World Wrestling Council is one of the oldest wrestling promotions still operating in the world. Founded in 1973, Capitol Sports Promotion was the main Caribbean territory of the 70s and 80s. The company had a strong presence, filling arenas and even baseball stadiums. Their worst period is regarded after the Bruiser Brody murder, in which the murderer was kept out of prison. That was in the late 1980s, but the company quickly reestablished itself, surviving the WWE expansion and acquisition and even developing new stars that could fill arenas and some few baseball stadiums. In the mid-90s, they rebranded as the World Wrestling Council (WWC) and by the 2000s, WWC had put their trust on the sons of the company’s owner, Carly Colon (Carlito) and Eddie Colon (Primo Colon). It represented great times too, even resisting the big competition that WWE and IWA PR represented to them. All that was seven years ago and, but seems as if WWC is going through their worst period ever.
After they canceled a show this past summer, we asked the question if WWC was experiencing their worst era ever. The company fell to third place in Puerto Rico against promising wrestling promotions like Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) and World Wrestling League (WWL). The reliance on veterans and improperly elevating young stars has given WWC a bad reputation with the Puerto Rican fanbase.
Back in August, the company started to bring stars from the Puerto Rican indie scene to freshen up their roster. This seemed promising, since WWC was putting their trust in guys like Thunder & Lightning, Ray Gonzalez and even former IWA PR legend, Anarchy. In the midst of that influx of talent, Bellito seemed to be the guy for the company. Moreover, Xix Xavant was rising in their card. But, in WWC-fashion, they managed to screw up everything.
Not only did they sabotage the WWC Universal title reign of Xix Xavant, but they managed to position Bellito into an lesser position. The company doesn’t seem to know how to do wrestling in 2018. They still rely on heels using brass knuckles, DQ finishes and veterans with championships that they don’t deserve.
Take the example of the Puerto Rican championship. The PR title is the oldest wrestling title in the Caribbean, dating back to the 1970s. Wrestlers who win the title are usually on the verge of winning the WWC Universal title or being pushed as a big mid-card guy. In the past month, the winners of the title have been one member of La Revolucion, which is a faction that doesn’t even have a main wrestler or name – they’re interchangeable masked guys – and the veteran Lightning. In any other promotions, guys like OT Fernandez – who’s now gone from the promotion and training sporadically in the New Japan Dojo in California – or Bellito would already been champion. Moreover, the WWC Television Championship, which is suppose to be on the waist of young up-and-coming stars, has been in the waist of guys that were considered youngsters in the early 2000s, Diabólico and Anarchy.
Their main heel is Gilbert, with an imposing figure, at least 6’1″ and 230, but who always relies on cheating. Peter the Bad Romance – now known as Pedro Portillo – is the only star who is rising in the new version of El Sindicato. Even Xix Xavant, who won the Universal Championship from Mighty Ursus, is barely a star worthy of such accolade with all the bad booking around that win.
The company is still running in big coliseums, but barely gets 100 fans in them. Their latest show this past weekend showed that even the 100 attendance number is falling. With companies like WWL selling out shows and CWA constantly doing small arenas with 175 to 200 fans, WWC is finally looking like a lost case. They fail to reorganize their talent, their youngster are on a repetitive loop of matches (like Bellito) and even Doom Patrol, who is a terrific tag team, have fallen from grace in there.
The company gets its main money from their television deal, which pays them a somewhat healthy monthly salary. But, with low attendance, their popularity on television will be hurt – and is already hurt. Many point out that WWC was the University of wrestling, but that title is long gone. No more do they develop great stars (that’s WWL) or bring great stories (that’s CWA), they only bring their history and tradition, which, at this moment, is the only thing keeping them alive.
