Lucha Underground - S1.E1.

Reviewing Lucha Underground is a bit different than what I usually do. Unlike just about everything else I've done on this blog, Underground isn't necessarily designed to feature matches worthy of review, let alone praise. As I started this blog to catalog my viewing, though, not writing up these shows seems equally silly. So, here goes...

Lucha Underground - S1E1: Welcome to the Temple

The Temple, Los Angeles, CA - October 2014

COMMENTATORS: Vampiro and Matt Striker

After a pretty nifty series of videos setting the stage for a whole new brand of 'rassling, Lucha Underground kicks off with Blue Demon Jr. taking on Chavo Guerrero Jr., a clash of two guys with highly respectable luche libre pedigrees. What struck me immediately was the top-notch camera work - this ain't no indie wrestling cable access show, even if the crowd is a fraction of the size of a WWE crowd and there is a noticeably more serious, less "sporting event" feel to the commentary. Chavo and Demon don't set the ring on fire or anything (in fact, they both move a bit slow at times), but I've seen worse. Chavo attempts a hanging triangle choke but ends up powerbombed to the mat and then locked in a Blue Demon submission to end this one. As the opening contest of a brand new show, it didn't wow me - but TNA/Impact Wrestling, in all of its various launches and relaunches over the years has proved that blowing your load early is terrible strategy. A bland match to start things off followed by two matches that really do offer something vastly different than what the WWE provides is much more sound. (1.5/5)

In Dario Cuerto's office, the Lucha Underground owner and Konnan discuss their top prospects - Cuerto's big signing, Johnny Mundo (nee John Morrison) and K-Dawg's protege, Prince Puma. The look and feel of the segment is more daytime Emmy than primetime Emmy, but again, as far as setting a tone, its an effective sketch.

Super cool video package hyping up the debut of Prince Puma. (+1) 

Back in the ring, Son of Havoc awaits his match against the masked Sexy Star, who, according to her vignette, fights for all downtrodden women around the world. As far as motivations go, that's a pretty good one. Son of Havoc cuts a promo about not fighting a woman and Star, for a moment at least, leaves the ring...but once he turns his back, she takes the fight right to him. Inter-gender matches are not usually my thing, but this one told a logical story, was just the right amount of physical, and finished with both the face and heel established as interesting characters worthy to keep track of in the future. More intriguing than the first match, but not that much better. (2/5)

Dario Cuerto talks down to Chavo Guerrero Jr. backstage I'm not minding the storyline development here at all. 

Main event time - Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma. Puma and Mundo show off some very smooth exchanges to start things off with Puma specifically dazzling the crowd. The "This is Awesome" chant that starts up is not quite earned, but the format of Lucha Underground, at least this first episode, required these guys to go for broke early and often to set the tone for what differentiates this brand of wrestling than what US fans like myself are used to. That being said, the pace they cut early was kept up as the match wore on with just a few brief pauses for submissions and selling. Vampiro's proclamation that this one was a "match of the year" candidate was patently ridiculous, but it'd be equally absurd to dismiss their work as anything but entertaining. Put this same match on RAW and you'd still have a crowd pleaser, proving that an above-average wrestling match is an above-average wrestling match anywhere in the world. (3/5)

I dug the post-match angle too, with Cuerto denying JoMo his $100k and, in a shocking twist, a trio of ruffians, including Ezekial Jackson, debuting to take out the babyfaces. (+1)

Rating a show like this is not necessarily fair as I'm essentially rating the matches on an episodic, 40-minute TV show against the matches on major, multi-hour WWE, WCW, and NXT productions. Who cares, though? This blog's for me and I want to keep track of my viewing. That being said, the first ever edition of Lucha Underground scored a decent score of 2.83-out-of-5 on the Kwang Scale. Considering that the opening contest wasn't too great and Sexy Star vs. Son of Havoc ran well under 5 minutes, I'd call it a victory. Most importantly, I'm psyched to watch episode two.