Héctor Juan López Vieyra (born November 25, 1984) is a Mexican luchador (or professional wrestler) who is best known for his time with International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) under the ring nameCanis Lupus. He has previously worked under the ring name Comando Negro from 2009 to 2012. Near the end of 2012, López took over the Canis Lupus character when the first wrestler to use the name was replaced by IWRG. "Canis Lupus" is Latin for wolf, something that was reflected in the mask, that he wore prior to September 2016, which is adorned with stylized wolf features such as ears.
The wrestler who would later be known as "Canis Lupus" was initially trained by Arkangel de la Muerte as part of the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling school located in Mexico City.[1] Due to the secrecy that surrounds enmascarados ("Masked wrestlers"),[2] it has not been revealed what ring name he used while training with Arkangel de la Muerte, just that he trained with him but never graduated to working for CMLL itself.[1]
Comando Negro (2008–2012)
He stopped training under Arkangel de la Muerte at some point in either 2007 or 2008 and began training in the International Wrestling Revolution Group's (IWRG) training school in 2008, training under Avisman, Black Terry, Freelance and Mike Segura.[1] He made his official in-ring debut for IWRG on April 12, 2008, working as the masked character "Comando Negro" ("Black Commando"),[1] the latest wrestler to use the Los Comandos characters that IWRG originally introduced in 2003, he was even teamed up with one of the original Comandos, Comando Gama.[3] In early 2010 Comando Negro was teamed up with Oficial 911 for a one-night tournament called Torneo Relampago de Proyeccion a Nuevas Promesas de la Lucha Libre (Spanish for "Projecting a new promise lightning tournament"), a tournament where an IWRG rookie teamed up with an IWRG veteran wrestler for one night. The duo defeated Guerrero 2000 and Tetsuya Bushi in the first round, then the team of Chico Che and Dinamic Black in the second round, but lost to El Hijo del Signo and Dr. Cerebro in the finals.[1][4]
In the fall of 2010, Comando Negro became involved in his first long-running storyline, a feud with his trainer Freelance. The storyline was that Freelance felt disrespected by Comando Negro while Comando Negro felt that Freelance was trying to hold him back. The feud ended with a Lucha de Apuestas, or "Bet match", where Comando Negro defended his mask, defeating Freelance and thus forcing his trainer to be shaved bald as a result of the loss.[5] Two days later, Comando Negro won IWRG's Torneo FILL, a tournament where IWRG trainees face off against other wrestling schools from around Mexico.[6] On November 11, 2010, Comando Negro was one of twelve wrestlers who competed in IWRG's annual El Castillo del Terror ("The Castle of Terror") steel cage match where one wrestler would be unmasked by the end of the match. In the end Comando Negro was the last man to escape the cage, forcing Arlequín Negro to unmask.[7][8][9] After his success in El Castillo del Terror, he went on to defeat Chico Che the following month, leaving Chico Che bald as a result of his loss.[10] He extended his late 2010 run of successful Apuestas match wins as he defeated El Pollo to unmask him on December 26.[11][6]
IWRG decided to give Comando Negro a new ring character, instead of tying him to the old "Los Comandos" characters. The mask and name had originally been given to someone else, but that person left IWRG in late 2012, which meant that the former Comando Negro became known as "Canis Lupus" (Latin for wolf) and a mask that looked like a wolf's face and ring wear that matches the name. After working in the middle of the card for months, Canis Lupus outlasted Astro Rey Jr., Avisman, Carta Brava Jr., Douki, El Ángel, Fulgor I, and Oficial Rayan to win the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship.[19] The following month he defended the championship on a non-IWRG show, defeating Guerrero Maya Jr. to retain the championship. By the end of the year, Canis Lupus became involved in a storyline feud with Golden Magic, which saw Golden Magic win the welterweight championship on December 5.[19]
As part of the feud, Canis Lupus joined the rudo team known as "Los Insoportables" ("The Unbearable"; Eterno and Apolo Estrada Jr. as his back up in the feud. On December 25, 2014, Canis Lupus and Eterno teamed up to defeat Chicano and Imposible to win the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[20] Their reign lasted 31 days as Chicano and Danny Casas won the titles on January 25.[21] The feud with Golden Magic resulted in a Lucha de Apuestas match between the two where Canis Lupus put his mask on the line and Golden Magic risked the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship. Canis Lupus won the match and the championship to start his second reign with the title on November 16, 2014.[19] On April 18, 2016, Canis Lupus announced that he was vacating the Welterweight championship as he wanted to challenge for the IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship instead.[22]
The move to the heavyweight division kicked off a three-way storyline feud between Canis Lupus, Trauma I and Máscara Año 2000 Jr. that would play out over the summer and fall of 2016. At IWRG's August Máscara vs. Cabellera show, Canis Lupus defeated Máscara Año 2000 Jr., to win his hair, in a match where Trauma I tried to help Máscara Año 2000 Jr. After the match Trauma I made a challenge for Canis Lupus to put his mask on the line, a challenge that was quickly accepted.[23] The match was the main event of IWRG's September IWRG Máscara vs. Máscara show and saw Trauma I win the third and deciding fall by submission. Afterwards Canis Lupus unmasked and revealed his real name, Héctor Juan López Vieyra, per lucha libre traditions.[24][25] In the months after his mask loss Canis Lupus won the Copa Huracán Ramiez by outlasting 15 other wrestlers. Karla, the original Huracán Ramírez's daughter, her husband and their son Daniel, presented Canis Lupus with the trophy after the victory.[26] His last known match under the name Canis Lupus took place on November 20, 2016, after which he either retired from wrestling or adopted another masked character.[27]
Personal life
Héctor Juan López Vieyra was born on November 25, 1984, in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico.[1] After his mask loss, while still in the ring and covered in blood, López proposed to his then girlfriend, who said yes.[24][25]
^ abcdefghijklmnopOcampo, Jorge (January 22, 2010). "Sangre Nueva de IWRG". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). pp. 21–22. 350.
^Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 29–40. ISBN978-0-06-085583-3.
^"Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Comando Mega (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. August 2007. p. 56. Tomo I.
^ abcOcampo, Ernesto, ed. (January 12, 2011). "Número Especial - Lo mejor de la Lucha Lilbre Mexicana durante el 2010". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Impresos Camsam, SA de CV. ISSN1665-8876. 399.
^ abMejia Eguiluz, Diego (November 5, 2010). "Castillo del Terror 2010". The Gladiatores (in Spanish). Retrieved April 23, 2013.
^"Galeria: Castillo del Terror Naucalpan". Mi Lucha Libre (in Spanish). November 5, 2010. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
^ ab"IWRG". Cagematch.net. December 9, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
