Found Footage Friday: HOGAN~! JYD~! ORNDORFF~! ADONIS~! BABY TAKA~! TERRY BOY~! SASUKE~! DELFIN~!

Hulk Hogan/Junkyard Dog vs. Paul Orndorff/Adrian Adonis WWF 8/27/86

MD: Very interesting match from the very first Challenge taping (including Lord Al doing the ring announcing). Both Hulk and Orndorff came out to Real American, though they had very different people to come out with. Hart, Heenan, and Orton were with Orndorff and Adonis though Heenan really was subdued for most of this. 

I saw some people saying it was sloppy, but to me, it was wild and out of control. There were bodies going everywhere at the start and if people seemed out of position at times, that just added to the feel and it certainly kept the crowd going. This didn't feel rote or rehearsed. It felt like it was all over the place because people kept coming at Hogan and JYD from every direction and they just threw fists and anything that moved. I'm not sure you'd want that every night for every match but here it clearly worked. 

Adonis bumped all over the place, including into the corner multiple times in interesting ways. Orndorff stooged like a maniac. After one punch he wobbled around the ring for long enough for Hogan and JYD to switch so he could finally eat a shot and fall down. They ended up working over JYD after some chaos with everyone getting involved again (with Hogan being choked with a cord on the outside so he couldn't stop it).

They had a nice bit where Adonis held down JYD so Orndorff could leap off the top on him, a sort of nothing axe handle type move. Later on Adonis help cut JYD off and got a shot in but didn't hold him down so when Orndorff went for it he met an outstretched fist. That set up Hogan getting back in, Hart getting involved, and the leg falling nonetheless. Chaotic and enjoyable. I'm glad this one showed up. 

ER: I'll trust Matt that people were saying this was sloppy, but I wouldn't trust anyone saying that because this felt much more like an out of control fight, with Orndorff and Adonis cutting off JYD and Hogan getting absurdly loud reactions the whole match, especially when he wasn't in the ring. The Hartford Civic was packed and loud, because these people had sat through three Challenge tapings and were finally getting a real match with a megastar. I'm sure the Moondogs/British Bulldogs tag had something memorable, but this tag was on another level. Great Hogan performance throughout, and a reminder that my favorite kind of Hogan match is when you can tell he's having fun, and it would be impossible to not have fun with this crowd behind you. 

Orndorff and Adonis were real assholes. Bobby Heenan was at ringside as a red herring, seemingly out there to do nothing but make people think he would be getting involved in the match when actually it would be Jimmy Hart doing that. I don't remember Heenan getting involved in any way, but as Orndorff attacked with the kind of elbowdrops and fistdrops that made me say "THAT'S a wrestler" aloud. Adonis bumped all over, to no surprise, but this was all about Hogan and his massive reactions. He started the match punching everyone around the ring and ringside, but this match gave us a great look at an underrated Hogan: Apron Hogan. When I say it looked like Hogan was having fun, watch him on the apron as JYD is being cut off. He is fueling this large crowd, building the anticipation, playing into distraction spots, before giving them all release when Dog makes the tag. Hogan relishing the hot tag on the apron before slamming the door shut gave me a huge smile, a jacked goofball giving everyone in attendance exactly what they wanted to see. Great tag. 

Super Delfin/Terry Boy vs. Great Sasuke/Taka Michinoku Oriental Pro 1/20/93

MD: This was very early into Teioh and Taka's career and it's definitely an interesting look at their early development. They were matched up for a couple of exchanges before switching dance partners with a few minutes left in the match. I'd say Terry Boy was further along maybe, though some of that might have been that he was framed as the aggressor and had the gimmick to fall back on. Their first exchange was primarily young lion matwork, but it got more interesting from there. I do think Teioh was more explosive and just struck at things a little harder, with Taka a bit more reactive. The punches were over and the spinning toe hold was definitely over (even if Sasuke hit a springboard dropkick to break it up).

Delfin and Sasuke worked well together, very quick matwork exchanges which had a lot of headsprings and kip ups but that still felt competitive. There were a couple of teased dives until they switched partners, at which point Sasuke hit a couple of moonsaults and Delfin crunched Taka with a plancha. Sasuke flew into no man's land on the outside at Terry Boy to set up the finish. Really, them working with Taka and Teioh was mostly a chance for them to hit stuff more cleanly and sharply than against one another, but it was effective nonetheless. Just a fun, well-balanced tag all around even if it was clear that Taka especially was working it all out.

ER: Oh my god if someone can get me an Oriental Pro logo shirt, with that gorilla wearing a singlet, I will pay them real American dollars. Please. It's incredible to me how formed these guys were in this incubatory period. One year later they'd be creating tape trader gold, but they were all already so far along. The flow got better, exchanges got tightened up, but everything was there in earlier forms. I came away so impressed by Terry. He's surely the most underrated of this Mpro group, and that might be because his highs are less consistent than the others. I think, at his best, he might rank as the actual best of the group, but I also think that Taka, Togo, Kaz Hayashi, maybe even others had highs they hit more consistently, but on any night Terry could look like the best of them. Early in his career he was much more blatantly lifting from every great Mid-South worker. He's doing Junkyard Dog headbutts in a way that shows he studied every frame of JYD's delivery (since we just watched and wrote about a JYD tag before this, it was incredibly easy to see how accurate his was) and all the Funk aping, but it was his gorgeous Dibiase fistdrop that made me react out loud, the same way you'd react to taking the first bite of a really great meal. If it's possible to learn to throw a fistdrop so perfect so early in one's career, then it's an indictment against every wrestler today than none have. My reaction to his piledriver was similar. 

Everything was much more clean than I expected. I mean, Sasuke's occasional clumsiness is baked into the overall charm of Sasuke, as he may stumble but he will always see something through, but the overall tightness impressed me. They didn't all have the same speed or snap as they would, but their mastery of the basics stood out and elevated the craziest spots. Look at how perfect Delfin/Terry's vertical suplex/crossbody combo was. No two Armstrongs ever hit one finer. This match was incubatory for what was to come, but you really could see everything that was coming.  

Yoshihiko Abe vs. Katsumi Hirano Oriental Pro 1/20/93

MD: They say styles make fights, and Katsumi Hirano's style was to get kicked in the face. That sums this up pretty well. It went two rounds before Hirano's corner literally threw in the towel and it was a minor miracle that he survived the second round. His great hope here was to catch Abe's kicks and take him down and do something, but every time he tried either the bell rang to end the round or Abe ended up in the ropes or it just didn't work and Hirano ate more strikes. Really a mauling with Abe coming in at every exchange guns firing and Hirano having no answer. Abe wore a gi and he lost it between the second and third rounds. That was a prelude to him just pressing Hirano in the corner with strike after strike until his corner gave up. Post-match was almost more interesting than the match itself as everything got chippy with the seconds and Abe but even that petered out pretty quickly. 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Bregando a la Chicky Starr

Week 7: Bregando a la Chicky Starr

EB: Throughout Sadistic Steve Strong’s run in Puerto Rico there have been some constants, such as his calling upon the powers of Luc and Damian. Someone who has been a constant part of Strong’s rampage is the man who brought him to Puerto Rico in the first place and set him loose upon El Ejercito de la Justicia. A man who had made it his mission for over three years to get rid of Carlos Colon, Invader #1 and anyone else from El Ejercito de la Justicia who dared go against him. A man who has served as Strong’s translator, hype man, tag partner, accomplice, and mastermind. The one and only self-proclaimed king of wrestling, Chicky Starr.

We’ve previously mentioned some of Chicky’s history in taking about recent events in this 1989 walkthrough, but let’s really take a look at how Chicky became the rudo he is remembered as, whose actions and behavior were such that that the term ‘bregando a la Chicky Starr’ entered the Puerto Rican vernacular and refers to when you betray someone, play dirty, do bad things with premeditation, or just simply do not keep your word.

Chicky got his start working the Puerto Rico indie scene, forming a tag team with one of his trainers Angel Rivera. They wrestled for a few years for different promotions on the island (some of them attempts to compete with CSP), and were considered the top tag team on the Puerto Rican indie scene. They would eventually make tours of Mexico and Canada, specifically a long tenure in Stampede where they wrestled as Los Hermanos Peron (the alleged sons of Eva Peron). Unlike some other notable local stars like Barrabas, Huracan Castillo Sr., and Hercules Ayala, who would have stints with CSP and then also have stints wrestling for other companies, Los Hermanos Peron never really had a stint in CSP until 1983. Early in the year, both started wrestling for the company as tecnicos. Chicky wrestled in the lower card, working a junior heavyweight style (a departure from what one would be used to seeing from him if you only knew him from his later work). As an example of how Chicky would wrestle, here is a TV studio match against the masked Mr. X from the first months of 1983.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SFHwJ_9BW0

MD: There are things you can learn from a 5 minute studio match from 1983 certainly. The first is that Chicky had solid fire as a babyface, but maybe was a little physically awkward for what he was trying to do. Things hit but they didn’t always hit as smooth or clean as you might like. Mr. X had some, shall we say, demonstrative clubbing blows, and wrestled pretty much how you’d expect a Mr. X to wrestle. A short undercard studio match like this wouldn’t have seen at all out of place in Memphis or Mid-South. The fans were overall behind Chicky, especially as the match went on, but you could also sort of see his ceiling in this kind of role.

EB: Chicky would eventually leave CSP for a tour in Southwest for most of 84, eventually returning in the summer of 1985 to Puerto Rico once again as an up-and-coming tecnico, this time with a more visible role on the card. We go to one of Chicky’s TV matches against Ricardo Mendoza (who would also have a couple of runs in CSP as El Gran Mendoza from 87 and onwards), which highlights again the style and presentation he had when he returned to CSP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tm48R8RBkM

There are some details mentioned on commentary that help tell the story.  Joaquin Padin and Hugo Savinovich are on commentary, joined by guest commentator Hercules Ayala. The first thing Hugo mentions is how Chicky has been working with Invader #1 and, with Invader’s help and advice, feels he is getting ready to face better competition.  Ayala mentions that Invader #1 has spent a lot of time working with Chicky, and it’s not been spent in vain as Chicky has improved and gotten better. Chicky is young and ambitious and there’ll be Chicky Starr for a long time. Announcer Joaquin Padin had been saying ‘hay que estar con Chicky’ to the fans (basically, we have to be with Chicky), as a way to help generate support for this up-and-comer. Later on in the match ,when Chicky is trying to get out of a Mendoza chinlock, Hugo asks Ayala what he would think about Chicky facing Invader #3  for the World Junior heavyweight title in a tecnico style encounter (since that is the hottest division right now). Ayala says that is a tough question to answer since Invader #3 has the experience while Chicky is young, hungry, and putting in the work to improve with the help of Invader #1. Chicky eventually gets the win with an inside cradle. And the announcers once again mention that ‘hay que estar con Chicky’. And that is exactly how it went for several weeks, including a highlight video reminding fans that ‘hay que estar con Chicky’

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

Two things about the video looking back, one is that the first masked wrestler seems to have some impressive kicks (potentially explosive you could say); and, hindsight being what it is, it’s an interesting song choice for the video.

MD: I know it’s beside the point but I liked what I saw out of Mendoza here. He had a dynamic look pre-match with a bandana and sunglasses and had a stylized way of calling out to the crowd at key moments. His offense looked really solid, both elbow drops and fist drops and his cut-offs with flying clotheslines. Between the match and the video, Chicky seemed to be finding his niche a little more. He still had a flip over to his opponent that didn’t land smooth but they were able to pick and choose some things in the video that definitely worked. He came off as more of a technical slugger able to assert himself more, which seemed to play into his physical strengths better. The video had me buying him as a credible up and coming mid-carder certainly.  

EB: Chicky continued facing wrestlers and getting wins, but as the weeks progressed, he started expressing his frustration at the quality of opponents he was getting. Chicky wanted better competition and felt that he wasn’t getting it. Eventually, his frustrations grew to the point where he started accusing Invader #1 of being the person responsible for the lack of quality opponents for him.  This would lead to Chicky challenging Invader #1 to a match, student vs mentor. Invader # 1 was hesitant but eventually agreed and the match took place just before Christmas (Dec 21 or 22, I’ve heard both dates depending on the source). Throughout the match Invader would get the better of Chicky in their exchanges but would break cleanly and calmly let him get back in the ring whenever Chicky ended up outside. As you may guess, Chicky grew more aggravated with what he felt was Invader disrespecting him by wrestling him this way and things reached a breaking point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-WBJ08-O2Q

This is a recap video from the latter half of 1986, which includes clips of the initial stages of the feud between Chicky and Invader #1. The video shows both wrestlers at the time in 86 to start but the key part to focus on is the scenes after both wrestlers are shown. We see a clip of Chicky and Invader from their year-end 1985 TV match, where Chicky, right after Invader had  held the ropes open for him to get back in the ring, immediately just straight up kicks Invader in the groin, goes outside to take the chair Joaquin Padin was sitting in at the commentary table, and then proceeds to attack Invader with a chair to the head. Chicky then immediately mocks Invader by doing his signature two jumps and chest slap hype move. We then go to January 6, 1986, where Invader is trying to reason with Chicky about not going down this path (Invader in interviews prior to this match had indicated he was confused about why Chicky did what he did, lamenting all the time he spent working with Chicky on bettering himself only for Chicky to pay him back like this, but also he felt that Chicky could be reasoned with before it went any further). Chicky, who had shown up with a new blonde hairdo, takes a moment to consider Invader’s words and says let me tell you one thing. He then smacks Invader in the head with the microphone busting Invader open. From there, the feud was on and the top rudo in Puerto Rican wrestling was born. The video continues showing some highlights from their first matches in the feud.

From that point on, Chicky Starr became the most hated man in Puerto Rican wrestling, and the top evil mastermind determined to destroy El Ejercito de la Justicia. He would decry what Puerto Ricans were and style himself as a country club gringo of sorts (hence the blonde hair and somewhat preppy look and golf clubs he would initially have) and would become a manager as well as wrestler. Chicky would be joined by his American ‘cousin’ Ron Starr and would quickly align himself with Abdullah the Butcher, forming the first iteration of El Club Deportivo (a reference to playing sports at the country club). A few months in, Chicky Starr’s Sports Shop (named in English because of course Chicky would want it that way) became a staple of the Saturday morning TV show, a Piper’s Pit type segment where Chicky would interact with virtually every person in the promotion at one time or another. His misdeeds throughout the next three years were many, including masterminding plans to attack and injure tecnicos, crossing the line many times on interviews with some choice comments and offensive insults about his adversaries, bringing monsters both known and unknown to do his dirty work, and just being an underhanded slimeball. And no matter how many times he would get his comeuppance for his latest schemes and transgressions, Chicky would vow to get his payback and would usually find a way to once again get back at the tecnicos and the cycle would begin anew. Here;s a highlight video of Chicky in action.

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

MD: A couple of quick thoughts from the turn and the subsequent music video. From the outside in, as someone who’s watched scattered matches and a chunk of the 80s set, I always saw Chicky like Heenan, where he could be dangerous against a certain person low on the card but that ultimately would hide behind his charges. Maybe he develops into more of that as time goes on but he comes off as more of a mix between Heenan and Zbyszko and Piper here. He seems to be presented more credible on a week to week basis than what we see in just looking at the big matches. I love that he has so clear an origin story given what he would become, though. WWF managers like Blassie, Grand Wizard, Albano, Heenan, Hart, Fuji all seemed to be fully formed by the time they were expected to hold up their end. Chicky grew into the scumbag force that he’d become in front of everyone’s eyes, it seemed.  

EB: So far, we’ve seen quite a bit of Chicky in 1989 as Strong’s manager and partner in crime, but Chicky would also have his own separate issues that year as a singles wrestler. One of his notable feuds was against an initially masked wrestler known as the White Angel. Chicky had brought in Angel as part of his stable, but after a few weeks the White Angel expressed his disapproval of Chicky’s tactics during his matches. Because of this, Chicky attacked and kicked the White Angel from his stable, starting a feud between them. A week or so after being kicked out from El Club Deportivo, the White Angel would unmask himself during an interview on TV and join the tecnicos. This feud occupied Chicky during the early Spring  of 89 and here is a match from their series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti_M9mz2vmQ

This match is likely from April 8 of 89 and takes place from Carolina. Chicky and White Angel had previously had a match that ended in a DQ, so they’re matched up again. White Angel rushes to the ring and immediately goes after Chicky, catching him from behind and not giving him a chance to get his ring jacket off. Chicky tries to get away by rolling out of the ring, but Angel gives chase and throws him back into the ring. Chicky tries to beg off but Angel continues to attack Chicky. Again, Chicky tries to roll out and get away but, once again, Angel chases him and carries Chicky back to the ring. You can tell Chicky wants no part of the White Angel. Finally, Chicky manages to get his ring jacket off but Angel continues on the offensive. And this is the pattern of the match, with Angel on the offensive and just having his way with Chicky, and Chicky trying to get away but being unsuccessful. Chicky gets moments where he is able to cut off White Angel’s offensive attack but Angel manages to turn the tide. At one point, Chicky tosses Angel out of the ring and you can see that Chicky has been busted open (Angel also has some blood going). Even when Chicky is on offense, you can tell he is outmatched power wise just by the kickouts Angel has. Chicky’s strategy becomes one of trying to wear down Angel and keep him down via a chinlock so he can’t be overpowered. Angele eventually gets the crowd going and powers out, hitting a flying clothesline to Chicky to regain the advantage. Chicky by this point decides discretion is the better part of valor and rolls out to get away, but again fails when Angel chases him down once more. Back in the ring, Chicky manages to counter some mounted punches and immediately bails and walks towards the locker room. Angel once more gives chase, but when Angel tries to ram Chicky headfirst into the ringpost, Chicky manages to throw Angel off and send him into the post instead. And here we get a perfect summation of who Chicky Starr is. With the ref counting down and his opponent down, Chicky has an opening to get back in the ring and get a possible win via countout. Instead, Chicky turns tail and stumbles back to the safety of the locker room. This feud would end with a cage match to prevent Chicky from running off, although Chicky ended up winning the match via shenanigans (this was the same night where Invader chased Chicky into the cage leading to Steve Strong attacking both Invader and Carlos Colon and leaving them laying).

MD: I’m lucky enough to be constantly talking to Esteban about this stuff as we go. That meant he gave me some of that sum up on White Angel a few weeks ago when we saw him against someone else in passing. I wasn’t sure what Curtis Thompson (Firebreaker Chip) was doing with that name/gimmick but no mask. It feels a little like the somewhat contemporaneous Bobby Heenan/Brooklyn Brawler vs Red Rooster feud, which is me bringing everything back to my points of reference again. The big difference goes back to what I noted above, that Chicky, while vulnerable enough to get overwhelmed in the early going of this match, was also presented as legitimately dangerous enough to sneak in a foul or get his knees up in the clutch and not just take over but also do real damage. Here, he was great at building up hope spots; that sense of vulnerability made the fans bite on each and every time Angel started to come back. The last of these was pretty elaborate with missed clotheslines and getting a knee up to cut him off right when you thought he’d be able to overcome Chicky. Just a great sense of the crowd and their expectations. This was inconclusive but apparently the feud had its share of gimmick matches too.

EB: In the summer, Chicky would compete for the World Junior heavyweight title, managing to have a brief reign as champion. During that time, he had a rudo vs rudo match against Eric Embry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI5EPE2IFfY

This match is from July 15 of 89 and is taking place in Caguas. Chicky is defending the World Junior title, a title he had won from Super Medico just a few weeks before. What’s a bit interesting watching the match is that this version is from a Camperones de la Lucha Libre airing from either the end of August or early September, so your commentary team is Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr himself. This leads to some interesting exchanges on commentary as Hugo and Carlos take the opportunity to needle Chicky throughout the match. Carlos feels that this is a chance for Chicky to get a taste of his own medicine since he is in there with someone who is just as rudo (or even more so) as Chicky. In an interesting twist, the crowd is actually behind Embry, since Chicky is just that hated. Hugo and Carlos are amused by this and rub it in Chicky’s face on commentary.The match is one where Embry gets the better of Chicky throughout the match, and Chicky tries different tactics to try to get the advantage (rolling out of the ring, offering a handshake) but Embry does not fall for them. It’s a missed crossbody that allows Chicky to get the advantage. Chicky works the leg but eventually they trade blows when Embry fights off a figure four attempt. Embry hits an eye poke and starts biting Chicky. A DDT and flying headbutt only get two for Embry. Several punches to the head and an eye poke set up a bridging back suplex pin attempt by Embry, but Chicky is able to steady himself via placing one leg under the top rope and lifting a shoulder just before the three count. Chicky immediately rolls out of the ring before Embry realizes he hasn’t won. Chicky smugly laughs on commentary, very pleased with himself.

MD: Ten minutes of practically perfect pro wrestling. Two masters who knew how to play off of one another. There wasn’t much in here I’d consider a high spot, but they were able to get mileage out of every punch, and kick, and even more mileage out of Chicky, on his knees, with his hand extended. It must have gone on for a minute but every time the camera zoomed in, you got a close-up facial expression that was somehow better than the last. Eventually they shook and Embry turned his back on him only to spin around and punch him to the fans’ delight. But Chicky was a crafty one and a half a sequence later, you were left wondering if he hadn’t goaded him into it, punch and all, from the start. Great finish too where Embry hit a belly to back but as both of their shoulders were down, Chicky got his feet up onto the ropes to get the leverage to get his own up. I’m not entirely sure about the real life physics of it, but as pro wrestling physics went, it made sense to me. What a cad.

EB: As August of 89 was winding down, Chicky masterminded another plan to get back at one of the tecnicos that he felt had wronged him. This time his target was TNT. If you recall, TNT had tried to put Chicky in the Cobra Dinamita during a match they had, which kickstarted the series between Steve Strong and TNT. Chicky had gone on TV raving about how TNT had tried to kill him with that maneuver, and eventually decided to do something about it. We go to the debut of a  segment called La Esquina Caliente (The Hot Corner), taking place live at one of the house shows.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hbKsIREXE

Chicky has a mysterious man dressed in black with his face covered, dressing in a similar style as the ninja wrestlers that have appeared in CSP. Chicky introduces him as the original TNT, a man who has come to Puerto Rico with one purpose. He has a message to deliver, but first Chicky wants to call out the impostor parading around as TNT. Yes, Chicky’s plan this time is to call into doubt the identity of TNT. He even calls TNT by his shoot name of Juan Rivera when he calls TNT out to the ring to explain to the fans why he is in fact an impostor. TNT comes out as Chicky continues calling him the impostor. Chicky tells TNT to keep his distance from him and to  pick up a mic that’s there for him. Chicky tells TNT to give him a minute because he needs to talk with the original TNT, who says he is here for the TV title TNT has and that he is the original. TNT responds by saying that first, all the fans here and watching on TV know who the real TNT is. Chicky responds by pointing at the man in black and saying here is the real TNT. TNT continues by saying that he has defended his name across the world and, if your guy (referring to Chicky’s ‘TNT’) wants a shot at the TV title, he only defends against ranked contenders, not just anyone. TNT then tosses the mic at Chicky and leaves the ring. Chicky starts complaining that this is a lack of respect, how dare he not give a TV title shot to the original TNT. But TNT, if you want him to be ranked then remember, this man is undefeated since arriving in Puerto Rico, that means soon he will be ranked by the WWC. So TNT, soon you will have to face the original TNT for that TV title and then we will see what you’re able to do. This man is the original TNT and he will prove it to you and all of the fans. And that is all “my dear friends” for this Esquina Caliente segment.

On TV, Original TNT would face different wrestlers and remain undefeated. Of note was the way he would finish his opponents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bogb0Nbnvg

This match pits the Original TNT vs the White Angel. The match is joined in progress with White Angel on offense and getting the better of ‘TNT’. After hitting a back bodydrop, Angel starts signaling for the full nelson which causes Chicky to jump on the apron. Angel goes after Chicky, which gives ‘TNT’ an opening to apply his cobra sleeper. Angel quickly falls unconscious and  ‘TNT’ gets the win. The ref signals for ‘TNT’ to wake up Angel, but Chicky tells ‘TNT’ to leave. The ref insists and Chicky changes his mind and they go back to wake Angel up, with Chicky doing the whole lay down a towel to hide how the opponent is woken up, the same as El Profe would do back when the actual TNT made his debut. They wake Angel up and, as Chicky distracts the ref, ‘TNT’ gets in a cheap shot on the downed Angel. One thing is certain, this Original TNT definitely knows the cobra sleeper that TNT uses and with similar effect.

Original TNT had shown to be very capable and was undefeated in the short time he had been in CSP. However, he still had not been officially ranked. Still, fed up with the constant calling out by Chicky, TNT agreed to face the man claiming to be the original TNT in a match (albeit non-title). We go to early September of 89.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQAgjPGZP-A

EB: There are many parallels for TNT in this situation compared to when he first made his debut almost three years before. Original TNT shows up and is dominant on TV (just like TNT). He has a manager who is challenging a champion to put his title up in a match vs his wrestler (as El Profe did with Carlos Colon and the Universal title), despite the wrestler being newly arrived and not ranked. Like Colon three years earlier, TNT takes the match just to get the grandstanding and calling out to stop (although in this case it's non-title and with the added wrinkle that Chicky has revealed TNT’s identity without his permission). On commentary, Hugo acknowledges that while the Original TNT is taller, there are similarities in how they look. Surprisingly, Original TNT gets the better of TNT to start. Chicky on commentary keeps calling TNT by his real name and says that he is a cheap copy. Original TNT keeps dominating the match as Carlos and Hugo talk about the pressure TNT must have faced going into the match due to Chicky. Hugo mentions that it’s tough when one goes to the trouble of protecting your identity only for a rival to publicly out their name. Hugo calls out Chicky for not having professional ethics and that it’s low to do this to someone. Chicky protests that the ethical thing is calling out an impostor and unmasking them, and you do that by letting the public know who the impostor is by name. In the ring, although TNT tries to counter, Original TNT remains in control. At one point, a charge by TNT is dodged and TNT ends up outside. Chicky Starr at ringside takes the opportunity to push TNT into the ringpost (causing Carlos Colon on commentary to rant about how they need to get Chicky and Profe banned from ringside so they can’t keep doing this, Chicky says he was just trying to help the impostor back in the ring).

Back in the ring, Original TNT continues to dominate TNT in the match. TNT finally manages to counter with a crossbody for a pinfall attempt, but Chicky distracts the ref, allowing Original TNT a chance to kick out. An eye rake allows Original TNT to gain the advantage once more. The match continues in this pattern for a while, but eventually a clothesline and a dropkick finally allow TNT to go on an offensive flurry. TNT hits a dynamite kick into the corner. As the ref backs TNT away from the corner, Chicky hands something to Original TNT behind the ref’s back. Chicky then runs to the other side of the ring to distract the ref, allowing Original TNT to throw powder into the face of an unsuspecting TNT. Original TNT immediately puts TNT in his version of the cobra sleeper. TNT fights hard to break the hold, including trying to use the ropes as leverage to jump off them and try to get the hold broken. This is similar to what happened to Carlos Colon three years prior. But TNT can’t break the hold and is put to sleep, losing the match.. Afterwards, Chicky jumps into the ring to celebrate with Original TNT. The ref tells Chicky that they need to wake TNT up, but Chicky and Original TNT leave the ring. TNT is still out! The doctor comes out to check on TNT, who has started foaming at the mouth. Victor Jovica, the master of the sleeperhold, also arrives to try to wake TNT up. This whole situation mirrors exactly what went down three years before, only this time it is TNT on the side of being left to potentially fatal injury. Jovica is able to wake TNT up, as Hugo on commentary calls out Chicky for once again showing a lack of professional ethics by leaving TNT under the effects of the hold without waking him up (despite TNT himself doing this before even as a tecnico).

For the first time ever, TNT has found himself in the exact same situation he has left other wrestlers in before (both as rudo and as tecnico such as we saw with Steve Strong). He not only lost, but was embarrassed and left to potentially serious injury. TNT was not going to let Original TNT and Chicky Starr get away with this. Something was going to happen, and it just so happens that Aniversario is a few weeks away.

MD: I was a little surprised how into this one I was. Jackson looked better in this role than I expected; he had a lot of strikes and while not all of them looked great, he got an A for effort in throwing them and TNT did his job in the selling to make you buy into the act. They worked this pretty boldly with Jackson getting an early advantage and just pressing and pressing and pressing as they built one comeback attempt onto the next, each one taking TNT just a little closer to coming back only for Jackson to cut him off through skill or hook or Chicky-related crook. It built to a huge comeback clothesline out of the corner and a great kick into the corner but just when it looked like TNT would stage the against-the-odds comeback, some heel chicanery (powder given to Jackson by Chicky) dragged him down and he fell victim to the false Cobra.  A pretty compelling match overall given that slow and gripping build to comeback.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we’re getting close to Aniversario 89, But before we get there, there’s a few more members of El Ejercito de la Justicia we need to meet. See who is trying to carry on the family legacy in Puerto Rico, as wrestling runs in these tecnicos' blood.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Butcher and the Beast (and a Junkyard Dog too!)

Week 6: Butcher and the Beast (and a Junkyard Dog too!)

EB: As August of 1989 approaches, Sadistic Steve Strong still reigns as the Universal champion, having just pushed back the challenge of TNT. Entering his sixth month in CSP, Strong has been the bane and terror of El Ejercito de la Justicia (and Carlos Colon in particular) for most of 1989. And although Strong has reigned supreme so far, he is not the first powerful menace that has wreaked such havoc. While 1989 can be seen as the year of Steve Strong, there is another individual who can lay claim to being the bane and terror of El Ejercito de la Justicia (and Carlos Colon in particular) for over a decade. A monster, a machine, a maniac known as Abdullah the Butcher. And in an unexpected twist, the paths of both of these terrors would end up crossing.

The story of Abdullah the Butcher in CSP begins in the late 70s when then rudo manager Hugo Savinovich brought in Abdullah the Butcher, who he would refer to as ‘mi monstro, mi maquina’ (‘my monster, my machine‘, which would morph into ‘the monster, the machine’ when Hugo became the show host and commentator). Abdullah would run rampant on and off for the next decade, with Carlos Colon emerging as his victim of choice. Just like that, a legendary and lengthy feud was born. At the time of Abdullah’s initial arrival, Carlos held the Puerto Rico title and this was the focus of their early rivalry. Of course, the rivalry would develop and evolve over the next few years. Here are some of the highlights of Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher in Puerto Rico throughout the years.

1978: Abdullah would debut in CSP as one of Hugo Savinovich’s first clients and attack Carlos to set up a feud. Abdullah would go on to win the Puerto Rico title from Carlos on 11/18/78 and hold it for over eight months. Abdullah would eventually not lose the title to Carlos, but to Pampero Firpo on 7/31/79 (both men were heels).

1979: The year opener on Three Kings Day sees the team of Carlos Colon and Jose Rivera  face Abdullah and the Sheik. They would once more start a feud over the Puerto Rico title in November (Carlos had become champion once more by defeating Firpo on 9/22/79), leading to a No DQ match on Dec. 15. Abdullah would defeat Carlos again for the PR title.

1980: The year starts off with a series of matches over the PR title. The title is held up on Jan. 5 when the match (a barbed wire match) is a no contest. Carlos wins the rematch (a streetfight) on Jan. 12. They would have matches against each other on Feb. 23 and Mar. 8 (this one supposedly a cage match). They would face off again later that year on Sept. 27. They wrestled at the year-end show to determine who got a shot at the NWA World title at the first show of 1981. Carlos won that match.

1981: Carlos defeats Killer Karl Krupp for the held up North American title on May 9. Carlos now holds both the North American and Puerto Rico titles. Carlos and Abdullah face each other on June 13, which would lead to a match on Aug. 10 that saw Abdullah win the Puerto Rico and North American titles (I've also seen Aug.11 in Trinidad listed as the date of the NA title match). The feud would continue in a barbed wire match on Sept. 26, in a match where Carlos injured Abdullah's knee. Carlos would regain the Puerto Rico title in that match, but Abdullah remains the North American champion. Abdullah would then face Carlos in a stretcher match on 11/21/81. During the match, he attacked Carlos viciously, trying to injure his eye. This caused Carlos' brother Jose Colon to come in to help his brother. Abdullah would attack Jose and this attack on a civilian would lead to him being stripped of the North American title. Colon and Abdullah would end up facing off in a super libre match (basically no holds barred, anything goes) at the year end show.

1982: The 2/27/82 house show sees La Pareja Dinamica (Colon and Jose Rivera) take on Los Monstruos (Abdullah and the Mongolian Stomper). Stomper had started  a feud with Colon in February (one that would last two months) and Abdullah came in for a series of tag matches, this match and the following week vs Colon and Pierre Martel.  In June however, the feud between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher reaches a breaking point and they wrestle each other in a cage match on 06/24/82 in Barbados and in a barbed wire loser leaves town match in Puerto Rico. Abdullah had previously ambushed Carlos during a match between Carlos and the Mongolian Stomper. This attack put Carlos temporarily out of action and led to the loser leaves town match. Hugo Savinovich was to be locked in a cage to prevent him from interfering. As the match approached the participants would be interviewed on the TV show. Hugo would complain about being caged like some type of animal. Later in the show Carlos provided his comments. However, as he was leaving the set, a net was thrown on him, leaving him defenseless against an attack by Abdullah. Despite the attack on TV, Carlos would win the loser leaves town match and banish Abdullah from Puerto Rico. Or so was thought.

However, within a month Abdullah reappears due to a loophole. He had (allegedly) defeated Antonio Inoki to become the WWC World champion in Japan. Because of his status as World champion of the WWC, Hugo Savinovich uses this as a loophole to bring back Abdullah the Butcher to Puerto Rico. Carlos Colon is named the number one contender to the WWC World title and faces off against Abdullah. They have two matches where Carlos is unable to win the title due to Abdullah’s tactics. This leads to a third and final attempt on July 31, which sees Carlos become the WWC World champion for the first time. Rematches would occur on August 28 and at the year-end show. 

1983: Colon and Abdullah would face off once more at the end of January, but it would remain a relatively quiet year in their rivalry until November. They would face off against each other at the first Starrcade, with Abdullah winning due to Hugo’s interference. This would lead to a set of matches on the island, one vs Hugo and one vs. Abdullah. Carlos won both and, in the process, put Hugo on the shelf with a broken leg (kicking off a series of events that would lead to Hugo’s face turn).

1984: Abdullah returns to face Carlos around February. He would then team later in the spring with newcomer to CSP Bruiser Brody, not get along with him and face him in a rudo vs rudo match. Then, the unthinkable happens. Due to Brody and Stan Hansen (who arrived in the summer) teaming up and running roughshod over the tecnicos (injuring several wrestlers, including Hansen sending Carlos Colon to the hospital), Carlos asks Hugo Savinovich (now a face) for a favor. Please contact Abdullah and his representative, he wants to meet with Abdullah. After visiting Abdullah and asking for his help vs. Hansen and Brody, Abdullah agrees to team with Carlos (sealed with a stack of cash). For the first time in CSP, Abdullah is a tecnico (although not changing his tactics one bit). The two teams face off as the main event of Aniversario 84 (billed as the Match of the Century), leading to a series of rematches including a lumberjack match, a cage match and a barbed wire match at the year-end show.

1985: Abdullah still is a tecnico to start the year, but on July 20 ends up leaving Carlos high and dry during a tag match vs Ric Flair and Dory Funk Jr. after Carlos accidentally hits Abdullah with a knee during the match. This would lead to Carlos and Abdullah facing off once more at Aniversario 85 in a match for the Universal title. The title ends up being held up and rematch for the held up title occurs on October 19 (the same day the WWF ran their card in San Juan where it rained, interestingly enough no rain in Bayamon that night for CSP).

1986: Abdullah faces off against Carlos in late March of 86 in a series of matches for the Universal title, which evolves into a series of tag matches involving Invader #1 and new top rudo Chicky Starr. This series of events would culminate on April 26 in a six man tag between Carlos and the Invaders 1 & 3 vs. Abdullah, Chicky & Ron Starr.  At the end of the match, Abdullah would throw ammonia in Colon’s face, blinding him and potentially ending his career. Carlos would end up making a recovery though, and a revenge match was held on June 15. However, due to the history of violence between the two men, the commission ruled that this would be the last time Carlos and Abdullah would be allowed to face each other. Carlos would win in an absolute mauling. However, they would end up facing each other once more at Aniversario 86 when both men took part in the Universal title tournament. The commission ruled that, if due to circumstances of the bracketing they ended up matched against each other, they would allow the match to happen (which did occur in the semifinals).

1987: After a year of not being allowed to face each other (other than Aniversario 86), Carlos and Abdullah square off in a lights out match on June 20. A rematch followed on August 2. Carlos and Abdullah would also be on opposing sides for La Gran Guerra matches that occurred at year's end.
1988: Abdullah once again faced off against Carlos in a series of matches on July 9 and16, and August 6. This is supposed to lead to a fire match at Aniversario 88 (with the match announced on TV), but an altercation that occurred at the WWC Awards show results in the match being changed to Colon vs. Hercules Ayala. They would face off once more on October 28.
And that is a not very concise summary of Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher, which does not cover everything else Abdullah did on the island. Just to give a visual idea of what chaos Abdullah caused, here is a highlight video of Abdullah featuring clips of his work in CSP from 87 and 88.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPUUjCLfrX0

And here is Abdullah in a TV squash match vs Armandito Salgado, just so you can see the level of violence Abdullah could achieve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9b8VfeJfHk

As 1989 began, Abdullah had a couple of matches in January against TNT for the North American title. Here is their match from January 6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7StBPN0at4

EB: This match takes place on the traditional Three Kings Day card that would kick off every year. There’s a slow feeling out process at the start of the match, as Abdullah seems to be more wary about TNT (the rising star on the tecnico side). The lock ups continue for the first few minutes but Abdullah tries to take the advantage with a weapon. TNT manages to surprise Abdullah with some kicks, which sends the object flying and TNT picks it up and attacks Abdullah with it. Abdullah manages to cut TNT off with a quick thrust and goes on the offensive, biting TNT on the head. Both men are bleeding. TNT goes outside to regroup and for the next minute or so it's mainly TNT getting some offense in, and Abdullah cutting him off and going back to work on TNT’s forehead. At one point, TNT manages to get Abdullah off him via a low blow. They start exchanging martial arts thrusts against each other, with TNT using a series of kicks to knock Abdullah down. The match continues with the back and forth, with TNT eventually getting a monkey flip on Abdullah. TNT hits a series of consecutive leg drops and signals for the Cobra Dinamita.  He gets it on sitting Abdullha, but the Butcher is too close to the ropes and breaks the hold. TNT does several kicks to stun Abdullah against the ropes, but Abdullaha dodges the last one and sends TNT outside. Abdullah prevents TNT from getting back into the ring, so TNT trips him up from the outside and smashes Abdullah’s leg on the ringpost. TNT yanks Abdullah out of the ring and both men are eventually counted out.

MD: It was interesting to contrast how Abby went right after Salgado with the cautious feeling out process here. I’ve seen an 88 match between them as well and it’s clear to the crowd that TNT is a real threat to Abby but also that he basically needs the Cobra to put him away. This had TNT go to grab the weapon first though both of them got bloody by the end, and all of Abby’s great cutoffs (the throat shot, the snap kick out of nowhere, and even the cool backfist using the ref as a block). He’s up there with Yokozuna and a few others at being the best ever at cutting a babyface off. When TNT came back, he used the giant canvas of Abby for some huge kicks (something I’ve recently seen Shunji Takano do a lot lately with Abdullah around this period, actually). The finishing stretch had Abby too close to the ropes for the Cobra and then sidestep at a key moment, changing the fate of the match. If TNT had been able to press just a little more, he might have won cleanly. As it was, he sailed to the floor and the match getting thrown out was inevitable.

EB: Unlike previous years, due to other commitments, 1989 was a year with few appearances from the Butcher. As mentioned before, Abdullah did get involved in the April streetfight between Carlos Colon and Steve Strong, causing the match to get thrown out due to his interference by attacking Colon with his signature fork.  This led to a tag match between Colon and Invader #1 vs Abdullah and Strong the following week. But other than that, the first half of the year didn’t have Abdullah making any more appearances in CSP. But as the end of July approached, Abdullah would make his return to the island. In this case, he would once again team up with the man he had helped in April, fellow Club Deportivo stable mate Steve Strong. Their opponents would be Invader #1 and the Junkyard Dog, a man who had first appeared for CSP  in June with singles matches vs Rip Rogers and Chicky Starr, and then returned in July to have a feud with Kareem Muhammad which resulted in a dog collar match on July 22. Now JYD is teaming up with Invader #1 against the top two monsters in Puerto Rico. Let’s go to July 29, and join the tag match in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8saKgaVjmg

EB: We start with Strong in control against Invader #1. Hugo on commentary is mentioning that Strong and Abdullah have said that once they had finished with Invader and JYD, they were going to go into the tecnico locker room  and finish off the rest of El Ejercito de la Justicia. Strong lifts Invader up in a chokehold for several seconds, eventually tossing Invader onto the mat. Strong starts pointing at and taunting JYD. Abdullah takes advantage of this to choke Invader some more from the ring apron. As Strong goes after Invader again, Invader does a series of leaping head butts to the midsection of Strong, managing to stun him long enough to go between Strong's legs and tag in JYD. Junkyard Dog starts cleaning house on both Strong and Abdullah, holding his own against both rudos. The rudos eventually are able to stun JYD but Invader returns to the ring as all four men fight, Invader attacking Strong and JYD attacking Abdullah. The tecnicos switch who they’re attacking, leading to JYD and Strong going to the outside to fight as Invader has Abdullah in one of the corners. Abdullah starts signaling to Chicky to come and help him as Invader continues his offensive flurry. Chicky jumps into the ring, causing aDQ for his team. Invader at first cuts Chicky off, but is grabbed from behind by Abdullah. Chicky grabs what looks to be a baton or a cane and charges at Invader. But Invader dodges just before he gets hit and Chicky instead ends up hitting Abdullah in the throat. Chicky throws his arms up in frustration and goes over to explain to Abdullah what had happened. However, as soon as Abdullah gets up he just straight up hits Chicky on the head with his fork. As Invader leaves the ring, Abdullah goes to town attacking Chicky with the fork, leaving him a bloody mess. As Abdullah continues his onslaught, Steve Strong is standing shocked at ringside with a chair in his hands, still wary of JYD and Invader who are near him. He eventually reacts, ramming the chair into Abdullah’s forehead from ringside. The first chair shot doesn't stop Abdullah, so Strong rams the chair once more into Abdullah’s head. This time Abdullah falls over. Chicky lands on the ropes, a bloody mess and out of it. Strong manages to drag Chicky outside and to safety, as Abdullah is starting to get back up in the ring. It appears that Abdullah is no longer with Chicky Starr.

MD: Just a lot of strong angles in 89 WWC. We only get around five minutes of this including the post-match, but it’s solid stuff. Invader sells. JYD works the apron and comes in making a big wave. I can’t speak for NWA JYD the next year but him throwing headbutts at Abby, bouncing off the ropes electrically, and squaring up next to Invader as they fight back the heels, all worked for me. Twenty seconds does not make a great, vibrant wrestler, but they were a great, vibrant twenty seconds at least. The crowd was very, very excited to see Abdullah turn on Chicky and for Strong to right after him with a chair. They knew the sort of treat this bit of miscommunication unlocked for them.

EB: As expected, Chicky Starr was not happy about what Abdullah had done to him and Abdullah was not happy about being hit by both Chicky and then Steve Strong. So for the August 5 show (we have circled back to our starting point) a match was signed for the Universal title, a battle of monsters as Steve Strong took on Abdullah the Butcher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W4mxI0cirI

As the video starts, Steve Strong is heading to the ring with the Universal title around his shoulder. As Strong stares at the crowd, Abdullah rushes out with a large piece of wood in his hands. He charges Strong from behind and knocks him down, going on the offensive with several shots from the piece of wood. Abdullah continues with the offense on the outside, throwing Strong into the lighting rig and choking him with some cable (as the crowd cheers him on). Abdullah continues on offense but eventually gets in the ring. Strong tries to collect himself but falls down, causing Abdullah to head back out and throw Strong into the light rig again.  Abdullah heads back to the ring and ,as Strong tries to get in, Abdullah grabs him and stabs the fork into Strong’s head. Strong collects himself at ringside, calls upon the power of Luc, and charges into the ring where he is met by some karate thrusts from Abdullah. Abdullah continues on offense for a while, but the tide is turned when Strong grabs a squeeze hold on Abdullah’s groin. Strong goes on the offensive for a couple of minutes, busting Abdullah open in the process. Abdullah cuts off Strong with a low blow, but Strong goes back on the attack. After a while, Abdullah manages to pull out the fork and stab Strong, sending him to the outside. Abdullah goes after him and both men get counted out on the outside. They continue fighting after being counted out, including Abdullah stabbing Strong in the rear with the fork.

MD: A very large stadium got the treat and it was fairly straightforward. Abby came out high energy with a big wooden plank and unloaded on Strong. Strong came back and took control, a combination of choking a bloody Abby in the ropes and bouncing off of him with things like flying shoulder blocks. When you take away some of Strong’s power moves by putting him against someone this big, he’s not quite as dynamic or impressive, but he was believably in control. Eventually, Abdullah pulls out the fork and they end up outside, where we get the big crowd pleasing moment of the match and Strong getting stabbed in the rear. I wonder if that was the plan or if it was a rib.

EB: Strong and Abdullah would have a rematch the following week, but soon after it would be the Junkyard Dog who would step up to challenge Strong for the Universal title. We go to a tag match between Invader #1 and JYD vs. Steve Strong and Kendo Nagasaki.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBPUus3w7HM

We join the match in progress as Invader and Strong are locked up in the ring. Kendo comes in for a brief double tram and stays in with no tag. JYD complains about this on the ring apron. As Kendo continues to control Invader in the ring, an angry Chicky Starr goes to the commentary table to complain about the announcers talking about Invader and that dirty drooling dog when what they should be talking about is Kendo Nagasaki and the Universal champ Steve Strong. We see that El Profe is at ringside as well, since he manages Kendo. Profe goes to fetch Chicky, saying to Chicky to not waste his time with these low people.  JYD gets drawn into the ring to try to help Invader, allowing the rudos to once again double team Invader. Strong comes back in and continues to apply a headlock on Invader, who is almost out from the punishment he’s taken. Invader manages to get back to his feet and tries to push Strong back far enough to tag in JYD but is unsuccessful. Invader manages to get the tag but the ref doesn’t see it trying to get Kendo out of the ring. More double teaming occurs, including Kendo hitting Invader with the kendo stick (which the ref does not see). Kendo sends Invader into the ropes, but Invader kicks Kendo and finally tags in JYD. He cleans house on both rudos, but is eventually overpowered two on one. Heel miscommunication allows JYD to tag Invader and all four men start fighting in the ring. This eventually leads to Invader coming off the top with a reverse crossbody and getting the pin on Kendo as JYD and Strong are fighting.  

And now it is Junkyard Dog’s turn to challenge Steve strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbHF7n3vtI0

EB: We are in Caguas in what is either late August or early September. Chicky is in the ring doing the ritual pose with Steve Strong, who is at ringside. JYD and Strong both get into the ring for the introductions and the match starts as Strong charges JYD and tries to hit him with the title belt. JYD blocks the blows with his chain and then wallops Strong with a fistful of chains. Strong regroups on the outside as JYD fires up the crowd. Chicky on commentary complains about JYD attacking Strong with the chain (ignoring that Strong tried to attack with the title belt first). Strong eventually gets back in the ring and JYD goes on the offensive and knocks Strong out of the ring again. As Strong again gathers himself on the outside, the commentary team of Hugo, Carlos Colon and Chicky start talking about whether Strong’s forearm pad is loaded (something Chicky absolutely denies and says that Strong is just that powerful, Carlos says it's both, Strong is powerful but believes the ‘Damian’ is also loaded). JYD rams the heads of  Chicky and Strong together and continues on the offensive in the ring.  Strong once again heads out as we see a couple of promos from TNT and a mystery man in black who is with Chicky Starr  (if you’re wondering what this is all about, we’ll get there soon). Carlos on commentary actually gives Strong credit for being willing to defend the title almost every week and being able to remain champion. Strong is just having problems in the ring trying to solve JYD. Both men eventually stun each other after exchanging blows but neither goes down. As JYD starts taking the advantage once more, Chicky jumps up and distracts JYD, allowing Strong to turn ‘Damian’ around on his arm and hit JYD with a clothesline. This allows Strong to get the pin and retain the Universal title.

Steve Strong has survived every challenge so far, but as we get nearer to Aniversario 89 he has another challenge facing him. And this time, it’s the man he put on the shelf back in May and who he defeated for the Universal title, none other than Carlos Colon.

MD: It stood out to me how well they seemed to use a Rufus R. Jones at a point in his career where he wasn’t that useful anywhere else, but they used JYD even better. Teaming with Invader is perfect for him. This was another example of that even if we only have four minutes of it. And then he and Strong had a match that would have fit in well on a Summerslam undercard third from the top. With the way Strong fed for JYD’s clotheslines and headbutts, it almost felt like a WWF tryout match for him. He scrambled out of the ring for the ones on all fours and then, when he was doing a ritual on the outside with Chicky, Dog came right out and snuck a headbutt into his upper ribcage. It felt big when the two of them were just throwing fists at each other too, bigger than you’d expect from ‘89 JYD. The finish had all the chicanery you’d expect, but JYD wasn’t going to be the guy to beat Strong. He did give him just a little more credibility with this match though.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we’ve seen a lot about this person on our trip through 1989 but what does it mean to be ‘bregando a la Chicky Starr’. We’ll learn a bit more about how Chicky came to be and just how underhanded he can be. And just who was that man in black with him in that promo?

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Bronco Boricua 1989

Week 2: Picture it! Puerto Rico. August 1989.

EB: It’s the first weekend of August in 1989 and Capitol Sports Promotions (today known as WWC), the main wrestling promotion in Puerto Rico, is preparing for its 16th anniversary show (or Aniversario ‘89) in about a month and half’s time (September 16 to be exact). Since the first official Aniversario show in 1983, it has been the promotion’s big show of the year. We’re at the point where feuds are underway or being set in motion to pay off at the Aniversario show, but we’re not there yet.

Before we drop in on who’s who and what’s going on, a quick primer on Capitol Sports Promotions (or CSP for short). Founded in September 1973 (with Victor Jovica, Carlos Colon and Gorilla Monsoon serving as owners), the promotion was able to eventually establish itself as the leading wrestling promotion in Puerto Rico, becoming successful enough to become an NWA member around 1979. The decade of the 1980s saw a huge surge in popularity for CSP and it’s viewed by many local fans today as the golden age of local wrestling. But like many surges and booms, eventually a downturn comes. As we’re finishing the 80s and 1990 looms ahead, things aren’t as they were just a couple of years ago. Still, locally things are moving along for CSP.

The top title in the promotion is the Universal title, which was established in 1983 when a series of matches (that started back in late summer of 1982) were held between the WWC and NWA World champions (mainly Carlos Colon vs either Harley Race or Ric Flair). This series of matches ended with Carlos Colon defeating Ric Flair in a cage match on Dec. 18 of 83 to determine ‘the undisputed champion of the universe’.

Besides the Universal title, there are several other secondary singles titles as well as two tag titles active in the promotion at this time. Due to the number of titles and the roster size, it’s not uncommon to sometimes see wrestlers hold more than one title concurrently, with the frequency with which the titles are actively defended varying based on emphasis given and which wrestler holds it (meaning if it’s a local who is regularly here week after week compared with a semiregular who comes in for the big shows every month or two). We’ll get into more detail about who holds these titles soon enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBAn3wBkrxQ

As we start our journey, we begin during Fan Appreciation weekend for CSP (around this time they traditionally would hold their Fan Appreciation Days during the first weekend in August just before the school year would start). Our first stop is a segment of the Chicky Starr’s Sport Shop airing Saturday Aug. 5. Chicky’s guests are heel (or rudo) manager El Profe (the masked man sitting to the left) and three of Profe’s charges: Abudda Dein, Kareem Muhammad and Kendo Nagasaki. In Puerto Rico, the bad guys are the rudos and the good guys are the tecnicos. One important detail, the tecnicos are known as El Ejercito de la Justicia (which means ‘The Army of Justice’ or ‘Justice Army’). As for the rudos, for the most part (not always but usually) they are aligned with one of the heel managers in the promotion. Currently there are two of them, Chicky Starr (his stable is named El Club Deportivo which means ‘The Sports Club’) and El Profe (his stable is La Real Academia which means ‘The Royal Academy’). Just to give you an idea on how they are presented, Chicky is more of a wrestler who also manages while El Profe is more of a manager who also wrestles. Chicky is usually the lead heel or involved with the lead heel, while El Profe typically handles the tag teams and an occasional top heel. In a bit of a departure, at this moment in time most of the rudos with a manager are aligned with El Profe. Chicky is focusing on wrestling and managing one client in particular (we’ll discuss this in more detail next time).

The topic of conversation for this Sports Shop segment is the Bronca Boricua match (which can be translated as Puerto Rican Brawl) that is taking place on that night’s card. The match features a $10,000 prize for the winner and is also for La Copa Medalla (the Medalla Cup), so named because it is sponsored by the national beer brand Medalla. Chicky welcomes the viewers to the Sports Shop and starts talking about the big match happening tonight, mentioning that El Profe has seven chances at winning (he has seven of his wrestlers in the match) and Chicky himself will be competing as well in order to win the money and the cup. Chicky says whether it’s Profe or him that wins the money, it’ll be in good hands, as long as it’s not El Ejercito de la Justicia that wins.

El Profe agrees with Chicky, saying it will be the Real Academia’s night, he has seven chances at winning the money and cup. He has three of his wrestlers here with him and also mentions the Battens who are not here but are in training. No matter if it’s him or Chicky (‘preferably me though’) the important thing is that the money will be coming to them. Profe also mentions the rematch for the TV title where TNT will defend against Kendo Nagasaki and that he feels it’s unfair that he is barred from being in Kendo’s corner (‘TNT accused me last week of ringing the bell’). Doesn’t matter where he is though, what matters is where Kendo is and that is in the ring against TNT. The people will finally have a TV champion they can be proud of representing them, they’ll stop feeling the embarrassment and shame of seeing TNT as their champion. Chicky agrees with Profe, calling the stipulations for the match cheap on the part of the WWC. He closes by repeating again that they’re going for the $10,000, he and El Profe (at the mention of his name Profe pops into camera view for a second and taps his chest), but naturally Chicky is rooting for himself.

The action takes place tonight at Hiram Bithorn Stadium as the card rundown starts.  Let’s take the opportunity as they roll call the participants to introduce them. There is a Universal title match featuring a beast vs a monster, as Sadistic Steve Strong defends the title against Abdullah the Butcher. We’ll talk more about these two next time. For the Bronca Boricua match we have the following participants:

Invader #1 – I’ll address this once. Yes, that Invader. This journey will focus on Puerto Rican wrestling and he’s going to be appearing a lot throughout our reviews. Has been back since mid-to-late February and is one of the top tecnicos in the promotion. Currently is in a feud with Ivan Koloff over the Puerto Rican title. Is also the reigning North American champion, although this title is rarely defended and will be retired before the year is out. In addition to competing in the Bronca Boricua tonight, he has a match vs Ivan Koloff for the Puerto Rico title.

Kamala – He has made sporadic appearances in CSP since the mid-80s as a monster heavy that is brought in by one of the managers when needed. One such example is taking on Kerry von Erich on tonight’s card. He will make a few more appearances on a couple of the big shows for the remainder of 1989.

Ivan Koloff – Although he made a couple of appearances back in 1985 when JCP and CSP were members of the NWA, this is Ivan’s first run as a regular in the territory. He is managed by El Profe and is the reigning Puerto Rican champion (won the title just a few weeks before), feuding with former champ Invader (including a match on tonight’s card).

TNT – The rising star on the tecnico side, you likely know him as Savio Vega. He is a face paint wearing karate ninja and the reigning TV champion. Has a title defense against Kendo Nagasaki also on tonight’s show, with El Profe banned from ringside due to bell ringing shenanigans in their match the previous week.

Kerry Von Erich – A name that way back in the late 70s/early 80s made a couple of appearances for CSP, has recently appeared on a few shows throughout the summer and is being brought in as a special attraction for the big monthly cards. Besides the Bronca Boricua tonight, Kerry is also scheduled to face Kamala in a singles match.  He doesn’t really make any more appearances for the promotion after this weekend.

The Junkyard Dog – Has also recently started a regular run in the territory during the summer, wrestling in the upper card and main events as needed. Unlike Kerry, JYD’s run will last a bit longer throughout the rest of the year.

Boogie Man Jimmy Valiant – Had previously made sporadic appearances for CSP in the mid to late 80’s, currently making a semi-regular run in the promotion from late summer into the fall.

Chicky Starr – Has been the lead heel since 1986 when he turned on Invader #1 (in a mentor / student angle similar to Sammartino and Zbyszko), serving as wrestler, manager and interview segment host. Currently focusing more on wrestling (including a recent World Junior Heavyweight title reign) but has one key client in the reigning Universal champion. The self-proclaimed inarguable king of wrestling according to him (as evidenced by the rope and crown he wears, a recent development in 1989 thanks to a feud with Rufus R. Jones).

Kendo Nagasaki – First appearing for CSP in mid-83, he has had several runs in the territory, most recently as part of the Ninja Express from late-87 to mid-88. Would continue to make sporadic appearances being brought in by a heel manager, in this case by El Profe. Is currently in for a few weeks and having a series challenging for TNT’s TV title (including the previously mentioned match on tonight’s card where el Profe is barred from ringside).

Rip Rogers – One of the key heels of 1989, having previously won the World tag titles (with Abudda Dein) and also is the reigning Caribbean champion. Has a no DQ match on tonight’s show teaming with Abudda Dein against the reigning World tag champs Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo Jr.

The White Angel – You may know him as Curtis Thompson or Firebreaker Chip. A masked wrestler brought in by Chicky Starr who, after a few weeks of unsatisfactory performance for Chicky’s liking, was booted from his stable. He unmasked and feuded with Chicky. Currently a tecnico.

Kareem Muhammad – First appearing in CSP in mid-82 and presented as Abdullah the Butcher’s cousin. Since then he has continued to make regular appearances throughout the years. Currently being managed by El Profe.

Abudda Dein – Managed by El Profe, has served as an upper midcard heel for most of 1989, challenging for the different singles titles (including a reign as Puerto Rico champion during the first part of the year) and also managing to have one reign as World tag champs with Rip Rogers. Has a World tag title match on tonight’s card.

Eric Embry – Responsible for one of the greatest heel runs in Puerto Rico from mid-85 to mid-86, a run that saw Embry have a feud of some sort with nearly every notable tecnico of the time (including announcer Hugo Savinovich). Has continued to make sporadic appearances since then, with this weekend being such an occasion.

Super Medico – A stalwart of CSP throughout the 80’s as both a tag and singles wrestler, initially serving as a rudo before turning tecnico. Returned in May to CSP after an almost two year absence (outside of a couple of one shot appearances). Is the reigning World Junior Heavyweight champion, having regained the title from Chicky Starr just one week before. You may know him as Jose Estrada or as one half of Los Conquistadores.

Miguelito Perez – Son of the legendary Miguel Perez. Made his debut in 1985 and has had different stretches of success as a singles and tag competitor. Currently teaming with Huracan Castillo Jr. and is co-holder of both the World and Caribbean tag titles.

Huracán Castillo Jr. – Son of the legendary Huracan Castillo (who served as commissioner and a manager after retirement up until he was paralyzed in a shooting), has been linked at times with Miguelito as a tag team across the past few years as well as competing in the junior heavyweight division. Currently holds both the World tag and Caribbean tag titles with Miguelito.

The Batten Twins – Bart and Brad are just about wrapping up a one year run on the island, with their most recent feud being against Perez and Castillo. Have held both sets of tag titles and even took Perez and Castillo’s hair a couple of months prior.

Carlos Colon – Making his return after suffering a shoulder injury in mid-to-late May, Carlos is the leader of El Ejercito de la Justicia and the top star of the territory for basically the past decade and half (yes, he’s a co-owner of CSP but the people still have to buy into what you’re selling). This is his comeback after being put on the shelf and he has his sights set on regaining the Universal title.

They also mention that an hour and a half before the show starts, wrestlers will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans if they bring a camera (it is Fan Appreciation Day after all).  After the card rundown there is a brief tease about Aniversario 89, taking place on September 16 in Bayamon.

So, what exactly is a Bronca Boricua? It’s a battle royale where you can come dressed how you want and can bring one weapon of your choice to use in the ring. Eliminations occur when a wrestler is tossed over the top rope and to the floor. Last competitor remaining wins. Unfortunately, we do not have footage (outside of a small snippet in a recap video) of this Bronca Boricua match. According to the results available, Carlos Colon won the Medalla Cup in his return from injury. However, thanks to CSP typically running a similar card as the main San Juan Metro area card for the west region of the island on the other weekend day (usually Sunday), we do have

WWC: Bronca Boricua (1989) - YouTube

A Bronca Boricua from what appears to be the same weekend, most likely taking place on August 6. Our location is Mayaguez, the big town on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Unlike the Bronca Boricua advertised above, this one has 16 competitors instead of 20. From the advertised Bronca Boricua from the previous day we are missing Kamala, Kerry, Castillo, the Battens and Chicky. We have two new competitors serving as subs, El Profe and Victor Jovica (who as a wrestler in Puerto Rico is typically slotted as a lower card / JTTS).

Your commentary team is Hugo Savinovich, Carlos Colon and El Profe. As the Boogie Man makes his entrance (holding what appears to be a stake), Hugo says that you can bring whatever you want with you (belts, chains, wood, chairs, brass knuckles, etc.). Already out we have Super Medico (with 2x4), Rufus R. Jones, the White Angel, TNT (with kendo stick), JYD, Victor Jovica, the previously mentioned Jimmy Valiant, Rip Rogers, Abudda Dein (with what looks like a leather strap), Kareem Muhammad (with some weird looking piece of metal), Kendo Nagasaki (with a bigger kendo stick), Eric Embry and El Profe. Ivan Koloff comes out in his wrestling gear and with his chain. Invader #1 arrives with a large weight belt. Carlos Colon shows up in a blue tracksuit. On commentary, Carlos mentions that he likes to show up with a small weapon that he can use and not worry that it will be taken away easily. Miguelito Perez (with a stick) jogs out after Carlos and the match starts.

The first few minutes the commentators put over the danger of this match and that tempers get so high that you sometimes see tecnicos hit each other and likewise with the rudos. El Profe starts getting on Carlos over being on the apron attacking, saying he was hiding. Carlos says that he's not hiding, he's being careful since he has a big title match coming up and he wants to be smart in order to avoid injury. This leads to Carlos questioning how the heck El Profe ended up in this match:

Hugo (as El Profe starts hopping around in the ring): Look who's jumping around in there. El Profe going around in circles.

Profe: It's that damn Invader whipping me with that huge weight belt. That's all leather and all you feel is leather. It feels like it tears at your skin.

Hugo: There's Rip Rogers as well...

Carlos: Hugo, I don't know how El Profe had the guts to get in there.

Hugo: I don't know, but after those first few hits he took, he was probably thinking the same thing.

Carlos: I think one of his charges missed the match and the WWC forced him to fulfill the contract.

Profe: Are you insinuating that I'm not sufficiently brave to step into this match...

Hugo: I'm pretty sure that Carlos is right about what happened, because if I'm not mistaken, one of your Real Academia wrestlers was injured and couldn't compete. That meant you had to fulfill the contract, you were forced to enter the match.

Profe: No, no, no. I voluntarily entered because I'm afraid of no one. I know I can beat them all and finish them all off...

Hugo (in an incredulous tone): Wow.

The match continues for a few minutes with no eliminations. Carlos mentions that Nagasaki and Koloff have an advantage since they are so familiar with how to handle the weapons they have. El Profe brags that they are part of his Real Academia. At 5:50 we have our first elimination, Kareem Muhammad.
Hugo: There goes the first person. It's the giant from Sudan, Kareem Muhammad. And what is that thing he has in his hands Profe?

Profe: Well, that's a bicycle handlebar.

Hugo: Well, the bicycle just crashed Profe, because he is eliminated.

Rufus is next out, prompting the following comment from El Profe: "There goes Shaka Zulu's grandpa". Hugo proceeds to apologize and say that Profe's comments do not represent him or Carlos. Jimmy Valiant is the next one to go, as the commentators start talking about how anyone could win this match. We go to commercials as Jovica and JYD are eliminated.

We come back and Rip Rogers is circling the ring, apparently not eliminated but looking to pick his spot to get back in. Invader #1 has been busted open. Embry looks like he has a boot in his hand. Meanwhile, TNT eliminates El Profe and Hugo and Carlos get on Profe's case about that.

Carlos (somewhat condescending): What happened to you there Profe?

Hugo: Profe?

Profe: Hey, it took 5 guys to get me out, because one by himself couldn't!

Embry is eliminated by Carlos. White Angel is also tossed, as Profe says he's still in there in spirit since his guys are still in it. TNT and Nagasaki start exchanging blows with their sticks. Rogers eliminates Medico during this. We're down to 8 guys, four of El Profe's men and 4 Ejercito members. Dein and Rogers team up to attack Carlos, as Koloff starts going after Miguelito with the chain. Dein loads his boot, but Carlos blocks the kick. Carlos atomic drops Dein out, but Rogers comes up from behind and tries to toss Carlos. TNT tries to help Carlos, but Dein helps Rogers from outside and it results in all three men going out.

We're down to our final four: Miguelito, Invader (who's a bit out of it on the turnbuckle), Nagasaki and Koloff. On the outside, Carlos and TNT decide to stick around at ringside (Carlos: As the captain of El Ejercito de la Justicia, we stayed out there to ensure Profe would not do any of his tricks.; Profe: Hey, I left my guys alone out there). Miguelito and Invader stare down Koloff and Nagasaki as all four men ready their weapons. Invader goes after Koloff while Miguelito goes after Nagasaki with his stick. Koloff gets the better of Invader with the chain. Meanwhile, Miguelito is just teeing off rapid fire style on Nagasaki. Then Miguelito just goes nuts hitting the heels. Eventually, Koloff puts Invader in the tree of woe and the heels team up to get rid of Miguelito. Invader tries to go at it two on one, but eventually falls to the numbers game. Heel miscommunication leads to Nagasaki being eliminated and the final stretch of the match is Koloff vs. Invader.

MD: Just as a bit of disclaimer to start: I have a pretty good working knowledge of the 80s set. I didn't get all the way to the end but I'm filling in gaps as we go. That said, I have no idea what to expect in 90 and onward so I'm in Esteban's hands as much as you here. For instance, just in this one, Valiant, Koloff, and JYD are definitely guys I don't associate with Puerto Rico. When the ring was full, it had the sense of a match that was honestly dangerous but maybe didn't actually look so, when you ideally expect wrestling to be the opposite. It was just a lot of people and a lot of weapons and a lot of shots from behind.

Profe stood out as a Jimmy Hart-in-armor sort of out of place figure. He had some fun running around at one point. It's quite neat to see two of the best scummy heels of all time sharing a ring in Embry and Rip; they even team up on JYD at one point. People seemed fairly reluctant. Two guys that weren't were TNT and Nagasaki and there was a moment in the middle where they really started unloading on each other. This teased a match that I don't think we have, something to get used to with Puerto Rico. Colon wrestling in his tracksuit was a little offputting. They had a nice little cascading elimination sequence with Carlos eliminating Abudda Dein only for Rip to go after him and TNT to follow suit with all of them sailing over in the span of a few seconds.

That cleared the ring for Koloff and Nagasaki vs Invader 1 and Perez; again, I liked seeing Nagasaki and Koloff together as Cagematch (obviously no solid guide for PR stuff) only ever has them together in one other battle royal in 85. I know from Koloff's start-of-1990 AJPW tour that he still had some stuff in the tank at this point and it shows here. With the ring cleared, the four were really able to go at each other as the crowd went wild, with the heels able to work more as a unit and overpower Perez. You want every battle royal, even a bunkhouse style one like this, to have a compelling story at the end. A bloody and exhausted Invader having to fight his way back against two monsters brandishing trademark weapons pretty much fits the bill. He's able to duck Koloff's chain as Nagasaki is holding him to even the odds which leads to a three or four minute iconic battle between Invader and Koloff. The two of them slug it out, Koloff presses his power, and Invader both sells the agony and fires back with all he has, before he's able to find that extra bit of strength and savvy and duck at exactly the right moment to send Koloff out. It becomes a sea of elated rioting as El Ejercito de la Justicia celebrates with Invader. A great entry point to see who the usual suspects were at this time and to remind me just what the right mix of, let's say, Invader 1, a strong heel, and a hot crowd could provide in Puerto Rican footage.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, find out how Carlos Colon got injured in the first place and why Puerto Rican wrestling fans, when asked about 1989, will always mention these three words: Sadistic Steve Strong.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

Read more!

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. 

Read more!

RIP Butch Reed

Butch Reed vs. Junkyard Dog Mid-South 7/29/83

SR: Really epic, insanely heated match and a total battle of superstars, like a blue collar working mans version of Rock/Hogan if that was an actually great match. If you ask me, US wrestling never got better than two guys just trading great punch combos with the heel bumping all over the place. Junkyard Dog opens this match coming forward like an offensive truck, hitting a bunch of great punches (yup). Loved how he made a basic hip toss exciting by immediately following up with a punch in the face. Butch Reed is just perfect in that section, trying to fire back but being overwhelmed, really great escalating bumping from him. Reeds comeback looks really violent as he basically just punches JYD in the throat and then follows up with knees and boots to the throat. Instead of a standard heat segment/comeback they do this great battle of attrition segment with Reed going for a choke and JYD coming back punching him in the face from mount and gouging his eye. Normally chokes are pretty trite in wrestling matches but these two make it look like two men really trying to strangle each other to death. 5 minutes in and this feels like an epic battle. I didn’t even have a problem with the chinlock, as it didn’t go long, and JYD had seemingly punched himself out setting up another Butch Reed comeback. Down the stretch we get JYD headbutting Reeds bandage off, bloodying him, more great punch exchanges and another barfight attempted strangulation which lead to both guys trading punches from their knees. The finish was great as the referee gets bumped, initially it didn’t seem to affect the match as they just continue beating on each other, but then another ref bump happens. King Kong Bundy comes in but JYD takes him out (because JYD was god that night), only to get caught with a beautiful Reed dropkick to the back of the head. Reed then lands a clothesline off the tope (were top rope moves illegal at this time?) for the 3 count. Really a way cooler finish than some serious of crazy death moves and a great way to cap off a great great match.

PAS: This was an all time legendary feud, which the late lamented NWA Classics services allowed us to finally see matches of. Both of these guys were just huge, Reed's chest looked like a dinner table and JYD was a slab of granite. JYD had some of the heaviest hands in wrestling history every shot he landed has such heft to it, and he bounced Reed around the ring early. Reed had great looking shots too, and there were some incredible looking exchanges, which with the rabid crowd, felt like Ron Lyle vs. George Foreman. I love how powerful all of the Dog's kickouts were, he presses Reed off like a powerlifter throwing off a bench press. JYD blooding up Reed was great, as was the interference finish. The couple of glimpses we have of both guys, this feels like one of the great pairings in wrestling history.

Butch Reed/One Man Gang vs. Don Muraco/Bam Bam Bigelow WWF 3/12/88

PAS: Six man tag team match with a lot of big WWF characters. This was the odd period where Oliver Humperdink was a babyface manager (can't believe anyone saw that freak and thought he would be sympathetic or relatable), and he was seconding Bam Bam along with Superstar Billy Graham while the Doctor of Style Slick was managing the heel team. The opening punch out section was pretty fun stuff, although the match bogged down a bit during the Muraco in peril section, with two long chinlocks in a 12 minute match (Muraco was about as lazy as it gets). Bigelow takes a pretty big bump to the floor and Reed takes a big bump into the ropes for the banana peel finish. Loud colorful stuff.

Butch Reed/Barbarian vs. Dustin Rhodes/Barry Windham WCW 9/2/92 

PAS: This was during the Ron Simmons title run when Cactus Jack was compiling a gang to take Simmons on. Rhodes and Windham were an all time great tag team, and Reed and Barbarian were a fun pair of heel powerhouses as opposition. Dustin starts his face in peril role by taking an absolutely insane Psicosis shoulder post bump, he must fly 10 feet on the floor. Reed and Barbarian clubber him around a bit, before Windham makes the hot tag, which includes Barbarian taking a superplex and Butch getting Flair pressed off of the top rope. Some legal man confusion however, leads to Barbarian hit the kick of fear on Windham and getting the relatively clean pin. 1992 WCW was an all-timer year and this brief Reed return was fun stuff. 

Read more!

New Footage Friday: Dog Fight, Sputnik, Fujiwara, Fuchi

Sputnik Monroe vs. Jack Pesek 3/3/66

MD: We have almost no Monroe. He's gained prominence in the last few years as a trailblazing figure and someone who cares so much about primary sources in wrestling (and what's more primary than footage?), I've badly wanted to see it. This is the guy who got over with the black audience in the balcony because he was so tough and mean a heel, who then started to call to them, to break laws to associate with them, and that just became more of a heel with the white crowd in the process. Was it genuine? Was it cynical? You're not going to get any answers here. That was in the 50s. Here we are in the 60s, in Florida, and Monroe comes off not as some sort of tough as nails grump (despite young Solie putting him over as such) but intead an over the top Jackie Gleason sort. This is all about his facial expressions. Pesar's fine and this is straightforward as it comes, technical babyface dealing with cheating heel, but there's something transcendent about Monroe's mug, some Jack Klugman appeal that makes you want to look at every reaction shot, that makes the comeuppance all the more worthwhile. Monroe could have played Joe E. Ross' role on Car 54, Where Are You? and no one would have bat an eye. It's not something that would fly today but it felt absolutely perfect for the time.

PAS:  I agree with Matt here, people hoping to get a glimpse of what made Monroe such a legend are going to be let down. I wonder if his appeal was primarily a function of geography, the way Carlos Colon never seems special outside of San Juan. This match was very 1960s, hammy heel stuff by Monroe, Pesek comes across as a babyface straight out of a Fuller Brush ad. I liked Monroe's top rope stomp, and it was nice to get a glimpse of the famous blond stripe, but as a match this didn't show us much.

Junkyard Dog vs. Buzz Sawyer 9/9/83

PAS: This is exactly what you want a battle of dogs to be. Nasty fight based almost entirely around biting. Buzz is so awesome in this, totally rubber balling around the ring for all of JYD's offense, and JYD is a great brick wall to bounce off of. Buzz starts by leaping into JYDs arms and biting his face and neck, and it goes from there. JYD bites big chunks out of Buzz's forehead and Sawyer starts spraying blood all over the ring. Eventually the ref gets bumped by both guys and we get a crazy pull apart with a bunch of guys in street clothes getting pounded on by both Buzz and JYD. Sawyer keeps getting knocked down, only to fly back into the ring and leaping at JYD. Houston always has great crowds and they were frantic for this, I have no idea why this didn't get run back the next week with a dog collar match, seems like the biggest no brainer booking move ever. Still really happy we got to see this.

ER: Awesome stuff, almost all of the first 6 or 7 minutes is Buzz bumping off a brick wall, running at JYD with leaping attacks that bounce him right off, amusingly bumping a few times from grounded headbutts (literally JYD holding still while Buzz crawls in and then tumble bumps from his knees, like something you would do to entertain a toddler, don't think I've ever seen this before), running quickly into a punch like he was boxing Bugs Bunny, just fantastic stuff. Before long Buzz is bleeding and still running into the brick wall, and JYD is a great brick wall babyface. Buzz is really an all timer, and soon they're biting each other's heads (you know, dogs and all) and then a bunch of refs get bumps. We get some great ref bumps, JYD throws one to the floor in a great tumble, Buzz kicks one in the stomach (check the ref taking that kick and holding his stomach, legs kicking; looks like a man who knows what it's like to get kicked in the stomach), and several wrestlers and suits run out from the back, all of them looking like they would play Joe Don Baker's buddies in a movie you know was awesome. Buzz and JYD throw kneeling punches and Buzz keeps throwing himself back into the fray, all of it the exact kind of thing that would create lines at the box office for the follow up show. Oh.

MD: Houston wrestling is the best. I spent a year and a half of my life entirely focused upon it as my primary source of wrestling and those were happy times. Now we get bits and pieces here and there and this a hell of one. This match is one thing and one thing only. It is pure, distilled. It's a contrast, what happens when two similar things clash when one is superior to the other. Sawyer tries his usual Mad Dog offense only to find there's a bigger dog in the yard. The crowd knows what's coming again and again and the crowd loves it more each time. JYD even tosses the ref around better than Sawyer, yet somehow, probably thanks to the amazing post match insanity, Buzz never seems diminished. It's a perfect wrestling match. That doesn't mean it's the best wrestling match ever, but it is perfect as what it is and you don't see that every day.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masa Fuchi AJPW 7/11/00

MD: As I write this on Friday morning, I'm a little annoyed I can't crib from Phil and Eric's notes. I'm first in on this one. Phil's been eager to watch this for a month or more and it's the first of the new set of handhelds that we're tackling. I sold it to him (as I watched it first) as more of a Matt match than a Phil match, though noted that he'd still like it. It's Fujiwara and Fuchi after all.

This felt like a Maestros match to me, like the endless litany of Solar vs Blue Panther matches. A better example would probably be old man Panther vs Old Man Casas, just given time in a way that they really weren't in CMLL during their feud a few years back. They filled the time with dueling limb work, Fujiwara going to the armbar early and then digging in with it and Fuchi's great equalizer being an assault on the leg. All of that was great, of course, and totally down my alley, but what I liked just as much (and even more than the eventual disintegration into bestial, inhuman headbutts) was how Fujiwara's attitude drove the action early on. You got the sense that Fuchi wanted to work that straight up maestros match and here Fujiwara was peppering in shots from the corner and sneaking in cheapshots whenever he could. Familiarity bred frustration in Fuchi and it was that slipping of facade which led to Fujiwara's first armbar attempt, that first opening. You can never read too much into what Fujiwara does. It's so direct, so distinct, so natural, but also so substantial. Primal but complex.

This was a draw. This was ultimately worked to a draw and things sort of never came back together to an acceptable finishing stretch after they made it out the other side of the limbwork to the violence and back again. I knew that coming in though, and I knew it the whole way through, and thus forewarned, it didn't bother me one bit.

ER: Believe it or not, this era was the first time I was watching "current" Japanese wrestling. Everything before this had been compilation tapes of older stuff, FMW comps, death match comps, or AJPW comm tapes. But by 2000 I was just getting Japan stuff that was actually happening, and this freshly depleted era of AJ was one of those. This show was from the very first tour after the NOAH mass exodus where they were essentially left with Kawada and Fuchi on the native side of things, with about a dozen or so other gaijin and freelancers. So there response was "bring in some olds and some shootstyle guys and let them go long!" You need to flesh out a card somehow, and I love that they let the two oldest guys around be the ones to go long. This was really the only extended time that Fujiwara and Fuchi were even in the same fed, they teamed far more often than they opposed each other, and this is their only singles match. And it feels like a Fujiwara/Fuchi singles match. I love the story behind Fuchi's rise back to All Japan prominence, a guy who had been in the undercard for years but due to circumstances had to step up and stretch out, the Unforgiven era for Fuchi (it also pains me that "old man" Fuchi is like 8 years older than present day me). Fuchi's story was one of the first Japan stories I got into, so it's great to see all of this. We've all seen dozens of matches from each that is better than this, but this match has the stuff you want to see from these guys. Fujiwara works the arm and has some sick reversals into the Fujiwara, has no problem stomping and kicking at Fuchi's arm, and also is the only one of the two who has no problem sneaking in punches on ref breaks. Fuchi eventually goes after the leg, including a great section where he wraps it around the post a few times, twisting and wrenching the ankle in between ringpost shots. Eventually this spills into headbutts, though doesn't really feel like a match that's building to anything in particular in its 30 minutes. My favorite moments were simple, things like Fujiwara finding mean ways to bend Fuchi's arm around the ropes, or Fujiwara's dedication to selling his knee; at one point a hold gets broken, Fujiwara stands back up pushing off the leg Fuchi had been working on, and Fujiwara loses his balance. Now, Fujiwara was already in his 50s, it could have easily been an instant of him just losing his balance. But considering we'd already seen him throwing a few limps while circling Fuchi, we can probably safely assume we were just seeing a master at work, doing what he was paid money to do: Be the professional hired gun that he is.

PAS: These are a pair of guys who played very similar roles in parallel promotions through the 80s and 90s. They were the sadistic WW2 prison guards torturing people with a twinkle in their eyes. Fuchi tearing ligaments in All Japan and Fujiwara popping joints in New Japan, UWF and PWFG. Watching them match up here was like an DC versus Marvel crossover comic, Who would win a race between Flash and Quicksilver or a shootout between Green Arrow and Hawkeye. This lived up to what you would hope it would be, both guys testing each other on the mat, we get a cool long section of Fujiwara trying to escape a headscissors, another long short arm scissors section, and several Fuchi escapes from Fujiwara armbars.  There is some nasty standup with slaps and headbutts and a pretty cool finish with both guys getting close to submissions before being saved by the bell. This was a draw and it was worked like a draw. It was great to watch, but was missing a couple of trancendent moments which your true Fujiwara classics always have. I saw a clipped version of this match a year or so ago, and I loved the fact I got to see it all.

Read more!