Professional wrestling in Puerto Rico

The storylines in Puerto Rico have historically revolved around the "foreign heel" formula, with local wrestlers obtaining victories over notable figures that include Ric Flair, Harley Race, Hulk Hogan, Terry Funk, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Hall, Booker T, Samoa Joe and Curt Hennig among several others.

This hybrid version became common among Puerto Rican wrestlers that permanently settled in the United States, with Pedro Morales using a cannonball dive and Gilberto "Gypsy Joe" Meléndez being the first to jump successfully from the top of a steel cage onto an opponent, a move that later became associated with Jimmy Snuka.

These were subsequently blended into the prevalent style imposed by Colón and his predecessors, with also the inclusion of some high-risk aerial moves innovated locally, such as Miguel Pérez Jr.'s back flip senton over the top rope towards an opponent outside the ring.

WWC brought in established wrestlers from the United States, Canada and Japan, adopting a formula where they would win the championship by employing illegal tactics, only to lose it back to him in a bloody match to conclude the feud.

During this timeframe, the International Wrestling Association also used the strategy to further the careers of emerging talents, Germán Figueroa and Gilbert Cosme (also known as "Ricky Banderas"), who bested Super Crazy, Diamond Dallas Page and Scott Hall among others in their route to becoming main event performers.

[12] Since then, the local promotions have continued to employ this tactic, with the latest notable example taking placing at the IWA's Golpe de Estado 2010, where both Dennis and Juan "Savio Vega" Rivera went over Daniel Bryan on the same night.

[25] In order to directly compete with L&G Promotion, which had a roster that included Dusty Rhodes, Mike Graham, Pak Song, Bill Watts, Ron Fuller, Buddy Roberts, Terry Brown, Les Thornton, Greg Valentine, Jerry Brisco, Don Muraco and Dory Funk, Capitol Sports began relying on gimmick matches.

[25] The Canadian and independent circuits also served a main source of foreign talent, with the inclusion of performers such as “Cowboy” Bob Ellis, Tor Kamata, Odd Job Tosh Togo, Dick Steinborn, The Infernos, The Kangaroos, Pampero Firpo, Toru Tanaka, Higo Hamaguchi, Gordon Nelson, Antonino Rocca, Bruno Sammartino, Hartford Love, Jim Dalton, Bruce Swayze, Daniel Martel, Afa & Sika, Jack Evans and Larry Sharpe.

Other foreign talent that visited Capitol Sports during the 1970s includes Cowboy Bob Ellis, Eric The Red, The Samoans, Ox Baker, Kendo Kimura, the Martel Family, Dutch Mantel, Hartford Love and Ernie Ladd.

[28] Several Puerto Rican wrestlers and some foreign talents led by Juan Rivera and Tony Atlas, have stated that Huertas-González entered the locker room with something wrapped inside a towel, which they believe was a knife.

The following month in the tour to promote Summer Attitude 2003, Daniel García Soto claimed in a segment that he had confirmed the arrival of the "son of a former world champion" and "legend that is universally recognized" to the IWA, which was heavily implied to be Colón, but actually served as a plot devise to introduce David Flair.

[55][56] On October 9, 2004, González announced that Capitol had formed an alliance with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling-NWA for Golpe de Estado and that this move would bring in NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett, Robert Roode, Konnan and Shawn Hernandez to compete on its behalf.

[1] WWC also reactivated the division, with female wrestling experiencing a renaissance that led to the exposure of Nilka "Black Rose" García, Karen "Demonique" Jackson, Yahaira "Sweet Nancy" Mojica, "La Bella" Carmen Álvarez, Milagros "Genesis" Rivera and Karla "Killer Kat" Galdón among others.

[76][77][78] Both companies portrayed the hooded figures as invaders, with the IWA exploiting the attention that the initial jump generated creating a second faction that was purportedly linked to La Rabia, Los Encapuchados del Consejo (lit.

[83] That same night, Maldonado appeared at the International Wrestling Association's Histeria Boricua event, with the championship belt still in his possession and challenged Freddie "Blitz" Lozada, the current IWA World Heavyweight Champion to a unification match.

[107][108] That same year, a faction led by Juan Rivera and Miguel Pérez Jr. known "Los Autenticos" began "La Lotería del Terror", an angle in which members selected from a list of current and former employees of WWC would be attacked.

[127] On August 6, 2011, Jonathan Ayala accomplished an extremely rare feat by winning a title in his first official wrestling match, earning the IWA World Tag Team Championship along Féliz "Zaion" Torres.

[154] It also created a local partnership with WWC, booking Carly Colón for its international tour, who proceeded to defeat two established Mexican performers in Blue Demon Jr. and La Parka II as part of his in-ring debut.

[168] WWL resumed its feud with WWC, this time by adopting the same timeslot as Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre when introducing a new program titled High Voltage on the local affiliate of Mega TV.

[173] In anticipation to Noche de Campeones 2015, Joe Bravo made his return to WWC and left the WWL Americas Championship vacant, also adopting the epithet "Gentleman" in reference to his previous involvement with The Gentlemen's Club faction.

[191] As a midcard talent, he gathered wins over the likes of Pancho Valdéz, Mr. Fuji, Joe Turco, Frank Valois, Tito Torres and Lou Albano, also being involved in lasting series against Joseph "El Olympico" Corea, Johnny Rodz and Tony Altimore.

[199] Despite not being booked to win a championship during his run, the creative team used him to work with wrestlers that were being pushed, which led to him being credited the first singles losses in the WWE careers of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

As a result, on October 14, 2007, the promotion sanctioned a match to determine the first contenders for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, where Carlos Cotto & Freddy Lozada defeated The Naturals, Ricky Vega & Shane Sewell and Tim Arson & Big Vito.

[225] Joe "Hercules" Gómez was born in the municipality of Juncos, eventually moving to Pennsylvania and establishing himself in the World Xtreme Wrestling, where his performance earned him the promotion's International and Heavyweight Championships as well as a local "Independent Wrestler of the Year" award.

Another Puerto Rican wrestler that moved to the Dominican Republic, Carlos "Livewire" Dávila, participated in Campeones del Ring: Hacedores de Proezas, a multi-promotional event held in Bolivia on June 25, 2013, where he won the DWE World Heavyweight Championship.

[31] José Estrada Jr. led the Puerto Rican faction in Japan while performing as "The Crypt Keeper", holding the W*ING Heavyweight Championship more times than any other wrestler and possessing the longest reign at 194 days.

Among these are the Legión de Puerto Rico, which featured Cuban-born David Sierra, who received a heavy push performing as the masked "El Boricua" and his tag team partner, Miami-based Ricky Santana.

During course of the show, they ran a series of angle-like sketches, including a Rolón heel turn where he was revealed to be Laureano's illegitimate child and a storyline where he was betrayed by all of his allies and abandoned Puerto Rico for a secluded island, remaining there and growing a beard until being convinced to return by Lugo.

Morales himself teamed with Juan Rivera while portraying Rolón in a match that actually featured real maneuvers, defeating "Los Intocables" Miguel Pérez Jr. and Jesús Castillo Jr. (accompanied by Kevin "Pain" Landry) despite being legitimately injured.

[137] A similar concept was also created by religious ministry Luchando Contra Las Tinieblas, which is mostly composed by former professional wrestlers and referees, with a belt inscribed with "Jesucristo" (Jesus Christ) and adorned with server crosses being featured in sermons.