Big Weekend of Lucha Libre Action

A young Pirata Morgan.

This weekend, two of the biggest Mexican pro wrestling stars from the 1980’s and 1990’s will be making appearances in the Rio Grande Valley. The legendary Pirata Morgan, a brawler who wears an eye patch (he legitimately lost his right eye during a match in 1981) will be part of the line-up at the Fiestas Patrias 2017 at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas on Saturday. The event is completely free and open to the public. Fito Olivares is also scheduled to be performing for that occasion. Brazo de Plata, better known to many as Super Porky, will be the focal point of the “Gran Homenaje Brazo de Plata (Super Porky)” event at Club Fuego in McAllen, Texas. Tickets for that event are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for children.

Morgan has become a regular for the local Promociones Salinas crew in recent years. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the ring announcer would often refer to him as “El Mejor Luchador del Mundo” (“The Best Wrestler in the World”). Morgan has wrestled with so many of the major names in lucha libre, in singles, tags, and trios matches, including El Dandy, El Satanico, El Faraon, Masakre, and so many more. In 1989, he was part of a memorable rivalry, where his trio that included Hombre Bala and El Verdugo feuded with Los Brazos of El Brazo, Brazo de Oro, and Brazo de Plata (Super Porky). Morgan would later take part in the CMLL World Trios Championship Tournament Finals, where he teamed up wtih MS-1 and El Satanico to form Los Infernales. They battled Los Brazos in a classic match, one of the best pro wrestling matches of the 1990's. Morgan would reverse a victory roll from the late Brazo de Oro to win that match.

I first saw Morgan wrestle live in December 12, 2005 at the then named Tejano Saloon in Pharr. He teamed up with El Maniaco to face El Hijo del Santo and Alebrije in a great match.

While teaming with his brothers under the Los Brazos brand, Porky became one of the most beloved luchadors of the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s. The three brothers lost their masks in a famous match against Los Villanos (Villano I, Villano IV and Villano V) in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon in 1986. In May of 1991, Porky participated in one of the most popular matches of that year, when he teamed up with his brothers to face El Dandy, Popitekus and Super Astro. He would go on to hold the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship for one year, in 1993-1994. Porky had an interesting decade in the 2000’s, where he dabbled in mixed martial arts in the DEEP promotion in Japan, and as a comedic character on WWE Smackdown in 2005-2006. He would go to AAA after his time in the WWE was up.

I last saw Porky at Club Fuego when he teamed up with El Hijo del Santo, for what would be Santo’s last Valley appearance, on June 2, 2013.

Porky’s sons, Maximo and Psycho Clown, are two of the biggest current stars in lucha libre. Clown just beat Dr. Wagner Jr. in a great ‘Mask vs. Mask’ match at AAA’s TripleMania XXV, on August 26, further cementing him as one of the top faces of modern day lucha libre.

No matches have been announced yet for the Club Fuego event by Robles Promotions, but Mr. Electro, Maximo, Corazon de Barrio, Brazo de Plata Jr. are some of the names that are scheduled to be wrestling. Doors open at 3 PM. As for the State Farm Arena show by Promociones Salinas, Morgan will be teaming up with Corazon de Barrio to take on Super Parka and Hijo de Mascara Sagrada, and Quinto Elemento and Asterisco Jr. will face Mysterio and Cruz Jr. That event starts at 2 PM.

"I grew up watching live lucha since I was like 5 years old, watching my father wrestle in Mexico," said Miguel Salinas, promoter of Promociones Salinas. "Very entertaining, if you haven't seen live lucha libre you're missing something that will be addicting for the rest of your life. My son is 9 and has been watching wrestling for 5 years. He will probably do the same as his dad."