Mano Negra (wrestler)

Professional wrestling career

Jesús Rosales trained under world-renowned Lucha libre trainer Diablo Velazco as well as his father, Luchador El Rebelde as well as Rafael Salamanca and Rolando Vera before making his professional wrestling debut in 1971. Upon his debut he adopted the ring name Mano Negra ("The Black Hand") and was inspired by the Spanish anarchist organisation La Mano Negra. Rosales adopted a black mask with blue trim, a black and blue outfit and a black glove for his "black hand". On December 14, 1973, just three years after his debut he won the NWA World Welterweight Championship by defeating Karloff Lagarde in the finals of an Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) held tournament for the vacant title. Mano Negra held the title for 562 days, regularly defending it on EMLL's main shows in Arena México, before losing the championship to Blue Demon on June 29, 1975. It would take over a year before Mano Negra was able to regain the championship, pinning Fishman for the championship on November 19, 1976. His second reign with the welterweight title lasted for 892 days in total, one of the longest reigns in the history of the title, ending on April 30, 1979 when he lost to Américo Rocca. In the early 1980s Mano Negra moved from the Welterweight division (with an upper limit of 78 kg (172 lb)) to the Light Heavyweight division (with an upper limit of 97 kg (214 lb)) when he defeated Babe Face to win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship on July 30, 1983. The reign lasted exactly 400 days before Valente Férnandez won the title from him on September 2, 1984. The following year Mano Negra won the Universal Wrestling Association's UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship, defeating Negro Navarro for the championship. The following year Mano Negra began a long-term storyline feud with El Cobarde II, a feud that saw Cobarde II win the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship from Mano Negra in late 1985, but saw Mano Negra gain the ultimate measure of revenge when he defeated El Cobarde II in a Lucha de Apuesta, mask vs. mask match on August 10, 1986 and forced Cobarde II to unmask after the match.

In the early 1990s Mano Negra's career saw a resurgence as he began a feud with the very popular Atlantis. The storyline started out with Mano Negra defeating Atlantis for the NWA World Middleweight Championship on March 3, 1993. Mano Negra was in turn defeated by Oro only two months later, but regained the middleweight title on July 3, 1993. In September 1993, at CMLL's 60th Anniversary Show, Atlantis and Mano Negra faced off in the main event of the evening with both wrestlers putting their mask on the line in a Lucha de Apuesta match. After three highly competitive falls Atlantis defeated Mano Negra. After the match Mano Negra was unmasked for the first time and had to reveal that his real name was Jesús Reza Rosales, which is tradition after a Lucha de Apuesta loss. On December 7, 1993 Mano Negra's last title run came to an end when he lost to Corazón de León. Mano Negra worked for CMLLuntil around 1996 when he began working on the Mexican independent circuit. In 2009 he made a series of appearances for International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG).

Personal life

Jesús Rosales is the son of Luchador El Rebelde and his son is in turn also a Luchador, using the ring name Mano Negra, Jr. and wearing a mask that is very similar to the mask his father used to wear. His daughter is married to Black Warrior.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments