Lucha Underground Review 06/15/16 by Mark McAllen (Six-to-Survive)

Taped in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California this is Lucha Underground for Season 2 – Episode 21.

Mexican rock band Voodoo Glow Skulls kick off this week’s episode with their musical stylings as our commentators Matt Striker and Vampiro welcome us back to The Temple. Striker lets us know that tonight we’ll see a six-way elimination match called “Six-to-Survive.” The winner of that match will go on to face Matanza Cueto for the Lucha Underground Championship at Ultima Lucha Dos in three weeks. It looks like we won’t have to wait long for this match as it’s happening next!

Six-to-Survive Match: King Cuerno vs. Ivelisse vs. Taya vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix vs. Johnny Mundo (Winner faces Matanza Cueto for the Lucha Underground Title at Ultima Lucha Dos)

As I mentioned above, this is a six-way elimination match. The bell rings and we’re underway. Mundo and Taya team up on Pentagon Jr right away while Ivelisse, Cuerno and Fenix go after one another. Mundo, Taya and Ivelisse clean out the ring until it’s the three of them. Mundo hits Ivelisse with Moonlight Drive and goes for the cover, but Ivelisse kicks out at two. Taya hits Ivelisse with a big powerslam; Mundo goes for the cover again, but Ivelisse kicks out at two again. Mundo and Taya’s beat down on Ivelisse is broken up by Fenix and Pentagon.

Cuerno rushes the ring and tosses Pentagon over the top rope. Mundo follows up on this and hits Pentagon with a diving corkscrew splash over the top rope and onto Pentagon outside the ring. Back in the ring, Ivelisse tries to take out Cuerno and Fenix, but both men catch Ivelisse and throw her over the top rope onto Mundo and Pentagon. Right after they do so, Cuerno attacks Fenix right away with a dropkick and hurricanrana. Cuerno looks to finish Fenix off with his signature move, The Thrill of the Hunt. However, Mil Muertes interferes in the match, rushing the ring and spearing Cuerno. He stays on top of Cuerno with punches to the head. Muertes then powerbombs Cuerno and leaves. Taking advantage of a prone Cuerno, Mundo hits him with his The End of the World finishing move for the three count. King Cuerno is eliminated.

Evaluation: When Muertes lost to Matanza in their Graver Consequences match (casket match), Cuerno was spotted as one of the men who was taking Muertes away in the casket. We saw last week that Cuerno had Muertes trapped inside of that coffin in his home, until Catrina showed up and broke him out. Muertes’ interference in this match makes sense as it continues his story with Cuerno which will culminate in a big match at Ultima Lucha Dos. It also helps keep Cuerno looking strong even though he was eliminated early on.

(Commercial)

Mundo and Taya team up on Pentagon while Ivelisse and Fenix are fighting each other. Ivelisse is pounding away at Fenix, but every time Fenix counters he has a tough time capitalizing as he doesn’t want to hit a woman. Ivelisse doesn’t care and continues to fight Fenix. She hits him with a hurricanrana which tosses him to ringside. Pentagon now enters and tries to take out Ivelisse, but Ivelisse hits Pentagon with vicious kicks to the head, forcing Pentagon to leave the ring to catch his breath. Taya now enters the ring and baits Ivelisse to come running at her, and when she does she’s met with a kick to the face by Mundo. Mundo and Taya try teaming up on Ivelisse, but fail as Ivelisse fights back with superkicks and hurricanranas, one of which throws Mundo outside the ring. Ivelisse tries to pin Taya, but Taya kicks out at two. Getting back to her feet, Taya counters Ivelisse and hits her with a powerslam. Taya then goes to the top rope to hit a moonsault, but she misses as Ivelisse rolls out of the way. Ivelisse charges at Taya, but Taya catches her and hits Ivelisse with a northern lights suplex and a double foot stomp for the three count. Ivelisse is eliminated.

(Commercial)

4 remain: Mundo, Taya, Pentagon and Fenix. Pentagon goes after Taya while Fenix goes after Mundo. Pentagon has Taya in the corner and puts both of her legs on different sides of the second rope, separating her legs. He then gets a running start and kicks Taya in the crotch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man do that to a woman in wrestling before. Mundo and Fenix brawl outside the ring while Pentagon ties Taya up in the ropes and laces in to her with chops to the chest. Taya escapes to ringside and Pentagon follows her, laying her out with a big superkick.

Mundo tosses Fenix into barricade while Pentagon viciously continues the assault on Taya. Once Mundo notices this, he gets in the ring and taunts Pentagon to fight him. Loud “Pentagon” chants from the crowd. Pentagon enters the ring and him and Mundo go back and forth with a series of “boo, yay” punches. Mundo gets the upper hand, but turns around to be met with a superkick to the face by Fenix. Taya jumps off the top rope and hits Fenix with a flying hurricanrana. She then hits Pentagon with a spinning DDT. She goes back to Fenix and hits him with a northern lights suplex and double stomp, just like she did to Ivelisse. Taya goes for the cover, but unlike Ivelisse, Fenix kicks out at two. Pentagon then hits Taya with a devastating looking package piledriver, goes for a cover and gets the three count. Taya is eliminated.

Evaluation: Good effort from Taya. This was probably the most wrestling we’ve seen from Taya since her debut in Lucha Underground. She really held her own and impressed with a nice arsenal of moves. I’d like to see her and Ivelisse settle their rivalry one-on-one at Ultima Lucha Dos.

(Commercial)

Mundo, Fenix and Pentagon are in the ring trying to get to their feet and catch their breath. All three men slowly meet each other in the middle of the ring and hit each other with hard chops to the chest. Fenix breaks up the series of chops by hitting Pentagon with a hurricanrana. Mundo follows up by hitting Pentagon with a knee to the face. He goes for the cover, but Fenix kicks out at two. Mundo then hits Fenix with a powerbomb for another nearfall. Mundo throws Fenix into the ropes, but Fenix stops himself and flips off Mundo. Aggravated, Mundo chases Fenix outside the ring and is met with a big enziguri kick from Fenix. Pentagon then dives over the top rope onto Fenix and Mundo at ringside. “This is awesome” chants from the crowd.

All three men make their way back into the ring. Lots of nearfalls from Mundo on Fenix and Pentagon. Mundo nails Fenix and Pentagon with knees to the head repeatedly. He then tries throwing Fenix into pentagon, who is in the corner, but they catch themselves and team up on Mundo. Pentagon sits Mundo on the top rope. Fenix climbs up behind Mundo, hunches him over, and hits him with a double foot stomp to the back. Pentagon then splashes Fenix onto Mundo for the pin attempt. One… two… three. Mundo is eliminated.

(Commercial)

Fenix and Pentagon stand alone in the ring. Loud “lucha libre” chants from the crowd. Fenix and Pentagon are talking to each other in the center of the ring and it sounds like Pentagon said something bad to Fenix in Spanish since the crowd went, “ooooohhhhh!” It ticked Fenix off enough for him to run at Pentagon, but Pentagon countered tossing Fenix into the air and letting him slam into the mat. Pentagon straps a submission on Fenix, but is countered by Fenix putting a submission of his own on Pentagon. Fenix then let’s go and hits Pentagon with a stunner into a dragon sleeper. Fenix lets go of the hold as he doesn’t have it locked in well enough, and when he does so Pentagon escapes to ringside. After he does this, Fenix dives off the top rope hitting Pentagon with a flying corkscrew splash. Fenix rolls Pentagon back in the ring, but Pentagon hits Fenix with an awesome looking flipping piledriver. He goes for the cover, but Fenix kicks out at two.

Pentagon heads to the tope turnbuckle, but is hit with an uppercut from Fenix. Fenix then bounces off the top rope and hurricanranas Pentagon into the middle of the ring! Fenix covers Pentagon. One… two… no! Pentagon kicks out at two. How much do these guys have left? I’m exhausted just watching them. Both men slowly get back to their feet and Pentagon connects with two sling blade clotheslines. He tries for a third but is met with a superkick by Fenix. Both men lie on the mat for a bit and struggle to get to their feet. When they do, Pentagon tosses Fenix outside the ring. As Fenix tries to get up, Pentagon jumps off the apron and hits Fenix with a flipping piledriver (aka Canadian/Mexican destroyer)!! Wow! Thunderous “holy shit” chants from the crowd, I agree.

Pentagon rolls Fenix into the ring and runs his thumb across his own throat to signal the end. He has Fenix in position for a package piledriver, but Fenix catches Pentagon and piledrives him instead. Fenix takes a long time to cover Pentagon, but finally does so. One… two… no! Pentagon kicks out at two and this ain’t over yet. Battling while sitting on their knees, both men whale on each other with open palm strikes. They eventually get to their feet and Pentagon hits Fenix with a big superkick. He then heads to the top rope and hits Fenix with ANOTHER leaping Mexican Destroyer, this time off jumping off the second rope. Pentagon then hits the package piledriver and goes for the pin. One… two… three!

Winner by pinfall and #1 contender for the Lucha Underground Championship: Pentagon Jr.

Dario Cueto and Matanza stand at the top of the Temple steps to taunt Pentagon. Grabbing a mic, Pentagon tells Dario that at Ultima Lucha Dos he’s going to break every single one of his brother’s bones; and then, he’s going to break everyone of Dario’s bones. Pentagon does his cero miedo hand gesture as the crowd chants along to wrap up the show.

Game ball goes to…

Pentagon Jr – Great effort from everyone involved. Pentagon gets the game ball though due to length of time in the match and by picking up the win. Also, those leaoping Mexican Destoryers were too insane not to give him the game ball.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t realize that the whole show was going to be the Six-to-Survive match, but I probably should have. There were times where the match felt like it was going a little too long, but those times never ended up lasting that long. Every time I thought the match was dragging a bit, they’d do something that’d peak my interest and get me right back in the match. Everyone involved delivered tonight and I couldn’t ask for more. Six-to-Survive definitely exceeded my expectations.

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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.