Enter The World Of Lucha Underground

[ABMorales787]

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On Wednesday, October 29, El Rey Network debuted Lucha Underground. Featuring a blend of AAA's top stars alongside many free agents of the U.S. and a very unique look. Utilizing film instead of your typical recorder cameras as well as unique backstage settings and execution method, Lucha Underground offers a very different feel to what the likes of WWE, TNA and ROH offer along with the ol' lucha style that made ECW and later WCW explode in the mid-90's.

A major point of the show is promoter Dario Cueto. The Spanish rich guy that wants to showcase AAA's talent on his terms. Right off the bat, the man clicked as if he's always been involved in wrestling. An actor selected by Robert Rodriguez, the man just fits perfectly. Just compare him to celebrities that come to Raw. He fits, they don't.

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Their first show was headlined by Johnny Mundo (WWE's John Morrison) vs Prince Puma (Ricochet of indy fame). Things opened up with the history of Lucha Libre to an amazing video documentary package and a pretty cheesy sequence featuring thugs mugging a man and a masked wrestler saving said man before asking him if he knows the history of lucha. Blue Demon Jr. would go on to defeat Chavo Guerrero. Dario Cueta would go on to call into question Chavo Guerrero's heritage, pretty much calling him an embarrassment. We're then introduced to Sexy Star giving us far more backstory than a very large chunk of WWE's women. Following that, she goes head to head against Son Of Havoc (indy wrestler Matt Cross) in a losing effort but it certainly wasn't a squash. Their next show will feature Blue Demon Jr. vs Mil Muertes (Ricky Banderas).

Either all, it's here. And it's creating a buzz. Thoughts on the shows debut? Is Chavo letting down his heritage? Will Sexy Star redeem herself and show how she's as good any man? What's the deal with Ezekiel Jackson?


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[Sagg1298]

Before getting into any discussion about whether it was good or bad, a strong or weak debut and all that, the first thing that stuck with me after watching the first episode was just how different the presentation of it was. The camera angles (overhead shot, ring apron shot etc.), the vignettes, the opening promo in the warehouse were pretty innovative. I know some people have a problem with them turning it too soap-operaish or melodramatic. But at least, it was different. And a nice change of pace from the TV presentation of wrestling we are used to seeing.

Chavo vs. Blue Demon Jr. was a bit of a mess. Chavo clearly looks like he's way past his prime. But it was still a good choice for an opener by putting Chavo in there in the first match of the new series. He's a known face to the American audiences and that Guerrero name ain't hurting. What was more interesting was the backstage segment with Chavo and Cueto. They showed more depth to Chavo's character in that 2-minute segment than he had in his whole WWE career post-2008. It created intrigue as to where will his character go from here. More on the backstage segments later.

Sexy Star vs. Son of Havoc was a nice, quick showcase. Intergender matches are hit and miss most of the times but the talent involved here was the key. Sexy Star was easily the highlight as her whole debut package was awesome. She looks a bad-ass character with good in-ring talent and all in all she just looks hot. These are the types of female characters wrestling needs instead of the crazy, psycho stereotype WWE presents with its divas.

The main event, well, people have already praised it a lot. I won't say much. Mundo (Morrison) was awesome as always. I haven't really followed his career after his WWE exit so if this was indeed his first match in 3 years, he hasn't missed a step. Prince Puma showed why he's really one of the most exciting high fliers out there. I heard WWE gave him a tryout not long ago but didn't follow through. Looks their loss. The post-match shenanigans were a nice cliffhanger spot.

The presentation of the backstage segments were a revelation. As I wrote above, some people did have a problem with them being too over-dramatic. But in any case, they were different. How many times have we seen the cliched backstage segments in WWE where the camera comfortably happens to just stand there in everybody's faces while they are in their private locker rooms and people proceed to do horrible acting. Here, it looked realistic and with time, will draw people in too. These segments were good mainly due to the main character in them, the 'owner' Darla Cueto.

He was great in his role, seeing as the guy is an actual actor. He looked the part of an evil boss. I actually had the impression of him being kind of like the mob bosses from the movies. His in-ring talking will improve with time as he gets used to performing in front of a live audience. He seemed a bit nervous there. But his delivery in backstage segments was spot-on.

I will be watching the next episode. Guess that was their goal, huh? Well on my part, they succeeded.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I only got to catch the main event. I didn't like it at all. Cramming a bunch of spots without selling or telling an in ring story doesn't make a good match and is a huge reason why Morrison never got more over than a mid carder in the WWE. Why should I care about any of the moves past the 5 or so seconds of thinking "well that was cool"?

I'm not saying a long storyline, I mean an actual in ring story. I'll use Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio Halloween Havoc 1997 as an example. They did a TON of highspots not one had ever seen. However, you cared about each one because it made sense. Eddie was so good and he knew Rey so well that, for Rey to get any advantage, he HAD to hit the craziest moves (otherwise Eddie would reverse any of Rey's trademarks viciously). That's why the crowd popped for Rey's backflip DDT, the dragonrana plancha, and the splash mountain into hurricarana counter.

The crowd didn't pop for the cool moves Morrison/Puma did because they were only that, cool moves. No in ring psychology at all. No selling to make you think anything actually hurt (and that super bouncy spot mat doesn't help).

I will keep watching because I love wrestling and want to see an alternative. Maybe that's their style too. Maybe they want to capture a different audience by having spotfests with no ring psychology or selling. I just don't see that working.

 

[The Gold Standard]

I just watched the pilot, and I'll say that the in-ring presentation is pretty wild at times. The angle changes happen very often, almost like a video game. I like how TNA presents their interviews and promos and I got of had the same feeling toward Lucha Undergrounds, although it is too dramatic at times.

The wrestling wasn't that exciting. To be honest I only watched for John Morrison (Mundo is so stupid in my opinion.) just because I'm a huge fan of his. I wasn't head over heels about the show but I got to see Morrison and I'm sure I'll tune in again.

 

[Toron]

I'm surprised there isn't more discussion on this on here. I mean it's something new, it's another promotion. An entire new company to talk about and possibly get behind. I figured we here on the internet would love that.

Without getting too much into what I think about the product, or the presentation of the product (which honestly is the primary discussion topic), I just wanted to say that I love Sexy Star. I think she's a cool character who can wrestle, and yes, she's hot. Obviously if she is going to really succeed in North America she's going to have to learn English I think, but having said that I think she's still very cool in her speaking Spanish. I would love to know why I never knew about her before Lucha Underground came around. If I'm correct in my belief that all of the Mexican talent in the promotion come's from Konnan's AAA down in Mexico- then damn you Konnan for keeping her a secret!

I'm sure there is a lot of good talent down there in Mexico. And since I'm on the topic, Ivelisse was pretty hot too. (I don't think she's actually Mexican though)


Having said all of that now, I'm not actually enamored with Lucha Underground's product. But I still watch every episode online a day or more after it's premier on Wednesday (since I don't get the El Ray network- I mean who here actually does?), but I do so mainly because of just wanting to see what the show is going to do next. There is nothing about the show's actual storyline or anything like that that interests me in wanting to see what's going to happen with it the next week or whatever. I just watch the shows because it's something new and it's an attraction. I'm assuming most people here are the same. And hey, it definitely is something new to watch. But having said that, another reason why I like to tune in each episode is just to see Sexy Star lol. She is the only character that has really jumped out at me thus far. And ok ya I'm not afraid to admit it, I have the hots for her lol. The only other character that has really jumped out at me in any substantial way is the heel boss (I can't remember his name). I hate that the show decided to go with another heel authority figure. That's beyond played out. But I will say that the guy playing him at least is excellent and doing a good job. And he's not even one of the wrestlers. I think I heard somewhere though that he's actually a professional actor down there in Mexico so that's pretty cool.

I don't want to go too much more into the product. I really just want to leave it there.

I've watched every episode so far (except for the one tonight since as of this current writing it's Wednesday night, but I will probably catch up on it either tomorrow or this weekend). It's not hard to find every episode online, so I'm really surprised there isn't more discussion going on with this. For no other reason than it's something new and it involves wrestling, more people on this forum should at least be willing to go out and check it out! lol

So there you go.

 

[Duality777]

I'm watching the newest episode right now (after playing catch up on the previous 4 over the weekend), and i have to say I'm quite enjoying it. The storylines are simple and make sense. The announcers sell the performers and the action in the ring, not apps and networks. I love the "Temple", as i get this kind of underground Bloodsport kind of vibe from it, so different from anything we are used to in wrestling. My only criticism would be not many of the characters seem to have all that depth to them yet, like one guys a dragon, one guys a phoenix, etc, but..... it's 5 episodes in, with on average 3 matches a show, this is obviously something that is going to take time. I'd like to see them focus more on international fighters and make it more like one style vs another as opposed to all Lucha style, but all in all, I'm enjoying it so far. Oh, and Ivelisse is much more my style then Sexy Star.

 

[Bagpipes]

Now that they have a Champion in Prince Puma, I think it opens up a world of opprtunities for the product to really develop and come into its own in 2015.

Puma is a great face for the company, he and Mundo should have very long runs as the top 2 babyfaces of the promotion.

I like what they've done with Konnan in the role of tweener/heel manager of their top babyface, I think that really leaves the creative door open for where they go with Puma during the next few months.

They've developed some good, albeit not great heels, in Big Ryck and his little posse and they've been working Pentagon Jr. into the mix with Chavo, which is sort of an odd pairing, but works well enough.

Mil Muertes is pretty badass, and Catrina is awesome. When she licks the faces of Mil's opponents, that's such a perfect heel manager move. I'm always drawn to dark characters, and I think Mil and Catrina are the cream of the crop in LU.

All in all, I really love this promotion. For me, the talent, the vignettes, and the production value of the show far exceed TNA and I'm really hopeful that the promotion enjoys longevity and success through the coming seasons.

There are so many little nuances (like "The following Lucha is scheduled for one fall",for example) that make LU different from anything else out there, I have high hopes for the future of the promotion.