With many of their current performers’ contract dates set to expire before the end of the year and the expectation that some of these wrestlers will leave the company, Ring of Honor is once again going to the drawing board and bringing in their next set of independent talent. Over the last few months, starting with the signing of Joe Hendry, ROH has also signed Dan Maff, “Session Moth” Martina, Tyler Bateman, as well as re-signed Maria Manic, and former world champion Matt Taven. This week it was announced that their signing spree of the past few months was continuing as ROH and Flamita reportedly came to terms on a new one-year deal.
One half of MexaBlood alongside current ROH star, Bandido and considered to be one of the best high flyers in wrestling, Flamita’s career began when he was just 14 years old in Hidalgo, Mexico. The son of El Retador, nephew of Flama Rojo (of whom his ring name was inspired; Flamita in Spanish means “Little Flame” and Flama Rojo means “Red Flame”) and grandson of Toro Negro, Flamita spent five years training before making his official debut in 2009. He was 19 years old when he debuted with Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU), later going on to win their Alro Rendimiento Championship twice. Plying his craft on the Mexican indie scene, Flamita was also known for his time in Allanza Universal de Lucha Libre (AULL), where he is a one-time AULL Lightweight Champion.
In 2011, Flamita made his debut with both of Mexico’s top promotions, wrestling a match each for AAA Lucha Libre and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). It would turn out to be his only career match with CMLL, though it would be the first of many for AAA. Not used as a prominent wrestler within the promotion, Flamita has continued to work off-and-on for AAA ever since, only recently becoming a regular in 2015. And while Mexico is where he is from and where his career began, Flamita’s greatest successes came during his time with Dragon Gate.
Dragon Gate has effectively serving as Flamita’s home promotion since 2013, where he first debuted as part of the Millenials stable alongside Eita and T-Hawk. The trio won a tournament to challenge for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, defeating the current champions in their first attempt. It was Flamita’s first title outside of Mexico. Though the trio only held the title for 17 days, it was what happened next that really characterized Flamita’s time in Japan. Almost a year to the day of when he lost the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, Flamita claimed his first singles title with Dragon Gate, winning the Open the Brave Gate Championship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whYxbTkyFOw
Flamita’s reign with that title is the fourth-longest in Dragon Gate history, with all three of the longest reigns occurring prior. So as it stands, Flamita’s 287-day reign that lasted for much of 2014, is the most recent longest reign for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. Flamita recorded 10 successful championship defenses before vacating the title in December 2014 following a disqualification loss against Punch Tominaga. Flamita was unmasked in the match and refused to accept the belt, leading to Dragon Gate vacating the title shortly after. Flamita, who continued to work in Mexico as well as had begun working in the U.S., didn’t return to Dragon Gate until three months later in March 2015.
Unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the championship, Flamita has continued to wrestle with Dragon Gate, mainly taking part in multi-man tags. Though, his most recent appearance for the promotion in July 2019, saw Flamita challenge for the Open the Brave Gate title once more.
In 2017, Flamita split time in Mexico and Japan, primarily working for Dragon Gate as well as The Crash, where he is former Cruiserweight Champion of 293 days and tag team champion alongside Bandido. The duo held the belts for 231 days in 2018. Also with Bandido, Flamita is a former PROGRESS tag team champion. For Flamita, 2017-18 really marked his break out outside of Mexico/Japan. He took part in Battle of Los Angeles in both years, as well as PROGRESS’ Super Strong Style 16 Tournament in 2017 and Revolution Pro Wrestling‘s British J Cup in 2018. Flamita also wrestled for DEFY, Combat Zone Wrestling, and AAW during that span.
As MexaBlood, Flamita and Bandido emerged as two of the most impressive luchadors to watch in 2018. The duo put on incredible matches with all kinds of opponents including the Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier), oVe (Dave and Jake Crist), CCK (Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos), Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson), the Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis), Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Marty Scurll), SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) and on several occasions, against the Lucha Brothers (Pentagon and Fenix).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wK3TuL_6OE
While Bandido signed with ROH at the beginning of 2019, Flamita had to wait for his turn. Following debuts for MLW and IMPACT for United We Stand, during the ROH Honor United Tour in October, Flamita made his official debut with Ring of Honor, clearly impressing as just one month later, he’s now reportedly signed on the dotted line and will have his opportunity to shine. Bandido’s deal is set to expire before the end of the year, though it’s possible the signing of Flamita may convince him to extend his stay another year. Both can definitely be singles stars but together, they are a great team and right now, ROH could use some depth in their tag team division. Not to mention, if Bandido stays and so do Dragon Lee and RUSH, ROH could host a first-time dream match between longtime CMLL wrestlers, Dinastia Munoz (RUSH and Dragon Lee), and MexaBlood.
Flamita is expected to make his return to ROH and debut as a contracted performer at this year’s Final Battle in December.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch ROH replays at HonorClub.
