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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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: To Be or Not To Be Champions

Week 59: To Be or Not To Be Champions

EB: Aniversario 1991 is in the books and it was an interesting event. Carlos Colon retained the Universal title with help from invader #1, a win that some would deem controversial. You can bet El Profe and Dino Bravo will want a rematch. Overall, Aniversario 1991 was a feel good event with the tecnicos winning most of the matches. Before heading into the post Aniversario world, we do have to mention that CSP did do an Aniversario related card on Sunday. The card was held in Ponce and featured the following matches:

Miguelito Perez defeated Skandor Akbar

Ricky Santana vs. Rod Price went to  a time limit draw

Huracan Castillo defeated Galan Mendoza

Koko B Ware defeated Action Jackson

Monster Ripper & Hugo Savinovich defeated El Profe & Billy Joe Travis

TNT defeated Ron Garvin

The Samoan Swat Team defeated Super Medico #3 & Giant Warrior

Invader 1 & Bronco #1 defeated Demolition by dq

Carlos Colon defeated Dino Bravo by dq

After this Aniversario weekend, we have seen the last of Gen. Akbar, Action Jackson, Billy Joe Travis and Rod Price. But where people leave, that means we’ll get some new or rerunting faces so stay tuned. The TV we have picks back up on July 27, which is three weeks after Aniversario. While we do not have results for July 13, we do have the card lineup for July 20 in Carolina. It looks like we have some major developments going on based on the lineup.

Universal title match: Carlos Colon vs Sadistic Steve Strong

For the World tag team titles: Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs The Caribbean Express

Monster Ripper vs El Profe

No DQ Rematch: Giant Warrior vs Atkie Mulumba

Rematch for the World Jr. title: Ricky Santana vs Lt. James Earl Wright

Super Medico #3 & Invader #4 vsThe Ring Lords

And other great stars,

There are a few things that stand out. We have a new tag team in the Ring Lords plus the returns of James Earl Wright (of the State Patrol) and Atkie Mulumba. Ripper and Profe still are feuding and wrestling each other. The big news though is the top two matches for that card. Sadistic Steve Strong is coming back and this is something I remember from watching in real time. They were promoting his return by showing highlights of old matches against Carlos Colon and indicating that he had been given permission to return for that weekend to challenge Carlos Colon (if you remember, Strong had lost a loser leaves Puerto Rico match). But before we get too excited, Strong ends up not showing up for that night’s card. CSP did book a replacement and instead Carlos faced Nikolai Volkof on that card. 

The other big development(and again something I clearly remember from watching in real time), is that we have a very rare tecnico vs tecnico title match. The Caribbean Express seem to have issued a challenge for the World tag team titles and Invader #1 & Bronco 1 have agreed to the match. This is a break in tradition, as the custom is for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to not challenge for each other’s titles. However, it seems that all four men have decided to wrestle in the spirit of sportsmanship and we’ll get a sort of dream match out of it. Let’s go to Carolina and see what happened.

Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr vs Invader #1 & Bronco #1 - July 20, 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cFlx3_go-8

It’s tecnico vs. tecnico as the Caribbean Express (the reigning Caribbean tag champions) are challenging Invader #1 and Bronco #1 for the World tag team champions. As we previously talked about when TNT decided to challenge Carlos Colon in 1990, it is not customary for members of El Ejercito de la Justicia to challenge each other for their titles. Before the match starts we get the entire tecnico locker room coming out and entering the ring in a show of class and sportsmanship. All of the tecnicos have publicly declared their well wishes to both teams in the match (looks like they’ve taken a different view of how to approach this since the TNT deal from the year before). Carlos Colon, Ricky Santana, Super Medico #3, Giant Warrior and Invader #4 are all here to shake their comrades hands in a show of sportsmanship and well wishes. Also among them is Miguel Perez Sr., who shakes the hand of both teams in a sign of sportsmanship even though his son and someone you could consider like a son in Castillo are the challengers. Both teams shake hands with each other and then Invader goes over and shakes Monster Ripper's hand as well. Hugo says that this is basically a dream match we are about to witness, because only in your imagination could you have seen this happen until now.

How did we get here? As Hugo explains in the first minutes of the match, opinions are divided about this match. There are people who think that Castillo and Perez should not have thrown down the challenge, that Monster Ripper should not have pursued to have that match signed for her guys. Others think that the whole reason you're in wrestling is to compete, to show who is the best. Hugo says that he agrees that opinions should be respected, but that he as a fan of wrestling also agrees that in wrestling you should be competing to prove who is the best. They showed a good portion of the match on TV, going through two commercial breaks. The match is mainly wrestled straightforward, although tempers do flare up a bit as the match goes on. Things get hectic near the end as all four men end up in the ring. Hugo mentions that Invader and Castillo are bleeding, so those two seem to have gone hard in the match. Perez and Castillo are whipped into each other and it looks like the champs are on the verge of successfully defending their titles. Invader backs Castillo into a corner, while Bronco and Perez are trying to throw each other into the ropes. Perez sends Bronco into the ropes and then hits a dropkick that knocks Bronco out of the ring. Perez follows up with a moonsault press off the apron, which takes both him and Bronco out of the action. As Perez was doing his dive, Invader hooked a small package on Castillo. The ref was focused on Perez and Bronco, so Monster Ripper sneaked into the ring and turned over the small package, putting Castillo in control of the pin. The ref turned around, noticed the pin and made the three count. We have new World tag team champions! Castillo and Ripper celebrate and then head to the floor to hand over one of the title belts to Miguelito (who had been out loopy on the floor and was not aware they had won the match). Perez joins the celebration with his teammate and manager but Invader doesn't seem too pleased about how the match ended. 

MD: I do think this would probably hit better outdoors, as we can see the basketball hoop on the camera the whole time, but it is also a starting point of sorts. It diminishes the pomp and circumstances a little. They wrestle clean to start, basically Invader vs Castillo and Bronco vs Perez and it’s good, competitive. You buy what they’re going for in setting a tone. As we come back from break, Castillo tags to Perez and Invader goes after Castillo for some reason, hitting a belly to back. That lets Perez hit a missile dropkick on him to take over. We’re lacking context given the break but it did feel weird especially for a transition. Maybe tempers flared. Who knows? 

After this, they start in on Invader though. A lot of that was just grinding down on him. He had a nice hope spot or two but they cut him off (with Castillo’s jumping knee for instance). I’m not sure the crowd entirely knows what to make of this. It’s real chinlock heavy. We come back to Bronco clearing house after a hot tag we never got to see. The fans ARE into this, including when Invader comes in to get some “revenge.” Chaotic finishing scene with bodies everywhere. Perez hits a standing moonsault off the apron which we’ve never seen in the footage up til this point so it had to blow minds (just ask Esteban!). But that distracts the ref so while Invader has Castillo rolled up, Ripper turns it over and the Express win the belts. Certainly a controversial ending. This one was hurt by the cuts so we can’t really get a good sense of it, but at this point, we’re just lucky to have it at all.. 

EB: The finish did blow my mind at the time (and it’s what I distinctly remember from that match… well that and what followed). The controversial finish of the World tag title match set off a series of meetings with the commissioner that led to a surprising development. Hugo will mention it during the next episode’s show intro, with the meeting and fallout being shown later in the same program. So let’s go to the July 27 episode of Campeones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCVyapi4u2Y

EB: We open with Hugo and Profe,  who happens to be posing for the viewers as Hugo welcomes everyone to the show. Hugo even makes a remark about maybe changing Profe’s name to El Modelo with all of the posing Profe is doing when he sees a camera. Profe says that he should have maybe been an actor or a TV heartthrob. Hugo cuts that off by running down what we’ll have on today's program, including showing  what happened last week in Carolina when Monster Ripper was facing El Profe (who Hugo says we’ll get to see what kind of a person Profe is despite what he may claim in front of the cameras when he gets in there with a lady). We also have some old matches highlighting returning wrestlers such as Abdullah the Butcher, Fidel Sierra and Nikolai Volkoff and music special for newcomer Alex Porteau. The big news for those who have not heard (as Profe applauds this news) is that Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper have attacked Miguelito Perez. Profe happily says that Castillo has a bright future in wrestling. Hugo says that later in the program they will show the meeting the Caribbean Express had with the commissioner and what led to the aforementioned incident occurring. Also, we’ll have highlights from Nikolai Volokoff’s attack on Carlos colon last weekend, Volkoff was the substitute for Steve Strong (who was not able to appear due to circumstances beyond their control). Tonight there is a rematch between them with the added stipulation of it being a Russian Chain match. Profe says that the simple fact is that last week we left Carlitos Colon drenched in blood and this time he will be at the end of a chain. Volkoff is a master at this type of match, to which Hugo retorts that Carlos has been in matches like this before. Profe: ‘But he fights like a Puerto Rican, Volkoff is from where this type of match originated, from Russia’. Hugo again states that Carlos knows how to handle himself in these sorts of matches (this chain match has the touch all four corners rule), although he conceded Volkoff does have a size and experience advantage. 

Tonight we’ll also have the return of Abdullah the Butcher as he faces Giant Warrior. Hugo mentions that Abdullah did not fare too well the last time these two faced each other. Profe says that was before, Abdullah has been on a great winning streak in the Orient and will be ready for tonight. Hugo mentions that Ricky Santana will take on El Profe, so that may mean Profe’s face might not look so good tomorrow (Profe laughs it off). Rounding out the card for tonight is Sasha vs Monster Ripper, Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 vs the Ring Lords, and Invader #4 vs. Alex Porteau. Before finishing the announcements, Hugo says that we have some big news about next Saturday. The rematch is signed as Carlos Colon will defend the Universal title against Dino Bravo. Profe is happy about this news and promises that this time there will be no one to save Carlos. With that, Hugo sends it to the Alex Porteau music video as El Profe says we now have a magic finger to cue up the music specials (as he points at the camera). The music video highlights for Porteau are from some TV studio matches, with the most notable opponents being Super Medico #3 and Ricky Santana.

MD: Pretty sure this is set to Sepultura and the music is heavy and foreboding. Maybe the clips of Porteau doggedly working over Ricky Santana’s arm don’t quite match the destructive tone of it but it doesn’t hurt his presentation I guess?

EB: Back to Hugo in the studio, as he introduces the clip of what happened last week when Profe was in trouble against Monster Ripper and someone came out to help him. We cut to Monster Ripper attacking Profe on the arena floor, when suddenly Lt. James Earl Wright of the State Patrol runs out to grab Ripper from behind. Profe doesn’t have much time to get a blow in before Ricky Santana rushes in to fight the rudos off and chase them away. Ricky helps Ripper to her feet as the clip ends. 

Profe is in the studio and cuts a promo on Ricky Santana. Profe has always said that Santana loves sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong and tonight he will teach him a lesson, because women and imbeciles like Santana should be treated the same way. He is going to disfigure Santana's face, he is ugly and big eared. So get ready because El Profe does not discriminate by gender, nationality or age. Ricky responds by saying that it won’t be a woman tonight, it’ll be man to man, or he should say one man because Profe is no man. After Hugo translates we get a card rundown for tonight;s show in Carolina. We also get an ad for next Wednesday’s TV taping in Miramar, with TNT vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Invader #1 vs. Fidel Sierra, and Ricky Santana & Giant Warrior vs the Ring Lords. 

MD: Profe really didn’t seem all that cowed or like he’d learned his lesson during the opening of the show. Lots of preening and posing. Most striking thing here is that Santana showed up almost immediately after Wright appeared, so they didn’t do any sort of extended beatdown on Ripper. Not sure if they’re going for mixed tags or just moving the feud over to Profe/Wright vs Santana moving forward.

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Dutch Mantell - February 1988

EB: With Abdullah the Butcher returning tonight, they show a match from February 1988 where Dutch Mantel takes on Abdullah the Butcher. This is from the first round of that year’s Gillette Cup and the match does not go Dutch’s way as Abdullah jumps him as soon as he enters the ring. Most of the match is Abdullah getting the better of Dutch with foreign objects, although Dutch is able to get some offensive flurries in. We also have Chicky at ringside with Abdullah here, we have not seen him in almost a year. I wonder what he’s been up to?  Anyway, Dutch wins the match by dq when Abdullah refuses to stop punching and choking Dutch (who is draped over the top rope).

We then go to some highlights from the last time Abdullah the Butcher and the Giant warrior wrestled. The date is September  8,1990 and Giant Warrior goes after Abdullah out on the ballfield. Warrior grabs a piece of wood that he uses to hit and gouge Abdullah with, causing Abdullah to bleed. We cut back to the studio and we are met with a closeup of Abdullah’s face as El Profe cuts a promo on Giant Warrior. Abdullah is balancing a metal case on his head as Profe promises that Abdullah is going to make Warrior a victim tonight. Abdullah has made other wrestlers bleed and left them scarred, and tonight will be no exception. Also, El Profe has some quick words for Carlos Colon, it seems he and Abdullah are scheduled to wrestle tomorrow in Humacao.

Giant Warrior is next and laughs at Profe’s comments and says that people saw Profe’s failed attempt of getting rid of Giant Warrior. Abdullah is back again and Warrior is still standing, so let’s see what happens tonight when the two trains collide again. 

MD: It’s notable just how little we’ve seen Abdullah between 89-91. I think he’s just popped up once, maybe twice, and never for long. But now they have him against both Giant Warrior and TNT. Of course, we haven’t seen Dutch at all. The old match between them was fun. Abby tossed Dutch onto a table and then got the object out and opened him up in the ring. Dutch came back with Shoo Baby (using it as a blunt object and not a whip). Abby cut him off as he was want to do and then got DQed for attacking him in the ropes. 

The clip we see of one of the times we did see Abby is against Giant Warrior who by this point had the object already and was getting revenge on Abby with it. Abby, when we cut to him for the Profe promo, has a black case over his head. We cut to footage of him beating on guys and come back to him doing different things with the case or his fingers, just staring at the screen. Warrior cuts a confident promo after that.

Fidel Sierra vs. Victor Cantcel

EB: We have a match from 1985 featuring Fidel Sierra taking on Victor Cancel. Fidel is making a return to Puerto Rico this week and this match is to serve as a reminder to fans of his ability. Profe’s first comment is that he has recently learned that not all Cubans are bad (since Ricky Santana is Cuban), people like Sierra and Castillo are good eggs in his book. Hugo quickly shuts that down, saying Profe’s job is to commentate on the wrestlers’ performance, not anything else. Hugo says that Fidel is returning and if a few years ago he was someone to watch out for, this time he is coming back with more experience and fame. Profe again talks about Castillo Jr with Hugo then asking him about Monster Ripper.  Profe says she can go fry some asparagus (no love lost there). Fidel wins the match with a flying kneedrop off the top. We’ll see how this stint goes for Fidel in the weeks to come.

MD: Another guy we haven’t seen. In general, I haven’t seen much of Sierra with this specific character looking cool with the hat. There’s commentary over commentary so this is older footage likely? Lots of complaining about hairpulling and what not but he’s overall dominant and wins with a side backbreaker and bombs away kneedrop. 

Commissioner Meeting and Miguelito Perez & Huracan Castillo Jr. vs The Ringlords

EB: It’s time for the new World tag team champions the Caribbean Express to have their meeting with the commissioner. Hugo is already there and says that everyone has been talking about what happened last week in the World tag title match. Commissioner Felix Suarez is here, along with Miguelito Perez, Huracan Castillo and Monster Ripper. Hugo says that it has been a hot topic, a controversial one, and that the commissioner had already met with Invader #1 and Bronco #1. The commissioner confirms that he already met with Invader and Bronco, and rather than speak with the Caribbean Express, he wants them to first watch the footage of the match ending before talking. Castillo isn’t too keen on having to watch the footage but Miguelito says they should. We get the replay of the match finish where Miguelito does his dive onto Bronco and in the ring the small package gets reversed with help from Ripper. The commissioner says that now that you have watched the footage, he thinks that it was an unjust win. Castillo tries to justify that Ripper was only there checking on him and nothing more. The commissioner continues that he has already proposed two options to Invader and Bronco, which they  accepted. These are either that the Caribbean Express reject the win and relinquish their titles back to Invader and Bronco, or that they leave the title belts with the commissioner and a rematch will be had for the held up titles. Castillo is all for doing a rematch, although he keeps saying that we are the champs so we’ll give them a rematch (glossing over that they would still have to vacate the titles in that scenario). Miguelito is not on board with that idea, because he feels that was clearly the wrong way to have won the match. Ripper tries to say something but Miguelito cuts her off by saying he had no idea this was how they won. Hugo follows up on this and Miguelito is insistent that he had no idea since he was out of it on the floor after the dive on Bronco (which is true). Miguelito feels this was an unjust loss for Invader and Bronco, feeling that they shouldn’t have done that. A discussion breaks out between Castillo and Ripper on one side and Perez on the other. Perez wants to relinquish the titles because they didn't do it the right way, Castillo and Ripper insist that they are the champions now and should just have the rematch (again glossing over the fact that in both scenarios they cease to be the champions). Miguelito says that accepting a win like that would make them nothing more than paper champions, Castillo says what do you mean paper champions, we beat them 1-2-3. Castillo brings up that they've had times where they’ve lost titles under similar circumstances, but Miguelito says that those were other wrestlers that did that to them,  but not people like Invader and Bronco who are on the same side as them. Miguelito says let’s relinquish the titles, but Castillo is against that (again, I don’t know if they goofed on the setup details or if Castillo is being deliberately obtuse, but either way they are not leaving that office with the title belts). Perez ends up deciding that he is going to relinquish his title belt, Castillo is mad since that means he has to relinquish it as well  and ends up getting bleeped after Perez leaves the room. Castillo tells Ripper how dare he do this to us.

Back to Hugo in the studio where he summarizes the end result. Miguelito Perez relinquished the title belts and they were returned to Invader and Bronco. The situation in the office got heated, so much so that you heard they had to censor some of Castillo's language. But this is not the end of the situation as this past Wednesday the Caribbean Express was taking on the Ring Lord and this is what went down. 

To Miiramar we go as Miguelito Perez is in trouble and trying to make the tag to Huracan Castillo. Instead of making the tag, Castillo seems to be distracted talking to Monster Ripper. Perez continues getting beat up and every time he tries to tag Castillo in he gets waved off, ignored or Castillo motions in a you got this fashion. Eventually, Perez gets fed up with Castillo not wanting to tag in and leaves the ring. Ripper starts arguing with Miguelito for leaving the ring and blocks his exit from the ringside area. Perez tries to push Ripper out of his way so he can leave, and Castillo runs up from behind and attacks Miguelito. Ripper holds Miguelito for a couple of those punches, and then Castillo rams Perez three times into the ringpost. Castillo then rams Perez on a table and hits him with a chair, before throwing Perez into the ring. The attack continues as the Ring Lords have won by countout. Perez is a bloody mess which brings out Carlos Colon and Invader to try to reason with Castillo, but each of them gets shoved by Castillo before leaving the ring. Castillo and Ripper exit the building instead of going to the locker room as a bloody Perez is being checked on in the ring. Hugo on commentary is condemning what Castillo did since Perez and Castillo basically have been friends since they were kids. We end with Perez being helped to the locker room by Invader and Carlos Colon.

MD: The Express review the footage with the commissioner. They see what Ripper did. Perez ultimately agrees to relinquish the belts back to Invader/Bronco though Castillo strongly disagrees. Cut to the match against the Ringlords, who are Magnum Force, here Rick Slagle and Speedy Gonzales (why that? I have no idea. It’s up there with the weird name for one of the State Patrol before). They’re a step down from the Studs but it really doesn’t matter because this was a high heat angle.

Perez fights back enough to go for a tag and Castillo just puts his hand out limpy, avoiding it. He does this a few times and then Perez tries to walk out. Ripper stops him and it seems like she’s trying to convince him to go back but Castillo hits the floor and she grabs Perez so Castillo can nail him. He bloodies his partner, even as Invader and others try to stop him. This was the good stuff. Usually, I’d think this followed something in the US like the Rockers split but the’re well ahead of it here. 

EB: After the big angle with the Caribbean Express, it is back to the promos for tonight’s card. This time we have the Ring Lords and Invader #1 & Super Medico #3 talking about their match tonight. The Ring Lords claim they’re the best tag team to be in Puerto Rico while the tecnicos say that they will be stopped tonight. We also got part of a commercial with some of the tecnicos for Capriccio's restaurant.

MD: I’m not 100% sure where Bronco is here but if you need to get the Ring Lords over, having them go over a champ and another name isn’t the worst way i guess?

EB: We have an old match from Mid-South where Nikolai Volkoff defeats Johnny Rich as the showcase match for Nikolai. After that Profe introduces the clip of the beating Volkoff gave Carlos Colon last week. Colon comes off the top rope with a whoopie cushion but Profe puts Volkoff’s leg on the rope to stop the count. A clothesline leads to another cover and again Profe puts Volkoff’s foot on the ropes. Carlos sets up for the figure four and Profe jumps up on the apron. Carlos runs over and decks Profe, then goes out to punch Profe some more on the arena floor. However, this gives Volkoff an opening to attack Carlos and ram him against the ringpost. This busts Carlos open and Volkoff continues kicking Carlos in the head. The attack stops when Giant Warrior runs out and Vokoff simply stops and heads off before Warrior can get any hands on him. 

We get comments from Nikolai Volkoff where he is looking forward to the chain match since it means that the coward of Carlos Colon cannot run away. Carlos follows by saying that Volkoff may be an expert in this type of match, but that Carlos himself has never lost a match of this type before. Volkoff and Profe better be ready to be paid back for last week, because he is not planning on touching all four corners until he has gotten some licks in with the chain. 

MD: He may have been one of the most over babyfaces on the roster in Summer 1990 WWF but 1983 Volkoff is a very different beast from 1991 Volkoff. He does two of my favorite things here: the one handed lifting choke and then how he turns his press backbreaker into a perfectly angled pin. Puerto Rico does bring out the best in people, and we’ll see if it can for 1991 Volkoff, I guess.

In the clip vs Colon we get, Carlos had his number and was working the leg until Profe interfered. Post match, Giant Warrior made the save. The promo is surreal both for the Russian music playing in the background and just to see Volkoff cut a promo in grumpy English.

Ricky Santana vs. The Fly

EBL Our last match is Ricky Santana vs. The Fly, with Fly getting some quick offense by jumping Santana at the start. This advantage does not last long and Santana makes quick work of The Fly. On commentary, Hugo starts needling Profe about his match tonight against Santana, with Hugo asking Profe if he is now friends again with Monster Ripper. Profe is disgusted by that question and says that he’d rather show up in Sasha’s corner tonight than be friends with Ripper. But he still thinks Castillo has great potential and has always been a good kid. Santana wins with a top rope splash.

Hugo and Profe then close out the show by hyping up tonight’s card and reminding viewers about the big rematch for next week as Carlos Colon defends the Universal title against Dino Bravo. 

MD: I want to say I’m an immediate fan of “The Fly” but he’s just a guy in a mask with no real Fly elements to him. Santana makes short work of him obviously. 

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Giant Warrior - July 27, 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd9usQCi1rY

EB: We end this week’s post with the Giant Warrior vs Abdullah the Butcher match from July 27. This is from a later VHS release so the commentary isn’t related to the current happenings. Abdullah is taking his time on the outside so Warrior decides to rush him like in their previous encounter. Only this time Abdullah was waiting on that and surprises Warrior with several jabs using a foreign object (looks like a spike). Abdullah continues relentlessly jabbing Warrior in the forehead and the blood is starting to flow. Abdullah throws Warrior onto a table and then uses whatever furniture he can find to attack Warrior. A momentary breather reveals that Warrior is quickly becoming a  bloody mess (and he is wearing white tights so it’s going to get messy). Abdulalh finally gets in the ring and a dazed Warrior gathers himself. There’s blood splatter on the table, on the floor and on Warrior’s tights as he finally gets near the ring. We get some king of the mountain as Abdullah jabs the spike once more onto Warrior’s forehead and prevents him from entering the ring. Finally Warrior is in but can’t mount any offense as Abdullah continues attacking. 

Surprisingly, Warrior is able to kick out of Abudullah’s elbow drop. Warrior starts a comeback and even hits a dropkick on Abdullah. This causes Abdullah to drop the spike, so Warrior grabs it and uses it on the Butcher. Abdullah kicks out of a pin attempt and Warrior starts booting Abdullah's head. Warrior gets knocked to the outside and he decides to take one of his boots off. Warrior then uses it as a weapon on Abudllah ,just hitting him over and over again on the head. The ref tries to intervene but gets shoved and then hit with the boot. Warrior continues his attack as the ref calls for the bell. Several wrestlers come out to try to separate Warrior and Abdullah, but they end up getting attacked by both men as they try to get at each other. Warrior ends up knocking down Abdullah and (in an amazing visual) the rudos resort to just dragging the downed Abdullah by his arms across the arena floor towards the locker room.

MD: It is very possible that we have written about more Giant Warrior matches than anyone alive, and while there are some that are pretty good (at least one tag, a Murdoch match, the Tyler Mane match that overdelivered), this has to be the best. He came out in white which he never does and yeah, that meant he was going to bleed buckets. Abby got him on the outside early and tossed everything that wasn’t bolted down at him. He bled right from the get go and then bled some more. Eventually, he managed to come back and get the object and get revenge. It was an Abby match but it absolutely worked. When Abby tried to fire back, he took off his boot and started in on everyone, including the ref and every person in the locker room who tried to break things up. Very much an Abby match but you can’t say that Warrior didn’t do his part, even if his part was just to bleed.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a TV rematch between Giant Warrior and Abdullah the Butcher leads to a series of events that causes a major change to that night’s house show.  Also, the Caribbean Express collides and the debut of Ray Gonzalez.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: So That's Where The Stairs In Caguas Lead To...

Week 49: So That's Where The Stairs In Caguas Lead To...

MD: We are back covering the untapped gold of 1991 Puerto Rico. If you want to catch up, here's the Master List.

EB: We don’t have results for the March 16 card in Bayamon, so we don’t know with certainty the end result of the Colon brothers tag against Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith. As we’ll soon see, Murdoch seems pretty pleased with what went down, so at the very least it seems that Murdoch and Joe Don came out on top. And riding that high, Dick Murdoch has decided to throw out a challenge to Carlos Colon for one more match with the Universal title on the line. Only there is a stipulation attached. It also seems that the issue between TNT and Action Jackson has not yet been settled and we have a big stipulation match coming tonight in Caguas as a result of an altercation that happened at the most recent TV taping.

Let’s go to the Campeones episode from March 23 (please note that the video title says 3/16 but this is the 3/23 episode) so we can see what the latest developments are in CSP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtK3dcOEyik

Hugo and El Profe welcome the viewers to the program, with Profe remarking that he has Akbar on some scouting trips at the moment. They run down the matches we’ll have on today’s program (some of which we have previously covered). Hugo also mentions they will have a look at what happened last Wednesday in Miramar between Action Jackson and TNT. Profe says that it will be a chance for the people to see what kind of garbage TNT is, because he cowardly attacked someone from  behind while getting involved in something that didn’t concern him. Hugo says the viewers can be the judge of that. The main event for today’s program is the match from February 2 where the Texas Hangmen defended the World tag team titles against Invader #1 (with taped fist) and Bronco #1. Profe is not happy with the match selection since there are so many matches they could show (obviously not happy with how that match ended). Hugo says it is a very important bout and the fans deserve to watch those types of matches.

They move on to tonight’s house show in Caguas where the main event will be a falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson. Profe starts talking about all of the different things they could get away with like dunking TNT in a toilet, taking TNT out to the parking lot and other things. Hugo counters what if TNT is the one that gets the upper hand, to which Profe tries to change the subject and claim he’s never gotten involved in anything (Hugo isn;t buying that claim at all). Hugo mentions that Scott Hall retained the Caribbean title but almost lost it to Kim Duk, with el Profe complaining that Duk tried to steal the title by throwing salt in Hall’s face but thanks to him the ref was made aware of what happened. He also says that he would never accept any of his guys doing anything underhanded like that, with Hugo just mocking Profe for lying. Tonight, Hall and Duk will have a rematch and Hugo says that Kim Duk told Hugo that he was going to make sure that the ref wouldn’t see any salt throwing this time around.  With that, they send it to the first match, the Caribbean tag title match from March 9 in Carolina.

MD: I’m pretty sure Profe said they’d flush TNT’s head in the toilet for a few minutes before beating him. I think that’s a thing that happened here. 

Caribbean Express vs Gran Mendoza/Rick Valentine

EB: The Caribbean Express are the challengers and Hugo says that they are in their hometown for this match. The champions, Valentine and Mendoza ,are already in the ring, with Monster Ripper accompanying them at ringside. Castillo and Valentine start off for their teams. Castillo controls the early minutes of the match by working the arm of Valentine and then Mendoza. Galan Mendoza is able to back Castillo to his team’s corner and he and Valentine double team Castillo. This brings in Perez, who is momentarily cut off by Mendoza. Miguelito recovers and charges into  the corner, monkey flipping Castillo out of there and Castillo lands on his feet, chagrin at Mendoza. Perez is tagged in but falls prey to the champs and is worked over for the next couple of minutes. Perez and Mendoza collide and this leads to Castillo and Valentine getting the tag. Castillo starts cleaning house, with Miguelito sending Mendoza outside and fighting with him on the floor. In the ring, Castillo gets a sunset flip for the three count. New Caribbean tag champs! The crowd cheers as the new champions head back to the locker room with their newly won title belts.  

MD: While I’m ok with us moving on from Valentine/Mendoza as Valentine had a long run which had a high floor but maybe not the highest ceiling, it does feel like there was another month they could have gotten out of this pairing, considering how long the Super Medicos feud went. This was yet another quality tag. Valentine pinballed early. The heat really came from controlling the corner. There was a great switch of the FIP/hope spot with Perez monkey flipping Castillo who turned around into a clothesline as he landed which is just a beautiful lost spot but the VQ is pretty rough here so you don’t get the full effect. They crashed heads to set up the hot tag and after a bit of chaos, Perez and Castillo got a quick pin and the belts. 

EB: The California Studs (specifically Brian Lee) talk about their match tonight against Giant Warrior and Ricky Santana. Speaking of tonight’’s card in Caguas, we get a partial rundown of what is set for tonight: Falls count anywhere for the TV title as TNT faces Action Jackson; a rematch as Invader #1 faces Motor City Madman; Giant Warrior & Ricky Santana vs The California Studs; and Scott Hall defends the Caribbean title against Kim Duk.

Afterwards we get the Dick Murdoch vs. El Corsario match from February 2 that we previously covered. We then get a snippet of a Dick Murdoch promo where he says that Joe Don is the first thing from Puerto Rico he has been proud of (so I’m guessing he did well in the tag match the previous week). We then cut to El Profe who says let’s hear what that coward Carlos Colon has to say. Carlos is here to accept a challenge Dick Murdoch has made. It’’s a cage match for the Universal title, with a roof on the cage and a lock on the door. Carlos wishes Murdoch had the guts to show up tonight in Caguas or even now to the studio so they could have that match right now. Carlos challenges Murdoch to show up tonight if he dares, but he will accept the challenge for the cage match.

We then get comments from the Motor City Madman about his match against Invader tonight. He left Invader hanging last week in Bayamon and tonight it will be Invader’s last match. 

MD: We get a tiny glimpse of a Murdoch promo here which makes me think that Murdoch and Joe Don did win the mixed tag, a good way to get heat for the upcoming cage match. Not too much else to say for this show given that we have it clipped and it has things we’ve already covered. The upcoming show looked to have a lot of return matches (TNT/Jackson, Hall/Duk) but Santana/Giant Warrior vs Anthony/Lee is a weird and interesting one.

EB: The episode closes out with an airing of the Invader& Bronco vs. Texas Hangmen from February 2. Now let's go to the west coast version of the Super Estrellas episode from that same day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGt0ykdKNPg

Hugo welcomes the viewers and runs down what we will see on today’s show. Afterwards, Hugo starts talking about tomorrow’s house show lineup but the video cuts to the end of the TNT Evolution music video. From there we get a promo from the California Studs about their tag match tomorrow in Aguadilla against the team of Kim Duk and Ricky Santana. It looks like Tony Anthony has a score to settle with Ricky Santana for busting his nose and eye up in a previous match. Kim Duk and Ricky Santana follow with their comments, with Duk talking about the conditioning he and Ricky have, while Ricky promises to leave Tony Anthony laying this time around.

We get a rundown for tomorrow’s card in Aguadilla: Falls count anywhere for the TV title as TNT faces Action Jackson; Invader #1 & Giant Warrior vs. Scott Hall & Motor City Madman; Kim Duk & Ricky Santana vs The California Studs; Huracana  Castillo Jr vs Rick Valentine; and Invader #4 vs. Doug Gilbert.

Our first match of the program is the California Studs vs Invader #4 and Jerry Mercado. Hugo makes note that Skandor Akbar is not there because he is on a scouting trip, which means El Club Deportivo is likely getting reinforcements. The match is short, as the Studs isolate Jerry Mercado and work him over, getting the pinfall after the powerslam / flying kneedrop combo.

MD: Santana had tagged Anthony previously and now they were going to get revenge. Santana/Partner vs the Studs seemed to be what they were doing this week as here he was teamed with Duk. No Akbar here (he was off scouting for Devastation Inc. apparently). The highlight was Anthony trying to figure out what to do when Hugo was talking and tearing at his own eye. Duk said that both he and Santana were in superior condition and I’m not sure about that visually looking at him, but then he sort of always looked like this, just more grey in his beard now. The squash was efficient (even with Lee pulling Mercado up once). Invader was a non-factor and they won with a bombs away kneedrop from Lee which is a good thing to do if you’re billed from California I guess.

EB: Giant Warrior and Invader are here to talk about facing Scott Hall and Motor City Madman tomorrow. We get the back half of the interview with Hugo translating, where he says that tomorrow it is not going to be two on one. The size difference is really stark here when you have Giant Warrior standing next to Hugo and Invader (although I think Invader may be standing lower just to make the contrast even more since here he’s at Hugo’s height when he’s taller).

MD: Warrior and Invader vs Hall and Madman feels like a pretty solid match that they could put on right now. I think this is the first time I fully realized that Warrior’s face paint was supposed to be like Ultimate Warrior. I saw him in Japan first so I think I took that for granted. I always saw him as an answer to El Gigante. Anyway, this was just them clasping hands as Hugo spoke for a few seconds.

EB: Up next is another showcase for Doug Gilbert as he takes on Tito Carrion. Hugo mentions that Doug looks like a pirate with that bandanna on. The commentators again talk about the places Doug has wrestled and that he is a  dangerous individual. Carrion gets a brief hit of offense but this all Doug as he wins with the slingshot suplex.

MD: Doug really does feel like a herald for what is to come like when Lanny Poffo came into Mid-South and they started to mention Randy (even though that never came to be). Doug has pretty good execution of his suplexes and what not, but you can tell he hasn’t quite put it all together yet just yet in how he goes from point A to point B. Good energy and enthusiasm though. Carrion outwrestles him for a second here but that’s all he gets as Gilbert steamrolls him. When we hear his promo later on Invader IV, he was sure shouty.

EB: We get promos from Huracan Castillo Jr and Rick Valentine on their singles match tomorrow. Valentine wants revenge for the cheaters (according to him) taking the Caribbean tag tiles. 

MD: They’re doing a singles match between these two and Valentine complains that Castillo stole the belts and the best way to get revenge is one-on-one. Straightforward stuff.

EB: We get a name vs name matchup next as Kim Duk faces the current TV champion. Action Jackson. Profe is with Jackson, and I’m sure Duk has not forgotten his resentment towards his former manager. Duk works over Jackson’s arm to start but then Action starts getting aggressive by going for the eyes. Jackson controls the middle portion, mainly working Duk’s neck with a nerve hold, but when Duk fights out of it they start exchanging blows. Profe gets involved by tripping up Duk when he runs off the ropes. Jackson gets the cobra clutch, but TNT runs in to attack Action and send him from the ring. This causes Duk to be disqualified, but it’s clear that TNT still has his issues with Action as the two men start brawling around the ring area. They ram each other into the posts, Action bites TNT’s head, TNT spin kicks Action over the barricade into the crowd. We see them fight through the crowd and then cut to them still fighting outside the arena, as the fans run after them to see the action. They end up reentering the ringside area from the other side and continue fighting. I guess we now know why we’re getting the falls count anywhere stipulation.

We also get another series of promos for tomorrow, as Doug Gilbert is excitedly shouty about facing Invader #4, Action Jackson has a bandage on his forehead as he promises to retain the TV title no matter where he has to beat TNT up, and a fired up TNT angrily says that if they have to go to the town square or the outskirts it won’t matter as he promises to get that TV title. 

MD: The Duk vs Jackson match was a little rough. A lot of Duk hiding little shots while he had a hold on to start. Then a nerve hold. Worked fine overall but the first part wasn’t wry and fun enough and the second was pretty dull. It did pick up with some big Duk shots in the corner before Profe tripped him and we got the cobra. They kept cutting to a wide shot before anything happened so you had a sense that TNT was about to run out and he did, leading to a legitimately crazy brawl that went all over. Between that and the promos that followed, with Jackson doing so much better as himself (with his hair growing back and the Zubaz pants and him talking over Profe hyperactively) and TNT bloody and passionate, they sure sold me on this Falls Count Anywhere match, no matter how long the feud has been going on. Good pro wrestling right here.

EB: Our main event of the program is Miguelito Perez vs. Dick Murdoch. This an even matchup but Murdoch takes his shortcuts to try to gain the advantage. Perez actually holds his own and has Murdoch against the ropes punching him. When the ref tries to get Perez to back off, Joe Don Smith sneaks up and trips Perez up from the outside, allowing Murdoch to drop an elbow and steal the win. 

MD: You watch Murdoch and there’s no one else like him in 1991 anywhere in the world. Maybe a Negro Casas. Maybe Terry Funk. He’s just so self-aware and confident and treats pro wrestling differently than anyone else. There’s an element of vaudeville or being a character actor. It’s like watching Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy or All in the Family. We come in with Joe Don and Murdoch sort of leaning on the apron while on the floor and it’s just this weirdly iconic image. Murdoch controls early but then gets it turned around on him and just stooges like wild for a few minutes. Joe Don grabs the leg between Murdoch’s legs while they’re in the ropes and a quick elbow ends it. Everything Murdoch has done during this run has been incredibly entertaining. 

EB: This episode closes with part of the Carlos Colon vs. Greg Valentine cage match we covered before, shown because next week we will have the Colon vs. Murdoch cage match at the house show. So, let’s find out what exactly happened in Caguas on March 23 as we go to the Campeones episode from March 30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6TJdeB_Am8

Hugo and Profe open the show, with Profe preening and showing off his fit as usual. Hugo reminds the fans that tonight is the cage match for the Universal title, as Carlos Colon has accepted Dick Murdoch’s challenge. There will be a roof on the cage and a lock on the door, so the only way to win is by pinfall or submission. Profe says it’s high time for that coward Carlos Colont to have to face Dick Murdoch without being able to run away. Hugo says it won’t be an easy encounter for either man. They run down the matches for today’s program, with Profe calling the Caribbean Express the Chicken Express. They promise we’ll see highlights from the falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson, with Profe saying that the fans will see how they beat up TNT (Hugo clarifies that we’ll see in the video what really happened). 

We also have some new music video specials, as we’ll see new ones for  Dick Murdoch, the World tag team champions Invader #1 and Bronco #1, and Caribbean champion Scott Hall . Hugo wants Profe to comment about tonight’s semi main event, as we will have a last man standing streetfight that cannot be stopped due to blood between TNT and Action nJackson. Profe says that it is time to end this feud, it has gone on far enough, and what better way to settle it in a match where the only rule is there are no rules. TNT better say goodbye to his family and fans because it all ends tonight.  Hugo reminds the fans to purchase the tickets at the box office, please protect your money from cheats.

Our first match is from the March 16 house show in Bayamon, as the California Studs take on the Caribbean Express. This is a good solid match with both teams jockeying for control by working holds with the occasional counter. Skandor Akbar is seconding the Studs, who bail a  couple of times to regroup after the Express get the better of them (Castillo with a headscissors, Perez with some dropkicks). We go to commercials and come back as Perez is being worked over. This continues for a couple of minutes until he is able to make the tag to Castillo. The finish comes when Akbar distracts Perez, which allows the Studs to hit their powerslam / flying kneedrop finisher on Castillo. Another win for the California Studs and they keep climbing the tag ranks. That title shot may be coming soon.

MD: It’s amazing how well these tag matches work. It’s just magic, right? Pro wrestling’s most perfect form. You get the Invaders or the Super Medicos or Invader/Bronco or TNT/Invader (who would be defending against the Studs upcoming) or Colon/TNT or the Caribbean Express like here and put a couple of stooging, cheating, jerk heels against them and work that southern tag and it works. It works here. They just plugged Lee and Anthony in and it’s beautiful in its own way. Shine, Heat, Comeback. Stooging to start. Hope spots along the way. A surprisingly clean finish as Castillo comes in hot and hits a missile dropkick but misses another off the ropes and eats the power slam/bombs away combo. They could run this for a while honestly. They always can. 

EB: The big news from last week is the falls count anywhere match between TNT and Action Jackson. Hugo says it was a wild encounter, Profe claims that we will see Action Jackson humiliate TNT. Hugo interrupts Profe to say that is now how it was, let’s go to the tape. We pick up with TNT at the top of the stairs, and for anyone who has ever wondered where those stairs in Caguas lead to, this is your moment. TNT heads down and we see him and Action Jackson tussle in a small hallway with the ref watching. TNT bites Action and they continue down the hallway and up a flight of stairs at the other end. We come out to a backstage hallway area and get highlights of TNT and Action fighting at different parts of the hallway. They eventually emerge at the upper part of the stands, still fighting. Down the stairs they go and we cut to them fighting on the arena floor. Both men are bleeding and are on their knees exchanging blows. Eventually, they collapse on the ground and are both counted out by the ref. So tonight, it’s a streetfight that cannot be stopped for blood and there must be a winner.  We hear from both Action Jackson and TNT and they are looking forward to coming out the winner tonight. 

MD: And they could run this for far longer I expected. We just get glimpses of the falls count anywhere match but it looks awesome, them going through stairwells and into the main area bloody and battered. They finally both collapse from exhaustion and get counted out. I think if we had all of this one it might be a classic. But it was inconclusive and they can come back for more with a street fight. TNT is in his street clothes for his promo including his fanny pack which is not what I was expecting. 

EB: Some quick comments from Kim Duk, who is facing Scott Hall in a no DQ match. Duk is happy because that means he can bring his salt or kendo stick with no issues.This is followed by the new music video for Invader #1 and El Bronco, set to Bronco’s music. Afterwards, Scott Hall asks Kim Duk how it feel to be a loser, to be in fear. Anything goes tonight and Duk can bring anything he wants, all Hall needs is his fist to come out on top.

MD: “Kim Duk, how does it feel to wake up in the morning and know you’re a loser?” That’s how Hall starts his promo and honestly, every promo we get from him where he fills every single second Hugo is talking with ridiculous mannerisms is a precious joy to be appreciated. 

EB: Motor City Madman and giant warrior are facing off tonight in a strap match, we get comments from both men. And for those curious, we get a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon: Enclosed cage match for the Universal title, must win by pinfall or submission as Carlos Colon defends against Dick Murdoch; in a streetfight for the TV title TNT challenges Action Jackson; Invader #1 and Bronco #1 defend the World tag titles against the California Studs; Giant Warrior vs Motor City Madman in an Indian strap match; No DQ for the Caribbean title as Scott Hall defends against Kim Duk; Ricky Santan vs Eddie Gilbert; and Huracan Castillo Jr vs Doug Gilbert.

MD: They were building to a strap match here. That’s a lot of gimmicks on one show since I think Murdoch and Colon were in the cage here too. Plus we finally get Eddie Gilbert! I don’t know if they weren’t drawing well enough or this was a bigger show or what but it was stacked. 

EB: It’s time for the Dick Murdoch music video and this one  includes clips of how Murdoch won the first two matches against Colon (using the ropes for leverage). Murdoch has gotten the better of Colon for the most part but the Universal title has eluded him. Will tonight be different? Carlos Colon promises that will not be the case, he plans to keep the Universal title.

MD: Murdoch really came off well in the video, using the stick as a weapon, doing wound work on Colon’s skull, fighting off all the babyfaces, and yes, getting two fluke roll up wins, one with his hands on the ropes. It’s a shame we don’t have these matches in full because it really does seem like a great feud. 

EB: We get a card rundown for tomorrow in Ponce, as Carlos Colon & Giant Warrior take on Dick Murdoch & Motor City Madman; TNT vs. Scott Hall; Kim Duk vs. Action Jackson; Invaders 1 &4 vs the California Studs; Bronco vs. Eddie Gilbert; Ricky Sanatna vs. Doug Gilbert; and Huracan Castillo Jr vs. El Profe. We then end the program with a new music video for the blond outlaw himself, Scott Hall, and a final push for tonight’s big card.

MD: Not much more to say here. If Hall had stayed in Puerto Rico for the rest of 91 I have no idea how good he could have gotten, especially if he shifted back to feuding with Invader and Colon. He got there eventually but he was very much fully formed here. He’d never be this character or this person again.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, is the feud between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch finally over? Who won the streetfight between TNT and Action Jackson? And, we will meet Skandor Akbar’s newest acquisition as we reach April 1991.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: An Authorized What?

Week 48: An Authorized What?

EB:On March 9th, Carlos Colon defended the Universal title against Dick Murdoch in a match that had none other than Buddy Rogers as the special referee. Murdoch had pinned Colon in their previous two non title matches thanks to rope assisted cradles, leading to a special referee (Rogers) being appointed to make sure no shenanigans occurred in the title match. Well, shenanigans did occur and it led to Jose Colon (brother of Carlos) getting involved at one point of the bout. His appearance resulted in him getting attacked by Joe Don Smith and Dick Murdoch, and the fallout of this attack remains to be seen. Also on March 9th, the Caribbean Express won the Caribbean tag titles from the team of Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza. It looks like the Caribbean Express are back in the tag ranks and once more holding championship gold.  

Let’s go to the March 16 episode of Camepones to see just what happened during the Universal title match. Please note, the listed date on the video says 3/23 but this is the 3/16 episode (since it refers to the events of the Colon vs. Murdoch match with guest red Buddy Rogers as happening last week).

3/16/91 TV

Your hosts are Hugo Savinovich and El Profe, with Hugo welcoming the viewers and Profe remarking that it's always a pleasure for the people to see him (modest as always). Profe mentions who will be in action on today's program, with Hugo adding that we will have our first look at a newcomer to CSP, one ‘Dirty’ Doug Gilbert (mentioned to be ‘Hotstuff’ Eddie Gilbert’s younger brother and Profe says that Doug is well recommended as a great talent). Hugo then mentions that we will have a special look at the training Jose Colon has been doing, causing Profe to laugh and mockingly say ‘the training’. We will have a video of what happened last week in Carolina when Jose Colon, who is not a  trained wrestler, was attacked. El Profe interjects that  everyone should find out that Jose is ‘un HP autorizado’ (which translates to an authorized SOB). Hugo is annoyed and corrects Profe, Jose is a CPA. Profe ‘apologizes’ since he thought it was SOB, but Hugo tells Profe to stop being a jerk. Hugo continues talking about the attack on Jose as Profe just continues cackling and saying ‘as if he is going to learn anything in a week’. Hugo says that Jose was attacked by Murdoch's lackey Joe Don Smith (Profe corrects Hugo by saying disciple not lackey). Hugo promises that we will have special interviews with Carlos and Jose Colon, as well as Murdoch and Joe Don later on in the show.

They then start talking about tonight’s show in Bayamon. The main event will see Carlos and Jose Colon take on Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith. Profe keeps laughing, calls Jose SOB again and talks up how Joe Don Smith is a legitimate athlete while Jose has been sitting behind a desk. Profe says that there is no chance for the Colons to win, Joe Don with one arm tied behind his back could mop the floor with Jose Colon. Hugo indicates that Jose has been training since early Monday morning, but Profe is not buying Jose having any chance. Hugo and Profe also hype the merchandise and videos available for sale. Hugo also reads an announcement for an amateur boxing tournament that will be starting later today, with over 130 amateur boxers participating (Profe audibly yawns and whistles as Hugo reads the announcement). One last topic, Hugo says that they've received news of unscrupulous individuals selling fake tickets to fans outside of their events. Please protect your money and only buy the tickets from the official box office at the arenas (as Profe puts it ‘Protect yourselves, morons. You don't get a chance to see me if you don’t.’). Hugo throws it to the first match, Ricky Santana vs. Moondog Spot.

MD: And lo, the name “Gilbert” would be mentioned for the first time in our journey, both Eddie and Doug, with the latter about to face Ricky Santana.

Moondog Spot vs. Ricky Santana

EB:  This match is from March 2. Moondog Spot is making a return appearance to Puerto Rico, previously having had a notable tag run with Moondog Rex back in 1982 (in fact,, the Moondogs had a bit of a feud with Tommy and Eddie Gilbert at that time). Ricky (who El Profe insists on calling ‘Ñico’ Santana to Hugo’s exasperation) is being pushed as a heartthrob and Hugo talks up Ricky's popularity with the ladies early on in the match. Profe starts wondering what the heck do the ladies find attractive about Santana, causing Hugo to needle Profe about checking out Santana. Profe counters by going off on how attractive ladies find him (to Hugo’s incredulity). In the ring, Santana has a size disadvantage against Spot but the early portion of the match sees Ricky be able to counter Spot’s wrestling holds. Spot takes to complaining about a hair pull and yells at the crowd. Tonight there will be a show at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel where Ricky Santana will take on newcomer Doug Gilbert. Spot repeats the earlier hold and Santana counters once more, leading to another round of complaining. Ricky starts to get mad at Spot’s stalling. Ricky works over Spot’s arm as El Profe gets on Santana for having US Male on his tights since Ricky is Cuban. Hugo explains that Ricky was in a tag team with White Angel over in the U.S. and they had decided on that as their team name since Ricky lived in Florida.

The announcers continue bickering as sRicky maintains the advantage by working over Spot’s arm. Ricky eventually sends Spot into the corner for some mounted punches, but Spot counters with an inverted atomic drop (which has the announcers arguing over the legality of the move). Spot tosses Ricky outside and chokes him out with a camera cable. Hugo yells at Profe about the legality of that move and why doesn't he say anything about that. Profe responds with ‘Because it was well done.’ Spot sends Santana into the ringpost as Profe insinuates something may be going on with Hugo and Ricky, since Hugo goes on and on about Ricky this and Ricky that. We go to commercial break with Rick on his feet and looking to get back in the ring. We come back with Ricky having Spot in a sunset flip for an unsuccessful pin attempt. By the argument the announcers are having, it seems that it was a case of Spot grabbing the ropes to try to hold on, but the ref kicked Spot’s hands off the ropes. Profe was complaining about the ref doing  that and Hugo actually agreed with Profe on that point. Spot works on Ricky’s neck but Santana fights out of the hold momentarily. A missed dropkick leads to Spot once again working over Ricky’s neck. Spot continues in control but makes the mistake of sending Santana to the outside. Ricky recovers and surprises Spot by grabbing the Moondog’s leg and dragging him out of the ring. Santana fires off several punches on the outside and then sends Spot shoulder first into the ringpost. Back in the ring they continue fighting, with each getting a nearfall (Santana manages to get his leg on the ropes after a splash). Spot tries to slam Ricky, but Santana counters with a standing switch and is able to hit a reverse rollup off the ropes for the win. An impressive win for Santana over a larger opponent.

MD: I liked this a lot actually. It got a ton of time and was very straightforward but Spot brought a lot of enjoyable BS to the table. It amuses me to no end that he could get the ref to blame Santana for false hairpulls on takedowns multiple times. He’d bump bigger than you’d expect (I think he was just younger than 40 which you wouldn’t expect either) on things like back body drops and then would go complain to the crowd as they threw stuff at him. He stooged all over the palace for Santana until he could toss him out and then had a chinlock later on with a pulling of the rope for leverage that couldn’t have made a lick of difference to the strength of the hold but was great wrestling nonsense. Eventually he hit a big splash but Santana got his feet on the ropes and Santana got him in a pretty dubious roll up off the ropes for the win. It was a better win for Santana than it might have been if it was less of a match.

Scott Hall vs. Tito Carrion

EB: Next we have Scott Hall facing Tito Carrion and this is a great showcase for Hall. Profe mentions that what we are seeing Hall do to Carrion is what Murdoch will do to Jose Colon tonight. Hall wins with the crucifix. Afterwards, Kim Duk cuts a promo on how he will become Caribbean champion once more. Scott Hall follows by saying  that every week he comes on TV to say who he has faced and defeated, tonight it is Duk’s turn to try to shut Hall up. 

MD: This is a fully formed Diamond Studd here. He doesn’t have the toothpick or the swagger from being the character necessarily, and is more cowboy with the way he carries himself, but just the execution and the big bombs, it’s him. He’s made it. He chains together four things (hanging tree toss, fall away slam, slingshot belly to back, crucifix/razor’s edge) and looks like the most formidable heel in the world basically. Duk and Hall cut promos one after the other and while Hall tries to keep it short, Hugo still talks over it for a while so we get a dozen fun hand motions as he tries to figure out how to fill time (Duk just did a few karate things). I’ll miss that when it’s gone.

EB: We get our first look at Doug Gilbert with a music video set to ‘Can I Play With Madness’. It seems Gilbert is a very recent arrival because the footage is from one studio match and an interview he seems to have done in the studio.

MD: It didn’t seem like they had a lot of footage to go with here. This was to Iron Maiden’s Can I Play with Madness and had a clip from an interview started and stopped and overlaid with fun colors plus footage from maybe one match with him doing a slingshot suplex. If I was watching this at home I don’t think I’d be too moved to see him in person.

EB: We then get promos from Action Jackson and TNT about their match tonight in Bayamon. TNT promises to take the TV title from Jackson the same way he took the name and paint from him.  

MD: Jackson is a lot more comfortable as himself. TNT is still frustrated that Jackson has the TV title and is going to keep working to get it back. That’s about all there is to say here.

EB: Our next segment is what happened last week during the Carlos Colon vs. Dick Murdoch match.. The leadup to the clip features Hugo and Profe arguing about what happened the previous week and what will be tonight’s main event, a tag match between Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith vs Carlos Colon and his brother Jose. Hugo says that we’ve heard a lot about what happened last week and it was even in the press, the incident whereDick Murdoch and his lacey Joe Don Smith (Profe says Joe is a protege) attacked Jose in a savage manner and… Profe interrupts saying it was deserved what happened to him (meaning Jose Colon), why was he sticking his nose in what was none of his business. Profe rants how Jose cost Dick Murdoch the Universal title, but Hugo explains a bit of what happened. Profe complains about why Jose got involved, Hugo says that sometimes family ties can cause you to get involved. After the video of what happened last week, we will see a video of JoseeColon training (Profe really wants to see this, because there’s no way that Jose can be trained in a week).

We go to the match highlights, with Colon attempting a figure four on Murdoch, but Murdoch kicks Colon away. Colon ends up colliding with Buddy Rogers in the corner. In the confusion, Joe Don Smith hands a foreign object to Murdoch, which he uses to hit Colon and get the pin (Rogers had not seen the use of the object). Profe claims that he didn't see anything untoward happen and that if they show anything it’s because they doctored the footage. We cut to Rogers giving the title to Murdoch, when suddenly someone runs out to ringside. It is Jose Colon, and he’s there to tell Rogers about the cheating that happened. Rogers tells Joe Don to allow him to check for the object and  Rogers initially finds nothing. Jose tells Rogers to check Joe Don’s boots and eventually Rogers finds the object. As a result, the decision is reversed and Carlos Colon is the winner by disqualification. An irate Murdoch and Joe Don attack Jose Colon outside the ring and a brainbuster on the outside is prevented by the tecnicos coming in for the save. They then show Jose Colon being checked on and carried out for medical assistance. Carlos was furious about his brother being attacked and we cut to Carlos going after Murdoch with a chair. We see them duel with chairs for a moment before Joe Don grabs Colon’s chair from behind and helps Murdoch attack Carlos, before they are run off by the tecnicos.

Murdoch and Joe Don cut a promo where Murdoch says how proud he is of the job Joe Don did last week. Joe Don says that tonight they will sweep the Colons. Murdoch wants Joe Don to listen to him tonight so that no harm comes to Joe. Murdoch then insults Colon and his brother, promising to get rid of Jose Colon tonight and then allow Joe Don to get some paintbrushing on Carlos. 

We then go to a video showing the training Jose Colon has been doing. Jose is in the ring with Invader #4 under the supervision of Carlos Colon and Isaac Rosario. We get a few minutes of Jose doing drills as Hugo explains what the purpose of some of the drills are (mainly for endurance and agility). Sometimes Carlos would get in the ring to encourage his brother whenever Jose would start tiring. We then get an interview with the Colon brothers, with Hugo mentioning again that Jose is not a trained wrestler but after what happened last week Carlos wanted his brother to pay back what happened. Hugo asks Jose if he is worried, which he is but he is ready to pay back what happened last week and he has Carlos with him to guide him. Carlos responds that he has confidence in his brother, this isn;t about wrestling, it is about respect. Carlos reminds everyone that one time someone he will not name attacked his wife and Carlos made sure to avenge that.. After tonight, he hopes that Murdoch, Smith and everyone else on the rudo side will learn to respect Puerto Ricans.

We go back to the studio, and El Profe says that after watching the authorized SOB train (Hugo yells CPA), he thinks he has seen women that have just given birth train with more intensity than Jose. Profe laughs as Hugo is exasperated and the video cut out as Hugo starts rebutting Profe’s insult. 

MD: Super high heat angle here as Buddy Rogers, the special ref got bumped out of a figure-four leglock pushoff. Joe Don gave Murdoch an object. He nailed Colon and won. Joe Don rushed in to get it and put it in his sock. Colon’s CPA (and Profe loves to talk about this) brother Jose came down to tell Rogers what happened. After some back and forth, he found the object and Murdoch responded by hitting a brainbuster on Jose on the outside. Big, big heat. Now, they were going to come back with a mixed tag and we got the training video accordingly. Very different and very fun stuff here and again, just super high heat. 

EB: Let’s go to the March 16 west coast edition of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre in order to get an idea of what else is happening in CSP.

3/16/91 West Coast TV

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the program on WORA TV and runs down some of what we will see on the program (including the debut of the younger brother of ‘Hotstuff’ Eddie Gilbert). Before running down tomorrow’s house show lineup, Hugo apologizes to the fans for some no shows the previous week. Giant Warrior unfortunately was not able to make the show due to a flight delay causing him to miss his connection from Japan.  He is here this week though and will be in action. Also, Super Medico #1 apparently was very ill and was not able to appear last Sunday, so as a make good to the fans they are adding a bonus match to tomorrow’s house show in Aguadilla. We will have Super Medico #1 taking on ‘Dirtys’ Doug Gilbert. Tomorrow’s main event will be a no time limit rematch between TNT and Action Jackson, the stipulation is due to them going to a 30 minute draw last Sunday. Other matches scheduled include Invader #1 vs. Motor City Madman, Scott Hall defending the Caribbean title against Kim Duk (it seems Duk scored a win over Hall last week and gets the title shot), the Caribbean Express vs the California Studs, Giant Warrior vs. Rick Valentine, Ricky Santana vs. Galan Mendoza and the previously announced bonus match. Hugo hypes up the merchandise that will be on sale at the arena and also the VHS releases available for purchase.

Super Medicos vs. The California Studs (Tony Anthony/Brian Lee)

EB: Our first match is in progress, it is from the March 9 house show from Carolina. The Super Medicos are facing off against the newest rudo team known as the California Studs. Super Medico #1 and Tony Anthony are in the ring for their teams. Skandor Akbar is at ringside seconding the Studs. The announcers make note that Brian Lee is the taller of the Studs so that the fans know who is who. Medico #1 is sent into the ropes but gains control by hitting Anthony on the bounceback with a tackle. Medico #1 follows up with the ‘hit machine’ punch combo, knocking Anthony down. Medico #1 goes for a pin but Anthony grabs a hold of the ropes. Medico #1 runs into the ropes but is grabbed from behind by Lee. Medico #1 is knocked down and the rudos do an illegal switch. Lee throws Medico #1 into the rudo corner and taunts Medico #3, causing Medico #3 to try to run in. This gives the Studs an opening to do a double team choke in the corner. After choking Medico #1 for a bit, Anthony tags back in and hits an elbow and legdrop for a pin attempt (broken up by Medico #3). The match continues with the Studs working over Medico #1 in their corner while Medico #3 keeps being drawn in to try to help to no avail. 

A pin attempt by Lee is broken up by Medico #3. This annoys Lee, who tosses Medico #1 to the outside and starts jawing with Medico #3. While these two are facing off in the ring, Anthony takes advantage and rams Medico #1 back first into the ringpost. Medico #3 keeps being baited by the Studs, which gives them more opportunities to continue attacking Medico #1 behind the ref’s back. Anthony suplexes Medico #1 into the ring but the pin attempt is broken up. The Studs continue in control, with Medico #1 at one point getting a sunset flip counter that the ref doesn’t count due to being distracted by Anthony. An inside cradle counter by Medico #1 obtains the same result. Medico #1 starts coming back with some punches on Lee, but gets yanked by his mask when he goes after Anthony. The Studs continue in control but eventually a missed elbow drop by Lee gives Medico #1 the chance to tag in Medico #3. The crowd cheers as Medico #3 is finally the legal man and Medico #3 is able to clean house on both Studs. Medico #1 eventually joins the action in the ring, pairing up with Brian Lee and ramming Lee’s head into the turnbuckle several times. The Studs are whipped into each other, with Medico #1 dropkicking Lee out of the ring. Medico #3 hits a shoulder block  on Anthony, but as the ref is telling Medico #1 to get back on the apron, Medico #3 charges at Anthony, who grabs Medico #3 and hotshots him on the top rope. Lee is tagged and the Studs hit a powerslam into a top rope kneedrop combo for the pinfall victory. A big win for the California Studs. And on a separate note, this is the last time we will see Super Medico #1 in action for CSP. It seems that his no show the previous week may have not been due to being sick and it will become apparent in the coming weeks that he has left the company. 

After the match we get a  promo from the California Studs and Skandor Akbar  about their non-title tag match tomorrow against the Caribbean Express. Akbar promises that the Express is nothing more than a stepping stone for the Studs getting all the gold. The Studs offer some remarks as well. The Caribbean Express followed with their own comments about tomorrow’s match, with Miguelito cleaning up that the reason it is non-title is because the Stud have not yet earned a title shot. Miguelito recognizes that he and Castillo have to be very careful, because the California Studs have shown their quality so far. Hugo congratulates the Express on their title win last week, Castillo reiterates that the Studs have to beat them first in order to get a title shot.

MD: Match was really good, because the Studs leaned about as hard as possible into the southern tag structure, drawing in Medico #3, cheating when the ref was distracted, having the ref miss roll ups by Medico #1, everything you could want. Anthony took Medico #1’s punches well to start and Lee was just big enough to be the perfect cut off man in the match. Very good stuff with the Studs getting a fairly cheap banana peel out of nowhere (but not fully cheating to) win. Perez and Castillo won the belts off of Valentine/Mendoza and now Studs are gunning for them. This felt like maybe a half step back for Perez but it’s Puerto Rico and guys can always be moved back into tag feuds. It’s one of the strengths of the territory. The Studs had their rhythm down with Hugo and Akbar and I’m sure these matches will be good as well.

EB: Giant Warrior is in the studio and has words for Rick Valentine and Monster Ripper. He also apologizes for not being there last week but promises you can count on him tomorrow.

MD: Warrior apologies for not being there due to the flight from Japan. He’s pretty confident as an interview by this point, honestly, and it kind of makes me wonder what his ceiling could have been. He was better in the ring than El Gigante but, you know, a foot shorter. I feel almost obligated to try to find some of his Big Tiger Steele Germany run from the late 90s now. Anyway, he’s up against Rick Valentine next and said that Valentine may have been a great tag wrestler, but… He also doesn’t do crazy hand motions while Hugo is translating for him. That’s confidence right there.

Doug Gilbert vs. Herbert Gonzalez

EB: We get our first look  at ‘Dirty’ Doug Gilbert in action as he takes on Herbert Gonzalez. Hugo and Eliud talk up how Doug is part of the Gilbert dynasty, the fans should remember Tommy and Eddie from their previous runs in the territory. Hugo continues talking about how much Doug has learned from his father and brother and this match is mainly a showcase for the newest arrival in CSP. Herbert gets a brief moment of offense but this is mainly all Doug, who wins the match after a slingshot suplex. Afterwards, we also get our first promo from Doug, where he has words for Super Medico #1 and speaks pretty fast.

MD: Dougie’s in his early 20s here and he looks pretty solid. His stuff hits well. Nothing was over the top or crazy either in his bumps or his stooging or his offense, but everything felt solid. Good hand type stuff with one corner bump to give Gonzalez hope before the finish. He was using a slingshot suplex (and maybe a fist drop, re the interview) here. Interview was a little scream-y, but he’ll figure it out.

EB: Monster Ripper is here with Valentine and Mendoza so they can talk about their respective singles matches tomorrow. Valentine says that Warrior's height doesn't make a difference to him. Mendoza is mad about losing the Caribbean tag titles and promises that he will take it out on Ricky Santana tomorrow.

Motor City Madman and Akbar are out next and Akbar has words for Invader #1, saying they gave him a taste last week of the power that is the combined might of El Club Deportivo and Devastation Inc. Madman just mentions that he is tired of being on this trashy island and the trashy people, and he is going to take out Invader like the trash he is.

Invader #1 is next and says that everyone last week saw what kind of man Madman is when he stuck his nose in Invader's match against Dick Murdoch. Invader wanted to teach Murdoch a lesson for all he has said about Puerto Ricans and the antics he has done, he almost had Murdoch with the sleeperhold. However, Madman attacked him. Now, what Madman started last week, Invader will take care of it tomorrow.

MD: I’d love if Ripper ended up with the Gilberts but I don’t see that happening. Valentine has Giant Warrior upcoming and mentioned he’d been to Japan multiple times too. This is true. Kerry Brown was used a lot by NJPW in 84-86. Madman and Invader 1 are set to face each other and I wonder what an Akbar vs. Invader 1 match would have looked like in 91. I bet they could have made that work.

Action Jackson vs. Miguel Perez Jr. 

EB: Action Jackson is taking on Miguelito Perez in a studio match that is joined in progress. Action has Miguelito down on the mat but picks Perez up to continue attacking with punches. Action takes down Perez and works over Miguelito’s head with a headscissors. Perez eventually fights out of the hold and sends Action into a corner. Action dodges the springboard elbow, but Miguelito catches him coming out of the corner with a clothesline. Perez briefly remains in control, but Action counters with some punches and eventually gains control with a rear chinlock on the mat. Perez fights out but Action hits a hard clothesline for a two count. Back to the chinlock on the mat. Perez again eventually gets to his feet, but Action sends Perez back down with a slam. However, Action misses a splash from the middle turnbuckle and Perez starts his comeback. A legdrop leads to a near fall. Perez gets a powerslam and goes to the top for a crossbody block. Perez hits it but the momentum allows Action to turn it over and then uses the tights for leverage to get a three count. Perez complains about the tights being  pulled but it’s a win for the reigning TV champion. 

Action Jackson and El Profe are in the studio to talk about tomorrow’s no time limit rematch. Hugo says they were lucky last week that the title was saved by the time limit, but Profe says that the only one saved was TNT from getting beaten up some more. Action echoes those sentiments. We go to an annoyed TNT, because Hugo is telling him that Action Jackson is claiming that he had TNT in the cobra as time ran out, but in fact it was the other way around. TNT says it was Jacksonw who was saved by the bell last week and also complains about Action resorting to low blows that the ref missed thanks to that dog El Profe. Tomorrow there is no time limit and he will get that TV title.  

MD: I’m sticking to my guns that Perez was ready to move up into singles more thoroughly. He looked pretty good here even if Jackson’s stuff was kind of dull (holds which he didn’t work to the level I would have liked). Perez had good escapes and then was dynamic when he was on offense. At one point he missed a handspring into the corner but rushed right back out to run through Jackson (Jackson made this look really good). Finish was flying body press that Jackson rolled through on to pull the tights. Maybe not the finish if you’re building him for a no time limit match with TNT. 

EB: We get a repeat of the handicap match Giant Warrior had against Johnny Ringo and El Condor, won by Giant Warrior. 

MD: And it’s still a great flip bump on that clothesline by Johnny Ringo.

EB: We are then treated to a Kim Duk promo about his Caribbean title shot against Scott Hall. Duk says he is ready anytime and anywhere, and reminds Hall that he beat him one two three last week. Duk also throws shade at El Profe for causing Hall to lose that match. We then go to Scott Hall with Hugo. Hall promises that he will rise to the occasion and leave with the belt tomorrow.

MD: I know that the Diamond Studd starts soon, but do we really need to lose Scott Hall? It’s almost not fair. I see him on the screen with Hugo and I just crack up before he even says anything because I know all the arm motions and hand motions to come. Ah well. I’m not sure Hugo knew exactly what even to say after Kim Duk’s promo which, I guess, is understandable.

Kim Duk vs. Rick Valentine

EB: Our final match on the program is Kim Duk vs Rick Valentine (accompanied by Monster Ripper). Hugo mentions that Duk is a bug fan favorite as we get Duk doing the salt ceremony before starting the match. The announcers mention that it looks like Duk has gotten in better shape and they think it is due to his positive change in attitude leading to better habits and encouragement. The match is surprisingly short, as Duk catches Valentine with a blow out of the corner and gets the pinfall victory a couple of minutes in. Hugo closes the show as the video cuts out. 

MD: This was certainly efficient. It went ~3 minutes after Duk’s salt ceremony. Two of those were Duk having Valentine in an armbar. Valentine took over for a little but ran into a really nice looking strike out of the corner (punch, forearm?) by Duk and he got the pin off that. Not much here.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, Dick Murdoch issues a challenge to Carlos Colon for a cage match, Action Jackson and TNT show that the time limit is not the only thing that needs to be eliminated in order to try to settle their rivalry, and the California Studs get their first tag title shot as we finish off March 1991.

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