Puerto Rico Wrestling

[El Boricua]

When El Mundo closed for good around 90-91, the University of Puerto Rico acquired the newspaper archives. They currently own and are the custodians of that historical archive. Last I heard, they were in the process of digitizing the El Mundo archives for their library system. There is some of that work available in the digital library portal of the University of Puerto Rico, but it is not a lot and the focus is more on the photographs and articles. The most likely place to check would be the Rio Piedras campus library, they may have microfiches of the newspaper there. One thing though, a lot of Latin American countries have had a newspaper called El Mundo, it'd be best to make sure to verify which country's El Mundo an archive may refer to. I have a suspicion that the one in Florida might be the Cuban El Mundo.

[sek69]

So now they seem to be doing a heel gimmick now for the ref with the ponytail. This week's TV featured Ray Gonzales winning the title back from TNT, complete with both guys bleeding from forks, heel ref ignoring cheating, babyface ref dropkicking the heel, both refs getting in a brawl, and an angle afterward where TNT seemingly broke the face ref's hand. It was like Memphis and TNA had a weird baby.

[El Boricua]

That match had the stipulation of TNT selecting the referee for the title bout. He selected Angel Fashion (the ref with the ponytail). That's why he was turning a blind eye to TNT's shenanigans. TNT basically did an Abdullah the Butcher tribute with that fork. Of course, face ref Pelayito Vazquez got involved and it led to Ray Gonzalez winning the Universal title once more.

 

It's been an interesting month or so in WWC. TNT turned heel and aligned himself with Invader. Carlito's turned face and is now defending his family's honor against Invader, TNT and their goons. After more than 20 years, Miguel Perez made a surprise return to WWC and aligned with Ray and Carlito. Slash Venom made his return to Puerto Rico this past weekend. Right now they're building to a match between Carlito and Invader where Carlito's hair will be on the line.

[Matt Farmer]

When El Mundo closed for good around 90-91, the University of Puerto Rico acquired the newspaper archives. They currently own and are the custodians of that historical archive. Last I heard, they were in the process of digitizing the El Mundo archives for their library system. There is some of that work available in the digital library portal of the University of Puerto Rico, but it is not a lot and the focus is more on the photographs and articles. The most likely place to check would be the Rio Piedras campus library, they may have microfiches of the newspaper there. One thing though, a lot of Latin American countries have had a newspaper called El Mundo, it'd be best to make sure to verify which country's El Mundo an archive may refer to. I have a suspicion that the one in Florida might be the Cuban El Mundo.

Yes it was Puerto Rico El Mundo. I'vee seen many clippings for upcoming events in them.

[El Boricua]

 

When El Mundo closed for good around 90-91, the University of Puerto Rico acquired the newspaper archives. They currently own and are the custodians of that historical archive. Last I heard, they were in the process of digitizing the El Mundo archives for their library system. There is some of that work available in the digital library portal of the University of Puerto Rico, but it is not a lot and the focus is more on the photographs and articles. The most likely place to check would be the Rio Piedras campus library, they may have microfiches of the newspaper there. One thing though, a lot of Latin American countries have had a newspaper called El Mundo, it'd be best to make sure to verify which country's El Mundo an archive may refer to. I have a suspicion that the one in Florida might be the Cuban El Mundo.

Yes it was Puerto Rico El Mundo. I'vee seen many clippings for upcoming events in them.

Awesome, good to know. I'm pretty sure that the UPRRP library must have the El Mundo microfiche. Another newspaper that had card ads was El Vocero.

[Matt Farmer]

I've done a little digging to see if there are any archives on line, but have not found anything yet. A few years back google had a good amount of papers in their system but the stopped for budget reasons.

 

Some state libraries will carry international or national papers on microfilm.

[sek69]

Dave mentioned in the latest newsletter that buying the WWC tapes was in fact part of the deal with Carlos going in the HOF. He made a comment on how that should tell you the shape of the company since they were at death's door a few years back and didn't sell. Seemed like an odd statement considering crowds looked to be way up from when I started watching regularly a few years ago, which should have meant increased profits for them.

[Edwin]

Vince acquired the mess that is the WWC tape library? I actually don't think they own or have that much archived. The fans who upload stuff on YouTube probably own more WWC footage than WWC does.

[goc]

But then they can just take that stuff off of Youtube, put it on the Network and claim ownership of it like they did for that Bret vs Andre match on Bret's latest DVD set.

[El Boricua]

I'm thinking that it could just be that Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica are getting up there in age and are considering cashing in while they still can. Honestly, I'd rather have whatever the hell is actually in the library preserved somewhere safe than letting it rot away completely and maybe be lost to some natural disaster (supposedly one of the hurricanes damaged part of their library many years ago) or neglect. Although if the library were a complete mess and didn't have much in it, I don't think WWE would buy it since it's usefulness to them would be limited. I've suspected for a while that there might be more in the library than they've let on in the past. I guess time will tell.

 

I'm hoping they'll look into he All Star and IWA libraries too, those had a few recognizable WWE guys pass through. Anything that ensures these videos end up taken care of, preserved and maybe released at some point in the future is much better than the current state of letting them rot away. Some people might say that it likely means that we won't see any of these footage, but then again, that's basically where we are right now anyway.

[Edwin]

I'm guessing the story of the tape library being damaged is true. I think the majority of it is lost, because they put out a WWC Aniversario DVD a couple of years ago with footage from the old WWC video releases which they purchased online. I know because the entire thing happened on the old WWC forum. Had they had more footage, I know the DVD set would've had a different set of matches.

 

Does WWC also own the All Star and IWA tape libraries? I'm not sure about that.

 

IWA had matches with a lot of top WWE guys like the Rock, Kane, X-Pac, Edge & Christian, Gangrel, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Hardcore Holly, etc.

 

If I recall correctly, the Rock worked a tag team match teaming with someone local against the New Age Outlaws.

 

I know Kane teamed with X-Pac and they fought the Hardy Boyz.

 

Also Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho fought back to back during a weekend with one of the matches being a tag team match with Jericho teaming with Miguel Perez and Benoit teaming with Huracan Castillo which never aired on TV and the other day they fought each other in a short singles match which did air on TV. Miguel Perez also fought Hardcore Holly in a hardcore match on the same show that featured the Benoit and Jericho singles match.

 

There's also the AWF tape library from the 90's. I remember AWF was smaller than WWC, yet they put on shows with WWE wrestlers including the Undertaker. I remember they were building up a huge show leading to a blow off feud they had set up between the Undertaker and Fidel Sierra in a casket match and Savio Vega vs. El Bronco in a double title match, but the show feel through and they ended up doing a smaller show in the garaje in someone's house with 2 small handheld video cameras with the Savio and Bronco match happening being the main event final match of their final show.

[El Boricua]

The hurricane story is something I heard third hand from people who supposedly knew somebody who asked Carlos Colon about it at one of the house shows many years ago. Carlos may have said that just to get the person to stop asking questions. The most common impression among fans is that they have either lost most/part of their library and/or have the tapes but they are damaged from humidity and can't really be used unless cleaned/restored. To what extent this is true I really don't know.

 

I've had my suspicions that they may have more tapes than they've let on and in better condition than some of the dire accounts have them be, but it's probable they don't have the interest or resources in getting them into workable shape for DVD releases or are afraid to use the tapes they have for fear of wear and tear or breakage.

 

The fact that WWE is considering purchasing it may indicate that it's in better shape than previously believed. I would assume that they must have had someone check the library's condition before agreeing to any purchase (I don't know if this is something they have done with other libraries but it strikes me as the sensible thing to do).

 

I don't believe WWC owns the AWF (All Star) or the IWA libraries. Those, along with WWA (the one from the mid-90's that Undertaker made appearances for), would be interesting because they did feature known WWF guys making appearances for them. For AWF, I remember that Davey Boy Smith and Jake Roberts made appearances for them. IWA had numerous WWF guys appear (as mentioned by Grizzlyedwin). I believe the first ever match between Eddie Guerrero and Super Crazy took place in IWA.

 

I don't know who owns these libraries, but I'd suspect Savio Vega would know about this (he was involved in all three of these companies). I'm certain that Savio and/or Miguel Perez must have access to the IWA stuff, WWC aired mostly IWA footage in the hype video they aired for Slash Venom's return this past week.

[shakla]

If you go here: http://news.google.com/newspapers you can search through the google newspaper archive, although they aren't adding anything.

 

I'm not finding El Mundo in the library databases I have access to, but perhaps there are other Puerto Rico newspapers with match listings. I'll keep it in mind.

[Matt Farmer]

Yea Google hasn't added anything for a few years when they gave up on the idea (it was extremely expensive) to do the database.

 

I'm surprised there aren't a couple publicly known historians that have kept track of Puerto Rican results over the years. I know the poster bunkhouse used to have access to a library in Florida that carried El Mundo on microfilm, and I know they had film dating back to the late 60's.

[Matt Farmer]

As mentioned previously, Abdullah the Butcher had been the scourge of Carlos Colon's existence for over six years. But in 1984, two new wrestlers entered WWC and left a wake of destruction. These men were Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen. Each of them was a handful individually, but together they were nightmare for El Ejercito de la Justicia.

 

Brody and Hansen would injure a few of the wrestlers and that includes Carlos. Supposedly one of the Hansen vs. Colon matches ended when the ringside doctor jumped into the ring and covered Colon's body to stop the carnage.The doctor then proceeded to stitch Carlos up right there.

 

Faced with this unstoppable duo, Carlos did the unthinkable. He went to the one man who could stand toe to toe with Hansen and Brody in terms of violence and destruction. Carlos turned to Abdullah the Butcher, his blood enemy and rival. The angle that set up the team up is the intro in the following link.

 

Carlos Colon/Abdullah the Butcher vs. Bruiser Brody/Stan Hansen - Lumberjack Match Fall 84

 

 

The prevailing story for the initial team up was could Abdullah be trusted. Carlos had faced both men in singles and tag matches that year with no luck in driving them out of WWC and resorted to going to Abdullah for help. To say this was a surprising development to the local fans would be an understatement. The two teams faced each other three times: A regular tag match that ended in a double DQ (at Aniversario 84), a lumberjack match that did not work in containing the two teams in the ring (see the link just above this paragraph) and finally a cage match contested in a 15 foot high ‘supercage’.

 

Carlos won the supercage match for his team by escaping the cage, but this left Abdullah alone in the ring with Hansen and Brody and he took quite a beating from them. Carlos eventually was able to get back in and make the save, but Abdullah was not happy at all and attacked him. Sometime later, Carlos tried to smooth things over with Abdullah and it appeared to have worked.

 

We move forward a year to 1985. Carlos had spent a good deal of 1985 feuding with Dory Funk Jr. over the Universal title. Dory defeated Carlos for the title on Feb. 27 in a rare instance of the Universal title being defended (and lost!) outside of Puerto Rico. Carlos and Dory would battle in singles matches and tag matches and the title would be held up after a match on May 18. The feud was so heated that even Dory’s wife got involved.

 

Carlos Colón & Fabulous Moolah vs. Dory & Marti Funk

 

 

The mixed tag match was a couple of weeks before the reamtch for the held up Universal title. Carlos would eventually regain the Universal title from Dory on June 15 in a ‘supercage’ match. Still, that didn’t stop them from facing each other in other matches afterwards. One of these matches saw Carlos team up once again with Abdullah. Now, Abdullah was no stranger to Dory, they had faced off previously in PR.

 

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Dory Funk Jr.

 

 

So on July 9, a tag match pitting Carlos and Abdullah vs. Dory and Ric Flair took place. For now. only watch up to the 1:10 mark in the following video.

 

Ric Flair & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Carlos Colón & Abdullah The Butcher (highlights)

 

 

As Carlos tried to tag out, Abdullah kept refusing the tag. Eventually, Abdullah would storm off and leave Carlos by himself. The fall out of this betrayal led to Aniversario 85, where Carlos and Abdullah squared off for the Universal title.

 

Carlos Colón vs. Abdullah the Butcher - 9/21/85

 

 

Abdullah is accompanied by JJ Dillon. The announcers note that Commissioner Castillo is at ringside for this match. After some technical difficulties with the entrance music, Carlos Colon enters to We Are The World. Skipping to the end, the referee takes a fall to the outside and is knocked out. A second referee comes in as Carlos and Abdullah start fighting outside of the ring. The new referee counts both men out. As Carlos and Abdullah fight off in the crowd, Commissioner Castillo decides to declare the match a no contest and hold up the title because of the original referee being incapacitated during the match.

 

With the Universal title held up, a rematch was signed for Oct. 19. The card was dubbed ‘La Batalla de Gladiadores’ (The Battle of the Gladiators). Carlos regained the belt that night and would close out the year facing off against Hercules Hernandez and teaming up with other wrestlers to take on the Sheepherders (we’ll get to them soon).

 

Still, Abdullah would not go away. Carlos would end up facing Abdullah on the Three King’s Day card to open 1986. I think that the following match may be from that date.

 

Abdullah The Butcher vs. Carlos Colón -1/6/86 (?)

 

 

The date on the link is incorrect since this match is for the Universal title and (for reasons we'll get into shortly) that's not possible because the title was vacant in July. This is the usual brawling affair between these two. The match ends with some confusion, as Abdullah gets the pin but the decision is overturned by the original referee.

 

Even though Carlos retained the title that day, it would not be that long before they crossed paths yet again. In fact, it would be a month later. This time though, it wasn’t just Carlos and Abdullah who would be involved.

Was looking at a couple items. The above Dory & Flair vs Colon & Abby match is listed on July 9, 1985, but I don't think that's correct (I may be wrong) but that is a Tuesday, and Hiram Bithorn was usually on Saturdays.

 

Did they run any cards at Hiram Bithorn during the week?

[El Boricua]

They typically didn't run cards at Hiram Bithorn during the week unless it was a special holiday card (ex. Thanksgiving, Three Kings Day). I got the date from the comment section and... wait, was it you that posted the original date (it's someone with the user name mfarmer99)? Well, I guess it's back to the drawing board for us. Could it have been possible that it was June 9 and not July 9? In Spanish the names are very similar (junio and julio). The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that the match must have been in the summer of 85 to set up the Aniversario 85 match between Carlos and Abdullah, and that it had to be during his feud with Dory.

[Matt Farmer]

Yes that was me lol, I can't remember where I got that date from either? I listened closely to the commentary but didn't hear, but my Spanish is limited. Flair usually worked more than one date for Carlos when he came in too.

[Edwin]

Here's a must watch clip I posted on DVDVR:

Forgot to post this. This is a MUST watch video for any wrestling fan. WWC had a working relationship with Promo Azteca and many Mexican wrestlers came over to work for WWC with Konnan and Pierroth being mainstays and Konnan being a huge fan favorite. Here's a video where Konnan calls out Carlos Colon and Stacy Colon, Carlos daughter and Eddie and Carlitos sister and Primo's cousin. Konnan brings out a mariachi and fakes he's going to ask Carlos for a chance with his daughter Stacy before Konnan attacks her with a guitar. This angle got Konnan so much heat, that fans evacuated the arena went to the back of the locker room to wait for Konnan to kill him. WWC needed to have members of the SWAT police team arrive at the arena and rapidly escort Konnan out of the arena because fans were literally going to kill him.

 

[pantherwagner]

Konnan told the story once about how after that angle he was backstage and apparently Stacey needed stitches. He then goes to see Carlos, who he assumes is going to be pissed off at him for scarring his pretty model daughter, but instaed he's got an ear to ear grin and tells him something like "that was money! what a great angle!", seemingly not worrying too much about his daughter's cut.

[goc]

Really love the heels celebrating it like it was the greatest thing ever, popping champagne in the locker room.

[Smack2k]

WOW...where did this go from here? That was CRAZY heat......you couldnt even do that angle on in the US without getting kicked off TV...

[sek69]

So it seems Invader I has left the promotion suddenly earlier this month, any word on what might have led to that?

[El Boricua]

So it seems Invader I has left the promotion suddenly earlier this month, any word on what might have led to that?

Not sure why he left, but he returned this weekend and is back to being a tecnico. He got attacked by El Bronco.

 

They appear to be building to a Ray Gonzalez vs. El Patron match for Aniversario 41.

[Loss]

About to dive into the 1990s stuff listed in this thread to see if I have anything e-book worthy on my hands. Can't wait!

[El Boricua]

Hope you enjoy it! if you need any context details, give a shout and I'll see if I can help (the downside of not having see this since it aired is you tend to forget or fudge details in your memory).