Lucha Underground – June 28, 2017: The Evil Twin?
Lucha Underground
Date: June 28, 2017
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
Another week, another four first round Cueto Cup matches. In other words, we might be getting one competitive match this week as the tournament hasn’t exactly been thrilling so far. The good thing though is it has been going by quickly, which is more than you can say for a lot of these things. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is a very quick tournament recap, plus looks at Killshot, Dante Fox and Jeremiah Crane.
Catrina tells Mil Muertes to destroy everyone, which he promises to do for her. They kiss and she demands the Cueto Cup. Jeremiah Crane watches from the shadows. You would think the supernatural powers would let them know he’s there.
Cueto Cup First Round: Mil Muertes vs. Veneno
That would be Cortez Castro under a mask as he’s still under cover (literally in this case). Muertes spears him down at the bell and it’s a heck of a stomping early on. The chokeslam and Flatliner send Muertes on at 1:10. Well that worked.
Catrina licks Veneno’s face (er, mask) after the match.
Cueto Cup First Round: Paul London vs. Vibora
London knocks him outside for some palm strikes to the chest but Vibora just stares him down. With that not working, London, I kid you not, holds Kobra Moon hostage with the carrot from his hat. Fans: “SAVE THE CARROT!” They get in for the first time with Vibora throwing London around but getting kicked in the face a few times. Vibora gets sent to the floor for a springboard trust fall but he does the Undertaker situp, only to have the rest of the Rabbit Tribe grab his feet for a countout at 3:54.
Rating: D+. There was a story here with the much younger monster being caught by the pesky and more experienced Rabbit Tribe. The carrot thing was entertaining enough (I have a soft spot for rabbits) and this keeps Vibora looking strong, which could be a good idea going forward.
Cueto Cup First Round: Taya vs. Joey Ryan
Joey does his lollipop schtick and gets kneed in the face for his efforts. Taya throws him back inside by the chest hair but gets superkicked off the apron. Back in and Joey takes too much time going up (with Striker saying this isn’t going to work) and gets slammed right back down. Taya misses a charge in the corner so Joey can give her a bit of a spank. That doesn’t go well as Joey gets suplexed and double stomped to give Taya the pin at 3:38.
Rating: D. Joey is rapidly losing the limited charm he had for me so far as the whole cop thing seems to have been forgotten at the moment. I’m sure they’ll get back to the point later on but for now, he’s just Joey Ryan doing the same stuff he does most of the time, just without the Ironman Heavymetalweight Title.
Jeremiah Crane beats up the suit clad Mil Muertes and seems to Pillmanize his neck because “she’s his”.
Wrestlers give their thoughts on John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio. These videos have been VERY good ideas and it’s made the match feel like the biggest match the promotion has ever had.
Cueto Cup First Round: Jeremiah Crane vs. Killshot
Crane charges into a kick to the head to send him outside for a tumbling flip dive as they’re certainly starting fast. Killshot stays with it and hits a flip dive off the low balcony before hitting Crane in the face. That’s fine with Crane who whips him into the metal wall and grabs an exploder suplex on the floor.
A run around the ring builds up enough momentum for a cannonball through Killshot through some chairs in a sick sounding crash. They change pace by going inside where Killshot kicks him in the face for two. Killshot flips up into a cutter for two but gets caught in a brainbuster for the same. They trade the very loud strikes until both guys are knocked silly on the mat.
For some reason Crane spits in his face, earning himself a DDT out of the corner. With nothing else working, Killshot hits a Death Valley Driver on the apron, immediately followed by the top rope double stomp…for two? Cue Dante Fox for a distraction though, allowing Crane to hit Cranial Contusion (a Jay Driller) for the pin at 13:04.
Rating: B. That’s the match of the tournament so far and the match the tournament needed. So far most of them have been either squash matches or rather boring but these two were beating the heck out of each other and putting in the effort. In other words, it was something very entertaining and that’s a good sign.
Post match Catrina comes out to look at Crane, who blows her a kiss.
Dario Cueto is in his office and freaking out over the brackets so far. There’s a match spot to face Son of Havoc but luckily Dario has someone here to take the match. That would be….Son of Madness, who looks EXACTLY like Son of Havoc and says he’s from the open road. Dario is cool with this because he’s kind of an out there guy.
Overall Rating: C. The main event helped this one a lot as Lucha Underground has gone a few weeks without an especially good match. Thankfully the first round of the tournament wraps up next week and we have something curious to end this week’s show. It’s not a great show by any means but it’s better than what we’ve been seeing lately.
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