Lucha Brutal Closes 2019 In Style

Dallas-based wrestling promotion Lucha Brutal closed its freshman year in style on Nov. 14, putting together its strongest card to date and crowning its inaugural champion. I’ve had the privilege of attending most of the fledgling brand’s events over the last year, watching the crowds grow steadily as the wrestlers, officials, commentators and ring crew build followings of their own.

This night held a special place in the hearts of all who attended, but most of all for Lucha Brutal’s promoter and head of creative Rogelio Martinez. He spoke briefly before the show telling all in attendance that this event was doubling as the Maggie Martinez Memorial Show, as many of Martinez’ family and favorite wrestlers were in attendance. Maggie, the older sister of the promoter, passed in April of 2017. Dedicating her life to caring for others, she worked in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a neonatal nurse. Martinez credits her with igniting his love for professional wrestling.

“The Winner Takes It All” kicked off with an open challenge from Phoebe, a staple of the local women’s wrestling scene. Phoebe stated that she would fight anyone and everyone; all they had to do was come down to the ring. She may have bitten off more than she could chew, as former Ring of Honor competitor and current indie darling Hollidead answered the challenge. Flanked by her former RoH tag team partner and current National Wrestling Alliance competitor Thunder Rosa, Hollidead made short work of Phoebe.

The second contest saw Will Allday face GPA (both Reality of Wrestling alumni) with Allday securing the victory after a hard-fought contest. Next up was Wrestle Circus alum Prince Adam taking on fellow alum Jordan Len-X in a high-flying, lucha libre exhibition. (My favorite match of the night.) Prince Adam is truly a wonder to watch live. From top rope, high impact offense to throwing himself into a dive and popping up seconds later to scream, “I’m alive,” he is a uniquely entertaining performer. Unfortunately, being entertaining was no match for Jordan Len-X’s hard-nosed style.

Following Jordan’s win, the currently injured ASF made his way to the ring to reveal that he had previously negotiated a title opportunity of his choosing at a time of his choosing. This raised the ire of Jordan, who argued that ASF had been injured for months and therefore, was not deserving of a title shot. Jordan vowed to ring announcer and executive director Brad Allred that he would be sure to handle the situation on his own since the office isn’t willing to.

ASF was in the house and despite exchanging some words with Brad afterwards, he was given what was promised to him, the golden ticket, a Lucha Brutál championship match!
📸: @gregteg_photo (seriously, he’s great, book him) pic.twitter.com/GbvhyJA5Sf
— Lucha Brutál (@LuchaBrutal) November 15, 2019

Metroplex Wrestling’s Ian Rayne collided with fellow MPX mainstay Dave Sagan, accompanied by his manager and head of Nasty Co., Nastico. The match seemed to be all but secured in the sadistic hands of Ian Rayne until a run-in by Jordan Len-X turned the tide in the favor of Nasty Co. and Dave Sagan. The distraction was all that Sagan needed to capitalize and pin the larger competitor. Following Sagan’s victory, Nastico announced that Jordan Len-X was the newest member of the Nasty Co.

The next bout saw ROW star The Mysterious Q defend his New Texas Pro Wrestling Championship against challenger Rocket Boy Wilson. This was a hard-hitting, high octane match with barely a second for the crowd to rest, let alone the competitors. Q was able to outlast Rocket Boy to scratch out a win and retain his championship.

Sexy Life (Former Fun and Sexy member Baby D and former Real Life member Tommy Becker) defended the Intergender Tag Team Titles against The Latin Renaissance (RoW and MLW star Gino and RoW and SHIMMER star Hyan) and Sea Stars (SHIMMER and Sabotage Wrestling Tag Team Champions Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) in a triple threat tag team match. After interference by former Fun and Sexy member Phoebe, The Latin Renaissance picked up the pin on Tommy Becker to take the titles off the odd couple.

Then came the Lucha Brutal debut of Brian Cage. The Impact Wrestling star battled local wunderkind “Cowboy” Chandler Hopkins mere days before his AAA debut in Mexico. Hopkins showed all in attendance that he will soon be a household name, while building an impressive onslaught against the former IMPACT World Champion. Unfortunately for Hopkins, experience played a key role in the match as Cage was able to capitalize on a small mistake to get the win.

The main event saw Fuego Del Sol face Chris Cruz after a yearlong tournament for the title. Fuego and Cruz proved over the course of nearly 40 minutes why they had surpassed all other comers. This match was fast-paced and with no end in sight. Ultimately, Cruz emerged victorious.

After the match, Martinez presented Cruz with the title and spoke about what it meant to see him win at his sister’s memorial show. (Cruz’ day job is an ER nurse.) It was truly a night to remember and a great primer for the many years of competition to come.