El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Christmas Revenge

Week 39: Christmas Revenge

EB: We’re nearing the end of our runthrough of 1990 and we have hit another stretch where results and footage are a bit scarce. What we do have is concentrated more in the latter half of December, so before talking about the final weeks of the year let’s take a moment to review where things stand as December begins.

The Texas Hangmen have had a series of matches vs La Pareja Increible of Carlos Colon and TNT. As we enter December, Carlos is going to shift away from battling the Hangmen, as his responsibilities as Universal champion come calling. He is set to defend the Universal title on December 15 against a new challenger, one that has not really had a run before in CSP. Direct from the World Wrestling Federation, it is Greg Valentine (back to his signature blonde look after  the end of Rhythm n’ Blues). 

TNT is still in the fight against the World tag team champions the Texas Hangmen, but he needs a tag partner with Colon otherwise engaged. It just so happens that Invader #1 has made a recovery from the hanging the Texas Hangmen gave him in mid October, and he has been cleared to return to active wrestling duty. Invader wants to get revenge on the Texas Hangmen and that chance will happen on December 15, as he will team with TNT.

The feud between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine has been going on for almost three months. As we get into December, the two teams had an apuestas elimination match where the last person eliminated would lose either their mask or their hair. The two teams continued their rivalry over the Caribbean tag titles, including a time limit draw that resulted in a no time limit rematch happening on December 15. A key part of this feud has been the involvement of Monster Ripper and Sasha, and both ladies are still actively involved. Ripper is scheduled to defend the Women’s World title against Sasha on December 15.

As for the remaining titles, Huracan Castillo Jr. remains as the World Junior champion after defeating Billy Joe Travis in their feud, while Kim Duk has been able to hold onto the Caribbean title for the past few months. However, Duk has a title defense scheduled for December 15 against El Bronco #1, a wrestler who in his short time in CSP has become a fan favorite. Speaking of fan favorites, Giant Warrior makes his return to CSP after being on a month long Japan tour.. He is set for action on December 15 against another World Wrestling Federation wrestler in The Barbarian.

So with this summary, it is time to look at the last couple of weeks in1990. We have a mix of results and matches from December 15, clips from the December 22 episode of Superestrellas and also some matches from the December 25 Christmas Day show that ended the year. Let’s begin with a match from the big December 15 card, as Giant Warrior makes his return and faces The Barbarian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnFyCJr1qmI

This match is from a video release about a year or so after the match took place, so again the commentary is after the fact . This is Giant Warrior’s first big match since returning from Japan and this is also a return for The Barbarian, who had previously been in CSP in 1984 (Barbarian actually faced Invader #1 at that year’s Aniversario show). The video begins with El Profe leading Barbarian to the ring, Giant Warrior already having made his entrance. It is a battle of big men here in CSP. The Barbarian takes his time getting his ring entrance attire off and finally the bell rings. A lockup leads to Warrior backing Barbarian into a corner, and on the break they start shoving each other. Warrior pumps up the crowd while Barbarian resets for another lockup. Warrior gets a side headlock that leads to Barbarian sending Warrior into the ropes. Barbarian puts his head down too early and gets kicked in the face by Warrior. The third lockup leads to Barbarian gaining control with several arm wringers. Barbarian works the arm, but Giant Warrior is able to counter with an arm wringer of his own and starts working over Barbarian’s arm. The match continues with Warrior in control until an eyerake from Barbarian leads to Warrior being tossed outside. Barbarian follows and both men fight on the field. Warrior gets the better of Barbarian and once back in the ring, Warrior works over Barbarian’s arm once more. 

A pin attempt by Warrior after an atomic drop and a clothesline only gets two. From there, Barbarian is able to find an opening and takes over the match, working Warrior over with several blows and a rear chinlock. Warrior starts fading and the ref does the arm lift check. Warrior is able to keep his arms up on the third check and starts getting fired up. Warrior fights out of the chinlock but a knee to the stomach from Barbarian stops any further comeback. Barbarian hits several punches, and when the ref gets Barbarian to back off, El Profe takes advantage and gets a hit on Giant Warrior. A series of headbutts from Barbarian leads to a pinfall attempt, but Warrior breaks it by getting his leg on the middle rope.  Barbarian gets a slam to set up an elbow drop from the turnbuckle, but he takes too long and Warrior rolls out of the way. Warrior goes on the attack, making an unsuccessful pin attempt after a clothesline in the corner. A back elbow gets two, and it seems that momentum is favoring Giant Warrior. A slam and a legdrop only get two. Warrior signals for the big boot but Kim Duk runs out from the dugout upon seeing this. Warrior gets distracted by Kim Duk (who has gotten on the ring apron). With Warrior and the ref distracted by Kim Duk, Barbarian takes off his boot and clocks Warrior from behind with it. Barbarian makes the cover (while slyly tossing the boot out of the ring to Kim Duk) and the ref makes the three count. The Barbarian has defeated  Giant Warrior thanks to Kim Duk’s help. Not the successful return Warrior was likely hoping for. The rudos celebrate the win on their way back to the dugout. 

MD: This got a lot of time (12 minute video) but was overall good. Warrior seems well trained, right? He’s a little bit gangly and awkward but can still hit things clean enough. He can move around in there. He really tries to engage and work the crowd. I think he lacks some natural charisma but he’s doing the right things generally. Barbarian looked good here. He came out in his WWF 1990 garb with the antlers and everything. Just like Warrior can punch down, he was able to punch up here and his shots looked good. They built to a lengthy chinlock but it’s not like Barbarian wasn’t straining and working it. Big transition was Barbarian missing a rope walk elbow drop. Warrior was loading up the boot when Kim Duk came in and interfered, allowing Barbarian to get a cheapshot with his own boot used as a weapon for the win. I’m up for more Barbarian but against some of the other babyfaces. Amusingly, they mentioned a bunch of other giants on commentary including Baba, Andre, and El Gigante of Argentina.

EB: We have a title change happening at Bayamon on December 15, with El Bronco #1 defeating Kim Duk to become the new Caribbean champion. It’s quite the accomplishment for someone who has not been in the territory long, and it’ll be interesting to see where El Bronco goes from here. We do not have footage of the match but to celebrate Bronco’s victory, we do have a music video. The video features clips from Bronco’s initial intro vignette where he arrives in Puerto Rico, highlights from matches against Rick Valentine, El Exotico, El Condor and Grizzly Boone, and of course dancing with Amarilis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Naop1qYpc

MD: It’s a good act, right? Dancing neighbor. Black and red mask. Dancing valet. Latin American NWA champion. The drop down DDT. The Mongolian type chops. I don’t know about the dance itself, but it does seem like the sort of thing that would get over. I’m not sure I have a great sense of who he is from this, but I do have a good sense of what he is, and it makes for a solid mid-card act.

EB: One of the big matches for the December 15 card is the tag match featuring Invader #1’s return. We have the full match video, once again from the raw house show footage so there’s no commentary (but you’ll get to hear the crowd loud and clear).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x49ewXyjj7c

We have Invader and TNT waiting in the ring as the Texas Hangmen are on their way out. Psycho and Killer stop at a distance, so they can remove their bullropes and World tag title belts. They are both wearing studded leather masks for their entrance which they remove as well. Eliud Gonzlez makes the ring introductions (with the crowd heavily cheering both TNT and Invader). The tecnicos rush to meet the Hangmen just as they are getting into the ring and the action is underway. TNT fights one of the Hangmen in the ring, while Invader tosses the other one outside. Judging by the hair sticking out from the mask, I’d say Killer is outside with Invader and Psycho is in the ring with TNT. For the next four minutes, the tecnicos run over both Hangmen. Invader attacks Killer around the ballfield, smashing him into the announcer’s table, the playing field, into the ringpost and near the crowd. TNT is doing the same to Psycho in the ring, at one point using his karate belt to choke Psycho. The crowd is electric for all of this, cheering on the tecnicos as they run over the Hangmen. TNT and Psycho also head outside of the ring and they continue fighting on the field. Invader once again rams Killer into the small ringside table and then picks it up to hit Killer over the head. Psycho tries to head over to help his partner, but TNT grabs him from behind. TNT holds Psycho so Invader can get some hits in. Finally, all four men get in the ring, but the tecnicos continue with the advantage. What appears to be a smoke bomb goes off at ringside and TNT exits the ring, leaving Invader and Killer. Invader presses the attack, hitting a Garvin stomp on Killer. TNT is tagged in and handles both Hangmen with kicks. 

The tecnicos continue in control until about the 8 minute mark, where the Hangmen are able to stop TNT and turn the tide in their favor. The Hangmen control the next part of the match with their usual assortment of double teaming behind the ref’s back. TNT (who it looks has started to bleed) is thrown to the outside, but Invader rushes over to prevent any further attack (including hitting a foul kick on one of the Hangmen). Invader helps TNT into the ring near the tecnico corner, but Psycho quickly grabs TNT and puts him in an armbar. TNT is able to briefly fight out of the hold with several blows, but Killer runs in from behind to knock TNT down. Psycho again puts TNT in an armbar as the crowd tries to cheer TNT on. Psycho attempts a pin after a clothesline but Invader makes the save. The Hangmen work TNT over in their corner and Killer is tagged back in. The Hangmen continue in control until TNT and Psycho collide, and then Psycho misses a follow up splash. Both men tag their partners and Invader cleans house for a bit on both Hangmen. TNT recovers and gets back in the ring. All four men are in the ring, with the tecnicos taking control and ramming the Hangmen into each other. TNT and  Psycho go to the outside, leaving Invader with Killer in the ring. 

Invader has Killer against the ropes and sets up for a heart punch, but is grabbed by the referee since Killer is tied up in the ropes. Invader, thinking it was Psycho, turns around and fires off the heart punch on El Vikingo (who goes flying through the ropes to the outside). With the referee out, Killer knocks Invader down and goes for one of the bullropes. TNT stops Killer from attacking Invader and Invader ends up with the bullrope after a quick tug of war. However, Psycho rushes in and knocks Invader down. He attempts another hanging but can’t hold Invader high enough because there is only one person doing the hanging. Profe comes in to help and Invader takes advantage by kicking Profe away, using the momentum to flip over and out of the hanging. Invader sends Psycho out of the ring and is able to grab Profe. Invader sets up Profe and is able to hang him for a few moments before the Hangmen break it up. The Hangmen again try to hang Invader but TNT stops them, with Invader grabbing the bullrrope again. The tecnicos fight off the Hangmen and chase them all the way to the dugout. Invader and TNT stand tall and walk along the field to the cheers of the crowd, with Invader ringing the cowbell in response. There is no winner and you can bet Invader still wants payback.

MD: You know you’re going to get something good when you hear the buzz of the crowd for Invader and TNT being announced. This is a little wild considering how deep into a blood feud TNT and Invader were not long before. The Hangmen come out with spikey Demolition style masks. Once the bell rings however, Invader gets right to it brawling around the stadium with a Hangman, slamming his head repeatedly into a convenient desk that’s been conveniently placed there. TNT holds down the other in the ring to give Invader a spotlight to shine upon his return but eventually gets into the walking and brawling act as well.

When they hit the ring, TNT and Invader got to beat them all over the place for a bit. Probably what made them viable as a main event act in Puerto Rico (on top of the big heatseeking angles) was that they were very much willing to stooge and flail about and weren’t just monsters. The numbers game won out however and they started a lengthy bit of heat on TNT, including choking him with the rope behind the ref’s back once or twice. Invader made it in finally and the place came unglued. 

He took out the ref but they still built to a big post-match moment of Invader holding up the rope, the Hangmen getting it back and trying to choke him, and Invader flipping backwards onto his feet. He got the rope and hung a writhing, spasming Profe for a bit before the Hangmen saved him. After that TNT recovered and saved Invader and they chased the Hangmen off. Great little bit of booking which gave the fans plenty memorable and meaningful even with a non-finish, leaving much more on the bone.

EB: We finish off our look at the December 15 card by noting the other title changes that occurred that night. Sasha was able to win back the Women’s World title from Monster Ripper, but her allies the Super Medicos were not as fortunate. They lost the Caribbean tag titles to Eric Embry and Rick Valentine under unfortunate circumstances that we will discuss shortly. The Universal title was also defended by Carlos Colon against Greg Valentine, and after the match was over controversy reigned. Valentine had attempted a figure four with his reverse shin guard on, but Colon was able to kick Greg away. However, Valentine ended up colliding with the referee, knocking El Vikingo out of the ring. Colon was able to gain control of the match and put his figure four leglock on Valentine, but there was no ref in the ring. As Colon kept the hold applied, El Vikingo started to get up but was still a bit loopy outside of the ring. Meanwhile, El Profe ran into the ring and hit Colon with a loaded punch, causing the figure four to be broken. Valentine recovered and put on his figure four leglock. Colon struggled in the hold but El Vikingo was still trying to get back in the ring. Finally, referee Victor Quiñones arrived on the scene and, after a few moments, called for the bell indicating Colon had submitted. Valentine and Profe started celebrating with the Universal title but El Vikingo had finally made his way to the ring. Vikingo went over and pulled down Valentine’s arm. It turns out that Vikingo had seen El Profe’s interference and was disqualifying Valentine. The referees started talking the situation over and it was decided that the Universal title would be held up pending a review. 

We now go to the December 22 Superestrelals episode, where we have some clips that provide some direction on where things are going. There’s a big Christmas Day show on Tuesday and we have a few rematches set for that day. The big news (which we don’t have footage for) is that the Universal title will remain held up until December 25, where Carlos Colon and Greg Valentine will have a rematch to determine who the rightful champion is. As for the other matches, we’ll begin with Giant Warrior and his scheduled opponents for Christmas day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0uaYkyIcrA

This is Giant Warrior’s return to the TV tapings after his Japan tour (which Hugo mentions on commentary). As has been the case for the Giant Warrior singles matches we have seen so far from TV, it’s a handicap match. This time Warrior is matched up with El Condor and Johnny Ringo. The two rudos jump Warrior at the bell to try to get a quick advantage, but Warrior stops them with a double clothesline. El Condor rakes the eyes to again try to gain the advantage, but makes the mistake of trying to slam Warrior (which goes as well as you’d expect). Warrior counters with his own bodyslams on Condor and Ringo is tagged in for the rudos. Johnny tries a running shoulder block but ends up bouncing off Warrior on impact. Ringo attempts another shoulder block with the same result, and Warrior hits a high back body drop on Ringo. Condor comes in to help and Warrior just choke lifts and tosses Condor to the corner. Warrior continues in control (including turning Ringo up and over with a clothesline) before signaling for the big boot. Warrior gets the big boot (with Hugo commenting on the aspect of is he really or not really loading up the boot) and gets the three count on Ringo. An impressive TV return for Giant Warrior. 

As for Christmas Day, Warrior has got a rematch with the Barbarian but it will be a tag match. Joining Barbarian is Kim Duk (who interfered in the previous Giant Warrior vs Barbarian match). Joining Giant Warrior as his tag partner is a returning face for the big Christmas Day show, none other than Scott Hall. 

MD: Not much to say here, but Johnny Ringo looked great, both just bouncing off of Warrior with shoulder blocks, and with a nutty flip bump on a clothesline. I’m now of the opinion that Warrior was probably a boon to this specific territory at this specific time in this specific role even if it’s a little counter-intuitive. 

EB: As mentioned above, Sasha had regained the Women’s World title from Monster Ripper in the latest chapter of their ongoing rivalry. The Super Medicos had lost the Caribbean tag titles thanks to Eric Embry tossing fire into Super Medico #1’s face. Medico #1’s left eye has been hurt from the attack but he has demanded a match with the ring surrounded by fire in order to pay back Embry. It’s set to be a Caribbean tag title match as well ,but the new champions have lodged a protest over defending their titles against an unworthy team (in their eyes) and about being put into such a dangerous match. Let’s see what the WWC decides regarding this protest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKQA06Y12pk

Hugo starts the segment by saying that we are going to look at what happened last week in Bayamon, where Eric Embry and Rick Valentine regained the Caribbean tag titles and in the process, threw fire in the face of Super Medico #1. The clip from the no time limit match between the two teams is shown, and the Medicos are in control. Embry and Valentine are bleeding and you can also see that Valentine has a new haircut (so you can guess who was the last person eliminated in the mask vs hair match). Medico #1 crotches Embry on the top rope, while Medico #3 is attacking Valentine in the opposite corner. Medico #1 attempts a cover after a headbutt from the top, but  Valentien comes over to help his partner after having tossed Medico #3 to the outside. Embry rolls to the outside and as Medico #1 fights with Valentine, we see Monster Ripper come over to Embry and toss him some paraphernalia. Ripper gets on the apron but gets inadvertently hit by a Rick Valentine clothesline after Medico #1 ducked. We get a quick cut and we have Medico #3 punching Valentine in a corner, while Medico #1 is punching Ripper on the apron (it looks like he has had enough of Ripper’s interference these past few months). The ref is busy with Valentine and Medico #3, and as Medico #1 continues punching Ripper, Eric Embry pops back up and throws fire into Medico #1’s face. Embry quickly scrambles into the ring as Ripper rolls off the apron, and covers Medico #1. Embry gets the three count and he and Valentine have regained the Caribbean tag titles. Medico #1 is rolling around on the mat in clear distress as the match clip ends.

We go to an interview with the former Women’s champion Monster Ripper and the new Caribbean tag champions Eric Embry and Rick Valentine. It seems that a rematch is happening on Christmas Day, and it will be with the ring surrounded by fire. The champions had lodged a protest about the match, and it will now be non-title but the fire stipulation remains. Valentine mentions that Medico #1’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, but now they are being forced by the WWC to have this match. It won’t matter because they are going to light up the Medicos on Tuesday. Embry insists that the Medicos will not get another title shot because they do not deserve it, they’d have to earn one by winning a match against the champions. Again, they are being forced to wrestle in this match against their wishes. Embry promises to wipe all the grease off of the Medicos and burn them.

The Medicos respond, with Medico #3 angry and promising that they will pay back the rudos for what they did to Medico #1. Hugo makes note that Medico #1 still has a bandaged eye and asks him if the rudos did that to him illegally, is he worried about what they may do with the fire being legal. Medico #1 says that the way he is feeling, he is not afraid of anything. He will be ready for Tuesday, maybe his eye won’t be all the way healed but he certainly will be there. He was attacked with fire and that is why he wanted this fire match, because you fight fire with fire. When Embry comes face to face with him, Embry better be ready for the fight of his life, because as Embry tried to take Medico #1 out, Medico #1 is going to do his best to take Embry out for good. 

MD: We get a clip of the title change where Ripper passes Embry some fabric and he tosses a fireball at Medico 1 for the win. Now Valentine (who has shorter hair and a bandage on his forehead) and Embry won’t put the titles on the line until the Medicos beat them BUT are being forced by the WWC (mentioned by name) to have a fire match with the Medicos. We get their view and see that Medico #1 has a white eyepatch under his mask which is a pretty unique look. 

EB: The other big rematch scheduled for Christmas is Invader #1 and TNT tangling with the Texas Hangmen once more. Let’s watch some promos from both teams about the upcoming rematch. Since we’ve seen the full match, I’ll take this opportunity to highlight the narration Hugo provides for the clip of the match that begins the segment.

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

Hugo (at 0:15): People, the moment has arrived where we will show you what occurred during Invader #1's return to wrestling at the Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon, teaming up with TNT against the Texas Hangmen. Go ahead Mr. Director.

Tape rolls off the end of the match while Hugo narrates.

Hugo: Vengeance match as Invader returns to wrestling, with TNT fighting the Texas Hangmen. They have bloodied the Hangmen, their masks are somewhat torn. There has been fury from the Invader and TNT. And here it is! Look out, the Invader's preparing the heart punch! The referee tries to stop him, but there it is, El Vikingo just received the devastating heart punch! The Hangman takes advantage of the situation, he's grabbed the same rope they used to send him to the hospital. El Vikingo is on the floor! He's (the Hangman) running the ropes to deliver the blow, but TNT tripped him. Invader's trying to take the rope away and he's got it! Wow, he's got the rope. But El Profe's sending the other Hangman in and he's surprised Invader. He's got the rope back. TNT's fighting with the other Hangman outside of the ring and El Profe's yelling for them to hang Invader! TNT's tied up with the other Hangman and here it comes! He's doing it by himself. El Profe comes in to help, but Invader does a tremendous counter and now he's got the rope. The tecnicos are carrying El Vikingo off. Invader's setting up El Profe and, yes, he's hanging El Profe. This crowd is blowing the roof off. But here come the Hangmen to save El Profe. They keep attacking the Invader.

El Ptrofe (at 2:45): The day is almost here and what a sad Christmas it will be for Invader #1 and TNT.

The Hangmen speak as Psycho (thanks Profe for saying who is who here) promises that in two days it will be their Christmas because Invader and TNT are stepping into the war zone with the Hangmen. It will be a bad Christmas for the people of Puerto Rico, since the tecncios will spend Christmas night in the hospital. Killer promises that they will get their noose back and that the people of Puerto Rico will spend Christmas crying. 

Hugo (at 4:38): The Puerto Ricans have that bullrope and that bell. Invader #1 and TNT in a rematch this Tuesday in the Loubriel in Bayamon. What's going to happen Invader #1?

Invader: You know Savinovich, the Hangmen are worried about this bullrope because they know that this bullrope is very dangerous. With this bullrope is how they sent me to the hospital. And they know that with this bullrope we could do anything. But TNT and I only have one thing in mind, on December 25th, on a very special day like this, I would like to invite all of the people of Puerto Rico to be there that day. Because when that bell rings, TNT and I will have only one thing in our heads, and that is to try everything possible to hang one of them. It doesn't matter which of the two it is, and if it's possible El Profe too. Because he has laughed enough about this when I was in the hospital. Profe, let me tell you something, when the bell rings that day, you tell your Texas Hangmen that they better buckle their pants up tight, because we only have one thing in mind, and that is vengeance. And it doesn't matter what we have to do Savinovich, but we're going to do it.

Hugo: Wow! TNT?

TNT (at 5:50): You know Invader, as Carlos Colon and I did once already, we threw the rulebook in the garbage. And that's the same thing you and I have to do this Tuesday at the Loubriel in Bayamon, throw the rulebook in the trash. So Texas Hangmen, this next Tuesday, as Invader said, buckle up those pants real tight. Because with this bell and this rope, we are going to hang and we are going to do the impossible to run you out of Puerto Rico, Texas Hangmen...

Invader: That's exactly right TNT! That's what we are going to do!

TNT: So come Texas Hangmen because we're going to fight!

Hugo closes with ‘ Friends, the Puerto Ricans are ready! This Tuesday at the Loubriel. We continue with more of the best wrestling in the world.’

MD: They show the end of the last match with Invader getting Profe and escaping getting hung again, plus Invader and TNT getting the noose. Hangmen say it’s going to be a bad Christmas for the people of Puerto Rico because Invader and TNT will be in the hospital. TNT and Invader retort with their usual passion. Invader has the noose and TNT is in his full hooded entrance gear.

EB: To close out the clips from the December 22 Superestrellas episode, we have a match from August 25, which features the Giant Warrior’s debut in Puerto Rico against  Atkie Mulumba. After the match, there’s a brief clip of Hugo running down part of the Christmas show lineup.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzg2N8IumYg

We’re in Caguas for the debut of Giant Warrior. It's interesting to see him make his entrance through the crowd and step over the ringside barricade. The crowd seems to be very impressed with Warrior, who poses briefly for the crowd before heading towards the ring., Atkie Mulumba is already in the ring, waiting in a corner for Giant Warrior to enter. Warrior again plays to the crowd but gets jumped by Atkie as the bell rings. Both wrestlers exchange blows, with Warrior getting the better of Atkie after an elbow to the head. Atkie starts staggering and a few more blows knock him down. More overhand chops are exchanged and Mulumba takes Warrior over to the ropes to try to choke him. A head smash attempt by Atkie is blocked and Warrior counters with one of his own. Warrior plays to the crowd as he hits a few more turnbuckle smashes and then sends Atkie hard into a corner, where Atkie ends up smashing his head on the ringpost from the momentum. Mulumba takes control thanks to the use of his totem and works a nerve hold. The advantage does not last long as Warrior gets fired up, breaks the hold and eventually gets the big boot to get a clear win over Atkie Mulumba. Quite a debut match and it looks like Warrior is a hit with the local fans. 

We immediately go to  Hugo for the show closer, where he reminds fans to keep their eye on Channel 4 for more of the best wrestling in the world. every Saturday from 12pm to 1pm and every Sunday from 11:30am to 1pm. Hugo wishes all of the viewers a Merry Christmas and reminds them to be mindful during the holidays since there are a lot of kids out and about, to have fun but be very careful (I’m guessing this is either related to drinking too much and/or engaging in reckless use of firearms or fireworks). Hugo also invites the fans to a special activity the Invaders are having the next day in Humacao, a Christmas ‘merengazo’ (basically a concert / party) with several bands taking part, as well as several of the Invaders’ friends like Carlos Colon, the Super Medicos and Miguelito Perez. And the big event coming up Tuesday at 6pm,with tickets on sale at the stadium this Monday. We have a rematch between Carlos Colon (defending the colors of Puerto Rico and the WWC) and Greg Valentine for the held up Universal title, the rematch between Invader #1 and TNT vs the Texas Hangmen, the minis will be in action,  and the match between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine with the ring surrounded by fire. Be sure to tune in tomorrow.

MD: Definitive victory to put Warrior over. He was so tall that he could punch down onto the top of Mulumba’s head. Mulumba took over for a brief period with the staff/wand, and a nerve hold, but Warrior tried to get the crowd into it and worked from underneath to fire back. He hit the big boot for the win, remembering to hook the leg midway through. I don’t know if Mulumba was on the way out or what but this really put Warrior over.

EB: We finish our look at 1990 with some of the matches from that Christmas day show. First is a clip from the minis match featuring the teams of  Mascarita Sagrada & Aguilita Solitaria vs. Espectrito & Piratita Morgan 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3bIO1jgxU4

We join the match in progress, with the rudo team working over Aguilita Solitaria in their corner. Espectrito continues in control over Aguilita, sending him into a Morgan kick in the corner. Sagrada tries to come in and help, but Espectrito heads him off with some kicks. In the other corner, Piratita is tearing at Aguilita’s mask. The rudos again double tema Aguilita and end up sending him to the outside. Sagrada sees the opening with the rudos having their backs turned (and this being lucha rules he can come in now that his partner is out of the ring), and punches Espectrito from behind. Sagrada shows off some great acrobatic moves into armdrags (a handspring into an armdrag on Morgan and getting backdropped onto Espectrito for another one), causing the rudos to be off balance and roll outside to stop the momentum. The crowd cheers for the tecnicos and it looks like Piratita and Espectrito are having an argument on the outside, leadng to Morgan shoving Espectrito. The crowd is enjoying this breakdown between the rudos,but it seems that the rudos have gotten back on the same page when the action resumes. Espectrito takes out both tecnicos with kicks  Espectrito celebrates a bit as he continues with kicks on Aguilita, then follows up with a clothesline into the corner. Espectrito gets a submission on Aguilita and when Sagrada tries to break it up, Morgan heads him off. Sagrada dodges Morgan and tries to hit a moonsault off the ropes, but Morgan ducks and Mascarita crashes to the mat. Morgan covers Mascarita and gets a three count. The rudos have won the match. Post match, the rudos continue attacking both tecnicos, leaving them laid out before leaving the ring area.

MD: We get five minutes of this and it’s good for what we get. A little bullying from the rudos to start, Mascarita Sagrada with a big comeback where he clowns them as smoothly as can be, some arguing between then rudos on the pitch, and then Espectrito and Piratita turning things around for a pretty good, clean and straight finish. Post match, Mascarita got lawn darted into the post in a nice spot. I’m surprised they were still running this as an attraction but it’s a good one.

EB: Our next match from Christmas Day is the tag match featuring Scott Hall’s return to Puerto Rico to team up with Giant Warrior to face the rudo combination of Kim Duk and The Barbarian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfcQbO27_G8

Kim Duk and Giant Warrior start off for their teams. El Profe on commentary mentions ‘look at all the great people we have in the ring’, to which Hugo responds that we is too many people. Profe says that his greatness is not in height. Warrior goes for a quick cover but Barbarian breaks it up, and this allows the rudo team to take control with quick tags. Duk and Barbarian are pretty aggressive in their attacks on Warrior, and they take advantage of Hall trying to come in to double team Warrior behind the ref’s back. Hall is able to break up a Barbarian chinlock on Warrior, but for the most part the rudos remain in control throughout the first half of the match. Giant Warrior is able to turn things around after about six minutes by ducking a clothesline and countering with one of his own. But before he can crawl over to Hall to make a tag, Barbarian kicks Hall off the apron in order to stop the tag. Warrior counters a suplex attempt with one of his own and this time is able to make the tag. Hall comes in and attacks both rudos, and Warrior almost immediately gets back in the ring to help out. Warrior and Duk end up outside as Hall punches Barbarian in the corner. As Hall continues punching, the referee gets close to the action and Hall accidentally knocks him down on one of the wind ups. Hall looks to not have noticed this, as he continues punching Barbarian. Meanwhile, Kim Duk rushes back to the ring with a chair and attacks Hall from behind with it. The rudos double team Hall and set him up for a piledriver on the chair, but Warrior is back in the ring and pulls the chair away (although Barbarian still ends up piledriving Hall). Barbarian makes the cover and Warrior swings the chair to hit Barbarian, but he rolls out of the way and Warrior instead hits Hall. The ref lets the match continue for some reason and throws the chair out of the ring. While this is happening, Warrior seems to be apologizing to Hall about what happened, but Barbarian takes advantage of that moment and attacks Hall from behind. The referee tells Warrior to leave the ring and he goes back to the tecnico corner, as Barbarian continues attacking Hall. Scott is able to come back and gets Barbarian in an abominable stretch. Warrior comes in to head off Duk, and while the referee is distracted by them, Preofe sneaks into the ring with the chair and hits Hall with it. A second attempt is stopped by Warrior, who takes the chair from Profe. Hall turns around and sees Warrior with the chair, resulting in Hall immediately attacking Warrior (he had already been hit once before by accident, so I’m guessing he thought Warrior did it again on purpose). Hall continues attacking Warrior, grabbing the chair and hitting Warrior. El Profe is on the apron egging Hall on by yelling that it was Warrior that had hit him with the chair. Hall starts choking Warrior with the edge of the chair but some of the  tecnicos come in to make the save. Hall leaves the ring and complains to the camera about being hit twice. We then go to Hugo and Profe in the studio, with Profe happy about what went down and Hugo declaring that if Hall wants to go with El Profe then he can have him, not a big loss for El Ejercito de la Justicia. El Profe starts talking about how his guys will deal with the tecnicos and Hugo just walks away in disgust as the credits roll. 

MD: What an odd match on paper. Duk had more of a run here than you’d think, but him and Barbarian as a tag team at the very end of 1990? And then Hall with Giant Warrior. This had a long heat on Warrior which was compelling enough if a bit weird on paper. Barbarian looked great in knocking Hall off the apron at one point and ate a suplex on the big come back spot. Hall came in hot but Duk ran in with a chair (it took him a couple of tries to get it between the ropes as it wasn’t a folding chair). Warrior accidentally hit Hall with it after preventing a pile driver on it (but not the pile driver itself). Hall shrugged it off and kept fighting but then Profe hit Hall with a chair and when Hall turned, Warrior had taken it from Profe. Uh oh. Hall showed great emotion in destroying Warrior due to the miscommunication and Profe was pleased with his own brilliance after the fact. I thought Hall was a great babyface earlier in the year so this is a bit of a shame, but he’s probably more worthwhile on the heel side at this point.

EB: Our last match from Christmas Day is the fire match between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine. Will we finally have an end to this feud? Let's find out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9hghuCwB0o

The match begins with the Medicos attacking Embry and Valentine on the outside, and they have yet to light the fire on the ring ropes. Hugo explains that the fire will be lit once all four men have entered the ring. Medico #1 tosses Embry into the ring and they continue fighting, as Medico #3 has Valentine on the ground outside continuing his attack. They start lighting the fire as Embry and Medico #1 continue fighting. They leave one side unlit for a few moments as they finally get Valentine and Medico #3 in the ring. With all four men in, they light up the remaining side and now no one can leave until there is a winner. The Medicos control most of the match, as the dynamic is Embry and Valentine trying to fight off being pushed into the fire and not being too successful. Hugo and Profe mention everything that’s happened between the two teams (Valentine lost his hair, a leg was injured, they’ve bloodied each other up, the fire thrown in the face) and that this seems to be another escalation in the rivalry. As the match continues, Hugo makes note that the referee is only there for a pinfall or submission, he cannot disqualify anybody. The Medicos continue in control of the match, although Valentine and Embry do get some brief moments of offense. But the Medicos quickly come back and it is Embry and Valentine that feel the effects of the fire. Profe on commentary says that he is hoping to see one of the Medico’s masks catch on fire and see their head look like a torch. The match reaches a climax when Embry gets a foul blow on one of the Medcios and then the rudos try a double team on the other one. However, the Medico gets out of the way and Embry hits Valentine instead. The blow sends Valentine into the fire and Valentine gets rolled up for the win. But the Medicos are not done yet, as they grab Embry to dish out some more punishment. A headbutt sends Embry backwards into the ropes, where he smashes his face into the flames. Medico #1 continues punching and raking Embry’s eyes as the ringside attendants start removing the fire from the ropes. All four men exit the ring, as the Medicos continue attacking Embry and Valentine all the way to the dugout.  I guess this means the Super Medicos have earned a shot at the Caribbean tag titles based on the champions’ previous protest.

MD: This is a little bizarre. It’s the only fire match that I’ve ever seen that is mostly a stooging comedy affair. I can’t even count how many times Embry and especially Valentine go careening into the flames and bounce off wildly. Medicos control most of this except for a few times where Embry/Valentine get lucky shots in. It’s always sold big but it’s never decisive. The finish, which is a heel communication bit that sends one into the flame to set up a roll up doesn’t seem particularly worse than any other spot that didn’t lead to a pin. It’s not bad. The stooging is good. You can buy that they never take the fire in the worst place, maybe, but they probably could have accomplished twice as much with half the fire bumps.

EB: And with that, we’ve reached the end of our look at 1990 in Puerto Rico wrestling. We do have some pending results to talk about, specifically what happened in the Invader #1 & TNT vs Texas Hangmen rematch and who is the Universal champion after the Carlos Colon and Greg Valentine rematch. Also, is the feud between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine finally over? What about Scott Hall, is he really going with El Profe? We’ll find out the answer to all this and more when we begin our journey through 1991. But first…

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, since we have reached the end of 1990, it seems like a good moment to give some thoughts on our journey so far. So we will have a checkpoint of sorts, where Matt and Esteban are going to talk about what has been covered so far on our journey from mid 89 to 90. What have we learned? What have been our highlights.or surprises so far? How has this changed our thoughts or notions of Puerto Rico wrestling? We’ll give our thoughts on these and other topics as we get ready to move into 1991.