Watching all of that late stage ECW got me interested in checking more IWA Puerto Rico. This period of IWA Puerto Rico is definitely worth tracking down. It's Victor Quinones' development territory for Vince. Paul Heyman was already working with or perhaps for Vince at this time.. which is why there's a ton of crossover between the three promotions plus Michinoku Pro and CMLL. That's pretty darn cool that we get to see it here for a short time! I've skipped reviewing them but Gangrel & Edge are here as well as Val Venis. It's really fun stuff especially if you loved the under card and B/C shows of WWF back in 98-00 like WWF Shotgun, ECW Hardcore TV  & WCW Worldwide and the like. 

Junior Heavyweight Battle Royal (05/21/99) Super Crazy, Tajiri, Christopher Daniels, Mr. Águila (Essa Ríos), Black Scorpion, Danny Boy, Pablo Marquez, Pepe Prado, Reckless Youth, Taka Michinoku, Alexander Otsuka, The Great Sasuke, Tiger Mask IV and Jeff Hardy...I'm not a Battle Royal fan but with that much talent it's worth checking out.

The Hardy Boyz vs. Ricky Banderas & Ricky Santana - Simple fun match...just neat to see the Boyz in this setting.

Ricky Banderas vs Dick Togo - Whoa this was a really good match! Togo jumps Ricky in the locker room and we've got a grudge match. Nice face/heel dynamics, excellent moves from both guys but this isn't just a collection of spots. Wish there's more Dick Togo is IWA Puerto Rico available... his heel work is great in this setting.

Hijo del Santo vs Antifaz - Antifaz attacks Hijo del Santo with a chair and sets up this little feud. Here we get a straight forward match with a lot of flying. It was pretty good stuff. There's a good flow to the match.

Hijo del Santo vs Antifaz #2 - A much more heated and traditional match. There's a face-heel ebb and flow to this one. Transitions from offense to defense felt more natural/earned. The first bout was the appetizer and this felt like the meal. Really good match.

Hijo del Santo vs Rey Bucanero - More good stuff..not as good as the above Antifaz match in terms of telling a story. That said the ending is more about the overall feud.

Hijo del Santo & Jesús Cristóbal vs. Bad Medicine & Rey Bucanero - Good stuff. Heels be cheatin',  faces be shinin' ...yeah enjoyable TV wrestling.

Ricky Banderas, Hijo del Santo, Jesús Cristóbal vs. Antifaz, Bad Medicine, Rey Bucanero - This feels like it was one big shine segment for the baby faces. It's only 1 fall so there's not a lot to it but it's enjoyable.

...and that's all there seems to be of the feud..but it's fun stuff like you'd see on WCW Worldwide. We do get more Antifaz & Rey Bucanero... and vs my old favorites... The Headhunters!

Headhunters vs. Brett Sanders & Julio Sánchez vs. Antifaz & Rey Bucanero - Fly fat ass, fly! This was just an absolute blast!! The 'hunters add a great dynamic with their size and weight. The baby faces are fun, the heel team is great with the Big Twins. It's a quick match and definitely could have gone on a minute or two more. Some form of this would have been a hit in ECW in 1999...at least for a short program.

The Headhunders vs. Antifaz & Jesús Cristóbal (10/29/99) - Who's to say if this is before or after the Hijo del Santo stuff but the poster added a date. Says its the first episode of the one TV show... so probably before the feud??? This is fun...little rough at times but still had some cool offense.

...found this nugget as well:

Taka Michinoku & Pepe Prado vs. Super Crazy & Rey Bucanero - Holy cow that was crazy! No pun intended... Taka was off the hook here. Crazy and Bucanero were the heels and were more about power bombs than anything else. Prado impressed me too. Yes, this was really good stuff that would have gone over fairly well in ECW at the time as well.

All of this is available on YouTube for you to enjoy. If you're looking for some fun, under 10 minute wrestling to watch during this holiday season then, I highly recommend this! To all of you working this season in customer service, packing, shipping, delivery - hang in there!!! To those going through tough times, I'm right there with you. We'll make it one day at a time. Hope my blog puts a smile on your face and gives you some good wrestling ideas to look forward to. Thanks for reading!