El Faraón

José Luis Barajas Fernández is a retired Mexican professional wrestler, or Luchador as they are called in Spanish. Barajas is best known under the ring name, El Faraón (Spanish for "the Pharaoh"), a ring name and persona he used throughout his career from his debut in 1973 until retiring around the turn of the millennium. El Fareón was originally an enmascarado but lost a Luchas de Apuestas, or "bet match" to Fishman on April 23, 1973 and was forced to unmask. Barajas' career peak came in the 1980s where he won the NWA World Middleweight Championship, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, in addition to a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches.
==Professional wrestling career==
José Luis Barajas Fernández made his professional wrestling debut in 1973, adopting the ring name El Faraón, an Egyptian inspired ring character complete with a mask, cape and wrestling trunks that reflected the imagery of Egyptian Pharaohs. Barajas only worked as an enmascarado (masked wrestler) for just under three years as he was unmasked after losing a Luchas de Apuestas ("Bet match") against Fishman on April 23, 1976. The unmasking did not hurt El Faraón's career, on the contrary he achieved more success after he was unmasked due to his good looks and charisma, he also earned the nickname "El Rudo de los Ojos Esmeralda", Spanish for "The Bad Guy with the Emerald Eyes". On October 22, 1976 El Faraón defeated Perro Aguayo to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship. Faraón's first title defense lasted for 140 days before Perro Aguayo regained the title on March 11, 1977. In November, 1977 Faraón regained the NWA Middleweight title, defeating Joe Plardy. Faraón's second title reign lasted only 84 days before he lost the belt to Ringo Mendoza on February 17, 1978. By June 1978 El Faraón had moved up from the middleweight division (a division with a weightlimit of 190 lbs (87 kg)) to the light heavyweight division (which has a 210 lbs (97 kg) maximum limit) as he defeated Alfonso Dantés for the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. El Faraón held the title for 198 days before losing it to Pak Choo. On December 5, 1980 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, holding it for over 100 days before vacating it in April, 1981. The reason why El Faraón vacated the title is not known, the most likely reason is that he was injured. On November 29, 1981 El Faraón defeated Ringo Mendoza to become a three time NWA World Middleweight Champion, a title he would hold for 124 days before being defeated by César Curiel on April 2, 1982. On November 16, 1982 El Faraón defeated Máscara Año 2000 for his second NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, a title that would be his last major wrestling title. Faraón held the title for 60 days before losing the belt to Ringo Mendoza on January 15, 1983. After 1983 El Faraón's career did not focus on winning championships, instead it centered around a long-running, intense storyline feud against Sangre Chicana that saw the two face off in a series of very bloody matches. The brutal brawls between the two wrestlers drew high attendance figures all over Mexico and continued on and off for several years. By the mid-1990s Barajas retired from wrestling, both due to his age and the toll wrestling had taken on his body. In 2007 Barajas as El Faraón made an appearance for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) to present the mask to a wrestler billed as El Hijo del Faraón (the Son of the Pharaoh); the relationship was a storyline relationship as the two are not related. El Hijo del Faraón would later change his name to Horus and reveal that he was the godson of Barajas', not his son and was given the name with the blessing of Barajas himself.
==In wrestling==
*Signature moves
:*Topé Suicida
:*Knife–edged chop
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre
:*Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time)
:*NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
:*NWA World Middleweight Championship (3 times)
*Misc. Mexican promotions
:*Central America Continental Championship (1 time)
:*Occident Middleweight Championship (1 time)
===Lucha de Apuesta record===
Wager	Winner 	Loser 	Location 	Date 	Notes
Hair 	Alfonso Dantés 	El Faraón 	Mexico City, Mexico 	1970s	 
Hair 	El Faraón 	Alfonso Dantés 	Mexico City, Mexico 	1970s	 
Hair 	El Ídolo 	El Faraón 	Guadalajara, Jalisco 	1970s	 
Hair 	Lizmark 	El Faraón 	Acapulco, Guerrero 	1970s	 
Mask 	Fishman 	El Faraón 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	
Hair 	El Faraón 	Perro Aguayo 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	
Hairs	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza 	Perro Aguayo and Joe Plardi 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	
Hairs	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza 	Sangre Chicana and Alfonso Dantés	Unknown 	 	
Hairs	El Faraón and Águila India 	Sangre Chicana and Tony Salazar 	Mexico City, Mexico 	1970s	
Hair 	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza 	El Nazi and Adorable Rubí 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hair 	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza 	Tony Benetto and Herodes 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hair 	El Solitario 	El Faraón 	Guadalajara, Jalisco 	 	
Hair 	Ringo Mendoza 	El Faraón 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hair 	El Faraón 	La Fiera 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hairs	Sangre Chicana and Mocho Cota	El Faraón and Talismán 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	
Hair 	El Faraón 	Perro Aguayo 	Monterrey, Nuevo León	 	
Hair 	El Faraón and Ringo Mendoza 	MS-1 and Masakre 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hair 	El Faraón 	Pirata Morgan 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
Hair 	El Faraón 	MS-1 	Mexico City, Mexico 	 	 
==External links==
* Profile
* Profile
* Profile
Category:1947 births
Category:Mexican wrestlers
Category:1973 debuts
Category:Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre alumni
Category:NWA Hollywood Wrestling alumni
Category:Universal Wrestling Association alumni
Category:World Wrestling Council alumni
Category:1992 retirements
Category:Living people
Category:Male wrestlers