Famous Ecuadorian Wrestler Hugo Saninovich
Hugo Saninovich is a known commentator for WWE. But before teaming up with Marcelo Rodrigues and Carlos Cabrera to bring the wrestling action to the Spanish speaking audience, he was a professional wrestler himself. Saninovich is generally in a commentating team with Cabrera, but on occasion he and Rodriguez are play by play announcers, and he has become a successful Spanish announcer. Many of his faithful fans still reminisce over the days when he appeared in the wrestling rings of Panama, the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico.
Savinovich was born in Ecuador in 1959. His family later moved to America and according to his accounts of his childhood, wrestling saved him from a life in a New York gang. Johnny “El Torro” Maldonado influenced Saninovich to take up wrestling, which saw him move to Puerto Rico for fourteen years under the guidance of Arturo Mendoza, a wrestling promoter from Mexico. He started as a tecinico, which is the good guy image in wrestling. After his break from Little Chief Cherokee, his wrestling partner, Saninovich moved over to Capitol Sport Promotions, which was part owned by Carlos Colon and in conjunction with the Puerto Rican franchise called the World Wrestling Council. Here his image changed dramatically as he went from being a good guy to being a villain, where he gained his new wrestling name of El Munecazo. To promote his fellow wrestlers, he made a radio advertisement that gave him a first taste of being a color commenter.
He returned to the United States and became manager for Abdullah the Butcher. His time in the world of wrestling led to him becoming a Capitol partner, but the relationship turned sour and Saninovich and Colon went their own ways. Further disputes led to Saninovich moving back to Puerto Rico, where he joined All-Star Sports. With his personality beginning to take shape and becoming more colorful by the moment, he caught the attention of the WWF (as WWE was then known), and Saninovich and Cabera starting a show called WWE En Espanol. His most memorable moment is when Hulk Hogan accidently delivered a head shot with a chair to him, leaving Cabrera to continue the rest of the show by himself. Both Savinovich and Cabrera were ringside for the 25th anniversary of Wrestle Mania and were instated full time in 2010.