The wrestling industry in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean are seeing promising talents rise in midst of the disaster that was Hurricane Maria. Talents like Mike Mendoza, Angel Fashion, Vanilla Vargas, OT Fernández, JC Navarro and Roxxy are doing everything in their power to stand out. In that array of talents, there’s one name missing, that missing wrestler is a fan-favorite in Puerto Rico and probably has one of the best upsizes – talent wise – in the businesses right now, El Cuervo.
Out of all the wrestlers that were mention, Cuervo is something of an enigma. Talent wise, he is right up there with guys like Championship Wrestling Association’s top talent Star Roger, 2-time WWC Universal Champion Mecha Wolf 450 and 2-time Puerto Rican champion Mike Mendoza. He has a dark gimmick, which fans are attracted, since there’s parallels with Ricky Banderas’s – Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground – “Mesias” gimmick. His wrestling involves a lot high-flying moves, and he is very creative when it comes to extreme matches – hence his nickname “The Most Extreme”.
In 2016, Cuervo really stood up. His tag team with Mike Mendoza – Juventud Extrema or Extreme Youth in english– exploded in the tag team division summer of that year, their combination of youth and athleticism made them a hot-act in World Wrestling Council. They later would feud, with Mendoza betraying Cuervo and doing a series of matches that would end up being consider for Match of the Year. After the feud, it seemed that WWC had found two stars to build their main event scene and mid card.
The year 2017 came, and it started well for both. Mendoza in the biggest show of that year – WWC Euforia – won the Puerto Rican title in a rumble and Cuervo defeated Hijo de Dos Caras – Alberto el Patrón’s brother – in substitution of Mecha Wolf 450. It was signs of a new WWC on a horizon. You had Mecha Wolf 450 as your main draw alongside Carlito, you had Mendoza alongside Ray González leading a new heel group – The Syndicate – and Cuervo & Angel Fashion leading a counter offensive of babyfaces that could easily develop new stars in the local scene. But, as we know now, the story went sideways.
Mecha Wolf 450 would lose the WWC title after just one-day reign to veteran wrestler Thunder. Angel Fashion, Mike Mendoza & Vanilla Vargas would leave the promotion and WWC’s priorities change from that core of young talents to the booker’s son, Ray González Jr. In midst of all those changes, one wrestler didn’t change at all and was kept in the same place that he was in 2016, Cuervo was still seen as a tag team wrestler with no future.
Loyalty Without Reward in WWC
El Cuervo stayed with WWC through this hard time, winning the Tag Title with veteran and former WWC Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Enyel. It seemed that Cuervo was hoping that his loyalty would pay through and he was going to be rewarded as their next new young star, but, again, WWC choose Ray González Sr. and his son.
Cuervo would end up finding out that there’s wasn’t room for him as a star and that he would never win the WWC Universal championship, which is the championship that he dreams of. Not even Puerto Rican championship material he was deemed, so he exited Puerto Rico’s oldest promotion and join the hottest promotion right now, CWA.
In CWA, he was saw as a superstar, quickly challenging Star Roger for the CWA title. That hurt him more that it helps him, since Roger wasn’t going to lose the title that quickly and now, we find a Cuervo floating around in the preliminary scene, finding his foot again in the door of the CWA championship.
Unleashing his Potential
This new year represents an important moment for El Cuervo’s career. While he was finding a place where he was perceived as a main player, wrestlers like JC Navarro, Angel Fashion and his old partner, Mike Mendoza, have up their stock in the Puerto Rican wrestling scene. He needs to breakout, and quickly, or he’ll be forgotten by those fans that have followed him since the beginning of his career. In days were Justin Dynamite (who brings a lot of similarities, like huge reaction, aerial arsenal and unique look) is dominating the CWA, Cuervo needs to have an outstanding run, or he will never break out of the tag team division or lower card.
It seems that looking for other promotions won’t be the case, and that he needs to work hard and move himself wisely, so when it’s time to pick top stars in CWA or other wrestling promotions, his one of them. Instead of unleashing the extreme, he needs to unleash his untapped potential.
