Lucha Underground – May 6, 2015: Why I Love This Show
Lucha Underground
Date: May 6, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Vampiro
We’re getting closer to the season finale and a lot of these stories are starting to reach their peaks. The big story from last week was the elimination of Drago after he lost his Lucha Underground Title shot. Other than that we have Dario Cueto being all evil with the threat of his brother, whoever or whatever that may be. Let’s get to it.
The standard recap (I like these things as I haven’t watched the show in a few weeks) shows us Albert vs. Johnny Mundo being set up and Hernandez becoming #1 contender.
Johnny and Alberto pitch themselves as #1 contender but Cueto isn’t sure. Mundo thinks they’re both more worthy than Fernandez, even though he won the triple threat. Cueto sets up Alberto vs. Mundo with the winner facing Hernandez for the #1 contendership next week. Hernandez better be ticked over this.
The Crew vs. Son of Havoc/Angelico
Neither gets an entrance. Bael is the odd man out here, as if that matters. Havoc starts with I think Cisco (seriously people, get them a nametag or something) and takes him down before Angelico tags himself in for the rolling kicks to the head. Castro comes in (thankfully in a shirt so I can tell these two apart) and jumps over a legsweep, only to eat another kick. Ivelisse, with her bad leg, is sitting in the front row and barking orders as her partners.
The Crew tries to make some tags but Angelico comes back in and cleans house with those fast strikes of his. Castro (wait now he doesn’t have a shirt. Either they’re changing clothes or Striker is making up the names as he goes) gets rolled up for two and heads outside, only to have both champions “hit” big flip dives to take them out. Back in and Angelico gets a quick two on Castro but the fans want Havoc. That’s exactly what they get as he tags himself in after Angelico flips out of a double belly to back suplex. Everything breaks down and the Crew hits the flapjack into the Codebreaker to pin Havoc.
Rating: C-. This was decent enough but my goodness I’m sick of the Crew being the same guy with three different names. The champions that can’t get along idea has been covered, but this match continues to show the bigger issue: there aren’t enough trios to validate having a whole division with titles. Decent match but I really don’t care for the Crew.
Daivari tells Cueto he likes to inflict violence, so Dario gives him Texano next. Apparently Daivari’s family owns a bunch of real estate in the area so he’s a wealthy man. That’s one of the things I love about Lucha Underground: they just make up characters and backstories, like you would see in the old days before everything had to be the truth. You don’t have a story for someone? Just make one up. Why is that so complicated?
Konnan doesn’t want Hernandez coming after Puma’s title because of their friendship but Hernandez want to beat Puma for the belt. The chuckling Cueto comes in and tells Hernandez about the ruling he made earlier about Alberto and Mundo, which thankfully ticks him off. As for tonight, it’s Puma/Hernandez vs. Cage/Cuerno. Simple, effective, and it took about a minute. If this were WWE, it would be five minutes, boring, and predictable.
Delavar Daivari vs. Texano
Daivari has a drink during the entrances. Texano charges in and beats Daivari down, only to be called for the DQ maybe 15 seconds in.
Cage/King Cuerno vs. Hernandez/Prince Puma
Still no entrances. Cage and Hernandez get things going and trade shoulders with Cage getting the better of it until Hernandez hits a slingshot shoulder to take over. Off to the champ but he’s quickly caught in a powerslam, only to break it up with a headscissors. Cuerno comes in but gets taken down just as quickly. The King kicks the Prince in the chest and nails a TKO (love that move), setting up a 619 of all things from Cage. That was really cool to see actually.
The squats into a Jackhammer gets two for Cage but Puma pops up (selling? What’s that?) and hits a series of kicks to the face and a Blue Thunder Bomb on Cuerno. Back to Hernandez who cleans house and throws Cuerno over the top and onto Cage. The big SuperMex dive takes both guys down again and of course the fans are way into it. Puma loads up one of his own but Hernandez gets back on the apron to “accidentally” break it up.
Back in and Puma and Hernandez clean house on Cuerno but Cage takes Hernandez’s head off with a clothesline. Hernandez runs Cuerno over but eats another clothesline from Cage. They head outside, where Hernandez pulls Puma right in the way of the suicide dive from Cuerno. Hernandez has had enough of this teaming up thing and powerbombs Puma on the apron, setting up Weapon X to give Cage the pin over the champ.
Rating: C. Storyline loss for Puma here and there’s nothing wrong with that. Hernandez is a good choice for a big power guy who can put over someone like Puma in the future as he looks more and more like a giant killer every time he fights off someone like Hernandez or Cage. Good enough stuff here and that Arrow from Cuerno looked great.
Black Lotus’ master says if she can beat him, she can go for her revenge. She tries to strike him and is easily blocked. The master tells him that she requires more training so she agrees to stay.
Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo
The winner faces Hernandez next week for a future title shot. They trade headlocks to start until Alberto sends him into the corner and hits a dropkick to the back of the head for two. Johnny gets all ticked off and hits those hard right hands of his to knock Alberto to the floor, only to get tied up in the ring apron. An enziguri knocks Mundo’s block off and we hit the chinlock.
Patron misses a moonsault and Johnny starts slugging away, followed by the Flying Chuck for two. Mundo slaps on something like the cousin of a cobra clutch but Patron pops up for a backdrop over the top, sending Mundo onto the steps. A big suicide dive takes Mundo down again but Alberto can’t follow up. Back in and they slug it out with Alberto taking over with clotheslines followed by the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. That goes nowhere as Johnny knocks him outside for a big corkscrew plancha.
Back in again and Alberto nails a reverse superplex for two before finally taking his shirt off. Alberto starts going for the arm but eats a running knee to the head, setting up the End of the World for two. The armbreaker sends Mundo rolling to the ropes for a quick break. Patron misses a charge into the post and takes a top rope double stomp to the back for two more. Back up and a quick Codebreaker to the arm sets up the low superkick to give Patron the pin.
Rating: B+. I don’t know if it was the dream match that the announcers were building it up to be but this was a very fun wrestling match, which is all it needed to be. Mundo can still more than go in the ring and Patron’s style is so much better suited for a company like Lucha Underground than WWE. Good stuff here.
Catrina, with the magic rock, opens the casket to release Mil Muertes.
Overall Rating: B. Really fun show here and it set up the stories for the future. Alberto and Mundo are the kind of guys you need for the main event scene to give Puma some serious competition as well as credibility. On top of that you have the continuing story of Black Lotus but I’m not sure where that’s going and I’m not sure if I care. That being said, it’s different enough to make me want to see where it goes and that’s the point of a wrestling story. Good show here and I had fun watching it, as always.
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Wait until this weeks show. It gets better.