Lucha Underground Review 4-1-2015
Hello again everyone and welcome to another look into the Wrestling Organization that thinks six-man-tag team matches are more than just a Teddy Long fantasy booking, Lucha Underground! This week’s show begins the tournament for the newly introduced Trios Tag Team Championships. Trios are a big deal in Lucha Libre, and having Trios Tag belts as opposed to traditional Tag-Team Belts really sets Lucha Underground apart, in my opinion. The tournament will culminate in 4 weeks with the crowning of the new champions. Tonight’s main event will feature the first match in that tournament. So let’s get to the episode! As always I’ve posted a chronological rundown below followed by my analysis of key points. Let’s Lucha!
Rundown
Recap of Big Ryck beating the Crew (with assist from Sexy Star) and Drago-Aerostar Best of 5 match
Big Ryck “introduces” Killshot and The Mack to Dario Cueto, team is in Trios Tournament
Johnny Mundo defeats Angélico via pinfall
Black Lotus vignette with El Dragon Azteca
Johnny Mundo and Alberto El Patron backstage segment
Dario Cueto meets with Sexy Star
Drago defeats Aerostar via pinfall to tie best of five series at 2 wins
Son of Havoc, Angélico and Ivelisse backstage with Dario Cueto, he puts them in a trios team
Big Ryck, The Mack, and Killshot defeat Super Fly, Sexy Star and Pentagon Jr. via pinfall (Sexy Star saves Super Fly from post-match beating by Pentagon Jr.)
No Cool down
After the two big title matches last week I was sort of expecting a cool down show this week, as has been LU’s wont in the past. I was pleasantly surprised to hear a few hours before the show that tonight’s show would introduce the Trios Championship and begin a tournament for those belts. I love that Lucha Underground is introducing a Trios championship even before they have traditional tag-team belts. This tournament should be fun to watch and as we saw Cueto will be putting his own twist on it by creating a few dysfunctional teams to add to the intrigue. I can’t wait to see the team of Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angélico in action in this tournament.
Beyond the Trios title tournament, this episode also featured the 4th match in a best of five series between Drago and Aerostar. These matches have been fantastic and there will be more on this later. All this is to say that this week’s episode of LU was anything but a cool down show, and since the Trios Championship tournament will continue over the next 4 weeks, we shouldn’t expect one.
The Face of Lucha Underground?
Johnny Mundo faced Angélico in the first match of the show. This was a great matchup of two very athletic luchadores at different points in their careers. Johnny Mundo is the established star and as we’d later learn he fancies himself the face of Lucha Underground. Angélico is a young wrestler who continues to impress week in and week out with both his in-ring skills and his character. Angélico has been great at playing to the crowd with his facial expressions and he’s really won the LU audience over.
Angélico fought valiantly but it was Mundo who was eventually able to pull off the win after delivering his World’s End split-legged moonsault. Johnny had about a commercial break to celebrate before encountering Alberto El Patron in the back area. The two exchanged barbs back and forth; with El Patron saying he forgot Mundo actually wrestled while Mundo questioned whether Alberto would face any “real competition” or just guys he beat. The segment ended with Johnny telling Alberto “I’m the face of Lucha Underground, the place where you’re competing now”. Alberto clasped his hands around Johnny’s shoulders, tipped him a wink and said, “That’s right”. Hopefully this will lead to a match down the line between these two. I’d love to see them have a real feud to truly determine who is “the face of Lucha Underground”.
Getting Stronger
Remember a few weeks ago when a strange man who hadn’t appeared since the very first episode of Lucha Underground kidnapped Black Lotus? Well we finally get the next chapter in this story in another vignette that screams Robert Rodriguez. This segment was campy fun with a 70’s style shadow training montage and a voice over narration from Black Lotus. I really love when Lucha Underground does things like this because it sets them apart from anything else in wrestling. Black Lotus will return shortly presumably, and with the training she is receiving she’ll be prepared for her sworn enemy Matanza.
Best of 1
This week Drago and Aerostar met in the fourth match of their best of five series, with the winner getting one of Dario Cueto’s “unique opportunities” (read chance to success with a high probability of screw job). Drago was trailing 2 matches to 1 coming into tonight and needed to win, and I was hoping he would because one more match for these two would be superb.
Drago and Aerostar put on another spectacular match as we’ve come to expect from these two. Highlights included Aerostar springboarding from one top rope to another before delivering a rolling thunder type splash to Drago outside the ring. That was crazy! The story of this match was that the two men know each other really well at this point and need to create new offense in order to gain the upper hand. Also while this series started with and has featured a mutual respect, these guys are cranking it up as they get under one another’s skin. Drago finally pulled out the pin with an excellent pinning package.
After the match the two had their usual post-match handshake, but with a little stank on it, as my Grandma used to say. First there was a stare-down before Aerostar reluctantly shook Drago’s extended hand. Then Drago held onto Aerostar’s hand a little too long for the mini-vanned one’s liking, so Aerostar pulled Drago in viciously and the two had that old staple of wrestling feuds, the forehead touching staredown. (Seriously, why is that a thing?) The fifth match in that series should use some of this heat and be a little more vicious. I can’t wait.
Cueto is Back!
I complained a couple weeks ago that we didn’t get enough Cueto on that show. Tonight more than made up for that absence as Cueto was his usual excellent smarmy self as he was included in several backstage segments throughout the night. Cueto opened the show in his office with Big Ryck entering his office along with two men new to the Lucha Underground Temple, The Mack and Killshot. The two newcomers surrounded Cueto in his desk chair while Big Ryck confronted the boss. Ryck said he heard Cueto put the hit on him that resulted in the Crew burning his eye, which Cueto denied though of course we all saw it happen. Cueto escaped trouble by adding the three men to the Trios championship tournament, and slipping them all cash after Big Ryck intimidated him further.
To make up for not getting the upper hand in that encounter, Cueto spent some time putting together a couple of unlikely Trios teams to show off his power. In one backstage segment he told Sexy Star she’d team up with her friend Super Fly, and another partner she’s not as happy with. Pentagon Jr. He wrapped up this meeting by insulting Sexy Star by telling her she might finally find success with such an excellent partner.
Later, Cueto kept with the making of dysfunctional teams by throwing Son of Havoc, Angélico and Ivelisse into a team. There was a really funny moment here where Cueto was running everyone down for his or her failures so far in Lucha Underground. Angélico for losing to Mundo, Son of Havoc for his long losing streak, and as for Ivelisse, “you got dumped by that guy” (nods at Son of Havoc). Made me laugh. Ivelisse protested that she hadn’t been dumped and as they all left the office, Son of Havoc stopped to tell Cueto, “For the record, I dumped her”. Cueto’s facial expression of “Are you freaking serious?!” combined with a fair amount of disinterest was priceless.
Anytime Cueto is on screen he really shines, and he’s even funnier in person. He uses more profanity and really hams it up for the live audience. I’m always happy when he gets a good chunk of screen time.
Ménage à Trios
Look, I don’t know the Spanish to make a clever threesome pun so this section you get a French pun. Never let it be said that Jerry Brandt isn’t a cultured individual. Seriously, if you hear someone say that pretend they’re a bratty kid and you’re Shawn Michaels. Anyways, the main event tonight was the first match in the Trios tournament pitting Big Ryck, The Mack, and Killshot against Sexy Star, Super Fly, and Pentagon Jr.
Before the mach, Pentagon Jr. cut another promo pledging to his “master” that even though he was saddled with “weak partners”, he’d win the Trios championship all on his own. That was the story of the match, with Pentagon Jr. refusing to tag his partners throughout. Eventually he got too close to his own corner and Super Fly tagged himself in. Then Super Fly and Sexy Star continued to tag in and out and refused to tag Pentagon.
Eventually the team started to work together a bit, but then Big Ryck realized he outweighed everyone by 300 pounds and decided to start wrecking shop. He laid out Pentagon Jr. and Sexy Star outside the ring while inside the ring, Killshot and the Mack double teamed Super Fly with a brain buster followed by a double foot stomp onto the head, which was enough for the win for Big Ryck and his new crew.
Post match, Pentagon Jr. was ready to go after Super Fly’s arm for getting pinned, but Sexy Star kicked Pentagon in the head to make the save and the two slid out of the ring. Pentagon was angry that his sacrifice was stopped, and he stared Sexy Star down. This should set up nicely for a feud between these two. Could Sexy Star be the next victim of a “broken arm?”
The Wrap
It was a pretty exciting show all around this week. I enjoyed all three matches and they each offered something a little different. The Trios Tournament will be plenty of fun and I look forward to seeing how Dario Cueto inserts himself and what crazy combinations of luchadores he decides to throw together. I’m glad we’ll get another match between Drago and Aerostar and I look forward to seeing what Cueto’s “unique opportunity” is for the winner.
What did you guys think of the show? Are you enjoying the idea of a Trios Championship tournament and all the ways Cueto will use it to mess with luchadores he doesn’t like? Do you think the Black Lotus stuff is fun or is it too over the top? Who do you think can lay claim to being “the face of Lucha Underground?” Let me know in the comments section below or of course you can hit me up on social media; all the info is in my bio. That’s it for me this week everybody! Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.