 Dorado in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | José Rafael Cordero (1987-05-11)May 11, 1987 (age 38)[7] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Balam[1] Lince Dorado[2][3] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2][3] |
| Billed weight | 181 lb (82 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Camden, New Jersey San Juan, Puerto Rico Chihuahua, Juárez,Mexico[2][5] |
| Trained by | Mike Quackenbush[2][6][5] Chris Hero[2][6][5] Claudio Castagnoli[2][6] Skayde[6] El Pantera[6] |
| Debut | February 17, 2007[2][5] |
José Rafael Cordero (born May 11, 1987), better known by thering nameLince Dorado (Spanish for Golden Lynx),[7] is anAmericanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toWWE as a wrestler and a trainer at theWWE Performance Center.
Cordero began his career in 2007, working for several independent promotions in Puerto Rico and United States, most notably the Philadelphia-basedChikara, where he won the 2008 edition of the King of Trios, a tournament between trios along withEl Pantera andIncognito. He was formerly contacted by WWE in 2016 to be part of theCruiserweight Classic, a tournament between several cruiserweight wrestlers. He was eliminated in the second round, but WWE offered him a contract. He was paired with masked wrestlersKalisto andGran Metalik to form a stable calledLucha House Party.
Dorado began his training inMexico underEl Pantera until he made his way back to the United States in early 2007. On February 17, Dorado, Pantera andSicodelico, Jr. made theirChikara debuts as a part of Chikara's first-everKing of Trios tournament. The team made an impressive impact, as they advanced to the semi-finals before falling to the team ofMike Quackenbush and ShaneSaw (Shane Storm andJigsaw).[8] Shortly after the tournament, he moved to the U.S. and began residing in New Jersey in order to compete for Chikara in addition to various promotions in the area. Dorado quickly garnered fan support due to hishigh-flying wrestling style and he was soon entered into the first-everRey de Voladores tournament, which brought together some of the most talented high-flying wrestlers on theindependent circuit. Despite advancing to the finals, including an upset win over established Chikara wrestler Jigsaw, Dorado lost the tournamentChuck Taylor.[9] At the Anniversario weekend,[10] Dorado began his first feud in Chikara against the returning "Marvelous" Mitch Ryder, which stemmed from Ryder's "patriotic" dislike of "the illegal immigrant Mexicans", which he claimed Dorado to be a part of. During the course of the feud, Dorado scored a major upset victory overChris Hero via submission with theChikara Special. The feud culminated when Dorado defeated Ryder in November in ahair vs. mask match. However, their match gained some notoriety after Dorado suffered a seizure and severe concussion after he over-rotated ashooting star senton in the finish of the match that resulted in his head hitting the mat. Post-match, Dorado began suffering a seizure and was tended to by Chikara's founder Mike Quackenbush andDaizee Haze before he was unmasked (though a towel was placed over the top half of his face in order to conceal his identity) and subsequently taken away from the arena in an ambulance.[11] In December, Dorado was released from the hospital and returned to Chikara that same month, where he distracted Ryder during his match withTim Donst, allowing Donst to score an upset victory.[12]
Dorado would return to the ring in January, teaming withClaudio Castagnoli andOphidian to defeat Mike Quackenbush, Tim Donst andAmasis in a Trios Increibles match.[13] During the match, Dorado utilized a more grounded style of wrestling instead of his usual high flying style. Dorado then entered the King of Trios tournament, where he rejoined El Pantera and aligned with luchador Incognito to form Los Luchadores de Mexico. The team would go on to win the tournament, lastly defeatingThe BLKOUT (Eddie Kingston,Ruckus andJoker) after Dorado made Kingston submit with the Chikara Special.[14] Following the tournament, Kingston was not seen for a couple of months afterwards. When Kingston returned, he immediately targeted Dorado and defeated him several times but was repeatedly unsuccessful in keeping him down, driving Kingston to the point of total insanity. Aside from his feud with Kingston, Dorado joined former enemyJimmy Olsen (who, at the time, began competing as both himself and as the second Equinox) andHelios to form The Future is Now in order to feud with The UnStable (Vin Gerard (the first Equinox), STIGMA andColin Delaney). In late 2008, Olsen (as Equinox) and Dorado won the first-everLa Lotería Letal and were thus granted the three points required to compete for theCampeonatos de Parejas. Olsen (as Equinox) and Dorado, challenged the championsThe Osirian Portal at Chikara's "Armdrags to Riches" event on November 16, 2008, in atwo out of three falls match. Although Dorado gained the firstpinfall, the Portal ultimately retained the title after pinning Dorado and then Equinox.[15] On November 22, 2009, at the season eight finaleThree-Fisted Tales Dorado challengedPlayer Dos for theYoung Lions Cup, but was defeated after DosGerman suplexed him on the ring steps. After the match Dorado was carried backstage by Equinox and Helios in a scene reminiscent of the events of two years prior.[16]
On January 31, 2010, at the season nine premiere Dorado and Equinox were scheduled to be a part ofMike Quackenbush's team that was to battle therudo stableBruderschaft des Kreuzes (BDK). However, during the eight man tag team match Dorado turned on Equinox and joined BDK, who won the match, whenClaudio Castagnoli pinned Dorado's replacement in Quackenbush's team,Eddie Kingston.[17] Afterwards Dorado explained his turn by claiming that the Chikara audience never accepted him, despite his superior athleticism and his two serious injuries suffered inside the Chikara ring.[18] On March 20 atWit, Verve, and a Bit o' Nerve, Dorado, now sporting a new white and BDK-themed attire, defeated his former tag team partner Equinox in a singles match.[19] On August 28, 2010, Dorado first defeated Gregory Iron in a singles match and thenAdam Cole, Cameron Skyy,Keita Yano,Obariyon and Ophidian in a six-way elimination match to make it to the finals of the eighth annual Young Lions Cup tournament.[20] The following day Dorado was defeated in the finals byFrightmare.[21] In October 2010 Dorado made his first tour of Japan withOsaka Pro Wrestling.[22] Dorado was advertised to take part in Chikara's shows on March 12 and 13, 2011, but ended up not appearing at the shows. Following the weekend, Dorado's profile was quietly removed from Chikara's website, confirming his departure from the promotion.
After making his Chikara debut, Dorado wrestled for many different promotions sporadically during his tenure with Chikara. In May 2008, Dorado would win the Independent Wrestling Revolution Revolucha Cup after defeating Josh Abercrombie in a two out of three falls final. Dorado made his debut forDragon Gate USA at Open the Heroic Gate in adark match where he defeated seven other wrestlers. On October 9, 2009, Dorado won the Sweet Sixteen Tournament at F1RST Wrestling, defeating three other men in the final. A month later he took part in theOpen the Freedom Gate Championship tournament, losing toGran Akuma in the first round. Dorado kicked of 2010 by losing to Rich Swann in a match for the vacant Real Championship Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship. On March 26, Dorado won the Garden State Pro Wrestling Championship by winning a tournament for the vacant title. In May, Dorado lost toShiima Xion in the first round of the Super Indy IX for International Wrestling Cartel. Two months later, he would lose to Xion again but this time it was for the IWC Super Indy Championship. Dorado won the F1 Heritage Championship after winning a war games match, later vacating it after an 84-day reign. In December, Dorado debuted forFull Impact Pro, losing toCraig Classic in the first round of theJeff Peterson Memorial Cup.
After leaving Chikara, Dorado would primarily wrestle for Vintage Wrestling, I Believe in Wrestling, Florida Underground Wrestling, IGNITE Wrestling and to a lesser extent Dragon Gate USA and its affiliates. Lince Dorado also started working for Dreamwave Wrestling in 2013. On March 14, 2014, Dorado defeated Gran Akuma atFull Impact Pro's Everything Burns and won theFIP Florida Heritage Championship.
On October 4, 2012, Dorado wrestled a tryoutdark match forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), facingKazarian.[23] On January 12, 2013, Dorado took part in the taping ofX-Travaganza (aired on April 5, 2013), wrestling in a seven-manXscape match, which was won byChristian York.[24]
On April 3, 2016, Dorado was announced as a participant inWWE'sCruiserweight Classic tournament.[25] The tournament began on June 23 with Dorado defeatingMustafa Ali in his first round match.[26] On July 14, Dorado was eliminated from the tournament byRich Swann in his second round match.[27] On July 22, it was reported that Dorado had signed a contract with WWE.[28]
On September 16, Dorado was announced as part ofRaw's cruiserweight division.[29][30] Dorado made his debut on the September 21 episode ofMain Event, losing to Rich Swann.[31] On the September 26 episode ofRaw, Dorado made his Raw debut, teaming withDrew Gulak in a losing effort toCedric Alexander and Rich Swann.[32] On October 30 at theHell in a Cell, Dorado teamed with Cedric Alexander andSin Cara to defeatAriya Daivari,Drew Gulak, andTony Nese. On December 13, Dorado made his205 Live debut, wrestling Mustafa Ali to a double countout. On the June 26, 2017 episode ofRaw, Dorado unsuccessfully challengedCruiserweight ChampionNeville.[33] The following week, on the July 4 episode of205 Live, Dorado once again lost to Neville.[34]
In early 2018, Cordero pitched the idea of Lucha House Party, a trio of luchadores with Mexican stereotypes,[35] so WWE decided to band together Dorado,Kalisto, andGran Metalik.[36] As part of their gimmick, the luchadors started to carry brightly colorednoise makers andvuvuzela horns with them, using them to celebrate after a victory. They also carried a brightly coloredPiñata donkey with them to the ring, which they referred to as "Penelope".[37] Their first match as a full trio took place on January 23, 2018, episode of205 Live, as they defeated Ariya Daivari,TJP, andTony Nese.[38] At theRoyal Rumble, Lucha House Party defeated TJP,Drew Gulak, andGentleman Jack Gallagher.[39] The following week, WWE held a tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship, where Dorado was eliminated in the opening round by his stable partner, Kalisto.[40]
On the November 12 episode ofRaw, Lucha House Party competed against a number of non-Cruiserweight teams for the first time since WWE put them together, as they competed in a battle royal against Raw tag teams such asBobby Roode andChad Gable, The B-Team (Bo Dallas andCurtis Axel),Heath Slater andRhyno,The Ascension (Konnor andViktor), andThe Revival (Dash Wilder andScott Dawson).[41] At theSurvivor Series, Lucha House Party was part of Team Raw in a five on five team elimination match, that was won by Team SmackDown.[42] In subsequent weeks, Lucha House Party was part of a storyline with The Revival, where the latter claimed to be "tag team purists" and as such objected to Lucha House Party being allowed to compete as a tag team when there was three of them. In the following weeks, Lucha House Party defeated The Revival in various three-on-two, or three-on-one matches billed as "Lucha House Rules" matches as part of the storyline.[43][44] On the February 4, 2019 episode ofRaw, The Revival finally defeated Lucha House Party as part of a fatal four-way match to earn a match for theWWE Raw Tag Team Championship at a later date.[45] In June, Lucha House Party began a feud withLars Sullivan, with the trio losing to Sullivan via disqualification in a three-on-one handicap match atSuper ShowDown.[46] The following night onRaw, Lucha House Party was again defeated by Sullivan, this time in a three-on-one handicap elimination match.[47] On October 11, Lucha House Party was drafted to theSmackDownbrand as part of the2019 WWE Draft.[48]
As part of the2020 Draft in October, both Dorado and Metalik were drafted to theRaw brand, splitting them from Kalisto, who remained on the SmackDown brand.[49] Dorado and Metalik appeared on NXT in 2021 to take part in the 2021Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. They eliminatedImperium in the first round, but were eliminated in the second round byLegado del Fantasma. On November 4, Dorado, along with Metalik were released from their WWE contracts.[50]
On May 5, 2022, Dorado made hisMajor League Wrestling debut losing toReal1. On October 30, atFightland, Dorado defeatedShun Skywalker to win theMLW World Middleweight Championship.On January 7 ,2023 at Blood and Thunder, Lince defended the title successfully againstDragon Gate's La Estrella.On February 4 at Superfight, Lince successfully defended the title againstDelirious.On April 6 at War Chamber,Lince lost the title to Akira in a Triple Threat match involvingLio Rush.
Cordero made his debut with Former Stablemate Gran Metalik on NJPW Strong.
On March 20, 2023, Dorado was revealed as the challenger toTrey Miguel’sX Division Championship atSacrifice. At the event, Dorado failed to win the title.
On October 4, 2023, Dorado made hisAll Elite Wrestling debut in a four-way match for the number one contendership of theROH World Championship againstKomander,Johnny TV andPenta El Zero Miedo; the match would be won by Komander.[Note 1][51] He would wrestle for the company again on October 25, 2023, teaming in a dark match withBrandon Cutler andColt Cabana in a losing effort to "QTV" (Aaron Solo, Johnny TV andQT Marshall).[52]
On January 17, 2025 Dorado returned at an NXTlive event defeating Josh Black.[53][54] He later revealed that he was signed in February as a wrestler and a trainer at theWWE Performance Center.[55] Dorado made his WWE televised return on the May 28 episode ofEvolve, where he lost a triple threat match qualifier for the fatal four-way elimination match to crown the inauguralEvolve Champion.[56] On June 7 atWorlds Collide, Dorado teamed withLWO membersCruz Del Toro andDragon Lee (and replacing the injuredJoaquin Wilde) in a losing effort againstOctagón Jr.,Aero Star andMr. Iguana in a six-man tag team match.[57]
Lince Dorado made hisvideo game debut as a playable character inWWE 2K19 and has since appeared inWWE 2K20[58] andWWE 2K22.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lince Dorado (mask) | Mitch Ryder (hair) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Chapter 11 | November 18, 2007 | |
| Lince Dorado (title) | Aiden Altair (mask) | Orlando, Florida | Live event | April 7, 2012 | [Note 2] |
| Lince Dorado (mask) | Chasyn Rance (hair) | Orlando, Florida | With Malice | October 12, 2013 | [81] |
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database