Alejandro Cruz Ortiz (May 3, 1921 – March 8, 2007) was a Mexican

Luchador Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

(

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

), known worldwide as Black Shadow ( es, Sombras). Cruz's mask vs. mask match against

El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the mo ...

in 1952 is generally considered one of the most important matches in the history of Lucha Libre. Cruz often teamed with

Blue Demon 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 Dem ...

, working as a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

called "Los Hermanos Shadow" (the Shadow Brothers), even though the two were not related. He was nicknamed ''El Hombre de Goma'', translated as ''The Rubber Man'', due to his elasticity and flexibility in the ring.

Biography

Cruz's original ambition was to be a musician but because he lacked the talent to earn a living from it he turned to professional wrestling. He had been a lifelong fan, and began training for a professional wrestling career in 1941.

Professional wrestling career

Cruz made his professional debut on June 21, 1942, against

Rito Romero Rito Romero Loza (May 19, 1927 - January 18, 2001) 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. H ...

losing his debut match. Initially he was billed as "Jungla" Cruz, named after a popular character from the funny papers but he did not like the name the promoters had forced on him. After making his debut Cruz realized that he needed to perform regularly in order to improve, thus he decided to move to

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

which at the time was one of the main cities for wrestling in Mexico. In Monterrey he befriended another young wrestler trying to break into the business,

. The two struck up a friendship and soon after began teaming together on a regular basis. After working under his real name for a while, Cruz decided that he needed a different image, and came up with the ring persona "Black Shadow" and a black mask with white trim around the eye, mouth and nose openings. The new image was a hit and masked duo of Blue Demon and Black Shadow became known as "Los Hermanos Shadow" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for "the shadow brothers") despite not being related. Los Hermanos Shadow quickly became very popular and were at one point the main " tecnico" (good guy) team. In the mid-1950s Los Hermanos Shadow began a decade long rivalry with the top

Rudo Rudo ( sr-cyrl, Рудо) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 7,963 inhabitants, while the town of Rudo has a population of 1,949 inhabitants. It is f ...

(villain) team of

and

Gory Guerrero Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexico ...

, known as "La Pareja Atómica". After selling out arenas all around Mexico for their tag team matches El Santo and Black Shadow started to work singles matches against each other.

Losing the mask

The rivalry between Black Shadow and El Santo culminated in a

Luchas de Apuestas Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

, or mask vs. mask match, on November 7, 1952. The 70 minute match that is still heralded today as one of the most famous in Latin American history. It helped popularize the concept with mask matches still the biggest draws in

Lucha Libre Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

to the modern day. Subsequently Santo clashed with Blue Demon but it was the match against Black Shadow that stands out as one of the defining matches in Lucha Libre history. The match was one of the main reasons wrestling promoter

Salvador Lutteroth Salvador Lutteroth González (21 March 1897 – 5 September 1987) was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter of the mid-twentieth century. Lutteroth's organization, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), was the dominant Mexican wrestling pr ...

started to build Arena Mexico as so many people had been unable to get tickets for the show. The match was so popular that it caused El Santo to turn tecnico and was the starting point of a wrestling and movie career that made El Santo Mexico's most beloved wrestler. While some wrestlers lose popularity after unmasking, Black Shadow thrived after losing his mask. His innovative, high-flying style that incorporated moves off the top rope was something not many wrestlers used at the time and ensured that he worked in the main event throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1981 Cruz was unable to get his wrestling license renewed due to ailing health, forcing him to retire after almost 40 years in the business. After his retirement Cruz withdrew from the spotlight, rarely talking about his career. In 2001 Black Shadow was inducted in the

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

for his contributions to professional wrestling.

Filmography

Cruz also appeared in numerous Mexican wrestling films with Santo, mostly billed as "Black Shadow" in the credits. In two Blue Demon films, (''Blue Demon en Noche de muerte'' and ''Santo y Blue Demon contra los monstruos'') the Black Shadow played an evil duplicate (or clone) of Blue Demon, dressed in the Blue Demon costume while posing as the "real" Blue Demon.

Death

Alejandro Cruz died on March 8, 2007, age 85, in Mexico City after suffering from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Championships and accomplishments

Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

Mexican National Lightweight Championship The Mexican National Lightweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional de Peso Ligero'' in Spanish) is a Mexican professional wrestling singles championship created and sanctioned by ''Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.'' ("the Mexico City B ...

( 1 time) **

Mexican National Tag Team Championship The Mexican National Tag Team Championship ''()'' is a national Mexican professional wrestling championship controlled by the (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission) and competed for by two-man tag teams. The championship was created in ...

( 1 time) – with

*''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' **

( Class of 2001)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

;General sources * * ;Specific

External links

Online World of Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Shadow 1921 births 2007 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Mexico Mexican male film actors Mexican male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Guanajuato Sportspeople from León, Guanajuato 20th-century professional wrestlers Mexican National Tag Team Champions