José Luis Barajas Fernández is a retired 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'' 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 ...

. Barajas is best known 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 ...

, El Faraón (Spanish for "the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

"), a ring name and persona he used throughout his career from his debut in 1973 until retiring around the turn of the millennium. El Fareón was originally an '' enmascarado'' but lost a '' Luchas de Apuestas'', or "bet match" to Fishman on April 23, 1973 and was forced to unmask. Barajas' career peak came in the 1980s where he won 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 ...

, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, in addition to a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches.

Professional wrestling career

José Luis Barajas Fernández made his professional wrestling debut in 1973, adopting the

''El Faraón'', an Egyptian inspired ring character complete with a mask, cape and wrestling trunks that reflected the imagery of Egyptian Pharaohs. Barajas only worked as an ''enmascarado'' (masked wrestler) for just under three years as he was unmasked after losing a '' Luchas de Apuestas'' ("Bet match") against Fishman on April 23, 1976. The unmasking did not hurt El Faraón's career, on the contrary he achieved more success after he was unmasked due to his good looks and charisma, he also earned the nickname "''El Rudo de los Ojos Esmeralda''", Spanish for "The Bad Guy with the Emerald Eyes". On October 22, 1976 El Faraón defeated Perro Aguayo to win the

. Faraón's first title defense lasted for 140 days before Perro Aguayo regained the title on March 11, 1977. In November, 1977 Faraón regained the NWA Middleweight title, defeating Joe Plardy. Faraón's second title reign lasted only 84 days before he lost the belt to

Ringo Mendoza Genaro Jacobo Contreras (born September 19, 1949), better known by his ring name Ringo Mendoza, is a Mexican professional wrestling trainer and retired '' luchador'' (or professional wrestler) for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Mendoza wr ...

on February 17, 1978. By June 1978 El Faraón had moved up from the middleweight division (a division with a weightlimit of ) to the light heavyweight division (which has a maximum limit) as he defeated Alfonso Dantés for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. El Faraón held the title for 198 days before losing it to Pak Choo. On December 5, 1980 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, holding it for over 100 days before vacating it in April, 1981. The reason why El Faraón vacated the title is not known, the most likely reason is that he was injured. On November 29, 1981 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to become a three time NWA World Middleweight Champion, a title he would hold for 124 days before being defeated by César Curiel on April 2, 1982. On November 16, 1982 El Faraón defeated

Máscara Año 2000 Jesús Reyes González (born 10 March 1958) is a Mexican '' Luchador'', or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Máscara Año 2000 or Máscara Año Dos Mil. His ring name is Spanish for "Mask of the year 2000", originally referr ...

for his second NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, a title that would be his last major wrestling title. Faraón held the title for 60 days before losing the belt to Ringo Mendoza on January 15, 1983. After 1983 El Faraón's career did not focus on winning championships, instead it centered around a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches. The brutal brawls between the two wrestlers drew high attendance figures all over Mexico and continued on and off for several years. By the mid-1990s Barajas retired from wrestling, both due to his age and the toll wrestling had taken on his body. In 2007 Barajas as El Faraón made an appearance for

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

(CMLL) to present the mask to a wrestler billed as ''El Hijo del Faraón'' (the Son of the Pharaoh); the relationship was a storyline relationship as the two are not related. El Hijo del Faraón would later change his name to

Horus Horus (), also known as Heru, Har, Her, or Hor () in Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as the god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun, and t ...

and reveal that he was the godson of Barajas', not his son and was given the name with the blessing of Barajas himself.

Championships and accomplishments

* Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ** Mexican National Middleweight Championship ( 1 time) **NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) **

( 3 times) *Misc. Mexican promotions **Central America Continental Championship (1 time) **Occident Middleweight Championship (1 time)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faraon, El 1947 births Living people Mexican male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Mexico City Mexican National Middleweight Champions NWA World Light Heavyweight Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Mexican professional wrestlers NWA World Middleweight Champions