BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '18, 00:34

RICKY MUNDO TELLS THE WORLDWIDE UNDERGROUND ABOUT HIS CREEPY DOLL- He says it comes from somewhere called “The Island of the Dolls,” which Dario Cueto left a trail of breadcrumbs to lead him to. It talks on its own. Johnny Mundo & Taya show up and tell them they’re at war with the Reptile Tribe. He orders Jack Evans to “call one of those reptiles up and take him to Slamtown.” Jack won’t do it because he’s Indiana Jones and hates snakes, so he leaves. Johnny reminds us that he and Angelico have an issue, then he, P.J., and Taya leave, with Mundo bumping Ricky in the shoulder on purpose on his way out. The doll then creepily assures Ricky that “you’re secret is safe with me.” It then laughed evilly, and Ricky smirked evilly at the camera. I don’t know what the purpose of this is, but I can assure you that this whole gimmick is something this show just plain did not need.

JACK EVANS vs. XO LISHUS- 6/10
Something else this show did not need is yet another character. XO Lishus is an exotico. He is a smooth worker and is great with his character and I’d be perfectly happy to see him in many other promotions, but like with Ricky’s stupid doll, he feels like another pointless bauble they’ve added to the show that will just take their already limited time away from the original crop characters and stories that got me invested in the show in the first place.

PENTAGON DARK PROMO- He cut a great promo saying that everyone who has tried to take his title has failed and that everyone else who tries will fail and he will break them. Then Cage jumped him from behind and beat him up, finishing with a powerbomb off the apron through a table. Cage then cut a promo saying that he would be the one to take the Lucha Underground Title from Pentagon Dark. An excellent segment. This was pro wrestling 101. And this whole thing took less than three minutes. WWE could learn a lot from this segment.

MELISSA SANTOS & FENIX BACKSTAGE- this was good build for the main event and a good reminder of the fact that these two are a couple, but once they started making out and the atrocious over-production started I just wanted the scene to end already.

THREE-WAY TO THE GRAVE MATCH: Fenix vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes (w/Catrina)- 8.75/10
Every time Striker started to go on one of his idiotic tangents where he would wax poetical about the meaning of death or the number three or other such things that he thinks makes him sound smart, it made me, too, begin to contemplate and wax poetical about something: how nice and peaceful I would find watching this show if Matt Striker wasn’t on it.
The match itself was as violent and awesome as we’ve come to expect from Grave Consequences. This one was fought elimination style. The first man out was Crane, who was assaulted by Ivelisse with a hammer, breaking his hand and busting him open in addition to the opening salve to the leg for poetic justice, so that feud is off to quite the start. Fenix and Mil Muertes then had a good final segment of the match. Melissa Santos was great in her role, too. You could hear her voice quivering as she announced Mil as the winner.

MR. CUETO VISITS MATANZA IN HIS NEW CELL- It’s more spacious than the old one, but he has Matanza chained in place, which Dario never did. Mr. Cueto tells us that when he offered his son to the gods as a sacrifice, he asked that his son “retain a sliver of his humanity.” He also reveals that Dario’s key was not the key to Matanza’s cell (or maybe it was and I don’t remember, but what’s more important is this); the key contains Matanza’s soul. He says that this retention of Matanza’s humanity has made Matanza weak, and that caring too much about Matanza got Dario killed. He says he won’t repeat Dario’s mistakes, so he throws Matanza the key and orders him to destroy it. Matanza does so, and there was an odd white light emanating from his hands… and when the key snapped, so did Matanza’s shackles, and Matanza roared like a monster. COOL!


An AWESOME episode of Lucha Underground, and yet not one that assuages my big concerns about the show’s future direction.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by cero2k » Jun 29th, '18, 14:38

Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 00:34 RICKY MUNDO TELLS THE WORLDWIDE UNDERGROUND ABOUT HIS CREEPY DOLL- He says it comes from somewhere called “The Island of the Dolls,” which Dario Cueto left a trail of breadcrumbs to lead him to. It talks on its own. Johnny Mundo & Taya show up and tell them they’re at war with the Reptile Tribe. He orders Jack Evans to “call one of those reptiles up and take him to Slamtown.” Jack won’t do it because he’s Indiana Jones and hates snakes, so he leaves. Johnny reminds us that he and Angelico have an issue, then he, P.J., and Taya leave, with Mundo bumping Ricky in the shoulder on purpose on his way out. The doll then creepily assures Ricky that “you’re secret is safe with me.” It then laughed evilly, and Ricky smirked evilly at the camera. I don’t know what the purpose of this is, but I can assure you that this whole gimmick is something this show just plain did not need.

JACK EVANS vs. XO LISHUS- 6/10
Something else this show did not need is yet another character. XO Lishus is an exotico. He is a smooth worker and is great with his character and I’d be perfectly happy to see him in many other promotions, but like with Ricky’s stupid doll, he feels like another pointless bauble they’ve added to the show that will just take their already limited time away from the original crop characters and stories that got me invested in the show in the first place.
I've been to that Island of the Dolls, it is indeed creepy as fuck. It's in Mexico City in a place called Xochimilco. Anyway.

I think this season we'll see Ricky get a big heel push as a serial killer kinda thing. I think the whole Secret and Mundo asking about Angelico means that Ricky killed Angelico and that's how he gets written off. In that same vein, I feel that Jack bailing from fighting snakes and losing to XO means that he may have been written off too, which sucks.

XO i think will just replace Pimpinela Escarlata, but at least that XO will be better at playing into a storyline since he can likely act better than Pimpi.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '18, 14:56

cero2k wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 14:38
Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 00:34 RICKY MUNDO TELLS THE WORLDWIDE UNDERGROUND ABOUT HIS CREEPY DOLL- He says it comes from somewhere called “The Island of the Dolls,” which Dario Cueto left a trail of breadcrumbs to lead him to. It talks on its own. Johnny Mundo & Taya show up and tell them they’re at war with the Reptile Tribe. He orders Jack Evans to “call one of those reptiles up and take him to Slamtown.” Jack won’t do it because he’s Indiana Jones and hates snakes, so he leaves. Johnny reminds us that he and Angelico have an issue, then he, P.J., and Taya leave, with Mundo bumping Ricky in the shoulder on purpose on his way out. The doll then creepily assures Ricky that “you’re secret is safe with me.” It then laughed evilly, and Ricky smirked evilly at the camera. I don’t know what the purpose of this is, but I can assure you that this whole gimmick is something this show just plain did not need.

JACK EVANS vs. XO LISHUS- 6/10
Something else this show did not need is yet another character. XO Lishus is an exotico. He is a smooth worker and is great with his character and I’d be perfectly happy to see him in many other promotions, but like with Ricky’s stupid doll, he feels like another pointless bauble they’ve added to the show that will just take their already limited time away from the original crop characters and stories that got me invested in the show in the first place.
I've been to that Island of the Dolls, it is indeed creepy as fuck. It's in Mexico City in a place called Xochimilco. Anyway.

I think this season we'll see Ricky get a big heel push as a serial killer kinda thing. I think the whole Secret and Mundo asking about Angelico means that Ricky killed Angelico and that's how he gets written off. In that same vein, I feel that Jack bailing from fighting snakes and losing to XO means that he may have been written off too, which sucks.

XO i think will just replace Pimpinela Escarlata, but at least that XO will be better at playing into a storyline since he can likely act better than Pimpi.
I'm not saying there isn't potential there, but this show is just adding more and more new, random sh*t without finishing up any of the old stories.
As for XO replacing Pimpi... why? Pimpi wasn't even doing anything! He didn't need to be replaced because he was a non-entity.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by cero2k » Jun 29th, '18, 15:39

Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 14:56
I'm not saying there isn't potential there, but this show is just adding more and more new, random sh*t without finishing up any of the old stories.
As for XO replacing Pimpi... why? Pimpi wasn't even doing anything! He didn't need to be replaced because he was a non-entity.
but also consider that a lot of people aren't coming back, so a lot of those things may be lost or will be closed with one shot things. Callihan 'dying' in the casket maybe he his last appearance, i don't know. LU asked everyone taking off to come in to be written off (Evans and Callihan maybe), but some no showed anyway (AR Fox, Angelico?, Texano?, Wagner)

replacing pimpi because LU likes to have an exotico that works as the babyface placeholder for debuts or heels to beat up. it makes them 'woke'. Some guys are ok to have there for the random match to get someone else over.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '18, 17:20

cero2k wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 15:39
Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 14:56
I'm not saying there isn't potential there, but this show is just adding more and more new, random sh*t without finishing up any of the old stories.
As for XO replacing Pimpi... why? Pimpi wasn't even doing anything! He didn't need to be replaced because he was a non-entity.
but also consider that a lot of people aren't coming back, so a lot of those things may be lost or will be closed with one shot things. Callihan 'dying' in the casket maybe he his last appearance, i don't know. LU asked everyone taking off to come in to be written off (Evans and Callihan maybe), but some no showed anyway (AR Fox, Angelico?, Texano?, Wagner)
Yeah but... it's Lucha Underground. They have a lot more tools than most to write someone out without even needing them on the screen.
Maybe A.R. Fox got murdered by someone for something that happened in the past? Maybe Famous B is forcing Texano to wrestle for him in Mexico (with Dr. Wagner has his tag team partner?). Or maybe he just wanted to control Texano's contract so that he could sell it to some other manager somewhere else (that's how ROH wrote Sydal out; Larry Sweeney, sold his contract to WWE). If Angelico isn't coming back then at least tell me that WWU beat the sh*t out of him off-screen. Do something to give the story at least some kind of closure.
cero2k wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 15:39 replacing pimpi because LU likes to have an exotico that works as the babyface placeholder for debuts or heels to beat up. it makes them 'woke'. Some guys are ok to have there for the random match to get someone else over.
I agree that you need to have people to put over new guys, but LU had that before and those guys worked in that role because they really weren't any sort of character. They were just (no pun intended) generic Luchadors like Argenis. Whatever he has done elsewhere, he's just a random dude in LU.
As for making sure you have an exotico on your show to make your show woke... I'm sorry, but that's stupid and I really hope they're not doing it for that reason. If someone won't watch a show just because it doesn't check a certain number of boxes on his/her "what to I need to care about to be a good progressive/be woke" list then that person is an idiot and not worth pandering to because he/she will probably just abandon you at the drop of a hat once the winds change and blow the standard for being not racist/sexist/etc. even farther. If Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech can be considered racist by these nutjobs then they'll surely be offended by something you do sooner or later. I'm not saying that our entertainment should be racist/sexist/homophobic. etc. etc. but just because there were no LGBT characters does not mean that Black Panther was somehow inherently a bad movie. Not everyone is going to be represented in everything. That's just how life works.

Sorry for the rant, but I find the idea that adding a token character to make your show more woke to get more people to watch it to be infuriating. Not because of the people in charge of the show, but because of the fact that there are people out there who are actually letting their virtue signalling control every aspect of their lives. Pro wrestling is an art form, and it's also entertainment many of us use as escapism. That's what entertainment is for, after all. If someone is going to totally close their mind off to something just because it doesn't represent and/or remind them of the social problems of the day (i.e. conform to the way lens through which they want to view the world), that's not being liberal at all; that's being illiberal.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: BRM Reviews the 6/27/2018 Lucha Underground (awesome!)

Post by cero2k » Jun 30th, '18, 08:36

Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 17:20 Yeah but... it's Lucha Underground. They have a lot more tools than most to write someone out without even needing them on the screen.
Maybe A.R. Fox got murdered by someone for something that happened in the past? Maybe Famous B is forcing Texano to wrestle for him in Mexico (with Dr. Wagner has his tag team partner?). Or maybe he just wanted to control Texano's contract so that he could sell it to some other manager somewhere else (that's how ROH wrote Sydal out; Larry Sweeney, sold his contract to WWE). If Angelico isn't coming back then at least tell me that WWU beat the sh*t out of him off-screen. Do something to give the story at least some kind of closure.
Famous B i think did say something along the lines last week when the trios match was announced as Texano, Wagner, and Famous B and then B said some stuff before introducing his new team. if Ricky Mundo indeed killed Angelico, I think that HAS to come out again when they finally reveal that he is a serial killer controlled by a doll.

Big Red Machine wrote: Jun 29th, '18, 17:20 I agree that you need to have people to put over new guys, but LU had that before and those guys worked in that role because they really weren't any sort of character. They were just (no pun intended) generic Luchadors like Argenis. Whatever he has done elsewhere, he's just a random dude in LU.
As for making sure you have an exotico on your show to make your show woke... I'm sorry, but that's stupid and I really hope they're not doing it for that reason. If someone won't watch a show just because it doesn't check a certain number of boxes on his/her "what to I need to care about to be a good progressive/be woke" list then that person is an idiot and not worth pandering to because he/she will probably just abandon you at the drop of a hat once the winds change and blow the standard for being not racist/sexist/etc. even farther. If Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech can be considered racist by these nutjobs then they'll surely be offended by something you do sooner or later. I'm not saying that our entertainment should be racist/sexist/homophobic. etc. etc. but just because there were no LGBT characters does not mean that Black Panther was somehow inherently a bad movie. Not everyone is going to be represented in everything. That's just how life works.

Sorry for the rant, but I find the idea that adding a token character to make your show more woke to get more people to watch it to be infuriating. Not because of the people in charge of the show, but because of the fact that there are people out there who are actually letting their virtue signalling control every aspect of their lives. Pro wrestling is an art form, and it's also entertainment many of us use as escapism. That's what entertainment is for, after all. If someone is going to totally close their mind off to something just because it doesn't represent and/or remind them of the social problems of the day (i.e. conform to the way lens through which they want to view the world), that's not being liberal at all; that's being illiberal.
I don't disagree with you, and I want to believe that no one watches wrestling because it checks out all the boxes. I want to think that something like an exotico would just be that extra bonus on what people are already watching.
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