- Ricky Vega
Infobox Wrestler
name=Ephraim Vega
names=Machete
Ricky Vega
height=6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
weight=260 lb (118 kg)
birth_date = Birth date and age|1976|12|2|mf=y
death_date =
birth_place =The Bronx ,New York City
resides=Orlando, Florida
billed=Puerto Rico
trainer=Johnny Rodz ,Marty Jannetty ,Ted DiBiase
debut= December 2001
retired=|Ephraim Vega (born
December 2 ,1976 ) is anPuerto Rican American professional wrestler and is best known workingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling under thering name Machete, and in independent promotions under the name Ricky Vega.Career
Vega played football in
high school , but an injury prevented him from playingcollege football . After attending abusiness school and working in financing, Vega decided to become a professional wrestler. He was introduced to wrestling trainer Johnny Rodz onJuly 16 ,2001 . After training under Rodz, he debuted on thePennsylvania nindependent circuit under the name Ricky Vega, working for promotions such as World Xtreme Wrestling, Gladiator Championship Wrestling where he scored his first singles win by pinning Matt Striker and Pro-Pain-Pro-Wrestling. Later he worked for World of Unpredictable Wrestling and became North American Champion by defeating The Uptown Badboy. He went on to defeat Tim Arson, "Smooth Operator" Mike Gallagher and "Pain", "Shellshock" and Sgt. Vic all members of the "Terror Squad" a heel faction of disgruntled military extremist. Vega went on to debut on WWE's Velocity against Luther Reigns as well as on dark matches. A knee injury kept him from signing with the company in 2004 and out of action until returning in August 2005 at a Coastal Championship Wrestling show were he defeated Gino Carusso.Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
In February 2006 at TNA Against All Odds 2006, Vega debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as "Machete", replacing Apolo as a member of theLatin American Exchange (LAX). The LAX went on to lose to The James Gang, with B.G. James pinning Machete. On the following TNA iMPACT show Machete(Vega) and Homicide would squash and defeat La Migra. LAX would capture and beatdown BG James in front of the announce table before Kip James finally made the save. Later during a Team Canada, James Gang iMPACT match LAX would interfere and cost the James Gang the win. They would proceed to beatdown the James Gang setting up a grudge match between the two factions. The LAX faced The James Gang in a rematch at TNA Destination X 2006 onMarch 12 ,2006 , but lost once again after Vega(Machete)was left alone in the ring with BG, Bob Armstrong and Kip, eventually leading to Kip James pinning Machete. On theMarch 18 ,2006 episode of TNA iMPACT!, Machete was thrown out of the LAX by Konnan and a reluctant Homicide who viewed Machete as fearless. He was subsequently released from TNA. Vega is currently working Florida indy's and is set to return in January under his original stage name Ricky Vega.Vega made his return to TNA on the
February 15 episode of iMPACT pushing Konnan, who was then confined to a wheelchair due to hip surgery, to the ring for LAX's tag team match againstShark Boy andNorman Smiley . Machete (Vega) would play a major role in keeping LAX Tag Champions by interfering first at "Against All Odds" then again at "Destination X" in matches against Team 3D. Later on TNA iMPACT taping, he assisted Homicide in defeating Scott Stiener and Brother Devon in a three-way tag match. Vega would also keep VKM (Voodo Kin Mafia) from winning the belts on iMPACT by again interjecting himself in the match. Vega was also involved in the Belting Pot Match between Team 3D and LAX, which would turn into a gang scuffle between LAX Latino Nation members and Brother Ray's Italian Brotherhood. He would work as LAX's enforcer for a brief time before becoming a full-time member after Konnan's release.Independent career
Dynamite Championship Wrestling
Vega made his way to
Dynamite Championship Wrestling (DCW) [cite web |url=http://www.dynamitechampionshipwrestling.com |title=Dynamite Championship Wrestling |accessdate=2007-08-23 |publisher=Dynamite Championship Wrestling ] in August 2006. He debuted by defeating Viper. With the win he earned an immediate Heavyweight title match due toHector Guerrero vacating the championship. He would go on to defeatMatt Bentley and become champion. Vega would later be stripped and the title held vacant setting the stage for a title tournament. Vega would defeatBobby Barretta andJB Cool to move in to the finals against former WCW star Glacier. Vega and Glacier had developed a friendship in DCW rescuing each other on past events. The match seemed to be competitive and fair untilDon Kiko Cabana came down to ring side and assisted Vega in regaining the title. Vega would shock the fans by embracing and accepting Cabana's help thus turning him into a heel. Vega would go on to feud with Glacier for three months until it all came to a head when they faced off in a Lumberjack Match. Vega would again defeat Glacier thanks toBenny Blanco and Simon Sez, who due to Vega's win became commissioner. Vega would later face and defeat Team 3D member Brother Devon in Melbourne with the help ofBill DeMott , setting the stage for a tables match with bothBrother Devon andBrother Ray who formTeam 3D facing off againstRicky Vega andBill Demott . The match would prove to beBill Demott's retirement match and althoughTeam 3D would prevail by putting Vega through a table,Team 3D would giveBill Demott the respect he deserved by giving an emotional send off much to the delight of the DCW faithful.International Wrestling Association
On August 17th, 2007
Ricky Vega signed on with The IWA in Puerto Rico after being recruited by long time wrestling promoterMario Savoldi . Ricky debuted againstBalbuena in Penuelas and got his first win. He would go on to defeatCruzz and tv personality and wrestlerEl Bacano . During a joint angle between The NWA and IWA companies in Las Vegas, IWA wrestlerGlamour Boy Shane and former WWE and WCW starBilly Kidman where involved in a match. Former WWE starRob Conway ran in to interfere on Kidman's behalf, promptingRicky Vega to come out for the save. This event marked the beginning of a new IWA tag team formed byShane andRicky Vega calledThe RS Express .The RS Express debuted against IWA tag team championsThe Naturals consisting ofChase Stevens and Andy Douglas . With victory in hand the match was interrupted by two other tag team contendersThe Star Revolution Corporation andLos Aerios . Due to a disqualification the rematch took place on Total Impact (A Telemundo television show for the IWA) which ended withVega lockingStevens in the Bermuda triangle(sharp shooter)andAndy Douglas nailingVega with the championship belt bustingVega wide open and earning another disqualification finish. The two teams would meet again on the big show at the Pepin Centero de Bayamon.The RS Express had the belts in there grasps untilAndy Douglas nailedShane with the championship belt. This time however Orlando Toledo the manager ofThe Naturals distracted the referee and would get the pinfall win overThe RS Express . Fed up with getting hit with belts and falling short of goldThe RS Express would challengeThe Naturals to a hardcore street fight for the tag team championship belts. In a hard hitting and grueling street fight that saw sticks, chairs, pipes and even a fire extinguisher going offThe Naturals would once again prevail due to outside interference fromTim Arson who would hitVega with the extinguisher causing the pinfall.A tag team eliminator four corners style was the end result pitting
The Naturals ,Blitz andChicano ,The RS Express andTim Arson andBig Vito with the winner going to Las Vegas to challenge the NWA World tag team champions.The RS Express would eliminate the team ofArson andVito via pinfall fromVega onVito . Later in the match [Vega hadAndy Douglas perched up for his finish whenTim Arson ran in with the fire extinguisher and hitVega , allowingDouglas to get the pin onVega eliminating them from the match. This incident set the stage for a feud betweenRicky Vega andTim Arson . They would first meet in Caguas whereVega would attempt a top rope cross body only to have it reversed into a pin givingArson the victory. The two would hook up again in the town of Vega Alta whereRicky Vega would score the win via a German suplex reverse roll up pin. In the rubber matchRicky Vega would end the feud with an emphatic win via the bronx bomb finisher .Savio Vega in the middle of a feud withApollo began having differences of opinion withRicky Vega concerningSavio's actions and approach towardsApollo . It would all come to a head whenSavio Vega would meetApollo in a no DQ match.Savio would haveApollo in a camel clutch pulling onApollo with a bat.Ricky Vega would run to the ring and appeared to be trying to talkSavio out of further hurtingApollo .Savio would shoveRicky away and continue his assault.Blitz the IWA Heavyweight champion would then come down to the ring in hopes of helpingRicky talk toSavio and avoid the situation from getting worse.Savio would shoveBlitz away as well. WhenBlitz turned to seek assistance fromRicky Vega he was hit with a side walk slam. To much of the surprise of the fansRicky Vega began stomping onBlitz whileSavio continued his beating onApollo . Eventually the rest ofSavio andRicky 's stable came down to ringside to help in the punishment whenGlamour Boy Shane came down to confrontRicky Vega . After the two exchanged words the group who would be calledLos Autenticos began to attackShane .The stage was set for
The RS Express to meet one another at Christmas in PR show in Bayamon.Ricky Vega leading up to the match would blameShane for costing him the tag titles. The match would go toRicky Vega in front of a packed house of 5000 plus who where in attendance. The two men would take there feud to the Pepin in a rematch which was billed as a Puerto Rican street fight.Ricky Vega would again come out with the win and earn a shot for the IWA World Heavyweight title, but much to his disappointment it would not be a singles match.Blitz two weeks earlier would meetMr.Big the WWC World Heavyweight champion in a unification bout that would make history in Puerto Rico and finally have for the first time ever an undisputed World champion.Blitz would become the first undisputed World champion in Puerto Rico, and because of that win a five man dance was signed to take place in Caguas whereBlitz would defend againstMr.Big representing WWC,Bison Smith representing Japan,Ricky Vega the no.1 contender andGlamour Boy Shane .Ricky Vega prior to the match began referring to himself as "The Alpha Omega" claiming that the wrestling business today begins with and ends with him. Bold a statement as that was he would claim the match and the title of Undisputed World Champion by recording the pinfall onBlitz . "The Alpha Omega"Ricky Vega was now on top of the wrestling world and successful title defenses againstShane ,Apollo andBlitz enhanced his standing. In February 2008Vega was named the number one ranked wrestler in Latin America.A fallout would occur in April 2008 between
Mario Savoldi andSavio Vega that would see the company come to a work stopage. The disagreement and public hatred created a black eye on wrestling in Puerto Rico. Savoldi and Savio would go through court proceedings and after months of uncertainty Savio was awarded the company including assets. IWA returned to television in May of 2008 where a tournament for a new IWA champion came down to Blitz and Chicano. At the pepin in Bayamon, Ricky Vega would shock the island by returning to the IWA with the title in hand. Many had thought that Vega was with the Savoldi group but nonetheless he was penciled in to defend making the match a three way dance. Ricky was knocked out of the match early by his cousin Savio who was the special guest referee and had an interest in Chicano becoming the champion. The finish saw Blitz knock Savio out and hit Chicano with a leg drop from the top rope. Ricky came running back to the ring this time wearing a referee shirt and counted Chicano out, thus awarding Blitz the win and making him the new champion. He would align himself with Blitz and La Rabia. Ricky would then challenge his cousin Savio for his Revolution X title inPanama . After defeating Savio in a non-title match, Savio would get revenge by using a heel referee to assist in screwing Ricky out of a match. After the match, Ricky acknowledged the fans by throwing his Great Omega tank top into the crowd, much to the delight of the audience.In wrestling
*Finishing and signature moves
**"Vega Driver" (Inverted Samoan drop)
**Diving headbutt
**Superkick
**Spinning sitout spinebuster
**Diving elbow dropChampionships and accomplishments
*Dynamite Championship Wrestling
**DCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
*International Wrestling Association
**IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him # 235 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of thePWI Years in 2008
*Other titles
**WUW North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)References
External links
* [http://www.cagematch.de/cgi-bin/database/english/profile.cgi?action=overview&worker=00003297 Ricky Vega at Cagematch.de]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/r/ricky-vega.html Ricky Vega at Online World of Wrestling]
* [http://www.dynamitechampionshipwrestling.com]
* [http://www.coastalchampionshipwrestling.com]
* [http://www.fullimpactpro.com]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.