Flama Negra

Over the years there were different Flamas or "Flames": wrestling in Arizona. There was Flama Roja from Juarez and Flama Azul.from Caborca. Another Flama, Flama Negra or Black Flama, came out of Nogales in 1987 and wrestled for about a decade in Arizona. Migrating back and forth, he became a top draw on both sides of the border.

In the Pheonix area, Flama Negra had matches with The Black Mamba, Sergeant Shultz, Special Forces and others. In many ways, however, he was not your typical luchador.Though he did all the fancy lucha moves, he was also capable in the American style and could give an opponent quite a brawl when provoked. To win his matches, one of his favorite moves was the leap off the top rope a la Mil Mascaras.

On the Mexican side of the border, he had a torrid feud with the villainous Pedro El Bello (sort of a Mexican Adrian Street). Their matches ended up invariably blood baths with both men slamming each other into chairs, tables and walls.

For whatever reason, this feud was never played up in Arizona.

Instead, Eruption, a rotund luchador from Texas with red tights and a golden mask, became the focal point of his dislike. The two men met in several matches in Phoenix and the suburbs, Usually, Eruption would win the matches where they were pitted against each other, by the use of a pair of brass knuckles or other illegal objects. The feud ended when Eruption had a nonfatal heart atatck that was still bad enough to force him from the ring and send him back to the sign shop he owned in Phoenix.

Flama Negra eventually returned to Nogales and retire din 2002.