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Big wrestling events taking place on this holiday have been a tradition for years here in the island; with great cards being presented over time by all major companies at one point or another.
This year, it was WWL’s turn to bring the entertainment and excitement to the fans and without a doubt they were able to deliver, and deliver in a big way.
Red carpet and ring side fans started to file into the venue right at 2:00PM in order for them to take part of the “meet & greet†with the talent, which is something WWL has promoted during each of their shows and fans really enjoy. There was also an autograph signing and photo opportunity at the entrance of the coliseum sponsored by our friends from LuchaLibreOnline and “Wrestling Timesâ€, in which with the purchase of the re-launch edition of the magazine you were able to get autographs from “Sensacional†Carlitos, Mr. 450, El Profe, Axel Cruz and members of “La Rabia†D-Niss, Noel and BJ.
As with previous events, there was a dark match prior to the start of the promoted card. This time it was a six man tag team match that showcased "La Rabia's" Niche, Joseph RPM & Barbie Boy defeating “El Lobo†Syler Andrews, Dymes & Ace Micheals in what was a fun match to warm up the crowd and get them ready for the rest of the show. Barbie Boy, Niche and Syler Andrews stood out in the match as the better performers, although each participant was spotlighted at different points of the match.
The show opened with a video package that presented all the storylines that had been built leading into the show from “Navidad Corporativa†and over the last 4 weeks of TV. Then “Mr. Lucha Libre†Willie Urbina and “El Rudo de los Rudos†Axel Cruz came to the ring to welcome the fans and set things up for the rest of the show.
In the middle of the introduction, out came Joe Don Smith, who interrupts Urbina and Cruz. JDS greets the crowd too and they are all interrupted by the Director of Operations, Savio Vega. Vega states that there will be titles that change hands tonight, but the most important one will be the WWL World title coming to the hands of Alberto “El Patrónâ€. He then calls out Richard NegrÃn, WWL’s president. NegrÃn comes out and Vega tells him to stand down. He just wanted to remind him that he is the one that knows about wrestling and that NegrÃn needs to stay out of his way, write the checks and let him be the one that runs the business. In the end, it will always be “…a mi manera, o pa’ la calle!!†(…my way or the highway).
WWL World Tag Team Title Match - “Legio†– Spectro & Kronya (w/ José Chaparro) became the new WWL World Tag Team champions after they defeated “La ArtillerÃa Pesada†Thunder & Lightning, who were accompanied to the ring by their manager “Su Majestad†El Profe. Towards the end of the match the lights went out and the mystery silhouette appeared on the screen and the voice said that it was time to let Thunder and Lightning know who was responsible for their torment over the last several weeks and the shadow came to live and El Profe appeared on the screen telling them it was him, while at the same time coming into the ring and fouling both Thunder and Lightning from behind. He then slid out of the ring, leaving Spectro and Kronya to finish them, that way capturing the belts. After the match they all celebrated, as Profe and Chaparro embraced in a hug in the middle of the ring.
WWL Extreme Title Match - Monster Pain defeated Sabu, thus becoming the new WWL Extreme champion. This was clearly not one of Sabu’s best nights performing. There were several blown spots, most of which seemed to be missed due to timing issues and in part due to his manager not being able to help him out in setting up the moves as he had done in the past. Pain looked as good as he could with what happened in the match. After the match was over, Pain attacked Sabu’s manager, who left the ring in a hurry after that.
Goddesses Grudge Match – “La Diosa†Habanna and Mistress Glenda Lee went to a “No Contest†after “Bully Guy†Mr. Big interfered in the match and “El León†Apolo came in for the save as soon as he saw his wife, Habanna, was in danger. This led to the next match…
Last Man Standing Match - “El Léon†Apolo defeated “Bully Guy†Mr. Big in a match that had the fans gasping for air every time they hit each other with a chair. Really stiff shots were taken by both men during the match and both of them bled here. The match had a good pace. Mr. Big was able to pin Apolo on a couple of occasions with Apolo then beating the 10 count to continue the match. Same happened a couple of times with the opposite, Apolo getting the pin and Big coming back before the 10 count. At one point Big pinned Apolo, the referee was counting and was up to 6 when Big distracted the ref and Mistress Glenda Lee came to the ring and knocked Apolo out with a chair-shot. When the ref turned he and saw Apolo on the canvas, he proceeded to finish the count and award Big the victory. Another ref came out with Habanna and was able to convince him to re-start the match due to Glenda Lee’s interference, and he obliged. The match restarted and Apolo was able to come up with the victory after hitting Big with his “fondo del abismo†(rock bottom) and the “filomena sidekick†to finish him and be the last man standing.
WWL Americas Title – Grand Prix Match - “El Fenómeno†BJ survived the “gauntlet†type match and was crowned the new WWL Americas champion after he pinned “El Latino Dorado†Joe Bravo to finish the match. The other participants, “El Dueño del Mundo†Hiram Túa, Escobar, Vassago and Laredo Kid, all had a really good showing. The match was well paced and allowed for everyone to have their moment to shine. BJ and Vassago kicked off the match, for which the fans selected the order of entrance during the meet & greet earlier in the afternoon. Escobar was the first to be eliminated, followed by Vassago, Hiram Túa, the now former champion Laredo Kid and Joe Bravo, in that order. After the match, BJ was showed his emotions in the middle of ring where he took a knee and pointed at the heavens. He had a rough end to 2014 personally since he lost a very close family member and he was dead set on giving his best tonight, and well, he did. Really good match for everyone involved.
WWL World Title – Luxury Triple Threat Match - Alberto “El Patron†became the new WWL World Heavyweight champion after defeating Shane “The Glamour Boy†and “El Mesias†Ricky Banderas in one of the best matches of the evening. After all the participants had come to the ring, the video screen showed a message from “The Precious One†Gilbert, who was letting everyone that he always had an ace up his sleeve. This time, his ace is that he has a guaranteed title match with whoever comes out with the belt tonight. Richard NegrÃn came out to announce that he had a “special enforcer†to ensure that Shane would not get robbed of his title and that the match went on without interference from Savio Vega, who was in Alberto’s corner. Out came Monster Pain and he stood ring side during the match, with NegrÃn sitting right next to him. “El Patrón†took the mic and told NegrÃn to shut up (“A callar, perro!â€); that he had three of the best performers in the business inside that ring and they would do what they needed in there without the help of anyone. He went on to tell him: “Y si traes a esto para defender a un ‘yankee’, entonces eres igual que los racistas de WWE!†(If you bring this thing out here to defend a ‘yankee’, then you are just like the racists in WWE!) The moment he said this, the crowd went wild. The match got started and had a really pace, with Shane having the best part at the beginning, then switching to Banderas on top for a few minutes and then Alberto. Each was spotlighted in what they do best, with Shane and Banderas teaming up for a couple of moves against Alberto. The end came when Banderas ended up outside of the ring and Alberto getting Shane on the “cross-arm breakerâ€. Banderas tried to get back in the ring to make the save but was stopped by Monster Pain and NegrÃn, resulting in Shane not being able to resist the pain and losing via submission. Alberto celebrated with Savio in the ring and NegrÃn joined in the celebration. Monster Pain and Banderas brawled all the way to the back and disappeared through the curtains. Out came Escobar, Bryan, Joe Bravo and Hiram Túa to join the celebration too. NegrÃn took the mic and congratulated Alberto on winning the title and then told Savio Vega that as he has told him in the past, he is the president and he is the one that makes the big decisions. He was making a decision right then and there: Savio was fired from WWL! Savio argued and put his hands on NegrÃn, only to receive a beating from the rest of the wrestlers that were in the ring. NegrÃn slapped Vega a couple of times as Vega was busted open by the hits he took from everyone including “El Patrónâ€. Shane, who was on the outside recuperating from the match, looked conflicted about jumping in the ring to make the save, and when he finally decided to grab a chair and climb in the ring, he was stopped right away by Túa and sent back on the floor while everyone else kept beating on Savio in the ring. NegrÃn then announced the birth of a new faction that will take over wrestling in Puerto Rico and internationally, “The Gentlemen’s Clubâ€, led by him.
WWL World ‘TrÃos’ Title Match - “La Rabia†- Noel RodrÃguez, Stefano & D-nnis Rivera retained the titles by defeating “La Familia Máscaras†– Dos Caras, Hijo de Dos Caras & Sicodelico Jr. This was a fun match as they mexicans were able to create a lot of heat in the crowd with their anti-Puerto Rican antics. The action in the ring was very good too, with even Dos Caras showing that he can still go at it, even being in his early 60’s. “La Rabia†won the match after D-Niss hit Hijo de Dos Caras with the megaphone while the referee was trying to restore order in the match. Noel pinned him for the victory.
Final Battle – TLC Match with the #1 contender’s contract for the WWL Americas title hanging in the middle of the ring - Mr. 450 defeated “El Sensacional†Carlitos in a fast paced, highspot filled and very exciting bout. Carlitos came out to the ring and had Invader #3 in his corner supporting him. This has been the best TLC match I have seen live. These two gentlemen went out there and did not just go for the highspots; no. This match told a story from start to finish and was paced appropriately to create the drama and emotional connection from the fans, which were just in awe of what Carlitos and 450 were presenting. The use of all the elements involved in the match was done in a way that it accentuated every move they made, which in turn allowed them to bring the crowd into the journey with them.
I am not a big fan of these type of gimmick matches, but in this case, this has been probably the best out their 3 match series over the course of the last couple of months. In my humble opinion, this was the best way to at least put a pause on this feud, get them involved in other storylines and later down the line they can come back and revisit their rivalry and get them chasing each other for titles. Definitely, match of the night and a very early candidate for match of year here in Puerto Rico.
Notes from the show:
The crowd was alive and hot all throughout the show. I hope it came across that way on the iPPV. The energy level was set on high and the crowd was able to maintain it at that level almost all evening long. There were instances in which they seemed a bit quiet, but it happened early on in the card and I would say it only affected two matches. The rest of the matches had the fans involved.
From being present on the show, I estimated the attendance with a little over 4,200 fans; although I have seen other reports with estimates closer to 5,000. The coliseum was not full, but I don’t believe that was ever the intention of using this venue. I honestly think they wanted to see “how big is big†and test the waters with this event being in a bigger arena and they have accomplished that. Now they can align efforts and focus on what their next goal will be. Either way, this was very exciting for all involved, mostly for the fans.
I will have more thoughts on this event later in this week’s edition of the “ISLE OF PUERTO RICO†column.
Jose Perez can be contacted for comments and/or feedback at JosePWInsider@gmail.com.
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