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Popitekus vs Super Muneco

1989. I was twenty seven, but going through a definite premature second childhood. I rediscovered Lucha Libre full throttle when our antiquated “Jones Intercable” finally added Galavision to our cable line-up, and I could watch the Friday night Arena Mexico or Arena Coliseo show on Sunday afternoon. On top of that, Fizzy, Pat Hoed, Greg Regalado, Steve Gerber and I began making monthly Friday night treks to Auditorio de Tijuana in my beat up old-Oldsmobile station wagon. We had been thorough Negro Casas marks for several years, and were now becoming ecstatic fans for cats like Javier Cruz, Atlantis, Pirata Morgan, El Dandy, Yoshihiro Asai, and Felino. Add to the mix that had just gotten acquainted with Konnan, who was in his Tijuana rookie years, a guy who was studying the intricacies of his new profession with the fervor of a grad student.

We dug the above-mentioned luchadores for things like smooth technical wizardry, keen rudo and tecnico sense, and bitchin’ motherfucking topes.

Yet I remember clearly remember when the four of us were chugging the Olds to the even older San Bernardino Arena on a hot Sunday afternoon to check out Red Bastien’s WIN Lucha Libre TV tapings. On the drive there, we chatted about recent lucha shows we saw on Galavision, about the coolness of folks like Jerry Estrada and Satanico, our standard fare.

And then we touched upon another wrestler we liked, and we experienced something stronger than nodding approval; this was more like a symbiotic electric high-five upon the mention of a tecnico called Popitekus.

I have no recollection who brought up the name Popitekus that day, but we immediately agreed that he ranked high on the cool factor.We raved about this dark Coppertone heavyweight who looked like a hybrid of Teddy Ruxpin and Gigantor The Space-Age Robot. Yes, Popitekus stood out in the crowd.

To put things in perspective, we were marks at that time for five-star matches. We put way too much emphasis on the pro wrestling star-ometer. Popitekus was a good worker, but by no means a five-star match wrestler.

Yet the more we talked in the car, we realized that we were unapologetic Popitekus fans. What did we like about Popi? This behemoth tecnico with dark brooding eyes contradicted by a childlike smile, which naturally lent him that “Idolos de Los Niños” aura, ultra-emphasized when Dr. Alfonso Morales would shout “Supeerrrrrrrr Popiiiiiii!” during the televised action.

Popitekus Is All The Rage Between Falls!

Popitekus dwarfed his rudo foes, who would often sell the size difference with a wince before locking up with. Yes, Popitekus probably could have gotten away with doing “big man” spots… but he worked lucha style, from the first Látigo-start highspot to the six-man tag team topé finale. He took the backdrops and dove out of the ring.

Hard as he worked, Popitekus was not a natural five-star wrestler. We were five-star wrestling fans. Yet I found that I was digging Popitekus more than most flawless five-star high-throttle wrestlers who gave us high-throttle five-star matches.

The more we saw Popi, the more he achieved cult-fan status for us.

What was it about Popitekus? For me, Popitekus was fun. Popitekus was enthusiasm. Popitekus stood out even in a Lucha Libre zone. Popitekus was one of several figures that reminded me that the pursuit of lengthy, perfectly executed wrestling matches was not the reason I became enamored with pro wrestling when I was a kid. Fun lured me into the madhouse of wrestling fandom: Freddie Blassie biting his foe, John Tolos drooling during interviews, wrestling hippies, dynamic heros battling vile heels.

Don’t get me wrong. I still appreciate five-star matches. But I dig the fun aspect with greater intensity, be it kitschy camp or old-school histrionics.

As we approached San Bernardino on that Popi-bonding day, Pat cried “Supeeerrrrrrr Popiiiiiii!” in perfect Dr. Alfonso pitch, and that became our battle cry every time we hit any wrestling event. Every one of us tried to belt out our own rendition, but only Pat Hoed (who later became commentator extraordinaire Larry Rivera) could do it justice.

Another Haircut For Popitekus! You Rocked, Super Popi!

I saw Popitekus live only once, and I could not have seen him on a better night: 1991 in Tijuana in a hair vs mask vs Super Muñeco (another wrestler who taught me that a wrestler dressed as a puppet is way more bitchin’ than a wrestler with a collegiate appearance)

Did I say Popitekus wasn’t a five-star wrestler? On that evening he and Super Muñeco delivered a five-star bloodbath. The match couldn’t have started more beautifully: Super Muñeco in the center of the ring, holding a huge bag of candy… children hitting the ring, all over Muñeco like ants at a picnic. I’m telling you— there were so many kids in the ring, you could hardly even see Super Muñeco.

And then the loud screams of children broke out! They scattered and jumped out of the ring fast as they could, because the new rudo version of Popitekus hit the ring and trashed Super Muñeco smack in the middle of his candy fest! Popi trashed Muñeco, who juiced big-time (there is something truly eerie about a masked puppet bleeding), and a sweet slobber-knocker of a stip match began. This was a sweet violent brawl sprinkled with planchas, topes, and chairshots. The heat was beautiful, amped up when Popitekus bled along with his foe.

As in all of his career stipulation matches -save for one- Popitekus lost the final fall and his hair. After the show, Fizzy and I made no pretensions of being cool that night— we were not leaving the arena until we got our pictures taken with Popitekus!

We caught him as he walked down that huge tube-like exit at the Auditorio. After we obtained our photo op, a man carrying his little daughter in his arms walked up to Popitekus. Popi had a bandage around his head, and had behaved like a bad-ass son-of-a-bitch earlier that evening. But the father told her “See? That’s Super Popi, the guy you liked on TV!” She obviously remembered the tecnico version of Popitekus, and looked a little apprehensive. She mellowed once Super Popi gave her the sweet tecnico treatment, and both dad and daughter left looking happy.

A few years later, Popitekus joined El Verdugo and Hombre Bala to form a trio called “Los Cavernicolas.” They were decked out in thorough caveman gear and face paint. They were a hit, though I feel Popitekus’ charisma shone more effectively sans the new look. Popitekus was cool simply as Popitekus! But what the hell… as long as somebody enjoyed watching “Los Cavernicolas,” I won’t knock it! It’s all about having fun.

This past Monday, July 12, Hilario Vargas Ruiz —Popitekus— fell victim to thrombosis, brought on by diabetes. He passed away, and was laid to rest the following day. He was fifty three years old. In his obituary on Popitekus, D.R. Luch Steve Sims eulogized “And this death has actually brought a greater outpouring of sad memories and sighs than did the death of Scorpio Sr, at least at the various places I visit. It seems Popitekus made a great impression among many who followed wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s as the lovable big guy.”

You left a great impression on me, Popitekus. You will always have a fan in me.

As Steve Sims concluded wonderfully in an e-mail he sent me: “Oh, to just hear one more time, Dr. Morales from 1989 going “¡Super Super Super Super POOOOOOPI!” for the tope suicida!

 Trailer till The Adventures of Lucky Pierre från rstvideos trailerarkiv.

Join Vandal Drummond, Alfredo Esparza and The Bixie Demon as we charter an unorthodox Slammin’ Stan #36. Amongst the topics: the effect that Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass has had on Vandal this week, evil stepfathers, Tiger Longoria, Tom “Crazy Charlie” Hankins, L.A. TV wrestling nostalgia, Le Bron vs L.E. Bron, the winner of our last trivia contest, the year Incredibly Strange Wrestling placed in one of The Wrestling Observer reader awards, Scott Walton turns rudo, The Exotic Yeti in WCW, The Monster and Bigfoot in 1982 L.A. wrestling, Super Astro, and much more! It’s a hep ride, come dig it!

CLICK HERE FOR SLAMMIN’ STAN #36

"Bite The Red Knee!"

SLAMMIN’ STAN! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE, BABY!

Join the Hep-Crowd of Alfredo Esparza, Dan Farren (the original), The Bixie Demon and MPW’s own Larry Park as we discuss an enjoyable array of subjects: Vandal Drummond raves about the song “Mari In Love” by The Pugs, and why their album “Bite The Red Knee” is a must for your music collection, no matter who you are! Lucha Libre’s Legacy at Hadco Plaza in Los Angeles… Forin Kazin… Cosmos… The story behind the 1998 chance emergence of Lucky Pierre… Millennium Pro Wrestling coming events… philosophy concerning how matches in the openers should be constructed and delivered, and why this is a cool subject to address in present day indie shows… our favorite and least enjoyable ring announcers through the years (Dick Lane, Gordon Solie, Monsoon & Heenan, Ray Morgan, and yes, Michael Cole are all in the mix!) Vandal briefly runs down AAA TV that aired this past Sunday. Bitchin’ times, Compadres, check it out!

Hope you’ll join us either live or by download for tonight’s episode of Slammin’ Stan! Fredo and Vandal will be joined by Dan Farren ( and hoping for The Bixie Demon and D.R. Lucha to join us too!). We’ll be talking all sorts of subjects under the stars, from local indie lucha pioneers in Southern California like Cosmos and Forin Kazin… we’ll also talk about the July 31 Millennium Pro Wrestling show on Chatsworth featuring Adam Pearce, and Vandal will recap the spoken piece he did on the worst arena he’s ever worked. We’ll also talked B-Movies, the multiple invasion angles on recent wrestling shows, a subject we have sorely neglected recently.

You can phone in live at (347) 324-3764 and catch or download the show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/slamminstan

Dan Farren, Roddy Piper, and Lucky Pierre

Just click here for Slammin’ Stan episode #34, which features our first official guest on the show, Kevin Kleinrock, who has enjoyed a unique odyssey in the world of pro wrestling and television. This is one hep-cat full of energy and ambition who tells us about his unusual and impressive ride in the industry. Kevin also fills us in about his upcoming Viva La Lucha PPV, which sounds like a must-see for both Lucha Libre purists and the casual fan. Check this one out, folks!

We start out the show with a brand new Haiku. However…….. Jon Strongman has been replaced by another muse!

We start out the episode reminiscing about last Saturday night’s long awaited return of “Millennium Pro Wrestling” headlined by Logan X vs Cincinnati Red in a badge vs hair match that featured involvement by the one and only Rowdy Roddy Piper! Fredo talks about the key matches and Vandal recounts reuniting with long lost pals like Crayz, and meeting cool-cats new on his radar like Bo Cooper and Amanda. Vandal also talks about his first match in nearly three years versus Fanboy, and the blast he had (even though he blew up immediately) reentering the ring!

On a side note, I neglected to mention in the show all the energy our own Dan Farren put into this show in his role as the commissioner. We kid a lot in this episode about Dan “no-showing” for the interview with Kleinrock, so I want to say with great emphasis here that Dan is both a great friend and talented person that I have known for over twenty years now. If I were not so much in love with Elena I would go to great lengths to steal his wife Mary Lou away from him, but would still consider him my best friend (is that true pro wrestling friendship OR WHAT?). Seriously though, I love you Dan, you are a great friend!

We talk about Wes Daniel’s involvement in the AIDS/Lifecycle Ride, a journey that he is taking in memory of his partner Eric. Wes is a great guy who is heavily involved with The Cauliflower Alley Club. He is taking part in a 566 mile round trip ride from L.A. to San Francisco. The Daily Breeze features Wes in a story here, which includes info on how you can sponsor him in this ride.

The final portion of this show features the reunion of “Los Cuatro Rudos,” as Vandal and Fredo are joined by David “The Bixie Demon” Bixenspan and the one and only D.R. Luch Steve Sims!!! We cover a lot of fun ground in a short amount of time, which includes news about the return of Perro Aguayo Jr to AAA, Luch’s trip to Las Vegas to get rowdy with the likes of Dave Meltzer, Bryan Alvarez, and The Figure 4 Message Board Party Lunatics! We also look back at 1980s Los Angeles luchadores Jesse Garcia and Principe Joel, who were two of the mainstays at the legendary Hadco Plaza.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/slamminstan

Join us as we discuss Lucky Pierre’s first match back for MPW and thoughts on the show and meetin Rowdy Roddy Piper, etc. We’ll also talk about NXT and just how awesome William Regal was on the finale, Lay-Cool mentoring Low Ki, and we’ll also be talking lucha.PLUS!!!!!!!! Do we have a new muse for our Haiku?