Hugo Savinovich

Last updated
Hugo Savinovich
Born (1959-02-15) February 15, 1959 (age 65)
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Spouse(s) Wendi Richter (div.)
Diana Mendéz de Savinovich (1990–2019)
Children2
Ring name(s) El Muñecazo
El Hombre Simio
Babyface Savinovich
Hugo Savinovich
La Pantera Asesina
La Ferretería Ambulante
El Hijo de Doña Mélida
El Deforme
Billed height178 cm (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Billed weight105 kg (231 lb) [1]
Trained byAngel "El Toro" Maldonado
Debut1978 [1]
Retired1997, 2001 [1]

Hugo Savinovich (born February 15, 1959) is an Ecuadorian sports commentator and retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. He is currently signed to Lucha Libre AAA as a Spanish commentator. He is best known as part of the Spanish language commentary team for the professional wrestling promotion WWE from 1994 to 2011. [1]

Contents

Early life

Savinovich moved from Ecuador with his family of Croatian descent to the Bronx, New York in the 1960s. Before becoming a commentator, he wrestled for many years, performing throughout Latin America in Puerto Rico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. He claims that becoming a professional wrestler literally saved his life, as he was originally a gang member in the streets of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He joined the sport under the guidance of Angel "El Toro" Maldonado.

Professional wrestling career

Savinovich began his wrestling career in working for promoter Angel "El Toro" Maldonado in New York as the masked La Pantera Asesina. He later worked for Mexican wrestling promoter Arturo Mendoza, who took him to Puerto Rico to work in his wrestling company based in the west part of the island. Savinovich then moved on to the World Wrestling Council in 1978 was, where he was originally a "tecnico" (the Spanish wrestling term for a "face", or "good guy"); after breaking up with Mendoza and his original wrestling partner, Little Chief Cherokee, he joined the local World Wrestling Council franchise in Puerto Rico, Capitol Sport Promotions (owned partially by Carlos Colón), where he gained notoriety for being one of the "rudo" wrestlers (i.e., "heels", or wrestling villains), with a penchant for flamboyancy and self-promotion that gained him his most famous ring name, "El Muñecazo" ("The Big Baby Doll"). Savinovich is on record as stating that he modeled his role after Gorgeous George, although his looks were particular to him (long hair with a mullet and David Letterman-like gaped teeth).

Savinovich went on many occasions to Dominicana de Espectaculos in the Dominican Republic.

He would tour the United States for Western States Sports and Mid-South Wrestling in 1980 and Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1984.

Hugo managed some the most notorious heels in professional wrestling such as Abdullah the Butcher, Ox Baker, The Sheik and Buddy Landell until he had a fallout with Barrabas Sr. becoming a face in 1984.

Savinovich eventually became a partner at World Wrestling Council, only to split with Colón a few years after a rather acrimonious business dispute with the company management forced him to leave and joined the rival American Wrestling Federation.

In 1991, Savinovich would comeback to in-ring competition after seven years and feud with Billy Joe Travis, which would last a couple years in WWC and AWF.

During his wrestling run, he wrestled names like Bret Hart, Eric Embry and his biggest rival, El Profe.

He had a high profile match when he teamed with Kane to defeat Chicky Starr and Victor The Bodyguard on April, 7 2001 for IWA Puerto Rico.

Savinovich had his retirement match on July 22, 2023 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, where he lost the match to El Profe.

Sports Commentary and Reporter

While working for Arturo Mendoza, Mendoza noticed that Savinovich had the skills needed for a wrestling announcer. Savinovich later became an announcer in the World Wrestling Council, when he replaced Rickin Sánchez who left the promotion in the fall of 1984. He remained there until November 1991, when he joined the American Wrestling Federation who ran in opposition to the World Wrestling Council. As a commentator, he used a high-pitched voice and fast narrative style, inspired from legendary Mexican sports announcer Gilberto Alberto Morales Villela, better known as Dr. Alfonso Morales, who was a prominent boxing and lucha libre play-by-play announcer and commentator.

In 1994, Savinovich accepted an offer from the World Wrestling Federation to work as a Spanish announcer. He was paired with Carlos Cabrera to host the Spanish language versions of Raw , SmackDown , Superstars , NXT , and pay-per-view (PPV) events. Savinovich and Cabrera provided live Spanish commentary for all weekly shows from the WWE Television Studios in Stamford, Connecticut and sat ringside for PPV events. This practice temporarily ended in mid-2006. Originally due to the addition of the now-defunct ECW brand, the announce teams of all three brands were present for tri-branded pay-per-views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series). During this time, Savinovich and Cabrera provided commentary for these events from the WWE Television Studios, but were still placed at ringside for brand-exclusive PPV events. When the brand-exclusive pay-per-view concept ended in 2007, the announce teams of all three brands were placed at ringside for all PPV events. Beginning in 2009, a single three-man announce team, composed of announcers from the two current brands, was designated for pay-per-views. Savinovich and Cabrera returned to ringside for PPVs at The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in 2009. However, they were not reinstated full-time until WrestleMania XXVI in 2010.

The Spanish announcers' table has become a staple in professional wrestling. It is a convenient device for wrestlers to execute dramatic moves on, such as the Piledriver or the Pedigree. The moves almost always result in the destruction of the table. One of the most famous on-air incidents that Savinovich was involved in with WWE was at WrestleMania XIX , when he accidentally received a chair shot to the head from Hulk Hogan in the match between Hogan and Vince McMahon after McMahon ducked a chair shot. He was unable to continue with the broadcast and Cabrera had to finish the show by himself.

Savinovich and Cabrera had a show at WWE.com called WWE En Español (WWE in Spanish), each episode of which lasted about 30 minutes; it was a recap of Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and pay-per-view events. The show celebrated its 100th episode in April 2006. WWE later launched a mini-show starring Hugo and Carlos called 28 Segundos, which consists of the announcers making fun of life. The show is in Spanish and can be found on WWE.com.

In 2009, Savinovich returned to the World Wrestling Council after a 17-year absence, and the 2009 WWC Anniversary Card was dedicated to him.

Savinovich was released from WWE on October 5, 2011, although he only announced his dismissal on October 19 of that year. [2] The details of his firing are not entirely clear, but different versions indicate that he did not leave on good terms with WWE, given that WWE did not say goodbye to the commentator on its official website.

Savinovich was a guest commentator at the AAA Triplemania XXI. Also at that event, he was in El Mesias' corner in a match against Blue Demon Jr. for the AAA Latin American Championship. During the inaugural season of Lucha Underground in 2014, there were two versions of the commentary shot, an English version with Matt Striker and Vampiro, and a Spanish version that was broadcast on Unimas, with Savinovich doing the play-by-play. Vampiro did the color commentary for the Spanish version also. In recent years Hugo Savinovich has been announcing for AAA in Mexico and promoting pro wrestling in Florida and throughout South America and Puerto Rico. [3] [ circular reference ]

In early January 2019, it was reported that Savinovich had signed with All Elite Wrestling as a Spanish commentator. He worked the events Double or Nothing and All Out along with Alex Abrahantes and Dasha Gonzalez. On March 16, 2019, at the Rey de Reyes event during a segment, Cody Rhodes appointed Savinovich as a commentator for All Elite Wrestling (recently allied with AAA) sometime that he accepted. Savinovich participated in two PPVs in Spanish for AEW, however, due to contractual problems with AAA and other internal issues with AEW, he was not hired again.

Hugo Savinovich currently works for Lucha Libre Triple A in Mexico as a Spanish Commentator. Hugo also works as head of creative staff for AAA along with Konnan and AAA’s owner, Dorian Roldán. He also works for GWE in Panamá as a commentator and executive producer. Hugo was hired by wrestling promoter Darko Navarro to be the face of the pro wrestling company Wrestling Superstar along with Navarro in Chile. Savinovich also works for WAR in Ecuador, and for NGCW in Florida as a Producer, Commentator and Main Booker. He also worked for Imperio Lucha Libre in Perú.

Hugo is currently a pro wrestling reporter in the Spanish-speaking community. He is part of Lucha Libre Online, along with Javier González and Michael Morales Torres. His work of reporting has been quoted by sources like Forbes, New York Post, among others, but not for his good work. He works live reports after WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling and AAA’s events on their Facebook Page. Hugo acts as an analyst of the latest wrestling events, while giving his point of view.

Controversies

Savinovich reported in November 2019 that WWE wrestlers were kidnapped in Saudi Arabia. WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt denied Savinovich's version of the events in July 2020. [4]

In August 2020, while promoting an interview with wrestler Karrion Kross, Savinovich claimed in a live broadcast that Kross had allegedly been a hitman for the mob in his youth. Hours later, Savinovich retracted the statement and apologized to Kross, stating that there was a mistranslation of his words into English. However, video of the interview disputed this. Súper Luchas denied that Kross had been a real killer in his youth, stating that Savinovich only wanted to generate money for his YouTube channel Lucha Libre Online by exaggerating stories. Savinovich later claimed that Kross called him quite angrily to ask for an explanation for his words. [5]

During 2020 he started many auctions with the stated goal of trying to raise money for poor communities. However, this has been questioned since less money has been sent to the beneficiaries and also due to the delivery of that money to other evangelical pastors led by Savinovich. [6]

Personal life

Savinovich was once married to former WWF women's champion Wendi Richter until the couple divorced. In 1990 he married Diana Mendéz and has two sons: Jovannie and Genaro. Diana Mendéz died on November 1, 2019, after a long battle with cancer.[ citation needed ]

On March 22, 1997, Savinovich suffered a severe episode of depression due to drug use and various personal problems that almost led him to commit suicide in a hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, just one day before WrestleMania 13. In April of that year he was arrested in a raid on his apartment in New York City. He returned to WWE in 1998, after being sentenced to eight years in jail for which he paid on probation.[ citation needed ]

He is a born-again Christian and travels most of South and Central America sharing his Christian testimony. Hugo is the author of his own autobiography book, Atángana Ring de Tentaciones. He has announced that will be publishing a second book in 2024.[ citation needed ]

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotes
El Profe (mask)Hugo Savinovich (hair) San Juan, Puerto Rico 3 Kings Day card January 6, 1988

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Wrestling Council</span> Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion

The World Wrestling Council (WWC), is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Gorilla Monsoon. By the mid-1990s, the promotion had changed its name to the World Wrestling Council. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance until 1988. WWC is among the oldest professional wrestling promotions in the world and one of only eight in the entire world to reach its 50th anniversary in continuous operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Místico</span> Mexican professional wrestler

Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde, better known by his ring name Místico, is a Mexican luchador enmascarado, who currently works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is the current NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion, in his first reign. He also makes appearances for partner promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is the current MLW World Middleweight Champion, in his first reign. Initially working as Místico, he later signed with WWE, where he was known under the name Sin Cara. Upon his return to Mexico, he worked under the name Myzteziz in AAA, before settling on the ring name Carístico upon returning to CMLL in 2015. In 2021, he regained the Místico name, due to his successor and tag team partner Místico II leaving CMLL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAA When Worlds Collide</span> Professional wrestling pay-per-view event

When Worlds Collide was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that took place on November 6, 1994, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. It was scripted and produced by the Mexican lucha libre company Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), now known as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, and their American partner, International Wrestling Council (IWC). The show was produced by the technical staff of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WCW Executive Vice-President Eric Bischoff had helped AAA secure the show to be broadcast by American pay-per-view providers, marking the first time a non-US-based wrestling promotion was shown live on US PPV television. The show was broadcast in both English and Spanish. Chris Cruise and Mike Tenay called the action in English, while Arturo Rivera and Andrés Maroñas handled the Spanish announcing. This event also marked Tenay's first commentating role in professional wrestling.

Carlos Rodrigo Cabrera is a Colombian former newsman and professional wrestling commentator currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He is best known for his time with WWE, where he was one half of the company's Spanish announce team in which he is the play-by-play announcer. His longtime broadcast partner was the former Ecuadorian professional wrestler Hugo Savinovich, who was the color commentator on the announce team until October 2011. Then, his partner was Marcelo Rodriguez until 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcelo Rodríguez</span> Venezuelan actor and wrestling announcer

Marcelo Antonio Rodríguez Laprea is a Venezuelan actor and professional wrestling announcer currently working for the international Spanish versions of WWE shows Raw,SmackDown,NXT, and pay-per-view (PPV) events alongside Jerry Soto as color commentator.

Héctor Meléndez, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico better known by his stage name "Moody" Jack Meléndez or simply Moody, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestling sportscaster. He is known in the United States as the Spanish play-by-play announcer for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and the personal ring announcer for The Latin American Xchange, a stable in TNA. He has also worded for wrestling promotions in Puerto Rico. Melendez is bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Banderas</span> Puerto Rican professional wrestler

Gilbert Cosme Ramírez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring names El Mesías, Mil Muertes, Ricky Banderas and King Muertes. He began his career in the International Wrestling Association based in Puerto Rico. While performing in the company, he won the IWA World Heavyweight Championship on five instances and held minor championships on fifteen separate occasions, before leaving the company in 2006. On March 12, 2006, he debuted in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), a promotion based in Mexico, as a character named Muerte Cibernetica and was involved in an angle where this character was "killed". In November 2006, Cosme was involved in the tapings of the Wrestling Society X television series, where he was the second and last wrestler to win the WSX Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberto Del Rio</span> Mexican-American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist

José Alberto Rodríguez Chucuan is a Mexican-American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter, sports commentator, and mixed martial artist, currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a commentator. He also makes appearances for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) as a wrestler. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Alberto Del Rio, and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Alberto El Patrón.

<i>Triplemanía I</i> 1993 Asistencia Asesoría y Administración event

Triplemanía I was the first ever Triplemanía lucha libre, or professional wrestling show promoted by Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). The show took place on April 30, 1993 in Mexico City, Mexico's Plaza de Toros bullfighting arena. The Main event featured a "Retirement" match between Konnan and Cien Caras, where the storyline was that the person that lost would have to retire from professional wrestling. The match was billed as the first time such a stipulation had ever been used in Lucha Libre, while it was rare, retirement matches had happened in Mexico before that time. The semi-main event featured the zenith of the storyline feud between Perro Aguayo and Máscara Año 2000 as the two fought in a Lucha de Apuestas, or bet match, where Aguayo put his hair on the line and Máscara Año 2000 bet his wrestling mask on the outcome of the match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrade El Idolo</span> Mexican professional wrestler

Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Andrade. He is also known for his appearances in Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling under the ring name La Sombra and for the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Andrade El Idolo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triplemanía XVI</span> 2008 Lucha Libre AAA World Wide event

Triplemanía XVI was the sixteenth Triplemanía professional wrestling show scripted and produced by Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). The show took place on June 13, 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico. The show was available on pay-per-view (PPV) in Mexico, the first Triplemanía show to be offered on PPV. The main event featured a singles match for the AAA Mega Championship. Champion Cibernético defended against El Zorro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triplemanía XXI</span> 2013 Lucha Libre AAA World Wide event

Triplemanía XXI was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) produced by the AAA promotion, which took place on June 16, 2013, at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. The event was the 21st year that AAA held a Triplemanía and it was the 28th show held under the Triplemanía as AAA held multiple Triplemanía shows some years. The annual Triplemanía show is AAA's biggest show of the year, serving as the culmination of major storylines and feature wrestlers from all over the world competing in what has been described as AAA's version of WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Liga Wrestling</span> Wrestling promotion company based in Puerto Rico

La Liga Wrestling, was a wrestling promotion company based out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2012 by businessman Richard Negrín with the cooperation of established wrestling figures such as Hugo Savinovich, the company developed a global scope, establishing alliances with over a dozen international promotions and holding shows throughout the Americas. In line with the traditional model of professional wrestling, LLW's shows do not feature legitimate sporting contests. Instead, its programs feature storyline-driven combat sport matches with predetermined outcomes and acrobatic and grappling maneuvers that are worked, which are publicly promoted as legitimate bouts to accentuate the entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional wrestling in Puerto Rico</span> History of professional wrestling in Puerto Rico

Professional wrestling has been considered one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Puerto Rico for more than fifty years. It is considered the highest source of income in the sports entertainment industry on the island; a minor industry within its tertiary sector in its overall economy. After sports commentator José Antonio Géigel and a group of wrestlers founded the first promotion based in Puerto Rico, the discipline has consistently remained being broadcast in local television. Originally a mixture of foreign wrestling styles, the Puerto Rican wrestling style developed into a unique form of performing. Most notably, local promotions relied on unusual matches, often involving foreign objects or odd arenas. Local wrestling is considered to be one of the pillars that contributed to modern hardcore wrestling, being the territory where the first "fire" and "death" matches took place. Local promotions exploited the innovation and held their cards in large stadiums, eventually becoming an element of popular culture. During the course of six decades, Carlos Colón Sr. has developed over 70 scars in his forehead that are product of this method of performing, becoming the main symbol of the style's nature. The storylines in Puerto Rico have historically revolved around the "foreign heel" formula, with local wrestlers obtaining victories over notable figures that include Ric Flair, Harley Race, Hulk Hogan, Terry Funk, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Hall, Booker T, Samoa Joe and Curt Hennig among several others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triplemanía XXII</span> 2014 Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide event

Triplemanía XXII was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) produced by the AAA promotion. It took place on August 17, 2014, at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. The event was the twenty-second annual Triplemanía, which is AAA's biggest show of the year, airing in Mexico as a regular PPV and internationally as an internet pay-per-view (iPPV). This was the first AAA PPV event to be broadcast simultaneously in English through SAP, having Hugo Savinovich and Vampiro as announcers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triplemanía XXIII</span> 2015 Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide event

Triplemanía XXIII was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) produced by the Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) promotion. It took place on August 9, 2015, at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City, Mexico. The event was the twenty-third year in a row that AAA has held a Triplemanía show, and was the thirtieth show held under the Triplemanía name since 1993 as AAA held multiple Triplemanía shows some years. The annual Triplemanía show is AAA's biggest show of the year, serving as the culmination of major storylines and feature wrestlers from all over the world competing in what has been described as AAA's version of WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event.

The Hybrid 2 (TH2) were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Angélico and Jack Evans. They have previously competed in Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) - where they were three-time AAA World Tag Team Champions - and U.S. independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) as Los Güeros del Cielo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angel Garza</span> Mexican professional wrestler

Humberto Garza Solano is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Smackdown brand under the ring name Angel. He is one-half of Los Lotharios with his cousin Berto and is a member of Legado Del Fantasma.

Triplemanía Regia II was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event that was promoted and produced by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). The event was originally scheduled to take place on October 10, 2020 but was postponed and later cancelled on November 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on October 18, 2021, AAA announced that the event would be occurring on December 4 at the Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. It marked the 29th year in a row that AAA has held a Triplemanía show, and the 36th overall show held under the Triplemanía banner since 1993. The annual Triplemanía show is AAA's biggest event of the year, serving as the culmination of major storylines in what has been described as AAA's version of WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event. The event aired on PPV via FITE TV in the U.S. and in Mexico on Space and TV Azteca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triplemanía XXX</span> 2022 Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide event

Triplemanía XXX was a three-day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted and produced by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. The event was held on April 30, June 18, and October 15, 2022. The April 30 event took place at Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey in Monterrey, the June 18 event took place at Estadio Caliente Xoloitzcuintles in Tijuana and the October 15 event took place at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City. It marked the 30th year in a row that AAA has held a Triplemanía show and comprised the 37th, 38th, and 39th overall shows held under the Triplemanía banner since 1993. The annual Triplemanía show is AAA's biggest event of the year, serving as the culmination of major storylines in what has been described as AAA's version of WrestleMania or their Super Bowl event. Held as part of AAA's 30th Anniversary Tour, Triplemanía XXX was the first Triplemanía event since 1996 to be held across three days. The event aired on PPV via the FITE TV service.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hugo Savinovich". Cagematch.de. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  2. Beltrán, William (October 19, 2011). "Video: Hugo Savinovich anuncia oficialmente que deja WWE". Superluchas.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  3. Lucha Underground
  4. Beltrán, William (July 21, 2020). "EXCLUSIVA: WWE vuelve a desmentir a Hugo Savinovich: El abogado de la empresa habla". Superluchas.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  5. "Hugo Savinovich dice por error que luchador Karrion Kross fue asesino a sueldo en su juventud". Guioteca.
  6. "WWE, Arabia Saudita y las mentiras de Hugo Savinovich". Súper Luchas .
  7. "NWA Western States Tag Team Title (W. Texas)".
  8. "Dominican Republic Tag Team Title".