Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza (born January 8, 1982) is a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler best known by the ring name La Máscara for his time working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and was the co-founder and leader of Los Mercenarios (alongside El Hijo del Fantasma, Rey Escorpión, and Texano Jr.).
Alvarado worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) since 2001 until 2017, during that time he won several championships including the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, CMLL World Tag Team Championship, CMLL World Trios Championship, NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, Mexican National Trios Championship, and Mexican National Welterweight Championship. Alvarado is a founding member of Los Ingobernables along with Rush and La Sombra.
Alvarado is the son of Jesús Alvarado Nieves, better known under the name Brazo de Oro, and the promotion acknowledges the relationship. many of the Alvarado family have been, or currently are professional wrestlers, including family patriarch Shadito Cruz and uncles who worked under the ring names Brazo de Plata, El Brazo, Brazo Cibernético. Brazo de Platino and Súper Brazo. Many of Felipe Alvarado's cousins are also wrestlers including Psycho Clown, Máximo Sexy and Goya Kong among others. Alvarado originally used the name Brazo de Oro Jr. ("Golden Arm Jr.) after his father.
Personal life
Felipe de Jesús Alvarado Mendoza was born on January 8, 1982, son of Jesús Alvarado Nieves and grandson of Juan Alvarado Ibarra, better known under the professional wrestling ring name Shadito Cruz. Jesús Alvarado and five of his brothers had following in Shadito Cruz's footsteps and all became professional wrestlers as well. Jesús Alvarado was the oldest brother and became known as Brazo de Oro ('Golden Arm") while his brothers would be known as Brazo de Plata ('Silver Arm"), El Brazo ("The Arm"), Brazo Cibernético ("Cyborg Arm"), Brazo de Platino ("Platinum Arm") and Súper Brazo. for a while Jesús Alvarado was married to Sandra González Calderón, better known as Lady Apache, Felipe Alvarado's step mother. Growing up Felipe Alvarado and several of his cousins would often attend wrestling events together, which led to Felipe and his cousins José Christian Alvarado (later known as Máximo) and the wrestler later known as Psycho Clown (real name unrevealed). Several of his cousins would later follow them into the wrestling business such as Robin, Goya Kong, Muñeca de Plata, Brazo Cibernetico Jr. and Brazo Celestial. Over the years several wrestler have paid to use the "Brazo" name, leading to some confusion and uncertainty to how many Alvarado family members have actually been professional wrestlers; it has been confirmed that Brazo Metálico, Brazo Jr. and Andros de Plata were not related to the Alvarado family.
Professional wrestling career
Felipe Alvarado received most of his early training from his father, often in the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ("World Wrestling Council"; CMLL) where his father served as a trainer for several CMLL trainees.
Brazo de Oro Jr. (2000-2005) After his initial training, Felipe Alvarado would make his official wrestling debut on April 2, 2000, using the ring name "Brazo de Oro Jr.", wearing the same mask design as his father. As Brazo de Oro Jr. he often teamed up with his cousins (José Christian Alvarado and his brother) who worked as Brazo de Platino Jr. and Brazo de Plata Jr. respectively, collectively referred to as Los Brazos Junior. The trio worked primarily for CMLL, normally in the early parts of the shows as they gained in-ring experience. During the summer of 2002 Brazo de Oro Jr. was involved in his first significant storyline feud against a local wrestler on Oaxaca known as Némesis. On August 24, 2002, Brazo de Oro Jr. defeated Némesis in a Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", after which Némesis was forced to unmask. In Lucha libre the Lucha de Apuestas matches are generally considered more prestigious than winning a championship. Through CMLL's working relationship with International Wrestling Revolution Group Los Brazos Junior worked several major shows for that promotion. Including the Arena Naucalpan 26th Anniversary Show on December 21, 2003, where they defeated the trio of Angel de Tijuana and Los Megas (Mega and Ultra Mega). and the subsequent IWRG 8th Anniversary Show on January 1, 2004, where they defeated Los Comandos (Comando Alfa, Comando Delta and Comando Gama).