by Sam DiMascio
Hello there readers that have never read my work! My name is Sam DiMascio and I am a lucha novice. Still reading? Fantastic. A few weeks ago I was presented with an opportunity to write for this website and specifically write about lucha. As I have been finishing my finals in my second to last semester at college I have been trying to narrow down what I would like to talk about. All I know is that I enjoy watching lucha and I enjoy watching it more than any other wrestling today. I did not get into lucha until maybe two years ago when I saw a Virus (CMLL) match mentioned on an online forum. The match resonated with me to the point where I wanted to learn more, and I feel I have. Now, I probably watch more lucha than the average wrestling fan, but that is because not a ton of people, not enough people, watch it. If I can manage to sway some people into giving it a chance I will feel like I have succeeded. This column is likely to be rather free form until I have settled in and can truly envision where I would like to take this more specifically. For now, I would simply like to talk about one of the aspects that makes me love this form of the art of pro wrestling.
The Fantastic Young Talent
As I was trying to learn about what The Johnson Transcript is all about I noticed there was a good deal of posts based on wrestlers 25 and under. While when I say “young talent” I don’t necessarily mean under 25, but certainly talent under 30 and talent likely to be main eventing massive shows in five to 10 years. For my money, lucha has the best young talent all of professional wrestling has to offer. I am only going to cover a couple of wrestlers more in-depth, but the likes of Dragon Lee, Star Jr., Aerostar and Rush (CMLL) are absolute talents.
Cachorro, now The Panther, is one young lad who has lucha running through his blood. As the son of Blue Panther he comes from one of the strongest pedigrees you could ask for. At a young age he has already shown as much skill as wrestlers with 10 years more experience. Showing an aptitude on the mat and timing his big dives appropriately, it is not a stretch to say he has the potential to match the career of his father. While probably not as notable, his brother has just recently taken their father’s namesake and mask going under Blue Panther, Jr. He is a good worker in his own right and if he had debuted in a different year he would likely generate more buzz than he has been.
The other luchador, who everyone should be looking out for in 2015 as a potential wrestler of the year candidate, is El Barbaro Cavernario. He is the best character worker in the world and provides amazing matches. Cavernario portrays a wild caveman, which translates to his in-ring actions as he is willing to throw his body around without thinking of the consequences. He has an incredible array of moves including the most impressive staple move of all, a top rope splash to the floor. He was the winner of the amazing CMLL En Busca de un Idolo Tournament 2014 this year, which I highly recommend to see some great young performers, as well as two hair vs. hair matches in 2014. Expect him to be a major rudo in years to come.
The young talent is simply one aspect of lucha that captivates me. It is a joy to track a career from upstart to star. Hopefully, I get to show the other amazing aspects of lucha libre that makes it so enjoyable to watch in editions to come.
If you’re interested in more of my work you can find it here, here and here.
Photo Credit: deportes.terra.com.mx
Categories: Smooth Runs
The Johnson Transcript 
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