Ephraim Vega is a Puerto Rican American professional wrestler and is best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, under the ring name Machete, and internationally under the name Ricky Vega. Vega was a high school football player, and was named to All-Section, All-conference, and All-county 1st teams in his junior and senior years. A knee injury prevented Vega from playing college football; however, he did go on to have a successful career in the insurance business before deciding to pursue a wrestling career. Vega currently works as a detective with the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.