Juan Manuel Zúñiga (June 24, 1963 – March 18, 2007) was a Mexican

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, or ''

Luchador ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

'' as they are called in

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, best known for working under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

Ángel Azteca (Aztec Angel) since the late 1980s. Zúñiga is not related to wrestlers " Ángel Azteca, Jr." and "Ángel Azteca II", instead they paid Zúñiga to use the name and image. As Ángel Azteca Zúñiga worked as an enmascarado, or masked wrestler, until losing a match against

Arkangel de la Muerte Arkangel can refer to: * ''Arkangel'' (magazine), an animal liberation magazine * "Arkangel" (''Black Mirror''), an episode of anthology series ''Black Mirror'' * '' Ark Angel'', a book in the ''Alex Rider'' series by Anthony Horowitz * Arkhange ...

in 2003 where he was forced to unmask. Zúñiga died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on March 18, 2007, only a few hours after wrestling in the main event of a local

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Professional wrestling career

Juan Zúñiga trained under Héctor López, Asterión and Lucha Libre superstar Dr. Wagner before making his professional wrestling debut in 1980. Initially he worked as "Charro" or "Charro de Jalisco", winning the Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship On October 24, 1986, from

Adorable Rubí Ruben Carbajal Lopez (December 31, 1931 – June 23, 2012) was a Mexican '' Luchador'', or professional wrestler who is best known under the ring names Adorable Rubí and Rubi Rubalcava / Rubi Rubalcaba. As Adorable Rubí he was one of the pionee ...

. On December 28, 1986, he lost the title to wrestler "Judas". In 1988, he changed his ring persona, creating the "Ángel Azteca" (Aztec Angel) character that he would be most known as for the remainder of his career as he began working full-time for

Empresa Mexicana 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 (EMLL) (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest profe ...

(EMLL; later renamed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)). Ángel Azteca was teamed up with fellow ''técnico'' (a good guy character or

Face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

)

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

to form a very successful

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 establis ...

. Together they won the

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 ...

on March 6, 1988, from the team of ''

Los Infernales ''Los Infernales'' (Spanish for "the Infernals") is a Mexican professional wrestling group, called a stable. The stable was created in 1984 and consisted of El Satánico, MS-1 and Espectro Jr. A later version where Pirata Morgan replaced Espect ...

'' (

Masakre Aristóteles Radamés Coccó Flores (May 13, 1954 – April 12, 2012) was a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, best known for working under the ring name Masakre (Spanish for Massacre) in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). As Masak ...

and MS-1). Over the next 811 days, Azteca and Atlantis defended the tag team titles against such teams as

Hombre Bala Hombre, the Spanish word for "man", may also refer to: * ''Hombre'' (novel), a 1961 novel by Elmore Leonard * ''Hombre'' (film), a 1967 motion picture based on the novel starring Paul Newman, directed by Martin Ritt * ''Hombre'' (comics), a Spa ...

and

Pirata Morgan Pedro Ortiz Villanueva (born July 29, 1962) is a Mexican professional wrestler, or luchador, and wrestling trainer who is best known under the ring name Pirata Morgan. Ortiz made his professional wrestling debut in 1979 and has in the last 20 ye ...

El Dandy Roberto Gutiérrez Frías (born October 2, 1962), best known under the ring name El Dandy, is a Mexican professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler. He is the cousin of professional wrestler Juan Conrado Aguilar, known as E ...

and

El Texano Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui (November 26, 1958 – January 15, 2006), better known by his ring name El Texano, was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler. From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, he wrestled under masked and unma ...

and Pierroth, Jr. and Ulisses. On February 26, 1989 Ángel Azteca became a double champion when he defeated

Bestia Salvaje Juan Manuel Rodriguez Carillo (February 11, 1962 – March 20, 2008) was a Mexican luchador, best known by his ring name Bestia Salvaje, who competed in Mexican and international promotions during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably with Emil ...

for the

Mexican National Welterweight Championship The Mexican National Welterweight Championship (''Campeonato Nacional Peso Welter'' in Spanish) is a Mexican professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. (the Mexico City Boxing and Wres ...

. Two months later, Azteca vacated the Mexican National Welterweight Championship when he defeated Emilio Charles, Jr. to win the

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

, moving up to the Middleweight division. Azteca would make several successful defenses against the former champion as well as El Hijo del Gladiador. On May 25, 1990, Atlantis and Ángel Azteca were finally beaten for the Mexican Tag title by Pierroth, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje. A couple of months later El Dandy won the NWA World Middleweight Championship from Ángel Azteca. The loss of the Tag Team titles was used as the storyline motivation for Ángel Azteca turning ''rudo'' (villain or

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

after attacking his partner. The feud between the two continued off and on until Ángel Azteca's death in 2007, while the two remained close friends backstage. On March 9, 1991 Ángel Azteca and

Volador The ''Danza de los Voladores'' (; "Dance of the Flyers"), or ''Palo Volador'' (; "flying pole"), is an ancient Mesoamerican ceremony/ritual still performed today, albeit in modified form, in isolated pockets in Mexico. It is believed to have ...

teamed up to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship from Pierroth, Jr. and Bestia Salvaje, holding them for two months before dropping them to '' Los Destructores'' (Tony Arce and Vulcano). In 1992 Ángel Azteca left CMLL and joined a large number of ex-CMLL employees in the newly created

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración Promociones Antonio Peña, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (commonly referred to as simply AAA, pronounced "Triple A" – an abbreviation of its original name Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos ...

(AAA) promotion. In AAA Ángel Azteca teamed up with

El Hijo del Santo Jorge Ernesto Guzmán Rodríguez (born August 2, 1963), best known under his ring name, El Hijo del Santo ( English: "The Son of the Saint"), is a Mexican '' retired luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler) and political activist. ...

and

Super Muñeco Super Muñeco (''Super Doll'') (10 April 1962 – 9 February 2022) was a Mexican '' Luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. Super Muñeco is Spanish for "Super Doll", a comedic ring character based on a clown. Super Muñeco is ...

to win the

Mexican National Trios Championship The Mexican National Trios Championship (''Campeonato Nacional de Tríos'' in Spanish) is a three-man tag team professional wrestling championship, sanctioned by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (''Mexico City Boxing and Wrestl ...

from ''

Los Payasos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

'' (Coco Amarillo, Coco Azul and Coco Rojo). The trio held the championship for 124 days before losing it back to ''Los Payasos''. After losing the Trios title, Ángel Azteca briefly worked for AAA as "Charro de Jalisco", but left AAA not long after. When he returned to CMLL the creative team was planning on giving Ángel Azteca a new mask and outfit to "freshen up" the character, but when Azteca temporarily retired from wrestling, the new mask design and tights was given to a new CMLL wrestler dubbed

Último Guerrero José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for ''Last Warrior''), is a Mexican (or Professional wrestling, professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CML ...

. Zúñiga only worked in a very limited capacity from the mid-1990s until early 2003 where he returned to CMLL. Azteca began working a low card feud with

that received limited publicity until CMLL began hyping their 70th Anniversary show, where Ángel Azteca versus Arkangel de la Muerte was booked in a ''

Luchas de Apuestas ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

'' match where the loser would have to unmask. Arkangel won, unmasking Ázteca in what was Ángel Azteca's last high publicity match. After the mask loss Ángel Azteca left CMLL, working a limited scheduled on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

, sometimes even working as a referee instead of a wrestler. In 2006 Ángel Azteca returned to the ring, mainly to help push "Ángel Azteca II" and " Ángel Azteca, Jr."; two wrestlers who paid Zúñiga to use the "Ángel Azteca" name. After Zúñiga's death Ángel Azteca II changed his name to Emperador Azteca while Ángel Azteca, Jr. still uses the name in CMLL, but does not make any claims about being the son of Ángel Azteca.

Personal life

Juan Zúñiga was married and the couple had five children together. Zúñiga had a reputation of being a gentleman both inside and outside of the ring and was very respected by his peers.

Death

On March 13, 2007, Zúñiga teamed up with Demonio Rojo and Pinkusky as they lost a match to Atlantis, Imperio Dorado and Rebelde Punk in the main event of a local

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

show. After the match Zúñiga signed autographs for the fans, but then began complaining of chest pains in the locker room. The event doctor immediately took him to the Manuel Campos Hospital but Zúñiga died shortly after arriving. The autopsy revealed that Zúñiga had died from a

. The body was later taken to Mexico City for the wake before being transferred to Zúñiga's home town of

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

where he was buried.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with

and

* Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ** Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship ( 1 time) – as "Charro de Jalisco" **

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

Super Parka Ramón Ibarra Banda (born May 24, 1956) is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'', or professional wrestling, professional wrestler, working under the ring name Super Parka. Ibarra previously worked as Volador from 1990 until 1997 and as Super Parka ...

( 1 time) **

( 1 time) *Local Mexican promotions **Laguna Lightweight Championship (1 time) **Arena Victoria Tag Team Championship (1 time)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel Azteca 1963 births 2007 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Mexican professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Mexican male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Durango People from Gómez Palacio, Durango Mexican National Tag Team Champions Mexican National Trios Champions NWA World Middleweight Champions