Invader III

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Dylan Waco]

He is not anywhere near the level of Colon or Invader 1, but I do think he is comparable to TNT, albeit with a shorter career and no U.S. run to pad the stats a bit. The Chicky Starr feud is great, particularly the Scaffold Match which is the best of it's kind, and one of the better stipulation matches of the 80's period. I also really like his team with Invader 1 and generally thought he was a very good tag worker who was probably always better suited to that setting. I can't really see him making my list, but I do think the top handful of guys from every major territory at least deserve a thread where they can be discussed and considered.

[El Boricua]

To this day Invader 3/Johnny Rivera is considered by many PR fans as the standard bearer of Puerto Rican junior heavyweights. Standing at 5'6", he is known as "El Pequeño Gigante" (the little giant), because of his heart and standing his ground with men larger than him. He had runs as Johnny Rivera in WWWF and Japan, was El Invasor/Invader in Mexico, and of course in WWF as part of the Invaders tag team. He is not a good promo (but has an approachable and genuine quality about him), but he is probably the most universally liked Puerto Rican wrestler among his peers (at least I've never heard anyone say a bad word about him).

 

Before donning the Invader mask (he would have been in his mid-30s by that point), Johnny Rivera was the go to local for challenging for the world junior heavyweight title. While in WWWF, his athleticism and junior style prowess was not always readily showcased due to him being in the land of giants and the role he played there as more of a JTTS. And I wish there was more house show footage of him in the early 80's as Johnny Rivera, where one could see him have junior style matches against Les Thornton, Dick Steinborn and others. Also wish there was more footage of his run as Invader 3, where he had his local debut as an Invader in a red hot feud against Los Super Medicos and a feud with Eric Embry that, from the limited footage we do have, seems to have been a great one in-ring. He does suffer in that he was never allowed to break out more from the junior heavyweight and tag team role (although his ability was definitely suited for these roles) and injuries definitely cut his full-time career in the late 80's. But in terms of underdog tecnicos on the Puerto Rico wrestling scene, I don't think you can find one better.

 

If I had to describe him to someone who hasn't seen him, I'd say he's like a Puerto Rican Bobby Eaton, he seems to fit that type of skills set mold in terms of strengths and weaknesses.

 

A selection of matches from throughout his career (note that I'm selecting some from different points of his career based on the limited footage available on the internet and not necessarily the best, just looking to provide a sample of different points of his career):

 

Taking on the Executioners in 1976:

 

Here are the not-yet Invaders teaming up with Andre in the WWF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne3vq8RWjEs

 

From Dec of 79, only the final stretch of the match against Tatsumi Fujinami, Would be curious to see the whole thing.

 

Training for an upcoming junior title challenge:

 

TV tag match against the Mercenaries

 

As Invader 3 against Randy Savage

 

Tag match against the Koloffs

 

The scaffold match against Chicky from 1986

 

A clipped video of a 60 minute match against Eric Embry

 

Three of the Invaders matches against the Sheepherders (1985 and 1986):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ije_O6Ld5Q

 

Junior title defense against an old Don Kent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdxZKN3qveg

 

Jan of 88 against Great Muta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lBtqEqpwo

 

A 1989 tag match against Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9I87mgnAM

 

Early 1990 in one of his last matches during this full time run against Mr. Pogo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvP6zS1ywWc

 

A brief appearance in 1996 featuring a very rare team up with Invader 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQSLvVyGmU

 

Pushing 50, he makes a brief comeback in 2000:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrIAGeCzHek

 

Now retired, he continues to serve as a trainer. His most successful student to date is the current Universal champion "Mr. 450" Hammett.

[Dylan Waco]

Thank you for this post! Please do more on the Puerto Rico guys. Would love to see your thoughts on Glamour Boy Shane finally

[El Boricua]

Shane's the next guy I want to make a post on, hopefully I'll get to it tonight. A quick question for you Dylan (or anyone else who 'd like to weigh in), do you think I'm off in comparing Invader 3's skill set type to a Bobby Eaton? The outside of the ring reputations and similar promo skill level made me think of the comparison, but the more I thought it over the more I think it fits.

 

As a bonus, here's a recent interview conducted with Invader 3 about his career. It's in Spanish, but I'll try to come back at some point and provide a summary of the interview:

 

[JerryvonKramer]

He's definitely better than Jose Luis Rivera.

[Dylan Waco]

I'm not sure about the Eaton comparison. In a sense I think it's correct because I see both as being strong tag workers, with dynamic and explosive offense for their respective eras, who were also great brawlers. Also both guys were fun to watch work scaffold matches

 

On the other hand I don't think there is enough prime footage of Invader 3 readily available to really ascertain if he's close to Eaton's level as an overall talent.

[El Boricua]

I wouldn't go as far as to say he's of the same talent level as Eaton either (would definitely need of more prime footage that is sadly unavailable to ascertain what his overall talent level is), but in the sense they have similar strengths and weaknesses in their skill set I do think it's a plausible comparison.