Espantito
Espantito | |
---|---|
Birth name | Martín Rodríguez |
Born | City Heights, San Diego, California, U.S. | April 24, 1968
Children | 2 |
Family | Piratita Morgan (brother) |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | El Espantito Espantito I |
Billed height | 160 cm (5 ft 3 in)[1] |
Billed weight | 65 kg (143 lb)[1] |
Trained by | Espanto II[1] Indio Chirikawa[1] |
Debut | 1993[1] |
Martín Rodríguez (April 24, 1968 – October 12, 2020), better known by the ring name Espantito (Spanish for "Little Terror" or "Little Scare"), was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (or masked professional wrestler) working in the Mini-Estrella ("Mini-Star") division. Working in the Mini-Estrella division does not automatically mean that Espantito had dwarfism as several wrestlers who are just shorter in stature work in the "Mini" division. As a luchador enmascarado, Espantito's real name was not a matter of public record, but it was revealed upon his death in 2020.
Espantito made his professional wrestling debut in 1993 and was allowed to use a version of the
Personal life
Martín Rodríguez was born on April 25, 1968, in
He had two children with his wife and settled in
Classification as a Mini-Estrella
While the wrestler known as Espantito was known as a Mini-Estrella ("Mini-Star") it does not indicate that Espantito had Dwarfism. Unlike midget wrestling where all competitors are under the height of 147 cm (4 ft 10 in), Mini-Estrellas are often wrestlers of shorter stature such as Espantito at 160 cm (5 ft 3 in), but not true little people in a medical sense.[5]
Professional wrestling career
Due to the secretive culture around
For a short while Espantito was teamed up with a wrestler working as "Espantito II", but Espantito II was only used for a few matches in 1993.[11] Despite working for AAA for several years he never made an appearance on one of their major shows, despite the Mini-Estrella division being featured on several, even headlined some shows. In 1999 Espantito once again briefly teamed up with a wrestler working as "Espantito II", although it is unclear if it was the same worker under the mask than six years prior.[12] By the late 1990s Espantito left AAA and began working primarily on the Mexican Independent circuit, often touring with a troupe of Mini-Estrellas such as Octagoncito, Piratita Morgan and Tzuki. The group toured the U.S., working for various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotions as well as showcasing lucha libre and the Mini-Estrella style throughout the south-west.[13][14] On September 20, 2009, Espantito wrestled Octagoncito for the vacant NWA World Midget's Championship on a Pro Wrestling Revolution (PWR) show, which saw Octagoncito win the match and the championship.[15] The troupe of Mini-Estrellas would continue to use the NWA World Midget's Championship as part of their shows, promoting matches where Octagoncito would defend the championship against Espantito.[16] Later on when Pro Wrestling Revolution split from the NWA the championship was re-branded the PWR World Midget's Championship, with Octagoncito defending it on occasion against Espectrito in various southern states of the United States.[17]
Legal rights to the Espanto name
While several wrestlers have used the "Espanto" name over the years,
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Encyclopedia staff (July 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Espantito (in Spanish). Mexico. p. 31. Tomo II.
- ^ a b "El Espantito, el Pequeño heredor de Los Espantos" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Box y Lucha Magazine. June 18, 1999. pp. 14–16. issue 2411.
- ^ Chen, Michael (October 14, 2020). "Professional wrestler 'Espantito' and City Heights resident dies of COVID-19". 10news.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ Adan, Melissa (October 16, 2020). "'He Died a Star': City Heights Family Loses Luchador Father to COVID-19". nbcsandiego.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
- ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
- ^ Enciclopedia staff (October 1, 2007). "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Octagoncito (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. p. 31. Tomo III.
- ^ a b c "1993 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 7, 1994. pp. 2–28. issue 2214.
- ^ "Espantito Matches". Cage Match. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ISBN 968-6842-48-9.
- ^ "AAA Sin Limite". Cage Match. November 19, 1993. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ "1999 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 10, 2000. pp. 2–28. issue 2436.
- ^ Medina, Louis (September 17, 2008). "Lucha Libre! Masked wrestlers, big and small, pack a punch at the fair". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ Flores Maltos, Joel (January 24, 2010). "Gran jornada de lucha libre se verá esta tarde" (in Spanish). El Siglo del Torreon. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ Ocampo, Jorge (September 29, 2009). "Octagoncito: primer Pro Wrestling Revolution/ NWA World's Mini Champion". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ Arreortúa, Marco. "Octagoncito retiene en Phoenix título de la WWA" (in Spanish). Mixed Voces. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ "Número Especial – Lo mejor de la lucha libre mexicana durante el 2010". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). January 12, 2011. 399.
- ^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 30, 2012). "Video: Hijo del Espanto demandara a Espanto Jr. de la generación 2012 del CMLL". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ "Video: Oro Jr. y Molotov vs. Zayko y Espanto Jr". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). April 1, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2016.