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On October 22, Empire Wrestling Federation shared the unfortunate news that veteran performer Liger Rivera had died at the age of 37. Photos and videos of Rivera's expansive in-ring career were simultaneously put together in a special YouTube tribute by the California-based independent promotion. Shortly after, Rivera's peers followed suit with tributes of their own, with one of them coming courtesy of "WWE Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce.
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"Godspeed, Liger Rivera. Always [a] pleasure to share a locker room with. Rest well, sir," Pearce wrote on X (formerly Twitter), alongside a photograph of Rivera.
Trained by Jesse Hernandez, Rivera made his professional wrestling debut on the California independent scene in 2001, where he gradually became a regular fixture at the Empire Wrestling Federation. Rivera enjoyed two reigns with both the EWF Cruiserweight Championship and EWF American Championship. From June 2008 until January 2009, he and TJ Perkins also served as the EWF Tag Team Champions. EWF later partnered with the National Wrestling Alliance for a series of shows between 2006 and 2012, many of which Rivera wrestled on. Pearce, a five-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, also partook in one of the cross-promotional shows with a successful title defense over Joey Ryan.
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Under a mask, Rivera assumed the ring name of Bat Manuel. With this persona, he became a regular at another California-based indie, namely Hoodslam. Former WWE Tough Enough contestant and former Hoodslam talent AJ Kirsch has since launched a GoFundMe campaign aimed at raising funds for the end-of-life expenses following Rivera's death.
The Wrestling Inc. team would like to send its condolences to the family and friends of Liger Rivera, also known as Bat Manuel.

