Alejandro Muñoz Moreno (April 24, 1922 - December 16, 2000), better known by the ring name Blue Demon (Demonio Azul in Spanish), was a Mexican film actor and luchador enmascarado (Spanish for masked professional wrestler). Blue Demon was one of the original "big three" of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico (the other two being El Santo and Mil Máscaras). He was affectionately referred to as "Blue" and was known for his signature blue wrestling mask.
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Early life
Alejandro Muñoz Moreno was born April 24, 1922 in García, Nuevo León, Mexico. He was the child of farmers and was the fifth of twelve children. At a young age, Alejandro dropped out of school and moved to Monterrey, where his uncle gave him a job working on the National Railroad. His co-workers gave him the nickname 'Manotas', referring to his large, powerful hands.
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Professional wrestling career
A chance meeting with the famous Mexican wrestler Rolando Vera piqued his interest in Lucha Libre, Vera even offering to tutor him and help him start a career. He began wrestling without a mask in Laredo, Texas. His first match was against Chema Lopez on March 12, 1948, which he won handily. Adopting the mask and persona of The Blue Demon, he headed back to Mexico to start a real career. His first appearance as The Blue Demon was in Mexico City in September 1948, where he fought Benny Arcilla. Blue began his career in the ring as a rudo (a bad guy). From there, he formed a famous tag-team with another well-known masked luchador named The Black Shadow (whose real name was Alejandro Cruz), and the two became known as Los Hermanos Shadow (The Shadow Brothers). Years later, some reference sources accidentally listed Blue Demon's real name as Alejandro Cruz, but that was actually the Black Shadow's name (Blue Demon's name was Alejandro Muñoz Moreno).
In 1952, the famous wrestler Santo beat and unmasked Black Shadow in the ring, which triggered Blue's decision to become a técnico (a good guy) in the ring, and a legendary feud between The Blue Demon and Santo that culminated in Blue's beating el Santo in a well-publicized series of matches in 1952 and another in 1953. In 1953, Blue won the NWA World Welterweight Championship from Santo, and held it until 1958. Their rivalry never entirely abated in later years (although they co-starred over the years in a number of Mexican horror films) since Santo always remembered his defeat at the Blue Demon's hands.
During the 1960s, one of Blue Demon's greatest rivals was el Rayo de Jalisco. In 1988, the year he retired, Blue Demon finally beat Jalisco in a mask vs. mask match, taking the mask of another of Mexico's wrestling legends.
Blue Demon retired from the ring (aged 67) in 1989 at the Monterrey Arena, where he appeared in a final match, teaming up with his adoptive son, Blue Demon, Jr., who has had a successful career of his own.
Acting career
Blue Demon first appeared in cameos in a couple of luchador films released in 1961-1962, "The Killers of Lucha Libre" and "Fury in the Ring", in which he was one of several wrestlers more or less in the background. But in 1964, Enrique Vergara, the producer of the then-successful Santo movies, decided to diversify by allowing the 42-year-old Blue Demon to star in a series of luchador films of his own. The plots of the Blue Demon films are thought to be extremely similar to those of Santo's films. Santo was asking for a salary increase at the time and Vergara wanted to cultivate a second movie star.
From 1964 to 1977, Blue Demon starred in a total of 25 action/horror/science fiction films. Of those 25 films, Santo co-starred with him in nine of them, though the two were never good friends in real life. In three of his films, Blue Demon starred as the leader of a squadron of masked superheroes known as Los Campeones Justicieros (The Champions of Justice). Membership in the Champions included such legendary Mexican wrestling figures as Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Tinieblas, Rayo de Jalisco, El Medico Asesino, El Fantasma Blanco, El Avispon Escarlata and Superzan. (Santo never co-starred with Blue in any of the 3 Champions films, since he was so busy making his own movies at the time.)
In 1989, Blue Demon was the subject of a feature-length Mexican documentary entitled Blue Demon, the Champion (1989).
Death
Blue Demon died just before noon on Saturday, December 16, 2000 from natural causes. Apparently, Blue Demon suffered a fatal heart attack on a park bench near a subway kiosk while on his way home from his regular morning training session at The Blue Demon Instituto Atletico, where he enjoyed teaching others his fighting skills. Although an attempt was made to get him to a hospital, he was unable to be revived. He was 78 years old. Blue Demon was buried wearing his trademark blue mask, the mask he never removed in public as he always kept his true identity a secret.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- El Pulpo (Octopus hold)
- Nicknames
- "El Manotas" ("The Big Handed One")
- "El Profe" ("The Professor")
Championships and accomplishments
- Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
- Mexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Black Shadow
- Mexican National Welterweight Championship (3 times)
- NWA World Welterweight Championship (2 times)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
Luchas de Apuestas record
Filmography
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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