Chapter One: The Hero Becomes the Villain





The story of El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas begins all the way back in 1984, when both men were working for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA). Think of the UWA as like AAA, without the success (though the company did last a solid twenty years as the number two promotion in Mexico). By this point, Casas, then UWA’s World Lightweight Champion, was a five year veteran who had already had a stint with CMLL (then still EMLL), while Santo had barely been wrestling year. Never the less, the son of the legendary El Santo proved to be quite capable in the ring, and he soon dethroned Casas for the title on October 28th. His victory of Casas would start a long (and according to Wikipedia, intense) three year feud between the two, with Casas as the ruthless rudo and Santo taking up the heroic technico role his father had long held. By the time Santo defeated Casas in a hair vs. mask match in July of 1987, both men had been established as the future of lucha libre and major box office attractions. The two would continue on and off for several years, before briefly going their separate ways. Casas would eventually wind up in CMLL full time, while Santo bounced between UWA and CMLL before finding a home in, where he would eventually find himself in one of the most famous tag team matches in wrestling history. Let’s just say octagons and love machines were involved.





Eventually, Santo and Casas found themselves both in CMLL by 1995, where they resumed their feud. In a smart move, CMLL decided Santo-Casas was the perfect match to co-headline one of the two shows CMLL was running for their 63rd Anniversary (yes, the 63rd Anniversary Show was split into two. Very AAA of them). That's not all CMLL had in mind though. Only two years earlier, the Mexican economy had collapsed after the government suddenly devalued the peso, Mexico’s form of currency. The downturn took a huge toll on the country in general, and especially on CMLL, which was already having issues on the business side due to the rise of AAA in 1992. How bad things were is something only the company can know, but in any event, they needed a spark in the worse way. What would that spark be? A revitalized Hijo del Santo-Negro Casas feud, only this time with a twist; Casas would be the technico, and Santo would be the rudo. Now you're probably thinking this isn't a big deal. Despite being a rudo throughout his career, Casas had long been one of the most popular luchadors across the country. Officially making him a villain would be no sweat. But Santo as the villain? This was a massive risk, especially since no one in El Santo lore had been a rudo since the 1950s. In a way, it was very much like what WCW did with Hulk Hogan only months earlier in taking one of the most famous legacies in wrestling history and flipping it to the dark side. And just like with WCW, it worked.





It greatly helped that the execution of the angle was pretty flawless. Casas would defeat Santo at the 63rd Anniversary Show (albeit by DQ0, his first big win over his long time rival and the start of his technico turn. Santo would then quietly disappear for a few months while Casas feuded with his former teammates, Scorpio Jr. and Bestia Salvaje. The storyline had Scorpio and Salvaje jealous of Casas' popularity, leading to them claiming they had a surprise for Casas. This surprise revealed itself at the beginning of a trios match between Casas, El Dandy and Hector Garza against Scorpio, Salvaje and Felino. This did appear to be big on the surface as Felino is Casas’ real life brother. As it turns out, it was a very clever ruse. Right before the match began, Scorpio and Salvaje would take out Casas’ teammates and then gang attack him, all while Felino watched from the ring apron. As the technicos started to rally and Felino did nothing, it appeared Casas' brother was refusing to attack his own flesh and blood. NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! As soon as the technicos took full control Felino got into the ring, took off his mask and reveal that it wasn't actually Felino; it was Santo.