WWE recently unveiled the first 8 competitors who will participate in the upcoming 16-man United Kingdom Championship Tournament, and you might be wondering who many of them are.
Without further ado, here are five fast facts about one of the tournament’s most prolific competitors, El Ligero.
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5. He’s The Hardest Working Person In Professional Wrestling
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WWE Superstars maintain an insane schedule – but they’ve got nothing on El Ligero. While I can’t find an official count, he said in a 2017 Reddit AMA that he’d wrestled in 1,858 matches at that point – and he’s undoubtedly wrestled several hundred matches more by now. For example, In 2015 El Ligero wrestled 236 matches, more than anyone else in the world. In 2016, he wrestled every single day from July 6th to September 4th, racking up another 82 matches.
But El Ligero hasn’t just wrestled more matches than anyone else; he’s likely also wrestled in more countries than anyone else. According to his Wikipedia page, he’s wrestled in the United States, Italy, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Romania, and of course the UK, for over 100 different wrestling companies.
And in case you’re wondering, El Ligero does keep track of every match he’s had. As he explained in the AMA, “I’ve got a USB at home that I write everything down on and I keep notes on my phone after every match. No real reason other than competition with myself.”
4. He’s Held 39 Different Championships
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Given his insanely extensive resume, it’s really no surprise that El Ligero has, as of this writing, held 39 different championships across 32 different promotions. Most notably, El Ligero is a one-time Preston City Wrestling Cruiserweight Champion, one-time Progress Champion, two-time Progress Tag Team Champion, and three-time X Wrestling Alliance Flyweight Champion.
As of this writing, El Ligero holds three titles: the HOPE Wrestling Kings of Flight Championship, the Pro Wrestling Chaos Knights of Chaos Championship, and the Southside Wrestling Entertainment Tag Team Championship. Maybe he’ll add the WWE UK Championship to the list?
3. There’s A Rumor That There’s More Than One El Ligero
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It’s impossible for one man to wrestle so many matches. Isn’t it? Some people seem to believe so, and thus a rumor started that there’s more than one El Ligero. But El Ligero explained in 2017 that, remarkably, he is indeed just one man:
“It’s become more and more of a rumour over the last few months, I think the rumour started from a friend or a promoter I work for, and it’s just sorta snowballed! No truth to the rumour! I just have this weird desire to wrestle as much as possible and I’m lucky to be able to. I’m just an idiot who takes on as much work as possible!”
2. He Knew He Wanted To Be A Wrestler At 8 Years Old
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El Ligero stated in a 2016 interview that he first saw wrestling when he was just 8 years old, and he knew from that very moment it was what he wanted to do.
“I first saw wrestling when I was 8 years old. My dad borrowed a video of WWF WrestleMania 8 from a relative, and the first match I saw was Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice and I was immediately hooked on the sheer size of the guys involved, the massive crowds, the bright colours and all the drama and the rollercoaster they were taking the crowd on.”
El Ligero began training at age 15 and debuted at age 17, and – as you can clearly see – he hasn’t stopped wrestling 16 years later.
1. Kevin Owens Is One Of His Dream Opponents
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El Ligero has wrestled hundreds of opponents over the course of his extensive career, including Ultimo Dragon, El Generico (a.k.a. Sami Zayn), Johnny Gargano, Zack Sabre Jr., Will Ospreay, and Cody Rhodes, just to name a few. But he revealed that one person he’d love to wrestle is Kevin Owens. According to El Ligero, “It nearly happened before [Owens] got signed [by WWE] and it was a match he asked for, but it never came off unfortunately.”
Could it happen now? Never say never.
Are you a fan of El Ligero’s? Are you excited to see him in the WWE UK Championship Tournament? Share your comments below!