Csonka’s Lucha Underground Review 11.19.14

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 11.19.14

OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Sexy Star defeated Ivelisse @ 6:20 via pin [***]
~ Fenix defeated Pentagon Jr @ 7:55 via pin [****]
~ Drago defeated King Cuerno @ (didn;t get the time) via pin [***¼]
~ Johnny Mundo defeated Big Ryck @ 4:45 via DQ [**]

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* Previously on Lucha Underground…

~Episode One Review~
~Episode Two Review~
~Episode Three Review~

* The house band plays us in as Striker and Vampiro welcome us to the show.

Sexy Star vs. Ivelisse: Sexy Star lost to Son of Havok in week one. In week two she teamed with Chavo Guerrero to defeat Havok, who was teaming with this week’s opponent, Ivelisse. Later that show, she got taken out with a vicious chair shot from Chavo Guerrero. She called out Chavo, promising to beat his ass and end the Guerrero dynasty with her own hands. Ivelisse then came out and said that Sexy Start wasn’t badass enough to work the men, and mocked her for hiding her ugliness under her mask. Ivelisse said she was the baddest bitch in the building, and those were fighting words. They continue to use simple and clean continuity, which I appreciate. I love Ivelisse, felt that TNA really missed the boat with her, and she’s done good work in the WWNLive family of shows, so I am glad to see her get a chance here. They’ve done well with Star, and if handled properly they could really do something big with her. I felt that they worked a quick and entertaining pace, and that the work was clean, snug at times, and very enjoyable. Star scored the win with a La Magistral cradle. It’s safe to say that they want Sexy Star to be the top woman in the promotion; hopefully they have plans for Ivelisse as well because she’s too good to waste.

* Dario Cueto meets with Drago. Drago didn’t lose last week’s main event, but he also didn’t win. He needs to know what he’s getting with Drago, and has an opponent for him tonight.

Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr.: Pentagon Jr. got promo time, noting that he’s not respected in Mexico, but here, Dario Cueto gives him opportunity and respect. He plans to take out Fenix tonight. These men were a part of last week’s quality main event, which Fenix won, pinning Pentagon Jr. We’ve had some very good and fun wrestling thus far on the series, but this was the match of the series thus far. These guys worked really well together, and again, we’ve had good wrestling but now we’re getting into the Lucha more, and it has added to the show very well. The match was back and forth, and while Pentagon lost again, he looked dominant for much of the match. Lots of fun highflying, innovative maneuvers (especially if you only watch WWE and or TNA) and from bell to bell, this kicked ass. Some may like it less if they aren’t into really spotty or matches that feel more like an exhibition, but I loved it and feel that the promotion is really delivering well as far as the in ring product goes. Fenix connected with the Spanish Fly for the win. Fenix gets back-to-back wins, and you have the feeling that they want to build him as one of their major stars. I loved everything about this match, and they packed an insane amount of action into a short time frame.

* We get an introductory video for King Cuerno.

Drago vs. King Cuerno: King Cuerno is AAA’s El Hijo del Fantasma. He started working in 2000, and spent five years (2008-2013) in CMLL. He’s billed as a hunter, and wears a full dear’s head to the ring. Drago was part of last week’s quality main event, but was not involved in the decision. Cuerno was positioned by Cueto to be his latest “go to guy” to take others out, but Drago scored the win with a slick pinning combo. I like that they are trying to make things not completely clear-cut on who will win and lose. Due to Cueto bringing in Cuerno, you’d think he wins easily, instead we have a good match, he looks like he is dominating only for Drago to overcome and sneak out the win. A few hiccups held this back from a higher rating, but I felt it was quality action and they overall they did well.

* Prince Puma trained, and Konnan arrived. Konnan told him to stay out of the main event, because it’s not his fight. Konnan doesn’t care if everyone gets involved tonight against Mundo, but the bottom line was that Konnan wanted Puma to stay out of it. Again, 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. They have also done well using the lighting to focus on Puma’s eyes, and allowing his indecision to be told that way. He’s not completely buying what Konnan is selling.

Johnny Mundo vs. Big Ryck: This was set up way back on show one. Mundo beat Prince Puma and thought he was about to get the $100,000 from Cueto. But Big Ryck and the Crenshaw crew came down and beat down Mundo and Puma to earn the cash. The next week Mundo and Puma defeated members of the Crew, and then last week Mundo demanded the match with Ryck. The match they worked was a fine power vs. speed match, but you could tell that it was being positioned for the shenanigan filled finish, which isn’t always a bad thing. During the match we see Cortez Castro & Mr. Cisco attack Puma backstage. They then rushed the ring and caused a DQ as Mundo was about to score the win. I am perfectly fine with the DQ because Cueto specifically paid Ryck off to take out Mundo, not defeat him fair and square in a grappling match. The show ended with Big Ryck chokeslamming Mundo through a table, allowing the Crenshaw Crew to stand tall. Most importantly, they made sure to write in an excuse as to why Puma couldn’t make the save and the story continues.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

Storyline wise, the promotion did a good job of continuing the stories from the first two shows along with carrying on with new characters introduced last week. As I have said before, I appreciate the dedication to booking the TV episodically and doing it well. It is something that when done so well will continue to set the company apart from the other US based companies. Lucha Underground currently excelling at this.

After four episodes, you now get the feeling that you know who the stars of the promotion are, judging by what has been presented. Chavo Guerrero, Sexy Star, Fenix, Prince Puma, Johnny Mundo, Mil Muetres and the Crenshaw Crew have all been clearly positioned through out the early episodes, and you have reasons to either love them or hate them, depending on which star it is. This is important to have this established so clearly so early in the promotion’s run.

This was also the best in ring episode by far for the promotion. Nothing was bad at all, and they are clearly defining that this isn’t the basic wrestling you’re used to watching on TV, and that is a great thing.

Lucha Underground isn’t reinventing the wheel by any means, but they are making sure that the wheel is round, full of air and properly installed. Essentially, they are taking the basics of wrestling and doing them right without any unneeded or unwanted bullshit.

This was an excellent show, and if you’re not regularly watching, you should be.