Watch this match here.
Was it a MOTYC?
Yes
Why or Why Not?
Oh my lord. Grave Consequences is essentially a casket match but Lucha Underground manages to elevate the concept through their exquisite presentation and the talented performers in the ring. Before the opening bell there is the entrance of the casket with an intricate design resting upon it being wheeled out by people dressed in their Day of the Dead, Día de Muertos, garb where you feel you are sitting at the gate of the underworld. It isn’t a spectacle in the sense of a WrestleMania entrance but in the confines of the show, Lucha Underground, it creates an intangible atmosphere. Even Fenix’s black outfit added to the theme of death that loomed over the Lucha Underground Arena.
The match is a visceral experience that you do not get often in the states nor this day in age honestly. There were classic elements of a lucha brawl present which can take you aback at first. You may expect a rough and tumble match from Muertes but they far beyond that. There was not only blood but there was passion. Muertes in this match reminds you that he was a part of two of the most violent brawls in lucha in the past 5 years. He came off like a man fully desiring to relish in Fenix’s suffering. Muertes’s tearing of the mask is pure rudo but ramps up in this environment. Not only did he bash Fenix’s head in with the turnbuckle hook but Muertes would bite into Fenix’s bloody wound and spit the blood into the direction of the fans. Every clubbing blow he delivered felt like something that could not be matched by anyone within the Lucha Underground universe. Part of that is due to the selling and bumping of Fenix. From the way he laid prone after diving into the casket to him bouncing off the same casket on a suplex was a sight to behold. As Muertes slams Fenix’s skull into the steal railing, Fenix being willing to slam himself into things headfirst became a common occurrence, you almost feel the life emptying from his body. It becomes almost difficult to watch at a point as you see Fenix staring at the referee through blood and torn mask telling the referee that he will not be giving up. Fenix’s offense, though minimal, came off timely and rarely felt rushed except for a moonsault down the stretch that probably wouldn’t have stood out if he hadn’t done such a fantastic job prior. The climax comes off hokey but I would not use the word bad. It may have felt rushed but at the same time, Fenix’s gameplan was built around high risk bombs where if they didn’t put away the monster then he would yet again be met with a crushing blow. Plus, the finishing move looked particularly brutal.
In the end the match felt like all things I could hope from Lucha Underground. The presentation was stellar and the wrestling felt perfectly lucha. There was the narrative being portrayed that perfectly fit the action and then there was the metanarrative of an older school of lucha, represented by Mil Muertes, versus a newer school of lucha, represented by Fenix. From beginning to end it is top shelf stuff.
Star Rating: ****1/2
Was it a MOTYC?
YES!
Why or Why Not?
This was a fantastic match featuring a performance from Mil Muertes that was on the level of 2015 Brock Lesnar and stadium show-Shinsuke Nakamura. His destruction of Fenix in this match was both methodical and electric. He was ruthless in every meaning of the word. I must now seek out more of his work.
The casket gimmick was appropriately secondary in this match to the actual brawl. There’s not much believable drama to be milked from “casket closing teases,” and I was grateful that they structured this to just be a wild brawl that happened to end with the casket being closed.
Finally, as someone who tends to be cynical about heavily post-produced wrestling shows (scarred for life from The Underground), I have to give this match even more props for overcoming the sterile environment of LU. This match proves that great performances can overcome basically any environment.
Watch this match as soon as you can.
Match Rating: ****1/4
Match of the Year 