Ricky Romero
Encyclopedia
Henry Romero was a professional wrestler better known as "Rapid" Ricky Romero. Romero was best known for being a huge draw in the State of Texas
in the 1970s.
in the World Wrestling Association
(WWA), Terry Funk
and Nick Bockwinkel
in the National Wrestling Alliance
(NWA), and Rito Romero
in the WWWF
. He got his huge break, when Dory Funk Sr.
brought him into the Amarillo, Texas
area during a time of segregation
between races. Ricky Romero was the first Hispanic wrestler in the area and gained a fan given nickname "SuperMex".
in El Paso, Texas
as well as for Fritz von Erich
in Dallas, Texas
, and Paul Boesh in Houston, Texas
. He was such a top draw in the Rocky Mountain area Colorado
, New Mexico
and Texas, that Dory Sr. invented the Rocky Mountain Title just for Ricky which he retired in the early 80s.
, Gorgeous George
, Wild Red Berry, and Jack Brisco
. Romero was also one of the first pioneers to work for Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki
in Japan
, wearing a mask as Mexico Grand as a heel. Ricky Romero retired as a professional wrestler in The early 1980s.
, Mark Romero and Chris Romero
. All three wrestled using the gimmick last name "Youngblood". Ricky also served as manager to sons Mark and Chris throughout the late 1980s. Ricky's grandson is also a professional wrestler who used to wrestle under the name "Radical" Ricky Romero III until 2009 when he started using Ricky Youngblood, following the tradition of the rest of his family.
On January 15, 2006 Ricky Romero died at the age of 74 after years of complications due to diabetes. He is now buried in Llano Cemetery by Cox-LaGrone Funeral Home in Amarillo, Texas, beside his wife Stella Marrujo and Steven Nicolas Romero (Jay Youngblood).
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in the 1970s.
Rise to fame
He wrestled in every major market between 1955 into the 1980s. Ricky tagged with the likes of Pedro MoralesPedro Morales
Pedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...
in the World Wrestling Association
World Wrestling Association
The World Wrestling Association is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora, Jr....
(WWA), Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
and Nick Bockwinkel
Nick Bockwinkel
Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel is a retired American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association in the United States...
in the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
(NWA), and Rito Romero
Rito Romero
Rito Romero Loza was a successful luchador who wrestled in Mexico and in the NWA territories of Texas and Los Angeles. He appeared in several films in his native country along with a number of other luchadors...
in the WWWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
. He got his huge break, when Dory Funk Sr.
Dory Funk
Dorrance Wilhelm "Dory" Funk was a professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk.-Career:...
brought him into the Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
area during a time of segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
between races. Ricky Romero was the first Hispanic wrestler in the area and gained a fan given nickname "SuperMex".
Legacy in Amarillo
In 1972 he beat Terry Funk in a most popular wrestler contest in Amarillo, was a top draw for Gory GuerreroGory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada , better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Hispanic professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside of Mexico. He wrestled primarily in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre between the 1940s and 1960s...
in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
as well as for Fritz von Erich
Fritz Von Erich
Jack Barton Adkisson was an American professional wrestler under the ring name Fritz Von Erich, better known today as a wrestling promoter and the patriarch of the Von Erich family...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, and Paul Boesh in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. He was such a top draw in the Rocky Mountain area Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and Texas, that Dory Sr. invented the Rocky Mountain Title just for Ricky which he retired in the early 80s.
Singles wrestler
Ricky Romero as a singles wrestler, went up against the likes of Lou TheszLou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
, Gorgeous George
George Wagner
George Raymond Wagner was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Gorgeous George...
, Wild Red Berry, and Jack Brisco
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe Brisco was an American professional wrestler, better known as Jack Brisco or Uvalde Slim. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco...
. Romero was also one of the first pioneers to work for Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki
is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, wearing a mask as Mexico Grand as a heel. Ricky Romero retired as a professional wrestler in The early 1980s.
Personal life
Ricky Romero was married to Stella Marrujo on December 17, 1949. He is the father of wrestling superstars Steven RomeroSteven Romero
Steven Nicolas Romero was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Steamboat...
, Mark Romero and Chris Romero
Chris Romero
Chris Romero is a semi-retired second-generation American professional wrestler who is better known as Chris Youngblood. He is the son of Ricky Romero and the brother of Mark and Jay Youngblood.-Rise to Fame:...
. All three wrestled using the gimmick last name "Youngblood". Ricky also served as manager to sons Mark and Chris throughout the late 1980s. Ricky's grandson is also a professional wrestler who used to wrestle under the name "Radical" Ricky Romero III until 2009 when he started using Ricky Youngblood, following the tradition of the rest of his family.
On January 15, 2006 Ricky Romero died at the age of 74 after years of complications due to diabetes. He is now buried in Llano Cemetery by Cox-LaGrone Funeral Home in Amarillo, Texas, beside his wife Stella Marrujo and Steven Nicolas Romero (Jay Youngblood).
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Cannonball senton
- Sleeper hold
Championships and accomplishments
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA Central States Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Central States Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Central States Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team championship for the Heart of America Sports Attractions / Central States Wrestling promotion from 1979 until the promotion ceased to exist in 1988...
(1 time) – with "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert
- NWA Big Time WrestlingWorld Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time) – with Nick BockwinkelNick BockwinkelNicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel is a retired American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association in the United States...
- NWA Western States SportsNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)The Amarillo version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a secondary championship that was defended in Dory Funk, Sr.'s NWA Western States Sports promotion based in Amarillo, Texas. Originally created in August 1964, the title was used briefly before being abandoned. It was reactivated three...
(1 time) - NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version)NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version)The Amarillo version of the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship was a top singles title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, NWA Western States Sports...
(1 time) - NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version) (7 times) – with Dory Funk Sr. (5), Cyclone Anaya (1), and Eric Rommel (1)
- NWA Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
- NWA Western States Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Western States Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, NWA Western States Sports....
(5 times) - NWA Western States Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Western States Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Western States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, NWA Western States Sports....
(8 times) – with Terry FunkTerry FunkTerrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
(2), Moose Morowski (2), Dory Funk, Jr.Dory Funk, Jr.Dory Ernest Funk Jr. known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional...
(2), Silver StreakSteven RomeroSteven Nicolas Romero was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Steamboat...
(1), and Akihisa Takachiho (1)
- World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)
- WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pedro MoralesPedro MoralesPedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...