Rush vs. Negro Casas (CMLL - 8/1/2014)

Second. Might just fall short of great but still well worth checking out. An awesome dynamic and a memorable finish.

Going through this feud again, and Negro Casas might just have put on the best long-term selling I've ever seen. It's incredibly meta and one that requires it to be watched week-to-week pretty much from the feuds inception but, my god, is it rewarding.

This is like something you'd see on WorldStarHipHop.com. It's just 20 minutes of a punk kid delivering a world of hurt to a broken down old man. Two years ago Casas was delivering that same world of hurt to Panther, not looking a day over thirty. In the space of the last year, the booking has gradually built the toll of this feud onto Casas, ever so slowly losing steam and ability to hang with Rush in the chaotic brawls. With a body that's breaking down, he had to dig deep to overcome the cocky youth and he made sure you knew that. He would overswing and make use of the momentum of his entire upper body in delivering his forearms and elbow smashes, to make up for the lack of power in his muscles. It would just never be enough, though. It would keep Rush down for a moment, before a vicious headbutt or punch swung the momentum once again.

To his credit, Rush sold this masterfully and at just the right amount to make Casas not look overly weak in the portrayal of his offence never being good enough. What sets him apart from just about anyone else in wrestling, though, is that he can carry himself and a match as important. He's rocking a Cuban gangster suit and smoking a cigar in his entrance, dammit. He toyed with Casas, throughout, and his controls following Casas' hope spots were all built in a way of mocking what Casas had done. Full points to him for following Casas' signature senton to the outside with a running dropkick off the apron that hit squarely into Casas' chin. Even more for him following it up in trapping Casas in the ropes, lightly tapping Casas in the gut indicating Casas hits like a little kid, smirking and throwing some vicious lefts and rights directly back to that injured jaw. Best hope food blenders are cheap in Mexico, because Casas may never eat solids again.

Depressingly, this does fall very short of my expectations. The booking within the match is everything I hoped it wouldn't be (yet thankfully better than how I had read it). There's interference in the segunda, which is slightly mitigated by Sombra costing Rush the fall, and a sneak-foul that gets the win. It's kind of like the Ambrose/Rollins Summerslam brawl being slapped with a lumberjack gimmick. The guys here are talented beyond measure, and they're trying their guts out to deliver something of worth, but there's always going to be that glass ceiling. Still, remember that moment when Cole had his face hard pressed against his "Cole Mine" glass wall? That's how close this match comes to that glass ceiling. Barring some missed timings, and cutoffs, this was flawless.