The Mack beat Marty Martinez for an Aztec Medallion (3:45, fireman’s carry into a Stunner, good)
Siniestro de la Muerte beat King Cuerno for an Aztec Medallion (1:43, springboard guillotine, ok)
Cage beat Máscarita Sagrada for Cage’s Aztec Medallion(0:51, F5, OK)
Sexy Star beat Mariposa for an Aztec Medallion in a No Más match (15:24, cross armbreaker, excellent)
Developments
Sexy Star and Mariposa destroyed each other for fifteen minutes in the first ever No Mas match, where the loser must say No Mas to give up. This didn’t have the props of last year’s Cero Miedo match, but it felt as violent and disturbingly brutal at times. The Lucha Underground did not seem to know what to make of it in the first third of the match. It was an extended battle on a scaffold above the temple, where it became clear Sexy Star star was bleeding from the forehead and Mariposa attempted to send her a long way to the floor below, where the crowd a little bit freaked out and got into the match.
Mack doesn’t even have time to take off his jacket
(It’s unclear how Sexy Star started to bleed or if there was some Hollywood magic involved – both women spent a couple moments fighting in a darkened area of the scaffold, enough time for blading or something else to happen. There’s also plenty of time to edit. I’m not sure it really matters which one it was, because it came off as authentic, but the blood and the match around it will obviously be a big point of discussion the next few days.)
Marty tried to help his sister twice in the match, but was thwarted by the Mack both times. Mariposa tried to submit Sexy Star after, and Sexy Star screamed into “Fuck you Mariposa” in to the microphone, which was not bleeped. Sexy turned it around and submitted Mariposa to a cross armbreaker to gain revenge over her tormentor. And also win an Aztec Medallion, though that seemed trivial.
Sexy – and we, I guess – had Dario to thank for that moment. In a meeting his office, Dario likened Sexy’s problems with Mariposa to his own mother mistreating Matanza and him, and told Sexy she wouldn’t be free unless she beat Mariposa like they had done to Dario’s mother. (Sexy didn’t quite hammer Mariposa in the head with a bull statue until she was not moving, but just quite.) Dario advised Sexy that she only would truly feel free if she kept on attacking Mariposa after victory was declared, and Sexy indeed that did for a moment – shoving the referee down and reapplying the cross armbreaker before finally relenting.
There were other events on this show. No one’s going to remember them, which maybe makes it even more important to write about them.
Siniestro has a finisher!
This was a big Aztec Medallion show, with six of seven now handed out. The Mack & Marty was the most ordinary, and also the only other match to last over two minutes. Mack won cleanly, as he did against Marty later on. Siniestro and Cuerno was previewed by Catrina boasting that Siniestro would be a much more loyal Gift of the Gods champion than Cuerno had been; Cuerno disputed the point, but was quickly put down by a rock shot and a springboard legdrop to the back of the head.
Famous B’s management of Máscarita Sagrada got off to a rough start, but the GIFs of Cage tossing around the mini probably will make him famous. (They’d be all set if Cage could dropkick Sagrada into a flip off the apron.) This was for the Medallion Cage already owned, not a new one, but neither Cage nor Sagrada ended up with the trophy. Chavo Guerrero, earlier told he wasn’t getting a shot at a Medallion after getting injured in his Lucha Underground championship match last season and failing to win both Aztec Warfars, decided to just steal Cage’s and run. It’s not quite clear if this will hold up, but anything is possible in Dario’s Temple.
Next week may prove that point once again. Dario and Catrina met at the start of the show, with Catrina demanding a rematch. Dario said he had no issue with that, Matanza wanted it as well. Mil will get his shot next week in Mil’s own specialty match, a Grave Consequences match – only, Dario will now have 4 caskets at ringside, declaring it a Graver Consquences match for the Lucha Underground championship.
Thoughts
we’re going to need a new Mascarita Sagrada again
That was one of the most amazing matches in the history of Lucha Underground. It’s the spiritual sequel to the Cero Miedo match, only that match had weeks of anticipation for a confrontation. Mariposa/Sexy was not clicking in the same way, and you could very much tell early on. Vampiro sold it as stunned silence, but it came off more like the crowd didn’t care about this match or stipulation. Beating each other into bruised messes changed their minds.
That was uncomfortable. Sexy Star bleeding into an unrecognizable mess, both women hitting each other hard, the entire fight was meant to be uncomfortable. There weren’t light-tubes, but they got the sense of pushing each other to their very extremes even stronger in that match. I’m not sure I want all wrestling to be this – the mix of the cage match and the four way last week and this match and Muertes & Matanza show all the different ways this show can go – but it doesn’t get better as a cathartic epic conclusion than the final moments of this match.
I’ve seen Sexy Star have matches for an immense length of time, and nothing she’s had every came close to this. She could wrestle for another decade and not come close this. She brought something in this match I’ve never seen out of her It’s an unbelievably physical and emotional performance, and Mariposa deserves as much credit for helping bringing it out of her. Everyone’s know what Mariposa is capable of, and it was outstanding to see her get to show it in this match. This is going to be remembered as one of the signature moments of Lucha Underground’s history long in to the future.
this is not really a GIF match, but this was fun
Let’s dismiss everything else quick: Mack/Marty was fine, the other matches were so short as to not be rateable, and I actually thought the soundbite that would be most worth discussion was going to be Catrina’s take on “Siniestro”. Given his 1-0 new start, I suspect we’ll be hearing it quite a few more times. Nothing in this paragraph matters.
RIOT (SAT) 04/30/2016Arena Femenil, Monterrey, Nuevo León [LuchaMania Monterrey]
1) Alberto Dos Rios b Dulce Kanela
2) Drastik Boy b Erick Ortiz
3) Dragón Celta b Kamikaze, Kratoz Kamikaze beat Kratoz, and Celta won with a 450 splash on Kamikaze.
4) Hooligan Byron & Kaientai b Galactar & Rico Rodríguez Tablon helped Hooligan & Kaientai
5) Caifan b Dralion Good match. Caifan suplexed Dralion for the win. Dralion was shaken up after the match. Alberto asked for the next show at Caifan. Caifan asked for applause for Dralion, then accepted the challenge.
6) Último Ninja b Jinzo Good match. Ninja won with a jackhammer.
There’s video highlights of the top two matches, which sound good.
The YouTube version is a bit messed up – there’s no finish of the third match, and it seemed like there might be problems with earlier in the show that weren’t there live. It doesn’t totally matter; the main event was the one match really worth watching and that seems to be complete.
Mephisto told Mas Lucha that this was beginning of the Era of Mephisto. He’s probably right. Mephisto picking up a singles title after winning a big tournament seems to set him for a big match in September. It’s still over four months away and CMLL could change it’s mind (or pair it with another match, like Marco versus Rush), but the two big wins in a week are a sign he’s in the plans at the moment.
Mephisto’s opponent isn’t clear. Friday pointed at it being Caristico, but if Caristico would be busy for years if he got apuesta matches against everyone he lost to cleanly over the last eight months. Mistico versus Mephsito was once a plan and may be again. Even Dorada seems like a possibility if CMLL wanted to move him to another level. There were no outright mask challenges with any of these people recently, so the thing to watch for is the next time Mephisto gets into a feud or a title defense on Friday nights.
CMLL also likes to balance it’s championships out, so the Hijo del Infiernos might not be long for the trios championship. (Plus, if Mephisto is going to be a top guy in the promotion, he probably needs to be hanging out with more reliable partners than current day Ephesto & Lucifierno – too bad Averno is busy; Caristico & Mistico vs Averno & Mephisto is the ideal match.) Their recap of Monday’s Puebla show has the Angel de Oro, Stuka and Stigma team aiming to get a Mexican national trios championship, which didn’t come across on the show – seemed more like a direct Angel/Mephisto feud. That’s take care of it.
Tonight’s Lucha Underground is episode #15 of the season, “No Mas”. Matches announced.
The Mack versus Marty the Moth for an Aztec Medallion
Siniestro de la Muerte versus King Cuerno for an Aztec Medallion
Cage (c) versus Mascarita Sagrada for Cage’s Aztec Medallion (preview video)
Sexy Star versus the Mariposa in a No Mas match for an Aztec Medallion
No Mas is an I Quit match. Reports live said the match was very violent. Some people have understandably had issues with violence against women on this show, and I’m curious as to the reaction when it’s another woman inflicting the violence.
There will be six Medallions handed out by the end of the show. Last year, Dario just handed the seventh to Big Ryck. He may not hand one out this time, but they’re going to be close to another Gift of the Gods match soon.
Season 3 of Lucha Underground was believed to be wrapping up with the recently announced May dates. It’s definitely going longer. If you send an email to the Lucha Underground tickets email address, you’ll get an autorespond email which mentions all tickets are gone, but they’ll have more tapings in June. This fits with a Rolling Stone interview with Catrina from a couple weeks ago, where the show has or was about to get picked up for around 14 episodes. That sounds like the episode count is going from the 26 of season 2 to the 39 of season 1.
Lucha Underground has been taping about 5 episodes a weekend, and about two weekends a month. They’d need three more weekends to wrap up taping. There’s no way they’re taping the first week of June (Lucha World Cup) and I’d gotten a hint that Ultima Lucha was going to be in July and not May, so everything matches up. (In slightly related news, I don’t think I’m going this month to LA.)
More episodes sounds like good news for Lucha Underground. That is not a deep take, but it’s also worth pointing out. Maybe they just saved enough money by taping season 3 so soon to add episodes, or maybe there’s other reasons going on – the additional episodes would takes the total episode count over 100, which used to mean a lot for syndication reasons and money reasons. I have no idea if it still means a lot, but it sounds good. I feel slightly more optimistic about season 4 but, more importantly, the people involved are probably going to feel slightly more optimistic about the show making it long term and it may affect decisions on what they do next. (I’d feel better if there wasn’t a long empty break in in-ring activity coming still; there’s going to be no need to film episodes for 12 months after they finish this.)
Some of the people who might be making those decisions about what’s next are AAA people who work for Lucha Underground. There’s been murmurs of some of those people going either out on their own, or even joining a mythical Konnan project since the middle of season 2, over dissatisfaction with AAA. The talk of that actually happening has lessened in the last month or so, but whatever decision they might make is going to be pushed off a couple months with the tapings going longer. That season end won’t happen until July now, close enough to TripleMania that maybe that’ll keep a decision off even longer. (Or, close enough to TripleMania that it’ll be really hard to replace people if they walk out.)
Elite’s two Liga Elite matches tonight are LA Park versus Atlantis and Negro Casas versus Rush. Casas & Rush famously feuded in 2014, and Rush leads 2-1 in 1v1 matches. LA Park and Atlantis only have one known singles match in their long careers, and it was a random show in Arena Xalapa. Atlantis is the only one of this foursome with a win so far – he’s got 2, so he could easily afford a loss.
It’s still early and there’s no real reason to believe this tournament will actually resolve in any satisfying way, but let’s pretend it will for a second. If you simulate this tournament format enough times, it looks like 14 points means you’ll likely escape the apuesta tournament. 19 points or more means you’ll likely make the title tournament. No one’s close to those milestones, but Atlantis could be the closest to safety with a win. (Imagine Atlantis losing his mask in this tournament.)
The other Elite TV match is a Caristico, Mistico, Mascara Dorada versus Angel Blanco Jr., Euforia and Ultimo Guerrero trios match. Elite started off with building next week’s main event off the trios match, but they’ve gotten around it of late. MasLucha is usually at the shows to interview people, and I’m curious what Angel Blanco Jr. is going to say about being back in Arena Mexico.
The non-TV matches includes Angel de Oro & Golden Magic versus Argos & Magno, Hijo de Dos Caras, Jinzo & Metaleon versus Cuatrero, Sanson & the debuting Hijo del Medico Asesino and Estrellita & Jarochita versus Muneca de Plata & Rossy Moreno. Elite seemed like they were doing something with Oro & Magic as a regular team on the Sunday shows, but it hasn’t been seen as much on the Wednesday ones (and Angel de Oro might simply be a sub for Dragon Lee.)
This is kind of strange: an article on Record proclaims one of the Psycho Circus will be in the Lucha World Cup, winning a qualifier in Orizaba. It looks like it was published just about the same time the actual Orizaba card went out, which has a completely different qualifier. I don’t think they’re doing both. The rest of the article is the same generic Pentagon and Texano quotes from the article AAA sent out a few days ago, so maybe someone (Psycho Clown) got bumped from the tournament at the last second and the weird looking card is a result. Guessing at the original card
? vs ??
Niño Hamburguesa, Garza Jr., Elegido vs Taurus, Cuervo, Scoria
Argenis, Australian Suicide, A Tecnico (Bengala?) vs Averno, Chessman, Ricky Marvin
Daga & Joe Lider vs Nicho & Pagano
Psycho Clown vs Murder Clown vs Monster Clown in the qualifiers
Texano Jr., La Parka vs Zorro, ?
They’re short a match and a spot for Hijo del Pirata Morgan, but maybe that Una Lucha Mas was actually the missing AAA opening match crew and not locals. Pirata could fit in there. A last minute change with the names already locked in would explain the weirdness (Pagano in a singles main event, Monster Clown & Murder Clown vs the Perros, an immediate tag title rematch) Original card is still not super great.
The 05/16 AAA in Nuevo Laredo show has Hernandez and Herodes Jr. as part of the show. Herodes Jr. possibility might just be in a local, though he’s in a higher spot than usual for that. Hernandez being on this show means he likely is planned to be the mystery guy in Orizaba and my wild guess might have been right. I’m stunned too.
The Lucha Mexico documentary, featuring Shocker, Strong Man, Fabian el Gitano and others, is scheduled to be released on on July 15. It’s going to be on iTunes among other places.
CMLL (TUE) 05/10/2016Arena México
1) Astral & Fantasy vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pierrothito
2) Leono, Sensei, Star Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Sangre Azteca
3) Fuego vs Disturbio [lightning]
4) Blue Panther Jr., Pegasso, The Panther vs Fujin, Okumura, Raijin
5) Ángel de Oro, Súper Porky, Tritón vs Hechicero, Kráneo, Sagrado
6) Marco Corleone, Máximo Sexy, Stuka Jr. vs Niebla Roja, Último Guerrero, Vangellys
Niebla Roja pops back up again after no matches here since the middle of March.
Fujin & Raijin are pretty locked to the Panthers.
CMLL (TUE) 05/10/2016Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) El Yaqui & Johnny Dinamo vs Diplomático & Linterna
2) Flyer, Soberano Jr., Starman vs Canelo Casas, Espanto Jr., Metálico
3) Blue Panther, Rey Cometa, Titán vs Cavernario, Puma, Tiger
4) Atlantis, Máscara Dorada, Valiente vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas
5) Rush vs Terrible
Rush versus Terrible is always fun. It’d be neat if it made video, but it’s very inconsistent from here.
Mr. Niebla is back from his latest sojourn. It’ll be about four weeks between matches, so mark this up as another maybe suspension.
Full card for their Anniversary show. Pagano should teach a course on how he’s managed to get on top of these cards despite not being a 90s legend or a son of a legend. There’s plenty of people who do hardcore matches who haven’t captured the imagination of indie promoters like he has.
AULL’s regular wrestlers are all shuffled to the undercard in unimportant matches. As usual.
