Welcome to the Lucha Crítica, where I look at this week’s Lucha Underground. Find out what happened, who had the edge, and how many people Chavo Guerrero can get on his bad side in one night.
ACQUIESCE A REQUEST
As is often the case, the show opened with Dario Cueto in his office, counting his wads of cash like any self-respecting villain would do. El Jefe’s Scrooge McDuck impression was interrupted however, by Chavo Guerrero Jr. wanting Dario to make good on his word and give Chavo a Lucha Underground Championship match against Prince Puma.
Cueto makes good on his word and at the request of Guerrero adds a couple more stipulations, one being no disqualification, and the other being if Konnan gets involved Puma will lose the title. Lie, cheat and steal, as only a Guerrero can.
DELAVAR DAIVARI (w/ BIG RYCK) VS. TEXANO
How the mighty have fallen, eight months ago when Lucha Underground began, Big Ryck was one of the top guys on the roster, now he is a lackey for Delavar Daivari. With this match it looks like he may be heading for a feud with Texano, but this is still a far cry from where he was at the start of the season.
Texano played his heel role well when he debuted in Lucha Underground, but I am really enjoying his baby face run. This stint as the blue-collar brawler fits Texano well. He reminds me of a latino Steve Austin, a few more flashy moves than Stone Cold, but that’s the lucha libre aspect playing out.
All three men made a good opener for the show. It was somewhat standard but not every match can be pure eye candy. Everyone involved played their part well. Daivari as the smarmy weasel who uses every shortcut imaginable to get ahead, Big Ryck as the muscle for the weasel who probably takes more orders than he needs to just for a little extra money, and Texano, the conquering hero who got the victory despite the odds being stacked against him.
Edge: A pretty straightforward edge for this match, Big Ryck, as I mentioned earlier, isn’t the luchador he once was eight months ago, and Delavar Daivari couldn’t get the job done even with Ryck’s help. Texano had the edge in this match and looks to have the brighter future of all three men as well.
IT’S ALL MIND GAMES
Konnan and Prince Puma were talking strategy in the locker room until they were interrupted by a flicker of the lights. Catrina made what has become her trademark appearance from out of nowhere to give Puma a warning, if he gets past Chavo, Mil Muertes will be waiting, and he will go through anyone on his way to the Lucha Underground Championship. With those ominous words Muertes strode towards the champion and stared eye to eye before the lights flickered again, and the deathly duo vanished.
A great segment that really got the hype rolling for this match at Ultima Lucha, unfortunately it also tends to gloss over Chavo and consider him to be a non-threat to the title.
MEXICAN WARFARE
Just like that, the interest for the match between Chavo and Puma is rekindled. What they lost with the last segment, they somewhat regained with this segment. Following a commercial break we saw Konnan talking to an unseen individual. Konnan says he knows how much this individual has wanted to take out Chavo Guerrero, and Konnan also knows that Chavo probably has something else up his sleeve, so Konnan gave the go ahead to the unseen luchador to get revenge on Chavo, for Mexico.
It may not have changed Chavo’s chances of winning the match, but this segment added a new wrinkle to the match, giving the viewer a mystery to look forward to.
DRAGO VS. HERNANDEZ
The classic contest of power vs. speed as Drago finally got his hands on the man responsible for his ejection from the temple two months ago, Hernandez. The match itself was fairly even, Hernandez utilizing big boots and high impact moves while Drago made use of his speed, catching his larger opponent with quick kicks and flying planchas. The dead heat changed however, when the luchadors fought to the floor. Hernandez managed to get Drago up in a cross powerbomb position, then throwing him down onto the ring apron. The big man from Houston then picked up a “fan” from the front row and removed said fan’s belt, which Hernandez then used to whip and choke Drago until the referee disqualified Hernandez.
Edge: As I said, this match was fairly even until Hernandez used a piece of a fan’s wardrobe as a weapon. Hernandez may have lost the match, but he came out of the match in much better shape. Time will tell if Drago can get his revenge, but for now Hernandez has the Edge.
NO FEAR
Proving that they aren’t playing favourites after all, Catrina and Mil Muertes paid a visit to Chavo Guerrero as he prepared for his match. A simple warning that if Chavo beats Prince Puma, he needs to be prepared for the Man of 1000 Deaths come Ultima Lucha. Chavo showed no fear, saying he’ll see them both at Ultima Lucha before turning his back and walking away.
MARTY “THE MOTH” MARTINEZ VS. ALBERTO EL PARTON
I want to HATE Marty “The Moth” Martinez for such a stupid sounding gimmick, but his smarmy grin and exaggerated flapping of his arms are so ridiculous that I can’t help but be mildly entertained. That being said, I took great joy in watching Alberto El Patron make short work of Mr. Martinez.
Edge: Alberto El Patron, very decisively.
After the match El Patron cut a promo that was longer than the match itself, informing Johnny Mundo that when he put Alberto through a window, he awakened something in him, something evil and sadistic. Alberto El Patron is coming for Johnny Mundo, this match just might tear the roof off of Ultima Lucha.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND MAIN EVENT
LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPIONSHIP
NO DISQUALIFICATION
CHAVO GUERRERO JR. VS. PRINCE PUMA (C)
A relatively short match for the main event, and a little disappointing as I was hoping to see more from the first match between Prince Puma and Chavo Guerrero Jr. What we did see however, was good. A lot of back and forth mat wrestling to start things off, until Chavo’s new pals Cisco and Cortez got involved, double teaming Puma and hitting him with a kendo stick. It wasn’t until Chavo began ascending the turnbuckle, preparing to hit his frog splash, that Konnan finally called in his equalizer, Texano. Texano hit the ring and immediately cleaned house, throwing Cortez into the steel post and hitting Mr. Cisco with a sit out powerbomb. The odds were even as Puma put the exclamation point, a 630 Senton, on Chavo Guerrero for the victory.
Edge: The edge in this one goes to Prince Puma. Yes he needed help, but it was only to even the odds. He walked out with his championship and is moving forward towards the main event of Ultima Lucha.
SEEING RED
Chavo was in the locker room, clearly upset over coming up short in his match, when he was confronted by Blue Demon Jr. Demon was taking the opportunity to revel in Chavo’s misery, but Guerrero was able to turn it around a bit, telling Demon that he doesn’t represent Mexico anymore, that the fans have found a new luchador to get behind in Texano. Blue Demon didn’t take kindly to those words and threw Chavo against the lockers screaming “I am Mexico, Chavo! I am!” This left a sly grin on the scheming Guerrero. What are his plans? Only time will tell as we get closer and closer to Ultima Lucha.
Until next week, keep your mask on!
