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[2000-01-06-WWC] Carly Colon vs Ray Gonzalez


Loss

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Very good vet vs young guy match. I am not sure how established Carlito was at this point, but this is classic, old-style build of an established guy getting over a young guy. The first half of the match is more old school than anything we've seen so far in 2000 -- it looks like it just as easily could have happened in 1980, and I don't say that as an insult. It actually makes the style much more distinct. Carlito doing the flying headscissors was the first time that any move was done that probably would be a little advanced for 1980 but they still kept building really slow. Ray put Carly in a chinlock and kept him in it for a while, which is something that I do think dragged the match down a little, but it was made up by an electric comeback and a VERY strong finishing sequence. The best moments of the match were in fact the false finishes near the end, with the ref bump just before Carly put Ray in the figure four, when the ref revived to count Ray's shoulders down only for a last millisecond kickout that had the crowd screaming, and the finish itself, when other heels tried to interfere on Gonzalez's behalf with a shovel and while the ref was distracted trying to clear the ring, smart babyface Carly tossed powder in Ray's face before hitting him with the shovel and getting the 1-2-3. Terrific finish to a very good match that I'd probably go higher on if not for the seemingly endless chinlock in the middle. ***1/2

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Good first look at Puerto Rico where we don't get a bloodbath but good solid wrestling following an established pattern. Carly shows great fire early and the first half of the match is essentially Gonzalez trying to gather himself and find a way in. When Gonzalez does gain the advantage, the match was at its weakest with the long headlock and not much focus. Finish really picks things up from the ref bumped to the shovel shot being avoided by the power in the eyes leading to the win. A great finish with the crowd losing their shit and Carly being embraced emphatically at the end. ***1/4

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is one chapter in one of the biggest feuds in 21st century Puerto Rican wrestling. I mean even to this day they are still feuding in WWC. Carly is very green but still hits basic moves well. Gonzalez is one of the all time greats so he holds this together well. Crowd goes nuts for the basic things like a roll up or Carly hitting the figure four. The finish was typical Puerto Rico with Ray bringing in a SHOVEL to attack Carly and it backfiring.

 

The most interesting thing for me in this match is the crowd. I know IWA was less than a year old around this time but I thought WWC was way down around this time. The crowd was big and going crazy throwing trash. When did that stop? These days, they don't throw much trash and crowds are pretty small except for big shows.

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I enjoyed the first part of this match and everything after Carly made his comeback (which popped me big time as I've never seen his early work in PR and didn't know he did his Dad's cartwheel comeback deal) but the middle of this match just about put me to sleep. I'm glad I stuck with it though because the finish was a very good usage of overbooked double ref shenanigans and watching the crowd lose it's mind after the finish was great.

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This match had some fun exciting moments, but it had some very dull ones as well. It was cool seeing Carly using his dad's trademark cartwheel and punches and then later the figure four. The crowd really ate that up. There were a few near falls for Carly where the crowd went crazy too. Unfortunately this match is boring in spots from Ray holding onto a headlock for way too long. The finish is strong and it makes up for some of that boring middle portion.

 

***

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They didn't quite capture the intensity of the best Puerto Rican stars of the previous generation, but they managed to wring some drama from a classic match structure. I agree that Carly's shine was generally more compelling than Gonzalez on top. The crowd was tremendous and made the finish feel more special than it would sound on paper. It was cool just to get a glimpse of Puerto Rico after we largely ignored it during our long run through the '90s.

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  • 2 months later...

Ray with a hip toss, he then turns to the crowd, flexes his muscles and you can already sense this will be a bit different to what’s going on elsewhere in the wrestling world. A body slam and he’s back posing again. Carly with an arm drag, a hip toss, a body slam followed by a dropkick that sends Ray to the floor and the crowd are into this already. They exchange punches, Carly with a back drop, Gonzalez backs off and they’re eating this up. He rolls back out to the floor and is in no hurry to return to the ring. Collar and elbow tie up, Colon with a side headlock and he takes Gonzalez down. A huracanrana and a dropkick sends Ray to the floor once more. Lock up and Gonzalez backs Carly into the corner and starts chopping him, however we go to a commercial just as Colon blocks having his head rammed into the turnbuckles. We return as Carly schoolboys Ray for a near fall and the crowd are going crazy. He kicks at his legs to soften them up for the Figure Four and Gonzalez resorts to his favourite tactic of rolling out the ring and taking a break! Carly with a rough looking headscissors and he goes for another huracanrana, this time though Gonzalez counters with a powerbomb. He goes about methodically trying to work over Colon until he starts to fire back at him. Not for long, as although he ducks a couple of clotheslines, Ray picks him up as if for a Samoan Drop but plants him with an F-5. Lenthy rear chinlock and you can see the crowd clapping and trying to encourage Carly to fight out of there. A series of elbows to the mid-section seems him break the hold, Gonzalez telegraphs a backdrop and Colon with a sunset flip. Ray slowly clambers his way to the ropes, when he grabs them though, the referee kicks his hands away and Carly is able to complete the sunset flip for a near fall. Gonzalez with a clothesline and he’s back to that rear chinlock. Bodyslam, he climbs the turnbuckles and Carly slams him to the canvas. Cartwheel like his old man, some clubbing lefts and an O’Connor roll for two. Whip to the corner, Colon comes rushing in but Ray gets his boot up. He reaches into his tights for something, however Carly kicks it out of his hands. Colon leap frogs over a charging Gonzalez and collides with the referee. Figure Four, but no official as the crowd start to pelt the ring with rubbish. A second referee is out to take his place and an awesome near fall as Gonzalez gets his shoulder up at last second whilst still trapped in the leglock. He grabs the ropes to break the hold but Colon goes straight for it again, although this time Ray kicks him low. He picks up a shovel from outside the ring and then levels the replacement official with it when he tries to take it off him. He goes to hit Carly with it, but he gets in there first and throws powder in his his face. He then wallops him with the shovel, and the original official has come around in time to count the three. The crowd go wild when he gets the win and they all engulf him as he leaves the ring.

 

It’s almost as if WWC is stuck in a timewarp. This easily could’ve taken place in the 1980s and WWC is completely different to anything else that’s going on in the wrestling world at the time. It was simple, rudimentary and effective. They get so much out of so little and where else in 2000 would you see a reverse chinlock spot thaty lasts for over two minutes? The audience were into this from the beginning, and after gorging on ECW fancams these past few days and witnessing their rotten crowds, this made for a pleasant change: a crowd who want to cheer the faces, boo the heels, don’t care for chair shots and table breaking, but are white hot throughout. Fantastic final few minutes from Carly’s comeback onwards, topped off by a wonderful celebration with the audience after he gets the win. WWC might be an anachronism, but I’m not complaining.

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I don't know when Carly Colon started training, but by this point in time it hasn't even been 6 months since he made his in-ring debut for the promotion (and probably less since I'm not sure when he had his first match during the latter third of 99). This match is the first ever meeting between Ray Gonzalez and Carly Colon. Ray has been feuding for the past two years with his former mentor Carlos Colon. In the lead-up to Aniversario 99, Ray started picking on a cameraman working the shows, who it turned out was Carly Colon. Ray was basically calling out Carly as a way to get at Carlos. Carly would go into the ring after Ray called him down there and Ray proceeded to insult him and his dad. Eventually, Ray asked Carly to give his dad a message and proceeded to attack Carly. This would lead to the main event of Aniversario 99 with Ray Gonzalez putting up the Universal title against Carlos Colon. Carlos had been reluctant to sign the contract for that match, since Ray had added that if h won he would get five minutes with Carly (who up to that point had never been in the ring before). Carly convinced his dad that it was alright and to go ahead and sign for the match. In interviews leading up to the match, ray promised that he would win and have his way with Carly, while Carlos was focused on winning and making sure nothing happened to his son. Carly, for his part, was optimistic his dad would win, but stated that if it came down to it, he would step in against Ray with his friend (a shovel he was carrying with him as a weapon).

 

Near the end of the match, shenanigans happened that led to the ref being knocked out and Ray going for a pinfall on Carlos. However, with the ref out, Carly came into the ring and hit Ray with the shovel. He then proceeded to place his dad on top of ray. the ref revived and counted the pinfall, thus giving Carlos the universal title for the 26th and final time of his career. Carly afterwards would make his in ring debut vs. el Exotico (one of Ray's henchman) and eventually would face Ray for the first time here.

 

Ray would go on to regain the Universal title from Carlos Colon a few days after this match, but Carly's pinfall victory put him in lien as the first challenger. The feud would continue throughout the year.

 

As for the cartwheel, all of the Colon kids would use the cartwheel as their comeback./fire up the crowd spot (even Stacy). It leads to a neat moment a few years later when Carly and Eddie faced each other for the first time at the Aniversario 2004 main event. There's a point in the match where they both get knocked down when they both go for a cross-body at the same time. The ref starts counting them out and they both start to get up. As they reach their feet, they both go for the cartwheel and end up facing each other doing the fist shaking thing their dad did. They then proceed to trade punches. All this with their family looking on from the dugout.

 

As for the crowd, IWA hadn't yet been operating for a full year at this point, so it was still establishing itself. They were still running cards reinforced by WWF talent coming in (and doing well), but we're almost at the point where some of the WWC wrestlers would start to jump over (Shane, Chicky and Victor) and things went from there.

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  • 5 months later...

I agree with the sentiment that this match would not have looked out of place in the 80's with Carly's babyface shine here. He looked quite green and a little awkward in his movements, but he held his own in this match and Gonzalez looked pretty good apart fron the lackluster middle portion of the match.

 

The finish was hot and I loved Carly throwing the mist and hitting Ray with the shovel that he had brought into the ring. The post match with the crowd hugging Colon really brought back that 80's feel again and was something that you wouldn't see in most promotions in 2000. Fun match

***

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  • 4 weeks later...

Really well-worked match that is making me super excited to see what Puerto Rico has to offer. I, too, loved the old school nature of it, even if it did lull in the middle with the chinlock but, man, what a hot ending. Carly really did have a lot of potential considering that this is only a short while into his career and it's clear he had a connection with the crowd as they swarm him in celebration in a really great wrestling moment. And hitting dudes with a shovel seems like it should have been co-opted by HHH in his meta-Authority gimmick. Someone get him tapes of Ray Gonzalez

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  • 1 month later...
  • 6 months later...

Yeah, as everyone has said already, this was basically a tale of two matches. The parts where Carly was on offense or coming back were really great, but the Gonzalez control segments were very dry. I still consider this a good match, because it peaked high, but it is hard not to think about how good it would have been with a better middle.

 

***1/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [2000-01-06-WWC] Carly Colon vs Ray Gonzalez

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