| Primo and Epico | |
|---|---|
 Eddie (right) and Orlando (left) in 2016 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Eddie Colón Orlando Colón |
| Name(s) | Los Matadores Primo and Epico The Shining Stars The Colóns The Colon Dynasty |
| Billed heights | Primo: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] Epico: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] |
| Combined billed weight | 440 lb (200 kg)[2][1] |
| Billed from | Plaza de Toros San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Former member(s) | A.W. (manager) El Torito (mascot) La Vaquita (mascot) Rosa Mendes (valet) |
| Debut | November 11, 2011[3] |
| Years active | 2011–present |
Eddie andOrlando Colón are a Puerto Rican professional wrestlingtag team currently performing for theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA).The team, composed ofreal-life cousins, are formerWWE Tag Team Champions
They previously competed as Primo and Epico inWWE from 2011 to 2013. They also formerly performed as Diego and Fernando, respectively, of Los Matadores from 2013 to 2015, and were billed as The Shining Stars from 2016 to 2017 before assuming their current tag team name of The Colóns.
On the November 4, 2011, episode ofSmackDown, Epico debuted on the main roster as aheel and realigned withHunico, his former partner from when both were masked inFCW.[4] On the November 11 episode ofSmackdown, Primo, Epico's real-life cousin,[5] was in the corner of Epico when he teamed with Hunico in a winning effort againstThe Usos.[3] On the November 17 episode ofSuperstars, Primo and Epico beat the Usos.[6] On the December 1 episode ofSuperstars,Rosa Mendes aligned herself with the group as their valet, as they were quietly disassociated from Hunico.[7]
Primo and Epico then began a feud with WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom, beating bothEvan Bourne andKofi Kingston in singles matches,[8] followed by two victories for Primo and Epico against Air Boom during non-title tag team matches on December 13 atWWE Tribute to the Troops[9] and the December 15Superstars.[10] This earned Primo and Epico a shot at the titles atTLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, but were unsuccessful.[11] Primo and Epico's feud with Air Boom continued with Air Boom triumphant in singles matches,[12][13] while Primo and Epico obtained yet another victory in a non-title tag match.[14]
At aRawlive event on January 15, 2012, Primo and Epico defeated Air Boom to win theWWE Tag Team Championship.[15] The following night onRaw, Primo and Epico successfully defended their titles in a rematch.[16] Primo and Epico would go on to earn victories in non-title matches, defeating various teams such asJim Duggan andSantino Marella,Mason Ryan andAlex Riley and The Usos; however, Primo and Epico would suffer non-title losses against the team of Kofi Kingston andR-Truth.[17] On the February 27 edition ofRaw, Primo and Epico successfully defended their titles in a Triple Threat tag team match against the teams of Kingston and R-Truth &Dolph Ziggler andJack Swagger.[18] In the pre-show ofWrestleMania XXVIII, Primo and Epico successfully defended their titles in a triple threat tag team match against the Usos andJustin Gabriel &Tyson Kidd.[19] After WrestleMania, Primo and Epico suffered non-title losses to the teams ofBig Show &The Great Khali andSantino Marella &Zack Ryder. Also,A.W. began offering his managerial services to the team, pointing out that the tag champions had been treated like jokes, being left off WrestleMania and Extreme Rules.[20] At the April 30Raw, Primo and Epico lost the tag titles to Kingston & R-Truth.[21]
After losing the titles, Primo, Epico and Mendes joined A.W.'s talent agency in May.[22] However, after joining "All World Promotions", Primo and Epico would not wrestle on television until theNo Way Out pay-per-view on 17 June. At No Way Out, it was revealed that Primo and Epico's 30-dayrematch clause for the tag titles had expired, and that the duo had to compete in a four-way match against the teams of Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd, the Usos andThe Prime Time Players (Darren Young andTitus O'Neil) to earn another title shot. During the match, A. W. betrayed Primo and Epico, directly costing them the match and aligning with the match winners, the Prime Time Players.[23] At the followingRaw, Primo and Epico defeated the Players by count-out after O'Neil and Young walked out of the match.[24] Primo and Epico would wrestle asbabyfaces for their feud against the Prime Time Players.[25] The tag teams would continue their feud onSuperstars with Epico losing to Young and Primo beating both O'Neil and Young in singles matches.[26][27] AtMoney in the Bank, Primo and Epico defeated the Prime Time Players.[28] On the August 10SmackDown, Primo and Epico faced the Players in a #1 contender match and were disqualified when champions Kingston & Truth attacked the Players; A.W. was released from WWEbetween that episode's taping and airing.[29]
After Primo and Epico ended their feud with the Prime Time Players in August, they reverted to beingheels during a victory over the Usos.[30] Primo and Epico then went on to lose every televised match for the rest of 2012, with losses to Kingston & Truth, the Players,Rey Mysterio &Sin Cara, Team Co-Bro (Santino Marella & Zack Ryder), Team Rhodes Scholars, The Usos and to bothRyback andThe Great Khali in handicap matches.[31] At theSurvivor Series pay-per-view, Primo and Epico took part in a10 man elimination tag team match, but were eliminated by Rey Mysterio andTyson Kidd.[32] By the firstSmackDown of 2013, Primo was on a 20 match losing streak, and Epico was at 17.[33] On the January 9NXT episode, Primo and Epico broke their losing streaks with a win overBo Dallas andMichael McGillicutty, their first win in months.[34] However, Dallas and McGillicutty gained revenge by defeating Primo and Epico in the first round of theNXT Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champions.[35]
In August 2013, WWE hyped the debut of "Los Matadores",[36] and on the September 30 episode ofRaw, Primo and Epico debuted new characters, as Diego and Fernando of Los Matadores, aface team of two masked Spanishbullfighters withEl Torito as mascot as they defeated 3MB.[37][38] Primo and Epico adopted theirring names fromDiego Columbus andFerdinand Columbus, the real life sons ofChristopher Columbus (In Spanish, Cristobal Colón, Los Matadores' real last name).[39] It was the start of a winning streak that featured nine wins over 3MB (Heath Slater,Drew McIntyre andJinder Mahal, with El Torito wrestling in some matches), and also over the Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro andJack Swagger) atHell in a Cell.[40] Also, El Torito was able to interfere in matches without incurring a disqualification for Los Matadores.[41][42] Los Matadores' winning streak was finally snapped on the January 24 episode ofSmackDown in 2014, courtesy of RybAxel (Ryback andCurtis Axel).[40]
On the March 5 episode ofMain Event, Los Matadores received a tag team championship match against The Usos in which they were defeated. They also made an appearance as Primo and Epico alongsideCarlito to inductCarlos Colón into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014. At theWrestleMania XXX pre-show, they received a WWE Tag Team Championship shot against The Usos, RybAxel and The Real Americans, in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Tag Team match, but lost after being the first team eliminated when Fernando submitted to Jack Swagger's Patriot Lock. On the June 23, WWE.com reported that Fernando was injured at a live event that past weekend. Despite this, Diego and El Torito would then start a short feud withFandango.
After 3MB broke up, their former mascotHornswoggle joined Los Matadores as "La Vaquita", a midget cow mascot accompanying Torito's bull on the August 19 edition ofMain Event. Fernando made his return as well in a losing effort to Slater-Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil).[43] At theWrestleMania 31 pre-show, Los Matadores competed in the Fatal Four Way tag team match, but they failed to win the titles. AtElimination Chamber, Los Matadores participated in the first-everWWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber, but failed and got eliminated first byThe Ascension. AtSummerSlam, Los Matadores competed in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a losing effort when they were pinned byThe New Day. On September 7, 2015 episode ofRaw after losing to TheDudley Boyz, Los Matadores turnedheel when Diego attacked El Torito after the match, however he was then put through a table by the Dudley Boyz. They were last seen onMain Event that week, minus El Torito, where they lost to The Prime Time Players.
From April to May 2016, several videos aired onRaw promoting the return of Primo and Epico, who revived their Puerto Rican gimmick under the new nameThe Shining Stars.[44] They were presented as arrogant heels, urging viewers to come to Puerto Rico, calling it the "Shining Star of the Caribbean."[45] On the May 16 episode ofRaw, The Shining Stars debuted by defeating a local tag team in a squash match.[46] On the July 25 episode ofRaw, the team returned to television where they were defeated byEnzo and Cass. On the September 5 episode ofRaw, The Shining Stars defeated Enzo and Cass. The week after, Epico, accompanied by Primo defeatedEnzo Amore, who was accompanied byBig Cass.[47] They then began showing tendencies ofcon men, trying to persuade various superstars to purchasetimeshares to their Puerto Rican resort. This led to an alliance with Titus O'Neil, who was looking to cross-promote with them for his new "Titus Brand." The trio would enter a feud with The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) andMark Henry.[48] On the November 7 edition ofRaw, after R-Truth sold The Golden Truth'sSurvivor Series spot for a stay at atimeshare to The Shining Stars, both teams competed to qualify for the10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match, which Primo and Epico won.[49][50] On February 6, The New Day defeated The Shining Stars. On the February 27 edition ofRaw,Big Show defeated The Shining Stars in a 2-on-1 handicap match. The Shining Stars were later defeated by The New Day on March 6. The Shining Stars were confirmed to enter the 2017 André the Giant Memorial battle royal atWrestleMania 33, however neither one of them were successful in winning.
On April 11, leaving the Shining Stars moniker behind for a new look,The Colóns, as they were now billed, debuted onSmackDown Live during theSuperstar Shake-up, when they attackedAmerican Alpha following their loss toThe Usos. On April 18, The Colóns defeated American Alpha.[51][52] On April 25, The Colóns were defeated by American Alpha in a "Beat The Clock" Challenge. On June 18, The Colóns were defeated by The Hype Bros in aMoney in the Bank Kickoff match. In June, Primo suffered a knee injury, putting the team on a temporary hiatus. The team returned in November, two nights afterSurvivor Series, where they were among the many lumberjacks in The New Day's match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. On the August 28, 2018 episode ofSmackDown Live, The Colóns returned in a triple threat match involvingThe Bar &Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, with a victory for The Bar.
During the pre-show of 2018's Survivor Series, Primo and Epico won the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match as part of Team SmackDown's tag teams[53] Their most recent WWE match was a January 2019 dark match. Since then they have been wrestling inWorld Wrestling Council, helping their father/uncle with a rebranding of the promotion.[54]
On April 15, 2020, The Colóns were officially released from their WWE contracts due to budget cuts stemming from theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The Colóns made a surprise appearance onTNA iMPACT! on February 20, 2025, interruptingJoe Hendry's performance. The Colóns were then interrupted by a debuting Elijah and this led to a match between both teams in which Hendry and Elijah came out as victorious.
Now Primo and Epico are babyfaces, and they lost their title shot that they're entitled to, shouldn't Kingston and Truth offer them a re-match. It seems, to me, to be the honorable thing to do.
