with Taurus andSuper Dragon.[59] At Threemendous VI, Flamita and Taurus were defeated by the Kings of the Black Throne (Brody King andMalakai Black) for the recently vacated PWG World Tag Team Championship.[60]
With the partnership with Ring of Honor (ROH) andRevolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), Flamita debuted in the United Kingdom on the Honor United Tour. He filled in for his tag partnerBandido, in a loss toColt Cabana.[65] During the tour, he signed a one-year contract with ROH,[66] and shortly after, he had his first win in the promotion, defeating"Speedball" Mike Bailey.[67] AtFinal Battle, he and Bandido defeatedVillain Enterprises (Flip Gordon andMarty Scurll).[68] On the January 24, 2020 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling (taped January 11), Flamita, Bandido andRey Horus defeated Villain Enterprises for theROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.[69] However, the trio were unable to make a title defense until February 2021, initially caused by an injury to Flamita[70] and then after theCOVID-19 pandemic forced ROH to shut down production. Their long-awaited first defense was meant to be atFinal Battle against Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor,Kaun and Moses), but Flamita and Bandido tested positive forCOVID-19.[71] In storyline, the board of directors had wanted the trio to vacate their titles but Taylor was against this happening and the match was rearranged. On the February 22 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling (taped February 19), the trio were defeated by STP, with Flamita taking the pin after a piledriver from Taylor.[72] At theROH 19th Anniversary Show, they lost the rematch in alucha rules match, with Flamita once again taking the pin as he was caught by a double team move from Kaun and Moses.[73] Flamita shoved Bandido away afterwards, and Horus attempted to make peace between the two. Flamita challenged them to a three-way match later that night, which was won by Bandido.[73] On the April 12 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling (taped April 10), Flamita and Bandido were defeated by The Foundation (Jay Lethal andJonathan Gresham) in a tag team match. In the match, Bandido accidentally kicked Flamita, which led to him turning on Bandido and abandoning him, throwing the match.[74] On the May 3 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling (taped April 24), despite Bandido having much of the offense, Flamita took advantage of a ref bump, and low-blowed him to get the pin.[75]
Following hisrudo turn, Flamita changed hisring name to "Demonic Flamita". He participated in theSurvival of the Fittest tournament, defeating Horus in the first round.[76] On the June 28 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling, he was eliminated first by eventual winner Bandido.[77] He and Horus would trade wins over each other atBest in the World and on the August 21 episode ofRing of Honor Wrestling.[78][79] AtDeath Before Dishonor XVIII, Flamita unsuccessfully challenged Bandido for theROH World Championship in a four corner survival elimination match, also involvingBrody King andEC3.[80] AtHonor for All, Bandido defeated Flamita in a non-title no disqualification match, ending their feud.[81] Flamita's last match for ROH also ended in defeat, as he partnered four other wrestlers in a ten-man tag team match atFinal Battle.[82]
Flamita (center) in April 2023 with his Black Generation International stablemates at aShin-Kiba 1st Ring show
In August 2022, Flamita began working for Japanese promotionGleat. On August 20, he made his debut in an eight-man match, pinningSoma Watanabe to get the win.[85] In October, it was announced that Flamita would be returning for the November and December shows, and that he was now a member of the Black Generation stable.[86] He began regularly teaming with Yutani, a Japanese wrestler who has primarily worked on the Mexican independent circuit.[86] On December 30, Flamita and Yutani unsuccessfully challenged Bulk Orchestra'sCheck Shimatani andHayato Tamura for theG-Infinity Championship, in a three-way match that also involved Strong Hearts.[87] On April 12, 2023, Flamita returned to the promotion and teamed with El Bendito to once again unsuccessfully challenge Shimatani and Tamura for the G-Infinity Championship.[88]
^Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?".Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 29–40.ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^abLafferriere, Nicolas (August 2, 2023)."Flamita anuncia su salida de Lucha Libre AAA" [Flamita announces his departure from Lucha Libre AAA].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). RetrievedAugust 8, 2023.
