From Spanish Harlem to Viral Stardom

If you’re a fan of off-beat online videos, you might have come across footage of a wrestling match in a New York City subway car. No, not your regular New York City subway scuffle. This one involves costumes, acting and improv.

Subway Mania is the creation of Tim Hann Rivera, a Puerto Rican student from Spanish Harlem who attends Brooklyn College. Rivera, in a wig and leotard, transforms into WWE Hall of Fame legend Bret Hart, along with his friends in full costume, to perform on a subway car for a camera and live audience. With nearly two million views, Rivera only gets one shot, one chance to capture an entire wrestling sequence filled with tables, ladders, chairs, and extreme bravado. New York City commuters watch in complete shock as fans with posters cheer on their favorite wrestlers through fake blood, sweat, and tears.

NYC subway riders are in for a surprise. WWE has hit the rails.

In addition to support from wrestling fans around the world, Rivera, 24, has received cosigns from wrestling superstars, media personalities, and rap artists Earlier this year he performed alongside A$AP Rocky in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Rivera’s passions for storytelling and love of comedy have taken him far, and here he talks about what he’s up to and the next chapter in his journey.

This interview has been lightly edited/arranged for clarity.

(Valdovinos) Who are you?

(Rivera) I do everything. I don’t want to just be a comedian. I’m an artist. I do videos, I create content, I do art.

(V) How did you start making videos? Was it always a passion?

(R) When I was in high school, I made videos just to go to school and have lunch and have something to talk about. Like “Yo Tim, that video is mad funny.” That’s honestly why I did it. But eventually I wanted to do more. I wanted to improve my videos.

(V) Why do you love wrestling?

(R) The story telling. I like wrestling for the wrestling moves too, but I really like wrestling because of the character development, and aesthetic, the attire, little shit like that, details.

(V) After going viral for Subway Mania a few times, you’ve gone on a social media hiatus. Can you tell us more about that?

(R) Right now it’s a pandemic. The last video I did was the Subway Royal Rumble, and we did that March 6th, the week that everything went down. Since then I’ve just been chilling. I’ve been studying Spanish more, too, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do. Like actually study it. So, I got mad books and shit like that; I’ve just been reading.

(V) On top of support from wrestling professionals, rappers have supported you too. How did you end up performing on stage at the Barclays Center with the A$AP Mob for YAMS Day?

(R) I saw the wrestling theme for the promo for YAMS Day, and thought, “How you gonna have wrestling, and we the lit-est New York team doing wrestling comedy?” I reached out to everybody A$AP and said “Yo, we from Harlem, we do wrestling gigs.” And then it happened.

(V) How does it feel to be working alongside your idols?

(R) With Rocky, I was dead hype. The way I look at my life is like chapter books. So, I closed that chapter when I was on stage with Rocky. That’s crazy.

(V) If your life is a book, and there are chapters. What is the story?

(R) The story is so far: I’m a dude from Spanish Harlem that is doing the impossible, I guess. And everything that I want to do is really hard and it seems impossible, but I’m doing it. I’m overcoming it, and I’m doing it my way, the way I want to do it. Being unique, being creative, being different. I look at it like that, doing the impossible, and sticking to that goal. You know? That’s what I think the book is, the theme. Don’t give up, and don’t take no for an answer.

(V) What’s next for Tim Hann Rivera?

(R) There are other things I want to do. Subway Mania is just one of my series. I’m nowhere near done. The whole subway mania, A$AP YAMS, all that, that’s just a nice era. But there’s a lot more eras of me that are going to be even better. I already know it.