the matches
King Cuerno b Super Fly (3:27, “the thrill of the hunt” or maybe it’s “the Big Game”)
Chavo Guerrero b Fenix (5:43, frog splash)
Johnny Mundo defeated Big Ryck and Prince Puma in a $100,000 ladder match (19:34)
the developments
Danny Trejo came for the ladder match, unlike Kurt and Alfedo. They are not as tough as Machete.
Super Fly debuted. In the alternate universe of Lucha Underground, he’s still a tecnico, still part of Fuerza Aerea (who picked him to be here) and still masked. He lost to Cuerno, who’s finisher may have been renamed. Drago watched from the perch, and Cuerno looked at him while finishing off Super Fly.
Vignettes aired for Pentagon Jr. – who traveled to Japan to learn all sorts of evilness involving breaking bones – and (Brian) Cage. Cage’s was more MMA/big focused, pushing himi as heel who was different than the Mexican luchadors.
Pentagon Jr. and Sexy Star cornered their partners from last week. A Pentagon Jr. trip led to Chavo Guerrero beating Fenix. Sexy Star threatened Chavo after the match, saying Demon would be back soon. There was a dueling “Let’s go Fenix”, “Let’s go Chavo” chant.
Mundo still had the key prior to the ladder match. Ryck was not confident the ladders would support him and uneasy climbing them; Cisco & Castro got involved as much to climb the ladder for him as they were to beat up Puma & Mundo. Cisco took huge falls, including being sent off the post into two tables on the floor. Puma was taken out by being sent out of the ring and thru a table. When it seemed Mundo was gong to win, a man in a Pentagon mask ran out to stop him. It wasn’t Pentagon, but someone the announcers had scene around the Temple but could not identify. Mundo was able to fight Ryck’s goons off and get the briefcase.
Cueto demanded Mundo give him back his key. Mundo thought about it, punched Cueto, and dropped the Key on him.
All the gifs for the show are on imgur and the ten that could fit are over on tumblr.
thoughts
They did a good job of keeping the Cuerno/Drago issue going. Drago looks cool just standing there. Super Fly doesn’t seem to have a big role here but he did look good in his big dive.
Chavo Guerrero kept the young Mexican flyer from pulling off most of his exciting offense, this seems vaguely familiar. To be fair, it built well to the end with Fenix getting in some big spots, and it took Pentagon Jr. interfering to cost him the meatch. The end game here is still Demon/Chavo.
Ladder match was great. Mundo and Puma did some creative spots, Cisco and Castro took a lot of beating, and Ryck was used smartly like the Street fight. The new guy – who appears to be “Bael” (B-Boy) based on the taping results – didn’t have much of an impactful debut considering how ineffective he turned out to be, but that’s a minor grievance in a good match.
Johnny Mundo is on the lineup for the next show. That one is going to be harder to explain.
Cards on the table: I was pretty sure Cage was the guy Dario was talking to weeks ago, the guy who Dario is keeping hidden away by the key. Maybe he still is, but introducing him in the vignette suggests he may have a different role. Guess we find out together.