Carlos Colon and The Invaders vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Chicky and Ron Starr (4/26/86)

[El Boricua]

Carlos Colon and The Invaders vs. Abdullah the Butcher, Chicky and Ron Starr (4/26/86)

[elliott]

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.

[KB8]

Man, this disc just keeps cranking out the hits. I thought this was an outstanding sprint and the second best match I've watched so far. The first half is a long babyface shine period and it was really excellent stuff. Invader I punts Chicky in the balls about thirty seconds in and every exchange between them makes me want to see that eventual blowoff even more. Ron Starr was on some Arn Anderson shit here, going from awesome stooging bump machine to stone cold killer after the heels take over. He hits a GREAT high knee, a bunch of suplex variations, a big running bulldog, viciously chokes Invader 3, and he and Chicky do the Beverly Brothers/World's Greatest Tag Team 'leapfrog onto opponent draped over the ropes' double team, which is never not a cool spot. Abby ruled yet again and I cannot believe how much fun he's been on this set. He just keeps getting better and better, doing something new in every match that I don't remember seeing him do before. This time he gets tangled up in the ropes Terry Funk style while Colon punches him, then later on he grabs Invader 3 by the mask and repeatedly headbutts him. He picks him up and body slams him onto the top rope, holding him in that position so Ron and Chicky can choke him and dig him in the ribs. Invader I's two-handed chop to the throat is such a good signature strike, the way he really springs forward and extends the elbows like he's trying to crush a guy's trachea. I liked how it was teased early that he'd end up being worked over, only for III to immediately rush over and drag him back to the babyface corner to make the tag. Crowd comes unglued for Colon's hot tag, and I like how ultimately it came down to him and Abby duking it out in the ring while the Invaders and Starrs brawled almost all the way into the dugout. Post-match Abdullah must've thrown a kilo of salt into Colon's eyes and I love how the ref' sold like he got caught in the crossfire. This is really my kind of wrestling.

[WingedEagle]

I love Hiram Birthorn Stadium. Such a phenomenal setting for wrestling. Babyfaces entering from the dugout with robes on is some great imagery. It immediately kicks off as a 6-way brawl featuring a great bump from Ron Starr on a kick low. Then its Chicky's turn to bump around for the faces until raking the eyes and we settle into a traditional tag. Barely any heat before Colon is in on a hot tag, and then Invader 1 is in to work on Ron. Chicky throws a nice low blow to cut him off and bring in Abby for the power game and choking. Now the heels are working some awesome, rapid tags. Great spots where Abby stretches #3 over the top rope while setting him up for the Starrs to unload with punches while the ref holds back the babyfaces.

 

Basic, clean babyface & heel psychology. Put that together with selling & violence and you have a great match. The only reason I don't rate this higher is because like most matches on this disc it was rather short. But great fun while it lasted.

 

***1/2

[Migs]

I liked the energy on this. A lot of fun. Liked Abby coming in for brief spurts. Good brawl all the way through, and a clean finish.

 

***1/4

[dawho5]

Opening was great with the highlight being Invader 1 punting Chicky in the balls because, well he's Invader 1. I really liked the shine because both Ron and Chicky are so great at stooging and the guys they are in with have good enough offense to make me believe it. Ron is such a damn beast when he's on offense. I am always impressed by how he can bust out really impactful offense in different ways, sometimes right after a ridiculously good few minutes spent stooging for the babyfaces. Abby grabbing Invader 3's mask during the heat is so awesome. Abby seems really motivated in this match overall really. Finish is all kinds of brawly fun, but a little fast for my tastes. Colon's clothesline comes after what offense on Abby exactly? I know from conversations with Boricua that at one point in 86 Abby blinds Colon. I heard the announcers mention ammonia and I wonder if this might be the blinding.

[El Boricua]

Yes, the attack post match was what blinded Colon leading to the Universal title being vacated and fears that Colon would be blind for life (and obviously that his career was over). Colon would recover and came back to face Abdullah at the Venganza al Atardecer card. This also is what setup the Universal title tournament for Aniversario 86.

[dawho5]

Yeah and that's why the next Abby-Colon match has Colon basically trying to blind Abby with his bare hands.