Opinion

Cook: The Story of La Parka

Steve Cook recounts the three-fold story of La Parka, one of wrestling’s most beloved personas.

Published

5 years ago

January 14, 2020

Steve Cook

Steve Cook recounts the three-fold story of La Parka, one of wrestling’s most beloved personas.

The story of La Parka is a story of three people. One man came up with the character. Another man made it a living, breathing force of nature. Yet another man inherited the character and kept it strong for over two decades.

Antonio Pena: The Creator

Antonio Pena was one of the true geniuses of professional wrestling. Part of a wrestling family, Antonio followed his father & uncle into the ring & worked under a number of creative gimmicks he came up with himself. Pena was full of ideas for characters & storylines and was always helpful backstage. When he retired from the ring, EMLL (the name change to CMLL happened during Pena’s tenure there) hired him to work in their office. He assisted with promoting & booking, and helped lead the company past the UWA in the promotional war of the 1980s.

Ironically enough, he would lead CMLL’s opposition in the promotional war of the 1990s & beyond. Pena’s radical ideas, which involved pushing younger, faster & lighter wrestlers on top, didn’t sit well with the rest of the promotion’s front office that liked things the way they were. They quit listening to him. Pena made a deal with the Televisa network to fund a new wrestling promotion that would provide weekly content, and AAA was born.

Pena took most of CMLL’s top young stars with him to AAA, leaving CMLL with a middle-aged roster bereft of starpower. He was a great scout of talent, which meant he wound up with a pretty good track record of putting the right guys in the right place at the right time in the right persona. One of the prime examples of this was the creation of La Parka.

Adolfo Tapia: The Original

Tapia was a young luchador in Monclova during the 1980s, working his way up through the ranks & showing potential while working in multiple personas. Pena noticed Tapia’s work and signed him to AAA soon after founding the promotion. Pena thought Tapia would be perfect for a character he was developing based off Mexico’s affinity for the Day of the Dead. “La Parca” is Spanish for “The Reaper”. Pena had Tapia wear a full bodysuit & a mask resembling a skeleton, and encouraged him to do what he did best.

As WWF discovered with The Undertaker character, AAA found out that wrestling & death go well together. La Parka started off as a rudo, but his charisma, ability & actions in the ring immediately made him popular with the fans. Parka became one of AAA’s biggest attractions during their hottest period, a period when they were doing huge business in Mexico & doing better business in Los Angeles than any American promotion was.

Parka became a fixture in AAA’s light heavyweight title picture, trading reigns with the likes of Lizmark & Jerry Estrada. This would continue until Parka & other AAA talent followed Konnan to WCW, which was all well and good with AAA until Konnan & Pena had a falling out. Konnan formed his own Mexican-based promotion, Promo Azteca. Parka would follow Konnan there as well, but spent most of his time over the next few years in the US working for WCW.

The loss of La Parka & other talents was a huge blow to AAA. Pena made a decision to try & counteract these losses that would be controversial and had an impact on lucha libre for years to come.

Jesus Alfonso Escoboza Huerta: The Second

Pena’s reasoning made sense from a business perspective. He created the “La Parka” character. As tremendous as Tapia was in his performance, why shouldn’t AAA be able to continue to profit off of Pena’s creation? Pena owned the rights to use the name “La Parka” in Mexico, and Tapia was mostly working in America for WCW, so it seemed logical to debut a new La Parka to satiate the AAA fans’ desire for some dancing skeleton goodness.

He chose a man who had spent two years in AAA under the name “Karis la Momia”. Yep, he was a wrestling mummy. It got over pretty well though, the guy even beat Blue Demon Jr. to win the Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship and won a mask match in the main event of TripleMania IV-C. Pena saw potential in Escoboza, and even though Karis la Momia had to drop his title, he was on his way to the role that would make his career.

La Parka Jr. debuted in early 1997 and was immediately positioned as one of AAA’s top tecnicos. He was part of a group of AAA loyalists that feuded with whoever the top rudos happened to be at the moment. Parka Jr. won the Cruiserweight Championship and in 2001 solidified his status as a main eventer by winning the Rey de Reyes tournament, a feat he would end up accomplishing five times, more than any other luchador. He won TripleMania mask matches against Cibernetico & Muerte Cibernetica, the latter of who would go on to be known as Mesias & Mil Muertes.

For a while, La Parka & La Parka Jr. co-existed. Then Tapia went to CMLL in 2003, and all heck broke loose. Pena filed a lawsuit against Tapia that forbade him from using the La Parka name or wearing the trademark white skeleton suit. Tapia changed his name to L.A. Park, which was intended to reflect his status as “La Autentica (The Original)”. La Parka Jr.’s Jr. was phased out of the name and he was referred to in AAA as simply La Parka. People keeping track of these things began to refer to him as La Parka AAA or La Parka II to try & keep things straightened out.

La Parka was not the only AAA-created persona to have multiple people in the role. The original Psicosis also ran into issues when he returned to Mexico & Pena wouldn’t let him use the name. There have been at least three wrestlers to use the Psicosis gimmick that I know of. After the man known to American fans as Super Crazy left AAA, Pena gave another wrestler the “Histeria” gimmick. There are too many other examples to list here. Two more recent ones were debuted on AAA TV by Parka himself, as he introduced Myzteziz Jr. & another Octagon Jr. to the fans in 2019.

It’s a concept alien to modern American audiences. Whenever a current performer does the slightest thing that reminds us of one of our old favorites, we rebel against the notion. Hell, Kevin Owens can’t even use the Stunner as a finisher without people getting mad.

It took time for Parka to fill that bodysuit. Eventually, AAA fans accepted him. While countless names came & went through the years, Parka stayed. He was a constant presence, and kids that grew up watching AAA over the past two decades recognize him more than they do the original. It’s a crazy thing for those of us that watched WCW and enjoyed the Chairman’s antics to comprehend.

The Parkas Meet

The two Parkas would meet when L.A. Park returned to AAA in 2010. Park’s return to AAA was something that Mexican wrestling fans thought they would never see due to the bad blood after Park left the first time. We all know that you never say never in pro wrestling, and Park defeated Parka at TripleMania XVIII. The two even ended up teaming at an AAA TV taping, which seems like something that should have happened more often. After all, the only thing better than one dancing skeleton is two dancing skeletons.

Unfortunately, their creator did not live to see this happen. Pena passed away in 2006, leaving a void that has taken some time to fill. For years, AAA suffered from the same problems that CMLL went through when Pena was fighting for the younger talent as an assistant booker. Even today, AAA’s top draws are men like Dr. Wagner Jr. & Blue Demon Jr., men that are past the age where they should be relied on to provide quality main event matches.

Both Parkas are the same age, and that age is well past the point of a typical wrestling main eventer. They were both in the main event of La Parka’s last match, which took place at an event in Arena Coliseo Monterrey on October 20. Rush, Monster Clown, L.A. Park & La Parka faced off in a four-way match. Parka decided to do a tope onto Rush, and clipped the middle rope with his thigh, which led to a bad ending. You can find the video if you’d like to see it.

Parka hung on for a couple of months afterwards, but the injuries & complications brought about by them were too much to overcome.

#GraciasParka pic.twitter.com/MV4PgVgmvI

— Lucha Libre AAA (@luchalibreaaa) January 12, 2020

⚫ DESCANSE EN PAZ LA PARKA ⚫
El CMLL se une a la pena que embarga a la familia luchistica por el sensible fallecimiento del luchador La Parka, quien tuvo una destacada trayectoria en la historia de este deporte.

Descanse en paz. pic.twitter.com/qK925xXFhI

— Lucha Libre CMLL (@CMLL_OFICIAL) January 12, 2020

Jesus Alfonso Escoboza Huerta passed away at the age of 54. His lone appearance for an American-based promotion happened when Impact Wrestling ran a TV taping in 2018 in Mexico. He wasn’t the Chairman of WCW. He was the Face of AAA.

His legacy will live on. He has a son that’s starting out in the wrestling business and was one of the reasons he was still hanging on – he wanted to help break his son in. I fully expect to see Parka’s son (or somebody else) don the La Parka costume for AAA in the near future. It probably sounds weird and off-putting to a lot of you. But in lucha libre, it would be business as usual. The show goes on. Most of lucha’s most famous wrestlers had famous fathers, and they tend to do similar stuff. It pleases the audience.

At the end of the day, that’s what pro wrestling is all about. Did you please your audience? Everybody involved in the La Parka character, whether they created it, put it on the map or kept it there, can answer in the affirmative.

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:AAA Featured Featured Big LA Park LA Parka WCW

Up Next

2019 Chairshot Team Of The Year: The New Day

Don't Miss

Rob: Wednesday Isn’t Monday

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY – 4 Corners Podcast (sports)

WEDNESDAY – The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY – POD is WAR (Los Tres Friends)

FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network
Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts… Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Listen on your favorite platform!

iTunes | iHeart Radio | Google Play | Spotify
Listen, like, subscribe, and share!

About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

1 month ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1