wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s Lucha Underground Review 1.21.15
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As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.
Lucha Underground 1.21.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro defeated Mascarita Sagrada and Pimpinela Escarlata @ 4:45 via pin [**]
~ Pentagon Jr defeated Super Fly @ 5:05 via pin [**¾]
~ Sexy Star defeated El Mariachi Loco @ 3:50 via [*½]
~ King Cuerno defeated Drago @ 11:30 via being a dick [***¾]
* We get highlights from last week’s show.
Mascarita Sagrada and Pimpinela Escarlata vs. Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro: So we have a mini and an exotico facing off with two gang bangers, well that’s diversity. Big Ryck came out to watch his Crew. We had the usual wackiness that Pimpinela Escarlata brings, but I felt that Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro worked really well as a team. Escarlata worked most of the match, Sagrada got a fun hot tag, did a dive, Escarlata kissed one of the crew and then hit a dive off the top to the floor. The Crew finished things off moments later as they hit a double team code breaker on Sagrada for the win. While nothing special, this was an entertaining little opener here.
* POST MATCH: Ryck came to the ring, and explained how he would be going after the title. Unfortunately for him, the Crenshaw Crew (Cisco, Bale and Cortez) turned on his and beat him down. Apparently they were sick of Ryck’s bullshit and doing all the work. They used kendo sticks, and then grabbed Ryck’s cigar and “burned Ryck’s eye out” with it. I felt that thy executed the angle well, but I hope that the follow up is good. I assume that they are sick of doing his dirty work, and they did leave to go to Dario Cueto’s office. Are they his new thugs for hire? Overall I felt it worked, but I just hope the follow up makes sense.
* Ah ok, we see Cueto paying off his new minions; this was confirmed as he made them say “yes sir”. The plot thickens.
Cage Speaks: Following last week’s big debut and destruction of Puma, this was Cage’s big chance to deliver in the follow up. Vampiro talked about Cage having “heat backstage” and Cage gives no fucks about that. Overall this came off well, due to it being a pre-taped situation, but it was far from a homerun. Cage’s reasoning and verbiage was fine, I am not buying into him a from a delivery standpoint. He needs a mouthpiece, I’d almost like to see Konnan turn on Puma and align with Cage ala Heyman turning on Lesnar for Big Show all those years back. The only real issue them becomes the super heavy top of evil with Konnan and Cueto.
Super Fly vs. Pentagon Jr.: The crowd reacts very well to Pentagon Jr, they are into his vicious offense and it is nice to see the reaction. He controlled early, they did the double down spot and Super Fly then made his comeback and hit a Sasuke Special, which I always mark out for. Pentagon Jr won with a sweet package piledriver. They had a good pace, Pentagon Jr’s offense looked great, Super fly sold well and they let some stuff breathe instead of everything going 100 miles an hour. I appreciate the change of pace and that this felt different than the first match in a good way.
* POST MATCH: Pentagon Jr is pissed because he thought Chavo Guerrero was a legend, someone that could help him. But now he knows that Chavo is a fraud. He then says there is one man that can help him and he will join forces with him. Care to share? No? Ok then…
Sexy Star vs. El Mariachi Loco: El Mariachi Loco is pretty much your comedy jobber, as Striker explained that he worked at a Mexican restaurant down the street and then became a wrestler. He also collects tips after the matches. Sexy Star is a good wrestler, but overall I do not feel that the intergender wrestling has clicked for Lucha Underground. I get the story that they want to tell, but just don’t feel it comes off that good. I am one of those people that is perfectly fine with intergender wrestling when done right, give me Sara Del Rey vs. Claudio or Quackenbush and I am there. Give me some PWG with Candace LaRae and I am there. Sexy Star, they talk her up, she does cool stuff, and then like tonight wins with a shit roll up after Loco makes a mistake. If she can’t have a dominant victory over a comedy goof, then you just need to pack it up and bring in more women and build a real division. They want to make her a star, but I feel that they aren’t fully committed to doing that. If they build a women’s division and make her the star, they can do that with no restrictions.
Last Lucha Standing Match: Drago vs. King Cuerno: This feud has been going on for a while, and they are officially 1-1-1 in their series. Last week was supposed to be the rubber match, but it ended quickly as Drago put Cuerno through a table after diving off of Cueto’s office. I was a bit conflicted last week with how it played out, I felt that it could have been done a little better, but jumping to the “Last Lucha Standing Match” with the idea that they are ending the feud tonight is good. The first thing I loved is that they went right to battle, opening up and selling the hate as they tried to take each other out. Also, they didn’t work the traditional fast paced and highflying lucha style. They unloaded with big moves and strikes early, working the stipulation well and again selling their hatred. Cuerno brought out the table late, playing into last week’s angle and his thirst for revenge. Cuerno then hit a Michinoku driver off of the apron through the table on the floor. To the dismay Cuerno, Drago survived so he went back on the attack and then grabbed rope and tied Drago in the corner to win. What a fucking HEEL. In the end, King Cuerno was so pissed that he couldn’t put Drago away he had to resort to tying him up. Is it against the rules? No. Was it a cowardly douche heel way to win. Yes, yes it was.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
Super Fly vs. Pentagon Jr. was all about giving Pentagon Jr. some momentum and to tease someone big coming in as Chavo was shown to be a “false legend”. The Sexy Star match lacked, and was another sign that they are not committed to the intergender product. If the women you want to be a big star can’t even beat the comedy jobber definitively with a signature move, then it’s time to change direction.
The main event was a great way to end the show. I enjoyed the work and felt that they played off of the build well. Cuerno winning via non-honorable, douche heel shenanigans means that this feud is not over, and I am fine with that, but they need to pay it off soon or it will overstay its welcome. This has been a strong feud and I am glad to see that they got the chance to shine this week.
The show continues to be easy to watch, we’re getting at least one really good match a week and they keep doing a good job linking the entire series together.
