Lucha Underground Review - October 29, 2014

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Dario Cueto Welcomed the Audience to Lucha Underground

I can't remember what my exact thoughts were on this segment when it originally aired two and a half years ago, though I'm sure I wasn't thrilled with the fact that a heel authority figure opened the episode. In retrospect, I appreciate that they did this and that Cueto was the first face fans saw because he is far and away the greatest character in the entire organization, even today. He introduced viewers to what Lucha Underground was all about and made all future matches meaningful by saying $100,000 was up for grabs for whoever impressed him the most.

Blue Demon Jr. def. Chavo Guerrero

This was an interesting match to start the show off with considering neither of them are fresh faces. Then again, both are established, Chavo with the American fans and Blue Demon with the Mexican fans, so the match did have some "star power" in a sense. As a match, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and Chavo has always bored me to tears, but Chavo losing did plant the seeds for a future heel turn for him, so it served a purpose in that respect.

Son of Havoc def. Sexy Star

I've never been the biggest fan of Sexy Star, but you have to appreciate how Lucha Underground made her such a strong female character from the get-go via the vignette that preceded the match. I realize the intergender matches aren't for everyone, but this was kept short and sweet and Star looked good in defeat, especially considering Havoc had to cheat to beat her, thus keeping their feud alive.

Johnny Mundo def. Prince Puma

For the first ever main event in Lucha Underground history, this definitely lived up to the hype it received. Fans were largely already familiar with Mundo (the former John Morrison), and Puma receiving a brief vignette earlier in the evening helped introduce viewers to who he was. They worked extremely well together and put together a very fun matchup. Cueto closing the show with his heel henchmen might have had some people rolling their eyes, but it was necessary in setting up several matches in the weeks that followed.

Overall Show

Lucha Underground really is its own thing and that's evident from the series premiere. Perhaps my favorite part of the promotion is the backstage scenes and how they're filmed and we received a small taste of that on this show as well. The main event is certainly worth going out of your way to see, but if you want to start diving into Lucha Underground (I highly recommend it) and need a good launching point, where better to start than here? On a side note, I have already reviewed every episode from 2015 onward (the full archive is available here), but I'm aiming to go back and re-watch the early editions from late 2014 and review them in the months ahead.