Rey Calitri Recalls Wrestling The Hulk Hogan Of Mexico: He’s A Complete Rock Star

The Watch List looks at what matches you should be watching, and they are recommended by today’s professional wrestling stars.

WrestleZone recently spoke with Rey Calitri, who picked some of his work in Mexico that highlights who ‘The Shining Star’ is.

“The first one that comes off the top of my head immediately is me against Negro Casas. For those who do not know who he is, he is the equivalent of Hulk Hogan in American wrestling. This dude is a complete rock star. I didn’t know I was facing him until I got to the venue. They gave me the nod like, ‘Hey, kid, you’re in the main event.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Me? Okay.’ In the video clip that I have up on my social media, when they tag him in, and they tag me in and like, I’m literally like — we’re letting it breathe, right? So I’m just walking in and all you hear is the whole crowd of I think it was like 350 people, 400 people in the building,” he explained. “They all start chanting his name, ‘Negro, Negro,’ and dude, my chest went slow beating. And I’m like, ‘Oh, man, here we go. Here we go, here we go.’ That was a very, very cool moment.”

No tap out

Calitri added a second match with Tornado Negro because of the crowd reaction they received.

“I’ll give you a second one real quick. I made my debut in Tijuana two years ago, and again, I was facing another legend in Tornado Negro, which that dude is synonymous in Tijuana, Lucha Libre history. He has taken off like 25 wrestlers’ mask or something like that. That’s a big deal when it comes to Lucha Libre history. You lose your mask, that’s like your career. So when we’re in the match or whatever, and we’re about to go to the finish and the referee’s like, ‘Tap, tap, tap.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no tap.’ I have the I have the crowd in my hand at this point. Then I call an audible real quick,” he explained. “And we do whatever else and then we finally get back to the finish, and then that place just erupts.

“And even though, of course, his hand got raised, I know at the end of the day that I walked away with the people’s respect,” Calitri said. “Because every time I go back to Tijuana, everyone talks about that match. When they approach me, they’re like, ‘Dude, I remember when you were doing this with Tornado Negro and you came in here and you tore the house down in front of 6,000 people.’ So those are two really cool moments in my career that automatically stick out to me.”

Matches

Calitri vs. Tornado Negro – Promociones El Cholo de Tijuana Celebrando El Dia De Reyes

Tommy Dreamer vs. Rey Calitri – ISPW Brawl For The Bulldogs

Rey Calitri vs. Simon Gotch – TCW