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.

 

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Kim’s Inconvenience

Week 45: Kim’s Inconvenience

EB: We have two matches from the February 16 card that we have in full. The first one we’ll cover is the street fight between the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1. The Hangmen have quickly regained the World tag titles they lost and we get another escalation in the hostilities between the two teams via a street fight.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx2DuInmSVI

We are in Caguas and you can tell the Texas Hangmen are ready for a street fight by the way they are dressed. El Profe and the Hangmen are waiting at the top of the stairwell, ready to ambush the tecnicos. As we hear Broco’s entrance music being played., Bronco and Invader rush out from the crowd and surprise the Hangmen from behind. The tecnicos start attacking the Hangmen around the arena floor as Eliud Goznalez makes the ring intros (with the announcement that the last ones standing are the winners). Bronco has one of the Hangmen over by the barricade while Invader has the other Hangmen up in the stands as they continue attacking the rudos. Bronco and Invader continue attacking the Hangmen on the arena floor as the crowd continues to cheer.  After a couple of minutes, the Hangmen start fighting back, with  Invader getting thrown into the rinside table and getting hit with a title belt. The tecnicos quickly recover and gain the upper hand once more. All four men are now near each other on the arena floor and the tecnicos ram the Hangmen into each other. Bronco continues on the attack with his Hangman, but the one with Invader is able to use an eye rake to turn the tide and manages to knock Invader down. The Hangmen quickly regroup and double tema Bronco.  Invader recovers and tries to help, but the Hangmen subdue him and take control of the match.

One of the Hangmen brings out an object that he grinds against Bronco’s masked forehead and then both Hangmen put the tecnicos into camel clutches on the floor (for added insult they have the tecnicos facing each other as they are in the holds). The tecnicos manage to leverage out of the camel clutches, which causes the Hangmen to knock heads. The tecnicos once again take over, as Invader rams one of the Hangmen into the ringpost and follows up with a foul kick. We have not seen the inside of the ring yet and we are at the seven minute mark. The fight continues on the floor, with Invader and Bronco busting out belts to hit the Hangmen with. Finally, almost nine minutes into the match, Invader and one of the Hangmen get inside the ring. The Hangman paired with Bronco has gotten ahold of the belt Bronco was using and chokes Bronco with it. In the ring, the other Hangmae has taken control of the match. All four men are now in the ring and it is the Hangmen who have the advantage.

We get the ten minute time call and a reminder that the winner is the last person standing. Invader and Bronco start a comeback, which leads to Invader and one of the Hangmen exiting the ring (with the referee following them). In the ring, Bronco hits his drop down DDT but, with the ref outside, El Profe runs in and nails Bronco with one of the bullropes. While Invader and one of the Hangmen continue fighting on the arena floor, referee Victor Quiñonez notices that Bronco and the other Hangmen are down on the mat. Victor makes his way to the ring and starts applying the ten count to both wrestlers. The Hangman makes it to his feet first and the Texas Hangmen are declared the winners. Invader #1 gets in the ring to check on Bronco, and all of a sudden invader #4 emerges from the stairwell with a  chair. Invader #4 starts hitting the Hangmen and Profe with the chair, chasing them away from the ringside area. This gives the crowd something to cheer for but your winners of the street fight are the Texas Hangmen. 

MD: This was a total war. Really, it was more of a Bunkhouse than a street fight as they were out in their street clothes (for the most part). Invader had no mask. Invader and Bronco started out strong really beating them around the stadium but they got pulled apart and taken out two on one. Invader tried to fire up but the numbers got him. From there they did a comeback at the five minute mark, worked things back towards the ring with a lot of shots from Invader and a strap, and then got swept under again. At the ten minute mark they mounted a second comeback. Invader chased one Hangman away while Bronco hit his drop down DDT finish. The ref was distracted, Profe whacked Bronco with the rope/cowbell, and the Hangman beat the ten count. I’m not sure about that finish at this stage of the feud but you can’t look past the great brawling and hot crowd here.

EB: Our second match that we have in full is the kendo stick on a pole Caribbean title match between Miguelito Perez and Kim Duk. These two have been feuding since about mid January, a feud that  has included the smashing of a car windshield and El Profe making some miscues that have cost Kim Duk some of the matches. The full match aired as the main event of  the February 23 Campeones episode, so let's watch that episode and see what happened (although it becomes clear as the show progresses that we have a new champion and something happened between Duk and Profe).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjJHusBYHP0

As usual, we have Hugo Savinovich and El Profe as our hosts for this week’s Campeones program. Hugo introduces the supreme leader of El Club Deportivo and also makes mention of the man now helping to manage the Club’s affairs, one General Skandor Alkbar.  Hugo and Profe mention what they will have on today’s program, including today’s main event featuring the kendo stick on a pole match that happened the previous week between Miguelito Perez and Kim Duk. The mention of this march causes El Profe to exclaim “Do not mention the name of that human garbage.” Tonight there is a show in Ponce headlined by Carlos Colon vs Scott Hall and tomorrow Sunday they will be in Carolina with the main event being the awaited match between Carlos Colon and Dick Murdoch. Profe has been waiting for this match because he wants to see the beating Murdoch will give Colon. Hugo hypes up the merchandise that will be available at the shows and we cut to our first match of the program, Galan Mendoza vs Super Medico #3.

Mendoza has Medico #3 down on the mat and is working a chinlock. Hugo and Profe talk about Mendoza’s experience advantage by highlighting his titles won and the territories he has worked in. Medico #3 gets to his feet and elbows his way out the chinlock, but Mendoza cuts him off with a knee to the midsection.  Mendoza goes back to working the chinlock as Profe talks up the ‘galan’ aspect of Mendoza (galan means hunk or handsome man). Hugo mentions that tonight in Ponce we will also see Mendoza and Valentine taking on the Caribbean Express, as well as Bronco #1 vs Mr. Pogo and Invader #1 vs. Dick Murdoch.In the ring, Mendoza has backed Medico #3 into the corner and hits several punches, but Medico #3 is able to counter when sent into the ropes with punches of his own. A backdrop leads to Mendoza begging off, but then Medico #3 gets overzealous and misses a corner charge to give the advantage back to Mendoza. 

A pin attempt gets two and Medico #3 gets another comeback. A dropkick sends Mendoza out of the ring and Monster Ripper goes over to check on her charge. Profe claims that Medico #3 must be in love with Monster Ripper but Hugo counters that he saw Profe and Ripper together in the locker room. Profe says that they were making plans on how to deal with the tecnicos, nothing more. Mendoza uses some headbutts to the chest once back in the ring, but is faked out when attempting a leapfrog in the corner, leading to Medico #3 getting an inside cradle for a nearfall. Mendoza makes a play to untie Medico #3’s mask, but Medico fights him off. Medico #3 gets several nearfalls but Mendoza keeps kicking out. Medico #3 gets a headbutt off the top rope and makes the cover, but Monster Ripper is able to put Mednoza’s leg on the ropes to stop the count. Medicio #3 misses a follow up splash, allowing Mendoza to load up his glove and head to the top turnbuckle. Mendoza hits a loaded punch from the top and makes the cover, but Medico #1 comes in to attack Mendoza. Medico #1 sends Mendoza out of the ring as the referee calls for the bell, declaring Mendoza the winner by disqualification. Ripper raises Mendzoa ‘s hand as they leave the ring area while Medico #1 checks on his son.

MD: This was the most complete Medico III match I’ve seen so far. He’s come a long way in the last year. Here he had a nice comeback after avoiding the glove but then spent most of the rest of the match working from underneath with hope spot roll ups. Some of them were very good. Finish had him miss a diving headbutt and Mendoza load the glove and nail him only for Medico I to come out to disrupt proceedings. Mendoza looked good overall. Just a nice TV match to keep the feud going.

EB: We get couple of promos regarding a match taking place tomorrow in Carolina. Due to what happened in the street fight between the Texas Hangmen and Bronco & Invader #1 (where Invader #4 made a post match appearance), a six man tag match is taking place. It will be the Hangmen and Profe vs Bronco and the Invaders. First we hear from Profe and the Texas Hangmen, as Profe says he is going to become a Hangmen tomorrow for the match. The Hangmen are ready for the tecnicos to step into the war zone with them. They also have some words for the Super Medicos, who are their opponents tonight in Ponce. The Invaders and Bronco are next and they are looking forward to the chance of getting their hands on El Profe in the ring. They blame Profe for not winning the World tag titles last week and they are out for payback.

We then get the card rundown for the Carolina show tomorrow, which is as follows: Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch; no time limit rematch for the TV title as Original TNT defends against TNT; six man tag as the Invaders & Bronco #1 take on the Texas Hangmen & El Profe; Kim Duk vs Motor City Madman; Miguelito Perez defends the Caribbean title against Scott Hall; mixed tag match as the Super Medicos & Sasha take on Mendoza, Valentine & Monster Ripper; and a World Junior title rematch as Mr. Pogo defends against former champion Huracan Castillo.

MD: If I’m reading the card right, we’ve got Invader IV teaming with his brother and Bronco against Profe and the Hangmen, which, again, is a way to keep things rolling. They could honestly cycle Bronco out here and get a few more weeks out of just Hangmen vs Invaders if they really needed to. You could argue that Invader IV, while being less of a threat on his own than Bronco might work better with Invader I for instance.

EB: We get a  Dick Murdoch music video featuring footage not just from Puerto Rico but a;so other places Murdoch had wrestled in recently. The video includes a clip of when Murdoch attacked Carlos Colon after the cage match with Greg Valentine.  

MD: They pulled footage from numerous territories here (or at least Texas) and also did things like highlighting him doing a chinlock, which I found funny. Still nice to see though.

EB: Scott Hall has returned and is set to challenge new Caribbean champ Miuguelito Perez in an attempt to bring the title back to El Club Deportivo. Hall also has some words for Carlos Colon, his opponent tonight in Ponce.

MD: Hall is coming for Perez and his title (which means he beat Kim Duk for it). As always, the best part is after he finishes talking and while Profe is translating for him and as he is trying to figure out what to do to kill the time with his hands.

EB: Back to Hugo and Profe in the studio and they want to show the viewers the latest in the Medicos vs. Valentine & Mendoza feud, one where Sasha has gotten more involved with lately.. On February 2, the Medicos had a cover after the ref had been knocked down. Monster Ripper jumped off the top rope to break it up and put Valentine on top of the Medico, giving her team the win. Then on February 6 in Miramar, they had a mixed tag match with Sasha and Monster Ripper joining their respective teams, and this encounter was won by the tecnicos. On February 9 in Caguas, Mendoza used the loaded punch but the Medicos countered with a loaded headbutt. It looked like the Medicos might win the Caribbean tag titles when Medico #1 had Valentine in a sleeperhold, but Monster Ripper came in with one of her boots to break it up and give the DQ win to the Medicos. February 16 saw another rematch, with Sasha and Monster Ripper handcuffed to each other at ringside. The match went to a time limit draw but all six people engaged in a brawl after the match. Tomorrow they will face off in another six person tag. We go to the rudos for an interview about tomorrow’s match, and they also have comments for the Caribbean Express (who are their opponents tonight). The Medicos also give some quick remarks about their matches tonight and tomorrow.

We get a card rundown for tonight in Ponce where we have Carlos Colon vs Scott Hall; Invader #1 vs Dick Murdoch; TNT & Kim Duk vs Original TNT & Motor City Madman; the Super Medicos vs the Texas Hangmen; Bronco #1 vs Mr. Pogo; Sasha vs  Monster Ripper; and the Caribbean Express vs Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza.

MD: I’m sure Esteban will explain this better but it looks like they’re promoting two shows this week and the second one has some new feuds (Colon vs Hall, Invader vs Murdoch, Medicos vs Hangemen, TNT/Duk (babyfaces) vs Original TNT/Madman, Bronco vs Pogo, Castillo/Perez vs Valentine/Mendoza) and they set the last of those up with the promo here. Not much to say about the feud footage; we’ve seen a lot of this before but you really do get a sense of how much they flip people over back and forth to turn pinfalls around in this one. I am about ready for things to move on so we’ll see if this is the path for some of the feuds.

EB: With Scott Hall returning, we get his music video with highlights of his turn against Giant Warrior, some matches from his original rudo run in 1990 and some more recent tv matches.

MD: This is to “Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” which feels a little jarring on PR TV and a little low key for Hall beating on guys as a heel, but that’s what we’ve got. Just like the babyface version we had in 90, this heel Cowboy version (relative to the version a year before) feels like something that could have actually worked in the mainstream if he didn’t become Diamond Studd.

EB: As mentioned by Hugo earlier in the show, Skandor Aknar is back on the island. He is with Motor City Madman as they have words for Kim Duk. They feel Kim Duk has double crossed Profe and Akbar and the Madman will teach him a lesson. Madman adds some trash talk about Duk’s martial arts skills and promises to show Duk just how good Madman is.  

MD: Why do you bring in Skandor Akbar to cut a good promo (albeit in English) if you’re going to have the Mad Man talk too (also in English)? Not the choice I would have made.

EB: Profe is with Original tNT and mentions that Original TNT is facing that fake Juan Rivera one more time in a no time limit match. Original TNT cuts his usual promo about  calling TNT an impostor and being sick and tired of facing him again.  El Profe translates and also talks about tonight’s tag match featuring Original TNT and Motor City Madman against two pieces of garbage. 

MD: They should have had both Akbar and Profe speak for Original TNT too.

EB: The main event for today's program is last week’s Caribbean title match. Before the match, we get a cut off ad for the tv taping in Miramar, where it looks like Ricky Santana is making a return to Puerto Rico. We then get some words from Hugo and Profe, where they show off some fan art (with El Profe praising the talent of the artist that drew him and complaining that they drew Sasha much prettier than she is). Hugo intros the match, saying they will have comments afterwards during the show close (Profe just stays silent as they go to the match).

We join the match with Miguelito making an attempt for the kendo stick almost at the start of the match. Duk stops him and  both men start exchanging punches in the ring.  Duk is able to make a charge for the pole but Perez stops him and they exchange blows standing on the top turnbuckle. Duk grabs Perez and throws him to the mat and Duk attacks Perez with a foreign object (that he hides from referee Victor Quiñonez when he goes to check by offering him the leg that does not have the object hidden in it). On commentary, Hugo mentions Duk’s cheating and El Profe just starts lambasting Duk for being an idiot and not listening to him. Duk controls most of the middle portion of the match and makes a few attempts at climbing the pole but is stopped by Perez each time. Profe on commentary just gets on Duk’s case for being too slow and incompetent in not being able to climb the pole fast enough. Perez tries to climb up using Duk’s shoulders for footing, but Duk is able to grab Miguelito’s legs and prevent him from climbing up further.

We go to commercial break (with a cur TNT promo serving as a bookend) and come back to Duk missing a legdrop. Perez gets an atomic drop, several punches and hits his powerslam. This gives Perez the opening to climb up the pole and retrieve the kendo stick. El Profe made an attempt to grab Perez during his climb but was stopped by the referee. Miguelito now has possession of the kendo stick, meaning he can now use it on Duk. Miguelito comes off the top but is caught with a punch to the midsection by Duk. The two men fight over the kendo stick. As Duk and Miguelito struggle to see who gets the kendo stick, Huracan Castillo (who is seconding Perez) sees Profe making a move and tries to get closer. The ref stops Castillo and warns him to stay in his assigned corner. With the ref distracted, Profe reaches in to trip up Perez but screws up once more by inadvertently tripping Duk as well. Perez ends up with the kendo stick, hits Duk several times with it and makes the cover for the win. Perez is the new Caribbean champion as the crowd cheers. 

Post match, Duk is angry with Profe over another accident costing him the match (and in this case the title). Profe gets in the ring but instead of apologizing, he starts berating Duk for losing the match, even touching Duk’s face during his tirade. Duk has had enough and attacks Profe as the crowd explodes in cheers. El Profe gets a big chop and a slam, but before Duk can do more damage, the Motor City Madman runs in to attack Duk. Madman and Profe double team Duk and Madman uses the kendo stick to bust Duk open and leave him laying in the ring. On commentary, Profe is calling Madman a man of honor and class, who was there to defend him against the cretin attacking him. Hugo mentions that we are out of time and will not be able to have a show close and Profe just keeps hurling insults at Duk and celebrating the attack by Madman. The show ends with Duk busted open and then cutting to a scene of Duk being stretchered out after the attack.

MD: This felt fresh. I don’t think we’ve seen any of these in this run. And obviously it’s at the end of a big feud with a title change and a surprisingly over face turn and high heat angle, so there was a lot going on here. As for the match itself, it was a lot of Perez trying to climb to get the kendo stick at the top of the (surprisingly long) pole and Duk pulling him off but that kept things moving and the offense was credible and fans were behind Perez. Perez did get it but that never ends these things as they started fighting over it. Profe tried to trip Perez from outside; they both fell; Perez nailed him with the stick and won.

Post match, Profe tried to smooth things over but Duk unloaded on him and the fans went nuts. Some of it was Profe (who’s been so front and center on the heel side since Chicky left) finally getting his. Some was probably familiarity with Duk as he’d been there for a while now. Motor City Madman ran out and they completely clobbered him with the stick leading to lots of blood and a stretcher job. I don’t know how exactly we ended up in a world with a 1991 Kim Duk babyface turn in Puerto Rico but here we are.

EB: We also have the west coast version of Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre from February 23.

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

Hugo welcomes the viewers to this week’s program and immediately mentions that we have a new Caribbean champion in Miguelito Perez. The go to a clip of what happened at the end of the match, with El Profe screwing up again, which led to Perez getting the win and the title. They also show the post match incident between Profe and Duk, including Motor City Madman running in to save Profe. Duk is busted open and left laying. Back to Hugo in the studio who has a big announcement. Due to the vicious beating that happened after the match, Kim Duk has demanded to face El Profe in a one on one and that will happen today on this program. Hugo mentions the other matches on the program before talking about the upcoming house shows. Due to the show happening in Carolina the next day ,there will be no show in the west coast area tomorrow. However, they will be in Moca on Thursday and they will be back in Cabo Rojo next Sunday March 3 (we’ll run down the scheduled card in a bit). 

Our first match is joined in progress and it is Dick Murdoch vs Super Medico #1. Murdoch is cowering in the corner from Medico, who has the upper hand and has been hitting Murdoch with punches. Hugo is on commentary and warns that Medico needs to be careful because Murdoch is a dangerous individual. Medcio switches to kicking Murdoch in the corner, but Dick is able to grab one of the kicks and trip up Medico. A quick jab to the eye allows Murdoch the chance to stand up. Medico regains control but misses a corner headbutt charge. Murdoch stomps Medico’s head and then tosses him outside to the floor. Murdoch rams Medico’s shoulder into the post and then tosses him back inside. Dick hits several punches to the face and chokes Medico right in front of the referee. Murdoch motions at Joe Smith at ringside and Joe passes  him what looks to be a rope or wire that is used to choke Medico.  The ref tries to get Murdoch to break but Dick refuses, and Murdoch ends up being disqualified. Murdoch continues choking out Medico #1, and does not let go until El Vikingo has to physically pull Murdoch away. Medico #3 comes out to check on his father as the segment ends.

MD: Not enough punches here, because we came in JIP and then it was clipped up, so we even miss Medico’s really nice headbutt (I’m sure). A great transition early as Murdoch catches the stomp and hits a few quick punches to take over. He eventually dodges a corner charge and then hits his running ringpost shoulder charge on the outside. Then, as he has the advantage, his second (in the baseball get up), passes him a rope and he choke Medico. When the ref tries to stop him he does the most passive aggressive little headbutt to push him away. Anyway, he was dominant but still lost so everyone keeps their heat. I bet this was even better in full.

EB: We go to a series of promos regarding the different matches scheduled for the next week. Original TNT and El Profe are up first, and it seems Original TNT is facing Kim Duk on Thursday. Profe goes on a tirade, indicating that Duk was never his friend, he is rash, and he will be taught a lesson on Thursday. Hugo takes the opportunity to remind the viewers that later on the program we will have Kim Duk vs. El Profe. Hugo also gets comments regarding the Sunday March 3 match against TNT, to which Original TNT does his usual spiel about TNT being an impostor. 

MD: We’re in a wild world where with hot new babyface Kim Duk and Original TNT still around for some reason and calling people imposters. I actually think the two of them will match up pretty well, just not, you know, for long or anything.

EB: Next is Monster Ripper with the Caribbean tag team champions of Rick Valentine and Galan Mendoza. Their scheduled matches are Thursday against Huracan Castillo Jr. and the returning Ricky Santan and on Sunday March 3 against the Super Medicos. Ripper says that she doesn't have much to say because it doesn’t matter who her guys face, she has total confidence in them. They are champions for a reason. Mendoza says that Castillo knows him very well, so he wants Castillo to let Ricky Santana know what awaits him (as holds up his gloved fist). Valentine and he are the champions and will remain champions no matter who their opponents are. Valentine provides comments about the match against the Super Medicos, it is a non title match. Valentine says that it’ll be another time the Medicos will lose against them again.

MD: Now that I know we’re theoretically getting some new feuds soon I’m sort of over the Valentine/Mendoza vs Super Medicos feud. I think this might be the most effective partner for Valentine of them all though because Mendoza knows this is his biggest push he’s going to get and he’s able to hang on the promos with Ripper doing something more over the top. 

EB: Our last interview of this segment is Dick Murdoch with his sidekick Joe Smith. Murdoch is facing Invader #1 on Thursday in Moca (which Murdoch deliberately misunderstands as Monkey, an appropriate town name for Puerto Rico). Murdoch also complains about the awful food Joe’s mother fed him. Murdoch promises that Invader will just be a stepping stone on his way to facing Carlos Colon on Sunday. Murdoch has been waiting a long time to get in the ring against Colon, and this is what it is all about. Murdoch says some choice comments about it being a great white man against Colon (with some racial insults thrown in), reminding Colon about an incident in Kansa City when they wouldn't allow Colon in a restaurant (which Murdoch enjoyed) and now he will embarrass Colon in his home country,  

We get the card rundown for Thursday February 28 in Moca: Carlos Colon & TNT vs. the Texas Hangmen; Invader #1 vs. Dick Murdoch;  Miguelito Perez vs. Motor City Madman; Kim Duk vs Original TNT; Huracan Castillo Jr. & Ricky Santana vs. Galan Menodza & Rick Valentine; and Sasha vs. Monster Ripper.

And next Sunday March 3 in Cabo Rojo, we have: Carlos Colon vs. Dick Murdoch; Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs. the Texas Hangmen; TNT vs. Original TNT; Jeff Jarrett vs. Greg Valentine; Kim Duk vs. Motor City Madman; Miguelito Perez defends the Caribbean title against Scott Hall; Ricky Santana challenges Mr. Pogo for the World Junior title; and the Super Medicos vs. Galan Mendoza & Rick Valentine.

MD: I’m never going to clip these promos because they’re so blatantly racist and because Murdoch was part of the klan and what have you but they’re something alright. Usually about 2/3rds of them would pass but not that last third. Just his reactions while Hugo (Herbert) is talking and the stuff he does with his hands to mimic the brainbuster. I suggest you go and click on the link and see them, but no way am I clipping them. Anyway, he really sells the Invader match and the Colon match here. I’d want to see him get his ass handed to him if I was there. That’s for sure.

EB: We go back to Miramar for Motor City Madman vs. Nick Ayala. Skandor Akbar is at ringside for Madman, and this match is short as Madman quickly grabs Ayala and does his inverted vice into the head rams on the turnbuckle maneuver. Hugo barely had time to ask Eliud Gonzalez about the union we apparently have between General Skandor Akbar’s Devastation Inc. and El Profe before the match ended when referee Victor Quiñonez called for the bell. 

MD: Very short work here as he hits a kick and then his repeated over the shoulder snake eyes thing over and over and over again. I love seeing it so I was fine with this.

EB: We now go to some interviews with the tecnicos, beginning with the recently turned Kim Duk (or as Hugo introduces him,  the new Kim Duk). Duk first asks the people to stay tuned so they can see him get his revenge against El Profe. Duk says he will be competition for Original TNT on Thursday and will show him what Duk is made of. Next Sunday Duk gets a chance to face Motor City Madman, who left him laid out and bloodied. Duk says that Madman made a mistake because Duk is still here. Duk never went down and now they will show the people who is strong. 

MD: Considering how terrible a promo Duk has been through this entire run as a heel, he did pretty well here as a fired up babyface with a chip on his shoulder. Motor City Madman made one mistake, KIm Duk is still there! I mean, sure, let’s go with it. Why not?

EB: Huracan is next to talk about the tag match against Mendoza & Valentine (he’s happy to team up again with Santana and they will give the champions the beating they deserve).  

MD: Perez is getting the bigger singles push so Ricky Santana is coming back in to team with Castillo against Valentine and Mendoza. That’ll be fresh at least. Santana really had a relatively short run last time. Usually they space the promos out by feud on these episodes but here they’re just pulling whoever is around one after the other.

EB: Invader # follows, commenting first on his match this coming Thursday against Dick Murdoch. Invader says that Murdoch is racist, but he also has a lot of experience and is a great wrestler. Murdoch loves to talk and drag Puerto Ricans through the mud. Invader says that when that bell rings on Thursday, Murdoch will regret speaking badly about Puerto Ricans, because when you come over here you have to respect us. He’ll make sure Murdoch starts respecting Invader this Thursday. Bronco #1 joins the interview to talk about the scheduled match against the Texas Hangmen next Sunday. Bronco says they’ve had a lot of battles, but he’s got this feeling that the end is near for the Hangmen. The careers of the Hangmen are in his and Invader’s hands and they will give the final blow next Sunday. Invader asks the fans to make sure they come out and support them next Sunday, and that he and Bronco have one thing on their minds, to send the Hangmen out of Puerto Rico. 

MD: Invader cut an impassioned promo here against Murdoch. He had the mask on since they then pulled Bronco in to cut a promo on the Hangmen, but it helped the anti-Murdoch promo. Honestly, this made me want to see what would happen if Murdoch faced off against Bronco. I bet he’d get a ton out of how stylized his movement was.

EB: Our next match is a joined in progress clip from 1989 from Original TNT’s first run. His opponent is White Angel and this is mainly shown to put over Original TNT and his cobra sleeper. Angel makes a comeback, but Chicky Starr distracts Angel and Original TNT gets the cobra sleeper for the win 

MD: I was going to say we hadn’t seen Thompson in forever which made me wonder when this was from, and lo and behold, as he’s making his big comeback, there’s Chicky to get up on the apron and distract him to set up Original TNT’s Cobra. So they just didn’t have much recent to show Original TNT winning. This was quick and decisive but weirdly highlighted Chicky in a way you’d figure they wouldn’t want to.

EB: Motor City Madman and his manager Skandor Akbar are here for an interview about the upcoming matches Madman has. Akbar says that he hopes Miguelito’s dad taught him well for the match on Thursday, because the Madman is going to bring down that big 747 on Perez and that will be all that Perez will remember. Next Sunday Madman faces Kim Duk and Madman feels betrayed by Duk. He promises that he will leave Duk laid out again. Madman makes sure to take off his sunglasses when he speaks to the camera and puts them back on as soon as he’s done talking.

MD: Man having Akbar around is great. He just has this gravitas with his deep voice and enunciation. And even invoking Devastation, Inc. When he says he hopes Perez’s dad trained him well you believe that there’s deep history there. He cuts the promo on Perez for the first match and then Mad Man cuts a quick one on Kim Duk (saying they were just drinking beer together but now he was hanging out with Colon). 

EB: El Profe and the Texas Hangmen are up next to talk about their upcoming matches. This Thursday the Hangmen take on Carlos Colon & TNT (the team they feuded with in November) and Psycho says this has to be a nightmare for Colon & TNT, a reminder of the beatings and blood that has been spilled when facing the Hangmen. Next Sunday they face their current enemies Invader #1 & Bronco #1 and this may be the last time the tecnicos step into the war zone, the Hangmen are tired of facing them and want to end the tecnicos once and for all.

MD: Again, covering a lot of ground with one Hangman handling one match and the other the other. The first is the flag match with Invader and Colon and the second the next one with Bronco and Invader. A flag match was novel and they did a little catch phrase about pain being their policy and hanging their game (or something like that). This has been unquestionably a legitimate main event run for them. Yes Greg Valentine has been bouncing around but he’s wrestling Jeff Jarrett on the undercard of one of these shows, so come on.

EB: Ricky Santana is returning and we get a repeat of the music video set to Tom Jones’ ‘Kiss’.  What a heartthrob Santana is. 

MD: It’s the same music video from last time he showed up with the same girls (three Colons included) on the bus. I don’t remember him ducking a half dozen Profe shots to hit him with an atomic drop but I bet that was in there too. 

EB: The super team of Carlos Colon and TNT are in the studio with Hugo to talk about their tag match against the Hangmen on Thursday and their respective singles matches next Sunday. Carlos says that El Profe’s words don’t bother them at all, instead they are focused on finishing the Hangmen off on Thursday in order to weaken El Club Deportivo. TNT agrees with Carlos and then they move to next Sunday. Carlos says he has been waiting for this match and it will be one of the most important days of his career. It will be his chance to avenge something Murdoch did to him, and he will make sure that this dog, this charlatan gets the revenge coming to him. He wants the fans to be there next Sunday to see how you beat respect into a racist and charlatan such as Dick Murdoch.  TNT talks about how Original TNT keeps talking about how he is the real one, but it’s interesting that he still has not signed the contract for the match challenge TNT has given, one where the name and paint will be on the line (as was originally scheduled for Aniversario 89). TNT promises to give Original TNT such a beating that he will have no choice but to exit the island. There’s a brief clip of Sasha talking that gets cut off, where Sasha was asking the fans to be there Thursday to support her in her match against Monster Ripper.

MD: This one I think was maybe a little blunted because they had to cover too much disparate ground. I wanted to see Colon really lay it into Murdoch. After this we get a few seconds of Sasha before the tape cuts, so we’ll never know what she was going to say.

EB: Our main event for the program is Kim Duk taking on his former manager El Profe, and boy is this crowd hot for Kim Duk. El Profe is already in the ring as Duk makes his way out, and as Duk gets ready you can hear the crowd making noise and Profe trying to hush them. A loud ‘Kim Duk’ chant breaks out as Duk gets in the ring, and El Profe starts begging off. Profe rolls out, Duk gives chase and Profe almost makes it to the safety of the nearby boxing ring but gets caught by Duk. Profe gets rammed face first onto the ring apron and into the wall as the crowd is excited to see Profe get his comeuppance. Back in the ring, Duk gets a big chop on Profe and starts slapping Profe across the face. The beating continues with Profe getting no offense and Duk at one point makes an attempt to unlace Profe’s mask. Profe immediately drops to the ground and the ref warns Duk to stop doing that. Duk signals to the crowd that he's going for the mask and continues making attempts to unlace Profe’s mask. The ref again stops Duk and Profe tries to re-lace his mask. Duk goes back on the attack and hits a hotshot on Profe. A throat thrust and choke follow, with a punch from Duk leaving Profe face down with his legs on the bottom rope.  Duk gets the cobra sleeper on Profe, but Motor City Madman hits the ring and attacks Duk to save Profe. Skandor Akbar is also at ringside. Akbar gives instructions to Madman, who grabs the kendo stick and attacks Duk with it. The match is a disqualification win for Duk but he did not get his full measure of revenge. 

We then go to Hugo for the show close, where he reminds the west coast fans of the cards on Thursday and next Sunday.

MD: This was really good in just the few minutes we have of it. Duk is legitimately over. Profe is excellent running away from him (including almost into the neighboring boxing ring). Just a really nice stooging performance from Profe as he pinballs and begs off. Duk stands tall as a vet with his years knows how to and it’s building to a real mauling when Madman comes in to break things up. Nice taste to show what Duk as a babyface could be and keep things churning to bigger matches. 

EB: Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, a lot of feuds seem to have reached a boiling point as we get the final hype for the Colon vs. Murdoch showdown (including a rare Carlos Colon TV studio match), feud recaps for two big apuestas matches, and a look back at a mask vs hair match from November 1990 between the Super Medicos and Eric Embry & Rick Valentine. 

Read more!

El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: No Vacancy

Week 43: No Vacancy

EB:  The TV title tournament was held on January 26, and while we do not have the complete brackets of who faced who in the first round, we do know that the final match of the tournament was between TNT and Original TNT. When the numbers were drawn, Original TNTr received the bye to the finals, where he faced a tired and bloody TNT. Thanks to these circumstances (and a well placed salt throw) Original TNT became the new TV champion.In addition, the two tag title matches held that day resulted in disqualification wins for the tecnicos, with the circumstances surrounding those wins leading to stipulation rematches for February 2.  In the case of the Super Medicos vs. Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza we have a no DQ rematch. For the Texas Hangmen and Invader #1 & Bronco #1, the Hangmen’s actions resulted in them stealing Bronco’s mask and Invader making the save with his fist taped up. If you have been following along on our journey you know that the taped fist appearing means things have reached a serious point.

Adding to everything going on heading into February 2 is the awaited cage match between Carlos Colon and Greg Valentine to settle the Universal title vacancy. Overall, there is a lot that’s been happening so far in 1991 and it looks like a lot of issues may be settled on February 2. Lucky for us, the Superestrellas de la Lucha Libe episode we have for the February 2 weekend gives us the opportunity to put a lot of these ongoing feuds in context, since it consists almost entirely of highlight videos for each of the ongoing feuds. It is the west coast version of Superestrellas that we have, so the focus is on promoting the February 3 card in Hormigueros, but as usual it’s basically the same card that will be held on February 2 in Bayamon (so we’re getting the build up here). If you were wanting to have a fuller context of what has been happening in CSP throughout January of 1991, this is the TV episode to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c78Y1d8JfiA

Hugo welcomes the viewers to the program and runs down what will be on today’s show. Hugo mentions that we will see Norman the Lunatic and Dick Murdoch in action (although we do not get any Norman in the episode, so it may be edited out of this version we have).  Hugo also mentions that we will have some special videos going over the ongoing feuds, with highlights about what has led up to this weekend’s house show matches.

We cut to the feud highlight video for Miguelito Perez vs. Kim Duk. This started January 19 in Caguas, upon Miguelito’s return from a Japan tour. Miguelito gets his signature powerslam and makes the cover, but Duk gets a foot on the ropes to stop the count. Miguelito thinks he has won the match and briefly celebrates, but the ref explains to him that the count was stopped due to Duk’s foot being on the ropes. While Perez has his back turned, El Profe hands Kim Duk something. Miguelito heads back towards Duk and sends him into the ropes to set up another powerslam, but on the rebound Duk throws salt into Miguelito’s face.  Duk is disqualified but Perez is down and temporarily blinded on the mat. Duk takes the opening to start attacking Migueltio with a kendo stick, hitting several blows on the defenseless Perez. Some days.later, Miguelito got a surprise when he was leaving the studio and found his vehicle’s windshield smashed up. Fans that were nearby informed Miguelito that it was Kim Duk that had done it with a baseball bat.

El Profe and Kim Duk cut a promo on the upcoming match with Miguelito Perez, with Profe saying that Kim Duk’s leg is all better now (it seems that Duk claimed he was injured last Sunday to avoid facing Miguelito) and there will be no excuses when Kim Duk  finishes Perez this weekend. We go to Miguelito with Hugo, and Hugo talks about everything that has happened so far, such as the salt being thrown in Miguelito’s face, Duk’s knee being hurt last week, and now the incident with the windshield. Perez wants all of the fans to be there tomorrow night because he wants revenge. It’s true that he didn;t see Kim Duk break the windshield of the car, but the fans that were there said they saw Duk do it. Miguelito is also convinced that last week Duk was faking that he was hurt or ill so that he wouldn’t have to face Miguelito. Tomorrow night in Hormigueros, both of them will be there and Duk will pay for what he has done. Perez asks what is up with Duk no longer coming out here with the baseball bat, all of a sudden he is back with the kendo stick. Hugo and Miguelito talk that maybe Duk is hiding it due to a guilty conscience or that he does not want to get any more fines for carrying it around. Miguelito also sends a warning to El Profe about not getting involved. Miguelito is coming for Duk’s head.

MD: This feud seems to have come out of nowhere but it’s a solid mid-card feud that moves Perez up the ladder a little bit if they need him to be moved up. I keep waiting for them to cycle the Hangmen (or Valentine/Mendoza) to the Caribbean Express but I guess it’s not time for that yet. Here Duk got DQed for using the salt in front of the ref, attacked with the kendo stick post-match and then trashed Perez’s car with it. So obviously Perez was out for blood. They got a ton of mileage out of 90-91 Duk all things considered. 

EB: We cut to the feud highlights for Giant Warrior vs. Scott Hall. We get the highlights from the Christmas Day tag match where Scott Hall turned on Giant Warrior due to Hall believing it was Warrior who had hit him with the chair. Hall had left Warrior laying and the feud was on from there. We go to their most recent encounter from January 27 in Hormigueros, where Warrior was well in control of the match and attempting several pin attempts. However, Hall made his way to the ring apron and was able to catch Giant Warrior when the latter attempted to bring Hall back in. Hall took advantage of having Warrior on the ropes and grabbed his bullrope from the turnbuckle. Hall then proceeded to choke Warrior out with the bullrope as the ref rang the bell, signalling a disqualification. Hall snapmared Warrior down with the rope and then started whipping Warrior with the bullrope. This has resulted in a bullrope match being signed for this weekend.

The interview with Hall is edited out of this version of the episode but we do get Warrior’s interview. Warrior has the bullrope with him and makes note that they will find out if Hall is man enough to be attached to the other end of the bullrope when facing Warrior.   The bell can do a lot of damage to a man’s head and Warrior is looking forward to defeating Hall and paying him back. Hall can’t run anywhere.

We then have a rundown for tomorrow’s card in Hormigueros (which is likely the same card scheduled for that night in Bayamon): Carlos Colon vs. Greg valentine for the vacant Universal title in a cage match; a rematch for the World tag team titles as Invader #1 (with his taped fist) and Bronco #1 challenge the Texas Hangmen; TNT challenges the new TV champion Original TNT; Giant Warrior vs Scott Hall in a bullrope match; Norman the Lunatic vs Dick Murdoch; a no DQ rematch for the Caribbean tag titles as  the Super Medicos challenge Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza; Miguelito Perez vs. Kim Duk; and Huracan Castillo Jr. defends the World Junior title against Mr. Pogo. 

MD: The 1/27 match between these two actually looks pretty good. They’re working well together. It ends with Hall using the bullrope which, I mean, great, and it sets up a bullrope match for the upcoming card (which looks really good by the way, one of the best single cards I’ve seen them promote in ages and that’s saying something). But, they have the Texas Hangmen! They use a noose. It’s really similar! Maybe they should have clearly put Hall and the Hangment together as a unit? 

EB: We join a Dick Murdoch vs Nick Ayala match in progress just in time for Murdoch to hit a brainbuster and get the pinfall win. Hugo makes note that Murdoch has a young man with him at ringside, it appears Murdoch has said that he is training this person and wants to make him into a wrestler. Murdoch speaks briefly with the unnamed man and they shake hands before leaving the ring. We go to an interview with ‘Captain Redneck’ Dick Murdoch and this unidentified man. Murdoch calls Hugo ‘Herman’ and quickly moves past talking about Norman the Lunatic in order to complain about the loss of a beautiful lady on an island where there are none to be found. Murdoch also says that he found the man that made Puerto Rico famous in major league baseball by striking out in the World Series. The man is named Jose but Murdoch quickly tells Jose that he will get him to stop speaking ‘that trashy Mexican talk, that trashy Puerto Rican talk’, he will learn English like the rest of the world speaks. and that from now on his name will be Joe Smith. Murdoch insults the viewers and then tells ‘Herman’ that after Norman, he wants Carlos Colon.

MD: We’re robbed of the Ayala match as we come in just with the brainbuster. Murdoch’s promo is something else. He calls Hugo Herman. He has a guy with him who he calls Jose and says is a famous baseball player who struck out in a key moment who he will teach wrestling and call Joe Smith. He goes on about a bunch of other stuff and it’s all exactly what you’d expect. After Norman, his eyes are on Colon.

EB: Next is the recap of the feud between the Super Medicos and Rick Valentine & Galan Mendoza. This feud began with Embry getting injured during the fire match held on Christmas Day and thus a new tag team was formed with Valentine & Mendoza looking to avenge what happened to Embry. January 12 in Carolina saw Mendoza use his loaded glove to help his team get the win. The two teams faced off on January 19 for the Caribbean tag titles, where once again Mendoza used his loaded punch to hit one of the Medicos. Valentine made the cover but the time limit rang before the three count was completed. The rudos complained about there being irregularities with the timekeeper ringing the bell when he did, so a rematch was held at the January 23 TV tapings in Miramar. Once again Mendoza used his loaded glove to hit one of the Medicos and this time the rudos were able to get the win and became the new Caribbean tag champions. The Medicos wanted a rematch and they got it on January 26 jn Caguas. The Medicos had the match in hand with several pin and submission attempts on Valentine. However, Mendoza kept breaking up the pinfall and submission attempts. Finally, Medico #1 got Valentine in a sleeperhold, which caused Mendoza to leap off the top rope in an attempt to break the hold up. Medico #3 had rushed in though, and instead was able to intercept Mendoza and put him in a sleeperhold as well. The ref had seen enough of Mendoza’s interference and called for a disqualification, which meant the rudos remained the champions. The Medicos kept the sleeperholds on and left Valentine and Mendoza laid out in the ring. This weekend they face off in a no DQ match.

We cut over the rudo team's interview and go to the Super Medicos. Hugo asks Medico #3 for his thoughts and Medico #3 says that everyone knows that the rudos stole the belts from them but they will regain them tomorrow. Hugo then asks Medico #1 for his thoughts, since the fans saw how Valentine & Mendoza cheated to win the belts in that bloody match they had on TV.  Tomorrow it is no DQ, so anything goes from either team. Medico #1 says that moments ago the fans saw clips of the battles the Medicos have had with Valentine & Embry and now Mendoza, and also the ways that the rudos have cheated, It’s now no DQ and the rudos say that they have the tiles and now want to get rid the Super Medicos. They may have the titles, but getting rid of the Medicos will be impossible for them to do.

MD: Not a lot to say here because we’ve covered a bunch of this but it’s been a very solid feud overall. Again, they got a ton of mileage out of Rick Valentine between 90-91 and multiple partners. Everything’s built to a big No DQ match which you think would favor Valentine/Mendoza but we shall see.

EB: We go to the feud highlight video for TNT and the Original TNT. El Profe is the narrator for the first part of this highlight video (so we are going to get his slant on things), where he recounts the start of this feud in 1989. Original TNT found out through a wrestling magazine that here in Puerto Rico there was a faker named Juan Rivera, who had gone to Loiusiana and decided to copy the name and style of TNT (which is not true). So Original TNT made his way to Puerto Rico to put a stop to this fake (again, this is Profe’s rudo slant on what happened). Hugo then continues the narration, indicating the two men were scheduled to face off at Aniversario 1989 in a winner take all match for the identity of TNT, but Original TNT did not show up.  Now in 1991 Original TNt has returned and the feud restarted on January 19, when TNT made a surprise appearance to save Carlos colon from Original TNT’s attack. TNT put Original TNT in the Cobra Dinamita and left him knocked out in the ring. They faced off for the TV title in the tournament finals on January 26, where Original TNt was able to steal the win. The next day in Hormigueros, they faced off in a singles match, where TNT hit a spin kick in the corner that sent him flying to the outside. TNT landed on his feet and surprised Original TNt with a sunset flip pin attempt to get back in the ring. They continue fighting, with Original TNt getting a back suplex. Both men’s shoulders are down as the ref makes the count. At two, TNT gets one of his shoulders up. The ref completed the three count and Profe celebrated thinning Original TNT had won. The ref raises TNT’s hand as the winner instead.

We go to Original TNT and El Profe in the studio, talking about the upcoming TV title defense against TNT. Profe says that there cannot be two TNTs in wrestling, one will cease to be tomorrow. Original TNT reiterates that he is the real TNT and the other is an impostor. We then go to Hugo and TNT, with Hugo reminding the fans that this started back in 1989. TNT mentions that the dog impostor forgot to mention how he won the TV title. TNT had two matches before the final (meaning Original TNT got the bye) , TNT was very bloody and, to top it off, Original TNT had to use salt to help him win the TV title. Tomorrow it is one on one, face to face, and this time TNT will be fresh. He proved last week that he can beat the dog impostor despite also bleeding, because he was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He’s looking to get rid of the impostor and hurt him in the process as well.  

MD: Nice to finally hear AC/DC over the TNTs fighting. Looks like the TV title was decided with Original TNT winning the coin flip, so TNT had to wrestle an extra match that he didn’t. Then the finish the next night was him winning  on a banana peel slip by getting his shoulder up after Original TNT belly to back suplexed him. So now they face off again in fairer circumstances for the title.

EB: We have now the feud highlight video for Invader #1 & Bronco #1 vs the Texas Hangmen. This starts on January 6 in the first teamup of Invader and Bronco. The Hangmen are attacking Bronco in the ring, since Invader had chased Profe back to the dugout.  The Hangmen get Bronco up to hang him, but Invader (who had emerged from the dugout dragging Profe with the other noose) noticed what was happening and went to the ring to make the save. We go to January 26 where the two teams are facing off again. Invader makes the hot tag to Bronco, who starts cleaning house on both Hangmen. However, Invader fell to the floor after the tag from the damage taken in the match. Bronco continued attacking the Hangmen and remained in control, but one of the Hangmen snuck around to where Invader was outside of the ring and hit him over the head with a chair. The Super Medicos came out to check on Invader and help him back to the locker room area. This left Bronco alone with both Hangmen and he was eventually overwhelmed. The Hangmen signal that they are going to unmask Bronco and actually follow through on the threat, taking off his mask. Bronco quickly fell to the mat and covered up his face, as Hugo reminds the fans that this is the ultimate insult to a masked wrestler. The ref disqualifies the Hangmen but they don’t care and attack the defenseless Bronco. All of a sudden, Invader emerges from the stairwell and he has his fist taped! Remember that Invader’s  taped fist heart punch is considered to be a very dangerous maneuver in Puerto Rico. The Hangmen do not seem to notice and send Invader into the ropes, but before Invader can wind up and let it fly, El Profe grabs Invader’s legs and trips him up. Invader decides to go after the unsuspecting  Profe for interfering and hits him with the taped fist heart punch. Profe is laid out on the arena floor and Invader chases both Hangmen off before checking on Bronco. The Hangmen notice Profe on the floor and check on their manager. 

In the studio, El Profe is with the Texas Hangmen. Profe mentions that they know how dangerous the taped fist, with Profe knowing from experience, but they won’t be afraid tomorrow night. The Hangmen have Bronco’s mask with them, mocking Bronco for being unmasked and repeating that they are not afraid of Invader’s taped fist. They will keep the World tag titles. 

Invader and Bronco are somewhere in the arena for their promo, with Invader showing off his taped fist. Bronco is irate about the Hangmen going for his mask, something that they shouldn't have done. The mask is to be respected and Bronco and Invader will teach the Hangmen a lesson. Invader says they have the taped fist and that when the final bell rings, they will be the new World tag team champions. 

MD: The feud continues. This time a Hangman hits Invader with a chair from while he’s waiting to be tagged in and the Medicos take him to the back. That lets the Hangmen pull off Bronco’s mask. But Invader comes in now with the Heart Punch ready! Another bit of escalation. They started with a straight up match and had all these points they could escalate to. It’s just great week to week booking for a promotion like this and I think there’s a lot ot be learned for modern wrestling.

EB: We finally get a look at some highlights from the Carlos Colon and Greg Valentine feud that has been going on since December 15. While we have described what has happened so far,  it’s always better when we have footage to help show as well. We start with the match from December 15, where Greg tried to use his shin guard to assist with the figure four leglock, but Colon managed to push Greg away. This results in Valentine colliding with the ref and sending El Vikingo to the outside. Shenanigans occur when Profe interferes and helps break Colon’s figure four on Valentine. Greg gets his own figure four on Colon ,with a second ref coming in and calling for the bell. However, El Vikingo had seen Profe interfere and, after discussing it over, the second ref Victor Quiñones declared the Universal title was held up. A rematch on Christmas Day ended with Valentine disqualified for using the shin guard as a weapon. Valentine busted open Colon and attempted the figure four, but Carlos again kicked Valentine away. Carlos got hold of the shin guard and attacked Valentine in turn. Another rematch for the vacant Universal title happened on January 6, one that saw interference from Dick Murdoch and Giant Warrior. Colon ended up winning the match, but Profe and Greg filed a protest due to Giant Warrior interfering and helping Colon win. Carlos  announced on TV that he was not accepting the win this way and the Universal title remained vacant. To settle the matter, Colon and Valentine will face off in a cage match to decide once and for all who will be the Universal champion.

Direct from WWF we get a Greg Valentine interview conducted by announcer Miguel Alonso. Valentine talks about the title being held up the last three times they wrestled, outside of the last time when Colon won with Giant Warrior’s help. Valentine talks about stepping inside a steel cage for all the marbles when the video cuts to Colon in the middle of his interview. Carlos is inviting all of the fans to go to the new arena in Hormigueros so they can cheer him on and together they can win back the Universal title. It’s going to be a tough match, but Carlos is willing to give every drop of sweat and blood in order to win in the cage. Hugo wishes Carlos luck as the WWC representative in this match and Carlos says that you have to give Greg Valentine his due as a great professional wrestler. But Carlos has a commitment to the people of Puerto Rico, to represent them well and he doesn't plan to fail tomorrow. He has many reasons to win that match tomorrow and he’ll be dead before losing the match. The episode video cuts off just as Hugo starts his show closing.

MD: Finally we get all of the Valentine vs Colon matches at once, or at least the finishes of them, going back into December. What you can tell from these is that they looked very good. Valentine has great late match selling of exhaustion which makes you think they were long and grueling. It was another of Colon’s signature Figure-Four vs Figure-Four feuds with Valentine’s kneebrace factored in. Lots of ref bumps. Lots of overturned and unclear finishes. Plenty of Profe interference (that guy is doing so much work for the company). Occasionally Giant Warrior got involved to even the odds. The last match ended with Valentine having the figure four on but refusing to let go of the ropes for leverage. We can only learn so much from this recap video but it looks like a solid feud to anchor the territory.

EB: We have two of the top matches from February 2 in Bayamon. First let’s look at the World tag team title match where Invader #1 and Bronco #1 challenged the Texas Hangmen. Invader has his taped fist and Bronco is mad at being unmasked and humiliated by the Hangmen. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35vTbPy_N8

We are Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel and again we have the match from the raw house show footage, so it’s no commentary but all of the crowd noise and atmosphere. The tecnicos are in the ring as they are introduced, while the Texas Hangmen are outside on the field when introduced. One of the Hangmen (I think it’s Psycho) has Bronco’s mask on in order to mock his opponent, and he even starts doing Bronco’s dance to the crowd in order to further the mocking. The bell rings and Bronco charges out to attack both Hangmen and we are underway. Invader sends Psycho into the ropes for a chop but Psycho bails to the corner and then outside of the ring when threatened with the taped fist. Psycho gets into a tussle with referee Victor Quiñones over wanting to use the bullrope, but Victor eventually is able to hang the ropes over the ringpost in the rudo corner. Profe and the Hangmen start complaining that the ref needs to check Invader’s taped fist for any hidden objects, but the ref ignores them. The Hangmen back away every time Invader squares up with the taped fist during the first few minutes, with the tecnicos controlling the first half of the match via quick tags, working the Hangmen’s arms over,  and the continued fear and avoidance of Invader’s taped fist by the Hangmen.

The turning point for the Hangmen comes when Bronco is backed into the rudo corner and the Hangmen are able to double team Bronco. The Hangmen focus on keeping Bronco in the ring,as El Profe approves of their strategy since it keeps Invader and his taped fist out of the equation. The Hangmen are able to lure Invader into the ring a few times, allowing them to double team Bronco behind the referee’s back (including using the noose to choke Bronco). At one point, Bronco almost makes the tag but is stopped by Killer. Psycho grabs the rope and holds the cowbell behind his back as Killer works Bronco over with a chinlock in the ring. He is not able to use the bell but has the crowd on edge. The Hangmen continue in control (even doing an illegal switch), but a missed corner headbutt charge allows Bronco to tag in Invader. A quick flurry of offense has both Hangmen reeling and Bronco reenters the ring to even up the sides. Both Hangmen are rammed into each other and Bronco dropkicks one of them outside. Invader gets a small package but the pin attempt is broken up. Invader is sent into the ropes but gets a sunset flip for a near fall. A backslide pin attempt by Invader is also broken up, but this time Bronco comes in and dropkicks the interfering Hangmen. The ref is tied up with Bronco and the Hangmen attempt to use the ropes as a weapon against Invader. However, Invader ducks down and backdrops the interfering Hangman over the top to the outside. Invader is sent into the ropes but before anything can happen, he is tripped up by the other Hangman. Bronco jumps onto the Hangmen that is on the floor to break up the double team. Inside the ring, Invader gets slammed to the mat but rolls out of the way of a Hangman splash. Invader gets up, readies his fist and hits the Hangman with the heart punch. The crowd counts along with the referee and we have new World tag team champions. The crowd cheers as the tecnicos are awarded the belts and celebrate on the field.

MD: By this point, the Hangmen were not just a threat and dangerous, but they really had the stooging down. This starts awesome with one of them wearing the Bronco mask they stole and taunting the crowd with the Bronco hop. Then they stalled forever, presumably because they were afraid of the heart punch. Eventually, Invader and Bronco get their hands on one and just smack his arm around from corner to corner in a great moment. Things go as you’d expect from there, with Bronco getting too close to the corner and getting swept under. It builds to a big comeback (Bronco dodges a corner charge) and a hot tag and an exciting finishing stretch which ends with Invader and one Hangman in the ring. He misses a top rope headbutt and Invader hits the Heart Punch and it’s a huge celebratory scene. Great stuff after months of build.

EB: The other match we have from February 2 is the steel cage match between Carlos Colon and Greg Valentine. Will we finally have a Universal champion? Let’s find out as we join the match in progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9D5gGFbXXM

Hugo and Eliud are on commentary as Valentine drops a series of elbow drops on a prone Carlos. Hugo mentions that Carlos had been rammed into the side of the steel cage to knock him down just before Valentine started with the elbow drops. Greg tries to escape through the cage door but Carlos grabs him and stops the escape attempt with a turnbuckle smash (which almost results in Valentine falling out before Carlos quickly grabs him). Carlos rams Greg into the cage and stomps on him as the rain starts falling. Valentine pokes Carlos in the eyes and tries to send Colon into the side of the cage, but Carlos blocks it and instead sends Valentine head first into the side of the cage. Colon continues on the attack with punches and headbutts, staggering Valentine. As Carlos punches Valentine’s forehead to work over the cut, Hugo mentions that the rain is an advantage for Carlos since he is used to working in these open air environments compared to Valentine. At around the 2 minute mark of the video we get a 5 minute time call, so we really have not missed too much of the match. Carlos makes an attempt to leave via the door but Greg stops him. 

A series of elbow smashes helps Valentine stun Colon and allows Greg the chance to gain control. Colon’s head is rammed into the ringpost as Valentine continues focusing his attacks on Colon’s head. Both men are busted open and exchanging punches as it continues to rain. A headbutt by Carlos sends Valentine down. After a clothesline, Carlos again attempts an escape through the door but Valentine stops him. Carlos wins another punch exchange and does a cartwheel as Greg begs off. Carlos again makes another escape attempt but is stopped.when Valentine grabs his legs and pulls Colon crotch first into the ropes. Valentine quickly crawls over Colon to try to escape but Carlos is able to stop Valentine. Carlos continues attacking Valentine, but it is becoming noticeable that both men are tiring a bit from the punishment and bleeding they have endured. Carlos makes an attempt towards the door but Valentine knees Colon in the back to stop him. Valentine does some clubbing blows on the mat and cinches on the figure four. Hugo makes note that this is to hurt Carlos since the only way to win is via leaving the cage. Carlos tries to break the hold by hitting Valentine’s leg, but Greg cinches the hold on even  more. Carlos tries to reverse the hold but is unsuccessful, as the crowd tries to cheer him on. Hugo takes a moment to send a hello to the fans watching the program in Curacao, all over Latin America and Panama. 

Valentine finally releases the hold as Carlos lies prone on the mat holding his knee in pain. Valentine starts crawling towards the door but Carlos is able to maneuver close enough to grab Valentine's leg. Carlos is able to pull Valentine back in and drops him crotch first on the top rope. Carlos falls down to the mat from the exertion, followed by Valentine .The air horns sound as both men get to their feet and a rope counter sequence leads to both men colliding. Carlos falls closer to the cage door than Valentine and starts limping in that direction. Valentine catches Carlos in a back suplex and both men are down again. The cage door remains open as the 15 minute time call is heard. Valentine is the first one to his feet but Carlos surprises Valentine from behind with a dropkick that sends Greg into the corner,  bouncing off it and falling to the mat. Calros gets a second wind and works over Valentine’s leg, he is setting up the figure four. Carlos starts applying the hold, but Valentine kicks Carlos away from him. However, the cage door had been left open for the last few minutes and the momentum of the kick sends Colon flying through the ropes and out the door. Carlos has escaped the cage and won the vacant Universal title. The video cuts out right as the ref raises Colon’s hand in victory.

MD: We get the last ten minutes of this but I don’t get the sense we missed more than five or six more? It feels almost like a Bruno cage match where he’s willing to go for the door but only after he’s satisfied he’s beaten on his opponent enough. Valentine’s constantly going for it. It builds to a hot bloody finish where Valentine caught Colon with a foot over the rope on the way out and started working the leg. He put on a long figure four and then it was down to Colon to find the strength in his leg to stop him. Valentine’s late match selling was excellent here and we get the bloody visual of him crawling away from Colon towards the door. Carlos does find the strength to come back and eventually gets the leg himself but he’s kicked while trying to put on his own figure four. Unfortunately for the Hammer, he’s kicked all the way through the cage for the finish. Pretty iconic stuff overall.

EB: We finally have settled the Universal title vacancy and the champion is Carlos Colon. We also have new World tag team champions in Invader #1 and Bronco #1. But what of the other title matches from this weekend? We’ll find out in due time if any others changed hands.

Next time on El Deporte de las Mil Emociones, Carlos Colon is not given much time to celebrate his Universal title win as Dick Murdoch makes his move. Also, has Invader finally gotten his revenge on the Texas Hangmen? And who is the new associate El Profe has brought in to help manage the rudo wrestlers? 

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