Gecko Watched Lucha Underground (completed)

[rnrk supports BLM]

Apr 9, 2021 5:08:26 GMT -5 Gecko said:

Sagrada’s entrance music is bugging me because I know it, but not what I associate it with.

It's Heart of Courage and it's used in a lot of movie and game trailers. I still associate it with a preview for one of the Mass Effects.

[Gecko]

Apr 9, 2021 16:49:26 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Apr 9, 2021 5:08:26 GMT -5 Gecko said:

Sagrada’s entrance music is bugging me because I know it, but not what I associate it with.

It's Heart of Courage and it's used in a lot of movie and game trailers. I still associate it with a preview for one of the Mass Effects.

Thanks for that, at least I know the name of it now. I'll probably work out where I know t from in a few months, by which time this side of the equation will be the bit I'm missing.

[Gecko]

Episode 06 – The Key
Are you the keymaster?

I’m assuming from the title that we’re going to find out more about who (or what? ♫dun dun dun♫) is locked up by Dario. I’m going to be so disappointed if he hasn’t somehow got a giant marshmallow man locked up.

Usual recap of stuff: Puma/Mundo adventures, Chavo doing Chavo stuff.
Slightly different opening as the credits show over interior shots of the Temple.

Dario is pouring drinks as Ryck signs an exclusive LU contract and they’re in a celebratory mood.

We’re off to the ring to find out what Ivelisse and Son of Havoc have got to say. Ivelisse is complaining that since Havoc arrived, he’s been treated like a joke by being made to wrestle a woman and half a man. Apparently they signed a 7 year contract. Havoc challenges anyone in the back to come face him..
…Ok, that I was not expecting. It’s Pimpinela Escarlata. Striker mentions the history of flamboyant stars with effeminate tendancies such as: Gorgeous George, Adrian Street, Ricki Starr, The Miz .

Son of Havoc w/Ivelisse vs Pimpinela Escarlata

Havoc gets a cheap shot in to start the match. I was about to say I don’t know if I’m expecting too much from Pimpanela but we get a rope walk and splash onto Ivelisse who is still in the ring.



Oh, god, that run.  I get the feeling that this won’t be the most serious of matches.
Pimpinela is impressing me much more than I thought he would after commentary mentioned he started in the 80s. Top rope dropkick.



Crowd is very into it.
Pimpy slipped off the apron and is holding his elbow, that didn’t look planned. Ivelisse is there to help kick the shoulder back into place though.
Refs are pretty lenient on stuff as Ivelisse drags Pimpy into place on the outside for Havoc to do something that I’ve not seen before: He held himself horizontal and then fell into an elbow drop. Nice. Follows it up with some heel mockery. Vamp complains about the lack of professionalism.



Handspring elbow connects, but Havoc misses the followup springboard crossbody to give Pimpy an opening.
Very long 2 count off the sunset flip.
I don’t know if I’ve forgotten what it’s like to see people selling or if Pimpy really does have an injured shoulder. Or somewhere in between.
Ivelisse interferes in the match yet again which brings out Mascarita Sagrada to chase her off.
The distraction allows Pimpy to hit The Kiss (which I’m guessing from the fact that they cut to the furthest possible shot for it, is an actual kiss) and the rollup for the win.
I’ll say again, much more impressed by Pimpy than I thought I would be.
Havoc is becoming that solid, dependable guy who you can throw out whenever and expect a decent match, but probably won’t ever be your star attraction.
------------

Johnny Pervert catches up with Dario in the pretty disgusting looking bathrooms. Dario tries to prevent the beatdown by saying that he’ll get Johnny his 100K (from the first episode), Johnny takes Dario’s Key as insurance. Normally I’d say we were heading towards a Mundo ladder match, but who knows with this show.


Famous B vs Mil Muertes w/Catrina

Famous B, eh? That’s a name that screams squash match.
If I can work it out after a few matches, everybody else should be able to as well: Mil will attack you as soon as he can, don’t turn your back.
Crowd is behind local boy, B, but he’s not doing well so far.
Nice spear, flatliner, at least B didn’t have to travel too far for a few minutes work. This one is done.
Ignoring the Blue Demon match, Mil is starting to get built up nicely. Had lots of intensity in this match.
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Drago/Cuerno rematch tonight? Excellent. A fun Drago promo with a child’s voice telling us about the mythology of dragons over a mix of in ring and other training footage.

Drago vs King Cuerno

Drago back in the blue again.
Cuerno hits a strong dropkick to start.
Springboard hurricanrana by Drago, it’s a back and forth opening few minutes but Cuerno ends up with the advantage.
Mystery woman from last week puts in an appearance. Different people are involved in the match from last week, so it’s not immediately obvious if she’s after anyone in particular or just having a scout around.
Dive from Drago ends with his feet on the steps and the mystery woman has seen enough again.
Cuerno pulls the ref down and bails to the outside for a breather. You’d think he would know better than to stand near the ring as he gets flattened by Drago anyway.



“Do not try that at home!” Ok, Striker, I won’t.
Drago almost caught Cuerno out with the fancy rollup again.
Anything you can do, I can do better



Don’t know if he got the full run up on that one. The Thrill of the Hunt gets the three.
Cuerno puts the boots to Drago and tells him “The Hunt has just begun.”
I can see what you’re all saying about Cuerno and how he’s bringing his character into his ringwork.
----------
Part two is coming up right after these commercials, don't go anywhere!

[Gecko]

Welcome back. Our main event tonight is Sexy Star & Fenix against Chavo and Penta.
I’m liking the corridor walk with the projections, they're slowly building the presentation side of things as well.



Mundo in the ring, he says that Cueto owes him $100K and he’s going to give him to the count of 10 to get out there. He proves that he can count up to at least six before he’s interrupted by Ryck.
Quick guess: this somehow ends with Puma smacking Mundo with a chair.
Ryck suggest that Mundo should get out of his ring and Johnny MaliciousCompliance does just that



Johnny Interrupted resumes his count and makes it all the way to nine before Konnan makes what I believe is his first appearance in front of the crowd. Konnan says Johnny owes Puma the cash since it’s Johnny’s fault that Puma has been the target for attacks, Johnny crossed the line last week and Puma will no longer have his back. Wonder if Puma knows any of this?
Ryck gets back in the ring and attacks Mundo. Here comes Puma, who must not have heard Konnan as he helps fight off Ryck.
Ok, Now Mundo and Puma are fighting as well. Refs and officials in to separate them. Dario comes out of his office with a briefcase containing the 100K and announces that Ryck didn’t read his contract properly, he has to earn it and we’re having a ladder match next week! Not immediately clear, but Puma is in it as well.

Oh, and the goons were there as well.

Chavo Guerrero Jr & Pentagon Jr vs Sexy Star & Fenix

Blue Demon is on the mend, in training and is on the way back.
Chaotic start which eventually leaves the Lucha Bros in the ring. A short burst of what we’re used to from these two before Chavo tags in.



Fenix tags in Star who kicks Chavo a bunch and then gets taken down with a shoulder block.
Heels remain in control until Star hits a modified open hand mandible strike aka a slap in the face and tags in Fenix.
Fenix is jumping around and spinning and kicking so much that it’s easy to cover up the botch of Chavo not selling a kick.
The cheating team of cheaters cheat to regain control.
Handspring into a cutter. Fenix manages to make space to get the tag and Star goes to work on both of her opponents.
Penta hits a powerbomb backbreaker onto his own knee.
Some taunting of Star by the heels.



That was a fun sequence.
Star hits an extra-spinny DDT and then a dive to the outside.



They’re slowly working their way up the stairs with each dive.
Corkscrew moonsault thing by Fenix once he caught his balance on the top rope.
Chavo catches Star’s attempted crossbody and goes up for the frog splash but is intercepted and knocked off by Fenix,
Penta takes a series of quick hits and gets pinned by Star as Chavo looks on from the outside.



Penta getting looked at in the ring by I’m assuming a medical person.
Not a bad match, it was more story driven than spectacular move based which caught me a little off guard. Initially, I was thinking it was a little lowkey for a main event, but they won me over with the story and interactions between all four.
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End of episode thoughts/questions

Question: What is Dario’s background? Wrestling (doesn’t seem like it)? Acting (possibly)? random guy who wandered in? should I know him from elsewhere?
The ring announcer has grown on me. She seems to be putting more into it now and making it more of a performance.
Ryck is an interesting choice for a first ladder match, but with the other two involved it should be fine and he gives some more options for spots.
I didn’t really notice it before, but the ring mat has a kind of grubby look to it. That’s a nice touch. Further examination makes me think it could almost be taken as being skin. Which would make the symbol in the middle a giant tattoo.
We didn’t find out any more about the key, but I was right about the ladder match.
Six episodes in and something ($100K) from the first episode that could have been a one off thing is still playing a part.

[Deleted]

Dario is an actor he has been in many commercials and popped up in shows like always sunny in philadelphia he auditioned for the role of Dario Cueto and if you remember from the opening in episode 1 this was not his first appearance it was actually in AAA...what better way to intro your spanish heel owner then in front of a mexican crowd.....and Luis/Dario's intro into what wrestling really is like...was him being told by someone in the audience in AAA ...his mothers vagina (gentle language here lol) smells like spoiled rotten milk and he was all in from then on.

Melissa is a fantastic ring announcer because she puts little things in for each wrestler...but the one she will really become known for is yet to come.

Yea that mat is purposefully made to look grimey and dirty because it becomes basically an ode to all the battles that take place on it and it will become more evident in future seasons and that symbol has a small bit of lore behind it nothing ground breaking but really shows how much deep thought the creative put into this show to even give something like that a bit of lore.

That 100k is really the first instance of keeping everything that happens in this show always in the back of your mind no matter how insignificant it may seem at first.

Oh and a interesting bit of info...there are only 2 people atleast in the first 3 seaons I believe that get their actual music played in the temple and that is Pimpi and one other that slips my mind at the moment but everyone elses music is inserted in post.

[Raskovnik]

Apr 9, 2021 16:49:26 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Apr 9, 2021 5:08:26 GMT -5 Gecko said:

Sagrada’s entrance music is bugging me because I know it, but not what I associate it with.

It's Heart of Courage and it's used in a lot of movie and game trailers. I still associate it with a preview for one of the Mass Effects.

Those of us who love supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners strongly associate that tune with a certain show starring a brilliant young man who graduated from one of Canada's top business school with really good grades.

[saneiac]

Apr 13, 2021 11:31:10 GMT -5 Gecko said:

Havoc is becoming that solid, dependable guy who you can throw out whenever and expect a decent match, but probably won’t ever be your star attraction.

I hope I'm not spoiling things when I say you hit the nail on the head there. Interestingly, Havoc was brought in to be a jobber. Maybe not as low as, say, Famous B, as Havoc did actually win his first match, but his main purpose when they initially brought him in was to be Ivelisse's crappy boyfriend and give her an Empowerment Moment when she finally dumped him. Plans changed when the live crowds responded positively to all his segments. He's one of a small handful of wrestlers who are with LU for the entire 4 seasons, and he's doing something for pretty much all of it.

Can you imagine that? A wrestling company that features someone more just because the fans enjoy their work? Ridiculous, pal!

[Gecko]

Episode 07 – The Top of the Ladder
It's a money in the briefcase match.

The recaps have slowly been getting fancier and more cinematic. Speaking of cinematic...



Hey, it’s Danny Trejo! We move onto the commentary desk for them to hype the ladder match, before getting a shot of the briefcase hanging above the ring. On to the first match of the evening.

King Cuerno vs Super Fly

There we go with the first mention of the tope being like an arrow shot from the depths of hell (even though it doesn't happen in this match). I just noticed that the pattern on Cuerno’s tights is antlers, that's a nice touch.
Super Fly, I have no knowledge of but commentary is adding some basic info.
Cuerno takes control early. Back body drop straight into a pose, great heel move.



Drago is perched up high keeping an eye on things, just like Cuerno was.
Super Fly (it’s annoying having to type the full thing every time, but I don’t know how to shorten it and make it sound right) ducks a clothesline and hits his first offence of the match, a headscissors takedown. It didn’t last long as he quickly gets put back on defence.
Cuerno hits that beautiful standing dropkick.
Striker mentions that Super Fly defeated Super Calo in a mask vs mask match. It's a bit random, but I know FAN loves Super Calo.
Ok, that was smooth so, yeah you get to gloat about it.



And that’s the highlight for Super Fly as he loses shortly afterwards.
Cuerno and Drago posture at each other across the Temple. This surely has to be leading to a gimmick match at some point, which is something I’m looking forward to.
------------
Penta promo video about his journey and how he went and studied his art in Japan. I guess that explains the outfit. I really like the style of these background videos they do, it’s almost like a film trailer for a wrestler.

Chavo Guerrero Jr w/Pentagon Jr vs Fenix w/ Sexy Star

Commentary reminds us about how Chavo ran away at the end of the tag match last week. Striker calls Fenix the Phenomenal Bird of War, which I’m not a fan of as a nickname. Fenix is mismatched as he has the green mask but the white tights. That bothers me more than it should.

Duelling chants going on, wasn’t expecting that.
The director temporarily gets possessed by the spirit of Kevin Dunn and we get too many shots of the fans and almost miss a dropsault by Fenix.
Chavo takes control with a boot to the mush. A bit of matwork going on in the match as Fenix locks in an armbar.
Nicely done:



Penta pulls the ropes to try and stop Fenix reaching them and escaping the single leg crab, but he reaches them.
Chavo does the sensible thing and starts focusing his attacks on the injured leg of Fenix.
The pair on the outside are starting to make their presence known. Sexy Star is the traditional stupid face and distracts the ref, allowing Penta to knock Fenix off the top. Chavo hits the frog splash and picks up the win.
Sexy star gets on the mic and tells Chavo that she’s not done with him and that Blue Demon is coming back for him.
---------

Wait, is that the mystery woman behind an unaware commentary team?



Yep, she wanders away as commentary introduce us to the man called (Brian) Cage who is coming soon.

Part two, and our main event, coming right up.

[Gecko]

$100K Ladder Match –Big Ryck vs Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma
Here we go with our main event with a variety of ladder sizes on the outside. Ryck doesn’t have the goons with him, but Puma does have Konnan at his side. I smell a betrayal coming. We’re about half way through the show, so this is looking like a longer than normal match.

Puma and Mundo team up to take on Ryck as Striker gives us a little on the history of ladder matches.
Ryck bails to the outside quickly and leaves the other two to fight amongst themselves for a while. Mundo is the first to go for a ladder, but gets taken down by Ryck who is still on the outside.
I see that Puma has that wrestler specific disease where you can’t climb ladders quickly.
Puma and Mundo exchanging punches on the ladder as Ryck comes along and tips it over. He then uses the ladder to knock both his opponents out of the ring. Ryck has a half hearted attempt at climbing the ladder before giving up and calling out the goons. Cisco and Cortez take control of the situation and immediately claim the briefcase for their boss. Oh, wait, no the opposite of that happens:



Wheeeeeeeee! Ooh, not a good landing.
The ladder is set up as a ramp in the ring. Mundo lands a back body drop on Puma on the ladder before slowly running up it for some parkour to the group on the outside.
Striker says “Hello, ladies!” to a couple of audience members, but I don’t know if it was supposed to be a Val Venis impression or not.
Chekhov’s tables are set up, along with a big ladder. Trejo has an extremely close view of them.
Cisco removes himself from the table as Mundo and Puma battle above.
Does this count as bad luck?


I mean, he didn't technically walk under it. Puma dives out the ring under the ladder as Mundo ducks, luckily the goon squad was there to break his fall.
Puma does his Buster Keaton impression 



I was not expecting a comedy spot and it completely caught me off guard. Just a fun spot that I don't remember seeing before. Puma's reaction was great as well.

Puma is the first to realise that ladder tug of war isn’t a real sport and pushes Mundo into the corner. Cutter from the top of the ladder and both men are down. Both men? There’s a third man in this match and he makes his return to the ring when it is advantageous to do so.
Ryck hits his opponents with some hard shots as the goons do some construction with the ladders. They manage to do one move using the ladders that they set up before Ryck puts the toys away.
Bit of an obvious cut, especially since there’s now a ladder bridging between the ring and the guardrails.
Ryck needs to review his hiring practices as Mundo fights off both of the goons and puts Cisco through the tables.
It looks like we might get a ladder fight, but Mundo throws his at Ryck and crushes his fingers



Ooh, bet that really stings.
Cortez takes his turn going through the table courtesy of Puma and it looks like we’re, at least for a while, down to the three people in the match.



Excuse the screenshot, the video was determined that it was going to be that or a blurry frame.
Ladder to the face of Puma from Mundo, who then vaults over the ladder from the turnbuckle onto Ryck. Parkour!
End of The World onto Ryck who is lying on a ladder, followed by a 630 from Puma and Ryck is out of it for a while.
Or not. Uh oh, Ryck’s back already. He catches Puma coming off the top with a powerbomb and then another onto Mundo who was lying on a ladder on the middle rope in the corner. Uranage to Mundo, press slam to Puma out of the ring and through a ladder.



Ryck sets up two ladders and slowly starts to climb them. Striker is saying it was a great match and that it’s over, which means it obviously isn’t.
Yup, Mundo back in the ring and climbing the ladders. Ryck isn’t at all confident up there, and Mundo is taking full advantage of that. Low kick takes down Ryck.
A masked “fan” runs in the ring and takes out a ref who tries to stop him. He interferes to prevent Mundo winning. When he unmasks, Vamp doesn’t know who he is, Striker says that he thinks he’s seen him around, and the crowd doesn’t sound shocked, so I don’t feel too bad about not immediately recognising him. Mundo takes him out, so I’m gonna guess he’s a goon.
Johnny springboards onto the ladder pushes over the other one, which has the goons on it, and claims the prize


I didn’t enjoy the match as much as I thought I would, don’t know why. Not saying it was a bad match or anything, just seemed to be missing that special ingredient.
----------
Dario decides to put in an appearance to congratulate Mundo and says that he wants the key/insurance policy back now that Mundo has his money. A bit of back and forth in the ring then Mundo knocks out Cueto. He does actually give the key back though.

Post Episode thoughts/questions
Not too much to put here.
- It was less story heavy than usual, which I didn’t really notice as I was watching, but looking back I really missed that aspect of the show.
- I kept expecting Danny Trejo to get involved with how prominent he was, even if it was just punching someone. He’s the perfect fit for a celebrity appearance here.
- Mystery woman has been there for three episodes now with no developments, probably want to change that soon and start advancing her story.
- Konnan didn’t hang around at all. Is this when he was having health issues? It would explain why we don’t really see him out at ringside.
- Like I said, I'm not familiar with Super Fly, feel free to educate me a bit.

[Deleted]

Sad to hear you did not enjoy the ladder match as much as you thought as it had some fantasticly fun spots...like the buster keaton reference spot

Konnan was having issues all in S1 and this comes directly from him and not just health issues he either he was just not in a good place in his life and very difficult to work with again this comes from him.

Don't you worrie about the mystery woman *cheeky grin*

Superfly is a AAA talent nothing much else to say about him really he is kind of in that blue demon tier but definetly more talented where he is around but you wont be chomping at the bit to find out what he does next.

But all in all this episode is there it does its job to progress things but it isn't an episode that you will go back to watch unless you marathon the show.

That Pentagon vingette is awesome but there is an even better one coming soon and really begins to set the stage for Pentagon and the man who directed it is a man by the name of Skip Chaisson basically a top 5 all time movie trailer guy and you may have seen some of his work.







And pretty much every action movie trailer from the 90s was done by him so yea he is the man that basically every wrestling company now is trying to emulate with "cinematic" matches are you are seeing the early stages of the visual style that defines LU and it only gets so much better the lightning , the camera work *chefs kiss* aint nothing like it in wrestling and you see the difference between when someone top tier in Hollywood directs something in a wrestling enviroment versuses everyone else trying to emulate it.

[Deleted]

Oh and forgot to mention that 3rd guy is Bael to complete the goon squad.

Cortez
Mr Cisco
Bael

The Crew is now complete...I do not remember how well it came off on TV but apparently in person Bael sadly got a completely dead reaction when he first came out because no one knew who the hell it was in the mask but when he unmasked got a HUGE pop because he is a big very recognizable name in the southern cali indy scene.

[Gecko]

Episode 8: A Unique Opportunity
They could be in the conversation for a future unique opportunity

Usual recap to start with.
Opening shots before we go into the Temple where a whole bunch of people are already in the ring. Let’s see, I can spot Mascarita Sagrada, Big Ryck, Drago, Penta, Puma doing a DDP cosplay with the taped ribs, Fenix who is also in yellow, Havoc, Cuerno, is that Mariachi Loco? There’s yet another person there also wearing yellow and black who I didn’t get a good look at. Ah, it’s Super Fly apparently.

Dario invited these 10 out to the ring, I’m guessing this is the unique opportunity. Dario gets introduced and shows up wearing sunglasses. You can see why even with them on. Hey, it’s Danny Trejo again. A 10 way match? And another 10 way match later tonight. The winners of the matches will get rewarded with an unspecified ‘unique opportunity’. Ring the bell? Oh, I guess we’re doing this then.

10 way match involving: I’m not typing them all out again, go read above.

Almost everybody jumps Andre Ryck to start the match.



I’m hoping commentary clears up what the rules are here. There is also only one ref in the ring, wonder if that'll play a part?
We switch to the overhead shot for the artistic 'big man throws everybody off him' spot shot.
Sagrada avoided getting thrown off and is now attacking Ryck on his own. He’s not having much success and so stops to do the sensible thing, which is some push ups.
I noticed that Cuerno and Drago haven’t done anything yet and are just waiting in opposite corners.
Striker lets us know that it’s not elimination, one fall ends the match.
Mascarita outwrestles Ryck, applies the hammerlock and kicks the legs to take him do uh-oh, Ryck’s smiling. It doesn't go well for Sagrada.
Drago makes his move against Cuerno but it doesn’t work out for him.
Everyone else gets back into the action and take turns hitting Ryck with springboard moves until he rolls out for a breather.
Penta assist for the Drago corkscrew onto Cuerno.



It’s pretty clear that neither of these two are winning since they’re completely focused on each other.
Mascarita goes spinning, twirling, whirling round and round Penta. Penta ducks the kick (he was on his knees), and hits the adorable backstabber. Both make their way to the apron, Penta hits the superkick. And I had to pause here for a couple of minutes to stop laughing. I actually meant to gif it, but just completely forgot in my amusement.
The followup monkey flip wasn’t quite as funny.
Super Fly hits a top turnbuckle moonsault to Penta on the outside, it looked like he came down pretty hard.
Havoc aborts his dive and congratulates himself before getting into it with Puma.
Puma’s second rope somersault dive thing takes out a couple of people outside and Trejo deems it worthy of a high five.
Ryck makes his return and quickly asserts himself.



He lays out everybody before Fenix and Puma team up to remove him from the match again. Now they can turn their attention to each other. Solid hit on the running, jumping kick by Fenix to the face of Puma in the corner. Puma returns the hit with a corner dropkick, Fenix hits the knees on his next turn.
Tower of doom time. Beautiful Shooting star from Havoc. The pin is broken up by Super Fly. I think that’s the first pin attempt in the match at about 10 minutes in.
It looks like we’re getting to the portion of the match where everybody gets to show off a move and go for a pin before getting attacked by the next person in the queue. Super Fly to Drago to Cuerno to Mariachi (nice superkick) to Penta to Mascarita (who gets a chant and according to Vamp didn’t win cause he couldn’t hook the legs on the sunset flip) to Puma to Ryck.
Everybody back in and kicking Ryck in pairs until he leaves yet again.
WOOOOOO… Cuerno got all of that one!


(I trimmed the gif a bit short, but didn't notice until later)

Super Fly and Mariachi dive onto Cuerno and Drago… I think I see where this is going… yup, everybody takes their turn jumping onto the growing pile of people.
We’re left with Fenix, Puma and Ryck in the ring. 630 by Puma onto Ryck, who then gets caught with a tornado DDT from Fenix. 2 count only.



That can’t be good for you. Oh, and that’s it, Fenix wins off the piledriver! And I just got a sense of déjà vu for some reason. Weird.

That was a fun one, everybody got a chance to show off a bit, Havoc was impressive, the Drago / Cuerno story kept going throughout the match. I like how they kept coming together to get rid of Ryck and not just doing it once and then forgetting that strategy. Apart from the everybody having a go sequence, there weren't many pin attempts, which I liked. I don’t know who I thought was going to win, but it wasn’t Fenix. Beats a battle royal, which I thought was what we were getting to go with.
---------
C’mon Trejo, *poke* do something.
Cage promo vid.

Konnan having a go at Puma for not winning. Tension building in this relationship.



As I retype and format, I realise that this is a great example of how differently things are filmed from other companies with the symbolism of the split mirrors and the 'live free' on Puma's side.
Looks like we’re getting ready for the next 10 man… person match. Oh, this one is a battle royal.

Boyle Heights Battle Royal
Who’s in this then? Johnny Mundo who was the only one to get an entrance, Pimpinela Escalarta, Mil Muertes, Cisco, Cortez, & Bael, Sexy Star, Ricky Mandel who I only know cause I remembered the name on his tights from an earlier episode, and Famous B.
Commentary points out that’s only nine people. The most obvious person missing is Chavo... oh, speak of el diablo.
Early prediction: Sexy Star eliminates herself trying to get to Chavo. Star jump starts the match by jumping on Chavo outside the ring and the bell sounds.
Hello Mystery Woman. Are you going to do anything new this week?
Famous B is the first out to the surprise of nobody. Elimination by Pimpi (sounds like a perfume ad).
The goons team up to dump Mandel out. Muertes interrupts Pimpi’s rope walk and then dumps him out to boos from the crowd.
Star attacks Chavo, he ends up dragging her around the ring by her hair. Star fights back but Chavo catches her on the crossbody attempt and drops her outside to eliminate her.
The goons try and get rid of Mundo, who ends up on the apron fighting all three of them off.



I was wondering when we’d get the save spot.
Mundo, Chavo, and Mil each dispose of a goon and are left as the final three.
Some fun stuff between the trio including a Mundo sunset flip which caused Mil to suplex Chavo.
Hello Catrina, how did I forget about you?
It's pretty even, I could see any of them winning it. Of course, Catrina helping out Mil gives him an advantage.
Mundo drops Chavo uncomfortably onto the top rope and a kick sends him on his way, we’re down to two.
Oh, Mystery Woman is still here. In fact, she’s getting a closer look. Is she the unique opportunity?



I like Mil’s spear, it looks like he puts everything behind it.
We end up with both men fighting on the apron, this feels like the end. Mil beats Mundo down and instructs Catrina to help as he tries to push Mundo off the apron. It's still not enough though and both make it back in.
Mil counters the End of the World with the knees and clotheslines Mundo over the top to win!


Aww.

I’m not generally a fan of standard battle royals, but this one was helped by there only being 10 people to start with. Apart from Famous B and… *checks further up* Mandel, everybody else felt like they had at least a small chance of winning (even if it was a fluke) and weren't just there to make up the numbers.
----------------

We’ve still got 15 minutes or so, wonder what else is in store. Ok, we’re going to find out what Dario is up to.

Fenix and Mil Muertes face to face in the ring. Dario’s entrance music starts and he appears from his office.
That’s a belt. So that’s where we’re going with this, eh?



That fits in, design wise.
Dario gets in the ring to tell us about the match that he’s invented. It’s named Aztec Warfare and will take place in three weeks*. Tonight, however, we’re getting Mil vs Fenix with the winner entering Aztec Warfare last, the loser has to enter first. So, it involves 20 luchadors and there’s an entry order. It sounds like it’s possibly elimination based. The numbers suggest a Royal Rumble type deal.
*which, going by the title, is the next episode. It’s only three weeks in TV time due to Christmas.

Mil Muertes vs Fenix
I’m picking Mil to win this one, simply because I don’t see him starting Aztec Warfare first.
Fenix starts off by frustrating Mil and avoiding his attempts to grapple, but soon gets caught and slowed down.
Fenix bounces around for a while before getting caught again.
They both end up on the floor outside… go on, Trejo, just a little kick while they’re down?
I was wondering what the crowd was saying. They were counting along with the ref. Count outs really haven't come up as a thing so far.
Fenix does some fancy rope walking stuff before he jumps at Mil. Mil does a not at all fancy uppercut.
Mil hits the flatliner to pick up the win. I don’t like that as a finish for him.
--------

Ooh, post credits stuff. Dario back at the cell. He talks about the belt and how the gold in it comes from the seven Aztec tribes. He can’t let the person in the cell touch it though, since he knows how they like to destroy pretty things.

Post episode thoughts/questions

• The design of the belt fits in, but I’m not sure I’m a fan. It’s mainly the side plates I’m unsure of. I get what they’re going for with the designs on them though. That said, I'm more positive about it now than my initial reaction and I'm sure they've put as much thought into the design as everything else.
• I am interested in how the title gets used in the future. It would be easy for it to get lost in the shuffle and just become something normal instead of something special.
• Random thought: Aztec gold? What you’ve got yourself there is a cursed belt.
• I don’t think the monster in the cage is showing up any time soon, which I am fine with. It seems to be Dario’s go to place for talking about whatever’s on his mind.
• I like how they kept the rivalries a part of the matches.
• Mystery Woman hung around quite a while longer this time. Maybe she’s closing in on her target.
• Thinking of it some more, if Aztec Warfare is a Rumble style match, it can’t be a straight Rumble match with how they were talking about it. I'm guessing it'll be a long one and we may only get that match next episode.
• I think I'm going to start a separate document keeping track of what everybody does just cause it'll be interesting to look back on at the end.

[Deleted]

In stone cold speak...OH HELLLLLLL YEAAAAAA!

Welcome to what many myself included see as the end of the trial run of LU and now we begin where the LU every knows and loves truly starts to form.

Looking back this was kind of a redundent episode considering what comes in the next episode but I get why they did it to segway into the concept so I do not have a issue with it because I get it but some may see it as a bit redundent.

And nice pointing out the duality of the mirror with Puma and Konnan like I said you see how the creative in LU looks at things differently than any other company there is a far more layered complexity in all the stories and all the little details they throw in and again it only gets sooooo much better as we keep going along because it is such a breath of fresh air to have stories told of this quality.

And that is a very smart idea to try and make something to keep track of what everyone is doing because like I just said things become SO much more complex IMO in a good way because so many stories start weaving in and out of one another the deeper we go on this journey.

Oh and that belt lol that belt that is all I will comment about that right now.

[Psicofreak667]

Bael was B-Boy.

He was actually a pretty big name on the US indy scene in the mid-2000s, worked CZW and RoH (and IWA:MS, back when that was actually considered noteworthy) in addition to the SoCal feds. He and Super Dragon worked Chikara's Tag World Grand Prix 2005 and put on a banger against Billy Ken Kid and Ebessan. And then like sometimes happens it just seemed like the wrestling world forgot about him. I figured he'd retired until he showed up on 1.2 (he's one of the jobbers who took a chair shot from Chavo), and he's been pretty active pretty much the whole time between the early 2000s and Lucha Underground, and then continued being active until he cut way back on wrestling for COVID.

Also, don't get too attached to Bael. Just sayin'.

[Mozenrath]

The grimy look for the mat is cool, but I will say it does occasionally lead to unintentional humor, since you can sometimes see the fake grime rub off on people. I suppose that'd happen even with real dirt, blood, etc, but a stain presumably wouldn't rub off onto you if it was really a stain.

[Gecko]

Bit of a longer gap than I was planning, that whole 'life' thing got in the way of this important stuff.

Episode 9 – Aztec Warfare
New year, new champion.

Recap of last episode.

LU is hosting some traditional Aztec dancing? They must have some mystical powers since they appear to vanish from one shot to the next as Dario welcomes us to the Temple. Oh, wait, they didn’t vanish, since one of the giant headdresses passes between the camera and Dario.
Dario says how great this year (2015) is going to be, and it starts with crowning a new champion. It sounds like we’re about to hear what Aztec Warfare actually is.
20 people competing. Start with two and another enters every 90 seconds. Elimination by pinfall or submission, and anything goes. So it’s a great big gauntlet elimination type thing. Sounds fun.
Dario introduces us to the two people who are starting the match.

AZTEC WARFARE
#1 is Fenix, who we already knew was starting. Maybe save some of that energy you’re using to bounce about? You’re going to need it.
#2 is Johnny Mundo. You could almost see the quotation marks when Dario said it was a "random draw".

Striker is sounding a little growly this week.

Lock up to begin, Mundo gets the better with his strength advantage. Vampiro is just now questioning why Striker keeps say “por favor”. He learns that Striker is actually saying “parkour”.
Back and forth, nobody really gaining a lasting lead. Mundo ends up outside… man, they really have to do something about people wandering around outsid… oh, sorry, just habit. Both men down in the ring as the count reaches zero and we welcome:

#3 - Mr Cisco.
The drummers are still about and adding to the countdowns. Let’s see if the first goon can do anything worthwhile. Cisco was doing well for a minute or two, then this happened:



Headfirst into the turnbuckle, followed by a Fenix standing moonsault that mostly missed and Mundo’s End of the World. Wouldn’t you know it, Mr Cisco is elimination #1 and we’re back to the starting point.

Fenix tries to take advantage of Mundo being distracted and gets a two with a rollup. Trading punches and then ain’t that a pair of kicks in the head, as they’re both down just in time to go to an ad break.

The drums are… drumming. Well, I suppose the drummers are drumming and the drums are being drummed. Whatever, it’s time for another body.

#4 – King Cuerno.
Cuerno spends a bit just avoiding everything then hits a flying forearm.



Cuerno in control, hits an untidy monkey flip on Fenix.
Arrow from the Depths of Hell on Mundo. We’ve now got a visible signal for it. It’s fun watching stuff like this develop over time.
The countdown drums are on as Fenix casually walks along the top rope from the turnbuckle and stands in the middle to somersault onto Cuerno.



#5 – Son of Havoc.
Every time I see Havoc, he does something new to impress me.



Half a point off for not clearing the top rope cleanly.
Still only one elimination so far as we count down to..

#6 – Pimpinela Escarlata
Pimpi clears out Havoc before having his way with Fenix and Cuerno. A strong kiss knocks Fenix down and Pimpi then goes after the ref. Pimpi is the only one in the ring as we count down again.

#7 – Prince Puma
He has to be up there with the favourites to win this thing*. Puma resumes his rivalry with Mundo. Springboard moonsault.



So pretty, and so much hangtime just from the middle rope, but it only gets a two count. Fenix hits a springboard leg drop on Mundo as the drums start up and we see mystery woman again.

#8 – Ivelisse
She’s in a hurry to get to the ring. She hits a hurricanrana on Cuerto, a tornado DDT on Fenix, then Pimpi comes in and tries to kiss everybody. A quick team up between Ivelisse, Cuerno and Havoc, who hits a shooting star press, makes Pimpi elimination #2.

#9 – Drago
Drago is taking out people so that he can get to Cuerno who is waiting in the corner. Johnny breaks up a pin on Fenix for some reason. Puma is the last obstacle, he gets a poisonrana from Drago who is then taken down himself with a Cuerno enziguri.
Cuerno is about to hit The Thrill of The Hunt on Drago, but Ivelisse interrupts and kicks him, so he hits it on her instead and pins her.
Elimination #3 – Ivelisse.

#10 – Beal
Let’s see if the newest goon can do any better. Vamp calls him a B-Boy which I would have missed without the extra info being added to the thread. Most of the fighting is on the outside of the ring, people diving all over the place. Drago near enough lands on his head from the corkscrew. Puma catches Havoc with a kick and makes him Elimination #4. Puma looks to be the only one standing as we count down again.

But first we have some commercial opportunities for you.

[Gecko]

And we're back. What are you going to buy from those ads?

#11 – Cortez Castro
I would say having multiple goons in the match should be an advantage, but it didn’t do much for them in the battle royal. Goons are winning against Puma and Mundo, amazingly.
Drago and Cuerto still fighting on the outside.
Goons have added Fenix to their victim list, maybe they’re overextending themselves now?

#12 – Ricky Mandel
He’s not gonna win. Puma hits a northern lights suplex, rolls through into a jackhammer, then follows with a standing shooting star to pin Bael for Elimination #5.
Mundo takes care of the remaining goon. Elimination #6 - Cortez

#13 – Big Ryck
Ryck pushes his departing goons out the way as he gets in the ring. I mean, there’s no reason they can’t hang around and help out, but would you want them to?
Puma, Mundo, and Mandel team up to try and stop the big man. It doesn’t work as he gets rid of the other two then hits a urinage on Mandel – Elimination #7

Drago in for his go at Ryck. He ends up held over Ryck’s head. Cuerno must have asked nicely since Ryck hands him over.



Cuerno gets his prey tonight and Drago is elimination #8. Cuerno celebrates a bit too much which allows Mundo to catch him with a crucifix pin and make Cuerno Elimination #9

#14 – Pentagon Jr
Penta goes on a tour of the ring before being halted by Ryck. Ryck gets him in a full nelson, but escapes as the twin superkicks from Puma and Mundo miss their target and hit the big man instead. This could be the chance to get rid of Ryck. Nope, they continue to fight amongst themselves.



I'm glad this wasn't around when I was growing up. The younger brother is always the victim for trying out wrestling moves.

Ryck breaks up the pin cause… he wants to do it himself?

#15 – Super Fly
Three quarters though let’s have a check on where we are. Still also in the match are: #1 Fenix, #2 Mundo, #7 Puma, #13 Ryck, #14 Penta. Five spots left, with Muertes taking the final one.
Puma holds Super Fly for Mundo to kick, it goes exactly as well as you imagined it went.
Ryck is left alone in the ring, looking for his next challenger. The rest aren’t really working together against him despite it being a successful tactic last episode.

#16 – Chavo Guerrero Jr
Chavo being a smart heel brings a chair with him. Super Fly is the first to get hit, one shot and he’s done. Elimination #10.
Here’s Chavo’s recent Ally, Penta…



Never trust a Guerrero. Penta is Elimination #11.
Quick message to everybody else in the match: You notice how Chavo puts the chair down when he pins somebody…? I’m sure there are other chairs about too.
Chavo uses the chair to try and break through Mundo’s abs.

#17 – Mascarita Sagrada
Chavo should have kept a hold of his chair since he’s not doing too well against Sagrada without it. Fenix doesn’t have much more success… nevermind, I spoke too soon.


*muffled giggling from my direction*

#18 – Sexy Star
Star goes straight for Chavo and they both eventually end up on the floor outside.
You know how sometimes things don’t feel entirely fair? It’s time for Ryck vs Sagrada. Yeah… Ellimination #12 is Sagrada.

#19 – El Mariachi Loco
I had skipped a number and originally had this as #20, I wasn’t sure about the new look for Mil Muertes. Mariachi does a bunch of flippy stuff on everybody before getting caught with a Ryck clothesline. The Big man celebrates as the drums start up…

#20 – Mil Muertes w/ Catrina
Muertes makes an immediate impact, he quickly makes Mariachi Loco Elimination #13, before facing off with Big Ryck. Stalemate.
Muertes always somehow seems bigger than he actually is.
The rest of the competitors finally get on the same page and attack both of the big threats.
Chavo keeps throwing people out so that he can be the one to pin Ryck. When he finally gets the chance to go for the pin, Fenix hits a 450 on him and they both end up pinning Ryck for elimination #14

Chavo goes back to his chair and it pays off and lets him pin Fenix for Elimination #15.
He’s left alone in the ring with Sexy Star. Ha, Chavo’s getting beaten up by a girl. Not for long though, as he drops Star onto the chair. He then places it on her face and climbs to the top… oh, yay it’s Blue Demon back for the save. One weak chairshot from Star is enough to make Chavo Elimination #16.

We’re down to the final four: Mundo, Puma, Star, Muertes. I’m gonna guess Mundo or Muertes win. Or possibly Puma… Maybe even Star.
Puma and Mundo team up to take down Mil, Star then takes each of them individually before the Muertes spear takes her down and out. Elimination #17.



I knew she wouldn’t win.
Muertes doesn’t appreciate Mundo doing his fancy flippy shit while he’s trying to beat somebody up.
Puma gets back in the ring in time to help Mundo out with the superplex on Muertes.
Catrina gets involved and grabs Puma’s leg to stop his momentum. Puma is having none of it and drags her onto the apron. He avoids the sneak attack from Muertes who manages to stop himself from running into her, then dodges Mundo’s incoming springboard kick, which unfortunately leaves Catrina in the firing line.



Everybody in the ring looks as shocked as I am, I didn’t see that coming. Mil is pissed and has lost all focus. Springboard 450s from opposite sides of the ring (not at the same time, that’s a little too risky), Muertes ends up on the bottom of the pile and is Elimination #18. We’re down to our final two.

Muertes carries Catrina away from the scene of his first defeat as we see a repeat of the first LU main event of Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma.

Striker: *says a bunch of stuff* “Vamp, help me out.”
Vamp: “I’m sorry, dude, I’m watching the match.”

The two in the ring start of with a seemingly renewed energy, but it doesn’t last and you can see how tired they are. Mundo locks in the single leg Boston crab. Puma knocks Mundo off the rope and to the outside as he goes for a springboard, which gives them both a bit of a rest.

They both end up on the top turnbuckle, Puma hits the Spanish Fly, but it only gets a two! He immediately signals that he’s going back up top, but Mundo grabs his leg to prevent it. They both end up on the ropes again, Mundo hits a poisonrana that sends Puma all the way to the other corner, where he hits End of the World… Two count!

They’re both up top for the third time, Puma fights Mundo off and hits the 630. One.. two… three! Puma wins!

The first ever Lucha Underground Champion is Prince Puma.



---------

Here’s Konnan. Mundo shakes Puma’s hand and then leaves as Konnan celebrates with his protégé.

Post Episode thought/questions

- I’ve been trying to work out what to compare Aztec Warfare to, and I can’t really come up with a single match type. It took elements from different matches and smushed them all together into its own thing.
- The match itself was a lot of fun and didn’t drag at all. At the end I was dreading that we were getting into a ‘kick out of everything’ situation, but thankfully it didn’t go too far down that route.
- *told ya. Puma has been getting a lot of attention, I even said in Episode 3 - “It’s easy to tell who’s getting the pushes around here.”, but plenty of other people have been shown off well too, so it wasn’t obvious that he was winning.
- Obviously not really a story based episode, but they incorporated the ongoing feuds into the match and kept everything fresh in the mind while having the title as the focus of the episode.

[Deleted]

And now begins the real shift in what was Lucha Underground into what its true indentity and what an amazing match to begin that shift , LU does it like no other the amazing set dressing with the aztec dancers and what I like to call ...the conch of war although I do not remember if it was used here.

And I have said it plenty of times...as great as the royal rumble is THIS is the best modern day evolution of that match it removes the dull pacing elements and corny overused saved spots and makes it so much more fast paced and fun and of course WWE aped this for NXT now so but just with a less people absoloutley shameful lol.

I love that Dario was making #2 jokes the whole time and Striker makes it out to be like Dario was talking about coming in at #2 Striker keep up man lol

I love that the intervals are all over the place here it is suppose to be 2min intervals but noppe Chris Dejoseph just makin that up on the fly lol.

And Big Ryck doin what he does best with talent and taking legit shoot liberties with them...poor Mascarita.

And let me give a round of applause to my girl Catrina say what you will about her wrestling but that woman can bump her ass off and she showed it here she took that kick from Johnny absoloutley so perfectly it looked like she got shoot kicked in the head because she correctly leaned into it amazing love that woman there are some wrestlers need to look at her and take some bump lessons.

Mariachi loco looked so good in this match so what a dropkick

Again amazing match and the complete shift into what LU is starts here.

[Gecko]

Episode 10 – Law of The Jungle
There was a fun subtitle here but it was edited out

Recap focusing on the Chavo story, and Aztec Warfare.

I hate and love that I’m getting to the point where I see this:



And wonder what the significance is, is it a clue to something coming up, what does it represent, are we getting an energy drink sponsored wrestler, have they signed Mantaur, or is it just a red herring?

Dario has Fenix in his office and tell him that he’s an honest man (honest people don’t have to tell you that), and he has to be honest with Fenix. He butters Fenix up and tells him how impressed he’s been and it’s Fenix’s destiny to be here. He sets up the title match for tonight and wants Fenix to destroy Puma and embarrass Konnan.
Ooh, sneaky Mystery woman is spying on the meeting.
Oh great, he picked up the bull. Now I’m gonna be wondering about it even more.

Commentary talks about the title match, informs us that there’ll be a confrontation with Blue Demon (at least it’s not a contract signing), and four new luchadors right now!

4 Way Elimination: Aerostar vs Argenis vs Angélico vs Cage



Aerostar I’m vaguely familiar with, Argenis is a complete new one to me, Angélico and Cage are both known entities.
Commentary building Cage as the opposite of everything in LU, the anti-lucha if you will.
The three smaller ones take turns running into Cage and getting thrown away. He turns around to celebrate, and when he turns back, they all jump him. A bit of triple team work sees Cage rolling out leaving the others to speed things up a bit.
Argenis kicks Bishop Brennan Angelico up the arse.



Striker (who is still sounding a little growly) lets us know that some of these luchas will stick around and some will never be seen again.
Aerostar does some Fenix style bouncing on the ropes before some more fancy stuff gets him caught:



Angelico gets set to dive out on the two masked men, but turns round into a Cage clothesline that flips him. Torture rack into a neckbreaker on Angelico, then he kicks Argenis off the top turnbuckle. Climbing up to the second rope himself, Cage grabs Argenis and brings him in with a superplex.
He catches Aerostar in a vertical suplex position from the flying nothing and hits a jackhammer, doesn’t get a 3 though, which I thought it would.
Argenis takes out Cage with a huricanrana from the top followed by a springboard moonsault to the outside. Aerostar takes them both out with a springboard coffin drop. A landing like that looks like it could give you some serious whiplash.
Angelico’s turn. Nothing fancy, doesn’t mean it isn’t impressive though. He starts in the furthest corner, sprints across the ring and clears everything.



Angelico choses Aerostar to chuck back in the ring. He beats up Aero until Argenis hits a high spinebuster, only to turn round into a Cage pumphandle and Argenis is the first out!
Aerostar tries some flippy, spinny stuff on Cage, who just throws him away before hitting a powerbomb and then another into the corner/Angelico. Discus clothesline gets the three on Aerostar. We’re down to two.
Cage shows off his agility



Another discus clothesline gives Cage the impressive victory on his debut.
I really enjoyed that. As fun as a flippy match can be, adding in a different ingredient like a powerhouse for everybody to work off of just gives it that nice bit of variety. Next week, Cage has another 4 way match but this time all his opponents' names start with ‘B’.
----------

“Lucha Underground, they call me Cage, because I’m not a man; I’m a machine.” Sometimes promos don’t make sense.

We come back to the Temple to find the crowd booing, ah, it’s Chavo. He’s sitting in the ring. He’s been getting a lot of use out of that chair. Chavo says that he made a mistake and he wants to apologise to Blue Demon… I’m sure he’s being genuine here, why not trust him BD?
They both sit down and after having a quick feel of his leg, Chavo says that he’s sorry… that he didn’t expose BD as a fraud and that he didn’t take his mask.
Chavo telegraphs his attack and lets BD get the upper hand which leads to an embarrassingly weak assault. BD grabs a chair and just absolutely... taps Chavo harshly. To be fair, the second shot (to the back and not the head) was much better. Oh, and that’s all the revenge that Blue Demon wants for getting put in the hospital apparently.
Ooh, Drago and Cuerno again next.

Part of the shots around the city is a camera on the front of a car looking back, with the LU logo flashing on the bonnet. Now I have to think, is this representing somebody new on the way, are we going to get a transforming wrestling car, or is this just a part of the establishing shots.

King Cuerno vs Drago

Slightly odd start as after the first exchange, they slow right down and it’s almost like they skipped a bunch of stuff and just jumped to further on in the match. (after watching the rest of the match, it's pretty clear this is exactly what happened).
Cuerno clears the top rope on the dive and then grabs a table from under the ring and sets it up outside.
Drago blocks Cuerno’s attempt to put him through the table from the apron and then hits a dive of his own.
That table is set up conveniently near Dario’s office.
Definitely some noticeable editing going on here, we went from Drago about to climb back in the ring:



to the next shot being him on his knees and Cuerno grabbing a chair.



Cuerno practices his magic act and shows the chair is real by hitting the ring post.
He then misses Drago and ends up on the table. It wasn’t quite as bad as the Bully Ray putting himself on the table in TNA bit, but it wasn’t great.



Drago sprints up the stairs, I wonder where he could possibly be going? Yup, on top of Dario’s office.
Nothing fancy, just a splash onto the Cuerno table, but it did look like Drago squashed his face on the floor.




…and that’s it. Ref calls for a double count out. Lucha medics are out to help along with referees and other officials.
That match was completely destroyed by the editing, no build up to the big finish at all. Very disappointing that we didn’t get to see more of it.

[Gecko]

While they clean up the debris, here’s a look at Fenix. Another one of those fun videos where they use mythology and/or history to build the character.

Lucha Underground Championship: Fenix vs Prince Puma(c)

I’ve decided that I’m not a fan of Puma’s mask. I do like the black, purple, yellow combo on Fenix (could do with a bit more purple on the tights).
Starting off with a handshake. Lots of flippy counters before they pause for the applause. After the opening salvos, Puma is the first to hit a big move but Fenix soon hits one of his own and both men end up on the floor.
Hey, it’s Dorian Roldan from AAA in the crowd. I totally knew that. He’s no Danny Trejo, though.



Guy behind him looks like a wrestler.
Back in the ring and there’s still plenty of dodging and counters happening, but Fenix takes control with a kick to the spine.
Vampiro talks about how getting hit in the spine can affect you and what happened with him and Finlay one time, or he tries to as Striker just talks over him.
Vampiro’s Loading screen tips: Stop thinking so much and just beat him.
What the hell was that? Fenix almost dropped Puma on his own head.



The champ regains control and doesn’t do anything fancy apart from a standing moonsault, just punches, kicks, and chops.
Bow and arrow crucifix surfboard submission – Striker



Puma then slams Fenix down and rolls him up but can only get a two count. Puma starting to show a bit of frustration.
Crowd is getting into it and is split down the middle.
Both men down after Fenix connects with an enziguri. Handspring into a cutter gets Fenix a two count.
Both men looking tired, but in this match they’ve actually done stuff to get in that state (yes, I’m still going on about it).
On their knees just slapping each other now.
Puma catches Fenix as he goes for the handspring again and turns it into a Northern Lights, rolling through into a vertical suplex, but it’s still not enough.
Puma drags Fenix closer to the corner and then slowly ascends. Phoenix splash ends in a splat as Fenix moves.
German suplexes into the pin is not good enough for a new champ.
It’s Fenix’s turn to go up top, which now that I think on it, there hasn't been as much of that sort of stuff as you might be expecting.
Fenix hits the 450, it doesn’t get him the win, but he signals the end is coming.
Puma counters the piledriver into one of his own but can’t get an immediate cover. Champ does the spinny signal with his hands.
He takes too long getting up there and Fenix catches him in a vulnerable position. Fenix goes to an adjacent corner, this should be good…



It was. That gives Puma enough time to go up and hit the 630 and make his first title defence a successful one. A fun way to kick off Puma's reign.
------------
Oh no, Puma doesn’t get a chance to celebrate as here comes Cage with the beatdown! Guess he want a shot at the title.

Post episode thoughts/questions

- Really liked the 4 way match, even if Cage hadn't have ended the show with the beatdown, it’s clear he’s getting a push from how he pinned everybody in the match.
- Hopefully with a win each and a draw, we get another Drago/Cuerno match. This time without the disruptive editing and maybe a gimmick of some kind. So disappointed with that.
- If that’s the end of the Blue Demon stuff with Chavo, that’s a lame ending.
- Not going to go looking for them myself to post them (in case I get spoiled), but the vignettes like the Fenix one in this episode and the Penta one before, are really nicely done and you should go look them up.
- Good choice in Fenix to kick off Puma’s title reign.
- Almost forgot Mystery Woman. Still don't know what she's after, but there's a few options that seem to be developing: Dario, Puma, the title itself, none of the above. When she finds whoever she's looking for there's also the question of is she there to help or hurt them.
- With a couple of clear negatives here, it may look like I didn't enjoy the episode, which is not the case at all.