José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for "Last Warrior"), is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is the leader of the Los Guerreros Laguneros stable and part of the CMLL booking committee. He also makes appearances for partner promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Guerrero debuted in 1990 and joined CMLL in 1997, where he has held several titles, including the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship twice, the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship once, the CMLL World Trios Championship five times, and the CMLL World Tag Team Championship six times. He is a two-time CMLL Universal Championship tournament winner and three-time Torneo Gran Alternativa winner, also winning the CMLL International Gran Prix twice and the Leyenda de Azul once. He has also wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in the United States, where he won the 2008 World X Cup as part of Team Mexico, as well as Ring of Honor (ROH), All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he won the MLW National Openweight Championship.
Hernández is the older brother of Gran Guerrero, who was initially billed as his storyline son. He is not related to the professional wrestling legend Gory Guerrero or any of his children; "Guerrero" in this case is the Spanish word for warrior and not the surname of the character. He wrestled under a mask for the majority of his career until losing it in a Lucha de Apuestas ("bet match") to Atlantis in September 2014, being forced to unmask and reveal his birth name.
Professional wrestling career Early career (1990–1997) Gutiérrez's father started bringing him to professional wrestling shows at the Torreón Bullring before he was a year old; his mother nurtured the interest by buying him wrestling toys, masks and small rings. At the age of 15, he began practicing amateur wrestling at the "Gimnasio El Ranchero" arena in Sacramento, Gómez Palacio, and was such a regular attendee that he was asked to fill in for an absentee opening match wrestler during a scheduled show. He wrestled that night without wrestling boots as "Cóndor Dorado" ("Golden Condor"), impressing trainer Toñito El Detector enough to be accepted as a student into his professional wrestling class. Despite only having one semester left, he dropped out of high school to focus fully on his wrestling pursuits, which brought him under the tutalege of Torreón fixtures Gran Markus, Asterión and Halcón Suriano at the Palacio de los Deportes.
Shortly after his debut, he adopted the gimmick of "Flanagan", based on Héctor Suárez's titular character, to match his friend and training partner Super Punk. After working as a tag team in Durango-based local promotions for several years, they received their first break in Promo Azteca on the invitation of Super Punk's older brother Panterita del Ring; Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther offered the two lodging under a ring at a gym in Iztapalapa for two years. At the behest of Promo Azteca's co-owner, Ricardo Reyes, the duo changed their names in 1996, with Gutiérrez adopting the name "Último Guerrero" ("Last Warrior") and Super Punk becoming "Último Rebelde"; they started using a British hooligan-inspired gimmick with visual cues from The Road Warriors. In late 1997, the team was scheduled to lose their masks in a Lucha de Apuestas ("bet match"), however, Guerrero saved them by joining Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1997–present) Early years (1997–1999) Upon his CMLL debut, Último Guerrero experienced moderate success working lower card matches, usually the first-to-third match on the show. At the CMLL 65th Anniversary Show on September 11, 1998, Guerrero defeated Mr. Águila in his first Lucha de Apuestas at CMLL's main arena, Arena México, forcing his opponent to unmask and reveal his real name. In 1999, he and Blue Panther won the Torneo Gran Alternativa ("Great Alternative Tournament"), in which a young wrestler teams with a veteran. On May 21, Guerrero unsuccessfully challenged The Great Sasuke for the NWA World Middleweight Championship.
Los Infernales (1999–2001)
In 1999, Guerrero and Rey Bucanero joined El Satánico's reformed Los Infernales stable. In the summer of 2000, he and Bucanero last defeated Mr. Niebla and Villano IV in a sixteen-team tournament to win the vacant CMLL World Tag Team Championship. During Satánico's storyline feud against Tarzan Boy, Guerrero and Bucanero turned on Satánico; each wrestler claimed that they deserved the name Los Infernales and Satánico was holding them back. In response, during a televised segment, Satánico recruited two other wrestlers to even the numbers, which was presented as if he used his "Satanic powers" to turn wrestler Rencor Latino into Averno ("Hell") and Astro Rey Jr. into Mephisto. When Tarzan Boy was injured and unable to wrestle, Guerrero and Bucanero recruited Máscara Mágica to even the numbers. The storyline between the two factions culminated when all seven wrestlers fought in a steel cage match at the CMLL 68th Anniversary Show on September 28, 2001, where the winning side would gain the rights to the Los Infernales name. In the end, Satánico pinned Mágica to gain the rights and his mask.
Los Guerreros del Infierno (2001–2005)
Guerrero, Bucanero and Tarzan Boy subsequently became known collectively as Los Guerreros del Infierno ("The Infernal Soldiers"). After a match with an inconclusive finish in October, Guerrero and Bucanero lost the CMLL World Tag Team Championship to El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas on November 2, but regained it on May 31, 2002. Los Guerreros del Infierno then began feuding with Shocker and Vampiro Canadiense, whom they successfully defended the title against at the CMLL 69th Anniversary Show on September 13. On December 13, at Sin Piedad ("No Mercy"), Guerrero defeated Shocker to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, his first singles title in CMLL. Los Guerreros lost and regained the title from L.A. Par-K and Shocker in early 2004, but Bucanero suffered a knee injury and was temporarily replaced by Black Warrior; they lost the title to Atlantis and Blue Panther on June 25. In early 2005, Guerrero began a feud with Místico, sparking a tag program pitting him and Bucanero against Místico and Dr. Wagner Jr.
Los Guerreros de la Atlantida (2005–2011)
In late 2005, Guerrero aligned with the now-rudo Atlantis, and Los Guerreros was renamed Los Guerreros de la Atlantida ("The Warriors of the Atlantis"). He and Tarzan Boy eventually ejected Bucanero from the group, tearing up his tights. On July 14, 2006, Bucanero defeated Guerrero for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, ending his three-and-a-half year reign. On July 13, 2007, Guerrero and Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Casas and Místico for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship, but lost it in a rematch the following week, marking the shortest reign in the title's history. On July 18, 2008, he and Dragón Rojo Jr. defeated Dos Caras Jr. and Metalik in the finals of that year's Torneo Gran Alternativa. On August 5, Guerrero, Atlantis and Casas defeated El Hijo del Fantasma, Héctor Garza and La Máscara for the CMLL World Trios Championship, which they successfully defended against Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and Sonjay Dutt at the CMLL 75th Anniversary Show on September 19.
On December 22, Guerrero defeated Dos Caras Jr. to win his first CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. They lost the tag team titles back to El Hijo del Fantasma, Garza and La Máscara on January 18, 2009. Guerrero made his first successful title defense against Garza on February 16. At Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to Two Legends") on March 20, he defeated Villano V in a Lucha de Apuestas, forcing him to unmask and reveal his real name, Ray Mendoza Jr. On April 2, Guerrero retained the title against him at an independent show in Gómez Palacio, marking the first time the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship was defended on a non-CMLL show. On June 19, Guerrero defeated Texano Jr. to win the Universal Championship tournament. He retained the title against Garza on July 27 (via countout) and August 17. At the CMLL 76th Anniversary Show on September 18, Guerrero, Atlantis, Garza and Warrior lost to La Ola Amarilla (Jushin Thunder Liger, Naito, Okumura and Yujiro). Guerrero retained the title against Liger seven days later. After another successful defense against Garza on January 22, 2010, Guerrero was paired with tecnico Stuka Jr. for the following week's Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), defeating Brazo de Plata and Ray Mendoza Jr. in the first round, but lost to Garza and Toscano in the quarter-finals. At Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on March 19, he, Atlantis and Bucanero lost to Casas, Garza and Máximo. For that year's Torneo Gran Alternativa on April 23, Guerrero and Puma King defeated Pegasso and Toscano in the first round and Durango Kid and Texano Jr. in the quarter-finals, before losing to Delta and Volador Jr. in the semi-finals.
At the Promociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show on July 12, Guerrero partnered with Averno in a match where ten men from five pareja incredibles ("incredible pairs") teams put their mask on the line, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other for their masks; they faced Atlantis and Olímpico, Místico and El Oriental, Histeria and La Sombra and Volador Jr. and El Alebrije. They were the third team to escape the match. On September 3, Guerrero again retained his mask in a 14-man steel cage Lucha de Apuestas in the main event of the CMLL 77th Anniversary Show, being the eighth to leave the cage. On November 2, Guerrero and Dragón Rojo Jr. defeated Los Invasores (Garza and Mr. Águila) to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship, after which he officially joined Los Guerreros de la Atlantida. For the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles on February 11, 2011, Guerrero and Ángel de Oro defeated El Terrible and Toscano in the first round, but lost to Blue Panther and Dragón Rojo Jr. in the quarter-finals. On April 8, he became the first three-time Torneo Gran Alternativa winner alongside Escorpión. Meanwhile, he retained his title against Mr. Niebla, Goto, and Rush. After weeks of tension between Guerrero and Atlantis, CMLL held a press conference on August 11, where Atlantis turned tecnico and left Los Guerreros de la Atlantida. The next day, Guerrero lost the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship to Garza, ending his reign at 963 days.
Feud with Atlantis (2011–2014)
Guerrero lost to Atlantis in their grudge match on September 23. He teamed with Marco Corleone for the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles on February 24, 2012, defeating El Hijo del Fantasma and Misterioso II in the first round and Escorpión and Warrior in the quarter-finals, before losing to Dragon Lee and Rush in the semi-finals. At Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on March 2, he, Bucanero and Volador Jr. lost to Corleone, Diamante Azul and La Máscara. Later that month, Guerrero introduced Niebla Roja as his partner in the Torneo Gran Alternativa on March 30; they defeated La Máscara and Pegasso in the first round before losing to Lee and Rush in the quarter-finals. In July, he fired Escorpión from Los Guerreros del Infierno, replacing him with Roja and Euforia. On August 3, Guerrero and Dragón Rojo Jr. lost the CMLL World Tag Team Championship to Atlantis and Azul, ending their reign at 640 days. At the CMLL 79th Anniversary Show on September 14, he, Casas and Dragón Rojo Jr. defeated Atlantis, Místico and Prince Devitt.