{"id":66908,"date":"2020-04-16T12:09:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T16:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=66908"},"modified":"2020-04-16T12:09:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T16:09:12","slug":"no-way-jose-a-return-to-the-indies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/04\/16\/no-way-jose-a-return-to-the-indies\/","title":{"rendered":"No Way Jose: A Return to the Indies?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 30 talents were released by WWE on Black Wednesday, from the likes of <strong>Rusev<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2020\/04\/15\/drake-maverick-wwe-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Drake Maverick<\/strong> <\/a>to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2020\/04\/15\/crazy-rides-again-sarah-logan-crazy-mary-dobson\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Sarah Logan<\/strong><\/a>. One of the talents let go by WWE during the cutbacks due to the COVID-19 impact on industry was <strong>No Way Jose<\/strong>. While No Way Jose failed to reach even the heights he achieved in NXT during his time appearing on <em><strong>Raw<\/strong><\/em> or <em><strong>SmackDown<\/strong><\/em>, he appeared frequently in backstage angles and his conga lines were always a who&#8217;s who of regional indies when WWE came to town. But hopefully, now the former Carolinas indie wrestler will be heading back to the independents following a five-year run inside the WWE machine.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Love you all \ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\udc9c <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThankYou?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ThankYou<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WWE<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWENXT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WWENXT<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1elDFcDygO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/1elDFcDygO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Levis (@LevyValenz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LevyValenz\/status\/1250520576130613248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Levis Valenzuela Jr., from Durham, North Carolina, started out in professional wrestling in 2013, training at the <strong>Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid Atlantic<\/strong> Dojo. Trained by <strong>Roy Wilkins<\/strong> and <strong>Trevor Lee<\/strong> (now NXT&#8217;s Cameron Grimes), he debuted in CWF Mid Atlantic in May of 2013. Debuting under the name <strong>&#8220;El Jefe&#8221; <\/strong><strong>Manny Garcia<\/strong>, the Dominican Boss, he impressed CWF Mid Atlantic officials and became a regular by June.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Manny Garcia ( &quot;No Way Jose&quot; ) vs.Timmy Lou Retton U.I.W. (11-9-2014)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Iykz_Toj6s?start=33&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As Manny Garcia, he pushed heavily his love for his Dominican Republic roots, and for much of 2013 he feuded with <strong>Rob McBride<\/strong> in North Carolina. In the fall of 2013, he would debut for another Carolina indie, Greensboro&#8217;s <strong>Fire Star Pro Wrestling (FSPW)<\/strong>. He would win his first gold in FSPW in early 2014, winning the FSPW South Eastern Championship.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: Manny Garcia (WWE&#039;s No Way Jose) vs. TV Champion Mark James (5\/3\/14)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GpnsYuey6k4?start=12&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He kicked off 2014 in contention for the CWF Mid Atlantic Heavyweight title, and as the progressed his momentum increased. He became a 2x CWF Mid Atlantic Television Champion that year, feuding with the likes of <strong>Chris Lea, Donnie Dollars<\/strong>, and even pre-WWE <strong>Cedric Alexander<\/strong>. In September of 2014, he took part in a WWE Tryout.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: Manny Garcia (WWE&#039;s No Way Jose) vs. TV Champion Chris Lea (12\/27\/14)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3TRm0cJMQ-s?start=91&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In February of 2015, he debuted for Cameron, North Carolina&#8217;s <strong>Organization Of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA)<\/strong>, the indie promotion run by <strong>Matt Hardy<\/strong>, and continued to compete in CWF Mid Atlantic through the spring of 2015, losing his CWF Television title on his final appearance.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling: Trevor Lee vs. Manny Garcia (WWE&#039;s No Way Jose) (10\/4\/14)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KXn03p5axqU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Impressed by his tryout the previous year, Garcia signed with WWE in April of 2015 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/wwenxt\/wwe-performance-center-welcomes-new-class-of-recruits\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">debuted in that year&#8217;s spring class<\/a> at the WWE Performance Center &#8211; a class that also included <strong>The Iiconics<\/strong> (Billie Kay &amp; Peyton Royce), <strong>Alexander Wolfe<\/strong> of NXT UK and current AAA Lucha Libre wrestler <strong>Magno<\/strong>. In his very first match for NXT, he appeared on NXT television that July, teaming with Elias in a losing effort to American Alpha (Chad Gable &amp; Jason Jordan). Initially working NXT Live Events under his real name, he would become No Way Jose for his return to NXT television in March of 2016, ironically defeating fellow Classmate Alexander Wolfe in his re-debut.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"No Way Jose vs. Alexander Wolfe:  WWE NXT, April 20, 2016\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TZPkYj5OnlU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As No Way Jose, he would win his first five matches in NXT that summer, before a defeat to <strong>Robert Roode<\/strong> in August, and he would pair with <strong>Rich Swann<\/strong> for the 2016 <em><strong>Dusty Rhodes Classic<\/strong><\/em> Tag Team Tournament. The unit defeated <strong>Drew Gulak &amp; Tony Nese<\/strong> in the first round, before being knocked out in the second by eventual winners, <strong>Authors of Pain<\/strong>. Soon after, he would find himself in a feud with <strong>SaNitY<\/strong> (again featuring Wolfe) and he would find success in NXT as a rising star and fan favorite.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"No Way Jose makes his Raw debut against John Skyler: Raw, April 9, 2018\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tF_BJlL40o8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On April 9, 2018, three years after joining NXT, No Way Jose was called up to\u00a0<em><strong>Raw<\/strong><\/em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>on the Raw After Mania. Through all the Superstar Shake-Ups that followed, No Way Jose remained a part of\u00a0<em>Raw<\/em> but never seemed to find himself in any storylines &#8211; he was used more as enhancement than anything. He frequently competed on WWE Main Event, where he would feud with the likes of <strong>Curt Hawkins, Mike Kanellis, Tyler Breeze, Mojo Rawley<\/strong>, and <strong>EC3<\/strong>. With the way WWE was using him less and less, the writing seemed on the wall for Jose when news broke Wednesday morning that potential cuts were coming.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"No Way Jose vs. Drew McIntyre: Raw, Jan. 6, 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lj8BkLjQx50?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While he spent three years in the hot Carolina indie scene before joining WWE, he&#8217;s competed in the WWE Universe for more years than he hasn&#8217;t, creating a character that had its share of fans &#8211; even if they weren&#8217;t in the higher-ups of WWE. Here&#8217;s hoping that he decides to return to the indies as Manny Garcia and continue his career, and finally get a chance to discover all the other indies in the US outside his regional area. With his WWE fame, it&#8217;s likely he&#8217;ll find plenty of suitors.<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for 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.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 30 talents were released by WWE on Black Wednesday, from the likes of Rusev to Drake Maverick to Sarah Logan. One of the talents let go by WWE during the cutbacks due to the COVID-19 impact on industry was No Way Jose. While No Way Jose failed to reach even the heights he achieved [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":66917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6342,578,47],"class_list":["post-66908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","tag-manny-garcia","tag-no-way-jose","tag-wwe"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}