Lucha Underground Review - November 16, 2016

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
​
​Sexy Star Won Aztec Warfare to Become the New Lucha Underground Champion

All right, there was a lot to digest here, so I will attempt to analyze everything I found interesting. To start off, I was slightly disappointed Jeremiah Crane was the first one gone, though I did enjoy his encounter with Son of Havoc while it lasted (considering both of them have history with Ivelisse). Speaking of Ivelisse, she wasn't involved in the match at all or even mentioned despite qualifying last week, so she must be legitimately injured. From Ricky Mandell to Famous B to Mascarita Sagrada to Joey Ryan, there seemed to be a ton of wasted spots this year that could have been given to guys like Aerostar and Fenix. It caused the middle of the match to drag, but they picked up the pace once Matanza Cueto was eliminated. He took no less than a dozen finishers, so they obviously wanted to protect him in defeat, and it looks like they're setting up a program between him and Rey Mysterio going forward. Pentagon Dark is still one of the most over stars in The Temple, yet he was eliminated early on, and the idea of a feud with Black Lotus doesn't do anything for me, personally. Drago and Kobra Moon barely furthered their storyline because they weren't in there for very long. Once it came down to Mil Muertes and Sexy Star, it was painfully apparent what was going to happen. Congrats to Sexy Star on the win, but I wasn't a fan of the finish (not to mention the double foot stomp at the end was botched). I get that Lucha Underground wanted to make history by putting their top title on a woman, but why not Ivelisse instead? Sexy Star is mediocre at best in the ring and needs to be carried to a passable match. Sure, the same can be said about Matanza and he held the title almost all year, but at least he was built up to be a monster. Johnny Mundo said earlier in the evening that he intends to cash in his Gift of the Gods Championship next week, so Star vs. Mundo makes sense given their recent rivalry. But didn't she pin him here? I would love for Mundo to beat her for the belt, but I'm not holding my breath.


Overall Show

Although I wasn't enthralled with the outcome, Aztec Warfare once again delivered. I thought the other two installments were a bit better, and the middle portion of this match dragged it down, but it was an exciting hour of wrestling, nevertheless. There were a handful of storylines coming out of this contest, too, so we'll see where it goes in the weeks ahead and if they do anything to change my mind about Sexy Star as champion.

---