El Satánico

Daniel López López (born October 26, 1949), best known under the ring name El Satánico (Spanish for "The Satanic"), is a Mexican professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler. He originally wrestled masked until losing his mask a year into his career, performing unmasked from thereon. The majority of his 52-year in-ring career was spent in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he worked as a rudo (the antagonists, also known as heel in professional wrestling lingo).

El Satánico was a founding member of the Los Infernales ("The Infernals") stable from its creation in the early 1980s through 2008, being a part of every single incarnation of the group. Los Infernales won the CMLL World Trios Championship three times and the Mexican National Trios Championship three times. As a singles competitor, he won the CMLL World Middleweight Championship, the CMLL World Welterweight Championship once, the Mexican National Middleweight Championship three times, the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship four times, and the NWA World Middleweight Championship.

For years, López worked at the CMLL wrestling school, playing a part in the development of almost every wrestler that worked for CMLL in the 2000s. He later opened his own school independent of CMLL. He wrestled on a reduced schedule on the Mexican independent circuit before his retirement at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas in March 2026.

Professional wrestling career Early career (1973–1986) López made his professional wrestling debut on June 17, 1973, using the name El Satánico Dr. No ("The Satanic Dr. No"), named after the James Bond movie villain Dr. No; it was then shortened to just "El Satánico". Satánico split his time between trios matches and wrestling in the middleweight division, defeating Lizmark to start his fourth reign on December 2, 1983. Satánico held the title for a total of 1,561 days, by far the longest reign of any CMLL World Middleweight Champion. On June 23, 2002, Satánico, Averno and Mephisto defeated Mr. Niebla, Olímpico and Safari to win the Mexican National Trios Championship, which they lost after approximately three months to La Familia de Tijuana (Damián 666, Halloween and Nicho el Millonario). In 2007, Satánico reformed Los Infernales, this time with young wrestlers Euforia and Nosferatu. However, they did not approach the success of the previous incarnations of Los Infernales, working mainly lower to mid-card matches. The following year, Virus became the unofficial leader of Los Nuevos Infernales, as Satánico reduced his actual in-ring work. Later career (2009–2026) In 2009, Satánico announced that he was reducing the number of shows he worked to focus on his work at CMLL's wrestling school. On March 2, 2012, he fought El Solar to a draw in a match for the FLLM Masters Championship, thus El Solar retained the title. On May 18, 2014, Satánico lost a Lucha de Apuestas to El Dandy as part of his retirement tour. After having worked on the independent circuit from 2012 through 2014, Satánico returned to CMLL by the end of 2014, splitting his time between CMLL and appearing on independent shows. On December 6, 2019, Satánico defeated El Solar at Leyendas Mexicanas ("Mexican Legends"), a CMLL show that paid homage to lucha libre legends. In later years, Satánico won the FLLM Masters Championship twice. There, Satánico defeated Atlantis and Blue Panther in a three-way elimination match.

Professional wrestling trainer Daniel López is considered one of the best wrestling trainers active in Mexico, following in the footsteps of his own mentor Diablo Velasco. Ángel Azteca Jr. Ángel de Oro Ángel de Plata/Niebla Roja Arkangel de la Muerte Axel Bam Bam Demus 3:16/Pequeño Damián 666 Dragón Rojo Jr. Doctor X Eléctrico Ephesto Fabián el Gitano Horus Lady Apache Lluvia Loco Max Misterioso II Nitro Okumura Palacio Negro Pegasso Psycho Clown Rey Cometa Semental/Black Taurus Sensei Silueta Soberano Jr. Stuka Jr. Super Nova El Terrible Texano Jr. Tiger Tigre Blanco Valkiria Veneno Zeuxis

Championships and accomplishments Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre CMLL World Middleweight Championship (1 time) CMLL World Trios Championship (3 times) – with MS-1 and Pirata Morgan (2), Emilio Charles Jr. and Rey Bucanero (1) CMLL World Welterweight Championship (1 time) Mexican National Middleweight Championship (3 times) Mexican National Trios Championship (3 times) – with MS-1 and Pirata Morgan (2) and Mephisto and Averno (1) NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (4 times) NWA World Middleweight Championship (5 times) Copa de Arena Mexico (1999) - with Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero Copa Bobby Bonales 2024 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas honoree (2026) International Wrestling Revolution Group Copa Higher Power (1999) – with Astro Rey Jr., Máscara Mágica, Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 74 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1997 Ranked No. 182 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003 Universal Wrestling Association UWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time) Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2001) Other FLLM Masters Championship (2 times)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotesEl Vengador (mask) El Satánico (mask) Guadalajara, Jalisco independent show El Fantasma (hair) El Satánico (hair) Mexico City EMLL show El Satánico (hair) Sangre Chicana (hair) Mexico City Super Viernes Draw Sangre Chicana (hair)El Satánico (hair) Mexico City EMLL show El Satánico (hair) La Fiera (hair) Mexico City Super Viernes El Satánico (hair) Alfonso Dantés (hair) Guadalajara, Jalisco Super Viernes El Satánico (hair) Pirata Morgan (hair) Mexico City Juicio Final El Satánico (hair) El Dandy (hair) Mexico City EMLL show El Satánico (hair) Jerry Estrada (hair) Mexico City Super Viernes Héctor Garza (hair) El Satánico (hair) Mexico City CMLL show Tarzan Boy (hair) El Satánico (hair) Puebla, Puebla 47. Aniversario de Arena Puebla Máscara Año 2000 (hair) El Satánico (hair) Mexico City CMLL Domingos de Coliseo Cage match that also included Negro Casas and Tarzan Boy. Damián 666 (hair) El Satánico (hair) Tijuana, Baja California Live event Pierroth Jr. (hair) El Satánico (hair) Puebla, Puebla 2. Aniversario de Arena Puebla Emilio Charles Jr. (hair) El Satánico (hair) Nezahualcoyotl independent show El Dandy (hair) El Satánico (hair) Reynosa, Tamaulipas El Juicio Final