Project Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 8: A Unique Opportunity

 

Good Morning!

Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground Season 1. I know! I’m as surprised as you. 

So, two things. First, I’m going to start this post with a chunk of blog that I apparently wrote the day after some friends and I attended Fyter Fest here in Denver, but never actually posted to Let’s Watch Some Wrestling: 

We’ll jump back into our regularly scheduled episode recap in a little bit, but since I just attended AEW Fyter Fest last night, I wanted to write about the live experience while it’s still fresh in my mind.

This was the fifth AEW show in Colorado, but the first in Denver proper. That’s big for the company, because the other venues they’ve used -- the now-defunct 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, and most recently the Blue FCU Arena in Loveland -- have all been at least an hour drive out from the biggest city in the state. Factor in things like rush hour traffic because doors are at 4:30 Mountain Time, and the fact that most of these shows were three-four hours because of Collision or Rampage tapings, and you’ve got a limited amount of wrestling fans willing to basically have to take half a day off AND be trashed the following day at work. Hence, those shows filled about half of those hockey-sized arenas.

AEW solved both of those issues by performing at the Mission Ballroom for Fyter Fest. Located just off the highway in Denver proper, the Mission is a popular concert venue that my wife and I had never been to in our dozen-plus years in the state. 

IM FROM CHICAGO VIDEO

We attended the show with our constant AEW companion and our buddy who just recently got into wrestling, and the whole time was a blast. I don’t know whether it was the venue, AXS ticketing, or AEW who decided to offer a digital parking pass with tickets, but it meant getting underground garage parking right under the venue, which was cool. Up a flight of stairs and we were right in the line, and we even spotted Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo bringing their tiny baby into the building next to the arena. Everyone in line who noticed them was really cool about doing little waves but not shouting or freaking out, which was decent of them as wrestling fans, especially when one has seen how people can act towards these performers. Good job there, Denver wrestling enthusiasts!

Once inside, I realized the arena wasn’t quite what I thought. Seating charts implied a balcony and floor, and I assumed that meant an overhang and two floors. Instead, there was kind of a wall of stadium-style seating behind the announcers, with balcony seating extending to either side of the ring, and floor seats in front of and below those seats. The stage had a ramp that led directly up to the ring, a setup we’ve seen on several of the recent AEW shows at smaller buildings, and I don’t think there was a bad seat in the house. The balconies in particular looked great -- they had little counter-style tables running in front of those seats, and if we get another show there I’ll definitely try for those seats. 

It was a blast, in short, but I have been considering taking some time to think about whether I want to attend another wrestling show before just reflexively buying tickets because they’re in my area. I’m still enjoying what AEW is producing, though, and since that’s pretty much all I watch these days (aside from Lucha Underground, that is) I’ll probably just shut up and tell them to take my money next time they’re in Colorado.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to apologize to the tens of you that kept up with Project Lucha Underground when I was doing it semi-regularly. There’s some stuff going on right now in both the world [general] and in my world [specific] that have conspired to simply not keep me on track. I’ve felt flustered and … you know that feeling when you walk into a room and you’re not sure why you did? I’ve felt that way about a lot of rooms lately. Fuzzy, I guess. So I went ahead and put together a little schedule for myself, one that prioritizes my house cholo duties, but also sets aside time for both paid writing work, most of which you’ll find at SlashGear, and this project/blog, which you’ll find, well, here. 

I think that, going forward, posting on Thursdays or Fridays might work best for our purposes, although I don’t want to lock in a schedule because a) I may not stick to it and b) Lucha Underground happened in the past so I can kinda just watch one whenever I want. Also, we’re off to a roaring start because I haven’t yet watched Dynamite because of a work party Wednesday night, and Forbidden Door is fast approaching on Sunday!

Anyways, there we go! All caught up, sorta. The TL;DR version is that I’ve not been busy, but I’ve lacked focus, and that’s no good for anyone. Now there’s a dry erase board for my daily schedule, and a Trello board for the weekly duties. I feel more ready to be productive than ever!

That being said, let’s get back into the delightful world of Lucha Underground. Now more than ever, escapism is important for all of us, and a show that gives us little people teaming up with exóticos and masked superstars representing both good and evil might be just what the doctor ordered. Hey, why isn’t there a doctor on this show? I feel like wrestlers that are just dudes doing jobs, like Irwin R. Schyster or Issac Yankem DDS, would fit right in with the possibly-undead Mil Muertes. But I digress.

Let’s watch some wrestling!

Last Week [well, two months ago for us] On Lucha Underground

“The Top of the Ladder” featured one of the best Lucha Underground matches to date in the promotion’s first ladder match, a barn-burner between Big Ryck, Johnny Mundo, and Prince Puma. Mundo was able to collect the $100,000 briefcase and knocked out Dario Cueto for good measure, although he did return the boss’s key by laying it on his knocked out body to end the show. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite Mundo in the ass, right?

We also had a couple matches to keep the rivalries between King Cuerno and Drago, and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Sexy Star, going. The main event was the focus of the show, though, and it was fantastic. We’ll see what happens next as, for the first time in a long time, we head back underground. As always, I’ll recap each segment after I watch, and will provide my own ratings out of ten lucha libra masks. After I’m done with the show, I’ll check Cagematch for the general consensus, so we can all compare notes.

Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 8: “A Unique Opportunity”

Why are we in here again?

We opened with the usual shots from around Boyle Heights: trainyards, industrial areas, highways, and then the Lucha Underground billboard atop the temple. Inside, the ring was packed with familiar faces (and masks). Our announce team of Matt Stryker and Vampiro are as confused as I am, saying Dario Cueto invited these ten wrestlers to the ring but nobody knows why. Fortunately, here’s Dario to clear things up. He’s wearing sunglasses to cover a nasty bruise from where Johnny Mundo punched him last week. Cueto overcomes some What chants (ugh) to let us know these guys are gonna be involved in a “truly epic event tonight” that begins with this match, and will be followed up with another ten-person match later tonight. We’re not going to be fighting for money, says Cueto, but rather a unique opportunity. Vague! So, let’s get to the match!

Half the LU roster, ready to fight

Opening 10-Person Match

King Cuerno versus Super Fly versus Fénix versus Penta versus Drago versus Big Ryck versus Prince Puma versus Son of Havoc versus Mariachi Loco versus Mascarita Sagrada

Brawling began before the bell with several dudes jumping Big Ryck before getting tossed like cartoon characters. Mascarita Sagrada continued his violent assault on Ryck, pausing to do some push-ups and show off his footwork. Ryck responded to this threat by grappling with Sagrada in an extended assault, before some of the other guys got involved. Cuerno and Drago paired off for a while, while Penta and Mascarita Sagrada had some fun in the ring. Puma and Havoc were highlighted next, with Puma getting the better of Havoc and flying out of the ring to make room for Mariachi and Fénix to work on Ryck some more before everybody started throwing themselves at the big guy and getting their collective shit kicked in. Fénix and Puma paired up after a while , giving us a mini-match that would have ruled in AEW if their paths crossed -- hopefully they get a chance to have a match during the LU run. 

Drago and Cuerno met up in the ring next, and Cuerno managed to hit his finisher before the pin was broken up by Mariachi Loco. Penta then took Mariachi out with Made in Japan, although I guess it hadn’t gotten that name yet because Stryker called it a running Muscle Buster. Some more near falls followed, and eventually the main story of “everybody vs Big Ryck” came through before we got back to Prince Puma versus Fénix, part two. Puma landed a 450 on Ryck but Fénix took advantage with a tilt-a-whirl DDT, followed up by a dragon sleeper into a piledriver to pick up the pinfall victory.

For a big brawl, this was a lot of fun! I liked the pairings used when the ring cleared, dug the flow of the match, and enjoyed that they kept going back to Big Ryck as the recognized threat everyone would naturally focus on. Mascarita Sagrada got some big pops in there, too! Seven lucha libre masks outta ten for this one for me -- Cagematch gave it 7.98.

HE BIG

After the match, our announcers put over everybody and the overall performance, and Cuerno again called out Drago afterward. And then we moved on to another Cage vignette, this time featuring the big guy doing his own narration over some video of him working out in an industrial setting, flipping big tires and shaking big ropes and hitting said big tires with a big hammer. He said that he’s pushed himself to the brink of evolution, and he’s not a man -- he’s a machine, and they call him Cage.

Konnan and Prince Puma face off in a mirror

We were then thrust into the awkward position of watching Prince Puma get dressed down by Konnan in the Temple’s dingy locker room. Konnan yelled that people would kill to have him for a mentor, and that if Puma keeps letting these opportunities pass by, the opportunities AND Konnan will be gone. Puma looked a little angry, and a little sad, but since he’s apparently mute that’s as much as we got before we headed back into the Temple for the second ten-person match. 

The other half of the roster, ready to compete

Match 2, A Boyle Heights Battle Royal

Sexy Star versus Mil Muertes versus Johnny Mundo versus Pimpinela Escarlata versus Bael versus Chavo Guerrero, Jr. versus Cortez Castro versus Famous B versus Mr. Cisco versus Ricky Mandel

I’m not trying to say this is the lesser of the two matches right out of the gate, but there’s definitely more entry-level talent in this one. It’s Royal Rumble rules -- over the top rope, both feet gotta touch the floor. Chavo got the dramatic last entrance after Stryker ran down the entrants for us, continuing his rivalry with Sexy Star, who immediately went after Chavo to start things off. Vampiro got to profess his love for the mysterious lady in the vinyl catsuit that keeps showing up on the Temple stairs to observe the action, and things devolved into the kind of battle royal action one would expect. I’m not going to try to keep up with everything, but here’s the eliminations in order:

Pimpi dumped Famous B early

Ricky Mandel was tossed by the trio of Big Ryck’s guys

Mil Muertes yeeted Pimpi

Chavo heaved Star to continue their storyline/ rivalry

Mundo threw a Ryck pal, then…

Chavo countered by throwing a different Ryck pal, then…

Mil Muertes answered by chucking the last Ryck buddy in a span of seconds

Mundo got rid of Chavo next

A solid back and forth one-on-one between Johnny and Mil Muertes followed. Mil is interesting because he’s not jacked -- Mundo is actually taller and super-ripped -- but he’s so stout that it’s still believable that Mundo had some trouble doing any effective offense. In the end, Mundo had his finisher set but Mil Muertes got his knees up, leading directly into a lariat to eliminate Johnny and win the Battle Royal.

Cagematch went 6.43 for this match, while I went a little lower with a 6. It was fine, but not as many fun spots as the first match. The finishing sequence with Chavo, Mil Muertes, and Johnny Mundo was good though.

The Lucha Underground Championship

Back from a break, our announcers hyped up the mysterious announcement as Mil Muertes and Fénix jawed at each other in the middle of the ring. Dario Cueto emerged from his office with a microphone and a belt, the Lucha Underground championship. I somehow did not realize we’ve gone eight episodes and haven’t revealed a title yet! Cueto went on to explain that he’s invented a new match type that honors the ancient warriors, and he’s calling it Aztec Warfare. There’s gonna be one more match tonight, and the winner gets to enter Aztec Warfare last, giving them a significant advantage. The loser of this match will enter first, meaning they’ll have to outlast 19 other luchadores to win. 

Mil Muertes and Fénix face off

Main Event

Fénix versus Mil Muertes for the right to be last entrant in Aztec Warfare

Despite having worked a full battle royale right before this, Muertes went right after Fénix, shoving him before the bell even rang. He dominated the first several minutes of the match, with his buddy/lover/keeper Catrina helping by distracting Fénix. Hope spots were few and far between, with Mil Muertes overcoming Fénix’s valiant efforts and laying the smaller man out with a Flatliner to end the match and the show. 

No, I think we're to exit stage LEFT, actually

We got a post-credits scene! Dario Cueto was in that prison-looking area of the temple, talking to someone off screen and holding the Lucha Underground championship belt. He explained that the gold in that belt was from each of the seven Aztec tribes, making it not only priceless, but also powerful. He ended his little speech with, “I’m sorry, I can’t let you touch it [CRASH ZOOM ON HIS FACE] I know how you like to destroy pretty things.” 

Dario admires his belt in front of prison bars

I’ll be shocked if Cagematch has a rating for this -- it was a long squash match with maybe four glimmers of Fénix offense. As a showcase for Mil Muertes’ power, it was fine, and Fénix didn’t come off as a chump, per se, but I would have opened with the Battle Royal so Fénix would look like the more recently gassed of the two, and like he barely survived his last match. As it stands, 4/10 for me. Oh, Cagematch gave it a 6, which feels generous.

Closing Thoughts

This was a great show to get us back into the swing of things, although I don’t know that I would have reacted so kindly when I watched week to week. Having a pair of ten person matches was a nice way to be re-introduced to everybody, and in hindsight the winners felt right and not knowing why they were competing kept me interested to the end. I really thought Muertes was either going to straight-up murder Fénix or Fénix would rally at the end. A squash seemed like a weird choice. But now we’ve got a title match set for a few shows from here, and 18 vacant spots to fill. It should be interesting to see how those slots get chosen.

So Long For Now

Follow me on BlueSky for updates and 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 One, Episode 7 (plus a Double or Nothing recap)

 

It's America's Sweetheart, Danny Trejo!

Good Morning!

Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground Season 1. Before we dive into Lucha Underground, and the promotion’s first-ever ladder match, I wanted to talk a little bit about AEW -- specifically, Double or Nothing. We watched it with my buddy who we watch every AEW PPV with, but added another couple. They’re not wrestling fans per se, but he’s been to the last couple AEW shows with us and had a good time, and he wanted a little context going into Fyter Fest next Wednesday. 

I loved everything on Double or Nothing on the night, but in rewatching it yesterday while getting some work done I realized the pacing and order of the matches was perfect too, because I zoned in on my work for every other match on the card. That means FTR vs Garcia and Nigel, Hurt Syndicate vs Sons of Texas, Storm vs Shirakawa, and the Callis Family vs Paragon got the short end of the stick as far as my attention went, but it also shows a good sense of scheduling on AEW’s part. Those matches were fine, good even, but the importance of giving your audience some time to recover between five-star matches shouldn’t be overlooked. After all, the best moments of wrestling almost always include a raucous crowd behind the action. 

My buddy and his partner enjoyed a lot of the show, but high points for them as newcomers were Anarchy in the Arena, “Speedball” Mike Bailey (my friend’s new favorite) versus Kazuchika Okada, and Ricochet versus Mark Briscoe. I think Willow Nightingale revealing her “BIG BLACK AND JACKED” shirt alongside Powerhouse Hobbs got the pop of the night from all five of us, although the surprised gasp when Hangman Page got the pinfall victory to end the show was a close second. It’s always fun to try to explain lore to a newcomer, but I can also see how the main event might not grab a new viewer as easily as a big plunder match or a guy who’s just gushing blood for ten minutes. The important thing is we all had a blast, and my friend’s got some context for next week’s show!

As for results, while I was thinking Ospreay was going to win, I enjoyed the uncertainty of the main event going in. The rest of the card, while good, did feel mostly predictable,  although I admit that I bit on a number of near-falls in the Okada/Speedball match. And I’m not mad about Hangman winning at all -- Dynamite showed we’ve got a good story to build going into Y’all In, and with seven weeks of shows before that, I think an all-timer of a card can be put together. 

I did want to write a preview for Double or Nothing -- as I’ve said before, previews and predictions are probably my favorite part about writing about wrestling -- but between finishing Mission: Mission: Impossible and some work stuff happening around here, it just didn’t work out. I’ve been trying to put together a list of things I need to take care of, and as a homeowner it’s easy to just keep finding projects that need doing. However, I think I feel a lot better after sitting down and writing in the office, whether it’s paid work or just a wrestling blog. So a better schedule would be nice, but I’m also kind of at the mercy of my wife’s schedule, which is fine but does make for some timing issues. 

But I digress! You’re not here to read about my home life! You’re here for episode seven of Lucha Underground, and I’m here to watch it for/with you! So, in the words of a wise man…let’s watch some wrestling!

Last Week On Lucha Underground

“The Key” gave us a lot in its 45-ish minutes of runtime. We got the introduction of Pimpinela Escarlata, exótoco and pal to Mascarita Sagrada, as he won in a match against frequent wrong-side-of-history-chooser Son of Havoc. We watched a Mil Muertes squash, a solid second bout between Drago and King Cuerno, and a main event that featured the team of Sexy Star and Fenix overcoming Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Pentagon, Jr. This week, we were promised a ladder match between Big Ryck, Johnny Mundo, and Prince Puma, with Dario Cueto’s briefcase full of cash suspended above the ring. 

We know at least one match on the card, but we don’t know what else awaits us in the Temple of Boyle Heights. So let’s get back underground!

All images El Rey Network

Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 7: “Top of the Ladder”

I really noticed the diversity in the opening shots for this episode. As a one-weekend-while-sick visitor to Los Angeles, I don’t know a ton about the city, but I do know that it’s sprawling and huge, and covers a lot of different kinds of land. The usual city flyover we opened with in past episodes had shots of the inner city and open land as well. Nice to see the other parts of this legendary city highlighted. 

We were welcomed by Vampiro, Matt Stryker, and a shot of Danny Trejo in the crowd as Vampiro put over how busy Twitter was with talk about the upcoming ladder match. That’s likely the main event, but we did get a cool overhead camera angle of the ring that looked past the suspended briefcase onto our ring announcer, Melissa Santos. 

Opening Match

King Cuerno versus Super Fly

This was Super Fly’s first match in Lucha Underground, and King Cuerno didn’t give him much time to acclimate himself in the ring before unloading a series of kicks and throws on the guy. Matt Stryker informed us that Fly was part of a four-man group in Mexico, but didn’t elaborate any further as he was distracted by Drago observing the match like a gargoyle (Stryker’s words but I like ‘em) from the perch above Dario Cueto’s office. 

Super Fly did get some offense in, but Cuerno dominated this match, posing to the crowd between knockdowns and generally looking like a badass. Cuerno did eventually spot Drago, and looked in his direction as he got Super Fly up for his finisher and the 1-2-3. Nothing terribly great or bad, so we’ll go 4/10 lucha libre masks for this bout. After the pinfall, both Drago and Cuerno called each other out via hand motions.

Skimming through Super Fly’s Cagematch career page shows a AAA wrestler that has taken a couple trips to Japan, booked the occasional match outside of his main promotion, and continues to wrestle occasionally today. The highest rated matches in his career are in multi-person affairs, but so is the lowest. Honestly, combing through the data and watching this match showed me a guy who’s good enough to stay employed without standing out. That’s not to say that he’s not impressive -- I mean, I’m not out there performing handspring dives over the ropes -- but he’s the kind of masked wrestler you remember more for his mask than his moves, if you remember him at all.

With AAA’s recent sale to WWE, I wonder how many of these performers who have made a career out of being enhancement talent/jobbers will still have work with the company, but I guess only time will tell. 

A video package about Pentagon, Jr. followed the opener, showing his ascension in Mexico and realization that he’d have to travel to Japan to become a more complete fighter. Samurai were referenced as we got traditional Japanese artwork interspersed with scenes of Penta taking down several guys in gis (gi-guys?) in a dojo. The segment ended with the narrator saying “He is Pentagon Jr. and he has Zero Fear” as our guy took down one last gi-guy and broke his arm. Good stuff, introducing the character’s history and establishing him as a badass.

 Match 2

Pentagon, Jr. (with Chavo Guerrero, Jr.) versus Fénix (with Sexy Star)

One of our main Lucha Underground stories continued with this match, with Vampiro telling us that Penta basically only joined forces with Chavo because he needed a rub from the Guerrero family member to help build his own name. We mixed up the competitors this time, but they each brought their tag team partners from last week’s main event, implying that we’re building to a big match between all four of these wrestlers. 

It just occurred to me that Lucha Underground never got into the pay-per-view model, instead just ending its seasons with a big Wrestlemania-style finale over multiple episodes. I know that’s practically blasphemy from both a business and historical standpoint, but I guess once we’re a few seasons in we’ll have a better understanding of what worked and what didn’t for this company. Until then, I guess I’ll be looking for mid-season events -- think, for example, AEW’s TV model, where every few weeks we get a big show like a Fyter Fest or Fight for the Fallen. I guess a big, pre-announced main event match like a No DQ or ladder match would count, making this week’s episode and episode five’s Boyle Heights Street Fight stand out.

Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked. Chavo’s a dick, Sexy Star stood up to him when he attacked Blue Demon, Jr., and that’s how we got into this rivalry. The crowd was split down the middle for this one, and the in-ring action reflected that with both guys getting a solid amount of offense and some near-falls to start. Chavo had a really impressive reversal of a Fénix meteora that he rolled into a single-leg crab, and Vampiro really leaned into the heel announcer role during that segment, begging Chavo to punish the less experienced Fénix for posing. Chavo worked Fénix’s legs and locked in several submissions to slow the high-flyer down, but Fénix would not be stopped. Unfortunately, Penta knocked Fénix off the turnbuckle, giving Chavo the opportunity to hit a Frog Splash and pick up the victory. A decent match with good storytelling will always cover up an interference victory for me, so I’ll call this 6/10. Cagematch went 5.95.

After the match, Sexy Star grabbed a microphone and let Chavo know that “he” was coming back, and coming back for YOU. 

Before we got to our main event, Stryker threw us to a video package introducing Cage to the audience. Cage narrated his own mini-movie, which showed him working out and wrestling in an industrial warehouse-looking area. He told us that he’s no superhero, and he doesn’t have warrior ancestors. He just wants to win more than anyone else. He’s not a man, he’s a machine. A machine with cool sideburns.

I poke fun, but you know Bryan Cage, right? He’s currently a part of the Don Callis family on AEW, but dude has worked practically everywhere, and he’s been basically the same guy wherever he goes. He’s gigantic, he likes Wolverine, he’s shockingly agile, and he seems like a good dude. His Cagematch page is insane -- in 2017 he worked 123 matches among 48 different promotions! At 41, he’s slowing down a bit, but even so, he’s always been a good worker that never quite broke past the upper midcard area. I genuinely don’t remember much about his run in Lucha Underground, and it’ll be interesting to see if he’s booked any differently than he has been elsewhere.

Main Event

Johnny Mundo versus Prince Puma versus Big Ryck in a Ladder Match

Big Ryck entered the arena first, and he came in through the alternate entrance -- there’s a hallway leading to the ring that is sometimes used instead of the stairs. Johnny Mundo also used the hallway, mostly because that’s where his leaf blower is stationed for his dramatic entrance. Prince Puma used the stairs and was accompanied by Konnan, and he was clearly the crowd favorite as the match got started. The little guys both went after Ryck as Matt Stryker gave a brief and welcome history of the ladder match, and Ryck took a quick powder, leading Mundo and Puma went after each other. I do love that the announcers keep calling Danny Trejo “Machete” when he’s on camera -- it’s a fun shout out to both his most popular character, and to their boss, director and Lucha Underground executive producer Robert Rodriguez. Stryker also took a shot at the Fed in the early going of this match, telling us that the briefcase doesn’t need to be airbrushed for us to all understand its significance. 

Puma and Mundo were the first to set up and climb a ladder, only for Ryck to give them the first ladder push off of it, before whacking both of his opponents with the ladder to send them out of the ring. As expected, Ryck then called in his buddies to climb the ladder on his behalf, but the good guys recovered in time to toss them off said ladder. Mundo ran up a ladder set against the ropes to flip onto the three baddies, and then set up a pair of tables near a corner of the ring. Mundo continued to assault Prince Puma while setting up a ladder near those tables, and dumped Mr. Cisco on those tables before heading up that double-high ladder. Puma intercepted Mundo by just standing on the ropes and punching Johnny in the head before diving at Johnny…who ducked and pulled down the top rope, sending Puma flying through the ladder and into Big Ryck! 

The baddies took control and slowed things down after Ryck recovered, getting chants of culero from the crowd as Big Ryck, Mr. Cisco, and Cortez Castro overwhelmed Mundo and Puma. Mundo and Ryck had a great standoff spot where they faced off with ladders before Mundo yeeted his at Ryck, pinching his fingers and using that opening to dropkick the big guy. Prince Puma then re-entered the ring and locked up with Castro, leading to Castro going through a table before Mundo took Puma down and … honestly, I cannot keep up with this move for move and I’ve watched it twice. Let’s skip ahead to the finish!

Big Ryck more than pulled his weight in this one

Johnny Mundo had Ryck and Puma down, and was climbing the ladder to grab the case, when it appeared that Pentagon, Jr. ran into the ring and knocked him down. He removed his mask and the announcers said that we’ve seen this dude hanging around the arena, so while it clearly wasn’t Penta, I have no idea who he was. He did check in with Ryck before getting pulled from the ring by Mundo, but by then Ryck was blocking Mundo’s re-entry while Cisco and Cortez began very slowly climbing one of two set ladders towards the case. Mundo knocked Ryck out of the ring, and saved some time by hopping to the top rope and springing from there to the top of a ladder, kicking the other occupied ladder over. That bought Johnny Mundo enough time to undo the little carabiner and grab the $100,000 briefcase.

Seriously, this is 1A in my favorite Lucha Underground matches to this point. And El Rey put the whole match on YouTube, so you have no excuse not to check it out!

I think this earned 9/10, with enough interference, plunder, cool spots, and brutality to make it great. Cagematch rated this one 7.89, and this is the first Lucha Underground match to feature a Wrestling Observer Newsletter rating as well -- Dave Meltzer gave it 4 ¼ stars! For the uninitiated, Dave is probably the best known wrestling journalist in the business, and has been doing it longer than anyone else. He’s generally well-respected, and his star reviews are the industry’s standard. If Dave gives you over four stars, you’ve put on a match worth watching.

After the match, Dario Cueto appeared and congratulated Johnny Mundo on his victory. He hoped that the two could resume a professional business relationship, on the condition that Mundo returned the “insurance policy” that Mundo took from Cueto -- the key. Johnny joked that it was the key to his little diary, and Cueto really sold that he was worried Mundo wouldn’t return it, and the key’s importance. After an interminable amount of time, Johnny just chose to knock Dario out instead -- although he did leave the key on Cueto’s unconscious body afterward, so I guess all’s well that ends well?

Closing Thoughts

What a show! We only got three matches, but the main event was an all-timer and the obvious “match of the show.” The video packages for Pentagon, Jr. and Cage were well produced and stood out for how different they were from each other, with Penta’s focusing on his Japanese influences and Cage’s showing his strength and work ethic. A lot of promotions use match footage for these little vignettes, and while that works, I think it’s cool to introduce a character with something more cinematic. We’ll see them in the ring once they debut, and unless they have a specific big moment that you can somehow score the rights to, it seems wise to save the big moves of your performers for their debuts. 

The Cuerno/Super Fly match was one of those extended squashes that served to further a storyline, in this case his rivalry with Drago, but it served that purpose well and still entertained. Chavo/Fénix ended in a DQ but it was good while it lasted, and that story must continue. Overall, this was a good episode of Lucha Underground with a tremendous main event!

So Long For Now

Follow me on BlueSky for updates and live watch-along commentary for AEW Dynamite (and occasionally Collision). 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!