Lucha Underground Review - February 11, 2015

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Fenix def. Argenis

While this was a nice showcase for Fenix, it was also a highly competitive matchup to kick off the show with. Argenis hasn't been presented as anything special yet, but he's a hell of an athlete and he and Fenix worked very well together. I really like how Fenix's "fluke" win over the formerly undefeated Mil Muertes is turning into a program between the two with Catrina stalking Fenix after his matches. It's a nice filler feud for him before he re-enters championship contention eventually.


Johnny Mundo def. Son of Havoc

Despite walking off on Son of Havoc the last time we saw them together, him and Ivelisse were back to being partners on this show, but at least they were trying to tell the story that Ivelisse is slowly losing faith in Havoc. Havoc hasn't been able to win a match to save his life in recent months, so it was silly to think he could beat Mundo, but they still contested a good match that told a solid story. Havok was made to look like a fool for not putting Mundo away earlier, but I believe that was the point, and I'm sure it'll lead to a split sooner or later. King Cuerno's post-match attack on Mundo was well done and I liked the narrative they told on commentary that Cuerno is only attacking Mundo so he can get to his good friend, Prince Puma (aka the Lucha Underground Champion).

---

Pentagon Jr. def. Ricky Mandel

I'm confused: Is Pentagon supposed to be a heel or a babyface? Obviously, if you were to watch his ruthless attacks on his opponents during his matches and cut out the crowd noise, then you'd assume he's a heel, but the crowd absolutely adore him. He's not doing much to turn them against him, either, so maybe that's the intent. This was a glorified squash match from start to finish that made him look vicious, but again, it doesn't get him much heat because he's being favored by the audience, so only momentum. As for his post-match promo, he has intrigued as to who he's referring to as his "master."


Alberto El Patron Addressed the Audience

To me, this felt like the biggest moment to occur in Lucha Underground since the promotion got started a few months ago. The way Matt Striker played it up on commentary (and he wasn't "marking out," either) and the reaction he received from the crowd honestly gave me chills, and he seemed to be loving every bit of it. You couldn't have had not talk about the controversy surrounding his WWE departure, but I'm glad he kept it to a minimum and didn't even bother mentioning the company by name. That said, he showed a ton of passion in his promo and he feel reinvigorated for the first time in his career. I wasn't familiar with El Texano Jr. before his attack on Alberto, and as made clear on commentary, it was Texano who Alberto beat to become AAA Champion back in December, so we'll have to see as to whether that feud will be transitioning over to Lucha Underground.


Overall Show

Lucha Underground is always a fun hour of wrestling, but it felt quicker this week with only three matches. However, each of those matches received good time and served storyline purpose, and there was also plenty of stuff hyped for next week with Chavo Guerrero, Big Ryck and others. This arrival of Alberto El Patron is worth going out of your way to see, but the show on the whole was enjoyable as always this week so you might as well watch it in its entirety.