Ricardo Rodriguez says rising star can "bring in an audience" like WWE RAW Superstar and Ronda Rousey (Exclusive)
Former WWE Superstar Ricardo Rodriguez has announced who he feels is his "International Superstar of the Year" for 2022, who he has compared to the likes of Ronda Rousey and Logan Paul.
Ricardo's pick is El Hijo del Vikingo, the current AAA Mega Champion who has become one of the biggest attractions Mexican wrestling has seen in many years.
Vikingo won the AAA Mega Championship in December 2021 and has since been able to defend the title eight times, with notable defenses coming against AEW stars like Rey Fenix and Bandido.
MOTD #210: Bandido vs. El Hijo del Vikingo | AAA
youtu.be/E0gMMpa-Kzg
@bandidowrestler @vikingo_aaa @luchalibreaaa https://t.co/y6EKZQDwx8
Speaking to Dr. Chris Featherstone on the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's "UnSkripted" show, Ricardo Rodriguez picked Vikingo over the likes of Will Ospreay and Jay White for the "International Superstar of the Year" in the 2022 SK Wrestling Awards.
“As far as who had the better year as a whole, I’ll probably say El Hijo del Vikingo. Not to take anything away from [Will] Ospreay because Ospreay’s awesome, Jay White’s amazing. He’s had a great year too. But I think who’s really transcended over the last year is probably El Hijo del Vikingo. He’s probably made the biggest impact in the US, and then globally in the last year. There was a year where Ospreay was everywhere and then Jay White was everywhere, but I want to say this last year was probably Vikingo’s,” said Ricardo Rodriguez. [27:39-28:17]
One of Ricardo's reasons was that Vikingo is able to bring a fresh audience to Mexico's top promotions, much like how Ronda Rousey and Logan Paul have been able to bring fresh eyes to WWE.
“He does illustrate the Lucha Libre style to a tee, and it’s great because there’s more eyes, and because of that people focus a lot too on what’s happening in Mexico. Be it CMLL or AAA, and it’s awesome because anything that gets an eye on something that’s not normal to you, it’s awesome because then your horizon expands. So somebody like Vikingo who can bring in an audience, same thing with a Logan Paul, he brings in eyes from the outside to pro wrestling, so why not? Same thing with Ronda Rousey, she brought people from the outside to pro wrestling, so why now?” [28:23-28:57] said Ricardo Rodriguez.
You can watch the full clip from UnSkripted right here:
If you would like to know more about Ricardo Rodriguez's wrestling promotion Three Legacies Wrestling, click here!
To vote for your International Superstar of the Year, click here!
Ricardo Rodriguez wasn't the only one to vote for El Hijo del Vikingo
The former WWE Superstar was joined by Miguel Perez, the content director for Planeta Wrestling, who also gave his vote to Vikingo for his versatility, his aerial offense, and his ability to be a good gateway into Lucha Libre.
“For me, El Hijo del Vikingo had a very awesome year, not only this year but the last years. Gravity doesn’t affect El Hijo del Vikingo, sometimes I see the matches and I believe this guy really can fly. It’s really awesome, it’s very visual for the people that see lucha libre for the first time, he’s a very adaptable wrestler because he has good matches with very tall superstars and with other kinds of wrestlers.” [26:38-27:19]
AEW fans almost got the chance to see El Hijo del Vikingo for themselves, as it was rumored that Tony Khan wanted him to be part of the "Face of the Revolution" ladder match on the March 1st edition of Dynamite. However, due to scheduling conflicts, Komander was brought in to replace the AAA Mega Champion.
Tony Khan wanted El Hijo de Vikingo to debut in the Face Of The Revolution ladder match, but he wasn’t available so the office asked for Komander.
- WON https://t.co/nhIppgwxWU
You can visit Planeta Wrestling for all of the latest news in Spanish right here!
Do you agree with Ricardo Rodriguez and Miguel Perez? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Please credit "UnSkripted" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.