Lucha Underground – September 27, 2017: It’s About Time

Lucha Underground
Date: September 27, 2017
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

It’s FINALLY time to wrap this season up with the first week of Ultima Lucha Tres. There are currently about 194 matches scheduled over the next four shows and that means it’s hard to say what to expect around here. They’ve done a great job of making this show feel important though and that’s what matters most. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of tonight’s matches, including Famous B. vs. Texano and Killshot vs. Dante Fox, the latter of which is built around being in the army together and Fox being left for dead.

Melissa Santos welcomes us to the show for a change of pace and Matt Striker is even more excited than usual.

Vampiro runs down the Hell of War match, which means Three Stages of Hell with First Blood, No DQ and Medical Evac (Ambulance match).

Famous B. vs. Texano

If B. wins, Texano has to join his team but he’s coming in with a broken arm. Therefore, Dario Cueto has made this a handicap match.

Famous B./Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Texano

Wagner has his mask here because it was shot over a year ago. Texano and Wagner trade backdrops to start until Texano monkey flips him across the ring. A slingshot hilo connects and B.’s cast shot has no effect. The distraction lets Wagner stomp him down though and Wagner gets two off a backsplash. B. comes in and stomps away while wanting to know why Texano won’t just sign. Texano fights back with a sitout powerbomb on Texano but he’s not legal. Instead Brenda gets up on the apron to kiss Texano, allowing B. to roll him up for the pin at 4:22.

Rating: D. Other than Brenda, there was nothing to see here. Texano can only do so much and the Famous B. story is one of the least interesting things going on around here. He’s just not a character I can care about and everything he does feels tacked on instead of something that actually belongs on the show.

The announcers run down more of the card. I’m still not sure if they can fit all those matches into three weeks and give them the time they deserve.

Killshot vs. Dante Fox

After a break, the first fall begins with a First Blood match. They waste no time in heading outside as this is going to be all about the violence. There’s already a ladder bridged between the apron and barricade but Fox would rather throw a chair at his head. A shooting star from the apron crushes Killshot on the ladder to get the crowd even more into this. Fox chairs him in the head but can’t quite bust him open yet. Back in and Killshot hammers away but misses an apron legdrop.

Fox puts the chair around Killshot’s neck and dives off the barricade with a legdrop to the apron. They’re going straight for the violence here and that’s the right call. Fox pulls out a sheet of glass and bridges it over two chairs but Killshot catches him with a Rock Bottom onto the apron for a breather. Back in and Fox grabs a springboard C4 before throwing the glass and chairs into the ring. They head to the top with Killshot loading up a super Pedigree, only to be backdropped through the glass, drawing blood from the back for the first fall at 10:24.

The second fall is No DQ (because that’s totally different than what we just saw) and Killshot’s back is COVERED in blood. Dante puts an unfolded chair upside down in the corner and brings in a ladder. Oh this can’t end well. Like at all. A running springboard C4 through the chair only gives Dante two so he bridges the ladder over the ropes. Killshot is laid over said ladder for a 450 and another near fall, making me worried about what it’s going to take to finish this.

Killshot is back with a superkick and DDT out of the corner for two more. Fans: “FIGHT FOREVER!” It’s time for a barbed wire board (Striker: “The ancient Aztec torture rack!”) with Killshot setting it up in the corner. Killshot’s top rope double stomp only gets one but a running powerbomb through the barbed wire….doesn’t even get a cover. Instead Killshot grabs something like a One Winged Angel (without sitting Fox on his shoulders) ONTO THE BROKEN GLASS for the second fall at 6:14.

The third fall, an Ambulance match, begins after a break with Fox suplexing both of them over the top and out to the floor. Killshot is up first and drags a stretcher towards Fox as Striker accurately talks about the potential for infections on the dirty floor. With nothing else working, Killshot hits a super Death Valley Driver from the middle rope onto the stretcher on the floor, leaving a piece of Fox’s skin on the stretcher. I’m really not sure how to even respond to that.

Fox starts kicking his way off the stretcher so Killshot hits the double stomp off the barricade. It only gets Fox free though and they fight around to the front of the ambulance, which is backed into the entrance. Since they’ve done everything else, they head up to the bandstand where Fox chokes him with a cord.

Killshot throws him off though, sending him through another sheet of glass, which Dario apparently set up just in case they needed extra violence. That’s quite the……I guess the word is good, owner? Since Fox is basically dead, Killshot sends him into the ambulance for the win at 8:39 (34:54 counting commercials). I was worried about them doing a quick surprise ending there but thankfully they went with sanity for the only time in the match.

Rating: A. I’m really not even sure how to think about this one. Above all else though, I completely bought the idea that these two wanted to destroy each other. This wasn’t about having a match and there’s nothing wrong (ok maybe not nothing) with just going insane like this for a change of pace. These matches work when they do them once in a blue moon instead of every single show or few shows, which is what worked so well here. I could completely get how it’s too violent for some people and I wouldn’t put up any argument if you hated it, but I bought into the story which is what matters most.

Overall Rating: A-. Well that worked. Lucha Underground is great at setting things up slowly but then delivering in the payoff, which is what they had here. Obviously it’s a one match show but it’s also a good reason to split this show up. Instead of having a bunch of violent matches to blow off the stories, let them do something like this where the matches have a chance to shine on their own. The main event, which is NOT for everyone, is worth seeing but skip the opener. If the rest of the show is up to this standard, this could get very awesome in a hurry.

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