El Boricua

Thanks Matt! Hopefully everyone enjoys what we've done so far and will continue to do with this series.

The fishing expedition story was amazing.

Wanted to mention that this past Wednesday the WWC was celebrated and honored by the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on the occasion of the company's 50 year anniversary. Not many wretling companies make the 50 year mark so a big congratulations to Victor Jovica, Carlos Colon and everyone else involved with the WWC. Also for anyone that may be interested, the WWC Aniversario 50 show is tonight at 8pm and will be available live on Fite.tv in both Spanish and English commentary. The event is dedicated to the founders and pillars of the company and to the fans of Puerto Rico.

It adds more context but doesn't actually contradict what Andrade said, it actually confirms what he said about Charlotte being called up and told she was pregnant (I mean, what is the implication of being told you're being medically suspended due to pregnancy). The detail Andrade mentions in the interview is that it was the doctor in charge of the doping tests who called Charlotte up to tell her this. It's also the same doctor that failed Andrade the year before which resulted in his suspension. Andrade questioned a bit whether there may have been a screw up last year with his test after going through this now with Charlotte.

Man, the Andrade interview being done by Hugo Savinovich is just amazing with the info being dropped.

Overall, it's an enjoyable listen. You get Chicky talking and giving his thoughts on his career and the local wrestling scene then and now. There are some details about things that aren’t exactly right if you fact check them (be it due to being so long ago or due to wrestler hyperbole), but it’s an interesting listen. You also hear that Chicky is still angling for that one more match with Invader he’s been after since 2017 (sends Invader a hello early on related to this and then mentions later on that there’s one thing missing to cap off his career which would be that one more match). When this interview came out I did a whole 'tracer'/fact check of sorts about the Yakuza story, since it's one that gets talked about. My eventual conclusion abut what this may be is as follows. It's important to mention that Chicky is not the one that brings up the subject, the interviewer is the one that first brings this topic up. He asks Chicky if he can corroborate some information other people have told him, if it’s true that a group of Japanese mafia, Yakuza, came to Puerto Rico and turned up at WWC/CSP events. Here’s Chicky’s response to this (first the transcription in Spanish, then what he said translated into English): “Lamentablemente sí. Aquí llego un grupo de japoneses una vez, fue en la Cancha Bajo Techo de Caguas, me acuerdo, no se me olvida. Gracias a Dios que Vitin Quiñonez estaba esa noche ahí. Y Vitin Quñonez pues conocía a todos estos japoneses, acuérdate que la IWA nace en Japón no en Puerto Rico, y Vitin vivió 10 años en Japón y tenía conocimiento de todas estas personas. Y Vitin fue la persona que habló con todos estos japoneses que venían directamente a hacer su trabajo. Su trabajo era el Invader número 1. Pero gracias a Dios Vitin habló con ellos, conversaron, y no pasó nada. Que sucedió de ese día en adelante desconozco.” “Regrettably yes. A group of Japanese arrived here once, it was at the Cancha Bajo Techo in Caguas, I remember, I don’t forget it. Thank God that Vitin Quiñonez was there that night. And Vitin Quñonez well he knew all of these Japanese, remember that the IWA began in Japan not in Puerto Rico, and Vitin lived 10 years in Japan and had knowledge of all of these people. And Vitin was the person that spoke with all of these Japanese that were coming directly to do their job. Their job was Invader #1. But thank God that Vitin spoke with them, they conversed, and nothing happened. What happened from that day onwards I don’t know.” Now, is there any fire to this smoke? I honestly don’t know. But, if this did happen, let’s see if we can place the timeframe for it. Although Chicky mentions Victor’s years of living in Japan and his knowledge of these people, I don’t think that comes into play here. Because if it did, then that would mean the incident would have taken place after Victor had lived over in Japan (‘he had lived 10 years over there'), which would place it around when IWAPR would have started up. AFAIK, Victor had left CSP by 1992 and hadn’t worked for them since, so no way he would have been there to speak with the Japanese if that were the case. So that would place our timeframe between August 1988 to about early 1992 or so. But, Chicky says that he remembers the incident well, which suggests he was there that night in Caguas. So that would narrow the timeframe further, since Chicky left CSP near the end of August 1990. So now we’re looking at a two-year span. Invader was out of action until March of 89, but reportedly was working office duties again from Nov of 88. So that could narrow the timeframe further if one wishes. The question I have is if Victor’s knowledge and contacts of Japan were developed enough at this point in time for him to be able to handle this incident happening if it occurred just as stated. We know he was involved in FMW and that he was involved in the angle during Onita’s visit at the end of August (he's there in the pictures that were taken). Mr. Pogo had also been wrestling for most of that span in CSP (and was also involved in the Onita angle), so there’s a way for connections to start being made. So, if this supposedly happened, it looks like it may have been before Onita showed up wanting to do the angle for the FMW anniversary show, which may seem weird when thinking about the timing unless you assume this was a first attempt and then believe the whole conspiracy theory regarding the motives for Onita wanting to bring Invader to Japan. That also assumes Victor already had the connections and experience to call these guys off somehow, which I’m not completely sold on (Victor Quiñones in 1990 doesn't look to have built up either the connections or pull to call of the Yakuza). If it was after Onita’s visit, then Chicky wasn’t with the company anymore, so it’s odd that he remembers it so well as if it was something that happened with him there. Third possibility I’m thinking. Could it be possible that this group came during Onita’s visit? Was it mafia or could it have been an entourage that was assumed to be/misrepresented as mafia? Maybe it was mafia. But you know what, what if it was the group of Japanese press there for Onita’s angle (which was done at the WWC offices) that had decided to show up at the next house show card trying to get pictures and comments from Invader, who had no idea of what Onita had done (this has been said by several people involved, that Invader had no idea what Onita was up to and in fact after the initial pull apart had had left, leaving Onita to cut himself and try to pass it off as if he were stabbed). And Victor, possibly in on the angle Onita was working (since looking at this initially the photographer Scott Romer did an interview where he basically says that Victor was in on it with Onita and Invader didn't know), he ran interference so they wouldn’t find out and told everyone once he got rid of them that they were mafia looking to get Invader, which may have ensured the other locals not going near the Japanese to ask them what they were doing there if they were perceived as a threat. They were already working on hiding the intent of doing the stabbing angle pictures, would they also pull something like this as well? Victor was involved in in the stabbing pic deal, not a stretch to assume he may have been involved here also. By the way, according to Bahu’s FMW history recaps, Onita traveled to Puerto Rico on Aug. 29 for this whole deal. Guess where the Sept 1 card took place from? Cancha Bajo Techo de Caguas. So what I'm thinking is that locally it's a case of mistaken or misrepresented identity, with Onita coming up with the Yakuza story later to try to counter the heat he was getting for doing the pictures and booking the match. A couple of quick notes of other things mentioned in the interview. I didn't take Chicky saying they were on alert to mean they were armed (he never says they were armed at any point, just that they were on alert in case anything was up in the ring), what I understood it to be is that they were on alert in case Invader tried to shoot or start anything. And then he says that nothing happened, it turned out to be an excellent match and Invader wrestled normally (which shocked Chicky). What's interesting is that Chicky says it was the scheduled tag match that took place, while Ron Starr in his book says that it was changed to a singles match between Invader and himself. The other thing is that Chicky is the only person to say the card in Mayaguez took place, every single other person and/or source that talks about his says the card was cancelled due to the lack of wrestlers that showed up. So that's one claim that's probably not correct or a bit misremembered (unless you assume that everyone else is misremembering or wrong).

I see a lot of the ones I thought of have been mentioned, but I remember liking Ulysses 31 when I saw it all those years ago, as well as Samurai Pizza Cats. For one offs I'm going for two that aired on Disney Channel way back when, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp from 1982 (the version I saw is the one with John Carradine voicing the wizard) and Rupert and the Frog's Song. Oh, and the first two Care Bears movies for nostalgia purposes.

Based on the timing of this, it doesn't look like he'll be a part of it. Who knows if they sneak in a cameo appearance of sorts, but right now all indications are that Eccleston's not a part of it.

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-08-09/christopher-eccleston-doctor-who-big-finish/ Eccleston finally started doing conventions these past couple of years and he says that the experience of meeting fans and feeling the appreciation for his work have helped him come to terms with the bad experience he had working on the show (it's 'healed' him). He even appeared at Gallifrey One in February, so that by itself was a huge step. I wouldn't be surprised if the current pandemic situation accelerated all of this happening, but it wouldn't even have had the chance of happening if Eccleston hadn't started doing convention appearances. What really shocked me was seeing that it's for 12 stories. Would have thought if it ever happened it would have been a one off to test the waters. Really pleasantly surprised, his performance tends to be underrated.

I'll just leave this here.

I sometimes pop in and post here as well. Leave it to Carlos and Kobbo deciding that they were better off making money off of this. And for those that listened to the latest episode of Between the Sheets, here's the TV episode of Ojeda we talked about where Carlos, Invader and Chicky try to put the kayfabe genie back in the bottle. It includes a clip of the Invader 3 blood geyser to satisfy the blood theme of the thread. I forgot to mention on the show that the episode was titled Gladiadores o Payasos del Ring, which translates to Gladiators or Clowns of the Ring.

'Time Lord Victorious' sounds like it will be absolutely amazing or a mess with no in between, looking forward to how this shapes up. For those that don't know, they've been doing watchalong tweetalongs of episodes the past few weeks due to the lockdown and there have been a few bonus videos recorded by people involved with the show to go along with the watchalongs. Here's some of them: Day of the Doctor - Strax Saves The Day Rose - Revenge of the Nestene The Eleventh Hour - The Raggedy Doctor Human Nature/Family of Blood - Prologue - Shadow of a Doubt Human Nature/Family of Blood - Epilogue - The Shadow in the Mirror Rory's Story These and other videos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoRhKoBcGwcCT8YJBxKrWLw/videos

You can add Davey Boy Smith and David Hart Smith to the list of father and son tag champs. Also Blackjack Mulligan and Barry Windham, which would make it three generations from that family to be a tag champ. And IRS also has Bo Dallas.

One thing being overlooked by people highlighting how there was an increase from two weeks ago in the ratings (never mind that it's a negligible increase since the share remained steady at a 0.8 rating) is this: October 19 Total average: 2.441 Hour 1: 2.390 Hour 2: 2.493 November 1 Total average: 2.543 Hour 1: 2.605 Hour 2: 2.481 Notice the second hour comparison? Smackdown actually lost viewers as the show went on. It looks like the rating got boosted by the curiosity of how they were going to handle the no shows and then ticked down to where it had been two weeks prior by hour 2.

I'd normally divide the next batch into two groups (1961-1977ish as Expansion Era 1 and from 1977 to 1993 as Second expansion era) but I'll comment as a large group focused on 1961-1987 in order to match up with the HOF Era Committee time frames. 1961-1987 This group includes the players of the expansion era, the second deadball era of the 60s and the introduction of the DH. C - I support Ted Simmons, Thurman Munson and Bill Freehan. Joe Torre as manager but I'd also say he would deserve it as a player. Don't know what to make of Gene Tenace due to how he divided his time between catcher and first base. Darrell Porter, Jim Sundberg and Lance Parrish are the next group of candidates and are a no from me at this time. 1B - Keith Hernandez is a yes for me. Norm Cash is in the gray area and the next candidates would be Boog Powell and Steve Garvey who are a no. 2B - Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker are a definite yes, Willie Randolph is someone i could also support. After them are Davey Lopes and Frank White but they are a no. SS - No clear misses, but there is a group of candidates that have there backers and also have their demerits: Bert Campaneris, Jim Fregosi, Dave Concepcion, Maury Wills and Mark Belanger. 3B - There's quite a group of potential candidates here: Graig Nettles, Buddy Bell, Dick Allen, Sal Bando, Darrell Evans, Ron Cey and Toby Harrah. I'd support Nettles and Allen, not sure on the rest. Evans pulls ahead of the remaining candidates due to his years at 1B and DH, but not sure on him. Bell and Bando depend on how you view their defense.. LF - Pete Rose is banned or else he'd be a clear miss. Other than him, no candidate I would go for with the best being Jose Cruz, George Foster, Roy White and Frank Howard. CF - No candidate that blows me away, although there are a lot that have their backers: Jimmy Wynn, Willie Davis, Vada Pinson, Cesar Cedeño, Chet Lemon, Fred Lynn, Dale Murphy, Al Oliver and Amos Otis. Lot of defensive standouts as welt with Curt Flood (who probably should be considered for his pioneering efforts), Paul Blair, Willie Wilson and Garry Maddox. Out of all of them i have a soft spot for Dale Murphy, but can't quite go for backing him. RF - I'd support Dwight Evans and maybe Reggie smith. Bobby Bonds is in the gray area and am undecided on him. There's the group of Rocky Colavito, Tony Oliva and Rusty staub who don't add much post age 32 (well, Staub adds bulk but not any prime meat). Dave Parker has that hideous five year run ion what should have been his prime, if not for that he'd be a contender for me. Jack clark does well ont he value metrics but is a no for me. Roger Maris needed a year or two more like his 1960 and 1961 seasons. P - I'd support Luis Tiant, Tommy John and possibly Jim Kaat. Rick Reuschel does very well on the value metrics, but not really convinced on backing him since I suspect there's some illusion due to all of the adjustments that the value metrics make for him. Mickey Lolich, Vida Blue, Ron Guidry, Larry Jackson, Jerry Koosman, Wilbur Wood, and Frank Tanana all miss for me. Reliever wise there is no one that I'd support, although John Hiller, Dan Quisenberry, Kent Tekulve and Sparky Lyle are the best candidates. DH - No worthy candidates although Don Baylor and Hal McRae are the best of this time frame. 1988-2006 Going with the Today's Era time frame and through 2006 to match the end point for the next time they meet in 2021 to elect the 2022 class. During this time frame the wild card gets introduced, there's an offensive explosion and testing for enhancers begins. I'll add some of the more recent candidates that have fallen off the ballot as well. C -Jorge Posada and Jason Kendall are the best candidates not elected, could be convinced to support either of them although I'm more partial to Posada. 1B - I would support Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire and Fred McGriff. Undecided on Will Clark. John Olerud is a sneaky good candidate but falls short for me. Have a soft spot for Carlos Delgado but falls short. Don Mattingly got injured and Mark Grace started a bit late to be in the Olerud sphere. 2B - No clear misses, although a shame about Chuck Knoblauch. SS - No clear candidates I would support, with Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Tejada and Tony Fernandez being the best of them. 3B - No clear stand outs, with Robin Ventura and Matt Williams being the best candidates. Could be swayed on either of them with a convincing argument. LF - No clear candidates, Albert Belle has the peak but not the career bulk. Luis Gonzalez and Lance Berkman are the best of the rest. The value mtreics love Tony Phillips but I'm not sold on him. CF - I'd support Jim Edmonds, Kenny Lofton and Bernie Williams. Johnny Damon and Brett Butler are the next best but a no for me. Eric Davis is a melancholy what if. RF - No candidates I would support, with the best being Brian Giles (a value metric candidate), Jose Canseco, Darryl Strawberry and maybe Juan Gonzalez if you're into hardware and homers. P - Some interesting pitcher candidates, with Kevin Brown, David Cone and Dave Stieb being the one's I'd probably support. Other interesting candidates are Bret Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser, Dwight Gooden, Kevin Appier, Chuck Finley and Jamie Moyer. Johan Santana has the peak but lacks career bulk. Reliever wise there are no candidates I would support, John Franco is probably the best candidate of them. DH - No worthy candidates with Brian Downing and Chili Davis being the best of the unelected from this time frame. 2007-2020 Finally, candidates still on the ballot or upcoming eligibles. C - I'd support Joe Mauer when he becomes eligible. 1B - Todd Helton probably belongs in but not completely sold. Jason Giambi and Mark Teixeira are a no for me. 2B - I lean yes to Jeff Kent, but could be convinced otherwise. Undecided on Chase Utley. SS - Not an Omar Vizquel backer. Derek Jeter is a sure thing. Alex Rodriguez should have been a sure thing but he's got his issues (although I would out him in). Jimmy Rollins falls short for me. 3B - Scott Rolen should be in. Adrian Beltre is a yes. David Wright is just on the borderline of me saying no. LF - Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez should be in. CF - Andruw Jones depends on how you view his defense and how much weight it carries for his candidacy. Torii Hunter is a no. Carlos Beltran is a yes. RF - Larry walker, Sammy Sosa and Gary Sheffield should be in. Not sold on Bobby Abreu. Ichiro is a yes once he's eligible. P - Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling should be in. I could see Andy Pettitte making it eventually. I'm ambivalent on Billy Wagner, if he goes in fine but not really behind him. Upcoming candidates Tim Hudson and Mark Buehrle I'd lean no on. Joe Nathan and Francisco Rodriguez are a no. DH - David Ortiz should be elected when he gets on the ballot. And with that I'm done with the potential candidates. Comments welcome.