Justin Moreno

Justin Moreno
Justin Moreno is an American independent scene wrestler based in Huntington Beach, California. He currently tours with the LEGACY promotion based out of Washington, D.C. and he has spent time in various organizations such as Outlaw Pro Wrestling, True Talent Wrestling, and Wolf Pack Wrestling. He was also a wrestling promoter for the now defunct Reckless Wrestling Federation.

Justin Moreno was born on July 3rd, 1979 in Orange, California to a lower middle-class family. He grew up with a mother who had to work two jobs to support Justin and his brother, Jayson, along with the baby sister of the family, Kassie. Their father divorced their mother when Justin was just nine years old, but the split was amicable and he stayed on good terms with both parents to this day. Justin was initially a teenage surfing prodigy. He had competed against the likes of Kelly Slater in teenage surfing competitions and was winning many awards. Justin was very active, taking up gymnastics and motocross in his spare time, as a teenager. Everything changed when Justin saw his first wrestling tape of an Extreme Championship Wrestling show. He became immediately hooked on wrestling. He had gathered a few of his friends at his house and built a crudely-designed wrestling ring in the backyard as they started wrestling one another. Eventually, at the age of sixteen, Moreno was burned out on competitive surfing and walked away from it to pursue a wrestling career. He packed up his bags and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to train under Vincent Delerious. For two years, Moreno paid his dues, setting up the ring, working at the ticket stand, working concessions, working as a referee to get him to respect the business. When he turned eighteen, he began wrestling under the moniker "The Extremist" with a hardcore gimmick in Wolf Pack Wrestling.

Moreno spent two years in WPW, primarily used as enhancement talent to get over established stars. The highlight of his opening stint with WPW was a bitter rivalry with former trainer Vincent Delerious. Apparently, Delerious had promised Moreno a substantial amount of money as compensation for paying his dues, but he never received the money and to further complicate things, Vincent had an affair with Moreno's girlfriend in Knoxville. The feud was notorious for the simple fact that both men repeatedly stiffed each other just to prove a point. Two years later, Moreno's contract expired and he formed the Reckless Wrestling Federation back home in Southern California.

Justin then started the RWF as a place that preached hardcore wrestling with old-school wrestling blended in. The promotion was in existence for a little over a year, but due to financial woes, the RWF shuttered it's doors in early-2000. The main attributions to the failure of the company were the saturation of hardcore promotions throughout the United States and the lack of financial backing. Moreno would then take a year sabbatical from competition, undergoing additional training in Mexico from legendary lucha libre star, Miguel Herrera. Moreno perfected his high-flying arsenal and learned to use his training in gymnastics to his advantage. He then came back to the United States in mid-2001 and started working in various small promotions throughout the country. His indy work impressed WPW owner John Rockwell to such a degree that he agreed to sign Moreno to a new two-year contract in 2003.

Upon his return, he renewed his feud with Vincent Delerious and the two picked up where they left off. Moreno's second WPW run, however, was more known for his backstage altercations with "Chivalric" Mason Bishop and Jamie Stevens. Moreno was eventually suspended due to his altercation with Bishop, but while under suspension, the company was sold to Ed Raymond and renamed True Talent Wrestling. Moreno didn't return to television until August of 2004.

Moreno came in as "The Extremist" and immediately entered a "Nine Levels Of Hell" series with Delerious where each match was to be more hardcore than the last. The feud only got to three matches before TTW officials demanded the feud stop due to the excessive violence. Combined with a pay-off from Delerious to end the feud, Moreno then dropped the "Extremist" moniker and started wrestling under his real name and, for the first time in his career, as a heel. He was paired up with a young up-and-comer named Paul Jarvis and the two formed some great chemistry and became known as "Team Alpha". Their fans were referred to as "Alpha-holics" and the team was billed from "Alpha-bama". After the team went on a long losing streak, Jarvis ditched Moreno and Moreno immediately became a face again. He received his vindication in a Ladder Match at "Rise Of The Elite 2", in what many called the show-stealing match. Moreno then started shying away from his old hardcore tendencies and focusing more on high spots and innovative moves. Moreno's biggest contribution to TTW was as co-founder of the "Sky High Cup". Unfortunately, Moreno ruptured a disk in his neck that had fragmented into his spinal column during a Tom Quinn match in the tournament. Moreno wrestled for months with the injury, which set the stage for what became a very personal feud with Marcus Marion. It started off harmless enough, but when Marion started claiming Moreno's newly-wed wife, Allison, was a slut and that he was the father of the child Allison was carrying, the feud immediately went beyond kayfabe and the hatred between the two quickly became a shoot feud. In Moreno's final match before surgery, he put up a valiant fight against Marion, but fell in defeat. Shortly after this match and a successful surgery, TTW closed, leaving Moreno recuperating and unemployed.

After a complete recovery, Moreno returned to active competition in Outlaw Pro Wrestling and embarked on a brief feud with Joshua Curtis before family issues ended Moreno's run with the company as his wife, Allison, was on the verge of leaving him with their child. After a brief hiatus, the Morenos reconciled and renewed their vows, more in love than ever before. Justin's next stop was LEGACY.

Moreno then came to LEGACY and started off his run with an improbable run to the Dave Hawkins Memorial Tournament Finals where he would fall to Stephen Rawlings. Justin then continued to pick up momentum with strong showings against Marcus Mirage and Crazy Boy, plus earning some closure on his feud with Marcus Marion, delivering a Backflip Uranage onto a folded chair off the top rope. Moreno is quickly becoming a rising star in the company and many say that Moreno is a legend in the making. With the money Moreno saved, he opened up a wrestling school with longtime friend, GIANT MAXX, in his hometown of Huntington beach, California. The name of the school is "The Xtreme Dojo". So far, the lone graduate of the program has been none other than Justin's little sister, Kassie, and the future continues to be bright for this kid from Huntington Beach.