Lucha Underground – November 26, 2014: They’re Slipping
Lucha Underground
Date: November 26, 2014
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
Finally caught up here with a show I’ll probably keep reviewing weekly. The interesting story now is likely going to be Mundo wondering why Puma didn’t come out to help him, putting a strain on their tentative partnership. Other than that we have a lot of masked guys running around and flipping a lot, which is perfectly fine for the most part. Let’s get to it.
We open with the usual recap from last week.
Konnan comes in to see Cueto on Puma’s behalf. He isn’t pleased with Puma being attacked last week but Cueto says they were acting on Big Ryck’s orders. Konnan isn’t sure if he believes that but wants Puma vs. Ryck in a street fight tonight. Cueto says he’ll drink to that but Konnan takes the glass from him and drinks it himself.
Drago vs. Mil Muertes
Drago has a big black tongue to go with the dragon motif. The announcers already screw up their own continuity by saying this is Mil’s first real test, despite his first match being against Blue Demon Jr., who they treated like the greatest thing ever. Muertes jumps Drago to start and tries a powerslam but drives Drago’s shoulder into the mat instead. Now it’s Drago being thrown out to the floor as King Cuerno is looking on from the entrance. Apparently he’s stalking his latest prey.
Back in and Muertes stays in control with a real powerslam for two. He charges into a superkick though and Drago fires off more kicks for two. A springboard DDT gets the same on Muertes but he spears Drago out of the air in a great looking crash. The Downward Spiral ends Drago a few seconds later.
Rating: C-. This was just a step above a squash but that spear looked great. Drago comes off like a midcard guy who seems to be like a Kofi Kingston: capable of doing some impressive looking stuff but comes up short in the big matches. Cuerno vs. Muertes could be a very interesting feud depending on how it’s built up.
Muertes and Catrina leave so Cuerno comes out to stalk Drago. So much for the more interesting feud. Cuerno lays out Drago with a fireman’s carry into a Michinoku Driver.
Video on Johnny Mundo. He won’t take nonsense from anyone and is here because he thinks he’s the best. This is mostly stuff we already know but it’s a good idea to fill people in who didn’t see him in WWE.
Catrina and Muertes in to see Cueto. She grabs the key around Cueto’s neck and says you can’t keep darkness locked away forever. Interesting indeed.
Son of Havoc vs. Mascarita Sagrada
Havoc has Ivelisse with him. She takes too long getting out of the ring though so Sagrada goes after Havoc to start fast. An armdrag puts Havoc down on the floor and Sagrada teases a big dive but he settles for countering a chokeslam into a rollup for two back inside. Havoc is ticked off though and throws Sagrada into the air for a big crash. A gorilla press drop into a standing moonsault gets no cover as Havoc would rather ram Sagrada’s head into the mat. Some good looking woman with long hair is watching from the entrance.
The small guy dives into a kick to the ribs for two with Havoc pulling him up. Ivelisse gets in a kick to the head of her own, earning her a dive a few moments later. Striker: “Payback is an Ivelisse!” Good line, but explaining it to Vampiro a few seconds later made me shake my head. Havoc goes out to check on her and gets a dive of his own to put all three down. Back in and Sagrada does his spin around into a rollup for the pin.
Rating: D+. Other than Ivelisse looking great, this really didn’t do much for me. Much like last week, you run the risk of the fans thinking Havoc is a joke because of the loss to a guy Sagrada’s size. Nothing much to see here and the announcers barely acknowledged the girl watching from the entrance.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Sexy Star
This is the fallout from a few weeks back when Chavo nailed Star with a chair in a rather violent act. Star looks all ticked off and….shoves him. Chavo shoves her in the face and pulls Star down by the hair like the villain he is. He sends her into the corner before kissing Star, earning him a slap to the face. A nice hurricanrana sends Chavo out to the floor and Star grabs a chair of her own and kicks the referee low when he tries to break it up.
Post match Pentagon Jr. comes out and picks up the chair, seemingly to hit Star. Cue Fenix for the save, likely setting up a tag match.
Big Ryck vs. Prince Puma
Street fight and Ryck has Cortez and Cisco in his corner. Puma says it’s 3-1 but the lackeys head to the floor. He goes right after Ryck with rights and lefts but Ryck just blasts him with forearms. Ryck pulls Puma away from the ropes for a crash but misses a charge into the post. Castro and Cisco are quickly dispatched but something like an F5 is countered into a DDT, sending Ryck out to the floor.
Puma hits a huge dive to take everyone down but Cortez offers a distraction, allowing Ryck to nail a big running clothesline. Cortez is busted open as Ryck kicks Puma in the back over and over. Cisco throws in a trashcan to be wedged into the corner. Puma is whipped back first into the can and a gorilla press drops him face first onto the turnbuckle. The goons come in again and Ryck sits in a chair as they pick Puma apart.
Puma finally backflips out of a double belly to back suplex and takes the lackeys down with a DDT/Downward Spiral. That’s not it though as Puma kicks Ryck out of the chair, leaving Puma to take the kendo stick away from Cortez. A shot to Ryck’s back just gets on his nerves though and he swats away a shot to the head. Puma gets blasted in the face as Cortez and Cisco throw in a ladder.
Ryck adds a table as the goons tie Puma in a Tree of Woe in the ladder. Not that it matters as Johnny Mundo dives off the wall and into the ring for a save. That looked awesome, even though he landed next to Ryck. Mundo throws the ladder onto Cortez and Cisco before spearing Ryck down and hammering away. Johnny grabs a chair but hits Puma by mistake, allowing Cisco and Cortez to hit their flapjack Codebreaker. A release Rock Bottom through the table is enough to end Puma.
Rating: C. Eh I’ve seen better. This was just your standard set of weapons but with Puma fighting in a handicap match instead of anything normal. It’s clear that they’re setting Puma up as a big deal, which is interesting given that you would think Mundo would be the first top star. Not bad here but it just kind of came and went.
Mundo checks on Puma to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. This one didn’t do much for me. It was much more about setting stuff up for the future than anything here and while that’s good for down the line, it really doesn’t do much at the present. The street fight was nothing of note and the rest of the matches were just kind of there. A lot of stuff has been set up for the future though and that’s enough to keep me coming back.
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Sexy Star and Pentagon Jr. are Mixed Tag Team Champions in AAA.