Lucha Underground – Season One Episode 28 – 20th May 2015
Shoots & Ladders
This is one of those episodes where we come in already knowing what our main event will be. Unlikely Trios Champions Angelico, Son Of Havoc and Ivelisse are forced to defend their belts against The Crew in a Ladder Match – despite Ivelisse breaking her ankle just a couple of weeks ago in the finals of the tournament. Will the popular yet chronically dysfunctional team find a way to overcome seemingly impossible odds once again to escape with their gold? Find out with Matt Striker and Vampiro inside The Temple in Boyle Heights, CA.
Prince Puma vs Marty Martinez
One of the Executive Producers on this show was also a producer on WWE’s Tough Enough Season 5, and Marty joins fellow talents Ivelisse and Son Of Havoc from that series in joining the Lucha Underground roster. We saw him as a muscular, deranged individual who pleaded with Cueto to let him compete in The Temple…then he crashed a #1 contendership match with El Jefe refused. It seems he has now been noticed, and granted a huge opportunity to face the LU Champion in non-title action in his debut match! He celebrates the opportunity by creeping on Melissa Santos during her introduction.
Marty applauds Puma during his entrance then enthusiastically hugs him once the bell rings. He then clocks the blind-sided champ with a clothesline as he continues to present himself as an utterly deranged individual. Prince puts together a flurry of extravagant kicks to beat The Moth back, only for Martinez to show impressive resilience and smash him to the ground again with a lariat. Marty wants to fly…and takes an eternity to set up his attempt at a moonsault. It misses and Puma drops him with the Blue Thunder Driver. 630 Senton finishes The Moth off at 03:49
Rating - ** - As far as enhancement matches go this was ok. I don’t know enough about Marty as a wrestler to comment on his skills, but I will say that I thought he was spot on with his delivery of a completely unhinged whack-job…and in a promotion which bases it’s entire existence around whacky storylines you’d suggest that stands him in good stead. He was actually given a little more offence than I’d have liked against the champion. Puma/Ricochet is an awesome worker, but we are still waiting for a defining performance from him. The one that makes you stand up and take notice; the one that gives the impression that he OWNS the LU Title rather than has it as a storyline prop to keep him over.
Hernandez is watching from the top of the steps, and is goaded by an angry Konnan. For now the big man declines to get into the ring with the champ…
Vampiro conducts an interview with Johnny Mundo, looking for an answer as to why he assaulted Alberto last week. The windows of Dario’s office are still boarded up by the way! Vampiro suggests that Johnny is jealous of Alberto stealing his spotlight…and Mundo pretty much agrees. He calls out El Patron as ‘overpaid and overrated’, then points out he’s only here because no other promotion wants him…whereas Johnny has voluntarily been here since day one. Nice work by both guys here…
In his office Cueto gives a morbid pep-talk to The Crew ahead of the main event. He wants them to sacrifice the Trios Champions to the Lucha Gods this evening…and if they don’t they will become a sacrifice to someone else (i.e. his caged brother).
Delavar Daivari vs Texano
Last time these two met the match was thrown out after just a few seconds because Texano couldn’t control his anger and shoved the referee down. The former AAA Mega Champion is still fuming that Daivari caused him to lose a pinfall to the (relatively) unknown Killshot as part of the Trios Tournament final and wants revenge. For his part Daivari is rich, carefree, and only here because he enjoys violence and hurting people. Is he as motivated as Texano to dish out a beating tonight?
Striker refines Daivari’s backstory slightly – in that he is rich because of his family wealth, not because he made his own money in property as was implied when he was introduced. He starts impressively, picking apart Texano’s arm much in the same was as we’ve witnessed Alberto El Patron do previously. He lands rolling German suplexes but can’t complete a trifecta and eats a front lungblower. Before he can mount any further offence Big Ryck appears and takes him out! That’s a second DQ finish for these guys – at 03:53.
Rating - DUD - This feud isn’t doing much for me thus far, albeit I love that this effectively explains how it was that Big Ryck had a fat wad of cash during his scene with The Mack last week. I don’t like that it is basically turning Texano into a tecnico when he was so fun as a heel. I’ve never been a huge fan of Shawn Daivari’s work, and I really hate how they’ve retconned his character into a playboy spending his parents’ money. He is FAR too old for that gimmick (his younger brother Ariya would’ve been a better bet) and it made him far more credible when we believed he was a guy who had made a fortune off his own back after leaving the WWE. Adding Ryck to the mix with these two certainly won’t up the likelihood of any decent wrestling either…
Delavar and Ryck, as his hired goon, put the boots to Texano…
Catrina uses her powers of teleportation to haunt Dario Cueto in his office. She overheard his desire for a sacrifice earlier…and promises that Mil Muertes can deliver one. He is coming back more powerful than ever, and wants to end ‘the man who cannot die’, Fenix. She demands a Death Match, and the knowing smirk on El Jefe’s face would suggest he agrees.
Black Lotus has abandoned the tutelage of El Dragon Azteca and is on her way back to The Temple to ‘fulfil her destiny’ and face Matanza. Dragon reads this in her diary, before Chavo Guerrero enters the fray. He offers to go back to The Temple and keep Black Lotus safe…on the proviso that Azteca helps him ‘clear his debt’ with ‘Mexico’, where he still has not been forgiven for attacking Blue Demon.
Son Of Havoc/Ivelisse/Angelico vs Cortez Castro/Mr Cisco/Bael – LU Trios Title Ladder Match
Watching Havoc, Ivelisse and Angelico overcome their differences and a deck hugely stacked against them to become the first ever Trios Champions is one of the highlights of the first season of Lucha Underground. Thrown together to entertain the boss, Cueto has become annoyed with their plucky stubbornness and refusal to lay down to ‘his men’, The Crew. He thought he’d given Castro, Cisco and Bael an easy route to Trios gold by not putting them in the tournament and instead having them instantly face the winners in a No DQ Match…and was left furious when they couldn’t get the job done even though Ivelisse had a broken ankle. They must win tonight, or be left to face the wrath of the mysterious Matanza! Thankfully their task is made considerably easier by the fact that the champs still can’t get along…and Ivelisse still has her broken ankle in a heavy cast.
Ivelisse is on crutches, and none of her team make a proper entrance since The Crew ambush them at the top of the steps! Cisco mauls Angelico into the crowd as Bael and Cortez beat Havoc down the stairs. Bael then PUNCHES the defenceless Ivelisee in the face. SOH tries in vein to retrieve a ladder, but as Castro and Bael snatch it from him ANGELICO SOMERSAULT PLANCHAS THROUGH IT! Cisco repays the favour by dropkicking a ladder into Son Of’s face! Hurdling knee strike from the floor into the ring by Angelico, who smartly makes a move for the belts early. All three opponents drag him off the ladder and put the boots to him. Bael steel chairs a ladder into Angelico’s balls! He sets up a table inside the ring, with Havoc the intended victim. He moonsaults through Cisco though, then back body drops Bael into a ladder! Double stomp DDT off the ladder nailed by Mr C and Castro to put him down however. Cisco then rips the wooden boards off the windows of Dario’s office to beat Angelico to the ground with! Cortez props Ang up against two open tables on the floor…only for him to pop up and shove Cisco off a ladder, through the open windows into Cueto’s office! Angelico climbs the ladder…onto the roof of the office! The fans know what is coming next! But so does Cortez Castro, and he’s there waiting to BEAT THE SH*T out of him with a Singapore cane. DIVING TACKLE THROUGH THE WINDOW from Cisco to Havoc! The Crew try to shove the masked man off a ladder, but he LANDS ON THE ROPES FOR AN ASAI MOONSAULT! He wants to put Bael through a table but is ambushed on the top by Mr Cisco…so he shoves Mr C through tables on the floor instead! SHOOTING STAR PRESS NAILED…but he undershot it a little and the table doesn’t break. Cortez is left alone with a ladder and starts to climb. ANGELICO STOPS HIM WITH A MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE ROOF OF THE OFFICE INTO THE RING! HOW THE F*CK IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE! HERE COMES IVELISSE ON ONE LEG! She climbs…SHE WINS! The unlikely champions have done it again! They retain at 13:41
Rating - **** - The crowd wasn’t quite as electric as they were during the tournament finals episode, and obviously it’s a shame that the table didn’t break on one of the centrepiece spots…but for the most part this was completely wild. The first Angelico dive from the office roof is the one which gets replayed the most, but for my money this one was even more insane. To fly that distance, and with such precision to connect with a DROPKICK on a guy climbing a ladder is an amazing feat…and not to mention must have hurt like hell. Some of the stuff they did with the broken window was extremely innovative too, so the environment really did contribute to making this a unique spectacle.
Tape Rating - *** - Up to the main event, the in-ring content from this episode was uncharacteristically weak. Puma/Martinez was filler content, whilst Daivari/Texano was pretty lousy. Thankfully this is a story-driven promotion, and on that front some of the segments/sequences we saw here were fantastic. Mundo’s first interview as a heel was a good one, the revelation that Black Lotus is on her way back to The Temple (with Chavo Guerrero in hot pursuit) was interesting, and we set up next week’s massive Fenix/Muertes rematch with another brilliant Catrina appearance. They built to a really enjoyable main event which featured possibly the most insane high spot Lucha Underground has produced thus far and another immensely popular victory for the Trios Champions. Not as much rewatch value in this show as there has been in others…but once again as a piece of episodic television this promotion really delivers.