Current Lucha Talk

[soup23]

Alright I have Hechicero vs. Casas lined up, what else do I need from this week?

[Eegah]

Cubs and the LuchaElite uploaded the latest Rush/Negro Casas match May 4th. Really fun match with some nice selling at the end by Casas.

[overbooked]

Add me to the Casas/Hechicero love-in. I thought the whole thing built beautifully and despite some big moments was nicely understated. The matwork went somewhere, the spots moved things forward, and it seemed to set up a "bigger" match further down the line. It was really refreshing after watching some of the more spot/dive-orientated singles matches from other guys on TV recently. Negro Casas is in ridiculous shape for his age, isn't he?

[soup23]

Rush vs. Negro Casas 5-6-16

 

My god was this a war. This has been a really good year for sub 10 minute matches with the likes of Riddle and Yehi, but this was my favorite so far as they busted out tons of brutality and the match felt sustained and grueling for the short amount of run time it actually existed. Rush getting embarrassed and then going on the attack is one of my favorite things in wrestling. He is a dick here to the extreme jawing with Shocker and throwing a drink at Casas. His strikes and beat down is brutal. Casas' comeback was beautiful in that he presented himself perfectly as an aging legend that was never going to back down but he was sort of grasping at straws and coming to the realization that he is in there with someone younger and stronger. The final blow that Rush gives him to put him away was brutal with a great camera angle of Casas' head snapping back. ***3/4

[Eegah]

Rush vs. Negro Casas 5-6-16

 

My god was this a war. This has been a really good year for sub 10 minute matches with the likes of Riddle and Yehi, but this was my favorite so far as they busted out tons of brutality and the match felt sustained and grueling for the short amount of run time it actually existed. Rush getting embarrassed and then going on the attack is one of my favorite things in wrestling. He is a dick here to the extreme jawing with Shocker and throwing a drink at Casas. His strikes and beat down is brutal. Casas' comeback was beautiful in that he presented himself perfectly as an aging legend that was never going to back down but he was sort of grasping at straws and coming to the realization that he is in there with someone younger and stronger. The final blow that Rush gives him to put him away was brutal with a great camera angle of Casas' head snapping back. ***3/4

I loved how they maintained intensity throughout, good timing on the numerous dropkicks thrown and the final corner one was definitely brutal. Bonus points for Casas great entrance showing Tyler Breeze how its done.

[soup23]

Negro Casas vs. Hechicero

 

I don't think there was any way I wouldn't have dug this match. It built beautifully and showed how grappling can lead to frustration and convey painful and violent wrestling. It was even more welcome after seeing the great Rush sprint as this was such a different match from casas. I really would like to see them have a series with each other. A welcome treat. ****1/4

 

Rush vs. Ultimo Guerrero

 

Yesterday I put Rush in my top 10 current workers and I feel better about that after seeing this match and the negro one. Once again, Rush is a great bully vs. the veteran and it makes it so rewarding seeing him get his justifiable receipt at the end of the match. Guerrero showed great fire here and I loved him standing on Rush in the bleachers and his big clothesline dive from the ramp. In addition, the finish was brilliant here and played off the Dandy vs. Satanico feud. ***1/2

 

LA Park vs. Atlantis in Liga Elite was fine for what it was. PARK took some big bumps and it was good to see Atlantis mix it up a bit in a brawling type match.

[Matt D]

I liked how sneaky Park was in that match. He did a lot of canny, sneaky things unrepentantly.

[overbooked]

Rush/Casas was a cracking little match. Plenty of violence and hate crammed into very little time. The two of them do such a good job of presenting Rush as a monster without just resorting to a typical squash match template. This is how to do a short match effectively.

[Sean Liska]

I don't want to regurgitate any bad feelings from GWE, but just for this thread, seeing Negro have two matches that good but that different in the same week, 30 years after his first recorded MOTYC, all I'm saying is let's start spreading the gospel for 2026.

[sek69]

I'm wondering what lit the fire under CMLL after years of openly not giving even the semblance of a shit outside of Anniversary main events. It couldn't have been anything AAA has done, since the wheels have come off that train a while ago.

[Matt D]

I honestly think it's an accident.

[pantherwagner]

Casas vs Hechicero is a good example of why Casas is so underrated as a mat wrestler.

[Matt D]

I'm wondering what lit the fire under CMLL after years of openly not giving even the semblance of a shit outside of Anniversary main events. It couldn't have been anything AAA has done, since the wheels have come off that train a while ago.

I blame you for jinxing things.

[cubbymark]

 

I'm wondering what lit the fire under CMLL after years of openly not giving even the semblance of a shit outside of Anniversary main events. It couldn't have been anything AAA has done, since the wheels have come off that train a while ago.

I blame you for jinxing things.

Or someone in the CMLL office is reading Rob Viper's tweets and doing the exact opposits.

[Parties]

Eleven minutes of Virus vs. Hechicero happened this past Sunday. It's free for the taking online and as good as you want Virus vs. Hechicero to be. From the Viaje del Parties thread:

 

"Added: 9) Virus vs. Hechicero (Lucha Memes, 5/15)
This is pretty much the lucha dream match of the moment, and Hechicero is making a strong case for WOTY by going on this tear of having several top-shelf matches each month in taped tags and singles. First: this match happened on Sunday afternoon and I’m watching it now. Incredible. Second: remember how I’ve been annoyingly talking for months on this board about how the way matches are filmed is way more important than people acknowledge? Watch this and see what a difference it makes. You are in the ring with these guys like it’s the first thirty minutes of Saving Private Ryan. The tightness of the holds. The fluidity of the matwork. The strength needed to move like that on said mat. The speed of the rope running and Virus’ amazing counters out of submissions.

 

There’s also an incredible sense to this where you get the sense these guys are pulling out wild stuff that they can only do with each other (or an elite few at this level). The flying in and out of intricate pins feels like a lost art being rediscovered here. Fantastic finish that shows the logic of the limb work being done throughout. If this was five to ten minutes longer, it could be MOTY. As is, it might be the best uncut eleven and a half minutes of wrestling this year."

[Tim Cooke]

The 5/15 Lucha Memes show on paper looks like a Show of the Year Candidate. Can't wait to get the matches from Terry.

[Matt D]

People should check out Mascara Dorada/Volador vs Flamita/Caristico. It's up on youtube. Very fun match with great action, great spots, some surprising and enjoyable rudo work from Dorada (and Volador, who's a natural jerk) in the middle, and it never wears out its welcome or escalates to the point of ridiculousness. Plus it's cool to see Flamita interact with these guys.

[WingedEagle]

Just added it to the queue and hope to find time for it before the game tonight. What promotion is that from?

[Matt D]

According to Kris' lucha report it's Liosas Nuevo Laredo.

[WingedEagle]

Cool. Always love hearing these new names.

[InYourCase]

Making an effort to watch more lucha now that GWE is over -- does anyone have a link to Casas/Hechicero? Cubsfan removed it from his YouTube.

[conker8]

[InYourCase]

Flamita & Caristico vs. Volador Jr & Mascara Dorada

 

There was some lucha bullshit that prevented me from truly loving this match, but holy shit I really liked this. Flamita is SO great. If he would've had his 2014 run in New Japan instead of Dragon Gate, he'd probably be signed to NXT right now, or at the very least, he'd be a well-known guy on the same level as Ricochet, Ospreay, or KUSHIDA. I'm now adding Flamita matches to the list of things that are must-watch for me because if he's too damn good. I really want him back in Dragon Gate. Volador is someone that I'll be seeing more of soon in the BOSJ and I liked what I saw here for the most part. Dorada is great. I want he and Flamita to wrestle all around the world, every night, for forever. Really fun stuff. ****

[jushin muta liger]

People should check out Mascara Dorada/Volador vs Flamita/Caristico. It's up on youtube. Very fun match with great action, great spots, some surprising and enjoyable rudo work from Dorada (and Volador, who's a natural jerk) in the middle, and it never wears out its welcome or escalates to the point of ridiculousness. Plus it's cool to see Flamita interact with these guys.

Matt, I'm kind of surprised you liked this match considering you are not a Volador fan.

[Matt D]

 

People should check out Mascara Dorada/Volador vs Flamita/Caristico. It's up on youtube. Very fun match with great action, great spots, some surprising and enjoyable rudo work from Dorada (and Volador, who's a natural jerk) in the middle, and it never wears out its welcome or escalates to the point of ridiculousness. Plus it's cool to see Flamita interact with these guys.

Matt, I'm kind of surprised you liked this match considering you are not a Volador fan.

 

I give Volador fair shakes. I think he's very good at certain things (hitting spots, complex sequences, being a dick to mascots). He's a very useful role player in tags and trios. Where he's most problematic is when he's in a singles match because he has a tendency to bring the worst out of his opponents, will be prone to hit spots for the sake of spots, make things overly complex, contrived, and obviously collaborative, and have far too drawn out finishing sequences where something less bloated would be more appropriate and make for a better, tighter, more impactful match. He does cool stuff but way too much of it to the point where none of it matters in the least. That's less of an issue in a tag because cut offs and trading of partners can dilute that in the very best way (though it's still a danger). Here, the pacing works very well, the escalation is meaningful and pays off, and as a whole, the thing doesn't overstay its welcome. I'm as hard as I am on him because he does a lot of things well and because I generally want to like his stuff, and often do for the first two to three fifths of his matches and then get increasingly frustrated after that. If I thought he was Thunder-quality or something, I wouldn't care nearly as much. A match that could and should be great getting ruined is far more heretical and offensive than a match that never had a shot at being good.