Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Los Conquistadors – WWF, 2000
History
The Conquistadors had been a tag team in the WWF back in the late 80’s, who had vanished as quickly as they had appeared. They would not be seen again in the WWF.
For ten years.
Fast forward to October 9, 2000. Matt and Jeff Hardy were the tag team champions, and their number one competitors – Edge and Christian – were no longer a threat, thanks to a ruling by Commissioner Mick Foley.
That night, the Hardys were defending their titles against Lo Down (Chaz (Headbanger Mosh) and D’Low Brown). Everything was going normally until Jeff headed up top to hit his Swanton Bomb finisher. Suddenly the Conquistadors appeared, and one of them pushed Jeff off! Matt was able to recover the momentum and pin Chaz to retain their titles.
On Smackdown, the Hardys defended against Tazz and Raven. Matt had just hit the Twist of Fate on Tazz as Jeff threw Raven out of the ring. The Conquistadors came back out. One distracted the referee, and the other leveled Matt. This time Jeff hit his finisher on Tazz and put Matt on top of him to retain the belts.
On Heat, Edge and Christian put in an appearance with the Conquistadors so that everybody knew they weren’t under the masks.
The Conquistadors were in action the next night on Raw as they took on the Dudley Boys. The Conquistadors wound up rolling up Bubba Ray with a schoolboy while he was trying to unmask one of them for the pin.
On Smackdown, there was a seven-team battle royal to determine the number one contenders. Test went out first, eliminating T & A. They pulled Faarooq out to beat on him, which prompted Bradshaw to go out after them – by leaving over the top rope, eliminating the APA. Goodfather and Buchanan were next out, eliminating the Right to Censor. Grandmaster Sexay then eliminated Chaz (and himself) with a crossbody, so Too Cool and Lo Down were out, leaving the Dudleys and Conquistadors. Bubba tossed one of the Conquistadors, but he slipped back in before the referee saw. Both Conquistadors then pitched Bubba for the win.
That brought us to No Mercy, where the Hardys defended against the Conquistadors. The Conquistadors (known as Uno and Dos) won with Christian’s Unprettier, and it was also announced that they would defend their newly-won titles against Edge and Christian on Raw.
Michael Cole was conducting an interview with the Conquistadors the next night when Edge and Christian showed up. Edge touched one of them to prove that he and Christian were not under the masks, and then he ran Cole off.
Later in the night Edge and Christian were preparing for their match when Mean Street Posse member Pete Gas came in and told them that Foley wanted to see them. Edge told Christian he’d handle it, and headed out.
A commercial break later, Edge returned to the locker room after being unable to find Foley in what must have been an exhaustive search of the arena. He found Christian lying on the ground after being put through a table. Christian said that he’d been attacked by the Dudleys, and Edge vowed to defend their titles by himself.
Edge went on to face the Conquistadors, and lost the match and the belts thanks to a Swanton Bomb. As the Conquistadors headed up the ramp, Christian came out with a confused look on his face. The Conquistadors then unmasked, revealing the Hardys. Out came Mick Foley, who happened to have some footage.
The Titantron lit up with footage from earlier in the evening, after Edge and Christian had run off Michael Cole – but his cameraman had left his camera behind and filming. On the footage, the Conquistadors unmasked, revealing Aaron Aguilera (Carlito’s former bodyguard Jesus) and Christopher Daniels. Edge and Christian then laid out the plan – the Conquistadors would lose, and they’d win the belts.
Foley then went on to explain that the Hardys had caught on and taken care of the fake Conquistadors, and appropriated their costumes in the process. Foley then went on to make another judgment call – although Edge and Christian had ignored his ruling that they wouldn’t have any more title shots against the Hardys, he was willing to allow their win the night before to stand as another title reign for them. Unfortunately, he was also letting the Hardys’ win that night stand, so they were once again WWF tag team champions.
Analysis
Why can’t more angles run like this? It had a reason for happening, a set ending, and it all made sense. Edge and Christian are banned from competing for the title so, in typical E & C goofiness, they come up with a plan that lets them sidestep Foley’s ruling and win the titles back.
Sure, the gimmick only lasted about a month, but it succeeded in creating a new chapter in the ongoing war between the Hardys and E & C. Foley’s personality also played perfectly off of Edge and Christian, and having him explain everything like he was a detective was another great move.
Overall, this is one of my personal favorites that I’ve covered in the column. Fun, goofy, and God got nowhere near a wrestling ring.
Where are they now?
Edge remains with the WWE and is part of the Raw brand. He is currently managed by Lita, and is the WWE Champion.
Christian left the WWE in 2005 and jumped to TNA. Christian fared better than most who jumped, as he retained the rights to his pre-WWE “Christian Cage” name, and also was able to copyright his short-lived WWE nickname of “Captain Charisma.” Christian recently ended a roughly four month run with the NWA World Championship.
Aaron Aguilera was released from his WWF development contract following a severe back injury that required surgery. In 2003, he was resigned and debuted in 2004 as Jesus, Carlito’s bodyguard. In January of 2005, he had neck surgery and was released later that year. Today, Aguilera has returned to the California independent scene as the Hardcore Kidd.
Christopher Daniels signed a contract with WCW in early 2001, and was released when the company closed in March. He went on to make a name for himself with independent promotions such as Ring of Honor. In 2002, Daniels joined TNA, where he remains today. Daniels is a multi-time NWA Tag Team and TNA X-Division champion.
Sadly, Uno and Dos have not been heard from since their final appearance at No Mercy.
Next Week
No woman can resist the manly charms of Dean Malenko.
