El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Aniversario Fallout

Week 12: Aniversario Fallout

EB: Aniversario from Bayamon is over but we still have one final piece from Mayaguez to look at. It’s the Universal title match between Carlos Colon and Sadistic Steve Strong. Due to the result of the title match the previous night in Bayamon, the roles are reversed and it is Colon that is the defending champion going into the match. And as was the case in Bayamon where a stipulation (barbed wire) was added to the match in the final lead up, this match also has an added stipulation. In this case, Colon vs Strong in Mayaguez is now a cage match.

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

We join the match in progress as Carlos appears to be applying the same strategy of trying to take out one of Strong’s legs in order to set up the figure four leglock. There’s no barbed wire to punish your opponent with, but the cage still makes sure that there is no escape and (more importantly) no easy interference. The crowd cheers on Carlos as he keeps working on Strong’s leg and, after keeping the attack focused on the leg, eventually Carlos manages to get the figure four leglock on after hitting a body slam on Strong. The crowd amps up as Colon keeps the pressure on. Strong continues to fight and resist the hold as a close-up on Carlos reveals he is bleeding from his forehead. Strong manages to reverse the hold, with the pressure now being applied to Carlos. In  pain, Carlos manages to reach the ropes in order to get the hold broken. Carlos tries to get up but Steve Strong quickly hits a succession of three elbow drops to the back of Colon’s head and neck to keep him down. Strong sends Colon into the ropes and hits him with a clothesline (which happens to be the arm he has ‘Damian’ on). Strong hits another elbow drop and goes for the over, but decides to pull up Colon at two. Strong wants to deliver more punishment and finish off Carlitos. After keeping Carlos down with a headbutt, Strong backs off and repositions ‘Damian’ on his arm. His intent is clear, Strong wants to hit Carlos with the loaded clothesline. Strong sends Carlos into the ropes, but Carlos blocks the clothesline and hits a crucifix on Strong for the three count. The crowd goes wild in celebration at Carlos getting the win.

MD: Between the blood running down Colon’s face, the chip on Strong’s shoulder, and the fact the two of them were trapped in the cage, there was almost certainly a great match here. We just get a few minutes of the finish. Where we come in, Colon had turned the corner towards the comeback after what was almost certainly a grisly beating and both wrestlers were throwing kicks. Colon got the advantage, targeted the leg, and put on what felt like it would be an absolutely definitive and inescapable figure four. There was nowhere to go and no one to help Strong. However, he may no longer be champion, but he was still an absolute beast and he was able to turn it around and then retake the advantage, including a massive lariat. When he went for it again, however, Colon climbed up into a crucifix pin to steal a win. A good couple of minutes but the real transcendent serenity to be found in a match like this is always in the beatdown and that glorious moment of comeback and those things we don’t have.

EB: With Aniversario weekend complete, let’s review how things stand and how they would develop in CSP throughout the month of October.
With their Caribbean tag title win, the team of Los Mercenarios will become a regular presence in the territory. The team of Angel Acevedo and Jerry Morrow would eventually face the former champions of Miguelito Perez and Huracan Castillo Jr but would be successful in holding on to their newly won Caribbean tag titles.

Super Medico retained his World Junior title against Gran Mendoza (who was a replacement for Jeff Jarrett). A couple of weeks after the event, Super Medico faced a new challenger in Brett Sawyer. This was a tecnico vs tecnico match which we join in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OfmqTJCBIk

Medico and Sawyer are circling each other in a face-off as Hugo on commentary mentions how this match has been quite the showcase of technical wrestling and it’s been a tremendous back and forth between the two tecnicos. Sawyer gets a small package off a lock up for a two count. They lock up again and this time Medico gets a two count of an inside cradle. Medico tries to grab Sawyer's leg, but it is countered into a back slide. However, Medico’s legs land in the ropes and the ref signals at Sawyer to break the pin attempt (which Sawyer does after a delay). Medico seems a bit annoyed at the delay in releasing the back slide, as Sawyer circles the ring a bit and seems to make a comment to someone in the crowd. Sawyer hits a side headlock which Medico breaks by sending Sawyer into the ropes. A series of criss-crosses leads to Medico getting a sunset flip on Sawyer but Sawyer manages to keep his balance and does not fall down. Instead, Sawyer maneuvers both he and Medico (who is still trying to turn him over into the sunset flip pin attempt) near the ropes. Sawyer sits down on Medico’s chest for a pinfall attempt. As the referee starts counting, Sawyer grabs onto the top rope with both hands in order to gain more leverage and prevent Medico from kicking out. The ref counts three and we have a new World Junior champion.

Post-match we get an unexpected development. As the ref raises Sawyer's hand indicating he is the winner, Medico comes over visibly upset and complains to the ref that Sawyer was grabbing the ropes. You can also see some of the crowd also visibly pointing at the ref and trying to signal what had happened (and we even see a few things get thrown into the ring). Medico starts arguing with Sawyer about him holding the top rope while Sawyer signals that the three count was made. Sawyer lifts the belt and Medico continues arguing with Sawyer about what he did (as the crowd also seems to be complaining as well). Both wrestlers leave the ring and, since it just so happens both are tecnicos, they are heading to the same locker room. Medico continues arguing and shoving Sawyer about what happened as the crowd starts throwing things at Sawyer. The argument and shoving by Medico continues all the way into the dugout, up the stairs and into the locker room. Sawyer sits in a chair and ignores Medico who continues asking him why did he hold onto the ropes. Medico gets more angry as Sawyer just ignores Medico and tries to untie his boots. Eventually, Sawyer stands up and asks if Medico has a f###ing problem and Medico shoves Sawyer down. Sawyer gets up and the two start fighting in the locker room. After a while, the tecnicos rush in to break it up and you can see both Sawyer and Medico are bleeding from their foreheads. This situation has gotten out of hand.

MD: Interesting stuff. Sawyer, Buzz’s brother who we know from Georgia and Portland primarily, is another guy who was past his last big run but still had something left to add. Despite this being for the Junior title, there was a real Buddy Rose vibe to Brett here. He had extra girth and looked like the heat was getting to him, but could still go on fast exchanges. The post match angle in the locker room was intense. I’m sure they weren’t playing off of it specifically, but I can imagine how the backstage area would feel just a bit more out of control during this period, right? It certainly felt novel and like things were getting very much out of hand.

EB: As result of the ending of this match and resulting altercation in the locker room, a rematch was scheduled between the new champion Brett Sawyer and the former champion Super Medico.

Mark and Chris Youngblood made a triumphant return to Puerto Rico at Aniversario by capturing the World tag team titles from the team of Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein. The former champs would split up after Aniversario, with Abudda Dein returning to singles competition. Rip Rogers would attempt to regain the World tag titles from the Youngbloods but with a new partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yE9pqYKsfA

Rip’s partner is none other than Chicky Starr, sporting a new haircut thanks to his loss to TNT at Aniversario. The match is joined in progress as we see Rip and Chicky use an object that they picked up from the ground and attack Mark Youngblood. Hugo on commentary is saying that the blame for this goes to whoever was the irresponsible fan (and he stresses irresponsible a couple of times) that threw the object near the ring. Chickly and Rip maintain the advantage thanks to their cheating, with Rip putting Mark into a sleeperhold (as Hugo on commentary exhorts young viewers to not play around and use these holds which can really mess you up). Mark manages to break the hold and tags in Chris, who tees off on Rip and Chicky. All four men end up in the ring. An attempt to smash the rudos together leads to Chicky and Chris crashing into each other instead.  Chris ends up loopy outside the ring as Mark is double teamed by Rip and Chicky. Mark is held by Chicky and Rip goes for a clothesline, but Mark dodges and Chicky is hit instead. In the confusion after the hit, Chris comes off the top rope with a crossbody onto Rip. Chicky breaks it up at two. However, as the ref takes Chicky out of the ring, the Youngbloods are able to hit a slingshot splash onto Rip for the pinfall win. The Youngbloods retain the World tag team titles.

MD: We just get the last few minutes including a hot tag from Mark to Chris and the finish. The bit of beatdown we see looked good; Chicky was in rare form, his hair cut, looking from afar like the slimiest Bob Backlund imaginable. He had some great strikes and stooged like a champ too. Rip was Rip, so he partnered with him well, but Chicky made him look almost mundane. Anyway, the Youngbloods kept pressing post-hot tag with Chicky saving Rip until he tripped on the ropes and couldn’t anymore.

EB: However, Rip’s time in CSP would soon wrap up, with Rogers losing the Caribbean singles title he held to Miguelito Perez in early November. As for Rip’s former tag partner, Abudda Dein would find himself back in singles competition but with a heavier scrutiny around his suspicious boot. The controversy surrounding Abudda’s boot would come to a head when during a match an attempt was made to uncover if the boot was loaded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4nj_FF7S64

Dein’s opponent is prelim wrestler Tito Carrion, who doesn't have much luck in this match. Dein dominates throughout, at one point tossing Carrion to the floor and taking advantage of the ref making the count on Tito to load up his boot. Dein hits a boot to the head on Tito when he tries to get in the ring and proceeds to hit him with another after Tito gets thrown back in. Dein wins the match as Tito is busted open. Dein continues to attack the worse for wear Carrion post match, leading to Invader coming out to try to make the save. His first attempt is foiled by Profe grabbing onto Invader’s leg and allowing Dein to hit Invader with a  boot to the head. Invader is stunned outside as Dein continues to attack Tito, but eventually manages to get to his feet. Invader punches Profe and bodyslams him on the floor, and then gets in the ring to go right after Dein. Invader knocks Dein down and immediately grabs him by the leg to try to get Dein’s boot off. Will we finally discover if that boot is loaded? Dein fights Invader off but Invader manages to knock Dein back down and once again tries to unlace Dein’s boot. The boot is off! And Invader immediately hits Dein with it on the head, which busts Dein open. Invader tries to hit Dein again but a kick to the groin by Dein stops Invader. Dein grabs his boot and hightails it out of the ring before the boot can be checked. Dein helps Profe to his feet and they both amble back to the locker room as Invader is left laying in the ring from the kick to the groin and bleeding from his head.

MD: Look, Tito wasn’t a world beater, but he at least put up a fight in there, and that boot had to be loaded from a kayfabe perspective, because the stomp that Dein won with didn’t look like much of anything at all. There wasn’t any tricky loading or big wind up or anything. Just a sort of casual stomp and the pin. The post match was spirited though, with Dein bleeding in a moment where you wouldn’t think that he would (as the visual focus would have been on the boot instead). Things definitely feel chaotic this week as they heat things up again post Aniversario.

EB: This incident would lead to a short feud between Abudda Dein and Invader, one where Abudda was unsuccessful in capturing the Puerto Rico title.

TNT had been successful in retaining his name and paint, while also remaining the TV champion. However, will Chicky Starr drop the enmity with TNT after what happened at Aniversario? We’ll find out shortly.

Speaking of Chicky Starr, his Club Deportivo had been operating basically with only Chicky and Steve Strong as active members for most of the summer and fall. But after experiencing a less than stellar Aniversario with the loss of the Universal title and failing to strip TNT of his name and paint, it was time to bring in reinforcements. The first such reinforcement is someone we saw return at Aniversario, one Manny Fernandez. Manny would not waste time in terms of making an impression on TV.

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

Chicky is with Manny and wearing a cap to hide his haircut. This is a nice back and forth match where Manny manages to get the win after Super Medico misses a crossbody attempt and gets hit with Manny’s elbow to the face. Manny Fernandez is back in Puerto Rico and who knows what he and Chicky will get up to.

MD: They covered a lot of ground in around 6 minutes here making for a very complete TV match. Of note, Manny and Chicky continue to have natural chemistry; Chicky was out there with a hat. Super Medico outwrestled Manny early. Manny took over with a kick to the gut and leaned hard on him with a headbutt and knee drop. Super Medico fought out of a chinlock and kept pressing, but Manny finally shut him down. Just a nice example of a compact star vs star TV match that would have worked on WWF or WCW TV in 89.

EB: Chicky would also bring in Leo Burke as the newest member of his Club Deportivo. Leo was billed as the true master of the figure four leglock and he would put his mastery of the hold on display in his matches. One such display was against a returning Ron Starr (Chicky’s ‘cousin’ who had a falling out with Chicky the previous year).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESAigD-MjtU&t=23s

We’ll talk more about Ron Starr and his history in CSP in a future installment. Here he is making his return to Puerto Rico as a tecnico and is taking on his ‘cousin's’ newest client in Leo Burke. We join the match in progress as Burke launches Ron into the ropes, leading to both men colliding and falling down. Ron makes it to his feet first and hits a couple of headbutts to knock Leo Burke down. A pinfall attempt gets two. Hugo on commentary calls Burke the master of the figure four. Burke gets an abdominal stretch on Ron, but Ron counters it into a side legsweep for a two count. After exchanging a few blows, Burke launches Ron into the ropes but Ron counters with a knee to the face which sends Burke to the outside of the ring. Ron gives chase and hits a series of chops on Burke, However, Ron misses a charge on Leo (who is standing in front of the ringpost), which leads to Ron hitting his knee on the post. Back in the ring, Burke capitalizes on the injured leg and puts Ron in the figure four. Ron gives up but Burke refuses to break the hold as Ron continues to yell in pain. Eventually the ref is able to get Burke to break the hold. Chicky gets in the ring and calls off Burke as the ref warns Chicky about Burke not breaking the hold. An impressive win for the master of the figure four.

MD: We have the last almost three minutes of this and, look, when I think of Ron Starr, I think of Leo Burke and when I think of Leo Burke, I think of Ron Starr. Just the definition of journeymen who didn’t get major runs in the 80s in the most traditionally watched territories but always delivered in some of the smaller ones. Starr missed a knee on the outside and crashed into the post and Burke got over that figure four by making him give up to it. Chicky with the hat was giving me Paul E vibes a bit.

EB: Chicky wasn’t the only manager bringing in new reinforcements. El Profe had lost the services of Ivan Koloff after Aniversario but had decided to refocus Abudda Dein in the singles ranks. In addition, Profe also brought in a new wrestler to the territory by the name of Gary Albright.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwkITdkl9Y0

The video opens with Profe offering the fans or anyone who dares $5,000 if they are able to break Gary Albright’s hold. It appears no one takes up the challenge, so the match against Armando Fernandez  begins. Hector Moyano puts over the physical size advantage Albright has on his opponent. Eliud Gonzalez also mentions that Albright’s hold must be a very good one if Profe is willing to offer $5,000 to anyone who can break the hold. This match is a showcase for the new arrival, with Albright showing off his size and strength. The commentators do not know what the mystery hold is but catch on when Albright slaps it on (it seems to be some sort of half nelson hold). A quick and impressive submission win for El Profe’s newest stable member.

MD: Man did Albright ever make Armando look like a child in there. He was just huge and imposing. I can’t imagine anyone challenging him for that $5000. Not all of his offense hit with the oomph you’d want (the back elbow and the shoulder thrusts in the corner especially) but he was so big it almost didn’t matter. Armando got one (1) punch in for the entire match and that felt about right to me.

EB: As we saw after the Universal title match in Bayamon, Steve Strong was interviewed wanting another match against Carlos Colon. A rematch was signed between Carlos Colon and Steve Strong for October 28. Let’s go to that match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_MhXGNmh8Q

This footage of the match is from a Clasicos airing many years later, so the commentary doesn’t really add much in terms of at the time context. We join the match with Strong and Colon fighting outside of the ring. Strong has the better of Colon and lifts him up on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Strong proceeds to go towards one of the ring posts and proceeds to ram Colon’s left shoulder into it. It’s the shoulder that had been previously injured and it seems Strong’s gameplan is to try to take it out again. Strong shoves Colon into the ring. A bleeding Carlos is trying to gather himself on the mat as Strong gets up on the middle turnbuckle and taunts the crowds with his hand pose. Colon gets to his feet but Strong charges him with a tackle and hits a ddt to put Colon down. Strong hits an elbow drop and covers but only gets two. Strong hits a shoulder tackle and a legdrop, but again only gets two. Strong staggers Colon with some clubbing blows to the head and proceeds to bite the cut on Colon’s forehead. Strong misses an elbow drop and Colon starts getting fired up as the shoulder strap comes down. A series of punches and headbutts leads to Carlos hitting a cartwheel to fire up the crowd. Carlos continues on the offensive attack but Strong manages to counter with a clothesline to knock Colon down for a two count. Strong hits a nice piledriver on Carlos and slowly makes the pin.  It only gets two which frustrates Strong, who decides to go to the corner and adjust ‘Damian’ on his forearm. Another clothesline and elbow drop only get two and Strong is really starting to get frustrated with the ref. Strong hits a back bodydrop on Carlos and sends him into the ropes for another one. This second one ends up with Carlos being backdropped onto the referee Isaac Rosario and knocking him out.of the ring. A clothesline attempt from Strong is ducked by Carlos, who hits a back suplex on Strong (the same maneuver he used to win at Aniversario in Bayamon). Both men are down in the ring. Chicky, who has been outside seconding Strong, gets close to the ring and the camera catches him loading something into Strong's arm protector. Chicky then casually walks away, passing behind Isaac Rosario on the outside. El Vikingo runs into the ring to take over referee duties as both Colon and Strong have gotten to their feet. Strong hits a loaded clothesline on Carlos and gets the pin! It looks like Strong has regained the Universal title. Vikingo goes to hand the title belt to Strong but Isaac Rosario makes his way back into the ring and stops Vikingo. Isaac tries to get at Strong’s arm protector to find the foreign object in it but Strong yanks his arm away. Vikingo starts pointing at Strong’s arm and also asks to check it but Strong refuses. Rain starts falling as Vikingo calls for the bell to ring and it seems both Rosario and Vikingo are conferring. Strong refuses to have his arm checked and leaves the ring, as El Vikingo checks on Carlos and goes to consult with the commission members at ringside. While this is going on, the camera catches Chicky putting something away in his pocket. Strong makes a motion for them to check his arm protector as Chicky tries to shoo the camera away. The ringside doctor tries to check on the bleeding Carlos. However, Carlos rolls out of the ring and makes an immediate charge at Strong. Strong kicks Colon in the gut and walks away with Chicky and security to the locker room as the rain keeps falling. Carlos is then helped by the ringside doctor as he makes his way in the opposite direction of Strong.

MD: This was all pretty iconic. It is the best Strong has looked to me so far, as he’d really grown into his role. Looks wise, when he smirks, he comes off exactly like a slimy jock 80s movie villain should. We come in with them brawling on the outside, but Strong soon takes over and hits all of his big stuff. Carlos comes back including the cartwheel but Strong actually cuts him off and scores the pile driver only for Colon to kick out. Definitely rousing stuff here. They kind of goof the ref bump, which was a good idea (Colon crashing into the ref during a back body drop) and have to run the spot twice, but the end effect is Chicky loading up the arm guard for a loaded clothesline, the win, and then the contested finish. These two could work together extremely well by this point.

EB: So after that ending, who is the Universal champion? Well, due to the way the match ended the decision was made by the commission to hold up the Universal title. Neither Carlos Colon nor Steve Strong is the champion. With the title held up and the status of what will be done unclear, tempers would flare during a taping of Campeones de la Lucha Libre, a show where Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr served as co-hosts with Hugo Savinovich. The two would start arguing over who tried to steal the win in the Universal title match (Colon angry at Chicky’s interference by loading Strong’s arm protector and Chicky claiming that they stole the title from Strong who had won fair and square). The argument got heated and..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhUiWoChU2s

Hugo explains that they will show us an incident that happened between Carlitos and Chicky Starr in Salinas. We cut to Chciky Starr (wearing his crown) saying that he didn’t try to steal anything, you’re the only thief here (referring to Carlos), all the public knows this. Carlos reaches over arguing with Chicky, leading to Chicky yelling ‘Don't touch me! You don’t have to touch me! Simply this, you stole that title from Steve Strong and you know this well! You know what I think of you? (slaps Carlos in the face) This is what I think of you!’ Carlos grabs Chicky and hits him with a headbutt as Chicky’s crown flies off his head. Carlos goes after Chicky by tearing at his tuxedo jacket, but Chicky surprises Carlos with either powder or a spray blast in the face. Carlos is blinded and down. Chicky starts motioning to someone off camera and we see Manny Fernandez run in. Both Manny and Chicky attack Carlos, with Manny hitting piledriver and both men tearing away at Colon’s clothes. Manny continues attacking the bleeding Colon as it becomes clear that Chicky has a spray can as he starts spraying Carlos with it. They continue attacking and tearing away at Colon’s clothing but help finally arrives in the form of Carlos Colon Sr (or Don Carlos if you prefer) and a few of the tecnicos. Chicky and Manny make a run to the dugout with Don Carlos giving chase. Don Carlos tries to take a swing at Manny’s back but is unable to stop his running momentum and just completely eats a fall into the dugout (Hugo on commentary: ‘Wow, Carlitos’ dad fell down’). Carlitos is left in a pretty bad way as JYD and Invader are shown helping Don Carlos back from the dugout and over to where Carlitos is. TNT checks on Carlos and is joined by Invader (you can see Chicky’s crown is still lying on the ground near Carlitos). JYD is making sure Don Carlos is okay, but Don Carlos waves him off and motions to JYD that he should check on Carlitos. Invader and TNT place Carlitos on a stretcher to carry him back to the locker room so he can receive medical attention.

MD: Just a great, bloody angle with an explosive pile driver, a torn suit, and real concern as they brought in Colon’s dad. One thing to note here is that even before Manny attacked, Chicky had already thrown the powder in Carlos’ face. His minions and cronies would come and go but Chicky was the constant and they had to keep him strong, even if it was just in an underhanded sort of way.

EB: As November began, the situation regarding the held up title would soon begin to clear up. So let’s go to Hugo welcoming us to what is either the Nov 4 or Nov 11 tv show and learn what the latest updates and goings on are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w0gB_23wk8

Hugo gives a few updates. First he talks about the World Junior title situation, where he mentions that Brett Sawyer did not appear for the rematch with Super Medico scheduled for the previous week. Therefore, it was ruled that Super Medico regained the title via forfeit. Hugo also runs down the card they have tonight that will inaugurate the new arena in Yabucoa (we’ll look at the card lineup shortly). The big news is an update regarding the Universal title situation.Chicky Starr has thrown out a challenge on behalf of Steve Strong for a match to decide who the Universal champion will be. The catch? If Carlos loses he must retire but if Steve Strong loses then Strong will leave Puerto Rico. There must be no time limit, no disqualification and there must be a winner. Both Colon’s and Chicky’s lawyers are going over the contract for this proposed match and we just have to see if Carlos will accept this challenge.

Strong and Chicky would express their discontent at the title being held up in a promo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ48_u8W2XQ

After the first promo we see a brief clip of Hugo announcing that the title has been held up and also see the version of the show opening around this time. It includes a few second clips of the chain match between Invader and Ivan Koloff and the Caribbean tag title match between Perez and Castillo and Los Mercenarios from Aniversario. There is also a second bonus promo from a few months before when Strong was still Universal champion and he and Chicky were going to face Invader and JYD in a tag team match.

For those curious, this is the card scheduled that night for Yabucoa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76LfVJOUMg

The main event is a cage match between Carlos Colon and Chicky Starr (not surprised after the attack we saw). We are getting a rematch between Sawyer and new champion Super Medico for the World Junior title and it also looks like Chicky has not forgotten about what happened with TNT at Aniversario, as his stable member Leo Burke is facing TNT tonight. Here we have Leo Burke talking about his upcoming match with TNT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDf2ZwBhII

And if you’re wondering, the Angel of Death did appear that weekend as Chicky’s newest acquisition, but it’s a case of grand opening and grand closing with this tenure. Still, we at least get a Sports Shop segment out of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WgElsTjzVA

Before this specific tv episode ended, we got our answer regarding Carlos Colon accepting Chicky Starr’s challenge. The answer is yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQs7cQAQpM

Hugo is with Carlos and Chicky as they have the contract for the proposed Universal title match with them on a table. Both men have agreed with the contract stipulations and now it is just a matter of making it official by signing the copies of the contract. Hugo tells Chicky to behave while he explains to the viewers what is going on and goes over the conditions. No time limit, no disqualification and there must be a winner. The winner gets the Universal title and the loser must hold to their specific stipulation. If Carlos loses he must retire. If Strong loses he must leave Puerto Rico. Carlos and Chicky make some final comments before making the match official. What will be known as La Batalla Final (The Final Battle) is now official for Thanksgiving Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDf2ZwBhII

As part of the hype for the cage match that night, we get a Chicky Starr music video and promos from Chicky and Carlos talking about the cage match.

First the music video.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajQ9Zj8Mt58

Chicky starts by saying that if Carlos thinks he is going to finish Chicky Starr, he’s not going to get it since he and El Club Deportivo will finish with Colon first. After the music video, we get Chicky reading a proclamation where he says “The king proclaims for the year 1989, the king of wrestling Chicky Starr proclaims that the year 1989 will be the final year of Carlos colon as a professional wrestler. The king has spoken.”
We also get promos from Carlos and Chicky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og2TY1q7up4

Chciky wants Carlos to understand that he has a lot of experience in cage matches. So does Carlos, but he will immediately be on Carlos as soon as the door closes. He promises that any trick could come from his sleeve and he will walk out of the winner. Carlos will have to be taken out on a stretcher and to the hospital ‘you damned filthy black’. (Like I’ve mentioned before, Chicky would sometimes go over the line insulting his opponents).  

Carlos says that he doesn’t care if Chicky brings objects to the ring, inside the cage Chicky can’t run, Carlos wants to give Chicky what he deserves and he’ll give Chicky a beating like never before to avenge what Chicky’s done to him. Hugo also asks Carlos about the upcoming match on Thanksgiving Day and whether he feels he has made a mistake agreeing to the stipulations. Carlos does not think he made a mistake but he's aware it’s a serious match and of the gravity of the stipulations if he loses. He’s not ready to retire and even if he were, he’s not going to let people like Steve Strong and Chicky Starr dictate when that will be. He studied the contract and talked it over with his wife and family, and he feels this is the only way he will be able to banish this beast from Puerto Rico. He’s confident, and with the crowd’s and the supreme being’s help, he will walk out the winner.

MD: Some scattered thoughts on these last clips. It’s a shame Sawyer wasn’t there for the match because that was such a hot angle in my mind. It’s just the risk one takes with this stuff. Card is Subject to Change nowhere more than Puerto Rico it seems. They were amazing at increasing the stakes in that Memphis sort of way, though. The gimmick going from Colon just surviving Strong and getting the title to him potentially having to leave Puerto Rico and retire if he loses would definitely inspire attention. And Chicky coming to a formal contract signing in the crown and robe is pure Chicky. I haven’t actually seen an Angel of Death match in ages, but the gimmick of the bionic hand should have worked well in PR and he was definitely looking like a giant Gary Hart at this point.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, the clock is winding down on 1989 as we head towards The Final Battle. Who will finally triumph between Carlos Colon and Steve Strong?

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Of Heart Punches, Taped Fists and (Sometimes) Masked Men

Week 4: Of Heart Punches, Taped Fists and (Sometimes) Masked Men

EB: On May 20, Sadistic Steve Strong became the new Universal champion, defeating Carlos Colon in a Death match. In the process, Colon’s shoulder was badly injured after the repeated targeting by Steve Strong throughout their feud finally resulted in the shoulder giving way. Although Carlos tried to gut it out, there was no way for him to be able to stand up to Strong in that condition. Thus, Strong and by extension Chicky Starr were in control of the top prize in Puerto Rican wrestling. As we saw during the death match, two members of El Ejercito de la Justicia came out to try to help Carlos with his injury during the match, Invader and TNT. With Carlos on the shelf, someone had to step up and take on Steve Strong. And the first challenger was Invader, Chicky Starr’s hated enemy.  

The feud between Invader and Chicky Starr had been raging since Chicky turned on Invader in a teacher vs student match at the end of December of 85, creating the biggest rudo in Puerto Rico and starting a feud that had raged between the two of them since then. When Invader stated that he wanted to return to wrestling after the murder trial had concluded in February, the wheels for his return would start via Chicky running him down on tv. This would eventually lead to a Sports Shop segment that signaled that Invader had returned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXG-NyPDF38

We go to the start of the March 4 episode of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre, where Hugo welcomes the viewers and hypes up the big card happening tonight at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. He also mentions what we’ll be seeing during the show (including the awaited special video of Invader training for his return and a Sports Shop segment with new arrival Sadistic Steve Strong as guest). Tonight is the night Puerto Rico has been waiting for, the return of The Invader. As part of the hype, Hugo presents a recap of what has occurred between Chicky and Invader recently.

On February 25th, an interview with Chicky occurred where Chicky went hard on running down Invader. If you hear the bleeps, it’s because Chicky went there (the words bleeped out are murderer, criminal and pile of sh#t).  Later on the same episode, a Sports Shop segment aired where Chicky was with El Profe. Chicky stated that again Invader had not answered his invitation to appear as his guest on his Sports Shop segment (including not answering a certified letter inviting him on the show which received no response). Chciky sends Profe to check just in case that stupid Invader was out there somewhere in the studio. After Profe leaves, Chicky again starts talking about that idiot Invader when we hear some noises come from somewhere off camera. The video jumps to Chicky saying that Invader lost his chance to appear back on tv when El Profe comes back. Chicky asks him if that idiot had arrived but Profe shakes his head no. All of a sudden, someone runs into the studio in their underwear screaming and covering his face. It’s El Profe! As Chicky stands up and turns around, he sees an unmasked Invader dressed up as El Profe. Chicky demands to know what the heck he is doing here, but Invader just smacks Chicky hard across the face (sending Chicky tumbling over his chair) and leaves. We then cut to an interview with Invader where he’s mentioning that he’s not going to take any of Chicky’s insults, when all of a sudden Chicky appears and throws black ink onto Invader (and getting some on Hugo as well). This sets up Invader’s return match vs. Chicky. Later on in the show, they also aired the training video for Invader. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT-Bdsii3TY

MD: Chicky really lays it in to Invader here, not shying from the fact he isn't there and from all of the issues at play, and that's such an interesting choice. There's no way to make a side seem less credible than to have a guy like Chicky go all in on it. Then, to have Invader respond by stealing Profe's gear is such a clever, over the top moment. They follow that with the music video that leans so incredibly hard on sentiment. It's Invader working out, Invader training with other wrestlers in the ring, and Invader with his family on a beach. Unsurprisingly, it feels like something right out of Memphis. When you look at the total package, they were really stacking the deck to make this work as well as possible.

EB: On the same night that Steve Strong would make his house show debut, Invader would make his in-ring return and face Chicky Starr (they would also wrestle the following week). While we do not have these matches vs. Chicky, we do have a joined-in-progress tv match vs. Sasaki San (Kensuke Sasaki, who was one half of the Ninja Express at the time with Mr. Pogo) which takes place during the first month of Invader’s return.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-em9KAp2LbU

It’s a short clip but there’s a few things I want you to take note of. First, you can tell the crowd is behind Invader here.   You can see him do a two-hop celebration after the win, you’ll usually see Invader do the two hops as sort of a signature playing to the crowd, firing up or celebration move. And, while it’s not clearly visible since the ref El Vikingo was moving across the shot, Invader wins the match with the heart punch. This is Invader’s signature finishing move and it is one with quite a bit of backstory to it that will keep coming up and being referenced as we go along our journey. So, let’s explain the story surrounding Invader’s heart punch.  

Invader first appeared in CSP around August of 1977, a masked man hailing from parts unknown who had a taped right fist and used the heart punch as his finisher. He was a heel. Speculation ensued about the mystery behind that taped fist of his, on whether it was loaded and if it was illegal, but it was clear that it was effective.  But before the year was out, Invader would end up turning and switching sides, joining the tecnicos where he would remain as a fan favorite for the next decade. Although he had turned, Invader still had his taped fist. But things would change after June 30, 1978.

Invader was teaming with Carlos Colon in a tag team match facing the Martel Brothers, composed of Pierre (who you may know as Frenchy Martin) and Michel (the real life older brother of Rick Martel).  The Martels were among the top heels for CSP throughout the mid and late 70s and this match was the main event of a card held on June 30 of 78 in Ponce.  This match was a continuation of a rivalry that had started a few months earlier between Invader and Pierre over the Caribbean title and had continued from there. The Martels won the tag match but afterwards in the locker room Michel complained to Pierre about not feeling well.  While making the trip back to San Juan, Michel suffered a heart attack and, although rushed to a hospital in Ponce for assistance, unfortunately passed away.  A young Rick Martel had to come to Puerto Rico to identify and take his brother’s body back to Canada. And in a world where kayfabe is king, a storyline emerged from this real-life tragedy (with the Martel family’s permission and approval) that would kick off one of the biggest feuds of the next two years in CSP.

On TV, Pierre Martel would accuse Invader’s taped fist heart punch of being responsible for causing Michel’s heart attack and death. With uncertainty surrounding if Invader’s punch had indeed caused Michel’s death, the commission banned the taped fist heart punch. The feud between Invader and the Martel family would continue on and off for the next two years, with Invader 2 (Roberto Soto) debuting as Invader’s tag partner and helping out against the Martels (which included Pierre, Rick, Daniel and Jean). The feud would end in a last battle cage match in which Pierre had his loaded boot and Invader had his taped fist. Shortly after, Pierre would turn face and acknowledge that Invader was not responsible for Michel’s death. But the seeds of doubt would still linger in kayfabe.

The heart punch was further solidified as a dangerous move in 1983 when Ox Baker ended up putting Invader in the hospital for several weeks with Ox’s version of the heart punch, setting off a heart punch vs heart punch feud which was eventually settled at the Aniversario 83 show. As part of the story, mention was made of Ox Baker causing the death of two wrestlers with the heart punch (Roy Gunkel and Alberto Torres), while Invader’s heart punch history was also referenced. As you can see, the heart punch has quite the loaded backstory here in Puerto Rico.

Since then, the heart punch has been treated as a serious move in Puerto Rico, and a dangerous one if delivered via a taped fist. Eventually, after the initial banning of the move,  Invader would start using the heart punch again but without his fist taped up. However, on occasions, whenever a feud or rivalry has heated up, a stipulation would be added to matches where Invader would be allowed to use his taped fist. And that taped fist was always treated as a dangerous weapon.

With that explanation of the history of the heart punch and taped fist, let’s go back to 1989. After Invader’s return he would eventually spend the month of April and May in a feud with Abudda Dein over the Puerto Rico title. The feud would reach its peak on Mother’s Day (the same card as the chain match between Carlos Colon and Steve Strong), where Invader defeated Dein for the Puerto Rico title. Here is a match from earlier in their feud, taking place on April 8 with Rufus R Jones serving a special ref.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJFzPa0_PTU

MD: Kensuke Sasaki on excursion was a nice little surprise even if he's working to the stereotypes and isn't as dynamic, as, let's say Muta in PR a couple of years before or as acclimated to the style as Pogo and Nagasaki were. I'm in full agreement with Esteban that the most important thing to note here (as we don't get the best look at the heart punch), is probably how into the match the crowd was in general and how thoroughly they were behind Invader upon his return. It's the same with the Dein match. They really got their mileage out of Rufus in this run. I hadn't realized that Dein was Rocky Iaukea. Rufus obviously plays into the finish. If the fans hadn't remember just who and what Invader was in the ring, this reminded them; he was so good at working from underneath, especially when bloody, and then picking that perfect moment to start with the big punching comeback. 

As someone who had gone through most of the 80s DVDVR set and his share of Invader matches, I do think of him as a striker but I'm not sure I ever really placed the heart punch as so integral to his act. In a territory where there were often bombastic, chickenshit heels (Embry, Rogers, Chicky, Profe, etc.), having a babyface with the heart punch gives his opponent a lot to work with and to be wary of. I fooled myself for a while in thinking Stan Stasiak was actually amazing (he wasn't) just because I love watching him as a babyface menace Buddy Rose in Portland with the move. 

EB: But while feuding with Dein, Invader had also teamed up with Carlos Colon as his tag partner in Colon’s tag confrontations with Steve Strong and partner (be it Chicky, Dein or Abdullah). So, Invader was already familiar with Strong from having faced him in the ring and seeing the havoc and injury he had caused to his fellow tecnicos. And Chicky had not forgotten about his hated enemy either. We go to a Sports Shop segment airing May 27, the week after Steve Strong won the Universal title and put Carlos Colon out with an injured shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW1TYm4Y1Qg

Chicky opens by introducing his guest Steve Strong, the new Universal champ and the person who has made Chicky the happiest he has ever been in his entire professional wrestling career. He’s reached the climax of his profession, because they have finished off Carlos Colon, Chicky’s number one enemy. His joy is so great he wants to share it, but not with Carlos Colon or the fans, but with Steve Strong who has made all this possible (‘the man that finished you, the man who defeated you Carlos Colon’). Chicky asks the director to play the video of what happened last week in Caguas when Steve Strong defeated Colon. As footage of the match plays (specifically the shoulder ramming part), Chicky talks about how Strong dismantled Colon’s shoulder under his direction and now Colon is done. Steve Strong is the new Universal champ, the new king of wrestling and Colon has passed into history. Chicky then turns it over to Strong so he can talk about how he feels and what is next. After Strong finishes talking, Chicky agrees with Strong and says that Strong destroyed, squashed, and humiliated Carlos Colon, as the fans cried at his defeat Strong’s heart was overflowing with joy and glee. As just as you have passed into history Colon, now you’re passing days in the hospital. And up next for Strong is ending Invader #1. Chicky asks the director to play more footage of what happened last week so they can keep enjoying the moment. Chicky continues to gloat about achieving his dream and Colon’s career being over. Chicky then asks Strong to talk about what he has planned for Invader. Chicky closes out by saying that Invader #1, you’re next on the list and what will happen to you will be worse than what happened to Colon. And to the rest of El Ejercito de la Justicia, do not get involved with this man (Strong).

As part of Steve Strong’s celebration of winning the Universal title, he issued an open challenge to face anyone which resulted in a two vs one handicap match against Gino Rodriguez and Maelo Huertas. We’ve seen Gino Rodriguez before being a victim of Steve Strong in his debut TV match. Maelo Huertas had also previously faced Steve Strong on TV, meeting a similar fate as Rodriguez.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHHjfT4mM8

Maelo has been wrestling for the past couple of years as a young up and comer in a JTTS / lower card spot. He also happens to be Invader #1’s younger brother. We go to the handicap match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8xMIHv3B0

Even two on one Gino and Maelo have a tough time dealing with Steve Strong, who easily handles them in the opening moments of the match. Not even a minute in, Strong grabs Gino and tosses him over the top rope in front of the referee, which causes a DQ to be called. With Rodriguez out of the picture, Strong proceeded to attack and bloody Maelo Huertas. On commentary, Hugo talks about how Strong just wants to hurt people and sow terror in the World Wrestling Council (in case I forgot to mention this before, CSP is the promotion, WWC is the sanctioning body of which CSP is part of). Strong continues his assault on Maelo as Chicky cheers on. Strong pushes the ref away when he tries to call him off and the attack continues. We then see Invader heading towards the ring, but he’s shown to be taping his fist up as he makes his way to the ring to help his brother. Strong cuts Invader off and slingshots him into the ring.  Invader is sent into the ropes but ducks a clothesline, blocks a kick on the rebound and uses the opening to square up and land the heart punch on Strong. A taped fist heart punch. Strong tries to stay standing, but after trying to withstand the effects of the blow, he eventually collapses down on the mat. As Strong convulses slightly from the effects from the blow, Invader just stares at the downed Strong before grabbing his brother and helping him away from the ring. A concerned Chicky gets into the ring to check on Strong and calls for help, which arrives in the form of the Batten Twins, Rip Rogers and Johnathan Holliday.

If you know the context behind the taped fist heart punch, you can see that Invader was not messing around. He had seen first-hand what Steve Strong was capable of doing, due to being in the ring against him and also seeing what Strong had done to Carlos Colon. His brother was in serious trouble and he was going in ready to do what it took to deal with Strong.  And in the process, it looks like Invader has shown that he has an equalizer to go up against Strong, something that can give him a chance to take the Sadistic one down.

The video then cuts to Chicky starting a promo about what had happened but he doesn’t get too many words in (‘Invader, what you did has no name, but let’s see what you’re able to do when…’) before an enraged Strong comes into the locker room, screams ‘Get out!’ and shoves Chicky out of the way. As Strong cuts his promo talking about how no one has ever put him down and that he was going to make Invader pay (which includes showing off the weapon to counter the heart punch that he had been gifted by Luc). While Strong rants, the camera slowly pans to reveal Chicky laid out on the floor of the locker room, having been sent tumbling over a bench by Strong’s push. Strong promises that the first meeting with Invader will be the last, Invader’s time is numbered. This match would happen on May 27 in Caguas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we0Jh18AfSY

We go to a clip from the June 3rd Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre episode, where Hugo shows what happened in the closing moments of the Invader vs Strong Universal title match the previous week. We cut to Invader standing on the turnbuckle punching a bloody Steve Strong.  Invader tries to Irish whip Strong across the ring, but Strong counters and sends Invader into the corner. Invader manages to jump on the middle turnbuckle, immediately jumps to the top and comes off with a crossbody. Strong manages to duck however, and Invader ends up cross bodying the ref El Vikingo by mistake. As Invader is gathering himself on the mat, Strong goes on the offensive with some kicks to the head. He grabs Invader and whips him into the ropes, but Invader manages to leapfrog over Strong. As Strong turns around, Invader gathers himself and hits a heart punch on Strong, which stuns him but does not knock him down. Invader, seeing Strong stumbling a bit but not going down, comes off the ropes with a second heart punch. This time Strong falls as the crowd cheers on. Invader covers Strong but El Vikingo is still out. After a while, a second ref (Ricky Vargas) comes running out to make the count, but Strong by this point has come to and manages to kick out at the count of two. However, Strong is still feeling the effects of two heart punches and rolls out of the ring. Invader jumps off the ring apron with an ax handle smash to Strong’s back and attacks Strong on the outside. Strong is trying to get away but Invader does not let up. Strong is visibly still feeling the effects of the heart punches. As Invader and Strong continue fighting outside of the ring, Chicky comes out and motions for Strong to get into the locker room. The bell rings, signaling the match is over and is a double countout. Strong manages to get away and down the stairs, still reeling from the heart punches. After this first encounter, the heart punch has shown itself to be a potent weapon against Strong, but even so Strong took two heart punches and was still able to kick out (after a delay in the count, but still impressive) and even walk out under his own power.

After the match clip, we go to Steve Strong talking about tonight’s rematch in Carolina. Due to what happened with the referee the previous week, Rufus R Jones has been named as special ref for the rematch (as we saw earlier in the Dein match, Rufus has been serving as a special ref depending on the circumstances). Strong talks about how Invader has messed up his gods’ plans and talks about how devastating the heart punch is. But once again, Strong makes mention that he has been given a weapon to counter the heart punch. Even with Rufus R Jones being the special ref and the crowd being behind Invader, none of it will save Invader.

We then go to Invader, who talks about what happened the previous week about how he missed out on becoming the Universal champ because the ref was out when put Strong down with the heart punch. He notes that tonight Rufus is the ref, and it’s not because needs any help, because he does not want or need help to become the Universal champ, he wants to feel proud of becoming Universal champion because he did it by himself. Rufus is the referee because of what happened with the ref last week. Invader says he has shown to everyone in Puerto Rico that he can put Strong down with the heart punch and he will do so again tonight in Carolina. He will do whatever it takes to become the Universal champion and he doesn’t care how powerful Strong is, he will defeat him once and for all tonight. Both Hugo and Invader make a quick mention in their comments about Strong having injured Carlos Colon, making sure that stays present in the fans’ minds.

After the June 3 match, Strong and Invader squared off in a lumberjack match on June 10 (I’m guessing the match on June 3 also likely ended in a double countout if they had a lumberjack stipulation). But once again, the finish of the lumberjack match led to another rematch the following week for Father’s Day weekend. And this time, a stipulation was added, Invader would be allowed to have his fist taped. We go to the June 18 match, joined in progress.

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

Invader has his fist taped and has the advantage on Strong, who is once again bleeding. Invader hits some chops and blows in the corner with the taped fist, but we see a repeat of their first match where Strong reverses an Irish whip and Invader counters with a cross body of the top. And once again, Strong ducks and the ref is taken out. Invader is stunned by the collision and Strong takes advantage to hit a piledriver on Invader. Strong goes for a cover as the ref has come to and crawls over to make the count. However, they are too close to the ropes and Invader manages to break the count at two by getting his foot on the rope. Strong just stares at Invader’s leg and shoves the ref out of frustration. Strong slams Invader and proceeds to go to the middle rope where he sets up his loaded elbow pad in order to do his elbow drop. Strong jumps off with the elbow but Invader manages to roll away in time. Both men slowly get to their feet but Strong goes on offense first with a clothesline. Strong then sends Invader into the ropes and hits a flying tackle. He then does his hand signals and starts loading up the power of Damien into his elbow. Strong sends Invader into the ropes ready to deliver the blow, but Invader ducks and they hit heads on the rebound. Both men are down, but Invader starts pumping himself up and manages to get a clothesline on Strong. Invader starts a flurry of blows onto Strong (including an eye rake) but Strong manages to counter by sending Invader into the ropes, causing them to smack their heads together again. Strong once again manages to get on offense first, but after Invader manages to dodge two clotheslines, he is able to hit the taped fist heart punch. Strong hits the mat but he falls right by the ring ropes and apron. Before Invader can get to Strong (he’s spent from the damage taken in the match), Chicky Starr grabs Strong and rolls him out of the ring. Strong collapses to the ground as Chicky stands over him, patting Strong on the back. Invader makes his way out of the ring and proceeds to grab Chicky and knock him out with a taped fist blow to the head. Invader then tries to lift Strong up to get him back in the ring, but Strong is completely out of it and is too big for Invader to easily lift. Invader eventually manages to get Strong onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and proceeds to place him on the ring apron, to roll Strong in and pin him. But before Invader can finish getting Strong in the ring, the ref reaches the out of the ring count and the match ends once again with no winner on a double countout.

MD: We only get bits and pieces of this feud obviously, but what we get looks very good. Strong, again, looks great in squashes. He pulled out a slingshot belly to back in the handicap match and made Maelo bleed which isn't something I'm personally used to in a handicap match, though Esteban tells me it happened with Abby sometimes. We come into both singles matches with Strong bleeding so it's a shame we miss the beginnings, but after that they follow a similar pattern with Invader causing a great ref bump with the back cross body off the turnbuckles. In the first one, Invader actually gets the heart punch and the phantom pin before it gets thrown out on the outside. In the second, Strong takes over and hits the pile driver (also great is how he keeps adding on to his ridiculous lore in promos by the way) only for the ref to slowly recover and Invader to get his foot on the rope. Things build to the comeback and the heart punch again, but this time Chicky pulls Strong out; Invader crushes him with the heart punch but can't get the massive Strong back into the ring in time. If you're ready to move on to the next challenger, it's a pretty satisfying non-finish.

EB: The feud between Invader and Steve Strong would start winding down by the end of June, although they would still face each other a few times in tag matches (and even one more singles match) in July. By mid-July, Invader would soon be in a feud with new arrival Ivan Koloff over the Puerto Rico title. But in between winding down the feud with Strong and starting up with Koloff, there was an opportunity for Invader to after for the World tag team titles. By his side, for the first time in over a year, was his regular tag team partner since 1983, Invader #3.

WWC: The Invaders vs. Rip Rogers & Abudda Dein 7/1/89

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9I87mgnAM

EB: This match is from July 1 in Caguas.  The World tag team champions are Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein and they are defending against the team of the Invaders, specifically Invader #1 and Invader #3. If you need to distinguish which Invader is which, Invader #1 is the taller one of the two. I mentioned earlier that Invader #2 (Roberto Soto) had first shown up in the second half of 1978. With the arrival of a second Invader, the original one would then be referred to as Invader #1 to differentiate which Invader was being referred to (although when no other Invaders are active it can default to Invader without the number). Invaders 1 and 2 would be tag team partners for two years, but in the latter half of 1980, Invader #2 would turn heel stemming from Invader #1 deciding to team up with former hated rival now turned tecnico Pierre Martel in a tag team tournament. This would result in an on and off feud between the two Invaders that would last throughout the next two years all the way up to Invader #2’s departure from CSP around March of 82. And just a couple of months after Invader #2 left, something happened with Invader #1. After a victory over Bobby Jaggers, Invader after the match voluntarily unmasked and revealed his identity to the people of Puerto Rico. His reasons were that he had grown tired of hiding who he was, that he was Puerto Rican, and wanted the fans to know this. He stated that initially he had been masked because he did not want his mother to see him wrestling and worry about him, but it was time. And thus, Invader #1 was revealed to be Jose Gonzalez (Gonzalez being his mother’s last name and the alias he adopted when wrestling in the U.S) from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. If you look at the earliest CSP tv episodes we are fortunate to have, they’re actually just a couple of months after Invader had unmasked, so seeing him without the mask was still relatively new to the fans.

For the next year or so, Invader #1 would be the only active Invader in CSP and would continue wrestling without a mask Then, in the summer of 1983, just as Invader was finishing up his feud with Ox Baker, he made the move to the then WWF to wrestle as part of The Invaders tag team. His partner for this version was Johnny Rivera, who had previously wrestled in the WWWF in the 70s (at the same time Invader #1 was there) and had been wrestling in CSP in the early 80s. The Invaders spent a year in the WWF, with Rivera billed as Invader #2 (because there had never been Invaders before in the WWF and it made no sense to bill him as #3). But The Invaders eventually returned to CSP in the Spring of 84, with Rivera billed as Invader #3. Since then, they had been among the top tecnicos, with Invader #3 finding singles success in the junior heavyweight division as well. We’ll discuss more about Invader #3 in a future post. Let’s go back to the World tag title match.

You’ll notice that Invader #1 is wearing matching blue gear and mask with Invader #3. In all of his matches and appearances that we’ve seen so far in 1989, he’s been maskless and wearing long yellow tights. Why is he wearing the mask? Well, since Invader #1 had voluntarily unmasked, it was deemed acceptable for him to wear the mask if he chose to do so. And when teaming with a fellow Invader, he would wear the mask so they would have a uniform team look. It also allowed for certain strategies such as quick switches. You’ll also sometimes see Invader #1 wear the mask in singles matches, which he has said is a strategic move on his part to try to hide his expressions from his opponent to make it harder for them to get a read on him in the ring (usually happens when a feud has gotten serious or near its climax). This is also the first time in over a year, between Invader #3 being put on the shelf by Manny Fernandez (yes, some of you may know the incident, we’ll talk about this in a future post) and Invader #1 being out due to the Brody murder and trial, that the Invaders have teamed up.
The match starts with Invader #1 in the ring (besides the height, for this match it’s a bit easier to tell them apart since #1 has more of a tan). Right away you can tell how the Invaders work as a team, doing quick tags and switches, coming in off the top rope or jumping over the ropes into the ring. It’s a more acrobatic style compared to how Invader #1 typically wrestles as singles wrestler, so there is a bit of a style adjustment for Invader #1 in terms of how he wrestles in singles vs tags when teaming up with Invader #3. You’ll notice that the fans love it when they use the switches against the rudos. Invader #1 at one point starts antagonizing El Profe by moving towards him and spitting at him from the ring apron. The Invaders set the pace and control the first part of the match. On commentary, Hugo makes mention of Abudda Dein having a kick that may be due to a loaded boot, but nothing has been conclusively proven.

Eventually, the rudos are able to take control against Invader #3 but after both Dein and Invader #3 collide and are down, a hot tag is made to Invader #1. After a pier six brawl breaks out, Rogers and Invader #1 end up fighting outside. In the ring, Invader # 3 manages to slam Dein and  make his way to the top rope to try to hit his famous catapult maneuver onto Dein. But Rogers sees this and shoves Invader #3 off the top rope. Dein starts loading the boot in order to finish up Invader #3, but Invader #1 comes from behind and cuts him off with a rollup. However, there is a slight delay in the count since the ref is tied up with Profe and Rogers is able to break up the pin attempt. The match then goes to the outside and results in a double countout. The four wrestlers make their way back in to continue fighting, but the match is done. The scuffle continues for a bit in the ring and ends with the Invaders tossing the champs over the top rope. The video ends with the Invaders standing in the ring, cheered on by the fans.

The tag match provides a good idea of how the Invaders work as a tag team. It’s also, at least based on the results available, the last time Invaders #1 and #3 will team up as the incumbent Invaders team (we’ll discuss what happens with Invader #3 in a future post). So there is also a bit of historical hindsight to this match.

MD: Invaders took a ton on Rip to start but it's ok because Rip and Dein were champions and retaining so you want them to look vulnerable. Even more than that, it was Rip so watching him stooge and feed and bump is always super entertaining. I think Invader 3's size naturally helps him draw sympathy when he's in peril, even if he's not quite as strong at emoting as Invader 1 is. Even knowing that this didn't end with the Invaders winning the titles, they still got me on the nearfall roll up after the boot got loaded up. When you're going to have everything break down, it's nice to get a moment like that where the babyfaces should have won. Plus they end up standing tall at the end leaving the fans happy enough.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we continue to follow Steve Strong’s run in Puerto Rico as the next challenger takes his shot. Learn about the face paint wearing karate ninja known as TNT and why you should be wary of his Cobra Dinamita hold.

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Bronco Boricua 1989

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWC: Bronca Boricua (1989) - YouTube

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hugo (in an incredulous tone): Wow.

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

Profe: Well, that's a bicycle handlebar.

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

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

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

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

Hugo: Profe?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones Master List

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RIP Lanny Poffo: ICW Eye of the Tiger Cage Match

Lanny Poffo vs. Rip Rogers ICW 11/16/82 - Eye of the Tiger Steel Cage Hair vs. Hair Television Title Match

Part 1

Part 2

MD: This followed a Randy Savage vs. Ratamyus cage match that was (based on Lanny's commentary) more of a bloodbath. Unfortunately, that's not online, if we have it at all. Thanks to Rip Rogers, we have this. It, on the other hand, was a title match main event, worked primarily as a big title match, even with the no DQ and hair vs hair stip; it served as a contrast. That's not to say that it didn't escalate and that they didn't lay it in, but they started wrestling mostly clean for the first half and the cage itself didn't come into play until the last third. It worked for the match, though, with the wrestling mostly even and skilled (including a great Lanny bridge out of a side headlock that would have fit well in 1970s France) until Lanny took a couple of big back bumps into the turnbuckles and Rip started to hone in. Great selling from Lanny here. He was working for the back row, picking up a ton of sympathy along the way and knowing just when to fire up from underneath. All of Rip's stuff looked mean and credible, and when they started moving on towards slugging it out, Rip's headbutts and Lanny's right hand were both equally memorable. Lanny took some big bumps into the cage, only saved by a foot on the ropes and Rip then ate all of Lanny's flipping offense, getting his own foot on the ropes for the parallel. They gave Rip a visual fall after a rep bump to protect him after a wild dropkick, but in all of the chaos and cut off interference, Lanny scored a roll up and the fans went wild. 

The match stands on its own as a really solid main event with some great selling of exhaustion and big strikes down the stretch. What makes it doubly special today, however, is that 1982 Lanny narrates the entire match. You get a kayfabe explanation of everything he was doing throughout, what he was thinking, what he was feeling, why he used one move or another, all with his wry sense of self. He was in character, but his voice chimes through even forty years later. This was Lanny holding a title, wrestling in the main event as a local hero, putting his hair on the line, fighting from underneath in a cage, and explaining the whole thing in his singular voice.

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New Footage Friday: All Japan 1/8/90

FULL SHOW

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Mitsuo Momota

MD: For a first match young guy, Kikuchi looked to have a ton of promise here. The dropkick stands out but he sold well and just looked like he belonged in there for the most part. Momota is a guy you want to see as an underdog, so watching him tear apart an arm in interesting ways is compelling but not what I enjoy the most out of him. They dropped the arm stuff in the last third which didn't necessarily do the match justice but you could see hints of the wrestler Kikuchi would become here.

ER: This felt more like a 1990 WWF house show match than a 1990 All Japan match, which still has some pluses. Much of the match is Momota grinding at Kikuchi's left arm, and Kikuchi's screaming during the arm work really made a lot of it resonate. But once you know that the left arm is never going to come up in any way once they go into the home stretch, it kind of renders the bulk of the match as "lets see if these front rows fill up a little more before the bigger matches". So you lop out the long arm section, and you're still left with a couple of cool things. Kikuchi's dropkick is fantastic and the way Momota sells it makes it seem like it hits with as much force as it looks like it's hitting. Later in the match Momota merely tosses Kikuchi to the floor and Kikuchi flies through the ropes as if he's hitting a tope on an invisible man, just a nutty bump to be taking in a "work the arm" match. I really loved how Momota blocked a Kikuchi hip toss by holding the ropes in the corner, then violently shoved Kikuchi to the mat. But I just can't by a single DDT finishing off Kikuchi, not after I seeing the decades of coconut clonks his head would end up enduring. 

Goro Tsurumi vs. Steve Gatorwolf

MD: Man, Gatorwolf's chops suck. I'll just lay that out there. He's big, has some presence, but Wahoo he is not. You know who could have had a good match against Tsurumi? Wahoo. Tsurumi's stuff is all good though. Good knees, took up space well, etc., but this was too long and Gatorwolf disappoints. We go deep on these cards, look under the overturned rock, but there maybe should be some limits? This feels like a match that no one's ever seen certainly, including the people that were actually in the crowd that night.

ER: I liked this more than Matt, and disagree about Gatorwolf's chops. Bad kneedrop? Sure Gatorwolf had a bad kneedrop. But All Japan fans had different ideas of what overhand chops to someone's forehead were supposed to look like and I think Gatorwolf's chops worked really well within the context of All Japan. What is kind of odd about Gatorwolf, is that his overhand chops are easily his weakest strike, but also the strike he uses 75% of the time. It would be like a pitcher with a terrible curveball who still used his curveball almost every pitch. There's a traditional chop exchange out of the corner, and Gatorwolf really blisters Goro's chest with a couple. He also threw this short right hand to the jaw a couple times that looked really good, but mostly it was the tomahawk chops. Goro Tsurumi is always an entertaining low card guy for me, but I think of him as a mid 80s AJ guy, not a 1990 AJ guy, and his offense that is primarily eye rakes and punches doesn't seem like anything that would fit into AJ (outside of Rusher Kimura). 

Tsurumi essentially works like Tarzan Goto working as Rusher Kimura, and that is a thing that I like. His punches look really great (and I love how he shook out his hand occasionally), he has a nice jawbreaker (which Gatorwolf bumped nicely), a couple of fun kneedrops where he just dropped both knees down into Gatorwolf's stomach, and a few eye rake variants. I couldn't believe Gatorwolf got the win here. Early 90s AJ had this weird habit of bringing in WWF job guys for tours, but it's not like they were giving those guys wins! Gatorwolf worked Tsurumi far more than any opponent on his tour, and was 8-2 against him! He lost to everyone else, so this might have been Baba really blatantly saying "You do not belong in All Japan any longer, Goro. Also you will be losing to David Sammartino and Joel Deaton in a couple months."  

Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Rip Rogers

MD: Rogers was just infinitely entertaining. If I was Baba, I'd have put him right in the comedy six mans (That weren't quite comedy six mans yet, but we'll get to that). He's a super over the top parody babyface here with lots of clapping and oh yeahs! He carried a kid around the ring on his shoulders before the match, which felt unique but was something he did multiple times on the tour. And if this was 1997 Ogawa or 2002 Ogawa or whatever, he would have been able to react and respond to it and it would have been amazing. 1990 Ogawa? He played grumpy with a chip on his shoulder as Rogers is just having a good time. I liked this a lot better than his Kobashi match a couple of days later, because Kobashi, in the midst of a big 7 match series against various opponents (including allies like Kabuki and Yatsu) just took it all way too seriously with the ability to take it to Rip, forcing Rogers into more of a heel role, where here he felt like a bizarre attraction. 

ER: I love the Rip Rogers All Japan tours, and Rip really should have been a regular undercard gaijin for the rest of the decade. Mike Modest basically secured a long term NOAH gig by getting a simple thumbs up gesture over, and Rogers has 5 or 6 different bits that are a definite hit with the AJ crowds. I've looked at some of his other matches from his two tours (here are matches against Fuchi and Sato, and here are matches against Kobashi and Eigen), and the act is a hit. Clapping, toting around kids, taking an eternity to hand off his robe, checking out his hair in his hand mirror, it gets a reaction every time and I have no doubt that he would have added to the routines with a longer stay. Rip has the shtick (which Ogawa plays into a little, mussing up Rip's hair), but he also works stiff, and this was when Ogawa was more of a stiff younger worker too, so we get a great mix of goof off yelping from Rip and then some stiff arm lariats from both. Rip has great punches (and he shakes his fist out too! A bunch of guys after my heart on this show...) and both bumped convincingly for the other. I loved Rip finishing with a superplex, too, but I just couldn't shake the idea that this guy should have been a gaijin undercard star.  

Mighty Inoue/Isamu Teranishi vs. The Fantastics

MD: Inoue was really good. I don't think he gets enough credit. Huge energy. Everything's crisp. Everything's mean. He has something special in how he moves and hits stuff. Teranishi, on the other had, does not. He was in there to lose offense and get beaten on. Fantastics kept taking advantage on him with teamwork and then Inoue had to come in and fix things. Fulton and Rogers had good stuff, like always, and fed well for Inoue, but I like them more when they get to lean into either face or heel roles generally.

ER: The Fantastics are so great during their 90s All Japan run that I have to imagine a ton of people just weren't seeing their matches, or else they would have been talked about as one of the greater 90s tag teams. The are total asskickers in All Japan, small, but packing a wallop. Matching them up against the still very fast and hard hitting Mighty Inoue and the super tough sumo Teranishi is just a super fun pairing. Fulton kept cutting off Inoue and Teranishi with his great right hand, Rogers had a lot of force behind everything he did (he hit a legdrop on a hot tag at one point and it felt like he was trying his hardest to destroy his tailbone), but perhaps his greatest strength is in taking all of Inoue's nastiest shots. Inoue sticks Rogers with a disgusting gutbuster/senton combo and looks like a truck tire rolling over Tommy. Teranishi hits a great kneedrop off the top and it felt like a possible finish. But the Fantastics were too good with cutoff spots and watching them peel Teranishi far enough away from Inoue was great, loved their Drive-By finish, and Fulton's running punch to keep Inoue from breaking up the pin was the sweetest icing.

 

Giant Baba/Rusher Kimura/The Great Kabuki vs. Masanobu Fuchi/Motoshi Okuma/Haruka Eigen

MD: You can't say that they didn't make good use out of Fuchi in these matches. He was able to switch on a dime between hanging with his legendary opponents and stooging all over the place for them. Due to the HH, I had a hard time telling Fuchi's side apart at times, but that's more on me. Baba's more mobile here and Rusher hasn't shifted over completely to the bit where he just stands around stoically as people hit him, but I'm not sure that's even a good thing. The matches get a lot funnier a few years later even if they're probably more technically sound at this point.

ER: I thought this was great, and maybe the best fusion of comedy and the guys still being able to work. Everyone in a trios having the average age of 45 just feels like a modern WWE match, and most of these guys could still go in the ring. It's much more wrestling with some comedy, as opposed to comedy with a little bit of wrestling like this style of trios would become. A lot of these guys (Eigen, Fuchi, Kabuki, Okuma) are still real ass kickers, Baba was still able to hit with a surprising amount of force and was still quite spry, and Rusher was inflexible but still had several cool tricks. 

Baba and Fuchi were a great match, with Baba hitting him with some really impressive stuff for a 52 year old giant. His Russian legsweep makes him look like an actual powerful giant, he hits one of the loudest Baba chops I've ever heard to the side of Fuchi's neck, Fuchi runs super fast directly into Baba's big boot, it honestly looked like they could have had a great singles match in 1990. But for some reason Fuchi hardly worked singles matches in 1990, not defending his World Junior title for a six month stretch. It's not just those two with chemistry, everyone works really well with everyone else, all get nice moments to shine. Kabuki looked as violent as ever, starting a match long trend of Eigen and Fuchi getting kicked in the shoulder blades. Kabuki makes kicking guys in the back and look so fun that Baba throws several great ones of his own. Eigen is really spirited and mean here, throwing stiff chops, slapping the taste out of Rusher's mouth with a hard fast combo, taking a quick flipping bump to the floor; he didn't look too old to be out to pasture, but he was working 90% tags and trios as one of the lowest totem pole guys on the roster. It's a real testament to how deep the native roster was. 

Okuma is a guy I always forget about, but contributed nasty headbutts (including a big standing splash variation) and has some great battles with Rusher and Baba. Even Rusher has his vicious moments, taking a ton of headbutts and throwing heavy chops, choking Eigen hard in the ropes. The comedy is well integrated and smartly played, not nearly so much a focal point of the match style, but a fun added feature of a quicker paced match than you'd expect. There was a lot of movement for a match that would become the old man style, and the few comedy spots provide nice breaks in the action. We get the Eigen spitting spot, except nobody has newspapers and he makes it to the 3rd row. And we get a great comedy callback spot to play off an earlier Baba moment. Kabuki had hit a hard bodyslam on Fuchi and Baba stepped firmly down onto Fuchi's stomach with his gigantic foot, then firmly walking on and over him. Fuchi later tries to do the same, only to get his foot grabbed, tripping him on his way over. The finish is a bit abrupt, which is a funny thing to say about one of the longest matches on the show. But I thought this was really one of the best matches from a style not known for it's high end in-ring. 

Shinichi Nakano vs. Randy Rose

MD: You feel a little bad for Rose to have to follow Rip on the card. He tried hard, though, including hitting an axe-handle off the apron, but his stooge stuff (like getting pulled off the ropes in a double leg or teeter-tottering like Funk in the ropes while getting chopped or getting atomic dropped onto a chair) wasn't going to play post-Rip. Nakano, like usual, was just there. This was fine but the crowd didn't come along.


Shunji Takano/Akira Taue vs. Abdullah the Butcher/Ivan Koloff

MD: A nothing match. This was a good tour for Koloff, but you don't really get to see that here so just take my word for it. Taue wasn't even close to being The Taue at this point, and watching him here, you couldn't be blamed for thinking he'd be another sumo guy who didn't make it. Takano (who was a couple of years younger actually), on the other hand, seemed like he would have been a player.

Yoshiaki Yatsu/Kenta Kobashi vs. The British Bulldogs

MD: This was mostly Davey Boy putting young Kobashi through his paces, but that was a lot of fun to see. Davey looked great and like he could have been feuding with Jumbo or Tenryu for the Triple Crown if he didn't go to the WWF towards the end of 90. I'm iffy on late Bulldogs matches because it's not very enjoyable to watch broken-down Dynamite, but he wasn't in much and mostly threw headbutts or did a little bit of grinding on Kobashi when he was in. Yatsu got to clean house towards the end but this felt about getting some more miles on Kobashi.

Jumbo Tsuruta/Tiger Mask II/Isao Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada/Samson Fuyuki

MD: This came just a few days after Takagi brutally ambushed Tenryu before a singles TV match with Koloff. It's also one of Tiger Mask Misawa's first matches back after missing most of 89 with an injury. Tenryu had faced Jumbo dozens of times over the last year, but generally, Tenryi had the younger guys (in Footloose) on his side and Jumbo would have older warriors like Kabuki or Yatsu on his. There wasn't a lot of opportunity to see Tenryu be a grumpy bastard against the youth. He made up for lost time here. Every time he got into the ring and got his hands on Takagi, it's great. He just brutalizes him for a few seconds and then dismissively tags out to one of his partners. He's equally a jerk to Tiger Mask (chopping him for no reason whenever he gets too close to the corner while he's on the apron) and, of course, Jumbo (just leaping into the ring, running across and tagging him). 

My single favorite bit was him wrecking Takagi after Isao had the impudence to pull Tiger Mask out of the way of the Tenryu top rope elbow drop. It was obvious that he took it personally and no one was better at taking things personally than Tenryu. Even though that was my favorite, the match was just full of great Tenryu moments: dropping a table on Takagi from the outside, eating some Tiger Mask kicks only to yank him down to the mat by his mask, smugly dodging a double knee by Takagi and Jumbo. All the while, he's incredibly giving, letting Tiger Mask and Takagi both have big moments against him. Jumbo and Footloose play their parts well and this ends up being as a really nice piece of business and a great lost match.

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