Lucha Underground – Season One Episode 1 – 29th October 2014
Welcome To The Temple
After PWG (I watch most of their releases and enjoy the shows as a fan but don’t have the time, nor do I feel I have anything pertinent to add, as a ‘critic) and New Japan (I have NJPW World, I watch individual matches on it frequently but don’t have anywhere near enough stamina to review them on a longer-term basis)...Lucha Underground is the promotion I get the most emails asking me to review/cover. The brain-child of Emmy Award winning producer Mark Burnett, filmmaker-turned-cable network owner Robert Rodriguez and the famous Lucha Libre promotion AAA; Lucha Underground has been called a lot of things. ‘Lucha Libre with an American twist’, ‘grindhouse wrestling’, a 'Mexican telenovela about wrestling'…the list goes on. When it launched back in 2014 mystery surrounded the project and despite a huge budget, limited distribution and a few other assorted controversies, somewhere in the ensuing three years it has developed a real cult following. Promising the episodic, seasonal, story-driven approach to wrestling that the notorious, failed ‘Wrestling Retribution Project’ never delivered and planned to present wrestling in as unorthodox a style as MTV’s 2007 Wrestling Society X – these guys want to produce something revolutionary and totally alien to traditional expectations (and limitations) of a ‘wrestling show’. It runs in seasons, it has a huge budget, a team of writers, ‘characters’ or roles are written then cast using wrestlers from around the Indies (with a few exceptions), vignettes and pre-taped segments are shot like Hollywood movies, fans are known as ‘Believers’ and the set (‘The Temple’) is as iconic and integral a character as any of the wrestlers. In a world where far too much of the professional wrestling scene is aggressively sanitised, corporate and PG – from the WWE, to Sinclair-owned ROH, to expansionist NJPW, to WWE-affiliated Evolve/WWNLive, and even famous adult-orientated international promotions like Progress and ICW now affiliated with the WWE – LU, AAA and the El Rey Network are targeting all those who feel disenfranchised by many of the options currently out there. So why haven’t I checked it out before now?
The simple and straightforward answer is that, as of writing in June 2017, Lucha Underground’s international distribution is abysmal. They have a few limited deals in a couple of countries, and are available on North American/Canadian iTunes and Netflix…but over here in the UK it is a challenge just to get a hold of their material. I’ve actually watched the first episode online a few times, but have no appetite for battling with unreliable, spamware-filled streaming sites and no interest in committing to watch a product I won’t have any assurances that I’ll be able to watch the next episode of. Considering the popularity of pro-wrestling in the UK right now, and having witnessed first hand how over some of Lucha Underground’s stars like Angelico and Pentagon Jr. are over here it baffles me they’ve not made progress in getting their product to these shores in three years of existence. But this is a product I am genuinely interested in checking out. I am one of those pro-wrestling fans who feels utterly frustrated with so few legitimate, genuine, adult alternatives that are currently out there. I loved how bold, reckless and different Wrestling Society X was – even if some of the creative and presentational choices left me feeling like I had motion sickness. I was an investor in both the Wrestling Retribution Project and Nigel McGuinness’ failed LA Nights idea because I want to see a fresh, story-driven approach to this sport. So now, after years of emails and frustrating streaming experiences – Lucha Underground finally arrives on McXal’s Reviews.
We start at the beginning, and our introduction to the famed Temple – a grungy wrestling arena set built in a warehouse in a predominantly Latin American district of Los Angeles. Wealthy Spanish promoter Dario Cueto (played by actor Luis Fernandez-Gil rather than anyone with prior wrestling experience) is putting up money to attract fighters from all over the world to his own underground Lucha Libre fight club. To prove he is serious, this episode features Lucha Libre legends Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Blue Demon Jr., plus the WWE’s John Morrison/Nitro/Hennigan – now cast as Johnny Mundo. We’ll be introduced to all manner of colourful characters and groups as the 39-episode first season wears on as the cast attracted to The Temple grows. Our commentary team of Matt Striker and Vampiro welcome us to Boyle Heights, CA for the very first time…
The show opens with grungy footage of a masked green luchador coming to the aid of a young man bravely trying to fight off a gang attack. He extends a hand to the young man and discusses the legacy of seven warring Aztec tribes – Lucha Libre. Cut to Dario Cueto invading an AAA show with a huge bag of cash and an offer for any luchador to come to America and fight for him…then back to the green luchador, who has a simple offer for the young kid. ‘Will you join us?’
For the first time we enter the Temple; meeting ring announcer Melissa Santos, the house band then the new commentary team of Striker and Vampiro. Dario Cueto enters and tells the audience that ‘this isn’t an arena where the children can cheer for their heroes’. This is a place for courage, honour...and violence. He’s offering a signing bonus of $100,000 for the fighter who impresses him the most.
Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr.
This certainly won’t introduce anyone to a young or cutting edge product just yet – but this is a Lucha Libre show, and one that (for the first season at least) airs on a pretty major TV network in Mexico. Putting two of the most recognisable luchadors in recent history in the ring together is certainly a bold start. Blue Demon is in his late-40’s and has competed all over the world. He is notorious for being rather lazy and phoning in his matches, so I’m unsure what to expect from him here...and he supposedly remains a huge draw in Mexico. His opponent will be instantly recognisable for American audiences, as Chavo was on national television for many years as part of WCW, WWE and TNA. The nephew of the great Eddie Guerrero and son of Chavo Guerrero Sr. he needs no introduction.
PWG’s Rick Knox is officiating which is cool. The early pace is slow, which favours the more powerful Blue Demon…before he makes a real hash of an attempted satellite headscissors. There are lot of fast, jarring camera changes and crowd shots which take some getting used to. Chavo counters a running powerslam attempt into a tornado DDT, then manages to topple BDJ to the floor to hit a big pescado. Somersault senton missed by Demon, who looks to be struggling with a knee injury. Guerrero looks to capitalise with a frankensteiner…only to be countered to a diving powerbomb. El Pulpo applied, making Guerrero tap at 05:13
Rating - * - This was a rough and thoroughly unrevolutionary place to start our Lucha Underground journey. Considering the years of experience these guys had plus the money that has been poured into the post-production of this show it amazes me that this was STILL as bad as it was even in its edited state. I don’t watch much big time Lucha Libre, so my only exposure to Blue Demon is on his American indy trips, where he is usually utterly terrible. He continued that streak here. I like Chavo and have really been enjoying some of his work in WWE’s Cruiserweight division in the post-brand spit era, so I’m hoping to see better from him when he gets better opponents to work with.
Konnan is welcomed to Dario Cueto’s office. He is referred to as a ‘legend’, but his in-ring days are well behind him. He is looking for some of El Jefe’s cash though, and now works as a manager for a promising young luchador he has unearthed from right here in Boyle Heights. Cueto reveals that he has signed Johnny Mundo…but only to make an example of him for only being motivated by money and fame. He assures Konnan that the $100k signing bonus will be his (and his protégés) if they can make an embarrass Mundo tonight.
Mundo himself is somewhere in the bowels of The Temple working out ahead of his main event. Vampiro reveals that Konnan’s protégé is named ‘Prince Puma’, and we move to vignette of Konnan training him. Puma is a direct descendent of one of the original Aztec tribes.
Son Of Havoc vs Sexy Star
Inter-gender matches are a regular occurrence in Mexico, and that is a tradition LU will be bringing to their show. Havoc is former Ring Of Honor and WWE Tough Enough reject Matt Cross under a very low budget mask – with his character now a masked biker from the ‘open road’. Star brings her gimmick to Lucha Underground directly from AAA. She has had a seriously rough past but after donning a Lucha Libre mask overcame that and is now a skilled and respected luchadora.
Havoc (with a weird vocal effect on his microphone) refuses to fight a woman and urges her to walk away and lose by count-out. I don’t hear an opening bell so I’ll take the ref’s count as the official beginning of the bout. Sexy teases walking away, but jumps SOH from behind and does her best to pummel him to the ground. Quebrada misses, but Son Of soon recovers to faceplant her into the canvas as she attempts a wheelbarrow. Diving crossbody from Star gets 2! That’s a precious but brief moment of hope for her, as Havoc soon crushes her with a cradle backbreaker and wins at 01:46
Rating - N/A - Possibly not the strongest way LU could have picked to introduce the concept of inter-gender wrestling to an American audience, but I do think this did a good job of conveying Sexy Star’s character to them. A pre-match video revealed her to be an abuse-survivor who refuses to be afraid of men anymore, and the way she tenaciously fought the match absolutely embodied that. Fresh faces and a fresh concept, I certainly found this preferable to Chavo/Demon even if it ran less than two minutes.
Dario Cueto confronts Chavo Guerrero about tapping out in his match and bringing shame upon his family. Since Chavo failed to end Blue Demon’s career tonight, Dario has had to recruit someone else to get the job done next week…someone that even he can’t control. ‘One thousand deaths may be coming for us all…’
Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma
The show is barely twenty five minutes old but we’ve somehow packed in two matches, multiple pre-taped vignettes and we already know the key motivators for each of these two men. Prince is Konnan’s protégé; a resident of LA but descended from one of the seven Aztec tribes meaning he has Lucha Libre in his blood. As promised by Cueto, if he wins tonight he and Konnan are assured of the $100k signing bonus. Johnny Mundo (formerly known as John Morrison, amongst other things, in WWE) has been introduced as the ‘hottest free agent’ in wrestling, since this is his first full-time gig since he left WWE three years previously. But El Jefe dislikes him because he has no respect for the ancient traditions, and is here only for money and fame. Will Johnny earn more of that cash he so desperately craves, or will Puma fulfil Dario Cueto’s plans and go from an unknown rookie to beating the biggest name in Lucha Underground. For those that aren’t aware, the role of Prince Puma is played by the world-renowned junior heavyweight superstar Ricochet – who has achieved great things in New Japan, Dragon Gate, PWG, Chikara and more. Unlike Mundo, Demon or Chavo he very much is the sort of young, fresh and exciting talent LU can use to differentiate their product from other brands.
The camera spends as much time shooting Konnan as it does Puma during his entrance. The Prince instantly impresses Johnny by effortlessly bouncing off the mat when the ‘Rockstar’ thinks he’s floored him with an emphatic shoulder tackle. Mundo wants to ground him…but Puma repeatedly finds athletic and explosive ways to return to a vertical base. DOUBLE backflip rana nailed, straight into a double rotation satellite headscissors! Puma/Ricochet is f*cking awesome, and he has the building rocking with a double backflip celebration of those last two spots! Mundo has seen enough and snuffs out his momentum by hoisting him chest-first into the top rope then knocking him loopy with a corkscrew kick. He is only here for the fame though – as Dario Cueto stated earlier – so gets caught basking in the applause of the fans in a way Prince didn’t. Puma lands a springboard senton and kicks Mundo all the way to the floor! The fight spills over to the announce table…PARKOUR LEAP OVER THE TABLE BY MUNDO! HOTSHOT INTO THE RINGPOST! But again Puma refuses to be kept down and pops up to deliver an enziguri as soon as they return to the ring. Springboard crossbody nailed for 2, with a Red Star Press seconds later getting another nearfall as well. Is Mundo rusty? Can he keep up with this mysterious and explosive new Lucha Underground star? He uses raw power to muscle Prince into the corner, ditching the fancy sh*t and punching his damn lights out! RUNNING KNEE STRIKE gets 2! Moonlight Drive blocked…so Mundo hits a springboard enzi instead. Puma to the apron…but as he sunset flips back in he eats another knee to the face. CHOCOLATE RAIN gets 2 for Puma after he dodges Starship Pain (renamed ‘Fin Del Mundo’ in LU). SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH MISSES! MOONLIGHT DRIVE gets 2! C-4 NAILED! FIN DEL MUNDO! Johnny pins the first ever Lucha Underground main event at 12:32
Rating - **** - An absolutely stellar main event. Mundo’s presence helps to legitimise Lucha Underground, whom at this point were viewed at as another Wrestling Society X, but on a significantly less relevant network than MTV. He has name value, a great look, can still go and isn’t totally at odds with the Lucha Libre style LU want to promote. I’ve read that many consider his LU tenure to be the finest work of his career, and this was a hell of a start. I really can’t say much more about how great Ricochet is that hasn’t already been said either. He truly is one of the best juniors in the world, and even under a hood and with a random new gimmick still absolutely killed it in this contest. The story was clear and concise – a veteran trying to dominate a rookie but almost suffering an upset defeat due to how supremely talented the youngster is. The real greatness in this was how they took that basic premise and worked it into the characters they’ll be playing in Lucha Underground. We know Ricochet is a tremendous flier…but he’s playing a young, masked, local rookie with a genetic predisposition to Lucha Libre greatness, whom Konnan is trying to mould into a cash cow/superstar. To that end he was spectacular and exciting…but he also made frequent mistakes, like becoming excited on the floor and getting smashed into the ringpost as a result, or trying that wild springboard 450 and ultimately losing the match. Likewise Mundo is supposedly only here for money and fame. He wants the $100k signing bonus hence he wanted to win, but he frequently found himself caught out posing for fans, taking his time, or showing ring-rust because (in this universe) he hasn’t competed since leaving WWE. This was exactly what LU needed to put them on the map, and if these guys are going to be in the main event scene, this company will be worth watching.
Johnny helps Puma to his feet and shakes his hand, as Dario enters the ring holding the briefcase full of money. He doesn’t hand it over though, instead hopping out as three guys run in and attack Puma and Mundo from behind. They are Ezekiel Jackson, Ricky Reyes and Lil Cholo (now rebranded Big Ryck, Cortez Castro and Mr Cisco). El Jefe smirks as he reveals they work for him!
Tape Rating - *** - A generous rating perhaps, but I thought as a package deal this showed a lot of promise and the rating fairly reflects what was a brave and daring new wrestling concept. An obvious comparison would be to the debut of Wrestling Society X, and this was so much better. The show’s run-time isn’t that much greater than WSX, but it felt like LU accomplished a lot more. The cinematic vignettes and clear attempts to define and construct each character were major plus-points. Even if some of the wrestling was decidedly average, there was no wasted air-time and all we saw had an obvious purpose. Blue Demon Jr. and Chavo Guerrero sloppily half-assing their way through the first match wasn’t ideal and there’s an argument that having the opening episode so heavily focused on a heel boss/authority figure feels a little too familiar. But stylistically everything outside the ring was so strikingly different. Inside the ring Prince Puma, Sexy Star and Johnny Mundo look like they’ll be interesting characters to go on journeys with. Fernandez-Gil looks like he’s having a wonderful time as ‘El Jefe’ Dario Cueto, Striker and Vampiro were adequate as commentators, The Temple looked awesome (although hugely similar to WSX’s ‘Bunker’). There was a lot to like about this presentation, and definitely more than enough to bring people back for a repeat viewing. Oh, and if all that wasn’t enough Mundo/Puma was superb and worth checking out by itself.