Loss Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 El Hijo del Santo v Negro Casas - WWA 07/18/87 - Mask v Hair Take my thoughts on this with a total grain of salt, as prior to this match, the only lucha I've seen is the following: *the 16-man Cibernetico from 04/97 *a Rey/Juvi match from '93 *Rey/Calo/Winners v Heavy Metal/Picudo/Psicosis from AAA 02/93 *Some Rey/Psicosis match from '95 *Atlantis/Villano III from 03/17/00 Granted, I did love all of those matches, and this one gets added to the "loved it" pile as well, so I guess I'm on an unbreakable streak with the lucha libre. I love Santo's vigilante introduction; he seems like he just happened to stop by the arena, saw there was a show going on and thought he would take off his cape and wrestle for a while. That rocks! Casas is a miserable bastard, but I mean that in the best way possible. The crowd pops when they do so much as blink! One thing I noticed here was the sheer number of parallels between the two, but the parallels are achieved through some type of paradox, ironically enough -- Casas uses a lot of the same tactics that Santo uses, but somehow, and I have no fucking clue how they pull this off, when Santo does it, it's great face work and when Casas does it, it's great heel work. Case in point, the first fall is a quick shove-it-up-your-ass from Casas; he wins every game of oneupmanship put out there and the end result comes far quicker and easier than I (and probably he) would have expected. It does give Casas the confidence he needs to get the ball rolling in the second fall though, coming at Santo with guns a-blazin'! Casas has the best, most passionate dropkicks of all time in this match -- he doesn't just stand up and then jump to the air, he comes flying at an angle and catches you totally off guard, even if you do see it coming. Anyway, back to the point about the awesome contradiction and the way cool double standard at work here: Santo quickly regains control of the match after a very spirited comeback and locks on a surfboard for the submission. So, now they're even. They've both proven that they can totally outclass each other, and now we get the icing on the cake with Santo coming after him just as aggressively and quickly as Casas did in the second fall. Casas will have none of it, though, and regains control. I don't think I've ever quite seen someone be a total dickwad in this fashion -- Casas isn't an ass because he's doing anything particularly mean, but rather he's a heel because he's making his asskicking look so effortless. He's cocky without being arrogant. That doesn't last for long, as he does start going for Santo's mask with all his might, until the referee places a wrestling hold on him, which is too cool for words. Santo keeps teasing comebacks, and Casas keeps cutting him off with those great suckerpunches. Eventually, will overcomes Negro's fist, and we get a series of great nearfalls, with Casas even breaking out the Space Flying Tiger Drop, followed by a tope suicida! He outsmarts and outwrestles the hero, before getting ahead of himself, going to the top rope and totally losing his balance. Santo is quick to take advantage of the situation and tries to lock on a camel clutch, but Casas completely goes limp. Nice, subtle, effective counter. The parallel/paradox theme finally comes full circle, as earlier in the match, Casas caught Santo off the ropes with a great kneelift when he had his head ducked, and when Casas is in the same position this time, Santo kicks him squarely in the face. We then get an electric chair off the top rope before Santo gets the submission win. Like George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn, Casas is an asshole, but not a fucking asshole, as he takes his head shaving like a man and even shakes his opponent's hand. If all lucha is like this, I need to jump on the bandwagon yesterday! I was going to watch some other stuff tonight, but I'm not sure I can now, because I'm going to hate it all. Comparing this to all the other wrestling I've ever seen, this is *****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Damn you, Loss... I have a write-up of this match and it is a different take than yours in where I view it. I know I am taking alot of rainchecks tonight but I want to have plenty of time to elaborate on this, WCW, the Flair-Funk match, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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