Lucha Underground – Season One Episode 15 – 18th February 2015
Eye For An Eye
Last week we saw clips of Big Ryck preparing to return to The Temple for vengeance on his former team-mates in The Crew…so the title of this week’s episode would suggest he’ll appear in some fashion tonight. A No Holds Barred Trios Tag is promised as our main event, again with Crenshaw Crew involvement, and beneath that we have veterans Mil Muertes and Chavo Guerrero doing battle. Matt Striker and Vampiro are set for another high energy hour in Boyle Heights, CA.
Mil Muertes vs Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Striker valiantly tries to add some context to this one by pointing out that months ago it was Chavo Guerrero who stopped Mil taking out Blue Demon Jr. (this was back on Episode 2, and if you recall it was only so Chavo could assault BDJ himself), and Muertes still wants revenge. Last week he was so overcome with rage at Catrina’s words of warning regarding Fenix that he choked Guerrero to unconsciousness in a hallway. Which of these two veterans will emerge victorious this evening?
Muertes enters without elaborate ring-gear and with no Catrina by his side. He looks enraged from the off and immediately tosses Chavo over the top rope. A lot of his offence looks really weak though, including delicately tapping Guerrero against the ringpost then almost dropping him when trying to press slam him into the ring. Chavo goes after the leg – looking every bit as clumsy and awkward as Mil’s offence was moments earlier. Catrina finally appears at the top of the Temple steps; arriving just in time to see Muertes land an electric chair drop. Flatliner blocked by Guerrero…so Muertes tosses him to the outside once more. Catrina brandishes the mysterious stone she uses to control Mil, and immediately he takes his eyes off Chavo and drifts towards her. Guerrero whacks him with a steel chair, getting himself disqualified at 05:34. Mil no sells it and destroys Guerrero with the Flatliner on the same chair…
Rating - * - I feel a little bad for Chavo. He’s a veteran with plenty of skill to offer the world of Lucha Underground, but this is the second time he’s had a really horrible match with a large, masked luchador completely unsuitable for him as an opponent. Muertes needs quicker and more agile opponents who can take bumps and sell his offence like total death, whilst Guerrero’s best work comes when he can be the technical, grounded base around which a high-flyer can work their magic. This one (like Chavo’s match with Blue Demon on the first episode) was lethargic, clumsy and totally lacking in chemistry or rhythm.
Mil orders Catrina to give Chavo the Lick Of Death…and when she refuses he drags her into the ring by her hair looking to force her into it. She refuses, so he tries to give her a Flatliner…until Fenix runs in to make a save! He ushers her to safety…so she gives him a passionate kiss in full view of Mil. Striker and Vampiro ponder whether Fenix has just signed his death warrant.
Black Lotus explores some damp, dirty corridors presumably in search of the illusive ‘Matanza’…
The Crew have adorable matching shirts now, and beam with pride as Dario Cueto showers them with more praise. He is rewarding them with a main event tonight, but expects them to prove that they are ‘rabid dogs’ who will stop at nothing to do his bidding. This evening he wants them to destroy the ‘unlikely heroes’ Sexy Star, Pimpinela Escarlata and Mascarita Sagrada; calling them freaks who’s popularity ‘sickens’ him.
Son Of Havoc is primed for his rematch with Angelico…but Ivelisse steps in out of frustration after watching him lose constantly. She is going to fight Angelico instead!
Ivelisse vs Angelico
Fans are really starting to get into Ivelisse and her ‘Baddest Bitch In The Building’ moniker, so react well to her stepping in for Son Of Havoc here. Like she said, she’s watched Havoc lose repeatedly since they arrived in Lucha Underground and now replaces her boyfriend in his scheduled rematch against Angelico (they fought a couple of weeks earlier with Ang coming out on top).
Striker promotes Ivelisse’s MMA background, which she demonstrates by backing Angelico into the corner with kicks and elbows. Angelico looks uncomfortable about fighting her but just keeps getting punished with her aggressive striking. DOUBLE SPRINGBOARD FLYING HEADSCISSORS nailed by Ivelisse! Havoc gives Angelico a roundhouse kick from the apron, then shoves him back into the ring where Ivelisse swoops to score a successful pin at 02:42
Rating - N/A - Of the four high profile LU females we’ve seen thus far (Sexy Star, Catrina, Black Lotus and Ivelisse) Ivelisse is by far my favourite. Her no nonsense bad ass gimmick is refreshingly forward-thinking and on the rare occasions we’ve been able to see it she looks like a seriously capable athlete. This wasn’t so much a match as it was an exhibition of her skills. Angelico did the classic ‘sports entertainment’ act of trying to make nice, smile and quietly belittle a pumped up female fighter…but every time he did so Ivelisse was waiting to smack or kick him right in the mouth. Personally I’d have gone further with this and had her win clean, but I’ll give a pass on this as I’m interested in seeing where they take the story next.
Ivelisse ignores her boyfriend and basks in the limelight of victory…before Angelico grabs a microphone to flirtatiously demand a rematch without Havoc around.
Texano vs Super Fly
Last week Alberto El Patron confirmed that he’ll be joining the Lucha Underground revolution. But it wasn’t long before an old enemy from Mexico followed him across the border into The Temple. El Patron was the man that ended Texano’s lengthy reign as AAA Champion, and it appears that Tex is so enraged that he too has joined the active Lucha Underground roster. The attack he dished out to Alberto last week was so violent that he even gets to make his in-ring debut first it seems. I thought it was Texano Jr., but LU doesn’t appear to be acknowledging the junior element of his name (as it does with Chavo Guerrero and Pentagon) so I won’t either.
Texano is taller and stockier than Fly, so the masked man moves at great speed to counteract that in the opening minute. Finally Tex manages to catch him with a leg lariat and instantly slows the pace. He caps off an imposing victory with a plunging neckbreaker at 01:32
Rating - N/A - Too short to deliver any real quality, but it was certainly an emphatic squash victory for Texano. Credit to Lucha Underground this week, in that they were much smarter with how they presented and referenced Texano’s history with AAA and El Patron. Last week it felt like El Patron, Texano and the AAA Title were bigger than Lucha Underground. This week there was more of an effort to make it feel like ‘hey, check out this huge star from Mexico that we’ve got HERE’.
Alberto El Patron runs down the steps of The Temple to start a fight with Texano. It’s his turn to brandish the bullrope and he beats Tex senseless with it until security intervenes and separates them.
Cage storms into Cueto’s offence and demands to be declared Lucha Underground Champion. El Jefe points out the minor technicality that Puma is still champ, but agrees to book them in a non-title match next week. If Cage beats Puma he gets a title shot…and when he wins Cage demands a new belt, not an ‘Aztec piece of crap’! Chavo Guerrero then walks in and quits Lucha Underground, apparently sick at ‘Mexico’ not forgiving him for what he did to Blue Demon.
Black Lotus has found her way to the cell where Dario keeps ‘Matanza’. She reveals that she has wanted to kill who (or what) ever Matanza is with her ‘bare hands’ since she was a child…
Cortez Castro/Mr Cisco/Bael vs Sexy Star/Pimpinela Escarlata/Mascarita Sagrada – No DQ Match
Remember, The Crew enter this no rules match with a simple objective – injure and eradicate the three competitors standing across the ring from them. Promoter Dario Cueto dislikes their popularity and doesn’t deem them to be worthy fighters in his Temple, so has tasked his henchmen with forcibly removing them. Castro and Cisco already hold a victory over Pimpinela and Mascarita from a couple of weeks earlier…how much more dangerous will this get now there are no rules to confine them?
Cisco and Bael drag Sagrada and Star to the outside…but Castro struggles more with Pimpy inside the ring and falls victim to an early kiss. He angrily wears him out with a kendo stick as punishment – and by that I mean he gives Pimp a SAVAGE beating! Mascarita skips and jumps around the ring staying out of Mr C’s clutches then dives through the ropes to take him out with a toe suicida. Sadly Bael is also out there, waiting to snap him in half with an APRON BOMB! Escarlata has been taken to the locker room for medical treatment apparently…as inside the ring The Crew give Sagrada a CURB STOMP ON A CHAIR! He is taken to the back as well leaving Sexy on her own to face all three opponents. She does a hell of a job, and lands a huge tornado DDT off the apron to take down Bael. Golden Gate Swing on Castro! She then chases Cisco up the ropes looking for a frankensteiner! Finally the numbers count against her and the three Crew members stomp her into the mat. When they look poised to finish things Big Ryck, sporting an eye patch, marches down the steps towards them. Star capitalises on the distraction to score a popular pinfall win at 07:42
Rating - ** - This was functional without being overly enjoyable. I felt there was more to be done with The Crew violently beating up a mini and an exotico in a no-rules environment so was sad to see Pimpy and Mascarita written out so early…although it did at least make sense given the mission Cueto gave The Crew beforehand. Sexy Star got to look great in the way she valiantly fought all three opponents too, but I’m still struggling to shake off the fact that here we saw her get another intergender victory over a dude…but only thanks to outside interference.
Sexy Star is bleeding from the mouth, but gets to bask in the glow of her win as The Crew flee The Temple to stay out of the clutches of a brooding Big Ryck.
Tape Rating - ** - Not every LU episode can be a knockout and whilst this wasn’t ‘bad’ by any means, but I’d certainly consider this to be one of the weakest episodes since the very early days. The story-telling remains strong, but it didn’t feel like there was too much of significance that you couldn’t ‘catch up’ with after skipping this episode. The Fenix/Catrina/Muertes stuff escalated, but only after a really terrible match between Mil and Chavo Guerrero. Black Lotus found Matanza, but we didn’t get a reveal on who (or what) Matanza is or even why she is looking in the first place. The trios angle with Ivelisse, Havoc and Angelico builds but is still very much in the formative stages…and Big Ryck made a ‘shock’ return after only missing a couple of weeks, and didn’t do much other than stand there. The point I’m making is that whilst the continuity booking is really good, there really wasn’t much that you NEEDED to see here. For me, the real highlight of the episode was the presentation of Texano, and his brawl with El Patron. They made Texano seem like a huge star, the story of him chasing Alberto across the border and into a new promotion in a quest for vengeance is a good one...and this week their interactions felt far more like a ‘Lucha Underground’ story, not an ex-WWE guy and an AAA guy talking about what they’ve done in other promotions and fighting as a result.