Artwork by Travis Heckel
Papucho was a former Superuniverse Top 10 character which was based off of the humorous and hilarious realization that a Cupid-esque character - wearing wings and diaper - was conceived as a character for AAA wrestling in the 1990's by Antonio Pena, and was pitched for portrayal to New York wrestling personality John Arezzi, who immediately declined the offer.
Origin[]
The origin of Papucho can be traced back to a series of conversations that TGBL and Bix had with promoter Ron Skoler, specifically drawing from the interview on Episode 17 which discusses Ron fostering relationships with Konnan and Antonio Pena to bring AAA wrestling to the United States for the potential When Worlds Collide PPV in 1994. Ron starts talking about New York wrestling personality John Arezzi's involvement with the proceedings as well, and he states that Antonio Pena wanted to create a character for Arezzi to play called Papucho, which was a Hispanic slang term for a loose translation of "cutie pie." Skoler claims that he wanted Arezzi to be an on-air personality that dressed up in a diaper and wings, like Cupid, and be in 6 man tag matches with Latin Lover and Heavy Metal. The guys cracked up and questioned the inspiration that Pena had and why he would ask Arezzi, who was later in life and had a larger physique opposed to the trim ones that the workers in wrestling would have, alongside the fact that it would seem so hokey to have a larger man dressed up in scant clothing as a baby Cupid-esque character on a Lucha Libre show. Skoler then stated that Arezzi had respectfully declined the offer, possibly out of sheer bewilderment that he was even considered, and the fact that it could have had a potential toll on his body and quality of life for the future.
TGBL and Bix would eventually ask John Arezzi during their series of interviews - specifically during Episode 23 - as to the story and validation of Skoler's story, to which Arezzi replied that it was all true, stating that he was convinced that Pena was ribbing him, but that he was serious because "he definitely wanted to pull the trigger on it."
Facts / Miscellaneous[]
Total appearances in the Superuniverse Top 10: 0
- RETIRED - Papucho was voted out of the Superuniverse Top 10 after losing a Loser Leaves Town Battle Royale following the culmination of Episode 44.
- *Note - Papucho also has the unfortunate distinction of being the only show character to have received zero votes by the listeners during the aforementioned Battle Royale.