It depends on the circumstances. There’s rivalries between all the Hispanic and Latino groups but also a sense of mutual support depending on circumstances. Mexican fans might hate a Puerto Rican facing a Mexican wrestler, or boxer too, but will support the same fighter facing someone outside of the broad and flexibly defined categories of Latino and Hispanic. In the world of wrestling it hardly matters considering how many wrestlers work under an assumed nationality which they may have no real connection to at all. Gorilla Monsoon was not Mongolian, Ivan Koloff was neither Russian nor Irish, this could be a top ten category.
For the record, I was mimicking the old school white guy bookers who make no distinction between Hispanic and Latino tribes. I remember when AWA considered Jimmy Snuka black so he could feud with Colonel DeBeers.
For that matter, Haku’s son Tanga Loa used to be Camacho.
Nikita Koloff is someone from i think Georgia or Alabama but he supposedly got into his character so much that he (and others )thought he was actually Russian and had to be “reprogrammed” back to reality
there’s some insane stories about him out there
(Snicker)
He was one of the most committed wrestlers to his character. Maybe the most committed out of all of them. Nelson Scott Simpson legally changed his name to Nikita Koloff and learned to speak in Russian. This was far more than his storyline uncle, Canadian Ivan Koloff (Oreal Donald Perras) put into his act.
He happened to be part of the crew that went to Robbinsdale High School in Minnesota, along with stars Smash, Brady Boone, Mr. Perfect, The Berzerker, Rick Rude, and Tom Zenk. Pretty tough set of peers to compete with in the game, perhaps his motivation to play the game so over the top.
WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felony counts.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and Vince will be next.
Former Olympic gold medalist and WWE wrestler Gable Stevenson has signed a rookie deal as a defensive lineman for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
Ricochet is wishing WWE the best of luck in its future endeavors.
Good for him! A main eventer in any other organization, he’s been wasted by WWE.
Probably explains why he’s lost the WWE Speed Championship on a recent taping.
I won’t disagree that Ricochet, along with so many others, have been wasted in WWE. But while his athleticism is beyond reproach, he doesn’t have the charisma to be a main eventer on the WWE stage, and probably not even the AEW stage. And as good as he is, he is another of many hugely athletically-gifted wrestlers who do not sell big spots, and would instead go from big spot to big spot just because they can. I will admit that the last point might just be this old man just yelling at clouds or telling kids to get off my lawn, but big, impactful moves should be sold as big, impactful moves even if it means there are less of them during a match.
I was also not a fan of his dance-off with Osprey, but I loved his work as Prince Puma.
It wouldn’t be the ideal for a title reign. It used to work that way, a face could maintain the top spot with against a series of well promoted heels. Audience expectations make that more difficult now. A face like Ricochet could still be a main eventer in long running feuds where he faces unfair challenges and still comes out ahead long term and eventually holds the top spot briefly or manages to maintain a secondary title. Lacking the kind of out front charisma sought today in champions he still would be dependent on the quality of the opposition. That in itself is a tough row to hoe for someone with Rico’s incredible athletic skill, still doable in the right promotion I think. Difficult never the less.
I’m sure WWE money has got Ricochet set up for a long time, but I can’t think of any memorable matches he had under their umbrella. LU when he was Prince Puma, yes. The Lucha environment portrayed him as a masked hero who didn’t need to win audiences over with promos.
I’d love to see him in AEW, mainly because it wouldn’t require me to pick up a new streaming service. Their roster’s already bloated though, and they’d probably have him put Dustin Rhodes over like Johnny TV did.
If this is Ricochet’s last WWE appearance, they sure made it memorable with him getting lawn-darted into a semi truck by Bron Breakker and taken out in an ambulance with Samantha.
I wonder if Samantha will go wherever he’s going.
I haven’t followed closely what’s been going on with Ricochet but I just wanted to say if Samantha Irvin leaves that would be terrible. She’s the best announcer they’ve had in a very long time.
On the subject of wrestlers leaving WWE, I’ve seen rumors recently that Becky Lynch might be leaving? Not sure what to think about that. WWE has been on a upward trend recently, and she’s one of the top women in the company.
While “never say never”, it really doesn’t make sense unless Tony throws absolutely ridiculous amounts of money at her. Not that he won’t - it’s not like he’s getting a payoff on any of the other big money hires, but I can’t see her taking less than Mone/Banks money, and likely a decent bump up from that. Plus, when he heals and returns, Seth would be on a completely different schedule, versus being able to travel together. That has both plusses and minuses for new parents, and only Becky & Seth can determine which outweighs the other. If it were me, the minuses would outweigh the plusses of being on different schedules, but I’m not them.
They could always make bucks as a show biz couple, showing up at big events like the Kentucky Derby.
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On the other hand, Becky has already done everything there is to do in WWE. She’s a Grand Slam Champion, she’s won the Royal Rumble, she’s done Hell in a Cell and Iron Man matches and won Money in the Bank, and even won the first ever women’s match to main event Wrestlemania. A change of venue could do her good at this point in her career.
Well, Logan Paul can fuck the right off.