2014 Best Luchador

[thecubsfan]

I used to do awards. I don't do awards now. I don't really like awards (or HOFs.) I don't learn much from lists of names. I do really like the discussions that lead up to those lists of names. So maybe we could have a discussion about awards without actually having to count anything?

 

I weigh having coming up big in bigger matches heavily, which kind of requires you to have a lot of big matches. Rush did - he made Dos Leyendas against Shocker, he and Negro were awesome at Sin Piedad, and his tag title match at the Anniversary show was really good. He probably would've been in the top or semimain matches on all four major shows this year if he didn't break his leg, and he had a lot of great TV matches in between (including the best UG match that didn't involve him putting his mask on the line.) 

 

Negro Casas would be second looking at the whole year. I'm doing the MOTYC list primarily to refresh myself on what happened 10 months ago, and I just realized Titan/Casas is missing from that list. So that concept isn't working at all, but Casas has still had a good enough year that I can reel off a bunch of them. Casas had that one, vs Titan, the Volador matches were fun, and the Casas/Tiger/Puma vs Panther/Panther/Cachorro matches even outside of all the Rush stuff this year. A better historian than me would have to figure this out, but this might be one of the best years of Negro Casas' career and that's not an easy list to make. Casas gets dragged a lot down in trios because Niebla and Felino don't really show up most nights, but he's gotten a ton of important matches and has come up well with them.

 

Cavernario would be third for me because he had all the great En Busca de un Idolo matches but also got more of a run after them than the other finalists guys. 

 

I don't want to totally dismiss AAA, but it's tough to isolate anyone there - only the top guys get consistent big matches, and the guy who they thought were the core of their future in January (Psycho Clown! Texano!) dropped down the totem pole a lot by the middle of the year because they got new people. And there's so many Lucha Underground stuff left to air that might cause me to change thoughts on some guys (Fantasma and Drago even more so than Pentagon and Fenix.)

 

(Back when I wasn't jaded and horrible, I had Best Match, Best Tecnico, Best Rudo, Best Female, Best Unit, Best Promotion, Best Rivalary, Most Improved, Most Underutilized as other categories so maybe some of those threads later if people care? Or maybe Best Show next since that's the discussion that actually started this?)

[Matt D]

How do you feel about Virus' year?

[Big E Lashley]

This is my first year really paying attention to lucha, and Rush has been the guy who stands out most. So I'd vote for him.

[GojiColin]

Would Flamita be in consideration?

[Phil Schneider]

Hechicero has to at least be in the conversation, great stuff in CMLL and some absolute gems on the indies

[odessasteps]

Rush, Casas, Hechicero and Cavenario all stellar this year.