El Mesías
Gilbert Cosme Ramírez, better known by his ring name El Mesías, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
Cosme began his career in the International Wrestling Association based in Puerto Rico, under the ring name Ricky Banderas. While performing in the company, he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship five times and held minor championships on fifteen separate occasions, before leaving the company in 2006. On March 12, 2006, he debuted in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, a promotion based in Mexico, as a character named Muerte Cibernética and was involved in an angle where this character was "killed". In November 2006, Cosme was featured in the tapings of the Wrestling Society X television series, where he was the second and last wrestler to win the WSX Championship.
Following a month of performing in the International Wrestling Association, Cosme returned to AAA in a special event, this time under the ring name of El Mesías. In September 2007, the company organized a unification tournament where all the champions and first contenders participated. Over the course of the tournament, he won the GPCW Super-X Monster Championship and IWC World Heavyweight Championship, and on the tournament's finale, he became the first wrestler to win the AAA Mega Championship. While working in Mexico, Cosme signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he debuted as Judas Mesias in September 2007. In March 2008, his association with TNA came to an end and he focused most of his time on AAA. In 2010, Cosme debuted for Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council, where he won the Universal Heavyweight Championship. He also wrestled in Lucha Underground under the ring name Mil Muertes. He reprised the role in Major League Wrestling, as King Muertes.
Outside of his work within these promotions, Cosme has represented Puerto Rico as a member of Team Rest of the World in the 2015 Lucha Libre World Cup and as the captain of Team International in the 2013 World Cup of Wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
International Wrestling Association (1999–2009)
Cosme began training in 1996, when he was instructed by a former wrestler. During this time, he enrolled in the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico located in Bayamón. His major was in computer technology, but after completing two years of study, he decided to begin wrestling full time after meeting Víctor Quiñones. In 1997, after working in the independent circuit, he moved to Mexico and became involved in a project to develop Hispanic talent organized by the World Wrestling Federation.Cosme subsequently debuted in the International Wrestling Association in 1999. He was given the gimmick of "El Patriota" Ricky Banderas, a name that, according to Cosme, was created by fusing the artistic names of Latin musician Ricky Martín and actor Antonio Banderas. He debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling on that year, working a televised match. Following a period of teaming with Los Boricuas, his character was teamed with Germán Figueroa, who wrestled as Gran Apolo and formed a tag team dubbed La Nueva Generacion, which won the IWA Tag Team Championship three times. On August 21, 2000, in a show in Levittown, Puerto Rico, Cosme's character turned on Gran Apolo. Following this, he joined the company's dominant heel stable, Los Intocables, along with Miguel Pérez and Jesús Castillo. After the stable's dissolution, he was involved in another stable named Starr Corporation, where after Cosme's insistence his character became darker and was renamed "El Mesías" Ricky Banderas. Following this, he teamed up with Shane Sewell in a stable known as Los Hermanos en Dolor. In 2001, Cosme had a tryout match for the WWF and performed in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's 12th Anniversary Show pay-per-view event. He won the IWA heavyweight title for a third time on June 15, 2002, and remained champion until Ray González debuted with the company as "Rey Fénix", in a match that he describes as the best match he had wrestled thus far.
Cosme's gimmick underwent another change when he joined then-dominant heel stable La Compañía, led by Savio Vega. This was followed by his fourth title run after he defeated Gran Apolo on January 6, 2003. He was booked as a heel until October 9, 2003, when Vega's group turned on him. Following this, he feuded with Christopher Kindred under his "Slash Venom" gimmick, which peaked when Vampiro was brought by the company to form a stable which feuded with Gran Apolo and Venom. In 2004, he feuded with Hangman Hughes, Kasey James, El Diamante and Bison. In 2005, he turned heel again, this time leading a stable known as La Cruz del Diablo which feuded with other groups led by Vega and González. Following an angle where he feuded over a number one contender spot, Cosme departed from the company and signed a contract to wrestle in Mexico. He continued making sporadic appearances for the company, including a brief stint in 2007. On July 19, 2009, Cosme was booked to defeat Dennis Rivera in the promotion's tenth anniversary event.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2006–2018)
Following the culmination of his contract with the International Wrestling Association, Cosme signed a contract with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He debuted on March 12, 2006, as "Muerte Cibernética", a rudo enforcer supposedly brought to the company by Cibernético to feud with "La Parka". This gimmick consisted of Cosme wearing a traditional Mexican wrestling mask, often a modified version of the one used by La Parka. This character feuded with La Parka for several months. This angle came to a conclusion at Triplemania XIV, where Cosme's character was booked to lose a Mask vs. Mask match.Following a legitimate injury suffered by Cibernético, Cosme's gimmick was slightly changed, launching into an angle where he pursued the leadership of Cibernético's stable, which then went by the name of La Secta Cibernetica. The character was booked to be the leader of the stable after supposedly convincing several members of the group to join him and changing the name of the group to La Secta Diabólica. The events of the angle were used to hype an eventual feud between López and Cosme's characters that took place in December 2006. In the angle, Cosme won the first match between the two with help from his stable. The angle culminated in a Casket match. Cibernético was booked to win the match and subsequently "kill" his opponent by throwing him into an active volcano. This was used to explain Cosme's absence when he departed from the company to wrestle in the International Wrestling Association. During this time, he also wrestled for Panama Wrestling Crew in Panama and in Ecuador.
Following a month of performing in Puerto Rico, Cosme returned to AAA in an annual event entitled Rey de Reyes under a new gimmick, changing his name to El Mesías. From then on, he started to get a bigger push as a main event heel, feuding with Cibernético and his stable Los Hell Brothers. During the feud, Cosme was both leader of La Secta del Mesías and member of La Legión Extranjera. Later, Cosme took both the IWC heavyweight championship from Cibernético and the GPCW SUPER-X Monster Title from La Parka in the preliminary rounds of the AAA Mega Championship tournament. As Mesías, he became the first wrestler to win the AAA Mega Championship in AAA's pay-per-view event Verano de Escandalo, after defeating Chessman by disqualification. On November 29, 2007, he successfully defended the company's championship in a triple threat match at the Guerra de Titanes pay-per-view. In March 2008, he returned to AAA after several months of inactivity. On March 16, 2008, Cosme dropped the championship to Cibernético. He was subsequently involved in an angle with Vampiro, leading to a match at Triplemania XVI, which concluded as a time-limit draw. On October 24, 2008, Cosme won the Copa Antonio Peña, defeating six other wrestlers in the process. Joaquín Roldán presented the relevant trophy. On December 6, 2008, at Guerra de Titanes, Cosme won the AAA Heavyweight Championship for a second time, defeating El Zorro. He also made a full técnico turn, asking the fans for forgiveness for what he'd done while in AAA. On March 15, 2009, at Rey de Reyes, after successfully defending the AAA Mega Championship against Chessman, Dr. Wagner Jr. challenged him directly after the match. On June 13, 2009, he was booked to lose the title to Wagner at Triplemania XVII.
The feud continued for several months, until he regained the title on December 11, 2009, at the main event of Guerra de Titanes. Cosme's third reign as AAA Mega Champion ended on March 12, 2010, at Rey de Reyes. He was not booked to lose, but Electroshock submitted Mr. Anderson, the third wrestler in the match, to win the championship. Afterwards, El Mesías began feuding with invaders from Los Perros del Mal, the group's leader El Hijo del Perro Aguayo in particular. On August 14 at Verano de Escandalo, Aguayo, Damián 666 and L. A. Park defeated El Mesías, Cibernético and La Parka in a six-man tag team match, when Aguayo pinned Mesías after hitting him with a chair. On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales IV, El Mesías gained a measure of revenge on Aguayo by defeating him in a singles match. On November 1, El Mesías entered the 2010 Lucha Libre Premier tournament. The first two rounds of the tournament were wrestled in a parejas increibles format, with El Mesías teaming with Electroshock. The two would defeat the teams of Extreme Tiger and L. A. Park and Cibérnetico and Hernandez to make it to the semifinal four-way match, where El Mesías and El Zorro, defeated Electroshock and Dr. Wagner Jr. to advance to the finals. On November 28, El Mesías defeated El Zorro in the finals of the tournament to win the 2010 Lucha Libre Premier. Afterwards, Mesías entered a feud with La Sociedad member L. A. Park, who defeated him on December 5 at Guerra de Titanes, after using a chair on him. On March 18, 2011, at Rey de Reyes, El Mesías and Park were both eliminated from the finals of the tournament after brawling to a double countout. On May 18, El Mesías challenged, and Park accepted, for the two to end their feud at Triplemanía XIX in a Mask vs. Hair match. On June 18 at TripleManía XIX, Park defeated El Mesías, forcing him to have his head shaved. El Mesías returned to AAA a month later at Verano de Escándalo, saving Dr. Wagner Jr. from La Sociedad. On October 9 at Héroes Inmortales, El Mesías wrestled TNA wrestler Sting to a no contest in what was billed as a "dream match" by AAA, following interference from La Sociedad. The match had been put together by AAA Mega Champion Jeff Jarrett in an attempt to stop El Mesías from chasing his title. On December 16 at Guerra de Titanes, El Mesías defeated TNA wrestlers A.J. Styles and Rob Terry in back-to-back matches to become the number one contender to Jarrett's title. On March 18, 2012, at Rey de Reyes, El Mesías defeated Jarrett to win the AAA Mega Championship for the fourth time. On April 23, El Mesías underwent surgery on his arm; as a result, he was sidelined from in-ring action for three months. In storyline, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo was credited with causing the injury. El Mesías returned on July 13, attacking Aguayo and his Perros del Mal stable. On August 5 at Triplemanía XX, El Mesías successfully defended the AAA Mega Championship against Aguayo. He then went on to lose the title to El Texano Jr. on December 2 at Guerra de Titanes. On March 17, 2013, El Mesías defeated Canek and L. A. Park in the finals to win the 2013 Rey de Reyes tournament. In October, El Mesías came together with two former rivals, Cibernético and El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, to battle the Secta stable, after its members had turned on Cibernético. The partnership ended on December 8 at Guerra de Titanes, when Aguayo turned rudo, leading to the reformation of La Sociedad. On August 17, 2014, at Triplemanía XXII, El Mesías won fellow técnico Electroshock's hair in a six-way steel cage Lucha de Apuestas.
On March 6, 2015, El Mesías turned on Blue Demon Jr. and La Parka, completing his return to the rudo side. Shortly afterwards, he joined La Sociedad. On May 26, 2017, Mesías and Pagano won the AAA World Tag Team Championship, after defeating Dark Family. Nine days later, at Verano de Escándalo, Dark Family won the titles back. At TripleManía XXV, Pagano and Mesías fought in a Street match that ended in a no-contest. In November 2017, Banderas suffered an injury in both knees. He made his return to the ring at Rey de Reyes, where he was defeated by La Parka. On March 21, 2018, Mesias officially announced his departure from the AAA company on his Facebook account, ending his 12-year run with the company. The following day, Banderas explained his departure, claiming he was very unhappy with the promotion. He claimed AAA "forced" him to work with a knee injury, his defeat against La Parka in his return match was "disrespectful" and apparently, he signed a contract with AAA where he was given the rights to the ring name "El Mesías" Ricky Banderas.