By John Moore
Lucha Underground Hits
Famous B Commercial: This was a sweet piece of work. It was essentily Famous B trying to do a used car dealer commercial as Saul Goodman. Drawing from Saul Goodman is automatically a Hit, but this was actually a funny bit. Why the hell was the car in the commercial the focus and not Famous B? That’s what makes it funny. He also used the Better Call Saul font!
Dario Cueto: Dario Cueto has had a minimal role this season so far due to him being 375 miles away from The Temple (possibly around my neck of the woods in Oakland?). Dario was great in his soliloquy on his family. You can also read a lot into what he was trying to sell to the viewer. Either he’s both sympathetic and sadistic, or he’s super manipulative and trying to draw Black Lotus down the dark side even more. The reason I see manipulation involved is because we were introduced to the “mother” this week. Last week, Rey Mysterio talked about the history about the “Father”. There’s no connection yet, but I wonder if the fact that both parents were mentioned separately will end up playing out in a bigger storyline?
Cage vs. Johnny Mundo: This saved the show from an in-ring perspective. Cage is the luchador in a Ryback-type body. He’s essentially what Ryback wishes he were (since Ryback has been trying unnecessary agility lately). Mundo, like Jack Evans, continues to maintain a crowd-pleasing moveset, yet they put in the effort to make the crowd completely un-pleased at their persona. This match also kept the feud going by introducing Taya Valkarie, who is a really impressive Canadian luchadora from AAA and their Reina de Reinas Champion.
Lucha Underground Misses
Jack Evans vs. PJ Black: This was a minor Miss in that Lucha Underground is in a huge need for enhancement wrestlers. I know that they are proud that they don’t have “jobbers” this season as the writers told me, I know they want to make everyone seem important, I know they want to please the wrestlers, but enhancement wrestlers exist for the reason of making your money players credible. Last season, Pentagon Jr. gained immensely when they had an enhancement roster. Cage and Big Ryck were monsters due to the great work of the enhancement dudes they destroyed. Matanza is even eating some off-screen job guys to make him stronger. I know they plan to tell a story with PJ Black down the road, but they didn’t have to tear down the guy in order to do it.
Killshot vs. King Cuerno: Killshot simply isn’t clicking, and this match was worse than his last bout. I know they try to play some of the sloppiness as innovative, but that’s just an excuse. King Cuerno is also Lucha Underground’s smoothest worker and he couldn’t even get a gem out of Killshot. The guy’s athletic and can do some cool moves, but there’s just something missing. His matches are also pretty boring aside from the cool moments.
El Texano Jr vs. Chavo Guerrero and The Crew: I was really willing to give Chavo vs. Texano a shot after the dreadful Blue Demon Jr was extricated from the equation, but this was not a good start and I’m already tiring of this feud all over again. I always chuckle at Texano being “Mexico”. He’s a man that calls himself an entire country! And, Chavo’s Chavo. Ohhhh Chavo!
Overall Show: Thankfully, this is only a one hour show, but overall this was not Lucha Underground’s best efforts. You had a good main event, a great Dario Cueto soliloquy, and good Vignettes, but the show dragged as a pro wrestling show and as a drama because all we got was exposition and no consistent action. It could have been worse but Lucha Underground has shown in the past that they could be so much better. They don’t even need big matchups. Just have Son of Havoc have a match, have Pentagon Jr do an in-ring angle. Hell, bring back Pimpinela Escarlata, who is extremely entertaining!
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