Tag: Lucha Underground recap

the matches

Son of Havoc b Angelico (6:39, shooting star press, good)
Alberto el Patron (c) b Texano Jr. to retain the AAA World Mega Heavyweight Championship (8:22, armscissors over the ropes, great)
Prince Puma (c) b Son of Havoc to retain the Lucha Underground Championship (12:13, 630 senton, great)

the developments

Ivelisse, in an angrier mood than usual, spent the match yelling at Havoc (and occasionally the referee.) Announcers pushed that Havoc was showing marked improvement and wondered if Ivelisse’s behavior was causing it. Son of Havoc didn’t think so, pausing to dump Ivelisse before hitting the shooting star press for the win. Ivelisse couldn’t believe it, and took out her anger with a kick to Angelico when he tried to flirt again after the match.

The rules for the bullrope, as explained by Striker, were victory by pinfall, submission or touch all four corners. Neither man attempted to touch the corners, but they did take advantage of the lack of disqualification. Texano brought a chair and table into play, and both men used the cowbell in the center of the rope on each other. Alberto won by using his cross armbreaker while hanging backwards over the ropes, a move which would not be legal in a normal match.

In his office, Dario signed Hernandez to a deal and noted he would not be limited to a tag team in Lucha Underground. Dario also told Hernandez that Konnan convinced Dario on the merits of Hernandez. Hernandez seemed satisfied but not completely on the same page as Dario. Later, Hernandez happened on Puma and Konnan while they were warming up for the title match. Konnan greeted him warmly, bringing up their time to get as part of LAX, but Puma seemed a little wary. Hernandez watched the main event from the front row. (Striker and Vampiro were surprised to see him and not sure why he was there; it’s clear they haven’t been seeing the vignettes.) Dario presented a new Lucha Underground championship belt before the match.

Cage and Puma brawled and used weapons in the street fight main event. Puma impressed, but missed the 630 senton. Much like their last match, Cage powerbombed Puma into oblivion and rained punches from the mount. Konnan did not throw in the towel, but could not as Cage had knocked Konnan down prior. Cage could’ve gone for the pin, but instead beat up Puma more, and seemed to pick a fight with Hernandez. (Hernandez had not gotten involved in anyway, Cage just saw him and challenged him too.) Herandnez got on the apron, allowing Konnan to sneak in and hit Cage with the new cane as he turned around. Puma recovered, landed the 630 senton, and remained champion.

Stray Thoughts

No tribute to Perro.

I actually read the Art of War last summer. Figured I’d heard enough wrestling promos about it, might as well just read it myself. It’s not that long; it’s the background pieces and scholarly discussion about what the words actually were supposed to mean at the time that take forever to get thru. It’s all about convincing your army they have no choice but to win, and put it in the best position to win. Putting Prince Puma and Cage in a street fight didn’t figure to be the best situation for Cage to win a street fight, but maybe Konnan figured all along that he’d eventually have a shot to use that cane at a key moment. It seemed like Cage beat himself in the end; Hernandez wasn’t going to get involved until Cage prompted him.

The dynamics of the Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse triangle seemed very changed even to start. Son of Havoc was an underdog cult favorite tecnico from the start of the match, and only solidified by dumping Ivelisse and winning. Ivelisse was much more antagonistic than in past matches. Angelico was neutral, but kind had the rudo role in the match.

Alberto and Texano was good and different than the other matches they’ve done in Mexico. One constant in Lucha Underground is the stipulation matches always emphasis the aspects making it different from other matches. The bull rope match had a ton of rope spots (Bruce Dickinson would be happy with the amount of cowbell) and a finish that wouldn’t happen in a normal match. Kind of the same thing in the street fight too.

Announcers pushed the finality of the matches – the two title matches were going to settle the issue. They gave the impression that Havoc and Ivelisse were done with each other too. And sure enough, next week is something slightly different…

the matches

Pentagon Jr. b Argenis (5:03, standing surfboard armbar)
Angelico b Ivelisse (6:12, spinning kick to the head)
Johnny Mundo b King Cuerno in a cage match (13:40, top of the cage tornillo moonsault)

the developments

Dr. Striker updated us on the injury status of Pentagon Jr.’s past victims
Famous B – UCL reconstruction
Ricky Mandell – humerus, clavicle, scapula reconstructed
Vinny Massaro – no info known yet

Argenis controlled the early portion of the match, but Pentagon came back to destroy him and broke his arm.

Announcers were unaware Son of Havoc would be referee until he appeared for the match. Ivelisse got in some nice offense, but was helped by Angelico not wanting to hurt her adn Son of Havoc blatantly helping her. In the end, Iveisse got annoyed by the help, and an Angelico kick meant for Havoc got her instead. The story seemed more about Angelico foiling Havoc & Ivelisse’s plans than any breakup between them.

Mundo and Cuerno destroyed each other in the cage. Cuerno had a chance to escape, but it would’ve taken falling out of his mask to the floor and he did not do it. Mundo had a chance to escape, but instead pulled off the moonsault to win.

Catrina warned Fenix that the only way to get rid of Mil Muertes would be to bury him. In a separate segment, Catrina reminded Mil Muertes that they first met on the day of the earthquake, the day Mil embraced the persona of Mil Muertes, but told him all must come to an end. Catrina told Mil Muertes she would have Fenix put him in a coffin in a Grave Consequences match next week, trapping him again like he was in the earthquake. Catrina seemed to appear and disappear like a phantom in these segments

Another Konnan Vengeance promo aired.

thoughts

Argenis actually looked better with Fenix than Pentagon, which is not something I would’ve ever bet on. He was still fine and they got the purpose of the match over.

Angelico/Ivelisse was not near as bad as suggested in the reports. It was also definitely edited; they left a little bit of Angelico flirting in there, but played down or edited out other elements. (His suggestive cover on Ivelisse was about partly got the far away video camera treatment.)

Main event was Great, easily among the best matches they’ve had on this show. Putting them in a cage would seem to take away some of their usual offense, but they did a lot of fun side of the cage spots that made it worked. They took advantage of the environment and the tight spaces to pull off moves that wouldn’t normally work. It was worked as a completely even match where either man could’ve won. Mundo is clearly on a higher tier than Cuerno and did decisively won in the end, but not before both men looked great.

The Grave Consequences match was played up in a special commercial for the episode. All the reports from the show suggested this was a big deal match and we got to see a little tease of it.

This was another quality show.

the matches

Mil Muertes defeated Fenix (5:45, flatliner)
Big Ryck b Sexy Star (1:52, two hand press)
Texano Jr. defeated Alberto el Patron (12:18, disqualified for weapon usage)

(all the gifs are here)

the developments

This was one of those shows that sort of started without a main event. Dario kind of had one: Alberto was going to debut on this show and Dario offered him the likes of Ricky Mandell or Famous B. Alberto demanded Texano, tonight. Dario wanted a week to build that up, but Alberto forced the issue and got what he wanted. Alberto later ran into Puma, urging him to be more aggressive in his title match with Cage – and to be ready for Alberto coming for the title soon. There was also an Alberto profile, which was much the same speech he did the in the ring for his debut, but with AAA clips to re-enforce his point. Alberto came off as a having a slight heel edge in these, or at least a sizable ego.

Alberto did not win the main event, but was the man left standing. He took more of the match than Texano, but Texanot took advantage by using his lasso on a distraction. Alberto caught Texano trying to use it again and – with some urging by the crowd – whipped Texano with the lasso many times. The referee disqualifed Alberto. Striker emphasized that this feud was not over, but that Alberto got some revenge.

Muertes got his revenge on Fenix, beating him clean. Catrina appeared midway thru the match, not interfering but looking sad when Fenix lost. Mil Muertes demanded Catrina lick Fenix after the loss, but she refused. Mil dragged Catrina in, with the earthquake stone dropped on the mat in the process. Fenix grabbed the stone and smacked Muertes in the face with it, then knocked him out with a spinning kick. Fenix offered Catrina escape, but she took the Stone and licked Mil first, then kissed Fenix.

Big Ryck did not want to fight the much smaller Sexy Star. Sexy Star got some very brief offense, but was held down on the mat for three. The Crew attacked both Sexy Star & Ryck as soon as the match end, and tried to put out Ryck’s other eye. Ryck rallied and got The Crew to back off. That match is happening in the future, but not next week.

Dario met with Angelico, Son of Havoc and Ivelisse. Ivelisse demanded to be #1 contender based on her one win over Angelico. Dario disagreed, and instead set up a Ivelisse/Angelico rematch for next week with Havoc as referee.

To end the show, Dario met with a cowboy hat wearing King Cuerno, offering him a cage match to settle the issue with Johnny Mundo. Cuerno accepted, promising to cut off Mundo’s head and mounted it on Cuerno’s wall.

my thoughts

Fenix/Muertes was more exciting than Alberto/Texano in some ways, though some of it might have had to do with actually having less time and needing to cram more in. Both left the ‘loser’ standing at the end of the confrontation and the main event had an inconclusive finish for the second week in a row. That’s a bit frustrating as a viewer, even if they tried to give a little extra to make up for it. They’ve taped 11 shows after this one and, quickly looking thru them, I think every one of them ends with a conclusive winner or loser. There’s some controversy, because it’s wrestling, but there’s pinfalls. It gets better, though that’s impossible to tell from watching.

It didn’t really relate to anything, but there was a “Konnan is coming for revenge” vignette that was really good. No sign of Black Lotus, Dragon Azteca (the mystery guy from last week), or Matanza.

I don’t really have much to say about today’s show (or I’m distracted by other stuff to say.) I do notice this this next week’s starts a trend of big blowoff matches. Mundo/Cuerno in a cage, one more Fenix/Muertes stip match and one more Texano/Alberto title match are the next three main events, with other issues sprinkled in. After that, it’s the shows I saw, which should be interesting to see again as a final product. Excited for what’s coming up.

the matches

• Aerostar b Drago (4:56, springboard splash)
• Cage b Prince Puma in a non-title match (8:41, towel thrown in)
• Penagon Jr. b Vinny Massaro (1:01, “3 Up 3 Down” half cradle powerbomb driver)
• King Cuerno DCOR Johnny Mundo (7:28)

gifs here

the developments

Black Lotus was shown to be trapped in a car at the start of the show. Later, at an unknown location, the trunk was opened, and a mystery person asked her what she knew about lucha libre. The person was shown for a brief instant – and it was the mystery masked man who saved Prince Puma in the vignette that opened the series.

After Aerostar defeated Drago, Dario Cueto announced they would be spending more time together. Drago & Aerostar will continue in a best of five series (tied 1-1) and the winner will receive a Unique Opportuinty.

Cage dominated most of the match with Prince Puma. Konnan appeared late to encourage Puma to make it to the ropes after a hold. Cage later dropped Puma with his Weapon X finisher, but opted to punch Puma in the face repeatedly instead of covering. Konnan yelled for Puma to cover up, grabbed a towel, and threw it in to call the submission. Later in the locker room, Konnan told Prince Puma that Puma just needed to stick to the plan – it appeared at least part of what we just saw was that plan, but it was unclear what part.

Sexy Star confronted Dario Cueto in his office. She was sick of men bailing her out, and wanted the Crew all by herself. Cueto suggested a match with Big Ryck, but Sexy insisted on going it alone. Cueto clarified: Big Ryck wanted the Crew as well, so he and Sexy Star would have a match next week and the winner would get to face the Crew. Sexy Star was satisfied with this.

Pentagon Jr. defeated Massaro with ease, even doing his #0M pose while holding Massaro, then dropping him with a piledriver, then powerbombing him thru a table and then armbarring him.

King Cuerno’s tope got a vignette! It made a lot of sense later, as three straight topes lead to both men being counted out. Mundo and Cuerno continued to brawl around the ring, up the stairs and finally thru a fence.

random thoughts

I kind of feel like I know as much as what’s going on with Lucha Underground as anyone who doesn’t actually work for them, but I have no idea what’s going on in multiple cases! I never thought we’d see the mentor type guy from the first episode again, just writing that of as a thematic bit, but there he was and I have no idea why. I’d assume the trunk bit was to sneak Black Lotus away from where Cueto might spot her, but he could just as much be the guy Dario was talking to on the phone about the situation. I dunno!

I also have no idea about Konnan’s scheme but also want to know what it is. My first assumption was Konnan meant the towel throwing was part of the plan, but maybe I shouldn’t limit Konnan’s plans into being so narrow. He’s a world of possibilities.

The thing I do know is this week’s show in-ring was great. The 3 big matches were all great in their own ways – Drago/Aerostar was a fun flying exhibition, the other two combined action with advancing their stories – and even the Pentagon squash match was pretty memorable. (I’m guessing Striker called the finish “3 Up 3 Down” because he hasn’t put together that Pentagon Jr.’s doing “0 M” handsigns – it took a while for me too.) Not to keep criticizing lsat week’s show, but any of those matches would’ve been the best match on that show.

There were a couple of cheap finishes. The Puma bit – both being in desperate enough trouble to need the match stopped and his reaction to Konnan actually doing it – didn’t get enough time to really sink it. The follow up discussion muddies that a little bit. They did sold the Cuerno topes – again 3 of them – as killer to explain the countout, and the brawl after the match was a much better way to keep the feud going than a screwy finish, so that one worked better than it reads.

This was a really good episode of this show.