Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Council (1995–2000)
During the mid 1990s Sewell formed a tag team with Glamour Boy Sean they were known as the Canadian Glamour Boys. Together they won the WWC World Tag Team Championships twice before going their own way. Sewell also became a three time WWC Television Champion on separate occasions. After two years out of the tag team division Sewell won the vacant WWC World Tag Team Championships for a third time teaming with Ricky Santana.
International Wrestling Association (2000–2005)
Sewell debuted in the IWA days after leaving WWC in a run-in to help Savio Vega as he was being double-teamed by Miguel Perez and Jesus Castillo in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He became the company's first World Heavyweight Champion on October 28, 2000 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He started a notable feud in December 2001 when Vega returned and unified with Starr Corporation and attacked both Sewell and Ricky Banderas forming Los Hermanos en Dolor (Brothers in Pain). In December 2004, Sewell turned heel with Vega after he won the Heavyweight title from Ray Gonzalez at Christmas in Puerto Rico. He lost the title to Chicano at Juicio Final on April 2, 2005 in Caguas, Puerto Rico and after that teamed with Jean-Pierre Lafitte part-time. Sewell returned to the IWA in 2008 with former TNA stars Ricky Vega and The Naturals as well as veteran stalwart Big Vito. Sewell tagged with Vega for a time before Vega turned heel and became undisputed IWA heavyweight champion. The two former partners would meet several times after, with Sewell falling short of the title he helped make famous.
Time split between WWC and IWA (2005–2006)
Sewell wrestled part-time in then-new Puerto Rican federation New Wrestling Stars. During his time in the company, as part of a talent exchange with the WWC, he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship title from "La Amenaza" Bryan in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico on November 5, 2005, which made Sewell the first wrestler to win both the top titles in both IWA and WWC in a calendar year. He lost the Universal title to Bryan on February 12, 2006 and split his time with both companies. Sewell later feuded with Tim Arson over the NWS Heavyweight title until June 3, 2006 when he lost a Title vs. Leave The Company match.
When the New Wrestling Stars promotion folded, he made his IWA return on Impacto Total on August 19, 2006 in an angle with Miguel Perez Jr. in his office saying the Glamour Boy is ready to return. Later that night in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Sewell, under the masked gimmick Mr. GPR ran in and helped Perez Jr., Ray Gonzalez, Thunder and Lightning clear of the ring of Savio Vega's La Compania before Sewell unmasked himself. Sewell won the Heavyweight title in a three-way match from Gonzalez and Lightning at IWA Christmas in Puerto Rico on December 9, 2006 for a record ninth time. He has been making part-time appearances for WWC since 2008.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008–2009)
Sewell began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to help develop and train upcoming wrestlers while (at the time) also appearing as a referee on Impact! . He first made a mark in TNA by defending himself after Sheik Abdul Bashir took exception to being defeated after a restart in a match against Consequences Creed. Sewell quickly clotheslined Bashir over the top rope to the floor and had to be calmed down by referee Earl Hebner. Since the altercation, he had a number of brawls with wrestlers who shoved him while he was working as a referee.
On the November 13 episode of Impact! during an X Division Championship match between Eric Young and champion Sheik Abdul Bashir, Sewell stopped a three-count in noticing an illegal action on the part of Bashir, then asking the audience if Bashir had done so. Bashir then shoved Sewell to the mat, causing him to remove his referee shirt and begin attacking Bashir. As a result, Young hit a Death Valley Driver on Bashir and won the match, becoming the new X Division Champion. However, the decision was reversed one week later by Jim Cornette due to Sewell's interference. A similar incident occurred at Final Resolution, where Bashir shoved Sewell and he retaliated by kicking Bashir's feet off the top rope, thus causing him to be pinned by Young. Bashir then attacked Sewell and busted him open in the process.
On January 8, 2009, Sewell was (kayfabe) fired as an official after another confrontation with Bashir. However, as part of the confrontation, Cornette announced that Sewell would be hired as a wrestler and face Bashir at TNA's pay-per-view event Genesis, which Sewell won. [2] Sewell apparently was allowed to officiate matches again, as on the Impact! following Genesis, he officiated Hernandez's disqualification loss against Sting. After having a number of confrontations with Booker T, Cornette announced that at Against All Odds, Booker would defend his Legends Championship against Sewell. At Against All Odds, Sewell was defeated in his first and only championship match in TNA. [2] On the March 26 episode of Impact!, Sewell took part in a Captain's Gauntlet match, but was quickly eliminated by Kurt Angle. On May 22, 2009, it was confirmed that Sewell had been released from the company. [3]
Return to WWC
After being released from TNA, Sewell worked the June 25 tapings of Florida Championship Wrestling, [4] before returning to WWC. Soon after returning, Sewell competed in several matches for the Puerto Rico Heavyweight and Universal Heavyweight Championships, but was unable to win either title. [2] On August 8, Sewell defeated Idol Stevens for the Puerto Rico Title. [2] After two successful title defenses, Sewell lost the title to Orlando Colón on September 29. [2] On September 27, Sewell defeated Noriega, BJ and Orlando Colón to win the Unified Universal Title for the third time. Sewell continued his feud with Colón by defeating him in a match for the Universal Title on October 17. [2] He would go on to lose the title to Noriega on November 28, 2009. Sewell returned to the promotion thirteen months later, interfering in a match between Carly Colón and Ricky Banderas, costing Colón the Universal Heavyweight Championship and reforming Los Hermanos en Dolor. [5]
Shane Sewell returned to the IWA for their Christmas in PR event, but left after Juicio Final to appear in the PRWA (Puerto Rico Wrestling Association) in April 2010. On October 18, 2014, at WWL Insurrection, Sewell defeated Monster Pain to win the WWL World Heavyweight Championship. [6] He lost the title to Alberto el Patron in January 2015 at WWL's Three Kings Day holiday event in a three-way match that also included Ricky Banderas. [7]
Juan Rivera is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is known for his work in the World Wrestling Council, where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship three times. During the 1990s, he worked for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), initially under the masked, villainous and venom-spewing Kwang gimmick. He later portrayed Savio Vega, the eventual leader of a Puerto Rican stable, Los Boricuas.
The International Wrestling Association is a conglomerate of professional wrestling promotions that originated in Puerto Rico and currently operates there. Founded in 1994 by wrestler promoter Víctor Quiñones and wrestler Miguel Perez Jr. it quickly entered an agreement to serve as a development territory for the World Wrestling Federation that lasted until 2001. During its first decade, IWA grew to rival the long-standing World Wrestling Council (WWC). Its business model relies on pushing younger talents, using veterans and foreign wrestlers to get them over with the public.
Germán Figueroa Sullivan is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, actor and mixed martial artist better known as "El León" Apollo and El León.
Ephraim Vega is a Puerto Rican American professional wrestler and is best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, under the ring name Machete, and internationally under the name Ricky Vega. Vega was a standout high school football star, and was named to All-Section, All-conference, and All-county 1st teams in his junior and senior years. A knee injury prevented Vega from playing college football; however, he did go on to have a successful career in the insurance business before deciding to pursue a wrestling career. Vega currently works in public safety and as a corporate security advisor.
Ricardo Santana Ortiz, better known as Ricky Santana, is an American retired professional wrestler of Cuban descent who has worked for World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation, World Wrestling Council and the National Wrestling Alliance, All Japan, IWA Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, AAA.
Ramón González Rivera, better known by his ring name Ray González, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and businessman. He has performed in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) and International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico, Wrestling International New Generation (W*ING) in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico, and the X Wrestling Federation (XWF) in the United States.
The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the top title contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. The championship was established in July 1982, as the WWC World Heavyweight Championship, when the company was named Capitol Sports Promotions.
Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carlito as a member of the Latino World Order.
Eric Alexander Pérez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler who currently performs under the ring name Escobar. In 2005, Pérez signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he worked for developmental territories Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling, winning the tag team championship in both and the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. In the fall of 2009, he was promoted to WWE's main roster as Eric Escobar, appearing on the SmackDown brand. On January 17, 2010, he was released from his WWE contract. Pérez subsequently returned to Puerto Rico, performing in the IWA and Puerto Rico Wrestling Association, winning the heavyweight titles of both promotions.
Gilbert Cosme Ramírez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring names El Mesías, Mil Muertes, Ricky Banderas and King Muertes. He began his career in the International Wrestling Association based in Puerto Rico. While performing in the company, he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship on five instances and held minor championships on fifteen separate occasions, before leaving the company in 2006. On March 12, 2006, he debuted in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), a promotion based in Mexico, as a character named Muerte Cibernetica and was involved in an angle where this character was "killed". In November 2006, Cosme was involved in the tapings of the Wrestling Society X television series, where he was the second and last wrestler to win the WSX Championship.
John Jesús Yurnet, better known by his ring name Mecha Wolf 450, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he is a former two-time holder of the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.
José Huertas González better known as Invader 1, is a Puerto Rican retired professional wrestler, who wrestled in the United States and around the world, especially in Puerto Rico. He was charged with the murder of wrestler Frank Goodish, but claimed self defense and was acquitted in contentious circumstances. These included key witnesses to the incident being unable to testify due to receiving their summons after the trial had concluded, domestic witnesses and event investors corroborating a different account than foreign witnesses, and the murder weapon mysteriously vanishing.
Thunder and Lightning is a Puerto Rican professional wrestling tag team consisting of Reynaldo Rodriguez and Alex Cruz under the ring names Thunder and Lightning respectively. They currently work for World Wrestling Council.
The IWA Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship that is contested in the International Wrestling Association's main branch at Puerto Rico. Besides its base jurisdiction, the title has also been defended within the international circuit and interpromotially at Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (Japan) and Revolution X-treme Wrestling (Panama).
Carlos Omar Cotto Cruz is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and boxer. As a wrestler, he perform under the alias of El Chicano and has performed mostly for the International Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Council. While performing for the first, Cotto became the only person to win all eligible championships, later becoming a Universal Heavyweight Champion in the second. Locally, he has held the main title of a promotion nine times. Abroad, Cotto has worked for AAA in 2010 and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2016.
Gilberto Cruz, better known as Gilbert, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and former baseball umpire. He debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA), where he won the first two championships of his career. In August 2010, he joined the World Wrestling Council, entering an angle with Ray González, which evolved in a general feud against all those that are considered cornerstone wrestlers in Puerto Rico. This advanced to a highly publicized contest against José Huertas González at Aniversario 2011. Gilbert later led Team WWC in an invasion against the IWA in July 2011. On October 10, 2014, he defeated Carlito to win his fourth WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship.
José Torres is a Puerto Rican former professional wrestler, who worked in World Wrestling League (WWL) under the ring name Monster Pain. He was the reigning WWL Extreme Champion. Under his previous ring name Black Pain, Torres is a one-time World Wrestling Council (WWC) Universal Heavyweight and two-time World Tag Team Champion with his partner Hannibal. Their team was known as Terror Incorporated and they were managed by Rico Suave.
Hiram Mulero is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known under his ring name, Hiram Tua, which he has used in several of Puerto Rico's promotions, including the International Wrestling Association, the World Wrestling Council and the World Wrestling League.
Professional wrestling has been considered one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Puerto Rico for more than fifty years. It is considered the highest source of income in the sports entertainment industry on the island; a minor industry within its tertiary sector in its overall economy. After sports commentator José Antonio Géigel and a group of wrestlers founded the first promotion based in Puerto Rico, the discipline has consistently remained being broadcast in local television. Originally a mixture of foreign wrestling styles, the Puerto Rican wrestling style developed into a unique form of performing. Most notably, local promotions relied on unusual matches, often involving foreign objects or odd arenas. Local wrestling is considered to be one of the pillars that contributed to modern hardcore wrestling, being the territory where the first "fire" and "death" matches took place. Local promotions exploited the innovation and held their cards in large stadiums, eventually becoming an element of popular culture. During the course of six decades, Carlos Colón Sr. has developed over 70 scars in his forehead that are product of this method of performing, becoming the main symbol of the style's nature. The storylines in Puerto Rico have historically revolved around the "foreign heel" formula, with local wrestlers obtaining victories over notable figures that include Ric Flair, Harley Race, Hulk Hogan, Terry Funk, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Hall, Booker T, Samoa Joe and Curt Hennig among several others.
Angel L. Pérez Roman is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. Angel Pérez was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico and currently resides in Orlando, Florida. As a professional wrestler, he performs under the name Angel Fashion and describes himself as "el hombre que está de Moda". After beginning his career in the World Wrestling Council (WWC), Angel Fashion currently wrestles for World Wrestling League. where he is in his first reign as WWL World Heavyweight Champion and across the United States with several independent promotions.
