Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Lucha Underground Cero Miedo Review

Well, with an episode title like that, I'm pretty pumped. After a short recap, we see Ivelisse go to Catrina in her office. I love both of these women. Catrina claim that Mil Muertes showed Ivelisse mercy, so Ivelisse wants a match against the Disciples. Catrina says there are no automatic rematches so Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angelico have to face another Trios team before they can earn a shot. Ivelisse promises that she will get her hands on Catrina one day and there won't be any mercy.

Vampiro hypes the main event because his boy Pentagon is in the match. He is basically his biggest cheerleader while on his psych meds. (Shoutout to my boy Dante for that line)

Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc def. Chavo Guerrero, Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco  in 5:54
Goddamn, I love Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc. For those who caught the end of last week's episode, Cortez Castro is actually an undercover cop out to get Dario Cueto. It's great to see the growth of the former Trios Champions. Instead of being the uneasy partners that they were last season, they worked as a team here. The heels do all of the standard heel things right and the faces play their role to perfection. They basically worked tow hot tags, with Angelico getting the last one and doing the crazy shit that he does so well. All three members do stereo dives in a cool visual before Angelico pins Castro with a double stomp. A really fun tag match, made better by how great the former champions are together. ***1/4

Chavo Guerrero is pissed at the Crew for the loss. Texano runs out, now sporting a singlet, and chases Chavo off, only getting his hands on the Crew. Mil Muertes continues to watch all of this from his throne.

A Johnny Mundo video package airs where he talks about being the top star in Lucha Underground. It also focuses on the feud with Cage.

Cortez Castro is icing his shoulder when Joey Ryan comes up to him. He calls him by his real name, Reyes, and says that he's always been a better cop. He antagonizes Castro before heading off for his first match.

Cage def. Joey Ryan in 4:04
Joey Ryan is certainly an interesting character. He sucks on a lollipop and pours baby oil on himself before the bell. Of course, Cage is a monster and he plays that role pretty well as a babyface now. Vampiro is hilarious at trying to figure out how to explain Ryan. Ryan gets a good showing as someone that didn't back down from Cage and actually did a good job against him. Cage basically kills Ryan with a stalling screwdriver. Fine debut for Ryan and good win for Cage. **1/2

Cage instantly points up at Mil Muertes until Johnny Mundo shows up to attack him. He uses a spear, which is one of Mil's trademark moves. Cage turns it around on him and leaves him laid out.

We now see Rey Mysterio training with Dragon Azteca. He tells him a story. 25 years ago, Dario Cueto's father came to Mexico and met with the original Dario, coming together to find the seven ancient tribes and bringing them together. Dario's dad became obsessed and did sacrifices to the old Gods, including his son Matanza. They parted ways and made a treaty with dark magic. Rey wants Dragon Azteca to look for a way to unite the seven tribes.

Next week, Cage faces Johnny Mundo.

Prince Puma def. Pentagon Jr.
This absolutely felt like a big time main event. Vamprio is so interesting on commentary during Pentagon matches. He wants to mark out for him but also talks about things he should be doing better. They had some really good back and forth here and both guys got to do their thing. However, it really felt like they were holding something back. Like maybe there is going to be a bigger rematch somewhere down the line. It felt like a good teaser for something better. The finish was really well done. Pentagon thought he had it after a package piledriver, but decided to go to a surfboard. Puma fell back and barely got his shoulders up to avoid getting pinned and to pin Pentagon. Solid work from both men. ***1/4

After the match, Pentagon, who thought he won, attacked the referee. Puma laid him out and went to break his arm, giving Pentagon a taste of his own medicine. Puma whispered something in his ear and decided against it. Matt Striker said that Pentagon may be a bit embarrassed and Vamprio really looked like he was concerned with this.

To close things out, we see Sexy Star running and stumbling backstage. She runs into the Mack and says that the Moth did this to her. Mack hilariously says that he'll kill him, but Sexy points behind him and says "not him, her". It looks like we're getting the introduction of Marty's sister finally.

Overall: 8/10. Lucha Underground produced another really strong hour of television. We got a really fun opening contest, a solid main event and the debut of Joey Ryan. They also set up next week's main event, furthered the Rey Mysterio story and brought Texano back into the fold. Almost everything Lucha Underground does feels different and unique. It's consistently a breath of fresh air in the world of wrestling.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv