Some notes since the last one of these I’ve done
- There’s now an index of these recaps to make it easier to go through them.
- I asked Box y Lucha about the mystery “A” in these issue numbers. They didn’t know for sure, but their best guess was to keep the numbering distinct from other magazines in the Box y Lucha family.
- I also asked Box y Lucha about these releases and if some of the skipped numbers might pop up later. It sounds likely no – issues have gone missing or damaged as ownership of the magazine has changed over many years, and so some just appear to be lost to time.
It’s better to have some issues rather than none, but there will be some gaps here. There are no issues currently from June or July to go through. A later 1956 year in review article does mention two shows in June.
- a card on the 8th where El Enfermero defeated Blue Demon in the main event
- a card on the 22nd where Demon successfully defended the NWA Welterweight Championship over Enfermero, and Santo did the same with Rolando Vera and the NWA Middleweight championship. That’s the first piece in a longer story.
Box y Lucha hasn’t released any July 1956 issues. However, in a bundle of 1955 issues, they also released the August 1956 Clinch 225. Clinch was a monthly version of the magazine and the 1956 issues happen to include a full recap of every Mexico City EMLL match that took place the prior month. There’s less detail to these and it’s missing the final Sunday of the month, but it’s much better than the nothing I thought we had.
EMLL (FRI) 07/06/1956 Arena Coliseo [CLINCH 225]
1) El Pirata b Rudy García
2) Juan Diaz TLDRAW Seki Moto
15 minutes
3) Frankenstein b Chico Veloz
4) Mario Tello b Oso Negro
5) Jorge Allende b Pepe Mendieta
6) El Enfermero b Bobby Bonales
7) Dorrel Dixon, Joe Marín, Rolando Vera b Carlos Moreno, El Mongol, Gorilita Flores
“Seki Moto” is a newer face who’s not around long. Clinch 225 happens to have a bio. It’s probably actually “Sekimoto” as a last name, but a real name isn’t given (and I’m not sure who it would be.) He was born in Okinawa on February 5, 1931 and trained in judo and jit-jitsu. He was a part of Jack O’Brien’s “Promoter Unidos Mexicanos” in a tour of Guatemala, then later traveled to El Salvador and eventually Mexico. He wrestled in Mexico, where he suffered a spine injury and was sidelined for 2.5 months in a match with Abel Krim. He returned in Guadalajara and defeated Huracan Ramirez there. Guadalajara promoter Elias Simon recommended him to people in Mexico City.
Carlos Moreno gets a less positive article in Clinch, via a letter published from the Aguascalientes Box y Lucha Libre commission. In the previous issue, Carlos Moreno apparently said he was wrongly jailed after a crowd brawl. The commission sent in a letter saying Moreno was out of control and rightly banned for wrestling in the state for a year.
EMLL (FRI) 07/13/1956 Arena Coliseo [CLINCH 225]
1) Kid Vanegas b Carnicero Grimaldo
2) Beau Brummel b Bobby Rolando
3) Orquídea DRAW Frankenstein
4) Mario Tello b Manuel Robles
5) Giuliano b Chale Romero
6) Rolando Vera b Jorge Allende
7) Dorrel Dixon & Joe Grant b Enfermero & Medico Asesino
Dixon stays winning in the main event. Match 5 is the debut of Piero Giuliano (or Giullano), who would be in and out the rest of the 50s.
The magazine also included a Jorge Allende profile. He trained under Pablo Romero, then got sent to Giraldo Hierro in Torreon to debut. He gave his real name as Jorge Allende Guerrero, so they announced him as Gori Guerrero’s nephew. He debuted in (Old) Arena Mexico on June 18, 1950 in a battle royal. (Text actually says July, but this is June based on the rest of the data.) He was third out, wrestled Oso Negro, and went to a half hour draw. He went on a winning streak, then ended up facing Gori Guerrero after a another battle royal. Guerrero was said to be not happy about having a fake nephew. The match lasted one fall, when Guerrero smashed Allende into an armrest on the outside and Allende was unable to continue. Allende took a high profile loss to Blue Demon and left the territory for four years. His 1954 run went better, though he eventually lost his hair to Demon.
EMLL (FRI) 07/20/1956 Arena Coliseo [CLINCH 225]
1) Guapo Rodríguez b Mar Allah
2) Centella Inca b Memo Rubio
3) Canelo Segura b Orquídea
4) Black Killer DQ Mario Teelo
5) Giullano b Gorilita Flores
6) El Santo & Medico Asesino b Dorrel Dixon & Joe Grant
Santo’s back, so the main event result goes back in his favor. A notes column mentions he’s reached 14 years of wrestling this month, and that he did wrestle unmasked before being El Santo.
The bigger show is on Sunday:
EMLL (SAT) 07/21/1956 Arena Puebla [Clinch 225, Lucha Libre 106]
1) Kiko Torres vs Frankenstein
2) Pepe Mendieta vs El Espectro
3) El Enfermero & Medico Asesino vs Mongol & Ray Mendoza
4) El Santo © b Rolando Vera [NWA MIDDLE]
Santo’s 6th defense, said to be the first Mexican to reach that mark with a world title
This is the 3rd Anniversary show for Arena Puebla, which would have CMLL shows on Saturdays at this point. Santo retains over Vera a second time in a high profile match. (Some of the other six defenses happened during a tour of western Mexico; Box y Lucha briefly alludes to them but has no dates.)
EMLL (FRI) 07/27/1956 Arena Coliseo [CLINCH 225]
1) Wama b Mar Allah
2) Chico Veloz b Eskimo Blancarte
3) Tony Barbetta b Kiko Torres
4) Black Killer DRAW Jalisco González
5) Espectro b Joe Marín
6) Giullano b Mongol
Mongol first loss (as a singles?)
7) El Santo & Medico Asesino b Joe Grant & Rolando Vera
Santo again defeats Vera.
Match 5 is the Arena Coliseo debut of El Espectro, which would become one of the most enduring gimmicks (and most past down) gimmicks in EMLL history. Both Espectro and the less memorable Guapo Rodriguez are profiled as newcomers in Clinch.
Clinch also includes a rankings:
Top 10 wrestlers of the month
- El Santo (also most popular)
- Gori Guerrero
- Blue Demon
- Rito Romero
- Rolando Vera
- El Enfemero
- Black Shadow
- Medico Aseisno
- Cavernario Galindo
- Tarzan Lopez
Santo & Medico Asesino is the top team. (Santo & Enfermero is the 2nd team.) Polo Torres, Joe Grant and Blue Demon are the best trios. A list of champions and top contenders notes both the Mexican Light Heavyweight and Welterweight championships are vacant.
Other features include a look back at the 1944 Gorila Ramos/Tarzan Lopez match for both the NWA MIDDLE and MEX LH title. Lopez was the middleweight championship, demanded the match at his weight, and won both titles. Elsewhere in history pieces focusing on past Augusts, there’s info on heavyweight and lightweight title changes in past years.
One last article is on referee (and booker) Chucho Lomelin, who scared everyone by puking blood on June 29th. It’s said to have been caused by an ulcer. He was taken to the hospital and got gravely illy on July 13th. He’s doing better now; the title says he beat “La Parka” in straight falls. He thanks for Salvador Lutteroth for the support.
[Previous May 1956; there is no June post. Next August 1956]