Lucha Underground – Season One Episode 20 – 25th March 2015
The Art Of War
This episode takes us past the halfway mark in Season One. It’s not been a completely smooth and consistent ride, but on the whole the good has far outweighed the bad…and never was that more apparent than the epic Grave Consequences main event we got last week. LU aren’t taking their foot off the pedal either; having already announced two huge title matches for this show. Alberto El Patron defends the AAA Mega Title against arch rival Texano in a Bullrope Match, and Prince Puma faces his final showdown with Cage in a Boyle Heights Street Fight. Matt Striker and Vampiro are in at the booth, at ringside, on the floor of the notorious Temple.
Angelico vs Son Of Havoc
The issues between Angelico, Havoc and Ivelisse just continue to rumble on. The match between Angelico and Ivelisse, with SOH as guest referee, was supposed to settle their differences…but was quite obviously set up by cunning promoter Dario Cueto to merely exacerbate them. Angelico got the victory after aiming a kick at Havoc, only to connect with Ivelisse and knock her out. He then pinned her in a sexually aggressive manner, prompting her boyfriend Havoc to fast-count the pin…which in turn led to Ivelisse being pissed off at him.
Angelico makes eyes at Ivelisse during her entrance…so Havoc mows right through him with a spear. He has Ivelisse in his ears berating him and urging still more aggression, and Son Of grinds the South African’s face in the mat in his attempts to placate her. Ange retaliates with an overhead kick in the corner, then crosses the ring for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OVER THE TURNBUCKLES TO THE FLOOR! Havoc comes back with a bicycle kick into a Red Star Press for 2, still with Ivelisse shrieking at him. Taking matters into her own hands, she drags him to the apron by the beard for a pep talk…only for him to shove her away and fly back in with a springboard double stomp! Shuri Knee by Angelico! Fall Of The Angels COUNTERED with a rana into the turnbuckles! Havoc grabs a microphone in the midst of the action to yell at Ivelisse for ‘holding him back’, then publicly dumpung her! SHOOTING STAR PRESS! Havoc finally gets a win at 06:39!
Rating - *** - This definitely counts as a generous 3*, but this was my favourite match coming out of this three-way angle so far. It kept the outside interference to a minimum, featured plenty of aerial antics from two talented high-fliers, and the pay-off at the end with SOH dumping Ivelisse got a huge pop from the live crowd. The audience in The Temple have been far more into Matt Cross/Havoc than I’d have expected…and this match really played on that support well.
Ivelisse takes out her frustration by punking out Angelico, which is a nice touch…
A new signing inks his contract in Dario Cueto’s office. It is someone who has been ‘held back in a tag team’, and comes with a glowing recommendation from Konnan. El Jefe has got his wallet out again to sign Hernandez, and gives him a front row seat to the Puma/Cage main event too.
Alberto El Patron vs Texano – AAA Mega Title Bullrope Match
We know the history between these two now. Alberto ended Texano’s two year reign as AAA’s Champion, prompting Tex to cross the border to the US and chase El Patron all the way to Lucha Underground in pursuit of payback. Texano ruined Alberto’s triumphant debut during Open Mic Night, but last time we saw these two it was the champion dishing out a wicked beating to his nemesis; causing a match to get thrown out as he violently attacked Texano with a bullrope. Cueto pulled some strings, dropped some dollars, and inked the deal for this rematch to take place inside The Temple. Texano has stated his purpose for coming to this promotion was to get his belt back and make his name in America…at the expense of someone who has won multiple titles north of the border.
The bullrope even has a cowbell hanging from the middle, making this different. Striker points out one can also win by pinfall and submission, rather than just touching the turnbuckles. Alberto is rampant from the first minute; throttling the challenger with the rope then kicking him out of the ring for a FLYING HEADSCISSORS OFF THE APRON! Texano is in trouble but keeps the champion at bay by smacking him between the eyes with the cowbell. He tries to put his head through a steel chair as well but El Patron drops him with a DDT. He dodges an obviously fatigued Tex to hit a lungblower before grabbing another bullrope and flogging him just as he did during their previous match. INVERTED SUPERPLEX! Rompe Destinos blocked…by flinging Alberto into the steel chair! AWESOMEBOMB THROUGH A TABLE! But El Patron kicks out at 2! ROMPE DESTINOS IN THE ROPES! Texano taps almost instantly! It’s over at 08:23
Rating - *** - This was a pretty weird match to sit through. There were parts that I loved, but in the end it felt a little anticlimactic and oddly one-sided. I really do like the dynamic these two present as opponents however, as it’s so different to many of the rivalries we see in Lucha Underground, which are all about big dives and spectacular movesets. Their matches have an old-school, rugged physicality to them and play really well in front of the vocal Latin American audiences they perform to. It’s hard to get away from how resoundingly Texano was crushed here though. Of course Alberto is a big star and Lucha Underground’s top ‘name’…but he didn’t need this to be quite as emphatic as it was. Texano supposedly crossed the border and chased El Patron across promotions looking for payback, so it made no sense that he tapped out almost instantly at the end…and didn’t look remotely like winning even after using chairs and tables. I like them as adversaries, but perhaps LU would be best served splitting these guys up and moving on. Certainly there is a LONG list of potential dream matches for El Patron…
Prince Puma is getting in a final training session with Konnan before the main event, when into the gym walks Hernandez. The LAX history between Konnan and Hernandez is acknowledged, and the newcomer shows his respect to the LU Champion by bumping fists with him.
Dario Cueto steps out of his office before the main event, to present the new (and considerably improved) Championship Belt. It looks great…
Prince Puma vs Cage – LU Title Street Fight
This is another one that has been going on for weeks. The week after Aztec Warfare Cage arrived in Lucha Underground and went right after the new champion (and his manager Konnan). Their first title match ended in an uncomfortable and somewhat perplexing voluntary DQ loss for Cage…but in the aftermath of that he bloodied Konnan and destroyed Puma’s championship belt. Cueto booked a rematch and promised that Cage would get another title shot if he won – which he duly did, but only after Konnan threw in the towel for his protégé. With tensions strained between Puma and Konnan, the veteran has urged his young apprentice to remain focused on the ‘plan’…and seemingly has prepared for this ‘revenge’ for several weeks. They demanded that the Street Fight stipulation be put in place; do they have a plan…or are they genuinely backing Puma to beat the Machine in a no rules match?
Puma recognises he needs to fight fast…but sprints at Cage and takes a PAUL LONDON APRON FLIP BUMP TO THE FLOOR! He tries to recover with another dive off the apron, only to be caught by the challenger and powerbombed into the ringpost. Prince ducks a chair shot swung in his direction and floors the Machine with a Van Daminator…then wears him out with apparently endless trash can lid shots. RED STAR PRESS ON THE LID! The champ sets up a table on the floor; getting so caught up in the adulation of the crowd and ignoring the cries of his mentor as Cage sneaks up on him with the same metal lid. That shot is followed with a torture rack backbreaker for 2. The Machine sees his deadlift superplex spot blocked though, retreating to the floor before Prince gives chase with a FLYING SSP OFF THE F*CKING RINGPOST! It leaves Cage draped on the table! SPRINGBOARD 450 SPLASH FROM THE TOP ROPE THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR! Unfortunately for Puma, Cage is such a mass that by the time he is dragged back in the ring he has recovered sufficiently to kick out at 2. STEEL CHAIR GUILLOTINE INTO THE RINGPOST! Then Cage throws Konnan into the wall of The Temple for good measure! BRAINBUSTER ON A CHAIR BY PUMA…for 2! 630 SENTON MISSES! Cage is up in a flash and takes his head off with the discus lariat. WEAPON X! MOUNTED PUNCHES! This is what he beat Puma with last time! But Konnan doesn’t throw in the towel now! ROLLING POWERBOMBS THROUGH A TRASH CAN! Cage is now so confident in victory he stops to pick a fight with Hernandez…which is every bit as retarded as when he got himself DQ’d in his last title shot! Konnan sneaks in and levels Cage with his new, metal walking cane. It leaves him in position for the 630 SENTON! Puma retains at 12:13
Rating - **** - The way Lucha Underground books and lays out their stories on a week-to-week basis is very good, but there are a number of performers who’s character and actions just don’t seem to match up. I struggled to make sense of Cage getting himself disqualified last time…and it made even less sense this time that he’d randomly pick a fight with Hernandez when he was seemingly just seconds from victory. Making such laughable errors in judgement is the exact opposite of what someone branded as a cold-hearted ‘Machine’ would want to do. Thankfully, before the finish the match we got was spectacular. I didn’t think it had as much depth as their second match (which I loved), but as a stunt-show sprint it was all kinds of awesome. Puma/Ricochet is an amazing flyer, Cage is phenomenally strong and always looks good throwing smaller guys around…so naturally throwing them together and letting them go all out like this made for a real spectacle. Hernandez doesn’t do a lot for me, and his arrival into Lucha Underground didn’t seem to be worth overshadowing the blow-off to this feud for…but thus far LU has told some pretty interesting stories (and even made Matt Cross a popular talent) so I’m willing to keep an open mind to see where they are going with it.
Konnan is the man who presents Puma with the new Lucha Underground Championship. They embrace, having seemingly repaired their relationship, as the show ends.
Tape Rating - *** - This is actually a tough episode to rate. There isn’t a bad, or wasted moment at all and – as usual – LU presented us with a slick and pulsating 45-minutes of action. But none of the matches felt like they lived up to their full potential, and that’s disappointing. Havoc/Angelico was the best match from that feud thus far, but I’m still waiting for the hook which really draws me into their storyline. El Patron/Texano was solid, but felt like a rushed conclusion to their storyline and incredibly damaging to Texano’s credibility moving forward. The main event was another thrilling LU Title Match which is well worth checking out…but marred by a really poor finish which I personally found immensely frustrating and hard to explain. Ultimately my view is that one should consider this a solid show – containing plenty of good wrestling, but ultimately leaving you wanting more. For a promotion which uses episodic, seasonal television as it’s only method of distribution that is critical.