BIO: Al Perez

Real Name: Alberto Perez

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Height/Weight: 6'1"/238

Signature Moves: Spinning power bomb, spinning toe hold, sleeperhold

WCCW Titles Held: WCCW World Heavyweight title, WCCW Texas Heavyweight title

Notable WCCW Feuds: The Dingo Warrior, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich.

Need to Know Facts: Born Alberto Perez on July 23, 1960, the "Latin Heartthrob" was a standout amateur wrestler in the Tampa area who was trained for a pro career by wrestling legend Boris Malenko.

Perez started his career as a babyface, bouncing around several areas including stints in Canada, California and ICW (where he teamed with "Jumpin'" Joe Savoldi to form the New York Rockers) before going to work for Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling.

After his stint in SCW (where he co-held the group's tag team title with Manny "Ragin' Bull" Fernandez), Perez entered Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion where he teamed frequently with "Wildcat" Wendell Cooley, with whom he co-held the Mid-South Tag team titles.  Perez also wrestled in Puerto Rico from 1985 to 1987 for Carlos Colon's World Wrestling Council, where he achieved a great deal of success, winning the company's World Tag Team titles (again with Savoldi) and holding the North American and Puerto Rican Heavyweight titles simultaneously.

Perez made his first real impact in the United States when he entered World Class in 1987, working as a heel for the first time in his career under the guidance of manager extraordinaire "Playboy" Gary Hart.  He won the prestigious WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship from the Dingo Warrior (future WWF superstar Ultimate Warrior) in June of 1987, and was awarded the World Class World Heavyweight title two months later when champ Kevin Von Erich was forced to relinquish the belt due to an injury.

Much like "Nature Boy" Ric Flair during his multiple reigns as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Perez defended the WCCW World title with class and dignity, and presented himself well as a champion. However, also like Flair, Perez would use any dirty trick available to hold onto his title, and was World Class' top heel for nearly a year.  It was during this time that  Perez felt he truly came into his own in the ranks of professional wrestling; he has credited WCCW owner Jack Adkisson (Fritz Von Erich) and the legendary Bruiser Brody for helping him learn every aspect of the industry.

In March 1988, Perez followed manager Hart (who had resigned from WCCW after a dispute with Fritz) into Jim Crockett Jr.'s National Wrestling Alliance. He feuded with "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff and formed a successful tag team with "Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko.  When the company's infamous Black Scorpion storyline was launched in mid-1990, Perez briefly played the mysterious hooded heel but soon bowed out due to a disagreement over booking, leaving Dave "Angel of Death" Sheldon, and finally Ric Flair, to take over the role.

Perez's next stop was in the WWF, and his stay there was by and large an uneventful one, as he detested the federation's "cartoon gimmickry" and refused several offbeat gimmicks thrown at him by its officials.  This resulted in Perez wrestling frequently in preliminary bouts, often jobbing to wrestlers who were inferior to him in terms of skill.

After Perez left the WWF, he wrestled in the USWA as well as the short lived Global Wrestling Federation before retiring from the sport in 1996 due to an elbow injury. He did make a brief comeback for the Philadelphia-based Liberty All-Star Wrestling promotion in 2001 (where many fans remarked about how good Perez still looked); however, he retired again shortly thereafter.