Dragon Lee

Munoz Gonzalez is a Mexican masked professional wrestler (luchador enmascarado) who is currently signed with WWE under the ring name Dragon Lee. He currently appears on Friday's episode of SmackDown and is the newest member of the roster. Lee is a second-generation professional wrestler, who is the son of Mexican wrestler Arturo Munoz (Ring Name: La Bestia del Ring).

Lee is best known for his time in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). He is the first person to win a championship title in all three promotions.

Dragon Lee Early life

Dragon Lee was born on May 15, 1995, in Tala, Jalisco, Mexico to Arturo Munoz as the third child. He has two older brothers, who are also professional wrestlers. His older brother William is currently signed to AEW under the ring name Rush. His second brother Carlos is currently signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide under the ring name Dralistico. Dragon Lee was trained by his uncles Franco Columbo, Pit Bull I, and Pit Bull II prior to his pro wrestling debut. At 14, Lee trained to become an amateur wrestler, but he realized that his future is Lucha Libre after getting disqualified in his first amateur wrestling match by performing a suplex on his opponent.

Dragon Lee Professional Wrestling Career

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2013 - 2019)

Munoz started his professional wrestling training in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in 2013 and participated in the CMLL 2013 Bodybuilding Contest under the name Dragon Lee and won first place in the beginners category. Lee made his pro-wrestling debut on the very first day of 2014 by participating in the La Copa Junior Tournament. Where he was eliminated in the second round by Cachorro. Dragon Lee was a part of CMLL's Generacion 2014, which is a group of wrestlers who made their debut in 2014.

Dragon Lee then participated in Torn Gran Alternativa (Great Alternative) Tag Team Tournament by teaming up with his brother Rush and qualified for the semi-finals, where they got eliminated by the eventual winners Barbaro Cavernario & Mr. Niebla. Lee then participated in En Busca de un Idolo annual tournament, where Lee survived the top eight and ended third with 198 points. In early 2015, Lee culminated a prolonged rivalry on March 20 at the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show with Japanese wrestler Kamaitachi. The two masked men challenged each other in a Lucha de Apuestas match risking their masks on the line, where Lee won and forced Kamaitachi to unmask.

In April 2015, Lee won the CMLL World Lightweight Championship by defeating Virtus, which marked his first pro wrestling championship. Lee then entered Leyenda de Plata “Silver Legend” Tournament, where he ended as runner-up, losing to Negro Casas in the final. In January 2016, as a part of CMLL’s association with NJPW, Lee made his first appearance in Japan & in NJPW at Fantastica Mania 2016. On the fifth show of the tour, he successfully defended his championship against Virus. After the match Kamaitachi attacked him leading to a championship match the following day, where Lee dropped the title. However, he regained it two months later.

In the Summer of 2019, Rush’s Los Ingobernable teammate La Mascara turned on him and had a feud with the entire Munoz family. He challenged Dragon Lee for a mask vs mask Lucha de Apuestas match at the 83rd Anniversary Show, where Lee defeated La Mascara and won the second mask of his career. In September 2019, Dragon Lee & Rush participated in the Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s Battle of Los Angeles event, by breaking the guidelines of CMLL and got fired from the company.

Ring of Honor (2016 - 2021)

On September 30, 2016, Dragon Lee made his Ring of Honor debut at All Star Extravaganza against his long term rival Kamaitachi and won. Lee had pursuit for the ROH World Television Championship, where he lost in his first attempt in a Three-Way Match but was successful on the second attempt at Final Battle 2016.

In 2019, Lee aligned himself with his brother Rush, Amy Rose and Kenny King to form La Faccion Ingobernable to become heel for the very first time. Lee then changed his gear to black and adopted a more aggressive style of wrestling. Lee and Kenny King wrestled as a team and won the ROH World Tag Team Championship, making Lee a double champ. But he lost both the title on the same day as he got injured and the titles were lost on his behalf Kenny King & Rhett Titus.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017 - 2020)

On January 5, 2017, Lee made his NJPW return and attacked his long-time rival Himoru Takashi (fka Kamaitachi) and Tetsuya Naito during their match with Kushida and Michael Elgin. He unsuccessfully challenged Takashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at The New Beginnings in Osaka. Dragon Lee then participated in the Best of the Super Juniors 24 Tournament, Super Jr. Tag Tournament, and 2018 Best of the Super Juniors and wasn't able to make his way to the finals. In April 2019, G1 Supercard Dragon Lee won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the very first time by defeating Taiji Ishimori and Bandido in a Triple Threat Match. With that, he became the third Mexican Wrestler to hold a championship in NJPW. Lee held the championship for two months and lost it to Will Ospreay at Dominion 6.9

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2019, 2021 - 2022)

After losing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Lee appeared on the press conference of AAA and was announced as a challenger for Kenny Omega’s AAA Mega Championship at Triplemania Regia, but unsuccessful. He then returned to the promotion two years later with his brother Dalistico and won the AAA World Tag Team Championship, but the title was forfeited after Lee signed a contract with WWE.

All Elite Wrestling (2022)

In 2022, Lee made his AEW debut by participating in the AEW World Trios Championship tournament as a member of La Faccion Ingobernable with his brother Rush & Andrade El Idolo. They got eliminated in the first round by Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, after which El Idolo & Rush turned on Lee and removed his mask.

WWE (2022 - Present)

In March 2022, Lee signed a contract with WWE and was due to make his debut as he was working on other promotions. In March 2023, Dragon Lee made his debut in NXT as a surprise challenger for the NXT North American Champion Wes Lee. Dragon Lee participated in the Fatal Five-Way match for the Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver and was unsuccessful. He then had multiple pursuits for the NXT North American Championship but failed.

On September 25, Lee made his main roster appearance for the first time on Raw and had made his main roster in-ring debut in a losing effort for the NXT North American Championship. Lee appeared on the September 29 episode of SmackDown, where he had a face-off with Austin Theory & tried to enter the brawl to help LWO. The following week, he wrestled Austin Theory and won. He then became a member of the SmackDown roster in the process. At WarGames, Lee lost to Santos Escobar and failed to win the WWE United States Championship. He then replaced Wes Lee at NXT Deadline and won the NXT North American Championship after defeating Dominik Mysterio.

Dragon Lee Championships & Accomplishment

All Pro Wrestling

• King of the Indies tournament (2018, 2019)

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

• CMLL World Lightweight Championship (2 times)

• CMLL World Welterweight Championship (1 time)

• CMLL Bodybuilding Contest: Beginners Category (2013)

• CMLL Bodybuilding Contest: Intermediate Category (2014, 2015)

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

• AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dralístico

The Crash Lucha Libre

• The Crash Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dralístico

Kaoz Lucha Libre

• Kaoz Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dralístico

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Torneo de Parejas Familiares (2019) – with Místico

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Ranked No. 41 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021

Pro Wrestling Revolution

• PWR Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dragon Lee

Ring of Honor

• ROH World Television Championship (2 times)

• ROH World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kenny King

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Rookie of the Year (2014)

WWE

• NXT North American Championship (1 time)

Dragon Lee Records

Masks

• Kamaitachi’s mask at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas in March 2015.

• La Mascara’s mask at CMLL 83rd Anniversary Show in September 2016.