El Sagrado

Biography

Gonzalo Aparicio was born April 25, 1975 and like many children in Mexico grew up idolizing Lucha libre (professional wrestling), especially El Santo. At the age of 12 he told his parents he wanted to become a professional wrestler, something his parents opposed. The young Aparicio found a way to train to become a professional wrestler without his parents knowing it, his brothers covered for him by telling his parents that he was at football practice instead. One of his younger brothers became a professional wrestler as well, using the ring name "Metatron".

Besides wrestling Aparicio also studied religion, urged by his mother to seek the priesthood when he was old enough. According to Aparicio he met Fray Tormenta, the famous Mexican wrestling priest who told Aparicio to follow his own desires, which in turn let Aparicio to become a wrestler. Whether this is actually true or part of the storyline build up around the "El Sagrado" character is not known, but Aparicio has state that he met Fray Tormenta in several interviews.

Professional wrestling career

Aparicio made his debut in 1992, at the age of 17, working under a mask and using the ring name "Slayer". On his debut Aparicio shared a ring with one of the big names of the early 1990s, Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. and faced off against Carmelo Reyes. Aparicio wrestled mainly in the Guadalajara, Jalisco area where his family had moved a couple of years before. He also wrestled as Slayer in the Mexican Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion. Later on he would change his name to "La Muerte" (Spanish for "the Death").

In the early 2000s Aparicio took the name "Genetico", initially he was an enmascarado but he lost a Luchas de Apuesta (bet match) to Mr. Power on July 28, 2002 and was forced to unmask per Lucha libre traditions. In early 2003 the now unmasked "Genetico" began working full-time for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as part of "Guapos U" (Handsome University), a group of young wrestlers all vying for a spot in a group called Los Guapos (The Handsome Ones). Genetico was in the final four of the contest but did not win the tournament.

El Sagrado

Aparicio's showing in the Guapos U contest earned him a new character and a promotional push by CMLL. They gave him the name "El Sagrado", a new outfit including a mask with a silver cross on it and a storyline that claimed that he was the protoge of Fray Tormenta. After a strong debut Aparicio soon found him lower in the cards, mainly because he did not meet the high expectations wrestling wise. Aparicio himself claims that he was extremely nervous early on in his "El Sagrado" run and thus often failed to perform high risk moves correctly. In 2004 CMLL decided to quietly ignore El Sagrado's links to Fray Tormenta and introduce a new "Protoge of Fray Tormenta", Místico. Místico went on to become one of the biggest stars not just in Lucha libre but in wrestling. After finally get over his nerves and with further training El Sagrado began rising up the ranks again by 2005.

On October 7, 2005 Sagrado teamed up with Máximo and El Texano, Jr. to win the Mexican National Trios Championship from Pandilla Guerrera ("Gang of Warriors"; Doctor X, Nitro and Sangre Azteca). The trio defended the title five times including several defenses against various Pandilla Guerrera combinations of Doctor X, Nitro, Sangre Azteca, Arkangel de la Muerte and Misterioso, Jr.. On April 24, 2007 the team lost the Mexican National Trios Championship to Los Perros del Mal (Damián 666, Halloween and Mr. Águila) when Texano, Jr. turned on his team mates and joined Los Perros del Mal. On June 10, 2007 Sagrado teamed with Rayman to defeat Los Junior Capos (Hijo de Cien Caras and Cien Caras, Jr.) to win the Occidente (Western) Tag Team Championship. On August 18, 2007 Sagrado became a double champion as he teamed up with Volador, Jr. and La Sombra to defeat Los Perros del Mal for the Mexican National Trios Championship. Sagrado's time as double champion lasted over a year, until Texano, Jr. and El Terrible defeated Sagrado and Rayman to win the Occidente Tag Team Championship. The trio of Sagrado, Volador, Jr. and La Sombra held the Mexican Trios title for 540 days, defending the title six times in that timeframe. On February 3, 2009 the newly formed Poder Mexica (Sangre Azteca, Black Warrior and Dragón Rojo, Jr.) won the titles from Sagrado's team. On July 11, 2012, El Sagrado defeated Okumura to win the Occidente Light Heavyweight Championship. On December 28, 2012 Sagrada lost the championship to Rafaga.

La Comando Caribeño

In 2015 Sagrado turned rudo and adopted a darker persona and ring gear, replacing the bright cross imagery with darker burning cross symbols on his mask and tights. In later 2014 he began to team regularly with the newest version of Comandante Pierroth and Misterioso, Jr. to form a group called La Comando Caribeño ("The Caribbean Commando"), adopting a storyline allegiance to Puerto Rico. In early 2015 La Comando began an storyline rivalry with the team of Delta and Guerrero Maya, Jr. over the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship. On February 28, 2015 Misterioso, Jr. and Sagrado defeated Delta and Guerrero Maya, Jr. to win the championship. In May, 2015 Sagrado competed in a qualifying match for the 2015 version of En Busca de un Ídolo, being one of 16 wrestlers competing in the qualifying torneo cibernetico, elimination match where the last eight wrestlers would qualify for the tournament. He competed against Akuma, Blue Panther Jr., Cancerbero, Canelo Casas, Delta, Disturbio, Esfinge, Flyer, El Gallo, Guerrero Maya Jr., Joker, Pegasso, Raziel, Stigma and Boby Zavala. He was the fifth man eliminated from the match, pinned by Boby Zavala.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments