The Puerto Rican wrestling scene started in 2019 with its usual uncertainty. At the start of the year, WWC was still doing poorly and the Colons were still under WWE. Meanwhile, the best promotion of the previous year, World Wrestling League, had an exodus of stars that included Mecha Wolf 450. For their part, Championship Wrestling Association (CWA) had two shows that featured a platitude of stars but drew too little of a crowd. Not even Marty Scurll, Mesias and Nick Aldis could save the promotion for its own downfall. Finally, International Wrestling Promotion (IWA PR), with Savio Vega, was set to return to the Puerto Rican wrestling scene.
All of these elements presented a shallow view of the Puerto Rican wrestling. But, during the second half of the year, the scene on the island finally saw some positive results.
WWL landed an iPPV deal with Fite Tv and did two of such shows. The company for the second iPPV drew its largest crowd in the year (1000 fans) and had probably the match of the year. The first iPPV, although small, still put them as the top promotion of the island. WWL average close to 300 fans per show and had the best stars on the island. Mike Mendoza, Angel Fashion and Star Roger, previously neglected stars by Carlos Colon’s WWC, became their top stars. Moreover, young prospects like Justin Dynamite and Mark Davidson rose up to prominence. With IWA PR losing steam and CWA having a mass exodus, WWL ended up having the best roster of the island.
What’s Next for Puerto Rican Wrestling in 2020
WWC brought back the Colon family, who are still under contract with WWE (except of course for Carlito). They had rough starts, but by Aniversario, they quickly rose up from the shambles that was their previous year. Epico Colon became for the first time of his career WWC Universal Champion; Primo Colon turned heel and Ray Gonzalez (a legend for the past 25 years in Puerto Rico) retired and took a more passive role.
IWA PR returned and had a lot going on. They snatched the best stars from the WWL (at that point the top promotion of 2018) and did a massive return tour on the island. They brought back classics like El Mesias, Apolo, Shane de Glamour Boy, Miguel Perez Jr. and of course, Savio Vega. Things were going smooth, but as always, the nostalgia ran out. IWA PR fell for the trap and started to have trouble with attendance and payments. Puro Mucho, their best young heel group, went back to WWL because of these troubles. Moreover, they didn’t land a television deal that could keep them alive.
CWA had a lot going on for them at the start of the year. They rested their trust on Justin Dynamite as their CWA World Champion and quickly faced him against All Elite Wrestling Star, Christopher Daniels (Justin won). But then, he exited the company. Moreover, after doing big shows in Puerto Rico’s Convention Center, they went back to local gyms in rural neighborhoods. It seemed that the experiment of going mainstream in Puerto Rico failed, giving the investor massive loss. Now the company is starting again with El Cuervo de Puerto Rico as their main champion.
So what to expect for 2020? WWC is going to the offensive to reclaim their throne. WWL still has the best roster, but WWC has a better television deal and bigger stars like the Colons. Now it seems that Konnan has some kind of deal with the company, which might bring other AAA wrestlers to WWC, as was the case with Texano Jr.
The successful WWL has a show planned for January, but they lost steam after canceling their Black Xmas show back in December. Moreover, they didn’t explain to fans about the situation. The big roster and quality of matches will be there, but it seems that WWL is still searching for that mainstream recognition the WWC seems to still possess. They also need to change their title belt back to Mike Mendoza (or another wrestler), because Angel Fashion is failing as their main champion.
IWA PR had some title changes, with Puro Macho looking on the outside. Savio Vega is swimming against the tide and the end might come at any moment. Their main champion is Mr.Big, someone who can hold the title for a while but can’t be the main star.
Finally, CWA have their hopes with Cuervo de Puerto Rico. He’s their biggest star to hold the title since Star Roger and Jay Lethal two years ago. They need to develop new stars, but that monopoly goes to WWL. CWA has its Guerra de Reyes show scheduled for January, but the hype is not there.
