Espectáculos Promociones Panama: Blue Panther in Panama! Kato Kung Lee! Tahur! Celestial! Baron! Gemelo Infernal I!

Blue Panther/Gemelo Infernal I/Tahur vs Kato Kung Lee/Baron/Celestial 1/17/87

MD: This felt like lucha comfort food to me. Maybe it was because both Kato Kung Lee and Blue Panther were there, but this followed pretty familiar lines. There are definitely unique quirks to Panamanian Lucha, bits of Puerto Rico or unique elements to the stadiums, some spots or moves you don't expect, some peculiarities that we can't explain just yet, but there's more overlap with what was happening in Mexico than not and this match is a testament to that.

Speaking of familiarity, we're getting increasingly familiar with the usual suspects here. I have a great sense of Tahur as a base and as hard-handed clubberer and as a guy who isn't afraid to make a heroic dive to nowhere. This is Gemelo Infernal I who is more of a character than his smoother, workrate-y brethren GI II (and I don't have a sense at all about III yet). He has weirder moves and weirder movements and here made a great stooge for Kato Kung Lee's kung fu strikes. With Tahur and Panther getting him up extremely high for his headscissors takeovers, Baron looked like a top notch junior here. He got to show a different side than in the Bunny Black feud but it made me want to see more of him in both settings. And Celestial mainly stood out late in the match, paired with Panther with heated mask ripping.

Panther, to his credit, fit right in. I was a little disappointed at first as he was initially paired with Kato Kung Lee, which isn't what I wanted to see him do in Panama but he rotated through to the others as the match went on. And Lee? This was the best I've seen him in Panama. The fans went nuts for his shtick like always but he just had extra zing and agility as he bounded around the ropes. You could transfer the exact same act into modern AEW and if he could pull it off like he did on this night, it would get over huge.

Structurally, this was also familiar, early pairings cycled through, escalation to rope running, stooging, and the tecnicos going over in the primera, a rudo beatdown in the segunda, comebacks and cutoffs, and it all coming to head in the tercera, where Tahur just had enough of KKL's kicks and fouled his way out of the match which likely led to something else we unfortunately don't have.

GB: This match is a bit of a lucky get for us. Truth be told, I came across this post by accident many months ago when my passion for Panama was still in its infancy. However, the original video had lost tracking and the end was cut off. A little dismayed, and with some digging, I managed to piece together the missing part and give us this gem.

There’s not much to be said here as the only memories of this fight I can find are two screen grabs from a video of Panther and Kato arriving at the Tocúmen International Airport for their match. For all intents and purposes, this was treated as a big deal. Ricardo Pitti was there, alongside fans, to welcome Panther to Panama and extend a warm “welcome home” to KKL who had just lost his mask to el Hijo del Santo two months prior (though this was never aired nor played up during his visit). Matt highlights the ending between Kato and Tahur and there is something there. Whether this match led to it (or led from it), el Tahur did take Kato’s mask at some point in the 80s. In Mexico it would be sacrilege but, if he had lost his mask beforehand as Luchawiki claims (something I doubt), it wouldn’t be the first time Kato begged the fans of Panama to “pardon” him from losing his mask.

Kato Kung Lee, el camina cuerdas (the rope-walker), has a bit of a mysterious background. We are all well aware of his escapades in Mexico, as one part of the trios Los Fantásticos, but not much more seems to be known of him, especially in his heydays in Panama. Perhaps the most internationally known Panamanian-born wrestler isn’t even listed on the Hall of Fame board, let alone given any further detailing.

From the bits and bobs I can cobble together, Lee debuted alongside the other greats Panama had to offer in 1965 as the tecnico El Valiente where he would go on to lose his mask (twice - with the first loss being “pardoned”) to his maestro Chamaco Castro and rebrand himself as Johnny el Valiente and, a little later, as the remasked Rayo de Oro. I think there’s room for people to argue that KKL has had a bit of an “ode” (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) to other fighters along his career. One might argue his mask is all too similar to something blurring the lines of el Baron and Kendo (who’d go on to take the KKL name much later, ironically) but the name “Rayo de Oro” is a little too on the nose. So much so newspapers in the 1970s would also tend to confuse him with the legendary Guatemalan Rayo Chapin:

Even if his name wasn’t quite to the level of Chapin, KKL was always determined to be a star and take his name around the world. Despite Panama’s flourishing local scene, and it being a great training ground for the stars of tomorrow to hone their craft (whether from South America, Mexico or even Canada (Mad Dog Vachon!), the hospitality never quite seemed to be reciprocated. You had the odd wrestler such as El Enterrador and Joe Panther travelling through Africa and Europe but nothing “historic” in the same way Panama’s role was for laying the foundations for the UWA in Mexico (which I’d now argue would never exist without Panama).

One of the most important promoters during Panama’s golden age, Sammy de la Guardia, lamented that it was never due to skill that Panamanians stayed within the confines of Panama. Rather, it was too expensive and too risky. There was no government funding, as Mexico had, those wrestlers who travelled did so on their own money (or the sponsorship of their promoter). With little offer for reimbursement or being able to see a local return on investment in building up a name, promoters seemed more interested in keeping their stars home.

Thus KKL would risk everything when he set out to stake his claim in foreign land before the end of the 1960s taking with him Los Hermanos Muerte 1 y 2 to Guatemala and Mexico. The latter duo would go on to great success in Guatemala and KKL would see success in both Mexico and Japan - a name many recognise to this day. Again, the most famous of all Panamanian born wrestlers.

Still, and much the same for most of these stars from Panama, KKL had a quiet send off, far from the luxuries those stars in Mexico would enjoy. He’d pass away the owner of a BBQ joint. The referee for this match, the most famous in Panama, Carlos Linares, would pass away as a flip flop manufacturer. The stalwart of Panama’s rudos, Sergio Galvez, to this day works in a little bakery opposite his local theatre. The passion was there and as much as wrestlers and promoters pass Panamanian wrestling off as their “pasatiempo y nada mas” (pass time and nothing more), there’s a little sadness that a country so poignant for lucha libre as a whole, didn’t get to enjoy the boom it more than helped usher in.

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Espectáculos Promociones Panama: The Ballad of Bunny Black, Part 2

El Barón Vs Bunny Black (mascara contra mascara) 5/30/87

MD: The first three minutes of this has Bunny Black slamming Baron twice onto the floor, followed by a senton to the apron, mask ripping, forehead bitting, a posting, more forehead biting, more mask ripping, blood, and a running kick the skull, all punctuated with a swinging chairshot and Bunny Black tossing chairs at Baron. It's exactly how you'd want a mask match to start, violent and bloody. Here and between falls. The rest of the primera was Bunny leaning into the blood and the beating before getting the submission on a nice cradle double-underhook submission he walked around the ring with.

Bunny had a way of presenting Baron's bloodied skull to the crowd that really got under their skin. That's maybe what he did best, milk moments like that, whether it was him driving the action or his spasming sells and desperate begging with his hands behind his back after Baron reversed a whip and mounted his big comeback in the segunda. The fans flocked in as Baron started on the mask and began to bloody Bunny up around the ringside area in revenge. He even had a similar lifting submission to end the fall, his being a full nelson instead of a butterfly stretch.

The tercera was back with the sort of drama and pressure you'd want from a match with these stakes. They had a lot of stuff (Bunny with a double underhook slam, both guys with plenty of submissions, etc.) with the pace measured and the toll grueling. By this point, both masks were ripped, with whatever remained entirely stained by blood. They cycled, starting with submissions, building to dives, ending with nearfalls. Baron hit a giant dive through the ropes only for Bunny to recover and flip off the apron. That readied things for the finish, as they cycled through roll ups and Bunny got more and more frustrated when he wasn't satisfied with the ref's count after his slams. That led to a Baron pin, a ref fast count, and an absolutely elated crowd. The rudos had won handedly last match and that makes me wonder if every rudo win we see isn't followed up by some super heated mask match we just haven't gotten yet.

GB: I seem to have jinxed things with my post last week where I lamented the lack of historical information surrounding Panama. As, unlike other countries, Panama at least had a notable source for footage, a source that was uploading new matches weekly like clockwork. However, it seems what Matt and I had passed off as nothing more than just a blip, might be something more serious as we haven’t had a new video in nearly a month now. CollectorPTY, the uploader behind these videos, noted that their health was suffering as of late so here’s hoping they are taking this time to rest and recuperate before returning to their regular posting schedule. While I do have some videos to offer, and a notable fancam we’ll get to soon, this will be a rather large blow to our project as it keeps our coverage rather finite. Of course, though, as they say, the show must go on and *boy* does Bunny Black have a show for you.

We’re a half month after our last match and well into the first calendar year of Don Jose “Chacho” Medina’s run as booker/promoter of Espectáculos Promociones Panama. Normally, you’d not make a claim otherwise if Negro Casas is a regular guest at your dinner table, and maybe it’s perhaps presumptuous to think this, but there’s this strong vibe from the booking that Don Medina might have had the most talented mind for wrestling in his family. Casas might be altogether wily yet it’s a skill we can watch him pick up, mold and master as his career unfolds. As for Casas’ father-in-law, there’s a savantlike approach to Medina’s booking philosophy in that there are so many layers to his feuds within mere months of him approaching wrestling.

What I do know, Don Medina started his journey into fame as the baritone saxophonist (and indirect nomenclator) of Bush y sus Magnificos in 1968 after/while being a prominent member of La Gran Orquesta de Panamá. What I believe to know, is that one of the other members, more specifically the congos, was none other than Shazán. A rather small world in a rather small country. What I assume, it would be Shazán that hooked Medina on the idea of professional wrestling as the second greatest love of his life. Well, third after his daughter Dalys la Caribeña but you get the idea.

As for my claim of his skills, Don Medina booked a promotion that seemed to take the idea of Panama’s singularity and turn it on its head. Foreigners in Panama were nothing new but it was usually seen as a special attraction for special wrestlers. On the day of Black/Barón’s apuesta, Medina had five. Medina not only saw to book foreigners up and down the card but also shuffled his wrestlers in the same way, too, week-to-week to provide freshness in their presentations. Everyone was linked in one way or the other. No feuds happened in vacuums and wrestlers would look out for each other, no matter their hierarchy - a rather alien concept to many promotions to this day where babyfaces only really care for the actions of the heels when it directly affects them.

Let’s recap the timeline a little, just in terms of foreign talent, we have: Bunny Black bloodying El Barón in the midcard. Silver King leaning into challenging Sergio Galvez for the hair/mask to put over their biggest heel. Kendo bloodfeuding with Tahur over the latter’s belt in the upper. All three programmes were running concurrently at this time with two, Bunny/Barón and Kendo/Tahur culminating on the 30th of May, 1987. Los Brazos giving prestige to trios wrestling in August. We have Casas/Celestial in December (rerunning their title match from 1986) and then La Parka (Principe Island 1) fighting in the main event opposite Sandokan about a half year later. There’s obvious gaps we’re missing, and this is only taking into account foreign talent, but that’s a lot of prominence that Medina is working on in such a short amount of time. It was as hot as a promotion could presumably get in late 80s Panama.

Taking the Black/Barón feud as an example (caveat: it’s really the only fleshed out example we have), the match we covered last week was run in Nuevo Panama and then rerun in Orlando Winter Claro and el Neco de la Guardia the following Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and another two times with dates unknown. While the focal points of the five cards all remained connected, they would be re-paired at different places along the card. For instance, on the Saturday show, the visiting Dominicans, el Cirujanos de la Muerte, got bumped from second-billing to the main event alongside Galvez to help rough up Silver King while Kendo/Tahur took a backseat, allowing the different feuds more opportunity and spotlight to grow (considering the differing match lengths offered to each placement).

As for our man of mystery, this would be Barón’s first taste of blood, quite literally. He had never encountered someone run so roughshod over him quite like Bunny. His bravado and eagerness would have him quickly offer his mask to avenge the humiliation he suffered from Bunny leaving him battered and bruised in front of his local fans. But this was his first mask match. He was someone famous for his flying and one whose skills lay more on the mat than in the hand. Noting this, Silver King and Kendo would be booked into helping him. Nothing comical. Nothing overbearing. Just the thought that, as Silver King put it to interviewer Rafael Ventura, “Los técnicos son los que deben de ganar” (the tecnicos are the ones who should win”). King was appalled at how his fellow Mexican Bunny Black treated Barón - it wasn’t the gracious hand that King had hoped both of them would offer Panama in their debuts that week - and he wanted to correct that wrong. Bunny Black would pop his mouth off a few more times as the proceedings wore on but their contract signing on Tuesday, May 26, 1987, went without confrontation. Perhaps that comes with having beat Barón in each of their 5 tag encounters. Either way, signed in front of Eric Arce, the president for the Professional Wrestling Commission of Panama, the apuesta was on.

Honestly, I’m a little sad we don’t have more of this feud. Bunny Black is absolutely perfect in his role. He talks shit and he backs it up. I joked with Matt when this match dropped that Bunny Black (Salsero) of all people is going to be the one from Panama in Phil’s book. And here we are. The little engine that could. Stupendous match.

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Espectáculos Promociones Panama: The Ballad of Bunny Black, Part 1

El Barón/La Cobra Vs Bunny Black/El Ciclón 5/15/87

Fancam

MD: We have both the “proshot” and, through Graham, a “fancam.” The latter is interesting in that you get to see the same match from the exact opposite side of the ring and it gives us some more insight into the crowd noise at times, but you get most of the gist of things from the main footage. There’s a moment in the tercera where the tecnicos launch their second big comeback of the match. Barón basically has enough and charges forth and the crowd goes nuts as Bunny Black finally gets some real comeuppance. If the match ended around there, it would have been one of the best we’ve seen in the footage. Instead, it takes a turn and Bunny Black pulls out a spike and starts opening Barón’s forehead up. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that this one is definitely worth your time.

The rudos took an early advantage to start, with Bunny avenging a start-of-the-match clowning stumble by crushing Barón’s skull with a chair on the outside. Unless I’m mistaken he has “Guerreros Rock” on his back and the initial beatdown makes him feel like a member of the Guerreros twenty years later. He and Ciclón work in near-perfect unison with one double team after the next: flips, press slams neck first onto the top rope, double kicks, double clotheslines (and later on, things like a punch from a bearhug position or a double axehandle off the turnbuckles while Cobra was held in a fireman’s carry), ending it with a pretty gnarly double stretch. They took it too far in the segunda and miscommunication led to the first big comeback. Bunny Black was certainly a character, selling legdrops to the groin so big that you’d think he was hit by a cattleprod, begging off and spinning around like a top on every punch on the floor. Ciclón stayed with him on offense but couldn’t possibly match his antics otherwise. Cobra also had a tendency to come off as forgettable given the main focus.

I’d say that Barón held up his part, though, bleeding and writhing around when appropriate and being just dynamic enough on offense. When it looked like he was going to get his hands on Bunny the first time, the crowd pooled towards the two of them in excitement. Later on, he’d manage things like a jumping ‘rana off the ropes. Occasionally, he’d get ahead of himself. There’s one shot that looked almost like a Superman kick that I watched from both angles and at half speed and I still couldn’t make sense of and the pivotal spot of the match had him miss something off the top while Cobra had a stretch on and I have no idea what he was trying to do (We’ll call it being blinded by the blood maybe? That would be charitable). Overall, though, this had the sort of ebbs and flows, the build in tension and payoff in tecnico revenge that I love most in my lucha, especially in front of a hot crowd living and breathing with the violence and drama.

GB: I guess I walked into this one. Matt had asked for my recommendation on a match to go with, something with a wrestler I’d like to spotlight, and I instinctively chose this. Naturally, there’s almost nothing to be found for anyone here except the wonderfully enigmatic Bunny Black who is more famously known as Salsero/Hijo de Pierroth/Pierroth Jr in Mexico and Kendo Star in his home country of the Dominican Republic.

And herein lies the problem we face. The information on Panamanian lucha is scattered across newspaper articles and archives as well as social media posts with no real driving force tractioning engagement. This isn’t El Salvador where a throwaway post of mine on PWO has more background than the entirety of our journey here. Moreover, this isn’t Guatemala where, in one centralised place, I can *daily* see two to three new posts of newspaper clippings or photographs with detailed anecdotes on the histories surrounding them. In the past year, what I’ve discovered is that South America is filled with a kaleidoscope of rich history when it comes to wrestling. The only issue, of course, is almost none of it is in English so there's an intertwine of cultural as well as language barriers to the bigger, Western world over and above the foreignity of their wrestling style.

Everything I find on Panama has been gleaned from hours of scouring. There’s a lot of research behind my “I don’t knows”. It’s tiresome and frustrating. But equally rewarding. It's my goal that I can, little by little, help to unearth it to the rest of us. Let’s face it, though, if there ever was a time for Panamanian lucha to rear its head, it would be now. We’re almost four decades on from these matches taking place. A lot of these wrestlers are in their twilight years or, at least, nearing it. I hope, then, that these posts can traction that engagement. That, for nothing else, we can reach these luchadores and bring a spotlight to a country that would act as the “excursion” to many foreign stars the world over, from Solar and La Parka to Gran Hamada.

So, to make things up, I’d like to offer an exclusive, quite literally, on El Barón. From what I can gather, this will be the first time anyone has written about him and his career, either in Spanish or English. So little is known, it seems, that even his homenaje got his name wrong.

Or this could be an inside joke stemming back to at least 1989.

 

Regardless, El Barón, “el rey del tope suicida” from Pueblo Nuevo, didn’t have the easiest start to his career, despite having Ricardo Díaz as his trainer. While Shazán might have been the Diablo Velazco of Panama, Díaz was no slouch, either, having trained the likes of El Greco and El Africano. However, their training left a lot to be desired. Barón would have to learn to ply his craft on mats strewn around an open room with no sight of a ring at all in his training. It was all very rudimentary but he seemed happy. Much like Africano, Barón was trained heavily in olympic style wrestling to start. It was this that he believed taught wrestlers what true discipline was. And, despite not having trained inside a real ring, he chalked up these two years as to getting him through the “real show” when he made his debut on April 28th, 1985 against the rudo Gemelo Infernal I. It seems that he impressed and would, within months, be working tags with El Idolo. He’d also close the decade off as the country’s welterweight champion as well as being a crucial part in getting the newly debuted Azor as over as he became. He would also be given opportunities to wrestle foreign wrestlers from Mexico and Japan when they made their pit stops and, boy, did he start with a good one. Before the end of his debuting year (1985), El Barón wrestled his first match against a foreigner, Negro Casas. It was a completely mat-based fight where the two men traded holds in what I read as being a “great technical match”. Still, this was an important spot as El Barón played the valiant rookie whose loss heated up Negro Casas in the buildup to the Casas/Celestial title match on the 14th of December, 1985. A match I believe in which Casas took back the WWA World Welterweight Championship. Either way, it wasn’t Celestial that left an indelible impression on Casas but El Barón. Over three decades later, at an RGR event on February 26th of this year, Casas would say in an interview he would love to work one more time with El Barón before he retires.

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