By John Moore, Prowrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Lucha Underground on El Rey Network
Aired September 19, 2018 – Season 4 Episode 15
Taped March 2018 in Los Angeles, California at the Union Central Cold Storage Warehouse
This week’s intro teaser focused on Aerostar shooting a resurrection Kamehameha wave at Fenix, Fenix betraying Aerostar and Drago after being corrupted by dark energy, and Marty the Moth bribing Antonio Cueto for a Gift of the Gods title match. This week’s Lucha Underground episode was titled “The Hunted”…
Matt Striker and Vampiro checked in on commentary from Downtown Los Angeles. The house band for the night was El Conjunto Nueva Ola who were singing a song about luchadores. Striker talked about how his was a PPV-like show except Lucha Underground is giving it to you for free…
John’s Thoughts: Well… Technically it’s only free to some people. There’s no way Striker knew this would happen back in March, but El Rey is still gone from Dish Network and Dish Network affiliates like Sling TV due to a contract dispute. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucha Underground lost around 40% of their network viewership. Therefore, this is a PPV because every episode of LU is PPV on Amazon and iTunes. Thankfully, it’s only $1.99 per episode and I would definitely recommend you pay that cheap price because there has been some quality wrestling for that low price this season.
Melissa Santos handled the ring introductions and was acting extra somber since she was introducing evil Fenix. Fenix made his entrance continuing to do his version of acting like a zombie. His opponent was Aerostar who was much more upbeat… [c]
1. Fenix vs. Aerostar. Fenix juked Aerostar to begin the match and then nailed him with a straightforward thrust kick. Aerostar ran the ropes and hit Fenix with a Codebreaker. Fenix came back with his signature Slicing Sobat and Rolling RKO. Fenix went for the pin at first and then decided to let go of the pin for some ground and pound. There were dueling Aerostar and Fenix chants. Aerostar hit Fenix with La Bombita. Vampiro noted how the La Bombita move has added force due to Aerostar doing a freefall stance. Fenix recover and slammed Aerostar into the metal railing.
Fenix creeped out Matt Striker for a second and even went over to glare at Melissa. Fenix hit Aerostar with a flip standing Moonsault and then hit Aerostar with a Swanton Bomb that would make Jeff Hardy blush. That was high as hell. Fenix was on his knees fuming and drooling. The crowd went 100% behind Aerostar at this point for the comeback. Fenix punted the back of Aerostar. Aerostar surprised Fenix with a Code Red and then hit Fenix with a slingshot DDT for a two count. Fenix got up and nosold the last sequence of moves. Aerostar hit Fenix with a few pump kicks which he no sold. Fenix landed a victory roll for a two count. Fenix hit Aerostar with a flying donkey kick and then hit his twisting Kinniku Buster driver for the win.
Fenix defeated Aerostar via pinfall in 6:20.
Fenix went ground and pound on Aerostar as Melissa tried to yell at him to stop. Fenix drooled on the head of Aerostar. Melissa told Fenix to “Go get [mental] help”. Fenix then acted like he was fighting with himself. Fenix then snapped and rushed over to Melissa Santos to intimidate her. Fenix grabbed Melissa, but El Dragon Azteca Jr ran in-between them to calm things down. Melissa told Azteca that Fenix was acting crazy and things weren’t looking good. Fenix calmed down for a bit but then rushed Azteca and beat him up on the ring apron. Fenix hit Azteca with the slicing Sobat followed by the Kinniku Buster Driver at ringside. Melissa yelled “we need a medic”… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A really good match as expected between two of the better Luchadores in the promotion. My theory still stands in thinking that Fenix is struggling with a magical version of dissociative identity disorder where both Fenix and Catrina are fighting for the driver seat of Fenix’s body.
Antonio Cueto then talked about how El Dragon Azteca disappointed him and that Azteca vs. Marty the Moth will end in a forfeit. Cueto said he was going to have to hand the belt over to Marty via the forfeit. Azteca pulled himself to his feet and then said, “I’ll fight”. Cueto said that Azteca truly has the heart of a champion.
Melissa Santos was conflicted but handled the ring introductions for the title match. Melissa acted annoyed at Marty due to their past history. A “creepy bastard” chant ensued…
2. El Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Marty The Moth Martinez for the Gift of the Gods Championship. Justin Borden was the referee of the match. Marty manhandled the smaller Azteca all around the ring. Azteca hit Marty with an armdrag and kick combination. Marty tossed the hamstrings of Azteca into the second turnbuckle. Marty then pulled at Azteca’s mask strings to cause him to be distracted. Azteca got a moment of rest after shoving Marty off the top rope to ringside. Azteca hit Marty with a plancha huracanrana. Azteca then cleared the ringpost with a Tope Con Hilo. Azteca hit Marty with a High Fly Flow for a nearfall. Azteca then hit Marty with the DDTJ for a good nearfall. Marty hit Azteca with a double underhook Impaler DDT for the win.
Marty the Moth Martinez defeated El Dragon Azteca Jr. via pinfall in 4:42 to become the new Gift of the Gods Champion.
Melissa acted annoyed at announcing her enemy as the Gift of the Gods champion. Matt Striker noted that Marty has to give the Champion a week’s notice before cashing in Gift of the Gods (even though Pentagon cashed in on Ricochet without that rule) … [c]
John’s Thoughts: Knowing where it looked like they were going, I was ready to hate on this segment but I like that LU didn’t follow the wrestling trope of the babyface fighting champion being a dumbass by defending the title even though they are unfit to wrestle. I liked the way they handled it here because this loss actually elevated Azteca in the end since he still had Marty on the ropes despite being hurt. This doesn’t necessarily elevate Marty, but I did have several discussions with Martin Casaus and he told me that there are some big things in store for him, so let’s see if he is telling the truth there.
Back from the break, Lucha Underground entered a Cinematic where Paul London, Evil Mascarita Sagrada, and Killer Kross were having a meeting in Wonderland (I’m going to assume this is wonderland). London told Kross that he was waiting for Kross for over a month (I’ve been too! Paul has a point there because he made his cinematic debut and just disappeared while Matanza ate Paul’s boys). Evil Sagrada did his Jabba’s pet laugh. Kross told “Mr. London” that time is a flat circle. Kross said that he hopes that London didn’t just come to complain. London said he sacrificed Saltador and Mala Suerte because they failed the Rabbit Tribe. London sucked up to Kross.
Kross yawned and said that London was putting him to sleep. Kross said he had two Rabbit Tribe members missing and asked where they were. Of course, London did just mention it but Kross wasn’t listening. Kross said he has an idea. Kross proposed that he and “El Bunny” join Paul London on the surface at the Temple. Kross called London a “friendo” (so that’s his catchphrase since he also used that on Impact recently and it seemed odd). London was excited at this new team. Kross told London to lead the way. London, Kross, and El Bunny then teleported away…
Melissa Santos handled the ring introductions and was her usual upbeat self (she got over all of her personal turmoil’s pretty quick).
3. Pentagon Dark vs. King Cuerno vs. Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Championship. (Now former) Lucha Underground senior referee Marty Elias was the referee for the match. Pentagon and Cuerno tried to take down Mil with kicks but Mil overpowered Pentagon and Cuerno in the corner with corner lariats. Cuerno and Pentagon then sandwiched Mil in a superkick party. Pentagon and Cuerno agreed to allow Cuerno to do the Arrow from the Depths of Hell tope. Pentagon then kicked Cuerno and hit Mil with a Tope Con Hilo instead. Mil recovered and took down Cuerno with a gore. Mil took down Pentagon with a lariat and ripped off most of his mask. Striker noted that we can see Pentagon’s face (and this is a norm for him, everyone pretty much knows what Pentagon really looks like).
Vampiro had some strange analogy of lucha masks and sports jerseys. Mil hip tossed Pentagon into the crowd. Mil and Cuerno brawled in the ring. Cuerno hit Mil with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Mil countered with a power slam on Cuerno. Pentagon entered the ring and did his Cero Miedo thing. Pentagon caught Mil with a running enzuigiri. Mil quickly recovered and went for a choke slam. Pentagon then hit Mil with two Sling Blades. Pentagon said Cero Miedo and hit Mil with a double stomp. Penta got a two count. Pentagon countered Cuerno’s sunset flip bomb but got hit by Cuerno’s knee. Cuerno hit Pentagon with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Mil hit Cuerno with a chokeslam. Pentagon hit Mil with two lungblowers. Pentagon hit Cuerno with the Fear Factor for the victory.
Pentagon Dark defeated King Cuerno and Mil Muertes via pinfall in 6:03 to retain the Lucha Underground Championship.
John’s Thoughts: To be honest, that was a bit underwhelming. I’m all for trying to tone down false finishes but I don’t think you bury Fantasma and Mil like that at the altar of Pentagon since Mil and Fantasma are two very good luchadores in their own right who should be elevated. I like Penta as a strong challenger and this is not Season 2 Jeff Cobb bad, but Mil and Cuerno could have gotten three more minutes at least.
Marty the Moth Martinez ran in to ground and pound Pentagon after his match. Marty took the title belt and slammed it on Pentagon. Marty hit Pentagon with his Underhook Impaler DDT. Marty then hit Pentagon with The Stomp. Antonio Cueto walked out and talked about how Dario Cueto set up the “week notice” rule. Antonio said that Marty made a “convincing argument” (a bribe) about how that was a stupid rule. Antonio then changed the rule to Money in the Bank rules where you cash in at any time. Antonio Cueto then allowed Marty to cash in right now.
John’s Thoughts: I like the attention to detail, but they forgot the detail about Pentagon becoming champion due to cashing in on an injured Ricochet, and Dario Cueto allowed that. Lucha Underground never really established that “One week” rule.
4. Pentagon Dark vs. Marty The Moth Martinez for the Lucha Underground Championship. Marty went for the quick pin but Pentagon kicked out. Marty tied Pentagon’s mask to the bottom rope in similar fashion to what Sami Callihan did to him in a match recently (Pentagon really needs to get rid of those tassels). Marty pummeled Pentagon in the corner. Pentagon slapped Marty on the top rope several times. Pentagon then hit Marty with the Canadian Destroyer. Marty rolled to ringside. Suddenly a woman in a leather sweater suit crawled into the ring. It was former Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Chelsea Green (f.k.a. Laurel Van Ness).
She wasn’t acting like a drunk bride (thank God). Chelsea kicked Pentagon in the balls and did one of her LVN yells. Chelsea hit Pentagon with her own Canadian Destroyer. Striker noted that Marty Martinez was distracting Marty Elias (Striker also had to note that there were two Marty’s in the ring). Marty Moth hit Pentagon Jr. with the Fear Factor for the victory.
Marty The Moth Martinez defeated Pentagon Jr. via pinfall in 3:36 to become the new Lucha Underground Champion.
Matt Striker said that Chelsea looked like some sort of black widow. Marty celebrated his title win while Chelsea crawled in strange positions on the mat.
John’s Thoughts: Okay, you may have noticed in my reviews of other companies that after not being really impressed by drunk Laurel Van Ness in Impact Wrestling, I suddenly called Chelsea Green one of the top wrestlers in the world all of a sudden. That’s due to the work I saw her do in Lucha Underground turning me around on her after reviewing every single one of her TV matches and not being impressed. I never give out spoilers, but I felt really bad holding this one in because Chelsea could have used the extra hype after her goofy comedy run in Impact. She’s going to have some really good matches coming up and I can’t wait to see how them come off on television. I may be overhyping this, but I hope some of the cool stuff I saw from her live translates well on television. I usually have a good eye for these things though (see: my thoughts on Velveteen Dream, Pentagon Jr, Fenix, and etc. before they were hype).
Getting my head back in this episode, this was an okay episode with some very important developments. As I mentioned, knowing what happens later in the season made me think of this show as better than it was. The opening match was the best of the night and the screwy Gift of the Gods match was better than expected. The Triple Threat Championship match dragged down the quality of this show a bit and didn’t do Marty and Chelsea any favors following that up. So overall average. At least Killer Kross is coming soon, hopefully. I’ll be by later today with my Lucha Underground Audio Review.
First off, John, you just simply don’t like Impact, so its not like you have to explain why you bash something in Impact and not something similar (or even something identical) in another company. Its not the act or the person, its IMPACT.
Secondly, regarding your comment ” I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucha Underground lost around 40% of their network viewership.”, do a little research (google is a good place to start) and research how many viewers were from Dish and how m many are from other services (DirectTV, the hundreds of cable companies out there, ect)
But I’ve been saying for the past few months that Impact has been a really good show (with the exception of stupid things they do like killing the random kid out of nowhere and other rough edges).
This is a Lucha Underground review? I don’t see how this offends Impact viewers? Not to mention, the only Impact reference I made in this review was saying that Chelsea Green came from Impact before. How is that offensive?
I’ve also did my research. I can compare “total” Dish vs. Other providers but that wouldn’t translate to a truthful statistic. 100% of cable viewers don’t watch LU. I would only be coming up with an inaccurate hypothetical. (i.e. Post Hoc – if 5% of total cable viewers watch Dish, what if that equates to 200% of LU’s total viewership? Again, that stat would only be true if an isolated variable of fans were LU and/or wrestling fans)
I liked how they told a full story from the end of last week (Marty bribing Antonio) to the end of this week (Marty winning the title), with the Evil Fenix stuff incorporated into it as well.
Lucha Underground is at it’s best when they write stories like this. This was something they struggled with the second part of season 2.