Misplaced Pages

#738261

40-451: The first champion was "Gypsy Joe" Dorsetti , who won the title on November 6, 1952. In 1957 the NWA stripped Frank Stojack of the title for lack of NWA-mandated title defenses, but Stojack kept the physical belt and defended the title for over a year until the NWA regained possession of the actual Championship belt. (Edit: The NWA never regained possession of the actual belt. The actual original belt

80-407: A priest named Pablo José Calvillo , declared Colotlán independent from Spain and put himself and the local indigenous garrisons under the command of Miguel Hidalgo , leader of the independence movement. In 1824, Colotlán was given the title of city and since that date served as seat of the 8th Canton of Jalisco. A municipal government was established by decree on April 8, 1844. A small village in

120-449: A promotion in that time was done without television because of the mayor of Mexico City, Lic. Ernesto Uruchurtu, banned the wrestling matches from being televised, and yet ticket sales at the arena averaged 90% with a maximum capacity of 16,500 seats; wrestlers were brought from Spain, England, Argentina, France, Japan, Korea, and Jamaica among others. As a result, on 16 January 1975, NWA Light Heavyweight Champion Ray Mendoza broke away from

160-542: A significant foreign alternative to American-style professional wrestling. By the mid-1950s, an aging Lutteroth began to cede control of the EMLL to his son Salvador "Chavo" Lutteroth II , who commanded the same level of respect from the wrestlers. Obtaining the recognition from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), for the welterweight and light-heavyweight world titles for Mexico, which brought him great pride as

200-402: A virtual monopoly on the country's wrestling landscape. Moreover, EMLL achieved international recognition for presenting a distinctive in-ring wrestling style that featured dazzling high-risk maneuvers and superior work rate in contrast to the increased brawling style that was employed in the U.S. Consequently, Mexican Lucha Libre (along with Japanese Puroresu ) eventually gained world renown as

240-677: Is also the origin of the "Chichoca" River, that runs east–west and that joins the Colotlán River before joining the Bolaños River , one of the most important tributaries, running north–south, of the Lerma-Santiago River . Colotlán has a Spanish-style coat of arms with a Castilian crown at the top and a scorpion in the center of the heraldic field; it means “Alongside the scorpions” in the Nahuatl language. The flag of Colotlán consists of

280-399: Is bordered on the northeast by the municipality of Santa María de los Ángeles, on the northwest and southeast by the state of Zacatecas and to the southwest by the municipality of Totatiche . The population of the municipality of Colotlán in 2000 totaled 14,266. Of these, 12,283 lived in the municipal seat of Colotlán and the remainder lived in surrounding rural areas. The main villages in

320-476: Is in the possession of a private collector.) After Stojack was stripped of the title, the NWA executive board decided to give Salvador Lutteroth and Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre control of the championship in 1958. The first champion under Lutteroth's authority was Dory Dixon , who had worked for EMLL for many years. During the late 1970s and early 1980s the title was also defended in the Los Angeles area; after

360-640: Is the origin and an important center of piteado manufacturing. The name Colotlán means "the place of scorpions" in Nahuatl . Before the Spanish conquest, the area surrounding present-day Colotlán was inhabited by indigenous ethnic groups including the Tepecano , Guachichil and Zacatec (largely nomadic groups collectively referred to by the Mexica and later the Spanish as Chichimecs ). These groups were continuously at war with

400-608: The Mexican Revolution , and served as a lieutenant, and captain under the command of General Álvaro Obregón while battling against the forces of Pancho Villa , among others. By 1923, he had been promoted to First Captain, but after getting married in 1924 to Armida Camou Olea from Hermosillo , Sonora , he left the military and soon took a job in the Tax Department as a property inspector. He and his wife had four children, Salvador, Hector, Enrique, and Elsa. By 1929, Lutteroth

440-476: The 1950s, in another stroke of luck, the personnel of the Arena Coliseo bought a lottery ticket that won first grand prize of 5 million pesos. Salvador Lutteroth had bought half of the ticket and invested the money in the construction of the new Arena México on the site of the former Arena Modelo; Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, subsequently yielding a popularity explosion for

SECTION 10

#1733271685739

480-526: The 1980s, the title was only defended in Mexico. In March 2010, Blue Demon, Jr. , the president of NWA Mexico, sent letters to CMLL, telling them to stop promoting the NWA-branded championships since they were not part of the NWA. NWA Mexico had previously tried to reclaim the three NWA-branded championships promoted by CMLL, but was ignored by CMLL. The promotion did not directly respond to the latest claim either;

520-521: The Caxcan who inhabited the surrounding areas. The first Spaniards to set foot in the region were soldiers under the command of Captain Pedro Almíndez Chirino in 1530, who reported that the area was largely uninhabited. The atrocities committed by the expeditions sent by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán led to an area chieftain by the name of Zacatecas to align various indigenous groups in the area to resist

560-529: The Mexican lottery on 21 September 1934, and he immediately poured his winnings (which equates to $ 3,500 in today's money, but about $ 40,000 in relative 1934 terms) to renovate the roof and seats for his promotion. By the mid-1940s, the fan base grew so big that Lutteroth constructed the Arena Coliseo , which opened with a capacity for nearly 6,500 seats. As television surfaced as a viable entertainment medium during

600-485: The Municipality (known in the region as "Ranchos") are: El Refugio, El Saucillo De Los Pérez, El Carrizal, El Epazote, Los Veliz, Agua Gorda. Colotlán had a total of 6,008 economically active individuals in 2000. The manufacturing sector employs the largest percentage of this population (30.6 percent) followed by the wholesale and retail sectors (13.6 percent) and agriculture and ranching (12.0 percent). The municipality

640-487: The NWA Welterweight Champion, Mephisto, commented, simply stating that the titles belonged to CMLL. Finally, on August 12, 2010, CMLL debuted the new NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship and returned the old title to NWA. In 2013, NWA Mexico crowned its first recognized World Light Heavyweight Champion, with Súper Nova winning the vacant title. Súper Nova has not defended the title since 2014, with

680-550: The Spanish incursion in the Mixtón War in 1540. In 1546, the governor of Nueva Galicia , Cristóbal de Oñate sent Juan de Tolosa , who was successful in convincing the indigenous groups to accept Spanish military presence and evangelization by lavishing their leaders with gifts. The first Spanish settlement was established by Lucas Tellez, who founded the Tochopa Hacienda. Along with Diego Ramírez, they sought permission from

720-453: The U.S. Colotl%C3%A1n The municipality of Colotlán is in the northern extremity of the Mexican state of Jalisco . The municipality covers an area of approximately 648 square kilometers. Colotlán is located at 22°12′N 103°18′W  /  22.200°N 103.300°W  / 22.200; -103.300 . It stands at 1,550 metres (5,090 ft) above sea level. Colotlán

760-573: The boxing promoters to let him use the premier National Arena, Lutteroth rented out the smaller Modelo Arena, which became the first true home of Lucha Libre. Fans soon began to catch on to the idea of professional wrestling in Mexico ; and by the first anniversary of the EMLL, Lutteroth was promoting to gates upwards of 5,000 fans. In 1934, an American wrestler debuted in Mexico under a black, leather mask, and Lutteroth dubbed him " Maravilla Enmascarada " or "The Masked Marvel". Soon after, Lutteroth incorporated

800-902: The championship being de facto retired. There have been a total of 65 reigns shared between 40 wrestlers. Ray Mendoza has held the Championship the highest number of times with six title reigns; Gory Guerrero 's two reigns combined come to 1,963 days, the highest total of any champion. Roddy Piper is the champion with the shortest reign, 2 days; while the longest title reign belongs to Frank Stojack with 1,573 days. [G] - Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4 . Salvador Lutteroth Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Salvador Lutteroth González (21 March 1897 – 5 September 1987)

840-423: The company's most popular performer. In addition, Lutteroth insisted that El Santo's face remain covered by a mask at all times, even when he was not performing in the ring. Consequently, Lutteroth transformed El Santo into a mega-babyface; and for the next three decades he would serve as the preeminent face of EMLL while he also acted in scores of action-adventure motion picture films, which were hugely popular at

SECTION 20

#1733271685739

880-660: The first Mexican wrestler to win the middleweight championship of the world by defeating Gus Kallio , Carlos Tarzán López , El Santo , Gory Guerrero , René Guajardo , Karloff Lagarde , Enrique Llanes , and the international league wrestler Medico Asesino, Rito Romero , Dorrel Dixon and Mil Máscaras , who wrestled in the United States, Japan, and Europe. Salvador Lutteroth González was born on 21 March 1897, in Colotlán , Jalisco , though he soon moved to Mexico City , where he went to agriculture school. At age 17, Lutteroth joined

920-478: The latest generation of masked luchadores. The Lutteroth Family continues to serve as Lucha Libre's most powerful promoters while steering the dominant EMLL organization. In addition his stable of emmascarados, Lutteroth also built a roster of legendary performers, including the likes of Gory Guerrero , Cavernario Galindo , Tarzán López, Perro Aguayo , René Guajardo , Dorrel Dixon , Mil Máscaras , Rito Romero , Médico Asesino, Sugi Sito and others, while holding

960-450: The municipality, called Agua Gorda, is the birthplace of Victoriano Huerta Márquez , President of Mexico from 1913 to 1914. He was born on December 23, 1850, son of Jesús Huerta and Refugio Márquez, who was purportedly of Huichol descent. Victoriano Huerta is one of the few Presidents of Mexico who were originally from the state of Jalisco (with Valentín Gómez Farías who served as acting president twice) The area surrounding Colotlan

1000-542: The natural attractions of Colotlán is a natural canyon known as "La Barranca" located about 1 kilometer east of El Refugio, in the south east part of the municipality. This canyon runs for approximately 5 kilometers and is the exit of the basin of approximately 100 square kilometers that was formed in the highlands in the neighbouring state of Zacatecas between the Sierra de Morones and the "Cerro Chichimeco" (Chichimeco mountain, approximately 2,600 meters above sea level). The canyon

1040-553: The new EMLL management, and with the backing of arena promoters Francisco Flores and Benjamin Mora Jr. , started a competing federation known as Lucha Libre Internacional, S. C., which has since become known as the Universal Wrestling Association (and the eventual home of longtime champion El Canek ). Salvador Lutteroth Jr. retired in 1987; and his grandson Paco Alonso has since taken control of EMLL, which remains

1080-466: The region under their rule, known as Las Fronteras de Colotlán , which in addition to Colotlan, included the provinces of Nayarit and Bolaños . Upon the military government's dissolution in 1806, the area was divided into nine subdelegations and put under the rule of government of Nueva Galicia . On November 12, 1810, a local indigenous leader from the Tlaxcala neighborhood, Marcos Escobedo along with

1120-481: The rule of the government of Nueva Galicia , the cost and logistics of suppressing the indigenous uprisings in the surrounding areas in the 18th century led the colonial government to place the town and its surrounding areas under the rule of a military government in the mid 18th century. Military governors during this period included Simon de Herrera Leiba and Pablo Enrique Yriarte Lanumbe. These military governments were charged with all civil and criminal proceedings in

1160-449: The sport. Moreover, the emergence of television allowed Lutteroth to promote Lucha Libre's first breakout superstar, El Santo, into a national pop-culture phenomenon. The El Santo persona debuted in the early 1940s as a rudo (heel) and initially engaged in a heated feud with Lutteroth's top babyface , Tarzán López . The Mexican fanbase was so enamored with the mystique and the secrecy of his identity, however, that El Santo soon became

1200-527: The still indominitable Chichimecs of the region. On August 21, 1591, Captain Miguel Caldera , mayor of the village of Jerez and the Valley of Tlaltenango , gave the necessary land to establish a settlement. The land was put under the custody of Fray Ignacio Cárdenas, who named the village Villa de Nueva Tlaxcala de Quiahuistlán, a name by which Colotlan was known until the end of the 18th century. The village

1240-749: The time. As a result, El Santo quickly grew into one of Mexico's most popular national celebrities of the 20th century, while the sport of Lucha Libre thus received an unparalleled degree of mainstream attention. Following the mammoth success of El Santo, Lutteroth then frequently pushed additional masked superstar characters, such as the Black Shadow , the Blue Demon , Mil Máscaras , and the Villanos (among others). To this day, Lucha Libre remains associated with high-flying masked superstars, with Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Psicosis , Silver King , and La Parka representing

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-607: The use of other masked wrestlers into Lucha Libre, creating real-life superheroes and villains for the audience to identify with. The idea was a huge success and thus the modern era of Mexican wrestling was born. It was also around this time that Salvador Lutteroth would discover his first legitimate superstar, the masked icon El Santo , who is generally regarded as the greatest Mexican wrestler of all time. As his fan base continued to grow, Lutteroth and his partners eventually moved to larger and more profitable venues. Through an amazing stroke of luck, Lutteroth then won 40,000 pesos in

1320-556: The viceroy Luís de Velasco to found a village. The village was initially populated by part of the 400 Tlaxcaltec families sent to this and other regions in the Chichimeca. The Spanish had negotiated with Tlaxaltec leaders to send families to regions where they had been unsuccessful in subjugating the local indigenous groups. The Tlaxcaltecs, who had allied themselves with the Spanish in the conquest of Tenochtitlan were to serve as models of civility and of sedentary agricultural life for

1360-445: The world presenting three weekly shows. Lutteroth was known as the "father of lucha libre ," and, in his position as promoter and booker of the dominant promotion, was the most powerful man in Mexican wrestling, and one of the most powerful wrestling executives in the world. He was, in large part, responsible for the widespread fame of the most famous Mexican professional wrestlers of the mid-twentieth century, such as Octavio Gaona ,

1400-461: The world's oldest wrestling federation while continuing to compete with the UWA and Antonio Peña 's AAA promotion. With its fast-paced, athletic style, Lucha Libre is now entrenched among Mexico's top attractions, ranking with soccer and baseball as its most popular pastimes. Moreover, in recent years, Mexican stars like Eddie Guerrero , Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Konnan , and Vampiro have also been top draws in

1440-422: Was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter of the mid-twentieth century. Lutteroth's organization, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), was the dominant Mexican wrestling promotional enterprise from its founding in 1933 until Lutteroth left the company in the 1950s. Under its current name of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), it is, to date, the longest-running active professional wrestling promotion in

1480-612: Was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1992, was executed by the Mexican government by firing squad in Colotlán on May 25, 1927 as a consequence of the Cristero conflict. Colotlán is named "Capital del Cinto Piteado", Capital of the Piteado belt, this hand tailored belt among other things is made in Colotlán, and at one time provided a large portion of the income of the local residents. Demand has diminished for this product in recent years. One of

1520-456: Was divided into three sectors. The first, Tlaxcala, corresponded to the Tlaxcaltecs as well as the few Spaniards who inhabited the village initially. The second, Sayotlan, was home to the local indigenous inhabitants who had been pacified. The third sector, Tochopa, named after the hacienda that had existed before the town was founded, was for immigrant indigenous groups. While initially under

1560-499: Was one of the principal battlegrounds of the Cristero Rebellion which lasted from 1927 to 1929, where pro-Catholic forces rebelled against the liberal and secularizing decrees instituted by Plutarco Elías Calles , which included suspension of worship, execution of non-compliant clergy, bans on clergy wearing clerical garb in public and on criticizing the government. The parish priest of Totatiche, Cristóbal Magallanes Jara , who

1600-664: Was relocated to Ciudad Juárez , where he was first exposed to the sport of professional wrestling. While there he began regularly attending matches at Liberty Hall in El Paso, Texas, where he became enamored with the personalities of the various competitors, most notably the Greek star, Gus Pappas . Lutteroth then decided to bring this entertaining sport back to his native Mexico; and in 1933, he chartered his new company, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), along with his financial partner Francisco Ahumada . After unsuccessful negotiations with

#738261