Mid 20th Century
91-699: José Casas Ruiz (born January 10, 1960) is a Mexican professional wrestler (called a Luchador in Spanish ) and professional wrestling trainer working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) under the ring name Negro Casas . He is the son of former wrestler turned referee Pepe Casas, and part of the large Casas wrestling family ; brother of professional wrestlers El Felino and Heavy Metal and uncle of Puma , Tiger , Canelo Casas , Rocky Casas, Danny Casas and many more. Casas has trained several wrestlers, including Mephisto , Kazushige Nosawa , T. J. Perkins , Rocky Romero , and Ricky Marvin . Casas has worked all over
182-517: A Lucha de Apuesta on the CMLL 76th Anniversary Show , where Casas lost two falls to one and had his hair shaved off. After the match, Místico challenged El Felino, Casas' cornerman, to an Apuesta sometime in the future. On January 29, 2010, Negro Casas teamed up with La Máscara to participate in CMLL's "Torneo Nacional de Pareja Increíbles" ("National Amazing Pairs tournament"), a tournament where CMLL teams up
273-436: A Tecnico (La Máscara) and a Rudo (Casas) for a tournament. The two defeated El Texano Jr. and Rouge in the opening round, El Sagrado and Shocker in the second round, and Héctor Garza and Toscano in the semi-final to earn a spot in the final of the tournament. On February 5, 2010, Casas and La Máscara lost to Máscara Dorada and Atlantis in the finals. On February 14, 2010, Casas defeated El Hijo del Fantasma to win
364-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
455-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
546-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
637-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
728-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
819-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
910-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1001-449: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association ( WWA ) ( Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish )
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#17328849140031092-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1183-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1274-456: A four-way Rey de Reyes match qualifier that also involved Myzteziz Jr. and Mecha Wolf . José Casas is a member of an extensive wrestling family, founded by his father Pepe "Tropi" Casas and also consists of his brothers Erick, who wrestles as "Heavy Metal" and El Felino (Jorge Casas), and a brother who is not a professional wrestler. Casas' sister-in-law (Felino's wife) is former Mexican National Women's Champion Princessa Blanca . Casas' wife
1365-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
1456-420: A less serious style of match than was unusual, especially for a serious wrestler like Negro Casas. On September 2, 2008, the last Casas brother, El Felinoa turned Rudo as well and joined La Peste Negra. After Felino joined the group Heavy Metal was quietly phased out as he was not comfortable working the comedic style. Felino's wife Princesa Blanca joined the group in early 2009, turning Rudo to work with La Pestre,
1547-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
1638-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
1729-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
1820-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
1911-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
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#17328849140032002-493: A week later. The team of Último Guerrero and Atlantis finally dethroned the duo, keeping them away from the title in subsequent rematches. On November 11, 2007, Negro Casas won the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship by defeating Villano III in the finals of a tournament to find a new champion. Casas has not lost the title, but since CMLL and IWRG stopped working together in 2008 he
2093-601: A wrestling show when Casas was five years old, bringing him to an event across the border in the United States. Casas became hooked on wrestling from the moment he saw the first match, with his first idols being his father, Aníbal and El Solitario . Casas played football, soccer, volleyball and baseball while still in school and even started training in professional wrestling classes taught by his father and Raúl Reyes. José and his brothers, Heavy Metal and El Felino , often sat at ringside during their father's matches, pretending to be upset or cry whenever their father looked like he
2184-747: Is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana -area of Mexico . It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best luchadores at the time, such as Rey Misterio Jr. , La Parka and Juventud Guerrera , during the late 1980s and early 1990s and was also featured on American television via the Fox Sports en Español channel. Although inactive during the late 1990s, during which time much of its roster had left to compete in World Championship Wrestling and international promotions,
2275-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
2366-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
2457-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
2548-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
2639-535: Is married to professional wrestler Diamante who works for CMLL. Casas also has two nephews who work as Tiger and Puma , the sons of El Felino. Wrestler Canelo Casas is also credited with being a nephew of Negro Casas, but it is unclear if he is the son of Erick Casas or the son of one of their non-wrestling brothers or sisters. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
2730-475: Is no longer promoted as the champion with the title technically being inactive. In July 2008 Mr. Niebla returned to CMLL, forming a group with Negro Casas and Heavy Metal called La Peste Negra (Spanish for "the Black Plague"), a Rudo group that had a more comical approach to wrestling. The trio started wearing large afro wigs, painting their faces black and dancing during their entrances and generally worked
2821-470: Is the daughter of a Panamanian wrestling promoter that Casas once worked for, currently working for CMLL as well, using the ring name Dalys la Caribeña . His two daughters are training in Olympic style wrestling, also hoping to turn professional one day. José Casas does not train his daughters, entrusting that task to Ringo Mendoza , Tony Salazar , Arturo Beristain and Franco Colombo. One of Casas' daughters
Negro Casas - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-644: The 2015 Leyenda de Plata , his second in a row and third overall. On February 14, 2018, CMLL vacated the CMLL World Tag Team Titles due to lack of defences since 2016. In January 2023, Casas and his wife Dalys la Caribeña departed CMLL. On January 21, 2023, Casas and his wife Dalys la Caribeña made their debuts for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), appearing at a AAA television taping in Querétaro . On February 5, at Rey de Reyes , Casas made his AAA in-ring debut, being defeated by Hijo del Vikingo in
3003-621: The CMLL World Middleweight Championship from Emilio Charles Jr. on April 26, 2004. On August 28, 2005, Negro Casas became a double champion when he won the IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship , teaming with his brothers El Felino and Heavy Metal to defeat Black Tiger III , Pentagon Black , and El Pantera to win the title. The trios title reign lasted 129 days, ended by the team of Cerebro Negro , Veneno , and Scorpio Jr. In 2006 Negro Casas
3094-667: The Mexican National Trios Championship . On June 13, Casas and Shocker defeated La Máscara and Rush to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. On August 1 at El Juicio Final , Casas lost his hair to Rush in a Lucha de Apuestas . On April 26, 2015, La Peste Negra lost the Mexican National Trios Championship to Los Reyes de la Atlantida (Atlantis, Delta and Guerrero Maya Jr.). On May 22, Casas defeated Dragon Lee to win
3185-603: The NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship for the first time. On March 2 at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas , Casas and Blue Panther wrestled to a draw in a Lucha de Apuesta and were, as a result, both shaved bald. On October 21, Casas returned to NJPW, when he and Bushi entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament as "Grupo Cibernetico". The team was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Suzuki-gun ( Taichi and Taka Michinoku ). On December 25, 2012, Negro Casas successfully defended
3276-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
3367-479: The UWA World Middleweight Championship from Super Astro. Casas held the title for 787 days, finally losing it to Último Dragón . In 1980 Casas worked a low card match at Coliseo Naucalpan against an equally young Fuerza Guerrera , the match was so well liked by the audience that they threw money into the ring to show their appreciation. Promoter Paco Alonso even entered the ring and asked
3458-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
3549-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
3640-545: The tecnico / rudo divide. The team lost in the first round to eventual tournament winners La Sombra and Volador Jr. On June 2, Casas lost the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship to Máscara Dorada, ending his reign at 475 days, the longest in the title's history. On January 3, 2014, Casas defeated Titán in the finals to win the 2014 Leyenda de Plata . On February 18, Casas, El Felino and Mr. Niebla defeated La Máscara, Rush and Titán to win
3731-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
Negro Casas - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
3913-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
4004-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
4095-670: The CMLL World Middleweight Championship for the second time. During most of April and into May Negro Casas toured with NJPW in Japan. On May 3, 2010 Casas lost the CMLL World Middleweight title to Jushin Thunder Liger during NJPW's Wrestling Dontaku 2010 show. On October 15, 2010, Charly Manson defeated Negro Casas in a Lucha de Apuesta to take his hair. On February 14, 2012, Casas defeated La Sombra to win
4186-548: The NWA Historic Welterweight Championship against Guerrero Maya Jr. on a special Christmas show in Arena Mexico after Maya Jr. had defeated Casas in a series of matches leading up to the show. In early 2013 Negro Casas and Guerrero Maya Jr. were teamed up for the 2013 CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles , a tournament where the concept was that rivals or at least wrestlers from opposite sides of
4277-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
4368-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
4459-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
4550-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
4641-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
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#17328849140034732-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
4823-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
4914-409: The championship for 301 days before losing it to El Hijo del Santo . The loss to El Hijo del Santo was part of a long running, very intense storyline between Casas and Hijo del Santo that drew favorable reviews and helped establish both wrestlers as future main eventers. The storyline included Hijo del Santo forcing Negro Casas to be shaved bald after losing a Luchas de Apuestas , or bet match. In
5005-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
5096-508: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
5187-405: The crowd to show their appreciation for the match they just saw, earning both Negro Casas and Fuerza Guerrera a regular job with Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). By the mid 1990s Casas worked regularly for CMLL and toured Japan several times a year, wrestling for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In April 1994 Casas took part in the first Super J-Cup tournament; he lost to Ricky Fuji in
5278-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
5369-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
5460-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
5551-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
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#17328849140035642-536: The first round. Casas and El Hijo del Santo resumed their feud in 1997, culminating in another Lucha de Apuestas between the two. Negro Casas once again ended up on the losing side, losing two falls to one in the main event of the CMLL 63rd Anniversary Show . Negro Casas would later state that El Hijo del Santo was one of his favorite rivals and good friends backstage. Following the Apuesta loss Negro Casas and El Hijo del Santo began teaming together in 1998 and in early 1999
5733-508: The first round. On December 1, 1995, Negro Casas defeated longtime rival Hijo del Santo in the finals of a tournament to crown a new NWA World Welterweight Championship . Casas held the title for over 200 days, rarely defending until he participated in a tournament to unify 8 lightweight titles in NJPW's J-Crown tournament. Casas put the Welterweight title on the line but lost to Shinjiro Otani in
5824-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
5915-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
6006-427: The group La Peste Negra (Spanish for "the Black Plague"), a group that would later be joined by El Felino. Casas was born in 1960, the son of professional wrestler Pepe "Tropi" Casas, and grew up around Tlalpan. Casas described his childhood as a happy and normal one, even though his father would be away from home for long stretches as he wrestled all over Mexico and the United States. Casas' father first took him to
6097-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
6188-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
6279-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
6370-675: The late 1980s Negro Casas began working for the Mexican-based World Wrestling Association (WWA) where he became the first man to hold the WWA Welterweight Championship , holding it from sometime in 1987 until he was defeated by Tornado Negro on April 14, 1989. Casas regained the title, but only held it briefly before losing again as he was leaving the WWA. Casas returned to the UWA in 1990 and on January 29, 1991, he won
6461-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
6552-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
6643-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
6734-553: The ring name "Pepe Casas Jr.", wearing street clothes only to discover Pepe Casas and Raúl Reyes waiting in the dressing room. The two had played a joke on Casas to see how he handled himself in the ring. Casas chose the name "Negro Casas" ("Black Casas") as his ring name and decided not to wear a mask. By 1984 Casas had begun working for Universal Wrestling Association , winning the UWA World Lightweight Championship from Black Terry on January 1, 1984. Casas held
6825-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
6916-481: The team defeated Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. by disqualification, but refused to accept the CMLL World Tag Team Championship as they did not win by pinfall. After the refusal the title the two teams faced a few weeks later and this time Casas and Hijo del Santo won by pinfall to claim the title. The team reigned for over 400 days, until El Hijo del Santo left CMLL; forcing Negro Casas to vacate
7007-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
7098-506: The title. When El Hijo del Santo returned in 2001 the duo picked up where they left off by defeating Último Guerrero and Rey Bucanero to win the tag team championship once again. After 210 days and several title defenses Guerrero and Bucanero finally regained the titles, ending the third and final reign of the Casas/Hijo del Santo team. Following the loss of the tag team title Negro Casas began focusing on his singles career once again, winning
7189-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
7280-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
7371-561: The turn led to Princesa Blanca winning the Mexican National Women's Championship from Marcela on January 30, 2009. La Pesta Negra's biggest triumph to date is Negro Casas' title win over Místico that brought the CMLL World Welterweight Championship into the group. After the title win, La Peste Negra continued their feud with Místico and his various allies. The feud led to Místico and Negro Casas facing off in
7462-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
7553-829: The world, making appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the United States of America as well as touring with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan for over a decade. In Mexico, Casas is known for his work in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), wrestling sporadically for the promotion from 1980 until 2023. Casas has also wrestled in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), World Wrestling Association (WWA) and International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG). In 2008 Negro Casas joined with Mr. Niebla and Heavy Metal to form
7644-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
7735-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
7826-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
7917-444: Was getting beat up in the ring, a ploy that their father had taught them to help gain crowd sympathy. Casas debut came in 1979 as a bit of a strange turn of events. José Casas was in an arena where his father was supposed to compete when the promoter told Casas that his father had not shown and that he needed the young Casas to fill in for him or he would have Pepe Casas banned from wrestling. Casas wrestled and won his first match using
8008-568: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
8099-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
8190-562: Was teamed up with CMLL's rising star Místico , working together in a style very similar to Casas and Hijo del Santo. The two defeated Averno and Mephisto to win the CMLL Tag Team Championship, Casas' fourth and Místico's first, on April 14, 2006. On September 17, 2006, Negro Casas' 874-day CMLL World Middleweight Championship reign ended at the hands of Averno. Casas and Místico lost the tag team titles to Último Guerrero and Dr. Wagner Jr. on July 13, 2007 but quickly regained them
8281-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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