CMLL veteran and “El Rey del Guaguancó”, Mr. Niebla, passed away this Monday. The Mexican veteran was fighting a bacterial infection back in October. Wrestlers and friends of the family organized events to collect money for his medical treatment. But, this past Monday, CMLL and friends of the veteran broke the news through social media. CMLL has this to say about Mr. Niebla’s passing:
The CMLL joins the grief that the luchistic family seizes for the sensitive death of the fighter Mr. Niebla, who had an outstanding track record in the history of this sport, placing himself as one of the greatest figures of the last decades.
Mr. Niebla’s passing comes as a shock for the wrestling community. Previously, Mr. Niebla was fighting against his alcohol addiction. At one point in 2018, he was banned from CMLL after an incident where he got into the ring drunk. Here’s what I wrote about that situation in the past:
Last Tuesday, in the Main Event of Arena Mexico’s Nuevos Valores show, Mr. Niebla was visibly drunk in the ring. The match featured La Peste Negra which was Rey Bucanero, Negro Casas and Mr. Niebla against Atlantis, Mistico and Volador Jr. Fans started to wonder about Nieblas’ condition when he went to the top rope to raise his arm in his entrance and fell off the ring.
This made Volador Jr. switch gear and think about the health and security of his fellow wrestlers. Volador unmasked Niebla in the second fall – barely minutes into the match – so that the match could end in two straight falls. Fans started to boo the show and Volador got a lot of heat from the crowd. In an interview, Volador replied by stating that Niebla was in no condition to wrestle that night and that he had to protect the integrity of the sport and the health of his fellow wrestlers.
As I later wrote, Niebla and La Pesta Negra (a stable that included Negro Casas) were broke, and he was out of CMLL’s 85th Anniversary. Moreover, fans will recall the incident in New Japan in which Niebla was in no condition to compete. CMLL would later bring him back but was many Mexican newspapers have written today, the biggest enemy of Mr. Niebla was the alcohol.
Mr. Niebla started with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in the 1990s. He was part of a Trio that involved Lizmark and Atlantis. He won the World Trios Championship alongside them, becoming La Ola Azul (The Blue Wave). He later won the World Tag Team titles with Shocker and again the World Trios titles with another group. He was never seen as the top guy but as a key part of CMLL. He did win the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship against Universo 2000 in 2003.
Niebla for a year would move to AAA for a short run and then return to CMLL where he stayed until his death. Younger guys like Barbaro Cavernario and Rush were involved in high profile matches against Niebla and his group with Heavy Metal and Negro Casas (a comedy group), La Peste Negra (The Black Plague). In his last days, he won Torneo Gran Alternativa alongside Barbaro Cavernario and the National Trios Championship.
