Found Footage Friday: 1989 AJPW~! MALENKO~! FUCHI~! ABBY~! BABA~! KAMALA~! MIGHTY~! RUSHER~!

Mighty Inoue vs. Shinichi Nakano AJPW 2/23/89

MD: Another set of Classics drops as we go down the list of new footage. This one is probably one I wouldn't have gone out of my way for in general, but it was good overall. A Jr. Heavyweight Title match. We've gotten pieces filled in for this lineage and defenses and the matches hold up quite well against late 80s NJPW title matches really. You have guys like Fuchi, Inoue, and Momota carrying the division with people like Joe Malenko popping in.

I don't have a lot of time for Nakano in general, but this was set up to be almost impossible to fail. For one, he ambushed right from the start, giving things early direction and not forcing them into feeling out matwork he might not excel at. He slapped Inoue out of nowhere and then hit his signature power slam before tossing him to the floor and destroying him on the rails. Back in the ring, it was a seated chinlock. He at times had a sense that he wasn't sure how to best capitalize on the moment. 

None of that from Inoue. First chance he got (grabbing the head out of a Nakano toehold) he focused right in and chained three or four things together perfectly. As the match went on and they went back and forth, he wouldn't let things meander much either. At one point, Nakano was hitting shoulder thrusts in the corner with not enough pepper behind them, so Inoue asserted himself and started shin kicking him in the face. 

They had an exciting finishing stretch where Inoue got him down for the flipping sentons but missed the second. That allowed Nakano to hit his fisherman's suplex but Inoue got out to win with a very cool headscissors roll up out of a side slam. This overachieved, but it was entirely because Inoue is so good.

ER: I love Matt's specific, targeted dislike of Nakano, but I'm not sure I agree. I thought this match was great, but because of both men, and how easy they made it to buy in to an All Japan juniors match based around stiff work and snug holds. When I first started trading tapes, traders were not fans of the All Japan juniors division. If you wanted "Juniors Wrestling" there were so many other options: Michinoku Pro, New Japan, WAR, lucha, all filled with small guys working fast and flying, building to big highspots. All Japan's juniors division had none of that. It was permanently understocked with talent, AJPW never used it to showcase a future star, gaijin imports mostly focused on heavyweights (meaning you might get at best Rex King in a juniors match), and the matches were mostly worked like Kings Road undercard matches. It was not the style people associated with juniors wrestling, and now I'm far enough removed from that, that I can see the style for what it is and love it. 

Nakano tried to get the drop on Inoue and wear him down with holds, but since he is just a lesser version of Inoue it only worked until Inoue got fired enough to put him back in his place. Nakano came out hot, staggering Inoue good with a slap across the face and trying to secure a quick surprise title win with an awesome powerslam, knowing Inoue would be favored the longer the match went. When he moved into wearing down Inoue with holds, I bought all of them, because every submission felt like Nakano was working it to specifically finish the match. He believed in this firmly held submissions, and it made each one matter. His camel clutch, late match Boston crab, his single leg crab, all felt like something he was locking in to force a submission, never just to kill time. I bought into the struggle on every hold, and especially got into Inoue's long escape pulling a chinlock out of a deathlock, stretching Nakano until breaking. It all led to organic advances. Inoue's grounded headlock was snugly pulled into a swinging neckbreaker, the way he fanned Nakano's legs while locking in a butterfly stretch looked punishing, and when he locked in the tightest headscissors possible it was nice foreshadowing for the headscissor cradle he used to retain his title. 

If I'm talking about guys pulling snug submissions that look like they could get a tap, none looks better than Nakano pulling Inoue into a bow and arrow and holding it firm. How many bow and arrows subs have you seen fall apart at the seams? The legs come uncrossed, the knees aren't pressed firmly into the back to hold the sub taut, it's almost as common to see someone inadvertently slip out of the hold while rolling onto their back than it is to see a firm successfully applied lock, and Nakano puts the work in on every part of the sub. He put in the visual work of digging his knee into Inoue's back while securing the deathlock, worked through every bit of securing the hold at both ends of Inoue's body, leaving no wriggle room when he rolls to his back with Inoue stretched. 

Does Inoue "look better" as a wrestler? Yes, probably. His fast and weighty crucifix pin was so good I thought it was the finish for sure, and the way he makes cradles and backslide attempts feel threatening in general means there's always a sense he can surprise with a finish, which made his cradled headscissors work so well. He gives weight to opponents' with good selling in holds and fast bumps. His flipping bump through the ropes to the floor is one of my favorite signature bumps. I love how this man exits a ring. But, All Japan Juniors matches were never about crazy bumps or building to big highspots, which was why the division never got acclaim 30 years ago. I'm not even sure what the biggest highspot of this match was - the crucifix pin? Inoue's somersault senton? - and that's why people weren't seeking out this work. Viewing it outside of its Juniors framing you can see how tight the work was. 

Giant Baba/Rusher Kimura vs. Abdullah the Butcher/Giant Kimala AJPW 3/8/89

MD: It would be easy to dismiss this, to just say some fun things about Baba's cool trip on Kamala, how Kamala fought out of the corner, or how great Rusher's strikes against Abby looked. Or we could play into the amusing bits here, the amazing look on Baba's face when Abby got a cheapshot on him on a rope break and then did the whole martial arts hand waving shtick. We could go on about how they were like a married couple having a spat and how delightful that was. And that'd be valid. We could talk about how into this the crowd was, how they buzzed for Kamala's big moments or Abby asserting himself or Rusher making a comeback or whenever Baba came into the ring. 

And on some level, I am going to talk briefly about the sum of all of that. But I just don't think I can do this justice. I'm not even sure I want to do this justice. This match, ten minutes or so until the countout, is its own sort of magic. It's delightful. I was smiling the whole way through, out of delight, and I rode the same wave as the crowd, decades later. I could argue that we were taught and trained and conditioned not to enjoy matches like this and then I'd feel dumb, because of how stupid that sounds, but also because how stupid it makes me feel that at one point in my life many years ago, I would have denied myself this sort of joy, would have tried to hide behind a sort of self-important sense that wrestling had to be something else. 

Sometimes wrestling should be this. Hell, most wrestling should be begging to be this, because this clash of characters, of timing, of conducting a crowd, of heart and humor and misfit, monster, mythic heroism and villainy... it's just so different than we can hope to find out of most other forms of entertainment. There's nothing in the world quite like this. Watch this. It's ten minutes plus some before and after. Let yourself feel what that crowd was feeling. Smile along. Be delighted. It's okay. The world is a dark place, but there's light to be found in the least likely of places.

ER: I get so excited whenever Matt and I get to write about Abdullah the Butcher and Kimala 2 teaming in All Japan, that I went into this having no idea it was actually Abby teaming with the real Kamala. I've seen so many Abby/Kimala 2 matches, several matches where both Kamala's team with Abby in a trios, but I've seen little of Abdullah and original Kamala as a team. I think it only happened on this one tour. Also, it's important to note that I don't think Real Kamala is an upgrade overall, but it does make the team more threatening and less beatable. Kamala in Japan is weird. He looks like he'd be a natural fit, because his size and appearance makes him stand out more than at any time he was in WWF, it's just that his work does not fit in with Kings Road style at all, and at times he comes off like a total first year fat guy who isn't sure how to work with any of the old pros he's in with. He throws his overhand chops somehow worse than he threw them in 1993 WWF, but at least he tried throwing spin kicks like 1986 Kamala. His early match spin kick into Rusher's chest was easily his highlight of the match. 

So, with no Kimala 2 to work the heel in peril role, it is down entirely to Abdullah to create all the match's intrigue, which he is great at doing. His work against Baba and Rusher is always worth seeing, regardless of what current freak is teaming with him. Abby's aura lifts other, differently fat ships, because there is no other situation where Kamala would have grabbed Rusher to headbutt him if he wasn't headbutting him with Abby. I was impressed by Baba's work with Kamala, how all his chops looked like they were moving the large savage, knocking him down to build to the big Abby/Baba showdown that everyone was dying to see. Abdullah looked like he had so much fun working with Baba, just try not to smile as Abby is doing his karate posing. He looks like he's having a ball, and while I think it is very silly that Abby gets busted open by Kamala's tribal mask, it leads to Baba straight kicking Abby in his forehead grooves several times and Rusher opening those cuts with headbutts, so the silliness leads directly to violence. The karate chops and backhands Abby throws at Baba's neck to stop the onslaught are one of the things that make their showdowns worth watching no matter the year. 

I take it back, maybe Kamala's best contribution to this was when Rusher swarmed him with chops and punches, Kamala selling the swarm by backpedaling in fear while flailing his arms to keep hornets away from his face. Kamala feels so out of place in Japan, that there can be awkward moments...but when a moment like that plays into his fish out of water placement, suddenly it all makes sense. 

Joe Malenko vs. Masa Fuchi AJPW 10/20/89

MD: I can't help but think about this match in context. 1989 All Japan is defined by the war between Tenryu and Jumbo, between Hansen teaming with Tenryu and tearing through people, by Footloose having spotfests, Rusher and Eigen and Okuma doing comedy, guys like Shunji Takano and Kabuki scrapping and holding down the midcard against both Revolution and foreign monsters. And yet, here is a an absolute throwback to both the sort of 70s hold-driven matches Jumbo had made his name on and the sort of Junior Heavyweight technical battles we'd expect out of Fujinami at the turn of the 80s before Tiger Mask changed the paradigm in New Japan. It feels like the pinnacle of the Denny Brown/Nelson Royal style of NWA Junior Heavyweight Title matches that riddled the undercards of certain territories for years. 

I also can't help but think of Newborn UWF, a native monster that was threatening all traditional ways of doing business in Japan. To watch Maeda, Takada, Yamazaki, Anjo, and all the others is to feel a constant sense of danger. One mistake could bring a fight to an end or allow for severe punishment. There's a tension that leaves viewers on edge the whole time through. It's exciting but it's also exhausting. There can be narratives. There were always narratives. But they were based on an incessant pressure. This is different. It's a slow unlocking, a game of chess instead of a perilous tug of war. Damage had to be done, joints had to be weakened, effort had to be put in. It required a different sort of investment, both for the wrestlers and for the crowd. The struggle is somehow more simulated but also richer and broader for that simulation. It may not feel quite as real but it feels just as true. The wrestlers struggle for every inch, sell every twist of a joint, and react emotionally to consequences (such as Fuchi retreating from the ring, arm damaged, after it seemed like Malenko had an answer for everything he tried). If UWF was constant sudden death, this was regulation soccer, where the ebb and flow of shots on goal and ball possession would add up over time.

And of course, I couldn't help but think about Fuchi. He's the most versatile wrestler I've ever seen. He could go from comedy, to a title match like this, to mauling younger wrestlers. You see wrestlers manage that over their career, but for him that might all be within the same week. I think about him destroying the knees of the Super Generation Army on tables, brutality on top of brutality. Here though, it was a chess  move. It opened the match up, turned everything on its head, gave him a lever to pry on for the rest of the match, and pry he did. Malenko was constantly off balance and every subsequent move he hit was full of desperation. Fuchi could, would, and did throw little pokey kicks to the knee to take back over whenever the opportunity arose. It was the same move, even the same brutality, but it was used in an entirely different way than those Tsuruta-gun trio matches of a year or two later. 

It all built to a spectacular finishing stretch. Malenko's desperation paid off for him as he caught Fuchi in a bridging blockbuster fallaway slam. He followed it up with a northern lights suplex and then a clutch armbar. With leg damaged, he couldn't put Fuchi away. Fuchi, arm possibly still hurt, went with leaping enziguiris instead, and then was able to jam Malenko's final attempt to slip around him for a bridging butterfly suplex and the title win. So while I thought back, forward, and laterally to 70s Jumbo, to Denny Brown, to 1989 AJPW, to UWF, and to 1991 six-mans, what I thought about most of all was how this match stood on its own, and just how good it all was. History might show these late 80s AJPW Juniors matches to be a last gasp of an older tradition in some ways, but it was a gasp that showed how much vital, vibrant, and worthwhile life might have still been left to be found in the style.

ER: I wrote about the maligned/unregarded All Japan juniors style up above as we were breaking down Mighty Inoue/Shinichi Nakano without realizing that Matt went into different detail on the style in this review down below. Denny Brown is an interesting style comparison for this type of match, and it's interesting because at one point that would have been considered a pejorative and now it's clearly being used as a positive comp to something that we both miss from modern wrestling. This match is nothing but excellent, honest work, both guys gluing themselves together to craft something tough and true while making my own joints and ligaments scream out in pain. 

They build this around increasingly torqued holds, no traditional "highspots", no strike exchanges of any kind, just one blunt attack that leads to a long full match of superglue. The blunt attack comes when Fuchi begins smiling and taunting Joe with a couple of head fakes, a couple of lunges that weren't ever leading to anything, but Joe sees the evil behind Fuchi's smile and just headbutts him in the face when he gets his hands on him, wrestling him to the ground and beginning the always satisfying wrenching. Joe's holds all look like the finish: his cradle, grapevining one leg while concurrently forcing Fuchi into a painful half nelson, using all his limbs to manipulate Fuchi's body, not going for a pin just going for pain; a camel clutch with no pullback on the chin, all focus instead on hooking both arms and pulling back on them as he sinks into the hold, leaving Fuchi wincing and rubbing out his shoulders after he escapes to the floor.

Joe Malenko is someone who can make a Fujiwara armbar takedown look like a hold that damages the entire body. The way he takes Fuchi's arm and drives him down with his full weight sends Fuchi's head, face, and shoulder into the mat, like he was using the arm as leverage to do something more sinister. He uses that same leveraged arm to do a Russian legsweep when Fuchi eventually fights to his feet, holding the arm the whole time and using that as the point to pivot into attacks that folded in other limbs. 

Fuchi makes no inroads working the mat with Joe so eventually involves his tried and true friend Ringside Table to smash Joe's knee into. Joe's knee selling is real and escalates the match instantly. I love an injury coming into play late in a match, rather than give someone a memory exercise in the first couple minutes that makes it near impossible to do an actual match without conveniently forgetting your injury. Once Fuchi smashes Joe in the knee, Joe's strategy changes entirely and you can see in his eyes that this was the worst thing to happen to him. Fuchi is now in kill mode and Malenko is bringing out the big guns. The way Joe swings his leg away from Fuchi's single leg attempt before swinging him over with a front face lock takeover, catching a high crossbody and floating over with Fuchi's momentum into a bridging pin, and a clean northern lights that I'm sure he wished he had pulled off earlier with a sturdier knee. Fuchi doesn't so much as wear Joe down as he does hold him down long enough to win, the same thing Joe had been doing all match long. Excellent work all around, showcasing a style that really wouldn't be hard to integrate into any modern work, you just have to be honest and actually put in the work. That's the thing I don't see happening.  

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Found Footage Friday: I SHALL RETURN TO YOKOHAMA~! TIGER MASK~! ANJO~! DANDY~! SCORPIO~! SABU~! TAKAYAMA~! ABBY~!

Tokyo Pro 8/25/96

MD: This is more Found than New, with the Scorpio vs. Sabu match being the one most seen/known. Some of this you can find online.

First Tiger Mask/Yoji Anjo vs. Takashi Ishikawa/Yoshihiro Takayama

MD: Of course this is Takashi Ishikawa but that's ok because Takashi Ishikawa is still great. Here he's even older and has a mullet, grizzled as can be, trademark purple trunks a big more voluminous. Anjo and Tiger Mask are such a weird pairing, but they crack each other up in the pre-match interview and it's charming. I'd like to see a sitcom with these two. Anjo can be such a jerk. Sayama can be such a jerk, but it's weirdly wholesome when they're together. And of course Takayama is imposing and looks here like he could have been the villain from Karate Kid Part III. 

I'd love to say that my favorite stuff here was Tiger Mask up against some unique opponents, but we don't see him a ton against Takayama (mostly grappling when we do), and it just doesn't clear Anjo flexing. He does pretty well against Takayama honestly, but it's Ishikawa chopping the hell out of him in the ropes that stuck with me. Actually, Takayama wailing on him with forearms did too. I do love to see Anjo get beat up, sorry. That's not to say that Tiger Mask vs Ishikawa wasn't great, because it was. Tiger Mask did his spin out drop toe hold and looked as good as ever. He bridged up on his head just to show everyone he still could. He had his blue gear here, looking more inspired by Liger than inspirational to him. Finish had Anjo break up an Ishikawa Scorpion but then Ishikawa not break up Anjo's cool modified figure four, instead shouting for Takayama who had to tap. Overall, unique and a lot of fun.

ER: What a great mix of personalities and stiff work. Ishikawa looks so professional in his sit down interview because you can't see the mullet, then in the match he looks like he's doing Riki Choshu cosplay and it rules. It also rules that he clearly can't stand Yoji Anjo. Anjo is a guy who it seems a lot of people cannot stand, a babyface here only because of being teamed with Tiger Mask, but otherwise a man who is clearly miserable and cocky in equal measure, and I love that kind of self loathing overconfidence in a dangerous wrestler. Takayama during this era is the closest he ever can to being Hot. He had the slick back in the ponytail, his face wasn't yet entirely messed up, still had the one weird eye, but he wasn't as lumpy and horsey as he'd become in a few years. 

This was short but intense for the full nine minutes. Takayama and Anjo really went at it, loved the ways Anjo would drop fast hard knees into Takayama's legs (leading to the eventual tap) and the way Takayama started punching down to Anjo after letting him up from an armbar. Ishikawa only wanted to fight Anjo and Anjo hilariously played it off nonchalantly. When Ishikawa locked in a Scorpion Deathlock because he is TPW Choshu, he points over and yells at Anjo to no reaction from the crowd, and Anjo just kind of ignored it, shrugged, and adjusted his gear. I loved When Anjo threw several stiff kicks as the illegal man, dashing three hard shots off on Takayama before calling for Tiger Mask to throw a sweeping kick to finish. Tiger Mask looked good, and I was especially impressed by this wild physics-breaking moment where Takayama had him in a heel hook, and TM did his front roll kip up to escape, while Takayama never let go of him. I don't know how TM made it to his feet so smoothly while being trapped in a submission. 

Sabu vs. Black Wozuma

MD: This is Scorpio under a mask that has a bit of a stormtrooper or Stuka vibe to it. I don't know why Scorpio is under the mask but it doesn't hinder his work. He does a bit more with body language or head movement to help, but it's clearly Scorpio. No one else moves like him. This was exactly what you'd expect it to be and exactly what you'd want. Sheik is on the outside. They mat wrestle to start, and it's pretty gritty but it's not really what you came for. When things pick up, they really pick up. Sabu goes for a triple jump dive to the floor and Scorpio tosses a chair at him. After that, they play the hits. Sabu flies all over the place. When Scorpio flies, it's interesting, his slingshot somersault splash (which I've only seen Tiger Mask do so it's fun they're on the card together), a twisting splash, a splash allllll the way across the ring. Sabu hits an amazing triple jump back DDT. Scorpio catches his once with his side body attack but then gets nailed off the top rope with it a second time. Sabu goes through a table that doesn't look like it should break. That's when he gets the chants from the crowd, by the way. The hits played well for a game crowd. Post match, after he wins, Sabu tries to go through another table that looks like it shouldn't break and this time it doesn't, even after he keeps trying. They appreciate the effort. I'm wincing decades later. Wherever he is now he's still feeling that.

ER: What a strange happening in the uniquely cursed PACIFICO Yokohama. Why are the ceilings of this convention center so high? What happens in this building? Why would the ceilings possibly need to be so high and what kind of gas are they pumping into this preposterously cavernous room to make the crowd this quiet. This was the quietest crowd I've ever witnessed, in the most echoing building created, and it led to a fascinating study in Sabu and Scorpio having a full conversation in the ring. You didn't get to used to see something like this. Supposedly 4,500 people are there. It looks like 1,000 but the building is haunted and someone clearly fucked up a measurement somewhere so maybe there are 4,500 there who knows. Whatever is happening, there appears to be a moment where Sabu and Scorpio are working to get people involved, and they aren't really getting there, and the silence as they ramp up the action means we get an inside look at two greats calling their way through a match. 

At first, you get simple spot calling like "Watch the kick" and then it grows into an amusing back and forth between two of the best. Scorpio waffles Sabu with a clothesline and as he's pinning him says,"I got you there. You okay?" And as the hits get bigger, the banter evolves to a couple guys who sound like they're having a goof, while also killing each other with shots. Before Scorpio's slingshot splash, as he's dragging Sabu into position, he says, "It's gonna be stiff." It is! When he sets up much too far away for a top rope splash - I mean way across the ring - Sabu is chanting the entire time, "Oh you're gonna kill me. You're gonna break my ribs." It's an incredible look behind the curtain of two guys stiffing the hell out of each other, Scorpio landing heavy weight on Sabu's ribs a half dozen times, Sabu takes multiple bad crashes on moonsaults and takes a dive through a table on the floor. By the time this was over, Sabu had gone through three tables on four attempts. The fans catch up with them as the landings got worse, and the entire time our heroes sound like they're just having a laugh while beating each other up. I loved their fist fight after the bell and Scorpio's heavy pescado, Sabu still feeling the need to put himself through unbreakable tables in 1996. He moonsaulted ankle first onto a table that didn't budge, but I'm not sure it was worse that Scorpio doing a tumbleweed crotch first onto a chair. 

El Dandy vs. Gekko

MD: Gekko is Masao Orihara. He came out with a mask and then took it right off. This went five minutes or so before they did a great ref bump where Dandy move out of the way and Orihara flattened him with a dropkick to draw a DQ. Then Orihara went nuts including really lawn darting Dandy into the chairs and they restarted the match. He was maybe on the verge of victory when the bell ran again for the time limit and he obviously didn't like that. 

Along the way, Dandy looked like a million bucks. He was just hitting killer lariats and then clapping after the fact. He controlled a lot of this and everything he did looked great. The crowd didn't seem to want to go up for it until after the ref bump but afterwards they were with him. Late in the match he had a Gory Special on and brought the arms together and it looked pretty nasty. Orihara was a bit more all over the place, but he his springboard moonsault on the outside and was game taking all of Dandy's stuff. He almost won it with a kappo kick out of nowhere, but it wasn't meant to be. I'd call this a good Dandy showcase made better by Orihara's antics.

ER: This rocked, all of it. All of it rocked. Orihara is one of my very favorites, for his sincere punk attitude and the authenticity he brings to any match. He's extremely tough, works fast and stiff, and wears his emotions externally in a way I respond to (and crowds and wrestling officials seem to respond to). He's a menace in every way, attacking Dandy before he's announced and throwing him with a cool unstoppable overhead belly to belly. Everything Orihara does in a match is fueled by spite, and his sequences are so tight. Every landing looks hard, and yet he's clearly not unprofessional. He throws working punches, he feeds for Dandy when it's time for that, but in between he's just a damn menace. My favorite thing about Orihara is his commitment, specifically the way he commits to missed offense. He threw a missed clothesline here that was so beautiful I watched it a half dozen times. I don't tend to judge people negatively for poor missed clothesline, but I praise a wrestler to the heavens if he has a great one. Orihara's miss is one of the greatest I've seen. He swings so hard with his miss that it sends him off balance careening into the ropes, and he gets up looking pissed that it didn't land, just before he gets wasted by Dandy's. Everything about it was perfect. 

He's just a menace. His stomach kicks might be the best in wrestling. There's never light, always a firm connection, great placement. The way he strings his offense is so tough, the kind of guy who will suplex you but then run and drop a knee or senton on you before you even know he's approaching. His moonsault is a wrestling gift, never thrown with any kind of arc, just a violent fast whip onto Dandy. I even got into his (ever-present) beef with officials of all kinds. The way he dropkicks the ref to draw the DQ was such a great spot, as he had previously back elbowed the guy and shoved him across the ring, but this miss was another Classic Orihara Miss, where the dropkick landed flush while also looking like a complete accident. Great way to set up a mid-match DQ. When he convinces everyone for 5 more minutes, one of the first things he does is hit Dandy with a truly disgusting piledriver, dropping that man right on his head  and leaving Dandy looking like a man who did not expect to be dropped on his head. Maybe the thunder fire powerbomb after will snap him awake. When the time runs out on Orihara's second attempt at beating Dandy, he again argues with the ringside official for more time, and the exhausted look to the side this man gives is perfect. I'm surprised Orihara didn't knock him over the table.  

First Tiger Mask/Yoji Anjo vs. Abdullah The Butcher/Daikokubo Benkei

MD: Past a couple of Six-Mans from 82, this is the only Tiger Mask vs Abdullah encounter (and one more tag in September), and if youw ant to see Tiger Mask stomp and kick the crap out of a grounded Abdullah, this is the match for you. Overall, he wasn't in a ton. Pre-match, Abdullah did a promo backstage in English talking about how tough his partner was, or at least repeating it a few times. Always surreal to see. The joy here was Abby taking the fork to Anjo and then Anjo fighting back. Just when that was getting good and Anjo was getting revenge on the timekeeper's table with the fork, Benkei broke it up. Overall, he was fine, a big solid dude, but he's not the guy we were here to see. The previous tag was for the #1 Contendership and this was for the title and Anjo won it turning a bodyslam into a great Fujiwara Armbar. There are other encounters in Tokyo Pro between Abby and Anjo and now I'm curious if any made tape.

ER: A good match with a solid formula of cutting Anjo off from Tiger Mask, that would have benefitted from more Tiger Mask involvement. Daikokubo Benkei is a unique man with an extremely large head, but he is also not great and not a guy I'd like to see working the bulk of a tag. During the pre-match promo it really seems like Abdullah knows next to nothing about Benkei, referring to him almost exclusively as My Partner before eventually referring to him by a name that almost sounds close to Benkei. Tiger Mask's match opening work with Benkei might be the best part of this, as Tiger Mask shoot punches Benkei twice in the stomach while Benkei looks like he might toss his cookies. When Tiger Mask tries to snapmare him after, Benkei blocks it like a badass and stays standing. Anjo punches him in his giant head and hurts his hand doing so, it's the best. 

When the match settles down into a southern tag, it's from Abby stabbing Anjo with a fork while shrieking in the echoing Pacifico. Yes, this match settles down when the stabbing starts. Abby gives Anjo a tour of ringside so everyone can see how hard Anjo is getting stabbed and it gets good when a bloodied Anjo starts fighting back. But it's crazy how Abby somehow seems more violent doing his taped up finger strikes than he does literally stabbing someone. There was a slick moment where Abby caught a kick and swept Anjo's plant leg from under him. It got more heated and electric whenever TM would come in and save Anjo or fight off Benkei, and it was a great moment where Anjo started spiking Abby and drew the man's poisoned blood, leaking it all over the timekeeper's table before dropping several knees into his cut. I love how Anjo started shrieking like Abby during his comebacks, and how much louder Abby started shrieking while Anjo was driving knees down onto Abby's arm. Sick style clash, I had no clue how seldom Abby and TM ever crossed paths, and I wish we got them truly going at it. Glad we got what little work we did.  

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Where's Chicky?

Week 61: Where's Chicky?

EB: The August 3 house show was a memorable one, with a wild brawl between Carlos Colon and Abdulalht Butcher that had Profe humiliated due to Carlos tearing Profe’s pants off. We also had the first match between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, and any hope of a reconciliation was gone once Huracan attacked Miguel Perez Sr when he got involved to try to stop them from fighting. An angry Miguelito is not going to let that pass and a rematch has been set for Fan Appreciation Day weekend on August 10. One other notable development from August 3 was Fidel Sierra defeating Super Medico #3 to win the Caribbean title, so there are changes occurring in CSP. 

As we move to August 10, a large new arrival has joined the ranks of El Ejercito de la Justicia, a man named Solomon Grundy. August 10 is also the annual Fan Appreciation Day, headlined by the Bronca Boricua match. The big rivalry of Castillo vs Perez will have two chances to get at each other that night as both are entered in the Bronca Borcicua. Let’s go to the August 10 west coast version of Super estrellas de la Lucha Libre, where  we will hear all about their lineup for the August 11 Fan Appreciation Day show.

WWC Super Estrellas 8/10/91 west coast edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbVC5EjlzKo

EB: We join the episode with Hugo already in the midst of his show intro, where he announces we will see the debut of the enormous Solomn Grundy on this week’s episode. We will also have the new Caribbean champion Fidel Sierra, who defeated Super Medico #3 last week in Bayamon to become the new champion. Since this is the west coast version of Superstrellas, the big news is that tomorrow in Aguadilla it is Fan Appreciation Day with special prices and a meet and greet with the tecnico wrestlers before the show. It also means the return of the Bronca Boricua match, where wrestlers will compete for a $10,000 cash prize. Hugo also mentions some of the other matches scheduled for tomorrow, with the big one being a rematch between Huracan Castillo and Miguelito Perez. They had a big brawl last Sunday that ended with Castillo knocking out Perez with an object and then Miguelito dragging Castillo out of the locker room afterwards. Let’s go to our first match.

The State Patrol vs. Super Medico #3 & Invader #4

We have another version of the State Patrol, this time Lt. James Earl Wright is joined by Sgt. Billy Joe Barber. Their opponents are the team of Super Medico #3 and Invader #4. Wright and Medico start off for their teams, with Wright complaining about hair pulls and Medico keeping the upper hand on their early lock ups. Wright briefly works Medico’s arm, but that gets countered and the tecnico team tags in and out while working over Wright’s arm. Barber is tagged in and does not fare any better. The State Patrol takes control once they are able to back Medico into their corner, giving them an opening to bait Invader #4 into the ring and double team Medico behind the ref’s back. Wright and Barber control the next few minutes, keeping Medico in the ring and cutting off any hope spots. An elbow to the back of Wright’s head gives the opening for the hot tag to Invader #4, who briefly handles both Patrol members. All four men end up in the ring but despite the tecnicos whipping the State Patrol into each other, Wright recovers quickly and hits a neckbreaker on Invader #4. This sets up an interesting finisher for the State Patrol (like a Doomsday Device only with a shoulder tackler to the body) and the State Patrol get the win.

MD: Theoretically, the State Patrol are perfect for Puerto Rico. Very much a Rock’n’Roll RPMs deal where they have the skills to really shine with the opportunity, but so far we just never get the real State Patrol. Here it’s James Earl Wright with “Billy Joe Barber” and other than being from Florida, as we’re told by Hugo, we don’t know much about him. He’s competent, but that’s not the same as being an arch stooge. This was pretty straightforward for the most part. Babyfaces controlled the arm. Heels ground down once they took over. Transitions weren’t super interesting. Finish was good after the hot tag as Medico and Invader were firing off hot, and the finishing move, which was a Suplex with a top rope shoulder block was good (set up by Wright cutting Invader off with a neckbreaker out of nowhere, so not even a cheating win). 

EB: Our first round of promos for this episode features the combatants in tomorrow’s Caribbean title match. Up first is new champion Fidel Sierra, who first talks about the Bronca Boricua. He expects to win the $10,000 prize and already knows what weapon he is bringing with him to the match. It seems there was some controversy last Sunday in Aguadilla, where the fans feel Sierra tried to steal the match from Medico #3 (something Sierra denies). Sierra is defending his newly won title tomorrow against the former champion, Sierra is going to show Medico #3 why Cubans are number one.

Medico #3 is next and also first mentions that he wants to win the Bronca Boricua tomorrow before talking about tomorrow’s rematch. Looks like last Sunday Sierra got caught with his legs on the ropes trying to gain leverage for a pin. The ref caught it but tomorrow Medico will be ready for Sierra’s shenanigans. He is also looking forward to the fan meet and greet before the show.

MD: Sierra won the Caribbean Championship from Medico III, though I think it was a little contested. They’re hyping up the Bronca Boricua. Fidel Sierra fashion watch has him less Cuban Assassin here with the flag, but a button down shirt and hat and sunglasses. So he is bouncing around a bit I suppose. They’re also hyping up a rematch and Fan Day where you can ask the wrestlers questions and get autographs with special prices for tickets.

EB: We get our first look at new arrival Solomon Grundy, who will be in a handicap match tomorrow against El Profe and Alex Porteau. Grundy is happy to be in Puerto Rico and is counting on his size to help him win the Bronca Boricua. Grundy is not worried about taking on two men tomorrow and sends a message in Spanish to the Puerto Rico fans (including sending a lot of kisses to all the ladies).We then get the card rundown for tomorrow’s Fan appreciation Day show featuring a fan meet and greet before the show and special prices: A 14 wrestler $10,000 Bronca Boricua match; the rematch between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo; Giant Warrior vs. Great Kokina; Caribbean title rematch as Super Medico #3 challenges Fidel Sierra; The Invaders vs The State Patrol; Solomon Grundy vs. El Profe & Alex Porteau and Ray Gonzalez vs El Galan Mendoza.

MD: Grundy did pretty well here, talking about how he was bigger and meaner than everyone, but seeming like the nicest guy as he did. Bronca Boricua is a natural fit for him. It’s 14 guys (Invader #1, Castillo, Warrior, Sierra, Perez, Kokina, Grundy, State Patrol, Super Medico, Invader #4, Gonzalez, Porteau, Mendoza). We don’t have it. He tried to say some things in Spanish at the end which no babyfaces ever do. Again, it felt endearing. He’d be facing Porteau and Profe 2 on 1 as well, which sounds like it was probably fun. 

Great Kokina vs. Mr. Ito

EB: Kokina is back in Puerto Rico for Fan Appreciation weekend, so we get a match from his earlier appearance from about two months ago. His opponent is Mr. Ito and Kokina just steamrolls the poor guy. Ito gets a couple of dropkicks late in the match but Kokina brushes them off. A Samoan Drop quickly follows and Kokina gets the pin.

MD: This is a month or two old as Akbar was still there and Kokina had only been in for a limited run before. As weird as Nogami vs Yoko is on paper, there wasn’t a ton here. Nogami brushed him back with a few karate kicks but Kokina took over quickly and barely looked back. Nogami came back with a couple of dropkicks but got flattened with a clothesline and samoan drop.

EB: El Profe is in the studio to talk up the Bronca Borciua, specifically that Great Kokina will handle ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’ and maybe some of their fellow rudos as well in order to win the cash prize. But more importantly, Profe expects Kokina to finish Giant Warrior. This is followed by Giant Warrior talking about how he wants to win the Bronca Borica and that Kokina is stepping into his backyard tomorrow.

MD: They talk up the 10k prize and the upcoming Kokina vs Warrior match. Warrior is an AJPW guy and Kokina is a NJPW guy so that’s kind of interesting I guess and a natural match. I bet it was probably pretty decent too.

EB: Invader is next in the promo lineup and also hypes up tomorrow's Bronca Boricua match. Also, they’ll see tomorrow who the better tag team as the Invaders take on the State Patrol 

MD: Invader is teaming with Invader IV against the State Patrol. Bronco’s off doing whatever I guess. With Colon out for this week and TNT MIA too, Invader’s sort of the top guy alongside the Castillo vs Perez feud.

The Samoan Swat Team vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk

EB: We get a repeat of the SST vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk match from back in May. The SST are still around and gunning for tag gold.

MD: It’s more Memphis SST. Actually, I think we saw this already. This is the one where Santana takes a huge beating, Duk comes in, immediately screws up by doing a double nogging knocker and loses.

EB: The State Patrol makes sure that we all know they hate Puerto Ricans and they want to win the $10,000 tomorrow. Barber talks about putting down the Invaders tomorrow.

MD: This was pretty bleak. Wright references LA riots. Barber’s definitely got the accent for this. They would not be using the money for good things if they win it. That’s for sure.

EB: Galan Mendoza talks about all the luxury stuff he could buy and do with the $10,000 prize. He also says it will be difficult for Ray Gonzalez to defeat him tomorrow.

MD: Mendoza on the other hand, would be living the high life with the money! Lobster dinner. An island getaway. Good for him. I hope he won it. (He did not win it).

Handicap Match: Solomon Grundy vs. El Exotico & The Fly

EB: Matt’s going to be happy to see Exotico back. It’s very brief screen time though, as The Fly lives up to his name and gets squashed in about a minute by Solomon Grundy.

MD: Hey, it’s El Exotico! My favorite enhancement guy. We haven’t seen him in ages. This did not go well for him. Grundy made short work out of these two. I think he got off his feet once for a dropkick of sorts but hard to tell with the camera cut.

EB: The hottest rivalry in Puerto Rico wrestling is set for a rematch tomorrow as Huracan Castillo is in the studio to talk about tomorrow’s match against Miguelito Perez. Hugo says that the fans are saying a lot of unpleasant things about Castillo, that last Sunday Castillo knocked Miguelito out with a foreign object as they were fighting after the dq. Castillo does not understand what the fans and Miguelito have against him, he does not need objects to knock down Perez. Castillo is complaining about Miguelito going into the locker room to attack him after he had laid Miguelito out. They’ll settle things tomorrow, even if they have to fight in the street or beach. 

Miguelito responds by saying that he does not care about the prize money tomorrow, he just wants to get his hands on Castillo in the Bronca Boricua and in their singles match. Hugo brings up that Castillo denied using a foreign object last week and an indignant Perez says of course he’s going to lie and deny doing that even though everyone saw him do it. That’s why he chased Castillo down to the locker room and kicked his butt back out. If Castillo is going to be using objects, then Miguelito will bring them as well.

MD: Got to keep the big feud churning. I still would have liked to see a heel Castillo squash match but ah well. Strong stuff from Castillo where he talks about how he didn’t need a knuckle duster to defeat Perez and how Perez was an out of control savage (obviously lies but he’s leaning well into the delusion). He mentioned how his teaming with Perez is why he never won these big money matches and how he didn’t care about the money, just getting his hands on Perez. It’s a good act.

Perez could barely even respond to such absurdity and he was obviously flustered. He said he didn’t care about the money either and he came off as very sympathetic in the face of Castillo’s behavior.

Fidel Sierra vs. Jerry Mercado

EB: We join in progress our next match, as the new Caribbean champion is making a point of making an example of Jerry Mercado. Hugo reminds the viewers about not using holds such as the sleeper (which Sierra uses to win the match) at home and also brings up that he feels that the way Sierra uses the flag to cover his opponents is disrespectful. Hugo then closes the show by hyping up tomorrow's Fan Appreciation Day show.

MD: Total control by Sierra here. He’s quick to pull Mercado up just to beat him down again. He wins with the sleeper (but does wake him up post match). No one had been using it like this for a couple of years in Puerto Rico so it’s a nice touch.

EB: Before moving to the next weekend, a quick note about the August 10 card in Bayamon. The WWE Vault just uploaded a Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy match from that house show (something we did not have available before). We’ll make sure to cover this match in our next post, but what tremendous timing for the drop.

With that said, let's now go to the August 17 Campeones episode, where we have an announcement regarding the vacant Caribbean tag titles.

WWC Campeones 8/17/91

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBMj-VcVhcI

EB; As usual our hosts are Hugo and El Profe, with El Profe doing his usual preening and posing during the show intro. They talk about the matches they will feature on today’s episode. Tonight we’re getting another Fan Appreciation Day, this time in Ponce. The main event is Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad. There will also be a tournament for the vacant Caribbean tag titles, Hugo explains the rules and mentions the teams participating. When Hugo mentions the team of the Latin Connection (the new pairing of Ricky Santana and Ray Gonzalez), a surprised Profe remarks ‘They teamed up the Barbie dolls.’  Profe feels confident the SST will win. Hugo also mentions that their latest VHS releases highlighting Carlos Colon's greatest battles and Volume 4 of Super Estrellas  are now available for rent and purchase. Also tonight the World Kickboxing Federation is holding an event in Manati so make sure to check that out if you are in the area. 

MD: We lead off talking about upcoming events, including Fan Appreciation Day and the upcoming tournament for the Caribbean Tag Titles. 8 teams. 20 minute time limits for all matches until the final. Some of the teams are Super Medico III and Perez, Sierra and Castillo, Gonzalez and Santana, State Patrol, Mendoza/Porteau, Warrior/Grundy, Samoan Swat Team, and maybe Invader and Bronco. Not a bad look at the roster overall, noting that Colon vs a returning Kareem Muhammad is on top. 

Atkie Mulumba vs. Giant Warrior - No DQ match from July 20

EB: This match is from Carolina and is a no DQ. Hugo mentions that this was when Profe brought in wrestlers to get back at Giant Warrior for injuring his jaw with the big boot. Giant Warrior runs to the ring and immediately attacks Atkie by choking him with Atkie’s attire. Mulumba bails to the outside and takes his time heading back in, while Hugo on commentary mentions that Mulumba is the size of a hippopotamus and is bigger than before. Atkei heads abc in, Warrior gets the advantage again before Mulumba takes over and controls most of the match. Back from a commercial break and both men are outside of the ring with Warrior making a comeback. They fight by the barricade before heading back into the ring, where Mulumba again takes over. The match ends when Mulumba goes for his top rope splash but Warrior gets a boot up to counter. Warrior follows up with the big boot and gets the win. El Profe was not avenged.

MD: Not sure when this was from, but it was a good win for Warrior. He controlled early using Mulumba’s garb to choke him. Mulumbua got some shots in out of the corner and took over with chokes (including over the top rope) and nerve holds. It spilled to the floor and Warrior fought back tossing Mulumba around, which looked good. Back in the ring, Mulumba got the advantage but leaped off the top for a splash right into Warrior’s boot and he loaded it with a stomp and hit a mafia kick for the win. Not the world’s most compelling match, but it had a moment or two and, like I said, was a good win for Warrior.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. TNT

EB: This match is joined in progress and likely is from one of the late July TV tapings when Abdullah made a short return.TNT hasn’t been featured much in recent months, it seems he has been doing more foreign tours. TNT is getting the better of Abdullah here, with several strikes keeping Abdullah against the ropes. A well timed karate thrust from Abdullah cuts off TNT however,  and Adbullah starts his attack. Headbutts, biting and gouging. Eventually the fight spills to the outside where they keep attacking each other and are counted out.

MD: This went how you’d expect. They barely moved ever further than a foot away from one another, just all close up combat, starting with TNT headbutts, then a lot of Abby choking and headbutts of his own. He tried to use the claw a lot, even as they spilled to the floor, but TNT kept cutting that off, and they brawled to a countout.

EB: Alex Porteau and Galan Mendoza cut a promo on going for the Caribbean tag titles tonight. The bigger news is that Alex Porteau beat Ricky Santana last Friday for the World Junior title. Mendoza says luck is everywhere for them and they’ll be the next Caribbean tag champions. 

MD: Porteau is the Junior Champ now apparently, having just won it. Now he and Mendoza are coming for the tag titles. 

EB: Fidel Sierra and Huracan Castillo are also competing in tonight’s tournament. Huracan tells Fidel that the fans are already looking at the Caribbean tag champions and that he's hoping to get a shot at facing Miguelito Perez in the tournament so he can wipe the floor with Perez. Fidel says that they are the number one team whether the fans like it or not. 

We then get a card rundown for tonight in Ponce: Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad; the Caribbean tag title tournament featuring Invader #1 & Bronco #1, Miguelito Perez & Super Medico #3, the Samoan Swat Team, Alex Porteau & Galan Mendoza, Giant Warrior & Solomon Grundy, Ricky Santana & Ray Gonzalez, the State Patrol, and Huracan Castillo & Fidel Sierra. 

Also this Wednesday at the TV taping in Miramar featuring a main event of Miguelito Perez & Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra & Huracan Castillo, and a 15 wrestler coal miners pole battle royale featuring Solomon Grundy, Giant Warrior, Bronco #1, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Alex Porteau, The Heartbreakers, Galan Mendoza, Dusty Wolfe, Ray Gonzalez, and more.

MD: I had missed the Castillo/Sierra announcement at the top of the show but these two make sense as a team. Same sense of swagger so long as Sierra isn’t in the camo. 

EB: The last match on this episode of Campeones is the barbed wire match between Carlos Colon and the Polynesian Prince from early June. In between match segments there is a promo from Invader #1 and Bronco #1 where they talk about wanting to become double tag champs and that they know it’s a tough field tonight. Hugo and Profe close the show by doing a final hype job for tonight’s house show.

Before ending this week’s post, it has been about a year since we last saw Chicky Starr in CSP. I think it’s about time we checked in on what he’s currently up to  around this time period in summer 1991.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p900bECT9qE

EB: This is footage from an independent company that is running on the west coast of the island. I remember seeing this show on one of the local channels (either channel 12 or 13) and I mainly remember Chicky and the host doing talking head segments and airing matches from different places. This specific clip is a compilation of interview promos hyping up one of this company's house shows.  The presentation reminds me of the early 80s TV from CSP where Rickin Sanchez was at the studio sitting and wrestlers would pop in and out to do their promos. Chicky is in the middle of cutting promos for the matches his guys are having, we see someone leaving as Chicky brings in two more of his organization's wrestlers. Chicky says his organization keeps growing and now he has brought in Crusher #2 to team up with Crusher #1. The Crushers are doing the black glove claw gimmick and Chicky wants the cameraman to zoom in on their hands. They will deal pain to any who stand against them. Chicky then rattles off the names of his wrestlers: The Crushers, Cubano Loco (which I’m guessing was the guy we saw leaving the interview area as the clip started) Solid Gold (hmm…), Los Vaqueros, and his Sports Organization is on the upswing and will keep growing. Chciky then starts rattling off the names of the tecnicos that need to watch out, such as Ricky Sexton, the Super Medicos (hmm...), Los Acrobatas, El Cobra, El Rockero, they have open contracts for any and all of them. 

The next clip is of the North American champion of the company, Ricky Sexton. His opponent is Cubano Loco and we get a promo from Sexton about being wary of how dangerous Cubano Loco and Chicky Starr are, how he beat Loco last time they faced each other and how he will do everything in his ability to keep the title. We also get the Super Medicos in the studio, this is Super Medico #2 and Super Medico #4. They are facing The Crushers and Medico # 4 does the talking for the team. If you're wondering who they are, Super Medico #4 is the same one we’ve seen before in CSP, one Julio Estrada. The silent Super Medico #2 is Nick Ayala, someone we have also seen before in CSP. 

This is a rare look at some of the other goings on in Puerto Rico wrestling. Chicky seems to be earning a paycheck at least but this seems a bit low rent (it is an independent company based in the western region after all). Ricky Sexton as North American champion, second rate Super Medicos, a bunch of generic sounding team names (just what the heck is a Solid Gold anyway?)…probably the last we’ll hear about them in any shape or form.

MD: The second you see Chicky on screen here, no matter what happens around him, he feels instantly iconic. I miss the guy, even though Profe is doing an admirable job and Akbar was fun. No idea what’s going on here but he’s got two masked guys flexing their hands over and over and over ago and then we see some fake Medicos too. It feels like Public Access Puerto Rican wrestling.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the feud between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo rages on and brings Carlos Colon and Fidel Sierra into its orbit, new Caribbean tag champions are crowned, and Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy (thanks WWE Vault!). 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: We Were Friends, We Were Brothers

Week 60: We Were Friends, We Were Brothers

EB: A lot has happened since Aniversario 91. Steve Strong was coming back, then he didn't, which resulted in Nikolai Volkoff coming in and having a brief rivalry with Carlos Colon. Abdullah the Butcher returned and got into a bloody match with Giant Warrior. Fidel Sierra has also made a return and has hired El Profe as his manager. A rematch between Carlos Colon and Dino Bravo is looming on August 3. But the biggest development has been the breakup of the Caribbean Express after Miguelito Perez decided to give up the World tag team titles due to how they won the match. Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper were not happy with this decision, leading to Castillo refusing to tag in during a match with the Ring Lords and then attacking and busting open Miguelito when Perez tried to leave the match. The Caribbean tag titles have been vacated due to the team breakup, but more importantly it sears a years long friendship and bond has been broken. With the feeling of betrayal from both sides being evident, a grudge match between Perez and Castillo has been signed for August 3. That’s two big matches we have scheduled for August 3 , although an incident at the July 31 TV taping at Miramar is going to cause a change to the scheduled Universal title match.

Before going to the August 3 Cameens episode to catch up on what happened, we have an important bit of news to cover. While we don't have the exact date, it seems that during the latter half of July we had another debut, this time for El Ejercit de la Justicia. He is a promising newcomer that is getting a chance to ply his trade in CSP, someone with a lot of potential. His name is Ray Gonzalez.

Ray Gonzalez s. El Dragon (same match from two different broadcasts, one is JIP)

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

This is our first look at Ray Gonzalez as himself. His opponent is El Dragon and we've included the two links since the commentary is different. This is a showcase for a promising newcomer. In the JIP version from Super Estrellas, Hugo talks up his potential, while Eliud makes a comment about Ray’s good looks, calling him a ‘galan’. Hugo cautions Eliud about using that word since it may draw the ire of Galan Mendoza. On the Campeones version of the airing, Profe makes a joke about Ray being Don Eliud’s son and makes comments about his attire, but begrudgingly concedes he’s not too bad in the ring. Hugo thinks the ladies will love this latest competitor in Capitol Sports. Ray gets the win by surprising Dragon with a pinning combination. .

MD: We’ve seen Gonzalez as Condor a few times, but this is his debut without a mask. They presented him as a young, fresh, athletic good guy. Lots of rope running out of headlocks in this one, with Gonzalez getting the better with a dropkick, a reverse monkey flip, by stopping short and stomping. He was up against a masked guy we hadn’t seen much before and he didn’t offer much. Gonzalez had a nice charging, following corner clothesline, timed very well, and a running power slam, but he won it by getting a jackknife pin out of nowhere. Maybe not as definitive as it could have been given the way the match went. Still, he looked good in there for a “debut.”

EB: Let’s now go to the 8/3/91 Campeones episode and find out what happened in Miramar thats has caused a big card change for that night’s house show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfLE1gcDuU

Hugo and Profe welcome us to the show and Hugo almost immediately pivots to an incident that happened this past Wednesday at the TV taping. Hugo says that he is supposed to remain neutral as producer of the program but he must criticize what Profe and Abdullah the Butcher did to Carlitos (Profe mockingly feigns ignorance and starts asking Moi?). Hugo goes on by saying that what they did was an affront, a professional embarrassment, and that athletic ethics should be respected. What they did was grotesque, something that truly should be condemned, and Hugo feels that something should be done so nothing like that happens again because Profe and Abdullah went too far, they have no respect for wrestling. Profe counters that there is no limit to what Abdullah can do, especially when he is being led by El Profe. Hugo tells the viewers that in moments they will show part of what happened that has caused a change to tonight’s card, Carlos Colon will now take on Abdullah the Butcher instead of defending the Universal title against Dino Bravo. Hugo quickly runs down the matches for today's program and then we get to what happened last Wednesday, with Profe being proud of what happened and Hugo saying he does not want one second to go by without publicly condemning what happened. The incident is not shown in its entirety, later on we’ll have a Giant Warrior vs. Abdullah match from that same Wednesday’s taping that is what started the incident.

We go to Cataño where Invader #1 is set to face The Fly when the camera cuts to Abdullah and Profe heading out of the locker room. Andullah has his head bandaged  and he and Profe go across the back of the arena to the opposite side. Hugo on commentary initially thinks Abdullahw was coming out to attack Invader but now he is asking for the director to send a camera to follow Abdullah and Profe since they have no idea what is going on. Hugo realizes that they have gone in the direction of the tecnico locker room. We switch cameras and catch a glimpse of Profe and Abdullah entering the tecnico locker room area. Abdullah grabs a metal case and continues entering further into the locker room. It soon becomes clear what is happening as Profe and Abdullah surprise a showering Carlos Colon and Abdullah proceeded to attack the naked Carlos in the shower. The attack goes on for a bit and they have a black circle censoring Colon's body. Abdullah uses the metal case to hit Colon, leaving him bleeding and laid out in the shower when reinforcements finally arrive to save Carlos. The camera focuses on the bleeding Carlos as Hugo is heard on the microphone informing the crowd in the arena what has happened. 

We then cut to Carlos making a phone call to WWC commissioner Hayden T Joseph. Carlos wants tonight’s Universal title match to be postponed because he wants payback on Abdullah tonight. The commissioner says this a highly unusual request and that he has to speak with Dino Bravo first since Bravo has to agree to the change as well. Carlos states that he will agree to wrestle Bravo at any other time under any condition that Bravo wants if Bravo agrees to change the match. Back to the studio with Hugo and Profe where Hugo recaps the request Carlos made. The commissioner got in touch with Dino Bravo, but Bravo still needed to talk things over with his manager El Profe. Let’s go to that conversation. We go to the control room where Profe is on the phone with Bravo, although Hugo gets annoyed because Profe had promised that they could film the conversation but now he is saying that they can't listen to Bravo’s side of the call. Profe says they can listen to his side of the conversation but anything said by Bravo is strictly personal and confidential between the two of them. Profe reassures Bravo that the title is not on the line tonight and they had already laid quite a beating on Carlos and were looking to finish the job tonight. Hug gets annoyed with the jokes Profe is making and wants Profe to get Bravo’s answer. It is a yes, so tonight’s match will be Colon vs Abdullah.

Back to Hugo who confirms that the commissioner has made the match official for tonight. Also scheduled for tonight is the grudge match between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, two men who were once like brothers but now due to Castillo’s greed or decisions (however you want to frame it) has led to this. Profe says that Castillo  will now see who his real friends are, his dad is rejecting him, his friends have rejected him, everyone rejects him, but here is El Profe to help out in any way. Hugo tries to interrupt Profe by saying it’s not that his dad rejected Castillo, he was trying to give him good advice and Castillo wouldn't listen. Hugo takes a moment to ask Profe that since he is offering to help Castillo does this mean Profe is going to make peace with Monster Ripper. Profe continues talking about Castillo and ignoring Hugo’s question about Monster Ripper, indicating that he has no interest in talking about her. There are other notable matches scheduled for tonight as Koko B Ware will be in action, Sky Walker makes his return to face Giant Warrior, and the SST are in singles action with TNT vs. Samoan Savage and Fatu vs Invader #1. Before going to our first match, Hugo reminds viewers that their sponsor Medalla has an activity tomorrow Sunday at 10am at the Salinas Speedway. It's a truck competition, along with other activities like arm wrestling, drinking competitions and the Ms. Trucker competition.

MD: This is a great, striking scene. There’s a match going on in the ring and the cameras suddenly start chasing after an out of control Abdullah heading to the back. He catches Colon naked and coming out of the shower (I think at least) and leaves him bloody and it all feels unpredictable and wild given the usual format of the show. Then we overhear a call (in English, dubbed over) of Colon talking to the WWC Commissioner to change his match with Bravo into one with Abdullah, and good for the crowd that got to see that (and us since we have this). Then we see Profe, looking like Strongbad, in front of the radio mic to clear things with Bravo, working the other half of the things. Definitely a hot angle that came out of nowhere to start the show.

Fidel Sierra vs. Invader #4

EB: Our first match is joined in progress as Fidel Sierra takes on Invader #4. Sierra is in control at the start but Invader #4 quickly counters and works over Sierra’s arm briefly before Sierra cuts him off. The match is mainly Sierra in control with some Invader #4 hope spots mixed in. On commentary Profe is going on about how he feels a sense of brotherhood with Fidel Sierra and how it makes him feel Cuban since he’s started managing Fidel, something that Hugo is not buying and keeps asking Profe if he’s certain it is not money fueling his brotherhood and patriotism remarks. Sierra locks on a sleeperhold and gets the win when Invader #4 is put out. Profe hands Fidel the Cuban flag, which Fidel lays over the prone Invader #4. Hugo voices his displeasure with the flag being used like that and also reminds the viewers at home about the dangers of using holds like this if not applied properly. Sierra was starting to leave but heads back in to wake up Invader #4. 

We then go to the studio for some promos from Fidel Sierra and Super Medico #3. It seems that Medico #3 is defending the Caribbean title against Sierra tonight. The Man From Havana says he is the best in the world and will take the Caribbean title tonight, while Medico #3 promises that he will be ready to retain tonight. Invader #1 also cuts a promo about facing Fatu tonight in Bayamon, saying that while the Samoans are very good in tag team wrestling tonight they will have to prove it as singles.

The segment finishes with a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon: Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher; Miguelito Perez vs. Huracan Castillo in a grudge match; TNT defends the TV title against Samoan Savage; Invader #1 vs. Fatu; Giant Warrior vs Sky Walker; Super Medico #3 defends the Caribbean title against Fidel Sierra; Ricky Santana & Koko B Ware vs Galan Mendoza & El Profe; and Bronco #1 vs Alex Porteau. Also this coming Wednesday is the TV taping at Miramar featuring Invader #1 vs Huracan Castillo, Miguelito Perez vs Fidel Sierra, and Giant Warrior & Bronco #1 vs. the State Patrol. 

MD: Sierra is more “Cuban Assassin”-coded than before, though he still has a cool hat in his promo. I kind of liked the more stylish version we saw last time. Profe’s got the flag and everything. Invader IV is a great guy to put a new heel over and he does so here, holding his own with fast offense until he gets caught with a hot shot and put into a sleeper. Sierra really wrenched it back and forth and it looked great. Glad to see him come back in to wake Invader up too. Sierra will be going for the Caribbean Championship and Super Medico III is taking the threat seriously.

Super Medico #3 vs. The Fly

EB: Our next match is Caribbean champion Super Medico #3 taking on The Fly. The match is a bit more competitive than one would expect, with Fly getting in some moments of control on Medico #3. The Fly goes to the outside to stop Medico #3’s momentum but it still isn't enough to avoid taking the loss when Medico’#3 hits him with a headbutt of the middle turnbuckle. Let’s see how Medico #3 does tonight against Fidel Sierra.

MD: Fly got a lot here, actually, but Medico was able to jam him in the corner a couple of times. I do miss Medico I. III is coming along and he has good timing, good presence, more size, but he doesn’t quite have the same great strikes. He did win this with a nice headbutt off the second rope to a standing Fly.

EB: Our next round of promos has Samoan Savage talking about his TV title match with TNT, Sky Walker making his return to prove who the real giant is against Giant Warrior, and Giant Warrior (with bandage on forehead) saying he has to put Abdullah at the back of his mind for the moment in order to settle this grudge with Sky Walker once and for all.

MD: They were splitting up the SST to have them face TNT and others in singles matches. This is Samoan Savage saying that Fatu is on the beach and he’s taking care of business. Given how formidable they were in general, it’s not a bad way to keep cards fresh I guess.

Sky Walker was back to show everyone he’s the real giant. Something about his face paint made him seem smaller and not bigger. He had done damage last time, but Giant Warrior is coming out of the Abby match bandaged and wanting to take his frustrations out on anyone in his way.

Koko Ware vs. Al Burke

EB: With Koko B Ware returning tonight, we have a showcase match from Wrestling Challenge with Koko getting a win against Al Burke.

MD: Burke ambushed Koko to start and really did put the pressure on him. Koko just jammed him in the middle of the ring and dropped him with the brainbuster though. He’ll be in to team with Ricky Santana against Profe and Mendoza, which sounds like a lot of fun. I’d like to see him against Santana too, but we get what we get.

EB: Monster Ripper and Huracan Castillo are in the studio to talk about tonight’s match against Miguelito Perez. Ripper calls Miguelito stupid and Huracan says that what Miguelito did to them has no price. He turned in the World tag titles which only idiots do, that was fame, glory, money. That was the goal they had for themselves and they had done it Miguel, and then you do the stupid thing and give the belts up. Miguel will pay for that tonight and then we will see that Castillo is the better one of the two. “I made the team, I made you, everything you know I’ve taught you.” Miguelit better come ready because Castillo has a feeling that Miguel will be leaving on a stretcher.

Miguelito Perez is next , saying that friends don't betray like this and Castillo has to pay for that tonight. Castillo talks a lot about how he taught me, how he did this and that, he can talk all that he wants, the only person that taught me was my father. And what my father taught me I will teach you tonight, I'll show just what an angry friend is. You are no longer my friend, let’s make that clear, and what you did to me in front of all the Puerto Rican fans will be paid back tonight. You will pay for it in blood, I am going to bust you up and break your face. You are scum and will pay.

Our last promo for this segment is El Profe talking on behalf of Fatu about tonight’s match against Invader #1. He reminds everyone of how dangerous the SST are and they can be just as dangerous in singles action.

MD: Castillo was dressed more ostentatious. The pairing with Ripper does feel a little odd, but whatever gets him heat I guess. He takes credit for everything good they had done while Perez shows remorse for the situation and for Castillo giving in to his greed. I would have liked to see a Castillo squash maybe, or a cheap win, but that might have been on some of the TV we don’t have.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Giant Warrior

EB: Next is Giant Warrior vs Abdullah the Butcher from this past Wednesday in Miramar. Abdullah attacks Giant Warrior from behind with a chair before he is able to get into the ring. Hugo mentions that we will see shortly what happened that caused Abdullah to attack Carlos in the locker room later that night. Andullah gets several chair shots in as Profe holds the referee back. Warrior gets rammed into the announce table and Abdullah introduces more of the ringside furniture to Warrior. Abdullah heads into the ring and continues to attack Warrior when the latter tries to get into the ring. Abdullah tosses Warrior out and it looks like Warrior has hurt his arm. Warrior valiantly fights back but Abdullah pulls out a sharp object and starts stabbing Warrior in the forehead. This draws a dq but Abdullah continues jabbing the object into Warrior’s forehead. Warrior is bleeding. As Abdullah continues his attack, Carlos Colon runs out with an object of his own to attack Abdullah and drive him away. Warrior is the winner by dq and it seems that Abdullah did not take too kindly to Colon interfering. 

We cut to a sleeping Abdullah as El Profe does a voiceover promo. The beast is sleeping now but in a few hours he will be awake for tonight. Even Profe is wary about waking him up now for the interview because of how uncontrollable Abdullah is when he gets this angry. This is an uncontrolled beast and Profe does not care about keeping Abdullah in check tonight.

An angry Carlos Colon is next and he promises that tonight will be different from the other times he has faced Abdullah, what they did to him is something that Carlos has never experienced in his 25 years in professional wrestling. That was cowardly and humiliating and they will pay dearly for that tonight. Adullah will get the beating of his life tonight.. 

MD: The Abby/Warrior match is probably worth seeing again. Colon intervened and now they’ve lead to this moment where Abby is out of control and everything is going to come to a head. I’d have happily paid 8 bucks to see this.

EB: TNT is here to talk about his TV title defense tonight against Samoan Savage. He will be defending a title that belongs to the Puerto Rican people, so he intends to defend it with his life. After a card rundown we get a Samoan Swat Team music video. 

MD: TNT is ready to defend his TV title against the SST. SST get a music video full of headbutts to Disposable Heroes by Metallica which is pretty effective. It’s not a major program for TNT given everything else that’s going on but I doubt fans would feel shortchanged by this.

EB: To close out this episode, Hugo Savinovich conducted interviews with Huracan Castillo Sr. and Miguel Perez Sr. about the rift and upcoming match between their sons. Hugo is visiting the Castillo home and interviewing Castillo Sr. in his bedroom. Castillo Sr., who has been paralyzed since an August 1988 shooting, says that the situation is a bit embarrassing and that he has tried to give good advice to his son. But the younger Castillo doesn't want to listen. Hugo asks Castillo Sr. if his son has said anything about this and Castillo Sr. indicates that all his son says that he is an adult and can make his own decisions. He hopes that his son will come to reason but who knows how long this may take. Hugo also asks Castillo Sr. if he can provide a health update on how he is doing, to which he says he is doing better everyday. 

We then cut to the Perez residence where Hugo is interviewing Miguel Perez Sr. about the situation. Perez Sr. says that he backs his son all the way and he just cannot stomach the way Castillo Jr acted. It's one thing to disagree and even fight, but the way Castillo Jr attacked in such a treacherous manner. Miguelito felt the rift when Castillo didn't want to tag in during that match and even decided to just leave the ring rather than risk injury or get heated with Castillo right then and there. And then it was Castillo that attacked from behind to break that bond they had. The match is signed now and it is up to Miguelito to show what he knows in the ring. But Perez Sr. is hoping that Castillo Jr. will come to his senses, he even sent him video of a birthday party they had where Castillo Jr was there, to see if those memories will help bring him back to reason. They end the episode with a clip of Castillo and Miguelito in the Perez family trophy room, where they are both holding a picture of Miguel Perez Sr. Castillo says that this a glory  of Puerto Rico (referring to Perez Sr.) and he should be respected. Now it is their time to continue those legacies. Happier times from when they were friends, when they were brothers.

MD: Effective segments. Castillo is bedridden and finds the situation and his son’s behavior tragic. Not a hint of heeling or supporting him. Perez feels quite the same. It really put gravitas on all of this, just a sense that something special had been destroyed to to Castillo, Jr.’s greed and ego.

EB: Five matches from the August 3 house show were shown later that month as a prime time special called Choque de Titanes (Clash of Titans). The special was hosted by Hugo Savinovich, El Profe and Eliud Gonzalez. The special was promoting an upcoming September 7 house show, so we’ll discuss that aspect of the special later on when we get there chronologically. What we will focus on here are the five matches from August 3. So let’s go forwards to go back and see what went down.

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

Hugo welcomes the viewers and presents his cohosts for the evening, El Profe and Eliud Gonzalez. After a greeting from everyone, Hug starts mentioning the matches they’ll have tonight. It is going to be interesting since Profe will be on commentary but he will be competing in one of the matches as well as managing some of the wrestlers (so we'll likely get some interesting comments from him on commentary). The two big matches airing tonight are the grudge matches between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo and Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher. With regards to Perez and Castillo, they will  have a face off tonight on the program (this is leading up to their September 7  matches so we’ll cover this segment when we get closer to that date). 

Koko B. Ware & Ricky Santana vs. Gran Mendoza & El Profe

Our first match is a tag match pitting Ricky Santana & Koko B Ware vs. El Profe & Galan Mendza. Koko had faced Mendoza at Aniversario and Santana was having a series of matches with El Profe, so there is some backstory here. The crowd seems to be really happy to see Koko here during the ring introductions. Eliud mentioned that he had been talking with Koko before the match and he learned that birds like Frankie can live up to 100 years. Hugo comments that he has a pet bird named Goldie and talks about how great they can be as pets but their care is a key part to keeping them around so long. Profe is getting razzed by the crowd and wants no part of Santana, so he tags in Mendoza. The tecnicos control the first half of the match, with Profe in particular not having a good time of it. At one point, Mendoza tries to tag Profe back in, only for Profe to decide to go check on some rigging equipment rather than make the tag. Hugo makes note that Profe is shining by his absence on commentary, it seems when things aren't going well for him and his wrestlers he either feigns ignorance or decides it’s time to go for a  walk. In a neat spot, Mendoza gets rammed into Frankie and sells the blow. Profe gets caught between Santana and Koko and just pinballs between them as he gets hit. He tries to tag out to Mendoza, but Mendoza decides to take a stroll to get back for earlier. The rudos briefly talk it over and Mendoza is tagged in. An attempted double team backfires and again Profe is caught between Santana and Koko. Something finally goes right for the rudo team when a knee to the back on Santana turns the tide. The rudos work over santana, with Profe taunting Koko throughout. Eventually Santana gets the hot tag to Koko, all four men end up in the ring and Koko gets the Ghostbuster on Profe for the win.

MD: This was really good. You take some time to watch this and it’ll make your day. Incredibly fun shine. Santana got the better of Mendoza and Profe again and again, including with some beautiful, beautiful punches. Then Koko came in and the place came unglued. Profe took a headbutt by bumping himself into the ropes. Great stooge bump. Then on the floor, Koko rubbed Mendoza’s face into Frankie, which may or may not have been animal abuse, but it was definitely Gran Mendoza abuse. They went back into the ring and Mendoza ran into Santana’s fists while Koko hit an eyepoke. Awesome shine. At one point, Profe had gone to the dirt and was trying to mess with a flagpole and… I don’t even know what he was doing and neither did Mendoza but he was that flustered and it was that entertaining.

Eventually, Profe grabbed Santana’s hair from the outside during rope running and the heels took over. Some nice double teams and drawing Koko in. Profe was a jerk along those lines. He also hit this great running knee in the corner. Really good stuff. But eventually, after the ref missed a tag and as things boiled over with the crowd, the hot tag came (and it was a good one), and Koko came in hot to a huge pop. Santana recovered and they got quick revenge with the ghostbuster on Profe. Everything you’d want for an undercard tag like this.

Giant Warrior vs. Sky Walker  

EB: The next match is Giant Warrior vs. Sky Walker and I goofed on the date for this match. We covered this in a previous post thinking this was from November of 90. Turns out it’s from this card  in August 1991. Sky Walker makes a one off return, thinks he won the match although Warrior got his leg on the rope, and then Warrior hits a big boot to get the win.

MD: We’d already covered this one. It’s still pretty good. Warrior has a nice back elbow and belly to back. Walker takes over and works over the wound (from the Abby match) which is a bit of context we probably missed before. The transition to comeback being a missed elbow drop is a little weak and they protect Walker on the way out by having him almost win (but Warrior’s foot is on the rope which the ref misses at first) but eat the boot anyway. What’s most important here is that this isn’t Murdoch or Abby, and this still holds up pretty well mostly on the strength of who and what Warrior was by this point and his connection with the crowd.

TNT vs. The Samoan Savage 

EB: TNT defends the TV title against Saman Savage. Feeling out process to start with Savage complaining about his hair being pulled. Savage then spends the next couple of minutes playing hide the foreign object until he is able to get some punches in on TNT. Savage takes over with nerve holds and strikes and most of the match continues this way until TNT’s comeback. The match ends when TNT does a corner spin kick that sends him over the top to the floor. It seems that TNT has hurt his leg on the impact. The ref counts TNT out and awards the match to Samoan Savage when TNT is unable to get back in the ring. 

MD: It’s so funny that Savage works this as a total Memphis heel, with just a bit more nerve holds. I always saw the SST of a few years earlier as fearsome, horrific even, down to the theme music, and now he’s just another glorious stooging heel in Puerto Rico. The system does work, and it works here too. He stalls at first, then plays hide the imaginary object, including making the ref check TNT and complaining about hairpulls. Eventually he takes over with it and does a lot of nerve holds, but it all works. TNT has a great hope spot where he hammers on the open feet of Savage. Finish is kind of wild as he came back with the spin wheel kick but when he tried it in the corner, he made contact but overshot and crashed onto the ground outside, knee injured. He loses by countout and then Savage hammers his knee with the belt post-match. Very SNME or Clash of Champions type match but it worked for what it was.

Miguel Perez Jr. vs. Huracan Castillo Jr.

EB: The Caribbean Express explodes as it is time for Perez vs Castillo. Perez gets in and immediately starts punching away at Castillo. Miguelito continues on the attack, eventually knocking Castillo out of the ring with a dropkick. Castillo tries to get away but Perez gives chase and they start exchanging blows on the ballfield, at one point just exchanging what look to be open handed slaps. Perez throws Castillo back in and it’s the opening Huracan needs, he catches Perez coming in with an eye rake to cut him off. Castillo works over Perez, sending him to the outside and ramming him into the post. Castillo keeps rolling in briefly to stop the ref’s count, but continues attacking Perez on the outside by throwing him into the ringside officials table. Miguelito is bleeding as Castillo uses the table and a chair to attack him. Back in the ring, Castillo focuses his punches and kicks on Miguelito's bleeding forehead. Castillo even bites the cut. 

The match continues with Castillo in control and putting Perez in a chinlock. The crowd cheers Miguelito on as the camera shows Ripper trying to yell at the crowd to shut up. Perez is able to counter Castillo's offense with a back suplex. Both men exchange blows but it is Castillo that gets the better of the exchange by ramming Miguelito's bleeding head into the turnbuckle. Castillo again bites the cut and Perez rolls out of the ring. Castillo follows but Miguelito is able to ram Castillo into the ringpost to halt the momentum. Castillo is rammed head first into the post and it looks like he is now bleeding as well. Miguelito starts firing off several punches on Castillo, Huracan starts firing back and they are just exchanging blows on the ballfield. The ref tries to stop them but gets hit for his efforts. Both men continue wailing away at each other when someone runs out and gets in between the two of them. It’s Miguel Perez Sr and he’s trying to get them to stop fighting. Perez Sr tries to reason with both of them only for Castillo to deck him with a clothesline. Miguelito is stunned for a moment, then checks on his dad. Castillo uses the opening to kick Miguelito in the head and they start brawling again, this time with Miguelito really showing off some renewed anger. Ripper intervenes by hitting Miguelito in the back with a pipe and she and Castillo get away. Perez Sr is still down on the ground as a medic goes over to check on him. Miguelito also goes over to see how his dad is. On commentary Profe is celebrating the attack on Perez Sr. but Eliud is appalled by what Castillo did. Some of the tecnico wrestlers help the elder Perez back to the dugout as a righteously indignant Miguelito is signalling that he wants Castillo back out there. Forget making amends, it looks like this feud is only just starting.

After the match they announced an upcoming Texas Death match between Perez and Castillo for September 7. They also have a split screen face off between the two where it is clear there is no chance for reconciliation here. We’ll discuss this segment later on when we get closer to this date.

MD: This was tremendous stuff. They hit the tone perfectly. Perez charged right in and they went at it just firing away. He was able to get an advantage with a dropkick and took things to the grounds, including a posting. Castillo kept fighting back and that helped a lot here, even if he got swept under again and again due to Perez’s righteous fury. When they made it back into the ring, Castillo went for the eyes, and he didn’t look back. He really brutalized Perez (who also did his best to fight back at times, but was cut off). After crushing him under a table and hitting him with some other associated furniture, Perez was a bloody mess, and Castillo made the most of it by wrenching his head in the ring so the camera could see it clearly. 

When Perez came back though, he came back huge and was able to reverse a posting on the outside. They brawled through the grounds with just great back and forth punches until the ref got clocked. Then Perez, Sr. tried to get between them and Castillo nailed him too. Huge heat for all of this but especially that as you’d imagine. Perez went right at him but Ripper attacked from behind with a pole. Things ended in chaos as wrestlers worked to help Perez, Sr. out. Great hate-filled brawl. One of the best matches in PR in 91 certainly and it left a ton more on the bone. They already announced a Texas Death Match coming out of this.

I thought the split screen with the two of them talking over one another was effective to build it as well. 

Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher

EB: Our last match is the grudge match between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher that came about due to Abdullah attacking Carlos in the tecnico locker room’s shower. After recapping the angle that set this up, we go back to Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel. Abdullah and El Profe make their way out of the rudo dugout, and Abdulla decides to head in the direction of the opposite dugout. Looks like they have a plan to wait and ambush Carlos when he comes out of the tecnico dugout. Profe and Abdullah stand waiting for a bit, but then Carlos Colon rushes out from beside them and starts attacking Abdullah. It seems he was ready for this and outsmarted the rudos here. And as Carlos had promised, he came for payback tonight. Carlos has an object in his hands and is using it to jab Abdullah in the forehead. Adullah goes down after several hits and Carlos decides to grab a really big piece of wood to use as a weapon. The ref futilely tries to get Carlos to back off, but Carlos just shoves him away and chokes Abdullah with the piece of wood. Carlos continues savagely attacking Abdullah (who is bleeding), using the spike object again and then hitting Abdullah with a cinder block. Abdullah ends up on a metal base and Colon just starts stomping Abudllah’s head against the metal. They have made no attempt to get into the ring as the crowd cheers Colon on.

Carlos continues going after the cuts on Abdullah's head, biting them and even grabbing the cinder block again. Anbdullah finally gets a breather when he is able to pull out his foreign object and jabs Carlos with it. Abdullah gets some more jabs with the object in, including one to the groin. This advantage lasts only for a couple of minutes before Colon starts firing back with some punches and caps it off with a foul kick. Abdullah is down and Carlos goes for a table to use as a weapon. Profe jumps on Colon’s back to help Abdullahm but gets tossed off. Carlos turns his anger towards Profe, ripping off Profe’s pants and then hitting a foul kick on him as well. A humiliated Profe flees to the safety of the dugout as Carlos grabs another piece of wood to use as a weapon. Carlos and Abdullah fight by the ring truck and then some wrestlers start coming out to try to separate them.Alex Porteau, Ricky Santana and Super Medico #3 all come out but get caught in the crossfire trying to break the fight up. Hugo on commentary mentions that it seems Profe has left the commentary area and is out in the hallway crying after reliving having his pants stripped. Carlos tries for the figure four but eventually they are separated and Abdullah heads to the dugout. Hugo sends it to a replay of the highlights  and the only one they have cued up is Profe having his pants torn off and then fleeing. 

MD: This was pretty great too. This whole show has been pretty great. This might be the best single show we’ve seen since starting this. It’s just an insane war, most of this being Colon as an absolute maniac attacking Abby. He comes out with an object (a fork? Who knows) and goes right at him. He gets a giant piece of wood, way bigger than a two by four and keeps it going, jamming it into his throat. By this point Abby is a bloody mess already. It’s just shot after shot, remorseless, slamming Abby into a table, going after the wound. Abby finally gets the fork and comes back, going so far as to slamming the fork right into Colon’s groin. It’s that sort of match. When Carlos comes back, he even completely no sells the throat cutoff so he can foul Abby first standing and then on the ground. Then he takes a table and charges at him to attack him with it. At this point Profe comes in, so he drops him and tears off his pants before starting back in on Abby. People (including Alex Porteau) try to stop him as Profe getting depanted was a bridge too far and the bell is ringing but Carlos won’t be stopped. He gets the figure four on for a bit before everyone breaks it up and Colon hits running jumping headbutts to Abby back into the dug out. Total war. Heck of a show.

EB: The special airing closes with Hugo, Eliud and Profe. Hugo mentions that it was a bad night for El Profe, he lost the tag match and then his guys didn't do too well. Profe responds by saying that he who laughs last laughs best, and that vengeance is sweet and will come. Eliud was happy with some of the results tonight. Hugo reminds viewers of the upcoming September 7 card and asks for closing comments from Eliuud and Profe. Eliud thanks the viewers for watching and wishes them a good night. Profe says that there simply are going to be a lot of ladies that won't be able to sleep peacefully tonight after seeing him how they did, which Hugo cuts off so as to not further spoil what has been a nice evening. We end with highlights from Perez vs Castillo. 

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a tournament is held for the vacant Caribbean tag titles, the feud between Castillo and Perez continues, and a Chicky Starr update.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: To Be or Not To Be Champions

Week 59: To Be or Not To Be Champions

EB: Aniversario 1991 is in the books and it was an interesting event. Carlos Colon retained the Universal title with help from invader #1, a win that some would deem controversial. You can bet El Profe and Dino Bravo will want a rematch. Overall, Aniversario 1991 was a feel good event with the tecnicos winning most of the matches. Before heading into the post Aniversario world, we do have to mention that CSP did do an Aniversario related card on Sunday. The card was held in Ponce and featured the following matches:

Miguelito Perez defeated Skandor Akbar

Ricky Santana vs. Rod Price went to  a time limit draw

Huracan Castillo defeated Galan Mendoza

Koko B Ware defeated Action Jackson

Monster Ripper & Hugo Savinovich defeated El Profe & Billy Joe Travis

TNT defeated Ron Garvin

The Samoan Swat Team defeated Super Medico #3 & Giant Warrior

Invader 1 & Bronco #1 defeated Demolition by dq

Carlos Colon defeated Dino Bravo by dq

After this Aniversario weekend, we have seen the last of Gen. Akbar, Action Jackson, Billy Joe Travis and Rod Price. But where people leave, that means we’ll get some new or rerunting faces so stay tuned. The TV we have picks back up on July 27, which is three weeks after Aniversario. While we do not have results for July 13, we do have the card lineup for July 20 in Carolina. It looks like we have some major developments going on based on the lineup.

Universal title match: Carlos Colon vs Sadistic Steve Strong

For the World tag team titles: Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs The Caribbean Express

Monster Ripper vs El Profe

No DQ Rematch: Giant Warrior vs Atkie Mulumba

Rematch for the World Jr. title: Ricky Santana vs Lt. James Earl Wright

Super Medico #3 & Invader #4 vsThe Ring Lords

And other great stars,

There are a few things that stand out. We have a new tag team in the Ring Lords plus the returns of James Earl Wright (of the State Patrol) and Atkie Mulumba. Ripper and Profe still are feuding and wrestling each other. The big news though is the top two matches for that card. Sadistic Steve Strong is coming back and this is something I remember from watching in real time. They were promoting his return by showing highlights of old matches against Carlos Colon and indicating that he had been given permission to return for that weekend to challenge Carlos Colon (if you remember, Strong had lost a loser leaves Puerto Rico match). But before we get too excited, Strong ends up not showing up for that night’s card. CSP did book a replacement and instead Carlos faced Nikolai Volkof on that card. 

The other big development(and again something I clearly remember from watching in real time), is that we have a very rare tecnico vs tecnico title match. The Caribbean Express seem to have issued a challenge for the World tag team titles and Invader #1 & Bronco 1 have agreed to the match. This is a break in tradition, as the custom is for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to not challenge for each other’s titles. However, it seems that all four men have decided to wrestle in the spirit of sportsmanship and we’ll get a sort of dream match out of it. Let’s go to Carolina and see what happened.

Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr vs Invader #1 & Bronco #1 - July 20, 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFlx3_go-8

It’s tecnico vs. tecnico as the Caribbean Express (the reigning Caribbean tag champions) are challenging Invader #1 and Bronco #1 for the World tag team champions. As we previously talked about when TNT decided to challenge Carlos Colon in 1990, it is not customary for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to challenge each other for their titles. Before the match starts we get the entire tecnico locker room coming out and entering the ring in a show of class and sportsmanship. All of the tecnicos have publicly declared their well wishes to both teams in the match (looks like they’ve taken a different view of how to approach this since the TNT deal from the year before). Carlos Colon, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Giant Warrior and Invader #4 are all here to shake their comrades hands in a show of sportsmanship and well wishes. Also among them is Miguel Perez Sr., who shakes the hand of both teams in a sign of sportsmanship even though his son and someone you could consider like a son in Castillo are the challengers. Both teams shake hands with each other and then Invader goes over and shakes Monster Ripper's hand as well. Hugo says that this is basically a dream match we are about to witness, because only in your imagination could you have seen this happen until now.

How did we get here? As Hugo explains in the first minutes of the match, opinions are divided about this match. There are people who think that Castillo and Perez should not have thrown down the challenge, that Monster Ripper should not have pursued to have that match signed for her guys. Others think that the whole reason you're in wrestling is to compete, to show who is the best. Hugo says that he agrees that opinions should be respected, but that he as a fan of wrestling also agrees that in wrestling you should be competing to prove who is the best. They showed a good portion of the match on TV, going through two commercial breaks. The match is mainly wrestled straightforward, although tempers do flare up a bit as the match goes on. Things get hectic near the end as all four men end up in the ring. Hugo mentions that Invader and Castillo are bleeding, so those two seem to have gone hard in the match. Perez and Castillo are whipped into each other and it looks like the champs are on the verge of successfully defending their titles. Invader backs Castillo into a corner, while Bronco and Perez are trying to throw each other into the ropes. Perez sends Bronco into the ropes and then hits a dropkick that knocks Bronco out of the ring. Perez follows up with a moonsault press off the apron, which takes both him and Bronco out of the action. As Perez was doing his dive, Invader hooked a small package on Castillo. The ref was focused on Perez and Bronco, so Monster Ripper sneaked into the ring and turned over the small package, putting Castillo in control of the pin. The ref turned around, noticed the pin and made the three count. We have new World tag team champions! Castillo and Ripper celebrate and then head to the floor to hand over one of the title belts to Miguelito (who had been out loopy on the floor and was not aware they had won the match). Perez joins the celebration with his teammate and manager but Invader doesn't seem too pleased about how the match ended. 

MD: I do think this would probably hit better outdoors, as we can see the basketball hoop on the camera the whole time, but it is also a starting point of sorts. It diminishes the pomp and circumstances a little. They wrestle clean to start, basically Invader vs Castillo and Bronco vs Perez and it’s good, competitive. You buy what they’re going for in setting a tone. As we come back from break, Castillo tags to Perez and Invader goes after Castillo for some reason, hitting a belly to back. That lets Perez hit a missile dropkick on him to take over. We’re lacking context given the break but it did feel weird especially for a transition. Maybe tempers flared. Who knows? 

After this, they start in on Invader though. A lot of that was just grinding down on him. He had a nice hope spot or two but they cut him off (with Castillo’s jumping knee for instance). I’m not sure the crowd entirely knows what to make of this. It’s real chinlock heavy. We come back to Bronco clearing house after a hot tag we never got to see. The fans ARE into this, including when Invader comes in to get some “revenge.” Chaotic finishing scene with bodies everywhere. Perez hits a standing moonsault off the apron which we’ve never seen in the footage up til this point so it had to blow minds (just ask Esteban!). But that distracts the ref so while Invader has Castillo rolled up, Ripper turns it over and the Express win the belts. Certainly a controversial ending. This one was hurt by the cuts so we can’t really get a good sense of it, but at this point, we’re just lucky to have it at all.. 

EB: The finish did blow my mind at the time (and it’s what I distinctly remember from that match… well that and what followed). The controversial finish of the World tag title match set off a series of meetings with the commissioner that led to a surprising development. Hugo will mention it during the next episode’s show intro, with the meeting and fallout being shown later in the same program. So let’s go to the July 27 episode of Campeones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCVyapi4u2Y

EB: We open with Hugo and Profe,  who happens to be posing for the viewers as Hugo welcomes everyone to the show. Hugo even makes a remark about maybe changing Profe’s name to El Modelo with all of the posing Profe is doing when he sees a camera. Profe says that he should have maybe been an actor or a TV heartthrob. Hugo cuts that off by running down what we’ll have on today's program, including showing  what happened last week in Carolina when Monster Ripper was facing El Profe (who Hugo says we’ll get to see what kind of a person Profe is despite what he may claim in front of the cameras when he gets in there with a lady). We also have some old matches highlighting returning wrestlers such as Abdullah the Butcher, Fidel Sierra and Nikolai Volkoff and music special for newcomer Alex Porteau. The big news for those who have not heard (as Profe applauds this news) is that Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper have attacked Miguelito Perez. Profe happily says that Castillo has a bright future in wrestling. Hugo says that later in the program they will show the meeting the Caribbean Express had with the commissioner and what led to the aforementioned incident occurring. Also, we’ll have highlights from Nikolai Volokoff’s attack on Carlos colon last weekend, Volkoff was the substitute for Steve Strong (who was not able to appear due to circumstances beyond their control). Tonight there is a rematch between them with the added stipulation of it being a Russian Chain match. Profe says that the simple fact is that last week we left Carlitos Colon drenched in blood and this time he will be at the end of a chain. Volkoff is a master at this type of match, to which Hugo retorts that Carlos has been in matches like this before. Profe: ‘But he fights like a Puerto Rican, Volkoff is from where this type of match originated, from Russia’. Hugo again states that Carlos knows how to handle himself in these sorts of matches (this chain match has the touch all four corners rule), although he conceded Volkoff does have a size and experience advantage. 

Tonight we’ll also have the return of Abdullah the Butcher as he faces Giant Warrior. Hugo mentions that Abdullah did not fare too well the last time these two faced each other. Profe says that was before, Abdullah has been on a great winning streak in the Orient and will be ready for tonight. Hugo mentions that Ricky Santana will take on El Profe, so that may mean Profe’s face might not look so good tomorrow (Profe laughs it off). Rounding out the card for tonight is Sasha vs Monster Ripper, Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 vs the Ring Lords, and Invader #4 vs. Alex Porteau. Before finishing the announcements, Hugo says that we have some big news about next Saturday. The rematch is signed as Carlos Colon will defend the Universal title against Dino Bravo. Profe is happy about this news and promises that this time there will be no one to save Carlos. With that, Hugo sends it to the Alex Porteau music video as El Profe says we now have a magic finger to cue up the music specials (as he points at the camera). The music video highlights for Porteau are from some TV studio matches, with the most notable opponents being Super Medico #3 and Ricky Santana.

MD: Pretty sure this is set to Sepultura and the music is heavy and foreboding. Maybe the clips of Porteau doggedly working over Ricky Santana’s arm don’t quite match the destructive tone of it but it doesn’t hurt his presentation I guess?

EB: Back to Hugo in the studio, as he introduces the clip of what happened last week when Profe was in trouble against Monster Ripper and someone came out to help him. We cut to Monster Ripper attacking Profe on the arena floor, when suddenly Lt. James Earl Wright of the State Patrol runs out to grab Ripper from behind. Profe doesn’t have much time to get a blow in before Ricky Santana rushes in to fight the rudos off and chase them away. Ricky helps Ripper to her feet as the clip ends. 

Profe is in the studio and cuts a promo on Ricky Santana. Profe has always said that Santana loves sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong and tonight he will teach him a lesson, because women and imbeciles like Santana should be treated the same way. He is going to disfigure Santana's face, he is ugly and big eared. So get ready because El Profe does not discriminate by gender, nationality or age. Ricky responds by saying that it won’t be a woman tonight, it’ll be man to man, or he should say one man because Profe is no man. After Hugo translates we get a card rundown for tonight;s show in Carolina. We also get an ad for next Wednesday’s TV taping in Miramar, with TNT vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra, and Ricky Santana & Giant Warrior vs the Ring Lords. 

MD: Profe really didn’t seem all that cowed or like he’d learned his lesson during the opening of the show. Lots of preening and posing. Most striking thing here is that Santana showed up almost immediately after Wright appeared, so they didn’t do any sort of extended beatdown on Ripper. Not sure if they’re going for mixed tags or just moving the feud over to Profe/Wright vs Santana moving forward.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Dutch Mantell - February 1988

EB: With Abdullah the Butcher returning tonight, they show a match from February 1988 where Dutch Mantel takes on Abdullah the Butcher. This is from the first round of that year’s Gillette Cup and the match does not go Dutch’s way as Abdullah jumps him as soon as he enters the ring. Most of the match is Abdullah getting the better of Dutch with foreign objects, although Dutch is able to get some offensive flurries in. We also have Chicky at ringside with Abdullah here, we have not seen him in almost a year. I wonder what he’s been up to?  Anyway, Dutch wins the match by dq when Abdullah refuses to stop punching and choking Dutch (who is draped over the top rope).

We then go to some highlights from the last time Abdullah the Butcher and the Giant warrior wrestled. The date is September  8,1990 and Giant Warrior goes after Abdullah out on the ballfield. Warrior grabs a piece of wood that he uses to hit and gouge Abdullah with, causing Abdullah to bleed. We cut back to the studio and we are met with a closeup of Abdullah’s face as El Profe cuts a promo on Giant Warrior. Abdullah is balancing a metal case on his head as Profe promises that Abdullah is going to make Warrior a victim tonight. Abdullah has made other wrestlers bleed and left them scarred, and tonight will be no exception. Also, El Profe has some quick words for Carlos Colon, it seems he and Abdullah are scheduled to wrestle tomorrow in Humacao.

Giant Warrior is next and laughs at Profe’s comments and says that people saw Profe’s failed attempt of getting rid of Giant Warrior. Abdullah is back again and Warrior is still standing, so let’s see what happens tonight when the two trains collide again. 

MD: It’s notable just how little we’ve seen Abdullah between 89-91. I think he’s just popped up once, maybe twice, and never for long. But now they have him against both Giant Warrior and TNT. Of course, we haven’t seen Dutch at all. The old match between them was fun. Abby tossed Dutch onto a table and then got the object out and opened him up in the ring. Dutch came back with Shoo Baby (using it as a blunt object and not a whip). Abby cut him off as he was want to do and then got DQed for attacking him in the ropes. 

The clip we see of one of the times we did see Abby is against Giant Warrior who by this point had the object already and was getting revenge on Abby with it. Abby, when we cut to him for the Profe promo, has a black case over his head. We cut to footage of him beating on guys and come back to him doing different things with the case or his fingers, just staring at the screen. Warrior cuts a confident promo after that.

Fidel Sierra vs. Victor Cantcel

EB: We have a match from 1985 featuring Fidel Sierra taking on Victor Cancel. Fidel is making a return to Puerto Rico this week and this match is to serve as a reminder to fans of his ability. Profe’s first comment is that he has recently learned that not all Cubans are bad (since Ricky Santana is Cuban), people like Sierra and Castillo are good eggs in his book. Hugo quickly shuts that down, saying Profe’s job is to commentate on the wrestlers’ performance, not anything else. Hugo says that Fidel is returning and if a few years ago he was someone to watch out for, this time he is coming back with more experience and fame. Profe again talks about Castillo Jr with Hugo then asking him about Monster Ripper.  Profe says she can go fry some asparagus (no love lost there). Fidel wins the match with a flying kneedrop off the top. We’ll see how this stint goes for Fidel in the weeks to come.

MD: Another guy we haven’t seen. In general, I haven’t seen much of Sierra with this specific character looking cool with the hat. There’s commentary over commentary so this is older footage likely? Lots of complaining about hairpulling and what not but he’s overall dominant and wins with a side backbreaker and bombs away kneedrop. 

Commissioner Meeting and Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr. vs The Ringlords

EB: It’s time for the new World tag team champions the Caribbean Express to have their meeting with the commissioner. Hugo is already there and says that everyone has been talking about what happened last week in the World tag title match. Commissioner Felix Suarez is here, along with Miguelito Perez, Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper. Hugo says that it has been a hot topic, a controversial one, and that the commissioner had already met with Invader #1 and Bronco #1. The commissioner confirms that he already met with Invader and Bronco, and rather than speak with the Caribbean Express, he wants them to first watch the footage of the match ending before talking. Castillo isn’t too keen on having to watch the footage but Miguelito says they should. We get the replay of the match finish where Miguelito does his dive onto Bronco and in the ring the small package gets reversed with help from Ripper. The commissioner says that now that you have watched the footage, he thinks that it was an unjust win. Castillo tries to justify that Ripper was only there checking on him and nothing more. The commissioner continues that he has already proposed two options to Invader and Bronco, which they  accepted. These are either that the Caribbean Express reject the win and relinquish their titles back to Invader and Bronco, or that they leave the title belts with the commissioner and a rematch will be had for the held up titles. Castillo is all for doing a rematch, although he keeps saying that we are the champs so we’ll give them a rematch (glossing over that they would still have to vacate the titles in that scenario). Miguelito is not on board with that idea, because he feels that was clearly the wrong way to have won the match. Ripper tries to say something but Miguelito cuts her off by saying he had no idea this was how they won. Hugo follows up on this and Miguelito is insistent that he had no idea since he was out of it on the floor after the dive on Bronco (which is true). Miguelito feels this was an unjust loss for Invader and Bronco, feeling that they shouldn’t have done that. A discussion breaks out between Castillo and Ripper on one side and Perez on the other. Perez wants to relinquish the titles because they didn't do it the right way, Castillo and Ripper insist that they are the champions now and should just have the rematch (again glossing over the fact that in both scenarios they cease to be the champions). Miguelito says that accepting a win like that would make them nothing more than paper champions, Castillo says what do you mean paper champions, we beat them 1-2-3. Castillo brings up that they've had times where they’ve lost titles under similar circumstances, but Miguelito says that those were other wrestlers that did that to them,  but not people like Invader and Bronco who are on the same side as them. Miguelito says let’s relinquish the titles, but Castillo is against that (again, I don’t know if they goofed on the setup details or if Castillo is being deliberately obtuse, but either way they are not leaving that office with the title belts). Perez ends up deciding that he is going to relinquish his title belt, Castillo is mad since that means he has to relinquish it as well  and ends up getting bleeped after Perez leaves the room. Castillo tells Ripper how dare he do this to us.

Back to Hugo in the studio where he summarizes the end result. Miguelito Perez relinquished the title belts and they were returned to Invader and Bronco. The situation in the office got heated, so much so that you heard they had to censor some of Castillo's language. But this is not the end of the situation as this past Wednesday the Caribbean Express was taking on the Ring Lord and this is what went down. 

To Miiramar we go as Miguelito Perez is in trouble and trying to make the tag to Huracan Castillo. Instead of making the tag, Castillo seems to be distracted talking to Monster Ripper. Perez continues getting beat up and every time he tries to tag Castillo in he gets waved off, ignored or Castillo motions in a you got this fashion. Eventually, Perez gets fed up with Castillo not wanting to tag in and leaves the ring. Ripper starts arguing with Miguelito for leaving the ring and blocks his exit from the ringside area. Perez tries to push Ripper out of his way so he can leave, and Castillo runs up from behind and attacks Miguelito. Ripper holds Miguelito for a couple of those punches, and then Castillo rams Perez three times into the ringpost. Castillo then rams Perez on a table and hits him with a chair, before throwing Perez into the ring. The attack continues as the Ring Lords have won by countout. Perez is a bloody mess which brings out Carlos Colon and Invader to try to reason with Castillo, but each of them gets shoved by Castillo before leaving the ring. Castillo and Ripper exit the building instead of going to the locker room as a bloody Perez is being checked on in the ring. Hugo on commentary is condemning what Castillo did since Perez and Castillo basically have been friends since they were kids. We end with Perez being helped to the locker room by Invader and Carlos Colon.

MD: The Express review the footage with the commissioner. They see what Ripper did. Perez ultimately agrees to relinquish the belts back to Invader/Bronco though Castillo strongly disagrees. Cut to the match against the Ringlords, who are Magnum Force, here Rick Slagle and Speedy Gonzales (why that? I have no idea. It’s up there with the weird name for one of the State Patrol before). They’re a step down from the Studs but it really doesn’t matter because this was a high heat angle.

Perez fights back enough to go for a tag and Castillo just puts his hand out limpy, avoiding it. He does this a few times and then Perez tries to walk out. Ripper stops him and it seems like she’s trying to convince him to go back but Castillo hits the floor and she grabs Perez so Castillo can nail him. He bloodies his partner, even as Invader and others try to stop him. This was the good stuff. Usually, I’d think this followed something in the US like the Rockers split but the’re well ahead of it here. 

EB: After the big angle with the Caribbean Express, it is back to the promos for tonight’s card. This time we have the Ring Lords and Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 talking about their match tonight. The Ring Lords claim they’re the best tag team to be in Puerto Rico while the tecnicos say that they will be stopped tonight. We also got part of a commercial with some of the tecnicos for Capriccio's restaurant.

MD: I’m not 100% sure where Bronco is here but if you need to get the Ring Lords over, having them go over a champ and another name isn’t the worst way i guess?

EB: We have an old match from Mid-South where Nikolai Volkoff defeats Johnny Rich as the showcase match for Nikolai. After that Profe introduces the clip of the beating Volkoff gave Carlos Colon last week. Colon comes off the top rope with a whoopie cushion but Profe puts Volkoff’s leg on the rope to stop the count. A clothesline leads to another cover and again Profe puts Volkoff’s foot on the ropes. Carlos sets up for the figure four and Profe jumps up on the apron. Carlos runs over and decks Profe, then goes out to punch Profe some more on the arena floor. However, this gives Volkoff an opening to attack Carlos and ram him against the ringpost. This busts Carlos open and Volkoff continues kicking Carlos in the head. The attack stops when Giant Warrior runs out and Vokoff simply stops and heads off before Warrior can get any hands on him. 

We get comments from Nikolai Volkoff where he is looking forward to the chain match since it means that the coward of Carlos Colon cannot run away. Carlos follows by saying that Volkoff may be an expert in this type of match, but that Carlos himself has never lost a match of this type before. Volkoff and Profe better be ready to be paid back for last week, because he is not planning on touching all four corners until he has gotten some licks in with the chain. 

MD: He may have been one of the most over babyfaces on the roster in Summer 1990 WWF but 1983 Volkoff is a very different beast from 1991 Volkoff. He does two of my favorite things here: the one handed lifting choke and then how he turns his press backbreaker into a perfectly angled pin. Puerto Rico does bring out the best in people, and we’ll see if it can for 1991 Volkoff, I guess.

In the clip vs Colon we get, Carlos had his number and was working the leg until Profe interfered. Post match, Giant Warrior made the save. The promo is surreal both for the Russian music playing in the background and just to see Volkoff cut a promo in grumpy English.

Ricky Santana vs. The Fly

EBL Our last match is Ricky Santana vs. The Fly, with Fly getting some quick offense by jumping Santana at the start. This advantage does not last long and Santana makes quick work of The Fly. On commentary, Hugo starts needling Profe about his match tonight against Santana, with Hugo asking Profe if he is now friends again with Monster Ripper. Profe is disgusted by that question and says that he’d rather show up in Sasha’s corner tonight than be friends with Ripper. But he still thinks Castillo has great potential and has always been a good kid. Santana wins with a top rope splash.

Hugo and Profe then close out the show by hyping up tonight’s card and reminding viewers about the big rematch for next week as Carlos Colon defends the Universal title against Dino Bravo. 

MD: I want to say I’m an immediate fan of “The Fly” but he’s just a guy in a mask with no real Fly elements to him. Santana makes short work of him obviously. 

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Warrior - July 27, 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd9usQCi1rY

EB: We end this week’s post with the Giant Warrior vs Abdullah the Butcher match from July 27. This is from a later VHS release so the commentary isn’t related to the current happenings. Abdullah is taking his time on the outside so Warrior decides to rush him like in their previous encounter. Only this time Abdullah was waiting on that and surprises Warrior with several jabs using a foreign object (looks like a spike). Abdullah continues relentlessly jabbing Warrior in the forehead and the blood is starting to flow. Abdullah throws Warrior onto a table and then uses whatever furniture he can find to attack Warrior. A momentary breather reveals that Warrior is quickly becoming a  bloody mess (and he is wearing white tights so it’s going to get messy). Abdulalh finally gets in the ring and a dazed Warrior gathers himself. There’s blood splatter on the table, on the floor and on Warrior’s tights as he finally gets near the ring. We get some king of the mountain as Abdullah jabs the spike once more onto Warrior’s forehead and prevents him from entering the ring. Finally Warrior is in but can’t mount any offense as Abdullah continues attacking. 

Surprisingly, Warrior is able to kick out of Abudullah’s elbow drop. Warrior starts a comeback and even hits a dropkick on Abdullah. This causes Abdullah to drop the spike, so Warrior grabs it and uses it on the Butcher. Abdullah kicks out of a pin attempt and Warrior starts booting Abdullah's head. Warrior gets knocked to the outside and he decides to take one of his boots off. Warrior then uses it as a weapon on Abudllah ,just hitting him over and over again on the head. The ref tries to intervene but gets shoved and then hit with the boot. Warrior continues his attack as the ref calls for the bell. Several wrestlers come out to try to separate Warrior and Abdullah, but they end up getting attacked by both men as they try to get at each other. Warrior ends up knocking down Abdullah and (in an amazing visual) the rudos resort to just dragging the downed Abdullah by his arms across the arena floor towards the locker room.

MD: It is very possible that we have written about more Giant Warrior matches than anyone alive, and while there are some that are pretty good (at least one tag, a Murdoch match, the Tyler Mane match that overdelivered), this has to be the best. He came out in white which he never does and yeah, that meant he was going to bleed buckets. Abby got him on the outside early and tossed everything that wasn’t bolted down at him. He bled right from the get go and then bled some more. Eventually, he managed to come back and get the object and get revenge. It was an Abby match but it absolutely worked. When Abby tried to fire back, he took off his boot and started in on everyone, including the ref and every person in the locker room who tried to break things up. Very much an Abby match but you can’t say that Warrior didn’t do his part, even if his part was just to bleed.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a TV rematch between Giant Warrior and Abdullah the Butcher leads to a series of events that causes a major change to that night’s house show.  Also, the Caribbean Express collides and the debut of Ray Gonzalez.

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