Current Watch List:

• Bael, Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco vs Aerostar, Argenis, Súper Fly (Lucha Underground)
• Fénix vs Mil Muertes (Lucha Underground)
• Prince Puma (c) vs. Cage for the Lucha Underground Championship (Lucha Underground)
• Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey (WWE NXT)
• Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake vs. Lucha Dragons (c) for the NXT Tag Team Championship (WWE NXT)
• Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd (WWE NXT)

Matches Watched:

Fénix vs Mil Muertes
Lucha
Lucha Underground

Is Ricky Banderas the only guy in wrestling currently working three different gimmicks (El Mesias in AAA, Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground, Ricky Banderas in Puerto Rico) in (more than) three different promotions?  Okay, El Mesias and Banderas are basically the same gimmick, but still.   This was a feature mach for Muertes and he looked really good.  His power offense was simple but sharp.  Fenix bumped hard for him like you would expect.  Fenix got the flash pin for the win after getting in almost no offense before hand.  I didn’t love the finish.  The match was so effective at showcasing Muertes and the finish didn’t to much for anyone.  Okay match nonetheless.

Bael, Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco vs Aerostar, Argenis, Súper Fly
Lucha
Lucha Underground

Super Fly is a great rudo and that’s probably where he should eventually end up in this promotion, but he’s gotten over as a good guy.  His Moonsault from the top to the floor at the opening was beautiful.  Great flying all around from the tecnicos to start.  Not unexpected.  Aerostar’s plancha off of Agenis’ shoulders while both were on the top was a great spot.  The Crew had a couple of cool triple teams of their own in there.

Lucha Underground does a stronger job than perhaps any promotion going now in terms of effectively featuring a large number of wrestlers.  The Crew feels like a such a throwaway gimmick with mediocre wrestlers but they are booked in the right role and execute well.  This was a lot of fun.  Exactly what it should have been.

Prince Puma (c) vs. Cage
Lucha
Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground Championship

Good match.  Better than the Puma/Fenix title match, I thought.   Cage has been better in LU than he is on the indies because for the most part, he is playing straight up monster rather than the agile big guy routine he goes with more often than not elsewhere.  Ricochet’s speciality kicks were iffy here which is a usual problem for him.  Everything else though was sharp.  Cage’s offense looked good, but the moonsault felt a bit out of place.  Loved the finish with Cage seeing the match slip away so he fouled Puma in front of the referee to get disqualified.  Perfect.  Konan’s post-match blade job on the belt shot was nasty.  It made cage look great and elevated the Puma/Cage issue to another level.  Solid wrestling, strong booking.

Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey
United States
WWE NXT

Bit of a wasted match, I thought.  Corbin and Dempsey have been feuding so I expected something more than a 2-3 minute match.  They tried to sell the idea that they were throwing bombs and going head on which is why the match ended so quickly, but the execution was lacking.  None of the strikes were good which are sort of essential in a match like this.  Two big monsters colliding in a quick 3 minute match can work, but they did not pull it off.

Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake vs. Lucha Dragons (c)
United States
WWE NXT
NXT Tag Team Championship

I don’t get Murphy & Blake or the way their push is being handled.  This is two big wins in a row for them.  They didn’t get much in the way of offense in either match and when they did, it didn’t look too impressive.  They are trying to do the upstart tag team push with them where they promote the idea that the team has potential but their wins are just eeked out.  They are kind of being booked like the 2012 Baltimore Orioles without all the talk about “luck” (but maybe that’s coming).  The Lucha Dragons were going nowhere so the title switch is fine but Murphy and Blake are nothing special.  Kalisto and Neville should be on the main roster as a high flying tag team because they are what they are at this point.  Sin Cara is stale.

Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd
WWE NXT
NXT Tag Team Championship

Nevillle and Kidd had a decent match.  Thought they did a decent job laying a foundation in the opening and slowing it down.  Strong headlock work – they really grinded them in.  Neville has impressed me recently with his ability to slow things down in an effective manner.  I thought that element he brought was what made the Zayn match work so well last November.  At the same time, he’s not going to get over on the main roster by his ability to work a nice a headlock so its kind of moot.  The ending stretch wasn’t much.  I am totally fine with the solid but pedestrian opening this match had but when that happens, at some point the match needs to step up a level or so.  This match never did.  Fine but forgettable.