Lucha Underground – December 10, 2014: Matt Striker Is Annoying
Lucha Underground
Date: December 10, 2014
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
We actually have a major match tonight with a $100,000 ladder match between Johnny Mundo, Prince Puma and Big Ryck. This has the potential to be a major match, which might be exactly what the company needs as their ratings haven’t exactly been the best. Granted that’s probably because not a lot of people have the El Rey Network. Let’s get to it.
We open with the usual recap, focusing on the ladder match and Sexy Star getting some revenge in the tag match.
Danny Trejo is still here, likely because this is still the same taping.
King Cuerno vs. Super Fly
There’s a Jimmy Snuka joke in there somewhere. Cuerno jumps him to start and the beating is quickly on. Drago is watching from the crowd as Cuerno runs Super Fly over again for two. A dropkick gets another two as this is firmly in squash territory. The fans are entirely behind Cuerno as Striker brings up Super Calo for some reason before talking about why Fly did a certain “bump.” Fly knocks him out to the floor for a big dive but Cuerno just kicks his head off. Cuerno sees Drago and loads up the sitout Death Valley Driver for the pin.
Rating: C-. I still like the Cuerno character but I’m not thrilled with him feuding with Drago. It just doesn’t seem like a huge challenge to him as Cuerno has just mauled everyone he’s been in there with so far. Hopefully they give him a new feud soon after he destroys Drago. Super Fly didn’t do much for me here.
Solid video on Pentagon Jr., who we’ve seen a few times now. They play him up as a modern day Samurai.
Fenix vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Chavo has Pentagon Jr. with him but Fenix counters with Sexy Star. The fans are split on who they like better here, which isn’t the best sign given that Chavo likes to beat up women. Fenix dropkicks him into the ropes to start and a second one gets two. Off to a Fujiwara Armbar on Chavo for a few seconds followed by the springboard double knee to Chavo’s chest, only to have him roll into a half crab. Pentagon Jr. pulls the rope away but not far enough as Fenix gets the break.
Chavo wraps the leg around the post before just punching Fenix in the face. Back up and Fenix sends him to the floor and hits a big corkscrew dive onto both Jrs. They head back inside with Fenix diving into a slam for two, followed by the Frog Splash for the pin. Sexy Star didn’t do much here.
Rating: C. Not bad here but there’s a limit to how good a Chavo Guerrero match is going to be. He’s another guy that we’ve seen for so many years and there’s just nothing all that interesting to him anymore. It’s not that his matches are bad or anything, but he’s totally maxed out on how far he can grow.
Sexy Star says he (meaning Blue Demon Jr.) is coming back.
Cage (Brian Cage from PWG) is coming. He doesn’t have any special powers because this isn’t make believe. The guy is incredibly muscular and could be a good change of pace from all the high flying.
Prince Puma vs. Johnny Mundo vs. Big Ryck
$100,000 ladder match set up by Cueto giving the hardest worker bonus from week #1 to Ryck. Johnny then threatened Cueto and demanded his money, so this $100,000 is Ryck’s contract bonus. Mundo has also stolen Cueto’s mysterious key. Konnan is announced as being in Puma’s corner but he’s nowhere in sight.
Ryck gets double teamed to start as Striker tries to cover the history of ladder matches. Mundo nails a running kick to Puma’s face, followed by a hard knee. Ryck knocks Mundo off a ladder but Puma baseball slides the ladder into him to take over. Now it’s Mundo pulling Puma down from the ladder but has to avoid the ladder being shoved at his head. Striker says that the briefcase doesn’t have to be airbrushed to signify its significance. This has been Matt Striker’s Weekly Shot At WWE, Thereby Making Him Look Like A Stupid Jerk.
The big man finally gets back in and knocks both guys down with a ladder. Cue Cisco and Cortez to do the climbing, which actually makes sense. Puma and Mundo come in for the save as an ECW chant starts up. They shove the ladder over, sending Cortez down onto Cisco and Ryck in a big crash. Puma is whipped into the ladder against the ropes, setting up a big dive from Mundo to put all the heels down again.
It’s table time, allowing Striker to talk about ECW again. Mundo pounds on Puma’s chest and sets up the required huge ladder on the floor. He climbs up to dive through Cisco on the tables but had to fight off Puma instead. They wind up on the apron but Puma dives through the ladder to take out the villains in a nice spot. Totally choreographed of course but nice. Mundo and Puma head back inside to fight over the ladder with Johnny being sent into the corner with the ladder going into his ribs.
Puma goes for a climb but Mundo is right there (which Striker chalks up to experience. You know, instead of just calling it common sense), only to eat a Diamond Cutter (yes a Diamond Cutter, not an Ace Crusher like “I KNOW MOVE NAMES!” Striker). Ryck and company come back in and bridge a ladder into the other ladder like a platform. Mundo is whipped face first into the platform before being catapulted into it again.
The ladders go down as Ryck just mauls both guys. Now we have a table in the ring as the lackeys double team Mundo. They load up something off the top but Johnny slams Cisco through the tables on the floor to get a breather. Ryck and Mundo both pick up ladders and bang them together with Johnny getting the better of it. Cortez is back up though and loads up a superplex on Puma, only driven through the table by the double knees.
Mundo is waiting on Puma with a ladder to the face and the masked man falls out to the floor. Striker: “It doesn’t matter how many t-shirts you have or how popular your podcast is. It’s about THIS.” Mundo dives over a ladder with a corkscrew dive onto Ryck and follows it up with the End of the World onto Ryck onto the ladder. Puma nails a 630 to the same target before knocking Johnny out to the floor.
Instead of climbing though he puts Johnny on a ladder over the middle rope in the corner. Johnny fights up but gets dropped ribs first into the ladder, only to dive into a Ryck powerbomb. Ryck drops Puma onto Johnny onto the ladder before throwing Puma through another ladder at ringside. He climbs up two ladders in the middle of the ring but Mundo very slowly goes up. Why Ryck didn’t just grab the briefcase isn’t clear but I’d assume it’s due to the script saying he’s not supposed to.
Mundo knocks him off but “a fan” in a mask comes in to shove him down. He takes off the mask to reveal himself as indy wrestler B-Boy (not named) but Mundo beats him up on the floor. Cisco and Cortez go up a ladder but Mundo snaps Ryck’s neck across a rope and springboards up to another ladder. A kick knocks the lackeys’ ladder down and Mundo gets the briefcase.
Rating: B-. This was long and felt like they had a big checklist of spots that they wanted to get in before the end of the match. The overbooking got old in a hurry but at least there was a story to the match. Mundo winning is the logical ending and I’m sure he’ll have to deal with B-Boy now, but it’s still only so good compared to some of the other matches like this that we’ve seen over the years.
Post match Cueto comes out and wants to have a business relationship with Mundo but first, he wants the key back. He demands that Mundo put it around his neck but Johnny puts it upside his head to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This was better for the most part due to the last third being spent on a big match but they need some fresh blood. The problem is these stories just kind of keep going with no real end or goal in sight, which can run out of steam at some point. On top of that, having one major match like this, while entertaining, isn’t a good idea on a one hour show because it keeps a lot of people off the show. Cut a few minutes off this and give us a quick promo or match instead. It would keep the show a bit more fresh. It’s a good episode but there are some tweaks they need to make.
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