Bandido

Bandido grew up in Torreón, Mexico, where lucha libre was part of everyday life at home. His brother, Gravity, and cousin, Myzteziz Jr., were already chasing the craft, so when he pulled on a mask at 16 in 2011 and wrestled as Magnífico II, it felt natural.

He worked small Mexican independent shows, learning how to control his pace and balance the risks that come with flying. He briefly had bookings as Cielito, then kept sharpening his timing with help from veterans credited as early trainers, including Hijo del Gladiador, Último Guerrero, and Franco Columbo, which helps explain the crisp mat work that sits underneath his aerial game.

By 2016, he stepped into the identity that made him famous. The Bandido mask evoked a Wild West outlaw, with a bandana-style cover pulled over the lower half of his face and sharp eye cutouts above it. He usually pairs it with matching colors on his tights and boots and a big belt buckle or vest that hints at a gunslinger look.

His international rise started in 2018 as he bounced between Dragon Gate in Japan, The Crash in Mexico, and U.S. independents. The key launchpad was Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) in Los Angeles. After a strong first year, he won PWG’s 2019 Battle of Los Angeles, closing the tournament by outlasting David Starr and Jonathan Gresham in a three-way final.

That momentum led to a December 2019 win over Jeff Cobb for the PWG World Championship, a title he carried until May 1, 2022, when Daniel Garcia took the belt at PWG’s Delivering the Goods.

Ring of Honor (ROH) made him a featured player. After winning the 2021 Survival of the Fittest series to secure a title shot, he defeated RUSH at Best in the World on July 11, 2021, for the ROH World Championship.

That reign became a focal point of ROH’s pandemic-era rebuild and subsequent hiatus, with Bandido continuing to be listed with the “original” belt even as the company changed hands.

He hit All Elite Wrestling (AEW) television in September 2022 and immediately impressed in a main-event title match with Chris Jericho on Dynamite. Tony Khan announced Bandido’s AEW signing that November. In April 2025, he reached another career peak, this time defeating Chris Jericho in a Title vs. Mask match at AEW Dynasty in Philadelphia to reclaim the ROH World Championship for a second reign.

Since then, he has mixed singles and tag work across AEW and the reactivated ROH brand while keeping ties to his international roots. Some of his notable pairings include his long-running Mexa Blood team with Flamita, which earned tag gold in promotions like PROGRESS and The Crash before the duo went their separate ways in 2021.

His style leans on speed and timing. He strings together rope-running sprints, feints, and springboards, then shifts gears into power spots that surprise opponents for his size.

His signatures include the 21-Plex (a rolling German suplex into a bridging pin), a snapping knee strike he throws off counters, and high-risk dives that turn matches late. The approach plays well in multi-man bouts and trios tags, which is where many fans first saw him headline cards outside Mexico.

Behind the mask, he keeps his civilian identity private in the tradition of lucha libre, which only adds to the mystique. What people know is what they see. A babyface who fights from underneath, throws himself into hot comebacks, and finishes with precision rather than brawling for its own sake.

The calling cards are still the same. A snap to his footwork, a clean switch from flight to power, and the 21-Plex that can end a match before an opponent realizes the grip has changed.