At the age of twelve, his older brother Jesús, who was also a professional wrestler, began teaching him basic wrestling moves.

He began training under the tutelage of Joe el Hermoso and made his wrestling debut in 1960 at the age of fourteen.

He was catapulted into stardom within the lucha libre world when he defeated veteran Rey Mendoza in a mask vs hair match on December 13, 1968.

El Solitario formed a wrestling trio alongside Dr. Wagner and Angel Blanco; the group was known as "La Ola Blanca" (The White Wave).

He was wrestling as a rudo at this time but when his partners Dr. Wagner and Angel Blanco turned on him, he became one of the most popular tecnicos of his era.

He continued wrestling as an individual during this time, and in 1969, won the NWA Middleweight world title by defeating El Rayo de Jalisco.

El Solitario was one of the first stars to leave EMLL to join the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) promotion, which was run by Francisco Flores and Ray Mendoza.

He also toured Japan in 1972, 1979, and 1981, where he would face and team up with premiere stars such as Tiger Mask and Tatsumi Fujinami, along with other Mexican wrestlers such as Chavo Guerrero and El Canek.

He was unable to fully exhibit his wrestling skills during his tours, as the junior's division formula in Japan consisted of popular Japanese wrestlers facing off against foreign heels.