Negro Casas

José Casas Ruiz (born January 10, 1960), better known under the ring name Negro Casas, is a Mexican professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is a member of the Casas wrestling family, being the son of former wrestler turned referee Pepe Casas, brother of professional wrestlers El Felino and Heavy Metal, and uncle of Puma King, Felino Jr., Canelo Casas, Rocky Casas and Danny Casas.

Casas is best known for his work in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) from 1980 to 2023. Alongside Mr. Niebla, he was a founding member of the group La Peste Negra ("The Black Plague"), which also included El Felino, Heavy Metal and Bárbaro Cavernario. Casas has also wrestled for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), World Wrestling Association (WWA) and International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) in Mexico, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the United States, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan. He has trained several wrestlers, including Mephisto, Kazushige Nosawa, T. J. Perkins, Rocky Romero and Ricky Marvin.

Early life 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. At age five, Casas' father took him to his first wrestling show, located across the border in the United States. The following year, now-rudo El Felino joined La Peste Negra, while Heavy Metal, not comfortable with working the comedic style, was quietly phased out. After the win, La Peste Negra continued their feud with Místico and his various allies, which culminated in a Lucha de Apuestas between Casas and Místico on September 18, 2009, at the CMLL 76th Anniversary Show, where Casas lost and had his hair shaved off.

On January 29, 2010, Negro Casas was paired with La Máscara in the Torneo Nacional de Pareja Increíbles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), where a tecnico is paired with a rudo. They 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 advance to the finals on February 5, which they lost to Atlantis and Máscara Dorada. On February 14, he defeated El Hijo del Fantasma for his second CMLL World Middleweight Championship. On October 15, Charly Manson defeated Casas in a Lucha de Apuestas to take his hair. On February 14, 2012, Casas defeated La Sombra to win the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship for the first time. At Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ("Homage to Two Legends") on March 2, Casas and Blue Panther wrestled to a draw in a Lucha de Apuestas and were, as a result, both shaved bald. On December 25, Casas successfully defended the NWA Historic Welterweight Championship against Guerrero Maya Jr. at a special Christmas show after Maya Jr. had defeated Casas in a series of matches leading up to it. In early 2013, they were paired for the Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles, but lost in the first round to La Sombra and Volador Jr. On June 2, Casas lost the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship to Dorada, ending his reign at 475 days, the longest in the title's history.

On January 3, 2014, Casas defeated Titán in the finals of the Leyenda de Plata ("The Silver Legend") tournament. On February 18, Casas, El Felino and Mr. Niebla defeated La Máscara, Rush and Titán to win the Mexican National Trios Championship. On June 13, Casas and Shocker defeated La Máscara and Rush to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. At El Juicio Final ("The Final Justice") on August 1, 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 the 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.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1990–2022) Casas made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on December 26, 1990, unsuccessfully challenging Jushin Thunder Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The following year, he participated in the 1991 Top of the Super Juniors tournament, scoring eight points to advance to the semi-finals, where he lost to Liger. On August 3, 1996, he participated in a tournament to unify 8 lightweight titles in NJPW's J-Crown tournament. Casas put the NWA World Welterweight Championship on the line, which he ultimately lost to Shinjiro Otani in the first round. From October to November 2008, Casas and Rocky Romero participated in the G1 Tag League as part of Block B. They finished with four points after two wins and three losses, failing to advance to the semi-finals. On May 3, 2010, Casas lost his CMLL World Middleweight Championship to Liger at Wrestling Dontaku 2010.

On October 21, 2012, Casas and Bushi, under the name "Grupo Cibernetico", lost to Suzuki-gun (Taichi and TAKA Michinoku) in the first round of the Super Junior Tag Tournament. At Power Struggle on November 11, he, Captain New Japan, Liger, Manabu Nakanishi and Tiger Mask lost to CHAOS (Jado, Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi). Casas returned to NJPW in January 2020 to take part in Fantastica Mania 2020, their co-promoted tour with CMLL. There, he and Tiger participated in a family tag team tournament, defeating Ángel de Oro and Niebla Roja in the first round before losing to El Soberano Jr. and Euforia in the third place match. Casas made his Strong debut on the July 23, 2022 episode, which was also his final NJPW appearance, teaming with Adrian Quest and Lucas Riley in a loss to David Finlay, Máscara Dorada and Romero.

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2023–present) On January 21, 2023, Casas and his wife Dalys la Caribeña made their debuts for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) 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 a four-way Rey de Reyes match qualifier that also involved Myzteziz Jr. and Mecha Wolf.

Personal life 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 is a fan of musician Juan Luis Guerra and his band "Los 4:40", which references the highest frequency in music. He adopted the nickname "4:40" in homage to them, under the suggestion of lucha journalist & commentator Alfonso Morales.

Championships and accomplishments Cauliflower Alley Club Lucha Libre Award (2024) Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre CMLL World Middleweight Championship (2 times) CMLL World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with El Hijo del Santo (3), Místico (2), and Shocker (1) CMLL World Welterweight Championship (1 time) Mexican National Trios Championship (1 time) - with El Felino and Mr. Niebla Torneo Gran Alternativa (1994) – with Héctor Garza Leyenda de Plata (2000, 2014, 2015) Copa Bobby Bonales (2010) 40th Anniversary recognition plaque International Wrestling Revolution Group IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship (1 time) IWRG Intercontinental Trios Championship (1 time) – with El Felino and Heavy Metal Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Psycho Clown Mexican Provincial Championships Estado de Guerrero Lightweight Championship (1 time) Estado de México Lightweight Championship (1 times) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 33 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1999 Ranked No. 148 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003 Universal Wrestling Association UWA World Lightweight Championship (1 time) UWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time) World Wrestling Association WWA World Welterweight Championship (2 time, inaugural) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotesEddy Guerrero (hair) Negro Casas (hair) Juarez, Chihuahua Live event 1980s Negro Casas (hair) Aristos (hair) Mexico City Live event Relevos suicidas Negro Casas (hair) Diamante Blanco (hair) Mexico City Live event Negro Casas (hair) Mocho Cota (hair) Mexico City Live event Negro Casas (hair) Bestia Salvaje (hair) Guadalajara, Jalisco Live event Negro Casas (hair) Halcón de Oro (hair) Reynosa, Tamaulipas Live event Negro Casas (hair) Mosco de la Merced (hair) Tijuana, Baja California Live event Tarzan Boy (hair) Negro Casas (hair) Mexico City CMLL 69th Anniversary Show El Satánico and Negro Casas (hair) Tokyo Gurentai (hair)(Nosawa and Masada) CMLL Live event Mexico City Perro Aguayo Jr. (hair) Negro Casas (hair) Mexico City CMLL Live event Negro Casas (hair) Okumura (hair) Mexico City CMLL Live event This was a steel cage match that also included Rey Bucanero and Tarzan Boy Volador Jr. (hair) Negro Casas (hair) Mexico City Homenaje a Dos Leyendas Negro Casas (hair) Sam Adonis (hair) Mexico City Sin Piedad Último Guerrero (hair) Negro Casas (hair) Mexico City CMLL 86th Anniversary Show

Footnotes