| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ricardo Santana Ortiz (1958-11-21)November 21, 1958 (age 66)[2] New York City, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ricky Santana Aldo Marino The Hood The Iceman Especialista I Ricky Barrio[1] Rey Fénix |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg; 16.8 st) |
| Debut | 1982[1] |
| Retired | 2003 |
Ricardo Santana Ortiz (born November 21, 1958),[2] better known asRicky Santana, is an American retiredprofessional wrestler of Cuban descent who has worked forWorld Championship Wrestling,World Wrestling Federation,World Wrestling Council and theNational Wrestling Alliance,All Japan,IWA Japan,Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre,AAA.
Santana debuted as a wrestler in 1980 after being trained at The Great Malenko wrestling school in south Florida.[1] In 1985, Santana worked for NWA Texas Allstar Wrestling in San Antonio in June 1985 won the Texas Allstar Tag Team Championship as the Hoods with Tony Torres defeatingShawn Michaels andPaul Diamond, known as the American Force. In March 1986, he began wrestling in NWAChampionship Wrestling from Florida, where he first metFidel Sierra, who would later become his Tag Team partner for many years. A short time later, he went on to Portland forPacific Northwest Wrestling. On October 4, 1986, he won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles withBrady Boone fromMike Miller and Abdudah Dein. He lost the titles back to them on November 10, 1986.[3] He then won the titles withCocoa Samoa, on January 7, 1987[1] but lost them to Miller and Rip Oliver in May 1987.[3] He won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title from Oliver in March 1987.[1]
After he moved to theWorld Wrestling Council, he won the Puerto Rican Heavyweight title from Super Black Ninja in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on August 6, 1988.[1][4] He lost it toBobby Jaggers in October,[4] but won it back on November 24, 1988.[1] Santana won theWWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Profe on January 14, 1989.[1] He lost it to Jonathon Holiday on April 2, 1989, in Caguas, Puerto Rico.[5] Returning to the NWA, he won the Pacific Northwest Television Championship from Al Madril in February 1990.[1] He also won the tag team titles four times with various partners between May 1990 and February 1991.[1]
In August 1991, Santana went to Japan forW*ING under the masked persona, the Iceman. After W*ING folded in 1994, he would use the Iceman gimmick in various Japanese promotions, includingIWA Japan andBig Japan Pro Wrestling.
Back in the WWC, he won the World Junior Heavyweight title fromMr. Pogo, on April 20, of either 1990[1] or 1991.[5] He claimed the championship again from Brad Anderson in May 1991, in Caguas, Puerto Rico.[5] Santana won theWWC Caribbean Tag Team Championships twice, both times withRay Gonzalez as the Latin Connection.[1][6] He then won the World Tag Team titles twice with Rex King, on December 25, 1991 and February 29, 1992. He reunited with Gonzalez to win the world titles twice, in February and April 1993. Ortiz won the WWC Television title fromSean Morley, in either 1994 or 1995.[1][7] He won the World Tag Team titles withFidel Sierra in 1995,[1] and the Television title from Sweet Brown Sugar in March 1996.[7] Santana and Gonzalez won the World Tag Team titles from Sean Morley andShane Sewell in May 1996, and Santana won them again with La Ley, in March 1997.[1][8] He won the WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Championship twice, in September and November 1997.[1][4] In March 1998, he won the World Tag Team titles again, this time with Shane Sewell.
In theCatch Wrestling Association, he won the World Tag Team Championship withBlack Navy Seal from Michael Kovac and Dirk Rotzek, on November 27, 1999.[1] Santana won theIWA World Tag Team Championship twice, in January and March 2000.[1] Between 2001 and 2003, Ortiz won the WWC World Tag Team titles three times, the Caribbean Heavyweight Championship twice, and the Television and Puerto Rican Heavyweight titles once each.[1]
Santana has also worked with the creative side as Head of creative for WWC Puerto Rico and IWA Puerto Rico on different occasions throughout the 1990s. Santana joinedWorld Championship Wrestling in October 1999 as aroad agent, leaving in June 2000 to take the same position in theWorld Wrestling Federation.[9] As a road agent, Santana made an on-screen appearance on the 13 September 2001 episode ofSmackdown!, the first mass gathering in theUnited States of America following theSeptember 11 attacks. In a prerecordedtalking head segment, Santana spoke about how the attacks had affected him. He would leave the WWF in December 2001.[10]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky Santana (hair) | El Texano (hair) | Mexico, City | CMLL 61st Anniversary Show | September 30, 1994 | [14] |
| Ricky Santana (hair) | El Texano (hair) | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | WWC show | August 1, 1998 | |
| Ricky Santana (hair) | Apolo Dantes (hair) | Mexico City | CMLL 65th Anniversary Show | September 18, 1998 | [15] |
| Emilio Charles, Jr. andMascara Año 2000 (hair) | Ricky Santana andEl Boricua (hair) | Mexico City | CMLL show | September 25, 1998 | |
| Carly Colón (hair) | Rey Fénix (mask) | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | WWC Crossfire 2013 | November 16, 2013 | [16] |
