Luchadores de Lucha Libre: ecw

Charles Ashenoff doesn't sound much like a luchador's name does it?
But in Lucha Libre and wrestling circles he is better known as Konnan.
Konnan was born on June 6, 1964 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Before becoming a wrestler, Konnan was a boxer (Californian Middleweight Amateur Boxing Champion in 1982 and 1983) and a bodybuilder.

He was trained in Tijuana, Mexico by varvious luchadors alongside Psicosis, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Halloween and Damián 666.

"The Mexican Hulk Hogan" started out wrestling for Universal Wrestling Alliance as a masked wrestler called El Centurión ("The Centurion").
Leaving UWA, he then went to Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL). It was in EMLL that he took on the name Konnan El Barbaro ("The Barbarian").
On June 9, 1991, Konnan became the first ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion.

Konnan left EMLL and went to Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in 1992.
For AAA he worked as a booker, became the first AAA Americas Heavyweight Champion and helped set the all-time attendance record for a Mexican wrestling event, 48,000 people at TripleMania on April 30, 1993.
In 1994, Konnan formed an alliance known as Los Gringos Locos with Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr and Madonna's Boyfriend (Louie Spicolli).

Konnan left Mexico in 1992 and wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

In early 2007, he returned to AAA.

Besides wrestling, Konnan has appeared on soap operas and TV shows in Mexico, and has recorded Rap music.

You can check out Konnan's MySpace here:
http://www.myspace.com/konnan619

Juventud Guerrera (born Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández on November 23, 1974 in Mexico City) is a Mexican professional wrestler who has worked for World Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, World Wrestling Entertainment and Xtreme Pro Wrestling. He is the son of Mexican wrestling legend Fuerza Guerrera (Warrior Strengh or Fighting Force in Spanish). Juventud Guerrera means "Youth Warrior" in Spanish

Early in his career Guerrera was a main stay in the Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion promotion. He had a very lengthy fued with Rey Mysterio, Jr. in which they traded the AAA Welterwieght title back and forth. The pair also had several tag team matches in which Guerrera would team with his father Fuerza, while Rey, Jr. would tag with uncle and trainer Rey Misterio, Sr.

Juventud Guerrera wrestled in many Mexician independent promotions as a masked wrestler but he first gained American exposure in Extreme Championship Wrestling alongside fellow luchadores Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis, Konnan and La Parka, all of whom were also wrestling for Konnan's Promo Azteca in Mexico at the time. When Konnan left for WCW, Juvi and the rest followed.

In WCW, Juvi made his WCW debut on August 26, 1996 in a victory over Billy Kidman. Prior to signing with WCW, he competed briefly in ECW. He would compete throughout 1996 and 1997 under a mask, like he had in Mexico and ECW. His most remembered matches of '96 and '97 were clashes with fellow luchadores Rey Mysterio and Psicosis. Guerrera pinned the Ultimo Dragon for the WCW Cruiserweight title on January 8, 1998. He would then lose the title to Rey Misterio, Jr., and Chris Jericho would beat him again in a Mask vs Title match forcing Juvi to unmask. Later in the year, Juvi defeated Jericho at Road Wild 98 to capture his second Cruiserweight Championship. He retained the belt at Fall Brawl '98 before losing it to Billy Kidman the following night on Nitro.

At Spring Stampede '99, Juvi faced Blitzkrieg in what many consider the 1999 Match of the Year. Later Juvi became an announcer on WCW Thunder, after he suffered an injury. Juvi often imitated The Rock by calling himself The Juice and saying The Rock's catch phrases. He joined Rey Mysterio, Konnan, Billy Kidman, and others to form the Filthy Animals and during the group's run, Juvi and Mysterio became the WCW Tag Team Champions.

Guerrera went on to wrestle for many other promotions including Xtreme Pro Wrestling, CMLL, WWA, AAA, and Frontier Wrestling Alliance He frequently teamed with Rey Mysterio in CMLL before Rey's signing with WWE. He joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

In TNA, Guerrera was joined by fellow AAA wrestlers: Mr. Águila, Héctor Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal to form a group first know as Team AAA, then later as Team Mexico to compete in TNA's World X Cup Matches. Guerrera would also take part in the 2003 Super X Cup advancing through to the final only to be defeated by Chris Sabin.

When TNA's working relationship with AAA came to an end the group dispanded, and Juvi was released to continue working for Lucha Libre promotions.

Juventud Guerrera had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in spring 2005. He debuted on television, wrestling simply as Juventud (the Guerrera was dropped, possibly to avoid confusion with Chavo and Eddie Guerrero) on June 18, 2005, defeating Funaki on SmackDown!'s sister show Velocity. On June 23 he, Super Crazy and Psicosis (collectively called "The Mexicools") interrupted a match between Chavo Guerrero and Paul London by riding to the ring on a lawn mower and attacking both wrestlers.

This was followed week by week of The Mexicools interrupting matches and beating down seemingly random wrestlers and cutting promos, Juventud quickly established himself as the mouthpiece/leader of the group and began using his old gimmick name of "The Juice".

At the 2005 Great American Bash on July 24, The Mexicools defeated the bWo, a team led by Stevie Richards, in a six-man tag team match.

After more weeks of interruptions and sneak attacks, Juventud and the group were sent down to the SmackDown! B-show, Velocity. The group fueded with Velocity main-stay and Cruiserwieght Champion, Nunzio and his tag partner, Vito. Members of The Mexicools picked up numerous pin fall victories over the champion during this time.

At the October 4 SmackDown! tapings, for Velocity, Juventud (along with Super Crazy and Psicosis) faced Brian Kendrick, Paul London, Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki in an over-the-top battle royal with the stipulation that the winner would receive a title shot at the Cruiserweight Championship at No Mercy. After finally eliminating Paul London, Juventud won the battle royal and the title shot. At the event on October 9, he defeated Nunzio following a Juvi Driver to capture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

Juventud later went on to lose the title back to Nunzio at a live event in Italy. On November 25 however, Juventud regained the gold on an edition of SmackDown! from England, following a Juvi Driver. Guerrera lost the title to Kid Kash at Armageddon on December 18, 2005.

On January 6, 2006, WWE announced that Juventud had been released from the company. His final match aired that evening on SmackDown!, a Cruiserweight title rematch against Kid Kash which Juventud lost. During this match, Juventud would use many high flying moves - despite WWE telling its cruiserweights to tone down those aerial moves - and the 450 splash, a move WWE outright banned due to an earlier match Juventud had when he botched the move and ended up fracturing bones in Paul London's face.

Juventud Guerrera would return to Mexico to compete with AAA. Guerrera first appeared on April 30th and formed a new stable known as "Mexican Power" that will include Crazy Boy, who is the first cousin of Super Crazy, and Joe Lider.

During a TNA vs. AAA Mexico show, Juventud was one of the Mexican wrestlers who aided LAX attack A.J. Styles. This footage was later shown on the October 5, 2006 edition of TNA iMPACT!

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