El Solitario Roberto González Cruz ( May 22 , 1946 – April 6 , 1986 ) was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled under the name El Solitario . During his career he held both the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the NWA World Middleweight Championship . After achieving stardom in Mexico ' s oldest promotion , Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre , Cruz joined the breakaway promotion , the Universal Wrestling Association , where he held four more world championships in the early 1980s . Early life . Cruz came from a working - class family and was the youngest of seven children . At the age of twelve , his older brother Jesús , who was also a professional wrestler , began teaching him basic wrestling moves . In 1959 , Cruz ' s brother was killed in the ring while wrestling as Othon Banzica , but rather than becoming deterred , Cruz drew inspiration from his death and dedicated himself to lucha libre . He began training under the tutelage of Joe el Hermoso and made his wrestling debut in 1960 at the age of fourteen . Professional wrestling career . Cruz was initially billed as being the son of the legendary wrestler El Santo but later changed his name to El Zica II in honor of his deceased brother . Cruz moved to Tijuana to pursue his career as a luchador but had a difficult time finding regular work as he was young and still small at the time . He continued working local arenas until he began making a name for himself as he grew physically and refined his wrestling skills . Cruz realized that in order to take his career to the next level , he would have to select a more crowd pleasing name and character . He chose the name " El Solitario " , derived from the popular comic book character " El Llanero Solitario " ( " The Lone Ranger " ' ) . He also adopted his now trademark gold and black colored costume and golden mask with a fringe around the eyes representing the Lone Ranger ' s mask . After the change , promoters and fans took notice of the new dynamic wrestler . On November 16 , 1965 , El Solitario faced Panchito Ramirez in Arena Coliseo located in Guadalajara . He would make his debut in Arena Coliseo Mexico City on September 6 , 1966 , when he defeated Tony Reyna . In 1966 , El Solitario defeated and unmasked Águila Tapatía , that was followed by a win over Mano Blanca . He won his first world title when he defeated Occident Welterweight champion Luís González . El Solitario was now working for EMLL , Mexico ' s largest promotion company . He was catapulted into stardom within the lucha libre world when he defeated veteran Rey Mendoza in a mask vs hair match on December 13 , 1968 . A few weeks later , he defeated another legend , Rene Guajardo , and also took his hair in another wager match . El Solitario formed a wrestling trio alongside Dr . Wagner and Angel Blanco ; the group was known as " La Ola Blanca " ( " The White Wave " ) . He was wrestling as a rudo at this time but when his partners Dr . Wagner and Angel Blanco turned on him , he became one of the most popular tecnicos of his era . It also started a legendary rivalry between himself , Wagner and Blanco . He continued wrestling as an individual during this time , and in 1969 , won the NWA Middleweight world title by defeating El Rayo de Jalisco . In 1970 , El Solitario won the NWA Light Heavyweight title by defeating Ray Mendoza . In 1972 , he unmasked his rival , Angel Blanco , in the ring . El Solitario was one of the first stars to leave EMLL to join the Universal Wrestling Association ( UWA ) promotion , which was run by Francisco Flores and Ray Mendoza . He won the UWA ' s first Junior Heavyweight title in 1982 . He also toured Japan in 1972 , 1979 , and 1981 , where he would face and team up with premiere stars such as Tiger Mask and Tatsumi Fujinami , along with other Mexican wrestlers such as Chavo Guerrero and El Canek . He was unable to fully exhibit his wrestling skills during his tours , as the junior ' s division formula in Japan consisted of popular Japanese wrestlers facing off against foreign heels . However , he gained a following outside of Mexico as a result of those tours . While in Mexico , he remained one of the most popular headlining stars throughout the country . In the early 1980s , he formed a short lived trios team with Anibal and Villano III , the group was known as " Los Tres Caballeros " . He won the NWA Junior Light Heavyweight title in 1980 and 1981 . In 1982 , he won the NWA Light Heavyweight title . That same year , he participated in El Santo ' s final career match when he teamed up with legends El Santo , Gory Guerrero , and Huracan Ramirez to defeat El Signo , Negro Navarro , El Texano , and Perro Aguayo . Perhaps his biggest match took place on December 1 , 1985 , when he defeated and unmasked Dr . Wagner in a mask vs mask match . Death . El Solitario had suffered injuries during the latter part of his career , resulting in several infections and illnesses . During a match with Fishman , he re - injured himself and was taken to the hospital while complaining of abdominal pain . His doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition , and it was later discovered that he was suffering from internal bleeding that required immediate surgery . On April 6 , 1986 , at the age of 39 , El Solitario died while on the operating table as a result of a cardiac arrest . Although El Solitario ' s life was fairly short , his professional career spanned over twenty - five years and he is regarded as one of the greatest Mexican professional wrestlers of all time . He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996 . His son , El Hijo del Solitario , made his wrestling debut in 1990 .