What's happening peoples!! Thanks for tuning back in for another bit of my mind about what's good (or bad) in professional wrestling. This time, I'm going to talk about the phenomenon that is Lucha Underground. This promotion has taken over the industry by storm since last year and has steadily grown in popularity and within the locker room in terms of big name stars. The concept has grown to be a soap opera of sorts, with a power hungry boss in Dario Cuerto (sound familiar right?) and his roster of luchadores and North American indie acts, with a few bigger stars mixed in as well competing to be the best in the Lucha Temple. The "Temple" is based out of Boyle Heights, CA and is currently seen on the El Ray Network.
The current reigning and defending Lucha Underground Champion is Prince Puma. Prince Puma is really the international and indie star Ricochet under a mask. Known for numerous championships in PWG, Chikara, Dragon Gate, DGUSA, and NJPW, it's very fitting that he's champion, being that his super flying style and extreme style is just what LU needs as champion. Among the luchadors on the roster are Fenix, Pentagon Jr., King Cuerno, and Aero Star, all of which are very accomplished wrestlers from Mexico that have had great careers in the AAA promotion as well as CMLL. There are known indie guys in the locker room as well such as Son Of Havoc, Cage, The Mac and Killshot that provides lots of excitement, but there also more internationally known figures such as Mil Muertes, Angelico, Jack Evans, and Jeff Cobb that give more intrigue to most North American fans that may not know much about them but may have heard of their accolades. In the case of Mil Muertes, fans may best remember him as the character Judas Mesias in TNA, who had that bloody feud with Abyss briefly in 2008. However, there are more familiar names such as former TNA star Hernandez, and former WWE standouts Johnny (Morrison) Mundo,Chavo Guerrero Jr., Big Ryck (formerly Ezekial Jackson), Konnan, and especially the current AAA Mega Champion (AAA's version of the World Title), Alberto (Del Rio) El Patron. Let's not forget the ladies of LU, which consist of former Tough Enough contestant Ivallise, current AAA Mixed Tag Champion Sexy Star, and former NXT ring announcer Black Lotus. The broadcast team consists of former WWE broadcaster Matt Striker and former AAA/WCW star Vampiro, and the ring announcer is Melissa Santos (fellas, she may very well be the most gorgeous ring announcer in the entire sport today, bar none).
Still a new product in mainstream professional wrestling, the pressure is on for them to be the credible alternative to the predictable WWE and the much struggling TNA. Every week, they continue to impress and dominate with exceptional high flying moves and incredible in-ring story telling. There has never been such a thing as a bad or sub par episode of LU since its induction. It's hard to say what the best match since it's induction has been, but if I had to pick a favorite thus far, it would have to be the Grave Consequences match between Fenix and Mil Muertes. Grave Consequences is their version of a Casket Match, and Fenix utterly tore the place apart and tore the house down. Once Muertes ripped the mask almost completely off the young Fenix and stuck him in the head with the metal hook connector that connects the turnbuckle and post and busted Fenix open to the point that he was a bloody mess the whole match, the fight showed just how tough Fenix can be and how much heart he has to succeed. It also showed how brutally vicious the wrestler formerly known as Ricky Banderas, or El Mesias, really is. In the end, Fenix won, but I would really have to put that match as my current standout favorite match since watching LU earlier this year.
This is one highly revered product of wrestling and rightfully so. The broadcast team of Striker and Vampiro is great in itself. We already knew just how damn good Striker is and how he has finally found his calling as a play-by-play guy, but Vampiro isn't half bad either as the tweener commentator. The ladies that do fight like Ivallise and Sexy Star can kick the asses of Divas like the Bellas quite unfairly. Plus, it's also great that more established names such as Mundo, Konnan, and El Patron give the promotion further validity but not to the point where they take away from the younger guys or the luchadores. This is a sport for the youth, and this promotion is about the youth but also to expose more international talent and indie talent to the mainstream. Another thing that is rather cool is that none of the matches break away for commercials, which annoys the hell out of me personally whenever I watch WWE or TNA. LU promotes full air-time for their matches, which 90% of the time fast paced and non-boring. The crowd is passionate and shows support to every single match. This is also TV-14, which means blood, violence, and language is allowed, which is very welcomed in this bland, predictable PG era. What's very interesting, however, is the fact that this is set up like a soap opera of sorts, only it's centered around the wrestling aspect. This, Vince McMahon, is what "sports entertainment" is supposed to look like. To add to that, Dario is a true version of a manipulative owner, or GM, and can give The Authority a run for their money in terms of heel authority figures.
I've always raved about the quality of wrestling that ROH provides, especially considering the graduates that have come from there such as Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Austin Aries, and several others. I'm still a fan of theirs, a big one, especially when it comes to their pay per views and their special programs that involve New Japan Pro. The only downside to ROH is they aren't extremely consistent with the excitement value and of course the production value. Trust me, I would still take quality match work and in-ring story telling over Vince's version of sports entertainment anyday, but that's those are the only negatives to ROH. With Lucha, I think some storylines can be tweaked to put more suspense and drama to them, but overall, Lucha Underground is the future of the game, and their special event, Ultimo Lucha, is around the corner. This event promises to be the biggest event Lucha has put on and marks the end of season one of the tapings of LU. While New Japan Pro Wrestling is still the best promotion in the world, with AAA a close second, LU may very well be the best pound for pound organization going today. One can only imagine what would happen if they went the pay per view route and if they traveled to do some house shows. Perhaps, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. We saw how that worked for TNA. While we all look forward with much anticipation to the mainstream arrivals of Paragon Pro and especially Global Force Wrestling, once they secure a television deal (stop tripping CMT), we still have a lot to continue to enjoy with a company that hopefully will continue to soar in Lucha Underground.
That's all for now cats and dogs, but before I leave, I'm going to present the match from LU that I was raving about. The vicious, bloody bout between Fenix and the animalistic Mil Muertes. Viewer discretion advised, but overall this was a FANTASTIC match, and the story told here showed why these are two of the ebst wrestlers in the world. Take care until next time folks!
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