Ninja Moves

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a feature on one of NXT's newest wrestlers, Alberto Castillo. Before Castillo signed up with WWE, he was a popular masked luchador called Ultimo Ninja in his native Mexico. Here are some pics of him prior to his move to the USA and a couple of recent ones of him, unmasked, wrestling in Florida.

With cousin Humberto Garza

Unmasking The Ninja

NXT has a new face going by the name of Alberto Castillo. Only 23 years old, Castillo is originally from Mexico where, as a masked luchador from a noted family of luchadores, he wrestled using the name Ultimo Ninja or sometimes, Ultimo Garza. If the name Garza rings a bell, it's because that family has produced three generations of professional wrestlers in Mexico, including the late Hector Garza and current lucha superstar Humberto Garza Jr. (now known as Garza Jr.); both have been featured here on Beefcakes of Wrestling (Hector was his uncle, Garza Jr. is his cousin). Ultimo Ninja/Ultimo Garza is now on the roster of WWE's developmental territory NXT. As one of its featured up-and-comers, NXT management has "unmasked" the luchador and given him the name Alberto Castillo. I don't why management decided to let him wrestle without his mask, but we should thank them for it because we now get to see Castillo's deep dimples (dimples seem to run in the family; cousin Garza Jr. has them, too).

Our good friend and longtime contributor David is the person who brought Castillo to my attention when he emailed me a bunch of photos of the rising young star in a few recent NXT matches (see David's photos below). Thanks for these great pics, David!