Víctor Quiñones Hernández (June 30, 1959 – April 2, 2006) was a Puerto Rican
professional wrestling
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 o ...
promoter, manager, and the founder and owner of
International Wrestling Association in Japan, as well as the later
International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico.
Early life
Quiñones' mother ran several businesses and his stepfather was a lawyer and politician and they raised him to be savvy and entrepreneurial. Being bilingual, he became an asset to the Puerto Rican wrestling office at a young age, helping out
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker.
Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
and others when they came to the island. After his mother died, Quiñones moved to the United States in 1979, where he lived with Gorilla Monsoon until 1984.
In 1984, Capitol Sports went bankrupt and Quiñones bought a quarter interest in the
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 ...
company.
Professional wrestling career
Quiñones was primarily a manager for
The Headhunters
The Headhunters are an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music.
History (and name)
Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with a st ...
and
Mr. Pogo
was a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his work under the ring name . He helped popularize hardcore wrestling in the 1990s with "death matches" in promotions such as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, W*ING and Big Japan Pro Wrestlin ...
, but was affiliated 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 ...
,
Mike Awesome
Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestl ...
,
Hisakatsu Oya
Kenichi Oya (大矢健一) (born July 2, 1964) is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hisakatsu Oya (大矢剛功). Although he started out for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he is well known for his stint in Fro ...
and
Cactus Jack in the stable Funk Masters of Wrestling on
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...
(FMW) from 1996 to 1997. He also became official manager for
Taka Michinoku
(born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for the ...
for one time only, when he assisted him to fought his own mentor
The Great Sasuke
, born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly l ...
on 4th Anniversary of
Michinoku Pro
(originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...
after Taka won
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...
from
Brian Christopher
Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand M ...
at
D-Generation X: In Your House in 1997.
Quiñones was one of the prominent managers of the pioneering
hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...
, and also was the founder and owner of two hardcore wrestling promotions in Japan;
Wrestling International New Generations
Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion specialized in deathmatches.
History
After leaving Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in the summer of 1991, Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi "Mickey" Ibar ...
(W*ING) and
International Wrestling Association of Japan
The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2014. It was formed by Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the W ...
(IWA Japan).
In July 1988 when
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 ...
was stabbed in Puerto Rico, Quiñones had to call a radio station, to broadcast that they needed an ambulance urgently and a local ambulance driver heard the call over the radio at a local restaurant and made his way to the scene.
Quiñones retained strong connections with many professional wrestling federations outside Puerto Rico, and was known for his extraordinary booking/promoting faculty. He was a very rich person and took very good care of wrestlers. Japanese wrestler
Taka Michinoku
(born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for the ...
was heavily helped by Quiñones when he had been to outside Japan. Thanks to Quiñones, he could wrestle in
ECW ECW may refer to:
Professional wrestling
* Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001
* The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...
,
WWF (USA),
AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
(Mexico), IWA (Puerto Rico), FMW (Japan), and he has stated that without Quiñones' help, he wouldn't be able to start
Kaientai Dojo
Active Advance Pro Wrestling (2AW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion and training facility originally owned and promoted by Taka Michinoku. The promotion places emphasis on a style of puroresu that combines high-flying, technical wr ...
and that Quiñones was like a father to him.
Kintaro Kanemura
( ko, 김행호 ''Kim Hyeong-ho'') (born August 9, 1970) is a Zainichi-Korean retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . He is also known as W*ING Kanemura or . He is best known for his death matches in Apache Army, Big Jap ...
reminisced about Quiñones as "If I didn't meet him, maybe I would die in the middle of America" (when he first arrived in North America, he had only ¢20).
Mitsunobu Kikuzawa
(born November 17, 1976), better known as his wrestling persona and formerly , is a freelance Japanese professional wrestler. Though best known for wrestling under a mask, he also regularly works unmasked under the ring name Kikuzawa (stylized ...
described Quiñones as the No.1 promoter in the world.
Tajiri has referred to Quiñones as his biggest mentor in wrestling.
On April 2, 2006, Quiñones died in his home in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
.
An article
of wrestling journalist Kagehiro Osano's official blog Soon after the death, several Japanese federations and wrestlers, including Taka Michinoku and Tajiri, paid tribute to him by having special ceremonies.
Personal life
Quiñones was the son of professional wrestler Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella.
References
External links
Article on Quiñones' death.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinones, Victor
1959 births
2006 deaths
People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling promoters
Professional wrestling referees