1. Son of Havok (w/Ivelisse) vs Angelico – Things started off with some very cringy piped in boo’s for Ivelisse. Either I don’t notice it when they do this, or they don’t do it very much, but it never comes off well when promotions do this. She went on to cut a promo complaining about the lack of respect SoH has received on social media, and proclaimed herself the baddest botch in The Temple. Good promo. Ivelisse has always been very talented, but the inside word is that politically attitude issues have been an issue for her. Angelico had his coming out party a few weeks ago in a four way match. He’s the regular tag team partner of Jack Evans (and they are sometimes joined by Australian Suicide to form a trio) in AAA proper, and on the advice of lucha aficionado Rob Viper (on the heels of Konnan publicly ripping the lack of support they received in the Wrestling Observer Awards) I checked out some of their work this week, and you should too, beacuse they really are pretty awesome. This was a fun, evenly worked match, and probably the best pure showcase of SoH yet. For the finish, Angelico went after Ivelisse on the apron. SoH tried for a school boy, but Angelico kicked him away and into Ivelisse, knocking her off the apron. Angelico then used his own school boy for the win. They’re teasing some dissension between SoH and Ivelisse, based on the idea that SoH never wins, and Ivelisse is frustrated with being linked to a loser. ***
Dario Cueto nervously made a peace offering to Johnny Mundo. He said when Mundo is around, that means five star main events. Hey man, I like Mundo as much as the next guy, but let’s pump the brakes. He offered Mundo a match against Cage. Mundo called Cage a “hambone” (wut) and walked off. I guess this means we have a match? Honestly I wasn’t sure, and Cueto looked nervous and confused as well. Cueto was at his sleazy best here, trying to set up Mundo to get murdered by Cage. Mundo, always the coolest guy in the room, seemed one step ahead.
A few weeks back, Mundo punched Cueto’s lights out. What I love about this show is that ever since that punch, Mundo is the one character that seems to make Cueto nervous as fuck whenever he’s around, and Cueto is always trying to come up with some underhanded scheme to destroy the guy. This is honest to goodness long term character development, and it rules.
2. Famous B vs Pentagon – Yes! If you’ve been paying attention, you’d know that Pentagon Jr is my current favorite wrestler. This dude has some of the most violent looking offense in wrestling, and projects himself as a genuine killer. I think he’ll be one of the breakout stars in all of wrestling for 2015. They gave him a nice personality profile video here before the match, where he talked about having no fear and wanting to fight and destroy people, all while beating up a room full of generic movie villain looking bad guys. This was some fine foreshadowing, as following a package piledriver he locked in an arm submission, tapped his opponent, refused to let go after the bell, and BROKE HIS ARM. He then proceeded to cut a promo where he once again emphasized “Zero Fear”. I’m beyond hyped for a solid Pentagon Jr push. **
Cueto, with the key around his neck, is shown talking to the still yet to be revealed person locked in the cage. Sleazy Dario was revealed as a liar once again, as he brought up the mysterious Asian woman and noted that she was looking for the dude/woman/transvestite/mini/monster/whatever is inside the cage. Last week when confronted and questioned by the mysterious Asian woman in his office, he insisted that he had no idea who or what she was talking about.
3. Aerostar vs Drago – Vampiro called these guys “the two biggest stars in the world of Lucha Underground”. What on Earth is he talking about? I’m all for putting guys over, but neither of these guys has been pushed anywhere close to that level. This was a “get your shit in” sprint with both men, well, getting their shit in. Aerostar is one smooth flyer, and Drago reminds me of a more physical version of Samuray Del Sol, who is now plying his trade in NXT as Kalisto. Drago won it with a running Blockbuster that he turned into an inverted DDT, which may have been by accident. It looked cool either way. A nice win to put him back on track post-King Cuerno feud. **3/4
Fenix is shown kicking a heavy bag. Catrina sneaks up behind him, babbles something about his tattoo, and lays a kiss on him. She warns him to not tell Mil Muertes anything about this. So Catrina has the hots for Fenix. This is like living across the hall from a guy who came back from the war a little “off”, who also happens to have a hot girlfriend, and he catches her borrowing milk from you while dressed a little to scantly clad than he’d like. Now you’re pretty sure the guy wants to kill you in your sleep, and you haven’t even done anything wrong.
4. Cage vs Johnny Mundo – King Cuerno was hanging out in the rafters, and predictably went after Mundo after a few minutes of good action. The ref waived off the match while Cuerno attacked Mundo and posted his knee. Cueto came out of the office to restart the match, clearly hoping Cage would finish off Mundo now that Mundo was fighting on one leg. Vampiro wondered allowed whether Cueto was being a dick for continuing the bout. Yes, he called Cueto a DICK. After the restart, Cage was all over the leg, using moves like the stretch muffler, and after a few hope spots he won it with a big lariat followed by what looked like a modified Gory Special. I’ve never seen a promotion where I am less familiar with the moves. These guys really need to stop inventing new shit because I always feel like a goof for not knowing what to call this stuff. ***
The show ends with Cueto on the phone, interrupted by a knock on the door. I know seeing this in written word will do the line no justice, but Cueto yelling “Go home, the show is over!” totally cracked me up. But this was no fan knocking on the door. It was Alberto El Patron…but you already knew that. WINK. Cool ending.
Final Thoughts
Some good action this week, but obviously the big story is the debut of the world’s hottest free agent, Alberto El Patron. I still think “El Patron” is a stupid name, but like most stupid names, it’ll eventually become second nature and not sound so ridiculous. I think El Patron’s potential value to wrestling promotions is a little overrated, and I actually think he’ll mean more to whatever MMA/kickboxing entity he ends up fighting with, but if there is one promotion where he could have a real business impact, it might be Lucha Underground, with the obvious reason being a potential draw for Hispanics. From a pure in ring standpoint, there is a lot to be excited about, with tons of fresh matches on the table, but…you already knew that.
