By John Moore
Lucha Underground TV
Taped December 12, 2015 in Los Angeles, California
This week also started with no intro video. Pentagon Jr ran into Fenix in the weight room and said that the Championship that Fenix holds will come to Pentagon Jr esta noche, the man who es Cero Miedo. Catrina teleported in and said that even though Vampiro is teaching Pentagon Jr the dark arts, Pentagon knows nothing about the darkness. Pentagon was then teleported to another dimension as it seems. Catrina didn’t know why Pentagon was here and said that he wasn’t invited to Aztec Warfare because he put his hands on her.
Pentagon Jr said he does not fear Catrina, nor does he fear Mil Muertes. Pentagon told Catrina not to tell him what to do. He said he only listens to one person, his Master. He said he was Pentagon Jr, Cero Miedo. Catrina said the only reason Pentagon has zero fear is because he doesn’t know true fear. She talked to Fenix and said that Mil will take his title back. Fenix and Pentagon were back in the locker room as Catrina teleported away. This week’s episode was “Aztec Warfare II”…
John’s Thoughts: Random side note. I talked to Fenix in person at one of my visits to the temple and one of his dream feuds is with Pentagon due to the special connection that they have. Hopefully we get that someday as it can end up being very epic.
All across the Temple, people dressed in traditional Aztec garb were playing drums and tribal music as Matt Striker introduced the show alongside Vampiro. They talked about the title being defended for the first time in this match. Striker noted that it’s a 20 man match with intervals (like the Royal Rumble). But unlike the Rumble, eliminations must happen via pinfall or submission. Striker noted that Pentagon Jr wasn’t invited. Vampiro said that was whack…
1. Aztec Warfare Match for the Lucha Underground Championship. Out first was the Lucha Underground Champion, Fenix who was decked in golden attire for this match. Famous B and Brenda where at ringside scouting new clients. The other first entrant “via random draw” was Rey Mysterio Jr! Striker called Rey the King of Lucha Libre. The crowd was super hyped for this debut and chanted 619 for Rey. Marty Elias held up the belt to signify that this was a title match as the crowd chanted “Animo!” for Mexico. Vampiro said Animo was a battle cry.
Both luchadores shook hands to start. Fenix towered over Rey. Rey did one of his signature tilt a whirl huracanranas to start. Fenix blocked a 619 with a superkick. Rey kicked out of the pin after an armdrag. Fenix blocked a whip with a feint kick and the two luchadores were even. King Cuerno came in at number 3. Cuerno took out both luchadores with kicks. Fenix was sent to the outside. Rey blocked Cuerno with a boot. Cuerno flapjacked Rey. Cuerno then hit the best Tope in the Biz, the Arrow from the depths of Hell on Fenix. Rey met Cuerno with a kick to keep him outside.
Argenis made his return to the temple (he was playing the role of one of the Putty dudes who I assume are dead now). Argenis is Sin Cara-Mistico’s brother. Argenis grounded Fenix with a superkick. He punted the butt of Rey. Argenis earned a nearfall off Rey Mysterio. Rey quickly hit Argenis with 619 and the frogsplash for the first elimination. Argenis was eliminated first. Johnny Mundo came in at number 5 to send us to commercial. [C]
Mundo dominated early on with forearms and uppercuts. Fenix used Mundo’s foot to kick Rey and followed up on Mundo with a boot of his own. Mundo earned a nearfall off a standing Spanish Fly. The two luchadores traded pin attempts. Joey Ryan came in next with his invitation in hand. Joey Ryan handcuffed himself to the railing on the outside to keep himself from being pinned. That didn’t stop King Cuerno from kicking him in the head. Famous B gave Ryan a business card. Prince Puma came in next at number 7. Puma grounded Cuerno with a running cutter. he took out everyone with a springboard Shooting Star to the outside atop of all of the luchadores.
Cuerno blocked a blue thunder bomb. Jack Evans entered the match at number 8. King Cuerno was eliminated via a Rey Mysterio cross armbreaker. The Technicos put the boots to Jack Evans. Mundo tried to join the technicos but they sent Mundo outside. Johnny “pulled his fellow gringo to safety” said Striker. Taya came into the match at number 9 decked out all in white. The three rudos faced off against the technicos with the rudos dominating early. Rey ate a disaster kick from Mundo. Cage ran in quickly at number 10 to destroy the rudos before the commercial. [C]
Cage went after Johnny back from the break. Taya tried a crossbody but was caught into a body slam from Cage. Johnny Mundo hit Cage with a disaster kick. Mundo threw Cage into Catrina’s office. Mascarita Sagrada came in next at number 11. Johnny Mundo caught Sagrada. Mundo then grounded Sagrada with a boot. Cage hit Mundo with a discus clothesline and followed up with Weapon X. Prince Puma hit a standing shooting star to eliminate Johnny Mundo. Marty the Moth was out next at number 12.
Marty the Moth dominated the technicos in the ring. Sagrada had a rally but to no success on Marty. Marty no-sold a spinning roundhouse from Jack Evans. Marty grounded Evans with a slam. Striker noted that Marty was dominating due to his large size. Drago came in at number 13 before the next commercial. [C]
Drago was on the attack back from the break. Jack Evans missed him and ate a kick from Drago. Joey Ryan took the mist from Drago. Sagrada and Rey pinned Marty the Moth to eliminate him. Willie Mack came in at number 14. Mack gave Marty the Moth a Stone Cold Stunner. Mack then traded punches with his rival Cage. Mack hit his flying knee strike and hit the Stunner on Cage. Fenix Razor Edged Sagrada on Ryan.
Chavo Guerrero came in at number 15. Drago hit Jack Evans with a powerbomb on the outside benches. Chavo went after Mascarita Sagrada first and locked him in the Camel Clutch. Vampiro called it a pony clutch. Mascarita Sagrada was eliminated via submission. Johnny Mundo ran in and hit cage with a Cinder Block. Taya defeated Cage via pinfall. “The Darewolf” PJ Black came in at number 16. Taya Valkryie was eliminated by Fenix. Black suplexed Drago first on the benches.
Drago sent Black into the turnbuckle from the outside. Ryan was reeling on his handcuff. AeroStar made his return to the temple at 17. Black and Evans teamed up on Drago and Aerostar. Jack Evans and Drago were eliminated simultaneously. El Dragon Azteca Jr. came in at number 18. Vamperio said he knew about the Dragon mask. Dragon Azteca showed some of the wing chun moves he learned and took down PJ Black. He hit a high springboard huracanrana to the outside on Mack. Azteca hit Mack then with a Tope Con Hilo. The Human Mexico, El Texano Jr, cane in at number 19 before the next break. [C]
John’s Thoughts: Random notes on Dragon Azteca Jr. Before his time in Lucha Underground, he was handpicked by AAA to become the heir apparent to Rey Mysterio Jr after the first heir apparent left wrestling. It’s intriguing seeing him as the now protégé of Rey in Lucha Underground.
Texano took down everyone with a Tope Con Hilo of his own, one from a big man. PJ Black went for the pin on Texano to no avail. Texano hit Black with the sitout to eliminate Black. Joey Ryan was still handcuffed to the railing. Mil Muertes entered at number 20. Pentagon Jr snuck in and jabbed at Mil with a steel chair. The crowd erupted in Cero Miedo chants. Rey and Pentagon teamed up and eliminated Mil with a double pin. Catrina yelled at Vampiro to come over here! Catrina told Vampiro to get out.
The clock played even though it wasn’t supposed to. Dario Cueto made his return to the top of the steps. He said his name was Dario Cueto and “This was MY TEMPLE!”. He said he is in charge now and is El Jefe, the Boss. He said he was announcing one more entrant, his brother, Matanza Cueto. The luchadores stood still as the Monster entered the ring. Everyone teamed up on Matanza and he tossed them off. Matanza hit Fenix with his Tour of the Islands powerslam to eliminate the Lucha Underground Champion. Mack hit him with a Stunner which he no sold. Mack was eliminated. AeroStar was eliminated with a german Suplex.
Texano tried to choke Matanza with the rope but to no avail. He went for the Ruff Ryder but ate a powerbomb. Texano was eliminated. Matanza went after Joey Ryan next Matanza broke the steel to release Ryan. Ryan ate three gutwrench suplexes to be eliminated himself. Chavo tried to feed the technicos to Matanza. Dragon Azteca hit Cueto with some kicks. Dragon couldn’t ground the monster. Matanza caught Dragon and eliminated him after a chokeslam. Chavo tried to suck up to Dario on the outside. Dario told Matanza to destroy Chavo. Chavo was eliminated after a standing shooting star.
Rey Mysterio and Prince Puma double teamed on Dario Cueto’s brother. They managed to corner him and hit a forearm. Matanza used Rey as a battering ram on Puma. Matanza hit many suplexes on Prince Puma. Puma was eliminated after another German Suplex from Matanza. Rey Mysterio had Matanza Cueto one-on-one. Rey took his time entering the ring. Rey was manhandled with strength and a clothesline. The crowd chanted “culero!” against the monster. Rey hit some kicks from the ground and set up Matanza for the 619. Matanza blocked it. Rey managed to hit it after the next attempt.
Matanza blocked the west coast pop. Matanza hit Rey with a Tour of the Islands powerslam to win and become the new Lucha Underground Champion.
Matanza Cueto defeated Rey Mysterio via pinfall to win Aztec Warfare and become the new Lucha Underground Champion.
Dario Cueto grabbed the title and gave it to his brother. He introduced his brother as the new Lucha Underground Champion and held his arms up in victory with the key in the other hand. This closed Lucha Underground…
John’s Thoughts: This was a solid Aztec Warfare match, but not as novel as last year’s iteration. Maybe it’s due to me watching Aztec Warfare I right before this that sorta diminished this one in my eyes. That’s not to say that this was a terrible match. In fact, it was a great showcase of all of the players of Season 1 so far. The highlights of the match were the debuts of Rey Mysterio and Matanza clearly and this was one of the few spoilers that El Rey advertised when they taped this episode due to the marquee of Lucha Underground signing Rey Mysterio.
As for some of the wrestlers, Rey looked as good as you would expect from the legendary luchador. Multi-man matches mask his current limitations really well and he’s allowed to dart from opponent to opponent to keep things fresh. He also utilized some of the technicos for help here.
Matanza looked really good in this match. As for some behind the scenes facts, the person playing Matanza is known as Jeff Cobb who is an Olympian from Guam who has been competing on almost every dark match in Lucha Underground since season 1. Not sure if they did any editing here, but he looked good in the no-sell giant with a few lucha moves. My opinion of the guy is that he’s really good in multi-man matches, yet his singles matches are less than intriguing. So far so good. The real hype entrant of the match wasn’t even a wrestler, it was Dario Cueto and his return felt like a big deal; so a good job there at least.
A few of the external storylines were a bit underwhelming. Joey Ryan tried to do something that wasn’t great. Chavo was there. Texano was too. PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Mundo looked decent against AeroStar and Drago so there’s something budding. The ultimate disappointment was Fenix vs. Mil Muertes. The way Pentagon interfered made sense based on the opening cinematic, but it was still a disappointment based on the great performances Mil has been putting in over the past few weeks. Fenix also only had one night as Lucha Underground champion and they did almost nothing with him. He was just a solid base in this match.
This was on the low end of the last three weeks of Lucha Underground greatness, but still something worth going out of your way to watch. If you haven’t seen Rey Mysterio Jr in a long time, you might have gotten your fill. If you missed Dario Cueto, your dreams were answered as well. I will have more to say about this show in my Hit List and I’m sure Will Pruett will have some thoughts as well in his audio review.
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