Ricky Romero 1931-2006

This past week, we lost more than an ICON. He was a man that put wrestling on a different stage in the old Amarillo Territory from the day he arrived.

"Rapid" Ricky Romero will be remembered as one of the favorite good guys to ever put on a pair of wrestling tights. I am sure that the fans that saw him will agree 100 percent.

I had arrived in the Amarillo Territory in August 1973 with "The Patriot" (Bobby Hart) under my wing. He and I were going to set the world on end, so to speak. We started out by pleading with matchmaker Herman Gust to give us a match with Ricky Romero, who was the current Rocky Mountain Champ. After all, I had all the credentials in my arsenal to represent champions.

We were told that he had a lot of commitments and that that match could not take place for the next six months, as there were more top contenders in our path that we would have to deal with. Terry and Dory Funk Jr., Mack Quinder, Moose Marowski and the Kozaks were all in our way and needed to be eliminated.

Hurricane Hank James, younger brother of Bobo Brazil, was winning matches with his roughhouse style and had a few encounters with Romero and some of the other top contenders. Also in the way was Chunky Washington, who possessed superhuman triple tendon strength in his arms. He often tagged up with Hank and took on Romero and his tag partners.

I thought very hard about this situation with Romero and decided to embarrass him into giving us a match somewhere in the territory. It didn't really matter if it was in Amarillo or in Colorado Springs or in Pueblo or Albuquerque. Or if it was in El Paso or Odessa or Lubbock … I wanted that match to prove to the world that I had the better athlete under my contract.

Late in December, I finally shamed Romero on nationwide television by calling him a Rocky Mountain champion has-been. I called him names like "Little Brown Boy," "Pepper Belly," “Rufus Jr.” and a number of other superlatives that got the promoter’s attention.

Romero went to the state athletic board of control in Austin and asked for and got a permanent barring against me in the state of Texas. Then, he went to New Mexico, and also Colorado, and did the same.

I guess he had a lot of influence with the board members, and, by the end of December, I had to leave the Patriot behind and go elsewhere to make a living.

I never had the chance to bury the hatchet with him for my comments. If there is an Internet available in Heaven, Ricky, PLEASE forgive me. It was only business.

Ricky lost both legs due to diabetes following his retirement from wrestling.

Ricky passed away on January 15, 2006 and was laid to rest in his adopted home of Texas on January 19. Rest in Peace, Ricky.

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Ricky Romero, 74, of Amarillo died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2006.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday in St. Mary's Catholic Church. Burial will be in Llano Cemetery by Cox Funeral Home, 4180 Canyon Drive.

Mr. Romero was born May 24, 1931, in San Bernardino, Calif., was raised there and moved to Amarillo in 1958. He married Stella Marrujo on Dec. 17, 1949, in Fontana, Calif. He played AAA baseball for the San Francisco Giants. He was a professional wrestler for more than 50 years. He was not only loved by fans in Texas, but all over the world.

He was key in breaking through racial barriers in the wrestling world. "Rapid Ricky Romero" was loved by many wrestling fans for decades and was known for throwing miniature sombreros to the fans at the wrestling matches. Ricky paved a way for many wrestlers as well as his own sons and grandsons to enter the professional wrestling profession.

Ricky was loved by his family very much.

He was preceded in death by his son, Steve Romero in 1985.

Survivors include his wife, Stella of Amarillo; three sons, Chris Romero and wife Jennifer, Rick Romero Jr. and Mark Romero and wife Sherrilyn, all of Amarillo; two daughters, Yolanda Bell and husband Rick of Lubbock and Melissa Miller of Baytown; a brother, Dario Romero of Fontana; three sisters, Julia Le-Valle, Inez Gomez and Lupe Alvarez, all of Fontana; 15 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers
2004 CAC Honoree