Thursday, August 6, 2015

Ultima Lucha Night Two Review

The big second act of Ultima Lucha began with two of the biggest names in the company. Alberto El Patron took on Johnny Mundo in a match that has been well built up. I really enjoyed it as it was a good mix of wrestling and brawling. They used the unique environment that is the Temple well. Mundo threw dirt from under the ring at El Patron and they threw into the wall by the window that actually made this feud so personal. In a fun twist, Melina made her debut by hitting El Patron with his AAA Title. That allowed Mundo to win in about 13 and a half minutes. After the bell, Melina and Mundo made out until El Patron got back up. He attacked and sent Mundo threw the window in a bit of revenge. He also spanked Melina before she checked on the very bloody Mundo. It ended with a trademark El Patron wink. While I was never a big fan of them, having Melina and Mundo together could be fun. I'm also intrigued by what will happen with Mundo's face since they were saying he's scarred. Really good start here. ***3/4

In a change of pace from what we just saw, we move to  Vampiro taking on Pentagon Jr. I'm no Vampiro mark, but it was cool to see him come out in the old facepaint. Pentagon Jr. attacks early and seems to injure Vampiro. They do the fake stretcher job which turns this into a sick war. It involvesd a ripped mask, tables, thumbtacks and light tubes. At times, Vampiro looked like he couldn't walk, but would then do something impressive like a top rope dive onto tacks. This was an absolute war that told a masterful story and made Pentagon Jr. look great. He won after putting Vampiro through a flaming table, which is a great callback to the rivalry. After the 14 minute bout, Vampiro shouts for Pentagon to break his arm, which he does. Pentagon shouts into the microphone for his master, only for Vampiro to reveal that he was the master the whole time. Fantastic storytelling and an absolute war. I may be giving it a higher rating than most, but I really enjoyed everything about this. ***1/4

It was time for another change of pace during Ultima Lucha as we go from a barbaric war to a high flying spotfest. The Gift of the Gods match came next as Aerostar, Sexy Star, Big Ryck, Fenix, King Cuerno, Jack Evans and Bengala did battle for the Aztec Medallions and a future shot at the Lucha Underground Championship. This was, like Cage vs. Mack last week, an absolute blast. The action never stopped and featured big spots like Aerostar's huge dive and fun moments like Marty Martinez appearing and creeping on Sexy Star. Fenix pulled out the win after about 12 minutes. This was what it needed to be. A bunch of spots at a breakneck pace that was enjoyable. ***1/2

Next, we got the only bad thing on Ultima Lucha as Blue Demon Jr. took on Texano. The match was made into a No DQ contest so the Crew could interfere on Demon's behalf. Chavo Guerrero appeared and sided with Demon, allowing him to win. This was kind of just there and, while it advanced an angle, it's not one I'm interested in. At least it was kept short. 1/2*

The main event came next as Prince Puma defended the LU Title against Mil Muertes. This ended up being tied with the Mundo/Puma All Night Long match as my favorite Lucha Underground Title match in history. I liked everything about this. The use of weapons like a chair and stairs were used sparingly, but correctly. Puma looked magnificent as he showed off that famous high flying ability and mixed it in with impressive feats of strengths by lifting Mil. Both guys kick out of each other's finishers until Mil wins with a massive super Flatliner. Cartina posed to end things with her four champions. The match was great and a fitting end to a great season of television. ****1/4

To actually end the show, a video package is shown that lets us see everyone going their separate ways, but giving the illusion that they may be back. It's really well done and ends with a "to be continued". I hope we a second season, especially knowing that a future Fenix/Muertes match should be coming and they had my LU match of the year back in March. Combined with Ultima Lucha night one, this was one of my three favorite shows of the year. This two hour block was the best part of it and deserves all of the praise if gets. 9/10.

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