Spanish catch

[Matt D]

Do we know anything about Sullivan?

[Phil Lions]

55 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Do we know anything about Sullivan?

Better known as Leon Fortuna.

[David Mantell]

There was also this odd episode:

https://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/spain/sp-h.html

Vincent Febrer retires, then comes back to defend it and reassert his claim against Conde Maximiliiano.

1975ish seems to be the last port of call for all the Spanish titles Hisa listed as far as I can see.

[David Mantell]

1 hour ago, Phil Lions said:

Better known as Leon Fortuna.

Which Sullivan?  There was Francis Sullivan, Wigan shooter but from Charnock's not Riley's .  Once interrupted a music hall variety show to challenge Milo Popocopolis after he spotted him elsewhere in the audience.  ITV footage is under lick and key but there is French TV footage on YouTube.

*Has a look* - OWEN SULLIVAN.  Probably not a North American at all like many people weren't (Stax, Rocco, Tommy Mann.  I think I've covered a Fortuna match or two on the British thread.

[Phil Lions]

23 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

There was also this odd episode:

https://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/spain/sp-h.html

Vincent Febrer retires, then comes back to defend it and reassert his claim against Conde Maximiliiano.

1975ish seems to be the last port of call for all the Spanish titles Hisa listed as far as I can see.

This is a case of two different titles being mixed up. In the late 60s Febrer was the Spanish Mid-Heavyweight champion. In 1978 he became the World Heavyweight champion. This will all be addressed in my upcoming Spanish Title histories article once it's ready.

18 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

*Has a look* - OWEN SULLIVAN.  Probably not a North American at all like many people weren't (Stax, Rocco, Tommy Mann.  I think I've covered a Fortuna match or two on the British thread.

Sullivan/Fortuna was said to be originally from Tonga so not quite a "North American from Hawaii", but close enough, I guess.

[Phil Lions]

Here's something random. A few matches that I didn't have on my Spanish lucha libre bingo card, but they definitely did happen (in 1974-1975):

Ricki Starr vs. Jon Guil Don
Clive Myers vs. Modesto Aledo
Hector & Mando Guerrero vs. Antonio Montoro & Modesto Aledo
Kamikaze I & Kamikaze II vs. Hector & Mando Guerrero


I checked in with Hector himself. He said him and Mando did a three and a half month tour of Spain. Hector was only 19 at the time. He was very complimentary of Aledo. Said they learned a lot from him.

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, Phil Lions said:

Ricki Starr vs. Jon Guil Don

Clive Myers vs. Modesto Aledo

Two clean matches, I presume?

[ohtani's jacket]

Man, I wanna see those matches. 

[Phil Lions]

As promised, here it is: Spanish Title Histories (1943-1983).

Putting this together was quite frustrating (due to there being many mistakes and conflicting information in the Spanish press), but overall I'm happy with how this turned out, even if it's not perfect (and it will never be perfect). Spain was different than France in that throughout the whole period all promotions were under the rule of the same governing body so therefore the title lineages were pretty straight forward, for the most part. In France there could be two or three World Heavyweight champions, for example, at the same time, because they worked for different promotional groups. That wasn't the case in Spain. In Spain there could only be one champion (well, with a few small exceptions by the looks of it).