Dennis Rivera (wrestler)

Dennis Alexis Rivera Rodríguez (born September 27, 1979) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler.

His brother would be involved in the establishment of the International Wrestling Association in 2001, along Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Víctor Quiñones.

Due to this, Rivera formed friendships with several of the company's employees.

He decided to join a group in a training exercise out of curiosity, eventually choosing to practice full-time.

Before entering professional wrestling, Rivera was working in a factory and as a bass player for a rock band.

Upon learning that he was training, his brother enrolled him in a wrestling school, seeking better training.

His official debut took place on April 21, 2007, when he participated in a tag team match against Los Luchas.

Rivera's first participation in one of the company's major events occurred on June 9, 2007, when he defeated Tommy Diablo in a stipulation match.

The tag team soon joined the Starr Corporation, led by José Laureano also known as Chicky Starr.

Rivera sold his heel character by dropping his first last name, referring to himself as "Dennis Rodríguez", during this time him and Noel Rodríguez were referred to as "Los Rodríguez", eventually becoming "Los Dueños de la Malicia".

The team turned on Laureano joining Savio Vega, signifying the end of the "Starr Corporation".

The new stable was included in an angle, where they would ambush anyone with ties to the World Wrestling Council.

On May 31, 2008, Los Dueños de la Malicia won the IWA World Tag Team Championship.

At Summer Attitude 2008, they defeated the Cruz del Diablo to retain the titles.

The team was booked against Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Latin American X-Change, winning to retain the championship.

Subsequently, LAX returned at Noches de Campeones 2009 and Los Dueños de la Malicia dropped the titles to them.

The Loteria del Terror angle was concluded when Los Dueños de la Malicia were booked to beat Vega and Pérez.

Rivera was involved in a feud with Vega throughout the first half of the year, which came to a conclusion in May, when he was turned face by defending Vega from an assault.

At the IWA Tenth Anniversary event, former AAA Mega Champion Gilbert Cosme, known internationally as "El Mesías" Ricky Banderas, was booked over Rivera.

Consequently, he was expelled from Los Dueños de la Malicia, which at this point had become a stable.

At Histeria Boricua 2010, Rivera was booked over Kahagas to retain the title.

On April 10, 2010, Rivera debuted in the Champion Wrestling Association as a face, turning on his tag team partner during the match.

His participation with the promotion was brief, returning to the IWA months after his debut.

On September 10, 2010, he was involved in two matches, winning the first involving El Bronco by disqualification.

Later, Rivera was booked to defeat active World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee and first contender for the WWE United States Championship, Daniel Bryan, by pinfall to win the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship.

After winning this match, he entered a feud with Rick Stanley for the IWA Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, which was interrupted when a stipulation match was ordered and they were forced to team, winning the IWA World Tag Team Championship.

Rivera went on to defeat his partner and became a triple-champion.

He held the three belts until November 20, 2010, when he was stripped of the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship for failing to defend it in over 55 days and let Stanley be pinned to drop the tag team titles.

He is part of a tag team known as La Malicia along Noel Rodríguez, which after holding the International Wrestling Association's World Tag Team Championship on several occasions participated in the only unificatory tag team contest co-sanctioned by the two major Puerto Rican promotions of the 2000s, when they challenged for the World Wrestling Council's titles on September 24, 2011.

The result of the match remains controversial, Rivera and Rodríguez were originally declared winners and left the building with both sets of belts, but WWC revoked the original result to a "no contest" minutes later.

However, the IWA still recognized the coronation of the first Undisputed Tag Team Champions in Puerto Rico.

Rivera also worked in the World Wrestling League, where he held the WWL Trios Championship.

Rivera's brother, Juan Rivera is a professional wrestler who has wrestled in the World Wrestling Council and World Wrestling Federation, better known by his ring name, Savio Vega.

Due to his family's involvement in the business, he became familiar with its inner workings early in his life.

Dennis Rivera visited his brother Savio Vega while working in the WWE and got the opportunity to meet many WWE wrestlers backstage.

In the first half of 2011, he feuded with Chris Angel who had "retired" his brother in a previous storyline.

Rivera attempted to break Angel's undefeated streak twice, but failed on both occasions.

On February 19, 2012, he debuted a professional wrestling blog titled "La Rompecuellos", his first published work, for mainstream digital newspaper Noticel.

Rivera's first work in the company was helping with the scenario's preparation before a card and doing promotions.

This was incorporated in his first angle as an active wrestler, when he formed part of a stable known as the "Ring Crew" along Noel Rodríguez.