El Faraón

José Luis Barajas Fernández is a retired Mexican professional wrestler, or Luchador as they are called in Spanish. Barajas is best known under the ring name, El Faraón (Spanish for "the Pharaoh"), a ring name and persona he used throughout his career from his debut in 1973 until retiring around the turn of the millennium. El Fareón was originally an enmascarado but lost a Luchas de Apuestas, or "bet match" to Fishman on April 23, 1973 and was forced to unmask. Barajas' career peak came in the 1980s where he won the NWA World Middleweight Championship, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, in addition to a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches.

El Faraón
Birth nameJosé Luis Barajas Fernández
Born (1947-10-05) October 5, 1947
Mexico City, Mexico
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)El Faraón
Billed height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Billed weight89 kg (196 lb)
Trained byDiablo Velazco
Antonio Cruz
DebutJune 19, 1973

Professional wrestling career

José Luis Barajas Fernández made his professional wrestling debut in 1973, adopting the ring name El Faraón, an Egyptian inspired ring character complete with a mask, cape and wrestling trunks that reflected the imagery of Egyptian Pharaohs.[1][2] Barajas only worked as an enmascarado (masked wrestler) for just under three years as he was unmasked after losing a Luchas de Apuestas ("Bet match") against Fishman on April 23, 1976.[2] The unmasking did not hurt El Faraón's career, on the contrary he achieved more success after he was unmasked due to his good looks and charisma, he also earned the nickname "El Rudo de los Ojos Esmeralda", Spanish for "The Bad Guy with the Emerald Eyes".[1] On October 22, 1976 El Faraón defeated Perro Aguayo to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship.[3] Faraón's first title defense lasted for 140 days before Perro Aguayo regained the title on March 11, 1977.[3] In November, 1977 Faraón regained the NWA Middleweight title, defeating Joe Plardy. Faraón's second title reign lasted only 84 days before he lost the belt to Ringo Mendoza on February 17, 1978.[3] By June 1978 El Faraón had moved up from the middleweight division (a division with a weightlimit of 87 kg (192 lb)) to the light heavyweight division (which has a 97 kg (214 lb) maximum limit) as he defeated Alfonso Dantés for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.[4][5] El Faraón held the title for 198 days before losing it to Pak Choo.[5] On December 5, 1980 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, holding it for over 100 days before vacating it in April, 1981. The reason why El Faraón vacated the title is not known, the most likely reason is that he was injured.[6] On November 29, 1981 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to become a three time NWA World Middleweight Champion, a title he would hold for 124 days before being defeated by César Curiel on April 2, 1982.[3] On November 16, 1982 El Faraón defeated Máscara Año 2000 for his second NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, a title that would be his last major wrestling title. Faraón held the title for 60 days before losing the belt to Ringo Mendoza on January 15, 1983.[5] After 1983 El Faraón's career did not focus on winning championships, instead it centered around a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches. The brutal brawls between the two wrestlers drew high attendance figures all over Mexico and continued on and off for several years.[2] By the mid-1990s Barajas retired from wrestling, both due to his age and the toll wrestling had taken on his body. In 2007 Barajas as El Faraón made an appearance for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) to present the mask to a wrestler billed as El Hijo del Faraón (the Son of the Pharaoh); the relationship was a storyline relationship as the two are not related. El Hijo del Faraón would later change his name to Horus and reveal that he was the godson of Barajas', not his son and was given the name with the blessing of Barajas himself.[7]

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record
See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Fishman (mask)El Faraón (mask)Mexico City20. Aniversario de Arena MéxicoApril 23, 1976[2][9]
El Faraón (hair)Alfonso Dantés (hair)Mexico CityLive event1970s 
El Ídolo (hair)El Faraón (hair)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive event1970s 
Lizmark (mask)El Faraón (hair)Acapulco, GuerreroLive event1970s 
El Faraón (hair)Perro Aguayo (hair)Mexico CityEMLL 43rd Anniversary ShowSeptember 24, 1976[10][11]
El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza (hair)Perro Aguayo and Joe Plardi (hair)Mexico CityLive eventDecember 9, 1977[10]
El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza (hair)Sangre Chicana and Alfonso Dantés (hair)Mexico City22. Aniversario de Arena MéxicoApril 22, 1978[2][9]
El Faraón and Águila India (hair)Sangre Chicana and Tony Salazar (hair)Mexico CityLive event1970s[2]
Alfonso Dantés (hair)El Faraón (hair)Mexico CityEMLL Live eventApril 20, 1979[12]
El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza (hair)El Nazi and Adorable Rubí (hair)Mexico City24. Aniversario de Arena MéxicoApril 7, 1980[9]
El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza (hair)Tony Benetto and Herodes (hair)Mexico CityLive eventJune 27, 1980 
El Solitario (mask)El Faraón (hair)Guadalajara, JaliscoLive eventApril 6, 1981[2]
Ringo Mendoza (hair)El Faraón (hair)Mexico CityLive eventDecember 4, 1981 
El Faraón (hair)La Fiera (hair)Mexico CityLive eventFebruary 23, 1986 
Sangre Chicana and Mocho Cota (hair)El Faraón and Talismán (hair)Mexico CityLive eventMarch 7, 1986[2]
Perro Aguayo (hair)El Faraón (hair)Monterrey, Nuevo LeónLive eventOctober 26, 1986[2]
El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza (hair)MS-1 and Masakre (hair)Mexico CityLive eventSeptember 7, 1990 
El Faraón (hair)Pirata Morgan (hair)Mexico CityLive eventNovember 16, 1990 
El Faraón (hair)MS-1 (hair)Mexico CityLive eventJuly 3, 1992 

References
  1. Madigan, Dan (2007). "what's in a name". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 209–211. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  2. "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". El Faraón (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. August 2007. p. 23. Tomo II.
  3. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Middlweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. pp. 389–390. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  4. Arturo Montiel Rojas (August 30, 2001). "Reglamento de Box y Lucha Libre Professional del Estado de Mexico" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 30, 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  5. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Mexico: EMLL NWA World Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 389. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Middleweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 392. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  7. Ana Gutiérrez (October 2, 2009). "Horus, un dios con Angel" (in Spanish). Fuego en el Ring. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  8. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. Lucha 2000 Staff (April 2006). "Arena México: 50 anos de Lucha Libre". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). Especial 28.
  10. "Luchas 2000". Perro Aguayo y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 12–15. Especial 30.
  11. Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 7, 2010). "CMLL: 79 historias, 79 Aniversario, las 79 luchas estelares". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  12. Centinela, Teddy (April 20, 2015). "En un día como hoy… 1979: Alfonso Dantés vs. El Faraón por las cabelleras — Ringo Mendoza expone el título ante Sangre Chicana". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved July 1, 2015.
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