Lucha Underground – April 27, 2016: How This Place Works

Lucha Underground
Date: April 27, 2016
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

This is another one of those really big episodes as we have the finale of the Trios tournament which just happens to be for the Trios Titles with the champions defending. Other than that we have Cage vs. Johnny Mundo inside a cage for one of the Aztec Medallions. That should be enough for one show so let’s get to it.

The opening recap focuses on the two matches tonight, which might be the entire card.

Apparently both Matanza and Mil Muertes will be fine but they’ll be out for a bit.

Aztec Medallion: Cage vs. Johnny Mundo

Inside a cage. They start fast with Cage throwing him into the corner and handing Johnny a beating. Mundo can’t get over the top so Cage dropkicks him down for some posing. Cage sends him into the steel a few times before a torture rack neckbreaker (always a cool move) gets two. In a very unique move, Cage puts him face first on the middle rope before climbing to the top for an elevated Boston crab.

Johnny crotches him for a breather but Cage throws him around and climbs again. This time it’s Taya with some belt shots to the hands to slow him down, allowing Johnny to grab a top rope C4 for two. There’s something awesome about that move and this was no exception. Mundo laughs a lot but charges into something like a Rock Bottom out of the corner. Cage goes up top but takes too long, allowing Mundo to hit a super Moonlight Drive for two.

We haven’t heard from Taya in long enough now so here’s a kendo stick from under the ring. It doesn’t seem to matter though as Cage snaps off a wheelbarrow suplex and a buckle bomb, followed by a throwing powerbomb into the cage. Well that looked awesome. Cage goes up again but it’s Taya hitting him in the back with the stick, allowing Johnny to get in some shots of his own.

They’re only good for two though as Cage gets the stick away and just mauls Johnny for two. A discus lariat gets another near fall but here’s Taya climbing the cage (Striker: “Like Peter Parker trapped by the Fantastic Four.”) with a chair to knock Cage silly for two more. Even Johnny looks stunned by that near fall. With Cage down, Mundo climbs the side of the cage but misses the End of the World for a big crash.

Now it’s Taya hitting a high cross body to start a double team on Cage with a Magic Killer getting two. Taya pulls out some handcuffs but Cage is fast enough to cuff Taya to the ropes. Johnny chairs her by mistake and it’s all crashing down. A spinebuster drops Mundo and an over the shoulder piledriver onto the chair puts Johnny away at 13:38.

Rating: B+. I was digging the heck out of this with both guys looking awesome and Cage getting easily the biggest win of his career. This was basically a handicap match with Mundo looking awesome in defeat. I could easily see Cage becoming a top star around here, even though his character is kind of limited.

We’re about ready to start the Trios Titles match but here’s Dario Cueto to say that Angelico has been mysteriously injured, so Son of Havoc and Ivelisse will defend the titles for their team.

Trios Titles: Fenix/Jack Evans/PJ Black vs. Cortez Castro/Mr. Cisco/Joey Ryan vs. Prince Puma/Dragon Azteca Jr./Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Son of Havoc/Ivelisse

Elimination rules and Son of Havoc/Ivelisse are defending. Fenix, Cisco, Ivelisse and Rey start things off and this is going to be a mess to keep track of. No one can hit anything to start and it’s an early standoff. Ivelisse puts Rey down but gets kicked in the face by Ivelisse, only to walk into a powerslam from Cisco, earning himself a chant. It’s off to Black, Puma, Havoc and Castro for some more well choreographed stuff until Havoc gets two on Castro off a standing shooting star. There’s WAY too much stuff to call here.

Things settle down with Cortez giving Havoc a backbreaker so Cisco can come in with a slingshot legdrop for two. Dragon comes in and kicks Cisco in the head but Cortez gives Dragon the same thing. Havoc elbows Castro and Cisco down so it’s off to Joey vs. Ivelisse with Ryan actually getting the better of it by taking her outside. Now it’s time for the dives with Azteca hitting an insane set of twists, followed by Black taking out the pile.

Rey comes off the top onto everyone with Puma and Son of Havoc following with the same. Most of the dives didn’t come close to hitting but they looked awesome. Joey rubs his chest to break up Ivelisse’s dive so she slaps him in the face, followed by a release German suplex. Castro gets in a brainbuster on Ivelisse but won’t tag Joey in, allowing Ivelisse to roll Cortez up for the pin and an elimination to clear the ring out a bit.

We take a break and come back with Puma vs. Havoc vs. Evans in a threeway wristlock. Jack gets dropkicked down and Havoc adds a top rope double stomp to Puma’s back for two. It’s off to Ivelisse who charges into Evans’ boot but comes back with a loud chop. A quick Code Red gets two on Evans but Black comes in and turns the cover over to pin Ivelisse, guaranteeing new champions.

Back from another break with Dragon and Fenix staring each other down. Fenix blocks a roll through with a hard double stomp to the back, only to get flipped into the air for a tornado DDT in a VERY fast counter. Puma comes back in and hits something like a GTS to drop Black, setting up the 630. Evans kicked Puma low for the save but kicks his partners by mistake, allowing the hot tag to Rey for the real comeback. Well as much of a comeback as you’re going to get in lucha. The 619 sets up another tornado DDT to plant Evans, leaving Rey to add a moonsault for the pin and the titles at 23:15.

Rating: A-. This got WAY better after things settled down and was definitely entertaining though it would have been better with just three teams instead of four. Having Mysterio and company win the titles is definitely the best possible outcome as a win over them is going to feel like a huge deal. Azteca continues look awesome and the other two are more than proven so this whole thing worked very well with some awesome action and the great spots you would have expected coming in.

Vampiro, in full master mode, yells at Pentagon for being in a wheelchair. Pentagon can’t get up so Vampiro pours hot candle wax onto his back. He still can’t get up so Vampiro calls him weak to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. When else do you get two awesome matches with such minimal talking other than to announce Angelico missing? This was exactly the kind of high flying wrestling that you want to see when you watch Lucha Underground and we can get back to the main event stuff in the near future. Again though, this is the same formula that makes NXT work: have a few batches of stories people want to see that can rotate week to week so nothing gets stale. It works everywhere it’s tried and Lucha Underground is no exception.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of the Intercontinental Title at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

PDFPrint