Lucha Underground – Season One Episode 5 – 26th November 2014
Boyle Heights Street Fight
Four episodes in and, although the in-ring stuff is sometimes patchy, Lucha Underground have been doing a terrific job of building their universe and developing an organic, episodic, consistent flow to their core storylines thus far. Dario Cueto gets better and better as the nefarious wizard constantly stirring the cauldron and, judging by the title of this episode, we can expect things to get more violent tonight. Mil Muertes, Drago, Prince Puma, Big Ryck, Chavo Guerrero, Sexy Star and more all see action on this episode. Matt Striker and Vampiro welcome us back to the Temple in Boyle Heights, CA.
We open in Dario Cueto’s office, with Konnan warning El Jefe that Prince Puma wanted to ‘crack his skull’ over what happened last week. Cueto pleads innocence and says Castro and Cisco answer to Big Ryck, not him…and since that’s the case Konnan demands he book Puma and Ryck in a Street Fight.
Mil Muertes vs Drago
Another test for the ‘Man of a Thousand Deaths’, who has a 100% record thus far having defeated Blue Demon Jr. and Ricky Mandel with relatively little fuss. Drago is a different test for him, as the ultra-agile luchador has proven to be a fearsome opponent during his short time in the Temple. King Cuerno was set for a big debut match last week – but found out first hand just how tough Drago can be.
Muertes attacks Drago before the bell…so Drago takes to the skies to hit back with a twisting crossbody. King Cuerno is watching from the rafters of the Temple, apparently stalking the ‘prey’ that evaded him last week. Mil uses his muscle to ground the dragon…but like everyone else he just can’t keep him down! Drago springboards off the middle rope into a tornado DDT, but then goes to the top again only to be cut off with a MID-AIR SPEAR! Flatliner finishes Drago at 03:27
Rating - ** - By far the best Muertes squash match thus far. It was a bold choice to have Drago go over the debuting Cuerno last week, so an even bolder one to use him as Mil’s latest enhancement guy. They worked a lightning-quick cat and mouse struggle and packed in a surprising amount of action for such a brief match. Muertes comes out looking good in victory, Drago doesn’t look totally hopeless in defeat…and Cuerno’s appearance ensures an angle started last week continues too. Fun start…
Cuerno sensibly waits for Muertes to leave before hopping down from the rafters and sliding into the ring to give Drago his finisher – the ‘Thrill Of The Hunt’.
Johnny Mundo narrates his own hype video, blaming politics for not getting further with his former employers – and assures everyone that he is here not for money or fame, but to prove he’s the best.
In the back Catrina approaches Dario and eyes up the key he wears around his neck. She warns him that he ‘can’t keep darkness locked away forever…
Son Of Havoc vs Mascarita Sagrada
Ivelisse is in Havoc’s corner again tonight, and it appears their relationship has now been formalised as a romantic one (having been somewhat nondescript in their previous appearances). Having worked intergender singles and tag matches, SOH was probably hoping for something more familiar this evening. He’s not getting it though – his opponent is the undefeated mini Mascarita Sagrada.
Havoc makes fun of Sagrada just as he did to Sexy Star on Episode 1 and winds up embarrassed as the incredibly athletic mini works him out of the ring. His only route into the match is Ivelisse tripping Sagrada from the outside, and he quickly capitalises with a press slam/standing moonsault combo for 2. A mysterious Asian female is watching at the top of the stairs…but vanishes as quickly as she appeared as Ivelisse absolutely NAILS Mascarita with a running boot from the floor. TOPE CON HILO TAKES OUT IVELISSE! He climbs again…TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE ON HAVOC! Back inside he victory rolls Havoc into a shock pinfall. Mascarita is 2-0 in LU at 04:16
Rating - ** - I wasn’t much of a fan of the Havoc/Sexy match from Episode 1, and found this more enjoyable. Using Son Of Havoc as a vehicle to introduce some of the more outlandish aspects of Lucha Libre like intergender wrestling or minis, and having him feel disrespected by it, has turned into a fun little undercard storyline. Sagrada is amazingly athletic and is undeniably entertaining in little sprints like this. The introduction of that Asian woman will be extremely significant within the LU universe too…
Sexy Star vs Chavo Guerrero Jr.
At Episode 2 we saw Chavo deck Sexy with a steel chair. Chavo wants to break free of the weight of the ‘Guerrero’ family name and all that goes with it, and has chosen to target big names from AAA like Blue Demon Jr. to do it – even though Konnan has warned him that ‘La Familia’ in Mexico won’t like it. Star has refused to be bullied or intimidated by Chavo however – and comes for payback tonight.
Star shows no fear in stepping up to Guerrero…but her opponent shows no class and jerks her to the mat by the hair. He forces himself upon her with an unwarranted kiss…which again is HUGE when you recall Sexy’s abusive background. She flips out and goes straight for a steel chair – getting disqualified for kicking the referee in the balls along the way. The match is over at 01:55
Rating - N/A - To an extent I’m disappointed we didn’t get a real match between the two, but just like with last week’s main event the in-ring content here is secondary to building storylines and I fully understand that. The way they booked this, with Star going nuts after Chavo forcibly kissed her, is a brilliant way to flesh out the motivations of her character.
Pentagon Jr. appears in the ring and snatches the chair out of Sexy Star’s hands…so Fenix runs in and springboard kicks the same chair into his face! POP-UP FLYING HEADSCISSORS COMBO from Fenix and Sexy to take out Pentagon! What is Penta’s involvement with Chavo?
Big Ryck vs Prince Puma – Street Fight
The Crenshaw Crew assaulted Prince Puma (and Johnny Mundo) on the first episode of Lucha Underground, and have been at odds ever since. Despite Konnan’s best efforts to keep his protégé out of this business, he had no choice but to let him loose after Cortez Castro and Mr Cisco attacked him backstage last week. Since Ryck is the man that gives out Castro and Cisco’s orders, Puma wants a piece of him. And since both Konnan and Dario Cueto like violence – there are no rules whatsoever in this Boyle Heights Street Fight.
The entire Crew is at ringside, so the deck is stacked against Puma. Vampiro questions why Konnan has put his boy in this position. The sheer mass of Big Ryck swarms Prince and he is utterly dominant in the early going. Castro and Cisco are soon involved, but Puma fight them off then drops Big with a DDT. SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP TO THE FLOOR takes out the whole Crew! Mr Cisco is the first up though, and he distracts Puma for long enough to allow Ryck to attack him from behind. A trash can is fed into the ring by his cronies and is soon crumpled as he crushes the back against it. Ryck then takes a seat and watches as Cisco and a bloody Cortez do his work for him! Flatliner/DDT combo on them! And since Ryck isn’t looking Puma runs straight at him for an unprotected dropkick! SINGAPORE CANE LUNGBLOWER on Cisco! Then Puma swings the cane into Ryck’s torso…to absolutely no effect! ELBOW OF DEATH by Ryck! The Crew bring a ladder in, then a table too. Puma is tree of woe’d in the ladder…but the Crew don’t see Johnny Mundo sneak into the Temple via the roof of Cueto’s office! PARKOUR DIVE OFF THE ROOF! Mundo helps Prince down from the ladder…then brains Castro and Cisco with it! Next he grabs a steel chair, but accidentally nails Puma with it when Ryck ducks! Book Of Ezekiel through the table finishes Puma at 09:48
Rating - *** - This was a handicap match in all but name, but as far as handicap matches go this was actually very entertaining. The great crowd were hugely into the battling young underdog Puma defying huge odds in standing up to the entire Crenshaw Crew. It was scruffy and overbooked of course, but packed in a number of great spots – along with Mundo’s dive off the roof of Cueto’s office which was awesome too. The finish was rather clever too, as it pushes Konnan’s opinion to Puma that he needs to stay out of Mundo’s business since Johnny doesn’t care about him. Of course, Konnan is the whole reason Prince was in this position to begin with – continuing the slow build on tension between teacher and student.
Tape Rating - *** - I’ve seen some call this one of the worst episodes of LU ever. In which case I feel like I’m really going to like this promotion, as I had a lot of fun here. Nothing inside the ropes touched the greatness of the Fenix/Pentagon/Drago triple threat or Puma/Mundo – but I am really digging how we see storylines develop and evolve week after week inside the Temple. Lucha Underground are genuinely fitting as much storyline development into 40-45 minutes of television each week as WWE sometimes manage on a month’s worth of 3-hour Raw’s. Five episodes deep and whilst I was initially sceptical that this would turn into another Wrestling Society X, I’m slowly becoming a Believer…
Top 5 Season One Episodes 1-5 Matches
5) Johnny Mundo/Prince Puma vs Cortez Castro/Mr Cisco (*** - Episode 2)
4) Big Ryck vs Prince Puma (*** - Episode 5)
3) Fenix vs Pentagon Jr (**** - Episode 4)
2) Fenix vs Pentagon Jr. vs Drago (**** - Episode 3)
1) Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma (**** - Episode 1)