El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: We Were Friends, We Were Brothers

Week 60: We Were Friends, We Were Brothers

EB: A lot has happened since Aniversario 91. Steve Strong was coming back, then he didn't, which resulted in Nikolai Volkoff coming in and having a brief rivalry with Carlos Colon. Abdullah the Butcher returned and got into a bloody match with Giant Warrior. Fidel Sierra has also made a return and has hired El Profe as his manager. A rematch between Carlos Colon and Dino Bravo is looming on August 3. But the biggest development has been the breakup of the Caribbean Express after Miguelito Perez decided to give up the World tag team titles due to how they won the match. Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper were not happy with this decision, leading to Castillo refusing to tag in during a match with the Ring Lords and then attacking and busting open Miguelito when Perez tried to leave the match. The Caribbean tag titles have been vacated due to the team breakup, but more importantly it sears a years long friendship and bond has been broken. With the feeling of betrayal from both sides being evident, a grudge match between Perez and Castillo has been signed for August 3. That’s two big matches we have scheduled for August 3 , although an incident at the July 31 TV taping at Miramar is going to cause a change to the scheduled Universal title match.

Before going to the August 3 Cameens episode to catch up on what happened, we have an important bit of news to cover. While we don't have the exact date, it seems that during the latter half of July we had another debut, this time for El Ejercit de la Justicia. He is a promising newcomer that is getting a chance to ply his trade in CSP, someone with a lot of potential. His name is Ray Gonzalez.

Ray Gonzalez s. El Dragon (same match from two different broadcasts, one is JIP)

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

This is our first look at Ray Gonzalez as himself. His opponent is El Dragon and we've included the two links since the commentary is different. This is a showcase for a promising newcomer. In the JIP version from Super Estrellas, Hugo talks up his potential, while Eliud makes a comment about Ray’s good looks, calling him a ‘galan’. Hugo cautions Eliud about using that word since it may draw the ire of Galan Mendoza. On the Campeones version of the airing, Profe makes a joke about Ray being Don Eliud’s son and makes comments about his attire, but begrudgingly concedes he’s not too bad in the ring. Hugo thinks the ladies will love this latest competitor in Capitol Sports. Ray gets the win by surprising Dragon with a pinning combination. .

MD: We’ve seen Gonzalez as Condor a few times, but this is his debut without a mask. They presented him as a young, fresh, athletic good guy. Lots of rope running out of headlocks in this one, with Gonzalez getting the better with a dropkick, a reverse monkey flip, by stopping short and stomping. He was up against a masked guy we hadn’t seen much before and he didn’t offer much. Gonzalez had a nice charging, following corner clothesline, timed very well, and a running power slam, but he won it by getting a jackknife pin out of nowhere. Maybe not as definitive as it could have been given the way the match went. Still, he looked good in there for a “debut.”

EB: Let’s now go to the 8/3/91 Campeones episode and find out what happened in Miramar thats has caused a big card change for that night’s house show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfLE1gcDuU

Hugo and Profe welcome us to the show and Hugo almost immediately pivots to an incident that happened this past Wednesday at the TV taping. Hugo says that he is supposed to remain neutral as producer of the program but he must criticize what Profe and Abdullah the Butcher did to Carlitos (Profe mockingly feigns ignorance and starts asking Moi?). Hugo goes on by saying that what they did was an affront, a professional embarrassment, and that athletic ethics should be respected. What they did was grotesque, something that truly should be condemned, and Hugo feels that something should be done so nothing like that happens again because Profe and Abdullah went too far, they have no respect for wrestling. Profe counters that there is no limit to what Abdullah can do, especially when he is being led by El Profe. Hugo tells the viewers that in moments they will show part of what happened that has caused a change to tonight’s card, Carlos Colon will now take on Abdullah the Butcher instead of defending the Universal title against Dino Bravo. Hugo quickly runs down the matches for today's program and then we get to what happened last Wednesday, with Profe being proud of what happened and Hugo saying he does not want one second to go by without publicly condemning what happened. The incident is not shown in its entirety, later on we’ll have a Giant Warrior vs. Abdullah match from that same Wednesday’s taping that is what started the incident.

We go to Cataño where Invader #1 is set to face The Fly when the camera cuts to Abdullah and Profe heading out of the locker room. Andullah has his head bandaged  and he and Profe go across the back of the arena to the opposite side. Hugo on commentary initially thinks Abdullahw was coming out to attack Invader but now he is asking for the director to send a camera to follow Abdullah and Profe since they have no idea what is going on. Hugo realizes that they have gone in the direction of the tecnico locker room. We switch cameras and catch a glimpse of Profe and Abdullah entering the tecnico locker room area. Abdullah grabs a metal case and continues entering further into the locker room. It soon becomes clear what is happening as Profe and Abdullah surprise a showering Carlos Colon and Abdullah proceeded to attack the naked Carlos in the shower. The attack goes on for a bit and they have a black circle censoring Colon's body. Abdullah uses the metal case to hit Colon, leaving him bleeding and laid out in the shower when reinforcements finally arrive to save Carlos. The camera focuses on the bleeding Carlos as Hugo is heard on the microphone informing the crowd in the arena what has happened. 

We then cut to Carlos making a phone call to WWC commissioner Hayden T Joseph. Carlos wants tonight’s Universal title match to be postponed because he wants payback on Abdullah tonight. The commissioner says this a highly unusual request and that he has to speak with Dino Bravo first since Bravo has to agree to the change as well. Carlos states that he will agree to wrestle Bravo at any other time under any condition that Bravo wants if Bravo agrees to change the match. Back to the studio with Hugo and Profe where Hugo recaps the request Carlos made. The commissioner got in touch with Dino Bravo, but Bravo still needed to talk things over with his manager El Profe. Let’s go to that conversation. We go to the control room where Profe is on the phone with Bravo, although Hugo gets annoyed because Profe had promised that they could film the conversation but now he is saying that they can't listen to Bravo’s side of the call. Profe says they can listen to his side of the conversation but anything said by Bravo is strictly personal and confidential between the two of them. Profe reassures Bravo that the title is not on the line tonight and they had already laid quite a beating on Carlos and were looking to finish the job tonight. Hug gets annoyed with the jokes Profe is making and wants Profe to get Bravo’s answer. It is a yes, so tonight’s match will be Colon vs Abdullah.

Back to Hugo who confirms that the commissioner has made the match official for tonight. Also scheduled for tonight is the grudge match between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo, two men who were once like brothers but now due to Castillo’s greed or decisions (however you want to frame it) has led to this. Profe says that Castillo  will now see who his real friends are, his dad is rejecting him, his friends have rejected him, everyone rejects him, but here is El Profe to help out in any way. Hugo tries to interrupt Profe by saying it’s not that his dad rejected Castillo, he was trying to give him good advice and Castillo wouldn't listen. Hugo takes a moment to ask Profe that since he is offering to help Castillo does this mean Profe is going to make peace with Monster Ripper. Profe continues talking about Castillo and ignoring Hugo’s question about Monster Ripper, indicating that he has no interest in talking about her. There are other notable matches scheduled for tonight as Koko B Ware will be in action, Sky Walker makes his return to face Giant Warrior, and the SST are in singles action with TNT vs. Samoan Savage and Fatu vs Invader #1. Before going to our first match, Hugo reminds viewers that their sponsor Medalla has an activity tomorrow Sunday at 10am at the Salinas Speedway. It's a truck competition, along with other activities like arm wrestling, drinking competitions and the Ms. Trucker competition.

MD: This is a great, striking scene. There’s a match going on in the ring and the cameras suddenly start chasing after an out of control Abdullah heading to the back. He catches Colon naked and coming out of the shower (I think at least) and leaves him bloody and it all feels unpredictable and wild given the usual format of the show. Then we overhear a call (in English, dubbed over) of Colon talking to the WWC Commissioner to change his match with Bravo into one with Abdullah, and good for the crowd that got to see that (and us since we have this). Then we see Profe, looking like Strongbad, in front of the radio mic to clear things with Bravo, working the other half of the things. Definitely a hot angle that came out of nowhere to start the show.

Fidel Sierra vs. Invader #4

EB: Our first match is joined in progress as Fidel Sierra takes on Invader #4. Sierra is in control at the start but Invader #4 quickly counters and works over Sierra’s arm briefly before Sierra cuts him off. The match is mainly Sierra in control with some Invader #4 hope spots mixed in. On commentary Profe is going on about how he feels a sense of brotherhood with Fidel Sierra and how it makes him feel Cuban since he’s started managing Fidel, something that Hugo is not buying and keeps asking Profe if he’s certain it is not money fueling his brotherhood and patriotism remarks. Sierra locks on a sleeperhold and gets the win when Invader #4 is put out. Profe hands Fidel the Cuban flag, which Fidel lays over the prone Invader #4. Hugo voices his displeasure with the flag being used like that and also reminds the viewers at home about the dangers of using holds like this if not applied properly. Sierra was starting to leave but heads back in to wake up Invader #4. 

We then go to the studio for some promos from Fidel Sierra and Super Medico #3. It seems that Medico #3 is defending the Caribbean title against Sierra tonight. The Man From Havana says he is the best in the world and will take the Caribbean title tonight, while Medico #3 promises that he will be ready to retain tonight. Invader #1 also cuts a promo about facing Fatu tonight in Bayamon, saying that while the Samoans are very good in tag team wrestling tonight they will have to prove it as singles.

The segment finishes with a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon: Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher; Miguelito Perez vs. Huracan Castillo in a grudge match; TNT defends the TV title against Samoan Savage; Invader #1 vs. Fatu; Giant Warrior vs Sky Walker; Super Medico #3 defends the Caribbean title against Fidel Sierra; Ricky Santana & Koko B Ware vs Galan Mendoza & El Profe; and Bronco #1 vs Alex Porteau. Also this coming Wednesday is the TV taping at Miramar featuring Invader #1 vs Huracan Castillo, Miguelito Perez vs Fidel Sierra, and Giant Warrior & Bronco #1 vs. the State Patrol. 

MD: Sierra is more “Cuban Assassin”-coded than before, though he still has a cool hat in his promo. I kind of liked the more stylish version we saw last time. Profe’s got the flag and everything. Invader IV is a great guy to put a new heel over and he does so here, holding his own with fast offense until he gets caught with a hot shot and put into a sleeper. Sierra really wrenched it back and forth and it looked great. Glad to see him come back in to wake Invader up too. Sierra will be going for the Caribbean Championship and Super Medico III is taking the threat seriously.

Super Medico #3 vs. The Fly

EB: Our next match is Caribbean champion Super Medico #3 taking on The Fly. The match is a bit more competitive than one would expect, with Fly getting in some moments of control on Medico #3. The Fly goes to the outside to stop Medico #3’s momentum but it still isn't enough to avoid taking the loss when Medico’#3 hits him with a headbutt of the middle turnbuckle. Let’s see how Medico #3 does tonight against Fidel Sierra.

MD: Fly got a lot here, actually, but Medico was able to jam him in the corner a couple of times. I do miss Medico I. III is coming along and he has good timing, good presence, more size, but he doesn’t quite have the same great strikes. He did win this with a nice headbutt off the second rope to a standing Fly.

EB: Our next round of promos has Samoan Savage talking about his TV title match with TNT, Sky Walker making his return to prove who the real giant is against Giant Warrior, and Giant Warrior (with bandage on forehead) saying he has to put Abdullah at the back of his mind for the moment in order to settle this grudge with Sky Walker once and for all.

MD: They were splitting up the SST to have them face TNT and others in singles matches. This is Samoan Savage saying that Fatu is on the beach and he’s taking care of business. Given how formidable they were in general, it’s not a bad way to keep cards fresh I guess.

Sky Walker was back to show everyone he’s the real giant. Something about his face paint made him seem smaller and not bigger. He had done damage last time, but Giant Warrior is coming out of the Abby match bandaged and wanting to take his frustrations out on anyone in his way.

Koko Ware vs. Al Burke

EB: With Koko B Ware returning tonight, we have a showcase match from Wrestling Challenge with Koko getting a win against Al Burke.

MD: Burke ambushed Koko to start and really did put the pressure on him. Koko just jammed him in the middle of the ring and dropped him with the brainbuster though. He’ll be in to team with Ricky Santana against Profe and Mendoza, which sounds like a lot of fun. I’d like to see him against Santana too, but we get what we get.

EB: Monster Ripper and Huracan Castillo are in the studio to talk about tonight’s match against Miguelito Perez. Ripper calls Miguelito stupid and Huracan says that what Miguelito did to them has no price. He turned in the World tag titles which only idiots do, that was fame, glory, money. That was the goal they had for themselves and they had done it Miguel, and then you do the stupid thing and give the belts up. Miguel will pay for that tonight and then we will see that Castillo is the better one of the two. “I made the team, I made you, everything you know I’ve taught you.” Miguelit better come ready because Castillo has a feeling that Miguel will be leaving on a stretcher.

Miguelito Perez is next , saying that friends don't betray like this and Castillo has to pay for that tonight. Castillo talks a lot about how he taught me, how he did this and that, he can talk all that he wants, the only person that taught me was my father. And what my father taught me I will teach you tonight, I'll show just what an angry friend is. You are no longer my friend, let’s make that clear, and what you did to me in front of all the Puerto Rican fans will be paid back tonight. You will pay for it in blood, I am going to bust you up and break your face. You are scum and will pay.

Our last promo for this segment is El Profe talking on behalf of Fatu about tonight’s match against Invader #1. He reminds everyone of how dangerous the SST are and they can be just as dangerous in singles action.

MD: Castillo was dressed more ostentatious. The pairing with Ripper does feel a little odd, but whatever gets him heat I guess. He takes credit for everything good they had done while Perez shows remorse for the situation and for Castillo giving in to his greed. I would have liked to see a Castillo squash maybe, or a cheap win, but that might have been on some of the TV we don’t have.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Giant Warrior

EB: Next is Giant Warrior vs Abdullah the Butcher from this past Wednesday in Miramar. Abdullah attacks Giant Warrior from behind with a chair before he is able to get into the ring. Hugo mentions that we will see shortly what happened that caused Abdullah to attack Carlos in the locker room later that night. Andullah gets several chair shots in as Profe holds the referee back. Warrior gets rammed into the announce table and Abdullah introduces more of the ringside furniture to Warrior. Abdullah heads into the ring and continues to attack Warrior when the latter tries to get into the ring. Abdullah tosses Warrior out and it looks like Warrior has hurt his arm. Warrior valiantly fights back but Abdullah pulls out a sharp object and starts stabbing Warrior in the forehead. This draws a dq but Abdullah continues jabbing the object into Warrior’s forehead. Warrior is bleeding. As Abdullah continues his attack, Carlos Colon runs out with an object of his own to attack Abdullah and drive him away. Warrior is the winner by dq and it seems that Abdullah did not take too kindly to Colon interfering. 

We cut to a sleeping Abdullah as El Profe does a voiceover promo. The beast is sleeping now but in a few hours he will be awake for tonight. Even Profe is wary about waking him up now for the interview because of how uncontrollable Abdullah is when he gets this angry. This is an uncontrolled beast and Profe does not care about keeping Abdullah in check tonight.

An angry Carlos Colon is next and he promises that tonight will be different from the other times he has faced Abdullah, what they did to him is something that Carlos has never experienced in his 25 years in professional wrestling. That was cowardly and humiliating and they will pay dearly for that tonight. Adullah will get the beating of his life tonight.. 

MD: The Abby/Warrior match is probably worth seeing again. Colon intervened and now they’ve lead to this moment where Abby is out of control and everything is going to come to a head. I’d have happily paid 8 bucks to see this.

EB: TNT is here to talk about his TV title defense tonight against Samoan Savage. He will be defending a title that belongs to the Puerto Rican people, so he intends to defend it with his life. After a card rundown we get a Samoan Swat Team music video. 

MD: TNT is ready to defend his TV title against the SST. SST get a music video full of headbutts to Disposable Heroes by Metallica which is pretty effective. It’s not a major program for TNT given everything else that’s going on but I doubt fans would feel shortchanged by this.

EB: To close out this episode, Hugo Savinovich conducted interviews with Huracan Castillo Sr. and Miguel Perez Sr. about the rift and upcoming match between their sons. Hugo is visiting the Castillo home and interviewing Castillo Sr. in his bedroom. Castillo Sr., who has been paralyzed since an August 1988 shooting, says that the situation is a bit embarrassing and that he has tried to give good advice to his son. But the younger Castillo doesn't want to listen. Hugo asks Castillo Sr. if his son has said anything about this and Castillo Sr. indicates that all his son says that he is an adult and can make his own decisions. He hopes that his son will come to reason but who knows how long this may take. Hugo also asks Castillo Sr. if he can provide a health update on how he is doing, to which he says he is doing better everyday. 

We then cut to the Perez residence where Hugo is interviewing Miguel Perez Sr. about the situation. Perez Sr. says that he backs his son all the way and he just cannot stomach the way Castillo Jr acted. It's one thing to disagree and even fight, but the way Castillo Jr attacked in such a treacherous manner. Miguelito felt the rift when Castillo didn't want to tag in during that match and even decided to just leave the ring rather than risk injury or get heated with Castillo right then and there. And then it was Castillo that attacked from behind to break that bond they had. The match is signed now and it is up to Miguelito to show what he knows in the ring. But Perez Sr. is hoping that Castillo Jr. will come to his senses, he even sent him video of a birthday party they had where Castillo Jr was there, to see if those memories will help bring him back to reason. They end the episode with a clip of Castillo and Miguelito in the Perez family trophy room, where they are both holding a picture of Miguel Perez Sr. Castillo says that this a glory  of Puerto Rico (referring to Perez Sr.) and he should be respected. Now it is their time to continue those legacies. Happier times from when they were friends, when they were brothers.

MD: Effective segments. Castillo is bedridden and finds the situation and his son’s behavior tragic. Not a hint of heeling or supporting him. Perez feels quite the same. It really put gravitas on all of this, just a sense that something special had been destroyed to to Castillo, Jr.’s greed and ego.

EB: Five matches from the August 3 house show were shown later that month as a prime time special called Choque de Titanes (Clash of Titans). The special was hosted by Hugo Savinovich, El Profe and Eliud Gonzalez. The special was promoting an upcoming September 7 house show, so we’ll discuss that aspect of the special later on when we get there chronologically. What we will focus on here are the five matches from August 3. So let’s go forwards to go back and see what went down.

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

Hugo welcomes the viewers and presents his cohosts for the evening, El Profe and Eliud Gonzalez. After a greeting from everyone, Hug starts mentioning the matches they’ll have tonight. It is going to be interesting since Profe will be on commentary but he will be competing in one of the matches as well as managing some of the wrestlers (so we'll likely get some interesting comments from him on commentary). The two big matches airing tonight are the grudge matches between Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo and Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher. With regards to Perez and Castillo, they will  have a face off tonight on the program (this is leading up to their September 7  matches so we’ll cover this segment when we get closer to that date). 

Koko B. Ware & Ricky Santana vs. Gran Mendoza & El Profe

Our first match is a tag match pitting Ricky Santana & Koko B Ware vs. El Profe & Galan Mendza. Koko had faced Mendoza at Aniversario and Santana was having a series of matches with El Profe, so there is some backstory here. The crowd seems to be really happy to see Koko here during the ring introductions. Eliud mentioned that he had been talking with Koko before the match and he learned that birds like Frankie can live up to 100 years. Hugo comments that he has a pet bird named Goldie and talks about how great they can be as pets but their care is a key part to keeping them around so long. Profe is getting razzed by the crowd and wants no part of Santana, so he tags in Mendoza. The tecnicos control the first half of the match, with Profe in particular not having a good time of it. At one point, Mendoza tries to tag Profe back in, only for Profe to decide to go check on some rigging equipment rather than make the tag. Hugo makes note that Profe is shining by his absence on commentary, it seems when things aren't going well for him and his wrestlers he either feigns ignorance or decides it’s time to go for a  walk. In a neat spot, Mendoza gets rammed into Frankie and sells the blow. Profe gets caught between Santana and Koko and just pinballs between them as he gets hit. He tries to tag out to Mendoza, but Mendoza decides to take a stroll to get back for earlier. The rudos briefly talk it over and Mendoza is tagged in. An attempted double team backfires and again Profe is caught between Santana and Koko. Something finally goes right for the rudo team when a knee to the back on Santana turns the tide. The rudos work over santana, with Profe taunting Koko throughout. Eventually Santana gets the hot tag to Koko, all four men end up in the ring and Koko gets the Ghostbuster on Profe for the win.

MD: This was really good. You take some time to watch this and it’ll make your day. Incredibly fun shine. Santana got the better of Mendoza and Profe again and again, including with some beautiful, beautiful punches. Then Koko came in and the place came unglued. Profe took a headbutt by bumping himself into the ropes. Great stooge bump. Then on the floor, Koko rubbed Mendoza’s face into Frankie, which may or may not have been animal abuse, but it was definitely Gran Mendoza abuse. They went back into the ring and Mendoza ran into Santana’s fists while Koko hit an eyepoke. Awesome shine. At one point, Profe had gone to the dirt and was trying to mess with a flagpole and… I don’t even know what he was doing and neither did Mendoza but he was that flustered and it was that entertaining.

Eventually, Profe grabbed Santana’s hair from the outside during rope running and the heels took over. Some nice double teams and drawing Koko in. Profe was a jerk along those lines. He also hit this great running knee in the corner. Really good stuff. But eventually, after the ref missed a tag and as things boiled over with the crowd, the hot tag came (and it was a good one), and Koko came in hot to a huge pop. Santana recovered and they got quick revenge with the ghostbuster on Profe. Everything you’d want for an undercard tag like this.

Giant Warrior vs. Sky Walker  

EB: The next match is Giant Warrior vs. Sky Walker and I goofed on the date for this match. We covered this in a previous post thinking this was from November of 90. Turns out it’s from this card  in August 1991. Sky Walker makes a one off return, thinks he won the match although Warrior got his leg on the rope, and then Warrior hits a big boot to get the win.

MD: We’d already covered this one. It’s still pretty good. Warrior has a nice back elbow and belly to back. Walker takes over and works over the wound (from the Abby match) which is a bit of context we probably missed before. The transition to comeback being a missed elbow drop is a little weak and they protect Walker on the way out by having him almost win (but Warrior’s foot is on the rope which the ref misses at first) but eat the boot anyway. What’s most important here is that this isn’t Murdoch or Abby, and this still holds up pretty well mostly on the strength of who and what Warrior was by this point and his connection with the crowd.

TNT vs. The Samoan Savage 

EB: TNT defends the TV title against Saman Savage. Feeling out process to start with Savage complaining about his hair being pulled. Savage then spends the next couple of minutes playing hide the foreign object until he is able to get some punches in on TNT. Savage takes over with nerve holds and strikes and most of the match continues this way until TNT’s comeback. The match ends when TNT does a corner spin kick that sends him over the top to the floor. It seems that TNT has hurt his leg on the impact. The ref counts TNT out and awards the match to Samoan Savage when TNT is unable to get back in the ring. 

MD: It’s so funny that Savage works this as a total Memphis heel, with just a bit more nerve holds. I always saw the SST of a few years earlier as fearsome, horrific even, down to the theme music, and now he’s just another glorious stooging heel in Puerto Rico. The system does work, and it works here too. He stalls at first, then plays hide the imaginary object, including making the ref check TNT and complaining about hairpulls. Eventually he takes over with it and does a lot of nerve holds, but it all works. TNT has a great hope spot where he hammers on the open feet of Savage. Finish is kind of wild as he came back with the spin wheel kick but when he tried it in the corner, he made contact but overshot and crashed onto the ground outside, knee injured. He loses by countout and then Savage hammers his knee with the belt post-match. Very SNME or Clash of Champions type match but it worked for what it was.

Miguel Perez Jr. vs. Huracan Castillo Jr.

EB: The Caribbean Express explodes as it is time for Perez vs Castillo. Perez gets in and immediately starts punching away at Castillo. Miguelito continues on the attack, eventually knocking Castillo out of the ring with a dropkick. Castillo tries to get away but Perez gives chase and they start exchanging blows on the ballfield, at one point just exchanging what look to be open handed slaps. Perez throws Castillo back in and it’s the opening Huracan needs, he catches Perez coming in with an eye rake to cut him off. Castillo works over Perez, sending him to the outside and ramming him into the post. Castillo keeps rolling in briefly to stop the ref’s count, but continues attacking Perez on the outside by throwing him into the ringside officials table. Miguelito is bleeding as Castillo uses the table and a chair to attack him. Back in the ring, Castillo focuses his punches and kicks on Miguelito's bleeding forehead. Castillo even bites the cut. 

The match continues with Castillo in control and putting Perez in a chinlock. The crowd cheers Miguelito on as the camera shows Ripper trying to yell at the crowd to shut up. Perez is able to counter Castillo's offense with a back suplex. Both men exchange blows but it is Castillo that gets the better of the exchange by ramming Miguelito's bleeding head into the turnbuckle. Castillo again bites the cut and Perez rolls out of the ring. Castillo follows but Miguelito is able to ram Castillo into the ringpost to halt the momentum. Castillo is rammed head first into the post and it looks like he is now bleeding as well. Miguelito starts firing off several punches on Castillo, Huracan starts firing back and they are just exchanging blows on the ballfield. The ref tries to stop them but gets hit for his efforts. Both men continue wailing away at each other when someone runs out and gets in between the two of them. It’s Miguel Perez Sr and he’s trying to get them to stop fighting. Perez Sr tries to reason with both of them only for Castillo to deck him with a clothesline. Miguelito is stunned for a moment, then checks on his dad. Castillo uses the opening to kick Miguelito in the head and they start brawling again, this time with Miguelito really showing off some renewed anger. Ripper intervenes by hitting Miguelito in the back with a pipe and she and Castillo get away. Perez Sr is still down on the ground as a medic goes over to check on him. Miguelito also goes over to see how his dad is. On commentary Profe is celebrating the attack on Perez Sr. but Eliud is appalled by what Castillo did. Some of the tecnico wrestlers help the elder Perez back to the dugout as a righteously indignant Miguelito is signalling that he wants Castillo back out there. Forget making amends, it looks like this feud is only just starting.

After the match they announced an upcoming Texas Death match between Perez and Castillo for September 7. They also have a split screen face off between the two where it is clear there is no chance for reconciliation here. We’ll discuss this segment later on when we get closer to this date.

MD: This was tremendous stuff. They hit the tone perfectly. Perez charged right in and they went at it just firing away. He was able to get an advantage with a dropkick and took things to the grounds, including a posting. Castillo kept fighting back and that helped a lot here, even if he got swept under again and again due to Perez’s righteous fury. When they made it back into the ring, Castillo went for the eyes, and he didn’t look back. He really brutalized Perez (who also did his best to fight back at times, but was cut off). After crushing him under a table and hitting him with some other associated furniture, Perez was a bloody mess, and Castillo made the most of it by wrenching his head in the ring so the camera could see it clearly. 

When Perez came back though, he came back huge and was able to reverse a posting on the outside. They brawled through the grounds with just great back and forth punches until the ref got clocked. Then Perez, Sr. tried to get between them and Castillo nailed him too. Huge heat for all of this but especially that as you’d imagine. Perez went right at him but Ripper attacked from behind with a pole. Things ended in chaos as wrestlers worked to help Perez, Sr. out. Great hate-filled brawl. One of the best matches in PR in 91 certainly and it left a ton more on the bone. They already announced a Texas Death Match coming out of this.

I thought the split screen with the two of them talking over one another was effective to build it as well. 

Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher

EB: Our last match is the grudge match between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher that came about due to Abdullah attacking Carlos in the tecnico locker room’s shower. After recapping the angle that set this up, we go back to Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel. Abdullah and El Profe make their way out of the rudo dugout, and Abdulla decides to head in the direction of the opposite dugout. Looks like they have a plan to wait and ambush Carlos when he comes out of the tecnico dugout. Profe and Abdullah stand waiting for a bit, but then Carlos Colon rushes out from beside them and starts attacking Abdullah. It seems he was ready for this and outsmarted the rudos here. And as Carlos had promised, he came for payback tonight. Carlos has an object in his hands and is using it to jab Abdullah in the forehead. Adullah goes down after several hits and Carlos decides to grab a really big piece of wood to use as a weapon. The ref futilely tries to get Carlos to back off, but Carlos just shoves him away and chokes Abdullah with the piece of wood. Carlos continues savagely attacking Abdullah (who is bleeding), using the spike object again and then hitting Abdullah with a cinder block. Abdullah ends up on a metal base and Colon just starts stomping Abudllah’s head against the metal. They have made no attempt to get into the ring as the crowd cheers Colon on.

Carlos continues going after the cuts on Abdullah's head, biting them and even grabbing the cinder block again. Anbdullah finally gets a breather when he is able to pull out his foreign object and jabs Carlos with it. Abdullah gets some more jabs with the object in, including one to the groin. This advantage lasts only for a couple of minutes before Colon starts firing back with some punches and caps it off with a foul kick. Abdullah is down and Carlos goes for a table to use as a weapon. Profe jumps on Colon’s back to help Abdullahm but gets tossed off. Carlos turns his anger towards Profe, ripping off Profe’s pants and then hitting a foul kick on him as well. A humiliated Profe flees to the safety of the dugout as Carlos grabs another piece of wood to use as a weapon. Carlos and Abdullah fight by the ring truck and then some wrestlers start coming out to try to separate them.Alex Porteau, Ricky Santana and Super Medico #3 all come out but get caught in the crossfire trying to break the fight up. Hugo on commentary mentions that it seems Profe has left the commentary area and is out in the hallway crying after reliving having his pants stripped. Carlos tries for the figure four but eventually they are separated and Abdullah heads to the dugout. Hugo sends it to a replay of the highlights  and the only one they have cued up is Profe having his pants torn off and then fleeing. 

MD: This was pretty great too. This whole show has been pretty great. This might be the best single show we’ve seen since starting this. It’s just an insane war, most of this being Colon as an absolute maniac attacking Abby. He comes out with an object (a fork? Who knows) and goes right at him. He gets a giant piece of wood, way bigger than a two by four and keeps it going, jamming it into his throat. By this point Abby is a bloody mess already. It’s just shot after shot, remorseless, slamming Abby into a table, going after the wound. Abby finally gets the fork and comes back, going so far as to slamming the fork right into Colon’s groin. It’s that sort of match. When Carlos comes back, he even completely no sells the throat cutoff so he can foul Abby first standing and then on the ground. Then he takes a table and charges at him to attack him with it. At this point Profe comes in, so he drops him and tears off his pants before starting back in on Abby. People (including Alex Porteau) try to stop him as Profe getting depanted was a bridge too far and the bell is ringing but Carlos won’t be stopped. He gets the figure four on for a bit before everyone breaks it up and Colon hits running jumping headbutts to Abby back into the dug out. Total war. Heck of a show.

EB: The special airing closes with Hugo, Eliud and Profe. Hugo mentions that it was a bad night for El Profe, he lost the tag match and then his guys didn't do too well. Profe responds by saying that he who laughs last laughs best, and that vengeance is sweet and will come. Eliud was happy with some of the results tonight. Hugo reminds viewers of the upcoming September 7 card and asks for closing comments from Eliuud and Profe. Eliud thanks the viewers for watching and wishes them a good night. Profe says that there simply are going to be a lot of ladies that won't be able to sleep peacefully tonight after seeing him how they did, which Hugo cuts off so as to not further spoil what has been a nice evening. We end with highlights from Perez vs Castillo. 

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a tournament is held for the vacant Caribbean tag titles, the feud between Castillo and Perez continues, and a Chicky Starr update.

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Found Footage Friday: 1991 WWF TAPING~!

WWF London Ontario 2/16/91

MD: This is all new save for the Crush vs. Butch match, and therefore, we'll cover the rest.

Koko B. Ware vs. The Barbarian

MD: Early on, Lord Alfred talks about seeing a young, young Barbarian in Puerto Rico when he was wrestling there with Monsoon and I wish we had 70s Lord Alfred in Puerto Rico. Ah well.

This was very good, especially the early feeling out process. They framed each and every exchange well, Barbarian's early strength (holding him up in a one-handed choke, which you never seen), and then Koko chipping away at him with dropkicks, until he went sailing over the top and menaced the camera man. Back in the ring, Koko was able to fire back with shots to the face, but Barbarian hefted him over the top and then crushed him against the post on the outside and that was that. 

Pretty good face-in-peril with some nice hope spots (including a sunset flip in). The nerve hold could have been a little more active, maybe, but the crowd came up for Koko getting the elbows in on his comeback. That got cutoff but then Barbarian missed an elbow drop and Koko was back in it. They actually had me on a couple of the nearfalls even though intellectually, I knew there was no way Koko won this one. Barbarian won it with a hotshot out of nowhere, which really did feel like the ultimate match-ender for this time period. A guy ends up with his throat draped over the top and it's over.

ER: I was impressed with how well Koko overcame the size difference here. 1991 is some Peak Gas WWF (see how fucking jacked Bushwhacker Butch is in the match after this) and Barbarian looks immovable. Well, Koko moved him real well and threw babyface punches so good that they believably kept moving him. I love Koko, a great sympathetic babyface seller who knew how to take bumps that garner even more sympathy. His low fast backdrop to the floor made the bump look more tough and his selling once he was on the floor built it more. Barbarian will slam your spine into the ringpost but a great salesman like Koko will make it look truly backbreaking. Koko has two strong nearfalls: an inside cradle that was pulled off quick, and his missile dropkick which was done well enough that I bit on it as a finish. He took Barbarian's hotshot finish so exuberantly that the top rope practically touched the bottom. Frankie wasn't there to see the loss. 

Ted Dibiase vs. Jimmy Snuka

MD: Pretty interesting point in time and space here as Snuka actually got on the mic and brought out Virgil to Dibiase's horror. Virgil was super over as you can imagine. Once this got going, it didn't wear out its welcome. Dibiase got sneak attacked by Snuka while distracted and then everything he tried for the next couple of minutes backfired on him. Honestly, this is as good as I can remember seeing Snuka look in this run and so much of it is due to the set up. Dibiase did take over by getting a gutshot up to counter a double axe-handle, and they built to Dibiase trying to suplex him in and Virgil grabbing the leg to set up the upset. Dibiase got rocked by him post match. Very effective, crowd-pleasing stuff to help get over what they were doing with Virgil.

ER: Agree that this feels like the best 1991 Snuka, but a lot of that felt like the best 1991 Dibiase. This was a basic 1991 Offense WWF match that Dibiase was working like an All Japan match. He took extra, probably unnecessary, snap off every surface Snuka bounced him off. Dibiase made every connection an impact, dedicated to making every slam into a turnbuckle look brain scrambling. He could have gotten away with going lighter on the 2nd night of a week straight of house shows. Snuka had timing and Weird Buff Old Guy energy, using simple offense like clubbing hands, and "grabbing Dibiase to shove him into a thing". I can't recall when I've been so impressed by someone getting their head bounced off the ring apron. Jimmy Snuka was in his late 40s and moved older than that, but Dibiase made him feel like a fighter. 

The camera doesn't film his fistdrops from the best angle but he does three of them and we keep seeing each one from a slightly different too close angle, and by the third it felt like a cool look at the up close magic form of his fistdrop. He was a guy whose Ace Worker status dipped after we watched the Mid South footage, a guy who plays incredibly in the greatest matches of all time but doesn't hold up in the weekly TV. But I'm quite high on 90s Dibiase. He started working more like Arn Anderson and I thought he was great. I love '93 Dibiase. He stands out in unique ways from the other strong WWF heel workers from that year (Doink, Michaels, Headshrinkers, Yokozuna) and takes his impact bumping to All Japan and locks it in until his injury. Ted Dibiase is destined to become one of our wrestlers whose discourse constantly waffles between overrated and underrated until we die, but I think any unearthed 90s footage has only added to his case as a great worker. 

Gen. Adnan vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

MD: I don't remember seeing a singles match between these two make tape during this run but I could be wrong. It's one of those things you'd see in house show results and wonder how they did it. Now we know. A lot of "Back to Iraq" chants by Duggan. Adnan snuck up on him with the turban, choked him, got slammed, and ate the three-point stance clothesline. Another crowd-pleaser but now we know what it'd look like at least.

ER: To think, looking like a reasonable facsimile to Saddam Hussein would get you a certain death gimmick as a decoy in one part of the world, while in another part it could net you a plum late career WWF gig. I have a ton of respect for Adnan Al-Kaissie's 90s WWF run. You're in your early 50s, haven't worked WWF since your 30s, and you happen to look like a dictator from the country you're from and don't have to get in actual shape for the gig. You get to have one minute matches on house shows where fans watch Saddam Hussein get no offense in on America (OR Canada!!) before quickly losing. It all ends with a main event PPV gig opposite Hulk Hogan. Also you get to wear incredible boots. It's one of wrestling's greatest gigs ever and should be celebrated as such. How many wrestlers get the chance to work in front of 20,000 people in a main event, ever, in their careers, let alone in their 50s? I wonder what his Summerslam paycheck looked like compared to Virgil's. 

Rick Martel vs. Jake Roberts

MD: Martel on the mic with just a few words about how everyone was jealous to ensure he wouldn't get any Canadian cheers. Jake had the blue and gold cobra crotch tights. Important everyone knows that. 

Very fun early. Martel ambushed but crashed into the post on a shoulder block attempt. Jake started on the arm, including lifting him up and holding him there for a second, and punches. Best part was when he faked high, causing Martel to duck, and then kneeled down to punch the model in the face. Big sell of the nose. Big pop. Jake really bathed in the DDT chants too, milking them.

Martel's control, after using the ref as a stalking horse, wasn't as interesting, but he had some good cut offs at least. Jake ended up trapped in the ropes as Martel went for Arrogance, but he got out while the ref was fighting with him and hit the DDT. He took forever, absolutely forever, to creep over and pin him. 

ER: It was truly stunning to watch how long Jake took to pin Martel after the DDT. They were both down so long that the ref started counting both down. I have no idea why Jake was down so long. He set up the DDT with a long stretch of being stuck in the ropes just like Andre, doing great physical work of stretching out his body as he tried to pull both arms out of the ropes. His physical work was so good, his selling for Martel so emotive, and his post DDT crawl was the slowest thing you have ever seen. 

Undertaker vs. Tugboat

MD: I don't have a lot to say about this but it's a great example of how the initial heel run Undertaker had total commitment to his character. He moved like a lurching zombie, ever creeping forward. It was a great act and has been rarely emulated. You could push him back but he'd keep coming in a way that was sort of unnerving. When they shoot to the audience for Superstars/Challenge matches and show scared kids, they were scared for a reason. And then, when least expected, like in the finish here, he'd do something extra quick or agile and it'd go from creeping doom to jump scare. Here it was vaulting over the top rope so he could climb up, take a few steps and hit an elbow drop to beat Tugboat. 

ER: Marvel at the front row of Very Canadian Men who all seemed amused/confused by the Undertaker. None of them understood what it was they were supposed to be seeing and silently stared accordingly. Imagine if zombie heel Undertaker actually worked like a heavyweight and hit like he was a big man. He could have been one of the scariest heels of all time. By the time he learned how to strike 15 years later he was incapable of ever being a heel. He had a kick to the ribs that was so light he may have confused people into thinking he was portraying a ghost who is incapable of making physical contact with our realm. His backward leap into the ringpost is a cool bump in theory but he doesn't know how to give it weight or impact. Tugboat is the one of the two who felt like a guy with potential. His powerslam has rotation that makes it feel big but a controlled landing that safely drops a 300 pound zombie. When Tugboat hit and then missed his leaping avalanche I was thinking how much more agile he was than Taker, but just then Taker leapt over the top rope to the apron and got to the top rope so fast that it was like I was watching a wrestler I'd never seen before. Taker's rope walk elbowdrop finisher was a cool piece of his arsenal that felt like a dead man falling off a roof. 

Brooklyn Brawler vs. Virgil

MD: One thing I appreciate about the Brawler's act is that they let him come out with Yankees gear. My guess is that if he came around today, he'd have Brawler written on his shirt instead. 

He did a good job of showing fear of Virgil early, which only helped him be over with the crowd. They had a nice bit of rope running with multiple leapfrogs too. In general, this went longer than it should have. Virgil took some big bumps including one through the ropes to the floor, but I do think this was set up to give him some ring time selling. The match was sacrificed to prep him for future matches which makes total sense. He won it with a power slam which is not a move you usually associate with him. 

ER: This era of Virgil's work was so weird. This match was smack dab between his babyface turn on Dibiase at the Rumble, and their big WrestleMania match next month. It is the only match Virgil worked in February. No matter your thoughts on Virgil's in ring, it is undeniable how well his babyface turn got over. Listen to the response he gets from the people of Ontario! This is a man they are rooting for! He hasn't wrestled as much as you might think for being on WWF TV for so many years, but he wrestles like a guy who is barely trained while also wrestling like a trained wrestler who is wrestling as an untrained wrestler. You see glimpses of a man who can't run the ropes, who throws clotheslines like he's only seen them portrayed in children's drawings, but also see a man who throws himself into big babyface bumps and knows how to use them to draw sympathy. His bump flying through the ropes with nothing slowing him down, back bump past the mats and onto the London Gardens floorboards, was the best bump on the show and kept his reaction peak. But he also took a "hard way" bump back into the ring that I thought was among the best of its kind. His powerslam looked terrible. 

Brawler is a worker I like more whenever I rewatch him. Any era. Virgil gets a great reaction for a bizarrely scarce post-turn match, but Brawler is great at keeping them interested in Virgil all match. What's the best Lombardi match? Is there a consensus? I think Tom once sold me on an Abe Knuckleball Schwartz/123 Kid match.  I don't think this one would be in the discussion for Best Lombardi match but it's a great showing and a professional handling of the green veteran Virgil. 

Hart Foundation vs. Power & Glory

MD: These two teams were very well matched. Bret started with Roma, lots of rope running ending with him catching him on a leapfrog and then hitting the inverted atomic drop/clothesline combo. Herc outpowered him but didn't outpower Anvil. He did catch Bret off the ropes and took over accordingly. They worked over Bret's back including some nice Roma backbreakers. We rarely get close up footage without commentary like this and you could hear how vocal Herc and Roma were in rooting for one another. To set up the hot tag, Bret climbed across the mat on his back using the ropes. Great stuff. Finish had Roma cut off the Hart Attack and Neidhart cut off the Powerplex and then everything spill out to the floor for a double countout. Post-match Harts ran P&G off but it mostly set up a second encounter. 

ER: This should have been better but there was a really great Bret/Roma match in the middle of a good enough tag match with a bad finish. I don't know if I've watched the Bret/Roma singles matches but now I'm going to, but if there are Hercules/Anvil matches I can probably skip them. This was two FTR teams that are better than FTR working a so so FTR match. I wonder what Bret's thoughts were about he and Anvil working over Herc's shoulder only for it to build to a Hercules gorilla press slam? That's the kind of backwards set up that Bret never wants to take part in, while feeling like a sequence Bret was mapping out. Bret matches don't build to the heel press slamming the babyface after getting his shoulder pummeled. 

Is P&G the best era of Paul Roma? Has to be. It's crazy they kept trying to make him a babyface. He looks so untrustworthy. He'd assault your girlfriend at a party while you were in the bathroom. Power & Glory Roma was fully in his element. The Bret/Roma stuff works so well because he's essentially working a heel Bret style, if Bret were a greasy forcible sexual assaulter. The snap was the same, the heel bumping was the yin to Bret's baby bumping yang. He's a great punch taker, a truly hateable piece of scum like Tully Blanchard who moves similar to Tully as well. I loved the work from everyone when Roma ad Hercules were tying Bret up in a bearhug; Bret's selling was compelling, Roma's bearhug was even better than Hercules', and Roma worked a false tag far better than you'd ever think from someone who teamed with Jim Powers. I don't remember the last time I saw a team work a modern false tag spot without also doing it with a I'm A Heel wink. Roma wasn't out for glory, he had business to take care of. 

The finish stunk, but there was a tremendous reveal while setting up the late match Hart Attack: The way it was filmed, you couldn't see where Roma was. He got knocked off the apron into the guardrail but his location couldn't be seen. As Bret started his run into the opposite ropes, he was expertly kept off camera to preserve the mystery behind whether Bret would hit it or whether Roma would make it back in time to grab his ankle. It was the latter, but until Bret went down it looked like he was gearing up to take Hercules' head off. 

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Ultimate Warrior

MD: I know we already had one or two of these Sarge w/Sherri matches but I haven't seen them for a bit so I couldn't tell you how similar this was. All I generally remember is Sarge bumping all over the place and Sherri dying at the end. This starts with her doing a saluting ceremony with Sarge on the floor after Warrior runs in, including putting the title up to her waist to taunt him, and it's good stuff. Warrior gets Sarge's helmet and goes nuts with it which is also good stuff. 

Warrior chases Sherri around including the usual 1991 high culture bits of them coming out from under the ring with him having undressed her. That lets Sarge take over though and there's a pretty long heat which is well done. Sherri works her ass off helping and cheering on Sarge, especially in a never-ending Camel Clutch. That's going to end with him shrugging Sarge off of course. What's surprising is that the cut off has Sarge getting his knees up. They really make Warrior work for the comeback, which makes it all the more frustrating when he shoves the ref for basically no reason once he does come back. Post-match, he continues to cause havoc including the press slam on Sherri. It's impressive how much they got out of this honestly. 

ER: Sherri was looking THIS hot on Canadian house shows!? That's the major takeaway from this match, which was such a "should have been better" match that I feel I was too quick to give Hart Foundation/Power & Glory that title. Sarge looked more washed than I remember - great bumps still, including his classic over the ringpost that I love so much - with sludgy offense where he looked afraid to fall over too fast. His stomps and some of his other offense looked like he was working a kid with progeria, not as gassed up freak sporting his dumbest haircut in a lifetime of dumb haircuts. Warrior comes as close as humanly possible to hitting a 50 yard head of steam Pounce on a ringside cameraman who sprinted out in front of him like a wild rabbit. Warrior was only going to do so much to avoid him and this guy came about 3 inches from being driven brutally into the guardrail. It would have been the highlight of this event. The Canadian crowd clearly had no idea how they were expected to react to Warrior assaulting Sherri both physically and sexually, but they rightly sat in uncomfortable silence while he hit his hardest offense of the match on her, dropping her from his gorilla press with a real flop, then actually stepping on her as he exited the ring. I wonder how many in attendance had actually seen a woman this hot before. A satin pink teddy with black thigh highs? Girl, Detroit is thataway. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE 305 LIVE

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Found Footage Friday: LOST 1990 WWF HOUSE SHOW~!

WWF House Show Wisconsin Fieldhouse 10/28/90

ER: I love these "undocumented" WWF house shows so much. It's like they never existed, WWF out here running secret shows in podunk towns. Matt and I wrote about a WWF Boy Scout Fundraiser show from '92, which is one of my favorite show reviews we've ever done for Segunda Caida. These shows are special. The WWF showing up in some nothing central Wisconsin town with $9 tickets sold at the local hardware store, like when some mudshow Harlem Clowns barnstormers played members my small childhood town's fire and police departments in our high school gymnasium. I was $9, my dad took me and a couple friends, and we laughed when this one Healdsburg, CA cop kept getting Clowned. I had no idea who the Harlem Clowns were before but saw the ads in our local paper, the Healdsburg Tribune, and Healdsburg wasn't a place that got "events". We were going to a town event, like when the fair would come to town. That's the best part about a show like this: It's not filmed as a wrestling show. It's filmed as a Town Event. WWF sold cheap tickets to a show at Marshfield, Wisconsin's high school gym and we get to watch the home video. My dad didn't bring the camcorder to that Harlem Clowns game, the way he would to my baseball games or recitals, but somebody's dad did. If there are a few guys out there who run a Barnstorming Basketball blog, I hope they find it. 

1. Shane Douglas vs. Black Bart

MD: This is amazing footage to have in the first place as we'd never even had the card for this, just the date. This is clipped, but you still get probably half the match. Tail end of 1990 is when I first got into wrestling as a kid (a little bit of a late arriver) so seeing Black Bart and Shane Douglas in a WWF ring is just natural for me. As an opening match on a B or C show, things could have been a lot worse. Bart was a well-oiled machine by 91; he knew what to do. He knew what not to do. He knew when to do it. He could still execute it well enough. He was never going to be the star that he claims he was going to be if you listen to him do interviews now but he could be just as valuable on an undercard as he was in 85 when he was feuding with Ron Bass in JCP. He was solid enough here that it makes me want to go back and look at his WCW and GWF stuff the following year. It's funny to think that your real bottom of the card heels in 90 WWF were Buddy Rose and Black Bart. Your bottom of the card faces were Powers and Brunzell with Douglas just a bit above them maybe as a real up and comer. Bart worked Dustin a lot around this time as well.

From what we see here, it's paint by numbers, but the numbers add up and the paint is vibrant and the kids in the crowd are into it. Douglas is snappy in his shine, including a nice headscissors takeover and Bart sailing across the ring on an armdrag. We don't see the actual transition but we come in with Bart dropping Shane over the top rope. They then work a chinlock up and down but Shane gets the crowd behind him and he's dynamic enough in the rope running out of it. The finish is a sunset flip back out of the corner and it gets a big pop. Douglas had some legs as a babyface here and they could have done something with him. There are probably dozens of shoot interviews I'm not going to listen to for why they didn't. 90-91 Bart is the one that might get another look from us though.

ER: I thought this was a great opener, and I don't think I realized how good Black Bart would be for Shane Douglas. I have seen more than enough early 90s Douglas and I don't think he typically looks as good as he did here. Bart is a big guy, the kind of big guy that dads in the crowd look at and think "yeah now that's a big guy" and the perfect kind of big guy to take Douglas's babyface fire. There were hundreds of guys working matches just like this and Bart and Douglas were doing it better than most of them. Bart really was a (for me at least) much better Ron Bass, but I don't think I ever thought of Shane Douglas as being a potentially great Ricky Morton. He looked like a great Ricky here. His two headscissors were incredible. Everything Douglas did, Bart made look better, but those headscissors would have looked great against anyone. They were the classic Robert Gibson/Marty Jannetty style and Bart is a big sold guy who is able to "stand" with them longer. Those style headscissors are always more satisfying to me when you can see the babyface actually working to take their opponent over, so Bart being able to hold Douglas up for that pause before getting slid across the ring just makes them pop. The crowd is wild for everything they do (a beautiful running theme on the afternoon) and it made the simplest things sing. 

2. Warlord vs. Tom Stone

MD: This is more like it. Tom Stone has a windbreaker that fits 1990 perfectly. Warlord is lacking Slick but has the full half helmet and armor and staff. I watched some 87 Warlord in New Japan recently where he was the Dangerous Violence Warlord and very green. That Warlord would have given Stone half of the match. This one did not. It was worked like an enhancement match. Real Immovable Object vs. Stoppable Force stuff. Stone tried some clotheslines and punches and staggered Warlord a little but he did a good job portraying how shocked he was that things weren't working instead of doing what Duggan or Bossman would do and build up momentum. That meant he ran into a clothesline eventually. Warlord was really good at setting his stuff up, a bit lift of the arm before coming down with it, that sort of thing, but the impact never lived up to the preamble. Stone's big comeback was two eye rakes and the biting of the eye which seemed to confuse the crowd more than anything else. Then he ran into a lovely big boot and ate the running power slam. This didn't try to be more than what it should have been because of the setting. That meant no lengthy nerve hold. Unless Stone's family was in the crowd, I don't think anyone was disappointed at its absence.

ER: I'm a big Tom Rocky Stone guy, even though he's someone we barely write about. He's a guy I kept trying to get on the DVDVR 80s AWA set, just because I wanted him represented somehow. What's the best Tom Stone match? I have no idea. He didn't get anywhere near the same match length opportunities as the similar-but-different Iron Mike Sharpe, was never used by WWF as a job guy who would put up a fight or could occasionally win. Stone had to do things to stand out while rarely getting out of 2 minute losses. Here, we get 5 minutes of Stone and while none of his offense is really sold, it's a much broader picture of the kind of personality Stone could bring to a loss (that looked like it was headed towards a loss every second of the match). I love his windbreaker, love his dedication to the job guy singlet (the one with the horizontal strap joining the shoulder straps), and love how he still knew how to land offense that looked good while knowing it wouldn't be acknowledged. His clotheslines looked great, his punches looked even better - grabbing Warlord's head with his left and throwing heavy shots with his right - but his perplexed looks in the corner took the cake. He had no entry point into Warlord, he knew he had no entry point, and knew he had no shot. 

Everybody in Marshfield knew that Tom Stone had no shot. He was Mr. Belding in a way that is necessary but now completely unrepresented in wrestling. I don't think any wrestler projected School Principal than Tom Stone. If you didn't know better, you'd think he actually was a teacher at Marshfield High. We have all watched and attended wrestling shows where a teacher from that gymnasium's high school got into the ring. I went to a show at Antioch High School to see Greg Valentine and Sabu and Antioch High School's football coach wrestle. Tom Stone is the most subtly, skillfully acted goofball science teacher wrestling at his school's fundraiser. He's made for this show. He's the fucking Bruno Sammartino of this specific kind of show. His frustration at his own ineffectiveness, a great "here it goes" shake of the head, and a total surprise when he raked at Warlord's eyes and actually bit his eye! A reminder that Tom Stone is a bad guy who actually wants to win. A great pro wrestler. 

Warlord looked like trash. I've watched a lot of Maxx Muscle matches and Warlord was not as good as Maxx Muscle. He has no weight of any kind behind anything he did. His big boot was light, his clothesline soft. That's not really important. If Warlord had walked by me in my town's high school gym when I was 9 years old, my jaw would have been dropped. Gassed out guy in a helmet and Conan weapon would impress the hell out of 9 year old me. Warlord looks huge in a high school gym. You've never seen a bigger person in that building. His match ending powerslam was a real powerslam, an important lesson for wrestlers in "ending the match on a high note". Save your best thing for your last thing. Marshfield will remember Warlord's size and powerslam and nothing else he did. That means it worked. 

 

3. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Nikolai Volkoff

MD: Legitimately shocking. Slaughter came out to huge, huge heat with Adnan and the flag and singing the Iraqi anthem and calling people maggots. Volkoff had a huge pop and the US flag. I do like how this is an inversion. By that I mean, if you ever see a parody of pro wrestling, you'll never see the foreign guy as the face and the American as the turncoat, and Volkoff was super super over during the summer of 90. The whole bit he did with the scouts made him something like the third or fourth top babyface in WWF, at least for a few months. It really did set up the heel Slaughter character well and this was a mauling. Slaughter ambushed Volkoff from behind as Adnan was waving the flag at him and he never let up. His stuff was pointed and credible, mean, just rubbing Volkoff's face in the ground, plastering him with shots from every angle, just being relentless. Warlord is supposed to be slow and methodological, but the difference in the actual perceived impact was telling. You keep looking for Volkoff's comeback and it never gets there. He just eats a bunch of elbow drops and the camel clutch, followed by a post match beating.

ER: When Matt sent me the card for this show it hadn't crossed my mind that Sgt. Slaughter would be bringing his Iraqi Sympathizer routine to this high school. It would have been so fucking wild if someone came flying an Iraqi flag into my school when I was a kid. How could people in central Wisconsin process a guy coming into their town and rooting for Iraq? Do they know the formula? Could they understand it was all part of the show? What's the percentage of Believers? The Gulf War was fresh in 1990. I, a child, would not have been permitted to show any kind of allegiance with Iraq on school grounds and I wish I could have seen the reactions from my town's adults. Sgt. Slaughter praising Iraq and shouting a G rated Tracy Smothers promo at the unexpecting crowd is an incredible sight on its own, but, even as a child, I would have expected Sgt. Slaughter's comeuppance to be arriving any minute. 

Matt's not wrong about how loved Volkoff was that summer, but even if he hadn't been, it was a man waving a large American flag in the face of a man waving an Iraqi flag at what was basically the onset of the Gulf War. Everybody in that building knew that America would come out of this looking good. 

And then Sgt. Slaughter just fucked Volkoff up for several minutes and got him to tap without ever absorbing a single shot, then continued fucking Volkoff up after winning. I and everyone in Marshfield knew that it was only a matter of time before one of Slaughter's constant barrage of kicks to the ribs and big man shots to the body got turned back against him, and instead American got run the fuck over and buried like if the first 15 minutes of Red Dawn had been the whole movie. I don't know if I have ever seen America fare worse in a high school gymnasium. This might be our greatest document of America in the role of Yoji Anjo flying to America fight Rickson Gracie. 

4. Rockers vs. Power and Glory

MD: Really good tag. Great Michaels performance too but everyone was on here. It started with Jannetty hitting a top rope fist on Hercules who was swinging his chain in the middle of the ring for an awesome visual to start and never really let up. Rockers kept outquicking Power and Glory's attempt to cheat to take over to keep the shine but it was overall pretty brisk. Nothing wore out its welcome. When Jannetty was in there (and getting a chant), Shawn was engaged on the apron. It took a fairly complex series of three or four cheating attempts to finally take over on Michaels. They mostly worked over his leg. There was a great hope spot where Roma was stepping on the ankle to prevent him from tag and so he could taunt Jannetty and Michaels worked himself halfway up and did a sort of falling punch which looked perfect given the HH quality. They were drawing a bunch of heat by attacking Jannetty on the apron and focusing on the leg, building to Michaels kicking Herc into the corner on a spinning toe hold. Jannetty came in hot setting up the finish where Michaels, having been tossed outside, pulled Hercules away allowing Jannetty to duck the double clothesline and hit a cross body on Roma. Fans were into this and if anything, I could have used an extra minute or two.

ER: Great tag match from two of the great WWF tag teams. Power and Glory were so good. Of course the Rockers were good but Power and Glory were so good. Hercules and Paul Roma are each guys who don't give enough credit. Hercules' as a worker keeps looking better and better the more I revisit that era. He's another act that plays huge in a high school gym. Look how he swings the chains, knowing exactly how close he can stand to Marty Jannetty to not actually chain whip the man while still swinging the chains at full extension. Paul Roma, meanwhile, holds up tremendously, as he's the greasiest slimeball around and looks and acts like someone who should be the greasiest slimeball around. He was born into being an asshole. You cannot look like Paul Roma and not be a jackoff. This building understood that on sight, and they also understood that the Rockers were the coolest boys in town. Marty Jannetty especially got a huge reaction, and the opening of this match should have been the way a classic PPV match happened. Hercules swinging chains in Marty's face, Marty climbing to the top rope and leaping off with a fist to the face. 

I love watching southern tag formula in American gyms. Bad versions of it usually work, great versions of it lead to ear splitting joyous reactions. When Marty tags in after Michaels has been getting his leg kicked and stomped over? It's impossible to picture anything or anyone getting a louder reaction. Power and Glory did nothing over the top to work over Michaels' knee, other than look exactly the way Power and Glory look and simply kicking and stomping at his leg. They didn't need to do anything else, the energy was perfect. It could have gone on another 10 minutes and it only would have gotten better with each minute. This crowd would have been along for every stomp and every close tag. I do wish Michaels had been cut off from a tag one or two or three more times, but this deserved every scream of that hot tag. The Marty chants are calorific icing. 

5. Koko B. Ware vs. Boris Zhukov

MD: Koko looks like a million bucks here. Most entertaining, compelling, engaging babyface in the world. Zhukov does his part to start, stalling early while Koko keeps the USA chants going and holds court in the ring, and then walking right into a whole lot of stooing shtick. The best bit was when Koko would headbutt him and Zhukov would stagger and then Koko would mock the stagger. Legitimately funny stuff. Eventually Zhukov dragged him down into that nerve hold I was worried about in the Warlord match, but it worked here far better. Some good hope spots and cutoffs before Koko came back and eventually won it with a missile dropkick so high that he basically bounced off the top of Zhukov's head. I'm not doing this one justice but it was very good for what it was.

ER: Was every person on this roster just the perfect High School Gym Attraction? Any child who sees Koko B. Ware dance into their gym, literal parrot on his shoulder, bronze suit glittering, looking like the coolest confident most fun person in the world. A Megastar cartoon of a man. I dated a girl my age whose connection to wrestling was watching Sunday morning WWF with her brother, and Koko B. Ware was her favorite. How couldn't he be the favorite? Do you know how wide I smiled and how my voice went up when a hot girl told me she loved Koko B. Ware at some point in her life. That's special. We'll have that. I smile when I pass my Koko Hasbro. If, instead of Koko B. Ware - a name every American should be allowed to hear once in their life, because it's a fake name that has a real chance to stick with someone after hearing it just one time. What's a better pro wrestler name than Koko B. Ware? Gorilla Monsoon? Probably. But not many. We should have been given Attitude era Koko. Lives would have changed. The charm of children asking questions on pro wrestling handhelds is one of the truly innocent and charming experiences in our scumbag obsession of choice. Suddenly every child in every part of this building had questions when Koko B. Ware appeared in their lives. 

6. Texas Tornado vs. Mr. Perfect

MD: I don't know about this one. It had some weird, weird structural things that would have made more sense if Perfect had the belt and wasn't the challenger. He attacked Kerry on the way in, but Kerry came back, hit the tornado punch on the floor, and then started play King of the Mountain, keeping Perfect out of the ring. It was pretty back and forth after that with Perfect able to chip away but never hold control for long. Kerry was going to Kerry. They definitely felt more room to breathe given that this was a house show that no one was ever going to see. Perfect BLOCKED the discus punch on the inside. Kerry hit it another time or two in the match incidentally, just twirling around after his punches. Kerry kicked out of the PerfectPlex. At some point, you got the sense that maybe they were just having fun with it because they were on a B show in Wisconsin? 

The finish was fun with Perfect undoing the turnbuckles but Kerry cutting him off and running him across the ring to faceplant him into the metal. Perfect did a triple gainer in the air exactly as you'd want him to in that situation but he still managed to kick out at too. It didn't matter much though as Kerry just spun around the ring at full speed to hit the tornado punch one last time for the win. Post-match, Hennig just decided to lay there for a bit. It was an entertaining house show performance (and has value along those lines certainly) but I don't it necessarily had the substance to go along with the sizzle.

ER: I wish we had sound during Kerry's entrance because that crowd looked loud and Kerry took a long time with it, slow walked it in his perfect jacket. But we have all of this full match, and I loved it a lot more than Matt. I thought this was a great match, a stiff dominating heel Perfect performance against a tough fight back aw shucks babyface Kerry performance. Kerry spammed variations on the discus punch in between a consistently dominant Perfect attack. This was really physical. When Perfect bumped for Kerry, he bumped for Kerry, but when he hit Kerry he hit Kerry. Every punch and every chop Perfect threw played directly into this camcorder lens 12 riser seats up. Perfect was an unrelenting attacker, smothering our sculpted god. Two different times in this match, Perfect flung himself over the top rope to the floor to continue an attack as quickly as possible. Our cameraman misses a huge Perfect bump to the floor that gets the gym jumping to their feet, but you can see his feet go over the top, and it looked no different than him flying out to the floor just to punch Kerry in the face. Blocking the discus punch was a legit surprise, and a heel out punching the babyface champion famous for his punches. That's a hero facing a real threat, and Perfect looked like a real threat, easily the most violent worker on the show. Kerry kicking out of the Perfect Plex would have shocked me live; Perfect flipping for a discus punch would have delighted me.  

7. Earthquake vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

MD: Earthquake had Hart with him and Jimmy even did the introduction for him. There was some fun house show goofing here too with Duggan catching Earthquake trying to cheapshot him a number of times. Quake was one of the best ever at knowing just how much to give and exactly when to give it. He was doing all of the Hogan poses too and it got big heat. He knew how to be a monster. He knew how to accentuate the things that made him larger than life. It's not quite the same as how Andre did it, because Andre had such a unique presence that he was accentuating being Andre. With Quake it was more about running a scientific experiment to prove beyond any matter of doubt that physics actually matter. Duggan got in a lot of shots and even got close once or twice (close being making him wobble or teasing a slam). Jimmy helped him take over eventually and he had some bear hugs that didn't look like the most amazing things in the world from the HH vantage but were naturally believable enough. Duggan was able to get hope spots through dodging and firing back but he was cut off. His comeback was pro wrestling perfection as Quake wobbled more and more, including this bit of remarkable fancy footwork to really get it across and build up the drama, before Duggan finally hit the three point stance. Hart intervened but eventually got squashed in the corner as Duggan moved and they sent the fans home happy with a quick roll up pin. We have the Summerslam Fever match between these two and some tags, but I think this was a pretty rare matchup overall and unsurprisingly, they matched up well together.

ER: Earthquake looks so massive here, in ways that we will never see in pro wrestling again. I don't think people realize just how much a big fat bearded guy fearlessly running ropes as fearlessly as God himself meant to our fandom. I don't know if I've committed to anything in my life as fearlessly as Earthquake commits to running ropes, and honestly it inspires me. I've been going on and on about how every wrestler on this roster is made to shine in a high school gymnasium but will you look at how perfect Earthquake and Jim Duggan look in high school gym of a town that had a Carl's Jr. but didn't get a McDonalds until 1991. Duggan's punches all looked like shit, and it didn't matter, because when it came time for Earthquake to tease out a Berzerkeresque spot where he legs keep splitting farther and farther apart with each subsequent Hacksaw clothesline, we were somehow witnessing Earthquake putting more faith into his adductor muscles than he puts into the ropes. I was so certain he was hitting the mat on that third clothesline, plopped down on his butt, and when he went full leg spread hunch forward it was like the greatest Andre spot that Andre never did. These men knew. Some kid went into their town's new-ish McDonalds that day and told them "Nick sent me," and later that night saw Earthquake vanquished by America. What a day. 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: La Batalla Final

Week 14: La Batalla Final

It has been nine months since Sadistic Steve Strong's arrival in CSP. We have followed his path of destruction and chaos throughout 1989, which included him winning the Universal title, injuring Carlos Colon’s shoulder, facing off against nearly every top tecnico in the territory, and main eventing Aniversario. The fallout from Aniversario has resulted in the Universal title being held up and now we have arrived at what has been named ‘La Batalla Final’ (The Final Battle). This encounter between Colon and Strong will decide the Universal champion. It will also result in one of the two men leaving the territory. The stakes are high for Thanksgiving Day.

This late 1989 period is one where results are more spotty compared to earlier in the year. As such, we don’t really have the full lineup for the Thanksgiving Day card but we do have some results and matches which we’ll talk about shortly. But before then, let’s check in on some of the wrestlers and how things are going as we head towards the end of November.

First, we’ll catch up feud wise with what’s been happening with Invader #1, TNT, Super Medico. Gary Albright and some others next time, but do know that they’ve been active and all of them were likely on the Thanksgiving Day card (I suspect Invader against either Abudda Dein or Gary Albright, Medico likely defended the World Junior title, and TNT likely faced off against one of Chicky’s guys). For some of these wrestlers whose roles on the Thanksgiving Day card aren’t clear, let’s check on how they’re performing on TV.

As we’ve seen previously, besides being the reigning World Junior champion, Super Medico has been taking on a few of the rudos in matches taped for tv. While he has made a good showing of himself, Medico ended up on the losing end vs Manny Fernandez and Leo Burke. Let’s see him in action once more, this time against Abudda Dein.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD1mgsQXi6I

As we saw earlier, Abudda has been back in singles competition since losing the World tag titles at Aniversario. He is coming off a series of matches with Invader #1 where he was unsuccessful in bringing back the Puerto Rico title to El Profe’s Real Academia stable. Also,  by this point the chatter around his suspected to be loaded boot has increased during his most recent series with Invader #1. Here Abudda is taking on Super Medico. They start with an exchange of various arm wringers, leading to Abudda going to the ropes to break the hold and going outside to regroup. Profe comes over to give Dein some advice and Dein takes control with a knee to the stomach once he gets back in the ring, Medico manages to regain control by countering out of a side headlock and works Dein’s arm. The commentators (Hector Moyano and Eliud Gonzalez) mention that Medico has the quickness advantage and can nearly match Dein in strength. Medico continues to maintain the upper hand in the hold exchanges and settles into a side headlock, one that Dein tries to get out of by grabbing onto Medico’s mask. The referee stops Dein each time he tries to grab the mask. Dein manages to send Medico into the ropes but Medico keeps countering Dein’s attempts at getting offense in. Back to the side headlock, which Dein once again counters by sending Medico into the ropes. A bodypress attempt by Medico is countered into a backbreaker, allowing Dein to grab control of the match. Dein drops Medico throat first on the top rope and continues to work Medico’s throat area with foot chokes. Eliud mentions that they have to work fast because there's only a 10 minute time limit for this match (it seems this is the standard tv match time limit in CSP). Medico manages to regain control by kicking Dein in the head coming off the ropes. Medico hits a flurry of punches and a sunset flip gets two. A dropkick sends Dein outside and the referee stops Medico from going after Dein. With the ref’s back turned, Dein takes the opportunity to load up his boot by stomping it against the mat three times. He kicks Medico in the gut and goes for a pin attempt, but referee El Vikingo has turned around earlier just as Dein was finishing ‘loading’ his boot by stomping it on the mat. It looks like the secret’s out regarding Abudda’s boot  as El Vikingo shakes his finger at Dein and calls for the bell. Dein is disqualified for using a loaded boot. The referee raises the downed Medico’s arm declaring him the winner while Dein leaves the ring celebrating like he had won the match.

MD: A little less than five minutes here. I was expecting Dein to win with the boot but the ref caught him. Before that, Medico had the advantage wrestling wise, but Dein was able to assert himself through his power and cheating, primarily targeting the throat. Medico looked good fighting from underneath here and Dein look sufficiently cruel and unyielding. For a guy who didn’t have too many big runs elsewhere, Dein was credible in this role.

EB: Somebody we need to keep our eyes on is Manny Fernandez. After Aniversario, Manny helped Chicky attack Carlos Colon as a result of Chicky feeling that Steve Strong had been robbed of the Universal title. Manny’s been on a bit of a winning streak on tv and he looks to continue his winning ways against Huracan Castillo Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F65sWRi4tZU

Huracan has been recently immersed in a tag feud with Los Mercenarios since losing the Caribbean tag titles at Aniversario. But with Miguelito Perez having won the Puerto Rico title, both Castillo and Perez have also taken a few more singles matches recently. Here is one such case as Castillo tries his luck against Manny Fernandez. As both men face off to start, Hector Moyano mentions that hurricanes in Puerto Rico bring bad memories but this one here (Castillo) is loved by the fans. A few lockups are exchanged and it becomes clear that Castillo is not backing down, shoving Manny when they broke one of the lock ups. A few exchanges early on see Castillo get the better of Manny, but Manny gets some words from Chicky and decides to go for Castillo’s leg when they lock up again. Chicky talks smack to the camera which is drowned out by some chanting fans. Manny continues to work on the leg while on the mat as Castillo tries to fight out of it. This is pretty much the middle portion of the match, with Manny working the leg in different holds on the mat. Castillo tries maneuvering Manny into a couple of pin attempts but Manny manages to kick out and continue with the hold. The end of the match comes when they take it off the mat. Castillo manages to come back on Manny after a kick of the ropes. Castillo hits a series of moves including a slam and an elbow drop, but Manny cuts him off with a punch to the stomach. Manny knocks Castillo down coming off the ropes and, when doing a criss cross, catches Castillo with a DDT for two.  Castillo tries to counter with a standing switch into a cradle, but Manny holds onto the rope and sends Castillo tumbling backwards on the mat. This sets up Manny’s standing elbow smash and Manny gets the win. We’ll have to see if this winning streak catapults Manny into a title opportunity against one of the territory's champions.

MD: There was a cute bit at the start as the commentary carefully links Castillo to the recent hurricane due to his nickname. Between some of the new footage and just delving into what’s out there, we have a bit more of this Manny/Chicky run than we initially thought, which is good as he fit in so well here. He was only 35 or so here, really a prime age to anchor a territory even if he probably had a lot of wear and tear on the wheels. They worked a chunk of this on the mat with Castillo going for a cross armbreaker and Manny trying to keep a leglock. It opened up after that with Manny beating Castillo down and Castillo trying to fire up before they went into the finish, with Manny catching Castillo out of nowhere with a DDT and then hitting a twisting back elbow off the ropes. This made me want to see Chicky and Manny go up against Castillo and Perez.

EB: Let’s talk about what we do know about the Thanksgiving Day show. On tv it was announced that the Youngbloods would be defending the World tag titles against Los Mercenarios. While we’ll talk a bit more about these two teams and any potential result from Thanksgiving Day next time, let's take this opportunity to further showcase both teams in action  (and take advantage that we have some rarely seen matches available).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbTP_yQhPz0

Once again Los Mercenarios are facing Maelo Huertas and a tag partner on tv, with Herbert Gonzalez being Maelo’s partner this time. The tecnicos in these matches against Los Mercenarios have made a good showing of themselves, although Los Mercenarios have proven too wily and managed to remain victorious. This match is not that different from what we’ve previously seen. Maelo gets some shine when he’s in the ring to start, getting the better of Mercenario #1 (Acevedo) and then Mercenario #2 (Morrow) to start before tagging Herbert in. To his credit Herbert maintains control with a side headlock for  a few moments, before Mercenario #2 works out of the hold and tags in Mercenario #1. Herbert manages to reverse an armlock but gets trapped in the corner. An attempted double team fails when Herbert ducks out of the way. Herbert keeps up the pressure and tags Maelo in, who continues on the offensive attack. The tecnicos are giving a good fight to Los Mercenarios.  Mercenario #2 is tagged back in and the tide turns after a knee to the back of Maelo when he was coming off the ropes. Los Mercenarios continue to show that they'll rely on wily shortcuts to get and maintain their advantage. Los Mercenarios work over Maelo for a while but Maelo is able to counter with a clothesline and tags in Herbert. All four men end up in the ring and it looks like the tecnicos may be getting control of the match. However, as the referee is escorting Maelo out of the ring, Los Mercenarios sneak in and hit a double DDT on Herbert and steal the win. It’s very clear how Los Mercenarios are operating as Caribbean tag champions.

MD: Pretty complete for a five minute match, maybe too much so as I’m not sure the Mercenarios should be giving up so much, even if Cuban Assassin is a great bumping stooge. Morrow has a couple of bumps in him each match too. The more I see of Maelo the more sense I get that he excelled in his role at the top of the enhancement guys. He was always on, always fighting, had some dynamic, explosive offense, and bumped big. He took a great butterfly suplex from Morrow here. He rolled into a nice hot tag too. Morrow and the Assassin were just too good at working behind the ref’s back though and they hit a double DDT out of nowhere for the pin.

EB: Let’s also check in on the Youngbloods, who are taking on an odd couple team in Abudda Dein and El Exotico (although maybe not that odd if you remember that Dein has just teamed for a couple of months with Rip Rogers).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAxdeFch7ko

We have some interesting looks here as the combatants are arriving to the ring. Exotico has heart frame shades and a spray can that he is using to spray the ring. We heard Hector Moyano mention that Exotico did this in a previous match but here we get to see his pre-match method of dealing with stinky opponents. The Youngbloods arrive and we see that Chris is wearing his ceremonial skull mask. Moyano mentions that the ring is very fragrant after Exotico did his thing with the spray can. Everyone starts getting on Exotico’s case, with the crowd catcalling him ,the Youngbloods making gestures at him and even the commentators making a comment or two about how he goes about things (it’s 1989 after all). Exotico and Chris start off and Exotico has no luck in there against Chris. Dein tries to help by grabbing Chris at one point but the double team gets botched when Chris gets out of the way. Chris tags Mark in, who then dropkicks Exotico. After fleeing to his corner and hugging Dein for protection, Exotico complains about having his hair pulled. Dein starts complaining about that happening as well and, for some reason, grabs Exotico by the hair and starts shaking him around to show the referee what had supposedly happened. As Dein finishes doing this, Mark sneaks up behind Exotico and basically pinches his butt. Exotico is not happy about that but Mark continues with the advantage once they lock up again. El Profe goes over to the commentary table and defends Exotico by saying ‘he’s just a delicate young man, don’t be thinking what it’s not, he’s just delicate’. Over three minutes in Dein finally gets tagged in but doesn’t fare much better than Exotico. This match has been all Youngbloods so far. Dein makes the tag to Exotico and, surprisingly, Exotico goes on a successful offensive flurry (including an eye poke). It doesn’t last long as Mark counters a suplex attempt and tags Chris back in. After a brief moment where all four men end up in the ring, Exotico gets isolated and falls victim to a slingshot splash. The Youngbloods get a dominant win.

MD: I went back to isolate a version of this with the entrances too. Exotico had the glasses, was spraying Arrogance all over the place, and put his arm on Profe’s shoulder only for Profe to shrug him off. Thankfully, Dein helped him take off his robe so he could pose, though. Chris had the cool skull mask too so all was right with the wrestling world. Profe, to his infinite credit, expressed some concern for Exoitco as the Youngbloods were tossing him around. Very little heat here. Lots of begging off and stooging. Dein was sort of dragged down by his partner and felt more on his level than as the name guy teamed with the enhancement guy. The Youngbloods were pretty good at asserting themselves too, which maybe didn’t help. Still, it’s fun to see Exotico do his thing.

EB: With his winning record so far in CSP, Leo Burke is challenging for the Caribbean title on Thanksgiving. This will be a tough opponent for the reigning champion Miguel Perez Jr. Let’s go to that match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5IxwGKYK14

This match video is from a Campeones airing about two weeks after the Thanksgiving Day show, so the commentary does provide a bit of context about certain happenings. In this case, Carlos Colon is talking about a match he had with Leo Burke the previous week that went to a draw.  I mention this because this is a thread we’ll pick back up next time. As for this match, we are at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon. Burke has been presented as the master of the figure-four in his run so far and is looking to bring the Caribbean title to El Club Deportivo. Miguel tries to charge at Leo right at the bell but both Leo and Chicky are in the corner complaining to the ref that Burke has not taken his jacket off. The ref tells Chicky to get out of the ring as Burke goes to the apron and then to the floor. Chicky comes over to help Leo take off the jacket and the two share a hug as the crowd gives them static. Hugo on commentary starts asking Chicky about the nature of the hug,  which Chicky answers by saying that the hug means something that’s not Hugo’s or anyone else’s business. Carlos mentions that all of Leo’s complaining about the jacket is mind games by Burke and that an inexperienced wrestler might be taken in by these mind games if not careful. Carlos also credits Burke with being a great wrestler. Burke slows the pace of the match down by exiting the ring when Miguel tries to lock up. Eventually, Leo gets caught by Miguel and falls victim to an offensive flurry. Burke escapes to the outside and complains to Chicky about a blow to the eyes. Burke gets back in and Miguel takes control again on offense. Hugo mentions that Miguel is in control but Carlos responds that he seems to be anxious and aggressive and that you have to be careful against someone like Leo Burke. You have to be more calculated in your approach. Burkle continues stalling outside of the ring after once more escaping Miguelito’s attack. Leo finally gains control with a hairpull (something Chicky denies on commentary). We go to and come back from a commercial break with Burke working on Miguelito's arm. Hugo mentions that Burke is a very smart wrestler as he broke the hold when the ref caught him but quickly slapped it back on (so the break was no longer forced). Burke continues working on the arm. Miguelito gets some blows in but another hairpull allows Burke to continue in control and work the arm. The crowd tries to rally behind Miguelito, who after a while of being worked over, manages to rally and fire off some punches to knock Burke off him. Miguelito goes on the attack and gets a few pinfall attempts (including one off a bodyslam into a legdrop). But on another slam attempt, Burke grabs Miguelito’s leg and doesn’t let go, allowing Burke to trip Perez to the mat. Burke quickly puts Miguelito in the figure four, and although Perez tries to hold out, the referee calls for the bell .We have a new Caribbean champion! As Isaac Rosario motions for the title belt, Burke continues to keep the figure four locked in (something we’ve seen him do in his previous matches). But unlike those other instances where Burke broke the hold when the ref warned him, Burke refuses to break the hold despite several attempts by the ref to get Burke to break the hold. As a result, the referee reverses the decision and disqualifies Burke. Miguel remains the Caribbean champion but Burke has shown that he knows how to do damage with that figure four leglock of his. Burke finally breaks the hold when TNT and Super Medico run in to help Miguelito.

MD: Carlos is on commentary here and they’re talking about an hour long match he had with Burke the previous week that went to a draw and that sounds amazing. We obviously do not have it. Burke was excellent here, spending the first five minutes stooging and having his arm worked over and stalling again and again. He took over with hairpulls and they ratcheted up the heat with hope spots and perfectly timed cutoffs. When Perez finally came back, the place came unglued. Then out of nowhere after a slam, Burke snuck in a trip and locked in the figure four. Perez tried to fight but had to give up and the crowd was visibly upset. Burke kept the hold on, however, and the decision got reversed. It didn’t necessarily make anyone happy (maybe relieved) but it kept Burke elevated while keeping the belt on Perez and giving Chicky something to complain about.

EB: According to the Wrestling Observer both Koko B Ware and Harley Race worked the Thanksgiving Day show for CSP. And we actually have Koko’s match from this show, as he takes on El Profe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iYI05GxgvI

We get an interesting comment early on from Hugo where he mentions that Koko has been sent as a replacement for an injured Hillbilly Jim. So it looks like Hillbilly Jim may have been initially announced for this show. The crowd is hot for this as we start and it's definitely a treat to see Koko in this environment. El Profe jumps Koko at the bell but Koko counters with a backdrop and a couple of dropkicks that send Profe to the outside. The crowd goes wild as Koko flaps his arms and claps his hands in the ring. El Profe regains his composure on the outside and you can see that Frankie is with Koko, sitting on his perch on the left side of the ring. Profe is not happy with the corwd’s cheers for Koko and raises his arms to ask for the crowd to applaud him (which doesn’t happen). Profe gets back in the ring but immediately runs into a couple of armdrags and a dropkick that sends him flying through the ropes and back outside. El Profe is visibly annoyed and starts jawing with some fans on the outside. Profe gets near Frankie while pacing around the ring, which prompts Koko to head to the ring apron and back Profe off from getting close to Frankie. El Profe gets back in the ring as Koko again fires up the crowd. Profe then decides to get on the middle turnbuckle looking at the crowd and starts hitting some muscle poses (Hugo: El Profe showing off his muscles, unfortunately we don’t see it this way). Koko then starts motioning to the crowd if he should take Profe’s mask off, which gets loud cheers from the crowd. El Profe is not amused with this development. Profe jumps onto the middle turnbuckle to get away from Koko, but Koko catches Profe and slams him off. Koko immediately goes for the laces on Profe’s mask but Profe manages to slide out of the ring. Profe complains to the ref about Koko going after his mask. He gets back in the ring and tries to shake hands with Koko. The crowd yells no at Koko, who looks to consider it. However, when Profe gets closer Koko mocks Profe to the crowd’s delight. El Profe kicks the bottom rope in anger and gets into a boxing stance, which prompts someone from the crowd to yell their approval. El Profe, bewildered by this reaction, turns back to the crowd and starts making calm down gestures, stalling once again. Koko sneaks up behind Profe again and starts undoing the laces of Profe’s mask, but referee El Vikingo pulls Koko off Profe, allowing Profe to bail to the outside. El Profe complains again to the referee about Koko going after his mask and takes his time relacing it. Back in the ring, Koko sends Profe into the turnbuckle but misses a charge into the corner. El Profe finally is in control and proceeds to hit an illegal thrust to the throat. Profe chokes Koko on the bottom rope and starts shouting to the crowd that he is the master here. Koko struggles to get up but Profe is on him with several kicks. Profe places Koko on the middle rope and chokes Koko while taunting Frankie at ringside. Profe breaks and proceeds to choke Koko again while taunting Frankie once more. Profe raises his arms in victory, but Koko starts slapping the mat to get the crowd behind him. Koko lands a headbutt which seems to hurt him a bit (I’m guessing Profe may have his mask loaded) and Profe hits a knee that sends Koko outside. El Profe hits a few blows to keep Koko outside when Koko tries to get in the ring. Hugo on commentary mentions that although Profe is mainly a manager he is someone that is capable in the ring and to not forget that he was World Junior champion at one point as well. Koko finally gets back in the ring by stunning Profe and hitting a sunset flip into the ring. Profe kicks out and immediately drops an elbow on Koko to cut him off. El Profe maintains control but makes the mistake of missing a diving headbutt of the middle rope. Koko ’birds up’ (I mean, what else do you call it?) and proceeds to go on the attack. Koko rams Profe’s head ten times into the turnbuckle and fakes Profe out with a reverse crossbody attempt. This leads to a great dropkick off the top rope and a sunset flip to give Koko the win to the crowd’s delight. A fun match with a hot crowd and two wrestlers just masterfully playing to the crowd.

MD: This was during the period where Koko was fired after the Jim Troy altercation. Profe was in full stooging, stalling, and feeding mode too, but then that’s part of what makes Puerto Rico so great. Great spot early on where Koko teased taking off the mask and Profe hefted himself back to sit on the top turnbuckle in retreat only for Koko to toss him right off. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that done out quite like that. The fans loved the idea of Koko maybe getting Profe’s mask off, but he ended up taking out his own throat on a missed corner splash. That let Profe take over, first targeting the throat and then with a king of the mountain segment. Koko hulked up big with his birdman arm waves and absolutely took Profe’s head off with a missile dropkick. This was very fun for what it was.

EB: The big match for this Thanksgiving card is La Batalla Final for the held up Universal title. No time limit, no disqualification, there must be a winner, Chicky is banned from ringside and the loser must honor their required stipulation (Colon must retire, Strong must leave Puerto Rico).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsXaBb4DgA0

It’s definitely been quite the run for Steve Strong in Puerto Rico and he looks to keep it going by finally getting rid of Carlos Colon. Hugo is doing the ring announcing and runs down the stipulations for the crowd and presents the combatants (with a loud roar for Carlos Colon). This match video is from a 2000’s Carlos Colon dvd release, so we’re getting a years later commentary team that includes El Profe. Strong has cut his hair since the last time we saw him and it does change the vibe a bit on his look. The crowd is hot as the bell rings and Colon and Strong proceed to switch back and forth on being the aggressor, Strong with clubbing blows to Colon’s back and Carlos with focused kicks to Strong’s legs. It’s clear what each man’s strategy for victory is early on, but it is Carlos that in the first few minutes is able to execute his plan of attack more effectively by working on Strong’s leg.  Strong bails to the outside to regroup but is immediately caught in a small package attempt when he gets back in the ring. Carlos is focused and has been able to be ahead of Strong so far in this match. Strong hasn’t really been able to get an advantage so far, so he tries the approach of goading Carlos into a test of strength. Carlos doesn’t go for it, kicking Strong in the stomach and continuing on the offensive. A frustrated Strong once again goes outside and grabs one of the ringside crowd barriers in an attempt to threaten Carlos with it. Security runs over to get the barricade away from Strong. This is a different dynamic from previous encounters between Carlos and Strong, it almost seems like Strong has been thrown off by Carlos having an answer for Strong so far and Carlos is not afraid of Strong at all.

It looks like Strong may have finally found an opening by catching Carlos with some blows in the corner, but an irish whip results in Strong missing a high knee into the turnbuckle and Colon starts working the leg once more. Strong throws Colon off on the first figure four attempt of the match but Carlos goes right back to attacking Strong. We see a quick shot of some of Carlos’ family in the crowd, as it’s his wife Nancy and two of his children (Stacy and Carly). They’re there supporting Carlos. In the ring, Strong is not able to stay standing due to the attack on his leg and tries to roll outside. Carlos gives chase though, and continues to focus his attack on Strong’s leg. Carlos gets back in the ring as Strong just looks perplexed and lost outside as to how the match is going. Maybe not having Chicky out there is affecting his ability to find an answer to the dominant Colon so far. It looks like Strong has lost one of his most powerful weapons, the ability to inspire fear.

Carlos eventually gets the figure four on Strong but he is able to hold out and fight the hold. A reversal sees Colon suffer the effects of the hold but Carlos manages to reach the ropes to break. Both men struggle to stand but Strong collapses from the damage to his leg. Carlos is hobbling as well, which allows Strong to land a clothesline and a tackle. But Strong’s attacks are coming off as desperate and Carlos starts dodging several of Strong's tackle attempts. Strong is not used to being in this position against an opponent and it’s affecting his strategy. Colon goes back on the attack but Strong hits a DDT to cut Carlos off. This finally gives Strong a clear opening and he hits Colon with a few legdrops. Strong looks to the crowd and it seems he’s starting to regain some of his confidence now that he is in control. Strong adjusts ‘Damian’ on his arm but Carlos counters with a small package attempt for two. Strong goes back on the attack. He sends Carlos to the outside and goes out to attack Colon. It looks like Strong is thinking about trying to injure Carlos by ramming him into the ring apron and then the post. However, Carlos counters and Strong’s the one that gets rammed into the post. Carlos tosses Strong back in the ring, leaps over the top rope and does a cartwheel. Carlos is feeling it and proceeds to do a kick Strong low (the match is no dq after all) and even bites Strong in the face. Crowd starts amping up as it looks like Carlos has the match in hand.  However, Strong counters with a clothesline and covers Colon after a brief offensive flurry for two. Strong hits a piledriver but it gets two. A powerslam attempt gets two. Strong decides to set up his loaded forearm and is able to hit Carlos with it. For the first time all match, Strong starts doing his hand symbols calling upon the powers of his dark gods. Strong pins Carlos but they are too close to the ropes and Colon gets a leg on the rope to stop the pinfall count. Strong is not happy about this and picks Carlos back up. After a few blows Strong puts Carlos up in a back body vice.  Carlos shifts his weight and is able to counter into a bridge for the three count! Strong now has to leave Puerto Rico and Carlos has regained the Universal title once more.
The crowd rushes to celebrate with an exhausted Carlos outside of the ring as an upset Strong goes to grab a piece of the barricade. The crowd is mobbing Carlos and security has to intervene to get them away to allow Carlos to be presented with the title belt. The wave of fans is moving around the ring and headed in Strong’s direction, who wisely backs up and gets inside of the ring. Carlos, who is being helped by a security guard on the outside, decides to get in the ring and attacks Strong before he can get a hit in with the barricade. Strong is chased out of the ring as the crowd once again surrounds Colon to celebrate on the outside. The sadistic one has been vanquished.

MD: For much of this match, it seemed like Strong had lost his magic. He looked bloated, his hair floppy, almost resembling late Wahoo, his gimmicked armguard replaced for tape. He moved a half-step slow. He spent the first seventeen minutes backpeddling, trying to avoid Colon’s shots at his legs, diving and missing attacks, absolutely laden with desperation. This was not the same Steve Strong of a few months earlier. Colon had his number. He survived the figure four, even took over, but something remained missing. The crowd was electric at the start of this, but they only went up so much for Colon’s cartwheel and low blow driven comeback. Then something shifted. Strong took back over. He hit the pile driver. He adjusted something under his arm tape and laid Colon out. He made his devil symbol to the crowd. He was finding himself once again and that fear and dread from his imposing presence permeated through the arena. It was too little and too late, however. He went for the over the shoulder backbreaker and Colon turned it into a pin. It became, once again, a celebratory scene with people rushing Carlos and with Carlos fighting Strong (who had grabbed part of the guardrail) off to vanquish him one last time. I wouldn’t say it was an auspicious ending to Strong’s year of terror, but just enough of that magic came back at the very end to make Colon’s win feel special.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the clock is almost at midnight for 1989 as we head into December.

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