The Caribbean Report: WWL Loses Talent, CWA Demands Respect

WWL’s roster has a few missing

World Wrestling League is in the front seat in Puerto Rican wrestling, but in recent days, the promotion is missing some key talents.

The first big loss came with their Head Booker. Hector “Moody” Melendez, known for his booking stints with the International Wrestling Association, Total Non-Stop Action and AAA, left the company this past Friday. Melendez was the center of criticism, because of how the stories where un-organized and how the company had a drop of 50% in attendance. In recent week he came after the critics that deemed his worked as “bad” and alongside Dennis Rivera, were talking on how wrestling didn’t need “writers” telling them and the fans what to do. Also, it was reported that there was some internal conflict between talent and him, which in part made more sense for his bad mood (hence his nickname “Moody”) recently. It’s rumored that soon, he will be working with The Crash (he is close friends with Konnan).

The other loss of the promotion came in the form of one of the most popular guys in WWL El Nazareno. The name may seem a little off, but El Nazareno is a parody that started in social media surrounding the conduct of longtime wrestling veteran and former WWL Champion “Superstar” Ash. Nazareno started because of how in 2016, Ash had left the WWL for the CWS in WWL’s best moment (he was the WWL Champion at that moment).  The CWS deal didn’t worked out and the critics ramped up their jokes toward Ash. The former champion took it as it was and change the situation into a favorable one to him. He would put on a mask and started talking to his West Side Mafia faction as El Nazareno. He started using references from a song of salsa legend Ismael Rivera, telling his peers, “The Nazareth told me that a I must take care of my friends”. The character catch fire and was a favorite among fans, forgetting completely that Ash had left the company months prior. Now, El Nazareno will be moving for Orlando and leaving the Puerto Rican base company, leaving WWL without one of his top Merchandise sellers.

Also, former WWL Tag Team Champions, Kaos & Abbadon are now with WWC. They lost the titles in May against West Side Mafia. Now, in WWC, they will challenge La Revolucion for their WWC Tag Titles.

CWA Rises for Respect

Something must be said about Championship Wrestling Association. The third best promotion in Puerto Rico keeps putting solid work into their product and doing things that weren’t common on the island. They had a show in Dorado on the same night of the Mayweather/McGregor fight. Many would call this a suicide show, but the attendance was still average to what they were doing.

The show was headlined by Star Roger defending his CWA Championship against Cuervo. The latter one is the former WWC Tag Team Champion and had abandoned the historic promotion for the small CWA. The match was said to be great with Roger coming clean over Cuervo. With the defense of the title, Star Roger now is riding a 245-day reign, the longest in Puerto Rico right now. The show saw other title changes like the successful tag team and former WWC Tag Champs Los Fugitivos (The Fugitives) defeating The Gamblers to win the CWA Tag Team titles. Steve Joel won the CWA Intercontinental Championship and Justin Dynamite, who has the second longest reign in Puerto Rico with his CWA Puerto Rican Title, defeated “Aztec Warrior” Alex Cruz.

WWC Looking for a Comeback

World Wrestling Council is trying right now. In hopes of making a splash for their biggest event in the year Aniversario, they brought back Puerto Rican wrestling legend Chicky Starr. Starr is known for been the greatest heel to ever wrestle in the island and is still looking for a last big-match.

The problem is… that the match that he wants is against Invader I (Jose Gonzalez). Criticism aside for WWC still giving tv time that involves a polarizing and problematic figure as Jose Gonzalez, the challenge has been perceived as Starr “beating a dead horse”. In the start of 2017, Starr stated a social media campaign to get Invader I off retirement to have a last match against him. At first, Lucha Libre Online (famous wrestling page) and celebrities joined the calling for Starr, but after months of no-answers from Jose Gonzalez, the challenges and angle from Chicky towards Gonzalez seemed tiresome and a bad-joke. Now, WWC wants to pump up the steam for the biggest show in a desperate way with that same tiresome angle.

A Technical Wizard is on the way

In what is perceived the best outside talent to come to Puerto Rico this 2017, CWA announced in their Facebook page that the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion and Evolve Champion Zack Sabre Jr. is coming to the island on 9/28.

CWA is no stranger to international talent and recognizable figures from the Indy scene. Last year they brought the likes of Roderick Strong, Al Snow and when he was Ring of Honor Champion, Jay Lethal. In 2017, they promise to bring the likes of Adam Cole, Penta 0M and Zack Sabre Jr., but none of them were booked this summer, until now. Is still unclear if everything is set for Sabre Jr. or if this will flop like the Diamante situation. We can only hope. If Zack Sabre is confirmed, he is likely to go against Star Roger for the CWA Title.

Other new from the Caribbean:

– WWL is having their next High Voltage tapings on 9/9 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The main event will be BIG & Blitz vs. West Side Mafia (Morgan & Tabu) for the WWL Tag Team Titles. Also, JC Navarro vs. Spectro for the WWL Americas Championship.

– Cleveland Knights Championship Wrestling, which hosts a lot of talent from the island, is having a show named “The Kingdom” for 9/2 in Ohio. Star Roger will defend his CWA Championship against GFW talent Robbie E, Thunder & Lightning will go against Stateline, Mike Mendoza & Angel Fashion vs BJ & Hiram Tua vs Team Storm vs JD Smooth & Vibora, Sweet Nancy vs Vanilla Vargas for the CKCW Women Championship and OT Fernandez vs Angel Cotto.

– Wrestling Superstar is moving forward for their 9/23 show in Bayamon. The show will be a tribute for AAA talent and Puerto Rican legend “El Mesias” Ricky Banderas.