Justin Credible got his big break portraying “Aldo Montoya, The Portuguese Man Of War” and as it turns out, it happened because he had a skill that he never ended up actually using while donning the mask.
Former WWE superstar and ECW Hardcore Legend Justin Credible sat down with Jimmy Tehfreak of JOB’d Out Wrestling to recant stories from his career, including his days being mentored by the Kliq up to and including his memories of the curtain call, how Chris Candido played a role in him joining ECW, and even tidbits like who originally wanted to be “Justin Credible”.
Credible spoke about how the WWF hired him because he spoke fluent Portuguese but was never actually called upon to use it. Originally tabbed as a soccer player gimmick, Aldo Montoya became the “Man Of War” before his TV debut, and Credible says it all happened because he knew how to speak Portuguese.
“Pat (Patterson) goes ‘What nationality are you’ and I said ‘I’m Portuguese sir’. (Pat) goes ‘no shit! Hey Vince (McMahon) – this kid’s Portuguese!’ and Vince popped… I don’t understand why, maybe they knew somebody that was Portuguese and it was a big rib haha – so last question was ‘Do you speak it?’ and that was it. The character was already in place, they just needed a guy to fit the role.”
When asked if he was ever called upon to speak Portuguese since that was why he was hired, Credible said they didn’t ask a single time.
“They never went to Portugal, and something happened with Brazil, which was the South American market they wanted to go to and it fell through – so yeah, that happened.. or didn’t happen.”
Credible also spoke about how he ended up in ECW as “Justin Credible” and explained how that gimmick wasn’t always meant for him either, but Paul Heyman saw something in it and negotiated with the man that pitched it in the first place.
“The look was (me), the wrestling was (me but) the name was not. Bilvis Wesley was with ECW for a very long time before ever stepped foot in front of a camera. He was ring crew, he helped with merchandise, he was a bigtime helper in ECW… he was driving down the Jersey Shore, that’s where he’s from, and he saw a big sign on the back of a pickup truck that read Justin Credible, and he thought it was fantastic so he pitched it to Paul (Heyman).
Credible says Heyman told Wesley he didn’t see the role being a good fit, but paid him $500 to give him the rights to the concept. Wesley signed the name over and got paid and the former Aldo Montoya got rebranded under his now-iconic name.
On the topic of Heyman, Credible also went on to talk about how far Paul Heyman go for him and said that “Paul E.” kept his word and paid the full bill for his wife’s pregnancy and son’s birth. He said he gave Heyman all the receipts and it showed that Heyman would “go to bat” for the people closest to him.
“Let me tell you about Paul Heyman real quick… Paul Heyman paid for my son’s birth and my wife’s pregnancy – out of pocket cash – he paid $75,000+, which a lot of people don’t know, because he committed to this via contract, he never got health insurance proper. So when my child was born I gave him every single receipt and every single bill that got paid. He tried his best to keep his word, he really did, and if you were important to him – he was going to try to go to bat for you.”
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