El Boricua

Michael Cole with the sledgehammer of plot.

He must have attended the Manny Fernandez School of Main Eventing.

Thanks for the newspaper pic Raging Noodles. From the article: It seems that El Hijo del Santo will remain in charge of his promotion Todos x Todos and it is expected that it will start it's season in either April or May of 2014. He'll also supervise the development and training of his son Santo Jr. It's expected he will make his professional debut sometime in the near future. He plans to open up a wrestling school to share the knowledge of his more than 30 years of experience. Any retirement/farewell shows will be planned for sometime between August to November of this year. They're hoping that the rest from now until then may allow him to do one or two farewell matches. After that, he'll have surgery for the injury and retire.

No need to find the link, if it's the one on youtube then we're referencing the same match. I believe that match is from the final weekend of house shows for 1985 (the big season ending card), which would mean it took place around mid-December of 1985. It's from Hiram Bithorn Stadium and, if I'm not mistaken, the card also featured the ambulance match between the Sheepherders and Carlos Colon & Invader 1, Magnum TA defending the U.S title against Tully Blanchard, and Hercules Ayala defending the NA title against Nikita Koloff. All of these matches are from the same stadium and look to be in front of the same crowd and set-up. The reasons I'm pretty sure the match is from 1985 are the following. First, the Sheepherders big run was in 1985, which was capped by the ambulance match. Also, Dusty's wearing the protective boot on his ankle during the World title match and the announcers mention that it was due to the attack they did to him (the cage attack), so it has to be after September. Magnum is the defending U.S champ, which means this has to be after Starrcade. Finally, Hercules Ayala lost the NA title on the Three King's Day card in 1986 (typically the first show to start the new year), so the card would not have taken place in 1986. For reference, there is quick way to check to see if the match is from Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium or Hiram Bithorn Stadium. If the roof is in a straight line ------------, it's Loubriel. If the roof is in the following pattern \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/, then it's Bithorn. There are other details (such as the backstop paint scheme and the look of the grass) that can help identify the stadiums (although it's really tough to make them out when there is a large ringside crowd such as here), but the quickest and easiest is the roof pattern.

Was the Flair vs. Dusty match the one that ends in a double DQ?

After years and years of stating they are not sport but entertainment like soap operas and tv shows, of trying to distance themselves at all costs from being thought of as a sporting event, now they expect to get paid as if they are a sporting event. After so much time spent on trying to bury that identity association at all costs, it's not going to happen. They can't have it both ways now.

I'm currently fighting off a cold, so I won't be able to answer Dylan's question in detail yet. If anyone else wants to jump in go right ahead. I'll start by saying that I would definitely put Chicky, Invader 1 and Hugo ahead of Carlos.

ADR punched Batista and started attacking him after Batista flat out told ADR he has no issue with him. Thanks, I missed that part. Makes more sense now knowing that Del Rio physically provoked him and caused a response (although I still think Batists went a bit overboard, save that aggression for the PPV).

Tuned in and saw Batista decimating Del Rio. Can someone explain to me how that makes him a face? Seems like a disproportionate reaction to Del Rio's taunts.

My favorite Wrestlemania and deserves the praise Wrestlemania 6 gets. You could make the case that it is among the top three of the first fifteen cards.

I'm amazed they willingly ran with The Miz of all people as champion in the Wrestlemania main event, but won't consider trying with a guy who is getting genuine reactions.

He'll probably be the next person to be Sin Cara

How very WCW of them.

From Puerto Rico there's this gem from June 29, 1986: The Zambuie Express (Mr. Elijah Akeem & Mr. Kareem Muhammad) vs. Superstar Billy Graham & Mighty Igor.

Yeah, they did this angle a couple of times. The first one was in 1984 and is the one Jimmy mentioned that involved Hansen and Brody. That time Carlos went with a briefcase full of money to convince his blood rival of six years to help him. I unfortunately missed this at the time, I was too young to watch it. But I definitely remember the second time. The second time they did this, it was around 1999. By this point, Carlos and Abdullah had 20 years of history. Abdullah had been banished from Puerto Rico, losing to Carlos Colon in a loser must retire match at Aniversario 97. He had not been seen since. During the following year, Ray Gonzalez started going bad and Carlos had his hands full feuding with him. Through a series of events, Carlos was attacked and had his shoulder injured. He had surgery for the injury (with highlights shown on TV) and it looked like he was done. But Carlos decided on a drastic course of action. Without telling anyone of his plans, he took a trip to Atlanta (with a camera guy going with him), and ended up going to Abdullah's restaurant to pay an unannounced visit to his vanquished rival. And unlike the first time where Carlos used money to get Abdullah's help, this time he was going there to make an appeal for help with nothing but the hope that there may be some shred of justice and understanding from Abdullah that would get him to help. And that's keeping in mind that Carlos for all intents and purposes had taken away from Abdullah his career in wrestling, so there was no love lost there. The whole segment, from Carlos' surprise arrival to Abdullah's reaction when he saw him to the face to face plea for help Carlos does, remains one of my favorites. For the first time, I saw humanity from Abdullah the Butcher. After so many years, who knew he had it in him.

Sorry for missing this earlier Tim. I think Rosa may have made one appearance with them. I'm reasonably sure that she appeared in promos with them hyping up one of their appearances, but can't say with 100% certainty (I'd have to check the show recaps) that she appeared with them during those shows. In any case, El Torito actually did not end up appearing with Los Matadores during these shows.

My favorite part comes later during that feud when Carlos is put on the shelf by Ray and Victor. After the surgery, Carlos unexpectedly goes to Atlanta to ask Abdullah (who Carlos had retired a year or so before in a retirement match) for his help. I've never been able to find video of that segment, but it's among my top favorite moments in wrestling.

I'm sure I could help. I've been watching for a ton of years, have family involved in it, have attended several hundreds of WWC and IWA shows, so I know quite a bit. Yes, there's someone else! Hi Grizzlyedwin. If you like, you can stop by the PR wrestling thread and add your input there. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?showtopic=19176 I've been posting some feud summaries, so feel free to look throught them if you want and add anything I may have left out or just correct me if I've mixed up some details. In any case, another PR voice is most welcome. Just out of curiosity, how long have you been watching?

I love these types of thought exercises. I'm about 20 minutes into the podcast and you guys are picking a couple of matches that would be the 'backbone' of my attempt. I'll try to see if i can put a Wrestlemania card together following the rules put forth. One thing though, the consideration of Hogan vs. Warrior as the WWF title match overlooked one important detail. That match was title vs. title, so it should also count as an I-C title match. That makes it tougher to go with since it cuts down on your options.

I hope to: - Get some more recaps posted on the PR wrestling thread - Get involved with yearbook and 80's watching - Branch out to maybe doing some match write-ups of things I'll watch - Remember that it's about enjoying what I'm watching I think that's a good start.

Wait, all those weird identities and not one is Jack Victory?

Wrestling did get reinstated to the Olympics seven months later, so the news of it being cancelled (while big) is mitigated somewhat by the later event.

I think tuzadoel is actually an error, it's actually supposed to be tuzado el (two words). From what I've been able to look up, tuzado means someone who has had their hair cut.

Tis the season for crappy family Christmas cards. Woooh!