Huracán Ramírez

Daniel García Arteaga (April 9, 1926 – October 31, 2006), best known under the ring name Huracán Ramírez (English: "Hurricane Ramírez"), was a Mexican professional wrestler and actor. García was neither the first, nor the last, professional wrestler to work under the name "Huracán Ramírez". He was given the name in the mid-1950s, when the wrestler who originally played Huracán in the 1953 film Huracán Ramírez decided to give up the role in the ring because he no longer wanted to obscure his face with the mask. Thus, García became the second wrestler to wrestle in the ring under the Huracán identity.

During his career, his true identity was a closely guarded secret except to his closest family and friends, more closely guarded that any other professional wrestler of that period. Following his retirement the "Huracán Ramírez" name and mask has been used by others, primarily because García did not own the rights to the name and the mask.

García, as Huracán Ramírez, was considered one of the most talented professional wrestlers of his time and one of the most iconic professional wrestlers of all time alongside figures such as El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras. He invented and popularized a move called the/la Huracánrana, a move that is now commonly used by smaller, high flying professional wrestlers all over the world. During his career he worked as "Huracán Ramírez" in at least five of the eight movies in the Huracán Ramírez movie series, starting with the second one in 1962. He also played the part of Santo in a biographical movie produced by Santo's son El Hijo del Santo.

Personal life

Daniel García Arteaga was born on April 9, 1926, in Mexico City's El barrio bravo de Tepito district to Juan García and Encarnación Arteaga de García. Daniel was the fifth of six sons all together, Arturo, Rodolfo, Guillermo, Juan, Daniel and Miguel. His mother's family had a long history in Amateur wrestling and a large number of people from Tepito became well known boxers or martial artists. Three of his older brothers became professional wrestlers, Arturo was known under the ring name "La Panter Roja" ("The Red Panther") and later "El Catedrático", Rodolfo wrestled as "Rudy García" and Guillermo worked under the name El Demonio Rojo ("The Red Demon"). Originally Daniel García tried to become a full-time boxer, but due to his small stature, he was never successful.

Daniel García married his first wife, Chaly Alvarenga from El Salvador, in 1957; a few years later they had a daughter named Sandra García Alvarenga. In 1969, he met his second wife Eulalia Fernández during a tour of Bolivia. She moved with García to Mexico City after their marriage, where she would work at the Bolivian Embassy in Mexico City for many years. Together they had one daughter, Karla García Fernández. Karla is married to professional wrestler Axxel, the grandson of El Santo (who was one of García's closest friends).

Professional wrestling career García's family finally allowed him to become a professional wrestler after having trained for it for years, letting him follow in the footsteps of his older brothers. He started out as the masked character "El Buitre Blanco" (The White Vulture), a rudo character (wrestlers who portray the bad guys), the only time in his career that he worked as a rudo. He would at times also work as the unmasked "Chico García" (Kid García), named after his boyish looks. When the wrestler who played the "Huracán Ramírez" role, Eduardo Bonada, wanted to stop wrestling under a mask, the Rodríguez' decided to quietly audition for a new wrestler to take over the mask in the ring. The audition included a number of wrestlers such as Octavio Gaona Jr., Memo Rubio, Marco Carta and Daniel García. The older Rodríguez picked García due to his high flying skills, while his son wanted to go with Marco Carta. In the end García was given the character. Garcia did not have to pay the Rodríguez' for use of the character in the ring, but he was also not entitled to any of the proceeds from the movies or any merchandise the Rodríguez family sold. García's smooth, high flying wrestling style quickly earned him the name El Príncipe de Seda ("The Silk Prince") and it including popularizing a move that became known as the Huracanrana (or "Hurricanrana" in English speaking countries), named after the character. His style of wrestling was so unconventional that fans often commented that he did not actually know how to wrestle, just jump around in the ring, which led García to adopt a ground-based wrestling style to prove that he could wrestle, and that he just chose to work a different style. By the early 1960s, García had become synonymous with the character, making the "wrestling character" so popular that the Rodríguez decided to produce more "Huracán Ramírez" movies, this time with García performing the wrestling scenes. From 1962 to 1973, García appeared in five "Huracán Ramírez" movies. At the time García and Mas were close friends, so close that García initially offered his services for a new photo-montage-style comic book about Huracán Ramírez for free in exchange for an eventual share of the profits. When the comic book became a big success, García approached Rodriguez Mas for a share of the profits, but his request was denied. NWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time) Mexican Local promotions Mexican Northern Middleweight Championship (1 time) Stampede Wrestling Alberta Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Roberto Pico Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Chet Wallick (1) and Jim Wright (1) NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) (2 times) - with Roberto Pico (1) and Chet Wallick (1)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotesHuracán Ramírez (mask) Halcón de Oro (mask) N/A Live event N/A Huracán Ramírez (mask) La Tarántula (mask) Guatemala Live event Huracán Ramírez (mask) El Greco (hair) Cuautitlán, Mexico State Live event

Filmography

Footnotes