First and foremost I need to mention that I watched Episode 9 of Lucha Underground but won't be writing the review for it because as it was Aztec Warfare I feel like a lot of my review will be "Fenix enters at number 9" and "Pentagon Jr. is eliminated by Drago" and that sort of idea. It was just sort of one long match (Though there was a brief match before it) and it came down to where Lucha Underground started: Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma. I was rather pleased to see Prince Puma win even if he is a pseudo lucha because he didn't wear his mask as Ricochet. Still, crowning the first Lucha Underground Champion as someone without a mask seems kind of... strange. Though as I think about it, Chavo Guerrero Jr. doesn't wear a mask and neither does Alberto Del Rio. In fact, Alberto Del Rio has been confirmed by Lucha Underground to debut with the promotion soon which is most excellent news. I'm hoping that Lucha Underground can really start to find an audience in 2015 because it really is the best wrestling product on television today. All that being said, let's go on with the show!
Match One: Aerostar vs. Argenis vs. Angelico vs. Cage
I didn't pay too much attention to Matt Striker and Vampiro on commentary because either I'm letting Striker slide after Wrestle Kingdom 9 or I'm just learning to tune them out as I do most commentators. This was an elimination match full of debuts (I believe we've only seen Aerostar before) and the three luchadores in this provided a lot of fast paced, high flying fun while Cage came in as the big man and just destroyed them all. I can understand how the big man mentality works in Japan because it is a strong style that we typically see there (and thus bigger equals stronger) but I don't understand how this works in lucha libre. I know bigger wrestlers have had success in Mexico but it just feels to me like the luchadores should be able to run circles around someone like Cage, wait for him to gas out and then defeat him. It's not that Cage is bad per se just that he feels like he's in the wrong country for the sport or just the wrong sport altogether. He reminds me a lot of early Batista and that is not a good thing. He won this match which was most unfortunate but seeing as he was the only one to get those fancy vignettes it's not that unexpected (Though Lucha Underground has seen debuting wrestlers lose before) I'm really a fan of Angelico and I hope that Lucha Underground can expand a tag team division in 2015 and bring in Jack Evans with him as well. Ultimately, coming off of the crowning of a brand new, first ever Lucha Underground Champion last week into a win by Cage (who does work in PWG, but I haven't seen any of it) just doesn't seem to get us off on the right foot this week. I was reserving judgment on Cage when his videos were shown (Especially because of him being released by WWE for what I can only suspect was drugs) and after watching this match I can only say that, umm... Let's put it this way. I've been watching old TNA matches lately and one guy I stumbled upon a match of was Titan or Tytan however they spelled it. That's who Cage reminds me of (look him up) There isn't quite as much of a "he might seriously hurt someone" factor with Cage but it's still just an uncomfortable to watch.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. came out and called out Blue Demon Jr. This was done to make it look as if they were going to become friends but Chavo Jr. had other plans. Blue Demon Jr. didn't play the fool though and managed to get the better of the exchange. As he left the ring, with Chavo Jr. down, Blue Demon Jr. flipped him the double birds ala Stone Cold and it was actually kind of cool. I'm really enjoying how they built up this feud (better than what was going on prior with Sexy Star) and the Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr. eventual match could be huge if handled properly. I'm looking forward to it.
Match Two: King Cuerno vs. Drago
This was the rubber match between the two. King Cuerno beat Drago in their first encounter, which was Drago's debut, and then Drago evened things up. Matt Striker played up the importance of this settling their feud by seeing who was the best by winning this match but if King Cuerno was to lose here I highly doubt he would let it go but rather continue to stalk Drago. I'm becoming quite the fan of Drago and this match only helped that fact. My wife watched Lucha Underground with me for the first time with this episode and when she saw King Cuerno enter she was quite taken by his headgear. After both men went through a table they were counted out and it looks as if the idea of whether or not this would have ended their feud or not no longer matters. I'm anticipating Cuerno-Drago IV and it should be a good one.
Match Three: Prince Puma vs. Fenix for the Lucha Underground Championship
It seems kind of odd that Prince Puma's first title defense would be against Fenix. I felt like the odds should have been stacked against Prince Puma instead, but this was a great match up on paper and just as good of a match in the ring. These two really gave it their all, though you kind of had to expect that Prince Puma wasn't going to lose the title he just won this quickly. This is a good example of the build I've often talked about and how Lucha Underground suffers by being only an hour and not having pay-per-views. To spend two or even three weeks building to this match could have made it feel that much more special just because it could have given you that small hint of hope that Fenix might win. At this point though, no, I had no money placed on Fenix winning but it was still a good match.
After the match, Cage came down and attacked Prince Puma. I have mixed feelings about this because I want to see Cage fight a few others before getting a title push (Mil Muertes and Big Ryck come to mind immediately) but at the same time if Cage faces and loses to Prince Puma within a matter of weeks instead of months then maybe he can fade back into wherever it is that he came from (PWG?) and leave the lucha libre to the luchadores.
With the addition of Alberto El Patron to their roster things are only looking up right now for Lucha Underground and I don't care if you watch WWE, TNA, New Japan, ROH or nothing this is the one hour of television every week that you must see.
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