New Google Doodle Honors Mexican Wrestling Legend El Santo
Google has updated its logo to celebrate what would have been the 99th birthday of the man credited with popularizing wrestling in Mexico.
More commonly known as “El Santo” (The Saint), Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta was a legendary, silver-masked luchador who wrestled for nearly five decades and is remembered as one of the greatest sports figures in Mexican history. As Google notes, he became a cultural icon through his appearance in film and as the subject of many comic books, representing justice and the fight against evil.
Legend has it that El Santo never removed his silver mask even at home and had a special mask for eating. He finally removed his mask to reveal his identity on the Mexican talk show Contrapunto. A week after his unmasking, El Santo died on Feb. 5, 1984. Shortly after his funeral, a statue of El Santo was erected in his hometown of Tulancingo.
As he requested, El Santo was buried wearing his iconic silver mask. The Doodle, which is visible across the U.S., Latin America and Indonesia, features El Santo defending cities and fighting off his enemies.
