He had been a lifelong fan, and began training for a professional wrestling career in 1941. Professional wrestling career
Cruz made his professional debut on June 21, 1942, against Rito Romero losing his debut match. Initially he was billed as "Jungla" Cruz, named after a popular character from the funny papers but he did not like the name the promoters had forced on him. After making his debut Cruz realized that he needed to perform regularly in order to improve, thus he decided to move to Monterrey which at the time was one of the main cities for wrestling in Mexico. In Monterrey he befriended another young wrestler trying to break into the business, Blue Demon. The two struck up a friendship and soon after began teaming together on a regular basis. After working under his real name for a while, Cruz decided that he needed a different image, and came up with the ring persona "Black Shadow" and a black mask with white trim around the eye, mouth and nose openings. The new image was a hit and masked duo of Blue Demon and Black Shadow became known as "Los Hermanos Shadow" (Spanish for "the shadow brothers") despite not being related. Los Hermanos Shadow quickly became very popular and were at one point the main "Technico" (good guy) team. In the mid-1950s Los Hermanos Shadow began a decade long rivalry with the top Rudo (villain) team of El Santo and Gory Guerrero, known as "La Pareja Atómica".
Okoronkwo's time in England did not prove a success though as he was unable to break into the team until the closing months of the season, by which time the club faced almost certain relegation. After they suffered the drop, Okoronkwo was released and eventually moved to play in Russia with Alania Vladikavkaz. Alania folded under financial problems in 2005 and he signed with FC Moscow in 2006, soon becoming an important member of the starting line-up at his new club. That season he was voted the club's player of the season, alongside Hector Bracamonte. International career Okoronkwo played 25 games for the Nigeria national team after making his debut on 13 January 2001, against Zambia. He played in the 2002 and 2004 African Cup of Nations (finishing third both times) and in the Olympic Games in 2000. He also played in every minute of Nigeria's 2002 World Cup campaign, where they failed to progress beyond the group stage. External links Profile at Nigerian Players.com Category:1978 births Category: Living people Category: Nigerian footballers Category: Nigerian expatriate footballers Category: FC Sheriff Tiraspol players Category: FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Category: Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Category: FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players Category: FC Moscow players Category: Ukrainian Premier League players Category: Premier League players Category: Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Category:2002 African Cup of Nations players Category:2004 African Cup of Nations players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category: Igbo sportspeople Category: Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category: Olympic footballers of Nigeria Category: Nigeria international footballers Category: Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Category: Russian Premier League players Category: Enyimba International F.C. players Category: Al-Rayyan SC players Category: Expatriate footballers in Russia Category: Expatriate footballers in Qatar Category: Heartland F.C.