Atlantis

While Mano Negra won the championship, Atlantis gained the ultimate measure of revenge as he unmasked Mano Negro by defeating him in a Lucha de Apuesta (bet match) as the main event of CMLL's 60th Anniversary Show.

Atlantis (born September 28, 1962) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado (masked professional wrestler), working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) where he performs as a Técnico (face or "good guy" character) and is one of the longest-tenured luchador in CMLL history.

Atlantis was trained by Diablo Velasco, made his in-ring debut in 1983 and has always wrestled under the ring name Atlantis, named after the sunken city of Atlantis.

Atlantis has held a large number of professional wrestling championships over the years, both in Mexico and in Japan, both individually and as a tag team.

He has also won the mask of several prominent wrestlers through his career including Kung Fu, Villano III, Último Guerrero and La Sombra.

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 (a wrestler who portrays the bad guy) for several years.

Atlantis' 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.

Atlantis made his professional wrestling debut on June 12, 1983, after training under world-renowned Mexican wrestling trainer Diablo Velazco for just under a year.

He adopted the masked ring persona of "Atlantis", a supposed warrior from the lost city of Atlantis, complete with a mask that had the image of two fish on it.

After working for various Mexican promotions for the first year of his career Atlantis became a regular for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), Mexico's oldest professional wrestling promotion.

On November 30, 1984, Atlantis defeated Jerry Estrada to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, the first wrestling title of his career.

Atlantis held the Middleweight title for 457 days, with several high-profile title defenses that helped establish the young wrestler's reputation for good matches.

On March 2, 1986 Atlantis lost the Middleweight title to Talismán.

By 1988 Atlantis had formed a regular tag team with Ángel Azteca and on March 6, 1988, the duo defeated Los Infernales (Masakre and MS-1 to win the Mexican National Tag Team Championship. Three months later Atlantis became a double champion when he defeated Kung Fu to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship, the highest championship in the middleweight division. Atlantis only held the title for 37 days before losing it to Emilio Charles Jr.. in his first defense. He quickly regained the title, defeating Charles Jr. on July 20, 1988, and held it for two weeks before losing the title back to Emilio Charles Jr.. On May 25, 1990, after an 811-day reign, Atlantis and Ángel Azteca lost the Mexican Nation Tag Team Championship to Pierroth Jr.. and Bestia Salvaje. The loss of the title was used as a storyline motivation for Ángel Azteca turning Rudo (villain or heel) by attacking Atlantis.

In the 1990s Atlantis starred in a couple of Lucha films, including one where he teamed up with Octagón called Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the rematch").

The feud with Ángel Azteca, coupled with a third run with the NWA World Middleweight title made Atlantis one of the rising stars in EMLL, and he was one of the key figures in the "rebranding" of the company to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in 1990.

On May 10, 1990, Atlantis defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. to become only the second man to ever hold the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship two times.

In 1991 Atlantis starred in a movie called La Fuerza Bruta ("The Brute Power") and soon after began filming another movie where he teamed up with Octagón called Octagón y Atlantis, la revancha ("Octagón and Atlantis, the revenge") that opened in 1992.

On April 4, 1991, Atlantis, Octagón, and Máscara Sagrada, a team nicknamed "Los Movie Stars" defeated Los Thundercats (Leono, Panthro, and Tigro, a team of masked wrestlers patterned on the Thundercats cartoon) to win the Mexican National Trios Championship.

The trio held the title for 94 days before losing it to Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras, Máscara Año 2000 and Universo 2000) on August 11, 1991.

Not long after the title loss Octagón and Máscara Sagrada left CMLL for the recently formed Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion, jumping ship before the "Atlantis y Octagón" movie opened in the theaters.

Atlantis was also offered a contract by AAA but decided to stay with the company he ended up working for almost his entire career.

On March 3, 1993, Atlantis lost the NWA World Middleweight title to Mano Negra, as part of a long-running storyline between the two.

On March 2, 1994, Atlantis defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, officially moving from the Middleweight to the Light Heavyweight division, a title he would hold for 655 days.

In 1995 Atlantis brother made his wrestling debut as Atlantico and the two teamed up on a regular basis, including second annual Gran Alternativa tournament, losing to Dr. Wagner Jr. and Astro Rey Jr. in the second round.

On November 3, 1995, Atlantis teamed with Rayo de Jalisco Jr.. to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship from The Headhunters.

The team lost the tag team title in August 1996 but Atlantis and new partner Lizmark won the titles back from La Ola Blanca (Spanish for "the White Wave"; Gran Markus Jr.. and El Hijo del Gladiador).

Atlantis and Lizmark only held the title for 12 days before the titles were vacated following an inconclusive match with The Headhunters.

Atlantis and Lizmark continued to team and were joined by Mr. Niebla in 1997 to form La Ola Azur ("The Blue Wave"), a reference to the fact that all three wrestlers mainly wore blue.

La Ola Azul won the CMLL World Trios Championship from Rey Bucanero, Emilio Charles Jr.. and El Satánico.

La Ola Azur defended the title for over 500 days until October 1998 where an injury to Mr. Niebla forced the team to give up the title.

Over the next 196 days Atlantis' CMLL World Light Heavyweight title defenses headlined several shows in Mexico City before he lost the title to Villano III on November 22, 1999.

The title change was just one of the highlights of a long-running feud between Atlantis and Villano III, a feud that also included III's younger brothers Villano IV and Villano V.

On March 17, 2000, at CMLL's Juicio Final event, Atlantis won his biggest Apuesta victory to date as he defeated and then unmasked Villano III in a match that was voted the Wrestling Observer 2000 Match of the Year.

On June 16, 2002, Atlantis, Mr. Niebla, and Black Warrior defeated Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera and Dr. Wagner Jr. to win the CMLL World Trios title, a title the team held for 278 days.

In 2003 Atlantis travelled to Japan, working for Michinoku Pro where he won the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship from Dick Togo on August 26, 2003.

Atlantis' tour of Michinoku Pro was so well received that he was allowed to retain the title when travelling back to Mexico and has been invited on annual tours with the promotion every year since then.

The feud between the two continued off and on over the years until Ángel Azteca's death in 2007.

The two fought in several intense and bloody battles, but remained close friends backstage.