Ari Romero
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Jose Luis Arias Romero (December 20, 1951 – December 29, 2013), was a Mexican professional
wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...
who wrestled in Mexico, the United States and Japan, under the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...
Ari Romero. Romero earned the nickname "El Rey del Tenedor" ("The King of the Fork") by using a fork to make his adversaries bleed in his matches. He was also nicknamed "El Rey de las Cadenas" (Spanish for "King of the chains").


Wrestling career

Romero began his career in his native city of Querétaro as an ''enmascarado'' or masked wrestler known as "El Gato" (Spanish for "the cat") at the age of 15. His father was the local Empresa Mundial de Lucha Libre (EMLL, now known as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)) promoter but when it came to his son's debut he put Romero in the opening bout and ordered the guys to be a little extra rough with him. After a few years of in-ring experience Romero, would get called up to EMLL full-time and would debut at
Arena Coliseo Arena Coliseo is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico, located at República del Perú 77 in the Cuauhtémoc, D.F., Cuauhtémoc Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District, borough. The arena is primarily used for professional wrestling, or ''luch ...
in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. After working in Mexico City for several years, the EMLL offices send him to
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...
with their local affiliate to further develop his wrestling skills.
Ciudad Juarez Ciudad () is the Spanish word for "city". Ciudad or La Ciudad may also refer to: * La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona * La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico * ''La ciudad'', a novel by Mario Levrero published ...
would become Romero's home as he became a fixture in the area and would later play a big role in the beginning of
Eddie Guerrero Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling ...
and
Konnan Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964),''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Dave Meltzer, ed., May 10, 2010, issue.Sims, Steve"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame/Founded by Dave Meltzer - Konnan". Accessed August 1, 2016. On ...
's wrestling careers. An injury while in Juarez forced Ari to return to Mexico City and soon after he lost his "El Gato" mask in a match against Halcón Dorado as part of EMLL's "Martes Populares" show. After losing his "El Gato" mask Romero returned to Juarez but this time with a rival promoter of the area,
Gory Guerrero Salvador Guerrero Quesada (January 11, 1921 – April 18, 1990), better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Mexican-American professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside Mexi ...
, who ran his shows at Plaza de Torros Balderas only two blocks away from EMLL's Juarez location. While working for Gory Guerrero Romero began his long lasting storyline feud) with the Guerrero family. Romero began working under his real name, Jose Luis Arias Romero, later shortened to simply Arias Romero by Gory Guerrero. Guerrero decided to have Romero debut as a
face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...
(wrestling term for those that play the good guys), going against Romero's natural
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...
(bad guy, "Rudó" In Mexico) tendencies. During his debut against a hated local, Romero managed to rile up the crowd so much that he turned the heel face in the crowds eye and had them booing Romero instead. Romero quickly moved into a storyline with the local top wrestler,
Hector Guerrero In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...
, Gory's son. The highlight of the storyline with the Guerrero family was defeating all four Guerreros in an elimination 4 vs. 4 match. Romero singlehandedly eliminated
Chavo Chavo can have two or more meanings, for example. In Puerto Rico it means “Money”. In Mexico and some other Latin American countries the word would translates to "kid", and may refer to: * Chavo Guerrero Sr., a professional wrestler * Chavo ...
, Mando and Gory and in a heated match finally also overcame Hector Guerrero. Not long after defeating the four Guerreros Ari Romero left to join the "la Division del Norte" wrestling circuit in
Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
, led by lucha legend Rene Guajardo and composed of mostly ex EMLL guys. It was here that the promoter shortened his name from Arias Romero to Ari Romero. After working in Monterrey Romero gained his first taste of international experience, working his first tour of the United States. He would first work in the southwestern part, working mainly on the Native American Reservations of
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
and
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. Later he would go to
Southeast Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship W ...
and work their territory in
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,
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. While working in the US Romero picked up a more American style of wrestling and would take what he learned back to Mexico. Romero claimed that it wasn't until he wrestled in the south that he finally understood the psychology of pro wrestling. After his tour of the US Romero would return to EMLL with a lot more experience. This time round he had his first big run with the company, taking part in one of EMLLs first Central American tours to
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
,
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
and
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
. From here Romero would get sent by the EMLL offices to Los Angeles where he would work for Promoter Mike Labell at the Olympic Auditorium for the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
. The NWA, EMLL and
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
(NJPW) had formed a working relationship and exchanged talents to help strengthen all three promotions. EMLL sent
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,
Black Gordman Victor Manuel Barajas (born October 5, 1936) is a Mexican retired professional wrestler under the name Black Gordman. He teamed up with Great Goliath in Mexico and Los Angeles during most of his career. Gordman won the NWA Americas Tag Team Cha ...
, the Great Goliath and Ari Romero to work at the Olympic Auditorium. Romero enjoyed a good run in NWA, a run that saw him participate in his first tour of Japan, one of many to come, and also a tour of the Pacific Islands in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, New Zealand,
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,
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
,
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
, Australia and
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for "High Chief"
Peter Maivia Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (born Fanene Pita Anderson; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982), better known as Peter Maivia, was a Samoan-American professional wrestler, actor and stunt coordinator. Maivia was the grandfather of Dwayne Johnson, Dwayne ...
. During his stint with them Romero won the Pacific Island Tag Team Championship alongside Peter Maivia. After this Romero would find himself back in EMLL working high on the card, scoring victories over top talents of the time such as
La Fiera Arturo Casco Hernández (March 17, 1961 – September 12, 2010) was a Mexican '' luchador'', or professional wrestler, best known under the ring name La Fiera, which is Spanish for "The Wild Beast". Hernández was a second-generation wrestler, ...
,
Alfonso Dantés José Luis Amezcua Díaz (April 13, 1943 – July 30, 2008) was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled during the 1960s and 1970s under the ring name Alfonso Dantés (the name was taken from the main character of the Count of Monte Cristo n ...
and others. Later on Romero left EMLL and ventured out to
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
to work for
Tully Blanchard Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...
's
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. ...
. After working in Texas Romero returned to Juarez where he helped several up and comers like Eddie Guerrero, Konnan, Blue Demon, Jr., Tinieblas Jr., Heavy Metal both through training them and by working with them in matches. Romero continued wrestling full-time locally in Juarez while making annual appearances for EMLL and tours to Japan for many distinct promotions, among them
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
(AJPW). During the early 1990s Romero returned to CMLL once again, but this time as a new masked character, inspired by the ongoing
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
Romero became ''El Gran Sheik'', with the storyline being that he was an actual
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
i
Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
. As El Grand Sheik he brought a
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
with him to the ring as part of imagery. Romero's career saw a resurgence as "El Gran Sheik", he even took part in
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 ...
's World Masked Tournament representing
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
(even though his gimmick was supposed to be Iraqi). Romero ended up losing the Gran Shiek mask to Blue Demon, Jr. on February 9, 1995. His popularity during his tours of the Orient made him decide to relocate to Japan after losing the El Gran Sheik mask. Romero spent the next eight years wrestling all over Asia doing shows in Japan, Korea,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
and even Russia. In late 2003 Ari returned to Juarez to help his son, billed as "Ari Romero Jr.", break into the wrestling business, working for the same local promotion that Romero, Sr. worked for years earlier.


Outside the ring

Outside the ring Romero worked with his favorite hobby, music. He formed a music group composed professional wrestlers. The group ended up performing at Mexico's prestigious "Teatro Blanquita" as headliners. The Group was composed of Ari Romero (lead guitar and vocals),
Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
(drums),
El Pantera ''El Pantera'' (English: ''The Panther'') is a Mexican television series that aired on Canal 5 from May 14, 2007 to November 26, 2009. It is based on a comic book of the same name. It narrates the life of Gervasio, a young man who fights crime ...
(guitar), El Apache (Bass), Buffalo Salvaje (vocals), Mario Prado (percussion) and Estrellita (keyboard and vocals). Romero recorded four CD's, three of which were his own material.


Death

In December 2013, Romero died after a battle with liver cancer at the age of 62.


Championships and accomplishments

*
World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...
** WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Other titles ** Northern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Flama Roja and Crazy 33 (2) ** Pacific Islands Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with "High Chief"
Peter Maivia Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia (born Fanene Pita Anderson; April 6, 1937 – June 13, 1982), better known as Peter Maivia, was a Samoan-American professional wrestler, actor and stunt coordinator. Maivia was the grandfather of Dwayne Johnson, Dwayne ...
** Querétaro Welterweight Championship


''Luchas de Apuestas'' record


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Ari 1951 births 2013 deaths Mexican male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Querétaro People from Querétaro City