Víctor Rivera (born May 25, 1944) is a retired Puerto Rican

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 ...

. Between 1967 and 1981, he held the

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship f ...

12 times, the

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...

five times, the

WWF International Tag Team Championship The WWF International Tag Team Championship was a tag team championship in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1969 to 1972 and in the renamed World Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a short time in 1985. Reigns Names ...

, and numerous other titles.

Professional wrestling career

In the late 1960s, Rivera wrestled in Los Angeles'

Worldwide Wrestling Associates NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

(which later became NWA Hollywood Wrestling in 1968), where he won the

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. A ...

with

Pedro Morales Pedro Antonio Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federatio ...

. In December 1969, Rivera teamed with

Tony Marino Tony Silipini (April 20, 1931 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Marino. Professional wrestling career Early career (1954-1963) Tony Silipini was born in 1931. He started wrestling i ...

at Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF International Tag Team Championship in 2 straight falls from

Professor Toru Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, ...

and

Mitsu Arakawa Mack Mitsukazu Arakawa (May 23, 1927 – April 17, 1997) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club/American Wrestling Association. E ...

. Rivera and Marino defended the belts successfully against teams like

Killer Kowalski Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, includin ...

and

Waldo Von Erich Walter Paul Sieber (October 2, 1933 – July 5, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for performing under the ring name Waldo Von Erich, playing the character of a villainous Prussian Nazi. He was billed as the brother of ...

, 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 Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from The Valiant Brothers. That same year, he also teamed with a rookie

Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo (). After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, wo ...

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. In 1978 Rivera returned to the WWWF as a heel under manager "Classy" Freddie Blassie and challenged

Bob Backlund Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, wher ...

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 The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

, he won the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

with Enforcer Luciano.

Championships and accomplishments

*All-California Championship Wrestling **ACCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) *California Pro Wrestling **CPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **CPW Brass Knuckles Championship (2 times) *

Hollywood Wrestling ''Hollywood Wrestling'', also known as ''Wrestling From Hollywood'', was an American professional wrestling television series which originally aired locally in Los Angeles on KTLA in the early 1950s, and by 1952 nationally (via kinescope) on the ...

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles version) The Los Angeles version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the main tag team professional wrestling championship of the North American Wrestling Alliance, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which promoted shows in and arou ...

( 1 time) - with Enforcer Lusciano **

( 6 times) **

( 13 times) - with

(2), Raul Reyes (1),

Raul Mata Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

(1),

Porkchop Cash Bobby Cash (born October 22, 1947) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He competed primarily in promotions operated by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), like the Continental Wrestling Association and Georgia Championship Wres ...

(1),

(1), Cien Caras (1), Terry Sawyer (1),

Chavo Guerrero Salvador Guerrero IV (born October 20, 1970) better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He has previously worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federati ...

(1),

Texas Red Texas Red or sulforhodamine 101 acid chloride is a red fluorescent dye, used in histology for staining cell specimens, for sorting cells with fluorescent-activated cell sorting machines, in fluorescence microscopy applications, and in immunohis ...

(1),

Allen Coage Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...

(2), Salvatore Bellomo (1), **

NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship The NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling singles title defended in Johnny Doyle's NWA Los Angeles NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promoti ...

(

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 ...

) *

National Wrestling Federation The original National Wrestling Federation (NWF) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Buffalo, New York and owned by promoter Pedro Martínez. It ran from 1970 to 1974. The promotion was then revived in 1986 by Robert Raskin. The revive ...

NWF Heavyweight Championship The NWF Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling World championship used as part of the National Wrestling Federation and later New Japan Pro-Wrestling. History The NWF (National Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight Championship was ...

( 1 time) *Western States Alliance **WSA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **WSA Beat The Champ Championship (1 time) **WSA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

John Tolos John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", (September 18, 1930 – May 28, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager. Professional wrestling career Tolos was born on September 18, 1930, in Hamilton, Ontario ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

( 1 time) - with

** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Victor Living people People from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male professional wrestlers 1944 births 20th-century professional wrestlers NWF Heavyweight Champions NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champions NWA Americas Tag Team Champions NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions