Sergio Emilio Charles Garduño (October 12, 1956 – December 28, 2012) was a Mexican luchador (or professional wrestler), who is best known under the ring name Emilio Charles Jr. Over the years, Charles worked for all of the major Mexican professional wrestling promotions, including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Asistencia Asesoría y Administración and International Wrestling Revolution Group.
He is also one of the founding members of the wrestling group called Los Destructores ("the Destroyers"), along with Vulcano and Tony Arce. He was also a key member of the group Los Guapos ("the Handsome Ones"), as well as a group called Los Talibanes (the Taliban), both with longtime wrestling partners and friends Scorpio Jr. and Bestia Salvaje.
Personal life
Sergio Emilio Charles Garduño was born on October 12, 1956, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. His father was a professional wrestler in the 1940s and 1950, and was known under the ring name Emilio Charles.
Professional wrestling career
While his father was a professional wrestler, Emilio Charles Jr. was not trained by him; instead, he was trained by Diablo Velasco and Abuelo Carrillo before making his debut in February 1980.
Los Destructores (1987–1990) In the mid-1980s, he joined up with the real life-brother tag team of Tony Arce and Vulcano, to form a trio known as Los Destructores ("the Destroyers"). The group was created in the same vein as Los Infernales, a trio of rudos (bad guys) who worked well together and could produce top-quality matches with a variety of opponents. On January 31, 1988, Los Destructores defeated Hombre Bala, Jerry Estrada, and Pirata Morgan to win the Mexican National Trios Championship. Los Destructores held the titles for almost two years and had a series of championship defenses that drew packed houses all over Mexico. While teaming with Arce and Vulcano, Charles also worked as a singles wrestler, including a long drawn-out storyline with Atlantis. The storyline saw Charles win the NWA World Middleweight Championship from Atlantis on July 17, 1988, only to lose it back to him eleven days later. Charles became a two time NWA Middleweight champion on August 12, 1988, when he defeated Atlantis for the title once more. His run as a double champion ended on April 28, 1989, when Ángel Azteca won the Middleweight title. On November 20, 1989, Los Destructores lost the trios title to Black Terry, Jose Luis Feliciano, and Shu El Guerrero. Not long after the title loss, Charles left Los Destructores, who decided to replace him with Rocco Valente instead.
On August 30, 1990, Charles defeated Javier Cruz to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship, holding it until November 20, when he lost the belt to Octagón. Charles remained active in the Middleweight division for over three years, defeating El Dandy to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship on December 16, 1992. He held the championship for almost ten months before Dandy regained the title on October 5, 1993.
Los Chacales (1995–1996) In early 1995, Charles formed a trio with Bestia Salvaje and Sangre Chicana, referred to as Los Chacales (Spanish for "The Jackals"). The trio was one of eight teams competing in the Salvador Lutteroth Trios Tournament in March 1994. Los Chacales defeated La Ola Blanca (Dr. Wagner Jr., Gran Markus Jr., and El Hijo del Gladiador) in the opening round, Dos Caras, El Dandy, and Héctor Garza in semifinals, and finally Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro, Brazo de Plata, and El Brazo) in the finals of the one-night tournament. The following week, Los Chacales defeated La Ola Blanca to win the CMLL World Trios Championship, becoming the sixth overall championship team. Los Chacales' reign as CMLL World Trios Champions lasted 357 days, before they lost it to Dos Caras, La Fiera, and Héctor Garza at the first Homenaje a Salvador Lutteroth show on March 22, 1996.