Rocky Romero

Rocky Romero
Romero in 2017
Born (1982-10-28) October 28, 1982
Havana, Cuba
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Azteko
Black Emperor
Black Tiger (IV)
Chico El Luchador
Grey Shadow
Havana Brother I
El Mono Negro
Rocky Romero
Billed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Billed weight188 lb (85 kg)
Billed fromHavana, Cuba
Roppongi, Japan
Los Angeles, California
Trained byKevin Quinn
Jesse Hernandez
Bill Anderson
Antonio Inoki
Shinya Makabe
Negro Casas
DebutSeptember 13, 1997

John Raymond Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is an Cuban-American professional wrestler. He currently wrestles for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Rocky Romero.

Rivera has also made appearances in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Ring of Honor (ROH), Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA), and Impact Wrestling. Rivera is known as a tag team specialist, wrestling in such tag teams as The Havana Pitbulls/Los Cubanitos, Forever Hooligans, and Roppongi Vice.

Mann has held many championships over his career. In CMLL, he was a three-time CMLL World Super Lightweight Champion, one-time NWA World Historic Welterweight Champion, the co-winner of the Copa Bicentenario with Místico. In MLW, he was a one-time MLW World Middleweight Champion. In NWA, he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. In NJPW, he is a one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, eight-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, the winner of the Best of the American Super Juniors tournament in 2008, and the co-winner of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament with Beretta in 2016. In ROH, he was a three-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and the co-winner of the Trios Tournament with Ricky Reyes and Homicide in 2005.

Career

All Elite Wrestling

On the May 24, 2021 episode of Dark: Elevation, Romero made his AEW debut. During the show, he defeated JD Drake. He helped saved his former partner Beretta from a beatdown after the match.[1] On November 10, Romero made his Dynamite debut, losing to Bryan Danielson.[2] On the December 8 episode of Dynamite, Romero teamed with his Chaos partner Chuck Taylor in a loss to The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson).[3]

Romero reunited Roppongi Vice with Beretta and the two began to pick up victories over the course of the nest few weeks. On the May 25, 2022 episode of Dynamite, Roppongi Vice challenged FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) for the ROH World Tag Team Championships but the match ended in a double disqualification after Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan interfered and attacked both teams.[4] At Forbidden Door, Roppongi Vice took part in a Winners Take All three-way tag team match against United Empire (Great-O-Khan and Cobb) and FTR (Wheeler and Harwood) for both the ROH World Tag Team Championships and IWGP Tag Team Championships but the match was won by FTR.[5]

On the September 29, 2023 episode of Rampage, Rampage challenged Eddie Kingston for the Strong Openweight Championship but was unsuccessful.[6] He then fought Místico in a Best Two Out Of Three Falls match on the October 20 episode of Rampage but lost 2–1.[7] At Holiday Bash, Romero challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship but lost.[8] At Worlds End: Zero Hour, Romero participated in the 20-man Battle Royale for a chance at the AEW TNT Championship in the future but the match was won by Killswitch.[9]

On February 12, 2024, journalist Dave Meltzer reported that Romero had signed a contract to join the front office for AEW.[10] At Battle of the Belts X, Romero challenged Roderick Strong in an eliminator match for the AEW International Championship. Since Romero lost, he was not able to challenged for the title again as long as Strong was champion.[11] On the May 18, 2024 episode of Collision, Romero fought Katsuyori Shibata in a contender match for the FTW Championship but lost.[12] On the May 29 episode of Dynamite, Romero challenged Jon Moxley in an eliminator match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship but lost.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "AEW Dark: Elevation Stream And Results (5/24): Matt Hardy, Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, And More". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ "AEW Dynamite Results For 11/10/21 Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero, Omega and Page Contract Signing". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  3. ↑ "AEW Dynamite Results For 12/8/21 The Young Bucks vs. Orange Cassidy and Rocky Romero and much more". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  4. ↑ "AEW Dynamite Results (5/25/22): CM Punk Confronts Hangman Page, Owen Hart Cup Continues + More!". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  5. ↑ "AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door results: Powell's live review of Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Interim AEW World Title, Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Thunder Rosa vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy for the IWGP U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  6. ↑ "AEW Rampage Results (9/29/2023): Ruby Soho vs. Hikaru Shida, Righteous In Action, Trios Title Match". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  7. ↑ "AEW Rampage (10/20/2023) Results: Mistico vs Rocky Romero, BCC, Ruby Soho, Kip Sabian, More Compete". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  8. ↑ "AEW Rampage results (12/22): Murphy's review of Orange Cassidy vs. Rocky Romero for the AEW International Title, El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus for the AAA Mega Title, Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. The Kingdom". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  9. ↑ "AEW Worlds End Zero Hour pre-show results: 20-man battle royale, Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale, Hook vs. Wheeler Yuta for the FTW Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  10. ↑ "AEW Dynamite Results For 12/8/21 The Young Bucks vs. Orange Cassidy and Rocky Romero and much more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  11. ↑ "AEW Battle of the Belts X results (4/13): Powell's review of Athena vs. Red Velvet for the ROH Women's Title, Hook vs. Shane Taylor for the FTW Championship, Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero in an eliminator match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  12. ↑ "AEW Collision (5/18/2024) Results: Bryan Danielson & FTR Team Up, Will Ospreay, Orange Cassidy, More". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  13. ↑ "AEW Dynamite (5/29/2024) Results: Swerve Strickland vs Killswitch, Mercedes Moné, Jon Moxley, More". Fightful. Retrieved March 24, 2025.

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