Lucha Underground Review 5-27-15
Hello again everyone and welcome to another look into the Temple where maybe you shouldn’t just fall for the first girl to lick you, Lucha Underground! I’ve been on the road a bit lately so was unable to catch last week’s show but I’m back this week and we have a stacked card with a championship match between Prince Puma and Hernandez and another chapter in the violent feud between Fénix and Mil Muertes. So let’s get to the action. As always I’ll give a chronological list of what happened on the show and then highlight some of my key takeaways. Let’s Lucha everyone!
The Breakdown
Black Lotus segment with Chavo Guerrero
Johnny Mundo defeats Aerostar via pinfall
Sexy Star sit down interview with Vampiro
Prince Puma defeats Hernandez via pinfall to retain Lucha Underground Title
Fénix vs. Mil Muertes (read on for result)
Backstage segment with Dario Cueto, The Crew, and Matanza
The Lotus and the Guerrero
Black Lotus has finally left the training of Aztec Dragon and is returning to the temple, but as we saw last week, she’s not going to be alone. Whether she likes it or not, Chavo Guerrero will be watching her back in the Temple in exchange for Aztec Dragon clearing up his problems in Mexico, where presumably people are still upset at Chavo for his actions against Blue Demon Jr. This is an interesting pairing and I’m curious to see how the dynamic plays out between the unwilling Lotus and Guerrero with his ulterior motives. Will they get along or will there be issues down the line?
A Whole new Mundo
Johnny Mundo is really embracing his heel role right out of the gates. He gave a great interview with Vampiro last week to cement his heel status, while making great points that show his motivation for turning. This week in a match against Aerostar he’s showing a real change in fighting style that is more in keeping with traditional heel move sets. Gone is a lot of the highflying, awe-inspiring offense, and in its place is a more ground and pound approach.
Mundo was keeping Aerostar down throughout the match. Using rest holds and throwing big punches, offense we’re not really used to seeing from him. He went up top for the end of the Mundo but Aerostar pulled him down. This only pissed Johnny off more and resulted in him giving Aerostar a release belly-to-back suplex into the corner before hitting the End of The Mundo successfully and getting the pin.
This new role is going to be good for Johnny Mundo and for fans of Lucha Underground. I can’t wait to see how else he heels it up in the coming weeks, and am really excited for the renewal of the feud with Alberto El Patron.
Twinkle Twinkle Sexy Star
Sexy Star sat down with Vampiro for an interview to discuss her issue with Pentagon Jr. I found it interesting that during the interview Sexy said she hadn’t talked to Super Fly since his “injury” at the hands of Pentagon Jr. It could be nothing, but it could be a way for Super Fly to come back with heat with Sexy Star for not checking on him after he was injured because she couldn’t help him.
The other thing noted in the interview was that she would face Pentagon Jr. in a return match. That match will be a submission match per Dario Cueto’s orders. Vampiro asked how she would fare in a match that seems catered to Pentagon Jr.’s strengths, and she pointed out she knew Pentagon’s submissions, but he’s never seen hers. She said that one way or the other, this thing with her and Pentagon Jr. will end when they meet next week.
The Champ is Chair?
Prince Puma defended the title against Hernandez in a match that wasn’t the main event. That was somewhat surprising at first but it made sense after seeing the Fénix vs. Mil Muertes match. More on that later.
This match was all the power of Hernandez matching up against the athleticism of Prince Puma, and for a while it looked like Hernandez was getting the upper hand. Puma would mount small flurries of offense only to be grounded by Hernandez. Until eventually Hernandez threw the champ outside the ring, and things changed.
With Prince Puma outside of the ring Konnan began getting after the ref on another side, and Hernandez started setting up for a dive. Puma pulled a chair out from under the ring and as Hernandez went for the dive, Puma nailed him with the chair. That was an interesting bit of storytelling there. Is Konnan finally beginning to corrupt his pupil?
The weird thing was the match didn’t end for a while after that chair shot, so in the end it didn’t really seem to play into the outcome. Hernandez was able to battle back and hit some offense including a border toss into the ring. He even hit a finishing type move that looked sort of like an inverted Weapon X, but Puma kicked out for a great near fall. Puma was eventually able to hit the 650 splash to pick up the win but the real big story was that chair shot and what it means for the champion going forward. To this point Puma has made it a point to remain honorable even when it’s gone against Konnan’s wishes, so we’ll see if this is the start of Puma crossing the line in order to keep his title.
Death Becomes Him
Fénix and Mil Muertes met once again with Mil Muertes returning from “beyond the grave” with a darker look and some new accomplices, as well as the always welcome sight of Catrina. I like the new darker look for Mil Muertes and his pale blue contacts look awesome as well. Could the new darker Mil overcome his old foil Fénix?
Fénix tried to come out of the gate swinging, hitting a dive onto Mil Muertes as he was still outside the ring. Unfortunately for Fénix he just bounced right off the man of 1,000 deaths and from there Mil started pounding on Fénix with his power. Fénix was able to get some offense including an incredible sequence where Mil lifted him into the air and Fénix landed on the railing in front of the crowd, then jumped off and hit a whisper in the wind type move back onto Mil. Unfortunately for Fénix the offense didn’t last long as Mil was able to regain control and hit a dive off the top rope onto Fénix on the outside.
That would lead to yet another in a long line of “Holy Sh*%t” moments for Lucha Underground. Muertes picked Fénix up and brought him up the stairs to the roof Angélico hasn’t made famous yet. Muertes battled with Fénix for a bit before power bombing him through the roof they were fighting on! What a crazy spot! Fénix was now in a room that was locked and the ref was calling for someone to open the door so he could check on Fénix’s health as we went to the break.
After the break, Mil and Catrina’s new skeleton masked henchmen broke the door down of the room Fénix had landed in. The three men picked up Fénix and brought him to the ring sacrifice style, where Mil Muertes hit a vicious looking Flatliner to pick up the win. Post-match Catrina gave Fénix the lick of death, which I’m sure he’d appreciate if it wasn’t for all that being power bombed through a freaking roof! This match is definitely worth a watch for that spot alone and of course to welcome back Catrina. This feud should be completed now and we’ll see if Fénix takes some time off to “recover” or if he’ll jump right into his next feud. As for Mil, I can’t imagine it will be long before we see him in the title picture but we’ll have to wait and see what’s next.
Bloody Hell
The show ended with the Crew standing in front of Dario Cueto in the room where Cueto keeps Matanza locked in a cage. Cueto tells them they have disappointed him and now they must face the consequences. A sacrifice must be made and they must choose the victim. Bael was standing between Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro so they grabbed him and at Cueto’s orders pressed him against Matanza’s cage. There was a lot of banging on metal and a lot of blood, so yeah I think we just ended the show with a vicious murder. That was really crazy. The show has been building up Matanza since a few episodes in and I can’t wait to see what happens when Cueto’s brother finally is released into the temple. As for the Crew, guess they don’t have to worry about winning the Trios Championships now, so there is a bright side for them.
The Wrap
This was another great week of Lucha Underground with three solid matches and some interesting storyline development. I really enjoyed the storytelling within all the matches this week, with Mundo showing his heel side; Puma showing some willingness to fight dirty; and Mil Muertes showing his even more vicious side. That last scene with Bael was a little brutal, but that’s Robert Rodriguez’ touch coming into play. That’s it for me this week, but what did you guys think? Did you enjoy Mundo’s new heel offense? Do you think Puma’s use of a chair was just an isolated incident or is it a sign of things to come? Is Mil Muertes the most dangerous man in Lucha Underground now? Let me know what you think in the comments section below, or you can always hit me up at any of my social media sites listed in my profile. Have a great week everyone and Lucha on!