Negro Navarro, when this name appeared on social media, the hearts of wrestling fans beat faster. At least those who already knew the Mexican and thus usually looked further beyond the horizon of large acting promotions and appreciate a certain old school. Once you knew that Espiritu Pro Wrestling Dojo had invited a true legend to step into the house ring, you suspected that there could only be one opponent for Navarro, namely CEO and founder Mike Mendoza. He would never let himself be deprived of fighting such a fight, would he? You may say a lot about him, whether he is the arrogant guy who really goes through the Puerto Rican wrestling scene very ruthlessly or not, that may be judged by others who know him differently, perhaps better. But no one can deny that he has done and is doing a lot for exactly that scene and its reconstruction, nor that Mendoza is already a living legend. He did not contest the fight, but made a tag team match out of it. Because Navarro was joined by Espartaco, also a Mexican wrestling legend, and it wasn’t long ago that the two faced each other in a fierce title fight in the ring. Mendoza took advantage of the visit of the two Mexicans and offered a seminar for interested wrestling students one day before “Master Series”, led by Navarro, Espartaco and of course grandfather and coach legend El Vikingo. When you see the three next to each other, as a fan you stand there reverently with your mouth open and think of past times, great wrestling, when Mendoza was still something between a dirty thought and a little louse angel – and even I know these matches only afterwards from the Internet. The announcements promised – as always – an exciting evening at the Espiritu Fitness Center in San Juan. What the viewers, who could not be there, unfortunately missed, because not shown on IWTV in the compilation, were the appearances of the newbies, such as the great Nahir Robles, who is otherwise better known as a frenzied reporter with her unmistakable greeting “Hola, hola” or as a model. But everything has its time limit, including the review at IWTV.
To the “Master Series”. Announced was a revenge match of Yaide and Adam Riggs, who had really gotten into each other’s hair at the end of their tag team fight from the previous event “No Actors, wrestlers”. Why, why, why, can be seen here again. Unfortunately, this had to be cancelled at short notice due to an illness of Adam Riggs. More time for both to stir up their anger. But we experienced a new tag team, which – so much is anticipated – hit brutally in several respects. After this evening, both are only known as Fuerza Recia, translated that means as much as strong power and the name is so of program! Reckless Harry Williams and Baltazar Bruno are behind it and make their first appearance as a team in the dojo against Gravedad Zero, Samuel Olmo and Justin Dynamite. A good and at the same time very bad choice. It is known that Dynamite has had shoulder problems for some time and he announced in advance that this would be his last fight before a break. It can basically only go wrong – or Olmo will stand alone in the ring.
The sacred hall is full when Harry Williams is the first to step out of the improvised locker room , where otherwise sweaty training takes place. He seems concentrated and a bit scary, the recruit has become a serious wrestler who has a certain career ahead of him, I’m very sure. He is followed by Baltazar Bruno, who is received with chanting. The mute dog walks to the ring, like two predators, the two stand to the left and right of Yaide, who lives out her second passion as an announcer in this match. Gravedad Zero are received loudly, especially Olmo seems to have his fan club with him – and I have to say something about that. With “No Actors” I was very excited about the faction Los Muchachos Wrestling , which I still do because of the action of that time, but you have to leave one thing to them: They are a terrific support for Puerto Rican wrestling and even if you might find one or the other action pretty shitty, the guys are quite harmless and an important part of the Scene. On this evening, they first cheer on Olmo, who can be duly celebrated. A new referee is also in the ring, the one with the boots, as he was presented on Instagram in the weeks before. Gong, here we go. Olmo vs. Bruno. The former sends the dog to his knees first, which does not last long, a bit of cat and mouse game, clapping, first pin attempt. It starts quickly. Then suddenly Fuerza Recia stands alone in the ring, then again all four who beat each other wildly. The mood in the audience is good. You cheer, you clap, you scream, you cheer. A match that is really fun, tough, powerful, but always with the concern for dynamite, who always holds his already taped shoulder with a pain-distorted face. It has to be said that no one forced him to this match, it was his free decision, he wanted that and maybe he knew fully what he was getting into. Nevertheless, you suffer brutally, with every action against him, you become more tense as a spectator. Since I already knew later that evening what was happening because I had seen a certain excerpt in a fan video , I really declared it crazy. You don’t want one of the actors to seriously hurt himself. No matter what is sometimes portrayed for the sake of the show, this is still a very real, very physical struggle that demands everything and that can lead to serious injuries that also end careers – which in the case of Justin Dynamite would be decades too early. But later, at the moment the battered and Williams are in the ring, don’t give each other anything, go at each other and seem to want to put a quick end to the match. But the opponents are too strong for that. Already after these first minutes it becomes clear that no rookies play a bit in the ring, but serious wrestlers show a great fight. The mixture of technique and strength, the speed, the eye level with which both teams meet, stand out clearly. The fight could also take place somewhere else than in the Espiritu Fitness Center, it could fill a hall and inspire a lot. The professionalism is evident in dynamite, among many other things, who does not do things by halves despite pain or lets Olmo fight for himself (which I had accused him of a bit at the last two events). Dynamite is now on the rope, wants to make a move against Williams, who knows no mercy and makes sure that his opponent falls into the rope, which attacks the shoulder quite a bit. While Dynamite turns around, Williams takes a run, jumps from behind into the battered one, who jumps from the ring and against the post that stands in front of it, where he can not hold. I would like to briefly discuss these fake accusations here. Yes, this move may have been agreed, so nothing is fake. The shoulder injury was real at all times in this match and if you hit a post with this injury, it doesn’t matter how agreed the choreography of a fight is. Dynamite stops and screams, Yaide runs to him in panic after informing Mike Mendoza , who is immediately there. Yes, nice show, all good, but the concern of the two is not only played. While the two, the injured, Olmo and the referee disappear backstage, Team Fuerza Recia stands stunned in the ring. And now? HELLO? This is not over yet! The two jump into the audience, roar through the hall and the referee can’t stop them from disappearing into the cordoned-off area as well. You can hear beatings, screams, moans, the referee is shooed out, Bruno carries Olmo back into the ring on his shoulders. Bring it to an end, is the very clear message. And once again, Olmo has to take a huge hit. EPWD is not a good patch for him. Nevertheless, he tries everything, but does not come up against the superiority of Bruno, certainly not alone. He is cheered on, lies on the ring floor, becomes a plaything of Williams, but does not let himself be pinned. It’s a rebellion that makes you wonder: How do you want to win this? But giving up is not an option. Then Bruno again and a bit you have to wonder if the two of them will leave him alive. But then Olmo fights back, stands up against the giant, but does not manage the pin attempt. Renewed turmoil, Dynamite runs back to the ring, a dissolved Yaide after him, a – let’s say – dedicated Mendoza who wants to stop him, but respects his student’s decision and finally pushes Yaide away from the ring. No one can stop a wrestler. Honestly, when I first saw the recording, a fan video on Instagram, I was mad at Mendoza, he has a certain responsibility and in my opinion justin Dynamite should have stopped it. But on the one hand, he is responsible for himself and must know what he is doing, on the other hand, you can stop a real wrestler from absolutely nothing, on the third hand, it is too easy to always blame everything on Mendoza just because he is a welcome bruiser. (I’ll do it again later in the evening anyway.) So Dynamite is back, wants to be knocked off, Olmo denies it, has to put away the next attack and then crawls to his tag team partner. He seems to be so angry and furious (in pain) that he brutally attacks the freshly substituted opponent. Every action, every blow seems to hurt Dynamite himself, he is right-handed and the right shoulder is injured, but he is a professional wrestler, EPWD student and that is a quality feature. This only stops when one can no longer leave the ring independently – or is just pinned. This is also dynamite. Olmo attacks the two opponents with a chair, a mixture of anger and worry on his face, Yaide bends over her partner crying, this is something between tragedy, romance and real wrestling. The first match we saw really showed how high the level of fighters who train at EPWD and are in the ring is, how much you want to succeed, how far you go for it – and also how much you have developed. Hot contender for the match of the evening and absolutely worthy of a Master Series. The path of the injured will probably lead away from the island in the foreseeable future, one may believe rumors. It’s scary, but he deserves it so much and there’s a lot waiting for him out there. At this point once again good improvement to Justin Dynamite!
We continue with Felix Aldea. Admittedly, I could not do much with him for a long time, found him a bit too green behind the ears in “No Actors”, a bit like the emergency nail, which has to fill a gap and is also allowed to run, but the way is still very long. (Spoiler: The road may still be long, but a good distance has already been covered and in the meantime it has impressed me.) According to announced matches, he was not planned for this evening, but you have to compensate. (By the way, there’s a cutting error in the IWTV recording here that doesn’t matter in itself, but that shows the craft, this innocence, this uncanny effort to always deliver, to plan events, to carry out, to promote talent, to entertain viewers, to acquire fans, to record everything from different perspectives and then to cut, comment, not to wait too long for the release.) Back to “Master Series”, Aldea is in the ring. Who is coming now? Oh, Eros! “A man that is chosen by the Gods themselves,” commentators said. He’s feuding very passionately with Hijo del Enigma right now. He gets the boos, doesn’t care, it starts. Felix quickly proves his strength, seems to be able to get into the fight faster, tries out a lot of what he has learned, some things fail. It’s a technical match, a contrast to the previous fight. You just watch the two of them. Certainly you could comment on some moves, but this is quite boring when reading. I really catch myself just wanting to watch them, that’s a good sign. Many is the best referee choice in this case. He is level-headed, does his job well, also shows presence in the ring. Several pin attempts of both go nowhere and end at two. Drop Kicks, Spine Busters, Closelines – it’s still a bit of a search for your own style, for the finishing touches, but both still have the time and here also the platform to try it out. Eros eventually wins, which is no surprise, but Felix did very well here. I’m really impressed and think you have to keep an eye on it.
Already it goes on, just 30 minutes are over, an hour is still ahead of us. Now the fight of the evening: Negro Navarro & Espartaco against Pure Culture, El Gentil and Hijo del Enigma. It was a good choice to let the four meet. Technique and experience with some young esprit (Hijo del Enigma). They were looking forward to this fight and the two veterans are led to the stage with great jubilation. It’s like an award for the dojo and I really wouldn’t be typing and watching the fight at the same time if I hadn’t already seen it in its entirety. Watch the movie and enjoy! Of course, this was quickly declared with a wink to the fight Mexico against Puerto Rico and of course the audience is then on the side of Puerto Rico, of course, home advantage. By the way, the entrance is Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” and El Gentil jumps on the edge of the ring and rocks. Yes, he swings his hips, claps to the beat and asks the audience to join in, which also claps quite soon, waits for the chorus and then sings along from full throat, the music falls silent, the audience continues to sing. A magnificent scene! In general, El Gentil is in a mega good mood, a little rock star this evening. There we go. El Gentil and Negro Navarro face each other, the former still wants to shake hands, out of respect, the latter wastes no time and grabs the arm, which is artfully twisted. The Puerto Rican can free himself briefly, but is then promoted to the mat by the more experienced, slowly, almost lovingly. The pin is only prevented by one foot on the lower ring rope. The match is slow, dignified, as technical as you hardly see it anymore. It’s very old school and just beautiful. You see and feel mutual respect, no hatred, no destructive rage, no hitting each other. But pure technology, power through perfect wrestling. It’s something like slow wrestling, without being boring, with a lot of interaction with the spectators, with a lot of joy while watching. Navarro shows El Gentil when he attaches a sleeper hold that has no effect at all. But now others also want to get involved. Copying on both sides and Espartaco and Hijo del Enigma face each other. Immediately “Enigma, Enigma” is chanted, which Espartaco does not think is so great. The two are, if you can say that, a bit more reserved at the beginning, there is also more interaction with the audience than fought for a while. Both try a pin, but the shoulders are not on the mat, it is not even counted. For a short time, Enigma is in distress, not because of Espartaco, the closure of the mask under the chin has opened – but everyone understands this and simply incorporates this short break. Navarro is the only unmasked in this match, even the referee wears a mask (and boots). Suddenly, however, everyone is in the ring, it is discussed, then El Gentil and Espartaco remain. All of a sudden, a bit of speed comes in, then both go over the top rope and stay on the ground. In the ring, the two remaining ones go at each other. Enigma sends Navarro to the ground, twice. It’s going to be fast. The calm from the beginning is over, more moves are shown, Navarro literally knots the Puerto Rican and holds him, lying on his back, above him. This results in a problem that many overlook: If Navarro touches the mat with both shoulders, it would be considered a pin attempt by Enigma, the referee would only have to count and after three seconds everything would be over. Then it happens. Navarro wants to pin Enigma, pushes it over his head so that Enigma’s shoulders touch the ground. It seems impossible to get out of this, the referee counts: 1 – 2 – 3. That’s it! But for whom? Both fighters touched the ground with both shoulders (as far as visible from the spectator’s perspective). Who defeated whom and why? Both celebrate for a moment until they understand what happened. Then the referee gesticulates wildly and declares both to be losers. However, no one wants to be satisfied with that, the audience here is a bit too quiet for my terms, either they do not understand what is happening, or they do not care. I, on the other hand, totally celebrate this scene. What’s next? There are also Espartaco and El Gentil, who now want to go after each other and decide the match. El Gentil tries first, fails already at 1. Espartaco lets the referee count to 2. The Puerto Rican is cheered on, the two knot once again in the ring, but standing and then you don’t quite understand what is happening, because suddenly the referee ends the match and declares El Gentil the winner. You had to look very closely to understand that. Victory for El Gentil, right? No, victory for Puerto Rico! The referee pushes Enigma’s arm down decisively, no, the younger one did not win. However, the audience disagrees – and then comes the best solution ever: Everyone has won, El Gentil and Negro Navarro, Espartaco and Hijo del Enigma, Puerto Rico and Mexico. No, says the referee again, but he has no chance and finally leaves the ring. El Gentil grabs the microphone, thanks the opponents, the two legends and makes his admiration clear. Grand. Then he is again the rock star who sings “Livin’ on a Prayer” together with the audience, Navarro pretends to fall asleep. Then he takes the floor and asks for calm. He expresses his gratitude for the invitation, the struggle and this experience in Puerto Rico. A great final picture. Espartaco then sings. Can we just make a cut and end the evening? That’s just beautiful!
Sorry, but the cut is hard. We are just in the most beautiful party mood, cut, Mike Mendoza almost breaks out from behind the curtain (can we please put a chipboard for him, which he artfully destroys with this performance?). Yes, I admit it, I’m terrified the first time at this cut and its whirling. I wasn’t ready for that much power. Especially since you unfortunately hardly hear his music in the recording. We still have 40 minutes of video, two fights, an audience that just disappointed me again, except for a screaming woman you hear little approval, even some boos and anyway: Can’t you even celebrate the guy in his own hut? It’s an open challenge coming up, and if we’re honest, there’s not really a wide range of opponents to choose from. My tip was Alfredo Melies. Well, now the landlord appears first, visibly in a better mood than last time, grabs the microphone. Short announcement, Entrance Melies. Of course, it can only be he who promises to be good. Mendoza applauds and rewards the courage of his opponent, then he makes sure that the seats are cleared, so it will probably just go through the rows of chairs, the only question is who will be thrown. He creeps restlessly and at the same time smoothly through the ring like a black big cat and immediately reminds me of Rilke’s poem “The Panther”. This time he seems highly concentrated, he seems to have raised his fitness level again for the LAWE Summerfest and to keep it (well, what else would be very strange); he seems even more trained and strong, wiry, agile, but also restless and serious, sometimes searching. As is so often the case, he stretches out his hand to his opponent at the beginning, handshake, Alfredo wants to turn away, is held back and gets a kick in the face. This attack seems so unpredictable, so brutal, so inappropriate. Melies immediately goes to the ground, rolls out of the ring, Mendoza takes a run, pounces on him, finally puts him on a chair, psst, you have to hear the blows. But then Melies fends off an attack and is now the one who strikes and starts a run, but is again hard repelled. In the end, Mendoza jumps on him, seems to be hard to hold, in rage, for whatever reason. He has found a very worthy opponent here, who certainly stands up to him, but the landlord does not want to lose under any circumstances, that is not on the plan for today. Back into the ring and a first pin attempt, but the challenger pulls the shoulder up. Real? Well, then just move on. Melies in the corner of the ring, there is always a riot from him, then El Escorpion fights back, so clearly superior here, as if this were a training fight. This brutality does not seem to belong here, not in the dojo, not in this ring. There have been some tough encounters here, but why is Mendoza ticking off like this? Everyone here knows that he can win against Melies , that he would only need a fraction of the toughness he shows here. So what went into him? There is a scene in which both seem wait-and-see, but not on each other, but on something else. Initially, I had criticized this, but after seeing the entire match, I knew it was just a brief moment that didn’t last. But something still has to happen. Does Yaide storm into the ring – that was my secret hope after her match had to be cancelled – or does someone else show up in the ring who wants to mess with the master and rush to Melies ‘ aid? I didn’t want to write this, but I just have to: Mike, this brutality, this precision in kicks and punches, this absolute dominance, this anger, that we sometimes want from you in LAWE Matches, when you sell yourself a little too cheaply. Again it hails punches and kicks, otherwise you can not describe the match. For a short time, Melies dominates with Flying Ellbows, a decent closeline and a missile dropkick, and is immensely celebrated for it. It even comes to the pin attempt, which the referee messes up. It takes him far too long to finally arrive, to finally start counting. Short break for Mendoza, who can kick himself free, Melies makes it clear what he thinks of the action. Neckbreaker by Melies, he now leads clearly and automatically the tension increases, you stare spellbound at the screen, does El Academico manage to defeat the Scorpion? Again, the referee fails, who generally does not show his best performance here. Mendoza rolls out of the ring, but Alfredo is now angry and brings him back. He climbs on the top rope, Mendoza pushes the referee, who falls against it and thereby brings melies down. Immediately the attacker is on his feet, senses a chance, now climbs on the top rope, but Melies rolls out of the way. The two fight doggedly, pin attempt – or not? – Mendoza can only escape this by holding on to the rope, but the opponent has other things in mind, weighs Mendoza on the shoulders and starts an enormous power bomb. That must have been it, right? Again it only goes up to 2. Mendoza seems visibly battered, but then he defends himself, three kicks against the challenger, who counters with German Suplex and Closeline, climbs on the top rope, Mendoza rolls away, the scene of just repeats itself, now he stands on the top rope, jumps Melies on the back, tries to pin, the referee counts at top speed, but still only makes it to 2. What’s going on? How partisan is the impartial? Helpless, Mendoza sits on the ground. What else can he do? Well, again, he pounces on the opponent to the finisher , presses his shoulders on the ground, the referee can not count even faster – Melies kicks out! And yes, you are happy about it. Mendoza, on the other hand, seems as if his skins are slowly swimming away, what else is he supposed to do? He can’t demand an Open Challenge here and then lose? At least he didn’t expect that. Melies goes there is angry and builds up behind the landlord, roars, a bit questioning, confused, irritated Mike turns to him, both get up, Mendoza is faster – and then the pin attempt finally succeeds. He smiles, lets himself be celebrated, but hardly anyone celebrates him. Then he applauds his challenger and finally praises him: You really have eggs. Thank you for this match.
Yes, you have to say thank you, because we have been offered something here. All due respect, that was good. But then there is unrest in the hall and the fans, what’s going on? Why is “Oooh Pedro Portillo” sung? And angry like a little poison dwarf who has been stolen Snow White, the LAWE Champion trudges into the Espiritu Fitness Center. The pictures quickly went through the social media channels – and it was the first time that I couldn’t think of anything about it. It felt wrong, an unauthorized intrusion into the dojo, an invasion of the sacred halls, a place that had its own rules and stories, which, despite everything, was far removed from LAWE, from feuds there. A place where it was about something different. But he’s here, he lets himself be celebrated by the Los Muchachos , storms into the ring, jumps around. “What are you doing here?”, Mendoza asks and presses the microphone to his chest. Portillo does not appreciate him at all, looks like a king at his people in front of the ring. Then he gives his speech that the event would be better if he were there and the ring was finally filled with glory now that he was in it. Mendoza holds it with the Greek poet Aesop and demands: Hic Rhodus, hic salta! – well, literally, he asks the invader to settle the matter here and now. And then the landlord gets a blow in the back, which throws him to the ground. Fists and feet beat and kick him, as does Melies . Reckless Harris Williams and Baltazar Bruno have come into the ring and apparently chose their side. While Portillo reacts a bit to Melies , El Gentil and Hijo del Enigma storm in and drive away the new allies, screams from the audience, threats from the opponents. And then it is made clear that there will be a showdown in November at the Espiritu Fitness Center – Mendoza just nods with a superior grin. What? To be completely honest, I’m divided about this mix of promotions and storylines. Of course, there is a certain tradition in Puerto Rico to mix everything up a bit, that has gone very wrong a few times, some things became very personal at some point. You push each other through it and every wrestling fan on the island knows all the storylines anyway, because it’s just a manageable framework. But this eternal feud Mendoza – Portillo sometimes has a certain nerve factor, as it does not go on. Everyone turns against Mendoza, he always has to lose, nobody really understands the reasons anymore and you want to see something different. Not an overpowering Portillo who does not defend his title, but simply holds it, not a losing Mendoza, who could be so much better and is technically absolutely superior to a Portillo. Portillo has other strengths, he can do something, no question. Now the whole thing breaks into EPWD with its own stories and stars. Yes, maybe there was a lack of opponents for Mendoza, maybe he is bored, all understandable, I don’t want to question the well-thought-out plan behind it, that would be presumptuous. But from the viewer’s point of view, this can get boring and as an EPWD viewer you really expect something special, something big, something … well, Portillo can’t just pull the ring, Dennis Rivera can’t just intervene, Cuervo and Rivas can’t lurk in the background and also pounce on Mendoza (theoretically yes, but there has to be a bit of variety). Or will the Tag Team Champions of LAWE be replaced by Fuerza Recia without further ado , the ring comes along and the referee is then randomly bribed and turns against Mendoza? Whatever happens in November, we give the event a chance, it will not be boring, because mendoza will hardly jeopardize the reputation of his dojo for this feud.
Back to the “Mater Series”, a fight is still missing. At the time of the announcement, I was of the assumption that it was a title match, but far from it. Challenger Androide 787 can only fight for the chance of a title match against El Atleta Manu this evening. Well, why not? The two are the longest students of the dojo, have already proven themselves in different rings, Manu has been the undisputed champion for over his year and of course there are many who want to change that. The radiant Sunnyboy Android 787 first enters the ring, then the “Manu, Manu” chanting starts and the Champ appears. He makes it clear to whom the title belongs and that he wants to make a very short trial with the challenger, almost his demand for “No Actors” was an insult. And something else bothers him: Mendoza had given Android this fight for the chance to win the title. When will there finally be opponents here who have really earned their title chances? Androide is not very impressed by this, because today he wants to show Manu clearly how he deserves this chance. Before the gong sounds, he races towards Manu, attacks him, but Referee Many wants a clear beginning and separates the two. A short break in the fast, tough attack against the defending champions. He doesn’t look like the worthy EPWD champion, but then he stands outside the ring and gains the upper hand. With force he throws android on the floor, hits him with a chair, throws him through the rows, back into the ring. Disrespect cannot and will not leave Manu, he makes that clear. There are a few moves that aren’t okay, but referee Many lets them go through. When the two are out of the ring again, this time sideways towards the exit, the injured Bengie Lopez has to hurriedly get up from his chair and limp – oh, how much we miss Bengie Lopez after his LAWE debut! Android flies against the door and remains lying down. Manu roars, goes around the ring once, he looks like a gorilla in rage, as if King Kong had taken away the White Woman – but today it’s not even about the title. Manu first concentrates on his opponent’s back, then brutally pulls him by the hair, when Many finally intervenes, an angry discussion breaks out between the two. What happened in Manu? It’s already clear that the match isn’t pretty, not even good in a way, it’s just brutal and it almost seems as if you want to completely kick these beautiful, technical matches that you had seen earlier in the evening out of the minds of the spectators. Mendoza vs. Melies was already rough, but here and there he still had his certain approaches and phases that were not determined by brute force. But this one? Does he want to hurt his challenger? It seems as if he really wants to hurt him at all costs, stomp him into the ground. The crowd is loud, a bit scratched, but you also notice that not everyone is so unrestricted behind it anymore. The pins remain attempts, as much as Manu tries, Android does not give up. There are moments when you wonder what the first two dojo students have learned in all these years. The principles such as respect and honor were probably less so. At least they don’t show them here. In between, Android regains the upper hand, shows some nice moves, tries the pin, but Many takes far too long to react. Manu uses the time, then he rolls out of the ring, battered, but far from finished. He throws a cup into the face of the other, new pin attempt. Finally, Androide concentrates on the arm of Manu, weakens him significantly, wants to force Manu to give up. The referee overlooks the foot on the rope for far too long. What is going on? Is this an Extreme Rules match without you knowing it? A little later the same game in the middle of the ring, but this time Manu can free himself. He now has problems with his right arm, but that only makes him angrier. A jump, android dodges, overwhelms Manu, pins him. The ring corrector counts Manu out, overlooks his hand on the rope, which would have meant an immediate termination of the pin attempt . Strangely enough, however, the match is not officially ended by bell. Manu discusses, the audience discusses, Many looks around irritated, android lies exhausted on the ground, does not really know what happened. Many decides to keep the match going. What? It’s like the video referee decision in the Bundesliga – and that sucks, let’s be honest. Nobody really understands what’s going on anymore. Android thinks he has won, Manu, he has lost, Many now holds the arm of Android up and declares him the winner, Manu knocks down the challenger from behind with the title belt and goes at him, now the gong sounds and marks the official end of the fight. What’s going on here, please? It goes blow by blow, everything happens so insanely fast, so that you hardly notice the individual facets. Eros storms into the ring to come to the aid of his beloved, Manu immediately sends him to the mat and disappears into the locker room. He comes back with cable ties, pulls android out of the ring, ties him to the ring posts. The audience grins, Manu reaches for the kendostick, which has been held up all the time. That will hurt. And honestly: is this necessary? Manu strikes hard, is cheered on, it is like a brutal rocking up of a wild mob. The cable ties tear, Android lies on the floor, but Manu is not finished yet, trudges into the ring and hits Eros. The Kendostick has long since been broken, splinters have flown through the audience, the reaction to it later on social media is semi-positive. This is just carnage and this doesn’t have to be and please be stopped. Why do you destroy an event like “Master Series” there so much? A new Kendostick, more blows hit Eros, then Android jumps into the ring to save his beloved, but goes to the ground under the blows. Far too late, El Gentil and Mike Mendoza arrive in the ring and drive away Manu, who is celebrating. And the landlord kneels next to the battered android, but grins at a certain person in the audience holding one of the broken kendosticks in his hand and makes a special gesture. Why mentioned? I love dirty little details and this time I was pretty reluctant to do so. But above all, because I already know who is there and how important this person seems to have become for EPWD and that the choice to put the kendostick for Manu in his hand was quite good. But it was unnecessary in my eyes. “Master Series” shouldn’t have been as brutal and bloody as Mendoza and Manu did. Yes, that’s also part of wrestling, there are champions here too, but it’s not the best way to end an evening with Navarro and Espartaco, who have shown something completely different here.
What remains as a conclusion? The criticism is minimal and limited to the brutality, which would not have bothered me at other events, but just didn’t quite fit in here for me. But leaves open the question of whether there will be some kind of EPWD extreme rules – which will probably be answered with a clear no, because the location is too small and the safety of the audience can not be guaranteed and the wrestlers can not really let off steam. My favorite of the evening is clearly Justin Dynamite, who delivered a convincing, great fight despite injury and showed what it means to be a professional wrestler. Grand! Android 787 has also delivered, which has earned the title chance in my eyes. We have a great new tag team with Baltazar Bruno and Harry Williams, which hopefully will remain – and to whom I already predict a great chance of various tag team titles. Great idea to bring the two together – and please against Mike Mendoza and Mark Davidson, this will be an absolute main event! I can’t name the match of the evening. Highlight was of course Negro Navarro & Espartaco vs. Pure culture, no question about it. But also Mendoza vs. Melies was good and very exciting, albeit a very different approach. I was deeply impressed by the first Tag Team Match. Therefore, all three share this space. All in all, once again a successful event that was set up here, variety, excitement, surprises, good fights, a bit too many Extreme Rules for this event and again a presentation of the further development of the wrestlers and a proof of the development and quality of Espiritu Pro Wrestling Dojo.
Stage Reptiles - Webzine 