Black Warrior

Jesús Toral López (January 7, 1969 – January 10, 2023) was a luchador or professional wrestler who worked almost exclusively in Mexico.

López achieved his most success under the ring name Black Warrior.

After months of scripted hostility between Warrior and Místico the two faced off in a Luchas de Apuestas (bet fight), mask versus mask match at CMLL's 73rd Anniversary show.

López made his professional wrestling debut In January 1984 in Gómez Palacio, Durango under the masked ring persona "Destroyer".

In 1985 López began working for Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL, later renamed Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, CMLL) where he worked as "Camorra", another masked persona.

He worked for EMLL from 1985 until 1988 without achieving much success.

In 1988 he left EMLL and joined the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), EMLL's main Mexican competitor, where he worked as La Máscara (Spanish for "the Mask") for three years, still with limited success.

His only previous ring persona of note was that of "Bronce" (Spanish for Bronze) where he was a part of the "Los Metalicos" team, a team that was popular in the early 1990s, teaming with Oro and Plata.

López was the nephew of Luchador Blue Panther, the son-in-law of Mano Negra and the brother-in-law of Mano Negra Jr.

In 1991 he returned to EMLL, now renamed CMLL, where he got his first big break; López was given the ring persona of Bronze (Bronce) and teamed up with the popular duo of Oro and Plata to form a trio called Los Metalicos (the Metals).

Teaming with Oro and Plata, López won his first wrestling championship when they won the Distrito Federal Trios Championship early in 1992.

The trio held the title for almost a year before being defeated by Los Guerreros del Futuro (Damain El Guerrero, Guerrero Del Futuro, and Guerrero Maya).

When then CMLL booker Antonio Peña left CMLL to form his own promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) López was one of the wrestlers who left CMLL with him.

Peña had hoped to sign all three Metalicos but in the end only López jumped so Peña was forced to "repackage" him with a new ring persona.

From 1992 to 1995 López worked for AAA under various gimmicks such as "Super Star", "Drágon de Oro" (Golden Dragon), "Bali" and "Vegas", but did not achieve the same success as he had as "Bronce".

He was best known for his work for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) between 1995 and 2013, as well for his work in some independent promotions, highlighting his time at the Arena Mamá Lucha-S.

Being a coach of this sport, he served as a teacher in the Arena Mamá Lucha-S promotion.

Over the years Black Warrior had played both the rúdo (the Spanish term used for the villains in wrestling) and técnico (the Spanish term used for the good guys in wrestling).

Before assuming the "Black Warrior" ring persona, López worked for almost a decade under various ring personas, generally with little success.

In 1995 he returned to CMLL, in a deal brokered by his uncle who wrestled for CMLL as Blue Panther.

López became "Black Panther" and teamed up with his uncle and other "Lagunero" area wrestlers laying the foundation for a group that would later become known as "Ola Lagunero" (the Lagunero Wave).

In May 1996 López changed ring personas once again as he became "Black Warrior", a bad guy (called a rudo in Spanish) who teamed with his uncle Blue Panther and other Lagunero workers such as Dr. Wagner Jr. With the new image came success, as on October 15, Black Warrior defeated El Dandy to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, his first singles championship.

In 1997 Warrior, Panther, and Dr. Wagner Jr. almost won the CMLL World Trios Championship, but lost in the finals of the tournament to crown new champions.

Warrior briefly parted with the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title when Shocker beat him in May 1997 but regained it in March 1998.

On December 18, 1998, the team of Warrior, Panther, and Wagner, Jr. finally won the CMLL World Trios Championship after several attempts when they defeated Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr.., and Zumbido to win the vacant title.

The team, billed as Ola Lagunero held the Trios title for over 1,140 days.

On March 6, 2000, Black Warrior lost the NWA World Light Heavyweight title to Tarzan Boy after a reign lasting 727 days.

In subsequent months Black Warrior began to hear cheers, especially because of his high risk "Tope of death" move, a (high-speed dive out of the ring).

In 2001 Black Warrior entered the Leyenda de Plata (the silver legend) tournament, still a rudo but hearing the cheers of the crowd more and more.

In the semi-final Warrior faced Black Tiger III and the two did a "double turn" where Black Warrior became a fan favourite (called a técnico in Mexico) while Black Tiger III became a rudo.

Warrior won the tournament when he defeated previous year's winner Negro Casas to claim the 2001 "Leyenda de Plata" trophy.

In February 2002, Ola Lagunero vacated the trios title when Panther and Wagner kicked Black Warrior out of the group.

On March 17, 2002, the new Ola Lagunero (Panther, Dr. Wagner Jr., and Fuerza Guerrera) defeated Warrior, Mr. Niebla, and Antifaz del Norte in a match for the vacant championship.

Three months later Warrior, Mr. Niebla, and Atlantis won the CMLL trios title from the new Ola Lagunera.

The trio lost the title March 2003 but Warrior regained it on July 9, 2004, with El Canek and Rayo de Jalisco, Jr., beginning a 133-day reign.

After losing the trios title Black Warrior had a hard time finding any direction, at one point he publicly pleaded with CMLL to turn him rudo via an interview for Box y Lucha magazine.

In early 2006 Warrior began working with Místico and the two quickly earned a shot at the CMLL World Tag Team Championship, held by Averno and Mephisto.

During the third fall of the match, Místico accidentally collided with Black Warrior causing their team to lose.

Weeks later, during a rematch, Black Warrior turned on Místico, attacking him during the match and then walking out.

The storyline with Místico was further intensified when Black Warrior defeated Místico for the NWA World Middleweight Championship on May 12, 2006.