I've been thinking recently about fundamentally why I enjoy lucha so much, when I had burned out on WWF (as it was then called) in the mid-1990s, and given that I find myself struggling to branch out much beyond the boundaries of Mexico, even as lucha's influence grows. Part of that is the time requirement to follow more promotions, but even so, I've been trying to put my finger on the difference in the way that I perceive lucha from every other style, and it goes beyond the difference in language.
There is something different about the ethos of lucha libre. It specializes in the outright fantastical, leaving aside any qualms about venturing into the crazy, the cartoonish, the grotesque, and yet paradoxically in a way that seems to come naturally. Lucha is a major part of Mexican culture, and Mexico has always had a unique cultural fascination with the dead and the afterlife, such that characters like Santo, Satánico, and myriad characters based on calaveras – ornately decorated skulls – seem to fit in here.
From here, since we're already solidly in the realm of the supernatural, it's not too much of a jump to everyone's favorite undead arm-breaking ninja skeleton sadist (Penta el Zero M). And while we're dealing with the utterly surreal, let's throw in a time-traveling insane spaceman (Aerostar), any number of dragon-based characters, every mythology that you can think of, and even some characters cavalierly lifted out of cartoons and video games (any number of sets of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). It's as if lucha is a gigantic crossroads for different planes of the imagination. At least for me, the further detached from reality we become, the more immersive it is. The prevalence of the mask certainly helps with this immersion, removing even more of the human element.
Other styles of professional wrestling borrow liberally from fantasy, of course, but nowhere is it nearly as pervasive as in lucha. Mexico has been riding that bet, as it were, for a long time. I'm certainly not the first person, nor the most eloquent, to point out lucha's fascination with over-the-top, unreal characters, nor will I be the last. If that were the extent of my thoughts, I wouldn't have been writing this.
Fortunately for me, the theme of detachment from reality continues on in the action itself. The mentality of innovative luchadors has been to explore – and extend! – the boundaries of what is physically possible, relegating to the background questions of sensibility. The goal is usually to provide a spectacle of the barely feasible – be it submission holds that look extremely difficult to apply and to escape from, multiple-springboard dives that defy plausibility, or fast sequences of counters that display outright prescience of what the opponent is going to do next. At its core, lucha revels in the spectacle and the showmanship above the nominal objective of merely winning. Yes, this makes it seem like a video game at times, pushing it even further down the road of fantasy, and it's all the more endearingly breathtaking for that reason. It's a wonderful escape from reality.
Except when it's not.
You see, as much as lucha relishes in its uniquely engrossing fantasy world, it also loves to breach the fourth wall. Or at times do away with it altogether. Those insults a rudo yells at you? Real. More importantly, those crazy dives? Also very real. In fact, you better be prepared to vacate your seat. Especially in most smaller venues, which may not have any semblance of an audience barrier. That luchador who wants to grab your seat for a weapon? Also suddenly real. Your standing up for the rest of the match is also a fact, by the way. And because you had been immersed so deeply into the realm of imagination, the snap back to reality is all the more forcefully stark. It's precisely this dichotomy that exists in such a raw, unfiltered form in lucha that I find most appealing.
It may seem a bit childish to be so drawn into the fantasy part of the equation past the age of about, oh, maybe six. But at times, the distinction between reality and story is not so much a defined fourth wall as I've presented it in the above examples, but more of a delicate blur, such that you're not really sure where the boundary is.
As an example, I remember vividly the aftermath of the Atlantis vs. Último Guerrero mask match at CMLL Aniversario 81. Going into the match, I was not emotionally invested in either luchador, but the ending was an emotional experience. To this day, I'm not sure how to break down how much of that emotion came directly from the result of the match itself, given that mask losses are indeed weighty events, and how much came from the raw energy of the atmosphere: the mere sight of 17,000 people, in part crying and in part singing along with Atlantis's theme, which mentions crying; the reverberations of the sound system's bass through the old floors of Arena México; the dumbfoundedness at seeing 100- and 200-peso bills floating through the air down to the ring area. In terms of crowd energy, it felt as real as any traditional sports event. Perhaps appropriately so, again given the ingraining of lucha into Mexican culture. Lucha is still very, very real to a lot of people, especially that night in Colonia Doctores in Mexico City.
There are humans behind the characters, too, and they will occasionally turn the fourth wall into an amorphous mess of nothing in utterly surreal ways. I've written about my personal experience with Night Claw at length, and you should read that anecdote if you want to know how my brain was more or less rewired at Última Lucha 2. That's not the only example that I can cite: We went to a Lucha Libre Boom show in 2015, and Silver King Jr. mysteriously and instantly recognized us on his way to the ring, much to @RobViper's hilarious confusion; it turns out that this instance of Silver King Jr. was a friend much better known under a different gimmick.
The operative word in that last sentence, by which the fourth wall momentarily vanished, is "friend". And perhaps with that word, we can now swing the pendulum firmly back to the reality side. For as much as I can expound on the appeal of lucha itself, its most lasting and most life-changing effects for me have been to induce me to travel to many places that I would not have visited otherwise, and to introduce me to entirely new social circles – including, amazingly, my wife and her great family, as well as innumerable friends in Mexico. Of such importance are these friendships that my last trip to Mexico City was made not so much to see shows (although we did see a couple) but to make sure that my wife and I saw a bunch of friends whom we hadn't seen in a while.
I knew that I wanted to write this piece about the appeal of lucha, but I wasn't sure exactly in which direction I'd end up going, because I had many scattered thoughts to organize. I started off talking about characters in lucha matches and wandered off into talking about our friends.
It's funny how lucha works, and I don't mean a storyline work.
At least not exclusively. Not after Aniversario 81.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Lucha Underground Review (S3E36, 9/20/2017): The Rise of the Ring Announcer
The opening recaps the Aztec Medallion matches and the Marty–Melissa–Fénix love triangle.
Backstage, Melissa trains with Fénix. Despite Melissa's desires to the contrary, Fénix refuses to remove his mask, stressing its importance to him. With her scheduled appearance in the ring tonight, Famous B is filling in as guest ring announcer.
Texano Jr. vs. Dante Fox: good
Texano unwisely argues with Famous B upon entering the ring; Fox takes the opportunity to jump him. Killshot ominously watches the match from the band section above, but does not interfere. Instead, the oddball finish comes when Texano gets a double underhook backbreaker on Fox for a two-count, but Famous B announces Texano as winner. The ref refuses to go along with Famous B, of course, and amidst the confusion, Fox predictably rolls up Texano for the real win.
Texano wants to take out Famous B afterward, but Dario interrupts and sets up a singles match between them for next week, with the stipulation that, should Famous B win with his broken arm, Texano will become his client.
This is a solid, above average match with a few nice highspots by Fox, and there are occasional teasing flashes of escalating into something more, but the match never really takes off, which is fine in the grand scheme of things, given that this is meant as a setup to a more weighty match. The oddball finish is a little jarring but doesn't come off as too corny or stale.
In Dario's office, Son of Havoc and Pentagón Dark, in succession, place their respective Aztec Medallions in the Gift of the Gods belt and have a tense moment with they cross paths in the doorway.
Fénix, Melissa Santos vs. Marty the Moth, Mariposa: good+
The story of this match is the contrast between the extremely agile (and rope-using) Fénix and his novice partner. Fénix gets in a lot of loco stuff before Mariposa effectively removes him from the match by tying his arm to the ringpost. This allows Marty and she to finish off Melissa with a double-team facebuster.
After the match, Marty threatens Melissa with scissors, but Fénix breaks free in time to make the save.
Paul London vs. Mala Suerte vs. Saltador vs. Cortez Castro vs. Drago vs. Son of Havoc vs. Pentagón Dark [Gift of the Gods]: very good+
This format is one-fall instead of elimination, which means that the action can be zanier up until the end. And zany it is, right from the first major spot of the match: true to his name, Saltador jumps off of Pentagón Dark's back to give his opponent a headscissors (I actually wrote an expletive into my notes here.) Dives – lots of them – and general craziness follows in short order – my kind of match. The finish comes when Pentagón hits his package piledriver on Paul London and Son of Havoc lands a shooting star press on Saltador for simultaneous pins. To break the tie, Dario books Pentagón Dark vs. Son of Havoc in a ladder match.
I love this type of match, and it's on the border of "very good+" and "great" for me. A little bit more of the insanity would have placed it solidly in "great" territory, and I'm tempted to nudge it across the edge anyway. But thinking in absolute terms across all of lucha, a large multi-participant match like this usually needs to have more to be in that range. As it is, it's easily the best match on the show, and exceeds expectations for a setup match.
In the closing scene, Dario enters the limo with the gauntlet and expresses concern about Cage's humanity and therefore his ability to be a "host". He proposes to Winters a three-way match involving Cage, Mil Muertes, and Jeremiah Crane for the gauntlet, and to prevent Cage from succeeding, he invites his "lord", seen only in silhouette, to destroy Cage in the Temple.
OVERALL: This is an enjoyable episode that sets up the remaining pieces for Última Lucha 3. There are few weak moments, and the amount of craziness is significantly above average.
Backstage, Melissa trains with Fénix. Despite Melissa's desires to the contrary, Fénix refuses to remove his mask, stressing its importance to him. With her scheduled appearance in the ring tonight, Famous B is filling in as guest ring announcer.
Texano Jr. vs. Dante Fox: good
Texano unwisely argues with Famous B upon entering the ring; Fox takes the opportunity to jump him. Killshot ominously watches the match from the band section above, but does not interfere. Instead, the oddball finish comes when Texano gets a double underhook backbreaker on Fox for a two-count, but Famous B announces Texano as winner. The ref refuses to go along with Famous B, of course, and amidst the confusion, Fox predictably rolls up Texano for the real win.
Texano wants to take out Famous B afterward, but Dario interrupts and sets up a singles match between them for next week, with the stipulation that, should Famous B win with his broken arm, Texano will become his client.
This is a solid, above average match with a few nice highspots by Fox, and there are occasional teasing flashes of escalating into something more, but the match never really takes off, which is fine in the grand scheme of things, given that this is meant as a setup to a more weighty match. The oddball finish is a little jarring but doesn't come off as too corny or stale.
In Dario's office, Son of Havoc and Pentagón Dark, in succession, place their respective Aztec Medallions in the Gift of the Gods belt and have a tense moment with they cross paths in the doorway.
Fénix, Melissa Santos vs. Marty the Moth, Mariposa: good+
The story of this match is the contrast between the extremely agile (and rope-using) Fénix and his novice partner. Fénix gets in a lot of loco stuff before Mariposa effectively removes him from the match by tying his arm to the ringpost. This allows Marty and she to finish off Melissa with a double-team facebuster.
After the match, Marty threatens Melissa with scissors, but Fénix breaks free in time to make the save.
Paul London vs. Mala Suerte vs. Saltador vs. Cortez Castro vs. Drago vs. Son of Havoc vs. Pentagón Dark [Gift of the Gods]: very good+
This format is one-fall instead of elimination, which means that the action can be zanier up until the end. And zany it is, right from the first major spot of the match: true to his name, Saltador jumps off of Pentagón Dark's back to give his opponent a headscissors (I actually wrote an expletive into my notes here.) Dives – lots of them – and general craziness follows in short order – my kind of match. The finish comes when Pentagón hits his package piledriver on Paul London and Son of Havoc lands a shooting star press on Saltador for simultaneous pins. To break the tie, Dario books Pentagón Dark vs. Son of Havoc in a ladder match.
I love this type of match, and it's on the border of "very good+" and "great" for me. A little bit more of the insanity would have placed it solidly in "great" territory, and I'm tempted to nudge it across the edge anyway. But thinking in absolute terms across all of lucha, a large multi-participant match like this usually needs to have more to be in that range. As it is, it's easily the best match on the show, and exceeds expectations for a setup match.
In the closing scene, Dario enters the limo with the gauntlet and expresses concern about Cage's humanity and therefore his ability to be a "host". He proposes to Winters a three-way match involving Cage, Mil Muertes, and Jeremiah Crane for the gauntlet, and to prevent Cage from succeeding, he invites his "lord", seen only in silhouette, to destroy Cage in the Temple.
OVERALL: This is an enjoyable episode that sets up the remaining pieces for Última Lucha 3. There are few weak moments, and the amount of craziness is significantly above average.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Lucha Underground Review (S3E35, 9/13/2017): Cien
The opening recaps Dario's announcement of the 100th episode and of its matches.
Backstage, Ricky Mandel reveals that he has changed his last name to Mundo, in honor of his idol. Unfortunately for him, Johnny is none too thrilled; he refuses to adopt Ricky's name change, under the justification that "there's only one Mundo in the World Wide Underground".
Prince Puma, Fénix, Cage, Sexy Star vs. Johnny Mundo, Taya, PJ Black, Marty the Moth: ok
However much I dislike Sexy Star, that choice makes at least some sense within the bounds of Lucha Underground internal logic, as she's been a major focal point on the técnica side in this universe. Cage is the odd addition here; I don't think there's been anything to suggest that Prince Puma knows about the whole struggle over the gauntlet. On the other side, Ricky Mandel (or, rather, Mundo) comes out with World Wide Underground, but Johnny Mundo makes his displeasure over the name change known publicly, and decides to remove Ricky from the match and substitute Marty the Moth instead.
After initial one-on-one skirmishes, during which the referee and Cage's teammates manage to coax Cage into removing his gauntlet, a giant brawl breaks out, and Jeremiah Crane takes advantage of the chaos to steal the gauntlet. Cage runs after him backstage, effectively removing himself from the match.
Aside from that bit, this is a bit of a disjointed, directionless match until the finish, when Sexy Star and Fénix hit dive spots and Mundo gets his End of the World on Puma for the win. I think that the point is to convey the feel of a chaotic mess that allows Cage to slip away, so they perhaps succeeded in that goal, but it doesn't lead to much in terms of a match itself.
After the match, Marty harasses Melissa Santos, and this time Melissa fights back until Fénix superkicks him.
Crane brings the stolen gauntlet to Catrina. An annoyed Mil Muertes spears Crane, and the two begin brawling, allowing Catrina to pick up the gauntlet. Realizing this, Cage grabs her, and she realizes that she cannot teleport at will while holding the gauntlet, due to its power. To escape Cage's grip, she reluctantly drops the gauntlet. As Cage, Mil, and Crane continue fighting among themselves, Dario Cueto covertly sneaks in and escapes with gauntlet.
Dragón Azteca Jr. vs. Pentagón Dark [Aztec Medallion]: good
This is a solid match while it lasts; a little more time would have helped. The highlights are a crazy tornillo to the floor by Dragón Azteca Jr., the Pizza DDT (virtually an automatic pop from me), and Pentagón's counter of the second attempted DDT into a backbreaker.
Pentagón gets a package piledriver for the win. As a victorious Pentagón is about to break Dragón Azteca's arm, Matanza runs out to confront him. As Dario tries to control Matanza, Pentagón shifts his focus to the Lucha Underground owner, and in turn, Matanza begins to test the Dragón Azteca Jr. implementation of ragdoll physics. Rey Mysterio comes out for the save, leading into...
Rey Mysterio vs. Matanza: very good
Rey attacks Matanza before the bell and actually gets in some offense throughout the match, but Matanza generally dominates, as you'd expect. Toward the end, Matanza grabs a chair, and the endgame focuses on outsmarting each other it. Ultimately, though, Matanza throws the chair at a springboarding Rey, and that's enough to give him the advantage for the win after a few more suplexes.
After the match, Matanza hits the Wrath of the Gods on Rey with a chair, and then puts the chair around Rey's neck and throws him into ringpost twice. Matanza carries Rey off as episode ends. The post-match viciousness is definitely effective at eliciting emotional investment, if you have any sort of favorable opinion of Rey (and you should).
I like this match technically, but I start to check out mentally when Rey goes into babyface-in-peril mode, if only because it's a part that he spent so much time doing in WWE that I don't feel as if I need more of it in 2017. Rey is a lot more enjoyable when he's in dream-match spectacle mode – e.g., vs. Prince Puma at Última Lucha 2.
OVERALL: The last two matches are enjoyable, but nothing earth-shattering. Kind of a big deal is made about this being the 100th episode, and it's a pretty good one, but this feels like more of a minimum standard to which Lucha Underground should aspire, not something special.
Backstage, Ricky Mandel reveals that he has changed his last name to Mundo, in honor of his idol. Unfortunately for him, Johnny is none too thrilled; he refuses to adopt Ricky's name change, under the justification that "there's only one Mundo in the World Wide Underground".
Prince Puma, Fénix, Cage, Sexy Star vs. Johnny Mundo, Taya, PJ Black, Marty the Moth: ok
However much I dislike Sexy Star, that choice makes at least some sense within the bounds of Lucha Underground internal logic, as she's been a major focal point on the técnica side in this universe. Cage is the odd addition here; I don't think there's been anything to suggest that Prince Puma knows about the whole struggle over the gauntlet. On the other side, Ricky Mandel (or, rather, Mundo) comes out with World Wide Underground, but Johnny Mundo makes his displeasure over the name change known publicly, and decides to remove Ricky from the match and substitute Marty the Moth instead.
After initial one-on-one skirmishes, during which the referee and Cage's teammates manage to coax Cage into removing his gauntlet, a giant brawl breaks out, and Jeremiah Crane takes advantage of the chaos to steal the gauntlet. Cage runs after him backstage, effectively removing himself from the match.
Aside from that bit, this is a bit of a disjointed, directionless match until the finish, when Sexy Star and Fénix hit dive spots and Mundo gets his End of the World on Puma for the win. I think that the point is to convey the feel of a chaotic mess that allows Cage to slip away, so they perhaps succeeded in that goal, but it doesn't lead to much in terms of a match itself.
After the match, Marty harasses Melissa Santos, and this time Melissa fights back until Fénix superkicks him.
Crane brings the stolen gauntlet to Catrina. An annoyed Mil Muertes spears Crane, and the two begin brawling, allowing Catrina to pick up the gauntlet. Realizing this, Cage grabs her, and she realizes that she cannot teleport at will while holding the gauntlet, due to its power. To escape Cage's grip, she reluctantly drops the gauntlet. As Cage, Mil, and Crane continue fighting among themselves, Dario Cueto covertly sneaks in and escapes with gauntlet.
Dragón Azteca Jr. vs. Pentagón Dark [Aztec Medallion]: good
This is a solid match while it lasts; a little more time would have helped. The highlights are a crazy tornillo to the floor by Dragón Azteca Jr., the Pizza DDT (virtually an automatic pop from me), and Pentagón's counter of the second attempted DDT into a backbreaker.
Pentagón gets a package piledriver for the win. As a victorious Pentagón is about to break Dragón Azteca's arm, Matanza runs out to confront him. As Dario tries to control Matanza, Pentagón shifts his focus to the Lucha Underground owner, and in turn, Matanza begins to test the Dragón Azteca Jr. implementation of ragdoll physics. Rey Mysterio comes out for the save, leading into...
Rey Mysterio vs. Matanza: very good
Rey attacks Matanza before the bell and actually gets in some offense throughout the match, but Matanza generally dominates, as you'd expect. Toward the end, Matanza grabs a chair, and the endgame focuses on outsmarting each other it. Ultimately, though, Matanza throws the chair at a springboarding Rey, and that's enough to give him the advantage for the win after a few more suplexes.
After the match, Matanza hits the Wrath of the Gods on Rey with a chair, and then puts the chair around Rey's neck and throws him into ringpost twice. Matanza carries Rey off as episode ends. The post-match viciousness is definitely effective at eliciting emotional investment, if you have any sort of favorable opinion of Rey (and you should).
I like this match technically, but I start to check out mentally when Rey goes into babyface-in-peril mode, if only because it's a part that he spent so much time doing in WWE that I don't feel as if I need more of it in 2017. Rey is a lot more enjoyable when he's in dream-match spectacle mode – e.g., vs. Prince Puma at Última Lucha 2.
OVERALL: The last two matches are enjoyable, but nothing earth-shattering. Kind of a big deal is made about this being the 100th episode, and it's a pretty good one, but this feels like more of a minimum standard to which Lucha Underground should aspire, not something special.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Lucha Underground Review (S3E34, 9/6/2017): Career Opportunities
The opening recap covers the Cueto Cup final, the Rabbit Tribe vs. World Wide Underground, Rey Mysterio vs. Johnny Mundo and the aftermath of Dario's interference against Rey.
The Mack vs. Drago [Aztec Medallion]: ok
As expected, Kobra Moon accompanies (and controls) Drago.
There's not really too much interesting here, outside of The Mack handstanding on the turnbuckle for an extended period of time. Kobra climbs on the apron to distract The Mack long enough for Drago to execute his Whip of the Dragon's Tail pin for the win.
After the match, Mack gives a stunner to Drago, and is about to do the same to Kobra Moon when Pindar and Víbora run in for the save. Vibora chokeslams The Mack.
After the break, Dario is in the ring to announce the card for Lucha Underground's 100th episode:
Cortez Castro vs. Joey Ryan [Aztec Medallion, 5-0 street fight]: great
Ominously, a police car and police officers with riot shields are ringside. The twist on the street fight theme here is that all weapons and objects are police-themed, and so we have nightsticks and riot shields instead of the usual chairs, tables, and implements from the Temple environment. If it stopped with the riot shields, perhaps this match wouldn't have amounted to anything special, but in due time, the police car gets mutilated, and coffee, donuts, and a taser enter the fray. As a substitute for his usual baby oil, Joey Ryan gets hot coffee poured down his trunks, which Castro then subjects to tasing. This is an amusing twist on the usual Joey Ryan comedy spots.
Castro gets the win after spraying Ryan with something and then giving him an Attitude Adjustment onto a riot shield.
This match completely exceeds expectations. It's a gimmick match that manages to stand out in a show well-known for gimmick matches, by varying what gets used and by incorporating comedy in a creative way.
Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador vs. Matanza: ok
Like the opener, there's not much here, outside of a cool dive by Saltador off Mala Suerte's back. The Tribe does get in moments of offense, but the outcome was never in doubt: Matanza's just too strong, and catches a springboarding Saltador to hit his Wrath of the Gods.
In the ring, Prince Puma is about to announce his partners for next week when Johnny Mundo interrupts. Mundo wants to make their Última Lucha 3 match mask vs. title. Dario comes out of his office to object, since Fénix already has his mask on the line, and proposes career vs. title instead. Puma takes out Mundo and accepts, without announcing his team.
OVERALL: This is a one-match show; Castro vs. Ryan is definitely worth watching, but everything else is skippable.
The Mack vs. Drago [Aztec Medallion]: ok
As expected, Kobra Moon accompanies (and controls) Drago.
There's not really too much interesting here, outside of The Mack handstanding on the turnbuckle for an extended period of time. Kobra climbs on the apron to distract The Mack long enough for Drago to execute his Whip of the Dragon's Tail pin for the win.
After the match, Mack gives a stunner to Drago, and is about to do the same to Kobra Moon when Pindar and Víbora run in for the save. Vibora chokeslams The Mack.
After the break, Dario is in the ring to announce the card for Lucha Underground's 100th episode:
- Dragón Azteca Jr. vs. Pentagón Dark for an Aztec Medallion;
- Johnny Mundo and the rest of World Wide Underground (Taya, Jack Evans, and Ricky Mandel) vs. Prince Puma and three others (his choice);
- Rey Mysterio vs. Matanza.
Cortez Castro vs. Joey Ryan [Aztec Medallion, 5-0 street fight]: great
Ominously, a police car and police officers with riot shields are ringside. The twist on the street fight theme here is that all weapons and objects are police-themed, and so we have nightsticks and riot shields instead of the usual chairs, tables, and implements from the Temple environment. If it stopped with the riot shields, perhaps this match wouldn't have amounted to anything special, but in due time, the police car gets mutilated, and coffee, donuts, and a taser enter the fray. As a substitute for his usual baby oil, Joey Ryan gets hot coffee poured down his trunks, which Castro then subjects to tasing. This is an amusing twist on the usual Joey Ryan comedy spots.
Castro gets the win after spraying Ryan with something and then giving him an Attitude Adjustment onto a riot shield.
This match completely exceeds expectations. It's a gimmick match that manages to stand out in a show well-known for gimmick matches, by varying what gets used and by incorporating comedy in a creative way.
Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador vs. Matanza: ok
Like the opener, there's not much here, outside of a cool dive by Saltador off Mala Suerte's back. The Tribe does get in moments of offense, but the outcome was never in doubt: Matanza's just too strong, and catches a springboarding Saltador to hit his Wrath of the Gods.
In the ring, Prince Puma is about to announce his partners for next week when Johnny Mundo interrupts. Mundo wants to make their Última Lucha 3 match mask vs. title. Dario comes out of his office to object, since Fénix already has his mask on the line, and proposes career vs. title instead. Puma takes out Mundo and accepts, without announcing his team.
OVERALL: This is a one-match show; Castro vs. Ryan is definitely worth watching, but everything else is skippable.
Random BOLA 2017 thoughts
As I hinted on Twitter, I'm not going to review BOLA in full -- at least not until I finish my crazy travel plans for September and the Blu-Rays come for me to rewatch certain things at my leisure. But I did want to write down some random thoughts about the weekend, from the perspective of a first-time PWG attendee who is more of a lucha fan than an American indies fan.
Monday, September 4, 2017
A Swerve from Luchador Sorpresa: Maintaining Kayfabe by Partially Breaking It
This is an edited archival repost of an article originally published elsewhere in July 2016.
"I have come to think that someone, or something wanted us to see all this."
Those who have followed me for some time know that I've been raving about Lucha Underground's season 2 finale, Última Lucha 2, ever since I left the LU temple that Sunday night. There are few things that I enjoy in life more than than going to live lucha shows. I went to Mexico five times last calendar year solely for lucha; and yet Última Lucha 2 night 2 managed to blow away any single show I had attended live. I enjoyed the same matches that everyone else did – Rey Mysterio vs. Prince Puma, the trios titles match, King Cuerno vs. Mil Muertes – but the most remarkable part of that night – the part that I've been most wanting to tell, and yet simultaneously struggling to properly express in words – was related to the Gift of the Gods Match. It's probably the wackiest thing that has ever happened to me in lucha.
Part of the struggle for me in telling this story is deciding where to start. So I'll mirror what was done to me, and I'll give you part of the punchline up front, but only part of it.
The luchador in question is Flamita, whom I had arranged to meet during intermission the night before in order to buy a Fireball mask from him. It was well known by this point that he had been traveling to Lucha Underground, and so I thought that this was a reasonable arrangement. For his part, Flamita gave no hint that it wasn't. By intermission, night had fallen in Boyle Heights, and it wasn't particularly easy to spot anyone from a distance in the Temple parking lot. I wasn't sure that he'd see me, and thought about messaging him to let him know that I was wearing a Pentagón shirt. However, I stopped myself, realizing that information would be practically useless because it would apply to about 60% of the crowd there. I was expecting to spot him first in his characteristic Fireball mask, but he actually came out unmasked and recognized me first. At the time, I assumed that he decided to forego the mask because he surmised that fewer people would actually recognize him that way, and so I didn't think too much of it. We conducted our transaction, and I got my mark pic, with me in my Fireball mask and him in a Flamita mask.
By now, you probably understand somewhat where this is all headed. But in my mind, the wackiness of this story doesn't start at the Gift of the Gods match at Última Lucha 2, nor the night before. We have to go back to late 2015.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I travel somewhat frequently to see lucha live. One of the shows that I went to see was a CaraLucha show in early November. That event was supposed to be headlined by a four-way match with Carístico, Flamita, Hechicero, and Cavernario. However, just days before, plans changed when Flamita signed with AAA, an arrangement that consequently barred from working with the CMLL guys. Knowing that I was flying in for the show, Flamita went through the trouble of messaging me to let me know that plans were changing. I told him that he had to do what he had to do for his career and that I was going to be fine one way or another, since I liked other matches on the show, and that he should worry more about the local crowd there. In reality, I was always wary of the possibility that the main event would change, although I predicted that, if anything, CMLL would pull their guys. So I had no regrets about the trip, and I did in fact enjoy myself.
Fast-forward a bit to the holiday season. Flamita's make-up date for CaraLucha and the local crowd was a tag match on the Christmas 2015 show. I wasn't there, but I've seen the match on DVD, and it was at least a high-end MOTYC. The following week, Lucha Underground announced taping dates for the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend, and I saw this as an ideal opportunity to see a Lucha Underground taping without burning a vacation day the following Monday. I was only able to get a standing room reservation for Sunday, but I was glad to be attending at all. I had no plans at the time to attempt to go to Última Lucha 2; I was content with going once.
When I arrived in line for the show, I quickly struck up a conversation with a group there and casually mentioned that I had flown from Connecticut. When the group found out that my reservation was for had standing room only, they very kindly offered to let me in their group to get better seating. On top of that, they mentioned that one of the group members couldn't make it to Última Lucha weekend and offered to allow me to fill in. I was open to that idea but had to check work commitments before I could accept. I had a lot of fun at that taping, but again managed to narrowly miss seeing Flamita, since he (and some others) were there only for the Saturday show that time.
I did end up being able to clear my schedule to attend Última Lucha 2, which brings us back to the first night of that weekend. Later that night, Flamita messaged me to say, "[E]spero te guste mañana mi lucha[;] va dedicada a ti." (Roughly: "I hope you like my match tomorrow; it will be dedicated to you.") I was elated to know that I'd finally get to see him wrestle; for me, this would be my make-up date from November. Keep in mind that the live Lucha Underground audience doesn't get to see the vignettes, so we had no idea that Night Claw existed. I knew that Fireball hadn't been set up for a match for that night, so I assumed that he was referring to a dark match, and that this was more or less a token courtesy.
Again, keep in mind that, on that evening of January 30, I knew nothing of Night Claw's existence, nor what really lay ahead for me the following day. As we waited for luchadors to exit after the Night 1 taping, I saw Aerostar make a beeline from the exit to a waiting van, followed closely by an unmasked Flamita. (I am fairly certain that I'm the only one in the crowd who was able to figure out who he was.) It was a bit curious that he'd leave unmasked, even if for whatever reason he didn't want to or couldn't hang around to interact with fans. Again, as during the intermission, at the time I didn't think too much of it, though.
Come the following day, I brought the Fireball mask that I had just bought to the Temple, expecting to put it on for his match, whichever one it might be. When the Gift of the Gods match started, six of the participants unceremoniously entered the ring before the cameras started rolling. At this point, because we'd already seen a dark match with a bunch of guys, none of whom were Flamita, I half-expected Fireball to be the seventh participant. But Night Claw got the final entrance in the Gift of the Gods match, to the extreme confusion of the live crowd (and me). He was billed as hailing from Mexico City, which, in retrospect, is kind of like saying I'm from New York City: it's close, and I fly out of there, but it's not even the state in which I live. (Flamita is from Ciudad Neza, in the state of Mexico, which borders Mexico City.)
Of course, I had my suspicions immediately, but I couldn't make a positive identification right away. And Night Claw went to some trouble to switch around his moveset, at least to some extent. Early in the match, Night Claw did a corner 619, which nowadays might have been enough to identify him, but back when Última Lucha 2 was taped, it wasn't a mainstay of his repertoire. I must have blinked at some point, because I missed the Flame Fly on Siniestro de la Muerte. In my defense, there was a lot of action that the cameras weren't catching, and I might have been momentarily paying attention one of the side battles.
"I have come to think that someone, or something wanted us to see all this."
- Robo, Chrono Trigger
Part of the struggle for me in telling this story is deciding where to start. So I'll mirror what was done to me, and I'll give you part of the punchline up front, but only part of it.
The luchador in question is Flamita, whom I had arranged to meet during intermission the night before in order to buy a Fireball mask from him. It was well known by this point that he had been traveling to Lucha Underground, and so I thought that this was a reasonable arrangement. For his part, Flamita gave no hint that it wasn't. By intermission, night had fallen in Boyle Heights, and it wasn't particularly easy to spot anyone from a distance in the Temple parking lot. I wasn't sure that he'd see me, and thought about messaging him to let him know that I was wearing a Pentagón shirt. However, I stopped myself, realizing that information would be practically useless because it would apply to about 60% of the crowd there. I was expecting to spot him first in his characteristic Fireball mask, but he actually came out unmasked and recognized me first. At the time, I assumed that he decided to forego the mask because he surmised that fewer people would actually recognize him that way, and so I didn't think too much of it. We conducted our transaction, and I got my mark pic, with me in my Fireball mask and him in a Flamita mask.
By now, you probably understand somewhat where this is all headed. But in my mind, the wackiness of this story doesn't start at the Gift of the Gods match at Última Lucha 2, nor the night before. We have to go back to late 2015.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I travel somewhat frequently to see lucha live. One of the shows that I went to see was a CaraLucha show in early November. That event was supposed to be headlined by a four-way match with Carístico, Flamita, Hechicero, and Cavernario. However, just days before, plans changed when Flamita signed with AAA, an arrangement that consequently barred from working with the CMLL guys. Knowing that I was flying in for the show, Flamita went through the trouble of messaging me to let me know that plans were changing. I told him that he had to do what he had to do for his career and that I was going to be fine one way or another, since I liked other matches on the show, and that he should worry more about the local crowd there. In reality, I was always wary of the possibility that the main event would change, although I predicted that, if anything, CMLL would pull their guys. So I had no regrets about the trip, and I did in fact enjoy myself.
Fast-forward a bit to the holiday season. Flamita's make-up date for CaraLucha and the local crowd was a tag match on the Christmas 2015 show. I wasn't there, but I've seen the match on DVD, and it was at least a high-end MOTYC. The following week, Lucha Underground announced taping dates for the Martin Luther King Jr. long weekend, and I saw this as an ideal opportunity to see a Lucha Underground taping without burning a vacation day the following Monday. I was only able to get a standing room reservation for Sunday, but I was glad to be attending at all. I had no plans at the time to attempt to go to Última Lucha 2; I was content with going once.
When I arrived in line for the show, I quickly struck up a conversation with a group there and casually mentioned that I had flown from Connecticut. When the group found out that my reservation was for had standing room only, they very kindly offered to let me in their group to get better seating. On top of that, they mentioned that one of the group members couldn't make it to Última Lucha weekend and offered to allow me to fill in. I was open to that idea but had to check work commitments before I could accept. I had a lot of fun at that taping, but again managed to narrowly miss seeing Flamita, since he (and some others) were there only for the Saturday show that time.
I did end up being able to clear my schedule to attend Última Lucha 2, which brings us back to the first night of that weekend. Later that night, Flamita messaged me to say, "[E]spero te guste mañana mi lucha[;] va dedicada a ti." (Roughly: "I hope you like my match tomorrow; it will be dedicated to you.") I was elated to know that I'd finally get to see him wrestle; for me, this would be my make-up date from November. Keep in mind that the live Lucha Underground audience doesn't get to see the vignettes, so we had no idea that Night Claw existed. I knew that Fireball hadn't been set up for a match for that night, so I assumed that he was referring to a dark match, and that this was more or less a token courtesy.
Again, keep in mind that, on that evening of January 30, I knew nothing of Night Claw's existence, nor what really lay ahead for me the following day. As we waited for luchadors to exit after the Night 1 taping, I saw Aerostar make a beeline from the exit to a waiting van, followed closely by an unmasked Flamita. (I am fairly certain that I'm the only one in the crowd who was able to figure out who he was.) It was a bit curious that he'd leave unmasked, even if for whatever reason he didn't want to or couldn't hang around to interact with fans. Again, as during the intermission, at the time I didn't think too much of it, though.
Come the following day, I brought the Fireball mask that I had just bought to the Temple, expecting to put it on for his match, whichever one it might be. When the Gift of the Gods match started, six of the participants unceremoniously entered the ring before the cameras started rolling. At this point, because we'd already seen a dark match with a bunch of guys, none of whom were Flamita, I half-expected Fireball to be the seventh participant. But Night Claw got the final entrance in the Gift of the Gods match, to the extreme confusion of the live crowd (and me). He was billed as hailing from Mexico City, which, in retrospect, is kind of like saying I'm from New York City: it's close, and I fly out of there, but it's not even the state in which I live. (Flamita is from Ciudad Neza, in the state of Mexico, which borders Mexico City.)
Of course, I had my suspicions immediately, but I couldn't make a positive identification right away. And Night Claw went to some trouble to switch around his moveset, at least to some extent. Early in the match, Night Claw did a corner 619, which nowadays might have been enough to identify him, but back when Última Lucha 2 was taped, it wasn't a mainstay of his repertoire. I must have blinked at some point, because I missed the Flame Fly on Siniestro de la Muerte. In my defense, there was a lot of action that the cameras weren't catching, and I might have been momentarily paying attention one of the side battles.
Later, he busted out a Phoenix Splash as another finisher, which really threw me for a loop, as I began trying to wrack my brain for who in Mexico even does that move, and I was coming up empty. He followed that a short while afterward with a moonsault off the top of the office. My friends were convinced at this point that Night Claw was Flamita, based on the clip of Fireball doing a crazy tornillo off a balcony in his Guerra de Titanes match that had made its rounds on the Internet. But there are any number of guys who like to dive off of high places. I wasn't yet fully convinced. It wasn't until he did a headscissors into an armdrag on Killshot that I recognized who he was. That move is legitimately rare, and only a handful of guys with any prominence do it. Flamita doesn't do it terribly often because it requires an excellent base, but it is a move that he's done throughout the years, and he had an excellent base here.
And in some sense, the question of Night Claw's identity had been, for me, turned on its head. Whereas most people were trying to figure out who Night Claw was, I was actually going in the opposite direction, trying to confirm whether a specific person was Night Claw. And more importantly, I had been trying to figure out whether Night Claw was, in fact, that specific person who had dedicated his match to me the night before.
Of course, Night Claw was eliminated later on by Killshot, which took me completely out of the match mentally. But even so, that one of the best luchadors in the world dedicated his US television debut to me is something that can never be forgotten, and was a big part in keeping me on an emotional high for weeks afterward. To be honest, I'm not even sure that my brain has finished processing what happened, even some five and a half months later.
And then, at some point after Última Lucha 2, it hit me why Flamita was unmasked both during intermission and when he left the Temple the previous night: No one was supposed to know ahead of time that he was even there that weekend. Going outside masked would have attracted more attention than not and would have alerted even more people to his presence. He had worked dark matches on previous weekends in the Temple, so regulars may have had the same suspicion of Night Claw's identity, but it's obvious in retrospect that it was meant to be a well guarded secret until match time. His match dedication was an exercise in a subtle ambiguity of first-person pronouns; coming from "Flamita", "my match" was accurate only in an interpretation that breaks kayfabe, not in one that keeps it. Think for a moment about how thick the irony is for a masked luchador to do this intentionally.
Secondary to the mid-match epiphany of Night Claw's identity itself, but also a wacky turn of events, and the reason why I went through the trouble of winding the story all the way back to the previous November, was that, at that time, neither he nor I was going to be at Última Lucha 2, and were it not for his signing with AAA, I would have seen him at that November CaraLucha show, in his home venue of Arena San Juan Pantitlán in Ciudad Neza. Even when I made plans to go to Lucha Underground, it was originally for a single taping, not for Última Lucha 2, and an extraordinary amount of luck (and kindness on the part of people I met) made me able to return for the season 2 finale, where we would finally cross paths for the first time in exactly eight months, for the first time since the 1st CaraLucha Anniversary show.
I didn't know it at the time, and neither did Flamita, but both the Night Claw character and Flamita's AAA run as a whole will end up as a mere footnote in his already-long career, and while he may go on to assume other identities for whatever reason, he has, for the time being, returned to being Flamita. And yet, somehow, it happened that I got to see four distinct identities of his – unmasked, Flamita, Fireball, and Night Claw – in a span of 24 hours, and as ephemeral as Night Claw may have been, it's a character that I can never forget: After all, he did manage to dedicate his debut match to me before I even knew that he existed, at a show that I originally wasn't going to attend. And this probably doesn't happen if the original November 7 CaraLucha main event had been allowed to occur.
Somehow, in a strange twist of events – no, multiple twists – something as wacky as all of this actually happened. Something as innocuous as a singular first-person pronoun became a swerve. As with so many unusual things that I've experienced in lucha, the best conclusion that I can draw is that this happened because it was meant to.
And in some sense, the question of Night Claw's identity had been, for me, turned on its head. Whereas most people were trying to figure out who Night Claw was, I was actually going in the opposite direction, trying to confirm whether a specific person was Night Claw. And more importantly, I had been trying to figure out whether Night Claw was, in fact, that specific person who had dedicated his match to me the night before.
Of course, Night Claw was eliminated later on by Killshot, which took me completely out of the match mentally. But even so, that one of the best luchadors in the world dedicated his US television debut to me is something that can never be forgotten, and was a big part in keeping me on an emotional high for weeks afterward. To be honest, I'm not even sure that my brain has finished processing what happened, even some five and a half months later.
And then, at some point after Última Lucha 2, it hit me why Flamita was unmasked both during intermission and when he left the Temple the previous night: No one was supposed to know ahead of time that he was even there that weekend. Going outside masked would have attracted more attention than not and would have alerted even more people to his presence. He had worked dark matches on previous weekends in the Temple, so regulars may have had the same suspicion of Night Claw's identity, but it's obvious in retrospect that it was meant to be a well guarded secret until match time. His match dedication was an exercise in a subtle ambiguity of first-person pronouns; coming from "Flamita", "my match" was accurate only in an interpretation that breaks kayfabe, not in one that keeps it. Think for a moment about how thick the irony is for a masked luchador to do this intentionally.
Secondary to the mid-match epiphany of Night Claw's identity itself, but also a wacky turn of events, and the reason why I went through the trouble of winding the story all the way back to the previous November, was that, at that time, neither he nor I was going to be at Última Lucha 2, and were it not for his signing with AAA, I would have seen him at that November CaraLucha show, in his home venue of Arena San Juan Pantitlán in Ciudad Neza. Even when I made plans to go to Lucha Underground, it was originally for a single taping, not for Última Lucha 2, and an extraordinary amount of luck (and kindness on the part of people I met) made me able to return for the season 2 finale, where we would finally cross paths for the first time in exactly eight months, for the first time since the 1st CaraLucha Anniversary show.
I didn't know it at the time, and neither did Flamita, but both the Night Claw character and Flamita's AAA run as a whole will end up as a mere footnote in his already-long career, and while he may go on to assume other identities for whatever reason, he has, for the time being, returned to being Flamita. And yet, somehow, it happened that I got to see four distinct identities of his – unmasked, Flamita, Fireball, and Night Claw – in a span of 24 hours, and as ephemeral as Night Claw may have been, it's a character that I can never forget: After all, he did manage to dedicate his debut match to me before I even knew that he existed, at a show that I originally wasn't going to attend. And this probably doesn't happen if the original November 7 CaraLucha main event had been allowed to occur.
Somehow, in a strange twist of events – no, multiple twists – something as wacky as all of this actually happened. Something as innocuous as a singular first-person pronoun became a swerve. As with so many unusual things that I've experienced in lucha, the best conclusion that I can draw is that this happened because it was meant to.
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