Good Morning!
Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground. It’s been a good week over here! We watched AEW Forbidden Door and Dynamite, and had a good time with both. Forbidden Door, if we’re being honest, is probably one of the AEW PPVs I’m willing to miss annually, if only because I’ve never followed New Japan Pro Wrestling with any real consistency. So, oddly, the main complaint that I saw on socials about this year’s edition of Forbidden Door was actually a positive for me: that the show was heavily skewed in the favor of AEW. I watch AEW, so this was for me, and the addition of some NJPW guys without having the show become a showcase for them made it more interesting for me. Standout matches for me included the eight-woman tag match during Zero Hour, Fletcher vs Takahashi, ZSJ vs my close personal friend Nigel McGuinness, and the steel cage match that ended the show, but I wasn’t mad at any of the matches on the card. It’s all good stuff, as we say.
With Will Ospreay, Nick Wayne, and Swerve Strickland all falling to injuries -- or “injuries” to take some time off for surgeries and recovery -- it does seem like an opportune time for AEW to focus on its women. Fans have been clamoring for more than one goddamn women’s match on Dynamite, as well as for a tag division to be implemented. Why not now? We’ve got at least ten potential teams, and showcasing what I believe to be the strongest roster in American pro wrestling isn’t a bad idea, even if things get scaled back a little when the boys get healthy again. Or not! You’ve got at least four hours of programming a week, let half the roster get some reps!
Oh! Also, after that first show in the AEW residency at the 2300 Arena, Tony Khan surprised ECW legend Taz with a little tribute that made everybody cry. Take a look!
Now wipe the tears from your eyes, and let’s get back on the clock.
Last Time On Lucha Underground
“A Unique Opportunity” was kind of a reset, useful for our purposes as we’d just come back from our little break. We had two ten-person matches, opening the show with a 10-person match won by Fénix, and following up with a ten-person battle royale won by Mil Muertes. Dario Cueto had been teasing a unique opportunity --
We also got some tension between Konnan and Prince Puma, with the former really leaning into the heelish tendencies that Vampiro has been warning us about since the start of Lucha Underground. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Sexy Star continued their rivalry through the context of a battle royale, as did Drago and King Cuerno.
Overall, it was a solid show to set up a mysterious new match type which, given the title of this episode, might be introduced tonight! Only one way to find out. LET’S WATCH SOME WRESTLING!
Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 9: “Aztec Warfare”
Aztec guys doing some Aztec warfare
We opened up with a little recap of “A Unique Opportunity,” with Dario Cueto narrating over some Aztec warriors battling in a field. I say narrating, but really it was just the dialogue from the last episode, where he explained that the Aztec Warfare match was going to be for the Lucha Underground championship.
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Our mariachis have been mariachi-napped! |
After that, we got the more familiar Los Angeles flyover shots along with the title card and credits. Inside the temple, things were intense from the get-go, with folks dressed in Aztec garb dancing to drum beats provided by the band, which was either our usual mariachi/punk guys in new outfits, or a replacement. This must have aired after the new year [it did: January 7, 2015, to be exact] because we were wished a happy new year by our commentary team! That’s nice. And yeah, we’re doing Aztec Warfare tonight!
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I just thought this was a cool shot |
Dario Cueto was then in the ring, welcoming us to his temple. He had the Lucha Underground championship belt resting on his shoulder, and told us 2015 was gonna be huge for LU. He said he invented this Aztec Warfare match, prompting the fans to chant the match name as Cueto explained the rules. We start with two wrestlers, and every 90 seconds another luchador would enter. Eliminations are pinfall or submission, and since he loves violence, anything goes!
We knew Fénix was going to be the first entry, and by “random draw,” Johnny Mundo pulled number two. I don’t know that we’ll have time to cram anything else in this show unless we get a bunch of quick eliminations, so let’s get to it!
Aztec Warfare
Fénix versus Johnny Mundo versus Mr. Cisco versus King Cuerno versus Son of Havoc versus Pimpanela Escarlata versus Prince Puma versus Ivelisse versus Drago versus Bael versus Cortez Castro versus Ricky Mandel versus Big Ryck versus Pentagon, Jr. versus Super Fly versus Chavo Guerrero, Jr. versus Mascarita Sagrada versus Sexy Star versus
Both guys started out with kicks and finisher whiffs, with the announcers noting that a quick elimination was on both luchadores’ minds as another guy would be there in 90. And so it was, with Mr. Cisco heading down the stairs next. “This lil’ cholo’s rolling solo,” said Matt Stryker, and I kinda love that as a line. Cisco yeeted Mundo, but after a little back and forth with Fénix, Mundo flipped into the ring with End of the World to get the first elimination on Cisco.
After a commercial and some more one-on-one brawling, King Cuerno was #4. Son of Havoc followed at #5 as I realized I’m not a play by play guy, but I'll do my best while keeping track of who’s in and who’s out. After all, I did have a private YouTube channel commentating WWE2k24 matches involving veterinary personnel, making me about as qualified as 80% of wrestling announcers...but I digress.
#6 is beloved exotico Pimpinella Escarlata, who got a really nice intro from Vampiro about judging folks by the content of their character. #7 was Lucha Underground’s main character, Prince Puma, who immediately cleared the ring to take on Johnny Mundo for a bit. Some solid work between those two and Fénix passed the time as our announce team noticed the mysterious vinyl-clad lady was in the crowd again, and then Ivelisse ran down the stairs as the 8th entrant. Ivelisse immediately made her presence known with a flying head scissors on King Cuerno and a DDT on Fénix, and then set Pimpi up for an elimination by her partner Son of Havoc.
My guy Drago entered at #9 shortly after, and he went for a quick pinfall on Fénix and then Mundo but came up short. Ivelisse tried to attack King Cuerno as he got Drago in a fireman’s carry, but that just got her eliminated by the hunter. She’s gone and Bael is in at #10, and we’re told he’s a real b-boy from the streets and therefore knows how to throw hands, which … is that how that works? I thought b-boys were, like, dancers? I dunno, but in my digression, Prince Puma rolled up Son of Havoc for the elimination, and Cortez Castro strolled in at #11. Castro and Bael started working together to do some damage until Ricky Mandel entered the brawl and went after both of them, and Prince Puma was eventually left alone with Bael in the middle of the ring for another pinfall elimination. Johnny Mundo then let Puma have a breather as he worked Cortez Castro into a pinfall elimination just before Big Ryck showed up at 13, just a little too late to employ his henchmen.
Back from a break just in time to watch Big Ryck murder everyone in the ring and pin Ricky Mandel, then Cuerno eliminated Drago and Mundo rolled up King Cuerno. Penta then rolled in at #14 and we’re keeping things moving smoothly, with eliminations and new entrants balancing out nicely. Penta ran wild when he got into the ring, and had Fénix set up for elimination when Ryck booted him in the head, leading both me and the announcers to ask, uh, why, dude? It’s an elimination match, and it’s not like you get paid by the pin. Super Fly was next to enter at 15, but Mundo, Puma, and Fénix all hit a little offense on the new fella. Puma was draped on Ryck’s back as Chavo Guerrero hit the ring at 16 with a chair in tow, and he immediately laid out Super Fly and Penta, and racked up a pair of eliminations. Mini extraordinaire Mascarita Sagrada headed out in the #17 slot as we went to commercial.
Game to get in the ring with anyone, Chavo and Mascarita Sagrada matched up in the otherwise cleared ring, with Sagrada dominating. Fénix and Mascarita paired up next, and both of them left the ring just as #18 Sexy Star met Chavo in the ring. A quick back and forth led to them both leaving the ring and Big Ryck and Mascarita Sagrada re-entering the ring, which went about as well as you’d think it would for Mascarita -- he was quickly destroyed and eliminated. El Mariachi Loco scurried down the steps with the #19 entry, and he distracted Ryck from beating on Johnny Mundo for a bit.
Some action between the remaining luchadores ended with Big Ryck absolutely murdering the Crazy Mariachi as our final entrant, Mil Muertes, headed down the stairs with his pal Catrina. So we’re full up and it’s all eliminations from here on out, with Mariachi eating a Flatliner to take Mil Muertes’ first pin. Mil Muertes stared down Big Ryck next, with both men failing to take each other off their feet before most of the remaining talent entered the ring as our drummers added to the intensity of the moment.
A double stack of Chavo and Fénix eliminated Big Ryck next, after Ryck ate top rope moves from both Puma and Fénix. With the biggest threat (non-Murtes edition) out, things felt a little more uncertain. Chavo grabbed another chair and gave Fénix the old el kabong and pinned him. Sexy Star challenged Guerrero to drop the chair, and he refused so she just went after him anyways. She dominated briefly before Chavo scoop slammed his rival onto the discarded chair, and then he placed that chair onto her face and headed to the top rope -- but then a returning Blue Demon made the save and distracted Chavo long enough for Sexy to lay out the villain with his own chair and pick up the pinfall.
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No, seriously, look behind you! |
That left Sexy Star, Prince Puma, Johnny Mundo, and Mil Mascaras as our final four competitors as we headed into the final commercial break. I don’t want to get ahead of myself but Aztec Warfare kinda rules.
We came back to a brawl that ended with Star laying out Mundo and Puma, but when she hyped herself up to take on Muertes she underestimated his speed and was broken in half by a spear, allowing Mil Muertes to eliminate her.
Johnny Mundo went after Muertes next, with Puma recharging his stamina meter in the corner. He recovered and took an unexpected ZigZag to the back of his noggin, and the three went back and forth for a bit before Puma was knocked from the ring. Mundo got Mil Muertes up on the turnbuckle, and the good guys hit the big man with a superplex to knock the wind outta him. Catrina tried to distract Puma, but he pulled her up to the apron and threatened a slap before dodging a Muertes charge. Muertes stopped himself before knocking Catrina off the apron, but Johnny Mundo hit a Disaster Kick from the corner and caught the woman on the side of her noggin, knocking her down. He seemed apologetic to Mil, and was almost chokeslammed before Puma hit a meteora, and the good guys hit a pair of flippy moves to get the dual pinfall.
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Buddies! |
So good guy vs good guy in a rematch from the first episode of Lucha Underground, very cool. Puma looked gassed until the pair locked up, and then he hit some offense as Matt Stryker desperately begged Vampiro to chime in with some commentary. “This is awesome” chants hit as Puma struggled to get out of a half-crab, and he responded by breaking the hold (rope breaks are legal in an anything goes match?) and yeeting Mundo out of the ring.
A super Spanish fly knocked Mundo down but not out, and Mundo grabbed an ankle a couple times before Puma was able to again mount the top turnbuckle. The pair traded punches before Mundo landed a poison ‘rana, and then ran to the other side of the ring for End of the World, which Puma miraculously kicked out of. Puma was dead in the corner after that, and Mundo got him up on the turnbuckle once more. Puma somehow got a health potion, and shoved Mundo off the turnbuckle before hitting his 630 and winning the inaugural Lucha Underground championship match! The crowd went bonkers as Prince Puma celebrated alone and then with Johnny Mundo, and even Konnan came down to cheer on his champ.
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The first Lucha Underground champ. No one can ever take that from you, baldie. |
That was rad! A pinfall and submissions battle royale has the potential to be a slog, but frequent eliminations kept the ring and surrounding area mostly clear, and I felt like everything went smoothly. The rivalries we’ve been building all season were highlighted, we got a return in Blue Panther, and the guy who most feels like the focus of this first season of Lucha Underground got a well deserved win. I enjoyed the hell out of this first ever Aztec Warfare match, and would go as high as 8 luchador masks out of 10. Cagematch says … 8.31, so I guess we’re in agreement!
Closing Thoughts
One match for our hour-long weekly show worked for this particular event. I don’t know that AAA/Lucha Underground ever planned on doing PPV shows this early into the promotion, but if it went on to really build an audience I could see this being their Royal Rumble. Hell, it even took place around the same time as that WWE staple. I liked how we used last week’s show and this one to announce Aztec Warfare, establish its importance, figure out the first and last entrants, and then blow the whole thing off. With the season running around 40 episodes, having a big event to mark the first quarter feels about right to me. We’ll see if that trend continues or if this is just a thing LU does when they have a big event.
So Long For Now
Hey, thanks for reading! Follow me on BlueSky for updates on Let’s Watch Some Wrestling, as well as live watch-along commentary for most episodes of AEW Dynamite (and occasionally Collision). And, if you’re looking into purchasing anything from a smart fridge to a new drill, check out the writing I do over at SlashGear -- my automotive, tech, and tool-related lists are heavily researched, and ranked after thorough aggregation of expert opinions, reviews, and my own experience as a professional auto mechanic, an unprofessional handyman and a somehow even less professional homeowner.
Until next time…Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!