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Latin Lover
Latin Lover
Birth name	Victor Manuel Resendiz Ruiz
Born	October 25, 1967 (age 57); Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Latin Lover; Latino
Billed height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight	98 kg (216 lb)
Billed from	Monterrey, Nuevo León
Trained by	El Vasco; Blue Fish; Katsuhisa Shibata
Debut	June 7, 1992

Victor Manuel Resendiz Ruiz (born October 25, 1967) is a Mexican professional wrestler and actor. He is best known under his ring name Latin Lover, under which he is also credited in his acting career. Resendiz is best known for wrestling in the Mexican AAA promotion, but has also worked for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) the Perros del Mal and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotions under the ring name Latino. Resendiz and his partner Mariana Vallejo Isrrade won the first Bailando por un Sueño dance competition in 2005.

Professional wrestling career

Victor Manuel Resendiz Ruiz made his professional wrestling debut in 1992 at Arena Solidaridad in his home town of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, facing the team of Comando Ruso, Hijo del Solitario and Canadian Butcher.^[3] Resendiz debuted under the ring name "Latin Lover", a name he has used ever since. Originally Latin Lover was an enmascarado, or masked character, but he lost the match in a Luchas de Apuesta (bet match) against the team of Sangre Chicana and El Sanguinario on August 1, 1992. Lover and Espacial were close to win against the rudos as they made Chicana submit, but El Sanguinario was able to defeat both of them to score an upset win. After the loss of the mask Latin Lover worked briefly for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and on various shows on the Mexican independent circuit. In 1994 he signed a contract to join Asistencia Asesoría y Administración, later simply AAA and soon became a featured wrestler on the mid-card.^[3]^[4] Latin Lover was quickly teamed up with another charismatic young wrestler by the name of Heavy Metal and together they won the Mexican National Tag Team Championship from Los Destructores (Tony Arce and Volcano) on September 9, 1994.^[5] The team held the title for 82 days before losing it to Fuerza Guerrera and Juventud Guerrera on December 2, 1994.^[5] After failing to regain the titles Latin Lover began teaming with Panterita del Ring instead, defeating Los Guerreras for the tag team title on June 1, 1995.^[5] Lover and Panterita successfully defended the title against Los Guerreras and Blue Panther and Heavy Metal before losing the titles back to Los Guerreras on September 18, 1995.^[5] While Latin Lover had a limited repertoire when it came to wrestling, his good looks and dance moves made him a favorite with the fans, especially the women in the audience, keeping him high in the AAA rankings.^[4] On September 9, 1996 Latin Lover won the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship by defeating Pimpinela Escarlata.^[6] He was also a participant in the 1997 Royal Rumble. On February 15, 1997 Latin Lover defeated Pierroth, Jr. to become a double champion as he won the AAA Campeón de Campeones Championship.^[7] On February 21, 1997 Latin Lover defeated Máscara Sagráda, Jr., Jerry Estrada and Killer to earn a spot in the finals of the 1997 Rey de Reyes tournament. Lover went on to defeat Heavy Metal, Héctor Garza and Octagón to win the tournament and become the 1997 Rey de Reyes (Spanish for "King of Kings")^[8] On May 12, 1997 Cibernético defeated him to win the Campeon de Campeones title.^[7] Three days later Latin Lover also lost the Mexican Light Heavyweight title after 252 days with the title.^[6] In late 1999 Latin Lover would win both the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship and regain the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, becoming a double champion once again.^[6]^[9] He only held the Light Heavyweight title for 105 days before losing it to Sangre Chicana on February 1, 2000.^[6] Due to nagging knee injuries Latin Lover's schedule in 2000 and 2001 slowed down to only select appearances.^[4] On May 5, 2002 – 929 days after winning the title Latin Lover finally lost the Mexican National Heavyweight Championship to Héctor Garza.^[9] On March 21, 2003, he received a match against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett but lost to him in Mexico City.^[10] The match came about as a result of a working relationship between AAA and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Latin Lover was chosen to represent AAA on the card.

Non-wrestling career and retirement

In 2005 Resendiz, officially billed as Latin Lover on the show, competed in and won the inaugural Bailando por un Sueño dance tournament with his partner Mariana Vallejo Isrrade. The win led to Latin Lover becoming a household name in Mexico, leading to more acting parts both on television and on stage.^[4] Resendiz appeared in the telenovela Velo de Novia ("The Bridal Veil") and on stage and TV as part of the Sólo para Mujeres ("For Women Only") dance/stripping group.^[3] During a stage performance Resendiz performed a dive off the stage and injured his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee. On January 26, 2006 Resendiz announced that he had to retire from wrestling due to this injury and that he was scheduled for what would be the eighth knee surgery since his debut in 1992.^[4] In 2010 Latin Lover was selected to represent Mexico as one of the Juries on Second Dance World Championship. Resendiz appeared in the telenovela Qué bonito amor and La tempestad.

Return to professional wrestling

In late 2008 Latin Lover returned to wrestling, initially teasing that he would join the CMLL based group Los Perros del Mal, but in the end returned to AAA. At the Rey de Reyes (2009) tournament on March 15, 2009 he defeated Abismo Negro, Black Abyss and Dark Ozz to qualify for the final. In the final he was the last wrestler eliminated by the 2009 Rey de Reyes Electroshock.^[11] Following the Rey de Reyes tournament Latin Lover began teaming with Marco Corleone, a wrestler with a similar "Ladies man" character. The team challenged AAA World Tag Team Champions La Hermandad Extrema (Spanish for "The Extreme Brotherhood"; Nicho el Milinario and Joe Líder) in one of the featured events at Triplemania XVII, only to lose due to miscommunication between Latin Lover and Corleone.^[12] On March 18, 2010, AAA announced in a press conference that they would no longer be booking Latin Lover, due to monetary issues and him no-showing the 2010 Rey de Reyes event where he was scheduled to be part of the main event.^[13] On April 11 Perros del Mal announced that Latin Lover would be joining the promotion and debuting the following month.^[14] On June 4, 2010, Latin Lover returned to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, brawling with Héctor Garza.^[15] After not appearing again for CMLL for months, Latin Lover returned to the promotion on November 26, 2010, confronting Los Invasores, a rudo group led by Garza. He was then attacked by the group, before being saved by Shocker.^[16] Upon returning to the promotion, Resendiz adopted the new ring name of Latino.^[1]

Legal actions against AAA

In early April, 2010 ex-AAA wrestlers Histeria and El Alebrije sought legal action against AAA over the issues of name and ring character ownership as well as unfair termination by AAA. The two claim that they have wrestled for 13 years to create the characters and thus own them. The parties met in Mexico City’s Board of Conciliation and Arbitration to see if a settlement can be reached or if the matter will be taken to court.^[17] The parties met for a second arbitration meeting in late April, 2010. This time the plaintiff group was joined by Latin Lover who, like Alebrije, Histeria and the others, claimed that he should be allowed to use the ring name on the independent circuit since he's worked as Latin Lover for 18 years and thus should be allowed to continue using it. After the meeting it was stated that all parties involved were cooperating over the matter.^[18]

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Roma	Profesor Zovek

Year	Television	Role	Notes
2003	Velo de novia	Latin
2006	¡Qué madre, tan padre!	Técnico	Episode: "Análisis estratégicos"
2009	Hermanos y detectives		Episode: "Muerte en escena"
2012	Por ella soy Eva	Gino / Maximiliano Montes	Episode: "Huye de la policía"
2013	Qué bonito amor	Jairo	Supporting Role
2014	La Tempestad	El Oso	Supporting Role
2015–2017	Como dice el dicho	Fabián Israel Entrenador	Episode: "El que la sigue la consigue" Episode: "No hay peor lucha que la que no se hace" Episode: "Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta" Episode: "El que demonios da, demonios recibe"
2017–2019	Mi marido tiene familia	Enzo	Recurring Role Seasons 1-2

Championships and accomplishments

AAA
- AAA Campeón de Campeones Championship (1 time)^[7]
- Mexican National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[9]
- Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[6]
- Mexican National Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Heavy Metal (1) and Panterita del Ring (1)^[5]
- Rey de Reyes: 1997^[8]
Federación Internacional de Lucha Libre
- FILL Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 46 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2004^[2]

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date	Notes
Latin Lover (hair)	El Sanguinario (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Pimpinela Escarlata (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Winners (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Fabuloso Blondy (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Rick Patterson (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Crazy 33 (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	Unknown
Latin Lover (hair)	Stuka (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	June 1992
Sangre Chicana and El Sanguinario (hair)	Latin Lover (hair) and Polimero Espacial (mask)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	August 1, 1992
Latin Lover (hair)	Valente Fernández (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	September 27, 1992
Latin Lover (hair)	Arafath (mask)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	October 15, 1993	^{[Note 1]}
Latin Lover (hair)	El Signo (hair)	Naucalpan, Mexico State	Live event	May 1, 1994
Latin Lover (hair)	El Sanguinario (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	November 27, 1994
Latin Lover (hair)	Babe Face (hair)	Tulancingo, Hidalgo	Live event	April 16, 1999	^{[Note 2]}
Latin Lover (hair)	El Sanguinario (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	July 18, 1999	^{[Note 3]}
Latin Lover (hair)	Pirata Morgan (hair)	Dallas, Texas	Live event	April 13, 2003
Latin Lover (hair)	Misterioso (hair)	Tijuana, Baja California	Live event	October 17, 2003
Latin Lover (hair)	Héctor Garza (hair)	Monterrey, Nuevo León	Live event	October 26, 2003
Latin Lover (hair)	Pirata Morgan (hair)	Naucalpan, Mexico State	Guerra de Titanes	December 5, 2004	^{[Note 4]}
Latin Lover (hair)	Chessman (hair)	Naucalpan, Mexico State	Verano de Escándalo	September 18, 2005	^{[Note 5]}

Note

^ This was a triangle match that also included El Sanguinario.
^ Parejas increibles: lost to Perro Aguayo and El Texano.
^ Match also included Jerry Estrada and The Panther.
^ Steel cage match that also included Heavy Metal, Hator and La Fiera. Pirata Morgan interfered and was the last man in the cage.
^ Steel cage match that also included Cibernético and Shocker.

References

^ ^a ^b "Latin Lover nuevo fichaje del CMLL" (in Spanish). Revista Luchas 2000. November 30, 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 2004 :046 Latin Lover". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. August 2004. p. 101. October 2004.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bailando por una Sueño staff. "Soñadores: Latin Lover". Televisa. Archived from the original on May 14, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mike Spillane (March 2006). "The International Report". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC. pp. 128–129. May 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Royal Duncan and Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 396–397. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Los Reyes de Mexico: La Historia de Los Campeonatos Nacionales". Lucha 2000 (in Spanish). December 20, 2004. Especial 21.
^ ^a ^b ^c Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: AAA Campeon de Campeones". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. p. 399. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ ^a ^b "Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion TripleMania". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). "Mexico: National Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
^ "Records of N.W.A. World Heavyweight Championship matches: 2004". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
^ "Resultados de Rey de Reyes-AAA (16 marzo 2008) Elecktroshock nuevo Rey de Reyes. Juventud Guerrera y Marco Corleone las sorpresas. Wagner se presenta en AAA para retar al Mesías". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
^ Arturo Rosas Plata (2009-06-14). "Triplemanía, la locura!". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V. pp. 21–22. Número 21617 Año LXII. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
^ "Puntos clave en la conferencia de prensa de AAA". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
^ "Latin Lover será un Perro del Mal" (in Spanish). Record.com.mx. 2010-04-11. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
^ Ocampo, Ernesto (June 4, 2010). "Resultados Arena México (4 junio 2010): ¡Latin Lover en el CMLL! ¿Se integrará al elenco?". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved June 6, 2010.
^ Rivera, Manuel (November 27, 2010). "Resultados Arena México (26 de noviembre 2010): ¡Latin Lover, contratado por el CMLL!". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved November 28, 2010.
^ Notimex (April 7, 2010). "Pelean Histeria y Alebrije por derchos de nombre y caracterizacion" (in Spanish). MedioTiempo.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
^ Mendoza, Gabriela (April 21, 2010). "Latin Lover pelea por su nombre" (in Spanish). Record.com.mx. Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.