Lucha Underground Review - January 11, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Texano def. Joey Ryan

As I've said on countless occasions, Texano bores me to tears, but his potential pairing with Famous B and Brenda could be fun. Ryan has been established as a heel in the past, but he was the obvious fan favorite in this match, so Texano cheating to win helped him elicit heat. It was interesting that Texano paid more attention to Brenda than Famous B afterward, but then again, who could blame him?

The Mack Attacked The Worldwide Underground

Lucha Underground rarely holds in-ring promos, so when they aren't overdone like they tend to be in WWE and other promotions, they are effective. Johnny Mundo is definitely the best all-around heel Lucha Underground has at the moment and he has improved immensely on the mic since his WWE days. The Worldwide Underground is just an awesome act in general. Mack played his role well as the rebellious babyface laying out the heels and even security while Mundo escaped his grasp. Their All Night Long match should be a blast.

Cage def. Veneno

Okay, so Cage apparently becoming more powerful from the gauntlet he was given by Dario Cueto is a bit goofy, but this is Lucha Underground, so it isn't anything out of the ordinary. Cage made short work of the debuting Veneno, and I thought because Veneno was decimated so quickly, this would be the first and last time we would see him in The Temple. But then it was revealed he was the one who has been messing with Sexy Star the past few weeks. So, why should viewers care when it was already established this guy was a loser?

Matanza def. Dragon Azteca, Jr. in a Death Match

I honestly fully expected Matanza to absolutely destroy Azteca here, so I was pleasantly surprised this wasn't a complete surprise. We haven't seen Matanza in action in weeks, so this felt fresh and Azteca selling for Matanza added to my enjoyment of it. This wasn't nearly as violent as the commentators made it out to be, but Matanza tossing Azteca through that boarded structure was sweet. The post-match brawl between Matanza and Rey Mysterio was also well done and might have been as entertaining as the match itself.

Overall Show

This was a pretty good, straightforward show from Lucha Undergroud with three well-wrestled matches and successful storyline progression. The Death match is certainly worth checking out and it was nice to see Mysterio and Matanza for the first time in a while. The rest of the show held my attention and seemed to be a better episode on the whole than other editions in recent weeks. Next week, we'll be treated to only the second All Night Long match ever, so I'm highly anticipating that.