The long-awaited debut of Penta in WWE took place on RAW in San Jose, California Monday evening.
For weeks, we had seen Penta’s arrival being teased on WWE programming. The morning of the match, despite not officially being announced, Penta merchandise was splashed all over the company website thus confirming the worst-kept secret in the sport.
The booking for this match was terrific, as it pitted Penta against one of the company’s biggest heels (and best workers) in Chad Gable.
Penta got a massive pop from the crowd upon walking out of the curtain to the ring. The famed luchador did look a bit rusty during the match. Having said that, he did ‘wow’ the crowd with a handful of Penta-centric moves.
The most notable came when he unleashed a Mexican Destroyer (also known as a Canadian Destroyer) on Gable which is rarely seen on WWE programming. To Gable’s credit, he sold it like a total champ. The match was fast-paced, and Penta certainly took some of Gable’s offense rather than this just being an introductory squash match.
Penta ultimately won with an inverted arm breaker (‘the sacrifice’) followed by a Penta Driver. After the match, an emotional Penta took the mic and gave a few-minute promo where he toggled between Spanish and English — thanking the fans and loving the new home he now has.
As one recalls, Penta came from AEW where he rarely was given the chance to cut a promo. After a while, AEW essentially stopped using him for some unknown reason. Their loss is certainly WWE’s gain. Penta joins a roster where the prestige and heritage of Mexican wrestlers are valued. Kids were already wearing Penta masks in the crowd, and it’s quite evident he’s very over with the WWE Universe given what we saw Monday evening.
It’ll be interesting to see how Triple H books him from this point out. At the very least, WWE has a dynamic performer with a unique look and a longstanding pedigree to back it up.
