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The Cauliflower Alley Club announced:
"You definitely can't have an award that is known as the Lucha Libre Award without Negro Casas," writes Roy Lucier as the CAC announces our latest 2024 honoree
When you have any type of “Hall of Fame” or place where athletes are honored, there are going to be a set of names that have to be added in order for that place to be taken seriously. You can’t have a Baseball Hall of Fame without Babe Ruth. You can’t have a basketball Hall of Fame without Michael Jordan. You can’t have a football Hall of Fame without Joe Montana. And you definitely can’t have an award that is known as the Lucha Libre award without having Negro Casas.
Casas, born Jose Casas Ruiz back in 1960, is currently in his 44th year in the ring. One of the members of the Casas wrestling dynasty (along with his father, Pepe “Tropi” Casas, and brothers Heavy Metal and Felino), Casas started attending shows at the age of 5 with his father, learning the psychology and the ins and outs of the business early on. By the time he debuted in 1979, he was more than ready to shine for the world. A couple years later, he wrestled Fuerza Guerrera for the National Lightweight title in Arena Mexico, and while no video exists, the magazines in Mexico that were there live couldn’t stop bragging enough about the technical performance of both young luchadores.
Casas would soon go to the competitor, the UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) that performed at the bullring in Mexico City, “El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos”, that drew nearly 20,000 fans weekly to the building from the late 70’s all the way into the 80’s. If you look at any of their results from this time frame, you’ll literally see a “Who’s Who” of the biggest names in not just lucha libre, but pro wrestling history, as WWE, New Japan, and many companies worldwide sent their top talents there, and right in the middle of it all was Negro Casas. Casas won the companies Light Heavyweight title in 1984, and also later held the companies Middleweight title for over two years from 1991 to 1993.
However, one thing Casas may most be known for, is his feud with the legendary El Hijo del Santo. The son of the most popular luchador of all time, El Santo, Hijo del Santo debuted in 1982, and the two immediately gravitated towards each other in the ring, with multiple matches against each other. To show the drawing power of the feud, back in 1987 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, promoters Benjamin Mora and Karl Lauer were running Lucha Libre events at the building, however no event they ran did better than when they brought the huge feud from Mexico up to Los Angeles, and had them wrestle in an “apuesta” (bet) match, where Santo put his mask on the line against the hair of Casas. Video of this exists and it truly is a legendary must watch. Over 7,000 fans watched (impressive as there was no TV for the promotion, this was all word of mouth) as the two put on a performance many compared to Savage vs Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3.
Casas was a genius in any role he was put in, the evil rudo (heel) or the loved tecnico (babyface). You’d be hard pressed not to find a wrestling school that doesn’t show their students matches and specific holds of Casas to emulate. A popular story about Casas, was that Chris Jericho was backstage at In Your House 5 in 1995, and Bret Hart was asking about using a new finisher for the match against Davey Boy Smith. Jericho, who had been in Mexico for two years at that point, told Bret about the finisher of Casas, called “La Casita” (some call it La Magistral) and taught it to Bret, who used it that night to defeat Davey Boy. Over the decades, I’ve chatted with dozens of luchadores and wrestlers who credit the style of Casas as one they learned from.
Casas has a very long list of opponents who praise him and put him over, from legendary New Japan light heavyweight Jushin “Thunder” Liger. When Liger had his final match in Arena Mexico back in July of 2019, he made sure Casas was a part of it. He praised Casas as one of the best opponents, and even brought in Casas to work the initial Super J Cup in 1994. The same praise also came from Ultimo Dragon, who had a legendary feud with Casas, going back to even before Ultimo wore his mask, and the two feuded over some of the greatest titles in the history of pro wrestling. There are many others as well, from Norman Smiley, to Chris Jericho and so many more.
Casas too has been “the man” for each promotion he has worked for, main eventing the biggest show for the CMLL promotion he mostly worked for, the Anniversary show, six different times in his career. He has also taken place in 29 known matches where he put his hair on the line, winning the match 18 times. He has won 15 different titles in his career, and also has helped train some of the best young names in the business today, from TJ Perkins, to Rocky Romero, Mephisto, and many others. In January of 2023, he did the “unthinkable”, and left the CMLL promotion and jumped over to the rival, the AAA promotion, along with his wife Dalys, and has made an immediate impact there, with a huge match last year at Triplemania against Nicho el Milionario (Psychosis in WCW).
We are honored here at the Cauliflower Alley Club to present the 2024 Lucha Libre Award to a man none more deserving, Negro Casas.
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