Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 30: Bloodlines

1. Paul London/Mala Suerte/Saltador vs. Ricky Mandel/Taya/PJ Black

ER: This is just the goofy mess it should have been. Rabbit Tribe kept trying a bunch of silly double teams, with some of them working and some not (which, due to their gimmick, some of their stuff really shouldn't work all the time), but they're approaching it the right way. I usually dislike the "man wrestler turned on by woman wrestler" spots, but I was amused by London diving to get in the way of a potential Taya bronco buster. Maybe it just felt like he fully committed to the spot, really gleefully wanting it. So I suppose charm and committment is the key to making assault funny! I dug Jack Evans' sign ("If I was in the match we would have won by now") and Mala Suerte hits a kind of tornillo dive from the apron over the ringpost. This was fine.

TL: Wait, did Striker seriously say about Paul London, “He took the pill that made him bigger?” Like, he accused him of doing steroids or something? And then he immediately redeems himself by dropping WINK MARTINDALE’S name, which I know popped Eric like it did me. Just wait till I help turn SC into a “High Rollers” blog. We’re really close to becoming a Supermarket Sweep blog, anyways. On to the match, which is indeed a Rabbit Tribe trios match. The aforementioned Taya corner spot sure is something. Jack Evans as a character in a Looney Tunes episode with his signs is right up my alley. Enjoyable to say the least, as Rabbit Tribe has found a way to make the goofiness work. In the postmatch skit, really wish Evans had his whiteboard with him.

2. Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes

ER: YES! This was the match I was waiting for. After hearing all season from people who attended the tapings that "this season was the craziest yet" I have now spent 29 episodes being mostly disappointed. And it wasn't due to high expectations, the action just seems nowhere near as good as the first season. This match felt like the closest we've come to the best brawls of the series. I just love Mil in these crowd brawls. He's bigger than the guys we typically see moving through the crowds, so these shots from above feel more like helicopter shots of Godzilla wrecking everything in his path. The match starts at the top of the temple steps and there might not be anybody better than Crane at violently flying through rubble. He can bring violence, but he's best at inviting violence onto his own person. Muertes throws him through the bleachers, brutally through the chairs, in a fun moment he flapjacks Crane on the stairs' handrail and Crane slides all the way down to the floor bent at the waist. Muertes is a beast, and as he beat Crane with meaty fists I actually liked Stryker pointing out "this is why middleweights typically don't fight heavyweights". Crane goes for his bottom ropes tope and Muertes literally doesn't budge, Crane just bounces off of him. We get a bunch of chairs involved including hard shots to the side of the head and nasty spills into them. In an absolutely nuts spot Crane sets up a table on the floor and takes too long leering at Catrina, allowing Mil to come crashing to the floor with a spear. And the spear doesn't actually break the table! Crane goes flying and Muertes just bulls grossly into the table, later slamming Crane through the bent up table. Crane doesn't go down easy and I wouldn't expect him to and didn't want him to, and we get an appropriate amount of violence. This was everything I wanted out of it.

TL: So this match is supposed to be one of the highlights of this season from what I heard coming in, but that’s really all I heard. No specifics. This has also had a nice little build and is the first thing I saw when starting up these reviews with Eric. The fact it starts with Mil jumping Crane from behind during his entrance makes it stand out immediately. Then, they just absolutely beat the crap out of each other from that moment on, and as much as I’m hot and cold on Crane, when he decides to bump big and sell, he’s as good as anyone on the planet. This match basically requires it since Mil wants revenge for the cheap win earlier in the season, so Crane is from underneath and takes a great beating. The bottom rope tope suicida where Crane just bounces off Muertes is one of the best spots I’ve seen in quite a while. Muertes no-selling the spit chop gets a pop from me, and an even bigger pop when Crane readies the cannonball only for Muertes to freight train him. I mean, this is an absolute mauling by Muertes. Considering what we had seen Crane do in the tourney matches before this, it’s as if the bookers made this match to force him to sell. The best thing this match does is reinforce that Crane just keeps coming forward, but you just can’t do that against Mil, and when he goes down from the chair shots, it’s a big deal considering what Crane had absorbed all match. Then, as Eric mentioned with the table, Crane got a bit too happy he was finally on offense and took that nasty bump through the table off the spear. And then another powerbomb through the half-broken table. Crane’s comeback with the choke and then the cannonball through the table was well earned, but good lord almighty, THIS is the Crane I want. Mil Muertes is amazing. One of the best matches in LU history, and while the All Night Long match was definitely surprising in a way that made it better than it probably was, this match is right there with it, maybe even more so.

TL: FBI agent coming into Cueto’s office and it ISN’T Burt Macklin? No dice.

3. Texano vs. Pentagon Dark

ER: This was fine considering the dropped stock of both guys (for my personal viewing), and I'm happy Pentagon advanced as I actually could have seen something ridiculous like Texano advancing to the finals. The Famous B stuff feels far too distracting considering they have seemingly been involving Pentagon in "serious" angles. So having him out in a serious fight with Brenda screaming at ringside for most of the match feels off. But I liked the horseshoe finish and Pentagon made the punch count. The arm breaking stuff is pretty stupid at this point, and having Pentagon break Brenda's arm to a huge babyface reaction makes a lot of the "under-advantaged women fighting for themselves" stuff they've done seem pretty pointless (if it hadn't already felt that way). Sexy Star has taken up too much time on TV being "a superhero to abused girls everywhere", and a bunch of dudes still jumping up and down while Brenda screams in pain seems like we went through countless bad segments for nothing. But I guess it's kewl because Pentagon has zero fear? I'm glad he was able to finally stand up to Brenda.

TL: I guess they had to figure out a way for Texano to basically go 50/50 with Dark considering how he was booked in the tourney, but this match didn’t really do much of anything for me considering they had to get Famous B and Brenda involved. Have no idea why Pentagon of all people needs to be winning a match with a foreign object, but that’s what this match ended with. (I agree that it was a good shot, though.) Just one of those matches that advanced nothing. Postmatch was disturbing and rendered Sexy Star pointless, so at least that happened.

TL: Eric absolutely no-selling the amulet stuff with Katrina that’s obviously a rip-off of Legends of the Hidden Temple is beyond me. Considering he’s the only person I know who loved that show more than me, I would have at least expected a Purple Parrots reference or something.


ER: We are now slowly transitioning into a Legends of the Hidden Temple/Supermarket Sweep blog. Gotta do a crowd opinion poll and see how many people would be down for show reports. We can count how many awkward high fives occur between the pre-teen members of the opposite sex, chart the disappointment on partners faces when they get stuck with a dummy partner on the Steps of Knowledge, report on Kirk Fogg's improv abilities as he stretches for time while interviewing contestants about their crystal horse collection....this feels like a dangerous suggestion.

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Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 25: Left for Dead

ER: Despite not being excited for the eventual match, I really enjoyed the Dante Fox package. The torture room stuff after Killshot left him behind was straight out of Syriana, dudes just punching and kicking him in the face, even going so far as to have him about to be beheaded! Am I just forgetting, or is this the first actual time they've explained why Fox has a problem with Killshot?

TL: It was definitely well done and told a better story than most have been told this year. That is, except the Power Glove. ALL HAIL THE POWER GLOVE. I really don’t understand why there aren’t more packages like this to get you involved in storylines. This told you everything you wanted to hear and hardly any words were said. Plus, yet another guy on a rooftop in Boyle Heights, so they have that going for them. Having it be Killshot in an elevated position is pretty damn good, though. Nice little add on.

TL: Update on Vampiro not saying Sergio Arau’s name correctly: Still can’t say it correctly.

1. PJ Black vs. Sexy Star

ER: Normally it could be written off as an annoying Matt Striker quirk to bring up Jim Breaks in a Sexy Star match, but now it's appropriate since they are both documented piles of shit. PJ is far too generous here and it was probably his best LU performance. He launches himself 2/3 the way across the ring on a rana, takes her flimsy armdrags, gets shoved off the top to the floor and crashes spectacularly. He also drops her with a brainbuster that is nastier than any move she has ever performed. So of course if keeps her down for just a couple seconds. Thankfully for PJ, Taya comes out to interfere, or else PJ would have had zero chance against the bravest woman to ever enter this cruel world. Star hits him with brass knux for the rarely seen LU DQ, but I care not about the stupid finish, as it means I no longer have to see her in the tournament.

TL: Sexy Star has a staff for some reason now. An even better line than the Jim Breaks is Striker saying “Sexy putting her ego aside!” before hitting a plancha. I also wonder how Borden can be outsmarted by ANYONE given he’s got all those degrees. AND THEN SHE HITS BORDEN WITH THE KNUCKS? Good lord was that unnecessary. Much like this match. Because Sexy Star, even in defeat, has to look this strong. Unreal. I’ll never get this.

TL: I fast forwarded through the Real Fight Rey/Johnny package but got a still screen of Mundo on a rooftop training, which makes me wonder why LU doesn’t just open a rooftop dojo.

2. Son of Havoc vs. Son of Madness

ER: If they never build to a Loser Shaves Beard match then they have truly failed. With his black mask and dark beard, Madness looks like Phineas of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, and he's clearly a bump freak as he takes a hip toss from the Temple steps to the floor. They do a pretty stupid missed clothesline spot in the corner, just dancing around and missing clotheslines over and over, but Madness hits a cool spear through the buckles and kneels on Havoc's throat, so whatever. I don't really like Havoc's offense, but the two do a nice job of exchanging their respective offense, and regardless of the offense the nearfalls were effective. Madness has a cool jackhammer, Havoc takes his nice back of neck ropes bump into a cutter (far more decent than that stupid cutter set up from Jay Lethal) and we build to a fast dive from Havoc. So we get a nice, effectively built match with a skin of the teeth win from Havoc, which is all perfectly acceptable. I probably would have felt a little more throughout the match if we had a little backstory on Madness. We know that his father or mother is Madness, and that he wanted to take out Havoc. And I kinda hate that some kind of biker doppelgänger wanted Havoc's blood, and Havoc responded with handsprings.

TL: Wish that Madness would have kept the vest on the entire time just so folks could tell the two apart better, but then you could really tell the two apart after a while via the glorious beard. This was a pretty good match in a lot of ways. Madness had some cool spots and did a good job of being a foil for Havoc’s offense, and this was actually one of the better matches of the first round when it’s all said and done. We now have a vest stealing storyline, which is probably a mid-tier sartorial storyline in the annals of wrestling. To be honest, I’m not topping Eric’s line about the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. And you probably skipped this to go on to the next match.

3. Prince Puma vs. Ricky Mandel

ER: This ended up being pretty rewarding for a 90 second match. Puma pump kicks him at the bell and plants him with a rolling brainbuster, and we get a nice unexpected kick out from Mandel. The match easily could have just ended there, but I like that they gave him a little something with the kick out. He also gets to hit a nice superkick, although Puma just kind of cracks his neck, hits another pump kick, and then a sick driver to end it. I appreciated that Mandel kept his sunglasses on the whole time.

TL: There’s a Phoenix Pro Wrestling regular named Kenny K who wrestles with his sunglasses on and he’s one of the best workers in the company, pretty easily, too. So I thoroughly enjoyed Ricky being such a schlub he kept the glasses on the entire time. I can get behind Hoodie Puma big time, much like people got behind Hoodie Melo. Fun squash right here.

4. Dante Fox vs. Dragon Azteca Jr.

ER: These matches always leave me hollow. Some of the stuff looks good, none of it means anything. Fox takes a couple of great bumps onto his head (including a great one on the floor), but who actually cares, because he sells his jaw more after a few weak Azteca forearms than he ever sold his head. We get big moves and small moves, and moves where you're not totally sure who took the move but it doesn't matter anyway because both guys sell it the same. Both men lie on the mat, surely unable to go on for another second, but then they are able to!! They get up and then the other one does a move that also looks like it hurts both of them! They're both so tired, but then they're both not that tired! This was a backdrop for a Worldwide Undergound attack on Rey, which was a fine beatdown and more interesting than the sexy dance fighting happening in the ring. I was fully expecting a Killshot run-in, and it never happened. But we did get ample thigh slaps and that one sound effect that LU uses.

TL: I’ve always liked AR Fox, as he was one of those just insane athletes that made things look good and he emoted well, but in context against another guy that’s similar to him, it doesn’t stand out. I do think it’s funny that guys are gonna sell elbow strike exchanges like they’re the most important thing in the match, but can’t be bothered to sell anything else even for a few seconds. And then Azteca sells his back being out during the run in only to hit the tope to clear everyone out. I’m kinda trying to find logic here, but it ain’t there. So we’re gonna move on and let this be.

TL: I'm running a bit short on patience with the LU style in a lot of ways. It seems like the worst possible super indy/PWG-style matches for a majority of this, and even plodding matches, if there's a bit of selling, I'm way more of a fan of than the style that has kinda permeated most of the matches I've seen this season. I hope this changes up the rest of the tournament now that there is less riff-raff, but there's a couple matchups that I'm probably not gonna be looking forward to that are going to definitely live up to these expectations.

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Big Time Wrestling TV 6/10/16

1. Victor Sterling vs. Ricky Mandel (3/25/16)

It got time, but didn't do a whole lot for me. Mandel really isn't that good, still have no clue how he got the LU gig. Although him being good may have been what lead to his eventual LU murder. He comes off real clumsy, so when he does standard cruiser stuff it always looks stumbly. He falls on his head doing that silly little backflip with his leg over Sterling's neck, falls short on superkicks, hits spin kicks in slow motion, just rarely looks good. Sterling had some nice stuff but didn't have a whole lot to work with here. Sterling's best stuff is always on the mat, as he's really good at grinding things out, pressing forearms into jaws, not showing tons of light on exchanges. But Mandel was really bad at taking some of his slightly more complicated offense. Some of the layout was there, this could have been much better with not-Mandel in there.

2. Rik Luxury vs. El Guerrero vs. Shane Kody (3/25/16)

When you get a Shane Kody match, you know what you're in for. Kody is the owner of the fed, the champion of the fed, the guy who never loses in the fed, the guy who rarely bumps in the fed, the guy who can't even let a heel get a visual pin, the guy who throws mostly chops. There are plenty of immobile workers in their 50s that I dig, but they all tend to be guys I loved or would have loved in their 30s. Kody works like a guy who was never actually a good worker at any age. The match goes far too long, and really only survives because it had a guy like Rik Luxury in there to glue things together. Guerrero is a real zero, a guy who looks athletic but never does a single athletic thing, and genuinely looks untrained. He hardly does anything you could even call offense. So Luxury had to have his boots on in this one, and luckily for me he did. He ably stooged around for Kody, at one point hilariously going up for a Flair turnbuckle flip but stopping half way through and delaying the upside down portion of the bump, before belly flopping back in the ring. He takes all of the bumps to the floor, makes a good point of falling into a bunch of front row fans as he's getting chopped around the ring, adds whatever ebbs and flows the match has (Kody essentially stands around the entire match, outside of one nice bump he takes after taking a shot with his cowbell), setting up the other two for their moments. Rik even breaks out a gorgeous asai moonsault. Did think Rik had it in him. So yeah, you knew this was going to be a Kody match. When the ref gets bumped after Kody takes a cowbell shot, he even kicks out of a fake pinfall counted by Luxury. The guy shows absolutely zero ass at any point. He's like HHH, but if HHH wrestled like five-years-from-now Jim Duggan. It's really a bummer. Still, Rik Luxury. Class all the way.

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Lucha Underground Episode 25: The Way of the Drago Workrate Report

ER: Dario talking down to the Crew was great. "Do you know what a lay up is!? A 'gee-mee', if you will." And also apparently the caged beast is Dario's brother?

1. Fenix vs. Killshot

ER: Vamp trying to put Killshot over as versatile because he has "MMA style shorts". This match was probably the most you could hope for in a 7 minute Killshot singles, and what that means is a couple things look cool and many things did not look like a total abortion. Killshot...is not good. His facial selling is horrid. He sells a move with this wide eyed scream, like Chris Tucker selling a punchline. All of his offense involves spinning his opponent. He's always grabbing a guy by the shoulders, spinning them around, grabbing a guy's arm, spinning them around. He threw a nice spinning superkick here (probably his best looking thing in the match, so of course Fenix immediately does a kip up). I liked the opening rolling wristlock stuff. I'd always love when guys like Regal would grab a wrist and roll through with it. Killshot doesn't do it very well, but at least imitating Regal is better than imitating Ric Blade. I liked moments of this, like Fenix snapping and slapping the shit of Killshot, but most of this felt like one guy doing a finisher, kickout, other guy doing a finisher, until one of the finishers finished. Having a super competitive match with a guy like Killshot seems like a big step backward for Fenix. Killshot needs to be the first guy to have all 4 limbs broken by Pentagon.

PAS: Yeah this wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. I have no idea why they would give Killshot a singles match (or employ him at all, but at least keep him to trios) and Fenix is far from the guy you want trying to carry someone. Lets hope he is the victim of a Dario scheme soon.

2. Famous B vs. Ricky Mandel vs. Vinny Massaro vs. Argenis

ER: Oh awesome!! I joked about them matching up all of Pentagon's victims, and my dream has come true! Oh, bummer, it was just a set up to put Texano over. Cheap trick, LU. I liked Vinny immediately going for a lariat but then holding his injured arm "oh shit that's right all of our arms are fucked!" Vinny also bumped better than the others for Texano. Really wanted to see this 4 way. I like when guys who have kinda been established as jobbers get a shot at moving up the ladder on each other. Like when Renegade would face Sick Boy on Saturday Night or something.

PAS: They should have had them all out there with casts on their arms like four 80's Bob Orton's. I thought Texano looked pretty violent, and I am looking forward to him brawling with Davari

ER: Marty "The Moth" Martinez? Ok. I liked Dario blowing off some weirdo fan.

PAS: This felt very Chikarish in a wink about wrestling kind of way. Keep that Colt Cabana shit far away from my lucha.

3. King Cuerno vs. Cage vs. Hernandez

ER: Match was going really fun until the poorly handled Marty the Moth run-in. I have no idea who the guy is (apparently was a guy I don't remember on Tough Enough) but the run in was lame. Cuerno annihilates him with his awesome dropkick, but it's the first move of the beatdown so the Moth has to keep popping up for other stuff. Then since it was just a quick run in he bumps to the floor and runs out swearing vengeance. Came off bad as the dude took Cuerno's awesome kick and some other stuff, but just acted angry as he went to the back (instead of like a goob who got his stomach kicked in, as he should have been). The match was a fun X-Division match with heavyweights. I thought Cuerno looked great through all of this. Cage seems to excel in multi-man matches which is kind of a unique skill. I always find myself disliking him in singles or tags, yet he somehow seems to thrive in triple threat or 4 ways. Triple threats especially seem difficult to thrive in, but he genuinely seems better at them. Everybody got some nice stuff, Hernandez made some questionable faces, Cuerno took about 12 bumps right on his shoulder, and this was rocking....until a run in that led immediately to the ending. Reallllly not loving how much Cuerno is just getting beat clean. This guy seems like he should be the top star in the fed.

PAS: Cuerno really seems to be floundering lately, don't see any reason for him to be in this match and they really should do something with him. I liked Cage v. Hernandez as a battle of high spot heavyweights, would like them teamed up as a kind of a roided Steiners team. Marty the Moth feels like he is quickly going to move on my Sexy Star/Killshot list of things I don't like.

4. Drago vs. Prince Puma

ER: This was really fun, both guys were on point and and hit all their complicated things really effortlessly. And these are two guys with a bunch of fun complicated stuff. I am starting to think the fed is really tossing out too many very serious stips lately without announcing them in advance. Having a loser leaves the fed and mask match are two things you can really build to. It seems like they're going too over the top with Dario manipulating outcomes, like they're doing it so often that it's all starting to feel like things are meaningless. Last week we have the culmination of a tournament that sees a surprise entrant after the tournament ends. If he wanted Angelico's team taken out that badly, there were tons of opportunities to do that instead of waiting until after they won. So now Drago is gone which is a real bummer, especially on the same show that Killshot got a featured match. Drago is one of the most consistent performers on here so if he is actually gone that's a real blow. This was a heck of a performance to go out on. I can hardly keep up with either guy here, and they blow through some neat submissions, each gets dumped on their head with some wild stuff (loved the reverse rana bump) and this was just really really fun.

PAS: Yeah this was a really good match, fun highspot wrestling with some very cool counters and an especially awesome rolling submission by Drago. I am with Eric about the booking though, I think we are forgiving a lot of horseshit because Dario is such a good actor and the production is cool. This is the second time in a month they have burned through cool heated gimmicks on face v. face matches with no build and no hate, just so Dario can smirk evilly. I was really sick of heel promoter before this fed, forgave it for a bit because I liked Dario, but now it is the same tired shit we have seen in wrestling for the last 20 years. For a fed with a lot of cool different ideas, it sucks that this is the one they are still clinging too

ER: And then after we get some weird dragon stuff...


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Lucha Underground Episode 14: A Shot of El Patron Workrate Report

ER: Liked the Alberto/Dario interaction, loved the way Dario just changed the subject when Alberto asked him about the key.

PAS: Not a ton about Matanaza this week, I had some suggestions last week, but if what the WON says is true, the only real use of Vince Russo would be as a monster kept in a cage. Dario said he liked to destroy pretty things, and Vince Russo is the one guy wrestling fans would truly look at with terror.

1. Argenis vs. Fenix

ER: Total spotfest, but I dug it. Argenis didn't really look that good, but his two rana variations did and I'm a sucker for a smooth rana. This was one of the better Fenix performances, his rope assisted flip dive was crazy. There was no selling or transitions to speak of, but they never made any allusions to those things so it didn't really bother me. I think that's the key with me, no selling really bugs me when it's sporadic throughout a match, but if they establish right out of the gate "this is just going to be 5 minutes of our highlight reel" then I can just enjoy it like junk food.

PAS: Sure, this was a nice job showing all of their stuff,  Fenix needs to never throw a punch or kick again, still some cool dives, and they didn't make either guy do more then they need to do.

ER: Damn the Mil Muertes and Big Ryck vignettes killed it. Muertes lifting up Catrina by the throat like Darth Vader, Ryck still cool smoking cigars because he recognized the cigar didn't hurt him, people did, Muertes walking down the dimly lit hallway like Maniac Cop, loved the way Ryck was filmed and loved the cigar smoke as his face comes into light. Great stuff here.

PAS: Yeah those were both awesome, coolest Muertes has ever looked and Ryck as Man on Fire Denzel bent for vicious revenge is going to rule.

ER: I also love how they use Mariachi El Bronx. That's a sweet little bonus for a house band. Usually when there's a wrestling show with a band playing it's some lousy metal band that are friends of the promoter.

2. Son of Havoc vs. Johnny Mundo

ER: Not my thing. It's funny I just mentioned a spotfest that pretends there's going to be selling vs. one that just goes for broke with spots, and here we have the other side of that. We get Mundo screaming about his knee about one minute into the match, and then never see that injury again, yet we get to hear Striker and Vampiro talking constantly about his blown out knee, how Havoc is hooking that bad knee, how "that's not good for the knee" every time Mundo does a backflip and lands on his feet. It's like enjoying a B movie that knows exactly what it is, as opposed to a movie with big aspirations that just falls on its face. There were a couple cool spots in this, my favorite being Havoc running away from a Mundo dive but Mundo using his parkour (on a BAD KNEE!!) to flip back through the ropes and dive diagonally out of the ring to grab him anyway. But this was one of those matches where I just keep hoping for it to end after awhile.

PAS: Big mistake to book Mundo with a knee injury. He is a guy with some real limitations, and selling is one of them, I imagine if he had a hurt arm or neck, he wouldn't need to limit his offense, here he just ignores it and does all of his stuff anyway. The announcers go on and on about his blown out knee, but if this match was on mute, no way you would know it. I enjoyed Havoc in this, seems weird to have Barry Horowitz have cooler spots then your pushed highflyers, but he really hits some cool stuff, that fake where he topes the ring rope is awesome looking.

3. Ricky Mandel vs. Pentagon Jr.

ER: Feels like they should have shown highlights of Pentagon breaking Famous B's arm the other week, but I suppose it makes sense they didn't with him doing the same thing to Mandel. Although this promotion doesn't really do replays which is odd. They show a bunch of "last week on" at the beginning of the show, but there are a lot of times when a guy is walking to the ring and we hear "we remember last week when…" but there's no clip of the thing they're talking about, just the guy walking to the ring. But they are going in the right direction with Pentagon, feeding some lower tier guys to him and letting him walk circles around them. I wonder if this is going to lead to a bunch of one armed men coming back to haunt Pentagon?

PAS: Man Pentagon is a nasty fucker, I loved the counter into the backbreaker and the kick to the spine. I don't know who the Master is going to be, I think Vampiro is too genial at this point, LA Park would be perfect, but I am not sure how the lucha politics would work.

ER: I don't know the details about this, but Alberto feels like a pretty big "get" for them. I also don't know the details surrounding him leaving WWE, but hopefully this isn't one of those things where Vince decides to buy up a bunch of LU guys and then never use them. I mean, it would be amusing to see Vince buy Son of Havoc or other guys that have gone through developmental that they didn't originally want.

PAS: Promo was really good, Alberto really felt almost Eddieish, although if Russo is really coming in, he better get used to neckbeards making unfunny Mexican jokes behind his back, maybe Alberto will slap the shit out of him too. Think they hotshotted the Texano Jr. arrival, feels like that could have waited a week. Nothing great in the ring this week, but a lot of the booking issues I had a couple of weeks ago seem to be solved.


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Lucha Underground Episode 3: Crossing the Border Workrate Report

ER: I really like that this show hired a lot of production guys that have never worked in wrestling before. That's maybe the absolute smartest thing they did. Bring in guys who don't just base their programming on how WWE films their programming. They have their own production knowledge, not just stuff that's been dug into their brains about how a wrestling show is "supposed" to look. It gives them a fresh feel and look right out of the gate. This was an enormous decision that they got right.

1. Mascarita Sagrada vs. El Mariachi Loco

ER: No clue who Loco is. He's a slender, average height masked guy wearing fantastic mariachi pants. Not sure which Sagrada this is, either, as after a minute of watching him he doesn't seem anywhere near as good as previous Sagradas. This didn't look like Tzuki, and it's obviously not the current El Torito, and he didn't seem as good as the original who I've seen working indies…so is this the guy AAA has been using the last few years? He seems…okayish. Loco bumped around for him using a bunch of over the top Shawn Michaels bumping. Sagrada hits a nice flip dive, but really can't properly get in place for any of Loco's super kicks. He's always too close or doesn't bump right for them. He somehow sells Loco's offense less than Loco sells Sagrada's. It blows my mind that Sagrada goes over clean here with a tight choke (a modified d'arce according to Striker, despite it not looking like any sort of d'arce) rolled into a pin. So Sexy Star loses in 90 seconds in her debut, but the guy weighing 70 lb. goes over clean to a guy twice his size? Eh, whatever. Match wasn't much. I'd rather see minis against other minis. Yep. Segunda Caida is pro segregation.

PAS: I agree with Eric, I have no problem with mini's in tags or trios with regular sized wrestlers, but it stretches it a bit in a longish singles match. It was also hurt by Sagrada not looking nearly as spectacular as other guys who have worn that mask.

ER: Vampiro is dressed up as Byz Lat #3 from his Shield background extra work. The on screen graphic also calls him "Announcer/Legend". I wonder whose idea that was. I dug Chavo's interview, really dug his attitude. Best interview I've seen from Chavo in…ever? I loved the interview being intercut with slo mo shots of him punching Blue Demon in the ear last week, and attacking him on the stretcher.

PAS: Yeah this Chavo interview ruled. Shots fired at Demon being a shitty dude who only got there on his daddy's coatails. Demon being a guy who even sucked in his prime? Chavo must have gotten the DVDVR Lucha 80's set.  Liked the Konan backstage interaction, I would dig the gimmick of AAA guys coming after Chavo for taking out luchadores, and I hope that is were they go with it, instead of having Demon or Sexy Star feud with him.

2. Ricky Mandel vs. Mil Muertes

ER: Mandel is apparently from beautiful Berrrrwyyyyyn, IL (cue Berwyn soundbite) and was trained by the Ballard Bros. I've never seen him before, but I like the way he takes a spear directly on his shoulder. And Muertes has a nice punch/chop combo. But this match was not good. Mesias is a guy I've really really liked in the past, but my word as Muertes everything is just wrong. Horrendous look (we talked about those brutal pants and that awful mask last week) but he has some insanely dated offense for a squash. A flatliner finish? Yikes. Katrina is easily the best thing about the act so far.

PAS: I thought the vignette with the earthquake backstory was really cool, and I have faith in Muertes to turn it up when he gets a regular match, but man does he need an outfit redesign stat. Pretty much the only guy on the show with a bad look too, really stands out.

3. Drago vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix

ER: This match was pretty damn stupid, but stupid in a way that kind of made it critic proof. Guys did stuff, heads were landed on, some things looked bad, many things looked good. About 30 seconds in most of my evaluative brain just shut down because why bother? Fenix had the hands down spot of the match (year?) with his flapjack turned into a ridiculous rana. Holy cow that looked amazing. And we finally find a good use for the overhead camera, as Fenix's dive off the top of the stage looked like he was base jumping off a cliff. Dug all the dives, got pretty tired of guys jumping onto their own heads while another guy was touching him (thus classifying it as some sort of "Driver") until one of them got 3 counts instead of 2 counts. Still, this was a perfect kind of match to set them apart, so it was necessary.

PAS: I have a couple of minor nits to pick. I think they would have been better off just running out Pentagon Jr. v. either technico for an opening match. Would have allowed either Fenix or Drago to stand out a bit more. We at Segunda Caida are John Lithgow in Footloose when it comes to 3-Way dancing, and I still think the tag on the second show is the feds best match, but this kind of nut house match is what they need to stand out. I really like Pentagon Jr. as a violent asskicker, more then as a spot guy so I hope I get to see more of that side of him. Despite my slight issues, totally enjoyed the bat shittedness of the whole thing. Lucha Underground was something I was hesitant about before it happened, but they are 3 for 3 for entertaining shows so far.


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