The Official Lucha Underground Thread

[LionDen]

Thanx SM I am looking forward to tonights show.

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Sexy Star opened the show with a promo in Spanish. She addressed Chavo Guerrero, calling him a coward and saying she would kick his ass. Her delivery wasn’t bad but some of the verbiage was really lame, and it was even more noticeable when it was subtitled. Things like “Chavo Guerrero, or should I say, stupid coward?” Maybe it was an awkward translation from something that sounded witter in her native tongue but it read poorly. Ivelisse Velez came out and ridiculed Star. Among other things, she questioned why Star thought she could hang with the guys. Velez proclaimed herself as the “baddest bitch” in this building, Star slapped her, and the match was on.

Match #1: Sexy Star vs. Ivelisse Velez

I’ve tried being diplomatic in these reviews, and tried giving him the benefit of the doubt, but Matt Striker was completely insufferable during this match – there’s simply no other way to describe it. Every bad indie commentator trope was here. He simultaneously tried to push the toughness and athletic ability of the competitors, while also making gross, cringe-inducing lines about how hot they are. I don’t take issue with him mentioning that these two women are, in fact, very attractive but he did so in a way that was straight out of WWE or TNA’s playbook. That is to say; it undermined Lucha Underground’s attempts to legitimize their women, by having a male commentator churning out sexual innuendos during their matches. Striker called the match a “festival of flesh,” at one point. Later, he noted that Velez fish-hooking Star was “kinda hot.” On top of all this, he had the nerve to drop the term “anti-Diva,” with reference to this match. Not only is that another eye-rolling potshot at WWE that I didn’t need to hear, but it’s also entirely hypocritical given the aforementioned comments. Striker, who constantly tries to be the smark-favourite voice of ‘real wrestling,’ should know better than to overly-sexualize women who are being pushed as, theoretically, on the same level as the male performers. As for the match itself – it was largely fine, but not even the excessive editing could hide some clumsiness from Star. That seems to happen a lot. Velez was dominating but Star caught her with a cradle for the win.

Winner: Sexy Star

Backstage, Cueto was taunting Drago in the locker room. He didn’t lose last week — but he also didn’t win (Fenix pinned Pentagon in a three-way, also featuring Drago). Drago would have another chance to impress the boss tonight — against the debuting King Cuerno. Drago’s gear is so awesome – he’s a gnarly looking guy, especially with how these vignettes are shot. As usual, the slick production and Cueto’s presence made this short scene really enjoyable, despite not featuring anything of real note, story-wise.

Pentagon Jr was in the ring. He thanked Cueto for giving him the opportunity to earn some respect.

Match #2: Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix

I expected a short Fenix showcase match – as he was getting a lot of shine early – but this turned into an AWESOME back-and-forth match. It was better than last week’s three-way. Obviously it was more focused and had a more straight forward dynamic. Pentagon is very agile, but doesn’t indulge in too much highflying. He’s more of a stiff bruiser, who’ll catch you unaware occasionally with a cool feat of athleticism or crazy sell for a move. As with last week, Fenix hit a tonne of crazy moves and was just a joy to watch. He won with a super Spanish Fly.

Winner: Fenix

KING CUERNO got a video package. He’s a weirdo with a cape who wears a dear-head. The video showed him running around in his cape, chopping wood(!), and talking about how he was a hunter. He was the predator, you were the prey – and so on. Not much to gleam from this, but I enjoyed it purely for how silly it all looked.

Match #3: King Cuerno vs. Drago

Early on, Cuerno did some monster heel no-selling – including Drago going for a big hurricanrana, and Cuerno just standing there, not reacting. It was unusual, as Cuerno is somewhat jacked, but not really much of a giant. He was working this match in a away that would almost be more fitting for Muertes. Regardless, this also turned into a more competitive match after initially seeming like a squash. Drago got a lot of his stuff in, including leaping off a prone referee’s back and hitting a hurricanrana. Cuerno was a little rough around the edges, but he wasn’t awful. He hit a really nice suicide dive at one point. In something of an upset, Drago got the win with a cradle. Thumbs down for two cradle finishes on the same show… the same 40 minute show, no less. So it’s even more noticeable! I thought Cuerno might do a heel beatdown after the match, but he didn’t.

Winner: Drago

Konnan once again warned Puma to stay out of Johnny Mundo’s business, as it wasn’t his fight. Puma was working out and didn’t seem too interested in what his manager had to say. Konnan wasn’t impressed, so he left Puma to think about it.

Match #4: Big Ryck vs. Johnny Mundo

This was the match where the smoke and mirrors surrounding Big Ryck began to dissipate and shatter, respectively. He has a great aura. He has a great look. He comes off as a bad ass while smoking a cigar in the crowd. But when the bell rings, it gets ugly. Mundo is awesome and tried his best. At the very least, they worked a solid story into the match, where Mundo spent the majority of the time trying to get Ryck off his feet – which I believe he only pulled off towards the finish. But Ryck just couldn’t hang, and the match kind of blew. Just as Mundo took Ryck down, we cut backstage to Puma in the dressing room. He was limbering up when Cueto’s goons beat him down. They hit the ring and laid out Mundo as he was attempting his finisher on Ryck. The referee called for the DQ.

Winner: Johnny Mondo By DQ

Mundo tried to make a comeback but was cut off. He was overwhelmed, as his buddy was taken out backstage. Cisco and Cortez got a table from under the ring. Ryck hooked Mundo, and slammed him through the table with a Yurinage. SHADES OF HOW HE BECAME THE LAST EVER ECW CHAMPION! The show ended with the heels standing tall.



PWI

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After the obligatory recap videos, the show kicked off with another meeting between Konnan and Cueto. It really can’t be over-stated how great these two are together. Despite seemingly being in cahoots — Konnan says he can’t associate with someone who attacks Prince Puma, referring to last week when Puma was assaulted in the dressing room by Cortez and Cisco. Cueto insists they are Big Ryck’s guys, and he has no affiliation. Konnan says that if that’s the case, why not book Puma vs. Ryck tonight, in a street fight. Cueto obliges.

Match #1: Drago vs. Mil Muertes

The story of this match was that King Cuerno was watching from the rafters. He was prowling around, ominously. His character, based on last week’s vignette, is that he’s a ‘hunter’ of some variety. He lost to Drago last week and wants redemption. This was reminiscent of a TNA segment where too much is happening and the editing was too frantic to let anything breath. The action seemed good but they were cutting to Cuerno too often, and along with the commentary being all over the place and Catrina at ringside, it felt like too much to me. Muertes won, naturally. Cuerno didn’t get involved until after the match. Once Drago was dispatched, Cuerno came to the ring and laid him out with a move

Winner: Mil Muertes


There was a flashy vignette for Johnny Mundo. It was extravagant, with shots of him on a throne surrounded by beautiful women.

Cueto was backstage when he bumped into Muertes and Catrina. Catrina implied she knew of some secret of his

Match #2: Son of Havoc vs. Mascarita Sagrada

This felt like more of the same for Sagrada – he got to shine but was ‘bullied’ during the heat. Havoc did look good on offense. At one point, Striker asked “what does it say about Havoc that he’s willing to beat up Sagrada? That he’s willing to beat up a woman?” I am confused. Is this a fair fight or not? Are we being all progressive and “hey it’s 2014, brother!” or is it still taboo to hit a woman, or a small person? You can’t have it both ways. There was a fun spot where Sagrada dove out of the ring onto Ivelisse at ringside, but it was followed by him chasing her around the ring, in a moment that was far too close to WWE comedy for my liking. The finish was neat, as Sagrada attempted something akin to a La Mistica, but Havoc blocked and had him in tombstone position. Sagrada got a roll up for the win. During the match, Angela Fong (a former FCW prospect, who was only ever used as a ring announcer on main-line WWE TV) watched from the ramp, in a leather outfit. It was far too similar to the Cuerno angle earlier in the show

Winner: Mascarita Sagrada

Match #3: Chavo Guerrero vs. Sexy Star

This felt abrupt, given the feud has really just started. They didn’t do a proper finish, so this was far from the blow off, but it still felt odd. They did a very basic match, which felt at odds to the violent nature of the program. After a few minutes, Star grabbed a chair and brought it in the ring. She low-blowed the referee, leading to a non-finish. She teased hitting Chavo with the chair (instead of, you know, just doing it) but Pentagon Jr ran in to stop her, and confiscate the chair.

Winner: Chavo On DQ??

Match #4: Big Ryck vs. Prince Puma (Street Fight)

Puma had an awesome match here. I’m a big fan of Mundo, but Puma did a much better job with Ryck. He sold really well for him. On the whole, the match wasn’t spectacular. It was largely ‘smoke and mirrors,’ to use the old cliche. Ryck did some monster heel stuff early. There was liberal run-ins from his henchmen. Puma had some comeback flashes, including a really sweet dive to the floor, where he landed on his feet. Cortez somehow got busted open, prior to weapons getting involved. When weapons did get involved, it wasn’t anything especially innovative or brutal. When the numbers game was overwhelmingly against Puma (Konnan was conspicuous by his absence), Mundo ran in for the save. He jumped from the roof of Cueto’s office INTO the ring — an amazing dive, with no one to catch him. He just did it, and rolled when he hit the ground. Quite the superhero run in. Ryck ducked a Mundo chair shot, which hit Puma. Mundo looked concerned, but was taken out by the heels. Ryck won with the urinage through a table. Post-match, Mundo tended to a defeated Puma. While the match wasn’t a barn-stormer, this was another solid development in the Mundo/Puma saga. Puma, through no fault of his own, couldn’t save Mundo last week. Mundo tried this week but struck Puma in error. Konnan has been stirring the pot, but this week seemingly went to bat for his boy.

Winner: Big Ryck

[Travicity]

I thought it would make an interesting discussion to name some wrestlers we think would fit in LU. I know a couple of names I would like to see.

Rey Mysterio Jr. & Hijo De Rey Mysterio - I never liked Rey Mysterio, but actually I would love this to happen. Both of these guys enter the LU ring, and you know what would happen. This would be a nice feud and it could be a nice way for Rey to pass the torch, and it would not be a bad way to do it. It's a nice idea that I think never happened. Because of WWE probably.

La Parka - Never was a big fan, but he is like Mexico's Great Muta.

Puma - He is one of the most underrated wrestlers I know of, and you could only imagine the feud between Puma and Prince Puma

LAX - Homicide and Hernandez would fit perfectly in LU, and they could feud with Dario's stooges.

Mistico - Yes, I would love him to appear. And despite what any WWE fan might say, he is a Legend.

Samurai Del Sol - Because He's Awesome.

Hijo for sure. Never was a fan of LA Parks. Puma/TJ Perkins is signed to TNA, I believe Hernandez will be in LU and so will Aaron Jesus, I don't want Cara in LU tbh and Sol can't because he's in WWE :p.

I'd love Bucks actually, B-Boy, Homicide, Low Ki fuck TNA, Sabin maybe.

[Travicity]

- According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleZone) Lucha Underground is planning a major show, which would essentially be their version of WrestleMania. The show’s working title right now is “Ultimo Lucha”. While the promotion is discussing several possibilities, PPV seems to not be in the mix at this time. The show is currently scheduled for August and could be a two or three hour, live event, on the El Rey Network

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[Smartmark]

^^ That's cool news. Wonder how the card will turn out.