Cruz Del Toro

Raul Mendoza is a Mexican Professional Wrestler who is currently signed with WWE under the ring name Cruz Del Toro. He appears on the SmackDown Brand and is a member of Legado Del Fantasma and Latino World Order. He is one of the rising stars of WWE, who carries the Mexican of rich Lucha Libre in his wrestling style. Del Toro sights late WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero as his Idol and is following in his footsteps with his association to LWO.

Professional Wrestling Career

Early Career

Mendoza made his professional wrestling debut in September 2016 at an Independent Circuit in Mexico. He wrestled for the first ten years in his home country with numerous Mexican independent circuits such as IWRG, DTU and PdM. He also wrestled for Mexico's biggest national promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide and Japanese Promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. While wrestling for the Independent Circuits, he won DTU Alto Impacto Championship once, Noah Wrestling Camp once, and XMW International Cup once.

WWE (2016 - Present)

Debut & Championship Pursuits

In June 2016, Mendoza participated in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic Tournament as one of the 32 participants, who weighed under 205 lbs. Mendoza wrestled against Brain Kendrick and was eliminated in the first round of the tournament. He then signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to work with WWE’s developmental brand NXT. He made his NXT debut on the May 25, 2017 episode of NXT and lost his first match against Velveteen Dream. He had a sporadic appearance on television for a year. Mendoza won the #1 Contender’s Battle Royal for the NXT Championship the following year and unsuccessfully challenged then NXT Champion, Andrade “Cien” Almas.

Following the defeat, Mendoza moved to 205 Live and made his debut by teaming up with Humberto Carillo and defeated Kalisto and Gran Metalik. He then challenged Lio Rush for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship but failed.

Legado Del Fantasma

On the March 11, 2020 episode of NXT, Mendoza and on the April 1 episode of NXT Joaquin Wilde was abducted in a van by a group of masked people. On the July 10 episode of NXT, the NXT Cruiserweight Champion El Hijo Del Fantasma was joined with two masked mens and attacked Drake Maverick. After which they unmasked themselves to be Mendoza and Joazuun Wilde. The trio formed a team named “Legado Del Fantasma” with Santos Escobar as the leader of the group. Mendoza and Wilde went on to compete in the tag team division at 205 live and in NXT. At NXT TakeOver XXX, Mendoza and Wilde competed the #1 Contenders’ for the NXT Tag Team Championship, but lost the match.

In 2021, Wilde and Mendoza participated in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but were eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual winners MSK. They however got the championship opportunity and faced MSK and Grizzled Young Veterans, where MSK won the tag titles. Legado Del Fantasma then went on a long feud with NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed and MSK, which eventually turned into a Winners Takes All Match, but were unsuccessful.

On the October 7 episode of SmackDown, Legado Del Fantasma made their main roster debut with Zelina Vega. Upon main roster debut, Mendoza’s name was changed to Cruz Del Toro. They debuted as a heel, however started turning face by assisting Rey Mysterio in the feud with Dominik Mysterio.

Latino World Order

At 2023 Hall of Fame, when Rey Mysterio was ahead to be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2023, Rey presented them with LWO gears and officially brought the Latino World Order back in WWE. Legado Del Fantasma became a part of LWO and they started working as a team. Rey Mysterio won the United States Championship, marking the first championship win for LWO.

Cruz Del Toro- Championships and Accomplishments

Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU)

• DTU Alto Impacto Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Noah (PWN)

• Noah Wrestling Camp (1 time)

Xtrem Mexican Wrestling

• XMW International Cup (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Ranked No. 309 in the Top 500 singles wrestlers by PWI 500 in 2016.