Harry Del Rios (born September 17, 1972) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. Rios is best known as the Spellbinder and Phantasio from WWE, but he has competed under many other

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 ...

s during his career.

Professional wrestling career

United States Wrestling Association (1993-1997)

Del Rios' first prominent wrestling role was in the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...

. He debuted there on September 13, 1993. He wrestled as the Spellbinder for the first 4 matches of his career, then switched to wrestling under his real name, then switched back to the Spellbinder gimmick in March 1994. He would use the Spellbinder gimmick for the remainder of his time in USWA. He feuded with Brian Christopher in 1997. He appeared on USWA TV in January & February. He stayed until USWA folded in 1997.

World Wrestling Federation (1993, 1995, 1997)

Del Rios made his first appearance in

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF) when he wrestled a dark match against Bobby Who on the May 10, 1993 episode of ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...

'' at the Manhattan Center. He received another tryout at the 2nd anniversary taping of ''Raw'' in Houston, TX on January 2, 1995 when he defeated Reno Riggins. Rios made one televised appearance on the July 16, 1995 episode of ''

Wrestling Challenge ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a professional wrestling television show that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF C ...

''. He portrayed a

babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

named "Phantasio", a magician wrestler. Phantasio wore a black and white mime mask (which he handed to a young fan sitting at ringside) that revealed matching facepaint when removed. He defeated

Tony DeVito Anthony DeVito (born January 20, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, better known as Tony DeVito or simply DeVito. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling as part of Da Baldies and with Ring of Honor as pa ...

by sneaking up from behind, and magically pulling out his boxers allowing him to roll up DeVito for the victory. After the match, he magically removed the boxers (black and white colored) of referee

Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner (born May 17, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestling referee. He is best known for his time as senior referee for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) from 1988 to 2005. Hebner (along with his identical twi ...

. Though he never again appeared on TV, he did wrestle a match against Rad Radford at a

house show A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

in a victorious effort. Rios returned in 1997, appearing in a dark match on the March 17, 1997 episode of ''Monday Night Raw'' held in Syracuse, NY. Wrestling as The Spellbinder, Rios was defeated by Aldo Montoya. He wrestled on a trio of house shows held in Tennessee against

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Henry is a two-time Olympian (1992 and 19 ...

in December of that year.

Independent Circuit (1997-2002)

He continued to wrestle in various Memphis promotions after leaving the USWA. He won the NWA North American Tag Team Title with

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian ...

in 1999, and the Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight title in 2000.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002)

Harry Del Rios competed on NWA:TNA's first-ever broadcast on June 19, 2002. He wrestled as Del Rios (essentially a rip-off of

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler. Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and has also wrestled for Jim Crockett ...

and his "Big Poppa Pump" character), but was not used by TNA after the initial broadcast.

Later career (2003-2012)

In 2003, Rios made a short lived comeback as Shock. He teamed up with wrestler Awe ("British Storm" Ian Harrison). The team would wrestle primarily in Memphis Wrestling. He retired from wrestling in 2005. In the December 2006 issue of ''

WWE Magazine ''WWE Magazine'' was the official professional wrestling magazine of WWE. This incarnation of the magazine contains lifestyle sections, a monthly calendar, entertainment, work out tips, and other information. It was announced in July 2014 tha ...

'', there is a short interview with Harry Del Rios concerning the Phantasio character. Del Rios claims that the idea originated as a combination of the Ultimate Warrior and

the Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in ''Challenge of the Superfriends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Universe ...

gimmicks. He also hinted at a possible return of the Phantasio persona. On June 2, 2012 Del Rios revived The Phantasio character at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in a winning effort against Simon Dean in Rahway, NJ.

Championships and accomplishments

* Memphis Wrestling **

Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started when the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight ...

( 1 time) * NWA Main Event **

NWA North American Tag Team Championship The NWA North American Tag Team Championship is an inactive professional wrestling tag team championship that was used and defended in various territories throughout the National Wrestling Alliance., prior to its being purchased in 2017 by Billy ...

( 1 time) - with

* Power Pro Wrestling **

Power Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship Memphis Power Pro Wrestling (Power Pro Wrestling) was a Memphis, Tennessee based professional wrestling promotion that was founded by Randy Hales. It was affiliated with Memphis Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation. It was the f ...

(1 time) *''

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

'' **Ranked No. 260 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' in 1997 *

** USWA Heavyweight Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) *

Xcitement Wrestling Federation The X Wrestling Federation (XWF) (later referred to as the Xcitement Wrestling Federation) was an American professional wrestling promotion that operated from 2001 to 2002. The previous number two and three American promotions, World Champions ...

**XWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** XWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Awe

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Rios, Harry 1972 births 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people Nation of Domination members People from Henderson, Tennessee Professional wrestlers from New York City