Ray Fernandez

Early life Fernandez was born in New York City on May 7, 1956. After his mother died from cancer when he was aged six, his father relocated the family to Tampa, Florida. Fernandez attended A. P. Leto High School, where he competed in amateur wrestling. He graduated from high school in 1974 and enlisted in the United States Air Force for three years.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1979–1983) Fernandez was trained to wrestle by Hiro Matsuda. This feud began because Race had an issue with Oliver Humperdink's House of Humperdink stable, which Hernandez had become a part of soon after joining the promotion. Fernandez's run as one of the Assassins ended less than a year later, after he was unmasked by Jimmy Valiant.

Mid-South Wrestling (1984–1985) After being unmasked, Fernandez moved on to Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion, where he once again donned a mask. Mr. Wrestling II had recently turned on his tag team partner Magnum T. A. and become a heel. Mr. Wrestling II renamed himself simply "Mr. Wrestling" and got a new protégé, "Mr. Wrestling II", who was Fernandez under a mask (referred to as "Mr. Wrestling III" in magazines to avoid confusing their readers). Mr. Wrestling II seconded Mr. Wrestling in his feud with Magnum T. A. Later on, Fernandez unmasked and competed once again as "Hercules Hernandez", and feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan under the tutelage of Jim Cornette. Hercules soon joined Skandor Akbar's stable, Devastation Inc., alongside future WWF co-worker Ted DiBiase. As part of Devastation Inc., Hercules feuded with the Junkyard Dog and Terry Taylor, before leaving for Florida. His first major national exposure came when he competed at WrestleMania 2 in a losing effort against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at the Sports Arena in the Los Angeles part of the show. Blassie soon retired, as, in storyline, he sold his stable to Slick and Fernandez soon found himself floundering in the WWF midcard. The feud culminated some weeks later in a chain match that saw Hercules as the victor. This led to their grudge match at WrestleMania IV, which ended with Warrior pinning Hercules after pushing off from the turnbuckle while in Hercules' full nelson and landing on top of him before lifting his shoulder at the two count while referee Dave Hebner continued to count Hercules. Hercules' career stalled following his feud with Haku. He was mainly used to help push the latest heels such as The Earthquake, who squashed him at WrestleMania VI, At WrestleMania VII, they lost to The Legion of Doom in less than a minute.

Final appearances (1991–1992) After SummerSlam 1991, Roma left the WWF. and beat Marcus Bagwell in a dark match before the Great American Bash 1992. The highlight of his run as Super Invader was his appearance at Clash of the Champions XX teaming with Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, and Big Van Vader in an elimination tag team match against Sting, Nikita Koloff, and The Steiner Brothers. Although Sting eliminated him early, Super Invader's team won the match. By the end of 1992, Fernandez had left WCW.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1993–1994)

In March 1993, Fernandez debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he appeared as "Hercules Hernandez" once more, mainly teaming with fellow powerhouse wrestler Scott Norton to form the Jurassic Powers.

Late career (1993–1999) In 1993, Hercules wrestled for International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW) and in 1994, he wrestled in the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) promotion taking part in the tournament to crown the first AWF champion. He was buried with military honors at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. NWA Central States Television Championship (1 time) Championship Wrestling from Florida NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times) NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time) Independent Association of Wrestling IAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) IAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Paul Roma New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2018 New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Norton North American Wrestling Alliance NAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 220 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. World Wrestling Federation Slammy Award (1 time) Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award (1987) with Haku, Tama, André the Giant, King Kong Bundy, and Harley Race Battle Royal (1987)