Loosely Formed Thoughts on WWF Over the Edge 5/31/98

The Propaganda-style intro to this PPV is fucking insane. It's all World War II footage of tanks and soldiers and fucking Stalin and Mussolini and actual Nazi footage and it's all interspersed with They Live CONFORM and OBEY block fonts but also video of Stone Cold doing shit like turkey tapping Vince from several angles. Best possible start. 

 

1. LOD 2000 vs. DOA

It actually feels impossible that LOD 2000 didn't become the biggest tag team of the rest of the decade with Sunny as their manager. I don't think I'm being overly horny here either. I don't think the fact that Sunny looked like this while I was 17 years old matters here, as I don't think this is a matter of bias. I think I'm being a very reasonable and appropriate level of horny in a way that the eyes of history agree with. 

This is Hawk and Animal vs. 8-Ball and Skull but Droz and Chainz are there. Up above I only wrote "LOD 2000 vs. DOA" and I didn't want anyone to get confused about what members of each group of friends was actively involved here. 

Skull throws a nice ugly big man swinging neck beaker and an actual good legdrop. It does not bring me great joy that 8-Ball and Skull's work from '98 is probably better than we assessed at the time. 

Animal is in strong style mode and does a dragon screw and I don't think I've seen that from him before or since. How much of his BattlArts work is available? 

8-Ball vs. Hawk is better than Skull vs. Animal. They did more punching and elbowdrops and an ugly piledriver that Hawk gets to ignore completely because that is Hawk's spot. 

Hawk has a way of looking off balance while also having this incredible balance and sturdiness on all of his clotheslines. He looks wobbly, but takes this incredible bump all the way across the ring off a missed top rope shoulderblock, flying out of the ring into an almost Halloween style sliding bump to the floor. Hard. I liked Drunk Hawk when I was a teenager but I don't think it was because I thought he was GOOD good. Accidentally, time has only proven me right. Further proof of how good he still was on fumes in '98: the 1-2 punch of his  neckbreaker -> fistdrop combo. 

The 8-Ball/Hawk punch exchange is good and should have gone three times as long. It's worth it for Chainz punching Hawk in the balls from the floor in a way that didn't even seem planned. Cameras weren't focused on it. You can see Chainz pop him in the nuts from the floor and Hawk reacts like a guy who just realized he got tapped hard enough in the balls to react. 

Nobody quite knew how to get to the finish, but Animal clotheslining his way through a hot tag and hitting a great powerslam for the finish plays well with any lead up. 

There is a Faarooq! Faarooq! Faarooq is on Fire!! sign and folks, that's a good one. 

2. Jeff Jarrett vs. Steve Blackman

Fuck I hope Steve Blackman tries a piledriver here but I have a parlay on Jarrett doing one. You see, in between matches backstage, Faarooq hit The Rock with the Piledriver To Beat tonight. We're 20 minutes into this show and we've had two piledrivers and we still have over 2.5 hours to go.  

Blackman is really fun to watch during this stretch. We don't get Reformed Musclehead Karate Guys Working Every Pro Wrestling Spot He's Ever Seen anymore. Blackman doing a baseball slide dropkick to start but then press slamming Jarrett back into the ring but also doing Ricky Steamboat double chops but also looking lost and kind of dangerous is just lightning in a bottle. I think he would get a lot less interesting the more he learned, but this is still in that magic window. 

Blackman hits a thrust kick on the floor that looks like the the most violent version of Chuck Norris kicking Jarrett down the aisle. 

Jarrett does a really good job icing this down the right amount while there's an Al Snow angle taking several minutes too long at ringside. Jarrett works Barry Darsow chatter like "He ain't going nowhere now!" and "Ring the bell he's done!" and is able to do essentially nothing for a few minutes, really well. 

They do a preposterously slow 9 count after Jarrett hits a back suplex. Jarrett had been working over Blackman in a chinlock for a minute so I have no idea why Jarrett was as knocked out as Blackman. I thought they would explode a bit more after the Al Snow angle, you know, to get everyone back involved in things, but they kind of do the opposite for no reason. They've turned the entire rest of the match into "every move keeps both of us down for too long" and it sucks.  

Steve Blackman is at his absolute beautiful best when he is doing moves with full commitment without looking as if he's ever even practiced doing the move before. It's only a detriment if a couple of miscues happen back to back, but has a remarkably high ceiling as a style. His elbowdrop is not thrown like any other wrestler has thrown an elbowdrop. It's like he was born with the knowledge but without memory of where the knowledge came from. He knows it's right, but it's informed by something beyond him. He is not inspired by anyone else who came before. 

Steve Blackman is Backyarder Doug Furnas and we didn't know what we had. We didn't know, and he didn't know how to continue giving that to us. 

3. Loser Leaves WWF: Sable vs. Marc Mero

I'll say it again: Mero and Sable were really great during the first half of '98. Neither ever did it better. Maybe when we get into Jacqueline Era Marc I'll determine that it has aged even better than his Sable Forced Separation arc but I'm not expecting it to be. Honestly Sable and Mero are fucking GREAT together. They really seem like they dislike each other, like their marriage was really already over instead of merely being on the start of a 5 year slide towards being over.  

Marc Mero is so good during this entire segment. "Sable what happened to us? This business ruins relationships... It ruined ours."  

Marc Mero pulling a small package after doing the honorable thing and lying down for Sable, then jumping around the ring in celebration is one of those things my sister will bring up unprovoked 25 years later. 

4. Bradshaw/Taka Michinoku vs. Kai En Tai

Bradshaw press slams Taka into everyone within the first 30 seconds. He's so massive, they look like Lilliputians wearing Miller's Outpost jean shorts. 

I remember this being a lot better, with a lot more heat. Crowd really isn't as into it as I remember. I'm not into it as much as I remember. The Kai En Tai stuff doesn't read as fluid or unique today. There are a lot more seams with 2024 eyes. Bradshaw is not actually reckless at all. Did we all have false implanted rose colored memories of Bradshaw recklessly fucking up everyone in the match or was that just me? This Wisconsin crowd doesn't understand a single fucking part of it. Arms are crossed in Milwaukee, politely not understanding any of Dick Togo's excellent senton variations. 

Jim Ross makes an extended Gulliver's Travels reference and then explains it and I feel like a stupid asshole who's only read three books in my life out here making the same similes as Jim Ross. JR and I each watched the Ted Danson Gulliver's Travels Two Night Television Event in 1996 and now we use it to describe pro wrestling when big man fights small men.   

Okay it gets good when Bradshaw finally tags in and that's when he starts throwing them around. It's still never unprofessional in the ways I remember it being. In fact, Bradshaw was actually a good sport believably taking Kai En Tai's offense, leaning into dropkicks and struggling really well while the Lilliputians tethered his legs with rope. He does polish Funaki with a clothesline and choose Teioh as his Only True Victim by throwing him - really throwing him - with a tiger suplex, but you could watch this match and have no actual idea that Bradshaw is a miserable prick.  

5. Faarooq vs. The Rock

I think Faarooq looked like a real badass (before the match started). This match was the best his Faarooq gear ever looked on him. Fuck how cool would Jacqueline have looked in Faarooq's exact gear? Faarooq looks like a lean cut Masa Saito, or the most bulked up Bernie Casey. He looks perfect, in other words. He looks like a guy really giving a beating to a guy he dislikes. A beating he's been waiting to hand out. His sparsely African-patterned gear looked great with the straps up, and even better when he takes the straps down. Someone who's good with computers, put Jacqueline in Faarooq's gear. 

I hate how guys like MJF or Austin Theory or Ricky Starks move like 1998 The Rock. It sucks. They all flop the same and walk around with their butts out the same and it's all theater kids goofing around doing People's Elbows. The Butt Out Walk must be the first thing they teach at Brahma School. 

I don't know why the crowd isn't more excited for Faarooq dishing out a beating. The Rock wore a big neck brace after Faarooq piledrove him earlier and takes a fun beating, and that combination of things deserved a reaction. His elbows on the apron looked good, Rock is acting like a real punk doofus, yet nobody cares. 

Real flat finish. This feud never had a chance. There was a weird 3 count that got a silent reaction and the camera shot it in a way where you couldn't see Rock's foot on the rope. This whole thing was only 5 minutes and felt really incomplete. Blackman/Jarrett got twice as much time without even being based around an actual feud, so this whole thing was just set up to fail.  

When DX runs in after the match to ambush The Nation they look like the 4 Horsemen of Rape.

6. Vader vs. Kane

Vader was getting real reactions in 1998. There was a powerful machine working against 1998 Vader. He does the Vader flex, he flashes the V's, a ton of fans have Vader signs. The People believed in Vader in 98 and the people in charge didn't want them to. Vader was done wrong. We all know it. The man was 43 years old, which is not an old age at all. I know this because it is my age and how could I possibly be old? I understand why they instinctively didn't want to get behind a 43 year old Vader, but you see things a couple decades removed from the original context and you realize just how mammoth a star Vader would have been in WWF had they just treated him the same way they treat Nakamura at the same age. 

Kane's punches were better in 1998 - better, not good - but his straight rights are not good. There is a reason he never threw them for most of the rest of his career. They have no weight behind them. His uppercuts don't look good either. He threw a bigger variety of punches then, not just uppercuts, and their form is good but the weight is absent. Kane's strikes look shittier the longer the match goes. He would go on to phase all of these punches out other than the uppercut.  

Vader's offense looks good against a big guy like Kane. His bear attack runs him over, but he smartly did one bear attack that stunned Kane, then a second bigger one that flattened him. Nobody was flattening Kane in 1998. Vader knew we build to that. "Vader using his mass now" fuck yeah he is JR. 

This match should be getting a bigger reaction. Vader is making this look like a big fight. He's swinging arms into all sides of Kane's head, even throwing them to the back of his head. Kane is in retreat! Vader sent Kane into retreat which is a thing that has never happened and nobody is reacting to it. Nobody is reacting to these beefy arms and it doesn't make sense. Nobody thinks it's cool that Kane scoop slammed Vader? Vader is a really big guy to take a scoop slam! He lands completely differently than you've seen because you just don't see 400 pound men getting slammed. 

This has not been a night of good matches, which often hurts a crowd, but I don't know why this crowd was not reacting to this match as if it was not Good or Big. It was both, but the crowd reacting so indifferently and Kane just not being that good limited how good it could get. 

I don't know why I haven't mentioned how ridiculous the mask stipulation is but it really didn't need to happen. It didn't make anyone care more about the match than they would have. Vader getting real red-faced revenge would have been cooler. A match built around "first to grab and use the large comical wrench" would have been cooler, probably.  

Kane's top rope clothesline is the softest contact Signature Clothesline of the modern era. It's a terrible clothesline and it never got better. It was only ever good if used in No Mercy. His running clothesline, which he stopped using, looked like a clothesline that would run Vader over and is the loudest contact of the match. 

Vader bumps to get Kane over but they react more to Vader on the attack than Vader bumping around. If Kane had the energy of Bradshaw it could have been a real fight, but Vader has to create his own energy off Kane's Lesser Jason Voorhees body acting. Vader knows how to build a reaction when going for the Vader Bomb, and he knows how to peak it by pausing briefly on the middle buckle before deciding to climb to the top, Milwaukee swelling as he leaves his feet and deflating when he crash lands. The Vader moonsault is a flat out insane and incredible spot for a man his age and size to be using. Vader understood PPV and They resented him for it. This man got up for a goddamn Tombstone and yep, it looks cool as hell when a guy the size of Vader is Tombstoned. 

I don't actually know how I feel about Vader calling himself a fat piece of shit. I think it's a raw promo, and his delivery is note perfect. I guess the problem is that I don't think they ever did anything other than kind of reflect on how sad it was that Vader called himself a fat piece of shit. I don't know if we needed to see vulnerable, sensitive Vader but I do think it was so memorable because of how real it was delivered. We've all been down on ourselves in our lives. A lot sometimes, for any little thing. Vader felt real, and maybe we didn't need Real Vader. Maybe, if it led to something of substance, a renewed energy and fight, it would have allowed people to reflect on themselves when they get too down on themselves. I don't think WWF was or is capable of writing that kind of character. Whatever. It felt like actual, real frustration, the kind we all go through. We don't get that kind of insight into athletes. They're insulated. Taught what not to say to the media. Me, personally? I do not think Vader is a fat piece of shit, but I believed in that moment that he did, and that's affecting. 

I forgot this was the PPV they did that weird Lawler/Crusher/Mad Dog Vachon angle. The Crusher, in his early 70s, kept looking cooler the more undressed he got during his segment with Lawler and Mad Dog Vachon. He looked cool the entire time and got a great big reaction from Milwaukee. He looked like such a badass grandpa in his brown Wrangler Wranchers throwing his bolo punches. This was such a weird thing for WWF to do. They had already used Mad Dog's wooden leg in a match and the idea of WWF honoring a local hero who had nothing to do with them is such a non-Vince move. 

7. HHH/New Age Outlaws vs. D-Lo Brown/Owen Hart/The Godfather 

If your friend had never watched WWF programming before, you could convince them pretty easily that Owen Hart was working some kind of hacker gimmick in his caution tape singlet and, well, hacker sunglasses. 

Owen tags in and runs straight into a Billy Gunn clothesline, Gunn punches and press slams him, Gunn goes up for a backdrop for him, really two of the only guys trying to make this work.

Helmsley's running jumping knee and his tilt a whirl backbreaker (!?) looked good. He always really looked like he enjoyed working Owen. 

Why was the Billy Gunn/Godfather pairing so good in this? They worked kind of fast against each other, and Godfather looked like he was throwing his kicks and missed clotheslines with different pep.

New Age Outlaws working over D-Lo is really good too, though not as good whenever HHH tags in. It's wild how much HHH really kills all the pacing and vibe of this match any time he's involved.

More Owen Sucks chants than I remember but his perfect piledriver to Road Dogg brings no reaction at all. Philistines. 

This match is going a lot longer than anyone could have reasonably expected. The fans get real restless whenever anyone considers doing any kind of hold. This thing is dying the longer they go, nobody is doing anything to bring it back to life even if a lot of the work looks good. It's crazy how bad HHH makes the DX act in-ring. He is actively hurting their vibe and wrestling image. 

8. Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 

Pat Patterson is so fucking funny introducing Gerald Brisco as the guest timekeeper. He has his readers on and a stack of at least a dozen 3x5 cards. He actually said that Gerald Brisco's heart "beats like the tom tom drum on the reservation, like the Heartbeat of America." I mean whoever wrote that line was onto something next level. "Some call him the reincarnation of Jim Thorpe. We call him...A Friend." This is incredible. I did not appreciate how amazing his intro was when I watched this as a teen. All my friends and I just wanted to see Austin beat everyone's ass. 

Vince looks like an impossibly hulked up Robert Carradine. A real geek, and a real freak in his flap pocket black chinos and sleeveless ref shirt. Incredible posture, but a freakish build sculpted onto that wealthy flawed Connecticut skeleton and Kennedy hair. He has a million facial reactions and it's incredible how good literally every one of them are. It's a real Gotta Hand it To. 

Foley sells a back elbow like Austin really spiked him in the nose, running himself into the ground like Terry Funk but more real. The longer the match goes, the more I know that each man was really taking these shots. I just didn't realize they were roughing each other up from go. 

Foley takes such a great bump on a clothesline to the floor. Austin really timed it well and collided with him well, but Foley went over so fast, in that way that Foley sometimes does where you don't know how controlled it actually is. Man would just throw his body to the floor with more speed than he used for anything else. Shouldn't really be a shock anymore that Foley took some crazy bumps, but his heavy lower half really whips him over the ropes. Nobody else has really been able to duplicate that. 

Austin throws Foley onto Brisco and then stomps on them both and punches Foley in the back of the head too many times before clotheslining him ass over elbow onto concrete over the guardrail. I probably haven't watched this match since the early 2000s (I bought the Over the Edge VHS from a video store in Healdsburg that was going out of business) and remember it being built around tons of bumps onto concrete, and that is exactly what it is, and they keep escalating. 

Austin taking a backdrop onto the hood of a fucked up old style Honda Civic, boot going through the windshield 20 years before Zona 23. Is Zona 23:16 anything? Austin gets thrown onto and over a tilted old Mercury and Foley sunset flips him off that Mercury's hood, it's awesome. Foley's body makes a wet splat as his weird torso and wide butt land perfectly flat. It's a sound you never hear and Foley has made it like three times in this match alone. 

Austin is bleeding and is always an incredible looking bleeder. The blood doesn't keep up but the initial color is strong. When he bleeds he always gets the best deep red color on his tanned bald head. For a match built around big bumps on concrete I forgot how many hard back bumps Austin takes onto concrete in this match. My man is out here taking backdrops and suplexes in parts of the entrance that at least 7,000 people can't even see. It's insane. This man broke his damn neck 10 months ago and he's bumping on concrete for himself. 

Also, Steve Austin is great because he manages to bounce a chair off the ropes and into his own face and makes it look like a complete accident. It's a spot that a lot of men have tried and few have made work well. I think there needs to be a level of alcoholism involved to make it work. Sandman was good at it too. 

Pat Patterson throws such a punch into Mike Chioda's lower orbital bone. There's no way any of these Patterson/Briscoe matches from 1999 are any good but damn they should have been using Patterson in more physical roles this whole time. He takes one of the best chokeslams of the year through a damn table. This is a man pushing 60 who retired four presidents ago and hasn't done physical stuff on screen since the mid 80s. How did he even prepare to take this? How did Vince psych himself up to get brained with a pre-Chris Nowinski research chairshot? No idea. 

I don't know how well this holds up as an All Time Great Brawl, but it's differently great for its big stunt show feel and old man bullshit that was at the center of a fight. It was messier than I remembered and was more about getting to specific areas and moments, but this is still a standout 1998 WWF match and surely the best WWF match of the year to this point.   

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE 305 LIVE

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 10/28 - 11/3

AEW Rampage 11/1/24

RUSH/Dralistico/Mortos vs BEEF/JD Drake/Butcher

MD: Really enjoyed Rampage this week overall. Very "Fastest Hour of TV" vibes. They started in the ring for this one, cut to Stokely after, did the Vendetta squash, paid off the Stokely bit and did something out of normal format with Taya, then went straight into the three Top Flight matches, one after the other, all linked with the entrances, and with the undertone of Moxley-influenced aggression in the air more so than usual on AEW TV (that doesn't involve Moxley directly) right now. Very much a "Restore the Feeling" sort of show for me, but then my feeling and other people's feelings tend to be different. I'll miss it if and when it's gone just like I miss Dark and Elevation.

And obviously, this was a great way to start. Look, I like the Outrunners, but I do think there's a ceiling to them and that the act will only have legs for so long. I see a higher ceiling for BEEF. Yes, he's over the top, but he's over the top in a believable way. The Outrunners are characters. They're very fun characters who are enjoyable to watch, but BEEF comes off as more human. You might know a guy like BEEF. You might tell yourself and everyone else that you wished you didn't, but then so do JD Drake and Anthony Henry, right? Deep down, though, having someone so earnest and enthusiastic in your life just makes it better. Do I think he can be world champion? No, but I think he can be a challenger for the TNT or Continental Title that fans might really get behind on a chase.

The most interesting guy in this one was Drake though. Arn Anderson is on record that he thinks he (being Arn) was a terrible babyface, that he didn't have the "skills," which in this case more or less means deep armdrags and dropkicks. I'm not sure if he really believes that of if he's being self-effacing but in saying it, he shortchanges just how good a babyface he was and what makes a good babyface in the first place. It's not "skills", it's emotional connection. I imagine Drake might say the same thing Arn did, but he was really good here being shoehorned into that role. He engaged with everyone around him, hitting the tranquilo pose early, played face-in-peril sympathetically but with fire, downright seething when RUSH stopped the run across the ring to kick him in the face, and then fired back for the hot tag, standing toe to toe with RUSH before making that final, pained turn to tag BEEF in.

Butcher fit right in too. Obviously you want him slugging it out with RUSH. You want everyone slugging it out with RUSH. There was a bit early on too where Dralistico really played up that little dog/big dog dynamic with his brother which I find effective. This was good all around. Only thing I missed here was one of those Jake pre-tapes to set the stage. BEEF has this sort of transformative element to him that makes everyone into Giant Machine or Piper Machine like in 85. Someday we'll get BEEF/Mark Briscoe interaction and the skies will part and the angels will sing.

ROH TV 10/31/24

Athena vs Abadon

MD: Abadon's an interesting case. If you go back to the territories, they'd move around like Kamala or other monsters, never staying in one place for too long. Here, they're one of the only honest attractions (in as they're used like one) that AEW/ROH have. They're gone more than than they're here and they're instantly credible and dangerous when they arrive, generally able to challenge a champion only to come short. Then they're away again long enough to make you forget about the loss so that they have an impact when they come back. I know in the margins they're working indies and training but the lack of ringtime is probably not ideal. 19 matches in 2024 with a third of those being squashes on ROH TV coming in at less than 2:30. 2023 was much the same. It's a tricky balance.

Part of me wonders if we're reaching the end of Athena in ROH. It looks like Billie's story is cresting again and Final Battle is around the corner. Plenty of people who don't actually watch ROH have been clamoring for it. Everyone who does likely wants her to stay. I do understand that what ROH is might change in the future (and it might not) but it gives her the freedom to stretch. This went almost 20 minutes, more with the pre and the post-match. It had all the room in the world to breathe. I love AEW commercial breaks in some ways, but Athena doesn't need them like others do. She is fully formed, self-actualized, able to structure her matches in the ideal manner and make the most out of every second. This sort of match would have been very hard to pull off in this exact way getting this amount of time on Dynamite or Rampage. I think in historical terms and the comp we'll have some day of Athena's Proving Ground matches and big defenses will shine, just like she does as the biggest fish in AEW's smallest pond. If she does get moved up at some point, then she should be featured on the same level as Mercedes, getting her own segment each week. On paper, maybe that's a bold risk. In actuality, it's an investment that would pay off in time.

But there's a match here and like I said, it went almost twenty. It was wild, with a slew of big spots that went like they should have or that were all the more impressive for maybe not. Some of the latter was simple physics. A lot of it was Athena's reactions in the moment. There were plenty of moving parts here and it was very much on her to make this feel organic. Remember, Abadon's had something like 120 matches and a big chunk of those are squashes. They did a good job sticking to character and keeping things moving, being where they needed to be when they needed to be, and this was their career match, from what I've seen, but it's a little different than Athena's 17 year career.

Athena reacted to everything, from planned spots, to mishaps like the chain falling off her band, to the crowd chanting this is awesome. She reacted from Abadon absorbing the magic forearm at the start all the way to the relief of hitting the crazy O-Face into the chairs and escaping with the belt(s). You couldn't see the strings because she managed to be on so thoroughly throughout, whether it was following some sort of plan or a temporary deviation from it. I can't stress how important that is, how rare that is in 2024, and how it turns a match from a garbage spotfest into an immersive, horrific experience.

Athena went from fear to seething frustration to seething rage to seething agony. There was a lot of seething in this one. Abadon's reaction to the blood from the skewers was spot on as well, and even better was Abadon's frustration after being unable to finish Athena off on the floor. That was the moment that the match shifted inexorably in Athena's favor, the moment where her persistence and determination and madwoman drive broke Abadon's will. For the first time all match, maybe even since their debut, Abadon showed cracks, and Athena drove a wedge through them before shattering her with the O-Face. That this went so long, had certain things that didn't work as planned, and still turned out to be compelling and cohesive is a testament to one of the best wrestlers in the world and a very game opponent and one more reason that we should cherish this ROH while we can. 

BONUS: AEW Collision 11/2/24 - Kyle Fletcher

I had tossed this in a tweet (https://x.com/MattD_SC/status/1853065072689496430) I'm doing a lot of these short form things over there, so do follow and follow along) but wanted to put it here as well. 

It's no big secret what I wanted MJF to do at Wembley. Channel Larry Zybzsko and stall. The stalling wasn't the point though. It was the means. The heat that it would have gotten him wasn't even the point. That was the means too. At the end of the day, heat generally is. It's a means to fuel the potential energy behind a comeback. The comeback is the thing. When you have a face and a heel and a crowd that cares about the difference, it's everything.

The traditional goal of pro wrestling has always been to figure out what a crowd wants and deny them it and deny them it and deny them it so that when they get it, it's the greatest feeling imaginable. For decades, what they wanted was to see the babyface win and the heel get comeuppance. That's not nearly as true in 2024. Right now, much of the audience wants to be part of an experience, want to have bragging rights for being live for a great match, to chant "This is Awesome" or "Fight Forever." And no one enables them to do that more than Will Ospreay. He's the poster boy for it. He gives the fans what they want. So if MJF was going to be the greatest villain of his age, how could he really get under the crowd's skin? By denying them that as much as possible in the grandest venue possible. Then, in the last third of the match when Ospreay became unchained and hit spot after spot perfectly and brilliantly, it would have felt like the greatest relief (and release) in the world. 

Max went a different way with it. That's fine. People still liked the match. We're not here to talk about that. We move on. We look to the future. Let's talk about Kyle Fletcher. I love AEW's commercial breaks. You learn so much about wrestlers by seeing how they fill time during it. This is where AEW generally sticks the heat (of shine/heat/comeback since I'm using phrases haphazardly) in its matches. That's the most important part of the match! I'm not entirely sure it would even exist for most AEW matches without the breaks because the tendency to go 50/50, your move/my move and get all the cool stuff in might be too strong.

People have been hot and cold on Fletcher the last couple of years, but I've been watching him during those breaks and I have to admit, I like what I see. He's been precociously good at interacting with the crowd, his opponent, the ref, at letting things breathe, at showing himself as a fully fleshed out character with emotions and opinions and able to emote and present all of this to the crowd. He's not just hitting stuff. He's not just sleepwalking through it until it's time for the big back-from-break spot. He's alive. It's just for a lot of the rest of the match, you didn't see it nearly as much. Great (surprising!) instincts, just maybe a career of hanging with a certain sort of crowd who had learned to get over in a certain sort of way, right?

So now he's turned on Ospreay, has cut his hair to differentiate him, and as seen on Collision's Komander match, has done something even more striking. He's managed to start moving differently. That Fletcher who we'd seen peek out during the breaks is starting to show himself from bell to bell. He used his robe as a feint to cheapshot Komander to start and then moved slowly, methodologically, with purpose. He grinded him down, played to the crowd, menaced Abrahantes. When I tried to explain what made Mark Henry so special during his Hall of Pain run, the best I could come up with was the notion of "negative space", what you did between the moves and the spots. Giving life to those in-between moments turns a match from a series of things that happened to a consistent, engaging, immersive reality of its own. Fletcher was absolutely nailing that here.

And then, in the back third (after the break and after he finally nailed Abrahantes), he let Komander off the chain and they hit bombs and fireworks on the way to the finish. The crowd responded, for the most part, as they ideally are supposed to, chanting Komander's name and getting behind him. Sometimes you find a spark of hope in the most unlikely places, right?  

That brings us to Full Gear and Ospreay. I don't want him to stall. That made sense for Max. It made sense for the cowardly heel champ full of bluster. Fletcher's wrestling like someone with something to prove and he has more to prove against Ospreay than anyone. What he has to prove, however, is that he's his own man. If he comes out and wrestles Ospreay's match to prove that he can hang, that he's just as good as him (exactly what Max did!), that doesn't prove to anyone that he's his own man. It just proves that maybe he's as good an Ospreay as Ospreay.

Fletcher seems to get this, right? He seemed to get it in the Komander match, way more than I would have expected him to. How does he prove it then? He goes low early and then grinds Ospreay down the whole match. He makes sure Ospreay doesn't hit his usual first-few-minutes dive. He evades and avoids hope spots so that Ospreay doesn't even get to hit them. He denies Ospreay his offense. He denies the fans the chance to see Ospreay do his thing. They get absolutely nothing for the first two thirds (but the joy of booing), not because Fletcher is a coward but because he's an absolute bastard. Then? That last third? They get everything. Maybe it scores a half star less on the following Friday morning, but if Fletcher can pull it off, it would be an experience the crowd would never forget. It would define who and what he could be moving forward. It would give AEW another piece they badly need. I guess we'll know soon enough.

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Found Footage Friday: HANSEN~! IDOL~! WAGNER SR~!? HANSEN~! IDOL~!

Dr. Wagner (Sr.) vs Manuel Soto 1979

MD: This was apparently the first round of a $100,000 tournament with the finals in Madison Square Garden but I'm not going to look it up and try to figure it out if that was actually something that happened. This is a rare look at Wagner, especially in a full match. It goes around ten minutes and was worked "gentlemanly" and primarily on the mat with a few escalations and those were usually armdrags and the sort. The wrestling was god though. Wagner wrestled interestingly in the first few minutes, very reactive, very defensive, a lot of counter-wrestling. Soto came off as a bit more fiery and won most of the escalations with Wagner basing for him. They never stayed in anything for long, keeping things moving even though it was mostly on the mat. I wouldn't say we learned a ton about Wagner here but you got the sense he could back it up with skill in a straight match like this. I have no reason, after seeing this, to question anyone who might say that he was great certainly. I just maybe don't have a ton of proof to verify a sort of greatness that would take him over the top either.

Austin Idol vs. Stan Hansen Memphis 9/12/83

MD: A wild almost nine minutes here. Stan ambushes Idol as he's coming over the guardrail and they never look back. He opens him up immediately and once they make it back into the ring and the bell rings,  targets the wound like only he could. There's a bit early into this where he puts his heel right on the bloody forehead and scrapes and it's the simplest thing in the world but given how he does it, it's downright grisly. Beautiful pro wrestling. Idol fires back after a couple of minutes of it and the crowd goes nuts. Hansen is extremely giving here, bouncing over the ring, flailing limbs, letting himself get slammed. It builds to Stan tied up in the ropes, Idol pushing the ref away, and then Stan kicking Idol into the ref in one of the better ref bumps you'll see, and Hansen taking advantage, hitting a lariat in the ropes and winning by DQ. Hart's a great little nuisance throughout as Hansen has absolutely no regard for him. 

ER: The face of the DVDVR 80s Memphis 100 has changed over the last couple weeks. We wrote about a tag a few weeks back that could have placed in the top 10, and now we have two more Stan Hansen Memphis matches. Stan Hansen worked one month in Memphis in 1983, in between All Japan tours. He showed up and kicked Austin Idol's ass over five matches, three of which were included in and underrated on the DVDVR set. Now we have the other two. All five of Stan Hansen's matches in Memphis, during that one month of 1983 directly after he won the PWF title from Baba, are now all viewable on YouTube and you could watch all four singles matches and the tag in under an hour. That's a thing we can all now do, any time. 

Stan Hansen blew into Memphis one day and beat Tom Prichard's ass for the TV title and then hung around for a month before blowing out. Imagine how large Hansen must have looked inside the WLMT studio. If you were a fan of Tom Prichard in 1983, it must have felt terrible seeing this large man with no mustache show up and just beat your boy's ass the way he did and then make fun of the trophy that Memphis was using for their TV title. Hansen looked completely unstoppable in every way for 5 minutes and then came back a couple months later to beat the blood out of Austin Idol for one of the couple dozen titles Memphis had. This was full unstoppable Hansen but I like that it was very clear Idol was jumped. The official match time is about the same as the one-sided mauling of Prichard, under 5 minutes. But this 5 minute match is preceded by the out of ring beating that leads to Idol's incredible blade job. Hansen jumps Idol in the aisle and it's a beating that stands out as good in Memphis. He does this thing during the beating that's so perfect. It's a thing Hansen can do that any other big guy could do but doesn't have the intuition or charm to do. While bleeding Idol out on the floor, he rolls into the ring - there was no count, the bell hadn't sounded - and just runs the ropes a few times at full speed before going back out to bleed him some more. I don't think any wrestler understands the value in this, to look this aggressive and unflappable at the same time, knowing your opponent won't be getting up and leaving while you run the ropes. 

Idol's blade job on this video quality makes him look like Hogan, the entire top of his scalp dyed red giving him the same blond horseshoe haircut. Hansen goes after that cut in some disgusting ways too, digging his heel into it and punching down at the cut multiple times, even doing his perfect kneedrops into the cut. He forces Idol into one of the most natural and effective ref bumps I've seen, shoving Idol with his boot so hard that it looked like Idol couldn't help but careen into the ref. Hansen's lariat in the ropes was as nasty as any he's hit in the middle of the ring. Idol did not go flying backwards to the floor, he absorbed it. There is a full arm smack as Idol is momentarily flattened between the ropes and Hansen and the crowd audibly reacts to the sound. Imagine seeing this monster destroy Austin Idol in his first night at the Mid-South Coliseum. Hansen could just show up in any room and any building and look like this, at any time.  

Austin Idol vs. Stan Hansen Memphis 9/19/83

MD: This time, Idol attacks before the house lights come up. Great fire as he takes it to Hansen and Hansen gives and gives. He eventually gets an inside shot in as he is want to do when pressed and takes over. The transition is him missing a second rope knee drop and Idol soften him up for his leglock. I imagine Hansen couldn't keep doing a big miss bump like that as the decade went on, not with any regularity but it would have provided a bit of welcome variety to his usual open door to vulnerability in AJPW (the missed lariat into the post). Before the leglock can happen, Hart gets up on the apron and everything devolves into chaos. Post-match, Hansen says he's going to show him a thing or two about the leglock, brandishes a chair to injury him, Lawler makes the save and Ventura comes up to set up the next tag because Memphis booking is a never ending churn of great stuff. I know I didn't say much about either match, but they were simple, straightforward, primal, territory wrestling perfection really.

ER: This is the weakest of the four Hansen/Idol matches, if only because it feels the least complete, but has a completely different charm than those other matches. It was also weakened by having a completely spaced out Randy Hales on most of the call instead of Lance Russell, and when Lance joined in he kept throwing too often to Randy. Randy sounded like he had never spoken about wrestling to anyone before this match. This one is more of an Austin Idol match. Idol got blindsided and brutalized a week ago, now he's back and not going to make the same mistakes. Hansen in Memphis is amazing, but also might be one of the places that Stan Hansen wouldn't have really "worked". I love Austin Idol and I love his offense. I love Lawler, Dundee, all these guys. The Memphis set was my favorite of the 80s sets. But watching Austin Idol work strikes with Hansen, I'm not certain all of these Worked Strike Masters play as well off Hansen as they do off men who don't seem so large and indestructible. 

I think Stan Hansen is a gifted seller. The way he drops to knees and gets staggered and backed up and the way he eventually falls is genuine talent, a real theatrical gift. His body control seems impossible for a man his size, but he does several degrees of staggering and lost steps that show he always knows the exact level of punishment he's supposed to be selling. Sometimes, however, it looks like he is selling almost too much. Idol was laying it in, but not laying it in for the level that is necessary to look like Hansen is actually taking damage. I don't know, maybe I'm up my own ass on this one. Hansen is just such an armored tank that the best worked punches in the world are only going to look as good as Stan Hansen can make them look. The missed knee off the top rope is a nutso spot for Hansen to use, like the John Nord kneedrop plancha a decade later. A man that size should not be able to jump off the top rope and land like that without blowing out his entire lower half. Hansen missing offense always seems to make more sense as a transition to his opponent, because again it just rarely feels realistic that someone is able to fight their way back into control. I wonder how often Hansen did a miss this spectacular. You have to have a finite amount of them. That's not a spot I'd seen him do - not like that - and I imagine the total number is low. Now we have one of them. Maybe it's the only one. 

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70s Joshi on Wednesday: Komine! Hanawa!

36. 1979.07.XX - 02 Hiroko Komine vs. Seiko Hanawa

K: We’d consider this a ‘rookie match’ in later years but the average experience level is so low in the company at this point that this isn’t quite worked like that. The spirit of the thing is done correctly, it constantly feels heated and that they’re both trying hard to win the match and getting mad at each other. That bit of pettiness at the end where Hanawa gets one last spiteful smack in is the kind of thing I’m talking about and what AJW excelled in stylistically. The mechanics and structure of the match were uninspired. The standard shine, heat, comeback stuff but there wasn’t really anything of interest in how it progressed or memorable moments, they just went out and did their match while getting the vibe of the thing right.

*3/4

MD: These two nominally competing for a spot on the Japan national team for the upcoming series vs the US women. Komine was in black and was more the rookie and Hanawa was in yellow. It was spirited but the transitions weren’t great, except for the first one which was Komine breaking out of a bodyscissors by grabbing Hanawa by the ears and lifting her up. She then ran her face across the top rope and rubbed her boot into it and it was all pretty good for a bit. The comeback was just Hanawa getting behind her and using a waistlock to drop her for an awkward rolling bodyscissors. From there it was back and forth and they worked hard but I’m not sure it entirely flowed. Hanawa finally came out on top, winning with a figure four. Ok when they were going but I wouldn’t say it all came together.

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2024 Ongoing MOTY List: The Beast Mortos Debuts in AEW

 

6. The Beast Mortos vs. Rey Fenix AEW Collision 4/27/24

ER: I love a debut that feels like a real debut. The Beast Mortos is new, Debuting. Black Taurus is not new at all. Black Taurus has been almost everywhere, all over the place, constantly, for at least 5 years now. You have had multiple chances to see Black Taurus wrestle live in a city near you within the last 5 years. He's done all of the Super Indies, he's been one of the few hundred people on MLW's roster, one of the few dozen to wrestle on a show where Ric Flair died, he even wrestled multiple matches on AXS TV for a mudshow fed that airs after old episodes of That Metal Show with Eddie Trunk. He's been everywhere, doing his great thing, and now he's on real TV against a guy he's been doing that great thing against for over a decade. AEW putting guys on TV specifically to try to capture the magic of someone seeing Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis for the first time is message board pro wrestling and it's hard not to appreciate someone paying money to try to recapture it on TV. Rey and Psicosis got to do their great thing in front of increasingly larger crowds before unleashing it on WCW, and the Beast Mortos has been doing the same. Now, wrestling is a lot different now than it was when Rey and Psicosis did Their Thing on PPV (nearly 30 years ago!). Now everybody frequently gets the chance to do Their Thing and it feels rarer and rarer that someone can show up doing something Unexpected. If you've been paying attention, there should be nothing Unexpected about The Beast Mortos. He's the best of the dozen or so animal's head wearing luchadors that have come to prominence in the last decade, and this was him doing his thing in front of the most eyeballs of his career, and he completely crushes it.  

His AEW debut is so good, that it essentially overshadows the fact that Rey Fenix hadn't wrestled in over 6 months. This is Fenix's big return and while he did Rey Fenix things, people were now also getting to see a ton of Beast Mortos things. I loved Mortos's NOAH-like sicko dedication to going after Fenix's knees after Fenix has been out a half year because of his knees. Jun Akiyama hated Kenta Kobashi's knees so fucking much and I support Mortos's hatred of Fenix's knees even if Fenix didn't seem to mind too much.  It is a fool's errand to go into depth describing what they are each capable of. I can tell you that The Beast has an incredible tornillo, with an improbably tight spiral and amazing impact, but it's something you need to see to believe. I can tell you about a bulldog that spikes Fenix vertically, but that's something you will want to see. I have no way to describe Fenix leaping onto The Beast's shoulders and kicking him in the back of the head - while standing on his shoulders - and I can tell you how cool it looked when Mortos headbutted him out of the sky but I wouldn't be able to do it justice. To see how fast and far Mortos takes a Jerry bump and how well he can catch a complicated dive, why would you just want to take my word for it. The match was filled with things almost beyond description, unless you are someone who has been seeing The Beast and Fenix reinvent how things are done for nearly a decade now. But thousands have not, and this match was for the thousands. Even for the dedicated, it played as fresh. A debut of a known quantity that felt like a new debuting force. Mortos lost this battle, but I am sure that after this he will be doing nothing but winning in AEW. 

2024 MOTY MASTER LIST

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 10/21 - 10/27

AEW Collision 10/26/24

FTR vs. Rush/Dralistico

MD: Look, I got exactly what I wanted out of this match. The initial pairings were Dax and Dralistico and RUSH and Cash. While Dax has a good punch and all the personality you'd want and a Foley-esque sense of knowing how to create big, meaningful moments that stand out, there's just something to Cash. My go-to description of Ashura Hara is that he wrestles like a guy with a gambling problem in the best way. Cash wrestles like a guy who's just one bad day away from snapping. In any other walk of life, that wouldn't be a plus. In pro wrestling, it's a godsend. Of course, RUSH had his bad day close to fifteen years ago, a series of them, one after the next, when the Arena Mexico crowd refused to get behind him as an up and coming young tecnico and he decided that the world just had to burn down. He never looked back. All I wanted from this one was the two of them, either with an early exchange or one in the finishing stretch, getting to slug it out with each other. I knew RUSH would awaken something in Cash, the sort of thing which could make him a top singles act if he could channel it constantly without going so method that he was in constant backstage altercations. And so he did. All it took was one little slap and Cash was all over him. RUSH turned Cash into CASH. RUSH is less about big spots and more about cracking people in the jaw. No one else in wrestling is going to do a complex bypass only to slap someone. Only RUSH. What a guy.

Prior to that, we did get Dax and Dralistico to start. Dralistico's an interesting case. People more focused on lucha tend to have disdain for him, but I think he's kind of self-aware. How do you stand next to RUSH as your brother and see how Dragon Lee carries himself on the other channel and not, after all these years, have some sort of self-awareness? There's another reality where Sin Cara became a big star up north and Dralistico got to coast on being Mistico II forever (whether the crowd was behind him or not). Here though? Here I think he kind of gets it. He knows he can walk all over Dax (literally) and then after getting smacked slink off to the corner and tag in his brother to hide behind. I kind of wonder if he doesn't get quite enough credit for his act. Maybe he doesn't stick to it consistently enough, but there's something to "failed idol who decided to go into the family shitheel business," right? If you squint, the lack of smoothness at times can almost be a boon if he's leaning into it somehow. It's the little things. After RUSH redirected Dax into the corner to set up the heat, Dralistico added insult to injury by giving him a halfhearted shove into the post again. It's a little bit understated in a world of larger than life characters, but I kind of dig it. Eric's already the world's biggest Bestia del Ring fan so maybe I should watch myself here. 

I got what I wanted right from the get go, so the rest was sort of gravy. They focused on Dax's shoulder. RUSH knocked Cash off the apron to delay the hot tag. Dax had to really work for it. Cash came in hot. Dralistico hit that wild crucifix driver. They went home strong with the Mortos miscommunication. Maybe you didn't want LFI losing so early into their revitalized run, but this is the RUSH/Dralistico pairing where the money pairing is the RUSH/Mortos one. They more or less got their heat back after the fact. It'd probably be good for them to get a couple of single wins coming out of this even if you don't necessarily want FTR or Outrunners to lose on the way to whatever they're doing. Run Truth vs Mortos, Dax vs Dralistico, Cash vs RUSH (Yes, please, run CASH vs RUSH) next week. Have them split wins 2-1 with LFI on top. Then figure out how to glue together a six-man or eight-man. They can get a few more weeks out of this on Collision. That's the joy of Collision. This was great fun. Now we just need that CASH vs RUSH super libre match. 

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Found Footage Friday: BOCK~! HEENAN~! SD MARK II~! CMLL 4 vs 3~! DUSTY~! DUSTIN~! CODY~!

Nick Bockwinkel/Bobby Heenan vs. Greg Gagne/Super Destroyer Mark II AWA 10/3/80

MD: A recent find from a Wrestling Playlists disc buy. You know the deal. Follow along with the work. This was a blast. Perfect pro wrestling. Destroyer is Slaughter of course. Heenan and Bockwinkel make a big stink out of it to start. This was supposed to be a Loser-Wears-the-Weasel Suit match and they refuse to wrestle if that's the stip. Therefore, they will be heavily fined or suspended but the local promoter says that the match will still take place for the fans. 

Heenan is great here as you would imagine, but he spends a lot of this on the apron or getting cheapshots in with one big moment of comeuppance in the middle and another at the end. It's really all on Bockwinkel who stooges all over the place. Because he doesn't have a competent partner, he's even further behind the eightball and he absolutely wrestles that way, getting knocked around the ring, keeling over after shots, getting abused by both wrestlers. They have a few moments of heat where they're able to get over either by Gagne missing a dropkick or Bockwinkel getting Destroyer in the eyes and following up with a King of the Mountain but it's never for long. Gagne has a great hot tag in as he hits his dropkicks with the second into a nice upkick right onto a charging Bock. 

Finish is Heenan loading up his broken arm and nailing Destroyer from behind so Bockwinkel can pin him. Post-match he demands the weasel suit to put on Gagne because they won but the babyfaces get the better of them and slip it on him. Nice bit here as Destroyer goes to Bockwinkel who is all tangled in the corner and  forcibly shakes his hand before they leave. Post match, Bockwinkel gets the weasel suit off of Heenan and starts beating it up. Just a great bit of emotional vulnerability to send the fans home happy by someone who is usually so buttoned up. 

ER: What a perfect vibe. I think I need to go through a real AWA phase. The vibes don't get much better than this. Heenan and Bockwinkel are a perfect team, Greg Gagne is a guy who is way underrated and undervalued as a babyface, Slaughter is legitimately one of the hardest working big men of all time. The Peg never felt hotter. Everyone did everything I loved seeing them do in this match. Heel Bockwinkel is some incredible stuff. Heel Bockwinkel feels like Billy Robinson crossed with Ric Flair. Heenan is like Buddy Roberts crossed with Tully Blanchard. Everyone throws strikes here that are perfect for who they are. Heenan's 3/4 arm slot attacks with his cast looked like Gagne should have been left bruised. Heenan looked like he should have been scared of Slaughter and fought him accordingly. Bockwinkel looked like he really wanted to snap Greg's neck over the top rope. 

Heenan's Race bump was one of the most incredible versions of that spot. Heenan had this amazing knack for "holding on". Race would tumble dangerously to the floor on his. When I think of any great over the top bump it's always accompanied by "to the floor". But Heenan had this way of hanging onto bumps that made them feel even more dangerous than if he had let go and flown to the floor. It feels like he's body is being torn in multiple directions. I wonder how many weasel suits there were. He's the only wrestler in history to get pulled into a fur suit to rabid reaction for well over a decade. It's impossible to not love Bobby when he's losing his mind in his Where the Wild Things Are fur suit. The zipper always gets stuck, but this time we get to experience the joy of Nick Bockwinkel being flustered while he's trying to get Bobby out of the suit. We have that now. 

Gigante Silva/Atlantis/Tinieblas Jr. vs. Fuerza Guerrera/Gran Markus Jr./Pierroth Jr./Violencia CMLL 09/05/00

MD: Another that Charles salvaged from old discs. I'm not sure I've ever heard of CMLL doing a 4-on-3 match like this but here we go. Pierroth and Silva were the captains and Pierroth had a ton of heat with the crowd,  especially the Arena Coliseo tecnico cheering section which was loud and rowdy and chanting for Mexico the whole way through. The rudos swarmed Atlantis to start staying on him and then Tinieblas pinballing them from one to the other. Once Tinieblas went out they did something I'm not sure I've ever seen before; they pulled Atlantis back in so that Silva couldn't come in. They were even cutting off the ring.

This all led to a huge tug of war spot, but with Atlantis' arms being what they were tugging on. All of the rudos and Atlantis went tumbling across the ring, heralding Silva's real entrance to the match. The rudos tried to swarm him but he managed to whip all of them across the ring in a 4 person Irish Whip. Then he hit a corner clothesline and let me tell you, if you told me that he had killed someone in the ring and not Khali, I would totally believe you with how brutal his shots looked. I don't know if the rudos just asked him to go full on or if he didn't know how not to but every strike was grisly.

The comedy kept coming as Atlantis and Tinieblas lured them into a bunch of rudo miscommunication (a lot of which was Markus, who had lost his mask by this point, crushing his own partners), before they built to endless Atlantis and Tinieblas big splashes on all four rudos, before Silva got to finish it off. This was about ten minutes of ringtime in one fall and definitely didn't wear out its welcome. Fun stuff.

Dusty Rhodes/Goldust/Cody Rhodes vs. Dudebusters (Trent Baretta/Curt Hawkins/Caylen Croft) FCW 7/9/10

MD: If the Vault isn't going to give us old Greensboro and Omni, something special like this, something one of a kind, is up there on what I'd want. This was Dusty's last match, teaming with his sons (one a face, one normally a heel), up against the hottest heel act FCW had to offer at the time in the Dudebusters. Baretta and Croft had their act and it was bolstered with Hawkins returning. At the time, I thought they'd all join Ryder (who had spent 2009 coming into his own on ECW) on the main roster to be his muscle and they could have gotten a good midcard (maybe IC title level) act out of all of it. It was not meant to be. 

I love the presentation here. It's one camera with a bunch of interface noise (like a 16 bit line and contrast or whatever and a little golfing guy icon). The Dudebusters come out with white Dusty Sucks Eggs t-shirts. Dusty and family come out to his WWF theme song, cowbell and all. Dustin is Goldust. Cody is Dashing (but no mustache or faceguard yet).

Cody is set to start but Dusty tags in and I absolutely love how the Dudebusters sell for the idea of him, scattering and leaping up to the top rope just because he entered the ring. Obviously the crowd is going to go nuts at the idea of Dusty driving them nuts. They're selling not a punch or a kick but an idea and an ideal and a larger than life presence. That's beautiful pro wrestling and we see so little of it in 2024. Cody felt a little looser than usual in this setting and Dustin was having a blast, including playing off a Dudebusters deal where the kept kissing his cheek by moving so they ended up kissing each other. This was the first time that Cody and Dustin teamed that we know of and they had some fun tandem stuff (like a catapult bounce back onto the knees/second rope move combo). In general, Dustin was moving great in there and looked like a million bucks.

Eventually the Dudebusters used a distraction to take over on Cody and we got the first of a double heat. They controlled the ring well. The hot tag to Dustin wasn't so hot but that's because the real one was going to be to Dusty later. They took back on him with another bit of distraction (they were good at that). It all built to the true hot tag to Dusty, the place exploding, and Dusty hitting a couple of things before picking up the win. As celebratory and reverent as it should have been but a better match than it needed to be because they let the Dudebusters take so much of it.

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El Deporte de las Mil Emociones: Caged Hangmen

Week 38: Caged Hangmen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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