Csonka’s Top Lucha Underground Matches

Welcome: It’s no big secret that I am a huge fan of the Lucha Underground promotion. As someone who is sick of the same old same old every week on wrestling TV, I continually seek out other forms of the art of wrestling. I constantly do this so that I don’t get burnt out and remain a fan at heart. I have done this for years, and by broadening the wrestling I watch I find that I love it more than ever. Since their debut, Lucha Underground has been my favorite TV show to review each and every week. They have created an identity, their own set of rules and they stick to it. They have a quality roster and have made me care about some performers I stopped caring about a long time ago. But more importantly than all of that, they have brought back the art of booking episodic TV in the world of wrestling. They have done such a good job of connecting the stories, interweaving feuds and continually building to peaks though out the debut season. The Aztec Warfare match in January was not only a fun revamp of the Royal Rumble concept, but it was a master class in writing as it perfectly connected all of the stories from the previous episodes into one match. Lucha Underground has it’s share of wackiness, and it surely hasn’t been perfect, but I love it because they have unapologetically re-written the book on weekly pro wrestling TV in many ways; and at the root of it have done it by going back to the basics of writing weekly TV. I loathe the authority figure in wrestling, but Dario Cueto is the top non-wrestling performer in the business today and he’s one of my favorite overall performers on TV. But on top of all of the good writing and doing things to make me love the show, it’s still wrestling and the in ring product also has to deliver. I feel that over the 39-episode season one that the promotion has delivered in the ring. Today I want to share my top matches from season one of Lucha Underground…

THE VERY BEST OF SEASON ONE

THE HONERABLE MENTIONS
Episode 38: Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cage defeated The Mack @ 7:45 via pin [***¾]
Episode 34 – Johnny Mundo, Hernandez, Jack Evans, and Super Fly defeated Alberto El Patron, Aerostar, Drago and Sexy Star @ 9:25 via pin [***¾]
Episode 20 – Lucha Underground Street Fight: Champion Prince Puma defeated Cage @ 12:18 via pin [***¾]
Episode 11 – King Cuerno defeated Drago @ 11:30 via being a dick [***¾]
Episode 10 – Lucha Underground Title Match: Champion Prince Puma defeated Fenix @ 13:00 via pin [***¾]
Episode 3– Fenix Jr. defeated Pentagón Jr. and Drago @ 7:45 via pin [***¾]
Episode 1 – Johnny Mundo defeated Prince Puma @ 13:00 via pin [***¾]

Episode 4 – Fenix defeated Pentagon Jr @ 7:55 via pin [****] – As of episode four, this was the best match of the season. 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 was really starting to deliver well as far as the in ring product goes. Fenix connected with the Spanish Fly for the win, and was showing that he’s be someone to watch during the series. I loved everything about this match, and they packed an insane amount of action into a short time frame. This also let you know that these would be two men to watch.

Episode 23 – Final Match in The Best of Five Series: Drago defeated Aerostar @ 10:25 via pin to win the series [****] – These men had a quality set of matches together, and were fighting for one of “Dario Cueto’s unique opportunities”. One part I thought added nicely to this series was that during this finals match, Dario Cueto stayed out to watch and looked absolutely pleased that these men were trying to destroy each other for his “unique opportunity”. They did well playing off of previous encounters, with familiar moves and teases of pins along with a bit more aggression to show the importance of the match. I always appreciate when you can use the established matches to tease finishes in the final match of a series/feud. They set up a table late and when Aerostar hit a dive onto Drago, who was on the table, Cueto’s reaction to this was priceless. These guys worked well through out, and I felt delivered a great final chapter to the series. Drago wins with his wacky Dragon roll up, and then both men showed respect post match. This was a fitting conclusion to a really fun series of matches.

Episode 27 – Aztec Medallion Match: Fenix defeated Sexy Star, The Mack, Killshot, Cage, King Cuerno and Pentagon Jr @ 10:14 via pin [****] – We had a nice mix of talent here with all kinds of history as opponents or partners. This was one of those matches that never pretended to be a traditional match; it was designed to be a wild athletic display, ala a Dragon Gate six-man or a scramble match. Cage and Cuerno worked together early as did MACK and Killshot, and the action was non-stop and simply put a ton of fun. It was one big move after another, which I felt worked as it was not only fun, but showed that each competitor wanted to win as quickly as possible to earn the mysterious medallion. Pentagon hit a Gory Bomb/package piledriver on Sexy and Fenix at one point, that man is so good. Fenix won with a reverse RANA and standing moonsault onto Pentagon. This was exactly what it needed to be, they all worked hard and it delivered. This is the kind of shit that I wish TNA would put on again when they toss out the random X-Division matches with 4-8 guys, it has its place on the card as long as all of the matches aren’t just like it. This was really, really great fun, it was smooth and just came together very well.

Episode 39 – Johnny Mundo defeated Alberto El Patron @ 13:37 via pin [****] – Patron was on the attack early, selling his hatred and desire for revenge against Mundo. Mundo played the coward well, hiding under the ring and throwing dirt into the face of Patron to take control of things. Schiavello was great on commentary here, bringing a lot of energy that Striker lacks and also making the opening match feel important. I thought that this was a really good back and forth match, with a hot crowd, and some very good near falls. They started with good energy, and slowly but surely escalated the action as the match went on; it was a smooth and organic build to the home stretch. Patron got the arm bar late, but Mundo was able to get the ropes to get the break. Patron posted himself late as Mundo was in the tree of woe. We then got a ref bump late, and Patron got the arm bar and Mundo tapped, but the ref didn’t see it. UGH. Patron kept attacking the arm late, but Melina debuted and nailed Patron with the AAA Mega title. Mundo then hit the end of the world and that was it. Mundo and Melina celebrated and made out post match, but Patron attacked and tossed Mundo to the floor and battered Mundo around ringside. He then tossed Mundo through a window for some payback. Mundo then appeared from the window looking as if he was a victim in a horror movie. Patron then spanked Melina to get some revenge. This was an overall really good opener, hurt (for me) by the ref bum and overall shenanigans. This was one of the better matches of the season, not quite as good as their earlier match, which was just a cleaner match overall in my opinion, but this was still very good.

Episode 39 – Lucha Underground Title Match: Mil Muertes defeated Champion Prince Puma @ 17:41 via pin to become the NEW Champion [****] – They worked the basic story early, the speed of Puma vs. the power of Muertes. This led to crowd brawling, and then Puma using Catrina as a weapon against Muertes. Seriously, he picked her up and used her to hit Muertes. They spent a good bit of time on the floor early, including Muertes powerbombing Puma onto the steps. Puma tried for a suicide dive to fight back, but Muertes destroyed him with a chair shot as he went through the ropes. It wasn’t a homerun swing, but it was a ground rule double at the very least. Puma would use his speed to get back into he match, and after sending Muertes into a chair; Puma hit the benadryller for a near fall. After a long back and forth stretch, a table mysteriously appeared on the floor, leading to Muertes hitting a spear through the ropes and sending Puma through that table. Puma then ate another powerbomb, this time onto the broken table, which led to a near fall. Muertes was starting to show frustration at this point, as the champion was resilient and kept fighting back. Puma fired back late with a series of spin kicks, and then hit the 630m which has finished everyone, but Muertes kicked out. Puma sold the shock well, and then went for another and that time he crashed and burned. Muertes then spiked Puma with the flatliner, but Puma survived once again. Muertes was pissed, because no one had kicked out of that move. This is the importance of not kicking out of finishers all the time, when you have the big match and someone kicks out, it feels important. Puma looked to have the advantage and headed up top, but Muertes popped up and hit the flatliner off of the ropes and that was finally enough for him to score the win and the title. Catrina gave Puma the lick of death and looked pleased as she holds all of the power. They had a great crowd for the match, which gave it a great feel. Early on it felt like a good, but unspectacular match, but they worked themselves into a hell of a main event and provided a clean finish and title change.

Episode 18 – Steel Cage Match: Johnny Mundo defeated King Cuerno @ 13:35 via pin [****¼] – This is a win by pin, submission or escape. They brawled at the bell, because they hate each other and that’s what they’re supposed to do. That’s something a lot of stipulation/feud ending matches miss in feuds where people are supposed to hate their opponent. Cuerno is so damn good, his work is clean and he works with a great aggression, which was needed to sell the stipulation. Some feel that “all lucha” is too lazy and contrived, but guys like Pentagon Jr and Cuerno prove that this is not the case. These two worked really well together, with the story being that Cuerno was willing to escape to win, while Mundo wanted to finish his opponent. This was evident at the finish where Mundo opted not to escape, but to hit the big corkscrew moonsault off the top of the cage to score the win. They were having a good match, but then really ramped it up down the stretch with some great striking exchanges, big spots and near falls. Great work from both men, and this only weak part of the match was Striker’s heatless commentary.

Episode 26 – Alberto El Patron defeated Johnny Mundo @ 13:30 via pin [****¼] – These guys worked really well together, and appeared to be on the same page as far as what they wanted to deliver. They had a great crowd, and worked this like it was a big time, important match. And that’s important because it was, as the winner got one step closer to a title shot with the win and they acted as if that was an important thing to them. It had that feeling that they were throwing all caution to the wind in order to pick up the win here, starting with a deliberate pacing and then growing in intensity through out the match. Mundo hit the end of the world moonsault, but Patron survived by grabbing the ropes, which pissed off Mundo. Patron then got the arm bar, but Mundo just was able to get the ropes. They kept trading big time moves for near falls, exchanged a lot of counters and then Patron scored with the superkick to a kneeling Mundo for the win. This was great, great stuff and showed what both men were capable of and how important the chance at a title shot for them was. Also, it was nice to see both men outside of the WWE bubble showing what they could do.

Episode 32 – All Night Long Lucha Underground Title Match: Champion Prince Puma defeated Johnny Mundo @ 53:30 {5-4} [****¼] – These guys have a great history in the promotion, which brought us to this match. Puma scored the first fall, but Mundo came back and rattled off four consecutive falls. He did so with a cradle and holding the ropes, using a crow bar on Puma, the moonlight drive and then the starship pain. We were 16-minutes in and Puma looked to be on is way to losing the title. Puma, desperate to score a pin, speared Mundo off of the bandstand through four tables to get his second pin of the match. Two minutes later he scored with the spinning Michinoku driver to make it 4-3 Mundo. Four minutes later, the springboard 450 evened up the match. Mundo had tried to run away to play prevent defense, but the returning Alberto El Patron got involved and stopped Mundo from running, which led to the tying fall. I generally dislike the interference, but it makes complete sense here and also sets up the big Patron vs. Mundo match, which we will get coming from this. The one good thing about Lucha Underground is that it never feels odd when someone wins without using their finish, and that is an aspect that is appreciated. Puma made the big comeback in the final seconds and hit the 630 to put Mundo away and keep the title. It’s not easy to put on a long match in 2015, as many wrestling fans are not conditioned to sit through them. Look at the divided opinion of the recent one-hour draw ROH did. Also, by announcing that this match would last the whole show, you can set yourself up for fans not caring in the early portions. They worked a bit conservatively early, but between the multiple falls (which were done well) and the pacing of the final half of the match and the placement of the big moves, I felt they succeeded in delivering a very good match. What also adds to the success is the play off of the established relationship between the guys from the very first show, the fact that Mundo was a great heel and Puma is so easy to root for along the integration of Patron. It all made sense, it all worked and we got a great match out of it. This is an example of doing a one match show the right way.

Episode 9 – Prince Puma won the Aztec Warfare match @ 53:45 to become the first ever Lucha Underground Champion [****¼] – This was the first time Lucha Underground did a one match show, and it was a tremendous success. I thought that the match did a very good job of playing off of the storytelling that they did in the first eight episodes. Through out the match we constantly revisited feuds (Sexy Star vs. Chavo, Blue Demon returning to get revenge on Chavo, King Cuerno vs. Drago, Mundo and Puma vs. Ryck and the Crenshaw Crew) and played off of all of the groundwork that had been done. Over and over again I have discussed the storytelling of the promotion and the way that they have effectively produced quality episodic TV. By establishing these characters and feuds, and then revisiting everything here, I felt that the work paid off well as they worked to crown the first champion. The finish of the match was the real highlight work wise. By skipping the over the top rope rules, we were able to have all of the wild dives to make sure that this did not become another monotonous battle royal. As we weaved through all of the feuds and previous pairings, we ended up with Puma vs. Mundo, which is a revisit to the debut show’s main event. They had worked together (and against each other) through out, but it was their pairing that was able to finally pin Mil Muertes and leave us with the rematch from episode one. They worked a completely entertaining closing stretch, kicking out of the big moves, but also playing off of the first match that they had. In the end, Puma scored the pin with the 630 to become the first ever champion. This was tremendous action and some beautiful storytelling and another example of doing a one match show the right way.

Episode 19 – Grave Consequences Match: Fenix defeated Mil Muertes @ 15:00 [****½] – They basically had a mini-day of the dead ceremony to bring out the coffin, which was nice touch. Mil Muertes and Fenix have wrestled previously, Muertes won the first match early in the series and then they had a match a few weeks ago. Fenix got a surprise win there and since then has basically stolen Muertes’ woman, Catrina. Not so much that he tried to steal her as Catrina left Muertes and started making out with Fenix. It is what it is. Muertes hit a suicide dive as Fenix made his entrance and they immediately brawled. Damn skippy, this isn’t a grappling bout. Lots of brawling, and then when Fenix tried a suicide dive, Muertes tossed the coffin into his face. Muertes ripped the mask open (almost all the way off), undid the turnbuckle and took the metal screw and then jacked Fenix with it, and he was busted open. Fenix did a big time blade job, and Muertes bit at the wound and then spit out the blood (YOU SICK FUCK!). That was a great visual, but was really nasty at the same time. They brawled all through the crowd and Muertes powerbombed Fenix onto the announcer’s table. Through the first half they didn’t really address the coffin, but Muertes finally brought it into the ring and then suplexed Fenix onto it. This is petty damn wild. Muertes hit a lung blower as Fenix sat on the top rope, and Fenix was just dripping blood here. They brawled into the crowd again as Muertes used chair shots on Fenix, but Fenix fought back and knocked Muertes to the floor and then hit a dive to the floor onto Muertes. Muertes was just brutal in his attack, and they simply did such a great job of selling the feud with the work that they did. As they continued to battle, Muertes accidentally clotheslined Catrina and laid her out. Muertes paused to show emotion, allowing Fenix to battle back. They did such a good job of avoiding the trappings of this kind of match, refusing to constantly go for the coffin and waiting until the end. Fenix hit a double stomp to send Muertes into the coffin; Catrina licked Muertes’ power stone and threw it into the coffin with him. That was insane, it won’t be for everyone because of the use of the blood, but this was an awesome fight that served as a tremendous conclusion to the feud at the time. The promotion did a great job of presenting the casket match, a match people stopped caring about eons ago, as something fresh and exciting. That’s an achievement in itself.

4. Drago: Drago was a really fun character through out the season, proving that not only are dragons real, but that they can be kick ass wrestlers. He was impressive all season and appeared on the list five times overall. He was a guy I went into knowing little about and when all was said and done, I became a big fan.

3. Fenix: Fenix was a guy that caught my attention right away, Much like Drago, I didn’t know much about him going in, but through his great efforts (and his crowning achievement being the Grave Consequences match) he is someone I look forward to watching if we get a season two. With his Gift of the Gods victory, he has a ready-made feud with Mil Muertes and another with Pentagon Jr (who he holds several wins over). The sky is the limit for this man.

2. Prince Puma: I was very pleased when I discovered that Ricochet would be part of Lucha Underground. He had an amazing 2014, and I felt would be a great addition to the roster. He became a featured performer, and delivered as a main event guy even with the limitations of the mask and not talking. Puma was a big part of making season one a fun season, and one would think that he would be a big part of things moving forward.

1. Johnny Mundo: Topping the list of the former John Morrison, Johnny Mundo. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mundo in Lucha Underground, would he cruise off of his reputation or reinvent himself? To my pleasant surprise, Mundo not only delivered in the ring as one of the featured performers, but his rudo turn was one of the best things they did in season one. Mundo made the most of his Lucha Underground run, and was an essential part of the success of season one.

So Long: And that’s it for season one of Lucha Underground. Even if we do not get a season two, I loved covering season one of this show. It was fun, and reminded me why I love wrestling. If we get a season two, I will be right back here covering the action, and I hope that you will join me. Thanks for reading.