Rocky Romero
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| John Rivera | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Rocky Romero Black Tiger IV Mr Azucar |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
| Billed weight | 175 lb (80 kg) |
| Born | March 25, 1982 Havana, Cuba |
| Resides | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Trained by | Kevin Quinn, Jesse Hernandez, Bill Anderson, Antonio Inoki, Shinya Makabe, Negro Casas |
| Debut | September 13, 1997 |
John Rivera is an Cuban-American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Rocky Romero and as the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger. As Romero he was one half of the tag team The Havana Pitbulls (formerly Los Cubanitos), along with Ricky Reyes. He now is a member of the No Remorse Corps in Ring of Honor with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards. His ringstyle as Romero is based around stiff shoot-style kicks and multiple armlock variations.
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Romero debuted in 1997. He has received training in the New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles and for some time now has been a regular trainer there. His career has taken him through promotions in the Southern California region to Mexico, where he competed successfully for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (the country's longest-running promotion) and to the Far East where he has worked most notably in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he was chosen to become the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger, the villainous gaijin opponent of Tiger Mask (in this case Tiger Mask IV).
Romero's main exposure in the United States came while he was one half of the Havana Pitbulls tag team, with partner Ricky Reyes, in Ring of Honor where himself and Reyes set a record for the longest reign as ROH Tag Team Champions, a record they held until the team of Austin Aries and Roderick Strong broke it. While in ROH He and Reyes were also members of Homicide's stable, The Rottweilers. He left the company at the end of 2005 to focus on working in Japan, but returned on January 26, 2007 to defeat Davey Richards. The following evening Romero walked out on his long time partner Reyes in the midst of a match against the Briscoe Brothers.
Romero made his debut in Pro Wrestling NOAH on March 4, 2007 versus Mushiking Terry, casting into doubt the future of the Black Tiger IV persona, although his participation in the debut show of the Inoki Genome Federation could have been more of an issue.
On March 31 Romero was introduced as the newest member of the No Remorse Corps. Romero and new stable mate Davey Richards lost to Jack Evans and Naruki Doi. Rocky Romero has been touring with NOAH recently and is currently teaming with Atsushi Aoki in the NTV Jr Heavyweight Cup. He also made his debut for Antonio Inoki's new promotion the Inoki Genome Federation defeating El Blazer.
- Finishing and signature moves
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- Tiger suplex
- Ankle lock
- Kneeling belly to belly piledriver
- Knock-out kick to the side of the head
- Flying armbar
- Surfboard
- Armbar
- Jumping knee kick
- Johnny Saint special
- Springboard tornado DDT
- Double arm DDT
- Tilt-a-whirl head scissors
- Exploder suplex
- Cradle suplex
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- CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship (3 times, current)
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- EWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Ricky Reyes
- International Wrestling Council
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- IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Millennium Pro Wrestling
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- MPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Reyes
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- ROH Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Reyes
- Trios Tournament (2005) – with Ricky Reyes & Homicide
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- Young Dragons Cup Tournament (2004)
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- UPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Reyes
- Let the Gates of Hell Open: The Best of The Rottweilers – ROH DVD