LUCHA… LUCHA…. LUCHA…LUCHA
Hola all,
Here we go again, back for another week of Lucha Underground, we are coming off some awesome shows lately so lets see what they have in store for us next.
As we should be used to by now, the show starts off with the normal video package going over some of the latest feuds brewing in the promotion.
We then cut to our 1st scene being set in Dario Cueto’s office, in walks Big Ryck and 2 new characters we haven’t seen before. Ryck introduces one as The mack his cousin, and the other as Killshock . They then go behind the desk and both put hands on Mr. Cueto to turn up the pressure, Ryck then confronts Cueto about putting a hit on him and they tease burning Cueto with the cigar. Cueto pleads to be spared then offers Ryck and his new crew the opportunity to enter a tournament for the new triple crown belts he is introducing. It looks as though there will be 3 man tag teams with 3 belts now which I actually like. I am firmly behind this concept having seen them do this before in Mexico, the thought of having faction based tag teams is something new to the states I think could get over. After mulling over the options Ryck agrees then ends up siphoning more cash out of Cueto for him and his buddies, they then exit the room seemingly satisfied counting their loot.
Next we see a new band rocking out as the crowd chants LUCHA, back in the temple now as Vampiro and Matt Stryker open the show hyping us up and announcing that in fact the tournament for the Trio tag tittles will start tonight.After the show is hyped up we then cut to the ring as Angelico’s entrance is starting. He is being announced as the first competitor before his opponent enters the arena. Now out comes Johnny Mundo with a huge smile on his face, I remember this match being hyped up last week and I personally wasn’t excited due to Angelico being my least favorite wrestler on this roster. However he has been in a program less flattering for his style so its nice to see him matched up with someone different.
Match 1 = Johnny Mundo VS Angelico
The match starts with Angelico squirming around and dodging Mr. Mundo. They then go back and forth countering and flipping their way through this match getting the crowd into it. They then pause for applause building tension before they head back into another lock up. Mundo tries a dive but Angelico dodges countering him nicely, they then start to battle outside as Mundo starts to show off his parkour. My favorite spot of the match is Mundo clutching to the barricade then bouncing and kicking Angelico square in the face. After some back and forth they re enter the ring and show off some technical exchanges and float into pin attempt combinations, that each wrestler end up kicking out of. A lot of strikes in this match and Angelico hits Mundo with a nice high knee to turn the tides in his favor. Angelico’s best spot came when he Razor’s edged Mundo across the entire ring, and it got a decent pop from the crowd. Commentary puts over Angelico as being very hungry in this match, however it all comes to an end when Angelico gets too cocky, he taunts the crowd and looks as though he is going for a big frankensteiner that would have launched Mundo down off the tope turnbuckle, but Mundo counters him and power bombs him down to the matt. Mundo then hits starship pain off the top rope getting the Pin for the 1..2…3.
Winner = Johnny Mundo Via Pin Fall
This was a cool match and I have to say Angelico looked better, I laid off him a bit this week since I couldn’t really think of a specific spot that he over sold this time around. That makes a huge difference in his work in my opinion. I will say I still don’t like him being overly cocky but that is more of me not digging his character, in which hey, that’s what heels do sometimes do.
We next get a Kill Bill style video package from black lotus, the women who was kidnapped weeks ago. She talks about how she was saved by a Luchador named El Dragon Azteca who is a descendent of the original Lucha Libre’s, and he has agreed to train her in the arts. Once she is ready, she then will exact her revenge on the caged monster Dario Cueto is keeping, and avenge the killing of her parents.
Now we get a back stage promo in the locker room and see Johnny Mundo being confronted by Alberto Patron. They both go back forth and it seems they might be setting up a match. Mundo has a nice comment asking Alberto if he is going to fight new people or continue to re beat guys he has beaten before. Alberto is not happy about this but they get over it and continue to give each other cheap shots. Patron says he thought Mundo was doing none wrestling things, and that he didn’t remember him. Mundo’s response to this is he in fact is the face of this promotion, in heel fashion Patron sarcastically agrees and leaves the fame.
Next we have Sexy star in Dario Cueto’s office. He says he is going to give her 2 partners, I am assuming to enter her into the trio tag team tournament. Her teammates will be Supper Fly, and Pentagon JR. Also he announces the main event being Sexy Star and her group VS Big Ryck and his new crew. I like this but personally I really would have liked her paired with Pimpinella at least, but hey we get the anti social Pentagon JR. so we will see where this takes us.
Next we have Drago coming to the ring, they hype up another match with AeroStar and I am getting a little burnt out on this, I know this is a best of 5 series but I can’t help but think this feud needs a bit more. I hope someone turns heel to win so there is something to get excited for storyline wise..
Match 2 = Drago VS Aerostar
So here we go, they again start this match with a nice technical showing, giving us the story they are so evenly matched, of course they are they’ve wrestled every week for months now. Aero star gets a nice dive in on the outside and he seems to have Drago pegged. The only draw back to Aerostar’s offense is he is getting too eager for the win going for pin attempts often. Drago turns the ties with a nice electric chair drop and even locks in a nice submission, which is something we rarely see in this promotion other than Jr, and a few rest holds by the bigger wrestlers. Drago teases a dive but has to settle with a nice kick after Aerostar re enters the ring. Drago lands a nice cork screw type dive from the top ropes, and then tangles him up in a package type pin. As Aerostar struggles he is pinned for the 3 and ultimately loses the match.Winner = Drago Via Pinfall
After the match they do the handshake spot again but this time they have less respect for each other getting very close and amping up the intensity. I will say this, I am getting old of this match and I need more, I find that something is going to boil over soon but we will see what happens. I will also say I think these guys are running out of things to do together, and they need to find something to liven this up to give us some new story here. I like 2 faces going at it for the sake of competition, but to continue the match every week is not satisfying. I am waiting for someone to turn heel to get the win, only to get screwed over by Dario Cueto’s unique opportunity anyway.
Next we return to Dario Cueto’s office and he ends up putting Son of Havok, Angelico and The Baddest Bitch in the building Ivelisse in a trios team. Excuse me for a moment…….
Match 3 Main Event = Big Ryck, The Mac, Killshock VS Sexy Star, Super Fly, andPentagon Jr.
Pentagon Jr comes out last and happens to be the fans and my personal Favorite. He cuts a quick promo on how even though he has weak partners he will win the trio tittles on his own for his master.
The match starts out with Pentagon Jr vs the mack, They lock up and the mack tries to get the match going with a wrist lock that Jr quickly breaks up. Mack then hits a nice take down and even though he looks as though he is not in the best shape, he does some nice flip moves and even a kip up. His momentum doesn’t last long as he takes a huge a drop kick to the face by pentagon and then eats HUGE LOUD CHOPS that SMACK through the arena. Mack then comes back and does a nice pounce shoulder block sending Jr flying to the other side of the ring, then begins putting pressure on Jr. in the corner. Once again Jr is no punk and comes back and counters doing a nice back stabber to turn the tides back in his favor, then migrating over to attempting the arm bar to end this early. Next the mack escapes and tags in killShock all the while JR is distracted allowing Super Fly to tag himself in as well. They go back and forth doing more traditional Lucha style combinations, and Super fly gets the upper hand seemingly more intent on working a traditional tag team match and thus tags in Sexy Star. Kill shot ends using the power he has as a male taking control of Star, he also hits some nice chops on her but she counters and takes him out. Ryck then gets pissed bolts into the ring and nocks star’s teammates off the apron, he then managed to breaking up the pin attempt by Star. Once he is successful in that he then throws star onto her teammates outside of the ring. After an exchange we now have big Ryck and Jr in the ring, Jr recovering quickly from his blow they start stiffing each other with chops and hard hits, it seems as though the story is we have no idea who is legal anymore and now we find Killshot face to face with Jr who both should be the legal men. Now Jr hits Killshot with a modified tombstone but only garners a 2 count. Killshot must be the legal man and same with JR because they are going for pin attempts now frequently. The spot of the match comes when Pentagon Jr. places Killshot on the ropes and Sexy gets into the ring on the opposite turnbuckle. She then runs at Pentagon and he propels her perfectly onto killshot’s shoulders, allowing Star to throw him over hurricanrana style down to the mat. I seriously can’t sell this as well as it looked, the timing and execution was perfect and worth seeing for yourself. Ryck then interferes again and saves a pin attempt and it seems as though he continues to go for covers even though he is not the legal man. There is chaos all over now and the finish comes when Killshot and The Mack hit a combo on Superfly, Mack drops him with the Mackbuster and Killshot jumps off the top ropes for the double foot stomp on the face for the 1..2..3
Winners = Big Ryck , The Mack and Killshot
This match was good and I was entertained! I honestly thought the phycology of using Ryck only to interfere and never having him officially tagged in was honestly an awesome way to book him, but he ruined it by going for covers which was really confusing as I never saw him legally tagged in.
After the match Pentagon Jr is not pleased, thus begins to set up Super Fly for his arm breaker. Sexy star comes out of nowhere and saves him as the program goes off the air. It looks as though this might set up a future program and frankly I am happy Pentagon Jr is going to continue being a solo guy, because he is my favorite. As far as Sexy Star maybe this opens up her teaming with Pimpinella again which I am a huge fan of, nobody has said now that she has failed in this trio group she can’t start her own, and thats where I hope they go with this.
Show ends.
Now I want to get into some news so I will make my thoughts on the show as a whole brief. This was what the show needed to be this week. I went into this knowing after the big gimmick match shows, and the big title defense show, where 2 belts were defended on TV that this show would simmer down a bit. It was perfectly fine for me and we cannot expect HUGE shows each week. This was a well done show that brought us back to a normal pace and it was a good week of programing.
Alight guys lets look into some news…..
One interesting thing about Lucha Underground’s promotion is they are operating on seasons. It has been confirmed they are coming back for a season 2, however from what I have learned there maybe a gab between seasons 1 & 2. Apparently they only have 4 taping dates left for the first Season. April 11th, 12th, 18th, and 19th which will take them through August, and I assume that would be the end of Season 1. This may mean we will have a break between new episodes in which they will fill with reruns. Now, I like and dislike this format depending on the time frame they are going to shut down to plan out and work the next season. If it means we get the quality of product we’ve had thus far then hell I’m all for it. My only hope is the gap betweens seasons doesn’t stretch too long, if they can find the perfect medium of time that instills anticipation for the next season, but doesn’t cool off the product this could actually help the promotion and continue to show its unique presence in this industry. I know most wrestling fans are not conditioned to this format for a wrestling show, and frankly I am brainstorming on how to best continue doing content if this were to in fact happen. As stated above I am behind it and with all the other top shows on TV operating seasons in this manner, it may raise the bar of wrestling Television by creating a buzz. It will also allow creative to have the time to map out storylines, and also giving us fans a break while simultaneously building desire to want to see the show again. If they continue to bring the quality I don’t see this hurting the promotion at all, and frankly I will be sad to not have new episodes for a bit.
In another bit of news, its heavily speculated that Lucha Underground is developing their first major event, the name thus far is Ultimo Lucha. It is too early to tell if this is going to be their Wrestle Mania or just their first PPV style show. The time of the show will be extended which is something I am excited for and frankly I say lets do it. I can only imagine what they would do to pull this off, we’ve had an amazing casket match, and a cage match already on regular programing so I think they know they would have to make this major event seem special, and I have faith in them doing so. There is so much they could do with this from returns, a few wrestlers turn face/heel, a couple debuts for the promotion like Hernandez who hasn’t wrestled for them yet, along with other major opportunities. There is a slew of things these guys could do to make this possibly the best special event in wrestling thus far this year. Some might say I’m taking it too far there but, without going into WrestleMania, Wrestle Kingdom 9 since this is not the place for that here, all I have to say is they were good shows but I had a few reservations. Add TNA being a none factor that leaves the NXT special events as the only competition in my eyes, and Frankly even though NXT is separate they still have that WWE presentation that I’m personally burnt out on. I like NXT and enjoy watching it but I don’t have the same excitement for it as I do for Lucha Underground, and if they give us a show like the ones they did with the special matches, continue to trail blaze the video package segments and continuity, I don’t see how they couldn’t put on the best Major Event this year.
Well guys I hope you enjoyed this weeks show!!! Tell me what you thought, I also want to hear your thoughts on the news we touched on as well! We’ll chat soon, have a good week!!
-Grainbelt
