Ricky Reyes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Ricky Reyes


Statistics
Ring name(s)	Ricky Reyes Rick Noon
Billed height	5 ft 9 in
Billed weight	192 lb
Born	August 28, 1978 (1978-08-28) (age 29) Havana, Cuba
Resides	Los Angeles, California
Billed from	Havana, Cuba by way of Los Angeles, California
Trained by	Antonio Inoki Kevin Quinn Shinya Makabe Negro Casas

Ricky Reyes (born Richard Nelly Diaz De La Cruz) (born August 28, 1978) is a Cuban American professional wrestler known for his appearances in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and various other independent promotions. Ricky Reyes uses Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine as his theme song.

[edit] Career

Ricky Reyes is perhaps best known for being one half of the Havana Pitbulls with Rocky Romero. At Reborn: Stage One, the Havana Pitbulls made their ROH debut against then tag champions The Briscoe Brothers in a non title match. Reyes and Romero looked impressive against the champions, but were defeated after a very even match. That night, Homicide challenged for the ROH World Championship against Samoa Joe. It was a wild match which saw the lights in the arena go out as well as a fireball thrown into Joe's face. The next month, Ricky Reyes claimed responsibility for the lights turning off, and said that he and his partner Romero were the newest members of Homicide's group, The Rottweilers. The group also featured Julius Smokes, who would manage Reyes along with the rest of the members.

Reyes and Romero wrestled for the ROH Tag Team Championship at Testing The Limit against the champions CM Punk and Colt Cabana. They won the match and became the new champions. Together, Reyes and Romero defended against many teams, including Special K, Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer, Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer, and Roderick Strong and Jack Evans, before losing to Maff and Whitmer. They were the longest reigning champions until Austin Aries and Roderick Strong broke the record in 2006.

Reyes took part in the Trios Tournament in 2005 with partners Rocky Romero and Homicide. They won the tournament defeating Generation Next in the final match. The three winners of this tournament got to choose any match they wanted. While Homicide and Romero went after the World Title, Reyes wanted a tag title shot against Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro. He picked Homicide as his partner, but they did not win.

In late 2005, Reyes began fighting students from the ROH Wrestling School. They were no challenge for him, and he defeated them all quickly. He claimed that no one could escape his Dragon Sleeper. These actions angered then head trainer Austin Aries of Generation Next. At Hell Freezes Over, Aries challenged Reyes to a match, calling him a drunk and saying Rocky Romero carried him. During the match, Reyes locked in the Dragon Sleeper, but Aries was able to bridge up and pin Reyes while the hold was still applied. After the pin, Reyes would not release the sleeper and Roderick Strong, a fellow Generation Next member, came out to break things up. A return match was held at Best in the World, and again Reyes was able to lock in the Dragon Sleeper. This time, Aries got to the ropes, but Reyes still wouldn't break the hold. This caused a disqualification and Strong and Evans to break it up again. The feud came to an end at the 100th Show when Aries and Strong defeated Reyes and Homicide to retain the tag title.

On September 9, 2006, Ricky Reyes debuted in Combat Zone Wrestling and joined The Blackout by helping Eddie Kingston win the CZW World Heavyweight Championship. Reyes left CZW on October 21, 2006 to join Pro Wrestling Unplugged, teaming with Joker at the Pitbull/Public Enemy Tag Team Memorial Cup.