El Boricua

Trying to put my ballot together and I just now noticed that Pedro Morales wasn't nominated.

New Day is going through what happens to a lot of acts that catch on organically and then the heads take notice. They start ramping up the idiosyncrasies that work best in smaller doses as part of the whole act until it basically becomes the only thing the act does. It's not usually a good thing for the long term health of the act when this happens.

Still not done with the show but I reached this part. This was me at my desk at work when I reached that part: Excellent show so far.

It's the eventual hazard of having to buy your ticket three months before any hint of card is put together. You better believe that the narrative later on will be how this slop drew a record crowd when the truth is that most of these poor ticket buyers were already locked into all of the expenses surrounding the trip way before it was apparent what the card would be. it's why tickets sold to WWE events has been a less relevant measure of drawing power in recent years and should be treated as such.

I maybe would have given a nomination nod to Steve Bradley.

In my opinion, the best babyface of anyone who has wrestled in Puerto Rico over the past 16 years. It's impressive to think about considering that when he first arrived, he was part of a typical foreigner bleached blond obnoxious/arrogant pretty boy tag team, and that his promos sounded like a warmed over, second rate Ric Flair impression. But along the way, Shane the Glamour Boy became a tecnico and adopted by the PR fans. Don't get me wrong, he can be a heel and a good one at that. But he managed to connect with a fanbase who did not speak the same language and became one of the standard bearers for PR wrestling throughout the decade of the 00's. Along the way he elarned Spanish and would even cut promos with parts in Spanish for the fans. Shane is a dynamic presence, who can generate sympathy and also show great fire. It wasn't an IWA episode if it didn't end with either Shane running in to fight of the rudos or getting beat down by them. He was the first IWA World champion and one of the cornerstones of its babyface side during the companies rise. And, outside of a few short runs were he went hell only to shortly turn back, he was the quintessential never say die hero face. He's definitely someone that deserved a shot at the big stage and who would have done well. One particular angle that sticks with me is during one of his feuds with Savio Vega. Savio was the evil boss and wanted to get rid of Shane. He had police show up at Shane's house to have him deported. This is where having the Paparazzi character helped, because he would show up to film these things a la TMZ and that would explain why the camera was there. anyway, the police knock on Shane's door and he opens it. He's surprised at the cops being there and he asks them what this is all bout. It's explained to him that Savio vega has informed them he is here illegally and they are here to escort him to be processed and deported. All the while, shane is angry and keep repeating "Esta es mi casa, esto no es lucha libre" (this is my house, this is not wrestling). Obviously, Shane was saying that Savio was crossing a line by sending the police to his home. Unfortunately for Shane, he can't win the argument with the police and is handcuffed and dragged of to a waiting vehicle. You can see Shane absolutely deflate and look defeated as the cops lead him away as the Paparazzi keeps filming this. And as he's being led to the vehicle, he turns to the camera with a heartbroken look and does the only thing he can. He starts saying to the camera "Te amo Puerto Rico". I love you Puerto Rico. Obviously, the angle ends up with Shane returning and going after Savio, To this day, Shane occupies a state of perpetual overness in Puerto Rico. A selection of Glamour Boy Shane Sewell based on what's available. A match from 1995 in Ontario, the earliest match I could find: From 1997, vs. Sean Morley when they broke up and Shane first turned tecnico: As a face against Fidel Sierra in 1998: A recap of his feud with Mustafa Saed in 1999 over the WWC TV title: A IWA card promo hyping Shane's debut with the company: Against Andy Anderson in IWA: In 2001, a ladder match for the IWA title against Ricky Banderas: Ricky Banderas is betrayed by the Starr Corporation and Shane comes in to try to save his hated rival: With Ricky Banderas against the Starr corporation Jan. 2002: A classic beatdown on Shane: Highlight reel of a feud with D-Lo Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uZ7A0tw0F8 From 2005, one of the few occasions Shane was a heel in PR in the 00's against Ricky Banderas. Notice that the PR flag has been replaced by the Canadian flag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v43d2dY_R6U One of the many Shane tribute videos to give some highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RheahxYo_A Against the future Darren Young in 2007 playing the heel (first link is a pre-match promo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcnqIWzXdb4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjg9AvjcyHs Against Ray Gonzalez in WWC in 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Aa9lRdQks Against Orlando Colon (Epico) in two matches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enzrL1G2SC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaU_mGiLMfM His match against Sheik Bashir in TN:A in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bgENkxcQyQ From WWL in 2015 against Xander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ijtMsHHfI Jan. 6 2015 triple threat against Alberto Del Rio and Ricky Banderas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaiBGVKjwA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHLC6sf_I1M Against James Storm from Sept 2015 (starts at the 42:00 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MngzcZDtni0 I wish there was more prime Shane (and IWA) out there available. One last video to post and this one is a promo. While Shane would be energetic and flamboyant when it was time to "chit-chat with the champ", he could also be more serious when it was needed. For the 2006 Christmas in PR lead-up tv show, they turned the final part of the show over to a promo with Shane where he addressed the current issues, but also was a call to arms to the wrestlers and fans to rally around the IWA. This was a year that had seen the death of Victor Quinones and a feeling of uncertainty surrounded the company. Hindsight shows that the company was about to start its descent into it 's eventual collapse, But at the time, the message to rally together was not delivered by one of the owners or one of the locals. It was delivered by a blond Canadian who had become beloved by the Puerto Rican fans. Who wore the Puerto Rican colors and carried our flag. Who would defiantly, time and time again, rush in to fight of the rudos even at the expense of another beating. A man who would be hugged by the fans on the way to the ring, consoled by them when he felt he had let us down, and protected by them when thrown into them after a beating and a human wall would emerge to not allow the rudos to get at him. Someone who could be consumed by doubt but push on and overcome. They couldn't have picked a better messenger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ3Liw5_xfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPtWjT9roo If part of being a great wrestler is connecting with the crowds, make no mistake, Shane Sewell has it in spades.

I wouldn't go as far as to say he's of the same talent level as Eaton either (would definitely need of more prime footage that is sadly unavailable to ascertain what his overall talent level is), but in the sense they have similar strengths and weaknesses in their skill set I do think it's a plausible comparison.

Shane's the next guy I want to make a post on, hopefully I'll get to it tonight. A quick question for you Dylan (or anyone else who 'd like to weigh in), do you think I'm off in comparing Invader 3's skill set type to a Bobby Eaton? The outside of the ring reputations and similar promo skill level made me think of the comparison, but the more I thought it over the more I think it fits. As a bonus, here's a recent interview conducted with Invader 3 about his career. It's in Spanish, but I'll try to come back at some point and provide a summary of the interview:

To this day Invader 3/Johnny Rivera is considered by many PR fans as the standard bearer of Puerto Rican junior heavyweights. Standing at 5'6", he is known as "El Pequeño Gigante" (the little giant), because of his heart and standing his ground with men larger than him. He had runs as Johnny Rivera in WWWF and Japan, was El Invasor/Invader in Mexico, and of course in WWF as part of the Invaders tag team. He is not a good promo (but has an approachable and genuine quality about him), but he is probably the most universally liked Puerto Rican wrestler among his peers (at least I've never heard anyone say a bad word about him). Before donning the Invader mask (he would have been in his mid-30s by that point), Johnny Rivera was the go to local for challenging for the world junior heavyweight title. While in WWWF, his athleticism and junior style prowess was not always readily showcased due to him being in the land of giants and the role he played there as more of a JTTS. And I wish there was more house show footage of him in the early 80's as Johnny Rivera, where one could see him have junior style matches against Les Thornton, Dick Steinborn and others. Also wish there was more footage of his run as Invader 3, where he had his local debut as an Invader in a red hot feud against Los Super Medicos and a feud with Eric Embry that, from the limited footage we do have, seems to have been a great one in-ring. He does suffer in that he was never allowed to break out more from the junior heavyweight and tag team role (although his ability was definitely suited for these roles) and injuries definitely cut his full-time career in the late 80's. But in terms of underdog tecnicos on the Puerto Rico wrestling scene, I don't think you can find one better. If I had to describe him to someone who hasn't seen him, I'd say he's like a Puerto Rican Bobby Eaton, he seems to fit that type of skills set mold in terms of strengths and weaknesses. A selection of matches from throughout his career (note that I'm selecting some from different points of his career based on the limited footage available on the internet and not necessarily the best, just looking to provide a sample of different points of his career): Taking on the Executioners in 1976: Here are the not-yet Invaders teaming up with Andre in the WWF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne3vq8RWjEs From Dec of 79, only the final stretch of the match against Tatsumi Fujinami, Would be curious to see the whole thing. Training for an upcoming junior title challenge: TV tag match against the Mercenaries As Invader 3 against Randy Savage Tag match against the Koloffs The scaffold match against Chicky from 1986 A clipped video of a 60 minute match against Eric Embry Three of the Invaders matches against the Sheepherders (1985 and 1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ije_O6Ld5Q Junior title defense against an old Don Kent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdxZKN3qveg Jan of 88 against Great Muta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9lBtqEqpwo A 1989 tag match against Rip Rogers and Abudda Dein https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG9I87mgnAM Early 1990 in one of his last matches during this full time run against Mr. Pogo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvP6zS1ywWc A brief appearance in 1996 featuring a very rare team up with Invader 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gQSLvVyGmU Pushing 50, he makes a brief comeback in 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrIAGeCzHek Now retired, he continues to serve as a trainer. His most successful student to date is the current Universal champion "Mr. 450" Hammett.

Please do submit a ballot DMJ. More than anything the final result benefits from having as many different voices as possible. I agree with Dylan that people should watch stuff out of their comfort zone and that the process is important, although not exactly for the benefit of the final result (which benefits from this), but more for the experience it brings to the individual in experiencing different things and giving themselves the chance to maybe discover something that appeals to them. I've seen a lot of people mention that they have areas where they lack the desired depth and scope (and the time to rectify that to their satisfaction) to be able to include wrestlers from certain styles or areas. And that's actually alright, in fact, more than alright. Using myself as an example, I have a few areas where I would say I lack depth and scope to really dig and probe into them for a ranking. But there are a few areas (one in particular that I know comes to mind more readily ) where I am totally comfortable in making assessments. That's where I can make my contribution to the final result. The way I view it is that, it's not my role to be objective in compiling whatever ends up being my final list. That falls to the final tallied results that carry the makeup of all of us that submit a ballot and provides a static snapshot of what was the opinion in that moment. That final list, that will probably looked back upon with different parts of curiosity, agreement, anger, sheer what the hell where they thinking, and even some "Binro was right" hindsight. Whatever burden of "objectivity" that is part of this project ultimately falls on the final result. My responsibility is to be consistent and true to what my experiences and opinions are when compiling my ballot. The pushing to seek out different things to expand, reshape, rethink, discover and renew what comprises my wrestling fandom is a heck of an opportunity this project provides. But I'll never see all that there is to see and cover all that would need to be covered. That's reality. And that's where having all these different voices also chiming in is important. Any final list will never be perfect. It will never please everyone. It will never truly be a definitive answer. But, it should be an honest snapshot of those willing to add their voice. It should also be a font of further discussion and discovery. This project's end result depends on what goes into it, and it is more rich for having as many ballots as possible that are true and consistent for what each voter values (be it expansive or niche). So if you're on the fence about making and submitting a ballot because you feel that you don't have enough ground covered (and I'm someone who resembles this remark), please don't let that stop you. Just be sure that your list is honest and consistent with who you are and where you are as a wrestling fan.

This link has three reviews for Rikidozan. https://pdw2kx.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/best-of-rikidozan/

I forgot to answer this earlier, sorry about that Smack. The short answer is Chicky being Chicky (basically being an a-hole). Chicky brought in Action Jackson and claimed that he was the original TNT (he wasn't). The feud came about with Chicky bringing in this wrestler he claimed was the original TNT and the one we had seen was an impostor. Chicky would constantly run down the real TNT and call him a fake. The most notable incident was that Chicky went as far as to call TNT out by his real shoot name at one point while going on and on about him being a fake and his guy being the real deal. TNT had enough and told Chicky he would face his phony TNT. Shockingly, TNT lost the first match to the original "TNT" when he got put down with the cobra hold. In a nod to continuity, original TNT refused to wake TNT up and TNT felt the effects of what he had done when he had been a heel. The feud was to come to a head at the Aniversario 89 show in a winner take all match for the rights to the TNT name, identity and face paint. However, with Hurricane Hugo set to hit Puerto Rico in the early morning of the following day, the Aniversario 89 show was cancelled hours before it was to take place as part of the mandated curfew precautions. Action Jackson left right after this, so no proper blowoff between the two was held in 1989. Instead, when the rescheduled Aniversario show took place, it was TNT vs. Chicky Starr in a 5 minute apuestas match. If TNT failed to beat Chicky in 5 minutes, he would lose the TNT name and gimmick. If TNT defeated Chicky in 5 minutes, Chicky would lose his hair. TNT won. That put the issue with Chicky to bed. The feud with Original TNT did get closure when Action Jackson returned billed again as the Original TNT right at the end of 1990. Once again both men feuded over the name for the first two months of 1991, and this time there was closure when TNT beat Original TNT in the winner take all identity match held the first weekend of March 91. From there, Action Jackson remained in WWC as Action Jackson until the summer.

Nice anecdote from Chris Youngblood. I'll check out the Facebook group when I get the chance.

I'd say Carlos Colon is in a similar vein as Bruno in terms of the type of hero babyface connection he has with his home territory's crowd (not better or worse, just in the same type if you were classifying them).

I like that Johnny has a more positive opinion. It provides a needed counterbalance and can be a flash-point for discussion during the show.

I don't mind a small sample provided its not all concentrated in either one specific part of the wrestler's career or against the same opponent.

The announced Puerto Rico team had been Miguel Perez Jr. and the masked El Boricua. I remember on WCW programming they had the control centers talking about the tournament, and when they got to the Puerto Rico team they had no pictures of them. It was two black silhouettes. The reason given was that the Puerto Rican government, due to the importance and seriousness of the tournament, had declared a gag order on information about the two wrestlers. It was mentioned as part of the strategy for the tournament so they couldn't be scouted by their opponents. Not even photos were being allowed. Thus, the only information given out on the program was the names of the two wrestlers and the black silhouettes. Eleven year old me was ecstatic at hearing that a Puerto Rico team was competing. My first thought after the initial excitement was "OH crap, they've got Williams and Gordy as their opponents. We're in trouble." My second thought: "Great move by the commission not wanting information being given out, this may be the edge we need." My third and final thought: "Wait, who the heck is this El Boricua they have teaming with Miguelito? There's no one who is wrestling here going by that name!" I remember watching this Clash as it aired, excited to see the tournament and to cheer for our local team. And I'd finally get my answer as to who this mysterious El Boricua actually was. But then that interview segment with Doc and Gordy happened and eleven year old me was livid. "How dare these two jerks do that to the Puerto Rican team! There should be fines and suspension for this! C'mon, it's obvious they're behind this attack, somebody do something! How bad are they hurt?" To say this dampened my enthusiasm for the rest of the show is an understatement. Was rooting for the Steiners to take it to them, but Gordy and Doc won and I was just mad at that turn of events. That weekend I watched WWC tv, and they were running down the coming cards. During one of the interviews, someone made reference to an occurrence during the week (which was the same day as the Clash airing) about a match they had that day with Miguelito. I started thinking: Hey, Miguelito is okay, that's good. Wait, wasn't that the day of the Clash? Wasn't he supposed to be over in the states for the tournament. But it looks like he was down here. Hey, wait a minute...!" One last thing. For years I wondered who the heck that El Boricua guy was supposed to be. There never was anyone wrestling here by that name, so I always wondered who it was supposed to be. Eventually, at some point after being online, I read that it was supposedly Ricky Santana. He apparently wrestled under that identity in Mexico. That answer makes the most sense and accounts for the mask (since Santana was active here at the time but is not Puerto Rican). But that was a mystery that had me baffled for quite a few years. At least it wasn't Joaquin Victoria. And when the time came that I decided to stop lurking due to Dylan doing the Puerto Rican wrestling thread, I stared at the registration screen for a few minutes having no idea what to put as my user name. But then I thought of that mystery wrestler who had long stymied me, and hey the name fits, so why not. And with a slight smile, I typed in El Boricua. Because why not.

Without getting into any conversation about cover ups or Puerto Rican justice, this wouldn't qualify since this was not something that happened in order to draw money or get anyone over. Now, you could say that attempts to use this tragic event in angles later on (Onita's attempt being one that comes to mind) would qualify.Was the match where Manny Fernandez makes one of the Invaders throw up fake blood somehow tied into Brody's death or am I getting that mixed up with something else? The match between Invader 3 and Manny Fernandez was a few months before Brody's death and was not related at all to what happened.

Without getting into any conversation about cover ups or Puerto Rican justice, this wouldn't qualify since this was not something that happened in order to draw money or get anyone over. Now, you could say that attempts to use this tragic event in angles later on (Onita's attempt being one that comes to mind) would qualify.

The Dog Collar Match was non-title.

If they keep making Reigns look like a schmuck it'll be a tough task to get the people behind him all the way.

Crowd's very non plussed about all this.

Could have also been about the moment earlier in the match where Taker couldn't keep him up, had to put him down and hit a DDT.

Pumped to see another WTBBP is out. Hope to give this a listen soon.

Another thing to consider is that it wasn't until a little under a month to go that it was made clear that Daniel Bryan would be wrestling HHH and likely be inserted into the WWE title match. Before that all anybody had to go on was Orton vs. Batista. It's a lot harder for people not from New Orleans to make plans to be at Wrestlemania with less than a month to go (when it was clear Bryan was included) than it is before that (when it was Orton vs. Batista), particularly if the initial main event was not appealing. But as has been mentioned by others, with tickets going on sale almost six months before the event (and long before any semblance of a card is revealed), it's hard to gauge what ultimate impact specific wrestlers had on ticket sales.