Found Footage Friday: 1989 CMLL

Full Show

Septiembre Negro/Bufalo Salvaje vs. Pegasso/Sombra Poblama

MD: We come in JIP here, just the finish, but it's a fun one. After a bit of measured rope running, Septiembre Negro takes a wild hefting bump over the top. Sombra Polbama hits a great driving heatbutt off the apron onto him as Pegasso (I think) locks in this cool dangling pulling armhold on Bufalo Salvaje to win it. 

Las Estrellas Blancos vs. Bestia Salvaje/Comando Ruso/Panico

MD: Estrellas aren't super familiar to me but they had a kid or a mini out with them to do tricks pre-match and signed a bunch of autographs. Rudos ambushed to start with one Estrella getting lawn darted into the post. I'm not used to seeing Bestia Salvaje so young and he was really moving around in there well. Start of the segunda had solid tandem rudo offense including pressing an Estrella back against the top rope for a shot off the top and holding him up in Hart Attack position for a bunch of offense. Panico followed it up with a slam onto the side of the ring, but while doing so, the tecnicos came back. Little bit weird timing there. They did a revenge posting on Comando Ruso and then held Panico's arms so they could kick him again and again with big setups. A crowd pleaser that he sold like a foul. Rudos took back over and did a stacking submission with Bestia posing on top. Finish actually had an Estrella come from behind and foul him there, drawing the DQ but a moral victory perhaps. I'm not sure I've ever seen that exact finish to a fall. I had fun with this even if I thought the timing of the comeback as dubious.

Pirata Morgan/Super Halcon/Hijo del Gladiador vs. Jaque Mate/El Egipico/Pierroth Jr.

MD: Rudo vs. rudo war here. Pirata's side ambushed to start though it didn't really pick up until the end of the primera where Gladiador was waistlock dropping people on the ground and Pierroth's mask had been mostly torn apart. Egipico had a pretty solid comeback where he just started to punch everyone. Nothing really sparked it but it was fiery enough all things considered. After the comeback things devolved into lots of formless brawling and mask ripping. I wouldn't say there was any sort of central thesis to it, just things ebbing and flowing as people engaged and withdrew, but when it all came back together, it really all came back together. They were able to isolate Pierroth 3-on-1 and gave him one of the nastiest beatings I've seen in ages, leaving him a bloody mess with a strewn mask barely clinging on to consciousness. It was a hell of a way to end the thing at least.

Los Infernales (MS-1/Satanico/Maskare) vs. Magico/Blue Demon Jr./Huracan Ramirez

MD: Another rudo ambush. They were leaning hard into it on this one. They said this was a super libre, I think. Satanico can direct rudo beatdown traffic better than anyone and that's what we had here. Just a constantly moving beatdown ending in a triple submission that stretched Blue Demon in every direction at once. Notable is that when they were doing the "stand on your opponent" triple submission bit earlier, they saw the tecnico coming to break it up and dismounted to stop him, which you never really see.

Tecnico comeback was driven by Magico (Who would soon become Mascara Sagrada or at least Hombre Sin Nombre? That probably helps date this?) but things would sort of go back and forth with bits of tecnico comeback interspersed with renewed rudo beatdown. All the rudos managed to stooge and take the babyfaces' stuff, Satanico being especially great at it, but soon after they took back over and were undoing the tecnicos masks all at once. It went like that until they had the rudos in some real danger and in response they swarmed, beating the crap out of Huracan Ramirez and drawing the DQ when they wouldn't stop. So not exactly satisfying but you can't fault the rudo talent here certainly.

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2025 Ongoing MOTY List: Satanico vs. Hechicero

Satanico vs. Hechicero CMLL 12/2/25

MD: We have seen matches with men in their 70s. Remember, even something like Black Terry vs Mr. Condor had Terry in his late 60s, maybe not quite the same. There is a certain expectation when you're watching a match with a 70+ year old, let alone someone who, like Satanico, is 76. You expect a maesteros match. You expect tricks on the mat, little bits of leverage, skill and technique and mastery. It can be a joy. Often times it is a joy because the sum of wrestling knowledge in the head of such a man, the number of things he knows that almost no one else alive can replicate, are multitudinous. You may see something that you would not see anywhere else in the world in the entirety of the year. 

But of course your expectations are tempered. Maybe it'll get a bit chippy. Maybe it'll boil over towards the end. Men that know how to punch that know how to take punches. But you have expectations for a reason.

And this started much the same, on the mat. Hechicero cinched in a tight headlock but Satanico was able to snatch a leg and take him down. Hechicero pointed to the skies as distraction and scored a takedown of his own. He worked to lock in a hold, twisting ankles, crossing legs, rough and aggressive, but Satanico knew every trick and scored yet another trip. Were they to do twelve minutes of this, it would be a refreshing, enjoyable time for all, something we would have been very glad to see but might have had very little to write about. 

But Hechicero, always skilled, underlooked for so, so long, was a man of pride. He was a worldwide star, and to have a 76 year old, even a 76 year old that was perhaps the greatest rudo of all time, turn things around on him and force him to fall to the mat, arms flailing, it was more than he could endure. 

He pressed Satanico back into the ropes, refusing to break. Satanico, in turn, knowing the value of every moment and having no time for this, pressed his fist up against Hechicero's face and pushed him back with it, a small but poignant gesture more full of more gravitas than a thousand elaborate spots. 

They locked up again. Satanico went for a drop down and Hechicero kicked him in the skull. Everything had changed. This was no longer a maestro match, no longer an exhibition. It became something darker, something more visceral and gripping. It became a mauling. 

Hechicero fired off shots in the corner. He got up onto the turnbuckles to rain down punches. Usually an opponent can withstand them, hold himself up, all the way to the count of ten. Satanico started to wither immediately though, started to wilt. There was nothing he could do as Hechicero whipped him into the corner. Every step felt like labored anguish, as if he was trudging through mud accumulated over decades with joints that had weathered more storms than would be expected from someone half his age. 

Hechicero gave him no respite, save for to shrug at the crowd. It wasn't him doing this to Satanico. It was life, just the natural order of things. How could you blame Hechicero, wizard that he was, for the simple passage of time? He pulled him to the outside, tossed him into the ramp, laid his head upon it and dropped a knee, followed it up with a kick. He was merely time's agent in all of this, a representative of a force bigger than us all. Why he even stopped to grab a sign professing love for him. None of this was his fault. He was an innocent bystander in the mauling of Satanico. It was fate tugging at his fists and heels, not any evil animus from Hechicero himself.

Maybe that's what pushed Satanico over the edge, what drove him to fight back far past the point of wisdom or reason. He'd spent a lifetime taking full responsibility for every twisted act, a rudo's rudo, a man who perhaps had regrets, but none of them were about embracing the wickedness in his heart. And at times, the crowd loved him for such confident honesty. They loved him now as he started firing back. It wouldn't be enough though. It took a sidestep that sent Hechicero careening into the ropes feet first, to truly get back into the fight. 

Once he was back in, however, well, he was Satanico after all, wasn't he? And that meant he could get down and dirty. He peppered Hechicero on the floor. He started to undo his mask back in the ring. When Hechicero refused to budge on his clotheslines, he drew him in, causing him to overcommit so he could topple the younger man. And then, finally having him down on the floor, he let the devil into his veins one last time and leaped without restraint or hesitation, a daring senton off the apron.

There seemed to be an aspect of futility in this defiance however. Hechicero was one of the best in the world. He recovered quickly, jamming a step-up knee in Satanico's face and dropping him with a power bomb. But futility did not always know sense. When you reach a certain age, the sheer act of getting up becomes a challenge, a complex act of physics where one leg helps to turn the other, propelling you back to your feet. Satanico utilized this exact technique here to escape the subsequent pin, the power of a simple lever that you're more apt to learn through aging than in wrestling school. Whether wise or not, he survived to keep fighting.

And keep fighting he did. Thrown off by the shock of Satanico's escape, Hechicero allowed himself to get jammed on a whip. Satanico pressed the matter, hitting a bulldog, a single arm driver, lifting Hechicero up and dropping him to lock on a submission. It wouldn't last. Hechicero was younger, stronger, more resilient and he was able to power Satanico up for an airplane spin. But he got cocky and missed the moonsault that followed and then couldn't get Satanico up into a Gory special, instead falling victim to a struggle-laden sunset flip, two skin of his teeth nearfalls that almost earned Satanico a last, unexpected taste of glory.

Perhaps drunk upon the taste of it, Satanico went for one more sunset flip only for Hechicero to turn it around and, his feet hanging off the side of the apron suspiciously, he forced Satanico down for a count of three. But when you're 76, when you're facing someone at the height of his power like Hechicero, perhaps glory isn't just to be found in victory. Satanico wasn't even supposed to be there that day. He was a substitution for Blue Panther. Even then, this was supposed to be a nice casual maestros match, the sort we've seen before. But instead, tempers flared and opportunity arose, a last ride for the old scoundrel, maybe not one that he had asked for, but one that he would embrace nonetheless, and in doing so, feel and inspire all of those old thrills one more time.

ER: It's crazy to think how close we came to having this match on D3AN. We had five guys confirmed for our llave trios and wanted a cool old man for the sixth spot. Getting Hechicero in there was already a dream, but with Blue Panther and Virus also involved it was a dream on top of a dream on top of a dream. But we wanted one more cool old guy. Solar had just had surgery, Negro Navarro wasn't available, and Satanico was someone we really wanted. We already had Blue Panther put on one of his best showings of an incredible year at DEAN~! 2, and we wanted a guy 10 years older to try and do the same. Alas, we couldn't get Satanico, so we had to "settle" for Pantera. Boo hoo, El Pantera rules and I loved him in our llave trios.  

So here, a couple months later, is the Satanico/Hechicero exchanges we wanted, and it's wonderful. A few months ago I took my dad, who is two years younger than Satanico, to a Giants game. We went on a mile walk before the game and at his speed, it took us over 45 minutes. Yes, my dad was moving a little bit faster than 1 MPH. Satanico is more athletic than my dad, but he is an old man and moves like an old man. That said, I hope I am this spry at 76, and I hope I have someone like Hechicero in my circle to make sure that I am protected this well. I love Satanico, and love that this old man is still rocking, but this match makes me wonder what kind of match Hechicero could have gotten out of Mae Young in her 80s, because he does all of his coolest stuff and never cracks an egg (or an old man's skull). It's a marvelous showing. 

There are great moments large and small, and every one of them looks vicious while being as gentle as can be. Hechicero wasn't a saint, there were several moments where he preyed on an old man's slowed reaction time, going high for a knuckle lock before dropping in quick with a single leg, or targeting this sweet devil of a saint's poor old knees and bending them over ropes while twisting joints. When he throws Satanico into the entrance ramp, he's kicking him in the back of the head and dropping knees on his draped neck, and while I'm sure Satanico didn't feel a thing I loved how snug Hechicero made it all look. He ran into some incredible crashes while working around Satanico's body, flying into a big upside down bump into the ropes as Satanico sidestepped him, running into a back elbow and flying into the air like he ran orbital bone first into a trailer hitch, or just taking an old man's full weight senton off the apron. Satanico's full weight might be just 140 lb., but it's still full weight.  

Satanico stepped up in cool ways. I loved when they were tangled up on the mat, Hechicero working a leg, and when Hechicero started throwing punches, Satanico started firing back elbows over his shoulder, responding harder than he was getting, forcing Hechicero to abandon his strategy. The man may be the oldest currently active wrestler, but he still throws a classic style bulldog that looks refreshing in 2025. And I don't know what it is about old dudes with great faces, but those faces always seem to be amplified to crazed delirium whenever an old man locks in a Fujiwara. 

But Hechicero is a god. After seeing how perfectly he worked his running knee in the corner, and the way he let Satanico dangle in the air on a powerbomb, teasing like he was going to drop him on his head before lifting him back up and dropping the man perfectly flat, I will proudly trust Hechicero with handling all of my Faberge eggs. Especially the old evil ones. 

2025 MOTY MASTER LIST

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jackie! Masami!

Disc 1 

15. Devil Masami vs. Jackie Sato - 11/27/80 

Our first look at Devil Masami after she got her more famous name. I think the name change happened at the 8/8/80, as that's when they reset a lot of things, but I'm not sure. I'm inevitably going to focus on her in this write up as this is the first match in her career where she feels like a great wrestler in the making, as well as this being a kayfabe uplift in how she's going toe-to-toe with the company Ace despite being a junior and #3 in her own stable. She's already the new top heel in waiting.

It's not easy to break this up into sections because the match doesn't flow like that. The bulk of it is just matwork that progresses from one predicament to the next, it's impressive how seamlessly they put everything together without there being much in the way of big moments or turning points. The big takeway from this in more context is that you'd expect Jackie to be more dominant, but she's only really taking about 60% of the match and even then never really gets Masami looking like she's in serious trouble. For example there is a headscissors where Masami tries to counter by doing a forward roll out of it, but when she has her feet in the air Jackie counters it by spiking her in almost a "already on the floor" piledriver. But then Masami attempts a similar escape with more urgency and gets out. 

If anything it looked like Jackie was in more danger at times. The moment that most comes to mind is her selling of her knee by limping slightly on it after Masami  had gone for it with some holds before Jackie made it to the ropes to break. In a relatively minimalist match her doing something like that stands out a bit more. Devil is more heelish, she's targetting an injury and she does stuff like squeezing Jackie's flesh to add a bit more pain that doesn't look strictly legal, but despite all that she does come across like she's just outwrestling Jackie at some points. There's barely any 'cheating' to speak of. 

The biggest moment of the match feels like when Devil goes for a headbutt, but Jackie ducks it and turns it into an abdominal stretch for a nice little pop. She really pulls on it hard. Devil is able to throw her off, but it's to little avail as Jackie is back up soon and hits her with slingblades, vertical-suplex backbreaker, her big signature offense. All this forces Devil to retreat to the outsie and take advantage of the 20 count. When she gets back in there's a higher level of intensity to everything and the crowd seem to be getting behind Jackie a lot harder even though she's losing now. Or at least Devil is on offense for almost the entire time, and Jackie's few hopespots don't go very far. 

That is, until her very last one, which is the most ferocious and has Devil on the backfoot. She's only able to counter by using Jackie's momentum against her to toss her over the top rope, where Jackie lands awkwardly and is apparently 'injured', forcing the referee to award the match to Devil for an upset win. Slightly flukey win but a big win all the same.

***3/4

NB: I hope you liked ending the first volume with the AJW TV closing credits. If you were paying close attention, you might have noticed Jackie being helped to the back by someone in a red shirt with 'C. Nagayo' on the back. You'll be seeing a lot more of her later.

MD: Just a singles match while the tournament is going on. They go through Masami’s history as a wrestler and then talk about how she’s releasing an album on commentary. She is Devil Masami now by the way though I think her graphic says she’s formally Tenjin, and she is the #3 of the black/devil army. Mami is on the outside with a devils jacket with her name on it, so that is established now. 

I enjoyed this. Jackie leaned hard into hierarchical control to start, really flexing as the ace, doing one tricked out takeover after the next on Masami, who struggled from underneath. It opened up midway as Masami targeted a very taped up knee, and she did a lot of punishment with leglocks. From there, it would go like this. They’d build to a very spirited Jackie comeback. Masami would take a powder and then use her strength to take back over. She’d punish Jackie for a bit and Jackie would come back again. They’d go away from the knee until the finish which was fluke-y in that world of sport way as Jackie tumbled to the floor and couldn’t continue due to the knee.

What stood out the most was the intensity however. Jackie was throwing herself into everything she did and her selling was incredibly emotive, working towards the last row in the best way. There’s one comeback where she turns things around into a cobra twist before hitting big moves off the ropes and a belly to back and she looks like the best wrestler in the world over the span of that minute or so, just absolutely electric. And Masami rose to meet her, vicious and decisive in her offense. As devastating as Masami doing a seated/lifting surfboard (for instance) was, I would have rather they go back to the knee once or twice to set up the finish, but this felt like a huge elevation for Masami and one that seemed to be deserved.

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Matches from AJPW 11/25/90: WALKING TALL DORY~! NO RESPECT DYNAMITE~! KIDNEY PUNISHING HANSEN/KAWADA~!

The Funks vs. Dynamite Kid/Johnny Smith AJPW 11/25/90

ER:  A pretty amazing match that I had never seen, with four standout performances. It's so hard hitting, and these new All Japan Classics episodes showcase that in the best way. The sound on these episodes is incredible, and it puts you right in the middle of this high impact style. I can't imagine what it was like sitting front row for such a physical style as All Japan - let alone be a participant in it! -  but this video makes it feel like I was there 35 years ago. It's one of five Tag League matches smack in the middle of the show, and they kill each other and treat it like a match with actual stakes. It's an awesome Dory match and more evidence that Dynamite Kid's Winter 1990 is him at one of his highest levels. Dory comes off like the tougher, harder hitting Funk, an actual Cool Dory match. The match peaks with the Bulldogs working over Terry's Not As Damaged 46 year old legs in ways that contributed to Terry's Old Knees while Terry scrambles in half a dozen of the greatest attempts at making a hot tag, a face in peril to his big brother's ass kicking tough guy. 

Johnny Smith is at his absolute beefiest; Dynamite is at his most bitter and dangerous, a little guy starting the most violent fights at the bar. It's a great team. Dynamite looks angry the entire match, on the apron, in the ring, and treats Terry like an old man to be put to pasture. Terry works lighter to come off as vulnerable to loss as possible, and is at perhaps his most sexy. Sexy Terry working as Pretty Ricky. Ponytail Terry with his little mustache and the best body of his career. I love Hot Ponytail Terry in his Body Glove tights, and here's Dory in his blue trunks working stiffer than anyone in the match,  maybe anyone on the show (Eric's Note: Kawada and Hansen kick each other so hard in the kidneys later on the card that Dory Funk would have died so let's leave it to saying he worked stiffer than anyone in this match). It adds up to a middle of the card tag match that was worked as a small show main event. 

Listen to how hard they're all smacking each other! Dory's contact on his collar and elbow tie-ups with Johnny were the sound of bodies used to taking hits. When Dory is in against Dynamite, he hits him with uppercuts that are so hard that I don't think Kid had to sell his limbs all going numb. He looked shocked that Dory was hitting him so hard. He tees off hard on Smith and really looks like a mat expert going after Smith's knee and ankle. Everyone worked this super honestly, but Dory's work was the most honest and well executed of all. And here's Dynamite, the by far smallest man in the match and the guy who I'd least want to confront about anything. He goes after Terry with no respect. Maybe my favorite spot in the match, is when Terry is hitting Johnny with headbutt after headbutt before they both go down. Johnny goes down, Terry spirals down after, and the second Terry hits the mat Dynamite's eyes go wide and he scrambles up to the top rope to hit a headbutt to Terry's stomach. He pulls it off so hastily, making it look like a snap impulse, and his knees land full weight one inch from Terry's face. It looked so dangerous and was only one of the things that made this match play so tough. Dynamite is so geared up when he's in against Terry, that they even do a spot where Dynamite presses Terry off him on a kickout and Terry flies several feet from it, like Dynamite was Yokozuna. Dynamite kills Terry with clotheslines to the back of the head, throws him to the floor with a back body drop, and - most incredibly - drags him into a standing stretch muffler that blew me away. Dynamite's body had to be in constant agony and as he locked in the muffler and stood to his feet, clasping his hands while the much larger Terry was hanging upside down in a headstand, his pain was as palpable as any I've seen.  

The Bulldogs working over Terry's knee was some excellent third act cutting off the ring. Dynamite wanted that knee all match, and when he got it he was like a dog with a chew toy. He was slamming Terry's calf over his knee and it looked like one of the most violent pieces of work I've seen. Terry's selling was incredible, crawling and leaping towards Dory while Smith and Dynamite had to keep tackling and blocking. There were some nearfalls that got the big crowd to bite, like one of the most well-used and well-executed rolling inside cradles. Dory pulled the cradle and Smith rolled it over and the movement was so good that Yokohama bought in. Terry's win over Smith was so well done, as Dynamite had totally drained Terry and suddenly one of the biggest stars in wrestling history looked like he could be beaten by Johnny Smith. He has to resort to scrambling on top of Smith during a pinfall exchange and just weigh his body down. The Bulldogs looked like a tough vital team against two legends, and The Funks looked legitimately at the top of their abilities. 

Andre the Giant/Giant Baba vs. The Land of Giants AJPW 11/25/90

ER: Phil and I wrote about this match 7 years ago and I don't think I appreciated it enough then. It seems funny to say that I didn't appreciate an Old Andre match enough, as I think every single review of any Old Andre match I've ever written is me appreciating and analyzing every step he takes. I love the 1990 Tag League old broken but still proud Giants, and we should all be thankful that we got to see them against the worst Fake Road Warriors team ever assembled in a respected promotion. I cannot and will not say it is a great match, because it is not. The Land of Giants - Skywalker Nitron especially, specifically - are total cornballs. Nitron is the goofiest of all, almost surely the goofiest wrestler All Japan used in 1990. You're off the hook Richard Charland and David Sammartino. But part of what makes the match great, is that Andre and Baba know that these two are cornballs, and the gift that brings us is a very active Andre match. 

Andre is old but not nearly as old as he'd look in 1992. He was in the ring a lot against both cornballs and had a bunch of great ideas and ways to attack both of them. He looked really strong, even if Nitron sold some of his offense with the goofy acting only seen from people reading stories to small children in libraries. Andre looked like he had a lot of fun beating these two goofs up. He had two different cantaloupe fist punches, one while holding Nitron in a headlock and the other just thrown to the face and followed up with a NOAH worthy headbutt. He grabbed Masters in a knuckle lock and made it look like he was crushing his hand. The camera had a zoom in on Andre interlacing his fingers with Butch and his fingers were so big they looked like they were forcing Masters' fingers to break apart. It looks like something that would and did drop Masters to a knee. The best part is when he broke the knuckle lock by rearing back and punching Masters in the fingers. 

This match has Andre the fucking Giant holding Rob Zombie's Michael Myers in a bearhug. Freddy vs. Jason is my least favorite Nightmare on Elm Street movie and my least favorite Friday the 13th movie, but Andre the Giant vs. Michael Myers is a horror movie showdown we needed to see and I would have paid money to. There's no way I would have gone into that movie and gotten Andre keeping his bearhug locked in by pulling on The Shape's rattail. Moustapha Akkad wouldn't have had the guts. 

Stan Hansen/Danny Spivey vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Mitsuharu Misawa AJPW 11/25/90

ER: The Funks vs. New Bulldogs was a hard hitting match. Every open hand on chest and back landed with a loud crack and Dory Funk threw in a last hurrah before his 50s with a great Walking Tall badass role. It's great. But then two matches later Kawada and Hansen took such righteous anger out of each other's kidneys that it made me think *I* was going to piss blood. This is some of the toughest wrestling you'll ever see. Hansen is in full force of nature mode and he hits Kawada like a kid in training camp. Every chair, every shoulder, every godforsaken kick, was felt thoroughly. Hansen is such a force of nature, that you're not expecting Kawada to take such a force so head on. Kawada kicks Hansen back even harder and cracks baseball bat shots off the old cowboy's torso. Kawada makes such wicked contact that Hansen's pancreas selling looks like the man is learning how to sell a bruised pancreas in real time. Hansen is the best Train Running Off the Rails impacter in wrestling and it was amazing to see Kawada throw his whole body at a moving train. The finish is incredible and features one of the greatest low bridges I've ever seen. Misawa flies over the top rope with such speed that I jumped in the same way I do in the movies when a car gets unexpectedly T-boned. Spivey's team with Hansen took his timing to a really high level. Misawa is there one second and gone the next and as he's flying one direction, Hansen runs the other and knocks Kawada into the sky with a western lariat. Later, Doc and Gordy try to hit harder clotheslines on Taue in the main event and make fine cases. Later still, Jumbo and Taue outdo them all with their clotheslines to Gordy. It's show-long clothesline oneupmanship I can support. And then Jumbo gives Gordy another. 

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AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 12/22 - 12/28 Part 2

AEW World's End 12/27/25

Jon Moxley vs Kyle Fletcher 

Jon Moxley is a bleeder.

As stars go, headliners, main eventers, champions, there's probably no one this century who's bled as often and as freely as Mox.

This? This is different though. Usually the taste of his own blood reminds him that he's alive, reminds his opponents that they're in a war.

But even a warrior, a champion only has so much blood to lose and Jon Moxley's been bleeding out for a while now. Maybe he's been bleeding out since he tapped to Darby Allin and Kyle O'Reilly. Maybe he's been bleeding out since he lost the title to Hangman Page. Maybe he's been bleeding out since Adam Copeland lost the battle but won the war, wounding him with a nail covered bat and putting fear back into his heart. Or maybe, just maybe, he's been bleeding out since he made the fateful decision to betray Bryan Danielson.

Regardless of how long it's been, he found himself face to face with one undeniable truth: he had to stop the bleeding.

The only way to stop the bleeding was to cauterize the wound. He had to put himself through a baptism of fire, one where his soldiers had to stay in their barracks, where it was just him against the very best, him against the world. He had to prove to allies and enemies both, to bystanders and to history itself, that he was everything he said he was, that there was truth underneath it all, no matter how thoroughly he'd been exposed, no matter how it felt to be the emperor with no clothes, no matter the Sword of Damocles over his head, no matter how biting winter's cold felt upon his naked flesh. 

He needed to compete in the Continental Classic, but more than that, he needed to win it.

But Kyle Fletcher needed things too.

Takeshita may have been the first member of the Don Callis Family and Okada may be its crown jewel, but Kyle Fletcher is the heart and soul of it. He's the one that makes it a family and not just a stable or faction. Callis is what he sounds to be, a callous, mercenary huckster. Fletcher is young, still developing, still in need of those to support him, not just professionally but personally as well. He believes in the idea of a family, even a family of villains, scoundrels, and rogues. He loves Takeshita like a brother and he's been coming to love Okada as well, but more than either of them individually, he loves the sum of them.

Now, after months of turmoil, Takeshita and Okada were positioned against each other in the other semi-final. One of them would beat the other. But were Kyle Fletcher to beat Jon Moxley, he'd face off against that winner. Yes, he had lost the TNT title. Yes, he had failed to defeat Hangman Page for the world title. Yes, unlike Okada, the International Champion, and Takeshita, the IWGP champion, he had no belt to his name. And yes, he constantly feels the need to prove to the world that he is the future, but more than all of that was this: no matter who won, Okada or Takeshita, were Fletcher be the one to defeat him and win the Continental Championship, then it might defuse the situation, might humble the loser, might restore peace and tranquility to his family. 

He just had to beat Jon Moxley to earn the chance to do so.

So he took this match as seriously as he'd ever taken anything in his life. According to commentary, right up until the bell, he'd been watching tape of Moxley's C2 matches, studying his opponent, looking for any possible edge. He didn't check in with his family members, didn't watch Takeshita battle Okada. Instead, he prepared. When his music hit, Fletcher went out to the ring, unaware of Okada's underhanded transgression, the use of a screwdriver hidden in the turnbuckle pad, that allowed him to defeat Takeshita and secure a spot in the finals.

Like many other C2 matches, they started with wrestling. Moxley is the progenitor of death jitsu, but Fletcher kept pace with him, countering counters for the minute or so they chain wrestled. Perhaps not surprisingly, Moxley blinked first, taking an opening and throwing a chop. That sent Fletcher right out to the floor, slowing down the pace, stalling. In the eyes of the fans, it crystalized alignments. Fletcher had gotten some support as of late, because he is that good, because he is charismatic, because he is sudden and intense, but while Moxley was chomping at the bit to engage, he was not, and that was enough to shift the crowd just a bit more behind Mox.

Fletcher didn't care, though. He meant to throw Moxley off. He had a plan. Moxley chased after him, beat him around the ring, but Fletcher caught him with a body slam on the way back in, a cheapshot. Again, the crowd turned more. Again, Fletcher didn't care (he didn't care so much that he was happy to tell them how little he cared, which just made them respond, getting behind Moxley more). And then when Moxley managed to turn things around on him, the crowd started to respond all the more.

And yet still, Fletcher didn't care. Moxley tossed him out and Fletcher scrambled to keep in it on the floor. So yes, the crowd was backing Moxley for the first real time in well over a year. And yes, it did bother Fletcher, but he didn't care because he couldn't care, because he had to win. It was that simple. And to win, he had to find the exact moment to strike, no distractions, no hesitation. Just goading Moxley in. That happened on the floor, the stairs brought into play. Moxley meant to pile drive him onto them. Fletcher knew it was coming and pulled the stairs back. Moxley's leg ended up between the ring and the stairs and Fletcher charged in to crush it. He knew Moxley's tactics. He knew Moxley's weakness, the ankle that had been bothering him for weeks, a perfect achilles heel to give Fletcher the edge.

Fletcher got down to work, using a inverted deathlock, a half crab, simply wrenching the leg over the rope. He was as unlikable as humanly possible throughout, posing and preening, but he was laser-focused nonetheless. 

But Jon Moxley knew that the best defense was a good offense. He hit a cutter out of nowhere. When Fletcher retreated back to the floor, he hobbled across the ring to dive at him. He chased Fletcher back into the ring, knowing he had to press the advantage, and just like earlier in the match, he ran into a Fletcher slam, this time a Michinoku Driver, escalation playing out before the crowd's eyes. 

The match continued along these lines. Fletcher would bully Moxley into the corner but Mox would fire out. He'd be unable to get his full weight behind his shots, the leg dragging him down on every exchange. He'd power through and score a point but be ultimately unable to capitalize. Fletcher would shrug him off the top on a ten count punch and as Mox landed on the apron on the bad leg, Fletcher would follow right behind him to drop him on his skull. Moxley would beat the count, if just barely, but even the possibility of redemption through victory was slipping through his grasp more and more with each Fletcher bomb. The blood may have been coming from his tooth of all places, but he was bleeding out nonetheless.

And all the while, the fans started to cheer for Mox more and more.

Yet all the while, one truth never changed: Fletcher needed this just as much as Moxley did. He needed it too much. He locked in a half crab again, this time pulling back with all his might. That opened him up to Moxley's bulldog choke. But he had prepared and as Moxley tried to plant his weight to really lock it in, Fletcher grasped at the ankle. He escaped the choke, but he couldn't quite get the anklelock exactly as he wanted it, exactly how his family member Josh Alexander had taught it to him. He wanted it too badly, he needed it too much. Desperate, nervous scrambling hands meant that by the time he did lock it in, they were too close to the ropes and Moxley was able to escape by the skin of his bleeding teeth.

And as he did, the crowed began to chant.

Still, Fletcher was in control and he stomped Mox in the corner, hoisted him up for his top rope Brainbuster. Moxley had wanted to lay in those ten count punches before, punches often punctuated with a rake of the back and a bite of the face. Before Fletcher had tossed him off. Now as Fletcher tried to finish him, Moxley, bloody mouth and all, gnawed upon Fletcher's head.

And the crowd roared for his effort.

Something awoke in Jon Moxley then, something that had been dormant, been pressed down by his own paranoia and hypocrisy, something that could only be tapped into when the crowd was well and truly behind him. He slipped behind Fletcher, locking in a choke up on that top rope, and then, as if he was leaping into the arms of the crowd with only faith to propel him, he tossed both of them off backwards, hitting a breathtaking, brutal avalanche cutthroat suplex. Moxley capitalized with a lariat and a stomp, but couldn't capitalize further, that effort alone sending pain up and down his leg. Fletcher recovered, hitting a superkick, a half-and-half suplex of his own, and a knee and pressing Moxley's shoulders to the mat. 

Mox kicked out at one and the crowd absolutely exploded. 

Fletcher was shaken but not thrown; he dropped Moxley with a brainbuster and Moxley kicked out once more. He lifted Moxley up to finish him and Mox, stumbling, punch drunk, put both hands up in an act of defiance as the crowd buoyed him with their screams. 

Fletcher needed this win. He needed it badly. He needed it as much as Moxley did. He didn't care how he got it. They had set up the screwdriver earlier in the day, a perfect way around the Continental Classic rules. Callis wouldn't be out there to hand it to anyone. Fletcher was doing this for himself, but he was doing this for family most of all. He knew Takeshita and Okada were facing each other. He knew they were at odds. The last thing he could have imagined however was that one brother would use the hidden screwdriver against another. So when he went to find it and it wasn't there, it wasn't just that he didn't have a weapon to put down Moxley, that the plan was failing. It was more than that. It was the tragic realization that Okada or Takeshita had to have used it against the other, that everything he was fighting for had already gone up in smoke. 

That was the moment he lost.

He ran right into Moxley's choke but was able to survive it. He even survived the Paradigm Shift AND the Death Rider that followed, but those were the last gasps of a man already dead. When Moxley locked in the sleeper, he had nothing left to give. He dropped to the mat momentarily unconscious as the ref called for the bell. Moxley rolled to his knees, pumping his fists to the unbelievable but undeniable elation of the crowd. Fletcher managed to recover enough to get one last petulant shot in after the bell, but it didn't matter.

Moxley had the wind in his sails, having found a warrior's high moral ground for the first time in so long. The pro wrestling gods now supported him, now were fully against an Okada who had broken every code to commit the same sort of fratricide and betrayal and Moxley himself had done a year before. By the end of the night, the circle would be complete once more and a triumphant Moxley would march up and down the ring, speaking passionate, humble words, having stopped the bleeding. 

But just a few days off of Christmas, and with Bryan Danielson forced to witness all of this from the commentary table, everyone watching had to wonder if there might still be ghostly Dickensian chains clanking behind Moxley, just waiting to drag him down, if redemption can truly come from effort and victory alone, or if a darker comeuppance was just around the corner.

It was a remarkable match. There was no way to know that the crowd would go for Moxley like this, that it wouldn't split heel vs heel and just chant for the match and its awesomeness. This was the same arena where Moxley ended Danielson just a little more than a year before. So much of it came down to Fletcher's early stalling, to him being the one to go after the injury, an unsportsmanlike git. Moxley's selling, the way that he showed consequence to every offensive move he hit, carried much of the rest. 

Fletcher made himself as unlikable as possible, giving the fans nothing to latch on to. Meanwhile, Moxley gave the fans everything to latch on to. As he dragged himself up again and again, he pulled the fans along with him, the most gripping thing in the world. It was pro-wrestling that moved hearts and minds, all through the in-ring action, the sort of storytelling which burned right through the black gunk of irony that's covered hearts for years. The crowd gave themselves up to the story being told and let themselves get swept along with it. 

It was beautiful pro-wrestling and especially beautiful for 2025. Just a wonderful match, with wonderful, nuanced characters telling a wonderful, nuanced story. Details still matter. Pro wrestling still works. The magic is still alive for wrestlers willing to give of themselves completely and tap into it and a crowd with no choice but to get swept along for the ride.

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Found Footage Friday: Wrestle Yume Factory~!

Wrestle Yume Factory 8/11/96

Pick this up from @itako18jp on Twitter, he is doing god's work

The Madness vs. The Wolf/Cosmo Soldier

MD: A handicap match. Madness is a huge guy with a skeleton mask that he adjusts all the time. Wolf and Soldier start well with Soldier drawing him in with a test of strength challenge and Wolf attacking from behind. They have a flurry of offense but get tossed off on a double pin and really this is just a matter of time until he catches them, and catches them he does. Some of his stuff looks great. He has this suplex into a bodyslam of sorts which is brutal. Some, like his strikes, just kind of look ok. There's a great moment of Soldier bursting off from the side of the screen to break up a pin at one point, and another great one of a roll through pin out of nowhere which almost works. It goes on a bit too long after that though and even though they get one more flurry including a tornado DDT, it's inevitable and after a power bomb, Madness drops one on top of the other for the pin. This had a pretty good balance of protecting Madness but having Wolf and Soldier chip away at him effectively, I thought.

Basara vs. Masakazu Fukuda

MD: I'm not sure we've ever written about Basara here but he had a mask with a big white mustache coming out of it and hair on top the head. Fukuda was mid 20s here and died tragically in 2000. Basara controlled early. He had an answer for everything Fukuda tried and Fukada didn't have an answer. Fukada would take Basara down and try strikes but get his arm caught. They'd get in a headbutt war and Fukuda would get crushed and bump across the ring. When he took over it was by getting in and under and hitting a uranage, first a throw which opened up the match, and then the rock bottom version to win it later. In the middle Basara asserted himself as they ended up hitting bombs to a degree. Basara had a second rope senton and power slam and Fukuda got under him to take him over in a sort of Beach Break. They both threw dropkicks (Basara's surprisingly good). I'm not sure this kept the same narrative focus once it opened up but in general it was fun just to see them throw things at one another. 

Shinichi Shino vs. Shinigami

MD: Shino is later on Fukumen Taro. Shinigami is a blast. He's got caked on grey/green makeup like a ghoul and it's honestly a great look that no one really uses. Plus the gloves and the black coat/pants that makes him look as much like a Castlevania monster as a movie monster. He lumbered down to the ring upsetting chairs and driving fans away. Shono was all pluck and fire. Powerslams and clotheslines but he threw himself into all of them. He capitalized on a missed dropkick and took it to Shinigami, including tossing chairs on him on the outside, but nothing really worked. Shinigami turned it around, buried him under a row of chairs, and then splashed the chairs. Looked like a great bit but it was on the wrong side of the ring so we only had the sense of it. His big move was a claw-assisted uranage and frankly, it's a wonderful piece of business. He dragged Shino into the ring with the claw before hitting it and then down the stretch hit a top rope one before pulling him up and hitting a bridging one. Post-match he went after the timekeeper for no reason and I quite enjoyed the time I spent with Shinigami.

Hector Garza/Silver King/Onryo vs. Masayoshi Motegi/Super Crazy/Kamikaze

MD: All action trios with some great names. I'd say everyone looked pretty good here (Crazy maybe the most dubious if I was pressed), but Silver King looked like one of the best in the world. He was matched up with Kamikaze early and that was the best of the pairings. Everything broke down and we had some very loose rudo beatdown structure on Onryo a couple of times especially, but this was the sort of match where Silver King was just going to super kick someone in the face and take over. Dive train was sensational and Garza looked great in the final pairing. You knew what you were going to most likely get here, but they gave it to you, and that's the important thing. There was also this great bit where Silver King went for a powerbomb onto Garza (his own partner) and alley-ooped him into a splash which looked so smooth that people should reverse engineer and steal it. Variety is the spice of life and this absolutely fit into such a weird and varied card.

Horiyoshi Kotsubo vs. Hirofumi Miura

MD: (EDIT: According to Sebastian I got Kotsubo and Miura confused, so just flip them in the below. I haven't done that in a while). Horiyoshi Kotsubo is Tsubo Genjin. Here he has a karate gimmick with a black gi, the sides of his head shaved, a goatee, and nunchucks. But it's Miura who's fun here. It's scrambly to start, but Miura goes to the slaps first. Then he hits a great spinning backfist and later on a very quick tree-of-woe/short dropkick combo. Kotsubo has some nice pokey punches in a mount at least, and he wins it with a submission that is very hard to explain but certainly novel, starting with a STF but then barring the other leg. Not a ton to say about this one but I need to watch that Aoyagi vs Miura match Phil covered here now. 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Shinichi Nakano-GREAT

MD: I've spent a lot of time with 1989-1990 Shinichi Nakano, and quite a bit with him from the years prior, and there isn't a whole lot there, let me tell you. He was fine. Absolutely fine. Inoffensive. Sometimes could show some fire. He wasn't the guy you wanted in a Jr. Title match (not relative to Fuchi or Momota or Inoue or Joe Malenko) or in a tag, except for maybe if that tag was against guys like Hansen and Tenryu. Then he could take a beating and come back with a bit of fire only to get beaten down once more. Actually, 1989 Fujiwara vs 1989 Nakano would have been a blast.

Thankfully, this was pretty good along those lines too. Nakano was older, more grizzled, but a ton of this match was him doing something, paying for it, and getting beaten and stretched by Fujiwara, which really, is exactly what you'd want. Early on, he tried to push Fujiwara into the corner. That didn't go well for him. Fujiwara turned him around, punched him in the face, and then played to the crowd that he slapped him instead, all before goozling him in the ropes. Later on, Nakano tried again to stomp Fujiwara in the corner and the greatest defensive wrestler of all time, snatched his foot midstomp and hit a rare dragon screw leg whip, just like that.

At one point, he did have some success with things Fujiwara had less defense against, armdrags, leading to a cross arm breaker and Fujiwara escaping to the outside. He then got some nice clubbering in with Fujiwara on the apron stretched over the top rope. All well and good if he didn't try for a posting, but he did, and you can't slam Fujiwara's head into the metal connector obviously. Headbutts ensued, followed by Fujiwara doing his own mirrored clubbering and then hilariously teasing a dive. 

What else did Nakano try? Oh, a leglock. Went ok for a bit until Fujiwara snatched a leg of his own and slowly and patiently worked things all the way around so that Nakano was on his stomach and Fujiwara was bending a leg back. And then down the stretch, he hit a power bomb and a suplex and locked in a half crab, but he couldn't put Fujiwara away and when he went back to the well for another suplex, everyone watching knew exactly what was going to happen. Fujiwara jammed it and jammed Nakano down right into the armbar. While I may have hoped that Nakano had become some sort of secret master over the 90s, what I can say about him instead is that he was still a good sport, and that gave Fujiwara lots of room to stretch (figuratively, literally, metaphorically, however you want it).

PAS: This was pretty much a Fujiwara one man show, Nakano was a fine sparring partner, wrestling chicken stock but Fujiwara bought all of the spices here. Of course those are incredible spices, countering everything Nakano tried, backing him into the corner and working him over. I have written time and time again about how Fujiwara is the greatest defensive wrestler of all time, and here he is again throwing up another countering masterpiece as easy as a Nikola Jokic 40/14/12 stat line. The kind of thing that would be legendary for anyone else is pedestrian for him.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE FUJIWARA

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AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 12/22 - 12/28 Part 1

AEW Collision 12/25/25

Jon Moxley vs Orange Cassidy 

At the ten minute mark, Orange Cassidy found his pockets.

He'd weathered the onslaught, the bullying, the shouts, the shoving, and finally the strikes. 

He remembered who he was. Yes, the kicks he laid in on Jon Moxley had more behind them than usual without the standard playful preludes, but he had remembered his true strength: the mind games, the way he was the one who threw his opponent off his game and snuck out a win when least expected.

And like his Conglomeration members and associates, Mascara Dorada, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and his sometimes partner, Darby Allin, he saw the cracks in Jon Moxley, both mental and physical, clearly, as if for the first time, and he honed in on that leg, softening him up for an Orange Punch.

But Moxley rolled to the floor and the moment was lost. Cassidy once again gave in to emotion, to the weight of the last few years, to trauma, and yes, to fear. To panic.

Every Jon Moxley match in the C2 so far has been about Moxley, though, of course, his opponent and their own struggles and journeys played into them in a secondary manner. This one though? This was about Orange Cassidy, and because of that, when Mox's back was well and truly against the wall, when he needed a win to save his own life, he entered into a situation where he had all but won before the bell had even rung. It may have looked like anything else in those first few minutes, and it may have almost become something else at that ten minute mark, but the result was all but inevitable from the get go.

In 2023, at the end of a long, arduous run as International champ, a run where he put himself up against every challenger, where he kicked off Dynamite week after week after week, where he ran his body to the ground, Cassidy crashed into the wall that was Jon Moxley. Through a fluke injury, Mox lost the title and Cassidy regained it from a third party, but a few months later, he had to face his demon again at Full Gear 2024. Cassidy didn't just survive, didn't just retain his title, he triumphed, showing Moxley and the world the strength within. 

It came at a cost. In pushing himself so far, Cassidy became someone he never wanted to be. That facade of apathy and sloth was yanked off of his face, shades broken and discarded. But it was over and he had won. 

That's not how wrestling works, though. The story never ends. Jon Moxley understands that better than anyone. He's not fighting for a single victory, for a single championship, for a single celebration. He claims to be trying to change the tides of time, the fate of the future. He's trying to shift  the path of history, to set the world turning back on its proper axis. If you are to believe him that is. Even if you don't, you can't deny that he understands the notion well enough to manipulate others, well enough to know the costs.

Time marched on. The fight was eternal. One year later, Cassidy was forced back into an even more untenable position. Moxley had turned his back on the fans and torn down AEW's heroes. Those that remained had nowhere else to turn than to a man with a good heart, who cared more than he'd ever admit, and who beat Moxley once before. Cassidy found his strength anew, led a charge, but ultimately came up short due to the numbers game and was left beaten, bullied, bleach poured down his throat.

So maybe some of his allies and friends saw Moxley for what he seemed to be as of late, a wounded animal, a man who had lost his way and was on the verge of losing so much more, but Cassidy couldn't help but see the monster that still lurked within. Instead of holding back, controlling the tempo, eliminating Moxley from the tournament and maybe from even more on top of that, he charged right in, unleashed ten count punch after ten count punch. He saw the Moxley of a year ago, of two years ago, the Moxley that he could be once again and he couldn't relent. Because of that, he wrestled Jon Moxley's match, played right to his strengths.

And Moxley well knew it. Cassidy held his own for long minutes, stayed in the fight. He was consumed by a fire within him, by the horror before him, by the trauma he carried, but he drew a panicked, fevered strength from it nonetheless. This was the Orange Cassidy of Jon Moxley's world, the one he had created, a fighter, a warrior, a berserker. 

It wasn't until Moxley berated him, yelled, put up a fit, because for all of his fighting, it wasn't enough for Mox, that Cassidy remembered who he truly was. By then, however, it was too late. Moxley escaped, drew Cassidy back outside the ring, back into his domain. Cassidy maintained an advantage on the outside, but now he was caught between two worlds, himself but not himself, able to see at the light of the end of the tunnel but dragged back into the darkness by his heel. 

He grasped at Moxley's damaged leg, but without his usual control, without the laser-focus of O'Reilly that had allowed Kyle to defeat Moxley. He hit Orange Punch after Orange Punch, but not a single one landed correctly. Despite appearances, he no longer had the inner balance to strike true. And, desperate himself, clinging to a false advantage that might have looked to the world to be the truest thing imaginable, he went for the leg one last time and was rolled up by Moxley for a relatively easy three. 

Despite his fear, Orange Cassidy stood up against the darkness he had known, a darkness in his heart, but in doing so, in charging forth when he should have laid back in wait, he played right into Jon Moxley's hands, as fortuitous an outcome as Mox could have hoped for, because he only had one hand left to play. 

But as Cassidy now knows all too well, the fight never ends. A wrestler's story can only end one way, when the heart, body, brain, and soul all break down too much to continue. Cassidy earned a respite, a moment to recover, to reevaluate what he had become and what he might still become. For Moxley, however, World's End is now before him. He's fallen so far, but by climbing back up by the skin of his teeth, he only has so much farther left to fall if he fails.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Who Will Challenge at Aniversario 91?

Week 55: Who Will Challenge at Aniversario 91?

EB: We certainly had quite the special event to celebrate all of the mothers in Puerto Rico. Championships were defended and we had quite the few incidents occur as well. Before proceeding, let’s recap some of the key events. For that, let’s go to Hugo Savinovich.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH5hP_bip_s

Hugo is narrating the highlights from Noche de Campeones, starting with the controversial ending to the World Junior title match. What do you think, was it a three count? Regardless, Brad Anderson is now the World Junior champion.

We then go to the finish of the Women’s World title match as we see Profe get involved and the miscommunication leading to Monster Ripper losing her title to new champion Candi Divine. We also see the post match argument where El Profe started shoving Monster Ripper and then Ripper having enough and fighting back. Profe ends up laid out on the floor. After the highlights we get comments from Monster Ripper where she says that it’s Profe’s fault she lost her title,  and then Profe dared to put his hands on her. Ripper says that Profe will pay dearly for that and she wants a match with him. We go to Hugo who confirms that it’s official, Monster Ripper has laid down a challenge to El Profe, let’s see what Profe has to say about that. Profe: “Listen Miss Piggy, I can’t accept that challenge because I can’t touch a woman, I’m a total gentleman and would be completely incapable of…” Hugo interrupts Profe to say that she beat up Profe at Noche de Campeones, could it be that he’s afraid of her? "I'm not afraid, I’m a gentleman and even if she doesn’t look like a…” Hugo again interrupts to say that Ripper knocked Profe through the ropes to the floor. “Even if she doesn't look like a woman, she is a woman, and I respect her, I respect women…” Hugo interrupts to ask why Profe doesn't accept the challenge. An exasperated Profe says that he can’t accept that before just walking off. 

Now Hugo presents the highlights to the main event of Noche de Campeones, the Universal title match between Carlos Colon and Ron Garvin. We go to the highlights and see the back suplex into a bridge finish. Hugo makes note that both men's shoulders were down and they had to wait for the official announcement to know who won, which turned out to be Carlos Colon.

Finally, we have the World tag title match highlights which include Akbar being locked in the cage, the finish of the match where Invader uses the foreign object dropped by Savage, and then Bronco getting a fireball to the face when he went to open the cage Akbar was locked in. We get a bit more of the aftermath of the fireball as we see the ringside doctor come in to check on Bronco while he is in pain on the floor. The segment finishes with a phone conversation with Bronco (over a still image of him on the ground in pain), where Bronco thanks the fans for their well wishes and also God for no major damage occurring. He has second degree burns around his eye, he can’t open it too much at the moment, and he also has blisters and burn marks on his face. Hugo brings up that Bronco’s mask likely mitigated some of the damage and Bronco says to an extent, but his eye took the brunt of it. Thankfully he didn’t lose the eye or have any permanent damage. Bronco also wonders how someone with such dark and macabre intentions as Akbar can be allowed to participate in professional wrestling.Hugo thanks Bronco for his time, reminds him that everyone in Puerto Rico is rooting for him to get better and they will keep in touch to get updates.

MD: Ripper vs Profe as a program feels ahead of its time. We’ve seen a lot of things follow what happened in the states in one way or another (Zeus, Robocop, Giant Warrior as an El Gigante sort of pastiche, etc.) but I can’t think of too many places that were doing a match like this in 1991. Maybe there’s a USWA thing I’m not thinking of. 

The Bronco phone interview was particularly effective as he said he was going to real dark places and you believed it after you saw the fireball.

EB: While we don’t have the results for the rest of the matches from Noche de Camepoens, we can ascertain who retained and who did not based on the future TV episodes and lineups. King Kong and Super Medico #3 remain as the TV and Caribbean champs respectively, while it looks like Butch Cassady defeated Little Louis to win the Midget World title.  As for the Caribbean tag titles, we are not sure of when it exactly occurred, either during Mother's Day weekend or during the following week (possibly the TV taping?) but we also have new champions in Galan Mendoza and Billy Joe Travis.  Furthermore, after Monster Ripper’s falling out with El Profe, it appears that Mendoza and Travis no longer have Monster Ripper as their manager.  In fact, they appear to have new representation and it is El Profe. The Caribbean Express are not standing idly by though, as they have decided to hire a manager to help counter El Profe and it is none other than Monster Ripper.  

That is all with regards to the current championship situation but we still have one notable occurrence to discuss from Noche de Campeones. The head of the Puerto Rico Boxing and Wrestling Commission was on hand to announce who will challenge for the Universal title at Aniversario 91. Carlos Colon retained so as of now he will be one half of the match, but who will be the challenger? There are five names under consideration and let’s go to the recap video to find out who it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfaoChzbaCY

Hugo Savinovich narrates the recap video and opens with the following question: Which of these wrestlers will challenge Carlos Colon for the Universal title at Aniversario 91? Will it be Dino Bravo, Tatsumi Fujinami, Ron Garvin, Stan Hansen or Abdullah the Butcher? Commissioner Feliz Suarez announces that the commission has decided that the challenger will be… Ron Garvin! He has been selected based on tonight’s performance in a very close match and the commission feels this earns Garvin another shot at the Universal title. We cut to later where we have Carlos Colon (in a suit) and El Profe in the ring. Carlos is there because he was asked to come out to formally accept the match. However, Profe entered the ring uninvited and angrily started arguing with Colon. Profe is not happy about the decision of Garvin being the challenger and it is because he has a new client who he feels Colon is ducking. Profe calls Carlos a coward for ducking his client, the man who would easily defeat Carlos if they wrestled and who happens to be the strongest man in the world.”Do you want me to tell you his name! Do you want me to say his name! It is Dino Bravo! Do you accept his challenge?” Carlos responds by saying that the commission has decided the challenger is Ron Garvin, once he wrestles Garvin then he’ll gladly face Profe’s guy. Profe continues ranting "Accept reality, you are a coward!” Carlos taps Profe at that and starts saying don’t you say that about me, but Profe starts yelling “Don’t put your hands on me!” Colon and Profe continue arguing, with Profe still calling Carlos a coward and Carlos getting more heated and pushing Profe. Hugo starts asking for them to calm down when the camera cuts to show someone running to the ring, it’s Dino Bravo! Bravo gets in the ring and attacks Carlos from behind with a knee to the back. Hugo gets out of the ring as Bravo continues attacking Carlos with Profe approvingly watching. Bravo eventually gets Carlos in a full nelson and, even though three tecnicos come out to try to get Bravo off Carlos, their blows have no effect and Bravo still keeps the hold on. Reinforcements arrive, causing Bravo to release the hold and escape.

Now we get comments from Dino Bravo at the TV studio. This could have been anywhere in the world as Bravo lists off different locations, but Bravo has tracked Carlos Colon to his own backyard. Bravo wants to take that Universal title from Colon and whether Colon likes it or not, it will be at Aniversario 91. Hugo follows, saying they have gotten in touch with Carlos Colon about Dino Bravo’s challenge and Carlos is willing to face Bravo. In fact, Carlos has already gotten in touch with WWC commissioner Hayden T. Joseph to request for the necessary adjustments to be made so that the challenger is Dino Bravo. We will have to await the commissioner's decision in the coming days of whether the challenger will be Ron Garvin or if they will make the change to Dino Bravo.

MD: I know none of us want to see Dino Bravo in this spot, BUT 1.) It was an interesting angle as it looked like it was going to be Garvin again, 2.) Profe was supercharged and energetic and this is really the first time he looked like the proper successor of Chicky to me. And 3.) Bravo did come in with a ton of energy both in his beat down and in the subsequent promo, so we shall give this a shot. If we could change what happened decades ago, I’d come up with a better conclusion to the Black Scorpion angle after all.

EB: The next show is scheduled for May 19 at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel and Carlos Colon is not getting any respite from the rudo brain trust of El Profe and Gen. Skandor Akbar. While there is yet to be a decision made as to who the Universal title challenger will ultimately be, that isn’t stopping Gen.Akbar’s latest acquisition from targeting Colon. The wrestler’s name is the Polynesian Prince and his match with Colon on May 19 devolved into a brawl where both men bled. Profe and Akbar are hyping Prince up as one crazy and dangerous individual, who will not hesitate to injure Carlos. In addition to their match on May 19, Colon and Prince had another altercation at the May 22 tv taping in Miramar. Polynesian Prince is scheduled to face Ricky Santana as we join the action.

Ricky Santana vs. Polynesian Prince

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eReqFz_zWVI

Polynesian Prince immediately jumps Santana and kicks him down. Prince does not let up on the attack, as Hugo makes note that you can still see the fresh wounds Prince has on his forehead from his match with Carlos Colon in Bayamon. Hugo puts over how crazy Prince is as Santana is stomped out of the ring. Prince grabs Ricky and runs him headfirst into the wall! Ricky is busted open and out of it. Prince sits on Santana and for some reason bites Santana’s boots as the ref calls for the bell. The match has been thrown out but that is not stopping  Prince, who continues attacking Santana’s bleeding forehead. Referee Victor Quiñonez tries to call off Prince, but instead Prince grabs Santana and rolls him back into the ring. Prince sets Ricky up in an electric chair and drops him face first across the top turnbuckle. The bell keeps ringing as Prince comes off the top with a diving headbutt from halfway across the ring. Prince goes up top for another attempt, but Carlos Colon has arrived and pushes Prince off the turnbuckle. Carlos starts ramming Prince’s head into several objects, including the ringpost, the first aid kit on the wall, the commentators' table and a chair. Prince is bleeding but starts fighting back, leading to Carlos getting rammed headfirst into the post. The referee tries to stop them but gets pushed away. Colon and Prince start exchanging headbutts and then start fighting in the crowd. Ricky Santana is out cold in the ring as the fighting continues, with several tecnicos coming out to stop the fight between the bloody Colon and Prince. The situation gets more hectic as the rudos make their way out to try to stop Polynesian Prince and break the fight up. The two men are separated but then get loose and start fighting again. Carlos jumps back towards the ring area with a large piece of wood and goes after Prince, hitting him with the piece of wood. The wrestlers again try to separate Colon and Prince as the commentators start worrying about how close the fight is to them now.  

MD: Very effective stuff. I’ll be honest that I’m not 100% sure yet who the Prince is here. Fatu? Samu? Someone else. Probably someone else. The footage is very blurry. But he moves in a stylized sort of way we haven’t seen in a bit, really portraying a savage and getting into character. The SST basically walked and talked like everyday people at this point. But he wrestled like he knew what he was doing. This quickly spilled to the outside and he ate the countout just for the joy of ramming Santana’s head into the wall. Santana ended up opened up and Prince hit a very cool electric chair snake eyes sort of move before the top rope splash. Colon ran out to save Santana and things got super heated as they brawled all over the place before the wrestlers broke it up. Like I said, very effective way to heat someone up instantly.

EB: Besides the developing rivalry between Carlos Colon and the Polynesian Prince, let’s get to the May 25 episode of Campeones to see what other developments we have in CSP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX_l0C_edMg

Hugo and El Profe welcome us to another episode of Camepones. Profe mentions what we’ll have on today’s program Hugo adds that they'll also have footage of what’s happened between Carlos Colon and Polyneasin Prince, including what happened this past Wednesday in Miramar (Profe: ‘It was a war.’). Unfortunately, this footage is not included in the edited version of the tv episode we are reviewing, but it’s the footage we covered just now of the fight that happened between Colon and Prince during the latter's match with Ricky Santana. Tonight they will be in Caguas, as there will be a rematch between Carlos and the Prince with Skandor Akbar barred from ringside. Profe says that there will be no one to control Polynesian Prince tonight and that not since Abdulla the Butcher has Colon had an opponent as bloodthirsty and savage as Prince. Hugo comments that it seems that Profe and Akbar do not want Carlos to make it to Aniversario (which Profe denies) and that it seems that they want Prince to hurt Carlos before then. Also scheduled for tonight is Invader #1 & Giant Warrior vs King Kong & Rod Price, a no time limit and no DQ rematch for the Caribbean title between Super Medico #3 and Action Jackson, Ricky Santana tries to regain the World Jr title from Brad Adnerson, Huracan Castillo vs Billy Joe Travis, and Little Louis challenges new champion Butch Cassady. 

Super Medico III vs. Action Jackson - May 19

Now let's get to what happened this past Sunday in Bayamon as Super Medico #3 defended the Caribbean title against Action Jackson with most of this match taking up the runtime of the version of the Campeones episode we have. Profe is optimistic that Jacksn will regain the Caribbean title for his stable, maybe as soon as tonight. Hugo mentions that these two have been feuding for a while and it seems that Action has needed to cheat to get the wins he has over Medico. Action keeps bailing during the first few minutes every time Medico #3 gets the advantage, with Profe on commentary saying that it is a 30 minute time limit so they have the time to slow it down and strategize. The match continues in thai pattern until the first commercial break, and when we come back it looks like Action Jackson has been playing hide the foreign object from the ref. The ref is checking Jacksn but cannot find anything since Action had just passed it off to Profe. Medico #3 comes in to attack but Action soon cuts him off and we get the middle portion of the match with Jackson in control using punches, biting and the foreign object throughout. Medico makes a comeback that leads to Jackson getting knocked outside, and it becomes apparent that it had been raining as Jacksn’s tights are covered in mud. Hugo and Profe have an exchange on commentary about Profe apparently not wanting to get close due to the mud and Profe says that’s not true.

Jackson drags Medico out of the ring but ends up getting backdropped by Medico right into the mud. Jackson argues a bit with Profe over him staying away due to the mud and actually rubs mud on Profe’s clothes out of frustration. Back in, Action regains control and works over Medico #3 with a neck wrench. Medico’s white tights start getting dirty from the mud Action has indirectly smeared in the ring as they’ve fought. A test of strength leads to Medico #3 flinging Jackson through the ropes and into the mud once more as we go to another commercial break Back from commercial and Jackson is kicked into the mud by Medico #3. Medico then decides to go after Profe, but Profe backs away. Back in the ring Medico continues on offense and tries a small package for a near fall. Action counters and controls with a nerve hold. Medico’s white tights and mask are starting to take on a brownish tint due to the mud. The match continues back and forth but Action cheats by hitting Medico #3 with the foreign object and gets a three count. Profe is celebrating the win on commentary, but referee Victor Quiñonez runs out to tell in ring ref El Vikingo about the use of the foreign object. Vikingo orders the match to be restarted. 

Jackson quickly goes on the attack and gets some nearfalls but is unable to put Medico away. We get yet another commercial break as Action starts working a nerve hole again. Back from commercial, both men are visibly tired and exchanging near fall attempts. Medico gets a two count of a reverse body press and Jacksn takes the opening to put on the cobra clutch. Medico tries to fight out of it and in the background you can hear the time calls as we are nearing the end of the match. Medico manages to keep his arm up on the third ref check and is able to break the cobra clutch by ramming Jackson’s head into the corner. Twenty seconds are left in the match as Medico #3 gets a sleeper hold on Jackson, and the time runs out before Jackson can submit. It’s a 30 minute time limit draw. Post match we get comments from Action Jackson and Super Medico #3 about tonight’s no time limit and no DQ rematch

MD: This one went really long, multiple commercial breaks. We don’t know what happened with Kim Duk as ref but obviously Medico retained the title. Vikingo is reffing this and Profe got to make fun of him at least. This was a play in four parts. Act 1 had Medico outwrestling Jackson who’d go to the outside and regroup with Profe. Profe, on commentary claimed that they were messing with Medico’s nerves. Act II had Jackson take over for a bit using an object but ultimately getting routed on the outside again and again (which would be Act III). He’d get tossed onto the baseball diamond and end up covered with mud and get upset and then doubly so as Profe wouldn’t help clean him off. Finally (Act IV), he got Medico with the object but a second ref restarted the match after the pin and they went into the finishing stretch. He got the Cobra on Medico, even through a great escape attempt where he bounded up the ropes in the corner and tried for a toss off, but couldn’t put him away with it and Medico had a sleeper on when the bell rang for a time limit draw.

This set up two stips at once, as they could justify it being both no DQ and no time limit. So that’s what they did with the promos. Jackson said he had beaten him already (though it was overturned) and Medico said that he too could cheat.

EB: We have two other segments in this episode of Campeones. One is Hugo Savinovich with the Medalla girls who are there promoting a test of strength machine that Medalla is using as a promotion in different establishments. We then get two card rundowns for tonight in Cagaus and tomorrow in Dorado (with Colon & Giant Warrior vs King Kong & Polynesian Prince; Invader #1 vs. Action Jackson; Ricky Santana vs Rod Price; Super Medico #3 vs Brad Anderson; Huracan Castillo vs Billy Joe Travis, and Little Louis vs Butch Cassady).

We also get a music video for the Polynesian Prince where we see highlights of him in action  against Kim Duk, Ricky Santana and Carlos Colon (including Prince rubbing Colon’s blood over his mouth) and of Prince biting into some raw poultry during an interview segment. Hugo and Profe close out the show by hyping up tonight’s card in Caguas. 

MD: I’m not even going to pretend we know who this guy is, but it felt like they already had a decent amount of footage on him, coming to the ring with his plant headdress, thrashing both names and enhancement guys with biting, clawing, his electric chair snake eyes, and the top rope headbutt, and even a shot of him tearing a chicken apart in a promo.

EB: We have one more TV episode that is from May 1991, it may be from May 18 or May 25. It is a west coast version of Super Estrellas episode that is devoted entirely to hyping up the west coast date of Aniversario 91 that is still about a month away, so all of the focus here is on talking about what has happened so far and what matches at this point are signed for Aniversario 91. Let’s see what is official so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nHCHby9AwQ

Hugo welcomes the west coast viewers to this episode of Super Estrellas by running down what’s scheduled for today's episode. Also, on Friday July 5 we have Aniversario 91 scheduled for Mayaguez. However, since the air conditioning in San German has been installed, they are changing the Aniersario July 5th location to San German (likely a make good for changing if for Mother’s Day weekend). Hugo mentions the officially signed matches and it seems the Universal title match is still officially Carlos Colon vs Ron Garvin, although Hugo makes note that both Colon and Dino Bravo are interested in facing off against each other if possible. Also officially signed so far are Giant Warrior vs Dick Murdoch, Bronco #1 looks to get revenge against Sakndr Akbar for the fireball in the face, and for the first time ever in Puerto Rico it will be man vs woman as Monster Ripper and El Profe face off. Hugo wonders who will have the advantage here, since the last time they tussled it was Profe who was sent flying from the ring. Stay tuned as more matches are signed in the coming weeks, there will be six more matches in addition to the already announced four. Hugo mentions the ticket prices for the event and then segues into talking again about Dino Bravo and Carlos Colon. Bravo is claiming that Carlos is ducking him while Carlos is saying that he is not afraid of Bravo, it’s just that Garvin has been designated as the number one contender for Aniversario. That said Colon, Bravo and Profe are all going through the channels to have the currently scheduled match changed. Final confirmation is still pending. Hugo mentions that the people at Capitol Sports are aware of the great support west coast fans have given them and that is why they have decided to hold the Aniversario date for them on a Friday so they can comfortably attend the event. Hugo provides an update of Bronco, who is still recovering in the Dominican Republic. With that, let’s go to our first match.

Gran Mendoza vs. Huracan Castillo Jr.

This match is an offshoot of the current Caribbean tag title feud between the Caribbean Express and Mendoza & Travis, as well as the Profe vs Ripper rivalry. Ripper has now become a  fan favorite and is seconding Castillo, while Profe is seconding Mendoza. Castillo and Mendoza have faced each other many times before and this one starts off with Mendoza getting the early advantage. However, Mendoza decides to slide out of the ring and confront Monster Ripper which allows Castillo to intercept Mendoza. Castillo controls most of the match, with the commentators mentioning that Profe seems to be more well behaved than usual, which they attribute to Profe being wary of Monster Ripper. Mendoza makes a second attempt to go after Ripper but is once again foiled by Castillo. Mendoza gains control after a hammerlock and the crowd chants for Castillo.  Mendoza sends Castillo to the outside where Profe makes a move to interfere but Ripper comes over to ward him off. Mendoza suplexes Castillo into the ring for a  two count. Castillo makes a comeback after Mendoza misses an elbow from the middle turnbuckle and Castillo dropkicks Mendoza out of the ring. Profe puts an object in Mendoza’s glove but the plan backfires when Ripper trips Mendoza up. Castillo gets the three count and the win. Profe starts complaining about what happens as Castillo and Ripper celebrate. 

After, we get an interview from Monster Ripper where she talks about the upcoming match against Profe at Aniversario. She says Profe can say whatever he wants, but she will beat him up at Aniversario since she blames Profe for her World title loss.

MD: Our first look in practice at babyface Monster Ripper. A program with Profe for Aniversario (as we hear in the promo after the match) feels like a workable idea. It’s something different at least. Here she’s seconding Castillo with Profe out there with Mendoza. It gave us some fun bits of Ripper doing chicken arms to taunt Mendoza. Mendoza had a clear size advantage and controlled in the middle but he missed an elbow drop and Castillo started to rout him. Finish had Profe load the glove but Ripper snatched Mendoza’s foot off the ropes, allowing Castillo to pin him.

EB: We get the Ron Garvin music video we saw a few weeks ago (he's still officially scheduled for the Universal title match). After we get some words from Joe Don Smith who is representing Dick Murdoch. Joe Don refuses to speak Spanish and says that they will find out who the real giant of WWC is when Dick Murdoch gets his hands on Giant Warrior. 

MD: Joe Don’s back (from Texas of course), and he claims that not only won’t he speak Spanish, but by now he’s actively forgotten it. He’s there to hype up Dick Murdoch returning to face Giant Warrior and he does a pretty good job of it overall.

Brad Anderson vs. Herbert Gonzalez

EB: World Junior champion Brad Anderson is taking on Herbert Gonzalez. Anderson makes easy work of Herbert as Hugo talks about all the people that Brad has learned from including the older Andersons and Ric Flair. Herbert gets a brief flurry of offense after Anderson misses a diving elbow, but runs into the spinebuster slam and Anderson gets the pin. 

MD: Sticking to my guns. Anderson is pretty good at these squashes, but you see the cracks occasionally, and they really showed up in the long match against Santana. Overall, this was good though. He preened a bit which let Gonzalez get in it but then he cut him off and hit a bunch of stuff including the gourdbuster and a nice neckbreaker where he stepped a couple of feet before dropping him. He hit one elbow drop off the second rope but missed the second, but then he caught Gonzalez on a leapfrog and drove him forward for his spinebuster slam. I can’t say it looked amazing though. Good idea at least. Profe was there to take off his shades at the start.

EB: Profe is with Dino Bravo and Bravo talks about how at Aniversario 91 he will be the new Universal champion. Colon has already felt Bravo's power once and he knows that Colon won’t be able to overcome it. This is followed by a Bravo squash match against Louis Spicolli courtesy of WWF Superstars.

MD: This wasn’t a bad squash, not really. Some of Bravo’s strikes feel sort of dubious but his pile driver was nice and the side slam always looks good. Plus he played to the crowd and to Jimmy Hart ok. I sort of wonder what Spicoli from a couple of years later would have been like in Puerto Rico. The promo was pretty tame, the usual stuff. “Colon, you’ve faced great wrestlers before but..” that kind of deal. But we’ll see what he can do in practice.

Kim Duk vs. Polynesian Prince

EB: Our next match is a recently arrived Polynesian Prince against Kim Duk. This will be our last look at Kim Duk and it has been quite the run for him since arriving in September 1990. Prince jumps Duk while the latter is doing the salt ceremony, and this match is basically to show how dangerous Prince is. Duk’s offense doesn't have much of an effect and Prince shows off his rough tactics and unorthodox style. Duk gets rammed into the ringposts and is busted open. Hugo mentions that he thinks the ref should call the match to protect Duk from injury, but the match continues on. Duk is rolled back and Prince continues on the attack, finishing Duk off with a flying headbutt from halfway across the ring. Prince attacks Duk a bit more after the bell before getting called off by Akbar. 

MD: Very weird match. Prince ambushed Duk during the salt ceremony but then he’d just eat a Duk superkick and not sell at all. Then he’d stop moving and crouch down for no reason so Duk could come back and hit a nice belly to back. Then he wouldn’t sell that either. Ultimately, he crushed Duk with a body slam and diving headbutt for the win but it was more weird than decisive, though it was fairly decisive too. Post match, he launched another headbutt or two.

EB: Carlos Colon joins us with some words about the scheduled Universal title match on July 5 vs Ron Garvin. Carlos says that he’s signed to face Garvin, but with the humiliation Bravo did to him with the full nelson attack he is doing what he can to have the match changed to Bravo. Carlos wants to get payback and beat some respect into Bravo. Carlos says that he is not afraid of anyone and that a match will happen if he has anything to do with it. Carlos does mention that he wants a decision made soon about the match, because he is training right now for Ron Garvin but if it is Bravo that requires a different style of training and focus. 

Action Jackson vs. Giant Warrior

Our next match is Giant Warrior vs Action Jackson, who had a brief feud of sorts before Jackson moved into chasing the Caribbean title. The announcers (Hugo and Eliud) spend most of the first minutes of the match just ragging on El Profe, just lambasting Profe for his actions and about how well they think he will fare against Monster Ripper. The match itself has both Jackson and Warrior being tentative to start. Jackson resorts to an eye rake and biting to gain control. As Jackson continues in control, Profe wanders over to the commentary desk and complains that Ripper had been in love with him and that is why she lashed out at him. He is a sensual beautiful man and she is ugly. Hugo calls out Profe as a liar with a capital L. Jackson has Warrior in a bearhug but Warrior breaks out of it. A slam and legdrop gets two for Warrior. Action rakes the eyes and goes back on offense but Warrior surprises Jackson with a small package that gets the three count. A win for Giant tWarrior. 

Hugo closes the show by reminding viewers about Aniversario 91 on July 5 in San German.

MD: I liked this a lot when Jackson was stooging about for Warrior. I didn’t buy it when he was in control. Warrior worked way too small then. Flimsy kicks when he was trying to fight back, being in a bearhug that just didn’t make sense, ducking low under things before hitting a comeback big boot. I’m just not sure that was the right dynamic here and there were other ways to have Jackson be on top. More biting and grinding and less of all of that. Warrior won it out of nowhere with a small package too. 

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the feud between Carlos Colon and Polynesian Prince escalates with a gimmick match, TNT makes his return, and more matches are signed for Aniversario 91 as a decision is made as to who will challenge for the Universal title.

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Ikeshita! Nancy!

Disc 1 

14. Nancy Kumi vs. Yumi Ikeshita (WWWA Singles Title Tournament 1st Round) - 11/5/80

K: The most striking thing here is that Yumi Ikeshita starts this match with some MMA style gloves and starts throwing punches. The announcer is calling “body blow, body blow!” as she corners Nancy Kumi and pummels her in the gut. Nancy reacts to it like something illegal is happening, turning to the referee as if to protest but the ref is allowing it. I’m not sure what they’re trying to convey to the audience here. The referee only objects when Ikeshita starts doing the face-scrunching.

Until now Ikeshita has came across to me as more of a badass than a villain. For some reason, after Nancy scores a takedown on her, she takes off her gloves, passes them to a second and squares up for some grappling. She gets the better of Kumi here, enough that when she takes down Kumi to the floor, Nancy reacts by scrambling for the ropes to force a break rather than trying to wrestle her way out of it. When Nancy gets the better of the 2nd exchange, trapping Ikeshita in a headscissors, Ikeshita then does one of the slickest kip-up out of the headscissors that I’ve ever seen. In kayfabe it also kinda makes it look like Ikeshita is the superior mat wrestler here that she didn’t need to go for the ropes.

An interesting little twist is that it’s actually Nancy who escalates things. After getting beaten on the mat for a while and bullied out of the ring, Nancy reacts by grabbing Ikeshita’s foot in a rage, pulling her out of the ring and throwing her into chairs. Ikeshita gets back in after a tense standoff but her rhythm has been broken and Nancy is able to take control for this segment and goes to work on Ikeshita’s leg.

We’re now 12 minutes in, so it takes a lot longer than usual for her to get tired of trying to win the match legitimately and start resorting to blatant cheating. This time she’s playing hide the wrench, before whacking Kumi in the head with it a few times. One time she’s trying to prevent Kumi from applying a Figure Four by wielding the wrench, but the ref snatches it off her and Nancy powers through and is still able to apply the submission despite taking those wrench shots. This time it’s Ikeshita who is forced to crawl to the ropes to force a break.

It’s around this point that I feel like they lose the thread a bit and just start randomly doing stuff including a walk and brawl on the outside before getting back in and going back to same grappling. It’s not bad but it does make me lose interest compared to the first 15 minutes or so. They get back on track when Ikeshita counters an Irish Whip by hitting a big back drop where they both land on the back of their heads and stay down on the mat as the referee counts, scenes reminiscent of the 1/4/80 Jackie Sato vs. Tomi Aoyama finish, but Ikeshita is up, and before Kumi can collect herself she gets hit with a nasty piledriver. 

Fast forward a bit, Nancy has Ikeshita in an abdominal stretch. Ikeshita makes it to the ropes, but Nancy pulls her off and hits her with a big back drop of her own onto the back of her head that again feels like a significant moment where she establishes a bit of dominance. The announcer is alerting us that the time limit is close to expiring so things get a bit more hectic. Nancy goes in for the win a bit too hastily so Ikeshita is able to hit her with a quick knee to the jaw from the floor, which was a nasty and believable way for her to get back into this. The time limit expiring just means a brawl on the outside with chairs being wielded. 

AJW has a way of resolving draws in matches like this where you really need a winner. They’ll do an ‘extra time’ period, usually 5 or 10 minutes, where either the match will be decided in the usual way, but if that time limit expires, a winner will be announced based on who had the best performance in that extra time. So that’s what we’re getting here. There’s a massive escalation in intensity here as Ikeshita immediately just tries to jump Kumi on the outside, but it backfires as in the chaos Nancy is suddenly swinging a chair around, gives Ikeshita a few shots to the head, jumps into the ring and before you know it Ikeshita has been counted out! Ikeshita screams on the mic that Kumi cheated, which is pretty funny coming from her.

I do think this is a good match but I’m not a fan either. This is a relatively well known one (well by early 1980s AJW standards anyway) and I know some people are a lot higher on it than I am. I think the biggest flaw in it is it just feels too pedestrian for most of the match, things never really get ‘exciting’ until the last minute. Dare I say it could have done with a couple more cool fighting sequences in the middle part of it? Also, I just don’t think Nancy Kumi is a very compelling or sympathetic babyface at all. 

***1/4

MD: And we’re on to the Singles Title Tournament. We actually have some announced brackets but I’m not sure I was able to catch all of them. But the winner here will face the winner of Lucy Kayama vs Monster Ripper. And then on the other side Irma Gonzales would face Rimi Yokota and Jackie would face someone (I think Masami but I’m not sure. The next match on the set is Masami vs Jackie, so maybe that’s it?). They said it had to do with the rankings. Regardless, this goes 45 and we have about 30 of it.

While we miss things, of course, to me, the story of the match was that no matter what Ikeshita tried, Kumi had her number. Ikeshita started wearing thin black gloves and boxing, so somewhere along the line, apparently she’d picked up that gimmick. After one too many takedowns from Kumi, she gave up on those and tried to work the mat. When Kumi got the better of her, she started to slam her head on mat instead, and when that failed to work, she got an object and started hiding it, including trying to stop a Figure-Four by jabbing Kumi in the head. The ref caught her and Kumi pressed up with the Figure-Four doing some damage to the leg. 

Where Ikeshita had the most advantage was with power moves, including a double underhook slam and a belly to back. But even then, Kumi jammed her and rolled to the outside (though that played into Ikeshita’s strengths). As things headed towards the stretch, they both threw bombs, missing off the top rope one after the other. Ikeshita was able to jam an irish whip into a belly to back but Kumi turned a rope break into a cobra twist and then Ikeshita caught her with a kick as she was going to pin her shortly thereafter. It was a fairly exciting bit of scrapping as the time ticked down to the bell. Once they hit a draw, however, it was decided they had to continue in overtime. Things completely broke down on the outside and in the chaos, Kumi rolled back into the ring to beat the count and win. Post match-Ikeshita destroyed the ref at least. This felt like a fairly impressive 45+ minutes but it’s hard to tell with the clipping. I did get an underlying story of Kumi having an answer for most things Ikeshita tried but that might have just been because bits of heel control were clipped out. 

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To Summon the Storm; To Live Your Truth; Stevens vs Connelly

Mad Dog Connelly vs Erick Stevens [Dog Collar Match] DPW 12/12/25

Erick Stevens didn't come back for fame, fortune, or glory. He didn't come back to get a cushy agent or coach job. He was out of the game, was living his life, was raising his family. He was done.

But life has a way of not being done with any of us. 

He saw Mad Dog Connelly out on the horizon, off in the distance, and unlike so many of the Mad Dog's opponents, unlike commentators and even fans, he knew Connelly for what he was. He was a test, a crucible, an obstacle sent down by the gods so that man could prove himself, so that he could be pushed to the limit, so that he could know the truth within his own heart. He was a white whale worthy of turning Stevens into a modern day Ahab, to send him back out to sea.

No matter what he said, no matter what he claimed, no matter what he convinced himself that he believed, Erick Stevens came back for one reason and one reason alone.

He came back to live his truth.

So he started the work. He trained. He prepared. He fought with friends at his side. He gauged himself in contention for a title, and finding himself wanting, he called back a friend to push him to be his very best.

He grew stronger, sharper, fiercer. Yet he wasn't ready. He wasn't close to being ready. 

But then life doesn't care if you're ready or not.

Deadlock was closing. There may not have been another opportunity. 

Sometimes you can't just live your truth. Sometimes you have to seize it.

He stole the chain. He stormed the ring. He disrupted the show before the main event. He laid this unholy, profane instrument of leather and steel on the mat before him. 

He made an offering.

The gods heard it.

Mad Dog Connelly was summoned to the ring, bringing with him the storm. 

Erick Stevens charged headlong into it.

He was not ready for this, but that did not mean he was not prepared. He took the fight to Connelly, brawling evenly with him, reversing a shot towards the post, tossing him into chairs, tossing a chair down upon him. 

It was not enough to just summon Connelly, however. He needed to chain him, so that he could chain himself to him, so that he could face the trial as the gods intended. Connelly was no mere beast. He had a mind of his own, a will of his own. He was a mountain to climb, but this mountain contained a canny sort of lava within. He resisted Stevens' efforts and bound Stevens instead with the chain while he remained untethered.

Chain in hand, he began to rain whipping blows upon Stevens, the storm bringing thunder and hail. In control of the moment, the aspirant stunned, cowed, battered, Connelly went under the ring, found another instrument of destruction, a screwdriver. Stevens was an open target, but an unyielding one. He kept coming back for more. 

So when Connelly opened him up with the screwdriver, things shifted. The chain had been the first offering, but this was no simple Mad Dog; this was Cerberus, hound of hell, and for him to affix the collar around his own neck, a second offering would be necessary, an offering of blood. 

With Stevens opened up and the collar around Connelly's neck, they were finally connected by the chain, and so connected, Stevens was able to pull himself back into the fight, using Connelly as a tether to drag himself closer to life, closer to truth. They crashed into one another, Stevens with a rolling forearm, Connelly with a low dropkick in the corner, Stevens with a powerslam, Connelly with a torpedoing headbutt, until finally Stevens wrapped the chain around his body, became one with it, and propelled himself into Connelly again and again. 

With a lariat, with a powerbomb, he finally took control, finally had the beast on his heels. Those blows would have felled almost any other man, but Connelly was no man. Stevens escalated matters, placing chairs in the center of the ring, meaning to utilize another powerbomb. Connelly thrashed and strained at the confines of the double underhook and back body dropped Stevens into them instead. 

Now Connelly looked to end it, locking in a half crab. Stevens began to crawl. Up until this point, he had been a man fighting, straining, pulling against nature, but now he had to become something more, a beast himself that could contest with the gods. He crawled to the corner, grabbed the abandoned screwdriver, and gauged at Connelly's knee. Thus freed, thus lost to the moment, living a truth beyond that of mere men, he jammed it between Connelly's toes, looking for a literal Achilles heel.

But Connelly was no hero, and that would not be enough. He went straight for the soft fleshy bits that all men have, tearing at Stevens' eye to escape. This was entering endgame. Seeing the red of his blood and Connelly's, Stevens charged in. Connelly lived his whole life in these moments, swam in this truth, and redirected Stevens over the top, into the hanging choke with which he'd slaughtered many a prey. 

Stevens hadn't been ready yet. The time hadn't been right. It was too soon. Connelly was too much. 

That's the thing, though. We're never ready. We're never truly prepared for what life throws at us. You can read every book. You can train every day. You can prepare for every eventuality. Life will still find a way to screw it all up and leave you gasping for air. 

It's in that space of risk and uncertainty that we truly feel alive and it's what we do in that moment that defines us. 

And what Stevens did here? He persevered. He stared truth in the eye and he did not blink. He managed to crawl back over the top. He survived the subsequent lariat from a Connelly that had been laying in wait. And when the hangman's choke followed, he pressed off against the top turnbuckle to land on his feet. 

He had tried to fight fire with fire, to embrace the monster he had become to defeat a monster, but when trying for his own hangman's choke, he got caught up in the chain. The spark of the man that still remained burst aflame. He shifted direction slamming a forearm into the back of the Connelly's head.

Then, with a moment so purchased, he took off the collar, becoming a man once again. In possession of his facilities once more, having passed through the crucible and seized control of his own fate, Stevens set up one last chair and dropped Connelly upon it, slaying the white whale and earning a three count that felt impossible both a few minutes and a few months before.

It's easy to mistake Mad Dog Connelly as some mere monster, but he's not. He's not the Minotaur, but the labyrinth itself. By traversing this ordeal, Stevens found not a mere earthly treasure, no golden fleece, but instead something that we all search for inside ourselves and that so few of us ever find. 

He found his truth, and he'll live every day of the rest of his life feeling the phantoms aches and lingering exultation of that discovery. 

The question now is this: now on the other side of this odyssey, what will Stevens do next?

And as for Mad Dog Connelly? He'll rise up again, fury and anguish in those crystal clear eyes, for the gods created him with Purpose and weary as he may be, it is not yet his time to rest.

Not while others still have their own truths to live. 

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