José Díaz Velázquez (July 6, 1929 – April 16, 2003) 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 ...

, better known under his

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 ...

Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

, where he was a five time World Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first Mexican to hold the championship. In 1975, Diaz helped establish

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

with Francisco Flores and Benjamín Mora. During his many title reigns, Diaz faced many present or future stars, such as

Gran Hamada , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler, the first to adopt the high-flying Mexican lucha libre style. He has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the Universal Wrestling Federation, Michinoku Pro and All Japan Pro ...

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (September 18, 1930 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on September 18, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario ...

El Solitario Roberto González Cruz (May 22, 1946 – April 6, 1986) 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 Cham ...

, Fishman,

René Guajardo Manuel Guajardo Mejorado (January 4, 1933 – May 11, 1992), better known as René Guajardo, was a Mexican professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career René Guajardo was born in Villa Mainero, Tamaulipas, Mexico. At the age of 16, Gua ...

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 ...

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

Cavernario Galindo Rodolfo Galindo Ramirez (September 27, 1923 – July 19, 1999) was a Mexican luchador and film actor, best known by his ring name Cavernario Galindo (Caveman Galindo), who was active in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre from the 1930s to the 1990s. We ...

. After retiring, Diaz became an actor and appeared in several Mexican films. Mendoza was the father of Los Villanos,

Villano I José de Jesús Díaz Mendoza (June 28, 1950 – January 4, 2001), known by the ring name of Villano I (Villano Primero), was a Mexican ''luchador'' '' enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. He was the son of ''luchador'' Ray Mendoza ...

Villano II José Alfredo Díaz Mendoza (September 25, 1949 – April 17, 1989) was a Mexican ''Luchador'' '' enmascarado'' (masked professional wrestler), better known by his ring name, Villano II (Villano Segundo). Despite being numbered "II" he was the o ...

Villano III Arturo Díaz Mendoza (March 23, 1952 – August 21, 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler who performed under the ring name Villano III (in Spanish Villano Tercero). Díaz was a second-generation wrestler, son of ''luchador'' Ray Mendoza an ...

Villano IV Tomás Díaz Mendoza (born April 9, 1965) is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Villano IV (''Villano Cuarto''). Within the stable Los Villanos, he has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), AAA, and Wor ...

, and

Villano V Raymundo Díaz Mendoza Jr. (born March 22, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler, who has performed under the name Villano V (Villano Quinto, which means "Fifth Villain") until he was unmasked on March 20, 2009, after which he became known a ...

Biography

José Díaz Velazquez was born on July 6, 1929 and grew up in the Tepito district of Mexico City, a very poor and violent neighborhood. Díaz never finished any formal education as he had to start earning a living at a very early age to support himself and his wife Lupita Mendoza whom he married when he was just 15 years old. While working in a bakery Díaz also worked hard to keep in shape, participating in cycling, swimming and baseball.

Boxing career

Díaz decided to become a professional boxer and made his debut as a pro in 1950, keeping his dayjob in the bakery as well. Díaz boxed under name "Joe Díaz", a shortened version of his real name. At one point he had a sparring session with a couple of ''luchadors'' as he was told not to spar with any of the boxers at the gym. The ''luchadors'' wanted to teach the boxer a lesson and ended up injuring Díaz's back with a knee drop. The back injury later forced Díaz to retire after only 20 matches. After his retirement he began working as a health inspector for the Mexico City county.

Professional wrestling career

Despite being forced to retire from pro boxing Díaz kept in shape by lifting weights at a local gym. The gym owner was impressed with Díaz physique and work ethics and recommended he become a ''luchador''. Díaz was originally trained by Ray Carrasco and later also trained under Rogelio de la Paz, Genaro Contreas, Raul Rojas and Daniel García; the latter would later be famous under the name of "Huracán Ramírez". Díaz made his professional wrestling debut in 1954, using the

"El Pelón" (

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 "Baldy") Chato Díaz, then later on worked under names such as "Indio" Mendoza, El Rayo Rojo and El Hombre del Rayo Rojo. He also worked for a while as an '' enmascarado'' (masked) character called Gargantua between 1954 and 1955. In 1955 Díaz came up with the ring name "Ray Mendoza" after his mentor Ray Carrasco and his wife's maiden name Mendoza. As Mendoza he quickly forged a very effective ''

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 ...

'' character ("bad guy") by using well developed physique and charisma to create a ring character that the fans loved to hate. In 1956 Mendoza began working for

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 ...

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 ...

(EMLL), the world's oldest and Mexico's largest wrestling promotion. He made his debut at EMLL's main arena

Arena Coliseo Arena Coliseo is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico located at República del Perú 77 in the Cuauhtémoc, D.F., Cuauhtémoc Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District, borough. The arena is primarily used for professional wrestling, or ''lucha ...

in February, 1956 in a

Battle Royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

that also included EMLL headliners

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 Demo ...

and Black Shadow, a match that immediately established him as someone who Lutteroth saw potential in. In EMLL Mendoza struck up a friendship with

and

Karloff Lagarde Carlos Delucio Lagarde (July 27, 1928 – August 31, 2007) 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 ...

out of the ring and a "partnership in crime" in the ring as the three became one of the most hated trio in ''lucha libre'' at the time. The three drew full houses all over Mexico, setting box office record after box office record as they faced '' técnicos''(good guys) such as El Santo, Rayo de Jalisco or Blue Demon. They also had a very financially successful feud with '' Los Espantos'' (

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' ...

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 ...

, and

Espanto III Miguel "Miguelito" Vázquez Bernal (February 11, 1940 – December 8, 1996), was a Mexican ''luchador'' or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto III ("Terror 3"). During his career in ''lucha libre'' he formed a long running, s ...

) in what at the time was a rare ''rudo'' vs. ''rudo'' feud. Outside the ring Mendoza, Guajardo and Lagarde often spoke out on behalf of the wrestlers, demanding higher pay and better conditions, and since they were able to generate a lot of ticket sales EMLL officials listened to their demands. In 1959 Mendoza won his first championship, defeating

Dory Dixon Dorrel "Dory" Dixon (born February 1, 1935) is a Jamaican retired professional wrestler who worked for the majority of his career in Mexico, where he eventually became a Mexican citizen. He is currently a pastor for the Seventh-day Adventist Churc ...

to win the

NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). For the majority of its existence the title was promoted by Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libr ...

. This marked the first time the NWA Light Heavyweight title was held by a Mexican and helped establish the title as the top title in Mexico from 1959 until the mid-1980s. Over the years Mendoza would become synonymous with the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship as he held it a record six times. During those title reigns he worked a legendary feud against Gory Guerrero, a feud between two of the most influential, unmasked wrestlers of the golden age of ''Lucha Libre''. In 1965 Mendoza's in-ring success helped make him very popular with the fans, so popular it was decided to turn him ''técnico''. His first feud as a ''técnico'' was against his old partners Guajardo and Lagarde. First Mendoza defeated Lagarde in a '' Lucha de Apuesta'' (bet match), hair vs. hair match. Matches between Mendoza, Guajardo and Lagarde drew full houses all over Mexico, including a record breaking show where Guajardo defeated Mendoza in a ''Lucha de Apuesta'' match, the show drew the largest gate of that year and one of the best gates in Mexico in the 1960s. Guajardo and Mendoza also feuded over the

NWA World Middleweight Championship The NWA World Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) between 1939 and 2010. For most of its existence, it was defended in the Mexican '' lucha libre'' promotion Consejo Mundial ...

, although once Mendoza won it he vacated it to focus on the Light Heavyweight division. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Mendoza would often work in the United States, working for the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

based NWA Hollywood. Here he held the

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship f ...

on three occasions, teaming with

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 ...

Raul Mata Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

and

Raul Reyes Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

In the late 1960s Mendoza helped launch the career of

Ringo Mendoza Genaro Jacobo Contreras is a retired Mexican professional wrestler, or ''Luchador'' in Spanish, and is a professional wrestling trainer for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Contreras is best known under the ring name Ringo Mendoza, which he ...

, who was not related to Mendoza but was allowed to use the last name as he bore a resemblance to Mendoza. Years later Mendoza was instrumental in the careers of his sons who wrestled as

, and

Universal Wrestling Association

In 1974 Salvador Lutteroth, Jr. began working for EMLL, being groomed to take over after his father. Mendoza was already unhappy with the lack of attention his sons were getting in EMLL as well as the very rigid and conservative way of running show; when Lutteroth, Jr. was brought in Mendoza's loyalty to Lutteroth, Sr. ended. Mendoza vacated the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and along with Guajardo and Lagarde resigned from EMLL. They joined up with promoter Francisco Flores and investor Benjamín Mora, Jr. to form a rival promotion called ''Lucha Libre Internacional'', later globally known as the

. Headlined by Mendoza, Guajardo, and Largede as well as disgruntled former EMLL wrestlers UWA held their first show on January 29, 1975, creating the first true rival for EMLL in decades. Since Mendoza had been synonymous with the Light Heavyweight division throughout the 1960s and 1970s it was not a great surprise that he became the first UWA World Light Heavy Champion, although at this point in his career he was used more to help wrestlers such as

and

gain credibility as they defeated Mendoza for the title. Mendoza also spent a lot of time guiding the careers of his three youngest sons Villano I, II, and III who were quickly gaining fame in the UWA. By the end of the 1970s Mendoza was all but retired, with his last headliner match being a championship match against WWWWF Junior Heavyweight Champion

Tatsumi Fujinami (born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE on a legend's contract. Fujinami is most well known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. H ...

, a match that was Mendoza's last true headliner match.

Retirement

Mendoza announced his retirement in late 1982 and following a retirement tour of Mexico and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

he retired from in-ring action in early 1983. He would later work as a referee for special UWA matches, adding to the "big event" feel by having Mendoza oversee the action. He also trained various wrestlers at the UWA school along with his son VIllano I, Lagarde and Felipe Ham Lee, training wrestlers up until the UWA closed in 1995. In 1988 he was made the head commissioner of the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling commission, charged with relegating boxing and wrestling events in Mexico, licensing wrestlers and approving mask matches and the likes.

Personal life

Díaz married Lupita Mendoza when he was just 15 and the two remained happily married until Lupita died in 1986. Together the couple had eight children, three daughters, Rita Marina, Leonor and Lupita and five sons who all became ''luchadors''; José de Jesús (Villano I), José Alfredo (Villano II), Arturo (Villano III), Raymundo Mendoza, Jr. (Villano V) and Tomás (Villano IV). After his unmasking in 2009 Raymundo Mendoza, Jr. is often billed as "Ray Mendoza, Jr." after his father. Mendoza was originally adamant that his sons get a good education instead of becoming wrestlers, wishing that they become lawyers or doctors as he wanted to spare them the physical suffering he experienced himself. Once he realized that his two youngest sons had begun wrestling under masks he agreed to train them and help their wrestling careers. He was also instrumental in training his youngest two sons, although he insisted they both get college degrees before they were allowed to begin wrestling. Since his youngest son Tomás finished his education first he became known as "Villano IV" while the second youngest son became Villano V". Díaz was a family man and never recovered emotionally after his wife died in 1986, followed by the premature death of José Alfredo in 1989 and the death of his second son José de Jesús in 2001.

Death and remembrance

On Tuesday April 15, 2003, José Díaz was taken to the ''Hospital General de Naucalpan'' suffering from kidney failure and later suffered an arrythmia in his right lung. Díaz died the night between April 16 and April 17, the official date of death being listed as April 16. His funeral was held two days later and was attended by over 100 people, long time friends and ''luchadors'' who grew up admiring Ray Mendoza's in-ring exploits paid their last respect. Other than his family the funeral was attended by wrestlers La Infernal (married to Villano III),

El Canek Felipe Estrada (born June 19, 1952), known as El Canek or simply Canek, is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' or masked professional wrestler best known for the 20 years he worked for the Universal Wrestling Association where he held the UWA Wo ...

, Super Astro, Mano Negrao,

Fuerza Guerrera Fuerza Guerrera (born December 13, 1953) is a Mexican ''Luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) who made his debut in 1978. In his career Guerrera has worked for every major wrestling organization in Mexico including Consejo Mund ...

Pierroth Jr. Norberto Salgado Salcedo (born March 10, 1958) is a retired Mexican ''luchador'' (professional wrestler), primarily known under the ring name Pierroth Jr. Salgado made his professional wrestling debut on July 1, 1984, working as a '' luchador e ...

Olímpico Joel Bernal Galicia (born December 6, 1965) is a Mexican ''Luchador'', or professional wrestler retired, better known under the ring name Olímpico. Olímpico is sometimes Anglicised as "Olympico", and means "Olympian" in Spanish. From his debut ...

, Shocker, Karloff Lagarde Sr., and his nephew Karloff Lagarde Jr., as well as Ringo Mendoza. During the funeral some gave Ringo Mendoza their condolenses on the death of "his father", not realizing that there was no actual family relationship between the two. In 2010 CMLL honored Ray Mendoza's memory at their annual ''

Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ''Homenaje a Dos Leyendas'' (Spanish for "Homage to Two Legends") is the collective name of a series of annual '' lucha libre'', or professional wrestling major show promoted by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha ...

'' ("Homage to two legends") show on March 19, 2010. During the show Mendoza's three surviving sons, Villano III, Ray Mendoza, Jr. and Villano IV were present for a ceremony honoring Ray Mendoza.

Championships and accomplishments

** EMLL Arena México Tag Team Championship (1 time) with

Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship The Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Semicompleto'' in Spanish) is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the ''Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F.'' (''Mexico City ...

( 1 time) **

( 6 times) **

( 1 time) *

NWA Hollywood Wrestling NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

( 4 times) – with

(1),

(1) and

(2) **

NWA United National Championship The NWA United National Championship (often abbreviated to UN Championship) was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance, and best known for being defended in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It was unified in ...

( 1 time) *

UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (''Campeonato Mundial Semi Completo de UWA'' in Spanish) is a singles professional wrestling championship initially promoted by the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling based promotion Universal Wrestling As ...

( 3 times) *''

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 ...

'' :*

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 ...

( Class of 1996)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

*
Online World of Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Ray 1929 births 2003 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers Professional wrestlers from Mexico City 20th-century professional wrestlers Mexican National Tag Team Champions NWA World Light Heavyweight Champions NWA World Middleweight Champions UWA World Light Heavyweight Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champions