'He Was My Hero': Son Remembers His Wrestler Father

John Torres Jr. grew up watching his father, John Torres Sr. moonlight as a lucha libre wrestler.

Lucha libre is a style of professional wrestling that originated in Mexico. And love for the sport strengthened the bond between father and son.

Torres Sr. died in 2011 from complications with sarcoidosis — an inflammatory disease that usually affects the lungs, skin, or lymph nodes — at the age of 43. Torres, now 30, recently visited StoryCorps with his dad's best friend and fellow wrestler, Abraham Guzman, 49, to remember him.

"My dad, he would always tell me to put him in a chokehold, and he would easily break it," Torres said. "And I was always so impressed by that strength. He was my hero, man."

Torres Sr. began his wrestling career in the 1980s in the Bronx.

"I remember he had the white boots, the white mask with kind of like a red beak," Torres said.

"It was The Falcon," Guzman said.

"He was The Falcon, yes," Torres said. "And my dad was a neat freak. So he'd fold things a certain way. And everything was in this giant gym bag. And every day I would look at that bag and say, 'Man, there's stardom in that bag!' "

When he was young his dad would discourage him from wrestling, Torres said.

"He always said, 'You can be something better than that. Doctor, lawyer," Torres said.

Torres Sr. would frequently travel for his wrestling career. Torres Jr. remembers that growing up in New York City, his dad was gone a lot. "But the thing that always brought us back was wrestling," he says. "Over the phone we would talk about wrestling for like, hours."

"And I remember, he said 'I want to tag team with you one day.' And so, you started training me," he said to Guzman.

Torres trained almost every day, and after six months, he was set to get in the ring for the first time. "I told my dad. And he said 'I'll be there Saturday for your debut match.' "

But the Thursday before, Torres received a call from his cousin that would change his life.

"He's like, 'Did you hear?' and I was like 'No, what?' " Torres said. "And he's like, 'Your father.' And when he said 'my father' I already knew. And I said 'My dad died?' And he could barely say 'yeah' over the phone. I remember leaning against the wall, and just breaking down crying."

Instead of going to his debut that Saturday, Torres attended his father's funeral.

"That's when I decided that wrestling was my legacy," Torres said. "One of the things I think about [is] if he was still alive today, like how would he feel?"

He now spends most of his time outside of the ring, focusing on his career as a filmmaker documenting the lives of wrestlers in New York.

"I think he'd be proud — because I see a lot in you in him. Your certain wrestling moves, I'm like, I've seen that before," Guzman says. "And sometimes, when I talk to you I feel like I'm talking to your dad again. Even the laugh. People don't know it, but when you laugh, I hear him all the time!"

"I want to keep his name alive. And that's what I've been doing ever since," Torres said.

Produced for Morning Edition by Liyna Anwar and Joshua Christensen.

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.

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