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Villano IV

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz and the second or maternal family name is Mendoza.
Villano IV
Birth nameTomás Díaz Mendoza
Born (1965-04-09) April 9, 1965 (age 59)
Tijuana, Mexico[1]
Parent(s)Ray Mendoza (father)
RelativesVillano I (brother)
Villano III (brother)
Villano V (brother)
Villano III Jr. (nephew)
El Hijo del Villano III (nephew)
Villano V Jr. (nephew)
Rokambole Jr. (nephew)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Leopardo Negro III[2]
Ray Mendoza Jr.[3]
Super Maquina Jr.[2]
Villano IV
Villano Cuatro
Billed height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Billed weight100 kg (220 lb)[1]
Trained byRay Mendoza[1]
Villano III[1]
DebutDecember 1982[1]

Tomás Díaz Mendoza (born April 9, 1965), best known by his ring name Villano IV (Spanish: "Villano Cuarto"; English: "Villain the fourth"), is a Mexican luchador. He has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). While popular and successful in Mexico, he frequently performed as a jobber in WCW. The other sons of Ray Mendoza who have used the name "Villano" include Villano I, Villano II, Villano III, and Villano V. He is the last surviving member of the Villanos siblings.[4]

Professional wrestling career

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Díaz began wrestling in 1982, after being taught by his father and his older brother Arturo. He was not given the Villano name on his debut, both his father and his older brothers wanted him to get a college degree and also earn some in-ring experience before he would be allowed to use the Villano name.[2][5] He spent the first couple of years in wrestling working as various enmascarado characters such as Leopardo Negro III and Super Maquina Jr.[2]

Villano IV

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In 1983, Díaz was finally given the mask and the name of his brothers and became Villano IV.[2] He immediately began teaming with his brothers, especially Villano I and Villano V, and engaged in a heated and very popular feud with the trios team of Los Brazos (Brazo de Plata, Brazo de Oro and El Brazo). On October 21, 1988, Villano I, IV, and V defeated Los Brazos in a Lucha de Apuesta, mask vs. mask match and thus unmasked Los Brazos.[6] Over the years, Villano IV and his brothers have worked for Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and with shorter runs with International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) and World Wrestling Association holding tag team and Trios titles in all federations.[7]

World Championship Wrestling (1996–2000)

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Villano IV and V began working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as part of the influx of luchadors in 1996. Villano IV made his debut at the 1996 World War 3 event as part of the Three Ring, 60 man battle royal.[8] Subsequently, Los Villanos worked mainly the weekend shows such as WCW World Wide and WCW Saturday Night.[9] The brothers played the role of a heel and would occasionally cheat by switching places while the referee was distracted (all Villanos wore identical attire, aside from their Roman numeral distinctions). Los Villanos made a couple of appearances on WCW's main shows and PPVs such as Villano IV teaming with Konnan and La Parka to defeat Juventud Guerrera, Ciclope, and Super Calo at SuperBrawl VII.[10] They also worked an eight-man tag match at Clash of the Champions XXXV, alongside Psychosis and Silver King against Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, Héctor Garza and Lizmark Jr.[11] Villano IV also wrestled in WCW, unmasked, under the ring name "Ray Mendoza Jr."[3] (in honor of his father), many years before his brother Villano V began using the ring name in Mexico.

Mexico (2000–present)

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Villano IV (right), with Blue Panther (left) and Tony Salazar (center) at an CMLL event, 2018

Following their stint in WCW, Los Villanos returned full-time to Mexico where they began working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Villano IV and V assisted their brother in the build-up of a storyline between Villano III and Atlantis, a storyline that reached back to 1999, while Villano IV and V were still working for WCW. The two brothers were in the corner of Villano III as he put his mask on the line against Atlantis in a Lucha de Apuesta at the 2000 Jucio Final final show. On the night Atlantis defeated and unmasked Villano III, the first Villano to be unmasked in the ring.[12] Over the following years, Los Villanos worked both for CMLL and made appearances on the Mexican Independent circuit. In 2008, Villano IV acted as the cornerman for his older brother Villano V as he began a feud with CMLL luchador Blue Panther. Villano IV was the cornerman for V's biggest Apuesta win as he defeated and unmasked Blue Panther as part of the CMLL 75th Anniversary Show.[13] He was also heavily involved in V's storyline with Último Guerrero in the early 2009, and watched as Villano V was unmasked by Guerrero after an Apuesta match at the 2009 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas.[14] While Villano V worked regularly for CMLL, both Villano III and Villano IV took more independent bookings. On March 12, 2013, AAA announced that Villano IV would be returning to the promotion five days later at Rey de Reyes. This would mark his first appearance for AAA since 1996.[15] On March 16, 2013, he teamed up with older brother Ray Mendoza Jr. to compete in a Ruleta de la Muerte, losers advance tag team tournament to commemorate the retirement of Ray Mendoza Jr. The duo lost to Mil Máscaras and El Mesias in the first round and lost to El Texano Jr. and Súper Nova in the second round, qualifying them for the finals where the losing team would be forced to either unmask (Villano IV) or have their hair shaved off (Mendoza Jr.). The team faced, and defeated, the team of El Hijo de Pirata Morgan and Cassandro which meant El Hijo de Pirata Morgan had to unmask and reveal his birthname, Antheus Ortiz Chávez, while Cassandro had all his hair shaved off as is traditional with Luchas de Apuestas losses.[16] The following day, Villano IV returned to AAA to take part in the 2013 Rey de Reyes tournament. He was the last man eliminated by L. A. Park in his six-way semifinal match, which also included Chessman, Drago, Jack Evans, and Psicosis.[17] On October 15, 2022, Villano IV lost a mask vs. mask match to Pentagon Jr. at Triplemanía XXX, forcing him to unmask after nearly forty years.[18]

Personal life

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Tomás Díaz Mendoza is the fifth son and eighth and last child overall of José Díaz Velazquez and Guadalupe "Lupita" Mendoza. His brothers, like himself all became luchadors: José de Jesús (Villano I), Alfredo (Villano II), Arturo (Villano III) and Raymundo (Villano V).[2] His mother Lupita died in 1986, his second oldest brother Alfredo died in 1989, his oldest brother José de Jesús died in 2001, and his father José Diaz died on April 16, 2003.[2] Díaz was adamant that his sons get a good education instead of becoming wrestlers, wishing that they become lawyers or doctors as he wanted to spare them the physical suffering he experienced himself. Once he realized that his two oldest sons had begun wrestling under masks he agreed to train them and help their wrestling careers. He was also instrumental in training his youngest two sons, although he insisted they both get college degrees before they were allowed to begin wrestling. Since Tomás finished his education first, he became known as "Villano IV", while Raymundo, the second youngest son, became "Villano V".[2]

Championships and accomplishments

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Luchas de Apuestas record

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See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Leopardo Negro II (mask) Leopardo Negro I (mask) N/A Live event 1980s  
Leopardo Negro II (mask) Luis Mariscal (hair) Puebla, Puebla Live event April 16, 1983  
Villano IV (mask) Enfermero II (hair) Nezahualcoyotl, State of Mexico Live event August 21, 1983  
Villano IV (mask) Emilio Charles Jr. (hair) Xalapa, Veracruz Live event September 29, 1983  
Villano IV (mask) Loco Zandokan (mask) Naucalpan, Mexico State Live event January 31, 1988  
Los Villanos (masks)
(Villano I, IV and V)		 Los Brazos (masks)
(Brazo de Oro, Brazo de Plata, and El Brazo)		 Monterrey, Nuevo León Live event October 21, 1988 [6]
Villano IV (mask) El Engendro (mask) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event February 3, 1991  
Los Villanos (masks)
(Villano I, IV and V)		 Los Mercenarios Americanos (masks)
(Tim Patterson, Bill Anderson and Louie Spicolli)		 Tijuana, Baja California Live event July 19, 1991 [32]
Villano IV (mask) Tigre Canadiense (mask) Naucalpan, State of Mexico Live event October 20, 1991 [33]
Villano IV (mask) Brazo de Oro (hair) Acapulco, Guerrero Live event November 20, 2004 [Note 1]
Villano IV (mask) Hombre Bala (hair) Mexico City, Mexico Live event July 1, 2009 [34]
Villano IV (mask) and Ray Mendoza Jr. (hair) Hijo de Pirata Morgan (mask) and Cassandro (hair) Naucalpan, Mexico State Rey Mendoza Jr. retirement show March 16, 2013 [Note 2][16]
Pentagón Jr. (mask) Villano IV (mask) Mexico City, Mexico Triplemanía XXX October 15, 2022 [Note 3]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Los Brazos vs. Los Villanos steel cage match.
  2. ^ Finals of a Ruleta de la Muerte tournament.
  3. ^ Finals of a Ruleta de la Muerte tournament.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 2001 :155. Villano V". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. August 2001. p. 68. October 2001.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Madigan, Dan (2007). "Dorada de lucha libre: Las Leyendas, las peleas, los fósforos del resentimiento (the golden age of lucha libre: the legends, the feuds, the grudge matches): Ray Mendoza and Los Villanos". Mondo Lucha a Go-Go: the bizarre and honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 193–197. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  3. ^ a b Cawthon, Graham (2015). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 5: World Championship Wrestling 1995-2001. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1499656343.
  4. ^ Currier, Joseph (August 29, 2024). "Hall of Fame luchador Villano V passes away". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ "Luchas 2000". Villano III: El Ultimo Rey (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 1–35. Especial 37.
  6. ^ a b "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Brazo, Brazo de Oro, Brazo de Plata (in Spanish). Mexico. July 2007. pp. 39–41. Tomo I.
  7. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  8. ^ "World War 3 1996". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  9. ^ Cawthon, Graham. "Ring Results: WCW 1997". thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved April 12, 2009. Rey Mysterio Jr. would face Villano IV the following weekend on WCW Saturday Night
  10. ^ "SuperBrawl VII". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  11. ^ "Clash of Champions XXXV". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  12. ^ "Luchas 2000". Atlantis y sus Victimas (in Spanish). Juárez, Mexico: Publicaciones citem, S.A. de C.V. pp. 32–36. Especial 30.
  13. ^ "And the loser of tonight's big mask match was". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
  14. ^ "Adiós Villano V; hola Ray Mendoza Jr". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V. March 30, 2009. p. 22. Número 21542 Año LXII. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  15. ^ "Villano IV Estará en Rey de Reyes" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA World Wide. March 12, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  16. ^ a b Valdés, Apolo (March 17, 2013). "Ray Mendoza Jr. dijo adiós a la Lucha Libre". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  17. ^ "El Mesías Rey de Reyes 2013" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA World Wide. March 18, 2013. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  18. ^ Williams, Duit (October 15, 2022). "AAA Triplemania XXX live results: Vikingo vs. Fenix Mega title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  19. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: AAA American Trios Titles". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 399. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  20. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Atómicos Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 402. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  21. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Trios Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 393. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  22. ^ Flores, Manuel (July 18, 2008). "Histórico de ganadores del torneo: La Gran Alternativa". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  23. ^ a b "2000 Especial!". Box y Lucha Magazine (in Spanish). January 9, 2001. pp. 2–20. issue 2488.
  24. ^ "Resultados "Rock y Lucha: Segunda Caída" – 29/09/2013". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). September 30, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  25. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: UWA Tag Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 399. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  26. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: UWA Trios Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 399. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  27. ^ Mexicool, Rey (July 4, 2011). "UWE "Tarde de Campeones" (Resultados 3 de julio): La Dinastía Imperial, nuevos Campeones de Parejas UWE". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  28. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: WWA Junior Light Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 400. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  29. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: WWA Tag Team Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 401. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  30. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: WWA Trios Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 401. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  31. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 42. ISSN 1083-9593.
  32. ^ "Enciclopedia de las Mascaras". Villano I (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. November 2007. pp. 22–23. Tomo V.
  33. ^ Ssio, Sergio (November 3, 2008). "Villano III vs Pegasus Kid; Máscara vs. Máscara" [Villano III vs Pegasus Kid; mask vs. mask]. Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  34. ^ "Villano Rapo a Hombre Bala en el Jaula". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). July 10, 2009. p. 23. Issue 322.
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