Project Lucha Underground: S1E12: “They Call Him Cage”

 

Good Morning!

Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground. I've got a hankerin' to do some Halloween decorating, but I really wanted to watch a Lucha Underground today and do a little writing, so here we are. It actually looks like it might want to rain, so maybe we'll hold off for a day or two.

It's nearly October, and that's a holy month at Let's Watch Some Wrestling HQ. We've literally watched over a hundred movies in the September/October Scary Season in years past, and while we're not going to try that soon, we've got plans to attend a performance of Dracula in ballet form, a three-day horror festival in Telluride, and a few dozen scary movies at home, too.

Oh! And to update our last conversation, we did in fact go to Tennessee! Dollywood was an absolute blast, with roller coasters, theme park food, and enough good energy to last at least a few weeks. We met my delightful niece, and the kid is a ray of sunshine, just like her mom. My brother in law and my sister are both doing well, and their doggos are as wonderful as ever. It was a refreshing trip for my soul, and I can't wait to see that kid again.

For now though, we've got some wrestling to watch. We've got a new antagonist, some new feuds to set up, and some backstory to establish.

So let’s get back on the clock.

Last Time On Lucha Underground

“Last Luchador Standing” was an oddly-paced Lucha Underground, one that had some big story beats and matches sandwiching some mediocre squash action. Look, they can’t all be winners, and even though part of this rewatch means going through the later seasons of Lucha Underground that I missed on the first go-round, we all know how this thing ends, right? I mean…the show’s not on anymore, guys, we’re not spoiling anything here.

But I digress! The big story beats were really big! The titular Last Luchador Standing was King Cuerno, finally ending his rivalry with Drago in a long last man standing match with a really unique finish -- Cuerno using a rope to lash a seated Drago to the ring post, preventing the blue dragon from standing and picking up the victory as a result. It was a good match, with a mostly clean victory, and I think it’s been one of the better feuds of this still-new promotion. 

The other big event was Big Ryck’s crew turning on their leader, and burning his goddamn eye out with a cigar in the process! As a cigar aficionado myself, I’ll have you know that this is not the preferred way to extinguish your stick, as the smell of singed flesh tends to overpower the otherwise pleasant aroma that a cigar produces. If you’re into that sort of thing, I mean. I’m aware enough to know most people don’t like ‘em, and therefore I limit my smoking to my backyard and the golf course. 

And with that, we’re all caught up! So, without further ado…

LET’S WATCH SOME WRESTLING!

Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 12: “They Call Him Cage”

That duct-taped weight bench can't be comfortable. I bet it chafes.

We opened, as we have been, with a recap of the last few episodes. Quick edits of The Crew’s turn on Big Ryck and Cage’s attack of Prince Puma started the show, and then we were sent into the Lucha Underground Temple’s Saw-looking gym, where Cage was lifting a large barbell as Dario Cueto walked in. Cueto told Cage that Cage didn’t just take the bull by the horns, he took it by the huevos. I don’t know what eggs have to do with wrestling, but that’s between them two, I suppose. Cage sent Konnan to the hospital on his debut, and told the world he wouldn’t wait in line for a title match. Cueto agreed with that sentiment, and would be granting Cage a match against Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship. Cage came back with “No, Puma will be losing his title to Cage, cause I’m a machiiiiiiine.” Look man, I get that you have a gimmick, but machines fail all the time. I was literally a mechanic -- my job was to fix those failures. It’s not a given that you’ll win because you believe you’re a cyborg or a Terminator or whatever. 

Then we were in the Temple proper, with the house band rockin’ and our beloved [your mileage may vary] announce couple teased the main event and an interview between Konnan, Puma, and Vampiro. But first, we’ve got a match!

Opening Contest

I love these two, they're like evil PB&J

Mil Muertes (with Catrina) versus Fenix

I love Mil Muertes’ presentation as a Kotal Kahn-adjacent Aztec god. The cape, the collar, the shoulder pieces, they all add up to an old-school luchador out of time. Fenix quickly dodged a charging Mil to start, and Fenix gained the upper hand using his speed before Mil recovered and clobbered the little guy with a decapitating lariat. Mil Muertes was firmly in control after that, tossing the smaller luchador around and countering his speed-based offense with grapples and mid-air catches. 

Fenix ate a spear in the middle of the ring but managed to kick out, which I don’t think happens often in Mil Muertes matches. Mil responded by clubbing Fenix in the corner, but a top-rope superplex by Muertes allowed Fenix to take advantage of a bouncy landing. Fenix caught Mil Muertes with a surprise roll-up and got the three count for the victory!

The most devastating move in sports entertainment strikes again!

That couldn’t have been more than five minutes, but I was buying everything these two were selling in that short match. Given that they were both being presented as superstars, I wasn’t sure who was going to come out on top, although I guessed from the bell that Mil Muertes was going to be going over to start another win streak. Shows what I know! I’ll give this 6/10 lucha masks despite the match’s brevity; Cagematch says it was too short for a rating.

Beer bottles can't damage A MACHINE, man!

We came back from a break to a video of Cage being an action star in a junkyard, as some little guys try to attack him and he, uh, murders them. He’s also doing the voiceover, and he talks about how he’s earned what he’s gotten, and also that HE’S NOT A MAN, HE’S A MACHIIIIINE and they call him Cage. 

Match 2

The Crew just has a great look for its time and place

Argenis, Super Fly, and Aerostar versus Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco, and Bael

The Crew is the first trios team on Lucha Underground that doesn’t feel like a random grouping of luchadores. On the other side of the ring is, well, a random grouping of luchadores. The baddies look the part, bringing a kendo stick to the ring and dressing like the Lil’ Homies figures I used to collect as a kid. Remember those? Or am I dating myself here?

I used to pay 50 cents a pop for these guys at Annie's Hot Dog stand in River Forest, IL

Matt Stryker and Vampiro performed a bit of victim blaming as this match got started, essentially saying Big Ryck got what he deserved when he was caught “sonning” The Crew by telling them to stay out of his way. I tend to disagree, but I’ve also never had henchmen. Rapid tags and flippy lucha action from the good guys carried this match, but the bad guys were alright as bases too. Aerostar’s hot tag in particular looked cool, as he got some fun Spider-Man-esque pounces from the ropes onto Mr. Cisco. We also got a cool two-man tower from the Mexico City squad, and Vampiro mentioning that means my “random luchador” comment was in poor taste, my bad. This is what I get for typing as I watch. 

Cool guys doing cool stuff!

Cisco uses a move the announcers call a “Curb Stomp,” but it’s less Seth Rollins and more Mexican Surfboard setup, pulling the arms back before planting a boot into the opponent’s spine. Sometimes those moves get sold as being terribly painful, but I gotta tell you, my back could probably benefit from one of those. 

Aerostar was getting pummeled but a great reversal into a backwards cannonball drop allowed him to get a tag to teammate Argenis. Argenis landed a Canadian Destroyer, called as a Sunset Flip, and since I have no good memory for when this show aired in contrast to, say, WWE stuff that was on TV at the time, I’m just gonna assume Matt Stryker didn’t know what to call these moves he’d never seen. That or I’m wrong and these moves just have several names. Who’s to say? 

The back and forth between the two teams escalated into a series of dives, and the pace really picked up as we got deeper into the match. A 3D-into-a-Codebreaker that FTR fans will recognize as a Shatter Machine ended the bout clean with a pinfall victory for The Crew.

I had a lot of fun with this match! Commentary used the time to put over all of the participants while still focusing their attention on the Crew, and the luchador team put themselves over with some bananas work in and out of the ring. Never a slow moment, and while the ending was kind of expected, the work was never diminished. I’ll go 6 lucha masks for this match; Cagematch went with a 6.95.

We're gonna tell you about what we're gonna show you!

After a break, Vampiro and Matt Stryker talked about his interview with Cage, and then about his upcoming interview with Prince Puma…which is gonna be played now. Konnan spoke for Puma, saying Puma was pissed off after surviving 19 other luchadores and Fenix in his last two matches only to be attacked by a punk like Cage. Konnan says Cage would have been sent to the hospital if Prince Puma had expected his attack. Konnan kept speaking for Prince Puma, and Vampiro decided to pick a fight with Konnan about that until the two had to be separated by Puma. I don’t think those two like each other too much. Before the segment ended, Vampiro warned Puma to be careful, and I don’t think he meant that in a “because I’m coming for you” kind of way. More of a “don’t trust Konnan” kind of way. Which, I mean, I’ve watched wrestling for years, and that’s just evergreen advice, kayfabe or IRL.

Puma doesn't talk much but he doesn't like kerfuffles.

This show has flown by! It’s main event time already!

Main Event

This is gonna go great, I'm sure!

Prince Puma © (with Konnan) versus Cage for the Lucha Underground Championship

Vampiro made a point of saying that Puma didn’t need Konnan while the two were headed down the Temple steps. “I guess the only thing that can contain a Puma…is a Cage” was a helluva good line from Stryker as Cage entered the arena from the smoky side door. Puma flew at Cage from the rope before the big guy got into the ring, but once they both got inside the ropes Cage started to kick the snot out of the champ, tossing him around like a rag doll. 

We quickly hit the first submission hold, but Cage didn’t stay on it too long before resuming his beatdown of the masked Prince. Every bit of offense seemed to be reversed or countered by Cage, with the Machine either evading or catching Puma and slamming him to the mat.

Just a little twist and his head will pop right off!

A spinning DDT got Puma to Hulk Up in the middle of the ring, and the little guy started to get some high-flying offense to connect. Puma’s attacks continued to be few and far between, but he got a near-fall from a meteora before another Cage onslaught. A top rope maneuver that got caught and turned into a Jackhammer was pretty damn cool! A rolling pin break that turned into a two-footed stomp was ALSO cool, especially as it came after Cage just muscle-ing Puma up for a pair of power bombs!

Two to the face...for two!

Cage hit an F5 that solidified who he was kinda emulating throughout this match, but Puma managed to kick out and hit a series of strikes to slow the larger grappler down, laying him out with a suplex that only got two. The fans were fully into it by this point, although I don’t think they were quiet at any point in the fight, really. A ref shove by Cage dropped Puma from the top turnbuckle, and then a quick kick to the champ’s little champ led to a disqualification. LAME!

Kick 'em in the wiener and give 'em a piledriver, I always say.

I say LAME but after the match, the ref was attacked and Cage went after Prince Puma, setting him up for a powerbomb. Konnan made the save, breaking his cane on Cage’s back, and Konnan got absolutely destroyed for his trouble. Cage laid out Konnan with the title, and then tore the title in half as Konnan was laid out with a crimson mask to end the show.

I think this was a felt backup, but who's to say?

I hate a DQ finish to end a good match, and this was definitely a good match. Cagematch went 6.6, but I thought it was 8 lucha masks good, if you don’t count the fact that we didn’t get a clean finish. But then again, sometimes the bad guys are just out for blood, and maybe Cage never wanted a title. The rivalry needs to build, and a non-finish followed by a title destruction AND bloodying Puma’s manager feels like Cage doubled down -- a hat on a hat, if you will. I’m looking forward to seeing where this rivalry goes next!

Creeper.

A final shot of Dario Cueto watching that attack through the blinds of his office was abruptly broken when Cueto was shoved from behind by that mysterious lady in the vinyl catsuit we kept seeing in past episodes. She told Cueto she’s looking for a man who owes her, and Cueto stumbled over his words to say it wasn’t him -- he pays his debts. Cueto said he’d allow her to question anyone in his temple, and he would help her himself, if he could get a name. She said she only had one word: Matanza. Cueto said the word means nothing to him, in the least convincing way possible. With that, the lady disappeared, and the show came to a close.

I don't know no Matanza, and neither does anyone else!

Closing Thoughts

This was a really good episode of Lucha Underground, tip to tail! The opening match was a quick one, but it was a good first fight between the heroic Fenix and the big bad Mil Muertes, and things just picked up from there. From the trios match that established The Crew while also letting some of the underutilized luchadores shine, to the main event that pitted flippy hero Prince Puma against a guy spamming the Reversal button in Cage, to the world-building throughout, I thought this whole episode was a blast. I’m really looking forward to more Mil/Fenix, the return of a one-eyed Big Ryck, and a pissed off Prince Puma looking for revenge. Also, what’s a Matanza? We’ll find out soon, I hope!

OUCH!

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!

Project Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 5: “Boyle Heights Street Fight”

Good Morning!

Howdy! Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground Season 1. The Pequeño household is in the middle of a bunch of projects here, with garden clearing, mulch laying, and grass encouraging all taking center stage. We’ve also begun Mission: Mission: Impossible, in which we watch all the Mission: Impossible movies before the final one drops in theaters next week. I also just finished up Andor, and am gonna try to get the wife to watch that with me since Rogue One is her favorite Star Wars movie. 

On top of all that, we’re hoping to check out the new Final Destination flick, Bloodlines, which I’m told is not related to Roman Reigns despite the title. But that’s neither here nor there. We’ve got Lucha to watch, and less time to watch it (because of all the other stuff we’re also watching.)

Last Week On Lucha Underground

Episode three was pretty good, if a little uneven! Couple good matches in King Cuerno versus Drago and Fenix versus Pentagon, Jr. and some plot moving stuff too. Prince Puma caught some strays during Johnny Mundo’s match against Big Ryck, and Mundo got beat down and put through a table to end the show. Ivelisse challenged Sexy Star, adding to the women’s roster and keeping the spotlight on Star for now. We still haven’t seen what Dario Cueto’s key is for, but Mil Muertes’ pal Catrina seems to know. King Cuerno had a solid debut, and I think that wraps everything up. 

My one big critical observation was that it kinda felt like a reset. We didn’t build on too many stories that will keep rolling as we move forward. But I guess that’s not really the case. Star remains the focal point of the women’s division, and I think her matches against Ivelisse and Son of Havoc and her beating at the hands of Chavo Guerrero keep that intact. And I guess Johnny Mundo would be considered the main protagonist of the show alongside Prince Puma, and they’re clearly being set up to continue their bro-lationship despite Konnan telling Puma to distance himself from Johnny. I guess the best thing to do is keep watching to see what develops, so let’s go ahead and do that.

So let’s get back underground!

Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 5: “Boyle Heights Street Fight”

All Images from El Rey Network

After a recap of weeks past, we got to visit Dario Cueto in his office. Konnan told Cueto that he was there representing Prince Puma, but Cueto wasn’t having it, as Big Ryck’s crew doesn’t answer to Cueto. Konnan requested a match between Big Ryck and Prince Puma, but he didn’t want a regular ass match, he wanted a street fight. No rules, anything goes, things of that nature. Cueto agreed, Konnan took a big swig of Cueto’s drink again -- so far Konnan has declined a drink twice and taken Dario’s both times. Cut to a little spider for some reason, and we headed into the Temple for…

Match 1

Mil Muertes versus Drago

You know I love me some Drago, but these two probably have the best presentations of anyone in Lucha Underground, and that’s saying something. Drago approached this fight a lot like the one last time against King Cuerno, trying to use his speed to evade Muertes while getting hits where he could. Speaking of, King Cuerno watched this fight from atop Dario Cueto’s office, not really reacting but observing. Mil Muertes dominated, although Drago might have gotten more offense off than anyone else so far in a match against the big guy. Unfortunately, a couple successful strikes led to Drago climbing the turnbuckle only to be speared out of the goddamn air by Mil Muertes. A Flatliner finished off the blue dragon, and Mil Muertes won by pinfall. 

This was pretty good for what ended up being a glorified squash! Drago’s look sometimes fools me into thinking he’s bigger and more dominant than he is, as the last couple matches we’ve seen show he’s better at playing Little Mac than Mike Tyson, so to speak. 6/10 lucha masks for this contest. 

After the match, Catrina did the face-lick she’s fond of, and King Cuerno continued to observe from above. After the ring cleared, and Drago remained unconscious on the mat, Cuerno stalked down to the ring, yanked the dragon to his feet, and hit Drago with a Fireman’s Carry into a sitout powerbomb, which probably has a name but since we hadn’t seen it yet, nobody used it. 

After a replay of the Johnny Mundo video package where he works out in a poorly lit gym, we ended up following Dario Cueto into the locker room, where Mil Muertes and Catrina were hanging out. Cueto congratulated the pair, but Catrina called out Cueto, saying that “Mil Muertes learned long ago that you can’t keep darkness locked away forever.” Does Cueto have skeletons in his closet? A horrible alter ego, like some kind of Jekyll and Hyde situation? WHO’S TO SAY?

Match 2

Son of Havoc (w/Ivelisse) versus Mascarita Sagrada

We got us a mini match! Mascarita wasn’t having any of SoH’s taunts, going right after the taller competitor. Ivelisse saved Havoc’s bacon a couple times, pulling the bearded fella out of the way of the mini-estrella. Gorilla presses, standing moonsaults, and taunting followed as Son of Havoc gained the upper hand, but a mysterious lady in vinyl appeared on the steps of the Temple, distracting commentary as she watched the match. She took off as quickly as she popped into the Temple, though, so we didn’t get any immediate follow up. 

Ivelisse again cheated on Havoc’s behalf, but Sagrada got revenge (?) with a dive out of the ring that would have ended with him on his head if Ivelisse didn’t reposition herself to catch him. The commentary obviously played this as an intentional Sagrada attack, but it looked pretty gnarly to me. Fortunately, nobody died! 

Mascarita Sagrada hit a top rope dive on both Son of Havoc and Ivelisse, and then caught Havoc back in the ring with a tilt-a-whirl head scissors that rolled into a pin for the victory! 

You know, this match wasn’t half bad! It’s hard to call a mini match -- sometimes they feel like a carnie thing from a bygone era, usually used for a cheap pop or even cheaper heat. Other times you gotta respect the athletes taking part in the match, and the long history of mini-estrellas in lucha libre. Mascarita Sagrada held his own here, taking a lot of offense and doling out his own in dives and assisted maneuvers. Overall, I’ll go with a 5/10 for this one.

No time for vignettes here, as we rolled straight into the next match.

Match 3

Sexy Star versus Chavo Guerrero, Jr.

Star has had issues with Ivelisse, Son of Havoc, and Chavo Guerrero already, and we’re only on episode five of this series! Vampiro let us know that Blue Demon, Jr. is already on the mend after Chavo attacked the masked legend with a chair a couple shows back. Chavo did exactly what you’d expect after his heel turn -- lots of pie faces, forced kissing, shoves. Star retaliated by knocking him out of the ring, grabbing a steel chair, and kicking the ref in the wiener when the ref dared to suggest he couldn’t do that. So that’s a DQ, obviously.

Pentagon, Jr. then arrived and yanked the chair out of Star’s hands, but after a delay Penta allowed Chavo to grab Star. Fenix then ran into the arena, flying up the top rope and springboard kicking Penta’s chair into his face. Fenix hit Chavo with an enziguri, and he helped Sexy Star up and over him into a pop-up head scissors on Penta. The good guys posed as Chavo begged off up the stairs, and that was that.

Not a match to be rated, but a really fun segment regardless. You always love to see a good guy make a save in wrestling, and if we get a tag match with the four of these luchadores, it’s bound to be fun.

And again, no intermission, right into the main.

Main Event

Big Ryck (w/Mr. Sisco and Cortez Castro) versus Prince Puma

Seems a little unfair to do a street fight and have two guys with chairs accompany one of the competitors, but what do I know? Vampiro blamed Konnan for Puma getting into this situation, but Puma’s not gonna back down. Ryck got a really cool entrance, lit from behind and flanked by his associates. Puma came down the stairs, looking a little nervous but not scared. The two faced off and Puma got a handful of strikes off before getting absolutely merc’d by Ryck. Puma got a little offense in before Sisco and Cortez interfered, giving Ryck the upper hand until Puma hit a crazy looking corkscrew dive out of the ring and onto all three of his enemies. 

The match was 80% Ryck slowly beating on Puma with his pals interfering when needed, and for some reason Cortez bled despite barely being involved in the fight. A kendo stick helped Puma even the odds after a lengthy beating that saw Ryck seated on a chair in the corner, but Ryck would fight back as his buddies grabbed a ladder and table. Puma looked about to get murdered on that ladder when Johnny Mundo appeared on the balcony and flew into the ring to make the save! Incredibly cool shit.

Mundo proceeded to get Puma off the ladder and dump Cortez and Sisco from the ring, and then tackled Ryck with a Thesz press and punches. Johnny cued up a chair, but a quick roll from Ryck led to Mundo laying out Puma. The goons took out Mundo, and put Puma through a table to end this show the same as the last: with Big Ryck and friends standing tall.

Prince Puma had some good hope spots, but in the end the odds were overwhelming, even with Johnny Mundo’s help/chair shot. Mundo did roll in after the baddies left so he could check on Puma, so I don’t think any ill will was intended.

A good street fight has a few things -- interference, weapons, and some fun spots. Even though the pacing of this was kinda slow, it did tick all those boxes, and Johnny Mundo’s dive from the balcony of the Temple into the ring was phenomenal. 6/10. This was the only match from this show that Cagematch gave a rating to, and it was a 5.8/10.

Closing Thoughts

So next episode we’ll get to see if this is like every other wrestling show ever, where nobody can watch the show and understand that the accidental attack was just that. I assume Prince Puma won’t trust Mundo immediately; I also don’t trust Konnan to not blame Mundo for Puma’s loss. 

This was a solid episode. No big standout matches like in previous ones, but good stuff and heavy lore building happened throughout. Sometimes you just gotta keep things moving, and it’s always good to establish your heel faction early on so that the good guys can assemble against them, Avengers style.

So Long For Now

Follow me on BlueSky for updates and live watch-along commentary for AEW Dynamite and Collision (occasionally). And, if you’re looking into purchasing anything from a smart fridge to a new drill, check out the tech writing I do over at SlashGear -- my 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!