Ari Romero Ari Romero ( December 20 , 1951 – December 29 , 2013 ) , was a Mexican professional wrestler who wrestled in the USA , Japan , and his Native Mexico . Ari " El Rey del Tenedor " was notorious for using a fork to make his adversaries bleed in his matches . his nickname is " El rey de las Cadenas " . ( Spanish for " King of the bull terrier match " ) Wrestling career . Romero began his career in his native city of Querétaro under a mask with the name " el Gato " ( Spanish for " the cat " ) at the age of 15 . His father was the local Empresa Mundial de Lucha Libre ( EMLL , now known as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre ( CMLL ) ) promoter but when he debuted his son he put him in the opening bout and ordered the guys to be a little extra rough with him . After a few years later Romero , a bit more mature and experienced , would get called up to EMLL full - time and would debut at Arena Coliseo in downtown Mexico City . After several years , with signs of promise , the EMLL offices send him to Ciudad Juárez with their local affiliate to further season . Cd . Juarez would become Romero ' s home as he became a fixture in the area and would later play a big role in the beginning of Eddie Guerrero and Konnan ' s wrestling careers . An injury while in Juarez forced Ari to return to Mexico City and soon after lose his " El Gato " mask Halcón Dorado as part of EMLL ' s " Martes populares " where they showcased new talent , mixed in with some of EMLL ' s veterans and established stars . After losing his " El Gato " mask Romero returned to Juarez but this time with a rival promoter of the area , Gory Guerrero , who ran his shows at Plaza de Torros Balderas only two blocks away from the EMLL afitliate competition at the Gimnasio Municipal . It would for Gory Guerrero that Romero would begin his long lasting feud ( storyline ) with the Guerrero family . Romero began working under his real name , Jose Luis Arias Romero , later shortened to Arias Romero by Gory Guerrero himself . Guerrero decided to have Romero debut as a face , going against Romero ' s natural heel ( bad guy , " Rudó " In Mexico ) tendencies . During his debut against a hated local , Romero managed to rile up the crowd so much that he turned the heel face ( good guy , " Technicó " in Mexico ) in the crowds eye and had them booing him instead . Romero quickly moved into a storyline with the local top talent Hector Guerrero , Gory ' s son . Romero won a lot of matches while in Juarez , but his main accomplishment during his run with Guerrero ' s promotion was defeating all four Guerreros in an elimination 4 vs . 4 match . Romero singlehandedly eliminated Chavo , Mando and Gory and in a heated match finally also overcame Hector Guerrero . Not long after defeating the four Guerreros Ari Romero left to join the " la Division del Norte " wrestling circuit in Monterrey , led by lucha legend Rene Guajardo and composed of mostly ex EMLL guys . It was here that Ari Romero got his most well - known name as local promoter , Ciclon Veloz , had shortened his name from Arias Romero to Ari Romero . After working in Monterrey Romero gained his first taste of international experience , working his first tour of the United States . He would first work in the southwestern part , working mainly on the Native American Reservations of New Mexico , Utah and Arizona . Later he would go to Southeast Championship Wrestling and work their territory in Tennessee , Alabama , Kentucky , Florida , Mississippi and Georgia . While working in the US Romero picked up a more American style of wrestling and would take what he learned back to Mexico . Romero claimed that it wasn ' t until he wrestled in the south that he finally understood the psychology of pro wrestling . After his tour of the US Romero would return to EMLL with a lot more experience . This time round he had his first big run with the company , taking part in one of EMLLs first Central American tours to El Salvador , Guatemala and Panama . From here Romero would get sent by the CMLL offices to Los Angeles where he would work for Promoter Mike Labell at the Olympic Auditorium for the National Wrestling Alliance . The NWA , EMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling ( NJPW ) had formed a working relationship and exchanged talents to help strengthen all three promotions . EMLL sent Mil Mascaras , Black Gordman and the Great Goliath among others to the Olympic , as well as Ari Romero . Romero enjoyed a good run in NWA , a run that saw him participate in his first tour of Japan , one of many to come , and also a tour of the Pacific Islands in Hawaii , New Zealand , Guam , Samoa , Fiji , Australia and Tonga for " High Chief " Peter Maivia . During his stint with them Romero managed to crown himself champion of Polynesian Wrestling defeating Peter Maivia himself . After this Romero would find himself back in EMLL as an established star , scoring victories over top talents of the time such as La Fiera , Alfonso Dantés and others . Later on Romero left EMLL and ventured out to San Antonio , Texas to work for Tully Blanchard ' s Southwest Championship Wrestling . After working in Texas Romero returned to Juarez where he helped several up and comers like Eddie Guerrero , Konnan , Blue Demon , Jr . , Tinieblas , Jr . , Heavy Metal get their start in wrestling . Romero continued wrestling full - time locally in Juarez while making annual appearances for EMLL and tours to Japan for many distinct promotions , among them All Japan Pro Wrestling ( AJPW ) . During the early 1990s Ari contacted the CMLL offices to ask for his scheduled dates where it was suggested to him to try to work with a new gimmick , a masked character . Romero took advantage of the Gulf War that was going on at the time , using it to return full - time with EMLL as El Gran Sheik , an Iraq i Sheikh . As El Grand Sheik he brought a slave with him to the ring to really sell the gimmick . Romero ' s career saw a resurgence as " El Gran Sheik " , he even took part in Michinoku Pro ' s World Masked Tournament representing Saudi Arabia ( even though his gimmick was supposed to be Iraqi ) . Romero placed in the tournament that was won by Dos Caras ( Mexico ) and saw local superstar , over the Great Sasuke ( Japan ) place second . The tournament also saw Sho Funaki , Jerry Lynn , Taka Michinoku and Super Delfin participate . Romero ended up losing the Gran Shiek mask to Blue Demon , Jr . , but his popularity in the Orient led him to reside in Japan after his loss . Romero spent the next 10 years wrestling all over Asia doing shows in Japan , Korea , Hong Kong , Philippines , Malaysia and even Russia . In late 2003 Ari returned to Juarez to help his son , billed as Ari Romero , Jr . , get his break in the business for the same local promotion that Romero , Sr . worked for years before . Outside the ring . Outside the ring works with his favorite hobby , music . Romero formed a music group composed of nothing but pro wrestlers and musicians that would play just for fun at their anniversary shows . The group ended up performing at Mexico ' s prestigious " Teatro Blanquita " as headliners . The Group was compossed of Ari Romero ( lead guitar and vocals ) , Kung Fu ( drums ) , El Pantera ( guitar ) , El Apache ( Bass ) , Buffalo Salvaje ( vocals ) , Mario Prado ( percussion ) and Estrellita ( keyboard and vocals ) . Romero has recorded four CD ' s , three of which are his own material .