Lucha Underground ran the third set of shows on their “En Vivo” tour, and fourth ever set of shows outside The Underground Temple, in Escondido on November 5th as part of the Escondido Tamale Festival. As a San Diego native I’ll admit I’d never heard of the Tamale Festival before, but I’m willing to bet they had a record attendance this year with Lucha Underground there. I’d estimate the first show had about 500 seated, and another 100 or so in a standing room only section at the start of the show. Because the show was outdoors and the sun was blazing on a couple bleacher sections, the crowd actually got a little smaller as the show went on, with some people moving to the more shaded standing section it seemed.
The setup was 4 sets of bleachers surrounding the ring. There was nothing to block people that weren’t inside the makeshift arena from watching the show, and there were people coming by and checking it out from the outside the whole time.
1st Show
The show was scheduled to let people into the seating at 11:30 and start at 12:00, but they actually didn’t start letting people in until after 12:00 because everything wasn’t set up yet. The show started about a half hour late. Melissa Santos was the ring announcer. Marty Elias was the referee for every match.
Paul London over Mil Muertes and Bestia 666
It was a treat seeing Bestia 666 on the show. He is super underrated and rarely disappoints. Catrina was not present with Mil Muertes. Muertes played the monster in the match, brushing off drop kicks and over powering both guys. Bestia and London started double teaming Muertes to try and take him down. Paul London’s Rabbit Tribe (who looked to be played by deceased Lucha Underground regulars, but since I’m not sure if that plays into upcoming storylines I’ll leave it at that in case it’s a spoiler for future TV episodes) did a run in and attacked Muertes as London hit a shooting star press on Bestia for the win.
Muertes attacked everyone after, then King Cuerno came out and took Muertes out and then cut a promo setting up his match with The Mack for later.
Drago over Aerostar
This was a back and forth match where they took turns hitting all their signature spots. It got fairly sloppy at times, but that was likely due to the conditions. It started out really good, but then they did some dives to the outside and the ground was pretty muddy and after the initial sequence on the outside it deteriorated. Drago eventually pinned Aerostar with a crucifix.
King Cuerno over Willie Mack 2 out of 3 falls
I thought this was a really good match. Mack moves so well for his size. King Cuerno looked great in this as well. If this match could have been given more time, which I understand was impossible with the setting, it could have been great. Lots of back and forth action in this after a nice build up. Mack won the first fall with a stunner, and Cuerno won the second fall with a Frankensteiner. For the third fall Mack got thrown to the outside which lead to Cuerno hitting a tope suicida and then the Thrill of the Hunt. He got Mack back into the ring and got the pin.
After the match Mil Muertes came out and laid out King Cuerno and cut a promo saying the feud between them is not over.
Next Johnny Mundo came to the ring and cut a promo on how much he loves Cricket’s (the show sponsor) unlimited text and data plans. He couldn’t even keep a straight face while cutting the promo. He did a photo op with someone from Cricket, and that ended the show.
Everyone had to exit and get back in line for the second show.
2nd Show
Because the first show was late, the second show started a little late as well, but not as bad as the first.
Ivelisse over Jack Evans
Jack Evans cut a pre-match promo about how he was the “baddest bitch in the building” and called Ivelisse “Evil Disease.” Rudo Jack Evans is so great. Jack Evans was in control most of the match. At the beginning it looked like Ivelisse took an elbow to face which dropped her in a non-wrestling bump way. There was some decent stuff in this, but quite a few botches. Ivelisse slipped on the ropes several times trying to do a springboard cross body. It could have been due to the mud on the outside though. She eventually his a Desert Eagle for the win.
After the match Ivelisse was attacked by Taya and Ricky Mandel. Paul London’s Rabbit Tribe ran in for the save. Vampiro, who said Dario Cueto gave him the authority to make matches, decided to make a trios match with all 6 wrestlers.
Ivelisse & The Rabbit Tribe (Mala Suerte & Saltador) over Jack Evans, Taya, & Ricky Mandel
I’m not sure which member of the Rabbit Tribe is which. One was in a black and white checkered outfit and the other had a mask and t-shirt on. The black and white checkered one did a lot sexual innuendos at Taya, who I thought was fantastic in the match. Everything Taya did looked great and she has such a great heel presence. Ricky Mandel looked just like Johnny Mundo and was getting “Ricky Mundo” chants. This was a fun but weird match. Paul London came out with a bunch of carrots and started rubbing carrots all over Taya. Either that is to make his Rabbit Tribe go after her, or Taya really hates carrots. I’m not totally sure. The Rabbits hit Taya with superkicks then Ivelisse hit a rolling kick on her and all three piled on top for the pin.
Angelico over Johnny Mundo in a San Diego Street Fight
Before the match Johnny Mundo said the Gift of the Gods title is not on the line and it is behind “bulletploof” glass at the temple. Melissa Santos started cracking up at Mundo’s tounge slip, which made him start laughing too and then the crowd started a “bulletploof” chant.
This was a pretty crazy match. As you’d expect in a street fight there was lots of brawling outside the ring. They were hitting each other with objects and they Angelico hit Mundo over the head with a piñata that happened to be there. Candy spilled out all over the place and kids in the crowd stormed the ring area as security tried to stop them. There were also tamales present, so tamales were also used as a weapon in the match. Taya came out to help Mundo, and after a near fall on Angelico, they beat up Marty Elias. This lead to pure chaos as nearly everyone who had been on either show did a run in at this point, including Vampiro and producer Chris DeJoseph. Marty Elias eventually woke up and did a splash to the outside on Mundo, Taya, and Ricky Mandel. The finish was Angelico doing a running powerbomb on Mundo and putting him through a table to get the pin.
Overall both shows were a really fun time and had a completely different feel than the TV tapings or the TV product. The second show was far less serious than what is normally presented on TV, but was still a really fun time. Also, as this was a tamale festival I tried a pork and a green chile chicken tamale and both were excellent as well.
