Maya and El Danés and the uncle of wrestler Rey Maya, the son of Príncipe Maya. Estrada himself has at least two sons, one wrestles as El Hijo del Canek ("The Son of El Canek") and another that has been introduced as Canek Jr., but who has not wrestled. Hijo del Canek is sometimes billed as Canek Jr., confusing him with his much younger brother. Professional wrestling career Early career (19721973) Estrada began training for his professional wrestling career in the nearby town of Villahermosa, Tabasco training under Indio Azteca, Maciste, El Remington I and El Chacal for his professional wrestling career. While training for a professional wrestling career he also learned the basics of Olympic style wrestling and also competed in bodybuilding competitions. His in-ring debut came about earlier than expected as a local wrestling promoted asked Estrada to fill in for a wrestler who could not make that night's show. He made his debut that night working as the enmascarado (Masked wrestler) El Universitario ("The Academic" or College Student), a name that reflected that he was still in wrestling school. As Universitario he teamed up with Ángel Azul and fought against the team of El Profeta and El Chilango Garcia. Later when he was ready to make his full-time debut Estrada bought a spare mask, boots and tights from Ángel Azul and began working as Príncipe Azul ("The Blue Prince"). As Príncipe Azul he found a lot of initial success, combining his mat skills with his very muscular physique, something less common in those days and ended up unmasking Ultratumba after defeating him in a Luchas de Apuestas, or bet match and later on would also force Ultratumba to be shaved bald. Later on he also won the hair of El Noruego as well. His early success as Príncipe Azul led to him being named the Villahermosa rookie of the year in 1972. In early 1973 Estrada decided he needed a new image, a unique image not based on the mask of his former partner. Inspired by the Mayan Indian warrior leader Jacinto Canek came up with the name of "El Canek", complete with a redesigned mask and tights that incorporated mayana patterns and symbols. He worked his first match as "El Canek" (billed as "Kanek" for that one match only) in the Torero de Quatro Caminos ("The Four Cornered Bullfighting Ring") in Naucalpan, Mexican State, an arena