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| #1 Posted on 8.1.15 0136.21 Reposted on: 8.1.22 0142.03 | A new year is upon us and with it comes a new episode of Lucha Underground! After a two week drought due to holidays and Godzilla marathons, we now crown the first ever Lucha Underground Champion.
This is a 20 man Aztec Warfare match, which Dario Cueto (in the ring) informs us that entrances happen Royal Rumble style with a new gladiator stepping into the temple every 90 seconds. However, instead of an over the top rope battle royal, you have to pin or submit your opponent, with no disqualifications or count outs.
Cueto introduces the first two men, starting with Fenix, who lost last month to get stuck with the #1 spot. #2 is, no surprise, Johnny Mundo, whom Cueto loathes. (The second that Cueto introduces Mundo, he immediately bails out of the ring and heads to his office.
Mundo & Fenix tie up with Mundo proving the stronger of the two, shoving Fenix off hard enough to flip him over. They trade kicks, then Mundo shows off his parkour by flipping off a prone Fenix's back.
"Why do you always say por favor? I don't understand." asks Vampiro.
"Who said por favor?", asks Striker. "I said parkour."
"Oh. Like that? What do you call it when you do a Shooting Star Press and land on your face?" Vampiro wonders, referencing Mundo's next move.
Fenix plays to the crowd instead of capitalizing, so Mundo is able to kip up and land a leg lariat. Fenix ducks a running knee, kips up and superkick's Mundo to the floor. Fenix heads across the ring to get momentum before taking flight but Mundo follows him and clotheslines him over the other the top rope instead. Mundo tries to dive but Fenix catches him with a kick to the head before he can even make it through the ropes.
The Aztec drums begin to beat, informing us there are 5 seconds to the next entrant. This actually works really well as far as building up anticipation.
Entrant #3 is Mr. Cisco, a guilty pleasure of mine. Striker informs us that Cisco's nickname within The Crew is Rusty Screwdriver. With much trepidation, I looked that up in Urban Dictionary and... it's not as bad as I feared. It's pretty disgusting, but not bad enough to make me gag.
Flurries of punches to both Fenix and Mundo's heads, followed by a senton for each, which Cisco apparently calls Shawshank Redemption. Superkick takes Mundo out of the ring, then Cisco goes for some sort of crucifix or backslide on Fenix, but Fenix picks him up in Fireman's Carry position and then runs all the way across the ring, slamming Cisco headfirst into the top turnbuckle in what somebody damn sure needs to immediately steal as their new finishing move, because that looked brutal. Fenix tosses him off his back, hits a standing moonsault, then makes way for Johnny Mundo to hit End of the World which is good for a three count and the first elimination of the night. Thanks for coming Mr. Cisco.
Fenix tries to surprise Johnny Mundo with a schoolboy but it's only good for two. They exchange punches and then hit simultaneous head kicks, knocking each other out as we cut to what I believe might be the first ever commercial break during a match since the show started.
Back from commercial, the drums are beating for the next entrant, which turns out to be King Cuerno. He slinks into the ring but before we can get a proper threeway standoff, Fenix immediately chops Mundo, because fuck that guy. Cuerno dodges a clothesline from Fenix and then ducks a superkick which catches Mundo instead. Cuerno ducks another kick and hits a longjump flying forearm on Fenix and double knees to the face for Mundo. Monkeyflip on Fenix sends him sliding across the ring as Cuerno nocks his bow. Arrow of Death (which Vampiro calls the Arrow from the Depths of Hell this week) targets Mundo. Whatever it's called, it's a thing of speed and beauty.
Cuerno tries to slink back in but Fenix kicks him in the head, then takes him out with a somersault dive from the top to the floor as the drums begin to beat, signifying the arrival of the Asphault Asskicker, Son of Havoc, who Striker notes rode to The Temple on a CP Customs bike. For those not in the know, CP Customs is the motorcycle fabrication business operated by 6 time former WCW and WWE tag team champion Chuck Palumbo. (Random story time: A friend of a friend provided a motorcycle for Palumbo to ride to the ring during a WWE house show. They gave him front row seats for his entire family in trade. As his youngest daughter was only 18 months old, she didn't require a seat, so they called my sister down to take it. CM Punk noted her straight edge markings (which were legit, not just for show), threw her his t-shirt before his match (with Elijah Burke for the ECW championship) and then came over and talked to her briefly after the match. Slightly more impressive than the last time wrestling happened in that building and I got Dustin Rhodes' autograph and a hot pink Sting digital watch.)
Son of Havoc enters the ring with springboard double boots to Mundo's back. Mundo objects to Havoc's showboating and grabs him by the beard. He attempts to toss him out of the ring but Havoc bounces headfirst off the top rope and catches Mundo with a back elbow, then tosses Mundo out with a headscissors.
Springboard back handspring takes out all three of the other men. I'm not entire sure if it was planned or good bad timing, but Havoc's head and shoulders touched the top rope, as if he was rolling over it. The drums begin to beat again as Havoc jaws at the crowd about how awesome he is, though they don't seem to be disagreeing at all.
Pimpinela Escarlata is contestant number 6 and doesn't hesitate to come on down, starting with a dropkick for Son of Havoc. Pimpi chops Fenix and grabs his hand, then leapfrogs King Cuerno and goes old school but decides to spare Fenix and leaps off to catch Cuerno with an armdrag, followed by a double seated springboard armdrag for both Cuerno and Fenix. Escarlata ducks a slap from Fenix and catches him with the kiss, then corners the referee. Cuerno breaks up a potential love match with a kick, but ends up eating a dropkick from Pimpinela. Striker compliments the height of the dropkick, noting Escarlata is 6'3", but my pause button shows me that he didn't even clear the top rope. Cuero clears the ring as the drums begin beating again.
#7 is Prince Puma who goes straight after Johnny Mundo with big punches and a European uppercut, followed by a dropkick that gets about double the air as Pimpinella. More punches and kicks for Mundo, then Puma nails a Lionsault that gets insane air but is only good for two. Mundo finally gets an advantage catching Puma with a boot off of a corner charge but Fenix immediately drops the LA native with a kick to the back of the head, followed by a springboard leg drop shades of Black Bart's Trash Compactor. (Random Happy Fact: Black Bart is still alive. He's probably best known for his involvement in the Desperados storyline in early '90s WCW that was so stupid that Stan Hanson fled the country to avoid it. Though Hanson wrestled for another decade, he never had another match on American soil. (Also, hey, Stan Hanson is still alive!))
The drums beat again as Striker notes Angela Fong positioned in the crowd. #8 is Ivelisse, who enters the ring with a hurricanrana on King Cuerno. Fenix elevates her over the top but she lands on the apron and kicks him in the head, followed by a springboard tornado DDT. Pimpinella Escarlata teases a kiss on Ivelisse but then casts her aside and rushes across the ring for King Cuerno instead. Cuerno avoids the kiss courtesy of a standing dropkick, then wags his finger at Pimpi, warning him not to try it again. Kick to the Escarlata's back by Cuerno who then ducks a spin kick from Ivelisse which catches Pimpi instead. Son of Havoc then comes off the top with a Shooting Star Press to eliminate Pimpinella. I'd like to take a moment to note they have a woman and a transvestite in this match at the same time and both are being treated more seriously then half of the WWE's traditional male roster.
Havoc tries to celebrate on the turnbuckle but gets chucked out of the ring by King Cuerno who grabs Ivelisse by the hair as the drums start up again. Ivelisse is positioned perfectly to kick Cuerno in the balls (which is legal in this match) but instead drops him with a kick to the thigh and another to the head as Drago makes his way to the ring.
Ivelisse goes for Drago but he sweeps her leg, then catches Son of Havoc with a dropkick. Fenix tries to get a piece of Drago but receives kicks of his own, followed by the floating spinning Drago DDT. My research informs me that Drago was formerly known as Gato Eveready and wore a costume that Power Rangers' enemies would laugh at. Apparently his name in AAA is... Alan. I wonder which character he prefers?
Anyway, Drago's DDT only gets two because Johnny Mundo is a fucking idiot and breaks up the pin. Drago pays him back with a tilt-a-whirl DDT but only gets two, though it's because Mundo kicked out rather than anyone being stupid enough to stop an elimination. Puma misses a Superman punch on Drago, then misses a spinning heel kick, then doesn't miss the mat as Drago dumps him on his head with a reverse Frankensteiner.
King Cuerno, who's been simply sitting in the corner waiting for an opening, drops Drago with an enzuigiri then lifts him up for the Thrill of the Hunt, but Ivelisse interrupts with a kick to the gut. Cuerno takes offense to this and nails Ivelisse with the driver instead, a bit awkwardly as if he was expecting her to weigh the same as the men. Ivelisse becomes the third person eliminated from Aztec Warfare, just in time for the entrance of Bael who somehow gets a title shot despite never actually having a match yet in Lucha Underground.
Bael attacks Johnny Mundo on the floor as Drago tosses King Cuerno out the other side, then dodges a flying Fenix who takes out Cuerno instead. Puma takes the fight to Bael as Drago nails King Cuerno and Fenix with a corkscrew off the top rope. There are currently 7 luchadores alive in this match, none of which are in the ring.
Prince Puma and Son of Havoc make it back in and go toe to toe as Bael sneaks back in. Back and forth between the two masked men until Puma nails a huge Superman punch. A kick to the back of the head floors Son of Havoc, allowing Puma to get the pin for our fourth elimination. Puma feels lonely celebrating in the ring so he meets up with his old friend Johnny Mundo by way of a corkscrew leap over the top as the drums begin to pound once more.
#11 is Cortez Castro, joining his Crew mate Bael. Castro goes after Mundo but is interrupted by Puma as Striker notes that if Castro & Bael can survive until Big Ryck's entrance, Ryck should have a huge advantage in the match. Bael works over Johnny Mundo in the ropes while Castro rocks Prince Puma with a forearm and then a big gutwrench suplex. They continue to lay in the punches while King Cuerno nails Drago with a searing basement dropkick out on the floor.
Entrant #12 is Ricky Mandel. Striker and Vampiro do a good job of taking him seriously, which I commend them for because I certainly don't give a shit. Mandel goes straight for Cortez Castro, taking him down with a dropkick. The action goes a little crazy at this point, but the definite highlight was Puma hitting a Northern Lights Suplex on Bael then keeping it locked in, rolling over, and hitting a vertical suplex that was damn near a jackhammer, followed immediately by the standing Shooting Star Press which is good for the elimination. Not to be outdone, Johnny Mundo nails Cortez Castro with a series of kicks and knees, ending with a big running knee that eliminates Castro before his boy Bael can even make it to the back.
Just in time to be disappointed by his lackeys, Big Ryck is our thirteenth entrant. Bael and Castro try to make excuses but Ryck shoves them both down and slides into the ring, going after Mundo as we cut to commercial.
We come back to find Prince Puma, Johnny Mundo and... why the hell is Ricky Mandel still in this match? Mr Cisco didn't even last 90 seconds but we're supposed to believe this jabroni has a shot? Big Ryck comes in and drops Johnny Mundo with a clothesline. Puma goes down to a clothesline as well. Ryck has a clothesline for Ricky Mandel also and... WHY THE HELL IS RICKY MANDEL THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SURVIVE A BIG RYCK CLOTHESLINE? Ryck seems to be wondering the same thing, murdering the punk ass upstart with the Book of Eziekal (which has yet to receive a name in this federation) for a resounding elimination.
"Uranage, Rock Bottom, call it what you will. I think you call Ricky Mandel a cab because he's eliminated." Fuck that. Let him walk.
Drago tries to take Ryck out with kicks but Ryck puts a stop to that with a big knee, followed by the gorilla press that Vampiro likes to call the 'Zilla Press. Before Ryck can toss Drago, though, King Cuerno negotiates an exchange. Ryck sort of lobs Drago over to Cuerno who impressively catches him in fireman's carry position, allowing him to hit the Thrill of the Hunt to eliminate everyone's favorite lizard impersonator. Mundo & Cuerno are tied at 2 eliminations each.
Johnny Mundo can't stand sharing the spotlight so he ties Cuerno up with a crucifix which is good for the surprise elimination. The third of the night for Cuerno.
Pentagon Jr is entrant #14. He takes out Mundo, Puma, and Fenix in succession with clotheslines. Noticing Big Ryck is the only man left standing, he goes for a clothesline but ends up in a full nelson. Mundo and Puma go for a double superkick but Pentagon Jr ducks and Big Ryck eats the boots instead. Pentagon Jr drops both faces with superkicks of his own. Fenix eats a superkick as well and Wikipedia just informes me that Pentagon & Fenix are actually brothers and second generation wrestlers. Tanahashi (sp?) takes out Mundo. Puma tries to get a sneak attack in and lands a kick but his 'rana attempt is foiled as Pentagon powerbombs Puma onto Pentagon's knee. "He just drove his spine through his navel cavity!" Fenix then eats a massively elevated powerbomb as well, but Big Ryck stupidly breaks up the pin immediately. Mundo tries to steal the pin on Fenix while Ryck beats on Pentagon but only gets two.
The next countdown brings out Super Fly as contestant #15. He comes in by way of a top rope hurricanrana on Pentagon Jr but then gets caught by Prince Puma who holds him in place for Johnny Mundo, because Puma is Lucha Underground's equivalent of Sting, in that he's stupid enough to trust someone despite having been screwed over by them on multiple occasions. Naturally, Super Fly slips out and Mundo kicks Puma instead. Dropkick sends Johnny out of the ring and then a headscissors take down scores on Fenix.
Big Ryck finally puts a stop to the blue man's momentum with a kick to the gut. He tries to Irish whip Super Fly but Super Fly is smart enough to know what's going to happen if he bounces, so he opts to take his leave by way of a suicide dive onto Pentagon Jr. Super Fly isn't smart enough to stay on the floor, however, so he ends up trapped in the corner, being peppered with Big Ryck's hambone-sized fists. Mundo tries to surprise Ryck with a Sunset Flip but Ryck rolls through and just pancakes him with a forearm to the skull. "I love that," Vampiro informs us. "I wish Ryck would punch him in the face like six more times." I to too, Vamp. I do too.
Puma hops on Big Ryck's back for an impromptu horsey ride as the drums sound off once more. Chavo Guerrero is #16 and makes his way to the ring with a chair in hand. It's nice to know someone was paying attention and understood the implications of the whole no disqualification stipulation. Chavo enters the ring, wallops Super Fly with an unprotected chairshot to the skull and then immediately pins him for the elimination. The second the ref's hand strikes the mat a third time, Chavo gets up and grabs his amigo the chair again. Pentagon celebrates his buddy's victory and they hive five, then Chavo smashes Pentagon with a chairshot (much to Vampiro's delight) and pins him as well. Looks like the Diesel push is going to Chavo, with two eliminations in the span of a minute. Chavo lets go of the leg and is starting back for his chair before the referee's hand even makes it to the mat for the third count.
Chavo takes a powder to the floor but Johnny Mundo follows him out and takes a chairshot to the ribs for his trouble. Meanwhile, Big Ryck crushes Fenix in the corner with an avalanche splash. The countdown hits 0 as Stryker wonders who's next. "I don't see anybody," Vampiro observes, but Mascarita Sagrada finally makes it past the people so that the camera can pick him up. Cut to commercial.
Sagrada enters by way of a flying cross body to Chavo, then his a springboard variation of the same move. Chavo pie faces him but then gets tossed out via head scissors. Fenix has no shame and goes straight for the mini, kicking him in the head and then chopping him, but Mascarita comes back with an armdrag, followed by a tilt-a-whirl head scissors. Hurricanrana sends Fenix flying over the top, while Mascarita lands on the apron. He tries to dive off onto Fenix but Fenix completely fucking murders him with a drop kick in midair, ricocheting him to the floor. That had to hurt.
Sexy Star is up next. She goes straight for Chavo Guerrero, landing a wheelbarrow arm drag. Chavo tries to suplex her to the floor but Star lands on the apron and mafia kicks Chavo to the floor, then somersaults off onto him. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Big Ryck is standing around alone as the human marshmallow, Mascarita Sagrada sneaks in behind him. Sagrada dodges clotheslines and lands kicks but eventually gets caught. Ryck tries to lift him up but Mascarita slides down into a sunset flip attempt. Ryck grabs him by the head and lifts him back up but Sagrada kicks off and taunts Ryck. Ryck takes the bait and pulverizes the mini with a clothesline which eliminates him from the chase.
#19 is El Mariachi Loco, who Strike reminds us was washing dishes down the street from the temple until a few weeks ago. Springboard drop kick from Mariachi discombobulates the big man. He then springboards off of Ryck's back to the top rope and goes for a moonsault. He misses but lands on his feet, then rolls backward into a wheelbarrow from Fenix which he turns into an armdrag. Mariachi drops Fenix with a spinning heel kick, then goes toe to toe with Mundo. A corkscrew armdrag finally sends Mundo back to the concrete. Puma tries to get the jump on the dishwasher but he dodges, lands several kicks and chops, then superkick's Puma's tonsils into the front row. He dances to celebrate but eats a massive clothesline from Ryck. The drums beat down to signify our final entrant, which we know from the last episode will be Mils Muertes.
Muertes takes down Mundo with a big punch, then spears Puma out of his boots. Mariachi tries to get the jump on him with a springboard cross body but Muertes simply punches him in the face in mid-air. Flatliner kills El Mariachi Loco but before Muertes can go for the pin, Fenix attempts to springboard into the ring only to also be punches in the face mid-air. Mariachi is still dead enough for Muertes to get the pin, so he's eliminated. The two big men go toe to toe for the first time. Mils Muertes tries a shoulder block first, but Big Ryck barely flinches. Ryck tries a shoulder block of his own to the same effect. They start to throw bombs but are immediately jumped by every other competitor remaining in the match.
Things get chaotic at this point, but Mundo lands the springboard split-legged moonsault formerly known as End of Days on Big Ryck. Chavo grabs Mundo before he has a chance to try a pin, chucking him out of the ring. Prince Puma hits a running Shooting Star Press on Ryck but Chavo also grabs him and chucks him, wanting to take the pinfall himself. Chavo goes for the pin but Fenix lands the 450 splash and both of them pile on Big Ryck for the pin and the elimination.
Chavo remembers his luck with the steal chair earlier, grabbing it and giving Mundo yet another shot to the ribs, followed by a shot to the head for Fenix. Chavo eliminates Fenix, moving into a tie for first place with three eliminations.
Sexy Star has her eye on Chavo again and pulls off her gloves in anticipation of the fight. Chavo tries to feint then throw a chairshot but Sexy catches him in the face with a dropkick. She lights into Guerrero with a flurry of kicks but he finally has enough and picks her up, World's Strongest Slamming her into the steel chair. Chavo drapes the chair across her head and then steps on it. He then climbs up top, looking to dive off onto the chair, but is shoves off by the returning Blue Demon. Demon lays into Chavo with punches, then Sexy Star splatters his brains with the chair and gets the pin for the elimination. Demon yells at Chavo in Spanish, informing him that he's not done with him yet.
We're down to four competitors. Johnny Mundo, Prince Puma, Mils Muertes, and Sexy Star, and all four are in the ring as we cut to another commercial break.
We're back with a four way standoff. Muertes finally charges Star but she Matrixes and kicks him in the gut. Mils grabs her by the hair but this immediately pulls Mundo and Puma into action. Kicks and punches, then a double superkick drops Muertes. Star immediately his a headscissors on Mundo, then offers one to Puma as well. She's pumped up until Mils Muertes hits her with a spear that carries her a good 5' across the ring, drawing the next elimination.
Mundo and Muertes brawl in the corner until Muertes pushes him off. Johnny makes to charge right back in but Puma nails him with a Zig Zag, which Striker calls. Puma tries to pummel Muertes but the big man finally has enough and tosses him over the top. Puma lands on his feet and tries to kick Muertes, but gets caught. Muertes rocks him with a big punch, then grabs his other leg. Puma is effectively sitting on the middle rope, with his torso outside of the ring, as Muertes holds both of his feet. This causes Johnny Mundo to dive to the outside, slamming Puma's back into the apron in what looked like a brutal spot.
Mundo goes after Muertes and ends up in superplex position. Muertes tries to fight off but Puma runs over and they land a double superplex. Puma hits his GTS-into-a-gut-punt maneuver on Mundo, then trades punches with Muertes. Puma starts to get some momentum but Catrina grabs his foot, distracting him. Puma responds by grabbing Catrina by the hair and pulling her up to the apron. He goes to slap her but Muertes charges in. Puma ducks but Muertes pulls up short, narrowly missing punching his mistress. Mundo goes for a springboard kick on Muertes who ducks, causing Catrina to take the kick to the back of the head, knocking her out on the floor.
Muertes is straight up pissed off as Mundo tries to play it off as an accident, despite having accidentally kicked more people in this match than on purpose. Mils grabs him by the throat but is stopped courtesy of double flying knees from Puma. Puma motions for Mundo who hits a springboard 450, followed by the same move from Puma, and they double pin Muertes for the elimination. Muertes no sells his very first loss, more concerned with the well being of Catrina, who he carries way from the ring.
Striker notes that we're down to the two men who participated in Lucha Underground's very first main event. Now they're competing to be the first ever Lucha Underground champion.
Puma ducks a clothesline and hits his double back handspring into a head scissors takedown. Dropkick takes Mundo down again. Spinning kick takes Mundo down for a third time. Striker calls the moves in rapid fire, then calls on Vampiro to help him out. "I'm sorry, dude. I'm watching the match." Puma goes for a pinfall but only gets two.
Rolling Single Leg Boston Crab from Johnny Mundo has Prince Puma in trouble, but Puma manages to reach the ropes. Mundo tries for a springboard kick but Puma shoves him out to the floor. Both men end up on the top turnbuckle and Puma nails Mundo with the C4 but only gets two.
Puma motions for the 450 but Mundo grabs his leg before he can ascend the ropes. Puma stomps him off but Mundo grabs him again. Puma finally scales the ropes but Mundo catches him and hammers away. Reverse hurricanrana drills Puma into the mat. Mundo then hits End of the World but Puma kicks out at two!
Mundo looks to be going for a C4 of his own but Puma crotches him on the top rope. A kick to the head sends Mundo crashing down in perfect position. Puma measures him and lands the 630 splash to become the very first Lucha Underground champion!
It's worth noting that the canvas tore earlier in the match and progressively got worse over time. The pinfall happened right on the split, which made for a nice victory. Afterward, Mundo shook Puma's hand and Konnan came down to celebrate with his protege.
Absolutely fantastic match. I'm not sure if El Ray will put it up on YouTube like they've done with previous shows, since there was only the one match, but it's definitely worth watching it through whatever means you can manage.
Yet another outstanding episode of a show that has yet to have a bad episode. At this point in time, Lucha Underground & NXT are fulfilling all of my wrestling needs. I haven't seen tonight's TNA debut yet, and haven't read any reviews, but if it's at all watchable, that's only icing on the cake. Promote this thread! | | Matt Tracker
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| #2 Posted on 8.1.15 1757.42 Reposted on: 8.1.22 1759.01 | A hero's work recapping this episode. Havoc's trapezius spring was amazing. I rewound it half a dozen times. And Pentagon's powerbomb backbreaker followed by a flipping flapjack powerbomb is just MADNESS.
Kudos to Star's Ms. Marvel gear too.
An amazing spectacle all around. An amazing hour of wrestling. | OndaGrande
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| #3 Posted on 11.1.15 1455.15 Reposted on: 11.1.22 1456.46 | Nice review. I'm booked in LA for a pair of shows in a couple weeks so I've got someone getting me into the Sunday taping. | Cerebus
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| #4 Posted on 11.1.15 1650.21 Reposted on: 11.1.22 1656.46 | I've been behind on the wrestling all week. I watched TNA live when it was on, but I just watched this last night and I am gonna try to get through WK9 tonight since there's nothing on that matters except Brooklyn Nine Nine.
I almost feel bad for Son of Havok. Those first shows he was on made him look pretty bad, but the last two fucking made him a star. Damn, that dude's good! He needs to stay far away from the midget and fighting women, cause he is better than that crap.Has he been in the WWE or somewhere bigger than this? If not, why not?
Why was Blue Demon kept off TV for so long? Did he have visa problems or was he legit hurt for a set of tapings. Why did they have him do a run in, instead of making him a surprise entrant to the match? The way the run in played out looks like he was backstage watching Chavo beat the shit out of everyone with a chair, then he comes in once Chavo gets knocked around a little.
Chavo looked like the smartest guy in that match and Vampiro even called him on it by saying that only Chavo remembered it as being a no disqualifications match. Kinda surprised they didn't have Big Ryck come out with a chair or a chain or something.
It was nice to see everyone get a spotlight. Every person in the match got a moment, unlike most matches like this where you get the inevitable jobbers who come out only to get tossed out just as quickly.
One bad thing about these two shows is that it shows everyone who is currently working for them. You had the same 20 people working both shows with no surprises. How do you do a battle royale without at least one surprise entrant? That felt weird to me. | OndaGrande
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| #5 Posted on 11.1.15 1718.50 Reposted on: 11.1.22 1719.59 | "Son of Havoc"is MDogg Matt Cross, he was on the last incarnation of WWE Tough Enough but otherwise has been a staple of mid-west based indy wrestling since then. | InVerse
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| #6 Posted on 11.1.15 1741.44 Reposted on: 11.1.22 1742.20 | Originally posted by Cerebus Has he been in the WWE or somewhere bigger than this? If not, why not?
He was on the Stone Cold Steve Austin hosted season of Tough Enough but was the second person eliminated. Austin claimed he had no personality. Ivelisse actually lasted a month longer than he did that season, though she had to withdraw due to injury. Other than that, he was on Wrestling Society X and was briefly in Ring of Honor but has mostly floated all over the indies.
Originally posted by Cerebus One bad thing about these two shows is that it shows everyone who is currently working for them. You had the same 20 people working both shows with no surprises.
There are a few people on the roster who have yet to appear on TV. Cage was given a promo video that made him look damn good, but he hasn't appeared on the show yet. There are also at least 2 other people on the roster who haven't appeared and at least 2 more who were brought in for the next set of TV tapings that are about to take place.
According to Wikipedia, there are currently 25 men on the roster. Factoring in the two women who competed that means there are seven men who didn't compete in either of the ten man matches or in Aztec Warfare.
Two of them are Blue Demon (who did appear but didn't wrestle) and Cage. One is Famous B who Dario Cueto must just really not like. Of the other 5, two of them were added to the roster after the initial set of TV tapings, which means we have 3 men left to make their debuts in the next few weeks.
One is the aforementioned Cage, whom we've seen a video about. One is another Tough Enough V alumni. And the third is someone anyone who watches American wrestling beyond WWE will be familiar with. I haven't ready any spoilers about the tapings that have taken place but I suspect he'll be thrown directly in with the main event players, if not straight into a title match.
Of the two that were signed for the second set of tapings, one is a AAA guy I know nothing about, but whom is probably friends with Justin Gabriel and the other isn't important enough to have a Wikipedia entry. Don't let that last bit of info get you down, though, because Mr. Cisco doesn't have a Wikipedia entry either and I'd probably rank him in my LU top give, alongside Drago, Chavo, Son of Havoc and somebody else that I don't know because I was only going to do a top three but couldn't decide between Chavo & Havoc.
So Lucha Underground has 25 men on the roster, 27 if you factor in that the women are allowed to go toe to toe with the men. TNA has 37 men (I'm not counting the Knock Outs because, at least on Spike, they aren't allowed to wrestle the men.) and WWE has 53. But Lucha Underground only has an hour a week to fill whereas WWE has three times that just on Monday alone. NXT has 27 men, ten of which are effectively jobbers. I think Lucha Underground is doing just fine as far as roster size goes.
As for surprises, the more you do surprises, the less surprising they become. I've heard reports that the WWE is wanting to move away from surprise Royal Rumble entrants because of that. In this case, it doesn't really make sense to give a title shot to someone who's never competed in the company before. One could argue that Ivelisse, Sexy Star, and Mascarita Sagrada were all surprise entrants, even though they weren't treated as such. I do agree that Blue Demon should have been an entrant. It would have made far more sense and probably generated a bigger pop if he'd gotten an entrance as Chavo was wailing away at everyone. If Famous B can be left out of the match, so can Ricky Mandel. But I'm going to let it slide because this is the very first booking mistake I've seen from the company and it was pretty mild in comparison to how many things they did right in that match. | Matt Tracker
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| #7 Posted on 11.1.15 1800.16 Reposted on: 11.1.22 1800.46 | I don't remember seeing Bael before this match, but he didn't do much. | thecubsfan
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| #8 Posted on 11.1.15 2208.45 Reposted on: 11.1.22 2208.45 | These - all the episodes that have aired so far and will air until the end of the month - are all part of one set of tapings. They scheduled them on weekends, and they got around to scheduling them very late, so some of people appearing/disappearing had to do with them taking previously agreeing to other bookings they couldn't get out of it.
20 person matches do expose the limits of the roster, but most of their shows seem to be featuring 8-12 people a week. The more people they add, the less some people get on every week and they've been pretty good at that. They're obviously looking to add people going into the next set of tapings (next weekend) and it's going to be tricky to work everyone in.
(Still, it would've been a fun place for a random guy from AAA just to debut.)
One is another Tough Enough V alumni.
Had a concussion in a dark match versus King Cuerno and it seemed like they just had him sit out the rest of the shows, but he was still around. (You could briefly spot him in the Mil Muertes video package, from a dark match before he was hurt.)
One is Famous B who Dario Cueto must just really not like.
Ivelisse got Famous B's spot - she wasn't in the previous episodes's two 10 person matches and he was. That was meant to be a surprise - they did a Twitter angle with her and Dario arguing about it, except it's a Twitter angle so know knew/cared.
And the third is someone anyone who watches American wrestling beyond WWE will be familiar with.
Did not actually make air, worked some dark match and there were some contractual problems. He was definitely around - he posted photos with Pimpi! - so it's possible they may have simply done vignettes with him.
one is a AAA guy I know nothing about, but whom is probably friends with Justin Gabriel and the other isn't important enough to have a Wikipedia entry.
There's actually 3 guys fitting this - they all debut next week, and I guess one didn't get listed on the page - but they weren't flown in for this taping. The original plan was for Drago/Fenix/Pentagon/Demon/Sexy/Cuerno to be the only AAA guys in this first season (all 40 episodes), but they changed plans and started adding more people. Not everyone at once, because you can't really dump in 60 people at once, so shuttling people in and out of the lesser spots.
Anyway, again, it would've been cool if they showed up. The downside is even on wikiepdia you don't know who these people are, so just throwing them out there without an introduction would've been a tough start. I agree with InVerse's point.
Did he have visa problems or was he legit hurt for a set of tapings. Why did they have him do a run in, instead of making him a surprise entrant to the match?
Demon's actually a US citizen now. I believe he did hurt his knee in his match with Chavo, but I think it's more that they wanted Chavo to be built up more as a heel before Demon got his revenge. (Also, the idea of Demon is a good fit for this but the reality is not so much.)
I don't remember seeing Bael before this match, but he didn't do much.
It's easy not to remember him. He was the masked guy who ran in on the ladder match, then was just hanging out with Cisco & Castro the next week with no explanation. They've done really good character work with most everyone but that one slipped thru. | PowerPB13
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| #9 Posted on 12.1.15 0804.14 Reposted on: 12.1.22 0804.59 | Bael is B-Boy on the indies; he was on Wrestling Society X as well. | InVerse
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| #10 Posted on 12.1.15 1026.56 Reposted on: 12.1.22 1029.01 | Originally posted by thecubsfan
I don't remember seeing Bael before this match, but he didn't do much.
It's easy not to remember him. He was the masked guy who ran in on the ladder match, then was just hanging out with Cisco & Castro the next week with no explanation. They've done really good character work with most everyone but that one slipped thru.
Despite my claim to the contrary in the recap, this wasn't Bael's debut match. He was in the battle royal as well. He was murdered by Mils Muertes.
Speaking of good booking, can we reflect on the fact that Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco, and Bael somehow come across as a legitimately dangerous heel faction despite not having won a single match thus far? | griff
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| #11 Posted on 15.1.15 0509.39 Reposted on: 15.1.22 0509.57 | Great review, thank you.
I just caught this episode and thought it was fantastic. Fenix particularly impressed me, bumping like a champion throughout. A really well booked match which was an improvement on the Rumble concept. I'll definitely be catching more. | ALL ORIGINAL POSTS IN THIS THREAD ARE NOW AVAILABLE |
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