Week 20: Tag Teams Back Again
EB: El Ejercito de la Justicia is in celebration as the Universal title is once again on the side of the tecnicos, but for the first time it is not Carlos Colon that is the reigning champion. After avenging the loss of his face paint, TNT has won the Universal title for El Ejercito de la Justicia and ended Leo Burke’s nearly two month long reign. The finish to the match had some controversy, as Carlos Colon ‘fought fire with fire’ and picked up a dropped foreign object that Chicky Starr had handed to Leo Burke. Colon decked Burke with it and TNT was able to score the pinfall. Burke and Chicky protested over what they felt was a gross injustice (conveniently ignoring all of the cheating they had done to win and keep the title for as long as they did). A rematch occurred between TNT and Leo Burke that went to a 60 minute time limit draw. This led to a no time limit rematch and TNT was successful in keeping the Universal title. With Burke’s chances being used up, it was time for a new challenger to step up. Who will it be? We’ll talk about it shortly.
With Leo Burke no longer the Universal champion, there were a few tecnicos that wanted to avenge some of the chicanery they had experienced at the hands of Burke and Chicky Starr. One of those wrestlers was Miguelito Perez, who we last saw being the victim of Burke’s figure four leglock in a tag match. Here we join a singles match between Perez and Burke, near its conclusion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIYvPXAHxKAn
This is just the last minute of the encounter and Miguelito has Burke on the run. Leo tries to escape through the ropes but Perez manages to stop him and continues the attack. Burke cuts off Perez with a kick to the midsection and hits a neckbreaker. Burke slowly makes his way to the top turnbuckle, but Perez catches him up there and slams him off. Perez sends Burke into the ropes to set up his powerslam, but as Perez picks him up, Burke shifts his weight and is able to small package Miguelito for a surprise pinfall. It happened so quickly that Perez initially didn’t realize that the three count was made, as he slammed Burke and tried to continue the attack. It's a clear reminder that Burke is still a skilled technician and very wily in the ring.
MD: Only a minute but a good minute, with Burke very precise with a kick/neckbreaker combo, getting tossed off the turnbuckles, and then rolling Perez up on a body slam attempt. Nice banana peel finish that keeps everyone over. Perez got the slam post match, upset.
EB: Leo Burke would not remain without a title for long. With TNT’s Universal title win, the TV title he held was vacated. Burke ended up winning the vacant TV title at some point in February. As March approaches he is set to defend the TV title on March 3 against a returning face. One who hasn’t been in CSP for several years but was a big name in the late 70s and early 80s: Pierre Martel. We’ll follow this up next time.
Beside TNT’s win, there were other happenings on that February 10 card from Caguas. The other big match from that night was the boxer vs wrestler match between Alfredo Escalera and Chicky Starr. Escalera won the match by disqualification but not before giving Chicky a lesson in how to take boxing blows. It was an incident that would be brought up a few times on commentary in the weeks that followed, much to Chicky’s chagrin. There were other matches that night besides Chicky’s embarrassment (both against Escalera and in Burke’s Universal title loss). We’lll use them to help us organize our journey through the rest of February 1990.
On February 10, Eddie Watts defended his World Junior title against Huracan Castillo Jr. Also on that card, newcomer Carl Styles took on Miguelito Perez. This is the beginning of a potential rivalry for both matchups, ones we will follow as 1900 progresses. To begin, let’s first look at Miguelito Perez in action against an odd opponent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyjKVGcC5A4
I’ve never seen the Alligator Man here before and even the announcers are confused on whether it’s supposed to be Crocodile (which Eliud Gonzalez introduces him as during the ring intros), Alligator (which is how Moyano presents him initially on commentary) or Lizard Man (halfway through the match Eliud and Moyano clear up that they’ve been informed it’s lizard). Thanks to Matt asking for help from the collective wisdom of our fellow wrestling friends, it appears that this is Florida indie wrestler Gator B Long. I don’t really remember him at all in Puerto Rico, so he’s likely just in for a tv taping working as enhancement talent. Moyano mentions that Gator Man has the height advantage and remarks about the claws and head he had with him for his entrance. Gator starts off taking control by choking Perez in the corner and continuing to target the throat area on the mat. Gator does fairly well, countering a side headlock on the mat into a couple of rollover pin attempts, and even getting Perez into a headscissors. Still, Perez was able to make the comeback and hit the powerslam for the win. An example of the sometimes odd nature of who will show up in Puerto Rico.
MD: No idea who our Gator friend is. He has the paraphernalia (Claws, etc), some size, and the word “Long” on his tights. He was fairly competent too. Most dynamic thing he does here is a big boot but he’s generally in the right place at the right time and this is a complete enough three minute TV match. Comeback by Perez was interesting as he just started clubbering down on “Long” while he was giving him shoulder thrusts in the corner. Perez had some nice downward elbows from an almost headlock position too before he won it with the power (body) slam.
EB: Now let’s look at Carl Styles in action, taking on Huracan Castillo Jr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jnQR4vYYSU
Styles continues to prove himself on tv. Last time we saw him face Super Medico and this time he has a very capable opponent in Huracan Castillo Jr. Or as Hector Moyano says on commentary: ‘a man named Styles vs a man that moves with style’. Styles wins the initial lockup and puts Castillo in a side headlock. Castillo counters by sending Carl into the ropes but gets knocked down by a shoulder tackle. Huracan counters Carl’s next rope running attack with an armdrag and a side headlock takedown. Styles tries to sneak in a pinfall attempt by yanking Castillo’s tights but Huracan rolls back over and continues working the side headlock. Carl tries to break out of the hold but gets hit with another armdrag, a dropkick and another side headlock takedown to end up back where he was. The commentators make note that Castillo has been able to neutralize the powerful Styles so far with the holds.
Styles again breaks the hold by sending Castillo into the ropes. Huracan tries a body press but gets caught by Styles, who hits a backbreaker on Castillo. Styles starts showing off his strength, hitting Castillo with a lift into a press slam. He taunts the crowd and goes for the pin but Castillo kicks out. Styles presses the attack, hitting a slam, clothesline and a suplex for another unsuccessful pin attempt. Castillo counters with a sunset flip pin attempt, but Styles kicks out. Castillo starts firing up and hits several punches and blows on Styles to regain the advantage. Castillo continues on the attack with a clothesline into the corner, an elbow to the head and slam, but Styles manages to dodge an advancing Castillo and uses Castillo’s own momentum to throw him though the ropes to the outside. The ref prevents Styles from going outside to go after Castillo, but with the ref tied up, Eddie Watts runs out and slams Castillo headfirst into the ringpost (remember that Castillo has started wrestling Watts as a World Junior title challenger).
Castillo is busted open and laid out on the floor. Styles finally is able to evade the ref and go out to the floor. From there it's academic as Styles throws Huracan back in the ring and, after a flurry of punches to Castillo’s bleeding forehead, puts Castillo in the full nelson. Castillo is almost out of it in the hold but the ref is still waiting to see if Huracan will submit. Suddenly, Miguelito Perez runs out to the ring and climbs the turnbuckle, jumping onto Styles from behind in order to break the full nelson on the unconscious Castillo. The ref disqualifies Castillo due to Miguelito’s interference, but Miguelito immediately goes after Styles. Perez wins a punch exchange but misses a dropkick when Styles grabs onto the ropes to stop his momentum. Styles puts Perez in the full nelson and cranks the hold on. Castillo is out on the floor still feeling the effects of the ringpost slam and the full nelson, he is unable to help Miguelito. Styles keeps the pressure of the full nelson on Perez who is struggling to no avail. Super Medico runs out from the locker room to help Miguelito, and Medico starts furiously punching Carl's back in order to get the full nelson broken. Styles keeps the hold on despite Medico’s repeated blows. Perez is out as Styles continues to absorb Medico’s blows and refuses to release the hold. Castillo is able to get to his feet and the announcers think he’s heading to the locker room but he’s actually picking up a chair and heading back to the ring. Castillo motions for Medico to step aside and just cracks the chair over Styles’ back, finally getting the full nelson broken. Styles rolls out to safety but then tries to get back in, with Profe holding him back. Perez is down, Castillo is propped up against the corner and Medico is staring at Stylers in case he gets back in the ring. The video ends with Medico checking up on Perez as Castillo falls down exhausted to the mat. Carl Styles is quite the powerful and dangerous man.
MD: If Styles was in the Albright spot, he was a bit better suited for it. He’s less of a monster with less amateur credentials but he’s a bit smarter and more seasoned in his work. While he gave Castillo most of the early match, it was with holds, not cowering or stalling. He cut him off out of nowhere by catching a body press off the ropes into a backbreaker. Castillo came back, and it’s worth noting that unlike Colon’s cartwheel, he had slapped the mat hard once in between his punches to get the fans into it. It’s a bit of a weird visual tick since he should be firing back at full speed and this breaks it up but it was probably effective in its own way. Styles was able to toss him out to stop the fire, though, and Eddie Watts (Castillo’s Jr. Heavyweight rival) came out to post him on the floor and open him up. From there it was academic. Styles won with the full nelson and wouldn’t break it up. Perez came out and got him off but missed a dropkick and ended up in the full nelson too. That drew out Medico and finally after Castillo came back with a chair, they forced Styles away. This was good as it set up at least four different matches and a few potential tags while making Styles look like a beast.
EB: We’ll continue following both feuds since we’re getting rematches on March 3 for both matchups (Cartillo vs Watts and Styles vs Perez). Speaking of Super Medico, he’s gone on a new path since losing the World Junior title to Eddie Watts. As mentioned before in our introduction of Super Medico, he had a long tenure as tag wrestler as part of the Medicos / Super Medicos team. Teaming up with partner Super Medico #2 (Johnny Rodz) and then later as three man unit with Super Medico #3 (Don Kent), Super Medico had enjoyed great success in tha tag ranks in the early to mid 80s. But since around 1985 when he turned tecnico, Super Medico has mainly wrestled in the singles division., But after being back in Puerto Rico for over 8 months, it seems Medico has decided to reenter the tag team ranks once more. And he’s bringing in a new Super Medico to be his partner. They’re making one of their first appearances on the February 10 card and they’re immediately put up against some tough competition in the team of Los Mercenarios, the reigning World tag team champions. Let’s go to that match and see just what the new Super Medicos can do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-8FUNomXjw
Joining Jose Estrada (who is Super Medico #1) as his new tag partner is Jose Estrada Jr. He’s identified as #2 by Hugo here but that will soon change. This is from a Campeones airing the week after TNT won the Universal title. Hugo, Carlos and Chicky are on commentary and part of the conversation they have centers around the Universal title win and how the match ended. In the ring, the Medicos are having a strategy session as the bell rings and Acevedo tries to rush them to catch them unawares. The Medicos are prepared and do a nifty double team maneuver where one lifts the other into a headscissor position to cut off Acevedo. This leads to stereo monkey flips and stereo dropkicks by the Medicos on both members of Los Mercenarios. Starr and Acevedo end up on the outside, confused as to what happened and trying to regroup. Carlos and Chicky talk about how 1990 appears to be the year of the tag team between the new and returning teams that have appeared so far (and with one more still to come). Carlos also talks about how he had said 1990 was going to be the year for El Ejercito de la Justicia, they’ve already won back the Universal title and next they are going to dismantle El Club Deportivo. Chicky naturally takes exception to this and starts complaining about how the title was stolen from Burke. Carlos counters by saying that he doesn’t care about Chicky’s complaining, you have to fight these types of individuals at their own game (or fire with fire). Chicky says that both his and El Profe’s organizations are well equipped to win back that Universal title and Carlos fires back that his predictions last week came true: TNT won the Universal title and Alfredo Escalera gave Chicky a heck of a beating in their match.
Back in the ring, Medico #1 and Acevedo have been in a bit of a back and forth locking up but Medico #1 (you can tell them apart because Medico #1 is a bit more stocky and shorter) gains the advantage and fires off an armdrag and a nice series of dropkicks on Acevedo. Ron Starr tags in and Carlos on commentary talks about there being like 6 or 7 Medicos but that this combination may be the best one yet. The Medicos do quick tags to work on Ron Starr’s arm and Starr ends up knocked out of the ring by a punch from Medico #1. Starr gets back in the ring after pacing about frustrated and Medico #1 tags his son in. Ron briefly gets an advantage but is taken down to the mat by Estrada Jr. Ron claims his hair was yanked, and when he is taken down again by Estrada Jr, he complains even more animatedly that his hair was pulled. Ron and Estrada Jr. continue working holds, with Estrada Jr getting the better of Ron. On commentary, the talk turns to all the new impressive teams that have been arriving like the Super Medicos and the soon to debut new Invaders tag team. They’ve shown on tv footage of Invader #1 and Maelo training and they should be debuting soon. Chicky also says that there may be more new teams appearing soon in the tag division and even Carlos says to not discount him teaming up with TNT or another tecnico to get in on the tag action. The match continues with both Medicos keeping control of the match and even Chicky has to compliment the new Medico on showing good potential and skill in the ring so far. We head to a commercial break as Ron Starr sends Medico #2 into the ropes and Acevedo hits him from behind with a knee.
Back from commercial break and it looks like we’re in the middle of Medico #1 hitting a cutoff clothesline on Acevedo to knock him down. Both men are on the mat and reaching for their corner to make the tag. Ron is tagged first and manages to cut off Medico #1 with an elbow, He immediately goes to work on Medico #1 and tries for a pinfall off a clothesline, but Medico #2 breaks it up. Another pin attempt is again broken up by Medico #2 and Ron decides to drag Medico #1 to his team’s corner. Acevedo is tagged in and a quick double team leads to a two count. Acevedo puts a submission hold on Medico #1 as Medico #2 starts clapping to get the crowd into it. Ron pushes on Acevedo’s back for leverage, which draws in Medico #2. The ref stops Medico #2 from going any further and Los Mercenarios switch out without a tag. Ron puts Medico #1 in a front facelock, but Medico #1 tries to force Ron backwards towards the Medicos’ corner so he can make the tag. Acevedo runs in to try to stop it, drawing the referee’s attention and causing the ref to miss the tag. El Vikingo tells Medico #2 to get back in the corner since he didn’t see the tag and Los Mercenarios take advantage by double teaming Medico #1. Acevedo hits a neckbreaker for an unsuccessful pin attempt, but a follow-up piledriver attempt is countered with a backdrop. Starr is tagged in and tries to attack Medico #1, but is countered with a sunset flip for a pin attempt, although it is missed by the referee who is busy getting Acevedo out of the ring. Carlos states that tag matches should have two referees to avoid situations where the ref is distracted and that allow for cheating to take place. Chicky argues that El Profe being out there is like having a second referee anyways. Medico #1 crawls to the wrong side of the ring looking for the tag and gets decked by El Profe (some great second referee work there I guess). Medico #2 desperately wants to come in and help but keeps getting stopped by the ref. Ron starts punching a downed Medico #1, but Medico #1 finally is able to crawl through Ron’s legs and makes the tag. Medico #2 comes in and cleans house on Ron Starr, which brings Acevedo in. Medico #2 handles both members of Los Mercenarios and eventually makes a pin attempt on Ron after a dropkick. Acevedo breaks up the pinfall but Medico #2 continues on the attack as Acevedo is escorted out. Medico #2 hits his own version of the ‘hit machine’ and almost gets the pinfall. Medico #2 slams Ron and comes off the top with a strike, leading to a pin attempt that’s broken up by Acevedo. Medico# 1 jumps in to attack Acevedo and now all four men are in the ring. Both Medicos try pin attempts on both members of Los Mercenarios but the bell rings and it looks like we have a time limit draw. Los Mercenarios walk away still the World tag champions,but the new Super Medicos have taken the World tag team champions to the limit. There’s a lot of potential with this new team.
MD: This was a nice, complete tag match that was just lacking a real finish (time ran out while things were chaotic). Medico 3 or 4 (Estrada, Jr.) depending on how you want to bill him, was called 2 by the commentary just to make things more confusing, so I’ll just go with that. He was the New Super Medico 2 more or less. Morrow had been still fairly capable for what he was asked to do, including come off the top once per match, and had good history and chemistry with the Cuban Assassin, but Ron Starr was a big step up. When I mentioned all the lead heels last week, I should have mentioned these two as well, because Starr is a guy who could have main evented just as easily as Burke. They’re very interchangeable. Super Medico (1) took the heat here after eating an knee on the outside while rope running and he did a great job selling and having dynamic hope spots from what we saw (having lost a bit with a commercial break). The comeback was very good as he started to fire back but Starr jammed him, only to crawl through the legs and make the tag. Things got chaotic after that with both Medicos trying pin attempts as the time ran out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8NSiQZjjDI
EB: And here we have the Super Medicos making an appearance on tv taking on the team of El Gran Mendoza and a masked wrestler going by Assassin #1. We are in Ponce and the match is in progress. Due to their performance against Los Mercenarios, it appears that the Super Medicos have already been positioned as the number one contenders for the World tag team titles, so a rematch will be happening soon. For now, the tv audience gets an opportunity to see this new version of the team in action. Medico #1 is in the ring and hits a crossbody block for a pin attempt. Assassin turns the tide with a hotshot on the top rope and from there the team of Assassin and Mendoza take control and use the inexperience of the younger Estrada to lure him into the ring so they can double team behind the referee’s back. Mendoza takes over but Medico mounts a small comeback that ends with both Medico #1 and Mendoza colliding their heads when coming off the ropes. Both men make the tag and Medico #2 starts punching Assassin #1. The two men exchange blouse which leads to Mendoza jumping in to try to blindside Medico #2 but Medico #1 also gets in the ring to counter. Both rudos are rammed into each other and Mendoza is sent out of the ring via a double dropkick. The Medicos set up Assassin for what looks to be their finisher, which is one Medico launching the other into the ropes and then sort of press slamming him onto their opponent/. The crowd cheers as the Medicos pick up the win.
MD: This was just a couple of minutes, with Medico 1 taking a beating until he could get a tag and Medico 2 could come back. Medico 1 obviously has the better punches but Medico 2 is emulating them well enough. Finisher was a press up off the ropes where one Medico lifted the other into a splash. Again, my big takeaway is that Medico 1 was very good at what he did.
EB: The new Super Medicos look to be a strong force in the changing tag division. There is another ‘new’ team on the way as well in the Invaders but Invader #1 has a feud going on with Harley Race. We saw the attack done by Race and Chicky Starr on Invader last time and the two faced each other on February 10 in a match with no winner. The rivalry would continue throughout February and we actually do have footage from one of their encounters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfhv7-SEEoc
This is from a Clasicos de la Lucha Libre segment from almost two decades later, so we are not getting any context from the commentary. Still, it’s the only footage we have of Invader #1 vs Harley Race in a match from this February 1990 feud. It looks like Invader tried a charge to start the match but he runs into Race’s knees. Race follows up with a couple of elbow drops for a pin attempt. Invader kicks out and Race tries to choke Invader from behind, but does succeed in grabbing him and tossing him out of the ring. Race tries to ram Invader face first into the production truck near the ring but Invader counters and it’s Harley who gets rammed into the side of the truck. Invader throws Harley into the ring and controls the next minute, leading to a couple of unsuccessful pin attempts. Race catches Invader with a headbutt to the midsection after the second kickout, leading to a Race control segment where Race attempts his own unsuccessful pin attempts off such moves as a kneedrop, a belly to belly suplex and a piledriver. Race continues on the attack with several punches and a high knee strike (well, high for 1990 Harley Race). A swinging neckbreaker gets a two count for Harley,who continues on the attack but Invader keeps kicking out. Invader eventually starts a comeback off a headbutt to the midsection. Race and Invader exchange punches and blows, as Invader knocks Race down with a chop. Invader does his two hops when he starts getting fired up and gets a flurry of blows on Race. An eyerake cuts Invader off and Harley tries to send Invader off the ropes. Invader counters by picking up Harley to attempt a bodyslam, but the momentum makes both men fall over the top rope to the outside. Race and Invader start brawling on the outside as the referee starts the ring out count. Both men are counted out as they fight away from the ring.
MD: The commentary (from many, many years later) was a bit disjointed from what we were watching with an ad talking about getting your tax refund and Idol Stevens (Sandow) and Orlando Colon. These two were pretty much perfect opponents at this point in their career. Race bore down on Invader with all of his super credible “stuff” (neckbreaker, pile driver, suplex, not-so-high jumping knee, short clothesline, lots of short punches, atomic drop), with Invader always making sure to stay in it by getting hope punches in when he could. He finally fired back and turned the tide but both went sailing over the top and brawling for what I assume was a double countout.
EB: This is the last footage we have of Harley from this run. His feud with Invader #1 will last to the end of February, ending with Invader winning the Caribbean title on March 4 (although I’m not sure if the match took place or if it was a phantom switch). Still, Invader has other plans as well, those being the upcoming debut of the new Invaders tag team. They are set to debut on March 3 and their opponents are The Hunters. How will the new Invaders fare? We’ll find out next time.
As mentioned previously, Eddie Watts has Huracan Castillo Jr as the next World Jr title challenger but Castillo is not the only new challenger to appear. A returning wrestler would also rotate in as a challenger. Joe Savoldi had previously had a run in CSP in 1984 through early 85, both as a singles wrestler and in a tag team with Al Perez. Since that run as a regular, Savoldi has made a couple of appearances in the following years, popping in for a weekend or two but not staying for any extended run. Now Savoldi has appeared again. Let’s take a look at him in action vs El Exotico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rErHS9Pc0BM
It’s been a while since Savoldi has been in Puerto Rico, and it looks like Exotico wants to spoil the return. Hector Moyano and Eliud Gonzalez are on commentary for this match and talk about how Exotico has a particular way of moving about in the ring (Eliud recalls how El Profe described Exoticos as ‘being very delicate’) but that he knows how to captivate the masses and grab their attention. A lock up leads to a quick cradle pin attempt by Savoldi. Exotico kicks out and complains his tights were pulled. Savoldi gets a side headlock on Exotico and hits a shoulder tackle off the ropes. A rope running leapfrog and drop down sequence leads to Savoldi taking Exotico down with a couple of armdrags. Savoldi hypes up the crowd and Moyano talks up Savoldi’s speed and endurance. Exotico hits a clothesline on Savoldi and struts after. Exotico follows up with a couple of snap mares and does a single arm bicep pose to the crowd. Eliud actually commends Exotico on his performance so far but Savldi counters with a series of punches to cut off Exotico’s momentum. However, Savoldi misses a charge into the corner (going headfirst) and Exotico takes advantage with a belly to back suplex for a two count. A slam leads to a missed elbow however, and Savoldi is able to come back with a series of blows. Exotico cuts off Savoldi with an eyerake and sends him into the ropes. Savoldi hits a leapfrog over Exotico, and then takes Exotico over in a sunset flip when Exotico was busy celebrating the successful avoidance. Savoldi gets the win and he’s back to make some waves in CSP.
MD: It’s easy to look at Savoldi, Styles, Watts being in and thinking that there’s something to a “boycott” of talent, but then you look back a few years earlier to guys like the RPMs getting pushes (and getting over!) and you look at who was getting pushed in Memphis, Portland, or (soon after this) Global, and you see that it’s more of a consolidation in WWF and WCW than anything else. Honestly, I’d probably be kind of excited if a guy with Savoldi’s skillset in working the crowd while still being willing to take a big corner bump came around in 2024. He was experienced in doing some things that are almost lost arts now. Exotico preened and strutted and posed and looked like the best possible Scotty the Body partner again, including his very dubious German Suplex, but Savoldi out-finessed him with a clever cradle for the win.
EB: It doesn’t take long for Savoldi and Eddie Watts to face off against each other, let’s go to the ending of that encounter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5HaEGJPM_E
We join the match in progress, with Savoldi down in one of the corners. Eliud Gonzalez on commentary is mentioning that Savoldi had received a punch from Chicky Starr on the outside and that Watts was taking advantage of the situation. Watts slingshots Savoldi throat first into the corner as we hear Chicky has made his way to the commentary table and said that the commentators should be honest with the fans and say Savoldi has no chance against Eddie Watts. Moyano says to Chicky that it looks like he’s learned a lot about boxing (referencing the punch he hit on Savoldi) and then says ‘speaking about boxing, the other day there were a lot of smacks (referencing Alfredo Escalera’s match vs Chicky Starr). Chicky takes exception to this and tells Moyano to stay out of business that does not concern him if he wants to keep his teeth. Moyano says that he was only referencing the Tyson vs Douglas fight. Chicky is not buying it and Eliud tries to defuse the situation by talking up how Chicky’s wrestlers have climbed the ladder of success, but Chicky is still hot about Moyano’s dig. In the ring, Watts has been in control but misses a dive from the turnbuckle. This gives Saovldi the opening to come back with a series of punches and a backdrop. Watts begs off but Savoldi continues on the attack, sending Watts into the ropes and hitting a palm strike to the chest. Watts begs off again, but is able to counter Savoldi with a kick to the midsection and immediately bail to the outside after receiving a signal from Chicky. It looks like Chicky and Watts are claiming that the elbow pad has come loose and needs adjusting, but it’s likely that they are loading it up. Watts gets back in the ring and tries to ram Savoldi into the turnbuckle, but that gets countered. Savoldi hits a few punches but is cut off by Watts hitting a knee. Watts grabs onto Savoldi and then leverages both him and Savolid over the top rope to the outside with a flip. The ref calls for the dq and awards the match to Savoldi due to Watts intentionally throwing him over the top rope. Watts and Chicky don’t seem to care too much since that means that they retain the World Junior title.
MD: We come in towards the end of this with Watts in control. He misses a dive out of the corner and Savoldi has a comeback. Watts breaks it up by having Chicky check his armguard and stalling but that weirdly doesn’t go anywhere. Instead, he gets Savoldi in a headlock, starts climbing the middle of the ropes while hanging on to him, and pulls both over to draw the DQ and theoretically protect his belt, but I had no real idea what he was going for there. I’d say that these two were overall matched up well, though?
EB: With the ending of that match it’s only a matter of time before Savoldi and Watts face each other again. In the meantime, let’s take another look at both men in action against other opponents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyP4ktoIASU
Watts is taking on Armandito Salgado and it’s another chance for Watts to show off his skills now that he is the World Junior champion. Eliud Gonzalesz does the ring introductions and Moyano mentions that the crowd does not like Watts at all but puts over his capabilities in the ring. The match starts fairly even with Watts and Salgado exchanging arm wringer counters and switches, leading to Watts complaining that his tights were pulled (even going over to the ref and pulling his pants to show what had supposedly happened). Salgado actually gets a nice chop sequence to back up Watts but misses a corner charge which gives Watts the opening to control the rest of the match. Watts mouths off to the crowd, eliciting a loud reaction back, and eventually hits the Canadian Guillotine for the win. Very solid showing from Watts.
MD: Watts is growing on me a bit. He’s not Rip Rogers or Eric Embry but for a Jr. version who can still stooge a bit and has stuff that generally looks good, he’s ok. He’s learning the specific crowd more and more and was engaged with them throughout this entire enhancement match. He had a kind of weird looking Saito/Teardrop suplex where he hangs on to the tights and of course his Alabama Jam to end it. Not a bad showing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O13o80pFEjA
EB: Meanwhile, Savoldi is facing El Gran Mendoza, which should be a solid matchup. Both men are evenly matched to start but Savoldi controls the pace with a side headlock takedown. They work a side headlock into a pin reversal sequence a couple of times before standing back up and working a rope running sequence which sees Savoldi get the better of it with a clothesline on Mendoza. Moyano and Eliud on commentary talk about how they’re expecting this to be a good matchup as Mendoza rolls out of the ring to collect himself and then gets back in the ring. Mendoza again ends up on the receiving end of an armdrag sequence but manages to reach the ropes to break the arm hold. Mendoza takes the advantage of a throat punch and focuses his attacks on the neck area of Savoldi, including hitting a hotshot on the top rope for a pin attempt. Savoldi mounts a comeback with several punches and an elbow off the ropes, but Mendoza counters with a clothesline of his own coming off the ropes. Mendoza’s attempt at a reverse cradle is blocked by Savoldi and Savoldi hits a sunset flip for the pinfall win. A solid showing for Savoldi and you can be sure he will get another crack at Eddie Watts.
MD: These two match up against one another well too. Mendoza is a little bigger but they could have been a tag team given their looks. Again, this is just as meat and potatoes/comfort food undercard late 80s/early 90s wrestling as you can. Savoldi is a perfect 1986 second match on the WWF B show babyface. But this stuff doesn’t exist anymore so it’s not bad to go back and visit.
EB: We have one more member of El Club Deportivo we haven’t talked about yet and that is Manny Fernandez. Manny has been in the crosshairs of Carlos Colon ever since he interfered in the Universal title match he was having vs Leo Burke, a match where he cost Colon the title win and also injured Barba Roja with the flying kneedrop. Their matches so far have been inconclusive and, although they did not face each other on February 10, Colon still wants to get his hands on Manny. To clarify the timeline a bit, it is around this point in mid February that the match where Manny defends the Puerto Rico title against Invader takes place, the one where Carlos rushes in at the end wearing a suit and brawls with Manny. This leads to the tag match where Colon and Invader took on Burke and Manny, the one where the Super Medicos came out to help the injured Invader and ends with Carlos and Invader attempting to go after the rudos who had fled back to the locker room. Carlos and Manny are scheduled to cross paths once more on March 3, but let’s take the opportunity to watch Manny in action against Huracan Castillo Jr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rW4mVx5Rtw
We get the ring introductions (with Manny billed from Mexico) with the match scheduled to one fall with a 10 minute time limit. Hector Moyano is on commentary and mentions that this match should be an exciting one. As Manny and Castillo feel each other out, Castillo appears to direct some words to Manny. On the outside, we cut to Chicky showing off his cap to the camera and checking out how good he looks in the reflection. Moyano highlights that Castillo has the speed but Manny is dangerous at all times in the ring and will not show mercy. They lock up and Castillo gets a side headlock on Manny. This is countered by Manny sending Castillo into the ropes, leading to a duck down and leapfrog sequence from Manny and an attempted armdrag that gets countered by Castillo. Chicky complains that Castillo pulled the tights on the second armdrag takedown as the crowd gets on Chicky. Castillo keeps working the armbar but Manny breaks out of it briefly. A charge gets countered by Huracan and after a few counters Manny is back in the armbar on the mat. Chicky complains the hair was pulled to no avail. However, Manny manages to get back to his feet and, as the ref circles around, takes the opportunity to yank Castillo down by the hair and put on his own armlock. The crowd starts yelling at the ref that Manny pulled Castillo’s hair, which Manny denies doing when asked. Castillo tries to fight out but gets yanked down again by the hair (with the crowd again yelling at the ref about it). Manny gets caught on the third attempt and as the ref warns Manny, Castillo takes the opening and yanks Manny down by his hair instead. A test of strength is initially won by Manny but Castillo eventually is able to get back to his feet and hit a few kicks to the midsection to bring Manny down to his knees. Manny breaks the test of strength by sending Castillo into the ropes and surprises him with a lariat as Castillo is rebounding back. Manny hits a couple of kneedrops and seems to be in control. Manny tries a backdrop but Castillo counters into a sunset flip for a two count. An inside cradle by Castillo gets two. Manny sends Castillo into the ropes but misses a clothesline. However, as Castillo is rebounding off the ropes, Manny surprises Huracan with his inverted rolling elbow to the face. One flying forearm later and Manny is able to get the pinfall. Another win for the current Puerto Rico champion.
MD: This was basically a good first half of a match but they went to a finish without a comeback. Solid first act though, with the two matched up well. Manny would get advantages by drawing the ref by claiming a hairpull and then doing one himself, but Castillo would come back. Manny took over for real with a clothesline out of nowhere and worked the jaw a bit. Castillo didn’t get a comeback but he a couple of roll up hope spots before Manny took him down with the corkscrew back elbow and flying forearm. Interesting, Manny was billed from Mexico and not Texas here.
EB: TNT has been successful in retaining the Universal title in his rematches against Leo Burke. As the month of February approaches its end, the WWC championship commission has decided that it’s the turn of the new number one contender to challenge TNT for the Universal title. That new number one contender? Carlos Colon, who had climbed back to the top position and who hadn’t really had a clean loss to Leo Burke in his attempts to regain the Universal title. Carlos had also ceded a title shot he had to TNT so that TNT could have a chance to avenge the loss of his face paint against Leo Burke. This series of matches led to TNT eventually winning the Universal title. So now we have the prospect of TNT defending against Carlos Colon. Except, Carlos has decided to forego the title match. He will not challenge a fellow member of El Ejercito de la Justicia for the Universal title, he’s good with someone from their side holding the title and doesn't plan to ever challenge for the Universal title again as long as TNT holds the title (which Carlos feels will be for a long time).
With Carlos Colon passing up the title shot, the number two contender moves up and is declared to be next challenger. That wrestler? Abdullah the Butcher, who we last saw being cheered by the fans for turning on Chicky Starr and going after Steve Strong. Abdullah is finally making his return to Puerto Rico and he is also bringing in a new manager with him by the name of El Jeque. Abdullah is not part of El Club Deportivo but El Jeque also says that Abdullah is not a member of El Ejercito de la Juticia, he is his own entity. Still, Abdullah was playing a bit nicer last time we saw him and it’s going to be interesting to see Abdullah take on TNT. They are scheduled to wrestle for the Universal title on March 3. But before the title match takes place, we have an interesting match taking place on tv, there is a battle royale with a $5,000 prize and most of the roster is taking part, including TNT and Abdullah the Butcher. Let’s go to that match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJFMOslereY
We join the battle royale already in progress, with only Huracan Castillo Jr. having been eliminated from the field of competitors at this time. There is a $5,000 prize for the winner and we get a good representation of the regular CSP roster at this point in time, I think we’re only really missing Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr (setting aside Harley and Manny for now). Competing for the prize are TNT, Abdullah the Butcher (accompanied by his new manager El Jeque), Invader #1, Miguelito Perez, Huracan Castillo Jr (who has been already eliminated based on the commentary), both Super Medicos, Joe Savoldi, Leo Burke, both Mercenarios, Carl Styles, a newcomer to the territory named Rick Valentine (you may know him as Kerry Brown and we’ll discuss him more next time), Eddie Watts and El Exotico. There’s a lot of action in the ring but Exotico gets cute and tries to take on Abdullah. This does not go well for Exotico and Abdulalh tosses him out for the second elimination of the battle royale. Moyano on commentary mentions that it looks like Abdullah was making gestures towards the locker room as a message to Chicky Starr, there is no love lost between them stemming from the incident when Abdullah attacked Chicky and Steve Strong was sent after Abdullah. The action continues as we see the Super Medicos double team Rick Valentine and then Carl Styles. We go to commercial break and when we come back, it looks like no one else has been eliminated so far, although Eliud Gonzales is mentioning that Abdullah has just helped Invader back into the ring. It looks like Abdullah had gone over to help Invader from being eliminated by Ron Starr, something that has surprised Moyano and Eliud. Abdullah goes to a corner as the wrestlers continue battling. Eliud identifies the new Medico as Medico #4 (this makes more sense since we already had a #2 and #3 in the early to mid 80s).
As the match continues, Leo Burke surprises Miguelito Perez and eliminates him. Rick Valentine tosses out Super Medico #4 for the fourth elimination of the contest. TNT eliminates Eddie Watts, which is quickly followed by Carl Styles eliminating Joe Savoldi. It looks like the eliminations are starting to pick up. TNT kicks out Angel Acevedo as the field keeps dwindling. Abdullah keeps to his corner as the wrestlers continue trying to eliminate competitors. Burke tosses Invader twice over the top rope but Invader lands on the apron both times and gets back in. Burke tosses Invader a third time but remains there to try to push him off when Invader lands on the apron. However, Invader counters with a headscissors and tries to yank Burke out instead, but the attempt results in both men going over and being eliminated. Invader and Burke briefly fight on the outside, as we see Carl Styles successfully toss Super Medico #1 out. We’re down to five competitors. Abdullah is doing a standing choke on Ron Starr in one corner as Styles and Rick Valentine are double teaming TNT. Styles momentarily goes after Abdullah in order to help Ron Starr. Ron starts attacking Abdullah as Styles goes back to TNT, who is being held by Valentine. Styles charges but TNT ducks and the blow sends Rick Valentine over the top rope and out. Four men left. TNT tries to eliminate Styles on one side of the ring, while on the other side Abdullah manages to counter Ron Starr’s attack and is able to eliminate him. TNT has Styles halfway out when Abdullah seizes the opportunity, comes up from behind and tosses both TNT and Styles out. Abdullah has won the match and the $5,000 prize.
El Vikingo hands the check to Abdullah as El Jeque enters the ring to celebrate with his client. TNT also enters the ring and starts questioning Abdullah about why he tossed him from behind. El Jeque holds up the check as TNT continues making the thrown out motion and asking Abdullah why he did that. If you look closely you can see Abdullah starts pointing to the check the last couple of times that TNT does the thrown out motion, basically saying that’s why he did it. Abdullah bows his head and sticks out his hand in a gesture of letting bygones be bygones. TNT goes to shake it and Abdullah immediately hits him with a strike that knocks TNT down. Abdullah starts leaving the ring, looking annoyed but not attacking TNT any further. As Abdullah and El Jeque are leaving the ringside area, TNT gets up, jumps over the top rope, and chases down Abdullah. TNT starts furiously attacking Abdullah, kicks El Jeque for good measure and grabs El Jeque’s cane. TNT then starts attacking Abdullah over and over with the cane. The cane gets repeatedly slammed on Abdullah's head and busts him open. El Vikingo tries to stop TNT, but he gets thrown to the ground. TNT is in a rage and continues attacking a prone Abdullah with cane shots. Abdullah looks to be holding his hand up as a sign to try to ward off TNT, but the attack continues. Isaac Rosario comes out and tries to help El Vikingo stop TNT, but TNT ends up throwing both men off and goes back to attacking Abdullah. El Jeque has made his way over and tries to help Abdulalh but TNT starts hitting Jeque for good measure. TNT starts choking Abdullah out with the cane, and to be honest, I think TNT is being a bit excessive considering what happened. Rosario and Vikingo finally manage to pull TNT away from a bleeding Abdullah.
We then go to an interview with TNT where he is discussing the upcoming Universal title defense vs Abdullah. TNT is talking about how he knows that the Universal title represents a lot of money to Abdullah, but that it also means a lot to TNT as well. This title is in the camp of El Ejercito de la Justicia and no one, including you Abdullah will take it. El Jeque interrupts the interview and calls out TNT for attacking him in a traitorous manner. Why did he do that to him? TNT immediately grabs Jeque by the throat and starts choking him out and starts saying that what happened to him is nothing, but before anything more happens Abdullah rushes onto the scene with a metal pail and just blasts TNT over the head with it. Abdullah gets a few blows in on TNT’s head as Hugo starts yelling for help. Carlos Colon and Invader #1 run in and chase off Abdullah before the attack continues further (although again, looking back at this, I don’t think Abdullah is really in the wrong here after TNT’s attack). Just as Abdullah is leaving the set, he tosses the pail backwards in an attempt to hit TNT. Hugo yells for Abdullah and El Jeque to be escorted out as Carlos and Invader check on TNT.
However, as TNT reaches his feet, he yells in a rage and sends Carlos and Invader flying. Hugo tells TNT to calm down as TNT yells for Abdullah. He then cuts a seething promo where he has to take deep breaths because of how furious he is. “Abdullah, Abdullah the Butcher… you want to fight with TNT? You want this title? Abdulah the Butcher, you’re going to have to kill me! Because this title represents my life! It represents the people of Puerto Rico! And Abdullah the Butcher, this that you have done to me (points at the blood on him) is nothing compared to what will happen to you in all of Puerto Rico! Abdulah the Butcher, by my mother, I will end you! ” TNT continues yelling as he storms off the set. Hugo mentions that TNT is bathed in blood, the studio walls, the floor, Hugo himself, everywhere is covered with blood. Hugo picks up the pail to show the dent in it from when Abdullah hit TNT. The Universal title match is happening on March 3 and things just became more personal..
MD: This is a personal thing but as opposed to the last time we saw a battle royal (the match that we launched with twenty or so entries ago), this time I knew all of the competitors and how they felt about one another and their roles on the card. Really, once you got Exotico (who dared step to Abdullah) and some of the juniors (like Watts and Savoldi) out, any one of those guys could have lasted to the end. Abby was coded as a babyface here, mainly paired with heels. There was a nice bit with Burke trying to throw out Invader over and over until they both went over together. Weirdly, the Medico we’ve been seeing as 2 or 3 was called 4 here. It ended up being Valentine (Rick, being Kerry Brown, who we haven’t seen much of yet) and Styles on the heel side and TNT and Abby in there with Styles accidentally hitting Valentine and Abby tossing out both TNT and Styles together. Postmatch, Abby teased a handshake but ended up assaulting TNT who fired back brutally with a cane. That led to a subsequent interview where Abby crushed TNT with a trash can and we were off to the races.
EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we head into March 1990. TNT and Abdullah the Butcher clash over the Universal title, Carlos gets his chance at Manny?, and there’s a tag team tournament on the horizon.
Labels: Abdullah the Butcher, Cuban Assassin, El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, Harley Race, Huracan Castillo Jr., Invader, Joe Savoldi, Leo Burke, Miguel Perez Jr., Puerto Rico, Ron Starr, Super Medico, TNT
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