González started out working as a masked wrestler known as El Invasor ("The Invader"). The anonymity of the El Invasor character allowed González to gain in-ring experience without the pressure of the Dr. Wagner name. González only worked as El Invasor for about a year before it was decided to reveal his family relationship. González was slated to make his in-ring debut as Dr. Wagner Jr. in a match where he would team up with his father, to take on his father's former tag team partner
Ángel Blanco and Ángel Blanco Jr. on April 27, 1986. While driving to the show the car, carrying his father, José Vargas (Ángel Blanco),
El Solar,
Mano Negra and Jungla Negra crashed when one of the tires exploded. Vargas was killed by the crash and González' father suffered severe spinal damage. Manuel González would later use a wheelchair to accompany his son to the ring for some matches.
Universal Wrestling Association (1987–1993) After adopting his father's name Dr. Wagner Jr. he also began working for the
Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), the same promotion where his father worked for most of his career. Promoters played off the rivalry of their famous fathers and often paired Dr. Wagner Jr. against Ángel Blanco Jr. On August 3, 1986 the two rivals were teamed up for a
Ruleta de la Muerte ("Roulette of Death") tournament where the losing teams advance and the team that lost the finals would have to wrestle each other in a
Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", for their masks. The rivals defeated
Mano Negra and
Aníbal to survive the tournament with their masks intact. On July 22, 1990 Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Astro de Oro to win the
UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first
professional wrestling championship. As result of the newfound popularity of Dr. Wagner Jr. CMLL decided to turn El Canek
rudo (villain), allowing for the rivalry to continue. Later on when Dr. Wagner Jr. moved on to a feud with Atlantis, the story repeated itself as the crowd turned against Atlantis, forcing CMLL to turn him from
técnico (hero or good guy) into one of the bad guys of the storyline. The rivalry continued for several months until Dr. Wagner Jr.'s focus shifted to newcomer
L.A. Park, resulting in a series of very violent, out of control matches between the two. The rivalry between Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A Park reached its CMLL climax at the
CMLL 75th Anniversary Show where Dr. Wagner Jr. and L.A. Park wrestled each other in a match that ended in a disqualification due to excessive brawling outside the ring. A short time later Dr. Wagner Jr. was fired from CMLL, officially for breaking CMLL's strict rule about not bleeding during matches or using weapons.
Japan (1988–2004) Starting in 1988 Dr. Wagner Jr. began making regular trips to Japan primarily working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) through their relationship with the UWA. Later on he would also work for the Japanese
Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) and
Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotions. During a BJW tour in 1996 Dr. Wagner Jr. lost the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship to
Aquarius and then regained it 8 days later. The title change was not sanctioned by CMLL and not officially recognized in Mexico. The following year Dr. Wagner Jr. was invited back for the 1998
Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He won his block with a total of four victories, but lost in the finals to
Koji Kanemoto. Later that same year he teamed up with
Kendo Kashin to compete for the newly created
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, losing in the tournament final to
Shinjiro Otani and
Tatsuhito Takaiwa. When Dr. Wagner Jr. returned to Japan in 1999 Wagner and Kashin won the junior heavyweight tag team championship on January 4 on NJPW's
Wrestling World 1999 in the
Tokyo Dome. The following month Dr. Wagner Jr. unsuccessfully fought
Jyushin Thunder Liger for the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The reign with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ended after 96 days, with two successful defenses, before losing the belts to
The Great Sasuke and Jyushin Thunder Liger on April 10, 1999. In 2003 Dr. Wagner Jr and his brother Silver King toured with
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) instead of NJPW, working primarily as a tag team for the entirety of the tour.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2009–2013) On March 15, 2009 Dr. Wagner Jr. made a surprise appearance at
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA)'s annual
Rey de Reyes ("King of Kings") event. First he chased off
La Legión Extranjera before turning around to challenge the
AAA Mega Champion El Mesias to a title match. On June 13, 2009, at
Triplemania XVII Wagner defeated Mesias to win the AAA Mega Championship. After his title win Wagner went on to form the stable
Los Wagnermaniacos with Silver King,
Electroshock and
Último Gladiador. Dr. Wagner Jr. successfully defended the Mega championship against both El Mesias and
Cibernético in a
Steel Cage Match at the 2009
Verano de Escandalo ("Summer of Scandal") show. At the subsequent AAA event,
Heroes Inmortales III, Dr. Wagner Jr. successfully defended against El Mesias once more. Following two successful defenses against El Mesias, Dr. Wagner Jr. stipulated that if El Mesias lost at the 2009
Guerra de Titanes ("War of the Titans") he would not receive another title match. After holding the title for 181 days Dr. Wagner Jr. lost the title back to El Mesias at
Guerra de Titanes. In the aftermath of Wagner's stable partner Electroshock winning the AAA Mega Championship at
Rey de Reyes in March 2010, Electroshock, Ultimo Gladiator and even Dr. Wagner's own brother, Silver King, all turned on him and kicked him out of the stable, which they renamed
Los Maniacos. At
Triplemania XVIII Dr. Wagner Jr. pinned Electroshock to win his second AAA Mega Championship. Following the match El Mesias came to the ring, presented Dr. Wagner Jr. with the championship belt and then shook his hand. On July 12, 2010, Dr. Wagner Jr. made a surprise appearance for CMLL, coming to the aid of his son El Hijo de Dr. Wagner at an event in
Nuevo Laredo. Wagner, whose contract with AAA had recently expired, claimed that he was still on good terms with the company and offered no explanation for his appearance. On August 15, 2010, at
Verano de Escandalo Dr. Wagner Jr. successfully defended the AAA Mega Championship in a three-way match against Silver King and
Vampiro. After the match Silver King played an audio tape, claiming it was their late father saying that Silver King was the more talented brother. This revelation led to a match on October 1 at
Héroes Inmortales IV, where Wagner Jr. defeated Silver King in a singles match, retaining the AAA Mega Championship. On October 31, 2010, Wagner Jr. formed a new alliance named
Potencia Mundial (World Power) with
Monster Clown,
Murder Clown and
Psycho Clown. On December 5 at
Guerra de Titanes Wagner Jr. lost the AAA Mega Championship to
El Zorro. On June 18, 2011, at
Triplemanía XIX, Wagner Jr. defeated
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) performer
Rob Van Dam to become the first ever
AAA Latin American Champion. Immediately afterwards, Wagner began making challenges towards new AAA Mega Champion
Jeff Jarrett. Wagner received his shot at the title on July 31 at
Verano de Escándalo in a three-way match, which also included L.A. Park, but was eliminated following a distraction from
Karen Jarrett and a low blow from Jarrett. On October 9 at
Héroes Inmortales, Dr. Wagner Jr. made his first successful defense of the AAA Latin American Championship by defeating
El Hijo del Perro Aguayo in a
Bullterrier match. After the match, two of AAA's top
técnicos, and Wagner's allies,
La Parka and
Octagón, both turned on him and joined Aguayo's
Los Perros del Mal. On December 16 at
Guerra de Titanes, Wagner Jr. lost the AAA Latin American Championship to L.A. Park. In early 2012, Dr. Wagner Jr. started a rivalry with the invading
El Consejo stable. On March 18 at
Rey de Reyes, Wagner teamed with Electroshock and
Heavy Metal losing to
El Consejo members
Máscara Año 2000 Jr.,
El Texano Jr. and
Toscano, with Máscara Año 2000 Jr. pinning Wagner following outside interference. The following month, Wagner made peace with Silver King as the two came together to battle
El Consejo. On August 5 in the main event of
Triplemanía XX, Wagner Jr. defeated Máscara Año 2000 Jr. in a
Mask vs. Mask match, forcing his rival to unmask himself. In early 2013, Wagner Jr., claiming dissatisfaction with his position in AAA, left the promotion for a several-month-long stint with
El Hijo del Santo's Todo X el Todos promotion, only to return in May in time for
Triplemanía XXI. At the event, Dr. Wagner Jr. teamed with Electroshock, La Parka and Octagón to defeat
Canek,
Máscara Año 2000,
Universo 2000 and
Villano IV in an eight-man
tag team match. Afterwards, the relationship between Wagner and AAA once again broke down with Wagner taking public potshots at the promotion.
Independent circuit (2013–present) On November 17, 2013, Wagner Jr. returned to CMLL at a small event in
Naucalpan, confronting and challenging
Mr. Niebla. For the past weeks, Wagner had teased "invading" CMLL and settling his score with the likes of
Atlantis and
Último Guerrero. In July 2014, Wagner worked a tour of Japan, during which he wrestled for
Tokyo Gurentai and women's wrestling promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom.
Return to CMLL (2015) In August 2015, Wagner made his return to CMLL after an almost 7-year absence. His tenure with CMLL was only brief as CMLL fired Wagner on September 11, after he reportedly told them that taking part in the
82nd Anniversary Show "didn't suit his interests". It was later reported that Wagner decided to not work the anniversary show out of loyalty to L.A. Park, who had been released by the promotion days earlier.
Return to AAA (2014–2020) A year after leaving AAA, Wagner returned to take part in
Triplemanía XXII, putting any past issues behind them. At the event Wagner took part in a four-way elimination main event for the Copa Triplemanía XXII. He was the first man eliminated from the match by Cibernético. Dr. Wagner Jr. did not appear for AAA for the rest of the year, not returning until the 2016
Lucha Libre World Cup tournament in June 2016. Dr. Wagner Jr. teamed up with
Rey Mysterio Jr. and
Dragon Azteca Jr. as "Team Mexico International" for the tournament, but was eliminated in the second round. Dr. Wagner Jr. returned to AAA in the fall, shortly after leaving CMLL, as he turned on former tag team partner Rey Mysterio Jr. On August 28, 2016, at
Triplemanía XXIV, Wagner fought against El Texano Jr. and
Brian Cage for the AAA Mega Championship, but did not win the championship. During the main event of the show, he disrupted a
Luchas de Apuestas match between Psycho Clown and
Pagano, attacking Psycho Clown. After the match, which Psycho Clown won, Dr. Wagner Jr. challenged Psycho Clown to put his mask on the line in a
Lucha de Apuestas at
Triplemanía XXV in 2017, a challenge that Psycho Clown accepted. At
Héroes Inmortales X Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Psycho Clown in a match that also included Pagano after Psycho Clown's long time tag team partners, Monster Clown and Murder Clown, turned on him and helped Dr. Wagner Jr. win the match. On August 26, 2017, Wagner was defeated by Psycho Clown in a
Lucha de Apuestas at
Triplemanía XXV and was forced to unmask as a result. Afterwards, Wagner continued working for AAA unmasked under the new name "Rey Wagner" ("King Wagner"). On October 4, at
Héroes Inmortales XI, Wagner was defeated in a title fight by the
AAA Mega Championship against
Johnny Mundo. On January 26, in
Guerra de Titanes, Wagner defeated Mundo to win his third AAA Mega Championship. On June 4 at
Verano de Escándalo, Wagner was defeated along with
Rey Mysterio Jr., thus losing his title to
Jeff Jarrett who made his return to the company with the help of
Konnan. That same night after the event, Wagner declared himself independent. On August 3, 2019, at
Triplemanía XXVII, Wagner lost a mask vs hair match to
Blue Demon Jr. After the match, following his head being shaved, Wagner announced his retirement. However, the next day, Wagner clarified his situation that he is not permanently retired and would have to meet the dates in both AAA and independents. On August 10 in Saltillo, Coahuila, Wagner announced that he finally canceled his retirement to continue his career. On February 2, 2020, Wagner officially announced his departure from the AAA after appearing at an event in the Naucalpan Arena after six years. On August 16, 2025, Wagner was shown at ringside during his sons match against
El Mesías at
Triplemanía XXXIII. During the match he attacked Dorian Roldán to prevent interference and later celebrated with his son following his victory.
Lucha Underground (2016–2018) On July 6, 2016, Wagner made his surprise debut for
Lucha Underground, making an appearance at
Ultima Lucha Dos as a surprise opponent for
Son of Havoc. Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Son of Havoc, with the storyline being that he won a cash prize of $250,000. During
season 3 Dr. Wagner Jr. was managed by Famous B and worked a storyline feud with Son of Havoc and
Mascarita Sagrada, who had previously been managed by Famous B. He also participated in the "Battle of the Bulls" tournament, but was eliminated by
Cage. At
Ultima Lucha Tres, Wagner returned and teamed with Famous B to defeat
Texano forcing him to become Famous B's new client. However, Wagner would not appear in the fourth season and the series was discontinued after season finale,
Ultima Lucha Cuatro. ==In other media==