Lucha Libre USA show results
April 19, 2013
Houston, Tex.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Friday night, Lucha Libre USA brought their "United We Stand" tour to a roller-rink in Southwest Houston. The venue capacity is 1,500 and the place was packed - kids who are used to skating and parents who are used to bringing their kids to the rink on a Friday night. As a result, LLUSA drew an enthusiastic crowd that was engaged in the Lucha-themed, Americanized version of wrestling from Mexico.

The show appealed to kids with colorful masks and characters and catchphrases and in-ring action. For the parents, there was plenty of humor while watching their kids scream at the heels and cheer the faces. Essentially, LLUSA's product reflected the current pro wrestling scene - there is a top-down, trickle-down effect from WWE's PG product where successful promotions are able to engage families and kids, who are future consumers.

In the ring, the first-half of the show featured wrestlers from Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion, and the Smackdown GM was backstage at the show for a brief period in support of some of his students. The second-half of the show featured LLUSA stars from Mexico.

From Booker's RWA school, Erik Lockhart was the standout wrestler of the group. Having never seen him before, I was struck by his stage presence, handling of the crowd, and ability to keep the crowd engaged throughout the opening match. He is undersized and might not be ready for a look from, say, WWE, but he has enough charisma and certainly has the "it factor" to eventually find a role in the wrestling industry on a larger stage.

On the flipside, wrestler Robbie Gilmore found his way into the main event teaming with R.J. Brewer against former NWA Hvt. champion Blue Demon, Jr. and Mexican wrestling star Solar. Unfortunately for Robbie, he did not have a good showing and struggled to fit in. Brewer, though, who inspired the character change for WWE's Jack Swagger, looks ready for the major-leagues. Perhaps a new recruit for Zeb Colter?

Overall, although there were only six matches due to a limited roster, the show flowed nicely with a mix of video packages on the roller-rink projection screen, pre-match promos, matches, and post-match antics. By the way, this report would not be complete without noting Dr. Pepper 10's sponsorship of the tour. From the moment you enter the venue until the moment you walk out, you can't miss the product placement.

If you attend a LLUSA show in your area, know what to expect. There was one match that was special in the ring - Psicosis and Super Nova delivered great Lucha action - but the show was mainly aimed at kids and families looking for a fun Friday night. Instead of watching "Nacho Libre" again on DVD, they came to see live wrestling action. And, one kid in the crowd has apparently watched "Nacho Libre" so many times that he told his dad how every match was going to play out. Future booker?

Event Results

The show started with Mini Park hosting a dance-off to get the kids engaged right from the start. LLUSA then aired a portion of a great documentary, "Tales of Masked Men," that focused on Solar to introduce him to the younger crowd before the main event.

(1) Mitch Baxter beat Erik Lockhart at 9:15. Mitch was apparently trying to channel the success of Fandango by getting the crowd to dance before, during, and after the match. Meanwhile, Erik Lockhart engaged the crowd with his heel mannersisms. Of course, this being an independent show, there was a Ric Flair main spot and Baxter calling out the name of his finishing move before executing it for the win.

(2) Dr. Pepper 10 masked wrestler beat Abel Jackson at 4:53. Abel has been around the Houston independent scene for years wrestling under different names, and was recently included in TNA's Gut Check voting. Abel beat down Dr. Pepper Guy for about four minutes, drawing concerns from the crowd. But, this is where the kid in the crowd explained the Nacho Libre booking to his dad: "He sucked at first, then he became the champion." On cue, Dr. Pepper Guy nailed a dropkick to a huge reaction, then took a swig of the Dr. Pepper 10, and finished off Abel for the win. Did I mention Dr. Pepper 10 was the sponsor of the show?

(3) Andrew Lockhart beat Cedric Pain at 9:30. Cedric's gimmick is (a) he has crazy eyes and (b) he was imported from the insane asylum. Naturally, Erik's brother was reluctant to lock up with Crazy Eyes at first. But, Andrew was able to duck a corner attack and score a quick roll-up for the win. There was plenty of stalling, which was the theme of the first and third matches, but the kids didn't mind, as it built anticipation for when the action started.

[ Intermission went 20 about 20 minutes. ]

(4) Lizmark, Jr. beat Mini Park at 8:13. Before and during the match, Lizmark did a bit with the kids shouting, "Shut up!," to which the kids were instructed to shout back, "No, you shut up!" This got the crowd involved in the match, which turned weird about six minutes in. Lizmark had Mini Park in a basic sleeperhold and Mini Park's arm dropped once, twice, and three times. It wasn't the finish, of course, and the ref wasn't sure how to handle the match still ongoing, so Park was given a second chance to show life. But, moments later, Park was supposed to bounce the ropes, but he kind of fell into Lizmark, so they went to the finish of Lizmark pinning Park for the win. Park seemed out on his feet in the final two minutes, then the ref practically dragged Park out of the ring and helped him to the back after the match. Either the greatest sales job ever to draw sympathy for the babyface in defeat or he was legit knocked out at some point in the match.

(5) Psicosis beat Super Nova at 8:18 via submission. Psicosis won with the surfboard stretch, which was great to see used as a finisher. Overall, an excellent Lucha-style, high-flying match. Both men were ready to fight on a Friday night, as JBL would say. (***)

Main event time. LLUSA champion R.J. Brewer came out first, followed by Robbie Gilmore. R.J. cut a Zeb Colter-esque promo about wanting to deport most of the audience. The last time I saw this type of promo in Houston, it was at an outdoor bullfighting venue for an NWA show and a riot broke out, leading to the main event being cancelled. This crowd was civil in voicing their displeasure for R.J.'s point of view with heavy boos.

Blue Demon and Solar were then introduced to loud cheers. Demon responded with a babyface promo in Spanish and English, and did so in a fashion that drew lots of cheers and laughs. Throughout this, R.J. asked for a translation, then Demon provided his own form of translation: photos of R.J.'s mother. This set off, R.J., who punched Demon to start the match.

(6) Blue Demon, Jr. & Solar beat LLUSA champion R.J. Brewer & Robbie Gilmore at 17:17. This was originally announced as a three-way match of Brewer vs. Demon vs. Solar for the LLUSA Title, and perhaps it should have stayed that way. Gilmore was fine at the start the supporting role for Brewer, but he found himself in the ring when they built to a hot-tag to Solar, then Gilmore killed the heat by awkwardly attacking Solar instead of feeding for him. So, they tried to get the crowd back by building to another hot tag, but Robbie re-entered the ring and didn't feed well for Demon. Solar eventually pinned Robbie, but it wasn't that triumphant "overcoming the evil heels" moment that the match had potential to deliver.

The crowd was still satisfied with the main event outcome and applauded Demon and Solar. Demon then took the mic and thanked the fans for their support. Solar added his final thoughts in Spanish to conclude the show.

Afterward, there was a VIP autograph signing with the stars of the show. A good 500 of the estimated 1,500 took up LLUSA on the offer, adding more revenue to the merchandise total for the evening.

For more details on the LLUSA Tour, visit LuchaLibreUSA.com. Also, past shows on MTV2 and the shows taped last year in Albuquerque, N.M. are currently available on Hulu.

Photo Gallery



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