Lucha Underground
January 14, 2015
El Rey Network
We begin this week with Dario Cueto putting over Fenix like a million bucks and asking him for a favor – he wants Prince Puma destroyed. Fenix is all like, “hey bro, I don’t fight for you, I fight for myself.” Cueto, likely expecting that response, sweetens the pot by making it a title match. Fenix is pleased with this and exits the office. The camera then zooms in on the office window, where we see that the mysterious Asian woman has been peering in on the Cuteo/Fenix meeting.
The booking in this company is starting to look better and better as each week goes by. Several weeks ago, Fenix defeated Puma. At the time, it served to advance the story of Konnan being disappointed in Puma’s effort. Now with Fenix firmly established as one of the top stars, that win set up Fenix as a logical title challenger, and also now serves as a logical reason why Cueto would recruit Fenix to do his dirty work since Cueto knows Fenix has proven he can get the job done.
Elimination Match – Aerostar vs Argenis vs Angelico vs Cage: Four new fighters! One thing this promotion does very well is slow roll their new faces with a back story and a purpose. Pick any person on the roster, and a regular viewer can give you some character details and what their current beef is. Aerostar hails from THE COSMOS. Striker claims Argenis is a cross between Dr Wagner Jr & Silver King. Look, I don’t ever attempt to pass myself off as any kind of lucha expert, but I’ve seen enough of all three of those men to know that those comparisons are highly questionable at best. Angelico is a South African who Striker compares to Zack Sabre Jr and X-Pac. Wut? Cage, of course, is Brian Cage, best known from PWG. They’ve been teasing his debut for months. This match was bananas. BANANAS. Cage eliminated everybody, but not before everyone had a chance to shine. Angelico performed the spot of the match (in match full of great spots) when he did a flying crossbody from the inside of the ring over the turnbuckle to the floor on all three opponents. Cage eliminated Argenis with a pump handle slam, Aerostar with a discus lariat, and Angelico with a second big discus lariat. Cage, who is a bodybuilder, looked more jacked than ever. He’s known for being very agile for his size, and may have lost a bit of that agility with the added bulk, but it’s still there. At one point he caught Aerostar in a perfect suplex position with Aerostar coming off of the top turnbuckle on a dive, which looked flat out amazing and was something I had never seen before. Cage came out of this looking like a star, but the other three dudes hardly looked like jobbers in the process. Well done. ***1/4
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Next up was Chavo Guerrero Jr’s face to face in ring apology to Blue Dee Moan Jr. Of course this was a swerve, which if Jim Ross is reading, means that Chavo really wasn’t there to apologize. Chavo ran down BDJ while pulling a pair of brass knux out of his pocket. This backfired, as BDJ laid Chavo out with a chair and left him laying. Somehow, some way, this promotion has me looking forward to a Chavo Guerrero Jr vs Blue Demon Jr match.
King Cuerno vs Drago: Cuerno almost immediately went right for a table under the ring. This backfired badly, as he ended up on the table for an insane Drago dive off of the balcony. Both guys sold like they were dead, and the match ended in a double count out. I had no idea LU even had count outs, but whatever. This feud must continue, and that’s a good thing, because this feud is FUN. Not really a match, but two stars for the crazy table spot. **
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Lucha Underground Championship – Prince Puma (c) vs Fenix: Last week Cueto referred to the title as the “Lucha Underground World Title”, but this week it was being called the Lucha Underground Championship. This was a great match. They worked this even, with no long control periods for either man. What struck me here was how both of these guys have some of the most creative and innovative offensive move sets in all of wrestling, which made for a really fun match. Fenix got a near fall using Puma’s 450 splash. Striker pointed this out and Vampiro got annoyed, name dropping Jushin Thunder Liger, Great Sasuke, and SUPER DELFIN as the true innovators of the move. I’m not sure I’d associate that move strongly with any of those three guys. In fact, I’m not even sure if I’ve ever seen any of them do a 450 splash, period. Puma retained with the 630 senton, after Fenix attempted to do a rope walk (actually, a rope run) towards Puma who was positioned on the opposite turnbuckle, presumably to try a hurricanrana. Puma surprised him with a crescent kick, which set up the 630. That rope run spot was incredible, about the third or fourth spot from this show that I had never seen before in my life. Cage attacked Puma post match, and basically murdered him. Cage really came out of this show looking like something special. ***3/4
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Final Thoughts:
What a great hour of TV this was. There is a ton of buzz going around concerning last week’s show that featured the Aztec Warfare match, but I thought this show was even better. This show is always well booked and always, ALWAYS delivers bell to bell. The action is fast paced, innovative, and fun. Every person who appears on screen has a purpose and a story. The finishes and match layouts are very well thought out and always end up making long term sense. They’ve established Puma, Fenix, Big Ryck, Mil Muertes, Cage, Johnny Mundo, and of course, Dario Cueto, as stars. They have Drago, Pentagon Jr, King Cuerno, and several others bubbling below the surface ready to break out. They’ve even managed to make two of the driest wrestlers on the planet, Chavo and Blue Demon Jr interesting.
Lucha Underground is the best wrestling show on TV and it isn’t even close.
