International House of Combat

[Ricky Jackson]

Join Kelly Nelson and Steve Wille (of "The Main Event" on PTBN Wrestling) for a new podcast adventure--an exploration of the wonderful world of historical international wrestling! Each episode will be a watch-along of matches from around the globe.

For the debut, Kelly and Steve examine two contests...

Wayne Bridges vs The Mississippi Mauler (England, 1981)

&

Al Hayes vs Guy Robin (France, 1957)

YouTube playlist with the matches to watch along at home!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[Shrike02]

What about a link to the podcast?

[Ricky Jackson]

Whoops. Yeah, I thought I was forgetting something 

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-1

[Shrike02]

Having watched the Hayes vs. Robin match, I can't quite get over the fact that I can confidently say that Al Hayes held up his end in 1957 in a 30 minute singles match which I have no qualms rating 4* on first impressions.

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-2

Kelly and Steve are back for another trip around the globe, this time focusing on Japanese wrestling from the 70s and 80s!

Viewed and commented upon this week...

Giant Baba vs Dick the Bruiser (1975)

&

Jaguar Yokota vs La Galactica (1983)

Both matches are awesome, featuring cameos aplenty from other wrestling stars, blood, and scissors, among other highlights.

Follow along with the playlist here! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-3

Kelly and Steve are back, and this week they explore two different countries, which share a language but interpret wrestling in different ways

Viewed and commented upon...

Carlos Colon vs Dick Murdoch--Barbwire match (Puerto Rico, 1991)

&

El Hijo del Santo vs La Parka (Mexico, 2001)

Two countries united by language and by BLOOD! Watch along here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-4

This week Kelly and Steve venture to the wilds of 1980s Canada to examine tag team wrestling obscure and(in Quebec at least)legendary!

Viewed and commented upon...

Ricky Steamboat/Jay Youngblood vs Ray Stevens/Jimmy Snuka (Toronto, 1980)

&

The Rougeau Brothers vs Ron/Jimmy Garvin x2 (Montreal, 1985)

The Toronto tag is a really good match and the Montreal footage is CRAZY!

Watch along here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVy--0-BicE&list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-5

Kelly and Steve venture Down Under, a relatively obscure place for wrestling, and also visit the Land of the Rising Sun, with both stops connected by the awesomeness of NWA champion Harley f'n Race!

Viewed and commented upon...

Mario Milano vs Bulldog Brower, Mark Lewin vs Abdullah the Butcher (Australia, circa 1972-74), Harley Race vs Ron Miller (Australia, circa 1977)

&

Harley Race vs Jumbo Tsuruta (Japan, 1977)

The blood streak continues, great promos are plentiful, and Harley shows why he was one of the all-time greats. Watch along at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC or on World Cast Twitter!

[Ricky Jackson]

Sorry Jetlag...

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-6

Kelly and Steve stock up on beer and bratwurst and take a trip to the wonderful country of (West) Germany! Here they witness a match so powerful and epic they needed a whole show to break it down...

Viewed and commented upon...

Otto Wanz vs Bob Sgt. Slaughter (Bremen, West Germany, 1982)

The match is wrestled in the rounds system, the rules are not very intuitive, Wanz stinks, but Slaughter is awesome as always, so sit back and enjoy this 54 minute + experience! (a few beers will definitely help)

Watch along at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC or on World Cast Twitter!

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-7

Kelly and Steve devote an entire episode to one of the most legendary, and (most importantly) bloody feuds in wrestling history: Carlos Calon vs Abdullah the Butcher, from Puerto Rico!

Viewed and commented upon...

Carlos Colon & the Invaders vs Abdullah the Butcher, Ron Starr & Chicky Starr,

Carlos Colon vs Abdullah the Butcher (Vengeance match),

Carlos Colon vs Chicky Starr (Cage match)

(All Puerto Rico in, we think, 1986)

After going bloodless last time, the crimson runs freely this week. Watch along here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[El Boricua]

I've been meaning to get to these and seeing the subject of the latest episode no better time than now. I do see that in episode 3 you watched Colon vs. Murdoch from Puerto Rico, so I'll start with some comments about that.

• You're right on the details of when CSP (Capital Sports Promotions) started. Company was formed in September in 1973 but didn't run their first card until January 6, 1974. The owners were Carlos Colon, Victor Jovica and Gorilla Monsoon (although he likely joined the ownership later). Miguel Perez was the first top star while Carlos Colon made his name.
• This match is a few months into the feud, Hugo on commentary mentions the great rivalry that has been happening between them recently.
• Murdoch's character was one of dismissing and insulting Puerto Ricans and their culture. His manager is Joe Don Smith and the story was that Murdoch had found someone who renounced the 'disgusting' Puerto Rican culture and Murdoch gave his manager the good American name of Joe Don Smith. Interviews would revolve around Murdoch how he had Joe Don eating good food for change and dressing like a good American (hence the Dodgers getup Joe Don was wearing).
• It's 1991, so houses are not what they were some years before. Still, when not running baseball stadiums WWC typically would run at basketball arenas or gyms depending on the town
• To Steve's mention of Roberto Clemente Stadium, there is some confusion due to circumstances I'll explain, but the baseball stadium in San Juan is the one you're thinking of Kelly, which is Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Roberto Clemente Stadium, the baseball stadium in Carolina, opened in the year 2000, so has not seen too many wrestling events (although IWA did run some of their large shows there during their peak). The confusion comes from there also being a Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, which is right next door to Hiram Bithorn Stadium and where WWC also had events (the Colon vs. Hansen bullrope match took place at Roberto Clemente Coliseum). In fact, for big shows held at Hiram Bithorn, they would sometimes sell closed circuit viewing next door at the coliseum.
• Dick Murdoch was a semi regular in Puerto Rico from 1991 to 1992, although footage from these years isn't that readily available.

Don't know if you had any other questions after watching the match, but let me know.  I'll give a listen to the Colon vs. Abdullah episode.

 

[Ricky Jackson]

Thanks so much, El Boricua! I was hoping I didnt completely embarrass myself with my lack of real prep on WWC. I feel like I was all over the place and not nearly as knowledgeable when discussing history on the latest ep

[El Boricua]

You're doing very well, no need to worry about being embarrassed. Interesting that the Colon vs. Abdullah match watched for this episode is their biggest drawing singles match but at the same time is probably the most atypical match they've had in their feud. We're coming into the feud near the end of April 1986, so the feud between Colon and Abdullah has been going on and off in Puerto Rico for about 8 years at this point. As you mentioned, they first faced off in different Canadian territories before Carlos moved back to Puerto Rico and co-founded Capital Sports Promotions. In fact, working in Canada is how he met Victor Jovica and how he met his wife Nancy who is Canadian. You can also tell by the wrestlers that worked those first years for CSP that they leaned on their Canadian ties for talent.   Abdullah would eventually make his way into Puerto Rico and pulling together a timeline from things I’ve posted in the PR wrestling megathread and the history/context tidbits thread for the 80s set, here’s a summary of Carlos vs. Abdullah up to this point:

1978: Abdullah would debut in PR as one of Hugo Savinovich’s first clients and attacks Carlos to set up a feud. Abdullah would go on to win the PR title from Carlos on 11/18/78 and hold it for over eight months. Abdullah would not lose the title to Carlos, he would lose it to Pampero Firpo on 7/31/79 (both men were heels).

1979: Faced each other on June 2nd. Would wrestle against each other on Nov. 7 and 24, leading up to a No DQ match on Dec. 15. On 12/15/79, Abdullah would defeat Carlos again for the PR title (Carlos had won it from Firpo on 9/22/79).

1980: The year starts off with a series of matches over the PR title. The title is held up on Jan. 5 when the match (a barbed wire match) is a no contest. Carlos wins the rematch (a streetfight) on Jan. 12. They would have matches against each other on Feb. 23 and Mar. 8 (this one supposedly a cage match). Would face off again later that year on Sept. 27. They wrestled at the year-end show to determine who got a shot at the NWA World title at the first show of 1981. Carlos won that match.

1981: Carlos defeats Killer Karl Krupp for the held up North American title on May 9. Carlos now holds both the North American and Puerto Rico titles. Carlos and Abdullah face each other on June 13, which would lead to a match on Aug. 10 that saw Abdullah win the Puerto Rico and North American titles (I've also seen Aug.11 in Trinidad listed as the date of the NA title match). The feud would continue in a barbed wire match on Sept. 26, in a match where Carlos injured Abdullah's knee. Carlos would regain the Puerto Rico title in that match, but Abdullah remains the North American champion. Abdullah would then face Carlos in a stretcher match on 11/21/81. During the match, he attacked Carlos viciously, trying to injure his eye. This caused Carlos' brother Jose colon to come in to help his brother. Abdullah would attack Jose and this attack on a civilian would lead to him being stripped of the North American title. They then face off in a super libre match at the year end show.

1982: The 2/27/82 house show sees La Pareja Dinamica (Colon and Rivera) take on Los Monstruos (Abdullah and Stomper). This would be one of the last times La Pareja Dinamica would team up. Carlos would team up the following week with Pierre Martel to take on this heel team. The feud between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher reaches a breaking point and they wrestle each other in a cage match on 06/24/82 in Barbados and in a barbed wire loser leaves town match in Puerto Rico. Abdullah had previously ambushed Carlos during a match between Carlos and the Mongolian stomper. This attack put Carlos temporarily out of action and led to the loser leaves town match. Hugo Savinovich was to be locked in a cage to prevent him interfering. As the match approached the participants would be interviewed on the TV show. Hugo would be complaining about being caged like some type of animal. Later in the show Carlos provided his comments. However, as he was leaving the set Hugo surprised Carlos by throwing a net on him which allowed Abfdullah to sneak up on Carlos and just attack him with an object. As for the match, Carlos would win and banish Abdullah from Puerto Rico. Or so was thought.

Abdullah the Butcher defeats Antonio Inoki to become the WWC World champion in Japan (allegedly). Because of his status as World champion, Hugo Savinovich uses this as a loophole to bring back Abdullah the Butcher to Puerto Rico not even a month after he had been banished. Carlos Colon is named the number one contender to the WWC World title and faces off against Abdullah. They have two matches where Carlos is unable to win the title due to Abdullah’s tactics. This leads to Carlos training extra hard and finally getting the victory in his third and final shot at the title on July 31. Carlos gave up the Puerto Rico title due to his World title win. Abdullah would bounce back by winning the Caribbean title from Charlie Cook on Aug. 14. He would hold it for almost five years.

1983: Feud continues on and off. At one point, Abdullah would attack one of Invader's brothers. Carlos, tired of Abdullah's abuses against other wrestlers, challenged Abdullah. Of course, Carlos and Abdullah would bring their feud to the mainland and wrestled on the Starrcade 83 card. They would also face off in PR near year's end on Dec. 4., which would lead to Carlos putting Hugo Savinovich on the shelf with an injury (and when he came back it set him on his path to turning face). Carlos ends the year defeating NWA World champ Ric Flair and thus crown himself the Universal champion.

1984:  It has been six years of a bloody rivalry between Carlos and Abdullah. However, events in 1984 would lead to an unexpected twist to this rivalry. n 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. 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. 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. After a briefcase of money was offered, Abdullah agreed to team with Carlos and the resulting match at Aniversario 84 set the drawing record for a match in Puerto Rico wrestling history. The prevailing story for the initial team up was could Abdullah be trusted. 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 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.

1985: 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. Abdullah was surprisingly still a face through this time. 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. So a tag match ended up taking place that summer pitting Carlos and Abdullah vs. Dory and Ric Flair. At one point during the match, Carlos tried to tag out but 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. The match ends up as a no contest and the Universal title is held up. A rematch occurs on Oct. 19. The card was dubbed ‘La Batalla de Gladiadores’ (The Battle of the Gladiators), and it was  a stacked card featuring JCP wrestlers in order to counter the WWF card held that same day in Hiram Bithorn Stadium (the one with the rainstorm). Carlos regained the belt that night.

1986: Abdullah would still not go away. Carlos would end up facing Abdullah on the Three King’s Day card to open 1986. 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. But this time they would not be alone. Around this time, Chicky Starr had turned rudo right at the very end of 1985, turning on his mentor Invader feeling that he was holding Chicky back. Along with wrestling he also became a manager and one of his first clients was Abdullah. Abdullah would help Chicky commit attacks against invader and Carlos, leading to Invader 1 taking on Abdullah the Butcher on March 1. For this encounter, Carlos Colon would serve as the special referee. Chicky is at ringside as Abdullah's manager. At one point in the match, Abdullah eventually manages to strike Invader in the throat. As Carlos checks on Invader, Chicky passes a foreign object to Abdullah. When Carlos goes towards Abdullah, he is attacked with a fork. Abdullah proceeds to attack both Carlos and Invader. Before Abdullah can do too much damage, the RPMs and Invader 3 arrive and fight off Abdullah. Chicky and Abdullah leave as the tecnicos check on Carlos and Invader 1.

From there, Chicky would start feuding with Invader 3 over the Junior heavyweight title. He would also team up with Ron Starr (who had recently arrived billed as Chicky’s cousin) to face the Invaders in tag matches. Chicky would defeat Invader 3 for the Junior Heavyweight title on March 4 (although Invader 3 would regain it a few weeks later). The next day, March 5, the Starr Cousins would win the North American tag titles from the Invaders. Carlos and Abdullah would have another series of singles matches, including a match with two referees on April 5.  During the match in ring ref gets taken out, so the second referee takes over officiating duties. As Carlos starts to put the figure four on Abdullah, Ron Starr tries to interfere. The referee stops him. While the referee is busy with Ron Starr, Abdullah takes control of the match. Invader 1 appears and climbs the turnbuckle. He surprises Abdullah with a top rope heart punch. Carlos then covers the fallen Abdullah and gets the win.

After this match, two things occurred. The first is Chicky Starr would once again win the Junior heavyweight title from Invader 3 on April 12. The second is that the Starrs and Invaders would have a match on April 19 that would result in the North American tag titles being held up. So, with all of these feuds intertwined, a six man tag between Abdullah and the Starr Cousins and Carlos and the Invaders was signed for April 26. Which takes us to the first match in this episode.

Carlos Colón and The Invaders vs. Abdullah The Butcher and Chicky Starr & Ron Starr - April 26, 1986

The teams are introduced, and they immediately start fighting. Hector Moyano comments that the tecnicos are looking to avenge all of the interference the rudos have done in the individual matches they have had. Eliud Gonzalez puts over these six men as the top wrestlers in Puerto Rico. Moyano comments that they all want Chicky to eat his words. ("He called Carlos a negrito, Invader 3 a dwarf and Invader 1 a pig.") This is a heated six-man tag with Invader 3 being the face in peril for a stretch.

If you need to tell the Invaders apart, Invader 1 is taller than Invader 3 and has the hair peeking out from the back of the mask. And he is the one that punts Chicky right in the balls. Invader 3 you may remember as Johnny Rivera in the WWF, he’s the one that plays face in peril for the match.

The match is at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, so you’re right about the stadium Kelly. To answer the talking point about culture and heritage, part of Chicky turning heel was him insulting and renouncing Puerto Rican culture and adopting a more pro American culture stance. So that comes into play a bit, that and the insults Chicky would hurl at the tecnicos.

They definitely limited the interactions between Carlos and Abdullah here, likely keeping in mind the angle to come. What’s interesting is that they were not really building towards an extended run of matches between them as a result of the angle, I’ll explain when we get to the next match.

Interesting you guys talked about the effects of how long the sleeper can leave someone knocked out. There’s an angle that takes place involving Carlos Colon in October of 86 (a couple of months after the Chicky match in this episode) involving the effects of not waking someone up.

The substance thrown was said to be ammonia, one detail I love is the ref just covering his face selling the smell of the substance. So how did this paly out afterwards? You’re right in that this would put Carlos out of action and put his career in jeopardy due to being blinded by the ammonia. There actually is a video that surfaced about a month or so ago from an interview that aired the week after this match took place. You can see how it was presented.

You can see Carlos completely bandaged and comatose in bed. Invader just breaking down and promising revenge on Abdullah for what he did. And the kid in the video is none other than the future Carlito. On TV Chicky would claim credit for masterminding the whole thing, so while Invader 1 would go after Abdullah, Invader 3 would go after Chicky. It’s during this time that the scaffold match between them takes place. As for Carlos, the fear was his career was over and that he’d have permanent blindness. Of course, eventually got better. And that leads us to our next match, ‘Venganza al Atardecer’. I’ll pop back in later with comments on the last two matches.

[Ricky Jackson]

Wow, thanks so much! Yet another great history lesson! I think Steve and I need to revisit this feud on a future ep and look at some of the earlier matches 

[El Boricua]

10 minutes ago, Ricky Jackson said:

Wow, thanks so much! Yet another great history lesson! I think Steve and I need to revisit this feud on a future ep and look at some of the earlier matches 

Check the 80s set listing and the posts I did in the PR Wrestling megathread, between the two you should be able to get a list of the matches/angles involving Carlos and Abdullah that we have on tape. There's also a couple of things from the 90s floating around.

[Ricky Jackson]

Awesome. Thanks man

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-8-merrie-olde-england

Kelly and Steve are back and this week they travel across the pond and to the 1970s for a look at pro wrestling from England!

Viewed and commented upon...

Johnny Saint & Steve Best (the Elites) vs Ian Gilmour and Jeff Kaye (the Barons) (1972)

&

Tibor Szakacs vs Terry Rudge (1974)

The wrestling is first class and the halls are packed with ladies and gents, so sit back and enjoy a look at a very unique style and presentation. Watch along here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC

[Ricky Jackson]

https://soundcloud.com/prowrestlingonly/international-house-of-combat-9-mexico

Kelly and Steve head to the land of Lucha for a look at some of Mexico's oldest known wrestling footage AND one of the bloodiest matches you'll ever see!

Viewed and commented upon...

Rene Guajardo y Espanto Segundo vs Black Shadow y Rolando Vera (1966)

&

Trauma I vs Canis Lupis, Mascara contra Mascara (2016)

The mask vs mask match is a crazy, bloody brawl with a surprise twist at the very end of the video. Watch along here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV6RCTo_Cd0Bo314nxGlwPp-IfC14LctC