Savio Vega: The Unsung Hero in Steve Austin’s and Goldust’s Rise to Stardom

In the mid-1990s, one of the staples of the World Wrestling Federation’s mid-card was Puerto Rican star Savio Vega. Though he started his WWF career under a hood as the mysterious Kwang, this was soon eschewed in favor of letting the man be himself. Debuting under his new name as an old friend of Razor Ramon, the real-life Juan Rivera would have a rather stellar run, most famously making it to the finals of the much-maligned 1995 King Of The Ring tournament, where he would fall to the newly turned heel Mabel. While he would never attain gold or enormous relevance, Vega was incredibly well-liked backstage and known for his ability to help other stars genuinely find their footing as they rose to stardom, especially two of the biggest and most memorable stars of the time. 

But first, you may wonder why we suddenly discussed Savio Vega in 2020. According to the reliable Super Luchas, Savio is expected to appear in this year’s Survivor Series. His appearance is scheduled for the celebration and Final Farewell of The Undertaker, which just so happens to fall on the exact 30th anniversary of his first appearance. In the 90s, Vega was a member of the Bone Street Krew, a group of wrestlers headed up by The Undertaker, similar to Shawn Michaels and The Kliq. The BSK also included Charles Wright (aka Kamala Mustafa, Papa Shango, The Godfather), Rodney Anoa’I (aka Yokozuna), Mark Canterbury (aka Henry Godwinn), Dennis Knight (aka Phineas Godwinn, Mideon) and Solofa Fatu (aka Rikishi). There were also fringe members such as William Moody (aka Paul Bearer) and Harry Fujiwara (aka Mr. Fuji), but the core members comprised the group and would all get a ‘BSK’ tattoo. At this time, it is unsure if other members of the BSK will be appearing at Survivor Series to celebrate the Undertaker’s career but allow us to get back to Savio and his importance in laying the groundwork for one of wrestling’s most influential stars.

Before Savio would get to his most memorable feud with the future ‘Stone Cold’ he would be tasked with working and helping to get over the new character that Dustin Rhodes was portraying, Goldust. Dustin was in the character's early days and struggling with himself to truly understand the little things that could help take the character to the next level. Enter Savio, who wasn’t afraid to try anything to help get his opponent over. Dustin has said for years how Savio helped him to understand the gimmick more, and he recently elaborated on it during an appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards.

“It took a while and then I started working Savio Vega, and Savio would try so hard to get me to try this these couple of things that were just way over the line for me. I'm from Texas. I was raised kind of in the country, so I'm a country boy. I'm a redneck, and to do this I was just like scared to death to do that. But that's when I realized when I finally did it that to make something successful, you have to step out of yourself, outside of the box, and you got to create some magic of your own. You can't just be scared all the time. You got to take a chance.

We were in Madison Square Garden. This was a special night. That's why I'm telling the story. Savio finally talked me into doing this thing. Vince was in attendance because back then, he was like one of the boys still, and he would go to the matches and hang out at the curtain and ooh and ahh while the matches were going on. So he was like one of the boys you can talk to," Dustin said. "So he finally talks me into this, and New York is a predominantly Puerto Rican area. Savio Vega is Puerto Rican so talks me into it. I'm nervous as shit. We go out there. We start wrestling and having our match. I was the Intercontinental Champion at the time. He locks up with me, and he says, 'OK, we're going to do it now.' So all it was was me locking up going behind him rubbing up and down his chest and kind of grazing over his privates down downstairs, and then he pushes away and chases me and I take a powder. That's it. That was it.

I did it, and I took a powder. The fucking place for the first time in like six-seven months erupted with every kind of profane thing just thrown my way and it was like, holy shit. And it was so simple, and I was so scared to try that. I couldn't believe it just the reaction. If I would have been so close to the rail that there would have been swinging. It was bad. It was major heat because you did not do that back then. So I roll in, and Savio's over in the corner. And he's laughing his ass off. I walk up with him, and I'm like, 'what the fuck you laughing at?' He's like, 'I told you. I told you man. I told you we're gonna do it again. We're going to do this again.' I'm like, 'what are we doing?' So I backed him up in the corner. He says, 'I want you to spin me around and turn around and rub your ass in my crotch, and I'll push you off you take a powder again.' That's all I did, and they were louder this time. Right then, in Madison Square Garden, I found Goldust, and from that point, it was a magical magical run for a couple years."

Having helped establish the character of Goldust was a huge boon for Dustin, and he rightfully acknowledges Savio in finding that niche. While their feud was brief and unmemorable, Savio’s next feud and guidance would change the course of the wrestling business forever.

[Pic: Savio Vega vs Goldust from @NewWWFGen on Twitter]

On March 11, 1996, Monday Night RAW would begin with the entrance of Savio Vega while his opponent stood in the ring waiting for him. The Ringmaster had just shed that name and was now going by ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. The two men would battle back and forth, resulting in a double countout. This would begin a months-long feud to help establish Austin as a star.

The two would battle again at WrestleMania XII in both men’s WrestleMania debut. Austin would win the match leading to a rematch in the following month, In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, which Austin would also win. The feud would culminate at the cursed In Your House: Beware Of Dog in a Caribbean Strap Match. At the beginning of their match on the night of May 26th, the power to the arena would go out. While only the fans and staff in attendance would be privy to seeing the match that the two put on, Bruce Prichard would explain on an episode of Something Else To Wrestle With on the WWE Network that this was the night Vince realized how special Austin was.

“Everybody's going nuts and all they have on in the arena is emergency lighting... well the show must go on, it continues on and we're doing this in the dark. Steve and Savio are having their match like they're in front of 20,000 people, in a giant stadium and all eyes are on them and they're beating the hell out of each other. I'm at ringside and I've got my pad and I'm going, 'ok Vince, if the lights come on during this match, this is what we'll do. If the lights come on during this match, this is what we'll do.' Vince is sitting there and sitting right there next to him and he's just watching the match, drinking his coffee. The world is basically shutting down all around us, we have no power, we don't know what we're going to do and he's just enthralled in the Savio Vega and Steve Austin strap match and I dare say, that was probably the night for Vince, that was maybe his aha moment, that he was like 'damn'."

The following night on RAW, the rematch was given a stipulation that if Austin were to lose, then his manager Ted DiBiase would leave the WWF. While it was common knowledge that DiBiase was on his way to WCW, this would be a blessing in disguise, allowing Austin to stand on his own and speak for himself. On May 28th, the make-up PPV would see Austin lose to Vega resulting in DiBiase’s ejection from the company. Austin shared his thoughts on working with Savio during an episode of his podcast:

“I started working a program with Savio Vega, one of my favorite guys to work with and coming off my torn tricep. Of course, Savio is a machine from Puerto Rico, all the Puerto Rican guys can go and they gonna get their shit in. So man I tell you what I get a little bit of heat on him and then it’s time for him to make his comeback and I basically lay in a rear chinlock cause I was sucking wind, cause I was out of shape. That sunuvabitch would bounce me all over the damn ring, I had to flip, flop and fly for him, my damn lungs about turned inside out, on fire. But Savio was gonna get his shit in. And boy I tell you what after about two months working with him, we ripped the damned off CTAC Arena right there in between Seattle and Tacoma. And man they were some badass matches I’ll never forget working with that cat.”

The small feud with Savio Vega helped solidify the Stone Cold character, which would be taken to the next level by Austin’s feud with Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart and, of course, Austin’s pure abilities both in the ring and on the stick. 

Unfortunately, the remainder of Savio’s run would be less than memorable as he would soon turn heel and join the Nation of Domination before splintering off into his own ‘gang’ of Los Boricuas that he would lead. This was all part of the less-than-stellar Gang Warz of late 1997 in the WWF. Savio would linger around the lower mid-card, with one last highlight being the replacement for Shawn Michaels in an eight-man tag at the No Way Out PPV in 1998. While most fans were disheartened by his placement in the match, he was requested by many of the competitors in the match due to the respect that everyone had for Savio.

Should Savio Vega appears at this year’s Survivor Series on camera or not is yet to be seen, but his legacy in helping make not one but two of the biggest stars of the highly vaunted Attitude Era is set in stone. 

For those interested, Savio is still active and signed with Major League Wrestling, who are preparing for their return with The Restart on November 18th.