El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: It’s Aniversa… Please Stand By

Week 10: It’s Aniversa… Please Stand By

EB: It is September 16, 1989 in Puerto Rico, it is the day of Aniversario 89. We’ve seen Sadistic Steve Strong’s run as Universal champion and the havoc he has caused. Carlos Colon, the man Strong dethroned and injured is getting his first chance to regain the Universal title since coming back from the shoulder injury. We also have a chain match between Invader #1 and Ivan Koloff, a match between TNT and Original TNT for the rights to the TNT identity, and Manny Fernandez and Invader #3 will finally face off a year and half after the infamous blood geyser incident. So let’s head on to Estadio Juan Ramon Loubirel to enjoy the show…

The show isn't happening. Due to the incoming threat of Hurricane Hugo, the governor of Puerto Rico issued a curfew order so that the residents of the island could prepare themselves for the hurricane’s expected arrival around the early morning of September 18. Due to the curfew order, Aniversario 89 cannot take place. The decision was made to postpone Aniversario until the following Saturday.

We go to the Sunday September 17 TV episode, where the news about Aniversario being postponed one week due to the curfew was confirmed and several interviews aired regarding the show now being the next Saturday.

The first block of interviews features Abudda Dein and Rip Rogers, the Youngbloods and Manny Fernandez (with Manny saying in Spanish “The bull has arrived, and this bull arrives like a hurricane”).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phhGSPp_Yq4

Our second block of interviews features Jeff Jarrett, Super Medico, Ivan Koloff, Vitin Alicea (told you he’d pop every now and then), Kevin Von Erich, and reporter Lysette Santiago (who will be serving as the backstage interviewer for the PPV broadcast).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S3PbwCoFRA

Super Medico mentions that while Jarrett has one more week to get ready, so does he. Medico knows that Jarrett already is a double champion (having two World Junior titles) and he wants to become a triple champion, but that’s not going to happen on the isle of enchantment. He is the WWC World Junior champion and, when that bell rings, he expects to walk out still the champ.
Vitin does an in character promo talking about the postponement, saying that Steve Strong better watch out because Carlitos Colon will ‘fill his face full of fingers’ and end this once and for all. Vitin will even bring his protege along to watch it all unfold, just in case if Carlitos can't do it then his protege will. So he expects everyone there next Saturday and does a pose to end the promo.

Lysette Santiago will serve as the backstage interviewer at the PPV. Hugo says they are very proud to have Lysette with them for the broadcast and Lysette takes the opportunity to invite the fans to be there with them next week for Aniversario. She'll be there to provide all of the important information. Hugo mentions it’ll be interesting because we will have a woman going backstage into the locker room. Lysette says it's not just because of being in the locker room but also because she’ll bring information just a bit beyond what your eyes can see. The fans will see things a bit more up close and get to know their favorite wrestlers better.  

Our last block of interviews features words from our main event match participants, Carlos Colon and Sadistic Steve Strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0lTbCsv9NI

Hugo mentions that Carlos’ title aspirations are on hold for a few days but we'll find out next Saturday who will leave as the Universal champion. Who did this postponement favor, Steve Strong as the champion or Carlitos as the challenger? Carlos responds by saying that Steve Strong was saved by Hurricane Hugo. ‘The agony is long, but death is assured’, Carlos went last night to Loubriel stadium to defeat Steve Strong, and he will go back there next Saturday with the same focus, only that he will be a bit more prepared since he has seven more days to get ready. Carlos guarantees that Steve Strong will fall defeated next Saturday, just as he was supposed to last night. Strong follows with his promo.

MD: A few quick notes on this. One, Steve Strong says “Sadisticism,” which is up there with Destrucity. Second, Chris Youngblood’s mask is amazing. If he wrestled in that thing regularly, he’d have been a much bigger star. Third, it’s absolutely jarring to be watching Puerto Rican wrestling and suddenly have Simply Irresistible Jeff Jarrett lighting up the screen. And finally, certainly not to make light of what would happen, but here, before the fact, I’m kind of annoyed none of the heels, not even Ivan Koloff, conflated the hurricane with Savinovich. All of this was effective hype in my book.

EB: In the early morning of September 18, Hurricane Hugo passed through Puerto Rico. The hurricane caused major damage to the eastern and northeastern areas of the island. Here is a video looking back at what Hurricane Hugo left in its wake taking us through some of the before, during and after of the hurricane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyeLYPd_J6Y

Because of the destruction Hurricane Hugo caused in the east and metro areas, the decision was made to postpone Aniversario once again. We go to the Saturday September 23 tv show which opened with this announcement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXIIXPNkj3Q

Hugo opened the show dressed informally, saying that they share in the pain of all the families that are suffering as a result of this catastrophe of Hurricane Hugo. He and several other people involved in the world of wrestling also experienced part of this tragedy (in Hugo's case several windows went flying in the condominium he lives in), but gives thanks that within the misfortune we are still alive and that things weren’t worse than they were. Thank God we’re alive and we have the desire to overcome and keep moving forward. Hugo provides the updated information about what will happen with Aniversario. They originally canceled Aniversario last week thinking of the safety of the fans and their well-being. In that same spirit, after what has happened, they feel they can’t proceed with Aniversario today in that spirit of celebration, when there is such suffering going on with so many families without a home. It’s a decision that will cost the company thousands of dollars since they have contracts and obligations with the contracted talent, but they feel it is the right thing to do despite the expense. It is not the time to celebrate with music, comedy and all that wrestling talent when there are families suffering. The new date will be October 7 at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel, tickets that have already been purchased will be honored for the new date and those that ordered on PPV are automatically updated for the October 7 date. Hugo closes by once again offering their thoughts, love and support to everyone affected before going over what they will see on today’s program.

A similar announcement was made for the west coast version of Superestrellas, which included announcing the new date for Aniversario 89 for Mayaguez (as mentioned in a prior installment, Aniversario at this point would include additional days for other regions of the island, most notably the west coast). We go now to that tv episode to look at some of the promos talking about the main matches of Aniversario 89 and also see if the card has experienced any changes due to the postponement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbpzj90saKo

The show opened with a similar if shorter announcement of the new date for Aniversario 89 in Mayaguez, the date now being October 8. The matches on this show are all older matches since the hurricane prevented the taping of any new matches for TV that week. It also includes previous video packages and promos for Aniversario (slightly edited to try to hide that they referenced the original date for the show).

At the 5:25 mark we get a TNT promo about his match against Original TNT.  The match in Mayaguez is only for the TV title (since the match for the TNT identity is taking place the day before in Bayamon). TNT says he will be ready for anything inside the ring. The TV title belongs to the people of Puerto Rico, he just represents them inside the ring. Remember one thing, “I am the real TNT, I am Puerto Rican and all of those fans in the west are supporting me." And he hopes Chicky Starr doesn’t stick his nose in because he’ll also get what he deserves. This TV title belongs to Puerto Rico. Chicky and Original TNT offer their rebuttal, with Chicky stating that the people will see TNT’s face since they will have taken his name and paint the night before and that they will also arrive with the TV title (having won it the night before) and they will successfully keep it.

At the 24:15 mark we get part of a promo from Carlos Colon, talking about how the injury Strong inflicted on him was likely the worst thing anyone has done to him in his 16 years wrestling here in Puerto Rico (even worse than being blinded by Abdullah). And just as he has avenged what Abdullah and others have done to him, so too he will avenge what Strong did to him. Steve Strong follows with a promo about their match in Mayaguez, including talking about a memory band Strong will wear for Carlos Colon since in Mayaguez Colon will be dead.

We then get the card rundown for the Mayaguez version of the Aniversario card. It’s similar to what is the expected card in Bayamon for October 7, although there are some differences from when we last saw the rundown. First, Gorilla Monsoon is announced as the special ref for the Universal title match. This is actually a development that happened prior to the original card date, but we had not seen it in our rundowns since they are from a few weeks earlier. The matches that have stipulations outside of title defenses do not have them (such as the match for the TNT identity and the chain match between Koloff and Invader #1) since these stipulations are for the main show in Bayamon the day before. The other notable change is the team challenging for the Caribbean tag titles, instead of the Wild Samoans now Castillo and Perez will face the tag team of Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat. This would be Doug’s debut in Puerto Rico but Kroffat had spent 15 months from the beginning of 1988 all the way through March of 89 wrestling on the island (and had even had a feud with Castillo and Perez the year before teaming with Bobby Jaggers that included a hair vs hair match at Aniversario 88).

Our last promos come at the 32:36 mark, where Ivan Koloff with El Profe and Invader #1 talk about their upcoming match. Invader talks about how Koloff humiliated him in his hometown of San Lorenzo when he gave Invader that beating with the chain while Invader was wrestling Original TNT. It’s very easy to attack someone like that. But we will see who is who when they square off face to face for the Puerto Rican title. Invader says he will do what is necessary to walk out as the Puerto Rican champion.
Hugo at the end of the show once again gives thanks that the western region of the island was not affected by the hurricane.

MD: A couple more takeaways here. Hugo was quick to point out that the company was losing thousands on this but that it was what was best for the island. I don’t remember Gorilla Monsoon being involved (in the main event?) previously. Steve Strong had a “memory band” from funerals for Colon and you have to give him credit for how he kept on tweaking the act every week. The Can-Am Express are up against Castillo and Perez now and they called Kroffat “Dandy Dan Kroffat” I think? That wasn’t on my radar.

EB: The Campeones show from that weekend also opened with the announcement of Aniversario being postponed and the tv episode itself had to drop a couple of segments because the tapes were damaged during the hurricane (water got into the place they were being stored).

So with the Aniversario postponement  I guess we’re going to have to wait out this delay until October 7 and 8. Hmm… while we figure out how to fill in the time please watch these commercials featuring some of our local wrestling stars.

First a commercial from the spring/summer of 1988 for a well known fast food chain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVU74yRxD10

And here is a commercial from 1989 for one of the western region’s car dealers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3SBErqVxLM

Looking back at our previous installments of El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we’ve looked at some of the history of several of the wrestlers that we will be following. But, outside of the feud with Steve Strong, we haven't really done that for Carlos Colon. Since we’re in a postponement delay for Aniversario, let’s go ahead and learn a bit more about ‘El Acrobata de Puerto Rico’ Carlitos Colon.

Carlos Colon is one of the co-owners of CSP and is the top star of the promotion. He has been wrestling in Puerto Rico for 16 years at this point, and has had several rivalries against a who’s who of wrestling. Names such as Ric Flair, Harley Race, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr. Bruiser Brody, Abdullah the Butcher, the Iron Sheik, Ernie Ladd, and many others have faced and been defeated by Carlos Colon. He is the man who defeated the NWA World champion and created the Universal title. He is the Puerto Rican hero and fan favorite, fighting in all types of matches. And although there are people that now say that Carlos only did it because he was the owner, well… it doesn't work if the people do not buy what you’re selling. And for nearly a decade and a half (so far at this point in time), the Puerto Rican fans have been buying into Carlos Colon. So up to this point, not buying that particular talking point.
   
Here is a highlight video from late 1988 featuring Carlos Colon in action against several different opponents, set to the song ‘Soy Boricua’ typically used for the Carlos Colon video packages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-gXwPFLUEY

The year 1989 for Carlos Colon started with a huge match on Three Kings Day where Colon managed to vanquish his big rival of the previous two years, one Hercules Ayala. Afterwards, Carlos would start a feud with another Club Deportivo member in Jason the Terrible. This feud, stretching throughout January and February of 89, saw three titles come into plays at different points in the feud, with the Universal, TV and Caribbean titles all being defended at different points, sometimes with two or (in one instance) all three titles being on the line. The feud would reach a climax on February 25 in Carolina, where the Universal and TV titles were both on the line in a barbed wire match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uos29UMh_FE

Carlos is the Universal champion, Jason is the TV champion. Your commentators for this match are Ricky Santana and Dick Slater (this is from a VHS release a couple of years later). Where in the TNT vs Steve Strong match we saw a lot more hesitancy in getting into the barbed wire early on, in this one they jump right into using the barbed wire as a weapon, particularly on Carlos Colon. Jaso has an advantage due to his mask, which protects him from the barbed wire and also adds more of a punch to his headbutts. After a few minutes, Carlos manages to start a short comeback but a low blow from Jason stops Colon’s momentum. Carlos eventually gets the advantage and proceeds to throw Jason into the barbed wire several times, allowing Carlos to take Jason’s mask off. Carlos, wearing the mask, proceeds to continue his attack on Jason and busts him open. From there, it’s all Colon as Jason bleeds profusely. It looks like Chicky Starr is going to try to interfere but a masked TNT runs him out of the arena. It looks like Carlos has the match well in hand but a knee to the head gives Jason a chance to mount one last offensive flurry. Amissed kneedrop gives Carlos an opening though, as the figure four leglock is applied on Jason. Although Jason tries to reverse it, Carlos reverses it back and Jason finally gives up. Carlos gets the win and both titles. Carlos celebrates outside of the ring with TNT as we get one last look at a blood covered Jason.

MD: It’s nice to have a little more context on Colon’s earlier 89 as he’s been out of the project after Strong took him out; he’s the ace of the promotion, after all. This was a grisly piece of business. Jason stomped him down as he was getting into the ring and used the wire liberally once he had control, grinding Carlos back into it. The hope spots here were things like whip reversals. It was the great equalizer despite the difference in size. Colon was taking extra, bloody punishment because the wire was there, but he could handle it and he’d be taking punishment against Jason one way or the other. Finally, Carlos fought his way out of the corner, and it was all the more impressive that it wasn’t a banana peel transition to comeback (though there would be one to set up the finish). The key moments were Carlos stealing the mask and laying in a bunch of headbutts to a bloodied Jason and then Chicky getting chased from ringside. Jason would come back but miss a knee drop off the turnbuckles. That led to the figure-four and Carlos powered through a reversal attempt for a big, impactful win. And hey, as a bonus, Dick Slater’s on commentary and calls “barbed wire” “bobbed wire” a hundred times.

EB: After the feud with Jason ended, Carlos would face the challenge of Abudda Dein.  They would face each other on the big March 4 Regreso de los Grandes card, with a rematch occurring the following week in Caguas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao1qc1s7Pfk

This is the March 11 rematch. El Profe is with Abudda, and as Hugo mentions on commentary, Dein is the Puerto Rican champion at the time of the match. Only the Universal title is on the line however. Abudda dominates early but, when the fight goes to the outside, Carlos is able to regain control. They continue fighting on the outside, with Carlos bodyslamming Dein on top of the stacked wood panels that cover the arena floor when not in use. Carlos rams Dein into the ringpost and finally throws him back into the ring. Dein is busted open but manages to regain control when Carlos gets back in the ring. You’ll notice that Abudda wears the pointed toe boots and he is suspected of potentially having loaded boots as well. Dein uses a foreign object to hit Colon in the throat in order to keep the advantage. The ref checks Abudda but does not find the object. After Carlos tries a crossbody pinfall attempt, Dein goes back to using the foreign object to knock Carlos down. Abudda continues in control but an attempt to splash Colon is countered when Carlos lifts his knees. Carlos gets fired up and we see his famous cartwheel as he gets the crowd into it. Carlos attacks the cut on Abudda’s forehead, including punches and biting. Abudda blocks an incoming charge by Colon and goes for the camel clutch, but Carlos almost immediately maneuvers out of it and does a sitting senton onto Abudda’s back. After a brief back and forth, Carlos manages to surprise Abudda with a backslide and get the pin. Carlos retains the Universal title and is set to start a feud with a recent newcomer by the name of Sadistic Steve Strong.

MD: This was really good too! Dein came in with a ton of intensity; sure, some of those elbow strikes showed air but it was a good effort. Colon took over with the bell immediately once they hit the outside and just mauled Dein around the ring with some great wild brawling. I love that Hugo here called an atomic drop an “electric chair”, which is really just a great name for it when you think about it. Dein would come back with a power move or two back inside the ring and then hid the object with Profe’s help to great heat from the crowd. Carlos got his big punching comeback including the cartwheel and they went to a pretty impactful finishing stretch. Just a really good sub-10 minute match that covered a lot of ground.

EB: So we’ve seen Carlos Colon in action, but if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about how Carlos got his start and where he comes from, do we have the special for you. In the lead up to the original date for Aniversario 89, a special looking at Carlos Colon was aired. Get ready to learn more about Carlos Colon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XblZ40d8CVk

We begin with Hugo Savinovich asking several people across different towns in Puerto Rico who they think will win the upcoming match at Aniversario between Carlitos Colon and Steve Strong (with the background music being the Lucha Libre rap song they had made for the Aniversario music video). The first person seems to pick Steve Strong because he has seen how Strong injured Carlos by smashing him against the ringpost and thinks that if Strong was able to do it once he possibly can do it again. Most everyone else asked thinks it’ll be Carlitos Colon, except for the last two kids who say Steve Strong and (for some reason) Ivan Koloff  Hugo (on voiceover) then welcomes us to this special look at Carlitos, as we’ll learn his story, how he got his start and who the ‘Acrobata de Puerto Rico’ is.
We cut to a scene of four men playing dominoes, one of them being Carlitos. Hugo explains that we are in Santa Isabel, the birthplace of Carlitos Colon. Specifically, the neighborhood they are in is Barrio Jauca. The man sitting across from Carlitos is his dad, Carlos Colon Sr. Hugo approaches Don Carlos (in case you’re not aware Don is an honorific used for older men, for women it would be Doña) and greets him. Hugo asks Don Carlos, since they’re recording this documentary for the fans to watch in Puerto Rico and parts of the U.S., what are his thoughts on what his son has accomplished as an athlete, family man and citizen. Don Carlos is very proud of his son, but he knows that Carlitos has a tough match coming up where he is going to have to give it his all. He’s hoping his son will emerge once again the victor. Hugo asks Don Carlos how Carlitos behaved as a kid growing up, to which Don Carlos replies (without missing a beat in playing his hand of dominoes) he was well-mannered, loved sports and very studious. Everyone around here considered him very bright up until he decided to get into the world of wrestling. And now, you can see how far Carlitos has come with God’s help and his own effort. Hugo adds ‘And a tremendous father as well’ before thanking Don Carlos for his time and wishes him luck in the game.'

We then cut to a railroad crossing sign and then see Carlos and his brother Jose Colon walking on some old railroad tracks. They’re talking about an incident that happened when they were younger involving Carlos and what the local residents call ‘la maquina’ (‘the machine’), which we later find out is what they call the sugar cane train that passed through there. Jose goes “Remember Junior when the incident happened, I was with Noel (their other brother) and the guys swimming at the lake when someone showed up with the news you had been run over by the machine.” Two things came to Jose’s mind, first the beating they were going to get and second that Carlos was dead. Carlos points and says remember over there was where the accident happened. Tati was the one that took him to the hospital. Jose mentions that they thought he was dead because you hear that the machine ran Carlos over and you can’t think of Carlos not being dead after hearing that. Carlos says it was a miracle from God and he’s thankful that all he ended up with was losing a part of his big right toe. Jose mentions that it was also lucky that Carlos was wearing their uncle’s shoes which were very big on him and that part of the shoes was what was mainly run over by the machine.
 
We then go to Hugo (I’ve got to say that Hugo’s wearing some choice wardrobe throughout this documentary) who is sitting with a woman looking at a photobook. This is Aida Colon, cousin of Carlos Colon. Hugo asks what age Carlos was in the pictures they’re looking at and they flash on screen two pictures, one at 7 years old and another at 12 years old. Hugo asks Aida about the terrible accident Carlos had with the machine. Aida, who was a nursing student at the time of the accident (and at the time of the interview served as a director of nursing services for the southern region), recounts what she remembers. Her parents called her up since she was a nursing student and told her that the train had run over Carlos’ foot. Since she was a nursing student she had some connections and called to give the emergency room warning that they were coming. When she first heard Carlos was run over by the train, she feared the worst based on past experiences they had in the hospital with accidents related to the train (even mentioning that as recently as a year or so ago a kid was killed in an accident). When they got to the hospital they had already passed Junior (as the family calls Carlitos) into the operating room, which scared her even more. As a nursing student she wasn’t able to get in the OR since they had started surgery but she could go and watch from the observation window. They had to remove part of his toe since it was pretty shredded by the machine, but it was a miracle that nothing worse happened. Hugo tries again to find out if there’s any dirt on Carlos misbehaving as a kid (did he do any pranks, throw rocks?) but Aida says he was a normal kid, very intelligent and a good kid. The community and family are very proud of Carlos’ accomplishments in wrestling, which surprises her since Carlos’ mom didn’t like wrestling when they would watch it on TV.

From Santa Isabel we head to New York City for a special interview with Carlos Colon’s mother Rosa Esther. Hugo (still wearing the choice outfits) says that this is someone he has wanted to interview for a long time and asks her about her family. Roda has four children, Carlos is the oldest and they were all good kids. “Carlitos Colon… (looks at someone off camera smiling, I’m guessing Carlos), well what can I say.”  He was always a well-behaved kid and smart. Hugo asks if he liked sports as a kid but Rosa says she only really noticed it more when Carlos first came to her with the news he was getting into professional wrestling. Hugo asks at what age Carlos moved to NYC and she said that he was 13 when she moved them there. Rosa says Carlos quickly adapted to life in NYC, picking up the language and liking life there. Rosa was asked when did she first see Carlos show interest in becoming a wrestler, Rosa says she found out when Carlos told her. She would take him to see wrestling shows but never would have imagined he would get into that. She was against it from the start but Carlos insisted that was what he wanted to do.

Against her wishes (and despite her best efforts to dissuade him) she finally relented but only with the promise that he would finish school first (she was hoping he’d go to university and still has that idea). She first heard from Carlos about wanting to become a wrestler when he was 14 (not even a year after moving to NYC). He would alternate studying and training at the gym, which was the one thing she liked since that training at the gym kept him off the streets. She thought she would be able to chip away and dissuade him, but it didn;t work. He graduated high school and the very next day went off to Boston to start his pro wrestling career (“he kept very quiet about it and didn’t tell me until he was going, it was literally here is my diploma on Monday and I’m leaving for Boston on Tuesday”). Carlos would visit every month up until he went to Canada where he spent a lot of time in his early career.

Hugo asks, as a mother, how has she handled some of the ups and downs Carlos has experienced as a wrestler. Rosa says she is happy for him with the success he’s found since that is what he wanted to do. She doesn't like the injuries and pain he’s had from wrestling, but she doesn’t want to watch him wrestle and does not plan on ever watching the matches at all. She’s told him that while he’s in wrestling to not dream or dare to ask her to go watch him wrestle, she absolutely refuses to do so. Hugo mentions that he’s recently recovered from shoulder surgery and if he’s maybe mentioned retirement. Rosa starts complaining, saying he’s been at this game for years about telling her when he was retiring. First it was when he turned 36, then it was 38, and then it was 40. Does she still see in Carlos the same hunger to win on this trip compared to previous years? Yes, still with the same hunger to win, no matter the hits he takes Carlos always has the same excitement. The only time he disobeyed her was when he got into wrestling. Hugo then throws out a crazy comment considering that Carlos is sitting off camera. Hugo brings up that he’s made her a grandmother and says (and I quote) “he’s a bit ugly but he’s given you some beautiful grandchildren… don’t tell him I called him ugly”. Rosa says Carlos is a good dad, a good son and a good husband. Hugo thanks Rosa for allowing them to interview her since the public always wanted to meet her. Hugo asks about the upcoming match which is considered dangerous, Rosa says she doesn’t want him to do it (as always) but Carlos is going to do it anyway (as always). He’s doing what he loves and one is happy doing what they love.

We then see Carlos and his mother walking to the market, as Carlos on voiceover talks about how hard his mother worked and scrimped and saved in order to provide for him and his siblings. His mom was always a fighter and it’s from her he gets that fighting spirit. The market hasn’t really changed although the prices have gotten more expensive. A Steve Strong promo follows this, as we are after all on the verge of Aniversario.

We remain in the NYC area as we get to meet Barba Roja, Carlos Colon’s trainer and as Carlos calls him like a second father to him (since he got there when he was 13 years old). Hugo says he’s heard a lot about Barba Roja from several wrestlers that had trained with him. Hugo once again tried to get the dirt about Carlos being a mischievous kid, but Barba Roja isn’t biting. He says that the case of Carlitos is a very special one. A week before Carlos first showed up at his gym, one of the young guys from the gym died in an accident in New Jersey, it was Isaac Rosario’s brother. They called the young man ‘Silencioso’ because he was always so quiet. When Carlitos came in through the door a week later, they all were petrified because he was the spitting image (although younger) of the recently deceased Silencioso. Barba Roja had a few kids at the gym and that was when he started working with Carlitos. Hugo talks about the work that goes into training and also mentions that Barba Roja is from Argentina. At that, the background music for some reason changes to Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.

Barba Roja talks about some of the training Carlos did, and how shortly after Carlos started they sent one of the Puerto Rico guys at the gym (not Carlos) to Europe who wrestled as El Indio Vega over there. They were able to save Vega from the streets and get him off drugs, which was a challenge but that was what they did with the kids. Barba Roja says that Carlos had a certain natural ability for wrestling, so he was able to pick things up quickly. You have to make sure the students don’t develop bad habits. Hugo says he heard Barba Roja was very strict but that is why his trainees haven been successful. They talk about his training philosophy and how you have to learn how t- manage each student specifically with regards to training. Barba Roja is very proud of his pupil’s accomplishments and also with himself because he was able to do something with Carlos. “I polished a diamond that maybe someone else wouldn't have been able to polish the way I did”. Hugo talks about the upcoming match with Steve Strong, and considering Carlos is coming off shoulder surgery, what advice would Barba Roja give? Barba says it’s about remembering your training and coordinating mind and body with the plan you want to execute. Barba Roja talks about how he started in lighter weight classes and that the wrestling style in his day was different than now. Hugo finishes the interview by thanking Barba Roja for the work he’s done with Carlos and invites him to come over to Puerto Rico sometime and be at some of the matches (I wonder if Barba Roja will take them up on that offer?). He also asks what did the teacher feel to be reunited with his student? Barba Roja says that he feels both felt the same thing, how do you describe the feeling with someone you in a sense helped raise. They close the interview and show Carlos and Barba Roja hugging. 

After a brief clip of Carlos training in NYC, it’s back to Santa Isabel where they have a ring set up for Carlos to train in. Invader #1 and Isaac Rosario are there and Hugo speaks with Isaac about his relationship with Carlos. Isaac’s known him since Carlos was 13 years old and tells his account of Carlos showing up at the gym. They basically started out at the same time with the same teacher and they’ve been friends since. Isaac says Carlos is a beautiful person who gets along with everybody, and theyré basically like brothers. Hugo again tries to see if Carlos caused problems when younger, but Isaac says that he always listened and behaved. Regarding Steve Strong, Isaac thinks it's a tough nut to crack. Carlos has to find that weak point and exploit it.

We then go to a strategy session between Carlos, Invader and Isaac where they are discussing how to handle Steve Strong. They talk about the elbow protector Strong wears, which they’re sure has to be loaded. Isaac asks if there's any way to get the elbow protector of Strong but Carlos thinks it's very tough to do. He needs to have a strategy in case they can’t get the protector off. He’s going to have to just avoid that clothesline of Strong’s and try to take him down before Strong can follow up. Steve is strong and can take a lot of punishment (Invader agrees that Strong can take a lot of punishment) but does not have technique, he can’t avoid counters. Isaac says that Strong must have a weak point but Invader thinks he doesn’t have one. They then start practicing counter maneuvers to Strong’s clothesline including dropkicks and a back suplex.
 
As training continues, Hugo talks with Jose Colon on how he sees his brother’s attitude after coming back from injury. Jose says Carlos has his usual focus and good attitude with his training. Hugo asks how the family honestly sees Carlos’ chances in the match with Steve Strong. Jose says the family is worried since this quite the diabolical individual, is one of the strongest opponents Carlos has had and they know the damage he can do.
We close with comments from Carlos Colon himself. He mentions the two big highlights of his careers were defeating Ric Flair to become the Universal champion and avenging his wife at the previous year's Aniversario against Hercules Ayala, The two big lowlights are when Abdullah blinded him with ammonia and Strong injuring his shoulder, an injury which he feared at this stage of his career would cause him to retire. Thank God it wasn't the case but he’s looking to avenge this. How does Carlos want the Puerto Rican people to remember him? He wants to be remembered as he is, a man committed with the people and with fighting evil, be it the rudos in the ring, drugs, vices, the bad things, a man willing to help humanity in whatever way is possible. As Carlos smiles looking off to the horizon, we cut to a screen where cursive writing appears. It says “Comprometido con mi gente, Carlitos Colon” (“Committed to my people, Carlitos Colon”). The song Memories plays us out as the credits roll.

MD: Even having seen a lot of his bigger matches from earlier in the decade (or at least what had made the 80s set), I just never had the sense that I knew Carlitos. I knew him in the ring, the selling, the fiery comebacks, the cartwheel, the pride that he carried himself with, but I just don’t have the same sense of him I do Hogan or Flair or Jumbo or Baba or Lawler or any of his peers at the top of other promotions or that had a percentage. This helped in some ways, the stories of him as a serious child, who didn’t cause trouble, no matter how much Hugo might have wanted. Obviously, this was worked to a degree because everything is, but it was believable and provided sort of an underpinning for the man behind the man that I’m happy to accept and carry forward as I continue to watch him. And as much as I loved seeing the dominos and the Don, my favorite bit might have been the strategy session, as such things really put over the seriousness and sport of matches. I love the notion of wrestlers thinking about such things.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, it is time for Aniversario 89! The moment of truth has arrived. Who will walk out as the Universal champion? Who will keep the rights to the TNT name? Will the Invaders best their respective opponents? Will there be any more changes to the card before showtime? We’ll find out next time.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List