El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Where's Chicky?

Week 61: Where's Chicky?

EB: The August 3 house show was a memorable one, with a wild brawl between Carlos Colon and Abdulalht Butcher that had Profe humiliated due to Carlos tearing Profe’s pants off. We also had the first match between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, and any hope of a reconciliation was gone once Huracan attacked Miguel Perez Sr when he got involved to try to stop them from fighting. An angry Miguelito is not going to let that pass and a rematch has been set for Fan Appreciation Day weekend on August 10. One other notable development from August 3 was Fidel Sierra defeating Super Medico #3 to win the Caribbean title, so there are changes occurring in CSP. 

As we move to August 10, a large new arrival has joined the ranks of El Ejercito de la Justicia, a man named Solomon Grundy. August 10 is also the annual Fan Appreciation Day, headlined by the Bronca Boricua match. The big rivalry of Castillo vs Perez will have two chances to get at each other that night as both are entered in the Bronca Borcicua. Let’s go to the August 10 west coast version of Super estrellas de la Lucha Libre, where  we will hear all about their lineup for the August 11 Fan Appreciation Day show.

WWC Super Estrellas 8/10/91 west coast edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbVC5EjlzKo

EB: We join the episode with Hugo already in the midst of his show intro, where he announces we will see the debut of the enormous Solomn Grundy on this week’s episode. We will also have the new Caribbean champion Fidel Sierra, who defeated Super Medico #3 last week in Bayamon to become the new champion. Since this is the west coast version of Superstrellas, the big news is that tomorrow in Aguadilla it is Fan Appreciation Day with special prices and a meet and greet with the tecnico wrestlers before the show. It also means the return of the Bronca Boricua match, where wrestlers will compete for a $10,000 cash prize. Hugo also mentions some of the other matches scheduled for tomorrow, with the big one being a rematch between Huracan Castillo and Miguelito Perez. They had a big brawl last Sunday that ended with Castillo knocking out Perez with an object and then Miguelito dragging Castillo out of the locker room afterwards. Let’s go to our first match.

The State Patrol vs. Super Medico #3 & Invader #4

We have another version of the State Patrol, this time Lt. James Earl Wright is joined by Sgt. Billy Joe Barber. Their opponents are the team of Super Medico #3 and Invader #4. Wright and Medico start off for their teams, with Wright complaining about hair pulls and Medico keeping the upper hand on their early lock ups. Wright briefly works Medico’s arm, but that gets countered and the tecnico team tags in and out while working over Wright’s arm. Barber is tagged in and does not fare any better. The State Patrol takes control once they are able to back Medico into their corner, giving them an opening to bait Invader #4 into the ring and double team Medico behind the ref’s back. Wright and Barber control the next few minutes, keeping Medico in the ring and cutting off any hope spots. An elbow to the back of Wright’s head gives the opening for the hot tag to Invader #4, who briefly handles both Patrol members. All four men end up in the ring but despite the tecnicos whipping the State Patrol into each other, Wright recovers quickly and hits a neckbreaker on Invader #4. This sets up an interesting finisher for the State Patrol (like a Doomsday Device only with a shoulder tackler to the body) and the State Patrol get the win.

MD: Theoretically, the State Patrol are perfect for Puerto Rico. Very much a Rock’n’Roll RPMs deal where they have the skills to really shine with the opportunity, but so far we just never get the real State Patrol. Here it’s James Earl Wright with “Billy Joe Barber” and other than being from Florida, as we’re told by Hugo, we don’t know much about him. He’s competent, but that’s not the same as being an arch stooge. This was pretty straightforward for the most part. Babyfaces controlled the arm. Heels ground down once they took over. Transitions weren’t super interesting. Finish was good after the hot tag as Medico and Invader were firing off hot, and the finishing move, which was a Suplex with a top rope shoulder block was good (set up by Wright cutting Invader off with a neckbreaker out of nowhere, so not even a cheating win). 

EB: Our first round of promos for this episode features the combatants in tomorrow’s Caribbean title match. Up first is new champion Fidel Sierra, who first talks about the Bronca Boricua. He expects to win the $10,000 prize and already knows what weapon he is bringing with him to the match. It seems there was some controversy last Sunday in Aguadilla, where the fans feel Sierra tried to steal the match from Medico #3 (something Sierra denies). Sierra is defending his newly won title tomorrow against the former champion, Sierra is going to show Medico #3 why Cubans are number one.

Medico #3 is next and also first mentions that he wants to win the Bronca Boricua tomorrow before talking about tomorrow’s rematch. Looks like last Sunday Sierra got caught with his legs on the ropes trying to gain leverage for a pin. The ref caught it but tomorrow Medico will be ready for Sierra’s shenanigans. He is also looking forward to the fan meet and greet before the show.

MD: Sierra won the Caribbean Championship from Medico III, though I think it was a little contested. They’re hyping up the Bronca Boricua. Fidel Sierra fashion watch has him less Cuban Assassin here with the flag, but a button down shirt and hat and sunglasses. So he is bouncing around a bit I suppose. They’re also hyping up a rematch and Fan Day where you can ask the wrestlers questions and get autographs with special prices for tickets.

EB: We get our first look at new arrival Solomon Grundy, who will be in a handicap match tomorrow against El Profe and Alex Porteau. Grundy is happy to be in Puerto Rico and is counting on his size to help him win the Bronca Boricua. Grundy is not worried about taking on two men tomorrow and sends a message in Spanish to the Puerto Rico fans (including sending a lot of kisses to all the ladies).We then get the card rundown for tomorrow’s Fan appreciation Day show featuring a fan meet and greet before the show and special prices: A 14 wrestler $10,000 Bronca Boricua match; the rematch between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo; Giant Warrior vs. Great Kokina; Caribbean title rematch as Super Medico #3 challenges Fidel Sierra; The Invaders vs The State Patrol; Solomon Grundy vs. El Profe & Alex Porteau and Ray Gonzalez vs El Galan Mendoza.

MD: Grundy did pretty well here, talking about how he was bigger and meaner than everyone, but seeming like the nicest guy as he did. Bronca Boricua is a natural fit for him. It’s 14 guys (Invader #1, Castillo, Warrior, Sierra, Perez, Kokina, Grundy, State Patrol, Super Medico, Invader #4, Gonzalez, Porteau, Mendoza). We don’t have it. He tried to say some things in Spanish at the end which no babyfaces ever do. Again, it felt endearing. He’d be facing Porteau and Profe 2 on 1 as well, which sounds like it was probably fun. 

Great Kokina vs. Mr. Ito

EB: Kokina is back in Puerto Rico for Fan Appreciation weekend, so we get a match from his earlier appearance from about two months ago. His opponent is Mr. Ito and Kokina just steamrolls the poor guy. Ito gets a couple of dropkicks late in the match but Kokina brushes them off. A Samoan Drop quickly follows and Kokina gets the pin.

MD: This is a month or two old as Akbar was still there and Kokina had only been in for a limited run before. As weird as Nogami vs Yoko is on paper, there wasn’t a ton here. Nogami brushed him back with a few karate kicks but Kokina took over quickly and barely looked back. Nogami came back with a couple of dropkicks but got flattened with a clothesline and samoan drop.

EB: El Profe is in the studio to talk up the Bronca Borciua, specifically that Great Kokina will handle ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’ and maybe some of their fellow rudos as well in order to win the cash prize. But more importantly, Profe expects Kokina to finish Giant Warrior. This is followed by Giant Warrior talking about how he wants to win the Bronca Borica and that Kokina is stepping into his backyard tomorrow.

MD: They talk up the 10k prize and the upcoming Kokina vs Warrior match. Warrior is an AJPW guy and Kokina is a NJPW guy so that’s kind of interesting I guess and a natural match. I bet it was probably pretty decent too.

EB: Invader is next in the promo lineup and also hypes up tomorrow's Bronca Boricua match. Also, they’ll see tomorrow who the better tag team as the Invaders take on the State Patrol 

MD: Invader is teaming with Invader IV against the State Patrol. Bronco’s off doing whatever I guess. With Colon out for this week and TNT MIA too, Invader’s sort of the top guy alongside the Castillo vs Perez feud.

The Samoan Swat Team vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk

EB: We get a repeat of the SST vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk match from back in May. The SST are still around and gunning for tag gold.

MD: It’s more Memphis SST. Actually, I think we saw this already. This is the one where Santana takes a huge beating, Duk comes in, immediately screws up by doing a double nogging knocker and loses.

EB: The State Patrol makes sure that we all know they hate Puerto Ricans and they want to win the $10,000 tomorrow. Barber talks about putting down the Invaders tomorrow.

MD: This was pretty bleak. Wright references LA riots. Barber’s definitely got the accent for this. They would not be using the money for good things if they win it. That’s for sure.

EB: Galan Mendoza talks about all the luxury stuff he could buy and do with the $10,000 prize. He also says it will be difficult for Ray Gonzalez to defeat him tomorrow.

MD: Mendoza on the other hand, would be living the high life with the money! Lobster dinner. An island getaway. Good for him. I hope he won it. (He did not win it).

Handicap Match: Solomon Grundy vs. El Exotico & The Fly

EB: Matt’s going to be happy to see Exotico back. It’s very brief screen time though, as The Fly lives up to his name and gets squashed in about a minute by Solomon Grundy.

MD: Hey, it’s El Exotico! My favorite enhancement guy. We haven’t seen him in ages. This did not go well for him. Grundy made short work out of these two. I think he got off his feet once for a dropkick of sorts but hard to tell with the camera cut.

EB: The hottest rivalry in Puerto Rico wrestling is set for a rematch tomorrow as Huracan Castillo is in the studio to talk about tomorrow’s match against Miguelito Perez. Hugo says that the fans are saying a lot of unpleasant things about Castillo, that last Sunday Castillo knocked Miguelito out with a foreign object as they were fighting after the dq. Castillo does not understand what the fans and Miguelito have against him, he does not need objects to knock down Perez. Castillo is complaining about Miguelito going into the locker room to attack him after he had laid Miguelito out. They’ll settle things tomorrow, even if they have to fight in the street or beach. 

Miguelito responds by saying that he does not care about the prize money tomorrow, he just wants to get his hands on Castillo in the Bronca Boricua and in their singles match. Hugo brings up that Castillo denied using a foreign object last week and an indignant Perez says of course he’s going to lie and deny doing that even though everyone saw him do it. That’s why he chased Castillo down to the locker room and kicked his butt back out. If Castillo is going to be using objects, then Miguelito will bring them as well.

MD: Got to keep the big feud churning. I still would have liked to see a heel Castillo squash match but ah well. Strong stuff from Castillo where he talks about how he didn’t need a knuckle duster to defeat Perez and how Perez was an out of control savage (obviously lies but he’s leaning well into the delusion). He mentioned how his teaming with Perez is why he never won these big money matches and how he didn’t care about the money, just getting his hands on Perez. It’s a good act.

Perez could barely even respond to such absurdity and he was obviously flustered. He said he didn’t care about the money either and he came off as very sympathetic in the face of Castillo’s behavior.

Fidel Sierra vs. Jerry Mercado

EB: We join in progress our next match, as the new Caribbean champion is making a point of making an example of Jerry Mercado. Hugo reminds the viewers about not using holds such as the sleeper (which Sierra uses to win the match) at home and also brings up that he feels that the way Sierra uses the flag to cover his opponents is disrespectful. Hugo then closes the show by hyping up tomorrow's Fan Appreciation Day show.

MD: Total control by Sierra here. He’s quick to pull Mercado up just to beat him down again. He wins with the sleeper (but does wake him up post match). No one had been using it like this for a couple of years in Puerto Rico so it’s a nice touch.

EB: Before moving to the next weekend, a quick note about the August 10 card in Bayamon. The WWE Vault just uploaded a Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy match from that house show (something we did not have available before). We’ll make sure to cover this match in our next post, but what tremendous timing for the drop.

With that said, let's now go to the August 17 Campeones episode, where we have an announcement regarding the vacant Caribbean tag titles.

WWC Campeones 8/17/91

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBMj-VcVhcI

EB; As usual our hosts are Hugo and El Profe, with El Profe doing his usual preening and posing during the show intro. They talk about the matches they will feature on today’s episode. Tonight we’re getting another Fan Appreciation Day, this time in Ponce. The main event is Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad. There will also be a tournament for the vacant Caribbean tag titles, Hugo explains the rules and mentions the teams participating. When Hugo mentions the team of the Latin Connection (the new pairing of Ricky Santana and Ray Gonzalez), a surprised Profe remarks ‘They teamed up the Barbie dolls.’  Profe feels confident the SST will win. Hugo also mentions that their latest VHS releases highlighting Carlos Colon's greatest battles and Volume 4 of Super Estrellas  are now available for rent and purchase. Also tonight the World Kickboxing Federation is holding an event in Manati so make sure to check that out if you are in the area. 

MD: We lead off talking about upcoming events, including Fan Appreciation Day and the upcoming tournament for the Caribbean Tag Titles. 8 teams. 20 minute time limits for all matches until the final. Some of the teams are Super Medico III and Perez, Sierra and Castillo, Gonzalez and Santana, State Patrol, Mendoza/Porteau, Warrior/Grundy, Samoan Swat Team, and maybe Invader and Bronco. Not a bad look at the roster overall, noting that Colon vs a returning Kareem Muhammad is on top. 

Atkie Mulumba vs. Giant Warrior - No DQ match from July 20

EB: This match is from Carolina and is a no DQ. Hugo mentions that this was when Profe brought in wrestlers to get back at Giant Warrior for injuring his jaw with the big boot. Giant Warrior runs to the ring and immediately attacks Atkie by choking him with Atkie’s attire. Mulumba bails to the outside and takes his time heading back in, while Hugo on commentary mentions that Mulumba is the size of a hippopotamus and is bigger than before. Atkei heads abc in, Warrior gets the advantage again before Mulumba takes over and controls most of the match. Back from a commercial break and both men are outside of the ring with Warrior making a comeback. They fight by the barricade before heading back into the ring, where Mulumba again takes over. The match ends when Mulumba goes for his top rope splash but Warrior gets a boot up to counter. Warrior follows up with the big boot and gets the win. El Profe was not avenged.

MD: Not sure when this was from, but it was a good win for Warrior. He controlled early using Mulumba’s garb to choke him. Mulumbua got some shots in out of the corner and took over with chokes (including over the top rope) and nerve holds. It spilled to the floor and Warrior fought back tossing Mulumba around, which looked good. Back in the ring, Mulumba got the advantage but leaped off the top for a splash right into Warrior’s boot and he loaded it with a stomp and hit a mafia kick for the win. Not the world’s most compelling match, but it had a moment or two and, like I said, was a good win for Warrior.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. TNT

EB: This match is joined in progress and likely is from one of the late July TV tapings when Abdullah made a short return.TNT hasn’t been featured much in recent months, it seems he has been doing more foreign tours. TNT is getting the better of Abdullah here, with several strikes keeping Abdullah against the ropes. A well timed karate thrust from Abdullah cuts off TNT however,  and Adbullah starts his attack. Headbutts, biting and gouging. Eventually the fight spills to the outside where they keep attacking each other and are counted out.

MD: This went how you’d expect. They barely moved ever further than a foot away from one another, just all close up combat, starting with TNT headbutts, then a lot of Abby choking and headbutts of his own. He tried to use the claw a lot, even as they spilled to the floor, but TNT kept cutting that off, and they brawled to a countout.

EB: Alex Porteau and Galan Mendoza cut a promo on going for the Caribbean tag titles tonight. The bigger news is that Alex Porteau beat Ricky Santana last Friday for the World Junior title. Mendoza says luck is everywhere for them and they’ll be the next Caribbean tag champions. 

MD: Porteau is the Junior Champ now apparently, having just won it. Now he and Mendoza are coming for the tag titles. 

EB: Fidel Sierra and Huracan Castillo are also competing in tonight’s tournament. Huracan tells Fidel that the fans are already looking at the Caribbean tag champions and that he's hoping to get a shot at facing Miguelito Perez in the tournament so he can wipe the floor with Perez. Fidel says that they are the number one team whether the fans like it or not. 

We then get a card rundown for tonight in Ponce: Carlos Colon vs Kareem Muhammad; the Caribbean tag title tournament featuring Invader #1 & Bronco #1, Miguelito Perez & Super Medico #3, the Samoan Swat Team, Alex Porteau & Galan Mendoza, Giant Warrior & Solomon Grundy, Ricky Santana & Ray Gonzalez, the State Patrol, and Huracan Castillo & Fidel Sierra. 

Also this Wednesday at the TV taping in Miramar featuring a main event of Miguelito Perez & Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra & Huracan Castillo, and a 15 wrestler coal miners pole battle royale featuring Solomon Grundy, Giant Warrior, Bronco #1, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Alex Porteau, The Heartbreakers, Galan Mendoza, Dusty Wolfe, Ray Gonzalez, and more.

MD: I had missed the Castillo/Sierra announcement at the top of the show but these two make sense as a team. Same sense of swagger so long as Sierra isn’t in the camo. 

EB: The last match on this episode of Campeones is the barbed wire match between Carlos Colon and the Polynesian Prince from early June. In between match segments there is a promo from Invader #1 and Bronco #1 where they talk about wanting to become double tag champs and that they know it’s a tough field tonight. Hugo and Profe close the show by doing a final hype job for tonight’s house show.

Before ending this week’s post, it has been about a year since we last saw Chicky Starr in CSP. I think it’s about time we checked in on what he’s currently up to  around this time period in summer 1991.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p900bECT9qE

EB: This is footage from an independent company that is running on the west coast of the island. I remember seeing this show on one of the local channels (either channel 12 or 13) and I mainly remember Chicky and the host doing talking head segments and airing matches from different places. This specific clip is a compilation of interview promos hyping up one of this company's house shows.  The presentation reminds me of the early 80s TV from CSP where Rickin Sanchez was at the studio sitting and wrestlers would pop in and out to do their promos. Chicky is in the middle of cutting promos for the matches his guys are having, we see someone leaving as Chicky brings in two more of his organization's wrestlers. Chicky says his organization keeps growing and now he has brought in Crusher #2 to team up with Crusher #1. The Crushers are doing the black glove claw gimmick and Chicky wants the cameraman to zoom in on their hands. They will deal pain to any who stand against them. Chicky then rattles off the names of his wrestlers: The Crushers, Cubano Loco (which I’m guessing was the guy we saw leaving the interview area as the clip started) Solid Gold (hmm…), Los Vaqueros, and his Sports Organization is on the upswing and will keep growing. Chciky then starts rattling off the names of the tecnicos that need to watch out, such as Ricky Sexton, the Super Medicos (hmm...), Los Acrobatas, El Cobra, El Rockero, they have open contracts for any and all of them. 

The next clip is of the North American champion of the company, Ricky Sexton. His opponent is Cubano Loco and we get a promo from Sexton about being wary of how dangerous Cubano Loco and Chicky Starr are, how he beat Loco last time they faced each other and how he will do everything in his ability to keep the title. We also get the Super Medicos in the studio, this is Super Medico #2 and Super Medico #4. They are facing The Crushers and Medico # 4 does the talking for the team. If you're wondering who they are, Super Medico #4 is the same one we’ve seen before in CSP, one Julio Estrada. The silent Super Medico #2 is Nick Ayala, someone we have also seen before in CSP. 

This is a rare look at some of the other goings on in Puerto Rico wrestling. Chicky seems to be earning a paycheck at least but this seems a bit low rent (it is an independent company based in the western region after all). Ricky Sexton as North American champion, second rate Super Medicos, a bunch of generic sounding team names (just what the heck is a Solid Gold anyway?)…probably the last we’ll hear about them in any shape or form.

MD: The second you see Chicky on screen here, no matter what happens around him, he feels instantly iconic. I miss the guy, even though Profe is doing an admirable job and Akbar was fun. No idea what’s going on here but he’s got two masked guys flexing their hands over and over and over ago and then we see some fake Medicos too. It feels like Public Access Puerto Rican wrestling.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the feud between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo rages on and brings Carlos Colon and Fidel Sierra into its orbit, new Caribbean tag champions are crowned, and Great Kokina vs Solomon Grundy (thanks WWE Vault!). 

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Found Footage Friday: CENA~! REIGNS~! TAMBA~! TINIEBLAS~! MAGNUM HALL~! MALUMBA~!

Tinieblas Sr. vs. Tamba [Mask vs Hair] WWA 9/19/87

MD: LA was a dead territory. Obviously WWF had success there in the 80s, but in the midst of that, these Olympic Auditorium shows were happening and they're very much a missing piece of wrestling history. There's a lot of talk about what was happening in the 90s, but these were just there underneath the surface the whole time. And while I wish we could hear the crowd a little bit better, you can't deny the trash being thrown in at the end here, and this was overall a wild scene.

Tamba is a pudgy babyfaced guy with no shirt and no mask and he was putting his hair up against Tinieblas' hallowed mask. The commentary indicates that maybe he was being nudged into this by his partner, Super Halcon, and there was a build here where they had gotten some cheating tag wins apparently. There was also an indication that the promoter too had been goaded in and that other promoters wouldn't have put up Tinieblas' mask like this. 

Halcon hangs out on the apron at the start of the match. Tinieblas nails him and Tamba gets Tinieblas from behind and we're off to the races. Tamba's stuff is, shall we say, rough around the edges. He had size and he had size and he had size and that was pretty much what he had. His forearms did not look great, but you sort of bought them given that size and Tinieblas made sure to spin and backpedal on each one on the floor. He used a chair as well. Back in the ring he hit maybe the worst top rope splash I've ever seen, just sort of falling down on Tinieblas' legs but that scored in the primera. The segunda had a couple of Tinieblas comebacks where he beat Tamba around the ring, but that size kept coming into play. Here though he missed a second rope splash after laboriously getting up the ropes, and that allowed Tinieblas to slap on La de a Caballo.

The tercera, then, was all over the place. The video cuts in and out a bit but by the end of it, Tinieblas had hit Tamba with a chair and opened him up (though maybe not a gusher). Tamba manages to come back with not just one low blow, but two, and he pulls at the mask and goozles Tinieblas. When the ref tries to get involved, Tamba tosses him off repeatedly, until he climbs on both Tamba and Tinieblas in the ropes and Tinieblas hefts both Tamba and the ref over. That allows Halcon to come in and interfere and Tamba to steal a three fall. The trash came flying, and they were very, very quick to get on the house mic (lowered from the ceiling) and let everyone know that they were reviewing the tape because of the fouls. I thought they were going to maybe restart the match, but no, they just gave it to Tinieblas and probably avoided a riot in the process, and we were left with the image of Tamba and his giant with a wound right in the middle, getting sheered with expert speed. It was more of an experience than a match but you really get a sense of the time and place.

ER: Oh, Tamba, where have you been all my life? Tamba, with his post-peak fat guy body and jack o lantern smile, 38 but moving like a 55 year old luchador, every fall the fall of a formerly great and still unique wrestler. He has among the worst fat guy splashes you've seen, falling in a controlled way on Tinieblas with no jump at all, like Cathy flopping onto her bed after a long Monday at the office. He wins the primera with a top rope splash that was an insult to the name. He landed somewhere near Tinieblas's legs with the form of a man who fell into a swimming pool while trying to fish something out. He looks like he's never climbed the ropes before and yet he's got this unique aura the entire time. He has great heavyweight punches, heavy blows that came from the side, thrown to the face, head, and chest. His punches are great enough that I know 1982 Tamba was an incredible menace. You can see him as a Super Porky who immediately fell off once the athleticism aged out to size. He got great fat guy color and did a tremendous job of almost starting a riot by taking one of the legendary lucha masks in a 100:1 upset. I don't think the lacking or loose execution held this back because the aura was there. It still felt like a big match even if the outcome was so unlikely and the opponent so washed. Underdogs got nothing to lose and it felt like there was more raw emotion in Tamba's toothless face than I expected. This felt like the right match for the occasion and felt like a look inside a scene. 

Scott Hall vs. Atkie Malumba [Cage] WWC 8/4/90 

MD: One great thing about having covered 1990 Puerto Rico so thoroughly is that we can fit this right in. This was after Hall's face turn and after the Aniversario match and they were using gimmicks to keep the feud going. You can see from the finish here that they left more meat on the bone. To me, this was right around the point where everything clicked for Hall. He could have had a serious babyface run in the back half of 1990 somewhere, but I guess he was in Germany as a heel (I saw some of that recently, a Tony St. Clair/Owen Hart handicap match).

This was from an episode a couple of years later so Profe kept joking how there was resemblance to Razor Ramon. I thought it was laid out well though. They went back and forth early, Hall's punches vs Malumba's heft, but it opened up when Malumba was able to toss Hall into the cage a couple of times. From there he leaned on him with a couple of hope spots when he tried to escape the cage through the door and Hall stopped him. There was a long nervehold (maybe too long) but it let Hall power up, the fans behind him, and start firing back. Hall finally got to toss Malumba into the cage (they had protected that), and there was a good nearfall for a cage when he dropkicked Malumba and Malumba almost went out the door from it, a finish we'd seen all too often but that I haven't seen teased like that much. Hall finally got the slam (also protected) to a big pop. He sold it well too stumbling backwards after the fact. And the finish had him go up and over but Malumba make it through the door a second before he landed. Maybe they could have shrunk that nerve hold just a little but overall this was a good piece of business and gave them room to go back for one more. 

ER: I've written a lot about Scott Hall, but almost exclusively 1992-1997 Scott Hall, which is when he became a really great worker. I've written a lot about Kimala II as well. He's probably the worst wrestler who Matt and I frequently write about, and I love him. I love both guys, but it never crossed my mind that they had ever wrestled each other. In another country. I didn't even know Scott Hall worked Puerto Rico or how big the cultural impact of Magnum PI on 1990 Puerto Rico was. I've never seen a Razor Ramon vs. Kamala match but now we have a version of that from an alternate dimension where Scott Hall wrestled like green Lex Luger and worked Gallagher Too in Puerto Rico. 

Scott Hall is an okay Lex Luger, and it's fun to see him sell like 96/97 Lex and use the same kind of punch comebacks. It's weird seeing Hall throwing lesser versions of his punch, before he perfected it, but I like how he sells for Kimala. Kimala's strikes never look great but they look correct for a Kimala. I love his shape and his big smooth back makes me think of him as a Punch-Out!! character. More wrestlers should remind me of a different ethnicity King Hippo. Kimala was a completely different opponent than we ever got to see Hall work, and it's good fun seeing Hall selling his back on lifts and throwing heavyweight dropkicks because he's a hunky babyface and not a greasy foreigner. Kimala's splashes always look good and I think he was able to have a 20 year career because he was a fat guy who worked without kneepads who stayed healthy. His deadweight landings look like they would never hold up over a decade long All Japan run, but these two were just built different. 

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns WWE 12/26/17 

MD: I'm not touching the Cena retirement tour but in watching this, I was stricken by how great a Cena retirement match this would have been, albeit 8 years too early. I don't remember the first thing about 2017 WWE. If I looked things up, I could probably piece it all together. Reigns was the Intercontinental champ apparently. This was at MSG, the big holiday show that kids get tickets for over XMas.

And I really liked it. It was Ace vs. Ace and felt like a passing of the guard moment. It has the room to stretch and breathe that you'd want in a house show. Cena leaned into it right in the beginning, going for a long lock up that let the fans chant at him (Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks). He pushed Reigns into the corner for a clean break and basked in it. There was such a sense of mastery here, of really knowing the value of a moment.  Reigns came back and controlled on a test of strength and then won on a shoulder block.

The match opened up when Cena went for a punch exchange, a traditional strength for him and Reigns clocked him. From there, it became about Reigns having a soft, punch-based advantage on these exchanges, and both men trying to unlock their moves. Instead of hitting things three times, they made getting through each part of the sequence an effort that needed to be built to. The crowd then went nuts when Cena finally hit his dropping belly to back or the five knuckle shuffle or Reigns finally got the Superman punch. There was one finisher kick out. Cena got the AA first and Reigns kicked out. Just that one and Cena wouldn't get it again, though he would cannily come close, hitting the mat as Reigns beat him again on a punch exchange only to lure him in on the pin and roll into a fireman's carry. This time Reigns escaped and hit the spear for the three, though. Just a very clever, very self-aware, very trusting match. Very little excess and because of that, what did happen mattered all the more and felt iconic. 

ER: 2017 was not my favorite John Cena year. It felt fully post-peak Cena at the time and scanning his television and PPV year now doesn't make me want to rewatch any of it. My favorite Cena match of the year had been a TV match against Jason Jordan, which feels like such a 2017 thing to say while also not sounding like it ever happened. I think I'd believe anything you told me about 2017 because none of it feels real, the timeline fake. It feels forever ago, not 8 years ago. Eight years ago, Jason Jordan was a Rising Star that I liked and wrote about, and Roman Reigns was a guy I thought might have been the best wrestler in the world. I went out of my way to watch and write about as many Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman TV, PPV, and house show matches existed - and there were a lot - and loved them all. In 2026, the idea of watching one Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman match would never cross my mind, and if suggested to me it would make me wrinkle up my nose in decline. 2017 feels like an implanted memory I only learn about from my own supposed writings and observations that I find in various notebooks that the RPG slowly reveals to me. 2017 was when you could go to a house show and see Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto but nobody saw it because it wasn't real. 

Roman Reigns was one of the best in the world in 2017 and was the best wrestler in WWE, and now they are a promotion I do not watch in part because I got tired of the new main event talk and walk style popularized by Roman Reigns. Eight years doesn't feel long, but it was a long time ago. This style isn't the main style in the fed that these two were the aces for, so this match - a great version of that style - feels like something much further back in time. It also greatly benefits from its handheld feel, shot on pro cam in the middle of the real crowd noise, like a concert recording from the taper's pit, but a taper who had a four man team and had been traveling to shows for several years. On TV everything is mic'd different, but in the middle of MSG you got to hear how much people hated Cena and wanted to cheer Roman...which made it so much better that we got to hear Cena winning them over the entire match. By the end of this, Roman's offense is being met with silence, like they didn't want to see Cena lose, and every time Cena made a comeback the crowd got louder with their support. 

Cena had one of his typical sloppy execution matches and some stuff looked hokier when played to the back rows of MSG. That big long lean over the apron while waiting for Roman's dropkick, the way his punches look so much worse than Roman's (until they start getting better when MSG is moved to cheer for him!?) are things that Cena is able to overcome stylistically, because the sloppy execution is baked into his style, and because the most important thing is his timing. Knowing when to bump, knowing when to take a beat, knowing which punch to get knocked down by. His timing was on the top of his game this whole match and it's knowing and perfecting that rhythm that had the entire building on his side within 15 minutes. 

It doesn't not matter in the grand scheme of things that his punches look loopy and cartoon-y, because he is so much better at taking Roman's punches and knowing how to bump and sell for each individual punch. I loved an early spot where he missed a turnbuckle charge and turned around into a nice Roman uppercut that sent Cena pirouetting into the mat, and there was this ongoing story where the punch exchanges never felt like they ended where Cena/Roman planned on ending them, but they ended where the punch quality and crowd reaction dictated they would end. This never felt like a match that they laid out and then worked exactly how they laid it out, it felt like something worked with room to grow into whatever the crowd wanted it to be. When Cena's tornado DDT maybe 7 minutes in got a big nearfall reaction, it's like that moment gave people a reason to believe in Cena, thus ROOT for Cena, and the dynamic change was huge. That's when this became something that felt a bit bigger and different than your usual send 'em home happy house show main. 

This was technically for the Intercontinental Title, but that seems laughably quaint. IF someone cared about that title before the match started, the title became an unimportant part of the match midway, if not sooner. This never felt like an IC Title match and by the end it only felt like a main event epic, a crowd worked to perfection, and moments timed for maximum impact. Neither man was able to hit their spots clean. Within a couple years, the WWE main event style was just finisher kickout spam, and this match got by with only one big surprise kickout (Roman kickout out of the AA, and to a lesser extent Cena kicking out of the Superman punch) because they wisely kept being unable to hit their various finishes. Finisher kickout is a lazy kind of surprise, but crafting a big main event build around stopped attempts and alternate means of attaining victory before looping back to one big finisher changed everything. Neither could put the other away because neither could connect with the big one. 

The reaction for Cena ducking a Superman punch, sloppily drop toe holding Roman into the STFU, was huge, a crowd chanting CENA SUCKS minutes before suddenly fighting with him, so much so that the pop when Roman lands his first Superman punch actually sounded more like shock than excitement. It got so Roman's offense was being met with silence. He wasn't being booed, but suddenly people were icing him out like they didn't want to actually see Cena lose. When Cena actually hits the AA (or moments where the 5 knuckle is stopped and then hit again later as more of a sudden surprise) the camera can no longer handle the decibels of the crowd and starts to distort. The finish was fantastic, with Cena leaping off the middle buckle for a legdrop but being hit with a sitout powerbomb for a good nearfall, leaping into a great punch exchange. This was the best punch exchange of the match, the one that felt like a gift to the crowd rather than one planned to go a specific length. It was a Boo/Yay exchange with people now booing Roman and cheering every punch a staggering Cena would throw, like they were the ones actually willing the men on instead of having a lengthy punch exchange foisted upon them. Cena deftly went down like a shot for Roman's best punch of the match, and it felt like it wasn't where Cena was "supposed" to go down, it just felt like he went down for the punch that felt (and looked) right. When Cena rolled through the pin and fought to deadlift Roman to his feet, clean and jerking him to his shoulders, it looked like the most triumphant Cena win and that's what everyone wanted to see. It was also the perfect way to set up Roman's win, Cena burning through all his reserves just to give everyone a look at Vintage Cena, doing it for the fans and forgetting he was in there with the new ace. 

I don't think the match happens like this if it was on TV or PPV, and I don't think it feels this good without the camera capturing the real crowd sound. This was a match that became more powerful because of its status as a house show main event (a house show in their main venue, but a house show nonetheless) and they seem to have completely forgotten that aspect of the show. Picturing this match done with their classically bad scripted commentary and all of the zoomed in reaction shaky cam and ugly LED displays just makes me nauseous. This was the right match for the right time presented in the best way. 

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Found Footage Friday: VALENTINE~! GARVIN~! CENA~! JOE~! BOTSWANA~! DOUG~!

Greg Valentine vs. Ronnie Garvin WWF 1/14/89

MD: Another new Richard Land find (go seek him out on twitter if you want to see this). Apparently this show did exist but with terrible VQ to the point where it hasn't been looked at. From entrances to leaving this goes ~15 and it's probably even better than you'd expect coming in, which is saying a lot. They're able to balance the best strike exchanges in the history of the company with just enough variety, stooging, stalling, and other little tricks to tie it all together.

The exchanges are amazing, but varied as well. Valentine might go high and low with punches or throw chops. Garvin will fire back out of the corner, in the center, will pick him up to knock him down again. And they do such a great job not just registering each blow by throwing their head back (whether in the corner or not) or Valentine spacing out, but by setting up the anticipation of it all with Valentine dancing back or stalling in the ropes or both of them throwing hands. It's the ultimate combination of anticipation, execution, and reaction that makes this amazing, strike exchange after strike exchange, with Garvin throwing in enough other things (a jackknife pin, slamming Valentine's head into the corner) and Valentine doing his big stooging sells to make it more than just a slugfest but a complete living, breathing tapestry of violence.

ER: We all keep writing in various ways "Greg Valentine's case as an All Time Great only rises with every new match we find" because it just keeps happening. Since we started Found Footage Fridays 5-15 years ago Valentine has been one of our frequent topics, appearing in the feature 10+ times, and each one of those times only raised his stock as a worker. He's incredible. 15 years ago, I had no idea what a huge Greg Valentine fan I would become. It really started with the DVDVR 80s WWF Project, the first set in the project that would make for the best years of my wrestling fandom. Valentine/Garvin was the kind of WWF match I had never seen before and didn't realize was ever happening there. Years later Valentine would be the reason I'd start my favorite wrestling project ever - Complete Berzerker - after seeing his brilliant match against Berzerker. Every piece of footage I've seen since - new, old, seen, unseen - just confirmed how great Valentine was. 

Now here's another new piece of the Valentine lore and it takes me back to 2006 (that can't be right) and the first time I saw the Valentine/Garvin '89 MSG match. It finished very high on my DVDVR 80s ballot, and I got to talk to Valentine at a convention about their matches. He said that nobody liked working Garvin because he worked stiff, and so they paired Valentine with him a lot because Valentine didn't mind working stiff with Garvin. That's the simplest explanation, those were Valentine's words, and then I proceeded to talk to him about BattlArts without ever buying an 8x10. I didn't know the rules, sorry. 

Now we get another take on them beating the hell out of each other and crowds slowly catching on to just how hard these men are hitting each other. Dick Graham catches on pretty quick just how hard the men are hitting each other. My favorite realization from Graham is when Valentine kicked Garvin in the face like Tenryu right in front of the ringside camera, and Graham just shouted out "SHOOT!" You have no idea, Dick. You watch this, and realize this whole thing cannot happen with Valentine. I love Garvin, but Valentine could have worked this match with anybody. Valentine is the one falling all over the place for him and leaning in to his toughest shots. Valentine is the one permitting every piece of nasty action to proceed. When Garvin starts teeing off on Hammer in the ropes, throwing hard overhand chops, mixing up punches to the forehead and body, finishing him with a shot to the forehead in the corner that sent Valentine skidding down each turnbuckle to the mat, I can see why not many others were willing to work Garvin. But Valentine makes it all into more than just stiff shots. Valentine showcases the willingness to throw hands and the over-willingness to stooge (the man must have timberrrrrrr fell to the mat a dozen times for payoff blows), but most importantly Valentine knew how to put over every single thing Garvin did. 

My favorite part of the match might have been Garvin's crucifix pin, because I don't know if I've ever seen a more ligament stretching crucifix. Garvin tied up Hammer's arms and slowly started pulling him back, and if you'd never seen a crucifix pin before you'd think Hammer was getting his arms slowly broken behind him. Valentine made his taking the move look more like a shoot pin than I'd ever seen, like his necktie was caught in a shredder and the more time he spent struggling the closer he was brought to his death. This match could have been All Hands and still been one of the best WWF matches of the decade, but Valentine knew how to take things higher. 

Doug Gilbert vs. Botswana Beast (Kimala II) Barbed Wire MECW 1999

MD: This was supposed to be One Man Gang vs. Doug and you can't just make a substitution late on a match like this and just expect it to work, but they made a pretty good effort overall. Gilbert went into the wire real early which was sort of the only logical way to do this (he took it right to Beast but couldn't actually whip him) unless you were going to take out a knee and keep it on the mat or something. So there wasn't exactly build and payoff. Instead, they actually went to the floor which I'm not sure I've ever actually seen in a barbed wire match. More than that, you had to rationalize Beast even being able to get out under the bottom rope without killing himself. That did allow Gilbert to get some reasonable offense with the chair and then, back in the ring toss Beast in at least once. He came back and had a fun marathon whipping of Gilbert into the wire again and again before dropping the splash. When he went for a second one PG-13 came out to break things up and smash Beast with the hubcap. Reno Riggins hilariously made the save with a chair, which he immediately put down before hitting anyone with it, thus allowing for himself to get swept under so Beast could make the save. Doug Gilbert's Bobcat Goldthwait faces made this work despite the substitution.

ER: Ever since I was the high voter on the Botswana Beast vs. Terry Gordy match from the World Class set, I feel a strong connection to Beast that might not actually be present in his ring work. I've always been fascinated by Beast/Kimala II/Uganda in a similar but different way than I'm fascinated by Gallagher II. Kimala II might have been the worst All Japan worker of the 90s, yet there he was wrestling 800 matches in the greatest workrate fed of the decade, dressed up as the shorter, fatter version of a guy whom everyone in attendance knew. I love that Kimala II existed, I sincerely love that Gordy match, and if he's the worst All Japan worker of the 90s then I love that he got to exist there during that whole magic era. This was from '99, when he was working ECW shows in the states between All Japan tours and is a fun spectacle without being much of a match. My favorite bits were all centered on Beast's low center of gravity, showing how impossible it would be for Doug to shove him into the ropes against his will. I loved that Irish whip spot where Doug pulled with all his might only for Beast's feet to slide a bit forward on the mat, before Beast whipped Doug into the barbed wire with the strength of Andre. 

John Cena vs. Samoa Joe WWE 8/26/17

MD: This was absolutely delightful. It checks so many boxes just from the start. A match we never thought we'd get. Unproduced house show footage, clear as day, from 2010s WWE. A hot crowd. Two larger than life wrestlers who knew exactly what they were doing working a house show style. It feels like a million years ago and I'd say it overdelivered my expectations. You listen to the crowd build and build and build as they take them up and down (but each high getting a little bit higher) and that's just what I want out of pro wrestling more often than not. 

I can't even tell you the last time I saw a Cena match. It was probably for FFF. We watched one in 2022. That was probably it. I think that was a house show too. I can't get over how simplistic, minimalist, straightforward this was. Joe won an early exchange and celebrated, the shine was basically just a build to Cena winning a shoulderblock and it feeling like a huge deal. Joe took over with one (and only one) punch in the corner. Cena went down like a ton of bricks.

He never really looked back. Cena would get hope spots because he was Cena and basically anything he did was a hope spot. He'd dash into the ring before Joe expected. He'd block a punch. He'd heft him up into a fireman's carry out of nowhere, but Joe dropped him each time. The fans got louder each time though. Until it was just Cena standing up in the corner that did it. Amazing stuff. Joe ran right through him then, but then, when it was repeated, Cena moved and that's when he got in his signature comeback stuff. Talk about rewarding the crowd for caring. They went into a ref bump and a phantom win before the actual one, adding in a bit of doubt to the proceedings. I'm not entirely sure that was necessary given the match they were wrestling, but it was no real harm overall. Just an amazing reminder how special these guys are.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: A Side of Duk

Week 32: A Side of Duk

EB: Two weeks after Aniversario 90 we have two matches that continue to follow up on some of the key rivalries from the event. A super tag match between the team of Carlos Colon and Scott Hall and the team of TNT and Atkie Mulumba scheduled for July 21 in Caguas continues two rivalries that had their first encounters at Aniversario. The second of our top matches from July 21 features what may well be the finale for an ongoing rivalry that has been waged since the end of March. The rivalry between Leo Burke and Invader #1 began as a tag team rivalry but morphed into a singles feud over the Caribbean title. Burke started using a boxing glove as a weapon and talked up his amateur credentials and skills as a boxer. The plan to embarrass Invader #1 at Aniversario failed, as it was Invader #1 that obtained the knockout win in the boxing match due to landing a taped fist punch on Leo Burke. The first rematch post Aniversario saw Burke almost steal back the Caribbean title via the use of a loaded taped fist punch, something that has been Invader #1’s trademark move for years. It all comes to a head now in a taped fist match. Let’s go to that match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaJEjdW1rY8

This match is from a Campeones airing with Hugo and Carlos on commentary. The video starts with Chicky and Leo exchanging a pre-match hug outside of the ring. Burke gets in the ring and you can clearly see both Burke and Invader #1 have their hands taped up. Carlos talks about why this match is with taped fists, mentioning  the different times Burke has stolen wins and titles via the use of the boxing glove, foreign object assisted punches, and the latest incident with the taped up loaded punch that almost resulted in Burke regaining the Caribbean title. Basically, Invader has said enough is enough and that is why we are here . Hugo mentions that Burke may very well have some object inside the wrapping but we also know about Invader's famed taped fist heart punch, so it remains to be seen who will come out on top. In the ring, Burke takes the advantage after a lock up and rope run by Invader by hitting a taped fist punch to the midsection that immediately sends Invader down. Invader lays prone over the bottom rope as referee El Vikingo checks on him. Burke grabs Invader and continues to focus on Invader’s midsection with a series of kicks. Invader again goes down and Burke stomps on Invader. Burke works an armbar but backs away when Invader squares up to punch with his taped fist. Burke regroups and goes back to the armbar. Burke hits some kneedrops on Invader's arm and continues working the armbar.  It is clear that Leo’s strategy is to try to neutralize Invader’s arm to minimize the danger of the taped fist punches. Invader gets to his feet but Burke yanks him back down via a hair pull. Invader is able to get back to his feet and breaks the hold by sending Burke into the ropes. It looks like Invader may be setting up for a heart punch on the rebound but Burke avoids it by basically grabbing and jumping into the ropes, almost holding himself in a cradle position. Burke then immediately slips to the outside. Burke regroups with Chicky outside and takes his time getting back in. On commentary, Carlos and Hugo are talking about the upcoming Fan Appreciation Day match with TNT and mention that TNT seems to have brought in a new wrestler as backup (more on this shortly). Burke finally gets back in the ring and we go to commercial as Invader gets a side headlock after a lockup. 

Back from commercial, Burke is in control of the match and hits a neckbreaker on Invader. A pin attempt gets two. Invader crawls on his hands and knees around the mat, scooting through Burke’s legs and hitting a taped fist punch on Burke’s right knee. Leo immediately falls over after the blow. Burke uses the ropes to get back up but Invader again goes after Burke’s leg with a punch, Burke keeps a hold on the ropes for balance and counters with a kick to Invader’s face. Burke lands some taped fist punches and some turnbuckle smashes on Invader. Both men start exchanging strikes, with Invader getting the better of Burke as the chops keep being thrown. Invader gets his second wind and continues on the attack, but Burke gets a respite when Invader is tripped up by Chicky Starr. Burke misses an elbow drop though, and Invader winds up for the heart punch. Burke gets up and gets hit right in the chest. Leo is knocked out and Invader pins Burke to retain the Caribbean title. The crowd cheers and celebrates Invader’s victory. We then cut to Burke being attended to in the ring, with the last image being Leo Burke being stretchered out. This feud is finally over and we have seen the last of Leo Burke in CSP. So long Leo, you had quite the nine month run.   . 

MD: Given the commercial clipping we only get about seven minutes of this but its the usual high quality between these two. Burke takes over early and works over Invader’s left arm. Maybe an odd choice considering Invader throws the heart punch with the right but it works for him for a bit until Invader starts to fire back. Burke delays the gratification by leaping into the ropes and then slipping out to escape, a great bit of business there. Invader does come back but Chicky trips him off the ropes, only for Burke to miss an elbow drop and get crushed by the Heart Punch. This felt like a definitive blow off.

EB: While one rivalry has finally ended, there are two others that are still very much crescendoing. After coming to Carlos Colon’s aid on July 14, Scott Hall  is teaming up  with Carlos to take on TNT and Atkie Mulumba. Let’s go to Caguas once again for this encounter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoeXCQhq7TU

As the tecnico team is introduced, Hugo makes note that Scott Hall is the newest member of El Ejercito de la Justicia after last week’s events. Our commentary team for this match is Hugo and Chicky Starr. Chicky calls Carlos old and Scott Hall a traitor. The rudo team of TNT and Atkie Mulumba emerge from the stairwell and immediately charge the ring to fight Colon and Hall. Carlos and Scott are ready and trade blows with their respective rivals. Colon knocks TNT out of the ring after several blows, while Hall takes the upper hand on Atkie in the ring. Colon gives chase and attacks TNT on the arena floor, hitting a bodyslam and throwing TNT into the ringpost. In the ring, Hall has Mulumba backed into a corner and fires off several punches and kicks. Mulumba is able to fight back and grapple with Hall, as TNT and Colon make their way back into the ring. Colon backs TNT into a  corner and does standing punches in the corner, as Hall once again gets Mulumba into the corner. Colon headbutts TNT out of the ring and then Hall and Colon hit a double clothesline on Mulumba that sends him staggering backwards onto the middle rope. It looks like the match has finally settled into one person being in for each team, as Hall kicks the downed Mulumba in the chest, sending Atkie to the outside as well. The rudos try to recover on the outside from the blitz they have received in the match so far, as Hall waits in the ring and Colon is ready in the corner to back Hall up. Chicky and El Profe try to get their guys composed (with Profe showing Atkie the totem to get him focused). TNT gets in the ring for his team and Hall tags in Carlos. Colon immediately gets the better of the lock up as he hits a couple of chops, a backdrop and clothesline on TNT. Hall is tagged back in and continues attacking TNT as the crowd cheers along. Hall makes an unsuccessful pin attempt after a clothesline, then works a side headlock on TNT. The hold is broken and TNT hits a clothesline on Hall but misses an elbow drop. Hall hits some punches and a clothesline of his own, leading to another unsuccessful pin attempt. Hall punches TNT but the momentum sends TNT backwards into the rudo corner where Mulumba is tagged. We go to commercial as Mulumba enters the ring.

We come back to see TNT in control of Scott Hall, working a rear chinlock (or maybe it’s a nerve hold). The ref checks Hall’s arm and it looks like it almost drops for three, but Hall starts kicking and stomping his legs to show he is still conscious. The crowd starts clapping along as Hall tries to fight out of the hold. Hall gets to his feet and hits several punches, but TNT stops the barrage with a quick punch and immediately sends Hall into the ropes. However, TNT puts his head down too soon and Hall is able to stop and put TNT in backslide for a two count. TNT again puts on the never hold on Hall, but Hall keeps his arms up. TNT decides to grab Hall and rams Scott’s head into Mulumba in the corner, stunning Hall. Atkie is tagged in and the rudos hit a double headbutt on Hall.  Mulumba bites Hall and sends him into the ropes, but Scott is able to hit a crossbody for a two count. Atkie bites Halla again and takes Hall over to the rudo corner. TNT tags back in but Hall is able to duck some attempted clotheslines off the ropes with one of his own. Finally, Hall is able to make the tag to Carlos, who leaps over the top rope into the ring. Colon hits a couple of dropkicks on TNT and starts getting fired up as the crowd cheers on. Carlos alternates between biting and punching TNT. Carlos continues on the attack (and does a cartwheel) but Atkie comes in to help his partner out. Hall comes in to cut Atkie off and once again we have the rivals paired up in the ring. Mulumba is able to headbutt Hall through the ropes and looks to be going after him. At the same time, TNT sends Carlos Colon into the ropes and attempts a spin kick. Colon ducks the kick but ends up colliding with the back of Mulumba. This collision sends Atkie out of the ring and Carlos turns around to face TNT. However, TNT was waiting on Carlos and hit him with a dynamite kick right in the face. TNT makes the cover and gets the three count on Colon! La Nueva Pareja del Terror have won the match. Hall and Mulumba continue fighting on the outside, not noticing that the match is over. They end up by the ringside fence, where Hall has the advantage on Mulumba. The camera cuts to the ring where we see Colon is still down on the mat but TNT is outside and has a chair in his hands. We go back to Hall and Mulumba, where Hall is picking up one of the signs that was hanging on the fence and  then chases after Mulumba. Hall hits Atkie with the sign but TNT is right there and immediately hits Hall with the chair. TNT hits the downed Hall with a couple of chair strikes, but Carlos Colon shows up with the sign Hall had and smacks TNT with it to chase him off. The video ends with TNT and Mulumba running for the stairs as Colon and Hall regroup.

MD: Larger than life tag here, bookended by crazy brawling. Colon and TNT/Mulumba and Hall paired off to start, with Hall and Colon getting the advantage, standing tall as they hammered away in respective corners, sending Mulumba especially outside of the ring in confusion. We get Colon and Hall pressing down on TNT after he reenters the ring, but not the transition to heel offense; we come back from commercial with TNT using a nerve hold on Hall. Hall gets some big star-like comeback attempts against first TNT and then Mulumba but gets cutoff until he can make the hot tag to Colon. Very clever finishing sequence with Colon ducking the spin wheel kick but crashing into a stunned Mulumba who goes sailing out of the ring. That leaves Colon open for the Dynamite Kick and TNT to score a pinfall on him. Post-match, there’s the other half of the crazy brawling with Hall chasing down Mulumba with a table in his hands only to get whacked by TNT from behind with a chair. Great stuff that kept the programs going.

EB: We once again have two tv episodes for the weekend we are covering in this installment. First, we have the Campeones episode from July 28 ,with the added detail that this seems to be the west coast version of the program since it is hyping the west coast version of Fan Appreciation Day, as well as some of the cards occurring later in the week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFZgNymHI-4

Your hosts for this episode are Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Colon. Hugo asks Carlos to mention what they will feature on the program today and Carlos mentions that we will see a new wrestler from Korea brought in by TNT by the name of Kim Duk. Kim is a martial arts expert and a tremendous wrestler, and we will get our first chance to see him today against Huracan Castillo Jr. We’ll also get the Super Medicos against the team of Idol and Valentine. As Hugo starts talking about the other matches they’ll have today, a fan reaches over from off camera to shake both hosts’ hands. Hugo continues talking while shaking the hand. Hugo then segues into talking about the upcoming Universal title rematch on Fan Appreciation Day. Carlos says that he is training hard and will be ready for TNT. Hugo promises they’ll talk more about this and other happenings throughout the program. 

MD: Funny moment as Hugo and Carlos were introducing things as someone just reaches a hand in from off screen to shake both of their hands. They don’t miss a beat. 

EB: Our first match is the debuting Kim Duk against Huracan Castillo Jr, with the match already in progress. Castillo is down on the mat as Duk has a standing armbar on his opponent. Chicky Starr is pacing at ringside, holding a kendo stick over his shoulder. Castillo manages to stand up and back Duk into a corner, unleashing a series of punches and kicks on Duk. Carlos on commentary mentions how Duk has been highly talked about by Chicky and TNT but it remains to be seen if he is that good. An irish whip reversal leads to a clothesline attempt from Castillo being partially blocked by Kim Duk. A couple of blows keep Castillo down and this leads to Duk putting the cobra sleeper on Castillo for the submission win. The ref makes the five count to get Duk to release the hold after the match is over, as TNT and Chicky enter the ring. Hugo mentions that Duk needs to wake Castillo up but instead Duk takes the kendo stick from Chicky and chokes Castillo some more as Chicky and TNT have the ref’s attention. Afterwards, Duk wakes Castill up and the rudos leave without any further incident.It’s an interesting choice to have Kim Duk come in as TNT’s partner, my feeling is that he may be a substitute for Mr. Pogo (they had spent the last couple of weeks mentioning Pogo was returning but he hasn’t shown up still and there was no mention of him this week).

MD: I was not expecting Kim Duk here in 1990. The presentation is interesting. We come in JIP and he turns a Castillo advantage around quickly and floors him with a clothesline before hitting basically the dynamite kick and locking in the cobra dinamita as TNT watches with approval. They need more strong heels and it sort of made sense for TNT to remake things in his image. Maybe a little weird because Duk was so much older than TNT, but we’ll see how they spin it. He certainly ate up Castillo here. 

EB: We have a promo from Lance Idol and Rick Valentine about an upcoming match on Friday against the Super Medicos in Fajardo. Lance Idol sets a record for the amount of times mentioning Space Mountain in a span of a minute, comparing himself and Valentine to Space Mountain. Valentine also mentions that the Medicos are facing Space Mountain, so I’m not sure if they are trying to get this over as a team name or if they are stuck in that metaphor. Chickty translates and glosses over most of the Space Mountain mentions. The Super Medicos give a response in their promo, mentioning their two matches against Idol and Valentine this Friday and tonight in Caguas.  Super Medico #1 says that they don’t have nightmares (in response to valentine’s part of the previous promo) and if they’re scared of anything, maybe it is of ‘el cuco’ (basically the boogeyman) but certainly not of them. 

Before our next match we get a card rundown for the west coast version of Fan Appreciation Day taking place on August 5 in San German. The card is similar to the one that will be held in Bayamon on August 4. The main event is the Universal title rematch between Carlos Colon and TNT, with the stipulation being that the match cannot be stopped due to blood. We also have the customary Bronca Boricua match that takes place on Fan Appreciation Day, with 16 wrestlers scheduled to take part. These wrestlers are Invader #1, Atkie Mulumba, Scott Hall, Kim Duk, the Super Medicos, Lance Idol, Gama Singh, Rick Valentine, Miguelito Perez, Los Mercenarios, Huracan Castillo Jr, Chicky Starr and El Profe. Besides these top two matches, we also have other bouts scheduled such as Scott Hall vs Atkie Mulumba in a cage match, Invader #1 defending the Caribbean title against Kim Duk, a rematch for the World tag team titles as the Super Medicos defend against Lance Idol and Rick Valentine, The Caribbean Express defend the Caribbean tag titles against Los Mercenarios, Aguilita Solitaria vs Espectrito, and Gama Singh vs Chicky Starr. 

After the card rundown, we get a match from the TV taping between the Super Medicos and Lance Idol and Rick Valentine. It’s a non-title match since Idol and Valentine have only just started teaming up together. Super Medico #3 and Lance Idol start off for their teams. A lock up leads to a side headlock by Medico #3. A rope throw counter results in Medico #3 doing a baseball slide through Idol’s legs and then hitting a dropkick. Idol decides to tag Valentine in, but Medico #3 counters a rope run with a leapfrog, leading to the two rudos almost colliding with each other. Medico#3 hits a dropkick into Valentine’s back, sending him into Idol. Valentine then gets hit with an armdrag takedown. Hugo and Carlos on commentary are talking about how Lance Idol has recently arrived to team up with Rick Valentine, and they wonder if they have had experience working as a team before based on how they’ve done in CSP so far. The Medicos do some quick tags that involve leaping off the top onto Valentine’s arm while he is held in an armbar by the other Medico. After doing this a few times, Medico #3 remains as the legal man in the ring working the armbar. Medico #1 is tagged in and the Medicos continue their strategy of working over Valentine’s arm. Medico #3 is tagged back in and sends Valentine into the ropes, but puts his head down too early. Valentine takes the opening and hits a neckbreaker, allowing Valentine to tag in Idol. Lance takes over with a snapmare, kneedrop and several punches to Medico #3’s head. Idol sends Medico #3 into the ropes for a backdrop and then tags Valentine back in. 

The rudos do a couple of double team maneuvers before Valentine exits the ring. Idol hits a clothesline for a pin attempt but Medico #1 breaks up the attempt. As the ref is busy sending Medico #1 out of the ring, the rudos do an illegal switch. Valentine hits a dropkick on Medico #3, but Medico #1 immediately breaks up any potential pin attempt. Medico #3 starts firing back with some punches but Valentine cuts him off with a kick. Medico #3 ducks a clothesline from Valentine and then counters with a clothesline of his own. Medico #1 is tagged in and he cleans house on Valentine and Idol. A double noggin knocker sends Idol rolling out of the ring, and Valentine is hit with a backdrop for a one count. A small package attempt leads to Valentine kicking out as well. Medico #1 gets an abdominal stretch on Valentine, but Idol comes in to break it up. Medico #3 also comes into the ring and now all four men are fighting. The rudos are whipped into each other and the Medicos hit a double dropkick on Idol to send him out of the ring. The Medicos set up and hit a rocket launcher on Valentine, but as the pin attempt is made by Medico #3, the ref is busy getting Medico #1 out of the ring. With the ref distracted, Idol goes to the top and connects a kneedrop onto the .back of Medico #3’s head. Valentine rolls over to cover Medico #3 and they steal the pinfall win. Carlos mentions that it was a smart move by Idol and Valentine even if it was sneaky, and that this shows how well they work as a team if they could pull off a sneaky tactic without getting caught.  As a result of this non-title win, Idol and Valentine have earned a World tag title shot in Caguas.

MD: So, we started the Idol/Valentine interview and I was worried. Idol said “Space Mountain” and “Baby” about seven times each in a one minute span and then Valentine said “You Know” a lot, but somewhere in there, it dawned on me that, somehow, amazingly, Idol and Valentine were actually calling themselves Space Mountain as their tag team name, and that’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard. 

Valentine said that Medico 1 had to reassure his son after they both had nightmares and the Medicos responded by saying they never have nightmares. I do appreciate that they’re not just cutting promos in a vacuum but they do respond to one another, which I think is important given the language gap between the two teams.

The match itself was fairly straightforward. I liked how Idol bumped for things like dropkicks, but Valentine seemed maybe too over the top, even for a stooge-laden territory like PR. It almost veered into parody in a way guys like Rogers, Burke, and either Starr managed to avoid. Valentine took over with a pause and a neckbreaker on Invader 3 and they did a good job beating him down. Comeback was fiery with the Medicos hitting the double dropkick and the rocket launcher but the heels hitting a knee drop off the top to turn it around. That’s a finish we’ve seen a few times in the last year now, but it does heat things up for the next match. 

EB: We now go to a series of promos, first up is new arrival Kim Duk. Chicky is conducting the interview and asks Duk about his upcoming match this Friday in Fajardo against Invader #1. Duk cuts a short promo, although it is clear that talking is not his strong suit. The advantage here in Puerto Rico is that you can cover a bit for some of the weaker English promos with the translation. Case in point, Duk says a couple of sentences about his match with Invader #1, Chicky then translates and makes it sound more confident. Chicky also talks about Duk’s match tonight in Caguas against Gama Singh. As soon as Chicky finishes up talking about that match, TNT walks into frame ready to talk about his upcoming matches. This Friday TNT is teaming up with Atkie Mulumba to face Scott Hall and ‘el viejito’ Colon, but tonight in Caguas TNT is facing Invader #1. TNT says that he knows Invader #1 has been sent by Carlos Colon to hurt TNT before the rematch, but TNT has Chicky Starr in his corner now and nothing and no one will get in TNT’s way. Next week TNT is going for the Universal title, but tonight TNT is sending Invader #1 out on a stretcher.

After the rudos have had their say, Invader #1 cuts a promo in response. He starts off by sending a special hello to wrestling  fan Carmen Jovet (she is a journalist and tv host/personality). Invader #1 gets to the point  quickly by mentioning that we’ll see what Kim Duk is made of on Friday and then turns his attention to TNT’s comments. TNT has been saying that Carlos Colon is ordering Invader to hurt TNT, but Invader makes it clear that neither Carlos Colon or anyone for that matter needs to be ordering Invader to do anything, so TNT can get that out of his head. Invader knows that TNT wants to become the Universal champion, well so does Invader. The only difference is that while Carlos is the champion, Invader is not interested in challenging for the title. Invader knows that TNT is already thinking about the August 4 Universal title rematch, but to get there TNT has to go through Invader first. So TNT better be ready for tonight, and if he thinks Chicky Starr will make a difference, Invader has El Ejerciot de la Justicia watching his back. 

MD: This was more or less effective. Chicky talked about Gama Singh in here too. I don’t think they should have had Kim Duk speak in English about the Invader match. He only did ok with it and it wasn’t needed. He could have just looked fearsome as either Chicky or (especially) TNT talked him up. Invader gave a shout out to a kid and emphasized again that they all wanted the Universal title but that they were stronger together and fought for justice and all that. Effective overall. 

EB: The rest of this Campeones episode has a couple of matches that we have already covered (including the Invader #1 vs Leo Burke taped fist match covered at the start of this installment). Besides these matches we also get some more promos, including one where Carlos Colon talks about the upcoming match with TNT for Fan Appreciation Day, El Profe with Atkie Mulumba talking about Mulumba’s upcoming matches against Scott Hall, Scott Hall offering his response about his upcoming matches against Atkie Mulumba, and a show closing where Carlos Colon offers some additional comments about how he is training hard for the Universal title rematch scheduled for next week and that he is confident he will defeat TNT.  

MD: Not much to say about the end here. Pretty straightforward promos from Profe and Hall but it was fun to see Hall having to come up with a bunch of different expressions and poses as Hugo was translating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiDKw3okhq0

EB: Beside the Campeones episode for July 28,  we also have a Sueprestrellas episode from the same day. The show opens with Hugo doing a voiceover announcing that tonight in Caguas the main event will be Invader #1 vs TNT. Also tonight, there will be a lumberjack match between Scott Hall and Atkie Mulumba.  We go to Hugo in the studio  after the show intro and he runs down the other matches for tonight’s show in Caguas. Hugo also runs down what is scheduled for today’s program, including new arrival Kim Duk joining TNT as a guest on Chicky Starr’s Sports Shop. After reminding fans that tonight they are in Caguas, Hugo starts talking about next week’s Fan Appreciation Day show taking place in Bayamon.

Our first match for the program is Invader #4 taking on TNT. Eliud Gonzalez is our commentator for this bout. TNT and Invader #4 circle each other to start but TNT kicks Invader #4 in the midsection when it looks like they will lock up. TNT knocks down Invader #4 with a karate thrust and follows up with a clothesline attempt that is ducked by Invader #4.  A surprise crossbody by Invader #4 off the ropes gets a two count. TNT immediately rolls out to stop the momentum, as Invader #4 stares at both TNT and Chicky and makes a ‘come on’ motion with his hands. TNT gets back in as the crowd chants for Invader #4, and is met with an armdrag and two dropkicks. Once again TNT rolls out of the ring and we see that Kim Duk has also made his way to ringside to second TNT. Back in the ring, TNT and Invader #4 exchange hammerlock counters and then some chops. TNT is visibly frustrated with the way the match is going and turns to complain to Chicky at ringside. A lock up leads to Invader #4 taking TNT down with an armdrag. Invader #4 hits another dropkick on TNT but a followup attempt falls short when TNT is able to hold himself back. This gives TNT the opening to take control with a knee to the head and a spin kick. A clothesline is ducked by Invader #4, who briefly counters with a clothesline of his own. However,  an irish whip reversal and charge leads to TNT hitting a dynamite kick on Invader #4. This sets up the Cobra Dinamita and eventually Invader #4 falls unconscious. TNT wins by submission. Kim Duk and Chicky Starr enter the ring to congratulate TNT, but when TNT goes over to wake up Invader #4 he is waved off from doing so by Chicky. They turn to leave but the ref stops TNT and reminds him he has to wake up Invader #4. TNT goes back to do this, but this time Duk waves TNT off and tells him not to do it. Again the rudos turn to leave but the ref once again stops TNT and tells him he has to wake his opponent up. TNT finally wakes up Invader #4 (while jawing at the ref) and the rudos leave the ring.   

MD: Short but complete match. I feel like we haven’t seen as much Invader IV lately but he has been on the cards, just towards the bottom. There was more of a need of the Invaders as a tag team when they were doing the tournament earlier in the year and maybe more of a need to have Invader 1 as a singles guy recently. TNT tends to take over here either by just walking backwards or getting a kick out of nowhere, but it is a clear sense that he is in control of what’s going on, almost in a Samoa Joe sort of way, just his presence being that strong. Despite that, they do go back and forth a bit before the kick and the cobra take Invader down. 

EB: We get a couple of promos from the two teams that will battle for the World tag team titles tonight in Caguas. The challengers are Lance Idol and Rick Valentine and they are getting the title shot after getting a win over the Super Medicos in a non title match (which aired on Campeones). Chicky is conducting the interview and says that these two men will be the new World tag champions after tonight. Rick valentine wants the fans to see the video of what happened in the non title match. After showing the finish, Valentine promises that they will leave with the belts tonight and that Chicky should start getting the party ready. Idol adds that the Medicos better be ready because they are facing two of the greatest athletes in wrestling. The Super Medicos are then shown with Hugo, where they comment about the title match tonight. Medico #1 promises that what happened in the previous match will not happen again. Medico #3 mentions that they won’t make the same mistake twice. Hugo brings up the Medicos defeating the Rougeaus at Aniversario and Medico #1 says that not only the Rougeaus but they’ve defeated a lot of other great teams as well. Idol and Valentine better be ready to wrestle “good and pretty, because from A to Z,  masters in the ring are the Super Medicos. Those belts are too big for you.” Medico #1 also sends a message to Chicky, saying that they shouldn't be partying yet, because some dreams are nightmares.   

MD: Main issue here is that Valentine and Idol have a fall on the Medicos now. This time they do not call themselves Space Mountain so we’ll see if that was just a one time thing. Medicos have beaten big teams and they’re primed to get revenge on Idol and Valentine.

EB: It’s time for this week’s Chicky Starr’s Sports Shop segment and our guests are TNT and Kim Duk. Chicky introduces the segment and his guests as TNT and Duk shake hands. TNT speaks first, mentioning that he saw Duk on one of his Japan excursions. Tremendous wrestler, bloodthirsty and he is not afraid of fear. That is why he and Chicky brought Duk over, so that El Ejercito de la Justicia can pay for the things they have done to TNT. Chicky then asks Kim Duk about his match tonight and Duk cuts a promo that again shows that speaking is not his strong suit. Duk mentions that the Puerto Rican people will see what he can do and that his team with TNT will mean that it will be over for their opponents. Chicky translates, and again there is the advantage of being able to cover for a weaker promo with the translation. Hopefully they let Duk talk less going forward to maintain a more threatening vibe (or maybe he’ll get better, we shall see).

We get a rundown of tonight’s card in Caguas and for tomorrow’s card in Salinas. The card in Salinas is as follows: Invader #1 & Scott Hall vs TNT & Atkie Mulumba; Miguelito Perez vs Kim Duk; the Super Medicos defend the World tag titles against Idol & Valentine; Huracan Castillo Jr. vs Ron Starr; Gama Singh vs. Mercenario #1; and a mixed tag match as Aguilita Solitaria & Invader #4 take on Espectrito & El Profe. After some commercials, we get a Kim Duk music video that shows off his martial arts prowess.

MD: Another less than stellar promo from Duk but the training video more than made up for it with TNT holding a bag, footage from a cage fighting movie, and Duk (labeled as “Korean Power”) breaking boards. 

EB: The Caribbean Express and Los Mercenarios are tangling once more over the Caribbean tag titles. El Profe is with Mercenario #1 and claims that last week the Caribbean Express tried to take advantage of Ron Starr two against one, This time it will be two on two. Los Mercenarios will cut through Perez and Castillo’s dirty tricks and walk away with the Caribbean tag titles. Castillo and Perez offer their version of what happened the previous week, and it’s that Mercenario #1 interfered and rammed Miguelito into the post during the singles match Perez was having against Ron Starr. I believer their version of events over El Profe’s. Tonight it will be two on two and they will be ready for any potential dirty tricks Los Mercenarios may have. 

MD: This feels a little placeholder-y to me. Idol/Valentine vs the Express will be fresh when and if they get back to that, but Starr would have been more useful as a singles at this point.

EB: We get an ad for the Wednesday TV taping in Miramar which will include the Invaders taking on Idol & Valentine, the Super Medicos vs TNT & Kim Duk, Miguelito Perez vs Ron Starr in a coal miners match (a pole match), and Huracan Castillo Jr vs Mercenario #1. We then go to a  Gama Singh music video that  includes highlights of Singh against Rick Valentine, Chicky Starr, Leo Burke and others.

MD: They really do tape everything, or at least you get the sense of that watching this and seeing him against Chicky, Valentine, and Burke. Ah well. Nice to see them stooge and beg off and bump for Singh but nothing he does is particularly spectacular relatively.

EB: Scott Hall and Atkie Mulumba are set for a lumberjack match tonight in Caguas. We get a promo from El Profe about the  match, saying that Hall won't have anyone backing him up tonight and that, while Hall has been able to bloody up Atkie, that only makes Mulumba stronger and more dangerous. Tonight will be the last anyone sees of Hall. Scott responds by talking about how Mulumba always seems to be hightailing it when things go in Hall’s favor. But tonight he won’t be able to run as the lumberjacks will throw him back into the ring.  

MD: I’m not convinced Hall is particularly blonde to be the Blonde Outlaw, but whatever. This was set up by the match where they brawled down the stairs and maybe the tag where Hall ran across the stadium with a sign to attack him. Now they’re going to do a Lumberjack match. Makes a lot of sense and keeps the feud going. This is all solid stuff.

EB: Hugo has a special report segment about the upcoming Universal title rematch set for August 4. He has a masked TNT with him in what looks to be a control room. TNT says that he defeated Carlos Colon 1-2-3 ar Aniversario despite it being very slippery and he wants them to roll a tape of what he is talking about. As the footage plays, TNT mentions that Carlos tried to hurt him but he kept avoiding those attempts. As they show TNT grabbing the ropes for leverage, TNT claims that the ref was bought off by Carlos to waive off the pinfall. Hugo brings up that TNT held onto the ropes, but TNT claims that it was because the ring was dirty and very slippery. As the footage continues and the match gets restarted, TNT says that he had the celebration already in his head and was looking forward to celebrating with his friends, but it was taken away by the commissioner and that paid off referee. They then cut to the finish where TNT is in the figure four as time ran out. Hugo asks TNT if he was about to give up and TNT gets mad, pointing at the screen and saying ‘Who said I was about to give up, what does it look like I'm saying? I’m signaling no with my hands. I will never give up to viejito Colon’. This time there is no time limit and the bell won’t save Carlos Colon. The people are ready for a new Universal champion and he has Chicky Starr in his corner. 

Carlos Colon offers some comments from the studio. Next Saturday it will be a fight and he will beat some shame into TNT, particularly after falling in with Chicky Starr. Last time TNT was saved by the bell, but this time there will be no bell. Hugo then mentions some of the matches for Fan Appreciation Day, including the Bronca Boricua (with some footage from the previous year’s match). There will be a promotional photo of El Reto Para la Historia for the first fans that arrive and you will get a chance to take pictures and get autographs with your favorite wrestlers.  

MD: For as samey as something like Carribean Express vs Mercanarios might feel, they do a great job at keeping the big feuds novel. Here they have TNT with a ninja mask on watching tape in the booth with Hugo with Colon getting to retort in the end. Just an interesting way to look back so that they can look forward. 

EB: After the WWC top ten rankings, we get Armando Fernandez as this week’s sacrificial lamb for Atkie Mulumba. Armando tries to jump Mulumba at the bell but Atkie quickly cuts him off and finishes Fernandez off with a splash in about a minute. Atkie looks ready for his match tonight against Scott Hall.

MD: Fernandez gives it a good try but this was short and quick and dirty, with Mulumba hitting a great World’s Strongest Slam before finishing him with the splash. Just a way to keep him dominant as Hall was really looking stronger in the feud. 

EB: Chicky and TNT are up next to cut a promo on Invader #1. TNT mentions that Invader has been the man that has taken a lot of wrestlers out of Puerto Rico, with the latest being Leo Burke after last week’s taped fist match. TNT says he is not stupid and knows that Carlos Colon is sending Invader #1 to take out TNT. But TNT is not alone, he has Chicky Starr with him, and tonight the real Universal champion TNT will make sure that Invader #1 is the one leaving on a stretcher. “Remember Invader #1, dignity is written in blood, and tonight I will write the name TNT with your blood.” Hugo is with Invader #1, mentioning that the match tonight is non-title and repeats TNT’s claims to invader about Invader being sent by Carlos Colon to take TNT out. Invader starts by saying that the most important thing is that TNT has shown the people of Puerto Rico what a tremendous wrestler he is and what great conditioning he has, TNT proved it at Aniversario 90. TNT has all the tools to be Universal champion, the only thing is that the people of Puerto Rico and Invader are not in agreement with the way he is trying to become Universal champion. He is not leaving on a stretcher and he is not being sent by anyone to take TNT out. They will see what happens tonight when they face each other one on one tonight. Invader also mentions next week’s Universal title rematch and says that he knows TNT is focused on that. But if Invader is given the chance tonight (and since TNT seems insistent on the notion), if the opportunity comes up then Invader will find a way to hurt TNT so he can get that idea of being Universal champion out of his head.

MD: TNT really has to carry the top of the promotion right now, feuding with both Colon and Invader (and in tags with Hall too), bringing in Duk beneath him, on TV against mid-card babyfaces. My gut says that when he was a top heel a couple of years before, he wasn’t nearly as ready as he is now. He’s able to cover a lot of ground in these promos with increasing intensity while not completely devolving to shouting. Here, they have a way of filming him up tight and close and it comes off as very intimidating.

EB: Our featured match for this program is a tag match between the Caribbean Express and Lance Idol & Rick Valentine. The team of Idol & Valentine has only been together a couple of weeks, but it seems they are being fast tracked against the top tecnico teams. Valentine and Castillo start off, with Valentine backing Castillo into the ropes. Castillo counters with a backdrop and a couple of dropkicks. Valentine tags out and Idol runs into an armdrag takedown once he charges at Castillo. Idol is able to get out of the armbar momentarily but ends up being armdragged down after some counters. Valentine on the apron is complaining to the ref  and the tecnicos take the opportunity to switch out, with Perez taking over the armbar on Idol. Lance is able to break the hold with an eye rake and tags in Valentine, but Rick finds himself also falling victim to an armdrag takedown to the mat. Castllo is eventually tagged back in and the Express hit a double elbow on Valentine after a series of leapfrog / duck down counters. Castillo attempts a pin after an elbow drop but Valentine kicks out. Valentine cuts off Castillo with a punch to the midsection and is able to make the tag to Idol. After hitting a couple of punches, Idol tags Valentine back in. Rick makes the mistake of putting his head down too soon after sending Castillo into the ropes, resulting in Huracan kicking Valentine in the head. Perez is tagged in and Miguelito takes over on Valentine with a series of punches and chops, a corner clothesline and a dropkick. A pin attempt is broken up by Idol, which draws Castillo into the ring. The rudos are rammed into each other and Idol is dropkicked out of the ring. As Huracan is told to get out of the ring by the ref, Perez hits a crossbody on Valentine. However, Idol again comes off the top with a knee to the back of the head and Idol and Valentine steal another win. That’s two non-title victories Idol and Valentine now have over the two sets of tag champions in CSP. 

MD: Express took most of this, which was a clear sign that Idol/Valentine were going to win. In general, I think Idol looks a little better than Valentine on things like rope running and stooging. He just hits the balance a little bit better, but Valentine was ok here too. Perez worked from underneath a little but just a little. Then they went into the same sort of finish with the knee drop from the top when Perez had Idol pinned. Otherwise, this did feel like a fresh match up though.

EB: The show closes with Hugo hyping up next week's Fan Appreciation Day event and tonight’s card in Caguas.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we have arrived at Fan Appreciation weekend. We’ll check out the final hype on tv for the event, including a ‘super’ segment that may answer what Carlos Colon, Xuxa, Menudo, Chicky Starr, a swimsuit contest, a celebrity hunk basketball game, TNT, a wardrobe malfunction. money giveaways, Invader #1, a globe of death and a blood puddle all have in common..Also, a wrestler we saw earlier in 1990 makes a return to CSP looking for revenge (and it’s not against who you may think).  

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: An Outlaw For The Save

Week 31: An Outlaw For The Save

EB: One week after Aniversario 90 ,a house show was held in Caguas. The top three matches for that July 14th card were all rematches from Aniverario. We have a Caribbean title rematch between invader #1 and Leo Burke. We have a rematch between Scott Hall and Atkie Mulumba. And, after a heated encounter on the Campeones tv program, a last minute addition to the card is Carlos Colon facing TNT in a non-title match. We have footage from these three bouts, so let’s go first to the Caribbean title rematch. Leo Burke lost in a boxing match and feels embarrassed by the loss, since the stipulations were selected by Leo and Chicky Starr to ensure they had the upper hand on Invader. However, Invader #1 prevailed thanks to a tape assisted heart punch (his hands were taped up beneath the  boxing glove and, as has been documented, Invader #1’s taped fist heart punch is considered a potentially deadly maneuver). Leo has gotten a normal wrestling rules rematch and is looking to make the new champion’s reign a short one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC4LSo_Xp0g

We go to the closing moments of the match, as Invader is down on the mat with Leo advancing towards him. According to Hugo on commentary, Invader seems to have run into the referee, which sent El Vikingo flying to the outside. For now, there is no referee. Leo sends Invader into the ropes but they each duck a clothesline attempt from the other and end up colliding when they go for headbutts. Now both wrestlers and the referee are down. Chicky Starr goes over to where Leo Burke is (Chicky ends up standing right by the knocked out referee), puts a piece of metal on top of Leo’s hand and then starts taping up Burke’s hand. Chicky finishes taping up Burke’s hand just as the referee manages to crawl back into the ring, completely unaware of what Chicky had been up to. Both wrestlers slowly get back up and Leo decks Invader with the loaded punch. Leo covers and waits for the count, as El Vikingo stumbles around still loopy from the hit he took earlier. Still, El Vikingo manages to get into position and counts three. Burke has regained the Caribbean title via a loaded taped fist punch (there's definitely a message being sent to Invader via the use of a taped fist knockout). Chicky gets in the ring to celebrate with Leo,as the ref is still holding his head and half out of it. The ref hands the title belt to Leo ,who kisses it in celebration. Hugo then says let’s see what happened moments later. We cut to the ringside doctor checking on the still prone Invader, as Burke is heading towards the stairs that lead to the locker room (which is a feature of the arena in Caguas). However, it looks like all of the tecnicos have come up the stairs to head Burke off. Super Medico #1 grabs Burke by the arm and the tecnicos drag Burke over to ringside so the ref can see Leo’s loaded taped fust. El Vikingo finds the piece of metal and reverses the decision, awarding the match to Invader by DQ. El Vikingo takes back the title belt, puts it on the still prone on the mat Invader and raises his arm as the winner.  

MD: Just the last couple of minutes here. They crash into each other and Burke lands with his hand out of the ring. That lets Chicky tape up the fist (moving right on to taped fists after the Boxing Glove gimmick paid off?) and Burke clocks Invader, seemingly getting the win and the title. The babyface locker room storms out, presents Burke’s taped fist to the ref, and the decision gets reversed. It’s a fun image to see Hall and everyone else hold Burke’s hand into the fire at least.

EB: Leo and Chicky were foiled in their attempt to regain the Caribbean title, but once again they used the power of the punch against Invader #1. And it was a taped fist punch at that. With all that has happened between Burke and Invader, the time has come to finally settle things. To settle once and for all who has the power of the punch, Invader #1 and Leo Burke will face off one more time on July 21 in a taped fist match. With the history behind Inavder’s taped fist, this may end up being Burke’s undoing or the ultimate embarrassment for Invader #1.  

Also on July 14, Scott Hall took on Atkie Mulumba in a rematch from Aniversario 90. Their match then ended in a double countout, maybe this time we will have a definitive winner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgM4U4UhSsU

Hall is waiting in the ring as Atkie and El Profe are at ringside. We have Hugo and Carlos on commentary, with Hugo highlighting that this is the big rematch from Aniversario between Hall and Mulumba. The bell rings and Atkie gets in the ring, but Hall immediately charges and starts punching Mulumba. They exchange punches and Atkie gets a headbutt in, but Scott remains unfazed and fires off several punches that stagger Atkie. Hall continues unrelenting with his attack but Atkie is able to fire back with some unanswered punches of his own and sends Hall into the ropes, leading to Atkie clotheslining Hall over the top rope to the outside. Hugo mentions that since it wasn’t intentional (momentum took Hall over), then the ref cannot disqualify Mulumba. Hall is trying to get up but Atkie goes outside and starts attacking Hall. Atkie drags Hall over to the ring and starts ramming Hall’s head on the ring apron. Atkie tosses Hall back in the ring and chokes him on the middle rope. When the ref gets Atkie to break, Profe takes the opportunity to get a punch in on Hall. Atkie slams Hall and does a falling headbutt. As Mulumba continues his attack by ramming Hall’s head on the top turnbuckle, Carlos mentions that he has never seen a wrestler the size of Mulumba have the speed and quickness he displays.

Atkie continues attacking Hall, but Hall is able to stop one of the turnbuckle rams and counters with his own. The crowd comes alive as Hall stars making a comeback. Mulumba is sent into the ropes and Hall hits a dropkick that knocks Mulumba backwards onto the middle rope, almost sending him to the outside. Hall follows up with some kicks and a clothesline off the ropes that staggers Atkie but does not knock him down. Hall grabs Mulumba and slams him to the mat. As a fired up Hall plays to the crowd, Atkie haphazardly rolls to the outside. Atkie decides to hide under the ring, but Hall manages to get outside as Atkie is still crawling underneath the ring. Hall grabs Atkie’s leg but ends up following him underneath the ring. As the ref and El Profe are trying to figure out what is happening down there, there seems to be some movement on the canvas. El Vikingo is startled by the movement and jumps onto the bottom turnbuckle to get off the mat. Hugo talks about how it is dangerous underneath the ring since you have the metal supports down there, and Carlos comments that the ring is moving. At that moment, the camera does a closeup of the ring and you can see that the ring itself is moving up and down with whatever is happening down there. Carlos says it’s a shame there is not a camera down there since it looks like there is a dog fight going on. Finally Mulumba and Hall emerge from underneath the ring, Atkie is bleeding from his head and Hall presses the attack with more unanswered punches. Hall continues attacking Mulumba outside of the ring, as they head near the commentary table and the stairs that lead to the locker room. The ref is doing his ring out count and we hear Eliud Gonzalez make the five minutes time call. Hall rams Atkie into the fence by the stairs, which knocks Atkie down to the floor right at the top of the stairs. Hall continues attacking Mulumba as they descend the stairs into the locker room, with the ref counting both men out. The ref leaves the ring and runs over to the stairs to check on the wrestlers as El Profe is left at ringside somewhat perplexed at the turn of events. Hall starts coming back up the stairs as Eliud Gonzalez announces it was a double countout. The video then cuts to Carlos and Hugo, with Hugo closing the show by asking Carlos his thoughts about the upcoming Universal title rematch on Fan Appreciation Day.  It looks like the feud between Hall and Mulumba is not over.

MD: This was a blast. Five minutes but all action. Hall had really, finally, figured out how to be a top babyface, the successor to Magnum TA. It’s such a victim of timing. If he had peaked like this a couple of years before, he could have made a major impact for JCP. A year later, maybe you could have built Global around him. He took it to Malumba right from the start, matching blows until Malumba bowled him over with a charge. Eventually (after a cheapshot from Profe), they went out to the floor and eventually went under the ring which you really don’t see much in Puerto Rico and seems rare in general with a guy Malumba’s size. They did a deal where they pressed up on the mat from underneath in a way you never see at all which was a great comedic visual that had the crowd going. Then they brawled down the stairs and into the locker room. Great spectacle.

EB: The third and final match we have some footage from the July 14 card is the Colon vs TNT non-title challenge match. TNT did not want to wait until August 4 to face Colon and, after a heated encounter on Campeones, Colon accepted the challenge. Let’s go to a segment from Campeones that shows the match finish and the ensuing aftermath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U0aLKHjo_g

The clip begins as TNT reverses an Irish whip attempt by Carlos. TNT tries to follow up with a dynamite kick, but Carlos gets out of the way and TNT hits the tunbuckle instead. Colon takes advantage and knocks TNT to the mat and works over the leg to set up for a figure four attempt. Colon gets the figure four on in the middle of the ring. As the camera goes to a wide shot, you can see that Chicky Starr and El Profe are both at ringside for some reason (so far TNT has not formally aligned with either manager but they appear to be watching the match from ringside). Aa TNT struggles in the hold, Chicky and Profe start talking to each other and Chicky signals to Profe to go ahead. El Profe runs towards the stairs and to the locker room  as TNT continues to struggle in the figure four leglock. Chicky remains at ringside, either jawing at the ref or trying to encourage TNT, when Profe runs back into view and he seems to be waving somebody on. It’s Atkie Mulumba (complete with a bandaged forehead as a result of the earlier match with Scott Hall), who proceeds to get in the ring and splashes Carlos Colon. This breaks the figure four on TNT but also causes a disqualification. Atkie proceeds to attack Carlos as TNT is on the mat, trying to get some feeling back in his leg. The clip cuts to Carlos getting the better of Atkie in their punch exchange, with TNT standing in the corner still shaking his leg. TNT sneaks up behind Colon and locks in the Cobra Dinamita. Colon tries to get out of the hold by grabbing the ropes for leverage, but TNT is able to yank him away each time and keeps the hold locked on. Carlos starts to fade when Scott Hall emerges from the stairwell. The fans cheer on as Hall takes out both Chicky and Profe with a double clothesline. Mulumba tries to head Hall off on the ring apron,but Hall starts hammering Atkie with several punches. TNT has Colon out in the cobra hold, but releases it to go help Atkie with Hall. Scott actually holds off both rudos for a while but eventually the two on one advantage comes into play as TNT catches Hall from behind. The clip then cuts to both Colon and Hall out on the mat, as the other tecnicos have come to the ring to chase Mulumna and TNT away. Hugo explains that TNT had also locked Hall in the Cobra Dinamita and had left him laid out on the mat. As the ringside physician and the tecnicos check on Colon and Hall, the camera cuts to TNT and Atkie (both bleeding) standing on the arena floor, as TNT points at what appears to be a new ally in Atkie.

We go to a promo with TNT, Atkie and El Profe. It seems that after what happened in Caguas, a tag match has been signed for July 21 between the teams of TNT & Atkie Mulumba and Carlos Colon & Scott Hall. El Profe dos the initial talking: “Carlos Colon, you think you have saved yourself because you got that traitor cowboy, but you are making a big mistake because tonight in Caguas you are facing the New Terror Express” Look like Profe has given a name to the team of Mulumba and TNT. Profe says that this new team will write their name in gold with Colon and Hall’s blood. TNT comments that last week he had given a beating to old man Colon and then the dog mounting traitor cowboy decided to get involved. Last week he took both of them down and tonight, with the help of Atkie Mulumba, he will take them to the valley of slumber with the Cobra Dinamita. 

We then go to Carlos Colon and Scott hall. Carlos opens by thanking Hall for coming to his aid last week. Hall then hypes up the first time teaming of Colon and Hall. Colon then says that Hall has said it all, the fans have seen how upset Hall is about this situation. Colon says that if it weren't for Hall’s help last week, who knows what would have ended up happening to him. Colon then directs a message to TNT, saying that last week he took advantage of Mulumba’s interference to put Colon out with the cobra, but this time its two on two. With how riled up they are it will be the end of TNT and Mulumba. Tonight in Caguas they are going to receive the beating of their lives. Colon then turns to Hall and tells him that he just told the fans we are going to beat the heck out of these two guys. The promo ends with both Hall and Colon yelling some final words at the camera (Colon says “We’ll finish with all of you tonight, get ready TNT, get ready Mulumba!”).

The announced lineup for July 21 in Caguas is as follows: Carlos Colon & Scott Hall vs TNT & Atkie Mulumba; a taped fist match for the Caribbean title as Invader #1 defends against Leo Burke; the Super Medicos defend the World tag team titles against Los Mercenarios; Gama Singh vs Rick Valentine; a mixed tag match with Invader #4 & Aguilita Solitaria taking on El Profe & Espectrito; and Miguelito Perez taks on Chicky Starr.  

MD: Just the end of this one. I think Chicky might have been at ringside, but this is more about Profe. Once Colon has TNT in the figure four, Malumba (head bandaged) runs out to attack. TNT stands back and watches for a bit but then slaps the Cobra onto Colon, really cementing an actual heel turn instead of the shades of grey stuff he’d been doing. Scott Hall comes out to make the save, setting up a big tag match. Hall’s promo here is funny as he mentions the Puerto Rican Legend and the Blonde Outlaw coming together and everyone’s big move and says to bring your mother. Then Colon cuts a promo in Spanish and ends it by telling Hall in English that he told the fans “We’re going to beat the heck out of these two guys.” Like usual, they set up another big, novel match that people would want to see. That’s probably good as the undercard was full of things we’ve seen before that maybe feel a bit long in the tooth (Invader vs Burke/Super Medicos vs Mercenarios).

EB: We now head to the July 21 tv programs we have available. First is the Campeones episode, where we have Hugo and Chicky (who is introduced by Hugo as the man who has self proclaimed himself as the king of wrestling) serving as hosts for this week’s program. With one exception, the matches included on this episode are old ones that we won’t cover in detail. However, if anyone wants to watch the Caribbean Express vs the Battens, Mr. Pogo vs Invader #2 (shown because Pogo is returning according to Hugo) or Invader #1 vs Super Black Ninja (aka Keiji Muto) in a streetfight the episode link will be below.  The one match relevant to our current time period is the finish of the July 14 Colon vs TNT match, which we just covered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nu2uE5NKE8

Beside the matches, there are some promos from Gama Sing and Rick valentine about their upcoming match that night, and we also get some banter from Hugo and Chicky throughout the show. Chicky is pro TNT on commentary, echoing that talking points about Carlos being too old. Hugo says that the matches have been very hard fought and close, with Hugo thinking that Chhicky is biased towards TNT because he wants TNT under contract. Chicky mentions that the viewers should watch out for his Esquina Caliente segment later in the show (which we do not have on this version of the episode), since he has a big surprise coming up for the viewers. We’ll discuss the surprise in a bit.
We also get a funny exchange before the main event, with Hugo needling Chicky about how he had heard that Chicky and Leo Burke were crying in the locker room after Aniversario after losing the Caribbean title to Invader #1. Chicky gets annoyed at Hugo bringing up things that are not relevant to the matter at hand  and Hugo keeps needling him. Chicky closes the show by mentioning that the new blood is going to persevere, and by new blood he means TNT (naturally with Chicky Starr’s help and the support of El Profe and his Real Academia).

MD: The only thing of note here is that Gama Singh went out of his way to explain how Rick Valentine had a big mouth and was, in fact, living proof of the existence of Pac-Man. Then poor Hugo had to figure out how to translate it.

EB: The other episode we have available from July 21  is the west coast version of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre. So once again, remember that the references made throughout will be about the shows that have happened in the west coast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r-a30rIFPM

The program starts with Hugo doing his usual show introduction, running down what will be shown on the program. The big news is that the Chicky Starr Sports Shop segment will have as a guest the number one contender for the Universal title, one TNT, and it is expected that some huge news will be coming from this segment. Among the matches to be featured on the show is a tag match featuring a newly arrived wrestler named Lance Idol (who has the nickname of The Continental Dream). Since this is the west coast version of Superestrellas, Hugo talks about the next day’s card in Aguadilla. The main event will be a rematch from the previous week, as Invader #1 faces TNT. Besides the main event, Scott Hall will take on Atkie Mulumba, the Super Medicos defend their World tag titles against Los Mercenarios, Aguilita Solitaria vs Espectrito; Miguelito Perez vs Rick Valentine; and Gama Singh vs Lance Idol. Based on the lineups for this weekend, it looks like the White Angel was only around for the previous week. Hugo finishes up the intro segment by announcing to the fans that the Fan Appreciation Day show for the west coast will be held August 5 in San German. The main event will be the Universal title rematch between Carlos colon and TNT and the stipulation is that this match cannot be stopped due to blood loss (remember, the west coast Aniversario match ended by blood stoppage instead of a  time limit draw).

Our first match of the program has Super Medico #1 facing Mercenario #1 (accompanied as always by El Profe). The bell rings but Mercenario has yet to take off his jacket and hat. The wrestlers circle each other and a lock up leads to Medico backing Mercenario into a corner. A clean break follows.  Another lock up leads to Mercenario not giving a clean break, but Medico counters back with punches of his own. Tempers flare and they exchange slaps to the face. Medico gets a headlock on Mercenario, and a rope throw counter results in Medico knocking Acevedo down with a shoulder block. Medico hits a dropkick and a slam, with Acevedo trying to beg off and complain his tights were pulled afterwards. Another Medico headlock turns into Acevedo hitting a clothesline after shooting Medico into the ropes. Acevedo controls the next moments of the match with several blows that include illegal throat punches. Medico makes a brief comeback with some punches of his own, but Acevedo knocks him down with a big punch. A backdrop attempt is countered by Medico with a kick to the head, and Medico follows up with his ‘hit machine’ sequence of punches. Medico hits a headbutt and sends Acevedo into the ropes but this time it’s Medico who makes the mistake of putting his head down too early. Acevedo takes advantage and hits a DDT for a two count. Profe gets up on the apron to distract the referee and Acevedo takes the opportunity to knock Medico out with a foreign object. Acevedo gets the pinfall win.

Post match, Acevedo tries to take off Medico #1’s mask but Medico #3 runs in to stop the attempted unmasking. Medico #3 hits several punches on Acevedo (with the crowd ‘huah-ing’ along). Medico #3 tries an attack from the top turnbuckle but is pushed off by Ron Starr, coming to his tag partner’s aid. Medico #3 punches Ron off the apron but is grabbed from behind by Acevedo. Ron comes in with a chair and attempts to hit Medico #3, but Medico #1 makes the save by grabbing the chair. Los Mercenarios bail to the locker room as the crowd cheers on the Super Medicos. Afterwards we get promos at ringside from both teams about their upcoming title match in Aguadilla. Hector Moyano interviews both Medicos, with Medico #1 re-lacing his mask as they start. Medico #3 says that what the Mercenarios tried to do to his father has no name and that they’ll get payback tomorrow. Medico #1 echoes that sentiment, promising to avenge what the Mercenarios tried to do just now and that they will be destroyed in Aguadilla. This is followed by El Profe and Los Mercenarios talking about the upcoming match in Aguadilla. Ron Starr says Profe has had them training hard for the match and they will defeat them tomorrow. Acevedo actually says some words, mentioning that the filthy city of Aguadilla will see the end of the Medicos. El Profe chimes in saying that they are not just coming for the titles, they are coming for the Medicos’ heads and masks. There will be nothing left of the super imbeciles known as the Medicos. 

MD: Quick match where Assassin won with an illegal object as Profe had the ref distracted. A good quick look at the two of them though. Assassin was a gravitational force controlling the center and striking out from it. Medico carried himself like a star and fired back only to get cut off with cheapshots. It could have used a few more minutes, maybe a bit more shine, and an actual finishing stretch but it was mainly to put heat on another Medicos vs Mercenarios tag. Post-match, Medico 3 made the save, almost got clocked by a chair for his trouble, only for Medico 1 to save him and run the heels off. The promos were by ringside. Medico 3 referred to Medico 1 as his father for maybe the first time I can remember. Starr said they were training on the beaches (hard to believe with Assassin’s look?) and that they had a new secret move. And hey, Assassin even got to talk which he rarely did in this era.

EB: Next is Chicky Starr’s Sports Shop with TNT as the announced guest. Chicky does his usual brief intro to the segment and then gets right to the point. He wants to show the viewers the contract signing of someone he has long wanted in his organization. Yes, it appears that Chicky has finally been able to convince TNT to join El Club Deportivo. I would not be surprised if the Esquina Caliente segment on Campeones featured the contract signing. We go to a room that looks suspiciously familiar (I’m pretty sure it is the same office room that was used for some of the previous contract signing segments), only that this is clearly supposed to be Chicky Starr’s office since he has a big portrait of himself hanging on the wall behind him. Chicky is behind the desk, with TNT sitting in front of him with a pen and paper in hand. Hugo is also there with a microphone, telling the viewers that we are here for a historic moment. Hugo starts asking TNT if he knows what he is signing when Chicky cuts him off. ‘First, I did say the cameras and microphone of Capitol TV could be here but you can’t be here since you weren’t invited. Go over there with your friend Carlos Colon and the rest of El Ejercito de la Justicia’. Hugo says he is only doing his job but Chicky is having none of that and tells him to kindly leave again. Hugo leaves the room as Chicky grabs the mic and provides commentary on what’s going on. TNT has already signed the contract so Chicky is proceeding to sign his part of the document. Chicky finishes singing it and says that this signals a warm welcome for TNT into El Club Deportivo. Chicky says that TNT is an important pillar in his organization, to keep on moving forward and triumphing as he has done so far, and he will soon see what he will reap. TNT says that the only reason he isn’t the Universal champion right now is because he did not have a manager in his corner, he was robbed of the Universal title. We immediately cut back to the Sports Shop set where TNT is now with Chicky. Again Chicky mentions that TNT is an important part of his organization now and that TNT will now talk about what will happen on August 5 when the Universal title rematch takes place. Last time the match was stopped due to Carlos Colon being covered in blood, and Chicky agrees with TNT that Carlos is old,tired and exhausted. This time the match won’t be stopped due to blood. TNT says he still insists that Carlos Colon is old and he’s ready for the rematch. Through TNT’s veins runs Puerto Rican blood, the same as Carlos Colon. But TNT’s blood is young, hungry to be champion, and he is willing to do what it takes to win the title. He’s going to have his manager Chicky Starr with him, and TNT wants Carlos to remember that the Puerto Rican people are still behind TNT. ‘You’re still old Carlos Colon ,every minute, every second, every hour, every day, you are still old! This is the beginning of the end for El Ejercito de la Justicia!’.

MD: Here it is, the logical next steps for the feud, TNT signing with Chicky Starr, embracing him, saying that he’d tear down justice and all that it stands for. It had been a gradual path here but now there was no going back and it was certainly a way to ramp up the pressure. It felt a little like, for instance, Savage going with Sherri after WM V, which was only a year prior, just a way to double down on a new lead heel.

EB: After an ad for the Aguadilla show on July 22, we have a showcase match for Gama Singh against Assassin #2. The match cuts off before the finish (although it’s safe to assume Gama won) and then we cut back in to a promo from Gama Singh about his upcoming match against newcomer Lance Idol. Then we have a tag match featuring newcomer Lance Idol teaming with Rick Valentine vs the team of Herbert Goznalez and Tito Carrion. Hector Moyano mentions on commentary that it seems that Valentine has someone who is also from California, so it will be interesting to see how these two blonde men gel together as a team. Idol and Valentine jaw at their opponents and then turn to argue with the crowd. While their backs are turned, Herbert and Tito hit dropkicks to the rudos’ backs, sending them to the outside. Idola and Valentine take exception to this and take control of the match once back in the ring. Idol ends up in the ring with Carrion and again jaws with the crowd after slamming Carrion. The rudos tag in and out and maintain their control on Carrion. Herbert doesn’t get a chance to tag in as Carrion is finished off with a slam by Valentiena and a flying kneedrop from the top rope by Idol. An impressive win for Lance Idol and Rick Valentine. Maybe there is potential for them as a team going forward.

MD: Idol is another guy that worked what I’d call (and I’m just coining this now) the periphery: Vancouver, Stampede, Portland, NWA Hollywood, etc. He’d been a fake Spoiler, a Steve Austin shortly before Steve Austin was Steve Austin, Star Rider. I can’t remember ever seeing him in any meaningful way to be honest. Here he was billed as “The Continental Dream.”

He worked well enough with Valentine, stooging with him (they got dropkicked out of the ring right at the start) and hitting moves in succession. Their finish here was a Valentine over the shoulder power slam followed by a move off the top by Idol. Not a ton to see so far.

EB: We get a series of promos after the match. First is El PRofe with Atkie Mulumba. It seems that Hall was not able to make it to Aguadilla last week (reason given was transportation problems) but Profe thinks that was an excuse to cover for Hall’s cowardice. Profe knows Hall has to show up tomorrow because if not he will be suspended by the WWC, so tomorrow Mulumba will show his power and they will get rid of that traitor cowboy. Hall responds with a promo where he  guarantees that he will be in Aguadilla tomorrow. Hall is coming to take Atkie out. Our third promo is Lance Idol commenting on his match with Gama Singh. Idol talks about destiny being what has led him here and to defeating Gama Singh. Idol also quotes the Joker from Batman 89 to close out his promo ‘Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?’.

MD: When I say Hall had it as a babyface by this point, I generally mean in ring. He was pretty screamy in his promos in a way that maybe wasn’t as effective as it could have been. I was going to praise Idol, on the other hand, but then he started making faces and quoting the Joker from the 89 Batman movie so maybe not.

EB: Up next is Chicky Starr taking on La Sombra in singles action. Chick’s managerial chargers have decreased in number from the first months of 1990, but he’s been pretty active in the ring as well. Chicky mugs for the camera when introduced and right off the bat wants the ref to check La Sombra for potential objects. When the ref asks Sombra, he points at Chicky and tells the ref to check him instead. Chicky starts off with a headlock and shoulder block off the ropes, but a series of rope counters leads to Sombra hitting an armdrag takedown and a dropkick to send Chicky to the outside. Chicky complains about his hair being pulled and slows the tempo of the match down. We again get a headlock and shoulder block, but Chicky is ready for Sombra’s duck down this time, stopping short off the ropes and kicking Sombra’s back. Chicky hits some blows on Sombra, including an elbow to the head and some chops in the corner. La Sombra reverses and hits some chops of his own, but Chicky cuts him off with a knee to the midsection. A chop from Chicky knocks Sombra down. Chicky slams Sombra, but Sombra counters a splash by getting his knees up. Sombra gets a brief offensive flurry but again Chicky cuts him off by lifting his legs as Sombra tries a corner charge. Chicky soon after wins the match after hitting an elbow drop on Sombra. A clear reminder that Chicky can be a threat in the ring beside being a threat at ringside. Chicky proceeds to strut as he leaves ringside and again mugs for the camera.  

MD: Stooging by numbers but entertaining with a definitive Chicky win. He was great getting clowned early and claiming a hairpull or doing a big splash into rising knees and selling with a big puffed out face late. Got to keep him strong with a competitive squash as they’re using him not just beside TNT but also on undercards of shows.

EB: We get another promo from Chicky Starr and TNT, this time about the rematch against Invader #1 tomorrow in Aguadilla. Chicky claims it won’t be like last week when Invader brought out El Ejercito de la Justicia to beat up TNT. Chicky says that won’t happen this time because he’ll be inTNT’s corner. TNT says that Invader knows that last week he had Invader in the Cobra Dinamita and that this time he won’t be able to cheat by having El Ejercito de la justice charge the ring when the cobra is applied. TNT wants to get Invader out of wrestling, and now he is with Chicky Starr, so whatever it takes he will finish Invader in Aguadilla. 

We go to Invader #1 with Hugo to get Invader’s comments about the upcoming rematch with TNT. Hugo mentions  that TNT is dangerous but things are getting more serious now that he is officially with Chicky Starr. Invader responds by wondering why TNT has gone to get Chicky Starr’s help, because TNT is a great wrestler and the fans saw the tremendous match they had last week. He knows that TNT is dangerous and that with Chicky in the corner, anything could be done to defeat him and even take him out of wrestling. Invader will have El Ejercito de la Justicia on standby in case Chicky gets involved. ‘We both have good conditioning and last week it was a fight, which tomorrow it will be as well. Let it be just the two of us without Chicky getting involved and we will see who is left standing at the end’.

We get a third promo in this segment, this time from Carlos Colon. The interview is focused on Colon’s thoughts about the Universal title rematch occurring August 5. Carlos is happy that the rematch is happening on Fan Appreciation Day, since there are special lower ticket prices, which means more people have a chance to be there and see this very important match. He mentions that it;is important because of the new alliance between TNT and Chicky Starr, someone who is diabolical and wicked such as Chicky. and this pair needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Carlos wants to decisively beat TNT and says that TNT joining Chicky is like a nightmare.  
MD: Good fired up promos from TNT and Invader and then a more subdued one from Colon. TNT was the guy teaching kids karate not that long ago and now he came off as pretty scary; I bet there were plenty of kids who had idolized him a couple of months before that were wary of him now.

EB: Our final match on the program is a tag team match featuring the duo of TNT and Atkie Mulumba. Their opponents are Miguelito Perez and Justo Maldonado (it seems that Huracan Castillo has been missing since Aniversario, it may be he is on a foreign tour). El Profe seems excited to be seconding TNT again (remember he was TNT’s manager when they both first showed up in CSP). TNT and Miguelito start off, and Miguelito immediately gets the better of TNT with several holds and elbows. Perez tags in Justo, who briefly maintains the advantage with a dropkick on TNT. However, TNT immediately cuts Justo off and, after some blows, drags Justo over to the rudo corner. Mulumba is tagged in and it’s pretty much all over for Justo. As Mulumba dominates Justo with a variety of headbutts (including an impressive one where hops off the middle rope), Profe brags on commentary that this is an amazing and unique team, no one will be able to deal with this duo. After Atkie hits his clothesline, he tags in TNT who hits a spin kick and then puts the Cobra Dinamita on Justo. Miguelito watches from the apron as TNT keeps the hold on and Justo ends up passing out. The winners are TNT and Mulumba. TNT wakes up Justo without any fuss after the match. We then get the show closing from Hugo, hyping up the show in Aguadilla and the Fan Appreciation Day show. 

MD: TNT was congenial with Malumba. Perez just seemed happy to be there. Maldonado did not seem happy to be there. Perez started against TNT and took the fight right to him but once Justo tagged in TNT (almost) immediately turned it back on him. Then Atkie hit some stuff like his twisting flying clothesline and TNT finished him off with the spin wheel kick and the cobra. He was good enough to wake him up post-match though. Perez looked strong but it was a good showcase for just how dangerous these two were together.

EB; Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, two big matches headline the July 21 card. Who will triumph in what is likely the final encounter between Invader #1 and Leo Burke? How well will the two teams in the main event work together? Plus, a new arrival for the rudos as we head towards the big Universal title rematch on Fan Appreciation Day.

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