El Dandy


Roberto Gutiérrez Frías is a retired Mexican professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, best known under the ring name El Dandy. He is the cousin of professional wrestler Juan Conrado Aguilar, known as El Texano and the uncle of Aguilar's sons who wrestle as El Texano Jr. and Súper Nova. While he had a retirement tour in 2014, Gutiérrez has wrestled as recent as March 2019. Gutiérrez has wrestled for most major Mexican promotions, including Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Universal Wrestling Association, World Wrestling Association, and International Wrestling Revolution Group. In addition, he's worked for the US-based World Championship Wrestling as well as the Japanese Super World Sports and the International Wrestling Association of Japan.
During his career, starting in 1981, he has won a number of championships including the CMLL World Middleweight Championship three times, the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, the NWA World Welterweight Championship twice, the Mexican National Featherweight Championship, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship twice, Mexican National Middleweight Championship, Mexican National Welterweight Championship, the WWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, and the WWA World Tag Team Championship Corazón de León. He was a part of a tag team that was known as Los Fabulosos with Silver King and a member of the Latino World Order group in World Championship Wrestling. A 2004 match against L.A. Park was voted Box y Lucha magazines "Match of the year".

Professional wrestling career

Gutiérrez began training for a wrestling career at the age of 14, training under Diablo Velazco in his hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco. After five years of training he finally, reluctantly, made his in-ring debut. Gutiérrez later stated that he was nervous for his debut in part because of his fear of the public. He opted to use the ring name "El Dandy", after several of the wrestlers in Guadalajara gave him the nickname due to his success with women. He made his debut as an enmascarado, or masked wrestler, teaming with Águila Solitaria against Black Indian and Chamaco Hernández. A local promoter asked Gutiérrez if he would prefer to wrestle unmasked instead, leading to Gutiérrez to lose the mask and wrestle unmasked for the remainder of his career. At the time his family did not know he had become a professional wrestler, not until they saw him on TV against El Dorado. While the match was so well received that the fans in the arena threw money in the ring, Gutiérrez's parents were not enthused with his career choice at the time.

Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1981–1998)

After showing his skills in Guadalajara, representatives from Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre, Mexico's largest professional wrestling promotion invited him to Mexico City to work for EMLL. Gutiérrez credited Mocho Cota and Herodes for getting him to Mexico City and also taking him under their wings. Early in his EMLL career, Gutiérrez had to wash clothes for several wrestlers to earn enough money to eat.
El Dandy won his first Championship on July 31, 1982 as he defeated El Modulo to win the Mexican National Featherweight Championship. His reign lasted 175 days, ended when Pequeño Solin defeated him on January 22, 1983. Two weeks after losing the championship, El Dandy won his first Lucha de Apuestas against El Guerrero and as a result of the match, El Guerrero was shaved bald. In Lucha libre a Lucha de Apuestas victory is considered more prestigious than championship wins. The following year, on December 6, El Dandy defeated Gran Cochisse in a Lucha de Apuestas, continuing his rise up the ranks of CMLL. By late 1984 El Dandy began teaming with Fuerza Guerrera and Talisman on a regular basis, forming a trio known as Los Bravos. Los Bravos defeated Los Destructores. On September 1, 1985, EMLL decided to have El Dandy defeat Américo Rocca to win the Mexican National Welterweight Championship. 77 days later, El Dandy won the NWA World Welterweight Championship, and in the process gave up the lower ranking Mexican National title. His 141-day reign was ended by Javier Cruz, as part of a long-running storyline feud between the two. El Dandy regained the championship on August 24, holding it for 70 days before losing it to Américo Rocca.
After competing as a welterweight for years, a weight class with a max limit, El Dandy moved up to the middleweight division with an top weight. On July 17, 1987, he defeated Kung Fu to win the NWA World Middleweight Championship. After his title win, El Dandy became involved in a storyline with another middleweight competitor, El Satánico. El Satánico cost El Dandy the championship, helping Kung Fu cheat to regain the championship as part of the build to a Lucha de Apuestas match between the two. In the lead up to the anticipated match, El Dandy defeated Satánico to win the Mexican National Middleweight Championship on September 28. Weeks later El Satánico defeated El Dandy, making him the first wrestler to pin El Dandy in a Lucha de Apuestas match. El Dandy's reign as Mexican National Middleweight Champion lasted 112 days, until Javier Cruz won the championship.
In June 1990, El Dandy defeated Ángel Azteca to become the NWA World Middleweight Champion for a second time, holding it for 61 days until Atlantis won the title from him. The storyline between El Dandy and El Satánico was once again brought to the forefront in late 1990, with El Dandy evening the score between them by defeating El Satánico as part of the 1990 Juicio Final supercard show. The following year, El Satánico defeated El Dandy in their third overall Lucha de Apuestas, followed by El Dandy winning at the CMLL 59th Anniversary Show, to even the score of two-all in Lucha de Apuestas matches. In 1992, EMLL changed its name to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and created various CMLL championships. After having won both the NWA World and Mexican National championships in the middleweight division, El Dandy defeated Negro Casas to win the recently created CMLL World Middleweight Championship. The reign was ended by Bestia Salvaje on September 4, 1992. El Dandy regained the championship in December, with his second reign as CMLL World Middleweight Champion lasting until May 1993. El Dandy had a third reign that started on October 5 and lasted until February 22, 1994 when he lost it to Javier Llanes.
Next, El Dandy moved into the light heavyweight division, defeating Jaque Mate to win the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. In 1996, El Dandy won two Lucha de Apuestas matches, first winning the hair of Babe Face on August 1, and then Chicaco Express on September 3. The following month, on October 15, El Dandy's 681-day reign as NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion was ended by Black Warrior. While 1996 started with success, it ended with a Lucha de Apuestas loss to El Hijo del Santo in the main event of the 1996 Juicio Final show. El Dandy later competed in a tournament for the vacant CMLL World Trios Championship teaming up with Héctor Garza and Vampiro Canadiense. The trio defeated Apolo Dantés, Gran Markus Jr., and Fuerza Guerrera in the first round, before losing to Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr., and Zumbido in the semifinals of the tournament.

World Wrestling Association (1993, 2000–2001, 2007)

While working for CMLL El Dandy also worked for the World Wrestling Association in Tijuana, Baja California, as he was allowed to take independent bookings on days where he was not needed for CMLL shows. El Dandy and Corazón de León defeated Los Cowboys on November 10, 2000. He would also defeat La Parka to win the WWA World Light Heavyweight Championship in early 2001. El Dandy ended up losing both championships on June 17, as Antifaz and La Parka won the tag team championship and Asterico won the light heavyweight title. He won the WWA World Tag Team Championship for a third time, teaming with Rey Misterio to win the vacant title on August 27, 2007. The team later vacated the championship for reasons that have not been made public.

World Championship Wrestling (1997–2000)

In 1997, El Dandy began working for the US-based World Championship Wrestling along with a number of other Mexican wrestlers. His WCW televised debut took place on September 28, 1997, where he and Damian lost to nWo Japan representatives The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono. His first pay-per-view show match was as part of the 60-man battle royal main event of WCW's annual World War 3 show. He would later unsuccessfully challenge fellow Mexican luchador Juventud Guerrera for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship in January 1998. For his next PPV match, El Dandy, La Parka, Psicosis, and Silver King lost to Chavo Guerrero Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr., and Super Caló at Souled Out.
For the 1998 Slamboree show, El Dandy was one of 15 wrestlers involved in a battle royal where the winner of the match would face Chris Jericho for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship immediately afterward. During his introductions Jericho referred to El Dandy as the "winner of the Lou Ferrigno look-a-like contest". Later that year, Dandy was a member of the Latino World Order, a group of Mexican wrestlers led by Eddie Guerrero. Shortly after Guerrero's real-life car accident on New Year's Day, however, the group was forced to disband by the reformed nWo. The following year, El Dandy lost to Lenny as he challenged for the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. El Dandy's most notable accomplishments did not come in the ring, but instead came from an interview from Bret Hart. The heel Hart had selected El Dandy as his opponent, leading to interviewer Gene Okerlund questioning why Hart selected such an easy opponent. This led to Hart stating "Who are you to doubt El Dandy", which later became an online meme.
In early 2000, El Dandy and Silver King became a regular tag team, dubbed Los Fabulosos: "the hottest men in Latin America", playing off the fact that they were not "traditionally handsome". The two were teamed up with manager Stacy Kiebler. On March 21, 2000 Los Fabulosos defeated XS in their first televised match under that name. They later ended up losing to Harlem Heat 2000 in El Dandy's last match with WCW.

Mexican independent circuit (2000–2019)

Returning to Mexico, El Dandy generally worked for various independent promotions all over Mexico, mixed in with stints for IWRG and AAA. On October 15, 2004 he lost the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship to L.A. Park. Five months later, El Dandy regained the championship from L.A. Park. His second reign lasted 750 days until Vangelis won the title on April 15, 2007. In Aril 2009, El Dandy lost a match for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to titleholder Blue Demon Jr. Later that same year, El Dandy defeated El Signo in a 7-man steel cage Lucha de Apuestas match. The match also included El Fantasma, El Oriental, Super Muñeco, Villano III, and Villano IV, and saw El Dandy pin El Signo to force El Signo to be shaved bald.
In 2014, El Dandy began his retirement tour, facing off against his long time rival El Satánico on various local shows around the country. The long-time rivals split the first four matches between them, leading to "El Juicio Final" on May 18. EL Dandy won the match, which meant that El Satánico was shaved bald. 12 days later, in what was billed as his last match, El Dandy defeated Satánico one more time. While the 2014 tour was meant to be his retirement, El Dandy returned to the ring in 2015, working a CMLL match alongside Negro Casas, defeating El Satánico and Mr. Niebla. He would also work a limited schedule, with four matches in 2016, one in 2017, and one in 2019.

International Wrestling Revolution Group (2000–2004)

After returning from his stint in WCW, El Dandy began working for the Naucalpan, State of Mexico based International Wrestling Revolution Group. His first IWRG match took place on July 6, 2000, and saw El Dandy, Ciclon Ramirez, Kato Kung Lee, and Super Parka lose to Bombero Infernal, Dr. Cerebro, Mosco de la Merced, and Super Crazy. He later challenged Scorpio Jr. for the IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship but lost the match. While in IWRG, he defended the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship on two occasions, against Negro Casas on July 24, 2003, and against Blue Panther on August 31, 2003. He was one of eight wrestlers who put his hair on the line in a multi-man Lucha de Apuestas match; Suicida lost the match and his hair. On March 18, 2007, El Dandy was involved in a steel cage match where both his light heavyweight championship and the IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship were on the line. In the end Fantasma de la Ópera defeated Dr. Cerebro to win the IWRG title. His last match with the group took place a week later, as Damián 666, Misterioso Jr., and Villano III defeated El Dandy, El Sagrado, and Máscara Sagrada by disqualification.

AAA (2002–2003)

In 2002, El Dandy began working for AAA for the first time in his career, making his debut for the company on May 5, 2002. He was soon written into a storyline rivalry with Perro Aguayo Jr. as the two clashed against each other on multiple occasions. Both rivals, as well as Máscara Sagrada and Máscara Maligna faced off in a steel cage match where the last person in the ring would either be forced to unmask or have their hair shaved off. Neither Dandy nor Aguayo were involved in the finish, watching from outside of the ring as Máscara Maligna lost and was unmasked. Two weeks later, El Dandy defeated Perro Aguayo Jr. to win the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship. The storyline came to an end in the main event of the 2002 Verano de Escándalo show, where Dandy, Aguayo, Electroshock and El Zorro faced off in a four way Lucha de Apuestas match. In the end, Perro Aguayo Jr. pinned El Dandy, forcing El Dandy to be shaved bald as a result. EL Dandy's last match, a victory over El Hijo del Santo, took place on May 11, 2003.

Personal life

At one point in Gutiérrez he suffered a serious back injury that left him unable to perform for a while. After the spinal injury left him unable to compete, Gutiérrez contemplated suicide on more than one occasion, especially as few of his fellow wrestlers kept in contact with him during his hard times. In the end he turned to therapy to help, becoming a therapist. In early 2020, his name was mentioned as a new member of the Mexico City boxing and lucha libre commission, assisting the commission in enforcing their rules and statutes.

Reception

During El Dandy's days in EMLL, Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer stated that El Dandy was one of the "three best workers" in EMLL. In 1997, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked him at #167 in their "top 500" for the year. Writer Matt Farmer stated that El Dandy was "highly underrated" and that he had "Phenomenal matches" with Perro Aguayo Jr. during their 2002 feud. His 2004 match against L.A. Park was voted the "Match of the year" by the readers of Box y Lucha magazine.

Championships and accomplishments

Winner Loser LocationEventDateNotes
El Dandy El Guerrero Acapulco, GuerreroLive event
DrawEl Dandy / Dardo Aguilar Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Módulo Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Módulo Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Joel García Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Javier Cruz Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Gran Cochisse Mexico CitySuper Viernes
Los Bravos
, El Dandy and Talisman 		Los Destructores
, Tony Arce and Vulcano )		Mexico CityLive Event
El Dandy Javier Cruz Mexico CityLive event
Los [Misioneros de la Muerte
El Dandy, Talismán and Jerry Estrada Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy Aristóteles I Acapulco, GuerreroLive event
El Dandy Hombre Bala N/ACMLL show
El Satánico El Dandy Mexico CityCMLL show
El Dandy and Javier Cruz Rizado Ruiz and Rudy Reyna Acapulco, GuerreroLive event
El Dandy Pirata Morgan Mexico CitySuper Viernes
El Dandy Bestia Salvaje Mexico CityEMLL show
DrawEl Dandy
Emilio Charles Jr. 		Mexico CitySuper Viernes
El Dandy El Satánico Mexico CityJuicio Final
El Satánico El Dandy Mexico CityLive event
El Dandy El Satánico Mexico CityCMLL 59th Anniversary Show
El Dandy La Fiera Mexico CityCMLL show
Emilio Charles Jr. El Dandy Mexico CityCMLL show
El Dandy Stuka Jr.Mexico CityCMLL show
El Dandy Babe Face Mexico CityCMLL show
El Dandy Chicago Express Mexico CityMartes De Coliseo
El Hijo del Santo El Dandy Mexico CityJuicio Final
Antifaz del Norte El Dandy Monterrey, Nuevo LeónLive event
El Dandy Brazo de Platino Cuernavaca, MorelosLive event
L.A. Park El Dandy Nuevo Laredo, TamaulipasLive event
El Dandy Negro Navarro Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico StateLive event
El Dandy El Enterrador Naucalpan, Mexico StateLive event
Perro Aguayo Jr. El Dandy Monterrey, Nuevo LeónVerano de Escándalo
El Hijo del Santo El Dandy Tijuana, Baja CaliforniaLive event
El Dandy Pantera Naucalpan, State of MexicoIWRG show
El Dandy El Signo Pachuca, HidalgoPipino Cuevas Benefit Show
El Dandy El Satánico Reynosa TamaulipasEl Juicio Final