Early career (1989–1996) Castellanos debuted as "El Salvaje" after being trained by
Rey Misterio and his brother, Fobia. He often teamed with Fobia and wore face paint. In March 1989, Castellanos began wrestling as "Psicosis" for the local promotion in his native
Baja California, where some of his biggest
feuds pitted him against
El Hijo del Santo and
Rey Mysterio Jr. He would eventually wrestle Mysterio Jr. over five hundred times throughout this career. He also frequently feuded with
La Parka as well as
Juventud Guerrera and
Fuerza Guerrera. Psicosis first made a name for himself in the United States through
AAA's 1994
pay-per-view broadcast
When Worlds Collide, where he, Fuerza Guerrera, and
Madonna's Boyfriend defeated
Heavy Metal,
Latin Lover, and Rey Mysterio Jr.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995) Psicosis debuted in the United States-promotion
Extreme Championship Wrestling in September 1995, facing Mysterio Jr. in a critically acclaimed bout at
Gangstas Paradise. Psicosis was recruited by ECW booker
Paul Heyman – who was seeking new talent to replace
Chris Benoit,
Eddie Guerrero and
Dean Malenko, all of whom had recently left the promotion – at the recommendation of
Konnan.
World Championship Wrestling (1996-2000) Early years (1996–1998) Castellanos signed with
World Championship Wrestling in 1996,
anglicizing his name to "Psychosis." His debut pitted him against
Konnan at Clash of the Champions XXXII. Through the early years, Psychosis would typically face other
luchadores, frequently getting a midcard spot during pay-per-view events. In 1998, Psychosis joined
Eddie Guerrero's
Latino World Order (LWO) group, which consisted entirely of Mexican professional wrestlers. This reign was short-lived however, as he lost it to Rey Mysterio one week later. Much like WCW, ECW was on the brink of demise and soon folded.
Independent circuit (2000–2005) Psychosis was then part of the short-lived
Xcitement Wrestling Federation and
World Wrestling All-Stars promotions, and had a brief stint in
All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 2005, he returned to AAA to feud with the wrestler who had assumed the name "Psicosis" in September 1997 when he originally left the promotion. The two had a "name vs. name" ladder match at
Triplemania XIII, but
Histeria ran in and took the name for himself. Consequently, the feud evolved into a three-way rivalry. In 2005, Castellanos appeared in the independent documentary,
101 Reasons Not To Become A Professional Wrestler.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2006) In 2005, Castellanos signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (
WWE). He appeared at the WWE promoted
ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 12, losing to Rey Mysterio. His first WWE television appearance was on the June 18 airing of
WWE Velocity, teaming with
Super Crazy to defeat
Akio and
Billy Kidman. Psicosis,
Super Crazy, and
Juventud grouped together to form a
faction known as the
Mexicools. The group made their debut as
heels on the June 23 episode of
SmackDown! when all three members rode to the ring on a
John Deere lawn mower, with the sticker saying
Juan Deere to be more Mexican, wearing matching
coveralls and attacked both
Chavo Guerrero and
Paul London during their
WWE Cruiserweight Championship match. Juventud cut a promo questioning the lack of "true Mexican
Luchadores" in the
cruiserweight division, before going on to deride the state of
Mexican Americans in general. Psicosis dubbed the
lawn mower they arrived on a "Mexican Limo 2005" and the group claimed that even
Mexico's President mocks Mexicans in the United States; this referenced
Vicente Fox's controversial remark that
Mexican immigrants do the jobs "not even the
blacks want to do." Guerrera then stated that they were no longer there to clean toilets and work for "them" (the "
gringos") but "they" were going to be working for "us" (The Mexicools)," before dubbing the team "not Mexi
cans but Mexi
cools!" In the following weeks, they would continue to make
run-ins in matches and mock the
stereotypical image of Mexicans in the United States, even coming to the ring each with their own riding lawn mower. The trio then turned face by feuding with
Nunzio and
Vito. During the December 2 episode of
SmackDown! Super Crazy and Psicosis won a
battle royal with 5 other tag teams, earning a match against
MNM at
Armageddon 2005 for the
WWE Tag Team Championship. MNM lost the titles before their match, however, which meant that the Armageddon match was just a standard tag team match. During the January 27, 2006 episode of
SmackDown! Super Crazy and Psicosis defeated The Dicks (
Chad Wicks and
John Toland) and the
F.B.I. in a three-way tag team match to win spots in the
2006 Royal Rumble match on January 29. Psicosis entered at #4 in the Royal Rumble match but was quickly eliminated by his former WCW rival
Rey Mysterio. During June 2006 the
ECW brand was revived and with this came the expectations that Super Crazy would leave Psicosis and
SmackDown! for the new ECW brand. This was later fueled with a match that would see
Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy team up and face the
F.B.I. at
ECW One Night Stand. At this time, Psicosis' partnership with Super Crazy began to crumble when Psicosis abandoned Super Crazy during incidents with
The Great Khali. The team split up, with Psicosis turning heel. On the July 21 episode of
SmackDown!, Psicosis lost to Super Crazy. This was Psicosis' last WWE appearance. After a four-month inactivity, WWE announced that Castellanos was released from WWE in the fall of that year because of his arrest in Mexico on November 1, 2006.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2006–2007) Psicosis worked as "Nicho el Millonario" (after the main character in the soap opera
El premio mayor) in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) up until 2007. At the end of 2006, he accidentally shattered his nose in a match against
El Hijo de Rey Misterio, and also got his head shaved. He was rushed to a nearby hospital to get his nose set following the match.
Return to AAA (2007–2014) On the March 3, 2007 televised episode of AAA, Psicosis came as Nicho and started a fight with
Cibernético. He had worn a La Parka mask, pretending to be him, in order to get La Parka expelled from AAA. Psicosis then joined Halloween's new version of La Familia de Tijuana, along with
Extreme Tiger, in AAA under the ring name Nicho el Millonario. He returned after an absence from the company and joined
Joe Líder's new
rudo stable, while helping attack La Familia de Tijuana and the Mexican Powers. On September 14, 2008, at
Verano de Escandalo, Nicho and Joe Líder, known collectively as "La Hermandad Extrema" (the Extreme Brotherhood), won the
AAA World Tag Team Championship by defeating
Crazy Boy and
Último Gladiador and
The Hart Foundation 2.0 (
Jack Evans and
Teddy Hart) and champions
Halloween and Extreme Tiger in a four-way
ladder match.
La Hermandad 187 are the longest reigning tag team champions, with a reign of 551 days. On March 19, 2010, they lost the championship to
La Legión Extranjera representatives
Taiji Ishimori and
Takeshi Morishima. On June 6, 2010, at
Triplemanía XVIII,
La Hermandad 187 participated in a four-way elimination match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship. Lídereliminated the then reigning AAA World Tag Team Champions (
Atsushi Aoki and
Go Shiozaki) when he pinned Shiozaki. Later, Líder was pinned by
James Storm of
Beer Money, Inc. after interference from Konnan, denying them the chance to regain the tag team championship. Later in the night
La Hermandad helped Cibernético beat up almost all the members of
La Legión. Afterwards
La Hermandad started feuding with
La Sociedad, a superstable consisting of invaders from
Los Perros del Mal and members of
Los Maniacos,
La Legión Extrangera and
La Milicia,
El Zorro and
Hernandez in particular.
La Hermandad received their rematch for the AAA World Tag Team Championship from
Los Maniacos (
Silver King and Último Gladiador) on September 19, 2010, but Líder was forced to enter the match without Nicho, who was taken out by El Zorro, Hernandez and
La Legión the previous week, and was unable to regain the championship. At
Héroes Inmortales IV Nicho and Líder gained a measure of revenge on Konnan by defeating him and
Perros del Mal members
Damián 666 and Halloween in a three–on–two handicap hardcore match. On October 30, 2010, El Zorro defeated Nicho in a
Lucha de Apuesta to take his hair. On December 5 at
Guerra de Titanes Nicho and Líder received a shot at the AAA World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to dethrone
Los Maniacos in a three-way ladder match, which also included Hernandez and
El Ilegal. During the first half of 2011,
La Hermandad 187 started feuding with
La Maniarquía (
Chessman, Silver King and Último Gladiador), during which the
rudo trio injured Nicho, forcing him out of
Triplemanía XIX on June 18. At the event Nicho tried to interfere in the match between Líder,
Electroshock and Heavy Metal and
La Maniarquía, but was stopped by AAA president Joaquín Roldan, who suspended him from AAA for his interference and had him removed the arena. Prior to the start of his three-month-long suspension, Nicho appeared at the June 30 tapings, voicing his displeasure over the suspension, claiming that he had been there for the company from the beginning even though they had given his name (Psicosis) to
another performer "not even close to his level", before noting that he had a son and that if he was suspended without pay, he would have to find work from another promotion. Nicho returned to AAA on July 16, threatening Roldan, which led to Joe Líder trying to calm his partner down. This in turn led to Nicho declaring that if Líder was with Roldan, they were no longer friends. Later in the event, Nicho interfered in Líder's match and turned on him, effectively ending
La Hermandad 187. On July 31 at
Verano de Escándalo, Nicho attacked Líder during a
Monster's Ball match and put him through a flaming table, costing him the match in the process. On August 19, 2011, Nicho attacked Líder again before putting on a
Perros del Mal T-shirt, which led to the group's leader
El Hijo del Perro Aguayo officially welcoming him to the group, turning rudo in the process. On October 9 at
Héroes Inmortales,
Los Perros del Mal and
Los Psycho Circus ended their year-long rivalry, when Nicho, Damián 666 and Halloween were defeated in a Mask vs. Hair steel cage match, following interference from Joe Líder, and were all shaved bald. In early 2012, Nicho started carrying his old Psicosis mask to the ring with him. On April 6, Nicho and Joe Líder interfered in each other's matches, with Líder burning Nicho's face with a
fireball during a main event run-in. On May 6, Nicho returned to working under his old mask and the ring name Psicosis, continuing his rivalry with Líder. In storyline, Líder's fireball had not only severely burned Nicho's face, but the incident had also driven him insane, causing him to once again don a mask and refer to himself as Psicosis. On August 5 at
Triplemanía XX, Psicosis reunited with Líder for one night to take part in a
Parejas Suicidas steel cage match, featuring three other former tag teams. Líder lost the match, after being turned on by Psicosis, forcing the two to face other in a Hair vs. Hair match later in the event. In the end, Psicosis won the match, forcing his rival to have his head shaved bald. On November 22, 2013, Psicosis, along with
Perros del Mal stablemate Daga, turned on El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, labeling him a traitor for forming a new partnership with Cibernético, turning Nicho
técnico in the process for the first time since 2011. However, on December 8 at
Guerra de Titanes, Aguayo, Daga and Psicosis revealed they had played Cibernético, when Aguayo turned on him and brought
Los Perros del Mal back under the umbrella of the reformed
La Sociedad. On August 2, 2014, AAA announced that Castellanos was released from AAA.
Return to the independent circuit (2014–2015) On August 15, 2014, La Familia de Tijuana (Damian 666, Extreme Tiger, Halloween and Nicho) against and lost to
Chavo Guerrero Jr.,
Hernandez,
Homicide and Luke Hawx in an 8-man tag team match at Zeus Promotions Debut Show. The follow week later on August 22, 2014, Nicho teamed with Fuerza Guerrera and King Azteca against and lost to
LA Par-K, Mascara Sagrada and Octagon in a 6-man tag team match at Colossal. Four weeks later on September 26, 2014, Psicosis and Venom defeated Freesbe and La Abeja in a tag team match at BSW. The next day on September 27, 2014, Necro Butcher defeated Nicho and Joe Líder in a 3-way match at NGX. On October 12, Psicosis reunited with Juventud Guerrera in a losing effort to Hijo del Santo & Santo Jr. at the debut Lucha Ilimitado card in Yakima, Washington. On October 24, 2014, Arandu defeated Extreme Tiger, Nicho and TJ Boy in a fatal 4-way match at BSW. On July 24, 2015, Nicho defeated Pagano in a hair vs. hair match at live event.
Second return to AAA (2016–2017) On March 23, 2016, at
Rey de Reyes, Nicho returned to AAA for the first time in nearly two years, along with
Los Fronterizos members
Damián 666,
Halloween and Pagano attacked
Pentagón Jr.,
Taya, Khan, Líder and Daga, after Pentagón Jr. won the match. On June 5, 2016, at Worldwide en Orizaba, Nicho came down and costed
Los Perros del Mal and allowed
Los Psycho Circus to win. Nicho eliminating
Ricky Marvin and
El Hijo de Pirata Morgan, before Los Perros del Mal distracted him in the match and allowed
Psycho Clown to win in a fatal 4-way elimination match. ==Personal life==