Atlantis (born September 28, 1962) is a Mexican professional wrestler signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). One of the longest-tenured wrestlers in CMLL history, his ring name is derived from the fabled city. His real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico, where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.
Trained by Diablo Velasco, Atlantis made his in-ring debut in 1983 and has since held a large number of professional wrestling championships, including the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, CMLL World Tag Team Championship, CMLL World Trios Championship, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, Mexican National Middleweight Championship, Mexican National Tag Team Championship, Mexican National Trios Championship, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Middleweight Championship. He has also won the masks of several prominent wrestlers including Talismán, Kung Fu, Villano III, Último Guerrero and La Sombra. Outside of CMLL, Atlantis has wrestled in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Michinoku Pro Wrestling, where he won the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship, and in the United States for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Chikara, Ring of Honor (ROH) and Major League Wrestling (MLW).
Atlantis earned the nickname El idolo de los Niños (the "Children's Idol") as he was always a favorite with the younger fans. He even retained the nickname when he worked as a rudo (heel or "bad guy" character) for several years as part of Los Guerreros de la Atlantida. He starred in several lucha films in the 1990s, including one in which he co-starred with Octagón: Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the rematch").
Professional wrestling career Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1983–present) El idolo de los Niños (1983–2005) He made his professional wrestling debut on June 12, 1983, after training for under a year with world-renowned Mexican wrestling trainer Diablo Velasco. He adopted the masked tecnico (face) ring persona of "Atlantis", a supposed warrior from the lost city of Atlantis, donning a mask with an image of two fish, becoming a regular for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). On November 30, 1984, he defeated Jerry Estrada to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, the first title of his career, holding it for 457 days until losing to Talismán on March 2, 1986. By 1988, Atlantis had formed a regular tag team with Ángel Azteca, defeating Los Infernales (Masakre and MS-1) to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship on March 6. Three months later, he became a double champion, defeating Kung Fu for the NWA World Middleweight Championship, the highest championship in the middleweight division; he lost it to Emilio Charles Jr. 37 days later. He regained the title on July 20, losing it back to Charles two weeks later. On May 25, 1990, after 811 days, Atlantis and Azteca lost their championship to Bestia Salvaje and Pierroth Jr., leading to a storyline where Azteca attacked Atlantis, turning rudo (heel). The feud between the two continued off and on over the years until Azteca's death in 2007; they remained close friends backstage.
Atlantis was one of the key figures in the "rebranding" of EMLL to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in 1990. In 1991, Atlantis starred in the movie La Fuerza Bruta ("The Brute Power") and subsequently featured in another with Octagón, Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the revenge"), which premiered in 1992. On April 4, 1991, Atlantis, Octagón, and Máscara Sagrada, nicknamed "Los Movie Stars", defeated Los Thundercats (Leono, Panthro and Tigro) to win the Mexican National Trios Championship, but lost it to Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000 and Universo 2000) on August 11. Not long after, Octagón and Sagrada left CMLL to join the recently formed Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) before the "Atlantis y Octagón" movie premiered in theaters. Atlantis was also offered an AAA contract, but chose to stay with CMLL. On March 3, 1993, Atlantis lost the NWA World Middleweight Championship to Mano Negra, later unmasking Negra by defeating him in a Lucha de Apuestas ("bet match") in the main event of the CMLL 60th Anniversary Show on October 1. On March 2, 1994, Atlantis moved to the light heavyweight division, defeating Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, which he held for 655 days.
On November 3, 1995, Atlantis and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. won the CMLL World Tag Team Championship from The Headhunters. Despite losing the title in August 1996, Atlantis and Lizmark won it from La Ola Blanca (El Hijo del Gladiador and Gran Markus Jr.), which was vacated twelve days later after an inconclusive match with the Headhunters. In 1997, they and Mr. Niebla formed La Ola Azul ("The Blue Wave"), defeating Charles, El Satánico and Rey Bucanero for the CMLL World Trios Championship on April 29, holding it until an injury to Mr. Niebla forced them to give up the title in October 1998. On May 10, 1999, Atlantis defeated Wagner for his second CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, losing it to Villano III, whom he had a long-running feud with, on November 22. The feud culminated in a Lucha de Apuestas at Juicio Final ("Final Judgment") on March 17, 2000, where Atlantis unmasked Villano III in a match that was voted the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's 2000 Match of the Year. On June 16, 2002, Atlantis, Mr. Niebla and Black Warrior defeated Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera and Wagner to win the trios championship, holding it for 278 days. On June 25, 2004, Atlantis and Blue Panther defeated Los Guerreros del Infierno (Último Guerrero and Bucanero) to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. By this time, Atlantis was stagnating as a tecnico, prompting him to turn on Panther during a title match, ending their reign at 280 days and turning rudo for the first time in his career.
Los Guerreros de la Atlantida (2005–2011)
The rudo Atlantis subsequently joined Los Guerreros del Infierno, which was renamed Los Guerreros de la Atlantida ("The Warriors of the Atlantis") out of respect for their new co-leader. 2005 turned out to be Atlantis' strongest and most successful year, as he won the International Gran Prix , the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, and that year's Leyenda de Plata ("The Silver Legend") tournament. On September 29, 2009, Los Guerrero de la Atlantida won the vacant CMLL World Trios Championship by defeating Aguayo Jr., Héctor Garza and Shocker in a tournament final. On November 2, Atlantis won his fourth CMLL World Tag Team Championship, this time teaming with Último Guerrero to defeat Místico and Negro Casas.
On January 22, 2010, Atlantis and Máscara Dorada participated in the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), where a tecnico is paired with a rudo. They defeated Dragón Rojo Jr. and La Sombra in the first round, Mr. Niebla and Máximo in the quarter-finals and Místico and Averno in the semi-finals. On February 5, Atlantis (wrestling as a tecnico and donning his old white mask) and Dorada defeated Casas and La Máscara in the finals to win the tournament. On July 12, at the Promociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show, Atlantis participated in a match where ten men from five parejas increibles teams put their mask on the line, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other for their masks. Olímpico was his partner, facing off against the teams of Místico and El Oriental, La Sombra and Histeria, El Alebrije and Volador Jr., and Averno and Guerrero. They were ultimately the last team to escape the match. At the CMLL 77th Anniversary Show on September 3, Atlantis was one of fourteen men putting their mask on the line in a steel cage Lucha de Apuestas, keeping it safe as the ninth man to leave the cage.
On November 2, Atlantis was scheduled to challenge for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship alongside Guerrero, but could not partake in the match due to injury and was replaced by Dragón Rojo Jr., who won the title and was made an official member of Los Guerreros de la Atlantida. On February 25, 2011, Atlantis and Dorada defeated Blue Panther and Dragón Rojo Jr. to win the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles for the second year in a row. In June, Atlantis replaced an injured Shocker and won the Forjando un Ídolo ("Forging an Idol") tournament with Delta and Guerrero Maya Jr. On July 31, Atlantis and Bucanero made an unadvertised appearance for American promotion Chikara, losing to F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano) via disqualification, when Gargano faked taking a low blow from Atlantis. After weeks of tension between Atlantis and Guerrero, CMLL held a press conference on August 11, where Atlantis officially turned tecnico and left Los Guerreros de la Atlantida.
Los Reyes de la Atlantida (2011–2018) In their grudge match on September 23, Atlantis defeated Guerrero. On November 16, Atlantis announced that he was officially forming a stable named Los Reyes de la Atlantida ("The Kings of the Atlantis") with Delta and Guerrero Maya Jr. At Sin Piedad ("No Mercy") on December 16, they defeated Los Invasores (Olímpico, Psicosis and Volador Jr.) for the Mexican National Trios Championship. At Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on March 2, 2012, Atlantis won his third Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increíbles in a row with Mr. Niebla. On June 22, Los Reyes de la Atlantida lost the Mexican National Trios Championship to Los Depredadores del Aire (Black Warrior, Mr. Águila and Volador Jr.). On August 3, Atlantis and Diamante Azul defeated Dragón Rojo Jr. and Guerrero to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. On October 30, Los Reyes de la Atlantida regained their title. On November 13, Atlantis and Azul lost the title to El Terrible and Tama Tonga. On December 16, Los Reyes de la Atlantida lost their title to Los Invasores' Kraneo, Mr. Águila and Psicosis II.
In early 2013, Atlantis and Guerrero were forced to put their differences aside for the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles. They defeated Valiente and Pólvora, Azul and Euforia and Dragón Rojo Jr. and Niebla Roja en route to the finals, which they lost to La Sombra and Volador Jr. at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas on March 15. After the loss, Atlantis attacked Guerrero and tore his mask apart. He then challenged Guerrero to a Lucha de Apuestas, which was not immediately accepted. They officially signed a contract for the mask vs. mask match on March 21, albeit with no date announced. On April 12, Atlantis teamed with Hombre Bala Jr. for the Torneo Gran Alternativa ("Great Alternative Tournament"); they defeated Akuma and Mephisto in the first round, Averno and Taurus in the quarter-finals and Guerrero and Guerrero Negro Jr. in the semi-finals, but lost to Boby Zavala and Rey Escorpión in the finals on April 26. During the celebration of Atlantis' 30th anniversary as a wrestler on May 3, Guerrero appeared after a match to berate him, only for a second Último Guerrero to attack Atlantis from behind. The two identically dressed Guerreros proceeded to beat up Atlantis and tear his mask apart. Following the match, Último Guerrero introduced his brother "Gran Guerrero". At the CMLL 80th Anniversary Show on September 13, Atlantis and Guerrero teamed in a Relevos Suicidas match for the mask vs. mask match opportunity, but lost to La Sombra and Volador Jr., who advanced to the Lucha de Apuestas against each other.