Enrique Torres
Encyclopedia
Enrique Torres was a Mexican
-American
professional wrestler, the oldest three Torres brothers in wrestling, and a major star in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Later Torres married Rachel in 1950. They had two sons; Allan Enrique, born April 1952, and Jim (James), born June 1956.
Enrique married Kata in 1963; Kata and he later moved to Canada ultimately to reside in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, they had forty-four wonderful years together.
In his later years Enrique was on kidney dialysis in additional to receiving a kidney transplant in 2006, then suffered a stroke
. On September 10, 2007 he died as a resident of the Carewest George Boyack Nursing Home in Calgary.
and after a long amateur
career entered professional wrestling in 1946 debuting at the Olympic Auditorium and was very successful in the nascent and booming televised
wrestling market in the California. He had no gimmicks, however his signature move was a deftly executed Flying Scissors. He used no self given stage name but a Mexican-market newspaper billed him as “La Pantera Negro de Sonora”, or "The Black Panther from Sonora, Mexico," due to his "smooth and lightning-fast moves." He would later be named "The Mexican Adonis." In his first year he won the California version of the world heavyweight championship before losing it Gorgeous George
, only to win it back the following year.
In 1952 Torres and then-rival Baron Leone were involved in a case that went all the way to the Santa Monica Superior Court due to two fans claiming they were injured when Leone threw Torres into the crowd. Leone claimed if he was capable of the feat he'd leave wrestling to play for the Southern Cal football team, and the two were exonerated. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/04/02/3897543.html One of Torres' greatest matches was in February 1953 while he was the reigning Pacific Coast Heavy Weight champion, and he wrestled world heavyweight champion Lou Thesz
to a one-hour draw. The gate was a then-record $5000 in Sacramento
. He also claimed he Central States championship in 1952 and 1963.
Due to his success Torres' brothers Alberto and Ramon wanted to join him in wrestling. Enrique worked with Alberto and Ramon; Rachel, Enrique’s second wife, worked to help train Ramon in the various wrestling holds and tactics. In time, with hard work and training in Oakland, CA they received Enrique's blessing and later went on the road. The three went on to be involved in a 'Vachon-Torres Brother War' in Georgia
against the Vachon wrestling family. In 1971 Alberto would be the first to die, as a result of a ruptured pancreas
. Ramon would later die August 2000 of heart failure.
In addition to his singles titles, Torres also held numerous tag team championships teamed with Bobo Brazil
, Leo Nomellini
, Ronnie Etchison, Johnny Barend
, Jess Ortega, and his brothers in the 1950s and 1960s, ranging from Texas
to the Central States territory.
Enrique and Alberto wrestled a headliner match in Havana, Cuba the night that the Batista regime fell to Castro’s rebel army in 1959 and returned to the US with the help of his Promoter, Benny Ginsberg and his connections in Cuba.
Enrique retired in 1968 after one last run as a headline star, living in California
and Nevada
. In 1969 Enrique was asked to make a cameo appearance by Jimmy Lennon, a much loved sports announcer at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles for a celebration of twenty-five years of televised wrestling. Enrique later moved with his third wife Kata Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In 2006, a Japanese reporter viisted Calgary, Canada to meet and interview Enrique one last time. Enrique was highly respected and revered as part of the Japan Wrestling Association where he wrestled the Japanese Sumobasho circuit in the 1960s.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional wrestler, the oldest three Torres brothers in wrestling, and a major star in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Personal Background
Torres was married to Maria in 1938. They had one daughter, Helen, born in December 1939. They also had a son, Enrique (Tony), born in November 1940.Later Torres married Rachel in 1950. They had two sons; Allan Enrique, born April 1952, and Jim (James), born June 1956.
Enrique married Kata in 1963; Kata and he later moved to Canada ultimately to reside in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, they had forty-four wonderful years together.
In his later years Enrique was on kidney dialysis in additional to receiving a kidney transplant in 2006, then suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. On September 10, 2007 he died as a resident of the Carewest George Boyack Nursing Home in Calgary.
Professional Wrestling Career
Torres was born in Santa Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana, California
Santa Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
and after a long amateur
Amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA : Greco-Roman and freestyle. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style...
career entered professional wrestling in 1946 debuting at the Olympic Auditorium and was very successful in the nascent and booming televised
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
wrestling market in the California. He had no gimmicks, however his signature move was a deftly executed Flying Scissors. He used no self given stage name but a Mexican-market newspaper billed him as “La Pantera Negro de Sonora”, or "The Black Panther from Sonora, Mexico," due to his "smooth and lightning-fast moves." He would later be named "The Mexican Adonis." In his first year he won the California version of the world heavyweight championship before losing it Gorgeous George
George Wagner
George Raymond Wagner was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Gorgeous George...
, only to win it back the following year.
In 1952 Torres and then-rival Baron Leone were involved in a case that went all the way to the Santa Monica Superior Court due to two fans claiming they were injured when Leone threw Torres into the crowd. Leone claimed if he was capable of the feat he'd leave wrestling to play for the Southern Cal football team, and the two were exonerated. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/04/02/3897543.html One of Torres' greatest matches was in February 1953 while he was the reigning Pacific Coast Heavy Weight champion, and he wrestled world heavyweight champion Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
to a one-hour draw. The gate was a then-record $5000 in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
. He also claimed he Central States championship in 1952 and 1963.
Due to his success Torres' brothers Alberto and Ramon wanted to join him in wrestling. Enrique worked with Alberto and Ramon; Rachel, Enrique’s second wife, worked to help train Ramon in the various wrestling holds and tactics. In time, with hard work and training in Oakland, CA they received Enrique's blessing and later went on the road. The three went on to be involved in a 'Vachon-Torres Brother War' in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
against the Vachon wrestling family. In 1971 Alberto would be the first to die, as a result of a ruptured pancreas
Pancreas
The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...
. Ramon would later die August 2000 of heart failure.
In addition to his singles titles, Torres also held numerous tag team championships teamed with Bobo Brazil
Bobo Brazil
Houston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bobo Brazil. He is credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling...
, Leo Nomellini
Leo Nomellini
Leo Joseph Nomellini was a Hall of Fame American football player with the San Francisco 49ers. He was born at Lucca in Italy. He was a two-time All-American at the University of Minnesota and the 49ers' first-ever NFL draft choice in 1950.Nomellini played every 49ers game for 14 seasons, 174...
, Ronnie Etchison, Johnny Barend
Johnny Barend
"Handsome" Johnny Barend , was an American professional wrestler.Barend started wrestling as an amateur at the age of eight. After graduating Jefferson High in Rochester in 1944, he served his country during World War II, and wrestled in the Navy. He was trained to wrestle professionally by Ed Don...
, Jess Ortega, and his brothers in the 1950s and 1960s, ranging from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to the Central States territory.
Enrique and Alberto wrestled a headliner match in Havana, Cuba the night that the Batista regime fell to Castro’s rebel army in 1959 and returned to the US with the help of his Promoter, Benny Ginsberg and his connections in Cuba.
Enrique retired in 1968 after one last run as a headline star, living in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. In 1969 Enrique was asked to make a cameo appearance by Jimmy Lennon, a much loved sports announcer at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles for a celebration of twenty-five years of televised wrestling. Enrique later moved with his third wife Kata Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
In 2006, a Japanese reporter viisted Calgary, Canada to meet and interview Enrique one last time. Enrique was highly respected and revered as part of the Japan Wrestling Association where he wrestled the Japanese Sumobasho circuit in the 1960s.
Championships and accomplishments
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship a professional wrestling championship that currently serves as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Midwest. For most of its existence, however, the title was defended in the NWA affiliate Central States Wrestling from...
(2 times) - NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Central States version)NWA Central States United States ChampionshipThe NWA Central States United States Championship was the version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in the Central States territory around Missouri. It existed from 1961 until 1968.-Title history:-External links:*...
(1 time)
- Georgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
- NWA Georgia Southern Tag Team Championship (10 times) - with Alberto Torres (6) and Ramon Torres (4)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version)NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version)The Georgia version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1954 until 1969.-Title history:-See also:*National Wrestling Alliance*NWA World Tag Team Championship*Georgia Championship Wrestling...
(5 times) - with Alberto Torres (2) and Ramon Torres (3)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)The NWA Southern Tag Team Championship was the Mid-Atlantic territory version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship and was defended between 1953 until 1968 when it became the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship...
(1 time) - with George Becker
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)The Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1962 as the top tag team title in NWA All-Star Wrestling. The title held that status until late summer 1985, when the title was renamed the UWA Tag Team Championship upon All-Star Wrestling's departure as a member of...
(1 time) - with Bearcat Wright
- NWA Mid-Pacific PromotionsNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version)NWA Hawaii United States ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship was the primary singles championship of Mid-Pacific Promotions, the NWA territory based in Hawaii. The title was originally the Hawaiian version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Hawaii. It existed from 1962...
(1 time) - NWA Hawaii Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Hawaii Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions and was defended between 1952 until 1978 when it was abandoned. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000...
(1 time) - with Alberto Torres
- NWA Los AngelesNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA American Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version) (1 time)
- NWA San FranciscoNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (4 times)
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (6 times) - with Gino Garibaldi (1), Leo Nomellini (1), Ramon Torres (1), Ron Etchinson (2), and Sandor Kovacs (1)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)The San Francisco, California version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1950 until 1961, and then from 1968 until 1979.-Title history:...
(8 times) - with Leo Nomellini (2), Johnny Barend (1), Bobo BrazilBobo BrazilHouston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bobo Brazil. He is credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling...
(2), Ronnie Etchison (1), Rip Miller, (1), and Reggie Parks (1)
- Southern California Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2010
- NWA Southwest Sports, Inc.World Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- NWA Texas Tag Team ChampionshipWCWA Texas Tag Team ChampionshipThe WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
(1 time) - with Alberto Torres
- Other Titles
- World Heavyweight Championship (Los Angeles version) (2 times)