Raúl Mata (January 26, 1947 – December 19, 2018) 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 o ...

, who was mostly active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Mata was the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion for a record 1,164 days. He often teamed with his brother Carlos Mata and together they 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 ...

promoted by NWA Hollywood in the Southern California region. He also won the tag team title with

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 ...

Ray Mendoza José Díaz Velázquez (July 6, 1929 – April 16, 2003) was a Mexican ''Luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Ray Mendoza. Diaz had great success in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he was a five time W ...

, David Morgan, Victor Rivera and

Chavo Guerrero Salvador Guerrero IV (born October 20, 1970) better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He has previously worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federati ...

(twice).

Professional wrestling career

The exact year Raul Mata began wrestling is uncertain, only that he was wrestling for

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) in the late 1960s. Mata's first major championship was the

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 Cit ...

, a championship he won on April 11, 1968 when he defeated Dr. Wagner to win the vacant title. The championship reign lasted until June 18, 1972 where Mata lost the title to

Enrique Vera Enrique Daniel Vera Torres, nicknamed ''Rambert'' (born 10 March 1979, in Asunción), is a retired Paraguayan football midfielder who last played for América de Quito. Vera has been primarily based since LDU Quito since 2006, winning the 20 ...

. In the early 1970s Raul Mata had begun working for the Southern California based NWA Hollywood based in

Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In NWA Hollywood he held the

with a multitude of partners. In 1972 Mata held the title with both

and

, both regular EMLL wrestlers as well. between December 21, 1973 and October 28, 1976 Mata held the Americas tag title a further five times, teaming with David Morgan, Victor Rivera,

twice and finally with his brother Carlos Mata. In 1977 Mata won the

Mexican National Heavyweight Championship The Mexican National Heavyweight Championship (called the ''Campeonato Nacional Completo'' in Spanish) is a Mexican Lucha Libre (professional wrestling) championship created and sanctioned by the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission (Span ...

when he defeated El Halcón on December 18, 1977 to win the title. Mata held the title until July 1, 1978 where he lost the title to El Nazi. In 1970 Mata won his NWA Americas Tag Team Championship again, this time teaming with

Mando Guerrero Armando Guerrero Llanes (born June 9, 1950), better known as Mando Guerrero, is a retired Mexican American professional wrestler. He also was the trainer for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, an all-female professional wrestling promotion. He ...

to defeat Leroy Brown and Allen Coage for the titles, holding them for a month before losing the belts to the Twin Devils. Raul Mata also held 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 ...

for 11 months, winning it on January 20, 1980 from

Alfonso Dantés José Luis Amezcua Díaz (April 13, 1943 – July 30, 2008) was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled during the 1960s and 1970s under the ring name Alfonso Dantés (the name was taken from the main character of the Count of Monte Cristo no ...

, losing it back to Dantés on December 15, 1980.

Championships and accomplishments

Empresa Mexicana de la 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'') (''Me ...

( 1 time) :*

( 1 time) * NWA Hollywood :*

( 9 times) – with

(1),

(1), Salavador Lothario (1), Raul Reyes (1), David Morgan (1), Victor Rivera (1),

(2), Carlos Mata (1), :*

NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship The NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling singles title defended in Johnny Doyle's NWA Los Angeles NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promoti ...

( 2 times)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Raul Mexican male professional wrestlers People from Guadalajara, Jalisco Professional wrestlers from Jalisco 1947 births 2018 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA World Light Heavyweight Champions NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions