Emanuel Fernandez (born July 27, 1954) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, "The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez.

Early life

Fernandez played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

for

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...

Professional wrestling career

Fernandez had success in 1979, becoming Florida Heavyweight Champion after a feud with

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – a ...

. He also formed a tag team with

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, and they won the NWA World tag team title from

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was b ...

and

Don Kernodle Charles Donald Kernodle Jr. (May 2, 1950 – May 17, 2021) was an American professional wrestler with the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions. Professional wrestling career In college, Kernodle lettered four times in amate ...

. They feuded with them and Ivan's "nephew"

Nikita Koloff Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, where ...

until losing the title to the Koloffs in early 1985. Fernandez soon became involved in a feud with

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a m ...

after being attacked by Anderson and laid out. He teamed with

Thunderbolt Patterson Claude Patterson (born July 8, 1941) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, ring name Thunderbolt Patterson. He began his career in 1964 and wrestled primarily in Florida, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the Carolin ...

to feud with Arn and

Ole Anderson Alan Robert Rogowski (born September 22, 1942), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), is an American retired professional wrestler, referee, manager, and promoter. Part of the Anderson family, Anderson was a founding member of the influen ...

. In late 1985, he started helping

Jimmy Valiant James Harold Fanning (born August 6, 1942) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jimmy Valiant. Early life Fanning was born in Tullahoma as the youngest of five children of James and Effie Fanning. He later incorpo ...

in his war against Paul Jones and his "

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

". He formed a team with Valiant called the "B and B Connection" ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). He had some matches against

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matc ...

and The Barbarian. He also formed a tag team with

Hector Guerrero In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

in 1986 called The Latin Connection. In the summer of 1986, Fernandez accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant starting a feud between the two. Later in the year, Jones also brought in

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling ...

. Pairing Fernandez and Rude together, the duo defeated

The Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known a ...

for the NWA World tag team title. They feuded with the Express and kept the titles until June 1987 when Rude left the promotion, which was resolved with a "phantom title change". Fernandez & Chavo Guerrero came to CWA in Memphis in 1987. Fernandez teamed with Ivan Koloff for the rest of the summer and left for the Mid-Southern promotion in late 1987. Later on worked for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

from 1987 to 1989. He was soon in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

(AWA) feuding with

Wahoo McDaniel Edward Hugh McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was an American Choctaw-Chickasaw professional American football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA United S ...

after he attacked Wahoo and destroyed his headdress. The two veterans, who had feuded briefly in the NWA, engaged in an "Indian Strap match" at the AWA

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

Super Clash III. After that feud ended in late 1988, Fernandez headed to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

(WWC) where he stayed through 1991 and then he headed to the independent circuit. Fernandez sparked controversy in the WWC in 1989 when he wrestled Invader #3. During the match, Fernandez landed a knee drop off the top rope to Invader #3's midsection; the impact apparently ruptured Invader #3's stomach cavity, causing him to vomit blood all over the ring while Fernandez landed two more knee drops. There have been debates on whether Invader #3's injury was a

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

, with some theorizing that the incident came about due to real life bad blood between Fernandez and Jose Gonzalez, the booker of WWC who was acquitted of murdering

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the yea ...

earlier that year. Others say the blood was a combination of pig's blood and vodka. In an interview with

Bill Apter William Stanley Apter (born October 22, 1945) is an American journalist and photographer specializing in professional wrestling. He was an editorial staff member and photographer for several magazines during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, notably ''P ...

, Fernandez claimed that it was not a work and deliberately injured Jose as a way to avenge the death of Bruiser Brody, though his match with Gonzalez took place nearly 2 months prior to Brody's death in July of the same year. From 1993 to 1994 he worked for

International World Class Championship Wrestling International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW, originally known as International Championship Wrestling) was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was promoted by Angelo Savoldi and his son ...

. Manny won the

APW Universal Heavyweight Championship The APW Universal Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship contested in All Pro Wrestling. It was introduced on October 12, 1996, when Robert Thompson became the first champion. Title history Combin ...

defeating Robert Thompson on March 8, 1997. He would vacate the title when he left APW on June 8. He would feud with

Rick Link Richard Link (born February 28, 1959) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. He wrestled throughout Canada and the United States for the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1970s and 80s under a number of ring ...

in 1998. He defeated Link for NDW Heavyweight Championship on December 2, 1998, until dropping the title back to Link ten days later. He lost to

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

at NDW in Charleston, West Virginia on August 14, 1999. He defeated

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although Volkoff often p ...

at NWA New Jersey on May 20, 2000. On December 5, 2002, he lost to Mexican legend

Mil Mascaras Mil, mil, or MIL may refer to: Places * Mil, Syria, a village in Syria * Mil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Beylagan Rayon * Mil, Markazi, a village in Markazi Province, Iran * Metropolitan area of Milan ( IATA code: MIL), Italy * Mill Hill Broa ...

at LWE Explosion in Fort Worth, Texas. On February 25, 2011, he teamed up with

George South George South (born September 7, 1962) is an American professional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled for professional wrestling promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestl ...

to compete in The Anderson Brothers Classic 5 Tournament where they George South Jr. and Louis Moore; Deon Johnson and Black Angel; and lost in the finals to

. Then he teamed with

to defeat George South and

The Masked Superstar William Reid "Bill" Eadie (born December 27, 1947) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition (professional wrestling), Demolition and The Masked Superstar. H ...

at WreslteCade 2012 on November 11, 2012. On November 30, 2013, he wrestled at WrestleCade 2013 teaming with George South in a Tag Team battle royal won by

Caprice Coleman Caprice Coleman (born March 20, 1977) is an American professional wrestler who competes or has competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, NWA Wildside, Ring of Honor and, in recent year ...

and

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Alexander worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 until 2016. He started as part of C&C Factory, a ...

. Afterwards he retired from wrestling. In 2017 he came out of retirement, where he continues to wrestle in the indies. Since 2018 he's been working with

IWA Mid-South Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 1996 ...

. He lost to

Michael Elgin Aaron Frobel (born December 13, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Michael Elgin. He most recently worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion with Masa Kitami ...

on February 15, 2018. He defeated Pablo Marquez in a bull rope match at UXW on February 23, 2019, in Orlando, Florida. Then on May 30, 2019, he lost to

Kongo Kong Steven Wilson (born August 10, 1979) is an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name Kongo Kong. He is best known for his time with Global Force Wrestling and Impact Wrestling. Early career Wilson went to Saginaw Valley Stat ...

at IWA Mid-South. On March 12, 2021, Fernandez launched a self-biographical podcast entitled "No BS With the Bull".

Championships and accomplishments

All Pro Wrestling All Pro Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion and training school, based in Hayward, California. The company was founded by Roland Alexander and managed by him until his death on November 5, 2013. It is located 45 miles so ...

( 1 time) *Lucha Xtreme **LX United States Champion (1 time) *

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that served as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling. For most of its existence, however, t ...

( 1 time) *

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

( 1 time) **

NWA Florida Television Championship The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when ...

( 1 time) *

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ref ...

** CWA International Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *Eastern States Wrestling / Eastern Shores Wrestling **ESW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *International Wrestling Association **IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with

(1) and

(1) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **PWI ranked him # 188 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. **PWI ranked him # 88 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Dusty Rhodes. *

Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company. H ...

SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship The SWCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship was a short-lived secondary title in Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San ...

( 1 time) **

SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship The SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title of Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texa ...

( 1 time) ** SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship (

) - with

Chavo Guerrero Sr. Salvador Guerrero Llanes (January 7, 1949 – February 11, 2017), better known as Chavo Guerrero or Chavo Guerrero Sr., and also known during the 21st century as "Chavo Classic", was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for ...

(1) and

Al Perez Al Perez (born July 23, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler. He held 16 titles during a 20-year career, including the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship. Professional wrestling career Early career Perez began wrestling as an amat ...

(1) **

SCW World Tag Team Championship The SCW World Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Southwest Championship Wrestling Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San Antonio, ...

( 1 time) - with

WWC North American Heavyweight Championship The WWC North American Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship defended in the Puerto Rican promotion, the World Wrestling Council. Created in 1974, it was the primary singles championship of the promotion until the crea ...

( 1 time) **

WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship The WWC Puerto Rico Championship is the secondary professional wrestling championship that is defended in the World Wrestling Council based in Puerto Rico. The title was created in January 1974 and, as its name suggests, is defended exclusively wi ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

*
SLAM! Sports Wrestling - Manny Fernandez still a raging bull
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Manny 1954 births American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent Living people People from El Paso, Texas Professional wrestlers from Texas Professional wrestling trainers West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers WWC Puerto Rico Champions AWA International Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Television Champions WCW World Tag Team Champions