S2E15
Aztec Medallion Match: The Mack vs. Marty Martinez 3:46
Aztec Medallion Match: El Siniestro de la Muerte vs. King Cuerno 1:44
Aztec Medallion Match: Cage vs. Mascarita Sagrada 0:50
Aztec Medallion No Mas I Quit Match: Sexy Star vs. The Mariposa 15:25
S2E16
Aztec Medallion Three Way Match: Joey Ryan vs. Cortez Castro vs. Mr. Cisco 1:18
Lucha Underground Trios Title Match: Dragon Azteca Jr. & Prince Puma & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ivelisse & Johnny Mundo & Son Of Havoc 7:58. Another match that was about Ivelisse & Taya rather than the actual wrestlers.
Lucha Underground Title Graver Consequences Casket Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Mil Muertes 14:47. Their previous match was more intense and energetic. This had a funny horror movie spot where Matanza almost had the casket closed, but Mil put his hand through the casket, grabbing Matanza's throat and slamming him into the lid.
S2E17
Daga vs. Argenis vs. Kobra Moon vs. Mascarita Sagrada 4:58
Killshot vs. Marty Martinez 7:08
Gift Of The Gods Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Aero Star vs. El Siniestro de la Muerte vs. Joey Ryan vs. Sexy Star vs. Texano vs. The Mack 8:33
S2E18
1/16/16: Joey Ryan vs. Mascarita Sagrada 3:17
1/16/16: Gift Of The Gods Title Match: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Cage 7:58. Chavo actually tried here. Match was way better than expected, maybe not quite good, but certainly worth watching and by a mile Chavo's best performance in LU.
Lucha Underground Trios Title Match: Dragon Azteca Jr. & Prince Puma & Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Jack Evans & Johnny Mundo & PJ Black 11:30. It's amazing how badly Lucha Underground has screwed up the trios division given it's the staple match of lucha libre. Finally, we got something that didn't revolve around Ivelisse finally managing to get off a feeble kick where the top of her kick pad grazes some dude that has 100 pounds on her, yet is still 10 times as fast. While Taya is an even more unbearable look at me & pretend I don't totally suck type, at least we were spared her playing at being a wrestler. Still, she had to distract the ref in order for Mundo to finally win something, and as much as I've been complaining about Matanza, when you want to figure out reason why heels aren't at the level of stardom they should be at, it's usually that no one really respects guys who are winning through runins and outside interference. In any case, the lights went out on this promotion when Matanza showed up on episode 9, and now more than 2 months later, we're finally seeing some sparks, though a lot of the quality here came from Azteca & Rey, who weren't around for the 1st season and a half when this was a good promotion. Puma also can't be too salty about Matanza given he had the title for most of a season, and he was spectacular, as expected. This was basically a big, empty spotfest, but that's the sort of thing Lucha Underground used to do well, and it was going to be hard for this to fail where the usual 6 man does given we finally had 6 good workers instead of everyone standing around watching and waiting for the one who has no business being in the ring with them. If there was an issue with the match beyond Taya, it was more that the rudos didn't really do that much since they were winning, to the point the result was obvious because they'd never sell that much otherwise. The highlight was Puma landing on his feet for Mundo's avalanche style German suplex. ***
S2E19
Son Of Havoc vs. Daga. Havoc dominated with his usual offense setting up Kobra interfering for the finish, but Havoc fought her off & got the victory instead. Pretty good.
Lucha Underground Trios Title Match: Jack Evans & Johnny Mundo & PJ Black vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. & Prince Puma & Rey Mysterio Jr. 9:43. Though hardly the best utilization of Puma & Mundo, at least this program has transformed the trios division into something watchable, as well as finally giving Evans & Black something to do. Everyone brought some exciting moves to the contest, with the highlight being Puma superplexing Evans onto the other 4 participants on the outside. Evans vs. Puma was the best pairing, with Evans getting a near fall on Puma with his own 630 splash and taking one of his crazy bumps on Puma's new go 2 sleep. The match seemed ready to peak when they revered to the lame shenanigans of Taya distracting the ref so Mundo could foul Dragon. Puma was disgusted both with Mundo for being so lame & the ref, and decided to extract his revenge, kicking Mundo in the balls right in front of the ref for a DQ, or in other words example 99999999 million of how terrible booking can unnecessarily ruin an otherwise good match.
Lucha Underground Title Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Cage 13:30. Cage was really fired up here, and managed to make this match through effort and determination. He decided to beat Matanza with lucha rather than match him power for power, and came out with armdrag & headscissor counters, a tope con giro, and a moonsault to the floor. Though Matanza came back with a series of gutwrench suplexes on the floor, and it reverted to more of the expected monster battle, it felt like a big match throughout, and Cage was still digging deep & making an effort to counter by being quicker & more agile. Cage did his best to be unpredictable, pulling out a lot of moves he rarely if ever uses, and coming up with some timely counters such as a small package for a powerslam. This wasn't the most fluid or graceful match you'll ever see as they're still huge powerhouses, but it wasn't the predictable flatfooted hammering in between a couple of random suplexes we usually get from big guys, largely because Cage gave his all and forced it to be something different. This was a spotfest, but they put some thought into it and told a story rather than just standing there no selling one another. Matanza wasn't great, but he can throw people around well enough to keep things interesting on this rare occassion when the outcome was actually in doubt. They've pretty much eliminated anyone but Cage & Mil as actual opponents for him, but this was better than Matanza vs. Mil because, while Mil is better in a vacuum, he's a head on brawler who lacks Cage's diversity. The match had the same main problem as Matanza/Mil though, in that it's so painfully obvious that Matanza is nowhere near the level of the other two that one can't really find any justification for him winning, given he's smaller. The finish here was really random, and not particularly believable, though the league has devolved so much that any finish that doesn't involve someone interfering almost seems "good". ***
S2E20
Killshot vs. Marty Martinez 1:19
Nunchuck: Aero Star & Drago vs. Jack Evans & PJ Black 7:55. Had potential, but they were forced to rush through the flying to then rush through the nunchucks. Aero did a dive off Dario's roof.
Fenix & Ivelisse & Johnny Mundo & King Cuerno & Pentagon Jr. & Taya vs. Prince Puma & Rey Mysterio Jr. & Sexy Star & Son Of Havoc & Texano & The Mack 12:52. Had some highlights, but mostly a big mess that never really felt serious or like any sort of contest, with Taya being beyond awful, as always, with some of the most pitiful attempts at strikes ever.
S2E21
Lucha Underground Title #1 Contendership Six Way Elimination: Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix vs. Ivelisse vs. Johnny Mundo vs. King Cuerno vs. Taya. First half was dreadful with everyone watching Taya & Ivelisse fail. By this point the guys figured out not to waste their energy, though Cuerno did some things because he wasn't making it to the point where actual wrestling began. 2nd half was quite good with Lucha Bros & Mundo for a little while before he was eliminated. I'd rate this portion as some of the better stuff from the season, but even then it wasn't as good as if Penta & Fenix had just had a singles match because they'd been out there a long time, even if mostly twiddling their thumbs, and it's hard to just switch on at that point.
S2E22
Aztec Medallion: Daga vs. Mascarita Sagrada 2:12
Aztec Medallions: El Siniestro de la Muerte & Killshot & Marty Martinez vs. Cortez Castro & Joey Ryan & Mr. Cisco 8:04
Aztec Medallions Parejas Increibles: Sexy Star & The Mariposa vs. Ivelisse & Taya 9:49
S2E23
King Cuerno vs. Mil Muertes 4:33
Prince Puma vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 8:45. The aquisition of Azteca has been the biggest bright spot of the season. He's always motivated, and the opposition is forced to step it up to avoid being outshined. This was the best match we've seen here in a while, though the downgrading of Puma has been one of the biggest detriments to this season. This was one of Puma's only singles matches of the season after having regular main event title defenses in season one, and the fact it wasn't a main event was a problem not because the workers didn't give that level of effort, but just because that made it even easier for them to justify not giving it enough time. This wasn't any old Puma match, it's the closest we've seen in ages to both Ricochet's athletic counter laden style and a well choreographed traditional lucha ballet. They did a nice job of escalating the match, despite it being rushed. Beyond the time, what held the bout back a bit is the outcome was a given because they were building to Puma/Rey at Ultimo Lucha, so there was no chance Rey's acolyte, although currently superior, was going to win unless there were shenanigans (which granted there unfortunately usually are). ***1/4
Johnny Mundo vs. Fenix 7:47
S2E24
4 A Unique Opportunity Tournament Semifinal Falls Count Anywhere: The Mack vs. Cage 10:12. The best match of their program. It mostly took place on the floor, but they surprisingly didn't have to sacrifice much of their wrestling due to the setting, as they just did their flying & slams on the outside. It was, of course, more of a violent match with the powerslam now being onto a garbage can, and Cage breaking a glass frame on Mack's head. Basically this was all big spots, whether the usual ones but accentuated by the cement block and various weapons or the outright gimmick spots, some of which were rather odd & humerous, such as pinatas & a stop sign. What I like about these guys is they are able to do something of a junior/lucha style match where they simply come off as much more powerful & imposing, rather than the usual big guys that just want to plod around no selling and doing the occasional tombstone. One of the highlights was Mack doing a splash off the guard rail through a table. The one disappointing aspect is whereas they were able to make some some things that probably should have came across silly work during the match, the finish was the too clever for his own good bookerman special where Cage tried to stomp Mack's head through a cement block again, but slipped in the beer & lost to a schoolboy. ***1/4
4 A Unique Opportunity Tournament Semifinal Boyle Heights Bar Fight: Son Of Havoc vs. Texano 7:22
4 A Unique Opportunity Tournament Final Falls Count Anywhere: Son Of Havoc vs. The Mack 5:32
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Son Of Havoc 2:05
S2E25
Gift Of The Gods Title Seven Way Elimination: Sexy Star vs. Daga vs. El Siniestro de la Muerte vs. Killshot vs. Marty Martinez vs. Night Claw vs. The Mariposa
Death: Mil Muertes vs. King Cuerno 13:49. Fighting a monster, and in a gimmick match, forced Cuerno out of his repetitive box. Cuerno is no Fenix, but this was one of his best matches because he was allowed to stand up to Muertes. While it wasn't nearly as spectacular, the match was back-and-forth and competitive. It was incredibly violent, including both putting each other's heads through windows. This was a match where they had to incapacitate each other, and Muertes ultimately did that when he powerbombed Cuerno through a table three times in a row, then brought out a crowbar and came off the top rope with it, following with a tombstone to finally get the win. Although Muertes gave me a big performance, the match was a much better than expected due to Cuerno giving his best performance. ***1/2
S3E39
Last Luchadora Standing Match: Sexy Star vs. Taya 9:09
Lucha Underground Trios Title Match: Drago & Pindar & Vibora vs. Dante Fox & Killshot & The Mack 7:59
Gift Of The Gods Title Ladder Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Son Of Havoc 14:00. The moves were impressive, but the match had no flow because they spent a minute after each one fiddling with a table, ladder, or chair. The last time I saw that many objects being moved on TV, Mark Knopfler kept singing "That ain't workin'..." Highlight was Penta turning Havoc's shooting star press into a cutter.
Lucha Underground Trios Title: Jack Evans & Johnny Mundo & PJ Black vs. Aero Star & Drago & Fenix 11:50. Taya wasn't there, so they had an actual match that was about actual wrestlers where Mundo reminded us why he was one of the highlights of the pre Taya era. This was the expected spotfest, except Evans did some awful Don Arakawa goose variants. The near-falls felt a more plausible than usual, I suppose, because you expected a highlight reel opener to be short. Aero did a plancha off Fenix's shoulders. Angelico came out on crutches, and mauled Mundo until Fenix pinned him with a Fenix driver. Even if there's an expense, getting the trios division right has been one of the lone bright spots of season 2. ***
Mixed: Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Black Lotus 4:10
Lucha Underground Title: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Pentagon Dark 11:31
Taya vs. Ivelisse 6:48
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Prince Puma 16:37. This match best exemplified how terribly booked the season was. Rey was the big aquisition, but from the 1st, he was always an afterthought to Matanza & Taya. He really did nothing of note all season, which is not to say he was bad but just shockingly a non factor as he's no longer going to stand out in 6 mans with a bunch of flyers from the next generation or two, and Puma's push, or lack thereof, was totally bungled as they did the Gedo trick of just tossing a meaningless undercard title on him after he lost the big one, rather than figuring out how he could still be a main event player who remained a primary focus of the promotion. In some sense, this was the match they built to all season, but when the road to the finale was Rey never wrestling any singles matches, and both mainly just taking part in rushed big tags they weren't usually even the standout or featured performers in, nothing that came before this built up the epic match they deserved and sort of tried to have. Rey can still go, but this isn't 1995 where he was arguably 10 notches above the other fliers, now all these younger guys have surpassed him, and while he's wisely altered his style to something more sustainable and doable, it was incredibly obvious that Puma was miles ahead of him as an athlete and a flying wrestler. The purpose of this match needed to be showing that Puma, who had been the top star in the promotion, was the #1 flyer in 2016, but Rey won, so it was all kind of useless. While it was a dream match, and the action was good, beyond a couple key answers, it was mostly you do your moves & I do mine, without even Puma's usual level of interplay, or really anything beyond the forced "epicness" and actually getting time to make it unique or more interesting than any other random good action match we see every week. The effort was certainly there, but for all the hype about Puma idolizing Rey, mastering & adding to his style, ultimately they didn't show a ton of chemistry or find many ways to enhance each others performances beyond their usual good level. Actually, it really felt like Puma was slowing down and selling a lot more to put Rey over extra (as if it was a match Rey was jobbing in) just out of respect as a way to not totally outshine and overshadow him. I enjoyed it, and the league would be 1000 times better if this was the sort of main event we got show in and show out, but at the same time, I was never really awed or impressed by anything here, or rather, this felt as unimpressive a match as 2 guys who were arguably the best fliers of their time could have when they were actually trying. All that being said, when you give talent time, good things usually happen, and certainly this was a good match even if it wasn't the match we dreamed of it being. Puma has always impressed here when given the chance, but Rey positively answered a lot of questions about his current state by doing a long match where he dusted off his actual move set after a long tenure of formulaic 619 laden affairs in the morgue. ***1/4
S3E1
Lucha Underground Title: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Son Of Havoc 7:25. Things have reversed to the point that Matanza now sells the entire match for the midcarder before winning with the powerslam.
Gift Of The Gods Title: Sexy Star vs. Taya 4:33
Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Pentagon Dark 8:18. This is the best Rey has looked since arriving in Lucha Underground. He pulled out some of his old big moves such as the Frankensteiner with Penta standing on the top rope. In general, it was similar to the Pentagon versus Fenix matches, with Pentagon being the base for the flying and using more off his power moves. It was predictably rushed, but that's also not the worst thing for Rey. ***
S3E2
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Mascarita Sagrada 0:55
Mil Muertes vs. Argenis 1:35
Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Killshot vs. Marty Martinez 22:23. Killshot did a kill stomp off a ladder that was "20 feet, easily", putting Marty through a table for the win.
S3E3
Lucha Underground Title: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. The Mack 6:02
Cage vs. Texano 5:52
Lucha Underground Trios Title: Aero Star & Drago & Fenix vs. Jack Evans & PJ Black & Taya 9:22
S3E4
Prince Puma vs. El Siniestro de la Muerte 4:50
Pentagon Dark vs. Cortez Castro 1:08
Jack Evans & Johnny Mundo & PJ Black & Taya vs. Aero Star & Drago & Fenix & Sexy Star 8:52
Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. 6:59
S3E5
Ivelisse vs. The Mariposa 6:16
Best Of Five Series #2: Cage vs. Texano 6:25
Lucha Underground Title: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Prince Puma 12:45
S3E6
Dr. Wagner Jr. & Famous B vs. Mascarita Sagrada & Son Of Havoc
Gift Of The Gods Title: Sexy Star vs. Jack Evans 9:13
Three Way: Pentagon Dark vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. 8:42
E7
Lucha Underground Title Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Killshot
Winner Enters The Aztec Warfare As #20: Drago vs. Aero Star vs. Fenix 8:34. This is sort of match that has too much talent not to be good, but really wasn't helped by being 3 way since they just rotated in and out, barely doing any sequences that involved more than 2, so the format was mostly making things even more unbelievable. Arguably the stipulations where the winner entered Aztec Warfare last, while the 2 losers stayed home lent some urgency to a match of teammates who otherwise had no reason to want to fight each other. However, they barely had time to have a match, much less a dramatic one, because seemingly half their time was spent on Dario laying out the unique opportunity. It was a super sprint with lots of sweet flying, as expected, but somehow Fenix had his nose busted open taking a flying body attack, which threw him off a bit. Drago & Aero Star picked up the slack, but overall this never felt like anything beyond 3 guys randomly being shot out of the cannon and delivering some fireworks. ***
Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes 8:45. It's ridiculous this battle of former champions didn't get at least a mere 12 minutes, but they did the best they could with the brief time they were allotted. Puma being more of a badass may not be a good thing over the long haul, but arguably helped this match against Mil, as he needed to be able to stand up to him with more than flips. That being said, it wasn't much different from their previous match beyond having less brawling on the outside because they didn't have time for it. There was a great sequence where Puma climbed up the guardrail and backflipped off to avoid getting rammed into it, but Mil immediately took him out with a spear. Puma hit an impressive plancha off the bleachers. As expected, Puma got the revenge win to get him back on track. Their first match was better because it was twice as long, but actual level was no lower here. ***
#8
Marty Martinez vs. Ivelisse
Best Of Five Series Match #3: Texano [1] vs. Cage [2] 7:35
3/19/06 Gift Of The Gods Title Match: Sexy Star vs. Johnny Mundo 11:29
#9
Lucha Underground Title Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Cortez Castro 2:21
Son Of Havoc vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. 5:34
Loser Leaves Lucha Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. 13:42
#10
Believers Backlash Fans Bring The Weapons Match: Mascarita Sagrada vs. Famous B 8:18
Aztec Warfare Qualifying: Ivelisse & Jeremiah Crane & Marty Martinez & The Mack & The Mariposa vs. Argenis & Cage & Dante Fox & Killshot & Texano 5:16
Grave Consequences Casket Match: Mil Muertes vs. Prince Puma 16:28. Grave Consequences is always the peak for Mil, as his aggressive and urgent brawling has a logical scary climax to try to avoid, and in the meantime his opponent can mix in some of the spectacular flying he can't provide. This was the best of the 3 Mil-Puma matches, though I liked the Fenix grave consequences matches more. They got off to a great start with Puma running up from behind kicking Mil off the stairway then hitting a plancha, setting up the arena brawl. This always felt like a sprint though, and while that should have been a good thing given they actually had time, for some reason the match felt somewhat anti climactic, partly because it ended almost without any more action (1 flatliner) once it finally slowed down. I guess part of the problem is the story they've been haphazardly telling is of Puma becoming a darker and more violent version of himself, but he's always between styles, so it's hard to say if that ultimately backfired here, or if it was his old daredevil nature that cost him, or some of both. Ultimately, I don't much care, and Mil, who was already 0-2 in Grave Consequences, deserves to actually win his signature match eventually. Mil began savaging Puma after the hot sneak attack start, including spearing Puma through a table. Puma did a 450 splash onto the casket, while Muertes chokeslammed him on it. Puma had a great surprise counter for the flatliner, hand standing and firing back with a superkick. Puma used the ringpost to Showtime kick a chair into Mil's head. Puma then tried to set up the 630 splash to the floor through 2 tables, but Mil got up and chokeslammed him off the apron through the tables instead. This was a fine finish, but when Mil then took 2 minutes to drag out and set up the coffin that once housed Konnan, you suddenly expected more from Puma. ***1/2
#11
Lucha Underground Title 20 Man Aztec Warfare Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Sexy Star vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Drago vs. Famous B vs. Jack Evans vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. Joey Ryan vs. Johnny Mundo vs. Kobra Moon vs. Marty Martinez vs. Mascarita Sagrada vs. Mil Muertes vs. Pentagon Dark vs. PJ Black vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ricky Mandel vs. Son Of Havoc vs. The Mack vs. The Mariposa
#12
4/9/16 Lucha Underground Trios Title Match: Aero Star & Drago & Fenix vs. Mala Suerte & Paul London & Saltador 6:44
Dante Fox vs. Killshot 8:07. Fox made his singles debut here, and may already be the most exciting thing about season 3 of Lucha Underground. While he may not have as many great flying moves as Puma or be as crazy as Fenix, it is high praise to even be compared to them. He is a hard worker who leaves you wanting more. Killshot has a tendency to meander, but certainly has the moves to be good when he wants to, and knew he had to step it up big time against his spectacular opponent. This was a wild, high flying sprint. There wasn't a lot of depth obviously, but it was a strong effort. While this was the typical Lucha Underground give them a chance to figure things out to set up better matches down the road, it was more exciting because we had yet to see Fox's great flying in the Temple. Both are better at doing their own thing , but really made an concerted effort to do something more interactive here, with great counters such as Killshot hitting a midair keylock for the back elbow off the 2nd and a Death Valley bomb onto the apron for the lo mein pain. The match was, of course, rushed because they had to have plenty of time for Sexy Star to fumble through another "big" match against someone twice her size who actually knows how to fight, but they packed as much into it as they could find a way to. This was actual good booking with Fox going over without any shenanigans, pinning Killshot after his Fox catcher, which is essentially a cradle brainbuster. ***1/4
Lucha Underground Title Match: Sexy Star vs. Johnny Mundo 11:08
E13
Gauntlet: Pentagon Dark vs. Doku (Kairi Hojo), Yurei (Mayu Iwatani), & Hitokiri (Io Shirai) 6:09, 7:12, & 12:49. Unlike everything Lucha Underground has done before pushing terrible women to the moon by having the guys just stop the match to stand around and sell for them for no logical reason, this was actually a somewhat believable gauntlet match where Pentagon not only wasn't made to look like a complete and utter fool, but actually got to look good doing some quality wrestling in the process. This match was by no means great, but was at least a fun take on the intergender match that was wrestled well enough and reasonably booked, so both Pentagon and the Stardom promotion impressed and gained something. The first portion with Kairi Hohum, called Doku here, was pretty lame, as expected. Hojo is basically the female Kazuchika Okada, she tries really hard and the match can be good when she leaves it entirely in the hands of an opponent who actually has something to offer by just selling for them, but the more we get of her same basic, predictable, formuliac offense that is unimpressive match in and match out, the worse the match is going to be. In this case, Hojo wasn't completely embarrassed or anything, but it was little more than a warmup jobber match to wear Pentagon down a little bit for the real opponents. Once Mayu Iwatani, called Yurei here, got involved, we immediately began seeing some actual interplay. Unfortunately, the women were all heels in Black Lotus' army, which Mayu has no experience at, and obviously a great athlete such as Mayu is much better when she is actually allowed to just wrestle rather than use lame bell shots and the like playing at being "Extreme". Overall, this portion was rather disappointing given their individual talent, as there weren't many sequences, and what we did get were pretty basic, not really challenging each other at all. Again, the match just ended when Pentagon broke his opponent's arm. Io Shirai, billed as Hitokiri, quickly made her presence felt with a missile kick and two dives. Io did a much better job with the brawling than Mayu, but again, this was simply not what I want to see from them, a waste of probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these two greats working together. Shirai did a great job of standing up to Pentagon, but the same time, one of the great things about Pentagon is he doesn't hold back against anyone, suitably brutalizing her at every opportunity. Shirai finally came back tripping a charging Pentagon into a chair to set up a sweet plancha off Dario's office. I didn't really like this Canadian destroyer variation that Shirai won with, which was set up like a Ligerbomb, and had no real reason to be otherwise beyond Penta doing a lot of work to make it something else, but I'll take the win. This segment was the only one that was good, but the other two were necessary to get to the point where they could reasonably have this match. ***
E14
Battle Of The Bulls Tournament Semifinal Fatal Four Way Match: Cage vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Joey Ryan vs. Texano 8:36. Better than expected. Even Ryan wrestled seriously, and was mostly useful here. Cage did a moonsault to the floor! Ryan did an avalanche style swinging neckbreaker.
Sexy Star vs. PJ Black 6:29
Battle Of The Bulls Tournament Semifinal Fatal Four Way Match: The Mack vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Marty Martinez vs. Mil Muertes 8:26
E15
Battle Of The Bulls Tournament Semifinal Fatal Four Way Match: Jeremiah Crane vs. Dante Fox vs. Killshot vs. The Mariposa 10:57. Mariposa gives Killshot the butterfly effect onto a chair.
Drago vs. Kobra Moon 2:41
Battle Of The Bulls Tournament Semifinal Fatal Four Way Match: PJ Black vs. Angelico vs. Jack Evans vs. Son Of Havoc 8:40. All of the Battle Of The Bulls Tournament matches were reasonably entertaining chaotic spotfests. I found this one to be marginally better than the other semifinals because it was the only one that didn't have any stiffs in it, though there were aspects of the earlier match with Fox & Killshot that I preferred. All the performers contributed reasonably well, as expected. This is the sort of match where Havoc fares well because with three other guys trying to find time to get their stuff in, there isn't much opportunity to do more than the same old cool spots with a few variations based on having more people involved anyway. He was a good contributor here, and Angelico was to star with his Matrix sequences. Angelico did a crazy spot where he superplexed Evans to the floor onto Havoc, Black, and a chair. This ended much too quickly, and somewhat of the corny manner with Black telling Evans to pin him, but then double crossing him by rolling him over for the win.
E16
Lucha Underground Title #1 Contendership Battle Of The Bulls Tournament Final Fatal Four Way Elimination Match: The Mack vs. Cage vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. PJ Black 11:49. Surprisingly, this was the biggest high flying spotfest of the Battle of the Bulls tournament, despite having more big power wrestlers. Even Crane, who is about the lowest of the low fliers, actually gave a big effort here, and was fairly effective in his own unorthodox manner. Cage was on fire, as usual, both with his flying and is ridiculous power. There was a sick spot where Mack hoisted Cage onto his shoulders, and Black tried to come off the top with a diving body attack, but Cage caught him in midair and powerslammed him. Unfortunately, Cage was the first one eliminated, when Texano hit him with the bull rope then Black pinned him with a swandive 450 splash. Black actually got to stand out here, as he was the only true flyer, rather than one of six fairly comparable flyers. This was definitely one of his best, if not his best performance so far in The Temple. Mack always gives a good effort, and it was nice to see him finally getting a role here beyond bodyguard. The biggest problem with a match is that Mack and Black didn't actually get any time to finish things off; Black only lasted a minute after Crane was eliminated, and it seemed much shorter given they stuck 4 minutes of commercials in between only to have the match end seemingly as soon as they returned. ***
Lucha Underground Title Steel Cage Match: Johnny Mundo vs. Sexy Star 12:09
E17
Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes 1:55
Jack Evans & PJ Black vs. Angelico & Son Of Havoc 5:47
Best Of Five Series Match #4: Texano [2] vs. Cage [2] 2:13
Best Of Five Series Anything Goes Match #5: Cage [3] vs. Texano [2] 13:40
E18
Sexy Star vs. The Mariposa 6:52
Drago & Pindar & Vibora vs. Mala Suerte & Paul London & Saltador 7:04
Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack 8:41
E19
Texano vs. Joey Ryan 7:03
Cage vs. Veneno 1:21
5/7/16 Death Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 6:25
E20
Lucha Underground Title Iron Man Match: Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack 37:14. Quantity saved the day here, as while this is never amazing, it's was a consistently entertaining show long high flying marathon. While mostly just the most reasonable opportunity for both guys to roll out every big spot in their arsenal, their stamina was a lot better than I expected, particularly Mack who never really has long matches. Though the pace wasn't exactly high, they didn't really stall or purposely drag things out on their own, as Mundo can be prone to doing. That being said, the match was ridiculously overbooked down the stretch as LU tends to be, and that incorporated a bunch of rests naturally, or unnaturally such as it is, and really made things drag down the stretch. They used the typical arch where the face was playing from behind the entire time, Mundo quickly getting up a fall with the end of the world and really commanding the 2nd fall as well countering a schoolboy with a really slow magistral. The first half of the match was action packed straight wrestling, with Mundo otherwise looking typically slick for a bigger man, and Mack chipping in where he could with his power & heavyweight flying, including a sweet reverse neckbreaker off the apron, to keep the crowd believing. Mundo was a great heel here showing tons of natural cockiness & charisma during the action rather than stopping the match to beg the crowd to react to him. The match was very good until Mundo faked an ankle injury on his corkscrew plancha, whereas if the match built properly, it should have just been taking off. If the trick was the only shenanigans of the match, I'd say this was great heel stuff as Mack being honorable giving Mundo all the time he needed to try to continue allowed Mundo to enact his plot of just waiting for Mack to turn his back, with Mundo getting the 3rd fall with a kip up into a low blow then DDTing Mack on the surfboard. Unfortunately, it almost became a tag match in the second half, and just got dumber & dumberer. Things came to a head, or rather a complete stop, when Havoc waited for Dario to answer his knocks then rejected his water bottle, eventually pouring two beers on Mack for the corniest Hulk up of all-time. Nothing really came of it either, as Mundo & PJ Black once again took over with their Singapore canes, & Mundo got the band to play him a victory song, but the maraca player, who turned out to be Sexy Star, dropped her instrument & took Mundo out with a balcony dive leading to Mack putting Mundo through two tables to tie it up. The climax was a great example of how straining for drama results in exactly the opposite, as Mundo injured his leg landing on a ladder when Mack avoided the end of the world with 2 minutes left, but Mack still couldn't get a pin off in time. The ending was so stupid, like if somehow an NFL team was in range to win with a field goal, but didn't manage to get it or anything off after the two minute warning. Rather than go for the pin, it literally took Mack 1:40 of his 2:00 to hit the next move, a splash off the ladder through a table, and that was the only thing that happened with the actual participants down the wire, due to more shenanigans. Mack wound up trampolining to the corner from the impact of the splash as if the ring were a super charged bounce house, and failed to cover until there were 2 seconds left, resulting in a draw, which Dario essentially waived off by saying they'd fight until there was a winner, but this wouldn't take place until the next episode. ***1/4
E21
LU Title Falls Count Anywhere Match: Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack 9:47
LU Trios Title: Aero Star & Fenix vs. Drago & Pindar & Vibora 5:34
Boyle Heights Street Fight: Prince Puma vs. Mil Muertes 11:40
E22
Cueto Cup First Round Match: The Mack vs. Mala Suerte 7:31
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Argenis 5:43
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Texano vs. Famous B 0:26
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Drago vs. Aero Star 7:25
E23
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Cage vs. Vinny Massaro 3:29
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Marty Martinez vs. Saltador 7:24
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Pindar vs. Mascarita Sagrada 5:56
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Fenix vs. The Mariposa 5:50
E24
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Mil Muertes vs. Veneno 1:09
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Paul London vs. Vibora 3:54
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Taya vs. Joey Ryan 3:34
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Jeremiah Crane vs. Killshot 13:02
E25
Cueto Cup First Round Match: PJ Black vs. Sexy Star 4:16
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Son Of Havoc vs. Son Of Madness 8:45
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Prince Puma vs. Ricky Mandel 1:14
Cueto Cup First Round Match: Dante Fox vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 9:05
E26
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Jeremiah Crane vs. Taya 6:24
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Mil Muertes vs. Paul London 9:31
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Fenix vs. Marty Martinez 10:23
E27
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Pindar vs. Cage 0:32
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Dante Fox vs. Son Of Havoc 9:06
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Prince Puma vs. PJ Black 15:54
E28
Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Texano vs. The Mack 7:17
5/14/16 Cueto Cup Second Round Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Drago 7:56
5/8/16 Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. PJ Black 11:29
E29
Cueto Cup Quarter Final Match: Fenix vs. Pindar 5:19
Cueto Cup Quarter Final Match: Prince Puma vs. Dante Fox 11:04
Johnny Mundo vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 8:56
E30
Aztec Medallion: Mala Suerte & Paul London & Saltador vs. PJ Black & Ricky Mandel & Taya 4:35
Cueto Cup Quarter Final No Disqualification Match: Mil Muertes vs. Jeremiah Crane
Cueto Cup Quarter Final Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Texano 6:09
E31
Cueto Cup Semifinal Match: Prince Puma vs. Fenix 10:29. Similar in fantastic quality to Puma vs. Fox from the previous round, though this was the more conventional and difficult top level Ricochet match, pushing each other to develop all their athletic counters and relying less on just doing a bunch of flips. I feel like the level was higher in this match and it was more hard hitting, but the Fox match had some intangible advantages, predominantly it was more unpredictable & urgent. The big difference though is the Fox match didn't have shenanigans until after it was over, where this was great while it lasted but ultimately reverted to the same old bad Vince booking nonsense of Fenix having the match, but then more or less losing to save Melissa from the useless Moth. Still, great fast-paced athletic action that was one of the big highlights of the LU season. ***3/4
Cueto Cup Semifinal Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Mil Muertes 7:31. Muertes is fine in a pure brawl, but Pentagon was trying to do more wrestling here, and Muertes was always a step slow. Granted, Muertes supposedly had a side injury, but I don't think that had much to do with it. Still, this was fine, and the problem was more that it was way too short & didn't seem like the sort of big, blow out encounter these two should be having here.
Roster Riot. Puma takes out a half dozen guys with a 630 to the floor.
E32
Mask vs. Mask Match: Sexy Star vs. Veneno 0:51
Cueto Cup Final Match: Prince Puma vs. Pentagon Dark 9:37. After all these weeks, the Cueto Cup Final surely should have been 15+ minute main event instead of sandwiched between a match that needn't exist & one of the biggest matches of the season. Fox & Fenix are better opponents for Puma to do his usual high flying junior match with, but Pentagon gives him more opportunity to do a different, more high impact match. This was different, but it didn't feel that significant. I mean, they did a bunch of big spots throughout, but it just felt like a rushed spotfest where they exchanged bombs until it ended. Don't get me wrong, these guys can really go & did a lot of impressive things, I was just looking for a match that would live up to the big final Striker was doing his best to sell it as rather than a lightning match that could just as easily have taken place in the opening round. ***
Lucha Underground Title Match: Johnny Mundo vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. 18:05. A rare LU match that was overlong. They focused on the grudge match aspects, which resulted in it being more brawl & stall, & really feeling like a padded American match.
E33
Son Of Madness vs. Mascarita Sagrada 2:12
Marty Martinez vs. Argenis 5:10
Joey Ryan vs. Sexy Star 4:48
Aztec Medallion Boyle Heights Biker Brawl Match: Son Of Havoc vs. Son Of Madness 13:05. Mostly brawling on the outside, with some flying thrown in. Nice slingshot footstomp to the floor from Madness, but Havoc left his boot prints on Madness' back with a footstomp off the guard rail. Havoc kicked out of a Death Valley bomb on a garbage can then cut a charging Madness off breaking a beer bottle on his head & won with the shooting star press.
E34
Aztec Medallion Match: Drago vs. The Mack 3:45
Aztec Medallion 5-0 Street Fight: Cortez Castro vs. Joey Ryan 13:07. They used everything associated with the police from the taser to coffee & donuts. Highlights were Ryan hitting a Rock bottom on the hook of a police car & Castro suplexing Ryan off the announcers table.
6/12/16: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Mala Suerte & Paul London & Saltador 4:44
E35
Marty Martinez & Johnny Mundo & PJ Black & Taya vs. Cage & Fenix & Prince Puma & Sexy Star 5:37
Aztec Medallion Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 6:34. Being a lot younger & healthier, Azteca is considerably better than his mentor Rey Jr. at this point. He always brings it, hitting a corkscrew moonsault attack to the floor among other spectacular spots. Penta was mostly putting Azteca over since it was a short match that he was winning. This was some of the better action of the year, but was way too short & ended out of nowhere.
The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. 10:47
E36
Dante Fox vs. Texano 5:39. They didn't work together as well as I hoped, each did their moves before another inFamous Z level finish.
Marty Martinez & The Mariposa vs. Fenix & Melissa Santos 9:00
Gift Of The Gods Title Seven Way Match: Pentagon Dark vs. Son Of Havoc vs. Cortez Castro vs. Drago vs. Mala Suerte vs. Paul London vs. Saltador 6:39
E37
Dr. Wagner Jr. & Famous B vs. Texano 4:24
The Hell Of War Match: Killshot vs. Dante Fox 25:23. Great super athletic, highly creative grudge death match where they really threw caution to the wind to deliver a classic. It's more an evolution of Homna vs. Yamakawa than of ECW, but the wrestling was decidedly more skilled & athletic than the former, while still being a lot more violent than the later. These guys have great chemistry, which has really grown throughout this program. Killshot gave Fox the early portion, and Fox was just killing it, doing all sorts of spectacular moves. Fox's biggest highlights were the kickflip with Killshot on a ladder, a guillotine leg drop off the guard rail with Killshot in between chairs on the apron, won a dueling springboard with a Spanish fly, lo mein pain onto a chair, and a 450 splash with Killshot on a ladder on the bottom rope. Though this was daredevil central, this was one of the few times the cartoon booking came together and the wrestlers told a great story rather than a silly, childish one. It rarely felt like they were just rolling out stuff, as they did a nice job of escalating tensions & building anticipation so every big shot was a glorious "holy shit!" moment. Because the spots were so crazy & sick, the selling was well earned, and never felt like stalling. The match itself also called for a certain amount of insanity as you needed to draw blood to take the first fall, but while any schlub can do that with a fork, they never took the easy way out in their artful craziness. The first fall was built around teasing putting someone through an extra window from Dario's office, and culminated with Fox countered a doublearm with a back body drop off the top through the window. This left a ring full of glass for them to wrestle the next 2 falls on, which was cutting them up in every way, not only on their bumps, but also their normal safety measures, actually the injury that seemed to be bothering Fox most was slicing his hand up bracing his fall on the 450. Honestly, I would have rather they cleared the glass between falls because the rest of the match was mostly getting injured for no reason, and even if this was the match of their lives, that's partly because you can only do this kind of thing so many times. They did their best to just ignore the issue & wrestle as usual, but their skin was getting shredded, so by necessity it became a slower paced, go for the home run type of contest. Killshot eventually took the 2nd fall with a powerbomb through a barbed wire board & a storm cradle driver on the glass. Wisely, the 3rd fall mostly took place on the outside, with Killshot suplexing Fox to the floor at the outset, but Fox kind of DDT'ing him on the apron. Now it was time for Killshot to deliver his highlights with an avalanche style Death Valley bomb onto the gurney on the outside, a killstomp off the guard rail. Finally, they climbed up the stage, and just after a "please don't die!" chant, Killshot broke a bottle over Fox's head in a desperation counter to getting choked out with a mic chord, and Fox plummetted off the stage through another sheet of glass. This was so nuts that the audience was dead silent, as Fox just lay there completely still and eventually Killshot made his way down & deposited his still motionless foe in the Medevac. The RIP that comes up after the credits has never been more fitting. ****1/2
E38
Unique Opportunity Battle Royal: The Mack vs. Argenis vs. Cortez Castro vs. Joey Ryan vs. Mala Suerte vs. Mascarita Sagrada vs. Paul London vs. Pimpinela Escarlata vs. PJ Black vs. Ricky Mundo vs. Saltador vs. Son Of Madness vs. Vinny Massaro 3:32
Ivelisse vs. Catrina 6:16
Mask vs. Hair Match: Fenix vs. Marty Martinez 12:22
Steel Cage Match: The Monster Matanza Cueto vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. 7:44. Azteca did a moonsault attack off the cage. Matanza put Azteca through the cage with an overhead belly to belly.
Gauntlet Of The Gods Three Way Elimination Match: Mil Muertes vs. Cage vs. Jeremiah Crane. These guys really overachieved. I figured it would mostly be a brawl, but they actually did a nice job of mixing big spots, flying, and hard hitting rather than just making it a low skill bloodbath. What made it good though is they kept a high pace, so it never felt like they were just biding time to the next crazy spot. The 3rd man was definitely helpful for keeping things going & adding to the wildness. There were a number of highlights including the triple dive sequence, chokeslam through a table, Crane skewering Cage, Cage suplexing Crane from inside through a table on the floor that Mil was on, onto Mil on the but surprisingly it was a consistently good violent spotfest. Crane was a lot better in season 3 than 4, but Cage was definitely the star here. ***1/4
Lucha Underground Title vs. Career Match: Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma. This match really underachieved. Mundo had one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport to work with, but wanted to exchange canvas stomping, head bobbing punches. He let loose at times, but mostly just stuck to his arrogant heel routine, letting Puma have brief segments of jumping at him including a shooting star press to the floor. Just when the match started to get good, Mundo's clones & the plastic clone showed up then Angelico resurfaced to make the save, culminating in Rick Knox doing the worst tope con giro in history, if it can even be called that given the ring apron took 99% of the no impact. When the normal match finally resumed, they rolled out some big spots including Mundo hitting an avalanche style swinging neckbreaker, but Puma going over clean with the 630 only to have Dario force him to immediately defend the title, with his career again on the line. The fact that Puma was doing another match may have hurt this some, but mostly the problem was Mundo was in WWE mode half the time.
Lucha Underground Title Career vs. Career Match: Prince Puma vs. Pentagon Dark 8:29. This was essentially a gauntlet match for Puma, and they brought it from the outset. Penta was so much better than Mundo, which allowed Puma to be a lot better as well, as this was mostly sequences with great timing whereas the previous match just had both guys doing single moves with little interplay. While Mundo's strikes are the usual American theatrics, Penta is just brutal in everything he does, and you can believe he's slowing Puma down (rather than Puma just standing there waiting around for Mundo to get around to throwing another do nothing looping thing). It was a lot more explosive, and had great timing in place of the previous match's slow taunting. Penta threw a wrench into the proceedings breaking Puma's arm early on, with Puma pausing to "relocate it" and putting a little tape on his elbow, but generally doing his best to wrestle one-armed. Though Puma has been the face of the company since day 1, the inaugural & now first two time champion, and was coming off what should have been a very emotional win, and was even more of an underdog with the injury on top of the 2nd match, the fans were still more rapid for Penta. The match was really too short, and, unfortunately, came down to interference from Vampiro, but overall this was a definite step up from the Cueto Cup Final, as they wrestled to their potential this time. ***1/4
Dollar & Oscuro vs. Ancla & Ricky Santana
Torneo Gran PrixxXMW Internacional Torneo Cibernetico: Alburquerque & Douki & Principe Orion & Taylor Wolf vs. Fly Metalik & Los Kriminal Boys Fly Star & Toxin Boy & Wasson
Centurion & Latigo vs. Cancerbero & Sangre Azteca
Puma & Tiger vs. Metaleon & Mr. Leo
XNL World Title Three Way: XL vs. Arez vs. Fly Warrior
XMW Title: Demoledor vs. Wotan
Mixed Tag Match: Averno & Chessman vs. Faby Apache & Mary Apache
Mask vs. Hair Match: Psycho Clown vs. Pagano 27:46
8/26/17
AAA World Tag Title Four Way Match: La Secta (Cuervo & Escoria) vs. Los Totalmente Traidores (Monster Clown & Murder Clown) vs. Aero Star & Drago vs. Andrew Everett & DJ Z 13:23
AAA World Heavyweight, AAA Latin America Title & AAA World Cruiserweight Title Three Way Match: Johnny Mundo vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. El Texano Jr. 22:04
Mask vs. Mask Match: Psycho Clown vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. 28:42
9/3/16
Starman & Stigma & Soberano vs. Arkangel & Disturbio & Skandalo. I enjoyed Arkangel for a number of years, but at 50 & working at 1/10th speed with gnat killing impact, he should not be logging the majority of the ring time. This match was just way too slow except when Soberano was in. He gave a good inspired high flying performance, looking like the Flash in comparison to everyone else. Skandalo was the best rudo, but his weight has become an impeditment at times. Poor match.
Johnny Idol & Guerrero Maya & Titan vs. Gran Guerrero & Euforia & Kraneo. A few stops & starts, but in general, a consistently entertaining match. Nothing amazing, but solid contributions all around, with the Guerrero's being the best & even Kraneo being passable. Funny (unless you're Gran) spot where Maya did an armdrag then accidentally headspringed onto Gran's head. Above average match.
9/10/16
Angel de Oro & Blue Panther & Rey Cometa vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. & Gran Guerrero & Pierroth
Matt Taven & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Atlantis & Diamante Azul & Valiente
9/10/16
Sensei & Lyono & Bengala vs. Canelo Casas & Akuma & Nitro. Started slow with Sensei & Casas going through the motions without much fluidity, but picked up dramatically for the 1st fall finish with Bengala & Akuma looking good, & continued to be a finishing segment in the brief 2nd & 3rd falls. Entertaining once it got going, but everyone was pinned so quickly & easily after that it was just an exhibition of non-resistant finishes. Average match.
Star Jr. & Flyer & Oro Jr. vs. Sanson & Cuatrero & Forastero. A showcase for the technicos with Oro showing off in the 1st fall & Star hitting a sweet torneo & super quebrada in the 2nd. The rudos began ganging up, & their double & triple teaming was enough to take the 2nd & get a fall on Oro in the 3rd, but Flyer & Star wouldn't lay down, & Star eventually pinned the captain to take it. Good match.
9/17/16
Puma & Tiger & Hechicero vs. Angel De Oro & The Panther & Titan. A faster paced match than we've been seeing on Lucha Retro, but half of that was that they showing it in fast forward. Jerky motion aside, this was some pretty good action, as these guys were offensive minded with the entire rudo team having been technicos earlier in their career. Maybe for that reason, the match felt a bit disjointed & lacking in rhythm. They didn't really do flowing sequences, but rather exchanged strikes then did flying moves then back to strikes. It was a bit sloppy, but there were several good moments even if they never seemed to gain momentum with them. Above average match.
Mistico & Volador Jr. & Valiente vs. Niebla Roja & Ultimo Guerrero & Luciferno. Best match on Lucha Retro so far. Fast-paced, action packed high flying action from start to finish. It was basically the technico show with Mistico, Volador, & Valiente all being in spectacular mode & flying around from start to finish. The rudos did their job helping them look good, with everything coming off very well, but didn't put their stamp on the match in any way. Good match.
Flyer & Star Jr. & Sensei vs. Hijo Del Signo & Metalico & Nitro. They overachieved because they tried hard. For the most part, especially in the 1st 2 falls, they weren't doing amazing things, but they worked hard, & consistently no matter who was in, keeping the pace up & the action flowing. In the 3rd fall, they really picked it up at the end. The ending probably wasn't as good as a lot of matches, but most of those would do little before & try to just get by on that finishing burst, where this was good before & that burst elevated & validated it. Good match.
Hombre Bala Jr. & Stigma & Soberano vs. Virus & Sangre Azteca & Disturbio. Pretty consistent because they focused on the athleticism early, transitioning from the ballet to the flying for the end of the 1st fall. The rudos were more into doing moves than brawling, so when they took over the match quality didn't dip much. The problem is they pretty much owned the 2nd half of the match after giving the technicos the 1st half, so the 3rd fall was probably the worst of the three. Soberano worked really well in this style, as he was able to show off his gymnastics. Disturbio lacks the skill of the other rudos, but upped his effort & threw in a few more high spots to try to make up for it. Azteca was the offensive star of the rudos, but Virus probably did the most to make the technicos look good. Good match.
9/24/16
Marcela & Estrellita & Skadi vs. Reyna Isis & Tiffany & Amapola. They tried & it wasn't terrible, but they lack the speed & athleticism to really make it work, so it just seemed rather contrived & random. Marcela still wants to go, and given the company that's about all it takes to make her still be the standout, but her knees weren't really cooperating & she is 45. It's scary when Estrellita is the most athletic wrestler in a match. Skadi had a Super Muneco moment, but even if Marcela is her mother, at that size she seems more suitable to be a rudo. Below average match.
Stuka & Rey Cometa & Guerrero Maya vs. Kraneo & Polvora & Sam Adonis. There was some good talent in this match, but then you had Kraneo waddling around like an idiot. At first I thought it was just me getting distracted by his stupidity, but there should be better things for Rey Cometa to do in a match than standing around shaking as he sees how long he can hold Kraneo in a fireman's carry position. The highs & lows of the match can pretty much be summed up by the finish where Kraneo avoided Stuka's portion of the triple dive then won with the stinkface. Average match.
Magnus & Marvel & Robin vs. El Coyote & Grako & Nitro. Always worth watching, but never really better. They kept the pace up, with the rudos doing a good job of keeping things moving & flowing, as Nitro mocked their conventions such as the little jump. The technicos were lagging behind here though, as they did a lot of basic athletic sequences & counters but rarely brought anything beyond that. For that reason, the match kept feeling like a really good opening, as the falls came & went. Above average match.
Diamante Azul & Johnny Idol & Valiente vs. Gran Guerrero & Niebla Roja & Ultimo Guerrero. The focus was on Ultimo Guerrero vs. Valiente, setting up next week's title match. Ultimo orchestrated Valiente getting teamed up on then shredded his mask when he was battered & prone. This took Valiente out of the 1st fall, leading to his partners getting pinned while he recovered & got a new mask. Valiente got a measure of revenge in the 2nd, taking Ultimo out with a tope, leading to his partners getting pinned. Ultimo wouldn't engage in the requisite rope running sequence with Valiente in the 3rd, or any sort of fair fight, waiting for Roja to hold him to attack then ripping Valiente's mask a 2nd time. Again, it seemed Valiente would be out of action down the stretch, but when Azul & Idol took Gran & Roja out with dives, Valiente came back in & submitted Ultimo for the win. Good match.
10/1/16
Cancerbero & Inquisidor & Raziel vs. Bengala & Metalico & Star Jr. They kept a high pace, but the spots were telegraphed to the point you knew almost every move before they actually did it. With that in mind, I appreciated the surprise finish where Star appears to be hitting or corbata but Raziel just slams him down head first. Average match.
NWA World Middleweight Title Match: Ultimo Guerrero vs. Valiente. Not so much a match as a poorly set up highlight reel. The first two falls were pretty much throw aways, as they traded really brief submission wins. Valiente's spin out of the Romero special into the I pull your arm up was passable in some sense, but him walking into a leg pick to surrender the pulpo Guerrero in the 2nd was really hospital. The third fall could have been great, but it never came together into anything more than a series of big spots pasted together. It was basically one high spot, usually for a near finish, then long sell, then repeat with a different high spot. The lowlight was Valiente pretending to be semi crippled from Guerrero picking his leg until it was time to hit the next great flying spot. There were some good counters such as Valiente knocking Guerrero to the floor when he tried the senton de la muerte the 2nd time & hitting a tope & spectacular spots such as the Valiente special. Guerrero does some ridiculous avalanche style moves, but he just releases his opponent midair rather than slamming them to negate the majority of the impact, so they are more annoying than impressive given how inferior they are to basically any other version you've ever seen. I really wanted to like this match, but basically the 1st 2 falls were wasted & the 3rd didn't really work but was a strong effort & at least entertaining as spectacle. Above average match.
9/23/16
El Hijo del Amo de los 8 & El Hijo de LA Park & Zumbi vs. Heiddi Karaoui & Herodes Jr & Samoano
Bandido & Golden Magic & Ultimo Ninja vs. Argos & El Hijo de Dos Caras & Karonte
Liga Elite 2016: Rey Escorpion vs. Cibernetico
Diamante & Impsoble vs. Neza Kid & Rocky Lobo
Liga Elite 2016: Caristico vs. Extreme Tiger
9/30/16
Liga Elite 2016: Extreme Tiger vs. Cibernetico
Imposible & Peligro vs. Ciclon Ramirez Jr & Leon Dorado Jr
Decnis & Mr. Aguila & Zumbido vs. Diamante & El Intocable & Emperador Azteca
Rey Escorpion & Silver King vs. Bandido & Golden Magic
Liga Elite 2016: Blue Demon Jr vs. LA Park
10/1/16
Marcela & La Vaquerita & Skadi vs. La Comandante & Dalys & Amapola. It's bad when the women's match is by far the best match of the hour, but Marcela kept it at an acceptable level by working the majority of the match. The action was a step slow all around, but being on the short side generally helped keep things moving at the pace they could work, except that the 1st fall was the majority of the match to the point the 2nd & 3rd falls were rather insignificant. Skadi did one or two good moves, but the timing & flow were most lacking when she was in. Amapola was the only acceptable rudo. Comandante wasn't screwing up, but she's so rigid, deliberate, & dated in her basic idea of how the sequences are supposed to go down you feel you are watching one of those seemingly semi trained late 70's/early 80's do a shoulderblock, give the crowd a scary/nasty grimace, take a devestating dropkick type workers who was somehow displaced by a time machine 35 years into the future. Below average match.
Aereo & Acero vs. Pequeno Violencia & Pequeno Universo. I like the 2/3 fall format except in matches such as this where they just machine gun pins to the point the falls are so short they really aren't doing something that resembles a match. The wrestling wasn't bad in the sense of what they actually did, but I couldn't even call this an exhibition because that would have been longer & might have had some actual purpose. Poor match.
Maximo Sexy & Titan & Atlantis vs. Felino & Negro Casas & Mr. Niebla. Titan, Atlantis & Casas were doing a serious match while Maximo, Felino, & Niebla were doing a comedy match. It didn't work. Not to mention the 1st 2 falls were really brief & the 3rd was a random DQ out of nowhere. Titan had a few moments, but otherwise there was little to recommend. Poor match.
10/8/16
La Jarochita & Skadi & Princesa Sugehit vs. Metalica & La Seductora & Dalys. Jarochita & Seductora did two brief sequences that were well done, otherwise this was pretty bad. Once in a while there was a nice move, but Seductora was the only one who seemed to be able to actually put a cohesive sequence together. Seductora was by far the best at making the technicos look good, but her offense didn't look very good. Dalys moves so rigidly that nothing she does looks good. Metalica & Sugehit move pretty well, but really couldn't get anything going. Skadi tried to be interesting, but didn't connect where she wanted to on any of her flying spots. Poor match.
Maximo Sexy & Atlantis & Mistico vs. Shocker & Ephesto & Luciferno. I can deal with a poor match, but they didn't even put forth any effort here. Even when they weren't standing around doing Maximo's "comedy", they still weren't really doing any sequences & it was so slow & low impact. Mistico's little run at the end of the 3rd fall was pretty much the only time anyone even tried. Poor match.
Blue Panther & Titan & Fuego vs. Sagrado & Misterioso & Disturbio. Fun match because Fuego & Titan came to work. Fuego looked really good, perfectly executing a number of impressive athletic spots. Titan had his moments as well, but just wasn't as graceful or dynamic as Fuego. Panther was basically a non factor. The rudos did a good job taking Titan & Fuego's flying, but their offense wasn't always the most crisply or gracefully executed. Above average match.
Stuka & Guerrero Maya & Rey Cometa vs. El Olympico & Rey Bucanero & Mr. Niebla. The rudos dominated the 1st 2 falls with a lot of dawdling, standing around and throwing unimpressive strikes. Even when the technicos finally made their comeback to take the 2nd, they literally just did a dropkick and a schoolboy. When it was slow, which was way too often, it was way too deliberate. The third fall had a few bursts of action, but no one even remotely approached their capability. Below average match.
10/15/16
Flyer & Robin & Oro Jr. vs. Hijo Del Signo & Disturbio & Arkangel. The first fall was joined in progress & was pretty uninspired. They picked things up dramatically for the end of the 2nd fall, which had one of the best finishes we've seen so far on the show. The flying was no better or worse per se, but it stood out because the technicos "had to" do 2 or 3 hot moves each to earn the pins rather than the usual I flop at the first sign of anything trios finishes. They continued the fast pace in the 3rd, with the technicos adding to the dropkick & rana variations, but then Arkangel hit a single cheesy backbreaker on Oro & that was that. The match was entertaining when the rudos were taking, which was the entire second half, but the rudo finishes were just lame. Above average match.
Diamante Azul vs. Terrible. They only showed the loose finish of the 1st fall, & the 2nd fall appeared to be less than 2 minutes, so we got about 6 minutes of wrestling over a 3 fall singles match. They worked well enough together, but it wasn't amounting to anything, especially in this form where we just saw them machine gunning through the falls.
Maximo Sexy & Valiente & Atlantis vs. Mr. Niebla & La Mascara & Niebla Roja. Too much schoolyard clowning, complete with Niebla giving Valiente a wedgie. Niebla just goofs off when he's wearing the Yone and/or wrestling Maximo & Mascara is dreadful. Mascara's idea of a stomp is moving his leg 2', making sure to stop 1' before he contacts the opponent. Valiente was the only one who bothered to try. Poor match.
Johnny Idol & Guerrera Maya & Titan vs. Gran Guerrero & Euforia & Kraneo. These guys fought last month, & it was pretty decent, but they mostly just sleepwalked through this one. It was painfully slow for most of the 1st 2 falls, and really, anytime Euforia didn't feel like putting the effort in. When they weren't walking through the steps in slow motion, they did a bunch of Kobashi chops, with Idol getting the crowd to count his 1/10th impact pop gun chops. They randomly threw in a flying sequence that showed they had speed, but then would almost immediately get stuck in the moat. Poor match.
Dragon Lee & Maximo Sexy & Angel de Oro vs. Terrible & Rey Bucanero & Mr. Niebla. 95% bad comedy. Most of the "high spots" didn't do any physical damage, such as Niebla putting his ass into Maximo's face, & various forms of semi undressing each other. Oro was the only one who interrupted the Maximo style shenanigans with some semblance of actual wrestling. Poor match.
10/22/16
Star Jr. & Flyer & Oro Jr. vs. Sanson & Cuatrero & Forastero. Inspired high flying action. The interplay was sometimes hit & miss, but they mostly just jumped/dove at each other, so it at least worked as a showcase of athleticism. Star was the star of the 1st 2 falls, but took a brutal diamond cutter on the nose for the 2nd fall finish, so he mostly got a break in the 3rd. Above average match.
Atlantis & Diamante Azul & Valiente vs. Matt Taven & Shocker & Ultimo Guerrero. A bunch of guys that were really good at one time, but are older now & just have to pick their spots. Everyone does a few good things, but without a few younger guys to carry the load (Taven would qualify except he only does a few good things) it's just way too inconsitent & there's too much filler. Below average match.