‘Lucha Underground’ Review (August 29th 2018)

Welcome to the Lucha Underground review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and this was a lousy episode of Lucha Underground, so don’t expect much.

Match #1: Jake Strong beat Drago

This was a nice little match that was an even affair for both men. Both competitors looked good here and were able to show what they can do. It was nice to see that the difference in size was ignored, as that part of booking and promoting has been out-dated for close to thirty years. If Bruce Lee can legitimately beat an opponent of any size (people didn’t go watch his movies because he could act) then why can’t professional wrestling completely embrace a short man beating a tall man? People like Vince McMahon and Billy Corgan need to let go of the size thing, because people don’t care about if Rey Mysterio is shorter than the Undertaker, as they just want to see them wrestle. Besides, if there’s any-one out there that thinks that LeBron James can beat Ronda Rousey in a real fight just because he’s taller is in for a shock. By the way, I’m nearly six feet tall, so I am well aware that Danny Devito or Joe Pesci could kick my ass on any day of the week as well. Oh, this match good. Go, watch watch. Big guy fight little guy. Good stuff stuff. No kissy kissy in match match. It good good.

Match #2: XO Lishus beat Jack Evans – No Mas Match

This was the Lucha Underground version of an I Quit match. I thought this was an excellent match that belonged in a better league. That’s right. Lucha Underground is about to get a bad review after this match receives its proper positive review. My only complaint before we heap praise on this match is that it adhered to the trend that is “I’ll ask my opponent if they quit” rather than just beating them until they quit, which is how this stipulation used to work. Imagine if the Steel Cage I Quit match with Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard had featured Blanchard holding a micro-phone over TA an asking him if he wanted to stop. Any-way, the No Mas match was great and was the last thing worth watching on this show.

News Of The Night:

1. Ivelisse, Joey Ryan and XO Lishus may be a faction after the first two helped the third survive the No Mas match.
2. The wedding of Johnny Mundo and Taya sucked. Matanza Cueto attacked the wedding party and it appeared to be at the behest of Ricky Mundo and the doll. This was awful television.

Final Verdict: 2 out of 5 – Lucha Underground is in such dire straits. I try not to be negative about this league because they claim to be different, but different doesn’t give you the right to book a wrestling card that is dominated by talking. The WWE features terrible wrestling cards with very little actual wrestling and I criticize them constantly. LU, despite me often giving them great praise, is much closer to the trash heap of the WWE than I’ve been able to admit. Lucha Underground had a lot of potential in its first season, but that potential has been squandered by this league every step of the way. When you look at how many different genres are wrapped into Lucha Underground and see that it is just a mess, you have to wonder why that is. The answer to the question is that wrestling just doesn’t work as a television show. Wrestling only works as a fake sport being recorded to air on television. Most of the stories on the cards are just ephemeral garbage that is there to fill time, instead of enriching a wrestler’s career. Can Killer Kross take his LU gimmick to any league other than the WWE, Chikara or Dramatic Dream Team? Jeff Cobb isn’t doing a variation of Matanza Cueto at wrestling promotions all over the world. Jeff Cobb is just working as Jeff Cobb. El Mesias isn’t Mil Muertes in AAA, which was true the last time I checked. I love Lucha Underground, but being a gaudy version of 1999 WWF Raw isn’t doing the trick. There are numerous people that like the “thrown at the wall” approach that LU uses, but I just see failure that brings this league closer to the chopping block. The whole aesthetic of LU is nice, but the execution is horrid, aside from the matches themselves. I get the need to experiment, but when it comes at the expense of your league, you need to err on the side of success, instead of expression. Vince can get away with bad booking because he has enough money to pretend that he doesn’t lose a buck when he fails miserably, which is often. I have a feeling that next week will be much better, but episodes like this are just more tripe to deal with.