El Solitario

Roberto González Cruz (May 22, 1946 – April 6, 1986) was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled under the name El Solitario.[1] During his career he held both the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship. After achieving stardom in Mexico's oldest promotion, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, Gonzalez Cruz joined the breakaway promotion, the Universal Wrestling Association, where he held four more world championships in the early 1980s.

This article is about the Mexican wrestler. For the Spanish anarchist, see Jaime Giménez Arbe.
El Solitario
El Solitario in his trademark golden mask
Birth nameRoberto González Cruz
Born(1946-05-22)May 22, 1946
Yahualica, Jalisco, Mexico
DiedApril 6, 1986(1986-04-06) (aged 39)
Cause of deathCardiac arrest
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)El Hijo del Santo
El Solitario
El Zica
El Zica II
Othon Banzica II
Trained byJoe El Hermoso
Debut1960

Early life

Gonzalez Cruz came from a working-class family and was the youngest of seven children. At the age of twelve, his older brother Jesús, who was also a professional wrestler, began teaching him basic wrestling moves. In 1959, Gonzalez Cruz's brother was killed in the ring while wrestling as Othon Banzica, but rather than becoming deterred, Gonzalez Cruz drew inspiration from his death and dedicated himself to lucha libre. He began training under the tutelage of Joe el Hermoso and made his wrestling debut in 1960 at the age of fourteen.

Professional wrestling career

Gonzalez Cruz was initially billed as being the son of the legendary wrestler El Santo but later changed his name to El Zica II in honor of his deceased brother.

Gonzalez Cruz moved to Tijuana to pursue his career as a luchador but had a difficult time finding regular work as he was young and still small at the time. He continued working local arenas until he began making a name for himself as he grew physically and refined his wrestling skills. Cruz realized that in order to take his career to the next level, he would have to select a more crowd pleasing name and character. He chose the name El Solitario, derived from the popular comic book character El Llanero Solitario ("The Lone Ranger"'). He also adopted his now trademark gold and black colored costume and golden mask with a fringe around the eyes representing the Lone Ranger's mask. After the change, promoters and fans took notice of the new dynamic wrestler.

On November 16, 1965, El Solitario faced Panchito Ramirez in Arena Coliseo located in Guadalajara. He would make his debut in Arena Coliseo Mexico City on September 6, 1966, when he defeated Tony Reyna. In 1966, El Solitario defeated and unmasked Águila Tapatía, that was followed by a win over Mano Blanca. He won his first world title when he defeated Occident Welterweight champion Luís González.

El Solitario was now working for EMLL, Mexico's largest promotion company. He was catapulted into stardom within the lucha libre world when he defeated veteran Rey Mendoza in a mask vs hair match on December 13, 1968. A few weeks later, he defeated another legend, Rene Guajardo, and also took his hair in another wager match.

El Solitario formed a wrestling trio alongside Dr. Wagner and Angel Blanco; the group was known as "La Ola Blanca" (The White Wave). He was wrestling as a rudo at this time but when his partners Dr. Wagner and Angel Blanco turned on him, he became one of the most popular tecnicos of his era. It also started a legendary rivalry between himself, Wagner and Blanco. He continued wrestling as an individual during this time, and in 1969, won the NWA Middleweight world title by defeating El Rayo de Jalisco. In 1970, El Solitario won the NWA Light Heavyweight title by defeating Ray Mendoza. In 1972, he unmasked his rival, Angel Blanco, in the ring.

El Solitario was one of the first stars to leave EMLL to join the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) promotion, which was run by Francisco Flores and Ray Mendoza. He won the UWA's first Junior Heavyweight title in 1982. He also toured Japan in 1972, 1979, and 1981, where he would face and team up with premiere stars such as Tiger Mask and Tatsumi Fujinami, along with other Mexican wrestlers such as Chavo Guerrero and El Canek. He was unable to fully exhibit his wrestling skills during his tours, as the junior's division formula in Japan consisted of popular Japanese wrestlers facing off against foreign heels. However, he gained a following outside of Mexico as a result of those tours.

While in Mexico, he remained one of the most popular headlining stars throughout the country. In the early 1980s, he formed a short lived trios team with Aníbal and Villano III, the group was known as Los Tres Caballeros that ended when Aníbal turned on El Solitario.[2] He won the UWA Junior Light Heavyweight title in 1980 and 1981. In 1982, he won the NWA Light Heavyweight title. That same year, he participated in El Santo's final career match when he teamed up with legends El Santo, Gory Guerrero, and Huracan Ramirez to defeat El Signo, Negro Navarro, El Texano, and Perro Aguayo.[3] Perhaps his biggest match took place on December 1, 1985, when he defeated and unmasked Dr. Wagner in a mask vs mask match.

Death
El Hijo del Solitario

El Solitario had suffered injuries during the latter part of his career, resulting in several infections and illnesses. During a match with Fishman, he re-injured himself and was taken to the hospital while complaining of abdominal pain. His doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition, and it was later discovered that he was suffering from internal bleeding that required immediate surgery. On April 6, 1986, at the age of 39, El Solitario died while on the operating table as a result of a cardiac arrest.[4]

Although El Solitario's life was fairly short, his professional career spanned over twenty-five years and he is regarded as one of the greatest Mexican professional wrestlers of all time.[5] He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

His son, El Hijo del Solitario, made his wrestling debut in 1990.

Championships and accomplishments

Lucha de Apuesta record
See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
El Solitario (mask)Karloff Lagarde (hair)N/ALive eventN/A 
El Solitario (mask)Coloso Colosetti (hair)Mexico CityLive eventN/A 
El Solitario (mask)César Valentino (hair)Mexico CityLive eventN/A 
El Solitario (mask)Alfonso Dantés (hair)Mexico CityLive eventN/A 
El Solitario (mask)Águila Tapatía (mask)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive event1966 
El Solitario (mask)The White Hand (mask)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive eventJune 17, 1966 
El Solitario (mask)Luis González (hair)Mexico CityLive eventJuly 1966 
El Solitario (mask)Ray Mendoza (hair)Mexico CityLive eventDecember 13, 1968 
El Solitario (mask)René Guajardo (hair)Mexico CityLive eventDecember 25, 1968 
El Solitario (mask)David Morgan (hair)Mexico CityLive eventApril 7, 1972 
El Solitario (mask)Ángel Blanco (mask)Mexico CityLive eventDecember 8, 1972[7]
El Solitario (mask)Ángel Blanco (hair)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive eventFebruary 3, 1974[7]
El Solitario (mask)El Cardenal (mask)Monterrey, Nuevo LeónLive eventMarch 2, 1975 
El Solitario (mask)Atila (mask)Mexico CityLive eventNovember 19, 1975 
El Solitario (mask)Destroyer (mask)Juárez, ChihuahuaLive eventDecember 5, 1975 
El Solitario (mask)El Audaz (mask)Mexico CityLive eventApril 12, 1976[Note 1][8]
El Solitario (mask)Ku Klux Klan (mask)Mexico CityLive eventFebruary 9, 1977 
El Solitario (mask)Perro Aguayo (hair)Mexico CityLive eventSeptember 10, 1978[9]
El Solitario (mask)Máscara Roja (mask)N/ALive eventSeptember 24, 1978[10]
El Solitario (mask)Bestia Roja (mask)N/ALive eventNovember 25, 1979 
El Solitario (mask)Nakamura (mask)Tijuana, Baja CaliforniaLive eventMarch 25, 1981 
El Solitario (mask)El Faraón (hair)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive eventApril 6, 1981 
El Solitario (mask)El OlímpicoMexico CityLive eventJune 20, 1982[11]
El Solitario (mask)El Signo (hair)Tijuana, Baja CaliforniaLive eventJune 12, 1983 
El Solitario (mask)Dr. Wagner (mask)Monterrey, Nuevo LeónLive eventDecember 1, 1985 

See also

Notes
  1. Lost a Relevos Suicidas match vs. Aníbal and Rayo de Jalisco

References
General sources – Championship Information
  • Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 389–402. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
General sources – Career
  • Madigan, Dan (2007). "Los Enmascarados (the masked men): El Solitario". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre& honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 106–110. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  • "El Solitario". Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. 2005. pp. 28–36. ISBN 968-6842-48-9.
  • "Furia Azul contra Capucha Dorada / the Blue Fury versus the golden hood". Lucha Libre: Masked Superstars of Mexican Wrestling. Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. 2005. pp. 38–51. ISBN 968-6842-48-9.
  • "Lucha Libre: Conoce la historia de las leyendas de cuadrilátero". Solitario (1946–1986) (in Spanish). Mexico. 2008. p. 57. Grandes Figuras de la Lucha Libre.
Specific
  1. Molinaro, John F.: Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, page 158, Winding Stair Press, 2002.
  2. Centinella, Teddy (June 29, 2015). "En un día como hoy… 1980: René Guajardo rapa al Perro Aguayo… 2009: La Parkita y Espectrito II son asesinados". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  3. http://www.lethalwrestling.com/opinions/news_content.php?fileName=756
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2008-12-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Madigan, Dan (2007). "Los Enmascarados (the masked men): El Solitario". Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: the bizarre& honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 106–110. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  6. "El Solitaro". Online World of Wrestling.
  7. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Ángel Blanco (in Spanish). Mexico. July 2007. p. 14. Tomo I.
  8. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Audaz (in Spanish). Mexico. July 2007. p. 26. Tomo I.
  9. "Luchas 2000". Perro Aguayo y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 12–15. Especial 30.
  10. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Máscara Roja (in Spanish). Mexico. October 2007. p. 26. Tomo III.
  11. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Olímpico (Segunda version) (in Spanish). Mexico. October 2007. p. 45. Tomo III.
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