‘Lucha Underground’ Review (Sept 26th 2018)
Welcome to this week’s Lucha Underground review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have… murder! Oh, by the way, we will use a review of LU from WrestlingInc that was written by Joseph James, to provide extra context for this review. Please feel free to visit WrestlingInc if you’d like to see more of their news and reviews about professional wrestling.
Match #1: Matanza Cueto beat Jack Evans
The following is courtesy of WrestlingInc and Joseph James:
Jack avoids Matanaza, rips off a turnbuckle, and pushes Matanza into head first. He goes up and hits a cannonball 630! Jack goes for a cover but Matanza just lifts him up and gives him the Wrath of the Gods for the win.
My Take: 1.5 out of 5 – Matanza squashed a wrestler who is leaving the league. Jack got tired of Ivelisse’s politicking, as well as other things about LU that he claimed to be escaping, and has left the company he has worked for since 2015, if memory serves correctly. This is a sad way to lose a great wrestler, especially since Matanza is leaving LU at the end of the season. There’s a possibility that the gimmick will be given to someone else, but I hope that if that happens, that they are judicious with who receives that character, because Fake Diesel could attest to how hard it can be to fill someone else’s shoes.
Match #2: The Reptile Tribe beat Joey Ryan, XO Lishus and Ivelisse – Lucha Underground Trios Title Match
The following is courtesy of WrestlingInc and Joseph James:
Joey Ryan starts out with Jeremiah. He offers him his lollipop, which Jeremiah happily takes. He then surprises Joey with a jumping front kick. Quick tag to Daga who attempts a dropkick that Joey avoids. Tag to XO Lishus. Lishus hits a top rope backflip arm-drag to Kobra Moon. Jeremiah takes back control and works Lishus over in the corner. Daga hits the dropkick this time. Lishus then responds with a package stunner on Jeremiah and tags in Ivelisse! Ivelisse works over the tribe, and lands a code-red onto Daga that nearly wins the matchup. Jeremiah breaks the count and he and Ivelisse have a staredown. Enziguri by Ivelisse. She then dropkicks Daga into the turnbuckle. Joey gets tagged in and tosses Daga into the corner for ten boot slams to the head. Double superkick from Joey and Ivelisse. Cover but Kobra Moon breaks the count. Kobra and Joey are in the ring, but Joey throws Kobra over the top rope into the rest of the tribe. Action all over the ring as Ivelisse hits a running senton and Lishus hits a suicide dive. Back in the ring Daga traps Joey in a submission, which makes Joey tap.
My Take: 3 out of 5 – This was an interesting match that had a fair amount of action that got my blood pumping. That last phrase about “blood pumping” sounds stupid, doesn’t it? The thing that Joey Ryan does with the lollipop is a bit weird, but I can handle it… sometimes. In this case, it detracted from the match a bit and came across as an amateur thing that a guy that makes no money does to get heat or whatever lousy wrestling term you’d like to slide in there. I don’t mind comedy in wrestling, but it should happen less often and be done with a light touch, rather than devoting entire sequences to getting a laugh instead of getting your match over as legitimate. It’s hard enough having a tag team called the Reptile Tribe who dress like one of those wrestling characters from Black Mask 2, but having goofy shenanigans get involved with a match with a team like that can be a bit much for any casual fan that LU thinks it will get with this broad stroke of booking. Anyway, in order to turn this back to the action, I’ll say that the moves all worked quite well and transitioned into each other fluidly. Overall, this was a good effort that kept the streak of quality matches contested for the Trios Title going strong.
Match #3: Jake Strong beat Drago and Aerostar – Nunchucks Match
The following is courtesy of WrestlingInc and Joseph James:
Strong throws Aerostar out of the ring but the smaller luchadores work over Strong with quick strikes. Strong runs through them both with a shoulder block, tosses them in a corner, and lands a big splash. Strong leaves the ring to grab the nunchucks, but Aerostar holds his foot and Drago gets them first. Aerostar tries to hit a plancha but Strong catches him and tosses him into Drago. Aerostar puts Drago on his shoulders to match Strong’s height. Mist in the face by Drago! He lays into Strong with the nunchucks! Strong eventually breaks it up and throws Drago into a row of chairs. Aerostar dodges an attack by Strong and grabs the other nunchucks. Strong follows Aerostar up and now they’re both fighting on the catwalk. Strong knocks him off. Just Drago left and he nails Strong with nunchucks but Strong uses his power to take control again. Aerostar comes out of nowhere with a flying crossbody from the top of the temple! CROWD GOES WILD. All men finally get back in the ring and Drago and Aerostar lay into the bigger Strong with nunchuck shots. Big tornado DDT from Drago and both men attempt to cover strong! He pushes them off! Strong tosses out Drago and locks the ankle lock in on Aerostar. He taps.
My Take: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a solid match that Vince Russo would love. The idea was that this was a handicap match that had nunchucks available to use at the top of the entrance ramp… on a pole! Russo loved poles and tried to get women as close as to acting like the women that work on them professionally at strip clubs. Anyway, the action was good but still represented the idiotic ideal that two men can’t beat one. It made Drago and Aerostar look weak and pathetic to lose to Jake Strong when they had the advantage.
Match #4: Main Event – Pentagon Dark beat Mil Muertes and El Dragon Azteca and King Cuerno – Fatal Four Way Match For The #1 Contendership To The Lucha Underground World Title
The following is courtesy of WrestlingInc and Joseph James:
Muertes busts out the gate taking out everyone with clotheslines. He follows that up with a DDT on Pentagon, and a TKO on Cuerno. Muertes rag dolls Azteca but Cuerno saves him and throws Muertes to the outside. Cuerno now targets a hurt Azteca but Pentagon surprises Cuerno with an enziguri. POP UP TORNADO DDT BY AZTECA. (Got some height on that one.) On the outside Fenix comes out! He grabs Melissa, who screams: “This isn’t you! This isn’t you!” Azteca immediately goes after Fenix! Tope Con Hilo over the ring post! He and Fenix brawl away from the ring area and now it’s just three men left. Pentagon hits Muertes with a superkick. To the outside…Cuerno takes advantage and lands his signature suicide dive onto both men. The Mack comes out! He lands two stunners on Muertes in the ring! Exploding piledriver from Pentagon Dark onto Muertes! Superkick to Cuerno! Pentagon pins Mil!
My Take: 3 out of 5 – I’m glad Pentagon won, even though this may set Azteca back a bit in his push. The idea of Pentagon having to wrestle Marty Martinez isn’t very exciting, so I would hope his inclusion as the champion is either an indicator that he can wrestle better or that he is just a red herring for the real main event, whatever that may be. This match was a nice clash of LU’s biggest titans, but it never got to be more than just a fun story-line excursion, rather than a great match. I’d love to see these guys fight in a match with more time on the clock, but who knows what LU has planned.
News Of The Night:
- Paul London debuted El Bunny and Kevin/Killer Kross, who will work under the alias of “The White Rabbit”.
- The Mack challenged Mil Muertes to a death match for Ultima Lucha 4.
- The Mack said “Rest In Piece… Mother F@%$er”. You don’t get to hear wrestlers curse like that too often on cable television, which is quite surprising when you consider that the rules on swearing have become relaxed, especially on the El Rey Network.
Final Verdict: 2.5 out of 5 – This was a solid episode with good action. Ultima Lucha 4 is shaping up nicely and we will have a preview of it when the time comes.
