Lucha Underground – June 13, 2018 (Season 4 Premiere): Did They Forget How To Do This?
IMG Credit: Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground
Date: June 13, 2018
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s time for a new season and it’s going to be a very new one. The promotion managed to survive to a fourth season, albeit on a much smaller budget and in a new building. It’s not clear what will have changed but things are certainly going to be different. Last season ended with Dario Cueto being shot and Pentagon Dark as Lucha Underground Champion. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of the end of last season, including Pentagon Dark becoming the new Lucha Underground Champion and Dario Cueto being shot. As he was dying, he reached for his phone and called his dad.
And now, Dario’s funeral! There are only two people there: Winter (the man who shot Dario) and Dario’s father Antonio…..who is Dario in a gray wig with a cane. It’s hard to mistake that voice. Anyway Antonio is now fully in charge of Lucha Underground and has move out of the Temple because of the people who attacked Dario there. That’s cool because Antonio has a place he used to run shows. Winter reminds him that the wrestling is just a cover for their real purpose. War is coming. Antonio takes the key from Dario, meaning Matanza will be released.
The new Temple is a little brighter and the ropes are blue and yellow for some reason. Other than that, everything looks about the same so it’s not the biggest change.
In the new Temple, we get a ten bell salute to Dario, which is interrupted by Antonio. He throws the picture of Dario out of the ring and promises that we will likely be crowning a new champion tonight…..IN AZTEC WARFARE!
Back from a break with two of the three Trios Champions the Mack and Killshot in the ring with Antonio. The three of them will be in Aztec Warfare but since Dante Fox is missing, Killshot and Mack are starting the match at #1 and #2. Whoever #3 is will be their new partner as the new Trios Champions. Well that’s certainly starting fast.
Lucha Underground Title: Aztec Warfare
Pentagon Dark is defending in a 20 man Royal Rumble with pinfall or submissions only for eliminations. The Mack is in at #1 and Killshot is in at #2 but before they start, Son of Havoc is in at #3, making him their new championship partner. The new champs brawl to start with Havoc dropkicking Mack to the floor but not out. Joey Ryan is in at #4 and immediately handcuffs himself to the top rope. The entrants speed way up as Mr. Pectacular (Jesse Godderz) is in at #5.
The champs waste no time in beating the heck out of him but Killshot rolls Mack up for the first elimination. Pentagon Dark is in at #6 and we take a break. Back with Sling Blades dropping everyone but Ryan, who uncuffs himself to avoid horrible pain. A rollup gets rid of Ryan and a package piledriver into Havoc’s shooting star gets rid of Killshot. Tommy Dreamer (ERG!) is in at #7 and it’s time for the weapons because that’s how Dreamer has to do things. Pectacular is gone and it’s Dreamer vs. Pentagon in the hardcore showdown. Mariposa is in at #8 as Dreamer ties Pentagon in the Tree of Woe for the running dropkick.
With Dreamer heading to the outside, Pentagon dives over the top but gets knocked out of the air. Havoc cutters Mariposa for an elimination and Dreamer gets dropped on some thumbtacks on the steps. That’s good for a pin back inside and it’s Vinnie Massaro in at #9. He gets a pizza delivered on the way to the ring, making sure to shove the delivery guy down. Knowing Lucha Underground, the pizza guy is a future champion. Pentagon hits the Pentagon Driver to get rid of Massaro as it’s Hernandez in at #10, giving us Son of Havoc, Pentagon and Hernandez.
A quick snap of the arm gets rid of Hernandez in about thirty seconds, leaving Havoc to take the Backstabber to leave Pentagon alone. Johnny Mundo is in at #11 for a heck of a showdown as we take another break. Back with Johnny chopping him down as….no one is here at #12.
That was supposed to be Angelico but he’s nowhere to be seen so it’s Ricky Mundo, with a creepy doll, taking his place. The fans don’t like Pentagon getting double teamed but Ricky keeps looking at the doll. Johnny gets his attention so Ricky rolls him up for two. That earns him a kick to the face so Johnny can get the easy elimination. Fenix is in at #13 and that should pick things up a bit.
Johnny breaks up Fenix’s opening springboard with a chop so Fenix just bounces onto the top rope and springs back up to take them both down again. Fenix hits a big dive and it’s Jeremiah Crane in at #14. A slam onto a chair gets two on Fenix and it’s Mil Muertes in at #15. He runs over everyone so everyone goes after him, capped off by Fenix’s top rope double stomp to the back for the pin in less than a minute. Unfortunately that means no more Catrina and it’s Daga in at #16.
A suplex backbreaker has Mundo in trouble but Crane dumps Daga because Heaven forbid someone who isn’t a big name gets to showcase themselves. Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Striker: “A living breathing lucha legend.” No.) is in at #17 and Pentagon uses the distraction to hit a Pentagon Driver on Crane for the elimination. Chavo suplexes Fenix for the pin (Fenix deserves better) and dives over the top onto Pentagon. Daga comes back in and is eliminated in short order by Mundo. King Cuerno (POP) is in at #18 and gets to kick a bunch of people in the face.
The big suicide dive drops Pentagon and it’s El Dragon Azteca Jr. in at #19. Mundo gets planted with a tornado DDT and here’s Kobra Moon (Daga’s manager) to send Vibora (not in the match) to chokeslam Mundo. Marty Martinez is in at #20, giving us a final group of Pentagon, Mundo, Guerrero, Cuerno, Dragon Azteca and Martinez. Actually hang on as Vibora Tombstones Mundo so Marty can get the easy pin.
Back from a break with Azteca charging into a chair to the head, setting up Chavo’s frog splash for the elimination. The final four all get inside with Pentagon kicking away until Cuerno knees him out of the hair. Chavo is back in with a Gory Bomb to get rid of Cuerno but a low superkick gets rid of him as well, leaving us with Martinez vs. Pentagon. Marty likes getting chopped really hard but knees Pentagon in the face for two.
A curb stomp gets two more but the Backstabber out of the corner gets Pentagon out of trouble. Marty bites his fingers and hits the double underhook implant DDT for an even closer near fall. Pentagon gets up a superkick out of the corner and hits a middle rope Canadian Destroyer. The package piledriver retains the title at 43:21.
Rating: C-. That….was not very good. The eliminations came WAY too fast and I never bought Pentagon as being in any real danger. It went flying by with the timing being horrendous, making even the Royal Rumble look good by comparison. Some of the names felt like a big deal but Mil Muertes, the big bad of season 1, can’t even last two minutes here? That’s really all they’ve got? I get that they need to rush some eliminations, but don’t fly through one of your best matches this fast.
Pentagon breaks the arm to break in the season. Antonio comes out again and says he’s not Dario, so Pentagon won’t have to fight again right now. Instead we’ll wait to next week when he defends against Matanza.
Overall Rating: D+. I have to downgrade the thing a little bit, just for how bad that wig looked. I understand the idea behind putting one of your big, blow away matches on to jump start the season but it doesn’t have the same impact when I could go for a memory jobbing on who a lot of these people are and why I care about them. Save this for later and it can have a better impact, though I can at least see the thinking here. I really doubt this is indicative where the season is going, as Lucha Underground is about the long form storytelling rather than the individual shows. Not a great start, but it’s just a start.
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