William Arturo Muñoz González (born September 29, 1988), better known by his ring name Rush ( ), is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is signed to American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of La Facción Ingobernable. He is best known for his time performing for the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as well as the U.S. based Ring of Honor (ROH). Muñoz's father, Arturo Muñoz, is also a professional wrestler, most recently known under the ring name La Bestia del Ring. William's younger brothers are also professional wrestlers, using the ring names Dralístico and Dragon Lee. While most professional wrestlers portray clear faces or heels in the ring, Rush portrays a character that straddles that divide; his in-ring actions are often chaotic or brawling, with tendencies to cheat, but he is still popular with fans.
Muñoz made his in-ring debut in 2007, working under the name Latino until he started working for CMLL in 2009, where he was given the name "Rush". He is a former CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion, multiple time CMLL World Tag Team Champion, CMLL World Trios Champion and two-time Mexican National Trios Champion. Rush, along with La Sombra and La Máscara, created the group Los Ingobernables ("the unruly") and he was the only original member to remain part of the group in CMLL before departing the promotion in 2019. The success of Los Ingobernables led to the formation of the Los Ingobernables de Japón (LIJ) group in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), of which Rush was a part-time member when he was touring Japan or when LIJ toured Mexico. Through CMLL's business partnerships, Rush additionally appeared for both NJPW and the U.S. based ROH, and his CMLL contract allowed him to work dates for other companies as well, most notably Major League Wrestling in the U.S., and The Crash Lucha Libre and International Wrestling Revolution Group in Mexico.
Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2007–2009) William Arturo Muñoz was initially trained for his professional wrestling career by his father Arturo Muñoz Sánchez and his uncles, who worked under the ring names Pit Bull I and Pit Bull II. He made his in-ring debut on July 29, 2007.
Muñoz made his debut for International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) in October 2008, performing under the ring name Latino. He would wrestle midcard matches for IWRG for eight months, before making his final appearance on June 7, 2009.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2009–2019) Early years (2009–2011) During the summer of 2009, Muñoz was signed by one of Mexico's top promotions, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and given the new ring name Rouge, which was soon afterwards tweaked to its current form, Rush. He would make his debut for the promotion on August 9, teaming with Mictlán and Stuka Jr. to defeat Hooligan, Loco Max and Pólvora in a six-man tag team match. Rush would spend his first year in the promotion wrestling tag team and six-man tag team matches, often teaming with Máximo, Mictlán, Metro and Toscano. Despite being booked as a técnico ("Face", or those that portray the good guys), Rush would often show rudo ("heel" or those that portray the bad guys) tendencies during his matches. During the summer of 2010, Rush entered a feud with Loco Max, which culminated on August 15 in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas match, where Rush was victorious, thus forcing his adversary to have his hair shaved off.
On November 25, Rush won CMLL's Bodybuilding Contest in the advanced category. With his win, Rush gained the new nickname "Mr. CMLL". On January 2, 2011, Rush, Ángel de Oro and Diamante defeated Metal Blanco, Palacio Negro and El Sagrado in the finals of a two-week-long tournament to become the number one contenders to the Mexican National Trios Championship. On January 9, the trio defeated Delta, Metro and Stuka Jr. to become the new champions.
On February 15, Rush teamed with Máscara Dorada and La Sombra against the team of Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr. and Ephesto and managed to win the match for his team by pinning the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion Ephesto, afterwards challenging him to a match for the title. The title match took place on February 22 and saw Rush defeat Ephesto to become the new CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion. In response to the backlash over his sudden push, Rush acknowledged his many detractors by posting a list of the various moves he could do in the ring, while also promoting his youth, strength and physique. After successfully defending the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship against Rey Bucanero and Psicosis, Rush was granted a shot at the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship, held by Último Guerrero. The title match took place on June 12 and saw Guerrero retain his title two falls to one. Afterwards, Rush began feuding with Japanese wrestler Yoshihashi, which led to the two agreeing to face each other in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas. On August 1, Rush defeated Yoshihashi two falls to one to win his second Hair vs. Hair match.
On August 23, 2012, Rush made his third successful defense of the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mr. Águila. On September 20, Rush, Ángel de Oro and Diamante lost the Mexican National Trios Championship to Los Invasores (Olímpico, Psicosis and Volador Jr.).
El Bufete del Amor (2011–2013)
On November 13, Rush successfully defended the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship against El Terrible. The following month, Rush teamed up with Máximo and the returning Marco Corleone to form La Tercia Sensación, later renamed El Bufete del Amor.
On December 25, Rush and El Terrible survived a torneo cibernetico match used to determine the two competitors in a match for the vacant CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. On January 1, 2012, El Terrible defeated Rush two falls to one to win the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. On January 21 and 22, Rush took part in the CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) co-produced Fantastica Mania 2012 events in Tokyo, teaming with Máscara Dorada losing to the team of Hirooki Goto and Kushida on the first night and losing to Goto in a singles match on the second night. On February 19, El Bufete del Amor defeated Los Hijos del Averno (Averno, Ephesto and Mephisto) to win the CMLL World Trios Championship. Also in February, Rush teamed with El Terrible in the National Parejas Increibles tournament, where teams were made up of rivals. Rush and El Terrible eventually made it to the finals of the tournament on March 2, 2012, at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, where they were defeated by the team of Atlantis and Mr. Niebla. Two days later, Rush successfully defended the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship against El Terrible, the reigning CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.
In May, Rush started feuding with New Japan Pro-Wrestling representative Yujiro Takahashi, which built to a match on June 5, where Rush successfully defended the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship against Takahashi. On July 8, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced Rush as a participant in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament. Rush returned to the promotion on July 29 at Last Rebellion, where he, Karl Anderson, MVP and Shelton Benjamin defeated Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer, Taichi and Taka Michinoku) in an eight-man tag team match. Rush opened his G1 Climax tournament on August 1 with a win over Hirooki Goto, avenging his loss from Fantastica Mania. After three wins, one over IWGP Heavyweight Championship contender Tetsuya Naito, and five losses, Rush was eliminated from the tournament on August 11, eventually finishing last in his block. Upon Rush's return to CMLL, he continued his rivalry with El Terrible going into the 2012 Universal Championship tournament, where he made it to the finals of his block, before losing to El Terrible, after which he was attacked by both El Terrible and his stablemate Rey Bucanero. On September 9, Rush defeated Bucanero in a steel cage match to retain the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship. Rush's rivalry with El Terrible culminated five days later in the main event of CMLL's 79th Anniversary Show, where Rush was victorious in a Hair vs. Hair Lucha de Apuestas, forcing his rival to have his head shaved.
In late 2012 Rush and Diamante Azul participated in NJPW's 2012 World Tag League under the name CMLL Asesino (CMLL Assassins). Rush and Diamante ended the tournament on November 28, 2012, with just four points after victories over Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) and Complete Players (Masato Tanaka and Yujiro Takahashi), finishing in the last place in Group B, after losses to the teams of Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano), K.E.S. (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.), Muscle Orchestra (Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man), and finally Black Dynamite (MVP and Shelton Benjamin). Rush scored both of his team's pinfall wins and was not pinned or submitted in any of the losses. Rush and Azul finished their tour with a pay-per-view on December 2, losing to Jado and Yoshi-Hashi in a tag team match, with Azul once again being the one pinned for the win. On January 15, 2013, Rush gave up the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship to get another shot at El Terrible's CMLL World Heavyweight Championship. On January 18, Rush returned to Japan to take part in the three-day Fantastica Mania 2013 event. During the first night, he defeated former rival Yoshi-Hashi in a singles match. The following night, Rush was pinned for the win by Rey Escorpión in a six-man tag team match, where he, Hiroshi Tanahashi and La Máscara faced Escorpión, Kazuchika Okada and Volador Jr. During the third and final night, Rush defeated Escorpión in a singles match.
Back in Mexico on January 22, Rush failed in his CMLL World Heavyweight Championship challenge against El Terrible, after being struck with a kick to the groin. In March, Rush and El Terrible teamed up for the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles like they had for the 2012 tournament, but the team lost in the first round to Dragón Rojo Jr. and Niebla Roja. Two weeks later they were on opposite sides of a six-man tag team match at the 2013 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show, where Rush, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and Shocker defeated El Terrible, Mr. Niebla and Universo 2000 by disqualification. In May, Rush, Marco Corleone and Máximo were stripped of the CMLL World Trios Championship, when Corleone was sidelined with a knee injury. On June 9, Rush earned a big win over NJPW representative Shinsuke Nakamura in a main event singles match. On June 30, Rush won the Mexican National Trios Championship for the second time, when he, La Máscara and Titán defeated Los Invasores (Kráneo, Mr. Águila and Psicosis) for the title. On August 23, Rush entered the 2013 Universal Championship tournament, defeating El Terrible, La Máscara and Rey Escorpión to win his block and advance to the finals, to be held two weeks later. On September 6, Rush was defeated in the finals of the tournament by NJPW representative Tanahashi.
"The most hated wrestler in CMLL" (2013–2014)