Espantito

Professional wrestling career Due to the secretive culture around masked wrestlers in lucha libre, Espantito's real name was not a matter of common knowledge (prior to his death in 2020), nor was it revealed if he worked under a different ring name before making his in-ring debut as Espantito. It has been confirmed that Espantito trained in his native Torreón, Coahuila under the tutelage of Edgardo Cisneros Díaz, better known as Espanto II, and also received further training from Indio Chirikawa. In the early 1990s, the Mini-Estrella ("Mini-Star") concept was introduced in Mexico, featuring not just midget wrestling, but also wrestlers who were short in stature. The majority of new Mini-Estrellas used the same ring character as regular sized wrestlers, much like Octagoncito being a smaller version of Octagón. Espantito working in this division did not necessarily mean that he had dwarfism. Unlike midget wrestling, where all competitors are under the height of , Mini-Estrellas like Espantito, at , are often wrestlers of shorter stature, but not true little people in a medical sense.

He was given permission by his trainer to start working as El Espantito, a smaller version of Los Espantos ("The Terrors"), wearing the signature black mask with a white cross on it (popularized by Espanto I, Espanto II and Espanto III), as well as the same black-and-white ring gear of the originals. Most of AAA's Mini-Estrella division consisted of luchadors that had followed AAA founder Antonio Peña from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where some of the Mini-Estrellas changed their name and mask due to the larger version of the character not jumping to AAA at the time. One example was Super Muñequito, who was working as "Angelito Azteca" in CMLL, but had to change his name as Ángel Azteca did not leave CMLL. It has not been revealed if Espectrito also worked in the CMLL Mini-Estrella division at the time of the AAA exodus. For a short while, Espantito was teamed up with a wrestler working as "Espantito II", but Espantito II was only used for a few matches in 1993.

By the late 1990s, Espantito left AAA and began working primarily on the Mexican Independent circuit, often touring with a troupe of Mini-Estrellas such as Octagoncito, Piratita Morgan and Tzuki. The group toured the United States, working for various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotions and showcasing the lucha libre and Mini-Estrella styles throughout the south-west. On September 20, 2009, Espantito faced Octagoncito for the vacant NWA World Midget's Championship at a Pro Wrestling Revolution (PWR) show, which saw Octagoncito win the match and the championship. The troupe of Mini-Estrellas would continue to use the NWA World Midget's Championship as part of their shows, promoting matches where Octagoncito would defend the championship against Espantito. Later on, when Pro Wrestling Revolution split from the NWA, the championship was re-branded the PWR World Midget's Championship, with Octagoncito defending it on occasion against Espectrito in various southern states. His last documented match took place at a Expo Lucha show on August 18, 2019, where he and Felinito lost to Mini Halcón and Payacito.

Legal rights to the Espanto name While several wrestlers have used the "Espanto" name over the years, El Hijo del Espanto I claims to have full rights to the use of the name "Espanto" in lucha libre, though his claim to the name did not seem all-inclusive as Espanto Jr. was featured on CMLL's roster. It is unclear if Espantito legally owned the name, or if that was what prevented the "Espantito II" name from being used more than once or twice.