Late 2000s TNA Wrestling was pretty magical. You were getting some dope matches, you had a roster that you wanted to see win, and—at this time—TNA wasn’t bad with its trade agreements. Oh, the company brought in a lot of talent including Judas Mesias.
King Muertes in TNA
First off, I’d love to see Lucha Destruction King Quartro in IMPACT as Mil Muertes. If you’re wondering who are the other three: L.A Park, Psycho Clown, and Dr. Wagner Jr. Following a strong career in IWA Puerto Rico as Ricky Banderas and in AAA as El Mesias, he had made some waves in Spanish-speaking wrestling circles.
He would arrive in TNA in September 2007 but had been promoted earlier in the summer. Mesias basically used the same dark, evil badass gimmick that he used in AAA and Wrestling Society X, so he didn’t have to fit into an all-new character or anything. The one tweak is that Mesias is kind of sort of James Mitchell’s son.
Mitchell and Abyss had split at this time and just like Paul Bearer, Mitchell found a morbid goon to spank his former charge. Mesias would have to sit out some months for a health issue following his debut match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIpZ2NCPh4E
When he returned, it was all cylinders against Abyss. I vividly remember watching this feud on FSN and felt that TNA finally found a regular, reoccurring dance partner for Abyss. After all, Abyss wrestled Puerto Rico regularly while with the company as it was transitioning out of the NWA, he was familiar and extremely strong at their hardcore style—he could work with Mesias easily.
Mil Muertes’ career was ultra brief in TNA. He and Abyss faced off at Final Resolution 2008 where he won and lost to Abyss in a Barbed Wire Massacre bout at Against All Odds—then he was gone.
Salvaging Judas Mesias
I’m not entirely sure Mesias should be salvaged. He went on to bigger and better things outside of TNA while the company was down bad then down horrendous. The gimmick was fine, in-ring he was pretty good and would get better as a brawler, and he had James Mitchell so he didn’t need to speak. However, that time would come when he would need to hold his own on the mic and that can be very high risk.
If anything, I would’ve liked more to the feud and for there to be some kind of stakes involved. This was another “Total Non-Stop Abyss” feuds where you’re going to get the barbed wire and/or tacks so just be ready. This is one of those salvage topics where I feel salvaging isn’t necessary.
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