With his brother by his side, Pentagon Jr. looks to conquer the Big Apple

By Thomas Gerbasi for F4WOnline.com

Despite playing to cheering crowds around the globe, there was still one place on the map for Pentagon Jr. to conquer. On July 24th, he had his chance. And the Big Apple was ready.

“It was one of the places we wanted to wrestle in, and a lot of people from New York asked me, ‘When are you coming to New York?’ so that was also one of the things I was excited about,” Pentagon said through translator Javier Clorio. “But the reaction of the audience that day, I didn’t expect it.”

Wrestling in the main event of the Lucha Libre Promotions show at LaBoom in Queens, Pentagon was in with a familiar foe in his brother, fellow Lucha Underground star Fenix, and as expected, the two put on their usual stellar performance, delivering one of the best under the radar matches of 2016. When it was over, Pentagon got the victory, but to the fans in attendance, there were no losers.

As proof, money began flying into the ring. Not coins, but rolled up bills, and as Pentagon and Fenix acknowledged the crowd, a bag rapidly filled up with the evening’s proceeds. It was a testament to the power of wrestling to garner a reaction that you rarely see in any other venue.

“This happened to us in Mexico, and in the United States it happened in LA, it happened in Chicago, and it surprised me that it happened in New York,” he said. “But it was also very satisfying because people know that we were giving them our best. It was a sign of respect from the audience to us.”

It was old school, something that had nothing to do with Twitter followers or Instagram likes.

This Saturday, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix will be back in Queens and back at LaBoom, this time for a best two out of three falls match. Let the old school goodness continue.

“We’re excited,” he said. “The intention was to do a Mexican-style two out of three falls and we’re ready. Not only that, but the championship for the Perros Del Mal is on the line.”

When the two Mexican stars collide, it doesn’t matter whether a title is on the line, if it’s on television, or in an arena or nightclub. The chemistry is rare, and it always works.

“We both know what each other is doing and we’ve had so many matches together that that’s where the chemistry come from,” Pentagon said.

It doesn’t hurt that the two have been battling it out for as long as they’ve known each other.

“Ever since we were kids, we used to fight with each other,” Pentagon said of the siblings’ real-life origin story. “We broke three beds, we broke furniture. Our parents used to hit us because we would not sit still. And we used to wear underwear on our faces as masks.”

The 31-year-old native of Gustavo A. Madero del D.F. Mexico has come a long way since those days, with his stint on the El Rey Network’s Lucha Underground series exposing him to an entirely new audience that appreciates the intensity of the man whose motto “Cero Miedo” (Zero Fear) has taken hold, being chanted at live events and emblazoned on t-shirts.

On Wednesday’s season premiere, his clash with Rey Mysterio Jr. captivated the crowd, and with good reason. Of course, there is a price to pay for such success.

“It (life) does change,” Pentagon said. “I spend less time with my family. I try to spend as much time with them as I’m able to when I’m home, but because of the success of my career, that has changed. So I don’t spend a lot of time with my family, I don’t sleep a lot and I’ve been traveling. But that (making it big) was my objective, and it’s important to me, so those are some of the sacrifices I have to make right now.”

And when all those rough days pile up, there is still the ring, the roar of the crowd, and the ability to make people smile, boo or gasp thanks to what he does between those ropes. You can’t put a price tag on that.

“I want to leave a mark everywhere I go,” he said. “For me, the show (Lucha Underground) is important, but it’s also very important that every single show I do, even if it’s not for TV, I give it 100 percent because people are paying for a ticket, and they deserve to get an amazing show when they see me at an event.”