‘Lucha Underground’ Review (July 4th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Lucha Underground review on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we should get right to the action!
Match #1: Big Bad Steve lost to Jake Strong
My Take: As matches go, this was not what you would call “ambitious”. The whole idea was to introduce Jake Strong, who is the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger. Strong typically got the wrong end of the deal while working for Vince McMahon, with most of his momentum halted just as he was starting to gain some steam. Strong looks so different outside the WWE, despite having an identical look to his WWE days. It could be said that Strong’s training for Bellator has had an effect on his confidence (and that’s likely true) but I’d argue that it’s simply a thrill for any wrestler to go to work without having to run every second of their work by a dozen people before they even do it. Any-way, Strong was made to look like a wrestling machine, in the same vein as Kurt Angle, which is a bizarre, yet satisfying sight in a fight league as strange as Lucha Underground. The action for the match was brief, as this was Strong’s squash match to win. Strong’s ankle lock was made to look brutal and grueling, so it should figure into his future fights. This was a good debut for Jake Strong and it should lead to good things for very talented wrestler.
Match #2: Daga and Kobra Moon lost to Johnny Mundo and Taya – Tag Team Match
My Take: This was a fun, spirited bout that kept your attention. Mundo and Taya were the stars here, which shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve followed their work elsewhere. The idea of a husband/wife tag combo is still relatively new to wrestling, with only a handful of examples to reference (Johnny Gargano/Candice LaRae, Sable and Marc Mero, Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch, as well as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, just to name a few). The idea of mixed tag wrestling, on the other hand, is not new, but it still feels that way, which is just a sign of how far back we still are in, not just wrestling, but our society in general. We should be at the point where this is nothing new, but it still feels like it’s the first time this is happening. Hell, I seem to recall that Lucha Underground gave a woman their World Heavyweight Title at some point, didn’t they? Hopefully, we’ll see more competitive bouts like these in mainstream wrestling in the future, instead of the obnoxious ones we get from Vince McMahon on some occasions. Oh, the match was good. I should mention that again, just in case you think I forgot about it.
Match #3: Matanza Cueto beat Mr. Pectacular
My Take: This was a squash of the first order, with Matanza beating the life out of Pectacular, who is former TNA/Impact tag team champion and current soap opera star Jessie Godderz. Jeff Cobb, the man playing Matanza, is quickly becoming one of wrestling’s most demanded fighters and it will be interesting to see what happens to him in his future. Also, if Cobb leaves, who could play Matanza as well as he has? Any-way, I believe Matanza sacrificed Mr. P’s soul to Satan or some-thing like that. If these guys had a union to help with their contract negotiations then they could have it written in that their souls can’t be used as collateral for a match stipulation. Then again, since Mr. Pectacular is in show business, it could be argued that his soul is already gone. Wow, even I find that a little harsh… yet I’m not erasing the sentence.
Match #4: Main Event – King Cuerno beat Chavo Guerrero Jr.
My Take: This was the best match on the show and a pretty good one, overall. First off, Chavo still has the chops after all these years. Chavo had a bad run in the WWE that featured some nice matches with Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit (this was before Benoit went crazy and killed his family, so we can talk about him without the extra dose of controversy, if you don’t mind) and was constantly struggling to regain the flexibility in his body that he had in WCW. Once Chavo left the WWE he was to heal his body and now we have this older version of Chavo that seems to be in better shape than the young one. Chavo has also been working on the GLOW stunt coordinator crew, so if you like that show, then give Chavo Guerrero Jr. a big, wet kiss (unless he tells you he doesn’t want one) for helping make that show happen. Any-way, who cares about Chavo, any-how? King Cuerno was the star of the fight and he was the one the crowd seemed to like more, at least from what I heard. One thing that Lucha Underground does very well is to find thing for their top stars to do when they are not challenging for a title. King could do quite well in the international market, just as Pentagon has recently and I hope we see more of King Cuerno around the world as soon as possible. As for this match, we had a nice mixture of every kind of fight technique, from brawling to grappling to submissions to striking and every-thing in between. Chavo jept up with the younger Cuerno and did his job when the time came like a true professional, which is all you can ever ask of a wrestler.
News of the Night:
- The Reptiles are continuing their feud with Worldwide Underground.
- Matanza sent Mr. Pectacular’s soul to the Aztec God of… Matanza.
- King Cuerno received an Aztec Medallion for winning in the main event.
- Brain Cage must wrestle Mil Muertes to get an Aztec Medallion so he can challenge for the Lucha Underground Title.
Final Verdict: This was a fun, bizarre card that continues to show why Lucha Undeground is the most unique, yet awkward wrestling league in the world today. Also, awkward may be the most awkward word to spell in the English language. What a night!
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Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.