Lucha Underground: Episode 13
Airdate: February 4, 2015
Report by Rudy Cabrera
Lucha Underground opens with a video package recalling the events of past weeks including a recap of Mundo’s issues with Cueto, Puma’s title win, Fong’s debut, and Cage’s mad assault. The show begins with Mariachi El Bronx playing to a ruckus Boyle Heights crowd obviously ready for some Lucha.
Son of Havoc is mid-ring with Ivellise, who is tired of reading derogatory Tweets about her boyfriend on social media. She says if you have a problem with him, you’ve got a problem with her – the baddest b**** in the building. Good promo, Ivellise is super talented and skilled on the microphone. She has a great look and comes off natural and unrehearsed. Angelico makes his entrance and one can’t help but feel the aura of confidence this young man exhibits, more than likely stemming from the fact he was trained initially by Booker T then Ultimo Dragon, Black Terry, and Negro Navarro. He also worked in Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon Mexico promotion and IWRG before coming to AAA. This is going to be a great match.
Son of Havoc vs. Angelico
Striker says that South Africa brought wrestling the Simpson Brothers and Colonel DeBeers and now it has given us Angelico. They exchange some matwork and the result is a beautiful display of chain wrestling. Angelico kicks him down, then hits a sequence of kicks before hitting a flying knee that reminds Vampiro of a UFC fighter. He hits another amazing flying knee on Havoc as he is against the turnbucle and what follows is one of the most unique counters I’ve seen: Angelico attempts a hurricanrana but Havoc turns it into an inverted sit down powerbomb. The crowd is hot for these two. Angelico regains control and eats a somersault senton dive to the floor. Havoc comes back with a backbreaker and gets 2. Angelico goes for a superplex, but Havoc counters and goes for a shooting star press and misses but lands on his feet! Incredible. Angelico sets him up for a crucifix powerbomb and it’s countered into a hurricarana. Counter after counter, this match is exactly what the people came to see. The finish was entertaining as Havoc tried going for a school boy but Angelico kicked him away and into Ivelisse, knocking her off the apron. Angelico then rolled him up for the win. They’re teasing some dissension between Son of Havoc and Ivelisse based on the idea that he never wins and Ivelisse is frustrated with being linked to a loser. It will be interesting to see where things go from here.
WINNER: Angelico at 6:32
Backstage Dario Cueto welcomes Johnny Mundo back. He says he hasn’t seen him since Aztec Warfare and he’s glad they had time to cool off. Mundo, who looks and acts like a legit superstar of the silver screen, agrees and says it’s time for action. Cueto goes on to say that when Johnny Mundo is around they get five star main events so he makes Mundo vs. Cage the main event of the evening. Cueto was at his sleazy best here, trying to set up Mundo so he can get dismembered by Cage. Mundo puts on his glasses and walks out like a boss.
One of the things I truly enjoy about this show is the emphasis the writers place on long term character development. A few weeks back, Mundo punched Cueto’s lights out and ever since then Mundo is the one character that seems to make Cueto nervous whenever he’s around. We see continuation, which is extremely important, evidenced by the fact Cueto is always trying to come up with some underhanded scheme to destroy the guy. This is honestly the best produced wrestling show on the market today.
We return to the Temple and Famous B is introduced mid-ring, leading to Pentagon Jr. coming down. We get a very well made personality profile video for Pentagon Jr right before the match, where he talks about his origins, respecting his predecessors and having no fear, all while beating up a room full of movie villain looking bad guys. Again, character development. He says he represents the purest form of ancient hand-to-hand combat and he’s about to show us why.
Pentagon Jr. vs. Famous B
Famous B dives in for a calf kick which misses and Pentagon quickly capitalizes by punting him right on the head. Let me just say punting is dangerous and not even Randy Orton himself could have executed it more perfectly or safely. Pentagon corners him and asks for silence – gets it, and scores with a loud chest chop. Famous B does a sweet flying armdrag off the second rope, but eats a sick looking superkick. Pentagon sets him up for a running package piledriver that Famous B sells to perfection. Kudos to Famous B for making the move look devastating. Body language is everything in wrestling. Pentagon Jr. locks an armbar and makes Famous B give up for a win via submission. He refuses to break the hold and snaps the arm back, as commentary sells that he may have broken B’s arm. And NO Vampiro, that was not a kimura. Pentagon then proceeds to cut a promo where he once again emphasizes his motto “Zero Fear”.
WINNER: Pentagon Jr at 1:53
We then see Dario Cueto in an undisclosed location looking at his key discussing the mystery woman to a growling entity. He speaks about her need for revenge and says he knows she wants the key. He says he could have given it to her but needed to protect his Temple from Matanza (slaughter). Cueto’s new goal is to prevent her from getting her hands on the key. Drago is mid-ring to start, while Aero Star enters via the crowd.
Drago vs Aerostar
Drago has been established in his feud with King Cuerno and has been impressive thus far. Aerostar wad trained by Gran Apache and Abismo Negro and has earned ther reputation of one AAA’ s best high flyers. They start with a tie-up and push off before an arm wringer. Cross chop misses and leads to an Aerostar hurricanrana. Striker talks about the move being named after Hurican Ramirez. Aerostar gets 2 off a nice looking jumping double stomp. Drago is sent to the corner but drop-toe-holds Aerostar onto the second turnbuckle. Drago gets 2 off a modified Codebreaker. A 619 on the top takes Drago to the floor while Aerostar hops up on the second rope, springboards with one foot and flies over onto Drago – that was as daring as it was exciting! Aerostar gets caught on a leapfrog and goes for a double backflip, but gets dropkicked right in the face. He goes to the floor and takes a corkscrew dive by Drago, a move which Vampiro attributes to the late Hector Garza. Aerostar gets a handspring elbow and a 2 count. Drago gets a back kick and in a thing of beauty hits a running blockbuster/DDT combo for the win. It looked like he was broken in half! Drago picks him up, checks on him and shakes his hand afterwards. Classy. I think he might have been genuinly worried that he broke his neck. Both men won in this match and that is something you rarely see today in the world of wrestling. This was a crazy highlight reel match that is well worth going out of your way to see.
WINNER: Drago at 4:14
Backstage Fenix is training and we see Catrina come up to him. She asks him why the tattoo is on his chest, if it prevents him from having nightmares. “What can scare a man that can’t die” she adds. Then she does the unthinkable and kisses him, telling him to keep it between them because if it gets out, Mil Mascaras will bury them both. I’m digging the suspense. Mundo comes down from the entrance way, and Cage follows wearing the title belt as a necklace. Ladies and gentlemen it is time for our main event.
