International Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Council (2000–2005) Pérez began his career in the
International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico, after receiving training with personnel from the company. Pérez also stated that during his career he was inspired by the microphone skills of
Chicky Starr and
The Rock and by the in-ring ability of
Kurt Angle. He subsequently worked with the World Wrestling Council, winning various titles there.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2010) Deep South Wrestling (2005–2007) During September 2005, Pérez was contacted by
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for a development contract. He was assigned to their developmental territory,
Deep South Wrestling and began working under the pseudonym "The Puerto Rican Nightmare" Eric Pérez. During his time there, he wrestled in singles matches, in addition to teaming with
Montel Vontavious Porter and later,
Sonny Siaki with whom he formed the tag team, Urban Assault. The team won the
Deep South Tag Team Championship once before the company finished its business relationship with WWE. On May 1, 2006, Pérez competed in a tag team match at his first WWE
house show. He would then appear at
ECW house shows in late July and again on September 30. Alongside Siaki, he started wrestling on
Raw house shows in February 2007.
Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2009) After Deep South Wrestling ended their working relationship with WWE, he was transferred to
Florida Championship Wrestling, where he continued performing as a developmental talent. Pérez was subjected to surgery in October 2007, after sustaining an injury on his back, prompting several months of inactivity while in recovery. Pérez returned to action in January 2008, and continued his participation in the promotion. On January 26, 2008, he participated in a
battle royal to determine the number one contender for the
FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship. Pérez won the tournament after eliminating the final contender with the help of
Eddie Colón. On February 23, 2008, Pérez and Colón, collectively known as The Puerto Rican Nightmares, defeated
Steven Lewington and
Heath Miller in a tournament final to become the first-ever
FCW Florida Tag Team Champions. The team lost the titles to Brad Allen and
Nick Nemeth on March 23, 2008, before winning them back via disqualification on April 15, 2008. On September 28, 2009, he performed in his last dark match against
Primo, losing by pinfall. The following night, Pérez made his debut on the main roster under the
ring name Eric Escobar. He was placed in an
angle with
Vickie Guerrero and performing as a
villainous character, during the tapings of ''SmackDown's'' tenth anniversary show. In his in-ring debut, he defeated
Matt Hardy by pinfall, receiving a spot in the brand's team for the first edition of
WWE Bragging Rights. In his debut for W
WE Superstars, he was teamed with Drew McIntyre being placed over the tag team of Hardy and
R-Truth. On October 23, 2009, Escobar was one of five wrestlers removed from Team SmackDown of Bragging Rights. Escobar was included in his first and only championship match in WWE on November 27, 2009, losing to
John Morrison for the
WWE Intercontinental Championship. The angle with Guerrero was ended in a skit that featured a spot where she yelled at him and slapped him in the face, prompting a physical confrontation between both characters, which ultimately ended with Escobar
turning into a
face character. During his face run, Escobar was punished by Guerrero, who put Escobar in
handicap matches against the
Hart Dynasty (
David Hart Smith and
Tyson Kidd) and
Jeri-Show (
Chris Jericho and
Big Show). On December 18, Escobar wrestled in his final WWE match, losing to
Kane in what was another punishment for Escobar by Guerrero. On January 17, 2010, Pérez was released from his WWE contract.
Independent circuit (2010–2012) Consequently, Pérez returned to the World Wrestling Council on January 30, 2010, working under the ringname "Mr. Escobar". This character was based on his previous WWE gimmick. He was immediately booked in a feud with
Ray González and
Black Pain, forming a tag team with
Orlando Colón. After Orlando left the promotion to work in FCW, he was inactive in WWC. During this timeframe, Pérez worked dates in Florida including his debut in American Combat Wrestling defeating ACW Kombat Champion Kennedy Kendrick. He would later go on to work for Combat Championship Wrestling in Florida. He returned to the World Wrestling Council in their annual event, "Camino a la Gloria", where he was included in a feud with BJ (Benjamín Jiménez). On April 24, 2010, he participated in an inconclusive Three Way Dance to determine the number one contender for the
Universal Championship. On May 29, 2010, Pérez was involved in an incident, responding to physical provocation by slapping a member of the audience. Following this event, he remained inactive within the promotion. On December 5, 2010 at
Xmas in PR along with Roberto Rubio, Peréz made his return to IWA to attack the
IWA World Heavyweight Champion Dennis Rivera to which apply an Sky High. On January 6, 2011 at
Histeria Boricua Perez challenged Rivera for the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship which Pérez won the championship for first time. Throughout the first three months of 2011, he entered a feud with
Tua. The angle came to an end at Juicio Final, where he dropped the championship. Pérez remained off screen for several months following this show, occasionally posting updates in the IWA's
Facebook fan page. In August 2011 he made his final appearance in this run on the promotion, cutting a heel promo criticizing the public. After leaving the IWA due to unspecified monetary differences in the fall of 2011, he joined the Puerto Rico Wrestling Alliance, a regional independent promotion. As Escobar he went on to win the PRWA World Heavyweight Championship on December 17, 2011, defeating
Richard Young. In March 2012, Pérez retained over
Michael Tarver. On May 26, 2012, he dropped the championship in a four-way match that also involved Matt Hardy.
World Wrestling League (2013–2015) In January 2013, Pérez was reintroduced by
Hugo Savinovich as "Mr. E", reforming his team with Rubio and performing as one of the main talents in the
World Wrestling League, a promotion based in Puerto Rico. Rebranded with a Latin lover gimmick and now known as "Los Mamitos", they were given a first feud against Los Mega 10, a team formed by Wrestling Alliance Revolution (Ecuador) and Revolution X-Treme Wrestling (Panama) champions, Panama Jack Daniels 10 and El Mega Star. Their first encounter took place at Idols of Wrestling, concluding in a double disqualification when both team exited the arena and continued brawling. The company's management was responsible for employing the WWL's association with
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide to book the team in a four-way match for the
AAA World Tag Team Championship at
Triplemanía XXI, where they eliminated
Jack Evans and
Angélico before being eliminated themselves. After the event, Los Mamitos were involved in the first stage of a feud against
Los Perros del Mal. Next was another four-way elimination contest to crown the first WWL World Tag Team Champions, where they defeated the teams of
Eita and
Tomahawk, El Hijo de Kato Kung Lee and Vengador Radioactivo, and Heddi Karaoui & Zumbi in a four-way match. Former
AAA World Heavyweight Champion Dr. Wagner, Jr. and his son,
Hijo de Dr. Wagner, were originally scheduled to be in the match, but failed to attend the event without offering an explanation. On September 6, 2013, Los Mamitos defended their titles by defeating the AAA World Tag Team Champions, The Mexican Powers (
Crazy Boy and
Joe Líder). Two days later, the team lost to
Germán Figueroa and Joe "Hercules" Gómez in a three-way that also included The Mexican Powers. However, since Pérez had his boot in the ropes while the referee counted, WWL General Manager Rico Casanova ruled that the World Tag Team Championship could not change hands. On March 7, 2014, Los Mamitos retained the titles against La Dinastía Máscaras (
Sicodelico, Jr. and
Hijo de Dos Caras), when Rubio unmasked Sicodelico, Jr. and employed the distraction to score the pin. The teams met in a rematch two days later, wrestling to a double count-out. On October 18, 2014, at Insurrection, Los Mamitos lost the titles against
Thunder and Lightning. While the two promotions were involved in a working agreement, Pérez made appearances in WWC, where he performed under a mask as a character known as "The Alien" and was assigned
José Huertas González as manager. Rubio suffered an injury and while he recovered, Pérez reverted to his former ringname of Escobar and was involved in an angle where he was portrayed as mentally unstable. On January 6, 2015, Pérez participated in the creation of heel faction The Gentlemen's Club. Despite being joined by a returning Rubio, the Los Mamitos gimmick was dropped and both reverted to their previous ringnames. The group then entered into a feud with a group known as La Rabia led by
Dennis Rivera and won a trios match the following month at Rebelión En El Sur. On March 21, 2015, Perez participated in the International Cup tournament and defeated
Shane Sewell in the final to win the eponymous trophy. Prior to this, he had advanced by defeating a cruiserweight wrestler in the opening round and Roger Díaz in the semifinal. On August 16, 2015, Pérez participated in
Sin Piedad but did not wrestle, instead attacking
IWRG Rey del Ring Ricky Cruz and taking that title with him. Later on the same event, he counseled "Wonderful" Xander (Alexander Ortiz) and joined the rest of the Gentlemen's Club in a turn against Negrín. In this event he formed an alliance with Hijo de Dos Caras and recruited Xander for unspecified reasons. ==Personal life==