Found Footage Friday: OMNI 8/14/83~! PIPER~! BUZZ~! ZBYSZKO~! GARVIN~! SHEIK~! TOMMY~! IRWIN~! ROAD WARRIORS~!

GCW Omni 8/14/83

Arn Anderson vs. Joe Lightfoot

MD: Interesting to place this one. This was Arn's second to last match in the territory. Borne had flaked out before this leaving Arn on his own and aimless. He drifted over to the babyface side and was mainly used for putting over the Road Warriors in various ways before heading to Alabama as Super Olympia. So this was more or less a babyface match. Arn was the aggressor maybe and ate a whole bunch of chops leading up to the finish but this was really just on the mat for the most part. Anyway, Lightfoot was a solid hand, a guy I know mostly for being Youngblood's little buddy to set up a program in Portland. This was five minutes in and out, and certainly didn't wear out its welcome before the double pin finish and Arn getting his shoulder up. Post match he shook Lightfoot's hand and past one Tony Zane match a couple of weeks later, that was it for Arn in Georgia.

ER: This got really entertaining when they transitioned out of the ground work and Arn was staggering into Lightfoot's chops, and that was the last 10 seconds of the match. Arn was 23!!

Fake Mr. Wrestling I (Jesse Barr) vs. Rick Rood

MD: Yes, this was Barr. I'm not sure if he was trying to work like Woods or not. I do know that he'd feud with Mr. Wrestling II after this and Wrestling II would take his mask in October. This went ten minutes as a draw which may have been surprising but Wrestling was supposed to be a bit of a fraud and he got his heat back after the match by attacking Rood. He had pretty solid armwork throughout with some big comebacks and revenge armwork by Rood. Rood had good fire and it was funny to see him do things like a headstand to get out of a headscissors which was very not Rood. Ten minute draws are far more palatable than 20 minute ones and this made me wonder what a babyface Rood might have looked like later in the decade.

ER: This was among the earliest Rick Rude matches I've seen, and it's very early. This is like 30 matches into a 1,500 match career early. It's impressive how far along he was this early while also wrestling like a completely different guy. This early on he still had elements of who he would be a thousand matches from now, in how he moved and how he sold while feeding. He already had an honest use of physics in his basics like dropdowns and shoulderblocks. He was already delivering his offense in a way where you could tell he knew what the goal of his match was. He also of course did a few funny things I have never associated with Rude, like a headstand escape out of Mr. Wrestling's great headscissors. I didn't actually know it was Jesse Barr until after I watched this. I was real confused when he beat Rude's ass after the loss after working an entire 10 minute draw without ever trying to beat Rude's ass. The crowd was really pissed off and I thought there was this great 50 year old Tim Woods heel run. 

Brett Sawyer vs. The Iron Sheik

MD: Brett was really good. Obviously there was a ceiling to him as a drawing card (Flair match from Portland and teaming with his brother vs. the Road Warriors aside) but he was just a great mid-card presence, very down home and folksy in a way that would never make it to TV today, not without being more stylized like a Mark Briscoe. But he just came off as a guy down the street with a lot of fire in his heart. 

The first third of this (after getting under Sheik's skin with the patriotic chants) was all headlocks and rope running and Sheik really was pretty lithe stooging his way into these and keeping up off the ropes. Brett eventually got caught and then Sheik jammed his face into his boot (with his boot on the top rope, which was a nice bit that he may not have been flexible enough to pull off in later years). That started the blood and with it came the woundwork and it was pretty glorious. A bloody Brett would wave his fists and try to power up and fight from underneath and the crowd ate it up. Sheik cut him off and did more damage right until the banana peel finish where Brett fell on Sheik on a suplex attempt and the place became unglued. Post match Ellering and Sheik pounded on Brett until Rich and Buzz (certainly not aligned) ran out for the save. Pretty electric stuff. This was third match on the card and it inspired so much emotion. Beautiful pro wrestling.

ER: There were at least five other matches on this show I was more excited to see. I don't know if I even registered this match when my eyes skipped past the bottom of the card to where the Valentine, Tommy Rich, Buzz Sawyer, and Road Warriors matches. I'm so glad I didn't just skip to those other matches as this match is a condensed gem. The fans really like Sawyer, hate the Sheik, and you get to see a vicious quick Sheik that would be a completely different wrestler in less than two years. Sheik is one of our great weird body wrestlers, and it's not a coincidence that so many of our great weird body guys were high level amateur wrestlers. Gary Albright's small arms and hunched shoulders and powerful belly, Tamon Honda's full long upper torso with his short sturdy legs glued to the canvas, and Iron Sheik's shredded distended belly with small arms and close shoulders, all weird amateur grappler bodies and all great. Sheik moved so weird and here he moves really well...while still moving the weird way Sheik moves. He has the same stiff old man posture as he did when he was ruining indy cards in the late 90s, but he has this cool unexpected quickness. When Sheik did a hindu squat splits dropdown into a leapfrog to set up a fast Sawyer sunset flip, I yelled aloud. 

Putting your boot up on the top turnbuckle and slamming someone's face into your boot is a real Lost Great Spot. Think of the last time you saw it. I saw Barry Horowitz do it 20 years ago and maybe it was something FTR pulled when they were The Revival. Tag partners should also yell at their partner on the apron to give them a boot more often. The boot eyelet raking made a comeback at some point, somebody needs to bring back the boot smash. Sawyer gets busted open from biting and Sheik pushes it well past biting when he throws a gorgeous belly to belly that started with him picking up a bearhug. His missed cannonball that gave Sawyer some fight was so unexpected. It's so weird watching Iron Sheik do a huge front flip. I love how it didn't lead to Sawyer's actual comeback, it just gave him a little time to fight to his knees and get the crowd believing. The finish coming right after as its own surprise was a great way to triple that reaction just as it was dimming. 

The post match was great with Buzz Sawyer and Tommy Rich coming out to save Buzz's bro from one of seven or eight Paul Ellering fueled beatings. Tommy looked so loyal, standing over Sawyer wanting to fight anyone who got near, but Buzz had this unreal aura. It's so unmistakably bad ass, a guy you don't want to cross who keeps this dangerous cool composure. "I know people don't like me but I'm not a total asshole" big brother energy. The way he carries himself with his hands in his sweatpants pockets, that torso in a tight 50/50 blend blue t-shirt, the fucking bandana essential to the look, sending calm threats to Ellering as he walked up to him. An unemployed adult older brother who stays at home all day coming out to the front yard to tell his teen brother's bully how he's going to cut him. 

Larry Zbyszko vs. Ron Garvin

MD: The TV title was on the line for the first ten minutes here. I'll be honest that there are single matches i want more or less out of the Omni footage, but if we're talking a run, then I want as much as Larry's run as possible. We have bits and pieces but it's right down my alley on paper. I think it ages better than a lot of heel Dibiase footage for instance.  

Anyway, this was the panacea to Larry's usual tactics as he only had ten minutes to try to take Garvin's title. Yes, he got punched out of the ring early, but he couldn't linger. He had to be more aggressive than usual. Tons of great punches in this one, especially in the corners. There was one comeback by Garvin where he knocked Larry down and then held on to the arm after he fell and the crowd realized it, realized that he was going to pull Larry back up to hit him again, and were elated about it. Larry was able to fire back out of the corner using the ref as a distraction and took about half the match pretty soundly. He had an advantage at the end as Garvin missed a knee drop and it seemed like he might have a chance of taking the title with a pile driver but Garvin turned it into a pin and got the win. This was a nice subversion of the Rood match which did go to a ten minute draw. It seemed like it would here too or that Garvin was going to lose and then he snuck out the win at the last moment. 

ER: I love this era of Zbyszko. Yeah Garvin looks like a jacked up super tough brat pack era Judd Nelson and hits with his trademark up close short range power, but Zbyszko man. Zbyszko sells the impact of Garvin's strikes better than maybe anyone. I love the tough guy sturdy gravity Valentine sells them with but Zbyszko is so moveable, a wiggly guy who bounces off ropes and uses body movement the same way Tully did, recoiling fast but being punched and physically reacting to those punches exactly the way 9,000 people wanted to see. He knows exactly how I want to see Larry Zbyszko reacting to being hit. He also punches exactly how I want to see a man punch. All the punches were great for the whole match, but Zbyszko's tight, straight reared back rights looked perfect. The finish of this was incredibly done and I didn't see it coming. We had our 10 minute draw already and every single piece of wrestling language made this look like a frustrated Zbyszko unable to win within 10 minutes. I actually but when Larry pulled off a sweet and smooth inside cradle to block a bodyslam in its infancy, but the actual finish was a great surprise. Zbyszko looking like he was going to cave in Garvin's teen idol 'do, with all the execution of Zbyszko lifting up the way you do just before you sit down, Garvin shifting his weight at the peak of lift off to tip the weight. Great finish, great match. 

Road Warriors vs. Mr. Wrestling/Mr. Wrestling II

MD: I really enjoy 83 Roadies. They were raw but they hadn't quite settled into what they'd become a year or two later. They wrestled much more vulnerably, more stooging, more backpedaling, while still being monsters both aesthetically and when they were doing damage. We've been hearing it for the last few matches but it's so great to have the crowd make that primal guttural noise whenever a babyface threw a shot. It was chaos to begin and chaos to end with Mr Wrestling having to fight from underneath in the middle. Wrestling II came in hot and it was rousing stuff but Zbyszko nailed him from the apron out of nowhere after a couple of kneelifts. All of this felt larger than life especially to this crowd.

ER: Man I LOVE the way the Road Warriors sell for two 50 year old man throwing big arm swinging punches. The Road Warriors sell so well for the Wrestlings that I want to see 1983 Roadies against 1989 Baba/Rusher. I couldn't get enough for Wrestling's big swinging punches that are thrown like nobody else threw punches and the way Hawk perfectly knew to throw his head back for them, just enough. We know the Road Warriors were not yet the monsters they would become just a year or so later, but it's still wild seeing Hawk taking multiple back body drops. This had another spectacular finish, with action so good I had to keep rewinding to watch what each individual was doing. Wrestling II was fending off Animal in the top corner, Hawk was roughing up Wrestling in the foreground. Wrestling gets thrown over the top down onto a table and almost into a front row before charging back into the ring by stepping up onto that table and getting back into the fight. Animal keeps charging into Wrestling II in the corner and keeps catching knees, until he charges in and catches two boots shoved squarely into his chest and gets bumped back hard. Zbyszko sneaks in and bashes II in the back of the head and staggers him into the greatest This is the End powerslam from Animal. This was not the structure I expected going in but now I want more Hawk and Animal selling for great old man strikes.  

Greg Valentine vs. Pez Whatley

MD: Pretty remarkable Pez performance here. He came in hot, even while Greg still had the title in hand and had Valentine rocking and falling over the place with headbutts early. Greg took over with a nasty kneeling piledriver and started on the arm. Pez came back with one arm with some great silly in his hope spots, using the head when he could, really solid stuff. They dropped the arm selling for the most part as it went on but you almost didn't mind because Pez was so good at working from underneath on a chinlock, just constant motion fighting up and engaging the crowd. Transition was another pile driver attempt which was a little like the Garvin/Zbyszko match but they had Valentine go into the corner again. Things got out of hand and it ended up as a DQ with him using the belt repeatedly, but Pez drove him off so the crowd got at least some satisfaction out of it. Very good match overall though, even if the arm selling went nowhere. 

ER: Every heel in this territory knew exactly how to sell the strikes of every top babyface and it's all so beautiful. Valentine makes Pez Whatley a god and Pez wiggles his way up to it, and once again, this rules. Valentine is on the Found Footage Friday Mt. Rushmore as we've now been uncovering unseen classics of his for nearly a decade, every one of them broadening his case as one of our greatest workers. Here's another for the pile. I'm so used to seeing Valentine take strikes from fellow tough guys and hitting them back. I've seen that Valentine more than I've seen the Valentine who sells for smaller ethnic babyface, and this one is great. With Valentine's selling, his head whips and stunned cobweb shaking, Whatley's headbutts looked peerless, the culmination of decades of black wrestler headbutts. His perseverance and big time style and charisma through his comebacks were getting reactions louder than any part of the Dog Collar main event, and it was such infectious babyface energy that played incredibly off the tough guy champ. Whatley's reversal out of the piledriver was such a cool spot, upending Valentine into and off the turnbuckles. It's one of those spots where, no matter how much wrestling I've watched, there's always something like that waiting to show me something new. 

Bullwhip on a Pole: Tommy Rich vs. Bill Irwin

MD: I've always been pretty high on Irwin. Great body language. Big lanky guy who was willing to throw himself into everything he did, and there was so much to throw himself into here. Every time either guy went for the pole, the other was on top of him instantly. Really gripping stuff. People don't understand today just how compelling these pole matches could be when the wrestlers put forth so much care towards whatever was on top of the pole. 

Here they had to really incapacitate the other. Irwin kept escalating things, hitting a gut wrench suplex, tossing Rich out of the ring, knocking the head against the post. Rich on the other hand got out of the way for Irwin's corner charge and he bumped huge over the top knee first, etc. Just more and more until finally Irwin started working the leg, a necessity since Rich wouldn't stay down. Even that didn't quite do it but it allowed for a hotshot and Irwin to finally get up the pole. One thing I wish we had were more pole matches from the 70s when there probably WASN'T an inversion of the finish. By the 80s, whoever first got the weapon tended not to be the one who got to use it and to see that once could be satisfying but to see it in every pole match gets a little frustrating. Sometimes you just want that nice clean feeling of something happening how it's supposed to. Still, Rich grabbing it mid swing and firing off on Irwin was a greater level of enjoyment for the crowd and this was really good stuff overall.

Dog Collar Match: Roddy Piper vs Buzz Sawyer 

MD: Pull this back up. Just watch a minute of it, any minute. Watch Roddy. Watch him move. Nothing specific that he does, though if you catch a bump or some selling or a punch, that's all the better. But just the in-between. Did you see it? Go look out a window or down the street. Find a neighbor, a spouse. Hell, look in the mirror. Watch yourself move. Whatever you see, it's not as alive and vibrant and vivid as this forty year old footage of Roddy Piper.

The anticipation early here, both of them six feet apart, the chain between them, a rabid game of chess to decide which would rush first to strike. At the start it was Buzz but when it was Piper's time, he became a man possessed, cutting the distance with wide eyes and a wild snarl. Buzz scored first blood but Piper's comebacks on the floor were things of myth and legend.

Matches like these, from this era, often end shortly after that first huge comeback, after the turn of the tide, after revenge is grasped. This one, however, went around one more time, as Buzz was able to sneak in a low blow. Things spilled back out to the floor but Piper fired back once more, moving the guardrail and basically punching Buzz back into the ring. Gripping, satisfying, refreshing stuff. In some ways a prototype for what would come later in both of their careers and something that almost impossibly lived up to the picture we had in our heads.

Read more!

Found Footage Friday: 1989 Copps Coliseum WWF Show

1/16/89 WWF Copps Coliseum Toronto

MD: This is another Richard Land find and you should be checking out his stuff at (@maskedwrestlers) since he provides about 1/3 of the new footage coming out today.

Red Rooster vs. Danny Davis

MD: This made me feel like I have to check out a lot more Danny Davis, honestly. He got on the mic at the start and said Heenan was paying him for this but he would have done it for free. Then he shoved Taylor and ran around the ring from him, got chased in, did some rope running, stopped, taunted, and walked right into a punch before taking a powder, all before his ring jacket was off. Great stuff to begin. Then came the real stalling as he just pressed himself in the corner and covered his head. When Taylor finally did get him he begged off until he could turn an arm wringer into a clothesline and then he looked pretty solid in control. There was just a spring to his step. He had some nice stuff (a weirdly balanced shot off the second ropes, a throat cross chop when Taylor started to come back) and then begged off again towards the finish where Taylor got him with the Scorpion Deathlock. I enjoyed this one.

ER: Imagine what a crushing day it was when Terry Taylor was told he had to get the top of his hair dyed bright red. I can't imagine, but it's a conversation about your career as a top pro being over and done with. Look at him here, with his blond locks and no red, a man existing as a man and not as a rooster. But I am much more of a Heel Terry Taylor man. Let me see that evil Mark Harmon unleashed, like you find out the guy running your goof around summer school is actually a real hard ass who will probably assault more than one of the students. No, this match is owned by Heel Danny Davis, and I agree with Matt that more Danny research must be conducted. Fans hate this man on sight, even before he gets on the mic to say, "Bobby The Brain Heenan paid me a lot of money to come to this god forsaken place! But brother, he didn't pay me a dime because it's gonna be myyy pleasure." Then he one-handed shoves Taylor.  

Davis has great movement and plays to the crowd expertly, the kind of guy who you'd want to keep as a heel house show undercarder. How he punches Taylor over the referee, that stiff quick short arm clothesline to break an arm wringer, those great running short kicks to a downed Taylor's jaw, his very good short right hands aimed straight at the chin - including a fist shake out after one, thus cementing Davis's status as a Great Puncher - all of it is stuff that Danny Davis performs far better than we've ever given him credit. If you were doubting his Great Puncher status, he also throws nice corner 10 count punches and dropped a hammering fistdrop from the middle buckle, and if that's not the trifecta then man I don't even know what we're doing here. The thing is, even better than his corner 10 counts? His shoulder shrugs in the corner. You remember how Batista always had real awful shoulder shrugs, coming in way too light and making it obvious just how much he was holding back? Soothe yourself by Danny Davis going hard into Taylor's stomach and ask yourself why we don't demand better. Demand Danny Davis. 

Curt Hennig vs. Rick Martel

MD: This was a draw that did air but was clipped in half or so. I can't speak to that version. I will say that the good stuff here was very good. The feeling out process where Hennig won the first few exchanges only for Martel to turn it around and toss him around with all the babyface fire anyone might want was just as good as you'd expect. Martel's one of the only guys I've ever seen that was so into the flow of what he was doing that he'd do flat back dropdowns to set up an armdrag. After that rope running they went into extended controlling of the arm by Martel and they kept it interesting enough, with lots of escape attempts by Perfect, before building to an elaborate bit where it looked like Perfect might get him three times before finally dropping him with a belly to back.

Perfect's control started out engaging (especially as he was still selling the arm) but they went into a long front face lock. Obviously, these are two guys that could work that, and Martel was going to work from underneath well, but it was also clearly eating up a bunch of time in a twenty minute draw. The payoff was good though as again Perfect was going to rush right in to all of Martel's fire. Once he cleared the ring of him that was the time limit so it didn't really even build to the sort of nearfalls you often get with a draw. It more felt like they were just calling it a day (even if Martel tried to invite Hennig back in).

ER: This did not need to be a time limit draw, and it didn't need the moments you knew they were working towards a time limit draw, but I also thought Hennig was fantastic throughout all of it. Look at black trunks Perfect in '89. It's easy to talk about Hennig the bumper but it's really all about Hennig the ball of energy. It's going into every exchange with real aggression, real purpose. You see how hard both men are leaning into a collar and elbow and you see how Hennig throws everything - armdrag, hop toss, fireman's carry - with real purpose. His punches look like he's really trying to mess up Martel's pretty face. This era Hennig was going to come in hard and then feed even harder, making his opponents' bodyslams and hiptosses look more violent than his own. Before things settle down into arm work and front face locks, he takes a great bump off a light dropkick, flying out through the ropes and off and over the ringside table, then faceplanting all around the ring while Canadians lose their minds. 

I love how hard he pushes all the rope running that leads to him eating shit. He pushes Martel fast, like he's trying to get him to mess up a sequence, but it always ends with him on the mat kicking his legs in a hold. He does two different missed charges into the turnbuckles that lead to long series of him eating bigger bowls of shit. The arm work is long but Perfect makes it look so convincing that I heard two different people - women! - yelling for Martel to break his arm. He's good at timing how long to keep the crowd engaged while kicking in a hold, and knows when to start breaking out match ending fireworks. Curt Hennig is perhaps our finest wrestler ever at bumping like a heel who has his shoelaces tied together. A lot of the Minnesota guys were great at that. Was it common practice to work 2 a day drills while pantsed or something? Hennig gets kicked around hard before fleeing at the sound of the bell, and every fall is that of a man escaping a ransomed kidnapping. We act like it's a foregone conclusion that this was "just another match clearly worked as a time limit draw" but this was the first time limit draw that Hennig worked during the Perfect era. This wasn't just a thing he and Martel were doing around the horn, this was a Copps exclusive where some tag specialist took Perfection to the limit. 

Rockers vs. Brainbusters

MD: This had Billy Red Lyons interview the Busters (no Heenan) before the start. Nothing notable but nice to see. The match itself started great with Michaels looking like a huge star outclassing Arn (Arn feeding for it perfectly) and then escaping to slap the hands of the fans like he had escaped with the crown jewels. Then, he, being Michaels, doubled down on it and no sold all of Tully's stuff (Tully still bumped huge for him), and it wasn't until Jannetty came in that they even started the false transitions. Just another case where this would have been better if Michaels took that first win, gave Tully a tiny bit, and then overcame. Ah well. Jannetty looked great as he overcame (including fighting out of the corner and hitting a backflip to reverse a double top wristlock.).

Really a never ending heel in peril (though one full of entertaining individual bits) until Michaels ducked a Tully clothesline on the outside only to run into an Arn one. Thankfully the Busters were great at making the most of their time on top. Michaels knew how to be a star already and was constantly trying to fight back. I think a babyface should be doing that but maybe he didn't quite have the proper escalation in it. Arn crotched himself on Michaels' knees to set up the hot tag and things got chaotic but the Busters fairly quickly snuck one out. The great stuff was absolutely great but in part due to Michaels' tendencies and Arn and Tully being happy to just go along with them, this didn't come together like it could have.

ER: This really did feel like a 15 minute match where Tully bumped and stooged and made narrow misses for 13 of those minutes, and I did not mind that layout one bit. I was wildly entertained watching the Rockers punch through Tully for a long tag, as Tully is wildly entertaining at getting run over by punches. He cannot just walk a straight line to a destination and it's perfect. When he's punched, it's a turning drop to the knee before getting punched in another direction; when he misses, it's a quick turn back to his target to take his medicine. He finds several safe and less safe ways to fall to the floor and continue his constant motion and I loved them all. I loved the theatrical slow mo Sgt. Slaughter bump to the floor and the ways he would fall off the apron into a back bump. He treats every punch from each Rocker as something worth bumping for, and it makes his eventual tag out moment even greater when he turned a near tag out into an inverted atomic drop. The Brainbusters really didn't have a lot of offense here - that Arn clothesline on the floor that the camera missed, Tully's atomic drop to set up his tag, and Arn's spinebuster after ducking a clothesline - but the Rockers didn't really have any offense either. Even when Michaels goes up top after they hit tandem superkicks, he only comes flying off with a punch. And I'll take it. The finish is fantastic, even if uncommon. Marty goes for his first flying headscissors but it's too close to the ropes, and Tully pulls his head down from the apron and slam dunks his head over the top rope.     

Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Paul Roma

MD: I'm honestly a little astounding how good this was. (Eric will not be, but he is a Mike Sharpe truther). It was 80% shtick and 20% Roma hitting dropkicks, but the shtick was really good and Sharpe was incredibly entertaining. He's one of the most vocal wrestlers ever and there were times where I could shut my eyes and still know exactly what was going on just from hearing him stammer. Mainly when he was begging off but not always. And he did a lot of begging off. A lot of stalling. They got tons of mileage out of a handshake bit at the beginning, out of him threatening to leave, out of Roma catching his foot on a kick attempt. Just one bit after the next after the next with Sharpe throwing himself into it completely and Roma being a perfectly fine straight man. It's the sort of match the sheets would have grumbled about in 89 but that plays a lot better in 2025 when there's nothing like it in the world anymore. You can see the value so clearly now. Honestly just a great show for stooging up til this point, and from guys that don't get the credit for it like Davis and Sharpe.

ER: We get an honest to god Iron Mike Sharpe ring entrance and the fact that he is in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario and announced as such does not give him a single second of goodwill from his town. These are his people, and the people of Ontario fucking hate the mirror that he is holding up for them. The women scream for Roma as he removes his jacket, but when the match is over I will challenge those same women to tell me anything Paul Roma did during the match. They won't be able to, because this is Iron Mike Sharpe's town, and Iron Mike Sharpe's match. To use an already dated out of existence joke format: Mike Sharpe is the Tully Blanchard of Barry Darsows. He has the size and sound and lack of offense of Darsow, but watching him directly after a Tully match you really see what a large adult son Tully Blanchard he is. He is not as hateable on sight as Tully (few men ever have been) but how much of an instant turn off does one have to be within pro wrestling to be booed on sight in his own hometown? 

I love how quickly Sharpe takes armdrags and how it's the only bump he really takes differently than his standard arm waving back bump that he uses for everything else. His swinging arm into Roma's stomach looked excellent and the man gets tied up in the ropes more efficiently than any wrestler other than Andre. But where Andre was always a temporarily inconvenienced giant, Sharpe has a way of making it feel like he just might be stuck in those tangled ropes for the rest of the evening. The finish is outstanding and probably something that no wrestler other than Sharpe would even want to do: Sharpe loads up his cast and swings it at Roma, but Roma catches it and throws Sharpe's loaded arm back into his head. It's so stupid and so hapless that it can only be a Mike Sharpe finish. We didn't know how good we had it, and as Matt points out, it's because nobody comes close to being a Mike Sharpe any more. We didn't recognize how essential different workers were to a roster. 

Greg Valentine vs. Ron Garvin

MD: Another awesome match in their feud. What can you even say about this really? They lay into each other in the corner. Garvin's great at firing back out of it just when you think Valentine has him. Valentine's great at stumbling about and getting a sneaky advantage right until he doesn't. There were some really brilliant specific moments which shows you they weren't just hitting each other blindly. At one point, Valentine's about to do the flop and Garvin catches him so he can hit him one more time first. Valentine takes over with a shinbreaker but when he goes to the second, Garvin nails him before he collapses so they both go down. Finish had Garvin wanting to use the shinguard as a weapon and getting distracted by the ref so he got rolled up but post match he hit a punch version of the Garvin Stomp to a prone Valentine and nailed him with the shinguard anyway. The world would have been better off if we had whole promotions based around this style instead of whatever else we got in the 90s and after.

ER: It would be a good idea if we just kept getting new Garvin/Valentine matches every couple weeks. Every single one we have has been a real gift, and while there are a lot of similarities among them there are always new ideas and ways that certain sequences can be extended. This was, I think, the shortest one we have, and I think going less than 10 actually made their strikes play harder. The first two minutes is just them shoving each other in the chest with both hands and I would have been happy if we never even got to the punches. I could have watched them shove each other and burn out their arms for eight minutes, just to see who would be the first to fall. 

But I do like the strikes. 

Valentine always takes more punches than he gives in the Garvin battles, but I think this one takes the cake. He just gets battered. There is often a corner punch out stretch of their match, and Valentine's selling made this stand out from the rest. Garvin kept punching and chopping him and Valentine kept getting knocked to his ass, hitting the bottom buckle and getting pulled back to his feet only to be punched and chopped some more. When he finally can no longer stand and begins pitching forward into a Flop, Garvin actually holds him up with both hands on his chest. Garvin looks like a support beam propping up a leaning building in the Philippines, and it's all so he can just punch him in the head one more time.  

When Valentine does flop, there is no rest to be had. Garvin starts raking his back and Valentine sells multiple back rakes so well that it made me think of how Tenryu might've sold a back rake if that had been something that any wrestler in WAR ever did (they did not). But it's all back rakes that Valentine sells incredibly, punches to the nose (that Valentine sells incredibly), a fantastic headbutt, and one of those sleepers that starts like a violent clothesline. Garvin is a monster and I don't think there was anyone else on the roster who would have put up with this. Garvin has his own great run of selling when Hammer turns a side headlock into a knee breaker, then does it again. Garvin is limping around on one leg, and after he takes the second knee breaker he landed one big punch that knocked Hammer to his back while it spiraled him into the mat. 

I think calling Garvin's punches after the bell a punch version of the Garvin Stomp kind of undersells how nasty those punches were. Garvin just got into mount and threw disgusting punches while Valentine was on his back. He threw eight of them, and Valentine couldn't really move to absorb them, so Garvin just stood over him raining down shots that built into even more disgusting hammerfists, both fists held together like an ape attacking his handler. Hammer can barely move and has to take a rapid succession of wicked punches and man....is this the best of the Garvin/Valentine matches? I think this one packs in the most action, and it felt like they went even more violent with the shorter runtime. 

Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown 

MD: This has been out there before but I'm not sure I've ever seen it. It's a street fight. Bad News is out with a Mets shirt. Savage is out with a white shirt with a Gold's Gym tank top over it and grey Zubaz type pants and pink elbow pads so it's a look. Liz looks like Liz. That feels like a missed opportunity. It's basically ten years before its time. You give it a couple more minutes and some more goofiness around the finish and it could have been a 1998 Austin No DQ main event. Brown started with a chair but then missed a punch on the post outside. Savage used the timekeeper's table and kept on him. Then he took the weight belt off and used that. Brown came back with a chair. They set up a table and but the ref got crunched in between it and Brown. That's when we got the Ghetto Blaster and the visual pin, then a hilarious second one as Brown got the ref up and slammed Savage but the ref did a face first bump as he passed out again. When he came to Savage rolled up Bad News for a quick pin and that was that. Post match they went at it with Brown getting an early advantage and Savage fighting back as the locker room cleared. Pretty bizarre to watch overall, but it worked well for what they were doing especially if they went back to it.

ER: This was on the very first DVDVR 80s set, the one that was assembled and arranged differently than all the other eventual sets because this was the very first time we were doing this and nobody had any idea how large this project would grow with subsequent sets. "Controversial" is not the correct word for it but I remember some people wondering why this match was included at the time. There were a lot of imperfections and missing matches on that first set, and I still can't believe that was 20 years ago now. 2005? Impossible. It was not well received by the people who participated in that first ballot. It finished in the bottom 10 out of 100 matches, and it almost surely wouldn't have been included were the set put together with the same method that all subsequent sets were assembled. From the very next set (Other Japan Men's) we were watching every single match from the territory/fed and picking among the very best. There were plenty of matches that should have been included in a WWF 80s set, and we sadly never got to re-do that one. I can't find my initial ballot either, so I have no idea how high/low I ranked it 20 years ago, when I was a 24 year old man, but now I think it's pretty safe to call this pick ahead of its time.  like a pretty ahead of its time fiat pick (that I believe was made by David Bixenspan, credit due).

Maybe it belongs just for the gear. Nobody shows up for a fight like this and they're idiots for that. I loved Bad News in his 50-50 poly-cotton Mets tee and Savage just went over the top with gear. The Golds tank top and Zubaz would have been enough but the tight undershirt and pink elbow pads that looked like knee pads he was wearing on his elbows make it insane. It's possible Big thought it belonged on the set because it was a unique match for 1989 WWF. Savage was the World Heavyweight Champ and it's not like he and Bad News were working Harlem Street Fights around the horn. This was the first (and only one that exists on tape) and they worked just eight total over the next couple months. It's short, it's a tough fight, Savage takes some tough spills - including getting thrown hard over the railing to the concrete, a girl in her neon green sweatshirt helping push him back over the guardrail so he can go after Bad News. Bad News punching the ringpost felt like a novel spot in 1989, and him setting up a table in the corner and running a ref straight through it feels even more novel. That ref got crunched man. The bullshit finish is incredible, with Bad News getting a real long visual pin over the champ, then reviving the referee just for the man to collapse again just as Bad News re-secured the pin. Maybe people disliked it 20 years ago because it was too short? It's less than 8 minutes long, which feels more like a snack than a World Heavyweight Title match, but I'm glad I watched it again now that I'm sliding down the other side of the mountain. 

Jim Duggan/Hercules vs. Ted Dibiase/Virgil

MD: This was already out there as well so I'll keep it quick. Herc and Duggan team up very well. Two versions of the same sort of visual idea with big shots and driving motion. Duggan constantly moving forward especially on his hope spot punches is something I didn't appreciate enough for a lot of my life. Honestly, Dibiase is fine here, feeding and stooging, but he doesn't give himself over to it in the same way a lot of the people earlier in the card. Everything is technically sound but it almost feels more like him putting himself in the right place at the right time in a more modern way as opposed to that sense of total abandon that we got from Davis or Sharpe or (in different ways) the Brainbusters (or in a different way) or Valentine (in a different way). Virgil is interesting here as he never really does much, mainly just plays interference and holds someone for Dibiase. It's actually a clever use for him. This was ok, and fit well on the card. I just don't think Dibiase stood up well to his predecessor heels.

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Hangmen Out

Week 46: Hangmen Out

EB: As we head into March, several long running rivalries are coming to a head. Two in particular have big apuestas matches signed to hopefully settle things. The Texas Hangmen have been on quite the run in Puerto Rico, becoming World tag champions and feuding with the top stars in CSP. Their main issue in 1991 has been against Invader #1 and Bronco #1. This has been a heated rivalry and now we have arrived at what has been deemed the final battle between the two trams. Everything will be on the line in this match as the World tag titles will be defended but also each team will be risking their masks or (in the case of Invader) hair.

Also reaching a big apuestas match is TNT in his feud with Original TNT. It seems that the two men have agreed to a match where the winner will get the name and paint of TNT, while the loser must stop using the TNT identity. This was the originally planned match for Aniversario 1989, and while it has taken about a year and a half, it looks like the issue will finally be settled.

One feud that has just gotten started is the one between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch. This feud has featured Dick Murdoch hitting a brainbuster on Carlos Colon on a ballfield and hurling some heavy insults at Colon and his family. They've played up that Murdoch is a racist and a member of the KKK, and also hinted that he and Colon had run-ins in the past. They’ve just  had their first match on February 26 but this rivalry is just getting going. 

All of these matches are set for March 2, so we have a big card to start the month of March. Let;s go to the March 2  tv shows, starting with that weekend’s Campeones episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a24xU7ZHWwE

Hugo Savinocih and El Profe are our hosts as usual, with Hugo mentioning Skandor Akbar during the opening and talking up how impressed he is that El Profe was able to get such an ally. They run down what will air on the program, with El Profe mentioning that we’ll have a video special for ‘Ñico’ Santana (and also insults Ricky being Cuban), a Greg valentine match and ou featured match is a hair vs mask match between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine (although it’s the last person eliminated from each team that will lose their mask or hair). The reason for showing this match is that tonight there will be a match with similar stakes, the apuestas match for the World tag team titles between the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1. The Hangmen are putting up their masks vs Invader’s hair and Bronco’s mask. El Profe says that there’s no way the Hangmen are losing tonight and that he’ll be there to personally cut Invader’s hair. They won’t bother keeping Bronco’s mask as a  trophy since it’s so ugly, instead they will cut it up right there. It’s not the only apuestas match happening tonight, as TNT and Original TNT will face off for the rights to the TNT name, paint and identity. This was the match they were scheduled to have at Aniversario 89 and now it will finally take place. 

Hugo hypes where the fans can get the VHS tapes and the merchandise the promotion has, then introduces the Ricky Santana music video set to the song ‘Extranjero’ (although it looks like the video is cut from this version). We then get a still shot of Ricky Santana with Hugo doing  a voiceover talking about how tonight Ricky will be in action against Moondog Spot and how Ricky is looking forward to the fans showing up and supporting him.

TNT is next with a promo about tonight’s match against Original TNT. TNT is very worried about tonight’s match at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel because his name and paint will be on the line. He has not misled anyone, it's been the other guy, and in a few short hours the truth will be evident. TNT wants the fans to go tonight and support him with their cheers and applause. His opponent is a dangerous man but the real TNT will come out on top, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his name and paint.

El Profe and Original TNT offer their response, with El Profe saying TNT is shaking because he knows the world will finally see his ugly face without paint. TNT will no longer be able to use the name. Original TNT chimes in holding a towel, promising to wipe all the paint off the faker’s face. 

MD: They’re going back to the well here. A lot of rematches on the card they’re hyping actually. But also Moondog Spot, so that’s something (vs Ricky Santana, who still does feel fresh to me). Kind of a fun promo from Original TNT where he threatened to wipe the paint off of TNT though (towel in hand).

EB: We get a rundown for tonight’s big card at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon: the rematch between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch; for the World tag titles and there must be a winner in a hair/mask vs mask match as Invader #1 & Bronco #1 challenge the Texas Hangmen; TNT vs Original TNT to determine who gets the rights to the name and paint of TNT and there must be a winner; Ricky Santana vs Moondog Spot; Kim Duk vs Motor City Madman; Miguelito Perez defends the Caribbean title against Scott Hall; Huracan Castillo challenges Mr. Pogo for the World Junior title; and the Super Medicos vs Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza. 

After the card rundown, we have a match from WWF television where Greg Valentine takes on Brian Johnson. It’s a squash match for Valentine, one where Hugo and El Profe talk about Greg’s run earlier in the year where he battled Carlos Colon for the Universal title. Profe promises that it won’t be the same result when Dick Murdoch faces Carlos. Profe even mentions  that it is a big deal for Murdoch since he’s getting in the ring with a person of color and that may mean expulsion from the KKK for doing so. Hugo quickly shuts down that talking point by saying  they should kick Murdoch out of wrestling for his insults and antics. This match is relatively old, since it has Ron Garvin pop up  in a picture in picture promo (so it’s likely  from 1989). Hugo takes the opportunity to mention that Ron Garvin is also a former Universal champion and that we may see him back in Puerto Rico sometime soon. Profe says that if Garvin comes back then he is more than welcome to join up with El Club Deportivo. Valentine wins the match with a shin guard assisted figure four.  I’m guessing they had Greg scheduled for the March 2 card initially (which is why they’re airing this match),  but he couldn't make it. It also seems they have plans for him to pop back in soon.

MD: Maybe coincidence because some of this is us missing footage but to me this is a testament to how little Valentine footage we’ve gotten throughout this run. It’s a shame. And he is pulling double duty too. I hadn’t even thought of that. He turns babyface right at the turn of 1991 in the WWF and feuds with Jimmy Hart into WM VII where he faces Earthquake. This clips was back during the Garvin feud though as there was an inset promo from him. Anyway, a nice butterfly suplex (he didn’t really go over with it) and belly to back before he moved the shinguard and won it with the figure-four.

EB: The Texas Hangmen and El Profe are here to talk about tonight’s winner take all apuestas match. Psycho says that the clock is ticking for Invader and Bronco to step one more time into the war zone with the Hangmen. They don’t care that the mask and titles are on the line, they are that confident in winning and they can remain the champions forever.  Killer adds that Invader will be left bald and looking stupid, while Bronco’s ugly face will be seen by the Puerto Rican fans. Bronco and Invader give their response, with Bronco promising that they will take the masks and titles. To defeat them the Hangmen will have to basically leave them motionless. Invader adds that they’ve battled with the Hangmen all across the island and know that they are a tremendous team, but tonight everything's on the line and they want to humiliate the Hangmen, they want their ugly masks. Tonight the fans will see who is the better team.

Super Medico #1 follows with a quick promo about tonight’s match against Valentine & Mendoza. This has been another long feud and Medico #1 promises that tonight the Medicos will pay the rudos back for everything they have done.

MD: Well we’re in business now. Masks vs hair. Or Masks vs Bronco’s Mask and Invader’s hair. I imagine this did business. They almost didn’t need to cut promos here, but the promos were good. I’m afraid to look ahead to see if we actually have this match or not. I hope we do.

EB: Our featured match is from around Thanksgiving of 1990 during the Super Medicos vs Eric Embry & Rick Valentine feud. It is an apuestas match where the last person eliminated from the losing team will lose their mask (if it’s the Medicos) or their hair (if it’s Embry & Valentine). Hugo explains the stipulations before the match, with El Profe giving Hugo some static for confusing people with his explanation. Hugo responds by saying that he feels Profe is nervous about tonight’s apuestas match and that is why he’s a bit ornery. El Profe denies this and says that the Hangmen are risking everything tonight but they will be triumphant. Hugo worries that the rudos may have something up their sleeve against Bronco and Invader tonight.

The rest of the show is the elimination tag match, with the match starting almost immediately when the Medicos come out of the dugout. Embry and Valentine try to get the jump on them but the Medcios manage to fight back. The two teams fight on the field, with Valentine at one point trying to go after Sasha. Valentine and Medico #3 end up in the ring while Medico #1 and Embry continue fighting on the outside (with Embry being rammed into a table). Medico #1 throws Embry into the ringpost, busting him open, and then rams Embry’s face into some fencing. Medico #3 gets distracted by Monster Ripper, allowing Valentine to jump him from behind. Once again, all four men are fighting on the field, with Embry’s cut being opened up more. Medico #1  and Embry end up in the ring while Medico #3 fights with Valentine near the dugout. Medico #1 attempts a cover but Embry gets his foot on the rope. Meanwhile, Medico #3 piledrives Valentine in front of the dugout. 

We finally get some semblance of a tag match when Medico #3 and Valentine make their way back to the ring. The Medicos remain in control but are unable to pin Embry. Medico #1 fires off a series of punches on the bleeding Embry, before tagging in Medico #3. We go to a commercial with Embry managing to knock down Medico #3 with a blow and come back virtually at the same moment. Valentine is tagged in and proceeds to toss Medico #3 outside (where Embry rams him into the post). Medico #1 comes over to help his partner out, rolling Medico #3 back into the ring. Valentien goes for a sleeper but Medico #1 breaks it up. Valentine misses a charge into the corner but Embry cuts off Medico #3 from making the tag. The rudos botch a double team and all four men are now in the ring and fighting. Medico #3 attempts a cover on Embry while the ref is getting Medico #1 out of the ring. Behind the ref’s back, Valentine grabs Monster Ripper’s boot and hits Medico #3 on the head. Embry makes the cover and Medico #3 is eliminated. That means that Medico #1 is now at a disadvantage and if he gets eliminated will lose his mask.

Sasha argues with the ref about the use of the boot, but to no avail. She then attacks Monster Ripper, chasing her into the ring and continuing the attack. The ref has had enough of this and ejects both Sasha and Monster Ripper from ringside. Ripper heads to the locker room, while Medico #3 and Sasha go to the dugout to watch the rest of the match. The bell rings for the next fall and it is time for Medico #1 to fight for his mask. The rudos try to charge Medico #1, but he fends them off with several dropkicks. Embry is able to grab Medico #1 in a full nelson hold and Valentine charges with a clothesline. Medico #1 ducks and Embry gets hit instead. Valentine tries the full nelson grab and this time Embyr hits him by mistake.  Medico gets a machine and a near fall. A small package is broken up by Valentine. Embry tags out and Valentine briefly is in control until he misses an elbow from the top turnbuckle. We come back from a commercial break with the rudos botching another double team attempt and Medico #1 gets a backslide on Embry for a three count. Enbry is eliminated! 

Embry quickly gets up and tosses Medico #1 over the top rope to the outside. Embry is able to ram Medico’s head twice into the ringpost before the ref is able to get outside and force Embry to the dugout. We cut to Valentine choking Medico #1 with a camera cable, taking advantage of the attack Embry did before leaving. Valentine ends up tossing Medico #1 onto a steel box that is near the stands and then heads back to the ring. Valentine goes back out to attack Medico #1, leaving him staggering outside as Valentine gets back in the ring. Medico #1 is able to get back to the ring  but is put in a sleeperhold. Valentine lets go and tries a cover, but Medico #1 kicks out. The camera shows Medico #3 in the dugout clapping and cheering his dad on. Valentine gets an elbow for another pin attempt but Medico #1 gets his leg on the rope. Valentine gets another near fall and then a sleeperhold, but Medico #1 is able to hold on. Valentine goes for another top rope elbow and misses, allowing Medico #1 to come back. They exchange some pin counters and Medico #1 gets the three count on a roll up. Medico #1 has saved his mask and Rick Valentine must lose his hair. Valentine attacks Medico #1 and tries to go for his mask, but Medico #3 runs out with a towel that he sprays with something. He then uses that towel to smother Valentine. Knocking him out. The Medicos proceed to start cutting his hair. Profe says that this will be Invader after tonight. The video ends with Ripper running out to try to stop the haircut but the Medicos grab her before we go back to the studio. Hugo and Profe make their final hype for tonight’s big card and they argue as the show credits roll.

MD: Coming into this we’ve got 22 minutes left on the episode and nothing else listed. This bodes well. This was from the last few months of 1990 and they’re giving it to us to hype the Hangmen match. It was an elimination match where the last guy pinned loses his hair. Really just a unique sort of match the way it’s structured. You get eliminations in lucha apuestas but it doesn’t feel like this. 

The match started with an absolute destruction of Embry/Valentine inside and outside the ring. Crimson mixing with blonde hair. A pile driver on the field. Great Medico 1 punches. Everything you’d expect. Everything Embry took over with an eyerake and a clothesline. They build a heat segment on Medico 3 and even build to a big comeback due to heel miscommunication but Ripper gets an object in and they eliminate Medico 3. Medico 1 has to fight back two-on-one but he’s able to manage it by being smarter and quicker. He gets Embry on a banana peel slip but Embry stays on him after getting pinned and leaves him laying on the outside. The last fall has Valentine missing (a second) top rope elbow and Medico 1 coming back with his great punches before they go into nearfalls. They show Medico 3 in the dugout which is a great touch. Eventually, Medico 1 is able to get the right amount of leverage and pick up the win and it’s a great scene all around. Just another awesome Puerto Rico tag match that we can now put into context.

EB: We also have the west coast version of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre, focusing on hyping up the March 3 house show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KwgcIr_WY

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the show and runs down what will air on today’s program. The main event will feature Carlos Colon in action against the Motor City Madman. Tomorrow they will have a big show in Cabo Rojo, with the main event being Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch. The match will be heated since Murdoch has spent the past weeks making some controversial comments about Colon’s race and family, along with past issues the two men have had, so it will be a hot one. Invader #1 & Bronco #1 will take on the Texas Hangmen and the fans in Cabo Rojo will be the first to know who lost the apuestas match on Saturday. The same thing will happen when TNT and Original TNT square off, the fans there will be the first to know who kept the TNT identity. Hugo runs down the rest of the card (the same as the one in Bayamon) before talking about how the WWC is going through its best moment. El Eejrcito de la Justicia is fighting the good fight and El Club Deportivo has been bringing in reinforcements. Right now, Hugo feels confident in saying that tomorrow’s card in Cabo Rojo will mark a new era for wrestling in Puerto Rico, a more competitive era. Hugo again talks about the Colon vs Murdoch match, indicating that Carlos has said he is going there for a fight and Murdoch has said he wants to end Carlos. 

We cut to match already in progress, with Dick Murdoch tossing Giant Warrior to the outside. Dick grabs a chair and smacks Warrior in the face with it. Hugo mentions that Murdoch’s apprentice is at ringside. Murdoch casually rolls back in and out of the ring, then slams Warrior’s head against the post. Hugo makes note that Warrior is bleeding. Warrior tries to get back in but Murdch punches him several times, keeping Warrior on the apron. Hugo says that the ref should consider stopping the match  since Warrior seems to be in danger of being severely hurt. Murdoch continues focusing his attacks on Warrior’s bleeding head and then starts choking Warrior. The ref tries to break it up, but Murdoch responds by punching El Vikingo. This causes a DQ (which Hugo complains should have been called for earlier). Murdoch continues attacking Warrior and fights off the ref and some  of the job guys that make an attempt to help Warrior. Finally, Carlos Colon runs out and Murdoch leaves the ring to avoid engaging with Colon.  Hugo calls out Murdoch for running away after running his mouth for the past weeks. Murdoch tosses a chair into the ring but Carlos grabs it before Murdoch is able to get in the ring. The video ends with Murdoch leaving and Carlos checking on Giant Warrior.

MD: We come in fairly late here, I think, with Warrior on the floor and Murdoch clocking him with a chair right in the skull, the great equalizer. He plays king of the mountain for a little bit and then lets him in to work over the wound with punches and knees. They cycle it into an angle as he chokes Warrior until hitting the ref to get him out of his way. The prelim guys come in and get nailed, including a brutal stomping foul and then Colon runs him off to keep the heat on their feud. I would have liked to see Murdoch stooging for Warrior but this was effective overall.

EB: Hugo introduces a recap of what has happened so far between Kim Duk and Motor City Madman. This starts with the finish of the pole march, where Profe cost Duk the match and the Caribbean title, and then Madman comes in to attack Duk after the match. We also see what happened when Duk faced El Profe at the TV taping, where Madman and Skandor Akbar showed up to save Profe. We then go to last Sunday in Carolina, where Duk has Madman backed into a corner. Both men continue fighting in the corner and referee Victor Quiñonez gets tossed by both wrestlers when he tries to break it up. It’s a double disqualification. Akbar comes in and hits Duk from behind with the kendo stick, leading to Madman getting some more hits in with the stick.

We return to the studio with Kim Duk there to talk about the upcoming match vs the Motor City Madman. Duk is tired of Madman and will show him tomorrow how Duk can get mean and vicious. Skandor Akbar and Madman respond, with Akbar calling out Duk for double crossing him and Profe. Madman will finish him off tomorrow and then Akbar will kick Duk’s teeth out when comes crawling back. Madman is wearing his shades and has the kendo stick in his possession. Madman makes  a Peking duck crack and says tomorrow Kim Duk will be served up as the main course. 

We then get a  rundown for the card tomorrow in Cabo Rojo, a carbon copy of the one in Bayamon except without the apuestas stipulations. 

MD: We get a recap of more of the feud than just the pole match, with Akbar making his presence felt with the kendo stick even as Mad Man and Duk are going at it in the corner. Now it’s time for Duk to finally get revenge. His promo was pretty jumbled. Akbar’s was not. And Mad Man said that Duk was more like Peking Duck than Bruce Lee. Still, Akbar is a fun addition. 

EB: We get the Ricky Santana music video set to ‘Extranjero’ that was cut from the Campeones episode. This video features highlights from Ricky’s late 88 run, with highlights from previous matches against Mr. Pogo, El Profe and others. Hugo mentions afterwards that it’s always a treat to see this music special since it was the first one they made for Ricky when he first appeared in CSP (which explains why the highlights are mainly from 1988). Ricky has come back every now and then, giving the best of his talents. He’s gone from  arriving as a foreigner to now being a member of the Superestrellas family. He’s facing Moondog Spot tomorrow and the fans should remember the run the Moondogs had some years ago. Ricky sent a message by phone that he hopes all the fans and especially the ladies will be there tomorrow to support him.

MD: This is not the video with all the Colon daughters/nieces. Instead it’s him walking down a street and having an image of the globe spin behind him as he looks stoic/cool interspersed with his matches. There’s a good looking bloody deal with Pogo in there. Past that it’s just him hitting his top rope splash a bunch.

EB: Up next is the feud recap video for the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 &  Bronco #1 rivalry. It all started October 17 in Miramar when the Hangmen attacked and hung Invader #1. He was badly injured and out for two months. He made a return in mid december with TNT as his partner, but when TNT was injured and sent back to the locker room on Christmas Day, it was Bronco who came to Invader’s aid. This set up a new tag partnership as Invader and Bronco took on the Texas Hangmen. We get highlights from their matches on January 6 (Invader saves Bronco from being hanged), January 26 (Bronco gets unmasked and Invader shows up to make the save with the taped fist), and February 16 (the street fight). Now it is time for the final battle. The Texas Hangmen cut a promo where they talk as if they’ve already won, saying that tomorrow the fans will see a bald Invader and a maskless Bronco. Invader and Bronco respond by saying that the fans tomorrow will see Invader with hair and Bronco with his mask, because the only way the Hangmen are winning is by leaving them practically motionless.

MD: What a feud. To see it all recapped like this really gets over how much they did and how far they came (and how much heat they had). And now it’s all on the line. Mask/Hair vs Masks. The Hangmen note that Profe’s a pretty good barber. Bronco’s impassioned and Invader gets over the weight of everything.

EB: We then get promos from Scott Hall and Miguelito Perez about their upcoming Caribbean title match. Profe does a voiceover as Hall poses for the camera and basically runs through the entire repertoire of taunts he has. Profe says that the Caribbean title rightfully belongs to El Club Deportivo and Hall will get it back for them. Miguelito counters by saying he is counting on the fans being there to support him and he will show that he can handle Scott Hall. Perez is going to have to watch out for El Profe as well ,but he promises to come out on  top.

MD: One of my absolute favorite things about this footage is watching Scott Hall figure out what to do with his hands while Profe is talking for him. Love it. Will miss it. Perez gives a pretty strong promo here about how he’s a new champion but that he’s got the crowd behind him and that he’d defend the title as best he could. Solid babyface stuff.

EB: The feud between TNT and Original TNT is coming to a head on Saturday. Here’s a recap of the feud so far, starting with the initial arrival of Original TNT in 1989 and the apuestas match that didn’t happen at Aniversario 1989. Original TNT made his return to Puerto Rico in January of this year and immediately started up with calling TNT an impostor. El Profe has also been insisting that the fake is Juan Rivera and that his guy is the real deal. The issue picked back up on January 19, when Original TNT was wrestling Carlos Colon and attempted to put Colon out with the cobra sleeper. TNT, who had been on tour in Japan, made his return by attacking Original TNT and putting him to sleep with the Cobra Dinamita. TNT said that this means that the impostor must drop the TNT identity since he put him out. The feud rekindled from there, with Original TNT defeating TNT in the TV title tournament finals. On February 6, Original TNT tried to put Huracan Castillo out with the cobra sleeper, causing TNT to come out and make the save. Both men brawled around the arena. On February 9, the match ended in a time limit draw as Original TNT had TNT in the cobra sleeper. Last Sunday in Carolina, Original TNT barely beat the count back in the ring to win the match, although TNT sent a message with a spin kick afterwards. Who will win on Saturday?

Original TNT and TNT talk about tomorrow’s match, with Profe and Original TNT saying that the fans will see tomorrow how he won the match and kept the TNT identity. TNT in his promo says that he first threw out the challenge because he was angry, now he’s still a bit angry but knows the weight of what is at stake. He is a bit worried because his identity, career and life are at stake. He’s hoping the fans support him and that he will come away the winner.

MD: They’re making this feel like a pretty big show with a lot of matches with build and stakes. They have plenty of footage to show of these two feuding. Original TNT is all motion as Profe talks for him and TNT is stoic and it all works pretty well.

EB: We get a brief snippet of Hugo introducing a Dick Murdoch promo but then cut to our main event of Carlos Colon vs Motor City Madman but the match doesn’t happen because Dick Murdoch runs in and attacks Carlos.. Both men exchange several blows but when Carlos gets the upper hand, Motor City Madman runs out to attack Carlos (causing the ref to toss out the match). Madman drops Carlos with a side slam and then leaves the ring area, leaving Carlos there for Murdoch. Dick attacks Carlos with a foreign object, busting Carlos open.TNT and Duk try to help Carlos, but Murdoch fights them off. Eventually, Murdoch decides he has done enough damage and leaves the ring. Carlos follows him out but can’t really catch up to him due to the effects of the attack. An irate Carlos grabs a microphone and calls out Murdoch, promising that he will pay Murdoch back. 

We then go to Hugo for the show closing, with some final hype for tomorrow’s show in Cabo Rojo.

MD: Big heat angle to send things home. Murdoch comes in instead of the Mad Man but Colon meets him head on. Eventually Mad Man comes in for a side slam and the ref just calls it. Murdoch recovers and uses knucks or coins or something to load up the punch and bloody Colon. Instead of the prelim guys, TNT and Duk come out but he fights them off with the loaded fist. That lets Colon recover and chase him off though. Everyone protected, heat on both Murdoch and Mad Man, things building to a head.

EB: We unfortunately don’t have video of the top three matches from the March 2 card. So no footage of the big apuestas matches. But, we do have one final match we have not yet covered between Invader #1 &  Bronco #1 and the Texas Hangmen. We’re not completely sure of the date, but it’s from Cabo Rojo, so there is a possibility that this is the March 3 match. It’s also from a Clasicos segment from several years later, so the commentary is from that airing and does not provide much in context clues. It is the last match we have from this run of the Texas Hangmen though and what a run it has been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fSPtBiw098

What is interesting about this match is that it is wrestled more straight forward than the previous matches we have seen, suggesting that the feud may be winding down. This match feels more like a victory lap of sorts for Invader & Bronco. Invader controls early on, the Hangmen get control when Bronco is in, Bronco eventually makes the hot tag to Invader , and eventually the tecnicos win after fighting off both Hangmen, with Bronco hitting his drop down DDT. Again ,I think this could be the March 3 match since it feels more like a coda to the feud than a heated part of what we’ve seen so far. You’ll notice that the Hangmen have their masks on, so it may be an earlier match, but they never did show the Hangmen unmasked on TV.

MD: This is the last match from the run we haven’t covered, but it really doesn’t feel like a blow off. It honestly feels like a house show version of their matches. Invader looks great to start fighting them off like a champ. Bronco looks pretty good too until he gets swept under. If I have one criticism of the Hangmen it’s that their transition to offense is never all that interesting/clever. They usually just sort of takeover. Anyway, lots of heat on Bronco and he sells big and broad like usual. For the last row (which wasn’t that far away here). Then Invader comes in to help him on a Sunset flip and they go into a comeback with Bronco hitting his finish out of nowhere for the win. Post match, Invader does the Bronco hop to celebrate. Just feels kind of house show-y for me. Still good though!

EB: This is it for the Texas Hangmen’s run in Puerto Rico. It’s been an amazing 6 month run that ended with the final battle, a match that (to my best recollection) we never got to see. As far as I know, they never aired that match on TV. And while they were unmasked that night, I’m not sure they followed it up afterwards.It ultimately didn’t matter, because the Hangmen are gone following March 3. A new tag team will arrive to take their place, one that may surprise you.

Next time on el Deporte de las Mil Emociones, find out who won the right to call themselves TNT. Also, the rivalry between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch continues, with a former World champion coming in to serve as a special referee. Plus, the arrival of the California Studs.

 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: A Devastating Arrival

Week 44: A Devastating Arrival

As we covered last time, the Universal title is no longer vacant. Carlos Colon was able to defeat Greg Valentine in a cage match and has once again ascended to the top of the WWC mountain. But Colon’s celebration would turn out to be a very short one,as almost immediately after being given the Universal title belt while still recovering outside of the cage, Dick Murdoch rushed out and attacked the unaware Colon. Murdoch had said in interviews that he wanted Colon and he was wasting no time in making sure that message was understood. The attack ended when Murdoch left Carlos laid out on the ballfield with a brainbuster. It certainly looks like we have a new Universal title challenger already. As for the other title matches held on February 2, with the exception of the World tag team titles, all other titles remained with their current holders.  Invader #1 and Bronco #1 were able to use the taped fist to their advantage and become the new World tag team champions. Does this mean that the feud with the Texas Hangmen is finally settled?  Let’s go to the February 9 Campeones episode and see where things stand. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcnNcOK-aG0

Hugo and Profe welcome the viewers by going over what we’ll have on the program today, and also talk about the latest happenings. This includes what’s new in the Miguelito Perez and Kim Duk rivalry, what happened in Bayamon between the Super Medicos and Valentine & Mendoza, and what happened at the past week’s  TV taping between TNT and the Original TNT. They'll also show the lumberjack match from a few weeks back between Invader #1 and Bronco #1 against the former World tag team champions the Texas Hangmen (to which Profe gets snippy about Hugo emphasizing former in his mention of the match). But before all that, first we’ll see the latest in the ongoing rivalry between Sasha and Monster Ripper.The clip rolls and we go to January 26 in Caguas, as Sasha gets a pin attempt off a small package. Ripper is able to grab Sasha and throw her to the outside, giving Ripper a chance to catch her breath and showboat a little. Sasha tries to get back in but is kicked back down by Ripper. A second attempt by Sasha is also met with a kick and this time Ripper follows outside to continue the attack. Ripper tries to ram Sasha ino the ringside table, but Sasha blocks it and instead rams Ripper. As the two women fight around the table and then on the ground, the ref calls for the bell. It’s a double countout but the two wrestlers continue fighting on the arena floor. 

Due to this result a few weeks ago, tonight Sasha and Monster Ripper will face off in a streetfight. Hugo also mentions that tonight will see the debut of a new associate of El Profe along with said associate’s new wrestler, as General Skandor Akbar and the Motor City Madman have arrived in Puerto Rico. We will have TV title and World tag title rematches tonight as well. Hugo also takes a moment to highlight the merchandise available for fans at the events And with that we go to our first match of the program, as Miguelito Perez takes on Kim Duk. 

MD: We get the last couple of minutes here. Ripper does a good job keeping Sasha out of the ring and thrashing her in the ringside area. Sasha definitely fits the territory as a sympathetic babyface who can draw he support of the crowd from underneath. She comes back at the last moment as Ripper tries to run her into a table on the outside and takes over wildly before the whole thing gets thrown out. 

EB: This is from February 2 as Miguekito is looking to get revenge for his car windshield being cracked by Duk. Perez wastes no time and attacks Duk on the field, getting several blows in before tossing Duk into the ring to formally begin the match. Hugo runs down the list of things Duk has done to Miguelito (including salt thrown into the face and the car incident), but Profe immediately protests that no one saw Duk smash the windshield and he has been unjustly targeted for this. Miguelito continues the attack with standing punches in the corner, and then follows up with chops, punches and a clothesline. Perez even bites Duk on the forehead. Miguelito’s assault is stopped when Duk sneaks in a jab to the throat. Another jab allows Duk to slow things down and he resorts to raking Perez’s eyes. 

We go to a commercial with Duk in control but come back with Perez hitting a powerslam. Profe jumps up on the apron and Perez goes after him, saving Duk for the moment from potentially being pinned. Duk takes advantage and knees Perez from behind. Hugo gives Profe some static about interfering but Profe says that he was just minding his business. Sometime during the break, Huracan Castillo has come to ringside to back up Miguelito. Huracan is out there to counteract Profe, although Profe on commentary says that there is no reason for Castillo to be out there to make it a two on one disadvantage for Duk. Kim does a tree of woe and some chokes in the corner, but Perez is able to counter with a back suplex. However, Duk hits a back suplex of his own when Perez goes for a side headlock. Perez is able to do a reversal out of the corner to try for a pin attempt but things break down a bit as Castillo starts yelling at the ref, who decides to stop the count and go argue with Huracan. Profe comes in and misses a kendo stick  swing, hitting Duk by accident. This time the three count goes through and Perez wins the match. Hugo starts getting on Profe’s case about the screw up costing Duk the match, as we see Duk  mad at Profe. Eventually Profe is able to calm down Duk, but Kim was not happy with getting hit by the kendo stick. Profe on commentary says that it is all good now, Duk has a bit of a temper and it’s understandable that he would react like that in the heat of the moment. 

With the win, Miguelito has earned a shot at the Caribbean title tonight in Caguas. Profe and Duk give an interview about the upcoming title defense, with Profe insisting that the win was only due to a small accident. Tonight there won't be any accidents. Duk says some words and promises to show Perez who is better with no accidents happening. Miguelito says that he was able to win last week despite the attempts by Profe and Duk to cheat him out of the victory. Perez promises that tonight he will be focused on winning the Caribbean title.

MD: Perez had a car to avenge and came in hot. Duk really showed how valuable he could still be in a mid-card feud here. You wouldn’t necessarily want him higher but he fed for Perez early, played hide the object and went for the eyes later on, and then took a couple of belly to backs and played right into the interference laden finish where Castillo tried to counter Profe (who had disrupted a power slam pin midway through the match) only for Profe to try to interfere as the ref was distracted with Castillo; it backfired, Perez won, and Profe and Duk almost came to blows postmatch. In the subsequent promos Perez noted if he did it once, he could do it again for the belt and Duk and Profe assured one another that there would be no further accidents this time. Perez does feel elevated by this feud.

EB: Monster Ripper is with Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza. Ripper says some words about Sasha getting involved again  and promises that she will get hers. They show what happened at the recent TV tapings, where Sasha pulled Medico #3 out of the way of Mednoza’s loaded glove punch, and then put an object inside of Medico #3’s mask. One loaded headbutt later and Medico #3 gets the win. Back in the studio, Ripper continues complaining about the Medicos having to use Sasha’s help in order to cheat their way to victory, But it won’t matter tonight.  Mendoza says that it is beyond the pale that Medico #3 had to use a woman’s help and a foreign object to defeat him. Tonight Ripper will take care of Sasha and they will take care of the Medicos. Ripper closes  by saying that she’ll make sure that Sasha won’t even be able to make it to ringside once Ripper is done with her in the streetfight.

We get a rundown for tonight’s card in Caguas: a TV title rematch as TNT challenges Original TNT; rematch for the World tag team titles as the new champions Invader #1 & Bronco #1 defend against the former champions the Texas Hangmen; rematch for the Caribbean tag titles as the Super Medicos challenge Galan Mendoza & Rick Valentine; Caribbean title match with Miguelito Perez challenging Kim Duk; a streetfight between Sasha and Monster Ripper; Giant Warrior vs the Motor City Madman; and a rematch for the World Jr title as Huracan Castillo Jr. defends against Mr. Pogo. 

MD: Lots of help from Sasha here as she both rolled a Medico out of the way of the loaded fist drop but also loaded up his mask so he could hit a headbutt and score the win. Mendoza is really looking like Chicky at this point. I wonder if that was intentional. 

Lots of returns matches on the upcoming card, and the Motor City Madman is in to fight Giant Warrior. And there’s a Mr. Belvedere commercial. 

EB: Our next match is from February 2, as Dick Murdoch takes on El Corsario. This was supposed to be Norman the Lunatic but it looks like Norman did not appear. Murdoch has Joe Smith at ringside. The match is pretty much a Dick Murdoch showcase, as Murdoch immediately goes after Corsario and does not let up. On commentary, Profe starts asking where Carlos Colon is, insinuating that Colon has been hiding since the attack Murdoch did last week after the cage match. Profe starts saying what kind of a man Colon is by hiding, typical Puerto Rican (or at least that’s what Profe says Murdoch told him). In the ring, Murdoch decides to toss Corsario outside and take him over to the fence in order to ram Corsario into the chain link. Murdoch exchanges some words with the fans and grabs a piece of wood from the dugout. Corsario gets hit on the back with the piece of wood and Murdoch drags Cosario back to the ring area, ramming Corsario headfirst into a ringpost. A shoulder breaker into the ringpost follows, and Hugo complains about Murdoch’s wild style (although Profe says now one can see why Carlos Colon is in hiding). The announcers briefly talk about Joe Smith and how Murdoch says he is going to train Joe into becoming a wrestler, as Murdoch ends the match with a brainbuster. 

MD: Unfortunately one-sided, but it is a pretty solid destruction of Corsario outside the ring and then inside. The best bit was when they were headed for the dugout with people throwing things at Murdoch and he just found a random piece of wood to clock Corsario with. He ran him shoulder first into the post as he is want to do and then finished him with a brainbuster in the ring. His second was out there in a baseball uniform. I would have liked to see him backpedal a bit but maybe not against Corsario.

EB: The Super Medicos get a chance to say their piece about tonight’s match. Medico #3 says that the rudos have been complaining about what happened at Miramar with the loaded headbutt, but they conveniently forget what they did last week in Bayamon. They show the clip of the ending of the February 2 no-DQ match. Mendoza uses his loaded glove to attack Medico #3, but since it is no-DQ it is legal .The ref escorts Mendoza out of the ring and Medico #1 breaks up Valentine’s cover. He then switches out with Medico #3.  Medico #1 also has an object in his mask and hits Valentine with a headbutt to potentially get the win. But the ref had been taken out earlier with a missed crossbody attempt and was not able to make the count. As Medico #1 waits making the cover, Monster Ripper comes in and hits Medico #1 with her boot. Ripper puts Valentine on top of Medico #1, the ref comes too and the rudos retain the Caribbean tag titles. Back to the Super Medicos in the studio, Medico #1 states that is why they did the loaded headbutt at Miramar, and if the rudos want to play dirty, then they can do that as well as anybody. 

MD: That match was full of hooha, shall we say. We just get a minute of it but there was masked confusion, a loaded mask, a ref bump, Ripper interfering, etc. I’m starting to wonder if this feud has maybe run its course. You can only keep tweaking things week after week for so long. 

EB: El Profe and the Texas Hangmen are hyped for tonight’s World tag title match since Invader won’t have the taped fist, and they promise the new champions’ reign will be the shortest ever. Invader and Bronco know that the Texas Hangmen are going to be coming on strong tonight because they are upset about losing the titles. They won’t make it easy for the Hangmen and will be ready. 

After the card rundown for tonight’s house show, we go to the feature match of the program. It’s the lumberjack match from a few weeks back between the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1. The tecnicos control the first part of the match via quick tags and working Psycho’s arm. The tecnicos remain in control as we go to commercial break, but once we return  Invader eats some boots to the face on a corner charge. The Hangmen work over Invader with some facelocks on the mta, as the lumberjacks look on. Invader tries a comeback but gets cut off, as it seems that Hugo has finally learned how to tell the Hangmen apart on commentary. The tide turns in the tecnicos favor when Psycho goes to the top turnbuckle and Invader runs into the ropes, causing Psycho to crotch himself on the top rope. Invader makes the tag to Bronco, who comes in hot. Bronco gets several pin attempts on Psycho, but Killer comes in to break up each attempt. Invader recovers and all four men end up in the ring. The lumberjacks start getting restless as Galan Mendoza jumps up on the ring apron and grabs Bronco. All of the other lumberjacks gather to where Mendoza is, with the tecnicos trying to pull Mendoza off and the rudos trying to stop the tecnicos. The referee goes over to try to get Mendoza to let go of Bronco and, in the confusion, the Hangmen grab the bullrope and use it to knock out Invader. The Hangmen cover and retain the World tag titles.  

MD: This feud isn’t quite there yet though. It’s still churning. Pretty soon they’d do well to switch the babyface teams maybe? I don’t know. I love how animated the Hangmen are in their promo. Bronco’s holding the mic for their promo for some reason which is kind of weird. Most important thing to know about the shine is that right before it goes to commercial (after a chaotic start where Bronco and Invader take over and the Hangmen feed/stooge like crazy), Invader does the Garvin Stomp which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him do before. He looks great in general but once we hit the break he gets swept under quickly. 

That means he continues to look great as a face-in-peril, sneaking in those hope spots, before he is able to lunge at the ropes to knock a Hangman down upon them, crocheting him. The lumberjacks have really only made this match feel more contained by this point; kept it in the ring solely by their presence alone, but none of the previous matches have been so contained so this feels actively different. And then, you know what, Invader looks great after the hot tag when he gets to come in again to set up the finish. More than that, Mendoza, as a lumberjack gets involved, which is interesting considering what I was just saying (they’re hearing me through history or maybe this all just makes sense), allowing the ref to get distracted and the cowbell to end things for the good guys. 

EB: To close the show, Hugo presents some fan drawings they have received, with Profe saying the only good one was the one of him. Hugo does a final sell for tonight’s card in Caguas and they sign off.

MD: There’s a drawing here of Rafael The Ninja Turtle and Carlitos Colon. I’ll let Esteban explain it. I love that some kid cared enough about Giant Warrior to draw him too. That’s very charming.

EB: So what happened during the title matches on February 9? We actually have a bit of footage of what happened during that weekend during the following week’s TV programs. Let’s find out how things advanced as we first go to the west coast version of Superestrellas from February 16. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcryafi6WuY

Hugo welcomes the viewers and immediately the video cuts to Hugo introducing a clip of what happened this past Saturday in Caguas between the Super Medicos with Sasha in their corner and Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza with Monster Ripper in their corner. We go to the clip and Medico #3 has Rick Valentine in an airplane spin. After tossing Valentine to the mat, Medico #3 goes for a cover but Monster Ripper jumps on the apron to distract the referee. As the ref is busy telling Ripper to get off the apron, Mendoza comes in and hits Medico #3 with the loaded glove. However, when the ref turns around, he sees Mendoza in the ring and escorts him back to the rudo corner. As this is happening, Medico #1 gets in the ring, breaks up the cover Valentine has on Medico #3, and them rolls Medico #3 out of the ring in order to switch places with him. When the ref focuses back on the wrestlers in the ring, it’s Medico #1 who is in there. Medico #1 fires off some punches and knocks Valentine down with a clothesline. As Mendoza protests and inadvertently distracts the ref, Medico #1 leans over to where Sasha is. Sasha puts an object inside Medico #1’s mask. The action continues and Medico #1 gets a backslide on Valentine, but Mendoza jumps in and breaks it up. Medico #1 hits Mendoza with a headbutt that sends Mendoza flying to the outside. Valentine sneaks up behind Medico #1 and hits a back suplex. Medico #1 is able to counter being sent into the ropes with a sleeper and at this point the seconds get involved. Ripper hits Medico #1 with a boot to break up the sleeperhold and Sasha comes in to go after Ripper. Sasha and Medico #1 drive Ripper and Valentine away, meanwhile Mendoza and Medico #3 remain knocked out on the floor thanks to the loaded hits they took. 

Due to what happened, tomorrow in Hormigueros we will have a rematch for the Caribbean tag titles but Sasha and Monster Ripper will be handcuffed to each other at ringside.  We will also have a rematch for the Caribbean title, with Miguelito Perez challenging Kim Duk. Last week in Hormiguero, Kim Duk did not appear and Hugo showed a clip to explain why he didn’t appear. During the match in Caguas on February 9, El Profe had another accident and hit Duk in the throat with the kendo stick when Perez ducked out of the way. Due to the pain Duk was in from that blow, he wasn't able to appear last Sunday but the rematch will happen tomorrow. The main event for Sunday will be a rematch for the World tag team titles, as new champions  the Texas Hangmen (who regained the belts last Sunday in Hormigueros) defend against Invader #1 and Bronco #1 in a streetfight. The card will also have Giant Warrior vs the Motor City Madman, Original TNT vs Huracan Castillo Jr, and Invader #4 vs. Mr. Pogo. 

MD: I could be wrong but this feels like the opposite camera angle of how we saw it last time. Still lots of moving parts and I think it’s leading to Sasha handcuffed to Ripper.

EB: Our first match of the program is one we have covered previously, the Kim Duk vs Super Medico #4 match from January 6. After the match, we get promos from the teams involved in the Caribbean tag tile feud. Ripper promises that Sasha will not be able to get away with interfering since they will be handcuffed together. Valentine insults Sasha by calling her stinky. The Super Medicos and Sasha respond, with Medico #1 saying that Ripper won’t be able to interfere since Sasha will be handcuffed to her  and this time that will be the difference maker in their quest to win the Carribean tag titles.

MD: Ripper/Mendoza/Valentine have swanky new robes and… well, whatever sci fi thing Ripper has. They’re all hyping up the match with Sasha handcuffed to Ripper. I really do get the sense that Sasha “gets it” and was very good at what she did. 

EB: Miguelito Perez is up next and talks about Duk not appearing last week after the kendo stick mishap. Perez is thankful that he wasn’t the one hurt but will be ready for tomorrow. He also warns Kim Duk to be wary, but not of him. Duk needs to be wary of El Profe, since he keeps hitting Duk on acccident and Duk may end up not being able to wrestle. 

MD: They did a good job here of making it seem like Perez was going to win the title off of Duk (or at least that he had a much better chance than he would have a few months earlier) given the build and the miscommunication. By the way, in the promo for the live show when they announce the jackets, Perez is out with his Ribera jacket. 

EB:Next is Dick Murdoch facing off against Sabud, who wastes no time in going after Murdoch and gets some martial arts thrusts in. Murdoch flees the ring and ends up in the boxing ring that is nearby. Sabud makes a mistake by going in after Murdoch and gets caught. Murdoch quickly throws Sabud outside of the boxing ring and rams Sabud face first into the ringpost. Murdoch briefly rolls back into the wrestling ring to break up the ref’s ring out count, and then goes back to attacking Sabud on the outside by ramming him into a table and using a chair. Joe Smith is at ringside watching all of the action go down. Both men end up in the ring and Murdoch makes short work of Sabud to get the win. Afterwards,  Murdoch motions for the camera to follow him and he goes to the ringside table to get a microphone, but the video cuts away before he can talk. 

MD: Murdoch is even more unleashed than usual in Puerto Rico, even more onerous, probably driven by real things it’s best not to focus on. Here he feeds a bit for Sabu’s karate shots but then ducks into a different ring (there was a regulation boxing one set up here too) befuddling his opponent so he could take over. From there it was chairs and cheapshots and some brutal elbows as he got quick revenge.

EB: Kim Duk and El Profe are interviewed by Hugo about tomorrow’s Caribbean title match. Hugo makes sure to stir things up by bringing up Profe’s accidental hits during the last couple of weeks. Profe gets defensive, insisting that those were accidents and they won’t happen again. Hugo actually tells Kim that he hopes his neck is feeling better before Duk talks about the upcoming match. Duk says he accepts Profe’s explanation that it was a mistake that won’t happen again.

MD: We are reassured here that Profe won’t make the same mistake again. I can’t see a Kim Duk babyface run (though we do have that 70s Korea match with him now), but could see this covering a title switch.

EB: Motor City Madman is next with a promo on his rematch with Giant Warrior, promising that what he did last week to Warrior is nothing compared to what will happen tomorrow. We go to Giant Warrior, who says that Madman showed his true colors last week by jumping Warrior from behind. Warrior will be ready this week, since he now knows that Madman does not play by the rules. Giant Warrior will walk out the winner tomorrow.

Afterrthe promos, we get a TV studio match with Motor City Madman taking on Justo Maldonado. Hugo mentions that Madman is a recent acquisition for El Club Deportivo courtesy of Skandor Akbar and El Profe. The match lasts less than a minute, as Madman gets Justo up into an inverted backbreaker vice and then proceeds to ram Justo’s head into the turnbuckle several times while in the hold. After the match, Invader #4 and the Medicos helped take Justo out of the ring on a stretcher. 

MD: They’re promising me Skandor Akbar with Madman and he just hasn’t shown up yet. After the lovely picture we saw from some kid last week, I do believe Giant Warrior when he says in his southern drawl that he has a connection with the fine people of Caguas. Maldonado was not a small guy so Mad Man crashing through him and hitting his finish of the backbreaker into the repeated head drops onto the top rope (did he do that in WCW? I have to take a look) is impressive. I enjoyed the Medicos being out there to stretcher Maldonado out. It just makes sense.

EB: Hugo introduces a clip of what happened last week in Hormigueros when Invader # and Bronco #1 were defending the World tag team titles against the Texas Hangmen. All four men are in the ring but Bronco and Psycho go outside. Invader and Killer remain in the ring and Invader is whipped into a corner. Invader does a reverse bodypress out of the corner but Killer ducks and Invader accidentally takes out the referee instead. Invader gets a small package but there is no one to count. Profe stands at ringside shaking his head no (indicating that this wasn’t going  to work for Invader) and Bronco gets back in the ring to find the ref out on the mat. For some reason, Bronco decides to make the three count himself and Invader lets go of the hold. The Hangmen jump the tecnicos, but an attempted irish whip results in Bronco and Killer colliding. Invader and Psycho end up as the wrestlers in the ring. Invader starts to go after Psycho in a corner but Profe gets in the ring to try to help his guys out. Invader sees Profe and attacks him before Profe can do anything, but this gives the Hangmen a chance to get the bullrope and hit Invader with it to get the win to regain the World tag titles. 

We go to an interview where Profe and the Hangmen are celebrating their title win, but Hugo mentions that there will be a rematch under streetfight rules. Psycho says that brawling is up the Hangmen's alley, so they’ll bust the tecnicos up. Killer reiterates that they like bloody brawls and will leave the tecnicos in a pool of blood. Invader and Bronco respond, with Invader saying that any fans that can’t stand to see the sight of blood to not show up tomorrow since they will leave the Hangmen drenched in blood. They are on a mission to regain the World tag team titles. 

MD: Invader’s timing is really good on the finish here where he cuts across the ring to attack Profe and then turns right into the rope shot. Promos worked for me as you had the sense that the Hangmen would be naturals in a streetfight and Invader and especially Bronco were super animated.

EB: Dick Murdcoh is up next with an interview talking about his attack a few weeks back on Carlos Colon right after the cage match against Greg Valentine. Murdoch says that maybe Colon did not attack him, but Murdoch delivered his message. Murdoch wants Colon to stop being a coward and sign the contract for a match against him. Murdoch throws in a few insults about the local culture and also mentions still wanting to train Joe Smith and turn him into a wrestler.

MD: Just a great, great promo here. I can’t do it justice, but Murdoch was next level at being self-aware. No “Let me tell you brothers,” out of him. Real Southern Gothic type stuff in its own way. And then when Hugo (Jerome) translated, he’d be making faces at various words Hugo said. You should go watch this.

EB: We have a match joined in progress between Huracan Castillo Jr and Mr. Pogo, This is from February 9 in Caguas and is for the World Junior title. Hurcana does a sunset flip from the apron into the ring, but Pogo grabs onto the ropes and tries to hold on to avoid going over. The ref kicks Pogo’s hands off the ropes but Castillo only gets a two count. Hugo on commentary actually mentions that he has always felt that the ref should not have the leeway or discretion to kick someone’s hands off the rope in that situation, because he thinks that refs should not physically get involved with the wrestlers. Pogo hits a suplex and puts Castillo in a sleeperhold as Hugo finishes his remarks. Castillo answers the arm check and fights out of the sleeper, but Pogo cuts him off with a knee to the midsection. Pogo misses a fist drop from the turnbuckle, and Castillo starts a comeback that is punctuated with a high knee and several elbow drops. Castillo gets several near falls of different cradle and press attempts, but Pogo stops Castillo with a spinning kick. Pogo misses a splash from the turnbuckle and Castillo goes to the top. A bodypress lands but the momentum is enough for Pogo to roll over Castillo. They end up near the ropes with Pogo’s feet landing on the ropes for leverage. The ref does not see the feet on the ropes and makes the three count. Pogo has won and is now the new World Junior champion. 

MD: It’s funny now after we’ve had months and months of Duk that this could have been Pogo’s role. He’s a perfectly credible midcard heel and this is good for what we get of it. I love Castillo’s jumping knee. I meant to say that before. He almost hits more with the inside of the leg than anyone else. It’s a nice move. Pogo has his spinkick cutoff too but then misses a top rope splash. Nice finish as Pogo rolls through on a Castillo flying body press but he lands perfectly with his feet on the ropes to assist with the pin. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that done quite like that before. 

EB: The last part of the show features a minis match that we’ve already covered but it is bookended by promos from Original TNT, Huracan Castillo Jr and TNT. Original TNT and Castillo are facing each other tomorrow.in Hormigueros. Original TNT says that he beat up the impostor TNT last week so they should take the name and paint away from that impostor before saying that he will beat Castillo tomorrow as well. Castillo has some remarks about the match tomorrow, with Castillo saying that everyone knows that the real TNT is the one from here. Hugo mentions that Castillo has been taught the sleeperhold by Victor Jovica and that is something that could come into play against the Original TNT. Hugo mentions that we have an interview with Carlos Colon about the recent controversy surrounding Dick Murdoch but it’s cut off in this version of the episode we have.

After the minis match, TNT has some word for Original TNT and Profe, He says that Original TNT defeated him last week but it was due to cheating and help from El Profe. TNT throws out a challenge to Original TNT for a no time limit match and to also put up the name and paint. TNT wants to take everything from Original TNT, the TV title, the face paint and the name. We then get Hugo with the show close where he hypes the card tomorrow in Hormigueros. 

MD: Not too much to say about these last promos. Original TNT really does come off as believing his own bluster no matter how ridiculous it is. I wonder if Pogo should be doing the Cobra if Duk and both TNTs also use it but I guess it could set up one more Pogo vs TNT match if they needed to go that way. 

EB: We also have the Campeones episode from February 16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdJdlUJ92JU

Our hosts are Hugo Savinovich and El Profe, with Hugo welcoming the viewers to the usual 4pm Saturday time slot on Channel 11. A lot gets mentioned during the opening segment, as Profe starts bragging about how all of his guys are champions (Texas Hangmen with the World tag titles, Original tNT with the TV title and Kim Duk with the Caribbean title). Hugo also mentions that the supreme leader of El Club Deportivo (referring to El Profe)  has been joined by General Skandorr Akbar, to which Profe says that Akbar is not here this week because he is on a scouting trip for new recruits. So El Ejercito de la ‘Inmudicia’ better start shaking in fear of the people Akbar and Profe will soon bring in. Hugo is annoyed that by next week they will have more cheaters, but Profe corrects him and says it will be reinforcements. Profe chuckles as Hugo worries a bit about what the combination of Akbar and Profe might be planning. Hugo then runs down what they'll show on the program, with the featured match being the TV title match between TNT and Original TNT from the previous week. Profe reiterates that the local TNT is the fake one. 

Hugo starts talking about tonight’s card in Caguas, starting with the Caribbean title match where Miguelito Perez challenges Kim Duk with the kendo stick on a pole. Hugo points out all of the accidents Profe has had with the kendo stick lately, but Profe says that they’ve been honest mistakes and tonight nothing will happen. Hugo says either way the kendo stick will not be in Profe’s hands tonight and instead it will be up on the pole. Hugo thinks Miguelito has a good chance at winning tonight, but Profe insults Perez by saying “Miguelito may look like a monkey because of all the hair he has, but he doesn’t have the agility of one.”

There will also be a streetfight as the new World tag champs the Texas Hangmen defend against the former champions, Invader #1 and Bronco #1. El Profe thinks the tecnicos are being fools by fighting the Hangmen in a match that is their specialty. The Hangmen are used to fighting with Mexicans and latinos in Texas. Hugo counters that both Bronco and Invader have their experience fighting in brawls, but Profe says it’s not the same thing fighting a couple of drunks in the gutter as fighting tough gangs, not those weak underweight Domincans Bronco fights. Hugo cuts Profe off and we go to the Huracan Castillo Jr vs Johnny Rinco match from earlier in January.  The match is joined in progress and gives you a bit of a look at Johnny Ringo in a more competitive match. The match clip is more of a showcase for Castillo though and Huracan retains the World Jr. title.

MD: When you come across someone as off the radar as Ringo, you do give him an extra look and you know what? He was fine. On offense (Castillo missed a corner charge and hit the post), he had a bunch of stuff. I liked his body language as he took things, especially how he tended to drape over the ropes. There just wasn’t a lot of room for juniors in 1991, but he’s another guy who could have fit into the Global light heavyweight division no problem. Castillo came back and won it clean with a Northern Lights which is not something I’ve seen him do too much.

EB: We next have a Dick Murdoch promo that gets cut off but not before he complains about the disgusting beans he’s been forced to eat down here. 

MD: This episode is not in full and we get about ten seconds of Murdoch complaining about the local food as only he could.

EB: We go to some promos form Original TNT and Huracan Castillo Jr, who are scheduled for tonight in Caguas. OriginalTtNT insists he beat up the fake TNT last week and promises to also do the same to Castillo tonight. Castllo dares Original TNT to make good on that threat and says that one advantage Castillo has is that he has better endurance.

MD: Again, these are clipped, but they’re setting up Original TNT defending against Castillo (I’m a little surprised he survived TNT so far honestly; seems like a relatively short program to finish things up from the previous feud that never got paid off, but he’s still here and still has the belt) so I guess it was nice we had that competitive win against Ringo for Castillo. 

EB: Hugo and Profe introduce a music video for Motor City Madman set to the tune of ‘Born To Be Wild.’ It shows Madman spray painting his name on a chunk of wall, shooting pool, and also highlights from different matches. One impressive clip is from a match vs Giant Warrior where Madman picks up Warrior in an inverted body vice and proceeds to smash Warrior’s head several times into the top turnbuckle. After the video, Madman and Warrior cut promos about their match tonight. Madman says that Warrior will make a big mistake facing him again after causing Warrior to be stretchered out last week. Warrior responds by saying he did not like being humiliated last week and says that he has not lost a match yet in Caguas.

MD: Good for the Madman to get a music video. You get to see him do his over the shoulder backbreaker snake eyes bounce move over and over in this to the music, even to Giant Warrior! Also riding motorcycles, spray painting things, shooting pool. What a guy. Apparently he stretchered Giant Warrior out last week and Warrior wants revenge.

EB: Carlos Colon cuts a promo about Dick Murdoch. Carlos says that he understands Dick Murdoch is looking for him, but he must not be looking too well since Carlos is not hard to find. Carlos says it is him who is looking for Murdoch, he wants to avenge what Murdoch did to him many years back while in the U.S. (and also the attack a few weeks ago) and now they are hours away from singing that match. This won’t be just a match, it will be a fight because Murdoch has offended Colon before and now Murdoch will be paid back, especially since they are now in Colon’s homeland of Puerto Rico. Colon guarantees that when they clash, blood will flow, and’ it will be yours dog.’

The feature match is last week's TV title match between Original TNT and TNT. Profe again calls out Juan Rivera as the fake TNT before going to the match .TNT wastes no time in attacking Original TNT, throwing several punches at ringside (and still wearing his gi).  TNT takes off his belt and chokes Original TNT with it. They get in the ring and TNT remains in control. Meanwhile, Hugo and Profe are having a back and forth on commentary about Profe not respecting the wrestler’s names and calling TNT out by his real name. Hugo points out that none of them are throwing out Profe’s real name because they are honorable gentlemen and respect that (which causes Profe to be a bit afraid for a moment  Hugo was going to give that secret away). The match continues with TNT on the attack, once again taking the match to the arena floor. Hugo starts pointing out that Original TNT can’t hit those kicks and movies like the real TNT can (with Profe complaining that he thinks Juan Rivera must be bribing Hugo to put him over as the eighth wonder of the world apparently). 

The beating continues, with TNT hitting several kicks on Original TNT. We go to a commercial break with TNT still getting all of the offense in so far in the match and then come back with Original TNT in control, throwing TNT out of the ring. Profe says that we have things under control now. Hugo mentions that TNT has been dominating most of the match so far, but Profe sas it has been the other way around with Original TNT dominating the impostor Juan Rivera (which causes Hugo to once again admonish Profe for not respecting the wrestler’s names). Profe starts rattling off examples of other wrestlers whose real names are known (specifically the Invaders) but Hugo says that’s different because they have chosen and allowed their names to be known. Meanwhile, Original TNT has rammed TNT into the stacked floor panels near the fence area and goes back to the ring, leaving TNT recovering on the floor. Original TNT goes back out to attack TNT, smashing him face first into the ringside table and then using a chair. Hugo notes that TNT has started bleeding. TNT then gets his head rammed into a ringpost. Original TNT gets back in the ring as TNT struggles to stand up, with his forehead noticeably bleeding.TNT stumbles into the ring and OriginalTtNT starts choking and slapping TNT.

TNT fights out of a chinlock and hits a back suplex, leaving both men down on the mat.We get a second commercial break, and come back with TNT starting a comeback. Hugo mentions that they’ve been fighting for over 25 minutes (in a match with a 30 minute time limit). They go to the outside and TNT rams Original TNT into the ringside table, busting Original TNT open. Back in the ring. TNT bites the cut on Original TNT’s forehead. TNT tries a few pin attempts but Original TNT is able to kick out or get his foot on the ropes. Original TNT is able to get a surprise powerslam and gets the cobra hold on TNT. Profe celebrates at ringside as TNT struggles in the hold but eventually goes to his knees. The bell rings and Original TNT lets go of the hold thinking that he has won the match, but it rang because the time limit has ended. It is a time limit draw. 

MD: This gets a ton of time and you get the sense we get most of it. TNT, gi still on, jumps him from the get go. The first third has Jackson flying and bumping and staggering around as TNT hits sweeping blows and karate strikes. Very energized stuff to the crowd’s delight. Original TNT takes over midway through and really grinds TNT down, opening him up. He comes back big and for a while they’re really showing the effects of it all, selling the weight of the match until TNT gets a second wind and takes over in a big way, hitting him with the belt on the floor and biting the wound. Original TNT is able to catch him with a power slam out of nowhere though and locks in the cobra but TNT doesn’t quit. Profe and Jackson think that he does and I’m not quite sure what the ending was as TNT stood tall in the ring as they cut back to the hosts. Past that finish, a very complete match here that got a lot of time for something shown on TV.

EB: We go back to Hugo and Profe for the show close, as Profe insists that Original TNT showed his quality against the imposter Juan Rivera. Hugo reminds the fans to go tonight to Caguas. 

Next time on El Deporte de la Mil Emociones, Invader #1 and Bronco #1 face the Texas Hangmen in a streetfight, Colon vs  Murdoch is official, Skandor Akbar is back and Ricky Santana makes his return to CSP. Plus, will Profe finally avoid making another mistake in Kim Duk’s match? 

Read more!