WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 Think about the entertainment you consume on 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:05.740 a regular basis. It usually follows a pretty 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.460 rigid formula, right? Almost always. Like whether 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:10.859 it's a procedural television show or a blockbuster 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:13.939 movie or even a live sporting event, there's 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:16.519 an established rhythm to it. But what happens 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.679 when a single group of performers just kind of 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:22.620 accidentally breaks that formula so completely 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.719 that they end up rewriting the rules for an entire 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:27.859 industry in their country? It's a rare thing 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:30.570 to see, honestly. It really is. Welcome to the 00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:34.850 Deep Dive. Today we have a really fascinating 00:00:34.850 --> 00:00:38.270 stack of source material in front of us. Specifically, 00:00:38.429 --> 00:00:40.630 we're looking at a comprehensive Wikipedia article 00:00:40.630 --> 00:00:42.869 that details the history of a Mexican professional 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:45.570 wrestling trio known as Los Misioneros de la 00:00:45.570 --> 00:00:47.929 Muerte, which translates to the Missionaries 00:00:47.929 --> 00:00:50.270 of Death. Such a great name for a wrestling stable. 00:00:50.409 --> 00:00:53.439 Right. And our mission for this deep dive is 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:55.859 to explore how this specific Lucha Libre trio 00:00:55.859 --> 00:00:57.799 didn't just, you know, win a bunch of championships. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.420 They actually shifted the entire landscape of 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:02.380 Mexican wrestling. They took the traditional 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:04.700 one on one singles match, which is the standard 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:06.939 format almost everywhere else in the world. And 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:08.799 they made the two out of three falls six man 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:12.260 tag team match the absolute industry standard 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:15.459 in Mexico. It really is a remarkable transformation 00:01:15.459 --> 00:01:17.459 to witness, especially when you consider the 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:20.379 medium. When you look at professional wrestling, 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:22.859 it's so often viewed purely through the lens 00:01:22.859 --> 00:01:25.519 of sheer entertainment, almost as a carnival 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:28.560 spectacle. But the material we are diving into 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:32.180 today offers us a truly fascinating case study 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:35.200 in audience psychology, in structural business 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:39.000 innovation, and in how designated heels, the 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.280 bad guys, can accidentally become revolutionary. 00:01:43.059 --> 00:01:45.500 Crazy to think about. We're really going to see 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:47.879 how a confluence of booking decisions, genuine 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.540 athletic talent, and a sheer refusal to stick 00:01:50.540 --> 00:01:52.459 to the established script completely altered 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:55.200 the DNA of Lucha Libre for you, the viewer. Okay, 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.319 let's unpack this. Let's travel back to the late 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:01.459 1970s. Setting the stage. Exactly. The Mexican 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:03.420 professional wrestling promotion known as the 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:06.680 Universal Wrestling Association, or the UWA, 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.520 was carefully watching the shifting landscape. 00:02:10.169 --> 00:02:13.590 The promoter, a guy named Francisco Flores, was 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:16.030 heavily inspired by the success that lightweight 00:02:16.030 --> 00:02:18.069 wrestlers were starting to have. They were really 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:20.409 gaining traction then. They were. So he wanted 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:23.069 to capitalize on this movement and create massive, 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:26.990 bankable, Mexican lightweight stars. He decides 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:29.509 to group together three young, smaller wrestlers. 00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:33.349 We have El Seno, Negro Navarro, and El Texano. 00:02:33.469 --> 00:02:36.530 The original trio. Right. Flores puts them together. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.360 dubs them Los Misioneros de la Muerte, and just 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:41.759 sets them loose. And right from the start, we 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:43.900 have to look at how Flores strategically deployed 00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:46.860 them. He booked them strictly as heels, the villains 00:02:46.860 --> 00:02:49.159 of the story, and immediately paired them against 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:51.280 another trio of young lightweights. To build 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.259 that rivalry. Exactly. This opposing team was 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:56.419 a group of brothers known as Los Mosqueteros 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:59.159 del Diablo, or the Devil's Musketeers. You had 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:02.530 brazo de oro, brazo de plata, and a brazo. By 00:03:02.530 --> 00:03:04.610 putting these two hungry, agile trios against 00:03:04.610 --> 00:03:07.310 each other, Flores wasn't just filling time on 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:09.610 a card. He was actually testing a completely 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:12.229 different pacing and style of match. And it pays 00:03:12.229 --> 00:03:14.949 off almost immediately with this massive catalyst 00:03:14.949 --> 00:03:18.069 moment. During this heated rivalry, Brazo de 00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:21.229 Oro defeats El Texano in a high -stakes luchas 00:03:21.229 --> 00:03:23.229 de apuestas. The bet match. Right, the bet match. 00:03:23.449 --> 00:03:26.430 And as a result of losing that bet, El Texano 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:29.129 is forced to unmask. Now, normally, losing your 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.629 mask is a huge setback in Lucha Libre, but instead 00:03:31.629 --> 00:03:33.750 of this ruining his career, it creates this incredibly 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:36.129 striking visual dynamic in the ring. It really 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:38.270 did. You had the entirely unmasked missionaries 00:03:38.270 --> 00:03:40.490 clashing with the fully masked masqueraderos 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.569 on UWA cards all over the country. The visual 00:03:43.569 --> 00:03:45.909 contrast alone was brilliant, and the fan buzz 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.349 was absolutely massive. I mean, the Lucha Libre 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:50.530 magazine started giving them wall -to -wall coverage, 00:03:50.710 --> 00:03:53.000 treating them like absolute rock stars. What's 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.719 fascinating here is the ripple effect this single 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.860 rivalry had on the entire business model of the 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.840 promotion and eventually the entire Lucha Libre 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.780 industry. How so? Well, because the fans in those 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:06.939 magazines loved them so much as a collective 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:10.000 unit, other promoters around Mexico started demanding 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.580 them. But here is the critical shift. Those promoters 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.069 didn't want El Seno in a singles match. or Negro 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:19.930 Navarro on his own. They wanted the package deal. 00:04:20.269 --> 00:04:22.569 Precisely. They demanded to book them strictly 00:04:22.569 --> 00:04:26.050 as a cohesive team. This specific market demand 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:29.089 was the spark that pushed the trio's match from 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:31.689 a mid -card novelty to the absolute forefront 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:34.149 of the business. If you look at the progression 00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:37.670 detailed in our sources, by 1981, Les Mithineros 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:39.870 were working very high on the card. They were 00:04:39.870 --> 00:04:41.550 frequently working the main event match. Which 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:43.269 is a huge paradigm shift. They weren't just the 00:04:43.269 --> 00:04:45.089 warm -up act to get the crowd going for the heavyweights 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:47.170 anymore. They were the... actual draw. Exactly. 00:04:47.329 --> 00:04:49.509 And because they were a trio main eventing the 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:52.089 shows, it inherently started a structural trend. 00:04:52.370 --> 00:04:54.670 Instead of having a traditional singles match 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:57.470 as the regular main event format, the trios match 00:04:57.470 --> 00:05:00.250 simply took over. It just makes logistical sense 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:02.670 when you think about it. It does. Think about 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:04.949 the mechanical advantages of this from a promoters 00:05:04.949 --> 00:05:08.339 perspective. A six man tag team match allows 00:05:08.339 --> 00:05:11.160 for incredibly fast paced, high flying spots 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.980 without exhausting the individual wrestlers because 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:16.500 they can constantly tag out and catch their breath. 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:18.360 Right. They aren't working the whole time. And 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.139 it also protects older or slower performers by 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:23.279 letting the young lightweights carry the kinetic 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.560 energy of the match. This team's immense popularity 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.720 was the direct catalyst that cemented the trios 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.779 match as the most common match type in lucha 00:05:32.779 --> 00:05:35.120 libre. A standard that has remained firmly in 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:37.920 place to this day. Yeah, it is a perfect example 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:41.800 of organic audience demand dictating a permanent 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.459 structural change in how an art form is presented. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:47.360 The audience wanted these three specific guys 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:49.839 together. So the promoters completely changed 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.800 the shape of the main event to accommodate them. 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:53.860 I love that the industry didn't really have a 00:05:53.860 --> 00:05:56.579 choice but to adapt. But here's where it gets 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:59.759 really interesting and honestly, a little dark. 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:03.959 Oh, yeah. The 1981 incident. Yeah. We need to 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:08.420 talk about a specific night in 1981 at El Torrio 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:11.399 de Cuatro Caminos, which was the UWA's main venue. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.639 Los Misioneros are in the main event, and they 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.139 are facing off against Huracán Ramírez, Rayo 00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:19.839 de Jalisco, and the absolute biggest name in 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:22.480 lucha livery history, the legendary El Santo. 00:06:22.970 --> 00:06:26.149 A literal icon. Exactly. Now, at this point in 00:06:26.149 --> 00:06:29.610 his career, El Santo is 64 years old. And right 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:31.810 in the middle of the match, the script gets completely 00:06:31.810 --> 00:06:33.850 thrown out the window because reality violently 00:06:33.850 --> 00:06:36.610 crashes into the performance. El Santo collapses 00:06:36.610 --> 00:06:39.110 in the middle of the ring. It's terrifying. He 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:41.610 suffers a very real, very serious heart attack. 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:43.959 And his life is only saved due to the quick -witted 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.439 actions of his partner, Huracan Ramirez, who 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:48.639 realized this wasn't part of the show and got 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.000 him immediate medical attention. It is a terrifying 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.959 moment where the scripted danger of the ring 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.779 instantly becomes a genuine life or death medical 00:06:55.779 --> 00:06:59.040 emergency. You have a beloved national icon literally 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.600 dying in front of a live audience. But what happens 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.160 next is a masterclass in ruthless promotional 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.040 spin. It's incredibly morbid marketing. The Lucha 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.279 Libre magazines, heavily urged by Francisco Flores, 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:14.220 took this real life tragedy and plastered it 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:17.240 everywhere. They began aggressively promoting 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.000 Los Machineros de la Muerte as the team that 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.079 nearly killed the biggest name in Lucha Libre 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:24.160 ever. They leaned right into it. They really 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.879 did. As a fan reading those headlines, you're 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.339 being told that these three young punks almost 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:31.800 ended the life of your absolute hero. You call 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:33.800 it morbid marketing, and it certainly looks that 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:35.540 way from the outside. But we have to look at 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:37.420 this from a promoter standpoint in the early 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:40.959 1980s. In that era, kayfabe, the illusion that 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.699 wrestling is a legitimate, unscripted athletic 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:46.560 contest, was oxygen. They had to maintain the 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.899 illusion. Right. Flores didn't just spin this 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:51.519 event. He weaponized it out of sheer necessity. 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:55.089 He had lightning in a bottle. the ultimate heat 00:07:55.089 --> 00:07:58.529 for his new top heels. By synthesizing a real 00:07:58.529 --> 00:08:00.449 -world, near -fatal danger into entertainment 00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:03.250 capital, he created a level of visceral, legitimate 00:08:03.250 --> 00:08:05.790 anger from the crowd that you simply cannot write 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:08.509 into a script. And it absolutely catapulted them. 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:11.329 That specific event made Los Misioneros household 00:08:11.329 --> 00:08:14.129 names practically overnight. It cemented them 00:08:14.129 --> 00:08:17.029 as the most hated trio in Mexico for years to 00:08:17.029 --> 00:08:19.689 come, and that directly translated into massive 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:22.490 ticket sales. Unbelievable heat. The heat was 00:08:22.490 --> 00:08:25.290 so intense that when El Santo eventually recovered 00:08:25.290 --> 00:08:40.509 enough to have his I want you, the listener, 00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:43.870 to really consider the intense blurring of reality 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:46.549 and fiction happening in that arena. You are 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:48.899 watching a performance art. But you are watching 00:08:48.899 --> 00:08:51.120 villains who you genuinely believe are capable 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:53.399 of lethal violence against a national treasure. 00:08:53.580 --> 00:08:55.259 It's wild to think about being in that crowd. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.559 It requires a very specific type of audience 00:08:57.559 --> 00:08:59.980 suspension of disbelief, and it requires a uniquely 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:02.700 talented trio of performers to carry that massive 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:05.440 psychological burden. They had to walk into every 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:08.480 arena knowing the crowd legitimately despised 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.960 them. And that ability to generate legitimate, 00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:14.139 visceral anger from the crowd made them the perfect 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:17.470 villains. But in wrestling... If you're a good 00:09:17.470 --> 00:09:19.610 enough villain for long enough, something strange 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:22.169 happens. The crowd starts to respect you. The 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:24.970 inevitable face turn. Exactly. Which is exactly 00:09:24.970 --> 00:09:26.870 what we saw when they moved into a feud with 00:09:26.870 --> 00:09:29.509 Los Tres Caballeros, a top -faced team made up 00:09:29.509 --> 00:09:33.730 of Aníbal, El Solitario, and Villano III. During 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:36.330 this storyline, the good guys completely implode. 00:09:36.769 --> 00:09:39.850 El Solitario turns on his two partners and brutally 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:42.769 attacks El Seno with a bottle, costing his team 00:09:42.769 --> 00:09:45.309 an important match. A classic. Double cross. 00:09:45.509 --> 00:09:48.389 Right. And here is the psychological twist. Los 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:51.070 Misioneros were smaller lightweights. Because 00:09:51.070 --> 00:09:53.690 of this unfair weaponized attack from a supposedly 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:56.370 heroic character, human empathy naturally took 00:09:56.370 --> 00:09:58.629 over. The crowd actually started to sympathize 00:09:58.629 --> 00:10:00.570 with them. Even though they were booked as the 00:10:00.570 --> 00:10:03.250 bad guys, the fans began to actively support 00:10:03.250 --> 00:10:05.490 them and cheer them on. If we connect this to 00:10:05.490 --> 00:10:08.330 the broader dynamics of performance art, it reveals 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:10.730 a lot about the nuanced, almost conversational 00:10:10.730 --> 00:10:12.690 relationship between a live audience and the 00:10:12.690 --> 00:10:14.690 performers. What do you mean by that? Well, the 00:10:14.690 --> 00:10:17.330 crowd isn't just mindlessly booing the designated 00:10:17.330 --> 00:10:20.129 villains based on a program insert. They are 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.289 dynamically reacting to the narrative context 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:24.909 presented in the ring. When a smaller wrestler 00:10:24.909 --> 00:10:27.690 is attacked unfairly with a weapon, the context 00:10:27.690 --> 00:10:31.000 of the violence shifts. The booking inadvertently 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.759 turned the most hated team in Mexico into sympathetic 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.879 antiheroes. Just doing their jobs. Exactly. They 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.139 didn't change their style. The context around 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:41.860 them changed and the audience adapted perfectly. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.700 It's a brilliant evolution. Yeah. And their appeal 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.879 absolutely wasn't limited to Mexico. Our sources 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.399 detail a massive international component to their 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.820 story as well. The UWA had a long -standing tradition 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:56.419 of partnering with New Japan Pro Wrestling, or 00:10:56.419 --> 00:10:59.500 NJPW. A huge promotion in Japan. Yeah, they would 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:01.820 regularly invite Japanese talent to Mexico for 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:04.259 tours. Traditionally, they brought over heavyweights. 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:07.019 But because Los Misioneros were drawing such 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:09.419 massive crowds as lightweights, the UWA started 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:12.779 bringing in younger, lower -card Japanese lightweights 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:15.720 specifically to fight them. And the stakes in 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:17.960 these international rivalries were kept incredibly 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:20.240 high, heavily relying on the luchas de apuestas 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.360 format we mentioned earlier to guarantee crowd 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.700 investment. We see this clearly in June of 1981 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:29.299 when Los Misioneros faced the NJPW team of Gran 00:11:29.299 --> 00:11:32.659 Hamada, Kobayashi and Enrique Vera. A huge match. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.860 It was. Los Misioneros actually lose this match. 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:38.139 And as a result, all three of them are forced 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:39.940 to have their heads shaved in the middle of the 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:43.639 ring. It is a massive humiliation for them. But 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.700 the rivalry doesn't end there. It builds. On 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:49.860 February 14th, 1982, at the UWA's 7th anniversary 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:52.720 show, Los Misioneros defeat the Japanese team 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.600 of Kobayashi, Saito, and Takano. Getting some 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.159 momentum back. Exactly. And then, a few months 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:00.360 later in June, they get their ultimate revenge. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.200 They face that same trio in another Apuestas 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.259 match, and this time Los Misioneros win, forcing 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:09.000 the visiting Japanese trio to leave Mexico with 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.299 their heads completely sh - Shaving the heads 00:12:11.299 --> 00:12:13.519 of the invading international team. You can only 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.700 imagine how incredibly well that plays to the 00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:18.620 home crowd. It's nationalistic pride mixed with 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:21.179 top -tier athletic storytelling. The crowd must 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:23.860 have been electric. Absolutely. And this massive 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:26.759 popularity inevitably led to Los Misioneros crossing 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.100 borders themselves. They were invited to tour 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.860 Japan. They went overseas and faced off against 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:34.559 legendary New Japan lightweights. We're talking 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.700 about huge names like Gran Hamada, Tiger Mask, 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:41.500 Akira Maeda, and Osamu Kido. Some of the greatest 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:44.259 of all time. Truly. They took this highly specific 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:47.299 Mexican phenomena and proved it could draw massive 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:49.590 crowds on the other side of the planet. It is 00:12:49.590 --> 00:12:51.669 a massive testament to the versatility of their 00:12:51.669 --> 00:12:53.820 in -ring work. They were essentially serving 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:56.200 as cultural ambassadors for the Lucha Libre style, 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.539 proving that the high -paced, lightweight trios 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:01.899 format they had revolutionized back home could 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.080 translate seamlessly into the more hard -hitting 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:06.639 Japanese pure -resu environment. And their peak 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.299 just kept going into the mid-'80s. Now, there 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:11.679 was traditionally a very bitter war between the 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.059 UWA and a rival promotion called EMLL, which 00:13:15.059 --> 00:13:17.879 is known today as CMLL. Very bitter rivals. Yeah, 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:19.960 but the business reality shifted, things cooled 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:22.100 off enough, and Los Misioneros actually cried. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.919 We really need to pause and emphasize the gravity 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.860 of that booking decision. Having top stars from 00:13:31.860 --> 00:13:35.799 the UWA crossover to wrestle in EMLL is functionally 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.460 like Marvel and DC deciding to do a crossover 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:41.539 comic event. It signals to the fans that this 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.740 is a once -in -a -lifetime, must -see spectacle. 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:47.919 Absolutely. And they made the most of it. In 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.960 the build -up to the massive EML... 53rd anniversary 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.519 show. They had a huge win. During CMLL's weekly 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.919 Superview and Show, they defeated El Dandy, Talisman, 00:13:57.980 --> 00:14:00.570 and Jerry Estrada in an apuestas match. Building 00:14:00.570 --> 00:14:03.090 that momentum again. Right. Then, at the actual 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:05.509 53rd anniversary main event, they put their hair 00:14:05.509 --> 00:14:08.110 on the line again against EML mainstays Ringo 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:11.490 Mendoza, Americo Roca, and Tony Salazar. Now, 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:13.370 they lost that one, and once again, had to get 00:14:13.370 --> 00:14:15.769 all their hair shaved off. But simply being trusted 00:14:15.769 --> 00:14:17.710 to carry that interpromotional main event shows 00:14:17.710 --> 00:14:20.549 exactly how vital they were to the entire wrestling 00:14:20.549 --> 00:14:22.990 economy of Mexico. They were the undisputed top 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:25.899 draw. They were. They also won the UWA World 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:27.960 Trios Championship for the first time in 1984, 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:31.120 and they managed to regain those titles in 1987. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:34.419 Which brings us to a pivotal, narrative -shattering 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:37.980 moment later in 1987. They are defending the 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:41.259 UWA World Trios Championship against Los Vianos. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:45.039 That's Viano III, IV, and V. During the match, 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:48.299 El Texano sees his partner, El Seno, taking entirely 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:50.799 too much punishment. He wants to save him from 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.080 serious injury. So El Texano throws in the towel. 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.700 Wow. They lose the match. They lose the championships. 00:14:56.860 --> 00:14:59.460 And immediately after the bell rings, El Seno 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:02.019 and Negro Navarro completely turn on El Texano 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:04.179 and brutally attack him in the ring. They destroy 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.340 their own teammate after a decade of dominance 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:09.200 together. Exactly. This raises an important question. 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:12.659 Why would a promoter destroy the Golden Goose? 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.379 Why break up the most influential groundbreaking 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.019 trio of the decade? It doesn't seem to make sense. 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.039 Not on the surface. But the answer lies in the 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.019 harsh business realities hiding just behind the 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:27.240 curtain. El Texano had actually given formal 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.759 notice that he was leaving the UWA. So this dramatic, 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.860 highly emotional betrayal in the ring wasn't 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:36.500 just a sudden creative whim from Francisco Flores. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.580 It was a deeply functional storyline tool designed 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:43.080 specifically to write El Texano out of the promotion. 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:45.710 It's like when an actor's contract is up on a 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:47.649 soap opera, so the writers suddenly have their 00:15:47.649 --> 00:15:49.450 best friend push them down an elevator shaft. 00:15:49.629 --> 00:15:52.029 Exactly. They use the deep emotional weight of 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:54.649 their decade -long partnership to make his exit 00:15:54.649 --> 00:15:57.370 as impactful and memorable as possible. Now, 00:15:57.389 --> 00:15:59.929 with Texano gone, you'd reasonably think that 00:15:59.929 --> 00:16:01.409 would be the permanent end of the missionaries 00:16:01.409 --> 00:16:03.870 of death. But Francisco Flores wasn't going to 00:16:03.870 --> 00:16:06.129 just let that incredibly lucrative brand die. 00:16:06.289 --> 00:16:08.149 Oh, of course not. He launched what we can call 00:16:08.149 --> 00:16:10.909 version two. He brought in a masked wrestler 00:16:10.909 --> 00:16:13.409 named Black Power to team with Navarro and Senor. 00:16:13.929 --> 00:16:16.190 And incredibly, it worked. They defeated Los 00:16:16.190 --> 00:16:18.330 Fianos to win back the UWA Trios Championship, 00:16:18.610 --> 00:16:20.970 and they held those belts for an astonishing 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:25.570 454 days. That's a massive run. It is. Later 00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:27.889 on, they even swapped out Black Power for Rocky 00:16:27.889 --> 00:16:30.929 Santana, creating Version 3. And this version 00:16:30.929 --> 00:16:33.809 was actually the absolute last team to hold the 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:36.830 UWA World Trios Championship. They were still 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:39.669 recognized as the champions when the UWA officially 00:16:39.669 --> 00:16:43.409 closed its doors for good in 1995. The longevity 00:16:43.409 --> 00:16:46.330 of the brand, even with swapped personnel, speaks 00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:48.990 volumes to the foundational strength of the original 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.769 concept. The mold they created was so strong 00:16:51.769 --> 00:16:53.830 it survived the departure of a founding member. 00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.870 Even after the UWA disbanded, we see the echoes 00:16:56.870 --> 00:16:59.529 of their massive impact. They worked shows for 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:02.049 AAA, which effectively served as the successor 00:17:02.049 --> 00:17:05.430 promotion to the UWA, and the original trio would 00:17:05.430 --> 00:17:06.799 occasionally... occasionally reunite on the independent 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.180 circuit to massive applause. So what does this 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:12.420 all mean? When we look back at the grand sweep 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:14.839 of this deep dive, what is the ultimate legacy 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:18.200 of Los Misioneros de la Muerte? Well, those reunions 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.180 are a big part of it. In 1999, Navarro and El 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:23.359 Seno teamed up for the Salvador Letteroth Memorial 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.240 Tag Tournament for CMLL, specifically brought 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:28.799 in to represent the old school era of wrestling. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.470 A nod to their legacy. Yeah. And in 2003, all 00:17:32.470 --> 00:17:35.569 three original members, Navarro, Signo, and Texano, 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:38.630 reunited for AAA's massive Guerra de Titanas 00:17:38.630 --> 00:17:42.609 show, scoring a huge, nostalgic win. But perhaps 00:17:42.609 --> 00:17:44.690 the most official, permanent cementing of their 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:48.390 legacy came a bit later, in 2019. The original 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:51.569 trio of Negro Navarro, El Signo, and El Texano 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:54.410 were officially inducted into the Wrestling Observer 00:17:54.410 --> 00:17:56.809 Newsletter Hall of Fame. Being inducted into 00:17:56.809 --> 00:17:59.170 that specific Hall of Fame is arguably the highest 00:17:59.170 --> 00:18:01.309 critical validation a professional wrestler can 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:04.009 achieve. It recognizes not just their drawing 00:18:04.009 --> 00:18:06.390 power and ticket sales, but their undeniable 00:18:06.390 --> 00:18:09.390 historical impact on the medium itself. They 00:18:09.390 --> 00:18:11.509 didn't just participate in the industry. They 00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:13.950 permanently altered its architecture. But time 00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:16.750 eventually catches up with everyone, even the 00:18:16.750 --> 00:18:19.269 missionaries of death. We have to note the solemn 00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:22.009 end of the era. El Tesano passed away in 2006. 00:18:22.779 --> 00:18:25.079 With his tragic death, the name Los Misioneros 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.759 de la Muerte was permanently retired by Navarro 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:30.240 and Signo. They chose out of respect not to use 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.160 it without him. A fitting tribute. It was. El 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.299 Signo officially retired from in -ring competition 00:18:35.299 --> 00:18:39.099 in 2010. Today, Negro Navarro remains the sole 00:18:39.099 --> 00:18:41.559 active competitor of that legendary original 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:44.599 trio, still tying up younger wrestlers in knots. 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:47.279 As we wrap up this analysis, I want to leave 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.009 you with a final thought to mull over. We spent 00:18:50.009 --> 00:18:52.309 a lot of time today discussing how their specific 00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:54.789 personas revolutionized match structures in Mexico. 00:18:55.009 --> 00:18:57.450 We talked about how promoters weaponized audience 00:18:57.450 --> 00:19:00.930 emotions and blurred the lines of reality. But 00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:02.670 I want you to think deeply about those tours 00:19:02.670 --> 00:19:05.390 to Japan, stepping into the ring against figures 00:19:05.390 --> 00:19:07.930 like Tiger Mask. That international crossover. 00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:11.069 Yes. Consider the immense, almost impossible 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:13.049 difficulty of what they accomplished overseas. 00:19:13.630 --> 00:19:16.509 How does a highly localized Mexican cultural 00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:18.789 performance art manage to cross deep language? 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:21.519 and cultural barriers? How does it become universally 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.720 understood, crowd -pleasing entertainment in 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:25.559 a completely different country where the audience 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:27.519 doesn't speak your language and where they might 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.940 not understand the specific cultural weight of 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:32.079 losing a mask or getting your head shaved? It's 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:34.779 a fascinating question. It forces us to explore 00:19:34.779 --> 00:19:38.059 how physical storytelling, the raw kinetic energy 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:41.220 of human bodies in motion, can transcend language 00:19:41.220 --> 00:19:43.980 entirely. They didn't need to speak a word of 00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:46.059 Japanese to make the crowd in Tokyo hate them 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.339 or eventually respect them. Their narrative was 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:52.200 written entirely in sweat, physical impact, and 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:54.880 perfect timing. It's a profound reminder of the 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.319 universal power of physical performance. That 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.240 is such an incredible point to end on. From a 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.039 local rivalry to completely changing an industry's 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.259 structural format to crossing oceans and translating 00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:08.559 their art without ever saying a word. Thank you 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.480 so much for joining us on this deep dive into 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:12.940 the incredible legacy of Los Misioneros de la 00:20:12.940 --> 00:20:15.500 Muerte. We hope you discovered some truly surprising 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:18.240 aha moments today. Keep exploring, keep questioning 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:20.579 the mechanics of the media you consume, and always 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:22.380 stay curious. We'll catch you next time.