Rey de Reyes 2013
Date: March 17, 2013
Location: Plaza de Toros Monumental Lorenzo Garza, Monterrey, Mexico
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jesus Zuniga, Andres Maronas

This is another request from…oh about thirteen years ago and I needed to get to it sooner or later. This is from AAA, with the main event being the show’s namesake tournament final for a really big sword. To have a final we need to have some qualifying matches though and that’s the meat of the show. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that the commentary is in Spanish so I’m kind of flying blind.

Fusion Title: Fenix vs. Crazy Boy vs. Daga vs. Juventud Guerrera

Elimination match for the inaugural title. Daga kicks away at Fenix to start but can’t get very far before handing it off to Guerrera and Boy. An exchange of superkicks sets up an exchange of chops before they’re both pulled outside. That lets Daga and Fenix slide in for a dive each before all four get back inside. Guerrera takes over until Fenix is back with a double springboard dropkick.

Daga kicks away at Boy, who is back with a Zig Zag for two. Guerrera comes back in to steal a rollup for two but Daga kicks everyone down. Daga Death Valley Drivers Guerrera on the apron but Fenix is up with a big corkscrew dive. Back in and Boy rolls Guerrera up for two, only for Daga to give Boy a middle rope Canadian Destroyer for the elimination at 7:45.

Guerrera clotheslines Daga for two and Fenix is back in to drop Daga with a springboard flipping Stunner. Fenix sends Guerrera into the corner and hits a top rope double stomp, with Daga getting the pin at 8:58. We’re down to Daga vs. Fenix with Fenix grabbing a Michinoku Driver for two but Daga’s tiger suplex gets the same. Daga heads up top but gets pulled down with a super Spanish Fly for the title at 10:37.

Rating: C+. This was good enough with a fast paced four way, including Fenix and Daga getting to do their rather impressive stuff. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done better, but for an opening match, I’ve seen far worse. Granted the Fusion Title wouldn’t wind up meaning much, as Fenix would hold it for about a year and a half before it was unified with the Cruiserweight Title.

Post match some women come down to present the title, despite having some serious issues dealing with the steps. Fenix celebrates with the title and fist bumps Daga for the respect.

Fenix seems happy with his win.

Daga doesn’t seem happy with his loss.

Los Inferno Rockers vs. Los Psycho Circus

The Circus’ Six Man Titles aren’t on the line. That would be Devil Rocker/Machine Rocker/Soul Rocker vs. Monster Clown/Murder Clown/Psycho Clown and you might know Machine as The Beast Mortos. The Rockers come out with a table while the Circus comes out with a bunch of circus acts. The Rockers jump them to start but gets sent outside for the dives, with a Rocker dive being pulled out of the air by Murder. He holds up I believe Soul so the other two Clowns can dropkick him down for a cool looking spot.

The other Rockers get back inside and manage to dump Murder but wind up hitting each other by mistake. Monster ties up Devil in quite the hold until Soul makes the save. Psycho is back in to sunset flip Soul for two and we settle down to Devil chopping at Murder. This doesn’t work in the slightest as Murder just destroys him with a Last Ride. Machine and Soul come in to cut Murder off and it’s back to Psycho to clean house. Monster is sent outside for a running flip dive, leaving Murder to gorilla press Devil. The table is brought in and a middle rope triple bomb puts Monster through the table for the pin at 8:15.

Rating: C+. This was the usual six man brawl and it was good enough while it lasted. The Clowns were a team who worked well together and that’s why they would be around for such a long time. On the other hand you have the Rockers, who I don’t think I’ve seen before but were a nice group of….I think villains? It’s not entirely clear but they worked either way.

Post match the Rockers beat up a smaller clown because they’re not that nice.

Rey de Reyes Qualifying Match: El Mesias vs. Heavy Metal vs. Octagon vs. La Parka vs. La Parka Negra vs. Pentagon Jr.

Elimination rules and Pentagon Jr. is better known as Penta. For the sake of simplicity we’ll go with “Parka” and “Negra” to differentiate the skeleton guys. Thankfully there are tags here and it’s Mesias starting with Metal. They go to the mat with Mesias working on the arm with Metal armdragging him away without much trouble. Another armbar sends Metal over to the ropes before he grabs his own armbar, with Mesias going to the ropes.

It’s off to the two Parkas, with the fans certainly approving. Negra misses a kick to the face and gets kneed down, allowing Parka to fire off some right hands. Pentagon charges into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before Octagon comes in for one of his own. It’s back to Negra to help Pentagon with Octagon and a double stomp What’s Up finishes Octagon off at 6:31. Metal comes in and gets taken down with a quick Sling Blade, allowing Pentagon to stomp away. A quick la majistral gives Metal the pin on Pentagon at 8:23 to get us down to four.

Mesias can’t powerbomb Metal so instead it’s a pair of spears for the pin at 9:22. Parka and Mesias double team Negra in the corner until Mesias is sent outside. Parka’s clothesline gets two on Negra and Mesias adds a top rope elbow for the double pin at 10:50. That leaves us with Parka vs. Mesias and they slowly slug it out until Mesias hits an enziguri. Parka is right back with a reverse DDT for two, followed by a flapjack for the same. Mesias avoids a charge in the corner and hits a Downward Spiral for two of his own, followed by a Backstabber for the pin at 14:37.

Rating: C+. There is only so much you can get out of a six way match as there are so many people moving around. The tags helped a lot, though the eliminations didn’t exactly have a ton of drama. It was more like “this guy is gone and this guy is gone and then this guy wins”. That’s only getting you so far and hopefully the other two matches don’t go the exact same way.

Post match respect is shown.

Rey de Reyes Qualifying Match: Villano IV vs. Psicosis vs. Jack Evans vs. Drago vs. Chessman vs. LA Park

Elimination rules again. It’s a brawl to start with Drago getting at least double teamed, including a powerbomb dropped into a Codebreaker. Chessman comes back in for the save but gets kicked in the face by Evans. Park comes back in so Evans uses him as a launchpad for a hurricanrana and flipping splash to Chessman. We settle down to Villano armdragging Psicosis to the floor but getting dropkicked by Drago.

It’s off to Park, who sends Drago to the apron and stops to dance, but catches a diving Drago and dances again. Fenix sends Park outside and it’s time for the series of dives, with Evans diving onto the rest of the pile. Back in and Drago kicks away at Psicosis before rolling him up for the first elimination at 4:57. Chessman comes in and powerbombs Drago, followed by a backbreaker for the elimination at 5:41.

Villano comes in with a rolling headbutt to Chessman but gets knocked down by Evans. The standing corkscrew moonsault gets two on Villano, who powerbombs Evans for the pin at 6:33. Park knocks Villano down and goes up but gets knocked off by Chessman. The ensuing moonsault misses though and Villano covers Chessman for two. Park is back in with a chair to Chessman though and Villano grabs a small package for the pin at 7:50.

We’re down to Park vs. Villano and the referee takes Park’s chair away. Villano shoulders him down for two, followed by Park’s DDT getting the same. They slug it out from their knees and Villano rips Park’s mask apart. A Stunner gives Villano two but Park grabs a Backstabber and hammers away for the final pin at 11:23.

Rating: B-. This match felt like it had more star power involved and that helped a bit. Park certainly feels like a bigger name and the fans seemed to be rather happy with the result. The match felt similar to the opener with the rapid fire eliminations, but that’s kind of what you have to do in something like this. It’s not a great match, but it’s certainly not boring.

Marisela Pena, the widow of company founder Antonio Pena, makes a big announcement: AAA will be split into two groups. Going forward, AAA Fusion will be the group in Mexico while AAA Evolution will be in the United States.

Rey de Reyes Qualifying Match: El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs. Electroshock vs. Cibernetico vs. Canek vs. Silver King vs. Toscano

One more time with the elimination rules. Cibernetico stomps on Aguayo to start and knocks him out to the floor. Canek and King come in but Electroshock takes Canek’s place and hammers on King. Toscano adds a missile dropkick to King and Electroshock’s cutter gets rid of King at 1:50. Well that was quick. Canek comes back in to shoulder Toscano over but gets dropped with a missile dropkick. A suplex and elbow drop finish Toscano off at 3:13.

Aguayo is back in to chair Cibernetico in the head and stomp away before grabbing a table. Cibernetico is able to slam him through the table instead and then chairs Aguayo in the head. Security comes out to break it up and it seems that they’re both eliminated at around 7:30. Canek clotheslines Electroshock and hits a side slam for the win at 8:05.

Rating: D+. This felt like a way to get Canek into the tournament final despite him not exactly doing much. That being said, the point of Canek is to have a legend in the finals and that worked well enough. The Aguayo and Cibernetico brawl was good enough, but that was pretty much the only interesting spot.

Earlier today, three wrestlers sat down together and talked for a bit. And unfortunately that’s about all I can give you.

Faby Apache, Lufisto and Taya are ready to win the Reina de Reinas.

Reina de Reinas Title: Lufisto vs. Mari Apache vs. Taya vs. Faby Apache

Elimination match (of course) for the vacant title. Faby gets triple teamed to start but she manages to dropkick Lufisto outside. Mari hits Taya by mistake and Faby takes Mari down with a running hurricanrana. Taya and Lufisto have a staredown, with Lufisto kicking her in the head for two as Mari makes a save. Mari kicks Lufisto down and drop toeholds Faby, setting up a surfboard. Taya runs back in to cover Mari for two before rolling Mari up for two more. Lufisto is back in to choke Mari out for the elimination at 5:17.

Taya northern lights suplexes Faby for two and cuts her off again with a big boot. Taya’s moonsault misses though and a Fairy Tale Ending gets rid of her at 7:11. Lufisto is back in with a reverse chinlock to Faby, who comes back with some running shoulders. They knock each other down until Faby charges into a Downward Spiral into the corner.

The cannonball and a running boot connect in the corner to give Lufist two but Faby is back with a German suplex. Lufisto’s Saito suplex gets two more but Faby catches her up top. A Tree Of Woe double stomp gives Lufisto two more, only for Faby to grab a dragon suplex out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 11:49.

Rating: C. I have seen a lot of Faby Apache over the years and I just do not get the appeal. She’s technically fine but I’ve never gotten any kind of attachment to her. There wasn’t much to this one as the first to were eliminated and then Faby got beaten up until she snapped off a suplex to win. I wasn’t into this and that is the case a lot of the time that this title is involved.

In the back, Faby is happy with her win.

Video on Cibernetico and El Hijo de Perro Aguayo, who seem to still be fighting backstage. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a package from before or if this is after their pull apart brawl earlier, though I think it’s the latter. Apparently Aguayo demanded a hair vs. hair match and got his request. This would go on to headline TripleMania a few months later so it was absolutely the biggest story in the company.

We look at Mega Champion Texano Jr. sitting down and going face to face with challenger Blue Demon Jr. I believe Demon says he’s going for the title and they seem to argue about their fathers. Either way, the title match is on.

Mega Title: Texano Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr.

Texano is defending and they chop it out to start. Demon takes him down and starts working on the leg before grabbing a bow and arrow. That’s broken up and Texano goes after the leg, with Demon getting out just as fast. Now it’s Demon working on the leg, including something like a Lasso From El Paso. With that not lasting long, they trade legsweeps for two each and then trade chops.

Texano is knocked outside for the baseball slide and then the suicide dive to the back to leave them both down. Back in and Demon hits a running shoulder in the corner but gets knocked outside, with Texano hitting a dive of his own. They head back inside, with a fireman’s carry backbreaker giving Texano two, so he yells at the referee. A Codebreaker gets two more as Demon gets a foot on the rope and he reverses a powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two.

Demon catches him on top for a super hurricanrana, followed by a DDT for two more. Demon’s lifting Pedigree gets another near fall and he ties up Texano’s leg, while pulling on a double underhook at the same time (that’s a weird one but it has to hurt). That’s reversed into an ankle lock but Demon kicks his way out, meaning it’s time for more chops in the corner. Texano goes up and gets armdragged back down and they both need a breather. The referee almost gets bumped before Demon hits another lifting Pedigree. Demon tries another but gets reversed into an Air Raid Crash to retain the title at 16:36.

Rating: B-. It felt like a big showdown, but it never hit that higher gear. That being said, title matches aren’t as important in Mexico so it isn’t that big of a surprise that it was just good instead of some blow away match. Texano has grown on me over the years and Demon is better than I remember him, so this was a nice showdown. If nothing else, it was nice to have a singles match for a change.

Post match Demon seems to want a title vs. mask match at TripleMania but Texano isn’t interested. That match didn’t wind up happening.

In the back, Demon seems upset by his loss.

Texano is a bit happier with the result.

Rey de Reyes: El Mesias vs. Canek vs. LA Park

Elimination rules. Canek gets double teamed to start fast, with Mesias punching him in the face and Park hitting a running boot to the chest. Park starts untying Canek’s mask before turning on Mesias. Canek gets a double arm crank on Park but a rope is reached for a fast break. Mesias is back up with a running corner clothesline but Parka takes off his belt for a whipping. Canek is back in to drop Park and grab a Figure Four on Mesias, with park using a chair to make the save.

Park chairs both of them down but Canek catches Park with a kick to the face out of the corner. A middle rope elbow connects, with Mesias pulling the referee. Park rips Canek’s mask off and gets the pin at 6:42. So it’s Mesias vs. Park, with the two of them colliding to give Mesias an early two. Park gets a Backstabber in the ropes for two of his own and it’s time to strut. A charge hits the post though and Mesias hits a middle rope hurricanrana to the floor.

Mesias follows with a SCARY running flip dive (as he basically stops flipping and is upside down as he crashes into Park) and they go back inside, where Park knocks him down again. A running boot sends Mesias outside, with Park getting in a running knee from the apron. Back in and Park gets crotched on top and a super Codebreaker brings him back down. The delayed cover gets two so Park takes him up top, where Mesias reverses into…I have no idea. Either way, they come crashing down and Mesias is up first with a top rope splash for the pin at 15:38.

Rating: C+. It was another case of the match being fine but not exactly great. I’m guessing that was supposed to be a super Spanish Fly at the end, but they really just kind of crashed down. The match didn’t feel like some kind of a big showdown, though Mesias feels like a big star and having him win an important competition is a good idea. All in all, just an ok final, with Canek not adding much.

Post match Mesias is presented with the sword for winning the tournament. Celebrating ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There were good parts in here, but the bigger issue here was a lack of variety. Save for one match, everything was an elimination match with some not so thrilling eliminations. That didn’t make for the most thrilling show and while it did feel important to have Mesias win the tournament and setting up Aguayo vs. Cibernetico, a lot of the show felt like it just came and went. Not bad, but nothing memorable whatsoever.

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TripleMania XXI
Date: June 16, 2013
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

So this is the result of a deal I made twelve years ago to get a vote in a popularity contest on a wrestling forum. Yes I remembered the show this long and yes I’m just getting around to it. As usual I have no idea what to expect around here but that can make for some fun situations. Or a total disaster. Let’s get to it.

Note that I did not follow AAA at this point and my Spanish is bad at best so I apologize for not getting a lot of this stuff right.

Commentary, in Spanish, welcomes us to the show.

The opening video looks at TripleMania over the years, with various people offering thoughts.

We get the presentation of Antonio Pena’s urn, as always.

Dinastia/El Elegido/Faby Apache/Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Mamba/Mini Abismo Negro/Silver Kain/Taya

Escarlata tries to kiss the referee and we’re ready to go (with a whistle, as this company is a bit different). Mamba and Escarlata pull hair to start and have to be dragged away from each other. Kain drops Escarlata with a slap and gets kissed as a result, meaning it’s time to panic. Taya comes in and Negro hits her in the face by mistake, allowing Escarlata to clean house without much trouble.

Elegido (who seems to be a stripper) comes in, much to Mamba’s approval, and avoids a crossbody, allowing him to kick Mamba in the ribs. Kain accidentally dropkicks Taya and Elegido almost loses his trunks on a sunset flip from Mamba. After some hip swiveling, it’s off to Dinastia and Negro, with the former walking on his (own) hands and armdragging Negro to the floor.

The rest of Negro’s team gets headscissored as well but Kain is back up with a clothesline. Dinastia gets out of the Tree Of Woe and dropkicks Kain to the floor, setting up a suicide dive. That leaves Taya to come in and stun Apache (who finally does something), allowing for some triple stomping. Escarlata comes in and gets beaten down in Apache’s place, with Dinastia getting the same treatment.

Apache finally manages a pop up hurricanrana and Dinastia is back in with a kick to the back of Taya’s tights. Dinastia moonsaults onto Negro, setting off a train of dives. Even Taya moonsaults onto all of them before coming back in to powerbomb Apache. The moonsault hits raised knees though and Apache tiger suplexes her for the pin at 12:45.

Rating: C+. This is a case where I really don’t get the appeal, but the people in the audience certainly did. Escarlata has been doing this for a very long time and the fans seem to love the shtick so it’s hard to argue. Other than that, you got some nice flipping and it’s easy to see why Taya was a star for so long. She has that charisma to her and a great evil smile which worked very well.

Antonio Pena’s widow is presented to the crowd.

Heavy Metal vs. Chessman

For a Mega Title shot later tonight and Chessman jumps him before the whistle. Some chair shots have Metal in more trouble and a suplex gets two. Metal is back up with some clotheslines but Chessman heads outside and grabs a table. Another chair shot keeps Metal down and Chessman kicks at a cameraman as a bonus. Metal manages to knock him outside for a flip dive but Chessman hits a spear through the ropes to send Metal through the table.

Back in and a hanging swinging suplex gives Chessman two and it’s time for a ladder. A miniature wrestler is brought in and thrown at Metal, allowing Chessman to spear him through the ladder. The mini makes the save and gets a mini guitar smashed over his head, leaving Chessman to sitout powerbomb Metal for two. A backbreaker gets two but Chessman misses the corkscrew moonsault. Metal grabs la majistral (and not a great one) for the pin at 8:36.

Rating: D+. In theory this was a regular match but they had all kinds of weapons and some interference thrown in, which made it quite the mess. Metal barely had any offense until the end, when he won with a fluke rollup. Maybe the story plays out better if you know how we got here, but the match itself really didn’t work.

Tag Team Titles: Los Mexican Power vs. Angelico/Jack Evans vs. Drago/Fenix vs. Los Perros del Mal vs. Los Mamitos vs. Drago/Fenix

Elimination match for the vacant titles, Mexican Power is Crazy Boy/Joe Lider (escorted by a bunch of dancers), Los Perros are Daga/Psicosis and Los Mamitos are Mr. E (Eric Escobar) and Sexy Boy, who are escorted to the ring by some women. Angelico and Evans clean house to start but Power fights out of the corner with some cutters. The Mamitos comes back in to take over but the Perros cut them off.

Fenix and Drago get to take over, only for Angelico and Evans to kick them down as the circle of control continues. Angelico and Evans pile up five people so Angelico can hit a top rope splash. A big flip dive drops Fenix and Drago, but Los Mamitos catch Angelico with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for the elimination at 6:04.

Psicosis and Daga’s dives are cut off with chairs to the head but Power takes over on Los Mamitos back inside. Fenix and Drago get to clean house though and a double top rope double stomp pins Sexy Boy at 9:18 to get us down to three. Lider is back in with a running dropkick to Fenix and a bunch of chairs are brought in. Crazy Boy and Psicosis strike it out until Lider pulls Crazy outside. Crazy is draped over the barricade for a big dive from Psicosis, leaving everyone to get back inside to….well just beat on each other a lot.

A Spanish Fly takes Daga from the apron to the floor, leaving Crazy to reverse Death Valley Driver Psicosis for the pin at 14:08. So we’re down to Power vs. Fenix/Drago with Fenix hitting a big dive. Drago’s running Death Valley Driver into the corner gets two on Crazy and Lider’s neckbreaker gets the same on Fenix.

Back up and Fenix’s Canadian Destroyer gets two on Crazy, who sends Fenix outside. Power’s friend Nino Hamburguesa’s dive is cut off with a kick to the head, leaving Fenix’s springboard spinning dive to…well kind of connect. Hamburguesa dives onto Lider and Fenix and Drago runs Crazy over for two. Back up and Crazy grabs a full nelson and flips Drago forward into a rollup for the titles at 20:14.

Rating: C. It was long, there were a lot of people in it, and there was very little in the way of the match moving from one section to another. There is only so much you can do with so many moving parts and this wasn’t exactly worthwhile. As usual, there were some fun spots and the people are athletic, but I could have gone with a bit more structure.

Post match Vampiro comes out to present the new champions with their titles. Konnan comes out to address the fans and gets in Vampiro’s face but security separates them. Vampiro argues back and some shoving ensues until Konnan leaves.

Jeff Jarrett/Matt Morgan/Monster Pain vs. Los Psycho Circus

For the sake of simplicity, Monster Clown is “Monster” and Monster Pain is “Pain”. Monster Pain is led around by chains and looks a bit like Abyss. The Circus is Monster Clown, Murder Clown and Psycho Clown. Jeff (with Karen) seems to throw out tortillas to the fans and has to hold Karen back from arguing with someone. This seems to be about the USA vs. Mexico, because they’re psychotic clowns, but they’re PATRIOTIC psychotic clowns.

The Clowns start fast with stereo dives through the ropes, followed by a big dive off the top to the floor. We settle down to Murder and Morgan, with the former winning an exchange of shoulders. That’s enough to send Morgan outside so it’s off to Psycho vs. Jarrett. The Clowns take over on Jarrett and clothesline him to the floor so it’s Pain coming in to clear the ring with some big boots.

The villains take over on Monster and send him outside before ramming Psycho into the corner for two. Monster is sent outside, where he goes after another woman with Jarrett and company, earning a belt shot from a man whose name might be Richard Negrin. Back in and the Clowns give Morgan a triple low blow (that seems so excessive) before Murder jumps onto Pain’s elevated ribs.

Negrin comes in and gets beaten up as Karen goes after Antonio Pena’s widow. This goes as well as you would think, with Karen’s hair being messed up and a soda being poured onto her as a bonus. Karen gets brought inside where the Clowns put a witch’s hat on her and Psycho seems to give her a kiss. Another woman in the villains’ corner is brought in and given a three Clown What’s Up. Morgan and Pain come back in to wreck everything though, with a chokeslam finishing Murder at 11:46.

Rating: C+. This feels like a match where a backstory would have helped (granted, not the promotion’s fault as commentary was likely explaining it) as there were a lot of people running around doing all kinds of things here. The ending wasn’t exactly great though, as the Clowns were on a roll and then just lost out of nowhere. Jarrett was quite the heat magnet and it’s no shock he was such a big heel in Mexico.

Post match Psycho’s mask is ripped off for quite the heat.

Mega Title: Heavy Metal vs. El Texano Jr.

Texano is defending, with Pepe Casas and Silver Kain as the seconds. They go to the mat to start, with Texano grabbing an early leglock. The hold stays on as they roll outside, where Metal has to block a posting. Back in and Texano works on the leg, including wrapping it around the rope in the corner.

A bullrope shot to the leg sets up another leglock, with Metal going to the rope for the break. Metal gets kicked in the face but he comes back with a hurricanrana for two but Texano’s small package gets the same. Metal’s crossface (minus the crossface part, as he’s pulling the hair instead) sends Texano over to the rope so Metal drops a middle rope elbow for two instead.

A superplex gets the same but a top rope backsplash misses to give Texano an opening. Texano goes up this time, only to get dropkicked out to the floor. Metal is right there with a top rope flip dive, followed by a super hurricanrana back inside. A cross armbreaker doesn’t last long but another super hurricanrana is countered into a super Styles Clash to retain the title at 11:45.

Rating: C+. The ending was good and it makes sense that Texano would survive with the title as he was coming in with an advantage due to Metal wrestling twice. At the end of the day, it was a decent match, but it’s not like titles mean much around here. That’s just something that you have to get used to, as it’s such a different way to go from American wrestling.

Post match Texano goes to leave but gets cut off by Ray Mendoza Jr. (an unmasked Villano V). They get back in the ring and argue a lot, with Mendoza seemingly not thinking much of Texano. It seems we have a challenge and that’s that.

Abismo Negro is inducted into the Hall Of Fame, with his family accepting on his behalf.

Latin American Title: Blue Demon Jr. vs. El Mesias

For the vacant title. They go to the mat to start with Mesias working on the arm to little avail. Demon reverses into a leglock, which is quickly broken up and the grappling ensues again. Mesias grabs a headlock on the mat before sending him outside for the running flip dive. That means more stalling, as they aren’t exactly going at full speed thus far.

Back in and Mesias cuts him off again, followed by some slow chops in the corner. Demon comes back with a bulldog but takes too long going up, allowing Mesias to pull him back down. A running flip dive off the apron works a bit better for Demon and a suplex gets two back inside.

Mesias’ spear gets two, followed by a snap powerslam for the same. Demon DDTs him for two but Mesias catches him on top with a superplex for two more. Some raised boots cut off a diving Mesias and a lifting Pedigree gives Demon two. A super hurricanrana gives Demon another two and the weird non-turned over Sharpshooter makes Mesias give up at 18:55.

Rating: B-. This is the first match that felt like it mattered and came off like something big. It made for a good match as Demon can work well with anyone, as he certainly had the talent. Mesias was around for a long time in a variety of places, but he didn’t shine nearly as well as Demon did here.

Post match LA Park, the former champion, interrupts and…seems to acknowledge Demon as the champion. All three show respect.

Dr. Wagner Jr./Electroshock/La Parka/Octagon vs. Canek/Mascara Ano 2000/Universo 2000/Villano IV

Wagner and Canek start things off with Wagner’s headlock not getting him anywhere. Canek monkey flips him over so Electroshock starts in on the arm to no avail. Everything breaks down and it’s Wagner getting beaten down, followed by Electroshock taking a beating of his own. Parka gets double teamed as well as Dorian Roldan comes to ringside with a chair.

It’s back to Electroshock getting beaten up, with both his and Parka’s masks being untied. Octagon gets taken down and elbowed but manages to fight back, as does Electroshock. Canek and Wagner slug it out, with Wagner going for Canek’s mask. Parka gets the chair to fight back and we settle down to Ano missing a charge at Wagner. Ano gets low bridged to the floor and Wagner poses a lot, followed by a basement dropkick to Universo.

Villano comes in to knock Parka down but the 2000s comes in and chop Villano by mistake (Parks shakes their hands for the help). It’s off to Octagon vs. Ano, with Universo knocking Ano down in another error. Electroshock comes in to backsplash Canek for two, with the save allowing Canek to work on the arms.

Wagner hits a flip dive off the apron and Octagon dropkicks Ano as everything breaks down. That leaves Canek to tie up Octagon’s arms for two but Parka knocks Villano to the floor for a suicide dive. Canek’s Cactus Clothesline sends Electroshock to the floor and it’s off to Wagner vs. Universo. A chair is brought in but Universo doesn’t want it, which brings in Roldan to slap him in the face. Electroshock cutters Roldan and it’s a Wagner Driver to give Wagner the pin on Universo at 23:06.

Rating: C+. There wasn’t much in the way of tagging here, but it did tell a story with the villains dividing and conquering. The ending felt like a big deal with Roldan getting beaten up, as it came off like a turn for Universo. It certainly wasn’t boring and that’s more than you can ask for a lot of the matches on this show.

We get a special tribute to Hector Garza, who passed away less than a month before this show.

El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs. Cibernetico

Hair vs. hair match with Daga/Psicosis and Dark Cuervo here as well. Aguayo jumps him on the floor to start fast before taking him inside for the corner choking. Cibernetico is already busted open and a ram into the post makes it worse. Some chairs are loaded up, with one of them smashing Cibernetico in the head. A bunch of tables are set up, with Aguayo being sent through one of them to start the comeback.

The seconds come in to help with the beating before Aguayo is sent over the barricade. Back in and Psicosis is piledriven onto a chair, with the medics getting beaten up as well. Thankfully some of the tables are thrown outside, with Daga being chokeslammed through one of them. Cibernetico’s spear gets two and he grabs a Stunner…but the referee gets bumped. Because THAT MATTERS IN A MATCH LIKE THIS.

A Boston crab makes Aguayo tap to no one, followed by…a Boston crab that makes him tap again. Cibernetico lets the hold go for no apparent reason and Aguyao kicks him low, as another referee (who saw the kick) counts two off a small package. Cibernetico’s low blow gets two more and a chokeslam through a table gets the same. A tombstone is loaded up but the referee yells at Cibernetico, earning a tombstone himself. Aguyao gets up and sends Cibernetico through another table and then double stomps the table onto him for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: D. Yeah this didn’t work, with the no selling and the violence and all that stuff just not clicking. It was one of those matches where they both got beaten up so much in the end that it was hard to accept one of them surviving. They were going with the insanity and it made for a rough match, especially with the match going so long. Not a good main event.

Post match Cibernetico gets his hair cut, even doing some of it himself. Aguyao celebrates and someone much younger gets their head shaved too.

Overall Rating: C. There is such a culture shock between what American fans tend to see and what they get here. While the main event dragged it down, the rest of the show was at least decent with the athleticism being rather good. I can also accept that I didn’t get a lot of the show due to the language barrier. The backstories here could have helped a good bit, though what we got was good enough. It felt like a big show and I did enjoy enough of it, so we’ll call it acceptable.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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TripleMania XXV
Date: August 26, 2017
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Gabe Ramirez

This is of course AAA’s biggest show of the year and heck if I know why someone requested it. Granted it might have been more than a few years ago that someone wanted me to look at it so there is probably something big that stuck out. I have no idea what is going on here but these shows have been hit or miss to say the least. Let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that I don’t follow the promotion so I have no idea what is going on with characters, backstories etc.

A bunch of men, I believe the broadcast team, is introduced.

The ring announcer (one of the four) introduces a bunch of people in costumes. I’m guessing these are sponsor mascots or something? Wrestlers are with them and handing out things to the fans so they’re certainly supposed to be good.

We get some English commentary from Twitch, which confirms that we are still on the preshow here and yes those are sponsor mascots.

La Parka, Faby Apache and Vampiro seem to be judging the first match. Ignore the arena being mostly empty, with almost no noise whatsoever for an almost eerie feeling.

Pre-show: Llave de Gloria: Dragon Solar/Pardux/Solaris/Ashley vs. Hahastary/Bronco Gonzalez/Chicano/Fetiche

This seems to be the finals of some kind of tournament as independent wrestlers are fighting for a contact. It’s a brawl to start with Ashley’s dive being left short on the floor. She’s fine enough to get back in and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on…someone commentary doesn’t feel the need to identify (which makes me think they don’t know who is who here). Instead they give a basic explanation of rudos vs. technicos as everyone gets in a shot to just about everyone else. Even commentary points out that there is one winner to the whole thing so the team aspect is pretty much worthless.

Ashley dropkicks Chicano (thank goodness for names on the back of gear) down but Chicano elbows her in the face. Solaris comes in for a save with a hurricanrana but gets dropkicked out of the air. Everything breaks down the Chicano team takes Ashley down, including a slingshot powerbomb.

Solar gets in some hurricanranas for a breather and it’s Ashley coming back in to pick up the pace. Solaris and Pardux come in with stereo missile dropkicks and Ashley hits a big dive onto most of her opponents. Fetiche is backdropped onto a pile of people on the floor, followed by a corkscrew dive from Solaris. Back in and Solar rolls up Gonzalez for the pin at 6:40.

Rating: C. This was a VERY weird one as they didn’t bother trying to do anything more than have a big exhibition of spots. Ashley stood out a bit more than anyone else but commentary clearly had NO idea what was going on here or who was who. That makes things all the more confusing, and I spent most of the match trying to figure out their names. Granted there wasn’t anything more here than having a bunch of people trying to get noticed, which only worked well enough.

Pre-Show: Llave de Gloria: Angel Mortal Jr./Tiger Boy/Villano III Jr. vs. Angelikal/The Tigger/El Hijo del Vikingo

Same idea as the first match but three on three and thankfully there are a lot more fans in the building for the entrances. For some reason we start with music in the background as Tigger and Villano get things going (commentary seems a lot more familiar with this batch). They flip around to start and neither can get anything more than a fast one, as you might have expected.

Angelikal comes in to hurricanrana Mortal as the pace stays fast. Angelikal clears the ring by himself before being pulled outside, allowing Vikingo to come in. Vikingo climbs the rope for an anklescissors out of the corner to Tiger. Mortal comes in and launches Vikingo into a hurricanrana to tiger on the floor.

Back in and Villano and company start taking over on Tiger’s arm. A double electric chair missile dropkick hits Angelikal and a springboard Codebreaker into a wheelbarrow suplex gets two. Angelikal is right back up with a hurricanrana, leaving Vikingo and Tigger to hit running flip dives to the floor. Back in and Tigger and company hit a 450/moonsault/shooting star press for the triple pin at 7:33.

Rating: C+. Much like the opener, this was a bunch of people trying to get in as much as they could to showcase themselves. Unlike the opener, this one didn’t have as many people around and it made things that much easier to follow. If nothing else, commentary knowing who they were watching helped just as much. Do this alone instead of both matches and it’s a much better pre-show.

The ring announcer (as translated by Ramirez) welcomes us to the show and pitches the official program. The Spanish broadcast team is introduced (the matching ties are nice) and so is the president of the company.

The National Anthem is played, with a live military band.

The announcer hypes up the crowd about the main event.

The opening video (with the camera just pointed at the screen) looks at TripleManias past, set to Dream On by Aerosmith.

We get some banners of various deceased legends, including company founder Antonio Pena (whose wife, the president, is holding his urn, because that’s not at least a little creepy).

Hernandez/La Hiedra/Mamba/Mini Psycho Clown vs. Big Mami/Dinastia/Estrella Divina/Mascara de Bronce

This is an Atomicos match, which I believe means a man, a woman, an exotico (man dressed as a woman) and a mini. Bronce starts with Clown (not that much shorter) and sends him outside for a good looking step up flip dive. Mami comes in but gets dropped by Hernandez, only to come back with a kiss. Everything breaks down fast and Bronce breaks up Hernandez’s slam attempt on Mami (and he was struggling).

Clown sends Bronce outside for a bit flip dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew dive from Dinastia. Hernandez cuts off Bronce’s dive and powerbombs him onto the pile, followed by Hernandez hitting his own huge dive. Mami dives off the middle rope to crush everyone and it’s time to head back inside. Hernandez and Bronce fight to the back and Clown rolls Dinastia up for two. Dinastia’s standing moonsault gets two, with Mamba making the save. Hiedra gets in a chair shot to Mami though and Mamba steals the pin at 6:56.

Rating: C. This was all over the place and in this case, that’s exactly the point. These things are designed to be pure chaos with everyone going all over the place and it went well enough. The dives were impressive and the fans were into a lot of it, making it a rather fun opener. Just maybe don’t have the villains win to kick off the show?

The ring announcer again polls the fans about the main event.

Reina de Reinas Title: Lady Shani vs. Ayako Hamada vs. Rosemary vs. Sexy Star

Star is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Of note, Rosemary is from Global Force Wrestling, because that was a thing at this point. Rosemary suplexes Star to the floor to start but Shani and Hamada take Rosemary down. Back up and Rosemary slugs away but Star is right back for some shots to everyone. Hamada grabs a chair and takes out Star, only to have Shani kick the chair into Hamada’s face.

Now it’s a trashcan being thrown…well in the vicinity of the ring, as Hamada doesn’t clear the top rope in a bit of an embarrassing miss. Rosemary grabs a full nelson with her legs on Shani and Hamada cranks on one of Shani’s legs for a tap….but that doesn’t count because it’s a double submission so we keep going (I’ve always thought that should be an elimination or something, as it’s hard to fathom tapping to two people not having some kind of consequence.).

Shani is put in a chair and has a trashcan put on top of her but topples over due to unconsciousness. Star comes back in and gets WHACKED with a trashcan lid. She’s fine enough to powerbomb Hamada out of the corner for two, with Rosemary having to make the save. Shani is back up with some kicks to Rosemary, who pulls her into something of a Last Chancery. That’s broken up by Star, who gets Stunnered by Rosemary. Star is able to Iconoclasm Rosemary off the top and grabs a cross armbreaker to retain at 9:57. She takes her sweet time letting go too.

Rating: C-. It was pretty much just a bunch of weapons stuff while commentary praised Sexy Star as being this huge deal. As for the match, there was little to no flow or story to it other than Star making a comeback at the end. Rosemary and Hamada are capable of more and I’ve seen Star be ok. Shani was billed as a hardcore specialist and that was only kind of on display here. It wasn’t horrible, but the ending was out of nowhere and it felt like they were told “go do stuff and then finish it now”.

Oh and one more thing: the armbreaker that Star used on Rosemary wound up being a shoot, legitimately injuring Rosemary and more or less banishing Star to the indies for the rest of her career. Pretty much, no one of note was going to put up with her attacking a wrestler for no valid reason and that was it. The title would be vacated a few weeks later as Star was done with AAA. If a wrestler legitimately attacks someone else in the ring without just cause, I’m not sure what kind of a future they would be expecting to have.

With THAT out of the way, Martha Villalobos, a legend and former champion, comes out to present Star with the belt in a moment I’m sure AAA won’t want to have back immediately.

The ring announcer shills the program.

Vampiro and someone who seems to be a sponsor are here to announce the winners of the Llaves a la Gloria. Third place is Ashley, second is El Hijo del Vikingo and the winner is….Angelikal. As a bonus, Vampiro has the rest of the contestants get inside, where they are told they will be the first group of students at the new AAA school.

Tag Team Titles: Andrew Everett/DJZ vs. Monster Clown/Murder Clown vs. Aerostar/Drago vs. Dark Cuervo/Dark Scoria

Cuervo/Scoria are defending and this is one fall to a finish. The Clowns whip out a belt to start the whipping but Aerostar and Drago take over on DJZ. An assisted tornado DDT gets two on Everett but the champs are back in to double clothesline Drago. Back in and the Clowns get to clean the ring save for Aerostar, who gets whipped with the belt. Aerostar fights back and sends the Clowns outside for the suicide dive.

Cuervo and Scoria hit dives of their own, followed by the rather large Murder Clown hitting his own big flip dive. Back in and Murder Clown gets caught on top with a Tower Of Doom. Aerostar is raised up the lighting grid and then asks to go even higher. We get some near falls but keep cutting up to Aerostar as they keep going up. He finally hits the dive to clear out the pile and three wrestlers run in for a beatdown.

Commentary doesn’t know who they are and they’re ejected just as fast (Apparently they’re El Poder del Norte, a heel stable. Thanks review from someone else, because commentary is rather worthless on this show.). The champs fight back but a third Clown (he has purple hair) comes in to help take them out. Cuervo and Scoria fight back, only to have Marty Martinez (from Lucha Underground) run in and help the Clowns as well. A top rope splash gives Murder the double pin on the champs for the titles at 13:28.

Rating: D+. The huge dive was impressive looking and there were some cool spots, but this was another match where it felt like they weren’t really doing much of anything until the ending when everything went nuts. The Clowns felt like the bigger deal but the whole match felt like a bunch of teams thrown out there for the sake of having a Tag Team Title match. Well that and so Aerostar could do a crazy dive because he seems to be a little nuts.

Post match the Clowns keep up the beating and Marty leaves with the purple haired clown.

We get a speech from the President of the company (the widow of founder Antonio Pena), who talks about wrestlers who have passed away during the TripleMania years.

We get a video on the wrestlers who have passed away. Nothing wrong with something like that.

BUY MERCHANDISE!

Torneo TripleMania XXV

So from what I can tell this is a ten trios (30 people) battle royal with lumberjacks. It also seems that there are teams from different eras to give it a bit of a theme. We’re also doing staggered entrances ala the Royal Rumble (90 second intervals), so it’s Team Ex-AAA (Heavy Metal/Pirata Morgan/Villano IV) in at #1 and Relevos Incredibles (Australian Suicide/Faby Apache/Pimpinela Escarlata) in at #2 to start. It’s a brawl to start as the lumberjacks (with straps) get into it on the floor.

Los OGT’s (Averno/Chessman/Super Fly) are in at #3 and a lot of stomping/near eliminations ensue. Granted I’m not completely sure who is almost out as, again, commentary seems to have no idea who is who, but why let that stop you? Los Vipers (Histeria/Maniaco/Psicosis), who even I’ve heard of, are in at #4 and Psicosis has a huge snake around his neck. The Vipers start cleaning house as I don’t believe anyone has been eliminated yet. Los Guapos (Decnis/Scorpio Jr./Zumbido) are in at #5 as this is rather hard to keep track of, a statement commentary makes as well.

A high crossbody completely misses for I believe Histeria and Los Perros del Mal (Halloween/Joe Lider/Mr. Aguila) are in at #6. We get some rapid fire pinfalls (no names mentioned and no word on if those individuals or their teams are out) and the Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy/Lanzelot/Nina Hamburguesa) are in at #7. They get to clean house for a bit, including the nearly 400lb Nino coming off the top with a missed Swanton, until La Parka y sus Amigos (La Parka/Argenis/Bengala) are in at #8.

As they come to the ring, everyone gets on Nino for the pin, followed by Los Vipers getting to clean some house. Los Leyendas (Blue Demon Jr./El Cobrade/El Intocable, the Legends) are in at #9 and get to clean more house. Team GFW (Moose/Bobby Lashley/Jeff Jarrett) are in at #10 to complete the field….or at least they should be, as it’s just Lashley on his own.

Lashley gets to wreck some people on the grounds of he’s Bobby Lashley, but the clock starts counting down again. Commentary is confused (it’s not that hard) and it gets even worse when no one comes out. Moose comes out on his own and just kind of stands around awkwardly, which isn’t his style.

Jarrett finally comes out and…..yeah there’s no way around it: Jarrett was very out of it (quite possibly drunk) at this show, to the point where he can barely get down the steps to the ring. To his credit, he would take time away from the ring shortly after this (and at least one other incident) and reportedly got clean, so good for him for dealing with his problems. As for tonight though, Jarrett takes FOREVER to get to the ring, as he is throwing tortillas to the crowd, which isn’t going well whatsoever. For some reason Moose and Lashley are fighting each other on the floor as Jarrett gets inside. Jarrett punches a bunch of people and kicks Parka low, leaving him the only one standing.

Parka finally gets up and slugs it out with Jarrett as we actually have something resembling a match for a second. A DDT plants Jarrett for the pin (POP) and we pause for Parka’s music, even though the match isn’t over. Commentary isn’t sure what is going on (shocking) as Jarrett is yelling at fans. The rest of the OGT’s clear house and go for Parka’s mask….until Chessman shoves Super Fly (his partner) off the top and out. So we’re down to Chessman, Averno and Parka, but Averno hits Chessman (again, his partner) low for a pin. Then Parka small packages Averno for the final pin (thank goodness) at 26:41.

Rating: F. I spent the better part of half an hour watching this and I have no idea what was going on. The problem is that commentary didn’t seem to either, to the point where there might have been five names mentioned here, with most of them being Team GFW. I’m sure this was about getting Parka a moment and having a bunch of names in there, but it’s a case where if you aren’t already a fan, this isn’t going to make things better. The fact that the only reason I knew most of the names was the show’s Wikipedia didn’t help, but it isn’t like there was commentary or a graphic to tell me who was involved.

On top of that, it was a terrible battle royal, where the rules weren’t clear, some people (Lashley/Moose) just left, I had no idea who was eliminated (or how to eliminate someone for that matter) and nothing was clear in the slightest. You can do something like this with the Gimmick Battle Royal, but that was about four minutes, not almost twenty seven (longest of the show so far). Absolutely horrible here and one of the worst matches I’ve seen in a very long time for more reasons that I can count (ok I can count them but I don’t want to waste any more time on this mess).

Post match La Parka, Bengala and Argenis get a belt, with Parka getting all of the glory.

El Mesias vs. Pagano

Street fight and they start in the aisle (as commentary didn’t seem to think this match was scheduled next) with Mesias knocking him into the ring. Pagano scores with a spinwheel kick, as commentary is surprised he included a wrestling move. A springboard bulldog drops Mesias again but he’s back with a shot to the face. Back up and Pagano knocks him into the corner, only to get sent outside.

Mesias gets in some chair shots as we get at least the third arena wide shot of the match (about five minutes in). The beating goes around the ring, with Mesias sending him into a trashcan. They go up the aisle with Mesias getting a suplex but having a beer thrown into his face. Back to the ring they go, with some barbed wire being brought in because of course it is. Pagano gets the better of a slugout and runs him over, setting up a Russian legsweep.

Mesias is knocked outside so Pagano hits a running flip dive, followed by a hanging piledriver back inside. And now the barbed wire, which Pagano puts in front of his chest on a missed moonsault. Pagano is back with a Regal Roll into a Lionsault, which has commentary questioning the impact of the barbed wire. Mesias is knocked outside for an apron dropkick as things slow down.

They get back inside with Mesias whipping out a barbed wire bat, which is kicked away. The fans are rather displeased as Mesias hits a faceplant onto the bat. Back up and Pagano gets in a bat shot to Mesias’ knee….which is enough to warrant a referee stoppage at 16:40, because I guess just covering Mesias was out of the question?

Rating: D. This was slow, plodding, didn’t get overly violent until near the ending and then had a dumb finish on top of that. If Mesias is hurt then it’s understandable, but it was his leg. Have Pagano cover him for a fast pin instead of just stopping everything cold in a street fight. Other than that, this just wasn’t good and both guys appeared to be moving in slow motion for a lot of it. If you want this to be some violent match then go there rather than do something this lame.

Post match Rey Escorpion, in street clothes, comes in to deck Pagano and then go after Mesias, who is on a stretcher.

AAA World Title/AAA Latin American Title/AAA Cruiserweight Title: Johnny Mundo vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Texano Jr.

Mundo (John Morrison/etc) is defending, comes out to Born In The USA, and this is a ladder match. Fantasma would go on to become known as Santos Escobar while Texano would go on to continue to be known as Texano Jr. The challengers chop it out to start and Mundo gets knocked down for trying to bring in some weapons. Texano grabs a chair to blast Fantasma and starts ripping at the mask, allowing Mundo to add a top rope elbow.

Mundo dropkicks a ladder into Texano and superkicks Fantasma for a bonus. A pair of tables are set up at ringside but everyone realizes that there are belts to grab and go for the ladder. Texano clears the ring, leaving Fantasma to load a table against the barricade. Mundo dropkicks Texano off the top but gets knocked off a ladder (which was nowhere near high enough anyway as the belts are WAY up there). Fantasma hits his great dive into Texano into (but not through) the leaning table.

Texano is back up and sends Fantasma through the table, followed by a Swanton onto Fantasma onto the broken table. With Fantasma VERY busted open, Mundo goes up but gets pulled down by Texano. Mundo bridges a ladder on the middle rope but takes too long posing, allowing Fantasma to dropkick him down. Fantasma drops Texano onto the bridged ladder, seemingly busting him open too.

The ladder is set in the middle as the belts come down a bit. Mundo’s climb takes too long as well and Texano shoves the ladder over, sending Mundo down and onto (not through) a table at ringside. Fantasma dives over a ladder bridged into a standing one to forearm Texano, only to get knocked into the ladder. More tables are set up in the ring, with Fantasma backdropping Texano onto the bridged ladder for a nasty crash.

Cue Kevin Kross (Karrion Kross, Mundo’s lackey) to make the save but Mascara de Bronce comes out to stop Kross, who was climbing for some reason. Now it’s Hernandez (another Mundo lackey, or stooge as commentary puts it) to get knocked outside as well, leaving Bronce to hit a heck of a springboard moonsault to take him down.

Kross chokeslams Bronce onto the apron but Fantasma takes him down. Mundo ladders Fantasma in the face but all three wind up climbing. Fantasma knocks Texano down for a big crash, leaving Mundo to get in a low blow to drop Fantasma as well. All three belts are pulled down and Mundo retains at 22:49.

Rating: B. It wasn’t a classic or anything but for a triple threat ladder match with a bunch of interference, this could have been a lot worse. Mundo feels like a star and has the gold to prove it while the other two felt like they had him multiple times, only to come up short. Maybe it was everything else being so bad/horrible, but I had a good time with this one as Mundo feels like a much bigger deal here than in WWE.

Post match Mundo brags about his win and calls out…Vampiro. Mundo throws down the title and here is Vampiro to interrupt. Vampiro won’t look at him, as Mundo demands that Vampiro put the belt on him. Mundo yells at him, spits at him and shoves him, which is finally enough for Vampiro to grab a chokeslam. With Mundo on the floor, Vampiro threatens violence before leaving as well.

With everyone else gone, Fantasma and Texano trade chair shots to the head and both are left laying. Well that was cringe inducing.

Video on Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown, both of whom have been training rather hard. They don’t seem to like each other.

Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown

Mask vs. Mask and this is billed as the biggest lucha match of the decade. Hold on though as a woman has to sing the National Anthem before we’re ready to go. We’re ready to go and Clown misses a dropkick, allowing Wagner to clothesline away as commentary isn’t sure how many falls this is (it’s one). Wagner chokes away in the corner before they go outside, with the brawl heading into the crowd.

Back in and Psycho hits a spinwheel kick as the fans aren’t sure who they like here. Wagner ties him up on the mat but Psycho is right next to the ropes. We get the expected mask ripping before Wagner hits him in the head with the chair. Psycho is busted open so Wagner enjoys some of it on his hand. There’s another chair shot to knock Clown even sillier, as commentary wonders what happens if you rip off a mask in a mask vs. mask match.

They head outside with Wagner slowly beating on Psycho, who can barely stagger away. Clown gets knocked up and back down the apron but manages to make a comeback with some clotheslines back inside. Clown knocks him outside and hits the dive but the running flip dive only hits mat (instead of Wagner’s son, who is ringside as well). Back in and Clown rips at Wagner’s mask for a change before whacking him in the face with a chair.

A hanging DDT gets Wagner out of trouble for two. Clown gets a quick rollup for two, with commentary pointing out how slow the referee has been to get into position (Jesse Ventura would not approve). Wagner knocks him outside and hits the big flipping dive, setting up a Samoan drop into the fans.

Back in and a top rope superplex gives Wagner two, followed by Clown’s Samoan drop getting the same. Wagner shrugs off a kick to the face though and hits the Wagner (Michinoku) Driver for two more. Another Wagner Driver gets another near fall and the fans are rather interested. Clown grabs a superplex of his own into a Backstabber and a Code Red gives him the pin at 28:40.

Rating: B+. What mattered here is it felt like a struggle as these two did not want to lose everything. It made the match feel that much more important and I don’t think anything else could have come close to headlining. Clown is someone who has felt like a star every time I’ve seen him, but Wagner has always felt like a legend. The ending felt like a very big deal and that is how you want your main event to go. The action was more than good enough, but the atmosphere made it feel that much bigger.

We get the big ceremony of the unmasking, but first Wagner has to announce his real name (Juan Manuel Gonzalez Barron) and hometown (Torreon). He praises Clown and talks about being a legend, before unmasking and thanking Clown. There are kids crying in the crowd as Wagner huddles with his family. As Wagner and company leave, Clown stops him to say it was an honor and praise Wagner. Clown celebrates and we get a highlight package of the main event to end the show.

There really isn’t a translation to this kind of thing in America, but egads it comes off like the biggest deal in the world in a situation like this. Wagner is a legend and now everything about him has changed because of one match. That’s a pretty major deal and they treated it as such with the post match time.

Overall Rating: D+. The last two matches are very good and they bring the show up about as high as it can go. The problem is that everything before that was an absolute disaster with one of the weakest stretches I’ve ever seen as there wasn’t a good match to be seen in the first two or so hours of the show show. I’m not sure what went wrong, but if this show didn’t have the two main events, this could have been an all time disaster. As it is, it’s WAY too long and not good, but at least it could have been worse (barely).

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

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TripleMania XXVIII
Date: December 12, 2020
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico
Commentators: Hugo Savinovich, Jose Manuel Guillen

I’m going to do something that has worked for me oh so well before and watch a show with commentary in a language I barely understand. This is the biggest show of the year for AAA and one of the biggest throughout the year in all of Mexico. That is the extent of what I know about what is coming on this show so let’s get to it.

In case it isn’t clear, I’m coming into this completely blind and only have a tiny bit of Spanish comprehension so I’m going to be completely lost on most of this.

We open with commentary being rather excited and throwing us to some of the family of company founder Antonio Pena and later boss Joaquin Roldan.

Commentary actually switches to English for a bit, giving me the slightest hint of what’s going on for a second.

Poder del Norte vs. Dinastia/Maximo/Mr. Iguana

Poder (Tito Santana (not that one)/Carta Brava Jr./Mocho Cota Jr.) seems to be some kind of paramilitary group. The other team is a weird masked man (Iguana, who crawled to the ring), a mini (Dinastia) and an exotico (Maximo), and thankfully the intros have shots of them with their names superimposed, making me feel like I’m in a bad sitcom opening (assuming a luchador sitcom would be bad that is).

Poder cleans house to start but get dropkicked out to the floor, setting up the double dive from Iguana and Dinastia. We settle down to Maximo hiptossing Cota to start and hitting a monkey flip as commentary switches to English to explain the tagging system. Cota is sent outside for a moonsault from Maximo and it’s off to Dinastia to headscissor Brava. Another armdrag puts Brava on the floor so Santana comes in to deck Dinastia.

Some flips across the ring get Dinastia out of trouble though and it’s Iguana coming in to flip everyone over and whip Santana with….something. Iguana is pulled outside for a crash though and Dinastia is knocked down, leaving Maximo all alone. A metal sheet shot drops Maximo and then Dinastia, leaving Iguana to get chopped against the ropes. Dinastia gets stomped down as well but Iguana saves Maximo from some kind of a triple team. Iguana hits the big dive and Maximo adds one of his own as everyone goes to the floor.

Back in and Poder has to kick out of a triple cover, with the camera cuts making it kind of jarring. Poder gets their own triple near falls, followed by Carta hitting an Air Raid Crash to drive Dinastia onto the apron. Maximo is put through a table, leaving Dinastia to snap off a hurricanrana to Santana. Iguana strikes away with a belt but gets triplebombed, followed by a series of running shots in the corner. A frog splash finishes Iguana at 11:00.

Rating: C. In what is likely to be a theme on this show, I’m not sure what to make of the match from a storyline perspective but it was a fun way to use eleven minutes. Poder feels like a low rent Shield knockoff and as a low rent Shield knockoff, I can think of worse options. The other trio felt pretty thrown together so if they were out there to make Poder look good, it worked out well enough.

The ring is disinfected after the match.

Iguana is still down and seems to have been injured. That’s never good, but neither is someone just picking him up to carry him out instead of using a stretcher.

Someone named El Charro Gonzalez dances to what sounds like an upbeat version of Thriller.

That would seem to be accurate as we see the original La Parka (who used Thriller as his theme music) inducted into the Hall of Fame. I believe the owners of the company talk about what he meant to AAA. Parka was a big deal for the company so this is a little more special than it may seem.

Video on La Parka, featuring a bunch of people doing his dance.

Commentary talks about La Parka.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. Jinetes del Aire vs. Los Mercenarios

That would be Pentagon/Rey Fenix (defending) vs. Myzteziz Jr./Octagon Jr. (the latter of whom has a title of his own) vs. Texano Jr./Rey Escorpion. I’ve seen Jinetes before and they were pretty good. There are no tags to start, just in case I wanted to have a chance to know what is going on. Jintes clear the ring to start and hit some dives but Los Mercenarios hit their own dives.

Back in and the camera starts cutting around so fast I can barely keep track of how Fenix is getting beaten up. It’s Escorpion getting double teamed by Jintes, including a 450 for two with the Bros making the save. Now it’s the Bros beating up Octagon, including Penta suplexing Fenix into him in the corner. Los Mercenarios make the save this time and it’s time to head outside again for the next series of dives.

Myzteziz hits a big shooting star from the top onto the pile and we settle down to Octagon kicking Fenix in the head, setting up a springboard cutter for two. Not to be outdone, Fenix moonsaults over him into a German suplex (cool) but it’s Escorpion and Myzteziz coming in to take their places. They both head to the middle rope with Escorpion snapping off a hurricanrana.

That leaves Texano and Penta to chop it out with Texano’s leg lariat getting two. The referee bothers doing something to calm things down for a change, allowing Escorpion to get in a baseball bat (wrapped in chains and barbed wire) shot to Penta’s leg. Thankfully that’s enough to get Penta taken to the back so it’s time for Texano to go after Fenix’s mask, freaking commentary out. The mask is taken off but Myzteziz springboards in with a double dropkick to Los Mercenarios.

Fenix gets the mask back on but it’s a double powerbomb to put Jintes down. The camera shot goes wide and it’s Fenix coming back in to start cleaning house, including sending Los Mercenarios out to the floor. Fenix and Octagon hit stereo flip dives to the floor, leaving Myzteziz to hit Fenix with a shooting star press. Escorpion pulls the referee out at two but here’s Penta for the save. A superkick, with the bad leg, knocks Myzteziz down, setting up the spike Fear Factor to retain the titles at 14:24.

Rating: B. Yep that’s what you were expecting from this one and that worked out rather well. This was all about flying all over the place with all three teams doing their high flying thing. Penta coming back in at the end was a nice story to tell and they let Fenix showcase himself, which is always a good thing. Awesome high flying match here, which is what you want from lucha libre.

Post match Black Taurus comes in to help Los Mercenarios with a big beatdown but El Hijo del Vikingo makes the save. A big twisting hurricanrana sends Taurus off the top and onto the pile. I’ve liked Vikingo and Taurus when I’ve seen them so cool segment.

Commentary talks for a bit.

Two guys named Daniel Khosravi and Orson Padilla (they might be fans) are in front of two masked female wrestlers, who chop the one standing behind them.

Two female interviewers, Barby Villela and Ana Carbajal, talk about Facebook and the Lucha Bros.

Copa Triplemania Femenil: Gauntlet Match

This is the first ever female version of an annual competition under Royal Rumble rules (one minute intervals, pinfall/submission/over the top eliminations). Lady Maravilla (who has a title, which I believe is half of the Mixed Tag Team Titles) is in at #1 and Lady Shani in at #2. The referee gets a special introduction because lucha libre is rather different than American. A lot of flipping ensues to start and they trade one counts (so it’s more than just over the top eliminations) until Shani knees her into the corner.

La Hiedra is in at #3 and gets hit in the face by Shani. A German suplex sends Shani flying though and the double teaming is on until Faby Apache is in at #4. Apache starts cleaning house and Maravilla kicks Hiedra by mistake. Mamba, who I believe is an exotico, is in at #5 and it’s time to gang up on Apache.

It’s not enough to get rid of her though and here’s Hades (who seems to be cat themed) in at #6. She goes after Apache as well before hurricanranaing anyone she can. With everyone brawling again, it’s Chik Tormenta in at #7 to unload on Hades and get rid of her in a hurry. It’s back to going after but not eliminating Apache until Big Mami (I think you get the idea) is in at #8. The house cleaning doesn’t go at as fast of a speed as usual but Mami does crush Shani in the corner.

A double clothesline drops Apache and Hiedra at the same time as Pimpinela Escarlata (a legend) is in at #9 to complete the field. Escarlata cleans house until a double clothesline puts him down. A double armdrag gets him right back into things and a rope walk armdrag/headscissors puts Shani and Hiedra down again. The battle of the exoticos is broken up and a few people get together to get rid of Mami.

Escarlata gets sent to the apron, where he kisses Mamba, only to get knocked out in a hurry. Mamba is out as well as the ring is clearing out in a hurry. The referee grabs Apache but Tormenta dropkicks him down by mistake. Tormenta gets kicked out and it’s time for a parade of running shots to the face. Hiedra and Maravilla double team Apache and, with help from the referee, manage to get rid of her. That leaves us with Hiedra, Maravilla and Shani with Shani sunset flipping Maravilla.

Hiedra tries….I’m not sure if it’s a double pin or double submission but it doesn’t work either way. They chop it out until Hiedra misses a charge and gets dumped out. That leaves Shani vs. Maravilla in a regular singles match with pin or submission only. Maravilla takes her down into something like an STF but Shani is up in a hurry with a rolling sunset flip for two. Something like a tornado DDT doesn’t work for Maravilla but an enziguri connects for her own near fall.

Maravilla goes up top but it’s an Iconoclasm for two more. There’s a northern lights suplex for the same (with a pretty fast count) so Shani grabs a modified Tequila Sunrise. That lasts all of three seconds before it’s a double underhook pull to keep Maravilla in trouble. Shani ties up one leg and one arm and kind of sits back to pull on both at once, which is enough for the tap and the cup at 23:18.

Rating: D. This didn’t exactly work and I can’t say I’m surprised. It was a bunch of people having some not so quick eliminations, which made for a rather long and dull match. I’m not sure how much difference it would make knowing the stories here, as a handful of the women felt like they were anything serious. Pretty bad stuff here and it was the frist serious miss on the show.

Post match Hiedra runs in to beat on Shani and some unnamed woman joins Hiedra and Maravilla to beat her down. Hades makes a failed save attempt and the evil trio stands tall until Faby Apache makes the real save. Shani does get the cup.

Two guys (Aczino/Lobo Estepario) rap about AAA but and Psycho Clown joins in.

Commentary is rather confused.

Psycho Circus vs. LA Park/Hijo de LA Park/Blue Demon Jr.

The Circus is Psycho Clown/Monster Clown/Murder Clown and Hijo has an unidentified title with him. It’s a brawl to start (duh) and the camera goes wide as Hijo takes Psycho down on the floor. Everyone brawls on the outside until Hijo throws in both Monster and a traffic barrel. There’s a trashcan shot to put Psycho down and Murder is double teamed on the way in.

A double suplex puts Monster through a trashcan but Murder pulls Hijo to the floor to break up a dive. The other Clowns hit stereo dropkicks through the ropes to take Hijo down and a powerslam/spinebuster get two each on Park and Demon. Park gets elbowed down and there’s a triple splash to make it worse. It’s Demon’s turn to take a beating with a backbreaker into a legdrop putting him down. Hijo tries to dive in but gets caught in a swinging Rock Bottom.

Park comes back but gets dropkicked down in a hurry. Demon and Hijo have a bit more success by getting rid of Monster and Murder, leaving Psycho to get double teamed. A slam sets up a top rope splash but Demon and Hijo get in a fight over who gets the pin. Park comes back in to try and break it up, only to get dropkicked outside. The Circus hits some dives but Hijo hits a running Canadian Destroyer for two on Psycho. Not that it matters as Psycho is back up with a super Spanish Fly to pin Hijo at 11:44.

Rating: B-. While this one was a bit obvious, it’s a good sign when you can figure out the story they are telling in a match despite having no idea what is going on. The match was more wild action (probably better than having some of these guys trying for a regular match) and it worked well enough, but some of these things are starting to run together. Park vs. Demon is probably coming at a major show and that should work out well enough.

We get a live performance from a band who isn’t named on screen. Commentary tells us that they are called Molotov. Noted.

Terror Purpura/Venenoide vs. Aracno/Leyenda Americana

So this is one of the cooler nerdy moments in recent memory as Marvel (yes that Marvel) has decided to have some of their characters as wrestlers in AAA (I don’t get it either), meaning this is Thanos (Brian Cage)/Venom (Black Taurus) vs. Spider-Man (Lio Rush)/Daga. The costumes look decent enough (though they do have a bit of a home made feel to them), as you can tell who they are supposed to be, though aside from Cage, you wouldn’t know who is playing them.

Spider (in a hoodie) doesn’t get very far by picking up the pace and is sent into the corner. Back up and a pair of headscissors put Venom down and America comes in for a running Downward Spiral. Thonos comes in to run the ropes with America and nails him with a clothesline. That earns him an enziguri but Venom’s cheap shot lets Thanos his another clothesline to take over.

Spider comes back in to start the double team kicking but Thanos pulls him up for a gorilla press powerslam. It’s back to Venom to go for the mask before settling for a heck of a backbreaker. Commentary gets VERY excited about all of this and Thanos’ release German suplex gets two on Spider. We hit the bearhug for a bit before Spider flips out and nails a spinning enziguri.

The hot tag brings in America to strike away and house is cleaned. A brainbuster drops Venom and there’s the springboard Stunner from Spider to Thanos. The Death Valley Driver into the Final Hour gets two but America pulls Thanos out of the air for a northern lights suplex. A Venom distraction lets Thanos get in a low blow so Spider comes in to clean house. Spider goes up but gets pulled out of the air as well, setting up the Drill Claw to give Thanos the pin at 12:32.

Rating: C+. This was one of the more bizarre things I’ve seen in a bit but it was a pretty fun one too. You had some talented people in there and they got to do their thing in a rather unique setup. I’m not sure if Marvel is going to want to do this again but it was a cool idea for a one off at least, so why not? Throw in a goofy angle and you might have something here for a short term idea.

Post match the lights flicker and Captain Marvel (a woman) appears to clear the ring.

Commentary talks about the best wrestler in the world.

Lady Shani has an interview about her win.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Laredo Kid for the AAA Mega Title. Omega wants all of the belts in the world and Kid wants to bring it back to AAA.

AAA Mega Title: Laredo Kid vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and Kid’s Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. Hijo del Vikingo and Michael Nakazawa are the respective seconds. Omega goes for the arm to start but gets taken to the mat with Kid cranking on the leg. Back up and they fight over a wristlock but Kid bounces around in the corner, setting up a hurricanrana to the floor. The dive doesn’t get to launch so Kid goes outside with him, only to get dropped head first onto the apron.

Back in and a backbreaker gets two on Kid, meaning it’s time for the double arm crank. Kid fights out and dropkicks the knee out before backdropping Omega into a crotching on top. A springboard cutter gives Kid a rather close two and Omega rolls to the apron. Kid makes the mistake of following so Omega grabs a Death Valley Driver onto the apron for a big knockdown.

Omega sends Kid over the barricade and jumps Vikingo, which hopefully sets up his next title defense (granted in AAA that could be in six months but at least he tried). Kid is back up with a kick to Omega and a pair of dives from Kid and Vikingo take out Omega and Nakazawa. Back in and Nakazawa’s interference fails as Omega’s running flip dive takes him out by mistake, allowing Laredo to hit his own big dive.

The Phoenix splash misses though and Omega blasts him with a V Trigger. There’s the Snapdragon to drop Kid again but the One Winged Angel is countered into a poisonrana to plant Omega. Kid gets two off a 450 and it’s time to start in on Omega’s knee. The knee is fine enough to knock Kid’s springboard out of the air though and Omega drops him with a Jay Driller for two. Another V Trigger misses but Lee’s top rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb.

There’s another V Trigger for two on Lee but he catches Omega on top for a northern lights superplex and another near fall. Lee gets creative with a 450 to the leg and a leglock makes Omega scream a lot. The long crawl gets Omega to the rope and he avoids another 450 to leave Kid down.

A buckle bomb into a doctor bomb gives Omega two but the One Winged Angel is countered into Rhea Ripley’s Prism Trap. That’s turned into another leglock on the mat until Omega rolls over to the rope for the break. Lee gets caught on top though and it’s a SUPER ONE WINGED ANGEL to retain the title at 23:39.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and Omega felt like a star. At the same time, Lee was rather good as well, which has been the case with everything I’ve seen him in so far. If nothing else, after all of the multi-person and tag matches, it was great to see a singles match for a change. I understand that this isn’t how lucha works most of the time and there is nothing wrong with that, but it can be nice to have something different to shake up the card a bit. And Omega only hit a handful of V Triggers so it wasn’t even as repetitive.

Post match Omega isn’t interested in shaking hands.

Psycho Clown has an interview.

We get the rap video from earlier. At least I think it’s the same one from earlier.

We recap the main event of Pagano vs. Chessman in a hair vs. hair match, which was announced all the way back in March. They don’t seem to like each other.

Chessman vs. Pagano

Hardcore rules and Texano Jr. and Lady Shani are the respective seconds. They both miss a bunch of strikes to start until Chessman grabs a release German suplex. Pagano is right back with one of his own and they head outside with Pagano hitting a dropkick from the apron. There’s a suicide dive to put Chessman down again but he pulls up a metal sign to block another.

Chessman hits his own dive before they head back inside to run the ropes. Pagano dropkicks him into the corner and snaps off a hurricanrana to put Chessman on the floor. Of course that means a big dive and they’re both down outside. Back in and a rolling knee to the face gets two on Pagano, followed by a suplex through a surprise table in the corner. Pagano is right back with a running Blockbuster for two of his own but Chessman beats him down with some metal sheets.

A few more shots give Pagano a breather and he heads outside to lean a ladder against the barricade. The big flip dive only hits the ladder though and Shani goes over to check on him. Pagano is busted open so Chessman hits him in the head with another sheet for two. Chessman’s dive goes head first into a pile of chairs for his own nasty crash and he’s down again. Back in and Pagano hits White Noise but here are Los Mercanarios to beat own Pagano and Shani.

Cue Los Jinetes del Aire for the save and a bunch of dives, leaving Pagano to spear Chessman down. They head up top and Chessman drives Pagano down to the floor and through a table. Back in and Chessman tries a super hurricanrana through a table at ringside but Pagano reverses into a kind of spinebuster through it instead.

They go inside again with Pagano beating on him with the broken ladder. The moonsault with said ladder misses but Pagano drives him down for two more. The slugout is on and they fight to the floor with Chessman finding a guitar and blasting Hugo Savinovich, who comes up bleeding. They climb onto the set and it’s a super White Noise to drive Chessman into the rather full bed of a well placed truck for the pin at 23:46.

Rating: C. This felt like a wild brawl and nothing more, which doesn’t exactly feel like a reason for a main event. I know this is the kind of thing that is always going to headline Triplemania, but it didn’t quite click. You can only get so much out of hitting each other in the head with things and putting them through tables and they reached that limit pretty fast. It’s fine enough, but it doesn’t feel like the main event of the biggest show of the year.

Chessman is stretchered back to the ring for the haircut. He even throws the hair at Pagano to show some disgust.

The remaining commentator shouts a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As someone who has no idea what is going on with this show, I liked it well enough and that’s a nice feeling to have. There is enough good action on the show to make the whole thing work, but the stuff that is bad is pretty bad indeed. Maybe I would get a lot more out of it by knowing the backstories, but for the most part this did not feel all that huge. That could be due to the Coronavirus changes, though what we got was good enough. It doesn’t feel epic, but what does these days?

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Triplemania 23
Date: August 9, 2015
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Attendance: 22,300
Commentators: Hugo Savinovich, Matt Striker

This is a show that was talked about quite a bit back in the day as it featured English commentary from Matt Striker (oh yay) and Hugh Savinovich (oh….yay) but was plagued by some horrible technical issues. I’m kind of curious to see how bad things get here but it’s probably going to be even worse as I have almost no idea what’s going on coming in. Let’s get to it.

Before we get started, my usual disclaimer: my Spanish is conversational at best so there’s a very good chance I’m going to get some history or backstories wrong. I apologize in advance and I’ll be going mainly off what I’m told here and what information I can find online.

As is customary, we open with the widow of company founder Antonio Pena being introduced to the crowd.

The announcers are introduced.

Video on the history of Triplemania. In a bad sign of things to come, the video is airing on the screens and the camera is just pointed at them. The video has a Mission: Impossible theme, which is likely a tie-in to the latest movie. How did that licensing meeting go? “Hey movie studio: we want to tie your blockbuster in with a Mexican wrestling show!” I’m sure the producers were thrilled by the concept. The audio issues are already kicking in before the video ends.

An older man comes to the ring, flanked by a group of good looking women holding some flags. I believe this is another Antonio Pena tribute but apparently he’s the ring announcer, at least for the first match.

Dinastia/Drago/Goya Kong/Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Mamba/Daga/Sexy Star/Mini Psycho Clown

The audio cleans up a bit during the entrances but good night this could be a long show. Sexy Star is one half of the World Mixed Tag Team Champions, Goya is about Nia Jax’s size, Dinastia and Clown are both minis and Escarlata is an exotico. After hearing what sounds like the production truck, we can barely hear Striker doing English commentary. He sounds like he’s standing five feet away from the microphone and Hugo isn’t much better.

The minis get things going with Dinastia (the Minis Champion) headscissoring Clown around with ease. Off to Mamba (who might be another exotico) vs. Drago as everything breaks down due to the lucha rules (going to the floor is the same as a tag). Dragon hits a BIG flip dive to take Daga down on the floor, leaving Mamba vs. Escarlata. Star comes in but gets armdragged down as this is all over the place. Goya armdrags down Star and Mamba before she and Escarlata load up double dives, only to stop to dance. There is no sense of order or story to this other than Goya getting quadruple teamed in the corner.

Daga launches Star onto Drago for two before it’s back to the minis. When I say back to I mean they fight while almost everyone else is in the ring at the same time. Now it’s Kong getting quadruple teamed again but she actually fights them all off (so she’s the Roman Reigns of this match?) as her teammates come in to help her a bit. Goya gives Star a Stinkface as Striker talks about the show trending on Twitter. The much smaller Daga is run over by Goya as the match has actually settled down for a chance.

Drago kicks Mamba to the floor and hits a huge corkscrew dive, allowing the minis to fight even more. Star corkscrews onto Mamba and Drago with Escarlata following. The audio starts glitching again as Goya does a dance, followed by an apron flip dive. Back in and Escarlata kisses the referee before grabbing a freaky submission on Star (as in he ties up the legs and bends her over his back) for the win.

Rating: D+. These matches have always been lost in translation for me. I know they’re supposed to be a fun mess to get the crowd going but I’ve rarely been a fan of this much insanity. Really all this made me want to do was watch Lucha Underground, though it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. This just isn’t my thing and I don’t think it ever will be.

Escarlata kisses Striker on the cheek after the match.

Referee Pepe Tropicasas gets a special presentation for what might be his retirement ceremony. It seems that he’s going to be refereeing here, despite being in his early 70s. There’s going to be a second referee in the ring though, which could either help or make things even more complicated.

Los Psycho Circus vs. Los Villanos

This is a battle of famous wrestling families with Los Villanos being VERY established veterans who you might remember from WCW. This is Villano III’s (partner of IV and V here) last match, meaning we get a video package (again with the camera just pointed at the screen) on the family’s history.

Los Villanos have titles with them but of course Striker and Hugo are too busy drooling over history to explain what’s going on right in front of them. Or maybe they do explain it but the audio issues flare up again. The Circus has a full theme entrance which is a bit more energized than the Villanos (with a combined 160+ years between them). Before the match, Villano IV says he and V lost their masks but get to wrestle with them one more time, only to guarantee to take them off post match.

Psycho (of Psycho Clown, Murder Clown and Monster Clown) starts things off with I believe IV but everything breaks down into a chop fest with Tropicasas looking annoyed. The Clowns are all beaten up as this is in slow motion so far. Striker apologizes for the technical issues as all three Villanos go for Murder’s mask. That only goes so far so they send him into the post instead before going back to the triple teaming. Just like in the first match, this is all over the place but going far more slowly. It doesn’t help that the announcers seem to have no idea who is who for either team.

Los Villanos are in full control with their ancient looking offense, meaning it’s time for another clown to start honking a horn. Now a buzzing comes over the audio feed as two Clowns dive on two Villanos. Hugo tries to explain something but the audio is almost completely drowned out by the buzzing. A triple splash crushes one of the Villanos (at least in WCW they had numbers on their attire) and Psycho hits What’s Up to make it even worse.

One of the Villanos mostly loses his mask as Striker is currently doing audio on his own. You can hear Hugo’s voice at just above a whisper but it’s impossible to make out. Striker seems to get annoyed at the fans for letting them know about the buzzing on Twitter. Striker: “Just pretend I’m calling a Killer Bees match.” Psycho and Monster break up a double superplex with cookie sheets and turn it into a Tower of Doom, only to hurt Murder in the process.

Commentary is virtually non-existent at this point, with Striker saying that makes it feel more special. I know it’s a stupid line but I can excuse it a bit in this case as he’s basically helpless out there. Two Clowns are taken out by the slowest suicide dives you’ll ever see, leaving I believe Psycho to hit Villano III with what looked like a yellow belt.

They salute each other (a sign of respect) and VERY slowly chop each other as we can hear Hugo for the first time in a good stretch. We get the “showdown” between Villano IV and Psycho, which apparently restarted this feud. The others are held back, leaving Villano IV to get in a low blow for the pin.

Rating: F. There’s really no defending this one on almost any level. The commentary issues aside, this was WAY too slow and treated as something for the live audience instead of the fans at home. I get that this is the AAA show but you’re presenting it to an American audience who doesn’t know the history and the backstory here.

They were trying to explain things, but at the end of the day you had three guys at least 50 years old beating up a much younger team and looking every bit of their age. That’s really not something I wanted to watch and it was made even worse by the buzzing. Really bad stuff here and a lot of that can’t be blamed on the technical issues.

Villano III and Villano V take their masks off, which has to be done to satisfy some wrestling commission rule. Villano III looks older than Tropicasas. Members of the Villano family come to the ring and we get a retirement presentation to Villano III and Tropicasas because this hasn’t dragged on long enough yet.

Here’s Pena’s widow again but this time she just waves to the crowd. Did I mention she’s carrying her husband’s urn?

The next match is announced as a cage match, which I believe is a surprise. It’s for the Trios Tag Team Titles, but since this is AAA, you can leave the cage at any time and it’s basically an Ultimate X match inside a cage. Only one belt has to be pulled down to win the match.

Trios Titles: Los Hell Brothers vs. Fenix/Los Gueros del Cielo vs. El Hijo de Fantasma/El Texano Jr./Pentagon Jr.

There’s quite a bit to get through here. Los Hell Brothers (Chessman (Latin American Champion here)/Averno/Cibernetico) are defending and are fighting against Konnan’s La Sociedad stable (Represented by Pentagon Jr./Texano Jr./Hijo de Fantasma (King Cuerno and Cruiserweight Champion), who you probably know from Lucha Underground. If you don’t stop reading this and go marathon the first season because it’s AWESOME.) as well as against the evil bosses of AAA.

Fenix/Los Gueros (the White Boys From Heaven, comprised of Angelico and Jack Evans, both of whom appear with Fenix in Lucha Underground as well) are just good guys who want the titles. Got all that? It’s a lot of backstory but my goodness it’s nice to see a match where I know who almost everyone is.

The entrances take their sweet time but we’re entertained by the sound testing stylings of Matt Striker. The whistle blows (yeah AAA doesn’t use a bell) and we immediately go to a wide shot of the arena, meaning we can barely see anything. The buzzing is back as Striker does a pretty good job of telling us who everyone is. Of course it’s still early in the match so it’s still everyone going at it at once but I appreciate the effort.

Pentagon drops a top rope leg to low blow Evans and it’s time for the cookie sheets. Angelico has a camera on him which could be cool if we actually went to the feed. Evans goes up for the title but is quickly pulled down into a cutter. Fenix gets quintuple stomped as Striker tells us to “use the Google” to learn about some of the names he’s dropping. Evans is beaten up and of course does flips off the simplest bumps.

Angelico fights back with his running knees but Cibernetico drops him with a clothesline. Things speed up a bit with Fenix getting backdropped, only to land on Texano with a hurricanrana. In a cool attempt, Evans flips up onto Angelico’s shoulders but can’t reach the belts. Evans goes up again but opts to dive down onto Pentagon and I believe Averno. Fantasma and Chessman climb to the outside of the cage and Chessman is knocked onto a table at ringside.

Back inside, Cibernetico spears Texano through a table, leaving everyone else to climb the cage. Most of them fall outside and it’s Fenix and Pentagon going at it inside. Fenix moonsaults off the top of the cage onto Pentagon for the insane spot of the match, which was only mostly insane. That leaves Averno and Fantasma to go after the belts but Angelico pulls himself up to fight Averno. Fantasma kicks Angelico in the face and knocks him down, only to get shoved off by Averno, leaving him to pull down the belt to retain.

Rating: C+. Match of the night by about a mile here but it’s still nothing that hasn’t been done better before. Some of the dives were good and you started to get a feel for it, but this really needed to be a six man match instead of having everyone in there. It felt like nine people who happened to be in the ring and I never got a sense that any of them had a personal issue with anyone else in the match. It’s a fun match but too chaotic to really work.

Now the Spanish audio bleeds over the English before the English disappears all together.

It’s been too long since we focused on an old guy so here’s a match dedicated to Blue Demon’s thirty years in wrestling.

Electroshock/El Mesias vs. La Parka II/Blue Demon Jr.

Mesias is Mil Muertes sans mask. He and Electroshock used to be big deals but time is passing them by. This means it’s time to fight two old guys who are loyal to AAA because why use the old guys to put over young talent when you can put over Blue Demon’s thirty year career and La Parka, who is even older?

Demon and Electroshock get things going with Demon using more old man style offense and looking like he should have retired years ago. The buzzing gets louder than it has all night and it’s off to Mesias vs. La Parka. They’re quickly on the floor and out into the crowd with Mesias getting the better of it. Mesias gets kicked outside again so it’s off to Electroshock as we’re lacking commentary again.

Back to Mesias for a right hand to the skeleton face but it’s a quick double tag to Demon and Electroshock. Demon headscissors him down and ducks a charge to send Mesias outside for the third time. It’s off to Mesias vs. La Parka for a slugout with La Parka getting dropped off a few shots to the face.

Mesias is sent outside again (ok we get it already) and La Parka hits a weak dive, leaving us with Electroshock vs. Demon again. A powerbomb gets two on Demon, followed by Demon standing there so Electroshock can chop him a few times. Demon shrugs those off, hits something like a cross body, and grabs a Sharpshooter without turning Electroshock all the way over for the submission.

Rating: D. Blue Demon is another guy that I just don’t get. He’s old, he’s slow, and he keeps getting pushed like this god for reasons that I can’t understand. The rest of the match was just kind of there and again, there was no backstory given or a reason we should care other than “BLUE DEMON IS A LEGEND!!!” I only knew the story I mentioned earlier because I saw it elsewhere online. As has been the case with this whole show, it’s all about the old guys and if you didn’t see the shows that built this one, you’re going to be mostly lost.

Demon gets a plaque. Electroshock shock comes back, flips off the fans, and then leaves again.

It’s time for the Hall of Fame inductions, starting with Hector Garza. We get his family on stage, a video package, and a bunch of statements from various legends.

Second is Perro Aguayo Jr., who passed away earlier this year.

Brian Cage vs. Alberto El Patron

Patron’s (Alberto Del Rio of course) Mega Championship isn’t on the line because Cage has already used his title shots so instead it’s hair vs. hair. Cage has Hijo de Fantasma in his corner while Alberto has Fenix. Patron comes out with a full mariachi band and a modified version of his WWE theme music. Cage one ups Alberto’s robe with a Trump 2016 shirt.

Alberto starts fast with right hands in the corner and starts pounding away with a chair. Thanks for telling us that it’s No DQ after he started swinging. Cage bails and gets taken down by a suicide dive so it’s time to pose on the table. The armbreaker almost goes on but Cage powerbombs him down for an early break. Now it’s the very muscular Cage with chair shots of his own before he wedges the chair in the corner. Really why would you do that? Have you ever watched a wrestling match before?

They head outside where Fantasma is stomping on Fenix while Cage rams Patron into the table. Back in and we get a cookie sheet upside Alberto’s head, followed by a nice slingshot splash for two. Cage really shouldn’t be able to do something like that. Cue Fantasma to choke a bloody Del Rio on the ropes but Fenix comes in for a save off some kicks. Fenix dives onto Fantasma and Striker goes on a rant about how international that was.

Cage apparently doesn’t care for it as he powerbombs Fenix against the post, sending the seconds up the ramp. Alberto grabs a quick armbreaker over the ropes for the exact same break it always gets, even though this is No DQ so there’s no reason to break the hold. Cage takes forever jumping from the middle rope to the top rope for a moonsault (again, shouldn’t be able to do that) and only hits the mat. A Backstabber gets two for Alberto but it’s time for Fantasma to send in the tables with the referee helping to set them up.

Alberto breaks up a superplex and hits the double stomp but since this is Mexico, Cage doesn’t have to sell it and sends Patron through a table instead. The low superkick gets a heel one count from the referee so Alberto gives him a backbreaker. Del Rio’s top rope hurricanrana is countered with a low blow and a super bomb through another table for two off a fresh (well as fresh as someone that old can be) referee. With nothing else left, Cage pounds away at the head with a chair, only to be sent into the wedged chair (you knew that was coming). The armbreaker makes Cage tap.

Rating: B. Match of the night by a mile here and one of the most predictable endings due to the nationalism angle but still fun. Del Rio continues to be WAY more interesting as a face, which is why WWE makes sure to push him as a heel every single chance they can. I’m almost sure Cage is going to be back in WWE at some point and I’m really not sure why they let him go in the first place.

Post match Alberto has something to say but can’t find a working mic. Apparently he swears in Spanish and Hugo won’t translate it. Alberto grabs the Mexican flag and says this is his house. Until WWE calls again that is.

Cage gets his head shaved and goes after Alberto, only to get beaten down again and covered in the American flag. Dang it Alberto now we have to get it cleaned.

Actor Simon Pegg introduces Myzteziz (formerly Sin Cara), who comes out to the Mission: Impossible theme and repels from the ceiling like Tom Cruise did in the first movie.

Rey Mysterio vs. Myzteziz

Dream match main event. Rey comes out with black wings and looks like Hawkman. Myzteziz on the other hand is in half white and half black. We get a reluctant handshake and they take turns posing with Myzteziz getting annoyed at the lack of cheering. Striker and Hugo take shots at WWE because they think those mean anything these days. I mean, I know JBL and Cole aren’t the best commentary team in the world but they’re better than Striker and Hugo as you can actually hear them on big shows.

Rey sends him into the corner three times in a row to start and there goes Myzteziz’s shirt. Myzteziz gets tired of this waiting and punches Rey in the face, only to get taken to the mat for a headlock. Back up and Rey is sent outside for his stomach first crash, followed by a powerbomb onto the table. I guess Mexican tables are tougher than American ones too.

They get back in and Rey snaps off a headscissors with the announcers going on about traditional lucha libre. A seated senton off the apron sets up a hurricanrana to send Myzteziz into the post. That means it’s time for blood under the mask and Rey is in control. Naturally there’s already a fresh table set up at ringside. Even ECW would say tone it down with those things already. Back in and Myzteziz grabs a quick suplex to send Rey through said table and both guys are down again.

Matt can’t remember the Spanish word for blood as Myzteziz (dang I can’t stand having to type that name over and over) buckle bombs Rey for two. Myzteziz tries it again so Rey hurricanranas him to the floor, setting up a big seated senton from the top. Back in and Rey gets two off a La Mistica rollup (nice touch), giving the announcers something to actually get excited about. Rey actually starts going after the mask but opts for two off a sunset flip instead.

Myzteziz flips him face first onto the mat instead, setting up a twisting Swanton for two. These slow counts may be traditional but they’re getting annoying in a hurry. Rey’s high cross body is countered into a spinning Side Effect for two more and both guys are down. The 619 is broken up (Hugo: “Wrong number!”) so Myzteziz uses it himself. A frog splash (minus the frog) gets two on Rey so he comes back with La Mistica, followed by the real 619 for two.

Back up and Rey uses La Mistica again for the submission. That was kind of weird but even more out there was Striker freaking out that the two main events both ended in submission. It’s really not that big of a deal dude, though to be fair neither is Striker and he’s never gotten that either.

Rating: B. This was a lot less messy and the match was much better as a result. It felt like a big deal and the idea here was much simpler but it’s still only so good. Rey can still go with the right kind of opponent and Myzteziz didn’t botch anything major. For these two at this point, this was just a step beneath a miracle and one of the best matches of the night.

Post match Rey goes to be with the fans but Los Perros Del Mal (Joe Lider/Pentagon Jr.) and Averno run in to go after Myzteziz’s mask. Rey makes the save but gets a staple gun to the head for his efforts. Myzteziz gets up and fights them off with Rey’s help. The heels are all gone…..so Myzteziz shoves Rey down and sprays something in his eyes to go full heel. Oh sorry rudo. Myzteziz wants a mask vs. mask rematch, presumably at the next pay per view. The blind Rey gets powerbombed through the table.

Cue Rey’s friend Konnan and his super heel stable La Sociedad….and the show goes off the air early as Konnan is giving Myzteziz a sales pitch. Myzteziz would turn it down after the show was over and would leave AAA in about two months, meaning no rematch.

Overall Rating: D+. The last two matches are good but they’re nowhere near enough to save the show. Between the horrible technical issues and the old guys being almost universal disasters, there’s really no way to validate this being seen as a good show for the American audiences. The bad things here are just too much for the limited good to overcome and there’s little any company can do to get around that.

Above all else, this show reminded me of the biggest problem with ECW’s first pay per view Barely Legal (which just missed going off the air early by about ten seconds). The problem with that show was ECW assuming you knew everything that was going on so they didn’t bother recapping most of the stuff on the show. That becomes a big problem when you’re presenting your first pay per view to an American audience in a very long time. You can’t assume that fans have watched TV leading up to the show because the more lost they are, the less likely they are to buy another show.

This show was putting in an effort, but it was WAY too focused on honoring legends. It’s cool if you want to do that, but at the same time you risk the problem of fans getting really bored watching a lot of the lame action. That’s the style that dominated most of the first half of the show and really made me want this to be over. The last two matches helped a lot and it’s no coincidence that they were the matches with the most detailed backstories. This was a pretty strong misfire that could have been made much better with some strong adjustments, but it really doesn’t work as is.

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Lucha Underground
Date: August 5, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Michael Schiavello, Matt Striker

It all ends here. Well at least it all ends here until they make the announcement of season two. This is the final night of Ultima Lucha and it’s a two hour episode, making the biggest show of the year a full on three hour special. The main event is Prince Puma defending the Lucha Underground Title against Mil Muertes, as well as the fallout of Black Lotus and the Cuetos. Let’s get to it.

This show is dedicated to Roddy Piper. That’s appropriate as he was a huge deal in Los Angeles.

We hear a clip of Cueto’s speech on the first show, leading to Konnan pitching Prince Puma to Cueto on the same episode. The rest of the video recaps the rest of tonight’s matches. That image of Muertes in the casket and opening his eyes is just chilling. I’m really, really impressed by how well they’ve set this show up and I’ve been looking forward to it all week.

Johnny Mundo vs. Alberto El Patron

This is quite the way to open a show. Mundo starts running at the bell and they wind up in front of Cueto’s window, which started this whole thing. A big kick to Johnny’s head gets things going and Alberto whips him into Cueto’s wall, followed by the announcers’ table. Alberto starts after the arm but the referee pulls him away, allowing Johnny to hide under the ring and find some powder to blind Patron.

Johnny cuts out the shenanigans and kicks Alberto in the head like a villain should. They actually get inside for a Mundo chinlock, followed by a running knee to the face. Alberto fights up and hooks a reverse superplex before it’s time for a slugout. Patron takes over and hooks a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by the Backstabber, which is kind of an odd series of offense when his finisher is an armbar. I’ve always like Alberto’s simple psychology but if he’s going for the arm later, this doesn’t make the most sense.

The low superkick misses and Johnny nails an enziguri for two. Mundo loads him onto the top for a big Backstabber of his own for two but Alberto clotheslines him to the floor. His suicide dive hits a knee to the head though, allowing Johnny to hit a flip dive over the top. Back in and Alberto grabs the armbar out of nowhere but Johnny is into the ropes almost immediately. With nothing else working, Alberto ties him in the Tree of Woe for some kicks but misses a baseball slide, sending him shoulder first into the post.

Patron gets tied up in the ropes, allowing Johnny to hit a top rope double stomp as Alberto tries to get up. The End of the World connects for two and Johnny is stunned. Alberto gets up and tries the superkick but Johnny pulls the referee in the way, only to get caught in the armbreaker. There’s no referee but it doesn’t matter as Johnny escapes and stomps away. Alberto grabs another armbreaker over the top rope but cue the debuting Melina to hit Patron with the AAA Title belt, setting up another End of the World to give Mundo the pin.

Rating: B. Oh yeah this show is going to ROCK. This was awesome stuff and Melina running in is a smart move as she fits in perfectly with the show, especially at Mundo’s heel side. You have to expect that at least one of these two is going to get into the title hunt next season, but I’d be down for a rematch. Finally, these two were brought in as the big names and they delivered in their big match. Well done.

Alberto is livid and throws Mundo into some chairs and then through a window. Melina goes after Alberto like the fire cat she is, earning her a spanking. Striker: “I’m going to rewind that on my DVR.” Alberto holds up the title as Mundo is COVERED in blood.

El Dragon Azteca comes in to free Lotus but Dario is waiting on him. The punishment for Azteca entering the temple is death, but as Cueto is distracting him, Lotus reaches through the bars and chokes Azteca. Cueto watches and Lotus hits Azteca in the back, seemingly killing him. Cueto lets her go but she says she’s done what she came here for. Now she needs his protection and they’re going to “the new temple” but first they unlock Matanza’s cage and let out the camera that’s inside.

Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro

I’m hoping we find out the master, and I’ll be surprised if it’s anyone but Konnan. Vampiro comes to the ring in what looks like a zombie Pope outfit. Unfortunately it’s not a zombie D’Angelo Dinero, which would be a much more interesting look. This is a Cero Miedo match, meaning No Fear. I have no idea what that means but I’d assume it means hardcore/street fight. It seems that I’m right as Pentagon hits him with a chair at the bell and they head outside for more chair shots.

Vampiro, still in the robes, is knocked into the crowd for more of a beating before they head back to ringside. The mats are pulled back for an AA onto the concrete as this has been entirely one sided so far. With Vampiro on the floor, Pentagon just unloads on him with chair shots as Striker wants the match stopped. The referee throws up an X (he’s Straight Edge Society?) and we take a rare break.

Back with Vampiro staggering back to the ring for one more swing. He takes Pentagon down with a spinwheel kick and it’s time for a bag of tacks. Pentagon screams when he’s slammed down onto the tacks but Vampiro is stupid enough to go up top for a flip dive WHEN HIS OPPONENT IS LAYING ON A PILE OF TACKS. He deserves all the holes in his back from the crash.

Pentagon busts out a light bulb tube to break over Vampiro’s back before CARVING UP HIS NECK with the pieces. I’m more impressed by that than Pentagon licking the blood off his arm. Vampiro fights up again and slugs away before hiptossing Pentagon through another light tube in the corner.

After doing that, why not rip at the eye holes of Pentagon’s mask? He smashes a third tube over Pentagon’s head (where do they store those things and WHY ARE THEY IN A WRESTLING ARENA???) but Pentagon backdrops him onto the tacks. As usual, the old, banged up man is able to not only survive this but also gets up and belly to belly superplex Pentagon onto the tacks. It’s table time and Vampiro finds a lighter for good measure. The table is lit on fire but, as is the rule in wrestling, if you set up a table you get thrown through it, meaning Vampiro is left rolling around on fire, allowing Pentagon to get an easy pin.

Rating: C+. This was your above average hardcore war with the ridiculous weapons and big spot to end things. Pentagon has somehow turned into a hardcore brawler after spending weeks building himself up as the arm breaker extraordinaire. Fun enough match though, especially given how banged up Vampiro is from all the years in the ring.

Post match Vampiro holds out his arm and demands that Pentagon break it. Pentagon does as he’s told and says he’s done what he promised his master. Here’s the master and it’s…..Vampiro. Now THAT is awesome as they played up Vampiro and Ian Hodgkinson as two different people, making this about as well done as it could have been. I was thinking it might be Vampiro when he offered Pentagon his arm but I never thought they would actually go through with it. Well done indeed.

Gift of the Gods Title: Big Ryck vs. King Cuerno vs. Sexy Star vs. Bengala vs. Fenix vs. Aerostar vs. Jack Evans

This is basically Money in the Bank but you have to announce a week in advance and the winner will have to defend it, which is a concept that Money in the Bank could REALLY benefit from. The match is without tags and one fall to a finish. It’s a wild brawl to start (a recurring theme tonight) with Ryck throwing everyone outside until Aerostar tries his luck with a waistlock.

That earns him an ejection of his own before all six of them get inside and go after Ryck at the same time like a smart group of people would do. Back up and everyone is sent to the floor, leaving Aerostar to hit a big flip dive to take Fenix down, only to have Fenix powerslam him off the apron. Back in and Evans kicks Cuerno in the head to send him outside for a big dive, which only hits mat as Cuerno is smart enough to step aside. It’s Ryck breaking up Bengala’s pin on Star before Ryck just starts throwing people around with ease.

As Ryck beats up various luchadors like a cyclops would destroy villagers, Aerostar crawls up to the balcony to dive down onto three masked men, only to have Marty Martinez come in to get in a slap fight with Star. After easily dispatching Marty (because he’s a freaking moth), Star dives onto the same pile of masked men, only to be stomped down by Cuerno inside. The Thrill of the Hunt puts Star down but Cuerno opts to roll her outside instead of covering.

It’s Bengala coming back in though and cleaning house and monkey flipping Cuerno into Fenix in the corner. A big corkscrew dive takes Fenix down again, only to have Cuerno hit that awesome suicide dive of his to put Bengala down as well. Evans remembers he’s in the match and puts Aerostar in a guillotine choke, only to get DDT’d down to break the hold. It’s Star back in to beat up Aerostar over a copyright issue I’d assume but here’s Daivari to destroy Ryck with a chair for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.

Evans hits a springboard splash on Ryck for two but Cuerno makes the save and puts Evans in a surfboard. It’s Fenix’s turn for a save but he gets caught in something like AJ Lee’s Black Widow from Evans. That’s fine with Fenix as he flips him up and fires off a bunch of knees to Evans’ head, followed by a fire driver (over the shoulder tombstone) to give Fenix the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. These really aren’t my thing. They’re just a bunch of insane spots with people staying on the ground for long stretches of time until it’s time for another spot. Fenix winning probably makes the most sense as Bengala hasn’t been around, people would have issues buying Star as the winner (though it would have been interesting), Ryck is an enforcer and Evans is a spot monkey. Cuerno or Aerostar could have been options, but it was really Fenix’s match to lose.

Blue Demon Jr. vs. Texano

Yeah and now there’s this match because Blue Demon needs a payday or something. Demon has the Crew with him, which likely means this was going to be Chavo Guerrero until he got hurt, which at least would have been a better option. Before the match, Demon hands the announcer a card, saying Cueto has made this No DQ. Ok, enough of the brawls with no rules. We get it already, now go have a regular match. Texano goes right after him to start but has to go after Cisco and Castro.

It’s back to the people actually in the match with Texano doing a cool little move in the corner where he’ll chop with the right hand and swing through with a left handed clothesline on the follow through. A spinebuster and a powerbomb get two on Demon but the Crew comes in for the save. Cue Chavo with a chair to nail Texano, allowing Demon to get the pin with one foot on the chest, because why let a young guy get a big win when you can give it to a guy pushing 50?

Lucha Underground Title: Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes

Puma is defending and sans Konnan tonight. There must be a winner, which I really, really hope doesn’t mean anything goes. The bell rings and Muertes gets right in the middle of the ring to say bring it. Muertes pounds the champion down with ease when Puma is stupid enough to go right at the monster. They head into the crowd with Muertes continuing his destruction and throwing Puma down the steps. Striker: “This isn’t a football stadium or a bingo hall!”

With nothing else working, Puma picks up Catrina and swings her at Mil, driving one of the high heels into Muertes’ eye. That’s fine with Mil, who whips Puma into the chairs. Puma finally sends Muertes into the barricade, allowing him to use the apron as a springboard to kick Mil in the mask. We get a table, because where would we be without a table, but Muertes rams Puma face first onto the wood. Muertes powerbombs Puma onto the wooden stairs before finally tossing the champ back inside.

Puma gets a breather and tries a suicide dive, only to get knocked out of the sky with a chair shot. Muertes can’t send him into a chair in the corner though and gets kicked, down, setting up a big double stomp to put both guys down. Puma tries some flips and gets punched in the face for his efforts. As usual, why over complicate anything? The champ sidesteps a charge to send Muertes into a chair, setting up a GTS (with a kick instead of a knee) for two.

Muertes just unloads in the corner with forearms to the face until Puma backflips into a kick to the head because he can. Puma is somehow able to roll through some northern lights suplexes (fans: “SUPLEX CITY!” Wouldn’t that be ciudad de suplex?) Catrina is freaking out so she holds up the magic stone (that’s so stupid but it works here), causing Muertes to rise to his feet and spear Puma through the ropes onto the corner of the table (freaking ow man!), followed by a powerbomb onto the wreckage.

Somehow that’s only good for two so Muertes hits a wicked chokeslam. Appropriate since he’s basically the Mexican Undertaker. Puma fights up again and kicks Muertes in the head, setting up the 630 for a very near fall. A second attempt misses though and an even bigger spear cuts Puma in half. The Flatliner gets two (I thought that was it) and even Muertes is stunned. Another kick to the head sets up another 630 (Striker: “How many times can you use the same weapon if it doesn’t work?” Until it gets a pin you nitwit.) but Muertes gets up and runs the corner for a super Flatliner for the pin and the title.

Rating: A-. The ending was obvious as Puma has basically beaten everyone else in the main event and now we need a new hero. This was a great back and forth brawl with Puma fighting with everything he had but ultimately not being able to overcome the monstrous power that was Mil Muertes. It’s really, really hard to get me interested in a match with an obvious ending but they pulled it off really well here.

One last note: notice how big it felt when Muertes kicked out of the 630 and when Puma kicked out of the Flatliner. Those felt like important moments because they’re not something we ever see. In other words, it’s not like the AA where you see it get two on any given episode of Raw and are then asked to believe in the near falls. Look what happens when you can use this stuff in a big match, as it worked like a charm here.

Catrina gives Puma the lick. Well at least he gets something. Catrina, Muertes and the Disciples of Death pose in the ring as the credits roll.

Since this is Lucha Underground though, the cool stuff is after the credits. Black Lotus and Cueto are packing as much money into a bag as they can before running off. They get into a car hauling a trailer, which has a small hole cut open. We actually see Matanza’s mask looking out and growling in a nice touch.

Fenix gets in his car and drives away.

Marty Martinez is in a dark room where he has Sexy Star tied up. She won’t this is so funny when she meets his sister. Martinez laughs maniacally and rocks back and forth in a creepy shot.

Angelico tells Son of Havoc and Ivelisse that they’re getting those titles back before riding off on a motorcycle. Havoc asks Ivelisse if she wants one more ride but she tells him to shut up and get on.

Drago and Aerostar meet but Drago turns into fire and I guess flies away.

Pentagon asks Vampiro where they’re going now.

Dragon Azteca puts his mask back on and looks at a Lucha Underground sign with a question mark over it.

Cueto stares into the camera as lights go off behind him. To Be Continued.

Overall Rating: A-. Well that was amazing. This is a rare occurrence where I’m sitting here watching and wanting to see more because I care about these characters and want to know where they’re going from here. That’s a feeling I haven’t had about WWE or any other wrestling company (well other than NXT) in a long, long time.

The wrestling wasn’t great here, but this wasn’t about what happened in the ring. This was about advancing the drama, wrapping up the stories and setting up more stories going forward, all of which they did in spades. The key thing here is that I WANT to see more, not that I’ll see more because it’s on next week. Outstanding stuff here and well worth checking out, either on its own or with the previous week as a bonus.

Now why does this show (the series as a whole) work so well? I could go into a long list of why, but above all else, I’ll go with because they had a vision of what they wanted to go with and ran with it. This show established itself from the start and never gave up on that idea. It never became WWE-lite like TNA or got silly like so many WWE shows became. This felt like something genuinely different and that made it feel special. I’d love to see another season of this and hopefully they can get the funds together for another one. Great stuff here and check this show out, from the beginning if you can.

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Lucha Underground
Date: June 10, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Vampiro

The big story coming out of last week was Vampiro running in to save Sexy Star from Pentagon Jr. being all evil and trying to break her arm. This led to Vampiro going a bit nuts and headbutting a mirror because he’s kind of out there at times. Hopefully some of the bigger names come back this week to break up some of the monotony that we saw last week. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps Chavo/the Cuetos/Black Lotus with Chavo selling out Lotus for the sake of protection from Mexico. Not any group of people from Mexico mind you, but all of Mexico in general. We also see Drago turning into smoke or whatever.

Speaking of Drago, he’s on top of the temple, now with wings (Drago, not the temple) and dives off in a rare sunny moment.

Vampiro apologizes for getting in the ring last week because he’s just a broadcaster.

Dario is in the ring and says there will be a major show in eight weeks called Ultima Lucha (Final Fight). This will be a yearly event with the biggest fights and most amazing matches, but tonight we’ll start the process to determine the #1 contender for the Lucha Underground Title match. Dario has invited all of the former #1 contenders here tonight, including Hernandez, King Cuerno, Cage and Fenix….who is gone right now so it’s just a three way.

However, before we get to that, it’s time for the return of a legend: Blue Demon Jr. Cueto knows that Demon likes big events with big paydays like Ultima Lucha, but first he has to prove that he still has it, against this man who is also making his return to the temple here tonight.

Blue Demon Jr. vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo has the Crew as his protection and Demon is in street clothes. Oh and anything goes. Chavo knocks him into the ropes to start but Demon backdrops him out to the floor. The Crew takes some forearms of their own but they beat him down, allowing Chavo to hit a LOUD chop to the exposed chest. All four get inside now and it’s kendo stick time. A bunch of kendo stick shots to the back and a DDT with a double stomp from the top set up the frog splash to give Chavo the easy win.

Rating: N/A. This was barely long enough to rate and was an angle instead of a match so I’m not even going to bother rating it. Demon is one of those names that makes this show big in Mexico but really doesn’t do much here in America. I get that his dad is very famous and that he’s had a good career of his own, but he’s still old and slow and in this spot for no reason other than his name. Also, Chavo is really happy with the two members of the Crew who didn’t get killed as his security? Were the Desperadoes unavailable because they were still looking for Stan Hansen?

Drago is inside the temple.

Black Lotus is in the cage when Chavo comes in. Mexico (again, the entire country) will come after him for his betrayal. Chavo leaves, telling her to enjoy the view of Matanza in the next cage.

Drago grabs Cueto and wants to be in the #1 contenders match tonight. Apparently Drago has found a loophole and can be in the match tonight, but Cueto says it’s either win or lose his mask. The deal is on.

Bengala/Mascarita Sagrada/Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Disciples of Death

These would be the three guys that back up Muertes, because he needs heavies of course. Catrina is here with the monsters. Pimpinela starts things off and chops the one with a shirt in the chest. They head outside with Pimpinela being sent into the crowd because this is a comedy match so far. Off to Bengala for some cat jokes but the two shirtless Disciples pound him down with ease. Sagrada trips them up though because he’s small enough to sneak around like that. Not that it’s smart to have a mini take out two guys called the DISCIPLES OF DEATH but at least they’re trying.

Bengala takes out the shirted one with a big corkscrew dive to the floor and Sagrada comes in legally. Thankfully he’s quickly stomped down as Escarlata gets beaten down on the floor. A triple kick puts Mascarita down again and this time it’s Bengala taking the beating. Mascarita gets two off a victory roll as everything breaks down. The Hardys’ old Spin Cycle move connects with the third man adding a springboard missile dropkick to put Bengala down even harder. Escarlta gets kicked in the face and Catrina adds a lick to the face (Vampiro: “That was like, weird.”), setting up a triple Dominator for the pin.

Rating: D-. Oh man did they miss the point here. The team is obviously supposed to be something big and bad, but they’re having issues with two comedy characters and a low level act like Bengala? This would be Heath Slater making Roman Reigns sweat and that’s not the idea in a team’s first TV match.

Johnny Mundo wants to know why he isn’t in the #1 contenders match tonight. Cueto chuckles and says he wants Mundo to be champion at Ultima Lucha. They’re supposed to have a fresh start and Cueto isn’t holding a grudge. “You gave me a black eye. So what? I look great in sunglasses.” And that is why Cueto is the best heel in probably fifteen years. It was the attack on Alberto that showed Cueto who the real Johnny was, so he wants to see Mundo destroy the Prince Puma next week in a show long Iron Man match. Johnny thinks Cueto might be the best boss he’s ever had.

Drago vs. King Cuerno vs. Cage vs. Hernandez

If Drago doesn’t win, he’s banished and must unmask. This is considered shocking even though it was mentioned earlier in the night. Hernandez and Cage knock the other two outside in a few seconds and the brawl is on. That lasts another ten seconds so it’s off to Cuerno vs. Drago. Cuerno gets kneed in the face and Hernandez adds a slingshot shoulder, followed by a Warrior gorilla press drop.

Cage breaks up the Border Toss and plays D-Von in a 3D, only to end in a knee to the face instead of a cutter. Cuerno and Cage kick Drago outside before squaring off in one of the few combinations left. That goes nowhere as a double suplex drops Hernandez but Drago comes in for the save.

Drago’s double clothesline to Cuerno and Cage sends him down to the mat instead, so Drago goes up top. That doesn’t work either as Cage just catches him in mid air and throws him down. Hernandez runs Cuerno over and we’re down to Hernandez vs. Drago. A huge top rope splash gets two on Hernandez and Killshot is shown watching from the balcony. They switch off again for Cuerno vs. Cage but Drago gets involved and takes another beating. Cage throws in a standing moonsault (that’s impressive) and one ups that with a moonsault press to take Hernandez down again.

Cuerno goes to the floor so Drago can hit a big corkscrew dive but Hernandez dives on both of them. Cage hits his third moonsault of the match to take out Drago and Hernandez. Cuerno points the arrow at Killshot and dives at Drago and Cage, with the latter coming up holding his knee. Back in and Drago blows mist in Cuerno’s eyes and does his freaky rollup for the surprise pin and the title shot.

Rating: B-. It was fun but it was another match that was going so fast that it was almost impossible to keep track of it all. Cage’s moonsaults looked good, but when you do the same move (in different variations) three times in three minutes, they start to lose some of their effect. Still though, not bad.

Puma comes in for the staredown.

Cueto is watching when someone taps him on the shoulder. There’s no one there at first but then it’s Catrina. She says Muertes should have been in that match and chokes Cueto with his key. Cueto gives Muertes a match against Drago in two weeks for the title shot, which appeases Catrina. She goes to leave, but warns Cueto that even Matanza isn’t a match for Muertes.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a rare moving day episode of Lucha Underground as they set forward towards their first major show and set up a bunch of stuff going forward. Above all else, the idea of Muertes getting into the title hunt means Puma’s days are numbered. There is zero reason to not have Muertes as champion so someone can take the belt off him next season, so now the question is how do we get there. Not a great show on its own, but it has me wanting to see where things go and that was the point here.

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Lucha Underground
Date: January 14, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

We’re kind of at the start of a new time for Lucha Underground as we have a champion for the first time ever. Last time, Prince Puma won Aztec Warfare, lasting nearly a full hour, to become the first champion. The questions now are who challenges him and what about Puma’s evil mentor Konnan. Let’s get to it.

We recap Mil Muertes taking out Blue Demon Jr. after Chavo couldn’t do it. This led to Chavo going nuts and destroying Sexy Star with a chair.

Recap of Prince Puma winning Aztec Warfare and the Lucha Underground Title last week.

Cueto is in his office and tells Fenix that he’s impressed the boss. Fenix started at #1 in Aztec Warfare and nearly won the whole thing. It’s Fenix’s destiny to be here and tonight, Fenix has a chance to rise from the ashes. Fenix says he fights for himself rather than Cueto, but the boss says seize this opportunity before someone else does. The mystery woman is seen looking in through a window.

Aero Star vs. Cage vs. Argenis vs. Angelico

Star is a superhero, Argenis is a standard luchador who looks like a taller Rey Mysterio, Angelico is from South Africa and (Brian) Cage is a fairly well known indy guy who looks like he should be a WWE musclehead, making him completely different from anyone else in the promotion. I don’t know any of the other three and can’t find anything significant from any of them. This is under elimination rules.

Cage throws all three opponents around to start so they triple team him against the ropes. Angelico hits a nice running knee to the face but the three not named Cage start fighting amongst themselves. Argenis kicks Angelico low, leaving us with Aero Star vs. Argenis with the superhero hitting a hurricanrana. Star tries a Tajiri elbow but gets countered into a release German suplex. You would think someone else would have tried that before.

Angelico kicks Argenis off the top rope but Cage takes his head off with a running clothesline. A torture rack neckbreaker puts him down as well and a superplex sends Argenis flying. Star goes up top but dives into a Jackhammer (another move that needs to be adopted as a finisher) but it’s Argenis knocking Cage to the floor. He takes Cage out with a huge springboard moonsault, followed by Star hitting a huge Stardust Falling Star to take both of them out.

Angelico dives on everyone and stops to take some bows. With Striker talking about popping the ratings like the tool he is, Star spins around Angelico into a headscissors, only to have Angelico slam him down. All four get back inside with Cage planting Argenis with a pumphandle faceplant for the elimination. Cage powerbombs Star but picks him up and throws him at Angelico in the corner, setting up a discus lariat to eliminate Star. It’s Angelico vs. Cage now with Angelico kicking him from the mat, only to take a big old clothesline to give Cage the final pin.

Rating: C+. Cage didn’t have to do anything other than power moves here and the match worked as a result. Let the other three do the high spots and then give it over to the muscle guy for the other kind of impressive looking offense. Other than Ryck and maybe Muertes, there really isn’t a big power guy in the promotion so this works well for a change of pace.

Cage calls himself an animal.

Back from a break with Chavo Guerrero Jr. sitting in a chair in the ring. He made a mistake a few months back by ruining the friendship between the Guerreros and Blue Demon Jr.’s family. He asks Demon to come out here for a face to face (mask?) apology. There’s even a chair for Demon to sit in. Demon is skeptical as he should be but eventually sits down.

Chavo apologizes but turns his back, revealing a pair of brass knuckles. He swings at Demon but the old guy takes him down for some horrible looking right hands. Demon picks up a chair and weakly hits Chavo in the head for revenge. The fans chant OTRA VEZ (one more time) and that’s exactly what they get. Demon, ever the hero, flips Chavo off.

Drago vs. King Cuerno

Drago scores with a quick hurricanrana and Cuerno stays on the mat for a bit. Back up and Drago just smacks him in the face before sending him to the floor for a big dive. I’ll give them this: they can hit some good looking dives. Cuerno pulls out a table but can’t hit the Thrill of the Hunt off the apron. Instead Drago sends him out to the floor and hits another big dive, which seems to be the basis of his offense. Again Cuerno pops up and grabs a chair, only to get knocked onto the table. Drago goes up to the top of a balcony and hits the biggest dive yet to drive Cuerno through the table for a double countout.

Rating: C+. The match was fun enough but Dragon is clearly just a spot monkey. Unfortunately he’s a spot monkey in a company almost entirely based on high spots. He does well enough, but Cuerno needs to knock him off already to get him a better opponent. Cuerno is too good to waste on a guy as generic (for around here) as Drago.

Video on Fenix.

Lucha Underground Title: Fenix vs. Prince Puma

Fenix beat the champ a few months back. Striker says this is the first time the title has been on the line, just a week after it was won in the first place. He doesn’t seem to think before he speaks a lot of the time. Feeling out process to start with Fenix diving over a monkey flip and Puma diving over all of Fenix. A headscissors sends Fenix to the floor but he blocks a dive with a kick. That’s becoming too common of a spot.

Back in and Puma hits a springboard missile dropkick to knock him back to the floor, setting up another big spinning dive. Fenix says my turn and runs inside for a dive of his own. They really don’t care much for selling in this company. We see AAA boss Dorian Roldan in the crowd. Back in again and Fenix kicks him in the back for two, only to get kicked in the back of the head for the same. The champ takes over with a kick to Fenix’s back followed by a standing moonsault for two.

Off to a torture rack over the back before he slams Fenix down for another two count. Fenix pops up with a spinning enziguri and the Tajiri handspring into a cutter (which still looks stupid) to make Puma hold his neck. A TKO (that’s a better move) is countered and Puma hits a quick enziguri to take over. They slug it out from their knees with Fenix getting the better of it, only to have the handspring cutter countered into a pair of suplexes.

Puma totally misses the Phoenix Splash and gets caught in a half nelson suplex for two. Fenix’s 450 (stolen from Puma) gets two so Puma uses Fenix’s piledriver for the same. The champ loads up the real 450 but gets crotched down. In a REALLY stupid move, Fenix goes to the adjacent corner and tries to walk the ropes for some reason, allowing Puma to kick him in the head and nail the 450 to retain the title.

Rating: B-. I remember hearing a Sean Waltman interview where he says there is very little to no psychology in lucha libre. Based on this match, I can’t say I disagree with him. This was one of the biggest spotfests I’ve seen in a very long time and it gets dull after a few minutes. A lot of the stuff they do is just stupid with that rope walk among the worst. I mean…..WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT???

Post match Cage runs in and jumps Puma. A spinebuster and double powerbomb leaves Puma laying. The commentary here is horrible though as they’re going over the points of how Cage doesn’t need any history or Mexican blood to make an impact around here. This is being said as Puma is bouncing off the mat. Stop getting your talking points in and pay attention to what’s in front of you.

Overall Rating: C+. This show isn’t there for people who like in depth stories and that’s a nice change of pace from some of the other stuff you get. Cueto sending in Cage (assuming he did) is a good idea and Puma facing off against every heel he can find is a good thing and makes whoever takes the title off of him look like a monster. The other than I liked here is that they’re splitting up the roster, as we don’t have the same guys every week. Mix it up and give us something to look forward to.

On the other hand, they need to mix up the style a bit more. There are too many high fliers around here and some ground guys would help a lot. That’s why I like Cage: he’s the polar opposite of what we get from most of the rest of the roster and he stands out as a result. It’s still a good show but it needs some adjustments.

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Lucha Underground
Date: November 5, 2014
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

After a solid debut episode, we actually have a main story going on already. Cueto seems to be the big evil boss who brings in his minions to take out people who are trying to do stuff he doesn’t like. I had a good time with the first episode but I’m assuming a lot of the people here are going to be different as we see more of the roster. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s show.

The three guys (Ricky Reyes, Lil Cholo and Rycklon Stephens) that attacked Mundo and Puma last week are in the ring to open the show. Reyes says his name is Cortez Castro and Cholo is now known as Cisco. Stephens (formerly known as Ezekiel Jackson) says he’s the boss, Big Rick. Mundo charges the ring as Rick bails to the floor, leaving the other two to get beaten up. Cortez and Cisco bail but both grab chairs until Puma runs in for the save. This brings out Dario Cueto to make a tag match. Make your own Teddy Long joke.

Johnny Mundo/Prince Puma vs. Cortez Castro/Cisco

Puma and Castro get things going but it’s quickly off to Cisco, who is quickly taken down by a headscissors. It’s already back to Castro who gets taken into the corner for a tag off to Mundo. A double enziguri drops Castro for two but Mundo misses a running knee to the face and gets rolled up for two. Back to Cisco who gets kicked in the face again for two. Apparently Cisco describes his style as “Prison Shower Style.” I’ll get to Mundo hitting a slingshot elbow for two as fast as I can to get away from that line.

Cortez gets in a cheap shot from the apron before breaking up the Flying Chuck. Cisco gets two off a backsplash as Striker says the team is Cortez and Castro. Cortez gets two off a back elbow as Striker brings up Cortez conquering the Aztecs. Big Rick is smoking a cigar on the steps as Mundo finally rolls away from the double teaming. Puma comes in off the hot tag and cleans house with a running neckbreaker to Cisco, forcing him to DDT his own partner in a spot I hated in (I think) TNA and I hate it here.

Everything breaks down with Mundo missing a dive over the top, allowing Cortez to kick Puma into a neckbreaker from Cisco for two. They load up that 3D into a Codebreaker from last week but Mundo pulls Cortez to the floor. Back in with Puma hitting a cutter, setting up the Moonlight Drive on Cisco for a close two. Puma hits a big flip dive to take out Cortez, followed by stereo 450s to give Mundo and Puma the double pin.

Rating: B-. Good match here but it ran a bit longer than it should. It’s still good stuff here though with all four looking good in what seems to be the top storyline. Cisco and Cortez are fine as lackeys but Big Rick seems to be the real force for Cueto. It was a fast paced tag and they’re setting the groundwork for stuff in the future.

Konnan is in a dark locker room with Puma. He praises the masked man a bit but warns him to stay away from Mundo because that’s not Puma’s fight. Puma has one friend and that’s Konnan. We get the classic wrestling trope of someone speaking Spanish and then immediately translating it into English, due to people who speak Spanish not being able to understand it or something.

Video on Mil Muertes (Thousand Deaths, better known as Ricky Banderas, who was Judas Mesias in TNA and El Mesias in AAA), who is being brought in by Cueto to deal with Blue Demon Jr.

Son of Havoc/Ivelisse vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./Sexy Star

Striker: “Usually in mixed tags, the men wrestle with the men and the women lucha with the lucha.” The guys get started with Chavo hooking a chinlock less than thirty seconds in. Back up and Chavo pulls Havoc around by the beard as Striker explains Chavo’s lineage in wrestling, like anyone watching this show hasn’t heard of him before. Ivelisse gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Havoc takes over.

Off to Ivelisse for some kicks, including some to the head from the ground, for two. Back to Havoc as Vampiro tries to correct some of Striker’s mistakes and is completely ignored. We finally get the tag off to Star for some revenge from last week. She hammers away for a bit until Havoc drills her in the face with an elbow. Back to Ivelisse to slam Star’s head into the mat before they slug it out.

Ivelisse is in a bit of trouble but just kicks Star in the head to take over again. Havoc comes back in for a standing moonsault which only hits knees. The real hot tag brings in Chavo for a Liger Kick in the corner for two. Everything breaks down with a catfight breaking out, capped off with a running seated senton from Star to crush Ivelisse on the floor. Back in and Chavo hits the Frog Splash on Havoc but lets Star roll him up for the pin.

Rating: C+. Another nice match here as they tie things back to last week’s story. Chavo is a good guy to have around at the start but I’m hoping he isn’t still a fixture later on in the show’s run. He’s another guy that I’ve seen far too many times over the years and I’m just over him. The girls stole the show here though as they’re both clearly very polished.

Blue Demon Jr. is warming up when a girl named Catrina (Maxine from NXT) comes up with a message from Mil Muertes. She touches his lips and says it’s a taste before a thousand deaths. I love little things like her walking in instead of just standing there like you would see on Raw or Impact. It’s so much more natural, despite being a very produced video if that makes sense.

Konnan narrates a video on discovering Prince Puma fighting on the streets.

Blue Demon Jr. vs. Mil Muertes

This is a bit more formal of a debut than I was expecting. Catrina is here with Muertes, who comes out in a huge headdress on his back that looks like something out of Tatanka’s closet. He also has a small bag that he carefully hands off to Catrina. After a quick kiss from Catrina, Muertes jumps Demon to start in a hurry. A loud chop puts Demon down on the floor and they fight over the announcers’ table with Muertes in full control.

Back in and Demon armdrags him down followed by a dropkick. Some chops in the corner have Mil in some trouble but Catrina gets up on the apron. The distraction lets Mil get in a shot and Catrina adds a kick with a heel. Demon comes back with a bulldog for two but Muertes gets two off a Backstabber. We get another shot of the announcers to get on my nerves again. Muertes jumps into a raised boot and gets caught in a DDT for two. Back up and Muertes just spears Demon in half, setting up a Downward Spiral for the pin.

Rating: D+. Demon looked old and slow out there which is already getting annoying. Muertes on the other hand looked like a killer which is all he needed to be. That spear looked more like a Goldberg version by driving Demon back instead of just hitting him and stopping. Why that’s so complicated for so many to figure out is beyond me.

Muertes goes after Demon some more but Chavo comes in with a chair for the save. He blasts Demon with it instead and goes full heel. Some other guys come out but get chair shots as well. Sexy Star comes out and Chavo blasts HER in the head with the chair as Chavo is a bit more evil than I was expecting. Chavo sits in the chair as Demon is taken out on a stretcher. He won’t let Demon be taken out without a few more shots though. The ambulance pulls away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. That’s a bit lower than last week but I liked this show for different reasons. First of all, they cut down on some of the camera jumps and settled down a bit. I liked the stories being advanced and Ivelisse (who should have been signed by TNA but she wasn’t Barbarian’s niece) and Muertes both being good debuts. Chavo comes off looking evil….but he’s Chavo Guerrero. Yeah he’s smooth in the ring but dear goodness I have trouble caring about him. I like Cueto not being around as much this week to keep him from getting stale. Good show this week as they’re planning for the future.

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Lucha Underground
Date: October 29, 2014
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

This is the debut episode of a new promotion based around, of course, lucha libre. While there have been other promotions like this before, this company has a decent roster of people you’ve actually heard of and has been getting some solid reviews. Naturally I’m two weeks late to get out front of it but when has that stopped me before? Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of people fighting in what looks like an underground fight club. A masked man comes in for an airplane spin and Wasteland before telling someone to come with him. Off to a cave in Mexico, talking about the Aztec Empire and then lucha libre. That’s quite the jump. The owner, Dario Cueto, says he’s opening the doors to let these people come to America. Now a bunch of people are shown walking towards I’d assume the arena, spliced together with clips of matches.

We even have credits like a movie.

The announcers welcome us to the show and oh dear I don’t like these guys already.

Here’s Dario Cueto to address the promotion. This is a temple to honor ancient traditions like honor and violence. Whoever impresses him the most will get a signing bonus of $100,000.

Blue Demon Jr. vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Demon Jr. is a former NWA World Champion and 48 years old. I’m going to assume you know Guerrero. They shake hands to start as Striker goes on some tangent about honor. Chavo takes him down by the arm to start before Demon takes over with a test of strength. A quick run of the ropes ends with Demon “headscissoring” Chavo to the floor (the editing here is decent enough to cover botches) and baseball sliding him down. Back in and Demon hits a loud slap to the jaw as we keep cutting to an overhead camera shot like you’ll see in TLC matches.

Chavo comes out of the corner with a tornado DDT before taking Demon out to the floor. A nice plancha puts the masked man down but he comes back in with a slam. Demon favors his knee and takes forever to get to the top, only to miss a flip dive. Chavo puts him up top for a hurricanrana but Demon blocks (Striker: “Could this be some sort of a hanging triangle choke???”) and plants Chavo with a powerbomb, as anyone who has watched wrestling before and isn’t Matt Striker could have told you. Demon puts on a kind of Sharpshooter/Liontamer hybrid while lifting Chavo’s arm off the mat for the submission.

Rating: D+. The wrestling wasn’t bad but I’m going to get tired of having the camera constantly cutting to the crowd or that overhead shot or the announcers. It’s bad enoughthat I have to listen to Striker but I have to look at him during the matches? This was a decent enough power vs. speed match though and it did its job.

In a scene designed to feel like it’s from an over the top film noir movie, the boss is in his office with Konnan. Cueto thanks Konnan for coming here and Konnan says he’s the toughest guy around. The boss likes the sound of that but he’s brought in a guy named Johnny Mundo who doesn’t respect the business. If Konnan and a guy whose name sounded like Puma can take him out, they’ll split the $100,000. Konnan nods as cheesy music played. This was so totally different than the stuff I have to put up with on Raw that I kind of loved it.

We see Johnny Mundo warming up and it’s John Morrison.

Video on Mundo’s opponent tonight: Prince Puma. His manager Konnan narrates the video, talking about how Aztec luchardoes fought to the death in their day. They would claim the loser’s head, which evolved into the mask being so important. This brings us to Puma himself and we hear some praise from Konnan. Apparently Puma’s spirit animal is a jaguar. That sounds cool if nothing else.

Son of Havoc vs. Sexy Star

Havoc seems to be a masked biker with a long beard, played by Matt Cross. I’ve seen Star in AAA before so I actually have an idea of what’s going on here. She comes out with wings like Melina from Wrestlemania one year which work for entrance attire. We get a package on Star with her talking about how she’s doing this for all the women that don’t want to be afraid anymore.

Back in the arena, Havoc says he isn’t wrestling a woman, so she can lose by countout and live to fight another day. Star heads outside and lets the count go to five before charging back in and jumping Havoc from behind. He easily shoves her down and….does the Tango with her for all I know as the camera is on Striker. Havoc misses a moonsault but plants her down with ease. Star sends him chest first into the buckle and gets two off a high cross body, only to get caught in a backbreaker and pinned with a handful of tights. Short but Star looked good.

Chavo Guerrero is in Cueto’s office where the boss is asking what happened. In the first match in Cueto’s temple, Chavo tapped out. What would his family think if they knew that? Since Chavo couldn’t do it, Cueto will bring in someone else to stop Blue Demon, but once he’s here, no one can stop him.

Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma

Puma is indy wrestler Ricochet and has Konnan with him. Feeling out process to start with Mundo nailing a shoulder but Puma nips right back up. They fight over wristlocks with Puma flipping and spinning as Striker tells us to go to the internet to find out about different styles of wrestling. Both guys go down and it’s a double nipup to get us to a standoff. Vampiro says Puma is going to be corrupted by Konnan so I guess he’s heel here?

Puma spins around Mundo with a headscissors before sending him out to the floor. It earns a standing ovation from Vampiro and the fans think it’s awesome. Back in and Mundo hits a quick backbreaker and throws Puma throat first onto the top rope. A spinning kick to the head sends Puma to the floor but Mundo takes his time throwing him back in, allowing Prince to dropkick him down. Puma nails a slingshot splash and hooks a full nelson with the legs. Back up and Puma enziguris him out to the floor.

They head over the announcers’ table with Mundo climbing the table and flipping over Puma, only to send him face first into the post. Back in and we hit the chinlock on Puma but he fights up with another kick to the face. A springboard high cross body gets two on Mundo and a standing shooting star gets the same. They slug it out with Mundo driving him into the corner and hammering away.

Mundo speeds things up with clotheslines and a running knee to the face gets two. The Flying Chuck (Disaster Kick) gets two for Mundo and another running knee gets the same. Puma avoids the End of the World (Starship Pain) and takes Puma down with a springboard double knee to the chest. A springboard 450 misses and Moonlight Drive (the flip neckbreaker) gets two for Mundo. Johnny pops back up and hits a C4 and the End of the World for the pin.

Rating: B. Good main event here where they got to show off some athleticism and give the fans something to come back for. All the flips and dives and such really isn’t my style but this was entertaining stuff. Mundo is a guy that people are going to recognize and it’s a good idea to have him win the first main event.

Mundo raises Puma’s hand but here’s a ticked off Cueto. He says Mundo has earned the money but Cueto slams the case closed. Mundo goes for the money but two guys (indy wrestlers Ricky Reyes and Lil Cholo) come in to beat him down. Mundo fights them off but Ezekiel Jackson comes in to lay out Mundo and Puma. Prince is sent into a 3D into a Codebreaker while Mundo takes a chokeslam. Cueto gets back in and says these guys work for him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Yeah I liked this, though the rating is on a bit of a softer scale. I’m not sure if it’s enough to keep me coming around every week but I’ll check out the next few episodes. It’s VERY different from mainstream wrestling and that’s a good thing. Cueto is basically Vince with a Spanish accent but I’ve seen far worse. The wrestling was mediocre to good but again it’s different enough to carry the show.

That being said, there’s A LOT to work on. First of all, someone work on shooting Matt Striker. I can’t stand him now, I couldn’t stand him in WWE and I can’t picture ever being able to stand him. He’s that commenter on the internet that thinks he knows more than you because he uses every proper name for everything and it drives me crazy. The constant camera cuts get annoying as well but if they keep it on the ring in some form or another I can live with it. It’s a solid debut and I’ll check out a few more episodes to see where it goes.

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