We continue our series, looking at 12 CMLL Luchadores that you should be watching right now. We showed you the first four the other day, so here’s a look at the next four!
Dragon Lee
It may seem easy to look at Dragon Lee as just another aerial luchador, but that would be a discredit to his skill – his lucha technique is very polished and can give matches that break the norm of aerial guys. Brother of Rush and the original Dragon Lee (now known as Místico la Nueva Era), nephew of CMLL’s head trainer Franco Colombo and son of the current Pierroth, this young luchador has a lot to offer and since the lucha libre life is in his veins, opportunities are growing and he has a real chance of becoming a legendary luchador in México. Despite having debuted three years ago, his achievements are almost overwhelming: he is the current CMLL World Lightweight champion, unmasked big rival La Máscara and is a regular participant in ROH and NJPW, where he helds a tough rivalry with Hiromu Takahashi since his debut in México under the name Kamaitachi. In a personal view, I can see Dragon Lee turned into a big lucha legend, it’s just a matter of time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E7bA1ZNXCI
Rush
What can we possibly say of the main Ingobernable that would do him justice? Firstly, the so called ‘White Bull’ is one of the most passionate individuals in the present day lucha libre, with rudo blood in his veins – a truly unruly guy. Let’s add that he is CMLL´s top rudo (heel) which has helped the company to stay relevant these last years (yeah, sounds crazy, but it’s true). Much better, Rush is the founder of one of the most representative factions on lucha libre: Los Ingobernables, a faction that helped catapult luchadores like La Máscara and La Sombra (WWE’s Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas), not to mention its Japanese chapter, Los Ingobernables de Japón, is the second most infamous heel faction in NJPW besides Bullet Club.
Rush is a natural brawler and also possesses an enviable technique. He is always one step ahead of his rivals because of his in-ring wiseplay. One thing that helped him a lot was that he was always (intelligently) programmed as a técnico (face) despite his villainous tactics. The crowd always went crazy mad (which still happens) and had us hooked waiting for his step to the rudos side. Rush was known at the time as the most abhorred Mexican luchador. Rush will never keep us indifferent and that’s why he is a must see. On a weird side note, his musical theme is ‘Whatever’, the same theme Chris Benoit had in WWE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7TDxINQrc
Titán
With nine years of experience (first known as Palacio Negro from 2008 to 2011), Titán is one marvelous luchador with a distinctive lucha style and an aerial move set which surprises people constantly (one little sample is his flying head scissors to the outside of the ring: a poem). All of this secured the trust of the company, being the luchador who in 2013 travelled to New Japan, competing in that year’s Fantastica Mania and Best of Super Juniors. Titán depicted the Mexican luchador to the Japanese public in that year, becoming very popular in the rising sun land. Sadly, Titán has got caught in the mix of tag teams and currently he is rarely used, being billed on tríos tag matches without relevance. One thing is for sure: Titán always excels and can carry a match without any problems. If you are lucky enough to watch him programmed alongside old time partner Tritón, you’ll have double amazing lucha libre moments. Plus, he wears one of the most beautiful masks in lucha libre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4OembRjP3g
Hechicero
This is some guy. Hechicero (also known as Rey Hechicero) is one hell of a wrestler. If you were a young luchador one thing would be for sure: you would love to fight against Hechicero. He has all the experience in the world (debuted 18 years ago), very tough luchador (hell, he even wrestled Shibata once), he is recognizable even among other legendary wrestlers although he isn’t very acclaimed by the public (which is understandable, sometimes luchadores with few aerial moves aren’t that beloved by the crowd). Hechicero is one of the most curious cases inside CMLL. He can walk out the company with the safety of knowing he can always be back when they need him to level up their young guys. And that´s one funny thing since he is used as a rookie although he is notably older than several of the other luchadores programmed with him. Hechicero works great and he should be watched carefully and be enjoyed. The guy is so good that he alone could put over a piece of paper and make the crowd cheer for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbCrrRJkw8s
