Lucha Underground – February 11, 2015: The Boss

Lucha Underground
Date: February 11, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

We’re in a new era for Lucha Underground as Alberto El Patron (Del Rio) debuted to close out last week’s show. I know Mundo is a fairly big name still, but Del Rio was World Champion in WWE just a few years back. At the end of the day, Del Rio is a far bigger star than Mundo and one of the biggest stars of recent years, meaning this company has by far its biggest signing. Let’s get to it.

Alberto is in Cueto’s office to start with the boss (as in the boss, not El Patron) admiring Alberto’s style. El Patron is willing to work here but there’s something he needs to get off his chest first. He doesn’t actually ask anything but says the next time he’s in this office, it will be for blood.

El Patron will have an open mic later tonight.

Fenix vs. Argenis

The fans are entirely behind Fenix but Argenis throws him into the air for what looked like a low blow. It’s nice to have them establish who the heel is right off the bat. A big dive through the ropes takes Fenix down again as Striker gives us a brief history of AAA. Fenix rises up and runs inside for that middle rope flip dive of his. Back in and Argenis superkicks him out of the air before planting him with something like a flapjack for two. A middle rope dropkick puts Argenis down but there’s no cover.

Instead Catrina comes out as Fenix hits something like Roman Reigns’ apron kick. Argenis shrugs it off and hits a missile dropkick and standing moonsault for two of his own. They head outside for a corkscrew plancha from Fenix, which Striker thinks turned Catrina on. Vampiro: “I know I’m turned on.” Back in again and Fenix crotches himself on a charge, setting up a powerbomb for two. The fans chant Lucha Fenix (awesome name actually. Ok so maybe it’s LUCHA LIBRE but mine sounds better) as he reverses a tombstone into a fire driver (sitout tombstone) for the pin.

Rating: C. If you can accept that there will be less selling here than in an air conditioning store at the North Pole, you should be able to have some fun with these matches. Fenix is a fun guy to watch and Argenis is firmly in that second level of guys around here who can show up and have a decent match with almost no chance of winning. Seeing Catrina is never a bad thing either.

Catrina crawls inside and gets on top of Argenis, like she does to Muertes’ fallen opponents.

After a break, Catrina is in the back, talking to Muertes about how the power of 1000 deaths was too much for him. He lifts her up by the throat and says he needed nothing. Muertes storms off and runs into Chavo Guerrero. Chavo’s debt is due next week.

Big Ryck prays about killing the Crenshaw Crew, saying God won’t want to stop him after what they put him through. They were three Judases and their blood will be on his hands when he goes Old Testament on them. This was AWESOME and by far the best thing he’s ever done.

House band.

Son of Havoc vs. Johnny Mundo

I still want to know who Havoc is. Not the guy under the mask, but the father of the guy we’re watching. I wonder if he’s any relation to Halloween. He dedicates the upcoming win to Ivelisse, pretty much guaranteeing his loss. The fans are actually split here and Mundo takes over with a nice leg sweep, drawing the required Karate Kid line. Havoc slows things down before hitting a handspring elbow in the corner, only to miss a charge and fall to the floor. Johnny is right there waiting with a dive and the fans fire up again.

Ivelisse saves Havoc from being rammed into the post. Striker: “Everyone knows, happy life, happy life.” No that’s not a typo. Back in and Havoc misses another dive, possibly banging up his knee. Ivelisse trips Mundo up again though and Havoc takes over for the third time in less than three minutes. A backsplash gets two and it’s off to a bow and arrow hold.

Back up and Havoc gets pulled out of the corner, only to backflip onto his feet and hammer away at Mundo. Johnny nails him in the face to take over again as the fans think this is awesome. Given that they chant this every match, the effect is a bit weaker than they’re hoping for.

The End of the World has to be aborted and Havoc nails a springboard double stomp to the back, followed by a standing moonsault for two. Havoc hits a nice bicycle kick and a standing shooting start gets another two count. Mundo pops back up though and kicks Havoc on the top but can’t hook a top rope hurricanrana. Havoc takes WAY too long setting something up and his shooting star hits knees. The End of the World gives Mundo the pin.

Rating: B-. This was the same idea as the first match but with some selling thrown in for good measure. It also helps that Mundo is better in the ring and we had Ivelisse freaking out at ringside. Havoc getting closer and closer every time was a nice story and it made for a good match the whole way through.

Cuerno hits the ring to lay out Mundo.

Ricky Mandell vs. Pentagon Jr.

Vampiro thinks it’s Rick Martel. I’m digging this evil Pentagon character but I don’t see why he needs a mentor character to make it work. A backbreaker drops Mandell to start and some chops set up a double stomps for no cover. Ricky scores with a headscissors but spins into a dropkick to the chest. Now it’s time for the arm but first, Pentagon throws him up in a torture rack and drive Ricky stomach first into the buckle. The armbar makes Ricky tap and Pentagon snaps another arm.

Rating: D+. Total squash here but I’m still getting into this guy. He can break arms of low level guys for weeks until they give him a major story. I’m still curious about who this master is but it could range from brilliant to horrible and I can’t imagine anything in between. Nice squash here as we’re still early in this story.

Here’s Alberto, who is announced as the AAA World Champion for the first time on this show. He gets a HUGE reaction and goes into the crowd to be with the fans. That’s quite the moment and a great way to have him debut. Alberto doesn’t have to impress anyone because these people are all his family.

We get the brief version of his family history before he talks about being an icon to the Mexican people in the United States. Then the WWE stabbed him in the back so he’s here to work where everyone is equal. He promises to get the job done but El Texano, the man Alberto beat for the AAA Title, runs in and beats him down with the bullrope. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Texano so far so this could be a good thing. Alberto is laid out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a very important show for the company and a big step forward. They’re spent several months laying an awesome groundwork for the company, but they need some star power to bring in the viewers. Mundo is the biggest star in the promotion, but he was an Intercontinental Champion about five years ago. Alberto was WWE Champion less than two years ago and a much bigger star overall. Bringing him aboard makes Lucha Underground look more legitimate and the fans might be more willing to check it out now.

The rest of the show was its usual goodness with some exciting (though not necessarily high quality) wrestling and solid storyline development. I’m really hoping the Alberto move helps them out as they could use some more traction to guarantee the survival of the promotion. Good show here but it’s more important than high quality.

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