Raymundo Cuesta Veloz Raymundo Cuesta Veloz ( January 20 , 1951 - January 3 , 2001 ) was a Mexican " Luchador " or professional wrestler best known under the ring name " Kung Fu " . As Kung Fu he made a name for himself as part of " Trio Fantásticos " along with Kato Kung Lee and Black Man , a very popular " tecnico " ( Face or " good guys " ) trio in the early 1980s . Professional wrestling career . Raymundo Cuesta made his professional wrestling debut in 1968 , using the ring name Ray Acosta , and generally working low card matches while gaining experience . On August 4 , 1974 Cuesta lost a " Luchas de Apuesta " , or bet match , to Villaño III and had his hair shaved off after the match per . Lucha libre traditions . In the early 1970s Cuesta adopted a new ring persona , an " enmascarado " ( masked wrestler ) character called " El Estudiante " ( Spanish for " the Student " ) . In 1975 Cuesta changed ring characters once again , although he would reprise his role as " El Estudiente " from time to time . Cuesta drew on his interest in martial arts and came up with the ring character " Kung Fu " , an " enmascarado " inspired by the martial art and it ' s practitioners . Cuesta had a black and orange mask created that would become his trademark for many years , he wore martial artist pants and jackets and started to incorporate various kicks and chops into his wrestling style . Kung Fu ' s debut match was a tag team match where he would team with El Santo against Ángel Blanco and Ray Mendoza , an indicator that the promoters were pushing the new character to the top of the card . His wrestling style of wrestling , martial arts and various comedic elements quickly earned Kung Fu a lot of fans . On September 26 , 1977 Kung Fu defeated Fishman to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship , holding the belt until November 23 , 1977 when Fishman regained the title . Kung Fu regained the title from Fishman on April 2 , 1978 and went on to hold it for six months before losing the title to Américo Rocca on December 10 , 1978 . Around the time of his title victory Kung Fu was teamed up with Kato Kung Lee , a Panamanian wrestler who used the same combination of wrestling and martial arts as Kung Fu did . Together the team won the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship at least two times . The team also won the masks of Los Jaliscos ( Jalisco I and Jalisco II ) in a " Luchas de Apuestas " , mask vs . mask match . In 1979 the team was joined by Satoru Sayama ( the future " Tiger Mask " ) , forming a trio known as " El Triangulo Oriental " ( " The Oriental Trio ) , despite only Sayama actually being from the orient . In mid 1981 Kung Fu and Kato Kung Lee left Empressa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ( EMLL ) and joined the rival promotion Universal Wrestling Association ( UWA ) . In the UWA Kung Fu and Kato began teaming with Black Man , forming a trio called " Los Tres Fantásticos " ( " The Fantastic Three " ) that would soon become the top " tecnico " ( Face or " good guy " ) trio of the UWA . " Los Tres Fantásticos " became the first ever UWA World Trios Championship on March 18 , 1984 when they defeated Solar , Super Astro and Ultraman in the finals of a tournament to crown the first champions , during a time period where the UWA shows in " El Toreo " were the biggest drawing shows in Mexico . Kung Fu , Kato and Black Man lost the UWA Trios title at some point in 1984 . In 1984 / 85 EMLL and the UWA ran a series of joint shows , sharing wrestlers between the two promotions , including " Los Tres Fantásticos " . When the cooperation ended Kung Fu decided to stay with EMLL , Black Man remained with the UWA and Kato Kung Lee began wrestling on the independent circuit , ending " Los Tres Fantásticos " . Several attempts to recreated the " Fantásticos " have been made since then , but none had the popularity of success of the original trio . On October 17 , 1986 Kung Fu won the NWA World Middleweight Championship from Gran Cochisse , winning one of the top championships in all of Mexico . Kung Fu held the title for approximately 10 months before losing the title to El Dandy on July 17 , 1987 . Kung Fu regained the title on October 6 , 1987 and held it until July 10 , 1988 where he lost it to Atlantis . By the time Kung Fu lost the NWA title Kato Kung Lee had returned to EMLL , he had also turned " rudo " ( Heel or " Bad guy " ) and lost his mask in a match against El Hijo del Santo . Kung Fu and Kato Kung Lee started a storyline feud , old partners who are now enemies . The feud between the two saw Kung Fu win two " Luchas de Apuestas " in 1988 , both times causing Kato Kung Lee to be shaved bald after the match . In 1990 Kung Fu worked a feud with Atlantis , a feud that let to Kung Fu being unmasked on October 26 , 1990 as he lost a " Luchas de Apuestas " match . After losing his mask Kung Fu seemed to have lost a step or two in the ring , losing part of appeal when he lost the mask , something which is not uncommon in Lucha libre . After his mask loss Kung Fu turned " rudo " , using his nunchuks to attack other wrestlers . After an initial push as a " rudo " Kung Fu started to sink in the ranks , being used more and more to help young wrestlers gain experience and make them look good . Kung Fu remained with EMLL ( by then renamed Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) ) until 1994 , where he began working on the independent circuit . Around the same time Cuesta introduced " Kung Fu , Jr . " to the wrestling world , unlike some family relationships in Lucha libre that are fictional Kung Fu , Jr . is actually the son of Raymundo Cuesta . After touring with Kung Fu , Jr . for a while Cuesta went into semi - retirement and began working for the Mexican Government instead . He made occasional appearances for years , never fully retiring from wrestling . Death . On January 3 , 2001 Raymundo Cuesta Veloz died from arterial hyper tension , no one had reported that Cuesta had felt ill up to the day he died and he is believed to have died in his sleep . Cuesta was not found until January 5 when his son went to his father ' s house to check on him .