BRM Reviews Season 2 Premiere of Lucha Underground
Posted: Jan 28th, '16, 15:46
SEASON 2 IS HERE! SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!
VAMPIRO GETS RELEASED FROM THE INSANE ASYLUM- good mood setting, and an interesting way to handle the Vampiro/Ian issue in kayfabe.
STRIKER PICKS VAMPIRO UP- Matt Striker, lead announcer, provides us with exposition, but in a very non-standard way for pro wrestling… which is Lucha Underground at its finest.
FENIX MEETS CATRINA INDARIO CUETO CATRINA’S OFFICE- we’ve got matches for this week (Fenix defends the Gift of the Gods (Title?) against King Cuerno, and if he wins, he will challenge Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Title next week.
Catrina warns Fenix that “Mil will be watching” and then we cut a Mil Muertes sitting on a giant throne watching the ring (think Eric from True Blood in Fangtasia, but with a more ornate throne).
GIFT OF THE GODS TITLE MATCH: Fenix(c) vs. King Cuerno- 7.75/10
And… I already hate Matt Striker again.
Wow… that opening bit in the insane asylum really makes Vampiro’s excited, almost cliché line that “I love it when two people hate each other and want to kill each other” feel scary and creepy and sinister.
This was an utterly perfect choice for a first match. It was exciting and felt very all-out, balls to the wall without being spotty, and the unexpected title change establishes that anything can happen (as well as being a way to elongate Fenix’s quest to defeat Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Title by forcing him to first win back the thing that gives him the necessary title shot).
CATRINA TELLS SON OF HAVOC, IVELISSE, & ANGELICO ABOUT THEIR MATCH- they will face each other tonight. They don’t want to, but then Catrina tells them that Mil says the winner will get a title shot tonight, so they all agree.
We focus on a painting of an indigenous North American tribesman on a wall.
CATRINA & KING CUERNO BACKSTAGE- they have some sort of deal. I assume this is the same as the Prophecy’s plan back in late 2002 where Daniels would try to in the win the #1 Contender’s Trophy so that none of the honorable do-gooders would be able to challenge Xavier for the ROH World Title.
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Son of Havoc vs. Ivelisse vs. Angelico- 5.75/10
DARIO APPEARS TO HAVE SET UP HIS OWN TEMPLE 375 MILES AWAY FROM BOYLE HEIGHTS- no offense to everything else on this great show, but THIS is what interests me the most.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND TITLE MATCH: Mil Muertes(c) (w/Catrina & the Disciples of Death) vs. Ivelisse (w/Son of Havoc & Angelico)- 5/10
The Disciples of Death come out and quickly drag Son of Havoc and Angelico away, leaving our intrepid heroine to face the monster all by herself. Then we got the standard Big Person vs. Little Person match we’ve all seen before, except that the crowd was into it. In the end, I think this will wind up being less important as a match than it will as something that escalates the issues between Ivelisse and Catrina.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Catrina thinks about giving Ivelisse the lick of death, but instead tells Mil to chokelsam her. Prince Puma makes the save by superkicking Mil to stun him and then pulling Ivelisse to safety.
Then Pentagon Jr. shows up behind Mil, gives him the back cracker, then breaks his arm with his arm-breaking move! Vampiro appears surprised by this.
DARIO’S NEW TEMPLE ISN’T A TEMPLE- it’s just a way to make money off of FEEDING PEOPLE TO MATANZA!
A good start to the season for Lucha Underground, although I admit I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t even any sort of little bit of anything following on Sexy Star’s kidnapping and Marty the Moth. I was also surprised at the lack of appearance by Konnan.
VAMPIRO GETS RELEASED FROM THE INSANE ASYLUM- good mood setting, and an interesting way to handle the Vampiro/Ian issue in kayfabe.
STRIKER PICKS VAMPIRO UP- Matt Striker, lead announcer, provides us with exposition, but in a very non-standard way for pro wrestling… which is Lucha Underground at its finest.
FENIX MEETS CATRINA IN
Catrina warns Fenix that “Mil will be watching” and then we cut a Mil Muertes sitting on a giant throne watching the ring (think Eric from True Blood in Fangtasia, but with a more ornate throne).
GIFT OF THE GODS TITLE MATCH: Fenix(c) vs. King Cuerno- 7.75/10
And… I already hate Matt Striker again.
Wow… that opening bit in the insane asylum really makes Vampiro’s excited, almost cliché line that “I love it when two people hate each other and want to kill each other” feel scary and creepy and sinister.
This was an utterly perfect choice for a first match. It was exciting and felt very all-out, balls to the wall without being spotty, and the unexpected title change establishes that anything can happen (as well as being a way to elongate Fenix’s quest to defeat Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Title by forcing him to first win back the thing that gives him the necessary title shot).
CATRINA TELLS SON OF HAVOC, IVELISSE, & ANGELICO ABOUT THEIR MATCH- they will face each other tonight. They don’t want to, but then Catrina tells them that Mil says the winner will get a title shot tonight, so they all agree.
We focus on a painting of an indigenous North American tribesman on a wall.
CATRINA & KING CUERNO BACKSTAGE- they have some sort of deal. I assume this is the same as the Prophecy’s plan back in late 2002 where Daniels would try to in the win the #1 Contender’s Trophy so that none of the honorable do-gooders would be able to challenge Xavier for the ROH World Title.
#1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: Son of Havoc vs. Ivelisse vs. Angelico- 5.75/10
DARIO APPEARS TO HAVE SET UP HIS OWN TEMPLE 375 MILES AWAY FROM BOYLE HEIGHTS- no offense to everything else on this great show, but THIS is what interests me the most.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND TITLE MATCH: Mil Muertes(c) (w/Catrina & the Disciples of Death) vs. Ivelisse (w/Son of Havoc & Angelico)- 5/10
The Disciples of Death come out and quickly drag Son of Havoc and Angelico away, leaving our intrepid heroine to face the monster all by herself. Then we got the standard Big Person vs. Little Person match we’ve all seen before, except that the crowd was into it. In the end, I think this will wind up being less important as a match than it will as something that escalates the issues between Ivelisse and Catrina.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Catrina thinks about giving Ivelisse the lick of death, but instead tells Mil to chokelsam her. Prince Puma makes the save by superkicking Mil to stun him and then pulling Ivelisse to safety.
Then Pentagon Jr. shows up behind Mil, gives him the back cracker, then breaks his arm with his arm-breaking move! Vampiro appears surprised by this.
DARIO’S NEW TEMPLE ISN’T A TEMPLE- it’s just a way to make money off of FEEDING PEOPLE TO MATANZA!
A good start to the season for Lucha Underground, although I admit I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t even any sort of little bit of anything following on Sexy Star’s kidnapping and Marty the Moth. I was also surprised at the lack of appearance by Konnan.