MLJ: Rush vs Negro Casas 6: La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Shocker

Aired 2014-05-03
taped 2014-04-25 @ Arena México
La Máscara, La Sombra, Rush vs Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas, Shocker

Okay, so yeah, CMLL matches often start with the rudos (or de facto rudos in the case of the Ingobernales) ambushing the tecnicos. I get that. Rush and Casas have some routines that they do in almost every match. Okay, sure. I'm okay with that too for the most part because of how spirited they are and because they switch them up sometimes. Mascara is pretty crummy. Alright, it happens. He's part of a unit. It's not THAT distracting. Niebla though. Niebla is driving me nuts.

When facing El Bufete del Amor (or La Tercia Sensacion, or whatever), it was okay. When facing Wagner or Parka, it was okay. When facing Porky, it was okay. There were basic comedy elements inherent in those matches, not even secondary elements most of the time, but whole sections. It wasn't subtext, it was in your face, and Niebla goofing around, falling off the apron, wrestling part of the match with his fro, doing his little dance, and catching his own spit was fine. No selling as part of it was fine. He's capable of really showing fire and emotion in the right situation, like in the first match with Atlantis from earlier in this set. Even when you have the full La Peste Negra unit, it's generally okay, because Felino helps take it over the top, which worked quite well in the second match with Atlantis from this set. Subbing in Shocker for Felino makes all the difference in the world. Having the full line-up of the Ingobernales on the other side makes all the difference.

Here, there was nothing fine about Niebla. This was a super heated match. The brawling started from the get go. The Ingobernales mauling of the rudos was spirited. Rush brought out a great headbutt. Casas got slammed into the barrier nicely, and the primera ended with each of them hitting a move on the prone rudos in the corner in a really great little set up. I think one thing that puts Rush over the top is how thoroughly he makes his opponents work for their domination. He's constantly coming back and showing fire even if he does sell and he does, ultimately, stay down. It makes him seem sort of special. In this match, Shocker does the same thing and it's very effective in making him look good and making his opponents look good and adding heat to the match. He took his lumps too, including bumping over the barricade from a Rush boot and taking a colossal Rush senton. The comeback seemed pretty good, starting with some Ingobernales miscommunication. The only problem is that during the key moment of it, the camera cut to a baby.

Then the match did something that you don't usually get. Instead of resetting, it looked like we were about to get some double heat as the Ingobernales started on Niebla. It really was starting to feel like a distinct FIP right up until Niebla decided he was done with it and it was time to start no selling, jiving, and goofing about. Sombra, Shocker, Rush, and Casas had been tremendously heated throughout the match and Mascara was more or less keeping up. This just stopped the thing dead, and I think after he blatantly no-sold a big Rush clothesline, the crowd was actively turning on him here, but it was a little hard to tell. The difference between the way he puked out his comeback and how Shocker gradually built to his through fighting back and selling was night and day.

After that, they pushed towards the finish, including this really striking counter where Shocker, knocked out of the ring by a Sombra clothesline, almost immediately rushed back in, disrupting the impending dive and causing Sombra to go sailing over the top. I'm sure they've done that spot before, somewhere, but I hadn't seen it and it was pretty spectacular, even if I'm not describing it well. Anyway, after a bit more miscommunication, Casas and company pick up the win. Post match, Sombra showed a ton of dickish character, deciding to just sit in the crowd and no-sell the gloating. This would have been another really good match with a lot of visceral hate were it not for the not-even-over-this-time Niebla goofing. I'm the last guy in the world to subscribe to workrate dogmatism, but shtick only works when it adds to a match and doesn't take away from it. Context matters. Come on, you goof.