Lucha Underground and NXT were back this week with some great action promised. Lucha was pushing the debut of Cage and NXT had the rematch between Neville and Zayn on tap. How could these shows miss? It was near impossible. The wrestling fans were treated to PPV quality matches and that's not an overstatement in the least.
I will start with Lucha Underground because actually I thought it was the more complete show. I thought NXT was out of this world, so I hope you can understand how good I thought Lucha was knowing that. The show opened with a segment recapping recent events and leading to a reminder that Fenix beat Puma in the ten man match leading up to Azteca Warfare. That set the table for Puma's first defense against Fenix, which Dario used to main event his show. Dario did a good promo with Fenix to hype the match. I enjoyed it. The promo combined with the opening segment had me sold. Fenix is special in the ring and matching him with Puma is a just a huge win win for Lucha.
Before we got to that match we opened the action with a four man elimination match featuring 4 new stars including the debuting Cage. Cage is built like Rybak and you would assume that he would be stiff the same way, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Cage can move like no other big man and has a move set and in ring comfort that is unmatched. This is the guy that Vince has always dreamed of and I won't be shocked if he ends up in WWE very soon. The best comparison is he can move like Brock Lesnar in his first WWE run, but probably has a greater understanding of how to work moves and sell.
They debuted three other stars in this match who all looked really good, so this match came off as really fresh. This wasn't just a big 5 minute squash fest by Cage. Instead it was a long match that let everyone get their stuff in, but Cage did shine big time here. He wasn't just a big body. He actually caught one guy in mid air, but not into a body slam, but right into a suplex. I've never seen that. Cage eventually started eliminating guys and got the win. He cut a very brief promo and everyone came out of this match looking great.
Chavo and Blue Demon Jr. cut a promo segment together. Blue Demon didn't say a word and hit a couple chair shots on Chavo to balance out their feud. I would assume a match is coming soon between these two, but I assume Chavo and Sexy Star is the bigger payoff here.
Drago took on King Cueno. This is the third time they have met and they are yet to disappoint. These guys could have topped the card and it would have been fine. The match was a draw after Drago jumped off the top of Dario's office onto Cueno through a table. This feud goes on and rightfully so. I'm totally fine watching a longer match between these two.
Right on to our main event where Puma and Fenix tore the house down. Too many sequences for me to do this match justice. Puma is a major talent and I'm saying that knowing he's yet to actually cut a talking promo. Lucha Underground is safe with him as their champion and should be for some time. They put on a fantastic match and I would watch it again if they made me. Dare I say it was every bit as good as Neville and Zayn, because it was.
Cage hit the ring post match and destroyed Puma. I think they need to put Cage in a few matches before they give him a shot, but his opening match might just have been enough to put him into a feud with Puma. I was really happy that they weren't going to Mundo as Puma's next opponent. Cage is fresh and as new as this show is it's good to see fresh meat being tossed into the title picture right away.
I really can't stress how amazing the action was on this show. Lucha is building history quickly and they are continuing to introduce guys that are great in ring workers. You watch this product and wonder why WWE doesn't sign a handful of guys like this into their midcard to just add some action to their stale shows. You constantly see moves in Lucha that you have never seen before. Last night Argenis did a backwards fall from the top rope on to the outside. I never have seen it and enjoyed it very much. It also was a very safe move.
One spot that deserved major love was the suicide dive by Angelico over the corner turn buckle, which added distance, on to three guys. This move was beyond solid, but he got right up and didn't play dead which I also thought was cool. I'm sick of every guy hitting a high spot and then acting dead from the contact they caused. Angelico could have been played off as a jobber and instead looked like a promising star, and I go back to what I said earlier they let him get his moves in. That's how you let guys connect to the audience. Pay attention WWE.
What was really good about this show is that you didn't see 80% of the roster. That means next week we will get stars we haven't seen for a while, which keeps it fresh. I'm a big believer that WWE product is over exposed and we tire of guys because we see them every week. Mundo and Big Ryck have been major focal points and they were not seen tonight. That only helps keep them fresh. If Mundo topped the show next week against Mil and you didn't see Puma and Fenix you would probably still see a lights out show. That's what they call roster depth. Think back to the last time Rollins missed a RAW or Smackdown for that matter.
To contrast this in NXT we have seen Banks and Flair almost every week since the live event R Evolution. Even on the year end recap show they had a feature match. I needed a week off from them, but it was still a good match that they gave on NXT. Good to see Banks get a win that wasn't by distraction roll up. (The most dangerous move in wrestling these days.)
The show opened with Balor and Kidd. They are great dance partners. Balor's entrance was main event quality and he wasn't even painted up. I tweeted earlier that I wondered if he would come out painted like a cat. That match was great action. Both guys are at the top of their in ring games. Balor is a star on all accounts. He has to go to the main roster. It's like if Michael Jordan played a year in college during the 90's. It would be cool, but kind of pointless. His entrance alone is better than 80% of the guys in the main roster right now. It only adds to his attraction and marketability.
Corbin and Dempsey was at least longer than a minute. You can see why they have been protecting Corbin. He botched some minor things and the whole match was very overbooked so they could get right to their finish. I might have booked a DQ or double count out here. I think this has more legs than just having him beat Dempsey in a short match. I know they will probably revisit this, but it's going to have lost some steam. They didn't do much to protect Dempsey here, but I understand pushing Corbin.
Corbin is getting all the love from the fanbase right now, but he's really probably a guy that needs to stay in NXT for a year at least. Dempsey is actually probably way closer to being worth bringing up. I'm not sure what the limit is for Dempsey, but I think if he can keep a good work rate and bump well he can be a solid guy in the main roster. The problem is WWE views everyone as feast or famine. Until that attitude changes I say keep both guys down in NXT to develop.
So skipping the ladies match, which we already covered we move right into our World Title rematch with Zayn and Neville. They did a short piece earlier in the show to hype this match. You can tell that Neville and Zayn have worked this match dark many times and they are starting to add nice twists to everything.
Just like the Lucha main event this was a spot fest with so many good parts. Neville's kick through the turnbuckle to block Zayn's DDT attempt was my favorite part by far. I thought the ending seemed a bit rushed, and didn't compare to their last match, but this is still a great treat. Zayn gets the win and maybe Neville is headed to the main roster and the three way match with Owens is not going to happen.
Owens did hit the ring cut the best, and only, in ring promo of the night destroying Zayn. Owens said nothing, but didn't need to use his words to get his point across. I honestly can't believe this feud is going to happen in NXT because it's better than anything currently happening on the main roster. Yet, since their is little hope WWE will be ready for something this good anytime soon let's book the match and start hyping it!
I know that both of these shows don't get the ratings that Raw does, but wow they were both so on point. When people say they want more wrestling on Raw this is what they mean. They want matches that have finishes, which is what both main events provided and they want action that keeps their attention. How anyone could have watched Lucha and thought it was boring would shock me. NXT didn't build a month around Kidd and Balor, but anyone who watched would be hard pressed not to enjoy their match.
This is what we need more of in WWE. I do love great promo's and I prefer when RAW opens with a promo versus a match because I want the story to develop, but the rest of the night should be chalk full of great action match's and guys being allowed to get in their move set. I think that WWE's main roster is capable, but the writing team is not at this time, so for now I'm going to just enjoy these two shows for what they are, the best SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT on TV right now.
A shout out to Jason Solomon who made me realize something on his Sound Off podcast, you can find this on iTunes. He recapped the NJPW WK9 PPV and he talked about how JR put over the Okada drop kick. He was so right about this. JR had mentioned it a few times as something like we have all never seen before and when it came JR sold it like a million bucks and Okada nailed it. When you intermix great commentary with action that lives up to it you get special moments. Even before Jason recapped this on his show I had rewatched just that specific move twice. Kudos for him to bringing that up.
I might put something out Saturday to cover Impact. I'm not sure it's going to be something I watch on Friday because that time slot is brutal, but if I stay in that night I just might. Until next time.
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