El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Aniversario 89 (For Real This Time)

Week 11: Aniversario 1989 (For Real This Time)

EB: After a three week postponement due to Hurricane Hugo, it is finally time for Aniversario 1989. It is taking place on October 7th in Bayamon and broadcasted for the first time locally on PPV. We also have a second night of Aniversario on October 8th in Mayaguez, where we have the same match lineup albeit with slightly less stakes or stipulations. However, before talking about this weekend’s happenings, we should note that there have been some changes to the card (which are likely due to scheduling conflicts stemming from the three week postponement). We’ll discuss them as we go along but there are two things I’ll mention right now that have to do with the Universal title match. First, Gorilla Monsoon will not be appearing as the special referee for the Universal title match. Second, the match is now a barbed wire match.

Now we do have a bit of a footage issue with Aniversario 89. Despite the fact that the show was broadcast on PPV, it was never released on home video. The matches we have from Bayamon were uploaded years ago back when videos were limited to a 10 minute cutoff. So only a few matches from the PPV broadcast have surfaced, even though I hope that a copy of the full broadcast is floating around out there somewhere. We also have some matches that were broadcast in later airings on tv but these are mainly from the second day in Mayaguez. Since the match lineups for both days are practically the same (outside of some stipulations), we are taking the approach of reviewing the show by intertwining matches from both nights to go over as much of Aniversario as possible in our runthrough.

Let’s talk first about the matches for which we don’t have footage for (or for which we have a small clip as part of a broader video package) from either night. There are four such matches. Unfortunately we do not have the two tag title matches or the world junior title match available. Also, for two of those matches, the challengers changed from the announced card (again likely due to scheduling conflicts or unavailability due to the hurricane postponements).

Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, hijo were set to defend the Caribbean tag titles originally against the Wild Samoans combination of Tama and Afa. However, after the postponement, it was announced that the challengers would be Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat. Unfortunately for everyone looking forward to this match (including us), we not only do not have the match footage available but the Can-Am Express did not make the event. Stepping is as the challengers are the team of the Cuban Assassin (Angel Acevedo) and Jerry Morrow, known as Los Mercenarios. And this new set of challengers actually won the Caribbean tag titles from Perez and Castillo.

Jeff Jarrett was unable to make the show for the battle of the World Junior champions. In his place was El Gran Mendoza serving as the challenger to Super Medico’s WWC World Junior title. Medico retained his championship.

One match that did not experience changes but for which we unfortunately don’t have the footage for is the World tag title match between champions Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein and challengers Mark and Chris Youngblood. This tag title match also saw new champions crowned as the Younbloods scored the win.  

For those disappointed at the Can-Am Express and Jeff Jarrett not appearing, don’t despair because Paul Jones did make it for his match vs the Junkyard Dog. There is about a minute and half of the ending stretch of the Mayaguez version of this encounter and it's mainly Paul Jones choking JYD with a chain and hitting a flurry of punches before JYD makes a comeback with several headbutts and a Russian legsweep to get the win.

With those matches we don’t have out of the way, let’s talk about the ones for which we have at least one version from either Bayamon or Mayaguez. We originally had Kerry Von Erich scheduled to face Abdullah the Butcher but as we saw previously, Kevin Von Erich had stepped in to replace Kerry for the original Aniversario date.  Kevin is here for this new date and let’s see him in action vs Abdul… never mind, Abdullah wasn’t able to make it to Aniversario on the new date.  Well, let’s go to the match and see who Kevin Von Erich’s opponent is…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDA3xYmfIaQ

It’s Ron Bass, making what I believe is his CSP debut. Kevin also is making his first in-ring appearance for the territory since the late 70s if I’m not mistaken. The commentary team of Hugo, Carlos and Profe spend a lot of the match talking about the Von Erich legacy and talk about what a privilege it is to have wrestlers of this renown (referring to Kevin and Bass) competing in a WWC ring (“it adds prestige and signals to the rest of the world the caliber of competition we have”). Profe also complains about how someone with a German last name can claim to be Texan (“it’s like saying a Perez is English“) and hopes Bass comes out triumphant to show what a real Texan is. This match is a good showcase for the local crowd in seeing Kevin’s wrestling style. Kevin is in control for most of the match, although Bass gets a bit of a control segment in the middle due to some cheating and roughhouse tactics. Kevin tries to get the claw on Bass, and despite Bass initially holding him off, he manages to get a stomach claw on Bass. Ron Bass manages to fight out of the clawhold but an attempt to hit Kevin with his boot misses, which Kevin takes advantage of to roll up Bass for the pinfall win.

MD: This definitely wasn’t Kerry vs Abby. Bass is a guy who definitely drops off the radar early in 1989. He finished up with WWF in March and after this, works for Dusty in Florida and some Guam tours and who knows what else. He’s basically done by 91 when he was early into his 40s. He had a big frame and had put a bunch of wear and tear on it though. He wasn’t very mobile here even if he still had solid timing, decent presence, and a good punch off the ropes. Kevin was Kevin, bare-footed, aggressive, a tried and true babyface and the crowd got up for him winning with a roll-up, even if they weren’t into much else. This didn’t outwear its welcome but it would have been better five or six years earlier.

EB: We also have a match between semi regulars in the territory as Jimmy Valiant takes on Kareem Muhammad. This match is the one from the second night in Mayaguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQdVk7FSnM

We have Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr on commentary for this match (suggesting this is from a Campeones airing). Hugo asks for their thoughts on who has the advantage here in a styles clash of opponents and Carlos makes the remark that if Jimmy Valiant manages to hold out for five to six minutes then he should have the advantage since Kareem gets tired due to his conditioning after about ten minutes. Valiant takes the initial advantage by choking Kareem (which Hugo makes note of) and maintains the attack for the initial moments of the match. Kareem rakes the eyes to take control of the match. As Kareem continues his attack, the camera cuts to El Profe who is posing and mugging for the cameraman (showing off that kilowatt smile). Chicky makes the comment that with the attack Kareem is doing on Valiant at the moment he’s probably forgotten how to dance by now. Valiant tries to gather himself on the outside and get the crowd into it but Kareem keeps knocking Valiant off the apron when he tries to get back in the ring. Jimmy does manage to get back inside and launch an offensive flurry but Kareem manages to counter with a clothesline and an elbow drop for the pin (although Valiant got his leg on the rope at two, Kareem pulled it away before the ref saw it). Kareem leaves with El Profe as the ref helps Valiant to the back.

MD: They were in and out under five minutes here. We came in with Valiant choking Muhammad with his bandana and poking at the eyes, but it’s not long before he’s overpowered and tossed out. The rest of the match is a king of the mountain sequence with Muhammad knocking Valiant off the apron and Valiant walking around ringside clapping and interacting with fans. He finally hits a shoulder to the gut to get back in and mounts a bit of a comeback before running into Muhammad’s outstretched arm and is squashed. He does make sure to get his foot on the ropes for a second to protect himself in defeat. There wasn’t a whole lot here. I imagine Valiant could have a pretty entertaining match against El Profe (alternatively, Paul Jones was right there and from the minute of footage we have, could still punch, stagger, and eat headbutts pretty well) and Muhammad could be a useful foil for Colon or Invader but this wasn’t either of those things. It was still nice to see Jimmy walking and clapping and hanging out with the crowd, I guess.

EB: We finally get a match from the main night of Aniversario in Bayamon and it’s the long awaited revenge match featuring Invader #3 facing off against Manny Fernandez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDt9YVFnxWk

Manny is in the ring with Chicky Starr as the music for Invader #3’s entrance begins playing. Invader #3 rushes out and runs to the ring holding a large stick. He jumps Manny from behind (Manny was posing on the turnbuckle looking towards the crowd) and proceeds to hit several blows with the stick on Manny (including one blow that hits Manny right in the mouth). The crowd goes crazy as Invader #3 continues his attack on Manny on the outside . Manny is chased back inside and, as Invader #3 gets back in, Chicky reaches out and manages to yank the stick away from the fired up Invader #3. This does not stop Invader #3, who continues his attack on Manny undeterred. Eventually, Manny manages to lift Invader #3 up in a desperation move and hotshots him on the top rope to stop the attack. On the PPV broadcast, Hector Moyano and El Profe are on commentary and talking about how Invader #3 is looking for revenge for the infamous attack and injury that Manny Fernandez had done to him. Manny checks his bleeding mouth and proceeds to focus his attack on Invader #3’s throat and neck area. Manny slows the pace down as he continues his focused attack, including a headscissor submission hold which Chicky reaches in to help with the leverage (and El Profe on commentary acting like he’s not seeing the cheating going on). As Chicky walks around at ringside, you’ll notice that the ring is on a raised platform here in Bayamon, so one misstep and someone could take a tumble. Manny continues working the submission hold as Moyano makes a comment about how Manny is bleeding from the mouth quite noticeably. Manny starts getting frustrated at not being able to put Invader #3 away and starts punching him around the throat area. Invader #3 manages to get some distance between him and Manny and, as the crowd starts ramping up, begins to land some hits on Manny from a kneeling position. They exchange a few blows but Manny manages to knock Invader # 3 down again and regain control. Manny works a chinlock but Invader #3 responds to the crowd cheering him on and fights out of it, ramming Manny’s head into the turnbuckle. Manny counters out of the corner with a charge and proceeds to adjust his kneepad. Manny then makes his way to the top turnbuckle as the crowd gets worried, remembering that this was how Invader #3 had been gruesomely injured. Invader #3 gets up though and catches Manny on the top turnbuckle, slamming him to the mat. Invader #3 goes on a punching spree but, when he attempts to monkey flip Manny out of the corner, Manny grabs on to the ropes and Invader #3 crashes onto the mat. An attempted dropkick off the ropes by Invader #3 is also countered by Manny holding onto the ropes. Manny proceeds to grab Invader #3 from behind and hold him so Chicky can get up on the ring apron with the stick. As Manny tries to shove Invader #3 into Chicky and the stick, Invader #3 ducks out of the way and it is Manny that takes the hit. Invader #3 dropkicks Chicky off the apron, sending the stick flying into the ring. Invader #3 makes the cover but Manny surprisingly kicks out at two. Invader #3, seeing that the ref is holding the stick, immediately runs toward him to try to grab the stick. As the ref and Invader #3 play tug of war with the stick, Manny attacks Invader #3 from behind and it looks like Invader #3 may have hit the stick on impact. Manny grabs Invader #3 and hits his flying burrito maneuver, which scores the pinfall win. Invader #3 got some satisfaction in attacking Manny for what had happened a year and a half ago but in the end Manny gets the win. Manny and Chicky celebrate as they leave the ring.

MD: One fun part about this entire project for me is that I have no idea what’s coming next. I’ll say this, though. I see the Chicky/Manny act and I just see money. There’s no reason why these two together couldn’t have drawn into 1990 or 1991. Invader #3 came in hot as you’d expect, with a baseball bat in hand. He wanted blood and he got it quickly, even after Chicky got the bat away, opening up Manny from the mouth. He was overexuberant though, which was the story of the match, and flew right into a hotshot on the top rope. That let Manny work the neck, most especially with headscissors (with Chicky assisting at first and then, after a hope spot, by grabbing the ropes himself). Invader would come back and even get a huge nearfall after ducking a bat shot from Chicky, only to lose sight of the goal by trying to get the bat from the ref instead of staying on Manny. That let Manny hit the flying forearm and steal the win. Lots of heat just like you’d want. I’m half surprised this didn’t cause a riot. Hopefully he sticks around.

EB: We unfortunately do not have the chain match for the Puerto Rico title between Ivan Koloff and Invader #1, but we do have their match from Mayaguez the next day. It’s a rematch for the Puerto Rico title that Invader #1 won in the chain match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BTjhMS_Qio

This match is taken from a tv airing a year later, so the commentary is not focused on what was happening back in 1989. We start the match as Invader and Koloff face off and then lock up, exchanging holds. Tempers flare and soon they start exchanging punches and blows, but Invader uses an arm wringer and drop toehold to regain control of Koloff on the mat. So far this match is different from how I’m thinking the chain match went in terms of being a fight, this is more of a straight wrestling match between Koloff and Invader. As they continue exchanging holds, you can see in a zoom in on Koloff that he has a bandage on his head (again I’m guessing from the chain match). We go to commercial break as Koloff has Invader in a full nelson and come back to them fighting outside of the ring and Koloff using some bolted together chairs to attack Invader. The crowd also looks to have tried to get closer to the wrestlers on the outside, so I’m wondering what have we missed for the match to switch up from where we were before the break. Koloff gets back in the ring and taunts the crowd as Invader recovers on the outside. Invader gets back in the ring and both wrestlers proceed to exchange a flurry of chops, punches and kicks, Invader hits an eye rake on Koloff and rolls him up for two. Koloff attacks Invader and hits him with a back elbow, and for some reason also hits the ref with a back elbow which looks to be deemed inadvertent since there is no dq called. Hugo protests that should have been a disqualification. Koloff rolls up Invader and tries several pin attempts while holding Invader’s tights. Invader keeps barely getting a shoulder up on the different attempts as Koloff keeps trying to get the pin. Invader manages to kick Koloff off of him and takes control with a headbutt to Koloff’s midsection and a dropkick. Invader tries a pin attempt but Koloff gets his leg on the rope. The match continues as time starts winding down. An inside cradle gets a two count for Invader and the wrestlers continue fighting in the ring. A series of punches on the turnbuckle by Invader opens up Koloff’s cut on his forehead. A crossbody from Invader gets a near fall. A backslide attempt gets two. Invader manages to get a sleeper on Koloff but it’s just as the bell rings as the time limit expires. Invader gets the moral win by putting Koloff to sleep but the match ends in a draw.  

MD: I found a post from over ten years ago where our old pal Dylan was lamenting about the chain match not being available. I too shall lament about this. What we do have is this, with a hotter, angrier crowd than the one in Bayamon for Invader #3 vs Manny, and it’s this weird cross section of a riot scene and a title match with all the trappings of a title match. They start with chain wrestling, to a degree, with Invader controlling with a hammerlock. We come back from a break with Invader on the outside hurting and Ivan leans on him hard with the crowd throwing things into the ring to express their displeasure. Invader comes back, in part by using some sort of sharp, dangerous object that someone did throw in to rake at Ivan’s eyes and then they go into full Steamboat vs Savage mode with roll ups and near-falls. There’s an awesome back elbow cut off by Koloff here which might be the best back elbow in the history of wrestling (and one to the ref too for good measure). He does another one to the ref just for the hell of it too. The finish is a big Invader sleeper with the great visual of Koloff reaching desperately for the ref but Esteban let me know that the time ran out making it just a spiritual victory for Invader. So yeah, these two matched up really well. It was a title match though, even if it was a heated one, and it just whets the appetite for what that chain match could have been. Someone has to have it, right? If you’re reading this, help us out and do some digging.

EB: As mentioned earlier, the Universal title match is now a barbed wire match. Carlos Colon gets his first chance to avenge his shoulder injury against Sadistic Steve Strong and looks to regain the Universal title in the process. We go to Bayamon for the ring introductions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjWvgb7M4z4

You can tell it’s a big match as each competitor heads to the ring with an entourage. Sadistic Steve Strong is accompanied by his manager Chicky Starr and by Manny Fernandez carrying the U.S.A. flag. Garbage starts pelting them as they head to the ring. The Spanish version of My Way plays as the tecnicos come out. We have Invader #1 carrying the Puerto Rico flag, accompanied by TNT and the Youngbloods as the crowd grows loud with cheers and air horns go off. Carlos Colon follows the tecnicos out, accompanied by his trainer Barba Roja (looks like he did take Hugo up on the invitation to visit sometime) and also by our backstage interviewer Lysette Santiago. Strong has entered the ring and is waiting for Colon. Eliud Goznalez starts the ring introductions but stops because we haven’t yet played the national anthems. We first hear La Borinqueña (Puerto Rico’s national anthem), followed by The Star Spangled Banner. Strong remains in the ring throughout all of this. Carlos gets in the ring as the ring introductions are made. Carlos gets some final instructions from Barba Roja just before the match begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKm7Ha3fdyQ

Carlos immediately charges at Strong as the bell rings, attacking him and trying to drive Strong’s face into the barbed wire. Strong manages to hold Colon off, but Carlos goes back on offense including biting Strong in the face. Carlos keeps the pressure on and continues trying to rake Strong’s face in the barbed wire. Strong continues to fight Carlos off, managing an unsuccessful attempt to send Carlos face first into the barbed wire. The first hit of barbed wire occurs when Carlos shoves Strong backwards into the ropes and Strong briefly makes contact as the crowd cheers. Carlos is not letting up and continues on the offensive trying to again smash Strong’s face into the wire. However, Strong manages to gain control and starts fcusing his attacks on Colon’s left shoulder (the one that had been injured). Strong continues putting pressure on and attacking the shoulder as we can see Strong has some cuts on his back and Carlos is bleeding from his forehead. Strong grabs Colon’s left arm and wraps it around the rope (and the barbed wire) to inflict more damage. Strong continues to control the match despite some attempts by Carlos to counter and run Strong into the barbed wire. A choke lift is countered with an eye rake by Carlos and he goes on the offensive as the crowd cheers on. Strong manages to avoid a back bodydrop attempt and hits a DDT on Colon. Carlos ducks a clothesline attempt (remember that training session we saw where part of the strategy was ducking the clothesline?) and both men hit each other with a clothesline. Colon immediately falls down, followed by Strong after a delayed reaction. Colon hits a slam and tries a legdrop off the middle turnbuckle but Strong moves out of the way. Strong hits a slam and tries to come off the middle turnbuckle with an elbow, but this time it’s Carlos who gets out of the way. Carlos starts attacking Strong’s leg to set up the figure four leglock as the crowd cheers on. Strong manages to throw Colon off on his first attempt at the figure four, but Carlos immediately attacks Strong's legs again when he stands up. Strong falls and immediately starts crawling away so Carlos can’t get the figure four on him. Carlos keeps attacking the leg and Strong’s leg buckles on an irish whip attempt due to the damage done. Carlos is almost successful in getting the figure four on but Strong yanks Colon by the hair in order to push him away. Colon dodges a Strong tackle and finally gets the figure four on. It looks like Strong may give up but don’t forget Chicky is at ringside. As the ref is asking Strong if he will submit, Chicky reaches into his jacket and pulls out a spray can. He moves close to where Carlos is and sprays Colon right in the face. This causes Carlos to squirm in pain and the hold is broken. Barba Roja chases Chicky around the ring and catches up to him, trying to get the spray can Chicky had hid once more in his jacket. However, Chicky starts attacking Barba Roja! As Chicky is attacking Barba Roja, Strong adjusts ‘Damian’ on his arm and hits Carlos straight on with a clothesline. Strong gets the three count! Chicky is kicking Barba Roja at ringside when we see a chair fly out at the crowd and hit Chicky. TNT then shows up to go after Chicky and help Barba Roja. TNT grabs Chicky and holds him as Barba Roja finds the spray can in Chicky’s jacket.  As Barba Roja shows the referee the spray can, Chicky runs to the other side of the ring, grabbing a chair and using it to defend himself from other chairs that are being thrown at him. The ref restarts the match after seeing the spray can and, as the match restarts, if you look at the top right corner you’ll see security jumping on the ring platform and shielding Chicky from the crowd. They immediately take off running to get Chicky out of there before the situation gets worse. Back in the ring, Strong immediately had started punching Carlos as the match restarted. Strong throws Carlos on the ropes but Carlos ducks the clothesline and hits a back suplex (once again, remember the planning session we saw, one of the moves they worked on was ducking the clothesline and hitting a back suplex).  Carlos gets the three count and wins! The crowd goes wild (and we even see a chair get thrown in the ring) as Carlos has regained the Universal title. The tecnicos come out to celebrate but as Carlos tries to leave he gets blindsided and attacked by an angry Steve Strong. In a bit of an unintentionally funny visual, one of the Youngbloods is spraying champagne in celebration as Carlos is getting attacked by Strong. Carlos manages to leave the ring and is surrounded by El Ejercito de la Justicia to celebrate his win, as champagne is sprayed everywhere. Strong remains in the ring throughout the celebration as El Ejercito de la Justicia heads to the locker room.

Post match we get interviews with Steve Strong (wanting a rematch in whatever match Colon wants after feeling he was cheated out of the win) and Carlos Colon with Barba Roja (celebrating the win in a tough match thanks to the crowd and Barba Roja’s support). And as the interview with Carlos ends, Lysette says we’re headed back to the ring for our next match. Wait, we have another match to go?

MD: This was a massive spectacle, starting with the huge entrances with retinues. Manny was with Strong and Colon had the Youngbloods (I think) and Invader waving the flag. I’ve mentioned it before but the joy of barbed wire matches isn’t necessarily the blood but instead the constrained lack of space and the anticipation of the wire becoming part of the match. Sometimes that can play out as long minutes of people just pressing each other’s head towards it. Here it was more dynamic. Colon rushed in early and had an advantage until Strong started on the damaged shoulder. Using that as a wedge he bloodied Colon first. Carlos came back with some grisly headbutts. It’s striking to see him fight so violently considering how soft spoken he’s come off in the bio and other appearances, but that’s why he’s the national hero I suppose. Strong cuts him off only for Colon to come back hot, working on the leg and trying and trying for the figure four until he finally gets it. Chicky asserts himself then, spraying Colon in the face. That leads to a moment of true darkness where Barba Roja rushes around the ring only to get battered by Chicky, and Colon, blinded and despondent gets flattened by the loaded armguard of Strong and pinned for three.

We’ve seen before how matches in Puerto Rico often had finishes overturned against the heels in the moment. It’s a very Memphis thing to do. The times I can think of it happening in WWF and AEW were times that Lawler or Jarrett were involved, for instance. It ratchets up the heat, sweeps the rug out from under the crowd, and then gives them hope at the last second. It’s the sort of thing that can’t be done too much because it makes it harder to accept any time a heel does cheat to win later. Here, though, it put everyone in exactly the right state of crazed mania to create pure elation with the true finish. For instance, just when everything was at its worse, you could see a chair come flying in from off the side of the screen to clock Chicky. It wasn’t that flying chair that would save the day but another fan favorite: TNT came out to rescue Barba Roja and assault Chicky. The ref was informed of what happened and allowed the match to continue.And, with the light obscuring him as if he was some sort of celestial figure, Colon ducked a shot and hit a belly to back suplex for three. Strong, furious, stomped at Carlos but the champagne was already flowing. He may have had a point, as all good heels do, and may have been protected, but Carlitos had scored a legendary win nonetheless. A big match with a big match feel. I am left wondering how Gorilla Monsoon would have factored in however.

EB: To close out Aniversario here in Bayamon, we have a match for the rights to the TNT name and gimmick. It’s TNT taking on the Original TNT, the man Chicky Starr had brought in claiming to be the actual TNT and that our TNT was an impostor. But… we have our last no-show of Aniversario as the Original TNT did not appear. Luckily for CSP, we have Chicky Starr, the man who masterminded and was the driving force and instigator behind the Original TNT plot (including outing TNT’s real identity and constantly calling him an impostor). In a change that may have occurred that same day (and who knows if it was announced during the event itself), we now have TNT taking on Chicky Starr in a five minute challenge match. The stipulations are TNT’s name and paint (basically the rights to the TNT identity) vs Chicky Starr’s hair. And the key stipulation in the five minute challenge is that TNT has to defeat Chicky within the five minute time limit in order to win. However, if Chicky lasts the full five minutes without losing then Chicky wins and TNT loses his identity. It’s a ploy Chicky has tried twice before vs Invader #1, first as a 15 minute challenge and then in a rematch as a 10 minute challenge. You can probably guess why the third time is now with 5 minutes as the time limit. Back to Bayamon we go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H7fGogrY18

After their altercation during the Universal title match, Chicky and TNT are going to face off once more this evening.  Chicky, after having to run for his life near the end of the Universal title match, is back out here in his crown and robe (and with Leper Messiah as his entrance music). The crowd wastes no time in throwing garbage at Chicky as he waits for his opponent. TNT’s music plays as he comes out in full TNT garb and with the TV title around his waist. TNT takes his gi off as Eliud Gonzalez does the introductions (mentioning it’s the TNT name and paint vs Chicky’s hair and TNT has to defeat Chicky in five minutes or less). The ref checks both combatants for foreign objects and we are underway. TNT has five minutes to win or else he loses his identity.  Moyano on commentary mentions that the clear disadvantage is for TNT since he has to win while Chicky just has to run out the clock. And this is apparent right off as Chicky just takes off, weaving in and out of the ring as TNT gives chase. Man, the ring mat is just full of garbage from earlier. Chicky continues running from TNT, including crawling under the ring with TNT giving chase (and the cameraman follows them too!). The only offensive maneuvers we see from Chicky so far are quick blows to get TNT to back off and Chicky immediately gets to running away again. Eliud Gonzale calls out that one minute has elapsed.

TNT and Chicky exchange strikes on the outside, but when it looks like TNT is going to take control Chicky bites TNT in the face and runs off again. Chicky maintains his distance from TNT outside of the ring while pointing at his wrist signaling the time ticking away. TNT finally manages to cut through the ring and grab Chicky, dragging him into the ring by his hair. They immediately exchange strikes, with Chicky surprisingly gaining the advantage and maintaining the offensive attack. We are past the two minute mark. TNT hits a bodyslam and immediately goes for the pin but Chicky kicks out immediately. An eye rake by Chicky gives him the advantage again. Chicky hits a DDT as Eliud Gonzalez calls out the time and reminds fans of the stipulations. Chicky again starts mockingly pointing at his wrist. Chicky continues on the attack as the fans start to make noise to encourage TNT. The commentators are talking about why someone would sign up for these stipulations (with Profe calling TNT an idiot) but, as we’ve seen from the build-up, Chicky had really been insulting TNT and put his safety at risk by revealing his real identity. Chicky goes for a pin but gets up at one and dismissively signals he doesn’t want to pin TNT. The attack by Chicky continues as the time keeps ticking away. We have reached the 4 minute mark as Chicky comes off the turnbuckle with an axe handle onto TNT. A pin attempt gets two as the count is at 55 seconds remaining. Chicky hits a body slam with 40 seconds left, covers but again quickly changes his mind and forgoes the pin attempt. Chicky punches TNT with 30 seconds left and hits a back body drop with 20 seconds left. TNT is in real trouble. Chicky points at his wrist as 15 seconds are left and he decides to go to the top again as TNT gets up. However, this axe handle attempt is met with a dynamite kick right to Chicky’s face. TNT quickly covers him as the countdown is at 6 and a quick three count later we have a winner. The crowd starts cheering as TNT has defeated Chicky with about three seconds remaining on the clock. Chicky now will lose his hair. Two refs and Super Medico hold Chicky down as TNT starts cutting some of Chicky’s hair with a pair of scissors. Profe starts having a meltdown on commentary over what is happening to Chicky. We end with Chicky fleeing the ring as security surrounds him while they run to the back, as fans pelt them with garbage. Outside of Manny Fernandez getting the win, not a good night for Chicky (or Profe for that matter having lost the World tag titles and the Puerto Rico title).

MD: Just so interesting that they finished with this. For one thing, I’m still boggled by what Action Jackson had to do that was more important than this match. I guess in part, they had to finish with this because otherwise you don’t have Chicky at ringside for the Strong match. Sending fans home happy with two major celebratory wins is a pretty good way to deal with a natural disaster. Chicky had to survive five minutes with TNT. If he did, TNT had to lose his name and take off the facepaint, to give the gimmick to the “Original TNT” basically. If Chicky lost in those five minutes, he’d lose his hair. Esteban likely will get into more detail past that, but it was a pretty transcendent heel performance by Chicky. He came out to Leper Messiah by Metallica and played defensive early, running around the ring, running under the ring (with the camera following TNT and Chicky, which is something I’m not sure I ever saw before). Eventually he got a cheapshot and took over for the brunt of the remainder of the match, refusing to even try to seriously pin TNT, just playing out the clock in control. The best defense was a good offense despite his hubris. The fans were throwing things in there but they weren’t near-riotous as time ticked down like you might expect. I think they had faith in TNT and faith in pro wrestling in general. Heels win, but not before the babyface at least tries to get a comeback in. It’s ritual and they knew it well. Chicky was poised to beat the clock, with an advantage, with fifteen seconds left. He could have hit the floor and ran it off. But instead he went up top and flew right into TNT’s kick. It was definitely a choice to give him all of it, but when you have only five minutes after a grueling war like Colon and Strong just went through and you have a heel charismatic and hated like Chicky to make it work, this wasn’t at all a bad choice at all.

EB: And that’s a wrap for Aniversario 89 from Bayamon. We’ve seen four titles change hands and TNT retain his identity. However, it remains to be seen if Steve Strong is truly done with Carlos Colon and if we'll see Chicky and Profe retaliate for the losses they’ve taken.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we’ll see the fallout from Aniversario as we start heading toward the end of 1989.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List