José Ángel Nájera Sánchez (January 6, 1951 – April 8, 2017) was a Mexican luchador, or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Fishman.

At an early age his mother and aunts would bring Nájera along when they would watch lucha libre shows at the local Toreo de Cuartro Caminos bullfighting arena from the time he was nine years old.

[5] After working as Titán for about a year Nájera was inspired by an off-hand comment from a tag team partner that the eyes on his mask looked like a fish.

[3][9] In Mexico City he would stay at the guest house of wrestlers José Luis Mendieta and Jesus Reza, known as Rambo and Mano Negra respectively, as he started to work for EMLL full-time.

He made his debut on the same night that El Solitario unmasked Ángel Blanco, working in front of a much larger crowd than he had in Juárez.

[5] Fishman's more brutal wrestling style, common in Juárez but not so in Mexico City, almost immediately made him a rudo (wrestlers who portray the "bad guys") with the fans.

[17][18][19] The following week El Cobarde caused Fishman to lose the Mexican National Weltweight Championship to Kung Fu, leading to the two facing off for their masks the following day.

The UWA employed a hard-hitting style of wrestling that EMLL did not emphasize, responding to the demands of the younger lucha libre audiences.

On December 12, 1980, Fishman defeated Perro Aguayo to win the UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, holding it until March 1, 1981, where he lost it to Villano III.

[22] On June 11, 1983, Fishman unsuccessfully challenged Japanese Tiger Mask for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship in the semi-final of UWA's Tercera Confrontacion Mexico - Japan show that drew approximately 30,000 spectators.

[25][26] The UWA had working relationships with promotions all over the world, which allowed Fishman to tour Central America and also worked select shows for the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling, including an appearance at WCCW's June 1983 "Star Wars" event, where Fishman, Bill Irwin and the Mongol lost to WCCW regulars José Lothario, Chris Adams and Chavo Guerrero.

[Note 3] On April 1, 1984, in Naucalpan, Mexico Fishman defeated Villano III in a tournament final to win his fourth UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.

[5] Fishman, Aguayo and El Faraón teamed up for Copa Ovaciones y Costalazos ("Cheers and Slams Cup") held by the UWA in 1984.

El Solitario, real name Roberto González Cruz, complained of abdominal pain and ended up needing surgery to stop an internal bleeding.

[5] On January 29, 1989, Fishman, Kahoz, Zandokan and Rambo lost to Gran Hamada, Perro Aguayo, Dos Caras and Villaño III on the under card of the UWA 14th Anniversary Show.

[32] In 1988 Fishman began splitting his time between the UWA and the World Wrestling Association (WWA) based out of Tijuana, Baja California.

[34] Fishman became the second ever WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion as he defeated Rey Misterio on May 18, 1990, holding it for 113 days before losing it to Villano IV.

Fishman teamed up with fellow former UWA main eventer Villano III, but lost to Mr. Niebla and Shocker in the opening round.

At some point after leaving CMLL he won his final mask, defeating Cina de Oro in his home town of Juárez.

[10] On December 25, 1999, Fishman, Lizmark, Villano III and Super Astro competed in a four-way elimination match, called a Relevos Suicidas where the first two wrestlers pinned would be forced to fight each other under Luchas de Apuestas rules.

[43][44] Eight months later Fishman was involved in another Relevos Suicida match, organized by the recently formed Global Wrestling All Stars (GWAS).

[2] The four-way match between Fishman, La Parka, Máscara Sagrada and Shu el Guerrero was promoted by a new company, Global Wrestling All-Stars, whose first big show was held in the 20,000 seat Palacio de los Deportes area in Mexico City.

[45] The show did not draw even close to half of the 20,000 capacity, estimates were around 300, partially due to the fact that there was no storylines leading to the main event.

In the end Máscara Sagrada defeated Fishman, forcing him to unmask and reveal his real name to everyone in the arena or watching on PPV, José Ángel Nájera Sánchez.

[49] Following his retirement Nájera helped his youngest son make his pro wrestling debut in 2008 after first introducing the world to El Hijo del Fishman during his final Luchas de Apuestas match.