Rafael Núñez Juan (October 11, 1966 – November 7, 2024) was a Mexicanluchador, orprofessional wrestler, who was best known under hisring nameScorpio Jr. Núñez was the son of professional wrestler "Scorpio", and was trained by his father and Rafael Salamanca before making his debut on August 30, 1985. Núñez was originally anEnmascarado, masked wrestler, but lost his mask as a result of a loss to the team ofNegro Casas andEl Hijo del Santo on March 19, 1999, after which his real identity was revealed.

Over the years Scorpio Jr. worked for virtually all major Mexicanprofessional wrestling promotions includingConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL),Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) andInternational Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). He was also one of the founding members of the wrestling group calledLos Guapos (the Hansomes) as well as a group calledLos Talibanes (theTaliban), both with longtime wrestling partners and friendsEmilio Charles Jr. andBestia Salvaje. During his time in CMLL, he won theCMLL World Tag Team Championship withBestia Salvaje as well as the 1998Leyenda de Plata tournament. While working for IWRG he won theIWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on four occasions, theIWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship with Ricky Cruz, theIWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship withCerebro Negro andVeneno and the2008Rey del Ring tournament.

Rafael Núñez Juan was born on October 11, 1966, in Mexico City, Mexico. He was the son of Rafael Núñez Contreras, who wrestled under thering name Scorpio from the 1960s until the 1990.^[3] Originally Núñez's father did not want his son to become a professional wrestler, instead encouraging him to participate in other sports instead. At the age of 14, Núñez joined the National Institute of Sport (Instituto Nacional del Deporte) where he took upOlympic wrestling, a sport he participated in for two years.^[2]

At the age of 16 Núñez attended a professional wrestling school inMexico City, Mexico under the tutelage of Rafael Salamanca. During his first lesson, Núñez was put through such a rigorous regime that it made him vomit. When Núñez returned for lessons the following day Salamanca agreed to train him full-time as well as getting his father to take part in his training.^[2] On August 30, 1984, Núñez made his professional wrestling debut, teaming with Pioloto Suicida against Los Bándalos (Memo Arenas and Ray Torres).^[2] Núñez initially worked as anenmascarado calledImágen but later changed his name to Scorpio Jr. - a name his godfather had used when teaming with Núñez's father and a name he now used to openly acknowledge his family connections.

When Scorpio Jr. began working inGuadalajara he became a friend ofEmilio Charles Jr. andBestia Salvaje, forming a group that would team together off and on for years.^[2]

Scorpio Jr. and Bestia Salvaje became involved in a controversial storyline as they teamed withEl Felino against Felino's brotherNegro Casas, El Dandy, and Héctor Garza. During the match it looked like El Felino turned on his brother, allowing Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. to beat up Negro Casas. During the final moments of the match, El Felino pulled his mask off, revealing that it was actuallyEl Hijo del Santo in disguise, making his surprise CMLL return after losing to Casas at theCMLL 63rd Anniversary Show. The surprise appearance of El Hijo del Santo and the attack on Negro Casas resulted in a minor riot in Arena Mexico.^[4] This led to Scorpio Jr. and Bestia teaming with El Hijo del Santo on a regular basis over the following two years, often opposite Negro Casas and various partners. In late 1998 Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. turned on El Hijo del Santo during a match, leading to Negro Casas saving his former rival.^[5] Bestia and Scorpio Jr. won the vacantCMLL World Tag Team Championship after defeatingthe Headhunters, Atlantis andLizmark andEl Satánico and Dr. Wagner Jr. on November 13, 1998 in a tournament.^[6] The tag team championship became a focus of the storyline with El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas, which lead to a match on February 5, 1999. Casas and Hijo del Santo won the match by disqualification and thus the championship as well, but refused to accept the belts due to how the match ended.^[6] The two teams had a rematch the following week, where Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. regained the championship.^[6] The storyline reached its highlight at the 1999Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show on March 19. The show was El Hijo del Santo risk his mask and Negro Casas risk his hair as they defeated Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. in the main event. As a result of the loss, Bestia Salvaje was shaved bald, while the masked Scorpio Jr. was forced to remove his mask and reveal his name, Rafael Núñez Juan.^[7]

AfterShocker lost his mask at theCMLL 66th Anniversary ShowShocker he stated that he was okay with being unmasked since his face was "1000% Guapo" ("1000% Handsome"). He developed a narcissistic, self-obsessedrudo character, who exhibited variousmetrosexual traits and looked down on anyone who was not as handsome as he was. In the following months, Shocker would often team up with Scorpio Jr. and Bestia Salvaje. Following a series of vignettes, Shocker convinced both of his partners to have their hair bleached blond and that they were alsoGuapo like him forming a group known asLos Guapos. Scorpiro, Jr. and Bestia Negra were both older, seasoned veteran wrestlers and neither were actually considered good looking, in fact Scorpio, Jr.'s nickname up until that point had been El Rey Feo ("The Ugly King").^[3] 2000 Shocker was invited to work forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on several occasions and due to his NJPW tours of Japan Scorpio Jr. and Bestia Negra often found themselves without a partner for Trios matches, their solution was to bring in Emilio Charles Jr. to become the fourthGuapo team member, Charles Jr. like his partners used the Guapo name more ironically than factual. After returning from NJPW Shocker objected to someone joining "his" group without his approval, but at first went along with it. Over the following months, Shocker's displeasure with the rest of the team grew and eventually, he split from the team, turningtecnico in the process. Shocker began a long-running storyline feud withLos Guapos.^[8] The storyline built to its peak at the 2001Sin Piedad show on December 14. In the main event, Shocker defeated Emilio Charles Jr. in aLucha de Apuestas match, forcing Charles to have all his hair shaved off as a result of his loss. As a result of the victory, Shocker regained the rights to the "Los Guapos" name.^[9][10]

While Shocker reformedLos Guapos, initially withMáscara Mágica and laterEl Terrible, Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr. and Emilio Charles Jr. became known asLos Talibanes (theTaliban).^[11] As part of their image change, all three wrestlers began wearingBedouin robes and headdresses to the ring, pretending to be part of theterrorist group.^[12] The feud with Shocker and his group continued over the following years, including several multi-manLucha de Apuestas matches. On August 1, 2003 El Terrible defeated Bestia Salvaje in adomo de la muerte steel cage match that also included the other members of Los Talibanes and Los Guapos.^[13] The feud culminated in another six-wayLucha de Apuestas match on September 24, 2004, ending with Shocker pinning Bestia Salvaje, forcing him to have his hair shaved off afterwards.^[9][14]

When Scorpio Jr. andZumbido left CMLL to joinAsistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) he formedLos Guapos in AAA as well. When Scorpio Jr. left AAA in 2008 theLos Guapos remained in AAA and Scorpio Jr. disassociated himself with the group. After leaving AAA Scorpio Jr. joinedInternational Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) where he won their annualRey del Ring tournament in 2008. He also teamed up withRicky Cruzz to win theIWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship fromLos Junior Capos (Hijo de Cien Caras andHijo de Máscara Año 2000) in the summer of 2009.^[15]

Núñez was the father of two teenage boys, both of whom are Olympic style wrestlers. Núñez did not want his boys to follow in his footsteps and become professional wrestlers, just like his father did not initially want him to become a professional wrestler.^[2]

Núñez died on November 7, 2024, at the age of 58.^[16]

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

• CMLL World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – withBestia Salvaje^[6]
• Leyenda de Plata:1998

• Federación Universal de Lucha Libre

• FULL Championship (1 time)^[17]

• Full Contact Wrestling

• FCW Live Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• International Wrestling League

• IWL International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - withSuper Crazy

• International Wrestling Revolution Group

• IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[18][19][20]
• IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ricky Cruz^[15]
• IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship (1 time) – with Cerebro Negro andVeneno^[21]
• Rey del Ring:2008^[22][23]

• Universal Wrestling Association

• UWA/UWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shu El Guerrero
• UWA World Trios Championship (3 times) – with Shu El Guerrero and Engendro (2), Shu El Guerrero andVillano V (1)^[24]

• Scorpio Jr. profiles atCagematch.net

• 1966 births
• 2024 deaths
• Professional wrestlers from Mexico City
• Mexican male professional wrestlers
• Masked wrestlers
• 20th-century male professional wrestlers
• 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers
• 21st-century male professional wrestlers
• 21st-century Mexican professional wrestlers
• CMLL World Tag Team Champions
• IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Champions
• IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Champions
• IWRG Intercontinental Trios Champions
• UWA World Trios Champions
• UWA World Tag Team Champions

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with Spanish-language sources (es)
• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with short description
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