411’s Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors Report 07.23.10

We’re back with more great Lucha Libre USA action and after a stellar debut show last week, can LLUSA make it two in a row this week? We’ve got RJ Brewer making his LLUSA debut in the main event against Magno, a first-round match in the Lucha Libre USA Tag Team Championship tournament (before you ask, yes they’re just as ass-ugly as the LLUSA Heavyweight Championship) pitting Super Nova and Charly Malice against Sydistiko and Lizmark Jr.

Apologies as the show joined about a minute in progress because The Venture Brothers was recording on the same DVR at the same time, but as the show begins, Solid is in the hallway getting beaten down by Lizmark Jr. with Sydistiko looking on and seemingly playing puppet master. We also duck back into the technicos locker room to see Super Nova is also laid out, which could be bad news for his ability to compete later tonight. The disembodied voices of Nigel Sherrod and Lola Gonzalez run down the card for the show and then throw it to the ring for the first bout of the night!

Combate Uno: Mixed Tag Match
Lujo Esquire (The Man of Luxury) and Octagoncito vs. Rellik and Misteriosito

For those of you who may not know, Lujo is Aaron Aguilera, better known as the former Jesus in the WWE where he was Carlito’s bodyguard for a stretch. Also for those of you who are curious, Misteriosito looks like a miniature rooster with his bizarre mask. Crowd seems pretty intimidated by Rellik as he makes his entrance and after he does a litle ritual with his bloody hockey mask, we’re underway! Misteriosito and Octagoncito to start things out and Misteriosito gets a go-behind, taking Octagoncito down before Octagoncito kips up and takes Misteriosito over with an armdrag. Octagoncito misses a dropkick and then reverses a Misteriosito Irish whip into the buckle, charging in only to have Misteriosito backdrop him over the ropes to the apron. Headbutt to the chest from Octagoncito and he goes up top, hitting a flying armdrag off the top rope before taking over with another armdrag and a dropkick to the back of the head. Tag to Esquire and here comes Rellik. Esquire with a pair of European uppercuts that have no effect on Rellik and Esquire grabs a side headlock. Rellik sends him to the ropes and they shoulderblock with no one moving. Rellik hits the ropes now and the result is the same. They BOTH hit the ropes and Rellik misses a clothesline before Esquire misses a big boot and Rellik takes Esquire down with a flying shoudler tackle that sends him to the floor!

Esquire pulls Rellik out to the floor after him and they brawl a little on the floor before Misteriosito and Octagoncito go up to the top. DOUBLE PLANCHAS TO THE FLOOR!! Rellik and Esquire both call for the fair catch and then slam the minis into the ringpost backfirst. Rellik and Esquire head back into the ring and they trade big blows in the midle of the ring before Esquire takes Rellik down with a spinning heel kick to the face. Rellik with the Undertaker-style zombie sit-up and he nearly kicks the gold mask off of Esquire with a beautiful superkick to the chops! Rellik into the mount and he just hammers away with punches before BITING AT THE MASK OF ESQUIRE!! Now he’s trying to untie the mask!! CLASICO RUDO!! Rellik chases off the referee and takes Esquire over with a snap suplex before crawling over and laying Esquire back down with a huge potato right hand. Misteriosito comes into the ring and starts trying to get a little front-running offense in on Esquire, but Esquire no-sells and Misteriosito has to cower in the corner until Rellik takes him down with a clubbering forearm to the back of the head. Rellik with a whip into the corner and ESQUIRE CLIMBS THE ROPES AND COMES OFF THE TOP WITH A BACK ELBOW!! BIG(ish) BOOT TO MISTERIOSITO!! TOPE SUICIDA OVER THE TOP BY ESQUIRE ONTO RELLIK!! TOPE SUICIDA THROUGH THE ROPES BY OCTAGONCITO ONTO MISTERIOSITO!! ALL FOUR MEN DOWN!!

Misteriosito staggers up first and heads into the ring with Octagoncito climbing to the top and taking Misteriosito down with a flying bodypress, but Misteriosito rolls through….1…..2…..NO!! Octagoncito just gets out before the three-count is tolled. Misteriosito with an Irish whip into the ropes and Octagoncito blocks a clothesline and turns it into a rolling crucifix…1….2….3!!! Technicos pick up the win!!

Winners: Lujo Esquire and Octagoncito (pinfall, Octagoncito’s rolling crucifix on Misterosito) *1/2

Not quite as hot an opener as last week’s show, but this one was alright. As with last week in the main event, the big guys can fly but don’t quite have the flash as some of the other luchadors, which tends to make their matches suffer in comparison. All four guys worked hard and the match was technically sound, but it just felt like a bit of a mish-mash, especially with the finish coming seemingly from out of nowhere.

Back from commercial and the technicos are still celebrating their victory in the ring while Misteriosito and Rellik bitch all the way to the back. We get some highlights from the match before the break and go backstage to Rebecca Reyes, who is with Sydistiko. She asks what happened to Solid, but Sydistiko plays dumb and acts like nothing happened. She says that there was an altercation over cookies and Sydistiko says that other than throwing a cookie at Solid, he’s just been sitting in the hallway. He says that if she’s really looking for a culprit, she might want to start looking in another direction. We get clips from the end of the main event last week with the heels attacking Marco Corleone and Solid, again under the control of Sydistiko and if they continue to build this guy the right way, this could be one of the really interesting characters to come around in wrestling in some time. It’s kind of like CM Punk, but with a bit of a twist as Sydistiko appears to be using everyone around him to do his bidding because he couldn’t be bothered, while Punk at least gets his hands dirty once in a while while controlling his faction.

We hear a rehash of RJ Brewer’s comments about Lucha Libre and his disdain for the luchadors with the promise that he’ll be spewing more racism later in the show before his main event match with Magno. Before that, we’ll be seeing the Super Nova/Charly Malice vs. Sydistiko/Lizmark Jr. match, but not until after this next commercial break!!

After the break, we see Charly Malice trying to help Super Nova out of the trainer’s room and it appears that they’re on their way to the ring!

Combate Dos: Lucha Libre USA Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match
Sydistiko and Lizmark Jr. vs. Super Nova and Charly Malice

Nova makes his entrance still selling the beating from the beginning of the show and looks like he might be a little worse for wear coming into this one. Sydistiko and Malice start things out with a “Charly” chant coming from the crowd. Lock-up and some chain wrestling ends up with Malice taking Sydistiko over with a deep armdrag and he plays to the crowd as Sydistiko comes back with a challenge for a test of strength. Of course, Sydistiko plays it like Roddy Piper and pokes Malice in the eyes before throwing him through the ropes to the floor. Sydistiko smack talks on Super Nova and tries to goad him into the ring, but can’t get away fast enough and Nova locks in a bodylock from behind. Go-behind reversal from Sydistiko and he shoves Nova across the ring into a superkick from Lizmark Jr., who just snuck into the ring. Sydistiko with some stomps as Lizmark does some jumping jacks and Sydistiko heads out to the floor to wail away on Malice as Lizmark whips Nova into the ropes and takes him down with a big back elbow before coming off the ropes with a legdrop, brother. Lizmark works a camel clutch and Sydistiko comes into the ring and pops Nova in the face with a big kick before the rudos take both technicos and ram them facefirst into the corner. Sydistiko stands on Malice’s neck in the corner and Lizmark chokes Nova across the middle rope as the rudos are in control.

Seated dropkick from Sydistiko to Malice while Lizmark isolates Nova’s left leg and kicks him hard in the hamstring. Sydistiko and Lizmark hit a double-Irish whip on Nova into the corner and Sydistiko drags Malice into the ring so that they can do the same to him. Sydistiko and Lizmark both charge and both hit HUGE clotheslines, back-to-back before Sydistiko menaces Nova on the outside. Sydistiko throws Malice to the outside and Nova springs into the ring, only to get beat down by Sydistiko. The rudos try the double-Irish whip into the double charging clotheslines, but Nova reverses both with two boots to the teeth. Clothesline from Nova on Lizmark and here comes Malice off the ropes with one of his own and Lizmark still isn’t on his back. Double-dropkick puts Lizmark to the floor and SUPER NOVA WITH A TOPE CON HILO ONTO LIZMARK ON THE FLOOR!! In the ring, Sydistiko clamps a side headlock on Malice and gets shot off into the ropes, doing a front flip over a prone Malice before Malice springs onto the second rope for an armdrag. Malice with a dropkick that sends Sydistiko into the corner and he tries for a monkey flip, but Sydistiko reverses and sits Malice on the top buckle.

Malice kicks him away and comes off the top with a flying bodypress. Hurancanrana by Malice sends Sydistiko to the floor and it looks like Malice is going to fly before he puts on the brakes and does Rey Mysterio’s 619-esque fake through the ropes. Slingshot plancha over the top to the floor by Malice onto Sydistiko and Nova comes over to pump up Malice before they fling Sydistiko back into the ring. Double-Irish whip and Malice drops down before Nova hits a HUGE dropkick that turns Sydistiko inside out. Another double-whip and Nova looks like he’s setting Sydistiko up for a Hart Attack and while Malice runs the ropes, he spots Rellik up on the stage and stops dead in his tracks. Sydistiko shoves Nova into Malice and Nova charges him, but Sydistiko ducks and Nova runs right into tilt-a-whirl side slam from Lizmark!! There’s the cover and there’s the three-count!! Lizmark Jr. and Sydistiko move on in the tournament!

Winners: Lizmark Jr. and Sydistiko (pinfall, Lizmark’s tilt-a-whirl side slam on Nova) **

This one was a little better than the opener in that there was actually a bit of an attempt at some psychology here after the angle to open the show and after seeing him compete, I believe even further that Sydistiko could be something big for the promotion. The in-ring work was solid and his mannerisms were fantastic throughout, which is to be expected from a ring veteran like TJ Perkins. Decent middle of the road match that loses a little as it felt like there was a bit too much angle advancement for my tastes, especially in the finish, but it was alright.

Back from break and we see highlights from the previous bout before we cut back to the ring with Sydistiko and Lizmark Jr. laying a first-class beatdown on Nova and Malice. They do some more beating up, but HERE COMES MARCO CORLEONE!! HAYMAKER LEFTS ON SYDISTIKO AND LIZMARK! The rudos scramble for safety and Corleone stands tall in the ring before checking up on the technicos.

After that, we see highlights of the mixed tag last week with the Chi Chi/Tigressa Caliente finish before we cut to earlier today and a workout session with Chi Chi and Caliente. Mini Park shows up and starts talking to Caliente about her interference in last week’s match, blaming her for the loss. Caliente can’t understand him and she says that if he can’t shut up, she’ll make him shut up and he can choose to leave or she can make him leave. He keeps jabbering and she lays the boots to him, stomping away and leaving Mini Park laying before we find out that Tigressa Caliente is up for an interview after the break!

Following the commercial break, Rebecca Reyes is with Tigressa Caliente and she asks her about the beatdown in the training room and Caliente seems pissed that she has to talk about Mini Park again, saying that she can’t stand him and that she was minding her own business and working out before Park started in on her. She says that he confronted her and talked some jibberish that almost made her ears bleed so she slammed his face into the workout bench. She also adds that she nearly dropped a weight plate on him, but she just wanted to hurt him, not kill him. Now I see why Kurt Angle fell so hard for her, she’s a real charmer.

RJ Brewer has another message this week and after some shots of bald eagles, bikini babes and kids dressed like the Statue of Liberty and Abraham Lincoln, Brewer heads into his next diatribe, claiming that he didn’t have to hop a fence to get here and that he cut lawns because he wanted to, not because he had to. He says that his mother is probably the most powerful woman in the United States and that she taught him that if he sees something wrong, to make it right. Wait, his mom is Mike Holmes? Anyhow, he says that she’s doing it in Phoenix and he’s going to do it in Lucha Libre USA. He says he’s going to take all of the guys in the LLUSA locker room that aren’t supposed to be there and kick them out personally, one by one. There’s even a helpful little title card reading “Adios, amigo” directly after to really drive the point home. He says he’s RJ Brewer and he approved this message and then we cut to the technico dressing room where some of the guys are messing around and seemingly hazing one of the minis.

Brewer busts in and says that he doesn’t care how they do it south of the border, they’re in the US of A and they’re going to do things his way. He asks them if they understand English and Magno says he does and gets in Brewer’s face, saying he knows when he and his brothers of lucha have been disrespected. Brewer says that he’s dressed like a pro wrestler, while Magno is dressed like he’s going to a circus. Magno says that this is Lucha Libre USA and that they’re bringing the Mexican culture to the American wrestling fans. Brewer shuts that shit down fast, saying that he doesn’t care how they do it and that they need to learn the American way and stop hiding behind masks. Magno dares him to take it off him right now and Brewer tries to attack, but gets nothing but air. Magno with a pair of BIG overhand slaps to the face and he kicks Brewer in the ass to send him out to the hallway. They brawl down the hallway and we take a commercial before we head into the main event of the night! By the way, since I didn’t mention it last week, RJ Brewer is in fact former ROH Pure Champion and member of my favorite heel faction in ROH history, Da Em Bah See, John Walters. The more you know, people, the more you know.

Combate Tres:
Magno vs. RJ Brewer

We’re back from the break and the brawl is still on as they fight their way all the way to the stage. Magno gets the upper hand and punches Brewer all the way down the steps and to the floor. PLANCHA OFF THE STAGE BY MAGNO!! He flings Brewer into the ring and hits a springboard flip senton!! Cover….1….2…Brewer just avoids the big upset. Seated dropkick to the face by Magno and he covers again for another two-count. Scoop bodyslam by Magno and he plays to the crowd before hitting a standing moonsault! 1…2…..kickout by Brewer!! Magno argues the count for a moment before whipping Brewer into the ropes. Brewer reverses and sends Magno into the ropes, but Magno goes over them onto the apron before shoulder blocking a charging Brewer in the gut. Magno slingshots over the top into an attempted headscissors, but Brewer just shrugs him off and drops him facefirst onto the mat. Brewer takes over with some big punches and whips Magno into the ropes, hitting a nasty back elbow for a long, long two-count.

Want to know how committed Brewer is to his gimmick? He’s got SB1070 on his trunks, which is the name of the Arizona illegal immigration bill. Nice touch from whoever thought to put that on there and really continues to make Brewer seem like a massively dickish heel. Vertical suplex by Brewer and another cover that only gets two and he picks Magno up and tries to continue his attack. Magno shrugs him off and hits a leg kick and a big right hand before whipping Brewer into the ropes for a side headlock. Brewer takes Magno down with a belly to back suplex and covers again for yet another two-count. Brewer signals to the crowd and goes up top before he hops back down and wags his finger at the crowd. Awesome stuff there. Brewer just chokes at Magno and whips him into the ropes, but Magno reverses a backdrop attempt into a sunset flip. Brewer with the roll-through and he locks in a Sharpshooter!! Magno screaming in pain as he tries to crawl to the ropes. Magno hits the bottom rope and Brewer breaks the hold before he tries to rip Magno’s mask right off of his face.

Kick to the gut from Brewer and another and he goes back for the mask again, working some of the laces out and loosening the mask before the referee stops him and warns him about breaking the rules. European uppercut from Brewer and he follows that up with a big right hand before charging off the ropes. Magno with a reversal into a flapjack and Brewer is down!! Magno fires up and drops Brewer with a clothesline and a back elbow before whipping him into the ropes for a HUGE hip toss. Magno whips Brewer into the corner and charges, but Brewer stops him in his tracks with a back elbow. Brewer with a charge and Magno reverses it into a back bodydrop as Brewer begs off and asks for a timeout. Forearm to the chest from Magno and he whips Brewer into the corner but Brewer reverses. Magno climbs the ropes and flips over Brewer, hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker!! Quebrada by Magno onto Brewer and he covers, but only gets a two-count. Magno tries a back suplex, but Brewer flips through and they trade reversals on a waistlock before Brewer whips Magno into the corner. Brewer with a charge and Magno hits a big boot and tries for another but Brewer drags the referee into the line of fire!!

Magno checks on the referee and Brewer drops him with a clothesline before looking around and heading to the floor for a chair. Oh man, it’s an old-school formed plastic chair and he’s swinging like he’s Mickey Mantle. Magno ducks the chairshot and takes off his mask before throwing it at Brewer. The referee comes to and sees Brewer with the mask and he calls for the bell!! Magno outsmarts the anti-immigration superstar and he is PISSED in the middle of the ring.

Winner: Magno (disqualification, lucha mask removal rule) ***1/4

Great back-and-forth match with good psychology between the two guys. Magno did a great job of selling his Mexican roots, while Brewer was tremendous with his anti-lucha style. Shame that this one had the screwy finish, but it’s something that will only help strengthen Brewer’s character down the road so I can let it go this time. Fun match and a great way to end the show.

Final Thoughts: While the wrestling may have been a little less exciting than last week’s debut show, I think that this one was a stronger show because not only was the pacing of the commerical breaks handled batter, but there were actual angles falling into place. The Sydistiko/Lizmark war on the technicos is still in an interesting stage as we still don’t know who beat up Super Nova in the locker room and the RJ Brewer saga is still entertaining as hell with Magno outsmarting him to likely set up even more hate-filled tirades. If they can put together the wrestling from last week’s show and the angle advancement and intrigue from this week’s show, LLUSA could really have something here.