Parts of this article (those related to Post AAA career since 2017.) need to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2025) |
Marvin in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ricardo Fuentes Romero (1980-01-08)January 8, 1980 (age 45)[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bengala[1] Black Emperor Mushiking Joker Ricky Marvin White Demon |
| Billed height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 79 kg (174 lb)[2] |
| Trained by | AriesMemo Diaz |
| Debut | April 9, 1995[2] |
Ricardo Fuentes Romero (born January 8, 1980) is a second-generationMexicanprofessional wrestler, known by hisring nameRicky Marvin, and is most known for his work in theJapanese promotionPro Wrestling Noah. Between 2005 and 2007, he also wrestled as themaskedMushiking Joker character, a storyline arch-enemy of "Mushiking Terry", who was played by his then-tag team partnerKotaro Suzuki. He also worked as the masked characterBengala inLucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) andLucha Underground between 2013 and 2016.
Suzuki and Ricky Marvin were the first Japanese/foreigner team to win theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, one of three reigns with that championship. Marvin is also a formerGHC Junior Heavyweight Champion in Pro Wrestling Noah, a formerCMLL Japan Super Lightweight Champion andMexican National Lightweight Champion inConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and one third of theAAA World Trios Champions in AAA. He is the son of retired professional wrestler Ricardo Fuentes and brother ofRolando Romero.
Ricardo Fuentes was trained for his professional wrestling career by his father Ricardo Fuentes, a professional wrestler known by thering name Aries, and later on byRingo Mendoza,Negro Casas, and Memo Diaz when he began working forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Fuentes made his debut in 1995, using the ring name White Demon, anenmascarado (masked) character.[2]
In 1998, Fuentes began training in the CMLL wrestling school under Mendoza and Casas, and it was there that he came up with a new ring name, combining his first name, Ricky, and his favorite cartoon character,Marvin the Martian, to create the ring name "Ricky Marvin". As Ricky Marvin, his first appearance at a major CMLL event came at the secondGran Alternativa of 1999, where he teamed with his mentor Ringo Mendoza. In the first round, Marvin and Mendoza defeatedApolo Dantés andAlan Stone but lost to eventual tournament winnersEl Felino andTigre Blanco in the second round.[3] On July 16, 1999, Marvin teamed withSombra de Plata, losing toFugaz andSangre Azteca in a match that stole the show, earning the four youngsters a standing ovation from the crowd.[4] The success of that match earned all four a match atCMLL's 66th Anniversary show on September 24, 1999. This time, Marvin and Sombra de Plata won the match.[5] Marvin made his Japanese debut on November 23, 1999, defeating Sangre Azteca, who was also making his debut for CMLL Japan. The rivalry continued on March 17, 2000, as Ricky Marvin defeated Sangre Azteca in athree falls match on theundercard of the 2000Jucio Finalpay-per-view.[6] While working for CMLL Japan, Marvin defeatedVirus to win theCMLL Japan Super Lightweight Champion on August 6, 2000.[7] He held the title once more before the organization ceased operations in early 2001.[7] On November 29, 2000, Marvin defeated Virus, this time to win theMexican National Lightweight Championship.[8] Marvin held the championship until December 3, 2001, when he lost it toLoco Max.[8]
In 2003, the CMLL groupLos Guapos createdGuapos U, a "reality show"-inspired storyline in which young hopefuls competed to earn a spot in theLos Guapos group. Marvin was one of the wrestlers selected for the first class of Guapos U. During the storyline, fellow "classmate"Zumbido developed a rivalry with Marvin, which got Zumbido kicked out of the group for fighting. Zumbido and Marvin met in aLucha de Apuesta match in which both wrestlers put their hair on the line. The match ended in a draw, and, as a result, both wrestlers had their hair shaved off after the match. Marvin was the last wrestler eliminated in the Guapos U contest, losing the membership toEl Terrible. At theCMLL 70th Anniversary Show, Ricky Marvin teamed with Virus andVolador Jr. to defeat "The Havana Brothers" (Rocco Quance,Puma Boy andRocky Romero) in a match that several years later is still remembered fondly.[9][10]
Marvin returned to Japan on several tours even after CMLL Japan folded, often working forÚltimo Dragón'sToryumon Japan promotion. In Toryumon, Marvin defeatedSuper Nova on July 7, 2002, to win theNWA World Welterweight Championship.[11] Marvin only held the title for 17 days before losing it toGenki Horiguchi,[11] but the title win helped convince Marvin that his future lay in Japan.[12] From 2003 through 2015 Marvin worked primarily in Japan, only making occasional guest appearances in his native Mexico.
In 2005 Marvin began working forPro Wrestling Noah, often appearing at Pro Wrestling SEM events, Noah's league for younger, inexperienced wrestlers. Over time, Marvin began teaming regularly withKotaro Suzuki. While teaming with Suzuki, Marvin also began a storyline feud with Suzuki's masked alter ego "Mushiking Terry", while he wrestled as the masked Mushiking Joker character himself. The two masked characters wrestled off and on between 2005 and 2007, with both men occasionally wrestling unmasked as well. On January 21, 2007, Marvin and Suzuki defeatedJay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe to win theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[13] The team held the title for just over 10 months before losing the championship to theDragon Gate team "Speed Muscle" (Naruki Doi andMasato Yoshino).
Since Marvin was well versed inLucha libre, he often teamed with or facedluchadors from Mexico who toured with Noah. In August 2008, Marvin often teamed withLaredo Kid andEl Oriental as they wrestled againstHisteria, Antifaz, and Rocky Romero, all representing the MexicanLucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) promotion.[14] On September 3, 2007, Marvin was part of the main event of a joint AAA/Noah show calledTripleSEM. He teamed with Mushiking Terry andNaomichi Marufuji to wrestle againstLos Hell Brothers (Cibernético,Charly Manson, andChessman) in a match that ended in a no-contest due to outside interference.[15] In 2009, Marvin began teaming regularly withTaiji Ishimori, setting his sights on the junior tag team title for a second time. In early 2010, the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship was vacated when Kotaro Suzuki suffered a knee injury. Ishimori and Marvin teamed up for a tournament to determine the next champions. They defeatedBobby Fish andEddie Edwards in the first round andGenba Hirayanagi and Yoshinbou Kanemaru in the finals to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[16] On August 22, Marvin and Ishimori lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling representativesKoji Kanemoto andTiger Mask.[17] In July 2011, Marvin reunited with his brotherRocky Marvin to take part in the2011 Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League. After one victory and three losses, the team finished last in their block of the tournament.[18] On October 16, 2011, Marvin defeated Satoshi Kajiwara to win the vacantGHC Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Immediately after the match, Marvin vacated the title, declaring that he wanted to earn it by defeatingKatsuhiko Nakajima, who had been forced to vacate the title due to injury and whom Marvin considered the real champion. Nakajima returned on November 27 and defeated Marvin for the vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. On July 22, 2012, Marvin andSuper Crazy, known asLos Mexitosos, defeatedAtsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Genba Hirayanagi andMaybach Taniguchi, Jr. on March 10, 2013.[19] In July 2013,Los Mexitosos entered in theNTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League for the vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The team won three of their four matches but did not advance to the finals.[20]
Marvin, working as the masked Bengala persona, returned to Noah on July 18, 2015, entering the2015 Global Junior Heavyweight League.[21] He finished the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.[22]
Two weeks afterTripleSEM, Marvin traveled to Mexico to team withLatin Lover andLa Parka, defeating theLa Legión Extranjera team of Abismo Negro,Ron Killings,Kenzo Suzuki andX-Pac in one of the featured matches on the 2007Verano de Escandalo event.[23] Marvin made a further appearance in AAA on June 13, 2008, wrestling atTriplemanía XVI as part of the Mexican Powers, alongsideCrazy Boy andÚltimo Gladiador, as they defeatedLa Legión Extranjera (Bryan Danielson,Jack Evans, andTeddy Hart) andLa Familia de Tijuana (Extreme Tiger,Halloween, and T.J. Xtreme) in athree-way tag team elimination match,[24] On April 15, 2013, Marvin returned to AAA, joiningLos Perros del Mal.[25]
On May 2, 2014, Marvin returned to AAA, working under a mask as thetecnico character "Bengala", with no public acknowledgement that it was Ricky Marvin under the mask. He won his first match as Bengala when he pinnedLos Perros del Mal leaderEl Hijo del Perro Aguayo in a six-man tag team main event.[1][26] On June 7 atVerano de Escándalo, Bengala won an eight-way match to advance to the finals of a tournament to determine the number one contender to theAAA Cruiserweight Championship.[27] Bengala received his title shot with eight other challengers on August 17 atTriplemanía XXII, but failed to capture the title.[28] During this period, he also appeared on thefirst andsecond seasons ofLucha Underground but did not have a featured role on the show. In 2016, the Bengala gimmick was taken over bySuper Nova, while Fuentes began working as Ricky Marvin once more.[29]
Marvin was teamed up withAverno and Chessman, forming a new trio calledLos OGT.[30]Los OGT won theAAA World Trios Championship on November 4, 2016, as they defeatedLos Xinetes ("The Horsemen";El Zorro,Dark Cuervo andDark Scoria).[31] They lost the title toEl Apache,Faby Apache andMary Apache on March 5, 2017, when Marvin was defeated by Faby in a singles match.[32] On October 30, 2017, Marvin left AAA.
After leaving AAA, Ricky Marvin continued competing on the independent circuit across Mexico and internationally. On 25 March 2018, he headlined the IWRG *Cabellera vs. Cabellera* ("hair vs hair") event in Naucalpan, defeating Dr. Cerebro in a high-stakes bet match that resulted in Cerebro being shaved bald.[33]
As of mid-2025, Marvin remains active in the independent lucha libre scene.[34]
Ricardo Fuentes is a second-generation wrestler; his father, Ricardo Fuentes, worked under the ring name "Aries" for many years and had a hand in training Fuentes.[35] His brother, Rolando Fuentes Romero, is also a wrestler; he originally worked as theMini-Estrella Rocky Marvin, playing off family connection between them, but currently wrestles as Mini Histeria for AAA.[35]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Super Cacao (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | May 28, 2000 | [a] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | El Fiero (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | May 30, 2000 | [42] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | El Koreano (hair) | Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico State | Live event | October 15, 2000 | [42] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Américo Rocca (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | May 27, 2001 | [43] |
| Tony Rivera and Ricky Marvin (hair) | El Diablo and Bestia Negra I (hair) | Cuernavaca, Morelos | Live event | August 2001 | [43] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | El Hijo del Gladiador (hair) | Mexico City | Live event | October 14, 2001 | [43] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Tony Tijuana (hair) | Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico State | Live event | May 19, 2002 | [43] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Zumbido (hair) | Mexico City | CMLL show | February 14, 2003 | [b] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Gran Bardo (hair) | Acapulco, Guerrero | Live event | November 19, 2003 | [44] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Inazuma Nihon (hair) | Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes | Live event | August 5, 2004 | [45] |
| Tiger Emperor (mask) | Ricky Marvin (hair) | Tokyo, Japan | Encountering Navigation | April 2, 2005 | [46] |
| Ricky Marvin (hair) | Dr. Cerebro (hair) | Naucalpan, State of Mexico | Cabellera vs. Cabellera | March 25, 2018 | [47] |