During the final days of World Championship Wrestling, it seemed as if a plethora of fresh, young talent were being utilized for the rebirth of the Cruiserweight division. To me, there was no bigger prospect than Kid Romeo.
A product of the WCW Power Plant under the tutelage of Paul Orndorff and Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Romeo began plying his trade on WCW Saturday Night in the Fall of 1999. Under Jimmy Hart's vision, Romeo began wrestling over prized students from WCW's training ground like Alan Funk, Jamie Noble, Mike Sanders, and Elix Skipper.
As the Saturday Night program began to wind down into a recap show post-"The Night The World Changed" on April 10, 2000, Romeo received a reprieve - being sent to New Japan Pro Wrestling for an excursion.
For the next seven months, Romeo wrestled the best junior heavyweights in the world, including Jushin Thunder Liger, Koji Kanemoto, inaugural WCW Cruiserweight Champion Shinjiro Otani, Dr. Wagner, Jr and a young Katsuyori Shibata. He was even in the Best Of The Super Junior VII round-robin tournament. Although he didn't win the tourney, he did pick up one win in his block, pinning Minoru Fujita. Romeo's experience made him a "can't miss" prospect.
Not under WCW contract, Romeo continued his journey throughout the independent circuit. However, after a dark match in the Georgia Dome - WCW country - for the World Wrestling Federation on the February 10, 2001 episode of JAKKED against Essa Rios, the Fusient Media Ventures run WCW decided to bring him in on a permanent basis within weeks.
In days, vignettes of Kid Romeo in Miami, FL, partying and dancing on the beach and clubs began airing on WCW programming. The anticipation was building.
Approximately one month after the first hype promo, Romeo became one-half of the first ever WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions alongside "Prime Time" Skipper at the Greed pay-per-view on March 18, 2001 in Jacksonville, FL, defeating cruiserweight legends and former WCW World Tag Team Champions Rey Mysterio, Jr and Billy Kidman in the finals. In fact, Romeo PINNED Mysterio with a "Last Kiss" to win the match.
However, eight days later, WCW, now owned by the WWF, ran its final event at Panama City Beach, FL: MONDAY NITRO: Night of Champions. The Miami native competed on the card, sadly losing the newly won Cruiserweight Tag belts to Mysterio and Kidman in the semi-main event.
As quick of a rise, it really makes you think: What Could Have Been had WCW continued on for Kid Romeo.
To be fair, it wasn't as enough eyes weren't on him after WCW was sold. Romeo ended up in Heartland Wrestling Association, run by Les Thatcher, not too long after the sale. In fact, HWA kept the duo together, facing off with The Island Boyz (Jamal and Rosey), Charlie Haas and Cody Hawk, and Matt Stryker and the great Eddie Guerrero!
However, once the WCW invasion ran its course, Romeo found himself outside of the WWF by 2002. Romeo made appearances in TNA throughout the mid-2000s, as well as wrestling throughout his home state of Florida and in Puerto Rico for IWA. After a successful run as NWA South Atlantic Tag Team Champions as a part of the Casanova Cartel with Benny Blanco in 2008, Kid Romeo retired from pro wrestling shortly thereafter.
I truly think, had Fusient officially bought WCW in 2001 and began the journey to The Big Bang on May 6, 2001, Skipper and Romeo would not have lost the Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles on the final Nitro and became the #1 rulebreaking tandem in the fledgling division, with Mysterio and Kidman chasing them. Also, with the Cruiserweight division regaining steam, Romeo would have become an ace to watch out for.
It really makes you wonder, at times, about what would have happened had WCW not gone through its turmoil. So many young performers had their peaks in this time window and, due to a plethora of reasons not all necessarily their fault, never got the break they truly deserved.
That's how I feel about Kid Romeo. What Could Have Been.
Bankie Bruce
BankieBruce@gmail.com
Add comment
Comments