[2000-05-28-Monterrey] Negro Casas & Super Porky & Mr Niebla & Antifaz del Norte vs Shocker & Scorpio Jr & Zumbido & Rey Bucanero

[soup23]

So Scorpio and Shocker are pulling double duty which is amazing. What a day for lucha around the country. This is a big brawl that has Scorpio juicing. He had a hell of a day as these two matches can’t be further apart. This probably has Casas looking the most pissed off and personal as anything else we have seen in 2000 so far. Shocker says he got fouled because it Is Shocker. Overall Scorpio is able to score the pin for the rudos which is really satisfying given what we have seen from him throughout the day. ***3/4

[Tim Evans]

So according to the cubsfan site, the Villano/Scorpio match took place on 6/1 while this one took place on 5/28. Doesn't matter as I'm sure Scorpio and Shocker worked some sunday show we don't know about so they did double duty. Anyways, this is all about Niebla/Scorpio. Scorpio bleeds but gets the last laugh on Niebla at the end. Antifaz/Zumbido seem to be feuding and Zumbido takes a header to the floor when he does his flip to the outside move. Fun Monterrey match. The thing i'm loving about lucha in 2000 is all the feuds in different territories these guys are involved in. Shocker has Tarzan boy, Villanos, and others while Scorpio has the Villanos, Niebla, Perro etc. You don't see that much these days, especially from CMLL guys.

[ohtani's jacket]

This was house show lucha but they drew good heat. The crowds in Monterrey are much bigger than later on, I suppose because the big names are still working there week in, week out. The best thing about the meandering house show style is that it allows more time for character work, and Shocker, in particular, gets to shine with his rudo shtick. The finish is anticlimactic as the crowd is geared toward a dive train but instead Casas does this weird choke hold on Shocker and Scorpio sneaks in a foul to steal the bout.

 

Now let's talk about Casas. There is not a single moment in this bout that you'd describe as vintage Casas. The most notable thing about him right now is that he's sporting a beard. It's hard to see but you can spot it at the end when they show him reacting to the rudos celebrating. I hope this puts to bed this notion people have that Casas is the best worker in Mexico year in, year out. He clearly has his down periods the same as any other wrestler. He'll have another run in 2001 but for now, there's no way that he makes the top 10.

[Matt D]

I came in here because I'm going to watch all the Casas in Monterrey in 00-01 and I come right smack into OJ making comments. He definitely wasn't the focus of this match. There were some fun moments with Bucanero (including Bucanero slapping on the Scorpion as a FU) but not enough to really chew on. He was mostly on the outside for the first chunk of the match. That said, I don't know if I agree. I thought the stuff he did hyping the crowd up for Porky's big corner charge actually added a lot (pretty much the only build/payoff in the whole match) and no one could do that quite like Casas. Plus he locked in an Anaconda Vice to help distract the refs for the finish, which I've never seen him do before (he probably has but I've never seen it; there's one thing every match). I actually really enjoyed the low blow sequence on Shocker (who was exceptional at stooging here, even if we didn't get enough of it). I get that I'm his target audience and the things I enjoy aren't the same as the things that OJ enjoy, but Casas still looked great to me here. Maybe not top 10 in Mexico for the year great, but he still stood out, even in a match where he wasn't at all the focus. Half speed Casas is still one of the best wrestlers ever.

 

I'm not 100% sure what the focus was. The camerawork was a little crazy to begin but everything came into focus with bloody Niebla (he and Scorpio making each other bleed was the heart of the match). The rudo beatdown was fine to start. The tecnico comeback had a pretty dull transition. There's no build and payoff here but there is enough fun stuff. Porky seemed far less mobile than he'd be ten years later which was weird. So it was your mix of bloody brawling and straight out comedy. My favorite part was Zumbido (who is the perfect level of scummy for this setting) being knocked into the crowd and some old lady standing up to shove him. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't more coherence than I'm giving this credit for, as I watched it out of context, but I didn't see it.