Lucha Underground Review 03/09/16 by Mark McAllen

Taped in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California this is Lucha Underground for Season 2 – Episode 7.

Sexy Star’s by herself in the Lucha Underground locker room when The Mack greets her. He let’s Sexy know that he’s got a match against The Moth tonight and he wants Sexy in his corner. At first she shakes her head, quickly dismissing the idea. Mack looks at Sexy puzzled, telling her that this is not the woman he knows. He says that the Sexy Star he knows is an ass-kicker who’s not afraid of anyone. He asks Sexy again to be in his corner tonight, she smiles, gives him a fist bump and agrees to have his back.

Our commentators Matt Striker and Vampiro welcome us back to The Temple. They remind us that tonight Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes will be defending his title in a three-way match against Prince Puma and Pentagon Jr. “The Machine” Cage will also get his rematch against Johnny Mundo tonight in a no disqualification match.

Ring announcer Melissa Santos introduces Marty “The Moth” Martinez who’s already in the ring right behind Santos, staring at her creepily and smelling her. The Mack is then introduced. He makes his entrance by running to the ring and attacking The Moth right away.

Marty “The Moth” Martinez vs. The Mack

Mack relentlessly hits The Moth with punches and kicks to the body and back. Moth eventually catches Mack off guard and knocks him outside the ring. Moth hits an impressive dive over the top rope on top of Mack. Moth’s a bigger guy, so a leap outside the ring looks quite impressive from him. Moth throws Mack back in the ring and heads to the top rope. Moth goes for a big splash but Mack rolls out of the way just in time. He hits Moth with a German Suplex and this time Mack makes his way to the top rope while Moth is down. However, once he gets there the lights turn off and a woman in a brown mask and elaborate cape walks to ringside. Sexy looks visibly shaken once she notices this woman, who is most likely Moth’s sister that’s been holding Sexy captive. All the lights turn back on and Moth throws Mack off the top rope back into the ring. While Mack is on his hands and knees, Moth gets to the second rope and hits Mack with a leaping curb stomp for the win after 3.5 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Marty “The Moth” Martinez

Post-match, Marty gets on the mic and introduces his sister, Mariposa. Sexy is shown sitting down at ringside, having what Vampiro calls a panic attack. Mariposa yells at Sexy to get up. Sexy does and Mariposa kicks her in the head knocking her back down.

Evaluation: I wasn’t too fond of this match or the fallout afterward. It’s not that it was short because I’ve enjoyed the past two week’s opening matches that were 3 – 4 minute long. This one just didn’t excite me too much. I’m also not that into this story at the moment. I know that The Moth and his sister held Sexy captive, but do we know why? I may have missed that part in season 1. As I’ve said in the past, I was late to the LU party and didn’t watch season 1 in its entirety. If there is more of an explanation to this story that I’m missing, then please fill me in through the comment section below.

(Commercial)

A video aired hyping Fenix. Extremely well put together video. Instead of doing traditional backstage promos that you usually see in wrestling, LU does these sort of videos that are almost a mini minute-long trailer spotlighting a particular wrestler. It gets the wrestler’s point across just as well as a promo does and is a lot more interesting. This is something I wish WWE would adopt.

Jack Evans is attacked by Drago while walking out of the bathroom stall. Drago: “You call yourself the Dragon Slayer?!” Jack Evans: “(Innocent facial expression) The people named me it.” I’ve only seen Evans three times and he’s made me laugh each time. Drago: “Then slay me.” Evans: “Looks like I won’t have to.” PJ Black shows up with the nun chucks Drago left in the ring two weeks ago and attacks him with it. Evans stands on the side of Black and helps him take on Drago. Evans and Drago also whip out their own chucks and this has turned into a two-on-one kung fu stand off! All three men start spinning and twirling their chucks and this segment has now become comedy gold. Drago shoots first and nails Black and Evans across the face in one fell swoop. The battle continues with the number game eventually catching up to Drago. Black chocks Drago with his chucks while Evans threatens that if he wanted to he could make Drago incapable of competing in Aztec Warfare in two weeks.

Evaluation: Was that cheesy? Yes. Was it funny? I thought it was. Did I hate the segment? Not at all. I like all three men involved. I don’t know if this was intended to be funny or not, but it was, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This season so far has been filled with such serious and dramatic storylines, so it’s nice to have a funny segment now and again. You need opportunities to laugh in LU and I thought this did the trick.

Screen cut to black and I jumped the gun too early! This segment is not over. That time traveling luchador from a few weeks ago with the Power Rangers type outfit shows up and saves Drago. Evans and Black run away while this man helps Drago to his feet. If this was Raw we’d probably see a tag match between these four tonight, but LU’s a show where matches are actually announced and advertised in advance; so maybe next week.

(Commercial)

Cage is in the ring waiting for Mundo. His music hits, but Mundo’s new friend Taya shows up instead. Taya says that she knows Cage really wanted to face Johnny tonight, but she figured that since he already beat Cage that it’s now her turn. She introduces herself as “the perfect woman.” She said she knows Cage isn’t a man, but she wants to see if he has the cojones to face her.

No Disqualification Match: Cage vs. Taya

Taya is a three time Luchadora of the Year in AAA and was trained by Lance Storm. I’ve never seen her wrestle, so let’s see what she’s got. Taya delivers a hard slap across Cage’s face and begins to taunt him. Cage shrugs his shoulders and nails her with a HUGE running clothesline, showing no mercy. Cage lands a couple more devastating power moves. He goes for a pin, but Taya kicks out at two. Taya punches Cage in the groin which takes him off his feet. She hits Cage with a running dropkick, a leaping DDT off the second rope and running knees to the face while Cage was sitting in the corner of the ring. Cage kicks out at two. Taya reaches for a lead pipe under the ring, but Cage rips it out of her hand and throws Taya into the barricade a few times. “WHO’S A F—KING MACHINE?!” I like Cage.

He brings Taya back into the ring and nails a couple of big powerbombs. He then takes out two tables and sets them up right next to each other outside the ring. On the apron, Cage steps up on the middle rope, grabs Taya and SUPLEXES HER OUTSIDE THE RING THROUGH BOTH TABLES! Wow. A lot of respect for Taya right now. She is taking a beating. Loud “holy sh-t” chants from the crowd. Cage throws Taya back into the ring and as if it wasn’t enough he’s looking to finish Taya with his Weapon X finishing move; one of my favorite finishers in wrestling right now. Mundo rushes the ring and attacks Cage before he can hit Weapon X. Vampiro: “It’s about time man.” Yeah. Johnny my man, where were you the last 5 minutes when your girl was getting destroyed? Mundo hits Cage in his head with the lead pipe. He drags Taya’s lifeless body over Cage for the pin and puts his weight on top of her as well for leverage. One… two… and Cage kicks out. Johnny looks stunned.

Mundo goes searching under the ring and finds a cinderblock and empty beer bottles that he throws in the ring. Johnny gets back inside and looks to powerbomb Cage onto the cinderblock, but Cage reverses it into an Alabama Slam. It looks like Cage was going to ram Johnny’s head through that cinderblock but Taya jumped on Cage’s back before he could do it. Cage easily throws Taya off and grabs her by the neck, possibly looking for a chokeslam. Johnny smashes one of the empty glass beer bottles over the head of Cage, but Cage no sells as it has no effect on him. Johnny smashes another bottle over Cage’s head, but again to no prevail. It doesn’t faze Cage. Johnny looks scared and tosses Taya into the line of fire while he exits the ring. Cage gets Taya in position to hit the Weapon X on her while Johnny’s yelling don’t do it. This time Cage nails Weapon X and that’s all she wrote after 7 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Cage

Evaluation: That was awesome. Huge props to Taya in this match for taking the bumps that she did. She’s just gained a lifelong fan in me in just 7 minutes. I like her attitude too before the match in challenging Cage. Yeah she got whooped, but she’s got to be looked at now as one of the bravest wrestlers in The Temple. This was the kind of match that can instantly turn Taya into a babyface. I don’t think that’s the plan, but there’s not one person who will watch this match and not want to give a round of applause to Taya for her efforts. I loved the Mundo/Cage dynamic as well once Johnny hit the ring. Season 2 has done a great job of showcasing Cage as an absolute machine. This felt like an old-school hardcore, no-DQ match. When I watch WWE’s most recent Extreme Rules PPV, they’re definitely going extreme but it’s more of a lighter version. This match just had a much more classic, smash-mouth feel to it. Great job to everyone involved. I didn’t want the match to end.

(Commercial)

Another Famous B. video aired. This is the third week in a row. Pretty funny stuff.

Ivelisse walks out of Catrina’s office and tells Son of Havoc and Angelico that she got them a Trios Championship match for next week… under one condition. If the three of them lose, they have to hit the open road permanently.

Matt Striker reminds us that we’re just two weeks away from Aztec Warfare. Aztec Warfare has been mentioned by the commentators numerous times throughout the show so far. I like how they’re building it up as a special event.

It’s main event time! All three competitors make their way to the ring.

(Commercial)

Lucha Underground Championship Match: Mil Muertes vs. Prince Puma vs. Pentagon Jr.

As they do every week, the El Rey Network’s YouTube channel uploaded this week’s main event in its entirety. You can watch the full match below.

The bell rings and we’re underway. Puma and Pentagon agree to team up on Mil and they beat him down. Mil eventually gains control and lays both Puma and Pentagon out with a double clothesline. Mil throws Pentagon out of the ring. Mil throws Puma into the ropes, but Puma suicide dives outside the ring onto Pentagon. Mil then leaps over the top rope and lands on Puma. Impressive. The fight spills into the crowd as Puma hits Muertes with a series of superkicks. Puma acrobatically walks down the barricade and hits Pentagon with a spinning head scissors.

All hell is breaking lose at ringside as all three men are quickly trading blows, not letting up in the slightest. The action is back in the ring as Mil powerbombs Pentagon for a two count. Pentagon gets back to his feet and hits a series of slingblade clotheslines forcing Mil to retreat to ringside. Pentagon dives outside onto Mil and Puma follows right after, followed by Pentagon AGAIN and Puma AGAIN. This match is going 100 mph. Pentagon and Mil trade punches back and forth until Puma lays out the both of them with a shooting star press from up in the crowd. Our second “holy sh-t” chants of the night start up. Matt Striker: “How do you say that in Spanish?” Vampiro: “Holy sh-t!”

All three men get back into the ring. Puma hits his signature 630 splash on Pentagon, but Mil breaks up the pinfall at two. Another nearfall from Mil on Puma after a scoop slam. Mil stands dazed in the middle of the ring while Puma and Pentagon are on both sides of Mil nailing him with superkick after superkick. That was a cool. More nearfalls from Pentagon on Puma. Pentagon looks to finish this and hits Puma with a package piledriver. He then has Puma in position to break his arm, but Mil spears Pentagon before he gets the chance. Mil then hits another big spear on Puma. He picks up both Pentagon and Puma and hits them with a double-flatiner for the three count after 12.5 minutes.

Winner by pinfall and STILL Lucha Underground Champion: Mil Muertes

Post-match, Catrina gives Mil’s victims her usual kiss of death. The Gift of the Gods Champion Fenix then shows his face at the top of The Temple and he’s got a mic. He says next week he’s turning in his GOTG Championships for a LU Title match.

Evaluation: That was a great main event. It was 12:30 of constant action and there was never a dull moment. All three men did a great job as usual. LU has consistently done a great job with their main-events all season long and tonight was no exception. They’re beginning to spoil me.

Game Ball goes to…

Taya – This was a tough decision as there were so many deserving of tonight’s top spot. However, Taya was on the receiving end of some insane looking bumps for nearly 7 straight minutes. That suplex off the apron through two setup tables at ringside was wild. That’s the kind of move where before it happens you say, “naahh, no way they’re going to do this” and you wait for the reversal… but the reversal never came. Taya, I just needed 7 minutes but you now have a lifelong fan in me.

Final Thoughts

Great show tonight. If you haven’t seen a full episode of LU from start to finish yet, or if it’s been a while, I recommend watching tonight’s show.

– The opening match and fallout from it was the only part of the show that fell flat to me.

– Interesting that it seems like PJ Black is now a heel who’s aligned himself with Jack Evans. That could be a fun tag team. I’m looking forward to their soon to happen tag match against Drago and the Red Ranger (he’ll be the Red Ranger for now until I figure out what his actual name is).

– Cage vs. Taya. I said everything I needed to say in my evaluation of their match above. The match likely won’t be released through El Rey’s YouTube channel, but try and find it if you can. It is absolutely worth a watch.

– The three-way LU Title match was great and got over 10 minutes which made me happy. Matches with three wrestlers can be tricky at times, but these three did an excellent job. A lot of fun and is a great match example of what Lucha Underground is all about.

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Next week we’ve got Mil Muertes defending his Lucha Underground Championship for a second week in a row, but this time it will be against Fenix. We’ll also see Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angelico vs. The Disciples of Death for the Trios Championship. Then the week after that is Aztec Warfare! That should be a lot of fun.

That’s it for me. Thanks for reading. If you like Lucha Underground and have other friends who enjoy the show too, then give this review a share. I appreciate any thoughts or conversation in the comment section below.

Pictures used above are courtesy of Lucha Underground.