Genaro Vázquez Nevarez (born September 18, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler and trainer, best known under his ring name Blue Panther. He made his in-ring debut in 1978. Since then, he has worked for most major Mexican professional wrestling promotions, including the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración (AAA). He was one of the first wrestlers to leave CMLL for AAA when it was created in 1992, but returned to CMLL in 1997 where he has competed ever since.
Vázquez's two oldest sons, known as Blue Panther Jr. and Black Panther, are also professional wrestlers, working for CMLL since 2013. A third son referred to as El Hijo de Blue Panther has been introduced to the audience but has not made his in-ring debut. He was the first CMLL World Middleweight Champion and has won the Mexican National Middleweight Championship twice, the CMLL World Trios Championship twice and the Mexican National Trios Championship. He also won the 1999 Torneo Gran Alternativa and the 2000 Leyenda de Plata tournaments.
In his career, he has won the mask of such notable wrestlers as Black Man, Lizmark Jr. and Love Machine. In 2008, he lost his own mask to Villano V and has since had his hair shaved off as a result of losses to Averno and Sam Adonis. Vázquez opened his own gym in the early 1990s, where he was one of the first Mexican professional wrestling trainers to train both men and women.
Professional wrestling career
Early Career (1978–1981) Blue Panther began wrestling in northern Mexico in the late 1970s before getting noticed by wrestler and promoter René Guajardo in Monterrey. During his initial years in Monterrey, Blue Panther was given several opportunities to show off his in-ring skills and work higher profile matches, in particular with Lucha de Apuestas ("Bet match") wins where he defeated and unmasked La Bestia, Simio Blanco and Oro.
Universal Wrestling Association (1981–1990) Guarjardo got Blue Panther booked in Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) and Panther made his debut in their main building, El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos in Naucalpan, in 1981. He wrestled on the undercard as a rudo (also referred to as a "heel", those that portray the "bad guys" in wrestling), before getting his first push in 1984 by winning the UWA World Welterweight Championship from veteran worker Matemático.
Panther also began teaming with Black Man on a regular basis around that time, including a November 20, 1984 Lucha de Apuestas win over Los Sombras de Plata, forcing both members of the team to unmask. The team later broke up, leading to a prolonged storyline feud between the two, which included Black Man winning the UWA World Welterweight Championship from Blue Panther on February 9, 1986. The storyline built to a high-profile Lucha de Apuestas match between the two at UWA's main venue, the El Toreon Cuatro Caminos bullfighting arena. After three long falls Blue Panther defeated Black Man, forcing Black Man to unmask and state his real name per lucha libre traditions.
He later defeated Gran Hamada to win his first UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship on November 16, 1986. His first reign lasted 190 days and was ended by El Solar on May 25, 1987. He later regained the championship on February 8, 1988. In May 1988, Blue Panther won another significant match as he defeated Kendo on a UWA show in Tijuana, Baja California to unmask Kendo. On September 18, 1988, Blue Panther's second and final reign as the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion ended as the UWA bookers decided to have Gran Cochisse win the championship from Blue Panther.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1991–1992) In 1991, Panther began working full-time for Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), where he began a feud with Atlantis over the NWA World Middleweight Championship. Although Blue Panther was unsuccessful in his August title challenge, the feud established him as a top rudo in EMLL. Later that same year EMLL changed their name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council") and began holding tournaments for CMLL-branded championships. Blue Panther was one of sixteen competitors entered in the tournament for the CMLL World Middleweight Championship. He defeated Ringo Mendoza in the opening round, El Dandy in the semi-finals and El Satánico in the finals to become the inaugural champion, a sign of CMLL's support of Blue Panther.