John R. Rivera

is a Cuban professional wrestler better known by his ring name Rocky Romero and as the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger. As Romero he was one half of the tag team The Havana Pitbulls (formerly Los Cubanitos), along with Ricky Reyes. He also was a member of the No Remorse Corps in Ring of Honor with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards. Romero and Richards are former ROH World Tag Team Champions in the stable. Romero's wrestling style based around stiff shoot-style kicks and multiple armlock variations. Rivera made his wrestling debut in 1997, using the ring name Rocky Romero. He was trained by Antonio Inoki at the NJPW Dojo in Los Angeles. His career has taken him through promotions in the Southern California region to Mexico, where he competed successfully for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), the world's oldest wrestling promotion, and in Japan where he has worked most notably in New Japan Pro Wrestling, (NJPW) where he was chosen to become the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger, the villainous gaijin opponent of Tiger Mask (in this case Tiger Mask IV). On October 8, 2005, Romero, as Black Tiger, defeated Tiger Mask for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. After a four-month reign, Tiger Mask regained the title from his nemesis. Romero made his debut in Pro Wrestling Noah on March 4, 2007, versus Mushiking Terry, casting into doubt the future of the Black Tiger persona. Romero, however, did compete as Black Tiger in August 2007 in Chikara to compete for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship against champion Mike Quackenbush. At NJPW's Resolution '09 on April 5, Romero lost in a mask vs. title match against Tiger Mask, thus ending his role as Black Tiger.