Rico Casanova

About me:

I was born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico. I played basketball and ran track in High School. I joined the Army at the age of 17. I served in combat during Operation Desert Storm from Jan to June of 1991. I made the rank of Sgt during the war, just before my 23d birthday. After the war, I went to the NCO Academy ( A School for Sergeants)where I was the Distinguished Graduate. In 1992, while stationed in Virginia, I went to the Monster Factory in Glen Burnie, Maryland. I was trained by Duane Gill (WWE's Gillberg) and Axl Rotten. I left the Army in late 1992, dedicating myself fulltime to wrestling.

My first match was in October of 1992. It was in Glen Burnie, Maryland. I participated in a battle royal and went by the name of Rico Suave. Some of the wrestlers in the battle royal included Tommy Dreamer, Chris Candido, Axl Rotten, Mosh of the Headbangers, and some others. It was the toughest 20 minutes of my life. I wrestled in Puerto Rico for over year and then received a big break in March of 1994 when I got the opportunity to wrestle for the ACW in Manning, S.C. They were having a tournament to crown a U.S. Champion. I was put in the tournament because another wrestler didn't show up. I surprised everyone, and won the US Title on my first show with that company. Their Heavyweight Champion was Jimmy Garvin. I met some great guys in ACW. Rob Van Dam, Chazz Rocco, Mike Justice, Boris Dragoff, and many others. In 1995, I moved to New Jersey, where I must say I got the opportunity to wrestle and train with some of the best wrestlers in the independent circuit. I got to train and wrestle at Iron Mike Sharpe's wrestling School.

On a personal note, Mike Sharpe is a great human being and I will always thank him for opening his school to me and letting me train there. I got to train and wrestle with guys like, Super Nova, Ace Darling, Devon Storm, Dr. Hurtz (great friend to this day), Mr. Motion, Overweight Lover, Matt Storm, Donnie B, Rik Ratchett, and so many others. I learned a lot from training and wrestling with them. My highlight was winning the New Jack City Wrestling Tag Team Titles with Super Nova. (WWE's Simon Dean). I moved back to Puerto Rico at the end of 1996. Wrestled for the Hottest Stars Of Wrestling and became their first Heavyweight Champion. In December, 1996, I had the opportunity to wrestle against Psycho Sid for the WWE title in a WWE/WWA show in Puerto Rico. Duke "the dumpster" Droese missed his flight and Dutch Mantel gave me the opportunity. Needless to say, the match was over in about 5 minutes. No need to say the outcome. I had to be out of wrestling due to kidney problems resulting from the Gulf War. I made my comeback in November of 1999. Just 7 months after major surgery. I moved to Florida in 1999 and have wrestled for most of the promotions in the state. I have been in the PWI 500 9 times. I was #285 in 2004. In 2004, the kidney problems returned and had to stay out of wrestling. I went on dialysis for 3 years and finally got a kidney on September 12, 2007. Since, I have been back on the scene managing guys like Scott Hall, Apolo, Savio Vega, Kahagas, and The Casanova Cartel. Working mostly for Dominican Wrestling Entertainment in Santo Domingo.

Wrestling Promotions

I have wrestled for many organizations that it's hard to remember them all, I will try to do my best to list them. I will list them by state or region:

New Jersey -NWA

New Jack City Wrestling WWC, ECPW, SEG, GSWA

North & South Carolina- ACW, AWF

Pennsylvania - WWWA

Florida - IPW, IFW, SWA, SCW, NWA, ICW, FLPW, UFCW, CWF, CWA, NGW, HVW, SECW, WWA, NRW, NNW, MFW, JPW, MXPW, FCW, NWA-SA, D1PW

Georgia - Spinebuster Championship Wrestling, EPW

Indiana - EWF, WWA

Massachusets - NWA-NE, WCWA, ILW

Tennessee - TNA

Puerto Rico - IWA, WWC, AWA, WWA, WWF, ILW, HSW, BSP, CXWA

Mexico - EPW

Panama - RXW

Dominican Republic - DWE

Titles Held