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1. Mike Mendoza defeated Slash Venom in what was a good opener. Both, Mendoza & Venom, came with their working boots on tonight and provided some fun high spots, including a couple of dives to the outside that immediately got the crowd going.
2. Rikochet, Angel Cotto, Xix Xavant & AJ Castillo defeated “Los Bouncers†Bob & Bruno, Samuel Adams & Big Daddy Montes. This was a bonus match that had not been announced previously. It was a decent match that served to feature each of the talent involved and their “high-spotsâ€. Short but effective match.
3. Pelayito Vázquez defeated Angel “Fashion†Pérez w/ Vanilla Vargas. This was another good match, also used to highlight the spots that each one of the performers could do. The crowd was also very much into this match. Before the match, Fashion attacked Tommy Diablo in the back to prevent him from being the referee of the match. Towards the end of the match, there was a ref bump where Pelayito goes for a “side-kick†but Fashion moved and the ref received it. Fashion takes advantage by fouling Pelayito and hitting his finisher, but there was no ref to make the count. Fashion then starts to shake the ref who was on the canvas. He then turns and Pelayito hit his “side-kick†and went for a frog-splash. Tommy Diablo comes out from the locker-rooms into the ring and make the 3 count.
4. “El Chico Ilegal†Chicano becomes the new WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight champion after defeating “The Precious One†Gilbert with his boxing punch. Another fun match with some brawling and some back and forth between the two. Big Daddy Montes tried to interfere but it was to no avail. Both, Chicano and Gilbert, looked good in this bout.
5. Mighty Ursus, w/ “El Magnate†Juan Manuel Ortega retained his WWC Universal title when he defeated Carlito in a match that saw both men give a lot of themselves and I can say that it has been the best match I have seen Carlito perform in some time. Ursus also did a really good job here. Carlito looked to be in great physical condition. He did not do as many spots as he normally does in the matches here in the island; however, everything that he did in the ring matter and he had the fans behind him from the beginning of the match.
6. “Mr. Ray-tings†Ray González defeated “Super-Mex†Hernández, w/ “El Magnate†Juan Manuel Ortega after he was able to apply his “Fenix Landing†finisher for the 3 count. After the match, while González was celebrating the victory, Hernández speared him through a table that had been set up in a corner during the match. It appears that this feud will continue in the weeks to come.
After intermission, we had the recognition to the one and only, “El Rey de la Lucha Libre†(King of Wrestling) Chicky Starr. Willie Urbina came to the ring with Starr and presented him with a plaque to commemorate the special occasion. The PR Boxing & Wrestling Commission also presented a plaque to Starr for his contributions. Then Starr asked his 7 children and members of his fan-club “Los Chickystarianos†to come to the ring. He thanked them all, as well as all the fans, because without them there would not be a business for him to have been able to perform during the last 40 years. His children presented him with a beautiful red robe and crown, which he immediately put on and posed for the crowd in the middle of the ring. While this was happening, on the big screen came the image of none-other than WWE’s Jerry “The King†Lawler, who sent a message to Chicky Starr letting him that there in only one place for a king and he has been on the throne for a very long time. He then issues a challenge to Starr for a match to determine who the real “King of Wrestling†is. The challenge is made for WWC’s first event of 2015, Saturday January 3rd, “Euphoria 2015â€. Starr accepted the challenge and promised that he will prevail.
7. Invader #1 and Bronco fought to a “no-contest†as the referee DQ’d both after he lost control of the match at around the 7 minute mark. Very disappointing match from these two veterans. Invader was moving very slowly and everything in the ring seemed in slow-motion. On the other hand, Bronco looked in great shape and tried to keep a good pace to the match, but was not successful in doing so due in a big part to Invader’s inability to follow his pace as he used too in the past.
8. In an “Extreme Rules†match, Miguel Pérez faced Huracán Castillo. These two gentlemen had probably the most exciting match of the evening. They brawled all over the coliseum, in the crowd and then back in the ring, hitting each other with everything they could find in their path. At the end, “Los Templarios†interfered in the match, attacking Pérez. Here is where one the several inexplicable moments of the evening took place, as the referee called for the bell and disqualifying Castillo for said interference. Yes, you read correctly. This match, which was an “extreme rules†match, ended in a DQ. Unbelievable? Not really if you have been following WWC during the last few years. But wait, there is more…
9. “Los Templarios†ASH & William De la Vega, w/ “El Magnate†Juan Manuel Ortega in their corner, retained the WWC World Tag Team titles after they defeated WWE’s “Los Matadores†w/ “El Toritoâ€. The end came when both teams were brawling on the outside and ASH comes into the ring, followed by Fernando who then gets hit with the bell by Huracán Castillo. ASH hits an F-5 on Fernando and collects the win. After the match ends, they continue brawling in the ring with Huracan Castillo also taking part on the attack. Finally, Miguel Pérez comes to the ring for the save; or so everyone thought. Out of nowhere, Pérez attacks “Los Matadores†with his kendo stick. Pérez and Castillo join forces and continue the beating on “Los Matadoresâ€. “Fernando†and “Diego†mounted a brief comaback which made Pérez and Castillo leave the ring. “Fernando†takes the mic and starts telling them that if they wanted to fight them, they will fight them, but not as “Los Matadoresâ€. They take their masks off and tell them that Primo & Epico will fight them any place, any time. (Jose’s NOTE: I wonder if they had permission from WWE to take their masks off.) With this, “Aniversario 41†came to an end.
Notes and Analysis
- The attendance to the show was close to 3,000, which can be considered to be good turnout. However, when you take into account that it is company’s biggest event of the year, and look back at the last few years’ attendance (2013 – 4,500 approx. / 2012 – 5,200 approx. / 2011 – 5,000 approx.).
- I can describe the event as the tale of two shows. The first half of the show presented some really good wrestling and fun matches, with the exception of the González vs Hernandez match, every other match was really good. However, the second half of the show was just plain really bad booking and not exciting matches, except with the Pérez vs Castillo match, until the DQ finish reared its ugly head. Two DQ’s in a row to finish the iPPV event; one of them being in an “extreme rules†match!?!? How does that happen? Didn’t anyone notice that it just does not make any sense what-so-ever? Wow… Then they decide to give something special to the fans at the end with Pérez & Castillo getting back together to challenge “Los Matadoresâ€, who now are not “Los Matadores†but rather Primo & Epico, after they take their masks off. Not sure I would catalog that as a special moment.
- As it always happens with WWC, the show had a bell time of 8:00PM, but it actually began close to 8:50PM. Intermission began around 10:35PM and it lasted until 11:30PM. They stated that they needed to wait until the iPPV crowd was able to get back live because they had issues at the beginning of the broadcast and were not able to see the first two matches. Plus they needed to fulfill the obligation to provide matches from Aniversario 40 and some classics. When the event finally ended, it was already 12:35PM. I have said it in the past, but this bears repeating; this is completely uncalled for and I find it disrespectful to the fans in attendance. Today, that disrespect seemed to extend to the fans that were also watching on iPPV.
- Speaking of the iPPV, unfortunately it seemed that the experience was not good for those who paid for it. I have heard and read a lot of emails with comments from a people that paid for it and had a lot of issues with the stream freezing and at different points just disappearing.
- Looking at something positive from the show, Carlito showed that he can work with the best of them last Saturday. He is a really good performer when he is “onâ€. Chicano and Gilbert also did a really good job in their match, although I did not understand why you would take the title away from Gilbert who had just returned to the company and was getting really hot. Then again, why should I even try to understand the logic used in anything that took place in this show.
Overall, this was not a bad show in terms of performances, with just two matches as exceptions. The rest of the show was actually very enjoyable. In my opinion, what killed it were the booking decisions that were made. Besides being illogical for the most part, they made even the most loyal fans very upset, as it was all I heard on our way out of the coliseum that evening.
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