Miguel Pérez Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | April 22, 1966 |
Residence | San Juan,Puerto Rico |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
Miguel Pérez Miguel Pérez Jr. Miguelito Pérez Faraón Zaruxx |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Billed weight | 241 lb (109 kg) |
Billed from | Carolina, Puerto Rico |
Debut | April 29, 1985 |
Miguel Pérez Jr. (born April 22, 1966) is a professional wrestler. The son of an established international wrestler of the same name, Pérez began his career in the World Wrestling Council, winning several titles including the Puerto Rico and Caribbean heavyweight championships. He spent most of his career touring the international circuits, having several runs in major promotions based in Japan and Mexico. Pérez also participated in all three of the major promotions of The Attitude Era; Extreme Championship Wrestling, challenging for the ECW World Tag Team Championship; World Championship Wrestling, where he was undefeated in four one-on-one matches and the World Wrestling Federation, forming part of Los Boricuas, a stable that won an angle known as the "Gang Wars".
Pérez is the son of Miguel Pérez, who is one half of the first tag team champions crowned in WWE, winning the NWA-Capitol World Tag Team Championship along Antonino Rocca, when the promotion was still known as "Capitol Wrestling" and was affiliated to the National Wrestling Alliance.
Pérez debuted in 1985 during an angle where his father Miguel Pérez Sr. appeared as a photographer at ring side taking pictures and scouting opponents before Miguel Pérez Jr.'s debut. During a match Eric Embry attacked Miguel Pérez Sr. with camera in hand and Miguel Pérez Jr. came to his father's rescue. This eventually lead to Pérez Jr.'s debut match. Had a feud with The Crusher in early 1986. At Aniversario 1986, Pérez unsuccessfully challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At Aniversario 1987, he defeated Reginald Lisowski. At Aniversario 1988, Pérez teamed with Castillo to defeat Bobby Jaggers and Dan Kroffat in a hair vs hair match. In 1989, he joined Castillo in a tour to New Japan Pro Wrestling, with both being rebranded as "José Pérez" and "Daniel Castillo", collectively known as "The Caribbean Express". On February 22, 1989, they lost to Kuniaki Kobayashi and Osamu Kido. The Caribbean Express repeated this performance in their next appearance. On February 28, 1989, Pérez and Castillo lost to Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami. They opponed the Big Fight Series with a lost. In the second date, The Caribbean Express defeated Hirozaku Hata and Naoki Sano. They then joined Sid Vicious to defeat Kengo Kimura, Sano and Tatsumi Fujinami. This was followed by a loss to Kobayashi and Saito in a rematch. In his first singles match for NJPW, Pérez was unsuccessful in challenging Antonio Inoki. The Caribbean Express once again teamed with Vicious in consecutive losses to Hiroshi Hase, Masa Saito & Riki Chosu and Kengo Kimura, Chiro Koshinaka & Tatsumi Fujinami. On March 12, 1989, Pérez and Castillo lost to Hirokazu Hata and Naoki Sano. In the following two events, Kuniaki Kobayashi teamed with Hiro Saito and Naoki Sano to earn consecutive victories over The Caribbean Express. Returning to WWC for Aniversario 1989, Pérez and Castillo dropped the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship to David Sierra and Jerry Morrow. At Aniversario 1990, Pérez and Castillo retained over Sierra and Ron Starr. In late 1990, he returned to NJPW now as a singles wrestler and was rebranded as "Miguelito Pérez". He teamed with Owen Hart in a loss to Kengo Kimura and Osamu Kido. On October 5, 1990, Pérez teamed with Chris Benoit to defeat Shiro Koshinaka and Jushin Thunder Liger. In his next appearance, Masa Saito and Shinya Hashimoto won a tag team match over him and Ricky Steamboat. Teaming once again with Hart, he lost to Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono. On October 11, 1990, he lost a singles match to Masa Saito. Pérez then joined Benoit and Vader in a loss to Animal Hamaguchi, Tastsutoshi Godo and Junji Hirata. On October 14, 1990, he treamed with Rivera to defeat Kengo Kimura and Kuniaki Kobayashi. At New Year Dash, Pérez teamed with Benoit in a victory over the Dragon Bombers. This was followed by a win in a three on three match, where he teamed with Benoit and Luc "Rambo" Poirier. Pérez then teamed with Poirier to defeat Tatsumi Fujinami and Kimura. The team of Rivera and Pérez lost its second match, but both teamed again in a three way that involved Vader, with mixed results. His following match was another three on three, where he teamed with Poirier and Marcus Laurinaitis in a loss to Kimura, Fujinami and Osamu Kido. He then teamed with Lauranaitis in a loss to Kido and Kamura. The following week, Rivera replaced Lauranaitis in a win over the same team. On May 27, 1991, Chono defeated Pérez in a singles match. In his following appearance, he teamed with Rivera and Vader in a win over Keiji Muto, Kimura and Fujinami. Fujinami went on to win a singles match between them. In the next event, the Dragon Bombers defeated Pérez and Benoit. At The Legend of Dragon Tatsumi Fujinami 20th Anniversary both teamed with Junji Hirata in a loss to Kimura, Kido and Steve Keirn.