Pro Wrestling in Havana, Cuba (1926-1960)
The history of pro wrestling in Havana, Cuba.
A while back I came across the archives of the Cuban newspaper "Diario de la Marina" and searched through them to piece together the history of professional wrestling in the Cuban capital Havana. Pro wrestling was quite popular in Havana for a while and it aired regularly on Cuban television in the 1950s, so there was plenty to discover. A number of big wrestling stars such as Gus Sonnenberg, Mildred Burke, Maurice Tillet, Frank Sexton, Gorgeous George, Antonino Rocco, Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Medico Asesino and a whole bunch of others wrestled in Havana over the years.Below I'll share all the information I was able to find on pro wrestling in Havana. The research is focused on Havana, but there was for sure pro wrestling in other Cuban cities as well. I want to preface this by saying that the aformentioned newspaper covered wrestling, but often it was just preview articles and they didn't do many reports with the show results, which is why below you'll see a lot of advertised line-ups and no results for them. It's likely I'm missing events here and there, but it is what it is. Also, the online archives of the newspaper were not complete so there were periods I could not research at all. I'm using 1926 as the starting point, because of said availability issue.
Pro Wrestling in Havana, Cuba (1926-1960)
There had been some pro wrestling in Havana prior to 1926, but not a lot by the looks of it. Perhaps the most notable example was a Greco-Roman pro wrestling and catch-as-catch-can tournament in 1921 that was won by Wladek Zbyszko.
Some of the foreign wrestlers who wrestled in Havana in 1926-1940:
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| - First row (left to right): Andres Castaño, La Pantera Negra (Jack Claybourne), Gabino Camino, Al Szasz, Alberto Campos, Buck O'Neil - Second row: Edmund Zenni, Doug Henderson, Ted Radcliff, Felipe Romano, Kiko Kiroz, Pete Bastu |
The main star on these first few shows in Havana that I was able to find was Andres Castaño/Castaños from Spain (the last name was spelled both ways in Cuba, but the Castaño spelling was a little bit more common so I'm sticking with it). Castaño worked in the United States for a number of years as Andres Castanos, Don Andres Castanos, Pedro Castanos, etc. It seems he and his wife lived in Cuba for a while. He had a couple of matches in Havana and at one point was even giving wrestling lessons to local amateurs. Then on January 8, 1927, Castaño made his pro boxing debut in Havana. His opponent was supposed to be the baseball player Oscar Charleston (also making his pro boxing debut), but Charleston ended up being replaced by someone else. For the next three years Castaño fought in Cuba, the U.S. and Mexico and finished up his boxing career with a 16-15-00 record (according to boxrec).
Most of the other wrestlers on the shows below were local guys. Hard to tell if the matches with them were amateur or pro. It's not specifically mentioned.
January 24, 1926
Stadium Universitario
"a very scarce crowd"
1. G. Fernandez drew E. Arribalzaga
2. Raimundo Farbello def. R. Vega
3. Greco-Roman: Jose Ibarra drew Zvonimir Matievich
4. Greco-Roman: Alejandro Gressner drew Pablo Francisci
5. Andres Castaño def. Pablo Alvarez
April 3, 1926
Arena Colon
1. Andres Castaño vs. Jose Ibarra
= Part of a boxing show.
November 1, 1926
Arena Colon
1. Alejandro Gressner vs. Zvonimir Matievich
= Part of a boxing show. Andres Castaño was to be the referee. The match definitely took place, but the report didn't mentione the result.
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The next two shows were promoted by Jack Elliott (of Boston, MA). He brought in his own crew of wrestlers and the shows were built around former World champion Gus Sonnenberg as the headline attraction. Ed "Strangler" Lewis was to be Sonnenberg's opponent, but that fell through.
March 11, 1933
Teatro Nacional
"quite a small audience"
1. Marin Plestina drew Charlie Leahman
2. Reginald Siki def. Joe Shimkus
3. Jack Middleton def. Scotty Dawkins
4. Gus Sonnenberg drew Nick Lutze (90 minutes)
= Originally the card was supposed to be Nick Lutze vs. Scotty Dawkins, Andres Castaño vs. Joe Shimkus, George Godfrey vs. Charlie Leahman and Gus Sonnenberg vs. Ed Lewis, but that ended up changing as the date got closer. Lewis was advertised up to almost the last moment. In the days prior to the show Sonnenberg was working out with Dawkins and Leahman at Miramar Garden.
March 14, 1933
Teatro Nacional
"not as small of a crowd as that at the previous show"
1. Marin Plestina def. Charlie Leahman
2. Reginald Siki def. Jack Middleton (8 minutes)
3. Joe Shimkus def. Scotty Dawkins
4. No Time Limit: Gus Sonnenberg def. Nick Lutze (2:1 falls)
= The better attendance was attributed to the lowered ticket prices.
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| The original main event for Jack Elliott's first show in Havana: Strangler Lewis vs. Sonnenberg |
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| Jack Elliott and his wrestlers (Sonnenberg, Plestina, Siki, Lutze, etc.) |
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The next few cards were with local guys only. Most, if not all, of the wrestlers below had amateur backgrounds. One of them, Harold H. Anders, later ended up being the vice president of the Cuban boxing and wrestling federation. Again, it's hard to tell if all the matches on these cards were amateur or pro. The top matches seem to have been pro as, for example, there was talk of how Joe Becerra was known for his Sonnenberg-like tackle, which is certainly not a move you would be using in an amateur bout.
Sidenote: In the newspaper pro wrestling was generally referred to as lucha libre and earlier on as catch-as-catch-can too, but the most common term in the mid to late 1930s specifically was actually pancracio. Later that term was dropped.
Some of the local wrestlers who wrestled in Havana in 1926-1940:
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| - First row: Joe Becerra, Gilberto Becerra, Gerald Iron, Abraham Warda, Harold H. Anders - Second row: Benjamin Gonzalez, Oscar Martinez Conill, Esthefano Ferris, Manuel Pardo, Zvonimir Matievich |
December 3, 1933
Miramar Garden
1. Jose Pico def. Jose Sastre
2. Gilberto Becerra def. Jesus Rodriguez
3. Tomas Olivera def. Oscar Aguilera
4. Antonio Arredondo def. Ricardo Paraño
5. Gerald Iron def. Esthefano Ferris
6. Manuel Pardo vs. Ramon Casanova
7. Joe Becerra vs. Harold H. Anders ended in a double knockout
= About 1/3 of the time Gerald Iron was billed as Giraldo Hierro (the Spanish version of the name, basically). So as not to confuse things I'll list him only as Gerald Iron in the results.
December 17, 1933
Miramar Garden
1. Jose Pico vs. Eduardo Alvarez
2. Miguel Verano vs. Pedro San Martin
3. Gilberto Becerra vs. Armando Garcia
4. Ricardo Paraño vs. Tony Barrenas
5. Luis Hernandez vs. Jose Sastre
6. Oscar Aguilera vs. Tomas Olivera
7. Harold H. Anders vs. Al King
8. Joe Becerra vs. Gerald Iron
= Initially Al King was listed as Albert Kings. Barrenas often they would spell as Barrena too, but Barrenas was the more common spelling, as far as I can tell.
February 8, 1934
Miramar Garden
"small crowd"
1. boxing fight
2. Jesus Rodriguez vs. Tony Barrenas
3. Esthefano Ferris vs. El Español
4. Ramon Casanova drew Tomas Olivera
5. Joe Becerra drew Gerald Iron
= The only results mentioned in the report were the top two matches.
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| Photos from Becerra vs. Anders (December 3, 1933) and Becerra vs. Iron (February 8, 1934) |
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The next series of shows were promoted by Jim Downing. He had been promoting shows in Tampa and elsewhere in Florida. His local representative was Luis Parga. Downing brought in his own crew of guys, but did use a few of the local wrestlers as well.
October 18, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Justin Giraldi def. Billy Williams
2. Tom Mahoney def. Abe Friedman
3. John Grandovich def. Glen Warner
4. Rudy Strongberg def. Dick Stoll
October 25, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Dick Stoll vs. Glen Warner
2. Billy Williams vs. Abe Friedman
3. John Grandovich vs. Justin Giraldi
4. Rudy Strongberg vs. Tom Mahoney
= Originally the show was scheduled for October 20, but it got postponed for October 21 due to bad weather, but then it got postponed again for October 25.
October 28, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Abe Friedman vs. Justin Giraldi
2. Benjamin Gonzalez vs. Billy Williams
3. Dr. Archie Rauta vs. Tom Mahoney
4. John Grandovich def. Rudy Strongberg
= Benjamin Gonzalez was an older wrestler (compared to all the younger local guys) and was often the referee on the shows in Havana. He also gave lessons in amateur freestyle wrestling along with Andres Castaño.
October 31, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Ted Radcliff vs. Tom Mahoney
2. John Grandovich vs. Justin Giraldi
3. Dr. Archie Rauta vs. Abe Friedman
November 3, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. John Grandovich def. Ted Radcliff (8 minutes)
2. Rudy Strongberg drew Justin Giraldi
3. Dr. Archie Rauta def. Tom Mahoney (2:1 falls / 91 minutes total)
= Radcliff was a sub for Jack McCleary.
November 11, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Rudy Strongberg vs. Louis LaChene
2. Ted Radcliff vs. Gerald Iron
3. Dr. Archie Rauta vs. Jose Dominguez
= This was billed as Iron's pro debut.
November 15, 1934
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Dr. Archie Rauta vs. Louis LaChene
1. Jose Dominguez def. Justin Giraldi
2. Ted Radcliff def. Harold H. Anders
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I don't know who the promoter for these next few shows was, but it wasn't Downing anymore. The wrestlers were almost all local guys.
November 29, 1934
Miramar Garden
1. Jesus Rodriguez def. Eduardo Erizar (7 minutes)
2. Recaredo Paramount def. Angel Fernandez (5 minutes)
2. Abraham Warda def. Esthefano Ferris (19 minutes)
3. Edmund Zenni def. Benjamin Gonzalez
= Erizar was a sub for Tomas Olivera. Harold H. Anders vs. Doc Aguilino Noguerol and Gerald Iron vs. Frank Sandoval were supposed to be on the card as well, but Anders and Iron couldn't be there so the matches were removed from the line-up a couple of days prior to the show.
December 6, 1934
Miramar Garden
1. Oscar Aguilera def. Tony Barrenas (5 minutes)
2. Antonio Figueras def. Frank Sandoval
3. Doc Aguilino Noguerol def. Esthefano Ferris (20 minutes)
4. Gerald Iron drew Abraham Warda (30 minutes)
= Ferris was sub for Harold H. Anders, who was injured.
December 13, 1934
Miramar Garden
1. Jesus Rodriguez vs. Tony Barrenas
2. Doc Aguilino Noguerol vs. Antonio Figueras
3. Frank Sandoval vs. Abraham Warda
4. Harold H. Anders vs. Gerald Iron
December 20, 1934
Miramar Garden
1. Jesus Rodriguez def. Jose Calome (7 minutes)
2. Esthefano Ferris def. Segundo Duran (8 minutes)
3. Abraham Warda def. Harold H. Anders (16 minutes)
4. Gerald Iron def. Benjamin Gonzalez (29 minutes)
= Duran was a sub for Oscar Aguilera, Calome for Tony Barrenas, and Anders for Kivikan Figueras.
December 30, 1934
Miramar Garden
1. Jesus Rodriguez vs. Tony Barrenas
2. Doc Aguilino Noguerol vs. Esthefano Ferris
3. Abraham Warda vs. Frank Sandoval
4. 60-minute Time Limit: Harold H. Anders vs. Gerald Iron
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The next foreign promoter to run a few shows in Havana was Saturno Perez Lopez from Mexico. He brought in some wrestlers of his own, but also used locals.
April 26, 1935
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Jesus Rodriguez def. Segundo Duran
2. Luis Nuñez vs. Ciclon Veloz
3. Gerald Iron def. Joe Becerra (2:1 falls)
4. Douglas Henderson def. Kiko Kiroz (2:1 falls)
= Nuñez vs. Veloz was advertised, but the report didn't mention it. Henderson's first name would end up being listed as both Douglas and Frank.
May 9, 1935
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Gilberto Becerra def. Jesus Rodriguez
2. Douglas Henderson def. Gerald Iron (2:0 falls)
3. Luis Nuñez def. Kiko Kiroz (2:1 falls)
= Originally the show was supposed to be on May 2, but it got postponed. This was billed as Becerra's pro debut.
May 18, 1935
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Kiko Kiroz vs. Ciclon Veloz
= Part of a boxing show.
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The next series of shows were promoted by Joe Corona. He was a boxing promoter out of Juarez, Mexico, and also was involved in the boxing promotion in El Paso, TX. His brother, Tony Corona, promoted wrestling in Juarez. The top stars of Joe's crew were "The Spanish Lion" Gabino Camino, "The Oklahoma Cowboy" Buck O'Neil, The Black Panther (Jack Claybourne) and "The Yaqui Indian" Alberto Campos. He also tried bringing in Joe Parelli, but that didn't happen. To drum up interest for his shows, Joe Corona said he would give away 4,000 free tickets for his first show. Arena Cerveza Cristal had a capacity of about 5,000 so he was basically saying most people would be able to come in for free.
February 4, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Buck O'Neil def. Al Szasz
2. Bobby Burns def. Alberto Campos via disqualification
3. Gabino Camino def. Pete Bastu
= It was raining during part of the show. Camino was billed as the European Middleweight champion. Joe Becerra vs. Abraham Warda was advertised, but didn't take place.
February 13, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Joe Becerra drew Abraham Warda
2. Bobby Burns def. Pete Bastu (2:1 falls)
3. Al Szasz def. Alberto Campos (2:1 falls)
4. Gabino Camino def. Buck O'Neil
= Originally the show was supposed to be on February 11, but the weather had been bad all day and not many fans had purchased tickets so promoter Joe Corona postponed the show by two days.
February 20, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Gilberto Becerra def. Jesus Rodriguez
2. Al Szasz def. Pete Bastu
3. Buck O'Neil def. Bobby Burns
4. Gabino Camino def. Alberto Campos
February 27, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Tarzan Rodriguez def. Jorge Companioni
1. Alberto Campos def. Pete Bastu - cnc due to injury
2. Al Szasz def. Bobby Burns (2:1 falls)
3. Buck O'Neil def. Gabino Camino (2:1 falls)
= Tarzan Rodriguez was likely local wrestler Jesus Rodriguez under a new name.
March 4, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Tarzan Rodriguez def. Luis Pino
2. Bobby Burns def. Che Gardel (2:1 falls)
3. Buck O'Neil def. Al Szasz (2:1 falls)
4. La Pantera Etiope def. Alberto Campos (2:1 falls)
= La Pantera Etiope was Jack Claybourne. Prior to his debut they did mention that his name was Jack Claybourne, but they never billed him as that. He started as La Pantera Etiope, but that quickly changed to La Pantera Negra.
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| Newspaper clippings with "The Spanish Lion" Gabino Camino and La Pantera Etiope (Jack Claybourne) |
March 13, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Che Gardel def. Abraham Warda
2. Alberto Campos def. Bobby Burns
3. La Pantera Negra def. Al Szasz
4. Super Libre: Gabino Camino def. Buck O'Neil via countout
= The super libre main event was a one-fall grudge match with no referee inside the ring. Originally the show was supposed to take place on March 11, but it got postponed due to bad weather.
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| Newspaper illustration advertising the Buck O'Neil vs. Gabino Camino super libre match |
March 20, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Che Gardel vs. Abraham Warda
2. Al Szasz def. Bobby Burns (2:1 falls)
3. Gabino Camino def. Alberto Campos (2:1)
4. La Pantera Negra def. Buck O'Neil (2:0 falls)
= The result of the opener was not mentioned in the report.
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| Newspaper illustration advertising the top two matches for the show above |
March 27, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Gabino Camino def. Che Gardel (2:0 falls)
2. La Pantera Negra def. Bobby Burns (2:0 falls)
3. Al Szasz def. Alberto Campos via disqualification (2:1 falls)
4. Battle Royal with all six wrestlers: Alberto Campos and Al Szasz were the final two in the ring
= The report said both Campos and Szasz were the winners of the "batalla real" main event.
April 1, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Tarzan Rodriguez def. Becerra
2. Giuseppe Dorsetti def. Che Gardel
3. La Pantera Negra def. Felipe Romano
4. Alberto Campos def. Al Szasz
= Giuseppe Dorsetti was probably Joe Dorsetti.
April 6, 1937
Teatro Alkazar
1. Gilberto Becerra def. Tarzan Rodriguez (15 minutes)
2. La Pantera Negra def. Giuseppe Dorsetti (2:0 falls)
3. Gabino Camino def. Al Szasz (2:1 falls)
4. Felipe Romano def. Alberto Campos (2:1 falls)
April 9, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Gabino Camino vs. La Pantera Negra
= The show was cancelled due to rain. Don't know what other matches were supposed to be on the card.
April 13, 1937
Teatro Alkazar
1. Luis Pino vs. El Canelo
2. Gerald Iron def. Alberto Campos
3. Felipe Romano def. Al Szasz
4. La Pantera Negra def. Gabino Camino
= The result of the opener was not mentioned in the report.
April 17, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Tarzan Rodriguez def. Luis Pino
2. Gabino Camino def. Giuseppe Dorsetti
3. Jackson Hagen def. Al Szasz
4. Felipe Romano def. La Pantera Negra (2:1 falls)
April 24, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Al Szasz def. Abraham Warda
2. Felipe Romano def. Jackson Hagen
2. Gerald Iron def. Giuseppe Dorsetti
3. La Pantera Negra def. Gabino Camino
April 30, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Jackson Hagen
2. Gabino Camino vs. Gerald Iron
The show above ended Joe Corona's run as a wrestling promoter in Havana, but he did eventually get involved in the local boxing scene.
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June 1, 1937
Miramar Garden
1. Tiger Long def. Remille
June 15, 1937
Miramar Garden
1. Ted Taylor def. Becerra
2. Felipe Romano def. Hayawaka
= Boxing and wrestling show.
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Mexico's Saturno Perez Lopez returned and promoted the next few shows. The most notable names on those shows were Bobby Bonales and Marcelo Andreani (a.k.a. Jack O'Brien), who would go on to be top stars in Mexico.
October 12, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. boxing fight
2. Miguel Esquivel def. Joe Maynez (2:1 falls)
3. Dr. Marcelo Andreani def. Ciclon Veloz (2:1 falls)
4. Bobby Bonales def. Lee Matcalf via disqualification (2:1 falls)
October 17, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Joe Maynez vs. Ciclon Veloz
2. Dr. Marcelo Andreani def. Bobby Bonales
3. Lee Metcalf def. Miguel Esquivel
October 21, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. boxing fight
2. Joe Maynez def. Miguel Esquivel (2:0 falls)
3. Bobby Bonales vs. Ciclon Veloz
4. Dr. Marcelo Andreani def. Lee Metcalf
= The report said Bonales vs. Veloz was good match, but did not mention the result.
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The show below was promoted by Felo Fernandez and Joe Corona was the matchmaker. It was built around the Cuban debut of Mildred Burke.
November 30, 1937
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1-3. boxing fights
4. Abraham Warda def. Luis Pino (7 minutes)
5. Mildred Burke def. Doris Dean (2:1 falls)
= Originally there were supposed to be two women's matches on the card - Doris Dean vs. Betty Parker and Mildred Burke vs. Stella Stecker, but then a day or so before the show it changed to Burke vs. Dean. Burke was accompanied by Billy Wolfe and was billed as the World champion.
= Sidenote: According to Jeff Leen's 2009 book on Mildred Burke, she wrestled a Mayita Salmon in Havana in 1937. There was indeed a Mayita Salmon in Cuba back then, but she was a basketball player. I don't have a record of her wrestling.
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February 1, 1940
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. boxing fights
2. Kid Barrena vs. Secretario Sanguinario
3. Oso Pino vs. Alberto Crespo
4. Gilberto Becerra vs. Ernesto Barrios
5. Oscar Martinez Conill vs. Manuel Pardo
6. Joe Becerra vs. Abraham Warda
= A benefit show for Gerald Iron. In 1938 Iron went to wrestle in Mexico, which is notable, because I don't think any other of the local Cuban guys of those years wrestled professionally outside of Cuba in the 1930s. He eventually suffered a serious injury (either while in Mexico or in El Paso) and then there were a few benefit events held in Havana to raise money for him. The Oscar Martinez Conill on this show had been one of Cuba's premier swimmers and at this point was considered Cuba's best swimming coach. Years later Oscar Martinez Conill and Gilberto Becerra became the promoters in Havana during wrestling's golden age there while Joe Becerra (Gilberto's brother) was one of the top local stars in their promotion and Abraham Warda was a referee for them.
August 23, 1940
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Oscar Martinez Conill vs. Soco Godoy
= Listed as Godoy's pro wrestling debut. It's not clear whether Soco Godoy was Pedro Godoy, but I think there's a good chance it was.
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In 1942 a new group called Havana Promoting Association put together several shows centered around the Cuban debut of The Angel (Maurice Tillet). The former wrestler Giraldo Hierro (Gerald Iron) was mentioned in the press as the promoter for this new group.
March 1, 1942
Arena Cerveza Cristal
"a complete sell out, thousands of fans weren't able to attend" / "packed house"
1. Abraham Walda vs. Luis Pino
2. Marvin Westenberg vs. Leo Numa
3. Joe Cox def. Serge Kalinin
4. The Angel def. Bob McCoy
= The show was supposed to be on February 22, but there was an issue with Tillet's paperwork so he couldn't leave the United States until it was sorted out and therefore the show was postponed for the following week. The card remained as originally advertised with one notable exception: the former World Heavyweight champion Ed Don George was supposed to be on the February 22 show, but he wasn't part of the March 1 show. Reportedly, the show was so successful that Havana Promoting Association negotiated for more dates with the wrestlers.
March 3, 1942
Arena Cerveza Cristal
"a fair-sized crowd"
1. Ramon Rivera drew Luis Pino (30:00 minutes)
2. Marvin Westenberg def. Serge Kalinin (20 minutes)
3. Leo Numa def. Bob McCoy (16 minutes)
4. The Angel def. Joe Cox (2:0 falls)
March 5, 1942
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Luis Pino def. Ramon Rivera
2. Bob McCoy def. Serge Kalinin
3. Marvin Westenberg def. Joe Cox
4. The Angel def. Leo Numa (9 minutes, 5 minutes)
After this The Angel and the rest of the crew wrestled in Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey and Santa Clara before coming back to Havana.
March 15, 1942
Arena Cerveza Cristal
1. Ramon Rivera vs. Abraham Walda
2. Leo Numa vs. Serge Kalinin
3. Marvin Westenberg vs. Bob McCoy
4. The Angel vs. Dobie Osborn
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As best as I could tell, pro wrestling's big run in Havana started in 1948. That's when Gilberto Becerra began promoting events at Palacio de los Deportes. I don't know the capacity of that arena, but I have seen a mention of a crowd of 8,000 for a boxing event there so it must have been for at least 8,000 fans, if not more. Later on Becerra had a a couple of different partners, but for the first two years he was the sole promoter. Becerra had been a prominent amateur wrestler back in the early to mid 1930s (in fact, both Gilberto and his brother Joe were on the Cuban national wrestling team), then he turned pro and eventually quit the ring to become a promoter.
An interesting note about Becerra's first season of shows is that he often used women's boxing as the headline attraction and also featured jiu-jitsu and strongman/strongwoman demonstrations. His top Cuban babyface star for the first season was a guy by the name of Ramon Rivera (who was the brother of the Cuban boxer Sergio Rivera). Other local wrestlers on that first season were Gallego Garcia, Tony Barrenas (who wrestled in the 1930s too), Benny Yodu, Ciro Veloz (sometimes also listed as Ciro Velez), Jose Suarez (whose nickname was El Santo), Secretario Campanioni, etc. One of the articles mentioned that Becerra was working with promoter Pat Malone out of Miami, FL, so that's where Becerra was getting his U.S. talent from initially.
A few of the wrestlers who wrestled in Havana in 1948-1960:
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| - First row: Buddy Rogers, Antonino Rocca, Frank Sexton, Mildred Burke, Gene Stanlee, Danny Dusek - Second row: Ilio DiPaolo, Angelo Martinelli, Len Hughes, Sandor Kovacs, Edmund Zenni, John Melas - Third row: Daniel Aldana, Ray Mesa, El Chiclayano, Joe Becerra, Negro Badu, Tigre Perez |
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| Palacio de los Deportes (the arena that hosted most of the wrestling shows in Havana in the 1940s/1950s): |
July 8, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz def. Jose Suarez
2. Tony Barrenas def. Tigre Gonzalez
3. Ramon Rivera def. Gallego Garcia
4. Strength Demonstrations: Ben Lewin and La Tarzana Chilena
= Ber Lewin was billed as Superman Ben Lewin in Cuba. Tarzana Chilena was his wife.
July 15, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Tigre Gonzalez
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Gorilla Pino
4. Strength Demonstrations: Ben Lewin and La Tarzana Chilena
July 22, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Secretario Campanioni
2. Tigre Gonzalez vs. Jose Suarez
3. Tony Barrenas vs. Bobby Nelson
4. Ramon Rivera vs. Leroy Nicholson
5. Strength Demonstrations: Ben Lewin and La Tarzana Chilena
July 29, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Fantasma Hungaro vs. Trueno Miguel Garcia
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Tigre Gonzalez
3. Jose Suarez vs. Secretario Campanioni
4. Gallego Garcia vs. Luther Morrison
5. Ramon Rivera vs. Carl Tyler
6. Boxing: La Tarzana Chilena def. Silvia Hernandez
= Silvia Hernandez was the wife of the Cuban boxer Lino Garcia.
August 12, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jose Martin vs. Alberto Crespo
2. Jose Suarez vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Tony Barrenas vs. Fantasma Hungaro
4. Gallego Garcia vs. an American wrestler
5. Ben Lewin vs. ?
= There's a few missing issues of the newspaper so I couldn't find the full card. The first match may be wrong - the wording in the article was weird and it seemed like some words were missing. One of the two guys from the opener may have wrestled Ciro Veloz and the other one may have wrestled someone else. There was some talk of Lewin possibly wrestling the top Cuban babyface Ramon Rivera so it's possible Rivera may have been his opponent here. Fantasma Hungaro was also listed as Kelo Costelo.
August 19, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Miguel Suarez
2. Tigre Gonzalez vs. Zorro Negro
3. Ciro Veloz vs. Vicente Alonso
4. Tony Barrenas vs. Fantasma Hungaro
5. Art Nelson def. Pat O'Brien via disqualification
6. Ramon Rivera vs. Gallego Garcia
7. Boxing: La Tarzana Chilena def. Tita Romay
= Tita Romay was also known as La Diosa de Ebano.
August 26, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tito Alonso vs. Zorro Negro
2. Benny Yodu vs. Ciro Veloz
3. Miguel Suarez vs. Secretario Campanioni
4. Gallego Garcia vs. Ivan the Terrible
5. Tigre Gonzalez vs. Fantasma Hungaro
6. Ramon Rivera vs. Art Nelson
7. Boxing: La Tarzana Chilena vs. Doris Dean
September 5, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. 10-Man Battle Royal: Gallego Garcia, Ciro Veloz, Zorro Negro, Tony Barrenas, Miguel Suarez, Fantasma Hungaro, Tigre Gonzalez, Sacretario Campanioni, Tito Gonzalez & Juan Luis Martin Jr.
= I don't know what other matches were on the card.
September 16, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tito Gonzalez vs. Zorro Negro
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Miguel Suarez
3. Tony Barrenas vs. Fantasma Hungaro
4. Doris Dean vs. June Sandow
5. Art Nelson vs. Sy Burns
6. Boxing: Gilda Melis vs. Maria la Fanatica
September 30, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Zorro Negro
2. Miguel Suarez vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Tony Barrenas vs. Fantasma Hungaro
4. Terror Verde vs. Gallego Garcia
5. Ramon Rivera def. Art Nelson
October 14, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Tito Alonso
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Miguel Suarez
3. Ciro Veloz vs. Fantasma Hungaro
4. Ramon Rivera & Gallego Garcia def. Terror Verde & La Sombra
5. Boxing: Rosa Gutierrez def. Mirtha la Güinera
= Terror Verde and La Sombra were billed as brothers.
October 24, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jiu-jitsu Exhibition: Moc Kan Sent and Julio Garcia
2. Tito Alonso vs. Superman Puchini
3. Benny Yodu vs. Tony Barrenas
4. Ciro Velez vs. Fantasma Hungaro
5. Terror Verde vs. Abe Stein
6. Ramon Rivera vs. Mr. X
7. Boxing: Silvia Hernandez vs. Kendolina Ramos
October 31, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Superman Puchini
2. Benny Yodu vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Juan L. Martin vs. Mr. X
4. Terror Verde vs. Abe Stein
5. Jiu-jitsu with swords and a Kung fu match
6. Boxing: Gilda Melis vs. Nella Tendike
November 14, 1948
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Battle Royal: Mr. X, Benny Yodu, Ciro Veloz, Miguel Suarez & Gallego Garcia
2. Ciro Veloz def. Benny Yodu
3. Miguel Suarez def. Mr. X
4. Ramon Rivera def. Hombre de Goma Americano
5. Boxing: Tita Romay def. La Tarzana Chilena
= The second and third wrestler eliminated from the battle royal faced each other in a match, as did the last two wrestlers in the battle royal. Originally this show was supposed to be on November 7, but it got postponed.
--------
For his second season of shows Gilberto Becerra no longer relied on women's boxing to help draw in the crowds. Ramon Rivera was still around, but now so was Gilberto's brother Joe Becerra and eventually the focus shifted to Joe Becerra as the top Cuban babyface star. 1949 also saw the debut of Johnny Valentine in Cuba, who ended up being the top foreign babyface for the season.
August 12, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu drew Ciro Veloz
2. Johnny Valentine def. Gallego Garcia
3. Nick Bacalis def. Ramon Rivera
4. Edmund Zenni def. Terror Verde (18 minutes)
= Ramon Rivera was the current Cuban Heavyweight champion. Valentine was billed as John Valentine. Zenni had an open challenge - if anyone (wrestler or a fan) could defeat him he would give them $2,000.
August 19, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Tito Alonso
2. Terror Verde vs. Johnny Valentine
3. Joe Becerra vs. Ramon Rivera
4. Edmund Zenni vs. Nick Bacalis
= Alonso was a sub for Miguel Suarez, who was injured.
August 26, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jiu-jitsu Exhibition: Moc Kan Sent and Julio Garcia
2. Benny Yodu vs. Ciro Veloz
3. Joe Becerra vs. Edmund Zenni
4. Ramon Rivera & Johnny Valentine vs. Nick Bacalis & Terror Verde
= Boxing manager Felix Masud was to be Zenni's second.
September 2, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Miguel Suarez
2. Johnny Valentine vs. Edmond Zenni
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Roland Kirchmeyer
4. Joe Becerra vs. Nick Bacalis
5. Terror Verde vs. Pat O'Hara
September 9, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Tito Alonso
2. Benny Yodu vs. Miguel Suarez
3. Terror Verde vs. Roland Kirchmeyer
4. Ramon Rivera vs. Pat O'Hara
5. Joe Becerra vs. Jack Singer
September 16, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Terror Verde vs. Nick Bacalis
2. Edmund Zenni vs. Jack Singer
3. Joe Becerra vs. Pat O'Hara
4. Roland Kirchmeyer def. Johnny Valentine
= The main event ended in controversial fashion so a rematch was booked for the following week. O'Hara refereed the main event.
September 23, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Miguel Suarez
2. Pat O'Hara vs. Nick Bacalis
3. Joe Becerra vs. Jack Singer
4. Johnny Valentine vs. Roland Kirchmeyer
= A pre-show article mentioned that Valentine had become a big fan favorite.
September 30, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Boxing exhibition: Jose M. de Leon
2. Jiu-jitsu/Judo Exhibition: Moc Kan Sent and Julio Garcia
3. Nick Bacalis vs. Paddy Mack
4. Pat O'Hara vs. Flash Gordon
5. Johnny Valentine vs. Jack Singer
= A pre-show article said Valentine was the new Southern Heavyweight champion in the United States.
October 6, 1949
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Tito Alonso
2. Mr. X vs. Miguel Suarez
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Paddy Mack
4. Pat O'Hara vs. Nick Bacalis
5. Joe Becerra & Johnny Valentine vs. Jack Singer & Flash Gordon
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1950 was the year when things really took off for Gilberto Becerra's promotion. There were more shows than ever before, new Cuban stars emerged and World champions such as Frank Sexton and Mildred Burke came in to work matches in Havana.
It's important to note that now Gilberto Becerra had a co-promoter. The swimmer turned wrestler Oscar Martinez Conill joined up with Becerra in 1950 and they were partners for the next couple of years. Later on Martinez Conill also got involved in boxing as a promoter and a manager, while Becerra stuck to wrestling only. Becerra and Martinez Conill were working with Cowboy Lutrall out of Tampa, FL, and bringing in most of their U.S. talent through his booking office.
1950 saw the debut of the masked Red Menace (also sometimes billed as Amenaza Roja), who ended up being the top heel in the history of Cuba. Red Menace was billed as a Canadian, but in reality the Cuban Pedro Godoy was under the mask. Godoy would go on to have a long career in the United States, using various names and gimmicks. The Red Menace character continued in Cuba, on and off, for a decade, but I think it's very likely Godoy wasn't the only guy under the Red Menace hood. There's a somewhat recent Cuban article out there which claims that a Canadian wrestler by the name of Tony LeChance was another wrestler who performed as Red Menace, but I don't know how true that is. Another new face in 1950 was Negro Badu (later also known as King Badu). He would end up being probably the most well-traveled Cuban wrestler of his generation as he toured the world and worked in a number of different countries. And speaking of Cuban wrestlers, I again have to single out Joe Becerra. The articles in 1950 constantly talked about how he was the top Cuban wrestler.
April 13, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
"record attendance"
1. Miguel Suarez vs. Secretario Campanioni
2. Joe Becerra def. Red Menace via disqualification
3. Danny Dusek def. Gene Bowman
4. Beverly Lehmer def. Dot Dotson (20 minutes)
= Originally Becerra & Martinez Conill were trying to book Mildred Burke for the main event, but she was asking for a $2,000 guarantee, which they thought was too much. Danny Dusek was acknowledged as the NWA Southern Heavyweight champion (Florida version). The articles didn't mention the letters NWA, but this was clearly the title they meant. I also have to mention that the story in Cuba was that Dusek had won the Southern Heavyweight Title from Johnny Valentine. All the title histories that I can find for that title show Valentine winning it in July 1950, but in Cuba in September 1949 they said he was the champion then and now the claim was that he was a former champion so either they were making things up in Cuba or we're missing a chunk of that title's history.
April 21, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Secretario Campanioni
2. Ray Mesa def. Benny Yodu
3. Joe Becerra drew Gene Bowman
4. Danny Dusek def. John Melas
5. Red Menace def. Maurice Roberre
April 27, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Oriental Quintana vs. Baby Gordillo
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Ray Mesa
3. Joe Becerra vs. John Melas
4. Red Menace & Danny Dusek vs. Gene Bowman and Maurice Roberre
May 4, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu & Ciro Veloz def. Ray Mesa & Secretario Campanioni
2. Red Menace def. John Melas
3. Danny Dusek def. Maurice Roberre
4. Tony Galento def. Gene Bowman (10 minutes)
May 11, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Miguel Suarez vs. Ray Mesa
2. Battle Royal: Red Menace, Danny Dusek, John Melas, Maurice Roberre, Gene Bowman
3. Benny Yodu vs. Martin Rolland
4. a match between the second and third wrestler eliminated from the battle royal
5. a match between the final two wrestlers from the battle royal
May 18, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Luis Suarez
2. Miguel Suarez vs. Oriental Quintana
3. Ciro Veloz vs. Ray Mesa
4. Benny Yodu vs. Martin Rolland
5. Red Menace vs. Gene Bowman
6. Joe Becerra def. Prince Omar
= Pantera Negra was a Cuban wrestler and not Jack Claybourne, who worked under that name in Havana in 1937.
May 25, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Miguel Suarez
2. Secretario Campanioni vs. Oriental Quintana
3. Ciro Velez vs. Martin Rolland
4. Benny Yodu vs. Ray Mesa
5. Red Menace vs. Gene Bowman
6. Joe Becerra vs. Eddie Parker
June 2, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Luis Alonso
2. Secretario Campanioni vs. Oriental Quintana
3. Benny Yodu & Ciro Veloz vs. Ray Mesa & Martin Rolland
4. Joe Becerra vs. Gallego Garcia
= The ex-boxer Johnny Cruz was going to be the referee for the tag team match.
June 8, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Luis Alonso
2. Martin Rolland vs. Ray Mesa
3. Negro Badu vs. Bobby Duncan
4. Joe Becerra vs. George Harber
5. Red Menace def. Johnny Valentine via disqualification
= The opener was to be Ciro Veloz vs. Secretario Campanioni, but the line-up was changed.
June 10, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Gallego Garcia vs. Luis Suarez
2. Ciro Velez vs. Ray Mesa
3. Negro Badu & Benny Yodu vs. Bobby Duncan & Martin Rolland
4. Johnny Valentine vs. George Harber
June 15, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jiu-jitsu Exhibition: Moc Kan Sent and Julio Garcia
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Benny Yodu vs. Ray Mesa
4. Ramon Rivera vs. Bobby Duncan
5. Joe Becerra & Negro Badu vs. Red Menace & Martin Rolland
June 22, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Martin Rolland vs. Bobby Duncan
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Ray Mesa
3. Joe Becerra vs. Nick Bacalis
4. Cuban Light Heavyweight Title: Negro Badu def. Gallego Garcia to become the first champion
5. Red Menace vs. Johnny Valentine
= Promoter Oscar Martinez Conill was the special guest referee for the main event. Valentine most likely won.
June 24, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Secretario Campanioni
2. Martin Rolland vs. Ray Mesa
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Gallego Garcia
4. Negro Badu vs. Nick Bacalis
5. Red Menace vs. Joe Becerra
= The whole card, except for the main event, was changed the morning of the show. The original card had Johnny Valentine vs. Nick Bacalis, Negro Badu vs. Martin Rolland, Ciro Veloz vs. Ray Mesa and Gallego Garcia vs. Bobby Duncan.
June 29, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Secretario Campanioni vs. Ray Mesa
2. Oriental Quintana def. Martin Rolland
3. Negro Badu vs. Ramon Rivera
4. Red Menace vs. Nic Bacalis
5. NWA Southern Heavyweight Title: Johnny Valentine def. Danny Dusek (c) to become the new champion
= The story was that this was Valentine winning his title back from Dusek, who had taken it from him before. It seems like this was a title switch just for the local Cuban market as over in the United States Dusek remained the recognized champion until July 17 when he dropped the title to Valentine in Tampa, FL.
July 7, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Oriental Quintana
2. Super Libre: Negro Badu vs. Gallego Garcia
3. Joe Becerra vs. a new masked wrestler
4. Red Menace & Danny Dusek vs. Johnny Valentine & Nick Bacalis
= The Super Libre match was essentially a no holds barred match and was requested by Garcia, who wanted revenge after Badu beat him in the Cuban Light Heavyweight Title match.
July 12, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
"extraordinary attendance"
1. Cuban Middleweight Title: Benny Yodu def. Ciro Veloz to become the first champion
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Al Massey
3. Pat O'Hara def. Negro Badu
4. Joe Becerra def. Red Menace
5. NWA World Women's Title: Mildred Burke (c) def. Dot Dotson to retain her title
= This was billed as Mildred's debut in Cuba (even though she had already wrestled there once in 1937). It's mentioned that Red Menace's only other loss in Cuba so far was to Johnny Valentine.
July 14, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ray Mesa vs. Oriental Quintana
2. Negro Badu vs. Luis Suarez
3. Ilio DiPaolo vs. Cabo Verde
4. Joe Becerra vs. Juanito Hernandez
5. Karl Ulsemer vs. Abe Mesnik
= Karl Ulsemer (a.k.a. the Frenchman Charles Ulsemer) was billed as a German and a former European Heavyweight champion (he wasn't). The selling point they used for DiPaolo was that he was Mr. Italy in 1949.
July 21, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Oriental Quintana
2. Ramon Rivera vs. La Pantera Negra
3. Abe Mesnik vs. Cabo Verde
4. Ilio DiPaolo vs. Lotario DeSouza
5. Karl Ulsemer def. Juanito Hernandez
= For his first few matches back, they were listing Lotario DeSouza as Mario DeSouza and then they switched back to Lotario. So as not to confuse things I'm listing him as Lotario in all of the cards.
July 27, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Edmund Zenni vs. Cabo Verde
2. Benny Yodu vs. Secretario Campanioni
3. Negro Badu vs. Martin Rolland
4. Karl Ulsemer vs. Abe Mesnik
5. Lotario DeSouza vs. Juanito Hernandez
August 3, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tony Barrenas vs. Martin Rolland
2. Juanito Hernandez vs. Ilio DiPaolo
3. Joe Becerra vs. Cabo Verde
4. Edmund Zenni vs. Abe Mesnik
5. Lotario DeSouza vs. Karl Ulsemer
= Joe Becerra was the current Cuban Heavyweight champion.
August 10, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Secretario Campanioni vs. Martin Rolland
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Cabo Verde
3. Juanito Hernandez vs. Ilio DiPaolo
4. Karl Ulsemer def. Joe Becerra via countout
5. Abe Mesnik def. Lotario DeSouza
August 17, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Luis Suarez
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Martin Rolland
3. Joe Becerra vs. Juanito Hernandez
4. Lotario DeSouza def. Ilio DiPaolo
5. Karl Ulsemer vs. Abe Mesnik
August 24, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Martin Rolland
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Luis Suarez
3. Juanito Hernandez vs. Cabo Verde
4. Edmund Zenni vs. Ilio DiPaolo
5. Lotario DeSouza vs. Abe Mesnik
September 1, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ramon Rivera vs. La Pantera Negra
2. Benny Yodu & Tony Barrenas vs. Luis Suarez & Martin Rolland
3. Edmund Zenni vs. Al Williams
4. Juanito Hernandez def. Ilio DiPaolo
5. Red Menace def. Lotario DeSouza
= After the main event Juanito Hernandez came into the ring and hit Menace with two flying tackles, that led to a big commotion among the fans, some fans ran into the ring and police had to get involved to calm things down.
September 8, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Martin Rolland
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Gallego Garcia
3. Joe Becerra vs. Ilio DiPaolo
4. Lotario DeSouza vs. Black Shadow
5. Red Menace vs. Juanito Hernandez
= Shadow was a sub for Edmund Zenni, who was injured.
September 15, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
"record attendance"
1. Benny Yodu vs. Martin Rolland
1. Juanito Hernandez vs. Billy Starr
2. Joe Becerra vs. Daniel Aldana
3. Lotario DeSouza vs. Edmund Zenni
4. Frank Sexton def. Red Menace
= Sexton had already lost his AWA (Boston) World Heavyweight Title in the united States, but in Cuba they still billed him as the World champion.
September 22, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Martin Rolland vs. Oriental Quintana
2. Benny Yodu vs. Ciro Veloz
3. Red Menace & Daniel Aldana vs. Lotario DeSouza & Juanito Hernandez
4. Frank Sexton vs. Edmund Zenni
September 29, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Oriental Quintana
2. La Pantera Negra vs. Martin Rolland
3. Gallego Garcia vs. Ilio DiPaolo
4. Juanito Hernandez vs. Daniel Aldana
5. Red Menace vs. Lotario DeSouza
October 5, 1950
Palacio de los Deportes
1. La Pantera Negra vs. Luis Suarez
2. Boxer vs. Wrestler: Martin Rolland def. Pablito Rodriguez
3. June Byers vs. Dot Dotson
4. Battle Royal for $500: Joe Becerra, Red Menace, Ilio DiPaolo, Lotario DeSouza, Gallego Garcia, Ramon Rivera, Daniel Aldana, Juanito Hernandez
5. a match between the final two wrestlers in the battle royal [Red Menace vs. Daniel Aldana]
= The final two in the battle royal ended up being Red Menace and Daniel Aldana. This show was billed as “La Carnaval de Lucha” and was presented as the big season finale.
--------
1951 was a big year for Cuban pro wrestling as that was the year when wrestling began airing on television there (more about this below). Unfortunately, it's also a year when wrestling coverage in the newspaper I'm using for the research dropped off greatly. Prior to this there were regular articles talking about the upcoming shows and previewing the matches, but now that was no longer the case. Now those types of articles were a lot less. However, now there were some adverts for the shows (there were no adverts previously) and also TV listings so that helped me put together the information below, but overall I'm missing a lot of line-ups and likely some cards too.
In terms of talent 1951 saw the return of Frank Sexton as well as the debuts of Gorgeous George and Antonino Rocca. The biggest revelation of the year was a wrestler from Peru by the name of El Chiclayano (Gustavo Seclen Menchola). He got over really well as a babyface in Cuba and was one of the two big breakout stars once wrestling hit TV in Cuba. The other breakout star was the villain Red Menace, who was already popular, but now his popularity grew even more. I don't have all the line-ups so I can't confirm this myself, but supposedly the Chiclayano vs. Red Menace feud was a top attraction on the early wrestling TV broadcasts in Cuba. And as I sidenote I'll also mention that the newspaper I'm using for the research has some adverts with Chiclayano endorsing various products, which is something I haven't seen any other wrestler in Cuba (other than Red Menace) do so that tells me he was indeed recognizable on a more mainstream level there.
 |
| Red Menace (Pedro Godoy) and El Chiclayano (Gustavo Seclen Menchola) |
Television arrived in Cuba in October 1950 and very soon there were two Cuban television stations - CMQ Television (a.k.a. Canal 6) and Union Radio Television (a.k.a Canal 4). Either in late March 1951 or early April 1951 CMQ began broadcasting weekly wrestling shows, every Friday night at 9:30 p.m. These were events by the Becerra and Martinez Conill promotion. The shows were broadcast live from Palacio de los Deportes. Gabino Delgado was the commentator initially and Jessi Losada (who years later would go on to have a successful broadcasting career in the United States) was the interviewer.
 |
| Newspaper clippings about pro wrestling on Cuban TV in 1951 |
February 23, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= This is the first advertised wrestling broadcast on CMQ Television that I could find, but it seems like it was a one-off/an experiment. Other programs occupied the timeslot in the weeks that followed, including women's basketball and roller derby.
March 30, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Chiclayano vs. Daniel Maciste
2. Joe Becerra vs. Ray Tatu
3. Juanita Coffman vs. [name is unreadable in the advert]
4. Al Szasz vs. Jaime Orezzoli
5. Dick Bataan vs. Dr. Gallagher
6. Red Menace vs. Bobby Corona
= It's possible this was the first of the regular CMQ Television wrestling broadcasts. The TV listing just says "Sports", but that sport could have been the wrestling show.
April 6, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Daniel Maciste
2. Ray Tatu vs. L. Suarez
3. Al Szasz vs. Dr. Gallagher
4. Bobby Corona vs. Jaime Orezzoli
5. El Chiclayano vs. Dick Bataan
= CMQ Television broadcast. There was a hair vs. hair match on the card, but the way the advert that I found was put together makes it unclear which match was the hair vs. hair one. Either the semi-main or the main, I'm guessing.
April 13, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Gallego Suarez vs. Tony Solar
2. El Chiclayano & Ciro Veloz vs. Ray Tatu & Daniel Maciste
3. Dick Bataan vs. Dr. Gallagher
4. Bobby Corona vs. Jaime Orezzoli
5. Red Menace vs. Al Szasz
= CMQ Television broadcast.
 |
| Newspaper advert for the April 13, 1951 show |
April 20, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tony Barrenas vs. Daniel Maciste
2. Battle Royal: El Chiclayano, Bobby Corona, Ray Tatu, Dick Bataan, Jaime Orezzoli, Ciro Veloz, La Pantera Negra, Bennu Yodu, Gallego Suarez
3. Chief Red Eagle def. Dr. Gallagher
4. Red Menace vs. Al Szasz
= CMQ Television broadcast.
 |
| Newspaper advert for the Apri 20, 1951 show |
April 27, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Red Menace vs. Bobby Corona
= CMQ Television broadcast. I don't know what else was on the card.
May 4, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu vs. Daniel Maciste
2. Manny Santamaria vs. Ray Tatu
3. El Chiclayano vs. Inca Peruano
4. Chief Red Eagle vs. Dr. Gallagher
5. Art Bull vs. Jaime Orezzoli
= CMQ Television broadcast. Santamaria was billed as a Cuban amateur wrestling champion. This was also a benefit show with proceeds going to the Cuban Red Cross.
There must have been a non-televised event on May 6, 1951, because a few days later an article mentioned that the popular wrestler El Chiclayano couldn't work the show in Havana on May 6, because he had to substitute for another wrestler in Camaguey instead.
May 11, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
I couldn't find the TV listings for May 18 so I don't know if there was a CMQ wrestling broadcast that night, but even if there were most of the attention would have been on the Kid Gavilan vs. Johnny Bratton boxing fight for the NBA World Welterweight Title, which was being broadcast on Union Radio Television that night.
May 25, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
June 1, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tony Barrenas vs. Inca Peruano
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Gorilla Macias
3. Chief Red Eagle vs. Art Bull
4. Jaime Orezzoli vs. Angelo Martinelli
5. Red Menace vs. Joe Grant
= CMQ Television broadcast.
On June 2, 1951, there was a big event at Gran Estadio de La Habana (capacity: 31,000). The show was to celebrate and honor Cuban boxer Kid Gavilan, who had recently become the NBA World Welterweight champion. The show featured music, boxing, wrestling and various actors and celebrities. The wrestling match was El Chiclayano vs. Ray Tatu.
June 8, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
June 15, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
June 22, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
I couldn't find the TV listings for CMQ Television for June 29, but it's likely there was the usual wrestling broadcast.
July 6, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 13, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 20, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
And then the other Cuban TV station, Union Radio Television, decided to get into the wrestling game as well so now Cuba had two weekly wrestling TV shows. Union's shows were also airing live from Palacio de los Deportes and were on Tuesdays from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. The commentators were Felo Ramirez and Rene Molina (and later on the commentary was handled by Humberto Estevez). An advert for one of the shows said the show was promoted by Empresa Grandes Espectaculos. I haven't seen that name used in conjunction with Becerra and Martinez Conill's promotion (which was usually referred to as just Empresa Becerra-Martinez Conill) so it's likely that this TV show on Union Radio Television was run by a different promoter. It didn't last long anyway.
July 24, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= Union Radio Television broadcast. The TV listing said this was to be a tournament with various champions from Europe and America.
July 27, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 31, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= Union Radio Television broadcast.
August 3, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 7, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= Union Radio Television broadcast. The TV listing now referred to the previously mentioned tournament as Campeonato Internacional de Lucha Libre.
August 10, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 14, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= Union Radio Television broadcast. Torneo Internacional continued.
There was no wrestling broadcast on CMQ on August 17. A big swimming competition aired instead.
August 21, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Terror Ruso vs. Juan Olaguibel
2. El Apolo de Oro vs. Bobby Lane
3. Mr. America in action
= Union Radio Television broadcast. It's not mentioned who this Mr. America was, but he could have very well been Gene Stanlee since he did definitely work in Cuba later in the year.
 |
| Newspaper advert for the August 21, 1951 show |
August 24, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 28, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= Union Radio Television broadcast. Campeonato del Torneo Internacional de Luchas continued. It was also mentioned that various new stars would be making their debut in Cuba on the broadcast.
August 31, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 4, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Espartano vs. Montezuma
2. Bobby Lane vs. Billy Sandow
3. Juan Olaguibel vs. Tarzan Gitano
4. Mr. America in action
= Union Radio Television broadcast.
September 7, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 11, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Cora Combs vs. Nell Stewart
2. Benny Yodu vs. Black Garceran
3. Ramon Rivera & Gran Caruso vs. Juan Olaguibel & Montezuma
4. Elephant Boy (Tony Olivas) (w/ Slave Girl) vs. Nature Boy Rogers (Tommy Phelps)
= Union Radio Television broadcast. Slave Girl was the future Fabulous Moolah.
September 14, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 18, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Miguelon vs. Villanazo
2. Miguel Suarez vs. Herminio Rodriguez
3. Cora Combs vs. Gloria Barattini
4. Ramon Rivera & Eladio Martinez vs. Tarzan Gitano & Montezuma
5. Pat O'Hara & Gran Caruso vs. Bobby Lane & Juan Olaguibel
= Union Radio Television broadcast. This show ended wrestling's initial run on Union Radio Television.
September 21, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 28, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
October 5, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
October 12, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Chiclayano vs. La Pantera Negra
2. Lee Savold vs. Ray Tatu
3. Miguel Todorovich vs. Jaime Orezzoli
4. Red Menace vs. Polo Cordova
5. Frank Sexton vs. Montaña Azteca
= CMQ Television broadcast.
 |
| Newspaper advert for the October 12, 1951 show |
October 19, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
October 23, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
"one of the biggest crowds of the season"
1. Montezuma def. Ramon Rivera
2. El Espartano def. Gorilla Pino
3. Juan Olaguivel def. Kola Kwariani
4. Pat O'Hara def. Bobby Lane via disqualification
5. Antonino Rocca def. Gene Stanlee (2:0 falls) (21 minutes, 17 minutes)
= Boxing great Max Baer refereed the main event. The articles say Rocca and Stanlee had another match in Havana about a month prior, which packed the arena to capacity, but I couldn't find a mention of it in the newspaper (which is not surprising since the wrestling coverage in the paper in 1951 is pretty scarce). This event wasn't a Becerra/Martinez Conill show. The promoter was Praxedes P. Pelegrin. It's possible he may have been the promoter behind the Union Radio Television shows too.
October 26, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
November 2, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
November 9, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
November 16, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
= CMQ Television broadcast.
November 23, 1951
Palacio de los Deportes
"great attendance"
1. El Chiclayano vs. La Pantera Negra
2. Joe Becerra vs. Ray Tatu
3. Jaime Orezzoli vs. Howard Cantonwine
4. Red Menace def. Gran Caruso
5. Gorgeous George def. Johnny Henning
= CMQ Television broadcast.
There was no wrestling broadcast on CMQ on November 30 (there was boxing instead) and I couldn't find any other shows in 1951 after this either.
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1952 saw the Becerra-Martinez Conill promotion continue with its weekly television broadcasts on CMQ TV and they also had a number of non-televised events as well. The year is also notable for Buddy Rogers and Lou Thesz working matches in Havana.
February 22, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tigre Perez vs. Don Alvaro
2. Eddy Salas vs. El Gitanillo
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Cruz Diablo
4. Miguel Todorovich vs. Austin Shivers
5. Buddy Rogers def. Ray Stern
= CMQ Television broadcast. The story used here was that The Great Togo was to be the big attraction for this card, but then he supposedly wrestled Buddy Rogers and got beat so bad he had to be hospitalized and therefore the promoters booked Rogers for the show instead. Cruz Diablo was Serafin Gonzalez.
February 29, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Aguila vs. Joe Tipon
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Jaguar Nuñez
3. Cruz Diablo vs. Miguel Todorovich
4. Bobby Lane vs. Cholo Hernandez
5. Billy Darnell vs. Pete Managoff
= CMQ Television broadcast.
March 7, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. Joe Braña
2. La Pantera Negra vs. Don Alvaro
3. Miguel Torres vs. Miguel Todorovich
4. Billy Darnell vs. Bobby Lane
5. Mighty Atlas vs. Cholo Hernandez
= CMQ Television broadcast.
March 14, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jaguar Nuñez vs. Joe Braña
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Eddy Salas
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Miguel Todorovich
4. Miguel Torres & Bobby Lane vs. Billy Darnell & Cholo Hernandez
5. Lou Thesz def. Mighty Atlas
= CMQ Television broadcast.
March 19, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ray Cordero vs. Joe Braña
2. Joe Conill vs. Eddy Salas
3. Miguel Todorovich vs. Don Alvaro
4. Miguel Torres vs. Cholo Hernandez
5. Buddy Rogers vs. Billy Darnell
March 21, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu def. Jaguar Nuñez
2. Ciro Veloz def. Eddy Salas
3. Cholo Hernandez def. Miguel Torres via disqualification
4. The Landru Brothers (Roy Landru & Jean Landru) def. La Pantera Negra & Miguel Todorovich
= CMQ Television broadcast.
March 28, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jaguar Nuñez vs. Aguila Conill
2. Silvia Hernandez vs. July Perez
3. Tony Barrenas vs. Jean Landru
4. Ciro Veloz vs. Roy Landru
5. Joe Becerra & Cruz Diablo vs. Miguel Torres & Cholo Hernandez
= CMQ Television broadcast. I'm guessing Aguila Conill was another name for Joe Conill (also sometimes called Jose Conill).
April 4, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Braña def. Joe Cordero
2. Jean Landru def. Tigre Perez
3. El Chiclayano def. Roy Landru via disqualification
4. Joe Becerra def. Miguel Torres via disqualification
= CMQ Television broadcast. Buddy Rogers vs. Billy Darnell was the advertised main event, but it didn't take place. I'm guessing Joe Cordero was probably Ray Cordero, but was listed under a different first name for some reason.
April 13, 1952
Club Cubaneleco
1. Tony Barrenas vs. Roy Landru
2. Silvia Hernandez vs. July Perez
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Miguel Torres
4. Ciro Veloz vs. Jean Landru
April 18, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Lotario Cubano def. Cruz Diablo
2. La Pantera Negra def. Tony Barrenas
3. Gallego Alvarez def. Joe Micell
4. Miguel Torres def. Ramon Rivera
5. El Chiclayano, Ciro Veloz & Joe Braña def. Secretario Campanioni & The Landru Brothers (Roy Landru & Jean Landru)
= CMQ Television broadcast.
April 25, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Roy Landru def. Joe Micell
2. El Chiclayano def. Jean Landru
3. Millie Stafford def. Mary June
4. Pat O'Hara def. Miguel Torres
5. Red Menace def. Big Ike Eakins
= CMQ Television broadcast.
April 27, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Benny Yodu & Joe Braña vs. Secretario Campanioni & Eddy Salas
2. Silvia Hernandez & Thelma Montejo vs. Esther I & Yaly Perez
3. El Chiclayano & Ciro Veloz vs. The Landru Brothers (Roy Landru & Jean Landru)
4. Millie Stafford & Ella Phillips vs. Mars Bennett & Mary June
= The second match was the first ever women's tag team match in Havana.
May 2, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Jean Landru
2. Mars Bennett vs. Arlene Lee
3. El Chiclayano vs. Roy Landru
4. Red Menace vs. Pat O'Hara
= CMQ Television broadcast.
May 4, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Silvia Hernandez vs. Esther I
2. Joe Cordero vs. Joe Braña
3. 14-man Battle Royal: El Chiclayano, La Pantera Negra, Ciro Veloz, Roy Landru, Jean Landru, Cruz Diablo, Don Alvaro, Tigre Perez, Gallego Alvarez, Aguila Conill, Eddy Salas, Jaguar Nuñez, Benny Yodu & Joe Micell
= The last two wrestlers remaining in the battle royal were to wrestle each other in a singles match and the winner was to receive a trophy. El Chiclayano won. Esther I was sub for Thelma Montejo, who got injured while training.
May 9, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Roy Landru
2. El Chiclayano vs. Jean Landru
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Bill Napolitano
4. Mike Clancy vs. Red Vagone
5. Red Menace vs. Pat O'Hara
= CMQ Television broadcast. Red Vagone was most likely Abe Zvonkin.
May 16, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Chiclayano vs. Cruz Diablo
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Eddy Salas
3. Lotario Cubano vs. Bill Napolitano
4. Polo Cordova def. Big Ike Eakins
5. Red Menace vs. Mike Clancy
= CMQ Television broadcast.
May 19, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. El Gitanillo
2. Silvia Hernandez vs. Esther I
3. El Chiclayano vs. Ciro Veloz
4. Joe Becerra vs. Cruz Diablo
5. Red Menace & Bill Napolitano vs. Ramon Rivera & Polo Cordova
May 23, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Don Alvaro
2. Eddy Salas vs. El Gitanillo
3. Miguel Todorovich vs. Guss Rapp
4. Red Menace vs. Polo Cordova
5. The Great Togo (w/ Hata) vs. Mike Clancy
= CMQ Television broadcast.
The newspapers from May 26 to July 3, 1952, are missing in the archive so I couldn't research that time frame.
July 4, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Braña vs. Eddy Salas
2. Gallego Alverez vs. Bobby Corona
3. Silvia Hernandez vs. Thelma Montejo
4. Joe Becerra, Negro Badu & Ciro Veloz vs. Bob Phillips, Ray Tatu & Skino Blancarte
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 8, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
“extraordinary attendance”
1. Negro Badu drew Skino Blancarte
2. Bobby Corona def. Ray Tatu via countout
3. Ciro Veloz def. Bob Phillips via disqualification
4. Lotario Cubano def. Kola Kwariani
5. Antonino Rocca def. Red Menace via disqualification (2:0 falls)
= Tony Barrenas refereed the main event.
July 11, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Skino Blancarte
2. Joe Becerra vs. Ray Tatu
3. Negro Badu vs. Bob Phillips
4. Red Menace & Kola Kwariani vs. Lotario Cubano & Bobby Corona
5. Antonino Rocca vs. Wally Dusek
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 18, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eladio Martinez vs. Al Lastra
2. Ciro Veloz & El Gitanillo vs. Eddy Salas & Bob Phillips
3. Silvia Hernandez & Dot Dotson vs. Arlene Lee & July Perez
4. Red Menace & Skino Blancarte vs. Miguel Todorovich & Negro Badu
= CMQ Television broadcast.
July 25, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. El Gitanillo
2. Ciro Veloz & Miguel Todorovich vs. Bob Phillips & Skino Blancarte
3. Battle Royal: Dot Dotson, Arlene Lee, Helen Hills, Joan Mills, Silvia Hernandez, July Perez & Esther I
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 1, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Becerra vs. Negro Badu
2. Miguel Todorovich vs. Bob Phillips
3. Red Menace vs. Gran Caruso
4. Ciro Veloz vs. Skino Blancarte
= CMQ Television broadcast. A pre-show article referred to Caruso as El Espartano so it's possible he was the El Espartano who worked in Cuba in 1951.
August 8, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jaguar Nuñez vs. El Gitanillo
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Eddy Salas
3. Gran Caruso vs. Skino Blancarte
4. Negro Badu vs. Bob Phillips
5. Red Menace & Red Devil vs. Mike Clancy & Miguel Todorovich
= CMQ Television broadcast. The storyline was that Red Devil (Demonio Rojo) was rumored to be Menace's brother.
August 15, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Conill vs. Gallego Alvarez
2. Eladio Martinez vs. El Verdugo
3. Lotario Cubano vs. Al Lastra
4. Ciro Veloz & Miguel Todorovich vs. Eddy Salas & Bob Phillips
5. Joe Becerra & Gran Caruso vs. Ray Tatu & Skino Blancarte
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 19, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Negro Badu vs. Al Lastra
2. Miguel Todorovich vs. El Verdugo
3. Bob Phillips def. Ciro Veloz
4. Gran Caruso vs. Ray Tatu
5. The Great Togo def. Red Menace
August 22, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. Tigre Perez
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Jaguar Nuñez
3. Red Menace & Red Devil vs. Gran Caruso & Negro Badu
4. Miguel Todorovich vs. Bob Phillips
5. Joe Becerra vs. The Great Togo
= CMQ Television broadcast.
August 29, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Conill vs. Al Cordero
2. Lotario Cubano vs. Chino Ortega
3. Cuban Light Heavyweight Title: Negro Badu (c) def. Miguel Todorovich to retain his title
4. Joe Becerra vs. Gran Caruso
5. Red Menace & Red Devil vs. The Great Togo & Bob Phillips
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 5, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Braña vs. Tiburon Priego
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Gallego Alvarez
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Bob Phillips
4. Cuban Women's Title: Silvia Hernandez vs. July Perez
5. El Hombre Lobo def. Eddie Gossett
= CMQ Television broadcast. Hombre Lobo was also billed as Wolf Man. The women's match was to determine the first Cuban Women's champion. Most likely Silvia Hernandez won the title here, as she was the champion the following year, but I can't confirm it.
September 12, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiboren Priego vs. Ray Cordero
2. Tigre Perez vs. El Verdugo
3. Ciro Veloz & La Pantera Negra vs. Negro Badu & Eddy Salas
4. Hombre Lobo & Bob Phillips vs. Miguel Todorovich & Eddie Gossett
= CMQ Television broadcast.
September 19, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jaguar Nuñez vs. Tiburon Priego
2. La Pantera Negra vs. Al Lastra
3. Negro Badu vs. El Verdugo
4. Miguel Todorivich vs. Bob Phillips
5. Mr. Mexico vs. El Bolchevique
= CMQ Television broadcast. The show was to start with a minute of silence for Esther I, who had just passed away.
September 26, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Conill vs. Eddy Salas
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Jaguar Nuñez
3. Mr. Mexico vs. El Verdugo
4. Negro Badu & Gran Caruso vs. Bob Phillips & El Bolchevique
= CMQ Television broadcast.
October 3, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Conill vs. Tiburon Priego
2. Eddy Salas vs. Tigre Perez
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Mr. Mexico
4. Gran Caruso vs. El Verdugo
5. Ciro Veloz & Lalo Martinez vs. Bob Phillips & El Bolchevique
= CMQ Television broadcast.
October 10, 1952
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Battle Royal to determine who would wrestle for the Cuban Middleweight Title
2. To crown a new Cuban Middleweight champion: singles match with the last two wrestlers from the battle royal
3. Battle Royal to determine who would wrestle for the Cuban Light Heavyweight Title
4. For a Cuban Light Heavyweight Title shot: singles match with the last two wrestlers from the battle royal
5. Cuban Light Heavyweight Title: Negro Badu (c) vs. the winner of the previous singles match
= CMQ Television broadcast. Benny Yodu had recently relinquished the Cuban Middleweight Title.
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1953 was an interesting year because now there were two promotions Havana and they both had television. I don't know the full details, but essentially after working together for three years promoters Gilberto Becerra and Oscar Martinez Conill went their separate ways and each guy was now running his own promotion. Martinez Conill kept the CMQ TV deal, but the timeslot changed and the broadcasts were now Thursdays at 10 p.m. By 1953 there were four television channels in Cuba and Becerra struck a deal with one of the two new ones - Canal 2. His television show was broadcast on Fridays at 9:30 p.m. (i.e. the timeslot wrestling used to have before on CMQ). In terms of the top local talent Red Menace and Ramon Rivera went with Martinez Conill (as did popular middleweights like Ciro Veloz and Benny Yodu), while Joe Becerra stayed with his brother Gilberto. On the foreign talent side of things Gilberto Becerra kept the Florida booking office connection and brought some talent from there, while Martinez Conill established a connection in Mexico and brought in Mexican stars like Dientes Hernandez and Fernando Oses.
February 27, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ray Cordero vs. Tiburon Priego
2. La Pantera Negra vs. Buffalo Mesa
3. El Conde vs. El Morocho
4. Lobo de Aragon def. Tony Barbetta
5. Red Menace vs. Mighty Atlas
= Boxing great Jack Dempsey was the referee for the main event. The story was that the masked villain Lobo de Aragon had become a popular attraction in Caracas, Venezuela, and was now coming here. The promoter was Gilberto Becerra.
The newspapers from March 1953 are missing from the archive so I couldn't research that month.
April 1, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Don Alvaro
2. Jaguar Nuñez vs. Gallego Alvarez
3. Joe Braña vs. Ray Cordero
4. Tigre Perez vs. Al Lastra
5. El Conde vs. Buffalo Mesa
6. Joe Becerra & Lobo de Aragon vs. Tony Barbetta & El Morocho
= Another non-televised Gilberto Becerra show.
April 9, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Torpedo Gomez vs. Gallego Alvarez
2. Ramon Rivera vs. El Carnicero Butcher
3. Dientes Hernandez vs. Eddy Salas
4. Fernando Oses & Ciro Veloz vs. Lobo Negro & Saul Montes
= CMQ Television broadcast. El Carnicero Butcher was Frank Butcher (Francisco Garcia). Oses was billed as Fernando de Oses in Cuba. Rivera was the current Cuban Heavyweight champion.
April 10, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Don Alvaro vs. Jaguar Nuñez
2. Aguila Conill vs. El Verdugo
3. Buffalo Mesa vs. El Morocho
4. Lobo de Aragon vs. El Conde
5. Joe Becerra vs. Tony Barbetta
6. Wally Dusek vs. Gran Turco
7. Danny Dusek vs. Bobby Ford
= Canal 2 Television broadcast.
April 16, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. Enrique Villarreal
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Saul Montes
3. Gallego Alvarez vs. Dientes Hernandez
4. Ramon Rivera vs. Lobo Negro
5. Fernando Oses vs. El Carnicero Butcher
= CMQ Television broadcast.
April 17, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Conde vs. Al Lastra
2. Buffalo Mesa vs. El Morocho
3. La Pantera Negra vs. Tony Barbetta
4. Joe Becerra vs. Lobo de Aragon
5. Wally Dusek & Danny Dusek vs. Jackie Nichols & Bobby Ford
= Canal 2 Television broadcast. Morocho fractured his arm in his match.
April 23, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. Torpedo Gomez
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Gallego Alvarez
3. Dientes Hernandez vs. Saul Montes
4. Ramon Rivera & Fernando Oses vs. El Carnicero Butcher & Lobo Negro
= CMQ Television broadcast. Veloz was the current Cuban Middleweight champion.
April 24, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiburon Priego vs. Tony Lopez
2. Lucas Valiente vs. El Verdugo
3. George Rodriguez vs. Tony Fuentes
4. Aguila Conill & Joe Braña def. Ray Cordero & Jaguar Nuñez
5. Buffalo Mesa vs. El Lastra
6. El Incognito vs. El Conde
7. Joe Becerra & La Pantera Negra vs. Tony Barbetta & Lobo de Aragon
= Canal 2 Television broadcast. Pantera Negra was returning from the Dominican Republic, where he had just worked two matches. El Incognito was a new masked character.
April 30, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Torpedo Gomez vs. Don Carlos
2. Gallego Garcia vs. Eddy Salas
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Oro Negro
4. Ciro Veloz vs. Saul Montes
5. Dientes Hernandez vs. Lobo Negro
= CMQ Television broadcast.
The May 1, 1953, newspaper is missing from the archive so I cannot confirm if wrestling aired in its usual timeslot on Canal 2 Television that night.
May 3, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Guajiro Salvaje debut
2. 15-man Battle Royal
= Based on the order of the eliminations there were going to be 7 singles matches. The last two wrestlers from the battle royal were going to wrestle for the prize of $100. It's not clear whether Guajiro Salvaje's debut, which was the other advertised thing for the show, was part of the battle royal (probably was).
May 7, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ramon Rivera vs. Oro Negro
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Eddy Salas
3. Dientes Hernandez vs. Saul Montes
4. Joe Grant vs. an unannounced opponent
5. Red Menace vs. Billy Fargo
= CMQ Television broadcast. Menace's return here. Menace was supposed to face Bobby Roberts, but he got injured so Fargo replaced him.
May 8, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiburon Priego vs. Carlos Gomez
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Don Alvaro
3. Lucas Valiente vs. Tony Barbetta
4. Aguila Conill & Joe Braña vs. Ray Cordero & Jaguar Nuñez
5. Lobo de Aragon vs. El Conde
= Canal 2 Television broadcast. It's said that so far Lobo de Aragon had beaten Barbetta, Becerra, Pantera & Danny Dusek and that the only guy he couldn't beat was Darnell (and based on all of this I seem to be missing some shows since I don't have a record of some of these matches). Braña was known as the little Antonino Rocca due to his similar style.
May 14, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Eddy Salas vs. Oro Negro
2. Ciro Veloz vs. Dientes Hernandez
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Saul Montes
4. Red Menace & Lobo Negro vs. Billy Fargo & Joe Grant
= CMQ Television broadcast.
May 15, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Enrique Villarreal vs. El Verdugo
2. Joe Braña vs. Tony Landru
3. Aguila Conill vs. Carlos Diaz
4. Benny Yodu vs. an unannounced opponent
5. Joe Becerra vs. El Incognito
6. Austin Shivers vs. El Conde
= Canal 2 Television broadcast. Yodu was coming back from a tour of Mexico and South America. The original card was to be headlined by Black Devil vs. Bobby Ford and some of the other matches were slightly different, but then the line-up was changed.
May 20, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz & Dientes Hernandez vs. Eddy Salas & Saul Montes
2. Billy Fargo vs. Oro Negro
3. Red Menace vs. Joe Grant
May 22, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiburon Priego & Tony Landru vs. Rolando Diaz & Enio Leiva
2. Tony Barrenas & Lucas Valiente vs. an unnamed team
3. Jaguar Nuñez & Ray Cordero vs. George Rodriguez & Tony Fuentes
4. Aguila Conill & Joe Braña vs. Don Alvaro & Carlos Diaz
= Couldn't find the TV listing, but this was mostly likely a Canal 2 Television broadcast. This was the start of the Cuban Tag Team Title tournament. Tigre Perez & Enrique Villarreal were the standby team. Lobo de Aragon vs. El Conde had been advertised as the main event, but then the article from the day of the show didn't list it among the advertised matches.
May 28, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciro Veloz vs. Oro Negro
2. Benny Yodu vs. Torpedo Gomez
3. Eddy Salas vs. Dientes Hernandez
4. Red Menace & Saul Montes vs. Ramon Rivera & Joe Grant
= CMQ Television broadcast.
May 29, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. George Rodriguez & Tony Fuentes vs. Rolando Diaz & Enio Leiva
2. Tony Barrenas & Lucas Valiente vs. Don Alvaro & Carlos Diaz
3. Tigre Perez & Enrique Villarreal vs. Guajiro Salvaje & Nelson Santa Cruz
4. Aguila Conill vs. Jaguar Nuñez
5. As Dorado vs. Tony Barbetta
6. Joe Becerra vs. Lobo de Aragon ended in a no contest
= Canal 2 Television broadcast. The promoter Gilberto Becerra tried to bring in the popular El Chiclayano for this show, but Chiclayano couldn't be there due to an issue with his passport. Rolando Diaz was also known as Roland el Intrepido.
June 4, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Torpedo Gomez vs. Gallego Alvarez
2. Eddy Salas vs. Superman
3. Benny Yodu vs. Dientes Hernandez
4. Ciro Veloz vs. Saul Montes
5. Joe Grant def. Red Menace
= CMQ Television broadcast. Right after this show Menace went to wrestle in Venezuela.
June 5, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiburon Priego vs. Nelson Santa Cruz
2. Carlos Cueto vs. Johnny Hernandez
3-4. Cuban Tag Team Title tournament: Lucas Valiente & Tony Barrenas, George Rodriguez & Tony Fuentes, Tigre Perez & Enrique Villarreal
5. Halcon Negro vs. Tony Barbetta
6. Joe Becerra vs. Lobo de Aragon (w/ Tania)
= According to the TV listings this show was going to be a Canal 2 Television broadcast, but then the article about the show in the sports section said it wasn't going to be televised so I don't know whether it was on TV or not. The tag teams were going to draw numbers and then 1 and 2 were going to wrestle to determine who would face number 3 in a match that same night. The winners of the tournament were to become the first Cuban Tag Team champions.
June 11, 1953
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Torpedo Gomez vs. Gallego Alvarez
2. Benny Yodu vs. Eddy Salas
3. Ramon Rivera & Ciro Veloz vs. Oro Negro & Demonio Negro
4. Joe Grant vs. Miguel Torres
= CMQ Television broadcast.
June 18, 1953
= CMQ Television broadcast.
June 25, 1953
= CMQ Television broadcast.
I couldn't find any other shows in 1953. It could be a case where the newspaper just stopped covering the shows, but I think there being no more shows is more likely because it seems like the TV broadcasts ended in June as well.
Sidenote: It's interesting to point out that in November 1953 Gilberto Becerra promoted an amateur wrestling tournament at Palacio de los Deportes.
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The 1954 season of wrestling shows was split into two. Gilberto Becerra was the only wrestling promoter now because Oscar Martinez Conill was focusing his efforts on boxing instead. Becerra ran the first part of the season on his own and then for the second part Valente Perez from Mexico came in, joined up with Becerra and brought in a bunch of Mexican talent with him, including the popular Medico Asesino for a one-off appearance. Valente Perez was the founder of “Lucha Libre” magazine in Mexico and is credited with coming up with legendary lucha characters such as Mil Mascaras and Tinieblas.
In 1954 wrestling was no longer broadcast weekly on Cuban TV. There would be just the occasional TV broadcast every once a while. However, what's notable is that those broadcasts were on CMBF Television (a.k.a. Canal 7), which means that within the first four years of television existing in Cuba all four of the Cuban channels had wrestling broadcasts at one time or another.
I think I may be missing a show or two from 1954 as I've seen a couple of past matches being referred to in the press but I don't have a record of them taking place.
March 5, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Carlos Diaz
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Carlos Cueto
3. Ezequiel Toledo vs. Ciclon Veloz
4. Lucas Valiente vs. El Pirata Dominicano
5. Johnny Rodriguez vs. Gran Markos
March 12, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Ciclon Veloz vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
2. Guajiro Salvaje vs. Ezequiel Toledo
3. Johnny Rodriguez vs. Carlos Cueto
4. Tigre Perez vs. El Pirata Dominicano
5. Ray Tatu vs. Gran Markos
= Joe Becerra was one of the referees now.
March 19, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Jiu-jitsu: Ricardo Valdez vs. Leonardo Yi Lastra
2. Ray Cordero vs. Ezequiel Toledo
3. El Enfermero vs. El Buitre
4. Gran Markos vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
5. Johnny Rodriguez vs. Lotario Cubano
6. Huracan Ramirez vs. Ray Tatu
March 26, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Braña vs. Ray Cordero
2. Tony Barrenas vs. El Pirata
3. Ramon Rivera vs. Oro Negro
4. Johnny Rodriguez vs. Gran Markos
5. Huracan Ramirez vs. Ray Tatu
= In the lead-up to this show it was mentioned that promoter Gilberto Becerra was trying to bring Antonino Rocca back to Havana, but ultimately things didn't work out.
April 2, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Lucas Valiente vs. Guajiro Salvaje
2. Aguila Conill vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
3. Ray Tatu vs. Gran Markos
4. Huracan Ramirez & Ramon Rivera vs. El Pirata Dominicano & Oro Negro
5. Johnny Rodriguez vs. Lotario Cubano
April 9, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Lucas Valiente vs. Gran Markos
2. Ramon Rivera vs. Johnny Rodriguez
3. Tigre Perez vs. Ray Tatu
4. Huracan Ramirez def. Oro Negro
5. NWA World Women's Title: Mildred Burke (c) def. Millie Stafford to retain her title
= Burke was accompanied by Cowboy Luttrall. One of the reports said that Burke was only the second wrestler to ever defend a World Championship in Cuba, the other one being Frank Sexton. When Sexton wrestled in Cuba he had already lost his World Title in the States, but in Cuba he was still billed as the champion. However, I don't have a record of him actually defending a title there, but it's possible he may have.
April 14, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tiburon Priego vs. Rolando Diaz
2. Aguila Conill vs. Ray Cordero
3. Ramon Rivera & Gran Markos vs. Ray Tatu & El Pirata Domicano
4. Silvia Hernandez & La Caraquita vs. July Perez & La Bella Pilar
5. Huracan Ramirez vs. Johnny Rodriguez
= Silvia Hernandez was the current Cuban Women's champion.
April 23, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Enrique Villarreal vs. Carlos Diaz
2. Tony Barrenas vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
3. Buffalo Californiano vs. Gran Markos
4. Silvia Hernandez vs. La Bella Pilar
5. Huracan Ramirez & Ramon Rivera vs. Johnny Rodriguez & Ray Tatu
= Canal 7 broadcast. It's interesting to point out that while wrestling was now on Canal 7 Gabino Delgado was one of the commentators and Jessi Losada was the interviewer, and those two guys had previously been part of the broadcasts on CMQ Television (Canal 6)
April 30, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Tanque Habanero
2. Tiburon Priego vs. Rolando Diaz
3. Lucas Valiente vs. Gran Markos
4. Tigre Perez & Tony Fuentes vs. Carlos Cueto & Buffalo Californiano
5. Huracan Ramirez & Ramon Rivera vs. Johnny Rodriguez & Ray Tatu
June 25, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Buitre Blanco vs. Andre La Tour
2. Pedro Bolaños vs. El Judio
3. El Califa vs. Han Ly
4. Raul Torres vs. Carnicero Bucher
5. El Uruguayo vs. La Gran Amenaza Blanca
= The start of the new season, under the direction of Gilberto Becerra and Valente Perez. Uruguayo's opponent was listed as La Gran Incognita, but I'm pretty sure that was actually La Gran Amenaza Blanca and they just hadn't quite figured out what his name was going to be just yet.
June 29, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Uruguayo vs. Carlos Cueto
2. Han Ly vs. El Buitre Blanco
3. El Santo def. Pedro Bolaños
4. Raul Torres vs. El Carnicero Butcher
= The TV listings for that night show that Canal 2 had a one-hour show listed as Lucha so it's possible part of this card may have been broadcast on television The El Santo here was Alex Romano under a mask. Half of the time the articles refer to him as El Santo and in the other half he's called Simon Templar so he went by both names in Cuba. The articles talk about him being a famous wrestler from Mexico, but it's hard to say whether they were trying to pass him off the real El Santo or just borrowing the name. Carnicero Butcher was Frank Butcher.
July 2, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Uruguayo vs. Gran Markos
2. Aguila Conill vs. Andre La Tour
3. Han Ly vs. David Steinberg
4. Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco
5. El Santo & Ray Tatu vs. Raul Torres & La Gran Amenaza Blanca
= A pre-show article mentioned that Ray Tatu was now married to the famous Cuban singer/actress Rita Montaner.
July 9, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Buitre Blanco vs. Andre La Tour
2. El Santo vs. Han Ly
3. La Gran Amenaza Blanca vs. David Steinberg
4. Ray Tatu vs. Pedro Bolaños
5. Raul Torres vs. El Carnicero Bucher
July 16, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. El Buitre Blanco vs. David Steinberg
2. Han Ly vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
3. El Santo vs. La Gran Amenaza Blanca
4. Ray Tatu vs. Pedro Bolaños
= Canal 7 broadcast.
July 23, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. David Steinberg vs. Andre La Tour
2. Ray Cordero vs. Han Ly
3. Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco
4. Mask vs. Mask: La Gran Amenaza Blanca def. El Santo
5. Medico Asesino vs. El Uruguayo
= Canal 7 broadcast. The local press compared Medico Asesino to Londos, Rocca, Sexton and Thesz as far as being a major star, which I found interesting. He was coming here after a tour of Venezuela. Buitre Blanco came out after the mask vs. mask match and did not want Santo to take his mask off, but Santo honored the stipulation of the match and took the mask off. Buitre then attacked him, setting up a match for the following week.
July 30, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Tanque Habanero
2. Carlos Diaz vs. Andre la Tou
3. Carlos Cueto vs. Pedro Bolaños
4. Buitre's Mask on the line: El Santo vs. El Buitre Blanco
5. Joe Becerra & Ramon Rivera vs. El Uruguayo & David Steinberg
= Canal 7 broadcast. Joe Becerra's return to the ring. It doesn't seem like Santo won here as Buitre was still masked later on.
August 6, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Silvia Hernandez vs. La Bella Pillar
2. Andre La Tour vs. El Extraño
3. Super Libre: Joe Becerra & Ramon Rivera vs. El Uruguayo & David Steinberg
4. Alex Romano & Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco & Eddy Salas ended in a no contest
= El Santo/Simon Templar was now going by his real name Alex Romano. Due to his good looks and physique he had become a favorite of the female audience and in that sense he was drawing comparisons to El Chiclayano, who used to be the big female favorite before. The heels Buitre & Salas won the main event, but the crowd protested the decision because they felt it was due to a mistake by the referee Panchito Ordaz, and therefore the referee overturned his own decision and declared the match a no contest (no winners).
August 13, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Guajiro Salvaje
2. El Buitre Blanco vs. Andre La Tour
3. Ramon Rivera vs. El Uruguayo
4. Alex Romano & Pedro Bolaños vs. David Steinberg & Ray Mesa
= Mesa was returning from a tour of Venezuela, Colombia and Peru.
August 20, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Aguila Conill vs. Guajiro Salvaje
2. Murcielago Gonzalez vs. Andre La Tour
3. Ray Mesa vs. David Steinberg
4. Tigre Perez vs. El Uruguayo
5. Alex Romano & Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco & Eddy Salas
= The storyline for the main event was that after their match from two weeks ago the babyfaces Romano and Bolaños had threatened the promoter Gilberto Becerra that they would cancel their contract with him and go back to Mexico if he did not book them in a rematch agaist Buitre & Salas and Becerra obliged.
August 27, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Tony Fuentes vs. David Steinberg
2. Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco
3. Ray Mesa vs. Andre La Tour
4. Tigre Perez vs. El Uruguayo
5. Alex Romano vs. Eddy Salas
September 3, 1954
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Guajiro Salvaje vs. Tanque Habanero
2. Aguila Conill vs. Murcielago Gonzalez
3. Tony Fuentes vs. Eddy Salas
4. Alex Romano vs. Ray Mesa
5. Hair vs. Mask: Pedro Bolaños vs. El Buitre Blanco
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The 1955-1958 period is a bit of a mystery to me. It seems like promoter Gilberto Becerra focused his efforts on promoting amateur wrestling for a while, and his former partner Oscar Martinez Conill was still promoting boxing. I couldn't find a single pro wrestling show in Havana in 1955-1958, but then again it could be a case where the newspaper I'm using simply didn't cover wrestling then. I have no idea.
On February 10, 1955, the Cuban press announced that Verne Gagne had accepted Becerra's offer to come to Havana. The following day it was reported that Antonino Rocca, Buddy Rogers, Gorgeous George, El Chiclayano, Jaime Orezelli and Miguel Todorovich were in talks with Becerra as well. A little bit after that it was announced that George, Rocca and Chiclayano had agreed to come to Havana. It was also said that the upcoming season of shows was not going to be broadcast on TV. Later in the year Becerra promoted some amateur wrestling cards, and a couple of them featured pro wrestling matches.
November 8, 1955
Palacio de los Deportes
= Amateur wrestling event, promoted by Gilberto Becerra.
November 15, 1955
Palacio de los Deportes
= Amateur wrestling event, promoted by Gilberto Becerra.
November 23, 1955
Palacio de los Deportes
1. Joe Braña vs. Tiburon Priego
= Braña was the Cuban Welterweight champion at the time. This pro match was part of another amateur event by Becerra.
December 1, 1955
Palacio de los Deportes
1-6. amateur matches
7. Cuban Middleweight Title: Tony Barrenas (c) vs. Guajiro Salvaje
8. Cuban Light Heavyweight Title: Tigre Perez (c) vs. El Murcielago
= This was Becerra's final amateur card of the year and it was billed as El Carnaval de Campeones. One pre-show article talking about the pro matches briefly referred to there being two promotions at the time, which I thought was interesting, but I don't know anything beyond that one random mention.
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In 1959 there were once again regular shows in Havana. Perhaps the most interesting thing about them was that they were a co-promotion between Oscar Martinez Conill and Ed Don George. At least one of the shows aired on Cuban TV.
January 18, 1959
Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva
1. Serafin Gonzalez vs. Carlos Cueto
2. Benny Yodu vs. Soldier Barry
3. Red Menace vs. Len Hughes
4. Mike Sharpe vs. Sandor Kovacs
= Hughes was supposed to wrestle Angelo Martinelli, but Menace replaced him in the line-up a few days prior to the show.
January 27, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Superman Alzugaray def. Tiburon Priego
2. Eddy Salas def. Torpedo Gomez
3. Aguila Conill def. Benny Yodu via disqualification
4. Red Menace & Len Hughes def. Steve Stanlee & Serafin Gonzalez
= Originally the show was scheduled for January 25. Charro Alvarado was supposed to tag with Gonzalez, but then Stanlee replaced him. Ben Trudell was supposed to be Conill's opponent, but that changed too.
February 1, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Benny Yodu vs. Carlos Cueto
2. Aguila Conill vs. Eddy Salas
3. Serafin Gonzalez vs. Len Hughes
4. Red Menace vs. Sandor Kovacs
= Canal 2 broadcast.
February 8, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Negro Badu vs. Carlos Cueto
2. Sandor Kovacs vs. Len Hughes
3. Red Menace vs. Serafin Gonzalez
4. Antonino Rocca vs. Harry Lewis
February 15, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Superman Alzugaray def. Torpedo Gomez
2. Eddy Salas def. Gran Toledo
3. Sandor Kovacs def. Ramon Rivera
4. Negro Badu def. Len Hughes via disqualification
5. Red Menace vs. Angelo Martinelli ended in a no contest
= Menace and Martinelli fought outside the ring, once they came back in Len Hughes came in to aid Menace and then Negro Badu ran in the for the save. This all lead to a number of fans jumping in the ring so police and referees tried to calm things down, which took more than 10 minutes. Rivera was a sub for Bobby Lane.
Sidenote: On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba.
February 22, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Gran Toledo vs. Huracan Castillo
2. Benny Yodu vs. Negro Badu
3. Sammy Berg vs. Len Hughes
4. Red Menace & Eddy Salas vs. Sandor Kovacs & Angelo Martinelli
March 1, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Negro Badu vs. Eddy Salas
2. Red Menace vs. Angelo Martinelli
3. Sammy Berg vs. Len Hughes
4. Steve Stanlee vs. Sandor Kovacs
March 8, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Joe Braña vs. Tiburon Priego
2. Eddy Salas vs. Torpedo Gomez
3. Huracan Castillo vs. Gran Toledo
4. Red Menace & Young Menace vs. Negro Badu & Serafin Gonzalez ended in a no contest
March 15, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Huracan Castillo vs. Aguila Conill
2. Benny Yodu & Eddy Salas vs. Gran Toledo & Torpedo Gomez
3. Young Menace II vs. Serafin Gonzalez
4. Red Menace vs. Negro Badu
March 22, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Huracan Castillo vs. Superman Alzugaray
2. Benny Yodu vs. Gran Toledo
3. Young Menace II vs. Negro Badu
4. Roy Westeorn vs. Eddy Salas
5. Red Menace vs. Serafin Gonzalez
September 20, 1959
Habana Madrid
1. Mr. Cuba vs. Raff Cabrera
2. Huracan Castillo vs. Ezequiel Toledo
3. Tigre Perez vs. Eddy Salas
4. Eddy Salas vs. Black Corona
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1960 was the final year that I was able to research and there were at least two shows that I know of. Both were promoted by Pedro Mendieta. Both shows were at the 15,000-seat Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva.
January 8, 1960
Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva
"big crowd"
1. Huracan Castillo vs. Negro Badu
2. Skull Murphy vs. Chet Wallick
3. Gregorio Jarque vs. Luis Martinez
4. Johnny Valentine def. Rito Romero
5. Antonino Rocca def. Jerry Graham (2:0 falls)
= Graham bled.
 |
| Photos from Antonino Rocca vs. Jerry Graham (January 8, 1960): |
February 12, 1960
Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva
1. Huracan Castillo vs. Tigre Perez
2. Negro Badu vs. Eddy Salas
3. Danny McShain vs. Tito Carrion
4. Haystacks Calhoun vs. Harry Lewis
5. Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez vs. Red Menace & Chet Wallick
Acknowledgements: Thank you to Bobby Vankavelaar as newspaper clippings from his collection were used to put together the information on the shows in 1942.
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