Rudo Santo and Dr Wagner Jr. on the warpath

El Hijo del Santo, Dr Wagner Jr. & Scorpio Jr. v Negro Casas, La Fiera & Ultimo Dragon (CMLL, 6/6/97)

Now and then I'll forget that Santo/Casas might be the apex. Santo v Felino, Santo v Parka, Santo v Espanto, Santo v Panther, all awesome match ups. Casas v Panther, Casas v Dandy, Casas v Ultimo Dragon, Casas v Rush, also awesome match ups. But then I watch this and I'm like yeah, Santo v Casas is still the apex. You couldn't take your eyes off them during this and every second of them together was magic. I know that Rudo Santo had a shelf life but by god he puts absolutely everything into playing the role, particularly when Casas is on the other side of the ring. His aggression, intensity, viciousness, all of it here was phenomenal. The early pairings across the board were full of that and none more than his and Casas', then as soon as it goes south any semblance of sportsmanship goes out the window. He turned near feral and once again Casas bore the brunt of it, but it didn't stop him lashing out at Ultimo or Fiera as well. Ultimo got it in the primera when he came in and broke up a Santo submission by punting him in the back. You didn't need to see Santo's face to know he was peeved and he immediately got up and went for Ultimo. This wasn't New Japan or the WCW mid-card, this was the Son of El Santo in Arena Maxico. After things break down the rudo assault is inspired, including Wagner Jr. ramming Ultimo shoulder-first into the post enough times that he can't continue. Wagner Jr. was actually a tremendous wildman in this, running around causing chaos, cutting off tecnicos, instigating gang beatings, everything you want as Santo's maniacal henchman. Casas of course gets destroyed when it goes down to 3v2 and Santo body slamming him head first into a row of seats was incredible. Then as Casas is almost fully vertical with his head stuck in one seat Santo repeatedly slams it shut like the scene from Daredevil where Fisk crushes a guy's skull in a car door. Truly the apex of this great sport. Ultimo coming back out in the tercera like nothing had happened was kind of jarring until the post-match angle shows that it may not have been Ultimo Dragon after all and was in fact Felino in Ultimo's garb. Which is kind of cool and sets up at least one amazing Santo/Felino match down the line.