Preview Of Lucha Underground’s Ultima Lucha by Kurt Zamora

Welcome one and all to a special Ultima Lucha preview here on TJRWrestling. For those unaware, Lucha Underground is the best hour of wrestling on TV right now and their season one finale kicks off this Wednesday on the El Rey network. In the day and age of IPPV’s, this is easily a card worth paying for, but luckily we don’t have to. I’m going to break down the card and try to give you a reason to watch it.

Now before I get into discussing the matches, I just want to put out there that I know this show has been in the can for a few months now since Lucha wrapped up taping their season already, so spoilers are out and about if you care to read them. I have purposely avoided spoilers for Lucha as the show is highly entertaining and I want to watch it as if it’s live. So you’ll just have to trust me that I don’t already know what’s going to happen. Even though it’s been taped, this show is too good to not give notice to and not publicize more to people who may not have been able to watch the show. There’s a great site at watchwrestling.ch that has all the previous episodes and will have Ultima Lucha up within 24 hours of airing. You can also search on DailyMotion and find the majority of episodes there.

Ultima Lucha will be broken up into two episodes, a normal one hour show this coming Wednesday & then their huge two hour finale on August 5th. We know the entire card already, but we don’t know who’s on each show besides who’s opening episode one and who’s closing the finale. So besides those two matches, I’ll present the card in the order I think they are of importance.

Falls Count Anywhere: The Mack vs. The Machine

The Machine is Brian Cage, but for the tagline of this match that obviously doesn’t sound as cool. This was the last match added to the card, but will kick off everything in part one of Ultima Lucha. This match was born a few weeks back when Cage destroyed The Mack backstage to get involved in a Trios match. Mack sought revenge and has ended up sneaking out two consecutive wins against Cage. After the last one this past week, the two of them started brawling all over The Temple and led Dario Cueto to create a Falls Count Anywhere match. I think Cage is the must underutilized wrestler on the roster, as after he came in and took out Prince Puma, he ended up losing the title match to Puma and has been toiling in the midcard ever since. The Temple is such a unique venue and has a ton of features that I think could lead to a very interesting use of the Falls Count Anywhere gimmick, but ultimately I think Cage needs to come out looking dominate so that they can go back to him as a top heel in season two.

Winner: “The Machine” Cage

Texano vs. Blue Demon Jr.

Blue Demon Jr. was in a season long rivalry with Chavo Guerrero Jr. after Chavo injured him and took him off TV. Chavo also was off TV for awhile, but when he came back, he sided with The Crew who does Dario Cueto’s dirty work. Chavo asked for protection from Mexico, but Mexico came for him in the form of Blue Demon Jr. Texano showed up to Lucha Underground as a heel facing off against Alberto El Patron. Alberto got the best of him, and then after a few insignificant matches, Texano ended up turning babyface almost out of nowhere in a short lived feud against Daivari. He then turned his attention to The Crew as well and said he did it for Mexico. When The Crew came looking for revenge, Blue Demon Jr. showed up to even the sides, but ended up turning on Texano, bloodying Texano with a chairshot and saying that he was in fact Mexico.

This is the one match on the card that I can’t sell you on too much as this match really came about from out of nowhere, and I really don’t feel any true heat in it. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch AAA and don’t know more about these guys, but just from how the match came about, there’s nothing really for me to buy into. Blue Demon Jr. is a legend and Lucha Underground present him as such, so I would assume that since The Crew don’t have a match, we’ll see them get involved in this match and help Blue Demon Jr. get the pinfall.

Winner: Blue Demon Jr.

Trios Title Championship: The Disciples of Death vs. Son of Havoc/Angelico/Ivelisse (c)

I would love to put this match farther down on the card, but there’s no real rivalry involved here. The champions, Son of Havoc/Ivelisse/Angelico, are really the beauty of Lucha Underground. Son of Havoc especially started out at the very beginning as nothing more of a jobber. However, his charisma and personality, along with the volatile relationship with Ivelisse led The Temple fans to really get behind him and through a series of events, they got paired up with Angelico and became the first ever Trios Champions. However, despite their popularity being sky high after winning the titles, they stopped being showcased outside of a Trios Title ladder match they had against The Crew.

The Disciples of Death are a trio of masked wrestlers that came along with the reincarnation of Mil Muertes, led by the lovely Catrina. They’ve picked the bones of certain wrestlers, including Prince Puma, but really just fell into this match. They’ve only had one backstage segment with the champions, where they channeled their inner Raiden from Mortal Kombat and left the champions laid out. Despite no real story behind this match, I can guarantee it will be one of the highlights of the show. Angelico has pulled off some of the most insane dives I’ve ever seen in pro wrestling and the chemistry (or lack there of) of the champs really make them entertaining to watch. This match can go one of two ways: Either it’s a showcase match for the champs and go to recapture their momentum heading into season two, or they’ll use The Disciples of Death as champions along with what happens later with Mil Muertes, and give Lucha Underground a stable that holds all the gold. Based on what you’ll see from me at the end of the show, I’m going with the latter.

Winner: And NEW Trios Champions, The Disciples of Death

Believer’s Backlash: Drago vs. Hernandez

Unfortunately this match’s result is pretty much well known due to all the news regarding Hernandez and TNA. Hernandez wouldn’t have asked for a release from Lucha Underground if he felt they had big plans for him in season two. Hernandez has cost Drago the chance to be Lucha Underground champion, which led to Drago being banished from The Temple for a short period. Drago came back even more determined and their rivalry has turned into a Believer’s Backlash match. Dario Cueto is putting leather straps in the hands of the fans inside The Temple and if either man goes to the outside, the fans can whip them as they wish.

Drago is one of the coolest personalities in Lucha Underground, both visually and with his in-ring work. This should be a really great contrast of styles, along with what is easily one of the most unique gimmicks on the card. It channels the old ECW “bring your own weapons” matches they used to have. As I stated above, clearly Drago will go over here as they have shown a tendency to make him a big deal, and obviously Hernandez wanted out for a reason.

Winner: Drago

Gift of the God’s Match: Big Ryck vs. Sexy Star vs. Jack Evans vs. Aerostar vs. Bengala vs. King Cuerno vs. Fenix

Dario Cueto might as well have said, “To hell with Money in the Bank” when he announced this match last week. This is Money in the Bank on Steroids. Over the course of the last few weeks, Dario Cuero has been handing out Aztec Medallions to all these competitors after matches they won (except for Big Ryck, who was gifted one). He told them all that the medallions held special powers, and did they ever. The 7 medallions ended up creating the Gift of the Gods title, which leads to a Lucha Underground title shot whenever the holder of the title wants it. The only catch is though, that they have to announce at least a week in advance when they plan to cash in for a title match, so that Dario has proper time to promote the match. Also, whoever has the title, will have to defend it at some point, so the longer you hold the title, the higher the chances someone could challenge you and take the title from you. I love everything about this concept. Once someone cashes in the title, the medallions will against to be distributed until there’s seven new holders.

There is obviously a complete hodgepodge of styles and sizes in this match and it’s going to be one of those matches where the action is impossible to follow. It’s obviously tough to pick a winner here, as I think there’s 3-4 in the match who have a legit shot of winning. Fenix has been built as a big name in the company, Big Ryck is associated with Dario Cueto, so that provides some interesting possibilities if he has the title, but I’m going to go with my second favorite competitor in Lucha Underground, King Cuerno. I think there is a great storyline there with Cuerno “hunting” down the champion with the ability to cash in a title shot whenever he wants. Cuerno is almost flawless in the ring and has a really cool look and approach to his matches that will draw you in if you’ve never seen him wrestle.

Winner: King Cuerno

Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo

Here’s something to draw in the WWE crowd and hopefully get the rest of the card to get them to stick around. El Patron is formerly known as Alberto Del Rio and Johnny Mundo is the former John Morrison. Alberto is treated as a God in The Temple and really has showcased some of his best work in terms of charisma and in-ring work since joining Lucha Underground. Mundo started out as the #1 or 2 babyface in the company, but after a failed attempt to get back in the title picture, he started to develop more of a vicious side and has now turned fully heel, where he too is doing some of his best work. This is one of the more personal rivalries on the show after Mundo gave El Patron the Marty Jannetty treatment and sent him head first through Cueto’s office window. Both men have been trading blows and verbal jabs at one another since that moment and this is going to be a hotly contested match.

The fact that the two biggest names in the company aren’t even in the main event is really a credit to how Lucha Underground has developed the rest of their roster and not been dependant on wrestlers that come from WWE. Yes, that was a shot at TNA. I expect possibly one of the best matches of both of these men’s careers, as the style of Lucha Underground really fit both of them and they’re going to get plenty of time to shine here. Even though I think there’s one more undercard match with more intensity and importance, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this in the semi-main event spot and really put pressure on the title match to follow it. This is a complete toss up match, as either man could easily win it, but since I’m sensing a heel heavy show in terms of victories, I think Alberto gets revenge for the window spot and wins the match.

Winner: Alberto El Patron

Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro

It’s now time to talk about my favorite match on the card. Pentagon Jr. is my favorite performer on the show by a long shot, and he should be everyone’s favorite as well. Shoutout to Rich Nava as I know he agrees with me. Pentagon has spent the entire season breaking arms and giving sacrifices to his Master that we have yet to figure out who it is. After Pentagon went to break Sexy Star’s arm, Vampiro finally stood up to Pentagon and prevented him from doing it. Ever since then, Pentagon has locked his bad intentions onto Vampiro and finally managed after some unchoice words and threatening to set him on fire, to break down Vampiro enough to accept a match at Ultima Lucha. Their storyline has been nothing short of spectacular.

Although he’s wrestled over the years since WCW went under, they’re building up the fact that Vampiro is coming out of retirement for this match. The one question mark in this match is if we’ll find out who Pentagon’s Master actually is. With the way Lucha Underground is more a movie based company in terms of the liberties they take (Drago actually turned into a dragon when he was banished, and they murdered a character as well) I could easily see them having a match and it being revealed that Vampiro was the Master all along. I think ultimately what will happen though is that Vampiro will gut out a victory after a hard hitting match, and then after the match the Master will show up and reveal himself, shocking Vampiro. In the midst of that, Pentagon will from behind and break Vampiro’s arm, giving the Master the sacrifice he’s asked for. Regardless of what happens, this match will be a lot of fun to watch.

Winner: Vampiro

Lucha Underground Title Match: Prince Puma (c) vs. Mil Muertes (w/Catrina)

Prince Puma has been the champion since January after an unbelievable Aztec Warfare match that everyone needs to go out of their way and see. Puma, who is Ricochet on the indies, is nothing short of amazing in the ring and deserves to be the number guy in the company. Mil Muertes is the epitome of Lucha Underground, a character built on the story that his entire family was killed in an earthquake in Mexico City, and now roams The Temple as the Man of 1000 Deaths. Catrina has the best cleavage in pro wrestling, so he’s got that going for him too. He had a long rivalry with Fenix, where he was sent off in a casket match, but then was reincarnated and ever since returning has been even more of a monster and unbeatable force.

There’s a question floating around this match in regards to Dario Cueto’s monster brother who he has locked up underneath The Temple. (That’s a whole other story onto itself) Catrina has told Dario that once Mil is champion, not even his brother can stop him. So the question is, will Dario unleash his brother on Mil to prevent him being champion? Since not that much attention has been drawn to that aspect of this angle, I’m going to say that’s something they’ll go to in season two. In order to get there though, I think Mil Muertes has to go over here and become the new champion. Puma will unleash every move in his arsenal, but Muertes will be too much for him and end up knocking off the top guy. With Muertes as champion, it will lead to the question of who can stop him heading into season two, which I think ultimately will be the cause of Dario’s brother being unleashed finally. This should be an incredible match, and the topper on a phenomenal show.

Winner: And NEW Lucha Underground Champion, Mil Muertes

Final Thoughts

I could’ve easily doubled the word count for this article trying to recap 39 weeks of episodes into 8 matches. This is truly the culmination of 10 months worth of storylines and angles and having them all be blown off at the same time. As much as a couple of the matches don’t have that much heat behind them, I ultimately don’t think there will be a bad match on the card and it will be a constant game of “Can you top that?” The buzz this show has gained, everyone is going to bring their A Game to leave all the fans with something memorable to bring them back for season two. I also fully expect at least one big cliffhanger for the show. Even though season two hasn’t been officially announced yet, I know that the producers of the show treated it as if there was no doubt they’d be continuing, so there will definitely be something done to keep people guessing until the air date is announced.

I hope anyone reading this that hasn’t had a chance to follow Lucha Underground will go out of their way to watch this awesome finale and find out that there’s a great alternative to everything that’s already out there. Until next time, try not to leave your arm exposed to where Pentagon Jr. can grab it.