PeteF3 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hat tip to Dylan for pimping this on Twitter. I'm going to have to re-evaluate the Satanico/Pirata Morgan match from 11/26--I had that as the #9 Match of the Year worldwide and the top-ranking lucha match, and I think this compares favorably. This is every bit of the war you'd want to see between these two--I don't know if both are rudos (though Casas is the crowd favorite) but it doesn't much matter. Both guys happily beat the living shit out of the other and both guys provide some great sympathetic selling. Each fall gets time to breathe, and Casas is absolutely unreal working both on top and underneath. He takes an awesome bump over like 3 rows of ringside seats, and his kicks and comebacks are out of this world great. This is about as stiff and high-impact as lucha gets, and I think works great as a match to watch for people who aren't into lucha. The third fall also has a great running story of who can make their high-risk move attempt pay off first, like a lucha title match. Both guys miss at first and you know it's going to come down to who can be the first to hit their top-rope move. Even some really great lucha matches don't always have three good finishes for each fall, but here each fall works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poneglyph Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't know if both are rudos (though Casas is the crowd favorite) I can't remember which one of them, but at some point in the match one of the announcers says that Fiera has recently joined the técnico side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Fiera had a feud with Chicana in June where he turned tecnico. Casas was a rudo, but they were teasing a baby face turn. It was an ongoing storyline that summer with Casas throwingl in the towel during the Felino/Ciclon bout, tagging with Dandy and having an intervention session with Rivera. He turned tecnico for a few weeks in 1994 and 1995 before finally switching in 1996. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted April 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I also read in a circa-'96 Observer that Casas at Arena Mexico was like Flair in the Carolinas--wildly cheered, regardless of his "official" alignment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 That is correct. The Santo heel turn would not have worked against anyone else in the world. A common talking point on interviews and challenges twenty years ago was that Arena Mexico was Casas' arena and you don't disrespect him in the arena that he owns. For all the crap that Mexican fans sometimes get for being less sophisticated, many didn't really follow the doctrine of cheering for whoever the promotion tells you even in the 80s. Los Infernales, Perro Aguayo, Fishman or Misioneros de la Muerte were always considered to be cool rudos without having to pander to the crowd. They were bad ass mofos and that was enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexoblivion Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Just a wild, violent match. Everything they did, even the simplest stuff, was done with so much force and intensity. Their strikes looked vicious, particularly both guys kicks throughout the match. They both took crazy bumps into the ringside seats, but that bump Casas took into the seats was insane. Liked Casas just ripping at Fieras face anytime he had the chance. I really thought Casas biting Fieras nose was great, as was the subsequent selling that Fiera did for it. Glad dataintcash uploaded this match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregor Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Lucha production gets knocked a lot (and I know I've done it), so I just want to point out that the camerawork for this match was outstanding. They made sure to get closeups of all the most visceral stuff, like Casas biting the face and Fiera breaking out of a hold with Casas' fingers in his mouth. Both guys did a great job of selling, so in that sense whatever shot the crew chose was going to be worthwhile, but even then they didn't have to show Fiera trying to shake off the damage during his first-fall comeback. That they did really added to the match for me. Anyway, great match. It's kind of weird that my favorite period for Fiera is his 1991-1993 rudo run but (arguably) his two best matches came just before it started and just after it ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 Some of the build to this has dropped, but I didn't think it was that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 The build is the Haku/Benoit match right? I wasn't too high on that either even though I wanted to be. I thought the other Haku match I saw was definitely better. This was pretty functional and had its moments though. (Edit: Just saw your review. The other haku match is way more fun: . I really need to write up the kamala matches at some point. I saw them in passing before I really knew what I was watching and enjoyed them but I probably didn't give them the credit they deserved at the time) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I only watched the first match but was higher than OJ. I didn't think it was super and agree with his thoughts that it has three separate issues being played out instead of one cohesive trios but I dug the bleachers shots and throws that Casas/Fiera did and the beatdown on Vampiro wasn't near as bad as I imagined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garretta Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 This was a hell of a bloody brawl, and kudos to Fiera for taking all those bumps on the outside, including the insane toss over the chairs in the first fall that left him busted open for the rest of the night. Fiera looked so much like Jimmy Snuka with his match-ending leap off the top that it wasn't funny. Casas played an especially slimy rudo here, sticking his fingers in Fiera's nose and mouth on several occasions and taking great joy in opening up his cut. After seeing this performance. I'm surprised that he had a Flair-like following anywhere at any time. I'm not really familiar with hair match protocol in Mexico, so maybe someone can answer me this: Is it customary for a defeated wrestler to allow his opponent the first pass with the razor once the head shaving begins as a gesture of sportsmanship? I don't recall seeing anyone do it before Casas did it here, and considering the hell he and Fiera had just put each other through, the gesture surprised me to say the least. I really liked this one; it fit the tradition of bloody, desperate lucha hair matches perfectly, yet still ended on a surprisingly sportsmanlike note. That combination equals a classic in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenjo Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 This had all the ingredients that I like to see in a hair match. Lots of intensity, viciousness, hatred and a little rouge. I was engaged from the off as both men layed into their foe. They always kept things moving and never got bogged down. The pacing was tight, 5m longer would've been ideal. Quality wrestling as they set a base for a MOTYC. It didn't quite get there. Partly due to length and there were a couple of top rope moves near the end that didn't fit in with the rest of the stripped down fight. Two excellent performances and a highlight for CMLL in a tough year. Afterwards the combatants showed that they had earned each others respect through battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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