.jpg) Rinauro in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Salvatore Rinauro (1982-09-12)September 12, 1982 (age 43)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Chico Loco[1] Kid Xtasy[1] Mellow[1] Sal Del Rio[1] Sal Rinauro Sal the Pizza Boy Sal Vation[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (84 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Los Angeles, California[1] |
| Trained by | John Phoenix |
| Debut | 2000[1] |
Salvatore Rinauro[1] (born September 12, 1982)[1] is an Americanprofessional wrestler, performing for theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his work inRing of Honor,Full Impact Pro andNational Wrestling Alliance in addition to being a member ofThe Embassy. He also makes appearances on theindependent circuit.[2]
After honing his skills atNWA Wildside as well as winning the promotion'sJunior Heavyweight Championship, Rinauro debuted under the name "Mellow" as a member of Special K inRing of Honor. After beating Antonio Blanca earlier in the show, Rinauro (now using his real name) competed for and won a Ring of Honor Contract by defeating Steve Madison,Claudio Castagnoli, and Jerrelle Clark at Do or Die 5 on August 20, 2005.[3] Rinauro, along withTony Mamaluke, won theROH World Tag Team Championship at the show Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005, by defeatingB. J. Whitmer andJimmy Jacobs.[4][5] During their reign, they successfully defended against teams such as Whitmer and Jacobs,Homicide andRicky Reyes, andColt Cabana andMilano Collection A.T.[6][7][8] They lost the title toAustin Aries andRoderick Strong ofGeneration Next at Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005.[4][9] Rinauro also appeared atTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling'sSlammiversary event in 2005, as a fan who was attacked byJeff Jarrett before theKing of the Mountain match, causing Jarrett to be (storyline) arrested.
After losing the title, Rinauro competed in the 2006 Trios Tournament atTag Wars 2006 with Tony Mamaluke and Jay Fury, competing against the likes ofThe Briscoe Brothers.[10] In 2006, Rinauro's partner Tony Mamaluke signed withWorld Wrestling Entertainment to be a part of the newECWbrand, leaving Rinauro to start a singles career once more. At Death Before Dishonor IV, it was revealed that Rinauro was the newest member ofThe Embassy.[11] That night, he teamed with fellow Embassy memberJimmy Rave and they successfully defeatedColt Cabana andJay Lethal.[11]
The two continued teaming for a few months, but after the Embassy disbanded, the team suffered a roadblock. On October 28, 2006, Rave split the team up. Since then, Rinauro makes occasional appearances in ROH.
Rinauro also worked for ROH's sister promotionFull Impact Pro. He achieved tag team success in FIP after winning theTag Team Championship once withSpanky by defeatingJimmy Rave and "Fast" Eddie Vegas on August 6, 2005.[12] After a singular title defense against Rave and his new tag partnerJay Lethal on September 2, they lost the title to The Heartbreak Express that same night.[12] He also won theFlorida Heritage Championship by defeatingErick Stevens on November 9, 2007.[13] After successful title defenses againstTyler Black,Delirious, andJoey Ryan, he dropped the title to Chris Jones on October 11, 2008.[13]
On July 26, 2007, Rinauro and Caleb Konley defeated Simon Sermon and "Pretty Boy" Floyd to win the vacantTag Team Championship. Rinauro and Konely would end up being the final DSW Tag Team Champions after DSW closed down on October 11, 2007.
Currently, Rinauro can be found wrestling throughout the Georgia independent circuit, including Rampage Pro Wrestling, Great Championship Wrestling, NWA Anarchy, Independent Wrestling Network and Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling.
He appeared as an enhancement talent on the November 18, 2008 edition ofECW where he was defeated by the debutingDJ Gabriel.
In October 2009, Rinauro wrestled on two shows forChikara, being defeated byMike Quackenbush andClaudio Castagnoli.
Sal Rinauro made a volunteer appearance for Great Championship Wrestling in Phenix City on February 12, 2009, as part of the Miracle of Maegan event to benefit Maegan Johnson, a local girl who suffered a brain trama just several weeks prior. Rinauro teamed with another volunteer, Austin "Consequences" Creed as part of the Road to Goad Tournament, defeating John Bogie & Kareem Abdul Jamar (now Chikara's Sugar Dunkerton) before falling to the Southside Trash.
Rinauro became a permanent fixture in Great Championship Wrestling based on his initial appearance, and now wrestles weekly for the promotion. Currently the GCW Interstate Champion, Rinauro has embroiled in several feuds, with "Suicidal All Star" Mike Kross, "The Urban Legend" Murder One, and former Embassy associate and tag team partner in ROH, Jimmy Rave. Recently GCW secured a television deal to broadcast on cable 24 in Atlanta Georgia; the Pilot broadcast featured the main event of Sal Rinauro vs. Murder One, and the second broadcast featured a main event of him vs. Mike Kross.
Rinauro also wrestles for RAMPAGE Pro Wrestling, a promotion based out of Warner Robins Georgia. He has held the RPW Intercontinental Championship, continued his feud with Jimmy Rave, and also has had several outstanding matches with Austin "Consequences" Creed, who also appears as a regular of the promotion. He has also held the RPW heavy-weight and cruiserweight titles. In summer 2010 Rinauro was named Commissioner of RPW after Nick Patrick left. Rinauro was involved in the 4-corners match to crown the 1st ever RPW T.V. champion where he was unsuccessful. Rinauro faced heavy-weight champion Shaun Banks at Sizzlin Summer Bash 2 where he was unsuccessful. He joined the feud between Jimmy Rave & Kyle Matthews in a non-wrestling role until he resigned in December. On December 18 Rinauro returned as GM to team with Matthews, Drew Adler, Michael Stevens, & Adrian Hawkins against Jimmy Rave, Chip Day, Corey Hollis, Mike Posey, & Jeremy Vain where he was eventually eliminated although his team was victorious. Rinauro participated in a few matches over the next few weeks. On April 2 he challenged Jeremy Vain for the NWA RPW T.V. title where he was unsuccessful. On May 1 Rinauro was the special enforcer in the cage match between Rave & Matthews. Rinauro turned heel joining Rave and costing Matthews the match. On May 15 Rinauro teamed with Vain in a semi-final match in the NWA RPW tag team title tournament against Frankie Valentine and Matthews where they were unsuccessful. Earlier in the night Rinauro teamed with Hollis, Day, & Rave in a losing effort against the NWA RPW tag team champions the Usual Suspects & the NWA world tag team champions the Dark City Fight Club. On May 29 Rinauro faced off against his old rival J-Rod in a losing effort.
Sal is currently working on his self-proclaimed auto biography. " It's hard being a Salifornia kid". The book should be available everywhere books are sold September 23, 2016. He will be signing books the day of release in Daytona Beach, where he currently resides. Sal Rinauro made his last appearance forNWA on January 21, 2020, now he is working forWrestleMerica andAnarchy Wrestling.
In 2011, Roundtable Creations released The Wrestling Road Diaries, a wrestling documentary that features Sal,Colt Cabana andBryan Danielson. The film was shot over a period of 10 days in September 2009, and follows the wrestlers as they travel from show to show. It also shows them performing for various wrestling companies and training aspiring wrestlers. (Wrestling Road Diaries. Dir. Eric Santamaria. Perf. Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Sal Rinauro. DVD. Roundtable Creations, 2011.)
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sal Rinauro (hair) vs. Gaagz the Gymp (mask) (DRAW) | Tampa, FL | NWA Powerrr | March 7, 2023 | ||
| Gaagz the Gymp (mask) | Sal Rinauro (hair) | Highland Park, Illinois | NWA 312 | April 7, 2023 | [21] |
,Internet Wrestling Database