Espectáculos Promociones Panama: The Ballad of Bunny Black, Part 2

El Barón Vs Bunny Black (mascara contra mascara) 5/30/87

MD: The first three minutes of this has Bunny Black slamming Baron twice onto the floor, followed by a senton to the apron, mask ripping, forehead bitting, a posting, more forehead biting, more mask ripping, blood, and a running kick the skull, all punctuated with a swinging chairshot and Bunny Black tossing chairs at Baron. It's exactly how you'd want a mask match to start, violent and bloody. Here and between falls. The rest of the primera was Bunny leaning into the blood and the beating before getting the submission on a nice cradle double-underhook submission he walked around the ring with.

Bunny had a way of presenting Baron's bloodied skull to the crowd that really got under their skin. That's maybe what he did best, milk moments like that, whether it was him driving the action or his spasming sells and desperate begging with his hands behind his back after Baron reversed a whip and mounted his big comeback in the segunda. The fans flocked in as Baron started on the mask and began to bloody Bunny up around the ringside area in revenge. He even had a similar lifting submission to end the fall, his being a full nelson instead of a butterfly stretch.

The tercera was back with the sort of drama and pressure you'd want from a match with these stakes. They had a lot of stuff (Bunny with a double underhook slam, both guys with plenty of submissions, etc.) with the pace measured and the toll grueling. By this point, both masks were ripped, with whatever remained entirely stained by blood. They cycled, starting with submissions, building to dives, ending with nearfalls. Baron hit a giant dive through the ropes only for Bunny to recover and flip off the apron. That readied things for the finish, as they cycled through roll ups and Bunny got more and more frustrated when he wasn't satisfied with the ref's count after his slams. That led to a Baron pin, a ref fast count, and an absolutely elated crowd. The rudos had won handedly last match and that makes me wonder if every rudo win we see isn't followed up by some super heated mask match we just haven't gotten yet.

GB: I seem to have jinxed things with my post last week where I lamented the lack of historical information surrounding Panama. As, unlike other countries, Panama at least had a notable source for footage, a source that was uploading new matches weekly like clockwork. However, it seems what Matt and I had passed off as nothing more than just a blip, might be something more serious as we haven’t had a new video in nearly a month now. CollectorPTY, the uploader behind these videos, noted that their health was suffering as of late so here’s hoping they are taking this time to rest and recuperate before returning to their regular posting schedule. While I do have some videos to offer, and a notable fancam we’ll get to soon, this will be a rather large blow to our project as it keeps our coverage rather finite. Of course, though, as they say, the show must go on and *boy* does Bunny Black have a show for you.

We’re a half month after our last match and well into the first calendar year of Don Jose “Chacho” Medina’s run as booker/promoter of Espectáculos Promociones Panama. Normally, you’d not make a claim otherwise if Negro Casas is a regular guest at your dinner table, and maybe it’s perhaps presumptuous to think this, but there’s this strong vibe from the booking that Don Medina might have had the most talented mind for wrestling in his family. Casas might be altogether wily yet it’s a skill we can watch him pick up, mold and master as his career unfolds. As for Casas’ father-in-law, there’s a savantlike approach to Medina’s booking philosophy in that there are so many layers to his feuds within mere months of him approaching wrestling.

What I do know, Don Medina started his journey into fame as the baritone saxophonist (and indirect nomenclator) of Bush y sus Magnificos in 1968 after/while being a prominent member of La Gran Orquesta de Panamá. What I believe to know, is that one of the other members, more specifically the congos, was none other than Shazán. A rather small world in a rather small country. What I assume, it would be Shazán that hooked Medina on the idea of professional wrestling as the second greatest love of his life. Well, third after his daughter Dalys la Caribeña but you get the idea.

As for my claim of his skills, Don Medina booked a promotion that seemed to take the idea of Panama’s singularity and turn it on its head. Foreigners in Panama were nothing new but it was usually seen as a special attraction for special wrestlers. On the day of Black/Barón’s apuesta, Medina had five. Medina not only saw to book foreigners up and down the card but also shuffled his wrestlers in the same way, too, week-to-week to provide freshness in their presentations. Everyone was linked in one way or the other. No feuds happened in vacuums and wrestlers would look out for each other, no matter their hierarchy - a rather alien concept to many promotions to this day where babyfaces only really care for the actions of the heels when it directly affects them.

Let’s recap the timeline a little, just in terms of foreign talent, we have: Bunny Black bloodying El Barón in the midcard. Silver King leaning into challenging Sergio Galvez for the hair/mask to put over their biggest heel. Kendo bloodfeuding with Tahur over the latter’s belt in the upper. All three programmes were running concurrently at this time with two, Bunny/Barón and Kendo/Tahur culminating on the 30th of May, 1987. Los Brazos giving prestige to trios wrestling in August. We have Casas/Celestial in December (rerunning their title match from 1986) and then La Parka (Principe Island 1) fighting in the main event opposite Sandokan about a half year later. There’s obvious gaps we’re missing, and this is only taking into account foreign talent, but that’s a lot of prominence that Medina is working on in such a short amount of time. It was as hot as a promotion could presumably get in late 80s Panama.

Taking the Black/Barón feud as an example (caveat: it’s really the only fleshed out example we have), the match we covered last week was run in Nuevo Panama and then rerun in Orlando Winter Claro and el Neco de la Guardia the following Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and another two times with dates unknown. While the focal points of the five cards all remained connected, they would be re-paired at different places along the card. For instance, on the Saturday show, the visiting Dominicans, el Cirujanos de la Muerte, got bumped from second-billing to the main event alongside Galvez to help rough up Silver King while Kendo/Tahur took a backseat, allowing the different feuds more opportunity and spotlight to grow (considering the differing match lengths offered to each placement).

As for our man of mystery, this would be Barón’s first taste of blood, quite literally. He had never encountered someone run so roughshod over him quite like Bunny. His bravado and eagerness would have him quickly offer his mask to avenge the humiliation he suffered from Bunny leaving him battered and bruised in front of his local fans. But this was his first mask match. He was someone famous for his flying and one whose skills lay more on the mat than in the hand. Noting this, Silver King and Kendo would be booked into helping him. Nothing comical. Nothing overbearing. Just the thought that, as Silver King put it to interviewer Rafael Ventura, “Los técnicos son los que deben de ganar” (the tecnicos are the ones who should win”). King was appalled at how his fellow Mexican Bunny Black treated Barón - it wasn’t the gracious hand that King had hoped both of them would offer Panama in their debuts that week - and he wanted to correct that wrong. Bunny Black would pop his mouth off a few more times as the proceedings wore on but their contract signing on Tuesday, May 26, 1987, went without confrontation. Perhaps that comes with having beat Barón in each of their 5 tag encounters. Either way, signed in front of Eric Arce, the president for the Professional Wrestling Commission of Panama, the apuesta was on.

Honestly, I’m a little sad we don’t have more of this feud. Bunny Black is absolutely perfect in his role. He talks shit and he backs it up. I joked with Matt when this match dropped that Bunny Black (Salsero) of all people is going to be the one from Panama in Phil’s book. And here we are. The little engine that could. Stupendous match.