Negro Casas vs El Hijo Del Santo (8-18-1987)

Casas just gets being the bad guy.

This is one of the first meetings between two men who would go on to have a great rivalry. Arguably two of the best luchadores of all time, Casas and Santo are both relatively early into their illustrious careers here. I wouldn’t say they are complete beginners though, Casas debuting in 79 and Santo in 82. This match is contested under 2/3 falls, like most Lucha. I usually enjoy both these men’s work a lot, and this match was no different. Going into this match I didn't really know much about the build up, but in my opinion if you need context for a match to be good, then the match isn't good.

This match has almost a comic book tone to it. Santo comes out with a cape on and even some of the moves in this match play into it. While I believe sometimes unnecessary flips can harm a match opening technical sequence, assuming it has one, I can’t deny that it fits the tone here. Santo doing cool looking flips early on to not only impress the audience but also gain the advantage technically over Casas drives the idea home that he is a real-life superhero. But every superhero needs a good villain.

Negro Casas is a perfect bad guy. Slimy and evil but also tactical and smart. He plays an excellent foil for Santo here, brutally sliming his way to gain an advantage and milking his lead for everything he can get. The first fall is primarily built upon displaying these dynamics. Casas slips out the ring multiple times to avoid Santo while Santo stands his ground. Most of this first fall is very technical. They flow from position to position super well and are even able to incorporate Casas’ heel tactics by having him grab at the mask to attempt to gain an advantage. This first fall is more of this, just setting up the dynamics with some great technical wrestling. Early on we get the idea that Casas is struggling to gain control technically, which is why he needs to slide out the ring multiple times in order to stay alive for longer.

Casas gets the first fall by gaining the advantage by hitting Santo whilst on the apron, climbing to the top to his a beautiful dive and then use a quick roll up to get the pin. Generally, one minor problem I have with this match is Casas' use of dives and high flying moves. Since he’s the heel he shouldn’t be, in my opinion, doing moves that will get the crowd to cheer like a big dive would. I don’t mind this that much as Casas’ heel work otherwise is near flawless, but it is something minor that hurts the match a little. After getting the pin, he has a massive vile grin on his face. He truly is one of the greatest of all time.

Image: WWA

The second fall mostly has Casas in control. He notably does a sick looking move where he places his boot directly on the face of Santo, suffocating him with his boot. This portion puts over Casas as a heel phenomenally as he sends Santo around the ring, who sells like crazy for each move. The fall mostly builds up to Santo’s comeback, which I think is done pretty well. It comes at an essentially perfect time where if Casas’ control segment would’ve gone on for any longer it would’ve gotten boring . This comeback comes paired with the most notable moment of the match. As Santo slowly starts making his comeback with a few knees and a backdrop, Casas charges in to deliver a dropkick. However, Santo moves out of the way and Casas takes a disgusting looking bump into the ropes. It is an insane spot that is simple but done so perfectly that it leaves a tremendous impact on the viewer. It also plays into the comic book tone of the match, as the villain slowly starts to, a little bit comedically, fall. Santo wraps up this fall by quickly locking in a surfboard that forces Casas to submit. A very good fall that not only demonstrates Casas’ master heel work, but also Santo’s ability to be a fantastic face. While being dominant and controlling a match is what heels will be doing most of the time, it is also important that they are able to sell for the face when they make their comeback, which Casas does perfectly. Santo plays his role pretty good here, I'm not the biggest fan of his performance in this match but this fall is the best he gets all match.

This third fall is the most back and forth the match gets, but I also think its the worst fall of the match. Santo takes control early but is sent headfirst into the ring post whilst on the apron, giving Casas control. He takes the opportunity to target Santo’s mask, gnawing and ripping it while Santo is tied up in the bottom rope. There is almost a sense of desperation from Casas as he tears at Santo’s mask, trying to stand his ground as the referee attempts to pull him away. Santo gets right up, not wanting to take the disrespect, and goes for a sequence of pins, none of which are able to put Casas away. Then, Casas hits a cartwheel shoulder tackle, which wouldn’t look out of place in a Will Ospreay match now. This isn’t necessarily a compliment, but it speaks to the athleticism of Casas. Santo kicks out at 2 and gets right up sending Casas to the outside with a drop kick and delivering a beautiful suicide dive. As the match progresses, Casas tries to emulate a similar move off the top rope but falls from the top into the ring. Santo follows up with a Swanton bomb that gets a 2 count. I’m not sure how I feel about this moment. Sure, it’s a creative spot but I don’t feel like it’s set up throughout the match well enough to feel satisfying. We have just seemed a few moments ago that Casas is incredibly athletic, so does it really make sense for Casas to be falling now?

Image: WWA

As the finish begins to near, Santo locks in another surfboard but this time Casas reaches the ropes. Santo sends him outside the ring and follows with a beautiful dive from the top rope. In a few moments, Santo applies a brutal camel clutch. The move itself looks brutal, Santo stretches the back of Casas repeatedly. I love how Casas attempts to struggle out of it, instead of just allowing Santo to apply the move. However, he cannot escape and submits.

Rating:

Psychology – 0.75:

The psychology within this match is really good. As mentioned previously Casas plays a fantastic villain, but Santo cannot go uncredited here. He just feels like a superhero overcoming the big bad in this match, it’s almost impossible not to root for him even the smallest bit. It isn’t perfect however, as I don’t really enjoy Casas doing big dives as the bad guy but this is only a minor criticism that hurts the match a little.

Selling – 0.5:

My main problem with this match is the selling. It isn’t exactly bad, but I wouldn’t call it good. There are a few instances within the match where either man just gets up almost immediately after taking a big move, which is going to damage the score a little. Other parts of the match sold well, however. Casas sells the comebacks from Santo well, and Santo does a fairly decent job selling Casas’ offense. This match is just mostly hurt by a few instances of very bad selling that take me out of the match.

Execution – 0.75:

The execution in this match was near flawless. From the opening alone the technical aspect is near perfect. As the match progresses the brawling is also great as Casas dominates. My minor criticism that towards the end of this match it can start to feel even the slightest bit sloppy unfortunately. I also think Santo’s performance, while not bad, did hurt the match and is nowhere near Casas' in this match.

Presentation – 1:

This match has a perfect presentation. From the entrance alone it paints a picture of a superhero going up against a super villain as Santo enters with a cape along his shoulders. The match itself only builds upon this, as the high flying moves really make Santo feel like a real-life superhero and Casas plays an almost comedic villain for Santo to overcome. This match knows what it wants to be and follows it perfectly.

Spots – 0.75:

A lot of good in spots in this match. Most notably the missed dropkick, but the beautiful dives both men pull off cannot be forgotten as well. My biggest piece of criticism towards the spots is first, Casas falling off the top rope. While this spot could work, it comes out of nowhere when it could be built up to throughout the match. Second, Casas doing high flying moves while also being the bad guy bothered me a little bit because usually this would make the crowd cheer for you.

Final Rating: ***¾ Stars

Overall, I think this match was pretty great. It’s a good introduction to both men demonstrating Casas perfect heel work and Santo’s ability to play a good face. For me, it falls a bit short when it comes to selling and Santo’s overall performance. He bumps a bit like Shawn Michaels here, which I think is a good thing for the tone this match is trying to go for, but other times he (and sometimes Casas as well) just completely no sell moves, getting up almost immediately after taking them. They know exactly what they want to do in this match, and it builds up from the opening to the end very well. What’s most important for me in a match is the tone and how the match fits the tone they are going for and this match fits the comic book tone perfectly. A few minor mistakes damaged this match, but it is worth checking out.

Image: WWA

Editors Note: Rating does not hold up and should not be compared to other ratings