Villano III

Villano III
Birth nameArturo Díaz Mendoza
Born(1952-03-23)March 23, 1952
Mexico City, Mexico
DiedAugust 21, 2018(2018-08-21) (aged 66)[1]
Guadalajara, Mexico
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Búfalo Salvaje
Mancha Roja
Pulpo Blanco
Ray Rosas
Rokambole
Villano III
Billed height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Billed weight96 kg (212 lb)
Trained byFelipe Ham Lee
Ray Mendoza
DebutJanuary 29, 1970
Retired2015

Arturo Díaz Mendoza (23 March 1952 – 21 August 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler. He was best known for performing under the stage name Villano III (in Spanish Villano Tercero).

Díaz was a second generation wrestler, son of luchador Ray Mendoza and the father of professional wrestlers Villano III Jr. and El Hijo de Villano III himself. He retired from wrestling in 2015 due to health issues caused by wrestling.

For years Díaz was one of the known performers for the Universal Wrestling Association and during his career that spanned from 1970 until 2015 he worked for all major Mexican wrestling promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and AAA.

Díaz was an enmascarado, or masked wrestler, up until 2000 where he lost to Atlantis and was forced to unmask. The match against Atlantis was later named "Match of the Year" by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.

He died from a cerebral infarct on August 21, 2018 in Guadalajara, aged 66.[1]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 "Falleció el legendario Villano III por un infarto cerebral" [The legendary Villano III passed away due to a cerebral infarction]. MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.