Lucha Underground 1×19: Grave Consequences

thecubsfan news

the matches

1) Aerostar [2] defeated Drago [1], third match in their best of five series (springboard splash, 8:10)
2) Big Ryck defeated The Crew (Mr. Cisco, Cortez Castro, Bael) in a no disqualification elimination match (6:15)
– Big Ryck urange Bael (3:22)
– Big Ryck cane assisted clotheslineCortez Castro (4:21)
– Big Ryck urange on a chair Mr. Cisco (6:15)
3) Fénix defeated Mil Muertes in a Grave Consequences casket match (14:43)

the developments

Aerostar defeated Drago cleanly, and they shook hands after. Vampiro pointed out that Dario’s Unique Oppurtinties, the prize for the winner, sometimes come with bad twists.

Konnan played chess with Prince Puma, emphazing the importance of strategy in his fight with Cage.

The Crew destroyed Ryck early, but Ryck made a comeback. He eliminated Cortez first, and took the rest of the match from there. Bael was next. Cisco, who had burned Ryck’s eye originally, tried to walk out. Sexy Star stopped him, and forced him back to the ring. Ryck destroyed Cisco, busted him open, and gave him a urange thru a chair.

Fenix versus Mil Muertes was an insane brawl. Mil Muertes took apart the bottom rope early, using the disconnected metal portion of turnbuckle to cut Fenix up with a blow to the head, and allowing them to move the casket in and out of the ring with ease. Muertes was a rabid animal, bitting at the cut and destroying Fenix repeatedly, only for Fenix to keep coming back. They fought in the ring, out of the ring, in the upper floor (teasing a suplex off the top of an overhang) and into the bleachers. The casket was used mostly as a weapon, with the only attempt at putting someone in the casket coming at the end. Catrina watched the match from nearby, not intimidated in the least by the violence. She got caught too close late and was taken out by a clothesline by Muertes, but recovered quickly and opened the casket. Fenix rope double stomped Mesias off the apron into the casket. Catrina grabbed Mil Muerte’s stone, licked it, tossed it, and closed the door.

Both Alberto vs Texano for the AAA Heavyweight Championship in a bullrope match and Prince Puma vs Cage for the Lucha Underground championship in a Boyle Heights Street Fight were announced for next week.

stray thoughts

Aerostar and Drago was another good match between the two. They started off slower than usual, but they had more time than usual so it was paced really well. Aerostar’s reverse springboard to the floor looked great, and the walking the middle rope headscissors was amusing. They’re working well together even though it’s still just a tecnico/tecnico dynamic, and they’re adding in enough each match to keep it fresh. This is working.

I was distracted during Ryck/Crew, but it seemed like a satisfying conclusion to the feud.

Main event was excellent and lived up to hype. It was similar to the Myzteziz/Perro Aguayo TV match in the blood (and made clear how Perro is going to be so over whenever he shows up here), but the brawling was more intense and crazy. They benefited from a US crowd that was not used to bleeding and biting cut spot that are a bit more common in Mexico, but they also had a billion spot ideas and got do all of them at a good pace. This is a match that started off strong – a Mil Muertes tope before the match, a Fenix dive early on, and a Fenix tope in the raised casket – and just never let up. I don’t have enough positive words to say about it.

This is actually the end for Mil Muertes, at least for now. Striker sold it like we might not see him again, like Mil was literally going to be buried underground. He does not resurface the next eight weeks of TV, though he did make a dark match appearance at the end. It’s great in that it sells the importance of the match, but it came off as a star making performance for both guys and they both could benefit from the followup.