Salvador Cuevas Ramírez Salvador Cuevas Ramírez ( July 8 , 1942 – May 3 , 2010 ) was a Mexican " Luchador " , or professional wrestler , known under the ring name El Supremo . Cuevas was originally an " enmascarado " ( masked wrestler ) but lost his mask in 1992 to Pierroth , Jr . . Biography . Salvador Cuevas was born and raised in Tijuana , Baja California , Mexico in 1942 . As a teenager he began working out in various gyms , developing his body for bodybuilding competitions . He would later travel to Guadalajara , Mexico and then to Mexico City during his body building career . At some point in the 1960s or 1970s he won both the " Mr . Western Mexico " and the " Mr . Mexico " bodybuilding competitions . Professional wrestling career . While in Guadalajara he began training for a professional wrestling career under legendary Mexican wrestling trainer Diablo Velazco . Later when he travelled to Mexico City he received additional training by Felipe Ham Lee . Cuevas made his debut in 1976 on his 34th birthday , using the ring name " Power Man " . He was later forced to change his name as the promoters in the area had a rule about not using English names at that point in time . He changed his name and began wrestling under the name " El Magnifico " ( Spanish for " The Magnificent One " ) wearing a gold mask and golden outfit . A week after he made his debut as " El Magnifico " a Chihuahua , Mexico - based wrestler complained to the boxing and wrestling commission that he owned the rights to the name and Cuevas was forced to change his wrestling name . Cuevas almost did not get permission to use his chosen name " El Supremo " ( " The Supreme One " ) for religious reasons , that it may be offensive to Catholics , but in the end he was allowed to use the name . Early on in his career El Supremo formed a successful tag team with Espectro , Jr . . In late 1979 El Supremo teamed up with El Vikingo to face off against El Santo and Robot R - 2 ( A wrestler inspired by R2 - D2 from the 1977 Star Wars movie ) under " Lucha de Apuesta " , mask vs . mask rules where the wrestler who was pinned had to unmask . In the end El Supremo pinned Robot R - 2 to claim his first " Apuesta " victory . On February 29 , 1980 he continued his in ring success as he unmasked a wrestler called Lawrence de Arabia following a " Lucha de Apuesta " match . On May 4 , 1980 El Supremo defeated Kato Kung Lee to win the NWA World Welterweight Championship , one of the most prestigious titles in Mexico at the time . El Supremo only held the title for a month before losing it to Lizmark on June 6 , 1980 . The following year El Supremo defeated Franco Columbo to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship on February 1 , 1981 . El Supremo held the Mexican Welterweight title for 422 days , making several high profile title defenses in some of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ' s ( EMLL ) major venues . On March 30 , 1982 El Talismán defeated El Supremo to win the Welterweight title . El Supremo was booked for the main event of EMLL ' s 52nd Anniversary show , where he was going to win a " Luchas de Apuesta " , mask vs . mask match against El Dorado but the match was cancelled as Mexico City was hit by a major earthquake the day before the show and it was cancelled . The scheduled match never took place and El Dorado later lost his mask to El Fantasma instead . In the early 1990s EMLL , now renamed Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) , introduced a wrestler called " El Supremo II " to team up with El Supremo , Supremo II was introduced so that the original Supremo could work a lighter schedule due to injuries and age . On December 8 , 1992 El Supremo was unmasked as he lost a " Luchas de Apuestas " match against Pierroth , Jr . and was forced to unmask and reveal his real name after the match per Lucha Libre tradition . At the time of his unmasking he announced that he was born in 1950 , not 1942 to make himself appear younger than he actually was . Supremo and Supremo II teamed together until 1995 where El Supremo retired from wrestling and Supremo II changed his ring character to " Linx " . After his retirement he moved back to Tijuana and worked for the local boxing and wrestling commission for a while . Cuevas ' s son currently wrestles as " El Supremo , Jr . " Death . Salvador Cuevas Ramírez died on May 3 , 2010 from a heart attack . Ramírez had been in fine health before his heart attack .