El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Of Heart Punches, Taped Fists and (Sometimes) Masked Men

Week 4: Of Heart Punches, Taped Fists and (Sometimes) Masked Men

EB: On May 20, Sadistic Steve Strong became the new Universal champion, defeating Carlos Colon in a Death match. In the process, Colon’s shoulder was badly injured after the repeated targeting by Steve Strong throughout their feud finally resulted in the shoulder giving way. Although Carlos tried to gut it out, there was no way for him to be able to stand up to Strong in that condition. Thus, Strong and by extension Chicky Starr were in control of the top prize in Puerto Rican wrestling. As we saw during the death match, two members of El Ejercito de la Justicia came out to try to help Carlos with his injury during the match, Invader and TNT. With Carlos on the shelf, someone had to step up and take on Steve Strong. And the first challenger was Invader, Chicky Starr’s hated enemy.  

The feud between Invader and Chicky Starr had been raging since Chicky turned on Invader in a teacher vs student match at the end of December of 85, creating the biggest rudo in Puerto Rico and starting a feud that had raged between the two of them since then. When Invader stated that he wanted to return to wrestling after the murder trial had concluded in February, the wheels for his return would start via Chicky running him down on tv. This would eventually lead to a Sports Shop segment that signaled that Invader had returned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXG-NyPDF38

We go to the start of the March 4 episode of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre, where Hugo welcomes the viewers and hypes up the big card happening tonight at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. He also mentions what we’ll be seeing during the show (including the awaited special video of Invader training for his return and a Sports Shop segment with new arrival Sadistic Steve Strong as guest). Tonight is the night Puerto Rico has been waiting for, the return of The Invader. As part of the hype, Hugo presents a recap of what has occurred between Chicky and Invader recently.

On February 25th, an interview with Chicky occurred where Chicky went hard on running down Invader. If you hear the bleeps, it’s because Chicky went there (the words bleeped out are murderer, criminal and pile of sh#t).  Later on the same episode, a Sports Shop segment aired where Chicky was with El Profe. Chicky stated that again Invader had not answered his invitation to appear as his guest on his Sports Shop segment (including not answering a certified letter inviting him on the show which received no response). Chciky sends Profe to check just in case that stupid Invader was out there somewhere in the studio. After Profe leaves, Chicky again starts talking about that idiot Invader when we hear some noises come from somewhere off camera. The video jumps to Chicky saying that Invader lost his chance to appear back on tv when El Profe comes back. Chicky asks him if that idiot had arrived but Profe shakes his head no. All of a sudden, someone runs into the studio in their underwear screaming and covering his face. It’s El Profe! As Chicky stands up and turns around, he sees an unmasked Invader dressed up as El Profe. Chicky demands to know what the heck he is doing here, but Invader just smacks Chicky hard across the face (sending Chicky tumbling over his chair) and leaves. We then cut to an interview with Invader where he’s mentioning that he’s not going to take any of Chicky’s insults, when all of a sudden Chicky appears and throws black ink onto Invader (and getting some on Hugo as well). This sets up Invader’s return match vs. Chicky. Later on in the show, they also aired the training video for Invader. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT-Bdsii3TY

MD: Chicky really lays it in to Invader here, not shying from the fact he isn't there and from all of the issues at play, and that's such an interesting choice. There's no way to make a side seem less credible than to have a guy like Chicky go all in on it. Then, to have Invader respond by stealing Profe's gear is such a clever, over the top moment. They follow that with the music video that leans so incredibly hard on sentiment. It's Invader working out, Invader training with other wrestlers in the ring, and Invader with his family on a beach. Unsurprisingly, it feels like something right out of Memphis. When you look at the total package, they were really stacking the deck to make this work as well as possible.

EB: On the same night that Steve Strong would make his house show debut, Invader would make his in-ring return and face Chicky Starr (they would also wrestle the following week). While we do not have these matches vs. Chicky, we do have a joined-in-progress tv match vs. Sasaki San (Kensuke Sasaki, who was one half of the Ninja Express at the time with Mr. Pogo) which takes place during the first month of Invader’s return.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-em9KAp2LbU

It’s a short clip but there’s a few things I want you to take note of. First, you can tell the crowd is behind Invader here.   You can see him do a two-hop celebration after the win, you’ll usually see Invader do the two hops as sort of a signature playing to the crowd, firing up or celebration move. And, while it’s not clearly visible since the ref El Vikingo was moving across the shot, Invader wins the match with the heart punch. This is Invader’s signature finishing move and it is one with quite a bit of backstory to it that will keep coming up and being referenced as we go along our journey. So, let’s explain the story surrounding Invader’s heart punch.  

Invader first appeared in CSP around August of 1977, a masked man hailing from parts unknown who had a taped right fist and used the heart punch as his finisher. He was a heel. Speculation ensued about the mystery behind that taped fist of his, on whether it was loaded and if it was illegal, but it was clear that it was effective.  But before the year was out, Invader would end up turning and switching sides, joining the tecnicos where he would remain as a fan favorite for the next decade. Although he had turned, Invader still had his taped fist. But things would change after June 30, 1978.

Invader was teaming with Carlos Colon in a tag team match facing the Martel Brothers, composed of Pierre (who you may know as Frenchy Martin) and Michel (the real life older brother of Rick Martel).  The Martels were among the top heels for CSP throughout the mid and late 70s and this match was the main event of a card held on June 30 of 78 in Ponce.  This match was a continuation of a rivalry that had started a few months earlier between Invader and Pierre over the Caribbean title and had continued from there. The Martels won the tag match but afterwards in the locker room Michel complained to Pierre about not feeling well.  While making the trip back to San Juan, Michel suffered a heart attack and, although rushed to a hospital in Ponce for assistance, unfortunately passed away.  A young Rick Martel had to come to Puerto Rico to identify and take his brother’s body back to Canada. And in a world where kayfabe is king, a storyline emerged from this real-life tragedy (with the Martel family’s permission and approval) that would kick off one of the biggest feuds of the next two years in CSP.

On TV, Pierre Martel would accuse Invader’s taped fist heart punch of being responsible for causing Michel’s heart attack and death. With uncertainty surrounding if Invader’s punch had indeed caused Michel’s death, the commission banned the taped fist heart punch. The feud between Invader and the Martel family would continue on and off for the next two years, with Invader 2 (Roberto Soto) debuting as Invader’s tag partner and helping out against the Martels (which included Pierre, Rick, Daniel and Jean). The feud would end in a last battle cage match in which Pierre had his loaded boot and Invader had his taped fist. Shortly after, Pierre would turn face and acknowledge that Invader was not responsible for Michel’s death. But the seeds of doubt would still linger in kayfabe.

The heart punch was further solidified as a dangerous move in 1983 when Ox Baker ended up putting Invader in the hospital for several weeks with Ox’s version of the heart punch, setting off a heart punch vs heart punch feud which was eventually settled at the Aniversario 83 show. As part of the story, mention was made of Ox Baker causing the death of two wrestlers with the heart punch (Roy Gunkel and Alberto Torres), while Invader’s heart punch history was also referenced. As you can see, the heart punch has quite the loaded backstory here in Puerto Rico.

Since then, the heart punch has been treated as a serious move in Puerto Rico, and a dangerous one if delivered via a taped fist. Eventually, after the initial banning of the move,  Invader would start using the heart punch again but without his fist taped up. However, on occasions, whenever a feud or rivalry has heated up, a stipulation would be added to matches where Invader would be allowed to use his taped fist. And that taped fist was always treated as a dangerous weapon.

With that explanation of the history of the heart punch and taped fist, let’s go back to 1989. After Invader’s return he would eventually spend the month of April and May in a feud with Abudda Dein over the Puerto Rico title. The feud would reach its peak on Mother’s Day (the same card as the chain match between Carlos Colon and Steve Strong), where Invader defeated Dein for the Puerto Rico title. Here is a match from earlier in their feud, taking place on April 8 with Rufus R Jones serving a special ref.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJFzPa0_PTU

MD: Kensuke Sasaki on excursion was a nice little surprise even if he's working to the stereotypes and isn't as dynamic, as, let's say Muta in PR a couple of years before or as acclimated to the style as Pogo and Nagasaki were. I'm in full agreement with Esteban that the most important thing to note here (as we don't get the best look at the heart punch), is probably how into the match the crowd was in general and how thoroughly they were behind Invader upon his return. It's the same with the Dein match. They really got their mileage out of Rufus in this run. I hadn't realized that Dein was Rocky Iaukea. Rufus obviously plays into the finish. If the fans hadn't remember just who and what Invader was in the ring, this reminded them; he was so good at working from underneath, especially when bloody, and then picking that perfect moment to start with the big punching comeback. 

As someone who had gone through most of the 80s DVDVR set and his share of Invader matches, I do think of him as a striker but I'm not sure I ever really placed the heart punch as so integral to his act. In a territory where there were often bombastic, chickenshit heels (Embry, Rogers, Chicky, Profe, etc.), having a babyface with the heart punch gives his opponent a lot to work with and to be wary of. I fooled myself for a while in thinking Stan Stasiak was actually amazing (he wasn't) just because I love watching him as a babyface menace Buddy Rose in Portland with the move. 

EB: But while feuding with Dein, Invader had also teamed up with Carlos Colon as his tag partner in Colon’s tag confrontations with Steve Strong and partner (be it Chicky, Dein or Abdullah). So, Invader was already familiar with Strong from having faced him in the ring and seeing the havoc and injury he had caused to his fellow tecnicos. And Chicky had not forgotten about his hated enemy either. We go to a Sports Shop segment airing May 27, the week after Steve Strong won the Universal title and put Carlos Colon out with an injured shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1TYm4Y1Qg

Chicky opens by introducing his guest Steve Strong, the new Universal champ and the person who has made Chicky the happiest he has ever been in his entire professional wrestling career. He’s reached the climax of his profession, because they have finished off Carlos Colon, Chicky’s number one enemy. His joy is so great he wants to share it, but not with Carlos Colon or the fans, but with Steve Strong who has made all this possible (‘the man that finished you, the man who defeated you Carlos Colon’). Chicky asks the director to play the video of what happened last week in Caguas when Steve Strong defeated Colon. As footage of the match plays (specifically the shoulder ramming part), Chicky talks about how Strong dismantled Colon’s shoulder under his direction and now Colon is done. Steve Strong is the new Universal champ, the new king of wrestling and Colon has passed into history. Chicky then turns it over to Strong so he can talk about how he feels and what is next. After Strong finishes talking, Chicky agrees with Strong and says that Strong destroyed, squashed, and humiliated Carlos Colon, as the fans cried at his defeat Strong’s heart was overflowing with joy and glee. As just as you have passed into history Colon, now you’re passing days in the hospital. And up next for Strong is ending Invader #1. Chicky asks the director to play more footage of what happened last week so they can keep enjoying the moment. Chicky continues to gloat about achieving his dream and Colon’s career being over. Chicky then asks Strong to talk about what he has planned for Invader. Chicky closes out by saying that Invader #1, you’re next on the list and what will happen to you will be worse than what happened to Colon. And to the rest of El Ejercito de la Justicia, do not get involved with this man (Strong).

As part of Steve Strong’s celebration of winning the Universal title, he issued an open challenge to face anyone which resulted in a two vs one handicap match against Gino Rodriguez and Maelo Huertas. We’ve seen Gino Rodriguez before being a victim of Steve Strong in his debut TV match. Maelo Huertas had also previously faced Steve Strong on TV, meeting a similar fate as Rodriguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHHjfT4mM8

Maelo has been wrestling for the past couple of years as a young up and comer in a JTTS / lower card spot. He also happens to be Invader #1’s younger brother. We go to the handicap match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8xMIHv3B0

Even two on one Gino and Maelo have a tough time dealing with Steve Strong, who easily handles them in the opening moments of the match. Not even a minute in, Strong grabs Gino and tosses him over the top rope in front of the referee, which causes a DQ to be called. With Rodriguez out of the picture, Strong proceeded to attack and bloody Maelo Huertas. On commentary, Hugo talks about how Strong just wants to hurt people and sow terror in the World Wrestling Council (in case I forgot to mention this before, CSP is the promotion, WWC is the sanctioning body of which CSP is part of). Strong continues his assault on Maelo as Chicky cheers on. Strong pushes the ref away when he tries to call him off and the attack continues. We then see Invader heading towards the ring, but he’s shown to be taping his fist up as he makes his way to the ring to help his brother. Strong cuts Invader off and slingshots him into the ring.  Invader is sent into the ropes but ducks a clothesline, blocks a kick on the rebound and uses the opening to square up and land the heart punch on Strong. A taped fist heart punch. Strong tries to stay standing, but after trying to withstand the effects of the blow, he eventually collapses down on the mat. As Strong convulses slightly from the effects from the blow, Invader just stares at the downed Strong before grabbing his brother and helping him away from the ring. A concerned Chicky gets into the ring to check on Strong and calls for help, which arrives in the form of the Batten Twins, Rip Rogers and Johnathan Holliday.

If you know the context behind the taped fist heart punch, you can see that Invader was not messing around. He had seen first-hand what Steve Strong was capable of doing, due to being in the ring against him and also seeing what Strong had done to Carlos Colon. His brother was in serious trouble and he was going in ready to do what it took to deal with Strong.  And in the process, it looks like Invader has shown that he has an equalizer to go up against Strong, something that can give him a chance to take the Sadistic one down.

The video then cuts to Chicky starting a promo about what had happened but he doesn’t get too many words in (‘Invader, what you did has no name, but let’s see what you’re able to do when…’) before an enraged Strong comes into the locker room, screams ‘Get out!’ and shoves Chicky out of the way. As Strong cuts his promo talking about how no one has ever put him down and that he was going to make Invader pay (which includes showing off the weapon to counter the heart punch that he had been gifted by Luc). While Strong rants, the camera slowly pans to reveal Chicky laid out on the floor of the locker room, having been sent tumbling over a bench by Strong’s push. Strong promises that the first meeting with Invader will be the last, Invader’s time is numbered. This match would happen on May 27 in Caguas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we0Jh18AfSY

We go to a clip from the June 3rd Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre episode, where Hugo shows what happened in the closing moments of the Invader vs Strong Universal title match the previous week. We cut to Invader standing on the turnbuckle punching a bloody Steve Strong.  Invader tries to Irish whip Strong across the ring, but Strong counters and sends Invader into the corner. Invader manages to jump on the middle turnbuckle, immediately jumps to the top and comes off with a crossbody. Strong manages to duck however, and Invader ends up cross bodying the ref El Vikingo by mistake. As Invader is gathering himself on the mat, Strong goes on the offensive with some kicks to the head. He grabs Invader and whips him into the ropes, but Invader manages to leapfrog over Strong. As Strong turns around, Invader gathers himself and hits a heart punch on Strong, which stuns him but does not knock him down. Invader, seeing Strong stumbling a bit but not going down, comes off the ropes with a second heart punch. This time Strong falls as the crowd cheers on. Invader covers Strong but El Vikingo is still out. After a while, a second ref (Ricky Vargas) comes running out to make the count, but Strong by this point has come to and manages to kick out at the count of two. However, Strong is still feeling the effects of two heart punches and rolls out of the ring. Invader jumps off the ring apron with an ax handle smash to Strong’s back and attacks Strong on the outside. Strong is trying to get away but Invader does not let up. Strong is visibly still feeling the effects of the heart punches. As Invader and Strong continue fighting outside of the ring, Chicky comes out and motions for Strong to get into the locker room. The bell rings, signaling the match is over and is a double countout. Strong manages to get away and down the stairs, still reeling from the heart punches. After this first encounter, the heart punch has shown itself to be a potent weapon against Strong, but even so Strong took two heart punches and was still able to kick out (after a delay in the count, but still impressive) and even walk out under his own power.

After the match clip, we go to Steve Strong talking about tonight’s rematch in Carolina. Due to what happened with the referee the previous week, Rufus R Jones has been named as special ref for the rematch (as we saw earlier in the Dein match, Rufus has been serving as a special ref depending on the circumstances). Strong talks about how Invader has messed up his gods’ plans and talks about how devastating the heart punch is. But once again, Strong makes mention that he has been given a weapon to counter the heart punch. Even with Rufus R Jones being the special ref and the crowd being behind Invader, none of it will save Invader.

We then go to Invader, who talks about what happened the previous week about how he missed out on becoming the Universal champ because the ref was out when put Strong down with the heart punch. He notes that tonight Rufus is the ref, and it’s not because needs any help, because he does not want or need help to become the Universal champ, he wants to feel proud of becoming Universal champion because he did it by himself. Rufus is the referee because of what happened with the ref last week. Invader says he has shown to everyone in Puerto Rico that he can put Strong down with the heart punch and he will do so again tonight in Carolina. He will do whatever it takes to become the Universal champion and he doesn’t care how powerful Strong is, he will defeat him once and for all tonight. Both Hugo and Invader make a quick mention in their comments about Strong having injured Carlos Colon, making sure that stays present in the fans’ minds.

After the June 3 match, Strong and Invader squared off in a lumberjack match on June 10 (I’m guessing the match on June 3 also likely ended in a double countout if they had a lumberjack stipulation). But once again, the finish of the lumberjack match led to another rematch the following week for Father’s Day weekend. And this time, a stipulation was added, Invader would be allowed to have his fist taped. We go to the June 18 match, joined in progress.

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

Invader has his fist taped and has the advantage on Strong, who is once again bleeding. Invader hits some chops and blows in the corner with the taped fist, but we see a repeat of their first match where Strong reverses an Irish whip and Invader counters with a cross body of the top. And once again, Strong ducks and the ref is taken out. Invader is stunned by the collision and Strong takes advantage to hit a piledriver on Invader. Strong goes for a cover as the ref has come to and crawls over to make the count. However, they are too close to the ropes and Invader manages to break the count at two by getting his foot on the rope. Strong just stares at Invader’s leg and shoves the ref out of frustration. Strong slams Invader and proceeds to go to the middle rope where he sets up his loaded elbow pad in order to do his elbow drop. Strong jumps off with the elbow but Invader manages to roll away in time. Both men slowly get to their feet but Strong goes on offense first with a clothesline. Strong then sends Invader into the ropes and hits a flying tackle. He then does his hand signals and starts loading up the power of Damien into his elbow. Strong sends Invader into the ropes ready to deliver the blow, but Invader ducks and they hit heads on the rebound. Both men are down, but Invader starts pumping himself up and manages to get a clothesline on Strong. Invader starts a flurry of blows onto Strong (including an eye rake) but Strong manages to counter by sending Invader into the ropes, causing them to smack their heads together again. Strong once again manages to get on offense first, but after Invader manages to dodge two clotheslines, he is able to hit the taped fist heart punch. Strong hits the mat but he falls right by the ring ropes and apron. Before Invader can get to Strong (he’s spent from the damage taken in the match), Chicky Starr grabs Strong and rolls him out of the ring. Strong collapses to the ground as Chicky stands over him, patting Strong on the back. Invader makes his way out of the ring and proceeds to grab Chicky and knock him out with a taped fist blow to the head. Invader then tries to lift Strong up to get him back in the ring, but Strong is completely out of it and is too big for Invader to easily lift. Invader eventually manages to get Strong onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and proceeds to place him on the ring apron, to roll Strong in and pin him. But before Invader can finish getting Strong in the ring, the ref reaches the out of the ring count and the match ends once again with no winner on a double countout.

MD: We only get bits and pieces of this feud obviously, but what we get looks very good. Strong, again, looks great in squashes. He pulled out a slingshot belly to back in the handicap match and made Maelo bleed which isn't something I'm personally used to in a handicap match, though Esteban tells me it happened with Abby sometimes. We come into both singles matches with Strong bleeding so it's a shame we miss the beginnings, but after that they follow a similar pattern with Invader causing a great ref bump with the back cross body off the turnbuckles. In the first one, Invader actually gets the heart punch and the phantom pin before it gets thrown out on the outside. In the second, Strong takes over and hits the pile driver (also great is how he keeps adding on to his ridiculous lore in promos by the way) only for the ref to slowly recover and Invader to get his foot on the rope. Things build to the comeback and the heart punch again, but this time Chicky pulls Strong out; Invader crushes him with the heart punch but can't get the massive Strong back into the ring in time. If you're ready to move on to the next challenger, it's a pretty satisfying non-finish.

EB: The feud between Invader and Steve Strong would start winding down by the end of June, although they would still face each other a few times in tag matches (and even one more singles match) in July. By mid-July, Invader would soon be in a feud with new arrival Ivan Koloff over the Puerto Rico title. But in between winding down the feud with Strong and starting up with Koloff, there was an opportunity for Invader to after for the World tag team titles. By his side, for the first time in over a year, was his regular tag team partner since 1983, Invader #3.

WWC: The Invaders vs. Rip Rogers & Abudda Dein 7/1/89

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9I87mgnAM

EB: This match is from July 1 in Caguas.  The World tag team champions are Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein and they are defending against the team of the Invaders, specifically Invader #1 and Invader #3. If you need to distinguish which Invader is which, Invader #1 is the taller one of the two. I mentioned earlier that Invader #2 (Roberto Soto) had first shown up in the second half of 1978. With the arrival of a second Invader, the original one would then be referred to as Invader #1 to differentiate which Invader was being referred to (although when no other Invaders are active it can default to Invader without the number). Invaders 1 and 2 would be tag team partners for two years, but in the latter half of 1980, Invader #2 would turn heel stemming from Invader #1 deciding to team up with former hated rival now turned tecnico Pierre Martel in a tag team tournament. This would result in an on and off feud between the two Invaders that would last throughout the next two years all the way up to Invader #2’s departure from CSP around March of 82. And just a couple of months after Invader #2 left, something happened with Invader #1. After a victory over Bobby Jaggers, Invader after the match voluntarily unmasked and revealed his identity to the people of Puerto Rico. His reasons were that he had grown tired of hiding who he was, that he was Puerto Rican, and wanted the fans to know this. He stated that initially he had been masked because he did not want his mother to see him wrestling and worry about him, but it was time. And thus, Invader #1 was revealed to be Jose Gonzalez (Gonzalez being his mother’s last name and the alias he adopted when wrestling in the U.S) from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. If you look at the earliest CSP tv episodes we are fortunate to have, they’re actually just a couple of months after Invader had unmasked, so seeing him without the mask was still relatively new to the fans.

For the next year or so, Invader #1 would be the only active Invader in CSP and would continue wrestling without a mask Then, in the summer of 1983, just as Invader was finishing up his feud with Ox Baker, he made the move to the then WWF to wrestle as part of The Invaders tag team. His partner for this version was Johnny Rivera, who had previously wrestled in the WWWF in the 70s (at the same time Invader #1 was there) and had been wrestling in CSP in the early 80s. The Invaders spent a year in the WWF, with Rivera billed as Invader #2 (because there had never been Invaders before in the WWF and it made no sense to bill him as #3). But The Invaders eventually returned to CSP in the Spring of 84, with Rivera billed as Invader #3. Since then, they had been among the top tecnicos, with Invader #3 finding singles success in the junior heavyweight division as well. We’ll discuss more about Invader #3 in a future post. Let’s go back to the World tag title match.

You’ll notice that Invader #1 is wearing matching blue gear and mask with Invader #3. In all of his matches and appearances that we’ve seen so far in 1989, he’s been maskless and wearing long yellow tights. Why is he wearing the mask? Well, since Invader #1 had voluntarily unmasked, it was deemed acceptable for him to wear the mask if he chose to do so. And when teaming with a fellow Invader, he would wear the mask so they would have a uniform team look. It also allowed for certain strategies such as quick switches. You’ll also sometimes see Invader #1 wear the mask in singles matches, which he has said is a strategic move on his part to try to hide his expressions from his opponent to make it harder for them to get a read on him in the ring (usually happens when a feud has gotten serious or near its climax). This is also the first time in over a year, between Invader #3 being put on the shelf by Manny Fernandez (yes, some of you may know the incident, we’ll talk about this in a future post) and Invader #1 being out due to the Brody murder and trial, that the Invaders have teamed up.
The match starts with Invader #1 in the ring (besides the height, for this match it’s a bit easier to tell them apart since #1 has more of a tan). Right away you can tell how the Invaders work as a team, doing quick tags and switches, coming in off the top rope or jumping over the ropes into the ring. It’s a more acrobatic style compared to how Invader #1 typically wrestles as singles wrestler, so there is a bit of a style adjustment for Invader #1 in terms of how he wrestles in singles vs tags when teaming up with Invader #3. You’ll notice that the fans love it when they use the switches against the rudos. Invader #1 at one point starts antagonizing El Profe by moving towards him and spitting at him from the ring apron. The Invaders set the pace and control the first part of the match. On commentary, Hugo makes mention of Abudda Dein having a kick that may be due to a loaded boot, but nothing has been conclusively proven.

Eventually, the rudos are able to take control against Invader #3 but after both Dein and Invader #3 collide and are down, a hot tag is made to Invader #1. After a pier six brawl breaks out, Rogers and Invader #1 end up fighting outside. In the ring, Invader # 3 manages to slam Dein and  make his way to the top rope to try to hit his famous catapult maneuver onto Dein. But Rogers sees this and shoves Invader #3 off the top rope. Dein starts loading the boot in order to finish up Invader #3, but Invader #1 comes from behind and cuts him off with a rollup. However, there is a slight delay in the count since the ref is tied up with Profe and Rogers is able to break up the pin attempt. The match then goes to the outside and results in a double countout. The four wrestlers make their way back in to continue fighting, but the match is done. The scuffle continues for a bit in the ring and ends with the Invaders tossing the champs over the top rope. The video ends with the Invaders standing in the ring, cheered on by the fans.

The tag match provides a good idea of how the Invaders work as a tag team. It’s also, at least based on the results available, the last time Invaders #1 and #3 will team up as the incumbent Invaders team (we’ll discuss what happens with Invader #3 in a future post). So there is also a bit of historical hindsight to this match.

MD: Invaders took a ton on Rip to start but it's ok because Rip and Dein were champions and retaining so you want them to look vulnerable. Even more than that, it was Rip so watching him stooge and feed and bump is always super entertaining. I think Invader 3's size naturally helps him draw sympathy when he's in peril, even if he's not quite as strong at emoting as Invader 1 is. Even knowing that this didn't end with the Invaders winning the titles, they still got me on the nearfall roll up after the boot got loaded up. When you're going to have everything break down, it's nice to get a moment like that where the babyfaces should have won. Plus they end up standing tall at the end leaving the fans happy enough.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we continue to follow Steve Strong’s run in Puerto Rico as the next challenger takes his shot. Learn about the face paint wearing karate ninja known as TNT and why you should be wary of his Cobra Dinamita hold.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List