Puerto Rico Report 4.09.08 : Save Us Rey?

Welcome to a long overdue edition of the Puerto Rico Report. I am Armando Rodriguez, your ultimate link to all the wrestling action in the “last” living territory. This week we take an in-depth look at El Condor’s arrival in WWC and what it means for the future of WWC.

To understand El Condor we need to understand two things. What Rey Gonzalez, the man beneath the mask, means to WWC and Puerto Rican Wrestling in general and we need to understand a little angle known as “The Phoenix arrives”(La llegada del fenix). Let’s start with the first one.

Rey Gonzalez. Before I go in-depth about him, why don’t we take a look at his credentials and I bet that just by reading them out loud you will understand the type of wrestler he is. 13 time WWC Universal Champion, 7 time IWA World Heavyweight Champion, 2 time IWA Intercontinental Champion, 5 time WWC Puerto Rican Heavyweight Champion, 9 time WWC Tag Team Champion, 2 time WWC Television Champion, 1 time WWC Junior Heavyweight Champion, 1 time WWC Caribbean Tag Team Champion, 1 time WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Champion. He has also competed in Mexico, Japan and the X Wrestling Federation and briefly held the NWA World Heavyweight Title (un-recognized) during a feud with Jeff Jarret in IWA.

What does that tell you? That he is one of the most recognized wrestlers in Puerto Rico, is a certified main event talent and could live up to the title of “living legend” in Puerto Rico. And he is not even 40 years old yet! That’s right; this man is barely 35 years old and in good shape, which means he has at least 5-6 solid years ahead of him. He is also one of the best, if not the best promo man that Puerto Rico has ever seen. If we wanted to compare him to another wrestler from the big leagues, I would compare him to Ric Flair. That is how great this guy is. During his peak years (1996-2004) he could put on three star matches with a broomstick. For God’s sake, he worked awesome matches with a fifty-something year old Carlos Colon on a weekly basis! A Carlos Colon that could barely move! If that is not a testament to his ability, I don’t know what is. Also Rey was responsible for making a legit main eventer out of one Carly Colon, also known as Carlito. When Carlos Colon wanted his son to succeed him as WWC’s top face, who did he choose to help with Carly’s training? Rey Gonzales. Who turned this green, scrawny kid into a main event star? Rey Gonzales. Who carried Carly to his best matches in the island? Rey Gonzales. So much so that “smark” fans would cheer Rey even when he was the heel and would give Carly “Cena heat”. Rey also had a hand in turning guys like Rico Suave and Super Gladiador into solid upper midcard stars by feuding with them. He is also responsible for introducing a very young Chris Joel to the audience as his lackey. And I bet Joel studied every minute of his time with Rey because he has tried to emulate him even to this day. It is not a coincidence then that Joel is a future superstar and perhaps the best young talent WWC has right now. If they don’t screw it up, Joel is the future of WWC. Mark my words! But like most WWC superstars, he jumped to IWA in 2002 for the same reason everybody else did: WWC would not pay him. This led to a nasty lawsuit. Rey had signed a contract similar to the one Vince McMahon gave Bret Hart once, a contract that was basically a lifetime contract in which Rey would wrestle for WWC until retirement and then he would be given a big position in the office. As a matter of fact, I believe Rey was, or still is, one of WWC’s minority shareholders. The lawsuit was still running to this date, but I think it must have been settled, otherwise Rey would not have returned.

But his entry to IWA was similar to his return to WWC: under a mask. Since IWA did not have permission from the court to use Rey(until Rey managed to prove to the court that WWC owed him over $50,000 dollars and that he needed to work somewhere to make a living) they put him under a mask and kept him away from the microphone. He was billed as “El Fenix” (The Phoenix) and later renamed to Rey Fenix(Rey Phoenix) to drive the point home of who was under the mask. He was Savio Vega’s masterplan to recover control of the IWA World Title and his first match with Ricky Banderas for the title drew a record crowd of over 20,000 fans, which is still IWA’s attendance record. Single handedly, he turn IWA from that “promotion that competes with WWC” into the #1 promotion in Puerto Rico. He finally unmasked in 2003 and turned face right after. With Rey at the helm, IWA continued to draw good numbers and retained the #1 spot. Yet, IWA’s repetitive booking, keeping the same guys on top with switched alignments, hurt the entire promotion’s popularity. Many people feel that in IWA, he was not the same Rey Gonzales. He looked as out of place as Ric Flair did in the WWF. He was Ric Flair, you loved to see him perform, but he was not the man. He was an old-school guy playing in a sports entertainment environment. Rey was the same thing. It was him, you paid to see him, but something was wrong, it lacked a spark and a certain something. Like in IWA he was just another star, not THE star. As a matter of fact, the only time he felt like the main attraction was when he was under the mask of the phoenix. I don’t know if it was Savio Vega being involved on every angle, but something took away from Rey.

His return to WWC is very similar to the Phoenix angle. He is a masked man called El Condor who wants to get involved in the Universal Title Tournament. He gives WWC a main storyline outside of the tournament itself. WWC didn’t have a story outside of the tournament, something that was not X vs Y for points in the tournament. Now they do. Another thing is that now they have a star from the “older” generation to join the new generation. Someone from the 90’s that can still work at a high level and be a useful piece of the puzzle. Fresh matches with Orlando Colon, Crazy Rudy, Chris Joel, Noriega and others are sure to draw good crowds. So will be his “reunion” with past friends and foes like Rico Suave, Thunder and Lightning. And the “dream matches”. Yes, a rematch with Carlito is sure to draw WWC’s biggest crowd in the last 10 years, especially if it takes place at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum for the Anniversary Show. And let’s not forget that Rey never faced Eddie Colon in a meaningful match. A main-event established Eddie against Rey will be a great match.

Both, IWA and WWC have their share of problems and this is the year in which wrestling in Puerto Rico has been legitimately threatened. Rey’s arrival in WWC could be that boost that returns WWC to the #1 spot, brings back the ratings (and hopefully returns WWC that second hour of TV that they lost) and yes, it could be the boost that saves wrestling in the last living territory. And if it doesn’t, then at least we had one last chance to see Rey back home in WWC, back where he can be “the man”.

Next week: IWA vs IWE!