El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: An Authorized What?

Week 48: An Authorized What?

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

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

3/16/91 TV

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

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

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

Moondog Spot vs. Ricky Santana

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

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

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

Scott Hall vs. Tito Carrion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3/16/91 West Coast TV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doug Gilbert vs. Herbert Gonzalez

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

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

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

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

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

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

Action Jackson vs. Miguel Perez Jr. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kim Duk vs. Rick Valentine

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

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

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

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Hangmen Out

Week 46: Hangmen Out

EB: As we head into March, several long running rivalries are coming to a head. Two in particular have big apuestas matches signed to hopefully settle things. The Texas Hangmen have been on quite the run in Puerto Rico, becoming World tag champions and feuding with the top stars in CSP. Their main issue in 1991 has been against Invader #1 and Bronco #1. This has been a heated rivalry and now we have arrived at what has been deemed the final battle between the two trams. Everything will be on the line in this match as the World tag titles will be defended but also each team will be risking their masks or (in the case of Invader) hair.

Also reaching a big apuestas match is TNT in his feud with Original TNT. It seems that the two men have agreed to a match where the winner will get the name and paint of TNT, while the loser must stop using the TNT identity. This was the originally planned match for Aniversario 1989, and while it has taken about a year and a half, it looks like the issue will finally be settled.

One feud that has just gotten started is the one between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch. This feud has featured Dick Murdoch hitting a brainbuster on Carlos Colon on a ballfield and hurling some heavy insults at Colon and his family. They've played up that Murdoch is a racist and a member of the KKK, and also hinted that he and Colon had run-ins in the past. They’ve just  had their first match on February 26 but this rivalry is just getting going. 

All of these matches are set for March 2, so we have a big card to start the month of March. Let;s go to the March 2  tv shows, starting with that weekend’s Campeones episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a24xU7ZHWwE

Hugo Savinocih and El Profe are our hosts as usual, with Hugo mentioning Skandor Akbar during the opening and talking up how impressed he is that El Profe was able to get such an ally. They run down what will air on the program, with El Profe mentioning that we’ll have a video special for ‘Ñico’ Santana (and also insults Ricky being Cuban), a Greg valentine match and ou featured match is a hair vs mask match between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine (although it’s the last person eliminated from each team that will lose their mask or hair). The reason for showing this match is that tonight there will be a match with similar stakes, the apuestas match for the World tag team titles between the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1. The Hangmen are putting up their masks vs Invader’s hair and Bronco’s mask. El Profe says that there’s no way the Hangmen are losing tonight and that he’ll be there to personally cut Invader’s hair. They won’t bother keeping Bronco’s mask as a  trophy since it’s so ugly, instead they will cut it up right there. It’s not the only apuestas match happening tonight, as TNT and Original TNT will face off for the rights to the TNT name, paint and identity. This was the match they were scheduled to have at Aniversario 89 and now it will finally take place. 

Hugo hypes where the fans can get the VHS tapes and the merchandise the promotion has, then introduces the Ricky Santana music video set to the song ‘Extranjero’ (although it looks like the video is cut from this version). We then get a still shot of Ricky Santana with Hugo doing  a voiceover talking about how tonight Ricky will be in action against Moondog Spot and how Ricky is looking forward to the fans showing up and supporting him.

TNT is next with a promo about tonight’s match against Original TNT. TNT is very worried about tonight’s match at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel because his name and paint will be on the line. He has not misled anyone, it's been the other guy, and in a few short hours the truth will be evident. TNT wants the fans to go tonight and support him with their cheers and applause. His opponent is a dangerous man but the real TNT will come out on top, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his name and paint.

El Profe and Original TNT offer their response, with El Profe saying TNT is shaking because he knows the world will finally see his ugly face without paint. TNT will no longer be able to use the name. Original TNT chimes in holding a towel, promising to wipe all the paint off the faker’s face. 

MD: They’re going back to the well here. A lot of rematches on the card they’re hyping actually. But also Moondog Spot, so that’s something (vs Ricky Santana, who still does feel fresh to me). Kind of a fun promo from Original TNT where he threatened to wipe the paint off of TNT though (towel in hand).

EB: We get a rundown for tonight’s big card at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon: the rematch between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch; for the World tag titles and there must be a winner in a hair/mask vs mask match as Invader #1 & Bronco #1 challenge the Texas Hangmen; TNT vs Original TNT to determine who gets the rights to the name and paint of TNT and there must be a winner; Ricky Santana vs Moondog Spot; Kim Duk vs Motor City Madman; Miguelito Perez defends the Caribbean title against Scott Hall; Huracan Castillo challenges Mr. Pogo for the World Junior title; and the Super Medicos vs Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza. 

After the card rundown, we have a match from WWF television where Greg Valentine takes on Brian Johnson. It’s a squash match for Valentine, one where Hugo and El Profe talk about Greg’s run earlier in the year where he battled Carlos Colon for the Universal title. Profe promises that it won’t be the same result when Dick Murdoch faces Carlos. Profe even mentions  that it is a big deal for Murdoch since he’s getting in the ring with a person of color and that may mean expulsion from the KKK for doing so. Hugo quickly shuts down that talking point by saying  they should kick Murdoch out of wrestling for his insults and antics. This match is relatively old, since it has Ron Garvin pop up  in a picture in picture promo (so it’s likely  from 1989). Hugo takes the opportunity to mention that Ron Garvin is also a former Universal champion and that we may see him back in Puerto Rico sometime soon. Profe says that if Garvin comes back then he is more than welcome to join up with El Club Deportivo. Valentine wins the match with a shin guard assisted figure four.  I’m guessing they had Greg scheduled for the March 2 card initially (which is why they’re airing this match),  but he couldn't make it. It also seems they have plans for him to pop back in soon.

MD: Maybe coincidence because some of this is us missing footage but to me this is a testament to how little Valentine footage we’ve gotten throughout this run. It’s a shame. And he is pulling double duty too. I hadn’t even thought of that. He turns babyface right at the turn of 1991 in the WWF and feuds with Jimmy Hart into WM VII where he faces Earthquake. This clips was back during the Garvin feud though as there was an inset promo from him. Anyway, a nice butterfly suplex (he didn’t really go over with it) and belly to back before he moved the shinguard and won it with the figure-four.

EB: The Texas Hangmen and El Profe are here to talk about tonight’s winner take all apuestas match. Psycho says that the clock is ticking for Invader and Bronco to step one more time into the war zone with the Hangmen. They don’t care that the mask and titles are on the line, they are that confident in winning and they can remain the champions forever.  Killer adds that Invader will be left bald and looking stupid, while Bronco’s ugly face will be seen by the Puerto Rican fans. Bronco and Invader give their response, with Bronco promising that they will take the masks and titles. To defeat them the Hangmen will have to basically leave them motionless. Invader adds that they’ve battled with the Hangmen all across the island and know that they are a tremendous team, but tonight everything's on the line and they want to humiliate the Hangmen, they want their ugly masks. Tonight the fans will see who is the better team.

Super Medico #1 follows with a quick promo about tonight’s match against Valentine & Mendoza. This has been another long feud and Medico #1 promises that tonight the Medicos will pay the rudos back for everything they have done.

MD: Well we’re in business now. Masks vs hair. Or Masks vs Bronco’s Mask and Invader’s hair. I imagine this did business. They almost didn’t need to cut promos here, but the promos were good. I’m afraid to look ahead to see if we actually have this match or not. I hope we do.

EB: Our featured match is from around Thanksgiving of 1990 during the Super Medicos vs Eric Embry & Rick Valentine feud. It is an apuestas match where the last person eliminated from the losing team will lose their mask (if it’s the Medicos) or their hair (if it’s Embry & Valentine). Hugo explains the stipulations before the match, with El Profe giving Hugo some static for confusing people with his explanation. Hugo responds by saying that he feels Profe is nervous about tonight’s apuestas match and that is why he’s a bit ornery. El Profe denies this and says that the Hangmen are risking everything tonight but they will be triumphant. Hugo worries that the rudos may have something up their sleeve against Bronco and Invader tonight.

The rest of the show is the elimination tag match, with the match starting almost immediately when the Medicos come out of the dugout. Embry and Valentine try to get the jump on them but the Medcios manage to fight back. The two teams fight on the field, with Valentine at one point trying to go after Sasha. Valentine and Medico #3 end up in the ring while Medico #1 and Embry continue fighting on the outside (with Embry being rammed into a table). Medico #1 throws Embry into the ringpost, busting him open, and then rams Embry’s face into some fencing. Medico #3 gets distracted by Monster Ripper, allowing Valentine to jump him from behind. Once again, all four men are fighting on the field, with Embry’s cut being opened up more. Medico #1  and Embry end up in the ring while Medico #3 fights with Valentine near the dugout. Medico #1 attempts a cover but Embry gets his foot on the rope. Meanwhile, Medico #3 piledrives Valentine in front of the dugout. 

We finally get some semblance of a tag match when Medico #3 and Valentine make their way back to the ring. The Medicos remain in control but are unable to pin Embry. Medico #1 fires off a series of punches on the bleeding Embry, before tagging in Medico #3. We go to a commercial with Embry managing to knock down Medico #3 with a blow and come back virtually at the same moment. Valentine is tagged in and proceeds to toss Medico #3 outside (where Embry rams him into the post). Medico #1 comes over to help his partner out, rolling Medico #3 back into the ring. Valentien goes for a sleeper but Medico #1 breaks it up. Valentine misses a charge into the corner but Embry cuts off Medico #3 from making the tag. The rudos botch a double team and all four men are now in the ring and fighting. Medico #3 attempts a cover on Embry while the ref is getting Medico #1 out of the ring. Behind the ref’s back, Valentine grabs Monster Ripper’s boot and hits Medico #3 on the head. Embry makes the cover and Medico #3 is eliminated. That means that Medico #1 is now at a disadvantage and if he gets eliminated will lose his mask.

Sasha argues with the ref about the use of the boot, but to no avail. She then attacks Monster Ripper, chasing her into the ring and continuing the attack. The ref has had enough of this and ejects both Sasha and Monster Ripper from ringside. Ripper heads to the locker room, while Medico #3 and Sasha go to the dugout to watch the rest of the match. The bell rings for the next fall and it is time for Medico #1 to fight for his mask. The rudos try to charge Medico #1, but he fends them off with several dropkicks. Embry is able to grab Medico #1 in a full nelson hold and Valentine charges with a clothesline. Medico #1 ducks and Embry gets hit instead. Valentine tries the full nelson grab and this time Embyr hits him by mistake.  Medico gets a machine and a near fall. A small package is broken up by Valentine. Embry tags out and Valentine briefly is in control until he misses an elbow from the top turnbuckle. We come back from a commercial break with the rudos botching another double team attempt and Medico #1 gets a backslide on Embry for a three count. Enbry is eliminated! 

Embry quickly gets up and tosses Medico #1 over the top rope to the outside. Embry is able to ram Medico’s head twice into the ringpost before the ref is able to get outside and force Embry to the dugout. We cut to Valentine choking Medico #1 with a camera cable, taking advantage of the attack Embry did before leaving. Valentine ends up tossing Medico #1 onto a steel box that is near the stands and then heads back to the ring. Valentine goes back out to attack Medico #1, leaving him staggering outside as Valentine gets back in the ring. Medico #1 is able to get back to the ring  but is put in a sleeperhold. Valentine lets go and tries a cover, but Medico #1 kicks out. The camera shows Medico #3 in the dugout clapping and cheering his dad on. Valentine gets an elbow for another pin attempt but Medico #1 gets his leg on the rope. Valentine gets another near fall and then a sleeperhold, but Medico #1 is able to hold on. Valentine goes for another top rope elbow and misses, allowing Medico #1 to come back. They exchange some pin counters and Medico #1 gets the three count on a roll up. Medico #1 has saved his mask and Rick Valentine must lose his hair. Valentine attacks Medico #1 and tries to go for his mask, but Medico #3 runs out with a towel that he sprays with something. He then uses that towel to smother Valentine. Knocking him out. The Medicos proceed to start cutting his hair. Profe says that this will be Invader after tonight. The video ends with Ripper running out to try to stop the haircut but the Medicos grab her before we go back to the studio. Hugo and Profe make their final hype for tonight’s big card and they argue as the show credits roll.

MD: Coming into this we’ve got 22 minutes left on the episode and nothing else listed. This bodes well. This was from the last few months of 1990 and they’re giving it to us to hype the Hangmen match. It was an elimination match where the last guy pinned loses his hair. Really just a unique sort of match the way it’s structured. You get eliminations in lucha apuestas but it doesn’t feel like this. 

The match started with an absolute destruction of Embry/Valentine inside and outside the ring. Crimson mixing with blonde hair. A pile driver on the field. Great Medico 1 punches. Everything you’d expect. Everything Embry took over with an eyerake and a clothesline. They build a heat segment on Medico 3 and even build to a big comeback due to heel miscommunication but Ripper gets an object in and they eliminate Medico 3. Medico 1 has to fight back two-on-one but he’s able to manage it by being smarter and quicker. He gets Embry on a banana peel slip but Embry stays on him after getting pinned and leaves him laying on the outside. The last fall has Valentine missing (a second) top rope elbow and Medico 1 coming back with his great punches before they go into nearfalls. They show Medico 3 in the dugout which is a great touch. Eventually, Medico 1 is able to get the right amount of leverage and pick up the win and it’s a great scene all around. Just another awesome Puerto Rico tag match that we can now put into context.

EB: We also have the west coast version of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre, focusing on hyping up the March 3 house show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4KwgcIr_WY

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the show and runs down what will air on today’s program. The main event will feature Carlos Colon in action against the Motor City Madman. Tomorrow they will have a big show in Cabo Rojo, with the main event being Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch. The match will be heated since Murdoch has spent the past weeks making some controversial comments about Colon’s race and family, along with past issues the two men have had, so it will be a hot one. Invader #1 & Bronco #1 will take on the Texas Hangmen and the fans in Cabo Rojo will be the first to know who lost the apuestas match on Saturday. The same thing will happen when TNT and Original TNT square off, the fans there will be the first to know who kept the TNT identity. Hugo runs down the rest of the card (the same as the one in Bayamon) before talking about how the WWC is going through its best moment. El Eejrcito de la Justicia is fighting the good fight and El Club Deportivo has been bringing in reinforcements. Right now, Hugo feels confident in saying that tomorrow’s card in Cabo Rojo will mark a new era for wrestling in Puerto Rico, a more competitive era. Hugo again talks about the Colon vs Murdoch match, indicating that Carlos has said he is going there for a fight and Murdoch has said he wants to end Carlos. 

We cut to match already in progress, with Dick Murdoch tossing Giant Warrior to the outside. Dick grabs a chair and smacks Warrior in the face with it. Hugo mentions that Murdoch’s apprentice is at ringside. Murdoch casually rolls back in and out of the ring, then slams Warrior’s head against the post. Hugo makes note that Warrior is bleeding. Warrior tries to get back in but Murdch punches him several times, keeping Warrior on the apron. Hugo says that the ref should consider stopping the match  since Warrior seems to be in danger of being severely hurt. Murdoch continues focusing his attacks on Warrior’s bleeding head and then starts choking Warrior. The ref tries to break it up, but Murdoch responds by punching El Vikingo. This causes a DQ (which Hugo complains should have been called for earlier). Murdoch continues attacking Warrior and fights off the ref and some  of the job guys that make an attempt to help Warrior. Finally, Carlos Colon runs out and Murdoch leaves the ring to avoid engaging with Colon.  Hugo calls out Murdoch for running away after running his mouth for the past weeks. Murdoch tosses a chair into the ring but Carlos grabs it before Murdoch is able to get in the ring. The video ends with Murdoch leaving and Carlos checking on Giant Warrior.

MD: We come in fairly late here, I think, with Warrior on the floor and Murdoch clocking him with a chair right in the skull, the great equalizer. He plays king of the mountain for a little bit and then lets him in to work over the wound with punches and knees. They cycle it into an angle as he chokes Warrior until hitting the ref to get him out of his way. The prelim guys come in and get nailed, including a brutal stomping foul and then Colon runs him off to keep the heat on their feud. I would have liked to see Murdoch stooging for Warrior but this was effective overall.

EB: Hugo introduces a recap of what has happened so far between Kim Duk and Motor City Madman. This starts with the finish of the pole march, where Profe cost Duk the match and the Caribbean title, and then Madman comes in to attack Duk after the match. We also see what happened when Duk faced El Profe at the TV taping, where Madman and Skandor Akbar showed up to save Profe. We then go to last Sunday in Carolina, where Duk has Madman backed into a corner. Both men continue fighting in the corner and referee Victor Quiñonez gets tossed by both wrestlers when he tries to break it up. It’s a double disqualification. Akbar comes in and hits Duk from behind with the kendo stick, leading to Madman getting some more hits in with the stick.

We return to the studio with Kim Duk there to talk about the upcoming match vs the Motor City Madman. Duk is tired of Madman and will show him tomorrow how Duk can get mean and vicious. Skandor Akbar and Madman respond, with Akbar calling out Duk for double crossing him and Profe. Madman will finish him off tomorrow and then Akbar will kick Duk’s teeth out when comes crawling back. Madman is wearing his shades and has the kendo stick in his possession. Madman makes  a Peking duck crack and says tomorrow Kim Duk will be served up as the main course. 

We then get a  rundown for the card tomorrow in Cabo Rojo, a carbon copy of the one in Bayamon except without the apuestas stipulations. 

MD: We get a recap of more of the feud than just the pole match, with Akbar making his presence felt with the kendo stick even as Mad Man and Duk are going at it in the corner. Now it’s time for Duk to finally get revenge. His promo was pretty jumbled. Akbar’s was not. And Mad Man said that Duk was more like Peking Duck than Bruce Lee. Still, Akbar is a fun addition. 

EB: We get the Ricky Santana music video set to ‘Extranjero’ that was cut from the Campeones episode. This video features highlights from Ricky’s late 88 run, with highlights from previous matches against Mr. Pogo, El Profe and others. Hugo mentions afterwards that it’s always a treat to see this music special since it was the first one they made for Ricky when he first appeared in CSP (which explains why the highlights are mainly from 1988). Ricky has come back every now and then, giving the best of his talents. He’s gone from  arriving as a foreigner to now being a member of the Superestrellas family. He’s facing Moondog Spot tomorrow and the fans should remember the run the Moondogs had some years ago. Ricky sent a message by phone that he hopes all the fans and especially the ladies will be there tomorrow to support him.

MD: This is not the video with all the Colon daughters/nieces. Instead it’s him walking down a street and having an image of the globe spin behind him as he looks stoic/cool interspersed with his matches. There’s a good looking bloody deal with Pogo in there. Past that it’s just him hitting his top rope splash a bunch.

EB: Up next is the feud recap video for the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 &  Bronco #1 rivalry. It all started October 17 in Miramar when the Hangmen attacked and hung Invader #1. He was badly injured and out for two months. He made a return in mid december with TNT as his partner, but when TNT was injured and sent back to the locker room on Christmas Day, it was Bronco who came to Invader’s aid. This set up a new tag partnership as Invader and Bronco took on the Texas Hangmen. We get highlights from their matches on January 6 (Invader saves Bronco from being hanged), January 26 (Bronco gets unmasked and Invader shows up to make the save with the taped fist), and February 16 (the street fight). Now it is time for the final battle. The Texas Hangmen cut a promo where they talk as if they’ve already won, saying that tomorrow the fans will see a bald Invader and a maskless Bronco. Invader and Bronco respond by saying that the fans tomorrow will see Invader with hair and Bronco with his mask, because the only way the Hangmen are winning is by leaving them practically motionless.

MD: What a feud. To see it all recapped like this really gets over how much they did and how far they came (and how much heat they had). And now it’s all on the line. Mask/Hair vs Masks. The Hangmen note that Profe’s a pretty good barber. Bronco’s impassioned and Invader gets over the weight of everything.

EB: We then get promos from Scott Hall and Miguelito Perez about their upcoming Caribbean title match. Profe does a voiceover as Hall poses for the camera and basically runs through the entire repertoire of taunts he has. Profe says that the Caribbean title rightfully belongs to El Club Deportivo and Hall will get it back for them. Miguelito counters by saying he is counting on the fans being there to support him and he will show that he can handle Scott Hall. Perez is going to have to watch out for El Profe as well ,but he promises to come out on  top.

MD: One of my absolute favorite things about this footage is watching Scott Hall figure out what to do with his hands while Profe is talking for him. Love it. Will miss it. Perez gives a pretty strong promo here about how he’s a new champion but that he’s got the crowd behind him and that he’d defend the title as best he could. Solid babyface stuff.

EB: The feud between TNT and Original TNT is coming to a head on Saturday. Here’s a recap of the feud so far, starting with the initial arrival of Original TNT in 1989 and the apuestas match that didn’t happen at Aniversario 1989. Original TNT made his return to Puerto Rico in January of this year and immediately started up with calling TNT an impostor. El Profe has also been insisting that the fake is Juan Rivera and that his guy is the real deal. The issue picked back up on January 19, when Original TNT was wrestling Carlos Colon and attempted to put Colon out with the cobra sleeper. TNT, who had been on tour in Japan, made his return by attacking Original TNT and putting him to sleep with the Cobra Dinamita. TNT said that this means that the impostor must drop the TNT identity since he put him out. The feud rekindled from there, with Original TNT defeating TNT in the TV title tournament finals. On February 6, Original TNT tried to put Huracan Castillo out with the cobra sleeper, causing TNT to come out and make the save. Both men brawled around the arena. On February 9, the match ended in a time limit draw as Original TNT had TNT in the cobra sleeper. Last Sunday in Carolina, Original TNT barely beat the count back in the ring to win the match, although TNT sent a message with a spin kick afterwards. Who will win on Saturday?

Original TNT and TNT talk about tomorrow’s match, with Profe and Original TNT saying that the fans will see tomorrow how he won the match and kept the TNT identity. TNT in his promo says that he first threw out the challenge because he was angry, now he’s still a bit angry but knows the weight of what is at stake. He is a bit worried because his identity, career and life are at stake. He’s hoping the fans support him and that he will come away the winner.

MD: They’re making this feel like a pretty big show with a lot of matches with build and stakes. They have plenty of footage to show of these two feuding. Original TNT is all motion as Profe talks for him and TNT is stoic and it all works pretty well.

EB: We get a brief snippet of Hugo introducing a Dick Murdoch promo but then cut to our main event of Carlos Colon vs Motor City Madman but the match doesn’t happen because Dick Murdoch runs in and attacks Carlos.. Both men exchange several blows but when Carlos gets the upper hand, Motor City Madman runs out to attack Carlos (causing the ref to toss out the match). Madman drops Carlos with a side slam and then leaves the ring area, leaving Carlos there for Murdoch. Dick attacks Carlos with a foreign object, busting Carlos open.TNT and Duk try to help Carlos, but Murdoch fights them off. Eventually, Murdoch decides he has done enough damage and leaves the ring. Carlos follows him out but can’t really catch up to him due to the effects of the attack. An irate Carlos grabs a microphone and calls out Murdoch, promising that he will pay Murdoch back. 

We then go to Hugo for the show closing, with some final hype for tomorrow’s show in Cabo Rojo.

MD: Big heat angle to send things home. Murdoch comes in instead of the Mad Man but Colon meets him head on. Eventually Mad Man comes in for a side slam and the ref just calls it. Murdoch recovers and uses knucks or coins or something to load up the punch and bloody Colon. Instead of the prelim guys, TNT and Duk come out but he fights them off with the loaded fist. That lets Colon recover and chase him off though. Everyone protected, heat on both Murdoch and Mad Man, things building to a head.

EB: We unfortunately don’t have video of the top three matches from the March 2 card. So no footage of the big apuestas matches. But, we do have one final match we have not yet covered between Invader #1 &  Bronco #1 and the Texas Hangmen. We’re not completely sure of the date, but it’s from Cabo Rojo, so there is a possibility that this is the March 3 match. It’s also from a Clasicos segment from several years later, so the commentary is from that airing and does not provide much in context clues. It is the last match we have from this run of the Texas Hangmen though and what a run it has been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fSPtBiw098

What is interesting about this match is that it is wrestled more straight forward than the previous matches we have seen, suggesting that the feud may be winding down. This match feels more like a victory lap of sorts for Invader & Bronco. Invader controls early on, the Hangmen get control when Bronco is in, Bronco eventually makes the hot tag to Invader , and eventually the tecnicos win after fighting off both Hangmen, with Bronco hitting his drop down DDT. Again ,I think this could be the March 3 match since it feels more like a coda to the feud than a heated part of what we’ve seen so far. You’ll notice that the Hangmen have their masks on, so it may be an earlier match, but they never did show the Hangmen unmasked on TV.

MD: This is the last match from the run we haven’t covered, but it really doesn’t feel like a blow off. It honestly feels like a house show version of their matches. Invader looks great to start fighting them off like a champ. Bronco looks pretty good too until he gets swept under. If I have one criticism of the Hangmen it’s that their transition to offense is never all that interesting/clever. They usually just sort of takeover. Anyway, lots of heat on Bronco and he sells big and broad like usual. For the last row (which wasn’t that far away here). Then Invader comes in to help him on a Sunset flip and they go into a comeback with Bronco hitting his finish out of nowhere for the win. Post match, Invader does the Bronco hop to celebrate. Just feels kind of house show-y for me. Still good though!

EB: This is it for the Texas Hangmen’s run in Puerto Rico. It’s been an amazing 6 month run that ended with the final battle, a match that (to my best recollection) we never got to see. As far as I know, they never aired that match on TV. And while they were unmasked that night, I’m not sure they followed it up afterwards.It ultimately didn’t matter, because the Hangmen are gone following March 3. A new tag team will arrive to take their place, one that may surprise you.

Next time on el Deporte de las Mil Emociones, find out who won the right to call themselves TNT. Also, the rivalry between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch continues, with a former World champion coming in to serve as a special referee. Plus, the arrival of the California Studs.

 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Captain Redneck Goes Caribbean

Week 42: Captain Redneck Goes Caribbean

EB: Thanks to his win in the Royal Rumble match CSP held on January 12, the Original TNT had been bragging about beating Carlos Colon, who was the last person eliminated. Carlos took exception to this due to it being a multi person, everyone against everyone type of match and that Original TNT had been the last one in, so a one on one match was signed. The match took place on January 19 in Caguas and Carlos won by disqualification when El Profe interfered. Carlos had Original TNT in the figure four leglock and El Profe jumped into the ring to break it up with an elbow drop. This was done in front of the ref and caused the disqualification. However, Profe was successful in getting Carlos to release the hold, allowing Original TNT to immediately pounce on Carlos and put him in the cobra sleeper. The ref called for the bell to get Original TNT to break the hold but he kept it on, his intention was to put Carlos out. Suddenly, someone ran out of the stairwell towards the ring, it was TNT! He was not scheduled for that night’s card but had just returned from his tour of Japan. TNT kicked Original TNt from behind, causing the cobra hold to be broken. TNT then put the Cobra Dinamita on Original TNT as the crowd cheered on. Original TNT struggled but was taken down to the mat. Meanwhile, Carlos had gone after El Profe, chasing him around ringside. Profe would eventually run away down the stairs. In the ring, TNT had put to sleep the Original TNT and left him unconscious on the mat. After Original TNT had been left sleeping, TNT made his way to the ringside table and grabbed a microphone. As TNT addressed the crowd. Profe reappeared from the stairs and went to the ring to check on the still unconscious Original TNT. On the mic, TNT mentioned he had put that guy (pointing at the ting) to sleep and “Now, I want that impostor to drop the name and take off the paint, because whether it is here, China or Japan, the only TNT is me!”. 

One other notable happening that occurred during the week is that we have new Caribbean tag champions. The January 19 match between the Super Medicos and Mendoza & Valentine ended a bit controversially, with the bell ringing signaling a time limit draw just as the rudos had the cover on one of the Super Medicos (of course, this was after cheating with the loaded glove). A rematch was held at the January 23 TV taping, where Mendoza and Valentine ended up bloody messes but walked away with the Caribbean tag titles after once again using Mendoza’s loaded glove. We’ll discuss some of the other happenings from January 19 as we go along, but for now let’s go to the Campeones episode from January 26.

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

Hugo and El Profe are our hosts, with Hugo welcoming the viewers as always to the 4pm time slot on TeleOnce. Hugo then introduces his co-host as the supreme leader of El Club Deportivo, his majesty El Profe (which Hugo qualifies by stating this is how El Profe was asking to be introduced). Profe is pleased by the intro and Hugo also comments that he sees Profe is matching his mask colors with his suits for the show. Profe starts talking about how good he looks and Hugo ignores him and talks about what we’ll see on today’s episode. We’ll get our first look at ‘Captain Redneck’ Dick Murdoch as he faces Huracan Castillo Jr. in a match from the Three Kings Day show. We’ll also have the latest in the rivalry between the Super Medicos and Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza, a Caribbean title match from Christmas Day as Bronco #1 defends against Ivan Koloff, and the fire match between the Super Medicos and Valentine & Eric Embry. Hugo mentions this was the match where Embry was injured and thus taken out, to which Profe responds that thank goodness Galan Mendoza stepped up as Rick Valentine’s new tag partner. 

Tonight they will be in Caguas, where there will be  rematch for the World tag titles between the champions the Texas Hangmen and the challengers Invader #1 & Bronco #1. An important stipulation for the rematch is that the bullropes are banned from ringside, which means that they played a role in helping the Hangmen win during the lumberjack match held on January 19. Profe seems a bit worried about the bullropes being banned but he clarifies that they’ve only served to equalize things and they won’t be necessary tonight. 

The TV title will also be decided in a six man tournament tonight. The first round matches will be announced that night and the three winners will then draw numbers to see who gets a bye to the finals, with the other two wrestling first and the winner facing the third wrestler afterwards in a no DQ, no countout, there must be a winner match to crown the new TV champion. Let’s go to our first match, which is our first look at Dick Murdock in CSP.

Murdoch’s opponent is Huracan Castillo Jr., who is a substitute for the originally scheduled Jimmy Snuka. Murdoch immediately attacks Castillo just before the bell rings, raking the eyes repeatedly. Murdoch still has his ring jacket on as he continues going for the eyes. The ref warns Murdoch about having an object in his hands, which Murdoch tosses away. Murdoch does the horn symbol to the crowd and finally takes off his ring jacket. Murdoch continues punching Castillo and yelling at the fans, but gets distracted by thrown debris. Castillo uses this opening to fire off some counterpunches of his own, causing Murdoch to head for the corner and beg off in the most amazing way possible. While Murdoch begs off, Hugo and Profe have the following conversation about Captain Redneck: 

Hugo - “All of a sudden they’ve got him dancing rock and roll in the corner. Castillo is dominating now and showing Murdoch that if he wants to fight, a fight he will get.”

Profe -  “This Redneck is a weird man, he is one of those wrestling veterans that they call a redneck, you know what that means? They’re crazy, wild, they drive big trucks…”

Hugo - “And very racist.”

Profe - “Very racist, they hate Puerto Ricans  and blacks, they…”

Hugo - “They hate everyone but their own redneck race. But..”

Profe - “He’s even a member of the KKK”.

From here Hugo says he won’t go into that but that whatever criticisms you can have about Murdoch’s character, you have to give him credit for his experience, being a vicious rudo and that he is looking to dominate here in CSP. By this point in the match, Murdoch has regained control and starts using a foreign object to attack Castillo. Profe and Hugo talk about Murodch’s legendary tag team of the Outlaws with Dusty Rhodes, as Castillo rolls out of the ring. Murdoch follows after him, picking up some debris thrown by the fans, and he uses it to attack Castillo. Hugo makes a point that Murdoch’s attacks have been with objects tossed in by irresponsible people that are an embarrassment to the sport of wrestling. Profe says that those are El Ejercito de la Justicia fans that do that, Club Deportivo fans are well behaved. Meanwhile, Murdoch has taken Castillo over to the fence area and rammed Huracan into it.  Murdoch heads back into the ring and grabs another piece of debris, as Castillo slowly makes his way back as wel. Hugo continues on his rant about the small group of fans that throw stuff into the ring, insisting that the tecnicos should give a message to the fans to not do that. “It gives a bad image of all of us.”  

Murdoch continues in control as we go to commercial, but when we return Castillo starts making a comeback. Murdoch starts begging and cowering when Huracan starts punching him. Castillo rams Dick’s head into the turnbuckle, causing Dick to fall to the mat after stumbling for a bit. Murdoch rakes Castillo’s eyes, but acts as if he got hit in the eyes as well so that the ref doesn’t call attention to Dick’s actions. Castillso gets punched to the outside, with Murdoch following and stalking Castillo. Dick tries to ram Castillo into the fence again, but Huracan blocks and Murdoch gets rammed instead. Murdcohs stumbles around as Huracan continues the attack, with Murdoch even sitting on a chair and getting knocked over. Castillo hits a dropkick on the outside as the bell rings, it looks like we have a double countout. Castillo attempts to continue his attack but Murdoch takes him down with a low blow. Murdoch then hits Castillo with a brainbuster on the ballfield, leaving Huracan spasming on the ground. Profe says that it looks like El Ejercito de la Justicia has a big enemy in Dick Murdoch. 

MD: Talk about a guy made for a territory. Murdoch was electric here. The only person I can compare him to is Funk in the mid 80s when he came in. Just constant stooging and antics. I’ve seen the criticisms that Murdoch would get too goofy at the wrong time but there’s almost no wrong time on the mid-card in Puerto Rico. He begged off early and it was wonderful. The fans tossed something into the ring and he screwed with it for a minute as Castillo made it back in only to whack him and then hand it to the ref blaming the crowd for the entire state of affairs. He made a massive showing of sneaking up behind Castillo to choke him and then tried to run him into the stadium fence only to take the bump. He hit the most blatant and flagrant foul I’ve ever seen in Puerto Rico and then crushed Castillo with the brainbuster on the field. So over the top, absolutely 

EB: The match is followed by a  series of promos from three of the participants in tonight’s TV title tournament. The focus of the interviews is to mention that each of the participants is looking to win the tournament, but also to send a message to their current feud rival. Scott Hall has a rope with him and he warns Giant warrior that he will use it to pay back Warrior for attacking him last week with the big boot. Kim Duk (holding a baseball bat) and El Profe talk about the tournament but also send a warning to Migueliro Perez. For his part, Miguelirto puts over the TV title as the second most important singles title in the WWC and that he promises to win the tournament. But he also wants to get his hands on Kim Duk for throwing salt in his face and attacking him with the kendo stick last week.

We also get a rundown of tonight’s card in Caguas: a rematch for the World tag titles as the Texas Hangmen face Invader #1 & Bronco #1; the tournament for the TV title featuring TNT, Scott Hall, Giant Warrior, Original TNT, Miguelito Perez and Kim Duk; a no time limit rematch for the Caribbean tag titles as the Super Medicos challenge Galan Mendoza & Rick Valentine; Sasha defends the Women’s World title against Monster Ripper; and other great stars.   

MD: I’m sure Esteban will explain this better, but it seems like we’ve got Hall vs Warrior, Duk vs Perez, and Original TNT vs TNT, and then the winners do a coin flip to see who is the odd man out and gets a bye into the finals for the TV Title. I remember Global doing something similar not too long after this where three people were vying for the title and someone (I want to say Eddie Gilbert) got the bye. Hall says he’s going to have a friend with him and that Giant Warrior beat him with his boot. Duk didn’t give us much to work with. Perez gave us more. One note on the card presentation: we saw a glimpse of a super bloody Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza and I wish we saw what led to THAT. Ah well.

EB: Our next match is from Christmas Day 1990, as Bronco #1 defends his recently won Caribbean title against the fearsome Ivan Kooff. As they start, Ivan tries to punch Bronco in the midsection, but hits Bronco’s weight belt and complains about hurting his hand. Profe on commentary also starts complaining but Hugo defends Bronco by saying that it’s been approved as ring wear by the WWC, he doesn’t use it as a weapon and it hasn’t hurt anyone else so far (calling into question that Koloff was faking it). They work some holds, with Koloff getting a hammerlock and Bronco countering with a stepover takedown. Bronco works Koloff over on the mat, as Hugo mentions how Bronco has won the fans over in his short time in Puerto Rico. Koloff tries to punch Bronco but gets knocked down via a counter punch, which causes Ivan to complain again to the ref. A lockup leads to Bronco getting a wristlock on Ivan, which he eventually counters with a takedown but Bronco quickly gets out of it before Ivan can lock a hold in. Bronco does some of his hopping to get the crowd into it. They continue working holds as we go to commercial break, and we come back to Bronco ramming Ivan’s head into the turnbuckle. Bronco attempts an unsuccessful cover. Ivan takes over with a punch to the throat and rams Bronco’s head into the turnbuckle (where Ivan had conveniently placed part of his chain over the pad). Ivan gets a swinging neckbreaker and legdrop, but Bronco starts getting fired up and launches a counterattack. Bronco gets a backdrop, but Ivan grabs onto Bronco’s belt and throws him to the outside. Ivan knocks Bronco off the apron but on the second attempt to punch Bronco off, Ivan accidentally hits the ref and knocks him down. Ivan tries to suplex Bronco into the ring but ends up tripping over the ref instead. The momentum carries Bronco over and on top of Koloff, allowing Bronco to get the pinfall. Bronco retains the Caribbean title over Ivan Koloff. Bronco has his hand raised as Koloff complains it was only a two count.

MD: This was pretty good. Another stadium match. Koloff had a lot to give still in a place like this that valued what it did. Bronco was cartoonish but made it work, constantly appealing to the crowd and remaining active and in motion. Here he had a medically approved waist band which Koloff hurt his hand on. Ivan took over, in part by slamming Bronco’s head into the chain that he had brought to the ring and was just hanging out over the top rope. He played King of the Mountain but elbowed the ref who had been trying to pull him back. The ref ended up on his knees; Ivan tried to suplex Bronco in; Bronco fell on him as Ivan tripped over the ref. Clever finish.

EB: Giant Warrior cuts a promo talking about the TV  title tournament and Warrior is confident he will win tonight because he has never lost a match in Caguas. Also, he’s going to pay back Scott Hall for everything Hall has done to him so far.

MD: Warrior is a perfectly fine promo, especially when they have Kim Duk cutting his own, but I do miss the crazy music videos we were getting in 90.

EB: We also get interviews from the two teams involved in the World tag title match tonight, which has the stipulation that the bullropes are barred from ringside (during last week’s lumberjack match some of the wrestlers at ringside got involved and in the confusion the bullrope was used to allow the Hangmen to get the win). Profe says that it will not make a difference, the Hangmen will get the job done tonight. Psycho speaks for both Hangmen, promising that they’ll show tonight that the tecnicos do not deserve any more title shots. Bronco and Invader respond, with Bronco promising that those belts will go to them and Invader mentions that he’s got the mask on because tonight is serious and they will win the tag titles. Time for the Hangmen to show if they can get it done without the bullropes.

MD: Big takeaway here for me is that Invader, now that he’s teaming with a masked guy again, is donning the mask. That’s a nice bit of thematic escalation given who they were facing. Bronco’s promos are akin to how he wrestles, very energetic.

EB: The Campeones episode ends with the fire match we’ve already reviewed between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine, though this is your chance to watch it in a normal aspect ratio. The show ends as the wrestlers fight to the dugout, with the commentators reminding the fans that this is the match where Embry was injured and forced to leave the island.

Now we go to the west coast version of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre from the same day. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtsmLpah0kg

Hugo opens the show by welcoming the viewers and runs down what we will see on today’s program (including TNT’s first match since coming back from Japan). Hugo then talks about the latest happenings in the Super Medicos and Mendoza & Valentine rivalry, asking the director to show what happened the previous week. Mendoza talks about how last week the Medicos paid off the timekeeper to ring the bell to call for a draw when it looked like they were going to lose the Caribbean tag titles. Tonight, Mendoza and Valentine will show who the real Caribbean tag champions are. The Super Medicos then get a chance to respond, with Medico #1 making sure that everyone knows that they did not pay anyone to ring the bell or need anyone to save them. We then go to a Caribbean tag title match from the TV taping, where Mendoza hits Medico #1 with his loaded glove, causing Valentine to fall on top of  Medico #1 and get the pin. A very bloody Mendoza and Valentine have won the Caribbean tag titles. An irate Medico #1 cuts a promo at ringside after the match, demanding that the commissioner grant them a rematch as soon as possible (which the commissioner agreed to). That rematch will be tomorrow in Hormigueros and will have no time limit. Hugo runs down the rest of the card before going to the first match.

MD: I get the sense that Mendoza is a pretty solid promo all things considered. They didn’t have Ripper of Valentine do much here. Medicos were heated and for good reason. Clip has them losing the titles to the loaded glove to break up a move, and then a very effective passionate post match promo at ringside with a bloody mask. We’d seen the loaded boxing glove but this hits different (no pun intended).

EB: We have the Caribbean Express taking on Mendoza & Valentine, with Hugo noting that the rudos were still hurt from the match against the Medicos where they were busted open. Hugo and Eliud are on commentary and the Express start off hot, focusing their attacks on the forehead of Rick Valentine. The Express controlled the first part of the match with quick tags and double team maneuvers (including a nice baseball slide by Castillo on Mendoza). Mendoza gets a DDT on Perez and tags in Valentine, giving the rudos their first control segment of the match. The rudos tas in and out and keep Perez near their corner in order to maintain their advantage, but Perez mounts a brief offensive flurry after an attempted clothesline in a corner. Another missed charge into the corner allows Perez to tag Castrillo in. All four men end up in the ring and in the confusion Castillo comes off the top with a crossbody onto Valentine. However, the ref is busy getting Perez out of the ring, so Mendoza sneaks in a blow with the loaded glove and rolls Valentine on top of Castillo for the pin.   

MD: Good match. I could have used a little more heat in the middle before the comeback but Valentine and Mendoza are wrestling extremely vulnerable so it made sense. They were great early bumping and stooging actually. The Express caught the by surprise pre-match and yanked off their bandages and started some woundwork. Mendoza hardly even seems a step down from Embry here to be honest. I liked the double elbow smash that the Express did but they were very smooth in general. Valentine hit a DDT out of nowhere but they didn’t hold the offense for long. Perez’s stuff looked especially good on the comeback. Mendoza snuck in a fistdrop to break up a pin (with the loaded glove of course) and they stole another one.

EB: After the match we get some promos, first is Migueito Perez who explains why he didn’t appear last week in Hormigueros. It seems that Kim Duk busted up the windshield of Miguelito’s car. Hugo asks Perez if he saw Duk do it, but Perez says that the people that were there saw Duk do it with a baseball bat (which explains why Duk had a baseball bat with him in the promo he did on Campeones). 

We also get promos from the two teams in the no time limit match for the Carribean tag titles. The Medicos tell Mendoza & Valentine to be ready for payback after everyone saw how the rudos stole the titles from them. Mendoza and Valentine cut their promo still bloody from having won the belts. The rudos again reiterate that the Medicos must have paid off the timekeeper but it does not matter now, they are the champions and they don’t need that much time to beat them again tomorrow.

The January 27 card in Hormigueros is as follows: The Texas Hangmen vs Bronco #1 & Invader #1 in a steel cage; the awaited match between TNT and Original TNT; no time limit for the Caribbean tag titles as Galan Mendoza & Rick Valentine take on the Super Medicos; a rematch between Giant Warrior and Scott hall; Miguelito Perez vs Kim Duk; and Huracan Castillo Jr. defends the World Junior title against El Profe. 

MD: They’re really leaning hard into this one. Now we get a great visual promo where Ripper has the belts and Mendoza and Valentine are absolute bloody messes. Everyone gets to talk here and it’s impassioned and effective.

EB: Next is Scott Hall vs Herbert Gonzalez. It’s a short match with Hall making a strong showing and pinning Herbert after the crucifix.

MD: Some of the stuff Hall does here (like controlling the arm down to a legdrop onto it) is the same sort of stuff he was probably doing for years but the confidence and timing just seemed to hit in ways it hadn’t even a year or two before. He dismantled Gonzalez in the ring and dangling over the apron before putting him down with a Vader Bomb type splash and the crucifix. Good squash.

EB: We get another series of promos from the Texas Hangmen and Bronco and Invader. Tomorrow they’ll be in the cage and both teams are looking forward to hurting their opponents in the cage. Invader makes note that no one can interfere, unlike the lumberjack match from the previous week. 

MD: They have an engine now, different lead heroes with different partners up against the Hangmen, all leading to steel cage matches. I’m not sure how much longer it can last but you can always cycle them down to feud with the Castillo/Perez or the Medicos just as easily and build those to cage matches too.

EB: We have TNT’s first TV match back from Japan and his scheduled opponent is Kim Duk. The wrestlers are introduced and Duk proceeds to do a salt tossing ritual in each corner before the match starts. As both men feel each other out to start, Eliud mentions that last week TNT made a surprise appearance during the Carlos Colon vs. Original TNt match and put Original TNT out with the Cobra Dinamita. As TNT works over Duk’s arm in the ring, Hugo reminds the fans of the history between TNT and Original TNT. The match progresses with TNT remaining in control by focusing on Duk’s arm despite Kim’s attempts at countering. Things turn in Duk’s favor when TNT misses a spinning kick, allowing Duk to counter with a kick of his own to gain control. However, Duk ends up throwing TNT over the top rope, causing him to be disqualified. But it seems that it was all a plan, as Original tNT runs out to attack the unaware TNT at ringside. Original TNT locks in the cobra sleeper and puts TNT out, with El Profe and Kim Duk watching. Duk even takes out some crew members that made a move to help TNT. Original TNt leaves TNT unconscious on the floor, paying him back for the previous week. Original tNT yells at the unconscious TNT (calling him an impostor) and even slaps him across the face a few times. The rudos leave ringside without waking TNT up, so Victor Jovica (flanked by Giant Warrior and the Caribbean Express) makes his way to ringside to help wake TNT up. TNT comes to but is in rough shape, so the tecnicos take him out on a stretcher to make sure he gets checked out.   

Afterwards we get interviews from Original TNT and TNT about their match tomorrow. TNT has an ornate head mask on and mentions that his throat is still feeling the effects of what Original TNT did. He even has to stop part way through talking because his throat starts acting up. He says that he’ll only address the imposter as ‘perro’ from now on and promises that he will not stop until he takes the paint and name of that impostor ‘perro’. 

MD: Former partners colliding. There was a slight sense of familiarity here, mainly with Duk taking over by ducking a TNT kick. They ran a big angle where Original TNT snuck behind TNT on the floor and put him out (getting revenge on him and setting up their next match). It would have been more effective if it was after a TNT comeback and both him and Duk were on the floor maybe? He still got the heat and it did seem sudden and unexpected but sometimes things in wrestling are paced to click just right and I’m not sure this was.

EB: We end the episode with a couple of videos involving the two wrestlers involved in the Universal title situation. The title is still vacant and it looks like Greg Valentine and El Profe have indeed agreed for Valentine to face Carlos Colon in a cage match to settle things once and for all. We first get a video for Greg valentine set to ‘Here Comes The Hammer’. We get highlights of Greg against various opponents, such as Huracan Castillo, Miguelito Perez, one of the Super Medicos and Carlos Colon. It’s a shame we do not have more footage of Greg Valentine in Puerto Rico, but at least we get a little bit of him in this environment with this video. 

Carlos Colon’s video is next and shows him training at the Albergue Olimpico, doing a more traditional training program in preparation for the upcoming cage match. The video ends with Carlos sending a message of thanks to the fans for the calls and messages. He promises that he is ready physically and mentally for the challenge to come. 

MD: The Valentine video was delightful but it just made me feel sad for all the Valentine stuff we’ve missed out on. Lots of elbows. Moving the kneepad. All the good stuff. Ah well. The Colon video was very olympic. Lots of traditional training including swimming a lane and running a track. We’ve missed some big matches before, obviously, but this whole Valentine run feels like the first full run we’ve been missing.

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, if you want to get caught up on what has been happening so far in 1991 we have just the TV episode for you, as we get recaps of all of the major feuds going on. Also the feud between the Texas Hangmen and Invader & Bronco reaches a dangerous peak as Invader’s taped fist enters the picture. And who will finally be crowned the Universal champion when Carlos Colon takes on Greg Valentine inside the steel cage? 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Caged Hangmen

Week 38: Caged Hangmen

EB: It is mid-November and we have two really hot feuds happening in CSP. The Texas Hangmen have been tangling with La Pareja Increible and so far we have not had any clear winners in their encounters. Colon and TNT are focused on paying back the Hangmen for the abuses they have committed, especially for severely injuring Invader #1. After the last match between the two teams ended and the Hangmen (with el Profe) attacked the tecnicos, TNT and Colon demanded a cage match with the Texas Hangmen and it looks like the challenge has been accepted. 

The other hot feud involves the Super Medicos and Sasha against Eric Embry, Rick Valentine and Monster Ripper. The history between Sasha and Eric Embry has come into play in this rivalry, with Embry stooping to the level of physically attacking Sasha. For this rivalry we have had two new developments, both happening on November 10. The Super Medicos defeated Embry & Valentine for the Caribbean tag titles, getting a victory over the hated rudo team. But on that same day, Sasha lost the Women’s World title back to Monster Ripper, when Eric Embry interfered and hit Sasha on the leg with a bat. The issue between these two groups is far from over as well.

We also have seen a group of new arrivals to CSP in the month of November, with an influx of names from the USWA. The most notable one is Billy Joe Travis, who made a quick impact by winning the World Junior title (although by using a loaded punch to do so). Since his arrival in CSP, Travis has shown a huge disdain for Puerto Ricans and has also had some rematches with Castillo. So far, Travis has used his loaded punch to keep the title, but Castillo is still hot on his trail.

Another notable arrival form the USWA is Jeff Jarrett, who we saw among the members of El Ejercito de la Justicia who came out to help Carlos Colon and TNT when they were being attacked by the Texas Hangmen. Jarrett would make some appearances throughout November and December but does not really get heavily involved in any feuds in these appearances. We do have one match from around this time period featuring Jeff Jarrett in CSP, so let’s go to Bayamon for a match where Jarrett takes on the returning veteran Ivan Koloff. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8cwlQstlOQ

This match happened sometime in the November to early December period. The commentary is from a video release about a year or so later, so the commentary does not really add much context for what was going on at the time the match took place. The veteran Ivan Koloff (with his chain) is making a return to CSP, and is facing Jeff Jarrett. El Profe is again accompanying Koloff at ringside. This is youth vs experience and the first moments of the match showcase the two wrestlers trading holds and working over each other’s arms. The first half of the match is mainly focused on arm work, with Jarrett getting the better of Koloff for the most part. About halfway through the match, Koloff works in a  headscissors on Jarrett that they counter back and forth between a Jarrett headlock and the Koloff headscissors (and we get a nice moment of Ivan trying to pump feeling back into his arm after the damage it had taken during the first part of the match). Koloff eventually rakes Jarrett’s eyes and throws him to the outside, where the momentum shifts towards Koloff. From there, Koloff works over Jarrett and makes some pin attempts, but cannot put Jarrett away. Jarrett gets a sunset flip attempt that Koloff tries to stop by grabbing the ropes, but the ref kicks Ivan’s hands away and the attempt gets a two count. Before going back to attacking Jarrett, Koloff takes a moment to get in El Vikingo’s face about kicking his hands a few moments earlier. Koloff and Jarrett trade blows and Koloff decides to go to the top rope after knocking down Jarrett. However, he takes too long, allowing Jarrett to catch Koloff and throw him down to the mat. Jarrett looks to be in control and, even with Profe tripping him up, is able to get a few pin attempts on Koloff (including a nice crossbody from the top turnbuckle). As the ref backs Jarrett away from the corner, El Profe hands the chain to Koloff. When Jarrett approaches, Ivan decks Jarrett with the chain while Profe distracts the ref, and Ivan makes the cover. The ref starts counting, but then notices the chain lying on the mat. El Vikingo stops his count, picks up the chain and admonishes Koloff. He then raises Jarrett’s hand as the winner, having disqualified Koloff for using the chain. Koloff tries to attack Jarrett post match but is sent out by a dropkick. Jarrett celebrates his win as the video ends. 

MD: As matches go, this was definitely a match. It had a hot few minutes that I really liked and everything before that was 100% sound. Jeff had been wrestling for a while by this point but it’s always good to get time in the ring with a vet like Koloff. Ivan had Profe with him and was a known entity but I wouldn’t say he had a lot of heat and I wouldn’t say the fans really got behind Jeff even though he was a perfectly fine babyface. Maybe part of that is that they wrestled things pretty straightforward for the first ten minutes or so. Lots of in and out of holds. Headlocks, armdrags, that sort of thing. Certainly, Ivan stooged a bit, escaping and ending up right back in, but he didn’t really cheat. Eventually he did hit a belly to back out of a headlock and tossed Jeff out of the ring (after an eyerake to cut him off) to set up a short king of the mountain. Jeff finally fired back but Profe kept getting involved. I thought he might have had him on a flying body press after tossing him off the top (Big bump for old Ivan) but Profe snuck his charge the chain and distracted the ref. Ivan clocked Jeff but didn’t get the chain all the way out of the ring. One thing I really enjoy about Puerto Rico is that for such a down and dirty territory, the heels have their efforts to cheat overturned or caught more often than you’d think.

EB: Another notable new arrival we saw debut is El Bronco #1. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, this tecnico seems to be gaining the fans’ support via his upbeat ring entrances and his performances so far. We go to  a match from what is likely November 10, as Bronco defends his Dominican National title against Grizzly Boone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbK4FxVCBhA

The match video starts with Bronco and a dancing woman already at ringside. She is known as Amarilis, la princesa del ring (the princess of the ring). Grizzly Boone immediately attacks Bronco as the latter is getting into the ring and Eliud Goznalez does the ring introductions as Boone continues his initial attack. Hugo says that Boone wasted no time, he really wants to win that Dominican National title. Grizzly continues his attack with clubbing blows and chokes in the corner, with Hugo mentioning the presence of the gorgeous woman that came out with Bronco (although he won’t say more so as to not get him and Eliud into trouble). Boone continues with several choking attacks, as the announcers mention that it is a good strategy on his part since it does not give Bronco an opening to get back into the match. Boone starts mocking Bronco as he continues in control of the match, making mocking gestures of Bronco’s dance (Eliud calls it some sort of mountain merengue). Hugo lets us know that Amarilis is a professional wrestler in her own right who sometimes accompanies Bronco in his appearances. The turning point of the match comes when Boone misses a charge into the corner, which gives Bronco the opening to come back with a series of ear claps on Boone. Grizzly is staggered and Bronco takes advantage to hit his falling DDT  to score the win. A successful title defense for the Dominican champion. Bronco celebrates with Amarilis outside of the ring, as the music starts up and they do a bit of dancing on their way back to the dugout. 

MD: Very different vibe from the TV squash match. This was Boone just squashing Bronco, especially in the ropes. Quite effectively at that. Once Bronco got out of the way on a huge corner charge, he did his little hop taunt and took over with these pretty great jumping double overhead chops. Very theatrical. Very much for the last row. Then he hit a kick and charged in with his falling DDT. Ended celebratory at least. But I was expecting him to be a bit more of a powerhouse maybe?

EB: As mentioned before, we are now in mid-November, specifically November 17. We have a Superestrellas episode from this date that should help us better understand how everything has been progressing.  This is the west coast version so references will be to the house shows that are happening on Sunday (although the card is likely similar to what is scheduled for November 17 in Bayamon).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCWQpN4V5s4

The video starts with Hugo Savinovich holding up the latest copy of the local wrestling magazine, hyping up how fans can purchase it. We then go the the first match of the program (likely from November 3), as Tom Burton  (billed as Dirty White Boy) is taking on Invader #4. Burton immediately jumps Invader #4 at the bell (as Eliud Gonzalez announces Mario Savoldi as the referee) and hits a series of blows and cheap shots to send Invader #4 to the mat. Our commentary team for this match is Hugo and Eliud. Burton continues with the advantage as the announcers talk about how Invader #4 is looking to get the win against a difficult opponent, someone who has been making waves in the USWA and (according to Hugo) someone who is quite the cheater. Burton  makes an unsuccessful pin attempt after a legdrop and continues his attacks by mixing in blows with some cheap shots behind the ref’s back. Invader #4 has not been able to get any offense in so far as Burton is living up to the Dirty White Boy name. Burton continues in control of the match and makes a couple of unsuccessful pin attempts, but the momentum changes when Burton misses a diving headbutt from the middle turnbuckle. Invader #4 makes a comeback with several chops on Burton, leading to a couple of pin attempts from Invader #4 after a backdrop and a small package. A backslide gets two, but Invader #4 ends up running into Burton’s knee after whipping him into the corner. Burton goes for a slam but Invader #4 counters with another small package for the pinfall. The crowd cheers as Invader #4 rolls out of the ring and gets his hand raised as the victor.

We then go to some promos from El Profe and Invader #4. They are scheduled to face each other the next day in San German. Profe mentions that Invader #4 believes Profe was one of the men responsible for what happened to Invader #1 and he is right about that. Profe is proud of being part of the attack on Invader #1 and dares Invader #4 to get revenge. Profe has faced Invader #4 before and is not afraid of him. This time it will be a fight and while Invader #4 will be looking to get revenge for what happened to his brother, Profe is going to enjoy doing the same thing to Invader #4 and promises that they will take out the members of ‘El Ejercito de la Inmundicia’ one by one. We then go to Hugo with Invader #4 and Maelo is pretty fired up about getting his chance at El Profe. He was the one who prevented the tecnicos from being able to get to the ring to help Maelo’s brother, but tomorrow Profe will pay the consequences. Carlos Colon and TNT will make sure to make the Texas Hangmen pay, but he and El Profe will be face to face and he will make sure to make Profe pay (‘as sure as my name is Invader #4’). 

MD: We’re going 0 to Tom Burton here. For the most part he looked ok. There was one corner whip towards the end where Invader IV lost him, but that actually played into the match as he was able to get his knee up on the charge. This had a decent amount of Burton leaning on him and it was fine (one good lariat) before a fairly hot roll-up laden finishing stretch after a missed diving headbutt. Invader even snuck it out with a roll up counter to a bodyslam, which maybe felt like the right move in the end, especially since he was going after Profe to get revenge for what happened to his brother. They set that up with a couple of promos and it’s good undercard booking that makes a ton of sense and I bet it got decent heat. Obviously Profe is still carrying quite the load.

EB: Up next is Monster Ripper’s Castle of Pain, where apparently this week’s guest is Sasha (who has not arrived yet). Ripper has her newly won Women’s World title around her shoulder (she won it back the previous week) and remarks that Sasha has not arrived yet. Ripper mentions that she invited Sasha on because she wanted to confront her face to face about Ripper having become the champion again. One detail that I will mention, Ripper’s Spanish is definitely more Mexican influenced, so she uses some words that are more common to Mexican Spanish rather than Puerto Rican Spanish (and yes ,there are notable differences in the Spanish spoken across the different Latin American countries). Ripper looks around and asks if Sasha is not here yet, to which a voice from far off camera responds ‘No’. Ripper goes on to talk about what an embarrassment this is, it’s clear that Sasha is afraid of her, in fact, everyone is afraid of her. Sasha may have the Super Medicos with her, but on her own Sasha can’t defeat Ripper. Again Ripper asks if Sahsa is here and gets another no, which causes her to sigh and again say that it's an embarrassment and a shame. Ripper promises to bust up Sasha’s face next time they are face to face, Sasha is the embarrassment of Puerto Rico and Ripper will remain the champion and true queen. Ripper cackles as the segment ends. 

MD: Ripper has invited Sasha who does not show up. This lets her cut a promo on her instead. I’m not convinced she actually invited her. It’s a shame though as it could have been a real Hulk Hogan visits the Dungeon of Doom moment with all the smoke flying around.

EB: We get our first look at recent arrival and new World Junior champion Billy Joe Travis. His opponent is Herbert Gonzalez. Travis wants a handshake to start, and Herbert and the announcers are dubious on the sincerity of Travis in making such a gesture. Travis makes a show of wanting the handshake (including getting on his knee)  and then feigns to throw a punch, but Herbert squares up and Travis thinks better of it. Hugo mentions that this Billy Joe Travis has been something, calling the Puerto Rican fans Mexicans, calling Hugo by the wrong name, he changes Huracan Castillo’s name, and it is clear that Travis does not like latinos at all. Travis is stalling about and gets on the turnbuckle to jaw at the fans, who have started yelling at him from the stands. Travis complains to the ref about the crowd chants and Herbert claps along to encourage the chants. Hugo complains that the ref needs to be stricter with Travis about actually wrestling in there instead of stalling about. Travis jumps out of the ring and stares at the crowd, covering his ears at his displeasure with their chanting. Hugo says that any of the wrestlers facing Travis should take advantage when Billy Joe is out doing this stalling and just attack him, since Travis would do the same thing to them (it is clear Hugo is not a fan of Travis, he might be getting Eric Embry flashes here). Travis is back in the ring and again wants the crowd to shut up, and Hugo again mentions that Herbert should be jumping on Travis instead of encouraging the crowd along. Finally, Herbert punches Travis on the back and sends him into the ropes, getting a backdrop. Travis immediately rolls out of the ring and makes a show of holding his back. Billy Joe is annoyed with the crowd and makes like he’s going to hit the cameraman for getting too close to him. Hugo again talks about how all of this stalling and posturing by Travis works in his favor, as it confuses both the ref and his opponent and allows Travis to set up openings for him to attack when the opponent’s guard is down. Travis complains his tights were pulled and Herbert pokes Travis on the butt. Travis finally gets some offense going as Hugo mentions how dangerous Travis is and runs down his accomplishments (including being a current champion in the USWA). Travis gets more aggressive, including hitting a slam on the floor. Eliud brings up tha one advantage Travis has is that he is so quick with his punches that one can’t really see if he is getting away with closed fists. Back in the ring Travis has gotten serious, takes control of the match and even takes some time to antagonize the crowd about how Herbert is faring. Travis gets the win with a reverse splash from the turnbuckle.

We then get promos from Travis and Huracan Castillo about their upcoming match. The two have been embroiled in a series of matches over the World Junior title and it appears the key point of contention has been that Travis has been using a loaded punch to win his matches against Castillo (which is how Travis also became champ in the first place). Travis says that this will be Castillo’s last title shot and also makes sure to call Puerto Ricans Mexicans, says that Hugo’s name is Hector and that Castillo’s name is Herman. Huracan Castillo gets his chance to respond and he is not amused with Travis, calling him a cardboard champion for the way he won the title and has won their rematches with the loaded punch. Castillo says that he has always been fine with getting beaten clean, but not with how Travis has been getting these victories. Hugo talks about all the fan support and protests about how Castillo was wronged and Castillo promosies that tomorrow it will be different. Castillo warns Travis that he better watch out that it’s not Castillo that surprises Travis this time around. 

MD: Really great we get at least this look at Travis. I don’t know if Embry’s coaching him or what. I do remember him being a pretty entertaining heel in USWA Texas around here. The Gonzalez match was a blast. He was way over the top trying to get a handshake to start and then stooged big. He looked like a guy who could anchor the territory honestly. Then he called Castillo “Herman” in the promo and Hugo and Castillo talked about all the support Castillo had in his quest to regain the title.

EB: We have a new wrestler by the name of The Nightmare (not sure who this is), who is taking on Tito Carrion. Eliud mentions that Nightmare had held a World Junior title in the US (seems kinda beefy to me to be a junior heavyweight). Carrion gets an initial advantage off a backdrop but Nightmare quickly takes over by working Carrion’s leg. Hugo mentions the coincidence of both men wearing very similar ring gear as Nightmare continues focusing his attacks on Carrion’s leg. Tito is able to make a brief comeback (including a nice back elbow) but Nightmare soon regains control and eventually wins the match via a superplex. Not sure if this masked wrestler is anyone of note underneath the mask, but it’s a clear win for The Nightmare.   

MD: I guess Embry is bringing in people through USWA? Not sure if this is Ken Wayne (doesn’t seem to be Davis, that’s for sure) or just the mask being ported over. Transitions were weird here as he just stopped Tito short a couple of times. Finishing stretch was good with a backbreaker and suplex before a superplex. Didn’t really give us a sense of who he was or what he wanted though. 

EB: Hugo introduces a clip of what happened the previous week between the Super Medicos and Embry & Valentine. The Super Medicos had won the Caribbean tag titles on November 10 and this footage is from their match on November 11 in San German. It looks like the Super Medicos have a pinfall on Valentine when Monster Ripper gives a boot to Eric Embry, who uses it to attack the Medicos. The referee disqualifies Embry and Valentine but the rudos take advantage to attack the Medicos. Embry and Valentine hold both Medicos in order to give Ripper a chance to attack the Medicos with the boot. As the attack is happening, Sasha runs out (although noticeably limping) with a baseball bat. Sasha attacks Ripper with the bat, but Embry and Valentine come over to help Ripper. Embry grabs the bat and makes a show of hitting the held down Sasha, but the Medicos are able to stop Embry before he gets to swing. Medico #1 chases the rudos away with the bat and it seems that there will be a mixed trios match between the two groups. 

Monster Ripper, Eric Embry and Rick Valentine cut a promo about the trios match tomorrow in San German. Ripper mentions that having the Medicos will not help Sasha since she has Embry and Valentine with her, and between the three of them they will finish off Sasha and the Super Medicos. Valentine says that it is three of the best in the world against a father, a son and their family pet dog. Embry says that everything has gotten out of hand, but tomorrow he will get his hands on Sasha. Embry promises to pay back Sasha for what he has done, and reminds Sasha that he was the one who brought her from nothing. Tomorrow, all of them will pay. The Medicos and Sasha cut a promo in response, it's a quick one but they promise they will get their revenge for what has gone down. Sasha mentions that the Medicos will help her get revenge on ‘Erica’, who cost her the Women’s World title by hitting her leg with a bat during her title defense against Monster Roppr.

We get a full card rundown for the card tomorrow in San German (which again is likely similar to the card for November 17 in Bayamon). Scheduled matches include: Carlos Colon and TNT vs Texas Hangmen in a cage; a mixed trios as the Super Medicos and Sasha take on Monster Ripper, Eric Embry and Rick Valentine; a rematch for the World Junior title as Billy Joe Travis defends against Huracan Castillo Jr; Miguelito Perez vs Kim Duk; Invader # 4 vs El Profe; Nick Ayala vs The Nightmare; and other great stars.

MD: This was all to set up the mixed tag. It’s booking by numbers but two of those numbers are Sasha’s valiant saving of the Medicos and Embry’s menacing of Sasha. Here the match ended on a roll up and interference with a weapon. Then Ripper came in to make it 3 on 2. Sasha made the save but Embry almost got her. Embry goes way over the top in these promos but that’s to be expected, I guess. 

EB: Our next match features Nick Ayala (who we saw work TV matches earlier in 1990) taking on a newcomer in El Chino (who looks a bit like Chicky Starr if he was put in a dryer).  Hugo shines up El Chino on commentary, saying that he is getting his first shot in CSP and wants to show off his ability. Ayala starts off hot, including countering a hiptoss with a monkey flip that sends Chino out of the ring. Hugo again talks about how this wrestler El Chino, although it is his first appearance, he seems to have experience and wants to show it off. Chino gets back in and actually gets some hits on Ayala, as Hugo states that he would like to know more about where this wrestler El Chino is from, he’s shown to have a bit of rudeness to him. El Chino controls for a bit but Ayala counters with some punches, and Chino stumbles and falls back into the ropes. Ayala gets a nice looking dropkick on Chino, hits a slam but then seems unsure of going off the top. Instead he does a legdrop of the middle turnbuckle for two. As Ayala continues in control, Hugo mentions that we’ll have to see if Chino has run out of gas or if he has been knocked loopy from Ayala’s blows. To be honest, with the way Hugo has been talking about Chino I’m starting to think this may be a rib on somebody. Chino whiffs on a reverse crossbody (falling with the grace of a cement sack) and Ayala eventually hits a top rope splash for the win. .   

MD: Ayala was at the bottom of the upcoming card against the Nightmare so he gets a match to shine him up first. Chino looked and worked a little like a poor man’s Chicky Starr actually. Ayala had some nice stuff but seemed maybe a half step lost at times? There was a moment where he wasn’t sure how he wanted to get up onto the turnbuckles for instance. He did do this nice hip toss reversal into a monkey flip that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before and won it in the end with a top rope splash.

EB: We go to last week, as La Pareja Increible takes on the Texas Hangmen. Hugo apologizes for the video quality but the action needs to be shown.TNT gets hit with the bell but eventually tags Carlos in. Carlos also gets decked with the bell. TNT gets back in and the match breaks down and ends in a double countout. This sets up a cage match. El Profe and the Hangmen cut a promo from behind a chain link fence that will be used for the cage. Profe mentions that tomorrow in San German, in a cage just like this one, the Texas Hangmen will take on Carlos Colon and TNT. The Hangmen have a head of lettuce with them and grind it against the cage to show what they will do to Colon and TNT. There is no escape in the cage from the Hangmen. Zero hour is here, the moment of truth is here.

We then go to Hugo, who is with Carlos and TNT.  Hugo remarks that danger looms and that the Hangmen have promised to destroy Colon and TNT’s faces. We get comments from both wrestlers.

Carlos: Well Hugo, that does not worry us in the least. What I do have to tell you is that, last week they hit us with the rope and they hit us with the bell, but it was not enough to finish us off. Because we then grabbed them, battled them all around the court, but those dogs hid in the locker room. But this week, tomorrow, that is not going to happen tomorrow because we'll be in a cage. And we want to dare them to bring the bullrope, the bell, the belts, the cowbell, the rope, whatever they want. Because TNT, tomorrow night we got to bathe these dogs in blood. Because we have promised the fans that we will get these guys out of Puerto Rico, and we will do that tomorrow in San German.

TNT:  Carlos, and as the message that they left with Hugo says that they're going to destroy our faces against the steel, that's not that easy to do Texas Hangmen. You're going to have to fight nice and pretty with Carlos Colon and myself. Because we have promised the people of Puerto Rico and especially Invader #1 that we will avenge ourselves against these dogs, and if possible we're going to take their masks and we're going to run them out of Puerto Rico. And Texas Hangmen, you have never been in a cage, so when these two Puerto Ricans step into that cage we are going to fight. So Texas Hangmen, bring the best you have, because tomorrow night in San German we are going to give you a good fight.

Hugo: Wow! The Pareja Increible is ready for tomorrow night! Do not miss it, in a cage!

MD: Glad we had the full match here and not just this clip. Just some heated promos. The Hangmen yelled. Profe translated. Colon and TNT were on the same page. Bring on the cage.

EB: We then get a match from late 87 o early 88, with Carlos Colon and TNT  taking on the Ninja Express of Kendo Nagasaki and Mr. Pogo. I won’t recap the match in detail, but it’s a good showcase of how over Colon and TNT were at the time, how hot the TV studio crown in Cataño could get, and also how La Pareja Increible could function when teaming together. It’s also a match against a Profe managed team, so there is also that dynamic on display.  Seconding Colon and TNT is Huracan Castillo Sr, who at the time served as TNT’s manager and mentor. The tecnicos get the win after Profe hits the wrong man. 

MD: Good showcase match for our heroes. First this was a Profe team and he got involved in the finish. Second, they took most of it. There was a brief bit of leaning down on Colon but for the most part they ran through Pogo and Nagasaki (And Nagasaki wasn’t one to get run over usually). I’m not sure about the context here and context matters in PR footage; we know that by now. This was effective to remind people of just what the Texas Hangmen had coming for them though.

EB; To end the episode we have an interview with the still recovering Invader #1. Hugo is at Invader’s home and they are somewhere in the backyard for this interview. Hugo mentions that a lot of fans have been asking about Invader’s condition and here we are to get an update from Invader himself. First, Invader wants to say hello and thank the fans for all of the letters and well wishes he has received. Invader says he is recovering well, the doctor sees him coming along fine, about 95% better. He's just waiting to receive the all clear with regards to being able to get back in the gym and start training. Hugo mentions that it’s tough for an athlete to be sidelined and not be able to train like they usually do. Hugo asks Invader if he knows if he will come back to wrestling, and Invader says it’s still too soon to tell. He wants to first see if he gets the go ahead to start training and then see if he can regain the conditioning he had before the injury. Hugo says that he finds that Invader seems more optimistic as of late, that he looks better, and that last time they talked Hugo felt that Invader was very down. Invader says that what happened to him was a sad situation, an athlete of his condition being bedridden, taken in a stretcher to the ER, he almost died according to the doctor that attended him in the ER. He’s got a family to support and that it’s a rough situation being out. He spent 11 days in the hospital and now it has been four weeks that he has been basically cooped up in his house. Hugo promises that they will keep the fans updated on Invader’s condition. We then get Hugo closing the show by hyping up tomorrow’s house show in San German

MD: They’re leaning hard on the idea that Invader almost died. He’s almost ready to get back training but he doesn’t know if he’ll be coming back as of yet. Heavy sympathy stuff obviously.

EB: To close out this installment, we are going to have our final look at two of the active feuds. First is the rivalry for the World Junior title between Billy Joe Travis and Huracan Castillo. This feud lasted about a month, with Billy Joe winning the title from Castillo on November 3, keeping the title via the use of some loaded punch aided wins, and then Castillo regaining the title about a week after this November 17 program (the title history say November 20 but that is a Tuesday so it is likely off). To settle the feud, Travis and Castillo faced off in scaffold match, one that likely took place at the end of November or early December, since Castillo is the champion going into this match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhb9f4dTapg

This match is from a Japanese release of CSP matches, so the commentary is in Japanese. Travis makes a show of climbing the scaffold, while Castillo looks on from the ground with a focused stare. Eliud Gonzalez does the ring intros as Travis continues slowly climbing and pointing at the ref to keep Castillo back, Travis wants to make his climb up without Castillo attacking him. Travis really milks the climb, taking  over two minutes and at certain points going back down a bit to annoy the crowd and Castillo.  The ref and Castillo get tired of Billy Joe’s stalling and the ref lets Castillo start climbing the scaffold, in essence chasing Travis up there. Travis gets up first and takes advantage by repeatedly kicking Castillo in the face before he can fully climb up. Castillo is stunned but holds on, and Travis starts doing a celebratory dance for the crowd on the scaffold. Travis then grabs Castillo b by the hair, pulling him up onto the platform and the match begins. The scaffold used for this match is a bit wider than ones I’ve previously seen in CSP, allowing for a bit more room to move. Travis maintains the early advantage by ramming Castillo into the scaffold and throwing those quick punches of his. He also makes sure to taunt the crowd by showboating and dancing a bit, which does get the crowd on his case.

Travis telegraphs a punch and Castillo gets a backdrop, causing Travis to start begging off and the crowd to cheer for Castillo to get him. From there we get a couple of attempts by Castillo to send Travis over, with Billy Joe holding on for dear life. On the third attempt, Travis is able to ram Castillo’s face into the scaffold and it’s now Travis who attempts to push his opponent off, giving us our first instance of somebody hanging off the edge with their legs dangling. Castillo is able to get his legs on the scaffold rigging and uses that to push himself back up onto the platform. Travis begs off again but is able to tackle Castillo down. Billy Joe then takes out the knuckles he has been using to win his matches against Castillo and goes over to deck Huracan. Travis hits several punches with the knuckles and then slams Castillo on the platform. Travis goes for another fist drop but loses the knuckles when making contact. Castillo picks them up instead and goes after Travis, paying him back for the times Travis used the weapon before. Two punches send Travis rolling to the side of the platform and now it’s Travis hanging from the edge. Castillo starts stomping away on Billy Joe’s hands, and finally Travis loses his grip and falls to the ring. Huracan Castillo has won the match and the feud.  . 

MD: This was a scaffold match and maybe not the best setting to see this iteration of Travis but it was still pretty fun. The best parts were the beginning and the end. Early on he refused to go all the way up and did an Elvis shake once he did then ambushed Castillo as he tried to follow him. Eventually he got back body dropped which was one of the only actual spots in the match. It was a pretty wide scaffold, so little danger of falling incidentally, just getting pushed off. They hugged the side for a while. Finish was Travis pulling out knucks but missing a fist drop and Castillo getting it. Travis took a pretty nasty bump down onto his legs to end it.

EB: We also have the cage match from November 17 between Carlos Colon & TNT vs the Texas Hangmen. As with the previous match we covered between the two teams, we have the raw video with no commentary. So let's go to Bayamon and this encounter in the cage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li_uhP7ffA4

Colon and TNT are already in the ring as the Hangmen hesitate for a moment in getting into the cage. As soon as Psycho and Killer make their way in, they are attacked by Colon and TNT. There's nowhere to hide as Colon and TNT start using the cage to ram both Hangmen around. Colon starts tearing and biting one of the Hangmen in the head as the tecnicos continue their attack. The structure for this match is similar to the previous encounter, with Colon and TNT taking the fight to the Hangmen early on and controlling the first part of the match . Around the three minute mark the referee finally sends Colon and one of the Hangmen to their corners, leaving tNT and possibly Psycho in the ring.  Colon and TNT work over Psycho while tagging in and out, Colon focusing on the legs and TNT using the cage as a weapon. The match turns in the Hangmen’s favor when Colon puts on a figure four leglock on Psycho, drawing in Killer to break it up and the Hangmen take advantage to stun Colon and take over. The Hangmen work over Carlos for a few minutes, maintaining control with double teams and cutting off Colon’s attempt at fighting back. They bust Carlos open as they continue their attack. The Hangmen start ramming Colon’s head repeatedly against the cage wall and (as promised) start grating Colon’s forehead along the steel cage. The Hangmen make the first pinfall attempt of the match but TNT breaks it up. The Hangmen continue in control, keeping Carlos from being able to tag out.

At about the 12 minute mark, Colon and one of the Hangmen collide heads and both men go down. The Hangmen make the tag but a splash is missed, allowing Carlos the chance to tag in TNT. The crowd ‘hwah’s’ along as TNT attacks both Hangmen. TNT is able to keep them at bay for a while but the two on one advantage comes into play and TNT is thrown into the cage wall. The camera shows Profe raising his arms in celebration, as the Hangmen start working over TNT. Carlos recovers and gets in the ring, with all four men fighting and the tecnicos getting the upper hand. We get a double pin scenario where the ref counts to three and awards the match to Colon and TNT (to be fair, I think TNT was the legal man for the tecnicos). Both teams continue fighting and El Profe takes out a weapon he had hidden and hands it to one of the Hangmen through the cage, The Hangmen start attacking Colon and TNT with the weapon, leaving both men bloodied and down on the mat. The Super Medicos, Bronco and Jeff Jarrett run in to chase the Hangmen off and check on Carlos and TNT. The Hangmen hold up the weapon they were using and celebrate what they did, and you can see that the Hangmen are also busted open. Before leaving ringside, one of the Hangmen goes near the ring and spits through the fence at the tecnicos. Meanwhile, the ringside doctor is checking over Colon and TNT, who are still bleeding and down on the mat. 

MD: Very similar to the last tag match but that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. That meant that TNT and Colon controlled after the initial bit of brawling (and cage shots), using superior teamwork as one of the Hangmen bounced around for them. They’d hit big doubleteams and then go back to the legs to soften him up for the figure four. Once Colon went for it, however, the other Hangman struck and they took over on him. He was great at working from underneath and they were great at drawing the ref and infuriating TNT so that they could double team. While it was a cage match it was more or less under conventional rules past that opening. Whenever TNT tried to get involved they took it out on Colon all the more, including ping ponging him against the cage. Finally he was able to outfinesse one Hangman and make the tag and just like last time, TNT came in hot. Just like last time, however, the numbers game got him and he got beat on until Colon could recover enough to even the odds. They kept things churning here with a double pin. Colon hit a sunset flip while a Hangman reversed a TNT whip and got a belly to belly for simultaneous three counts. Post match, Profe slipped them a pipe and they ended up leaving Colon and TNT bloody until the babyface locker rushed in. I’m not sure it protected the cage match as a gimmick but it certainly kept things hot for whatever would come next.

EB: Based on the outcome of this cage match, I’m pretty certain that we had another match between these two teams, but results are scarce for the last weeks of 1990. This is the last we will see footage wise of Carlos Colon being involved in the feud with the Texas Hangmen. As the month of December unfolds there will be a new challenger awaiting him with regards to the Universal title. As for TNT, he’s still fighting the Texas Hangmen but he will need a partner to take them on. And it just so happens someone has been cleared to return to the ring…

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, we get the return of Invader #1 as he gets his chance for revenge against the Texas Hangmen. Also, Giant Warrior returns from his foreign tour and a couple of ‘feds’ make their way to Puerto Rico as we finish our look at 1990.

Read more!