El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: O Bronco, Where Art Thou?

Week 52: O Bronco, Where Art Thou?

EB: Carlos Colon finally got his revenge against Dick Murdoch by defeating him in the barbed wire match and even got some payback on a caged in Joe Don Smith. It looks like Colon is ready to move on to his next opponent but we will have to see who that will be. The match against Dick Murdoch was not the only instance of Colon getting involved in events on the April 6 card in Carolina, as he played a role in the Scott Hall vs. Giant Warrior match. We’ll cover what happened and what it looks to be setting, although  I suspect that a sudden departure may have resulted in plans changing. This will all lead to one more match for Carlos against Dick Murdoch on the April 21 show in Bayamon.

There were other happenings on that April 6 house show. The World Junior title was held up after match between defending champion Mr. Pogo and Ricky Santana. They will have a rematch for the held up title on April 13. Invader #1 and Bronco#1 retained theirWorld tag  titles against the California Studs via dq in a match where the Studs almost won the titles via chicanery. They will also have a rematch scheduled for April 13. Finally, TNT faced King Kong in  a match demanded by TNT after Kong had debuted by attacking TNT at a TV taping. TNT felt the wrath of Kong’s splash after Akbar’s interference. TNT will get another crack at King Kong on April 13 but with a stipulation. Let’s go to the April 13 Campeones episode so we can catch up with all the latest developments in CSP. 

Campeones 4/13/91

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

Hugo and Profe welcome us to the program (every Saturday at 4pm on TeleOnce),with Profe having his back turned to start so he could turn around and pose when introduced. Hugo makes a comment that the viewers ask him about why he tolerates Profe’s antics and insults (Profe: ‘They’re not insults, they’re truths and realities.’)’, but Hugo says that ultimately Profe is someone that knows about wrestling and that’s why he's here. Profe can’t pass up the opportunity to applaud that comment and say it's a privilege to have him here. They run down the action we’ll see on today’s program, including two matches from last week in Carolina. Hugo takes a moment to thank the fans that were in attendance last week, saying it’s on behalf of everyone at Capitol TV (Profe says to leave him out of that thank you) for a wonderful experience last week in Carolina, it is becoming  a hotbed for wrestling action.

Hugo mentions we’ll see later an incident that happened last week involving Scott Hall, Action Jackso, Giant Warrior and Carlos Colon, as well as what happened last Wednesday in Miramar. Tonight they are back in Carolina and we have a World tag title rematch, with Hugo mentioning the Studs almost stole the titles last week. Profe corrects Hugo that the Studs almost won the titles last week and tonight they will get it done. Hugo also mentioned that tonight TNT will face King Kong in a rematch with the stipulation that Skandor Akbar is barred from ringside due to his constant interference. Profe thinks this is unfair and even stupid on TNT’s part, because now Akbar won’t be there to keep Kong under control.  With that, let’s go to our first match.

Action Jackson vs. Kim Duk

We go to April 6 in Carolina as Kim Duk faces ActionJackson. El Profe is at ringside for Action and there is still resentment between Kim Duk and El Profe over how their partnership ended. Profe on commentary mentions that the reason Duk is being cast in movies with certain celebrities is because of how ugly looking Duk is. Hugo mentions that Duk and Toru Tanaka (who had previously had a run in Puerto Rico) have been doing well in getting movie roles and talks up a recent movie Duk was in. In the ring, Duk and Action Jackson have locked up a couple of times with not much interaction, leading to them facing off and Duk slapping Action in the face. Action sells the blow and retreats to the outside. Jackson gets some words of advice from Profe and goes back in, but again comes up on the short end of the exchange and goes back outside. Action is back in and eventually is able to gain control of the match, knocking Duk down and locking on a chinlock. Duk goes to the eyes to break the hold and works over Action with several blows. A butterfly suplex gets a two count. Kim gets the cobra clutch but gets distracted by El Profe and decides to leave the ring to chase after Profe. Action tries to ambush Duk from behind, but Duk catches him and throws Action back in the ring. The crowd gets loud as Duk hits several kicks on Action, and it looks like he has the match in hand. However, Profe trips Duk when he rebounds off the ropes and Duk hits his head on the mat. Action hits an elbow drop and gets the three count for the win (with Profe sort of reaching in to hold Duk’s leg down for good measure). 

MD: This was actually a pretty good one. Jackson was growing his hair back and had the Zubaz on and did a good job stooging and feeding, creating a lot of motion for Duk. Some of the holds in the middle around the commercial break weren’t the most compelling things in the world, but I liked Duk’s comeback where he had a butterfly suplex and some nice kicks he doesn’t usually do. Jackson’s punches were pretty lively too. Finish had Profe get involved while Duk had the cobra on and Duk menacing him on the outside. Jackson recovered but Duk had his number until Profe grabbed the leg. They sort of missed him holding it down at the end but it was fine. Now Duk has a singles match upcoming with Profe and can finally get even with him.

EB: Afterwards we get a promo from Kim Duk in the studio, he has a match tonight with El Profe and Duk wants revenge. Back to Hugo and Profe, where Hugo needles Profe about the match with Duk tonight. Profe angrily responds that nothing will happen because he is too smart and then just changes the subject to talk about what happened with Scott Hall and Giant Warrior. We go to the video, with Warrior reversing an Irish whip attempt on Hall and Hall colliding with the referee in the corner. Warrior knocks Hall down and starts stomping his foot to set up the big boot. At ringside, Profe starts frantically waving his arm as if to signal someone to come in. It’s Action Jackson, who Warrior intercepts on the apron and is able to fight off. However, Hall has recovered and knees Warrior in the back. In an impressive feat of strength Hall gets Giant Warrior up in the crucifix and hits it. Hall covers, but before the ref can complete the count, Carlos Colon yanks referee Victor Quiñonez out of the ring. Hall is unaware of what happened and starts slapping the mat angrily, waiting for the count. Hall stands up and sees Colon talking with the ref, and the ref calls for the bell. Warrior is declared the winner by disqualification. 

We then go to this past Wednesday in Miramar, where Scott Hall and Carlos Colon were squaring off. Profe trips up Carlos and Hall gets the brief advantage. Carlos makes a comeback and starts punching a downed Hall. Action Jackson runs in and jumps Carlos from behind, locking in the cobra clutch. Profe celebrities and then he and Hall run interference to make sure the ref and anyone who comes in can’t help Carlos out of the hold. Eventually, Giant Warrior makes his way out and gets the better of Hall, By this point though, Carlos is out from the cobra clutch and Action Jackson goes over to help Hall with Giant Warrior. The rudos bust Wariro open and Action actually bites on Warrior’s forehead a couple of times for good measure. We get some more help from the back in the form of Kim Duk, TNT and Invader and they run the rudos from the ring, but the damage is done. Warrior is down bleeding heavily and Carlos is out from the cobra clutch, with TNT having to wake Carlos up from the hold. As a result of this incident, tonight we have a tag match between Carlos Colon & Giant warrior and Scott Hall & Action Jackson. 

We get promos from both teams about tonight’s match, where you get the combination of Hall’s hand gestures and Action’s mouth running while Profe translates. Carlos and Warrior (with a bandaged forehead) promise that they will get even tonight against these dangerous individuals. Tonight the odds are even. The segment finishes with a card rundown for tonight in Carolina: Carlos Colon & Giant Warrior vs. Scott Hall & Action Jackson; TNT vs.King Kong with Skandor Akbar barred from ringside; World tag title rematch as Invader #1 & Bronco #1 defend against the California Studs; Ricky Santna vs Mr. Pogo for the held up World Junior title; Super Medico #3 vs. Motor City Madman; Invader #4 vs.  Doug Gilbert; and Kim Duk vs. El Profe in a lights out match. Also, don’t miss the TV taping in Miramar on Wednesday,where we'll have TNT & Invader #1 vs the California Studs, Kim Duk vs. King Kong, and Ricky Santana vs. Action Jackson. 

MD: We come in right at the end of Hall vs Warrior with the ref getting squashed in the corner on a whip reversal (Hall doing the squashing; it looked good). Warrior loads up the boot after the fact but Jackson comes in to interfere. Then Hall actually gets Warrior up in the crucifix (Razor’s Edge) which was pretty impressive. Colon rushes out to tell the ref what happened and while he holds his own against Hall, Jackson is able to get the Cobra on him. Then they bloody Warrior up two on one. Pretty effective angle and we haven’t seen a ton of Colon teaming with Warrior so that feels novel, as does the Jackson/Hall team. They might just get one or two matches out of this but it was very effective to set it up.

King Kong vs. Tito Carrion & El Corsario

EB: Up next is a handicap match where King Kong takes on Tito Carrion and El Corsario. Kong just steamrolls over both guys, and wins the match with a big splash on Carrion (who gets stretchered out afterwards). Profe on commentary says that this is what awaits TNT tonight. After the match, we get a promo from Akbar and Kong, with Akbar  warning TNT that if he's not going to be at ringside then Kong will be uncontrolled. TNT follows by saying that things will be different from last week with Akbar not allowed at ringside, He dares Kong to hit him again with that splash like he did last week, Kong may be big but he is a coward. Tonight Kong will face a very angry Puerto Rican who is coming to fight. We close out this segment with some very brief comments from Super Medico #3 where he says he is not afraid of Motor City Madman. 

MD: We’ve seen our share of handicap matches with monsters, and this was a little on the iffy side with Kong stumbling at times, but he recovered well. His clubbers looked good, especially the downward elbow strike and that powerslam was particularly nasty as the ring had absolutely no give. TNT’s promo was sufficiently intense. I’m not convinced this feud has legs but it’d be good for a few weeks at least.

Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr. vs. Gran Mendoza & Doug Gilbert 

EB: Our main event is joined in progress, as the Caribbean Express is facing Galan Mendoza and his new tag partner Doug Gilbert. Mendoza and Gilbert are in control, working over Huracan Castillo. This is a rematch of sorts for Mendoza and the Caribbean Express, with Doug Gilbert now in the mix. Most of the match clip shown is Mendoza and Gilbert working over Castillo for several minutes until the hot tag is made to Migueliro. Perez cleans house and then all four men end up fighting in the ring. The finish comes when Perez gets a roll up on Mendoza, but the ref is busy sending Castillo out of the ring. Gilbert hits Perez, allowing Mendoza an opening to load up his glove and then deck Perez for the pinfall win. It looks like this new team may be in line for a Caribbean tag title shot in the future.

Hugo and Profe close the show with Hugo running down tonight’s card and Profe interjecting every now and then about the beating he will give Kim Duk tonight.

MD: I love that there’s this weird direct like from Rick Valentine teaming with Lance Idol all the way to Mendoza and Gilbert here, and it probably continues onwards too. These two work together well, cutting off the ring, drawing in Perez as they work on Castillo. Mendoza has one nice hot shot cut off. Perez does get the hot tag and they feed for the comeback. The finish with an extended distraction leading to Mendoza using the loaded glove and slipping the object back to Ripper maybe takes a little long, but they’re putting these two over strong immediately.

EB: We have two matches from the April 13 house show that we will cover in this installment. The first is the TNT vs. King Kong match with Gen. Skandor Akbar barred from ringside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cl6nMQkE4Q

The video opens with Hugo saying that King Kong had quite the unexpected surprise when he faced TNT. We cut to TNT making his entrance in full mask and gi, clapping his hands and playing to the crowd. TNT gets into the ring and is immediately jumped by King Kong, with not even an opportunity for TNT to get any of his entrance attire off. The ring intros are made as Kong continues attacking TNT, Irish whipping him into a corner and following up with a corner splash. TNT goes down and Kong hits his big splash. The ref counts three and Kong has won. Almost immediately, someone rushes into the ring to attack Kong, it's TNT! It seems TNT sent someone dressed as him to the ring and that was who Kong pinned. TNT attacks Kong, whips him into a corner and follows up with a spin kick that sends TNT himself over the turnbuckle to the outside from the momentum. Kong is staggered but still hasn't gone down though, so TNT goes back in and dropkicks Kong. That blow knocks Kong down and Kong proceeds to roll out of the ring and leave. The crowd cheers as TNT checks on his friend and then starts doing karate poses for the crowd and to taunt Kong. As TNT checks again on his friend, Kong is angrily pacing back and forth outside of the ring. Just as Kong tries to get back in the ring, Akbar arrives to call Kong off. TNT’s ploy worked but his friend got the worst of the plan as he gets stretchered out.

MD: Sometimes these Puerto Rico angles trail the US ones by nine months. Here you had someone dressed like TNT come out and get absolutely destroyed, and I bought it for a minute too even the pin (like a twist on the fake Sting angle from Halloween Havoc 90), but it was a friend of TNT apparently and it let TNT come out and drive Kong from the ring. It came at a big cost to his friend though. Given how shocking it felt when the fake TNT had gotten ambushed and squashed in the gi, I almost wonder if they shouldn’t have legitimately done that and then gave TNT a mountain to climb. Still, this was an interesting take on things.

EB: The second match from the April 13 show is the World tag team title rematch between Invader #1 & Bronco #1 and the California Studs. And a lot went down there, so much that we have a whole episode of Campeones dedicated to airing this match and showing what went down. The version of the TV episode we have is edited to the show intro,  the match, the show close and one Gen. Akbar with Kong promo where Akbar talks about Kong challenging TNT for the TV title tomorrow in Bayamon. We’ll cover the match as aired on the Camepones episode from April 20, but this match also had a release on one of the commercial tapes. We'll post that link after the episode rundown for anyone who wants to watch that version. So let’s go to the craziness that happened in Carolina.

Campeones 4/20/91

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

EB: Hugo and Profe welcome us to another episode of Campeones, with Hugo mentioning that this week they have quite the match to show, an exclusive airing of one of last week’s main events in its entirety. It’s a match that has been the talk of the fans due to what happened, it is the World tag title rematch where Invader and Bronco were supposed to defend their titles against the California Studs. Profe says that this is a chance for the fans to see the quality of the California Studs, how bravely they fought last week, and a chance to see what kind of cowards and trash Invader and Bronco are. Hugo interrupts and says that before Profe continues his insults they want to explain what happened. Bronco, who usually comes in from his native Dominican Republic to wrestle here, had not yet arrived in Carolina, Twice the California Studs had gone to the ring for the match and both times Invader requested more time to allow Bronco to get to the arena. Profe interrupts to make a bad joke about what happened (he heard that the raft they were on had gotten stuck and since they were Dominicans they stopped to see if the tire had gone flat). Hugo clears up that it was a flight delay and since Bronco had not yet arrived by the third time they went to the ring, the ref was about to declare the California Studs the new World tag team champions by forfeit. That is the point where we will pick up the action in a bit.

But before that, Hugo wants to talk about tonight’s show in Humacao and tomorrow's big show in Bayamon at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel. The main event for tonight is Carlos Colon and TNT vs. King Kong & Dick Murdoch. Tomorrow's show in Bayamon will start at 4:30pm, with the main event being Carlos Colon vs. Dick Murdoch. This will be Colon’s chane to finally pay back every rotten thing Murdoch has done while in Puerto Rico and Murdoch’s lackey Joe Don Smith will  be handcuffed to Ricky Santana. One additional note that will come up during the match on commentary but that I will make note of here, apparently we have a new Caribbean champion (Scott Hall has departed for WCW). We’ll talk more about who the new champion is next time. And with that, let’s go to the exclusive airing of last week’s World tag title match. 

Invader/Bronco vs California Studs (Brian Lee/Tony Anthony)

The video begins with referee El Vikingo mid-speech, where he is explaining that the Studs and Akbar have been here on time and it’s not their fault that Bronco is not here. Vikingo tells Invader that he will have to wrestle one of them one on one or do something else, but the titles will go to the Studs if there is no team to face them. Invader thinks for a moment and says that he came here to wrestle, so he is going to go back to the locker room and find someone to team up with him right now. The ref allows this, so Invader goes to the back and comes out with Ricky Santana. Profe has a laughing fit at it being Ricky Santana and Hugo explains that if Ricky had not agreed to team up with Invader, the titles would have been automatically forfeited to the California Studs. Profe complains that the belts should have been awarded to the Studs anyway since the champs are Invader and Bronco. Hugo explains the rule regarding this, saying in the event one of the two champions is not present, the other partner is allowed at any moment before the bell is rung and the ref declares the default win for the challengers to find a substitute partner. However, this is with the understanding that if the champion and substitute partner lose the match, they lose the titles. If the champion and substitute partner win, then it opens the door for the challengers to get a rematch since they did not face the actual champion team in the loss. Profe complains that even if the rules say that, he doesn't think that it's right to not award the Studs the titles here. 

As the match is about to get underway, Hugo thanks the CSP promoters for allowing them to air this match in its entirety and also warns that this a very violent and bloody match so parents please exercise your judgement. Hugo makes note that Ricky has already wrestled earlier and had won the World Junior title against Mr. Pogo, but is wrestling again here helping out Invader. Gen. Akbar is with the Studs, enjoying the view from a seat at ringside. The first several minutes of the match have Invader and Ricky in control and getting the better of the California Studs. Profe complains a couple of times of what he feels is the unfairness of not awarding the titles to Lee and Anthony, while Hugo puts over Santana helping out Invader even though he wrestled earlier. The Studs take over when Lee catches Santana with a kick to the head and they proceed to work over Ricky. Things take a turn when Lee throws Ricky to the outside and, with the ref distracted, Tony Anthony throws Ricky head first into the ringpost. Ricky is busted open. Invader checks on Ricky and it is clear Santana is out of it. Invader is told to get back to his side of the ring and, with the ref again distracted, Brian Lee throws Ricky head first into the post again.Invader comes over once more and helps Ricky back into the ring.

Ricky is in trouble as the Studs work over his cut. The Studs continue beating up Ricky for the next few minutes, with Invader breaking up the pin attempt but not able to help Santana further. The Studs are content to just mercilessly go after Santana's bleeding head. Finally, the tide turns when Anthony misses a top rope maneuver (either a headbutt or slash) and Ricky staggers about and barely makes the tag to Invader. Ricky falls to the outside and is out on the arena flor. Invader comes in a house a’fire as the crowd cheers. Invader holds his own for a minute or two, but the two on one disadvantage catches up with him. The ref moves to get Brian Lee out of the ring, and Akbar passes an object to Anthony that he uses to punch Invader in the head. Invader has been busted open and what follows are several minutes of Invader bleeding heavily as he tries to survive against the two on one disadvantage. Invader’s face is a body mask as he keeps surviving the pin attempts and desperately tries to make a tag to someone who is not there (Santana is still passed out on the floor). Just when it seems the Studs will inevitably win the tag titles, the crowd starts reacting. Bronco has arrived at the arena and has emerged from the locker room in a suit and carrying his bag. Bronco drops everything he’s carrying and runs full sprint to the ring and takes his position in the tecnico corner. He takes off his jacket and shirt. El Profe goes off on commentary for the ref allowing Bronco to enter the match as it had already been started with Ricky Santana as the official competitor. Hug says what else is one to do when you see your tag partner in this situation. The ref seems to be allowing Bronco to stay on the apron. Invader keeps surviving and Bronco keeps cheering and yelling for the tag. While this is going on, we see some tecnicos come out to where Ricky Santana is and help carry him back to the locker room. Finally, Invader is able to make a tag to Bronco and the crowd erupts as Bronco cleans house on the Studs. Profe is again irate about Bronco being allowed in the match. Akbar trips up Bronco and ref calls for the bell. The Studs proceed to spike pildrive Bronco onto a chair. Lee gets a chair shot on the downed Bronco but Kim Duk and TNT run in to stop any further damage. Invader is down and covered in blood. Bronco is down from the spike piledriver on the chair. Santana has already been carried off. The ring mat is a mess from Santana and Invader’s blood. They show Invader and Bronco being stretchered out after the match, with Profe bragging about how three of the tecnicos were carried out. 

We close the show with Hug mentioning that there will be no flight delays this time as Bronco is already here. Tomorrow is the rematch and we get some final words from Bronco and Invader (with a band aid on his head). Bronco says that tomorrow it might feel like a hurricane will hit the Studs, they may be coming for the titles but Invader and him are coming for the Studs’ heads. Invader says he’s recovered the blood he lost last week and swears by his mother that they will remain the World tag team champions.  

MD: Esteban’s done a great job of explaining how we got here and you have to love all the details at play. They really focused so hard on covering every angle, from what would happen if the substitute team won to just thanking the promotion for letting them air the full match on an exceptional basis. In some ways they weren’t giving away the actual match since Santana was there instead of Bronco so the harm was actually limited. They cared so much in making it seem real and genuine by covering all these bases and it creates so much more of an immersive environment than what we see now on a weekly basis. It was a side effect of not raising questions in the eyes of the fans, but that’s what it took to create such a rich tapestry. 

Honestly, this was just a tremendous piece of business, up there with anything we’ve seen so far in this journey. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it was a bit of shine to start and obviously Anthony and Lee were very good at feeding into things, making it seem like they were about to take advantage only to get caught. Santana ran into a boot however, and they opened him up on the outside on the post and really worked over the wound. Remember, he’d already faced Pogo earlier in the night. He eventually starts to really fire up, but gets cut off, only to finally dodge a flying second rope clothesline and make the tag.

Invader comes in super hot, really like only he could, but Anthony hits him with a hidden object and he bleeds massive. His work here is some of the best I’ve ever seen. Not an exaggeration. Santana is out on the floor and he tries to fire back and just goes corner to corner reaching his hand out for a tag. It’s just almost heartbreaking stuff, amazing work. This goes on and on with him getting opportunities but with no hope as he’s just bleeding out. Then, from the back, in a suit(!) comes Bronco. He rushes up on the apron and pulls off his shirt and barely, by the skin of his teeth, Invader’s able to make a tag. Bronco comes in even hotter than Invader and the crowd goes nuts. Obviously the match has devolved into chaos at this point, and Akbar grabs his legs. The Studs piledrive Bronco onto a chair but the babyfaces come out of the back to run them off as Invader and Bronco (and maybe Santana) get stretchered out. Absolutely classic stuff right here. 

EB: As mentioned, here is the commercial tape release of the match with Ricky Santana and Dick Slater on commentary. The video quality is clearer but it does cut off the pre match and post match stretcher  jobs we get in the TV episode version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkxooWE_3L0

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the next challenger to the Universal title is announced as a former champion is on his way back to Puerto Rico. Also, TNT suffers one big splash too many, a new and unexpected Caribbean champion, and a big Noche de Campeones event is announced for Mother’s Day weekend. 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: The King of Kong

Week 50: The King of Kong

EB: It was supposed to settle the feud. A cage with a roof and a lock on the door to ensure no interference. Finally, we would settle things once and for all between Carlos Colon and Dick  Murdoch. But it seems that Murdoch had a plan, as Joe Don Smith was able to pass Murdoch a piece of barbed wire through a hole in the fencing. Murdoch proceeded to attack and cut up not just Carlos Colon with the barbed wire, but also attack and cut up referee El Vikingo as well. The match had no definitive winner and it seems Murdoch’s actions are under review by the WWC committee due to his attack on the referee. While that matter is under review, one more match has been signed between Colon and Murdoch. It is scheduled for April 6 in Carolina and it has a few stipulations attached. Due to the attack with the barbed wire, the match will be a barbed wire match. In addition, to ensure that Joe DonSmith cannot interfere in any way, he will be locked inside a small cage that will be suspended above the ring. Will this finally settle this feud? 

Another long running feud that has apparently reached its climax is the one between Action Jackson and TNT. This feud was restarted in January when the Original TNT made his return to Puerto Rico and continued even after TNT had claimed the sole rights to the TNT name. After three months, TNT has been able to defeat ActionJackson and regain the TV title. But it seems that Action is getting a title rematch at the upcoming TV taping, so we will have to see if this finally settles the issue. Let’s go to the April 6 episode of Campeones to find out once and for all if the rivalry between TNT and ActionJackson can finally be put to rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGCLcUayh-0

Hugo and Profe welcome the viewers to another episode of Campeones on TeleOnce. They run down who will be inaction on today’s program (including a name we have not heard of before), when Hugo mentions that we will go to what happened last Wednesday at the TV taping when Action Jackson was facing the new TV champion TNT. We cut to TNT having Action in the Cobra Dinamita when a huge masked guy climbs into the ring and attacks TNT from behind. This man is known as King Kong and he is the latest acquisition of Gen. Skandor Akbar. Kong attacks TNT, finishing the attack with a splash off the top turnbuckle. It looks like the TNT has finally gotten past action Jackson and already has someone new targeting him. Kong continues stomping on TNT until reinforcements arrive to make the save. 

Back to Hugo and Profe, and Profe is gushing about how impressive and wonderful King Kong’s first impression was. Hugo says that because of this attack, tonight’s card in Carolina is undergoing a change. Instead of facing Motor City Madman, TNT will now be facing King Kong. Hugo also says that TNT wants to send his apologies to the fans for not being able to appear on the Thursday and Friday shows due to the attack (with El Profe interjecting ‘and tonight's as well!’), but Hugo says TNT says he will be there tonight. Also tonight, a huge main event as the Universal title will be defended in a barbed wire match and Joe Don Smith will be suspended 15 feet above the ring in a small cage to prevent him from interfering. Last week, it was Joe Don who passed the barbed wire to Dick Murdsoch that was promptly used to hurt both the referee and Carlos Colon. Hugo says that the WWC is reviewing all of these things DickMurdoch has done and may be deciding soon what actions to take against this individual. Profe is looking forward to seeing Carlos Colon torn apart by the barbed wire and Dick Murdoch as the new Universal champion.Hugo says we will have video of what happened last week as well as some special interviews, but these seem to be edited off the version of this episode we have available. Hugo finishes by promoting the merchandise available for fans to purchase tonight and also plugs an amateur boxing tournament that was happening that night as well in Miramar (where they tape their TV). Again, please remember to buy your tickets at the box office, protect your money.

MD: As best as I can figure here, this King Kong is actually Awesome Kong and not King Kong II who is the King Kong that teamed with Awesome Kong as part of the Colossal Kongs. Got it? Regardless, this was pretty effective overall. He had good presence in framing the moment after TNT crashed into him off the ropes and moved pretty well heading up to the top for a splash.

EB: Our first match is Huracan Castillo vs Rick Valentine, an offshoot of the Caribbean tag title change from a couple of weeks back. Valentine blindsides Castillo before Huracan can take off his ring jacket. Valentine controls for a couple of minutes before Castillo comes back and finishes Valentine off with a body press. Short match as Valentine is finishing up his year long run.

MD: I think this week might be just about it for ol’ Kerry Brown in Puerto Rico at least this time around. You have to admire the run that he had. This was a pretty compact affair where he attacked Castillo before he got his jacket off and they skipped the shine to go straight to the heat. Valentine was focused and effective and had a nice neckbreaker. Castillo came back with energy and jumping knees and won it clean without any real drama with a body press. Professional stuff at least.

EB: The California Studs have done very well in their run so far and have moved into position to challenge for the World tag team titles.They were not successful last week, but Akbar, Lee and Anthony cut a promo on facing Bronco and Invader tonight in a rematch. Akbar promises the gold will be theirs tonight. Bronco and Invader respond by saying it won’t be easy, with Bronco saying you have to go it there willing to fight, willing to die, willing to kill if they want to get these World tag titles.Invader puts over the quality of the Studs and they will be ready when that bell rings. 

MD: Still amusing to see how the choreography is off. Akbar starts speaking and sticks the mic in Lee’s face but they all have to wait for the voice over to be done. Lee talks and does the “tell ‘em, big man” for Anthony (which is funny in its own right) and then they have to wait again. I do like how this is where Devastation Inc. ended up between World Class and Global. Invader and Bronco don’t necessarily seem as hot about this program as Studs do. Anthony’s talking about how they left the babyfaces laying in their blood and Invader’s talking more about conditioning and competition. 

EB: We saw him debut earlier in the program by attacking TNT, but here is our first look at King Kong in a match. His opponent is Jerry Mercado and it goes as well as you would expect for poor Mercado. Hugo on commentary says that he's heard that this King Kong weighs 450 pounds and Kong makes quick work of Jerry. A big splash gets the three count and poor Jerry is stretched out after the match. Akbar has found quite the big gun here.

MD: Kong has the cool barbarian robe deal, so that’s a plus. He does a kick (just an okay kick), then a DDT of all things and the splash you’d expect and I reiterate that he’s moving around int here pretty well. That’s the whole match. They stretcher Mercado out after the fact. There’s every sense that the top guys (Colon, Invader, etc.) could do something with him but I’d wonder what he and Giant Warrior could do with each other.

EB: Profe is with Scott Hall and they talk about Hall’s match tonight against Giant Warrior. It is for the Caribbean title and Hall says it will take more than face paint, arm ribbons and some screaming fans to beat the blond outlaw. Warrior responds by reminding Hall that he beat Hall in the bullrope match and that he is looking forward to winning that Caribbean title.

MD: We have to be running out of time on Hall too but at least we get to see him do all of his hand gestures while Profe talks. Warrior won a recent bullrope match so now he gets a shot at the Caribbean title.

EB: Our main event is a match that took place recently between the California Studs and the team of Giant Warrior and Ricky Santana. Anthony and Santana start off by exchanging punches, followed by Santana getting the better of Anthony on a corner whip. The crossbody by Santana is broken up by Lee and all four men are in the ring. Warrior and Ricky send the Studs out with a double team (Warrior holds santana while Ricky kicks the Studs). The Studs regroup and Brian Lee is tagged in. The match continues with Ricky in control by using his speed to counter Lee and Anthony. It gets to the point where Lee has to rub Anthony’s shoulders to psych him up. A blind tag to Lee finally allows the Studs to take control when Ricky is blindsided by a Lee clothesline. Lee distracts the referee by taunting Giant Warrior and drawing him into the ring, allowing Tony Anthony to attack Ricky on the arena floor. The Studs keep Santana isolated but a couple of missed moves by Anthony allows the tag to be made. Warrior briefly cleans house on the Studs. All four men are in the ring and it leads to Santana getting a small package on Anthony that is reversed by Lee. The Studs get the win. Hugo complains that they stole that win and then starts doing one last hard sell for tonight’s show as the video cuts.

MD: The Studs really fit in well. If I had my choice, maybe there’d be more contrast between Lee and Anthony but it’s also a lot of fun to see Lee stooging so huge. He ran a sequence with Santana early here where he won on shoulder tackles but then lost on speed and it was full of him flexing, pinballing, stalling, stooging, escaping outside of the ring and it was great stuff. Warrior had a nice big where he lifted up Santana to kick everyone too. Heat was on Santana after a nice blind tag transition (Anthony leapfrogged him and he ran right into a clothesline) and they built well to the hot tag to Warrior. Finish had Santana get a roll up as the ref was distracted and Lee pushing them over so Anthony could win. You could put the Studs against any two guys in the territory and it’d probably be good.

EB: We now go to the west coast version of Super Estrellas from the same day.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQ1Q-wa60g

The version we have starts with a Rick Valentine vs Giant Warrior match already in progress. Valentine jumped Warrior before Warrior was able to get his ring jacket off. Sound strategy but Warrior is able to shake Valentine off and gets the win while still wearing his ring jacket. And that should be it for Rick Valentine in CSP.

MD: Similar to the Castillo match in Valentine attacks before the ring jacket comes off. It doesn’t go quite as well for him as Warrior is just too big. They go back and forth a bit but Valentine runs into a boot and maybe this is it for him?

EB: We get a series of interviews regarding matches for tomorrow’s house show in Quebradillas. Monster Ripper is facing Sasha in a non-title match. Ripper reminds everyone that she is the champ and that she won't let Sasha beat her to get a title shot. Sasha is garbage, a worm and she will prove it tomorrow. Sasha responds by urging the fans to support her tomorrow as she looks to get another title shot and bring the title to Puerto Rico.

Ricky Santnaa is facing Gran Mendoza tomorrow and the topic is that controversial glove that Mendoza uses. Ricky sends a hello to the fans in Quebradillas and Hugo says that the ladies are especially looking forward to seeing Ricky tomorrow.

MD: Not a lot to say about these. Ripper’s got the belt. Sasha wants the belt. She wants to give it back to the people of Puerto Rico. And Santana has to contend with Gran Mendoza and his loaded glove. We’ll hear from him later.

EB: Up next is Dick Murdoch taking on Kim Duk. Duk threatens Murdoch with the kendo stick while trying to enter the ring, with Murdoch begging off. Murdoch snatches the kendo stick from the ref when he is trying to put it away, but is not able to use it before the ref takes it back. Murdoch then tries to jump Duk when he has his back turned for the salt ceremony, but Duk catches Murdoch and wards him off with the threat of salt being thrown. As the match goes on, Hug takes a moment to explain what happened the previous weekend during the cage match between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch. Joe Don Smith slid a piece of barbed wire through the cage fencing to Dick Murdoch, which Murdoch used to attack and cut up not just Carlos Colon but the referee as well. Hugo says the incident is being evaluated by the WWC committee and we have to see what decision they reach regarding this disgusting and unprofessional action. In the ring, Murdoch takes control due to some dirty tactics and controls most of the match with punches and elbows. Duk eventually starts punching back and goes off on Murdoch for the last couple of minutes (with some great stooging and begging off from Murdoch). Duk gets the cobra clutch on Murdoch and it looks like he may have Murdoch down, but Joe Don Smith jumps in for the dq. Duk chases Smith but Murdoch attacks from behind and they briefly double team Duk. Murdoch then wraps a cord around Duk’s throat and chokes him out. Duk wins by dq but Murdoch has left him down.

MD: Murdoch, as always, is great to watch. He had antics at the start with the kendo stick. His hands were going all over the place throughout. He controlled most of it and all of his offense looked great, but when Duk was ready for his comeback, he took everything and made it look ten times better and a hundred times more entertaining than usual. He ended up in the cobra clutch but Joe Don (in full baseball gear) broke it up for the DQ with them double teaming Duk and leaving him laying after the fact. 

EB: El Galan Mendoza is next with Monster Ripper and Mendoza claims he is making his return (dude, you’ve been around since January). He is facing Ricky Santana tomorrow. Hugo brings up his glove and Mendoza is aghast that Hugo would say such a thing about any illegal use. They are followed by Akbar and the California Studs, their opponents tomorrow are TNT & Kim Duk, who close this section with comments of their own.

MD: Mendoza, on his own with Ripper, as much as I think he’s a solid talent, is kind of punching above his weight here. It is nice to see Duk and TNT together after all they’ve been through since Duk was brought in as heel TNT’s karate associate.

EB: We next get the King Kong vs Jerry Mercado match we had on Campeones. King Kong will be in action tomorrow in Quebradillas against Miguelito Perez. 

MD: This is the same match from the other show. Akbar is always respectful of Perez, Sr. but he really wonders what Perez Jr. is thinking going up against Kong.

EB: Dick Murdoch is bragging about taking Joe Don to his ranch in Texas and putting him to work. Then he has some words for Giant Warrior, who he is facing tomorrow in Quebradillas. Afterwards, Giant Warrior says that Murdoch is a tough man but he will not back down.

MD: Murdoch has fun confusing the town of Quebradillas with a food. He does a good job of putting Giant Warrior over as dangerous but also indicating it won’t matter a bit.

EB: We have the El Bronco music video that was done when he debuted back in December 1990..

MD: This is not at all important but considering how much Bronco’s valet is featured in this video I wonder why she’s never around. It could also be an old video from when he was coming in the first time?

EB: We have another series of promos for tomorrow’s card, as Action Jackson is facing Bronco tomorrow and he mocks Bronco's dancing. Bronco promises he will not be made a fool off tomorrow, and Miguelito Perez promises to do his best for the fans tomorrow against a guy that is big.  

MD: Jackson’s really funny because he’ll toss it over to Profe and then just keep talking as Profe talks over him with the mic and it’s certainly memorable if not particularly effective. 

EB: The California Studs are facing the team of Super Medico #3 and Invader #4. The tecnicos do well early on but Invader #4 falls prey to a Tony Anthony punch and then Lee proceeds to take over once tagged in. They work over Invader #4, but eventually the hot tag is made. All four men are in and the tecnicos are briefly in control again until Medico #3 misses a charge and is clotheslined on the top rope. This allows Brian Lee the opening to hit his flying kneedrop and get the pin. 

MD: They have the match bookended by the Studs video. Medico III and Invader IV is actually a pretty smart team now that Invader I is with Bronco and Medico I had to hang it up. Invader IV is pretty spry and agile and Medico III has some size and his dad’s striking (though not quite as good). I get the sense they don’t run with this pairing for long though. Here they were there to put over the Studs. More good stooging and controlling the ring (with some Akbar interference). Finish had Invader IV make the hot tag but Lee able to redirect Medico’s throat over the top rope and then he hit the bombs away knee from the top clean to get the pin. Studs train keeps on rolling. 

EB: Our final match for the episode is Doug Gilbert taking on Ricky Santana. The first half of the match has a focus of both wrestlers working over each other's arms, with Gilbert then controlling the middle portion with some chinlocks. Ricky comes back and they end up taking a not smoothly executed tumble over the top rope to the outside. They start fighting as the ref counts them both out. Hugo then closes the show. 

MD: This wasn’t a lot to write home about. The early bits where Gilbert controlled the arm by pulling the hair repeatedly were done well, but a lot of the middle chunk were chinlocks where he wasn’t as active as he could have been. He’s not exactly a force, just sort of a heel presence on the midcard, and they ended up protecting both of these guys with a double countout.    

Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch barbed wire match from April 6 in Carolina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fSbbbCKVsY

EB: We finally have a match from the Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch feud. This is a barbed wire match where Joe Din Smith will be suspended in a cage above the ring so he can't interfere. We begin with Joe Don already above the ring in a cage as Colon and Murdoch are facing off. Colon is able to back Murdoch up into a corner and it seems Murdoch's tights have gotten caught on the barbed wire Murdoch asks referee Victor Quiñonez to help remove the barbed wire from his butt.Colon and Murdoch start exchanging punches again (although Murdoch takes a moment to sell the pain of being pricked in the buttock by the barbed wire) and Murdoch is the first one to try to shove his opponent's face into the wire. Carlos fights Murdoch off and avoids going into the wire. Murdoch flips off Colon. They continue exchanging blows and we get a camera shot where we can see Joe Don hanging above the ring. Murdoch manages to knock Carlos down and starts signalling to Joe Don. It seems they have a plan and it involves Joe Don lowering a blackboard with some instructions written on it. Joe Don has hidden some wire cutters near the ring and the blackboard is telling Murdoch where they are at. Murdoch heads to a corner and finds the wire cutters, and puts them to use by cutting off a piece of barbed wire.  Murdoch then uses the piece of wire to choke Carlos. It is no dq so the ref can only watch and see if Carlos gives up. Murdoch headbutts the ref for good measure to ensure he doesn’t intervene and stop the choking with the wire. Carlos is able to break out of the choke by foul kicking Murdoch and then proceeds to give him a taste of his own medicine by choking Murdoch with the wire. The ref finally is able to toss out the wire and Carlos scrapes Murdoch's head on the barber wire. 

Murdoch is bleeding and Carlos continues the attack by working over the cut. However, Murdoch cuts that off with a foul blow of his own. Murdoch rams Colon’s head into the wire and is in control as Joe Don uses the blackboard to send down this message of encouragement: ‘You're winning!’.Carlos is now bleeding and is sent back first into the barbed wire. Murdoch continues punching (with taped fists) and Carlos catches his arm on the wire. Murdoch continues working over Colon’s forehead but eventually Carlos makes a comeback.Carlos sends Murdoch into the wire a couple of times and we see Joe Don banging on the cage in frustration. Murdoch rakes Colon’s eyes to stop the attack. Murdoch gets a piledriver for a two count and then signals to Joe Don for something. Joe Don lowers some brass knuckles, but Carlos intercepts them. Carlos wallops Murdoch with the knuckles and gets the pinfall win. The crowd cheers as Colon has his hand raised. Carlos wants to continue attacking Murdoch but the ref waves him off. We still have Joe Don above the ring in the cage, looking defeated. 

We cut to when Joe Don’s cage is being lowered, and Carlos goes back into the ring. He decks Murdoch with a punch that sends Murdoch head first into the bottom of the small cage. Murdoch is knocked out and Joe Don is trapped in the cage with an angry Carlos Colon waiting for him. Carlos rolls out of the ring to wait for the cage to be lowered, while Joe Don starts begging for them to lift the cage back up. Carlos has the knuckles and is yelling for them to lower that cage. The ref opens the cage door as we see Murdoch slowly roll out of the ring, still a bit out of it. Carlos stalks Murdoch who then motions to Colon and points at Joe Don in the ring to try to get Colon off his back. It works as Carlos gets in the ring and unleashes some frustration on Joe Don. Murdoch does eventually come back in to get Colon to back  off, but Joe Don took quite a few lumps. Carlos has gotten some measure of payback on both Murdoch and Joe Don.  .  

MD: We’re lucky to have this one. Joe Don Smith was elevated over the ring in a small cage. It’s more or less what you’d want from a barbed wire match but with that Dick Murdoch twist. It started with his trunks getting caught on the wire and it didn’t really look back. He controlled after a low blow but then Colon came back after one. Meanwhile, Murdoch’s idea for the match, which was wonderful in practice, was to use a small blackboard to trade instructions back and forth with Smith. It was pretty comedic in practice. Super entertaining. At one point, he sent down a note saying how great a job Murdoch was doing. 

I think early on he got Murdoch some wire cutters so he could cut off a part of the wire to use to choke Colon. Of course Colon got it himself later. After the cartwheel, Colon used headbutts and they all seemed to twist Murdoch about and send him headlong into the wire. He bled big. Finish had Murdoch get a pile driver and then, confident, ask Smith for knucks. Colon got them and won the match. Post-match was all about Colon getting his hands on Smith and to set it up, as the cage was being lowered, they pulled off one of the greatest stooge bumps I’ve ever seen, as Murdoch missed a shot and got nailed right into the lowered cage, getting KOed. That let Colon unload on Smith before Murdoch could recover and pull him away. This was really a blast. Maybe it needed just a bit more of Colon getting ripped apart but otherwise, it was great stuff.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, TNT seeks payback against the massive King Kong, Galan Mendoza gets a new tag partner, and the California Studs paint the town red (well, the ring at least).  

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: So That's Where The Stairs In Caguas Lead To...

Week 49: So That's Where The Stairs In Caguas Lead To...

MD: We are back covering the untapped gold of 1991 Puerto Rico. If you want to catch up, here's the Master List.

EB: We don’t have results for the March 16 card in Bayamon, so we don’t know with certainty the end result of the Colon brothers tag against Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith. As we’ll soon see, Murdoch seems pretty pleased with what went down, so at the very least it seems that Murdoch and Joe Don came out on top. And riding that high, Dick Murdoch has decided to throw out a challenge to Carlos Colon for one more match with the Universal title on the line. Only there is a stipulation attached. It also seems that the issue between TNT and Action Jackson has not yet been settled and we have a big stipulation match coming tonight in Caguas as a result of an altercation that happened at the most recent TV taping.

Let’s go to the Campeones episode from March 23 (please note that the video title says 3/16 but this is the 3/23 episode) so we can see what the latest developments are in CSP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtK3dcOEyik

Hugo and El Profe welcome the viewers to the program, with Profe remarking that he has Akbar on some scouting trips at the moment. They run down the matches we’ll have on today’s program (some of which we have previously covered). Hugo also mentions they will have a look at what happened last Wednesday in Miramar between Action Jackson and TNT. Profe says that it will be a chance for the people to see what kind of garbage TNT is, because he cowardly attacked someone from  behind while getting involved in something that didn’t concern him. Hugo says the viewers can be the judge of that. The main event for today’s program is the match from February 2 where the Texas Hangmen defended the World tag team titles against Invader #1 (with taped fist) and Bronco #1. Profe is not happy with the match selection since there are so many matches they could show (obviously not happy with how that match ended). Hugo says it is a very important bout and the fans deserve to watch those types of matches.

They move on to tonight’s house show in Caguas where the main event will be a falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson. Profe starts talking about all of the different things they could get away with like dunking TNT in a toilet, taking TNT out to the parking lot and other things. Hugo counters what if TNT is the one that gets the upper hand, to which Profe tries to change the subject and claim he’s never gotten involved in anything (Hugo isn;t buying that claim at all). Hugo mentions that Scott Hall retained the Caribbean title but almost lost it to Kim Duk, with el Profe complaining that Duk tried to steal the title by throwing salt in Hall’s face but thanks to him the ref was made aware of what happened. He also says that he would never accept any of his guys doing anything underhanded like that, with Hugo just mocking Profe for lying. Tonight, Hall and Duk will have a rematch and Hugo says that Kim Duk told Hugo that he was going to make sure that the ref wouldn’t see any salt throwing this time around.  With that, they send it to the first match, the Caribbean tag title match from March 9 in Carolina.

MD: I’m pretty sure Profe said they’d flush TNT’s head in the toilet for a few minutes before beating him. I think that’s a thing that happened here. 

Caribbean Express vs Gran Mendoza/Rick Valentine

EB: The Caribbean Express are the challengers and Hugo says that they are in their hometown for this match. The champions, Valentine and Mendoza ,are already in the ring, with Monster Ripper accompanying them at ringside. Castillo and Valentine start off for their teams. Castillo controls the early minutes of the match by working the arm of Valentine and then Mendoza. Galan Mendoza is able to back Castillo to his team’s corner and he and Valentine double team Castillo. This brings in Perez, who is momentarily cut off by Mendoza. Miguelito recovers and charges into  the corner, monkey flipping Castillo out of there and Castillo lands on his feet, chagrin at Mendoza. Perez is tagged in but falls prey to the champs and is worked over for the next couple of minutes. Perez and Mendoza collide and this leads to Castillo and Valentine getting the tag. Castillo starts cleaning house, with Miguelito sending Mendoza outside and fighting with him on the floor. In the ring, Castillo gets a sunset flip for the three count. New Caribbean tag champs! The crowd cheers as the new champions head back to the locker room with their newly won title belts.  

MD: While I’m ok with us moving on from Valentine/Mendoza as Valentine had a long run which had a high floor but maybe not the highest ceiling, it does feel like there was another month they could have gotten out of this pairing, considering how long the Super Medicos feud went. This was yet another quality tag. Valentine pinballed early. The heat really came from controlling the corner. There was a great switch of the FIP/hope spot with Perez monkey flipping Castillo who turned around into a clothesline as he landed which is just a beautiful lost spot but the VQ is pretty rough here so you don’t get the full effect. They crashed heads to set up the hot tag and after a bit of chaos, Perez and Castillo got a quick pin and the belts. 

EB: The California Studs (specifically Brian Lee) talk about their match tonight against Giant Warrior and Ricky Santana. Speaking of tonight’’s card in Caguas, we get a partial rundown of what is set for tonight: Falls count anywhere for the TV title as TNT faces Action Jackson; a rematch as Invader #1 faces Motor City Madman; Giant Warrior & Ricky Santana vs The California Studs; and Scott Hall defends the Caribbean title against Kim Duk.

Afterwards we get the Dick Murdoch vs. El Corsario match from February 2 that we previously covered. We then get a snippet of a Dick Murdoch promo where he says that Joe Don is the first thing from Puerto Rico he has been proud of (so I’m guessing he did well in the tag match the previous week). We then cut to El Profe who says let’s hear what that coward Carlos Colon has to say. Carlos is here to accept a challenge Dick Murdoch has made. It’’s a cage match for the Universal title, with a roof on the cage and a lock on the door. Carlos wishes Murdoch had the guts to show up tonight in Caguas or even now to the studio so they could have that match right now. Carlos challenges Murdoch to show up tonight if he dares, but he will accept the challenge for the cage match.

We then get comments from the Motor City Madman about his match against Invader tonight. He left Invader hanging last week in Bayamon and tonight it will be Invader’s last match. 

MD: We get a tiny glimpse of a Murdoch promo here which makes me think that Murdoch and Joe Don did win the mixed tag, a good way to get heat for the upcoming cage match. Not too much else to say for this show given that we have it clipped and it has things we’ve already covered. The upcoming show looked to have a lot of return matches (TNT/Jackson, Hall/Duk) but Santana/Giant Warrior vs Anthony/Lee is a weird and interesting one.

EB: The episode closes out with an airing of the Invader& Bronco vs. Texas Hangmen from February 2. Now let's go to the west coast version of the Super Estrellas episode from that same day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGt0ykdKNPg

Hugo welcomes the viewers and runs down what we will see on today’s show. Afterwards, Hugo starts talking about tomorrow’s house show lineup but the video cuts to the end of the TNT Evolution music video. From there we get a promo from the California Studs about their tag match tomorrow in Aguadilla against the team of Kim Duk and Ricky Santana. It looks like Tony Anthony has a score to settle with Ricky Santana for busting his nose and eye up in a previous match. Kim Duk and Ricky Santana follow with their comments, with Duk talking about the conditioning he and Ricky have, while Ricky promises to leave Tony Anthony laying this time around.

We get a rundown for tomorrow’s card in Aguadilla: Falls count anywhere for the TV title as TNT faces Action Jackson; Invader #1 & Giant Warrior vs. Scott Hall & Motor City Madman; Kim Duk & Ricky Santana vs The California Studs; Huracana  Castillo Jr vs Rick Valentine; and Invader #4 vs. Doug Gilbert.

Our first match of the program is the California Studs vs Invader #4 and Jerry Mercado. Hugo makes note that Skandor Akbar is not there because he is on a scouting trip, which means El Club Deportivo is likely getting reinforcements. The match is short, as the Studs isolate Jerry Mercado and work him over, getting the pinfall after the powerslam / flying kneedrop combo.

MD: Santana had tagged Anthony previously and now they were going to get revenge. Santana/Partner vs the Studs seemed to be what they were doing this week as here he was teamed with Duk. No Akbar here (he was off scouting for Devastation Inc. apparently). The highlight was Anthony trying to figure out what to do when Hugo was talking and tearing at his own eye. Duk said that both he and Santana were in superior condition and I’m not sure about that visually looking at him, but then he sort of always looked like this, just more grey in his beard now. The squash was efficient (even with Lee pulling Mercado up once). Invader was a non-factor and they won with a bombs away kneedrop from Lee which is a good thing to do if you’re billed from California I guess.

EB: Giant Warrior and Invader are here to talk about facing Scott Hall and Motor City Madman tomorrow. We get the back half of the interview with Hugo translating, where he says that tomorrow it is not going to be two on one. The size difference is really stark here when you have Giant Warrior standing next to Hugo and Invader (although I think Invader may be standing lower just to make the contrast even more since here he’s at Hugo’s height when he’s taller).

MD: Warrior and Invader vs Hall and Madman feels like a pretty solid match that they could put on right now. I think this is the first time I fully realized that Warrior’s face paint was supposed to be like Ultimate Warrior. I saw him in Japan first so I think I took that for granted. I always saw him as an answer to El Gigante. Anyway, this was just them clasping hands as Hugo spoke for a few seconds.

EB: Up next is another showcase for Doug Gilbert as he takes on Tito Carrion. Hugo mentions that Doug looks like a pirate with that bandanna on. The commentators again talk about the places Doug has wrestled and that he is a  dangerous individual. Carrion gets a brief hit of offense but this all Doug as he wins with the slingshot suplex.

MD: Doug really does feel like a herald for what is to come like when Lanny Poffo came into Mid-South and they started to mention Randy (even though that never came to be). Doug has pretty good execution of his suplexes and what not, but you can tell he hasn’t quite put it all together yet just yet in how he goes from point A to point B. Good energy and enthusiasm though. Carrion outwrestles him for a second here but that’s all he gets as Gilbert steamrolls him. When we hear his promo later on Invader IV, he was sure shouty.

EB: We get promos from Huracan Castillo Jr and Rick Valentine on their singles match tomorrow. Valentine wants revenge for the cheaters (according to him) taking the Caribbean tag tiles. 

MD: They’re doing a singles match between these two and Valentine complains that Castillo stole the belts and the best way to get revenge is one-on-one. Straightforward stuff.

EB: We get a name vs name matchup next as Kim Duk faces the current TV champion. Action Jackson. Profe is with Jackson, and I’m sure Duk has not forgotten his resentment towards his former manager. Duk works over Jackson’s arm to start but then Action starts getting aggressive by going for the eyes. Jackson controls the middle portion, mainly working Duk’s neck with a nerve hold, but when Duk fights out of it they start exchanging blows. Profe gets involved by tripping up Duk when he runs off the ropes. Jackson gets the cobra clutch, but TNT runs in to attack Action and send him from the ring. This causes Duk to be disqualified, but it’s clear that TNT still has his issues with Action as the two men start brawling around the ring area. They ram each other into the posts, Action bites TNT’s head, TNT spin kicks Action over the barricade into the crowd. We see them fight through the crowd and then cut to them still fighting outside the arena, as the fans run after them to see the action. They end up reentering the ringside area from the other side and continue fighting. I guess we now know why we’re getting the falls count anywhere stipulation.

We also get another series of promos for tomorrow, as Doug Gilbert is excitedly shouty about facing Invader #4, Action Jackson has a bandage on his forehead as he promises to retain the TV title no matter where he has to beat TNT up, and a fired up TNT angrily says that if they have to go to the town square or the outskirts it won’t matter as he promises to get that TV title. 

MD: The Duk vs Jackson match was a little rough. A lot of Duk hiding little shots while he had a hold on to start. Then a nerve hold. Worked fine overall but the first part wasn’t wry and fun enough and the second was pretty dull. It did pick up with some big Duk shots in the corner before Profe tripped him and we got the cobra. They kept cutting to a wide shot before anything happened so you had a sense that TNT was about to run out and he did, leading to a legitimately crazy brawl that went all over. Between that and the promos that followed, with Jackson doing so much better as himself (with his hair growing back and the Zubaz pants and him talking over Profe hyperactively) and TNT bloody and passionate, they sure sold me on this Falls Count Anywhere match, no matter how long the feud has been going on. Good pro wrestling right here.

EB: Our main event of the program is Miguelito Perez vs. Dick Murdoch. This an even matchup but Murdoch takes his shortcuts to try to gain the advantage. Perez actually holds his own and has Murdoch against the ropes punching him. When the ref tries to get Perez to back off, Joe Don Smith sneaks up and trips Perez up from the outside, allowing Murdoch to drop an elbow and steal the win. 

MD: You watch Murdoch and there’s no one else like him in 1991 anywhere in the world. Maybe a Negro Casas. Maybe Terry Funk. He’s just so self-aware and confident and treats pro wrestling differently than anyone else. There’s an element of vaudeville or being a character actor. It’s like watching Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy or All in the Family. We come in with Joe Don and Murdoch sort of leaning on the apron while on the floor and it’s just this weirdly iconic image. Murdoch controls early but then gets it turned around on him and just stooges like wild for a few minutes. Joe Don grabs the leg between Murdoch’s legs while they’re in the ropes and a quick elbow ends it. Everything Murdoch has done during this run has been incredibly entertaining. 

EB: This episode closes with part of the Carlos Colon vs. Greg Valentine cage match we covered before, shown because next week we will have the Colon vs. Murdoch cage match at the house show. So, let’s find out what exactly happened in Caguas on March 23 as we go to the Campeones episode from March 30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6TJdeB_Am8

Hugo and Profe open the show, with Profe preening and showing off his fit as usual. Hugo reminds the fans that tonight is the cage match for the Universal title, as Carlos Colon has accepted Dick Murdoch’s challenge. There will be a roof on the cage and a lock on the door, so the only way to win is by pinfall or submission. Profe says it’s high time for that coward Carlos Colont to have to face Dick Murdoch without being able to run away. Hugo says it won’t be an easy encounter for either man. They run down the matches for today’s program, with Profe calling the Caribbean Express the Chicken Express. They promise we’ll see highlights from the falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson, with Profe saying that the fans will see how they beat up TNT (Hugo clarifies that we’ll see in the video what really happened). 

We also have some new music video specials, as we’ll see new ones for  Dick Murdoch, the World tag team champions Invader #1 and Bronco #1, and Caribbean champion Scott Hall . Hugo wants Profe to comment about tonight’s semi main event, as we will have a last man standing streetfight that cannot be stopped due to blood between TNT and Action nJackson. Profe says that it is time to end this feud, it has gone on far enough, and what better way to settle it in a match where the only rule is there are no rules. TNT better say goodbye to his family and fans because it all ends tonight.  Hugo reminds the fans to purchase the tickets at the box office, please protect your money from cheats.

Our first match is from the March 16 house show in Bayamon, as the California Studs take on the Caribbean Express. This is a good solid match with both teams jockeying for control by working holds with the occasional counter. Skandor Akbar is seconding the Studs, who bail a  couple of times to regroup after the Express get the better of them (Castillo with a headscissors, Perez with some dropkicks). We go to commercials and come back as Perez is being worked over. This continues for a couple of minutes until he is able to make the tag to Castillo. The finish comes when Akbar distracts Perez, which allows the Studs to hit their powerslam / flying kneedrop finisher on Castillo. Another win for the California Studs and they keep climbing the tag ranks. That title shot may be coming soon.

MD: It’s amazing how well these tag matches work. It’s just magic, right? Pro wrestling’s most perfect form. You get the Invaders or the Super Medicos or Invader/Bronco or TNT/Invader (who would be defending against the Studs upcoming) or Colon/TNT or the Caribbean Express like here and put a couple of stooging, cheating, jerk heels against them and work that southern tag and it works. It works here. They just plugged Lee and Anthony in and it’s beautiful in its own way. Shine, Heat, Comeback. Stooging to start. Hope spots along the way. A surprisingly clean finish as Castillo comes in hot and hits a missile dropkick but misses another off the ropes and eats the power slam/bombs away combo. They could run this for a while honestly. They always can. 

EB: The big news from last week is the falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson. Hugo says it was a wild encounter, Profe claims that we will see Action Jackson humiliate TNT. Hugo interrupts Profe to say that is now how it was, let’s go to the tape. We pick up with TNT at the top of the stairs, and for anyone who has ever wondered where those stairs in Caguas lead to, this is your moment. TNT heads down and we see him and Action Jackson tussle in a small hallway with the ref watching. TNT bites Action and they continue down the hallway and up a flight of stairs at the other end. We come out to a backstage hallway area and get highlights of TNT and Action fighting at different parts of the hallway. They eventually emerge at the upper part of the stands, still fighting. Down the stairs they go and we cut to them fighting on the arena floor. Both men are bleeding and are on their knees exchanging blows. Eventually, they collapse on the ground and are both counted out by the ref. So tonight, it’s a streetfight that cannot be stopped for blood and there must be a winner.  We hear from both Action Jackson and TNT and they are looking forward to coming out the winner tonight. 

MD: And they could run this for far longer I expected. We just get glimpses of the falls count anywhere match but it looks awesome, them going through stairwells and into the main area bloody and battered. They finally both collapse from exhaustion and get counted out. I think if we had all of this one it might be a classic. But it was inconclusive and they can come back for more with a street fight. TNT is in his street clothes for his promo including his fanny pack which is not what I was expecting. 

EB: Some quick comments from Kim Duk, who is facing Scott Hall in a no DQ match. Duk is happy because that means he can bring his salt or kendo stick with no issues.This is followed by the new music video for Invader #1 and El Bronco, set to Bronco’s music. Afterwards, Scott Hall asks Kim Duk how it feel to be a loser, to be in fear. Anything goes tonight and Duk can bring anything he wants, all Hall needs is his fist to come out on top.

MD: “Kim Duk, how does it feel to wake up in the morning and know you’re a loser?” That’s how Hall starts his promo and honestly, every promo we get from him where he fills every single second Hugo is talking with ridiculous mannerisms is a precious joy to be appreciated. 

EB: Motor City Madman and giant warrior are facing off tonight in a strap match, we get comments from both men. And for those curious, we get a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon: Enclosed cage match for the Universal title, must win by pinfall or submission as Carlos Colon defends against Dick Murdoch; in a streetfight for the TV title TNT challenges Action Jackson; Invader #1 and Bronco #1 defend the World tag titles against the California Studs; Giant Warrior vs Motor City Madman in an Indian strap match; No DQ for the Caribbean title as Scott Hall defends against Kim Duk; Ricky Santan vs Eddie Gilbert; and Huracan Castillo Jr vs Doug Gilbert.

MD: They were building to a strap match here. That’s a lot of gimmicks on one show since I think Murdoch and Colon were in the cage here too. Plus we finally get Eddie Gilbert! I don’t know if they weren’t drawing well enough or this was a bigger show or what but it was stacked. 

EB: It’s time for the Dick Murdoch music video and this one  includes clips of how Murdoch won the first two matches against Colon (using the ropes for leverage). Murdoch has gotten the better of Colon for the most part but the Universal title has eluded him. Will tonight be different? Carlos Colon promises that will not be the case, he plans to keep the Universal title.

MD: Murdoch really came off well in the video, using the stick as a weapon, doing wound work on Colon’s skull, fighting off all the babyfaces, and yes, getting two fluke roll up wins, one with his hands on the ropes. It’s a shame we don’t have these matches in full because it really does seem like a great feud. 

EB: We get a card rundown for tomorrow in Ponce, as Carlos Colon & Giant Warrior take on Dick Murdoch & Motor City Madman; TNT vs. Scott Hall; Kim Duk vs. Action Jackson; Invaders 1 &4 vs the California Studs; Bronco vs. Eddie Gilbert; Ricky Sanatna vs. Doug Gilbert; and Huracan Castillo Jr vs. El Profe. We then end the program with a new music video for the blond outlaw himself, Scott Hall, and a final push for tonight’s big card.

MD: Not much more to say here. If Hall had stayed in Puerto Rico for the rest of 91 I have no idea how good he could have gotten, especially if he shifted back to feuding with Invader and Colon. He got there eventually but he was very much fully formed here. He’d never be this character or this person again.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, is the feud between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch finally over? Who won the streetfight between TNT and Action Jackson? And, we will meet Skandor Akbar’s newest acquisition as we reach April 1991.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: An Authorized What?

Week 48: An Authorized What?

EB:On March 9th, Carlos Colon defended the Universal title against Dick Murdoch in a match that had none other than Buddy Rogers as the special referee. Murdoch had pinned Colon in their previous two non title matches thanks to rope assisted cradles, leading to a special referee (Rogers) being appointed to make sure no shenanigans occurred in the title match. Well, shenanigans did occur and it led to Jose Colon (brother of Carlos) getting involved at one point of the bout. His appearance resulted in him getting attacked by Joe Don Smith and Dick Murdoch, and the fallout of this attack remains to be seen. Also on March 9th, the Caribbean Express won the Caribbean tag titles from the team of Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza. It looks like the Caribbean Express are back in the tag ranks and once more holding championship gold.  

Let’s go to the March 16 episode of Camepones to see just what happened during the Universal title match. Please note, the listed date on the video says 3/23 but this is the 3/16 episode (since it refers to the events of the Colon vs. Murdoch match with guest red Buddy Rogers as happening last week).

3/16/91 TV

Your hosts are Hugo Savinovich and El Profe, with Hugo welcoming the viewers and Profe remarking that it's always a pleasure for the people to see him (modest as always). Profe mentions who will be in action on today's program, with Hugo adding that we will have our first look at a newcomer to CSP, one ‘Dirty’ Doug Gilbert (mentioned to be ‘Hotstuff’ Eddie Gilbert’s younger brother and Profe says that Doug is well recommended as a great talent). Hugo then mentions that we will have a special look at the training Jose Colon has been doing, causing Profe to laugh and mockingly say ‘the training’. We will have a video of what happened last week in Carolina when Jose Colon, who is not a  trained wrestler, was attacked. El Profe interjects that  everyone should find out that Jose is ‘un HP autorizado’ (which translates to an authorized SOB). Hugo is annoyed and corrects Profe, Jose is a CPA. Profe ‘apologizes’ since he thought it was SOB, but Hugo tells Profe to stop being a jerk. Hugo continues talking about the attack on Jose as Profe just continues cackling and saying ‘as if he is going to learn anything in a week’. Hugo says that Jose was attacked by Murdoch's lackey Joe Don Smith (Profe corrects Hugo by saying disciple not lackey). Hugo promises that we will have special interviews with Carlos and Jose Colon, as well as Murdoch and Joe Don later on in the show.

They then start talking about tonight’s show in Bayamon. The main event will see Carlos and Jose Colon take on Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith. Profe keeps laughing, calls Jose SOB again and talks up how Joe Don Smith is a legitimate athlete while Jose has been sitting behind a desk. Profe says that there is no chance for the Colons to win, Joe Don with one arm tied behind his back could mop the floor with Jose Colon. Hugo indicates that Jose has been training since early Monday morning, but Profe is not buying Jose having any chance. Hugo and Profe also hype the merchandise and videos available for sale. Hugo also reads an announcement for an amateur boxing tournament that will be starting later today, with over 130 amateur boxers participating (Profe audibly yawns and whistles as Hugo reads the announcement). One last topic, Hugo says that they've received news of unscrupulous individuals selling fake tickets to fans outside of their events. Please protect your money and only buy the tickets from the official box office at the arenas (as Profe puts it ‘Protect yourselves, morons. You don't get a chance to see me if you don’t.’). Hugo throws it to the first match, Ricky Santana vs. Moondog Spot.

MD: And lo, the name “Gilbert” would be mentioned for the first time in our journey, both Eddie and Doug, with the latter about to face Ricky Santana.

Moondog Spot vs. Ricky Santana

EB:  This match is from March 2. Moondog Spot is making a return appearance to Puerto Rico, previously having had a notable tag run with Moondog Rex back in 1982 (in fact,, the Moondogs had a bit of a feud with Tommy and Eddie Gilbert at that time). Ricky (who El Profe insists on calling ‘Ñico’ Santana to Hugo’s exasperation) is being pushed as a heartthrob and Hugo talks up Ricky's popularity with the ladies early on in the match. Profe starts wondering what the heck do the ladies find attractive about Santana, causing Hugo to needle Profe about checking out Santana. Profe counters by going off on how attractive ladies find him (to Hugo’s incredulity). In the ring, Santana has a size disadvantage against Spot but the early portion of the match sees Ricky be able to counter Spot’s wrestling holds. Spot takes to complaining about a hair pull and yells at the crowd. Tonight there will be a show at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel where Ricky Santana will take on newcomer Doug Gilbert. Spot repeats the earlier hold and Santana counters once more, leading to another round of complaining. Ricky starts to get mad at Spot’s stalling. Ricky works over Spot’s arm as El Profe gets on Santana for having US Male on his tights since Ricky is Cuban. Hugo explains that Ricky was in a tag team with White Angel over in the U.S. and they had decided on that as their team name since Ricky lived in Florida.

The announcers continue bickering as sRicky maintains the advantage by working over Spot’s arm. Ricky eventually sends Spot into the corner for some mounted punches, but Spot counters with an inverted atomic drop (which has the announcers arguing over the legality of the move). Spot tosses Ricky outside and chokes him out with a camera cable. Hugo yells at Profe about the legality of that move and why doesn't he say anything about that. Profe responds with ‘Because it was well done.’ Spot sends Santana into the ringpost as Profe insinuates something may be going on with Hugo and Ricky, since Hugo goes on and on about Ricky this and Ricky that. We go to commercial break with Rick on his feet and looking to get back in the ring. We come back with Ricky having Spot in a sunset flip for an unsuccessful pin attempt. By the argument the announcers are having, it seems that it was a case of Spot grabbing the ropes to try to hold on, but the ref kicked Spot’s hands off the ropes. Profe was complaining about the ref doing  that and Hugo actually agreed with Profe on that point. Spot works on Ricky’s neck but Santana fights out of the hold momentarily. A missed dropkick leads to Spot once again working over Ricky’s neck. Spot continues in control but makes the mistake of sending Santana to the outside. Ricky recovers and surprises Spot by grabbing the Moondog’s leg and dragging him out of the ring. Santana fires off several punches on the outside and then sends Spot shoulder first into the ringpost. Back in the ring they continue fighting, with each getting a nearfall (Santana manages to get his leg on the ropes after a splash). Spot tries to slam Ricky, but Santana counters with a standing switch and is able to hit a reverse rollup off the ropes for the win. An impressive win for Santana over a larger opponent.

MD: I liked this a lot actually. It got a ton of time and was very straightforward but Spot brought a lot of enjoyable BS to the table. It amuses me to no end that he could get the ref to blame Santana for false hairpulls on takedowns multiple times. He’d bump bigger than you’d expect (I think he was just younger than 40 which you wouldn’t expect either) on things like back body drops and then would go complain to the crowd as they threw stuff at him. He stooged all over the palace for Santana until he could toss him out and then had a chinlock later on with a pulling of the rope for leverage that couldn’t have made a lick of difference to the strength of the hold but was great wrestling nonsense. Eventually he hit a big splash but Santana got his feet on the ropes and Santana got him in a pretty dubious roll up off the ropes for the win. It was a better win for Santana than it might have been if it was less of a match.

Scott Hall vs. Tito Carrion

EB: Next we have Scott Hall facing Tito Carrion and this is a great showcase for Hall. Profe mentions that what we are seeing Hall do to Carrion is what Murdoch will do to Jose Colon tonight. Hall wins with the crucifix. Afterwards, Kim Duk cuts a promo on how he will become Caribbean champion once more. Scott Hall follows by saying  that every week he comes on TV to say who he has faced and defeated, tonight it is Duk’s turn to try to shut Hall up. 

MD: This is a fully formed Diamond Studd here. He doesn’t have the toothpick or the swagger from being the character necessarily, and is more cowboy with the way he carries himself, but just the execution and the big bombs, it’s him. He’s made it. He chains together four things (hanging tree toss, fall away slam, slingshot belly to back, crucifix/razor’s edge) and looks like the most formidable heel in the world basically. Duk and Hall cut promos one after the other and while Hall tries to keep it short, Hugo still talks over it for a while so we get a dozen fun hand motions as he tries to figure out how to fill time (Duk just did a few karate things). I’ll miss that when it’s gone.

EB: We get our first look at Doug Gilbert with a music video set to ‘Can I Play With Madness’. It seems Gilbert is a very recent arrival because the footage is from one studio match and an interview he seems to have done in the studio.

MD: It didn’t seem like they had a lot of footage to go with here. This was to Iron Maiden’s Can I Play with Madness and had a clip from an interview started and stopped and overlaid with fun colors plus footage from maybe one match with him doing a slingshot suplex. If I was watching this at home I don’t think I’d be too moved to see him in person.

EB: We then get promos from Action Jackson and TNT about their match tonight in Bayamon. TNT promises to take the TV title from Jackson the same way he took the name and paint from him.  

MD: Jackson is a lot more comfortable as himself. TNT is still frustrated that Jackson has the TV title and is going to keep working to get it back. That’s about all there is to say here.

EB: Our next segment is what happened last week during the Carlos Colon vs. Dick Murdoch match.. The leadup to the clip features Hugo and Profe arguing about what happened the previous week and what will be tonight’s main event, a tag match between Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith vs Carlos Colon and his brother Jose. Hugo says that we’ve heard a lot about what happened last week and it was even in the press, the incident whereDick Murdoch and his lacey Joe Don Smith (Profe says Joe is a protege) attacked Jose in a savage manner and… Profe interrupts saying it was deserved what happened to him (meaning Jose Colon), why was he sticking his nose in what was none of his business. Profe rants how Jose cost Dick Murdoch the Universal title, but Hugo explains a bit of what happened. Profe complains about why Jose got involved, Hugo says that sometimes family ties can cause you to get involved. After the video of what happened last week, we will see a video of JoseeColon training (Profe really wants to see this, because there’s no way that Jose can be trained in a week).

We go to the match highlights, with Colon attempting a figure four on Murdoch, but Murdoch kicks Colon away. Colon ends up colliding with Buddy Rogers in the corner. In the confusion, Joe Don Smith hands a foreign object to Murdoch, which he uses to hit Colon and get the pin (Rogers had not seen the use of the object). Profe claims that he didn't see anything untoward happen and that if they show anything it’s because they doctored the footage. We cut to Rogers giving the title to Murdoch, when suddenly someone runs out to ringside. It is Jose Colon, and he’s there to tell Rogers about the cheating that happened. Rogers tells Joe Don to allow him to check for the object and  Rogers initially finds nothing. Jose tells Rogers to check Joe Don’s boots and eventually Rogers finds the object. As a result, the decision is reversed and Carlos Colon is the winner by disqualification. An irate Murdoch and Joe Don attack Jose Colon outside the ring and a brainbuster on the outside is prevented by the tecnicos coming in for the save. They then show Jose Colon being checked on and carried out for medical assistance. Carlos was furious about his brother being attacked and we cut to Carlos going after Murdoch with a chair. We see them duel with chairs for a moment before Joe Don grabs Colon’s chair from behind and helps Murdoch attack Carlos, before they are run off by the tecnicos.

Murdoch and Joe Don cut a promo where Murdoch says how proud he is of the job Joe Don did last week. Joe Don says that tonight they will sweep the Colons. Murdoch wants Joe Don to listen to him tonight so that no harm comes to Joe. Murdoch then insults Colon and his brother, promising to get rid of Jose Colon tonight and then allow Joe Don to get some paintbrushing on Carlos. 

We then go to a video showing the training Jose Colon has been doing. Jose is in the ring with Invader #4 under the supervision of Carlos Colon and Isaac Rosario. We get a few minutes of Jose doing drills as Hugo explains what the purpose of some of the drills are (mainly for endurance and agility). Sometimes Carlos would get in the ring to encourage his brother whenever Jose would start tiring. We then get an interview with the Colon brothers, with Hugo mentioning again that Jose is not a trained wrestler but after what happened last week Carlos wanted his brother to pay back what happened. Hugo asks Jose if he is worried, which he is but he is ready to pay back what happened last week and he has Carlos with him to guide him. Carlos responds that he has confidence in his brother, this isn;t about wrestling, it is about respect. Carlos reminds everyone that one time someone he will not name attacked his wife and Carlos made sure to avenge that.. After tonight, he hopes that Murdoch, Smith and everyone else on the rudo side will learn to respect Puerto Ricans.

We go back to the studio, and El Profe says that after watching the authorized SOB train (Hugo yells CPA), he thinks he has seen women that have just given birth train with more intensity than Jose. Profe laughs as Hugo is exasperated and the video cut out as Hugo starts rebutting Profe’s insult. 

MD: Super high heat angle here as Buddy Rogers, the special ref got bumped out of a figure-four leglock pushoff. Joe Don gave Murdoch an object. He nailed Colon and won. Joe Don rushed in to get it and put it in his sock. Colon’s CPA (and Profe loves to talk about this) brother Jose came down to tell Rogers what happened. After some back and forth, he found the object and Murdoch responded by hitting a brainbuster on Jose on the outside. Big, big heat. Now, they were going to come back with a mixed tag and we got the training video accordingly. Very different and very fun stuff here and again, just super high heat. 

EB: Let’s go to the March 16 west coast edition of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre in order to get an idea of what else is happening in CSP.

3/16/91 West Coast TV

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the program on WORA TV and runs down some of what we will see on the program (including the debut of the younger brother of ‘Hotstuff’ Eddie Gilbert). Before running down tomorrow’s house show lineup, Hugo apologizes to the fans for some no shows the previous week. Giant Warrior unfortunately was not able to make the show due to a flight delay causing him to miss his connection from Japan.  He is here this week though and will be in action. Also, Super Medico #1 apparently was very ill and was not able to appear last Sunday, so as a make good to the fans they are adding a bonus match to tomorrow’s house show in Aguadilla. We will have Super Medico #1 taking on ‘Dirtys’ Doug Gilbert. Tomorrow’s main event will be a no time limit rematch between TNT and Action Jackson, the stipulation is due to them going to a 30 minute draw last Sunday. Other matches scheduled include Invader #1 vs. Motor City Madman, Scott Hall defending the Caribbean title against Kim Duk (it seems Duk scored a win over Hall last week and gets the title shot), the Caribbean Express vs the California Studs, Giant Warrior vs. Rick Valentine, Ricky Santana vs. Galan Mendoza and the previously announced bonus match. Hugo hypes up the merchandise that will be on sale at the arena and also the VHS releases available for purchase.

Super Medicos vs. The California Studs (Tony Anthony/Brian Lee)

EB: Our first match is in progress, it is from the March 9 house show from Carolina. The Super Medicos are facing off against the newest rudo team known as the California Studs. Super Medico #1 and Tony Anthony are in the ring for their teams. Skandor Akbar is at ringside seconding the Studs. The announcers make note that Brian Lee is the taller of the Studs so that the fans know who is who. Medico #1 is sent into the ropes but gains control by hitting Anthony on the bounceback with a tackle. Medico #1 follows up with the ‘hit machine’ punch combo, knocking Anthony down. Medico #1 goes for a pin but Anthony grabs a hold of the ropes. Medico #1 runs into the ropes but is grabbed from behind by Lee. Medico #1 is knocked down and the rudos do an illegal switch. Lee throws Medico #1 into the rudo corner and taunts Medico #3, causing Medico #3 to try to run in. This gives the Studs an opening to do a double team choke in the corner. After choking Medico #1 for a bit, Anthony tags back in and hits an elbow and legdrop for a pin attempt (broken up by Medico #3). The match continues with the Studs working over Medico #1 in their corner while Medico #3 keeps being drawn in to try to help to no avail. 

A pin attempt by Lee is broken up by Medico #3. This annoys Lee, who tosses Medico #1 to the outside and starts jawing with Medico #3. While these two are facing off in the ring, Anthony takes advantage and rams Medico #1 back first into the ringpost. Medico #3 keeps being baited by the Studs, which gives them more opportunities to continue attacking Medico #1 behind the ref’s back. Anthony suplexes Medico #1 into the ring but the pin attempt is broken up. The Studs continue in control, with Medico #1 at one point getting a sunset flip counter that the ref doesn’t count due to being distracted by Anthony. An inside cradle counter by Medico #1 obtains the same result. Medico #1 starts coming back with some punches on Lee, but gets yanked by his mask when he goes after Anthony. The Studs continue in control but eventually a missed elbow drop by Lee gives Medico #1 the chance to tag in Medico #3. The crowd cheers as Medico #3 is finally the legal man and Medico #3 is able to clean house on both Studs. Medico #1 eventually joins the action in the ring, pairing up with Brian Lee and ramming Lee’s head into the turnbuckle several times. The Studs are whipped into each other, with Medico #1 dropkicking Lee out of the ring. Medico #3 hits a shoulder block  on Anthony, but as the ref is telling Medico #1 to get back on the apron, Medico #3 charges at Anthony, who grabs Medico #3 and hotshots him on the top rope. Lee is tagged and the Studs hit a powerslam into a top rope kneedrop combo for the pinfall victory. A big win for the California Studs. And on a separate note, this is the last time we will see Super Medico #1 in action for CSP. It seems that his no show the previous week may have not been due to being sick and it will become apparent in the coming weeks that he has left the company. 

After the match we get a  promo from the California Studs and Skandor Akbar  about their non-title tag match tomorrow against the Caribbean Express. Akbar promises that the Express is nothing more than a stepping stone for the Studs getting all the gold. The Studs offer some remarks as well. The Caribbean Express followed with their own comments about tomorrow’s match, with Miguelito cleaning up that the reason it is non-title is because the Stud have not yet earned a title shot. Miguelito recognizes that he and Castillo have to be very careful, because the California Studs have shown their quality so far. Hugo congratulates the Express on their title win last week, Castillo reiterates that the Studs have to beat them first in order to get a title shot.

MD: Match was really good, because the Studs leaned about as hard as possible into the southern tag structure, drawing in Medico #3, cheating when the ref was distracted, having the ref miss roll ups by Medico #1, everything you could want. Anthony took Medico #1’s punches well to start and Lee was just big enough to be the perfect cut off man in the match. Very good stuff with the Studs getting a fairly cheap banana peel out of nowhere (but not fully cheating to) win. Perez and Castillo won the belts off of Valentine/Mendoza and now Studs are gunning for them. This felt like maybe a half step back for Perez but it’s Puerto Rico and guys can always be moved back into tag feuds. It’s one of the strengths of the territory. The Studs had their rhythm down with Hugo and Akbar and I’m sure these matches will be good as well.

EB: Giant Warrior is in the studio and has words for Rick Valentine and Monster Ripper. He also apologizes for not being there last week but promises you can count on him tomorrow.

MD: Warrior apologies for not being there due to the flight from Japan. He’s pretty confident as an interview by this point, honestly, and it kind of makes me wonder what his ceiling could have been. He was better in the ring than El Gigante but, you know, a foot shorter. I feel almost obligated to try to find some of his Big Tiger Steele Germany run from the late 90s now. Anyway, he’s up against Rick Valentine next and said that Valentine may have been a great tag wrestler, but… He also doesn’t do crazy hand motions while Hugo is translating for him. That’s confidence right there.

Doug Gilbert vs. Herbert Gonzalez

EB: We get our first look  at ‘Dirty’ Doug Gilbert in action as he takes on Herbert Gonzalez. Hugo and Eliud talk up how Doug is part of the Gilbert dynasty, the fans should remember Tommy and Eddie from their previous runs in the territory. Hugo continues talking about how much Doug has learned from his father and brother and this match is mainly a showcase for the newest arrival in CSP. Herbert gets a brief moment of offense but this is mainly all Doug, who wins the match after a slingshot suplex. Afterwards, we also get our first promo from Doug, where he has words for Super Medico #1 and speaks pretty fast.

MD: Dougie’s in his early 20s here and he looks pretty solid. His stuff hits well. Nothing was over the top or crazy either in his bumps or his stooging or his offense, but everything felt solid. Good hand type stuff with one corner bump to give Gonzalez hope before the finish. He was using a slingshot suplex (and maybe a fist drop, re the interview) here. Interview was a little scream-y, but he’ll figure it out.

EB: Monster Ripper is here with Valentine and Mendoza so they can talk about their respective singles matches tomorrow. Valentine says that Warrior's height doesn't make a difference to him. Mendoza is mad about losing the Caribbean tag titles and promises that he will take it out on Ricky Santana tomorrow.

Motor City Madman and Akbar are out next and Akbar has words for Invader #1, saying they gave him a taste last week of the power that is the combined might of El Club Deportivo and Devastation Inc. Madman just mentions that he is tired of being on this trashy island and the trashy people, and he is going to take out Invader like the trash he is.

Invader #1 is next and says that everyone last week saw what kind of man Madman is when he stuck his nose in Invader's match against Dick Murdoch. Invader wanted to teach Murdoch a lesson for all he has said about Puerto Ricans and the antics he has done, he almost had Murdoch with the sleeperhold. However, Madman attacked him. Now, what Madman started last week, Invader will take care of it tomorrow.

MD: I’d love if Ripper ended up with the Gilberts but I don’t see that happening. Valentine has Giant Warrior upcoming and mentioned he’d been to Japan multiple times too. This is true. Kerry Brown was used a lot by NJPW in 84-86. Madman and Invader 1 are set to face each other and I wonder what an Akbar vs. Invader 1 match would have looked like in 91. I bet they could have made that work.

Action Jackson vs. Miguel Perez Jr. 

EB: Action Jackson is taking on Miguelito Perez in a studio match that is joined in progress. Action has Miguelito down on the mat but picks Perez up to continue attacking with punches. Action takes down Perez and works over Miguelito’s head with a headscissors. Perez eventually fights out of the hold and sends Action into a corner. Action dodges the springboard elbow, but Miguelito catches him coming out of the corner with a clothesline. Perez briefly remains in control, but Action counters with some punches and eventually gains control with a rear chinlock on the mat. Perez fights out but Action hits a hard clothesline for a two count. Back to the chinlock on the mat. Perez again eventually gets to his feet, but Action sends Perez back down with a slam. However, Action misses a splash from the middle turnbuckle and Perez starts his comeback. A legdrop leads to a near fall. Perez gets a powerslam and goes to the top for a crossbody block. Perez hits it but the momentum allows Action to turn it over and then uses the tights for leverage to get a three count. Perez complains about the tights being  pulled but it’s a win for the reigning TV champion. 

Action Jackson and El Profe are in the studio to talk about tomorrow’s no time limit rematch. Hugo says they were lucky last week that the title was saved by the time limit, but Profe says that the only one saved was TNT from getting beaten up some more. Action echoes those sentiments. We go to an annoyed TNT, because Hugo is telling him that Action Jackson is claiming that he had TNT in the cobra as time ran out, but in fact it was the other way around. TNT says it was Jacksonw who was saved by the bell last week and also complains about Action resorting to low blows that the ref missed thanks to that dog El Profe. Tomorrow there is no time limit and he will get that TV title.  

MD: I’m sticking to my guns that Perez was ready to move up into singles more thoroughly. He looked pretty good here even if Jackson’s stuff was kind of dull (holds which he didn’t work to the level I would have liked). Perez had good escapes and then was dynamic when he was on offense. At one point he missed a handspring into the corner but rushed right back out to run through Jackson (Jackson made this look really good). Finish was flying body press that Jackson rolled through on to pull the tights. Maybe not the finish if you’re building him for a no time limit match with TNT. 

EB: We get a repeat of the handicap match Giant Warrior had against Johnny Ringo and El Condor, won by Giant Warrior. 

MD: And it’s still a great flip bump on that clothesline by Johnny Ringo.

EB: We are then treated to a Kim Duk promo about his Caribbean title shot against Scott Hall. Duk says he is ready anytime and anywhere, and reminds Hall that he beat him one two three last week. Duk also throws shade at El Profe for causing Hall to lose that match. We then go to Scott Hall with Hugo. Hall promises that he will rise to the occasion and leave with the belt tomorrow.

MD: I know that the Diamond Studd starts soon, but do we really need to lose Scott Hall? It’s almost not fair. I see him on the screen with Hugo and I just crack up before he even says anything because I know all the arm motions and hand motions to come. Ah well. I’m not sure Hugo knew exactly what even to say after Kim Duk’s promo which, I guess, is understandable.

Kim Duk vs. Rick Valentine

EB: Our final match on the program is Kim Duk vs Rick Valentine (accompanied by Monster Ripper). Hugo mentions that Duk is a bug fan favorite as we get Duk doing the salt ceremony before starting the match. The announcers mention that it looks like Duk has gotten in better shape and they think it is due to his positive change in attitude leading to better habits and encouragement. The match is surprisingly short, as Duk catches Valentine with a blow out of the corner and gets the pinfall victory a couple of minutes in. Hugo closes the show as the video cuts out. 

MD: This was certainly efficient. It went ~3 minutes after Duk’s salt ceremony. Two of those were Duk having Valentine in an armbar. Valentine took over for a little but ran into a really nice looking strike out of the corner (punch, forearm?) by Duk and he got the pin off that. Not much here.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, Dick Murdoch issues a challenge to Carlos Colon for a cage match, Action Jackson and TNT show that the time limit is not the only thing that needs to be eliminated in order to try to settle their rivalry, and the California Studs get their first tag title shot as we finish off March 1991.

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