Dragon Lee II

Dragon Lee
Birth name Muñoz González (first name not revealed)
Born (1995-05-15) May 15, 1995
Tala, Jalisco, Mexico
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Dragon Lee
Billed height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Billed weight 75 kg (165 lb)
Trained by Alfredo Pineda
Franco Colombo
Pierrothito
Pit Bull I
Arthur Muñoz
Debut January 1, 2014

Dragon Lee (II) (born May 15, 1995 in Tala, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler currently working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) portraying a tecnico ("Good guy") wrestling character. Dragon Lee's real name is not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans.[1]

Dragon Lee is the son of professional wrestler Arthur Muñoz, who is currently working for CMLL under the ring name Comandante Pierroth, although the family relationship is not acknowledged on CMLL's shows. He is the second person to use the Dragon Lee ring persona and mask, the first Dragon Lee being his older brother Carlos, who now wrestles under the ring name Místico. Dragon Lee has another brother, William, who works under the ring name Rush. Dragon Lee was voted the 2014 Rookie of the Year by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In April 2015, Dragon Lee won his first professional wrestling title, the CMLL World Lightweight Championship.

Personal life

The man known under the ring name Dragon Lee was born on May 15, 1995, in Tala, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, son of professional wrestler Arthur Muñoz, who had worked as Toro Blanco, Poder Boriqua, Poder Mexico and Comandante Pierroth over the years.[2] Dragon Lee's two older brothers grew up to become professional wrestlers as well, with the oldest of the brothers, William, making his wrestling debut in 2008 and would later become known as "Rush".[3] Another of Dragon Lee's brothers, Carlos, became a professional wrestler in 2011, adopting the enmascarado (masked) character Dragon Lee initially.[4] In 2012 the original Dragon Lee was offered the opportunity to take over the Místico character after the original wrestler under the Místico mask left Mexico. It was public knowledge that Dragon Lee had taken over the Místico character, leaving the mask and character of Dragon Lee behind.[5][6] Dragon Lee's uncles are also professional wrestlers, known as Franco Colombo, Pit Bull I and Pit Bull II and all had a hand in training Dragon Lee prior to his professional wrestling debut. At the age of 14 his father took him to Mexico City to start training in amateur wrestling, participating in several wrestling events.[7] He would also participate in boxing but, as Dragon Lee recalls in an 2015 interview, during his first match he performed a Suplex (a wrestling throw) on his opponent and was disqualified. At that point he realized that his future was in Lucha Libre.[7]

Professional wrestling career

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2013–present)

Muñoz began training in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's (CMLL: Spanish for "World Wrestling Council") gym in 2013, working towards a contract to become a regular wrestler for CMLL. He made his first public appearance as Dragon Lee on November 20, 2013 when he competed in CMLL's 2013 Bodybuilding Contest, winning the beginners category while CMLL regulars Pequeño Olimpico and Stukita took second and third place.[8] He made his in ring debut for CMLL on January 1, 2014, as part of the 2014 La Copa Junior tournament. During the match Dragon Lee eliminated Herodes, Jr., but was himself eliminated by Cachorro as the third man eliminated in the tournament that was eventually won by Super Halcón, Jr.[9] Dragon Lee was referred to as part of CMLL's Generacion 2014, a group of wrestlers who all made their debut around January, 2014 and also included Black Panther, Cachorro, Espiritu Negro, Flyer, Hechicero, El Rebelde and Star, Jr. A month after his CMLL debut Dragon Lee participated in the 2014 Torneo Gran Alternativa ("Great Alternative") tournament, which is an annual a tag team tournament that has a wrestling rookie team up with an experienced wrestler for the tournament. For the tournament, Dragon Lee teamed up with older brother Rush. In the first round the brothers defeated Negro Casas and Canelo Casas, then went on to defeat Herodes, Jr. and Shocker in the second round before losing to eventual tournament winners Barbaro Cavernario and Mr. Niebla in the tournament semi-final.[10] On March 23, 2014 Dragon Lee was one of 16 wrestlers in a tornero cibernetico (elimination) match, hoping to qualify for one of eight spots in CMLL's annual En Busca de un Ídolo ("In search of an idol") tournament. Dragon Lee was one of the eight survivors of the match alongside Cachorro, Cavernario, Guerrero Negro Jr. Hechicero, Star Jr., Soberano Jr. and Super Halcon Jr. and thus qualified for the actual tournament.[11] The first round consisted of a round-robin tournament where he wrestled against all other participants. Following the matches each wrestler was given points by a panel of judges as well as points from an online poll. The first round saw Dragon Lee in 4th place with 423 points following victories over Cachorro, Guerrero Negro, Jr. and Soberano, Jr., 423 points qualified him for the second round along with Cavernario, Hechicero and Cachorro. Dragon Lee only defeated Cachorro during the second round, landing him in 3rd place with 198 points.[12] On August 25, 2014 it was announced that Dragon Lee would team up with fellow rookie Cachorro for the CMLL 81st Anniversary Show, marking Dragon Lee first appearance at CMLL's Anniversary Shows, the promotion's most important show of the year. They were scheduled to compete in the first match against the brother-duo of Puma and Tiger.[13]

In early 2015, Lee started a storyline rivalry with Japanese wrestler Kamaitachi.[14] The prolonged storyline rilvalry culminated on March 20 at the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to Two Wrestlers") show. The two masked men faced off in a Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", with both wrestlers risking their mask on the outcome. Dragon Lee defeated Kamaitachi two falls to one, forcing his riva to unmask.[15] On April 5, 2015, Dragon Lee won his first professional wrestling championshiop, when he defeated Virus to capture the CMLL World Lightweight Championship.[16] On May 15, 2015 Dragon Lee outlasted Bárbaro Cavernario, Fuego, Kamaitachi, Luciferno, Mephisto, Místico, Niebla Roja, The Panther, Titán, Virus and Volador Jr. to win the first round torneo cibernetico of the 2015 Leyenda de Plata ("Silver Legend") tournament, one of CMLL's most prestigous annual tournaments.[17][18] On May 22, he lost to Negro Casas in the finals of the tournament.[19]

In January 2016, Dragon Lee made his Japanese debut by taking part in the CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) co-produced Fantastica Mania 2016 tour.[20] On the fifth show of the tour, he successfully defended the CMLL World Lightweight Championship against Virus. After the match, Dragon Lee was attacked by Kamaitachi,[21] which led to a match the following day, where Dragon Lee lost the CMLL World Lightweight Championship.[22] Dragon Lee regained the championship from Kamaitachi on March 4 when the two had a rematch in Mexico City.[23] During the summer, Dragon Lee became involved in a rivalry with La Máscara, a storylinen that sprung from La Máscara feuding with the entire Muñoz family. La Máscara and Rush had teamed together as Los Ingobernables for years, but over the summmer of 2016 the group had broken up. Initially the feud focused on Rush and La Máscara but late changed focus from Rush to Dragon Lee. On August 5, Dragon Lee made a challenge for a Mask vs. Mask Lucha de Apuestas between the two, which was accepted by La Máscara.[24] On September 2 at the 83rd Anniversary Show, Dragon Lee defeated La Máscara win the second mask of his career.[25]

Ring of Honor (2016–present)

Dragon Lee made his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut on September 30, 2016, at ROH's All Star Extravaganza VIII, in a victory over Kamaitachi. [26] Lee will be competing in a four corners match for the ROH World Television Championship, against champion Marty Scurll, Will Ospreay and Bobby Fish at ROH's December pay-per-view, Final Battle 2016.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Dragon Lee (mask) Kamaitachi (mask) Mexico City 2015 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas March 20, 2015 [15]
Dragon Lee (mask) La Máscara (mask) Mexico City CMLL 83rd Anniversary Show September 2, 2016 [25]

References

  1. Madigan, Dan (2007). "Okay... what is Lucha Libre?". Mondo Lucha Libre: the bizarre & honorable world of wild Mexican wrestling. HarperColins Publisher. pp. 29–40. ISBN 978-0-06-085583-3.
  2. Ruiz Glez, Alex (February 25, 2011). "Rush Habla después de ganar el campeonato mundial semicompleto del CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  3. "Rush". Récord (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  4. "Dragon Lee". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  5. "Místico con alma de Dragón.... ¡Las Amazonas del ring en jaula!". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). June 21, 2012. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  6. Boutwell, Josh (June 23, 2012). "Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly". WrestleView. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Cruiz, Gabriel (May 15, 2015). "Dragon Lee, la apuesta coliseína." (in Spanish). Fuego en el Ring. Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Reyes Ruiz, Eduardo (November 20, 2013). "Astral Mr. CMLL y Dalys destronó a Dark Ángel". Estrelllas del Ring (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  9. Salazar López, Alexis A. (January 2, 2014). "Resultados Arena México Miércoles 1º de Enero '14". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  10. Rodríguez, Alejandro (February 16, 2014). "Con 'sucia' victoria, Niebla y Bárbaro Cavernario alcanzan la Gran Alternativa". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  11. Valdés, Apolo (March 26, 2014). "Lista la tercera edición de 'En Busca de un Ídolo'". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  12. "Resultatos". En Busca de un Idolo (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. June 21, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  13. "Tiger y Puma buscaran abrir el aniversario del CMLL con una victoria". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  14. Valdés, Apolo (February 11, 2015). "Dragon Lee y Kamaitachi, por las máscaras en H2L". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  15. 1 2 Valdés, Apolo (March 21, 2015). "Dragon Lee desenmascaró a Kamaitachi". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Salazar López, Alexis (April 6, 2015). "Resultados Arena México Domingo 5 de Abril '15". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  17. Peralta, Gonzalo López (May 16, 2015). "Lucha Libre función viernes 15 de mayo". Yahoo! Deportes (in Spanish). Yahoo!. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  18. "Dragón Lee y Negro Casas, por la Leyenda de Plata". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  19. Barradas, Bibiana (May 23, 2015). "Resultados Arena México® Viernes 22 de Mayo '15". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  20. ミスティコ、アトランティス、ドラゴン・リーも上陸!『Fantastica Mania 2016』参加メンバー決定! 6選手がイッキに初参戦!. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). November 17, 2015. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  21. "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  22. "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2016". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  23. 1 2 Salazar, Alexis (March 4, 2016). "Resultados Arena México® – Viernes Espectaculares". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  24. Valdés, Apolo (August 6, 2016). "La Máscara y Dragon Lee van por las tapas, falta firmar". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  25. 1 2 Ocampo, Ernesto (September 2, 2016). "Resultados CMLL 83 Aniversario: La Máscara vs. Dragon Lee, máscara contra máscara". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  26. Meltzer, Dave (September 30, 2016). "ROH All Star Extravaganza live results: Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  27. Redaccion (September 19, 2014). "Caída a Caída... 81 Aniversario del CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  28. Cano Vela, Eduardo (September 19, 2014). "CMLL 81 aniversario (Cobertura y resultados en vivo) -Atlantis destapa a Último Guerrero". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
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  31. "Astral volvió a coronarse como Mr. CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  32. Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2015). "Jan. 26, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2014 awards issue w/ results & Dave's commentary, Conor McGregor, and much more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 22. ISSN 1083-9593.
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