Black Guzmán
Encyclopedia
Miguel Wenceslao Guzmán Huerta (1916 – December 1, 1973) was a Mexican
professional wrestler
, or Luchador
as they are known in Spanish
, who worked under the ring name
Miguel Guzmán and Black Guzmán, a nickname he had earned due to his dark skin.Guzmán was the brother of Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, better known as the wrestling legend "El Santo", as well as the brother of wrestlers Pantera Negra and Jimmy Guzmán. He was the uncle of El Hijo del Santo
and the great uncle of Axel. Guzmán style was centered around the headscissors, pioneering several variations of the Headscissors takedown and one of the first Luchadors to work a fast paced, aerial style. Guzmán was the first Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion
, winning a tournament in 1943. Guzmán also competed for Texas based Southwest Sports, Inc.
(Later World Class Championship Wrestling) for a number of years, including eight reigns as the NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion
and one run with the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship
alongside Rito Romero
.
in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, to Jesús Guzmán Campuzano and Josefina Huerta (Márquez) de Guzmán as the fourth of seven children, the family moved to Mexico City in the 1920s in order go earn a living. When got old enough Miguel Guzmán began training for his professional wrestling career alongside his younger brother Rodolfo.
, one of the top titles in Mexico at the time. Guzmán only held the title for 57 days before López regained it. Two years later Guzmán won a tournament to become the first ever Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
in March. Guzmán held the title until September 20, 1944 when he lost the title to Gorilla Ramos.
By the mid 1940s Guzmán started working across the border in Texas for Southwest Sports, Inc.
(Later World Class Championship Wrestling), run by Ed McLemore. In Texas he was billed as "Miguel Guzmán" and despite being a bit older and a bit slower than when he headlined in Mexico he still held several championships and headlined several cards throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He won his first Texas based title on August 1, 1947 when he defeated Sonny Myers
for the vacant Texas Heavyweight Championship
. Guzmán would win the title an additional two times before Southwest Sports, Inc. joined the National Wrestling Alliance
, renaming the title the "NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship". Guzmán would win the title a total of eight times, defeating Yukon Eric
, Danny McShain
, Wild Red Berry, Sonny Myers, Danny Savish and Wayne Martin for the title. Guzmán vacated the title in 1951 due to injuries. Guzmán was also a successful tag team
competitor, teaming with Rito Romero
to win the Texas Tag Team Championship
on three separate occasions. The team defeated Al Lovelock and Danny McShain to win the title the first time, losing them to Duke Keomuka and Danny Savich in November, 1950. On February 1, 1952 Guzmán teamed with Ray Gunkel
to hold the Texas Tag Team title for three weeks. Guzmán and Romero would join up twice more to win the Tag Team title, defeating Duke Keomuka and Mr. Moto. The team ended their third and final run with the titles in May, 1954 when they lost to Ivan Kamlikoff
and Karol Krauser
.
Guzmán's career slowed down by the mid-1950s, retiring in the 1960s. On December 1, 1973 Miguel Guzmán died.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, or Luchador
Lucha libre
Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...
as they are known in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, who worked under the ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
Miguel Guzmán and Black Guzmán, a nickname he had earned due to his dark skin.Guzmán was the brother of Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, better known as the wrestling legend "El Santo", as well as the brother of wrestlers Pantera Negra and Jimmy Guzmán. He was the uncle of El Hijo del Santo
El Hijo del Santo
Jorge Guzmán Rodríguez , better known as El Hijo del Santo , is a Mexican professional wrestler, political activist and one of the most successful stars in Lucha Libre...
and the great uncle of Axel. Guzmán style was centered around the headscissors, pioneering several variations of the Headscissors takedown and one of the first Luchadors to work a fast paced, aerial style. Guzmán was the first Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship controlled by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F....
, winning a tournament in 1943. Guzmán also competed for Texas based Southwest Sports, Inc.
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
(Later World Class Championship Wrestling) for a number of years, including eight reigns as the NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
and one run with the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship
WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship
The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
alongside Rito Romero
Rito Romero
Rito Romero Loza was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors...
.
Biography
Guzmán was born in 1916 in TulancingoTulancingo
Tulancingo is the second-largest city in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the southeastern part of the state and also forms one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, as well as the Archdiocese of Tulancingo...
in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, to Jesús Guzmán Campuzano and Josefina Huerta (Márquez) de Guzmán as the fourth of seven children, the family moved to Mexico City in the 1920s in order go earn a living. When got old enough Miguel Guzmán began training for his professional wrestling career alongside his younger brother Rodolfo.
Professional wrestling career
Guzmán made his professional wrestling debut in the early 1930s working under his real name. He quickly earned the nickname "Black Guzmán", due to his dark skin. He also earned the nickname "Indio de Tulacingo" (Spanish for "Idian from Tulacingo"). Black Guzmán was initially a bigger star than his younger brother Rodolfo as he pioneered a high flying, fast paced style of wrestling focused around the Headscissors takedown. Of course later on Rodolfo would adopt the name "El Santo" and become the biggest wrestling star Mexico has ever seen. On December 16, 1941 Black Guzmán defeated Tarzán López to win the World Middleweight ChampionshipNWA World Middleweight Championship
The NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato...
, one of the top titles in Mexico at the time. Guzmán only held the title for 57 days before López regained it. Two years later Guzmán won a tournament to become the first ever Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship
The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship controlled by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F....
in March. Guzmán held the title until September 20, 1944 when he lost the title to Gorilla Ramos.
By the mid 1940s Guzmán started working across the border in Texas for Southwest Sports, Inc.
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
(Later World Class Championship Wrestling), run by Ed McLemore. In Texas he was billed as "Miguel Guzmán" and despite being a bit older and a bit slower than when he headlined in Mexico he still held several championships and headlined several cards throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He won his first Texas based title on August 1, 1947 when he defeated Sonny Myers
Sonny Myers
Harold "Sonny" Myers was an American professional wrestler, involved in the business for sixty years.-Career:...
for the vacant Texas Heavyweight Championship
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
. Guzmán would win the title an additional two times before Southwest Sports, Inc. joined the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
, renaming the title the "NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship". Guzmán would win the title a total of eight times, defeating Yukon Eric
Eric Holmback
Eric Holmback was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Yukon Eric.Holmback spent the majority of his career in Southern Ontario, Canada, where he won the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship on two occasions with Whipper Billy Watson in 1955 and 1961 and the Montreal...
, Danny McShain
Danny McShain
Danny McShain was an American professional wrestler who competed in the Southern United States from the 1930s to the 1960s.-Early life:...
, Wild Red Berry, Sonny Myers, Danny Savish and Wayne Martin for the title. Guzmán vacated the title in 1951 due to injuries. Guzmán was also a successful tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
competitor, teaming with Rito Romero
Rito Romero
Rito Romero Loza was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors...
to win the Texas Tag Team Championship
WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship
The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
on three separate occasions. The team defeated Al Lovelock and Danny McShain to win the title the first time, losing them to Duke Keomuka and Danny Savich in November, 1950. On February 1, 1952 Guzmán teamed with Ray Gunkel
Ray Gunkel
Raymond Fred Gunkel , known professionally as Ray Gunkel, was an American professional wrestler and promoter in the state of Georgia. He died of heart trauma after a match in Savannah, Georgia in which he defeated Ox Baker.-Early life:Gunkell was born on February 16, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois...
to hold the Texas Tag Team title for three weeks. Guzmán and Romero would join up twice more to win the Tag Team title, defeating Duke Keomuka and Mr. Moto. The team ended their third and final run with the titles in May, 1954 when they lost to Ivan Kamlikoff
The Kalmikoffs
The Kalmikoffs were a professional wrestling group of fictitious soviet brothers. It began as a tag team consisting of Ivan and Karol who were later joined by "brothers" Nikita and Stan ...
and Karol Krauser
The Kalmikoffs
The Kalmikoffs were a professional wrestling group of fictitious soviet brothers. It began as a tag team consisting of Ivan and Karol who were later joined by "brothers" Nikita and Stan ...
.
Guzmán's career slowed down by the mid-1950s, retiring in the 1960s. On December 1, 1973 Miguel Guzmán died.
A famous Lucha family
Guzmán is part of an extende Lucha Libre family that includes some of the biggest stars ever to compete in Mexico; Guzmán's brother Rodolfo is better known as the Mexican Icon "El Santo" and Rodolofo's son still wrestles as "El Hijo del Santo". His brothers also wrestled as "Pantera Negra" and Jimmy GUzman. Miguel Guzmán is the great uncle of wrestlers Axxel and Rocker II.In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Headscissors variations
Championships and accomplishments
- Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha LibreConsejo Mundial de Lucha LibreConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico...
- Mexican National Light Heavyweight ChampionshipMexican National Light Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship controlled by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F....
(1 time) - World Middleweight ChampionshipNWA World Middleweight ChampionshipThe NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato...
(1 timeNWA World Middleweight ChampionshipThe NWA World Middleweight Championship is a currently inactive professional wrestling championship, promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence it has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato...
)
- Southwest Sports, Inc.World Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- NWA Texas Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Texas Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
(8 timesNWA Texas Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
) - NWA Texas Tag Team ChampionshipWCWA Texas Tag Team ChampionshipThe WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
(4 timesWCWA Texas Tag Team ChampionshipThe WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
) – with Rito RomeroRito RomeroRito Romero Loza was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors...
(3) and Ray GunkelRay GunkelRaymond Fred Gunkel , known professionally as Ray Gunkel, was an American professional wrestler and promoter in the state of Georgia. He died of heart trauma after a match in Savannah, Georgia in which he defeated Ox Baker.-Early life:Gunkell was born on February 16, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois...