#6: Cassandro

by Eric

I'll be honest. Before 2008 I had only seen two Cassandro matches. I've always been a big fan of Pimpinela Escarlata, mainly because as long as I've been watching lucha (2000), AAA was always so bad that the few good regulars there over the last decade (Pimpi, Apaches, Garza, Perro) always stood out. Well starting in 2006/2007 Cassandro started working pretty regularly for AAA and therefore started making tape more often than before (i.e. never). And we are all better for it. Cassandro is really the complete package. His charisma is through the roof. He works great in front of small indie crowds, large hipster Lucha Va Voom crowds, British crowds, large lucha crowds, everything. He knows when to play to the back row and when to play to the front row. His bumping is unreal. He may have one of the most insane regular bumps in wrestling today, where he flies through the middle ropes and wraps himself around the ringpost, and every match he finds cool ways to work it in. His sequences always look great and he really gets the most out of the exotico style. Where I get the feeling some exotico workers just throw on makeup as a cheap way to get heat, he knows how to get the most out of it. He might be the best at building to a unwanted kiss spot or an unwanted butt bump of any exotico I've seen. The one tragic thing is that all his best matches are not being taped. What we've seen is merely grazing the surface of Cassandro. No doubt AAA made the right choice in not airing the hair match against Lady Apache earlier this decade. No, no, we needed to see a Black Family trios. Who would want to see any of the Cassandro/Santo singles matches, or Cassandro working opposite Negro Navarro in London? This is a travesty that so many Kurt Angle TNA house show main events get recorded every year, but none of this amazing Cassandro stuff is being documented. Something needs to be done. In the meantime we'll just cross our fingers that Lucha Va Voom has a bunch of his stuff in the can, or some mystery fan with handheld footage emerges. Until then we'll enjoy what we have of him.

Recommended 2008 Matches:

~w/ Billy Boy/Mascara Divina/Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Jesse/Nygma/Polvo de Estrellas/Yuriko (AAA, 1/19/08)
~w/ Pimpinela Escarlata/Pasion Cristal vs. Nygma/Polvo de Estrellas/Yuriko (AAA, 4/10/08)
~w/ Hijo del Cien Caras vs. Incognito/Mascara Ano Dos Mil (Promociones Wagner, 9/6/08)
~vs. Sara Del Ray (IWA-MS, 9/27/08)
~w/ El Hijo del Santo/Magno vs. Mystico de la Juarez/Silver King/Ruby Gardenia (Lucha Libre London, 12/9/08)

Recommended Career Matches:

~w/ Zumbido/Antifaz vs. Pimpinela Escarlata/Sangre Chicana/Casanova (Monterey, 1/8/06)
~w/ Picudo/Nygma vs. Ozz/Cuervo/Scoria (AAA, 3/4/06)
~w/ Gran Apache/Mini Chessman/Tiffany vs. Fabi Apache/Billy Boy/La Parkita/Pimpinela Escarlata (AAA, 5/15/06)
~vs. Pimpinela Escarlata (AAA, 5/18/06)
~w/ Alan/Billy Boy/Decnnis vs. Gran Apache/May Flowers/Pimpinela Escarlata/Polvo de Estrellas (AAA, 5/20/06)
~w/ Faby Apache/Takashi Suguira vs. Pimpinela Escarlata/Oriental/Chikayo Nagashima (AAA, 9/3/07)

2009 Outlook:

I'm sure he would place high if we actually got to see more of his matches. I have seen one Cassandro match that took place in 2009. Lucha Va Voom does his San Francisco a couple times a year, but I am admittedly worried to go check it out (what if the rest of the wrestling stinks? what if the comedy is really unfunny? what if the burlesque bores me to tears? would it be worth my $30 for the one Cassandro match!?). So, let's keep those fingers crossed that we be blessed with more Cassandro!