I could see that. It's early days so I'm certainly not making any decisive judgements just yet.

I also think Chavo v. Muertes could be really good. Muertes hasn't shown me anything in this role, but Mesias has been in some awesome matches

I enjoyed him in the tag with Alberto vs. Aguayo Jr. and Texano Jr. Granted he didn't do much except throw great punches. Not familiar with his work outside of that.

2010 MOTY

 

Mesias v. LA Park

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CIq0jnzLNY

 

Four years is a long time. He was quite a bit smaller back then. Now he's walking around like The Warlord. He looks stuck.

Yeah Mesias is jacked up and has been injury prone for the past few years.....

Mesias is old too. He's been around since the mid-90's.

I really dig this show.

 

- Konnan in the role of a lifetime, his acting is so perfect here

- thought Chavo's heel turn was impressive since I've never once been a fan

- Puma, Fenix, Pentagon Jr. and Drago are all top-notch

- WWE dropped the ball on both Striker and Johnny Mundo

- even Big Ryck looks good here and has a purpose

- Muertes' tights are awful, but I dig his heavyweight style and it's a cool character

- hoping Misterio comes in a gives Chavo his comeuppance

- can't wait for Del Rio either, seems like his acting chops will fit right in

 

All-in-all, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Lucha matches, but the fact that the writing, production and character development are so focused is enough to have me hyped for the next episode. I do think at some point they're gonna have to reconcile the story of guys wrestling in a temple for money, because they'll need to do live shows if this is going anywhere. And it really doesn't need to go anywhere outside of the show, but one can dream. Hell, I wouldn't mind a thousand other wrestling shows produced by this same company. "Hardcore Underground", anyone?

I don't know if the plan is to tour. Lucha Underground isn't a wrestling promotion, it's a TV show.

 

I hope at some point we get to see different styles of lucha than the AAA US indy-influenced spot style.

I loved the Boyle Heights Street fight, Big Ryck looked like a beast and all of the interference spots were cool.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND POWER RANKINGS (Week 5)

 

Singles Top Ten:

 

1. Mil Muertes 3-0
2. Johnny Mundo 2-0
3. Fenix 2-0
4. Mascarita Sagrada 2-0
5. Big Ryck 1-1
6. Chavo Guerrero 1-1
7. Son of Havoc 1-1
8. Blue Demon Jr. 1-1
9. Drago 1-2
10. Sexy Star 1-2

 

Tag Teams:

 

1. Johnny Mundo & Prince Puma 1-0
2. Sexy Star & Chavo Guerrero 1-0
3. The Crenshaw Crew 0-1
4. Lord of Havoc & Ivelisse 0-1

Finally got myself to watch the first episode. Yeah. Got tired of watching old stuff, I want to give chance to something fresh for a change.

I really enjoy the presentation and the production. Dario Cueto buries everyone on any pro-wrestling promotion ever as far as acting goes. But maybe that's because he's an actor actor and not a pro-wrestler trying to act. The whole thing looks different, and that's exactly what wrestling needs.

 

Now, I'm mostly not familiar with lucha, either old or current, neither am I with indy wrestling. Which means I'm the perfect viewer discovering this stuff from scratch, basically.
Well, Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo was a decent match, although Demon looked sloppy at times doing spots he probably shouldn't do at his age. Not setting the place on fire or anything, but good introduction with two known veterans I guess.

 

The backtage vignettes get some awesome production. Go straight ahead into the TV series aesthetic. Why not ? Damn, Konnan looks old ! But he sure knows how to deliver his lines. I like this approach of introducing the characters. Unless it's Sexy Star, whose English promo was awkward and cheesy as hell. I guess it came off much better in Spanish and really, if you've got to use subtitles, just have her speak in Spanish anyway.

 

Okay, a small bearded guy named Son of Havoc. Intergender match ? Not a big fan. Good enough action, but a guy beating down a girl just doesn't set very well with me. Why not two luchadoras against each others ? Hell, bring Shimoda, I believe she's still in Mexico.

 

Johnny Mundo. Complete WWE character, he didn't even bother to change the robotic intro. Prince Puma looks quite amazing doing athletic feats. I admit having no reference at all as far as what a pure spotfest looks like these days, so I was amazed as some of the stuff he did. Mundo can't sell to save his life, so while he does some impressive looking stuff, I wasn't into him at all. Just a spot monkey just as I remembered him from his WWE days. So yeah, impressive in spots, but not the kind of match I care about, and the "this is awesome" chants and constant overpimping of the announcing (which was overall not good, so I guess we found something else that Vamp sucks at) only made me think it was nothing special sold as something special. Which is grating. Beatdown at the end by some guys I don't know of.

 

Okay show. Interesting production. Nothing that really grabbed me, honestly. More interested in the overall presentation and vignettes thus far. Mostly enjoyed the two veterans, Cueto, Konnan and Puma.

Danny Trejo looked to be having fun in the front row.

I might be in the vast minority, but I don't care. Matt Striker on commentary still sounds like a breath of fresh air to me. Yes, he can be grating with some of the insider stuff. But the guy's got an infectious enthusiasm & energy about him. I also love that he's absolutely unafraid to get excited and shout, "WOW" at big spots and key moments.

 

And, like it or not, pop culture today is nerdist culture. If anything, Vamp's the odd man out with his "street" lingo. But even that has its place in the gritty, grimey atmosphere of Lucha U. So I guess I don't mind the commentary as much as others elsewhere seem to.

 

Ditto on the backstage vignettes, by the way. Not only are they awesome vehicles to introduce & present new characters, but they feel so unique & distinct to Lucha Underground - at least as far as pro wrestling goes. Seems like some sort of hybrid between Rodriguez/Tarantino movie scenes & the cut scenes you see in practically every modern day video game.

Watched the first fourepisodes thus far. Yeah, I finally found a current pro-wrestling product I enjoy watching. I don't care if it's basically Nitro-matches, the atmosphere is really cool, the vignettes are awesome (just the coolest production ever for pro-wrestling), and I even warmed up to Vamp's announcing. I could do without Johnny Nitro and Sexy Star, but the influx of actual luchadors and different character shapes (Big Ryck & Mil Muertes as monsters, Guerno as a more power-style luchador, Mascarita Sagrada) makes the whole thing looks much more interesting now. Catrina is a very welcomed evil sexy valet, Ivelysse seems kinda cool. And I enjoy Chavo in this role too. Really refreshing.

Week 5 & 6 kept on delivering the fun stuff. Mil Muertes having a good little match against Drago, and the Big Ryck vs Puma garbage brawl was entertaining. I actually enjoyed Sexy Star in a tag match setting working with Fenix (who's doing some amazing MOVES, yeah, and I enjoy them for what they are) against Chavo and Pentagon Jr., good main event again. The guy with the Mantaur outfit is a nice change of pace. Catrina, well, CATRINA.

As much as I don't mind Vamp at this point, Striker really isn't good though.

One of the Spanish stations shows Lucha Underground, too. Takes care of the problem of Striker's commentary.

Does El Mariachi Loco have a different identity he wrestles under elsewhere?

 

 

and can we please find a way to make sure that Striker never ever pronounces Blue Demon's name again...please.....

He's a SoCal guy been in that gimmick for a while now

and can we please find a way to make sure that Striker never ever pronounces Blue Demon's name again...please.....

 

That's a weird way to spell Bludy Moan.

A lot less awesome backstage vignettes. A main event push for a jacked-up steroid freak who looks like a Power Plant reject (really, he's a Robbie Rage look alike, and even got almost as generic of a name). Me not like that at all.

Brian Cage is a PWG regular. He is a lot better than the regular meathead. I think he fits the spot heavy style of Lucha Underground very well. The guy regularly pulls off things a guy his size should not be able to do.

How was last week's Aztec Warfare Rumble anyway?

 

Can't beat PWO for some perspective when everyone else goes nuts about things.....

Oh yeah, Mr. High Voltage doing the 619 surely will gain him points with *me* of all people.

 

The Aztec Warfare was tons of fun I thought. Much better than any Rumble I've seen for years now, and they found ways to incorporate the women and even Mascarita Sagrada without getting too awkward. Ivelisse kinda ruled in it actually. Yep, from a really good show to the first disappointing one (and no Catrina, no cookies from me).

I though Aztec Warfare was good, but is being insanely overrated in some places. I agree with Meltzer's basic point that the overall presentation and pinfall stip made it distinct from the Rumble and also suited the style of wrestling they present vastly better than a traditional battle royal would. I also thought it was generally a good match and they protected and presented everyone well with the possible exception of Pentagon Jr. who just felt like he was sort of there. On the other hand if you aren't a regular follower of the promotion, and you are expecting some outstanding match I think you are likely to be disappointed.

 

Also not surprisingly I disagree almost entirely with El-P about this weeks show which I thoroughly enjoyed, even granting certain quirks and annoyances here and there. I like Brian Cage and think he fits great on the roster (I hope they build to a match with him and Big Ryck), and also thought the way they used him in the opener was outstanding to the point where I'm not particularly sure what could be criticized about it unless one is just universally opposed to obvious roid heads getting pushes. The main event is being wildly overrated some places, but this is a promotion that largely functions as the place where flashy guys do a lot of stuff in fast paced matches. To that end I thought it was effective.