elliott

This starts off with both dudes going toe to toe. With Invader getting a quick advantage. WOW that slapping combo by Invader on Embry was nuts. Speaking of nuts, Embry takes over for a second so Invader kicks him right in the balls. You know normally what I’m digging about these Invader matches is his awesome selling but he’s great knocking the shit out of Embry early on and Embry is great at selling so this is really hitting the sweet spot for me. The brawl inside and outside the ring and back inside. Embry eventually takes over by tossing Invader out of the ring and hitting him with a chair. Crowd is super hot for this. They brawl outside the guardrail and into the crowd with Invader getting busted open. I gotta say I liked Embry on the Texas set a lot but he has been a revelation so far in Puerto Rico as a more vicious Tully Blanchard. He also invents ECW in this match by brawling through the crowd and piledriving Invader through a table. J Beatdown on Invader continues and we get what I this point I feel comfortable calling the typical great Invader selling. Only instead of awesome selling for a bum like Brody, Embry is bring a bunch of cool and good looking offense to the table (those Harley Race headbutts are great). As a life-long Barry Windham fan, I love the double knockdown as a momentum building transition spot and they do a great job with it here. Crowd really great for this match with a lot of kids in the audience and both guys just hitting everything perfectly. I fucking love this match holy shit. Embry hits an insane blade job. Before the set you’d hear Dylan & Goodhelmet talk a lot about Puerto Rico as Memphis and Goodhelemt told me it was more in the extras that the matches. Well this match feels like the sort of thing you’d see in Memphis. Its not as good as the best Lawler vs Dundee or Lawler vs Funk matches, but this shit would compare really well with the best Lawler vs Dutch Mantell matches for sure. Fantastic match. Even better than the one Embry had with Invader III earlier in the set.

Oh man Abby is an ominous motherfucker coming to the ring. I’m disappointed every time there’s a Colon entrance and We Are the World doesn’t play. WTF Carlos? This is a little more tentative to start than usual for these two. They don’t just start blasting each other from the very beginning. They’re more cautious this time. They know blood will be spilled. They finally lock up and Colon goes right for Abby’s eyes setting the tone and we go into a punch exchange finishing with Colon getting the better of deuling headbutts. Colon keeps going after Abby’s eyes, which is awesome. I mean Colon is a babyface and all, but Abby is all that is evil and would absolutely stab out Colon’s eye with a fork and eat it in front of him. So fuck it looks blind this motherfuker. Colon pulls out his own pencil and stabs Abby in the face with it and the crowd goes fucking insane. This is ultimate payback. I was just kidding about the fork in the eye thing earlier but this is motherfucking PENCIL IN THE EYE. Fuck me. Abby’s covered in blood and is just in a complete daze. He’s not selling pain so much as he looks like he’s gone into shock. Colon works over the cut so he’s basically punching and biting in the eye over and over. This is crazy. Colon is just beating the fuck out of Abby and Abby is selling it like a champ. There is blood all over one of the ringside cameras taking this whole spectacle to the next level. The ref got the pencil away so Colon continued to just destroy Abby before getting a chair and bashing Abby with it. ABBY WON’T FUCKING GO DOWN. He’s just taking ALL of this. Getting bashed in the face over and over again. Colon’s attack on the eye is as relentless as it is horrific. Despite all of this there are still moments where Abby tries to start to mount a comeback but Colon just cuts him off and continues to destroy him. A doctor comes in to check on Abby and does a terrible job by deeming Abby fit to continue to Colon continues to just kill him over and over again. The doctor comes back to check on Abby by seemingly poking him in the eyes several times. Some old dudes come in to check on Abby to see if he can continue. Colon continues to stop on him as Abby lays there helplessly. Finally the match is called off by the ref. Colon knocks the ref out and continues his beatdown of Abbdullah. This is totally completely bizarre. 22 minutes of Abdullah getting the absolute shit kicked out of him. People will hate this. I thought it was totally compelling in an utterly bizarre way.

LOL. Yikes. After this run of matches here’s Bruiser fucking Brody. Brody goes right after Invader but Invader is able to come back quickly. Jeez. This is awkward for reasons that have nothing to do with the match. Brody cuts off Invader pretty quickly and goes to the top rope and nails Invader with a chop. Big boot follows. Invader bails and they brawl on the outside for a while with Invader getting posted/slammed into the guardrail and hit with a chair. Invader is cut open and selling on the floor and honestly Invader’s selling as been some of the best stuff on this set so this is pretty damn good. Brody works over the cut with biting and boots. Invader is AWESOME at doing these rushing punch attacks while selling to start to build to his comeback. It’s a really cool spot. He kicks Brody in the balls and they go back to the outside and Invader gets some payback posting Brody and slamming him into the guardrail as well and Brody juices. These two have a pretty damn spectacular punch exchange with Invader getting the best of it with his jumping thrust thingy. Brody doesn’t know how to sell but he does a decent enough job selling in his own goofy way that Invader really does look like a badass going toe to toe with this much bigger man. This spills back to the outside and Invader gets more payback hitting Brody with a chair. This goes to a double countout with Invader chasing him to the back hittig Brody with a chair over and over again. This was pretty goddamn fun all things considered to the point where you might say Bruiser Brody’s best match was in Puerto Rico where he actually sold a little for Invader I.

Before getting the PR set, the only matches I’d ever seen from PR were this match and the Hansen vs Colon series. I loved this when I first saw it years ago so I’m excited to rewatch it. GODDAMN that scaffold is really high and it is ROCKING back and forth violently. This is incredibly intense because of the scaffold. Every little thing they do is enhanced. Their over the top selling is incredible. Stumbling around up their in a mask like Invader III is fucking nuts with the scaffold swaying like that. Invader III really just takes it too Chicky up there busting him wide open. OH FUCK INVADER’S DROPKICK AND CHICKY’S BUMP FROM IT! HOLY FUCK! This match is so stressful. Chicky is just covered in blood up there. Invader’s got the mask on. There’s no reason one of these dudes shouldn’t accidentally fall off of this thing that looks completely unstable anyway. THE SUPLEX. And then the body slam attempt/blocking of the bodyslam. That is some crazy crazy shit. These two are totally insane and I’ve never been more terrified watching a wrestling match. This took years off of my life. Million stars. Everyone should see this.

OH MAN look at these names. This is gonna be fun. Wild to start with all 6 men in the ring at once. Invader 1 just straight away kicks Chicky in the balls less than a minute in, which is great. Crowd is hot for this early on. This settles down with Ron Starr in the ring and all of the babyfaces taking a turn working him over until Colon punches him and Starr’s momentum leads him to his own corner and a HUGE pop when Chicky tags in to face Carlos. All the faces take a turn kicking Chicky’s ass for a while and this is just awesome stuff. Heels almost cut off babyfaces when Invader III charges face first into Ron Starr’s knee but Invader 1 runs into the ring and pulls him back to safety so the babyfaces can continue their onslaught. Ron Starr gets his butt kicked for a while before tagging out again to Chicky against Invader 1 to the delight of the crowd. He quickly tags out to Invader 3 who runs in and works over Chicky but he gets over excited and Chicky manages to turn the tables and tag out to Abby finally. This leads to an Invader III face in peril section where the heels dominate him and its very good stuff by all of the heels and Invader III selling and trying to fight back even whens he’s totally overmatched against Abdullah. He eventually manages to make his hot tag to Colon while Abby is in the ring so the crowd goes nuts. Colon and Abby go toe to toe while the Invaders take out the Starrs in the infield. Awesome stuff. Abby attacks Colon after the bell and Colon sells the shit out of it. This was loads of fun.

Embry’s head is taped up and announcers are talking about this as a No DQ match so I expect BLOOD. Little bit of schtick to start but RPM’s isolate and start working over Embry pretty quickly and bust him back open. Embry manages to tag out to Crusher who is somebody doing a Brody act. RPM’s continue to command the match early on. Heels take over with Crusher reversing a backbody drop with a huge knee to the face. Heel’s cheat behind refs back is fun. Embry’s selling the blood loss is great as are the announcers talking about it. Mike Davis plays Ricky Morton and is really good here. Long Davis in peril segment really but they keep it moving along well and Davis looks very good. Embry, god. These reviews are just going to be me saying how good Embry is over and over again I think. The longer this face in peril segment goes the better this match gets. Hot tag is a little disappointing considering the work leading up to it but its ok but the finish is GREAT and the fans go nuts. RPM’s have had an incredible night. 3 matches with each one better than the last. I really want to see this entire tournament. This looks like a hell of a night of wrestling and the announcing is fantastic.

Beginning shine by Invaders is great fun. As good as anything you’ll see from babyface teams of this time. The Starr’s are awesome bases for all of the Invader’s flashy stuff. When the Starr’s cut them off and work over Invader III, the cheating is really good. Hot tag to Invader I is great too. Man, I really want this entire commercial tape. All of these matches have been fun so far with this the best one yet and Hugo & Jaggers continue to be on fire. Putting over the psychology of the masks, calling the match, having enjoyable ridiculous banter in the vein of Jesse Ventura & Gorilla Monsoon. Hugo might be the best commentator outside of Lance Russell and Dave Brown. Cool surprise.

Similar to the last RPM’s match, but I enjoyed it more than the last. Zambuie Express actually look pretty damn good. I wouldn’t mind watching a series of matches between these two as this was real fun. Glad it made the set. And WOW what a pop the RPM’s got for winning. Holy shit.

Perfectly fine opening match on a good WCW Saturday Night from 1992. Forgettable match but fun to watch while you’re watching it if that makes sense. The Hugo Savinovich/Babby Jaggers banter is Monsoon/Raven level great and makes this overall a very enjoyable if still forgettable addition to the set.

These two seem to always have good matches. Abby works his ass off against Colon and Colon at this point is pretty obviously a really good babyface worker. This starts quick with both guys blasting each other and Colon getting the advantage so Abby immediately going for the fork but the ref taking it away. Abby’s gotta be on the short list of best facials in wrestling history. Really he may be wrestling best method actor ever in wrestling. Him or Lou Thesz. Abby goes after Colon’s eyes. I mean, I totally understand people not liking something like this. I used to hate Abdullah. He just didn’t appeal to me whatsoever. At some point, probably watching him in All Japan against the Funks, Abby just clicked and now I really like him. I wouldn’t buy a 40 disc Abby comp, but I really like him and these Colon matches have ALL being really good I think with this being the best one. I would compare this feud favorably to Misawa vs Kobashi because these matches seem to get progressively better instead of progressively worse like Misawa vs Kobashi (I think I'm kidding but even I can't tell anymore)

LeDuc is always someone I’ve been interested in learning more about. LeDuc eats the barbed wire right away with Colon on fire hitting his awesome jumping headbutts and punching Leduc. Leduc keeps stumbling into the ropes as he normally would get “accidentally” hitting the wire. Great stuff there. LeDuc’s busted open right away. LeDuc ends up getting in control and in a HORRIFYING moment wraps the barbed wire around Colon’s mouth. FUCK. That’s intense. I’ll take a moment to look away from this shit and say how interesting the English announcing is. I REALLY like Hugo Savinovich in the Jim Ross/Gorilla Monsoon/Tony Schiavone role. LOVE him. He might be a top 10 announcer and better than a couple of those guys. Bobby Jaggers goes back and forth between being incredibly offensive to remarkably insightful. Colon ends up winning this a match that I had to look away in sheer disgust from a couple of times. This one was pretty fucking gross with Colon spitting huge amounts of blood out of his mouth.

Oh man these two are fucking nailing each other to start Invader with punches and Kamala with the overhand chop. Invader gets busted open early but keeps firing back and fights back with eye raking. But Kamala just kills him with headbutts. This is fucking awesome. Kamala is busted open bleeding all over the place desperately throwing right hands and trying to fight back while stumbling around as Kamala just continues to chop him into oblivion. Eventually the ref stops the match because Invader 1 lost possibly all of the blood in his body. This was a super fun just brutal beat down. Loved it. This match flowed right into the next match isn't listed on the disc or match listings and I assume wasn't meant to go on. But lets review it ayway Al Perez vs Abdullah the Butcher Mystery Match Starts with both guys brawling outside the ring on the baseball field. Al perez is dressed like a Rocker. Weird. Abby immediately goes to the fork. Oh god Bobby Jaggers on commentary just told us this is called “Bloodies of the Bloody Matches” so I’m sure this is going to be bad after that last Invader blade job. Abby throws powder in his eyes and gets dq’d but continues the beatdown post match. Eventually Abby finishes kicking his ass and Perez saves face by being held back by 2 refs when Abby has walked off. Blade job not as bad as Invader’s. Not even the same ball park.. Abby eventually does come back out with a 2x4 and wacks Perez in the face with it really fucking hard. This was forgettable.

Starts off wild with everyone brawling in the ring. Miguel Perez is just killing dudes to start. Jesus. Colon throws a great punch, but Perez really might just be hitting the Herders in the face and head as hard as he can early on. Fuck. This settles down and its Perez in peril. It’s perfectly soild stuff. Herders aren’t going to make you forget the Midnight Express but they’re perfectly solid (and probably underrated actually) at the sort of classic southern tag work in this match. Perez isn’t going to make you forget about Ricky Morton but I’ve got high hopes for the eventual hot tag to Colon. And it was awesome indeed. Fire, energy all that stuff with some great punches, headbutts, and a dropkick before going for his figure 4. Work towards the finish is fun with everyone in and out of the ring. Good stuff!

Eric Embry!! MR PILEDRIVER! YESSSSSS! That is quite the shirt Embry is rocking. The 80s were a dark time for basically every aspect of life except for wrestling. Stalling by Embry to start is really fun getting the crowd pissed off and throwing shit in the ring. Embry is really fun early on refusing to tie up and getting drop kicked out of the ring and tied up when he actually does. Just classic shit eating heel stuff. Embry’s work makes the simplest things like hammerlocks and shoulder blocks. Invader III is awesome as a babyface in this as well. As a US wrestling comparison this reminds me of something like Ricky Morton vs Tully Blanchard. Embry’s selling of the wishbone spot is awesome and I love Invader’s headbutts to the stomach too. This has really turned into a terrific match. Invader going back to the leg down the stretch is great as is Embry’s selling of it throughout the match. Ending stretch with all the near falls and submissions is awesome and super heated and builds to that incredible dive. I know this is clipped, but I don’t think we missed that much and I think it was a great match. Maybe the best match on the set up to this point.

Chicky Starr looks ridiculous. Like a combination of Magnum TA and Roger Dorn. Pre match promo and Invader sounds mad. Match starts with Invader bleeding on the ground which I would not have expected. Crowd is super hot for this. Invader is great just selling the shit out of Chicky’s punches and repeated postings. He’s completely punch-drunk stumbling around bleeding all over the place. He reminds me a lot of Sangre Chicana with the way he’s selling and that’s basically as big a compliment I could give a wrestler. Chicky is just dominating Invader. I guess I was under the impression that Chicky was more of a manager type so I’m kinda surprised he’s just beating the fuck out of Invader 1 like this. So would it be fair to say Chicky is more of a Roddy Piper or Michael Hayes type than a Bobby Heenan? I really can’t get over how great Invader’s selling is in this. Invader starts to make a comeback throwing these awesome punches and chops and the crowd goes absolutely nuts when he finally really fires up but Chicky eventually just bails for the countout. Man this felt like the beginning of a classic match. As it was I fucking loved this. Invader’s selling is out of control great.

This starts with all 4 guys in the ring just beating the shit out of each other. Rolling around on the mat and slugging each other in the face. Great start. This feels like it has more energy than the earlier barbed wire match right from the start. Both teams take turns beating the crap out of each other. This is a really just a wild brawl that is reminiscent of the best Moondogs vs Fabs matches from Memphis with one of the Pastores (I think Luke Williams) getting absolutely destroyed and the match getting stopped while Colon & Invader continue to beat on him. This was terrific while it lasted. Really great spectacle. The scene where they’re shoving the Sheepherder in the ambulance with all the fans standing around is really crazy.

I love Dusty so I was excited to see this on the match list. This starts with your typical dusty punching, dancing, and strutting around stuff. Audio is weird. It sounds like the commentators are announcing to the whole arena.–Ric takes over with an eye poke and we get some chops, the knee drop and cheating like pulling Dusty down by the hair while in an arm bar etc. Flair “works” the armbar by grabbing the ropes occasionally but not much else. Dusty fights back with the elbows and takes Flair out with a great lariat. Flair fights back from Dusty in control by targeting the leg with stomps and a kneedrop setting up the figure 4. Of course Dusty manages to fight back and reverse it. Dusty hits a great headbutt and goes right into some wonderful weeble wobble selling but maintains his balance and command of the match. Dusty even takes Flair apart with Flair’s own chops. The timing on Dusty’s punches is pretty incredible at points here. Flair ends up shoving the ref down so he can get DQ’d as Dusty continues to beat the shit out of him. I’m a big Dusty fan and its 80s Flair so this was fun but more of a decent match than anything else and I think Dusty outworked Flair in this pretty clearly.

Ayala really looks like Dr Death’s older, disappointing brother while Tim Brooks really does look like he’s probably killed and eaten at least one family at some point. This starts with them taking turns punching and kicking each other back and forth. Ok this is basically just them taking turns punching and kicking each other back and forth. Really nondescript and forgettable sort of match.

OH MY GOD! Carlos Colon comes out to We Are the World for his match against Abby. Million stars. Inifinity stars. I don’t even need to watch the match. Match stars with Carlos going right after Abby punching the crap out of him knocking him out of the ring. Carlos on fire early with punches kicks and the awesome jumping headbutts. Colon starts biting Abby’s ear like in their first match on the set. Colon hits a monkey flip on Abby which doesn’t look super great but its still a great spot. Colon keeps going after Abby’s ear with punching and biting. Abby manages to take back over and its your typical Abby offense. Throat chops and kicks and the like including standing on Colon which is always a great spot for a fat guy. Colon ends up blading so Abby works in more biting and headbutts before Colon works a comeback with his great punches leading to a kick to the balls. He goes back to Abby’s ear with punches and stomps. Abby eventually blades of course ad this turns into them taking turns just slugging the shit out of each other with punches and headbutts. Colon hits a double chop off the top and manages to suplex Abby before a ref bump takes out the referee. But even the shenanigans can’t slow Colon’s momentum as he keeps beating on Abby. Eventually they brawl outside the ring and end this with a double count out. I’m not sure how people feel about Abby these days but I’m really enjoying his work so far. This was perfectly enjoyable.

Expectations to high. OH wow the MUSIC. Holy shit what is this song? I love it. Sheepherders in the ring to start with people already throwing shit at them and this whole thing with the music, stuff flying in the ring, the barbed wire, the Herders in fatigues etc leading up to the Invaders being shown for the first time just makes a really compelling opening few moments of this segment. This starts off pretty much as you’d expect with both teams just trading shots and trying to throw each other into the wire. Invader 1 is the first guy to really taste the wire as he gets caught in between the ropes and the barbed wire and just gets destroyed. Herders continue to dish out the punishment in the form of punches and stomps. Invaders manage to come back using chops and slaps and star getting some payback by throwing the Heders into the wire and rubbing their faces in it cutting them up. Invaders take a turn beating the crap out of the Herders and it is pretty damn fun before they get cut back off briefly before taking this. I liked this and thought it was good but found it pretty disappointing after the amazing Youngbloods match right before. Still good though.

Pastores are the Sheepherders/Bushwackers. Lots of schtick early on with the Sheepherders refusing to get in the ring, wwalking around waving the flag. Crowd is super hot for all of the bullshit. Including awesome dueling flag saluting with the Sheeps saluting the NZ flag and the Youngbloods saluting a Puerto Rican flag to the delight of the crowd. Herders are disoriented from the crowd clapping rhythmically and have to stall some more. This is just pure beautiful bullshit early on with the crowd eating it up and it is so much fun. When it finally turns into a match it is really awesome. It is a classic southern style tag match that has a really out of control feel to it. You think “Sheepherders” and “Puerto Rico” and think blood. This is just classic tag wrestling from start to finish with the crowd eating it up and everyone playing their role perfectly. Excellent match. Best on the set so far.

Macho’s Promo is fucking awesome. “I’ve done so much in such a short period of time that I amaze myself.” I assume he’s talking about cocaine. “All the people have been writing letters saying lets have the world’s greatest athlete and world’s sexiest wrestler, yeah….sex…yeah.” Seriously. Macho Man was the best. This is cool because it’s a commercial tape where they talk about Macho being a great wrestler here before he went to WWF and he was a great baseball player but wanted to wrestle like his dad and brother. There’s a real charm to the English commentary. Lot of stalling and schtick from Macho Man leading to Ayala strength spots. The crowd is pretty damn hot and Macho is amazing so this is really enjoyable stalling. Savage sells going into his trucks for presumably brass knucks several times but doesn’t get them but the crowd screeches every time he does it. Savage is like a more dangerous Fuerza Guerrara in this match and it is awesome. Ayala doesn’t really do much in this at all outside of some basic strength spots and stomps and punches. Savage works within some obvious limitations to build a really fun match with a lot of schtick and selling from Savage and its just perfect. I mean there’s no reason this couldn’t have happened in Memphis. This is a good example next time somebody asks for an example of a “great performance” in a “good match.”

Bruiser Brody cuts a promo about how excited he is to be in Puerto Rico. Ugh. Do I really have to watch this? Brody refuses to put the chain on at first so Colon slams him and holds him down while two refs put the chain on Brody. At one point Colon stood on Brody’s hair to keep him down. Fun stuff actually. Colon stays in control choking Brody with the chain, punching, etc. They roll in and out of the ring with Brody trying to get away but the chain keeping them attached. Brody takes over by clotheslining Colon with the chain. Brody’s already bleeding. Brody eventually ends up wrapping the chain around Colon’s neck and eyes. They spill outside with Brody continuing to choke Colon. Colon fights back with punches and choking with the chain. More punching back and forth. Colon is a great puncher for sure. Colon ends up winning and the post match brawl with two people I don’t recognize has more heat than the entire match. Post match was actually really enjoyable with the crowd going nuts but the match itself was your typical Brody match. Utterly forgettable.

Andre never ceases to impress me just on sight alone and he just TOWERS over Abdullah. It is really striking. Andre’s selling of Abdullah’s strikes is REALLY impressive. Abby just kills Andre with headbutts. This really gives you an idea of how over/important Abby is in Puerto Rico if Andre is selling like this for him. I really enjoy the commentary with Hugo talking about how he used to managed Abby but he doesn’t want to talk about it. It was a different time and he’s a different person. And “I know know Andre was paid good money to come down to San Juan, Puerto Rico and hurt Andre.” Great stuff. Match is pretty much what you’d expect.

Another solid match worked from a headlock base to start. Pretty unspectacular stuff at first until Apollo starts cranking the headlock in and Landell is fucking awesome selling in by falling face first into the 2nd turnbuckle. There’s an intensity to the match from that point forward that really picks things up. Landell gets some payback working his own chinlock spot and its pretty fun with some basic heel manager misdirection stuff. This really starts to pick up but ends before it could get to another level.