El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: The Universal Ninja

Week 21: The Universal Ninja

EB: As March begins we have quite a few developments occurring in CSP. TNT is set to defend the Universal title against the number one contender Abdullah the Butcher (since Carlos Colon stepped aside because he did not want to fight a fellow Ejercito de la Justicia member). The issue between TNT and Abdullah has become a bit more persoanl with the attacks both men perpetrated on each other. We also have Carlos Colon and Manny Fernandez scheduled to clash in what may be a resolution to their feud. The weekend also has several other titles being defended and the debut of the new Invaders tag team. 

We have video of some of the matches and happenings from March 3 but let's mention first some of the results for which we do not have any video.The card featured Rick Valentine defeating Victor Jovica, Carl Styled defeating Miguelito Perez (an issue we saw starts in our previous post), Huracan Castillo Jr defeat Eddie Watts by dq (Watts escapes with the World junior title), Los Mercenarios and Super Medicos went to a  double disqualification in a match for the World tag titles, and (in a bit of a surprise) the Invaders went to a time limit draw against the Alaskan Hunters in their debut. Also schedule for that card was a TV title defense by Leo burke against the returning Pierre Martel.

We have footage from the Universal title match, the TV title match and the Carlos Colon match from March 3. We’ll discuss these in this installment, but the order will be different due to when the matches aired on TV. The reasons for this is that the commentary and talking head segments that accompany some of these matches make reference to the events that surround the TNT vs Abdullah rivalry and covering these matches with the videos means we need to address how their feud unfolds throughout March. We’ll begin with the Universal title match between TNT and Abdullah the Butcher. Let’s go to a segment of Profe’s Wrestling Class where Profe’s guest is El Jeque (this likely aired either March 17 or 24).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvsl1K8O-qY

The video starts with TNT hitting a legdrop on a downed Abdullah as El Profe is narrating. Prpfe comments that TNT is giving all he had but it still isn't enough to put Abdullah away. TNT goes to the top turnbuckle, but Abdullah gets to his feet and catches TNT with a thrust to the throat as TNT comes flying down. Abdullah follows up with his elbowdrop and goes for the pin. TNT manages to get his leg on the bottom rope before the three count, but the ref doesn't see it and counts three. El Vikingo raises Abdullah’s hand as the winner, as TNT continues lying on the mat with his leg still on the bottom rope. Profe starts saying that Abdullah won fair and square and he should be given the title. El Jeque gets in the ring and jumps around in celebration as Profe continues saying that TNT should admit that he was beaten cleanly. All of a sudden, the entire Ejercito de la Justicia has arrived at ringside and starts telling the ref that TNT’s leg was on the rope before the three count. El Profe is irate on commentary, mentioning that ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’ is out here lying to the ref and putting TNT’s leg on the rope in an attempt to get the decision overturned. The ref decides to restart the match and Abdullah starts attacking TNT (who is still lying on the mat). The footage stops as Abdullah continues attacking a downed TNT, the match ends up being a double disqualification with no winner. Profe says that Abdullah had the Universal title belt stolen from him and that the Real Academia condemns this attitude and action from ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’. While he is neutral towards Abdullah the Butcher, El Profe has invited El Jeque to the segment in order for him to explain what will be done about this injustice that was done to Abdullah. El Jeque says that he admits that Abdullah made a mistake in not destroying TNT, but this Saturday Abdullah will finish TNT, will break every bone in his body and send him to the hospital.  At the end, there will be no doubt that Abdullah will be the Universal champion. El Jeque walks off as El Profe starts saying that this guy is a bit arrogant, isn’t he? El Profe signs off and starts muttering under his breath "What an imprudent guy…” as the segment ends. We then get the card lineups for that coming week’s shows, including the full lineup for that Saturday's card featuring the TNT vs Adullah the Butcher rematch.

Abdullah showed off just how aggressive he was feeling on TV in a match vs Huracan Castillo Jr. from a tv taping in San Lorenzo (we’ll cover other matches from that TV taping in our next installment).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzoNcFf3PA

Castillo wastes no time in going right after Abdullah, as soon as Castillo gets in the ring he fires off a series of kicks on Abdullah, who is backed into a corner. Castillo tries to send Abdullah into the opposite corner but is cut off by a thrust to the throat. Castillo recovers quickly and backs Abdullah into another corner with several punches, but one thrust from Abdullah is enough to knock Castillo down. Abdullah follows with a headbutt and knocks Castillo outside. Castillo is trying to recover, but he is bleeding from his head. Abdullah stops Castillo on the ring apron and just assaults him with several headbutts, busting Castillo up even more. Castillo gets dragged into the ring and the headbutts continue. The bleeding is noticeable on Castillo’s forehead and Abdullah knocks Castillo down. El Jeque distracts the ref as Abdullah gouges Castillo’s eyes and continues trying to open up the cut more. Castillo tries to fire back,exchanging blows with Abudllah’s headbutts, but the punishment is too much and Castillo falls down. The blood loss is taking its toll. Abdullah hits his elbowdrop and gets the pinfall. Abdullah is showing what he has planned against TNT in their rematch. 

MD: It’s great to see Abdullah as a weekly character again. He was obviously instantly credible and dangerous, including getting that contested win over a TNT with his foot on the rope. Castillo charged him at the bell but got headbutted into a bloody oblivion. Abby is one of the best cut off guys in wrestling history but he also had a great sense of knowing how much was enough to get across what he was trying to achieve. You didn’t hold it against Castillo that he didn’t do better than lasting three minutes against Abdullah and being a bloody mess; you just thought that Abby was all the more dangerous for his victory.

EB: We’ll discuss the other two matches from March 3rd that we have footage of later on, as we will need to address what happened in the Universal title rematch when we do. In the meantime, there is a new development that we have not covered and that is the status of the Caribbean tag titles. If you recall, the titles were held by the team of Los Mercenarios, specifically the Cuban Assassin and Gerry Morrow. Morrow has been replaced by Ron Starr and the new Mercenarios combination of Cuban Assassin and Ron Starr won the World tag team titles from the Youngbloods. However, we have not yet received clarification on what the team member switch means for the Caribbean tag titles. Well, it has been decided that the Caribbean tag titles are vacant. Los Mercenarios remain the World tag team champions because the current version of the team is the one that won the World tag titles. But it was Acevedo and Morrow who held the Caribbean tag titles and that version of the team is no more. As such, there will be a tournament for the vacant Caribbean tag titles that will be held on March 10. Eight teams will participate in order to crown a new Caribbean tag champion. The teams scheduled to take part are the Super Medicos, the new Invaders, the Caribbean Express, the super team of Carlos Colon and TNT, the Alaskan Hunters, Los Mercenarios, Carl Styles and Rick Valentine, and the team of Leo Burke and Chicky Starr. 

We’ll discuss the results of the Caribbean tag title tournament next time but, in the leadup to the tournament, several of the teams were showcased on TV. Let’s go to several different matches with some of our participating teams, including our first look at the current day Hunters and the new Invaders. Let’s begin with a showcase for the Super Medicos.as they take on the Assassins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8cmT6j3TQ

To be clear, the Medicos are #1 and #4, while the Assassins are #1 (in black) and #3 (in red).  Medico #4 and Assassin #3 start us off and this match is a good showcase for the still relatively new Super Medico team. It's been about a month since their debut but so far they have managed to work their way into being top contenders for the World tag team titles. A headlock by Medico #4 leads to a slam off the ropes and then a tag to Medico #1. Assassin #3 is able to push Medico #1 into the Assassins’ corner, which leads to Assassin #1 tagging in. Medico #1 is able to cut off Assassin #1’s attack by punching him and putting on a side headlock. This allows Medico #4 to tag in and he continues to work a side headlock on Assassin #1, although it is broken by several knees to the midsection from Assassin #1. Medico #4 is sent to the ropes and counters with a flying body press for a two count. Medico #4 attempts a backbreaker but rolls out as soon as Assassin #1 kicks out. As Medico #4 rolls out you can see Medico #1 jump off the apron to the floor in the same direction, and when a Medico rolls back into the ring it’s Medico #1 instead. They’ve pulled off a switch and the ref hasn’t noticed. So now we have both #1’s in there. Medico #1 does a headlock takedown which eventually leads to a rope running sequence where Medico #1 hits a shoulder tackle, a hiptoss and a dropkick that sends Assassin #1 to the outside. Assassin #3 tries his luck but also gets dropkicked to the outside. The Assassins regroup and lure Medico #1 into their corner, where they use the younger Estarda’s inexperience to cause him to try to help his tag partner. This distracts the ref, leading to double team attacks in the corner on Medico #1.  Assassin #3 is tagged in but gets caught by Medico #1 with a knee off the ropes. Medico #4 is tagged in and  hits Assassin #3 with several punches before getting an inside cradle. It’s broken up by Assassin #1, as is a follow up backslide pin attempt. Medico #4 manages a standing switch into a roll up and this time Medico #1 cuts off Assassin #1 with a dropkick as the pinfall is made. The Super Medicos pick up the win and next for them is the Caribbean tag title tournament. 

MD: It is a lot of fun to see these enhancement matches because they don’t exist anymore, not with a familiar set of undercard talent like this. Granted, we don’t know who were under the Assassin masks here, but they had mismatching suits and were big bulky guys. That rationalized the little bit of offense they had on Medico 1. For those keeping track, Jr. was Medico 4 on this night and not 2 or 3 as we’d seen. No great punches out of Medico 1 unfortunately, but the finishing stretch was a series of roll ups from the Medicos. Given the Assassins’ superior size, it still felt like they accomplished something.

EB: Although they are the World tag team champions, Los Mercenarios are also entered into the Caribbean tag title tournament, giving Mercenario #1 a chance to regain the title he had to vacate. 

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

Los Mercenarios are facing a team of the two top contenders for the World Junior title in Huracan Castillo Jr and Joe Savoldi (a pairing that Moyano on commentary says should work well since they are both young, quick, move well in the ring and have a similar style).  Castillo and Acevedo start off and the initial exchanges go in favor of Castillo (including a shoulder tackle and a couple of dropkicks). Ron Starr gets tagged in and, after jawing at the crowd, takes Castillo down with a side headlock. Castillo eventually counters out of it, hitting a dropkick that sends Ron Starr near the tecnico corner and causing Starr to ping pong between punches from Castillo and Savoldi. Moyano on commentary explains that everyone had been surprised by Ron Starr leaving the tecnico side but apparently Ron was saying in interviews  that he had only been there to spy and that he preferred being a mercenary because that is how you get paid well. Castillo takes down Ron with a side headlock but Ron quickly counters into a pin for two. Castillo keeps hold of the headlock but Ron manages to get to his feet and tries to counter the hold. However, Castillo makes the tag to Savoldi, who jumps into the ring with a kick to Ron’s back. Savoldi does a couple of arm wringers and a hiptoss but Ron stays back to stop Savoldi’s momentum. They circle each other, but Ron shoves Savoldi off a lockup and tags in Acevedo. Savoldi sees Acevedo charging and is able to armdrag him down. Savoldi continues to work the arm but Acevedo tries to go for Savoldi’s leg, resulting in Savoldi just catapulting Acevedo over and keeping the hold on. Castillo tags in, but Acevedo yanks Castillo by the hair and tags in Ron. Again. the tecnicos see the rudos making their charge, with Castillo hitting a back body drop on Ron. This match has been going the tecnicos way so far. Castillo keeps working Ron’s arm, but the tide turns when Ron comes out of the corner with a clothesline. Acevedo comes back in and looks to finally have an advantage, but Castillo flips Acevedo to the mat to stop his momentum. Both men tag in their partners and Savoldi gets the better of Ron in their exchange, leading to Savoldi doing a quick tag to Castillo. Castillo hits a high knee on Ron and punches Acevedo in the corner, leading to all four men getting in the ring. It looks like the tecnicos have the upper hand but as the referee is distracted getting Savoldi out of the ring, Acevedo sneaks up behind Castillo (who has Ron in an abdominal stretch) and hits him from behind. One double DDT behind the ref's back leads to Los Mercenarios getting the pinfall win. 

MD: Savoldi feels like the Action Andretti to Castillo and Perez’ Top Flight. He fits in quite well despite being a little different. In some ways, he feels a little closer to Castillo than Perez actually. That means lots of armdrags and hiptosses and monkey flips here, lots of feeding by Starr and the Assassin. They didn’t have control for long and even the finish was a banana peel where they had a split second to doubleteam and get the double DDT in. Since they were great at feeding and the babyfaces were at least game and energetic, this moved well and was a fun if somewhat empty seven minutes. 

EB: We’ve mentioned before that the new version of the Invaders made their debut on March 3. While we don’t have that match, we do have one of their first appearances on TV. Let’s watch them in action against the team of El Exotico and El Gran Mendoza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0HJm-vnysc

The video starts with Mendoza and Exotico already in the ring as we wait for the entrance of the Invaders. Exotico fluffs his hair and poses for the crowd when he is introduced. We hear a dance remix version of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme as the Invaders come out in matching masks and jumpsuits. They do stereo jumps over the top rope into the ring. This is Invader #1 and #4, with Maelo Huertas teaming up with his older brother. Eliud makes a comment about how nice the Invaders’ jumpsuits look as they help each other take them off. We get Exotico and Invader #1 to start. We get some early tags as Invader #1 tags in #4 after taking Exotico down with a shoulder tackle and Exotico tags Mendoza in after being backdropped by Invader #4. Mendoza backs Invader #4 into a corner and sends him across the ring to the opposite turnbuckle. Mendoza attempts a monkey flip but Invader #4 lands on his feet from the flip and quickly hits a dropkick on Mendoza. Gran Mendoza rolls out of the ring but Invader #4 immediately goes to the top and dives off the top to the floor with a bodypress onto Mendoza. Back in the ring, the Invaders do a series of quick tags while applying arm wringers on Mendoza (this is actually a staple of the Invader #1 and #3 tag team). Exotico charges in and hits Invader #1 from behind. A double team clothesline attempt is ducked by Invader #1, and he stops by the ropes to slingshot Invader #4 into the ring with a double clothesline on Exotico and Mendoza. The Invaders do a quick tag again and then, when Exotico tries to come in, do a switch when the refs back is turned. The Invaders hit a double back drop on Mendoza and Invader #1 continues working over Mendoza’s arm. Invader #1 keeps going over to the rudo corner and hitting Exotico every now and then. The Invaders continue in control, with Invader #1 actually going over to Exotico and yanking him into the ring. All four men end up in the ring, with the rudos being thrown into each other to set up the finish. It’s a doomsday crossbody basically. The new Invaders pick up the win.

MD: The Invaders looked good here. Huertas is Invader 4, so you have two 4s running around. I was going to say that at least Estrada, Jr. was younger but then you had Invader 4 leap off the top rope to the floor onto Mendoza just in the middle of the match like it was nothing. I’m not kidding either. It was in the middle of an arm control bit and just the spot that they chose to work in. A little later, Invader 1 did the same thing with a slingshot double clothesline on Exotico and Mendoza. Only one moment where Exotico hit a back body drop and sold it as you’d expect. This was wrestled pretty standard otherwise, though definitely heel-in-peril. Sometimes they’d get a brief advantage by doubleteaming but they never held it for long. Finish was a Doomsday Device but with a flying body press instead of a clothesline so that was pretty neat.

EB: We’ve previously seen matches from 1987 featuring the Alaskan Hunters and now we get a chance to see them in action in 1990. At first glance though, it looks like there is a change in terms of the team lineup, with a new Hunter forming part of the team. Here they are in action against the team of La Sombra and Armando Fernandez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Emk8T90pA

The Alaskan Hunters are being managed by El Jeque, so that’s another client for the newly arrived manager. Sombra and Fernandez do not fare well at all against the Hunters. What’s amazing is that, if we go by the commentary, they’re being called Hunter #1 and Hunter #4, so that’s yet another tag team with a 1 and 4 combination in the territory. The Hunters do not look alike and it seems that we have a new version of them (that’s why there’s a number 4 then, not sure who it is but he reminds me of Buddy Lee Parker). Fernandez starts the match for his team but is quickly overwhelmed and tags in La Sombra. It doesn’t go any better for him. The Hunters tag in and out and show off their power against La Sombra. They hit a nice double team decapitation elbow off the turnbuckle and just bulldoze Sombra with their offense. A nice double team suplex into a crossbody finish gets the win for the Hunters. They look good heading into the Caribbean tag title tournament.

MD: Just a straight up mauling here. Not a lot to say. Sombra and Fernandez got nothing. Hunters kept it moving, a few throws or suplexes, a lot of clubbing. They hit a decapitation midway through just for fun and then finished things a minute or two later with a suplex/top rope shoulderblock combo. They came off as capable and formidable, guys who knew what they were doing even if maybe they learned on the other end of a squash against even bigger guys.

EB: Leo Burke and Chicky Starr have been quite the duo in Burke’s singles run so far.  But with the upcoming tournament, they have the opportunity to win gold together as a team. Here they face the team of Tito Carrion and Herbert Gonzalez as they tune up for the tournament.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9m_LazLJ7g

Burke and Chicky have teamed up before, but this time they have title aspirations as they are in the Caribbean tag title tournament. This is a chance for Chicky and Leo to work on their teamwork and flow. Burke has his TV title belt with him and Chicky has his crown. Chicky and Carrion start off, but Chicky tags Burke in after hitting a slam. Burke goes to work on Carrion, hitting a kick to the shoulder and an atomic drop. Carrion eventually is able to back Burke into his corner and tag Herbert in, but despite a brief offensive flurry, Leo regains control when Herbert puts his head down too soon after sending Leo into the ropes. Burke kicks Herbert in the head and tags Chicky in. Chicky gets into a chop exchange with Herbert, but cuts Herbert off with some knees and tags Burke back in. A quick snapmare and kneedrop by Leo leads to Chicky getting tagged back in. Chicky goes for a splash but hits Herbert’s knees, allowing Herbert to tag Carrion back in. Tito immediately goes after Chicky with several kicks, but makes the mistake of backing Chicky into the rudo corner, which allows Chicky to make a tag to Burke. Leo blindsides Carrion with a shoulder tackle and from there is able to eventually put Carrion in the figure four for the win. They celebrate with a hug. It’s an easy victory for the team of Chicky Starr and Leo Burke, although they’ll have their hands full in the Caribbean tag title tournament. Their first round match is against the super team of Carlos Colon and TNT, two men that have no love lost for Chicky and Leo.

MD: Chicky had a goatee and his hair had grown in nicely once again. Once they got going it was a lot of quick tags, a brief comeback as Chicky leaped right into a pair of knees, and then a cutoff out of nowhere after a Burke blind tag. I bet that they would have done something neat if this went another minute or two but as it was it was effective in showing us that Chicky could still go if he had to but that Burke was the real threat.

EB: We also have a new pairing for the tag tournament as recent arrivals Rick Valentine and Carl Styles have decided to team up together. It’s not just a teamup of wrestlers but also of managers, as Valentine is managed by Chicky Starr and Styles is managed by El Profe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k12jkj4vC0o

We briefly saw Rick Valentine in the battle royale and, while this match is short, we’ll be seeing a lot more of him going forward. You may know him as Kerry Brown, but I’m guessing due to the resemblance he is billed as a Valentine here in CSP. Rick is accompanied by his manager Chicky Starr but also by Carl styles and El Profe. Valentine and Styles are teaming up for the Caribbean tag title tournament and Styles and Profe are here in support of Valentine. The match is a showcase for the recent arrival, with Valentine taking most of the match against Armandito Salgado. There is a brief instance where Salgado mounts a bit of offense, but Valentine cuts it off with an eyerake. Valentine seems to favor the elbow as an offensive attack. Profe heads to the commentary desk to brag about this new team and the potential they have to dominate the division. Armandito gets another flurry of offense but once again is cut off when Valentine counters a charge into the corner by raising his legs and knocking Armandito down. A powerslam sets up Valentine's elbow drop and that gets the pin.

MD: Basically a showcase for Valentine’s elbow drop. Salgado had some good fire but his stuff didn’t move Valentine much. Profe was out with Styles since those two would be teaming upcoming but there wasn’t a lot to see here. A nice view for the nice elbow drop though.

EB: Let’s circle back to the other two matches we have pending from March 3. As mentioned before, we’re talking about them now because these matches aired a week after the TNTR vs Abdullah rematch and the commentary makes mention of the result. We don’t have clear information on how the match result came about, but Abdullah the Butcher emerged victorious in the rematch and is the new Universal champion. TNT’s reign as the Universal champion has ended after only a month and a half.  
With that said, we have the scheduled match between Carlos Colon and Manny Fernandez to talk about now. Carlos and Manny have been embroiled in a hot feud stemming form Manny costing Carlos Colon the chance to regain  Universal title in a match against Leo burke and then severely injuring his trainer Barba Roja with a flying kneedrop of the top rope. We’ve seen Carlos and Manny brawl on TV and fight in a tag match, and the singles matches they’ve had so far have been inconclusive. It’s been about a month and a half since Manny injured Barab Roja but Carlos is looking to get his revenge against Manny on March 3 and…it’s not happening. It was announced onTV that Manny Fernandez was not going to appear because of an injury (not sure if he was actually injured or if it’s the reason given to cover the no show). So no blowoff for Colon and Manny. We’ll have to see when Manny will be able to come back (if at all) and what his injury may mean for the Puerto Rico title. But, there's still a card taking place on March 3 and Colon will wrestle against a replacement opponent.  It is someone who has previously been in Puerto Rico under a different name and who as recently as the previous month had main evented a Clash of the Champions show for WCW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgzwVYdW-m8

It’s the Dragon Master (aka Kendo Nagasaki) who is facing Carlos as Manny’s replacement. Hugo, Carlos and Chicky are on commentary and talking up how dangerous Dragon Master is, with Chicky in particular mentioning how Dragon Master is looking to destroy Carlos Colon and he’s come in from Japan specifically to hurt Carlos. Dragon Master immediately goes on the attack as the bell rings and aggressively goes after Colon. On commentary Carlos mentions that this must be due to the instructions El Profe and Chicky had given Dragon Master. The first couple of minutes of this match are all Dragon Master in control, as his immediate charge at the bell has resulted in a continued attack on Carlos. Dragon Master throws Carlos outside and attempts to ram Carlos into the ringpost. Carlos blocks the attempt and instead it's Dragon Master who gets rammed. This stuns Master momentarily and the two men exchange blows outside before getting back into the ring. Master gets a snapmare and works a rear chinlock on Carlos Colon. Carlos tries to fight out of it but Master cuts him off with some elbows. However, Carlos comes back with chops in the corner and regains control as the crowd cheers. A punch sends Master down and Carlos gets fired up with a hop and a cartwheel. Carlos goes on the attack and tries to put on the figure four, but Master yanks Carlos by the hair in order to stop the attempt. Colon again goes after Master’s leg with several kicks, but another figure four attempt is thwarted by Master yanking Colon’s singlet strap. Carlos is relentless in going after the leg but yet again the figure four is countered with a yank of the tights. Master hits an atomic drop, but the move hurts his leg and Master crumples to the mat in pain. Carlos makes another attempt to put on the figure four but Master counters again. Dragon Master grabs Carlos and throws him to the outside. Dragon Master follows outside, grabs one of the camera cables and starts choking Carlos with it. Master hits several punches and they get back in the ring. A side slam gets two for Master. Dragon Master sends Carlos into the ropes, with Carlos ducking the first chop attempt and then both men collide on the rebound. Master is up first and hits a slam, but Carlos counters with a move from the Leo Burke playbook and grabs a hold of Master’s leg as he hits the mat. This trips Dragon Master up and Carlos immediately puts on the figure four. Master submits and Carlos Colon has won the match as the crowd cheers.

MD: Pretty much a paint by numbers Colon match, but we like the numbers and we like the paint. Nagasaki was very good at just eating guys up and this was no exception. It meant some chinlocks, sure, but plenty of strikes and ominous presence. Colon took it and took it until he’d take it no more and started firing back, cartwheeling, and targeting the leg. Nagasaki made a real sport of it, tossing Colon off on every figure-four attempt, and even managing some late match offense like an atomic drop and side slam while favoring the leg. He even was able to take things to the outside and choke Carlos with a wire, but all it took was a bit too much celebrating after a bodyslam and Colon was able to pull out a leg and finally get the figure-four locked in and triumph.

EB: Our other match from March 3 we are covering is the TV title match between Leo Burke and the returning Pierre Martel. I’ve mentioned before that Pierre Martel was a key star in CSP in the mid 70s to early 80s, first as a top rudo act with the Martel family (including a huge feud with Invader #1) and then in the early 80s as a fan favorite. It’s been a few years but he is making a return and going after Leo Burke. First let's see a match of Pierre’s from late 1982 to get a feel for him in the ring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCAAXbTZ70I 

This match is originally from 1982 but is being aired on the March 3 Campeones episode with new commentary as a way to reintroduce Pierre Martel. His opponent is a familiar face, as we get Mercenario #1 (Angel Acevedo), back during his original run in Los Mercenarios. Pierre has been a tecnico for about two years at that point and was in a tag feud against Los Mercenarios. Hector Moyano is on commentary with Carlos and Chicky, and brings up Pierre’s experience in the ring as Carlos calls Pierre one of the fans’ favorites. Moyano talks with Chicky about Mercenario #1’s skills as well, with Chicky reminding the fans that Acevedo is currently half of the World tag team champions and is very capable in the ring. Carlos says it’s been about three to four years since Pierre’s been in Puerto Rico (it may be closer to six actually) and that he’s coming in to challenge Leo Burke for the TV title tonight in Bayamon. Chicky thinks that the years have passed Pierre by and he won't be successful against Leo. The match itself so far has been Pierre working Acevedo’s arm and controlling most of the match on the mat. Pierre and Acevedo fight against the ropes but Pierre gets the better of that exchange. Carlos mentions that he had thought that Chicky would have learned his lesson and not shown up after the beating Carlos gave him the previous week (they had wrestled because Chicky had attacked Carlos with a chair two weeks before as part of Colon’s feud with Manny Fernandez). Chicky gets annoyed and says to Moyano that he should tell Carlos to stick to calling the action and be a professional. In the ring, Acevedo is in control, working Pierre over in the corner. Acevedo hits a knee to Pierre’s back and puts a submission hold on Martel.  Pierre is able to get the win when he surprises Acevedo with a roll up for the three. 

MD: Nice to see the Assassin (Still Mercanario #1 even in 82) with a dark black shaggy beard. He looked a lot more like a wild man and less like a canny operator. Most of his offense when he took over mid-match was to press Martel up against the ropes, bend him backward, and knee him in the back. It wasn’t a bad piece of business but he did it three or four times and I don’t remember him doing it much in 89-90. Martel didn’t do anything flashy but everything he did do was sound and most especially confident. This went back and forth for a bit until he was able to roll the Assassin back off the ropes. 

EB: We now go to the TV title match from March 3, but before the match itself we have a talking head segment featuring Hugo, Carlos and Chicky. This is airing a week after the Universal title rematch between TNT and Abdullah and the talk of the segment is about what resulted from that match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tcSphtZdo

The video starts with Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Colon and Chcky Starr running down what’s happening that night in Caguas. It appears that Carlos Colon had faced and defeated Leo Burke the previous week, which gave him a TV title shot that night against Burke. More importantly, Hugo makes reference to the big happening of the previous week, Abdullah the Butcher has won the Universal title from TNT. Chicky remarks that he really doesn’t care who is the Universal champion at the moment and talks up Leo Burke having defeated most of his opponents and being a top contender for the Universal title. Chicky isn’t either happy or sad that Abdullah is the Universal champion, all he cares about is that it isn’t TNT. Hugo addresses Carlos and brings up two points: Carlos is challenging tonight for the TV title and what does it mean for him now that Abdullah is the Universal champion. Carlos responds that it means a lot because now that Abdullah is the champion the door is open for him to challenge once more for the Universal title and win it for a ninth time (remember that Carlos had said that as lons as another El Ejercito de la Justicia member was champion he would not challenge them for the Universal title). So tonight’s match against Leo Burke is special since he’s not only challenging for the TV title but a loss tonight would damper his attempt at being the top contender for the Universal title once more. Chciky starts laughing at the thought of Carlos trying to beat Burke. Carlos asks Chicky straight out “Did or did I not defeat Leo Burke last week?” Chicky feigns ignorance and Carlos throws it to the match.

We go to March 3 where Leo Burke is facing the returning Pierre Martel. Burke is defending his recently won TV title. Burke rushes Pierre at the bell and hits Pierre over the head with the title belt. Burke maintains the upper hand with several kicks and then immediately starts working on Pierre’s leg. Burke’s already thinking about the figure four. Burke drags Pierre over to the ringpost and slams Pierre’s leg against it. The focused attack on Pierre’s left leg continues in the ring. Leo attempts the figure four but Pierre kicks him off. Still, Burke regains control by kicking Pierre’s left leg repeatedly. Leo puts on a submission hold on the leg and Pierre tries to kick Burke off, eventually breaking the hold. Pierre staggers to his feet, but his injured leg is hampering him. This gives Burke the opening to go on the attack once more and focus on Pierre’s left leg. Burke has been very aggressive so far, a different approach than we usually see from him. Pierre kicks Burke away and is finally able to mount a sustained offensive flurry with several punches. The crowd cheers as Burke is knocked down and starts to beg off from Pierre. Martel sends Burke into the ropes and hits him with an elbow, still showing signs of discomfort in the leg.Pierre continues on the attack but a hitposs by Burke changes the momentum. Burke hits a kneedrop and tries to punch Pierre when both are standing, but Pierrre blocks and answers back with a series of punches. Burke counters a charge into the corner with a sunset flip, but Martel kicks out at two. Pierre goes back to punching Burke and stops him from leaving the ring to continue his attack. Pierre gets a little too exuberant in his attack and ignores the ref’s warning to back off from the corner. The ref more forcibly gets Pierre to back away and Burke takes advantage of the ref having his back turned to get a foreign object from his tights. When Burke approaches once more, Burke hits him with a  loaded punch to knock him down. Burke gets a three count and retains the TV title. 

We go back to the studio where Hugo reminds fans of tonight’s show, with Chicky interrupting and saying that tonight will see the end of any Universal title aspirations for Carlos Colon at the hand of Leo Burke. Carlos responds by saying to the fans that tonight we start with the TV title and then it’s on to the Universal title. We’ll see how this story progresses in future installments.      

MD: As someone who has only seen so much of his PR stuff, it’s still fun to think that Frenchy Martin can just show up in Puerto Rico and instantly be a threat. Here he was a bit thicker, with big thudding blows. This was sort of an inversion of the usual Burke match as he gained an early advantage and went right to the leg. Martel sold everything big and broad and even when he was trying for offense, but he was able to fire back eventually and Burke did his early match stooging late. He eventually was able to sneak out some brass knucks and get the underhanded win though. Martel fit right in with Invader and Colon as a babyface who could get a ton of sympathy and could go quite far with just punches alone.
EB: As the end of March approaches we have a new Universal champion in Abdullah the Butcher. It remains to be seen who will be the next top contender but in the meantime let’s enjoy a music video of the new Universal champion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d7qKvDahqw

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we may have already covered what happened with the Universal title throughout March but there are still a lot of other developments to recap. Who will win the Caribbean tag title tournament? Will any other titles change hands? Will there be any new debuts? We’ll find out as we continue our journey through March 1990.