El Boricua

And got sued for that.

I heard that too, but took it as him reporting the facts of the matter (as he should as a journalist - it was a notable exception) rather than him passing judgement or commentary. In the actual newsletter he did, listing off all the people mentioned and then adding "yes, the 280 pound elephant in the room is Brody". If anybody wants to see the actual video, it starts around the 1:30 mark at the following link: http://www.bumbia.com/wwc/lassuperestrella...355-152100.html Besides Brody, other wrestlers they forgot include Bobby Jaggers (surprised he wasn't included), Dan Greer, Skip Young, Elijah Akeem, Gary Albright, Shinya Hashimoto, Abdullah Tamba, Ernie Ladd, Al Costello, Hiromichi Fuyuki, Tosh Togo, Tor Kamata, Mike Graham, Steve Doll and likely some others I can't recall at this moment. Granted, none had the high profile run Brody did. My opinion is he should have been included based on what they were aiming for with the video package, but I can understand why he was not.

I just listened to the second part and it was interesting to hear the thought process of booking the cards (particularly adjusting previous plans according to who was actually drafted by each of you). I’ll post some more specific feedback about each of the cards soon. In the meantime, I had mentioned I was going to try to book a card with the “leftovers”. Deciding on a roster based on the wrestlers not included was harder than I thought it would be and not because of the scarcity of wrestlers. Quite the opposite, there were a lot of good names available, granted not a lot of really top star names for 1990, but good wrestlers to have on a roster. I’ll pass on Zeus and Nitron though. I’ll list the wrestlers I have selected according to what the rules are for this booking challenge. If there is anyone on this list that should not be included (be it they were not active in 1990, too low profile, accidentally repeated someone that was already drafted, or it is someone that realistically could not have worked for a U.S based company that year), let me know so I can make a switch. I tried to stick with guys that had already had some sort of exposure for one of the notable companies in the U.S or would appear at some point that year. My list of 32 is as follows: Black Bart Brady Boone Bobby Fulton Buddy Landell Brian Knobbs Col. DeBeers Dick Murdoch Dick Slater Dustin Rhodes Dutch Mantel Jerry Sags John Nord Kamala Madusa Magnificent Mimi Mike Enos Nikita Koloff Owen Hart Rip Morgan Rip Rogers Scott Hall Scott Norton Sgt. Slaughter Steve Armstrong Terry Gordy Texas Hangmen Killer Texas Hangmen Psycho The Trooper Tim Horner Tommy Rogers Tracy Smothers Wayne Bloom The one I’m having trouble with is coming up with my 8 non-wrestlers. I’ve come up with the following list of possible selections but I’m not really sure what other options there may be. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. I’ll make a final selection of non-wrestlers shortly, but I want to make sure I haven’t forgotten any possible 1990 candidate for the non-wrestler positions. Adnan al-Kaissie Brother Love Bruno Sammartino Danny Davis Diamond Dallas Page Eddie Marlin Frenchy Martin Hugo Savinovich James Beard Ken Resnick Lee Marshall Lord Littlebrook Missy Hyatt Nick Bockwinkel Sapphire Skandor Akbar Verne Gagne

Bruiser Brody had been quite the handful in 1984. Although Carlos had managed to drive him away (with the help of Abdullah), fans remembered the destruction and carnage the hussing wildman with the furry boots had left in his wake. Less than two years later, Bruiser Brody would make his return. Bruiser Brody vs. Victor Mercado (1986) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75agMNAuVBYWWC This is a squash match from around Brody's return. Chicky quickly puts over that Brody has no scruples, he's not in there to give hugs and kisses, he's in there to win and provoke pain to his opponent. As Brody takes his opponent to the stands and back to the ring, Chicky mentions that that is how you have to handle all of the garbage among the wrestlers in Puerto Rico, such as "that grimy Carlos Colon and those pigs Invader 1 and Invader 3. This man here is the one that will destroy them." Brody wins the match and ends up hussing at the crowd. Bruiser Brody vs. Victor Cancel (1986) Here is another match with Brody facing another 'cojepelas' (what the fans call jobbers in Puerto Rico, it translates as 'beating taker' or if you want, the more colorful 'ass kicking taker'). Poor Victor Cancel gets absolutely manhandled here, getting hit with a chair. Chicky calls Brody the most beastly man in wrestling as he eggs him on from the commentary table. Brody throws Cancel back in the ring and eventually gets the win. Brody again leaves hussing at the crowd, but thsi time goes up in the stands and sends the crowd fleeing. He then appears to try to enter the tecnico locker room, but changes his mind and goes towards the rudo locker room. Bruiser Brody vs. Franklin Washington (1986) Another poor sap gets destroyed by Bruiser Brody. As Chicky remarks that Brody's orders are to destroy whoever he comes across, Brody attacks Washington outside of the ring by choking him with a camera cable. Chicky: 'This man is a very important man in my organization. The Sports Club is honored to have this man among its ranks." Brody wins and attacks his opponent post match. Bruiser Brody vs. Maelo Huertas (1986) Another match for Brody, this time against Maelo Huertas (Inavder 1's brother). Chicky insults Maelo on comemntary, calling him a 'guajino' and saying that he should have been born 100% pig. Chicky: "All of the hate I feel for those damn Invaders and Invader 1's brother has been transferred to Bruiser Brody. He'll first finish off that pig Maelo Huertas and then those two damn Invaders that are left." Maelo's trying but his blows aren't having much of an effect. Padin: "It's like hitting a wall with the lack of effect those blows are having." As Chicky continues saying that Brody can't be beaten, Brody chucks Maelo outside of the ring and into the steel post. Chicky: "Poor little pig doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. When this match is over all that will be left is a couple of pounds of pig meat." Maelo's busted open and Brody continues the assault. Chicky: "This guajino's wrestling career is ending tonight." Brody continues the savage assault as Chicky claps on from the commentary table. Brody lifts Maelo up from a pinfall to continue administering punishment. At this point, Invader 1 has had enough and jumps in to attack Brody and save his brother. They fight outside of the ring and a chair gets involved. Invader accidentally takes out the ref and Brody decks Invader. Brody then goes to the top and jumps off with a knee on Maelo. Invader once again gets in the ring but Brody leaves. Invader gives chase and sends Brody back to the locker room. He then goes back to the ring and attends to his brother who is badly hurt. The stretcher eventually arrives and Maelo is carried out. Because of this attack on Maelo, Invader 1 would sign a match against Bruiser Brody for June 15. But again, there would be other grudge matches on the card.

Going into May of 1986, the Universal title was vacant due to Carlos being blinded by Abdullah. A decision on what would be done to fill the vacancy would be made a couple of months later. Chicky, as one would expect from him, would boast and make fun of Carlos' situation. In the meantime, the feud between the Starrs and the Invaders would continue. On a match held on May 2nd for TV, Invader 1 and Chicky Starr faced each other once again. It was a match where Invader had the advatage. However, late in the match, Chicky took advantage of the referee being tied up with Invader and took out a foreign object from his tights. When Invader made his way towards Chicky he was met with a foreign object assisted heart punch. This knocked Invader down and got Chicky the pinfall win . On May 4th, Invader 3 would once again regain the Junior Heavyweight title from Chicky Starr. It is around this time that the famous scaffold match took place. Invader #3 vs. Chicky Starr - Scaffold Match (1986) Also, the held up North American titles would be contested by both teams in a match held on June 2nd. The Starr Cousins would win the NA Tag titles once more that night. It was also around this time that the feud between Chicky and Invader 1, raging since the start of the year, would be put a bit on the backburner, with them jawing at each other but not directly tangling. Instead, the Starr Cousins would get invoved in the tag scene against other opponents. Chicky would also start doing match commentary on the tv shows. Meanwhile, Invader 1 would find himself tangling with someone Chicky brought in as part of his Sports Club. A man who had made quite the mark two years prior. But while all this was happening, some good news would be announced. Carlos Colon's eyesight had come back! And even though he was not yet at 100%, and against the doctor's recommendation, he wanted to get his hands on Abdullah the Butcher. The match would be signed for June 15th. Six weeks after the attack with the ammonia, Carlos would get his chance at Abdullah at a card dubbed "Venganza al Atardecer" ("Vengeance in the Afternoon"). The match wolld have the stipulation that their would be no return match after this encounter. The grudge match to end all grudge matches was signed. "Vengeance in the Afternoon", held at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, would end up as one of the biggest cards in Capitol Sports history. Apparently, it holds the WWC record for largest attendance for a singles match main event (the record overall is for a tag match main event between Carlos & Abdullah vs. Hansen & Brody from 1984). In addition to the record setting crowd, the card was also transmitted via closed circuit to Roberto Clemente Colisuem (which is right next door to Hiram Bithorn Stadium, they are part of the same complex). Besides the main event of Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher, other grudge matches were signed for the card. One of them involved Invader 1 and the man hinted at earlier, Bruiser Brody.

For some reason I thought that he had been gone for a few months, sorry. No worries, WWC hasn't really run that many shows in the past couple of months and he's only appeared in some of them. That can easily be confused for him not being around.

Yeah, Slaughter was in the AWA in the first half of 1990. He was captain of one of the teams in the Team Challenge Series. The reason Slaughter stood out was that I thought that the list was compiled by looking at the top cards of the year (PPVs, SNME, Clashes, etc.) and Slaughter was a team captain at the Survivor Series. I already voted for the best roster, I'm still waiting to hear the second part before voting for best booking. I'll provide some feedback here after listening. I'll give that card with the "leftovers" a go. I'll follow the same roster rules you guys had. One question, it's only wrestlers that were active in 90 and could realistically have worked for a company in the States, right? I'll post a roster here before doing the booking just to make sure it's ok by the rules set forth.

Andy Leavine actually wrestled this past Saturday for WWC, so he's still wrestling for Carlos.

Heard the first part and enjoyed it immensely. My brother and I used to do this sort of thing to create Survivor Series style cards. We'd end up with some really odd teams and matchups. This hit that nostalgic sweet spot for me. I can relate with Parv's frustration at having a plan and then quickly finding out that it's not going as you envisioned. I await the grand plan for Team Lard. I do have one complaint. I did not see the draft pool list before listening and I kept waiting for someone to be picked. Round after round with no mention of him and then I realized you guys did not have him in the pool. How could you guys forget Sgt. Slaughter? You gave Ranger Ross some love but not the Sarge. For shame. And poor Kamala! I might just book a card with some of the neglected wrestlers not included in the draft just to get Kamala some work. I'll listen to part two tomorrow. Some interesting rosters for all four of you. Without knowing the booking yet, the potential Savage/Funk match is in the lead as my favorite so far. Of course, it'll depend on what you guys came up with. Great show!

That's actually a fantastic point in Bret's favor I've never thought of before. Also, while I'm not a huge fan of the match, he had the Ironman with Owen which is pretty well regarded and the Kid title defense from RAW within a few days of each other too. So Bret probably does have stretches like that too. Great wrestler. The Backlund Superstars match that you like is sandwiched in-between those two matches also. One additional detail to these two days (and someone correct me if I am confusing this with some other occasion) is that Bret injured his ankle in the match against Backlund and worked KOTR injured.

In terms of WWC's decline, there are a few factors to consider. Two of them had the effect of affecting the potential talent pool from which they could bring wrestlers. These are Brody's death and the end of the territories. The end of the territories whittled down the places WWC could bring talent from. The fallout from Brody's death turned off some fans and also poisoned the well in terms of wrestlers who had not come down here before being willing to come. You still had guys like Ron Garvin, JYD, Rip Rogers, Steve Strong, Ivan Koloff and Kerry Von Erich coming to PR in late 88-89 and that's without mentioning the many wrestlers who had been in PR before and still came back post Brody. Crowds would dip slightly in the immediate aftermath but recover fairly quickly. Still, the one factor that a lot of locals say weighs a lot in the decline (and one I agree with) is the absolute refusal of WWC to phase out Carlos and Invader from being the top dogs once the 90's started and giving the new generation of local wrestlers the chance to establish themselves. It is this situation that led to half the company jumping to the newly formed All Star Wrestling at the end of 91 and put WWC in such a bind that they resorted to running a Carlos vs. Invader feud to keep the company afloat. In 92, All Star was actually drawing better crowds than WWC for most cards until WWC went with Carlos vs. Invader. Even with that, the economical situation was so bad in 93 that both companies went under (although WWC was able to reincorporate themselves quickly and continue).

Really good show. Really fun hearing the different viewpoints on the candidates. I do have to say, and it's a talking point I've heard many times before, but the talking point of Puerto Rico as a territory being killed off because of what happened with Brody and because of Invader being pushed tends to be overstated. It's part of the equation to some extent, but it's not the be all reason it's presented as. I do have a question, and it's based on something Bix wanted to ask. Based on the Pedro Morales discussion, what would be your take on Miguel Perez?

Last I know of the mixed tag was the latest match completed. They then went to intermission. Still to come is Bronco vs. Savio, Rey Fenix vs. Super Fenix and Sting vs. Carlito. Plus, they usually have an in ring ceremony honoring the person they are dedicating Aniversario to (Pedro Morales in this case).

Yes, Chaparro is replacing Barrabas. On today's show Chaparro was bragging about all of the Universal title holders he has managed before and that he was the one that started Damien Sandow on his road to success.

Just a heads up in case anyone is interested. Tonight is the Aniversario 40 show. It will be available as an iPPV through http://www.wwclive.com. This year's Aniversario is being dedicated to Pedro Morales. The card is as follows: MAIN EVENT (Note: This match will not be transmitted through the iPPV) "The Icon" STING VS "El Autoproclamado Ícono Puertorriqueño" CARLITO MASK VS MASK WITH Orlando 'Pretty Boy' Toledo AS SPECIAL REFEREE EL REY FENIX VS EL SUPER FENIX MIXED TAG MATCH OF RESPECT AND CARLOS COLON'S FINAL EVER MATCH "El Eterno Acróbata de Puerto Rico" CARLOS COLON & STACY COLON vs. "The Puertorican Dream" EL INVADER #1 & LA TIGRESA. UNIVERSAL TITLE "El León" APOLO vs. "The Academy" CHRIS ANGEL © managed by José Chaparro PUERTO RICO TITLE "El Boricua Mayor" SAVIO VEGA vs. "El Macho Dominicano de 7 Suelas" EL BRONCO #1 ©. TRIPLE THREAT FOR THE WORLD TAG TITLES "La Artillería Pesada" THUNDER & LIGHTNING vs. "La Zona 101" CHICANO & ABBAD vs. SONS OF SAMOA ©. WORLD JR TITLE RIKOCHET © vs. "Mr. San Juan" TOMMY DIABLO THE FEUD CONTINUES "The Tough Man" ANDY LEAVINE VS "La Pesadilla Negra" SAMSON WALKER 4 vs 4 "La Promesa" JAY VELEZ, ZION RT1,"El Alma Perdida" XIX XAVANT & SR.C VS "El Principe de las Tinieblas" EL DIABOLICO, SLAYER ANDREW, AJ & "The Trouble Maker" STEVE JOEL AND MUCH!!!!!...MUCH MORE!!!!! Honestly, outside of Sting's appearance (and his match won't be transmitted through the iPPV) and the Pedro Morales dedication, I find it to be underwhelming for an Aniversario card. They're basically running slightly different permutations of the matches we've had in the past few months.

One name I forgot to add and may be the definition of a journeyman is Matt Borne.

When I hear journeyman I think of someone who's been a few places, sometimes could be a more featured guy but not the main man and fulfilled to the best of their abilities their assigned role. I'll toss out a few names that might help define the criteria of journeyman for this: Eddie Gilbert Eric Embry Dutch Mantel Barry Horowitz Rick Martel My take is that Martel is too successful and high profile for this type of hall. The question is, at what point would someone be either too high profile, successful or not too well travelled for the this type of hall? Conversely, would a Barry Horowitz or other JTTS (or even jobber) be too low on the totem pole to qualify? Just a few names to get the conversation started.

Great show! Nice to hear someone being positive on Carlos Colon. The Journeyman Hall of Fame idea is awesome. What exactly is the definition for the Journeyman in this case? Are you taking nominations?