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Lucha Underground Season 2 debuts tonight.


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One blight on the Aztec Warfare match was the commentary. The two of them kept hammering home the fact that the title was on the line in Aztec Warfare "FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!". Except this is only the second AW match ever and BOTH OF THEM have had the title on the line. The first AW determined the first champion. It'd be one thing if one of them just happened to mention it in passing and been wrong, but they kept bringing it up. Know your own history, guys.

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Aztec Warfare really was a tribute to the power of booking. I have no idea if Jeff Cobb is any good as this is the first time I've seen him, but he looked like an absolute monster and star in the few minutes hes was out there and a force for the rest of the roster to reckon with.

 

Still amazing that there isn't room for this kind of booking, or something Goldberg-esque on the babyface side in the majors.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Catching up with Lucha Underground Season 2. Well, I'd say it's even better than season 1 thus far. And they manage to make Matanza work for me, despite hating this kind of no-selling dirty looking masked monster kind of character to begin with. Really the best thing that happened in pro-wrestling in the last 16 years.

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They really blew it not having a presence Wrestlemania weekend. Their talent was over big.

 

Well you can argue that the Wrestlecon supershow is their presence. You had Pentagon Jr twice, Jack Evans, Rey Mysterio Jr, Melissa Santos, and many other guys on the show. But I agree that a full Lucha Underground show would be done great business for a company that frankly needs outside income. and based on the number of LU shirts that weekend, it would have done really good business. Hell I believe they did run a house show in Austin a couple weeks before that had a huge crowd.

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I love Catrina's sexy ass and demonic feel, but Dario Cueto coming back as el patron is so much fun. I love how he made fun of Cage's little catchphrase. Over their two seasons, LU made me a current pro-wrestling fan again. Not a small feat. I'm glad we are assured of a third one.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Playing catch up. EP 13 was so grand with a cool trios match, a new meaning to the words "heart punch" in that freaky vignette with Catrina and the Disciples and a monster monsters match ending with a terrific theatrical bump and Dario declaring war to Catrina. I wants it to get even more comic book like at this point. Would love a Japanese version of the shit too.

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I've been stockpiling episodes of Season 2 since it started airing, and I'm just now getting around to watching some of it. I'm 8 episodes deep. So far, some of the matches have been very hit or miss with me.

 

Both the Ladder Match and the Last Man Standing match were disappointing to me. In comparison to the Ladder Match and the Last Man Standing from Season 1, they both fell flat for me. Cuerno and Fenix just didn't gel as well as I'd liked. There were WAY too many "let me slap my leg and kick you" spots in their series together. Other than the finishes, I honestly can't recall a single spot from either gimmick match BESIDES all the leg-slapping kicks. Ugh.

 

With that being said - Muertes has been an absolute beast thus far. The guy's been tremendous in everything they've done with him. The Triple Threat with Puma and Pentagon Jr. was a bomb-throwing blast. And the title change with Fenix was fucking phenomenal. I'm such a mark for the visuals of blood-soaked, tattered & torn masks in lucha. To say this was right up my alley would be an understatement.

 

I haven't seen much in the way of spoilers, but I *did* notice all the gushing that the Aztec Warfare match got at the time it aired. Plus, plenty of people seem to love the Matanza push as it's happened. And I'm at episode 9 now, with Aztec Warfare coming up on tap. So I'm stoked and looking forward to the quality of the upcoming shows I've still got to blaze through.

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I don't care about either of those guys, but the cage match between Mundo and Cage (in a cage) was tons of fun. Cage has grown on me a bit. He should probably stop the needle though, it's ridiculous. And that 4-team 4-way elemination match was over the top in its ridiculousness, including an amazing dive sequence and Joey Ryan getting slapped *hard* by Ivelisse, so what's not to like ? Too bad Angelico was injured though. The more I watch LU, the less I care about classic pro-wrestling thinking and "realism", at this point if a woman's offense looks good (by that I mean, not Sexy Star), I'm totally fine with the mix. Not sure Rey Mysterio fits in that well yet though.

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Agreed. That cage match was just a truckload of tremendously fun stuff.

 

The kendo stick exchange was simply awesome - something you'd see right at home in an action movie fight scene. Johnny ducking and dodging all the shots was cool, and then the way Cage eventually caught him and one-upped him was slicker than owl shit.

 

Mundo had already turned a corner for me when he initially went heel last season, but he's REALLY revved up to another level this year. Taya has added a lot to his act also. She already seems like a serious upgrade from anything Melina could have possibly offered - regardless of what a Mick Foley or a Bret Hart might tell ya.

 

Not sure if you caught it, but the English commentary was as bizarre as ever there. Vamp talking about sharks and dropping the term, "camel toe" - while Matt Striker references Peter Parker and the Fantastic Four. That's essentially the announce team in a nutshell if I ever heard it.

 

Oh. And I'll forever pop for the Steiner Screwdriver. Only always.

 

So yeah. Enjoyed that bout immensely. Along with the Muertes matches I've seen this season, I'll definitely go back & check this one out again after I'm all caught up.

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Mundo had already turned a corner for me when he initially went heel last season, but he's REALLY revved up to another level this year. Taya has added a lot to his act also. She already seems like a serious upgrade from anything Melina could have possibly offered - regardless of what a Mick Foley or a Bret Hart might tell ya.

 

Not sure if you caught it, but the English commentary was as bizarre as ever there. Vamp talking about sharks and dropping the term, "camel toe" - while Matt Striker references Peter Parker and the Fantastic Four. That's essentially the announce team in a nutshell if I ever heard it.

 

Oh. And I'll forever pop for the Steiner Screwdriver. Only always.

 

Melina brings a whole different bag of goodness. ;) But yeah, I agree Taya totally improves Mundo's whole act. Gotta love the fur boots too. She's the greatest Berzerker ever.

 

Honestly, I don't pay that much attention to the commentary, I find them funny on occasion and they have a buddy-buddy weird chemistry that I take over anything on WWE TV (yeah, including NXT). Then again, I think I'd take *anything* over current WWE announcing (except maybe Mark Madden in WCW, and that's maybe).

 

And yeah, Steiner Screwdriver looked wicked. One thing I like about LU, is that despite them doing insane shit, usually, the finisher looks like the finisher, and it's a satisfying feeling.

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I think the big spectacle LU blood brawls are now my favourite kinda match today. They deliver everytime. Hell, I can even get into a fucking Sexy Star, whom I don't care for and who isn't a very good worker, match. Well, of course, the fact it was Mariposa helped, but still. Super fun match, brawl on the catwalks, creepy run-in (well, "cimb-in") by Mart the Moth and *that* answer on the mic by Star, which I popped for. Adding the vignettes between Cueto & Catrina, and the Famous B character… damn, that TV show.

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love how lucha underground edits the show together... i cant compare these guys to mainstream wrestling and im not saying i would necessarily enjoy seeing these guys live. ive attempted to watch these guys on aaa and cmll and its much much much more difficult to get into it...

 

but for me lucha underground is the easist and most enjoyable hour of wrestling to watch each week.

 

i wouldnt want wwe to follow this model but i think it would be great if an ecw type promotion returned to the airwaves with this type of editing to make it tight. and if they ever get around to a all womans 1 hour show it would really benefit too i think.

 

make it so

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I don't watch week-to-week, so sorry if this is common knowledge, but what's with Vampiro on this show? In Meltzer's recaps of previous weeks, he talks about how the character arc is that he's gone crazy and has been torturing Pentagon Black in a sensei role to toughen him up for an eventual Matanza showdown. This week's show opens with the two of them talking and Vampiro in his old makeup, looking like Colonel Kurtz. Then ten seconds later, the camera cuts to the announce booth and he's sitting there sans makeup with Striker, back in his Drew Carey glasses playing with his phone as if nothing we just saw ever happened. Is it supposed to be that he's both at once? Or just a weird editing choice that they don't explain?

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It hasn't been explained thoroughly or clearly in the episodes I've seen yet, but I'm assuming he's still secretly serving as Pentagon Jr.'s master - while keeping his day job as a commentator at the temple.

 

The key thing to keep in mind when watching the show is that the people inside the temple - the audience and the announcers themselves - aren't "aware" of the vignettes as they happen.

 

There's no giant jumbo-tron or video screen. There are no "invisible" cameras, etc. It plays out like a television show. No eyes in the sky.

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Ohmygoddamngod. That Graver Consequences match was fucking phenomenal. A true, top-notch spectacle in terms of presentation. The parade of death provided an awesome visual, and I popped for the reveal with the one druid's identity at the end there. Honestly didn't see it coming.

 

As an actual in-ring match? It *does* stall a bit in places, but I really don't care. That's almost a necessity - in order for them to accomplish everything with the story elements AND the inclusion of both Dario and Catrina on the outside. As it stands, everything was allowed to breathe a bit & really resonate. The big spots felt like colossal bombs, but they never reached an absurd level of overkill with any of it.

 

Dario Cueto cannot get enough credit for his enthusiasm and effort. The guy is truly treeeeemendous in every aspect of his role. He absolutely embraces the task and tackles EVERYTHING head-on. His exaggerated expressions and reactions are only always on point.

 

Whenever Mil catches him by the collar, he basically looks like a frog in a blender and takes a crazy spill off the apron. It was just a minor moment in the match - and clearly not even Dario's key piece of involvement, but it stood out and stuck with me.

 

But yeah. Overall, this one was a major winner with me. Muertes continues to string together a SOOPAH strong series of main event matches in Lucha Underground.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ohmygoddamngod. That Graver Consequences match was fucking phenomenal. A true, top-notch spectacle in terms of presentation. The parade of death provided an awesome visual, and I popped for the reveal with the one druid's identity at the end there. Honestly didn't see it coming.

 

As an actual in-ring match? It *does* stall a bit in places, but I really don't care. That's almost a necessity - in order for them to accomplish everything with the story elements AND the inclusion of both Dario and Catrina on the outside. As it stands, everything was allowed to breathe a bit & really resonate. The big spots felt like colossal bombs, but they never reached an absurd level of overkill with any of it.

 

Dario Cueto cannot get enough credit for his enthusiasm and effort. The guy is truly treeeeemendous in every aspect of his role. He absolutely embraces the task and tackles EVERYTHING head-on. His exaggerated expressions and reactions are only always on point.

 

Whenever Mil catches him by the collar, he basically looks like a frog in a blender and takes a crazy spill off the apron. It was just a minor moment in the match - and clearly not even Dario's key piece of involvement, but it stood out and stuck with me.

 

Agree with pretty much everything, although I did like the Fenix match better last year. Still, this had to be very different since it was a completely opposed dynamic (two monsters against each others). Dario Cueto makes every bit of "acting" in the WWE irrelevant. This is the future of pro-wrestling. Wait, maybe Vince Russo was right after all. I mean, in *theory*, as far as getting actual actors and going all the way into TV series as opposed to good ol' prowrestling. Well, except Lucha Underground is doing this while putting the wrestling matches as the focus, so yeah, not what Vinny Ru was thinking about. But hell, I want more of this, I want to go all the way, Telenovela/giallo/Turkish sitcom on my ass.

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I remember Loss' rant on Joey Ryan. No idea what the big issue with this guy is. He's a perfectly fine comedy wrestler and found a gimmick which suits him and got over doing it. Him doing the "I'm gonna press this guy" routine and failing to press Mascarita Sagrada was quite funny, as was the "big bodyslam" spot that followed. He's the best looking Jimmy Del Ray ever.

 

That trios title match between Rey, Dragon Azteca Jr., Puma & Mundo, Black & Jack was ridiculously fun and what a crazy spotfest should be.

 

Muertes in a glass coffin in the hunter's trophy room ? Wonderful. Now wait until he wakes up.

 

I actually looks forward Matanza vs Cage. Another kind of Monster vs Monster match, curious to see what route they'll take on this one.

 

What ever happened to Black Lotus BTW ? She really ended up not doing anything, sadly.

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