Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Lucha Underground "Battle of the Bulls" Review

We go right into the action this week.

Battle of the Bulls Tournament Finals: The Mack def. Cage, Jeremiah Crane and PJ Black in 11:32
The winner received a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship. Cage started the match like the machine that he is but Black cut him down to size. Though PJ is the high flier in the match, Mack did a great job flying around the Temple. There was a great spot where Cage caught Crane mid-somersault in a suplex. Though he was dominating, Cage got eliminated at 6:02 thanks to interference from his rival Texano. That first segment was non-stop action. The next portion slowed some. At 10:35, Jeremiah Crane got eliminated by a stunner. Following another commercial break, Mack and Black went at it. Black hit a stunner that Mack no sold before winning with one of his own. Everyone got chances to shine here. Cage brought the power, PJ flew everywhere, Crane was intense and the Mack was his usual fun self. They did a good job in protecting Cage too. The pace slowed a bit after a really hot start, but was still damn good. ***1/2

In the back, Fenix and Aerostar looked for Drago in the bathroom. Kobra Moon came in, so one of these genders is intruding, and said that Drago came back with her tribe. Aerostar and Fenix are all "he vowed never to do that!" Her goons showed up and with the help of Moon, beat up Fenix and Aerostar.

Sexy Star congratulated her buddy The Mack. They did a pretty dope handshake before he told her to take the title back but not to get mad when he beats her for it. She said it would be an honor to defend against him.

Jeremiah Crane spoke with Dario Cueto in Dario's office. He asked for a match and had it granted. He searched for something in the ceiling, which baffled Dario. He pulled down a board and said he left it there when he was a kid. In the hallway, Catrina appeared. He said they used to play with that as kids and told her that he got a match with Mil next week. He called Mil by his real name and believes he'll have Catrina all to himself after. He then walked through ghost Catrina. Lucha Underground just nails these segments and keep adding to the mystery of the Temple.

Lucha Underground Championship Steel Cage Match: Johnny Mundo (c) def. Sexy Star in 12:09
The Worldwide Underground was banned from ringside. Mundo started by spitting at Sexy, so she slapped him. Side note, Mundo has competed in all three Lucha Underground Steel Cage matches if memory serves me right. They worked a pretty standard cage match. There was a cool spot where Sexy climbed on Johnny's back to nearly escape. She eventually the critical babyface cage match mistake by doing a move off the top of the cage instead of winning. She still had another chance to win but Mundo pulled her mask off. She covered up but it gave Johnny the chance to escape, which he did. Like most things involving Sexy Star, I just couldn't get into this. The Mundo/Sexy series has severely lacked and been the worst Lucha Underground Title feud I can recall. **1/4

The Mack showed up and hit Mundo with a stunner, to set up their upcoming title match.

The show closed by showing Drago in Kobra Moon's lair, chained up. He refused to accept her as his leader and would rather starve than do so.

Overall: 7/10. Despite the lackluster main event, I enjoyed this week's show. The Battle of the Bulls Tournament Finalswas not only a fun match but it allowed some other guys to get shine they might not usually get. They also did a great job in setting up Crane/Mil and Mundo/Mack, while also advancing Cage/Texano. Again, they nailed the backstage storytelling segments.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!