BRM Reviews the 9/19/2018 Lucha Underground (disappointing)

[Big Red Machine]

We start off with Matt Striker going on a completely pointless diatribe against $50 PPVs and insisting that LU is so great for giving us the show for free. First of all, who is doing $50 PPVs anymore? Second of all, what was the purpose of doing this? Thirdly, can someone please explain to Mr. Genius over there that charging money for PPVs is how promotions MAKE MONEY?

FENIX vs. AEROSTAR- 6.75/10
They had a spotfest that was pretty great for the time it got. During this match Matt Striker felt it was necessary to tell us that “some people on social media” have speculated that AeroStar might be “supernatural” in original or that he is a shape-shifting alien involved in a conspiracy. The second part of this is obviously stupid, and Striker bringing it up either means that Striker actually believes such things and is therefore an idiot, or that Striker doesn’t believe it but brought it up anyway even though there is no reason to do so and talked about it rather than the match, in which case he is also an idiot. As for the first part…
The way Lucha Underground seems to work is that the fictional cameras taping the show only see what happening in the ringside area, and Striker and Vampiro have been pretty darn consistent in terms of acting mystified about things that have happened backstage even though we viewers have been shown those things in segments. This means that in kayfabe the viewers Striker and Vampiro are addressing are the viewers at home in this fictional universe, and not us here watching in the real world (though they do serve that purpose for us as well). The problem is that nothing that those fictional viewers have seen has ever hinted that there is anything abnormal about AeroStar, and thus there is no reason for those viewers to speculate about such things on social media, and even less of a reason for Striker to find such a thing to be worthy of bringing up.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Fenix continued to beat on AeroStar after he won the match. Melissa pleaded with him to “get help” and said “this isn’t you” and the like. He eventually slid over to her and menaced her but El Dragon Azteca Jr. once again came out to protect Melissa. Fenix assaulted El Dragon Azteca Jr., laying him out with his new finisher, and right before the…

LUCHA UNDERGROUND GIFT OF THE GODS TITLE MATCH: El Dragon Azteca Jr.(c) vs. Marty “The Moth” Martinez- no rating, decent segment
Mr. Cueto came out and teased just handing the belt over to Marty The Moth but El Dragon Azteca Jr. insisted that he could fight on. Melissa was clearly unhappy about this situation. Marty dominated the (short) match, with El Dragon Azteca Jr. getting in one dive and one false finish and that was really it. This escalates the budding feud between El Dragon Azteca Jr. and Fenix while also moving Marty’s story of supposedly being the one “destined for greatness” in the Moth Tribe. It also sets up a grudge match for the Lucha Underground Title between him and Pentagon Dark, which kind of kills the suspense of tonight’s main event, doesn’t it?

RABBIT TRIBE WACKINESS- Their evil Morpheus rip-off (it can’t be an accident that the guy you meet after following the “white rabbit” looks like Morpheus) seems displeased that Paul London has caused the deaths of Mala Suerte and Saltador. He also has some Luchador locked in a cage made of branches. He asks Paul London to show him the way to the Temple. London agreed to do so, laughed maniacally, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. This had better be going somewhere worthwhile.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND TITLE MATCH: Pentagon Dark(c) vs. Mil Muertes vs. King Cuerno- 4.5/10
Another short spotfest. Barely even six minutes, in fact. Which means we’re either getting a long, storyline-developing segment next, or…
Yup. I was afraid of that. Remember that thing that Marty gave Mr. Cueto extra money for that they cut to black before we could hear? It was for Marty to be able to challenge right away if he won the Gift of the Gods Championship. Marty assaulted Pentagon Dark, and then Mr. Cueto came out and not only said that the one week waiting period has now been stricken from the rules, but also that it was a “stupid rule.”
I really don’t like this. The “you must wait one week” thing was a refreshing change that kept this from being just another Money in the Bank rip-off, and now that is gone. It also did a wonderful job of establishing Dario Cueto as someone who feels like an actual wrestling promoter, rather than just a “wrestling authority figure” TV character. That has been lost now. And, quite frankly, so has any feeling that this is anything but a wrestling TV show rather than a TV show about a wrestling promotion and the mystical goings-on that surround it.

LUCHA UNDERGROUND TITLE MATCH: Pentagon Dark vs. Marty “The Moth” Martinez- 1/10
They did some stuff, mostly with Marty dominating the already hurt Pentagon Dark. Pentagon Dark made a comeback… and then Marty distracted the ref while a “mysterious woman” (Chelsea Green) slipped out from under the ring, kicked Pentagon Dark in the balls, then hit him with a Canadian Destroyer. Marty then got back into the ring, hit Pentagon Dark with a Package Piledriver and pinned him. Marty and the woman celebrated, while Matt Striker said the following “the web gets even more tangled, and only the gods know where we’ll know next.” This is an unfortunately appropriate quote for my feelings about Lucha Underground right about now.
I didn’t like this title change for several reasons.
1. We missed the opportunity for what should have felt like a big grudge match between Marty and Pentagon, with the Lucha Underground Title on the line. Yes, we can still get that with Marty as the champ, but…
2. The storyline going into this match had the rare opportunity for Marty to feel like something of a babyface. And before you start laughing at the very idea of Marty The Moth as a babyface, remember that it is he who has been set up to be the Moth Tribe’s representative for whatever big coming-together the tribes will have to do at the end to defeat the big bad (this seems to be the best interpretation of how Marty is the one who is “destined for greatness” even though his sister is the one who wears the mask of Mariposa, as she herself brought up in that segment in their house earlier this season). This feud with Pentagon Dark where Marty is the wronged party seeking revenge seems like it would have been a good first step in that direction. Instead, they did it in a way that keeps Marty as the heel and Pentagon Dark as the babyface, which I don’t like at all because…
3. Pentagon Dark is a total asshole, and thus I do not want to cheer for him. This dickhead thinks he can just go around breaking people’s arms for no good reason and not suffer any consequences for it? He deserves to get f*cked out of the title like this!


Anyway, this was another disappointing episode of Lucha Underground, with title switches being done almost seemingly for their own sake, new characters being added instead of still-burning questions being addressed about old ones, and lots of short, spotty matches. This show has really lost its way.


STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Striker- “Now I’m noticing here this is the first time seeing El Dragon Azteca against, in my mind, a true heavyweight.”
LU only has one major show a year, and yet Striker cannot remember one of the biggest matches from the most recent edition of that show, which was El Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. MATANZA (in a cage match). I’m willing to bet that even that wasn’t the first time that he wrestled a heavyweight.

[cero2k]

second week and still no reference to Dark Phoenix Saga. I'm the one that's disappointed

[Big Red Machine]

second week and still no reference to Dark Phoenix Saga. I'm the one that's disappointed

Striker did say "Dark Fenix" at least once.