It’s not every day that an indie promotion does the right thing by not only presenting the stars of the future but also by honoring the past. New Evolution Wrestling did just that at the Queens Elks Lodge on June 22nd as they paid tribute to both “The Professor of Old School,” the late JL Chico, and former WWWF Champion Pedro Morales. New Evolution Wrestling Pays Tribute to Pedro Morales & JL Chico.
For those who may not know Jose “JL” Chico, he was a beloved NY based wrestler who worked with so many in our area. Promoter Robert Saint chronicled his career as such, “Jose wrestled for Vince McMahon Sr. He was a hard-working man and was given the name “Mr. Wonderful” way before Paul Orndorff had it. He was also given the nickname “The Professor” because he loved helping younger talent. He was a very spiritual and great manager and was also a good friend of The Wild Samoans. He was a leader and mentor to a lot of wrestlers like me, Lou Nova, and Dan Maff. The last title he ever held was the ECPW Light Heavyweight belt.”
New Evolution Wrestling graciously brought in Chico’s family and all spoke highly and emotionally about him to the packed throng at the hallowed Elks Lodge. And later, Lou Nova pinned Magic Mike to win the Chico Cup.
Also acknowledged was the great Pedro Morales who was one of my childhood heroes. Pedro held not only the WWWF Championship but also the Intercontinental belt and briefly the tag belts with Bob Backlund as well. Sadly, WWE seemed to practically write him out of their history, barely mentioning him the past quarter century or so. Therefore, kudos to New Evolution Wrestling for honoring his memory as part of their big show.
New Evolution Wrestling Pays Tribute to Pedro Morales & JL Chico
The card itself was a colorful mix of vets and hungry kids. Andrew Anderson and Tokyo Monster formed a formidable team. Anderson appeared in The Wrestler movie and has wrestled worldwide, and Kahagas is a former NWA National Champion, NWA North American Champion, and NWA Heavyweight Champion. Mr. Big, a great old school heel manager, led them to the ring.
As “The Chauffeur” for Team Splendid I was proud to work the show as well. Team Splendid is a rotating entourage featuring “Simply Splendid” Bobby C, former ECW tag team champion Chris Michaels as Simply Sensational Fabio-lous, Ronald P. Borden as “The Bodyguard”, manager Ariel Vittini aka Don Dinero, and we will have Bella Salua early next year, a female wrestler from the Dominican Republic, and various others. We faced arch-rival Rage (accompanied by Kaos) and KC Lycan. Bobby C pinned KC Lycan for the win.
Rage talks about Team Splendid here:
https://www.facebook.com/337608333719517/videos/486294042184278/ Rage Rages Against Team Splendid
Team Splendid Not Happy Seeing Rage T-Shirt:
https://www.facebook.com/SimplySensationalFabiolous/videos/420130335234507/
When the smoke cleared, it was a great night of indy wresting but more importantly, it was from the heart, honoring two late heroes who gave so much to the business- Pedro Morales and JL Chico. Much respect to N.E.W. management for a quality wrestling show as well as preserving pro wrestling’s history.
Upcoming:
Sept. 28 N.E.W.’s follow-up Mass Destruction card return to the Queensboro Elks as brothers Supa Nitro and JT Riddick meet in an Indian Death Strap Match and Rage will pick his mystery partner vs. Team Splendid.
Enjoy a complete N.E.W. live house show here:
https://youtu.be/xyLA89M10M0
