![]() Benoit and Liger are just two major stars of today that have wrestled extensively in Mexico. It’s a different style of wrestling, a different brand of wrestling, which I think helped better myself in terms of working in the international scene at the time.”Ĭhris Benoit under the mask as Pegasus Kid endures a camel clutch from Jushin “Thunder” Liger. I really cherish the time spent down there.”īenoit says his tenure in Mexico helped open doors for him to work in Japan, Austria and Germany in the early ’90s when no American promotion would sign him because of his size: “It was great experience. When you’re able to work all those different styles and grab a little bit from here and a little bit from there, and combine it into your style, it makes you different and makes you stand out… I’ve got fond memories and I don’t regret anything I did down there. Like Jericho, Benoit believes his time in Mexico helped him become the wrestler he is today. mask match on November 3 at the Quatro Caminos Bullring in Naucalpan that Benoit lost. The feud went on for months, climaxing in a historic mask vs. It was in the UWA that Benoit had a long, storied feud with Owen Hart, wrestling under a mask himself as the Blue Blazer.īenoit also had a memorable program against Villano III in the UWA, winning his first world title, the UWA Light Heavyweight championship on March 3, 1991. ![]() ![]() Wrestling as the masked Pegasus Kid, Chris Benoit was a regular in Mexico from 1991-1994 competing in the Universal Wrestling Association before jumping to EMLL. They helped me rather than beat me up… As a result of working with all of those guys, I was able to build a better foundation working with so many wrestlers.” It’s a credit to those guys down there because I came in as a main event guy at 22 years old, green as grass and those guys never took advantage of that. ![]() Those guys know how to work and they really gave me a good background in knowing how to work. “There’s some of the greatest workers in the world down there: Silver King, Negro Casas, Dr Wagner Jr., Emilio Charles. I still use some of that stuff and can easily draw on it in the ring whenever I need to.” It was a great experience wrestling-wise and life-wise… It’s a really good experience and a good way to build a solid foundation. I was 22 years old, I was working six, seven, eight times a week. Looking back now, he feels his spell in Mexico was integral to his growth and development as a wrestler. He wrestled his last match in Mexico in the summer of 1996 before joining WCW after a brief period with ECW.ĭespite spreading himself all over the globe, EMLL was Jericho’s major bread and butter for two and half years. ![]() In between Mexican stints, Jericho worked for WAR and New Japan Pro Wrestling, the odd tour for promoter Otto Wanz in Germany and Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling outfit in Tennessee. “I got a call to go back down in ’93 and when I was there Mike met a friend of (EMLL owner Paco) Alonso who set us up and we started working for EMLL in April ’93.”īilled as Corazon de Leon (Lion Heart), Jericho was a major star in EMLL, having brilliant matches against Ultimo Dragon, Silver King, Negro Casas and El Hijo del Santo and was NWA Middleweight champion for eleven months. “I had just came back from a tour with FMW in Japan and went down there with Mike and started working for a month and a half,” Jericho told SLAM! Wrestling. After training in the Hart Family wrestling camp in Calgary, Jericho toiled in the western Canadian independent scene for a year and half before venturing to Mexico in 1992 with the help of fellow Canadian Mike Lozansky who was working for an indy promotion based in Monterrey. Because of Lucha Libre’s emphasis on athleticism, junior heavyweights’ lack of size is not a detriment, but an asset.Ĭhris Jericho’s first taste of success in wrestling came while working for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). Exiled from working in the WWF and WCW by bookers and promoters who believed they’d never get over with an American audience because of their size, several of today’s top stars received their first big break in Mexico. The list of Canadian and foreign wrestlers who have wrestled extensively in Mexico reads like a who’s who of the industry:Ĭhris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, ‘Love Machine’ Art Barr, Vampiro, Norman Smiley, Konnan, Ultimo Dragon, Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Satoru Sayama, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Vader, 2 Cold Scorpio, Val Venis, Louie Spicolli.įor years, many Canadian and American junior heavyweights had no alternative but to wrestle in Mexico and Japan and other foreign countries. Mexico has continually opened its doors to foreign talent, welcoming them with a warm embrace and providing them with an environment with which to excel. Chris Jericho wrestled for two and half years in Mexico’s EMLL promotion before signing with WCW in 1996. ![]()
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