César Baltazar de Lucio Valencia (October 21, 1970 – December 13, 2024) was a Mexican ''

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 ...

'', or

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 ...

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 ...

Karloff Lagarde Jr. Despite his ring name, he was not the son of

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

, but his nephew. Lucio was a CMLL World Welterweight Champion and Mexican National Welterweight Champion. In his later years, he made limited appearances for

International Wrestling Revolution Group International Wrestling Revolution Group (Grupo Internacional Revolución in Spanish language, Spanish; the Spanish name is used for the promotion while the English initials are used for the title governing body) is a Lucha Libre professional wres ...

(IWRG) in Mexico.

Life and career

César Lucio grew up admiring his uncle, professional wrestler

who was one of the top names in Mexico in the 1960s and 1970s. When Lucio decided to turn professional he was trained by his uncle as well as Ham Lee, El Canek, Ray Mendoza,

Villano I José de Jesús Díaz Mendoza (June 28, 1950 – January 4, 2001), best known by his ring name Villano I (Spanish language, Spanish: "Villano Primero"; English language, English: "Villain the first"), was a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' ''w ...

, Leopardo Negro,

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

and

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

due to Lagarde's connections in the wrestling world. His uncle also gave him permission to use the ring name "Karloff Lagarde Jr." Lagarde made his debut in 1992 and soon began working for the

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 Promociones Mora y Asociados and ...

. On December 14, 1993 Lagarde defeated Celestial for the UWA World Welterweight Championship. Lagarde held the title until May 25, 1995 when he lost it to Hijo del Santo. In 1995 the UWA closed and Lagarde moved on to

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) for a brief stop, teaming with Mr. Condor and Perro Silva losing to ''Las Gemas del Ring'' (Brillante, Diamante and Zafiro) at Triplemanía III-B. After Triplemania, Lagarde began working 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), the promotion that his uncle also worked for in the 1960s and 1970s. On September 1, 1995 Lagarde teamed with Scorpio Jr. in a "Second Generation Tag Team tournament"; the team lost in the first round to El Hijo del Solitario and

Negro Casas José Casas Ruiz (born January 10, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler (called a ''Lucha libre, Luchador'' in Spanish language, Spanish) and professional wrestling trainer working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) under the ring name Ne ...

. A few months later Lagarde participated in '' La Copa Junior'', losing in the first round to Rayo de Jalisco Jr. Lagarde teamed up with Satánico to participate in the 1996 '' Gran Alternativa''. The team defeated

El Felino Jorge Luis Casas Ruiz (born March 22, 1964), better known by his ring name El Felino ("The Feline"), is a Mexican '' luchador'' (or professional wrestler) working for Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Casas start ...

and Astro Rey Jr. in the first round, but lost to eventual winners Emilio Charles Jr. and Rey Bucanero in the second round of the tournament. At CMLL's 64th Anniversary Show Lagarde, Valentin Mayo and Halcon Negro teamed up to defeat

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

, Ultraman Jr. and

Tony Rivera Javier Espinosa Romero (born December 30, 1973) is a Mexican '' luchador'', or masked professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Tony Rivera. As Rivera he is currently working on the Mexican professional wrestling independent circuit p ...

. On February 6, 1998 Lagarde defeated Máscara Mágica to win the

CMLL World Welterweight Championship The CMLL World Welterweight Championship (Spanish: ''Campeonato Mundial de Peso Welter del CMLL'') is a professional wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (professional wrestling)#Nomenclature, world championship in the Mexico, Mexican profess ...

. In 1998 Lagarde participated in the first ever ''

Leyenda de Plata The ''Leyenda de Plata'' ( Spanish for "the Silver Legend") is an annual lucha libre tournament held by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 1998. The tournament honors El Santo, ''Enmáscarado ...

'' tournament but did not make it to the final. On September 15, 1998 Olímpico defeated Lagarde to win the CMLL World Welterweight Championship, ending Lagarde's reign after just over seven months. In 1999 Lagarde and

Apolo Dantés José Luis Amezcua Muñoz (born September 28, 1968) is a Mexican professional wrestling, professional wrestler, trainer and professional wrestling promotion, promoter, best known by his ring name Apolo Dantés. He is the son of Alfonso Dantés, ...

teamed up for the '' Gran Alternativa'' but lost in the first round to Shocker and Astro Rey Jr. On October 23, 2000 Lagarde defeated Astro Rey Jr. to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship on a show in

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

. Lagarde held the Mexican Welterweight Championship for almost six months, making one successful title defense before losing the title to

Tigre Blanco Sergio Guzmán Silva () is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, Luchador'', or professional wrestling, professional wrestler, who has worked for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) for most of his professional ...

on April 17, 2001. Lagarde kept working for CMLL until mid-2002 when he disappeared from the wrestling scene. Lagarde either went into retirement or began working under a mask, keeping his true identity hidden. Lagarde was not heard from until 2008 when he made a couple of appearances for

(IWRG), including their annual ''Rey del Ring'' tournament in 2008. Lagarde eliminated Gemelo Fantastico I and Arlequin before being eliminated by eventual winner Scorpio Jr. Lagarde died on December 13, 2024, at the age of 54.Falleció Karloff Lagarde Jr., figura de la lucha libre mexicana

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) ** Mexican National Welterweight Championship ( 1 time) * Universal Lucha Libre **

UWF Super Welterweight Championship The UWF Super Welterweight Championship was a title in the Professional wrestling in Mexico, Japanese professional wrestling, created by Universal Lucha Libre, Universal Pro/FULL, then later on defended in Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Michinoku Pro and ...

(1 time) *

** UWA World Welterweight Championship ( 1 time)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagarde Jr., Karloff 1970 births 2024 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers 20th-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers CMLL World Welterweight Champions UWA World Welterweight Champions UWF Super Welterweight Champions