Ricky Ortiz | |
|---|---|
 Ortiz in 2009 | |
| Born | Richard Young (1975-05-12)May 12, 1975 (age 49) Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Spouse | |
| Ring name(s) | Atlas DaBone[1] Atlas Ortiz[1][2] Rich Young Ricky Ortiz[3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 246 lb (112 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Paradise Valley, Arizona[3] |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling[1] Florida Championship Wrestling |
| Debut | 2006[1] |
| Retired | 2013 |
American football player American football career | |
| Career information | |
| College: | Tulsa |
| Position: | Linebacker |
| Undrafted: | 1998 |
| Career history | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Stats at ArenaFan.com | |
Richard Young[1] (born May 12, 1975)[1] is an American formerprofessional wrestler andfootball player. He is best known for his work withWWE performing under the ring nameRicky Ortiz.[3][4]
Young spent time in theXFL,Canadian Football League (CFL), andArena Football League (AFL).
Young spent two years atGlendale Community College inGlendale, Arizona. He then transferred to theUniversity of Tulsa and played for theTulsa Golden Hurricane. He was a two-yearletter winner. He played 22 career games and was credited with 177 tackles as alinebacker.[5]
After college, Young attendedminicamp with theKansas City Chiefs on a tryout basis.[6][7] In 1999, he went to theCanadian Football League (CFL) and played for theSaskatchewan Roughriders.[7] He spent the 2000 and 2001 seasons in theArena Football League with theMilwaukee Mustangs. In the AFL, Young played bothfullback andlinebacker. Following the AFL, Young joined the short-livedXFL with theOrlando Rage.[7] After the league folded, Young attempted to make theJacksonville Jaguars roster, but was waived during training camp. He rejoined the AFL, this time with theIndiana Firebirds, in 2002. He would spend the next two years in Indiana before joining theColorado Crush in 2004. In 2003, he led all AFL middle linebackers with 4.0 sacks.[5]
Young made his professional wrestling debut withOhio Valley Wrestling in late 2006 under thering name Atlas DaBone.[7] On January 12, 2008, DaBone became the number one contender to theOVW Heavyweight Championship after beating Mike Kruel in a best of 3 series.[8]
On July 1, 2008, Young made his WWE debut under the name Atlas Ortiz on theECWbrand, winning his first match againstArmando Estrada.[2] The next week onECW,Tazz andMike Adamle referred to him as "Ricky Ortiz".[7] He acknowledged the name change in an interview segment on the same show;Lena Yada called him Atlas and he responded by saying, "My friends call me Ricky". On the July 15 episode ofECW, he used the nickname, "The Latin Assassin". Ortiz defeatedChavo Guerrero bydisqualification on July 29.[9] The next week he beat Guerrero andBam Neely in a tag team match withEvan Bourne.[10]
Although enjoying a streak of 5–0, on October 7, Ortiz would team withKofi Kingston,CM Punk, and Evan Bourne againstJohn Morrison,The Miz,Cody Rhodes, andTed DiBiase in an 8-man tag match losing effort. After a distraction fromManu, Morrison would then perform aMoonlight Drive on Punk and pin him for the victory. This would be Young's first televised loss since debuting on ECW, although he was still undefeated in singles competition.[11] On the December 2 episode ofECW, he suffered his first pinfall loss at the hands ofJack Swagger, who was also undefeated at the time.[12]
On April 15, 2009, Ortiz was drafted to theSmackDown brand as part of the2009 Supplemental Draft.[13] On the May 15 episode ofSmackDown, Ortiz made his debut for the brand, losing toJeff Hardy.[14] His last match for WWE was the August 7 episode ofSmackDown, where he wassquashed byThe Great Khali.[7][15] He was released from his WWE contract on August 8, 2009.[4]
A week after his WWE release, on August 15, 2009, Young appeared at aWorld Wrestling Council show, using the name 'Ricky Ortiz' and challengingShane Sewell for theWWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship. He failed to win, and attacked Sewell after the match.[1] In early 2010, Ortiz appeared for the Combat Championship Wrestling promotion, wrestling againstShawn Spears andSinn Bodhi.[1] He then began competing for Florida-based promotions, including I Believe in Wrestling and WWA.[1] On January 14, 2011 Young appeared at Vintage Pro Wrestling's Wrestlebrawl 2 event withScott Hall, using theNWO Wolfpac theme for his entrance, to face Kennedy Kendrick. Despite originally winning the match, Young would lose when the referee reversed his decision and disqualified him due to refusing to release a hold.
In May 2011, it was revealed that Ortiz would take part in a new hiphop/pro wrestling collaboration, the Urban Wrestling Federation, with taping of the first event "First Blood" taking place on June 3.[16]
On December 28, 2013, Ortiz debuted inExtreme Rising, defeating Homicide. Subsequently, Ortiz would retire from professional wrestling, so that he could concentrate more on his personal life with fellow wrestler,Layla El.
Even though he is retired, Ortiz works as a producer for various independent promotions.
Young appeared on the November 25, 2008 episode ofCha$e as a hunter.[17] Young also appeared onScott Hall's web showLast Call with Scott Hall.
In July 2015, Young got engaged to English professional wrestlerLayla El,[18][19] and the two were married on November 27.[20][21]
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