The Invaders & Mil Mascaras v Terry Funk. Dory Funk & Ron Starr (12/18/86)
"The possibilities with that Terry/Starr tandem are endless. Maybe Dory will be okay as well." That was what popped into my head when this match came up on the screen (I don't really comb through match lists for these 80s sets, preferring to go in blind so that when something like this shows up I get all giddy like a superdork). You see that team and on the opposite end you have three guys in masks, two of whom are wearing identical gear, and you can't help but expect to see Terry Funk lose the rag at some phantom babyface tag shtick. Ron Starr has been a waaaay more fun stooge than I ever would've imagined (you know, from those whole two Ron Starr matches I'd seen before watching this set), but he's not quite Funk. I expected him to be good, and he was, but this is Terry Funk in Puerto Rico so naturally I'm gonna be drawn to him first and foremost. And of course Terry was great. It's like being in Puerto Rico let him cut loose his chains and be as much of a screwball as possible. He wants a boxing match with Invader to start, and obviously he loses, but the sell and face-first bump he takes off Invader's right hook is just beyond words. They also do the bit where Invader rams Terry's head into the turnbuckle a bunch, then when he stops Terry keeps rocking back and forth, head bouncing off the turnbuckle, until big brother comes in set him right. Dory was fine enough, mostly as the recipient of the early babyface shine, taking a few really cool Ted DiBiase-ish bumps off Invader's double chop, but when you look at that heel unit he's not the guy you want in there the lion's share of the time. I would've liked to have seen a longer FIP spell and a proper finish, but I'll take absolutely everything I can get of Terry Funk watching Puerto Rico. You'll hear no complaints from me that this made the set.
Stan Hansen & Chicky Starr v Carlos Colon & Huracan Castillo Jr. (12/21/86)
How about Stan Hansen and Chicky Starr for a dream team you never dared dream of. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid if the Sundance Kid was a cheapshotting little weasel bastard (I mean, he might've been). Chicky was a really fun toady in this, relying on Hansen to bail him out at a couple points but never being above fouling someone when Hansen wasn't on hand to offer immediate assistance. It led to a great payback spot later when Colon double punted him in the balls, and really, nowhere else does revenge ball shots like Puerto Rico. Huracan Castillo Jr. is the guy I thought was the commissioner or something from the last Hansen match where Stan kicked the shit out of him. I don't know whether he actually is the commissioner or not, but I certainly never recognised him before as the same guy from Los Boricuas. He mostly works the apron, but towards the end he gets into it with Chicky and bites him in the forehead a bunch. I loved Colon's comeback in this, untangling himself from the tree of woe position and cartwheeling over to save Castillo from a Hansen/Chicky mauling. Hansen wrapping the bullrope around Colon's neck and hanging him over the top rope was pretty wild as well, and it all goes towards setting us up for the bullrope match, which is next on the disc. I'm hyped.
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