El Violín
El Violín was the masked high-flyer of The Midnight Maracas, the mariachi luchador tag team he formed with El Guitarrón. He worked the GWA from 1968 to 1989.
El Violín was the masked high-flyer of The Midnight Maracas, the mariachi luchador tag team he formed with El Guitarrón. A gymnast before he wrestled, he worked the GWA from 1968 to 1989 in the Rio Grande Valley, Mexico, the Pacific Coast, the Gulf Coast and the Great Plains.
AT A GLANCE
- Ring name: El Violín
- Team: The Midnight Maracas, with El Guitarrón
- Active: 1968 to 1989
- Territories: Rio Grande Valley, Mexico, Pacific Coast, Gulf Coast, Great Plains
- Eras: Frontier, Expansion, Golden, Traditions
- Signature moves: Violin Dive, String Theory
- Team finisher: The Mariachi Sleepover, with El Guitarrón
CAREER
Joining the GWA (1967 to 1968)
Buck "Sagebrush" Thompson found the Maracas in 1967 at the offices of XEOJ-AM, a radio station in Ojinaga, Mexico, where the two were performing. They debuted for the GWA in 1968 in the Rio Grande Valley and took dates in Mexico from the start.
Rio Grande Valley and Mexico (1968 to 1975)
In 1972 the Maracas met The Renegade Riders in the match fans voted Match of the Year. Tommy Tucker kicked out of the Mariachi Sleepover that night, the one wrestler who ever did.
Pacific Coast (1976 to 1977)
In 1976 and 1977 the Maracas worked the Pacific Coast loop: the Wednesday cards at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, plus the Cow Palace, San Diego, Oakland and Long Beach. They opened cards and won their tag matches against Pete Donovan, Red Dragon Li Fang, Ken Coyote and Dev Singh Randhawa. Some nights the two partners wrestled each other in the opener.
At the 1977 Great Western Grand Tag Team Round-up they beat Southern Comfort, "The Gentleman" James Montgomery and "Bayou" Benny Lacroix.
Gulf Coast and Great Plains (1978 to 1989)
From 1978 the team worked the Gulf Coast, then returned to the Rio Grande Valley. In the summer of 1982 they met The Serpent Twins. The last match between the teams ended in a disqualification win for the Maracas when one of the Twins used a weapon.
From 1984 the Maracas worked the Great Plains, and they finished in 1989 on spot shows in Great Plains cities. Both men had their last matches that year.
IN THE RING
His mask is silver with white trim around the eyes and mouth, a black treble clef on the forehead and black violin f-holes under each eye, laced in black down the back. For the walk to the ring he wore a black charro suit with silver embroidery, a white bow at the throat and an oversized silver belt buckle. He wrestled in black charro-cut tights with silver scrollwork down the leg and black boots. The Maracas came to the ring to "Guadalajara" by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.
He was the speed of the team, a high-flyer and a technician, where El Guitarrón was the power. He won with roll-ups and a crossbody from the second rope. His top-rope dive was the Violin Dive, and his submission hold was String Theory. In the Mariachi Sleepover, El Guitarrón held his man in a powerbomb and El Violín splashed down from the top rope.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
The Maracas opened their interviews in Spanish and English.
"¡Viva la música, viva la lucha!"
"Con corazón y coraje."
LEGACY
The Maracas never won the GWA Tag Team Championship. Fans voted them Fan Favorite Team of the Year in 1972, and the GWA gave them its Cultural Ambassadors Award in 1976 and Lifetime Achievement recognition in 1992.
More GWA wrestler profiles.
The Midnight Maracas: Con Corazón
The Midnight Maracas: Con Corazón T-Shirt
Garment-dyed heavyweight cotton tee from GWP Workshop, the official Great Western Productions store.
