Homicide (wrestler)

Nelson Erazo
File:NelsonErazo.jpg
Born	Brooklyn, New York, New York
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	The Latin Terror Homicyde "The Notorious 187" Homicide
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Trained by	Manny Fernandez
Debut	March 5, 1993

Nelson Rodriguez Erazo (born in Brooklyn, New York, New York) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican ethnicity, better known by his ring name, Homicide. His stiff wrestling style, extensive use of weapons during matches and gangsta gimmick have led to frequent, sometimes pejorative, comparisons to New Jack.

Career

Erazo was a wrestling fan from the age of five, and decided that he wanted to become a wrestler at the age of fifteen. After ammassing a series of athletic qualifications including football and amateur wrestling, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Miami, which he rejected, preferring to pursue "fast money". Erazo trained himself as a wrestler in a bodega, debuting on March 5, 1993. After wrestling for three years without any formal training, Erazo attended a professional wrestling school in New Jersey operated by Manny Fernandez.

Erazo initially wrestled as The Latin Terror, a reference to his Puerto Rican ethnicity. He grew bored with the gimmick in 1995, and decided to create a new character based on his own past. Erazo had been a gang member as a youth, and he incorporated this into the Homicide character, taking his ring name from an episode of America's Most Wanted where a man was arrested for the crime of homicide.

As Homicide, Erazo worked on the independent circuit throughout the 1990s. While on a year-long hiatus from wrestling, he operated a training school in New York known as The Doghouse along with Laithon and Lowlife Louie. The Doghouse produced approximately twenty two graduates, including a number of ROH wrestlers, most notably Low Ki.

Erazo also formed a tag team called The Natural Born Sinners with Boogalou (which saw Boogalou wear a Leatherface mask and Homicide wear a Michael Myers mask).

Jersey All Pro Wrestling

Homicide joined Jersey All Pro Wrestling on September 7, 1997 and quickly became a mainstay of the promotion. He formed a tag team with Kane D known as The Nation of Immigration, and on March 22, 1998 The N.O.I. defeated The Sickness and The Blood Angels in a three way tag match for the JAPW Tag Team Championships in Newark, New Jersey. They lost the titles to The Skin Head Express on March 20, but regained them on August 25, defeating Russ and Charlie Haas in a weapons match. Their second reign lasted until January 29, when they lost to D-Sex. Homicide would later hold the titles twice more, with Don Montoya and with B-Boy.

Homicide won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for the first time on July 9, 1999, defeating Don Montoya in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lost the title to Chino Martinez on August 29. His second reign began when the champion, ECW alumnus Jason, vacated the title on November 18, 2000. Homicide defeated Jay Lover for the vacant title that same night in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lost the title to one of his students, Low-Ki, on July 7, 2001. Three more Heavyweight Championship reigns followed in 2001 and 2002, with Homicide firmly establishing himself as a dominant player in JAPW.

Homicide's increasing commitments, including tours of Japan with Big Japan Pro Wrestling and ZERO-ONE, led to a decline in his involvement in JAPW after late-2002.

The Dan Maff title controversy

Dan Maff, another student of Homicide's, won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship on December 13, 2003. He held the title throughout 2004, dominating the title scene. However, in March 2005, Homicide and Maff had a legitimate falling-out, with Homicide announcing that Maff had betrayed him, and that he would refuse to work for any promotion which employed Maff. This effectively led to Maff being blackballed from professional wrestling. As a result, the JAPW Heavyweight Championship was vacated.

Jay Lethal had pursued the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for several months, and was widely expected to be the next champion. The title was put on the line in a match between Lethal and an undisclosed opponent on March 26. The opponent was revealed to be the returning Homicide, who defeated Lethal for an unparalleled sixth JAPW Heavyweight Championship. His reign lasted until May 21, when Lethal finally won the belt in a four way match. The following week, Homicide announced that he was temporarily leaving JAPW, but promised to go on a "murdering spree" and become a seven time JAPW Heavyweight Champion when he returned.

On October 22, 2005, Homicide teamed with his long-term nemesis Teddy Hart to defeat the Backseat Boyz for the JAPW Tag Team Championships. Their reign lasted until November 12 of that year, when Kashmere and Acid regained the titles.

Ring of Honor

2002

Homicide's first mainstream exposure came in 2002 when he was recruited by the upstart Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. He and Boogalou wrestled on the first ever ROH show, The Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, and lost to the Boogie Knights by disqualification after they used a rubber chicken as a weapon. The Natural Born Sinners were a dominant tag team in ROH, beating The Carnage Crew at the July 27 Crowning a Champion event, and also won at the August 24 Honor Invades Boston event, defeating Tony Mamaluke and James Maritato.

After Boogalou suffered an injury and then jumped ship to Rob Black's Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion (Homicide was also offered a contract by XPW but opted to remained with ROH), Homicide appeared alone at the October 5 ROH event. Responding to challenge from The Backseat Boyz, he invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner. Steve Corino responded to his offer, and Corino and Homicide faced the Backseat Boys later that night. In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, superkicking his partner and leaving the ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide.

2003

Homicide and Corino began a heated rivalry, with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past. The feud culminated in a match at the ROH Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003 in Queens, New York, New York. Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group, Corino's entourage. After the match, Corino applied a cobra sleeper to Homicide, instigating a riot.

After regaining some momentum by defeating Christopher Daniels on the April 12 ROH event, Epic Encounter, Homicide defeated CM Punk in a match for the number one contendership on April 26 at Round Robin Challenge 2. Homicide faced ROH Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe on May 31 at Do or Die, hoping not only to win the title, but to gain revenge on Joe for helping Corino defeat him in his hometown. Despite the support of his manager, Julius Smokes, and his former student, Low Ki, Homicide lost cleanly to Joe.

Homicide was undefeated in ROH throughout June and July, and on August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies he defeated Corino in a rematch of their February encounter. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modifed STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LaGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum, and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide.

Following high profile victories over Samoa Joe and B.J. Whitmer, Homicide faced Corino for a third time on November 29, 2003, at War of the Wire in a barbed wire match. This time Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire. Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand.

On December 27 at Final Battle 2003 the ROH roster faced a number of All Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers in an inter-promotional contest. Homicide lost to Satoshi Kojima in a match which saw Kojima borrow a camera from a fan in order to photograph his opponent, reeling as a result of a bump to the head, which left Homicide with a concussion.

2004

Homicide faced A.J. Styles at The Battle Lines Are Drawn on January 10, 2004. After Styles was thrown from the ring, Homicide dived over the tope rope in pursuit, and landed in the third row of the audience, briefly knocking himself unconscious and injuring his shoulder and ribs. Styles quickly capitalised on Homicide's vulnerabilities, defeating him following a Styles Clash. After defeating CM Punk at The Last Stand, Homicide took a hiatus from Ring of Honor to "find himself", sending word through Julius Smokes that when he returned, he wanted a shot at Samoa Joe and the ROH Heavyweight Championship.

Homicide challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship once more at Reborn: Stage 1 on April 23. Homicide showed signs of anger and frustration throughout the match, and was eventually disqualified for throwing a fireball at Joe. After the match, Homicide turned heel by attacking several referees and trying to further injure the badly burned Joe. In subsequent weeks, Homicide defeated fan favorites American Dragon and Spanky, cheating and threatening referees in both matches. Homicide faced Joe for the ROH Heavyweight Championship for a third time on May 22 at Generation Next, with Joe retaining in a match which saw him bleed for the first time in ROH. Homicide and Joe continued to feud throughout the summer of 2004, with Homicide recruiting a stable known as The Rottweilers (originally Low Ki, Rocky Romero and Julius Smokes) to help him defeat Joe. Despite the best efforts of The Rottweilers, Joe defeated Homicide to retain his title in a fourth match on July 23 at Death Before Dishonor.The Rottweilers worked as a unit throughout the remainer of 2004, helping one another win matches.

2005

In January 2005 Homicide began a "best of five" series with American Dragon. Homicide was victorious in the first two matches, a submission match and a taped fist match, but lost the remaing three matches - a falls count anywhere match, a lumberjack match and a steel cage match at The Final Showdown on May 13, 2005.

Following his loss to American Dragon, Homicide and the Rottweilers began a feud with Jay Lethal. On May 7 at Manhattan Mayhem, Homicide and Low-Ki teamed together to face Lethal and Samoa Joe. The match ended when Homicide gave Lethal Da Cop Killa while Low-Ki delivered a top rope double foot stomp, driving Lethal's neck into the ground. Lethal was stretchered from the arena wearing a neck brace, apparently badly injured.

With Lethal injured, Homicide turned his attentions to James Gibson, whom he defeated on June 12 at The Future Is Now. After the match, The Rottweilers continued to attack Gibson until Lethal made his return and saved Gibson. This led to a match between Lethal and Homicide on July 9 at Escape from New York, which Homicide won. On July 23 at The Homecoming, Homicide and two fellow Rottweilers (Low-Ki and Ricky Reyes) defeated Samoa Joe, James Gibson and Jay Lethal in a six man tag match. Low-Ki fought Lethal to a double count out on August 12 at Redemption, and Homicide came to ringside after the match to attack Lethal. His plan was foiled by Matt Hardy, who intercepted Homicide then defeated him in a scheduled singles bout. On August 13 at Punk: The Final Chapter, Lethal and Samoa Joe defeated Homicide and Low-Ki by disqualification after Homicide elbow-dropped the referee. From that point on, Lethal began feuding primarily with Low-Ki.

In September 2005, Homicide began feuding with Colt Cabana. At Glory By Honor 4 on September 17, he lost to Cabana via disqualification.

At Unforgettable on October 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Homicide teamed with Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi to face Samoa Joe and his stablemate Low-Ki. Homicide and Kobashi won the match after Homicide took out Joe on the outside of the ring with a tope con hilo while in the ring Kobashi hit Low-Ki with a lariat for the pin.

Homicide teamed with Low-Ki on October 14 at Enter the Dragon in a match that saw him lose to Cabana and his old rival Steve Corino, newly returned to the promotion. He faced Cabana in a singles match at Vendetta on November 5 that ended in a no contest. On November 19 at A Night of Tribute, Homicide faced Cabana once again in a no disqualification rematch. Following interference from Julius Smokes and Grim Reefer, Homicide forced Cabana to submit by strangling him with a coat hanger.

On December 3 in New York City at Steel Cage Warfare, Homicide lost to Corino in a rematch from their feud of 2003. During the match, Homicide separated his shoulder, but opted not to have surgery. On December 17, Homicide tried to kill Colt Cabana by pouring Drano down his throat, after Cabana saved Steve Corino from a beating.

2006

On January 14, Homicide lost the FIP Heavyweight Championship to Bryan Danielson. On February 25 at the 4th Anniversary Show, Homicide defeated Cabana in a "Ghetto Fight". Homicide went on to defeat Cabana once again on March 31. On April 1, in a violent "Chicago Street Fight", Cabana finally defeated Homicide. Following the match, Homicide and Cabana embraced, with Cabana having won Homicide's respect.

On May 13th, Homicide finally joined the fight against the CZW invasion lead by Chris Hero, when Homicide attacked and brawled with the Necro Butcher, defeating him after a hellacious brawl in Edison, New Jersey.

Homicide is set to challenge Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Heavyweight title on June 3rd in Connecticut. So far, Homicide has yet to capture a title in Ring of Honor, a streak which would continue after Danielson defeated Homicide due to referee stoppage. Homicide protested, demanding more time, but Jim Cornette (via cell phone) upheld Senior Referee Todd Sinclair's decision. The announcement caused Homicide to attack Sinclair out of frustration.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Homicide debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on December 31, 2005, helping Konnan and Apolo beat down Bob Armstrong. The trio, identified as the Latin American Exchange, then challenged Konnan's rivals, B.G. James and Kip James. At TNA Final Resolution 2006 on January 15, Konnan and Homicide defeated The Naturals. At TNA Against All Odds 2006 on February 12, Homicide and new LAX member Machete lost to The James Gang. At TNA Destination X 2006 on March 12, the LAX were once again defeated by the James Gang in a rematch.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

• Da Cop Killa / Kudo Driver (Back to back double underhook wrist-clutch piledriver)
• West Brooklyn Lariat / The Decapitator (Lariat)
• Ace Crusher (Cutter)
• Avalanche Ace Crusher (Top rope cutter)
• Tope Con Hilo (Somersault suicide dive)
• Yakuza kick (Running big boot)
• Tequila Sunrise (Single leg crab with armlock)
• Cross leg STF
• Overhead belly to belly suplex
• Shining wizard
• STF
• Texas piledriver
• Top rope double underhook suplex
• Elevated diving bulldog (with Machete)

Wrestlers trained by Homicide at The Doghouse

Azrieal Becky Bayless KC Blade Boogalou Buff E Deranged Iceberg

Laithon Low-Ki Monsta Mack Dan Maff Mace Mendoza EC Negro

Papadon Wrecka Louie Ramos Grim Reefer Julius Smokes Valentina

Championships and accomplishments

• Assault Championship Wrestling

• 1-time ACW Great American Champion

• Big Japan Pro Wrestling

• 1-time BJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion

• Eastern Pro Wrestling

• 1-time EPW Cruiserweight Champion

• Full Impact Pro

• 1-time FIP Heavyweight Champion

• Impact Championship Wrestling

• 1-time ICW Tag Team Champion (with Boogalou)

• International Wrestling Union

• 3-time IWU Georgia Champion

• Jersey All Pro Wrestling

• 6-time JAPW Heavyweight Champion
• 5-time JAPW Tag Team Champion (2-time with Kane D, 1-time with Don Montoya, 1-time with B-Boy, 1-time with Teddy Hart)

• Jersey Championship Wrestling

• 1-time JCW Heavyweight Champion

• Long Island Wrestling Federation

• 1-time LIWF Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time LIWF New Jersey Champion

• MAS

• 1-time MAS Cruiserweight Champion

• National Wrestling Alliance

• 1-time NWA East Brass Knuckles Champion
• 2-time NWA East Three Rivers Champion
• 1-time NWA East Tag Team Champion (with Bubba The Bulldog)
• 2-time NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion

• Pro Wrestling eXpress

• 1-time PWX Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time PWX Tag Team Champion (with Kingdom James)

• Pittsburgh Wrestling League

• 1-time PWL Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time PWL Three Rivers Champion

• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

• 1-time PWG Tag Team Champion (with B-Boy)

• Pro Wrestling Unplugged

• 1-time PWU Heavyweight Champion

• USA Xtreme Wrestling

• 1-time UXW Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time UXW United States Champion
• 1-time UXW Xtreme Champion

• WMF

• 1-time WMF All Borough Champion

References

• Homicide at Bodyslamming.com
• Homicide at Cagematch.de
• Homicide at ObsessedWithWrestling.com
• Homicide at FullImpactPro.com
• Interview with Alan Wojcik

External links

• Homicide at IMDb
• Homicide's statement on Dan Maff
• TNA profile