Miguel "Miguelito" Vázquez Bernal (February 11, 1940 – December 8, 1996), 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 ...

'' or

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 under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Espanto III ("Terror 3"). During his career in ''lucha libre'' he formed a long running, successful trio known as '' Los Espantos'' ("The Terrors") with his brother José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (known as

Espanto I José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (1930 – May 30, 1968), was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler from the mid-1950s until his death in 1968, best known under the ring name Espanto I (Spanish for "Terror I"), part of '' Los Espantos' ...

) and Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (

Espanto II Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (August 25, 1932 – August 27, 2010), was a Mexican '' luchador'' or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto II ("Terror 2"). For most of his career he was closely associated with his tag team partner ...

). ''Los Espantos'' was one of the first examples of an identical trio, where all three members of the team used the same name, mask and wrestling gear only distinguished by a number. After his retirement he trained his sons for a professional wrestling career, and the later followed in his footsteps as Espanto IV and Espanto V.

Early life

Miguel Vázquez Bernal, known as "Miguelito" to his friends and family, was born on February 11, 1940, in Torreón, Coahuila,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He was seven years younger than his brother José Eusebio and possibly had more siblings. José Eusebio became a

or ''

'' around 1953, which inspired his younger brother to later follow in his footsteps.

Professional wrestling career

Miguel Vázquez trained for his professional wrestling career in the local wrestling school in Torreón, the same place where his brother José Eusebio first wrestled. He worked as "Mickey Vázquez" in the early 1960s, but records are unclear as to when he made his debut.

Los Espantos

In 1958 or 1959 José Eusebio had begun working as "El Espanto" ("The Terror") and a short time after José Eusebio's best friend Fernando Cisneros Carrillo adopted the character

, becoming a regular tag team known as '' Los Espantos''. By November 1962 both Espanto I and Espanto II had lost their masks in ''

Lucha 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 bet matches. At this point Miguel Vázquez donned the distinctive black and white mask of ''Los Espantos'' and became Espanto III. With the addition of Espanto III ''Los Espantos became a regular trio, and one of the first to work as an "identical trio" by using the same name with only numbers to distinguish themselves, a tradition that still exists in ''lucha libre''. Initially he mainly supported Espanto I and II as they fought against rivals

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 ...

and Rubén Juárez respectively, serving as their corner man during ''

'', or "bet matches". Not long after his debut as Espanto III, he won his first ''Lucha de Apuestas'', defeating Javier Escobedo on a show in Guadalajara, Jalisco, forcing Escobedo to be shaved bald. The ''Los Espantos'' trio got their biggest win ever when they defeated the "dream team" of Mexican '' tecnicos'' (those that portray the good guys) El Santo, Blue Demon and

Mil Máscaras Mil Máscaras (born Aarón Rodríguez Arellano, July 15, 1942) is a Mexican luchador (professional wrestler) and actor. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico – along with El Santo and Blue Demon ...

. In the early parts of 1964 Espanto III won two additional ''Lucha de Apuestas'' matches, leaving both Alex Montaña and Humberto Garza without their hair as a result. The ''Apuesta'' wins were used to build a storyline feud between Espanto III and

Huracán Ramírez Daniel García Arteaga (April 9, 1926 – October 31, 2006), best known under the ring name Huracán Ramírez (English: "Hurricane Ramírez"), was a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) and actor. García was nei ...

through the first half of 1964. The storyline came to a conclusion on June 12, 1964 where Espanto III was unmasked after losing a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match to Ramírez. As each Espanto lost their mask they claimed that their last name was "Vázquez Cisneros", combining their last names to hide the fact that they were not all brothers. On May 30, 1968, Miguel's older brother José, as well as fellow wrestler Popeye Franco, was killed by the owner of a cantina during a bar fight. At the time of his death, ''Los Espantos'' were set to do a world tour with dates planned for Germany, France, Spain and Japan. The promoters offered Espanto II the opportunity to go alone or with Espanto III, but he declined due to the loss of his close friend. After the death of his brother, Miguel wrestled less regularly and by the early 1970s both Miguel and Cisneros became semi-retired from wrestling, working only a limited schedule in Northern Mexico. As Espanto II and III, the duo held the Northern Tag Team Championship at one point in the 1970s before Espanto II retired in 1979. At one point during the 1970s Espanto III lost a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match to La Sombra, marking the first time he lost his hair after losing a ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match. In 1984 he lost another ''Lucha de Apuestas'' match to Black Charly. A short time later he retired from wrestling.

Personal life

After his retirement from in-ring competition Vázquez took part in training his sons for a professional wrestling career, they would eventually become known as Espanto IV and Espanto V. On December 8, 1996, Miguel Vázquez died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in his hometown of

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

, Chihuahua.

Legacy

The ''Los Espantos'' trio influenced several subsequent teams and individual wrestlers to use the Espanto name, not just limited to his sons Espanto IV and V. In 1984 Vázquez and Cisneros allowed Jesús Andrade Salas to adopt the identify of "

Espanto Jr. Espanto Jr. is the most recognizable ring name of Jesús Andrade Salas (born May 11, 1956), a retired Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler. Over his 25-year-long career, Andrade worked under a number of different aliases, most import ...

", who was presented as the son of Espanto I and wore the signature black and white mask of ''Los Espantos''. Andrade would be succeeded by his son, who in 2012 also began working as

The surviving Espantos also gave permission for '' Los Hijos del Espanto'' to use the name and masks. In 1998 Cisneros, as the last surviving ''Espanto,'' endorsed the ''

Mini-Estrella The term ''Mini-Estrella'' (Spanish for "Mini-Star") is used in lucha libre to describe a division of short professional wrestlers or ''luchadors'', some of whom have dwarfism. The Mexican ''Mini-Estrellas'' is comparable to Midget wrestling prac ...

'' wrestler El Espantito ("The Little Terror"), to use the Espanto name and mask.

Championships and accomplishments

* Chihuahua State wrestling :*Northern Middleweight Championship (1 time) :*Northern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

:*Ciudad Juárez ''Lucha Libre'' Hall of Fame (2010)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espanto 3 1940 births 1996 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers Professional wrestlers from Coahuila People from Torreón