Miguel "Miguelito" Vázquez Bernal (February 11, 1940 – December 8, 1996), was a Mexican luchador or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto III ("Terror 3"). During his career in lucha libre he formed a long running, successful trio known as Los Espantos ("The Terrors") with his brother José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (known as Espanto I) and Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (Espanto II).
Los Espantos was one of the first examples of an identical trio, where all three members of the team used the same name, mask and wrestling gear only distinguished by a number. After his retirement he trained his sons for a professional wrestling career, and the later followed in his footsteps as Espanto IV and Espanto V.
Early life
Miguel Vázquez Bernal, known as "Miguelito" to his friends and family, was born on February 11, 1940, in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. He was seven years younger than his brother José Eusebio and possibly had more siblings. José Eusebio became a professional wrestler or luchador around 1953, which inspired his younger brother to later follow in his footsteps.
Professional wrestling career
Miguel Vázquez trained for his professional wrestling career in the local wrestling school in Torreón, the same place where his brother José Eusebio first wrestled. He worked as "Mickey Vázquez" in the early 1960s, but records are unclear as to when he made his debut.[1]
In 1958 or 1959 José Eusebio had begun working as "El Espanto" ("The Terror") and a short time after José Eusebio's best friend Fernando Cisneros Carrillo adopted the character Espanto II, becoming a regular tag team known as Los Espantos.[3] By November 1962 both Espanto I and Espanto II had lost their masks in Lucha de Apuestas, or bet matches.[3] At this point Miguel Vázquez donned the distinctive black and white mask of Los Espantos and became Espanto III. With the addition of Espanto III Los Espantos' became a regular trio, and one of the first to work as an "identical trio" by using the same name with only numbers to distinguish themselves, a tradition that still exists in lucha libre.[4] Initially he mainly supported Espanto I and II as they fought against rivals El Santo and Rubén Juárez respectively, serving as their corner man during Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet matches".[3][5] Not long after his debut as Espanto III, he won his first Lucha de Apuestas, defeating Javier Escobedo on a show in Guadalajara, Jalisco, forcing Escobedo to be shaved bald.[3]
The Los Espantos trio got their biggest win ever when they defeated the "dream team" of Mexican tecnicos (those that portray the good guys) El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras.[1] In the early parts of 1964 Espanto III won two additional Lucha de Apuestas matches, leaving both Alex Montaña and Humberto Garza without their hair as a result.[3] The Apuesta wins were used to build a storyline feud between Espanto III and Huracán Ramírez through the first half of 1964. The storyline came to a conclusion on June 12, 1964 where Espanto III was unmasked after losing a Lucha de Apuestas match to Ramírez. As each Espanto lost their mask they claimed that their last name was "Vázquez Cisneros", combining their last names to hide the fact that they were not all brothers.[3]
On May 30, 1968, Miguel's older brother José, as well as fellow wrestler Popeye Franco, was killed by the owner of a cantina during a bar fight. At the time of his death, Los Espantos were set to do a world tour with dates planned for Germany, France, Spain and Japan. The promoters offered Espanto II the opportunity to go alone or with Espanto III, but he declined due to the loss of his close friend. After the death of his brother, Miguel wrestled less regularly and by the early 1970s both Miguel and Cisneros became semi-retired from wrestling, working only a limited schedule in Northern Mexico. As Espanto II and III, the duo held the Northern Tag Team Championship at one point in the 1970s before Espanto II retired in 1979.[1] At one point during the 1970s Espanto III lost a Lucha de Apuestas match to La Sombra,[a] marking the first time he lost his hair after losing a Lucha de Apuestas match.[3] In 1984 he lost another Lucha de Apuestas match to Black Charly. A short time later he retired from wrestling.[3]
Personal life
After his retirement from in-ring competition Vázquez took part in training his sons for a professional wrestling career, they would eventually become known as Espanto IV and Espanto V. On December 8, 1996, Miguel Vázquez died from a heart attack in his hometown of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.[1][2][6]
Legacy
The Los Espantos trio influenced several subsequent teams and individual wrestlers to use the Espanto name, not just limited to his sons Espanto IV and V. In 1984 Vázquez and Cisneros allowed Jesús Andrade Salas to adopt the identify of "Espanto Jr.", who was presented as the son of Espanto I and wore the signature black and white mask of Los Espantos.[7] Andrade would be succeeded by his son, who in 2012 also began working as Espanto Jr.[8] The surviving Espantos also gave permission for Los Hijos del Espanto to use the name and masks.[9] In 1998 Cisneros, as the last surviving Espanto, endorsed the Mini-Estrella wrestler El Espantito ("The Little Terror"), to use the Espanto name and mask.[10]
^ abNot the same wrestler as the most recent La Sombra.
References
^ abcdefghijklmn"Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre". Espanto I (in Spanish). Portales, Mexico. November 2008. p. 23. 17.
^ abMadigan, Dan (2007). "A family affair". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publisher. pp. 128–132. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^ abcdefghijklmnEncyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Los Espantos (in Spanish). Mexico. pp. 27–28. Tomo II.
^Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^Encyclopedia staff (October 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Santo (in Spanish). Mexico. pp. 29–30. Tomo IV.
^Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espanto IV y V (in Spanish). Mexico. p. 29. Tomo II.
^Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espanto Jr. (in Spanish). Mexico. p. 30. Tomo II.
