Due to the secretive culture around
masked wrestlers in
lucha libre, Espantito's real name was not a matter of common knowledge (prior to his death in 2020), nor was it revealed if he worked under a different
ring name before making his in-ring debut as Espantito. It has been confirmed that Espantito trained in his native Torreón, Coahuila under the tutelage of Edgardo Cisneros Díaz, better known as
Espanto II, and also received further training from Indio Chirikawa. In the early 1990s, the
Mini-Estrella ("Mini-Star") concept was introduced in Mexico, featuring not just
midget wrestling, but also wrestlers who were short in stature. The majority of new
Mini-Estrellas used the same ring character as regular sized wrestlers, much like
Octagoncito being a smaller version of
Octagón. Espantito working in this division did not necessarily mean that he had
dwarfism. Unlike midget wrestling, where all competitors are under the height of ,
Mini-Estrellas like Espantito, at , are often wrestlers of shorter stature, but not true little people in a medical sense. He was given permission by his trainer to start working as El Espantito, a smaller version of
Los Espantos ("The Terrors"), wearing the signature black mask with a white cross on it (popularized by
Espanto I, Espanto II and
Espanto III), as well as the same black-and-white ring gear of the originals. Most of AAA's
Mini-Estrella division consisted of
luchadors that had followed AAA founder
Antonio Peña from
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where some of the
Mini-Estrellas changed their name and mask due to the larger version of the character not jumping to AAA at the time. One example was
Super Muñequito, who was working as "Angelito Azteca" in CMLL, but had to change his name as
Ángel Azteca did not leave CMLL. It has not been revealed if Espectrito also worked in the CMLL
Mini-Estrella division at the time of the AAA exodus. For a short while, Espantito was teamed up with a wrestler working as "Espantito II", but Espantito II was only used for a few matches in 1993. By the late 1990s, Espantito left AAA and began working primarily on the Mexican
Independent circuit, often touring with a troupe of
Mini-Estrellas such as Octagoncito,
Piratita Morgan and
Tzuki. The group toured the United States, working for various
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotions and showcasing the
lucha libre and
Mini-Estrella styles throughout the south-west. On September 20, 2009, Espantito faced Octagoncito for the vacant
NWA World Midget's Championship at a Pro Wrestling Revolution (PWR) show, which saw Octagoncito win the match and the championship. The troupe of
Mini-Estrellas would continue to use the NWA World Midget's Championship as part of their shows, promoting matches where Octagoncito would defend the championship against Espantito. Later on, when Pro Wrestling Revolution split from the NWA, the championship was re-branded the PWR World Midget's Championship, with Octagoncito defending it on occasion against Espectrito in various southern states. His last documented match took place at a Expo Lucha show on August 18, 2019, where he and Felinito lost to Mini Halcón and Payacito. ==Legal rights to the Espanto name==