AZTEC WARFARE MATCH TO DETERMINE THE FIRST EVER LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPION- 9.5/10
My rating will probably seem very high to some people, but there is a reason for it. To be completely honest, on a certain level, I actually enjoyed this more than I have enjoyed some matches I have given the full 10/10 to.
The match is a Royal Rumble, but instead of being tossed over the top rope to the floor, you are eliminated by pinfall or submission. While Dario Cueto might claim to have invented this idea, the truth is that many years ago (like, at least nine), for what was probably my first attempt at on-going fantasy booking, I developed the exact same match as an annual PPV headliner. I called it the Brawl for it All, and while my match only had sixteen wrestlers, it also rewarded the winner with the chance to either challenge any champion he wanted, or to pick any opponent he wanted and face them in any stipulation match he wanted at the next PPV. As I got older and smartened up more, I realized that the concept was untenable because you would have way too many guys in the ring for so long that it would be impossible for anyone to keep track of the action.
Well… it turns out that I was completely wrong.
Whether it was by eliminating guys who were unimportant or having guys on the floor to keep the ring clear, they managed to circumvent this problem. This match was paced PERFECTLY. The bigger names entered at the right times and stayed in long enough while the jobbers had the time to do their stuff and were then eliminated by the bigger names to keep things moving along. They managed to focus on most of the major rivalries, while giving he smaller ones (like Drago vs. King Cuerno) exactly the time they needed to get their thing over before ending it for those guys, so that the bigger rivalries (like Chavo vs. Sexy Star) would be able to get more time and attention.
Another thing I completely loved was the use of the chair. Chavo brought a chair to the ring with him, and RIGHT AWAY, he hit Super Fly in the head with it and pinned him. Then he did the same thing to Pentagon Jr. Later he waffled someone else with the chair to pin him (Phoenix, I think), and he hit Sexy Star with one or two chairshots to set up the big spot with Blue Demon Jr.’s return. Sexy Star hit Chavo in the head with the chair to eliminate him. Those were THE ONLY chairshots in the match, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM mattered.
About the only thing I didn’t like was the Blue Demon Jr. return, but that is more of an issue of creative timing than anything else. As their interactions went on, it started to feel like it would be wrong for anyone but Sexy Star to eliminate Chavo, but it would also feel wrong for anyone to get revenge on Chavo before Blue Demon Jr. did. The way they eliminated Chavo, as well as Blue Demon’s comment that he wasn’t done with Chavo yet definitely alleviated this problem to a large degree, but Blue Demon’s return here seems to nullify everything Konnan had said about “all of Mexico” being pissed at Chavo and that people were being sent after him. Blue Demon did have to return in a big spot, and this was the biggest there was, but it still feels like a good idea that went nowhere, which is really the first time that has happened on Lucha Underground so far, which is a shame for what appears to be such a well-written show.
I thought that having Mil Muertes be the one to eliminate Sexy Star was brilliant because it not only saved a babyface from having to do it, but Mil Muertes spearing the hell out of her, just like he did to everyone else really made him feel like the force of nature he is supposed to feel like. He doesn’t give a damn about your gender. He’ll run through you all the same.
I thought that he elimination of the big guys were very well done and were done in ways that protected them a bit, and I liked the way that Katrina getting kicked was both justified (because she had interfered), but Johnny’s reaction of horror actually made you feel some sympathy, which made Mil’s raging up feel even more dangerous. It also gives Mundo and Muertes a direction to go in, and they can also revisit Mundo vs. Prince Puma because Mundo wasn’t as fresh as Prince Puma was here.
The final two segment was also great, and they chose the perfect time to kick out of finishers that had thus far been protected.

When you only have a one-hour show, and you want to get a match over as special, giving it the entire hour is always the way to go, and they did that here. A fantastic episode of Lucha Underground, featuring what will probably be one of the best matches in the promotion’s run.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Pimpinella Escarlata tried to forcibly kiss Ivelisse, which Matt Striker referred to as “kind of hot.” Masked Midgets chasing women, crossdressers sexually harassing women… I am learning WAY too much about Matt Striker’s alone-time habits from this show.
2. As she had a big face-off with Chavo, Sexy Star angrily took off her gloves and wrist-bands to fire herself up and it looked really cool… and Vampiro compared her to “a hockey player taking off his jersey.”
Yeah. Because hockey players are known for taking off their jerseys at the start of a fight. Hence the expression “dropping the jerseys.”

so what was missing for that .5?

cero2k wrote:so what was missing for that .5?

I was hoping the final two would go longer, just to give it that more epic feel. I also really hate it when Pimpinella forces himself on people because babyfaces shouldn't do that. It also would have been nice to give Drago and Cuerno a bit more time- or at least something more interesting than one just pinning the other. I also would have liked to see a bit more of a story being told with Mundo and Prince Puma earlier on.
I'd put it in a similar category to matches that are a 10 in telling their story, but don't have enough action and excitement to warrant a 10 (think Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana vs. Christopher Daniels from Glory By Honor V: Night 2, where Lacey is ordering Jacobs to work with Cabana, but Cabana keeps making a complete and total fool out of Jacobs, and when Jacobs finally picks up the win that Lacey had been demanding for months, Lacey berates him because he kicked Cabana in the nuts pinned Cabana to do so), except that instead of being a 10 in storytelling, it was a 10 in terms of pacing and match construction (not that all of the matches I give 10s to aren't, but this was one was special to me). It's like they build a machine that does something that people said couldn't be done, but the outside of the machine doesn't look pretty enough to market yet (if that makes any sense).

Big Red Machine wrote:

cero2k wrote:so what was missing for that .5?

I was hoping the final two would go longer, just to give it that more epic feel. I also really hate it when Pimpinella forces himself on people because babyfaces shouldn't do that. It also would have been nice to give Drago and Cuerno a bit more time- or at least something more interesting than one just pinning the other. I also would have liked to see a bit more of a story being told with Mundo and Prince Puma earlier on.

ok, it makes sense. to me, i didn't like the ending to Drago and Cuerno, i felt like they were tied at that point and now Cuerno has an important pin over Drago, so I wasn't a fan of that. i would have rather they do some suicide move and take each other out and get pinned by a third party.

Pimpinela only forces himself on heels and refs, and even then, an exotico is not your typical clean cut john cena babyface.

on the final two, i agree that more time would have been awesome, but i liked that Muertes was close to the end too, and especially that he lost because he lost his head due to Catrina getting hurt, it makes me think he was a clear winner if he had been focused. So to me it was equally epic, but with three guys. On that same page, I loved that by the time we were at the final 8, all of them were credible contenders to be the championship, it just shows that as small as some of the stories have been, most wrestlers have been well developed and pushed to look strong.

cero2k wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote:

cero2k wrote:so what was missing for that .5?

I was hoping the final two would go longer, just to give it that more epic feel. I also really hate it when Pimpinella forces himself on people because babyfaces shouldn't do that. It also would have been nice to give Drago and Cuerno a bit more time- or at least something more interesting than one just pinning the other. I also would have liked to see a bit more of a story being told with Mundo and Prince Puma earlier on.

ok, it makes sense. to me, i didn't like the ending to Drago and Cuerno, i felt like they were tied at that point and now Cuerno has an important pin over Drago, so I wasn't a fan of that. i would have rather they do some suicide move and take each other out and get pinned by a third party.

Pimpinela only forces himself on heels and refs, and even then, an exotico is not your typical clean cut john cena babyface.

Irrelevant. It's morally wrong, and he shouldn't do it. MAYBE you could do it with an interfering manager/valet.

For anyone not sure if they should watch this, Meltzer just raved about this match and explained why this match will be so much cooler than whatever WWE could do in the Royal Rumble.