It’s back! Emmanuel Rosado is back with the latest news and happenings from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean wrestling scene.
Zack Sabre Jr.’s Debut in CWA is Delayed
Puerto Rico is facing one of its worst disasters ever. Almost a month after the destruction left by Hurricane Maria, electric power is still down – just 15% of the island has power – and clean water is almost impossible to get.
Those effects by Maria have caused the wrestling scene in Puerto Rico to go on sleep mode. Not a single wrestling show has been presented after the destructive cyclone. Our hopes were put on Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) to put the first show after the hurricane, especially since they were bringing on of the best Indy names out there in the form of the “Technical Wizard” Zack Sabre Jr. It turns out that our hopes must be postpone until 2018, as CWA announced this past week that they cancelled their 10/30 show were Zack Sabre Jr. was supposed to do his Puerto Rico debut. Reasons were not giving, but its obvious that the state of the island and the many problems that are affecting Puerto Rico makes it almost impossible to run a wrestling show.
Mike Mendoza at WWE Tryouts
Something that took everyone in Puerto Rico and in Latin America by surprise, was the news that Mike Mendoza was all week in the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. The grandson of Salvadorian wrestling legend and Puerto Rican resident El Vikingo, Mendoza appeared in Orlando – and in an article by WWE.com – as Victor Ortiz in the recent October tryouts by World Wrestling Entertainment.
Is not like Mendoza was not deserving of it, the 3rd generation wrestler had a breakout year in 2017. He started in January winning the WWC Puerto Rican Championship – the oldest championship in the island, it goes back to the 70s – and later the WWC World Tag Team Championship. His heel persona and promos were the best as they ever been, morphing in what we know now as “The Scorpion” Mike Mendoza. He would transition to World Wrestling League where he had standout matches and was deemed the #2 babyface of the company. Even his international bookings had him going, getting call to Ohio for Cleveland Knights Championship Wrestling and getting in Hugo Savinovich’s show and some Mexican/Puerto Rican promotions.
Mendoza will be giving soon an interview to Last Word on Pro Wrestling and Impacto Estelar to talk about his experience in the WWE Performance Center and were his career will be going.
Starr Roger Reaches 300 Days
Probably the breakout star of 2017 and the most over wrestler right now in the island, Starr Roger keeps accumulating accomplishments. This time around, he did something that hasn’t been done since 1994, and that’s reaching more than 300 days with a championship in Puerto Rico – with the CWA Heavyweight Tittle. As weirds as that sounds, since in other companies is common practice to see long reigns, for some strange reason, in Puerto Rico nobody can hold a championship more than 250 days.
Last week, Starr Roger with his CWA Championship reign, reach 300 days. In his run, the list of wrestlers that he face off for the championship includes: Jay Lethal – he beat Lethal for the title and the match was named “Best Wrestling Match in 2017 (Puerto Rico) -, Alejandro Marrero, Super Crazy, Maxx Stardom, Cuervo, BJ, among others. His run represents a new idea, that you can have a long reign for your main title and keep fans attention. Also, if you’re wondering who had the longest reign before Roger, its Carlos Colon with the WWC Universal Championship in 1994, he almost had it for 500 days.
A Puerto Rican promotion in Kissimmee?
Florida Wrestling Revolution will be now home for talent from the Caribbean and renowned Indy names of the American wrestling scene. The company is hoping to have their first show in February, using talent from Puerto Rico and big Mexican talents, like Drago, Psycho Clown and former AAA Mega Champion Texano Jr.
The FWR show is schedule to take place on 2/10, next year in the Downtown Recreation Complex in Orlando, Florida. The first match announced for that show is former WWC World Tag Team Champion Cuervo vs. Lucha Underground superstar Drago. Also, Puerto Rican legend and former WWF superstar Rico Suave (Jose Estrada Jr.) vs. former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kahagas. The promotion is also advertising names like Hijo del Fantasma (King Cuerno in LU), Savio Vega (WWL), Angel Fashion (WWL), Pagano (AAA), Starr Roger (CWA), Mighty Ursus (WWC), among others.
Is unknown if the company can keep this type of business model. In the past, paying for a lot of plane tickets and big Indy names came very expensive, and more if you’re bringing talents from Mexico and Puerto Rico left to right. We hope that this isn’t the case for the promising promotion.
Other news from the Caribbean:
– In a move that might have come because of the damage left by Hurricane Maria, one of Puerto Rico’s most promising star Angel Fashion will be working in Florida for World Xtreme Wrestling – WWE Hall of Famer “Wild Samoan” Afa’s wrestling school and promotion. Fashion is a former WWC Puerto Rican Champion and tag team partner in WWL with Mike Mendoza, both are attributed for the boom times that WWL is enjoying right now. Because of how bad the wrestling scene in the island is right now – there’s not a single show scheduled now – Fashion decided to move to Florida and wrestle this period in the Sunshine State – until everything is resolves in Puerto Rico.
– Reported by Contralona PR, Apolo, who is one of our honorable mentions in Last Word on Pro Wrestling’s Top 10 Greatest Puerto Rican Wrestlers of All Time, won this weekend Power of Wrestling’s Heavyweight Championship in Germany. Apolo has had a wild year in 2017, traveling all over the world to countries like Austria, Germany, Australia, South Africa and even Qatar.
