Renato Ruíz Cortes (born May 9, 1977), better known by his ring name Averno (English: "Hell"), is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where is the current NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Champion. Ruíz initially worked for CMLL as Rencor Latino ("Latin Hostility") in 1995, but did not achieve any significant success until he adopted the ring name Averno in June 2001. Under his new ring name, Ruíz went on to become a one–time CMLL World Middleweight Champion, CMLL World Trios Champion, NWA World Middleweight Champion and NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion and a three–time CMLL World Tag Team Champion, and CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion.
For many years, Averno's real name was not a matter of public record, as is often the case with masked wrestlers in Mexico where their private lives are kept a secret from the wrestling fans. However, in May 2011, Averno was booked in a Lucha de Apuesta, where he lost his mask and was forced to reveal his true identity. Ruíz left CMLL in April 2014 and joined rival promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) the following month. He left AAA in early 2021 and returned to CMLL that same year.
Personal life Renato Ruíz Cortes was born on May 9, 1977, in Mexico City, Mexico, son of then-professional wrestler Rodolfo Ruíz. He began training for a professional wrestling career himself at a young age, training under his father, who by then had retired from in-ring competition and instead was working as a referee and trainer. He made his in-ring debut in 1995, around his eighteenth birthday.
Professional wrestling career
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1995–2014)
Rencor Latino (1995–2001) Ruíz began wrestling as a técnico (good guy) in 1995 under the ring name Rencor Latino ("Latin Hostility"), eventually working in the lower ranks of Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council"). He won his first Lucha de Apuestas, or "bet match", in 1998, unmasking Apolo Chino by defeating him after a midcard feud. On August 4, 2002, Rencor Latino was one of twelve wrestlers putting their mask on the line during CMLL's Entre Torre Infernal ("In the Infernal Tower") pay-per-view. The match came down to Rencor Latino and veteran wrestler El Hijo del Gladiador, ending with Rencor Latino winning the match and taking El Hijo del Gladiador's mask.
Los Infernales (2001–2008)
In the summer of 2001, he was recruited by El Satánico to be a part of the new Los Infernales ("The Infernal Ones") group. During a televised segment, Satánico used his supposed "satanic powers" to turn Rencor Latino into one of his "minions", a rudo (bad guy) character known as "Averno" ("Hell"). Traditionally, when a masked wrestler transitions from one identity to a new identity, it is not publicly acknowledged; in Ruíz' case, it was actually part of the storyline. Averno would occasionally wrestle wearing a special mask that was half Averno, half Rencor Latino. Satánico and Averno were joined by Mephisto, who had previously wrestled as Astro Rey Jr. The trio feuded with Último Guerrero, Rey Bucanero and Tarzan Boy throughout the year, with Averno and Satánico unsuccessfully challenging Guerrero and Bucanero for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship in August 2001, after Satánico was disqualified for using a low blow. When Tarzan Boy was injured and unable to wrestle, Bucanero and Guerrero recruited Máscara Mágica to even the numbers. The storyline between the two factions reached its high point at the CMLL 68th Anniversary Show on September 28, where all seven wrestlers faced off in a steel cage match. The stipulation of the match was that the winning side would gain the rights to use the name Los Infernales while the loser on the opposite side would be forced to unmask or have their hair shaved off. In the end, Satánico pinned Máscara Mágica, forcing him to unmask. After losing the match, Guerrero, Bucanero and Tarzan Boy became known collectively as Los Guerreros del Infierno (The Infernal Soldiers), while Satánico, Averno and Mephisto continued to work as Los Infernales.
In 2002, Los Infernales won the Mexican National Trios Championship in Guadalajara and began feuding with La Familia de Tijuana (Nicho el Millonario, Halloween, and Damián 666). The trio lost the championship to La Familia in September, but continued feuding with the group into 2003. Over the summer, Los Infernales won a tournament to become the number one contenders for the CMLL World Trios Championship, but lost to champions Black Tiger III, Dr. Wagner Jr. and Universo 2000 on August 1. At the end of the year, Averno and Mephisto turned on El Satánico, but there was no major storyline feud between the three afterwards. In September 2004, Averno defeated Zumbido to win the vacant NWA World Middleweight Championship. Shortly after, Averno was positioned as a rival or foil to the up-and-coming tecnico Místico. Averno and Mephisto also became de facto members of Los Guerreros del Infierno, joining forces with their former rivals. In February 2005, Averno lost the NWA World Middleweight Championship to Místico as part of their long running storyline. Two months later, Averno and Mephisto defeated Atlantis and Blue Panther to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. When Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi visited CMLL, Averno initially teamed up with them before the two turned on him. This led to a trios match with Averno, Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero defeating Nakamura, Tanahashi and Shigeo Okumura in one of the featured bouts at the CMLL 72nd Anniversary Show on September 16. In early 2006, Averno and Mephisto were the catalysts for one of CMLL's big storylines as they defended their titles against Místico and Black Warrior twice. In the first match, they won by disqualification when Black Warrior interfered in the match after already being eliminated; in the second match, Black Warrior turned on Místico, attacking his partner to end the match. In April, they lost the tag team championship to Místico and Negro Casas, ending their 377-day-long reign.
Los Hijos del Averno (2008–2014)
In 2008, Averno formed the group Los Hijos del Averno ("The Sons of Hell") alongside Mephisto and Ephesto, followed by Averno and Mephisto defeating Atlantis and Último Guerrero to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship for a second time. On September 17, Averno defeated Negro Casas to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship, becoming a double middleweight champion as he still held the NWA World Middleweight Championship. Their reign lasted only 38 days before Místico and Héctor Garza won the championship from them. The duo became three-time tag team champions by the end of the year as Averno and Mephisto defeated Místico and Garza on December 7. The duo's third run with the CMLL World Tag Team Championship ended on January 16, 2009, when they lost to La Sombra and Volador Jr. On July 22, Averno lost one of his middleweight championships, the CMLL World Middleweight Championship, to Hijo del Fantasma. On July 12, 2010, at the Promociones Gutiérrez 1st Anniversary Show, Averno was one of 10 men who put their mask on the line in a match that featured five pareja incredibles teams, with the losing team being forced to wrestle each other with their mask on the line. His partner in the match was Último Guerrero, facing off against the teams of Atlantis and Olímpico, Místico and El Oriental, Histeria and La Sombra, Volado Jr. and El Alebrije. Averno and Guerrero was the third team to escape the match. In mid-2010, CMLL abandoned the NWA World Middleweight Championship after repeated complaints from the National Wrestling Alliance; they then created the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship and made Averno the first champion. On September 3, Averno was one of 14 men putting their masks on the line in a Lucha de Apuestas steel cage match in the main event of the CMLL 77th Anniversary Show. He was the first man to escape the cage, keeping his mask safe.
In April 2011, Averno began feuding with La Máscara, building a storyline that led to a Mask vs. Mask Lucha de Apuesta on June 17. The match announcement came on the heels of a report that Averno had signed a contract with WWE, supposedly following long time in-ring rival Místico, who had already signed with WWE. On June 17, at Juicio Final ("Final Judgement"), Averno was defeated by La Máscara two falls to one and thus was forced to unmask. Upon unmasking, Averno revealed that his real name was Renato Ruíz Cortes, that he was 34 years old, originally from Mexico City and had been wrestling for 16 years. Afterward, Ruíz and La Máscara continued their rivalry, building up to another singles match on July 4, where Ruíz successfully defended the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship. Despite rumors, Averno never began working for WWE, opting at the time to stay with CMLL. On July 15, Los Hijos del Averno defeated La Generación Dorada (La Máscara, Máscara Dorada and La Sombra) to win the CMLL World Trios Championship. On September 9, Averno entered CMLL's annual tournament of champions, the Universal Championship tournament. After defeating CMLL World Super Lightweight Champion Virus and old rival Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion La Máscara in his first two matches, Averno defeated CMLL World Tag Team Champion Último Guerrero in the semi-finals. On September 16, Averno was defeated in the Universal Championship finals by La Sombra. On November 22, Averno lost the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship to La Máscara.
On February 19, 2012, Los Hijos del Averno lost the CMLL World Trios Championship to El Bufete del Amor ("The Law of Love"; Marco Corleone, Máximo and Rush). Averno was forced to team up with La Máscara for the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles. The team worked together without too many problems in the first round as they defeated the team of Hijo del Fantasma and El Felino, but stumbled in the second round as they lost to eventual tournament winners La Sombra and Volador Jr. On April 26, at the Arena Mexico 57th Anniversary Show, Averno defeated Místico La Nueva Era to win the vacant Mexican National Welterweight Championship. On September 13, at the CMLL 80th Anniversary Show, Averno defeated Blue Panther in a submission only Lucha de Apuesta, which forced Blue Panther to have all his hair shaved off as a result. On December 1, Averno lost the Mexican National Welterweight Championship to Titán. On April 28, 2014, CMLL announced that Averno had parted ways with the company.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2014–2021) La Sociedad (2014–2016)