LATIN PRODIGY
tony APOLLO
JAN. 20, 2004
A  WRESTLING  CHAMPION !!
PROFILE OF
A  TRUE ATHLETE,
A TRUE  PROFESSIONAL,
AND  A  TRUE  ENTERTAINER:

THE  LATIN PRODIGY
tony APOLLO
tony APOLLO A.K.A. ricky APOLLO
HEIGHT: 6'-0"
WEIGHT: 240 LBS.
BIRTDAY: AUGUST 7TH
BORN IN THE USA
LATIN HERITAGE
SIGNATURE FINISHING MANEUVERS

*SPLASH FROM TURN BUCKLE
(Begin of Career)
*MOONSAULT
(Begin of Career)
*UNIQUE AND POWERFULL FORM OF
SCORPION DEADTH LOCK/SHARPSHOOTER
(On occassion)
*FROGSPLASH
(Mainly from slingshot in mid. top rope, as well as turnbuckle depending on tightness of ropes.)

IT WASN'T UNTIL 1993 THAT ricky APOLLO WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO FULFILL A DREAM HE ONCE BELIEVED LOST, PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

BEFORE WE LOOK AT RICKY'S LIFE AS A PRO WRESTLER, LET US TAKE A BRIEFLY REVIEW HIS LIFE PRE-WRESTLING.

AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, RICKY APOLLO WAS INTRODUCED TO A WIDE VARIETY OF SPORTS. JUST AS HE DID, AND CONTINUES TO DO, WITH HIS EDUCATION, HE EXCELLED IN ANY SPORT HE PARTICIPATED IN. BECAUSE OF DESIRE TO CONQUER AND OVERCOME CHALLENGES, RICKY SET OUT TO COMPETE IN MANY DIFFERENT SPORTS, FROM FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, SOCCER AND VOLLEYBALL, TO GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, WATER POLO. AND BASEBALL. DUE TO HIS EXTREME DEDICATION AND TALENT, HE WAS LABELED AN OLYMPIC HOPEFUL IN BOTH GYMNASTICS AND VOLLEYBALL, NOT TO MENTION TO GO PRO IN FOOTBALL. HOWEVER, DUE TO MORE PRESSING PRIORITIES IN HIS FAMILY LIFE, HE WAS FORCED TO GIVE UP ANY OF DREAMS OF GOING PRO OR TO THE OLYMPICS.
TIME PASSED, AND RICKY APOLLO'S LIFE WENT ON; BUT, HIS DESIRE TO COMPETE, TO PERFORM, AND ENTERTAIN REFUSED TO DIMINISH. FINALLY, A DECISION WAS REACHED,

"I'M GONNA TRY AND BECOME
A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER."

APOLLO NEEDED A WAY TO PUT HIS ATHLETIC TALENT TO WORK, AS WELL AS HIS DESIRE TO ENTERTAIN, AND WHERE BETTER THAN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

THE DREAM SHATTERED? INITIALLY, ALL OF RICKY'S ATTEMPTS TO BECOME A WRESTLER WERE SHOT DOWN, DENIED. WHY? HE WAS TOLD HE WAS TOO SMALL. KEEP IN MIND, THIS WAS BEFORE ANY CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION CAME INTO EXISTENCE. YEARS HAD PASSED, AND JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO GIVE HIS DREAM UP, HE MADE ONE LAST ATTEMPT.

WAS 1993 GOING TO BE THE YEAR?

UPON INTERVIEWING WITH THE SWF's (A LOCAL INDEPENDENT WRESTLING PROMOTION) PROMOTER, NEXT WAS A TRYOUT. JUST AS THE INTERVIEW, THE TRYOUT WAS ALSO A SUCCESS. SWF TRAINER, DEMON HELLSTORM, SEEMED EXCITED AND EAGER TO GET RICKY WORKING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. BEFORE YEAR'S END, HIS DREAM BECAME A REALITY AND HE FOUND HIMSELF IN HIS FIRST SHOW. FROM THERE IT WAS NONE STOP!

BEFORE HE KNEW IT, HE WAS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF
THE BEST A LOCAL FEDERATION COULD OFFER!

MANY HAD, AND CONTINUE TO HAVE, HIGH HOPES FOR RICKY APOLLO. HIS CAREER HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN FAIRY TALE MATERIAL, THOUGH.

YES!!
RICKY APOLLO WAS THE FIRST IN FCW HISTORY
TO REIGN AS A DUAL CHAMPION,
SIMULTANEOUSLY HOLDING
THE CARIBBEAN TITLE, AS WELL AS THE TAG-TEAM TITLE
AND NEVER BEATEN FOR EITHER!

JUST AS RICKY HAD EXPERIENCED SUCCESS, SO DID HE EXPERIENCE HIS SHARE OF SETBACKS. EARLIER IN HIS CAREER WITH THE SWF, HE SUFFERED A SEVERE INJURY TO HIS LEFT ARM, CAUSING HIM TO PUT HIS CAREER ON HOLD. THE INJURY CONSISTED OF A COMPOUND FRACTURE OF BOTH THE ULNA AND RADIUS, A COMPLETE LACERATION TO THE ULNA ARTERY, AS WELL AS DAMAGE TO THE ULNA NERVE; THUS, REQUIRING IMMEDIATE SURGERY. HE WAS FORCED TO WAIT UNTIL THE HEALING WAS COMPLETE AND THE TWO SURGICALLY IMPLANTED STEEL PLATES WERE REMOVED. AS IF THIS INJURY WASN'T BAD ENOUGH, AND JUST AS HIS CAREER WAS SKY ROCKETING, TONY WAS FORCED TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND RETIRED FROM THE SPORT HE LOVED SO.

IT WAS BACK IN MARCH OF 1999, DURING A FCW SHOW, AND AS A MEMBER OF THE FP&L (FLORIDA POWER AND LUVIN'), THAT "TONY" APOLLO SUFFERED A POSSIBLE CAREER ENDING INJURY. ONCE AGAIN, HE WAS SIDELINED, THIS TIME FOR A YEAR. DURING THIS TIME, TONY APOLLO UNDERWENT SURGERY TO HIS LEFT KNEE, AS WELL AS MUCH NEEDED AND REQUIRED REHAB. MUCH TO THE DOCTORS' SURPRISE, HE HEALED QUICKER AND BETTER THAN EXPECTED.

MOREOVER, RICKY TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO FOCUS ON HIS TRAINING IN AND OUT OF THE WRESTLING RING. ALSO DURING THIS TIME OFF, HE CONTINUED TO ATTEND ALL FCW SHOWS, THUS PROVING HIS DEDICATION AND LOVE FOR THE SPORT. HE RETURNED ON MARCH 4, 2000. HOWEVER, HE HAD TO GO BACK TO RETIREMENT AND CONTINUE WITH THE REHABILITATION DURING TEN MORE MONTHS.

HIS RETURN CAME ON JUNE 9, 2001
IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT RICKY WAS IN HIS BEST SHAPE EVER!

RICKY WAS IN HIS BEST SHAPE EVER, PUTTING ON A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WEIGHT, YET RETAINING HIS AGILITY AND AERIAL ABILITIES.
WHY THE INCREASE IN SIZE? IT HAS RECENTLY COME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE FLORIDA PROMOTIONS AND THE FANS THAT RICKY APOLLO NO LONGER WISHES TO BE STEREOTYPED AND LIMITED TO THE CRUISER WEIGHT/LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION.
"I AM CONFIDENT THAT I CAN HAVE THE SAME SUCCESS I HAVE HAD IN THE LIGHTER WEIGHT AND TAG-TEAM DIVISION WHEN FACING THE BIG BOYS, THE HEAVYWEIGHTS. ESPECIALLY WITH THE ADDED SIZE, STRENGTH, AND NEWLY EXPANDED SKILL, I KNOW I CAN DO MORE THAN HOLD MY OWN IN THIS DIVISION," STATED RICKY APOLLO.

ON JULY 4, 2001 APOLLO AGAIN A CHAMPION!!!


DESPITE THE INDISPUTABLE AND POWER OF THE NEW AGE SPOILER, ONE OF THE BEST WELL-SEASONED VETERANS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RICKY APOLLO'S COURAGE AND EXEMPLARY DETERMINATION CAME OUT ON TOP AND THIS EXTRAORDINARY WRESTLER RE-CONQUERED THE:

FCW CARIBBEAN TITLE.


AS AN ADDED NOTE, THE FCW HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE IS THE ONLY BELT THAT HAS ELUDED HIM, AND FROM THE LOOKS OF IT, EVEN THIS SEEMS TEMPORARY.

TO THE "BIG BOYS" TONY HAD THIS TO SAY:

'LET'S DO THIS!"

AND TO THE WRESTLING WORLD, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, HIS FANS,

"YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON ME GIVING 100% OF MYSELF,
DOING MY BEST TO GIVE YOU A SHOW WORTH MORE
THAN THE PRICE OF ADMISSION,"

TONY APOLLO, A TRUE ATHLETE, A TRUE ENTERTAINER,
AND A TRUE PROFESSIONAL.
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