Csonka’s Lucha Underground Review 11.12.14

Introduction
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 11.12.14

OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Mascarita Sagrada defeated Mariachi Loco @ 4:35 via [**]
~ Mil Muertes defeated Ricky Mandell @ 2:35 via pin [NR Under Three Minutes]
~ Fenix Jr. defeated Pentagón Jr. and Drago @ 7:45 via pin [***¾]

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* Previously on Lucha Underground…

* Konnan says everyone is here to see Lucha Underground. Konnan then tells Dario Cueto that the luchadores he has brought in for him tonight are top tier. Cueto asks about issues at the border, and Konnan says there were some issues but he dealt with them. Cueto makes Fenix Jr. vs. Pentagón Jr. vs. Drago for tonight.

* Striker and Vampiro state that Blue Demon Jr. is in stable condition and is recovering from last week’s attack by Chavo Guerrero Jr.

* Dario Cueto makes his way to the ring and says people are complaining that there is not enough LUCHA here. But he does what the people ask for and he will deliver more LUCHA here tonight. He introduces Mariachi Loco, who he discovered at a Mexican restraint, and can also play a mean trumpet.

Mascarita Sagrada vs. El Mariachi Loco: They are doing a mini vs. a regular competitor here, similar to how they are doing men vs. women. This is a slippery slope in booking, because you can do some comedy, but not too much that it comes off as a complete joke. A lot of people won’t buy it, and in order for fans to react it has to be done very well. Sagrada is very talented and a lot of fun to watch. Mariachi joked around a bit, and looked to have the match won at one point, but pulled up before the three count. He then tried cocky one foot pins and such as he looked to humiliate Sagrada. Sagrada made the comeback and scored the roll up out of a guillotine choke. Post match, Chavo Guerrero Jr. arrived and beat down Sagrada. The match was fun, but I felt that Striker’s call of the Chavo attack on Sagrada was weak. He made last week’s attack such a big deal, but this week it came off as “just an angle”.

* We get highlights of Chavo’s recent reign of terror.

Chavo Guerrero Interview: Vampiro does an interview with Chavo Guerrero Jr. I actually liked the thought behind this; it didn’t feel random and made sense due to Chavo’s recent actions. Chavo explained that he had always done things the family’s way, but will now due things his way. Chavo says Blue Demon Jr. is only a legend because of his father. If a Guerrero doesn’t like you, we take you out. Blue Demon Jr. was never the best, he’s not a cash cow; but Chavo is tired of being used just as the opponent. He’s here to be a star, and if Dario Cueto wants violence, he will deliver it. Chavo promises that he is here to dominate. I’m not a huge Chavo fan, and do not feel he should be the focus of the promotion by any means, but this came off well in execution, both from Chavo’s verbiage and the editing they did. The farther they can get Chavo away from being “Eddie-lite” the better. This was also Vampiro’s best work on the series.

* Chavo Guerrero Jr. has a secret meeting with Konnan. Konnan says the people in Mexico found out what Chavo did to Blue Demon Jr, and will find out what he did to Sagrada. He warns Chavo that he may want to bail. Mil Muertes appears to scare Chavo, and Catrina warns Chavo that he took something that didn’t belong to him. And one day, he will belong to Mil Muertes. She then gave Chavo THE LICK.

* We get a Mil Muertes video package.

Mil Muertes w/Catrina vs. Ricky Mandell: They played the power of Muertes vs. the speed of Mandell. Mandell got some hope spots, but this was essentially an extended squash to follow up on Muertes’ debut from last week and to put him over as a monster. Catrina gave Mandell THE LICK post match. It wasn’t anything special, but it serves its purpose.

* Dario Cueto is in his office, Mundo tries to see him and the Crenshaw Crew (Castro and Cisco) tries to stop him. Mundo fights them off and enters Cueto’s office. The fight scene felt like something out of a Grindhouse movie, and while that may seem bad, I feel it works for this show. Mundo says the past is the past, and wants a match with Big Ryck next week. Cueto agrees to this, and Mundo then informs him when he is done with Big Ryck, he’s coming after Cueto. This was a perfectly acceptable follow up from last week’s show. Mundo and Puma got revenge when they defeated Castro and Cisco, but he wants the man in charge of the group, Big Ryck.

* Big Ryck takes a pay off from Dario Cueto, because Big Ryck doesn’t fight for free. Cueto tells him to take out Mundo next week.

* We get a video package for Prince Puma.

Fenix Jr. vs. Pentagón Jr. vs. Drago: They went to commercial prior to the match beginning, once again avoiding the commercial break during matches, which is appreciated. There was no messing around here, as it was all fast paced action from the start. This was a ton of fun, but some will hate it because it was all go and at times a little loose, which Lucha can be at times. But they kept a crazy pace and hit some really impressive highflying moves, dives and counters that many people likely haven’t seen if they are only watching WWE and or TNA. I really enjoyed this, they worked hard and presented a high quality main event that was the most enjoyable wrestling on the whole show. It could have been a bit longer sure, but i really liked it. The big spot of the match was when Fenix Jr did a crazy dive off of the wall of the Temple, which looked wild as hell. I compare this style wise to a Dragon Gate six-man, you know what you’re getting when you go it, great action and not a ton of the usual in ring storytelling. And you can do that from time to time if the execution is on point, and overall it was here. Fenix Jr won with a reverse spike RANA. This developed into a really great match, best of the series thus far.

* Cueto inner monologues about his issues with Johnny Mundo. He then mysteriously looks at the key he wears around his neck and says that he’s not afraid, “not even of you” as he caresses the key.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.3

The final score: review Good

The 411

While they aren’t long, I wish that the show would break away from the traditional opening segments that every other wrestling show seems to use. They have done good work making the show feel very different, and I believe that they need to get away from using it. Again, they do keep it short, which is appreciated, but I am not a fan of that clichéd-booking crutch.

The introduction of Mascarita Sagrada was fine, but far from a homerun. If you want to sell minis and women competing against men, I think it needs a more serious tone. The Chavo attack was fine, but sold poorly by commentary. But the good news is that the sit down interview with Vampiro was actually well done and I felt was a good next step in the story.

I like how they are using Konnan thus far. His role with Puma is good, but all of his behind the scenes scheming is also a nice underlying story.

The main event was a fantastic display of the action that the series can provide. I felt that it ended up better than Puma vs. Mundo, just because it was a little tighter and packed in even more action. But they are also two very different styles of matches.

I really enjoy the fact that we’re keeping the episodic feel to the series. They continued the Chavo angle, Mil Muertes appeared again and they linked it in with Chavo well. The first two episodes were very tight in that aspect. This week’s show continued that, but also introduced some new players (Sagrata, Fenix Jr, Pentagón Jr. and Drago). They also did a video package for Prince Puma, so while he wasn’t on the show, he’s still fresh in your mind. The set up for Mundo and Ryck made sense, and is the hook to watch next week. As I said last week, wrestling TV done properly is quality episodic TV, and they are doing that very well.

Lucha Underground continues to be a very enjoyable hour of TV, and they are doing a great job of keeping the show connected and giving you a reason to care and to comeback the next week. I also feel that overall each week has gotten a little better as they find a rhythm.