Victor Rivera (wrestler)

Víctor Rivera (born May 25, 1944) is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. Between 1967 and 1981, he held the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship 12 times, the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship five times, the WWF International Tag Team Championship, and numerous other titles.

Víctor Rivera
Rivera, circa 1979
Born	(1944-05-25) May 25, 1944 (age 78) San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico
Professional wrestling career
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	236 lb (107 kg)
Billed from	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico
Debut	1964
Retired	1989

Professional wrestling career

In the late 1960s, Rivera wrestled in Los Angeles' Worldwide Wrestling Associates (which later became NWA Hollywood Wrestling in 1968), where he won the WWA World Tag Team Championship with Pedro Morales.

In December 1969, Rivera teamed with Tony Marino at Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF International Tag Team Championship in 2 straight falls from Professor Toru Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa. Rivera and Marino defended the belts successfully against teams like Killer Kowalski and Waldo Von Erich, as well as Kowalski & Krippler Karl Kovacs. They lost the championship against another undefeated team, The Mongols (Bepo and Geto Mongol) on June 15, 1970, 2 falls to 1 at Madison Square Garden. On May 13, 1975, Rivera and Dominic DeNucci won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from The Valiant Brothers.^[1] That same year, he also teamed with a rookie Dino Bravo to challenge The Mongols (Geto & Bolo Mongol) for the IWA World Tag Team Championship.

After leaving the WWF, he feuded with Pedro Morales in Hawaii and California.^[2] In 1978 Rivera returned to the WWWF as a heel under manager "Classy" Freddie Blassie and challenged Bob Backlund for the WWWF title in several cities, including at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Rivera left the WWWF again in 1979, and return for a match in 1989. In 1980, Rivera was once again wrestling in Los Angeles. In the National Wrestling Alliance, he won the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Enforcer Luciano.

Championships and accomplishments

• All-California Championship Wrestling
  • ACCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[3]
• California Pro Wrestling
  • CPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[3]
  • CPW Brass Knuckles Championship (2 times)^[3]
• Hollywood Wrestling
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version) (1 time) - with Enforcer Lusciano
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
  • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (13 times) - with Pedro Morales (2), Raul Reyes (1), Raul Mata (1), Porkchop Cash (1), Dino Bravo (1), Cien Caras (1), Terry Sawyer (1), Chavo Guerrero (1), Texas Red (1), Allen Coage (2), Salvatore Bellomo (1),
  • NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (2 times)
• National Wrestling Federation
  • NWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Western States Alliance
  • WSA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[3]
  • WSA Beat The Champ Championship (1 time)^[3]
  • WSA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with John Tolos^[3]
• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Marino
  • WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dominic DeNucci

References

1. "World Tag Team Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
2. . WWE.com. February 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
3. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.