Hugo Savinovich
Encyclopedia
Hugo Savinovich is a former Ecuadorian professional wrestler
, formerly employed with WWE, where he was one half of the Spanish announce team for the company's TV shows and pay-per-view
(PPV) events. He was a color commentator
and partner of Carlos Cabrera
and occasionally Marcelo Rodríguez
. When he worked with Rodriguez, he was the play-by-play announcer
. Their audio can be accessed in the United States via the SAP
feature on most TV sets.
He was married to the famous former female wrestler Wendi Richter
. He is married to wife Diana and has two sons: Jovannie and Genaro.
, Panama
, and the Dominican Republic
. He claims that becoming a professional wrestler literally saved his life, as he was originally a gang member in the streets of New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He joined the sport under the guidance of Johnny "El Toro" Maldonado. Mexican wrestling promoter Arturo Mendoza took him to Puerto Rico, where he lived for close to 14 years. He was originally a "tecnico" (the Puerto Rican wrestling term for a "face
", or "good guy"); after breaking up with his original wrestling partner, Little Chief Cherokee (and with Mendoza) he joined the local World Wrestling Council
franchise in Puerto Rico, Capitol Sport Promotions (owned partially by Carlos Colón), where he gained notoriety for being one of the "rudo
" wrestlers (i.e., "heels
", or wrestling villains), with a penchant for flamboyancy and self-promotion that gained him his most famous ring name, "El Muñecazo" ("The Big Baby Doll"). Savinovich is on record as stating that he modeled his role after Gorgeous George
, although his looks were particular to him and him alone (long hair with a mullet and David Letterman
-like gapped teeth). He did promote his wrestlers using a high-pitched voice and fast delivery resembling that of drag racing
radio advertisements in the United States. This also gave him the chance to develop his skills as a color commenter for wrestling matches, using a loud and fast narrative style -which he pioneered, since called "estilo lucha libre" ("wrestling style") in Puerto Rico.
Hugo then moved to the United States
. Most notoriously, he managed Abdullah the Butcher
. He eventually became a partner at Capitol, only to split with Colón a few years after in a rather acrimonious business dispute. Personal disputes with the league's management forced his return to Puerto Rico, where he spent close to five years at Capitol's rival company, All-Star Sports. His colorful personality and success promoting All-Star led the WWF to reconsider bringing him back, to which Hugo consented.
, SmackDown, NXT
, and pay-per-view events. The show celebrated its 100th episode in April 2006. Currently, WWE launched a mini show starring Hugo and Carlos called 28 Segundos, which consists of the announcers making fun of life. The show is in Spanish and can be found on WWE.com.
In previous years, while working for WWE on their pay per views, the area in which he works with Cabrera, commonly known as the Spanish announcers' table, has become a staple in professional wrestling. It is a convenient device for wrestlers to execute dramatic moves on, such as the Piledriver
or the Pedigree. The moves almost always result in the destruction of the table.
One of the most famous on-air incidents that Savinovich was involved in with WWE was at WrestleMania XIX
, when he accidentally received a chair shot to the head from Hulk Hogan
in the match between Hogan and Vince McMahon
after McMahon ducked a chair shot. He was unable to continue with the Spanish broadcast and Cabrera had to finish the show by himself.
Savinovich and Cabrera provide live Spanish commentary for all weekly shows from the WWE Television Studios in Stamford, Connecticut
and are at ringside for PPV events. This practice temporarily ended in mid-2006. Originally due to the addition of the now-defunct ECW brand, the announce teams of all three brands
were present for tri-branded
pay-per-view
s (Royal Rumble
, WrestleMania
, SummerSlam
, and Survivor Series
). During this time, Savinovich and Cabrera provided commentary for these events from the WWE Television Studios but were still placed at ringside for brand-exclusive PPV events.
When the brand-exclusive pay-per-view concept ended in 2007, the announce teams of all three brands were placed at ringside for all PPV events. Beginning in 2009, a single three-man announce team, composed of announcers from the two current brands, was designated for pay-per-views. Savinovich and Cabrera returned to ringside for PPVs at The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania
in 2009. However, they were not reinstated full time until WrestleMania XXVI
in 2010. On October 19, 2011 Savinovich announced that he was leaving WWE.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, formerly employed with WWE, where he was one half of the Spanish announce team for the company's TV shows and pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
(PPV) events. He was a color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
and partner of Carlos Cabrera
Carlos Cabrera
Carlos Rodrigo Cabrera is a former newsman and currently employed with WWE, where he is one half of the company's Spanish announce team in which he is the play-by-play announcer. His longtime broadcast partner was the former Ecuadorian professional wrestler Hugo Savinovich, who was the color...
and occasionally Marcelo Rodríguez
Marcelo Rodriguez
Marcelo Antonio Rodríguez Laprea is a Venezuelan actor and professional wrestling announcer currently working for the international Spanish versions of WWE shows Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Superstars, and pay-per-view events alongside Carlos Cabrera as color commentator. Their audio can also be accessed...
. When he worked with Rodriguez, he was the play-by-play announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
. Their audio can be accessed in the United States via the SAP
Second audio program
Second audio program , also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over the air and by cable TV.-Usage:...
feature on most TV sets.
He was married to the famous former female wrestler Wendi Richter
Wendi Richter
Wendi Richter is a retired American professional wrestler. She began her professional wrestling career in companies such as the National Wrestling Alliance, where she teamed with Joyce Grable, with whom she held the NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship twice. In the 1980s, she joined the World...
. He is married to wife Diana and has two sons: Jovannie and Genaro.
Wrestling
Before his current stint as a commentator, Savinovich had been a wrestler for many years, performing in many Caribbean countries like Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. He claims that becoming a professional wrestler literally saved his life, as he was originally a gang member in the streets of New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He joined the sport under the guidance of Johnny "El Toro" Maldonado. Mexican wrestling promoter Arturo Mendoza took him to Puerto Rico, where he lived for close to 14 years. He was originally a "tecnico" (the Puerto Rican wrestling term for a "face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
", or "good guy"); after breaking up with his original wrestling partner, Little Chief Cherokee (and with Mendoza) he joined the local World Wrestling Council
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
franchise in Puerto Rico, Capitol Sport Promotions (owned partially by Carlos Colón), where he gained notoriety for being one of the "rudo
Rudo
Rudo is a town and municipality in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina near the border with Serbia. It appears in Ivo Andrić's story "The Beys of Rudo."-1971:15,982 total* Serbs – 10.155...
" wrestlers (i.e., "heels
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
", or wrestling villains), with a penchant for flamboyancy and self-promotion that gained him his most famous ring name, "El Muñecazo" ("The Big Baby Doll"). Savinovich is on record as stating that he modeled his role after Gorgeous George
George Wagner
George Raymond Wagner was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Gorgeous George...
, although his looks were particular to him and him alone (long hair with a mullet and David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
-like gapped teeth). He did promote his wrestlers using a high-pitched voice and fast delivery resembling that of drag racing
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
radio advertisements in the United States. This also gave him the chance to develop his skills as a color commenter for wrestling matches, using a loud and fast narrative style -which he pioneered, since called "estilo lucha libre" ("wrestling style") in Puerto Rico.
Hugo then moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Most notoriously, he managed Abdullah the Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
. He eventually became a partner at Capitol, only to split with Colón a few years after in a rather acrimonious business dispute. Personal disputes with the league's management forced his return to Puerto Rico, where he spent close to five years at Capitol's rival company, All-Star Sports. His colorful personality and success promoting All-Star led the WWF to reconsider bringing him back, to which Hugo consented.
Commentating
Savinovich and Cabrera have a show at WWE.com called WWE En Español (WWE in Spanish), which lasts about 30 minutes; it is a recap of RawWWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, SmackDown, NXT
WWE NXT
WWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...
, and pay-per-view events. The show celebrated its 100th episode in April 2006. Currently, WWE launched a mini show starring Hugo and Carlos called 28 Segundos, which consists of the announcers making fun of life. The show is in Spanish and can be found on WWE.com.
In previous years, while working for WWE on their pay per views, the area in which he works with Cabrera, commonly known as the Spanish announcers' table, has become a staple in professional wrestling. It is a convenient device for wrestlers to execute dramatic moves on, such as the Piledriver
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
or the Pedigree. The moves almost always result in the destruction of the table.
One of the most famous on-air incidents that Savinovich was involved in with WWE was at WrestleMania XIX
WrestleMania XIX
WrestleMania XIX was the nineteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 30, 2003 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Washington, and the first...
, when he accidentally received a chair shot to the head from Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
in the match between Hogan and Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
after McMahon ducked a chair shot. He was unable to continue with the Spanish broadcast and Cabrera had to finish the show by himself.
Savinovich and Cabrera provide live Spanish commentary for all weekly shows from the WWE Television Studios in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
and are at ringside for PPV events. This practice temporarily ended in mid-2006. Originally due to the addition of the now-defunct ECW brand, the announce teams of all three brands
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
were present for tri-branded
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
s (Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1988, with its inaugural event taking place on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario...
, WrestleMania
WrestleMania
WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in late March or early April by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut...
, SummerSlam
SummerSlam
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in August by professional wrestling promotion WWE. The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and was broadcast via pay-per-view, unlike the Royal Rumble of that...
, and Survivor Series
Survivor Series
The Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event held in November by WWE. It is one of the "Big Four" events, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, as It is one of the original four pay-per-views produced by WWE....
). During this time, Savinovich and Cabrera provided commentary for these events from the WWE Television Studios but were still placed at ringside for brand-exclusive PPV events.
When the brand-exclusive pay-per-view concept ended in 2007, the announce teams of all three brands were placed at ringside for all PPV events. Beginning in 2009, a single three-man announce team, composed of announcers from the two current brands, was designated for pay-per-views. Savinovich and Cabrera returned to ringside for PPVs at The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania
WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas...
in 2009. However, they were not reinstated full time until WrestleMania XXVI
WrestleMania XXVI
WrestleMania XXVI was the twenty-sixth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on March 28, 2010 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. This was the fourth WrestleMania to...
in 2010. On October 19, 2011 Savinovich announced that he was leaving WWE.