Top Ten Latin American Wrestlers of All-Time

Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio @ Adelaide, South Australia 'Smackdown' house show on the 10th of April '05 (Photo courtesy Krystal Bogner - Under Creative Commons License)

Today, September 16th is Mexico’s Day of Independence. What better way to celebrate than to countdown the top ten greatest Latin wrestlers to step foot in the ring. Yes, we know Latin and Mexican are different, but we couldn’t just limit the list to those from Mexico. There have been a lot of great wrestlers to come from Latin America, and it was tough making this list. Sit back and enjoy as we count down the top ten Latin wrestlers of all-time.

10. Pedro Morales

We kick off our list with a former WWF Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion, Pedro Morales. Morales wrestled in the WWWF, NWA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, among other promotions. Morales started his career in 1961 and won numerous championships in his career, including a plethora of championships in the NWA. He was the WWWF World Champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, one time WWF Tag Team Champion with Bob Backlund, the first ever WWE Triple Crown winner and is a WWE Hall of Famer (1995). Morales’ career spanned 27 years; his last match was in a WWF Legends Battle Royale in 1987.

9. Psicosis

Our number nine spot goes to a man who is still wrestling today under the name Nicho, but more commonly known as Psicosis. Psicosis got his start in 1983 being trained by Rey Misterio Sr. Early in his career. Psicosis would wrestle for CMLL, AAA, NJPW, and ECW before being signed to WCW in 1996. Still wrestling today, Psicosis has wrestled for WWE, Impact, NWA, and still returns to CMLL and AAA. Psicosis has wrestled all over the world, wrestling Rey Mysterio Jr. more than 500 times and is definitely deserving of this spot.

8. Pentagon Jr.

Pentagon Jr. takes up our number eight spot and is the newest wrestler on our list, as he’s only been wrestling for eight years. Alongside his brother, Rey Fenix, Pentagon has wrestled for AAA, Impact, CZW, PWG, Lucha Underground and many, many more. Thus far in his career, Pentagon has held six tag team titles and 12 singles championships. With recent rumors of Pentagon and his brother moving to WWE, their names could soon be internationally known.

7. LA Parka

Our number seven spot goes to LA Parka. The 52-year-old is still wrestling in Mexico. Parka has wrestled for 29 years for promotions such as WCW, AAA, CMLL, NJPW, Impact, NWA and more. Over his career, LA Parka has won 16 championships, including AAA Latin American Championship and the CMLL Tag Team Championship with Shocker.

6. Blue Demon

The Blue Demon takes up our number six spot. Demon wrestled for 32 years before retiring in 1989. Blue Demon wrestled the majority of his career for CMLL, but he also wrestled for the NWA, UWA and World Class Wrestling Association. Before his passing in 2000 at the age of 78, Demon also starred in more than 25 movies, mostly playing himself. His first movie was in 1961, his last was 1989. Demon also trained 11 wrestlers, including his adopted son, Blue Demon Jr.

5. El Santo

Our number five spot goes to El Santo, from Hidalgo, Mexico. His 39-year career spanned from 1935 to 1982, wrestling for promotions such as CMLL, NWA, and the UWA. Santo won 14 championships throughout his career and was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. Santo’s son, El Hijo Del Santo, wrestled as recently as last year at the age of 55. Unfortunately, El Santo passed away in 1984 at the age of 66 from a heart attack. Despite his death, Santo is still known as a folk hero and an icon of Lucha Libre.

4. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Our number four spot on the list goes to Rey Mysterio, arguably the greatest cruiserweight of all-time. Mysterio got his start in 1989, training under his uncle, Rey Misterio Sr. Mysterio Jr.’s first match would come in 1992 at the age of 17, wrestling for AAA. Mysterio moved to WCW in 1996 and then WWE in 2002. Mysterio wrestled in WWE for 13 years, winning the World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWE Championship once, Cruiserweight Championship three times, the Intercontinental Championship twice and the Tag Team Championship four times (once each with Edge, RVD, Eddie Guerrero and Batista).

In 2015, Mysterio left WWE and wrestled on the independent scene and has stayed there recently wrestling for Lucha Underground, NJPW and in the main event of All In. With rumors swirling, however, its all but confirmed that Mysterio is making a long-awaited return to WWE.

3. Carlos Colon

Carlos Colon takes the well-deserved bronze medal spot on our list. Hailing for Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, Colon has had a career spanning four decades, starting in 1966. In his early career, Colon wrestled for the WWWF, NWA, AWA, and Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling. In 1973, Colon teamed with Gorilla Monsoon and Croatian-born wrestler Victor Jovica to form the World Wrestling Council (WWC), a promotion based in Puerto Rico.

Colon’s last match was in 2014, wrestling for the WWC. Over his career, Colon has trained his children, Primo, Epico and Carlito Colon, as well as Ivelisse, who wrestles for Lucha Underground and Shine.

2. Mil Mascaras

Our number two spot, the runner-up, is Mil Mascaras. Mascaras’ career spans 56 years, starting with his debut in 1963. He spent his early years wrestling for CMLL then would start wrestling for the NWA in 1969. During his career, Mascaras would wrestle for All Japan, WWWF, WCW, AAA, WWC and a return to CMLL among many, many more.

Still wrestling today, at the age of 76, Mascaras’ latest match was in May 2018 in a six-man tag team match for a promotion known as AULL in Mexico. Along with a great wrestling career, Mascaras has also starred in 20 movies. Although he’s not number one on our list, Mascaras will always be considered one of the greatest Latin wrestlers of all-time.

1. The Guerrero Family

You may think this is cheating, but if we were to take each member separately, the Guererros could take up half of the list. The Guerreros have a legacy that lasts still today and starts with the patriarch, Gory Guerrero, in 1944 when Gory wrestled for CMLL. in 1947, Gory married Herlinda Llanes. They had six children: four sons and two daughters. From oldest to youngest, the kids’ names were Maria, Chavo, Mando, Hector, Linda, and Eddie.

In 1970, Chavo and his wife, Nancy, gave birth to Chavo Jr. and in 1990, Eddie and his wife, Vickie, gave birth to their daughter, Shaul. The Guererro family lineage stretches from Gory’s time in the ring to present day with Chavo Jr. still wrestling. In between, we’ve witnessed all four sons carrying on the family name, including Eddie winning WWE Championship and Vickie Guerrero stepping into the ring as a manager and authority figure.

We’ve also seen Gory’s grandkids, Chavo Jr. and Shaul, get in the ring and win multiple titles, including Chavo’s ECW championship and multiple Cruiserweight championship reigns in WWE. Although Shaul Guerrero is lesser known, from 2011 to 2013, she wrestled as Raquel Diaz in FCW and NXT and even won the FCW Diva’s Championship. In January 2016, Shaul got married to Matthew Rehwoldt, better known as WWE’s Aiden English, and in February 2018, returned to wrestling in the form of commentary for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling.

The Guererros are a legendary family whose legacy still lives on today.