Kwang (1993–1995)
After losing two dark matches in the World Wrestling Federation as TNT in July 1993,
[6] Rivera debuted as Kwang on January 10, 1994.
[7] This gimmick incorporated clichéd elements previously used to portray mysterious "Asian" wrestlers, including a mask, a stereotypical martial arts moveset, and
Asian mist. The WWF aired promotional vignettes in the weeks before his televised debut, which happened on January 22, 1994, when he, managed by
Harvey Wippleman, was the fourth man to enter the
1994 Royal Rumble. During the match, he teamed with the fifth entrant,
Owen Hart, battling the face wrestlers to a stalemate until
Diesel entered seventh and eliminated all the previous entrants.
Kwang's televised singles debut was on the January 30 episode of
Wrestling Challenge, where he defeated Ray Hudson. On the April 18 episode of
Monday Night Raw, he lost to the WWF Champion,
Bret Hart. On the May 9
Raw, he lost a
King of the Ring qualifying match to
Razor Ramon. On September 12, he lost to
The Undertaker. On January 9, 1995, he was at ringside when
Howard Finkel won a Tuxedo match against Wippleman, who then abandoned his role as Kwang's manager. After an appearance in the
1995 Royal Rumble, where he would eliminate
Doink the Clown, Kwang gradually faded from WWF programming, losing his final match to
Hakushi on the April 29, 1995 episode of
WWF Superstars.
Alliance with Razor Ramon (1995–1996)[edit]
On May 14, 1995, Rivera appeared in street clothes during the WWF's
first In Your House pay-per-view. When Razor Ramon was attacked by
Jeff Jarrett and
The Roadie, Rivera, portraying a
fan in the audience, jumped the guardrail to rescue him.
[2] Later that night, Razor introduced him as his childhood friend,
Savio Vega.
[2]
Vega made his wrestling debut on the May 28 episode of
WWF Action Zone, defeating
Eli Blu. He then entered the
1995 King of the Ring tournament, as a replacement for the injured Razor Ramon. He qualified by defeating
Irwin R. Schyster in the event's pre-show, then defeated
Yokozuna by countout in the first round, after interference from Yokozuna's tag partner,
Owen Hart, backfired. He then defeated The Roadie with a rollup pinfall. He faced
Mabel in the finals, losing after Mabel hit a splash off the ropes to win the tournament.
[8]
The next night on
RAW, Vega defeated
Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett by disqualification. On July 31, Vega and Razor wrestled Yokozuna and Hart to a time limit draw, then lost a rematch the next week. For the rest of the year, he wrestled in tag matches with Razor and
Bob Holly, as well as in singles matches against wrestlers including
Waylon Mercy,
Sid and
Goldust. On January 1, 1996, he teamed with Razor, losing to
The Smoking Gunns, then afterwards his alliance with Razor quietly ended.
Various feuds (1996)[edit]
Vega was the twelfth entrant in the
1996 Royal Rumble, eliminating
Dory Funk, Jr. before being eliminated by
Vader. The following night on
RAW, he lost to Vader. On the March 11
RAW, he wrestled
Stone Cold Steve Austin for the first time, resulting in a double countout. This led to a feud, and a series of matches. The first of these happened at
WrestleMania XII, both men's
WrestleMania debut, which Austin won.
[9][10]
On April 15, Vega challenged Goldust for the Intercontinental Championship. Vega won the match, but WWF President Gorilla Moonson reverted the decision and vacated the title. The same day, Vega and Goldust fought for the title, which was won by Goldust. On the April 13
Superstars, Rivera, wearing a mask featuring the
flag of Puerto Rico and billed as
The Caribbean Kid, defeated Austin by pinfall, then unmasked himself. This was Austin's first singles defeat in the WWF, and The Caribbean Kid's sole appearance. Austin won a rematch at
In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies on April 28. One month later, at
In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, Vega defeated Austin in a
Caribbean Strap Match. According to the stipulations, Austin's manager,
Ted DiBiase, had to leave the WWF. This was DiBiase's last appearance on WWF TV until 2005.
[11]
Vega then feuded with
Justin Bradshaw, winning their first match on July 8. On July 21, he lost a rematch at
In Your House 9: International Incident. On August 12, 1996, Vega lost his first match by submission to
Crush. At
SummerSlam, he lost a match to Owen Hart, and was then assaulted by Bradshaw. At
In Your House 10: Mind Games, he defeated Bradshaw in a Caribbean Strap Match, ending their feud.
On the September 7 episode of
Raw, Vega defeated
Hunter Hearst Helmsley. This was followed with a victory over
the fake Razor Ramon, who had appeared following the
original Razor's departure to
World Championship Wrestling. On the December 22
Superstars, he teamed with Jesse James to unsuccessfully challenge Owen Hart and
Davey Boy Smith for the
WWF Tag Team Championship.
Vega entered the
1997 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by eventual winner Austin.
The Nation of Domination (1997)[edit]
Main article:
The Nation of Domination
On January 25, 1997, Vega turned heel and joined
The Nation of Domination, a stable led by
Faarooq, after turning on his partner,
Ahmed Johnson. Johnson became the Nation's main rival in the following months. In his first match as a member, he defeated
Flash Funk. At
In Your House 13: Final Four, he teamed with Faarooq and
Crush to win a six-man tag match. In February, he lost consecutive matches by disqualification to
Marc Mero and Goldust.
On March 17, 1997, Vega and Crush lost to
The Legion of Doom by disqualification. At
WrestleMania 13, they teamed with Faarooq to lose a six-man street fight tag match against the Legion of Doom and Johnson. On the next
Raw, Vega lost to Johnson by disqualification when The Nation interfered.
Vega then feuded with Intercontinental Champion
Rocky Maivia. Like Austin a year earlier, Maivia entered the feud as an undefeated prospect with a major push. On the April 14
RAW, Vega defeated Maivia by pinfall, while holding his tights. At
In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, he once again defeated Maivia, this time by countout. After the match, he attacked Maivia's knee.
On May 11, at
In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell, Vega wrestled as part of a gauntlet match against Johnson and was eliminated, before Faarooq won it for The Nation. The next night on
Raw, he challenged The Undertaker for the WWF Championship, but was disqualified. On June 9, The Nation lost a rematch from WrestleMania 13 against Johnson and The Legion of Doom. After this, The Nation began having internal problems and soon disbanded, when Faarooq expelled several members, including Vega and Crush.
[12]
Los Boricuas (1997–1999)[edit]
Following his departure from The Nation of Domination, Vega formed his own stable,
Los Boricuas, composed of Puerto Rican wrestlers, brought in from Puerto Rican promotions, all members of notable wrestling families.
Miguel Pérez, Jr., a former
Extreme Championship Wrestling and
World Championship Wrestling wrestler, is the son of
Miguel Pérez, Sr.,
Jesús Castillo, Jr. is the son of Pedro "Huracán" Castillo, and
Jose Estrada, Jr. is the son of
José Estrada, Sr.. Meanwhile, Faarooq had organized The Nation into a black-only group, while Crush had formed
The Disciples of Apocalypse, a white biker stable, launching an angle which became known as "The Gang Wars", based on ethnic stereotypes and loosely mirroring some actual gang wars. The three four-member teams wrestled against one another, with none gaining a clear advantage early on. At
SummerSlam, Los Boricuas defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse. In the first singles match between former Nation members, Vega fought Crush to a no contest. At
Ground Zero: In Your House on September 7, he defeated Faarooq and Crush in triple threat match. At the UK-exclusive pay-per-view, One Night Only, Vega and Pérez unsuccessfully challenged
The Headbangers for the
WWF World Tag Team Championship. At
Badd Blood: In Your House, The Disciples defeated Los Boricuas. Between October and November, Vega also had singles matches, losing to Goldust, Mero and
Ken Shamrock.
On the October 27
RAW, Vega and Pérez unsuccessfully challenged The Legion of Doom for the Tag Team Championship. In their next match, they lost to
The New Age Outlaws. In December 1997, Los Boricuas and The Disciples exchanged victories.
His first singles contest of 1998 was a lost to
Owen Hart. The next week, Vega and Pérez defeated
Taka Michinoku and
Scott Taylor. He was the 26th entrant in the
1998 Royal Rumble, and, like the year before, was eliminated by Steve Austin. In the Royal Rumble's main event, Vega and Los Boricuas attacked the Undertaker alongside the New Age Outlaws to aid Shawn Michaels in defeating him in a casket match. Vega headlined
No Way Out of Texas: In Your House on February, when he replaced the injured Shawn Michaels in the eight-man tag main event, teaming with Triple H and the New Age Outlaws in a losing effort.
[2] On the March 9
Raw, he wrestled Triple H to a no contest.
At
WrestleMania 14, Vega wrestled in a battle royal, won by Legion of Doom 2000. A week later, Los Boricuas lost to LOD 2000. The Gang Wars continued with matches against The Disciples in April. On May 4, Rivera lost to the NWA World Champion,
Dan Severn.
The Gang Wars came to an end when the leaders of the three stables faced off in a triple threat match, which Vega won. After the angle, Los Boricuas splintered into two tag teams. On July 6, Vega defeated
Brakkus in a
Brawl for All tournament boxing match. On August 10, he lost a quarterfinal match to
Darren Drozdov. As a result of a severe arm injury, he wouldn't appear on WWF television until July 1999. He would make a number of appearances on
WWF Super Astros, and would participate in
WWF Shotgun and
WWF Jakked/Metal dark matches (sometimes with other Boricua members). He was soon released from his WWF contract in September 1999.
