Espectáculos Promociones Panama: Africano! Sandokan!

Sandokan (c) vs El Africano

MD: This was at least ten years after what we've been watching but it bodes well; so long as more of this footage drops, it could be quite good. It was a very different sort of scene with a more familiar sort of arena and much more modern trappings. Africano came out with a guy in a gorilla suit. Sandokan had a belt (ragged looking), a Rob Zombie sounding song I couldn't place, and massive, massive pyro down a WWF style entranceway. Both of them cut promos before the match but it still seemed like there was commentary over the loudspeaker like in the older footage.

As for the match itself, they started off fairly slow with solid but basic chain wrestling and I was thinking that they might have slowed a step as they got a little older. I was incorrect. Before long, Sandokan was doing assisted kip ups and Africano was wildly bumping on armdrags through the ropes on to a very hard looking floor (Sandokan would return the favor later only for Africano to top it with a huge Jerry Estrada style bump). They followed with a bit of legwork, a bit of selling, and some spectacularly impressive blowing off of that selling by Sandokan as he repeatedly landed on his feet out of snap mares. Super athleticism all things considered and such a superhuman exhibition that you couldn't help but forgive how quickly he shook off the pain.

There were certain elements of this match that felt like a more traditional title match and Africano certainly moved in a less stylized and odd way. Sandokan, on the other hand, was a little reminiscent of French Catch masters, between the step-overs on the double knucklelock and the drop down into a Mascaras headscissors "taupe" spin like he was Gilbert LeDuc or something. The finishing stretch had a lot of back-and-forth roll ups and really did feel like the end of a Mexican title match in its own way. Some of the matwork ultimately didn't go anywhere (like a grounded top wristlock where Africano just let go) but in general, this was a very solid match even years after the prime footage that we've been watching. I'm not sure how much of this Furia de Titanes footage exists but it could be even a second meaningful well for Panama if it's at this level.

GB: We’re over a decade later, now, in 1998 and a lot of things have changed. Some for the better, a lot for the worse. Instead of finding lucha parallels, this felt more like a cosplay of something more north of the border, something more American than Mexican. While that’s not inherently a negative, this was a far cry from the feel of Panama we’re getting our toes wet with. Instead of riotous crowds and understated entrances, this was all pomp and pizzazz. Yet a lot of it felt forced, as if Furia de Titanes was an overcompensation for the downward trajectory of lucha libre’s popularity in Panama.

Which, I guess, gives us a good enough entry point to what actually is the “history” of Panamanian lucha. I’ll try to keep this in broad strokes as much as possible because (a) I’m not sure if anyone really is interested in one of my 10,000 word diatribes quite yet and (b) I’m still unpacking a lot of it. Suffice to say, the basics of lucha libre wrestling originated in Panama in 1914 but it wasn’t until 1932 that it was fully capitalised as a vehicle of sports entertainment. Originally more as a way to entertain soldiers, José "Pepe" Motta would approach those garrisoned along the Canal Zone, recruiting them into holding wrestling shows at the Gimnasio Nacional Neco de la Guardia. This would then develop into regular matches which became the underpinnings of the local lucha libre scene. History gets a little hazy until 1956 when Shazán, an olympic wrestler, debuted. He would go on to be known as the “maestro” of wrestling in Panama, dedicating his time to teaching new wrestlers and being the trainer of quite a few successful stars. Though lucha was still very much second fiddle to boxing at this point, the tide was slowly turning. The biggest boxing matches of the time all opened with a showcase of Shazán wrestling one of his students and these matches quickly became novelty draws. To add fuel to the flames, by 1957 Jaime "El Chamaco" Castro was starting to become a household name and Panamanian lucha’s popularity began to increase. Considering how big all of these names would become, it really did feel like lightning striking twice in 1957 with Shazán then training and debuting El Idolo (a man one could argue as neck-and-neck in popularity with Sandokan as a national hero). The closest example I could give is if John Cena, Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan were all hitting the scene at the same time.

Business boomed, and with multiple promotions popping up in the 1960s, it became a race to have the most exciting card. For the next two decades, foreigners from around the Americas and Europe were brought in to face the local stars and Mexican rookies, many of whom we already love and cherish, were sent to ply their craft in the Neca de la Guardia. In terms of influence and economic success, the 1970s were unprecedented. I’d need to delve more into fact checking, but, to put the extent into perspective, there’s a claim that Francisco José Flores and Benjamin Mora founded Promociones Mora y Asociados (LLI/UWA) in Mexico partially off the success of René Guajardo facing El Idolo in Panama.

So, what caused the crash in popularity? I’m not sure. Sandokan claims it to be the result of “bad businessmen” and “untalented wrestlers” but I’m not quite a follower of that line of thought. As I outlined in the introductory post to this series, there’s a lot of singularity in Panamanian lucha. A lot of “sticking with the tried and tested” rather than venturing into the unknown. I’m not going to claim any knowledge, but I’d imagine the political turmoil also had a strong impact on the local scene, too.

Bringing this full circle to my opening post, one could argue Furia de Titanes was trying to break the rut. It was different, I’ll give it that. There were some remnants of the 1980s matches with the commentary over the arena’s PA system, as Matt mentioned, but it still all felt “fresh”. You had Sandokan with full pyro coming out and posing down to the cameras as White Zombie’s Electric Head Pt. 1 blared in the background. The ring was spotlit, leaving the crowd hidden behind a shadowy veil. Promos were more about bravado than anything before. Yet, with our own histories as fans of North American wrestling, nothing was fresh. Not even the blatant racism with Africano being accompanied by Africana and “King Kong” (a wrestler in a gorilla costume). Right down to Felix el Monstruo Piñango and Ernesto Lou Maruri on commentary, Furia de Titanes all felt a little too “WCW-lite”.

Still, there was upside. I’ve grown quite fond of Africano over the past bit. He might have his faults, but he’s game to put over any spot in a big way and he did so here. For instance, the opening matwork led to a big moment as Africano rocketed out the ring off an armdrag. Absolutely bonkers stuff that popped the crowd huge and set the fans steadily behind Sandokan. I get Matt’s criticism that some stuff didn’t lead anywhere, and I do think some of Sandokan’s recoveries came a little too easy but this was more a popcorn title match than anything serious. Sandokan and Africano both bring a unique sense of athleticism to their work and it showed in spades here. So, in that way, I can be more forgiving as it was nice to see some familiarity despite the remarkably different presentation of the promotion.

The match was billed as a “revancha” with Sandokan finally answering Africano’s challenge. I know Sandokan took the title off Africano in 1995 in a match that would be called the “lucha match of the year” by a leading sports critic of the time. Whether this played off that, though, I’m doubtful as 3 years seems awfully long for Panama to hold off on but the booking fits. Regardless, while this wasn’t quite “match of the year” calibre wrestling, it was a fun enough venture into something “different”.

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Espectáculos Promociones Panama: Africano! Cobra!

El Africano vs El Cobra

GB: Ah, the perennial el Africano. Perhaps not one of the most famous luchadores Panama has had to offer but certainly one of its stalwarts. Africano, then named “Kimba”, debuted at the age of 17 in the early to mid 70s.While the exact date of his debut is difficult to pinpoint, I managed to dig up some old newspaper clippings that show a fresh-faced Africano taking on Relampago in August 1975. Nevertheless, if we’re to believe him in a recent interview, his debut is as universally carny as any other in wrestling:

Africano had been invited to watch a show at the Eneco de la Guardia. Little did he know that the local promoter had secretly planned a debut for him on that very same night. Suddenly, the promoter approached him and said, "You're next." Africano felt a wave of panic wash over him. He was already intimidated by the talented wrestlers surrounding him, and now he was expected to perform in front of a packed arena without any preparation.

"Get your pants off and go out there!" the promoter barked at him. Africano was hesitant, but his nerves were quickly replaced by confusion. There was only one problem: he was underage and the local commissioner, Napoleón, refused his debut without permission from his parents to wrestle. The promoter sent him out in a taxi to find his parents and get the necessary paperwork signed before his match started.

It was like a scene out of a Benny Hill skit as Africano raced against the clock to make it back in time. Finally, with the ink barely dry on the signature, he burst through the doors of the arena just as the announcer was introducing him.

However, a star was not quite born. Back in the 70s and 80s, Africano was often relegated to the lower rungs of the card (this match was second from the bottom of the card, for instance). With bigger names and better wrestlers, he struggled to get his career consistently off the ground until around two decades later. To his defence, he was still relatively young by the time he got more of a break in the 1990s when, amongst other notable accomplishments, he became the sole Panamanian to defeat Mexico’s Mr Jack and win the UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Still, even as a rookie, he was a legitimately tall, towering presence and, as such, was the perfect “first challenger” programme for Sandokan, fresh off the latter becoming a “triple world champion” in March 1977. While I’ll assume the praise to be heaped on Camacho Castro’s shoulders in getting him that over, the young Kimba/Africano was always viewed by promoters as someone with a lot of promise.

In the match, though, we’re over a decade into his career and Africano is still seemingly stuck in that “promising” stage. Meaning, he was still quite the mixed bag of talent. Also quite the mixed bag of tricks. Africano wears his influences quite apparently on his sleeves. As a teenager, Africano was a student of the Olympic wrestling academy and also dabbled a little bit in gymnastics (acrobatics?) and that certainly plays out in how he wrestles. You get the slight roughness and raw talent in his chain wrestling with the nuttiness in his bumps, too. However, while I think he has some interesting enough ideas, I’m not quite sure he has the acumen to pull some of them off. What I can say, though, is he certainly played to the back with his selling. Cobra is much more the polished wrestler and a lot more alive here than other matches I’ve seen of him where he often disappears into the background in tags or plays second fiddle to his opponent. The highlight of the match came in the moment Matt likens to a “nudo” hold, though I’d argue this is much more the Jim Breaks special just with Cobra rolling Africano around to embarrass him. As an ardent Jim Breaks dissenter, this was the closest I will ever get to my hopes of seeing Rush punt the bejesus out of Breaks and that idiotic spot.

As for the booking, this match here, much like last week’s post, was seemingly done to set up an apuesta at a later date. The ending promo was slightly bizarre with Africano being attended to by the local medics. He’s in a lot of pain but valiantly saying he’s welcoming of an apuesta against Cobra. Really strange for someone billed as the “rudo”. Even stranger for the tecnico Cobra to blindside him up front as he did. I wish I could tell you more but there’s not a whole lot written about either man, let alone this feud. The only tidbit I can add is to Africano’s debut in which, coincidentally, one of his opponents would be none other than Cobra (the full match being: el Barón/Cobra vs Africano/Gemelo Infernal 3).

MD: This was in three falls, with a very short first one. Cobra had a mask and a snazzy cape on his entrance. Africano was black and came out with tribal beads or jewelry maybe? Despite the roles being very clear, Cobra ambushed Africano on his introduction; he was standing on the ropes to look at the crowd and Cobra dropkicked him off and followed it up with a pretty hearty beating before stretching him for the quick pin. Africano slowed things down with some chain wrestling at the start of the segunda, but just long enough to absolutely crack Cobra on the spine to take over. He had some pretty stylized stuff, including this weird shoulder/arm strike off the ropes and a sort of skidding elbow drop and a specific sell job i’ll get to in a moment, but he could hit pretty hard as well.  

After two fairly short falls, they went a little more back and forth, with Cobra trying to come back but Africano shutting him down, until Cobra was able to hit a catapult out of nowhere and things opened up. Cobra followed up with atomic drops and Africano’s true calling was in selling those. Somehow he managed to bump head over heels over the top rope for the first one and then retreated into the corner. For the second, he started hopping around the ring, planting himself twice and then propelling himself over the top like he was doing a Super Mario triple jump. Cobra followed it up by tying Africano into a “nudo” (knot, if you never knew that translation from Blue Panther matches) and then hitting a dive from the top to the floor for a countout win, so it was quite the celebratory finish.  I liked this more on a second watch. The stylized bits of offense and selling were fun and in between there were glimpses of real technique on things like armdrags and some hard shots from Africano.

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