[1] A trademark of Hercules Cortez was a giant boulder he brought from Spain which he would place in the ring and dare others to lift.

Cortez (Alfonso Carlos Chicharro) was born the youngest of 13 children from a prominent family in Spain.

His family suffered much tragedy due to the Spanish civil war including loss of several of his young siblings (all in their teens).

She was a beautiful young German woman named Waltraud (later changed to Valerie) who did not speak Spanish at that time.

Cortez who was well educated and spoke several languages, was able to speak to her in her native tongue and soon they fell in love, got married and had three children together.

It was just months after buying a home in the United States (Ohio), that yet another tragedy struck his family as he was killed in a car accident at the young age of 39 years.

By 1971, Cortez was wrestling in America and held the AWA World Tag Team Championship with Red Bastien.

On July 24, 1971, Hercules Cortez died of injuries suffered in a single-car accident early in the morning.