This international Lucha phenom might break a generational curse
Pentagón Jr., or Penta El Zero M, wrestles in the shadow of a long-standing curse. But his star turn in AAA and AEW might break it.
Photo credit: All Entertainment Wrestling
Seeing Penta El Zero Miedo in person is like seeing an action figure in real life. The masked face with white contacts and only the skull-painted jaw visible. The (usually) metallic martial artist attire that looks like some kind of armor mixed with muscles. Even if you know nothing about Lucha Libre, Pentagón Jr marks an impressive figure.
Beyond his look, he is considered one of the best luchadores on the planet. He is a huge star in both Mexico and the U.S., where he stars on weekly AEW programming with his brother Rey Fénix and holds one-third of the AEW World Trios Championship.
El Zero M is a mystery
Not much about Pentagón Jr. is known because he has never been unmasked in the ring. His real name is unknown, but we do know that like many other luchadores, Penta comes from a legacy wrestling family. In addition to being the brother of Rey Fénix, his father is known as Fuego and he has another brother who wrestles under the name Niño de Fuego.
Watch one of his matches and you’ll leave without questioning his athleticism and skill level as he flies through the air flipping and hitting his signature moves like the Pentagon Driver. The energy of the crowd behind him is always electric as they chant his catchphrase: “CERO MI-EDO!”
Not the only Pentagón
The original Pentagón character (keep in mind the current Penta is “Jr”) was created as the “evil twin” counterpart to a luchador called Octagón. Pentagón dressed like Octagón and copied his move set to try to drive Octagón crazy. Octagón was good (babyface) and Pentagón was bad (heel/rudo). The original Pentagón luchador eventually lost both his mask and hair and was named and shamed publicly, as is Lucha tradition.
Besides Pentagón Jr, there have been eight different incarnations of mini Pentagóns, including female variants, and the gimmick supposedly holds a curse. The first Pentagón had his career cut short after dying in the ring and all subsequent Pentagóns were faced with misfortune in their careers, which is why Penta Zero M created his iconic catchphrase “CERO MIEDO!” (“ZERO FEAR!”) to show that he doesn’t fear the curse, or anything else for that matter.
And just last week, he made headlines for unmasking Villano IV in the bloody headline at Triplemania XXX: Mexico City. Only time will tell if the Pentagón curse is broken, but for the time being Zero M has our attention.
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Come back next week for the next Fighter of the Week installment, and check out last week’s pick Andy Ruiz.
