World Wrestling Council (WWC) held their ‘La Hora De La Verdad’ (The Hour Of Truth) event in the Mayaguez Sports Palace last Saturday in front of an estimated 350 fans. It’s a small increase in attendance. However, it’s a 6,000-seat venue. The event made it very clear that WWC has many long-term booking plans in motion currently. Their entire line-up for their next event was up and ready before their Sunday TV show aired and clearly reflected direct consequences from the previous card as well as the TV shows.
Puerto Rico Wrestling Report #10
Here’s what happened at ‘La Hora De La Verdad’:
Match #1 – Diego Luna & Will Kallagan defeated Bandido & Chris Mendoza. Not THAT Bandido. One that’s been wrestling at the west side of Puerto Rico for several decades now. Chris Mendoza, Mike Mendoza’s younger brother, continues the trend of wearing his older brother’s ring gear for these events. They’re always different so this really feels deliberate. A simple opening match.
Match #2 – Willie Jay Velez defeats Hardcore Mitchell & Javaraya. A three-way and try-out for Javaraya, a ‘Samoan savage’ gimmick. He dominated, but being in a match with a firmly established talent in Jay Velez, that means he wasn’t gonna win right away. The crowd reacted well enough.
Match #3 – Jovan defeats Brandon The Skater to retain the WWC Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This was stupifying as the match was originally billed as 2/3 falls. But Jovan demanded it be a standard one on one match. And Brandon just casually accepts. This may have been because the event was running long. This was despite one match already being scrapped from the card. This was originally meant to be 2/3 falls and just ends up being a basic 7-minute match that doesn’t live up to the potential of the three high-flying matches that set it up in the first place.
Match #4 – Yaide defeats Vanila Vargas with La Amazona as guest referee. Australian Suicide was peaking in the crowd to watch his significant other, Vanila. It was a pretty basic match as Vanila played heel and antagonized La Amazona. The announcement of this match created speculation about potentially bringing in the rest of the ‘La Revolucion Femenina’ (The Women’s Revolution) group in. But no signs regarding that were present at this event. There isn’t even a follow-up match announced for their next event, though Vanila Vargas will be present. Meaning Australian Suicide will likely be in the crowd again. Though he’s not booked. Anywhere on the island. That’s amazing. How’s a guy that talented just there with nothing?
Match #5 – Intelecto 5 Estrellas defeats Cezar Bononi to retain the WWC Universal Championship – This match was disappointing as the crowd did not react and was instead more in the mood for heckling. The story of Cezar Bononi being brought in by the ‘El Nuevo Orden’ (The New Order) stable was completely abandoned as Cezar’s promos on TV instead focused on the far more interesting story that he heard of WWC from his trainer at the WWE Performance Center, former Universal Champion Steve Corino. However, those promos were in Portuguese. So the lack of subtitles, Intelecto 5 Estrellas instead pushing him as being a hired gun and the commentators being so clueless that they confused Bononi’s name as “Boloni”, his nationality as Italian, and his language as “Brazilian”, just made for a completely clueless crowd. It’s the perfect example of what happens when your commentators are uneducated as a really good story about a foreigner coming in to respect the company’s legacy on its 50th anniversary just slipped by their fingers. The match itself was pretty average as Bononi grew more frustrated with Intelecto. But was ultimately a rare clean match.
Following the match, Xavant and his security (ridiculously just named La Seguridad) appeared and threw a fishing net over Intelecto. Telling him that these attack would only stop if he accepts a title match.
Match #6 – JC Jexx defeats WWC TV Champion El Informante. By far the highlight of the night as this was a fast-paced debut for the very young and talented JC Jexx going into the ring against a highly talented veteran in El Informante, who is long-standing Jr. Heavyweight Tommy Diablo under a mask. This was as perfect of a debut as you could ask with a very poetic ending. Weeks ago, JC Jexx’s first appearance saw Informante attack him with his own suitcase. Informante had his stooge Bull Anthony bring it out again. But JC had a valet with him who slapped him. This distracted and shocked Informante letting JC win with a roll-up and set up a title match.
Following intermission, Xavant and ‘La Seguridad’ came out to follow up on the title challenge. Intelecto 5 Estrellas appeared and accepted, however, authority figure Ray Gonzalez protested. This tied up a massive loose end as Gonzalez criticized how Xavant can never accept the consequences of his losses. He lost a Hair vs GM Position match to Gonzalez in January but refused to get his haircut. He lost to Intelecto back in October with the stipulation being that he couldn’t challenge for the title for a year but also doesn’t want to accept it. However, if Intelecto insists on it, he will lift the ban and make the match official. It’s set for WWC’s next big event: ‘Honor vs Traición’ (Honor vs Treason) on March 25th.
Match #7 – El Diabolico defeated Puertorican Champion Mike Nice in a non-title match. This was classic WWC. The match itself was not really much, however, the story coming in was that Diabolico, making his return after nearly 4 years away, wanted to bloody the Champion. Mike Nice had a fantastic promo on TV about seeing Diabolico as a kid, bloodying all his favorite wrestlers and being able to do nothing but cry. Now, he gets to oppose him. It was clear that being a non-title match, it was set up for a title match down the line. And that’s what happened here.
Match #8 – Los Inmortales defeat La Revolucion to become #1 Contenders to the WWC Tag Team Championships. Tag team matches in WWC and Puerto Rico tend to have a very notable and extremely repetitive pattern. But that was mostly avoided here, as we got a rather entertaining spotfest between the four.
Match #9 – Nihan & Xavant defeat Ray Gonzalez & Gilbert by DQ. This was the big match in the build, but it didn’t close the show. This was your standard tag team match with phantom tags, long periods of heat, and the ref distracted with faces while heels cheat. It went nearly 13 minutes and it all wound up being completely pointless as La Seguridad was at ringside favoring Xavant and Nihan, attacking Gilbert. So Intelecto came out with a kendo stick to save him, then gave it to him. And Gilbert proceeded to attack the heels with it for the DQ. This was pure filler to keep Xavant, Ray Gonzalez, and Gilbert busy until their bigger programs in the upcoming show.
Main Event – Androide 787 & Makabro defeat La Seguridad to retain the WWC Tag Team Championships. This was disappointing as Androide 787 is easily the best in-ring talent in WWC and by a long shot. But was trapped behind the typical tag team structure match. Once again, we went nearly 15 minutes and the crowd was already exhausted. This did not land as well as it could’ve if it was simply shorter and Androide was allowed to show how good he can be.
WWC – WWC’s next show is March 25th from the Pedrin Zorrilla Mini-Coliseum in San Juan. As mentioned, it’s titled ‘Honor vs Traición’ (Honor vs Treason) It’s their return to the metro area, so attendance will be very interesting as they continue their momentum. It also features the return of Carlito and Eddie Colon, who were last with WWC in January having turned heel and sided with Xavant’s ‘El Nuevo Orden’:
- WWC Universal Championship: Intelecto 5 Estrellas (c) vs Xavant
- Gilbert/Ray Gonzalez vs Carlito/Eddie Colon
- Puertorican Championship: Mike Nice (c) vs El Diabolico
- Black Pain vs Nihan
- The Bouncers vs La Seguridad
- TV Championship: El Informante (c) vs. JC Jexx
- Tag Team Championships: Androide 787 & Makabro (c) vs Los Inmortales
- 2/3 Falls for the Jr Heavyweight Championship: Jovan (c) vs Brandon The Skater
- Gran Armando & Will Kalagan vs La Revolucion
International Wrestling Association (IWA) – IWA is on a bit of a slump currently. They are running a story where a Champion from another company has appeared fully masked and repeatedly attacks now-top babyface Manny Ferno. Despite that, interest has waned since last summer when the company seemed red hot. They held a cinematic match two weeks ago where Azazel and Manu fought through a farm and by a river for the Intercontinental Championship. Production-wise, it was EXTREMELY good. Given the production values of local programming, this was about as top-notch as it could be. However, viewership-wise, it did not go too well. Their weekly Impacto Total show on YouTube has dipped from a near 20,000 viewers after 24 hours per episode average to 12,000 and has stayed at that average for 3 weeks now. This also reflects in attendance which has dipped a little. While it certainly isn’t cause for major concern, it’s a sign of how IWA’s viewers are so trained to react only to shock value and nostalgia. So when those don’t stick, nothing does. Storylines in IWA are not necessarily bad. Their midcard scene has been a great highlight when it comes to matches. However, their main event scene is still the same IWA vs IWE story it’s been for years. While the masked Champion is a fresh new face and a reference to the legendary Rey Fenix angle from 2002, there’s clear burnout going on right now for IWA fans.
Evolution Wrestling Association (EWA) – EWA is struggling a bit with its attendance. However, their YouTube show seems to be drumming interest, with notable viewership increases and a weekly live stream that really helps engage their smaller fanbase. They’ve announced the arrival of Star Roger. One of the best wrestlers on the island of the last 15 years. He teams with student Samuel Olmo to face Judas Melendez which on paper should be a big show-stealing match.
Despite their good presentation, their shows are plagued by terrible commentary. As their heel announcer leans far too heavily into the act and the two other commentators wind up trying to overcompensate too much as babyfaces. This results in a terrible audio experience as you watch the show.
Their next show is scheduled for this weekend, March 18th, ‘Todo O Nada’ (All Or Nothing). It’s set from a rural basketball court in Toa Baja:
- EWA Championship: Louis Forza (c) vs Electro
- Star Roger/Samuel Olmo vs Los Judas Melendez
- Edwin Garcia as Guest Ref: Joe Colon vs Kenneth
- #1 Contender to PR title: Ramon Rosario vs Nexen vs Jon Justice
- Street Fight: Cazador vs Javaraya
- Kayla Jonie vs Milena
- Tag Team titles: Los Bastardos (c) vs Quintana/Christopher Taylor
- Open Challenge for the Americas title: Drakkon (c) vs ???
Espiritu Dojo – A match of the year contender has been announced as NWA Tag Team Champion Mecha Wolf will take on Champion Androide 787. Androide’s year has really seen him flourish as a potential top wrestler in the island. His performances in the ring are amazing. His charisma makes him seem so far above other talents and he’s so fluid in the ring that it’s a marvel to watch. And he’s set to take on one of the NWA’s more reliable stars as Mecha Wolf makes a stop in his home island in the midst of a music tour the day before. The match is set for ‘Cima De La Montaña’ (Peak Of The Mountain) at the Espiritu Dojo on March 19th and to air sometime later on IWTV.
Another big match set is El Gentil vs Hijo Del Enigma. It’s billed as El Gentil’s final match as he will wrestle full-time as Chris Mendoza now as seen in WWC. He’s kept his identity as Mike Mendoza’s brother a secret since his debut years ago. Now he’ll retire the gimmick.
Here’s the card:
- El Gentil vs Hijo Del Enigma
- Super Beast vs Baltazar Bruno
- Manu vs Adam Riggs
- Xavier Millet vs JC Navarro
Other notes – After four months with no events and a split with their production team, Champion’s Wrestling Association (CWA) announces its first event for 2023. It’s set for March 25 as well. The second of FIVE events for that day. It will take place in the San Juan Bosco Oratorium in San Juan. So far, only one match is set.
Ground Zero Wrestling (GZW) is set to debut a weekly show on YouTube soon. It will be titled “Hora Cero” (Zero Hour).
More details to come next week, but March 25th will have an insane 5 shows running at once, which continues to anger fans as clear debate continues regarding fans being stretched too thin.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
