Former WWE Spanish Announcer and Latin America wrestling legend Hugo Savinovich is pulling a power move against the second best wrestling promotion in Puerto Rico, Championship Wrestling Association (CWA).
A Dream Match May Not Happen
Two weeks ago, CWA announced that for their biggest show in history, CWA Christmas Showdown, the dream match between Mecha Wolf 450 and Mesias (Mil Muertes) would be its main event. This was an astonishing announcement because it involved the two best wrestlers in the past two years from Puerto Rico. The hype was real for CWA and their Puerto Rico Convention Center show. Moreover, Mecha Wolf and 450 weren’t the only big names for such event. Names like the EVOLVE Champion Shane Strickland, IMPACT Wrestling‘s Matt Sydal, DJ Z & Tessa Blanchard, “The Villain” Marty Scurll and more were announced previous to the dream match announcement.
Problems with the promoter of the Mysterio Mania show, Hugo Savinovich, started a few days after the announcement. The narrative was that Hugo had approved the Mesias vs. 450 match, but the match could only be announced after the Mysterio Mania show. With the announcement last week, as Hugo points out, the promise was broken. Moreover, Hugo explains that supposedly the decision was done by the new investors of CWA, which just recently was headed by former WWL owner Richard Negrin.
Can Hugo Control a Wrestler That’s Not Under Contract With Him?
Many fans started to point out that Mesias is an independent wrestler, he’s not exclusive to any other wrestling company – he left his AAA contract months ago – or to any promoter. That especially applies to Puerto Rico, were Banderas has wrestled for the World Wrestling Council, World Wrestling League and the extinct International Wrestling Association. Hugo Savinovich thinks different, as he explains in an controversial Facebook Live statement last night:
“Tomorrow I will call my two stars and tell them that we can’t do business with people that can’t fulfill their word. People might ask, ‘Why can Hugo tell them were to work?’ Well, one of them, I’ve been managing his career for quite a long time and the other has been present in most of my shows.”
A Problem With The EGO
For quite some time the wrestling community on the island has been suspect of Hugo Savinovich’s egomaniac behavior. The former announcer became a religious fanatic and has been living off his past with WWE. He started to promote wrestling in Chile and Ecuador, which were successful shows, but reports state that Hugo has been playing dirty with the booking of big names. Hugo tends to ask promoters double the money of what a wrestler actually is worth. With that kind of business he gets a big cut on bringing huge names to South American countries.
Moreover, Hugo has been pushing for his religious agenda while playing as a strong man in the wrestling business. He wanted to insert himself once again in the Puerto Rican wrestling scene, promoting for money and pushing as a producer. If promoters don’t agree with him, he bombards them in his 486,000 “Liked” Facebook page Lucha Libre Online. Moreover, Savinovich was the man behind the horrendous angle to bring Invader I – Jose Gonzalez – back from the retirement.
The recent blockage of Mecha Wolf 450 and Mesias from participating in CWA Christmas Showdown demonstrates Hugo’s hidden agenda. His Mysterio Mania is losing steam, not because the show will be bad, but because the perception of the wrestling fans about Hugo on the island is not positive. He’s wild criticism towards his previous employer WWE and relentless self promotion as the most knowledgeable man in Latin American has really brought a bad vibe to the Mysterio Mania show. Moreover, fans see the show as another trick from the wrestling pastor, since he promise to get an agreement with WWE to have Rey Mysterio on November. Even the fact that the show is going to those affected by the Hurricane last year seems fishy, since so many names would seem to garner too high a payroll to have any profits.
