Matches
Johnny Mundo, Taya, PJ Black and Marty Martinez beat Prince Puma, Sexy Star, Cage, Fenix (5:36, Johnny Mundo fin de Mundo Prince Puma, OK)
Pentagon Dark beat Dragon Azteca for an Aztec Medallion (6:33, package piledriver, good)
Matanza beat Rey Mysterio (10:46, wrath of the gods, good)
Developments
Matanza ended Rey Mysterio. Mysterio fought, never gave up, and made some rallies, but Matanza physically dominated him for most of the match. Mysterio did not even really come close, there was never a moment where it felt like he was really going to win. Matanza looked as invulnerable as in his first appearances. Striker did try to explain Dario’s last big appearance with Rey, pushing the idea that Dario was jealous Rey was a bigger lucha libre star than he. (It still doesn’t explain why he would’ve put him in that match if he felt that way, but it’s something to run with.) Mysterio may have gotten his foot on the ropes if not for Dario shoving it away, but it might have been a favor to save Mysterio from more fruitless fighting. It didn’t save Mysterio from more destruction, with Dario directing Matanza to use a chair and the post to destroy Rey’s throat. Matanza carried Rey off at the end, and that might be the last we ever see of him.
Dragon Azteca might have attempted to make the save, if Matanza didn’t destroy him minutes earlier. Pentagon beat Azteca cleanly to win the final Aztec Medallion, then went to break Azteca’s arm once again. Matanza interrupted, leading to a tense situation with Pentagon. Pentagon bumped shoulders with Matanza while leaving, and Dario got Matanza to calm down enough to attack Azteca again. Pentagon moves onto the Gift of the Gods match. Azteca might move onto avenging his mentor, though that would seem like a totally foolish thing to do.
Speaking of foolish things to do, Prince Puma picked Cage, Sexy Star, and Fenix as his partners for the atomicos match. Picking Fenix led Johnny to bench Ricky Mandell (who’s changed his name to Ricky Mundo to unsuccessfully impress Worldwide Underground) for Marty Martinez. Sexy Star as a bad idea is obvious, and she spent most of the match with Taya. Cage had no rival on the opposite side, but was far more interested in his gauntlet than this match. Striker attempted to explain Cage was on the team because he hated Johnny Mundo too, but Cage didn’t seem to have any thoughts outside of his power glove. That became a problem when Jeremiah Crane snuck to ringside to steal the gauntlet. Cage took off after him, and the superior teamwork of the Worldwide Underground got Mundo one more win over Puma before the Ultima Lucha 3 match.
Melissa made her own foolish act, going nuts on crazy Marty with slaps after he got too close to her once again. Fenix fought Marty off after the match, but it only led to more danger next week. Dario decided Melissa will have her first match next week, teaming with Fenix to face Mariposa & Marty.
Crane stealing the gauntlet also seemed like a foolish idea. He did it to impress Catrina (which felt like we missed something; how did he know she wanted it?) Catrina acted impressed just long enough for Mil Muertes to attack Crane from behind. Catrina had the gauntlet but only for a moment before Cage grabbed her. Catrina dropped the gauntlet and watched the three men all brawl. Someone else did not: Dario Cueto snuck in and took the gauntlet back for himself.
Rest of The Season guide
announced matches; w/minor spoilers to tell you which episode has what
episode 101 (September 20):
- Mariposa & Marty the Martinez vs Fenix & Melissa Santos
episode 102 (September 27, Ultima Lucha Week 1)
- nothing announced yet
episode 103 (October 4, Ultima Lucha Week 2)
- Fenix vs Marty the Moth, mask vs hair
episode 104 (October 11, Ultima Lucha Week 3)
- Taya vs Sexy Star, falls count anywhere
episode 105 (October 18, Ultima Lucha Week 4, the end?)
- Johnny Mundo (c) vs Prince Puma, title versus career for the Lucha Underground championship
Matches teased but not Dario official:
- Gift of the Gods match (Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador, Son of Havoc, Cortez Castro, The Mack, Pentagon Dark)
- Ivelisse vs Catrina – announced at the start, not mentioned since Ivelisse was injured
- Mil Muertes vs Cage vs Jeremiah Crane, probably for the gauntlet
- Killshot vs Dante Fox
- the Mack and partners vs the Reptile Tribe for the Trios championship??
- that Famous B/Texano story is probably still happening
- Dario’s probably going to book Matanza
Thoughts
Nothing super this week, but pretty good for a show that is mostly moving people into place for the big show. I think the Anniversary number talked them into giving a bigger show than we might have otherwise gotten at this point in the cycle.
That really was the end of Rey Mysterio. There may yet be a vignette next week, Matanza carrying Rey off felt like a more definite send off might still appear. It’d be a send off though: this was the last match Rey Mysterio had in this bunch of tapings, and he wasn’t around for the next. Mundo beat Rey with a bunch of shenanigans, but it was Pentagon Dark (long ago this season) and Matanza who got the big wins over him. And this was a big win; Rey got rag dolled for most of this match, and Matanza looked more dominant against him than he did against the Rabbit Tribe. It was so one sided that I didn’t actually enjoy as much as the more competitive matches, but they told the story they wanted really well. Long conversations about how much Rey meant to this show and if he’ll be missed in a season 4 (if there is a season 4) are for another day; he was really selfless at what he needed to do in this one.
Pentagon Dark/Dragon Azteca felt like Pentagon Dark/Prince Puma, where it was warming into a really good match but never really got there before it suddenly ended. Even as Pentagon was landing the package piledriver, I was thinking about how odd they’d burn a finisher kickout there and then it turned out there was no kickout at all. I think it’s less surprising it ended up this way given how Azteca has been used on this show – and the Twitter would’ve melted down if Pentagon took another loss – but left a lot more for another match another day. The Gift of the Gods match is pretty straight forward: the Rabbit Tribe aren’t winning, Cortez isn’t winning, and if the Mack is really involved in the trios title, it leaves only Son of Havoc and Pentagon. Penta, with his threat of winning a title or breaking Dario’s arm, seems like the favorite, but that old plot thread and Son of Havoc having the chance to main event Ultima Lucha 3 and losing it is still hanging out there.
The Atomicos match leading into Ultima Lucha is a staple, but I remember the two previous ones more fondly than this one. It wasn’t just the Sexy Star thing, it was just not given a lot of time to development until the storylines took over the match. The Worldwide Underground haven’t gotten to be a team as much the second half of the tournament because of the focus on singles match, but Mundo & PJ had some good team spots and I would like to see that PJ Black/Fenix match some day. The Cage/Mil/Crane stuff all flows together, but the suddenness of Crane being bolted on this feels like maybe they were keeping him in the waiting room for some other issue that we never saw develop.