Uprising: Lucha Libre Workrate Report, 9/22/13

Another week of Paid Programming late Saturday night lucha libre that apparently even Cubsfan was not aware of. I'd be pretty stunned if it had been on his radar, as these matches also appear to be from a 6/26/09 show and are now airing on a local paid time slot. Neither of the matches on this show even have a hint of actual lucha, soooo...

1. Rain vs. Cheerleader Melissa

I vaguely remember Rain from her cup of coffee with AAA (which was probably right around the time this show actually took place) and I've always been a big Cheerleader Melissa fan (and pretty sure I saw most of her earliest matches live). Both women seem pretty familiar with each other so it's possible they worked each other a few times in Shimmer. Rain works a decent heel schtick for the crowd, making Kevin McCallister faces whenever Melissa would kick out of a pin. Rain also brings a real 2010 indy lucha feel to things when she breaks out a lungblower. Crowd was way into Melissa here, especially her rapid fire pump kicks in the corner. This was a perfectly fine womens match. Not much drama as things were somewhat rushed through, but comparable to something like Mona vs. Little Jeanie from Worldwide.

2. Gangrel vs. Mr. Wrestling IV

I...can't imagine a crowd that appears to be 90% hispanic and attending a show billed as lucha libre getting too into MW4's butt wiggling move escapes, but then again I can't see most crowds being too into it. This match is particularly anal-centric with 4 wiggling his butt constantly at the crowd, patting his butt after move breaks, really obnoxious stuff. He's the tecnico here but he presents ass here more often than any exotico rudo I've ever seen, so his desired reaction falls pretty flat. Once we get past the interminable 7 minute long feeling out process we only have a couple minutes of actual match beyond that, which was plenty good. I am not a man opposed to bullshit feeling out processes in matches. Fucking John Tatum is one of my favorite workers for gods sake! But it has to be a brand of bullshit that I actually am amused by. Mr. Wrestling IV's bullshit is really hacky and obnoxious and counter-productive.