Daniel Luis Rivera
Early life
Rivera was a fan of the then
WWE Attitude Era, specifically of
Dwayne Johnson, the
D-Generation X stable, and the Hell in a Cell match from in 1997.
In 2009, Rivera entered the United States Marines Corps at the age of 17. He achieved the rank of Staff sergeant and worked as a Drill instructor before being administratively separated in 2019 due to his misconduct as a drill instructor.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Rivera was inspired to be a wrestler after speaking with Joe Gamble, a wrestler and acquaintance from Rivera's time in the Marines at a
WWE House show in
San Diego.
After initial training with and competing in matches for SoCal Pro Wrestling, Rivera would start wrestling for promotions in Southern California and
Tijuana specifically for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and The Crash Lucha Libre.
Rivera would be in the Los Primos Rivera tag team with Gino Rivera in 2016.
Championship Wrestling From Hollywood (2019–present)
In 2019, Limelight would begin to feature more prominently on Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. He would be on the losing end against
Royce Isaacs for the UWN Television Championship
and compete in a Fatal Four-Way match with
Brandon Cutler, Adrian Quest, and Fidel Bravo at the 2019
Coastline Clash.
Limelight was one of a group of wrestlers from Championship Wrestling to compete at
Impact Wrestling Unbreakable event in 2019.
In 2020, Limelight would begin teaming with Papo Esco to form the tag team, the Bodega,
In 2022, Limelight focused more on singles competition. After defeating Willie Mack and Tyler Bateman in the finals of the Golden Opportunity Tournament, Limelight would go on to defeat Jordan Clearwater for the UWN World Championship.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2020–present)
Danny Limelight debuted at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's
Lion's Break Collision event and was one of the first mainstays on
NJPW Strong. Limelight was an entrant in Strong's Lion's Break Crown tournament where he defeated Barrett Brown in the first round and
Blake Christian in the semi-finals. Limelight would lose in the finals of the tournament to
Clark Connors.
Not long after his loss, Limelight would attack
Rocky Romero after his match with
Tyler Rust and align with
Team Filthy.
Limelight would feud on and off with Romero, often being on the opposite side of him in tag team matches. Limelight would also face Homicide at
Detonation 2022.
All Elite Wrestling (2020–2021)
On October 21, 2020, Danny Limelight made his All Elite Wrestling debut on
AEW Dark on the losing end of a six-man tag team match with Steve Gibki & Tony Vincita against
Jurassic Express (
Jack Perry,
Luchasaurus, and
Marko Stunt).
During his time in the promotion, he would be a main stay on
Dark and
, obtaining victories over Fuego Del Sol,
Sean Maluta, and Baron Black in singles matches.
His fist and only televised AEW match came on the January 6, 2021, edition of
AEW Dynamite as he and the Varsity Blondes (
Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr.) faced
Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers.
Major League Wrestling (2021–2022)
On July 10, 2021, Danny Rivera, Slice Boogie, and Julius Smokes were introduced by
Konnan as members of LAX at Major League Wrestling's
Battle Riot III. Eventually, the team would be known as 5150. Rivera and Boogie defeated Myron Reed and Jordan Oliver of Injustice.
After feuding with L.A. Park Jr. and El Hijo de L.A. Park, Rivera and Boogie defeated them for the MLW World Tag Team Championships on November 6, 2021.
5150 would defeated for the MLW tag titles against E. J. Nduka and
Calvin Tankman (Hustle and Power).
Rivera and Boogie would feud with Marshall and Ross Von Erich around this time. Once Hernandez joined 5150, he and Rivera would compete against Hustle and Power and the Von Erichs for the MLW tag titles. Hustle and Power would retain with Rivera taking the pin.
International Wrestling Association (2022)
As part of an agreement with MLW, Danny Rivera wrestled for International Wrestling Association during their
Christmas in PR 2021. Teaming up with
Savio Vega, Rivera faced The Owners of Time (Nick Mercer & Leinord White) to a no contest. On January 15, 2022, Rivera and Slice Boogie defeated Mercer and Manny Freno (replacing White) for the IWA World Tag Team Championships in a match where the MLW tag team titles were on the line.
5150 would hold the titles until February 26, 2022, when they would be defeated by Lightning & Mr. Big.
Filmography
Television
|
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| 2022 | NCIS | SRT #2 | "Pledge of Allegiance" |
| 2024 | The Brothers Sun | SWAT Cop | "Gymkata" |
Championships and accomplishments
Professional wrestling
-
907 Pro Wrestling
-
907 Pro Wrestling Championship (1 time)
-
Venue Wrestling Entertainment
-
VWE SoCal Championship (1 time)
-
Future Stars Of Wrestling
-
FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
-
FSW No Limits Championship (1 time)
-
Gold Rush Pro Wrestling
-
GRPW SoCal Championship (1 time)
-
Iron Heart Pro
-
IHP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
-
Baja Star's USA
-
Baja Star's USA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
-
International Wrestling Association
-
IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Slice Boogie
-
Major League Wrestling
-
MLW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Slice Boogie
-
FIST COMBAT
-
FIST Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
-
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
-
Ranked No. 286 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2024
-
Reality of Wrestling
-
ROW Texas Championship (1 time)
-
ROW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
-
United Wrestling Network
-
UWN World Championship (1 time)
-
UWN Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Papo Esco, and Slice Boogie
-
Golden Opportunity Tournament (2022)
-
Gold Coast Federation
-
GCF SoCal Championship (1 time)
-
Finest City Wrestling
-
FCW XRT Championship (1 time)
-
XRT Division Championship (1 time)
External links
