Lucha Underground – April 1, 2015: Lucha! Lucha! Lucha!
Lucha Underground
Date: April 1, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
We’re coming to the start of some new stuff here as last week wrapped up some stories. First and foremost, Prince Puma is still Lucha Underground Champion and has a much better looking belt. The victory might have set up a feud between Hernandez and either Puma or Cage. We also might see some fallout between Son of Havoc and Ivelisse. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap this week is a mix of a bunch of stories with the Crew, Ryck and Drago vs. Aerostar all getting time.
Ryck and two large men (the Mack and Kill Shot) come in to see Cueto. The word on the street is that Cueto ordered the hit on Ryck. Cueto panics and introduces the Trios Titles, offering the three of them a spot in the tournament in exchange for his safety. It’s a deal but they take Cueto’s money as a bonus.
There’s a new house band this week.
Johnny Mundo vs. Angelico
Angelico is getting a lot of ring time recently. Mundo takes him to the mat but Angelico is smart enough to get to the ropes without messing up his hair. A kick to the chest staggers Johnny but he kicks Angelico right back into the corner. Angelico speeds things way up as they start with some running kicks and punches. Mundo gets dropped but nips up into a standoff for a nice sequence.
Mundo sends him to the floor and misses a dive, only to land on his feet. He’s awesome like that you know. They head to the wall in front of the fans with Mundo jumping over it, stopping himself when Angelico moves and immediately jumping at Angelico with the Flying Chuck. Back inside and a running knee the to the face gets two on Angelico. Angelico rolls away from the End of the World before spinning around Johnny’s shoulders into a sunset flip for two. A nice pinfall reversal sequence gives us a series of near falls and Angelico hits a quick double stomp (Vampiro: “Shades of Perro Aguayo”) for two more.
Back up and they slug it out with Angelico taking over off a jumping knee to the face and the kick to the head from the mat. The Flying Chuck gets two for Mundo but Angelico hits a quick Fall of the Angels (running Razor’s Edge throw into the corner) for the same. Mundo goes to the corner and gets kicked in the head again, only to powerbomb his way out of a hurricanrana. The End of the World is good for the pin on Angelico. Why couldn’t Johnny make it that accurate back in WWE?
Rating: B-. I had a lot more fun with this one than I was expecting as Angelico is getting better and better every week. He’s still not what I would call good but he’s more polished out there. That kick from the mat is a sweet little spot and I’m liking him more and more every time I see him. Mundo is one of the best guys in the promotion still and seems a few steps ahead of them, but that’s to be expected.
The mystery chick (remember her?) talks about being kidnapped and wanting to kill the man who took her. The man was named El Dragon Azteca and he was there the night her parents were slaughtered. Now he’s teaching her to fight to gain her revenge. Did I stumble into a kung fu movie by mistake?
Alberto El Patron congratulates Johnny on his win and they shake hands. Johnny asks if Patron is here to face guys he knows he can beat or does he want a challenge. That gets a raised eyebrow but Johnny is just kidding. Alberto forgot about Johnny altogether because Johnny had almost quit on wrestling. Johnny says he’s the face of this company but Alberto just chuckles. Now there’s a big match in the making.
Sexy Star wants in the trios tournament but Cueto says she has no partners. He has an idea though: Super Fly and Pentagon Jr. They get Ryck and company in the main event tonight.
Aero Star vs. Drago
This is match number four in the best of five series with Aero Star holding a 2-1 lead. I think you know what that means for this one. Feeling out process doesn’t last long as Drago flips over Star’s back but gets rolled up for a fast two. A kick to the face gives Drago an advantage that isn’t likely to last long before he totally misses another kick in the corner, which Star thankfully doesn’t sell. Star scores with a dropkick and throws Drago to the floor as Vampiro says this is like the NHL playoffs.
After a quick dive, Star throws him back in for two off a springboard splash. Star misses a charge and falls to the floor but Drago doesn’t follow up for some reason. Instead he puts on a headscissors hold which lasts as long as you would expect a hold to last in a match like this. Drago dropkicks him to the floor but doesn’t follow up again, opting for a kind of powerbomb back inside. Something like a middle rope Whisper in the Wind sets up a rolling cradle to tie the series with a fast pin.
Rating: C+. This didn’t have the time to get really fun but these two are able to have entertaining matches against each other. The big finale should main event whatever show it’s on and I’m actually curious as to what the winner gets. Just a title shot would seem a bit too simple, but they’re running out of things to give them.
They shake hands but go head to head post match.
Cueto is disappointed with Angelico, Son of Havok and Ivelisse, so he puts them together in the trios tournament. I’m kind of curious as to who else is going to be in the tournament. You can pencil in the Crew, but who else can there be? Angelico and Ivelisse leave and Havok tells Cueto that he dumped her. Ok then.
Trios Titles Tournament First Round: Kill Shot/The Mack/Big Ryck vs. Super Fly/Pentagon Jr./Sexy Star
Mack (known elsewhere as Willie Mack. He was signed to WWE for like a day back in the fall of 2014) is your standard stereotypical black wrestler with an afro and a pick while Kill Shot is a masked man who looks like Kenny King. You might know him from the indies as Shane Strickland. Pentagon dedicates this to his master as usual. Mack cranks on Pentagon’s wrist to start as Vampiro explains the history of the trios matches, dating back to CMLL over a hundred years ago (the company turned 82 this year, which is the longest running wrestling promotion in the world).
The pretty good sized Mack flips over Pentagon and the fans are way into him. Striker goes old school with a Norvell Austin reference before Pentagon dropkicks Mack down and adjusts his wrist tape. A VERY loud chop stuns Mack in the corner and the fans are already cheering for Pentagon. That’s fine with Mack as he just plows over Pentagon for two but the masked dude comes back with a Backstabber (not a lung blower Matt. You’ve been better about that recently so don’t start again).
Off to Super Fly vs. Kill Shot, with the latter handstanding into a headscissors. Super Fly backflips over him and takes Kill down with a springboard wristdrag. Star comes in for the first time and goes right after Kill Shot but he chops her right back to take over. She gets two off a headscissors of her own but Ryck comes in for the save and starts hurting people. Sexy gets thrown over the top onto her partners, with Striker giving it ZERO notice as he reads his history lessons off a paper.
Kill and Mack hit their own dives to take everyone down though to finally get Striker’s attention. Ryck loads up a dive of his own but is nice enough to run right at the corner Star is on, setting up a high cross body for two. It’s off to Ryck vs. Pentagon with the big man hitting another loud chop, only to eat a superkick to put him down again. Pentagon vs. Kill Shot now with both guys failing at their kicks until Pentagon gets two off a fisherman’s driver.
Everything breaks down with Pentagon throwing Star up for a hurricanrana (ala Rey Mysterio) to Shot, setting up a Superfly Splash from Super Fly (how appropriate) but Ryck breaks it up at two. Ryck plants Fly with a spinebuster for two before Pentagon starts firing off the kicks. That’s fine with Ryck as he knocks Pentagon outside and swats Star away. Mack hits a brainbuster on Fly, setting up a top rope double stomp from Kill Shot for the pin to advance. In the first mention of this, there are three regular matches in the tournament with the winners going on to a three team final. That explains a bit.
Rating: C+. Not bad here but there were some flaws. I’m not a fan of this insane style, but to be fair that’s what they’re going for as it’s the lucha libre standard. These trios matches are more of a tradition than anything else, though I’m really not sure they warranted a title. Mack wasn’t bad, Kill Shot was just there, and I’m still not sure about having Ryck as a top guy. He’s definitely better as a wrecking machine though.
Pentagon goes after Fly’s arm but Star breaks it up and bails with Super Fly.
Overall Rating: C+. This was another good show from the company, as they continue to never let the show get boring. Even with something we’ve seen multiple times now in Aero Star vs. Drago, they kept it moving fast enough that it didn’t get dull. That’s a major problem for so many promotions but the one hour time slot makes it a lot easier to keep things moving. Totally watchable show this week, even though it was nothing that blew me away.
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Super Fly, Sexy Star and Pentagon are all under Konnan’s stable in AAA so that’s a clever pairing.