Found Footage Friday: PANTERITA~! ANIBAL~! ARANDU~! TIGRE BLANCO~! DILUVIO NEGRO~! LENADOR~!

Zeus/Diluvio Negro vs. Sergio Romo/Johnny Curiel CMLL 1991

MD: Zeus is probably Ray Richard here. He'd lose the mask against Transformer the following year. So not the original. Curiel is new to me but he came of as an older journeyman tecnico. So much of this match was rudo miscommunications and he was great at being the straight man for that. I don't think I've ever heard a word in the lexicon for that role, he's almost "basing" for the antics, but he did a great job at it, just like Diluvio and Zeus did a great job of stumbling over one another.

Opening exchanges were good, with Zeus and Curiel putting a real sense of competitiveness and struggle to it while Romo and Diluvio were natural (and almost certainly well-rehearsed) rivals, quick and slick with stare downs (and a brief strike exchange in the tercera). They peppered in the comedy in all three falls and the beatdown only took up a bit of the segunda. I did like Zeus' segunda-ending submission though, which was in a sort of Air Raid Crash position. It was a good balance for an opening match, with a lot of the fat trimmed. They got right to it in the tercera with the tecnicos storming the ring to start the comeback right from the get go before cycling into the submission trading in the finish. Certainly a better twenty minutes than it would have been twenty-five or thirty.

 

Anibal/Panterita del Ring vs. Arandu/Tigre Blanco CMLL 1991

MD: Anibal was in the midst of a comeback here; he'd lose his mask in a big match the following year. He was relatively broken down but knew what to do to get big responses. He was primarily matched up with Tigre Blanco who was up there in age as well. It felt like another bit of rub for Panterita and Arandu, who felt more or less at the peak of their 'local star' power. Arandu came off like across between Estrada and Barbaro Cavernario here, big bumps to the floor, flailing limbs, wild shots and temperament, a surprising amount of superkicks. He and Panterita created the motion, both against one another and for their older opponents.

This had its share of rudo miscommunication too (and that's where Anibal shined the most, in setting it up) but with more purpose than sheer entertainment. Arandu and Tigre Blanco came to blows multiple times, all building towards a moment at the end of the match where Arandu had worked on Panterita's mask and it accidentally came off with a labored pick up slam on Arandu. That led to the DQ and gave the tecnicos the win and everyone, the commentators most of all, were very excited to see things boil over and have the rudos come to blows. I don't think we get what this led to, which is a shame, but it was fairly effective in the moment.

Trueno/Ausente vs. Lenador/Diluvio Negro CMLL 1991

MD: I can't pin down exactly who this Trueno was. He might have been Mascaras' godson, from the timing, but he had a pretty unique black frayed mask and look fitting the "thunder" gimmick that doesn't seem the same. He did have some interesting offense down the stretch though. Ausente is a pretty run of the mill tecnico, competent enough but not dynamic: he runs into the post headfirst well and has a fun leg-hooked surfboard submission. Lenador we'd seen once before and he is a fun stooge. The VQ meant that we missed some of the antics admittedly.

What stood out the most here were some of the exact same rudo miscommunication spots between this match and the last. They did the bit where the got the rudos to sunset flip one another and more strikingly, the bit where both stumble to the floor and a tecnico slides between them on the apron and slaps both on the back, causing them to start fighting in confusion. Diluvio Negro was the common thread (and he was smooth and sharp here too) but I wonder if it was just the zeitgeist at the spot; we'd seen that with French footage too. Sometimes spots just catch on and get overused. Some of this stuff I hadn't seen too much before or after but it's in both of these. As things didn't boil over for the rudos (they actually went over after an exciting tercera), it didn't have quite the same oomph, even with Lenador being over the top. So maybe less novelty for rudos fighting rudos but a looser, more chaotic match overall.

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Espectáculos Promociones Panama: The Legend of Sandokan: At War With Anibal

MD: We are back. Graham had a big life event and I went on vacation and I can't promise that we're going to be stable and weekly moving forward but I can reassure people that we're in for the long haul. This stuff is worth it. In the midst of all the chaos of the last few weeks, Graham's prepared a bit of a bio on Sandokan, focused on his feud with Anibal especially. I'm constantly amazed by the research he's done and the knowledge he's pulled out. This is naïve and ignorant of me, of course, but it's just astounding how little our English-speaking circles knew about Panamanian Lucha. This is such a vibrant, rich world, full of exciting matches that we are lucky still somehow exist and stories of legendary, culturally relevant matches that we'll unfortunately never get. We're going to spend the next few weeks with Idolo (An iconic turn! A chain match! A mask match!), and I think it's only fitting that we give Sandokan some time first. The easy comparison so far has been a Carlos Colon type figure, unmasked (by the time we get footage of him), a statesman, somehow who can represent the sport, who can go, who can wrestle and brawl and carry the crowd with him. 

GB: While Roberto Duran might be the worldwide recognised star, in Panama, his legendary status would always be usurped by one man that he would (literally!) play seconds for, Sandokan.

Coming from humble beginnings, the little boy from El Chorrillo, a corregimiento in Panama City, sought to live out his dreams of emulating his idol El Santo by joining the local wrestling gym on Calle 14 de Barraza. A mere few weeks later, on May 21, 1966, he was presented with a list of names and a chance to debut. “Sandokan” he pointed to after being erroneously told the name represented a Hindu King that fought for his people. With $2.50 slipped into the palm of a promoter, he had a mask shipped to him from Mexico and he never looked back. So began the career of Panama’s biggest star.

Rene Guajardo battles El Idolo in front of 23000+ rabid fans.

Until the recent semi-remodeling of Estadio Revolución in 2009, no sporting event was able to hold close to the attendance lucha libre was putting on in the “golden era” of the early 1970s. So popular, in fact, that government regulations came swiftly in controlling just how many fans promoters could pack into the arenas. This means that while the record books have the highest attendance as Guajardo/Idolo (23,868), it’s not quite the apples to apples comparison many make it out to be in saying this gate proves Idolo as the bigger star than Sandokan. Attendance for wrestling would always be a sellout crowd but the number of fans getting through the gate would continue to dwindle over the years with official capacity of Gimnasio Nuevo Panama (GNP) dropping to 15,000 following the Guajardo/Idolo record-smasher in August 1973 and a further drop to 14,000 weeks later (again, after a raucous crowd enjoying a card with the likes of Idolo, Anibal, Ray Mendoza, Blue Demon and Huracán Ramírez). It all appeared that one last big gate was never to be seen again.

Thus, Sandokan/Anibal packing GNP to the literal rafters three years after all these restrictions is most impressive, considering fans were pushing through the gates and hanging on, peeping through the doorways of the stadium to get a glimpse of the fight. Estimates put the total attendance just shy of the 20,000 mark. If true, it would be the third highest gate in Panamanian history, behind only Idolo/Guajardo and a basketball match from 1970. While I’m quick to sing the praises of Don Medine, Samy de la Guardia is the single man responsible for two of those gates.

Many fans walked into the stadium that night with a smirk. Idolo bested Guajardo, now it was Sandokan’s turn to send another “Aztec” packing. Despite a seemingly relatively short build to the mask match, Sandokan was deftly familiar with Anibal’s gameplan by now, having teamed in 1975 against a who’s who of Panamanian and Mexican stars.

However, Sandokan, having dominated the match, found himself facing a shocking defeat. Harnessing a surge of momentum,and probable hubris, in the final caida, he hurled himself towards his opponent in a suicide dive. However, Anibal, with his agile reflexes, evaded the attack, leaving Sandokan to collide harshly with his shoulder on the unforgiving edge of the ring. This brutal impact barred Sandokan from re-entering the ring within the vital 20-second window.

The gymnasium descended into an eerie silence, a wave of disbelief sweeping over the crowd as they witnessed their champion's unexpected downfall. The glory of the night was begrudgingly conceded to Anibal, hailed as one of the greatest wrestlers in the annals of Mexican wrestling. On that fateful night, the crowd watched as Sandokan, their fallen hero, solemnly removed his mask for the first and only time in his illustrious career, surrendering it to Anibal - The Blue Arrow.

As the fans left the building dejected at the loss of their hero, many wrestlers rushed to Sandokan backstage to belittle him for his choice. Many of his closest colleagues would go on to say his career was over. The money may have been good but this defeat would prove the “sunset of his stardom” as Samy recalled overhearing in the locker room.

Yet, one voice would prove prophetic. Bienvenido Cueto, the main referee to the mask match, was the lone man saying Sandokan was on his way to superstardom. He was right. His injury made him a national hero. A hero that valiantly fought for Panamanian pride and succumbed not due to lack of skill but due to something outside his control.

Hot off the loss, Anibal/Sandokan would be the tinder that started the blaze that became the Torneo Internacional de Parejas. Teaming with El Idolo, the tournament cemented itself on the histories of Panama vs Mexico, with Anibal having unmasked Sandokan and Septiembre Negro shaving El Idolo bald  (not that you’d know as he never dropped his mask!). With huge match-ups against Wagner/Negro, Ultraman/Anibal and Lagarde/Guajardo (the latter Sandokan had real-life beef with), the tournament was a huge success for Empresa Coliseo and further cemented Idolo and Sandokan as sporting a-listers.

In singles competition, red would face blue a further three times in June 1977, 1981 (for Sandokan’s world title) and finally in January 1993 when Anibal made his last trip to Panama during the twilight years of his own career. Struck by cancer, and riddled by financial woes, Anibal took one last pay-off to settle the books with Sandokan in a match billed “the final battle”.

Word of Anibal’s mask loss to Máscara Año 2000 13 months prior already had fans uneasy with the stipulation. For many, it was seen as lip service and a quick check for those involved, especially Anibal who had “prostituted” himself (to quote one fan). However, no anger prior would match those of the fans once the final whistle blew. Sandokan’s arm was raised in victory but fans were livid. He won via countout, the same way he had lost 17 years earlier. With kayfabe still very much en vogue, fans smelt a rat. To make matters worse, there appeared to be a miscommunication between Anibal and the referee, leading to the referee having to jump a few seconds to call the countout.

Blood pouring from his face, Sandokan had to be quickly escorted from the arena as a riot unfolded. Fans trashed the stadium before moving onto nearby government buildings. Nothing was safe from their wrath as the national guard had to be called to quell the mob. While harsh in tone, the Sandokan/Anibal feud would forever be mired by chants of “fraude” whenever you ask them about it.  

Nearing fifty, Sandokan’s career was far from its nascent but he still continued to fanfare until his retirement, holding a few more world titles and taking the hairs of Tahur, Gálvez and (apparently) Mexico’s heartthrob Vampiro.

There’s a pretty comprehensive list of his apuesta record on his Luchawiki page, however, there are some notable errors and exclusions. Error: Sandokan took Septiembre Negro’s mask in 1989 not 1985. In terms of exclusions, most importantly, Sandokan took the masks of Guatemalan legend Rayo Chapin, Fishman (dates unknown) and Villano III (circa 1975/1976).

 

At a spry 77, Sandokan still shows great passion for lucha libre in Panama and has spent the past few years trying to grow its fandom once more.

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Found Footage Friday: MORE PANAMA PARK~! WAGNER SR~! ANIBAL~! SATO~! ISHIKAWA~! JANNETTY~! FLANAGAN~!

Akio Sato/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Dr. Wagner/Anibal AJPW 8/20/81 

MD: I'll be honest that when we get HHs from this deep back in the 80s, it always feels notable, even if the match itself has, let's say, measured value. This was a tale of two matches. When Ishikawa was in there, it was quite good. He and Wagner started off with some nice stuff on the mat. Later on he'd have a comeback where he threw good strikes and when it came to the rudos beating him down, their stuff looked really sharp. Sato, on the other hand, was pretty rough in there. The system was what it was, but you watch a match like this and think he had to be pretty green; he wasn't. He was losing to Bob Brown and wrestling Momota around the horn in 73. He had maybe one moment of good fire towards the end and ate some shoulder throws (something like three in the match) well, but everything kind of ground to a halt when he was in there. Wagner and Anibal were fun in general though. I'm not saying they left their feet a ton but Wagner had plenty of personality and Anibal wasn't afraid to pull hair and get heat (and when they did leave their feet, mainly Anibal, it mattered). Finish had Ishikawa and Sato turning things around to create heel miscommunication and more or less worked. This is probably most worthwhile because we have very little 81 Wagner.

Principe Island I (c) vs. Sandokan Panama 1988-9

MD: Totally different sort of title match from the PI 1 vs PI 2 match. Here, Principe Island 2/Remo Banda/Super Parka was seconding Sandokan. Instead of doing everything under the sun, they went from early feeling out to Park absolutely dismantling the leg. I wouldn't say there was anything fancy here, but it certainly all worked. Park just jumping onto the leg over and over, twisting and grinding it, throwing headbutts directly into the thigh; all of that's going to work. Meanwhile, Sandokan slammed his fist on the mat and writhed, selling as big as he could. If he tried to get up, Park just took him back down and kept up the assault until he got the submission. The second fall had Park broaden his attack a bit, which cost him. Sandokan, hurt legs and all, was able to hit three upkicks and knock him out of the ring for an awkward countout.

There might have been just a bit of miscommunication there. Immediately thereafter, Sandokan started to trap the arm and the head and run Park into turnbuckles. The fans were going nuts for this and Park sold it like a gunshot. It would have made sense to do the countout after a few of those probably. The tercera was Park taking and taking and taking. Sandokan's leg was magically okay, of course, but there were a couple of times where Park tried to land a takedown and go after it again so the danger was always there. It was about the only chance he had since he was getting pinballed all over the place, including both a straight up power bomb with a jacknife roll up and Sandokan's schoolboy type takeovers which were sold like powerbombs. The very best thing he did was to whip Park into the corner and then follow up with a jumping clothesline to the back of the head as Park stumbled backwards. For as one-sided as the tercera was, Park kept kicking out and because of that Sandokan started to escalate towards the ropes, including a climb up armdrag. That allowed Park to crotch him over the top and almost steal a pin. His former partner rushed in however, stopped the count and started brawling with him ending the match but hopefully leading to an apuestas match between the two that maybe, just maybe, will show up soon? One can hope, right? Like I said, this was a completely different sort of title match than PI 1 vs PI 2 and young LA Park is really holding up his end of these, while here, Sandokan once again looked like one of the great folk heroes of wrestling. 

Marty Jannetty vs. Flash Flanagan NWA Worldwide 12/25/99

MD: This aired a couple of week later but I think it was at Christmas Chaos 99. One interesting thing from the Bryan Turner uploads is how little is actually on cagematch. Jannetty in late 99 was not too much different from Jannetty in 92 but with modern eyes, that's not a bad thing at all. The first half of this was all Flanagan letting himself get clowned with a "Anything you can do, I can't do better" sequence. Jannetty started it by out-hairpulling Flash but then Flash missed on multiple sequences, ending by wiping out on a monkey see, monkey do monkey flip in the corner. Given his role on the card here, he probably wanted to show off just a little too much in general, landing on his feet out of things, having the springboard leg drop and another springboard dropkick out of the corner (which in and of itself, is a good spot, whipping the opponent into the corner and rushing the other way to bounce back off the second rope), just a little bit of a case of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." Maybe I would have liked to see just a little bit more comeuppance on the comeback then, especially since he was going to win by cheating (a good thing; he should be winning by cheating). Still, this was a good use of Marty, who looked good in everything he did, and ultimately something that gave Flash some rub. I didn't agree with every one of his creative choices but he never felt out of place in there.

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