| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-07-23)July 23, 1957 (age 68)[2] Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Al Perez Latin Heartthrob |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (108 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Boris Malenko[1] Steve Keirn |
| Debut | 1982[1] |
| Retired | 2002[1] |
Al Perez (born July 23, 1957) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. He held 16 titles during a 20-year career, including theWCWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Perez began wrestling as an amateur in high school and was one of the top athletes in his home state of Florida.[1] He started professional wrestling in 1982. He wrestled inSouthwest Championship Wrestling in Texas and formed a team in ICW with Joe Savoldi known as the "New York Rockers". He then worked for theWorld Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico where he teamed a lot with Joe Savoldi and later feuded with Invader l.
On August 31, 1985, while wrestling forBill Watts'sMid-South Wrestling, Perez teamed with "Wildcat"Wendell Cooley, and defeated the team of"Dr. Death" Steve Williams and BruiserBob Sweetan for the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. Sweetan was substituting forTed DiBiase while DiBiase was touring Asia.
Perez went on to make a name for himself as "The Latin Heartthrob" inWorld Class Championship Wrestling[1] in 1987, where he was the top heel for several months. He was managed byGary Hart and feuded withKevin Von Erich,Kerry Von Erich andDingo Warrior.
Perez won theWorld Class Texas Championship after supposedly defeating previous champion Warrior in a phantom match in Puerto Rico on 21 June 1987. He later defeated Kevin Von Erich for theWCWA World Heavyweight Championship by forfeit. On 25 December 1987 he successfully defended the title in a steel cage match against Kerry Von Erich, recently returned from a 1986 motorcycle accident. Hart and Von Erich's fatherFritz were supposed to be handcuffed together but after Fritz was attacked by several heels and afterwards (kayfabe) collapsed with a suspected heart attack, Hart alone was handdcuffed to the ropes. A distraught (kayfabe) Von Erich nonetheless went ahead with the title challenge. Perez managed to smash Von Erich's head into the handcuffs to score the pinfall win.
Von Erich later defeated Perez for the title. Perez and Hart left for Jim Crockett Promotions.
In 1988, Perez moved to theNational Wrestling Alliance'sJim Crockett Promotions with Hart and teamed withLarry Zbyszko feuding withNikita Koloff andDusty Rhodes.
In 1989 he wrestled for Dusty Rhodes' Professional Wrestling Federation based in Florida. He won the PWF Florida Heavyweight Title, defeating Mike Graham for the title. He later lost the title toDustin Rhodes.[3]
Al Perez signed with theWorld Wrestling Federation and made his debut on October 2, 1989, with a win overGeorge South in a dark match at aSuperstars taping inWheeling, West Virginia. Perez was undefeated the first month, wrestling primarily on C shows againstBarry Horowitz andThe Brooklyn Brawler. His first loss would come againstBoris Zukhov on November 17, 1989, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Perez would then continue to wrestle primarily on the undercard, although in onePrime Time Wrestling show hostGorilla Monsoon made mention of a possible tag-team pairing of Perez and Santana. Perez was primarily seen on house shows andPrime Time Wrestling. Despite sustaining losses to the likes ofHercules andTito Santana, Perez had many wins over wrestlers such asPaul Roma,Jim Powers,The Red Rooster,Koko B. Ware,"Bullet" Bob Bradley,Paul Diamond/Kato,Jim Brunzell, and others. His last WWF match was a win over Jim Powers on July 23, 1990, in West Palm Beach, Florida.[4]
On September 5, 1990, Perez competed asThe Black Scorpion, wrestling Sting in a losing effort atClash of Champions XII. According to Ric Flair, Perez was always meant to be The Black Scorpion, but quit after finding out he was going to lose.[5] Perez disputes this claiming he was booked to be the Black Scorpion only one time. Perez notes he lost to Sting in the match and stated he was not asked to continue long term as the character.[6] Perez would wrestle one more match as The Scorpion at a house show in Chicago, Illinois on September 30.[7]
Perez reached the finals of a tournament to crown the firstGWF North American Heavyweight Champion before losing toThe Patriot at the promotion's debut show on 10 August 1991 in Dallas, Texas. However, because Perez's feet were under the ropes when he was pinned, the Patriot, as a matter of conscience (kayfabe) refused the victory and vacated the title, defeating Perez cleanly in a rematch on 23 August 1991. Perez was (kayfabe) so impressed with his opponent's integrity and sportsmanship that he changed his ways and became a babyface once again.
Perez traveled to All Japan Wrestling and teamed withDory Funk Jr againstDan Kroffat &Doug Furnas on December 6, 1991.[8] He would wrestle in tag-team matches for All Japan again in 1993 and 1994.
During the 1990s, Perez competed in several independent promotions around the United States, including a return to Liberty All-Star Wrestling (LAW) in 2001, where he beat Jimmy Jannetty for the LAW Heavyweight title before retiring from the business in 2002.[1]
,Internet Wrestling Database