80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jaguar! Galactica!

Volume 4  

13. Jaguar Yokota vs. La Galactica (WWWA Singles Title, Hair vs. Mask) - 5/7/83

K: We previously covered Devil & Tarantula vs. The Dynamite Girls from this show, but I’ll add now that this was probably the biggest AJW event of the year. I’m not sure exactly what the build for the Hair vs. Mask match was; it’s a little strange because you’d expect that stipulation to be a blowoff, or at least in a well-developed feud, but this is actually La Galactica’s first match in AJW (she wrestled as Pantera Surena in Mexico, maybe running Jaguar vs. Panther would be too much). I’m guessing the stipulation was more to sell to the Japanese fans that a top Mexican star was coming over and they’d be getting something unique because of that.

And, of course, this has historical significance because it’s the first match in AJW history where someone’s hair would be on the line, which would go on to be one of the company’s big special stipulations.

They don’t wrestle in the opening like they’re in a hot feud - though to be fair, they aren’t, it’s mainly just exchanges of throws and holds where no one really gets the advantage. But it does put over that Jaguar can hold her own against the unfamiliar Lucha stylings of her opponent here. The lack of heat does hurt things a bit though. The main noise from the crowd is someone blowing a whistle a bit erratically like at a sports game, but without context you wouldn’t be able to guess who they were even rooting for. 

There’s a nice little payoff early on when Galactica extends a hand of sportsmanship to Jaguar, who seems a bit reticent to accept but she still kind of falls for it in that Galactica immediately jumps her once she’s allowed to get too close. They later do a reset after Galactica gets thrown into the chairs, and she gets back in and tries the same trick, but there’s no way Jaguar’s gonna get suckered in a second time and just charges at her with strikes.
About halfway in we get the first Monster Ripper interference, which then becomes a frequent occurrence. I’m not a fan of this. Firstly, the way the match was building didn’t lead us to this. Galactica seemed to be handling things quite well up to that point, whereas Monster was acting like her pal was in danger of losing if she didn’t charge in. Part of this is Galactica is only in Japan for a six week tour whereas Monster is here full time (I’m guessing the AJW office wouldn’t know at this point how often Galactica would be back over the next few years), so this is putting the bulk of the heat on Monster to use up later, but at the expense of today.

We get a glimpse of that more vicious Jaguar Yokota when Monster Ripper’s interference escalates into cutting a chunk of Jaguar’s hair off with a pair of scissors, and Jaguar lets out a great yowl of frustration. I thought it was a bit funny when she hit Galactica with a piledriver and then attempts to pin her despite her legs very obviously being in the ropes, like she was hoping the referee would brazenly cheat to help her to compensate for the illegal interference she’d suffered earlier. Doesn’t work though.

Jaguar’s frustrations get the better of her when she pulls out a chair, and takes out the referee and another official when they try to stop her. The referee being out though just gives Monster Ripper the opportunity to jump in and do a prolonged double team with big top rope moves that leave Jaguar crushed, with the referee getting back in the ring just in time to count the three for Jaguar’s 1st title reign to end after 27 months. That is a big deal in itself, but the bigger deal is the drama of the hair cutting ceremony. Jaguar tries to bail out at first, loudly protesting the injustice of it, but the commissioner insists that the result must stand (though promising a rematch and advertising which show it will be at in a classic pro-wrestling hustle). Jaguar calms down and accepts her fate. We cut to a girl in the crowd in tears as the hair cutting commences, and the former champ seems transformed into a wounded, more bitter, less innocent creature.

The match wasn’t that great and I wouldn’t recommend it if someone just wanted to see why this feud is so well regarded (it’s easily the worst of their series), but I include pre/post-match events when assessing matches when they’re clearly part of the overall package, and the post-match definitely enhances this into something very good and worth watching, even without the historical ground you’re getting for later.

***1/2 

14. Jaguar Yokota Interview - 5/7/83

K: This is the earlier extended interview/talking segment I’ve been able to find of Jaguar Yokota, she doesn’t seem to be a wrestler who ever talked that much. She just let her in-ring do the talking. I thought she was effective here though. She’s even kind of funny when she sternly shut down a reporter who dared comment that he thought the whole hair-shaving match stipulation was a bit melodramatic, insisting that losing this match was truly devastating for her and she looked deadly serious the whole time. She’s not known for her promo ability but handled this whole segment like pro-wrestling was all real and, for me, sometimes that’s all I need a wrestler to do to enjoy it.
The slow zoom out as Jaguar finishes the interview and looks like she’s slowly starting to cry and drop her iron lady persona is very well done. Felt like an arty movie scene.

MD: This was clearly to set up a show a few weeks later. It should be viewed as much as an angle as a conventional match. What we get of a conventional match in here shows us that there could probably be a really good straightforward (heated, bloody, etc) match between these two at this exact moment in time. Despite the stakes, they start it almost like a lucha title match. There are some very nice exchanges that no one but Yokota could pull off (or at least it feels that way). She bounds on her feet like it’s nothing. You wouldn’t want a whole roster doing that but when she does it, it’s great. Likewise, during a bodyscissors reversal where Galactica picks her up by her hair, she is able to somehow turn it into a drop toehold of sorts and I’ve never seen it done quite like that.

Charles over at Wrestling Playlists has been watching a lot of this for a best of the 80s capper he’s doing and (to paraphrase) he does feel like in a lot of what he’s seen Yokota is almost too much, too indestructible, too athletic. I think that’s been less of an issue in the singles matches. Here, though, this was almost a handicap match with Ripper interfering again and again and again. Jaguar would have her big comebacks (using the bridge out of a pin or the front tumble to start them) and hit her big bombs (tombstone, belly to back) but there would be Ripper to break things up. Jaguar had ten people at ringside with her but neither them nor the refs could do anything to stop Ripper. At one point she tried to give Galactica the scissors but Jaguar got them and cut part of the mask, which is a pretty novel idea that I don’t remember ever really seeing in a lucha mask vs hair match.  

Eventually, it was just too much and after Ripper jumped off the top rope on her, Galactica choked her while pinning her. The officials said the result had to stand but immediately mentioned a rematch, so this was as carny as anything you’d get in Memphis, even if there they’d establish the rules and why Ripper was able to break them more clearly (and yes, I know this was billed as Death match, but come on). 

There was one moment in the middle where Yaguar let out a primal scream after putting up with too much interference and that’s the sort of thing that makes a match like this work, as did her fighting the haircut, eventually giving in, and giving the emotional post-match promo how she’d die if that’s what it took to win the rematch. We don’t have the rematch but I bet that thing drew even if this match had to be relatively unsatisfying to get us there.

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jaguar! Ripper!

Volume 3 

10. Jaguar Yokota vs. Monster Ripper (WWWA Singles Title) 4/7/82

K: I'm a bit lower on early Jaguar Yokota than some other Joshi heads. I definitely don't think she was one of the best wrestlers in the world in 1978-81; historically her matches with Jackie Sato have been talked about almost like Jaguar was elevating Jackie, when in context it was more the other way around. If you wanted me to pinpoint when exactly was Jaguar one of the best wrestlers in the world, this is the match where she's definitely JAGUAR.

The opening minutes of this were very effective. If you hadn't seen anything from these two before, everything you need to know gets established when Ripper tries to jump Jaguar from behind as she's walking back into her corner after Monster ignored her offer of a handshake. But Jaguar has eyes in the back of her head, she dodges, not one very several swings at her head. She's smart. She's fast. She's skilful. She grabs Monster's arm and does that move where you run up the ropes and flip backwards into an armdrag thing, I've seen Mayu Iwatani do it many times but she could never execute it as crisply as Jaguar does here. Monster's raging like an angry neanderthal at this, but Jaguar stares her down looking determined and tough. 

One of those starts to match I can replay in my head. Seeing the training skit on AJW TV the previous week makes this a bit better as you can more easily imagine what Jaguar is thinking as she fights to counter the onslaught Monster’s gonna throw at her. Not long after the start she grabs Monster from behind slightly at the side and executes a takedown, just about, in a way which made her seem more skilled as a wrestler but struggling to overcome the size differential. There’s another moment when she has Monster in a Boston Crab, Monster is powering out of it, and realising she’s not gonna be able to hold it in, Jaguar instead switches out of the crab by doing a lightning quick handstand roll to put her back on her feel with momentum to launch another attack. It all emphasises her strengths and makes her look like she’s just The Best.

I've talked up Jaguar enough so I should also note that this is also Monster Ripper's best performance so far. Might just be the best performance of her career actually. She takes all of Jaguar's highspots very well, she's not just some lumbering big girl in reality even she sticks to portraying on in kayfabe. We get a bit of limb-selling from Monster as Jaguar is focused on her knee. This wouldn't be a big stand out in most promotions but in the AJW context where it's not part of the 'going through the motions' formula it feels noteworthy, especially when it results in a big turning point (the backbreaker hurting Monster's knee), and arguably the finish as well. She takes things up a gear effectively when she smashes Jaguar's head into the ring post on the outside, and works on the cut when they get back in the ring. 

The other bit of psychology is Monster going for risky moves after Jaguar hitting on and it backfiring on her. Jaguar's flying hip attack doesn't work, for example, because Monster is so big she just bounces off her. But then Monster tries her own but Jaguar is too fast, ducks, so Monster crashes and burns. Monster also goes for a big top-rope splash after she got hit with a tope just earlier (Jaguar was successful this time), but we get another crash and burn that Jaguar pounces on for the finishing stretch. When she gets the win she gives out such "Yeah that's why I'm the champ" aura that I don't think we'd seen from her yet. As if she's saying, come on, despite everything Monster put me through, you didn't think I wasn't gonna find a way to beat her, did you? 

I believe in my champ.

****1/4

MD: This was absolutely a big match with a big match feel, and it was very different than, let’s say Jackie vs Ripper. Yokota was a different wrestler with different skills. She had to use her quickness and she was going to be more prone to be tossed around. That said, there was a clear sense that she was not going to be able to defeat Ripper with speed or even speed and technique alone. She would have to find something else within her.

Throughout the match, from the moment Ripper first caught her after some initial dodging, it was clear what this match would be. Ripper would lean on her, would dominate. Jaguar would escape, would get in a shot or two, but be unable to really do any damage. She’d keep Ripper on her toes for a minute but there’d be a cut off. 

Yes, that was the size, but it was also that Ripper just had so much stuff. She had wildly varied offense here and it all looked great. She’d press slam Jaguar onto the top rope. She’d pull her back into a quasi surfboard/tapitia. She’d hit a neckbreaker drop off the ropes to cut her off. She had a hundred ways to damage Jaguar and to keep her reeling. When Jaguar was able to toss her into chairs or hit a ‘rana out of nowhere, or even get a monkey flip (all of which Ripper took really well), Ripper had an answer. 
At one point, that answer was to toss Jaguar around on the outside, opening her up. That gave us some of the first real woundwork we saw and the commentary found it shocking and horrific. With the VQ, we don’t get a great sense of the visual power of it, but everyone knew it was what was happening and it did feel striking. But maybe Ripper got too laser focused on it, because it allowed Jaguar to start in on the leg, with a figure four and wrapping it into the ropes to attack. 

Perhaps that made Ripper desperate and take chances and those chances, having failed, opened her up for a straight up missile dropkick, not the sort of front one we so often see. With Ripper staggered, Jaguar, who had tried (and failed) to hit a double underhook suplex earlier in the match, got Ripper up for the airplane spin and then hit her with a bridging belly to back to win it. It felt like she had climbed a mountain and truly accomplished something. And she did it not just through bounding past an opponent or getting a fluke roll up, but by projecting herself as an ace in the end.

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Lioness! Mimi! Yukari! Masami! Matsumoto! Ripper!

Volume 3 

9. Devil Masami, Kaoru Matsumoto & Monster Ripper vs. Lioness Asuka, Mimi Hagiwara & Yukari Omori 3/30/82

K: This is the main event of the go home show before the big Monster Ripper vs. Jaguar Yokota WWWA Singles Title match. This made the set mainly for that reason, but it's also nice that it's a good match with Lioness Asuka and Kaoru Matsumoto in, thus fulfilling my rule that there been at least one match from them in 1982 so viewers can track their development.

I wouldn't say the first fall was all Monster, but it almost was. While the other pairings had some back and forth, whenever Monster Ripper was in the ring she was just demolishing everyone and never looked to be in any real danger. This starts right from the beginning when the heels get trapped in the corner and hit with a sequence of running splashes, but when Omori jumps at Monster she just bounces off her like Monster's made of steel. The closest thing we get to Monster looking like she's in trouble - and even then, not really - is one point where she goes for the flying hip attack twice, but Lioness Asuka rolls underneath her the second time so she crashes and lands. I'll also note that whenever anyone gets Monster into a pinning predicament, she immediately just kicks out before the referee can even begin a count.

Kaoru Matsumoto has a decent showing here for the little that's expecting of her. She doesn't have much in the way of offense, but I thought she threw a pretty mean lariat at Asuka early on. And something about the way she walks around the ring just feels like an arrogant strut, and it's not even clear that she's doing a strut.

Mimi Hagiwara was easily the best on her team, no surprise there really. Her and Devil Masami keep up their good chemistry. I think Devil might actually be physically stronger than Monster despite not being as big, Monster at least looked like she had a bit of a struggle lifting Mimi over her head, but for Devil she just goes straight up into the military press like she's picking up a co-operative 6 year old. I have enough recent experience to know the "co-operative" qualifier was very important there. Mimi also does a funny little butterfly suplex move, or at least that's what I'd call it from the set up, but Mimi doesn't go over with Devil for it, she just drops her straight on the mat. Looked painful actually.

Matsumoto gets the most focus in the 2nd fall, kinda makes sense since if they're going to level things up she's the obvious heel to take the pin, so might as well give her some ring time. She gets a bit of work to do with everyone, but we get an AJW 'flew too close to the Sun' finish pretty quickly where she's trapped near the babyface corner, gets hit with move after move until Omori gets the pin as Mimi and Asuka mark the heel corner to prevent a break-up. I like how they incorporate teamwork into tag matches like you probably would do if this were a real sport. Omori gets the win on Matsumoto, starting the most heated feud in AJW history :)

The 3rd fall is just the heels getting revenge for losing the previous fall. Monster Ripper looks especially awesome going on a rampage including having a chair wrapping around Asuka's neck and swinging her around the outside and onto chairs, before Matsumoto gets her on top of the announce table to pose looking all proud of herself. Bit of stolen valour in there. Omori is the victim here and gets taken out. Heels stand tall.

This would have been a better match if the 3rd fall had more to it than just the babyfaces getting demolished. Might have undermined the wider purpose of the match, but I'd say pulling that off while milking a bit more drama out of it would have been the bigger challenge, and more impressive to pull off. But for what it was, this was good stuff.

***¼

MD: I thought Matsumoto was on her way here, even if she was on her way to a different place where she’d eventually get up. She was very good at asserting herself and using her size. Sometimes it was a little rough around the edges but she was additive to the super powered heel team that was Masami and Ripper. Those two were in matching black and despite the size difference, there were times where for a split second, I thought Ripper WAS Masami, solely because she was doing something so vicious and cruel. There was a point where she wrapped a chair around her opponent’s neck and dragged her around ringside and it’s exactly the sort of thing Devil would do.

I honestly think she had not just improved tenfold since her run a couple of years earlier but was actively great at times. Once Mimi hit her cross chop and Ripper didn’t just no sell it, but she dusted herself off like she was Samoa Joe or something. Coolest person in the room. The match started with everyone charging at all three heels pressed into the corner and it worked right until Ripper simply stepped forward and made it work no longer. And she had all of the huge offense like the press slam backbreaker. Devil contributed more than enough too of course.

Mimi continued to stand out on the babyface side. She was not quite an ace but she was very good at this point. I’m going to have to see more out of Asuka especially but I know that’s coming. This was a means to an end to heat up Ripper even more and it certainly achieved that goal even if that came at a slight cost.
 

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Devil! Ripper! Jumbo! Mimi!

Volume 3

6. Devil Masami & Monster Ripper vs. Jumbo Hori & Mimi Hagiwara March 1982 

MD: My biggest takeaway here is that all four of these women had improved quite a bit from 79-80. But my bigger takeaway from this and the disc overall so far is that Mimi has gotten very good. Generally, I think of her selling and emoting and we saw a ton of that in the Devil’s singles, but this was more about her taking stuff in the moment and dishing it back out. She matches up very well with Devil. Meanwhile, while not quite as improved, Hori is still much better at working her size and asserting herself.

The combination of the two, combined with a house style which has shifted to more even wrestling and not just chaotic heels steamrolling people, gave this a much different feel than it would have gotten a couple of years before. Ripper wasn’t nearly as protected, though she was a bit on the finish, managing to clothesline both Mimi and Hori before they ducked and got her back (that drew Devil in with the stick to end the match). Mimi had a lot of clutch roll ups out of nowhere while Hori was able to just ragdoll Devil at times. We didn’t get a Hori vs Ripper match up though the match seemed to build to it. They had a singles eventually  but we don’t have it on tape. Devil did take over in the second fall and it was by smashing Mimi in the head with a chair a few times; it didn’t matter how assertive the babyfaces were in the face of that. I’m not sure this one ever really settled down but it each fall had a nice, exciting, sprinty feel to it, at least. And it’s convinced me that I’m right about how far Hagiwara has come and the fact she probably doesn’t get enough credit.

K: 2/3 falls main event tag match. Pretty common on AJW TV at this time.

The purpose of the first fall seems to be developing the feud between Devil Masami and Mimi Hagiwara. Not that Monster & Jumbo don't contribute anything, but there's no real big moment from them, although part of that might be when they're all brawling on the outside the camera is following Devil & Mimi fighting a lot more often. Even compared to their last singles things feel a bit more frantic in how they're throwing themselves at each other desperate to gain the upper hand. It's a good vibe. Things look pretty dangerous when Mimi hits her special backdrop and looks like she almost drops Devil on the back of her head, and then straight afterward picks Devil up for what looked like a very low piledriver. Devil sells it extremely well or is legitimately knocked loopy...

I actually think it is Devil just selling really well though, as she's still acting like she's been knocked loopy in the 2nd fall, however takes a perfect bump for a Mimi punch which, if I can break kayfabe a little, obviously wasn't hard enough to actually put her on her ass. Very good Devil performance here.

This second fall is when we switch to showcasing Monster Ripper a bit. The moment she tags in for the first time, she shoves Mimi and Mimi goes so far flying backwards the crowd audibly gasps. Great bump, but also very effective in the wider context as this gets over that Monster is superhuman strong and we should be very worried about the babyfaces in this match, but also future matches Monster's gonna be in on this tour. Monster also gets to throw around and suplex Jumbo Hori when they're paired, which you don't see often.

Mimi gets hit with a big backbreaker and it's her turn to still be selling when the 3rd fall starts. Devil hits a nice Jumbo Tsuruta style running knee, I've heard that she was one of the few AJW wrestlers to watch men's wrestling, so that might have been evidence of it. She also looks really good crush Mimi's throat with her shin and then dragging her across the match in that position so she's in the heel corner. I've seen that move from Yumi Ikeshita before, but the not the dragging across the mat escalated version. 

There's no 'big' moment to point to here, but Mimi's selling in this whole section is very good. She looked exhausted and struggling to just hang on and survive. Even her elegant rollups still have an element of 'just acting on instinct' in them. Melancholy is in the air. She's doing a lot of work here and it's not that much of a problem that Jumbo Hori, hasn't really done much. She hits a couple of cool looking powerbombs in this 3rd fall but other than that her tagging in feels like just parts where Mimi can get a break. 

One of those matches that’s clearly good, if not entirely satisfying, but you’re definitely wanting more. But of course I would say that wouldn’t I? 

***1/2
  

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: For Each Show Host, A Match

Week 56: For Each Show Host, A Match

EB: We continue on the road to Aniversario 91, as four matches have been officially signed. The main event is scheduled to be Carlos Colon vs Ron Garvin for the Universal title, but Dino Bravo has been making noise about wanting that title match for himself. Bravo made a surprise appearance at Noche de Campeones where he made a surprise attack on Carlos Colon. It looks like we finally have a decision with regards to whether Bravo gets the match or not. Meanwhile, Carlos is dealing with the Polyneasian Prince, Gen. Akbar’s latest recruit and someone who seems to be focused on injuring Carlos before Aniversario. They faced each other last week in Caguas after having quite the brawl at the TV taping, and it looks like the rivalry has escalated. They are set to face off once more in a barbed wire match.

In other Aniversario news, Bronco remains out due to the fireball attack but promises revenge on Akbar at Aniversario. Meanwhile, Profe keeps spiraling a bit with the idea of having to face Monster Ripper, in part due to the constant needling from Hugo Savinovich over the situation. One final piece of news, TNT has been cleared for action and has set his sights on getting back the TV title from King Kong. Now let’s go to the west coast version of Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre from June 1 and see what the decision regarding Dino Bravo is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0tpp1n8IWI

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the show and goes over what we will see today, including Universal champion Carlos Colon (in a rare tv studio match) taking on King Kong. During the rundown Hugo makes mention of Dino Bravo being the number one contender for the Universal title and the man who will face Carlos at Aniversario, so it looks like the commission made the decision to change the match to Colon vs Bravo. Since this is the west coast edition of Super Estrellas, all mentions of Aniversario are focused on the Friday card in San German. Hugo updates the viewers on the most recent developments for that card, but not before hyping up the air conditioning, ample parking and security available at the facility in San German. The main event for Friday July 5 is Carlos Colon defending the Universal title against Dino Bravo. It is official, since Bravo and Profe were alleging that Carlos was ducking Bravo out of fear. To help Bravo’s cause, it seems that Profe went to Ron Garvin and paid him off to step aside. Garvin called the WWC commission and relinquished his title shot. Add to that Carlos wanting payback for the attack Bravo did at Noche de Campeones and here we are with Bravo now challenging Carlos at Aniversario.

Also scheduled is a first time ever match in Puerto Rico as a man faces a woman, and Hugo says that Monster Ripper is favored against Profe. Dick Murdoch vs Giant Warrior and Bronco vs Skandor Akbar in a vengeance match round out the signed matches so far, there will be 6 other matches so stay tuned as new updates are made. Next week there will be information about where you can purchase tickets for the show, and with that let’s go to the ring for our first match. 

King Kong vs. Carlos Colon

Our first match is a surprising one, as Carlos Colon takes on King Kong. This is a non-title match and Hugo mentions this is a dangerous opponent for Carlos. Akbar is not at ringside with Kong, but Hugo says that it will be a big boost for Devastation Inc if Kong defeats Carlos here. The first minutes of the match are all about establishing Kong’s size and strength advantage, he shoves Carlos down a few times and works him over with nerve holds. The match continues with Kong in control, with Hugo saying it's surprising that Kong is having such a dominant showing against Calros, who trains diligently. Hugo sends a hellos to the viewers watching in the different countries the program airs and it sure seems that this match is to help establish if Carlos can handle bigger and stronger opponents such as Dino Bravo. After six or seven minutes, Colon makes a comeback after dodging a corner splash. The offensive flurry is ended when Kong uses his weight to belly bump Colon on a corner charge. Kong picks Colon up for a slam and Carlos grabs the ropes to prevent it. The referee tells Colon to let go and kicks Colon’s hands off the ropes. The sudden momentum shift seems to unbalance Kong and he falls down with Colon on top. The ref makes a count and Carlos wins the match, although it looks more like it was luck. This may be a sign that Carlos may have a tough time against Bravo unless he really prepares.

MD: Not a long match but kind of an interesting one since we haven’t seen Colon face someone this size in a while. Kong really had Colon’s number for the first two thirds of this, overpowering him and then leaning down on him hard with clubbers and nerveholds. Colon dodged a corner charge and took over. There was some sense that he had worn him down with a rope-a-dope though it didn’t quite have enough time to play out. Kong was so active that it sort of worked though. He came out of the corner with a Vader Attack though but Colon held on to the top rope on a slam attempt and when the ref kicked the hands out, he fell on him for a quick three. If Kong was leaving the territory this was a good way to have him do business on TV on the way out. Otherwise, it was a weird thing to give away.

EB: Dino Bravo is in the studio for another promo about facing Carlos Colon, only this time the match is officially a go. Bravo says that he tracked Colon to his backyard and on his first visit to the island almost broke Colon’s neck. Bravo has his number and he will become the new Universal champion at Aniversario 91. Carlos Colon is next and says that Aniversario 91 is going to be an important night for him. Not only is he facing the world strongest man and a great wrestler, Colon has a personal score to settle with Bravo after the humiliation he received at Noche de Campeones. Hugo makes note that this is not only for the title but also a chance for Carlos to represent Puerto Ricans well. Carlos says that the fans know Bravo's accomplishments and it is a tough task he faces, but with the fans support he will come out with the win. The segment ends with an Aniversari 91 card rundown featuring the four announced matches so far.

MD: Bravo just seemed happy to be there, talking about how Colon was the ambassador to the world but that Bravo had come to his backyard and could have broken his neck. He had to ask Profe for confirmation on the fact it was called Aniversario but said that Colon should bring his heart and his belt and he’d take both. As a kid from New England in 1991, I would have probably seen Bravo as a bigger star than Ron Garvin but I still have my doubts here.

Billy Joe Travis & Gran Mendoza vs. Ricky Santana & Tito Carrion

EB: We go back to Miramar for our next match but it seems that an argument is happening at the commentary desk. Billy Joe Travis is there with El Galana Mendoza and El Profe, they are up next. Instead of being in the ring, Travis is angrily yelling at Hugo Savinovich, it seems Travis is angry about comments Hugo has made about him. Hugo dismisses Travis and tells him to get in the ring, he doesn’t want to talk to Travis right now. Profe has to drag Travis away so they can go to the ring for their match. As Travis and Mendoza enter the ring, the camera shows Hugo and Eliud at the commentary desk and Hugo is angry, explaining to Eliud that this guy Travis brought up Hugo’s wife again and Hugo is not having that. It looks like there have been some verbal jabs between Travis and Hugo in recent weeks but we haven't seen them on the TV episode versions we have. Still, Hugo says that if Travis has any issues with him that’s fine but he should stick to talking about Hugo and not his wife. Eliud adds that Travis took it further by shoving Hugo and Hugo says he’ll compose himself because he is a professional and has a job to do. 

In the ring, Mendoza and Travis are facing Ricky Santana and Tito Carrion. Travis and Santana lock up and Hugo asks Eliud to continue with the commentating for now. Santana and Carrion get the early advantage on Travis, as Hugo has calmed down enough to join Eliud on commentary. Hugo says that he's pretty sure that El Profe is behind all of this by goading Travis and getting him riled up to go after Hugo. Hugo thinks it’s because of all the comments and grief he has given Profe over the Monster Ripper situation. Hugo draws the line at having his wife and family brought into this though. As Travis and Mendoza take over on Carrion, Hugo continues going off, saying that this has to be Profe and other people that are likely jealous of the good work Hugo does on the TV shows and that he’s not going to continue letting this go. The rudos continue working over Carrion and Profe decides to go over and needle Hugo about what happened. Hugoa accuses Profe about being behind all of this and Profe just laughs, saying all he did was tell Travis the truth about all the garbage Hugo was saying about Travis. In the ring, the rudos continue isolating Carrion and, despite a brief flurry from Carrion, win the match after a Mendoza DDT. Post match, an angry Travis once again makes a beeline towards Hugos and starts yelling and shoving him a bit before being pulled away.

MD: Travis was an awesome heatseeker. He has some things I love in USWA Texas right around this time if I’m not mistaken, and he was getting right in Hugo’s face before the match. It’s funny that on a card where they already have Profe vs Ripper and (if I’m not mistaken) Akbar vs Bronco, they’re looking to maybe do Hugo vs Travis too, but I guess it would fit a theme. This was effective (in part because it was so unusual) nonetheless.

Travis was a natural fit here, leaning his face in so Santana could take a swipe, then nailing him with sweeping punches and slaps of his own. He stooged big when it was time, and then, once they got Tito in, they leaned hard on him, drawing Santana in a couple of times that just made the double teaming worse. Real mauling. Carrion finally got a comeback but it was brief as he ran right into Mendoza’s knee and ate a DDT. Post-match Travis jawed with Hugo at the desk some more.

EB: Skandor Akbar has an interview and talks about not being certain that Bronco will make it to Aniversario. Akbar is retired and pays other people to fight for him, but he is not happy at being forced by the WWC to face Bronco. But he has a plan and Bronco better be careful. Bronco responds by telephone as they replay video of the fireball incident. Bronco says he has burn marks, blisters and scars from Akbar’s fireball but promises that at Aniversario he will get his revenge. 

MD: Akbar wasn’t happy with having to face Bronco. He said he was the godfather, the general, and retired, rich enough to pay others to wrestle but WWC was forcing the issue. He sounded frazzled, focusing both on the idea that Bronco might be too hurt to wrestle due to the burn but also that it could happen again or he might have a trick up his sleeve. Bronco, despite not being in the studio, was spirited as ever and fans would certainly think he was showing up for this one.

Rod Price vs. Herbert Gonzalez

EB: Rod Price is in action against Herbert Gonzalez and this match is a showcase for the man who says he is the perfect wrestler. Herbert gets no offense and Price shows off some nice moves as Hugo and Eliud talk up Price's credentials and background. Price gets the win after a shoulder tackle. Let’s see what waves Price can make in Puerto Rico.

MD: On paper, Price really fits in too but I’ll need to see something more competitive. He steamrolled Herbert here, belly to belly, hotshot, leg drop, fist drop, a goofy roll into an elbow in the corner and a great jumping shoulder tackle, all while Akbar gloated on the outside. 

EB: Giant Warrior is in the studio to talk about his scheduled match against Dick Murdoch. Warrior says that Murdoch won’t get any vindication at Warrior’s expense. He'll keep an eye out for Joe Don Smith but his main focus is on Dick Murdoch.

MD: Interesting bit here is that they did half, translated, and then did the other half. You don’t usually see Hugo actually ask a follow up question (this time about Joe Don Smith) that way. I can’t say that Murdoch vs Giant Warrior is exactly what I’d want for my #2 match on the PPV relative to Murdoch vs Invader or TNT but they had run through some of these pairings already I guess and it’s not like Warrior wasn’t heavily established by now. 

Brad Anderson vs. Huracan Castillo Jr.

EB: Up next is Brad Andersn taking on Huracan Castillo and there may be fireworks considering that Profe and Monster Ripper are at ringside. And immediately Ripper tries to go after Profe but instead Profe hides behind Brad Anderson. Ripper still goes after him and Profe decides to flee to the locker room instead of getting caught by Ripper. Profe stays in the shadows of the entrance as Ripper calls him a chicken, but runs back out when Ripper goes back to ringside. The match starts and it is pretty even in the first minute until Castillo catches Anderson with an atomic drop that sends Anderson through the ropes to the outside. Profe rubs Anderson’s booboo before  Brad gets back in the ring. As the match continues, Profe heads over to the commentary desk and explains that he’s trying to avoid any incident since the commissioner has been going around levying fines as of late and Profe doesn’t want to risk his license (although he wants nothing more than to give Ripper a slap in the face). Anderson works a chinlock on Castillo and Ripper again tries to chase after Profe (who hides behind the commentators). This match is really a backdrop for the Profe and Ripper rivalry. Castillo ends up making a comeback but it’s the managers that lead to the finish. Profe distracts the ref so that Anderson can get the advantage, but Ripper takes that opening to shake the ropes and cause Anderson to fall from the turnbuckle. Castillo gets the pin right after and he and Ripper head back to the locker room.

After the match we get promos from El Profe and Monster Ripper. Profe says that he is fed up with the insults and has reached the point of not caring about being a gentleman. Since he is being forced to do the match, Profe will take this opportunity to use Ripper as an example that a woman's place is in the home, tending to their husbands and doing the household chores. . Maybe Ripper is infatuated with Profe and that is why she wants to get her hands on him but Profe is going to forget she is a woman and will beat her up at Aniversario. Monster Ripper responds by saying Profe will respect women and reminds Profe that she is not like the women from around here. She will fight on behalf of all of the women in the world and she will hit him hard.

MD: Ripper was out with Castillo. Profe was out with Anderson. Really, the match took a backseat to their antics as Ripper chased Profe to the back once or twice. I’m not sure about the chemistry between Castillo and Anderson (probably down to Anderson), but there also wasn’t a lot to latch on to here. Castillo had his nice jumping knee on the comeback. Finish was muddled as Profe distracted for no reason as Anderson was going to the top, allowing Ripper to shake the ropes and Castillo to steal a win. Post match promos seemed to be what you’d expect for a man vs woman match. I’d almost rather have had Ripper defeat a guy (Exotico would have been perfect but we haven’t seen him for a while) as part of the build instead.

EB: Skandor Akbar is in the studio with Rod Price, a recent arrival to his stable. Price has several nicknames it looks like. Akbar talks up Price's physique and wrestling skills. 

MD: Akbar touted all of Price’s attributes and called him Rugged and Mr. Perfect. Price said he was a Dude with a Tude and Hugo had to figure out how to translate it.

Dino Bravo vs. George Anderson from WWF Superstars

EB: We get a Dino Bravo squash match courtesy of the WWF. We still haven’t seen Bravo wrestle in Puerto Rico but that will change soon.

MD: Bravo has some weirdly babyface coded offense, both an inverted atomic drop and an airplane spin. I hate how he sets up the side slam with a kick to the gut. If he had done it after the airplane spin, it would have been much better and less stilted. The WWF heat machine is droning and distracting in a way I don’t usually notice. Wonder if it has something to do with the Hugo voice over on the sound mix. It would have been nice to have Bravo in studio for a squash. I bet it’d have a different feel.

EB: Dick Murdoch and Joe Don Smith offer some comments about the scheduled match with Giant Warrior. Murdoch is miffed that he is booked against Giant Warrior because he wants Carlos Colon again. If Murdoch has to annihilate someone else to get that, he will do that. The episode then ends with the previously seen TNT and Ron Garvin music videos and Hugo's sign off.

MD: Now I feel bad for questioning Giant Warrior because Joe Don and Murdoch feel the same way I do. But Murdoch says Warrior should say bye to his loved ones because he’s going to lift him up for the brainbuster and send him to the hospital.

EB: So we’ve seen how Aniversario is shaping up on the west coast, but we have a big card scheduled for tonight in Bayamon. Let’s go to part of the Campeones episode from June 1 to get the latest news.

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

The video starts with Hugo in the Aniversario 91 control center, where he is explaining the confirmation of Colon vs. Bravo and the whole deal with Ron Garvin stepping down. Hugo also talks about the incident that happened last Wednesday in Miramar with Billy Joe Travis. It’s the same incident we saw on Super Estrellas but we get some additional footage. It seems Carlos Colon has come out to the commentary desk and Hugo is asking Carlos if El Ejercito de la Justicia would help Hugo train if he decides to challenge Travis to a match. Carlos says of course they will and promises in front of everyone that he will be the first one to train Hugo. Hugo yells out ‘You got it Mr. Travis’ and it looks like we have another match for Aniversario 91. Giant Warrior also approaches Hugo and offers his help in training Hugo. The control center wraps up by reminding the dates for Aniversario 91.

MD: We see a little bit more of what occurred after the match from the last show. Because (at the urging of Profe, says Hugo) Travis insulted both Hugo and his wife, he said he’d fight Travis. Colon offers to help. Giant Warrior offers to train, and we’ve got another non-wrestler vs wrestler match for Aniversario. After this we get just a glimpse of a pretty cool looking Road to Aniversario video.

EB: We then get a card rundown for tonight in Bayamon:  Carlos Colon vs Polynesian Prince in a barbed wire match; in a super challenge Invader #1 vs Ron Garvin; Giant Warrior vs. Dino Bravo; rematch for the TV title as King Kong defends against the returning TNT; Super Medico #3 defends the Caribbean title against Dick Murdoch; Galan Mendoza & Billy Joe Travis defend the Caribbean tag titles against the Caribbean Express with Monster Ripper handcuffed to El Profe at ringside; Brad Anderson defends the World Junior title against Ricky Santana; and Invader #4 & Mr. Ito vs. Rod Price & Action Jackson. Also, tomorrow they will be in Caguas with Carlos Colon vs. Ron Garvin; Invader #1 vs. Dino Bravo; TNT & Giant Warrior vs. Polynesian Prince & Dick Murdoch; Super Medico #3 vs. King Kong, Castillo, Perez & Santana  vs. Mendoza, Travis & Price; Invader #4 vs Brad Anderson; and Mr. Ito vs. Action Jackson.

We cut to Skandor Akbar and Polynesian Prince in the studio, with Akbar talking about tonight’s barbed wire match. Clips are shown of last week’s match between Colon and Prince, with Akbar saying Carlos gave Prince his best shot and it didn’t get the job done. Tonight Prince will finish Colon and then Colon will call Akbar master. Prince just chews on some straw while Akbar is talking. Then Akbar talks about tomorrow’s tag match against TNT & Giant Warrior.

MD: The card they’re promoting with the Prince vs Colon barbed wire rematch is really good. Invader vs Garvin. Giant Warrior vs Bravo. King Kong vs TNT. Super Medico III vs Murdoch. Caribbean Express vs Travis/Mendoza with Profe and Ripper handcuffed together. Anderson vs Santana. Plus Invader IV. Mr. Ito. Rod Price. And Action Jackson. That’s a really strong show. Another show has Colon vs Garvin, Invader vs Bravo. TNT/Warrior vs Prince/Murdoch and Medico vs Kong. So some good shows in the lead up to Aniversario. The most interesting part of the Akbar promo was him talking about how many favorites Murdoch had done for Devastation Inc. over the years.

EB: El Profe is with Travis and Mendoza, and they talk about tonight’s title defense against the ‘Chicken’ Express. Travis starts by calling Puerto Rico ‘his island’ and insults Hugo Savinovich and his wife. Profe is happy that he will be handcuffed to Monster Ripper so he can stop her from doing her underhanded cheating. Mendoza talks about tomorrow's six man tag and says something that gets bleeped. 

MD: Travis was leaning hard into this saying he’d not just beat Hugo but beat his wife as well.

EB: Ron Garvin is here and is looking forward to knocking out Invader #1 tonight. Invader has to prove to Garvin that he can knock Garvin out. Garvin is confident he can knock Invader out, ask Carlos Colon about that.

MD: Garvin having to come up with about six ways to show off his fists as Hugo was translating his promo doesn’t quite reach Scott Hall levels of amusement but it comes close.

Brad Anderson vs. Ricky Santana

EB: Our main event for this episode of Campeones is the World Junior title match from last week in Caguas, as Ricky Santana challenges Brad Anderson. The match starts with Profe goading Santana into chasing him outside the ring, allowing Anderson to surprise attack Santana when he rounded a corner. Sanatna quickly recovers however, and decks both Anderson and Profe. Santana is back in the ring as Anderson is trying to revive Profe on the outside, but has to race back in to avoid the countout. The wrestlers exchange shoves and punches with Saatana winning the exchange. It looks like Profe massaging Anderson’s booboo is a regular part of their act, as he does it again after Anderson got atomic dropped by Santana. On commentary Hugo and Profe are arguing about their upcoming Aniversario matches and who will fare better, and also about Profe’s insistence of making fun of wrestlers' nationalities. Ricky continued in control as we got to commercial break.

Back from the break and Santana is doing a sunset flip for a two count. Based on the commentary, it looks like Profe had thrown Ricky into one of the posts, which gave Anderson the opening to take control of the match. Profe claims that Santana fell into the post and he was only near him to try to help him back up. Santana is bleeding and Anderson works him over with a rear chinlock. Anderson misses a legdrop and Ricky comes back, highlighted by a foul kick to Anderson when the ref wasn’t looking. As Ricky gets fired up, Hugo has the video crew show a brief moment of when Profe threw Ricky into the post so the fans can see what a liar Profe is. Another punch exchange is won by Santana. Ricky goes for a flying body press but accidentally takes out both Anderson and the ref. Ricky covers but there is no one to count. Ricky starts punching Anderson again, with Anderson countering with a backdrop that sends Santana over the top rope to the floor right by where the referee is coming to. Santana gets on the apron and exchanges more punches with Anderson. Brad tries to suplex Santana in but Ricky shifts his weight and lands on top of Anderson. A second referee runs in and does the three count. Santana has won the title… or so it seems. Turns out the first referee saw Anderson throw Santana over the top rope and awarded the decision to Sanatan by dq. Anderson remains the champion. 

MD: On paper, this pairing was getting old, but this had enough Puerto Rico hooha to make it work. Profe distracted Santana for an Anderson ambush on the floor to begin but when he held him, Santana ducked and Andreson took his manager out on the floor. Fun stuff. Back in the ring, Santana controlled for a while as Brad stooged. One big problem with Anderson is that his transitions tend to be fairly weak, a lot of just pressing someone into the corner and taking over. The big damage was done during the break as Profe had posted Santana though, opening him up. That was a good visual during the chinlock at least. Finish was wonky and Dusty-ish, with the ref getting taken out on a flying body press by Santana and Santana then hefted over the top by Anderson. A second ref came in to count a pin on the way back in but the first one had seen the over the top hefting and ruled it a DQ instead of a title switch. It’s the Junior title. Just switch the thing back and forth, right? Overachieving match overall though, especially fun for Profe trying to explain what he did and didn’t do on commentary.

EB: We have video for two of the matches from the June 1 house show from Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel. Before getting to those matches, let’s discuss some of the other results from that card. As would be expected, Dino Bravo picked up the win against Giant Warrior in his first match in Puerto Rico on his way to Aniversario 91. Titles wise, Super Medico #3 retained his title against Dick Murdoch, while the Caribbean Express and Ricky Santana regained their titles. As for Invader #1 and Ron Garvin, we’ll discuss what happened in their match next time. 

That leaves the TV title match and the barbed wire match, which are the two matches we have footage for. First, TNT has made his return and is getting a chance to get revenge against King Kong  and possibly win the TV title back. Let’s see how that goes for him.

TNT vs. King Kong - June 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x8W7Pcf8aU

We join this match in progress as King Kong is stomping a downed TNT. Kong sends TNT into the ropes and knocks him down with a belly bump.  Kong casually steps on TNT and continues attacking him. As the blows continue, TNT starts gathering himself and fires back. Eventually TNT is able to knock Kong down after two clotheslines. An eye rake by Kong stops TNT’s surge and Kong splashes TNT in the corner. TNT is sent into the ropes and ducks a Kong clothesline, setting up a dynamite kick that staggers Kong. A second one staggers him more but Kong does not go down. TNT comes off the ropes with a flying spin kick and finally knocks Kong down. TNT makes the over and gets the three count. TNT has regained the TV title and defeated the monster that had put him on the shelf.

MD: Just two minutes here. Kong controls for a bit, moving around well and with credible shots. I liked TNT’s hulk up here. Kong still squashes him in the corner but TNT ducks a shot and starts laying in the kicks, with Kong as a big canvas for his offense, making it look great. TNT hits the jumping kick and scores a decisive win.

EB: And now let's see how Carlos Colon fares against the Polynesian Prince as the ring is encased in barbed wire.

Carlos Colon vs. Polynesian Prince - Barbwire Match - June 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9b7r8GSoHc

We join the match with Carlos already in the ring and the Polynesian Prince climbing over the ropes into the ring. The ropes have barbed wire wrapped around them. The match is a bit tentative to start, with Colon doing a side headlock and Prince attacking but not with much aggressiveness. As this is going on, Hugo shills the PPV broadcast of Aniversario 91 on the cable system this is being broadcast on. The match continues with Prince in control, using chokes and biting offense but again it does not come across as being aggressive considering the type of attacks.Carlos starts bleeding and Prince attacks the forehead. Carlos ends up going into the barbed wire off some blows from Prince, but it comes off more as incidental than done with purpose by Prince. The match continues with some standard spots of trying to push your opponent's face in the wire and Prince pulls out a foreign object to attack Colon with. Prince controls the first half of the match but once Carlos makes his comeback it is all Colon. Prince bleeds as Carlos starts throwing Prince into the barbed wire and attacking the cut on Prince’s forehead. Carlos ducks a clothesline and hits a back suplex that sets up Prince for the figure four. Prince submits and Carlos Colon has won the barbed wire match. Post match, Carlos decides to dish out some more punishment to Prince and make sure the rivalry is settled once and for all.

MD: It’s great we have this one but I’m not quite sure it lives up to other Colon barbed wire matches. Some of that could be the muted sound, of course, but a lot of it was how they treated the barbed wire. Prince went into it early. He responded by hitting a foul and taking over for quite a while. Colon came back and punished him for much of the rest of the match, leaving both men bloody. There were a lot of whips back into the wire and Prince was deep into character as he responded with an almost dancing sort of Kamala-esque selling. There just wasn’t enough gravitas in trying not to end up in it maybe? The best bit was actually Colon having to adapt his comeback headbutts and getting Prince from behind. Finish had him locking in the figure-four and the wire here almost was more useful to keep any potential interference out so Prince had no choice but to give up.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, more matches are signed for Aniversario including Ron Garvin getting a new opponent for the event. We also will see who Mr. Ito and Hugo Savinovich starts his training as we continue on the road to Aniversario 91.

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jackie! Nancy! Rimi! Romero! Ripper! Masami!

Disc 1 

10. Chabela Romero, Monster Ripper & Tenjin Masami vs. Jackie Sato, Nancy Kumi & Rimi Yokota - 5/80

One of my rules for making this set is I tried to get at least 1 trios match for each year. I'd be surprised if anyone picked one of them as their favourite match (though I've been surprised before), they're more used to build towards a blowoff/give the top stars something to do in between rather than trying to be a great match. But capturing the overall vibe of 80s Joshi was one of my aims, so these matches need to get featured.

It was also common for a trios match to be 2/3 falls if it was the main event of that TV taping. 
So this is mostly about Team Jackie vs. Team Monster. They're building to another title match between these two on 8/8/80, which we won't cover because unfortunately the footage is missing. It's probably because of that their interactions are going to be limited. We do get quite a lot of Masami and Yokota though, who even without the benefit of hindsight I think look like the most promising junior babyface and heel prospects on the roster.

When we do get Jackie vs. Monster in the ring together, Monster is pretty decisively dominant and Masami behaves like a nasty pest on the outside getting her shots in. She makes the mistake of getting in the ring to try fight Jackie instead, and gets hit with a really forceful Irish Whip into a strike. I wish more wrestlers would do Irish Whips with the commitment and conviction Jackie does here. There's also a great little moment where Monster is on the apron facing the crowd yelling at them, which annoys Jackie enough that she comes over and just shoves Monster off the apron to the floor. I found it funny how nonchalant Jackie was about it. 

I also liked the sense of camaraderie from the babyfaces here. Like, Yokota is too small to really put up a fight against Monster on her own, but she's skilled enough to confuse and distract her while Nancy Kumi gets into to hit a dropkick or something. Masami on the other hand, tries to make up for her obviously (in kayfabe) deficiencies as a wrestler but just being crazy and bringing chairs into the ring (only to fail most of the time).

To start off the 3rd fall, we got a fun spot I still see used today. The heels attempt an ambush, but it backfires when they all get trapped in the corner by Jackie & Nancy while Yokota hits them with two consecutive dropkicks. Heel team looking a bit silly again. There isn't much more of this, soon after Jackie Sato hits her awesome vertical suplex into a backbreaker move on Masami for the win.

I guess the other thing I should comment is that Chabela Romero was extremely forgettable in this, ha. Wasn’t bad or anything but felt like a servicable passenger in a good match.

***1/4

MD: I’m always fascinated by where the flowers come from. It’s really only with Japanese wrestling and it’s best when you get a wrestler that interacts with them somehow, like Hansen. We are informed they’re from the Yamanouchi Line Tourism Association, so that’s good to know, right? No? Probably not. You will be glad to know however that Monster Ripper DOES chuck them into the crowd after the kid gives them to her. What a champ. Only other thing of note pre-match is that Yokota has a superhero type eyemask that she takes off on being announced.

This was 2-out-of-3 falls with fairly short falls. They kept it moving. Nancy started. I feel like we haven’t seen as much as others, but she looked good here. Yokota was far smaller than everyone else in the match in a way that was impossible to miss. She came in and got swept under almost immediately, but took all the offense (especially Ripper’s) extremely well. They cycled Jackie in eventually and things were obviously heated throughout between her and Ripper. There was a moment where she reversed a whip where the whole world seemed to change for everyone in that crowd. Just an ace being an ace. 

When they cycled back through again and it came time for Yokota to get press slammed by Ripper once more, she actually managed to land on her feet, which set things up for the babyfaces taking the first fall. Ripper was pretty much able to singlehandedly equalize things though especially once things spilled out to the floor. She had a great torture rack samoan drop that I hadn’t seen her use much before this. Third fall started with everyone holding Ripper in the corner as Yokota pinballed off of her with dropkicks in a nice visual. The heels worked together to have Ripper come off the turnbuckles at people right until that backfired. From there the faces didn’t look back with Jackie winning it with a suplex into a backbreaker which is another new one as best as I can tell. 

This had clear momentum shifts and accomplished a lot in fifteen minutes or so. Everyone felt like they belonged, including Masami who was sufficiently malicious and Romero who had big powerful looking offense. And it kept things moving towards an eventual Ripper vs Jackie rematch. 

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80s Joshi on Wednesday: Jackie! Ripper!

5a. Jackie Sato vs. Monster Ripper (WWWA Singles Title) - 3/15/80

K: This is another match I left off the proper set after giving it some thought. It's certainly a big match. But it's a big match AJW didn't plan on having until a few weeks before, it was supposed to be Jackie Sato vs. Tomi Aoyama, but Tomi was injured and had to pull out. So rather than Jackie facing the heir apparent, she's back facing an old foe from the previous year without much of a build (especially if you haven't seen the 1979 matches).

It's also because we got a rematch at a bigger show on 8/8/80, but there's no footage available of that one, so this is left without much connective tissue to anything else on the set.

But it's still worth watching just as a good match. We start off hot with Jackie hitting a fast proto-slingblade right at the bell to fire everyone up. After then it's a bit of a mixed bag. There's some interesting moments in how they're exchanging holds while keeping the crowd relatively subdued (I mean there's still quite a lot of shrieking, but by Jackie Sato title match standards it's subdued). I liked how Jackie reversed being in a from-behind sleeper position by going between Monster's legs to get into a reverse-sunset kind of counter, which Monster countered into a bodyscissors and actually went for a pin with it. But the moments in between these little exchanges were a bit wanting, they felt like resets and Monster wasn't as physically imposing as I'd like her to be. 

It does get better when she shifts more into using her strength and size advantage. The big spot that gets us really going again is when Jackie manages to overcome Monster smothering her by back body drop style lifting her over the top rope to the floor to huge cheers. They did a good job of milking that moment and Monster looking all outraged and flummoxed on the outside helped get over that this was a potential turning point. Monster storms back into the ring but has been thrown off her gameplan now and Jackie is able to hit her with a bunch of moves, until I swear it looked like Jackie was going for a Diamond Cutter but Monster was too strong and kept on her feet. We get a cool brief image of Jackie on the ground and Monster towering over her, kinda symbolising how much of a mountain Jackie still has left to climb.

Alright so here we go. It feels like we're starting to move into a higher gear as Jackie gets back to keep fighting, and things move closer to being evenly-matched. Monster hits Jackie with 2 of her big hipdrops from the top, and another regular one, but doesn't go for a pin. This felt a bit off to me when that move has been established as a match winner. Instead she throws Jackie out of the ring and then the Black Pair (who'd done nothing to this point) beat up Jackie on the outside and just before she's able to get back in the ring, they hold her back in time for her to lose by 20 count. You can lose titles in AJW on a countout so Monster is the new champion. 

It did get the desired response from the crowd to be honest, but I couldn't get into that, it just felt like too much of a bullshit finish that didn't play off anything that happened beforehand at all. Monster looked like she was winning without outside interference anyway, so I don't get why she even did that. It's like she chose to win by bullshit because she didn't want to just beat Jackie fairly.

The scenes of the crowd crying and shrieking are impressive. They certainly delivered drama even if the match had glaring flaws.

*** 

MD: To me, there’s a clear difference in the crowd here relative to Jackie’s matches over the last six months or so. There had been a tick-up for the Tomi match, maybe, but this is night and day. There’s constant screaming, constant shots of worried or elated young women. Just from what we’ve been able to see, the difference is Ripper. She was a threat to be overcome, a true monster. A monster heel. The US contingent with Moolah were irritants with their heel ref and numbers. The Black Pair were competent and dangerous and violent. But Ripper was a Monster, protected and treated like one, and she was truly something for Jackie to overcome. And the crowd felt that, lived and breathed it.

This wasn’t the Jackie of the previous year though, nor was it the Ripper. They were both advanced in their work and their roles. Ripper felt a little more deliberate and focused, less raw. She made a lot out of the early feeling out, using one hand to combat Jackie’s two in a test of strength, that sort of thing. Meanwhile, Jackie felt like she had more agency, could meet Ripper more as an equal. Yes, there was the vault over ambush at the start, but even just holding her own. Ripper didn’t open the match up until five or six minutes in. That wasn’t because Ripper was diminished. It’s because Jackie had grown into a larger than life ace. 

Ripper did open the match up by hefting Jackie up into a fireman’s carry and just pushing her off into a forward drop. She controlled for a while until Jackie could return the favor in a big moment. Again, there are more parallel spots in 1980 than in 1979. Twice could be a coincidence, but this is three matches we’ve seen it in so far. Jackie had another one where she got Ripper up and over the top.

This was somewhat clipped as Jackie was going for an Octopus and we come back with Ripper fighting out of a cravat (nice struggle there). Unfortunately, and why this probably didn’t make the set, the finish is pretty lame for the setting, with Ripper getting Jackie out and then everyone fighting on the floor to draw the countout and the title change. It protected Jackie while allowing the title change and a subsequent chase. I assume that Tomi’s injury was legitimate and not a work but this sets up a few matches and probably did business. It was a lame finish in the moment though. 

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70s Joshi on Wednesday: Jackie! Ripper!

51. 1979.09.13 - 02 Jackie Sato vs. Monster Ripper (WWWA Singles Title)

K: Part of the appeal of pro-wrestling is getting to watch heroes in action. It stirs up some deep primal feel with us, this mix of admiration for the person we’re watching and just the raw emotion of the events taking place. The best babyfaces are able to pull their audiences into that primal state, have them feel a chill go down their spine as they watch their hero stand tall against the odds.

That feeling is what separates Jackie Sato from the pack to me. As impressive as many of these wrestlers are in other ways (it’d certainly be unfair to compare her to the heels too directly), none of them inspire that personal attachment and loyalty. Jackie would be topped by later stars, but from what I can see of the footage we have, she is the big pioneering Joshi babyface who her successors built on.

This is a match I’d already seen several times before this project as it’s one of 70s AJW’s most famous moments, but it’s still nice to have seen the build this time. That Monster Ripper had been looking almost unstoppable leading up to this probably wouldn’t surprise anyone coming into this cold, but it does help a little in knowing exactly how the booking had gone about that.

A little detail I like is how Jackie starts the match like it’s still just any other title match. She extends a hand and offers a knuckle-lock or Greco-Roman start. She doesn’t have any personal animosity towards Monster, at least not on the surface, but Monster just kicks her hand away in disdain anyway. So we know who the moral aggressor is. When the lock-up starts, Jackie first gets the advantage with a nifty move where she stands on Monster’s toes and then launches forward to headbutt her.

There’s an element of desperation and determination in everything Jackie does here, whereas Monster looks like she’s having time of her life toying with her prey. We get a repeat of the spot from their first match where Jackie ducks Monster’s flying hip attack, but it’s doesn’t lead to a comeback like in the 1st match and Monster is back up in no time. It just gives Jackie a little time to regroup. It feels like the odds are against her even more this time. All she can really manage against her to this point are sneaky rollup attempts. They aren’t really offense but it felt like a version of the Steamboat Rule in that she’s letting the crowd know she’s still trying to win the match even if she’s clearly a long way from doing that.

Jackie does something a bit odd for a babyface here, she keeps going to outside to avoid Monster, and when Monster goes chasing after her she’ll get back in. Jackie is selling her leg so maybe she’s buying time for it to wear off, or something else. It doesn’t come across as cowardly though. It all pays off when she takes an opportunity as Monster’s climbing back up to the apron to hit her with a flying crossbody to the floor. Or maybe that was the plan all along. Either way it works, and believable turns the tide of momentum in her favour and sends the crowd into a frenzy as they see Our Hero has a real chance to win this. She doesn’t let up, hitting her biggest moves in quick succession before Monster has a chance to rally. The big splash that she’d won matches with recently only gets her a 2 count though. She gets the win with a backdrop suplex bridge though, with a dubious probably 2.9 count (but this feud has to continue) but the crowd weren’t paying enough attention to Monster’s shoulders to notice that! Bit rough around the edges, but this all worked very well.

***3/4

MD: This felt suitably epic to me, the culmination of something. I’m not sure the finish quite lives up to the match and the moment but they also maybe needed to leave things on the bone if they thought they’d be using Ripper more (we don’t have more of her in 79, but she’ll show up again in 80). There’s a lot to like here. Early on, Jackie uses her speed and daring to frustrate Ripper, including with a headscissors takeover out of a victory roll position. They play at wrist control after that, and it really does become all Ripper fairly quickly. She’s too big, too fierce, too strong.

Maybe it’s just me, but they almost seemed to shoot this part of the match where she just destroys Jackie a little differently. It seems closer up, more of a horror scene. The crowd was full of Jackie’s followers, including two girls they keep cutting to with her name on their headbands, and yes, they look on in terror as Ripper ragdolls her about, ending with a destruction of the leg. As the officials check on her, Ripper rushes back in to attack. There’s nothing polished about anything she does. It’s all rough around the edges, rough in general, but it works here exactly for that reason.

Eventually she all but shoves Jackie out leading to a bit of recovery and the back half. As Jackie makes it back in, she transforms into the most magical of standing tall babyfaces just like that. She leads off with maybe the best drop down trip ever, as she just rolls into a charging Ripper. She’s too fast and too slick and goes so far as to press Ripper up onto her shoulders and drop her. They move into a more even stretch, including a really great reversal out of a backslide by Ripper that I’d never seen before where she just shimmies her way into a folding press with the legs nelsoned. But Jackie keeps pressing and hits a big belly to back (with maybe, almost certainly a shoulder coming up to diminish it a bit?), and sends the place into a fervor by regaining the belt. Very clear and crisp and brisk for most of this. A hero triumphing. Save maybe for them refusing to commit on the finish, a match very much worth the build.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: A Devastating Arrival

Week 44: A Devastating Arrival

As we covered last time, the Universal title is no longer vacant. Carlos Colon was able to defeat Greg Valentine in a cage match and has once again ascended to the top of the WWC mountain. But Colon’s celebration would turn out to be a very short one,as almost immediately after being given the Universal title belt while still recovering outside of the cage, Dick Murdoch rushed out and attacked the unaware Colon. Murdoch had said in interviews that he wanted Colon and he was wasting no time in making sure that message was understood. The attack ended when Murdoch left Carlos laid out on the ballfield with a brainbuster. It certainly looks like we have a new Universal title challenger already. As for the other title matches held on February 2, with the exception of the World tag team titles, all other titles remained with their current holders.  Invader #1 and Bronco #1 were able to use the taped fist to their advantage and become the new World tag team champions. Does this mean that the feud with the Texas Hangmen is finally settled?  Let’s go to the February 9 Campeones episode and see where things stand. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcnNcOK-aG0

Hugo and Profe welcome the viewers by going over what we’ll have on the program today, and also talk about the latest happenings. This includes what’s new in the Miguelito Perez and Kim Duk rivalry, what happened in Bayamon between the Super Medicos and Valentine & Mendoza, and what happened at the past week’s  TV taping between TNT and the Original TNT. They'll also show the lumberjack match from a few weeks back between Invader #1 and Bronco #1 against the former World tag team champions the Texas Hangmen (to which Profe gets snippy about Hugo emphasizing former in his mention of the match). But before all that, first we’ll see the latest in the ongoing rivalry between Sasha and Monster Ripper.The clip rolls and we go to January 26 in Caguas, as Sasha gets a pin attempt off a small package. Ripper is able to grab Sasha and throw her to the outside, giving Ripper a chance to catch her breath and showboat a little. Sasha tries to get back in but is kicked back down by Ripper. A second attempt by Sasha is also met with a kick and this time Ripper follows outside to continue the attack. Ripper tries to ram Sasha ino the ringside table, but Sasha blocks it and instead rams Ripper. As the two women fight around the table and then on the ground, the ref calls for the bell. It’s a double countout but the two wrestlers continue fighting on the arena floor. 

Due to this result a few weeks ago, tonight Sasha and Monster Ripper will face off in a streetfight. Hugo also mentions that tonight will see the debut of a new associate of El Profe along with said associate’s new wrestler, as General Skandor Akbar and the Motor City Madman have arrived in Puerto Rico. We will have TV title and World tag title rematches tonight as well. Hugo also takes a moment to highlight the merchandise available for fans at the events And with that we go to our first match of the program, as Miguelito Perez takes on Kim Duk. 

MD: We get the last couple of minutes here. Ripper does a good job keeping Sasha out of the ring and thrashing her in the ringside area. Sasha definitely fits the territory as a sympathetic babyface who can draw he support of the crowd from underneath. She comes back at the last moment as Ripper tries to run her into a table on the outside and takes over wildly before the whole thing gets thrown out. 

EB: This is from February 2 as Miguekito is looking to get revenge for his car windshield being cracked by Duk. Perez wastes no time and attacks Duk on the field, getting several blows in before tossing Duk into the ring to formally begin the match. Hugo runs down the list of things Duk has done to Miguelito (including salt thrown into the face and the car incident), but Profe immediately protests that no one saw Duk smash the windshield and he has been unjustly targeted for this. Miguelito continues the attack with standing punches in the corner, and then follows up with chops, punches and a clothesline. Perez even bites Duk on the forehead. Miguelito’s assault is stopped when Duk sneaks in a jab to the throat. Another jab allows Duk to slow things down and he resorts to raking Perez’s eyes. 

We go to a commercial with Duk in control but come back with Perez hitting a powerslam. Profe jumps up on the apron and Perez goes after him, saving Duk for the moment from potentially being pinned. Duk takes advantage and knees Perez from behind. Hugo gives Profe some static about interfering but Profe says that he was just minding his business. Sometime during the break, Huracan Castillo has come to ringside to back up Miguelito. Huracan is out there to counteract Profe, although Profe on commentary says that there is no reason for Castillo to be out there to make it a two on one disadvantage for Duk. Kim does a tree of woe and some chokes in the corner, but Perez is able to counter with a back suplex. However, Duk hits a back suplex of his own when Perez goes for a side headlock. Perez is able to do a reversal out of the corner to try for a pin attempt but things break down a bit as Castillo starts yelling at the ref, who decides to stop the count and go argue with Huracan. Profe comes in and misses a kendo stick  swing, hitting Duk by accident. This time the three count goes through and Perez wins the match. Hugo starts getting on Profe’s case about the screw up costing Duk the match, as we see Duk  mad at Profe. Eventually Profe is able to calm down Duk, but Kim was not happy with getting hit by the kendo stick. Profe on commentary says that it is all good now, Duk has a bit of a temper and it’s understandable that he would react like that in the heat of the moment. 

With the win, Miguelito has earned a shot at the Caribbean title tonight in Caguas. Profe and Duk give an interview about the upcoming title defense, with Profe insisting that the win was only due to a small accident. Tonight there won't be any accidents. Duk says some words and promises to show Perez who is better with no accidents happening. Miguelito says that he was able to win last week despite the attempts by Profe and Duk to cheat him out of the victory. Perez promises that tonight he will be focused on winning the Caribbean title.

MD: Perez had a car to avenge and came in hot. Duk really showed how valuable he could still be in a mid-card feud here. You wouldn’t necessarily want him higher but he fed for Perez early, played hide the object and went for the eyes later on, and then took a couple of belly to backs and played right into the interference laden finish where Castillo tried to counter Profe (who had disrupted a power slam pin midway through the match) only for Profe to try to interfere as the ref was distracted with Castillo; it backfired, Perez won, and Profe and Duk almost came to blows postmatch. In the subsequent promos Perez noted if he did it once, he could do it again for the belt and Duk and Profe assured one another that there would be no further accidents this time. Perez does feel elevated by this feud.

EB: Monster Ripper is with Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza. Ripper says some words about Sasha getting involved again  and promises that she will get hers. They show what happened at the recent TV tapings, where Sasha pulled Medico #3 out of the way of Mednoza’s loaded glove punch, and then put an object inside of Medico #3’s mask. One loaded headbutt later and Medico #3 gets the win. Back in the studio, Ripper continues complaining about the Medicos having to use Sasha’s help in order to cheat their way to victory, But it won’t matter tonight.  Mendoza says that it is beyond the pale that Medico #3 had to use a woman’s help and a foreign object to defeat him. Tonight Ripper will take care of Sasha and they will take care of the Medicos. Ripper closes  by saying that she’ll make sure that Sasha won’t even be able to make it to ringside once Ripper is done with her in the streetfight.

We get a rundown for tonight’s card in Caguas: a TV title rematch as TNT challenges Original TNT; rematch for the World tag team titles as the new champions Invader #1 & Bronco #1 defend against the former champions the Texas Hangmen; rematch for the Caribbean tag titles as the Super Medicos challenge Galan Mendoza & Rick Valentine; Caribbean title match with Miguelito Perez challenging Kim Duk; a streetfight between Sasha and Monster Ripper; Giant Warrior vs the Motor City Madman; and a rematch for the World Jr title as Huracan Castillo Jr. defends against Mr. Pogo. 

MD: Lots of help from Sasha here as she both rolled a Medico out of the way of the loaded fist drop but also loaded up his mask so he could hit a headbutt and score the win. Mendoza is really looking like Chicky at this point. I wonder if that was intentional. 

Lots of returns matches on the upcoming card, and the Motor City Madman is in to fight Giant Warrior. And there’s a Mr. Belvedere commercial. 

EB: Our next match is from February 2, as Dick Murdoch takes on El Corsario. This was supposed to be Norman the Lunatic but it looks like Norman did not appear. Murdoch has Joe Smith at ringside. The match is pretty much a Dick Murdoch showcase, as Murdoch immediately goes after Corsario and does not let up. On commentary, Profe starts asking where Carlos Colon is, insinuating that Colon has been hiding since the attack Murdoch did last week after the cage match. Profe starts saying what kind of a man Colon is by hiding, typical Puerto Rican (or at least that’s what Profe says Murdoch told him). In the ring, Murdoch decides to toss Corsario outside and take him over to the fence in order to ram Corsario into the chain link. Murdoch exchanges some words with the fans and grabs a piece of wood from the dugout. Corsario gets hit on the back with the piece of wood and Murdoch drags Cosario back to the ring area, ramming Corsario headfirst into a ringpost. A shoulder breaker into the ringpost follows, and Hugo complains about Murdoch’s wild style (although Profe says now one can see why Carlos Colon is in hiding). The announcers briefly talk about Joe Smith and how Murdoch says he is going to train Joe into becoming a wrestler, as Murdoch ends the match with a brainbuster. 

MD: Unfortunately one-sided, but it is a pretty solid destruction of Corsario outside the ring and then inside. The best bit was when they were headed for the dugout with people throwing things at Murdoch and he just found a random piece of wood to clock Corsario with. He ran him shoulder first into the post as he is want to do and then finished him with a brainbuster in the ring. His second was out there in a baseball uniform. I would have liked to see him backpedal a bit but maybe not against Corsario.

EB: The Super Medicos get a chance to say their piece about tonight’s match. Medico #3 says that the rudos have been complaining about what happened at Miramar with the loaded headbutt, but they conveniently forget what they did last week in Bayamon. They show the clip of the ending of the February 2 no-DQ match. Mendoza uses his loaded glove to attack Medico #3, but since it is no-DQ it is legal .The ref escorts Mendoza out of the ring and Medico #1 breaks up Valentine’s cover. He then switches out with Medico #3.  Medico #1 also has an object in his mask and hits Valentine with a headbutt to potentially get the win. But the ref had been taken out earlier with a missed crossbody attempt and was not able to make the count. As Medico #1 waits making the cover, Monster Ripper comes in and hits Medico #1 with her boot. Ripper puts Valentine on top of Medico #1, the ref comes too and the rudos retain the Caribbean tag titles. Back to the Super Medicos in the studio, Medico #1 states that is why they did the loaded headbutt at Miramar, and if the rudos want to play dirty, then they can do that as well as anybody. 

MD: That match was full of hooha, shall we say. We just get a minute of it but there was masked confusion, a loaded mask, a ref bump, Ripper interfering, etc. I’m starting to wonder if this feud has maybe run its course. You can only keep tweaking things week after week for so long. 

EB: El Profe and the Texas Hangmen are hyped for tonight’s World tag title match since Invader won’t have the taped fist, and they promise the new champions’ reign will be the shortest ever. Invader and Bronco know that the Texas Hangmen are going to be coming on strong tonight because they are upset about losing the titles. They won’t make it easy for the Hangmen and will be ready. 

After the card rundown for tonight’s house show, we go to the feature match of the program. It’s the lumberjack match from a few weeks back between the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1. The tecnicos control the first part of the match via quick tags and working Psycho’s arm. The tecnicos remain in control as we go to commercial break, but once we return  Invader eats some boots to the face on a corner charge. The Hangmen work over Invader with some facelocks on the mta, as the lumberjacks look on. Invader tries a comeback but gets cut off, as it seems that Hugo has finally learned how to tell the Hangmen apart on commentary. The tide turns in the tecnicos favor when Psycho goes to the top turnbuckle and Invader runs into the ropes, causing Psycho to crotch himself on the top rope. Invader makes the tag to Bronco, who comes in hot. Bronco gets several pin attempts on Psycho, but Killer comes in to break up each attempt. Invader recovers and all four men end up in the ring. The lumberjacks start getting restless as Galan Mendoza jumps up on the ring apron and grabs Bronco. All of the other lumberjacks gather to where Mendoza is, with the tecnicos trying to pull Mendoza off and the rudos trying to stop the tecnicos. The referee goes over to try to get Mendoza to let go of Bronco and, in the confusion, the Hangmen grab the bullrope and use it to knock out Invader. The Hangmen cover and retain the World tag titles.  

MD: This feud isn’t quite there yet though. It’s still churning. Pretty soon they’d do well to switch the babyface teams maybe? I don’t know. I love how animated the Hangmen are in their promo. Bronco’s holding the mic for their promo for some reason which is kind of weird. Most important thing to know about the shine is that right before it goes to commercial (after a chaotic start where Bronco and Invader take over and the Hangmen feed/stooge like crazy), Invader does the Garvin Stomp which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him do before. He looks great in general but once we hit the break he gets swept under quickly. 

That means he continues to look great as a face-in-peril, sneaking in those hope spots, before he is able to lunge at the ropes to knock a Hangman down upon them, crocheting him. The lumberjacks have really only made this match feel more contained by this point; kept it in the ring solely by their presence alone, but none of the previous matches have been so contained so this feels actively different. And then, you know what, Invader looks great after the hot tag when he gets to come in again to set up the finish. More than that, Mendoza, as a lumberjack gets involved, which is interesting considering what I was just saying (they’re hearing me through history or maybe this all just makes sense), allowing the ref to get distracted and the cowbell to end things for the good guys. 

EB: To close the show, Hugo presents some fan drawings they have received, with Profe saying the only good one was the one of him. Hugo does a final sell for tonight’s card in Caguas and they sign off.

MD: There’s a drawing here of Rafael The Ninja Turtle and Carlitos Colon. I’ll let Esteban explain it. I love that some kid cared enough about Giant Warrior to draw him too. That’s very charming.

EB: So what happened during the title matches on February 9? We actually have a bit of footage of what happened during that weekend during the following week’s TV programs. Let’s find out how things advanced as we first go to the west coast version of Superestrellas from February 16. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcryafi6WuY

Hugo welcomes the viewers and immediately the video cuts to Hugo introducing a clip of what happened this past Saturday in Caguas between the Super Medicos with Sasha in their corner and Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza with Monster Ripper in their corner. We go to the clip and Medico #3 has Rick Valentine in an airplane spin. After tossing Valentine to the mat, Medico #3 goes for a cover but Monster Ripper jumps on the apron to distract the referee. As the ref is busy telling Ripper to get off the apron, Mendoza comes in and hits Medico #3 with the loaded glove. However, when the ref turns around, he sees Mendoza in the ring and escorts him back to the rudo corner. As this is happening, Medico #1 gets in the ring, breaks up the cover Valentine has on Medico #3, and them rolls Medico #3 out of the ring in order to switch places with him. When the ref focuses back on the wrestlers in the ring, it’s Medico #1 who is in there. Medico #1 fires off some punches and knocks Valentine down with a clothesline. As Mendoza protests and inadvertently distracts the ref, Medico #1 leans over to where Sasha is. Sasha puts an object inside Medico #1’s mask. The action continues and Medico #1 gets a backslide on Valentine, but Mendoza jumps in and breaks it up. Medico #1 hits Mendoza with a headbutt that sends Mendoza flying to the outside. Valentine sneaks up behind Medico #1 and hits a back suplex. Medico #1 is able to counter being sent into the ropes with a sleeper and at this point the seconds get involved. Ripper hits Medico #1 with a boot to break up the sleeperhold and Sasha comes in to go after Ripper. Sasha and Medico #1 drive Ripper and Valentine away, meanwhile Mendoza and Medico #3 remain knocked out on the floor thanks to the loaded hits they took. 

Due to what happened, tomorrow in Hormigueros we will have a rematch for the Caribbean tag titles but Sasha and Monster Ripper will be handcuffed to each other at ringside.  We will also have a rematch for the Caribbean title, with Miguelito Perez challenging Kim Duk. Last week in Hormiguero, Kim Duk did not appear and Hugo showed a clip to explain why he didn’t appear. During the match in Caguas on February 9, El Profe had another accident and hit Duk in the throat with the kendo stick when Perez ducked out of the way. Due to the pain Duk was in from that blow, he wasn't able to appear last Sunday but the rematch will happen tomorrow. The main event for Sunday will be a rematch for the World tag team titles, as new champions  the Texas Hangmen (who regained the belts last Sunday in Hormigueros) defend against Invader #1 and Bronco #1 in a streetfight. The card will also have Giant Warrior vs the Motor City Madman, Original TNT vs Huracan Castillo Jr, and Invader #4 vs. Mr. Pogo. 

MD: I could be wrong but this feels like the opposite camera angle of how we saw it last time. Still lots of moving parts and I think it’s leading to Sasha handcuffed to Ripper.

EB: Our first match of the program is one we have covered previously, the Kim Duk vs Super Medico #4 match from January 6. After the match, we get promos from the teams involved in the Caribbean tag tile feud. Ripper promises that Sasha will not be able to get away with interfering since they will be handcuffed together. Valentine insults Sasha by calling her stinky. The Super Medicos and Sasha respond, with Medico #1 saying that Ripper won’t be able to interfere since Sasha will be handcuffed to her  and this time that will be the difference maker in their quest to win the Carribean tag titles.

MD: Ripper/Mendoza/Valentine have swanky new robes and… well, whatever sci fi thing Ripper has. They’re all hyping up the match with Sasha handcuffed to Ripper. I really do get the sense that Sasha “gets it” and was very good at what she did. 

EB: Miguelito Perez is up next and talks about Duk not appearing last week after the kendo stick mishap. Perez is thankful that he wasn’t the one hurt but will be ready for tomorrow. He also warns Kim Duk to be wary, but not of him. Duk needs to be wary of El Profe, since he keeps hitting Duk on acccident and Duk may end up not being able to wrestle. 

MD: They did a good job here of making it seem like Perez was going to win the title off of Duk (or at least that he had a much better chance than he would have a few months earlier) given the build and the miscommunication. By the way, in the promo for the live show when they announce the jackets, Perez is out with his Ribera jacket. 

EB:Next is Dick Murdoch facing off against Sabud, who wastes no time in going after Murdoch and gets some martial arts thrusts in. Murdoch flees the ring and ends up in the boxing ring that is nearby. Sabud makes a mistake by going in after Murdoch and gets caught. Murdoch quickly throws Sabud outside of the boxing ring and rams Sabud face first into the ringpost. Murdoch briefly rolls back into the wrestling ring to break up the ref’s ring out count, and then goes back to attacking Sabud on the outside by ramming him into a table and using a chair. Joe Smith is at ringside watching all of the action go down. Both men end up in the ring and Murdoch makes short work of Sabud to get the win. Afterwards,  Murdoch motions for the camera to follow him and he goes to the ringside table to get a microphone, but the video cuts away before he can talk. 

MD: Murdoch is even more unleashed than usual in Puerto Rico, even more onerous, probably driven by real things it’s best not to focus on. Here he feeds a bit for Sabu’s karate shots but then ducks into a different ring (there was a regulation boxing one set up here too) befuddling his opponent so he could take over. From there it was chairs and cheapshots and some brutal elbows as he got quick revenge.

EB: Kim Duk and El Profe are interviewed by Hugo about tomorrow’s Caribbean title match. Hugo makes sure to stir things up by bringing up Profe’s accidental hits during the last couple of weeks. Profe gets defensive, insisting that those were accidents and they won’t happen again. Hugo actually tells Kim that he hopes his neck is feeling better before Duk talks about the upcoming match. Duk says he accepts Profe’s explanation that it was a mistake that won’t happen again.

MD: We are reassured here that Profe won’t make the same mistake again. I can’t see a Kim Duk babyface run (though we do have that 70s Korea match with him now), but could see this covering a title switch.

EB: Motor City Madman is next with a promo on his rematch with Giant Warrior, promising that what he did last week to Warrior is nothing compared to what will happen tomorrow. We go to Giant Warrior, who says that Madman showed his true colors last week by jumping Warrior from behind. Warrior will be ready this week, since he now knows that Madman does not play by the rules. Giant Warrior will walk out the winner tomorrow.

Afterrthe promos, we get a TV studio match with Motor City Madman taking on Justo Maldonado. Hugo mentions that Madman is a recent acquisition for El Club Deportivo courtesy of Skandor Akbar and El Profe. The match lasts less than a minute, as Madman gets Justo up into an inverted backbreaker vice and then proceeds to ram Justo’s head into the turnbuckle several times while in the hold. After the match, Invader #4 and the Medicos helped take Justo out of the ring on a stretcher. 

MD: They’re promising me Skandor Akbar with Madman and he just hasn’t shown up yet. After the lovely picture we saw from some kid last week, I do believe Giant Warrior when he says in his southern drawl that he has a connection with the fine people of Caguas. Maldonado was not a small guy so Mad Man crashing through him and hitting his finish of the backbreaker into the repeated head drops onto the top rope (did he do that in WCW? I have to take a look) is impressive. I enjoyed the Medicos being out there to stretcher Maldonado out. It just makes sense.

EB: Hugo introduces a clip of what happened last week in Hormigueros when Invader # and Bronco #1 were defending the World tag team titles against the Texas Hangmen. All four men are in the ring but Bronco and Psycho go outside. Invader and Killer remain in the ring and Invader is whipped into a corner. Invader does a reverse bodypress out of the corner but Killer ducks and Invader accidentally takes out the referee instead. Invader gets a small package but there is no one to count. Profe stands at ringside shaking his head no (indicating that this wasn’t going  to work for Invader) and Bronco gets back in the ring to find the ref out on the mat. For some reason, Bronco decides to make the three count himself and Invader lets go of the hold. The Hangmen jump the tecnicos, but an attempted irish whip results in Bronco and Killer colliding. Invader and Psycho end up as the wrestlers in the ring. Invader starts to go after Psycho in a corner but Profe gets in the ring to try to help his guys out. Invader sees Profe and attacks him before Profe can do anything, but this gives the Hangmen a chance to get the bullrope and hit Invader with it to get the win to regain the World tag titles. 

We go to an interview where Profe and the Hangmen are celebrating their title win, but Hugo mentions that there will be a rematch under streetfight rules. Psycho says that brawling is up the Hangmen's alley, so they’ll bust the tecnicos up. Killer reiterates that they like bloody brawls and will leave the tecnicos in a pool of blood. Invader and Bronco respond, with Invader saying that any fans that can’t stand to see the sight of blood to not show up tomorrow since they will leave the Hangmen drenched in blood. They are on a mission to regain the World tag team titles. 

MD: Invader’s timing is really good on the finish here where he cuts across the ring to attack Profe and then turns right into the rope shot. Promos worked for me as you had the sense that the Hangmen would be naturals in a streetfight and Invader and especially Bronco were super animated.

EB: Dick Murdcoh is up next with an interview talking about his attack a few weeks back on Carlos Colon right after the cage match against Greg Valentine. Murdoch says that maybe Colon did not attack him, but Murdoch delivered his message. Murdoch wants Colon to stop being a coward and sign the contract for a match against him. Murdoch throws in a few insults about the local culture and also mentions still wanting to train Joe Smith and turn him into a wrestler.

MD: Just a great, great promo here. I can’t do it justice, but Murdoch was next level at being self-aware. No “Let me tell you brothers,” out of him. Real Southern Gothic type stuff in its own way. And then when Hugo (Jerome) translated, he’d be making faces at various words Hugo said. You should go watch this.

EB: We have a match joined in progress between Huracan Castillo Jr and Mr. Pogo, This is from February 9 in Caguas and is for the World Junior title. Hurcana does a sunset flip from the apron into the ring, but Pogo grabs onto the ropes and tries to hold on to avoid going over. The ref kicks Pogo’s hands off the ropes but Castillo only gets a two count. Hugo on commentary actually mentions that he has always felt that the ref should not have the leeway or discretion to kick someone’s hands off the rope in that situation, because he thinks that refs should not physically get involved with the wrestlers. Pogo hits a suplex and puts Castillo in a sleeperhold as Hugo finishes his remarks. Castillo answers the arm check and fights out of the sleeper, but Pogo cuts him off with a knee to the midsection. Pogo misses a fist drop from the turnbuckle, and Castillo starts a comeback that is punctuated with a high knee and several elbow drops. Castillo gets several near falls of different cradle and press attempts, but Pogo stops Castillo with a spinning kick. Pogo misses a splash from the turnbuckle and Castillo goes to the top. A bodypress lands but the momentum is enough for Pogo to roll over Castillo. They end up near the ropes with Pogo’s feet landing on the ropes for leverage. The ref does not see the feet on the ropes and makes the three count. Pogo has won and is now the new World Junior champion. 

MD: It’s funny now after we’ve had months and months of Duk that this could have been Pogo’s role. He’s a perfectly credible midcard heel and this is good for what we get of it. I love Castillo’s jumping knee. I meant to say that before. He almost hits more with the inside of the leg than anyone else. It’s a nice move. Pogo has his spinkick cutoff too but then misses a top rope splash. Nice finish as Pogo rolls through on a Castillo flying body press but he lands perfectly with his feet on the ropes to assist with the pin. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that done quite like that before. 

EB: The last part of the show features a minis match that we’ve already covered but it is bookended by promos from Original TNT, Huracan Castillo Jr and TNT. Original TNT and Castillo are facing each other tomorrow.in Hormigueros. Original TNT says that he beat up the impostor TNT last week so they should take the name and paint away from that impostor before saying that he will beat Castillo tomorrow as well. Castillo has some remarks about the match tomorrow, with Castillo saying that everyone knows that the real TNT is the one from here. Hugo mentions that Castillo has been taught the sleeperhold by Victor Jovica and that is something that could come into play against the Original TNT. Hugo mentions that we have an interview with Carlos Colon about the recent controversy surrounding Dick Murdoch but it’s cut off in this version of the episode we have.

After the minis match, TNT has some word for Original TNT and Profe, He says that Original TNT defeated him last week but it was due to cheating and help from El Profe. TNT throws out a challenge to Original TNT for a no time limit match and to also put up the name and paint. TNT wants to take everything from Original TNT, the TV title, the face paint and the name. We then get Hugo with the show close where he hypes the card tomorrow in Hormigueros. 

MD: Not too much to say about these last promos. Original TNT really does come off as believing his own bluster no matter how ridiculous it is. I wonder if Pogo should be doing the Cobra if Duk and both TNTs also use it but I guess it could set up one more Pogo vs TNT match if they needed to go that way. 

EB: We also have the Campeones episode from February 16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdJdlUJ92JU

Our hosts are Hugo Savinovich and El Profe, with Hugo welcoming the viewers to the usual 4pm Saturday time slot on Channel 11. A lot gets mentioned during the opening segment, as Profe starts bragging about how all of his guys are champions (Texas Hangmen with the World tag titles, Original tNT with the TV title and Kim Duk with the Caribbean title). Hugo also mentions that the supreme leader of El Club Deportivo (referring to El Profe)  has been joined by General Skandorr Akbar, to which Profe says that Akbar is not here this week because he is on a scouting trip for new recruits. So El Ejercito de la ‘Inmudicia’ better start shaking in fear of the people Akbar and Profe will soon bring in. Hugo is annoyed that by next week they will have more cheaters, but Profe corrects him and says it will be reinforcements. Profe chuckles as Hugo worries a bit about what the combination of Akbar and Profe might be planning. Hugo then runs down what they'll show on the program, with the featured match being the TV title match between TNT and Original TNT from the previous week. Profe reiterates that the local TNT is the fake one. 

Hugo starts talking about tonight’s card in Caguas, starting with the Caribbean title match where Miguelito Perez challenges Kim Duk with the kendo stick on a pole. Hugo points out all of the accidents Profe has had with the kendo stick lately, but Profe says that they’ve been honest mistakes and tonight nothing will happen. Hugo says either way the kendo stick will not be in Profe’s hands tonight and instead it will be up on the pole. Hugo thinks Miguelito has a good chance at winning tonight, but Profe insults Perez by saying “Miguelito may look like a monkey because of all the hair he has, but he doesn’t have the agility of one.”

There will also be a streetfight as the new World tag champs the Texas Hangmen defend against the former champions, Invader #1 and Bronco #1. El Profe thinks the tecnicos are being fools by fighting the Hangmen in a match that is their specialty. The Hangmen are used to fighting with Mexicans and latinos in Texas. Hugo counters that both Bronco and Invader have their experience fighting in brawls, but Profe says it’s not the same thing fighting a couple of drunks in the gutter as fighting tough gangs, not those weak underweight Domincans Bronco fights. Hugo cuts Profe off and we go to the Huracan Castillo Jr vs Johnny Rinco match from earlier in January.  The match is joined in progress and gives you a bit of a look at Johnny Ringo in a more competitive match. The match clip is more of a showcase for Castillo though and Huracan retains the World Jr. title.

MD: When you come across someone as off the radar as Ringo, you do give him an extra look and you know what? He was fine. On offense (Castillo missed a corner charge and hit the post), he had a bunch of stuff. I liked his body language as he took things, especially how he tended to drape over the ropes. There just wasn’t a lot of room for juniors in 1991, but he’s another guy who could have fit into the Global light heavyweight division no problem. Castillo came back and won it clean with a Northern Lights which is not something I’ve seen him do too much.

EB: We next have a Dick Murdoch promo that gets cut off but not before he complains about the disgusting beans he’s been forced to eat down here. 

MD: This episode is not in full and we get about ten seconds of Murdoch complaining about the local food as only he could.

EB: We go to some promos form Original TNT and Huracan Castillo Jr, who are scheduled for tonight in Caguas. OriginalTtNT insists he beat up the fake TNT last week and promises to also do the same to Castillo tonight. Castllo dares Original TNT to make good on that threat and says that one advantage Castillo has is that he has better endurance.

MD: Again, these are clipped, but they’re setting up Original TNT defending against Castillo (I’m a little surprised he survived TNT so far honestly; seems like a relatively short program to finish things up from the previous feud that never got paid off, but he’s still here and still has the belt) so I guess it was nice we had that competitive win against Ringo for Castillo. 

EB: Hugo and Profe introduce a music video for Motor City Madman set to the tune of ‘Born To Be Wild.’ It shows Madman spray painting his name on a chunk of wall, shooting pool, and also highlights from different matches. One impressive clip is from a match vs Giant Warrior where Madman picks up Warrior in an inverted body vice and proceeds to smash Warrior’s head several times into the top turnbuckle. After the video, Madman and Warrior cut promos about their match tonight. Madman says that Warrior will make a big mistake facing him again after causing Warrior to be stretchered out last week. Warrior responds by saying he did not like being humiliated last week and says that he has not lost a match yet in Caguas.

MD: Good for the Madman to get a music video. You get to see him do his over the shoulder backbreaker snake eyes bounce move over and over in this to the music, even to Giant Warrior! Also riding motorcycles, spray painting things, shooting pool. What a guy. Apparently he stretchered Giant Warrior out last week and Warrior wants revenge.

EB: Carlos Colon cuts a promo about Dick Murdoch. Carlos says that he understands Dick Murdoch is looking for him, but he must not be looking too well since Carlos is not hard to find. Carlos says it is him who is looking for Murdoch, he wants to avenge what Murdoch did to him many years back while in the U.S. (and also the attack a few weeks ago) and now they are hours away from singing that match. This won’t be just a match, it will be a fight because Murdoch has offended Colon before and now Murdoch will be paid back, especially since they are now in Colon’s homeland of Puerto Rico. Colon guarantees that when they clash, blood will flow, and’ it will be yours dog.’

The feature match is last week's TV title match between Original TNT and TNT. Profe again calls out Juan Rivera as the fake TNT before going to the match .TNT wastes no time in attacking Original TNT, throwing several punches at ringside (and still wearing his gi).  TNT takes off his belt and chokes Original TNT with it. They get in the ring and TNT remains in control. Meanwhile, Hugo and Profe are having a back and forth on commentary about Profe not respecting the wrestler’s names and calling TNT out by his real name. Hugo points out that none of them are throwing out Profe’s real name because they are honorable gentlemen and respect that (which causes Profe to be a bit afraid for a moment  Hugo was going to give that secret away). The match continues with TNT on the attack, once again taking the match to the arena floor. Hugo starts pointing out that Original TNT can’t hit those kicks and movies like the real TNT can (with Profe complaining that he thinks Juan Rivera must be bribing Hugo to put him over as the eighth wonder of the world apparently). 

The beating continues, with TNT hitting several kicks on Original TNT. We go to a commercial break with TNT still getting all of the offense in so far in the match and then come back with Original TNT in control, throwing TNT out of the ring. Profe says that we have things under control now. Hugo mentions that TNT has been dominating most of the match so far, but Profe sas it has been the other way around with Original TNT dominating the impostor Juan Rivera (which causes Hugo to once again admonish Profe for not respecting the wrestler’s names). Profe starts rattling off examples of other wrestlers whose real names are known (specifically the Invaders) but Hugo says that’s different because they have chosen and allowed their names to be known. Meanwhile, Original TNT has rammed TNT into the stacked floor panels near the fence area and goes back to the ring, leaving TNT recovering on the floor. Original TNT goes back out to attack TNT, smashing him face first into the ringside table and then using a chair. Hugo notes that TNT has started bleeding. TNT then gets his head rammed into a ringpost. Original TNT gets back in the ring as TNT struggles to stand up, with his forehead noticeably bleeding.TNT stumbles into the ring and OriginalTtNT starts choking and slapping TNT.

TNT fights out of a chinlock and hits a back suplex, leaving both men down on the mat.We get a second commercial break, and come back with TNT starting a comeback. Hugo mentions that they’ve been fighting for over 25 minutes (in a match with a 30 minute time limit). They go to the outside and TNT rams Original TNT into the ringside table, busting Original TNT open. Back in the ring. TNT bites the cut on Original TNT’s forehead. TNT tries a few pin attempts but Original TNT is able to kick out or get his foot on the ropes. Original TNT is able to get a surprise powerslam and gets the cobra hold on TNT. Profe celebrates at ringside as TNT struggles in the hold but eventually goes to his knees. The bell rings and Original TNT lets go of the hold thinking that he has won the match, but it rang because the time limit has ended. It is a time limit draw. 

MD: This gets a ton of time and you get the sense we get most of it. TNT, gi still on, jumps him from the get go. The first third has Jackson flying and bumping and staggering around as TNT hits sweeping blows and karate strikes. Very energized stuff to the crowd’s delight. Original TNT takes over midway through and really grinds TNT down, opening him up. He comes back big and for a while they’re really showing the effects of it all, selling the weight of the match until TNT gets a second wind and takes over in a big way, hitting him with the belt on the floor and biting the wound. Original TNT is able to catch him with a power slam out of nowhere though and locks in the cobra but TNT doesn’t quit. Profe and Jackson think that he does and I’m not quite sure what the ending was as TNT stood tall in the ring as they cut back to the hosts. Past that finish, a very complete match here that got a lot of time for something shown on TV.

EB: We go back to Hugo and Profe for the show close, as Profe insists that Original TNT showed his quality against the imposter Juan Rivera. Hugo reminds the fans to go tonight to Caguas. 

Next time on El Deporte de la Mil Emociones, Invader #1 and Bronco #1 face the Texas Hangmen in a streetfight, Colon vs  Murdoch is official, Skandor Akbar is back and Ricky Santana makes his return to CSP. Plus, will Profe finally avoid making another mistake in Kim Duk’s match? 

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