Harry Del Rios (born September 17, 1972) is an American professional wrestler. Rios is best known as the Spellbinder and Phantasio from WWE, but he has competed under many other ring names during his career.
Del Rios' first prominent wrestling role was in the United States Wrestling Association. He debuted there on September 13, 1993. He wrestled as the Spellbinder for the first 4 matches of his career, then switched to wrestling under his real name, then switched back to the Spellbinder gimmick in March 1994. He would use the Spellbinder gimmick for the remainder of his time in USWA. He feuded with Brian Christopher in 1997. He appeared on USWA TV in January & February.[2] He continued to wrestle in various Memphis promotions after leaving the USWA. He won the NWA North American Tag Team Title with Brian Christopher in 1999, and the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title in 2000.
World Wrestling Federation (1993, 1995, 1997)
Del Rios made his first appearance in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) when he wrestled a dark match against Bobby Who on the May 10, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw at the Manhattan Center.[3] He received another tryout at the 2nd anniversary taping of Raw in Houston, TX on January 2, 1995 when he defeated Reno Riggins.[4] Rios made one televised appearance on the July 16, 1995 episode of Wrestling Challenge. He portrayed a babyface named "Phantasio", a magician wrestler. Phantasio wore a black and white mime mask (which he handed to a young fan sitting at ringside) that revealed matching facepaint when removed. He defeated Tony DeVito by sneaking up from behind, and magically pulling out his boxers allowing him to roll up DeVito for the victory. After the match, he magically removed the boxers (black and white colored) of referee Earl Hebner.[5] Though he never again appeared on TV,[6] he did wrestle a match against Rad Radford at a house show in a victorious effort.
Rios returned in 1997, appearing in a dark match on the March 17, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw held in Syracuse, NY. Wrestling as The Spellbinder, Rios was defeated by Aldo Montoya.[7] He wrestled on a trio of house shows held in Tennessee against Mark Henry in December of that year.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002)
Harry Del Rios competed on NWA:TNA's first-ever broadcast on June 19, 2002.[8] He wrestled as Del Rios (essentially a rip-off of Scott Steiner and his "Big Poppa Pump" character), but was not used by TNA after the initial broadcast.
Later career (2003-2012)
In 2003, Rios made a short lived comeback as Shock. He teamed up with wrestler Awe ("British Storm" Ian Harrison). The team would wrestle primarily in Memphis Wrestling.
In the December 2006 issue of WWE Magazine, there is a short interview with Harry Del Rios concerning the Phantasio character. Del Rios claims that the idea originated as a combination of the Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom gimmicks. He also hinted at a possible return of the Phantasio persona.
On June 2, 2012 Del Rios revived The Phantasio character at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in a winning effort against Simon Dean in Rahway, NJ.[9]
^"Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1997". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
December 26, 2022
harry, rios, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, especially, potentia. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Harry Del Rios news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Harry Del Rios born September 17 1972 is an American professional wrestler Rios is best known as the Spellbinder and Phantasio from WWE but he has competed under many other ring names during his career Harry Del RiosBorn 1972 09 17 September 17 1972 age 50 1 New York New York United StatesProfessional wrestling careerRing name s Big TitanDel RiosElijahGangsta B I G Magnificent MauricePhantasioShockSpellbinderStreakSuper SpellBilled height6 ft 3 in 1 91 m Billed weight273 lb 124 kg Debut1993Retired2012 Contents 1 Professional wrestling career 1 1 United States Wrestling Association 1993 1995 1 2 World Wrestling Federation 1993 1995 1997 1 3 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2002 1 4 Later career 2003 2012 2 Championships and accomplishments 3 ReferencesProfessional wrestling career EditUnited States Wrestling Association 1993 1995 Edit Del Rios first prominent wrestling role was in the United States Wrestling Association He debuted there on September 13 1993 He wrestled as the Spellbinder for the first 4 matches of his career then switched to wrestling under his real name then switched back to the Spellbinder gimmick in March 1994 He would use the Spellbinder gimmick for the remainder of his time in USWA He feuded with Brian Christopher in 1997 He appeared on USWA TV in January amp February 2 He continued to wrestle in various Memphis promotions after leaving the USWA He won the NWA North American Tag Team Title with Brian Christopher in 1999 and the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title in 2000 World Wrestling Federation 1993 1995 1997 Edit Del Rios made his first appearance in World Wrestling Federation WWF when he wrestled a dark match against Bobby Who on the May 10 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw at the Manhattan Center 3 He received another tryout at the 2nd anniversary taping of Raw in Houston TX on January 2 1995 when he defeated Reno Riggins 4 Rios made one televised appearance on the July 16 1995 episode of Wrestling Challenge He portrayed a babyface named Phantasio a magician wrestler Phantasio wore a black and white mime mask which he handed to a young fan sitting at ringside that revealed matching facepaint when removed He defeated Tony DeVito by sneaking up from behind and magically pulling out his boxers allowing him to roll up DeVito for the victory After the match he magically removed the boxers black and white colored of referee Earl Hebner 5 Though he never again appeared on TV 6 he did wrestle a match against Rad Radford at a house show in a victorious effort Rios returned in 1997 appearing in a dark match on the March 17 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw held in Syracuse NY Wrestling as The Spellbinder Rios was defeated by Aldo Montoya 7 He wrestled on a trio of house shows held in Tennessee against Mark Henry in December of that year Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2002 Edit Harry Del Rios competed on NWA TNA s first ever broadcast on June 19 2002 8 He wrestled as Del Rios essentially a rip off of Scott Steiner and his Big Poppa Pump character but was not used by TNA after the initial broadcast Later career 2003 2012 Edit In 2003 Rios made a short lived comeback as Shock He teamed up with wrestler Awe British Storm Ian Harrison The team would wrestle primarily in Memphis Wrestling In the December 2006 issue of WWE Magazine there is a short interview with Harry Del Rios concerning the Phantasio character Del Rios claims that the idea originated as a combination of the Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom gimmicks He also hinted at a possible return of the Phantasio persona On June 2 2012 Del Rios revived The Phantasio character at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in a winning effort against Simon Dean in Rahway NJ 9 Championships and accomplishments EditMemphis Wrestling Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship 1 time NWA Main Event NWA North American Tag Team Championship 1 time with Brian Christopher Power Pro Wrestling Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship 1 time Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No 260 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1997 10 United States Wrestling Association USWA Heavyweight Championship 2 times Xcitement Wrestling Federation XWF Heavyweight Championship 1 time XWF Tag Team Championship 1 time with Ian HarrisonReferences Edit Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online WWE TNA UFC and International Wrestling and MMA Headlines George Wren interviews Spellbinder Archived from the original on 2010 09 26 Retrieved 2010 07 26 Spellbinder obsessedwithwrestling com 1993 thehistoryofwwe com 1995 thehistoryofwwe com Phantasio makes his WWE debut Superstars July 16 1995 Shields Brian Sullivan Kevin 2009 WWE Encyclopedia Dorling Kindersley p 235 ISBN 978 0 7566 4190 0 1997 thehistoryofwwe com Gray Richard 1 November 2007 Phantasio Batista Dropping The Title DX Austin Wrestling World News Retrieved 30 May 2010 YouTube YouTube Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI 500 for 1997 The Internet Wrestling Database Retrieved August 25 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harry Del Rios amp oldid 1110395182, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
