Arturo Díaz Mendoza (March 23, 1952 – August 21, 2018), best known by his ring name Villano III (Spanish: "Villano Tercero"; English: "Villain the Third"), was a Mexican professional wrestler. A second-generation wrestler, he was the son of professional wrestler Ray Mendoza and the father of fellow professional wrestlers Villano III Jr. and El Hijo del Villano III. All five of the Díaz brothers used the Villano name; José de Jesús (Villano I), José Alfredo (Villano II), Tomás (Villano IV) and Raymundo (Villano V). Of the five Villanos, Arturo was considered the most successful in terms of championship and Lucha de Apuestas ("bet match") wins, as well as the most talented professional wrestler in the family. Due to health issues stemming from wrestling, he retired in 2015. A few days after his death, he was inducted in the AAA Hall of Fame.
During his 35-year career, Díaz was a featured performer for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and all major Mexican promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), as well as numerous notable smaller Mexican promotions like International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). Díaz was a masked professional wrestler until 2000, when he lost to Atlantis and had to unmask as a result. The match against Atlantis was later voted "Match of the Year" in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter year-end awards. In contrast, one of his last matches ever, which took place at Triplemanía XXIII, was voted the "worst match of the year" in 2015.
Professional wrestling career Arturo Díaz was born into a wrestling family; his father, Ray Mendoza, became a successful professional wrestler when Arturo was very young. His two older brothers, José de Jesús and José Alfredo, had begun wrestling in early 1969 when Arturo was just 17 years old. Arturo was trained both by his father and Felipe Ham Lee, a family friend, while also getting a degree in physical education in case professional wrestling did not work out for him. His debut on January 29, 1970 took place earlier than expected, as he was asked to replace someone who did not show up for a match. He was billed as "Ray Rosas" (Ray after his father and "Rosas" after the color of his wrestling attire) and worked without a mask.
To avoid revealing that he was the son of Ray Mendoza, Arturo began wrestling under various masked characters such as Pulpo Blanco (Spanish for "White Octopus") and Mancha Roja ("Red Stain"). At one point, he competed under the name Búfalo Salvaje ("Savage Buffalo"), which was used by his older brothers early in their careers when they worked as Búfalo Salvaje I and II. After several short-lived names, Arturo began wrestling as Rokambole, a name he would use for several years. The name would later be used by his younger brother Raymundo as well. In late 1970 or early 1971, his older brothers began wrestling as Villano I and Villano II, which they established as their permanent identity, creating what would later turn into a family tradition.
Universal Wrestling Association (1973–1994)
In 1973, Arturo's father and older brothers finally deemed him experienced enough to use the Villano name, taking the name Villano III ("Villano Tercero"). In 1975, Arturo's father joined with wrestling promoter Francisco Flores and investor Benjamín Mora Jr. to form a new wrestling promotion called Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), which was in direct competition with the company Ray Mendoza and Flores had worked for up until that point, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). One of the reasons behind the split was that Mendoza felt that EMLL was not giving his sons enough opportunities in the ring. All three Villanos followed their father to the newly formed UWA. While his brothers worked as a tag team, Villano III became a singles competitor and was pushed as one of its top stars, due to his father's influence and being labeled the Villanos' most talented wrestler. On December 14, 1975, Villano III won a tournament to became the inaugural UWA World Welterweight Champion, holding the championship until May 29, 1977, when he lost it to El Solar. He then moved from the welterweight division (with a maximum weight of ) to the light heavyweight division (with a maximum of ). On March 1, 1981, he defeated Fishman to win the UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost it in a rematch 140 days later.
In 1982, Villano III started a storyline feud against Los Misioneros de la Muerte ("The Missionaries of Death"; El Signo, El Texano and Negro Navarro). UWA officials noticed Villano III's increasing popularity and used the feud to make him a tecnico (a face, those that portray the good guys in wrestling). Afterwards, Villano III, Aníbal and El Solitario formed a trio called Los Tres Caballeros ("The Three Gentlemen"), who would go on to main event a series of sold-out UWA shows. His first major opponent after the turn was Perro Aguayo, starting a long-running, intense feud over the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, which the UWA promoted at the time. On March 20, 1983, Villano III defeated Aguayo to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, beginning the first of seven reigns for Villano III, tied with Aguayo for most reigns with that title. His first reign lasted 140 days before Aguayo regained the title. The feud between the two also saw Villano III defeat Aguayo in a hair vs. mask Lucha de Apuestas ("bet match") on August 21. Villano III won his second WWF Light Heavyweight Championship from Gran Hamada in 1985. His second title reign lasted 826 days, which is the longest of any WWF Light Heavyweight Champion in its history.
During the mid-1980s, his two younger brothers began using the names "Villano IV" and "Villano V", often teaming with Villano I. Over the following years, Villano III traded the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship with Aguayo, Rambo and Sangre Chicana. In 1991, Villano III began working against the young Canadian Pegasus Kid, who New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) sent to Mexico to train and gain experience. Villano III and Pegasus Kid had a series of matches throughout the year, which included Pegasus Kid winning the title from Villano III on March 3, 1991. Later that year, before the end of Pegasus Kid's learning excursion, Villano III defeated him in a Lucha de Apuestas, forcing him to unmask and reveal his real name: Chris Benoit. On July 18, 1994, Villano III defeated El Signo for his seventh and final reign with the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, which he vacated after the UWA closed in January 1995.
AAA (1995–1997) Following the closure of UWA in 1995, Los Villanos signed with Antonio Peña's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where they wrestled as a trios group, marking Villano III's transition from being primarily a singles wrestler to working more trios matches. In March 1996, Los Villanos defeated Cien Caras, Heavy Metal and Latin Lover to become the inaugural holders of the AAA Americas Trios Championship, a title created by Peña specifically for Los Villanos, as AAA did not have an active trios championship before. The team held the championship until November 19, when they lost to Los Oficiales (Guardia, Oficial and Vigilante), but regained it less than two months later. Los Villanos also became the first ever Mexican National Atómicos Champions, teaming with Pierroth Jr. to win the four-man team exclusive championship. By mid-1996, Villano IV and Villano V had begun working for the US-based World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1997, most of the wrestlers that worked for WCW split off from AAA to form Promo Azteca, which included the Villano brothers. By leaving AAA, Los Villanos vacated both the Americas Trios Championship and the Mexican National Atómicos Championship.
World Wrestling Council / Independent circuit (1997–1998) After his AAA departure, Villano III toured Puerto Rico several times in 1997 and 1998 for the World Wrestling Council (WWC). He began the tour on November 27, 1997, defeating Ricky Santana to win the WWC Puerto Rican Championship. Two days later, Santana regained the championship, which Villano III won back on December 21. Villano did not work in Puerto Rico between January and April, only returning to the island to lose the championship to Glamour Boy Shane at WWC's 25th Anniversary Show on August 1. He also worked on the independent circuit and made sporadic appearances for both Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Promo Azteca at the time. On July 18, 1998, Villano III was one of 32 wrestlers putting their masks on the line in a Ruleta de la Muerte ("Roulette of Death") tournament, where the losing teams advance and, in the end, the final team would face off in a Lucha de Apuestas. Villano III and his partner, Shocker, lost to Mil Máscaras and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in the first round, but defeated El Hijo del Santo and Guerrero del Futuro in the second round to preserve their masks.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1999–2002) In late 1998, Villano III began working almost exclusively for CMLL. On December 25, 1999, Villano III and Super Astro teamed up to wrestle against Lizmark and Fishman in a Relevos Suicidas. When Villano III and Super Astro lost, they were forced to wrestle against each other in a Lucha de Apuestas, in which Villano III was victorious and forced Super Astro to unmask.
On November 22, 1999, Villano III defeated Atlantis to win the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship. The title change was just one of the highlights of a long-running feud between Atlantis and Villano III, a feud that also included III's younger brothers Villano IV and Villano V, who no longer worked for WCW. On March 17, 2000, at Juicio Final ("Final Judgment"), Villano III was forced to unmask after losing to Atlantis in a critically acclaimed Lucha de Apuestas, which was voted the Wrestling Observer 2000 Match of the Year. In 2010, Súper Luchas Magazine suggested that this may have been the professional wrestling match of the decade for the 2000s.
Post-unmasking (2000–2017) A few months later, Villano III, IV and V defeated Escuadron de la Muerte ("The Death Squadron"; Cyborg Cop, Maniac Cop and Vader Cop) to win the IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship. Los Villanos still worked for CMLL, but they had a talent sharing arrangement with International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) that allowed Los Villanos to work for IWRG as well. Villano III's CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship reign ended on September 7, 2001, when he was pinned by Shocker. Following the title loss, Los Villanos worked more infrequently for CMLL, taking bookings both in IWRG and on the Mexican independent circuit. On March 21, 2002, Villano III's last title reign ended when Los Villanos were stripped of the IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship, as Villano V was injured and unable to defend the title. On July 30, 2005, Villano III teamed up with rookie wrestler Gallo Tapado Jr. for IWRG's La Copa Black Shadow tournament. The duo defeated the teams of El Matemático and Black Man Jr., Rambo and Bobby Lee Jr. and Brazo de Plata Jr. and Brazo de Oro to win the tournament.
In the latter half of the 2000s, Villano IV and V worked for CMLL on a regular basis, while Villano III's CMLL appearances were more sporadic, wrestling mainly on the independent circuit. Villano III frequently appeared in Lucha de Apuestas matches, having won the hair of Scorpio Jr. (twice), Brazo de Oro, Brazo de Platino and El Cobarde II during that time period, only losing one Apuesta to L.A. Park in a multi-man match on May 5, 2007, which resulted in the loss of his hair. Around 2010, Díaz's wrestling appearances were reduced, as he was dealing with both age and ring related ailments, working a much lighter schedule. 2013 saw him work eleven confirmed matches, and in 2014, he only competed in seven.