Víctor Rivera (professional wrestler)


Víctor Rivera is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. Between 1967 and 1981, he held the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship 12 times, the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship five times, the WWF International Tag Team Championship, and numerous other titles.

Professional wrestling career

In the late 1960s, Rivera wrestled in Los Angeles' Worldwide Wrestling Associates, where he won the WWA World Tag Team Championship with Pedro Morales.
In December 1969, Rivera teamed with Tony Marino at Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF International Tag Team Championship in 2 straight falls from Professor Toru Tanaka and Mitsu Arakawa. Rivera and Marino defended the belts successfully against teams like Killer Kowalski & Waldo Von Erich, as well as Kowalski & Krippler Karl Kovacs. They lost the championship against another undefeated team, The Mongols on June 15, 1970, 2 falls to 1 at Madison Square Garden. On May 13, 1975, Rivera and Dominic DeNucci won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from The Valiant Brothers. That same year, he also teamed with a rookie Dino Bravo to challenge The Mongols 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 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, he won the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Enforcer Luciano.

Championships and accomplishments