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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Found Footage Friday: AJPW CLASSICS~! ABBY~! WAJIMA~! MAGEE~! TAKAGI~! IDOL~! RICH~! KABUKI~! TIGER MASK~!

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Hiroshi Wajima AJPW 1/2/88

MD: Abby had bigger fish to fry. His eyes were on Jumbo and Baba. Wajima was just a guy he had to babysit here. I'm not going back to see if this did ratings or not but I bet it did even as Wajima was less of a TV draw than he'd been the year before. I'll be honest. I started my AJPW chronological watch with 89 in part to avoid the guy. I kind of regret that now though not necessarily because of anything he did here. More because I would have liked to track every Tenryu match after his turn. But I'd say in small doses, i.e. this match, Wajima was pretty interesting to watch.

Here we got to see him through the lens of an Abdullah the Butcher that wanted the country of Japan to remember that he was a singular and formidable monster. 

Wajima would try a bunch of things. Abby would no sell them in the most bored and stoic way possible, hilarious to both me (despite myself) and the crowd at the time, and cut him off with the throat shot. The fans would chant Butcher over and over again. Then Abby would do some stylized karate shots and pose. It was something. To Abby's credit, it built to Wajima finally got him over and even though the first time that happened, Abby looked more bemused and surprised than anything else, it did sort of matter because of the mountain Wajima climbed. It would have just mattered more if it was, let's say, Isao Takagi (since he'll come up later) or Shunji Takano doing it and not someone who had been around main events for a while. Abby quickly had enough of that, hit a shoulder block and started laying in the elbow drops. Wajima kept putting his feet on the ropes and Abby got incensed and started going after anyone that moved with Baba making the save. Definitely a match that one experiences, this one.

ER: Another lifetime ago, I was the sole person on the Pro Wrestling Only All Japan 80s Nominating Committee to want this match as one of the 150 matches on the final set. I understand the need to keep someone like me in check on a group project like the 80s sets. We were cultivating something important and historical for a large group of people to see and experience. Setting new talking points and updating tastes and standards. All 150 slots were important. I sincerely wanted this Abby/Wajima match on the Final 150. I love it. It deserved to be on. The main argument against it was that some thought it was the clear 150th place finisher, which might be true. Some would rank it low because it's only 6.5 minutes bell to bell. It isn't a title change, it doesn't build to a hot finish, and obviously not enough voters went to the wall for Abdullah the Butcher matches, because he had no matches on the set. Hiroshi Wajima had three. So maybe we put this match on the set as the fourth Wajima match and the only Abby match, and it finishes last? Is that bad? 

The two last place matches, #149 and #150, wound up being two different Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody matches. Their 1983 match was #149, their 1988 match was #150. That 1988 match was #150 on my own personal ballot, in full unanimous agreement with the mass voting bloc in finding Jumbo/Brody '88 to be the very worst match of the 150 best All Japan matches of the 80s. Did we need to have two different Jumbo/Brody matches on there if they were considered the two worst of the set? Every territory we did was going to have a match that finished dead last. There has to be a Worst Scorsese Movie. I always wanted to put a colorful match on the set as the one we thought would finish last. For the WWF set I wanted the best of the Bobby Heenan/Ultimate Warrior weasel suit matches (which didn't make the set). For the Memphis set Phil and I were the ones pushing for the Nightmare Freddy matches that finished dead last. 

Something has to finish last. Abdullah the Butcher should have been #150. Or #147. Time has proven me correct on this match. I love this match. It has incredible aura, incredible atmosphere, feels filled with danger and tension and unpredictability for its entire short runtime, and devolves into genuine spectacle in Korakuen. This match has intrigue. Abby had returned to Japan a few weeks earlier after a three year absence. He had primarily been a New Japan guy in the first half of the decade and now he was a New All Japan Guy. Abby looked like as big a superstar in 1988 as he had a decade earlier. I don't think we put enough respect on his 87-95 run. Watch this match and witness the power of his charisma. Add Wajima to the mix, who is one of my favorite kinds of wrestlers: Disgraced Former Sumo. He was a big name and had the greatest robe in wrestling. People respected him. 

Abdullah the Butcher clearly was not one of them. This whole match feels uncooperative and Abdullah lis a guy who just keeps fearlessly making an all time great sumo look like a chump. There is no fork stabbing. There is no blood. But there is a lot of Abdullah the Butcher no selling Wajima's strikes and looking at him with unblinking, unimpressed eyes. His head is the perfect shape and his expressions are incredible. He walks through or ignores every Wajima strike while throwing screaming taped finger thrusts into his throat, and after every one of those thrusts he does karate poses, a new one every strike. He steps repeatedly to a champion sumo and makes more poses and faces than you've ever seen him do. Wajima finally takes the hint and does a couple shoot throws, grabbing Abby by his sizable pants. Abby had finally been Gotten in a match where he disrespected Wajima over and over and over, and once he gets thrown he decides NOPE we're not doing that and runs into a legendary sumo with a full contact shoulderblock. He drops three running elbows onto Wajima's neck and chest. They're all rough.  

Abby is so disrespectful to Wajima - AND THEN SHOVES JOE HIGUCHI! HARD! - that it draws out Jumbo and Baba and every green-tracksuited undercarder. Abby spends 10 constantly enjoyable minutes avoiding physical interaction with Baba and Jumbo while throwing fingers at the throat of every tracksuit he sees. Jumbo is screaming at him while being held back. Baba takes his track jacket off and is walking around in track pants and no shirt, and I don't think I've ever seen him look more badass. Abby walks the rows of Korakuen flanked by TNT and Black Assassin, who isn't a guy anyone knows. It's the best. It's always intriguing, always entertaining. 

Here's the match that unanimously finished #150, which is extra appropriate because it was the main event of this very show, 3/27/88. We cover the Tom Magee and Tommy Rich/Austin Idol matches below. Watch this match, this 150th place finisher, and tell me it's better than the pure spectacle of Abby/Wajima. 

#150: 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Bruiser Brody AJPW 3/27/88

Also, I was the extreme high vote for one of the Wajima matches that made the final set. I had Wajima/Ishikawa vs. Tenryu/Hara 6/8/87 as my #4 match. #4! It finished #141. #141! I ranked a match #4 that finished in the bottom 6%! You can't get much farther apart than 4 and 141. I haven't watched that match since doing the set, 13 years ago. I'm going to watch it later. I'm justified 15 years later in my love for Abby/Wajima, let's see what shit I was working through in 2012 to be the extreme high Wajima voter: 

Hiroshi Wajima/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara AJPW 6/8/87

[Watched it again, turns out I was completely right once again. This match rocks. It's four sumos all angry for different reasons, Tenryu and Wajima cannot stand each other, everyone takes unprofessional shots. Wajima sells Tenryu's enziguiris better than anyone, Hara clotheslines Wajima in the side of the face and Wajima pays him back with one that knocks Hara onto his head. Every second of it has aura and/or sumos hitting each other hard. Undeniable top All Japan match of the 80s.]

Tommy Rich/Austin Idol vs. Tiger Mask II/Great Kabuki AJPW 3/27/88

MD: You'll want to stick around for the post match where Idol gathers a crowd around him and starts to pose like crazy. That's the most interesting thing in this one but it's also legitimately interesting. The second most interesting thing is the chinlock he puts on Kabuki where he works it so hard that every vein in his neck looked like it'd pop. The sheets said that Idol and Rich didn't get over because the Japanese didn't know what to make of guys who mostly punched and I find that kind of absurd and dismissive. The third is that Rich/Idol come out to Roll with the Changes by REO Speedwagon. 

I didn't love the feeling out stuff here or the finishing stretch to be honest, but I did think the control on Kabuki where they went after his neck/throat with a bunch of headlock punches/throat shots and a great Rich neckbreaker, plus the aforementioned chinlock was all very good. Tiger Mask probably just wasn't the right guy to match up against these two?

ER: Rich and Idol come out to "Roll with the Changes" and I love it. Tommy Rich was still using REO Speedwagon in Japan when he worked WAR in 1993, when the song was 15 years old. The match rules because it's Idol and Rich working a Memphis tag with Kabuki going along with it, Idol and Rich cutting off the ring and throwing punches from real and comedic angles, Idol connecting with Japanese fans as an honest to god cult celebrity. Jerry Lawler got such an ice cold reaction in his limited Japanese work, but Idol grabs the attention of the All Japan crowd and them makes aloof faces like he doesn't understand why.  At one point Idol tags in and throws Great Pro Wrestling Punches while dropping to a knee, throws a snapmare that is actually a man flipping another man to his seat by the head, and then throws punches to a seated Kabuki and chokes him on the mat before running him face first into Tommy Rich's knee. It is everything I love about wrestling distilled into 15 seconds. When he throws headlock punches to Kabuki, Kabuki drops forward to his knees like his nose is broken. Tommy Rich hits a fistdrop off the middle buckle. Idol hooks his hands under Kabuki's chin and flexes his arms as he pulls his neck back over his knee, hair looking like a swag version of the Mark Davis cut, and all is right. Austin Idol had a connection with the Japanese crowds and even in loss, that cult status looms over the victorious Tiger Mask. Idol flexes his biceps in the crowd and the reaction makes it clear that the people want More. 

Tom Magee vs. Isao Takagi AJPW 3/27/88

MD:  Some of these have been out there more or less for a few years but we never covered them (it's hard to keep up with Classics) so they're really new enough. And this was quite the thing right here. Magee came out to Danger Zone like he was Masa Fuchi or something, stood on the top turnbuckle, dropped his cape, posed, and did a shooting star press into the ring right into a tumble. Hell of a thing. 

And you know, parts of this were competent. Sure he landed on Takagi with his first leapfrog and there was just a weirdness to some of what he did. He'd do a headscissors at an angle I've never quite seen it and grabbed the ropes not for heat so much as so he didn't fall over, while in a grounded headscissors. His strikes were stylized to say the least. He put his foot on Takagi's leg while holding an armbar, not to drive him down but to set up a drop toehold and I don't quite get that. Lots of little things like that, but the armdrags looked ok and he was spirited in his legdrops and kneedrops and hiptosses and what not. 

But really this was about the spin wheel kicks. His was basically a beesting, the chop of the spinwheelkick, where he got the edge of his foot into the midsection of Takagi. Takagi when he later reversed a whip and hit a charge and just careened at Magee, went foot first right into his face as he arced. And yes, right after that, Magee opened up in a big way, blood coming down his face. The match was over by that point though as he did a somersault to "dodge a charging Takagi", put in quotes for a reason and then did a belly to back position backbreaker which I've never seen before for a submission. Hell of an entrance though. 

ER: I don't really think Tom Magee is that much different than many guys who are pushed as a Fast Rising Star on the modern indy (or national television!) scene. He had great athleticism and actually had more offense than I realized, and he isn't as terrible as advertised when it comes to fitting that offense into an actual match. He feels like someone who could have been molded with more time, but wasn't given more time. That's nothing new. I liked some things he did, like his weird drop toehold, but the main thing he had going against him was the same thing he had going for him: He moved like an alien in the ring. If not like an alien, he moved like someone who had been given the implanted knowledge of pro wrestling, without actually having seen pro wrestling. There was no sense he had any understanding what pro wrestling was. 

Many of the things he does look "fine" but he does them as someone who doesn't know what he is doing, and the crowds can feel it. He is doing a kneedrop, he is doing a legdrop, he is doing a weird drop toehold, but he is doing them in a way that doesn't feel like pro wrestling, instead a memorized series of steps. Tom Magee memorized the sounds of the alphabet phonetically but cannot actually read or understand letters, and it is off-putting to the people there live, who love wrestling. If you gave an alien a recipe to make a pumpkin pie, but they had never tasted a pie or seen what a pie looked like, you would almost surely get some sort of creation that had similarities to pie while being grotesque in a way that aesthetically offended you. It's why Magee didn't seem to realize he was even bleeding from the nose and mouth after being hit by a spinning heel kick. He does not understand these humans, the ways they leak.

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Found Footage Friday: ABBY~! KIMALA II~! RUSHER~! INOUE~! ORTON~! TAKER~! OMNI~!

Abdullah the Butcher/Giant Kimala II vs. Rusher Kimura/Mighty Inoue AJPW 12/1/90

MD: Big IWE stars vs. monsters energy here, even if Rusher and Inoue were up in the years. This overachieved from my expectations, which were set in part for seeing Abby in so many short, abruptly ending tags from this era and from seeing Rusher in so many comedy matches. I love those matches by the way, but that wasn't going to work here.

What we got instead was pretty gruesome actually. Rusher bled early and they worked over the wound with headbutts, chops, and Abby just sticking his finger in the wound awesome. When Inoue got in, he turned the tables, sitting up on Abby's shoulders and poking him repeatedly with the fork until he dropped back. Then he kept it going with a bunch of awesome headlock punches until Kimala broke it up. The kept things rolling with a couple of chairshots from the outside in. Pretty valiant stuff.

Even the finish had one or two more rotations than I was expecting as Abby hit his cool Angle Slam type suplex but Inoue survived it only to get crushed with the throat shot/elbow drop combo. Post-match, Abby and Kimala bowed to all four sides. Not a lost classic but I'd say still well worth your time.

ER: This was disgusting, extremely violent, not far off from Great. Matt said gruesome and that's a good word for it. This wasn't a Fork Stabbing Abby match, this was built around punching and bleeding and digging into cuts. The match is helped by the HD of these new episodes of AJ Classics, as the second Abby is stabbing his fingers into Rusher's head I knew they weren't going to hold back. Abdullah's stiff fingered thrusts and jabs looked so painful, and it is 50-50 whether or not he had some kind of blade in his finger tape, because Rusher's head bled quick and Abby's fingertips were soon soaked red. Kimura's blood ran in rivulets down his chest and Abby dug his fingers into Rusher's cuts and the rest of his face. It was disgusting and the cameras zoomed in close on it to show the savagery. 

But these IWE guys are tough, so when Rusher finally tags in Might Inoue, Inoue shoot punches Abby in the head a couple dozen times and it's incredible. Inoue enters the ring climbing onto Abby's shoulders and just punches and stabs away at his head. Did we know Inoue was hiding a sharp object that he was going to use to scrape and stab at Abby's head while throwing shoot hammerfists? Abdullah the Butcher doesn't stab a single soul in this match with a fork, but Mighty Inoue introduces a weapon with no warning? Maybe this match is actually greater than great. When they both go down, Inoue grabs him in a headlock and throws sick blood wet splat punches repeatedly as the camera is again right on top of these slasher movie visuals. Every time Inoue ran and flew at Abby with a headbutt, you could hear his head actually smacking into Butcher's chin! He hits one in the ropes to knock Abby to the floor, and more in the ring. Great spot. Inoue's flipping senton is always so cool. It hits with impact but has the flourish and showmanship of French Catch. Abby rolling just out of the way of a senton and leading to him massacring Inoue's throat was a great late match sudden turn. Abby's Angle Slam is a really great spot and I love when he breaks it out. Using his bulk to perform weight physics is an Abby we don't get to see as often as Stabbing Abby. 

Kimala II was the odd man out in this, and he usually is, which is why I always look forward to Kimala II matches. He is the weirdest All Japan regular during their extended run of high expectancy ring work. He is clumsy, he doesn't work anywhere near as stiff as the style demands, he falls weird on offense, and despite being in his mid 20s he moves about as well as Abdullah the Butcher. But he torpedoes into the action at fun times, including a big bump thrown through the ropes to the floor. He's probably the thing holding this match from being legitimately great, but you can't deny the crowd excitement when he started slapping his belly. 

Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Steve Austin/Brian Pillman/Barry Windham WCW 2/7/93

MD: We get the last eight minutes of this and then a big post-match brawl. On the one hand, it's a shame we lose out on the elimination match because it sounds amazing on paper, but we're better off for what we do get here than nothing at all. Part of that is because Steamboat looks like the best babyface in the world here. Some of it is the way this is shot with no commentary. It just feels closer up, right in the midst of the action, and Steamboat working from underneath here is just transcendent. The way he moves his body, expanding and contracting, hanging on to the ropes, finding strength within, expressing pain and writhing emotion, is just over the top great. 

And Austin, in his own way, is almost as good. He's put upon, frustrated, aggravated that Steamboat refuses to quite, that he paints himself as so sympathetic a figure, that he dares to appeal to his humanity. At one point, Steamboat ... it's not begging off, I wouldn't say he's begging off, but he does seem to call for some level of mercy, maybe just to get things back on a more even playing field, but Austin, framing it perfectly, timing it as dramatically as possible, cinematically in a way that would only work in footage like this, that would be overwrought or overproduced on TV, literally spits on the effort. That makes it all the more poignant when Steamboat, in the midst of his big comeback, blows a mist of spit himself later on. Just really primal stuff.

That stays through into the chaotic post-match, bodies flying and violence ebbing and flowing and ebbing again. Weirdly enough, Shane Douglas might have stood out the most here, as he came off as a real powerhouse. Still, this post match, as good as it was and with a real sense of consequence for matches to come, comes off a little like a consolation prize for the elimination match we didn't get. Still, what a look at Steamboat and Austin.

Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker vs. Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry WWE 3/3/06

MD: House show match from the vault from Australia. I was expecting to see Henry assert himself. That was the draw, but really this was all about Randy Orton, especially but not only him reacting to Undertaker. It's a bit clipped and we come in after entrances with him preening in the corner only to turn around and find Taker there, going for a handshake before he gets rocked with punches. It's easy to joke about the Kyle Fletcher parallels but he was around 26 here and they're clearer here than at almost any other point of his career as best as I can remember.

This is not a version of Orton I remember well, but he was pretty effective even if I did see the strings at times. Plus it was a house show so they really played into it. There was a bit where he teased getting knocked into the crowd three or four times before finally landing on a fan's lap and thanking her after the fact. It was all pretty funny stuff. Plus he was flying around as a menace throughout, including dashing from one opportunistic pin to the next.

Angle was a bit of a non-factor overall, in part due to his current persona, I think, but just because Undertaker and Orton were taking up so much air. And then Henry just seemed there to cut people off at times. He did it effectively but his role could have been much more interesting. Still, this was fun for what it was, but it would have probably worked just as well as two singles matches. 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Aniversario 1990 Part 1

Week 28: Aniversario 1990 Part 1

The date is July 7, 1990 and we have arrived at Aniversario 1990 ‘Un Reto Para la historia’! Taking place in Bayamon at two locations (Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez and Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel), with five matches at each site (and presented on screens for the fans in attendance). The event received a VHS release, although edited down for a two hour run time. Nine of the ten matches were included on the home video release, with the Mark Youngblood vs Rick Valentine match being the only one left off. There are edits to fit the event on the video release, although we get several of the matches in full for the most part. We’re going to review the first five matches in this installment and the remaining four from the home video release in the next installment. We are including a link to the home video release if anyone wants to watch the event that way, but we will include video links to the individual matches we are reviewing if you prefer to watch them that way. Here is the link to the home video release.

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

I will briefly mention that the event started with a welcome by Hugo Savinocih (including a shout out to his mother who apparently was in attendance), where he presented  the commentators for the event (the teams of Lysette Santiago & Eliud Gonzalez and Hugo Savinovich & Hector Moyano will be doing commentary for the matches depending on which of the two sites the matches were occurring at). We also have the commissioners of the WWC Caribbean region and  the Puerto Rico Boxing and Wrestling Commision on hand, with each giving some brief remarks to open the event. 

MD: There’s something enjoyable about watching a video from 1990 where they rewind it and start it over. With the officials saying a little (but very little) there was a patina of authenticity over the event. Which makes it funny as the first guy out is Chicky.

EB: As Matt alluded to, our first match features Chicky Starr taking on Chris Youngblood. Originally it was supposed to be the Mongolian Mauler as Chris Youngblood’s opponent, but Chicky has stepped in. The Youngbloods have made a return to Puerto Rico for this event, although they are in singles action this go around. Let’s go to our first match of the night. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpYC0DmfqK

Chicky Starr makes his way to the ring, wearing his crown and doing his hand pose to the crowd. The crowd wastes no time throwing garbage at Chicky and this is just the first match of the night. Hector Moyano asks Hugo if he has any words for the crowd and Hugo asks the fans at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez to please behave themselves. Chris Youngblood comes out wearing his medicine man mask and he gets the crowd hyped up (the Youngbloods have always been strong fan favorites in Puerto Rico). The ring introductions are made, the ref checks both combatants and the bell rings. Both men circle each other and Chicky complains to the ref that Chris has something taped to his hands. The ref checks but finds nothing. They lock up and Chicky shoves Chris after they break. The ref admonishes Chicky for that (with Chicky protesting his innocence) and then both men briefly lock up again. Chris gets a quick side headlock and sends Chicky into the ropes, leading to a sequence that ends with Chicky being punched in the head. Chicky rolls out of the ring as Chris celebrates with some war dancing. Chicky gets back in the ring and complains it was a closed fist, but the ref disagrees. Chicky works a side headlock on Chris, leading to a shoulder block off the ropes. Another rope running sequence results in Chris armdragging Chicky to the mat. Chris works the armbar as Chicky complains his hair was pulled.

Chicky gets back on his feet and breaks the arm bar by yanking Chris down by his hair behind the ref’s back. Chicky feigns innocence at the hair pull as Hugo talks about the fans throwing things at the ring, indicating that it is not acceptable behavior and that there are fans that show their support with cheers and applause. They lock up once more and Chicky again uses a hair pull to take down Chris. The commentators talk about how Chris has the fans’ support, as Chicky again feigns innocence about the hair pull and even busts out a strut for the crowd. Another lock up ends with Chris bringing Chicky down with a hair pull, causing Chicky to complain about it and the fans to agree with Chris that he didn’t do it. Chris gets the crowd going with some claps and Chicky decides to step halfway out of the ring to yell at some fans. Chris uses the opening and kicks the middle rope right into Chicky’s groin. Chris follows up with a kick to the groin and plays to the crowd with a war cry. A dropkick knocks Chicky down. Chicky is slow to get up and asks the ref for a timeout due to the groin damage he’s incurred. Chicky tries to walk it off and continues to stall. A lock up leads to a knee to the midsection by Chicky, which is followed up with some short clothesline blows on the ropes to Chris. The blows send Chris to the outside, but Chicky stays in the ring, slightly hobbling around. Chicky catches Chris with a knee to the midsection when the latter gets back in the ring. A series of kneedrops gets a two count for Chicky. Come punches by Chicky draw a warning from the ref to watch out for the closed fist. Chris catches Chicky with several punches to the midsection, following them up with some chops in the corner and a backdrop. Chicky begs off, but Chris continues on the attack. Chicky manages to throw Chris outside but Chris comes back with a sunset flip attempt from the apron. Chicky tries to hold on to the ropes to counter, but the ref kicks Chicky’s grip loose and the sunset flip is completed. Chris gets a three count and the win in our opening match. The crowd cheers and starts throwing trash at Chicky again. 

MD: This was a substitution as Chicky was in for the Mongolian Mauler, and while Mauler has his goofy charm, this crowd deserved Chicky and Chicky deserved this crowd. Even before the match, all he did was stand there and do a Jimmy Snuka type pose with his hands and they belted him with trash. It was glorious. It was the first match on the card and they had a spotfest minis match coming after, so they kept it really simple, but the crowd almost made it impossible for them to do anything else; every lock up was electric. Every bit of comeuppance that Chicky experienced came with a huge roar.
He made sure to give them plenty to roar about too, running into armdrags or punches and eating a crotch shot as he was coming between the ropes. He took over with a knee and had some hard clubbers on Chris but they were pretty soon back to milking every bit of this. Chicky managed a redirect to send Chris out but he came back in with a sunset flip to win it. Just a few minutes but you could tell they knew what they had with the crowd and absolutely made the most of it for a short opener.

EB: Our second match features two teams of minis from Mexico, as Mascarita Sagrada and Aguilita Solitaria take on the rudo team of Espectrito and Piratita Morgan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmb2FfZU3A

Eliud Gonzalez does the ring introduction for this match, and as he starts we can see Espectrito jawing at the crowd while standing on the middle rope. Eliud mentions that this is a meeting between ‘grandes en la lucha libre’ (large or greats in wrestling) even if of short stature. Espectrito and Aguilita start off for their teams. Espectrito shoves Aguilita off a lock up and strikes a bicep pose. Mascarita Sagrada is quickly in for his team and sends Espectrito out of the ring with a high roundhouse kick. Piratita comes in (they’re doing Mexican rules where you can come in without a tag once your partner is out of the ring) and knocks Sagrada down with a blow. Aguilita quickly does a tumbling routine into the ring to cut off Piratita and defend his partner. We get a nice counter move sequence between Morgan and Aguilita, ending with Morgan being dropkicked through the ropes by Aguilita. Espectrito and Mascarita are in for their teams and Espectrito does a series of takedowns on Mascarita. Espectrito brags to the crowd but another sequence of holds ends with Mascarita sending Espectrito to the mat. Eliud on commentary mentions that Espectrito reminds him of one of his commentating partners (clarifying that it is not Lysette he’s talking about). On that note, Eliud sends a hello to Hector Moyano and Hugo Savinovich who are doing the commentary for the other location. Espectrito hits a press slam and again celebrates after. Mascarita comes back with a flying headscissor takedown. A series of armdrag counters lead to Espectrito being tossed out of the ring.

Piratita and Aguilita are back in for their teams, with Piratita getting the better of Aguilita. Piratita hits a press slam and Espectrito comes in to do a celebratory pose again. It’s pretty clear that Piratita is bringing the power and Espectrito the attitude on the rudo side. Piratita kicks Aguilita out of the ring and Mascarita comes in for his team. As Mascarita faces Piratita, Espectrito runs in and kicks Mascarita from behind. They briefly double team Mascarita but Aguilita makes it back in and cuts off Piratita. Morgan and Aguilita engage in several armdrag counters, which leads into some pin attempts by both wrestlers and then to both men doing the front somersaults into a standing position stand off. The crowd sounds like they are enjoying the action so far. Espectrito tags in and kicks Mascarita into the corner. Espectrito lands some punches but misses a corner charge to the crowd’s approval. Mascarita does a snapmare takedown and tries to charge at Espectrito, but is shoved and sent flying back into the corner by Espectrito. A leapfrog by Mascarita leads to a flying armdrag takedown from the top turnbuckle  by Mascarita. A somersault off the middle rope leads to another armdrag takedown by Mascarita. A dropkick sends Espectrito to the outside as the crowd cheers. Mascarita plays to the cheering crowd but is blindsided by Piratita coming into the ring and hitting a dropkick. Piratita’s punches send Mascarita to the apron and Aguilita front flips into the ring. Before they can lock up, Espectrito changes in from behind and takes over. Espcetrito works over Aguilita, eventually hitting a backdrop and senton for a two count. Mascarita tries to break up the pin attempt and is met with a dropkick by Piratita. All four men are now in the ring and, as Espectrito and Aguilita are tied up fighting, Piratita hits a suplex and pins Mascarita. The ref makes the three count, the rudos have won the match, and the crowd is not happy with this result. Espectrito drags Aguilita over to the ring apron and proceeds to hit some more blows on Aguilita after the match. El Vikingo goes over and saves Aguilita by dragging him back into the ring. The rudo team leaves as the tecnicos are left laying on the mat. 

MD: These guys were announced as giants: big in wrestling but small in stature. This was all action. Every spot, every exchange, got a buzzing roar from the crowd. Things really sang when Espectrito and Mascara Sagrada were in there but Piratita and Aguilita held their own. There was just an extra bit of zing for every time Mascarita did something that felt impossible due to the standard rules of physics. There would be little moments of bullying but they were quickly overcome as the tecnicos flew around once again. I get that there needed to be some parity in finishes and there might have been some politics I don’t know about but it felt like a big downer to have the rudos win this one and leave the tecnicos laying with a post-match beatdown. At least have them turn it around and run them off?

EB: Our next match features a recently turned Scott Hall taking on Atkie Mulumba. Hall had his differences with Mulumba after a tag match and even hit the crucifix on El Profe, making him an enemy of Chicky Starr and El Profe. The rudo managers want Hall to pay for his betrayal and they feel Atkie Mulumba is the one to do it.

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

The video begins with Hall standing on the middle turnbuckle, waiting for the entrance of his opponent. Atkie Mulumba is heading towards the ring, accompanied by El Profe. Hall plays to the crowd, getting them to rally behind him as Mulumba approaches. Atkie gets in the ring and Hall wastes no time in charging to attack. The bell rings as both men exchange blows, Mulumba grabs Hall and both men fight for several moments over control of a lock up. Eliud Gonzalez and Lysette Santiago are on commentary, with Eliud mentioning that Hall had said in interviews that he had thought about it for two weeks and Hall felt that the best thing to do was to face Mulumba. Atkie takes over with a couple of headbutts but Hall fires back with a series of punches, finishing it up with a tornado punch that knocks Atkie down. The crowd has been firmly behind Hall so far. Hall plays to the crowd as Atkie gets back up and slaps his belly. Hall goes to the outside to try to get at El Profe but Mulumba goes out to cut Hall off. Eliud mentions that surprisingly it seems Mulumba has some fans in the crowd as well. They lock up on the outside and briefly scuffle, and Atkie ends up ramming Hall’s head on the ring apron. 

Back in the ring, Mulumba sends Hall into the ropes and hits his flying clothesline. Mulumba chokes Hall on the middle rope, with El Profe pointing and encouraging Atkie from the outside. Atkie then rams Hall’s head into the top turnbuckle, followed by a headbutt and backrake. Hall comes back with a punch but is cut off with a kick and chops. Atkie gets a nerve hold on Hall and brings Hall down to his knees. The ref checks Hall’s arms and he keeps them up at the two count. Hall fights back and breaks the hold, firing off some punches and a tornado punch that staggers Atkie but doesn’t knock him down. Hall grabs Mulumba and slams him. Hall gets fired up again and signals to the crowd. Hall comes off the ropes with a blow onto Mulumba, and follows up with a clothesline. Scott starts doing the cross pose, signaling that he’s going for the crucifix. Hall sets up Atkie, but before he can lift him up, El Profe charges into the ring. Hall catches Profe with a punch and sets Profe up for the crucifix instead. Hall has Profe up but Atkie hits Hall to save Profe. Atkie has his totem in his hands and starts attacking Hall with it as the ref has called for the bell. The Caribbean Express quickly come out to fight off Atkie and make the save for Hall .The crowd cheers as Hall is back on his feet and goes outside to fight with Mulumba. Both men exchange several blows before Mulumba gets away and starts walking to the locker room. Hall gives chase and both men exchange blows once more. Atkie finally gets away and Hall returns to the ring and is declared the winner by disqualification. The video ends as Hall poses on the different turnbuckles towards the crowd. It looks like we may have a new fan favorite here in Scott Hall.

MD: Maybe I’m crazy (Esteban will tell us), but this felt like a starmaking performance for Hall. This is a guy who worked underneath a ton of great babyfaces for five years and wrestled his share of them, including Colon so recently. He was ready to push it over the top. He had the physical charisma necessary here, appealing to the crowd, selling, bounding back off the ropes with a forearm for a hope spot (that’s all it took), eating Malumba’s neckbreaker drop and his imposing choke over the rope with his tongue out, and then coming back with a huge bodyslam en route to Profe interfering and Malumba using his relic to save Profe and get dq’d. Post match, the Caribbean Express made the save, fully anointing Hall as a tecnico and Hall went right after Malumba, fully showing the crowd that he was a guy to get behind. I’d consider just giving him the win outright here, but I think they wanted to run this back and having the other tecnicos join him post-match had symbolic value. Maybe you didn’t need him in 1990 WWF with Warrior and Kerry, but I wonder now if they shouldn’t have brought him in to 91 WCW as this instead of the Diamond Studd. 

EB: Next we have the match for the Caribbean title as Leo Burke defends against Invader #1 in a boxing match.This specific rivalry stems all the way to the end of March (although the enmity between Chicky and Invader goes back even further) when Leo and Chicky won the Caribbean tag titles from the new Invaders. The two teams spent over a month feuding over the titles and it eventually transitioned into Burke challenging Invader #1 for the Caribbean singles title. Burke won the match using a boxing glove and since then has made it known he is a Canadian boxing champion, bringing (and using) the boxing gloves in his appearances. Invader #1 has finally secured his awaited chance to get back at Burke, but under the match conditions set forth by Chicky and Leo. Thus we have a ten round boxing match. Chicky and Burke believe they have Invader #1 right where they want him, but Invader #1 has Robocop and Invader #4 backing him up. 

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

Chicky Starr and Leo Burke are making their way to the ring, and quite a bit of trash and debris is being thrown at them by the fans. Hugo is making the ring intros as we cut to Invader #1’s entrance. We see Invader #1 come out with his boxing gloves on, followed by Robocop. The music playing is basically gunfire and explosion sounds with some of the Robocop music, along with some Robocop sound bites. Invader #4 is already at ringside (I’m guessing he led the tecnico procession). We hear Hugo make the announcement that also in Invader #1’s corner is none other than boxing champion Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho (I don’t know if it was announced on tv or if it was a last minute deal where Camacho was at the event and they asked him). Both combatants and their cornermen are in the ring as Camacho makes his entrance. The crowd roars at seeing Camacho, and he and Invader #1 touch hands. Camacho does some quick shadow boxing, has a brief chat with the ref, and then tries to also shake hands with Leo Burke. Leo turns his back on Camacho as Chicky dismissively waves at him to go away. Camacho does one last pose for the crowd and exits the ring as Hugo continues with the ring intros. Burke has Chicky in his corner, Invader #1 has Robocop, Camacho and Invader #4 (although only Invader #4 and Robocop are out there for the duration of the match). As the wrestlers prepare for the start of the match, Hugo asks the fans at ringside if they wouldn’t mind taking their seats. Chicky has some last minute words for Leo, while Invader #4 and Robocop seem to be going over some things in their corner. Both Burke and Invader #1 touch gloves as the bell rings, the first round has begun.

Both men feel each other out a bit to start, although it’s Burke who starts to get some punches in early on. Invader #1 starts sticking and moving a bit on Leo ,as Hugo mentions that you have to watch out for Burke as he tends to play dirty. Hugo also mentions that each round is two minutes followed by a one minute rest period. Invader throws a punch, with Burke responding with one of his own. Invader cinches up with Leo to stop the punch, and Burke takes  the opening to headbutt Invader. The ref warns Leo about doing that and Invader manages to shake the effects off before both combatants start circling each other again. Some punches are thrown before Leo grabs Invader to force him back into the corner, and again Burke takes the opening to headbutt Invader. This staggers Invader, who has to lay against the ropes to try to recover. It also looks like he’s been cut by the headbutt. Burke comes in with some punches, although Invader seems to have gotten his bearings and does some good footwork to avoid Burke’s punches. Just as the bell rings, Invader hits a drop toehold on Burke, dropping him to the mat. As both men go their corners, Burke seems to be complaining about the drop toehold, while Invader #4 is checking his brother’s face. The camera zooms in on Robocop patrolling the corner area as both cornermen tend to their fighters. 

Round two sees Invader come out quicker than Burke, with Invader circling Burke and landing some punches. Burke again decides to lock up with Invader and again throws a headbutt to break. This hit sends Invader tumbling into a sitting position on the middle turnbuckle. Burke tries to follow up but the ref stops him. The ref checks to see if Invader is good to continue and Invader is back on his feet (although looking a bit dazed). Leo comes back with some punches but Invader covers up. Invader does another quick drop toehold to take Burke off his feet. When Burke gets back up, Invader starts firing off a quick flurry of punches that sends Leo into a corner. As Invader follows in with another punch, Burke locks up to stop the attack and, for the first time in the match, breaks without a headbutt. It looks like Leo’s a bit hurt by the recent flurry, as he decides to go outside to gather himself. Chicky gives some words of advice to Leo on the outside and Hugo complains that Burke shouldn't be able to do this since it’s under boxing rules. However, as soon as Burke steps back into the ring, Invader catches Leo with another series of punches that result in Burke being knocked down. The ref sends Invader to the corner and starts his count on Burke. The crowd counts along but Burke is up before ten. Invader gives Leo no room to breathe as he starts attacking as soon as Leo is back up. Leo is backed into a  corner and locks up to stop the punches as the bell rings. Leo gets a cheap shot in after the break, with Invader responding in kind, and the ref has to break it up as the rest period starts. The cornermen again work over their fighters and the bell rings for round three. 

As both men advance towards each other, Leo spits a mouthful of water at Invader’s face. This gives Leo an opening to launch a series of blows that sends Invader into the corner. Invader is sitting down in the corner after those blows, so the ref gets Burke to go to a corner so he can administer a count on Invader, who is able to stand up before the ten count. Invader slaps his chest to signal he is good to go. Both men approach each other and start throwing punches, although Burke seems to be landing more of them at first. However, Invader shifts into another gear and starts throwing several punches, sending Burke stumbling into a corner. Invader continues with several unanswered punches as it looks like Burke may be knocked down. But once more a lock up occurs to stop the onslaught and Burke again breaks with a headbutt. As the ref chastises Chicky for his man’s tactics, Leo lands a punch on the dazed Invader that knocks him down. The ref counts as Invader starts to get back up, and you can see Robocop at ringside urging Invader to get up. Invader is back on his feet and both fighters start exchanging punches again. After a few moments, Invader is able to come back with a series of punches that knocks Burke down again. The crowd roars in approval, as trash continues to be thrown at the downed Burke. The crowd chants along to the count but Burke is saved by the bell as the count only reaches seven. Chicky has to come into the ring to help Burke back to the corner. You can also see one of the security guys trying to clear out the garbage on the mat with his weapon. Burke is so out of it that he completely misses the stool when sitting down and has to be helped back up by Chicky. Both cornermen tend to their fighters during the rest period, and if you pay attention you’ll spot Invader #4 undoing the snap on one of Invader’s boxing gloves.

Round four starts with some punches thrown (and a cup hitting Burke on the side of his head). Burke puts a stop to the punches with a knee to the midsection. Burke basically says to heck with the boxing and hits a knee rake to Invader’s face. He follows up with some stomps and kneedrops on the downed Invader. A headlock leads to Invader sending Burke into the ropes and hitting a dropkick on Leo. A clothesline follows as the crowd cheers. Invader goes after Chicky, who has jumped on the apron. As the ref goes over to get Chicky down, Chicky throws an object into the ring that Leo grabs. It looks like Leo has loaded his punch up. Burke grabs Invader and sends him into the ropes, ready to hit a loaded punch. Invader ducks the punch when he rebounds off the ropes and on the bounce back quickly takes off his boxing glove (remember, Invader #4 had unsnapped it during the last rest period). As Invader runs back toward Burke, he hits Leo right in the chest with a taped fist heart punch (if you've been following along with our walkthrough you know how dangerous Invader’s taped fist is). The ref starts his count and Burke is completely motionless on the mat. The crowd stars counting along and the count reaches ten. Invader has won the match and the Caribbean title. The crowd cheers and garbage again starts being thrown at the rudos. Both Invaders hug in celebration as Robocop does a fist pump on the outside.

MD: This was tremendous. Probably the Puerto Rico MOTY so far based on what we have footage of. Probably the best pro wrestling boxing match ever too. First, it was just an amazing spectacle pre-match. You had the trash flying for Burke and Chicky. You had Invader (unmasked) come down with the other Invader (masked), Hector Macho Camacho, and Robocop. Everyone got an introduction. It was wild.

As for the fight itself, they played it fast and loose in the best pro wrestling way. That meant that Burke got multiple advantages through cheating, first through headbutts whenever they were caught together in the ropes, but also with a water spit after a round ended, and by getting a knee up towards the end. Invader could milk a ten count and make fighting out of the corner visceral and gripping like no one in wrestling history, with Burke a top notch stooge to carry his side of things. They had a nearfall, of sorts, at the end of the second to last fall when Invader fired back and dropped Burke, only for the bell to ring mid-count. The fans hated that in the best way. And then, after Burke hit the knee and they really leaned into the pro wrestling with knee drops and a full on dropkick/clothesline comeback by Invader, they had Chicky interfere, Burke load the glove, and Invader to duck his shot off the ropes, lose his own glove, and hit the Heart Punch for the explosive win. Really great stuff. 

EB: The last of the five matches we are covering in this installment is the battle of the monsters between Abdullah the Butcher and Zeus. Abdullah’s reputation and history in Puerto Rico is well known, but it looks like the tecnicos have recruited an unstoppable monster in his own right to challenge Abdullah. How will this match go? Let’s find out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpnyOlQUF8k

The video begins with Abdullah reaching the ring area and Chicky tumbling to the floor, it seems Zeus was out first and had attacked Chicky when the the rudo manager had made his way to the ring (also, it looks like Chicky and Abdullah have made up from last year’s turn). Zeus and Abdullah start fighting at ringside as the crowd roars. Zeus starts choking Abdullah as Hugo makes the ring introductions for this ‘choque de trenes’. Zeus ‘lands’ some headbutts and gets back into the ring. Abdullah is a bit stunned but is able to recover and get into the ring. Zeus is up one the ropes working the crowd but sees Abdullah get in the ring and gets ready to face off. The ref tries to call the match to order as Hugo mentions that Abdullah typically uses his size advantage but he won't be able to here against Zeus. The crowd gets hyped and starts chanting Zeus a both men lock up. Zeus starts ‘landing’ some blows to Abdulalh’s head, followed by a choke (although it looks more like he’s trying to shake Abdullah awake). Zeus briefly picks Abdullah up in a bearhug before pushing him back into the corner and punishing Abdullah further with his signature blows and chokes. The ref tries to get Zeus to back off but is shoved away. Abdullah is sitting on the bottom turnbuckle as Zeus finally backs off. Abdullah gets back to his feet and catches Zeus with two karate thrusts to the throat that knock Zeus down. 

Abdullah moves in but Zeus catches Abdullah with some of his signature windmill overhead strikes. Zeus chokes Abdullah back onto the ropes and proceeds to throw some overhead blows that cause boos to be heard from the crowd. Abdullah counters with a throat thrust and follows up with a headbutt. Abdullah uses the opening to grab a spike from his boot and tries to hit Zeus with it, but the blow is blocked. Both men fight for control of the spike, with Zeus gaining control of it. Zeus throws some blows with the spike to Abdullah’s head. Abdullah is bleeding as Zeus drops the spike and proceeds to put Abdullah in a bearhug. Abdullah rakes the eyes to break the hold and he starts biting Zeus in the forehead. The crowd is more muted, the hype from the beginning having cooled down a bit as the match has progressed. Abdullah knocks Zeus down with several thrusts and then hits an elbowdrop for a one count. Both men slowly get back to their feet as Hugo mentions that the crowd is backing Zeus (although who knows if that is still the case after the signature offensive flurries we have seen so far). They lock up against the ropes and Abdullah sends Zeus into the ropes for a shoulder block. Both men stay standing after the impact and Zeus remains standing after Abdullah attempts another shoulder block. Zeus hits a clothesline that knocks Abdullah back into the ropes. Zeus charges in and goes for his choke, a headbutt and then sends Abdullah into the ropes for a clothesline attempt. Abdullah grabs Zeus’ arm to block the hit (not sure if Abdullah is getting tired of selling these signature moves), but Zeus does another of his signature chokes to push Abdullah back onto the ropes. A bearhug is briefly attempted, followed by another choke that Abdullah breaks up with an eye rake. A series of thrusts knocks Zeus down and Abdullah does a standing choke with one of his boots on Zeus’ throat. Abdullah follows up with a nerve hold, but Zeus eventually fights out of it. 

Abdullah attempts a charge but is flipped over by Zeus. Abdullah is down and Zeus goes for a mega combo of choking while throwing his signature overhead strikes at the same time. The ref gets Zeus to break the choke and holds him off as Abdullah gets back to his feet. Zeus charges back in but Abdullah catches Zeus with a punch to the groin. Abdullah hits a punch to the midsection and follows up with a kick right to the groin. Zeus is down and Abdullah rakes Zeus’ eyes on the bottom rope. Zeus eventually gets to his feet and both men start exchanging blows. Abdullah catches Zeus with a couple of headbutts and sends Zeus through the ropes to the outside. Zeus tries to grab Abdullah’s legs but is grabbed by Abdullah and forced back up on the apron. However, Zeus fights Abdullah off and slaps on a bearhug from the ring apron. The ref tries to get Zeus to break the hold (since he is on the apron and Abdullah is inside the ring) but Zeus shoves the ref away three times. Abdullah manages to fight Zeus off to break the hold, but Zeus succeeds in dragging Abdullah to the outside this time.  Both men fight on the outside as the ref counts. They continue fighting (including Zeus hitting Abdullah with what looked to be one of the barricades at ringside) as the ref reaches the full count. Both men have been counted out. The video ends with both men still fighting in the aisleway.

MD: There are some positive things you can say about this one. First, it made a lot of sense to bring Zeus in. He had been the focus of three big WWF PPVs in 1989 (Summerslam, Survivor Series, and then the No Holds Barred cage match). There’s something to that. Abdullah sold his stuff exactly as well as you’d expect him too, recoiling, melting away in the corner. All of Abby’s offense looked great. The throat shots, the elbow drop, headbutts, whatever he did. And, to Zeus’ credit, he sold it all pretty well. He bumped for Abby and then sold for him, especially the throat shots. And last of all, it was a very impressive visual when he lifted him up for a bear hug. Abby was so good at doing what he did that he got the crowd back once or twice even.

But man, did Zeus have the absolute worst offense ever. Big sweeping shots are fine, but they have to at least look like they connect a little. It’s Abdullah. Just hit him. These are some of the worst strikes I’ve ever seen and the match is full of them. They tease the fork but Zeus blocks it and when he tries to strike back with it, there’s no attempt to actually stab or use the pointy part; he just does his same sweeping arm-waving with the fork in his hand. It still wasn’t as bad as I was expecting though and I think if you just keep your eyes on Abby whenever Zeus is on offense and both of them whenever Abby is fighting back, there’s some real stuff to appreciate (if not exactly enjoy) here. I was glad when they stumbled outside and ended it, however.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we continue our review of Aniversario 1990. Four title matches await us, including Robocop making his second appearance of the night backing up the Caribbean Express ,the Rougeaus making their debut in CSP as they challenge the Super Medicos, the AWA Women’s title is on the line in Puerto Rico, and the highly anticipated ‘Reto Para la Historia’ Universal title match between Carlos Colon and TNT.

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