 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francisco Javier Mar Hernández (1926-12-04)December 4, 1926[1] |
| Died | May 4, 2000(2000-05-04) (aged 73)[1][2] |
| Children | La Briosa |
| Relative | Black Cat (son-in-law) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Sugi Sito Dragon de Oro |
| Trained by | Rolando Vera[1] |
| Debut | 1943[1] |
Francisco Javier Mar Hernández (December 4, 1926 – May 4, 2000), known by the ring name"El Orgullo de Oriente" ("The pride of the Orient")Sugi Sito, was a Mexicanprofessional wrestler andpromoter. He saw success inEmpresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) during the 1950s, where he was a two-timeNWA World Middleweight Championship.
In the 1950s, Sito left Mexico and gained a measure of great success wrestling in the United States, especially theHouston,Texas area. In the early 1970s, Sito worked forStu Hart'sStampede Wrestling as atag team with Chin Lee andTor Kamata, holding theNWA International Tag Team Championship three times. He later returned to Mexico where he became a wrestlingpromoter.
Francisco Mar was born inGuanajuato to a Mexican mother andChinese father. He was trained byRolando Vera for his professional wrestling career and made his debut in 1943.[1] He adopted the "Japanese-sounding"ring nameSugi Sito to play off his East Asian ancestry, making him an instantrudo (heel) duringWorld War II.[1]
Sito's career highlights in Mexico came in the early part of the 1950s, as he was working forEmpresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). On September 21, 1950 Sito defeatedTarzán López to win theNWA World Middleweight Championship, one of the most prestigious championships in Mexico at the time.[3] Sito's first title reign lasted 368 days, ending whenEnrique Llanes won the belt from him on September 24, 1951.[3] Sito regained the Middleweight title in 1953 when he once again defeated López to win the title. This time he held it until January 1, 1954 when he was defeated byEl Santo and lost the title.[3]
From 1954 and forward Sito travelled all over the United States and Canada to wrestle for various promotions. His first stop was inTexas where he worked forSouthwest Sports, Inc. (the future World Class Championship Wrestling). Sito earned a reputation for having some of the hardest hand strikes in professional wrestling while working in Texas, a reputation that started when he accidentally fracturedDanny McShain's skull during a match.[1] He teamed up with another Mexican native inRito Romero to win theNWA Texas Tag Team Championship fromIvan Kalmikoff and Karol Krauser.[4] Due to sparse records from that time it is not known who defeated Sito and Romero for the titles.[4] In the late 1960s Sito began working forGulf Coast Championship Wrestling (GCCW) based out of Alabama. He was in a tag team withTojo Yamamoto in 1968. In GCCW he began teaming with Mitsu Sito, his legit brother, defeating Rocket Monroe and Flash Monroe for theNWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship on February 21, 1969. The team only held the title for 5 days before being defeated by Bob Kelly and Ramon Perez.[5]
Following his stint in the south eastern United States, Sito travelled north toCalgary,Alberta,Canada to work forStu Hart'sStampede Wrestling. Over the course of the next two years Sito held the Calgary version of theNWA International Tag Team Championship three times, twice with Chin Lee and once withTor Kamata.[6]
Mar was part of a large wrestling family. His three brothers (Macario Mar [who wrestled as Huroki Sito and Mitsu Sito], Panchito Robles and Manuel Robles) were all luchadores, as well as his son-in-law (El Mexicano), nephews (Black Cat, El Jabato and Pánico) and even his daughter who wrestles asLa Briosa.[7]
Mar died on May 4, 2000.[1][2]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dos Caras (mask) | Sugi Sito (hair) | N/A | Live event | N/A | [1] |
| Torbellino Blanco (mask) | Sugi Sito (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | May 2, 1952 | [1] |
