MLJ: Rush vs Negro Casas 20: La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match

Aired 2014-08-02
taped 2014-07-25 @ Arena México
La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Volador Jr. in a relevos increíbles match

You know what's not very "increíble?" A match where Los Ingobernales team up against two members of La Peste Negra, acting as de facto babyfaces, and Volador. That said, this was equivilent of a "go home" show before Juicio Final, so it was at least heated and well executed. The best part might have been the new Ingobernales team shirts, with logos on the front (a bull, an arms out pose, and a mask symbol) and the names on the back. On the flip side, Volador's half Spider-Man/Half Venom mask/gear was ridiculous. I swear there was one point that instead of helping his partners fight off their opponents, he spent a minute trying to get his gear just right.

There wasn't a lot we haven't seen here before. This was a way to put over Casas and company in two falls, the first being by DQ to keep Los Ingobernales' heat, to whet appetites for Rush vs Casas one more time, and give Volador and Casas a bit of shine and momentum going into their respective matches against Sombra and Rush at Juicio Final.

So, with this match not being the place for innovation or inversion, what was the best we could hope for? The same as usual, really. A great beatdown, a heated comeback, and a spirited, meaningful final stretch. When looked at that way, this match didn't disappoint much. The beatdown was solid. It started with the usual brawling on the rampway. Highlights included Sombra being an absolute dick including doing a cross armed pose before hitting a missile droplick on a held Volador and a sort of sloppy Mascara superkick right into a Sombra German on Niebla. There was a comeback tease after too much Ingobernales taunting, but it ended with Niebla propelling Volador out with a huge moonsault only to get double dropkicked leaving Rush outnumbered. They did the rope-assisted submission DQ again, only this time with Mascara putting on a sort of rough tarantula and Rush pushing the ref down before hitting a huge constrained dropkick while Casas was trapped.

I like this structure best when we get that comeback tease before the DQ. On the one hand, when it doesn't happen, you get a really extended beatdown, but there's so little in the way of hope spots in lucha that it's refreshing to see a comeback attempt before the ultimate cut off and DQ. Here it worked fine and they used a callback for the actual comeback, with Volador cutting off a second missile dropkick by Sombra and Casas and Niebla rush in. Casas hit Rush with a corner low dropkick and then his bit leaping seated senton from the apron. This left Sombra and Volador as the final focus which included this great little whip powerslam throw thing by Sombra but ultimately ended with a really goofy Volador rolling DDT out of being trapped in a fireman's carry for the pin.

There were matches I've seen that made me want to see a Volador vs Sombra singles match more than this one. I'm definitely ready for the hair match though. I'm not sure the week to week build led to necessarily more intensity for Rush vs Casas, though some of that was me looking at multiple arenas. Some of it was the inclusion of guys like Felino and Niebla though, who, by their nature, suck the intensity out of things. In some matches that led to a good counterbalance and made Rush vs Casas stand out more. In others, it was just a heat sink. This one was more straightforward, with Niebla mostly behaving, but I'm ready to move on. You can definitely have more than enough of a good thing.