Gringo Loco’s The Wrld On Lucha: No Expectations

Gringo Loco’s The Wrld On Lucha
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Emil Jay, Lenny Leonard

This is one of the theme shows that you get over Wrestlemania weekend as one wrestler is given the chance to run his own show. In this case it’s Gringo Loco (of MLW/GCW fame) with a lucha themed show. There is no story or history coming in so the show is standing completely on its own. Let’s get to it.

Johnny Caballero vs. Jack Cartwheel

Yeah it’s John Hennigan/Morrison/Nitro/Superstar/Mundo/Impact/Elite/Game Changer/Drip Drip/YOU GET THE IDEA ALREADY (and it’s a funny one). Yes he brought the Drip Stick and the fans are moistened before the bell. They grab a lockup to start and cartwheel around for some nice showing off. A fight over a top wristlock lets Johnny armdrag him down, only to miss the standing shooting star press. Cartwheel misses one of his own though and that’s an early standoff.

They grab some gutwrenches and flip around again, until Cartwheel goes outside for some….well for some cartwheels. Back in and they have a Drip Stick duel (complete with taking three steps), with Cartwheel cheating and spraying Johnny in the face. The referee gets wet too, meaning Cartwheel’s Alabama Slam gets no count. Johnny gets in a quick low blow though and the flipping neckbreaker gets a close two. A Muta Lock goes on as we can only hear one of the commentators due to some (acknowledged) technical difficulties.

The reverse Regal Roll looks to set up Starship Pain but Cartwheel rolls him up for two. Johnny sends him outside and puts on a hat, which is knocked off by a hurricanrana to the floor. That sets up the big flip dive (you knew that was coming), followed by a cartwheel into a moonsault for two back inside.

Johnny sweeps the leg though and kicks him down but misses Starship Pain. Cartwheel hits kind of an Iconoclasm faceplant (OUCH) to send Johnny outside, which of course means another dive to the floor. Back in and Cartwheel loads up the Alberto double stomp but gets Drip Sticked in the face. Now Starship Pain can connect to give Johnny the pin at 11:27.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of fun opener that you want to see and it went rather well. That is how you open a show like this as Johnny is someone the fans know and respect while Cartwheel gets to hang with someone way above his pay grade. Cartwheel looked good here, though the constant flips are about as indy style as you can get.

Respect is shown post match.

Tony Deppen vs. Psicosis

Here’s a battle of the generations. Before the match, Deppen yells at him in Spanish and hits a dive to the floor to start fast. Back in and Deppen hits some running knees in the corner for two but Psicosis dropkicks him out of the air. That’s enough to send Deppen outside, where Psicosis can hit a big dive into the chairs. One such chair is sent at Deppen’s head so yes we do get a La Parka reference.

Psicosis channels his inner Tajiri with a Tarantula, allowing commentary to talk ECW. Deppen comes right back with a series of strikes to take over and a slingshot neckbreaker sends Psicosis bailing to the floor. Of course that means a big dive to take Psicosis down again. Psicosis’ belt is taken off for some hard chops to the chest but a top rope elbow misses. Deppen hits a quick Shining Wizard for the pin at 7:37.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see and felt more like a way to say “here’s this legend on the show”. Deppen is basically a despicable heel and that isn’t what we got here. Psicosis is still a name and has some nostalgia value, but Deppen’s win was a little flat here. And we didn’t even get the guillotine legdrop!

Aeroboy vs. Octagon Jr. vs. Shane Mercer vs. Golden Dragon vs. Drago Kid vs. Chris Carter

Well OF COURSE there is a scramble match. At least it’s only six names this time so it could be worse. Mercer isn’t a luchador but he’s from Lexington, Kentucky so I can go for more of him. It’s a brawl to start with Octogon, Carter and Dragon left in the ring, setting up the triple dives. Carter gets chopped by the other two though and it’s time to head back inside for the series of flips.

It’s Carter snapping off some hurricanranas to take over but Mercer is right there with a pop up powerslam (Leonard: “I couldn’t even do that with a Wrestling Buddy.”). Aeroboy comes back in for some kicks into a rope walk hanging DDT to drop Mercer. Dragon comes back in and gets choked down, only to come back with a very springboardy rope walk wristdrag.

Octagon comes back in with a spinning dive to drop Dragon and a springboard wristdrag does it again. It’s Drago coming back in to clean house but Carter kicks him in the head to break that up. Carter hits something like a slingshot cutter but Octagon gives him a running Death Valley Driver into the corner. Mercer is back in to belly to belly Drago into Octagon.

One heck of a toss sends Octagon onto a pile at ringside, leaving Drago and Kid to kick Mercer down. For your THAT’S NOT POSSIBLE move, Mercer catches them both on top and hits a super moonsault World’s Strongest Slam to both of them at the same time (GEEZ) for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C+. Well that ending isn’t being topped anytime soon. Mercer was the outlier in the match and while I’m not sure how much sense it makes to have the non-luchador win on the LUCHA show, he showcased himself very well here. It was a total insanity match but dang that ending was awesome to see.

Pagano vs. Sadika

And now we go extreme, which shouldn’t be a surprise either. Sadika (a woman) is rather popular with the fans. Pagano grabs a headlock to start to make it clear that this is a wrestling match before we get to the violence. Sadika tries a running shoulder to no avail and it’s an early standoff.

Some chops don’t work for Pagano so Sadika strikes him down and grabs the first kendo stick. Those shots are shrugged off and Pagano doesn’t seem overly worried here. Sadika is back with a running dropkick to the floor, where Pagano hits a dropkick off some chairs. Pagano goes for some weapons underneath the ring so Sadika pelts him with a chair to break it up. A light tube is thrown in and a hanging piledriver onto said tube gives Pagano two.

They strike it out on the apron until Sadika suplexes him onto a ladder (and some other stuff) on the floor. Sadika’s dive is broken up and it’s Pagano going back inside for the running flip dive. Some more light tube shots get Sadika out of trouble and a corkscrew splash off the middle rope through a door gives her two. Pagano’s back is VERY bloody so he hits a springboard Codebreaker for the pin at 14:37.

Rating: D+. This isn’t my thing and never has been so I’m not surprised that I wasn’t getting into this one either. The other problem is that they only got so extreme in the first place with a few light tube shots and that flip dive onto the pile of junk. The ending came out of nowhere too, though I wonder if that is due to the bloody back. Nothing to this one, but the time did go by fast.

Respect is shown post match.

The ring is cleared up so we hear about some other upcoming GCW matches.

Abismo Negro Jr./Demonic Flamita/Gringo Loco vs. ASF/Laredo Kid/Rey Horus

At least I know most of these people. It’s a brawl on the floor to start and they’re quickly inside so everyone can run around and hit a few shots here and there. We settle down to Gringo vs. Horus with Gringo flipping him off. A top rope cradle takes Gringo down and it’s off to Flamita for a 619 in the corner. Flamita teases a dive but flips off the fans and drops down instead. It’s off to ASF to start cleaning house but Abismo sends him to the apron and then out to the floor.

Kid comes back in and hits a slingshot hurricanrana to drop Abismo on the floor. A big dive is loaded up but Flamita superkicks Kid down. Loco and company start the triple teaming on Horus and something like a standing What’s Up (with a dropkick instead of a headbutt) makes it even worse. An assisted Codebreaker drops Horus again so ASF comes back in, only to get dropped as well.

Some rudo miscommunication lets ASF come back, including a running headscissors to all three of them, without hitting the ground in between them. That and some stereo dropkick from Horus and Kid have the crowd rather pleased and it’s time for the back to back to back dives to the floor. Back in and Flamita superkicks Kid again and hits a tiger driver for two. ASF Death Valley Drivers Logo and hits a 450 but Abismo makes the save.

Abismo’s super Styles Clash gets two with Horus making the save, setting up the strike off. The satellite DDT plants Loco and another DDT gets two on Flamita. A corkscrew moonsault takes out the other villains but Loco is back up for a big dive of his own. Back in and ASF’s super hurricanrana is countered into a super sitout powerbomb to give Loco the pin at 14:47.

Rating: B. This is what you expect from a lucha six man tag and that is not a bad thing. At the end of the day, they were there to fly around and do all kinds of insane flips and dives and little more. It was a lot of fun and pure junk food wrestling and that is all I would have asked for from the thing, even with the show’s namesake getting the pin.

Post match Loco thanks the fans and talks about the greatness of lucha. Then respect is teased but middle fingers are shown.

AR Fox vs. Ninja Mack

Fox’s wife Ayla is here with him. Mack trips him down to start and misses an early spinning moonsault. Back up and Fox hits a superkick into the ribs and then kicks him into the corner. There’s a slingshot dropkick out to the floor, setting up the required dive. Fox hits another running flip dive but Mack gets in a shot of his own to take over for a change. They head outside again, with Mack snapmaring him on the floor.

Fox shrugs that off and hits a running flip dive of his own. Back in and Fox hits a twisting brainbuster and they’re both down. Mack sends him outside and hits a Sasuke Special but Fox is right back with a trio of springboard cutters/Stunners. A 450 misses and Mack superkicks him, only to miss a Phoenix splash. Now a Now the 450 can connect to give Fox the pin at 8:35.

Rating: B-. Fox is one of those guys who does very well with just about anything he does and that was the case again here. You can see someone being that smooth and it is always nice to watch. Mack is someone I’ve heard a lot of good things about and while he can get around his rather small stature, he wasn’t doing much that blew me away. Still though, it’s nice to have things be a bit less insane after the last few matches so nice job of mixing things up a bit.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown

These two really don’t like each other. Before the match, Clown brings some kids into the ring to pose with him. Commentary talks about how big of a deal this was the first time and lists off its ratings, which is always weird to hear. They don’t get get physical to start and head outside instead with Clown and a kid yelling at Wagner. Back in and they go with some grappling with Clown grabbing a front facelock.

An exchange of armdrags sends Wagner outside and there’s the dive from Clown. Wagner cuts off another dive with a light tube shot, followed by a broom to the back for two. We get the required ripping at the mask and the fans dislike Wagner even more. A door is loaded up and we talk about Steven Segal for some reason. The bloody Clown misses a charge but comes back with a running basement dropkick for two.

They head outside again with Clown hitting a trashcan shot to the head, followed by a broom over the back for two more. Some chairs are brought in, with one being driven into the other to hit Wagner low. Clown hits a snap powerslam for two and it’s time to whip a bunch of people. Wagner is back with a Tower Of London (Commentary: “Not exactly a lucha reference.”) and something like a surfboard choke keeps Clown in trouble.

A tornado DDT plants Clown again and a top rope superplex gets a delayed two. Wagner’s super hurricanrana is countered into a superbomb for two more and it’s time for some more weapons. Clown sends him through a door for two but Wagner kicks him low, pulls off the mask and hooks a small package for the pin at 20:40.

Rating: C+. The most important thing here was the match felt big and that is how something like this is supposed to go. I could have gone without some of the weapons stuff (and by that I mean all of it) but this did feel like a special match. They both came off like bigger stars and that is not something you get to see very often. Kind of a lame finish with the mask (because of course it’s the mask) but it hit the important part.

Post match Wagner brags about his win and talks to I believe a fan who won’t be his translator. Another fan is willing to do it and apparently Wagner says he’ll always go for the mask. Wagner challenges Clown to the mask vs. hair match and the match seems to be set. Clown wants to do it right now but Wagner leaves instead. Clown thanks the fans for coming out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. One of the things to remember about a show like this is the lack of expectations. There are (mostly) no stories coming in and the action is all that matters. If that part is good, the show is going to be a success and that is pretty much what happened here. It isn’t a must see and there are better lucha shows out there, but there are far worse ways to spend about two hours fifteen minutes.

 

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