World Wrestling Council
| WWC Puerto Rico logo | |
| Acronym | WWC-PR |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 13, 1973 |
| Style | Professional wrestling, sports entertainment, Hardcore wrestling |
| Headquarters | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Founder(s) | Carlos Colón Victor Jovica Gorilla Monsoon |
| Owner(s) | Victor Jovica Carlos Colón, Sr. |
| Formerly | Capitol Sports Promotions (1973 - 1995) Caribbean Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Council (1995-2016) |
| Website | wwcpr.net |
The WWC Puerto Rico (WWC-PR) or (Consejo De Lucha del Mundo) and (Las Súperestrellas De la Lucha Libre) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor Jovica, and Gorilla Monsoon. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance until 1988. By the mid-1990s, the promotion had changed its name to the World Wrestling Council.
In November 2018, WWE acquired the WWC video library.[1]
History
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Capitol Sports Promotions, with Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica and Gorilla Monsoon as promoters/co-owners of the organization, was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) until late 1988, when Gorilla Monsoon left. The company then went bankrupt (as confirmed by Victor Quiñones in an interview with prwrestling.com). Following this, Thomas Collado became the owner in 1976, before Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica.
Capitol Sports Promotions gained fame in Puerto Rican homes soon after their TV show, Super Estrellas de la Lucha Libre, went on-air every weekend on channel 4, WAPA-TV. The taped show is still aired on weekends (both Saturday and Sunday for two hours until March 2008 when it was reduced to one hour on both Saturdays and Sundays due to declining ratings). From 1973 to 1980 it aired on channel 11 ( "Telecadena Perez Perry", then on "Teleonce" after the before mentioned went off the air), on channel 7 on Sunday evenings at 6pm and on "Telemundo" on Saturday mornings at 10am.
Capitol Sports Promotions began touring all over the island, and with the golden era of boxing in Puerto Rico limited only to Ponce and the metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, Capitol Sports Promotions took their shows to many, inner country towns where people were not used to seeing live in-ring sports events. As a result, Capitol's shows usually filled the smaller town arenas.
In 1983, Rickin Sanchez had taken over as Capitol's main promoter, as well as becoming one of the organization's broadcasters on the television shows. He was joined by the already retired Savinovich. Some time later, Sanchez (and his production company R & F Television) left the production of "Super Estrellas" due to some disagreements with the ownership of WWC. After these events, Savinovich became the main host of the programs.
The World Wrestling Council was a member National Wrestling Alliance from 1979 until 1987.
In 1988, American star Bruiser Brody was murdered in a WWC Anniversary event in Bayamon. The alleged murderer was fellow wrestler Jose Gonzalez, known as Invader I. Apparently, the two men had a real-life feud that led to a confrontation in the locker room, that concluded with Brody receiving various stab wounds to his chest. It is said that a "witness" to the series of events that ended in the murder was Tony Atlas (even though he was not an eye-witness of the murder itself, it is said he saw both men enter an area of the locker room, and then Invader leaving alone... moments later Brody was found).
After Brody's death, and the failed conviction of the suspected murderer, WWC went through some difficult years, due to the fact that the flow of wrestlers that came from the United States suddenly ended. In a crisis that the WWC never overcame, many wrestlers thought that the administration of the WWC actually helped Brody's murderer go free and actually allowed him to continue to wrestle after the events.
By the mid 1990s, the organization changed its official name to World Wrestling Council. Women also began to have an ever-increasing presence in the organization during that decade.
With the turn of the century came some changes that troubled the franchise. A small promotion called International Wrestling Association (IWA), promoted by Victor Quinones, became WWC's biggest competitor when it made an alliance with wrestling giant the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) which in turn brought American superstars to IWA.
Following the passing of Hurricane Maria over Puerto Rico, the WWC headquarters lost power for a prolonged time period due to infrastructure damage. In response, the promotion issued licenses to some of its wrestlers to participate in the local independent scene, barring some creative limitations that prevented them from being booked in clean defeats.[2] As of December 2017, WWC's one-hour weekend shows on WAPA-TV continued to rerun the last several episodes produced prior to Maria. Almost five months after the hurricane, WWC confirmed its return with new episodes of the weekend shows (consisting of newly-recorded commentary and interview segments mixed with repeats of high-profile matches) leading up to a new live event on March 3, 2018.[3]
On July 23, 2018, longtime talent Ramón Álvarez (a.k.a. El Bronco No. 1) and Engel Landolfi unveiled a spinoff based in the Dominican Republic, WWC DR, receiving the support of Colón and Jovica (who loaned both the trade name and logo for use).[4] Its first event was scheduled for October 28, 2018, featuring talent from both WWC (such as Carlito, Gilbert, Thunder and Lightning) and local competitor WWL (Superstar Ash, Ángel Fashion and Vanilla Vargas).[4]
Roster
| Ring name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Abbadon | |
| Anthony Roberts | |
| Bellito | WWC Television Champion |
| 'El Leon' Apolo | Occasional wrestler |
| Carlito | Occasional wrestler |
| El Comandante | Third member of Masked trio called "La Revolucion". |
| "El Hombre Bestia" Enyel | |
| Gilbert | |
| Jay-Cobs | |
| Khaos | |
| La Revolución | A masked tag-team whose members are not identified |
| Lightning | WWC World Tag Team Champion. |
| Mighty Ursus | |
| OT Fernandez | |
| Peter The Bad Romance | |
| Ray González | Also Manager of "El Sindicato" |
| Ray González Jr | |
| Rikochet | |
| Thunder | WWC World Tag Team Champion. |
| Xix Xavant | WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion |
Others
| Ring name | Notes |
|---|---|
| 'El Cariduro' Jose Herrera | Top commentator |
| El Wizard | Color commentator |
| Juan Manuel Ortega | Manager of "Khaos & Abbadon" |
| Orlando Toledo | Manager of "La Revolución" |
| Epico | Occasional wrestler Now under contract to WWE |
| Primo | Occasional wrestler Now under contract to WWE |
Referees
| Ring name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Cesar Artache | |
| Javier Torres | |
| Pelayito Vazquez | Also occasional wrestler |
| Francisco |
Main Wrestling Events
| Event name | Last held | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Camino a la Gloria | March 31, 2018[5] - April 1, 2018[5] | Manati - Mayaguez, Puerto Rico |
| La Hora de la Verdad | June 2, 2018[6] | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| WWC Aniversario | July 13, July 14 & July 15, 2018[7] | TBA, Puerto Rico |
Championships
Current
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship | Xix Xavant | 1 | September 16, 2018 | 2246 | Dorado, Puerto Rico |
| WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship | Pedro Portillo III | 1 | January 5, 2019 | 2135 | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| WWC World Tag Team Championship | Artillería Pesada (Thunder & Lightning) |
29 | November 3, 2018 | 2198 | Luquillo, Puerto Rico |
| WWC Television Championship | Bellito | 3 | January 5, 2019 | 2135 | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
Defunct and inactive
| Championship: | Final champion(s): | Date won: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trinidad & Tobago Heavyweight Championship | Ray Apollon | December 1981 | Abandoned 1982 (When TTWA breaks affiliation with WWC)[8] |
| Trinidad & Tobago Tag Team Championship | Gama Singh & Victor Jovica | May 1982 | Abandoned 1982 (When TTWA breaks affiliation with WWC)[9] |
| WWC North American Heavyweight Championship | Manny Fernandez | September 1991 | Abandoned October 1991 |
| NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Puerto Rico/WWC version) | The Hunters (Bob Brown and Dale Veasey) |
June 20, 1987 | Abandoned August 26, 1987 |
| WWC Latin American Heavyweight Championship | El Bronco | February 1990 | Abandoned June 1990 (This title was created for an interpromotional show on Dominican Republic with DWF vs WWC was billed to Huracan Castillo and then lost against Bronco on DR)[10] |
| WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship | The Latin Connection (Ray Gonzalez and Ricky Santana) |
September 28, 1991 | Abandoned December 1, 1991 |
| WWC Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship | Pierroth, Jr. | April 3, 1999 | Abandoned December 13, 1999 |
| WWC Dominican Republic Heavyweight Championship | El Bronco | September 22, 2001 | Abandoned October 2001 |
| WWC Hardcore Championship | Sabu | December 20, 2003 | Abandoned 2005 |
| WWC Women's Championship | Black Rose | September 24, 2011 | Abandoned December 31, 2011 |
| WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship | El Sensacional Carlitos | March 17, 2012 | Abandoned May 1, 2012 |
| WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship | Angel Cotto | August 27, 2017 | Abandoned March, 2018 |
See also
References
- ^ "WWE acquires World Wrestling Council (WWC) video library". PWInsider. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Contralona.com | San Juan | Contralona". Contralona.com | San Juan | Contralona. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
- ^ a b [2]
- ^ a b "WWC Lucha Libre". web.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-03-31.
- ^ Torres, Joel. "WWC: Fecha, lugar y cartelera del evento La Hora de la Verdad; Fechas de ANIVERSARIO 45". Contralona.com | San Juan | Contralona (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-14.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Se acerca.... "EL MAS GRANDE DE TODOS" ANIVERSARIO 45". Facebook (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-05-13.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/tri/tri-h.html
- ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/tri/tri-t.html
- ^ Ramón Álvarez (wrestler)
