Homicide (wrestler)

Nelson Erazo
File:NelsonErazo.jpg
Born	Brooklyn, New York, New York
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Latin Terror Homicide
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Billed from	Bed-Stuy Do or Die Brooklyn, New York
Trained by	Manny Fernandez
Debut	March 5, 1993

Nelson Erazo is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name, Homicide. Homicide is currently working for Ring of Honor where he is a former ROH World Champion, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he is one-half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions. In TNA, he is one-third of the Latin American Exchange with his partner, Hernandez and manager Konnan. In ROH, he is managed by Julius Smokes, collectively known as The Rottweilers.

Early career

Erazo was a wrestling fan from the age of five, and decided that he wanted to become a wrestler at the age of fifteen. After amassing a series of athletic qualifications including football and amateur wrestling, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Miami, which he rejected, preferring to pursue "fast money". Erazo trained himself as a wrestler in a bodega, debuting on March 5, 1993. After wrestling for three years without any formal training, Erazo attended a professional wrestling school in New Jersey operated by Manny Fernandez.

Erazo initially wrestled as The Latin Terror, a reference to his Puerto Rican ethnicity. He grew bored with the gimmick in 1995, and decided to create a new character based on his own past. Erazo had been a gang member as a youth, and he incorporated this into the Homicide character, taking his ring name from an episode of America's Most Wanted where a man was arrested for the crime of homicide.

As Homicide, his stiff wrestling style, extensive use of weapons during matches and gangsta gimmick have led to frequent, sometimes pejorative, comparisons to New Jack.

Erazo worked on the independent circuit throughout the 1990s. While on a year-long hiatus from wrestling, he operated a training school in New York known as The Doghouse along with Laithon and Lowlife Louie. The Doghouse produced approximately twenty two graduates, including a number of ROH wrestlers, most notably Low Ki, now known as Senshi in TNA.

Erazo also formed a tag team called The Natural Born Sinners with Boogalou (which saw Boogalou wear a Leatherface mask and Homicide wear a Michael Myers mask).

Jersey All Pro Wrestling

Homicide joined Jersey All Pro Wrestling on September 7, 1997 and quickly became a mainstay of the promotion. He formed a tag team with Kane D known as The Nation of Immigration, and on March 22, 1998 The N.O.I. defeated The Sickness and The Blood Angels in a three way tag match for the JAPW Tag Team Championships in Newark, New Jersey. They lost the titles to The Skin Head Express on May 20, but regained them on August 25, defeating Russ and Charlie Haas in a weapons match. Their second reign lasted until January 29, when they lost to D-Sex. Homicide would later hold the titles twice more, with Don Montoya and with B-Boy.

Homicide won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for the first time on July 9, 1999, defeating Don Montoya in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lost the title to Chino Martinez on August 29. His second reign began when the champion, ECW alumnus Jason, vacated the title on November 18, 2000 by no-showing the event. Homicide defeated Jay Lover for the vacant title that same night in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lost the title to one of his students, Low-Ki, on July 7, 2001. Three more Heavyweight Championship reigns followed in 2001 and 2002, with Homicide firmly establishing himself as a dominant player in JAPW.

Homicide's increasing commitments, including tours of Japan with Big Japan Pro Wrestling and ZERO-ONE, led to a decline in his involvement in JAPW after late-2002.

The Dan Maff Title Controversy

Dan Maff, another student of Homicide's, won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship on December 13, 2003. He held the title throughout 2004, dominating the title scene. However, in March 2005, Homicide and Maff had a legitimate falling-out, with Homicide announcing that Maff had betrayed him, and that he would refuse to work for any promotion which employed Maff. This effectively led to Maff being blackballed from professional wrestling. As a result, the JAPW Heavyweight Championship was vacated.

Jay Lethal had pursued the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for several months and was widely expected to be the next champion. The title was put on the line in a match between Lethal and an undisclosed opponent on March 26. The opponent was revealed to be the returning Homicide, who defeated Lethal for an unparalleled sixth JAPW Heavyweight Championship. His reign lasted until May 21, when Lethal finally won the belt in a four way match. The following week, Homicide announced that he was temporarily leaving JAPW, but promised to go on a "murdering spree" and become a seven time JAPW Heavyweight Champion when he returned.

On October 22, 2005, Homicide teamed with his long-term nemesis Teddy Hart to defeat the Backseat Boyz for the JAPW Tag Team Championships. Their reign lasted until November 12 of that year, when Kashmere and Acid regained the titles.

Ring of Honor

Homicide's first main independent exposure came in 2002 when he was recruited by the upstart Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. He and Boogalou wrestled on the first ever ROH show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, and lost to the Boogie Knights by disqualification after they used a rubber chicken as a weapon. The Natural Born Sinners were a dominant tag team in ROH, beating The Carnage Crew at the July 27 Crowning a Champion event, and also won at the August 24 Honor Invades Boston event, defeating Tony Mamaluke and James Maritato.

After Boogalou suffered an injury and then jumped ship to Rob Black's Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion (Homicide was also offered a contract by XPW but opted to remained with ROH), Homicide appeared alone at Glory by Honor. Responding to challenge from The Backseat Boyz, he invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner. Steve Corino responded to his offer, and Corino and Homicide faced the Backseat Boys later that night. In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, superkicking his partner and leaving the ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide.

Homicide and Corino would begin a four year rivalry, with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past. The feud culminated in a match at the One Year Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003 in Queens, New York, New York. Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group, Corino's entourage. After the match, Corino applied a cobra sleeper to Homicide, instigating a riot.

After regaining some momentum by defeating Christopher Daniels on the April 12 ROH event, Epic Encounter, Homicide defeated CM Punk in a match for the number one contendership on April 26 at Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II. Homicide faced ROH World Champion Samoa Joe on May 31 at Do or Die, hoping not only to win the title, but to gain revenge on Joe for helping Corino defeat him in his hometown. Despite the support of his manager, Julius Smokes, and his close friend and former student, Low Ki, Homicide lost cleanly to Joe.

Homicide was undefeated in ROH throughout June and July, and on August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies he defeated Corino in a rematch of their February encounter. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LaGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum, and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide.

Following high profile victories over Samoa Joe and B.J. Whitmer, Homicide faced Corino for a third time on November 29, 2003, at War of the Wire in a barbed wire match. This time Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire. Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand.

On December 27 at Final Battle 2003 the ROH roster faced a number of All Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers in an inter-promotional contest. Homicide lost to Satoshi Kojima a wrestler whose influence can be seen in Homicide wrestling style unfortunately in this match Homicide suffered a hard bump to the head, which resulted in a match that was below expected standards.

2003 is regarded as Homicide's best year in ROH in regards to the amount of quality matches he was a part of leading to him receiving the ROH MVP of that year.

Homicide faced A.J. Styles at The Battle Lines Are Drawn on January 10, 2004. After Styles was thrown from the ring, Homicide dived over the top rope in pursuit, and landed in the third row of the audience, briefly knocking himself unconscious and injuring his shoulder and ribs. Styles quickly capitalized on Homicide's vulnerabilities, defeating him following a Styles Clash. After defeating CM Punk at The Last Stand, Homicide took a hiatus from Ring of Honor to "find himself", sending word through Julius Smokes that when he returned, he wanted a shot at Samoa Joe and the ROH Heavyweight Championship.

File:TheRottweilers.jpg

The Rottweilers.

Homicide challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship once more at Reborn: Stage 1 on April 23. Homicide showed signs of anger and frustration throughout the match, and was eventually disqualified for throwing a fireball at Joe. After the match, Homicide turned heel by attacking several referees and trying to further injure the badly burned Joe. In subsequent weeks, Homicide defeated fan favorites American Dragon and Spanky, cheating and threatening referees in both matches. Homicide faced Joe for the ROH Heavyweight Championship for a third time on May 22 at Generation Next, with Joe retaining in a match which saw him bleed for the first time in ROH. Homicide and Joe continued to feud throughout the summer of 2004, with Homicide recruiting a stable known as The Rottweilers (originally Low Ki, Rocky Romero and Julius Smokes) to help him defeat Joe. Despite the best efforts of The Rottweilers, Joe defeated Homicide to retain his title in a fourth match on July 23 at Death Before Dishonor II: Night 1. The Rottweilers worked as a unit throughout the remainder of 2004, helping one another win matches.

In January 2005 Homicide began a "best of five" series with American Dragon. Homicide was victorious in the first two matches, a submission match and a taped fist match, but lost the remaining three matches - a falls count anywhere match, a lumberjack match and a steel cage match at The Final Showdown on May 13, 2005.

Following his loss to American Dragon, Homicide and the Rottweilers began a feud with Jay Lethal. On May 7 at Manhattan Mayhem, Homicide and Low-Ki teamed together to face Lethal and Samoa Joe. The match ended when Homicide gave Lethal Da Cop Killa while Low-Ki delivered a top rope double foot stomp, driving Lethal's neck into the ground. Lethal was stretchered from the arena wearing a neck brace, apparently badly injured.

With Lethal injured, Homicide turned his attentions to James Gibson, whom he defeated on June 12 at The Future Is Now. After the match, The Rottweilers continued to attack Gibson until Lethal made his return and saved Gibson. This led to a match between Lethal and Homicide on July 9 at Escape from New York, which Homicide won. On July 23 at The Homecoming, Homicide and two fellow Rottweilers (Low-Ki and Ricky Reyes) defeated Samoa Joe, James Gibson and Jay Lethal in a six man tag match. Low-Ki fought Lethal to a double count out on August 12 at Redemption, and Homicide came to ringside after the match to attack Lethal. His plan was foiled by Matt Hardy, who intercepted Homicide then defeated him in a scheduled singles bout. On August 13 at Punk: The Final Chapter, Lethal and Samoa Joe defeated Homicide and Low-Ki by disqualification after Homicide elbow-dropped the referee. From that point on, Lethal began feuding primarily with Low-Ki.

In September 2005, Homicide began feuding with Colt Cabana. At Glory By Honor IV on September 17, he lost to Cabana via disqualification.

At Unforgettable on October 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Homicide teamed with Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi to face Samoa Joe and his stablemate Low-Ki. Homicide and Kobashi won the match after Homicide took out Joe on the outside of the ring with a tope con hilo while in the ring Kobashi hit Low-Ki with a lariat for the pin.

Homicide teamed with Low-Ki on October 14 at Enter the Dragon in a match that saw him lose to Cabana and his old rival Steve Corino, newly returned to the promotion. He faced Cabana in a singles match at Vendetta on November 5 that ended in a no contest. On November 19 at A Night of Tribute, Homicide faced Cabana once again in a no disqualification rematch. Following interference from Julius Smokes and Grim Reefer, Homicide forced Cabana to submit by strangling him with a coat hanger.

On December 3 in New York City at Steel Cage Warfare, Homicide lost to Corino in a rematch from their feud of 2003. During the match, Homicide separated his shoulder, but opted not to have surgery. As a result of his injury, Homicide was unable to compete at the following show, Final Battle 2005. However, he did show up, but with the intent on killing Steve Corino. Following Corino's match, Homicide ran down to the ring and attacked him. Colt Cabana ran down to the ring to save Corino, only to have Homicide pour Drano down his throat.

On January 14, Homicide lost the FIP Heavyweight Championship to Bryan Danielson. On February 25 at the Fourth Anniversary Show, Homicide defeated Cabana in a "Ghetto Fight". Homicide went on to defeat Cabana once again on March 31. On April 1, in a violent Chicago Street Fight, Cabana finally defeated Homicide. Following the match, Homicide and Cabana embraced, with Cabana having won Homicide's respect.

Throughout mid 2006, Homicide resisted Combat Zone Wrestling's invasion of Ring of Honor until May 13, 2006, when he defeated Necro Butcher after a wild brawl in Edison, New Jersey, which involved over 600 chairs being thrown into the ring by the fans! Aside from that he challenged Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship on June 3, but lost due to referee stoppage, prompting Homicide to attack referee Todd Sinclair. After defeating Chris Hero, the leader of the CZW invasion, on June 17, Homicide said he would quit Ring of Honor if he did not win the ROH World Championship by the end of the year. His frustration with Ring of Honor grew when he was counted-out during a ROH Pure Championship bout with Nigel McGuiness on June 24.

On July 15, Homicide took part in a five-on-five Cage of Death match pitting members of the Ring of Honor roster against members of the CZW roster, winning the bout for his team by pinning Nate Webb. Following the match, Homicide told Ring of Honor commissioner Jim Cornette that he wished to be rewarded with a shot at the ROH World Championship, a match with Steve Corino and the re-instatement of Low Ki, who Cornette had suspended several months earlier. After Cornette granted the first two "wishes" but refused to bring back Low Ki, Homicide spat in his face, prompting Cornette and his bodyguard, Adam Pearce, to beat Homicide down. A match was scheduled for August 5th between Homicide and Pearce, which eventually turned into a tag team match involving Homicide, BJ Whitmer, Steve Corino and Adam Pearce.

Homicide then began teaming with Samoa Joe against the Briscoes. His feud with Jim Cornette came to an abrupt end when Cornette was fired by Ring of Honor on November 4, 2006. On November 25th, Homicide and Samoa Joe beat the Briscoes in a Street Fight, thus ending their feud.

Homicide then focused on facing Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle 2006. He stated that if he did not win the ROH World Title at Final Battle, he would leave ROH. On December 23rd, Homicide defeated Bryan Danielson in 29:12 to win the ROH title. Adam Pearce & Shane Hagadorn attacked Homicide at one point and it was stopped, but the ref refused to end it on a DQ. At another point, Danielson wouldn't break on the ropes and again the ref refused to call a DQ. Danielson even managed to get his hand on the rope after a Cop Killa. Homicide finally won with a Lariat. There was a big post-match celebration of the title change.

Homicide defended successfully against Chris Hero and Samoa Joe on the 26th and 27th of January. Surprisingly during the Homicide/Joe match, the majority of the crowd was totally against Homicide and was disappointed when he retained. Homicide then successfully defended the championship against Jimmy Rave on February 16 in the same building where he won the belt, the Manhattan Center in New York City.

However, on the next evening (February 17) in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory, Homicide was defeated for the ROH World Championship by Takeshi Morishima, a Japanese professional wrestler visiting the United States. The two would compete against eachother again at Fifth Year Festivle: Chicago, when Homicide teamed with Samoa Joe to face Morishima and Nigel McGuinness.

Homicide was then chosen to face Samoa Joe at the Fifth Year Festivle: Finale, in what was Joe's final match as an ROH regular.

On March 30th, 2007, Homicide won a match against Christopher Daniels At All Star Extravaganza 3 In Detroit, Michigan. After the match, Jim Cornette returned alongside Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn and they delivered a beating to Homicide until Colt Cabana and Delirious made the save.

The next night, Homicide in a suprise match teamed with Colt Cabana for the first time to defeat Brent Albright and Adam Pearce at Supercard Of Honor 2. The match was originally schedualed to be just Homicide one on one with Albright, However it broke down in a no contest when Pearce came out and attacked Homicide. Colt Cabana came out to take down Pearce...but oddly enough he also made the save for Homicide, one year to the day of their brutal Chicago Street Fight. Colt said that last year in Chicago, after their Street Fight, Homicide showed him respect. Now Colt wants to return that respect, and team with Homicide against Pearce & Albright.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Homicide debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on December 31, 2005, helping Konnan and Apolo beat down Bob Armstrong. The trio, identified as the Latin American Exchange, then challenged Konnan's rivals, B.G. James and Kip James. At Final Resolution 2006 on January 15, Konnan and Homicide defeated The Naturals. At Against All Odds 2006 on February 12, Homicide and new LAX member Machete lost to The James Gang. At Destination X 2006 on March 12, the LAX were once again defeated by the James Gang in a rematch.

On July 20, 2006 Homicide and his current LAX tag team partner, Hernandez, became involved in a feud with A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels for the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Homicide kicked it off by debuting "Da Cop Killa" in TNA, which he called "Da Gringo Killa" in his current LAX gimmick, using it on A.J. Styles. On the episode of TNA iMPACT! aired on August 24, 2006 Homicide and Hernandez defeated Styles and Daniels in a border brawl to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. On September 24, 2006 at No Surrender 2006, Homicide and Hernandez lost the NWA World Tag Team Championship back to Styles and Daniels in an Ultimate X match. He and Hernandez regained the titles from Styles and Daniels in a Six Sides of Steel match at Bound for Glory 2006 after he hit Styles With Da Gringo Killa.

On November 19, 2006, LAX defeated America's Most Wanted to retain the NWA World Tag Titles at Genesis 2006. Following the match, Jim Cornette came out and threatened to strip the NWA World Tag Titles from LAX because Cornette said that TNA did not want LAX to represent them as their World Tag Team Champs. LAX presented Jim Cornette with a lawyer, who classified Cornette's actions as being racist. LAX remained NWA World Tag Team Champions, and Jim Cornette, for the first time since entering TNA, displayed signs of vulnerability due to the legality of the case. On December 10, 2006 LAX defeated AMW in a non-title flag match at Turning Point 2006.

LAX went on to defend the tag titles against Team 3D at TNA Final Resolution 2007, without Konnan at ringside - who was beaten down by Team 3D (in a kayfabe angle to explain Konnan's absence for surgery) - and retained after Brother Runt, dressed like Santa Clause and apparently drunk, gave a splash to Homicide, and caused Team 3D to be disqualified.

On 27th Feburary edition of TNA iMPACT!, LAX attacked Johnny Rodz as they were in New York. This was done in retaliation to the attack on Konnan, as was the attack on Brother Ray's uncle a few weeks previous. Johnny Rodz was the man who trained Brother Devon to be a wrestler. Team 3D, in retaliation to that, then made a challenge to LAX, offering to face them at TNA Destination X 2007 in a Ghetto Brawl. LAX accepted the offer and defeated Team 3D at the event.

Wrestling facts

• Finishing and signature moves

File:Copgringokilla.jpg

Homicide performing Da Gringo Killa on AJ Styles during an episode of TNA iMPACT!.

• Da Cop Killa / Da Gringo Killa (Back to back double underhook sitout piledriver)
• West Brooklyn Lariat (Running lariat)
• Cross-leg STF / STF, sometimes pulling the opponent's head back by their hair instead of using a facelock
• Ace Crusher (Cutter)
• Avalanche Ace Crusher (Top rope cutter)
• Falcon Arrow (Sitout suplex slam)
• Tiger Driver (Sitout double underhook powerbomb)
• Running knee scrape to head of an opponent seated in the corner
• Overhead belly to belly suplex
• Piledriver
• Scoop slam piledriver
• Neckbreaker
• Yakuza kick
• Tope con hilo
• Shining wizard
• Exploder suplex, sometimes ending with a bridging pin
• Overhead double underhook suplex
• Top rope double underhook suplex
• Fork stab

Wrestlers trained by Homicide

Azrieal Becky Bayless Boogalou Brimstone Buff E Dan Maff

Deacon Riot Deranged EC Negro Grim Reefer Hostile Iceberg

Julius Smokes Justin Cage KC Blade Laithon Louie Ramos Lord Clarence MacDougal Low Ki

Mace Mendoza Mayhem Monsta Mack Papadon Valentina Wrecka

Championships and accomplishments

• Assault Championship Wrestling

• ACW Great American Championship (1 time)

• Big Japan Pro Wrestling

• BJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Eastern Pro Wrestling

• EPW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

• Full Impact Pro

• FIP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Impact Championship Wrestling

• ICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Boogalou

• International Wrestling Union

• IWU Georgia Championship (3 times)

• Jersey All Pro Wrestling

• JAPW Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
• JAPW Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Kane D (2), Don Montoya (1), B-Boy (1), and Teddy Hart (1)

• Jersey Championship Wrestling

• JCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Long Island Wrestling Federation

• LIWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• LIWF New Jersey Championship (1 time)

• MAS

• MAS Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

• National Wrestling Alliance

• NWA East Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)
• NWA East Three Rivers Championship (2 times)
• NWA East Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bubba The Bulldog
• NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling eXpress

• PWX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• PWX Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kingdom James

• Pittsburgh Wrestling League

• PWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• PWL Three Rivers Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

• PWG World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with B-Boy

• Pro Wrestling Unplugged

• PWU Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Ring of Honor

• ROH World Championship (1 time)
• 2005 Trios Tournament Winner (with Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero)
• 2003 ROH MVP

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) — with Hernandez
• TNA Match Of The Year -- Ultimate X at No Surrender 2006 for the NWA World Tag Team Championship -- (2006) with A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels

• USA Xtreme Wrestling

• UXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• UXW United States Championship (1 time)
• UXW Xtreme Championship (1 time)

• WMF

• WMF All Borough Championship (1 time)

References

• Homicide at Bodyslamming.com
• Homicide at Cagematch.net
• Homicide at Genickbruch.com
• Homicide Speaks On TNA, James Gang, LAX & More
• Homicide at FullImpactPro.com
• Interview with Alan Wojcik

External links

• Homicide at IMDb
• TNA profile
• Homicide Fan Site