Tony Rivera
| Birth name | Javier Espinosa Romero |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 30, 1973 Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico |
| Family | Marco Rivera (brother) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Paris Renegado Tony Rivera |
| Billed height | 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) |
| Billed weight | 80 kg (180 lb) |
| Trained by | Benny Castello Tony Salazar |
| Debut | August 4, 1994 |
Javier Espinosa Romero (born December 30, 1973) is a Mexican luchador, or masked professional wrestler best known under the ring name Tony Rivera. As Rivera he is currently working on the Mexican professional wrestling independent circuit portraying a tecnico ("Good guy") wrestling character. Rivera worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) for over 10 years, followed by him working on the Mexican independent circuit, particularly for International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) and International Wrestling League (IWL). He originally worked as an Enmascarado or masked wrestler under the ring names Paris and Renegado ("The Renegade") but has used the name Tony Rivera since 1996. Following his departure from CMLL he became an advocate for wrestlers rights and pay, including Rivera organizing a blockade of one of CMLL's major shows, the 2011 Juicio Final.
Espinosa trained for his professional wrestling debut under Benny Castello and made his professional wrestling debut in 1994 under the ring name Paris, a masked wrestling persona. In 1995 he changed his ring persona and mask becoming known as Renegado ("The Renegade"). As Renegado he lost a Luchas de Apuestas, or bet match to Zumbido. Following the match he was forced to unmask, state his birth name and age per Lucha Libre traditions.
Not long after the loss of his mask Espinosa began working as "Tony Rivera", an unmasked tecnico ("Good guy") wrestling character. He also started wrestling at Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling school under Tony Salazar. At the time CMLL had a talent sharing agreement with International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG), a local promotion, allowing CMLL wrestlers to also work for IWRG. CMLL sent several trainees to get additional ring experience, amongst those was Tony Rivera. Rivera participated in a tournament to determine the first IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Champion. Rivera lost in the finals of the tournament to El Pantera. Later in the year Rivera, Fantasy, Mr. Águila, Neblina and Tony Rivera won the 1997 Copa Higher Power tournament, an IWRG tournament for wrestlers who were still considered "trainees" A few months later he competed in Toryumon's Young Dragon's Cup, where he made it to the finals, but was defeated.
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