This past Friday, it was revealed that Jose Rivera passed away. The news was revealed by one of his sons. Jose Rivera may not be a well known figure to modern people But for the age of the territories of wrestling, Jose Rivera was key in establishing the island of Puerto Rico as a successful territory back in the 70’s. By all accounts, he was seen as being the island’s #2 star, just behind WWE Hall Of Famer Carlos Colón, prior to his retirement.
Who Is Jose Rivera?
We have just been informed of the sad death of the "Gigante de San Lorenzo" José Rivera, A long time Carlos Colon's Top Lieutenant. He had several championships in wwc PR champ (1) Caribbean (4) World Tag Team (3) and NA tag team (5), great wrestler and great person RIP. pic.twitter.com/NG9T6kiNgo
— Historia de La Lucha Libre Puertorriqueña (@historia_libre) October 14, 2022
Rivera would travel the territories as was to be done in that era of pro wrestling. He would have stints in All Japan Pro Wrestling as The Masked Strangler as well as Gulf Coast Wrestling. A territory between Alabama and northern Florida which would be the home of Jose Rivera prior to his arrival in Puerto Rico’s Capital Sports Promotions.
His stint from the later half of the 70’s until 1982 is his most notable run as a pro wrestler. Seeing him be one of the top stars of the promotion. Known as ‘El Gigante De San Lorenzo’ (The Giant from [town] San Lorenzo) he has been described as “the perfect #2 babyface”. A top of the card act that captivated the audience right away. In his first year for CSP, he would be a part of major angles that culminated in very peculiar matches.
On October 16, 1976, Rivera defeated Michel Martel in a Boxing match. This boxing match only comes after two previous instances of such. The first being Judo Gene LeBell vs Milo Savage in 1963. The second being Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki which had taken place just months before. Notable, as Ali would regularly train in Puerto Rico, in particular, for this fight.
Rivera was the protagonist of a variety of unique firsts in wrestling, before they would become widespread. From wrestling/boxing matches, to arena entrances involving helicopters, he and Carlos Colon were even the island’s first concept of a “Mega-Powers” styled tag team. On December 4th, 1977, he and “Cowboy” Bobby Ellis participated in the first known instance of a Barbed Wire match. The ring ropes were wrapped with barbed wire, decades before FMW, ECW, or TNA would do it. And it became the first step in Puerto Rico morphing into the birthplace of hardcore wrestling.
Rivera had major feuds with the likes of The Mongolian Stomper and of course one of the more recognizable outside wrestlers in the island, Abdullah The Butcher. Much like Carlos Colon himself. He was noted as well for feuding with the Martel’s, the fictitious trio of brothers Daniel, Michel and Pierre Martel. The latter being best known to WWF fans as Frenchy Martin.
In 1977, he would begin teaming up with perpetual top star of Puerto Rico, Carlos Colon. Aiding him to fend off Hugo Savinovich’s constant attempts to eliminate Colon. Their defeat of the Fabulous Kangaroos in March 12, 1977 for the World Tag Team titles would be the start of massive success for them as a tag team. Success that would peak incredibly years later.
The Feud And Team That Made An Entire Island
The star power of Rivera alongside Carlos Colon and the heat generated by the tandem of Dirty Dutch Mantel and Cowboy Frankie Laine was such a powerful mix, it resulted in an amazing streak of 9 (though some sources noted it’s actually 10) straight sellouts of the islands Hiram Birthon Stadium. Wikipedia lists it as a 16,000-seat baseball stadium. However, the venue is capable of housing a maximum of 35,000 people. Something CSP/WWC would start accomplishing frequently here. This amazing streak is touted as the biggest monetary success of these four men, for obvious reasons.
Carlos Colon and Rivera chased after Laine and Mantel and their North-American Tag Team titles, known as “Los Vaqueros Locos” (The Crazy Cowboys) for a long time, while the heel Champions would wager what they claimed were $1,000 in silver coins to any challengers but then either duck out or cheat their way when the top two stars of the island came after them. The duo of Colon and Rivera would also have massively successful feuds against the likes of the Fabulous Kangaroo’s as previously noted as well as the team of ‘Pretty Boy’ Larry Sharpe and ‘Dynamite’ Jack Evans. One of their matches seeing the stars arriving to the stadium on helicopter. Years before Ric Flair did it in Charlotte.
Rivera would bow out of wrestling almost entirely instead focusing on religion and recovering from a bad back. While CSP/WWC would sell out the Hiram Birthorn Stadium and others, it would certainly not be 10 straight. They would reunite in 1982 for a short stint to once again fend off monsters like Abdullah The Butcher, The Mongolian Stomper, The Sheik, and others under Hugo Savinovich one last time before finalizing his career.
One of his still preserved matches can be seen where he faces the imposing Danish wrestler, Eric The Red.
Transcending Tag Team Wrestling and Passing The Torch
Jose Rivera’s tag team with Carlos Colon has been argued with many as being the best in the history of Puerto Rico. At the very least, it’s the highest drawing, without a doubt. Before Puerto Rico made it’s name in the 80’s due to it’s famed hardcore matches and Carlos Colon facing off stars from outside the island, it was this pairing that helped fill out so many buildings during the early years of the now close to 50 year old promotion, WWC.
This is a controversial part due to future events, sadly. Jose Rivera has always known as ‘The Giant Of San Lorenzo’. As he was a native of that town. However, as his career was winding down, another star from that town was growing in popularity in the form of Jose Huertas Gonzalez, The Invader #1. After time as a heel, he would turn babyface and be mentored by Rivera as part of a tag team to help the newer star get over with the audience. It would go to be a success as they would win the WWC World Tag Team Championships 3 times together, prior to Jose Rivera finalizing his time as an active pro wrestler.
We can sit and debate about the name of Invader #1. However, at the time, it can’t be denied that Jose Rivera not only helped establish CSP/WWC as a top star, but by also cultivating another who would also raise the bar as far as success would go.
A Preservation Of Forgotten History
Rivera retired from wrestling rather quietly. Some have argued that he opted to become a priest instead, as he would increasingly become more and more involved with church, something that has been preserved by his family.
The saddest part about the passing of Jose Rivera is how little public information there truly is about him. Highlighting what a poor job has been done of preserving the history of pro wrestling in Puerto Rico. Only scarce magazines and pictures can be found and a very small amount of matches are available digitally and in poor quality of a man who helped sell out stadium shows with such frequency.
Be sure not to confuse him with Jose Luis Rivera, best known to WWF fans as one half of Los Conquistadores. While he has a Wikipedia profile and a more noted online profile, Jose Rivera himself does not in spite of the amazing success for his time.
On a personal level, I knew little of Jose Rivera. He was a wrestler before my time. And unfortunately, wrestling from Puerto Rico has not been well preserved. Any content prior to the mid-80’s is for all intents and purposes completely lost. Meaning the crux of his heyday, his accomplishments, all of those stadium sellouts are nowhere to be seen. So when I saw the response to his passing, I needed to find out what it was that made him so special.
Special thanks to WrestlingDOM, Desde Los Territorios Podcast & Museo e Historia de la Lucha Libre Puertorriqueña for their aid in the development of this article. WrestlingDOM is a Facebook wrestling news page, one of the best based on Puerto Rico. Desde Los Territorios Podcast is a Spanish language podcast that focuses on exploring the various territories from that era in pro wrestling. While Museo e Historia de la Lucha Libre Puertorriqueña is a Facebook page dedicated to remembering the history of Puerto Rico’s wrestling history as well as preserving much of it’s content.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
