Matches
Matanza beat Taya by disqualification
(2:35, Johnny interference, ok)
Fenix & Mil Muertes beat Willie the Mack & Dragon Azecta Jr. in tornado tag match
(9:41, Fenix Black Fire Driver Dragon Azteca + Mil Muertes Flatliner Mack, great)
Ricky Mundo beat Famous B
(1:34, reverse neckbreaker facesmash, n/r)
Pentagon Dark beat Reklusa
(9:46, package piledriver, great)
Status Check
Champion: Marty the Moth (1 defense)
Gift of the Gods: Vacant.
Trios Champions: Reptile Tribe (Kobra Moon, Daga, Jeremiah Snake) (2 defenses)
Died This Season (15): Jeremiah Crane (casket), Fenix (casket/lifeforce absorbed), Mr. Pec-tacular (sacrificed), Cortez Castro (sacrificed), Máscarita Sagrada (murdered by Rabbits), Vinnie Massaro (sacrificed), Pizza Guy (sacrificed), Vibora (beheaded), Mala Suerte (sacrificed) , Saltador (sacrificed), Benji the Agent (murdered by Ricky), Angelico (implied to have been murdered by Ricky), Catrina (fell off a roof), Joey Wrestling (sacrificed), Jack Evans (sacrificed)
Resurrected (2): Jeremiah Crane/Snake, Fenix
Developments
Lucha Underground tends to heat up leading up into Ultima Lucha. This show nearly ended up on fire.
Reklusa got one of the toughest possible in-ring debuts, facing off against an angry Pentagon Dark. Reklusa attacked early and had some moments, but the match was more notable for the tremendous amount of punishment she took from Pentagon Dark and kept going. Reklusa seemed to have an incredible durability to keep on kicking on here, though Vampiro saw more as a failing on Pentagon’s part to put her away because he was focusing too much on the fans. (The Vampiro/Pentagon stuff has gotten played up more recently.) It was actually Reklusa who paid for interacting with the crowd, with a Cero Miedo hand signal allowing Pentagon to slip in a backcracker. The running package piledriver finally put down the spider.
Pentagon Dark teased breaking Reklusa’s arm, then changed his mind. He instead found a bag of thumbtacks from underneath the win, threatning to throw the (barely covered) Reklusa onto them. Marty Martinez made the save with a barbed wire bat, eventually cutting both Pentagon and himself with the bared wire. That wasn’t all. Reklusa retrieved some gasoline from under the ring. Marty produced a lighter. He teased lighting Pentagon on fire, only to blow out the flame just as the show ended. It was a very direct reference to Pentagon doing the same with Vampiro before their own Cero Miedo match three seasons ago.
Other issues were heating up leading to Ultima Lucha. A furious Taya returned, demanding Antonio Cueto give her Matanza so she could have revenge for her wedding be destroyed. Taya also noticed Matanza sacrificed Joey Wrestling and Jack Evans in the meantime. (Striker had a scripted point about no one having seen the sacrificed people, suggesting they’re missing but not necessarily dead.) Taya for her match and a good 30 seconds of revenge before Matanza imposed her will. Taya rallied back enough to get a near fall on a moonsault. Matanza kicked out at two and seemed about to finish things with a Wrath of the Gods when Johnny Mundo revealed he’d also returned from his wedding-related injuries. Mundo surprised Matanza, put him down with the Fin de Mundo, and challenged the monster for Ultima Lucha 4.
That wasn’t the only match set up for Ultima Lucha 4 and wasn’t the end of the post-wedding returns. Famous B appeared. He had rehabbed so hard, he was back in shape for a match. He drew the equally returning Ricky Mundo, who squashed Famous B more than Matanza squashed Taya. Ricky followed up by revealing he was the one who unleashed Matanza to break up the wedding. Ricky is sure he’ll get Johnny’s attention if Taya is no longer around, so Ricky challenged Taya for a match at Ultima Lucha. Ricky showed how far he’d go by putting Brenda in a crossface, unproven. (Big Bad Steve was namedropped but not seen.)
The only other match was an Ultima Lucha 4 preview of matches we already knew. Fenix & Mil Muertes made an unlikely team against Dragon Azteca Jr. & Willie Mack. They were also a successful team. Vampiro insisted Azteca & Mack were no challenge for Fenix & Muertes. The match made him look absolutely correct. They put up a good fight, but they were pinned at the same time by their rivals at the end. Fenix & Mil Muertes had tension at time, but worked well as a team.
Ultima Lucha 4
- Johnny Mundo vs Matanza Cueto
- Son of Havoc vs Killshot in a mask versus mask match
- Pentagon Dark vs Marty the Moth Martinez in a Cero Miedo match for the Lucha Underground Championship
- Mil Muertes vs the Mack in a Death Match
- Dragon Azteca Jr. vs Fenix in a 2 our 3 falls match
- Taya vs Ricky Mundo
Thoughts
Two really strong episodes of Lucha Underground in a row, what a world. People who are turned off by man versus woman violence may want to skip most of this episode, but I also can’t imagine you’re still watching this show if that’s enough to make you turn away.
The main event, on paper, is all the problems with intergender matches in one neat package. Pentagon Dark, the face in the feud, beats up a smaller (in weight if not height) Reklusa in violent fashion for a long period of time. It worked because this crowd is rabid for Pentagon, just insanely into anything he does, and he’s just impervious for things that might get a negative reaction for others. Reklusa got over for surviving and for looking good on offense when she could get it in. She gained much more for the epic performance than she did by taking the loss, especially given how much it took to finally beat her. There’s possibly an argument Pentagon gave up too much here, considering the lesser amount it’s taken to beat others, but it’s much harder to argue it’ll hurt Pentagon at all. Nothing seems to hurt him. The ending bit is a direct reference to the last Cero Miedo match was nicely done, especially since they left the viewers to figure it out.
There was a lot less story going on in the tag match. It still was pretty good. The action was nonstop. Dragon Azteca & Willie Mack did better in the body of the match than they were presented at the end. It’s questionable to build up Ultima Lucha matches by making them look like mismatches. (They went strongly the other way by presenting a new more serious Ricky Mundo later.) It was just a lot of fun anyway.
The other two matches were about piece moving for Ultima Lucha. It was going to take someone Johnny Mundo level to finally be a threat to Matanza, but they gave Taya her moment beforehand. Ricky Mundo versus Taya is a weird Ultima Lucha match if you think about where those characters were even a season ago, but it’s also one that I’m sure they’ll find a way to make work.
With only 3 hours of Ultima Lucha this year, the lineup looks pretty close to full. There’s obviously something left to be resolved with the Rabbit Tribe. The Gift of the Gods belt is still out there. There’s only two episodes late, so there’s a ton of Medallion matches coming or something else is up. Maybe Jake Strong figures in that because they’ve spent a lot of time on him to leave him out. There’s a few more people – Cage & Cuerno come to mind – who are without spots even with a 1/3rd of the roster killed off. I’m more curious about the plots that were big deals in season 3 and unmentioned in season 4, and if they’ll show up once again. We haven’t heard a word about The Order since episode 1, and the gauntlet hasn’t been mentioned since soon after (though we know there’s at least one more vignette on that to come.) The matches are not a mystery, but the existence of the old mysteries are mysteries in themselves.
Four episodes to go.