Lucha Underground Review 05-06-15 (Plus Johnny Mundo Interview!)
Hello again everyone and welcome to another look into the Temple where ring step construction is not very high on the priorities list, Lucha Underground! This is the second show where I was in the audience for the taping, and man was it an awesome one to attend. This week’s show features a main event between Johnny Mundo and Alberto El Patron with the winner going on to face Hernandez to become the number one contender for the Lucha Underground title. That’s a match we’ve been waiting for since El Patron’s arrival in the Temple, and trust me it doesn’t disappoint. Two-thirds of the Trios Champions are also in action against the Crew, and Daivari makes his debut this week! This is a packed show; so let’s get to the action! As always I’ll break down the show chronologically followed by some of my key takeaways from the episode. Let’s Lucha everybody!
The Breakdown
Recap of Johnny Mundo-Alberto El Patron interactions, Hernandez Number one contender win, and Trios Championship Final and the resulting disappointment of Cueto with the Crew
Cueto meets with Mundo and El Patron and sets up the main event
Cortez and Mr. Cisco defeat Son of Havoc and Angélico via pinfall
Cueto meets with Delavar Daivari in his office and puts him in a match with Texano
Backstage segment with Hernandez, Konnan, Puma and Cueto sets up tag match with Puma and Hernandez facing Cage and King Cuerno
Daivari defeats Texano by DQ after Texano attacks the ref
Cage and King Cuerno defeat Prince Puma and Hernandez via pinfall
Black Lotus training segment
Alberto El Patron v. Johnny Mundo (read on for winner!)
Catrina and Mil Muertes segment
Who Is the Best?
It’s the question that’s been debated between Johnny Mundo and Alberto El Patron since Patron arrived in the Temple. This week they took the argument to Cueto and after some negotiation; Cueto puts the two men in a match with the winner going on to face “Fernandez” as Johnny Mundo called him (funny moment as Cueto corrects him) to determine the number one contender. Cueto says he is excited to finally find out which one of them is the best, and I think I speak for all Lucha Underground fans when I say so are we! That’s going to be a great match!
Trouble in Paradise
The ongoing bickering between the Trios champions continued this week when Son of Havoc and Angélico faced Cortez and Mr. Cisco from the Crew, with Bael and Ivelisse watching from the sidelines. This is one way to keep Ivelisse around while she recovers from her injury, but I’m kind of surprised it was Cisco in the match instead of Bael. Just a personal preference I guess. At any rate there were some moments of dissension between Angélico and SOH throughout the match, with Ivelisse screaming at them the whole time, imploring them to do better even when things were going their way. I know some people may think the nagging girlfriend angle they are going with is a bit of a stereotype but I think the point is she believes she’s the best luchador in the group and that’s why she’s so frustrated, so I’m ok with it.
The match itself was good though they cut out the chants of “You F’ed Up” from the crowd when Mr. Cisco flubbed a suicide cannonball. Some of the crowd was really on his case throughout the match with ribbing that was funny being there live. It’s good-natured ribbing and nothing too mean-spirited. Just funny. Son of Havoc and Angélico were their usual athletic and crowd-pleasing selves. I love the way Angélico hits the flying knee in a variety of ways. This week he hit a spinning version that looked great. Unfortunately Son of Havoc and Angélico weren’t able to stay on the same page for long and The Crew took advantage to pick up the win, keeping them out of Matanza’s dungeon for the time being.
Daivari Arrives
The Lucha Underground roster keeps improving, this week with the addition of Daivari. In a funny moment of social commentary, Cueto was trying to talk to Daivari who was texting and waved his finger at him to hold on. Don’t be rude Daivari! Cueto was pissed but just held it in check. He set up Daivari’s match with Texano for the show but questioned why a man of such wealth would want to fight. Daivari responded that while Cueto likes to watch violence, he likes to create it. He should fit right in then. Daivari thanked Cueto by taking his drink, which is a sin punishable by flogging in the Brandt household.
The match with Texano didn’t last too long as Texano started beating on Daivari and when the ref tried to get him to separate he just threw the ref out of the ring, leading to the DQ. The two battled for a minute with Daivari getting the upper hand then bailing from the ring, leaving Texano in the ring fuming. It’s a good build to this feud so far and the payoff should be outstanding.
Heelnandez
The turn that everyone saw coming finally happened this week. Dario Cueto booked Prince Puma and Hernandez as tag-partners in a match after catching them in a heated argument in the locker room that Konnan was trying his best to contain. Cueto said the two would need to learn to work together but he was confident Konnan could be the one to get them on the same page as they face King Cuerno and Cage. I questioned last week if Konnan was going to come down on the side of Hernandez or Prince Puma but for now he seems to be squarely in the corner of Puma. That could be a swerve though so we’ll see.
During the match, Konnan tried his best to keep the two on the same page but Hernandez kept stopping Puma from hitting moves and Puma kept getting frustrated. At one point Hernandez hit a suicide dive then Puma set up for one of his own but Hernandez showboated on the ring apron in what looked like an intentional act of sabotage. Later in the melee Hernandez and Puma were on the floor and when Hernandez tried to give Puma a hand up he was shoved off. This pissed him off and he kicked Puma in the head before he hit him with a razors edge into the ring apron. That looked painful.
Konnan chased Hernandez off with his cane but that left Puma on his own and injured. That allowed Cage to hit the X-Factor and pick up the victory for his team. Hernandez is officially heel now and the way they have built this storyline up makes me think Hernandez will somehow manage to eke out a victory in his match with the winner of the Mundo-El Patron match, but we’ll see.
Who is the Best, Part Two?
The Johnny Mundo and Alberto Del Rio match was one of the best matches in the young history of Lucha Underground. It was a pleasure to be on site for this match and see two of the best in Lucha Underground leave it all in the ring. Their styles work so well together with Mundo’s more athletic style the perfect foil for El Patron’s mat-based expertise. I liked how El Patron showed some his old heel tendencies, which contributed to his argument that he’s more willing to do anything to win.
The match was an instant classic for me, I strongly recommend if you don’t watch any other part of the show you check this match out and enjoy. There were several near-falls where I was sure the match would end but each was able to fight out of finishers with Alberto kicking out of the “End of the Mundo” split-legged moonsault and Mundo escaping El Patron’s arm bar. The finish came with Johnny Mundo missing a springboard crossbody attempt and El Patron capitalizing with a big kick right on the jaw. He fell into the pin and that was that.
It didn’t air on TV, but post match El Patron got on the mic and put Johnny Mundo over for giving him such a great match. It was an incredible moment where Alberto had the whole temple going crazy and he thanked the fans for their support as well. Mundo and El Patron hugged in the center of the ring and it was just one of those moments where I thought, “This is why I’m a wrestling fan.”
A Thousand Deaths Are Returning
In the shows last segment, the coffin that we last saw Mil Muertes being carried out of the temple in was shown in a room surrounded by candles. Catrina began speaking saying that the time for sleep was over, and the candles lit. Catrina gave Mil the lick of death and told him to rise again as Mil Muertes. Mil’s eyes opened and that was the last image of the show. I’m glad to see Catrina back on TV but I would like a little more explanation as to why she turned on Mil and is now suddenly back with him. There was never any split with Fénix so hopefully we’ll get some further explanation next week of what brought Catrina back to Mil’s side. As for Mil himself, he’s one of my favorites to watch and his hard-hitting style really plays well against the Lucha Libre style. It will be fun to see him back.
The Wrap
That’s it for this week’s episode. The main event really made this show great. I wonder if anyone at WWE saw this and realized what a missed opportunity they had with these two. The rest of the show was pretty good as well with the Hernandez turn finally coming and the drama with the Trios champs. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top next week in the match between Hernandez and El Patron.
I was able to conduct an interview with Johnny Mundo, which I’ve included below. This was a few days ago and we talked about his match with El Patron and his upcoming projects outside of Lucha Underground. He’s a nice dude and fun to talk to. Check out the interview and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading everyone. See you next week!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnYo8qnmVEw
