I’ve breezed past the weird situation with the national champions at this point in time. According to the history we have right now.
- Lightweight: vacant since 1955?
- Welterweight: vacant since 1954?
- Middleweight: vacant since 1949
- Light Heavyweight: vacant since 1951?
- Heavyweight: vacant since 1955?
They’re all vacant, most for quite some time. I’m reading these a bit out of order in real-time. The summer 1955 issues include a bit where Black Shadow wants and plans to give up his long undefended lightweight title. It doesn’t happen, and the implication is he was told he has to lose in the ring. The light heavyweight and heavyweight are mentioned as being similarly forgotten. The unique aspect of the Mexican National titles is the Mexico City Commission controls them, and they’re especially strict and involved around the time. I guess that the commission just refused to recognize wrestlers vacating their titles for years, and somewhere in the issues we’re missing, they were finally convinced otherwise. The Box y Lucha ones I have picked up with title tournaments for all these championships in progress or starting soon. There’s an acknowledgment there’s a lot of them happening at once, but no explanation of why.
Box y Lucha 230A (August 17, 1956)
EMLL (FRI) 08/03/1956 Arena México [Box y Lucha 237A]
1) Canelo Segura b ?? [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
2) Joe Marín b ?? [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
3) Jalisco González b Black Killer [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
4) Enfermero b Orquídea [MEX WELTER, quarterfinal]
EMLL (SUN) 08/05/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 230A]
1) Miguel King b ? [MEX HEAVY, quarterfinal]
2) Lotario b Carlos Moreno [MEX HEAVY, quarterfinal]
3) Medico Asesino b Joaquin Murrieta [MEX HEAVY, quarterfinal]
4) Pepe Mendieta b ? [MEX HEAVY, quarterfinal]
I don’t have magazines covering the first half of the month. I’m more figuring out what matches must’ve occurred here based on other magazines’ stories. I’m missing a few more matches, which may include a more conventional (and bigger name) main event.
EMLL (FRI) 08/10/1956 Arena México [Box y Lucha 230A, Box y Lucha 237A]
1) Jalisco González b Canelo Segura [MEX WELTER, semifinal]
Rated 7 ½
2) Enfermero b Joe Marín [MEX WELTER, semifinal]
mentioned in a photo caption. Rated 7 ½
3) Espectro & Santo b Blue Demon & Dorrel Dixon
Santo & Espectro were praised as a team. Dixon lost but talks about getting a title match against Santo in September later in the magazine. Rated 7 ½
Another set of results patching together mentions in a few different magazines. Gonzalez and Enfermero will decide the title, though not on the next Friday night show. Box y Lucha eventually puts together that Enfermero got hurt in this match, and the final was delayed rather than changed. Santo and Espectro are a veteran/rookie team, and Espectro is quickly rising to the main event level.
A notes column mentions Santo is working Monterrey on Sundays. That’s about a week from being very important.
EMLL (SUN) 08/12/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 230A]
1) Bobby Rolando b Ali Bey
2) Adolfo Bonales b Kiko Torres
3) Lotario b Miguel King [semifinal, MEX HEAVY]
Lotario got a big head cut and was out for a short amount of time.
4) Medico Asesino b Pepe Mendieta [semifinal, MEX HEAVY]
Straight falls.
5) Jorge Allende & Ray Mendoza b Joe Grant & Tarzán López [super libre]
Rated 7
Just noting the progress of the heavyweight tournament.
Box y Lucha 231A (August 24, 1956)
EMLL (FRI) 08/17/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 230A, Box y Lucha 231A]
1) Troglodita Flores b Chico Hernández
2) Kiko Torres b Centella Inca
3) Adolfo Bonales DRAW Murciélago Velazquez
4) Tony Barbetta b Dr. Castro
5) Umeyiri Kiyomigawa b Miguel King
6) Carlos Moreno b Masahiko Kimura
7) Black Shadow & Blue Demon DQ Cavernario Galindo & Ray Mendoza
Blue Demon replaced Lotario (out of action after getting a head cut the previous Sunday.) Box y Lucha notes Blue Demon is an upgrade. Tecnicos took 2 (weird DQ) and 3, with Black Shadow landing a (reverse) tope that wows everyone. Rated 7 ½
A lot is going in Box y Lucha 231. The visible thing on the lineup is the new names Kiyomigawa and Kimura. Masahiko Kimura is considered one of the best judo practitioners, maybe the best. I don’t know much of his history, but he appears to have gotten into wrestling in the early 50s, then left Japan after a match with Rikidozan that Kimura claims broke down into a shoot. Kiyomigawa is his traveling partner here, though there’s a lot less available for him. Kimura’s style, in particular, looks alien to the Box y Lucha recap, they have no idea what to make of it. Kimura is around until early next year.
(Sunday has a one night tag team tournament won by Black Killer & Gladiador over Blue Demon and Tarzan Lopez.)
The big news of the issue is taking place in Monterrey
EMLL (SUN) 08/19/1956 Arena Coliseo Monterrey [Box y Lucha 231A, SuperLuchas]
Attendance: 6000
1) Jaibo García b Mario Texas
2) Johnny Rodríguez b El Fugitivo
3) Karloff Lagarde b Sordomudo Rodríguez
4) Mongol & Samar Selem b Emilio Charles & Huracán Ramírez
5) Rolando Vera b El Santo © [NWA MIDDLE]
Vera defeats Santo cleanly to become the new world middleweight champion. Box y Lucha’s recap says Santo got frustrated enough in the third fall to throw punches, Vera grabbed an arm and locked Santo in la reinera, and Santo gave. Vera is respected for his technical ability, but this would be the only time he won a world title.
This title change causes an uproar in Box y Lucha. The Mexico City commission protests the decision, saying Vera shouldn’t have gotten a third shot – Santo has already beaten him in Arena Mexico and Arena Puebla over the last two months. The commission argues those defenses made Santo too tired, and it was unfair for him to defend. One of the Box y Lucha agrees with the criticisms. The magazine had been setting up Dorrel Dixon as Santo’s next challenger, and instead has to pivot to a Dixon interview where he says he wants to challenge no matter who has the belt.
Box y Lucha clearly indicates when they think a person has a belt they don’t deserve. That’s not what happened with this title win; the magazine heaps praise on Vera’s abilities whenever they get the chance, and will continue to as he holds the title. Instead, there’s a steady message that Santo’s loss wasn’t planned, or not everyone who normally would be on that sort of plan was told.
Box y Lucha 232A (August 31, 1956)
EMLL (FRI) 08/24/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 231A, Box y Lucha 232A]
1) Eskimo Blancarte b Sordomudo Quiroz
2) Centella Inca b Fantomas
3) Mario Tello DRAW Frankenstein
4) Gladiador b Gorilla Flores [MEX MIDDLE, quarterfinal]
5) El Santo b Blue Demon [MEX MIDDLE, quarterfinal]
Rated 7 ½
6) Black Shadow b Bobby Bonales [MEX MIDDLE, quarterfinal]
Rated 7 ¾
7) Cavernario Galindo b Espectrito I [MEX MIDDLE, quarterfinal]
The middleweight tournament becomes the third ongoing one. The matches were set by battle royal, so Santo/Demon just happened to take place with no forewarning.
El Santo being in this national middleweight tournament makes no sense if he was thought to still be the world middleweight champion at this point. It’s not impossible, stuff like that does happen from time to time.
Still, the talk is more of that other middleweight title. Box y Lucha seems to imply Santo lost a title he definitely wasn’t supposed to, and may have gotten some incentive to do so. Another weird factor is that much of EMLL’s owning family was probably in Monterrey for that title match. Enrique Lutteroth, credited with designing and running the building, got married in Monterrey that same weekend. It was a big ceremony with lots of important names, including El Santo himself.
EMLL (SUN) 08/26/1956 Arena Coliseo [Box y Lucha 231A, Box y Lucha 232A]
1) Joe Grant b Ray Mendoza [MEX LH, quarterfinal]
2) Tarzán López b Adolfo Bonales [MEX LH, quarterfinal]
said to be a great match even though it went two falls. Rated 7 ¼
3) Pepe Mendieta b Chivo García [MEX LH, quarterfinal]
4) Mongol b Moloch [MEX LH, quarterfinal]
5) Henry Pilusso & Lotario b Masahiko Kimura & Umeyiri Kiyomigara
a hard win
Sunday has the fourth national tournament, this one for the vacant light heavyweight title. The fifth and final tournament will kick off in September. The last Friday of the month (08/31) falls into notes that are mostly September, so I’ll save the rest of this for then.
[Previous July 1956. Next September 1956. Full index]