We finish these series with this last four CMLL luchadores that you should be watching. You can also catch up with part one (1-4) and part two (5-8). Here’s the final four in our showcase series of CMLL.
Rey Cometa
CMLL‘s War Horse. To be honest Rey Cometa deserves the prestigious nickname for being that guy, that hardworking guy who just leaves everything, and I mean everything, on the mat. He is one of the most representative aerial guys, not only on CMLL, but Lucha Libre. He debuted first in AAA as part of the Real Fuerza Aerea (Royal Air Force) from 2005 to 2008, when he decided to leave as he wasn’t happy with his booking. He is 34 years old but already has an 18 year career, as he debuted in 1999 at the age of 16. When he came to CMLL, the aerial guys buzz was at its peak and he was already a veteran. He helped other rookies level up their skills and made big legends (like master Blue Panther or El Hooligan) look more attractive for the new generations of fans.
Rey Cometa lost his mask almost five years ago against Puma King (son of legend El Felino) – sadly it wasn’t good for any of them. Puma King is still programmed on preliminary matches and Rey had a couple of difficult years. Nevertheless, he was at NJPW’s Fantasticamania in 2014 and that year teaming up with Stuka Jr., Rey couldn’t be more relevant although he gave lots of great matches. Finally last year, Rey Cometa put over one new rudo with the fans by losing his hair in a bet match (hair vs hair): Bárbaro Cavernario, whom later that year he would defeat in order to win the National Welterweight Championship. One month ago, having that Championship practically frozen for almost a year, Rey lost it against new promise Soberano Jr. Rey Cometa could start new feuds putting over young talents, maybe he won’t get any opportunity to shine over lots of other young aerial luchadores, but if you can catch him on a program, you’ll know why he is necessary in the company. Want an awesome luchador? Well, this is one for sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTzMQZpm_B8
Guerrero Maya Jr.
Son of lucha libre legend (and the first Guerrero Maya) Black Terry, this guy with boiling blood in his veins is the best example of how good a luchador can be no matter what. Since his debut on CMLL in 2009 – he was previously a big name in the International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) known as Multifacético – he has climbed to the top little by little. One thing is for sure: he always stands out in a match. It is impossible not to notice him in the colorful mix of masked luchadores. Being the son of Black Terry, one wouldn’t expect less: big technician, risky high flyer, with a powerful moveset. The guy has the whole package and is just a matter of months until he starts becoming a legend. Guerrero Maya Jr. is creative and bold and a multi championship winner so he already has the table served. Just one step forward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j79C6lbyZQU
El Terrible
This veteran doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. One of the only two Mexicans to be part of Bullet Club, shaved legends Cien Caras and Máscara Año 2000‘s heads (did the same with Yujiro and Naito), kicked Hiroshi Tanahashi‘s butt and has held more championships than my laziness is capable to scrutinize. In fact, all these achievements wouldn´t mean anything if it wasn’t for his tenacity and his in-ring intelligence. El Terrible is one natural luchador. He can walk like nothing and make the people mad as hell with a single move. He is the epitome of the modern day rudo. Like Rush or el Negro Casas, he is a master at working the crowd. You can’t go wrong with him: he is so outstanding that you can’t ignore him. El Terrible is so organic that he sometimes seem to forget that he is in a wrestling match and just raises hell for the sake of it – the people respond, he makes people respond, to feel the match. The Evil Czar isn’t the best managed lately, but he is gonna find his way again – the guy can´t be quiet and surely is gonna keep reaping good results: more championships, more fans, more hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbvrC7z5cHM
Espanto Jr.
CMLL has more than 100 luchadores on their roster – choosing twelve may sound a little unfair, because almost everybody in there are great luchadores. I love traditional lucha libre. I really like the aerial stuff, I really do, and of course I love technical lucha; but at the same time I miss some psychology going over the match. Just two guys playing their roles, giving one another the chance to sell to the crowd the idea of a rivalry. Two guys believing that they are good, so good that they can challenge anybody. So the rival in front of them is the enemy, the obstacle and they must go through him at any price. Fortunately, CMLL doesn´t lack of these guys, but the majority are old luchadores. Like El Terrible or Negro Casas that know the business really well and try to transmit it to the new generation. One of this new generation luchadores is Espanto Jr. I just love his in-ring performance. He seems to understand what a rudo is, what a rudo suppose to be like. To my eyes, this guy was the last year revelation (even when he debuted four years ago). Of course, following the company’s style, he is teaming up one night more often than not. But this is going well. He teams up with guys like El Hijo del Signo or Oro Jr. who bring great tradition over their shoulders too. But Espanto Jr. is one hell of a luchador, very complete and very creative too. He should be one of the new characters to be projected and it has to be fast, because lucha is exigent and needed of people who go for psychology, for names that make them go and stick their asses to a chair. Espanto Jr. is one of those guys who deserve every good mechanism in the company to work for them. So be it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfN7c3QiRBM
