Greeeetings all! And welcome to this festive ho-ho-holiday edition of the Lucha Underground Analysis. Oh, the show’s not Christmas themed or anything… but I’m making this post into a mushy lovefest of green and red colored cheer.
So grab yourself a cup of hot cocoa, pull up a chair by the fire (or if you’re in Florida like me… just sit by the air conditioner and leave your house whenever you want since it only falls to about 60 degrees in December), and gather around! Being that the entire premise of this show gets introduced at the start, how about we head right into the action, yes?
Excellent!~
First up, Dario Cueto walks out from the back as ten luchadors stand inside the ring to open the show. He then goes on to announce that tonight we will see two ten way matches (think of this as the Dario Cueto Luchador Invitational) with this being part of a truly epic event. To make things interesting though… the winner of each match will be rewarded. Not monetarily though, but instead with a very unique opportunity.
With that, Dario walks backstage as the ten men compete in an absolutely fantastic match that ends with Fenix scoring the pinfall over Prince Puma.
We head back into the temple and see ten new luchadors in the ring, including that of Sexy Star! It looks like she will be facing off in a Boyle Heights Battle Royal, which varies from the method used in the first match… and I like it! She will be competing against Johnny Mundo, Mil Muertes, Famous B, Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco, Bael, Pimpinela Escarlata, Ricky Mandell and Chavo Guerrero. Sexy looks ready to go after Chavo, running off the ring apron with a seated senton! The two then roll inside as everyone goes at it with one another.
GASP! Here she comes again. Angela Fong is shown scouting the action from the back of the temple, keeping her eyes firmly focused upon the talent in the ring. The match continues on, as Famous B gets eliminated first. Pimpinella then goes for a double armdrag takedown, but gets taken down with a front dropkick from Sexy! Ricky Mandell eliminated second, followed by Pimpi third. Sexy Star charges for Chavo! Unfortunately he slams her down and drags her around the ring by the hair.
He then picks her up but she smacks him in the face and hits a codebreaker. Guerrero flips her outside the ring, but she lands on the ring apron. Hang on Sexy! She goes for a crossbody, but he catches her and tosses her out, thus making Star our fourth eliminated. Womp womp.
Wait a second! I just noticed our benevolent Catrina is ringside, which you’d think I’d have picked up on earlier with Mil being present but I was so gung ho on Star that I missed out. Johnny Mundo and Chavo Guerrero take out two members of the crew, as Mil then removes the fourth! We’re down to Chavo, Mundo and Muertes, as Catrina looks on rooting for her man to stay undefeated. The three go at it for a bit, with Catrina willing Murtes on! Do it for Catrina, Mil. She even adds a bit of help, tripping Mundo up and allowing Murtes to get the upper hand for a bit.
Johnny sets Chavo on the ropes and nails a sharp kick, eliminating him from the match. ANGELA ALERT… we proceed to get another glimpse as Miss Fong remains scouting for the longest period of time thus far in her tenure. Catrina is not going to be happy if it’s Muertes she’s got her eye on.
Mil hits a huge spear on Johnny, much to Catrina’s approval. He sets up for a suplex over the ropes, but Mundo counters and starts to lift Mil up outside! Catrina is right on the action, as Angela continues scouting. They fight back inside the ring again, then moving towards the ropes and onto the ring apron. The action continues as they scrap tooth and nail with Catrina continuing to stand right in on the match. Johnny goes up top and goes for the End of the World, but Muertes gets the knees up and clotheslines him over the ropes! Mil advances to attain the reward and Catrina remains extremely happy with her client!
Fenix and Mil Muertes stand back inside the ring, Catrina down on the floor again as she scouts on. Suddenly, the music of Dario hits and out he struts with a title in hand. He officially introduces the Lucha Underground Championship! Up to the ring he goes, as he hypes the upcoming fight up by announcing it will be contested in the first ever “Aztec Warfare” match. In three weeks, on the first episode of 2015… the luchador who survives Aztec Warfare will become the first ever Lucha Underground Champion!
As far as tonight though, he congratulates Fenix and Muertes on surviving the two matches. However, their night is not over… they have to fight each other with the winner of this singles match entering Aztec Warfare last! However… the loser of the match must also enter the Warfare first!
From there, Fenix and Mil Muertes do battle with Mil Muertes coming out on top! All Hail Catrina! The episode concludes with Mil and Catrina engaging in the lick of death to Fenix, followed by a kiss in the center of the ring between Mil and Catrina as the crowd inside the temple boo with all their might.
Thoughts: Another very, very enjoyable week by Lucha Underground! If you’re only a fan of the women, it wouldn’t be groundbreaking or too insanely awesome, but as a fan of everyone involved with the product, the matches were absolutely insaaane.
I have to say I preferred the first ten person showcase more than the battle royal, just because they got to fly all over the place and go crazy without having to be concerned with eliminations. Definitely recommend everyone check that out even if it only consists of the guys wrestling and that’s not your thing. Prince Puma deserves your attention!
As far as the battle royal, it was good for what it was but I do wish Sexy Star could’ve gotten to eliminate someone. I totally get why they wouldn’t have her take out Chavo though, because if you think about it she has gotten the upper hand a lot recently in terms of the tag team match main event a few weeks ago and the promo she finished their segment off with last week. The feud needs to remain even, and for that, I do think it was good that they had him toss her out since she still did get the focus and attention at the start with her pre-match attack on him.
Adding in Catrina and Angela continues to do nothing short of proving to be exciting for me, and maaaaybe I’m reading too much into it, but the fact Angela stayed out so long this week must mean she was most impressed with either Johnny or Mil. How cool would it be if it ended up being Mil Muertes that caught her eye, and this lead to a feud between she and Catrina? I really think they could work a hot program against each other, and I’d love to see the beautifully shot backstage segments between them as I’m suspecting Angela to be a mysterious character in the vein as Catrina judging by her all black get-up and silent stature.
That’s it for this week! By the sounds of it, they might be taking a few weeks off for the holidays which is understandable, so if there’s no new episode next week I’ll see you guys again in early 2015 as we enter Aztec Warfare (and I assume Sexy Star will be involved since Dario mentioned 20 participants!).
Until next time,
Bobby
