Lucha Underground – June 20, 2018: Lucha Strong Style
IMG Credit: Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground
Date: June 20, 2018
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s week number two of the fourth season and I’m hoping we’re a bit closer to the standard operating procedure than what we had last week. It wasn’t a horrible show by any means, but it’s not exactly what I had in mind for a season premiere. Maybe we’ll get something better this time with Pentagon Dark defending the Lucha Underground Title against Matanza. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap previews tonight’s show, focusing on the gauntlet, Pentagon Dark vs. Matanza and Antonio Cueto.
Catrina teleports into King Cuerno’s trophy room to look for the gauntlet but Cuerno appears to say it’s not here. She needs it to get her life back but he says he’s given it to someone to hide and isn’t sure where or when (that sounds like Aerostar) he hid it. Catrina teleports away.
Trios Titles: The Mack/Killshot/Son of Havoc vs. Infamous Inc.
Infamous Inc., comprised of Big Bad Steve (indy wrestler Steve Pain), Sammy Guevara (a good high flier) and Jake Strong (Jack Swagger) are challenging and Famous B.’s newest clients since Dr. Wagner Jr. and Texano are in Mexico. The fans go nuts for Strong, as you might have guessed. Killshot and Guevara speed things up to start and it’s an early standoff with Guevara not being sure what to do with him. Son of Havoc comes in to chop the skin off of Guevara’s chest before it’s off to Steve, who is apparently Famous B.’s mechanic.
A cutter drops Steve and Strong is low bridged to the floor. Back in and the villains take over with Strong’s Vader Bomb setting up a Swanton Bomb to give Guevara two. That earns a THIS IS AWESOME chant because that’s the easiest chant to get in baseball. Jake shrugs off Mack’s Pounce and the ankle lock goes on Killshot for the tap, which the referee misses. Mack comes in for some right hands….which have no effect at first but the hold is eventually broken. A Stunner to Steve sets up the shooting star from Havoc to retain the titles at 5:39.
Rating: D+. I’m not wild on throwing together champions as it’s only illustrating the fact that there’s no point in having Trios Titles around here. The trios aren’t exactly strong as the champion were put together to win the titles in the first place, then had a replacement partner, and are now facing a thrown together team. Strong looked good but other than that, the match didn’t have much going for it.
Post match Strong beats up Steve, Guevara and Famous B., possibly breaking B.’s ankle. The fans seem rather pleased.
Here’s Antonio Cueto to say that while Dario wasn’t a great boss, he did have a good idea with the Gift of the Gods. The process to find a new champion starts right now with a match for a medallion.
Ancient Medallion: Drago vs. El Dragon Azteca Jr.
Drago is still under Kobra Moon’s control. They start very fast with some one counts and back to back stereo dropkicks to give us a standoff. An exchange of shoulder blocks goes to Azteca and the spinning rollup gets two. Drago is back up and sends him outside for a nice flip dive.
Back in and Drago starts in on the mask, which really isn’t cool with the fans. Even in the new Temple, they still know their lucha traditions. Azteca fights back but walks into something like a Tesshocker for two. A running Blockbuster gets the same but Azteca kicks him in the head on the top. That’s enough to set up a super victory roll for the pin and the medallion at 6:14.
Rating: C+. They went with the fast paced match that luchadors know how to work in this position and that’s good for all of us. Azteca is turning into something special and with the backstory he has around here, there’s some serious potential there. Bad story with Moon aside, Drago is still one of the safest bets around here too, which is a good place to be in.
Post match Johnny Mundo and Taya Valkyrie come in and jump Drago and Moon.
Antonio is in his office when Catrina teleports in. She’s stuck between this place and the spirit realm so she needs Fenix in a coffin. Therefore, she wants Fenix vs. Mil Muertes in Grave Consequences III. The deal is on so she teleports away.
Lucha Underground Title: Matanza vs. Pentagon Dark
Pentagon is defending and wastes no time by starting the fight in the aisle. The SHH chop, with Pentagon ripping Matanza’s gear open to expose the chest, connects but so does Matanza’s fist with Pentagon’s head. A whip sends Pentagon through some chairs and he gets dropped back first onto the apron. They get inside for the first time and a running Angle Slam gets two on Pentagon.
Back to back Sling Blades give Pentagon the same and the Backstabber into the Codebreaker is good for two more. The spinning belly to back suplex drops the champ again but he’s right back with a pair of kicks to the head. Matanza catches him on top but gets knocked down, setting up back to back Canadian Destroyers. The package piledrive rends Matanza at 7:46.
Rating: B-. Pentagon is becoming a giant killer around here but he’s running out of giants to slay. Matanza is one of the few top names around here and with Prince Puma gone, I’m not sure who is left out there other than Muertes and Mundo. I’ve seen Pentagon vs. Fenix far too many times elsewhere, and I hope Lucha Underground doesn’t go down the same path. Either way, these two beat each other up as much as you can in eight minutes and it was a fun match, so what else can you ask for?
Post match Pentagon goes for Matanza’s arm but an Antonio distraction lets Matanza get away. Antonio berates Matanza and goes into his office, where Jeremiah Crane is waiting on him. He wants to be in Grave Consequences to save Catrina, so the match is now a triple threat.
Overall Rating: C+. This felt more like Lucha Underground and that’s a good thing. It helps a lot when you can start advancing a bunch of stories on the same show, which is one of the places where Lucha Underground shined. Eventually we’ll get to the bigger stories but you need to take the smaller steps before you get there. Thankfully this show knows how to do that, as long as they don’t take too long on the road.
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I know trios are a big thing in Lucha Libre, but this would have been a good way to transition to tag titles with Killshot and The Mack as the inaugural champs.