El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: The King of Kong

Week 50: The King of Kong

EB: It was supposed to settle the feud. A cage with a roof and a lock on the door to ensure no interference. Finally, we would settle things once and for all between Carlos Colon and Dick  Murdoch. But it seems that Murdoch had a plan, as Joe Don Smith was able to pass Murdoch a piece of barbed wire through a hole in the fencing. Murdoch proceeded to attack and cut up not just Carlos Colon with the barbed wire, but also attack and cut up referee El Vikingo as well. The match had no definitive winner and it seems Murdoch’s actions are under review by the WWC committee due to his attack on the referee. While that matter is under review, one more match has been signed between Colon and Murdoch. It is scheduled for April 6 in Carolina and it has a few stipulations attached. Due to the attack with the barbed wire, the match will be a barbed wire match. In addition, to ensure that Joe DonSmith cannot interfere in any way, he will be locked inside a small cage that will be suspended above the ring. Will this finally settle this feud? 

Another long running feud that has apparently reached its climax is the one between Action Jackson and TNT. This feud was restarted in January when the Original TNT made his return to Puerto Rico and continued even after TNT had claimed the sole rights to the TNT name. After three months, TNT has been able to defeat ActionJackson and regain the TV title. But it seems that Action is getting a title rematch at the upcoming TV taping, so we will have to see if this finally settles the issue. Let’s go to the April 6 episode of Campeones to find out once and for all if the rivalry between TNT and ActionJackson can finally be put to rest.

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

Hugo and Profe welcome the viewers to another episode of Campeones on TeleOnce. They run down who will be inaction on today’s program (including a name we have not heard of before), when Hugo mentions that we will go to what happened last Wednesday at the TV taping when Action Jackson was facing the new TV champion TNT. We cut to TNT having Action in the Cobra Dinamita when a huge masked guy climbs into the ring and attacks TNT from behind. This man is known as King Kong and he is the latest acquisition of Gen. Skandor Akbar. Kong attacks TNT, finishing the attack with a splash off the top turnbuckle. It looks like the TNT has finally gotten past action Jackson and already has someone new targeting him. Kong continues stomping on TNT until reinforcements arrive to make the save. 

Back to Hugo and Profe, and Profe is gushing about how impressive and wonderful King Kong’s first impression was. Hugo says that because of this attack, tonight’s card in Carolina is undergoing a change. Instead of facing Motor City Madman, TNT will now be facing King Kong. Hugo also says that TNT wants to send his apologies to the fans for not being able to appear on the Thursday and Friday shows due to the attack (with El Profe interjecting ‘and tonight's as well!’), but Hugo says TNT says he will be there tonight. Also tonight, a huge main event as the Universal title will be defended in a barbed wire match and Joe Don Smith will be suspended 15 feet above the ring in a small cage to prevent him from interfering. Last week, it was Joe Don who passed the barbed wire to Dick Murdsoch that was promptly used to hurt both the referee and Carlos Colon. Hugo says that the WWC is reviewing all of these things DickMurdoch has done and may be deciding soon what actions to take against this individual. Profe is looking forward to seeing Carlos Colon torn apart by the barbed wire and Dick Murdoch as the new Universal champion.Hugo says we will have video of what happened last week as well as some special interviews, but these seem to be edited off the version of this episode we have available. Hugo finishes by promoting the merchandise available for fans to purchase tonight and also plugs an amateur boxing tournament that was happening that night as well in Miramar (where they tape their TV). Again, please remember to buy your tickets at the box office, protect your money.

MD: As best as I can figure here, this King Kong is actually Awesome Kong and not King Kong II who is the King Kong that teamed with Awesome Kong as part of the Colossal Kongs. Got it? Regardless, this was pretty effective overall. He had good presence in framing the moment after TNT crashed into him off the ropes and moved pretty well heading up to the top for a splash.

EB: Our first match is Huracan Castillo vs Rick Valentine, an offshoot of the Caribbean tag title change from a couple of weeks back. Valentine blindsides Castillo before Huracan can take off his ring jacket. Valentine controls for a couple of minutes before Castillo comes back and finishes Valentine off with a body press. Short match as Valentine is finishing up his year long run.

MD: I think this week might be just about it for ol’ Kerry Brown in Puerto Rico at least this time around. You have to admire the run that he had. This was a pretty compact affair where he attacked Castillo before he got his jacket off and they skipped the shine to go straight to the heat. Valentine was focused and effective and had a nice neckbreaker. Castillo came back with energy and jumping knees and won it clean without any real drama with a body press. Professional stuff at least.

EB: The California Studs have done very well in their run so far and have moved into position to challenge for the World tag team titles.They were not successful last week, but Akbar, Lee and Anthony cut a promo on facing Bronco and Invader tonight in a rematch. Akbar promises the gold will be theirs tonight. Bronco and Invader respond by saying it won’t be easy, with Bronco saying you have to go it there willing to fight, willing to die, willing to kill if they want to get these World tag titles.Invader puts over the quality of the Studs and they will be ready when that bell rings. 

MD: Still amusing to see how the choreography is off. Akbar starts speaking and sticks the mic in Lee’s face but they all have to wait for the voice over to be done. Lee talks and does the “tell ‘em, big man” for Anthony (which is funny in its own right) and then they have to wait again. I do like how this is where Devastation Inc. ended up between World Class and Global. Invader and Bronco don’t necessarily seem as hot about this program as Studs do. Anthony’s talking about how they left the babyfaces laying in their blood and Invader’s talking more about conditioning and competition. 

EB: We saw him debut earlier in the program by attacking TNT, but here is our first look at King Kong in a match. His opponent is Jerry Mercado and it goes as well as you would expect for poor Mercado. Hugo on commentary says that he's heard that this King Kong weighs 450 pounds and Kong makes quick work of Jerry. A big splash gets the three count and poor Jerry is stretched out after the match. Akbar has found quite the big gun here.

MD: Kong has the cool barbarian robe deal, so that’s a plus. He does a kick (just an okay kick), then a DDT of all things and the splash you’d expect and I reiterate that he’s moving around int here pretty well. That’s the whole match. They stretcher Mercado out after the fact. There’s every sense that the top guys (Colon, Invader, etc.) could do something with him but I’d wonder what he and Giant Warrior could do with each other.

EB: Profe is with Scott Hall and they talk about Hall’s match tonight against Giant Warrior. It is for the Caribbean title and Hall says it will take more than face paint, arm ribbons and some screaming fans to beat the blond outlaw. Warrior responds by reminding Hall that he beat Hall in the bullrope match and that he is looking forward to winning that Caribbean title.

MD: We have to be running out of time on Hall too but at least we get to see him do all of his hand gestures while Profe talks. Warrior won a recent bullrope match so now he gets a shot at the Caribbean title.

EB: Our main event is a match that took place recently between the California Studs and the team of Giant Warrior and Ricky Santana. Anthony and Santana start off by exchanging punches, followed by Santana getting the better of Anthony on a corner whip. The crossbody by Santana is broken up by Lee and all four men are in the ring. Warrior and Ricky send the Studs out with a double team (Warrior holds santana while Ricky kicks the Studs). The Studs regroup and Brian Lee is tagged in. The match continues with Ricky in control by using his speed to counter Lee and Anthony. It gets to the point where Lee has to rub Anthony’s shoulders to psych him up. A blind tag to Lee finally allows the Studs to take control when Ricky is blindsided by a Lee clothesline. Lee distracts the referee by taunting Giant Warrior and drawing him into the ring, allowing Tony Anthony to attack Ricky on the arena floor. The Studs keep Santana isolated but a couple of missed moves by Anthony allows the tag to be made. Warrior briefly cleans house on the Studs. All four men are in the ring and it leads to Santana getting a small package on Anthony that is reversed by Lee. The Studs get the win. Hugo complains that they stole that win and then starts doing one last hard sell for tonight’s show as the video cuts.

MD: The Studs really fit in well. If I had my choice, maybe there’d be more contrast between Lee and Anthony but it’s also a lot of fun to see Lee stooging so huge. He ran a sequence with Santana early here where he won on shoulder tackles but then lost on speed and it was full of him flexing, pinballing, stalling, stooging, escaping outside of the ring and it was great stuff. Warrior had a nice big where he lifted up Santana to kick everyone too. Heat was on Santana after a nice blind tag transition (Anthony leapfrogged him and he ran right into a clothesline) and they built well to the hot tag to Warrior. Finish had Santana get a roll up as the ref was distracted and Lee pushing them over so Anthony could win. You could put the Studs against any two guys in the territory and it’d probably be good.

EB: We now go to the west coast version of Super Estrellas from the same day.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQ1Q-wa60g

The version we have starts with a Rick Valentine vs Giant Warrior match already in progress. Valentine jumped Warrior before Warrior was able to get his ring jacket off. Sound strategy but Warrior is able to shake Valentine off and gets the win while still wearing his ring jacket. And that should be it for Rick Valentine in CSP.

MD: Similar to the Castillo match in Valentine attacks before the ring jacket comes off. It doesn’t go quite as well for him as Warrior is just too big. They go back and forth a bit but Valentine runs into a boot and maybe this is it for him?

EB: We get a series of interviews regarding matches for tomorrow’s house show in Quebradillas. Monster Ripper is facing Sasha in a non-title match. Ripper reminds everyone that she is the champ and that she won't let Sasha beat her to get a title shot. Sasha is garbage, a worm and she will prove it tomorrow. Sasha responds by urging the fans to support her tomorrow as she looks to get another title shot and bring the title to Puerto Rico.

Ricky Santnaa is facing Gran Mendoza tomorrow and the topic is that controversial glove that Mendoza uses. Ricky sends a hello to the fans in Quebradillas and Hugo says that the ladies are especially looking forward to seeing Ricky tomorrow.

MD: Not a lot to say about these. Ripper’s got the belt. Sasha wants the belt. She wants to give it back to the people of Puerto Rico. And Santana has to contend with Gran Mendoza and his loaded glove. We’ll hear from him later.

EB: Up next is Dick Murdoch taking on Kim Duk. Duk threatens Murdoch with the kendo stick while trying to enter the ring, with Murdoch begging off. Murdoch snatches the kendo stick from the ref when he is trying to put it away, but is not able to use it before the ref takes it back. Murdoch then tries to jump Duk when he has his back turned for the salt ceremony, but Duk catches Murdoch and wards him off with the threat of salt being thrown. As the match goes on, Hug takes a moment to explain what happened the previous weekend during the cage match between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch. Joe Don Smith slid a piece of barbed wire through the cage fencing to Dick Murdoch, which Murdoch used to attack and cut up not just Carlos Colon but the referee as well. Hugo says the incident is being evaluated by the WWC committee and we have to see what decision they reach regarding this disgusting and unprofessional action. In the ring, Murdoch takes control due to some dirty tactics and controls most of the match with punches and elbows. Duk eventually starts punching back and goes off on Murdoch for the last couple of minutes (with some great stooging and begging off from Murdoch). Duk gets the cobra clutch on Murdoch and it looks like he may have Murdoch down, but Joe Don Smith jumps in for the dq. Duk chases Smith but Murdoch attacks from behind and they briefly double team Duk. Murdoch then wraps a cord around Duk’s throat and chokes him out. Duk wins by dq but Murdoch has left him down.

MD: Murdoch, as always, is great to watch. He had antics at the start with the kendo stick. His hands were going all over the place throughout. He controlled most of it and all of his offense looked great, but when Duk was ready for his comeback, he took everything and made it look ten times better and a hundred times more entertaining than usual. He ended up in the cobra clutch but Joe Don (in full baseball gear) broke it up for the DQ with them double teaming Duk and leaving him laying after the fact. 

EB: El Galan Mendoza is next with Monster Ripper and Mendoza claims he is making his return (dude, you’ve been around since January). He is facing Ricky Santana tomorrow. Hugo brings up his glove and Mendoza is aghast that Hugo would say such a thing about any illegal use. They are followed by Akbar and the California Studs, their opponents tomorrow are TNT & Kim Duk, who close this section with comments of their own.

MD: Mendoza, on his own with Ripper, as much as I think he’s a solid talent, is kind of punching above his weight here. It is nice to see Duk and TNT together after all they’ve been through since Duk was brought in as heel TNT’s karate associate.

EB: We next get the King Kong vs Jerry Mercado match we had on Campeones. King Kong will be in action tomorrow in Quebradillas against Miguelito Perez. 

MD: This is the same match from the other show. Akbar is always respectful of Perez, Sr. but he really wonders what Perez Jr. is thinking going up against Kong.

EB: Dick Murdoch is bragging about taking Joe Don to his ranch in Texas and putting him to work. Then he has some words for Giant Warrior, who he is facing tomorrow in Quebradillas. Afterwards, Giant Warrior says that Murdoch is a tough man but he will not back down.

MD: Murdoch has fun confusing the town of Quebradillas with a food. He does a good job of putting Giant Warrior over as dangerous but also indicating it won’t matter a bit.

EB: We have the El Bronco music video that was done when he debuted back in December 1990..

MD: This is not at all important but considering how much Bronco’s valet is featured in this video I wonder why she’s never around. It could also be an old video from when he was coming in the first time?

EB: We have another series of promos for tomorrow’s card, as Action Jackson is facing Bronco tomorrow and he mocks Bronco's dancing. Bronco promises he will not be made a fool off tomorrow, and Miguelito Perez promises to do his best for the fans tomorrow against a guy that is big.  

MD: Jackson’s really funny because he’ll toss it over to Profe and then just keep talking as Profe talks over him with the mic and it’s certainly memorable if not particularly effective. 

EB: The California Studs are facing the team of Super Medico #3 and Invader #4. The tecnicos do well early on but Invader #4 falls prey to a Tony Anthony punch and then Lee proceeds to take over once tagged in. They work over Invader #4, but eventually the hot tag is made. All four men are in and the tecnicos are briefly in control again until Medico #3 misses a charge and is clotheslined on the top rope. This allows Brian Lee the opening to hit his flying kneedrop and get the pin. 

MD: They have the match bookended by the Studs video. Medico III and Invader IV is actually a pretty smart team now that Invader I is with Bronco and Medico I had to hang it up. Invader IV is pretty spry and agile and Medico III has some size and his dad’s striking (though not quite as good). I get the sense they don’t run with this pairing for long though. Here they were there to put over the Studs. More good stooging and controlling the ring (with some Akbar interference). Finish had Invader IV make the hot tag but Lee able to redirect Medico’s throat over the top rope and then he hit the bombs away knee from the top clean to get the pin. Studs train keeps on rolling. 

EB: Our final match for the episode is Doug Gilbert taking on Ricky Santana. The first half of the match has a focus of both wrestlers working over each other's arms, with Gilbert then controlling the middle portion with some chinlocks. Ricky comes back and they end up taking a not smoothly executed tumble over the top rope to the outside. They start fighting as the ref counts them both out. Hugo then closes the show. 

MD: This wasn’t a lot to write home about. The early bits where Gilbert controlled the arm by pulling the hair repeatedly were done well, but a lot of the middle chunk were chinlocks where he wasn’t as active as he could have been. He’s not exactly a force, just sort of a heel presence on the midcard, and they ended up protecting both of these guys with a double countout.    

Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch barbed wire match from April 6 in Carolina

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

EB: We finally have a match from the Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch feud. This is a barbed wire match where Joe Din Smith will be suspended in a cage above the ring so he can't interfere. We begin with Joe Don already above the ring in a cage as Colon and Murdoch are facing off. Colon is able to back Murdoch up into a corner and it seems Murdoch's tights have gotten caught on the barbed wire Murdoch asks referee Victor Quiñonez to help remove the barbed wire from his butt.Colon and Murdoch start exchanging punches again (although Murdoch takes a moment to sell the pain of being pricked in the buttock by the barbed wire) and Murdoch is the first one to try to shove his opponent's face into the wire. Carlos fights Murdoch off and avoids going into the wire. Murdoch flips off Colon. They continue exchanging blows and we get a camera shot where we can see Joe Don hanging above the ring. Murdoch manages to knock Carlos down and starts signalling to Joe Don. It seems they have a plan and it involves Joe Don lowering a blackboard with some instructions written on it. Joe Don has hidden some wire cutters near the ring and the blackboard is telling Murdoch where they are at. Murdoch heads to a corner and finds the wire cutters, and puts them to use by cutting off a piece of barbed wire.  Murdoch then uses the piece of wire to choke Carlos. It is no dq so the ref can only watch and see if Carlos gives up. Murdoch headbutts the ref for good measure to ensure he doesn’t intervene and stop the choking with the wire. Carlos is able to break out of the choke by foul kicking Murdoch and then proceeds to give him a taste of his own medicine by choking Murdoch with the wire. The ref finally is able to toss out the wire and Carlos scrapes Murdoch's head on the barber wire. 

Murdoch is bleeding and Carlos continues the attack by working over the cut. However, Murdoch cuts that off with a foul blow of his own. Murdoch rams Colon’s head into the wire and is in control as Joe Don uses the blackboard to send down this message of encouragement: ‘You're winning!’.Carlos is now bleeding and is sent back first into the barbed wire. Murdoch continues punching (with taped fists) and Carlos catches his arm on the wire. Murdoch continues working over Colon’s forehead but eventually Carlos makes a comeback.Carlos sends Murdoch into the wire a couple of times and we see Joe Don banging on the cage in frustration. Murdoch rakes Colon’s eyes to stop the attack. Murdoch gets a piledriver for a two count and then signals to Joe Don for something. Joe Don lowers some brass knuckles, but Carlos intercepts them. Carlos wallops Murdoch with the knuckles and gets the pinfall win. The crowd cheers as Colon has his hand raised. Carlos wants to continue attacking Murdoch but the ref waves him off. We still have Joe Don above the ring in the cage, looking defeated. 

We cut to when Joe Don’s cage is being lowered, and Carlos goes back into the ring. He decks Murdoch with a punch that sends Murdoch head first into the bottom of the small cage. Murdoch is knocked out and Joe Don is trapped in the cage with an angry Carlos Colon waiting for him. Carlos rolls out of the ring to wait for the cage to be lowered, while Joe Don starts begging for them to lift the cage back up. Carlos has the knuckles and is yelling for them to lower that cage. The ref opens the cage door as we see Murdoch slowly roll out of the ring, still a bit out of it. Carlos stalks Murdoch who then motions to Colon and points at Joe Don in the ring to try to get Colon off his back. It works as Carlos gets in the ring and unleashes some frustration on Joe Don. Murdoch does eventually come back in to get Colon to back  off, but Joe Don took quite a few lumps. Carlos has gotten some measure of payback on both Murdoch and Joe Don.  .  

MD: We’re lucky to have this one. Joe Don Smith was elevated over the ring in a small cage. It’s more or less what you’d want from a barbed wire match but with that Dick Murdoch twist. It started with his trunks getting caught on the wire and it didn’t really look back. He controlled after a low blow but then Colon came back after one. Meanwhile, Murdoch’s idea for the match, which was wonderful in practice, was to use a small blackboard to trade instructions back and forth with Smith. It was pretty comedic in practice. Super entertaining. At one point, he sent down a note saying how great a job Murdoch was doing. 

I think early on he got Murdoch some wire cutters so he could cut off a part of the wire to use to choke Colon. Of course Colon got it himself later. After the cartwheel, Colon used headbutts and they all seemed to twist Murdoch about and send him headlong into the wire. He bled big. Finish had Murdoch get a pile driver and then, confident, ask Smith for knucks. Colon got them and won the match. Post-match was all about Colon getting his hands on Smith and to set it up, as the cage was being lowered, they pulled off one of the greatest stooge bumps I’ve ever seen, as Murdoch missed a shot and got nailed right into the lowered cage, getting KOed. That let Colon unload on Smith before Murdoch could recover and pull him away. This was really a blast. Maybe it needed just a bit more of Colon getting ripped apart but otherwise, it was great stuff.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, TNT seeks payback against the massive King Kong, Galan Mendoza gets a new tag partner, and the California Studs paint the town red (well, the ring at least).