Day: October 31, 2018

Lucha Underground 4×21: Ultima Lucha Cuatro – Part I

thecubsfan
some crazy people

Matches

Jeremiah Snake, Daga, Kobra Moon beat The White Rabbit, El Bunny, Paul London and XO Lishus, Sammy Guevera, Ivelisse to retain the Lucha Underground Trios Championship
(7:55, good)
* 6:05 Sammy Guevera cradle Paul London
* 7:55 Daga armbreaker XO Lishus

Taya Mundo beat Ricky Mundo
(4:01, Indian deathlock w/chinlock, ok)

Son of Havoc beat Killshot in a mask vs mask match
Killshot was unmasked as Lt. Jermaine Strickland
(14:07, SSP, great)

Status Check

Champion: Marty the Moth (1 defense)

Gift of the Gods: Jake Strong (0 defenses)

Trios Champions: Reptile Tribe (Kobra Moon, Daga, Jeremiah Snake) (3 defenses)

Died This Season (15): Jeremiah Crane (casket), Fenix (casket/lifeforce absorbed), Mr. Pec-tacular (sacrificed), Cortez Castro (sacrificed), Máscarita Sagrada (murdered by Rabbits), Vinnie Massaro (sacrificed), Pizza Guy (sacrificed), Vibora (beheaded), Mala Suerte (sacrificed) , Saltador (sacrificed), Benji the Agent (murdered by Ricky), Angelico (implied to have been murdered by Ricky), Catrina (fell off a roof), Joey Wrestling (sacrificed), Jack Evans (sacrificed), Capitan Vazquez (disintegrated)

Resurrected (2): Jeremiah Crane/Snake, Fenix

Developments

when you’ve had enough of this spot

Killshot is Lt. Jermaine Strickland, who left his fellow soldiers behind and was wearing a mask to hide his shame. We learned all that after Son of Havoc defeated Killshot in the main event mask versus mask match. Killshot made the tactical mistake of bringing the same stretcher from the Hell of War match into the ring, and was eventually strapped in place for Son of Havoc’s winning shooting star press.

Killshot/Strickland ran into a uniformed Dante Fox on leaving the Temple. Fox gave a non-explanation/explanation of why he wasn’t around (he had a mission), while Killshot explained that this was the last Fox or the rest of would see his face. Fox dismissed Killshot with a salute, and Killshot walked out of the Temple and Lucha Underground forever.

The other matches had less permanent endings. The Reptile Tribe remain trios champions, though with some events working out in their favor. Paul London was trying to finish off Sammy Guevera when he tripped over El Bunny and Guevera took advantage to eliminate the Rabbit Tribe. The White Rabbit blamed London, but had thrown El Bunny in London’s path. The White Rabbit took out Guevera with Down The Rabbit Hole anyway, leaving Ivelisse & XO Lishus to battle 2 on 3 against the champions. That didn’t last long. The Reptile Tribe are the first team to successfully defend the trios championships at Ultima Lucha.

Taya & Ricky seemed over but not complete. Taya got revenge on Ricky in one of the more one-sided matches seen on an Ultima Lucha. It wasn’t a squash, but it was barely competitive. Ricky never felt close to winning and got put thru a table after the match. The problem for Taya is she decided to keep Rosa the doll after the match. Rosa seems like the real threat, so Taya may still be in danger.

this was not the finish

Meanwhile, Aerostar is up to – something. It’s not clear what, but his goal tonight was to restore the amulet that had been held by Catrina and Captain Velazquez Vazquez. Aerostar had already gotten Catrina’s half after her death. He met with Captain Velazquez Vazquez at her police office, mentioned giving the amulet to her father a thousand years ago, said she did well with the extra time, but now he could see the future clearly and knew he needed the amulet. Velazquez gave the amulet to Aerostar and ceased to exist. Aerostar mentioned that while she was told the amulet would only grant immortality to females, that was a lie her father had told her. That wasn’t really relevant here, so it’s obviously coming up next episode.

It was fairly obvious that Captain Velazquez Vazquez and Aerostar were never in the same room at the same time. The actress playing Velazquez Vazquez had – like Angelico – relocated to Europe in between seasons. LU edited footage from previous scenes in that office in, flashback sequences and an arm double to stitch something together. It wasn’t quite Frankenstein’s monster but the stitching were hard to miss.

The other meta note is El Rey seems pretty loose on letting profanity go now. XO got in one back in the No Mas match and again here, as did Taya in her match.

Next Week

lot of suplexes out of Taya

Dragon Azteca Jr. vs Fenix in a 2 out of 3 falls match
Mil Muertes vs the Mack in a death match
Johnny Mundo vs Matanza Cueto
Pentagon Dark vs Marty the Moth Martinez in a Cero Miedo match for the Lucha Underground Championship

Thoughts

This was a good show but didn’t feel as great as some of past Ultima Lucha shows.

I’m conflicted about the Taya match. Having a four minute one sided match makes sense from the standpoint that Ricky didn’t suddenly become a feared Lucha Underground opponent because he had the doll around. The doll didn’t make him stronger, it just made him do things he wouldn’t have had the courage to do prior, so it logical Taya would not have too big of a problem beating him. It’s just also an underwhelming situation for an Ultima Lucha match. The story is definitely not ending here – not when we already know there’s a vignette with Taya and Rosa to come – but I like bigger matches for Ultima Lucha.

(I don’t think I get a vote, but I vote “don’t include any vignettes from Ultima Lucha 5 in the season 5 trailer”, should that be that a possibility. It’d be a lot more fun next week if I didn’t know I was getting something with Taya and the doll or the others ones I won’t mention, and it doesn’t really help anyone to have a season to anticipate Daga with a sword. For a promotionally legally concerned about giving away the in-ring results of what they’re taping, I wish they would be more concerned with not giving away the out of the ring results as well.)

The trios match was good action while it lasted, but the trios titles matches on Ultima Lucha seem to get the short straw. This was no different, feeling so edited that even I could notice it. Sammy Guevera made an impression in the short time he was actually on this series this year. The rest of this was character building for characters I have no idea if we’ll see again next season. It was at least interesting that the trios titles ended up with the Reptile Tribe, since Jeremiah Crane/Snake was definitely someone who wanted off this show before taping started and now appears to be locked in. I guess they can change trios champions again.

Killshot/Son of Havoc was a match I appreciated more for the effort then strongly liked. It’s rated as Great because I’d feel foolish putting it any lower, but it’s not one of my favorites. It’s strange to me: I’ve liked Killshot in the last couple of seasons, I really liked Shane Strickland seeing him live in between Season 3 and Season 4, and yet what he’s been doing this season hasn’t appealed to me nearly as much. The slowed down style seems fine in person but hasn’t come across as well to me on this show. When I find a few more hours, I’m going to have go thru some MLW shows or somewhere to see if it’s just the Lucha Underground presentation or something that’s not connecting with me elsewhere, or if it’s just as simple as the mask match drama being minimized when the finish is well known. This match had some impressive spots and the big kicks outs needed in a big match. It seemed not to have a lot in between at times, leaning heavily into setting the next spot up. This wasn’t as cold as last season’s ladder match with Pentagon & Son of Havoc, but the Killshot/Marty and Killshot/Fox matches from last season. I’m being tough on a match that I thought was good, and it’s more about how high a bar they’ve set.

this was a very suplex-y show, even with no Matanza

2018 watch later catch up, part 11 of ∞

thecubsfan
this seems no fun

Keyra & Zumbido vs Lady Maravilla & Steve Pain
(LLB @ Arena Lopez Mateos, 06/17, 14:41, good,CaritaJC LuchaLibre)

Video Note: This is lightly clipped.

Review: I’ve got this match as good, but its borderline higher. I haven’t seen a lot of Zumbido in the last decade, but this is the best I’ve seen him look since he was in CMLL. He’s great as the técnico who isn’t going to put up with any of Maravilla & Pain’s cheating, plays to the crowd well, and is effective in his moves. Keyra & Zumbido are the best working team thanks to what seems like Zumbido’s ideas. He’s a little off at times but still worth the show. Everyone is good, Maravilla shows more personality as a ruda than the Keyra does a tecnica, and the finish looks outstanding.

a good idea that needed a little better timing
this was way more of Zumbido than Steve Pain was expecting

Hijo de LA Park & LA Park vs Dragón Lee & Rush
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 06/17, 22:28, good,IWRG tv)

This match is one where almost everyone writing about lucha libre has already written about this match and I have nothing interesting or new to add. I think I like it a little less than most, but it’s still pretty good. It’s a great Naucalpan brawl around the building for two falls. Park & Rush bring more intensity to the usual wandering around the building, and the younger Park & Dragon Lee fit in fine when they mix the fights. The third fall loses the plot a bit – it goes too long, Dragon Lee & Hijo de LA Park are going back to a highspot match (and less than perfectly done) that just seems like an interruption to Park/Rush – but the first half of this is well worth watching.

Rush doesn’t seem to like LA Park
LA Park spear

Aramis © vs Freelance for the IWRG Rey del Aire match
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 07/01, 5:05,good, via +LuchaTV)

Video note: This aired live on one of +Lucha’s first times streaming from Naucalpan, but the feed died a few times in that show. This is joined in progress after one of those dead moments. The announcing comes and goes during the match, seemingly as they try to figure out if they’re on air. It never got posted as a stand along match later.

Review: I don’t know if this match counts as a sprint, because they’re not moving faster than the usual rapid speed Aramis & Freelance wrestle at. It’s more this one goes only five minutes (of what we see) because they’re throwing big moves from the start. It’s not going to last long and shouldn’t last long if they’re just throwing the IWRG lightweight equivalent of big bombs. Freelance got Aramis in a position where the next move was probably going to win, and Aramis escaped to land that move himself. Five minutes doesn’t make much of a remarkable match, and it doesn’t reach the insane level to make it a must see level. It’s still a good fireworks show.

this match has some more GIF worthy spots but it doesn’t last long enough to give more away

Soberano Jr. © vs Cavernario for the Mexican National Welterweight Championship
(CMLL @ Arena Coliseo Guadalajara on 07/10, 20:28, good,thecubsfan)

Video Note: my video is dropping frames at different points. It’s a little distracting but never unwatchable.

Review: I know I watched this one back in July but I guess I never wrote anything about it. Watching it again, it’s striking how much of it is Cavernario control. Soberano gets in almost nothing in the first two falls, just getting a surprise pinfall. Cavernario’s good enough that they don’t seem to lose the crowd at the end. Cavernario’s good enough at the end too to keep them going after the finishing sequence doesn’t work right the first time. Soberano adds his big spots and dives but this is Cavernario making the match work.

Soberano (and some frame skipping)

Penta El Zero M vs Senza Volto vs Gringo Loco vs El Bandolero
(GALLI @ Arena GALLI on 06/24, 22:00,great, GALLI Lucha Libre)

Video Note: Match actually starts at 8:41, though there’s still a bit of interior decorating before anyone fights.

Review: This match is turned into an extreme match before it starts – the long delay before it starts is for people gathering weapons, and then tossing those same weapons back out so they have room to do stuff. They certainly make use of the rules to do some crazy stuff. There’s total insanity in this one, punishment they’re taking in the first half of the match they probably shouldn’t be doing in front of this size crowd (or maybe any side crowd.) It probably didn’t need to get 20 minutes and it never developed into more than just craziness, but it was a good crazy match. Bandolero takes the most brutal things. I have not seen France’s Senza Volto prior; he’s obviously super athletic to do big dives with ease. He could use more refinement in some areas, but there’s a lot of potentials to tap into – like, the pull up he does to get on top of the entrance set is somehow more impressive than the dive off it. I was going to rate this as good, and then the finish happened. The finish came off as insane enough looking on video to push it over the line. It was probably a normal bump for the situation but it just looked amazing the way we saw it.

Senza DDT
Bandolero coming thru

Daga vs Matt Riddle
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 07/14, 9:53, good, Lucha Libre De Tijuana)

Video Note: This version is edited. All the version are edited and this one had the longest running time. The editing doesn’t seem bad at first, then it gets more present and more obviously being used to cut out any point where there’s no action as it goes on.

Review: The Daga/Riddle match is built around them being equals, while Riddle also comes off as the more impressive guys. He’s better at taking Daga’s offense, and his own looks more impressive. Daga looks good too, though getting distracted to tell of a fan doesn’t help his cause much. I was expecting a little more grappling than they get to, at least until the final moments. The moves they do instead look good, it’s just more of a regular indie match done well than a different style of match. This was good fun.

not a good sign for Daga

 

a better sign for Daga