Early career (1982–1991) The wrestler later known as Ephesto made his professional wrestling debut in 1982 at the age of 16, after being trained by Halco Suriano, Asterión,
El Satánico and
Blue Panther. His first
ring persona was
Pantera del Ring (Spanish for
the Panther of the Ring), a masked luchador character (or
enmascarado) with a panther inspired mask and trunks, in part as a homage to his trainer Blue Panther.
Promo Azteca (1997–1998) By 1997, Panterita del Ring was working for the newly formed
Promo Azteca promotion, this time as a
rudo (the
Lucha Libre term for "bad guy"). He won the tournament to crown the first ever Aztecas Middleweight Champion by defeating
Ángel Azteca and Black Dragon in the finals. He eventually lost the title but kept working for Promo Azteca as an upper card worker until Promo Azteca folded in the late 1990s. The team had a rather uneventful title reign that lasted 15 months and rarely saw them defend the title until
Los Nuevos Infernales (
Averno,
Mephisto and El Satánico) defeated them for the titles on June 23. On August 16, it was announced that Ephesto was one of 14 men putting their mask on the line in a
Luchas de Apuestas steel cage match in the main event of the
CMLL 77th Anniversary Show. Ephesto was the third man to leave the steel cage as all three members of
Los Hijos del Averno quickly left the cage, keeping their masks safe. The match came down to La Sombra pinning Olímpico to unmask him. On February 22, 2011, Ephesto lost the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship to
Rush, ending his reign at 637 days. On July 15,
Los Hijos del Averno defeated
La Generación Dorada (
Máscara Dorada,
La Máscara and La Sombra) to win the CMLL World Trios Championship. They would lose the title to
El Bufete del Amor (
Marco Corleone,
Máximo and Rush) on February 19, 2012. In March 2013, Ephesto was paired up with
técnico Ángel de Oro for the 2013
Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament") a tag team tournament where rivals would be forced to work together. While the two managed to work together, they lost their first round match to the team of
Diamante Azul and
Euforia. On August 9, 2015,
Los Hijos del Infierno defeated
Los Reyes de la Atlantida ("The Kings of the Atlantis";
Atlantis,
Delta and
Guerrero Maya Jr.) to win the Mexican National Trios Championship, Ephesto's third trios title reign, but the first under the "Ephesto" ring character. With the championship victory, Ephesto was eligible for the 2015
Universal Championship, where he was defeated by his tag team partner Mephisto. During ''Los Hijos del Infierno's
championship reign, they successfully defended the championship against both tecnicó
trios (such as Ángel de Oro, Dragon Lee and Stuka Jr.) and rudo
teams (such as Los Invasores; Olímpico, Kraneo and Ripper). In the 2016 Universal Championship tournament, Ephesto was eliminated in the first round by La Máscara. Later that year, Ephesto started a storyline rivalry with Guerrero Maya Jr. as the two found themselves on opposite sides in various six-man tag team matches. As the rivalry grew, news outlets began speculating on if the two would put their masks on the line in a Lucha de Apuestas'' match.
Return of Panterita del Ring (2021–present) On May 28, 2021, Ephesto revived the Panterita del Ring gimmick to team with his son,
Panterita del Ring Jr., in the family-oriented
Copa Dinastia ("Dynasties Cup") tournament. They were eliminated in the first round by
Espíritu Negro and
Rey Cometa. The following month, he was paired with Gemelo Diablo II for the 2021
Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles, defeating Cometa and
Raziel in the first round, before losing to
Blue Panther Jr. and
Sansón in the quarter-finals. On September 2, 2022, he participated in a
torneo cibernetico for the
Copa Independencia ("Independence Cup"), but was eliminated early on by eventual winner
Místico. The next night, he unsuccessfully challenged
El Terrible for the
Mexican National Heavyweight Championship. On June 11, 2023, he and his son lost to Dr. Karonte I and Místico in the first round of the
Copa Dinastia tournament. They entered the tournament again on June 16, 2024, this time with his son repackaged as the second Máscara Dorada. After defeating
Valiente and Valiente Jr. in the first round, they lost to Stuka Jr. and Hijo del Stuka Jr. in the semi-finals.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2005, 2017) As Safari, he debuted for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in December 2005 as part of the "Battle Final" tour. In January 2017, as Ephesto, he returned to Japan to compete in
Fantastica Mania 2017, the annual tour co-produced by CMLL and NJPW. ==Personal life==