Espanto III

**Miguel Vázquez Bernal** (February 11, 1940 – December 8, 1996), was a Mexican *luchador* or professional wrestler known under the ring name Espanto III ("Terror 3"). During his career in *lucha libre* he formed a long running, successful trio known as *Los Espantos* ("The Terrors") with his brother José Eusebio Vázquez Bernal (known as Espanto I) and Fernando Cisneros Carrillo (Espanto II).

## Professional wrestling career

Miguel Vázquez was seven years younger than his brother José Eusebio and possibly had more siblings. He trained for his professional wrestling career in the local wrestling school in Torreón, the same place where his brother José Eusebio first wrestled. He worked as "Mickey Vázquez" in the early 1960s, but records are unclear as to when he made his debut.

In 1958 or 1959 José Eusebio had begun working as "El Espanto" ("The Terror") and a short time after José Eusebio's best friend Fernando Cisneros Carrillo adopted the character Espanto II, becoming a regular tag team known as *Los Espantos*. By November 1962 both Espanto I and Espanto II had lost their masks in *Lucha de Apuestas*, or bet matches. At this point Miguel Vázquez donned the distinctive black and white mask of *Los Espantos* and became Espanto III. With the addition of Espanto III *Los Espantos'* became a regular trio, and one of the first to work as an "identical trio" by using the same name with only numbers to distinguish themselves, a tradition that still exists in *lucha libre*. Initially he mainly supported Espanto I and II as they fought against rivals El Santo and Rubén Juárez respectively, serving as their corner man during *Lucha de Apuestas*, or "bet matches". Not long after his debut as Espanto III, he won his first *Lucha de Apuestas*, defeating Javier Escobedo on a show in Guadalajara, Jalisco, forcing Escobedo to be shaved bald.

The *Los Espantos* trio got their biggest win ever when they defeated the "dream team" of Mexican *tecnicos* (those that portray the good guys) El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras. In the early parts of 1964 Espanto III won two additional *Lucha de Apuestas* matches, leaving both Alex Montaña and Humberto Garza without their hair as a result. The *Apuesta* wins were used to build a storyline feud between Espanto III and Huracán Ramírez through the first half of 1964. The storyline came to a conclusion on June 12, 1964 where Espanto III was unmasked after losing a *Lucha de Apuestas* match to Ramírez. As each Espanto lost their mask they claimed that their last name was "Vázquez Cisneros", combining their last names to hide the fact that they were not all brothers.

On May 30, 1968, Miguel's older brother José was killed by the owner of a cantina during a bar fight. At the time of his death, *Los Espantos* were set to do a world tour with dates planned for Germany, France, Spain and Japan. The promoters offered Espanto II the opportunity to go alone or with Espanto III, but he declined due to the loss of his close friend. After the death of his brother, Miguel wrestled less regularly and by the early 1970s both Miguel and Cisneros became semi-retired from wrestling, working only a limited schedule in Northern Mexico. As Espanto II and III, the duo held the Northern Tag Team Championship at one point in the 1970s before Espanto II retired in 1979. At one point during the 1970s Espanto III lost a *Lucha de Apuestas* match to La Sombra, marking the first time he lost his hair after losing a *Lucha de Apuestas* match.

In 1984 he lost another *Lucha de Apuestas* match to Black Charly. A short time later he retired from wrestling. Vázquez took part in training his sons for a professional wrestling career, they would eventually become known as Espanto IV and Espanto V.

## Death

On December 8, 1996, Miguel Vázquez died from a heart attack in his hometown of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua at the age of 56.