Rocky Romero

Infobox Wrestler|imagE
name=John R. Rivera
names=Rocky Romero
Black Tiger IV Grey Shadow Mr Azucar
height=5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
weight=175 lb (80 kg)
birth_date=birth date and age|1982|10|28
birth_place = Havana, Cuba
resides= Los Angeles, California, U.S.
billed=
trainer=Kevin Quinn,
Jesse Hernandez,
Bill Anderson,
Antonio Inoki,
Shinya Makabe,
Negro Casas
debut=September 13, 1997
death_date =
death_place =
retired=|

John R. Rivera born on October 28, 1982 is a 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. Romero and Richards are former ROH World Tag Team Champions in the stable. His ringstyle as Romero is based around stiff shoot-style kicks and multiple armlock variations.

Career

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). He is wrestling in Mexico under the name of Grey Shadow.

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. Romero however did compete as Black Tiger in August 2007 in Chikara to compete for the NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Championship against champion Mike Quackenbush.

In early 2008, Romero began working as the mysterious Grey Shadow in CMLL.

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. On January the 26th, Rocky Romero alongside Davey Richards defeated The Age of The Fall (Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs), Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson, and Brent Albright and BJ Whitmer in an Ultimate Endurance match to capture the ROH World Tag Team Championships.

On October 5, 2008 Romero jumped from CMLL to rival promotion AAA. Showing up as a surprise wrestler at the promotion's tv taping in Puebla and no-showing his scheduled booking for CMLL in Mexico City. He was announced as a member of Sean Waltman's D-Generation MEX stable at the show.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
*As Rocky Romero:*Ankle lock:*Flying armbar:*High speed roundhouse kick to the head of a seated or kneeling opponent:*Surfboard:*Fujiwara armbar:*Jumping knee smash:*Johnny Saint special:*Springboard tornado DDT:*Double underhook DDT:*Tilt-a-whirl headscissors :*Exploder suplex:*Fisherman suplex

*As Black Tiger IV:*Tiger suplex:*"Black Tiger Bomb" (Sitout crucifix powerbomb):*Kneeling belly to belly piledriver

*Theme music:*"Swaveamente" by Diablo:*"Suavemente" by Elvis Crespo:*"Guantanamara" by Wyclef Jean

Championships and accomplishments

*Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre:*CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship (3 times, current)

*Empire Wrestling Federation:*EWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Ricky Reyes [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2003-09.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - September 2003 | accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com]

*International Wrestling Council:*IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time)

*Millennium Pro Wrestling:*MPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Reyes

*NWA Rocky Top:*NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*New Japan Pro Wrestling:*IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*Ring of Honor:*ROH World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ricky Reyes (1) and Davey Richards (1):*Trios Tournament (2005) – with Ricky Reyes and Homicide

*Toryumon:*Young Dragons Cup Tournament (2004)

*Ultimate Pro Wrestling:*UPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ricky Reyes

Notes

Media

*"Let the Gates of Hell Open: The Best of The Rottweilers" – ROH DVD

External links

* [http://www.genickbruch.com/bios/showbio.php?id=690 Rocky Romero]