Matches
King Cuerno vs Mil Muertes (4:32, head into the chair + inside cradle w/tights pull, good)
Prince Puma beat Dragon Azteca (8:44, 630 senton, great)
Johnny Mundo beat Fenix (7:47, belt shot, great)
Developments
The last show before Ultima Lucha Dos was mostly about firming up the last few matches, as well as previewing some of the bigger ones.
Four matches were added to round out the UL2 card. Two were made outside of matches. Dario is pitting Ivelisse and Taya against each other to determine who’s the baddest…woman in the Temple. (Catrina, who certainly might have an argument for that honor, had a brief run-in with Ivelisse after. They’re still not friends.) A quick in-ring segment set up a Unique Opportunity Tournament with Texano, Cage, Son of Havoc and the Mack – the four people of note who hadn’t yet been assigned a match. We don’t know how the tournament works, only the winner gets the biggest Unique Opportunity ever.
King Cuerno and Mil Muertes will also be fighting at Ultima Lucha, after a less than clean result in their match tonight. (Of note, Striker believes this feud goes back to Catrina costing Cuerno a match against Siniestro, while we know it’s been a season long story.) Muertes shrugged off a chairshot to the head, but knocked himself silly by spearing a chair in the corner, and Cuerno used the ropes to get the win. Dario initially refused Catrina’s demand for a rematch – citing the entire first half of this season as a reason – but when Catrina upped it to a Death Match, Dario was seduced by the prospect of violence.
The main event furthered the final match to be included. A trios title defense, Mundo/Evans/Black (now Worldwide Underground) against Fenix/Aerostar/Drago was announced at the start of the show, and the biggest stars of each team faced off. Fenix and Johnny Mundo never had faced in a singles match before, which is a shame because this was pretty good. An even battle saw Fenix have a real shot at a win via top rope Spanish Fly disrupted by Taya taking the referee. Mundo took his trios belt, and took out Fenix with a shot to the head for the win. Jack & PJ came to the ring for an impromptu “stomp on Fenix” party. Drago & Aerostar tried to make the save, but it was really Ivelisse spearing Taya which turned the tide.
The middle match was between former trios champions Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca. The third member of the trio, Rey Mysterio, coached on Azteca from ringside. This was easily Azteca’s best performance since his debut at Aztec Warfare, but it was not enough to beat Prince Puma. Puma and Misterio had a tense confrontation leading into their match. (Vampiro hinted at the parallels between Rey & Azteca and himself & Pentagon, which might be something important later.)
Thoughts
This was an excellent show. Muertes/Cuerno was the weakest match, but it’s also one that would’ve been one of the better matches on another show. It’s also one where they seemed to be holding back a bit since they’re coming back for the rematch pretty quick, but showed enough that match should be exciting. I’m not exactly sure what a Death Match will mean in the context of Matanza murdering people on the regular, but the in-ring part has great potential.
Prince Puma versus Dragon Azteca Jr. had cross purposes: Puma’s got to stay rolling to into facing Rey, but Dragon Azteca is teetering on the edge of relevance and needed a strong performance to establish himself more firmly. (No offense to Black Lotus, but that’s obviously got to be a storyline match.) This was that match, this was Azteca coming off the level of where Fenix was when he debuted, a talented guy who can push the top guys very far and only needs to get a little bit better to be a top guy. And still Prince Puma looked like a million dollars in this match at the same time, while working a bit more arrogantly to set up the dynamic against Rey next week. The build up that match didn’t need a turn or a big angle to make it work, the little moments have built the tension fantastically.
Striker make a point about how Fenix isn’t the same guy as he came into the temple. I’m reluctant to agree with Striker, but it kind of felt right in this match: I’m not sure the Fenix of 18 months ago has a match this solid and still spectacular with Johnny Mundo as this one did. There were so many great looking spots, and they built to the big moves at the end really well. This match, plus four other people, sounds like an outstanding idea.
Even beyond the matches on this week’s show, they really got me excited for the next few weeks. Most everything seems like a big deal or a really promising match or even both. This is a good looking card with a good build to it, and a really strong go home show to build it up.
Ultima Lucha Dos (7/6 & 7/13 & 7/20)
- Pentagon Jr. vs Matanza (c) for the Lucha Underground Championship
- Aerostar, Fenix, Drago vs Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, PJ Black (c) for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship
- Rey Mysterio vs Prince Puma
- Night Claw, Daga, Marty the Moth, Killshot, Siniestro de la Muerte, Mariposa, Sexy Star in a Gift of the Gods championship match
- King Cuerno vs Mil Muertes in a death match
- Taya vs Ivelisse
- Dragon Azteca Jr. vs Black Lotus
- Texano, Son of Havoc, Cage and the Mack in the Unique Opportunity Tournament (winner gets a unique opportunity)
