Lucha Underground Episode 35: Fuel to the Fire Review

ER: Loved Pentagon meeting with his Master in the dojo, but really this Master sounds like a tough customer. You think he would be more unhappy with his slave looking like such a weenie against Sexy Star and a tubby commentator.

1. The Mack vs. Cage

ER: Oh man Striker calls Mack "lucha Ron Funches". That's awesome. Funches is a huge wrestling fan so I bet that tickled him. And this match was awesome. Two big guys who can move, simultaneously working a fast spot match and a power offense match. Right out the gate they slam into each other with double clotheslines and it makes this crazy sound, just two slabs of meat slamming into each other (oh man picture Kal Rudman saying a sentence like that...). All their power moves looked great, Cage holding a long vertical suplex, Mack doing a running vertical suplex, Mack hitting a nasty shin kick to Cage's jaw, Cage laying Mack the fuck out with his awesome discus clothesline (I've been critical of Cage in the past, but his discus clothesline ALWAYS looks great). These guys have been perfect foils for each other in LU, and they left me wishing the match was twice as long. This was about as much fun as you can cram into 5 minutes.

PAS: Yeah this was an awesome short Nitro match, I loved them coming out and slamming each other with clobbering lariats early. I have no problem with this going short as it was clearly setting up a big Ultimo Lucha match, the show is much more like a pre-PPV Raw then it ever was before, although it is a fine pre-PPV Raw.

ER: Vampiro was a bit too scripted in the Pentagon interview, but overall I liked it. I liked the humble approach Vampiro attempted to take, and liked the subtle reveal that Pentagon has the psychic power to magically place his chair back in a seated position.

2. Mil Muertes vs. Son of Havoc

ER: Damn, Muertes waiting in the ring and freaking Son of Havoc gets his entrance shown?? That shouldn't be. And I have no godly reason why they felt the need to make Havoc look so strong against Muertes. They needed to give Havoc a knee injury, and then have him distracted by taking out the Disciples of Death, and THEN Muertes was able to gain an advantage over him. It's structured really poorly as Havoc goes on his big offensive run after getting powerbombed meanly on the announce table and thrown through dozens of ringside chairs. I don't dislike Havoc, and I like him as part of their trios. But Muertes needed to just steamroll him here. What's even more odd is it was never pushed as Havoc having a chance. Striker said once that it would be maybe the biggest upset in LU, but even when Havoc was controlling things they were talking about how Muertes was going on to face Puma at Ultima Lucha. So we have Havoc looking really strong against Muertes but not really getting credit for it, and your big monster working underneath in a match against him. It just did not make sense to me.

PAS: It does seem weird that Havoc has gone from a jobber to a guy getting so much offense against the biggest killer in the fed. Muertes is really good at working in these type of matches killing flyers and I though this had some cool moments, but this did need to be closer to the second Fenix v. Muertes match.

ER: Didn't see the Blue Demon heel turn coming but that makes me infinitely more interested in Demon than I've ever been. So that counts for something.

3. Albert El Patron, Aerostar, Drago & Sexy Star vs. Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, Super Fly & Hernandez

ER: Man this fed is good at multi mans. This had everything you could possibly want, with Alberto looking like a big deal, Aerostar hitting this loony springboard reverse frog splash type thing to the floor....I mean good lord it looked weird and awesome. Drago brains himself on a tornillo, Sexy Star hits her own tornillo after setting it up for what I can only guess was several minutes edited down to still feel too long. Evans bumped all over the place in equally humorous and awesome fashion, and then was outbumped by Super Fly who took a big hiptoss over the top to the floor. Splat. Finish got a little silly with Evans having to move himself away from the ropes on the Patron armbar to stay in it longer, and then Mundo beating Sexy Star by holding the tights. The level of protection SS gets in this fed is flat out absurd.

PAS: This is the perfect kind of match to set up a big show, throw everyone in the ring and let them go after each other. I did think parts of this looked bad, especially the Sexy Star parts. Jack Evans is a loon and just takes everything in the worst way. Aerostar is a guy with a bunch of really pretty dives, although I did wish we got to see him and Super Fly go at it a bit, I know their feud isn't LU canon or anything, but I did love stuff like Piper and Valentine going after each other in Royal Rumbles.

ER: I think the Pentagon beatdown crossed a line for me. Not a moral line, but more just taking something so far that it gets eyeroll-y. Him ambushing Vampiro was awesome, kicking him hard in the back of the head, kicking him around at ringside. But then he gets a can that actually says "GASOLINE" all around it (I imagine he also keeps his money in burlap sacks with $$$ printed on the side) and douses Vampiro with it, threatening to light him on fire. Can you imagine if somebody did this in Vince Russo WCW? It would be getting mocked to this day. I really don't see how this is any less stupid than Tank Abbott holding a knife to Big Al's throat and threatening to kill him. The beatdown on Vampiro looked SOOOO good. But threatening to light a man on fire? My god that is just so stupid. Several weeks ago Pentagon went after Melissa Santos and it was shocking, over the line and within the realm of believability. It made Pentagon come off like not only a loose cannon, but a real scumbag, and a man with no code who is completely unpredictable. Now I know this promotion is clearly not going for believability. They have ghosts and the living dead and a dragon, and - maybe the most unbelievable thing possible - they attempt to make Sexy Star appear like a credible pro wrestler. But to expect anybody to get emotionally invested in a real person getting lit on fire in front of an audience...that's just so silly. At this point why didn't Pentagon just drop an anvil on Vampiro's head?

PAS: This fed does a bunch of goofy shit which irritates me, but honestly lighting a guy on fire is part of the narrative world of pro wrestling. This wasn't that far off from the Sheik, Lawler and virtually the same as the kind of stuff that they do in Big Japan. As a crazy threat it was fine, and I did like the out of nowhere attack. I have way more problems with all the goofy Black Lotus stuff then I did with this.


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