Antonio Peña

Antonio Hipolito Peña Herrada (June 13, 1951 – October 5, 2006) was a Mexican professional wrestling promoter who founded the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion in 1992. Peña's promotion reached its height of popularity in the early 1990s prior to the 1994 downturn of the Mexican economy,

Professional wrestling career Peña began his wrestling career as the masked character El Genio (Spanish for "The Genius") on April 8, 1974. As Espectro Jr., Peña blended a good solid wrestling foundation with various psychological antics to create a character, while being a hated rudo (Heel or "bad guy") character drew the crowd's attention and soon he found himself challenging the top wrestlers of the 1970s for both the Mexican National Welterweight Championship and the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, two of the top championships in Mexico at the time. While a gifted performer in the ring backstage he was described as more of a quiet, thoughtful person who would often talk about how he would change Lucha Libre and add more character and showmanship to it. Instead of working as Espectro Jr., Peña came up with a totally original character of his own called Kahoz (sometimes spelled Kahos or Khaoz), a sinister masked rudo character who invoked various dark spirits as part of his pre-match ritual. Many have likened the Kahoz character to one of Lucha Libre original showmen, Murciélago Velázquez. Peña was the creative force behind CMLL's Mini-Estrella division and wanted to feature more non-heavyweight wrestlers in the main events. Over the years Peña managed to establish AAA as a viable alternative to CMLL, making CMLL and AAA "the Big Two" in Lucha Libre. until an in-ring accident at an independent show in 2019 would lead to his death in the following year. Peña also tried to prevent the original Máscara Sagrada from using the name and outfit, but in the end Sagráda won the court case and the rights to the name. Peña often "recycled" the ring personas, giving the mask and outfit to a new wrestler if the previous one left AAA, for instance when Super Crazy left AAA Peña gave the Histeria outfit to another wrestler.

Death and legacy Peña died on October 5, 2006, due to a massive heart attack. In the days following Peña's death several wrestling promotions in Japan that AAA had worked with over the years paid tribute to the promoter. Peña's death left a void in AAA, he had always been the man in charge and always had the final word. In the years up to his death, Peña had brought in his brother-in-law Joaquin Roldan and Roldan's son Dorian Roldan and taught them the business of running a wrestling promotion with the later becoming the CEO. His sister and Dorian's mother Marisela Peña also has helped shape what AAA is today since its inception and now is the president. As part of Héroes Inmortales, AAA holds the Copa Antonio Peña, a tournament in honor of Peña.

In April 2025, AAA was acquired by American professional wrestling promotion WWE with the backing of Mexican entertainment company Fillip, marking the first time in 33 years that AAA wouldn't be owned by members of the Peña–Roldán family and Televisa.

Championships and accomplishments AAA AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2007) Mexican independent circuit Texcoco Middleweight Championship (1 time) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)