Octavio Gaona
Encyclopedia
Octavio Gaona was a Mexican
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...

 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
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...

, known for his participation in the first ever high profile Lucha de Apuesta, or wager fight, against Murciélago Velázquez. Gaona held both 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...

 and the Mexican version of the World Middleweight Championship
NWA 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...

. Gaona's son, adopted son, grandson and great grandson have all or are all professional wrestlers.

Professional wrestling career

Octavio Gaona made his professional wrestling debut in 1934, wrestling for various small promoters in Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....

 and surrounding states. By 1937 Gaona wrestled full time for Salvador Lutteroth
Salvador Lutteroth
Salvador Lutteroth was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter of the mid-twentieth century. Lutteroth's promotion, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre , has been the dominant Mexican promotion since its founding in 1933, until Lutteroth left the company in the 1950s...

's Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo 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...

 (EMLL). On February 6, 1937 Gaona defeated Black Guzmán
Black Guzmán
Miguel Wenceslao Guzmán Huerta 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...

 to win the vacant 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...

. Gaona held the title until September 2, 1938 where Firpo Segra won it but would regain it on January 1, 1939. Gaona's second reign ended just over a month later on February 9, 1939. The loss, however, was not a step down, instead he defeated Gus Kallio
Gus Kallio
Gustav Kallio was a Finnish born professional wrestler known under the ring name Gus Kallio or Gust Kallio. Kallio's wrestling career peaked in the 1920s and 1930s where he was known as the "King of the Welterweights" and later on "king of the Middleweights" as he held multiple world titles in...

 to win both the National Wrestling Association
National Wrestling Association
The National Wrestling Association was an off-shoot of the National Boxing Association, formed to sanction professional wrestling. This NWA is not the same organization as the National Wrestling Alliance, which was formed in 1948....

 World Middleweight Champion
World Middleweight Championship (National Wrestling Association)
The National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling title sanctioned by the National Wrestling Association, an offshoot of the National Boxing Association...

 and the Mexican version of the World Middleweight Championship
NWA 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...

. Gaona's title win helped establish the World Middleweight title in Mexico. Gaona unified both titles, only defending them together. On February 4, 1940 Gaona lost the titles to Tarzán López.

Shortly after the title loss Octavio Gaona took part in one of the most pivotal events in Lucha Libre as he took part of the very first Lucha de Apuesta match. After a long buildup of a storyline between Gaona and Murciélago Velázquez, one of the top Rudos ("Bad guy" or Heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

 character) of the time, Gaona challengede Velázquez to face him in a match where the masked wrestler would "bet" his mask on the outcome of the match. Since Velázquez was so much lighter than Gaona he requested a further condition before he would sign the contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line as well, creating the first match in Mexico where a two wrestlers "bet" either their hair or their mask. On July 14, 1940 Octavio Gaona defeated Murciélago Velázquez, forcing him to unmask after the match in what would become a Lucha Libre tradition. Since then Apuesta matches have become headliners all over Mexico, especially winning the mask of an opponent is seen as prestigious, the more famous the masked man is, the bigger the victory for the opponent is. In 1942 Velázquez would get his revenege on Gaona when he defeated him to win the vacant Mexican National Middleweight Championship, although the victory could never equal the loss of the mask.

By the end of the 1940s Gaona's wrestling career had slowed down, especially with the birth of his son Octavio Gaona, Jr. Gaona, Jr. would go on to become a professional wrestler, as would his son Arturo Gaona and Arturo's son Arturo Gaona, Jr. making the Gaona family a four generation wrestling family. Octavio Gaona also adopted Francisco Ruiz Arreola, who would wrestle under the name "Tamba", nicknamed "the Flying Elephant". Gaona came out of retirement in 1972, in his late sixties, defeating Tamba in a Lucha de Apuesta match to unmask him.

Octavio Gaona died in 1996.

Championships and accomplishments

  • Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
    Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
    Consejo 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 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...

     (2 times)
  • NWA World Middleweight Championship
    NWA 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...

     (1 time)

  • National Wrestling Association
    National Wrestling Association
    The National Wrestling Association was an off-shoot of the National Boxing Association, formed to sanction professional wrestling. This NWA is not the same organization as the National Wrestling Alliance, which was formed in 1948....

  • World Middleweight Champion
    World Middleweight Championship (National Wrestling Association)
    The National Wrestling Association World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling title sanctioned by the National Wrestling Association, an offshoot of the National Boxing Association...

     (1 time)

Lucha de Apuesta record

Wager Winner Loser Location Date Notes
Mask Octavio Gaona Murciélago Velázquez  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 Octavio Gaona Chale Romero 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...

 
 
Mask Octavio Gaona Tamba 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...

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