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Welcome to this week’s Lucha Underground Analysis! In what I assumed would be one match out of many on this week’s show, the Six to Survive elimination match actually filled the entire broadcast! Ivelisse and Taya are in this Number One Contender’s match, taking on each other and Johnny Mundo, King Cuerno, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix.
In this one, look out for Ivelisse’s exchanges with Pentagon and Fenix, Taya’s lashing of the hamstring from Penta, and then the girls one-on-one clash that leads to an elimination! Catrina make an appearance too!
Thoughts: This was one again a display of Lucha Underground pulling out the unexpected. Considering we’re a month or so away from when I expect Ultima Lucha to take place, I didn’t think for one moment that the show’s officials would have a sole match take up an entire broadcast – but they did and I loved it. How Pentagon and Fenix went for 40 minutes, I’ll never know. To all the pro-wrestling doubters, I’d like to see you have the cardio and memory to perform and remember the entirety of that amazing spectacle!
I’m not going to lie, this was not Ivelisse’s best performance as she made a few little errors earlier on. In one instance, they were masked by King Cuerno and whoever else it was that threw her over the top rope, but they were more obvious at other times. I do think that Taya and Ivelisse’s section of the match was severely edited – notice the quick-cuts and really close-up camera work. That camera style wasn’t really seen elsewhere in the match.
I did like Ive’s tussles with Fenix and Pentagon however. It was great to see her clash with a former LU Champion and a potential next champion. Fenix not wanting to attack her and then having no choice because she was rana-ing like the best of them was fun.
Taya was the female MVP for me, notably because of how much punishment we can take. I’ve always been a fan of how selfless she is with her body to put on a good match, and those kicks to the hamstring proved just that – they were major ZINGERS! Her moonsault was also excellent and not a level of athleticism I’ve seen from her before. She sold the package piledriver like a pro too. She wasn’t without minor errors (the spinning DDT didn’t quite connect properly) but she excelled overall.
I just hope that Taya gets a big win at Ultima Lucha Dos though. I know she guided Johnny to Trios Title glory (which was strangely not mentioned at all on commentary – maybe to stop people from thinking Johnny would have no choice of winning?) but she’s not had many solo wins. She’s not one of the champs herself, and she’s too talented to just be a manager.
Speaking of being a manager, I’d love Catrina to start wrestling. She is yet to have an official match in The Temple, despite her prior experience. If Black Lotus is finally getting in the ring at Ultima Lucha, then so can Catrina. Or she can at least whip out her amazing Dragon Sleeper from NXT: Redemption. Right, now I’ve talked about Maxine and I can’t get her theme song out of my head…
