Salvatore Rinauro (born September 12, 1982) 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 ...

, performing 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 ...

(NWA). He is best known for his work in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the president, while Trevin Adams is the ...

and

in addition to being a member of The Embassy. He also makes appearances on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

Profressional wrestling career

Ring of Honor (2005–2006)

After honing his skills at

NWA Wildside NWA Wildside was an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Cornelia, Georgia, with an office in Atlanta, Georgia, operating between September 1999 and April 2005. It was originally formed when National Championship Wrestli ...

as well as winning the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship, Rinauro debuted under the name "Mellow" as a member of Special K in

. After beating Antonio Blanca earlier in the show, Rinauro (now using his real name) competed for and won a Ring of Honor Contract by defeating Steve Madison,

Claudio Castagnoli Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Death Riders and a former AEW World Trios Championship, AEW World Trios Champion. He also per ...

, and Jerrelle Clark at Do or Die 5 on August 20, 2005. Rinauro, along with

Tony Mamaluke Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Tony Marinara and with Extreme Championship ...

, won the

ROH World Tag Team Championship The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship contested for in the United States, American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The current champions are D ...

at the show Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005, by defeating B. J. Whitmer and

Jimmy Jacobs Christopher Scoville (born February 17, 1984) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jimmy Jacobs. He is best known for his 12-year career in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a List of ROH Wor ...

. During their reign, they successfully defended against teams such as Whitmer and Jacobs,

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

and

Ricky Reyes Reyes Nunez (born August 21, 1978), better known by the ring name Ricky Reyes, is a Cuban-American retired professional wrestler. He is known for his appearances in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, World Wrestling Council, Lucha Undergrou ...

, and

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...

and Milano Collection A.T. They lost the title to

Austin Aries Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, TNA Wrestling, where he is a t ...

and

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his ring name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Paragon stable and is a former one-time AEW I ...

of Generation Next at Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005. Rinauro also appeared at

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

Slammiversary Slammiversary is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of TNA pay-per-view events, event produced by the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It is one of TNA's “Big Four” PPV events (along with TNA Hard To Kill, Hard ...

event in 2005, as a fan who was attacked by

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

before the King of the Mountain match, causing Jarrett to be ( storyline) arrested. After losing the title, Rinauro competed in the 2006 Trios Tournament at Tag Wars 2006 with Tony Mamaluke and Jay Fury, competing against the likes of

The Briscoe Brothers The Briscoe Brothers, also called The Briscoes, were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of American brothers Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh, 1984–2023) and Mark Briscoe (Mark Pugh, born 1985). They were known for their 20-year tenure with th ...

. In 2006, Rinauro's partner Tony Mamaluke signed with

World Wrestling Entertainment 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, ...

to be a part of the new ECW

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

, leaving Rinauro to start a singles career once more. At Death Before Dishonor IV, it was revealed that Rinauro was the newest member of The Embassy. That night, he teamed with fellow Embassy member Jimmy Rave and they successfully defeated

and

Jay Lethal Jamar Shipman (born April 29, 1985), better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenures in Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrest ...

. The two continued teaming for a few months, but after the Embassy disbanded, the team suffered a roadblock. On October 28, 2006, Rave split the team up. Since then, Rinauro makes occasional appearances in ROH.

Full Impact Pro (2005–2008)

Rinauro also worked for ROH's sister promotion

. He achieved tag team success in FIP after winning the

Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling match types, professional wrestling matches, in which competitors a ...

once with Spanky by defeating Jimmy Rave and "Fast" Eddie Vegas on August 6, 2005. After a singular title defense against Rave and his new tag partner

on September 2, they lost the title to The Heartbreak Express that same night. He also won the Florida Heritage Championship by defeating Erick Stevens on November 9, 2007. After successful title defenses against

Tyler Black Tyler Black may refer to: * Tyler Black (baseball) (born 2000), a Canadian professional baseball infielder * Tyler Black (wrestler) (born 1986), an American professional wrestler best known as Seth Rollins {{disambiguation ...

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an American comedy-drama directed by Tom DiCillo, sta ...

, and Joey Ryan, he dropped the title to Chris Jones on October 11, 2008.

Deep South Wrestling (2007)

On July 26, 2007, Rinauro and Caleb Konley defeated Simon Sermon and "Pretty Boy" Floyd to win the vacant

. Rinauro and Konely would end up being the final DSW Tag Team Champions after DSW closed down on October 11, 2007.

Independent circuit

Currently, Rinauro can be found wrestling throughout the Georgia independent circuit, including Rampage Pro Wrestling, Great Championship Wrestling, NWA Anarchy, Independent Wrestling Network and Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling. He appeared as an enhancement talent on the November 18, 2008 edition of '' ECW'' where he was defeated by the debuting DJ Gabriel. In October 2009, Rinauro wrestled on two shows for Chikara, being defeated by

Mike Quackenbush Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976) is an American podcaster, author, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, Promoter (entertainment), professional wrestling promoter, and semi-retired professional wre ...

and

. Sal Rinauro made a volunteer appearance for Great Championship Wrestling in Phenix City on February 12, 2009, as part of the Miracle of Maegan event to benefit Maegan Johnson, a local girl who suffered a brain trama just several weeks prior. Rinauro teamed with another volunteer, Austin "Consequences" Creed as part of the Road to Goad Tournament, defeating John Bogie & Kareem Abdul Jamar (now Chikara's Sugar Dunkerton) before falling to the Southside Trash. Rinauro became a permanent fixture in Great Championship Wrestling based on his initial appearance, and now wrestles weekly for the promotion. Currently the GCW Interstate Champion, Rinauro has embroiled in several feuds, with "Suicidal All Star" Mike Kross, "The Urban Legend" Murder One, and former Embassy associate and tag team partner in ROH, Jimmy Rave. Recently GCW secured a television deal to broadcast on cable 24 in Atlanta Georgia; the Pilot broadcast featured the main event of Sal Rinauro vs. Murder One, and the second broadcast featured a main event of him vs. Mike Kross. Rinauro also wrestles for RAMPAGE Pro Wrestling, a promotion based out of Warner Robins Georgia. He has held the RPW Intercontinental Championship, continued his feud with Jimmy Rave, and also has had several outstanding matches with Austin "Consequences" Creed, who also appears as a regular of the promotion. He has also held the RPW heavy-weight and cruiserweight titles. In summer 2010 Rinauro was named Commissioner of RPW after Nick Patrick left. Rinauro was involved in the 4-corners match to crown the 1st ever RPW T.V. champion where he was unsuccessful. Rinauro faced heavy-weight champion Shaun Banks at Sizzlin Summer Bash 2 where he was unsuccessful. He joined the feud between Jimmy Rave & Kyle Matthews in a non-wrestling role until he resigned in December. On December 18 Rinauro returned as GM to team with Matthews, Drew Adler, Michael Stevens, & Adrian Hawkins against Jimmy Rave, Chip Day, Corey Hollis, Mike Posey, & Jeremy Vain where he was eventually eliminated although his team was victorious. Rinauro participated in a few matches over the next few weeks. On April 2 he challenged Jeremy Vain for the NWA RPW T.V. title where he was unsuccessful. On May 1 Rinauro was the special enforcer in the cage match between Rave & Matthews. Rinauro turned heel joining Rave and costing Matthews the match. On May 15 Rinauro teamed with Vain in a semi-final match in the NWA RPW tag team title tournament against Frankie Valentine and Matthews where they were unsuccessful. Earlier in the night Rinauro teamed with Hollis, Day, & Rave in a losing effort against the NWA RPW tag team champions the Usual Suspects & the NWA world tag team champions the Dark City Fight Club. On May 29 Rinauro faced off against his old rival J-Rod in a losing effort. Sal is currently working on his self-proclaimed auto biography. " It's hard being a Salifornia kid". The book should be available everywhere books are sold September 23, 2016. He will be signing books the day of release in Daytona Beach, where he currently resides. Sal Rinauro made his last appearance for NWA on January 21, 2020, now he is working for WrestleMerica and Anarchy Wrestling.

Wrestling Road Diaries

In 2011, Roundtable Creations released The Wrestling Road Diaries, a wrestling documentary that features Sal,

and

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs on a part time basis. He is also known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under t ...

. The film was shot over a period of 10 days in September 2009, and follows the wrestlers as they travel from show to show. It also shows them performing for various wrestling companies and training aspiring wrestlers. (Wrestling Road Diaries. Dir. Eric Santamaria. Perf. Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Sal Rinauro. DVD. Roundtable Creations, 2011.)

Championships and accomplishments

*All-Star Wrestling Network **AWN Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Fry Daddy *

Deep South Wrestling Deep South Wrestling (DSW) is a professional wrestling promotion in the state of Georgia. Deep South worked in tandem with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a developmental territory from September 1, 2005, until April 18, 2007. Deep South w ...

DSW Tag Team Championship References {{reflist Tag team wrestling championships Regional professional wrestling championships ...

( 1 time, final) – with Caleb Konley *

** FIP Florida Heritage Championship ( 1 time) ** FIP Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Spanky *Great Championship Wrestling **Great Championship Wrestling Interstate Championship (3 times) *NWA Anarchy **NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Seth Delay *

** NWA Wildside Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **NWA Beat the Champ Championship (1 time) *Peachstate Wrestling Alliance **PWA No Limits Championship (1 time) **PWA Heritage Championship (3 times) **PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nigel Sherrod *''

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. 424 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 2021 *Rampage Pro Wrestling **RPW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times) **RPW Intercontinental Championship (1 time) **RPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** ROH Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

*Southern Fried Championship Wrestling **SFCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current) **SFCW Classic Championship (1 time) **SFCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Sunny Daze **Charles William Anschutz Memorial Tournament (2021) *Southern Honor Wrestling **SHW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sunny Daze *Ultimate Christian Wrestling **UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Why We Wrestle **Anarchy Triple Crown Championship (1 time) **Anarchy Tag Team Championship (1 time)– with Seth Delay

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinauro, Sal 1982 births American male professional wrestlers Living people 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers ROH World Tag Team Champions NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Champions FIP Florida Heritage Champions FIP World Tag Team Champions Professional wrestlers from Los Angeles