Lucha Underground – October 4, 2017: Love, Blood and a Haircut
Lucha Underground
Date: October 4, 2017
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s night number two of Ultima Lucha Tres and they have a big bar to live up to after last week’s main event. The good thing is we’re likely about to move up the card a bit and see some of the bigger stories played out, which is exactly the point of a show like this. Hopefully we get some more of the big story tonight too. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at last week’s show and previews tonight’s three matches.
Ivelisse and Jeremiah Crane get in an argument over him having feelings for Catrina. She doesn’t need a man so after she beats up Catrina, she’ll beat him up too. A hard kick to the chest sends Crane into a locker.
Battle Royal
Joey Ryan, PJ Black, Ricky Mundo, Vinnie Massaro, Mascarita Sagrada, Argenis, Mala Surete, Saltador, Paul London, Cortez Castro, Son of Madness, The Mack, Pimpinela Escarlata
For a unique opportunity, which could mean anything. Massaro gets superkicked out to start and the Rabbit Tribe dances around Madness as they are known to do. It actually works as they get together and toss him out, followed by Sagrada knocking Castro and Ryan off the apron for a double elimination. Yep it’s going to be one of those battle royals.
London thrusts his crotch at Escarlata so he bites said crotch and dumps Paul. Suerte and Saltador are out in a hurry, followed by Escarlata kissing Argenis and eliminating him, only to fall out as well. Black kicks Sagrada low (kind of difficult to do) and throws him out. Mack dumps Mundo and a Stunner gets rid of Black to give Mack the win at 3:32.
Rating: D-. I’m really not sure what to think of these battle royals where everyone is thrown out in the span of a few minutes. Most of the people were just there for the sake of being there and it’s not like Mack getting the win was a surprise, though the match was pretty much over before I had a chance to start caring about anything. I get that it’s the point but sweet goodness give it a few more minutes or have less dead weight.
Dario Cueto comes out to announce the unique opportunity: a Trios Titles match next week, but with Dante Fox and Killshot as his partners, assuming they’re still alive.
Catrina vs. Ivelisse
This was set up at the start of the season and we’re just supposed to remember why they hate each other (Catrina cost her her first two Ultima Lucha matches). Ivelisse sprints to the ring and the fight is on in a hurry. Catrina shows some fire though and slugs away into a standoff. Vampiro cheers for a wardrobe malfunction (they’re basically wrestling in swimsuits, which is far from a complaint) as Catrina runs into Dario’s office in a way to fill in some time.
Ivelisse follows her in and gets blasted with a bottle to draw some serious blood. Dario looks out as she carries Ivelisse up the steps and shuts the door in a good visual. A kick to the head knocks Catrina back down the steps and they get inside for a change of pace. Catrina scores with a spear and a double arm DDT before grabbing the stone. That earns her a spinebuster before Ivelisse takes the stone away and knocks her silly. A DDT ends Catrina at 6:17.
Rating: D+. This was far less of a match than it was a spectacle and there’s nothing wrong with that. Catrina has some in-ring experience but that was a long time ago so there’s no point in trying to do more than this. Ivelisse beating her was all that matters and it felt like a big fight, though I could have gone with a lot more. It’s a shame that Ivelisse was injured for so much of Lucha Underground as I would have loved to see what else she could have done.
Post match Crane runs in and hits Ivelisse’s ankle with a hammer, allowing Catrina to steal the stone again.
We run down the remaining card.
Fenix vs. Marty Martinez
Mask vs. Hair. They slug it out to start until Mariposa grabs Fenix’s leg. The distraction lets Marty grab a belly to belly superplex and send Fenix outside. They switch places in a hurry though and Fenix tries a dive, only to have Marty pull Mariposa into the way instead. That’s it for Mariposa and she’s out, with a double middle finger to Marty. Back in and Fenix kicks her in the head, only to get taken down again.
Marty rips half of the mask off but settles for a powerbomb instead. Fenix is dropped face first onto an exposed buckle and the blood is flowing again. A TKO gets two on Fenix but he’s right back with a rolling cutter onto the apron. The mask is pretty much worthless now as you can see half of his face, making it a glorified eye patch. There’s a Lethal Injection to drop Marty but he’s right back up with a running clothesline to put both guys down.
Marty goes up top for some reason, allowing Fenix to pull him back down with a Spanish Fly to knock both of them silly. They slug it out from their knees until Marty hits a running curb stomp for two more. That sends him over to a lunchbox to find some scissors. That’s enough to get Melissa onto the apron for a low blow, allowing Fenix to hit something like a Kinshasa to the back of the head. A springboard 450 with Melissa climbing on top as well ends Marty at 12:22.
Rating: B-. I can go for a match based on emotion and that’s what we had here. These two beat the heck out of each other than that’s all it needed to be. Fenix is one of the unsung heroes of this show and that’s a very valuable thing to have. The fans buy into him and want to see him win, especially with the Melissa stuff. Fun match here but the ending is what matters most.
Marty tries to bail but Mariposa blasts him in the head with something made of metal. She even handcuffs him to the railings and the big haircut ends the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This didn’t have the big match of last week but it was a better show top to bottom. We’re starting to get into the bigger stuff now and the second and third matches were more than enough to make this work. It’s a fun show, but you could cut out something like the battle royal and make it even better. The big time stuff starts next week though.
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