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Good Morning!
Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground. It’s been another productive week here at Let’s Watch Some Wrestling HQ, with some writing getting done, some new friends stopping by for puppy (and human) socializing, and overall relaxing vibes as we segue into scary season, objectively the best time of year. I got my COVID and flu shots yesterday, and my arm’s already feeling a bit rough, but we’re headed out of town next weekend and this indoor cat needed to make sure he’s not sick for that trip, or for the horror movie festival we’ll be attending in October.
We’re also undergoing kind of a crash course of the game of golf. A friend had a free pass to use this month, and my wife and I are professionals at the EA PGA Xbox game, and also owners of clubs that said friend gave us about ten years ago. So we’ve watched some YouTube videos and are headed to the driving range this weekend to get back into form, for me, and to develop a form at all, in my wife’s case. Either way, it should be fun to go from very little experience to trying to do a full ass fancy 18 hole course. At the very least, I hear there’s a cart that brings you drinks!
But I digress. We’re not here to talk about my efforts to become a professional man of leisure, or to sign on to the PGA Senior Tour. We’re here to watch some wrestling. So let’s get back on the clock.
Last Time On Lucha Underground
“Aztec Warfare” was Lucha Underground’s answer to the WWE’s Royal Rumble match, a customized battle royale with entrants hitting the ring every 90 seconds, 20 in total, until we were left with one winner, the first Lucha Underground champion, Prince Puma. It was an interesting format for a regular episode of TV -- basically just the one match for the whole show -- but I thought it worked well, had some great spots to feed into established rivalries, and had a really good ending sequence to crown the new champion.
It felt like the end of the beginning for Lucha Underground. We’ve now established several feuds, introduced our main protagonists and antagonists while still making it clear that even though the good guys are willing to work together, it’s still every man [gender neutral] for himself. I thought that was refreshing in a world where, for example, John Cena suffers a beatdown and nobody in the back ever bothers to come save the biggest babyface in the company.
So now we’ve got a title, a nice belt, possibly an annual tradition in Aztec Warfare, and our first reigning and defending champ in Boyle Heights’ own Prince Puma, managed by an increasingly disappointed Konnan. I guess we’ll see what awaits us in the next chunk of programming, and there’s only one way to do that…
LET’S WATCH SOME WRESTLING!
Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 10: “Law of the Jungle”
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| I love that little bull on Cueto's desk |
We opened up with little recap featuring Chavo Guerrero Jr.’s heel turn and subsequent rivalry with Sexy Star, Konnan talking up Prince Puma (and then berating him), and highlights from Aztec Warfare. From there, we were brought into LU owner Dario Cueto’s office, where he was meeting with Fenix. He was being very supportive of the luchador, and things seemed on the up-and-up until Cueto told Fenix to destroy Prince Puma in a match. Fenix said he doesn’t fight for Cueto; he fights for himself, and to be the best.
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| I also love serious meetings taking place with a guy in a spiky mask |
Cueto remained calm, surprisingly, and agreed, saying Fenix would be fighting for the Lucha Underground title. Destroy Puma, embarrass Konnan, be the new champ -- take the opportunity or someone else will. Fenix said nothing and left, and Cueto took that as a win. Unbeknownst to him but knownst to us, that mysterious vinyl-catsuit lady that popped up in the temple the last few episodes was outside the office, listening in.
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| It's like Where's Waldo with this lady, but more mysterious. |
And with that, we got our title card and were back in the temple, with our house band rocking out and our commentary team of Matt Stryker and Vampiro getting us hyped for the night’s card. They ran down a few matches and said Dario Cueto had opened the door for four new luchadores to join the company, and they would be competing right now in an elimination match!
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| The new guys |
Opening Match
Argenis versus Aerostar versus Angélico versus Cage
Oh hey it’s Cage! We’d been seeing some vignettes of him training for a few weeks now, and we have established that he is, in fact, large. Actually, if you follow AEW you’re likely familiar with ¾ of the competitors in this match -- Angélico has been with the promotion since the beginning, and Aerostar made a few appearances early on.
Cage started off by tossing Argenis around before everybody realized teaming up against the big fella was the way to go. Once Cage was tossed, we settled into some fun lucha action, first between Angélico and Argenis and then between Argenis and Aerostar. Cage did get back into the ring, and he’s basically a slightly faster version of the powerhouse you’re familiar with from his appearances in basically every promotion that isn’t The Fed.
Everybody got their stuff in, as they say for this type of multi-person match. There’s a pair of dives out of the ring, first from Aerostar and then Angélico, that are really out of this world -- Angélico’s especially looked like he might have overshot the other wrestlers further then the Spaceballs overshot Lone Star and pals, and then took a bow after somehow landing that dive just off to the left of the commentary table.
Back in the ring, Angélico continued to establish himself as the smarmy crowd favorite, but Cage stormed in and dominated, pinning Argenis, then throwing Aerostar at Angélico before eliminating both of them in short order and picking up the victory. Cage didn’t do a ton in this one, but he used the time he was in the ring to show that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
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| They call him...CAGE |
I had a lot of fun watching this match! It really didn’t need to be an elimination match, although I guess that did help Cage display his dominance by killing everybody else in quick succession. The sequences without him in there were the high-speed lucha action we’ve gotten used to seeing, and though it was a little odd to not see Cage used as a base -- something he’s more than comfortable doing -- I think they did a good job showing that the other competitors realized they had to keep him out of the ring to even have a chance at winning. I’ll go 7/10 luchador masks for this match; Cagematch puts it at … oh, nothing, because it was short. It didn’t feel that short, but what do I know? I’m just a guy overly invested in a TV show that aired like ten years ago.
But I digress.
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| Pretty! |
After a commercial break, we got treated to some beautiful timelapse video of the night sky outside Los Angeles, and then back in the Temple we got to listen to Chavo Guerrero, Jr. apologize for ruining the friendship between himself and Blue Demon, Jr. Blue Demon cautiously entered the ring after a little “get a load of this guy” mime work with the fans.
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| Blue Demon, Jr., to the fans in the Temple |
Chavo, unsurprisingly, turned his apology into a threat, and Blue Demon laid into the skeevy Guerrero, finishing him off with several chair shots to the head and back before leaving him in the ring and flipping the double birds at him. According to the announcers, that’s it for that rivalry.
You know it's serious when we're digitizing fingies
Match 2
King Cuerno versus Drago
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| Is it respect? Love? Or something forbidden? |
King Cuerno’s entrance gear is so cool. He’s basically wearing Bambi’s mom out there. And I’ve already made my feelings clear on Drago’s, well, everything -- I just think he’s neat.
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| This little guy knows what's up |
These two have had a handful of matches already, and started off at full speed, with dives, strikes, and a Code Red. King Cuerno set up a table and stalked the prone Drago before rolling him back into the ring, and Cuerno nearly had Drago in a fireman’s carry when Drago slipped free. Cuerno grabbed a chair but whiffed, and ate a Drago superkick for his trouble. Drago then ascended the Temple stairs to the top of Dario Cueto’s office, AKA the launch pad for some of the coolest spots in Lucha Underground, and he did not disappoint, splashing Cuerno through the table and leading to a double count out.
That was cool, but wasn’t much of a match, running just over three minutes. This feud MUST CONTINUE.
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| The fire burns |
We got a short video of Fenix, explaining the history of his name, and then we got right into the…
Main Event
Fenix versus Prince Puma © for the Lucha Underground championship
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| Code of Honor adhered to |
The two good guys shook hands before doing what they do best -- flinging themselves around the arena for our entertainment! I find recapping one-on-one matches to be some of the toughest for me, especially when it’s two similar talents like these wrestlers. Evenly matched, back and forth action with some solid near falls for both guys was the story of this match, with some big top rope moves leading to some 1-2-OOOOHs from the crowd.
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| This is gonna end badly for somebody |
The final sequence was really good, with Fenix running across the ropes only to eat a kick to the chest from Puma. Puma then pounced (pun intended) on the carcass of Fenix with his signature 630, and he picked up the victory.
A solid match, despite my lack of a thorough watch-along, and a good first title defense for Prince Puma. I’d go 7/10 for this one, and Cagematch seems to agree with a 7.52.
Prince Puma’s post match celebration was a short one, as Cage ran down to the ring and absolutely destroyed our champion. He hit Puma with discus lariats and powerbombs before posing over the downed champ to end the show.
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| CAGE smothers the closing credits AND Prince Puma |
Closing Thoughts
I guess this show did what I’d figured it would, which is set the table for the next group of shows now that we have a champion. We’ve got some fun new talent in Aerostar, Argenis, and Angélico. Cage will be a good foil to Prince Puma, with his power and ability to work well with high flyers matching well with the champ’s speed and heart. I guess the Chavo/Blue Demon feud is over, which was a weird way to end that rivalry if that’s the case. And King Cuerno and Drago will apparently just fight forever, although that double count out may have been a way to take them off the show for a while -- I guess we’ll see.
Not the best show, but there are worse ways to spend your time. The matches were good, the vignettes gave us some direction going forward, and the new talent should mix in nicely with the existing pool of luchadores.
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!