WWC had a great year in 1974, as they basically began that year from the bottom and increased the fans’ interest in their product. As I stated, the first year of the WWC was a hard one because they had to penetrate the mass of fans and that wasn't so easy because other wrestling promotions in Puerto Rico were already established and fans were familiar with other names. But they began 1975 expecting to do the best for them...and finally they reached the goal. 

January saw the defense of the Junior Title, a title that Carlos Colón had won in December from Dick Steinborn.  Actually, most people thought that Colón never won the Junior Title, but I have the newspaper clip that mentions Colón defending the title. 

Also in January came the most famous heel in Puerto Rico during the 70's: Pierre Martel. Also known worldwide as Frenchy Martin with his WWF persona, Martel was very hated in Puerto Rico since 1975 with his gimmick, the loaded boot. His most famous feud came years later, in 1978, when his brother Michel died after a match in Puerto Rico. 

During January, WWC announced that they had contacted a famous Mexican wrestler, El Santo to be part of a tour on February. That was a point that some people thought that finally WWC had reached a pinnacle because it wasn't easy to get El Santo to do matches. Also in January came the top heel of that era to WWC, a wrestler billed as Dr. Klokid. Finally in January, was the first WWC presentation with El Santo. 

February began with El Santo in some matches for WWC. Also, one of Santo's movies, La Noche de San Juan, was recorded there and some of the matches of his stint were recorded and you can see some of the talent that WWC had in February 1975 on the movie.  Ox Baker returned. Santo wrestled Rebelde Rojo and won Rebelde's  mask. February saw the WWC debut of Cowboy Bob Ellis as a babyface. Also the second Martel brother came to Puerto Rico, Michel.  

WWC's competition, L&G promotion, presented a card in February with Lou Thesz facing Hiro Matsuda. Also they had local talent, such as Huracan Castillo (better known to US fans of the era as Fidel Castillo), Maravilla (Raoul Castillo), Castro Salvaje and others. Other foreign talent were Baron Scicluna, Karl Von Stroheim and Boris Malenko.

March saw the debut in Puerto Rico of another big animal, Eric the Red. Meanwhile Shaft Thomas has been wrestling during the time as a babyface. At the end of the month, in a match that was for the North American Tag Team Title, the champions, that lost the title in the match, Ciclón Sudamericano and Vikingo, split up with Ciclón ending as a babyface.

WWC rival L&G presented 2 shows on the month, with the first one being a tournament for the NWA Caribbean Title, with Toru Tanaka winning it. Although I don't have the details of the tournament, it seems that Jose Lothario was the last man in the finals against Tanaka as the next show Tanaka defended it against Lothario. Talent from USA that came to that promotion was Roberto Soto, The Mongolian Stomper, Dick Slater, Bob Roop, Bob Armstrong, The Assassin, Johnny Weaver and Tony Parisi (all for the tournament) and Jim Dillon, Haystacks Calhoun and Jim Dillon for an upcoming event in March.

During April, the most feared team was The Martel Brothers, who were running away from the local idols, Jose Rivera and Carlos Colón. Colón and Rivera offered 'money' to the Martels to get a match against the team that were billed as being from Paris, France. That became one of the hottest feuds for the following months. Eric the Red was a regular during the month, that also had Tony Charles and Klokid (sometimes spelled Klokied). Female wrestlers Pat Sherry and Liz Laverne did a tour then.

May was a slow month as local wrestlers were used mainly with Michel and Pierre Martel as the main heels, having almost all the Tag Team matches as the main event of the shows. At the end of the month, May 31 by the way, they had a card with Eric The Red, Bob Ellis and Dick Steinborn returning to WWC. On that card, May 31, to motivate fans to go to the show, Carlos Colón and Jose Rivera wrestled The Martel Brothers in a hair match. Colón and Rivera won the match and the Martels lost their hair.

June saw Bruce Swayze returning to WWC. A new wrestler by the name The Spoiler debuted in WWC. That Spoiler, to my best knowledge, was a Puerto Rican wrestler. I have received a note from a friend that Don Jardine worked with WWC but I never confirmed that. Eric the Red continued to be an attraction with his bone. Kurt Von Hess came to WWC on that month and allied himself with the Martel Brothers.

July was a month where minis Sky Low Low and Little Blue Boy came as an attraction. For the first week of the month, Carlos Colón and José Miguel Perez didn't wrestle here, as they wrestled the IWA promotion in the USA and had a good match against the Love Brothers, Hartford and Reginald.

August was a month where Tony Charles continued work on the undercard. Vikingo, Ciclón, Barrabás, Bob Morgan and other local talents continued to be regulars there. Spoiler was moved into top matches, getting a second Spoiler, told to be a wrestler named Harold Young, from CT, that years later (early 90's) was arrested in a drug related case. WWC signed Baby Face Cannon, a wrestler that in one of the local indies was Hugo Savinovich’s partner as The Babyfaces. Ernie Ladd returned to the promotion.

During a TV taping, Carlos Colón put his hair against the Spoiler’s mask. Spoiler used an object and scored a pinfall over Carlos and Carlos lost his 'afro' hair style. Liz Laverne and Pat Sherry came at the end of the month for a tour.

WWC competition had now Arturo Mendoza, who for years was one of the local promoters. He was Mexican and used good workers, such as La Muerte Vengadora (who later became one of the most famous Mexican wrestlers in Puerto Rico, La Muerte 1), Castro Salvaje, La Bestia, Victor Lebrón, Black Georgie, Leandro (aka Beautiful Charlie), Chief Cherokke and Johnny Rivera, among others. The Martels left WWC in September as the island saw a team of unknown wrestlers succeed in WWC. They were Bull Gregory and Ali Baba. They won the North American Title. I don't know who they were up against (any info is welcome) but an Ali Baba wrestled on the IWA promotion when Carlos Colón and Jose Miguel Perez wrestled in July for that promotion. The minis came again, (Low Low and Blue). Also came other minis later that month: Kid Chocolate & Chiribibi. I believe that Chiribibi was a local mini wrestler. Another newcomer to WWC was Oddjob Tosh Togo. Ben Ortiz also worked for the promotion. WWC's competition, (Mendoza's promotion) continued to bring good shows all over the island.

October saw Tosh Togo, with his traditional hat, become the most hated wrestler, feuding with the Puerto Rican champion Jose Miguel Perez over the title. Togo won the title on that month.

The most hottest team against Bull Gregory and Ali Baba were Jose Rivera and El Ciclon. On WWC's competition, Dominican wrestlers Jack Veneno & El Puma wrestled against Los Hermanos Muerte in one of the best shows for Mendoza in a while.

November saw Ernie Ladd returning to the promotion and Gregory and Baba defeating all their opponents and combinations of wrestler that faced them. The Spoilers continued to be another regular team and local heroes were, as always, Jose Rivera, Perez & Colón. Bob Ellis returned and teamed with Perez against Gregory and Baba.

December was a great month for Rivera and Colón, when they put up their hair against the Spoilers mask. Rivera and Colón unmasked the Spoilers. During the end of that year, they announced Victor Rivera as coming in. I don't know if he actually wrestled on the cards announced (Dec-25 & Dec-27) as in January 1976 his name didn't appear on the cards announced by WWC. Female wrestlers Pat Sherry and Liz Laverne and minis Bobo Johnson and Little John were announced, as well a match between Ernie Ladd against Cowboy Bob Ellis.

NEXT MONTH:

I will cover 1980 because it was a year that changed the life of several local wrestlers, especially Invader 1, because it was the year that Pierre Martel turned face in WWC.