Post by LankyLefty17 on Sept 17, 2019 18:17:22 GMT
Welcome to the Wrestling Monitor Rumor Mill, your one stop shop for all the news and rumblings in the world of Pro Wrestling! Here are the hot topics as we dive into the month of February…
There is still no word on the whereabouts of Vic Baron. There were those that had assumed he’d taken off for Europe, given his recent contract signing with SHTCWA and the European Wresting Union. But the company has confirmed that he has not reported to any of the press events to promote the new company, events that management was under the impression they had a verbal commitment from Vic. We hearing that there is growing concern over Vic’s whereabouts, and despite a seemingly obvious alibi its tough not to suspect Machine Gun Mayhem having a role in all this…
Add Midas Mathews of the famed Golden Touch Promotions to the list of people who left New Dawn a happy man. His tool of destruction, Colossus Rhodes, was successful in earning Doc Wyatt a title shot. But there is a lot of noise coming from that camp that dealings with the Wyatt’s and their “Jackson Hole Gang” are not over. Midas gives nothing away for free, and one has to assume that payment for last week’s match will not be small.
“Perfection” Jack Gold, who was last seen losing to Lucha La Barba in under 3 minutes, has been seen regularly working out at the Wonderland Dojo in his native Los Angeles- specifically with Stan “The Gold Standard” Classic. This seems significant for a number of reasons. Lucha La Barba is from the same camp. Warrior Pro has its own training center headed by Austin Baron. Jack Gold was kicked out of said camp- then immediately signed by the promotion, something that sources say has never sat right with Baron. It makes sense that Gold, who hasn’t looked good in his last couple matches and hasn’t been booked yet this year, would look for extra training near his home town and by the Dojo that produced the man that beat him so decisively. This is something we will continue to keep an eye on.
The recently announced Lucha POWER Supershow will almost definitely be getting a new date. The original date, March 8th, coincides with a festival in the area that will likely mean Arena de Antiguo will be unavailable. The current plan is to just run earlier in the week, but the promotion is expected to make an official announcement soon.
Speaking of Lucha POWER, with their first live show as a part of the deal struck with Warrior Pro Wrestling on the horizon, the Wrestling Monitor takes a moment to provide a brief history of the promotion…
Originally called Lucha Fantastico, the promotion dates back to at least the 1950’s and has always been based in the outer limits of Mexico City. Its owner and head promoter, El Gigante Guapo, was a 6’11’’ thunderous man who would run entire cards pitting himself against multiple luchadores, always come away victorious in the end. The shows and promotion were small, and despite decent crowds failed to attract much in the way of talent (mostly because the company was built around jobbing for El Gigante).
Sometime in the mid 60’s, with Gigante getting older and suffering from degenerative back issues, the promotion was handed over to Gigante’s son, El Guapo Hijo. El Guapo moved away from the freakshow wrestling of his father and looked to establish the promotion as a real home for the local lucha talent. A sudden influx of cash also helped the endeavor, though it was never clear where that cash came from. Despite the upgrade in talent and production, Lucha Fantastico still remained a second tier promotion and without El Gigante Guapo to fall back on, struggled to draw crowds. In a few short years, with mounting debts and a poor reputation within the locker room (primarily from only focusing on putting himself over), El Guapo Nino abandoned the promotion and disappeared. Most reports at the time stated that he simply left the country to avoid paying off the large amount of debt, but rumors exist that the El Guapo’s primary financial backers were in fact the cartel, and his disappearance may have been mob related.
In 1968 El Gigante died of a rare blood disease, and the promotion held on for a few more years before closing down. In 1978, out of the ashes of Lucha Fantastico came Lucha POWER, which was founded by a group of small time promoters that had invested in the previously defuct promotion. They maintained mostly the same roster of talent, but the promotion took off with the rise of Blue Puma. Blue Puma would become one of the most popular Lucha’s in the country, and vault the promotion to national prominence throughout the rest of the decade. In the mid 1980’s, the promotion would continue growing with a new star- El Macho- carrying the mantle. The promotion would expand beyond Mexico, bringing in popular American talent such as Tank McDaniel and Wrecking Ball Allen which would bring international prominence. Unfortunately the increased fame would result in increased costs, and as the wrestling boom waned, Lucha POWER saw its debts again rise. This was compounded by the promotions stars aging and a lack of new talent to carry the promotion into the turn of the century. By 2015 the company was broke and on the verge of shutting down. In 2017, El Macho bought the promotion outright with a goal of refocusing the company around young, up and coming stars. The company opened with a tournament to crown the first champion of the new era, only for the winner, Red Demon II, to suffer a career ending injury just 6 months later. It is then that El Macho reached out to an old friend, Tank McDaniel, to put in place a partnership with Warrior Pro Wrestling. Lucha POWER is hoping the new exposure and an exciting roster will return the promotion to its former glory…
Sometime in the mid 60’s, with Gigante getting older and suffering from degenerative back issues, the promotion was handed over to Gigante’s son, El Guapo Hijo. El Guapo moved away from the freakshow wrestling of his father and looked to establish the promotion as a real home for the local lucha talent. A sudden influx of cash also helped the endeavor, though it was never clear where that cash came from. Despite the upgrade in talent and production, Lucha Fantastico still remained a second tier promotion and without El Gigante Guapo to fall back on, struggled to draw crowds. In a few short years, with mounting debts and a poor reputation within the locker room (primarily from only focusing on putting himself over), El Guapo Nino abandoned the promotion and disappeared. Most reports at the time stated that he simply left the country to avoid paying off the large amount of debt, but rumors exist that the El Guapo’s primary financial backers were in fact the cartel, and his disappearance may have been mob related.
In 1968 El Gigante died of a rare blood disease, and the promotion held on for a few more years before closing down. In 1978, out of the ashes of Lucha Fantastico came Lucha POWER, which was founded by a group of small time promoters that had invested in the previously defuct promotion. They maintained mostly the same roster of talent, but the promotion took off with the rise of Blue Puma. Blue Puma would become one of the most popular Lucha’s in the country, and vault the promotion to national prominence throughout the rest of the decade. In the mid 1980’s, the promotion would continue growing with a new star- El Macho- carrying the mantle. The promotion would expand beyond Mexico, bringing in popular American talent such as Tank McDaniel and Wrecking Ball Allen which would bring international prominence. Unfortunately the increased fame would result in increased costs, and as the wrestling boom waned, Lucha POWER saw its debts again rise. This was compounded by the promotions stars aging and a lack of new talent to carry the promotion into the turn of the century. By 2015 the company was broke and on the verge of shutting down. In 2017, El Macho bought the promotion outright with a goal of refocusing the company around young, up and coming stars. The company opened with a tournament to crown the first champion of the new era, only for the winner, Red Demon II, to suffer a career ending injury just 6 months later. It is then that El Macho reached out to an old friend, Tank McDaniel, to put in place a partnership with Warrior Pro Wrestling. Lucha POWER is hoping the new exposure and an exciting roster will return the promotion to its former glory…