In 1923 he had his debut in Ronda, where he became the first bullfighter to be carried in triumph through the main gates of the Maestranza, and in 1924 he caused great commotion again when the same thing happened in Seville.

He was used by Ernest Hemingway as the model for "Pedro Romero", the talented young bullfighter in The Sun Also Rises.

His sons mainly became bullfighters, Antonio Ordóñez becoming one of the most important in post-Civil War Spain and subject of Hemingway's book The Dangerous Summer.

His great-grandsons, Francisco and Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez are famous matadors still working in Spain today.

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