Lucha Underground – June 27, 2018: The Grave Groove
IMG Credit: Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground
Date: June 27, 2018
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
Things are starting to get back to…well whatever passes for normal around here as this week is the first ever triple threat casket match. I’m not entirely sure how that’s supposed to work, but this promotion has managed to make casket matches work like no one else ever has so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening video recaps the opening of the season and last week’s show, which set up tonight’s casket match.
Ricky Mundo is with the rest of Lucha Underground and playing with his creepy, dirty baby doll. Johnny Mundo and Taya come in and say it’s time for war with the Reptile Tribe. Well save for Jack Evans, who is scared of snakes. Johnny asks where Angelico is and everyone leaves. The baby gives an evil laugh and says Ricky’s secret is safe with her because dolls are creepy.
Jack Evans vs. XO Lishus
Lishus is an exotico (man in drag) and rather flamboyant. Evans handles his old entrance because he’s kind of a jerk at times but it works for him. An armdrag into a split has Evans in trouble and Lishus, ahem, thrusts out his hips as he stands up. A Matrix lets Lishus avoid a clothesline so Evans hits a moonsault onto him instead. Evans gets sent to the floor though for a big dive as the fans seem to like Lishus.
Back in and Evans cranks on the arm, followed by a front flip into an eye poke in the corner. It’s off to a freaky arm hold with Evans pushing on Lishus’ face with a boot, causing him to lose an eyelash. Lishus fights up so Evans kicks him in the face but gets sent into the corner. Christy Hemme’s old Flying Firecrotch Guillotine (just go with it) gets two on Evans but a super X Factor is enough to put Evans away at 5:55.
Rating: D+. Not terrible here but I’ve never been a fan of the exotico gimmicks. This guy at least can have the matches to back it up though, putting him at least a few steps ahead of some of the others I’ve seen over the years. They need some new characters though and this is at least something fresh, which is as good as they can do right now.
Pentagon Dark talks about all the people he’s defeated to hang onto the title. No one is taking it from him, because he’s Pentagon. Cage ran in and hit him with the Lucha Underground Title, followed by a powerbomb off the apron through a table. See, Pentagon can’t break him because he’s a machine.
Melissa Santos is worried about losing Fenix. He’s all “I got this” before getting a kiss.
Mil Muertes vs. Fenix vs. Jeremiah Crane
Three way casket match with elimination rules. They go at it to start with Crane being sent to the floor and Fenix doing all his flips to drop Muertes. Now it’s Crane back in to send Fenix outside for a suicide elbow, only to have Fenix pop back up top for a moonsault to the floor. Fenix wraps a wreath around Crane’s head and rams him face first into the casket but Muertes is right back up.
Crane runs around the ring for some reason, only to get cut off by a hard shoulder. Muertes throws Crane onto the casket but a double superkick cuts him off. A powerbomb puts Muertes through a table and Crane takes Fenix up the steps and piledrives him on a balcony. Muertes is up there with them though, only to have Fenix dive off a higher balcony to take them both down. You know, as Fenix is known to do. Crane falls down the steps and it’s time for a table inside. Just in case we didn’t have enough violence yet.
Fenix loads up something off the top to put Crane through a table but gets thrown over the post, landing on Muertes on another table on the floor. Back in and Crane piledrives Fenix through the other table (egads) but here’s Ivelisse with a HAMMER to Crane’s knee and hand for a save. She knocks Crane into the casket and shuts the lid to get us down to two. Guys in skeleton masks come out to, I guess the word is collect, Crane as we take a break. Back with Muertes running Fenix down and going after his mask.
A turnbuckle pad is pulled off so Muertes catapults Fenix face first into the buckle. That’s not enough so he unhooks the buckle to disable the bottom rope. The empty casket is brought in and a dropkick puts Muertes in, only to have Muertes block the door. Muertes knocks him out of the air and drops Fenix onto the casket to dent the door. Fenix is dead so Muertes throws him in the other casket to win at 24:38 as Striker quotes the Bible because he’s never one to let a chance to sound melodramatic pass by.
Rating: B+. These matches never disappoint as they don’t try for anything more than violence for the sake of violence. Muertes needed to win something like this as it’s a monster doing monster things. You can only beat him so many times before it stops mattering and that’s the path they were heading down. He’s a great character who is basically this company’s version of Undertaker/Kane so he needs something like this every now and then.
Matanza is in chains and Antonio says this was his fault. Dario Cueto wasted Matanza’s powers and it’s time for Matanza to become a god. Antonio throws him the key, allowing Matanza to free himself, before walking away. Matanza roars a lot to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. I wasn’t feeling the first match but the main event was a lot of fun and showed you why Lucha Underground became such an underground sensation. The characters are starting to grow again and when you have a cool match to help pay it off, things get that much better. Good show here, as things are hopefully getting back into the groove that has worked for them so well over the first three seasons.
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