Wikipedia

Diamante (male wrestler)

For the performer who formerly competed for Impact Wrestling, see Diamante (female wrestler). For the second man to use the ring name "Príncipe Diamante" in CMLL, see Diamond (wrestler).

Luis Meza Casas (born February 14, 1992), better known by the ring name Diamante, is a Mexican professional wrestler and former enmascarado predominantly working for Dragongate under the ring name Luis Mante. He is best known for his work in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he portrayed a tecnico ("good guy") wrestling character.[1] His former ring name is Spanish for Diamond.

Diamante
Mante in July 2024
Born (1992-02-14) February 14, 1992 (age 32)[1]
Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico[2]
FamilyNegro Casas (father-in-law)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Aero Boy
As Charro
As de Diamantes
As charro jr.
Charly Meza
Diamante
El Diamante
Luis Mante
Príncipe Diamante
Billed height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Billed weight96 kg (212 lb)[2]
Billed fromMonclova, Mexico
Trained byRubén el Águila sureña [2]
El Astuto[2]
El Satánico[2]
Franco Colombo[2]
Último Dragón
DebutApril 17, 2005[1]

On July 2, 2023, at Dragongate's Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival, Diamante was unmasked following the event's Luchas de Apuestas 5-way main event; he had been teased to lose his mask by former Z-Brats partner and stable leader Shun Skywalker prior to the match, to which he fell against Skywalker after he escaped the cage in the final fall of the match.[3]

Professional wrestling career

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Early career

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See also: Casas wrestling family

The wrestler later known as Diamante made his debut at a very early age, initially working as Chamaco Meza ("Kid" Meza) and also worked as Aero Boy early on, working primarily in Nuevo León. Later on he adopted a new ring name and image as Príncipe Diamante ("Prince Diamond"). He worked for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide at the age of just 16, wrestling at the 2008 Rey de Reyes show teaming with Street Boy and Tigre Cota to defeat Black Mamba, Rio Bravo and Tito Santana.[4]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2009–2013; 2017–2018)

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As Jr.

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Príncipe Diamante signed a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in the summer of 2009 and initially worked under the name "As Jr." (Ace Junior), although it was never clear which "Ace" he was supposed to be the son of.[5]

Diamante

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After working as As Jr. for a few months he had his ring name changed to "Diamante", not revealing that he worked as As Jr. until years later. As Diamante he made his in-ring debut for CMLL on August 17, 2009.[1] The first sign of Diamante's potential in CMLL came on June 16, 2010, when he entered in the 2010 torneo Gran Alternativa, where a rookie and a "veteran" wrestler teamed up for a tag team tournament. Diamante teamed with La Sombra for the tournament; together they defeated Cancerbero and Mephisto in the first round, Inquisidor and Atlantis in the second round, but lost to the team of Hector Garza and Pólvora in the semi-final round.[6] The following month Diamante was one of 12 wrestlers to risk their match in CMLL's Infierno en el Ring main event, a steel cage match where the last man would be forced to unmask. Diamante was the 8th man to leave the ring and watched as Ángel de Oro defeated Fabián el Gitano, forcing him to unmask.[7] Diamante teamed up with Ángel de Oro and Rush to defeat Metal Blanco, Palacio Negro and Sagrado in the finals of a two-week-long tournament to become the number one contenders to the Mexican National Trios Championship.[8] On January 9, the trio defeated Delta, Metro and Stuka Jr. to become the new champions.[9] Weeks after winning the Trios championship Diamante entered the annual Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles, a tournament that featured teams of wrestlers who do not usually team up, in fact most of the teams are on opposite sides of the Tecnico/Rudo (Fan favorite/villain) divide.[10] Diamante teamed with the rudo Volador Jr. and made it into the semi-finals of the tournament by defeating Stuka Jr. and Ephesto as well as La Sombra and Misterioso Jr., but were defeated by eventual tournament winners Máscara Dorada and Atlantis in the semi-finals.[11] At the 2011 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to Two Legends") show Diamante teamed up with two-thirds of the team he won the Trios title from as he, Metro and Stuka Jr. defeated Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Raziel and Euforia) and Okumura in one of the mid card matches on the show.[12]

CMLL held a Forjando un Ídolo (Spanish for "Forgin an idol") tournament in April and May 2011, with the purpose of identifying which of the 16 "Rookies" in the tournament would move up the ranks of the promotion. The tournament consisted of two rounds, first a round-robin group round, with the top 2 in each of the four groups competing in an elimination tournament. Diamante won his block by defeating all three opponents (Hijo del Signo, Hombre Bala Jr., Puma King), advancing to the second round.[13] Diamante lost in the first match of the second round to Fuego and was eliminated from the tournament.[14] Afterwards CMLL kept the Forjando un Ídolo concept going with a four team Trios tournament called Forjando un Ídolo: La Guerra Continúa (Forging an Idol: The War Continues"), which saw the coach of each group team up with the two finalist for the groups. Diamante and Hijo del Signo teamed up with Negro Casas (called Grupo Bravo) and made it all the way to the finals, only to lose to Grupo Charly (Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr. and Delta).[15] Being a reigning CMLL Champion, Diamante was one of 16 champions who competed for the 2011 CMLL Universal Championship in September 2011. Diamante defeated Pólvora in the first round, but lost to La Sombra in the second.[16] Diamante, Ángel de Oro and Rush's Mexican National Trios reign came to an end after 254 days, when Los Invasores (Olímpico, Psicosis and Volador Jr.) defeated them for the championship.[17] Diamante entered the 2011 Torneo Gran Alternativa, teaming up with La Sombra again, the first team to enter two years in a row.[18] In the first round they defeated Atlantis and Fuego, in the second round they defeated Hijo del Signo and Mr. Niebla, before losing to eventual tournament winners Escorpión and Último Guerrero in the semi-final match.[19] He also appeared on the CMLL 78th Anniversary Show, CMLL's biggest show of the year, in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2011 Leyenda de Plata ("Silver Legend") tournament.[20] Diamante made his first trip to Japan in January, 2012 appearing on two jointly promoted shows between CMLL and Japanese based New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) called Fantastica Mania. On the first night Diamante teamed up with Japanese natives Jushin Thunder Liger and Tetsuya Naito defeated Mephisto, Shinsuke Nakamura, Yujiro Takahashi.[21][22] On the second night Diamante, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naito lost to Mephisto, Takahashi and Kazuchika Okada.[23][24] In March 2012, CMLL repackaged Metro, giving him a new blue and white mask and outfit, and changing his name to "Diamante Azul", which led to some confusion since CMLL already had a wrestler using the ring name "Diamante" on their roster.[25][26] After being unsuccessful in the Forjando un Ídolo tournament in 2011, Diamante entered CMLL's En Busca de un Ídolo ("In search of an Idol") in early 2012, a tournament with a similar concept, this time with eight wrestlers contending for the trophy. Diamante qualified for the second round of the tournament with three wins and one loss. The second round was less successful for Diamante as he ended last, with two losses, but the major development took place in his last tournament match where he debut a new mask and trunk design, a silver and black scheme very reminiscent of Lucha libre legends El Santo and El Hijo del Santo and Axxel, one of El Santo's grandsons.[27][28][29] Diamante participated in the 2012 Leyenda de Azul tournament, but was outlasted by tournament winner Diamante Azul.[30] On July 12, 2012, Diamante and Misterioso Jr. were the last two survivors in a torneo cibernetico, qualifying for a match for the vacant Occidente Heavyweight Championship.[31] The following week Diamante defeated Misterioso Jr. to win his first singles championship.[32] Diamante held the title for just under two months, losing it to Olímpico on September 18, 2012.[33] In January 2013, Diamante returned to Japan to take part in the three-day Fantastica Mania 2013 event. During the first night on January 18, he teamed with Bushi and Ryusuke Taguchi in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Rey Escorpión, Tomohiro Ishii and Yujiro Takahashi.[34] The following night, Diamante and Máscara Dorada were defeated in a tag team match by Mephisto and Okumura.[35] During the third and final night, Diamante took part in a twelve-man torneo cibernetico, from which he was the sixth man eliminated by Okumura and which was eventually won by Tomohiro Ishii.[36] Diamante was one of 16 wrestlers to compete for a spot in the finale of the 2013 Reyes del Aire tournament in a torneo cibernetico elimination match. He was the seventh math eliminated as he was pinned by Niebla Roja.[37][38] By the end of 2013, Diamante stopped working for CMLL, either in general or under that name. He made a brief return in 2017 and 2018, with each time wrestling three matches for the promotion, either under the Diamante or Príncipe Diamante ring name.[39][40]

Mexican independent circuit (2015–2017)

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After either not wrestling at all from the winter of 2013 and all of 2014, or working under a different masked identity that has not been revealed, Diamante resurfaced on the Mexican independent circuit in 2015, working a couple of matches under the "Diamante" name before taking the name "As Charro" ("Ace Horseman"), not to be mistaken for the original As Charro who was active from 1963 to 1994.[41] On May 15, 2016, he won his first title under the "As Charro" name, teaming with El Hijo de Máscara Sagrada to defeat Los Nuevos Asesinos del Ring (El Canek Jr. and El Hijo de Fishman) for the CWF Tag Team Championship.[42] On July 3, he and El Hijo de Máscara Sagrada made their first defence of the title, in a three-way match, defeating the pairings of Histeria and Infector and Psicosis and Psicosis Jr.[43] Their second defence of the title was on September 3 against Bandido and Emperador Azteca, but As Charro was absent, and was replaced by Golden Magic.[44] The title has not been defended since, but As Charro and El Hijo de Máscara Sagrada remain the tag team champions.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2017–2018)

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Diamante began touring with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in August 2017. On August 27, at the AJPW 45th Anniversary show, he was defeated in a showcase match against Carístico.[45] He returned in November 2018, working tag team matches alongside Sam Adonis and Dylan James, and of the four matches he wrestled, he was on the winning side twice.[46]

Dragon Gate (2019–present)

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In August 2019, Diamante began touring with Dragon Gate. He was announced as being the newest member of the heel stable R.E.D. He made his debut on August 7, during The Gate Of Adventure tour, alongside Kazma Sakamoto and Takashi Yoshida, defeating MaxiMuM (Dragon Kid, Jason Lee and Kaito Ishida).[47] On December 15, at Final Gate, Diamante, Yoshida and H.Y.O defeated Strong Machine Gundan (Strong Machine J, Strong Machine F and Strong Machine G) and Natural Vibes (Kzy, Genki Horiguchi and Susumu Yokosuka) in a three-way match to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship.[48] Shortly afterwards, Diamante was involved in a "Generation War" storyline, when following on from Último Dragón's ongoing feud with R.E.D, the wrestlers who were trained by Dragón joined him to fight against the stable. This led to wrestlers who were trained in the Dragon Gate dojo to band together and suspend the stables they were in as well, in order to establish the superior generation. On February 7, during the Truth Gate tour, Diamante, Yoshida and H.Y.O were defeated by Team Toryumon (Dragon Kid, Kenichiro Arai and Ryo Saito) in a three-way match, also involving Team Dragon Gate (Keisuke Okuda, Strong Machine J and Yosuke♥Santa Maria), ending their reign at 55 days.[49] At King of Gate, he defeated Dragon Kid in the first round,[50] Yosuke♥Santa Maria in the second round,[51] before being defeated by Yamato in the quarter-finals.[52]

Championships and accomplishments

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Luchas de Apuestas record

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See also: Luchas de Apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Diamante (mask) Bokutimo Dragon (mask) Tokyo The Gate of Passion 2021 April 9, 2021
Diamante (mask) Dragon Dia (mask) Tokyo Fantastic Gate 2021 December 1, 2021 [note 1]
Shun Skywalker (mask) Diamante (mask) Kobe Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023 July 2, 2023 [note 2]

Notes

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  1. ^ This was a tag team match where Diamante was teamed with Dia Inferno and Dragon Dia was teamed with Shun Skywalker.
  2. ^ This was a five-way steel cage match also involving Dragon Kid, Strong Machine J, and Último Dragón.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. "Tecnico: Diamante". Fuego en el Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Participantes: Tecnicos Diamante" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012.
  3. ^ Angelita, Dark (4 July 2023). "Diamante: "Siento que perdí la vida" | Superluchas". Superluchas. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion Rey de Reyes Tournament". ProWrestlingHistory.com. March 16, 2008. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  5. ^ "As Charro matches in 2009". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Rivera, Manuel (April 17, 2010). "Resultados Arena México (16 abril 10): ¡Pólvora, primer finalista de La Gran Alternativa! ¡Felino venció a Místico!". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  7. ^ Rivera, Manuel (July 19, 2010). "CMLL: Infierno en el Ring (18 julio 2010): ¡Fabián el Gitano pierde la máscara!". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  8. ^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (January 3, 2011). "Arena México (resultados 2 de enero del 2011) Ángel de Oro, Rush y Diamante son los retadores oficiales del campeonato nacional de tercias". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  9. ^ a b Ruiz Glez, Alex (January 10, 2011). "Arena México (resultados domingo 9 de enero del 2011) Rush, Diamante y Ángel de Oro nuevos campeones nacionales de tercias". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Arena México (viernes 18 de febrero) Análisis de las parejas del Segundo Torneo Nacional de parejas increíbles". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). February 18, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  11. ^ Redaccion Medio Tiempo (February 19, 2010). "¿Alvarado vs. Hijos del Averno por las cabelleras?". MedioTiemp (in Spanish). Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  12. ^ "Pelones Súper Porky y Máximo" (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo. March 19, 2011. Archived from the original on March 21, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  13. ^ Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. "fase de grupos". Forjando un Idolo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  14. ^ Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. "fase de eliminacion". Forjando un Idolo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  15. ^ Elías, Agustín (June 24, 2011). "Grupo Charly, Campeón en FUI". Récord. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  16. ^ Hernández, Diego (September 3, 2011). "Sombra pasa a la Final". Récord (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 27, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  17. ^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (September 20, 2011). "Tenemos nuevos campeones nacionales de Tercias". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  18. ^ "CMLL Gran Alternativa #6". ProWrestlingHistory.com. April 2, 1999. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  19. ^ Ruiz Glez, Alex (March 26, 2011). "Arena México (resultados 25 de marzo) Último Guerrero y Escorpión a la final de la gran alternativa 2011 ¿Goto y Rush inician rivalidad?". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  20. ^ González, Fernando (October 1, 2011). "Lyger por la Leyenda de Plata". Récord (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  21. ^ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 21, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  22. ^ Soy Rudo (January 21, 2012). "NJPW-CMLL: Resultados "Fantasticamania 2012″ día 1". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  23. ^ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2012". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  24. ^ Soy Rudo (January 22, 2012). "NJPW-CMLL: Resultados "Fantasticamanía 2012″ Día 2". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  25. ^ "Imagen: El debut de Diamante Azul en la Arena México". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). March 3, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  26. ^ The Cubs Fan (February 16, 2012). "Negro Casas vs Blue Panther, Diamante Azul" (in Spanish). The Lucha Blog. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  27. ^ Redacción Mediotiempo (June 16, 2012). "Black Warrior y compania humilan de nuevo". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  28. ^ "Picture of Diamante". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). November 6, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  29. ^ "Picture of Axxel". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). February 7, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
  30. ^ "La Leyenda Azule 2012 es para... DIamante Azul". Súper Luchas Magazine (in Spanish). October 12, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  31. ^ Gutierrez, Ana (July 16, 2012). "MISTERIOSO QUIERE VOLVER A SER CAMPEÓN DE OCCIDENTE". Fuego en el Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  32. ^ a b "Notifuego 23/07/2012". Fuego en el Ring (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. July 23, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  33. ^ Gutierrez, Ana. "OLÍMPICO, ORGULLOSO Y DIGNO CAMPEÓN". Fuego en el Ring (in Spanish).
  34. ^ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2013". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  35. ^ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2013". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  36. ^ "NJPW Presents CMLL Fantastica Mania 2013". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  37. ^ "Resultados Arena México Viernes 15 de Febrero '13". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). February 15, 2013. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  38. ^ "La Sombra, Rey del Aire 2013". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  39. ^ "Diamante/Príncipe Diamante matches in 2017". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  40. ^ "Diamante/Príncipe Diamante matches in 2018". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  41. ^ "As Charro matches in 2015". Cagematch. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  42. ^ "CWF". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  43. ^ "CWF Summer Party 2016". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  44. ^ "Wrestling In Pachuca". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  45. ^ "AJPW 45th Anniversary". Cagematch. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  46. ^ "Diamante AJPW matches in 2018". Cagematch. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  47. ^ "Dragon Gate The Gate Of Adventure 2019 - Tag 4". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  48. ^ "Dragon Gate Final Gate 2019". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  49. ^ "Dragon Gate Truth Gate 2020 - Tag 4". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  50. ^ "Dragon Gate King Of Gate 2020 - Tag 1". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  51. ^ "Dragon Gate King Of Gate 2020 - Tag 4". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  52. ^ "Dragon Gate King Of Gate 2020 - Tag 7". Cagematch. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  53. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "CWF Tag Team Championship". CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  54. ^ Wrestling Titles. "Open the Dream Gate Title". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  55. ^ "Dragon Gate Dead Or Alive 2022". The Internet Wrestling Database. May 5, 2022. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  56. ^ "Diamante vuelve a ser Campeón de Tríos en Dragon Gate". Mas Luchas (in Spanish). September 21, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  57. ^ Ross, Patrick (September 10, 2024). "Full 2024 PWI 500 list revealed". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
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