Segunda Caida: Espectáculos Promociones Panama: The Legend of Sandokan: At War With Anibal

MD: We are back. Graham had a big life event and I went on vacation and I can't promise that we're going to be stable and weekly moving forward but I can reassure people that we're in for the long haul. This stuff is worth it. In the midst of all the chaos of the last few weeks, Graham's prepared a bit of a bio on Sandokan, focused on his feud with Anibal especially. I'm constantly amazed by the research he's done and the knowledge he's pulled out. This is naïve and ignorant of me, of course, but it's just astounding how little our English-speaking circles knew about Panamanian Lucha. This is such a vibrant, rich world, full of exciting matches that we are lucky still somehow exist and stories of legendary, culturally relevant matches that we'll unfortunately never get. We're going to spend the next few weeks with Idolo (An iconic turn! A chain match! A mask match!), and I think it's only fitting that we give Sandokan some time first. The easy comparison so far has been a Carlos Colon type figure, unmasked (by the time we get footage of him), a statesman, somehow who can represent the sport, who can go, who can wrestle and brawl and carry the crowd with him.

GB: While Roberto Duran might be the worldwide recognised star, in Panama, his legendary status would always be usurped by one man that he would (literally!) play seconds for, Sandokan.

Coming from humble beginnings, the little boy from El Chorrillo, a corregimiento in Panama City, sought to live out his dreams of emulating his idol El Santo by joining the local wrestling gym on Calle 14 de Barraza. A mere few weeks later, on May 21, 1966, he was presented with a list of names and a chance to debut. “Sandokan” he pointed to after being erroneously told the name represented a Hindu King that fought for his people. With $2.50 slipped into the palm of a promoter, he had a mask shipped to him from Mexico and he never looked back. So began the career of Panama’s biggest star.

Rene Guajardo battles El Idolo in front of 23000+ rabid fans.

Until the recent semi-remodeling of Estadio Revolución in 2009, no sporting event was able to hold close to the attendance lucha libre was putting on in the “golden era” of the early 1970s. So popular, in fact, that government regulations came swiftly in controlling just how many fans promoters could pack into the arenas. This means that while the record books have the highest attendance as Guajardo/Idolo (23,868), it’s not quite the apples to apples comparison many make it out to be in saying this gate proves Idolo as the bigger star than Sandokan. Attendance for wrestling would always be a sellout crowd but the number of fans getting through the gate would continue to dwindle over the years with official capacity of Gimnasio Nuevo Panama (GNP) dropping to 15,000 following the Guajardo/Idolo record-smasher in August 1973 and a further drop to 14,000 weeks later (again, after a raucous crowd enjoying a card with the likes of Idolo, Anibal, Ray Mendoza, Blue Demon and Huracán Ramírez). It all appeared that one last big gate was never to be seen again.

Thus, Sandokan/Anibal packing GNP to the literal rafters three years after all these restrictions is most impressive, considering fans were pushing through the gates and hanging on, peeping through the doorways of the stadium to get a glimpse of the fight. Estimates put the total attendance just shy of the 20,000 mark. If true, it would be the third highest gate in Panamanian history, behind only Idolo/Guajardo and a basketball match from 1970. While I’m quick to sing the praises of Don Medine, Samy de la Guardia is the single man responsible for two of those gates.

Many fans walked into the stadium that night with a smirk. Idolo bested Guajardo, now it was Sandokan’s turn to send another “Aztec” packing. Despite a seemingly relatively short build to the mask match, Sandokan was deftly familiar with Anibal’s gameplan by now, having teamed in 1975 against a who’s who of Panamanian and Mexican stars.

However, Sandokan, having dominated the match, found himself facing a shocking defeat. Harnessing a surge of momentum,and probable hubris, in the final caida, he hurled himself towards his opponent in a suicide dive. However, Anibal, with his agile reflexes, evaded the attack, leaving Sandokan to collide harshly with his shoulder on the unforgiving edge of the ring. This brutal impact barred Sandokan from re-entering the ring within the vital 20-second window.

The gymnasium descended into an eerie silence, a wave of disbelief sweeping over the crowd as they witnessed their champion's unexpected downfall. The glory of the night was begrudgingly conceded to Anibal, hailed as one of the greatest wrestlers in the annals of Mexican wrestling. On that fateful night, the crowd watched as Sandokan, their fallen hero, solemnly removed his mask for the first and only time in his illustrious career, surrendering it to Anibal - The Blue Arrow.

As the fans left the building dejected at the loss of their hero, many wrestlers rushed to Sandokan backstage to belittle him for his choice. Many of his closest colleagues would go on to say his career was over. The money may have been good but this defeat would prove the “sunset of his stardom” as Samy recalled overhearing in the locker room.

Yet, one voice would prove prophetic. Bienvenido Cueto, the main referee to the mask match, was the lone man saying Sandokan was on his way to superstardom. He was right. His injury made him a national hero. A hero that valiantly fought for Panamanian pride and succumbed not due to lack of skill but due to something outside his control.

Hot off the loss, Anibal/Sandokan would be the tinder that started the blaze that became the Torneo Internacional de Parejas. Teaming with El Idolo, the tournament cemented itself on the histories of Panama vs Mexico, with Anibal having unmasked Sandokan and Septiembre Negro shaving El Idolo bald (not that you’d know as he never dropped his mask!). With huge match-ups against Wagner/Negro, Ultraman/Anibal and Lagarde/Guajardo (the latter Sandokan had real-life beef with), the tournament was a huge success for Empresa Coliseo and further cemented Idolo and Sandokan as sporting a-listers.

In singles competition, red would face blue a further three times in June 1977, 1981 (for Sandokan’s world title) and finally in January 1993 when Anibal made his last trip to Panama during the twilight years of his own career. Struck by cancer, and riddled by financial woes, Anibal took one last pay-off to settle the books with Sandokan in a match billed “the final battle”.

Word of Anibal’s mask loss to Máscara Año 2000 13 months prior already had fans uneasy with the stipulation. For many, it was seen as lip service and a quick check for those involved, especially Anibal who had “prostituted” himself (to quote one fan). However, no anger prior would match those of the fans once the final whistle blew. Sandokan’s arm was raised in victory but fans were livid. He won via countout, the same way he had lost 17 years earlier. With kayfabe still very much en vogue, fans smelt a rat. To make matters worse, there appeared to be a miscommunication between Anibal and the referee, leading to the referee having to jump a few seconds to call the countout.

Blood pouring from his face, Sandokan had to be quickly escorted from the arena as a riot unfolded. Fans trashed the stadium before moving onto nearby government buildings. Nothing was safe from their wrath as the national guard had to be called to quell the mob. While harsh in tone, the Sandokan/Anibal feud would forever be mired by chants of “fraude” whenever you ask them about it.

Nearing fifty, Sandokan’s career was far from its nascent but he still continued to fanfare until his retirement, holding a few more world titles and taking the hairs of Tahur, Gálvez and (apparently) Mexico’s heartthrob Vampiro.

There’s a pretty comprehensive list of his apuesta record on his Luchawiki page, however, there are some notable errors and exclusions. Error: Sandokan took Septiembre Negro’s mask in 1989 not 1985. In terms of exclusions, most importantly, Sandokan took the masks of Guatemalan legend Rayo Chapin, Fishman (dates unknown) and Villano III (circa 1975/1976).