Karloff Lagarde
Encyclopedia
Carlos de Lucio Lagarde (July 27, 1928 – August 31, 2009) is best known as Karloff Lagarde, a Mexican
Luchador
, or professional wrestler, who was immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s. Through his career had faced most of Mexico's top stars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including lucha libre legends such as El Santo, El Solitario
, Mil Máscaras
, Black Shadow
, Huracán Ramírez
, Gory Guerrero
, Ray Mendoza
and Perro Aguayo
. He was known as the "king of the Welterweight" due to him holding the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
four times and the NWA World Welterweight Championship
three times in his career. Lagarde teamed up with René Guajardo
to form a tag team
known as Los Rebeldes, considered to be one of the top five tag teams in Lucha libre history.
, Hidalgo, Carlos Lagarde debuted in 1950 in Hidalgo State wrestling under the name Karloff Lagarde. In 1957 he won his first wrestling championship when he defeated Jalisco Gonzalez to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
. The following year, on January 31, 1958 Lagarde also won the NWA World Welterweight Championship
when he defeated Blue Demon
for the championship. With both the Mexican National and the NWA World titles in the welterweight division Largade reigned as the king of the welterweights for several years. On March 24, 1961 Lagarde became a triple champion when he defeated El Santo to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship
. His run with the Mexican National Welterweight Championship lasted 1,859 days in total, from 1957 until April 4, 1962 when he lost the title to Blue Demon. In the early 1960s Lagarde had begun teaming up with René Guajardo
and by 1962 they were one of the top teams in Mexico at the time and one of the top five Lucha libre teams of all time. They were collectively known as Los Rebeldes ("The Rebels") and headlined shows all over Mexico while wrestling against some of the top Tecnicos
(good guys) at the time such as El Santo, Blue Demon and Rayo de Jalisco
. They held the Mexican National Tag Team Championship
at least once between 1962 and 1967. On April 28, 1962 Lagarde regained the Mexican National Welterweight Championship from Blue Demon, but vacated the title the following year to focus on defending the NWA World Welterweight Championship and teaming with Guajardo. Lagarde's marathon reign as NWA World Welterweight Champion ended on August 5, 1965, 2743 days after winning it, when he lost to Huracán Ramírez
. Lagarde regained the title in September and held it for 590 days before Vento Castella defeated him for the belt. Lagarde's third and final reign as NWA World Welterweight champion began only two months after Castella had won the title and lasted for 1,469 days making Lagarde the person to have held the NWA World Welterweight Championship the longest with 4,802 days in total, over 2,000 days more than the second longest. In 1969 Lagarde won the Mexican National Welterweight Championship for a fourth time, defeating longtime rival Huracán Ramírez for the title on September 9, 1969. The rivalry with Ramírez extended into the 1970s with Ramírez regaining the title in 1972 and Lagarde winning his fourth and final title from Ramírez on October 20, 1972. Lagarde's final title run ended on August 11, 1973 when he was defeated by El Marque.
(masked wrestlers) Ángel and Satán. two of the main protagonists in the 1964 movie Los endemoniados del ring ("The Demons of the Ring").
Karloff Lagarde, Jr.
as a tribute to his uncle. It is not an uncommon practice in Mexico to become a "Junior" without being actually the son of the wrestler, instead it's seen as a tribute. Another one of Lagarde's nephews wrestles as Coco Rojo, a wrestling clown
.
Carlos Lagarde died on August 31, 2007 following numerous weeks in poor health as a result of a stroke
.
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
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...
, or professional wrestler, who was immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s. Through his career had faced most of Mexico's top stars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including lucha libre legends such as El Santo, El Solitario
El Solitario
Roberto González Cruz was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled under the name El Solitario. During his career he held both the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship...
, Mil Máscaras
Mil Máscaras
Aaron Rodríguez , best known as Mil Máscaras , is a semi-retired Mexican professional wrestler and actor, who has starred in several films with fellow luchadores...
, Black Shadow
Alejandro Cruz (wrestler)
Alejandro Cruz Ortiz was a Mexican Luchador , known worldwide as Black Shadow. Cruz's mask vs. mask match against El Santo in 1953 is generally considered one of the most important matches in the history of Lucha Libre...
, Huracán Ramírez
Huracan Ramirez
Huracán Ramírez was a fictitious character invented for the 1952 Mexican Lucha film of the same name. In the film a young Mexican, whose father is a professional wrestler, decides to follow in his father's footsteps by adopting the secret identity of Huracán Ramírez, a masked luchador, and he...
, Gory Guerrero
Gory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada , better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Hispanic professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside of Mexico. He wrestled primarily in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre between the 1940s and 1960s...
, Ray Mendoza
Ray Mendoza
José Díaz Velazquez was a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time World Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first Mexican to hold the championship...
and Perro Aguayo
Perro Aguayo
Pedro Aguayo better known as "Perro Aguayo" and El Can de Nochistlan , was a famous Mexican wrestler through 1970s to 1990s. His son also wrestles as Perro Aguayo, Jr. or El Hijo del Perro Aguayo . He is one of the biggest box office attractions in lucha libre history and was the last major rival...
. He was known as the "king of the Welterweight" due to him holding the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
The Mexican National Welterweight Championship is a Mexican professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . While the commission sanctions the title, it does not promote the events at which the title is defended...
four times and the NWA World Welterweight Championship
NWA World Welterweight Championship
The NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de...
three times in his career. Lagarde teamed up with René Guajardo
René Guajardo
Manuel Guajardo Mejorado , better known as René Guajardo, was a Mexican professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...
to form a 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...
known as Los Rebeldes, considered to be one of the top five tag teams in Lucha libre history.
Professional wrestling career
Born in Zapotlán de JuárezZapotlán de Juárez
Zapotlán de Juárez is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 131.1 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 16,493....
, Hidalgo, Carlos Lagarde debuted in 1950 in Hidalgo State wrestling under the name Karloff Lagarde. In 1957 he won his first wrestling championship when he defeated Jalisco Gonzalez to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
Mexican National Welterweight Championship
The Mexican National Welterweight Championship is a Mexican professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . While the commission sanctions the title, it does not promote the events at which the title is defended...
. The following year, on January 31, 1958 Lagarde also won the NWA World Welterweight Championship
NWA World Welterweight Championship
The NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de...
when he defeated Blue Demon
Blue Demon
Alejandro Muñoz Moreno , better known as Blue Demon , was a Mexican luchador Enmascarado who was widely considered to be one of the greatest Mexican wrestlers of his time...
for the championship. With both the Mexican National and the NWA World titles in the welterweight division Largade reigned as the king of the welterweights for several years. On March 24, 1961 Lagarde became a triple champion when he defeated El Santo to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship
Mexican National Middleweight Championship
The Mexican National Middleweight Championship is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by a "National title" controlled by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." , which regulates all matches where the title is defended...
. His run with the Mexican National Welterweight Championship lasted 1,859 days in total, from 1957 until April 4, 1962 when he lost the title to Blue Demon. In the early 1960s Lagarde had begun teaming up with René Guajardo
René Guajardo
Manuel Guajardo Mejorado , better known as René Guajardo, was a Mexican professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...
and by 1962 they were one of the top teams in Mexico at the time and one of the top five Lucha libre teams of all time. They were collectively known as Los Rebeldes ("The Rebels") and headlined shows all over Mexico while wrestling against some of the top Tecnicos
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
(good guys) at the time such as El Santo, Blue Demon and Rayo de Jalisco
Rayo de Jalisco, Sr.
Máximino "Max" Linares Moreno , better known as Rayo de Jalisco is a Mexican luchador who is considered to be one of the best wrestlers of his generation....
. They held the Mexican National Tag Team Championship
Mexican National Tag Team Championship
The Mexican National Tag Team Championship is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." and contested for by Tag teams only...
at least once between 1962 and 1967. On April 28, 1962 Lagarde regained the Mexican National Welterweight Championship from Blue Demon, but vacated the title the following year to focus on defending the NWA World Welterweight Championship and teaming with Guajardo. Lagarde's marathon reign as NWA World Welterweight Champion ended on August 5, 1965, 2743 days after winning it, when he lost to Huracán Ramírez
Huracan Ramirez
Huracán Ramírez was a fictitious character invented for the 1952 Mexican Lucha film of the same name. In the film a young Mexican, whose father is a professional wrestler, decides to follow in his father's footsteps by adopting the secret identity of Huracán Ramírez, a masked luchador, and he...
. Lagarde regained the title in September and held it for 590 days before Vento Castella defeated him for the belt. Lagarde's third and final reign as NWA World Welterweight champion began only two months after Castella had won the title and lasted for 1,469 days making Lagarde the person to have held the NWA World Welterweight Championship the longest with 4,802 days in total, over 2,000 days more than the second longest. In 1969 Lagarde won the Mexican National Welterweight Championship for a fourth time, defeating longtime rival Huracán Ramírez for the title on September 9, 1969. The rivalry with Ramírez extended into the 1970s with Ramírez regaining the title in 1972 and Lagarde winning his fourth and final title from Ramírez on October 20, 1972. Lagarde's final title run ended on August 11, 1973 when he was defeated by El Marque.
Movie career
When the Lagarde / Guajardo duo was at the top of the Mexican wrestling world the duo appeared in one of the many Lucha films produced at the time. They portrayed the enmascaradoWrestling mask
A Wrestling mask is a fabric based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Lucha Libre in Mexico.-History:In 1915 a North American...
(masked wrestlers) Ángel and Satán. two of the main protagonists in the 1964 movie Los endemoniados del ring ("The Demons of the Ring").
Personal life
Lagarde was a second generation wrestler, although the ring name of his father has not been found documented. His brother wrestled around the same time as Lagarde was active, although the family relationship was not publicly known at the time, his brother wrestled as the masked "Ángel Negro" ("Black Angel"). Lagarde's nephew is also a professional wrestler as well, working under the ring nameRing 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:...
Karloff Lagarde, Jr.
Karloff Lagarde, Jr.
César Baltazar de Lucio Valencia is a semi-retired Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler best known under the ring name Karloff Lagarde, Jr.. Despite what his ring name might indicate he is not the son of Karloff Lagarde, but his nephew. Lucio is a former CMLL World Welterweight Champion and...
as a tribute to his uncle. It is not an uncommon practice in Mexico to become a "Junior" without being actually the son of the wrestler, instead it's seen as a tribute. Another one of Lagarde's nephews wrestles as Coco Rojo, a wrestling clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
.
Carlos Lagarde died on August 31, 2007 following numerous weeks in poor health as a result of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
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 Middleweight ChampionshipMexican National Middleweight ChampionshipThe Mexican National Middleweight Championship is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by a "National title" controlled by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." , which regulates all matches where the title is defended...
(1 time) - Mexican National Tag Team ChampionshipMexican National Tag Team ChampionshipThe Mexican National Tag Team Championship is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." and contested for by Tag teams only...
(1 time) – with René GuajardoRené GuajardoManuel Guajardo Mejorado , better known as René Guajardo, was a Mexican professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:... - Mexican National Welterweight ChampionshipMexican National Welterweight ChampionshipThe Mexican National Welterweight Championship is a Mexican professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. . While the commission sanctions the title, it does not promote the events at which the title is defended...
(4 times) - NWA World Welterweight ChampionshipNWA World Welterweight ChampionshipThe NWA World Welterweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . For the majority of its existence, the title has been promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre , where it was known as the Campeonato Mundial Welter de...
(3 times)
Lucha de Apuesta record
| Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hair | El Solitario El Solitario Roberto González Cruz was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled under the name El Solitario. During his career he held both the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship... |
Karloff Lagarde | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Hair | Halcón de Oro II | Karloff Lagarde | Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
Unknown | |
| Mask | Karloff Lagarde | El Impostor | Monterrey Monterrey Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the... , Nuevo León Nuevo León Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S... |
Unknown | |
| Hair | Ray Mendoza Ray Mendoza José Díaz Velazquez was a Mexican Luchador, or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time World Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first Mexican to hold the championship... |
Karloff Lagarde | Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
1965 | |
| Hair | Karloff Lagarde | Cavernario Galindo Cavernario Galindo Rodolfo Galindo Ramirez was a Mexican luchador and film actor, best known by his ring name Cavernario Galindo , who was active in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre from the 1930s to the 1990s... |
Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
||
| Hair | Jerry London | Karloff Lagarde | Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
||
| Hair | Perro Aguayo Perro Aguayo Pedro Aguayo better known as "Perro Aguayo" and El Can de Nochistlan , was a famous Mexican wrestler through 1970s to 1990s. His son also wrestles as Perro Aguayo, Jr. or El Hijo del Perro Aguayo . He is one of the biggest box office attractions in lucha libre history and was the last major rival... |
Karloff Lagarde | Tijuana Tijuana Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics... , Baja California Baja California Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North... |