El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: For Each Show Host, A Match

Week 56: For Each Show Host, A Match

EB: We continue on the road to Aniversario 91, as four matches have been officially signed. The main event is scheduled to be Carlos Colon vs Ron Garvin for the Universal title, but Dino Bravo has been making noise about wanting that title match for himself. Bravo made a surprise appearance at Noche de Campeones where he made a surprise attack on Carlos Colon. It looks like we finally have a decision with regards to whether Bravo gets the match or not. Meanwhile, Carlos is dealing with the Polyneasian Prince, Gen. Akbar’s latest recruit and someone who seems to be focused on injuring Carlos before Aniversario. They faced each other last week in Caguas after having quite the brawl at the TV taping, and it looks like the rivalry has escalated. They are set to face off once more in a barbed wire match.

In other Aniversario news, Bronco remains out due to the fireball attack but promises revenge on Akbar at Aniversario. Meanwhile, Profe keeps spiraling a bit with the idea of having to face Monster Ripper, in part due to the constant needling from Hugo Savinovich over the situation. One final piece of news, TNT has been cleared for action and has set his sights on getting back the TV title from King Kong. Now let’s go to the west coast version of Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre from June 1 and see what the decision regarding Dino Bravo is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0tpp1n8IWI

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the show and goes over what we will see today, including Universal champion Carlos Colon (in a rare tv studio match) taking on King Kong. During the rundown Hugo makes mention of Dino Bravo being the number one contender for the Universal title and the man who will face Carlos at Aniversario, so it looks like the commission made the decision to change the match to Colon vs Bravo. Since this is the west coast edition of Super Estrellas, all mentions of Aniversario are focused on the Friday card in San German. Hugo updates the viewers on the most recent developments for that card, but not before hyping up the air conditioning, ample parking and security available at the facility in San German. The main event for Friday July 5 is Carlos Colon defending the Universal title against Dino Bravo. It is official, since Bravo and Profe were alleging that Carlos was ducking Bravo out of fear. To help Bravo’s cause, it seems that Profe went to Ron Garvin and paid him off to step aside. Garvin called the WWC commission and relinquished his title shot. Add to that Carlos wanting payback for the attack Bravo did at Noche de Campeones and here we are with Bravo now challenging Carlos at Aniversario.

Also scheduled is a first time ever match in Puerto Rico as a man faces a woman, and Hugo says that Monster Ripper is favored against Profe. Dick Murdoch vs Giant Warrior and Bronco vs Skandor Akbar in a vengeance match round out the signed matches so far, there will be 6 other matches so stay tuned as new updates are made. Next week there will be information about where you can purchase tickets for the show, and with that let’s go to the ring for our first match. 

King Kong vs. Carlos Colon

Our first match is a surprising one, as Carlos Colon takes on King Kong. This is a non-title match and Hugo mentions this is a dangerous opponent for Carlos. Akbar is not at ringside with Kong, but Hugo says that it will be a big boost for Devastation Inc if Kong defeats Carlos here. The first minutes of the match are all about establishing Kong’s size and strength advantage, he shoves Carlos down a few times and works him over with nerve holds. The match continues with Kong in control, with Hugo saying it's surprising that Kong is having such a dominant showing against Calros, who trains diligently. Hugo sends a hellos to the viewers watching in the different countries the program airs and it sure seems that this match is to help establish if Carlos can handle bigger and stronger opponents such as Dino Bravo. After six or seven minutes, Colon makes a comeback after dodging a corner splash. The offensive flurry is ended when Kong uses his weight to belly bump Colon on a corner charge. Kong picks Colon up for a slam and Carlos grabs the ropes to prevent it. The referee tells Colon to let go and kicks Colon’s hands off the ropes. The sudden momentum shift seems to unbalance Kong and he falls down with Colon on top. The ref makes a count and Carlos wins the match, although it looks more like it was luck. This may be a sign that Carlos may have a tough time against Bravo unless he really prepares.

MD: Not a long match but kind of an interesting one since we haven’t seen Colon face someone this size in a while. Kong really had Colon’s number for the first two thirds of this, overpowering him and then leaning down on him hard with clubbers and nerveholds. Colon dodged a corner charge and took over. There was some sense that he had worn him down with a rope-a-dope though it didn’t quite have enough time to play out. Kong was so active that it sort of worked though. He came out of the corner with a Vader Attack though but Colon held on to the top rope on a slam attempt and when the ref kicked the hands out, he fell on him for a quick three. If Kong was leaving the territory this was a good way to have him do business on TV on the way out. Otherwise, it was a weird thing to give away.

EB: Dino Bravo is in the studio for another promo about facing Carlos Colon, only this time the match is officially a go. Bravo says that he tracked Colon to his backyard and on his first visit to the island almost broke Colon’s neck. Bravo has his number and he will become the new Universal champion at Aniversario 91. Carlos Colon is next and says that Aniversario 91 is going to be an important night for him. Not only is he facing the world strongest man and a great wrestler, Colon has a personal score to settle with Bravo after the humiliation he received at Noche de Campeones. Hugo makes note that this is not only for the title but also a chance for Carlos to represent Puerto Ricans well. Carlos says that the fans know Bravo's accomplishments and it is a tough task he faces, but with the fans support he will come out with the win. The segment ends with an Aniversari 91 card rundown featuring the four announced matches so far.

MD: Bravo just seemed happy to be there, talking about how Colon was the ambassador to the world but that Bravo had come to his backyard and could have broken his neck. He had to ask Profe for confirmation on the fact it was called Aniversario but said that Colon should bring his heart and his belt and he’d take both. As a kid from New England in 1991, I would have probably seen Bravo as a bigger star than Ron Garvin but I still have my doubts here.

Billy Joe Travis & Gran Mendoza vs. Ricky Santana & Tito Carrion

EB: We go back to Miramar for our next match but it seems that an argument is happening at the commentary desk. Billy Joe Travis is there with El Galana Mendoza and El Profe, they are up next. Instead of being in the ring, Travis is angrily yelling at Hugo Savinovich, it seems Travis is angry about comments Hugo has made about him. Hugo dismisses Travis and tells him to get in the ring, he doesn’t want to talk to Travis right now. Profe has to drag Travis away so they can go to the ring for their match. As Travis and Mendoza enter the ring, the camera shows Hugo and Eliud at the commentary desk and Hugo is angry, explaining to Eliud that this guy Travis brought up Hugo’s wife again and Hugo is not having that. It looks like there have been some verbal jabs between Travis and Hugo in recent weeks but we haven't seen them on the TV episode versions we have. Still, Hugo says that if Travis has any issues with him that’s fine but he should stick to talking about Hugo and not his wife. Eliud adds that Travis took it further by shoving Hugo and Hugo says he’ll compose himself because he is a professional and has a job to do. 

In the ring, Mendoza and Travis are facing Ricky Santana and Tito Carrion. Travis and Santana lock up and Hugo asks Eliud to continue with the commentating for now. Santana and Carrion get the early advantage on Travis, as Hugo has calmed down enough to join Eliud on commentary. Hugo says that he's pretty sure that El Profe is behind all of this by goading Travis and getting him riled up to go after Hugo. Hugo thinks it’s because of all the comments and grief he has given Profe over the Monster Ripper situation. Hugo draws the line at having his wife and family brought into this though. As Travis and Mendoza take over on Carrion, Hugo continues going off, saying that this has to be Profe and other people that are likely jealous of the good work Hugo does on the TV shows and that he’s not going to continue letting this go. The rudos continue working over Carrion and Profe decides to go over and needle Hugo about what happened. Hugoa accuses Profe about being behind all of this and Profe just laughs, saying all he did was tell Travis the truth about all the garbage Hugo was saying about Travis. In the ring, the rudos continue isolating Carrion and, despite a brief flurry from Carrion, win the match after a Mendoza DDT. Post match, an angry Travis once again makes a beeline towards Hugos and starts yelling and shoving him a bit before being pulled away.

MD: Travis was an awesome heatseeker. He has some things I love in USWA Texas right around this time if I’m not mistaken, and he was getting right in Hugo’s face before the match. It’s funny that on a card where they already have Profe vs Ripper and (if I’m not mistaken) Akbar vs Bronco, they’re looking to maybe do Hugo vs Travis too, but I guess it would fit a theme. This was effective (in part because it was so unusual) nonetheless.

Travis was a natural fit here, leaning his face in so Santana could take a swipe, then nailing him with sweeping punches and slaps of his own. He stooged big when it was time, and then, once they got Tito in, they leaned hard on him, drawing Santana in a couple of times that just made the double teaming worse. Real mauling. Carrion finally got a comeback but it was brief as he ran right into Mendoza’s knee and ate a DDT. Post-match Travis jawed with Hugo at the desk some more.

EB: Skandor Akbar has an interview and talks about not being certain that Bronco will make it to Aniversario. Akbar is retired and pays other people to fight for him, but he is not happy at being forced by the WWC to face Bronco. But he has a plan and Bronco better be careful. Bronco responds by telephone as they replay video of the fireball incident. Bronco says he has burn marks, blisters and scars from Akbar’s fireball but promises that at Aniversario he will get his revenge. 

MD: Akbar wasn’t happy with having to face Bronco. He said he was the godfather, the general, and retired, rich enough to pay others to wrestle but WWC was forcing the issue. He sounded frazzled, focusing both on the idea that Bronco might be too hurt to wrestle due to the burn but also that it could happen again or he might have a trick up his sleeve. Bronco, despite not being in the studio, was spirited as ever and fans would certainly think he was showing up for this one.

Rod Price vs. Herbert Gonzalez

EB: Rod Price is in action against Herbert Gonzalez and this match is a showcase for the man who says he is the perfect wrestler. Herbert gets no offense and Price shows off some nice moves as Hugo and Eliud talk up Price's credentials and background. Price gets the win after a shoulder tackle. Let’s see what waves Price can make in Puerto Rico.

MD: On paper, Price really fits in too but I’ll need to see something more competitive. He steamrolled Herbert here, belly to belly, hotshot, leg drop, fist drop, a goofy roll into an elbow in the corner and a great jumping shoulder tackle, all while Akbar gloated on the outside. 

EB: Giant Warrior is in the studio to talk about his scheduled match against Dick Murdoch. Warrior says that Murdoch won’t get any vindication at Warrior’s expense. He'll keep an eye out for Joe Don Smith but his main focus is on Dick Murdoch.

MD: Interesting bit here is that they did half, translated, and then did the other half. You don’t usually see Hugo actually ask a follow up question (this time about Joe Don Smith) that way. I can’t say that Murdoch vs Giant Warrior is exactly what I’d want for my #2 match on the PPV relative to Murdoch vs Invader or TNT but they had run through some of these pairings already I guess and it’s not like Warrior wasn’t heavily established by now. 

Brad Anderson vs. Huracan Castillo Jr.

EB: Up next is Brad Andersn taking on Huracan Castillo and there may be fireworks considering that Profe and Monster Ripper are at ringside. And immediately Ripper tries to go after Profe but instead Profe hides behind Brad Anderson. Ripper still goes after him and Profe decides to flee to the locker room instead of getting caught by Ripper. Profe stays in the shadows of the entrance as Ripper calls him a chicken, but runs back out when Ripper goes back to ringside. The match starts and it is pretty even in the first minute until Castillo catches Anderson with an atomic drop that sends Anderson through the ropes to the outside. Profe rubs Anderson’s booboo before  Brad gets back in the ring. As the match continues, Profe heads over to the commentary desk and explains that he’s trying to avoid any incident since the commissioner has been going around levying fines as of late and Profe doesn’t want to risk his license (although he wants nothing more than to give Ripper a slap in the face). Anderson works a chinlock on Castillo and Ripper again tries to chase after Profe (who hides behind the commentators). This match is really a backdrop for the Profe and Ripper rivalry. Castillo ends up making a comeback but it’s the managers that lead to the finish. Profe distracts the ref so that Anderson can get the advantage, but Ripper takes that opening to shake the ropes and cause Anderson to fall from the turnbuckle. Castillo gets the pin right after and he and Ripper head back to the locker room.

After the match we get promos from El Profe and Monster Ripper. Profe says that he is fed up with the insults and has reached the point of not caring about being a gentleman. Since he is being forced to do the match, Profe will take this opportunity to use Ripper as an example that a woman's place is in the home, tending to their husbands and doing the household chores. . Maybe Ripper is infatuated with Profe and that is why she wants to get her hands on him but Profe is going to forget she is a woman and will beat her up at Aniversario. Monster Ripper responds by saying Profe will respect women and reminds Profe that she is not like the women from around here. She will fight on behalf of all of the women in the world and she will hit him hard.

MD: Ripper was out with Castillo. Profe was out with Anderson. Really, the match took a backseat to their antics as Ripper chased Profe to the back once or twice. I’m not sure about the chemistry between Castillo and Anderson (probably down to Anderson), but there also wasn’t a lot to latch on to here. Castillo had his nice jumping knee on the comeback. Finish was muddled as Profe distracted for no reason as Anderson was going to the top, allowing Ripper to shake the ropes and Castillo to steal a win. Post match promos seemed to be what you’d expect for a man vs woman match. I’d almost rather have had Ripper defeat a guy (Exotico would have been perfect but we haven’t seen him for a while) as part of the build instead.

EB: Skandor Akbar is in the studio with Rod Price, a recent arrival to his stable. Price has several nicknames it looks like. Akbar talks up Price's physique and wrestling skills. 

MD: Akbar touted all of Price’s attributes and called him Rugged and Mr. Perfect. Price said he was a Dude with a Tude and Hugo had to figure out how to translate it.

Dino Bravo vs. George Anderson from WWF Superstars

EB: We get a Dino Bravo squash match courtesy of the WWF. We still haven’t seen Bravo wrestle in Puerto Rico but that will change soon.

MD: Bravo has some weirdly babyface coded offense, both an inverted atomic drop and an airplane spin. I hate how he sets up the side slam with a kick to the gut. If he had done it after the airplane spin, it would have been much better and less stilted. The WWF heat machine is droning and distracting in a way I don’t usually notice. Wonder if it has something to do with the Hugo voice over on the sound mix. It would have been nice to have Bravo in studio for a squash. I bet it’d have a different feel.

EB: Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith offer some comments about the scheduled match with Giant Warrior. Murdoch is miffed that he is booked against Giant Warrior because he wants Carlos Colon again. If Murdoch has to annihilate someone else to get that, he will do that. The episode then ends with the previously seen TNT and Ron Garvin music videos and Hugo's sign off.

MD: Now I feel bad for questioning Giant Warrior because Joe Don and Murdoch feel the same way I do. But Murdoch says Warrior should say bye to his loved ones because he’s going to lift him up for the brainbuster and send him to the hospital.

EB: So we’ve seen how Aniversario is shaping up on the west coast, but we have a big card scheduled for tonight in Bayamon. Let’s go to part of the Campeones episode from June 1 to get the latest news.

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

The video starts with Hugo in the Aniversario 91 control center, where he is explaining the confirmation of Colon vs. Bravo and the whole deal with Ron Garvin stepping down. Hugo also talks about the incident that happened last Wednesday in Miramar with Billy Joe Travis. It’s the same incident we saw on Super Estrellas but we get some additional footage. It seems Carlos Colon has come out to the commentary desk and Hugo is asking Carlos if El Ejercito de la Justicia would help Hugo train if he decides to challenge Travis to a match. Carlos says of course they will and promises in front of everyone that he will be the first one to train Hugo. Hugo yells out ‘You got it Mr. Travis’ and it looks like we have another match for Aniversario 91. Giant Warrior also approaches Hugo and offers his help in training Hugo. The control center wraps up by reminding the dates for Aniversario 91.

MD: We see a little bit more of what occurred after the match from the last show. Because (at the urging of Profe, says Hugo) Travis insulted both Hugo and his wife, he said he’d fight Travis. Colon offers to help. Giant Warrior offers to train, and we’ve got another non-wrestler vs wrestler match for Aniversario. After this we get just a glimpse of a pretty cool looking Road to Aniversario video.

EB: We then get a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon:  Carlos Colon vs Polynesian Prince in a barbed wire match; in a super challenge Invader #1 vs Ron Garvin; Giant Warrior vs. Dino Bravo; rematch for the TV title as King Kong defends against the returning TNT; Super Medico #3 defends the Caribbean title against Dick Murdoch; Galan Mendoza & Billy Joe Travis defend the Caribbean tag titles against the Caribbean Express with Monster Ripper handcuffed to El Profe at ringside; Brad Anderson defends the World Junior title against Ricky Santana; and Invader #4 & Mr. Ito vs. Rod Price & Action Jackson. Also, tomorrow they will be in Caguas with Carlos Colon vs. Ron Garvin; Invader #1 vs. Dino Bravo; TNT & Giant Warrior vs. Polynesian Prince & Dick Murdoch; Super Medico #3 vs. King Kong, Castillo, Perez & Santana  vs. Mendoza, Travis & Price; Invader #4 vs Brad Anderson; and Mr. Ito vs. Action Jackson.

We cut to Skandor Akbar and Polynesian Prince in the studio, with Akbar talking about tonight’s barbed wire match. Clips are shown of last week’s match between Colon and Prince, with Akbar saying Carlos gave Prince his best shot and it didn’t get the job done. Tonight Prince will finish Colon and then Colon will call Akbar master. Prince just chews on some straw while Akbar is talking. Then Akbar talks about tomorrow’s tag match against TNT & Giant Warrior.

MD: The card they’re promoting with the Prince vs Colon barbed wire rematch is really good. Invader vs Garvin. Giant Warrior vs Bravo. King Kong vs TNT. Super Medico III vs Murdoch. Caribbean Express vs Travis/Mendoza with Profe and Ripper handcuffed together. Anderson vs Santana. Plus Invader IV. Mr. Ito. Rod Price. And Action Jackson. That’s a really strong show. Another show has Colon vs Garvin, Invader vs Bravo. TNT/Warrior vs Prince/Murdoch and Medico vs Kong. So some good shows in the lead up to Aniversario. The most interesting part of the Akbar promo was him talking about how many favorites Murdoch had done for Devastation Inc. over the years.

EB: El Profe is with Travis and Mendoza, and they talk about tonight’s title defense against the ‘Chicken’ Express. Travis starts by calling Puerto Rico ‘his island’ and insults Hugo Savinovich and his wife. Profe is happy that he will be handcuffed to Monster Ripper so he can stop her from doing her underhanded cheating. Mendoza talks about tomorrow's six man tag and says something that gets bleeped. 

MD: Travis was leaning hard into this saying he’d not just beat Hugo but beat his wife as well.

EB: Ron Garvin is here and is looking forward to knocking out Invader #1 tonight. Invader has to prove to Garvin that he can knock Garvin out. Garvin is confident he can knock Invader out, ask Carlos Colon about that.

MD: Garvin having to come up with about six ways to show off his fists as Hugo was translating his promo doesn’t quite reach Scott Hall levels of amusement but it comes close.

Brad Anderson vs. Ricky Santana

EB: Our main event for this episode of Campeones is the World Junior title match from last week in Caguas, as Ricky Santana challenges Brad Anderson. The match starts with Profe goading Santana into chasing him outside the ring, allowing Anderson to surprise attack Santana when he rounded a corner. Sanatna quickly recovers however, and decks both Anderson and Profe. Santana is back in the ring as Anderson is trying to revive Profe on the outside, but has to race back in to avoid the countout. The wrestlers exchange shoves and punches with Saatana winning the exchange. It looks like Profe massaging Anderson’s booboo is a regular part of their act, as he does it again after Anderson got atomic dropped by Santana. On commentary Hugo and Profe are arguing about their upcoming Aniversario matches and who will fare better, and also about Profe’s insistence of making fun of wrestlers' nationalities. Ricky continued in control as we got to commercial break.

Back from the break and Santana is doing a sunset flip for a two count. Based on the commentary, it looks like Profe had thrown Ricky into one of the posts, which gave Anderson the opening to take control of the match. Profe claims that Santana fell into the post and he was only near him to try to help him back up. Santana is bleeding and Anderson works him over with a rear chinlock. Anderson misses a legdrop and Ricky comes back, highlighted by a foul kick to Anderson when the ref wasn’t looking. As Ricky gets fired up, Hugo has the video crew show a brief moment of when Profe threw Ricky into the post so the fans can see what a liar Profe is. Another punch exchange is won by Santana. Ricky goes for a flying body press but accidentally takes out both Anderson and the ref. Ricky covers but there is no one to count. Ricky starts punching Anderson again, with Anderson countering with a backdrop that sends Santana over the top rope to the floor right by where the referee is coming to. Santana gets on the apron and exchanges more punches with Anderson. Brad tries to suplex Santana in but Ricky shifts his weight and lands on top of Anderson. A second referee runs in and does the three count. Santana has won the title… or so it seems. Turns out the first referee saw Anderson throw Santana over the top rope and awarded the decision to Sanatan by dq. Anderson remains the champion. 

MD: On paper, this pairing was getting old, but this had enough Puerto Rico hooha to make it work. Profe distracted Santana for an Anderson ambush on the floor to begin but when he held him, Santana ducked and Andreson took his manager out on the floor. Fun stuff. Back in the ring, Santana controlled for a while as Brad stooged. One big problem with Anderson is that his transitions tend to be fairly weak, a lot of just pressing someone into the corner and taking over. The big damage was done during the break as Profe had posted Santana though, opening him up. That was a good visual during the chinlock at least. Finish was wonky and Dusty-ish, with the ref getting taken out on a flying body press by Santana and Santana then hefted over the top by Anderson. A second ref came in to count a pin on the way back in but the first one had seen the over the top hefting and ruled it a DQ instead of a title switch. It’s the Junior title. Just switch the thing back and forth, right? Overachieving match overall though, especially fun for Profe trying to explain what he did and didn’t do on commentary.

EB: We have video for two of the matches from the June 1 house show from Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel. Before getting to those matches, let’s discuss some of the other results from that card. As would be expected, Dino Bravo picked up the win against Giant Warrior in his first match in Puerto Rico on his way to Aniversario 91. Titles wise, Super Medico #3 retained his title against Dick Murdoch, while the Caribbean Express and Ricky Santana regained their titles. As for Invader #1 and Ron Garvin, we’ll discuss what happened in their match next time. 

That leaves the TV title match and the barbed wire match, which are the two matches we have footage for. First, TNT has made his return and is getting a chance to get revenge against King Kong  and possibly win the TV title back. Let’s see how that goes for him.

TNT vs. King Kong - June 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x8W7Pcf8aU

We join this match in progress as King Kong is stomping a downed TNT. Kong sends TNT into the ropes and knocks him down with a belly bump.  Kong casually steps on TNT and continues attacking him. As the blows continue, TNT starts gathering himself and fires back. Eventually TNT is able to knock Kong down after two clotheslines. An eye rake by Kong stops TNT’s surge and Kong splashes TNT in the corner. TNT is sent into the ropes and ducks a Kong clothesline, setting up a dynamite kick that staggers Kong. A second one staggers him more but Kong does not go down. TNT comes off the ropes with a flying spin kick and finally knocks Kong down. TNT makes the over and gets the three count. TNT has regained the TV title and defeated the monster that had put him on the shelf.

MD: Just two minutes here. Kong controls for a bit, moving around well and with credible shots. I liked TNT’s hulk up here. Kong still squashes him in the corner but TNT ducks a shot and starts laying in the kicks, with Kong as a big canvas for his offense, making it look great. TNT hits the jumping kick and scores a decisive win.

EB: And now let's see how Carlos Colon fares against the Polynesian Prince as the ring is encased in barbed wire.

Carlos Colon vs. Polynesian Prince - Barbwire Match - June 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9b7r8GSoHc

We join the match with Carlos already in the ring and the Polynesian Prince climbing over the ropes into the ring. The ropes have barbed wire wrapped around them. The match is a bit tentative to start, with Colon doing a side headlock and Prince attacking but not with much aggressiveness. As this is going on, Hugo shills the PPV broadcast of Aniversario 91 on the cable system this is being broadcast on. The match continues with Prince in control, using chokes and biting offense but again it does not come across as being aggressive considering the type of attacks.Carlos starts bleeding and Prince attacks the forehead. Carlos ends up going into the barbed wire off some blows from Prince, but it comes off more as incidental than done with purpose by Prince. The match continues with some standard spots of trying to push your opponent's face in the wire and Prince pulls out a foreign object to attack Colon with. Prince controls the first half of the match but once Carlos makes his comeback it is all Colon. Prince bleeds as Carlos starts throwing Prince into the barbed wire and attacking the cut on Prince’s forehead. Carlos ducks a clothesline and hits a back suplex that sets up Prince for the figure four. Prince submits and Carlos Colon has won the barbed wire match. Post match, Carlos decides to dish out some more punishment to Prince and make sure the rivalry is settled once and for all.

MD: It’s great we have this one but I’m not quite sure it lives up to other Colon barbed wire matches. Some of that could be the muted sound, of course, but a lot of it was how they treated the barbed wire. Prince went into it early. He responded by hitting a foul and taking over for quite a while. Colon came back and punished him for much of the rest of the match, leaving both men bloody. There were a lot of whips back into the wire and Prince was deep into character as he responded with an almost dancing sort of Kamala-esque selling. There just wasn’t enough gravitas in trying not to end up in it maybe? The best bit was actually Colon having to adapt his comeback headbutts and getting Prince from behind. Finish had him locking in the figure-four and the wire here almost was more useful to keep any potential interference out so Prince had no choice but to give up.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, more matches are signed for Aniversario including Ron Garvin getting a new opponent for the event. We also will see who Mr. Ito and Hugo Savinovich starts his training as we continue on the road to Aniversario 91.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Champions Celebrate Mothers

Week 54: Champions Celebrate Mothers

EB: It’s Mother’s Day weekend and that means we are celebrating the mothers of Puerto Rico in style, with a big wrestling card dedicated to them. Champions will be defending their titles on Saturday and Sunday, with the Saturday Noche de Campeones having a portion of it airing live on Channel 4. Carlos Colon and Ron Garvin are scheduled to have the rubber match in their series, they are 1-1 in Universal title matches so far. There are some other updates to the big card that we’ll cover shortly, so let’s go to the May 11 west coast version episode of Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre.  

WWC Super Estrellas 5/11/91

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2YHP5Indpw

Hugo welcomes us to the program and (since this is the west coast version of the program) tomorrow is the day for the big Mother’s Day card, Tarde de Capeones (general admission is $5). Hugo runs down what we’ll see on today's program and then talks about tomorrow’s card: Carlos Colon vs Ron Garvin for the Universal title; Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs the SST for the WWC World tag titles; King Kong vs Giant Warrior for the TV title; Monster Ripper vs Candi Divine for the Women’s World title; and added to the card due to the Mexican minis having visa troubles in getting into the country to work the show is new Midget World champion Little Louie (who recently defeated Little Tokyo for the title) will be defending his title against Butch Cassady. Tomorrow they will also have merchandise and videos for sale.  

El Bronco #1 & Invader #1 vs. The Samoan Swat Team

Our first match is joined in progress from Lares (suggesting this is from the most recent Thursday or Friday house show) and here we have our first look at recent arrivals and Gen. Akbar’s latest tag team, the Samoan Swat Team. This version of the team is Samoan Savage and Fatu and they are billed as the UWA World tag team champions. Hugo mentions how this team inherited the name from their family, the original Wild Samoans of Afa and Sika, and that this current combination may be the best one yet. Savage is in the ring with Bronco when we join the match, with Invader being tagged in. Savage gains control, tags in Fatu and the SST control the next minutes of the encounter. Fatu tosses Invader outside and distracts the ref,allowing Savage to ram Invader into the fence and hit him with one of the signs. Bronco has enough and gets to check on Invader but then starts exchanging blows with Fatu outside the ring, sending Fatu into the ringpost. Hugo says that the SST are definitely showing they have the quality, energy and viciousness to compete. The SST continue working over Invader with nerve holds, headbutts and switching out behind the ref’s back. Invader makes a brief comeback but misses a corner charge. However, Savage goes to the top and for some reason slips and falls off, allowing Invader the opening to tag in Bronco. Both SST members are handled by Bronco and then Invader joins the fray. The Samoans are whipped into each other and Invader knocks one of them out of the ring. Bronco gets his Bronco DDT on the other, but in the confusion Akbar gets in the ring and clobbers Bronco with an object. The SST are able to score the pin and get a win over the reigning WWC World tag champions. 

MD: Pretty fun one here. Either we come in JIP past most of the shine or there was no shine as they take over on Invader fairly quickly. It definitely had an effect in making the SST seem more formidable than a lot of other teams so I imagine the cutting (whether in the match or the tape) was on purpose. Good heat on Invader including Bronco and the ref getting distracted so they could dump part of the local signage on him and Bronco getting fed up and posting one even if it didn’t do them much good overall. SST can be a little silly at times here and one basically crotched himself on the top after a perfectly good cutoff on Invader’s hope spot, allowing for the hot tag. Bronco came in fiery and pretty quickly got his face first DDT finish on, but the ref was distracted with the brawling on the outside and Akbar was able to intervene, clock Bronco, and turn things around to heat things up for the bigger match.

EB: Next is a recap of the feud Super Medico #3 and Action Jackson are having over the Caribbean title. We see clips of the finish of their match from April 27 and their subsequent match from Cataño where Kim Duk got involved and explained to the ref the cheating that went down. As mentioned before, these two men will face off once more for the Caribbean title with Kim Duk as the special referee. After the feud recap, Profe and Action Jackson cut a promo where they are not worried about Medico #3 or about Kim Duk being partial to Medico, Action will win the Caribbean title and they will party with the ladies all night long. 

MD: We saw the recaps last time. That first ref bump was really good. Most important thing to know about the promo is that Jackson isn’t worried about Duk as the special ref and promises that after he wins 1-2-3 in the center of the ring, he and Profe will party with all the ladies.

EB: Brad Anderson gets a music video, with highlights from some of his matches against Kim Duk and Ricky Santana. He is challenging for the World Junior title this weekend.

MD: Maybe the only Brad Anderson video ever? But they made him look pretty good with footage against Duk and Santana and others set to I Want It All by Queen. A few shots of his spinebuster slam, which was a pretty interesting creative choice given how cool the normal spinebuster is. Not much of his weird gourdbuster though.

EB: A King Kong interview gets cut, but we do get Akbar with the SST (who have their UWA Tag title belts with them). Akbar says this is the team and we get comments from Savage as well. Fatu just mugs for the camera as Hugo translates. Bronco and Invader cut their usual promo about how it won't be easy to get the titles from them, with Invader putting over the quality of the SST and that they’ll be ready for them.

MD: They just flawlessly move to the next feud with these tags. Akbar set it up well with “You thought the California Studs were tough…?” and mentioned how the SST had done a bunch of favors for Devastation, Inc. and now signed big contracts. They already had one set of belts (thanks to Estevban for identifying them) and were going for another. Bronco and Invader were as spirited as ever though and this felt like a big deal to me.

Billy Joe Travis & Gran Mendoza vs. Herbert Gonzalez & Invader #4

EB: Galan Mendoza gets another tag partner and it is the returning Billy Joe Travis (who had a feud with Huracan Castillo over the World Junior title back in the late fall of 1990). Travis and Mendoza work over Invader #4 for a couple of minutes util Herbert Gonzalez gets the tag. Surprisingly, Herbert gets a  few seconds of shine before all four men end up in the ring. As the ref clears the ring of the illegal men,Monster Ripper goes over to Mendoza and slips him an object that he loads into his glove. One loaded punch later and Herbert is pinned. It looks like Mendoza and Travis will continue the rivalry with the Caribbean Express over the Caribbean tag titles. 

MD: And lo, Billy Joe replaces Doug Gilbert as Mendoza’s partner continuing the stooging chain. He and Mendoza are a good match with the blonde mullets. They have Ripper with them still. Invader IV starts out in peril here and he has a nice little flip to his feet for a hope spot but gets cut off. When Gonzalez does make it there’s a ton of stooging before Ripper slips Mendoza the glove. They didn’t exactly look super strong here but maybe that was the point.

EB: It’s clear from Anderson’s interview that he’s faced and defeated Ricky Santana twice already and he says the third time will be the same, only this time the World Junior title will be around his waist. Ricky follows with a rebuttal, saying Profe is talking too much. Ricky is dedicating this match to all the mothers and he will not disappoint them. Anderson needs to remember two things, that Ricky is the champion and that Rivky will be walking out the champion.

MD: They’ve been through a couple of matches but Anderson was ready to get the light heavyweight title. This feels like a perfectly fine undercard feud even with no real heat behind it.

EB: TNT joins us in full garb, he is not competing this weekend due to being sidelined due to King Kong’s top rope splashes. TNT wishes all of the mothers a happy Mother’s Day and also lets us know he has started rating and is feeling better already. He soon should be ready for action. TNT talks about tomorrow’s TV title match where Giant Warrior is challenging King Kong. TNT spoke with Warrior and warned him to watch out for those splashes. He will be rooting 100% for Giant Warrior.

MD: TNT is back from being laid out and in his full ceremonial gear looking ready to get revenge.

EB: We get a Ron Garvin music video where it looks like he is running and working out around the Condado area of San Juan. The video includes clips from some of his late 88 matches, including his win over Carlos Colon in the Universal title tournament finals. Hugo follows by saying that the third time is the charm as we get highlights of the previous two matches between Garvin and Colon. They are tied 1-1. We cut off the Ron Garvin telephone interview (I’m guessing it’s the same one from last week) and then go to Carlos Colon in the studio. Carlos reiterates that he wants everyone supporting him tomorrow against a very dangerous opponent, with the fans’ support he is sure that the Universal title will stay here in Puerto Rico.

MD: Again, not much in the way of new Garvin footage. This is older stuff. The music video is funny as it has him running and punching and on the beach, etc. The very best part is when they intersperse clips of his fist with a giant rock at high speed. The clips are interesting in context. At the end of 87 he was anchoring things in JCP and at the end of 88 he looked to be anchoring things for Puerto Rico. Then at the end of 89 into 90, he had the Valentine story in the WWF and now he’s back to headline a big show. It makes me wonder if people don’t give him quite enough credit. 

Kim Duk & Giant Warrior vs. Action Jackson & King Kong

EB: Our TV main event is Kim Duk & Giant Warrior taking on Action Jackson & King Kong. We have both El Profe and Skandor Akbar seconding the rudo team for this encounter. Duk and Jackson start and Duk gets the better of that exchange, hitting a backdrop and causing Action to roll outside. Back in, Action gets backed into the tecnico corner and Giant Warrior is tagged in. Action manages to back Warrior up to the rudo corner, but a double team attempt is avoided by Warrior, and Action almost crashes into Kong (causing an angry exchange from Action to Kong). Kong is tagged in. Another double team attempt fails,with Kong hitting Action and sending him to the floor.   This rudo team is not gelling well. Duk is in and the rudo team briefly gets some offense in, but Warrior comes in again for his team. Warrior misses a charge and seems to hit his head on the post (due to his size), allowing Action and Kong to work over Warrior. The match breaks down a bit with Warrior rammed into the post outside and Duk coming in. The rudos double team Duk and he falls victim to the Kong splash for the p in. Warrior comes back in the ring. Tosses Action out of the ring, and then hits the big boot on Kong. Warrior and Kong fight on the outside and continue fighting towards the locker room as we go back to Hugo in the studio for the show closing. 

MD: They teased Jackson and Kong having dissension early by each crashing into the other as Duk got out of the way and the fans were very excited at that idea. Jackson was just a naturally volatile figure in the best of ways. Warrior played face in peril well and it was believable enough with these two. Jackson leaped to nowhere and landed on Warrior’s upstretched boot but it was notable because he flopped forward in a really nice twist on the flying nothing. When Duk got in, he immediately got swept under and splashed though. Post-match they paid off Warrior vs Kong with a nice brawl on the outside and the fans wanted to see more of that too.

EB: While we’ve been reviewing mostly west coast versions of the TV that are hyping up the May 12 Mother’s Day show, we do have a counterpart Noche de Campeones card occurring on Saturday May 11. It is happening in Guaynabo and there is a very important development for this show. WAPA, the station that airs Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre, will be airing part of the card live on TV. And we actually have a good portion of this airing available. First, let’s go to the May 11 episode of Campeones for the final hype for Noche de Campeones. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgGPKj7yoiE

Hugo and Profe are here to start the program, with Hugo welcoming the viewers to Campeones on TeleOnce. Profe sounds happy and Hugo makes note that not only is it because of the wrestlers he has competing tonight for titles, but it turns out Profe has been helping to train Monster Ripper for her title defense as well. It’s a partnership that has developed recently and Profe has been taking this responsibility seriously. In fact, we’ll see highlights of this training later in the program. Hugo reminds viewers that tickets are already on sale with special prices in honor of the mothers they are celebrating (ringside $8, general admission $5, and children under 11 years old are $2). Hugo makes sure to emphasize the first match starts at 8pm, since Campeones airs on Teleonce (Channel 11) they can’t promote the live airing of the card on WAPA (channel 4), so this is an indirect way to make sure people are there on time for the start of the live airing. Profe runs down what’s in store and makes sure to run down the tecnicos (calls the Caribbean Express the Chicken Express, calls Invader and Bronco stupid, and declares Garvin the Universal champion since it’s a lock that he will win). Hugo continues running down the rest of what’s in store before again giving another reminder of tonight’s Noche de Campeones card dedicated to all of the mothers in Puerto Rico and then drops some big news. All who attend tonight in person will find out who will compete in the main event of Aniversario 91, as they will announce the challenger for the Universal title (who will face whoever is champion after tonight’s match). With that, let’s go the first match,

Gran Mendoza & El Condor vs. Caribbean Express (Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr.)

Mendoza has been feuding with the Caribbean Express since losing the Caribbean tag titles to them, but has had a bit of a revolving door of partners (from Rick Valentine to Doug Gilbert and now Billy Joe Travis). Here Mendoza is teaming with El Condor, which suggests this may have been taped in between the switch from Gilbert to Travis. Hugo mentions that Castillo and Perez are the champions of Puerto Rico, wearing flag t-shirts to show off how proud they are of their country and heritage (which they wore during their tour of Central America). Profe complains that those are cheap t-shirts but Hugo says that where the shirt comes from doesn't matter, it’s the pride in representing their homeland that matters. Perez and Condor start and condor actually gets a bit of shine by knocking down Perez with a clothesline before tagging out. Profe talks up Condor by saying that he’s talented, has a future  and we’ll see him in a few years in main event matches, he just needs experience. This continues the recent trend of the commentators talking up Condor (it looks like they may have plans for him soon). The Caribbean Express maintain control of most of the match, regardless of whether it is Mendoza or Condor in there. Profe insults Miguelito by saying that it looks like Miguelito owes money to his barber judging by that haircut, he looks like a Dick Tracy villain. Hugo complains that it looks like Mendoza is purposefully avoiding being in there too long against the Express and is letting Condor handle the bulk of the match. Profe justifies it by saying that Mendoza is letting Condor gain experience. Condor makes a good showing but ends up getting hit by a Perez handspring elbow and powerslam,and Castillo finishes it off with a Northern Lights suplex (with Mendoza just jumping off the apron and not bothering to make any effort at a save). 

MD: A showcase for the Express. I’m not sure if this was between partners for Mendoza or what. I’d have been all for Condor being the third guy with Mendoza and Travis with Ripper managing all three though. He had just enough clever little mannerisms and stalling that made me think he was getting it. They’d get little bits of offense but the Express were quick to comeback. I love Castillo’s jumping knee and Perez had a handspring elbow in the corner, with Castillo winning it with a Northern Lights Suplex. I wonder if he learned that from being around Hase in New Japan.

EB: Hugo presents the finish of the match the Samoan Swat Team had this past Thursday in Lares in their debut in CSP. It’s the match against Invader #1 and Bronco #1 we saw on Super Estrellas. Tonight there is a rematch with the WWC World tag titles on the line and there is  special stipulation for that match, Skandor Akbar will be locked in a cage. Also, if Invader and Bronco win, they’ll get 5 minutes with Akbar. Obviously,Akbar is not happy about being put in a cage but is focus do more important things and that is the World tag team titles. And they can forget about getting those 5 minutes. Bronco and Invader are ready and Bronco is looking forward to getting those 5 minutes with Akbar. Invader mention they don’t run from anyone and they’ll gladly defend the belts tonight. Invader also wants those 5 minutes so they can beat respect into Akbar.

MD: Akbar claims he’s not an animal. The gimmick here was that he’d be locked in a cage at ringside and if Bronco and Invader won they’d get five minutes with him. Really something that should be done more today. It’s perfect for Stokely for instance.

EB: Some more promos for tonight, as the Caribbean Express (wearing the shirts the announcers were talking about earlier) are defending their titles against Galan Mendoza and Billy Joe Travis. Castillo recognizes that Mendoza and Travis make a nice team but the Express is the better team. Profe introduces the Ron Garvin music video we’ve seen before and then we get some words from Monster Ripper, Galen Mendoza and Billy Joe Travis. Ripper says that she has a surprise while gesturing to Travis, so I’m guessing this may actually be the official launch of this team. Travis praises his manager and partner and reminds the viewers that he is a former World Junior champion as well. Mendoza says that they have the Express right where they wanted, Perez and Castillo made the mistake of signing an open contract and here they have Billy Joe Travis.

MD: They’re up against Perez and Castillo moving forward. All I really have to say here is that Travis looks like he was raiding Chicky Starr’s wardrobe. He calls Ripper the most beautiful woman and himself and Mendoza the most handsome men. Mendoza just seems happy to be there.

EB: They show the finish of the Giant Warrior & Kim Duk vs. King Kong & Action Jackson where Warrior and Kong fought to the locker room as part of the hype for the TV title match tonight. Akbar calls out warrior for thinking he’s some type of savior around here, but Kong will take care of him tonight.

MD: Akbar really had a lot of value still at this point. If I was WCW, I would have brought him in to be with Sullivan and Black Blood and One Man Gang or something. Anyway, here he said that Giant Warrior saw himself as a savior but that he’d end up calling Akbar master. Pretty solid stuff with shots of Kong. It’s amazing not just how long Warrior’s run was but that he was a babyface throughout. 

EB: We get the card rundown for tonight in Guaynabo: Carlos Colon vs Ron Garvin for the Universal title; Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs the Samoan swat team for the World tag titles, with Skandor Akbar locked in a cage and if Invader and Bronco win they get 5 minutes with Akbar; King Kong vs Giant Warrior for the TV title; Monster Ripper vs Candi Divine for the Women’s World title; Little Louis vs Butch Cassady for the Midget World title; Super Medico #3 vs Action Jackson for the Caribbean title with Kim Duk as guest referee; Ricky Santana vs Brad Anderson for the World Junior title; the Caribbean Express vs Galan Mendoza & Billy Joe Travis for the Caribbean tag titles; and other great stars. 

This is followed by the Super Medico #3 vs Action Jackson feud recap video and promos from Action Jackson and Super Medico #3. Action is tired of Medico #3 and says he is the baddest thing on the island. Medico #3 is happy that Duk is the referee, meaning that there won;t be any cheating from Jackson or Profe.

MD: Action Jackson had a white letters on black Action Jackson backdrop which I don’t remember as a sort of thing used in the promotion. Apparently we don’t have this match, which is sad because I wanted to see ref Kim Duk. 

EB: Profe does a voice over for the Monster Ripper training footage, where he brags about the pace he is putting Ripper through and that Candi has no chance. Loot at her strength, her beauty, her sensuality, her agility, her fortitude. Profe has Ripper training with men (in this case Condor) so it’s tougher, and if Ripper can dominate a man what chance does a woman have against her. Ripper gets her reps on the bench press and does a nice bridging pin on Condor as the video ends. 

MD: As training videos go, this is a pretty good one. It’s played for humor to some degree with her sparring with some masked guys (Condor?) in the ring and working in the gym but I’m glad they did it since they weren’t building much to her match otherwise. Maybe Esteban can identify the song.

EB: Sorry Matt, I can’t identify the song from the bit that plays in the video. If anyone knows what it is do let us know. Let’s go to today’s main event, our first look at the UWA World tag team champions the Samaon Swat Team in Cataño. They take on Kim Duk and Ricky Santana. 

Samoan Swat Team vs. Kim Duk & Ricky Santana

The SST are competing against a pair of credible opponents, and while Duk and Santana do get their moments of shine by controlling the first minutes of the match, this is a showcase for the new arrivals to put over how much of a threat they are. Sanatana is the face in peril and again we see the spot where the Samoan slips off the top rope when going for a top rope splash (are they doing the barefoot is affecting their balance thing?). Duk is tagged in and momentarily cleans house but then makes the mistake of ramming the two Samoans' heads together. This has no effect and instead the SST double headbutt Duk. A few monet later, a piledriver into a flying splash gets the SST the win. 

Hugo and Profe close the show with one more sell of tonight’s card (remember it starts at 8pm sharp) and Profe says his people will win all the titles they are competing for tonight. Remember, we’ll find out the main event of Aniversario 91 tonight as well.

MD: The big takeaway they want to get across here is that you don’t headbutt a samoan. Multiple times here things were done to no effect. When they got driven out early, they ended up doing some sort of haka with Akbar and Duk slammed their heads together to no effect. Then during a hope spot (after he’d been hit by a superkick out of nowhere while distracted as a transition), Santana slammed Fatu’s head on the mat to no effect. And in the comeback after the hot tag Duk tried to slam their heads together again and ate a double headbutt (followed by a pile driver and a top rope splash). These aren’t the same SST of a year or two earlier. They’re still fearsome but more apt to stooge and a little more rounded out. 

EB:  We’re fortunate to have 4 of the 5 matches that aired live on Noche de campeones on WAPA. We also have the first hour of the live broadcast (including commercials), so yo can watch up to the 54 minute mark on the live broadcast video (which takes you to the ring itnros for Colon vs  Garvin). After that, we have the individual match links for the Universal tile and World tag team title matches. The Women’s title match is included in full in the live portions segment we have, although there will be an individual match link for that one as well (although our review will be from the live broadcast portion we have). So let’s celebrate  the mothers of Puerto Rico by watching wrestling. 

Noche  de Campeones from May 11, 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MQxz1shFw

Our sponsors for this live airing on WAPA are Medalla, Coca-Cola and Bacardi. Hugo Savinovich welcomes us to Noche de Campeones as we get some pyrotechnics from the ringposts. Hugo is joined by El Profe and Eliud Gonzalez, they will be our commentators for most of the proceedings. Everyone's dressed up in tuxedos since we are celebrating Mother’s Day. Hugo gets comments from Eliud and Profe about the matches we'll see on the live broadcast: Ricky Santan vs Brad Anderson for the World Junior title (Eliud: Brad Anderson is going to have to get tough against Ricky Santana, who is in the best physical condition of his life); Monster Ripper vs Candi Divine for the Women’s World title (Profe: The moment is here, finally we’ll see the condition I’ve gotten Monster Ripper in, there is now way anyone can defeat her!); Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs the Samoan Swat Team for the World tag titles with Gen. Akbar locked in a cage at ringside and if the SST loses the champs get 5 minutes with Akbar (Profe: That will not happen, the SST are too strong and powerful for that to happen); Carlos Colon vs. Ron Garvin for the Universal title (Eliud: Carlos is in his best shape because he already had a very unpleasant experience with Ron Garvin, Garvin is someone who knows everything there is to know about being in the ring); and for the kids a special treat as Little Louis defends his newly won Midget World title against Buthc Cassidy (Profe: Butch Cassidy is simply too strong for any other midget, the champ has no chance). Of the five matches, we do not have footage of the Little Louis vs. Butch Cassidy match. We’ll soon be back with our first match. Ricky Santana vs Brad Anderson.

MD: This felt big. Fireworks to start. Everyone in tuxes. Even the big shows haven’t felt quite like TV productions in the way that this does. It’s a nice change. I don’t get a sense of how big the crowd is but this does feel like a big deal.

EB: Our first batch of commercials features the cast of satirical comedy show ‘Que es loq eu psa aqui,ah?’ promoting a phrase that pays contest in partnership with Burger King, a Medalla commercial featuring former Menudo member Ricky (the first one, not Ricky Martin).a BWAC furniture outlet commercial featuring Cheo Felicianos serenading a mother, and a Mixing Magician commercial. 

Ricky Santana vs Brad Anderson

Back to the arena and Eliud Gonzales does the ring introductions for the World Junior title match. Brad Anderson has defeated Ricky Santana twice in non-title matches and is seeking to beat Santana once more with the title on the line. Victor Quiñonez is the referee for this match. Profe is on commentary so he is not seconding Anderson at ringside, but he is confident that he has prepared Brad well for this matchup. A face off to start leads to slaps being exchanged and then punches. Anderson cuts off the exchange with a knee to the gut,but Santana counters a whip into the corner and proceeds to hit Anderson with a couple of atomic drops. Santana continues in control for the next minute and Anderson bails to the outside after kicking out of a Santana body press. Back in the ring Anderson and Santana engage in a test of strength, which Anderson controls for a couple of minutes. Sanatana eventually breaks it via a flip and then knocks Anderson down with a clothesline. Anderson switches tactics and works over Santana’s arm, but Santana also ends up getting out of the hold and hitting a few armdrag takedowns. This junior heavyweight match is more mat based. The match continues with Anderson getting out maneuvered by Santana. Anderson gets a somewhat sloppy bulldog on Ricky to gain control and is able to make a couple of unsuccessful pin attempts. Anderson continues trying to wear down Santana, but Ricky is able to get a counter here and there. Anderson goes to the top rope and jumps off, but Santana gets his knees up to block. Santana comes back with several punches and gets a two count of a flying forearm. Santana gets a flying splash from the top rope and somehow Anderson kicks out at two. Andersons hits his spinebuster slam and now it’s Santana that kicks out at two. We get a sunset flip by Santana that Anderson kicks out of, followed by Anderson doing a cradle on Santana. It appears that Santana kicked out just before the three count, but referee Victor Quiñonez signals for the bell to be rung as the two wrestlers continue trying to pin each other. The ref waves off an Anderson pina temp and then raises Brad’s arm as the winner. That finished looked very wonky. Santana protests and the crowd isn't happy with the result either but Brad Anderson is the new World Junior champion. 

MD: I came into this thinking that Anderson was a big step up from Eddie Watts or whoever else was going for the Jr. title, but coming out of it, I’m just not sure. Anderson was rough around the edges on fast exchanges, with a couple of rough looking leap frogs, etc. Some of it still worked because it put forth a sense of competition, but overall, this was dodgy at times. Santana hit his marks well though, and the match was structured well too. Anderson would try things early and Santana would get the better of him. Once Anderson took over, he hit his stuff, like the gourdbuster and would grind Santana down. Santana had hope spots that were cut off fairly quickly and they built it to a hot comeback. Santana hit a flying forearm and top rope splash but couldn’t win with them. Anderson caught him off the ropes with his spinebuster but just for two. Finish was weird as Anderson reversed a sunset flip into a pin of his own but they kept on wrestling after the three count for a few seconds before it set in that he’d won with it. Santana complained after the bell. This had good energy but was definitely rough around the edges.

EB: Before the commercial break we get a promo from Monster Ripper and El Profe, Ripper says that Profe and her together are untouchable, while Pofe says Divine has no chance against the Women’s World champion. We also get a brief shot of Little Louis backstage.

Our second commercial break has the Que es…?/BK commercial, a Bacardi rum commercial, an ad for a special Mother’s Day program called Posada Corazon with several well known local actresses, the Medalla commercial, a Coca-cola ad featuring Luis Miguel singing a Coke inspired version of his song Será Que No Me Amas (his Spanish cover of Blame It on the Boogie), and an ad promoting new program Quedaste Retratado!

We go back to the promo area as Hugo is with Candi Divine, and Candi is ready to leave the arena as the champion.

Candi Divine vs. Monster Ripper (if you just want to only watch the match you can click the following link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5TN-wlwL4I

Monster Ripper comes out first and has El Profe with her. Candi is out next and Ripper and Profe yell at the crowd to be quiet. Ripper dominates the early going as her size is too much for Divine. Hugo mentions that Monster Ripper is the Abdullah the Butcher of the women’s division. Divine gets an opening when Ripper misses a legdrop, but Ripper quickly rolls out to stop Divine’s momentum. Candi tries to get the crowd riled up as Ripper and Profe have a chat at ringside. Back in, Ripper again takes over control of the match but Divine is able to survive. A missed splash from the turnbuckle again gives Candi an opening, and once more Ripper rolls to the outside to stop the momentum. Candi jumps Ripper when she enters the ring and tries several dropkicks. Ripper swats away the first two attempts, but Divine lands the third. Profe jump up on the apron at this point and Candi takes a swing at him. Profe ducks and grabs Divine, holding her for a Ripper charge. However, Candi gets out of the way and Ripper crashes into Profe. Candi uses that opening to get a cradle and surprises Ripper with a three count! There is a new Women's World champion. 

Divine is awarded the title belt and leaves the ring to the cheers of the crowd, Meanwhile, Profe has gotten into the ring and starts arguing animatedly with Monster Ripper. Profe starts shoving Ripper and Hugo calls out Profe for putting his hands on a lady. Ripper shoves Profe back and proceeds to fight back, sending him out of the ring. The crowd starts cheering this turn of events. Ripper is hyped up in the ring and Profe is out on the floor. Profe eventually heads to the back to the jeers and laughs of the crowd and then we get a quick promo from Butch Cassidy before going to a commercial break.

MD: It’s kind of sad that Ripper comes out with Profe instead of Mendoza (but this will make sense by the end). I have no idea the last time I’ve seen a Candi Divine match. So Ripper looks great here obviously. She feeds early and hits the floor and Profe does a nice job getting her hyped back up. She takes over almost instantly and her offense looks great, from the slams and corner avalanches to a really great sit down power bomb. She misses a splash and Divine has her comeback and her offense is about as weak as can be. Profe hits the apron to hold her. He and Ripper collide. Divine gets a roll up (with Ripper very quick to kick out on 2.8) and win the belt. The trash starts to fly and I’m not sure if it’s because of the title change/finish or because of heat Ripper/Profe had, but very quickly Ripper beat the crap out of Profe and raised her hand. No idea if this was a face turn or just heels beefing or if it’ll go anywhere. This would have almost certainly been better with Bronco’s valet if she hadn’t gotten hurt.

EB: Our third commercial break has the ‘Que es…?/BK commercial, ’the Medalla commercial, a Sonia Silvestre album ad, a commercial for a Julio Angel Mother’s Day special, a Bonanza ad,a Coca-Cola commercial featuring dolphins, and an ad for a Mother's Day special of Al Aire Libre featuring comedian Raymond Arrieta doing his Wally character (a spoof of Walter Mercado, how this warranted a Mother’s Day special I have no idea).

Back at the arena, Hugo and Eliud present the recap video of the two previous matches between Carlos Colon and Ron Garvin, this will be billed as the third time is the charm. Ron Garvin has a promo after where he promises to beat the dog heck out of Carlos Colon one more time and win the Universal title. Carlos responds by saying he feels great, the public is here to back him up and although Garvin is a tremendous competitor, he is confident in being the victor.

Our last commercial break rundown includes a special episode of Portada with pianist Raul DiBlasio, the Bacardi, ‘Que es…?’/BK, and Medalla commercials, an ad for several Ednita Naxario concert dates at Bellas Artes, and the Posada Corazon commercial.

Carlos Colón vs. Ronnie Garvin 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2nR8iRrVeo

Eliud Gonzalez presents our guest ring announcer for the Universal title match, local TV personality/producer Luisito Vigoreaux. The competitors enter the ring and referee Victor Quiñonez does the pre match check. As the bell rings to start,Hugo makes note that Profe has returned to the commentary desk, saying ‘Eliud, look who showed his face back here for the main event.’ Profe quickly says that he does not want any jokes or comments about what happened earlier, he is here because he has a commitment to commentate with Hugo an Eliud and that’s all he is doing. Hugo ignores him and starts asking if it hurts and saying that a woman beat him up. Hugo will keep bringing this up every now and then throughout the match with Profe being mad and exasperated. Back to the match, Colon and Garvin jaw a bit to start and then lock up. Both men give a clean break but then tempers flare a bit with some shove. Colon puts on a headlock and they work it for the next few minutes. Garvin would briefly break out of the hold but then Colon would go back to the headlock, leading to several Garvin reversals into pin attempt counters on the mat. Luisito Vigoreaux briefly joins the commentators to offer some words about the action so far. Back on their feet, Colon and Garvin exchange punches and Colon fires off a hard chop that staggers Garvin momentarily. Garvin responds by biting Colon in the corner, does a hard chop of his own and then puts Colon in a neck wrench. Garvin starts cheating by using the ropes for leverage and continues working over Colon’s neck. Garvin puts on a sleeperhold and almost gets a near fall after releasing it. 

Gavin fires off some punches but Colon counters off the ropes with a sleeperhold of his own. Garvin grabs the ropes to break it and then does the old trick knee to foul Carlos. Gavin is slow to follow up, but does get an inside cradle for a near fall. An abdominal stretch is countered by a Colon hiptoss, but then Carlos misses an elbow drop.A rope running sequence leads to both men knocking their heads together and going down. Carlos attacks first and gets a cover, but Garvin manages to get his leg on the rope. Colon attacks Garvin’s leg and sets up for the figure four, but Garvin counters with a small package for a near fall. Carlos goes back to working the leg and this time does get the figure four on. Garvin fights through the hold and eventually manages to reverse it, forcing Carlos to grab the ropes to break the hold. Garvin;s leg is injured though and Carlos goes back on the attack. Garvin is able to kick out of a pin attempt after getting headbutted, but then misses a swinging punch after Colon ducks. Carlos grabs Garvin and hits a back suplex into a bridge, scoring the three count. Carlos Colon has retained the Universal title in a very close encounter. Maybe Garvin’s performance warrants a rematch?

MD: It was one thing for Garvin to have a music video to George Thorogood’s Born to be Bad, but to have him come out in the stadium to it is something else entirely. He was a star that knew how to bask in front of an audience like this. It’s important that everyone knows that Profe was taking a lot of grief for what just happened to him too. I love how straightforward this match was. It almost felt like a Saturday Night’s Main Event sort of blowoff match instead of the way they often did things to build long feuds over shows. 

After the early shoving, Colon controlled with just a great headlock. They were really working it. Garvin took over with cheapshots and was happy to eyepoke and bite before locking in a sleeper. Colon got one of his own but Garvin went low. From there they went into a stretch with Colon firing back (with the cartwheel), honestly outpunching Garvin. He locked on the Figure-Four, and got a headbutt, before winning it with a bridging belly to back. It was very simple, very straightforward, paced well, worked hard, just a good match with almost no real twists to it. The closest was when Garvin tried a small package out of that low blow. But I enjoyed it as an outlier for that. It was just a good, solid title match.

Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs. Samoan Swat Team with Gen. Akbar locked in a cage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtBl4cS9YLQ

EB: The final match we have for Noche de Campeones is the World tag title match. Remember that if Invader and Bronco win,they get 5 minutes with Skandor Akbar. The SST scored a win over the World tag champs two days ago in Lares and are looking to do it again with the titles on the line. Akbar has already been locked inside the cage as the match starts with Invader and Fatu. Profe puts over the amazing power and speed combination the SST has. Invader gets the better of Fatu early on and it looks like the SST are somewhat rattled. Savage is tagged in but does not fare any better, particularly when Bronco is tagged in. At this rate, it’s looking like Invader and Bronco are getting those 5 minutes with Akbar. Bronco and Invader send the SST from the ring with punches and the SST head over to the locked cage to get some advice from Akbar. Profe and Hugo start arguing on commentary, with Eliud saying that he might have to serve as referee between the two. Hugo says that he’ll just go get Monster Ripper if Profe continues acting up. Savage gets back in the ring and Bronco still maintains the advantage. The SST decide t play hide the foreign object and manage to get control over Invader #1 after a double clothesline. Invader is tossed outside and, while the ref is distracted, Invader gets hit with a chair. Bronco goes over to check on Invader and then gets into a fight with Fatu. While this is going on, Savage wraps an electric cord around Invader's throat and chokes him. 

Back in the ring, Savage puts a never hold on Invader as the crowd tries to cheer Invader on. The SSt tries to double team but Invader counters with a reverse body press on both Samoans. Still, Savage is able to get the nerve hold back on Invader. The SST gets a near fall off a backdrop and then go back to the nerve hold. Invader gets out of it and gets a headlock and headscissor takedown on both Samoans. Bronco comes in and hits a double clothesline but Invader is still not able to make the tag. The tide almost turns when Invaader catches Savage trying to come off the top and slams him to the mat. The SST stops Invader from making the tag, but a Vader bomb is countered with raised knees and this time invader gets the tag. Bronco cleans house but makes the mistake of smashing the SST’s heads together to no effect. The SST counters with a double headbutt on Bronco, but before they can capitalize, Invader joins the action to help his partner out. Invader knocks Savage out of the ring and Fatu and Bronco end up colliding and getting knocked down. As the ref is getting Invader out of the ring, Savage comes in and rolls out Fatu, taking his place in the ring. Savage reaches into his tights and tries to punch Bronco with an object. Bronco backdrops Savage though,and Savage drops the object upon hitting the mat. Bronco gets a dropkick and Invader, having spotted the object, grabs it and decks Savage with it as the ref is distracted by Fatu trying to come in. Bronco covers and gets the three count! The champions retain and now get 5 minutes with Skandor Akbar.

The SST are trying to complain about the foreign object but to no avail and Profe is throwing a fit on commentary about the way the match ended. Profe says that it’s inconceivable that they’ve gotten the 5 minutes. In the ring, Invader and Bronco shake hands and Invader motions for Bronco to go ahead and get Akbar. Bronco makes his way to the ringside cage and just when he gets close, Akbar lights up a huge fireball right into Bronco’s face. Bronco starts flailing about in  pain and Invader quickly grabs him and pulls him down so he can get medical assistance. Profe laughs maniacally and says that is exactly what he deserves as a concerned Invader is checking on Bronco. We don’t know how severely Bronco may have been injured.

MD: Another great tag. Maybe this wasn’t quite as great as some of the ones we’ve seen lately, but it was still very good. The shine was a lot of fun, especially once Bronco got in and the fans seemed to love every second of them running the SST off and dancing in the ring. There was some attempt for SST to hide an object and that would come back to play later. The heat was on Invader and while I wish they did a few more moves maybe, a lot of that motion and action was saved for the hope spots and cutoffs. That felt like a creative decision and if you’re going to have someone in chinlocks and nerveholds, Invader is about the best choice possible. Those hopespots really escalated too, with him doing a back body block out of the corner and then a headlock/headscissors combo (where Bronco came in illegally afterwards to hit a double clothesline which meant no tag could happen) and tossing a SST member off the top, before finally getting his knees up on a Vader Bomb in the corner.

The finish was wild as the SST successfully made a twin confusion switch but lost the object allowing Invader and Bronco to win with it. That meant they got five minutes with Akbar. But Akbar's too smart for this and had the fireball ready the whole time. The angle came off great and left Invader laying (once again).

EB: As mentioned by Hugo on Campeones, the matches weren’t the only things scheduled for Noche de Campeones that night, there also was a special announcement by the commissioner of the Puerto Rico Boxing and Wrestling Commission. This announcement was regarding the challenger for the Universal title at Aniversario 91. Five contenders were being considered: Dino Bravo, Tatsumi Fujinami, Ron Garvin, Stan Hansen,and Abdullah the Butcher. Who will the challenger be? And what is the condition of Bronco after the fireball to the face?  Did any other titles change hands? And just who is Gen. Akbar’s latest recruit? We’ll discuss all this next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones as the build to Aniversario 91 has begun.

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New Footage Friday: DUSTIN! BARRY! SGT. CRAIG! BILLY BLACK!

NWA 7/11/98


Dustin Rhodes vs. Barry Windham

MD: You'd want this to have a few more minutes at least, or maybe a finish, but it's pretty interesting for what it is. The intimacy stood out as you can really see the grin on Barry's face or hear him jawwing to Dustin. He messed with him a lot to start, engaging and disengaging, teasing a test of strength, refusing to shake the hand until he actually did, which was probably to get Dustin's guard down for when he started to punch. They went to the blood almost immediately thereafter, with Barry tossing him to the floor and slamming him headfirst into a table at ringside. That made the match feel longer and weightier than it was. Dustin had a hope spot and they at least gave lip service to the idea that they might do a superplex in front of this crowd, but that led to Dustin's comeback and the DDQ. This was worked to the level of the show, but by two masters who still weaved in an element of the personal and the visceral despite it all.

PAS: We never really got any matches between these two when they broke up in WCW (at least on TV, they ran Texas Death and Bullrope matches on house shows which I am sure were incredible) , so it is cool we got to see them match up a couple of years later. This match felt like a throw back for sure, with Windham not doing much besides punching but landing some nasty looking punches. They had some really great exchanges and Dustin really opened it up for an indy show (pretty crazy that he was doing this kind of nostalgia indy show 22 years ago and is still main eventing Cable TV shows today), we didn't get a real finish and this felt like it was setting up a big time gimmick blow off match, and while they did run this on a three show circuit, they never came back to this town for a big finish.

ER: I love this era of WWF or WCW guys showing up main eventing a southern indy show during a time they were under contract. It's cool seeing big TV names at the time showing up in super appreciative gyms. We've seen Eddy headline indy cards and put on PPV quality matches, and here's Dustin - another who has done plenty of interesting things over several different indy runs - bleeding all over a North Carolina gym. Windham was done with his WWF run and would join WCW in a few months, and this felt stronger than anything they were doing on TV around this time. Dustin was still making PPV and having nice longer matches with Val Venis, and this felt like a good 1998 house show version of something like that. Windham knuckle punches Dustin in several nasty ways, some great kneeling punches to the brow and temple, and it makes Dustin's color look even more authentic. Dustin is popular with the crowd - a cute kid even hugs him during his ring entrance - and getting juice on a show like this gets them even more into his comeback. This was almost entirely no back bump wrestling, lots of punch exchanges. But these are two guys I love seeing do punch exchanges, and this is a cool era to see them do it.


Fly-High Eddie vs. Thunderfoot #2

MD: Without actually watching more 1998 footage, I have no reason to think Thunderfoot #2 wasn't Ligon but also no reason to think it was. He came out with Ronnie P. Gossett Jr. who was not of relation but was working the gimmick. The video lists this as Mike Maverick but it's Fly High Eddie who is working a stoner gimmick instead of a high-flying gimmick. He starts a Porky chant for Gossett to start which shifted the heat to him instead of either Eddie or Thunderfoot. Whoever Thunderfoot was, he knew what he was doing (which again leans it towards Ligon) completely over the top in celebrating the smallest things and selling so big on everything that you could see it two states away. Eddie really doesn't do anything but he probably didn't have to with Thunderfoot working and emoting for a half dozen people. We probably need more matches like this in joyless 2020.


Big Daddy D vs. "Joltin" Brad Holtin

MD: I have no idea who Big Daddy D was but he had a good look, a certain awkward swagger where he'd stumble out of a move and turn it into a cocky little mannerism, and some fun vocalizing as he was wrestling. This lasted about a minute and a half before he won with a weird standing half crab. Then he cut a promo, winded, after the match. Post match, Maxx came out to save Holtin and D hit him with maybe the slowest kneelift ever but then took a gigantic bump through the ropes when Maxx moved so we'll call it a wash. This was a fine squash but I'm kind of glad we don't have to see the Maxx vs. D match it set up.

ER: I like seeing big fake Power Plant indy guys from this era. It's great because there were guys in the Power Plant who were worse than Big Daddy D, but he was in this North Carolina gym and not many other places. Power Plant guys always brought something pleasant and unexpected to their matches, a nice bump or a great kick, and Big Daddy D had that. His single leg crab looked good, and Holtin put it over strong with his screams. Holtin takes a high backdrop and Daddy takes a disgusting and wonderful Hamrick bump, doing a feet first tope and splatting on his back. That's the kind of bump and risk taking attitude that would have made Daddy a favorite of mine on Worldwide or Metal. Wrestling ain't fair.


Rikki Nelson/Brad Anderson vs. David Isley/Colt Steel

MD: Pretty straight forward southern style tag. Nelson made cocky heeling look natural and effortless and got the job done but it was nothing that will stick with you for long, though I really liked how he was able to menace from the floor when the ref wasn't looking. Anderson came off more like a Power Plant guy than anything else: good look, OK power moves, not always in the right place at the right time. Steel had sort of a poor man's Ronnie Garvin vibe and played face-in-peril well. Isley wasn't really in there long enough to show much, but it all more or less came together with a format that can do no ill.

ER: What I wouldn't give to see this exact same match at the next indy show I go to. I don't mean that  like, "The idea of not being in my house sounds so appealing that even this match would feel like manna from heaven." No, I just wish this was the kind of wrestling I could go see, instead of modern indy style. I wish we had more Rikki Nelsons on the indy scene. He looks like a snotty younger brother of Pat Sajak, brings a real veteran performer's professionalism with him, and it's the kind of thing that is really memorable on a show like this. He's someone who is always filling time, he's always selling something that happened, he's reacting to fans, he's frustrated with the ref, he's giving instructions to Anderson. He's the kind of guy who is always on, but he's not always making the match about him. He just knows how to fill time with a deep bag of material. He had a great top rope elbowdrop and threw out a lot of offense (Hitman elbow and diving clothesline off the middle buckle, slingshot splash, front suplex) while filling the empty spots with glue. Brad Anderson looks like a guy who would have gotten an extended look from WWF, and is the son of Gene Anderson so he's one of those 3rd generation guys they like. But what's crazy is that Anderson was in WCW nearly a decade earlier as Zan Panzer, and here he just doesn't seem to be nearly complete enough as a worker. He got tryout matches with him, and it's possible that they had just experience the 2nd gen letdown that was Scott Putski, that they just opted to pass on Brad Putski. David Isley somehow got an All Japan tour, and he might officially now be the weirdest guy to have gotten on. That tour was 1992, and in 1998 David Isley looks almost completely untrained. His hot tag is stunningly bad and he looked lost through all of it. His ring entrance gear was a old faded neon windbreaker and a backwards dad hat, and he was the one guy in the match who looked like he didn't exercise. Colt Steel looked like Ronnie Garvin's dad, meaning he looked like the Crusher's son, and he was fine. But this tag was all about getting heat, keeping the fans involved, and I wish I could be there now.  


Sgt. Craig Pittman vs. Billy Black

MD: I always kind of liked Pittman in WCW. He brought something different to the table. Watching this, I half wonder why they didn't bring him in to WWF to work that Shamrock/Severn/Blackman contingent when almost everyone was getting signed. He was a little older by this point, almost 40, maybe not in as good a shape as he had been a few years earlier. He was super charismatic here though. If this was fifteen years earlier, he could have been an attraction somewhere, probably. He worked pretty broadly here, less precision and more of just throwing himself at Black. He wrestled for the crowd, with lots of shouting and push-ups and they got into it well enough, with a USA chant at some point. He also did a flip bump off a punch, though admittedly, it was pretty early in the match. Black, as always, had a lot of stuff, big and small: a handspring elbow in the corner, a missed moonsault, mixing it with plenty of heel tricks to get back on offense. Again, this all felt broad and loose. Black took over with a low blow out of the corner but when he tried another one mid match, Pittman just shrugged it off (which doesn't feel like the sort of thing one ought to do unless it's in the final comeback). I'm not sure this ever came together but it was probably a lot of fun for the crowd. I basically want to see Pittman's entire 98 indy run, and I doubt much of any of it is available. Bunkhouse Buck. One Man Gang. Dan Severn for the NWA title. Teaming with Valiant against the Fultons. Ah well. This showed up after all.

PAS: I dug both guys in this match a lot. Pittman has a ton flash and a really well developed gimmick which connected with the crowd. He's kind of a mix between face AWA Slaughter and JYD. Black has a ton of big offense for 1998 but also bumps huge for all of Pittman's stuff. I loved all of the in-ring topes by Pittman and it always looked cool when he broke them out to cut Black off or go on offense.

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