Sal Rinauro
| Sal Rinauro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 12, 1982[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | El Chico Loco[1] Kid Xtasy[1] Mellow[1] Sal Del Rio[1] Sal Rinauro Sal the Pizza Boy[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) [1] |
| Billed from | Hollywood, "Salifornia"[1] |
| Trained by | Rick Michaels[1] |
| Debut | 2002[1] |
Salvatore "Sal" Rinauro[1] (born September 12, 1982)[1] is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro in addition to being a member of The Embassy.
Career
Ring of Honor
After honing his skills at NWA Wildside as well as winning the NWA Wildside Junior Heavyweight Championship, Rinauro debuted under the name "Mellow" as a member of Special K in Ring of Honor. After beating Antonio Blanca earlier in the show, Rinauro (now using his real name) competed for and won a Ring of Honor Contract by defeating Steve Madison, Claudio Castagnoli, and Jerelle Clark at Do or Die 5 on August 20, 2005.[2] Rinauro, along with Tony Mamaluke, won the ROH World Tag Team Championship at the show Joe vs. Kobashi on October 1, 2005 by defeating B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs.[3][4] During their reign, they successfully defended against teams such as Whitmer and Jacobs, Homicide and Ricky Reyes, and Colt Cabana and Milano Collection A.T..[5][6][7] They lost the title to Austin Aries and Roderick Strong of Generation Next at Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005.[8] Rinauro also appeared at TNA Slammiversary 2005, as a fan who was attacked by Jeff Jarrett before the King of the Mountain match, causing Jarrett to be "arrested".
After losing the title, Rinauro competed in Six Man Mayhem, the 2006 Trios Tournament at Tag Wars 2006, with Tony Mamaluke and Jay Fury, and tag team matches against the likes of the Briscoe Brothers.[9] In 2006, Rinauro's partner Tony Mamaluke signed with WWE to be part of the new ECW brand, leaving Rinauro to start a singles career once more. At Death Before Dishonor IV, it was revealed that Sal Rinauro was the newest member of The Embassy.[10] That night, he teamed with Jimmy Rave and they successfully defeated Colt Cabana and Jay Lethal.[10]
The two continued teaming for a few months but after the Embassy disbanded the team suffered a roadblock. On October 28, 2006, Rave split the team up. Since then, Rinauro makes occasional appearances in ROH.
Full Impact Pro
Rinauro also works for ROH's sister promotion Full Impact Pro (FIP). He achieved tag team success in FIP after winning the FIP Tag Team Championship once with Spanky by defeating Jimmy Rave and "Fast" Eddie Vegas on August 6, 2005.[11] After a singular title defense against Rave and his new tag parnter, Jay Lethal on September 2, they lost the title to The Heartbreak Express that same night.[11] He also won the FIP Florida Heritage Championship by defeating Erick Stevens on November 9, 2007.[12] After successful title defenses against Tyler Black, Delirious, and Joey Ryan, he dropped the title to Chris Jones on October 11, 2008.[12]
Deep South Wrestling
On July 26, 2007, Rinauro and Caleb Konley defeated Simon Sermon and "Pretty Boy" Floyd to win the vacant DSW Tag Team Championships. Rinauro and Konely would end up being the final DSW Tag Team Champions after DSW closed down on October 11, 2007.
Independent circuit
Currently, Rinuaro can be found wrestling throughout the Georgia independent circuit, including NWA Anarchy, Independent Wrestling Network and Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling.
He appeared as a jobber on the November 18, 2008 edition of ECW where he was defeated by debuting DJ Gabriel.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Sal-utation Special (Corkscrew 450° splash transitioned into a diving leg drop)
- Atomic drop, sometimes while face to face with the opponent[1]
- Chalupa Crunch (Mushroom stomp quickly followed into a leg drop bulldog)
- Dropkick
- Hurricanrana[1]
- Inside leg hook fisherman driver
- Slingshot tornado DDT[1]
- Springboard 180° twisting diving kick[1]
- Stunner, as a counter to a hip toss[1]
Championships and accomplishments
- Deep South Wrestling
- DSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Caleb Konley
- Full Impact Pro
- FIP Florida Heritage Championship (1 time)[12]
- FIP Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Spanky[11]
- NWA Anarchy
- NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Seth Delay[1][13]
- Peachstate Wrestling Alliance
- PWA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)[1]
- Ring of Honor
- ROH Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Mamaluke[3]
- Ultimate Christian Wrestling
- UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Salvatore Rinauro". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Do Or Die 5 - Morristown, NJ 8/20/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-08-20. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b "Ring Of Honor Tag Team Championship". Ring of Honor. 2005-10-01. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Joe Vs. Kobashi - Manhatten, NY 10/1/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-10-01. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Enter The Dragon - Cleveland, OH 10/14/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-10-14. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Buffalo Stampede- Buffalo, NY - 10/15/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-10-15. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Steel Cage Warfare- New York, NY 12/3/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-12-03. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Final Battle 2005- Edison, NJ 12/17/05". Ring of Honor. 2005-12-17. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "Tag Wars 2006- Dayton, OH 1/27/06". Ring of Honor. 2006-01-27. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b "Death Before Dishonor 4- Philadelphia, PA 7/15/06". Ring of Honor. 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b c "FIP Tag Team Title History". FullImpactPro.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b c "Title History - FIP Florida Heritage Champion". Full Impact Pro. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ "N.W.A. Anarchy Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles. Retrieved 2009-03-20.