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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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: To Be or Not To Be Champions

Week 59: To Be or Not To Be Champions

EB: Aniversario 1991 is in the books and it was an interesting event. Carlos Colon retained the Universal title with help from invader #1, a win that some would deem controversial. You can bet El Profe and Dino Bravo will want a rematch. Overall, Aniversario 1991 was a feel good event with the tecnicos winning most of the matches. Before heading into the post Aniversario world, we do have to mention that CSP did do an Aniversario related card on Sunday. The card was held in Ponce and featured the following matches:

Miguelito Perez defeated Skandor Akbar

Ricky Santana vs. Rod Price went to  a time limit draw

Huracan Castillo defeated Galan Mendoza

Koko B Ware defeated Action Jackson

Monster Ripper & Hugo Savinovich defeated El Profe & Billy Joe Travis

TNT defeated Ron Garvin

The Samoan Swat Team defeated Super Medico #3 & Giant Warrior

Invader 1 & Bronco #1 defeated Demolition by dq

Carlos Colon defeated Dino Bravo by dq

After this Aniversario weekend, we have seen the last of Gen. Akbar, Action Jackson, Billy Joe Travis and Rod Price. But where people leave, that means we’ll get some new or rerunting faces so stay tuned. The TV we have picks back up on July 27, which is three weeks after Aniversario. While we do not have results for July 13, we do have the card lineup for July 20 in Carolina. It looks like we have some major developments going on based on the lineup.

Universal title match: Carlos Colon vs Sadistic Steve Strong

For the World tag team titles: Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs The Caribbean Express

Monster Ripper vs El Profe

No DQ Rematch: Giant Warrior vs Atkie Mulumba

Rematch for the World Jr. title: Ricky Santana vs Lt. James Earl Wright

Super Medico #3 & Invader #4 vsThe Ring Lords

And other great stars,

There are a few things that stand out. We have a new tag team in the Ring Lords plus the returns of James Earl Wright (of the State Patrol) and Atkie Mulumba. Ripper and Profe still are feuding and wrestling each other. The big news though is the top two matches for that card. Sadistic Steve Strong is coming back and this is something I remember from watching in real time. They were promoting his return by showing highlights of old matches against Carlos Colon and indicating that he had been given permission to return for that weekend to challenge Carlos Colon (if you remember, Strong had lost a loser leaves Puerto Rico match). But before we get too excited, Strong ends up not showing up for that night’s card. CSP did book a replacement and instead Carlos faced Nikolai Volkof on that card. 

The other big development(and again something I clearly remember from watching in real time), is that we have a very rare tecnico vs tecnico title match. The Caribbean Express seem to have issued a challenge for the World tag team titles and Invader #1 & Bronco 1 have agreed to the match. This is a break in tradition, as the custom is for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to not challenge for each other’s titles. However, it seems that all four men have decided to wrestle in the spirit of sportsmanship and we’ll get a sort of dream match out of it. Let’s go to Carolina and see what happened.

Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr vs Invader #1 & Bronco #1 - July 20, 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFlx3_go-8

It’s tecnico vs. tecnico as the Caribbean Express (the reigning Caribbean tag champions) are challenging Invader #1 and Bronco #1 for the World tag team champions. As we previously talked about when TNT decided to challenge Carlos Colon in 1990, it is not customary for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to challenge each other for their titles. Before the match starts we get the entire tecnico locker room coming out and entering the ring in a show of class and sportsmanship. All of the tecnicos have publicly declared their well wishes to both teams in the match (looks like they’ve taken a different view of how to approach this since the TNT deal from the year before). Carlos Colon, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Giant Warrior and Invader #4 are all here to shake their comrades hands in a show of sportsmanship and well wishes. Also among them is Miguel Perez Sr., who shakes the hand of both teams in a sign of sportsmanship even though his son and someone you could consider like a son in Castillo are the challengers. Both teams shake hands with each other and then Invader goes over and shakes Monster Ripper's hand as well. Hugo says that this is basically a dream match we are about to witness, because only in your imagination could you have seen this happen until now.

How did we get here? As Hugo explains in the first minutes of the match, opinions are divided about this match. There are people who think that Castillo and Perez should not have thrown down the challenge, that Monster Ripper should not have pursued to have that match signed for her guys. Others think that the whole reason you're in wrestling is to compete, to show who is the best. Hugo says that he agrees that opinions should be respected, but that he as a fan of wrestling also agrees that in wrestling you should be competing to prove who is the best. They showed a good portion of the match on TV, going through two commercial breaks. The match is mainly wrestled straightforward, although tempers do flare up a bit as the match goes on. Things get hectic near the end as all four men end up in the ring. Hugo mentions that Invader and Castillo are bleeding, so those two seem to have gone hard in the match. Perez and Castillo are whipped into each other and it looks like the champs are on the verge of successfully defending their titles. Invader backs Castillo into a corner, while Bronco and Perez are trying to throw each other into the ropes. Perez sends Bronco into the ropes and then hits a dropkick that knocks Bronco out of the ring. Perez follows up with a moonsault press off the apron, which takes both him and Bronco out of the action. As Perez was doing his dive, Invader hooked a small package on Castillo. The ref was focused on Perez and Bronco, so Monster Ripper sneaked into the ring and turned over the small package, putting Castillo in control of the pin. The ref turned around, noticed the pin and made the three count. We have new World tag team champions! Castillo and Ripper celebrate and then head to the floor to hand over one of the title belts to Miguelito (who had been out loopy on the floor and was not aware they had won the match). Perez joins the celebration with his teammate and manager but Invader doesn't seem too pleased about how the match ended. 

MD: I do think this would probably hit better outdoors, as we can see the basketball hoop on the camera the whole time, but it is also a starting point of sorts. It diminishes the pomp and circumstances a little. They wrestle clean to start, basically Invader vs Castillo and Bronco vs Perez and it’s good, competitive. You buy what they’re going for in setting a tone. As we come back from break, Castillo tags to Perez and Invader goes after Castillo for some reason, hitting a belly to back. That lets Perez hit a missile dropkick on him to take over. We’re lacking context given the break but it did feel weird especially for a transition. Maybe tempers flared. Who knows? 

After this, they start in on Invader though. A lot of that was just grinding down on him. He had a nice hope spot or two but they cut him off (with Castillo’s jumping knee for instance). I’m not sure the crowd entirely knows what to make of this. It’s real chinlock heavy. We come back to Bronco clearing house after a hot tag we never got to see. The fans ARE into this, including when Invader comes in to get some “revenge.” Chaotic finishing scene with bodies everywhere. Perez hits a standing moonsault off the apron which we’ve never seen in the footage up til this point so it had to blow minds (just ask Esteban!). But that distracts the ref so while Invader has Castillo rolled up, Ripper turns it over and the Express win the belts. Certainly a controversial ending. This one was hurt by the cuts so we can’t really get a good sense of it, but at this point, we’re just lucky to have it at all.. 

EB: The finish did blow my mind at the time (and it’s what I distinctly remember from that match… well that and what followed). The controversial finish of the World tag title match set off a series of meetings with the commissioner that led to a surprising development. Hugo will mention it during the next episode’s show intro, with the meeting and fallout being shown later in the same program. So let’s go to the July 27 episode of Campeones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCVyapi4u2Y

EB: We open with Hugo and Profe,  who happens to be posing for the viewers as Hugo welcomes everyone to the show. Hugo even makes a remark about maybe changing Profe’s name to El Modelo with all of the posing Profe is doing when he sees a camera. Profe says that he should have maybe been an actor or a TV heartthrob. Hugo cuts that off by running down what we’ll have on today's program, including showing  what happened last week in Carolina when Monster Ripper was facing El Profe (who Hugo says we’ll get to see what kind of a person Profe is despite what he may claim in front of the cameras when he gets in there with a lady). We also have some old matches highlighting returning wrestlers such as Abdullah the Butcher, Fidel Sierra and Nikolai Volkoff and music special for newcomer Alex Porteau. The big news for those who have not heard (as Profe applauds this news) is that Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper have attacked Miguelito Perez. Profe happily says that Castillo has a bright future in wrestling. Hugo says that later in the program they will show the meeting the Caribbean Express had with the commissioner and what led to the aforementioned incident occurring. Also, we’ll have highlights from Nikolai Volokoff’s attack on Carlos colon last weekend, Volkoff was the substitute for Steve Strong (who was not able to appear due to circumstances beyond their control). Tonight there is a rematch between them with the added stipulation of it being a Russian Chain match. Profe says that the simple fact is that last week we left Carlitos Colon drenched in blood and this time he will be at the end of a chain. Volkoff is a master at this type of match, to which Hugo retorts that Carlos has been in matches like this before. Profe: ‘But he fights like a Puerto Rican, Volkoff is from where this type of match originated, from Russia’. Hugo again states that Carlos knows how to handle himself in these sorts of matches (this chain match has the touch all four corners rule), although he conceded Volkoff does have a size and experience advantage. 

Tonight we’ll also have the return of Abdullah the Butcher as he faces Giant Warrior. Hugo mentions that Abdullah did not fare too well the last time these two faced each other. Profe says that was before, Abdullah has been on a great winning streak in the Orient and will be ready for tonight. Hugo mentions that Ricky Santana will take on El Profe, so that may mean Profe’s face might not look so good tomorrow (Profe laughs it off). Rounding out the card for tonight is Sasha vs Monster Ripper, Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 vs the Ring Lords, and Invader #4 vs. Alex Porteau. Before finishing the announcements, Hugo says that we have some big news about next Saturday. The rematch is signed as Carlos Colon will defend the Universal title against Dino Bravo. Profe is happy about this news and promises that this time there will be no one to save Carlos. With that, Hugo sends it to the Alex Porteau music video as El Profe says we now have a magic finger to cue up the music specials (as he points at the camera). The music video highlights for Porteau are from some TV studio matches, with the most notable opponents being Super Medico #3 and Ricky Santana.

MD: Pretty sure this is set to Sepultura and the music is heavy and foreboding. Maybe the clips of Porteau doggedly working over Ricky Santana’s arm don’t quite match the destructive tone of it but it doesn’t hurt his presentation I guess?

EB: Back to Hugo in the studio, as he introduces the clip of what happened last week when Profe was in trouble against Monster Ripper and someone came out to help him. We cut to Monster Ripper attacking Profe on the arena floor, when suddenly Lt. James Earl Wright of the State Patrol runs out to grab Ripper from behind. Profe doesn’t have much time to get a blow in before Ricky Santana rushes in to fight the rudos off and chase them away. Ricky helps Ripper to her feet as the clip ends. 

Profe is in the studio and cuts a promo on Ricky Santana. Profe has always said that Santana loves sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong and tonight he will teach him a lesson, because women and imbeciles like Santana should be treated the same way. He is going to disfigure Santana's face, he is ugly and big eared. So get ready because El Profe does not discriminate by gender, nationality or age. Ricky responds by saying that it won’t be a woman tonight, it’ll be man to man, or he should say one man because Profe is no man. After Hugo translates we get a card rundown for tonight;s show in Carolina. We also get an ad for next Wednesday’s TV taping in Miramar, with TNT vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra, and Ricky Santana & Giant Warrior vs the Ring Lords. 

MD: Profe really didn’t seem all that cowed or like he’d learned his lesson during the opening of the show. Lots of preening and posing. Most striking thing here is that Santana showed up almost immediately after Wright appeared, so they didn’t do any sort of extended beatdown on Ripper. Not sure if they’re going for mixed tags or just moving the feud over to Profe/Wright vs Santana moving forward.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Dutch Mantell - February 1988

EB: With Abdullah the Butcher returning tonight, they show a match from February 1988 where Dutch Mantel takes on Abdullah the Butcher. This is from the first round of that year’s Gillette Cup and the match does not go Dutch’s way as Abdullah jumps him as soon as he enters the ring. Most of the match is Abdullah getting the better of Dutch with foreign objects, although Dutch is able to get some offensive flurries in. We also have Chicky at ringside with Abdullah here, we have not seen him in almost a year. I wonder what he’s been up to?  Anyway, Dutch wins the match by dq when Abdullah refuses to stop punching and choking Dutch (who is draped over the top rope).

We then go to some highlights from the last time Abdullah the Butcher and the Giant warrior wrestled. The date is September  8,1990 and Giant Warrior goes after Abdullah out on the ballfield. Warrior grabs a piece of wood that he uses to hit and gouge Abdullah with, causing Abdullah to bleed. We cut back to the studio and we are met with a closeup of Abdullah’s face as El Profe cuts a promo on Giant Warrior. Abdullah is balancing a metal case on his head as Profe promises that Abdullah is going to make Warrior a victim tonight. Abdullah has made other wrestlers bleed and left them scarred, and tonight will be no exception. Also, El Profe has some quick words for Carlos Colon, it seems he and Abdullah are scheduled to wrestle tomorrow in Humacao.

Giant Warrior is next and laughs at Profe’s comments and says that people saw Profe’s failed attempt of getting rid of Giant Warrior. Abdullah is back again and Warrior is still standing, so let’s see what happens tonight when the two trains collide again. 

MD: It’s notable just how little we’ve seen Abdullah between 89-91. I think he’s just popped up once, maybe twice, and never for long. But now they have him against both Giant Warrior and TNT. Of course, we haven’t seen Dutch at all. The old match between them was fun. Abby tossed Dutch onto a table and then got the object out and opened him up in the ring. Dutch came back with Shoo Baby (using it as a blunt object and not a whip). Abby cut him off as he was want to do and then got DQed for attacking him in the ropes. 

The clip we see of one of the times we did see Abby is against Giant Warrior who by this point had the object already and was getting revenge on Abby with it. Abby, when we cut to him for the Profe promo, has a black case over his head. We cut to footage of him beating on guys and come back to him doing different things with the case or his fingers, just staring at the screen. Warrior cuts a confident promo after that.

Fidel Sierra vs. Victor Cantcel

EB: We have a match from 1985 featuring Fidel Sierra taking on Victor Cancel. Fidel is making a return to Puerto Rico this week and this match is to serve as a reminder to fans of his ability. Profe’s first comment is that he has recently learned that not all Cubans are bad (since Ricky Santana is Cuban), people like Sierra and Castillo are good eggs in his book. Hugo quickly shuts that down, saying Profe’s job is to commentate on the wrestlers’ performance, not anything else. Hugo says that Fidel is returning and if a few years ago he was someone to watch out for, this time he is coming back with more experience and fame. Profe again talks about Castillo Jr with Hugo then asking him about Monster Ripper.  Profe says she can go fry some asparagus (no love lost there). Fidel wins the match with a flying kneedrop off the top. We’ll see how this stint goes for Fidel in the weeks to come.

MD: Another guy we haven’t seen. In general, I haven’t seen much of Sierra with this specific character looking cool with the hat. There’s commentary over commentary so this is older footage likely? Lots of complaining about hairpulling and what not but he’s overall dominant and wins with a side backbreaker and bombs away kneedrop. 

Commissioner Meeting and Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr. vs The Ringlords

EB: It’s time for the new World tag team champions the Caribbean Express to have their meeting with the commissioner. Hugo is already there and says that everyone has been talking about what happened last week in the World tag title match. Commissioner Felix Suarez is here, along with Miguelito Perez, Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper. Hugo says that it has been a hot topic, a controversial one, and that the commissioner had already met with Invader #1 and Bronco #1. The commissioner confirms that he already met with Invader and Bronco, and rather than speak with the Caribbean Express, he wants them to first watch the footage of the match ending before talking. Castillo isn’t too keen on having to watch the footage but Miguelito says they should. We get the replay of the match finish where Miguelito does his dive onto Bronco and in the ring the small package gets reversed with help from Ripper. The commissioner says that now that you have watched the footage, he thinks that it was an unjust win. Castillo tries to justify that Ripper was only there checking on him and nothing more. The commissioner continues that he has already proposed two options to Invader and Bronco, which they  accepted. These are either that the Caribbean Express reject the win and relinquish their titles back to Invader and Bronco, or that they leave the title belts with the commissioner and a rematch will be had for the held up titles. Castillo is all for doing a rematch, although he keeps saying that we are the champs so we’ll give them a rematch (glossing over that they would still have to vacate the titles in that scenario). Miguelito is not on board with that idea, because he feels that was clearly the wrong way to have won the match. Ripper tries to say something but Miguelito cuts her off by saying he had no idea this was how they won. Hugo follows up on this and Miguelito is insistent that he had no idea since he was out of it on the floor after the dive on Bronco (which is true). Miguelito feels this was an unjust loss for Invader and Bronco, feeling that they shouldn’t have done that. A discussion breaks out between Castillo and Ripper on one side and Perez on the other. Perez wants to relinquish the titles because they didn't do it the right way, Castillo and Ripper insist that they are the champions now and should just have the rematch (again glossing over the fact that in both scenarios they cease to be the champions). Miguelito says that accepting a win like that would make them nothing more than paper champions, Castillo says what do you mean paper champions, we beat them 1-2-3. Castillo brings up that they've had times where they’ve lost titles under similar circumstances, but Miguelito says that those were other wrestlers that did that to them,  but not people like Invader and Bronco who are on the same side as them. Miguelito says let’s relinquish the titles, but Castillo is against that (again, I don’t know if they goofed on the setup details or if Castillo is being deliberately obtuse, but either way they are not leaving that office with the title belts). Perez ends up deciding that he is going to relinquish his title belt, Castillo is mad since that means he has to relinquish it as well  and ends up getting bleeped after Perez leaves the room. Castillo tells Ripper how dare he do this to us.

Back to Hugo in the studio where he summarizes the end result. Miguelito Perez relinquished the title belts and they were returned to Invader and Bronco. The situation in the office got heated, so much so that you heard they had to censor some of Castillo's language. But this is not the end of the situation as this past Wednesday the Caribbean Express was taking on the Ring Lord and this is what went down. 

To Miiramar we go as Miguelito Perez is in trouble and trying to make the tag to Huracan Castillo. Instead of making the tag, Castillo seems to be distracted talking to Monster Ripper. Perez continues getting beat up and every time he tries to tag Castillo in he gets waved off, ignored or Castillo motions in a you got this fashion. Eventually, Perez gets fed up with Castillo not wanting to tag in and leaves the ring. Ripper starts arguing with Miguelito for leaving the ring and blocks his exit from the ringside area. Perez tries to push Ripper out of his way so he can leave, and Castillo runs up from behind and attacks Miguelito. Ripper holds Miguelito for a couple of those punches, and then Castillo rams Perez three times into the ringpost. Castillo then rams Perez on a table and hits him with a chair, before throwing Perez into the ring. The attack continues as the Ring Lords have won by countout. Perez is a bloody mess which brings out Carlos Colon and Invader to try to reason with Castillo, but each of them gets shoved by Castillo before leaving the ring. Castillo and Ripper exit the building instead of going to the locker room as a bloody Perez is being checked on in the ring. Hugo on commentary is condemning what Castillo did since Perez and Castillo basically have been friends since they were kids. We end with Perez being helped to the locker room by Invader and Carlos Colon.

MD: The Express review the footage with the commissioner. They see what Ripper did. Perez ultimately agrees to relinquish the belts back to Invader/Bronco though Castillo strongly disagrees. Cut to the match against the Ringlords, who are Magnum Force, here Rick Slagle and Speedy Gonzales (why that? I have no idea. It’s up there with the weird name for one of the State Patrol before). They’re a step down from the Studs but it really doesn’t matter because this was a high heat angle.

Perez fights back enough to go for a tag and Castillo just puts his hand out limpy, avoiding it. He does this a few times and then Perez tries to walk out. Ripper stops him and it seems like she’s trying to convince him to go back but Castillo hits the floor and she grabs Perez so Castillo can nail him. He bloodies his partner, even as Invader and others try to stop him. This was the good stuff. Usually, I’d think this followed something in the US like the Rockers split but the’re well ahead of it here. 

EB: After the big angle with the Caribbean Express, it is back to the promos for tonight’s card. This time we have the Ring Lords and Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 talking about their match tonight. The Ring Lords claim they’re the best tag team to be in Puerto Rico while the tecnicos say that they will be stopped tonight. We also got part of a commercial with some of the tecnicos for Capriccio's restaurant.

MD: I’m not 100% sure where Bronco is here but if you need to get the Ring Lords over, having them go over a champ and another name isn’t the worst way i guess?

EB: We have an old match from Mid-South where Nikolai Volkoff defeats Johnny Rich as the showcase match for Nikolai. After that Profe introduces the clip of the beating Volkoff gave Carlos Colon last week. Colon comes off the top rope with a whoopie cushion but Profe puts Volkoff’s leg on the rope to stop the count. A clothesline leads to another cover and again Profe puts Volkoff’s foot on the ropes. Carlos sets up for the figure four and Profe jumps up on the apron. Carlos runs over and decks Profe, then goes out to punch Profe some more on the arena floor. However, this gives Volkoff an opening to attack Carlos and ram him against the ringpost. This busts Carlos open and Volkoff continues kicking Carlos in the head. The attack stops when Giant Warrior runs out and Vokoff simply stops and heads off before Warrior can get any hands on him. 

We get comments from Nikolai Volkoff where he is looking forward to the chain match since it means that the coward of Carlos Colon cannot run away. Carlos follows by saying that Volkoff may be an expert in this type of match, but that Carlos himself has never lost a match of this type before. Volkoff and Profe better be ready to be paid back for last week, because he is not planning on touching all four corners until he has gotten some licks in with the chain. 

MD: He may have been one of the most over babyfaces on the roster in Summer 1990 WWF but 1983 Volkoff is a very different beast from 1991 Volkoff. He does two of my favorite things here: the one handed lifting choke and then how he turns his press backbreaker into a perfectly angled pin. Puerto Rico does bring out the best in people, and we’ll see if it can for 1991 Volkoff, I guess.

In the clip vs Colon we get, Carlos had his number and was working the leg until Profe interfered. Post match, Giant Warrior made the save. The promo is surreal both for the Russian music playing in the background and just to see Volkoff cut a promo in grumpy English.

Ricky Santana vs. The Fly

EBL Our last match is Ricky Santana vs. The Fly, with Fly getting some quick offense by jumping Santana at the start. This advantage does not last long and Santana makes quick work of The Fly. On commentary, Hugo starts needling Profe about his match tonight against Santana, with Hugo asking Profe if he is now friends again with Monster Ripper. Profe is disgusted by that question and says that he’d rather show up in Sasha’s corner tonight than be friends with Ripper. But he still thinks Castillo has great potential and has always been a good kid. Santana wins with a top rope splash.

Hugo and Profe then close out the show by hyping up tonight’s card and reminding viewers about the big rematch for next week as Carlos Colon defends the Universal title against Dino Bravo. 

MD: I want to say I’m an immediate fan of “The Fly” but he’s just a guy in a mask with no real Fly elements to him. Santana makes short work of him obviously. 

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Warrior - July 27, 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd9usQCi1rY

EB: We end this week’s post with the Giant Warrior vs Abdullah the Butcher match from July 27. This is from a later VHS release so the commentary isn’t related to the current happenings. Abdullah is taking his time on the outside so Warrior decides to rush him like in their previous encounter. Only this time Abdullah was waiting on that and surprises Warrior with several jabs using a foreign object (looks like a spike). Abdullah continues relentlessly jabbing Warrior in the forehead and the blood is starting to flow. Abdullah throws Warrior onto a table and then uses whatever furniture he can find to attack Warrior. A momentary breather reveals that Warrior is quickly becoming a  bloody mess (and he is wearing white tights so it’s going to get messy). Abdulalh finally gets in the ring and a dazed Warrior gathers himself. There’s blood splatter on the table, on the floor and on Warrior’s tights as he finally gets near the ring. We get some king of the mountain as Abdullah jabs the spike once more onto Warrior’s forehead and prevents him from entering the ring. Finally Warrior is in but can’t mount any offense as Abdullah continues attacking. 

Surprisingly, Warrior is able to kick out of Abudullah’s elbow drop. Warrior starts a comeback and even hits a dropkick on Abdullah. This causes Abdullah to drop the spike, so Warrior grabs it and uses it on the Butcher. Abdullah kicks out of a pin attempt and Warrior starts booting Abdullah's head. Warrior gets knocked to the outside and he decides to take one of his boots off. Warrior then uses it as a weapon on Abudllah ,just hitting him over and over again on the head. The ref tries to intervene but gets shoved and then hit with the boot. Warrior continues his attack as the ref calls for the bell. Several wrestlers come out to try to separate Warrior and Abdullah, but they end up getting attacked by both men as they try to get at each other. Warrior ends up knocking down Abdullah and (in an amazing visual) the rudos resort to just dragging the downed Abdullah by his arms across the arena floor towards the locker room.

MD: It is very possible that we have written about more Giant Warrior matches than anyone alive, and while there are some that are pretty good (at least one tag, a Murdoch match, the Tyler Mane match that overdelivered), this has to be the best. He came out in white which he never does and yeah, that meant he was going to bleed buckets. Abby got him on the outside early and tossed everything that wasn’t bolted down at him. He bled right from the get go and then bled some more. Eventually, he managed to come back and get the object and get revenge. It was an Abby match but it absolutely worked. When Abby tried to fire back, he took off his boot and started in on everyone, including the ref and every person in the locker room who tried to break things up. Very much an Abby match but you can’t say that Warrior didn’t do his part, even if his part was just to bleed.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a TV rematch between Giant Warrior and Abdullah the Butcher leads to a series of events that causes a major change to that night’s house show.  Also, the Caribbean Express collides and the debut of Ray Gonzalez.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: The Road to Aniversario 91

Week 58: The Road to Aniversario 91

EB: We are getting into the final stretches of the road to Aniversario 91. The June 15 show saw Dino Bravo get a win over TNT. Bravo has been facing different tecnicos during the month of June to set him up for Aniversario and we’ll see some more of these encounters shortly. The biggest development from that June 15 card in Carolina was Carlos Colon taking on a hired gun, Great Kokina. El Profe and Gen Akbar had failed with the Polynesian Prince, but were hoping Kokina would be successful in derailing Carlos Colon and stop him from making it to the Universal title match at Aniversario 91. That June 15 match ended in a disqualification (unclear on the winner since some results have Colon winning by dq while others list Kokina winning by dq). There will be a rematch between them before Aniversario.

Speaking of Aniversario, the card is being finalized in the final weeks before the event, so let’s go to the west coast version of Super Estrellas for a pair of episodes that will help make clear what the final Aniversario card will look like. Up first is an episode from what we believe is June 15.

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

This is another edited down version of the west coast version of Super Estrella and we go right into the June 1 match between Dino Brav and Giant Warrior, which we join in progress.This would have been Bravo’s first match in Puerto Rico, so let’s see how he fares on his way to challenge Carlos Colon for the Universal title at Aniversario.

Dino Bravo vs. Giant Warrior

Bravo has Warrior down on the mat with a chinlock. Warrior fights to his feet, breaks the hold and starts backing Bravo into a corner with some punches. A quick eye rake from Bravo cuts that off and Bravo follows up with a back suplex for a two count. Back to the chinlock. Bravo then switches to chokes and then a bearhug. Hugo and Eliud on commentary mention that this is a strategy on the part of Bravo to try to keep Warrior close and neutralized. Warrior fades, the ref does the arm drop check, and Warrior keeps his arm up on the third check. Warrior starts coming back and punches his way out of the bearhug. Warrior whips Bravo into the corner a few times and then sends him into the ropes. Bravo counters and gets Warrior up on his shoulders. In an impressive feat, Bravo airplane spins Warrior and follows up with a clothesline. This sets up the full nelson and Bravo wins via submission. A notable win for Bravo in his first major match in Puerto Rico.

MD: This is the sort of weird stuff we’re looking for. Honestly, this whole episode of TV is. We get the last few minutes of this and it’s good stuff, save for the ill-conceived idea to put a bearhug on Giant Warrior. Bravo hits a really nice belly to back as we come in, and after Warrior fights out of the bearhug, he whips Bravo back and forth effectively until Bravo gets him into an airplane spin(!) and then hits a really nice clothesline out of it. He then finished Warrior off with the full nelson in the sort of definitive win you need to give the challenger for Aniversario. Now I kind of want to see Bravo vs Castillo, Perez, TNT, and Invader too.

Ronnie Garvin vs. Mr. Ito

EB: We cut from the start of a Profe promo and what looked to be a control center segment and go to the next match, Ron Garvin taking on Mr. Ito. This match is from Manati and Hugo mentions this is one of Ito’s first matches competing for the World Wrestling Council. The match is short but Ito is competitive with Garvin for most of it. Garvin gets the better of Ito in an exchange and sets up his knockout punch to get the pin. They are clearly putting over how dangerous and potent Garvin’s punching prowess is on the way to his match against Invader at Aniversario.

After the match we get an updated card ad for the Friday night Aniversario show in San German. This rundown reveals what we missed out during the previous week’s control center segment that was cut off. It’s official, Giant Warrior will be teaming with TNT to take on none other than Demolition (Smash & Crush). That’s 8 of the 10 matches confirmed with a couple of weeks to go. 

MD: Because of course we got Ronnie Garvin vs Akira Nogami in Puerto Rico in 1991. Sure, why not? Unfortunately, we just get a couple of minutes of this. A headscissors by Garvin, a comeback of chops by Ito. He’s not able to open things up though and Garvin cuts him off with a kick and a back body drop before finishing him with the Hand of Stone.

Samoan Swat Team vs. Ricky Santana & Kim Duk

EB: We go to another match already in progress as we head back to May when the Samoan Swat Team took on Ricky Santana & Kim Duk. The SST are challenging the Caribbean Express for the Caribbean tag titles at Aniversario, so here's a showcase rematch to remind the fans of how strong of a team they are. 

MD: The weird matches keep coming. I don’t think we’ve seen this one, though some of it is very familiar to me. That might have just been the SST’s act. I’ll move quick. We come come in on a nerve-hold. Santana gets a hope spot of slamming a Samoan’s head into the mat. Obviously that doesn’t work. The hot tag comes after one falls off the top rope for seemingly no reason but Duk tries the double nogging knocker which doesn’t work. Pile-driver. Top rope splash (great camera angle). And that’s that. It did feel very familiar.

EB: After we get an interview with Rod Price, who is challenging for the Caribbean title at Aniversario. Price asks Super Medico #3 if he's willing to pay the price. 

MD: We don’t get to hear Akbar talk. Price is going for the Caribbean Championship. Both he and Hugo call Medico 3 “Super Medic 3” which is one of those things I just pretend not to have to deal with. Price ends by saying “You better think about it once. You better think about it twice. Are you willing to pay the price?” which is definitely a catch phrase.

EB: Ron Garvin follows with a promo about his match against Invader #1 at Aniversario. Hugo reminds Garvin that Invader will be allowed to have his fist taped and Garvin says that when he steps in the ring with such a weapon, then Garvin has no choice but to beat his opponent nearly to death. 

MD: Another good Garvin interview. He’s goes on about how Invader’s taped fist means he can’t hold back and that he should be an honest man. Unfortunately we don’t get to see Hugo’s translation because he was great shadowboxing last time with that.

Invader I vs. Chicky Starr - April 90 

EB: The next match takes us back to mid April 1990, when the Invaders were feuding with Leo Burke and Chicky Starr (which segued into the Invader #1 vs. Leo Burke singles feud).Here Invader is facing Burke and Chicky in a handicap match challenge. Invader #4 had been taken out by the rudos the week before and Invader was facing both of them in a match where he had to wrestle both opponents. According to Hugo on commentary, we join this match after Burke had been eliminated (which is why Burke is sitting n a chair at ringside). Invader is in control and Chicky is already bleeding. However, Invader misses a charge in the corner and goes shoulder first into the post, giving Chicky an opening to go on the attack. Chicky controls most of the match that is shown ,with some invader hope spots mixed in. The match ends when Invader ducks a clothesline and comes off the ropes with a heart punch to win as the crowd cheers on. Another match that puts over the heart punch as we head to Aniversario. Seeing him here, I wonder what Chicky has been up to since leaving CSP? Hmm. Well, let’s move on.

MD: I guess we get an old Invader I match to heat him up (since he’s recovering from whatever Garvin did we didn’t get to see) and I’m not going to say no to that. It’s just not fair how good Invader is at selling. It’s not. This is such a great example. When we come in, Chicky seems to already be bloody but Invader misses a corner charge. Chicky hammers on the shoulder again and again and again and slowly Invader starts absorbing it, seemingly daring Chicky to continue his onslaught, and he stands and frames and fires back. Chicky keeps on him with stomps and kicks and this neat falling over pile driver and again Invader slowly makes it back to his feet, ducks a clothesline and hits the Heart Punch out of nowhere and it’s as close to perfect pro wrestling as I can imagine. Just not fair.

EB: The next math is a repeat airing of the Colon vs. Strong barbed wire mach from Aniversario 89. Afterwards, we get another Hugo training video, this time with Giant Warrior. Hugo gets put through his paces and then finishes with a promo on Billy Joe Travis,  promising that the effort will be worth it when he makes Travis pay at Aniversario. 

We then get the show close with Hugo again hyping up Aniversario 91.

MD: It’s the Giant Warrior training video! More doing stuff with weights at least. This goes way too long again and isn’t broken up enough like a proper montage. The best part is him pushing against Warrior, trying to move him. At the end Warrior says it’s time to train a monster and get him in the ring.

EB: We also have a west coast episode of Super Estrellas that may be from June 22 or June 29. This seems to be the go home show of sorts for the Aniversario card on Friday July 5 in San German. We’ll see some of the major feuds recapped and also see the final announcements for Aniversario, so let’s go to the episode.

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

Hugo opens the show but gets interrupted by a long station ID message. Hugo mentioned we’ll see what has happened in the top feuds heading into Aniversario plus the matches and music videos we’ll see on today’s program. One other segment we’ll have is a segment where Dino Bravo will be showing off his power, Bravo is claiming that the figure four will not affect him and wants to prove it with a demonstration. Hugo promotes the locations where you can buy tickets for Aniversario and the related promotions they are doing with radio station Cosmos 94.

Our first feud recap is Carlos Colon vs Dino Bravo starting with the attack at Noche de Campeones. We cut from the Bravo attack to the Ron Garvin vs Invader #1 recap, with Garvin and Invader doing the contract signing for their match at Aniversario. Garvin is laughing and saying he already knocked Invader out before, referencing their match from June 1. They show the clip of when Garvin knocked out Invader with a punch during the match and made the cover, only for the time limit to expire before the count of three. Back to the contract signing and Invader responds that when he hit the heart punch (which was not taped up), he had Garvin out. Only the ropes and El Profe helped save him. They show a clip of that part of the match and then we go back to the contract signing. Garvin is standing and angrily shouting that Invader is gutless, causing Invader to start standing up. Almost immediately, Garvin punches Invader in the face and knocks him out.

MD: This was set up well as they show a clip of Garvin hitting the hands of stone punch on invader, using the ref as a distraction first, and Invader hitting the heart punch, with Garvin getting a foot on the rope and Profe getting his heart going again on the outside. Then, out of nowhere, Garvin clocked Invader during the contract signing and Invader dropped like a pile of bricks. 

Polynesian Prince vs. Invader I

EB: We continue with the feud recaps, going over the incidents that have led to Bronco vs. Skandor Akbar, Monster Ripper vs. El Profe, and Hugo Savinovich vs. Billy Joe Travis.  Then we immediately go to our first match, which is Invader #1 vs. Polynesian Prince from June 15. The match is joined in progress with Prince doing a stunner or jawbreaker like move and making a cover for two. Some headbutts and a nerve hold follow, but Invader fights out by stomping Prince’s bare feet and then biting him. An eye rake by Prince cuts off Invader, and Invader is tossed to the outside. Akbar tries to get a shot in on Invader but instead hits Prince when Invader gets out of the way, Invader attacks Akbar, Prince attacks Invader from behind, but an attempted Irish whip into the post is reversed by Invader. The match heads back into the ring and they exchange missed moves until Prince misses a diving headbutt. This allows Invader to hit two heart punches and get the win. 

MD: We come in with Prince using a jawbreaker to take over. He has headbutts and a nerve hold, opening and closing his mouth again and again. Invader comes back beautifully, stomping on the feet, raking the eyes, and biting the face all in one flurry. Prince cuts him off with an eyerake. The rest of the match is a great bit of sputtering comebacks and cutoffs. First Akbar misses a shot on the outside and hits Prince. Then when Invader goes after Akbar, Prince ambushes, only to get reversed into the post. Back in the ring, he takes over, no-sells a reversed whip into the corner (hard head), but takes too long to leap off the top and misses. That lets Invader finally hit two heart punches for the win. A well done piece of business here. It really got over the heart punch since Prince was surviving everything else.

EB: Hugo Savinovich is in a gym somewhere, with Dino Bravo, El Profe, Skandor Akbar and Polynesian Prince there as well. They are all in a ring and Bravo wants to show off how he will deal with the figure four leglock come Aniversario. Prince is there since he is a bigger and stronger man than Carlos Colon, so if Bravo can successfully show off his power against Prince, what hope does Colon have against him at Aniversario? Prince puts a figure four leglock on Bravo, who reverses the maneuver. Bravo keeps the reversal applied and Prince is struggling but not making any noise. After a few moments, Akbar starts getting worried based on how Prince is acting and tries to break the hold. It looks like Bravo’s power ended up breaking Prince’s leg. Ouch! Dino is exasperated, asking Prince why he didn't say anything or complain.

MD: Legitimately funny to me. They have Polynesian Prince be the one to put the figure four on. “Well over 300 pounds.” And then Bravo just turns it over. This would have been way better if they got some enhancement guy to do it and Bravo just powered out of it. I get what they were trying in theory but this didn’t hit the mark. Everyone knows you just turn over the figure four!

EB: Skandor Akbar is in the studio to talk about his match against Bronco (which to be upfront, we don’t have footage for). Akbar talks about the pain of being burned in the face and that he knows Bronco is disfigured for life. The biggest mistake Bronco made is coming back because this time Akbar has a plan and Bronco will  be finished for good.

MD: I’ve been informed this is the match we don’t have from the show and I am not convinced we will ever find out what Akbar’s big plan for Bronco was.

EB: We get a replay of Bronco's interview from the Dominican Republic (conducted by Mario Medina), followed by an in studio promo from TNT. He is teaming with Giant Warrior at Aniversario to face Demolition. TNT says that everyone in Puerto Rico has seen these two animals on TV before, and he calls them animals because of their size. TNT promises that Demolition will not have it easy because they are facing two Puerto Ricans because TNT says that Giant Warrior had told him that he considers himself Puerto Rican.

We then get a final card rundown for Aniversario 91 in San German with the previously confirmed matches plus two additional ones. We have Ricky Santana vs. Action Jackson (the Saturday match has the stipulation where the loser must leave Puerto Rico, not sure what set this up) and Koko B Ware taking on Galan Mendoza. 

MD: And lo, we lose Murdoch to WCW. A shame. Instead we have Giant Warrior and TNT vs Demolition. I can imagine 1988 or even 1989 Demolition in Puerto Rico and that would have been amazing. No Bill Eadie now. Still a pretty fun sounding clash of the Titans though. Ok, get this, there’s a match in New Haven from early 1984 where Masked Superstar teamed with Sgt. Slaughter against the Invaders. Wild. Anyway, that’s our match. 

EB: We get a repeat of the Bronco music video. This is followed by a Monster Ripper promo for her match against El Profe. Ripper promises that all the bad stuff Prof likes to talk about everyone is going to stop and she will be the one to put Profe down. She wants all of the women to come out and watch what she’ll do to Profe, she’ll be his worst nightmare.

MD: Very weird to me that Ripper is now cutting a promo in English with Hugo translating. Maybe they trusted her with cackling heel promos or to translate but not with her own babyface promos? She wants all the women (and men if they can handle it) to come see her beat up Profe.

EB: Galan Mendoza is next to talk about Koko B Ware. Mendoza says that they know each other from before in the UWF, but this time it’ll be Mendoza who will put a stop to Koko. Next are the DJs from Cosmos 94 to promote their involvement with Aniversario, followed by another Aniversario card ad. Then we get a Koko B Ware music video set to ‘Piledriver’.

MD: And here’s our bonus match for Aniversario, Koko vs Mendoza. Interesting that they’ve brought Koko in at the bottom of the card again. He’s a guy who could definitely have a run but they just use him as an attraction like this. The music video is basically just taken from the Profe match.

EB: Billy Joe Travis has a message for Hugo, he wants Hugo’s family (and ‘my kids’)  to be at the event, because he’s going to embarrass Hugo.

MD: Travis cuts a good promo talking about Hugo’s family and how everyone should come see him beat up Hugo. He’s not allowed to touch him until the match, which is a good stip. I see this and see no reason why he couldn’t have a long run on the island too.

EB: Ron Garvin is next, saying he has built quite the reputation and Invader has gotten him mad with what Garvin believes was an attempt to put Garvin out of wrestling. Garvin promises to end Invader's career and knock him out. Invader responds by putting over Garvin's quality but reminds everyone that he will have his fist taped, so let;s see if Garvin is able to get up from that when the heart punch is hit.We close this segment with another card rundown prefaced by another Cosmos DJ.

MD: Garvin invokes the fact he’s a big name in wrestling, a former world champion, something he couldn’t tout for most of his major post-NWA run. This feels like good closure for him honestly, as this run lasted a bit longer than I had expected. Invader’s with Hugo for his response and it looks like he’d been training Hugo maybe from the locale and the garb. 

Samoan Swat Team vs. Ricky Santana & Invader IV

EB: The SST are challenging for the Caribbean tag titles at Aniversario, so we get another showcase match for them against the team of Ricky Santana and Invader #4. The match is a bit more competitive with Santana in there, but the SST steamroll Invader #4 and get the pin. 

MD: Not a ton here. Santana and Invader (especially Santana) control Savage's arm. Fatu gets in and destroys Invader with backbreakers. They knock Santana off the apron and hit a Samoan Drop followed by a top rope splash for the win.

EB: We then get some followup of the Dino Bravo power showcase from earlier where Polynesian Prince got his leg broken. Prince has his leg in a cast and Profe is mentioning how Colon won’t be able to withstand Bravo's power if Prince couldn't . We also get words from an exasperated Dino Bravo, saying that he’s been apologizing to the Prince and General because he did not know how much pain the Prince was in. Bravo warns Carlos that if he’s not careful, Bravo might end up breaking both of Colon’s legs at Aniversario.

We cut to Hugo and Carlos Colon, they are on a break from training and look to be relaxing on someone’s balcony. Hugo says that Bravo is a scary challenger because he combines power with wrestling knowledge and is highly ranked in the WWF (uh, sure Hugo). Carlos says it’s the biggest challenge of his life since Bravo is like a war tank. No one has been able to break Bravo’s full nelson yet but he is ready for the challenge. As to Bravo saying he is not afraid of the figure four, Carlos says he has other holds and moves besides the figure four if it comes to that. Hugo promotes a party they’ll have Thursday on the beach in Aguada for July 4 with Carlos, TNT and Hugo there. Carlos invites the fans to the July 4 beach party and to Aniversario on July 5. 

MD: Ok the previous skit redeemed itself. Prince and Akbar are sitting on a couch. Prince has a cast on his leg. He’s beside himself. Akbar is reassuring him. Bravo’s there with a gym logo tank top apologizing to Prince and Akbar for breaking Prince’s leg. He had turned the hold over for like four seconds and this is all very funny. He said he didn’t even use half his strength either. This would be great but maybe not for the main event build?

EB: Another Hugo training video and they are in the countryside. Hugo is chopping down trees, pickaxing the ground, running with logs on his shoulders, and chasing a horse as part of his training. Hugo thanks the fans for their support and Carlos and Giant Warrior for their help. He’s not going to wrestle Travis, he’s going there to fight. We then get a message from the manager of Cosmos 94 inviting the fans to Aniversario.

MD: They end up on the farm? Hugo’s family farm? I have no idea. But we’ve got Hugo chopping trees, pickaxing the ground, chasing a little horse around! Thankfully this one only lasts a few minutes. 

Miguelito Perez vs. Dino Bravo

EB: Another match to put over Dino Bravo before Aniversario, this time against Miguelito Perez. We join the match in progress, with Miguelito in the middle of an offensive flurry that sends Bravo to regroup on the outside. Bravo takes a while to come back in and Miguelito is able to counter some Bravo punches. A whip into the corner backfires as Bravo grabs Perez and atomic drops him. Bravo does a chinlock and then a bearhug.  Bravo gets a near fall off the bearhug, but Perez fights out of it. Bravo cuts Perez off and hits a piledriver to set up the full nelson but Miguelito counters with a roll up. An offensive flurry is stopped by Bravo with an airplane spin and this time he is able to put Perez in the full nelsons.  Miguelito can’t break the hold and submits.

Hugo closes the show by reminding fans about the beach party on July 4 and Aniversario on Friday July 5.

MD: Ah here’s the Dino Bravo we know and (don’t) love. After feeding a bit for dropkicks, he came back in with a chinlock and a long, long bearhug. Very long. Not much there even if Perez worked well from underneath. Finishing stretch was good though. Perez went behind on the full nelson attempt and they went back and forth a bit after that until Bravo got the airplane spin on him, softening him up for the nelson. Bravo is still Bravo deep down, that’s for sure.

EB: We have a couple of matches from June that we would like to cover before heading into Aniversario 91. The first match is a tag match where Invader #1 (during the period where Invader had the bandage on his nose) and Mr. Ito are facing Action Jackson and Rod Price. This match may be from June 8.

Invader #1 & Mr. Itoi vs. Action Jackson & Rod Price 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiphTT8snjw

This video is from a VHS release early in 1992, so the commentary is not really focused on what was happening at the time. Invader and Mr. Ito are an interesting tag team though, so let’s see how they fare against Rod Price and Action Jackson. Invader and Action start for their teams and we get a bit of stalling tactics from Actin to start the match. They square up for a punch exchange and that goes badly for Action, who ends up on the outside again. Ito is tagged in and works over Jackson’s arm. He hits a jumping elbow and tags Invader back in. Action quickly tags out to Price but Invader and Ito continue with their strategy of working over their opponent’s arm. Price turns the tide with a hair pull on Ito and the rudos work over Ito for a few minutes. They build to a hot tag to Invader, who cleans house on both rudos. Eventually all four men end up in the ring and it is Invader and Ito who are in control. However, Profe hands a foreign object to Action while the ref is busy with Invader and Price, and Action hits Ito with it to get the pin. But wait… Ricky Santana comes out of the locker room and grabs the foreign object out of Action Jackson’s tights. He shows the ref, who restarts the match. This may be the beginning of what sets up the Santana vs. Jackson match at Aniversario. With the match restarted, Action misses a flying kneedrop on Ito, who then tags in Invader. A quick offensive burst leads to a heart punch and win for the tecnicos.

MD: This was aired years later on a video tape. The commentary is very funny but that’s beside the point. Jackson and Price have matching tights. Ito has his beard and wig to come out but then takes it off. Invader has the bandaging we’ve seen him wear in promos lately. And hey, this was a good one. Standard very good PR tag. Invader and Jackson were just great to start. Lots of shadow boxing, dodging Jackson’s big shots and hitting jab after jab as he stooged away. Nogami hit a spin wheel kick but the heels took over fairly quickly by working over the arm and double teaming. Good FIP with a lot of varied offense (Price with a press slam and Russian leg sweep, Jackson with a power slam) and double teams after they drew Invader in. Invader went nuts on the hot tag as you’d expect. They did a false finish where Profe slipped knucks on Jackson and he pinned Nogami but Santana ran out to tell the ref. I’m proud of myself because I had the sense that was going to happen. I’ve seen enough of these to know when it will and when it won’t. The match restarted and they did a second hot tag with Invader coming back in and getting that heart punch out of nowhere which always pops everyone. Good stuff.

EB: We also have one match from Great Kokina’s brief excursion to Puerto Rico during the month of June. As stated before, Carlos Colon and Great Kokina faced off on June 15 in a match that ended in a disqualification. They had a subsequent rematch (likely June 22 or 29) inside a steel cage. Let’s see if Kokina is able to take out Carlos Colon before Aniversario.

Carlos Colón vs. Great Kokina - Cage Match  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWIAo8oxquM

Another monster for Carlos to overcome and it’s inside a cage. Profe is with Kokina and it is Kokiha who controls early on with a lot of headbutt based offense and some biting. Kokina continues focusing on Colon’s head with a claw and then ramming Colon into the cage. Another ram attempt is countered by Carlos and it is Kokina who gets rammed instead. After several rams, Carlos bites Kokina in the forehead. Carlos keeps punching and biting Kokina’s head as Kokian tries to escape through the door. The escape attempts are unsuccessful. Kokina begs off and Carlos continues punching, but a Kokina headbutt to the stomach stops the attack. Carlos stops another Kokian escape attempt and the match continues with some back and forth momentum swings. Carlos stops another forehead claw by stomping on Kokina’s bare feet and then hitting a foul kick. A bearhug by Carlos leads to Kokina regaining control. Another escape attempt by Kokina and Carlos stops him by ramming Kokina’s head into the steel frame of the door. Some more momentum shifts lead to Carlos slamming Kokina. Carlos tries to go for the door but is stopped, and the two wrestlers fight right by the cage wall. Carlos is able to ram Kokina’s head a few times into the cage, allowing Colon enough time to go out the door and win the match. Looks like another failure for Profe in taking out Colon before Aniversario. 

MD: We think that Kokina had a tour here in between a UWA tour that ended at the start of June and his July NJPW tour. Obviously, they’d already gotten to a cage match at this point. Speaking of cagematch, it has Kokina beating Carlos by DQ on July 15. And this is a good one! We get nine minutes of it but they do the job here in a bit way. Kokina takes over almost immediately and they don’t hesitate to use the cage. He’s happy to toss Carlos right into it. But he looks to the crowd once too often and Carlos comes back, using it as a great equalizer. There’s a great shot here of Kokina lodged in between the post and the cage, his head draped over the top turnbuckle, with Carlos working the wound. Carlos goes for the door and Kokina cuts him off. Things get pretty dire for Carlos, who bleeds heavily, but Kokina misses an elbow drop and Carlos finally gets a huge slam on him. Kokina still cuts him off one more time from making it to the door, but Carlos slams his head into the cage repeatedly until he can just barely make it out. It’s a good use of ten minutes if you’ve got them.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, it is time for Aniversario 91! We review 7 of the 10 matches (plus a clip of an eighth match) as Carlos Colon defends the Universal title against Dino Bravo, Invader #1 has his fist taped against Ron Garvin, for the first time in Puerto Rico a man faces a woman as El Profe faces the wrath of Monster Ripper, Demolition takes on TNT and Giant Warrior, and Hugo Savinovich brings his walking hardware store out of mothballs to get revenge on Billy Joe Travis. 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Strong Punch

Week 57: Strong Punch

We saw Carlos Colon get the win against the savage Polynesian Prince in a barbed wire match and TNT regain the TV title against the man who put him on the shelf, one King Kong. We do have one other match we need to mention from the June 1 house show in Bayamon. Invader #1 faced Ron Garvin in a special challenge match and the match ended up going to a draw. Throughout the match there were a couple of instances where both Invader and Garvin looked to have the match won but circumstances caused the match to restart and then the time limit ended without a winner. As a result of this challenge match having no winner, the two wrestlers agreed to a rematch at Aniversario 91. To make it official, a contract signing aired on TV and things got heated when each man brought up the moment they had the match in hand.. The back and forth got a bit heated and then talk turned to who had the better and stronger punch. Again, the back and forth got a bit heated, leading to both men standing up. At that moment, Garvin surprised Invader with a punch right to the face. Invader went down and his nose was injured from the blow. As a result, Invader will have a bandage around his nose as he recovers from the damage Garvin's punch did. This has only added more fuel to the newly signed match for Anviersari 91. And there’s one more stipulation that will be added as a result of all the arguing over who has the better punch. In order to prove who has the best punch, Invader will be allowed to show up with his fist taped for the Aniversario match. The taped fist heart punch is the most dangerous move in Puerto Rico wrestling, so the stakes are high for that encounter.

Do we have any other updates for Aniversario? Let’s go to what's either the June 8 or June 15 west coast version of Super Estrellas to find out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRMBHXeS91w

We join this episode in progress, as Eliud Gonzalez is in the Road to Aniversario control center. He’s just finished talking about Invader #1 (looks like he has a match for Aniversario) and then talks about the revenge match between Bronco and Skandor Akbar. They replay the fireball incident and aftermath. There’s also the match between Monster Ripper and El Profe, and we go to a recap of how this all started at Noche de Campeones. And if that’s not enough, we also have the feud between Billy Joe Travis and Hugo Savinovich, where we get the recap of the brief altercation and then Hugo getting Carlos Colon and Giant Warrior to agree to help him train for the match. Back in the control center, Eliud tells us that more matches will be announced soon and remember that you can get your tickets at Thom McAn (a shoe store chain) in the western region starting this Thursday. If you pay attention to the clips shown in the segment outro, you’ll see Ron Garvin decking Invader during the contract signing for their Aniversario match, which is what leads to Invader wearing a bandage around his nose for the next couple of weeks.

The control center is followed by an El Profe promo, where he again runs down Monster Ripper by saying that here in Latin America women are objects for men. We cut to a card rundown for the Aniversario show in San German and we can confirm that Invader #1 with his taped fist will face Ron Garvin. Also added to the card are the Caribbean Express defending the Caribbean tag titles against the Samoan Swat Team and Super Medico #3 defending the Caribbean title against Rod Price. Tomorrow (either June 9 or 16) they will be in Guanica with the following lineup: Invader #1 & TNT vs Polynesian Prince & Dick Murdoch; Giant Warrior vs. King Kong; Ricky Santana vs Rod Price; Miguelito Perez vs Action Jackson; minis in action; Huracan Castillo vs Billy Joe Travis; and Mr. Ito vs. Galan Mendoza.

Since this is the last we’ll hear of King Kong, I want to mention a memory I have that has to be from around this time period. It was a TV match taped in Miramar where Invader #1 faced King Kong. In a rarity, Invader #1 was wearing his mask in a singles match, so it's likely he was protecting his injured nose from further damage. The reason I remember this match is for the finishing stretch. Invader hit Kong with the heart punch, leaving him staggered but still on his feet. Invader then went to the middle turnbuckle and jumped off with another heart punch, knocking Kong down. Invader gets the pin and leaves the ring, but Kong remains down on the mat and you have the ref  and Akbar checking on Kong. The ref starts panicking and they have to revive Kong with chest compressions since he had sustained two heart punches. Kong is successfully revived and then leaves the ring normally under his own power, likely on his way out of the territory.  

MD: They start this episode recapping Akbar vs Bronco, Profe vs Ripper, and Hugo vs Travis. It’s wild that this is how they’re doing Aniversario this year. As we get there, I’m hoping Esteban can dig up some details about just how successful it was, because it is a bold strategy. It looks like, a month out, they’ve added Invader 1 vs Ron Garvin, Caribbean Express vs SST, Medico IV vs Rod Price, and Giant Warrior vs Murdoch. With Colon vs Bravo on top. It’s an interesting card to say the least. 

Meanwhile, the house show for the week had Invader/TNT vs Polynesian Prince/Murdoch, Warrior vs King Kong, Santana vs Price, Perez vs Jackson, Midgets, Castillo vs Travis, and Ito vs Mendoza, so that’s not really a bad card either all things considered. 

Invader IV vs. Ronnie Garvin

EB: We go to a JIP Ron Garvin vs. Invader #4 arena match and it wouldn't surprise me that this was signed after Garvin punched out Invader #1. If you'll recall, Invader #4 is the younger brother of Invader #1, so it stands to reason he is looking to get some revenge on Garvin. Hugo and Eliud on commentary say that you have to be very careful of Garvin’s punches. Invader #4 is the one in control when we join the match, having backed Garvin into a corner and getting some punches on him. It doesn’t last long and Garvin takes over with some punches of his own. A Garvin hip toss gets a two count, but Invader #4 quickly gets up and hits Garvin with some punches. Garvin is whipped into the ropes and is able to hold on to them, causing Invader #4 to miss a dropkick. Garvin immediately goes for the Garvin Stomp and then knocks Invader #4 out with a right hook to the face. Garvin gets the win and shows off his punching prowess in the process.

After the match, we go to taped promos from Garvin and Invader #1. Garvin wants it to be known that all he needs are his bare hands, he could probably kill a bear with his bare hands. Garvin promises that he will dismantle Invader in front of all the fans at Aniversario. Invader (with the bandage on his face) follows by saying that Garvin should be embarrassed for what he did at the contract signing. Invader understands why Garvin did it, Garvin was angry about the time limit draw and not being able to defeat Invader. Garvin asked for 5 more minutes, Invader gave it to him, and still Garvin could not beat Invader. When we signed the contract for Aniversario, you punched me and hurt my nose,but come Aniversario you'll have to show that you have the strongest punch. Remember, I'll have my fist taped and when I hit the heart punch on you Garvin, you will not get up.

MD: Despite being greyscale, I think this is new footage. Garvin doesn’t have a manager and Invader IV only showed up during the run of our footage, I think. At least with the gimmick. He pummels Garvin in the corner, really taking it to him. Garvin comes back with a headbutt but he can’t keep Invader IV from firing back on him. But Invader misses a dropkick, and it’s Garvin Stomp followed by Hand of Steel for the definitive and anti-climactic win.

Garvin cut a great promo about how while Invader will be coming for revenge (I have no idea what for but his nose is sure bandaged) and will have taped fists, Garvin will have bare knuckles and he could punch out a bear with his bare knuckles. Then Hugo translates while he shadow boxes and I am excited for this match already. 

EB: Hugo Savinovich is in training for his Aniversario match against Billy Joe Travis and here we have video of him being trained by Carlos Colon. At the end we get some words from an out of  breath Hugo where he thanks Carlos and promises to continue getting ready for Travis in order to teach him a lesson

MD: There are more than five minutes of this! Why is this so long! There’s a whole minute of just Hugo stretching. On the other hand, I can’t wait for part two of this if he’s being trained by Giant Warrior next.

Dino Bravo vs. Armandito Salgado

EB: Dino Bravo is taking on Armandito Salgado in Manati. Hugo apologizes for the black and white picture, this is how the match was filmed apparently. This goes as well as you would expect for Salgado, with Bravo making quick work of him and winning with the full nelson.

MD: Pretty effective squash here. He charged right in, punching him in the corner, pile driving him, hitting elbow drops. He was using the full nelson instead of the side slam so he couldn’t just finish him off. He instead tossed him out and had a nice entry point to the full nelson where he starts to whip Salgado out of the corner and put him right in it after a few steps. As effective as I can imagine from Bravo.

EB: Next is Billy Joe Travis with El Profe, and they just spend the time making fun of Hugo. It cuts to Profe’s closing remarks about how Dino Bravo will be the new Universal champion at Aniversario. Then Carlos Colon (from the track where he is training Hugo and with one of the Colon kids) has some comments, saying that his goal is having a convincing win against Bravo at Aniversario.

MD: Travis was sure having fun and Profe seemed to be having fun with him. He mocked Hugo, his training, his wife, all within the span of less than a minute. 

Rod Price & Action Jackson vs. Tito Carrion & El Corsario

EB: We go to another JIP match as Rod Price and Action Jackson are in the middle of facing Tito Carrion and El Corsario. Price and Jacksna are getting the better of Carrion and refusing to cover him for the pin, even after hitting a Doomsday Device. Price finally gets the merciful pin after a shoulder tackle. 

MD: I made the mistake of looking up Price and Jackson’s association because they were both GWF guys and they had this wild looking SPWF tour in 1996 against Yatsu, Teranishi and Poison Sawada. ANYWAY, this was brutal. A Price belly to belly (lifts up the opponent). A doomsday device (lifts up the opponent). A Price flying lariat (doesn’t lift up the opponent). 

EB: SkandorAkbar has some comments where he is incredulous that Bronco is daring to come back here after having been burned. Akbar warns Bronco to stay in Santo Domingo, because he has a plan to finish him off. We then get an interview from Bronco sent in from Santo Domingo, where he says he is recovering nicely although some burn marks still linger. Bronco urges the fans in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to see some of the burns still on his face, so he covers up with a towel to remove his mask. We then get a still shot of the burn marks Bronco wanted to show. Bronco says he is returning at Aniversario, even if he is not fully healed by them. And he warns the president of CSP to make sure he has medics and emergency services on hand, because they are going to need them for Akbar once he is done with him.

MD: Akbar tells Bronco not to come back to Puerto Rico and that he has a back up plan, as always. Bronco looks cool as always (whether he’s lounging here or running in from the back in a suit). They do a deal where he takes off his mask but shields his face with a towel so they can zoom in on the burn. 

EB: The Caribbean Express have some words about defending the Caribbean tag tiles at Aniversario against the Samoan Swat Team. Pretty standard comments where they say they are training hard and promise to keep the belts. They also have some comments about their singles matches for tomorrow in Guanica.Hugo says he cannot be unbiased and he hopes Castillo teaches Travis a lesson tomorrow. 

MD: They were theoretically able to get over both the Profe and the SST matches here but they seemed to focus on the SST match more as Ripper didn’t talk.

EB: The episode closes with video of the barbed wire match between Carlos Colon and the Polynesian Prince. Hugo closes the show by hyping up the Friday Aniversario card in San Germana and tomorrow’s house show in Guanica. 

Now let’s go to the June 15  episode of Campeones, it's a cut down version of the episode with some repeat matches but let's see if there is any new news about Aniversario.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfCgFiiu8p8

Hugo and Profe welcome us to another edition of Campeones. Hugo immediately starts getting on Profe’s case about Anciersari saying Profe is going to lose against Monster Ripper. Profe plays it off saying that he will be the one doing the beating. Hugo says that women are to be respected, Profe responds with ‘What lady?’ Hugo mentions what we'll see on today's program, while also reminding viewers about the upcoming Aniversario 91 on July 6 in Bayamon. Tonight they will be in Carolina with a main event of Carlos Colon vs the Great Kokina (looks like they’ve brought in another monster to try to derail Carlos before Aniversario). Profe reinforces that point, saying he doesn't care if Kokina wins tonight, Kokina is here to destroy Carlos Colon. Profe warns Carlos to not show up tonight and laughs when Hugo says they better be careful, because El Ejercito de la Justicia is ready and may decide to send them to the hospital instead. Also tonight we have Dino Bravo vs. TNT and Invader #1 vs. Polynesian Prince. With that let’s get to our first match (courtesy of El Profe’s magic finger).

Rod Price vs. Mr. Ito

Rod Price is taking on the newcomer known as Mr. Ito, who you may better know as Akira Nogami. Mr. It looks good in the early going, hitting some nice dropkicks that send Price to the outside of the ring. Price tries an armbar and Ito works out of it. Price turns the tide by hotshotting Ito on the top rope, allowing Rod to control the next portion of the match. Ito is not easy to put away, and a missed change in the corner gives Ito an opening to come back with some nice kicks. Some mounted punches and a spin kick follow and it looks like Ito has momentum on his side. Akbar gets involved however by grabbing Ito’s leg when he’s coming off the ropes. The distraction is enough for Price to attack Ito from behind. One shoulder tackle later and Rod Price gets the win.

We then go to the Aniversario 91 control center, but it unfortunately is edited off the version we have video for.

MD: Ito is Akira Nogami of all people and this was a solid TV match. He’s babyface here and controlled early with dropkicks. Price stalled until he was able to take over with a cheapshot and as always has a lot of “stuff.” Belly to belly suplex, press slam, vertical suplex, with punches and occasionally cutting off hope chopping from underneath. Ito kept kicking out and was able to get out of the way of a corner charge to take over with kicks in the corner. Akbar caught his leg off the ropes though, letting Price hit a flying shoulder tackle for the win. A good way to spend five minutes or so.

EB: The rest of the episode’s matches are ones we do not need to cover since they are the Garvin vs. Flair cage match from JCP…

MD: I guess it’s nice we now have a version of this match commentated on by Hugo?

EB: And the Colon vs. Murdoch barbed wire match from early April. We also have a promo from Skandor Akbar with the Polynesian Prince, whose opponent tonight is Invader #1.

MD: Prince is definitely committed to the gimmick. You can’t say he’s not. He’s biting at the air and making faces as Akbar talks and it’s quite the scene. 

EB: We also get a brief clip of Eliud Gonzalez in the control center that is in between segments of the Colon vs. Murdoch match. Eliud runs down the matches signed for Aniversario 91 and mentions there is a change to one of the matches. The match in question is Giant Warrior vs. Dick Murdoch, it seems that TNT has asked Warrior if he would team up with him to face… and the clip cuts off there. Guess we’ll have to wait until next week to find out what the match is instead. The real reason the Warrior vs. Murdoch match was changed is due to Dick Murdoch having signed with WCW. Hugo and Profe close the show by hyping tonight's card in Carolina with a main event of Carlos Colon vs. Great Kokina.

We'll finish off this week’s post with footage of the Dino Bravo vs. TNT match from June 15.

TNT vs. Dino Bravo - June 15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY8RsFYAYgE

It's only a short clip of the match since this is taken from a  TV episode that aired some months later. They show TNT hitting his shoulder on the post when missing a corner charge and Bravo takes advantage by working over TNT’s shoulder. TNT gets a hope spot with a sunset flip, but Bravo knocks TNT down with a clothesline and continues attacking the arm. TNT gets another comeback, but a missed spin kick allows Bravo to lock in the full nelson. TNT submitted due to the hurt shoulder and a big win for Bravo on his way to Aniversario 91. . 

MD: We get the last four minutes of this. TNT misses a corner charge and Bravo works over the arm. It’s not exactly impressive armwork but it’s fine. Varied even if none of the holds look great. TNT comes back and Bravo feeds well for it. He misses an elbow drop as well. But TNT misses the spin wheel kick and he gets a clean win with the full nelson. I get putting him over so strong going into Anversario but usually this would have a distraction or interference. That made me realize I don’t know who TNT is actually facing at Anversario.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emciones, we are in the final stretch of the road to Aniversario 91. Giant Warrior helps train Hugo, we’ll cover some matches that happened during the latter half of June such as Invader #1 teaming up with Mr. Ito and Carlos Colon vs Great Kokina in a steel cage, and the final hype for Aniversario 91 as we get some feud recaps to make sure we know how we got there.

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