Cero Reviews Lucha Underground: The Re-watch EP1

[cero2k]

So now that LU season 1 is officially over, my life is meaningless, so in order to stay alive, i'm going to start re-watching LU from the beginning, evaluating subtle hints, things that were never payed off, build up that I missed. etc. I don't have to say, but I'll be spoiling a lot of future shows in case you haven't seen them. I won't rate matches with numbers, but I'll try to find a word that describes my feeling for the match.

EP 1: Welcome to the Temple

We start off with our gray hooded figure getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of cronies, but he is saved by Dragon Azteca and tells him to 'come with me'. Dragon Azteca pretty much explains to this kid what Lucha Libre is and asks him to join him. Everything would point to this guy being the same from Ultima Lucha.

Dario Cueto first appearance: So he came out at 2014's AAA Triplemania and offered Dorian Roldan a contract to send his guys. Dorian seem hesitant to sign, but he did it for money.

The temple looks so much emptier at this point. Among the plants, there are a bunch of PWG regulars already.

Dario Cueto introduces the show. Vampiro acknowledged that he is from Spain, not Mexican. He makes the open challenge for the $100,000. He introduces the first ever LU match.

Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. - GOOD
It's crazy to think that the first ever match in LU had repercussions at Ultima Lucha! That's some long term booking right there. Code of Honor followed. This was probably the best Blue Demon match I've seen in almost 10 yrs. Great choice of wrestlers for the first LU match, but surely not a good representation to what would LU would eventually become.

Konnan and Dario segment: He has a fighter, a kid from this barrio, Boyle Heights. He's to fight Johnny Mundo. Dario actually hints some heel in Johnny, he's only there for the fame and money, good reasons to turn if you don't reach either.

Prince Puma Intro Video: Good intro and sell for Puma. Konnan puts him over huge.

Sexy Star Intro Video: She tells her story about suicide, finding the mask empowering, and she fights to girls all over realize that they're strong too.

Son Of Havoc vs Sexy Star - GOOD
It's almost weird not seeing SOH without Ivelisse. It IS really weird that Sexy waited for Havoc to turn his back in order to attack, but after that the match was good. SOH really had no problem fighting a girl, he probably had some steam to release since he pretty much puts up with Ivelisse controlling him. Son of Havoc, the ultimate underdog actually debuted winning a match, which Striker claimed was with grabbing tights, he didn't.

Chavo Guerrero and Dario Cueto Segment - Dario messes with Chavo's mind. He says that once he brings Mil Muertes in, nothing will stop him. "A Thousand deaths are coming for us all"

Johnny Mundo vs Prince Puma - AWESOME!
Puma was actually quite cocky in his first match. Talking about their stamina, Striker just said that Puma and Mundo could go "All Night Long". Great match, Mundo actually defeats Puma.

Post-Match: Dario comes out to tease Mundo on the money until Big Ryck, Cortez, and Castro debut attacking Puma and Mundo. Dario says he's been scouting the best 'fighters' in the world.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Good introduction to what Lucha Undeground was. We could see at this point who some major players will be for the promotion. Some hints to the future that at this point, it's hard to believe they were intentional, but rather, someone re-watched the show and thought it would be a good idea to use 'that part'.

[Big Red Machine]

We start off with our gray hooded figure getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of cronies, but he is saved by Dragon Azteca and tells him to 'come with me'. Dragon Azteca pretty much explains to this kid what Lucha Libre is and asks him to join him. Everything would point to this guy being the same from Ultima Lucha.

There is actually an aspect of this that you missed. I believe the exact question the masked guy asked the kid was "what do you know about Lucha Libre?"

Hidden text.

He asked the exact same question to Black Lotus later on before training her

Also, I can't believe you didn't comment on the whole Aztec tribes bit. That could be the most important part.

Vampiro acknowledged that he is from Spain, not Mexican.

I'm certain this will matter to the mythos somehow, but have no idea how.

Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. - GOOD
It's crazy to think that the first ever match in LU had repercussions at Ultima Lucha! That's some long term booking right there.

I'm not sure why you're so amazed at this. This is just good storytelling. Having a direction and sticking to it. Bookers have been doing this for years. Look at how Billy Graham won and lost the WWF Title, for example. Watch the main event from WrestleMania IV and tell me that wasn't done to set up WrestleMania V.

It IS really weird that Sexy waited for Havoc to turn his back in order to attack,

So I finally won you over!

[cero2k]

We start off with our gray hooded figure getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of cronies, but he is saved by Dragon Azteca and tells him to 'come with me'. Dragon Azteca pretty much explains to this kid what Lucha Libre is and asks him to join him. Everything would point to this guy being the same from Ultima Lucha.

There is actually an aspect of this that you missed. I believe the exact question the masked guy asked the kid was "what do you know about Lucha Libre?"

Hidden text.

He asked the exact same question to Black Lotus later on before training her

interesting, i would have probably mentioned this during that lotus episode, i honestly didn't remember that now

Also, I can't believe you didn't comment on the whole Aztec tribes bit. That could be the most important part.
i felt it was the same thing we always heard. I was gonna mention about the images they showed during this, particularly Puma coming out of a cave, but i figured it was also a bit irrelevant

Vampiro acknowledged that he is from Spain, not Mexican.

I'm certain this will matter to the mythos somehow, but have no idea how.
well, the idea that a Spaniard has stolen so much Aztec gold to make his titles and such is a whole lot similar to Spain conquering Mexico back in the 1500's. Surely a reason why the Cuetos have a feud with Dragon Azteca's family. I'll likely comment on this later on, but now that i think about it, if Lotus is oriental, what the hell do orientals have to do in a war between the cuetos and the aztecas? this implies a 3rd family we don't know about yet

Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. - GOOD
It's crazy to think that the first ever match in LU had repercussions at Ultima Lucha! That's some long term booking right there.

I'm not sure why you're so amazed at this. This is just good storytelling. Having a direction and sticking to it. Bookers have been doing this for years. Look at how Billy Graham won and lost the WWF Title, for example. Watch the main event from WrestleMania IV and tell me that wasn't done to set up WrestleMania V.

Because good storytelling like this is not something that wrestling has seen in a loooong time. ROH is the only one that really comes close, and even then, most of their stories are either long feuds or long reigns, but a mid card story that was worked like this whole chavo/demon thing is not that common. We live in an era where WWE, TNA, etc go for the short stories, and the long ones tend to be terribly handled.

It IS really weird that Sexy waited for Havoc to turn his back in order to attack,

So I finally won you over!
i wouldn't have had a problem if she wasn't acting so cocky outside the ring, if she was going for a swerve on SOH, she did a terrible job acting it

[Big Red Machine]

We start off with our gray hooded figure getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of cronies, but he is saved by Dragon Azteca and tells him to 'come with me'. Dragon Azteca pretty much explains to this kid what Lucha Libre is and asks him to join him. Everything would point to this guy being the same from Ultima Lucha.

There is actually an aspect of this that you missed. I believe the exact question the masked guy asked the kid was "what do you know about Lucha Libre?"

Hidden text.

He asked the exact same question to Black Lotus later on before training her

interesting, i would have probably mentioned this during that lotus episode, i honestly didn't remember that now

Also, I can't believe you didn't comment on the whole Aztec tribes bit. That could be the most important part.
i felt it was the same thing we always heard. I was gonna mention about the images they showed during this, particularly Puma coming out of a cave, but i figured it was also a bit irrelevant

Vampiro acknowledged that he is from Spain, not Mexican.

I'm certain this will matter to the mythos somehow, but have no idea how.
well, the idea that a Spaniard has stolen so much Aztec gold to make his titles and such is a whole lot similar to Spain conquering Mexico back in the 1500's. Surely a reason why the Cuetos have a feud with Dragon Azteca's family. I'll likely comment on this later on, but now that i think about it, if Lotus is oriental, what the hell do orientals have to do in a war between the cuetos and the aztecas? this implies a 3rd family we don't know about yet
She could only be half-asian.
As for the families thing, they have also talked a lot about the Guerreros as a tribe, and Chavo noted that one of his grandparents (I think we're supposed to assume it was Gory, but they weren't specific) was there during the massacre, too.