El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Welcome to 1990

Week 17: Welcome to 1990

EB: The year 1989 was an eventful one in Puerto Rican wrestling. A year that started with Carlos Colon vanquishing his rival Hercules Ayala and sending him packing from Puerto Rico, it included such moments as the return of Invader #1 to the ring, the arrival of Sadistic Steve Strong and his reign as Universal champion, the continued rise of TNT as a singles star, a hurricane hitting the island and postponing Aniversario, Carlos Colon being put on the shelf with a shoulder injury and making a comeback to regain the Universal title, the retirement of Invader #3, several notable names such as JYD, Jimmy Valiant, Kerry Von Erich and Ivan Koloff (among others) making appearances in the territory, and a final battle between Colon and Strong to determine who stayed on the island. It’s been a fun and learning experience for us, and I hope you’ve enjoyed and learned about Puerto Rican wrestling throughout our look at most of 1989. But time marches on and so does our journey, as the calendar now reads 1990.

The new year arrives with a new Universal champion in the form of one Leo Burke. The proclaimed master of the figure-four leglock had been able to defeat Carlos Colon thanks to weeks of repeated damage to Colon’s knee throughout their series of matches. The big blow came at La Gran Guerra where El Club Deportivo focused their post-match attack exclusively on Colon’s knee. This came to a head the next day in Mayaguez where, with the pain in his knee becoming unbearable, Carlos Colon was pinned while in the figure four leglock. While Chicky Starr celebrated that once again his stable had the Universal champion, all of the other singles titles remained in the hands of El Ejercito de la Justicia (despite the best effort of the rudos). Now, all attention is on the customary Three Kings Day show that signals the beginning of the new wrestling season. The main event is a rematch for the Universal title featuring Carlos Colon challenging new champion Leo Burke. Carlos had vowed on tv that he was working on making sure his knee got healthy in the three weeks between the season ender of 1989 and the January 6 Three Kings Day card. We also have several other title matches on the card, some stemming from issues that arose at the 1989 season ender. So let’s begin our journey through 1990 with the happenings from Three Kings day weekend.

Before getting to the Three Kings day weekend proper, let’s take a moment to recap who the champions are currently: Leo Burke (Universal), Invader #1 (Puerto Rico), TNT (Television), Miguel Perez Jr. (Caribbean) and Super Medico (World Junior). Our World tag champions are Mark & Chris Youngblood while the Caribbean tag champions are Los Mercenarios. Let’s look at where each of the other singles champions (besides Burke) are going into Three Kings Day (we’ll discuss the tag titles a bit later). 

Super Medico had been in a rivalry with Brett Sawyer over the World Junior title to end 1989 but had also faced a challenge from Chicky Starr on Thanksgiving Day as well as having a series of matches with Abudda Dein. Medico was in action on Three Kings Day, although we do not have the information on who his opponent was. But as the month of January advances, a new arrival to the territory will emerge as the next challenger to the World Junior title. We’ll discuss this in more detail soon.

TNT has been fending off several of Chicky Starr’s hired guns since Chicky was embarrassed by TNT at Aniversario. As 1989 closed, TNT was helping Carlos Colon against Leo Burke and had successfully defended the TV title against Sika. While we do not know who TNT faced on Three Kings Day, he is still being targeted by El Club Deportivo. 

Invader #1 had spent the latter half of 1989 feuding with several of El Profe’s men over the Puerto Rico title. But at the end of 1989, Invader was challenged by Manny Fernandez of El Club Deportivo. While Invader retained the title, the fallout from that match and from La Gran Guerra meant that they would have a rematch on January 6. One other detail that happened with Invader #1 during the holiday break was that, in a segment of El Deporte es la Solucion (a look at different sports hosted by Carlos Colon in an effort to promote and create interest for kids to try out and practice sports) Invader #1 was the guest and revealed that he was looking to form a new Invaders tag team in 1990. He also announced that his new partner would be his brother Maelo Huertas. We’ll follow this story as 1990 progresses. 

Miguel Perez Jr. had taken a bit of a break from full time tag action with Huracan Castillo and had successfully defended the Caribbean title against Gary Albright. He is set to defend the title once more on January 6 against the newest member of El Club Deportivo. 

Let’s now go to Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon for a rundown of what happened to kick off 1990. First, let’s take the opportunity to see what Gary Albright was up to in the new year. Although he was unsuccessful in capturing the Caribbean title, Albright continued to be dominant on tv. He is scheduled to face Ricky Santana on Three Kings Day. Ricky had to deal with Kokina to end 1989, let’s see how he fares against another larger opponent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E4dne9AGrs

As the match starts, Ricky signals that he wants the ref to toss Profe out. Ricky pumps up the crowd as referee El Vikingo talks with Profe and Albright. Gary starts motioning to the crowd to calm down and steps out of the ring with El Profe. Carlos on commentary once again talks about hoping to have managers banned from ringside (to which Chicky remarks ‘Dreaming doesn’t cost a thing, so Carlos can keep dreaming about that’). El Profe is staying at ringside as Albright gets back in the ring to begin the match. Santana continues to want Profe out of there but the ref tells him he can’t kick him out for no reason. They finally lock up and Albright gives a clean break when Santana is backed into the ropes. Another lockup sees Santana backed again into the ropes and this time Albright tries to hit a surprise blow on Santana on the break. Santana dodges and hits Albright with a chop.  Albright is admonished by the ref while Santana plays to the crowd. Carlos mentions that he likes Ricky’s strategy of going slow against the powerful Albright. A third lockup sees Santana backed into the ropes and Albright breaking with a shove. Santana responds with a shove of his own which angers Albright and he charges at Ricky. The charge is dodged however, and Albright falls through the middle ropes to the outside. Santana once again celebrates in the ring as Albright is frustrated on the outside and complains that his tights were pulled. Albright gets back in the ring as Santana goes after Profe, who apparently had started insulting Ricky. Profe runs away and Santana gets back in the ring (with Hugo commenting that Ricky getting distracted may not be ideal for him if he wants to beat Albright). Carlos says that Ricky has to ignore Profe if he wants to win, while Chicky says that it’s obvious Ricky doesn't want to wrestle against Albright and is looking for any excuse to not engage. 

Albright starts working over Santana’s arm as we go to a commercial break. We come back to Albright hitting punches on a dazed Santana, as Carlos on commentary is complaining about Profe distracting the referee to allow Albright to throw Santana over the top rope. Albright chokes Ricky with his boot, as Hugo says that it appears Ricky has not fully recovered from the blow he took when thrown over the top rope. Albright chokes Santana on the middle rope and then sends Santana into the ropes. Ricky counters with a sunset flip for a two count. An elbow knocks Ricky down and Albright staggers Ricky with a punch. Albright works the arm again with a hammerlock and tries to ram Santana into the corner. Ricky manages to duck down and Albright ends up hitting his shoulder on the top turnbuckle instead.  Ricky tries to start a comeback but an eyerake cuts him off. Albright hits a slam and goes to the top rope, but a splash attempt is countered by Santana’s knees. This may be the opening Ricky needs. The crowd cheers Sanatana on as both men try to get to their feet. Santana manages to stagger Albright with a flurry of punches and backs Gary into a corner. Santana hits s series of standing punches on the turnbuckle and sends Albright across the ring, following up with a clothesline. A kneelift knocks Albright down and Ricky drags Albright to the post. He slams Albright’s arm into the post  three times as the crowd comes alive. Back in the ring, Santana staggers Albright with a clothesline and slams him to the mat. Santana signals that he is going to the top turnbuckle and hits Albright with a top rope splash. It only gets two though. Ricky immediately goes back on offense and gets into a punch exchange with Albright. Santana staggers Albright again and whips him into the ropes. Albright counters and catches Santana off the ropes with the belly-to-belly suplex for the three count. 

MD: This was a great look at exactly where Albright was developmentally. It may not have been the skill that would serve him best in years to come, but he was learning how to stooge and stall here on top of being a monster. He seemed to enjoy bounding through the ropes on a missed assault or wiping out off the top rope. I wasn’t as convinced on his transitions or cut offs (clumsy eyerake or just grabbing an arm). And he could hit the belly-to-belly explosively but generally had to set it up with a whip off the ropes. So some of the transitions here were a little iffy but overall, it was solid. Santana really fit right in with his ability to almost constantly work towards the crowd. He had a massive fiery comeback after one of those wipeout leaps from the top from Albright, including three big whacks of an arm into the post (that weren’t exactly sold). He hit his own top rope splash but just didn’t have enough in the take to put a beast like Albright away. That Albright fully survived Santana’s comeback and just took over with the belly-to-belly didn’t make for the most compelling finish but it did put over Albright as being just that tough and dangerous which made sense if he was going into a program with Colon (or even a quick match set up by what we're watching next). If I’m not mistaken, Carlos and Chicky were on commentary here, which made for some entertaining back and forth about how managers should be banned.

EB: Albright’s belly-to-belly suplex is definitely being established as a move that can come at any moment and end the match. Besides his match with Ricky Santana to start the year, Albright also had an encounter on one of the tv programs with a prominent member of El Ejercito de la Justicia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlodJpa4IOU

Gary Albright is facing Armando Fernandez and the announcers right away mention that Fernandez is at a disadvantage both in size and power. This match is all Albright as he makes quick work of Armando. Within a minute Albright hits the belly-to-belly suplex and goes for the cover, but Albright decides to lift up Armando before the three count in order to continue dishing out more punishment.  A second belly-to-belly is hit and again Albright lifts Armando up at two. The ref starts making noise at both Abright and El Profe about Albright cutting off the count again but Albright ignores him and hits a third belly-to-belly suplex. Again, Albright lifts Armando up before the three. This causes Carlos Colon (in a suit) to get in the ring and to stop Albright’s abuse of his opponent. The ref calls for the bell and awards the match to Albright by dq due to Colon entering the ring and confronting Albright. As Carlos takes off his jacket, Albright jumps Carlos and gets some blows in, including a body slam. However, Carlos counters a throw into the ropes and hits a back bodydrop on Gary before chasing him out of the ring. Carlos and Albriight jaw at each other as Carlos takes off his shirt and it looks like this may be setting up a match between them. We know that there is no extended feud between them, so it’s likely a case of this setting up a match for later in the TV taping or a one-off at a house show.

MD: Pretty effective three minutes here. Albright looks like a monster against Fernandez, clubbing down on him immediately. He hits repeated belly-to-belly suplexes off the ropes but then picks Fernandez up at two. Albright is a guy who Watts or Verne would have picked up in a heartbeat five years earlier, but the world was different in 1989-90. This was more or less how he should have been presented. It drew out Colon who interjected. Albright ambushed him but Colon was able to run him off. We’ll see in the footage to come but I don’t think they foresaw a six month program between the two like what you had with Strong, so it made sense to leave the fans wanting more but not have Colon absolutely destroyed here. There’d been enough of that in 89. Albright still came off as a threat.

EB: The start of 1990 also saw a legend arrive in the territory as the newest member of Chicky Starr’s Club Deportivo. Harley Race, who had previously made appearances as the NWA World champion back in the early 80s and who had made a return appearance to CSP for Thanksgiving 89, is wrestling on the Three Kings Day show. His opponent is Miguel Perez Jr and the Caribbean title is on the line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0apiz2srPM

As the match introductions are made, Hugo, Carlos and Chicky on commentary mention that Miguelito has a very tough opponent in the legendary and former multi-time World champion Harley Race. Chicky (the one at ringside) mugs for the camera, looking very happy to have Harley Race in his stable. As the ref checks Harley for foreign objects and the combatants jaw at each other before the match starts, Hugo and Chicky talk about Harley’s success in both the NWA and WWF and how he’s looking to continue that success in Puerto Rico (and that Chicky is over the moon having Race in El Club Deportivo). Carlos puts over the talent in CSP and says it won’t be easy for Harley. The match starts and Miguelito manages to take control early on, keeping Race off balance with a crossbody off the ropes and blocking Race’s punches after a second lockup. Miguelito slams Harley and puts Race in a standing headlock.  Harley counters by sending Miguelito into the ropes and attempts to toss Perez over the top rope. Miguelito blocks the attempt but Race does it again and sends Perez flying over the top to the floor. Race goes after Miguelito and hits him with a punch to the head and then a sit down piledriver on the floor (although he didn’t get much force on it). Harley gets back in the ring as Perez tries to shake off the effects of the piledriver. The ref starts his count but Perez manages to get on the apron. Race cuts him off and guillotines Perez on the top rope. Harley kicks Miguelito off the apron and goes after him to the floor. Hugo on commentary starts asking Chicky just how he is able to get all this talent to come in under his management since it took Hugo a lot of work when he was manager to get people to come in. Chicky says that it’s because he’s intelligent. Race grabs Perez by the head to try to ram him into the post, but Miguelito counters and sends Harley head first into the ringpost. Now it’s Harley who is trying to shake off the effects of an attack. Miguelito goes on the offensive and punches and chops Race against the ring. Carlos on commentary segues into complaining about how, with all the talented wrestlers Chicky brings in, why does Chicky insist on interfering in the matches (it’s an argument that’s been going on for a few months on tv by this point and something Chicky continues to deny he does). At ringside, Perez continues to attack Race but a low blow by Harley stops Perez.  Race rams Miguelito into the ringside chairs and gets back in the ring. The camera shows Miguelito on the floor holding his arm as you can see some fans trying to help him back up. Perez gets back in the ring and gets hit with a clothesline as we go to a commercial break.

Back from commercial and the tide has turned, as Miguelito whips Harley into the corner and Race takes a bump over the top turnbuckle to the floor. Perez goes after Race on the outside and starts hitting several forearms to Race’s back as Chicky at ringside gets in the ring and protests to the referee that Race was thrown over the top rope (while ignoring Race had done that to Perez earlier). The ref tells Chicky to get out of the ring as Perez slams Race’s head into the ringsteps. Race stumbles away towards the ring announcer’s table and, when Miguelito gets close, grabs the Caribbean title belt and hits several blows to Miguelito’s midsection. Race puts the title back on the table and gets  back into the ring as Miguelito is down on one knee at ringside trying to recover. Race tries to suplex Perez back into the ring but Perez counters and ends up sending Race into the ropes for a roll up pin attempt. Race kicks out at two but Perez continues the attack with several punches to Harley’s head. Perez hits his powerslam finisher but Race kicks out at two! Miguelito looks frustrated as Chicky gloats on commentary. Perez tries a dropkick but Harley manages to swat him away. Miguelito holds his head as he slowly gets up, allowing Race to hook him in a fisherman suplex for the three count. Harley Race is the new Caribbean champion! 

MD: Like night and day going from Albright to Race. I have my issues with, let’s say, 1980 Race, but in 1990, in PR, against guys like Perez, it’s pretty cool just to see him and see the value he adds. He took one giant bump over the top that he really shouldn’t have taken, but in general, it was more about the little things, a cut off here, a facial expression there. He took over with a Chicky distraction and a pile driver on the floor. Perez was losing this one so he was out there to look strong. That meant coming back too soon from that pile driver and the belt shot later in the match. It was another match where the heel kicked out of a big move and hit his finisher with the interference coming earlier, which maybe isn’t the best way to do it. It made more sense with Albright than it did here, but I guess you also want to put over a guy you’re going to use as a title holder as being as legitimate as possible. Outside those two qualms I liked this a lot. And Chicky was funny on commentary as Hugo was griping that when he was a manager, he couldn’t get guys as easily as Chicky could.

EB: As mentioned earlier, Manny Fernandez was facing Invader #1 in a rematch for the Puerto Rico title. While we don’t have footage of the match, Manny was able to become the Puerto Rico champion. Let’s take a look at a tv match featuring Manny against a newcomer to CSP in Nick Ayala. More importantly, this video also has a clip of a match between Invader and Manny that is from after January 6.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l5bNcG9zQ0

Ayala surprises Manny to start, hitting several moves successfully. Manny is visibly taken aback by Ayala’s initial success but gains control using his veteran experience, first by reversing Ayala’s momentum off the ropes and then by faking a test of strength and kicking Ayala in the gut. Ayala tries to counter with punches to the midsection but Manny cuts Ayala off and from there just takes over. There’s a point where Ayala is on the mat while Chicky claps enthusiastically for Manny’s handiwork (and Chicky even gets a cheapshot in once done clapping). Manny slingshots Ayala into the bottom rope throat first and just continues on the attack, finishing Ayala off with his jumping rolling elbow smash.

Immediately after this, we get a short clip of Manny taking on Invader #1. It’s the finishing stretch of what may be the January 6 rematch (it looks like they’re in Mayaguez so this match may be from January 7). Invader is in the midst of a comeback on Manny, staggering Fernandez with chops and a clothesline into the corner. Invader tries to send Manny across the ring but Manny counters and sends Invader to the corner instead. Invader manages to stop himself from hitting the corner, but Manny comes charging in from behind. However, Invader uses the ropes to steady himself and leap over Manny’s charge. Invader ends up behind Manny and rolls him up for a pin attempt. However, Manny is able to shift the momentum before the three count and ends up on top with a roll up instead. Manny grabs the tights for leverage and pins Invader for the three count. Manny quickly leaves the ring as Invader for a moment looks like he thought he had gotten the pin before Manny countered, but the referee raises Manny’s hand as the winner as Invader looks on. The ref starts motioning for the title belt as the video ends.   

MD: Commentary seems to indicate this is Ayala’s debut but that doesn’t seem right. Manny gives him a bit to start (one back body drop) before clowning him for the rest of the match. Chicky is a constant presence, laughing, pointing, shrugging, whacking Ayala in the head. He doesn’t take away from Manny because Manny’s very good at taking up all of the air in the room in the first place. This was a straightforward showcase for the nefarious pairing.

EB: The Youngbloods and Los Mercenarios had a match for the World tag titles at the 1989 season ender that saw the Youngbloods retain the titles by disqualification when Los Mercenarios attacked them with the leather belts the Mercenarios were wearing. The resulting attack (where Chris was tied by the neck to the turnbuckle and Mark was repeatedly whipped by both Mercenarios) has led to a rematch occurring on Three Kings Day weekend. The World tag titles are on the line once more but in a tornado rules strap match. We don’t have the January 6 match but we do have the match from the following day in Mayaguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJWzmSOb6bI

We are in Mayaguez and the Youngbloods start off hot, going right after Los Mercenarios and whipping them with the leather straps. Los Mercenarios run to the safety of the outside as the Youngbloods stand tall in the ring to the crowd’s cheers. The ref tries to calm things down so that he can attach both teams to the straps. We end up with Mark tied to Morrow and Chris tied to Acevedo. This is tornado rules, so all four men are in the ring at the same time, but to win you have to touch all four corners first without interruption. Los Mercenarios have the strategy early on of attacking the Youngblood brother not attached to them from behind, allowing them to get the upper hand when the brothers try to come to each other’s aid. Los Mercenarios choke the Youngbloods in different corners of the ring for several moments, but Chris is able to break the choke and sends Acevedo into the ropes. Chris uses the strap to clothesline Acevedo down and attacks Morrow in order to break the choke on his brother. Chris whips Acevedo and starts choking him with the strap as Mark uses his strap to attack Morrow. After a moment, Morrow is able to get away from Mark long enough to attack Chris from behind. This allows Acevedo to gain the advantage on Chris while Mark continues attacking Morrow, first by using the strap to crotch Morrow and then by whipping Morrow with the strap. One more yank on the strap between Morrow’s legs causes him to flip over onto the mat. With Morrow down, Mark tees off on Acevedo in order to get him off his brother. The Youngbloods go on the attack but Morrow cuts off Mark with a low blow. Morrow starts touching the turnbuckles and gets to three before Mark stops him. Chris then starts touching the turnbuckles and hits three of the. However, the fourth one has Acevedo waiting for him and Acevedo knocks Chris down to stop the count. Acevedo starts touching the turnbuckles as we go to commercial break. 

Back from the break, and Chris sends Morrow to the outside of the ring. Mark (who is attached to Morrow) goes outside to continue the attack. Meanwhile, Chris focuses his attention on Acevedo, using the strap to whip him. Acevedo gets sent into the ropes and both Chris and Acevedo knock each other down with clotheslines. Morrow is on the outside whipping Mark with the strap as Acevedo gets up and starts touching the turnbuckles. Chris is following him though, and touches the turnbuckles after Acevedo (who is moving slowly). Acevedo hits the second turnbuckle with Chris quickly touching it as well from behind. Acevedo touches the third turnbuckle with Chris quickly touching it as well. Now it’s a matter of who gets the fourth turnbuckle. Chris hooks himself on the ropes to prevent Acevedo from reaching the last turnbuckle, which causes El Profe to jump on the ring apron and punch Chris in order to break his hold on the ropes. The referee sees this and goes after Profe and in doing so misses Acevedo crash into the fourth turnbuckle (which would have given Los Mercenarios the win). As Acevedo stands near the corner, Mark reaches out from the floor and trips up Acevedo, sending him to the mat. The ref turns around and sees Chris making a dash towards the fourth turnbuckle. The Youngbloods have won the match and retained the World tag titles. The crowd celebrates as El Profe complains to the ref. As the Youngbloods are hugging each other, Los Mercenarios and El Profe attack them from behind. Before too much damage is done, Super Medico and Ricky Santana run in to chase the rudos out of the ring. 

MD: This is a strap match and was one of the more interesting looking things on paper from the new footage. Unfortunately, there’s a commercial break in the middle so we only get about six minutes of it. I think Chris was with the Cuban Assassin and Mark was with Morrow. It’s basically all action with the necessity of close quarters created by the strap keeping things moving. It was touch the corner which feels weird in a tag match but they more or less made it work with the attempts bookended by brawling and whipping, including the comedy crotching on Morrow. Finish was clever as Chris followed behind Assassin only for Profe to intervene at the last second. That distracted the ref who missed Assassin touching the last corner, allowing Chris to dive for it. The fans loved it certainly.

EB: The Universal title rematch between Leo Burke and Carlos Colon ended with interference from Chicky Starr that allowed Burke to retain the Universal title. Due to this interference, Carlos was granted another match with Leo Burke. On TV, Carlos talked about having a surprise in store for Leo and Chicky in order to neutralize any potential interference from Chicky (something Chicky said would not make a difference). Let’s go to that rematch taking place in Manati to see what Colon’s surprise is. 

The match video is split into two parts. 

Part 1

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

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=382FcPLedqQ

The ring introductions are made as we see Leo Burke and Chicky Starr standing on one side of the ring, while Carlos Colon is standing with his trainer Barba Roja. Carlos has brought Barba Roja back to counter Chicky. We see Barba Roja and Chicky pointing and jawing at each other (you’ll remember that Chicky attacked Barba Roja at Aniversario before TNT intervened, which resulted in the spray can being discovered and the Universal title match being restarted). Burke and Chicky look like they want Barba Roja ejected from the ringside area but it’s not happening. The match is announced to have a 60 minute time limit. El Vikingo shows off the title belt as Chicky continues making aggressive gestures at Barba Roja, but Barba is not backing down. Chicky hides behind Burke when Barba Roja makes a move towards Chicky. The bell rings and both managers exit the ring, Barba Roja with a handshake for Carlos and Chicky with the customary pre match hug with Burke. Carlos immediately rushes towards Burke but Leo runs out of the ring and towards the direction of the locker room. For a moment, Carlos looks to give chase but decides to stay back in the ring. Barba Roja had quickly moved in case Chicky tried anything. Burke stops near the exit to the locker room but sees that Colon is not being baited by his tactic. Chicky has a strategy session with Leo as they head back to the ring area. Burke tries to set the pace in the ring but, after Carlos hits a roll up for a two count, once again bails to the outside. The commentators (Hector Moyano and Eliud Gonzalez) are talking about how Carlos has brought back his good luck charm in Barba Roja. Burke stalls in getting back in the ring (complaining about his tights being pulled) but eventually locks up again with Carlos. A clean break occurs once Carlos is backed into the corner, but Colon moves aggressively towards Burke and backs him down. Burke hits a kick and a punch, then sends Carlos into the ropes, but Colon counters with a sunset flip for a pin attempt. They are too close to the ropes and Burke breaks the pin attempt by grabbing the bottom ropes. Burke again bails to the outside to stop Colon’s momentum. Back in and Burke again bails outside after an inside cradle pin attempt by Colon.

This time when Burke gets back in the ring, he switches tactics and decides to beg off from Colon, which does not work. Colon takes over and starts working on Burke's arm. Chicky starts complaining but Barba Roja immediately moves toward  Chicky in order to make sure he doesn't cause a distraction. Carlos continues getting the better of Burke for the next couple of minutes, still working the arm despite Leo’s best attempt to break out of the arm wringer. Burke tries to throw Colon through the ropes to the outside to break the armbar, but in a surprising turn Colon holds on and takes Burke with him to the outside. Colon, still not letting go of Burke’s arm on the outside, gets back in the ring dragging Leo with him. Chicky continues to try to make a move throughout but Barba Roja is right there to block him from getting near the wrestlers. Burke finally breaks out of the armbar and sends Carlos into the ropes. Carlos dodges a blow and tries to counter with a roll up from behind, but Chicky is right there and grabs Burke’s arms to hold onto him and prevent Carlos from taking Burke down. This causes Carlos to fall backwards onto the mat and get the wind knocked out of him. Barba Roja rushes over and complains to the ref about what happened. This turns the tide in Burke’s favor, who starts attacking Carlos with several knee drops. A pin attempt only gets one for Burke. Leo hits several punches on Carlos (including a jab to the throat) and hits a neckbreaker for a two count. Leo uses a leverage throw to send Carlos to the outside near where Chicky is as we go to a commercial break. During the break, we get an interview with Chicky and a newcomer by the name of Eddie Watts. It appears that Eddie has been challenging Super Medico for the World Junior title and is looking to dethrone Medico in their next encounter. We’ll  follow up on this Medico vs Watts rivalry in a later installment.

Back to the match (continued in the second one of the links), Barba Roja runs over to ward off Chicky as Carlos tries to recover from being thrown to the floor. Burke goes to the outside of the ring and hits an inverted atomic drop on Colon. Chicky moves in to spit on Carlos but backs off when Barba Roja moves in as well. Burke rolls in momentarily to break the count and grabs Carlos to attempt what looks to be a piledriver. Carlos counters with a back bodydrop onto the floor. Carlos and Burke both reenter the ring but Leo is just a bit faster and gains the advantage. Burke hits several punches on a stunned Colon and starts getting confident. A second attempt at standing punches from the middle turnbuckle is countered by Colon hooking Leo in a bearhug hold and then hitting an inverted atomic drop. Carlos makes a comeback (including a cartwheel) and has Burke staggering. Both men knock each other down when colliding with a shoulder tackle off the ropes. Burke is up first and decides to go to the top turnbuckle, but he is too slow and Carlos catches him at the top. Burke is slammed off the top turnbuckle and Colon starts stomping on him, as the announcers make note that it looks like Burke is bleeding. Carlos is fired up and continues on the attack, including biting Burke in the face. Carlos gets a sleeper on Burke, who tries to roll out of it. Carlos maintains the hold on Burke, just as he did earlier with the arm wringer. Chicky, seeing Burke in trouble, gets up on the apron and starts climbing the ropes. Barba Roja sees this and jumps on the apron. Barba Roja shakes the top rope, causing Chicky to lose his balance and crotch himself on the top rope. It looks like Barba Roja has effectively neutralized Chicky and Carlos may yet regain the Universal title. Carlos slams Burke and attempts to put on the figure-four, but Burke counters with an inside cradle for two. Burke slams Carlos but Carlos grabs Leo's leg and trips him up (a move we have seen Burke do in previous matches). Carlos keeps a hold on Burke’s leg and a second attempt at the figure four by Carlos is successful. It looks like Carlos may have the match won.

However, as Burke struggles in the hold you can see that Chicky at ringside is motioning with his arms for someone to come out. It’s Manny Fernandez! Manny attacks Colon twice in an attempt to break the figure four but Carlos is not letting go of Burke. The ref tries to get Manny out of the ring, but Barba Roja comes in to try to stop Manny from continuing to interfere by applying a sleeper on Manny (after ducking a punch from Manny). This is countered by Manny ramming Barba Roja back first into the corner. Manny hits Carlos with another kneedrop and throws him over the top rope to the floor. The ref calls for the bell and the match is a disqualification win for Colon (meaning Burke retains the title). Manny goes over to Barba Roja and slams him to the mat. Carlos is out on the floor as Manny goes to the top and hits a kneedrop onto Barba Roja, the same kneedrop that severely injured Invader #3 and caused him to vomit up blood. Barba Roja is in bad shape and, before Mannty can attempt any more damage, we see Invader and TNT run in to chase Manny off. A concerned Carlos and the ringside physician also join the other tecnicos in the ring to check on Barba Roja. A camera cut shows Leo Burke hugging the Universal title belt as he’s leaving the ringside area. There’s no telling how bad Barba Roja is hurt.. 

MD: Pretty great stuff here, unfortunately split into two videos. Colon had Barba Roja to counter Chicky. Burke was exceptional here. Even just in the early going, he was so good at being in the right place at the right time, slinking in and out of the ring, going from stalling to feeding for kinetic spots, back to stalling after getting his comeuppance. Great, great transition as Chicky and Burke grabbed arms as Colon was trying to roll him back off the ropes, causing Carlitos to crack his head on the mat. He came back with a big inverted atomic drop to counter a ten punch in the corner, cartwheel and all, and they went towards an exciting finish where Carlos used the sleeper hold to soften Burke up (neither had gone to the legs yet). Chicky tried to interfere but Barba Roja shook the ropes to take him out. Burke had a great nearfall small package as Colon finally went for the figure four, but Colon got it on, only for Manny to intervene. Barba Roja tried to fend him off as he did Chicky but Manny was too much for him and drew the dq, saving Burke’s title. Post-match they really ratcheted up the heat by flattening Barba Roja. Definitely one of my favorite things we’ve seen so far in this project.
EB: We’re off to a hot start to 1990 as El Club Deportivo now has three of the five singles titles in the promotion. They also look to have seriously injured Barba Roja. If Colon was not happy about feeling cheated out of the Universal title, you can bet that the attack on Barba Roja is going to turn into him seeking revenge.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the feud between the top tecnicos and El Club Deportivo escalates as we get shifts in our feud pairings. Also, we say goodbye to some of our fall and winter of 89 regulars as we get some roster turnover. And… is that Kwang???