As previously reported, the 76-year-old Puertorican pro wrestler, Manuel Huertas Gonzalez, better known as Invader #1 has defeated Manny Ferno to become the 80th IWA World Champion. This is his first time holding the championship after various stints with the company dating back to 2003. He has won the WWC Universal Championship in the past.
The controversial win comes after weeks of heavy-handed angles that included then-Champion Manny Ferno, appearing at Invader’s home, hiding a crowbar in a way that was very much meant to evoke how it’s been told by many Invader hid a knife on the night of Bruiser Brody’s death, covering it with a towel, in order to sneak it into the house. Though the object was not used, Ferno did threaten Invader’s daughter. Another angle, shown on social media saw Manny Ferno yet again break into the property and attack The Invader at his pool.
The next day, on yet another social media angle, The Invader was interviewed, explaining that his one-year-old second daughter drowned in the same pool. He talked about overcoming various tragedies in his life, the death of his daughter, his house burning. This was followed up immediately by him discussing the allegations made against him regarding Bruiser Brody’s death. He claimed in the interview that the locker room turned their back on him, even after he was found innocent.
The match took place at one of the IWA’s annual ‘big 4’ events titled “Juicio Final” (Judgment Day). Held at the Emilio E Huyke Coliseum in the town of Humacao, Puerto Rico. The venue has been one of IWA’s most used venues and was the company’s first sell-out event (with an estimated 1,500 attending) in years, all based around the heavy promotion of the Invader vs Manny Ferno World title match.
The event was also available via Pay-Per-View on the PR Tickets Online website. However, between the very steep [for our market] price of $40 and a slew of technical difficulties that saw half the broadcast collapse, a constant for IWA PPV’s, it may not go well. It was also competing directly with the highly promoted Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor boxing Pay-Per-View. Not only the first time a Madison Square Garden boxing card to be headlined by women, but Amanda Serrano, in the same vein as Tito Trinidad & Miguel Cotto, has become a major Pay-Per-View draw for Puertoricans.
As per stipulations of the match, imposed by special guest referee Savio Vega, The Invader #1 can never again return to the IWA, thus apparently taking the title with him. During the course of the event, another World Champion was crowned earlier in the event, as part of a storyline revolving around the introduction of new physical titles and the confusing storyline involving heel faction “IWE Alliance” trying to take juridical control of the titles.
On social media locally, despite The Invader’s clear controversial history, he’s always been seen locally as a folk hero (a story we’ve dived into in the past regarding fans and media revering Jose Gonzalez). His promos in the lead-up to the event being far better received by fans than that of current wrestlers. A consequence of companies failing to create new stars and relying more and more on nostalgia to inflate ‘once-in-a-fortnight” cards rather than any kind of sustained attempt to cultivate new talent for this generation. Instead going back to The Invader and other stars who were a part of the wrestling zeitgeist experienced on the island during 1982 to 1988 with WWC and 2001 to 2006 with IWA. The perception outside the island of Puerto Rico, for obvious reasons, is the exact opposite.
Most wrestling fans in Puerto Rico, unlike US-based fans raised on modern-day WWE and the independent boom leading to the creation of AEW, do not feel the need to research the in’s and out’s of the wrestling business. And would rather be brought in by high-strong shock value wrestling angles. So they tend to either not be aware or be interested in how the wrestling scene on the island is perceived outside of it or of the negative effects of this type of booking, despite the clear evidence that can be seen on today’s product.
In many avenues, The Invader’s crowning as IWA World Champion is being billed as a potential Guinness World Record, seeing it as “the oldest World Champion in wrestling”. Though, the IWA World Championship is not recognized as a World Championship by Pro Wrestling Illustrated nor has it been defended in 3 different countries, Invader has overlapped Fabulous Moolah‘s record of oldest wrestler to win a Championship of any kind. At least in the United States. Fabulous Moolah won the WWF Women’s Championship at the age of 76 years and a week. While Invader won his at 76 years and 6 weeks, thus breaking her record.
