Rush

[Dylan Waco]

Discuss Here.

[stomperspc]

Has the tools but has been is lacking the opportunities to make good on them. I think he has the potential to have some classic matches but he hasn't yet. Some that know way more than me really liked the Casas match but I personally didn't see it on that level. His list of good+ TV matches is also pretty short because of the way he has been booked (Caristico match from earlier this year was at that level). None of that is really his fault, but they do hurt his GWE ever case. At this point he is an awesome heel who lacks those easy to see results that guys on this list should have. If CMLL ever uses him as the top rudo or (perhaps more likely) he joins/makes it with WWE I wouldn't be surprised at all if he gets into the discussion but he's not there now.

[Clayton Jones]

Could someone more familiar with Rush make a case for me one way or another? He looks to be of that caliber when I watch him but I haven't quite seen enough to know if he warrants serious consideration.

[Jetlag]

It seems his momentum has been tanked by being in RoH, which nobody watches anymore. I could see stuff like him vs. PCO being entertaining.

[Clayton Jones]

The match from I think Final Battle where PCO wins the title was kind of a mess. More so PCO's fault but Rush looked out of his league to salvage it. Him and Dragon Lee had a great match against the Briscoes years back though and it felt like maybe it was part of a bigger feud.

[KB8]

He was maybe my favourite wrestler in the world back in 2013-14. CMLL TV was tremendous for a while there so there was decent stuff basically every week. I don't think the Casas feud had the most satisfying payoff, at least not in comparison to the incredible build-up, but the 6/28/13 trios is an absolute scorcher and Rush is at the centre of it. 

[Matt D]

Rush was so compelling in 2013-2014 because he was wrestling heated, spot-filled lucha brawls in front of a lucha crowd that legitimately wanted to kill him, something that hadn't existed anywhere else in wrestling in regular way in a decade and that almost can't exist now and likely never will again. It certainly isn't going to happen in ROH. There's an alternate reality where he took Atlantis' mask, took LA Park's mask, took Ultimo Guerrero's hair, took Cavernario's hair, and ultimately put over some up and coming tecnico (or Dragon Lee, or hell, Hijo del Santo or Atlantis' kid getting revenge) in the most amazing, most heated, biggest drawing apuestas match imaginable. Unfortunately, that's not the reality in which we live.

[cubbymark]

It’s a shame CMLL went to shit once Rush went to ROH. Los Ingobernables is one of the most influential stables of the 2010s, and Rush being such a smug prick really put them over the top for me. He’s sort of a Lucha Roman Reigns in that the office kept trying to push him as a tecnico, but Lucha crowds just wanted to hate his guts. So CMLL sorta turned him, calling him the most hated tecnico. The rest is history. Like all things, Los Ingobernables got diluted with overexposure and when his dad joined the fold. The current CMLL Version is even worse. But this group doesn’t work at all if Rush wasn’t a part.
 

Rush can be a great Lucha brawler in the tradition of Pirate Morgan, Satanico, you name it. The problem is that Lucha booking is usually filled with fuck finishes, and Rush hasn’t had the right apuestas match to really vault him into Lucha legend status. But most of his brawls with LA Park are fantastic. 

His ROH run hasn’t set the world on fire, but it could be because of the pandemic. Rush will be an interesting name depending on what happens in the next five years.

[GlassS0Ldier]

Love me some Rush.

ROH has partially cooled him down because, well, ROH, but as mentioned before, he is largely a victim of circumstance and the politics of the business. As more time goes on, the further we seem to stray from a proper apuestas conclusion to Rush vs. LA Park, and yet it still stands as the most defining Lucha feud of the 2010s. He could have had a more impressive career the last 7 years if everything had fallen into place and CMLL wasn't so conservative/hesitant, but the talent is clearly there. It's a little unfair to try and put Rush up against many of the best lucha brawlers of prior decades (and even today) who also happened to be all-time great maestros as well (Black Terry, Satanico, Santito, etc.), but there's something still to be said about a guy who excels as much as Rush does in one category. His ROH work isn't even bad, per say, I enjoy the PCO match, but there's a clear ceiling in that environment. Not sure if he's much of a Lucha Roman Reigns, aside from them both having incredibly luscious hair.

[Rah]

I wrote a small 'primer' back in 2016 when he caught a little fire because of the Parka brawls. Copy-pasting:

 

For those watching Rush for the first time, here's a primer if you're wanting to see what he's capable of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_31g1QCwN0

This is CMLL Arena Mexico so headshots are banned, hell any weapon shots are banned, blading is banned and crowd-brawling is banned. Naturally these two do all of it and BLEED BUCKETS all over the pristine arena floor.

CMLL management, most likely fearing repercussion from the lucha commission, try call things off about 6 minutes in only for the now-rabid crowd to near riot. Park and Rush just keep going, though, and beat the living shit out of each other like only they can. Half way in the ring is covered in trash, but by the end it was covered in money. Don't sleep on this. MotY.

 

These are the standouts over the last three and a half years. I haven't followed enough 2015 CMLL to know what is on offer from there.


Terrible vs Rush

This is the match that put Rush on the map for me. Rush is godlike in how he uses every moment to ooze hatred from the crowd. The near-riot after the match ends just cemented Rush as the next big thing. It never struck me at the time, but Terrible as Rush's first big conquest was a fitting victory. Perro Aguayo Jr may be a one-of-a-kind talent, but Rush is of that same mold. MUST SEE

 

With little hair left, Terrible's fighting for something more important; his pride



Rush vs Negro Casas: The Feud~!

The start to CMLL's best feud in years. This was violent. Just a straight up gang fight like one you'd see in some seedy prison. Note how Casas can stick with Rush at every punch, because it's integral to their story. MUST SEE

 

A week or two later and CMLL busts out another great trios match. MUST SEE

 

Things take a bit of a turn, and Shocker wants in on the action, too. Great threeway (which is rare in of itself) and maybe the best one this decade in Mexico outside of Angel/Oficial/Trauma II in IWRG.

 

I think this goes 8 minutes, but it's disgustingly violent and does a lot in such a short amount of time. Great little appetizer for the forthcoming hair match. MUST SEE
 

This gets more time than Casas/Rush and it's pretty good for a Shocker match. Rush turning his douchebag antics to Tirantes is the highlight.




 

Shocker's first ever hair loss. Not the best match of 2014, but it's definitely clawing its way in the door. (21-03-14)

 

An important match maybe moreso for Sombra than Rush/Casas, as it's his breakout performance. (Negro Casas/Shocker v. Rush/La Sombra CMLL 7/18)

The granddaddy of Rush matches (Rush vs Casas apuesta). This is a payoff to a year and a half of work, so it works best in context. Forget your Atlantis stuff, this is CMLL's best apuesta of the decade. MUST SEE

 

Unfortunately some of the links are no longer working. But I'm sure a little digging will get you what you want.