Savio Vega

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Juan Rivera
Statistics
Ring name(s) The Boss
T.N.T.
Kwang
Kwang the Ninja
Savio Vega
Billed height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Billed weight 248 lb (112 kg/17.7 st)
Born August 10, 1966 (1966-08-10) (age 41)
Vega Alta, Puerto Rico
Debut 1987

Juan Rivera (born August 10, 1966) is a professional wrestler best known under the name Savio Vega. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] World Wrestling Council (1987-1993)

Rivera was born in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico where he received his primary and secondary education. After he graduated from high school, he went to Miami, Florida, where he auditioned for the WWF. He was accepted and sent back to Puerto Rico, where he wrestled for the World Wrestling Council and was managed by El Profe and feuded with Chicky Starr, Abdullah The Butcher, Rip Rogers and Carlos Colon. In 1989, he debuted under the identity of “T.N.T.” and once he had gained enough wrestling experience, he was sent back to the United States.

[edit] World Wrestling Federation (1993-1998)

[edit] Kwang (1993-1995)

After several weeks of hype, Rivera debuted the gimmick of Kwang in 1993, in vein of mysterious "Asian" wrestlers, spitting mist in opponent's faces. He spent this gimmick primarily jobbing to bigger name stars and being managed by Harvey Wippleman. In 1995, his gimmick was drastically changed.

[edit] Savio Vega (1995)

On May 14, 1995, the Kwang gimmick was dropped, as Rivera appeared in street clothes during the WWF's first In Your House pay-per-view. When wrestler Razor Ramon was being attacked after a match by Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie, Rivera jumped over the rails and rescued Razor Ramon. Later on in the PPV, Ramon introduced his rescuer as his friend, the fiery Puerto Rican Savio Vega.[1]

Vega enjoyed some measure of popularity during the remainder of 1995. He competed four times in one night at the King of the Ring, beating IRS, Yokozuna and The Roadie before losing to Mabel in the finals (his match against IRS was a qualifying match for the spot vacated by the injured Ramon).[2]

The next night on Monday Night RAW, Vega came within inches of defeating Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title. Vega would spend the rest of the year teaming with Razor Ramon.

In 1996, Vega fought "Ring Master" Steve Austin in both men's WrestleMania debut.[3][1] Austin would defeat Vega.[4] A few months later, the two had a rematch at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog. They fought in a Caribbean Strap Match. Unlike WrestleMania, Vega was victorious this time. According to the stipulations, Austin's manager Ted DiBiase had to leave the WWF. Thus, this was DiBiase's last appearance on WWF programming until 2005.[5] Also during this time, he was the first recipient of Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner.

[edit] Nation of Domination (1997)

Main article: Nation of Domination

In 1997, he became a member of the Nation of Domination with fellow wrestlers Crush, D'Lo Brown and Faarooq. He joined after turning on partner Ahmed Johnson during a tag team match.[6]

[edit] Los Boricuas (1997-1998)

Main article: Los Boricuas

Vega soon left that group and formed his own alliance known as Los Boricuas with Miguel Perez, Jose Estrada, and Jesus Castillo. This group feuded with Faarooq's Nation of Domination and Crush's Disciples of Apocalypse. In late 1998, Vega competed in the WWF Brawl For All tournament, making it to the quarterfinals before he lost to Darren Drozdov. He was released later that year.

[edit] Participation in IWA and international promotions (2001-present)

While wrestling in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), he competed in Revolution X-treme Wrestling based in Panama, performing in a royal rumble to determine the winner of the vacant RXW World Heavyweight Championship , where he won the event.[7] On November 24, 2007 he became the leader of a new heel stable known as Los Auntenticos along Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Ricky Vega.[8] This faction was quickly involved in an agle dealing with a power struggle with several other stables within the company.[9] On January 2008, he began an international tour. This tour began with a presentation in Boston for Power House Wrestling Of New England. And continued with a visit to Ecuador where he would defend the Wrestling Alliance Revolution Tag Team Championhip. The tour concluded in Panama where he defended the company's title against Ricky Banderas.[10][11] In PHW he participated in a tag team match, where he teamed with a wrestler using the name Don Vega. They defeated a team that included the company's heavyweight champion.[12] He would then compete in "WAR Conquest 2008", a special event organized by Wrestling Alliance Revolution. In this event he defended the company's tag team championship along Condor Ortiz, in a match that they lose after Ortiz acidentally kicked Vega. Following the match he turned on Ortiz, and subescuently challenged Kuervo, the company's heavyweight champion to a title match on the event.[13] The encounter happened later in card, and Kuervo retained by disqualification after Vega spit green mist on his face.[14]

The Los Auntenticos angle continued in April 2008, when Vega returned to Puerto Rico. The group would then create a "terror list" where the names of former WWC employees were written.[15] This list was used in a new angle were the stable would ambush and attack wrestlers that were randomly selected from the list.[15] During the following summer Vega alternated his work between the IWA, Division One Pro Wrestling (D1PW) in Florida and Nu-Wrestling Evolution in Spain.[16]

[edit] Finishing and signature moves

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • Americas Wrestling Federation
  • AWF Americas Championship (1 time)
  • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Revolution X-Treme Wrestling
  • RXW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
  • Wrestling Alliance Revolution
  • WAR Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • PWI ranked him #321 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the “PWI Years” in 2003.

[edit] Personal life

Vega was born in the town of Vega Alta (where the “Vega” in his wrestling name comes from), where he received his primary education. He participated in wrestling events during his high school years.

[edit] See also

Puerto Rico Portal
Professional wrestling
Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OWW
  2. ^ King of the Ring 1995 Results. onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
  3. ^ WrestleMania XII Facts/Stats. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
  4. ^ WrestleMania XII Results. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
  5. ^ Ted DiBiase's Slam! Profile. slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  6. ^ N.O.D. FAQ. wrestleview.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
  7. ^ a b PANAMA: Savio Vega se corona campeón. Puerto Rico Wrestling (2007-11-25). Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
  8. ^ Jose Maldonado (2007-11-24). IWA: Reporte Impacto Total 11/24. Puerto Rico Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
  9. ^ José Maldonado (2007-12-30). IWA: Reporte Impacto Total 12/29. Puerto Rico Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
  10. ^ Luis Santiago (2008-01-15). IWA: Savio Vega En Gira Internacional. International Wrestling Association. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ Javier Gonzalez (2008-01-18). INTERNACIONAL : RXW: Judas Mesias vs. Savio Vega. Lucha Libre Online. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  12. ^ Luis Santiago (2008-01-20). PHWNE: Exitosa participacion de Savio Vega. International Wrestling Association. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  13. ^ Luis Santiago (2008-01-28). WAR: Savio Vega traiciona al Condor Ortiz en Ecuador. International Wrestling Association. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  14. ^ Luis Santiago (2008-01-28). WAR: Savio Vega vs Kuervo por el Titulo Mundial en Ecuador. International Wrestling Association. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  15. ^ a b Luis Santiago (2008-04-21). Impacto Total: Comienza la Lotería, la Cacería y una Era de Terror (Spanish). International Wrestling Association. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  16. ^ Savio Hacia Florida (Spanish). Puerto Rico Wrestling (2208-05-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-24.

[edit] External links