Found Footage Friday: SAD GENIUS~! GRANS HAMADA & GUERRA~! GYPSY JOE~!

La Gran Guerra: Jason the Terrible/Chicky Starr/Iron Sheik/Ron Starr vs. Carlos Colon/Ricky Santana/Rufus R. Jones/TNT WWC 10/29/88

EB: On December 12 and 13 of 1987, Capitol Sports Promotions held for the first time ever the La Gran Guerra match, which pitted members of the heroic El Ejercito de la Justicia against members of the villainous El Club Deportivo. La Gran Guerra is two rings enclosed by a steel cage with all team members starting the match together. Handcuffs are located around the sides of the cage and the objective is to handcuff your opponents in order to neutralize and take them out of the fight. The winners are the team that is able to handcuff all of the opposing team’s members first. And the prize for winning is that you get to uncuff your teammates and then get 5 minutes to attack your neutralized opponents at your own leisure. The two sides have each won one La Gran Guerra match and now, ten and half months after the first two matches were held, a third La Gran Guerra is set to happen.

The date is October 29, 1988 and we are almost two months removed from the big Aniversario show main evented by Carlos Colon vs Hercules Ayala in a fire match. This feud continued beyond Aniversario, with Colon and Ayala engaging in several rematches that escalated to a stretcher match and most recently a Texas Death match on October 8. Colon and Ayala are captaining their respective teams for this third La Gran Guerra, but while Colon is competing in the match for El Ejercito de la Justicia, Ayala will be captaining from ringside for El Club Deportivo. Ayala is unable to compete due to a neck injury suffered when Carlos Colon piledrove him on the arena floor during their Texas Death match. He’ll be here supporting his team, even if he’s there in a neck brace at ringside.

Joining Carlos Colon on the El Ejercito de la Justicia are a veteran of the previous two La Gran Guerra matches in TNT and two first timers in Rufus R Jones and Ricky Santana. For El Club Deportivo it is none other than Chicky Starr leading the charge, joined by his cousin Ron Starr, the Iron Sheik (a key member of the team that won the second La Gran Guerra) and Jason the Terrible (who is making his return to Puerto Rico after a year and half away). Ron and Jason are competing in their first La Gran Guerra match. All combatants are in the ring so let the war begin. 

MD: There has been a lot of talk about modern cage matches and about how the cage is seen as something to climb or something to escape or something to fight on top of. That's in contrast to decades ago where a cage was somewhere where there could be no interference, where there could be no running, where feuds had to end. Gran Guerra takes it a step further even. In these, the goal is not to contain the action, but to constrain it. Instead of one more person entering every few minutes, wrestlers are removed instead. The action becomes tighter and more focused as it goes on and more and more wrestlers are handcuffed. 

Here the blood came quickly as people were tossed into the cage. Santana bled first but he was soon joined by almost everyone, with Jason as the obvious and striking exception. For the first few minutes, they stayed in one ring and ignored the other, just making everything feel all the more claustrophobic. When they did venture out into the second, it was more to allow for the handcuffing to be spaced out geographically than anything else. Colon and Jason were matched up for most of this and they would be the ones to end it.

These days interference happens in almost every cage match, just another way the gimmick has been diminished over time. But matches should serve purposes, not just to entertain and titillate. Dissonance creates heat. The cage is supposed to be a way to end feuds, to allow violence to run its course. In a world where that is true, where the last thing people expect is interference, it can cause amazing heat. In a world where it happens all the time, then there's much more to be gained by NOT having interference, because that's what goes against expectation. Then, one time out of ten, do it. That's how things played out here, with Ayala throwing in salt as Colon was about to win. Not only did it cost the babyfaces match, it also meant that they were beat on mercilessly for the next five minutes as per the stipulation. Here, because it was set up to matter, that meant even hotter rematches between the babyfaces and the heels and more tickets sold. So yes, there was interference here, but it's shown to be the exception that proves the rule.

ER: It can be tough watching such a large scale two ring match in fuzzy video quality, action further obscured by being shot through a chain link cage, but here it feels like we're seeing what anyone sitting in the cheap seats would be seeing at a huge blowoff event. The action can be hard to follow, but when the action is all blood-drawing punches you know you're just seeing the universal pro wrestling language being spoken. Blood flows early and often (Ricky Santana is so bloody that for all I know he hit the blade in the dressing room) and my favorite thing about it was TNT in there throwing all variety of full extension high kicks and spin kicks. In a match where every man is punching and using the cage, it's awesome to be the guy throwing huge kicks that play to the back row. All of his kicks look great, especially the ones to Chicky and Jason. Chicky is a great guy to see sell a kick, but I loved the match long story of Jason just walked through every kick to his mask, no matter how hard or spectacular, and finally fell flat on his face after a high kick to the back of his head. This is fucking Jason! Conventional weapons cannot harm him, conventional kicks cannot move him, and finally TNT finds his weak spot. This doesn't seem like the kind of match they could have done in PR just a decade before, as I've heard of far smaller things causing riots. Ayala throwing salt in Colon's eyes leading to all the babyfaces taking an unprotected 5 minute beatdown should have brought back the glory days of rioting. I don't think it would have been possible for the heels to make it past one minute without the cage being swarmed. 

Sad Genius vs. Gran Hamada 9/5/00

MD: I know Genius has other Texas Death Matches but I haven't seen them. But on some level this is a brilliant exercise in futility and frustration for Gran Hamada. Genius comes in with this amazing level of confidence, belt around his waist, pulling his hand back on the shake, and then he immediately gets rolled up by Hamada. this is a Texas Death Match though (the traditional style that can ONLY end in the ten count after a fall), so no big deal. He just gets up and keeps wrestling. Then he ends up in a cross arm breaker and almost immediately taps out. And he just gets up, selling the arm a bit, but otherwise unperturbed. Why not tap out? You have ten seconds to get back up after that. There's no reason to stay in a hold in a Texas Death Match with these specific rules except for pride, and this guy is somehow perfectly delusional and self-aware at the exact same time. 

In the face of all of this, Hamada is Hamada. He is full of pride. He, even in 2000, can still land on his feet out of a takeover, no problem. And yet he's been tossed into this bizarre world against this bizarre wrestler who was obviously capable and talented, with these rules that drive him increasingly nuts. Yes, Genius would take advantage of the ability to escape any hold he wanted and would come back with a clubbering shot or two, but Hamada just plowed through and kept things coming, escalating his offense and those holds. There was a path where he could eventually get Genius either hurt enough, knocked out enough, or humiliated enough that he'd stay down and that journey might have be compelling, but everything just sort of fizzled out as either Hamada or Genius or the ref or god himself just had enough and this ended without meaningful conclusion.

ER: I'll be honest: I've watched a lot of wrestling in my life, but I can't pretend I knew who Sad Genius was before this week. Maybe I heard about him once, who's to say. I've already forgotten enough names of movies, bands, actors, whatever, to fill books. If I'd heard tale of Sad Genius before a few days ago, they've been forced out by newer but not necessarily more interesting knowledge. Sad Genius is essentially a trust fund kid who keeps trying to buy his way into high society but is never accepted by the peers he seeks. It feels like he's doing a fake title belt Andy Kaufman bit, only if Andy got actually good at pro wrestling fundamentals and wanted to be taken seriously as a wrestler instead of just using wrestling as a medium for chaos. Sad Genius even looks like Andy Kaufman, right down to the exact same grown out at the sides combover Kaufman was sporting in 1982. 

This match is about 10 minutes long, and the entire time it feels like something teetering into a shoot. You get a real sense that there were details Gran Hamada was not told and he is finding them out over the course of the match. Hamada recognizes this man, whose name sounds like a bedroom shoegaze project, is Up to No Good. I am positive that Hamada was not told about the Texas Death rules. I am positive about that, as the only interpretation of what happens in the first 30 seconds of this match, is that Hamada recognizes Sad Genius is Up to No Good and shoot pins him with an inside cradle. Hamada dragged this man into an inside cradle and looked upset to learn that the house style was Texas Death. He wrestled the rest of the match like that and looked constantly perturbed and guarded, like he couldn't wait to lace into Genius for this shit. And that's before Genius kicks Hamada in the stomach a couple times as hard as he can, or hits the most shootstyle rolling kappo kick possible, or drops him on the back of his head with a back suplex. I'm confident nobody has told me about MUGA-trained Andy Kaufman before. I would remember that. 

Hamada still does flying, but he does it in this fascinating untrusting way, knowing he has to force Genius to catch a pescado, he throws dropkicks like he's expecting his target to move, and he keeps taking Genius down with armbars that keep turning more serious...but Genius never does act up. He just looks like he keeps getting shoot taken down and arm barred by a 50 year old legend until somebody in jeans gets on the apron and starts yelling. Sad Genius is either a great salesman or Gran Hamada actually hurt his arm, and there's a feeling that no matter what happens in any of these matches, Sad Genius is getting awarded the title. There's a 10 minute post-match interview with him and it plays like a video deposition of a man hesitant to give up his family. Sad Genius would have made a 500. 

JR:The music swells. You need to hear it for yourself. It starts out like music you’d normally hear through shitty laptop speakers and suddenly it swells, like when something diegetic becomes the needle drop over a montage. It dawns on me at this moment that I’m watching a haunted object. Not something cursed but something possessed and controlled by the spirit of Sad Genius. It dawns on me again when he is pinned almost immediately via a small package that looks uncooperative. Hamada looks confused and part of me wonders if he knows the rules to the match and then the referee starts counting as though it’s a Texas Death Match without weapons or cowboy boots or hatred. You can see in Gran Hamada’s eyes that he is in a wrestler’s stress dream. He is in the ring and he has no idea what the finish is, what the rules are. It’s a dream and he can’t go anywhere. His eyes are narrowed and wet and confused and Sad Genius stares back with the eyes of the man who used to come in to the library and tell me that fractals and zeroes were gateways to other dimensions. Hamada has no alternatives. He fights, applying an arm bar and winning and then hearing a bell and then starting over. The referee got to eight that time. He is stuck chasing a ghost, hearing an invisible audience. Suddenly he leaves. He breaks out. He wakes up. We are left behind. Maybe it was our dream all along. We are the ones trapped. Sad Genius has his arm raised, and we follow him back to the locker room. He’s sitting in a folding chair and speaking, staring into space just beyond the plane of the camera. We can now see the cameraman. We must be in the room, it’s the only explanation. He is staring at us. We can’t understand what he’s saying. The camera man is gone by now. Sad Genius is staring at us when the video ends.

 

Sad Genius vs. Gypsy Joe 1/19/03 

MD: There were not many people in this crowd, which sort of tracks and is not at all a surprise, but it does give this a distinct feeling like it's being wrestled specifically for us almost twenty-three years later. If the Hamada match was a novelty, this was a spectacle and pretty much everything one might have expected. For the first few minutes of this, Genius (who had his music start back up as he disrobed) and Joe (who came out to Dust in the Wind, of course) absolutely kill each other. After a couple of clean breaks, Genius launches just the nastiest kicks and then Joe brutalizes him with chops. There was one little short elbow that Joe hit that I went back and watched ten times because it was the best peppering shot I've seen in ages. Genius finally has enough and hits the floor only to start in on Joe's legs on the posts. If we had another five minutes of this I imagine it would be just as imagined.  

Instead, two masked Karate Guys come running in and it becomes an impromptu tag match with both of them working over Genius until he could get a dragon screw leg whip on one. Joe comes in just mauls them in the best way including taking all their chops like they were nothing. Genius gets in on the act too including Inoki pumphandles, but he gets hit by this hilarious low blow kick. He comes back anyway and hits a belly to back to win it and it's just all wonderfully ridiculous. Post-match Joe is ready to fight anyone in Tokyo and wants more people to show up next time.

ER: Sometime between the Hamada match and this match, Sad Genius added disrobing music. He keeps his robe one right up to the bell, when a 3 second power riff plays, timed to his disrobing and kicking off the match. Joe is 70 and definitely doesn't know who Sad Genius is, and at first I thought he was going to wrestle this in a t-shirt but instead he treats this guy like Fujinami. Genius hits three stiff as hell kicks to Joe's chest and Joe treats him like an asshole, at one point throwing a jab of an elbow point into Genius's eye. The double ninja DQ robbed us of any kind of chaotic finish and means we never get to see Joe try to break this guy's nose. Joe does do a 70 year old kneedrop off the top to one of the ninjas and that feels like one of the most dangerous things a man his age could possibly do. 

JR: Sad Genius disrobes in time with a music cue that hits with the force of a horror movie jump scare or a hammer or a bottle breaking. At this point I think it is not farfetched to assume we are in the presence of a trickster god. The front row here is completely empty this time. I cannot tell if it is the same building. It looks like it. It might not even be a building but a dimension. A domain. Gypsy Joe looks incredible and looks as though he is decomposing. He is wondrous. Sad Genius is beautiful and it is easy to see why so many gave him so many chances. While I’m thinking this, two masked men in karate outfits attack everyone. They do not look like trained pro wrestlers. They are resplendent. Suddenly, Joe and Sad Genius are united. They are on our side. They are on a side together. It feels like a moral impossibility for Sad Genius to understand the idea of comradery. There is someone off camera yelling instructions in English. There are probably voices speaking in languages that do not exist if I dare turn the volume up any louder. 

The bell never ends anything in this match. There is a winner and the fight continues. The sacred space bleeds into something profane that only Sad Genius understands. He lays out wrestling matches like an alien who had wrestling explained to them by a child and then thought about it for a thousand years. He lays out wrestling matches like those chess computers that have only ever played chess against other computers. One of the karate men hits Sad Genius in the groin and he doubles in pain, and something so normal and recognizable and banal feels uncanny. Music plays and there is another winner and the two men with faces are attacked again. The bell never means anything. Eventually the karate men stop returning into the frame. It feels final and I can’t say how. The camera follows Joe and Sad Genius out, back into a locker room. They speak in English. They speak past one another. We are left with a still shot of a grey hallway, like something out of a Tsai Ming Liang film. I can still see it with my eyes closed.
 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Springtime in CSP

Week 24: Springtime in CSP

EB: One of the main challenges of doing this journey through Puerto Rican wrestling is that we are covering a period where we usually have a dearth of results and/or footage to help inform the rivalries and wrestlers that are appearing in this time period we are covering. The late 1989 to first half of 1990 in particular is a time period where we tend to lack information. Matt and I have done our best in piecing together what we have found (both footage wise and results wise) but this is still a bit of a dark period. April 1990 is definitely a month where this lack of information is notable, so we’ll try to piece together as best as we can how things are progressing in CSP as Spring gets into full swing. The best way to try to cover the goings on is by reviewing the status of the titles and their current feuds.

Let’s begin first with the World Junior title, where ‘Tough Guy’ Eddie Watts has been the World Junior champion since the end of January. After initially winning the title from Super Medico #1, for the past couple of months, Watts has held back the challenge of Huracan Castillo Jr. and Joe Savoldi. More recently, Watts has had a few matches with Invader #4, but his main challengers are still Castillo and Savoldi. And while Watts has been able to hold onto the title so far, his luck is about to run out. According to the title’s history, Huracan Castillo Jr. was able to defeat Eddie Watts for the World Junior title on April 21.   

Although we will still see a bit more of Eddie Watts, we do have to say goodbye to Joe Savoldi, whose most recent semi-regular run wraps up in April. Before saying goodbye to Savoldi, let’s watch him in action against two opponents. First, a non-title TV match against Eddie Watts, and then a bonus match against Chicky Starr.

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

We join the match in progress as Watts has Savoldi on the mat and applies a spinning toe hold. Chicky Starr as usual is at ringside for Watts. Eliud Gonzalez is on commentary, and he makes sure to point out how effective Eddie’s repeated toeholds are on damaging Savoldi’s knee and leg. Watts keeps focusing his attack on Savoldi’s left leg, but Savoldi eventually is able to kick Watts away and flip him over off the ropes. Watts and Savoldi get into a blow exchange, one that it looks like Savoldi is winning. However, Watts sweeps Joe’s leg and sends Savoldi to the mat. Eddie follows up with an ankle twist and then stomps on Savoldi’s leg after placing it on the bottom rope. Watts takes too long jawing at the crowd and Savoldi counters a leg hold with an enziguri. Savoldi mounts a comeback but is showing the effects of the hurt leg. Savoldi works over Eddie’s right leg by ramming it a few times into the ringpost. Both men fight on the outside but Savoldi manages to throw Watts back into the ring. Watts begs off but is able to throw Savoldi through the ropes. However, Savoldi surprises Watts on the apron with a sunset flip back into the ring and is able to score a three count for the win! Savoldi may have not been able to defeat Watts for the World Junior title, but he was still able to score a clean win over Watts.

MD: This is JIP with Watts doing damage to Savoldi’s leg to start. Savoldi does a good job selling it on the comeback, using punches and other things instead of his usual start-of-the-90s junior offense. Watts tries to take a powder but Savoldi chases him down, drops the selling and hits a sunset flip into the ring to win. 

EB: As a bonus, let’s also watch footage of a Savoldi vs Chicky Starr match. We’re not sure if this match is from 1989 or 1990, but it gives us another chance to see Chicky in singles action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iX53MgPnWc

Another match joined in progress, as both men briefly lock up but Chicky quickly gains the advantage with some blows. Savoldi fires back with a few haymakers and hits a backdrop on Chicky, who quickly decides to roll outside to regroup. Chicky takes his time getting back into the ring and once again gains the advantage with a low blow on Savoldi. Chicky starts hobbling around, complaining that he has a bad knee, but continues attacking the downed Savoldi with several kicks and knee strikes (including using his supposedly injured knee). Chicky remains in control for a couple of minutes, hiding some illegal punches from the ref’s view and taunting the crowd as he maintains control while adjusting his knee pad every so often. Chicky attempts a cover after a slam but Savoldi quickly kicks out. Savoldi fires off a few punches and seems to gain control, backing Chicky into the corner with some kicks. Savoldi hits a monkey flip on Chicky and the tide has definitely turned in Savoldi’s favor. Joe goes on the attack, including chasing Chicky around the ring, and continues with the advantage with several punches and kicks. A punch knocks Chicky through the ropes to the outside, and Savoldi gives chase. However, Chicky appears to reach into his tights as he ambles around the ring,  and when Savoldi tries to chase after him back into the ring, Chicky catches Joe with a loaded punch. Savoldi falls to the mat and Chicky quickly covers for the pinfall win. A not so clean victory for Chicky Starr.

MD: Pretty complete in seven minutes or so. Maybe a little JIP. Chicky eats some shine work until he uses the loaded kneepad (that rare weapon) to throw a bunch of shots into Savoldi’s guts. Joe eventually comes back with monkey flips and a running knee into the corner of his own and Chicky takes a great bump through the ropes. On the floor, though, he pulls out yet another object, this time the knucks and catches Savoldi back in the ring after he gives chase for the win. It makes sense if Chicky’s being pushed as a tag champ (or about to be depending on this was filmed) that he can still get one over, dirty, on a Jr. Heavyweight.

EB: Let’s talk briefly about the other singles title holders. March was a turbulent month for the Universal title, with two title changes occurring in the month. TNT lost the Universal title to Abdullah the Butcher, who in turn lost it to Carlos Colon to end the month. TNT was not happy about losing the Universal title, and beside that unexpected match vs Saito on TV, would soon find himself enveloped in a feud with Rick Valentine (another member of El Club Deportivo). Let’s go to a brief clip from the ending of a recent TNT vs Valentine match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXgoZV2IrH0 

Hugo narrates the clip, mentioning that both men are on the outside and bleeding. We cut to both TNT and Valentine on their knees and exchanging blows, with both men notably bleeding from their foreheads. We then cut to later in the match, where both men get to their feet and trade blows once more. TNT is able to get the better of this exchange and is able to knock Valentien down with a headbutt. Valentine kicks out of a pin attempt and TNT fires off a few chops in the corner. TNT whips Valentine across the ring but runs into Valentine’s knees when attempting to follow through. Valentine takes advantage and quickly pins TNT, placing his legs on the ropes for leverage and scoring the three count. Valentine steals the win as Hugo mentions that blood has been spilled and TNT is going to be looking for revenge.

MD: This is clipped in a way that we don’t usually see in this footage. We just get snippets of it for a minute or so. What we do get to see is mainly bloody brawling with both of them on their knees throwing shots though. It looks really good and this is one that I wish we had in full, even if on paper, you might not expect much of it. Valentine gets the crooked win by putting his feet on the ropes after a double leg in the corner. 

EB: TNT would continue feuding with Valentine into the beginning of May, but he would not remain without a title for much longer, as at the April 25 tv tapings TNT would regain the TV title he never lost (he had vacated the title when he won the Universal title) by defeating Leo Burke. That’s now two titles El Club Deportivo has lost as the end of April approaches. Of the remaining singles titles, two are in the hands of El Ejercito de la justicia (Colon has the Universal title and Invader #1 has the Caribbean title), while the Puerto Rico title is still held by the injured Manny Fernandez (although the title’s status may soon change since it seems Manny is not returning).

We’ll talk soon about the Universal title, but first let’s look at the tag scene. As mentioned in our previous installment, the end of March saw both tag titles switch hands, with the Super Medicos winning the World tag team titles and Chicky Starr & Leo Burke winning the Caribbean tag titles from the Invaders. Let’s first review the Caribbean tag title feud that began at the end of March.

Chicky and Burke were able to win the Caribbean tag titles from the Invaders thanks to interference from the Iron Sheik. While this interference led to a singles match between Sheik and Invader #1 on March 31, the Invaders quickly started chasing Chicky and Burke to get their rematch for the Caribbean tag titles. As we saw last time, Chicky and Leo gave the Invaders a non-title match, but the Invaders were able to win that match and secure a return title match. 

On April 7 in Caguas, the two teams faced off once again, but Chicky and Burke attacked Invader #4 during the match and temporarily took him out of action. An angry Invader #1 signed to face the Caribbean tag champs in a two vs one handicap match on April 14.  This handicap match took place at Estadio Hiram Bithorn and at one point during the match, Maelo Huertas showed up to help save his brother from a two on one attack, bringing a two by four with him to help clear the ring. Hugo said he had never seen Maelo (Invader #4) like that when he showed up with the two by four. The two teams are signed to face each other in a grudge match for April 21, so it looks like the feud between Chicky & Burke and the Invaders is far from over. We unfortunately do not have footage of any of these matches, but we do have an Invader #1 music video with several highlights from 1986 and 1989 (and set to their current entrance music). Let’s see how many opponents you can recognize.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xr9kfTpjEY

MD: I’d honestly say that this is a great way to show someone who isn’t in the know exactly what made Invader special. You only see a little bit of his selling but you see a ton of him coming back with big strikes against formidable foes as the crowds go wild. 

EB: The Super Medicos were finally able to defeat Los Mercenarios for the World tag team titles on March 31. The former champions were not happy over losing the World tag titles, and they decided to send a message to the Super Medicos. We got an inkling of something happening during an insert promo we saw in a previous installment, where the Super Medicos made reference to an attack done by Los Mercenarios. What exactly happened? Well, the incident occurred during a tag match where the Super Medicos were facing an unexpected tandem popping in for an appearance in CSP.

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

We already saw Mr. Saito in action vs TNT in the previous installment, but it appears he did not make this excursion alone. Riki Choshu is teaming up with Saito to face the Super Medicos and I am still in shock that these two popped in for an appearance in CSP in April 1990. Eliud Gonzalez introduces both teams, as the Super Medicos show off their recently won World title belts. Saito and Choshu are being managed by El Profe, who has specialized in managing the Japanese wrestlers that have come into the territory. Profe is also the manager of Los Mercenarios, so there may be something else up as well. Choshi and Medico #1 start off for their teams. Choshu gets the better of the initial exchange and is able to back Medico #1 into the rudo corner. Saito holds Medico #1 as Choshu delivers some chops. Master Saito is tagged in and briefly maintains the advantage on Medico #1. However, Medico #1 counters with several chops on his end and is able to tag Medico #3, who sends Saito down with a dropkick. Estrada Jr (it appears we’re still in that weird period where he is being called #4 although by now I think he had been promoted to #3) gets a two count but Saito gets control back with an eye poke. Choshu is tagged in and delivers several kicks to Estrada Jr, followed by a suplex. Choshu gets a two count and tags Saito back in. Saito applies a sleeperhold on the younger Estrada, but Medico #1 jumps off the top rope to break the hold. The rudos make a switch behind the ref’s back, and Choshu puts a nerve hold on the younger Medico (which is again broken up by Medico #1). The rudos switch again, Saito works a nerve hold and again Medico #1 comes in off the top rope to break the hold. Another illegal switch and Choshu works a neck wringer on Estrada Jr. The ref asks Profe if the tag was made and he shakes his head vigorously in the affirmative. Another Illegal switch occurs and Saito backdrops Estrada Jr. Saito continues in control, choking Estrada Jr. and eventually tags Choshu back in. Choshu and the younger Medico exchange blows and Choshu keeps Estrads Jr near the rudo corner. 

Saito is tagged back in and proceeds to choke out Estrada Jr on the mat. Medico #1 cheers on his partner from the apron, and it looks like Estrada Jr is trying to fight out of the choke. Saito sends Estrada Jr. into the ropes and Estrada Jr counters with a dropkick. This allows for the tag to be made to Medico #1, who comes in  with punches on both Saito and Choshu. While this is happening, El Profe charges towards the tecnico corner and yanks Estrada Jr off the apron. This angers Estrada Jr, who goes after Profe, who is backing up towards the locker room entrance. El Profe tries to kick Estrada Jr, but the kick is blocked and Estrada Jr knocks Profe down. As Estrada Jr sets himself up to punch a downed Profe, Los Mercenarios rush out of the locker room and attack the younger Medico. It was a set up. Los Mercenarios and El Profe grab the younger Estrada and drag him into the locker room. Meanwhile, Medico #1 has been successfully fighting off both Saito and Choshu. However, Medico #1 realizes that his tag partner is missing and asks the crowd what happened. Medico #1 leaves the ring in search of his son, as the fans point in the direction of the locker room. All of a sudden, the younger Estrada is tossed out of the locker room and to the floor, busted open. Medico #1 sees his son and goes to him, but the referee has been doing the ring out count while all this has been happening. As Medico #1 holds his son and tries to help him, the referee counts out the Medicos. Saito and Choshu win the match and it looks like Los Mercenarios have sent a message to new World tag team champions.   

MD: Well, this is surreal. It feels like a 1990 WCW tag tournament or something. Choshu and Saito (MASTER Saito) don’t take the night off either. They feed early and then cut Medico (4? They’re saying 4; I’m going to assume it’s Estrada, Jr. unless Esteban tells me otherwise) off with a perfectly timed shot from Saito. A lot of these Medicos matches have felt like an education in Estrada, Jr. taking the heat and there’s more of that here as he takes a beating and gets a hope spot or two in. On the comeback, Medico 4 goes after Profe and gets ambushed by the Mercenarios so while Medico 1 is punching Choshu and Saito and giving them a double noggin knocker, Medico 4 is nowhere to be seen. Eventually he’s tossed out, a bloody mess, and Medico 1 tends to him leading to the countout. This was a fun surprise. 

EB: The Super Medicos and Los Merenarios would face off after this attack in a rematch on April 14. This feud will continue throughout the month and we’ll see how it ends up unfolding next time.
We have a couple of matches that appear to be from April 7. The first match features El Profe’s latest monster Atkie Malumba taking on Miguelito Perez. Let’s see if Perez fares better than the other wrestlers that have faced Malumba so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wHxkly5mOY

Hugo and Chicky are on commentary, as they mention that Miguelito has a tough opponent in Malumba. Atkie has been impressive thus far as part of El Profe's Real Academia. Hugo notes that Miguel will have to use his speed and agility against Malumba, as we wait for Atkie to finish his pre match preparation. As Malumba bows, Hugo asks Chicky if they are happy that this man is with El Profe and not against them (Chicky responds with Definitely). Atkie charges at Perez to start but is met by several; punches from Miguelito. Perez is able to stun Malumba and back him into a corner, where he continues attacking Malumba with punches and kicks. Perez does some standing punches and continues the attack, ramming Malumba into another corner and not letting up. Chicky admits on commentary that he is impressed that Perez has been able to keep Malumba at bay so far. However, the momentum shifts when Miguelito whips Malumba into the opposite corner and tries to follow up with a corner splash. Malumba meets the incoming Perez with his own standing splash, and Perez is knocked down. Atkie follows up by choking Perez on the mat, as Hugo mentions that Perez must feel like he ran into a truck. El Profe mugs for the camera holding the shrunken head, as Malumba tosses Perez outside of the ring. Malumba drags Perez over to the fence in front of the crowd and attacks Perez there, including grating Perez’s head across the fencing. Atkie starts shaking and chanting, as he moves over to El Profe and bows to him and the shrunken head. Profe makes sure to point Malumba back in Miguelito's direction, and Atkie kicks the incoming Miguelito right in the face. Back in the ring, Malumba hits a slam and follows up with a splash. As we have seen before, Atkie foregoes the pin and decides to go to the top turnbuckle. A flying splash leads to a three count and another impressive win for Atkie Malumba. El Profe celebrates in the ring and Malumba hits an elbow drop on Perez post match. Chicky says that this man is here to destroy El Ejercito de la Justicia and, so far, it looks like Malumba will do just that. 

MD: Quick mauling here. Malumba took him out to the fence and beat him there a bit, rolled him back in and hit a top rope splash. It was what it should have been.

EB: The other match we have from April 7 features the new Universal champion. Carlos Colon defeated Abdullah the Butcher on March 31st to become the Universal champion once more. While Abdullah will not be appearing in the short-term (meaning no title rematch), El Jeque has sent his latest acquisition after Carlos Colon. The Iron Sheik is no stranger to Carlos, with the two men having previously had a feud over the Universal title in early 1988. Now, it appears Sheik is set on continuing what Abdullah is not able to follow up on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxfqwzFWEl0 

We join the match in progress as it looks like the Iron Sheik was using his loaded boot to counter a charge into the corner by Carlos. We cut to later in the match as Hugo continues narrating. Carlos goes for a slam on the Sheik but the ref gets knocked down by Sheik’s legs on the slam pick up. Carlos is bleeding and both wrestlers look tired. Carlos hits another body slam on the Sheik and goes to the top turnbuckle. Carlos attempts a flying legdrop but the Iron Sheik rolls out of the way. Sheik gets to his feet first as we see El Jeque lying on the ground beside the ring, completely knocked out. Sheik puts Carlos in the camel clutch. The ref is still out but eventually comes to. Carlos manages to break the hold and the Sheik falls to the outside. Carlos goes after the Sheik and the clip cuts to both men exchanging punches outside of the ring as the ref tries to get them to go back inside. Both men  continue fighting and attack the ref when he tries to break it up (Sheik with a shove, Carlos with a headbutt). Carlos gets fired up and continues punching the Sheik, but a kick to the groin stops Carlos in his tracks. The Iron Sheik takes advantage of the low blow and puts Carlos back in the camel clutch outside of the ring. 

The ref comes to and calls for the bell, apparently it is a double disqualification. As Carlos struggles in the hold, the rudo locker room comes out to cheer Sheik on and to act as a barrier to anyone who might attempt to help Carlos. The tecnicos come out and start fighting with the rudos, as Sheik continues applying the camel clutch to Carlos.  As the fight continues, TNT breaks away from the group and goes around the ring, coming up behind the Iron Sheik with a chair. TNT cracks Sheik on the back with the chair, getting the camel clutch broken and saving Carlos.

MD: Wild stuff here. We only get three minutes of it. Colon accidentally takes out Vikingo with a slam, misses an Alabama Jam, and then just barely escapes the Camel Clutch (great bloody visual). He goes out with Sheik and headbutts him repeatedly and even headbutts Vikingo when he gets in the way. Sheik hits the foul and puts the Clutch back on while they’re out on the floor. Vikingo calls for the bell. The whole backstage area comes out to brawl (which I assume has to do with the heels uniting but it’s a great visual since they haven’t done anything like this since we started the project). 

EB: It looks like the rudos are banding together to try to take out El Ejercito de la Justicia. Colon obviously wanted payback against the Iron Sheik. What is next for these two? Let’s go to an airing of Campeones where we learn a bit more about how this rivalry escalated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIV-lVtyuLo

This match is from what is likely the April 14 Campeones episode. It’s an older match featuring the Iron Sheik vs Invader #2. We’re including it because the commentary is new, featuring Hugo and Chicky talking about the latest happenings in CSP. It also gives us a chance to see Invader #2 in action. This match originally happened in late 87 or early 88, when the Iron Sheik was being set up for his feud with Carlos Colon for the Universal title. At the time Chicky was the Iron Sheik’s manager. Besides the match, there are some important talking points we need to cover from the commentary.To start,Chicky mentions that he, El Profe and El Jeque have formed a coalition to take El Ejercito de la Justicia out. All three rudo managers are banding together and they will act as one unit going forward. As we’ll see in the coming weeks, this actually also serves as a way to phase out El Jeque, after this run with the Iron Sheik he will no longer be appearing as a manager for CSP. Chicky mentions that the Iron Sheik is an important centerpiece in this plan, as he’ll be facing Carlos Colon once more. Invader #2 controls the early part of the match, as he’s able to hiptoss Sheik. The Iron Sheik comes back with an eye rake and uses his spike toed boot to further gain the advantage. As Invader #2 cuts off Sheik with a dropkick, Hugo mentions that tomorrow they will be in Mayaguez (based on commentary from other matches, I believe TNT vs Iron Sheik was scheduled for that card). 

As the Sheik gains control again with another eye rake, we go to an insert promo featuring Carlos Colon. Carlos mentions that last week the Sheik hurt him (referencing the camel clutch incident we just saw), but tonight he will be out for revenge. They are scheduled to face off for the Universal title in a barbed wire match tonight at Estadio Hiram Bithorn. Calros promises he will deliver a heck of a beating to the Iron Sheik. Hugo and Chicky react to Colon’s words as the Iron Sheik begs off from an attack by Invader #2. As Invader #2 continues with a series of punches, Sheik resorts to another eye rake to cut off the attack. As the ref gets Invader #2 to back away from the corner, the Iron Sheik takes advantage to load up his boot. When Invader #2 charges in, Sheik comes off the ropes with a kick to the head and gets the three count. 

MD: This was a bit more of a spry Sheik from a few years earlier, up against Invader 2 in his Solar-masked glory. It was pretty back and forth with Sheik stooging backwards and bumping a bit more for him and then taking over with eyerakes primarily. This time when he loaded the boot, though, it was the end for Invader. I wonder how much of a boost him being in there, using that gimmick, and being with Chicky. had given Abbuda Dein as he was getting established. Unfortunately we don’t have the barbed wire match this sets up, which is quite the shame.

EB: We unfortunately don’t have any footage from the barbed wire match. Also, we have reached the end of the Iron Sheik’s short run in CSP. This means that there is an opening for a new challenger for the Universal title. Who will be next in line? We’ll find out in a moment as we go to a match that appears to be from the April 14 card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlG1REUE9Lo 

Pierre Martel is back and this time his opponent is the monster known as Atkie Malumba. Hugo and Carlos are on commentary and it appears this match is from a late April airing of Campeones, since Carlos mentions that he is soon to meet Malumba that night one on one (it seems we have found who Carlos Colon’s next challenger will be). Martel gets an early advantage working Atkie’s arm but a thrust to the throat cuts off Pierre’s attack. From there it’s mainly Malumba, as he shows off the different ways he can choke Pierre. Carlos mentions that we shouldn’t forget that Pierre does use a loaded boot, but whether it’ll come into play here remains to be seen. Malumba continues with the throat and neck based offense, with Profe even getting a cheapshot in on Pierre at one point. The match goes to the outside and Atkie continues on the attack, throwing Pierre into some chairs near ringside. Pierre manages to get back in the ring and tosses some dirt he grabbed from the floor into Atkie’s face, causing him to stumble around outside in discomfort. El Profe checks on Malumba and tries to wipe his face clean. Hugo mentions that with an opponent like Malumba you pretty much have to figure out how to even the playing field. Pierre stomps Maluba as he gets near the ring but follows him outside and gets the better of a punch exchange with Atkie. Back in the ring, Malumba is staggered and Pierre sets up for his loaded boot, but Profe grabs onto Pierre’s leg and refuses to let go. Atkie takes advantage of this distraction and knocks down Pierre from behind. This sets up a splash, although Malumba decides to forgo the pin. Atkie goes up top and hits a flyin splash, again choosing to stop the cover at two. The ref tries to stop Malumba from coming off the top rope again and Atkie splashes the referee instead. Atkie hits another flying splash on Pierre, as another referee comes in and calls for the bell. Malumba leaves the ring, as El Profe tries to calm him down and it looks like Martel is hurt.

MD: You always kind of want to hold it against Malumba for who he isn’t, but he had solid presence; he was always on, always reacting, always trying to make the most of whatever was happening. That meant recoiling in confusion and frustration at every shot Martel got in early and just constantly being on him when he did take over. Martel came back here only to have Profe grab his leg and Malumba load his boot. Maybe you don’t need the monster to also have a loaded boot gimmick but then it does create that dissonance of unfairness that he has to resort to something like that when he’s so big and so dangerous. Post-match was kind of great actually, as he hit a flying body press on the ref (Vikingo) who was trying to get in his way, just squashing him, and then hit the top rope splash on Martel anyway. That’s how you get over a monster, give or take the loaded boot.

EB: It looks like Carlos was attacked in Mayaguez by Atkie Malumba and he is now the newest challenger for the Universal title. Carlos is going to have his hands full with this monster, who has made easy work of all of his opponents thus far. We’ll continue to follow this burgeoning rivalry as we head into May.

Next time on el Deporte de las Mil Emociones, as May approaches things heat up for some of the existing rivalries. Will there be any new title changes? Also, a new wrestler arrives in CSP as a blond cowboy comes calling as part of the new rudo coalition.
 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Title Changes, a Sheik and a Master

Week 23: Title Changes, a Sheik and a Master

EB: A lot has happened so far in CSP in the month of March. TNT started a feud with Abdullah the Butcher over the Universal title, leading to TNT’s title reign being cut short. A tournament for the vacant Caribbean tag titles was held, with the new Invaders emerging as the new champions. Los Mercenarios held off the challenge of two of the top tecnico teams in los Super Medicos and the Invaders, remaining the World tag team champions. Carlos Colon saw an opportunity to once again challenge for the Universal title now that Abdullah was the champion. Eddie Watts continued to face the challenge of both Huracan Castillo Jr. and Joe Savoldi for the World Junior title. Miguelito Perez had ongoing issues with both Carl Styles and Rick Valentine. And we saw the arrival of a new monster in the form of Atkie Malumba. We’ll see how some of these rivalries continue to evolve as April approaches. 

As we head towards the final big card of March (scheduled for March 31) which features Abullah the Butcher defending the Universal title against Carlos Colon, let’s look at some other matches that took place throughout the month. Then we'll focus specifically on some matches that occurred on the March 28 tv taping, which would have aired the morning of March 31. 

Leo Burke had not been successful in moving back into the top contender spot for the Universal title, but it looks like he and Chicky Starr have decided to take part in more tag matches. Let’s see them in action vs the Caribbean Express.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkZfsw9Acmw 

This looks to have aired on the April 7 weekend English language Caribbean Championship Wrestling that aired on Channel 13 somewhere in the U.S. Leo and Chicky seem to be focusing more in potential tag action after Burke’s unsuccessful attempt to gain the number one contendership for the Universal title. These two teams have faced each other before. As both teams spend several moments jawing at each other at the start (it looks like Burke and Chicky are taking their time deciding who will start the match for their side), Hugo runs down the credentials for all four men and reminds us that Burke is the reigning TV champion. It looks like Chicky will start for his team but immediately begins to stall again, demanding that Castillo stay on his side of the ring before they move to lock up. Chicky prances around a bit and the crowd starts getting on his case for it. Chicky repeats the prancing a couple of times, a tactic that Hugo mentions is likely gamesmanship to throw the Caribbean Express off. Chicky decides to tag Burke in (without having ever locked up with Castillo). Burke and Castillo lock up, with Castillo countering into a hammerlock. Burke forces a break in the ropes and tags Chicky back in. Chicky and Castillo exchange side headlocks on each other and this leads to a rope running reversal sequence (including a nice flip by Castillo over Chicky) that ends with Castillo taking Chicky down with an armdrag takedown. Castillo makes a quick tag to Perez, who continues working the armbar on Chicky. 

Burke sneaks into the ring, taking advantage that the ref has his back turned while talking to Castillo, and kicks Perez in the back of the head to break the hold. Chicky takes advantage and forces Perez into the Burke and Starr corner with a front facelock, with Burke being tagged in. Burke hits several blows on Perez before putting Miguelito in a side headlock. Perez eventually counters with a throw on the ropes, with a hiptoss being successful. Burke quickly regains control by cutting off Miguelito with a knee to the gut. Burke tags Chicky back in, who continues on the attack with some cheap blows that he hides from the referee. Chicky even moves in front of Castillo on the apron to hit one of his cheap blows, causing the ref to get tied up with an arguing Castillo and giving Chicky more chances to work over Miguelito. Perez hits a back suplex but misses a splash, as Hugo on commentary mentions that we’ll find out later in the program what happened last Saturday between Abdullah and Carlos in a Universal title match. 

Burke tags in and works a headlock on the mat as Miguelito avoids having his shoulders down for a three count.  Perez eventually counters by shooting Burke into the ropes, ending with a scoop slam. Perez follows up by whipping Burke into the corner but Leo sidesteps a charge by Perez. Chicky gets tagged in and continues on offense, but the moment Perez gets a comeback Chicky tags Burke back in. They try to double team Miguelito but it ends with Perez hitting a double clothesline on the rudos. The tag is finally made to Castillo, who cleans house on Burke with several blows.  Castillo gets a sleeperhold on Leo, but Chicky runs in and breaks it up. Castillo tags Perez back in and eventually all four men end up fighting in the ring. The rudos are whipped into each other and Castillo dropkicks Chicky to the ring apron. Castillo continues punching Chicky on the apron as Perez monkey flips Leo off the turnbuckle. The ref comes over to escort Castillo back to his corner as Perez throws Burke into the rudo corner for another monkey flip attempt. Chicky sees the attempt coming and grabs onto Leo from behind, causing Perez to crash backwards on the mat instead. Burke covers and gets the win for his team. If Burke and Chicky continue to pile up wins they may have a title shot in their future. And they do in fact get a Caribbean tag title shot at the March 28 tv taping.

MD: Chicky has a goatee here so in my head this match is what earned them the title shot against the Invaders (Chicky also has a goatee in that match). After a bit of chicanery where Chicky didn’t want to start off and a nice exchange with Castillo, this went to heat on Perez quickly. He was able to get three or four hope spots (cut off) before hitting a double clothesline to set up the hot tag. Things broke down after that but Chicky jammed a Perez monkey flip by holding Burke’s boot in the corner to score a flash win. It’s interesting how quickly the territory shifted to a much larger focus on tag teams.

EB: Another team that has been on the hunt for championship gold is the Super Medicos. Since debuting as a team, they have had a rivalry with the World tag team champions Los Mercenarios. So far they have not yet been able to win the titles, but a tag match held in mid March allows them to get some measure of payback against the Mercenarios manager El Profe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPdo8Ut_qBQ 

We join the match in progress, as El Profe is hiding in the corner from one of the Medicos (it appears to be Medico #3). Profe has El Gran Mendoza as his tag partner for this match. Medico #3 goes after Profe in the corner but it was a ruse to allow Mendoza to rush in from behind and allow the rudo team the chance to double team Medico #3. Mendoza remains in the ring and works over Medico #3 with an abdominal stretch. Profe comes in to try a double team but Medico #1 rushes in to fight Profe off and sends him scurrying back to the rudo corner. Mendoza and Profe tie up Medico #3 in the ropes and try to take off his mask, but Medico #1 rushes in again to make the save. Profe and Mendoza are working fairly well and it seems that their strategy is to focus on unmasking Medico #3. Hugo mentions on commentary that going after the mask may result in a  disqualification for the rudo team but it is apparent that they don’t care about that. El Profe continues trying to get Medico #3’s mask off, with Medico #1 charging in to make several saves. The match continues with the rudos working over Medico #3, including a double hotshot on the top rope and several double stomps from El Profe. All the while, El Profe keeps taunting Medico #1 on the apron. At one point Medico #3 is able to make it to his team's corner but is not able to make the tag because Medico #1 had gone after El Profe after the constant taunting. Medico #3 finally makes the tag after knocking heads with Mendoza and Medico #1 comes in hot with several punches on both rudos. All four men end up in the ring and this leads to a finish where Medico #1 counters a Mendoza pin attempt into a cradle for a pin (as Medico #3 and Profe are just teeing off on each other with punches). It’s a victory for the Super Medicos and they will get one more shot at the World tag team titles on March 31st. 

MD: We come in here with Profe and Mendoza working over Medico 3. It was actually pretty compelling stuff as they kept him in the corner and worked at the mask, which is something we haven’t seen much of since we started the progress. Medico 1 gets angrier and angrier on the outside and Medico 3 is able to create distance once or twice but never make it to the corner before getting cut off. There’s a pretty elaborate sequence leading to heads crashing and the hot tag. Medico comes in destroying everyone but gets a quick reversal pin on Mendoza for the win.

EB: As the weekend of March 31 arrived, viewers were treated to some new developments that happened at the most recent TV tapings. Let’s go to a Caribbean tag title match where the Invaders are defending against the team of Leo Burke and Chicky Starr. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ommAruj8Z00

Chicky and Burke are in the ring waiting for the Invaders to enter, Chicky has his crown with him and Burke has the TV title belt. The Invaders make their entrance with their jumpsuits and coordinated jumps into the ring. There is no love lost between long time enemies Chicky and Invader #1 so this should be an interesting match. Eliud Gonzalez makes the ring introductions and we get a pre match hug from Chicky and Burke. Invader #4 and Chicky start off and this is a bit of a lengthy match. Invader #4 shows off his ability early on, taking down Chicky with several acrobatic armdrag takedowns. Invader #1 tags in and the Invaders do their arm wringer quick tag maneuver on Chicky. The Invaders continue controlling the first part of the match with quick tags and switches, keeping Chicky grounded and in the ring. Chicky makes a brief comeback but is sent to the outside as we go to a commercial break. When we come back, Burke comes in for his team and Invader #1 is also tagged in. Burke and Invader #1 are evenly matched for a moment but that ends when Invader #4 is tagged in and hits a mockery flip on Burke. The rudos try to do the same but instead Chicky ends up monkey flipping Burke by mistake. The Invaders hit running topes on Burke and Chicky and continue attacking them outside on the floor.

Chicky tries to move towards the entrance of the rudo locker room as Invader #1 gives chase, and when they get close, it appears that someone tries to help Chicky. It’s the Iron Sheik! Invader #1 punches Sheik away and the Invaders drag the rudos back to the ring. As all four men are in the ring, the Iron Sheik makes his way to ringside with his flag. It appears he is here to lend moral support to Leo and Chicky. But the odds quickly even when TNT comes out and stands in the Invaders corner. Burke tries to send Invader #1 into the corner but Invader #4 saves his brother. Chicky attempts to make a similar save for Burke but is left hanging dry. Burke and Chicky are able to gain control on Invader #4, attempting several pin attempts that are broken up by Invader #1 (and I do mean several pin attempts). After several minutes, Invader #4 is able to make the tag and Invader #1 fires off on both Burke and Chicky. Eventually all four men end up in the ring, with Invader #1 and Burke paired off on one side of the ring. While the ref is distracted in dealing with Invader #4 and Chicky on the other side of the ring, Invader #1 manages to get a cradle pin attempt on Burke. But they're too close to the ropes and the Iron Sheik hits Invader #1 with the flagpole. Burke makes the cover and we get new Carribean tag champions (thanks to an assist from the Iron Sheik).Chicky and Burke are presented with the tag belts and celebrate as the video ends.

MD: This one had all the bells and whistles. Very long shine for the Invaders. This is maybe the first match where the New Invaders really clicked for me. Invader 1 is the technical striker. Invader 4 is the finesse flyer, wrestling like his career depended on this working. He had some really slick stuff, flipping around armdrags and a bit where Invader 1 held both rudos (one at a time) on the floor for a tope. There was some fun brawling on the outside, a nice comedy bit where Chicky tried to use his body to save Burke in the corner and paid for it, and illegal switches too. The rudos took over on Invader 4 and while you’d inherently want it to be Invader 1 doing the selling, 4 being smaller and more spry made this work nonetheless. Chicky looked like a beast here with a killer German Suplex and a pile driver. Eventually they crashed heads though and Invader 1 got to punch a lot of people, as they built towards the crazy finish. In this case, the bells and whistles were TNT and Iron Sheik and Sheik was able to sneak in a flag shot to help Chicky and Burke win the titles. Very good title match.

EB: As we saw in the previous match, the Iron Sheik has made his return to Puerto Rico. The Sheik’s most notable run was an early 1988 feud he had with Carlos Colon over the Universal title. He has made other sporadic appearances since then and it seems that El Jeque has brought the Iron Sheik back to CSP as his latest recruit. Let’s watch the Sheik in action against Miguelito Perez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nc4_3iThcA

El Jeque asks for the crowd to be quiet so Sheik can sing the national anthem ‘of Iraq’ (that’s a screwup). Sheik sings the anthem and heads to the ring. Eliud Gonzalez on commentary makes note that it's the Iran national anthem. The crowd does not like the Sheik and is behind Miguelito. The match starts off fairly even between both men. But Perez is eventually able to hit a sunset flip for a two count. Iron Sheik bails to the outside and argues with the crowd. Sheik gets back in and goes on offense, although he gets cocky by lifting Perez up on a couple of pin attempts. Perez makes a comeback with several punches, but when the referee gets Miguelito to back off, Sheik takes the opportunity to load up his boot. Sheik takes advantage of an opening to kick Miguelito right in the face with the loaded boot, busting Perez open. Sheik continues attacking Perez with a foreign object and continues to target the cut. Sheik continues to lift Perez up and refusing to pin him, so the referee calls for the bell. Invader #1 runs in to fight and chase the Iron Sheik away and, between this and Sheik's interference in the earlier tag title match, a match between Invader #1 and the Iron Sheik is set to take place on the March 31st card. 

MD: This was astounding. 1990 Sheik was made for Puerto Rico. He was a stalling, stooging machine early on, staggering back, taking his one real bump of the match, hitting the floor and hitting his one big suplex, a deep belly to back. He tried to load the boot once or twice before finally luring Perez in with a kick to take over. Then he pulled out a hidden object and went to work. Perez bled and Sheik gnawed on the wound and kept pulling him up until the ref eventually called it off and Invader ran in to get revenge. I am ready for this Sheik run.  

EB: We’ve been following the arrival of Atkie Malumba, El Profe’s newest acquisition. Let’s watch him in action against Herbert Gonzalez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIU2Xd08UnQ 

This match is short and Herbert really doesn’t have much of a chance against the impressive force known as Atkie Malumba. A flying splash mercifully ends Herbert’s night and Malumba gets another dominant win. This one is going to be trouble for the members of El Ejercito de la Justicia.

MD: Malumba had a pretty good idea how to work a two minute squash, taking him right to the outside and never giving him a chance. Best part of this was the glaring light in the background that made it seem like Malumba was flying right out of the sun itself as he crashed down with the top rope splash.

EB: Our last highlight from the March 31st tv is a video showcasing some of the history between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher, mainly highlights from when they started feuding again in 1985 and the subsequent ammonia attack that blinded Carlos in 1986. They will be facing off for the Universal title tonight and it’s a reminder that eventually, both men will end up colliding time and time again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErqKGRWdFN4 

MD: It’s always surreal to see that Flair/Dory vs Carlos/Abdullah match. Of all of the Memphis-y stuff in PR, it might be the most so. Colon accidentally hits Abby and it all falls apart. They really did a great job getting the idea across that Colon will always have to face Abdullah until the day that they die and just how terrible and horrific that fate is.

EB: So for the March 31st card, we actually have video for a couple of matches. The card lineup is as follows: Abdulalh the Butcher defends the Universal title against Carlos Colon, Invader #1 takes on the Iron Sheik, Los Mercenarios defend the World tag team titles against the Super Medicos, Leo Burke takes on Pierre Martel, Eddie Watts faces Invader #4, Rick Valentine takes on Miguelito Perez, and Huracaa Castillo is set to take on El Gran Mendoza. These last two matches are the ones we have video off.

Let’s go first to the match between Huracan Castillo and El Gran Mendoza, two men who have been longtime rivals in the junior heavyweight division.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRIklSDgM5A

I’ve mentioned before that Castillo and Mendoza had a rivalry over the World Junior title back in 1987 and here in March of 1990 they’re facing off again. The match is joined in progress with Mendoza trying for an unsuccessful cover of Castillo. Mendoza continues on the attack with a fireman’s carry that leads to Castillo being dropped on the top turnbuckle, followed by a slam and double stomp by Mendoza. After Mendoza briefly argues with the crowd, he puts a sleeper on Castillo. This is countered with a back suplex and both men are down on the mat. Mendoza is up first but misses an elbow and Castillo counters with a running elbow drop of his own. Castillo is a bit slow in following up and is caught with a kick to the head by Mendoza, which leads to a pin attempt. Mendoza hits a neckbreaker and again only gets a two count. Mendoza maintains control for the next few minutes despite Castillo’s attempts at making a comeback (such as a sleeper attempt that is quickly broken up by Mendoza). Huracan turns the tide by just slugging Mendoza across the face and following up with several blows including a high knee. Castillo goes into a punching stance and tees off on a staggered Mendoza, who tries to beg off. Castillo continues on the attack with a kneedrop and backdrop, but a splash is blocked by Mendoza’s knees.  Mendoza attempts a flying body press from the top but Castillo catches him and rolls over for a two count. Castillo leapfrogs over Mendoza and rolls him up in an inside cradle for the pin. Another win for Huracan Castillo Jr and he stays in the hunt for the World Junior title. 

MD: This got some time and we even came in JIP. This might be the best I’ve seen Mendoza look. He had some really good stuff with a fireman’s carry heft onto the top turnbuckle, a double stomp, a nice neckbreaker, some good strikes. Castillo kept firing back but then missed a big move including a nasty bump in the corner. Eventually he did get control and fired off a lot of shots, punches and slaps, playing on a striking lineage. Even then, he had to win this with a small package which seemed a bit much against Mendoza.

EB: We also have video of Miguelito Perez taking on Rick Valentine. We’ve previously seen Carl Styles and Rick Valentine form an alliance due to the Caribbean tag title tournament, but unfortunately Carl Styles was injured during a match in late March and will be out of action for the foreseeable future. So it looks like Valentine will be focusing more on singles action now.

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

As Hugo mentions on commentary, Perez and Valentine have already wrestled each other before and Miguelito is looking to even up the score. Miguelito immediately goes right after Valentine, not giving him a chance to get his ring jacket off. Perez fires off several punches, corner rams and a dropkick to waylay Valentine at the start. The referee manages to hold back Miguelito long enough so that Valentine can finally get his ring jacket off. Hugo notes that Valentine is the master of the bionic elbow as Perez picks the attack back up. Rick eventually rolls out of the ring to stop the assault and regroup with Chicky at ringside.  Valentine demands that the ref keep Perez at bay but once again Perez charges and begins to attack Valentine. A corner charge by Perez is dodged by Valentine, finally giving Rick the first opening of the match. Valentine takes too long climbing the turnbuckle though, and Perez throws him off and starts back on offense with a clothesline and armdrag takedown. Perez remains in control for the next few minutes, mainly working the arm. The match continued with Perez mainly in control and, although Valentine would get brief moments where it looked like he would turn the tide (such as throwing Perez through the ropes to the outside), Miguelito would usually cut Valentine off quickly and go back on the attack. One gambit that works for Valentine is faking a knee injury after a leapfrog. This gives him enough time to leave Perez open to hit him with an elbow and then toss him outside, where Chicky would throw Perez into the ringpost. The ref starts making the count on Perez but he is able to get to the apron. Valentine grabs Perez and hits a few blows, then hits a back suplex in the ring for a two count. Valentine continues to attack Miguelito’s head and neck area, getting another two count off a swinging neckbreaker. Valentine tosses Perez back outside and we hear Hugo mention that Valentine is having a feud with TNT at the moment this match aired. Perez manages to block Valentine on the apron and regains control with several punches. Perez tries a pin off a clothesline and from there both men go back and forth making different pin attempts. The match ends when Perez tries to take down Valentine with a rollover, but Valentine holds onto the ropes and Perez instead falls backwards, smacking his head on the mat. Valentine follows up with his bionic elbow drop and gets the win.

MD: Kerry Brown was a perfectly good wrestler, a Stampede mainstay, a credible third foreigner in a late 80s NJPW trios match (you know, because you need someone to take the fall). I’m not sure I’m feeling him as a viable TNT opponent. Still, as a stooging jerk who looked more like a fake Buddy Rose than a fake Valentine family member (great elbow drop or no), he fit in well here in Puerto Rico. That meant bumping and flailing about as Perez kept the advantage early, having a few moments where he schemed to get over only to have it swept away from him due to Perez’s skill, and then finally taking over and keeping the advantage with Chicky’s help. Chicky definitely made people more than what they might have been otherwise. This turned out to be a good match and despite the chicanery mid-match, Valentine basically won clean, but he sure gave Perez a lot along the way. Maybe if he had Jason the Terrible as a heater I’d buy him more as a threat to the champion. 

EB: As for the other matches from March 31st, the big news is that there were two title changes that night. The Super Medicos finally won the World tag team titles and Carlos Colon regained the Universal title once more. We’ll discuss what awaits the new champions next time. One team that was looking to also regain some title gold was the Invaders, who were not happy with how Chicky and Burke won the Caribbean tag titles. Burke and Chicky granted the Invaders a rematch, but…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7ppEL00uA 

Burke and Chicky have granted the Invaders a rematch, but it is a non-title match, something that Hugo and Carlos are not happy about on commentary (but not surprised considering it is Chicky Starr). The crowd is loud and also not happy that it's a non-title match. Chicky is wary to lock up with Invader #4, as Invader #1 keeps jumping into the ring to psych Chicky out. Carlos and Hugo continue talking about how it’s expected for champions to defend their titles and not take the coward’s way out. Burke and Chicky continue stalling but eventually Invader #4 and Chicky locked up. The exchange goes in favor of Invader #4, who hits a series of twisting armdrags on Chicky and finishes with a head scissors on the outside. Carlos mentions how Maelo has been impressive with his maneuvers so far as part of the new Invaders tag team. Burke and Invader #1 are tagged in and again it goes the Invaders way, with attempted double teams by the rudos backfiring. Burke falls victim to a series of arm wringers and quick tags from the Invaders. Chciky tries to interfere and the Invaders take the opportunity to switch out twice. We go to commercial and come back to Chicky being armdragged and then going to the outside of the ring. This leads to the Invaders hitting a series of topes on both rudos when Burke tries to help Chicky. The Invaders celebrate in the ring as Burke and Chicky are beat up on the outside. Chicky is bleeding from the forehead. The crowd starts getting on Chicky’s case as Burke gets back in the ring. Burke gets a sleeper on Invader #1 but they are too close to the tecnico corner and Invader #4 is tagged in. Burke is still with the sleeper and doesn't see Invader #4 come in, and is surprised when invader #1 gets out of the way and Invader #4 hits a monkey flip on Leo. Burke manages to grab Invader #4 and calls Chicky in to help double team but Invader #4 gets loose and instead Chicky monkey flips Burke instead. Nothing has gone right for the rudos so far.

The rudos escape to the outside but are taken out by a flying cross body press. Finally the rudos get a segment of control when Burke gets back in the ring and is able to take down Invader #4.  Burke and Chicky are able to maintain control on Invader #4 but are not able to put him away.   At one point Chicky puts on an abdominal stretch on Invader #4 and Burke helps by adding leverage from the outside, but Invader #1 does not take the bait and stays in his corner. Eventually, Invader #1 chooses his spot and comes in to break up the hold. Burke hits a neckbreaker and puts on the figure four, a move that we know will end this sooner than later if Invader #4 does not get out of it. Invader #1 wastes no time in breaking the hold and also breaks up a follow-up spinning toe hold by Chicky. Invader #4 eventually is able to make the tag to his brother and Invader #1 comes in cleaning house on both rudos. Invader #1 hits atomic drops on both rudos and Invader #4 joins the others in the ring. Eventually, it is Burke and Invader #1 who are left duking it out in the ring. As Chicky tries to interfere, Invader #4 sees him coming and comes off the top with a body press, which the ref counts for the win. I’m not sure who was the legal man for each team but it’s a win for the Invaders. Perhaps now they’ll get their title rematch. Or will Chicky and Leo still try to find a way to weasel out of it? We ‘ll continue following this rivalry as we move into April.

MD: Chicky and Leo were obviously too cowardly to put the titles up here. It started with the usual hesitation from Chicky. He matched up very well with Invader 4 though. For all the credit we give Chicky, I think personally, I didn’t realize how great a base he was. He was there for everything Invader 4 did, the tricked out arm drags and the headscissors takeover using the apron. The topes from the Invaders with the other Invader holding each rudo looked wild here. They had the fans buzzing. They did a really fun tit-for-tat spot where an Invader held a rudo in the corner for a monkey flip and when the rudos tried it, they ended up monkey flipping one another. Then, as the icing on the cake, the Invaders hit another huge dive from the top to the floor Just high octane stuff here. The shine was two thirds of the match but the roles were now reversed, with Chicky and Burke the vulnerable heel champs. Plus a little went a long way as Chicky and Burke were very effective in dismantling Invader 4 in just a few minutes. Invader 1 came in hot after the tag and things had that usual chaotic flavor until Invader 4 was able to fly in with a body press for the non-title win. Another really good tag in a string of them.

EB: To finish off this installment, let’s go to a match featuring TNT taking on one of the more surprising wrestlers to make an appearance in CSP so far. We had no idea before coming across the footage that this wrestler actually made an appearance in the first half of April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEipWA6pDHU 

It's TNT taking on Mister Saito! Or as Eliud Gonzalez calls him on commentary, Master Saito. Yes, it seems Saito made a brief stop in CSP at some point in the first half of April. It’s a short match, but a surprise to see this take place in 1990 Puerto Rico. Eliud on commentary mentions that the crowd is excited to see a wrestler of Saito’s caliber appear in a CSP ring against TNT. The match itself saw Saito control most of the match, with TNT making a comeback and both men getting counted out as they kept fighting at ringside. It does make me curious about what matches Saito had during his brief stop. 

MD: This felt like a WCW Worldwide special with just a bit more heat and gravitas. They accomplish a ton in 4 minutes. Saito was an old pro of the territories and he fit in immediately here. He knew when to feed, how to work from underneath as a heel having his arm wrenched, when to get a cheapshot in, how much to take on a control. TNT came back and things spilled out to the floor, getting pretty violent as the two of them got counted out. It was a nice visit at least. Shame it wasn’t longer.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we delve further into April 1990 as we find out what’s next for Carlos Colon after regaining the Universal title, the Invaders continue to chase Burke and Chicky, some more potential title changes may be on the horizon, and yet another candidate for most surprising wrestler to pop in for a shot in Puerto Rico 1990.

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RIP IRON SHEIK~! The BEST 80s WWF Tag You've NEVER Seen~!

Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Junkyard Dog WWF 10/13/84

MD: If you haven't seen this one, I'm going to implore that you do. It's an all time Slaughter performance and an absolutely fearless performance from Sheik. The last big WWE show I ever went to was the 2015 Royal Rumble in Philadelphia and that Philly crowd has absolutely nothing on this one. Sheik had to endure not just the less than melodic stylings of Volkoff but had to stand there as stoicly as possible as every manner of object came flying at him from the stands. And that was just during the pre-match. He started the actual match by spitting at Slaughter, before getting bounced around the ring for the next few minutes. He recoiled a little at the trash flying at him, yeah, but Sheik wrestled so big and over the top that he sold the rapid fire loogies like they were bullets.

And then, when they took over? Slaughter bled huge. He didn't have to, the fans were already over the top. Any normal person at that point would read the room and bring things down with a chinlock maybe, take it up and down, build to some hope spots, cut them off, let the hot tag happen. This was JYD's first ever match in Philly, maybe cool it down and make it out of the building alive, right? Not Iron Sheik. He started right in on the wound with those jagged shots meant for the very last row to see, and then started gnawing on Slaughter's forehead. Along the way they kept things moving, kept the pressure on, and he even hit his picture-perfect gutwrench suplex. 

When the comeback - the deeply earned, hugely dramatic comeback - finally happened and Slaughter made a hot tag that blew the roof off of the place, they found a way to start in on Dog as well! The fans were denied, the heat was intensified, it was great. The story shifted to Slaughter slowly peeling himself up off the floor, to the apron, and finally into the ring to toss everyone about, Dick Woehrle included, drawing the double DQ. Slaughter stands tall even though Sheik escaped the Cobra Clutch, and set the stage for them to do it all over again the following month. What an absolute spectacle, as larger than life as pro wrestling can possibly be.

ER: I had not seen this tag match, so Matt implored me to do so, and I am also going to implore you to do the same. This is a fantastic long form WWF tag match with a big long celebratory babyface run building to an impeccably sold heat segment that builds to a double DQ finish that is fiery in a way that made it feel like a classic Mid-South tag. This match had a ton of heat the whole way through. The Spectrum was on fire for all of Sheik and Volkoff's bullshit, and they sustained it curtain to curtain. On it's own, it doesn't seem like an impressive feat that Sgt. Slaughter and Iron Sheik were able to draw heat in Philadelphia, but it seems like a downright incredible feat when you put yourself into the shows of a typical Spectrum attendee. When these people were getting Puerto Rico loud for two foreigners singing a national anthem that they didn't recognize, it feels impossible that they would have any kind of energy to even go to the bathroom. At this point in their Saturday evening they had already endured 10 minutes Rene Goulet and David Sammartino matches, Steve Lombardi vs. Ron Shaw, and still had Tony Garea and Sal Bellomo matches to come. Sitting through all of those guys consecutively would be tantamount to having methyl propyl ether pumped into the arena, and yet these fans get UP for this entire match and it's beautiful. 

Iron Sheik is one of our great Weird Body wrestlers. 1984 Sheik was gassed up and shaped like no other human being, with that big round belly that was somehow distended while also having no fat; his arms looked small from one angle and then he would turn 5 degrees and have absolute guns. His head was perfectly shaped, and we can only presume extreme jingoism as the reason that he never got the same kind of universally eponymous signature mustache that Rollie Fingers enjoyed. Sheik moves like a man who has always had trouble moving. Sometimes when he bumps, none of his limbs move. It's so weird. He is at times the world's most muscular turtle and I love how his curled boots look up in the air as Sarge and Dog beat his ass around the ring for 10 minutes. WWF tags from this era had a habit of veering straight into Heel in Peril stretches that often played awkwardly, but Slaughter and JYD are so charismatic and Sheik and Volkoff so cartoonish that it never veers into Heel in Peril territory despite Slaughter and Dog never being in a single second of trouble. The pace was constantly rolling and the action always moving forward, which is an important factor in never settling into any side's Peril. 

Everything turns suddenly with Slaughter's huge running stomach first bump into the top rope, the first time anything had gone wrong in any way for him; his big bellyflop into the turnbuckle, whipped from one buckle to the other is even better, and Sarge uses the distraction of the big impact stomach into buckle to blade himself from his head "going into the ringpost". Sheik had been an inelastic stooge for the entire match, and when Slaughter is bleeding he gets suddenly vicious and goes after Slaughter's growing cut, throwing him up into the post again, kneeling and punching into the cuts with each great punch making the noise in the building swell. Slaughter takes a backdrop bump as high as the highest Rick Rude backdrop, with Sheik shoving through with his entire body to get him that extra height. Their timing is impeccable, and we get one of wrestling's great hot tag near misses when Slaughter fights back to hit a big vertical suplex on Sheik, but misses the tag to JYD by a literal inch, with every person hitting the exact right mark at the exact right time so that the spot looks sincere. Nobody needed to alligator arm the tag, all limbs were tagging, Sheik made the perfect cut-off. 

Dick Graham, with the best call of the match: "Oh man, this is gory! This is a mess!"

When Slaughter did make his eventual hot tag Sheik returned that really high backdrop bump when he gets thrown to the sky by Junkyard Dog, and our great twist of Dog not just running through the foreigners and instead getting worked over while Sheik keeps punching Slaughter off the apron. Slaughter had an incredibly sold big dramatic apron acting performance during all of this, falling all over the ropes and dragging himself up to his feet each time. There was an excellent camera shot of Dog seeing how bad off Slaughter was on the apron, face showing that he knew that tagging out was not an option to be considered and he was fighting this one alone. When Slaughter finally dragged himself up off the floor and laid waste to everyone, it was the climax that the Spectrum 100% wanted. Sheik got launched over the top to the floor, just an awesome bump for an asshole to take, run across the ring and thrown exultantly over the top like they were the final two in the Royal Rumble. Dick Woehrle, age 54, may have taken the biggest bumps of the match, getting shoved off and thrown across the ring three different times, selling them with the pain and goddamnit facial expressions of a 54 year old man who had no idea he was going to be thrown violently across the ring midway through a Spectrum show. 

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New Footage Friday: 1984 WWF MSG Shows

3/25/84

B. Brian Blair vs. Charlie Fulton

MD: Pretty good second match on a card. Straightforward but well worked with Blair controlling a shine on the arm, where he kept it interesting and varied, a pretty pedestrian transition where Fulton wouldn't break clean on the corner, some solid back work that followed, and a fiery comeback with good, chippy shots from Blair. All the offense looked good, the selling worked, the crowd barely cared, and Monsoon and Patterson were entertaining on commentary talking about Tony Garea and old injuries. About as good a mid-80s MSG second match as you could hope for.

Ivan Putski vs. Iron Sheik

MD: Well, you can't say the fans didn't care about this. It didn't last long either. Sheik looked fine in there, with good clubbering in his early ambush and then quality stooging and staggering and feeding after Putski came back with his belt and the rapid headlock punches. Putski knew what he was doing, I suppose, and even hit a nice suplex reversal. The Polish Hammer looked crummy as Sheik recoiled into the corner off of it to set up the finish. Four minutes that worked but that definitely shouldn't have been any more than that.

Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Tony Garea

MD: This wasn't listed in the results. Lucky us. Look, it was fine, but the only thing worth mentioning is how Sharpe got heat to start by complaining about his weight being announced as 282 when it's really 284. I like the sort of subtle image that evokes. This isn't like the Buddy Rose deal. It instead shows just how irritating Sharpe is to the crowd. Who cares if it's 282 or 284? What's the difference? Why get so worked up over that? What a pest. Of course, knowing about Sharpe's OCD, who knows?

Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine

MD: They were building to a rematch to end the next show, so this ended inconclusively, but what we got was good. Monsoon was playing up that Sheik had hurt Backlund's neck and shoulder, and Valentine eventually was able to target it, including a pretty nice short arm scissors. Backlund managed a back bridge while in it, before shifting Valentine over, which is not something I'm sure I've seen before. Of course the hold ended with the lift, before a brief comeback and a subsequent second bit of heat with the leg. There Backlund pushed Valentine off of a figure four attempt only for Valentine to run right back with an elbow drop which is an all time great cut off. It ended up on the floor with them slugging it out convincingly and set up the more decisive rematch the following month. Backlund got to interact with all the matinee kids after the match.

Paul Orndorff vs. Tito Santana

MD: We didn't really have a good match for Orndroff when he died earlier this year, so this feels like as good a choice as any. I know there's a readily available match vs. Santana (the May MSG) that a lot of people watched at that time. This goes back to the Sharpe bit (or Albano's pre-match antics) but Orndroff really lingers on his way in, including complaining about how his robe was being carried. Trying to get heat that way is up and down the card on this show and it's something no one in wrestling even thinks about doing today. Match itself was solid. They were working towards a draw. Some production elements are just funny. Patterson got there late to announce the first match because he was stuck in traffic. No one clued Monsoon in on the finish so he was aghast that it was even a 30 minute draw let alone a 20 minute one (let alone an 18:30 draw). Everything Orndorff did looked good. They were fairly minimalist in the matwork but it all worked. Tito doesn't get enough credit for his strikes though a good chunk here was Orndorff making them look good too. Tito had a great atomic elbow off the second ropes and his big comeback move was a diving elbow into the ropes after Orndorff had tossed him back in. Both guys could be absolutely explosive when the moment called for it. Finish was the sort of BS people were used to in New York and it sets up that May match which doesn't even have a much better finish.

5/21/84

Bobo Brazil/SD Jones/Rocky Johnson vs. Samoans(Afa/Sika/Samula)

MD: Historic match to some degree as it was Brazil's last MSG appearance. He was almost 60 and it showed whenever he tried to do anything complicated, though he looked pretty good moving around in general. I swear there was one moment in there where it seemed like he wanted to do the headscissors take over/headlock takeover at the same time spot with two Samoans and it just did not work. He got to clear house at the end with headbutts before they double clotheslined SD on a leapfrog (sounds better in theory than it was in practice, like the rest of this match). Rocky was almost 40 and he looked very good in there. I get that Brazil was a sub for Atlas for this short run but I don't see why they couldn't give them the nod on this. Brazil was billed on the way in as the greatest black wrestler of all time, but it wasn't a great showing and I can see why this stayed in the vault.

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What Happened to Berzerker? We Can't Look Away! The New Look is Mesmerizing...

23. Berzerker vs. Bob Smedley - Prime Time Wrestling 10/1/91

Smedley is Bobby Blaze, using a name that is more amusing, and decidedly less "1991" than Blaze. We were an American Gladiator loving people in 1991. Names like Blaze made sense and felt safe to us. He leans nicely into kicks and snaps back from them on the bump. This could have been a really fun competitive match just a few years later. This was not that.

24. Berzerker vs. Eric Freedom - Superstars 10/21/91

Freedom looks EXACTLY like Todd Pettengill, when Pettengill had a mullet. He also has bushy armpit hair. IMPORTANT: He is the smallest wrestler that Berzerker has faced thus far. He is similar in size to Scott Taylor, but I think Freedom is smaller. Freedom ain't free, though, and Berzerker stiffs him up. Freedom bumps like a maniac, looking and bumping similar to this era Sean Waltman. After getting whipped hard into the buckles and bumping great off it, Lord Alfred cackles about how he's probably paralyzed. He keeps laughing. He's laughing really hard, at his own comment that Eric Freedom is paralyzed. Berzeker mixes up his move order a little bit, dropping Freedom with the falling slam, immediately hitting the big legdrop, then following right up with the kneedrop. I dug the combo. Freedom takes a great rolling bump after getting tossed to the floor. Supposedly this guy still works, wouldn't mind seeing some of this 90s work.

25. Berzerker vs. Bret Hart - MSG 10/28/91

They had another match a year later that was really disappointing, really short, and maybe the least giving Bret Hart match of the 90s. Hart worked competitive matches with every single member of the roster so it was a bummer to see such a non-match against Berzerker. Thankfully I found this one from MSG, which was fleshed out and really good. It goes a bit differently than I expected, with Hart starting out going toe to toe and really throwing everything at Berzerker. Berzerker's three bumps to the floor all came consecutively, with Hart sending him to the floor with a dropkick, clothesline and then an atomic drop. Berzerker would bump over the top, then immediately rush back into the ring and get knocked over again. It was great. His 4th time rushing into the ring he just dives at Bret and catches him with a headbutt to the stomach. And from there we get the Berzerker control segment which I've really come to enjoy. He throws lots of clubbing forearms, big slams, big boots, a perfect piledriver, and he smartly gives Bret hope spots off of his own missed offense. 

He misses a big kneedrop that allows Bret to land a couple shots, and later he misses a weird and ambitious dropkick from the middle rope, while Bret Hart is lying down. He clearly wasn't going for a leg drop, it was like he wanted to dropkick Bret's face from the middle rope. When Bret does come back it's good, as we get a couple convincing roll ups, Berzerker doing his awesome splits bump off leg kicks so Bret can set up the Sharpshooter (it's a really fun bump, but this was easily the most logical use of it since it tied directly to the sharpshooter), plus a real logical escape from the sharpshooter that seemed like it never happened: Hart went to turn him, and Berzerker just punched him in the face from his back. I really liked the finish, with Berzerker going for a clothesline and Hart landing a snug crucifix for a flash pin, with Berzerker getting up and flipping out postmatch. This is probably the best overall Berzerker match we've seen, and likely the best we'll get. Bret knew how to keep things tight, so instead of the bloated-but-fun 16 minute Bulldog match we get a more snug and satisfying 11 minute version of that. Really good stuff.

26. Berzerker vs. Fred Morgan - November 1991

Oh, Fred Morgan, you're the worst. I cannot explain why I laughed so hard at the way Morgan bumped for the opening club to his back, just dropping to the mat in a belly flop; or, how hard I laughed at how he bumped the next chop, just rigidly dropping to his back and lying motionless. Morgan just seems clueless, with his egg shaped torso in red and blue singlet/tights. He runs nose and mouth into a big boot, and tumbles all the way into the entrance way after getting tossed to the floor, but the guy just looks like the biggest hump. He won't ever get a rematch.

27. Berzerker vs. Russ Greenberg - Wrestling Challenge 11/12/91

I wonder why Greenberg never got more of a shot with WWF. He worked tons of jobber matches in 1991, and had a nice physique. Nice physique and tan is typically enough to get you a shot in early 90s WWF. Here he has bubblegum colored trunks, and admirably goes for a different strategy against Berzerker: He charges him! He runs in trying to lock up! I mean, Berzerker just pump kicks him in the chest. But at least he tried something! Berzerker mixes things up here, swinging Greenberg around in a front headlock, hitting a chokeslam (that Greenberg doesn't get up for) and hitting his awesome missile shoulderblock (that he should use more, as it looks great when it hits AND when it misses). After flubbing the chokeslam I didn't expect much out of the toss to the floor, but Greenberg got launched. Good for him. Still, wonder why he never got a shot. IMPORTANT: Greenberg should have at MINIMUM been brought into 1998 WCW when Jericho kept using that as a nickname for Goldberg. Jericho promising to beat Greenberg at Fall Brawl, and then beating Russ Greenberg, would have been a pointlessly fun moment.

28. Berzerker vs. Tito Santana - Superstars 11/13/91

Strange match, as Tito takes probably 70% of it, and overpowers Berzerker on several occasions. That's not what I was expecting at all. The first couple minutes see them lock up a few times, with Santana backing up Berzerker each time. On the fourth lock up Santana rushes in and Berzerker just drops to his knees, headbutting Santana in the dick. Awesome spot. But weird that the 320 lb guy had to use his speed and smarts to get the duke on Tito Santana. Santana overpowering Berzerker kind of continues throughout the match, with Santana reversing a couple of Irish whips. It's weird. Berzerker doesn't bump like crazy for Santana, the way he has for other stars. Santana does run into a big boot nicely though. Fuji tries to cheat to win by hooking Tito's ankle with the cane, and it genuinely doesn't seem like Tito expects the spot. He's running the ropes and Fuji hooks him, and Santana trips so hard that it yanks the cane out of Fuji's hands. Berzerker gets DQ'd, Tito beats him with the cane, and this was just a weird, unsatisfying match. Neither guy really wanted to take control, Tito works better as comeback babyface.

29. Berzerker, Skinner, Hercules & Col. Mustafa vs. Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Sgt. Slaughter & Texas Tornado - WWF Survivor Series 11/27/91

I hadn't seen this match in years, probably since I rented the tape from the video store, so I first turned to the foremost authority on WWF star ratings, Scott Keith. Not only did he describe 6 of the participants as "jobbers" (odd, since Berzerker had only lost one match at this point and Duggan was always protected), but also called Slaughter a traitor and Von Erich a "suicidal drug addict". That's some level 7 edgelord shit right there. He didn't like the match, guys. But let me be the first to say, that Scott Keith may not be correct. 

First, pre match we get a wonderful gift, of Berzerker really being the only person enforcing his gimmick on the building, and the other wrestlers. All the heels come out together, but all the faces get individual entrances, and they kept cutting back to wide shots of the ring during these entrances, and Berzerker was just Hussing around, stomping all around the ring, figure 8ing around his teammates and his opponents; Just stomping and hussing and everybody in the ring was completely ignoring it. It's like when a guy hits a HR to break a slump, and the whole dugout ignores him. It was amazing. Gorilla has a great line before the bell, "I have little doubt in my mind who's coming out on top in this match." Fair statement. Skinner slaps Santana hard to start, then bumps fast for him, really selling a shove and going down to a snap headlock takedown. It also makes me laugh hard seeing Skinner do leapfrog/dropdown spots, for whatever reason. Skinner cuts low on a missed back elbow, and then bails so Santana misses a big crossbody, really crash and burned. Berzerker tags in and ridiculously goes for some sort of double stomp/leg drop on Tito, that misses. Kerry comes in and throws some bad punches that Berzerker no sells, and then Berzerker misses a dropkick. Berzerker missing offense is so much damn fun. I even dig the Hercules/Duggan shoulderblock and stompy punch exchange. Iron Sheik was pretty toast at this point (he even tags in and goes straight to a chinlock, come on) but he threw a cool double chop to Duggan's throat that someone should steal. 

Berzerker's apron work is tremendous, just hiking the length of the apron, back and forth, wandering into the wrong corner, occupying himself by untying a turnbuckle pad while Sheik is eliminated. THINK OF HOW SMART THAT IS!! Herc and Skinner just stood 8 feet away not saving Sheik from elimination, Berzerker meanwhile became the only heel I've seen logically kayfabe occupy himself during a pinfall, that didn't involve selling an injury. Amazing spot that was completely missed. Berzerker is really pulling his kicks this match, which is odd. But now that turnbuckle pad comes into play as he runs Slaughter into it. Man that undoing the pad stuff was so amazing in its placement in the match. I'm never going to get over this. Brilliant. Killer run where Berzerker brings back the splits bump off a Slaughter leg kick, then takes two insanely fast bumps over the top to the floor, really awesome bumps. The first is Duggan clotheslining him over the top, and Berzerker lands on his feet, charges right back in, and eats an insanely high backdrop bump to the floor on the other side. Santana has a nice hot tag opposite Hercules, even hits a kind of superman punch for the pin. Skinner eats a pin off a Slaughter blind tag roll up, and Berzerker is the last heel. He immediately charges in but misses a dropkick. The bumps on this guy! That turnbuckle pad comes back AGAIN when Slaughter gets revenge on him for it. Slaughter whips him into Duggan's clothesline to end it, with Berzerker taking a huge bump off the 3 point lariat. For a total throwaway, this was a really fun match, with Berzerker clearly working harder than anyone in the match. Not a great match, but a great performance by him.

30. Berzerker vs. Kerry Von Erich - MSG 11/30/91

Weird short match with a botched finish (though not by either of the wrestlers). It only goes about 3 minutes, and is really good for those 3 minutes. Until the stupid finish I was thinking it had potential to be his best match so far, which is impressive with the Valentine and Hart matches. He hits a stiff boot on Kerry, gets clotheslined over the top and the backdropped over the other side, just like the Survivor Series match, then suckers KVE into a missed corner charge and yanks him to the floor. Berzerker gets his head bounced off the steps, and the a couple seconds later the bell rings. Fans boo, Vince has no clue what happened on commentary, the count out win is announced; but Berzerker was only on the floor 7 or 8 seconds, and the ref didn't even seem like he was counting. It felt like someone accidentally rang the bell and Finkel improvised. Really disappointing. (Match is around the 13 minute mark of the link)

31. Berzerker vs. Scott Baizo - Superstars 12/4/91

So this match tricked me, as the file had a 6 minute running time, but it turns out 4 minutes of that is interviews with Virgil, Repo Man and High Energy. So you come for the hilarious jobber name of Scott Baizo (I hope he at some point teamed up with another man, maybe a man working an Indian gimmick, named Chaw-Chee, and that their tag team name was Charles & Charge, and that 25 years later he became a shameless shit pile with the same asshole haircut he had when he was relevant, decades before) and you stay for the disgusting match finishing bump. Yes this is a Berzerker squash, with him hitting the flying shoulderblock, a nasty kneedrop to the chest, his big boots with opponent tied up in the ropes, and then the finish which is him throwing Baizo over the ropes to the floor, practically past the ringside mats. Gross fall. Berzerker pillages on.

32. Berzerker vs. Barbarian - December 1991

Before the match Berzerker throws a high kick at the black ring announcer I don't recognize, who goes scrambling out of the way, and I already love this. Two giant dudes beating each other while wearing fur loincloths and boots. This match. HAD. TO. HAPPEN. It's like a Manowar album shoot gone horribly, tragically wrong. This starts off great with Berzerker throwing an impossibly stiff thud of a chop and Barbarian hitting him in the throat. We get more of Berzerker's super fast rope running, his big flying shoulderblock, and awesome missed flying shoulderblock into the corner, a couple big boots from both men (Barbarian's landing right under the chin), Barbarian clearly showing Berzerker he wasn't going to gas out and could work just as fast, big clubbing arms, and two crazy looking dudes shouting at each other after a count out.

More Berzerker tomorrow!!

COMPLETE & ACCURATE BERZERKER!

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