Tarzán Lόpez

Infobox Wrestler
name = Carlos Lopez Tovar
names = El Tarzán
img_capt =
height =
weight =
real_height = 5'8"
real_weight = 185 lbs. (83.92kg.)
birth_date = August 28, 1912
birth_place = Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico
death_date = August 28, 1975
death_place =
resides =
billed =
trainer = Diablo Velasco
debut = 1934
retired =

Carlos Lόpez Tovar (August 28, 1912 - August 28, 1975), better known by the ring name Tarzán Lόpez was a luchador who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. He was known as "Tarzan" because of his bodybuilder's physique, Lopez held the Mexican national welterweight championship from 1936 through 1939. He also captured the NWA middleweight title several times and was named MVP in Mexico in 1940, 1944, and 1948.

Career

Tovar made his professional debut in 1934 under the name Carlos Lόpez, and was soon recruited by trainer Diablo Velasco. He was launched into his first feud against Salvador Flores, a feud that made the young Lόpez very popular. This popularity eventually resulted in Lόpez being signed to Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL), where he gained his first title, the National Welterweight Championship, which he won on March 11, 1936.

Lόpez was one of the most popular "luchadores" of his era, winning the title of Luchador of the Year in 1940, 1944, and 1948. Madigan, Dan, "Mondo Lucha a Go-Go: The Bizarre & Honorable World of Wild Mexican Wrestling", HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2007, ISBN 9780060855833]

Although still one of the most popular wrestlers in Mexico, Lόpez's career ended early over a monetary dispute with EMLL. Lόpez requested a loan with which he intended to help a friend who deperately needed the money. When the owners of EMLL refused, an angry Lόpez retired from the professional wrestling business and never looked back. Madigan, Dan, Mondo Lucha a Go-Go: The Bizarre & Honorable World of Wild Mexican Wrestling, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2007, ISBN 9780060855833]

In wrestling

*Finishing move
**El Nudo [ [http://www.bodyslamming.com/deceased/tarzanlopez.html Deceased Superstars - Tarzan Lopez ] ]

Championships and accomplishments

*Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre
**Mexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time)
**Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time)
**Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**Mexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Henry Pilusso
**NWA World Middleweight Championship (4 times)
**World Middleweight Championship (National Wrestling Association) (1 time) (Last)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)

Footnotes