Manny Fernandez (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Emanuel "Manny" Fernandez (born July 27, 1954) is an American professional wrestler
currently wrestling for different independent
promotions. He is best known by the his ring name
"The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez.
. He also formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes
, and they won the NWA World tag team title
from Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle
. They feuded with them and Ivan's "nephew" Nikita Koloff
until losing the title to the Koloffs in early 1985.
Fernandez soon became involved in a feud with Arn Anderson
after being attacked by Anderson and laid out. He teamed with Thunderbolt Patterson
to feud with Arn and Ole Anderson
.
In late 1985, he started helping Jimmy Valiant
in his war against Paul Jones
and his "Army". He formed a team with Valiant called the "B and B Connection" ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). He had some matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Barbarian. He also formed a tag team with Hector Guerrero
in 1986 called The Latin Connection. In the summer of 1986, Fernandez accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant starting a feud between the two. Later in the year, Jones also brought in Rick Rude
. Pairing Fernandez and Rude together, the duo defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World tag team title. They feuded with the Express and kept the titles until June 1987 when Rude left the promotion, which was resolved with a "phantom title change".
Fernandez teamed with Ivan Koloff for the rest of the summer and left for the Mid-Southern promotion in late 1987. He was soon in the American Wrestling Association
(AWA) feuding with Wahoo McDaniel
after he attacked Wahoo and destroyed his headdress. The two veterans, who had feuded briefly in the NWA, engaged in an "Indian Strap match" at the AWA pay-per-view
Super Clash III. After that feud ended in late 1988, Fernandez headed to Puerto Rico
's World Wrestling Council
(WWC) where he stayed through 1991 and then he headed to the independent circuit.
. He was an All-League (Santa Teresa Athletic League) linebacker in football and a league champion in wrestling at 191 lbs. Fernandez graduated from Lincoln High in 1973.
He was also an All-American offense guard for the San Jose City College
Jaguars football team under coach Jim Wheelahan. He also played football at West Texas State University. He played professional football in the NFL for three years.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
currently wrestling for different independent
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
promotions. He is best known by the his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
"The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez.
Professional wrestling career
Fernandez had success 1979, becoming Florida Heavyweight Champion after a feud with Terry FunkTerry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
. He also formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
, and they won the NWA World tag team title
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
from Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle
Don Kernodle
Charles Donald Kernodle, Jr. better known as Don Kernodle was an American professional wrestler with the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions.-Professional wrestling career:...
. They feuded with them and Ivan's "nephew" Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff is a retired American professional wrestler,. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes .Nikita was brought into the National...
until losing the title to the Koloffs in early 1985.
Fernandez soon became involved in a feud with Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
after being attacked by Anderson and laid out. He teamed with Thunderbolt Patterson
Claude Patterson
Claude Patterson, better known professionally as Thunderbolt Patterson, was an American professional wrestler best known for his efforts at starting a union for wrestlers...
to feud with Arn and Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski , better known by his ring name of Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestler and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother...
.
In late 1985, he started helping Jimmy Valiant
Jimmy Valiant
James Harold Fanning is a former professional wrestler and author better known as Jimmy Valiant.-Personal life:...
in his war against Paul Jones
Paul Jones (wrestler)
Paul Jones is a retired professional wrestler and manager. He had success in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Mid-Atlantic region, including an NWA World Tag Team title reign with Ricky Steamboat.-Career:...
and his "Army". He formed a team with Valiant called the "B and B Connection" ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). He had some matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Barbarian. He also formed a tag team with Hector Guerrero
Hector Guerrero
Héctor Manuel Guerrero Llanes is a Mexican-American professional wrestler, better known simply by his paternal name, Héctor Guerrero...
in 1986 called The Latin Connection. In the summer of 1986, Fernandez accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant starting a feud between the two. Later in the year, Jones also brought in Rick Rude
Richard Rood
Richard Erwin Rood , better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation , in the 1980s and 1990s.Among other accolades, Rude was a four-time world...
. Pairing Fernandez and Rude together, the duo defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World tag team title. They feuded with the Express and kept the titles until June 1987 when Rude left the promotion, which was resolved with a "phantom title change".
Fernandez teamed with Ivan Koloff for the rest of the summer and left for the Mid-Southern promotion in late 1987. He was soon in the American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
(AWA) feuding with Wahoo McDaniel
Wahoo McDaniel
Edward "Wahoo" McDaniel was a Choctaw-Chickasaw Native American who achieved fame as a professional American football player and later as a professional wrestler.-Early life:...
after he attacked Wahoo and destroyed his headdress. The two veterans, who had feuded briefly in the NWA, engaged in an "Indian Strap match" at the AWA pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
Super Clash III. After that feud ended in late 1988, Fernandez headed to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
's World Wrestling Council
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
(WWC) where he stayed through 1991 and then he headed to the independent circuit.
Personal life
Before wrestling, Fernandez attended Lincoln High School in San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. He was an All-League (Santa Teresa Athletic League) linebacker in football and a league champion in wrestling at 191 lbs. Fernandez graduated from Lincoln High in 1973.
He was also an All-American offense guard for the San Jose City College
San Jose City College
San Jose City College, founded in 1921, is a community college located in the city of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California.San Jose City College was originally called San Jose Junior College and operated in downtown San Jose, California...
Jaguars football team under coach Jim Wheelahan. He also played football at West Texas State University. He played professional football in the NFL for three years.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Flying Burrito (Flying forearm smash)
- ManagerManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
s and valets- Paul JonesPaul Jones (wrestler)Paul Jones is a retired professional wrestler and manager. He had success in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Mid-Atlantic region, including an NWA World Tag Team title reign with Ricky Steamboat.-Career:...
- El Profe
- Natasha
- Skandor Akbar
- Paul Jones
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "The Raging Bull"
- Entrance MusicMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "Beat ItBeat It"Beat It" is a song written and performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones . It is the third single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Eddie Van Halen was hired to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but was prevented by his...
" by Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
(1985)
- "Beat It
Championships and accomplishments
- All Pro WrestlingAll Pro WrestlingAll Pro Wrestling Gym Wars is a professional wrestling television program produced by APW which originally aired weekly on Saturday mornings on KFTY Channel 50 in the San Francisco Bay Area, beginning December 5, 2009. The series features the professional wrestlers of All Pro Wrestling competing in...
- APW Universal Heavyweight ChampionshipAPW Universal Heavyweight ChampionshipThe APW Universal Heavyweight Championship is a title contested in All Pro Wrestling. It was introduced on October 12, 1996 when Robert Thompson became the first champion...
(1 time)
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship a professional wrestling championship that currently serves as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Midwest. For most of its existence, however, the title was defended in the NWA affiliate Central States Wrestling from...
(1 time)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Florida Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett...
(1 time) - NWA Florida Television ChampionshipNWA Florida Television ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1970 until 1987.-Title history:The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida...
(1 time)
- Continental Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- CWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipAWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipThe AWA International Heavyweight Championship, originally known as the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association...
(1 time)
- Eastern States Wrestling / Eastern Shores Wrestling
- ESW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, first)
- International Wrestling Association
- IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)The Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a short-lived championship that was defended sporadically and periodically in Jim Crockett, Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Created in 1978, the title was used in specialty matches in which the combatants would wear...
(1 time) - NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(2 times) - with Dusty RhodesDusty Rhodes (wrestler)Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
(1) and Rick RudeRichard RoodRichard Erwin Rood , better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation , in the 1980s and 1990s.Among other accolades, Rude was a four-time world...
(1)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him # 188 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- PWI ranked him # 88 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Dusty Rhodes.
- Southwest Championship WrestlingSouthwest Championship WrestlingSouthwest Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joseph Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company.-Venues:...
- SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles ChampionshipSCW Southwest Brass Knuckles ChampionshipThe SWCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship was a short-lived secondary title in Southwest Championship Wrestling. It lasted from 1981 until about 1983.-Title history:-External links:*...
(1 time) - SCW Southwest Heavyweight ChampionshipSCW Southwest Heavyweight ChampionshipThe SWCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title of Southwest Championship Wrestling for most of its existence. It was established as the SWCW Southwest Television Championship in 1978 and was renamed in February 1979, and it lasted until the promotion was sold to Texas...
(1 time) - SCW Southwest Tag Team ChampionshipTexas All-Star USA Tag Team ChampionshipThe Texas All-Star USA Tag Team Championship was a major tag team title in Texas All-Star Wrestling. The title was first established in Southwest Championship Wrestling in 1981 when it was the SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship...
(2 times) - with Chavo Guerrero Sr. (1) and Al PerezAl PerezAl Perez is a retired American professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:Perez began wrestling as an amateur in high school and was one of the top athletes in his home state of Florida. He started professional wrestling in 1982.He formed a team in ICW with Joe Savoldi known as the "New...
(1) - SCW World Tag Team ChampionshipSCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe SCW World Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Southwest Championship Wrestling from its establishment in 1980 until 1984, when the title was abandoned.-History:-External links:*...
(1 time) - with Chavo Guerrero Sr.
- World Wrestling CouncilWorld Wrestling CouncilThe World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
- WWC North American Heavyweight ChampionshipWWC North American Heavyweight ChampionshipThe WWC North American Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship defended in the Puerto Rican promotion, the World Wrestling Council. Created in 1974, it was the primary singles championship of the promotion until the creation of the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship...
(1 time) - WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight ChampionshipWWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight ChampionshipThe WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship is a secondary professional wrestling championship that is defended in the World Wrestling Council based in Puerto Rico. The title was created in January 1974 and, as its name suggests, is defended exclusively within Puerto Rico.-Title history:...
(1 time)