Real Name - Juan Chavarría Galicia
Birthdate - 12/27/38
??? - Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico
Aliases - none
Athletic background - n/a
Teachers - Halcón Suriano
Groups - La Ola Blanca
Peak Years - `7?-`8?

Place in History - American fans often forget that there were a respectable number of luchadors who were successful in the US achieved prior to the WCW Cruiserweight days. Most of them competed in Texas, California and in cities with sizable Latin populations. In the 1970s, Mexican wrestlers, led by Mil Mascaras, were able to come to the US and work as either faces or heels. One of these was a heavyweight from Laguna named Gran Markus. His most notorious feud was with American-born Jose Lothario, who was an excellent performer and top babyface in Texas. Their rivalry bloomed on both sides of the Rio Grande. In Mexico, Markus took Lothario’s short-lived mask in Monterrey and a regional heavyweight title. In Texas, he teamed with an up-and-coming heel Gino Hernandez and they captured the American Tag titles, but Lothario and El Halcón took them. El Halcón became one of Markus’s greatest Mexican-born adversaries and they exchanged the Mexican Heavyweight title. Of course Gran Markus is often best remembered for his legendary rudo trio, La Ora Blanca (The White Wave), which included Dr. Wagner and Ángel Blanco. He left the limelight for much of the 1980s other than feuding with Aníbal, which eventually cost him his mask. After that Gran Markus was little more than a name, but he would return to Mexico City with Gran Markus Jr. (who is not really his son) as his partner. They would feud and team again before Gran Markus’s retirement in 1990.