Acevedo made his debut for Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1973 where he created the ring persona "The Cuban Assassin", playing off his heritage as well as his resemblance to Fidel Castro due to his beard and hair.

[2] The Cuban Assassin and a masked wrestler known as "The Carpetbagger" (Angelo Poffo) were the first recorded AGPW North American Tag Team Champions at some point in 1978.

[4] In late 1982 Acevedo returned to his native Puerto Rico, working for World Wrestling Council (WWC), teaming up with Jerry Morrow as Los Mercenarios ("The Mercenaries").

On October 3, 1983, the due won the Puerto Rican version of the NWA North American Tag Team Championship in a tournament.

The two defeated Ben Bassarab and Chris Benoit to win the Stampede Tag team titles, which they later lost to Beniot and Keith Hart.

[3] In Stampede Avecedo and Gerry Morrow teamed up to become the Cuban Commandos, defeating Badd Company (Brian Pillman and Bruce Hart) for what was Acevedo's sixth run with the titles, followed by a seventh in 1988 that was ended by the British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid).

[3] Acevedo and Morrow returned to Puerto Rico in 1989 where they defeated Huracán Castillo Jr. and Miguel Pérez Jr. to with the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship.

[9] The pair would answer questions during a fan access event, reappearing later in the night during a six-man tag match where Acevedo would replace an injured Nick Strong.