Tag: Lucha Underground recap

the matches

Johnny Mundo defeats Alberto el Patron (fin de mundo, 13:35, great)
Pentagon Jr. defeats Vampiro (rock bottom thru table on fire, 11:08, good)
Fenix wins the Gift of the Gods (Fire Driver on Jack Evans, 12:03, great)
Blue Demon Jr. defeats Texano Jr. (pinfall, 3:00, below average)
Mil Muertes defeats Prince Puma to win the Lucha Underground Championship (super flatliner, 17:39, excellent)

49 gifs can be seen here.

developments

A few!

Johnny Mundo and Alberto el Patron has much more of a brawl this time around, with literal dirt being thrown in faces. After a long even fight, Mundo knocked out the referee with a kick. (No referee was calling a DQ on this show.) Alberto put Mundo in the armbar and Mundo taped, but there was no ref to count it. Mundo eventually slipped free. Alberto tried the armbar again over the ropes, but it was broken up by Melina. Mundo landed the Fin de Mundo for the win. Mundo & Melina made out in the ring until an enraged Alberto broke it up. Alberto smashed Mundo’s face into the glass window of a door (replacing the one Mack & Cage broke last week), gaining revenge for Mundo’s similar act and blooding Mundo badly. Melina tried to break it up, but instead was spanked by Alberto.

Pentagon Jr. almost beat AntiPope Vampiro very quickly, destroying him with chair shots. Vampiro rose from a stretcher to continue, and the two had an insane thumbtack and light tube filled brawl. Vampiro appeared to be imperious to pain at various points Vampiro brought a table and fire into play, but it was he who went thru it courtesy of a bloody and ripped Pentagon. Pentagon demanded his Master reveal himself as a reward for his win. Vampiro instead revealed he was Pentagon’s master all along, even unknown to Pentagon. Pentagon did not question this, and immediately bowed down at Vampiro’s feet.

The Gift of the Gods was a crazy seven person match which included a more than seven people. An obsessed Marty ran into the ring and attacked Sexy Star at one point, but tapped out to La Mistica. (Sexy Star disappeared from the match after taking Big Ryck’s urange.) DelAvar Daviari surprisingly attacked Big Ryck, possibly for Ryck’s failures of late. Fenix put an end to the craziness with a Fire Driver on Jack.

Blue Demon Jr. is now an aging legend, near the end of his career willing to do anything to hold on and was not residing in South Beach. The announcers pushed the idea that Demon was a guy lived off his family’s name, while Texano (Jr.) had surpassed his father. The match, made no DQ, saw Texano dominate until Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro got involved. Chavo Guerrero ran in as if for an incredibly unlikely save, until to instead ally with Demon and attack Texano. (The announcers emphasized the symbolism of Chavo attacking Demon way back in episode 2, then helping him here.) Demon ended up with an easy iwn.

Konnan was not present for the Prince Puma/Mil Muertes match, still removed from the board after the attack in earlier episdoes. Catrina was there, but was actually used as a weapon by Prince Puma in her only physical interference in the match. The Puma match against Mil Muertes had aspects of Mil’s other post return matches, with a fair amount of brawling around ringside, but it also had a lot of in-ring fighting as well. Muertes escaped the first 630 attempt, landed the second but Muertes kicked out, and missed a third. Muerte seemed to have the win with a Flatliner, but Puma kicked out. Puma went to the top again, but was pulled off in a super Flatliner for the title change. Mil, Catrina and The Disciples of Death stood in the ring together with all the belts to end the season.

Dragon Azteca did make it into the Temple to save Black Lotus, but it was too late. Dario Cueto walked in before Azteca could free Lotus, and noted their deal (?) meant Dragon Azteca would forfeit his life if he stepped foot in Dario’s Temple. Dario teased using the cage to free Matanza, and Dragon Azteca begged him to stop. Dario did, because it was a fake out – Black Lotus grabbed Dragon Azteca from behind and choked her one-time mentor out. Dragon Azteca told Lotus not to believe Dario, but Lotus instead gave Azteca the heart punch to the back, apparently killing Dragon Azteca. Dario freed Lotus, who now planned to leave this all behind, but Dario warned Lotus she started a war and only Dario could protect her. Lotus reluctantly agreed. Dario said they’d need a new Temple, and unlocked Matanza’s cage (with the Key) as they all perepared to flee.

The show closed with a scared Dario and Lotus cleaning out the cash, papers, and red bull from his office and leaving in a hurry. They were last scene escaping in a truck, pulling a horse carriage – where Matanza was breifly glimpsed inside.

Other characters also got individual epilogues.

• Fenix left in a firebird (car), being stalked by King Cuerno in his truck.
• Marty Martinez, more crazy than we’ve seen him before, threatened an apparently kidnapped Sexy Star that “you won’t like me when you meet my sister”
• Angelico, Son of Havoc and Ivelisse vowed to win the trios championships back before driving off on motorcycles (Ivelisse and Havoc together.)
• Aerostar and Drago shared an intense handshake before exiting the temple. Drago again appeared to turn into flame as he flew away, and Aerostar blasted off like a rocket.
• Pentagon asked his master where they were going now, and Vampiro told him it was a dark place.
• the white hoodie character was seen putting on the Dragon Azteca mask, and spray painting a question mark on the Lucha Underground billboard.

The season ended with the lights coming down on the Temple as Dario looked pained, then smirked.

thoughts

A fantastic finale. There were four strong matches, and an even stronger finale few minutes. We still don’t totally know if Dario was lying to Black Lotus, but we sure know she belives it. We even got a little hint on the behind the scenes of season 2: the Lucha Underground Temple we knew is the past, and they’ll be somewhere new next year. The question mark on the Lucha Underground sign struck people as a clear Rey Mysterio Jr. teaser during the filming. It may end up that way, but it seemed to be more about the mystery of where Lucha Underground would be next.

Michael Schiavello was the fill-in for Vampiro and did well in the role. It’s a different mix than Vampiro, but Schiavello was very prepared. He knew the characters, knew the backstory, and seemed as excited about the show as someone who’d watched the season to this point. It’d be strange, though not imposible, for Vampiro just to flip back to being Ian the Wacky Announcer after tonight’s match and Schivello would be fine in the role.

I assume Hugo’s calling the two hours on his own on Unimas. I hope he made it one piece.

Puma/Muertes was an epic title match. It had a good amount of brawling into the crowds, and super natural characters, but it also felt the most like something which would fit at Wrestlemania among all the matches on this how. It’d be the main event, a pretty strong main event, and they didn’t really kick out of finishers enough to be a recent WWE match, but they did pretty much everything else. Prince Puma looked incredible in this match, and Mil’s done the best possibly the best work of his career in this run. This match might not be placed above Grave Consequences, and Puma/Mundo might be the better Puma title match, but it also might not be. I could see it either way. It’s worth rewatching easily.

Mundo/Alberto was a great hate filled match which took surprising advantage of the dirty scummy nature of the temple. (Both men could’ve used a shower about 3 minutes in.) It’s a little hurt from being a out of control brawl on a show with a lot of out of control brawling, but it felt superior to their previous match up until the finish shenanigans. Crowd reacted well to Melina’s return, but having Johnny win and then be destroyed by Alberto was very 50/50. It’s a tough spot – Johnny’ just turned, Alberto needs to get revenge if he’s a top guy, and maybe the indecisive nature of the finish will set up a rematch in season 2. I don’t know what’s the blow off stip for putting faces thru glass – maybe it’s first blood, maybe Pentagon has some scarier ideas.

The Gift of the Gods match was last never ending chain of spots match to end the season on. Just a cacophony of moves by everyone. I think this did more for Bengali than any match he’s had so far, just looking spectacular on his giant tornillo. Aerostar has climbed to a lot of high places and jumped off them all this year. Cuerno got in his tope one more time. Jack didn’t seem to get as much time as everyone else, but he looked good in what he did. The match was built around a surprising amount of Big Ryck early on, and the urange on Sexy Star looked rough. (In real life, it’s said she was hospitalized. No idea what happened, but it looked like he didn’t do much to protect her at all on the move.) They tried to do the big guy fending off a lot of little guys bit with him, and there was some mixed success. The ending sequence with Fenix & Jack Evans was superb. This was the third different single elimination 4+ man match Fenix’s won this season (pre-Aztec Warfare & for the Medallion, plus also the three way in his debut), which feels like it should be a thing. On the tapings, they had done more teasing a Big Ryck/Davairi issue than had made the screen, and it really felt random. Marty at least is random, so his actions make as much sense as ever. Similarly, they teased Cuerno versus Fenix when the show was filmed, but only the briefest glance made air at the end of this match. The ending vignette made up for it.

Pentagon & Vampiro was less enjoyable for me than most because I was unhappy about how much it much it was about Vampiro – like, almost all about Vampiro’s heart for continuing, for taking the shots and for being tough enough to keep going. It makes sense for Striker to call it that way, Vampiro’s been at his side for the last eight months, but the point of this felt should’ve been to make Pentagon and instead he was a lesser part of his own match. I want to see Pentagon as a top guy, not as guy falling at his knees to salute someone else. This may be the long road to get to that point, but there’s still a while to travel. The match itself was the sort of insanity seen in the Mexican hardcore feds, with Pentagon pulling out the same gouging technique he used on Arez on Vampiro’s forehead this time. Vampiro’s zombie like no-selling worked for his character in this match and definitely worked for the crowd. The match itself was as strong as it could’ve been, and stronger than would’ve been expected, but it’s also something I don’t want to see more than once a year.

Demon/Texano was the weakest match by far. All the character stuff they threw in with Blue Demon and the suit wearing Crew was great, but the problem is it’s still Blue Demon in the ring and that’s not much. A Demon & Chavo union against Texano is the least interesting teaser for season 2. Chavo & Demon being part of the on screen part of the show made a certain amount of sense for season 1, when they were potentially recognizable faces to new viewers (and new investors) regardless of what they had to offer, but a season 2 wouldn’t seem to need those sort of crutches – or, maybe the given the state of things, they need more of those.

The epilogue was fantastic. It wrapped up a lot, gave a few needed teases (we had to see a glimpse of Matanza and we did) and it did a great job of setting up mysteries for the future. CHIKARA’s done bits like this at the end of their seasons with mysteries set up, but we got a bit of conclusions and a bit of spacemen blasting off to parts unknown.

I don’t know where Aerostar is headed. I don’t where any of this is headed. I hope we see each other again when we get there.

matches

Cage defeated the Mack in a falls count anywhere match (7:42, curbstomp thru a concrete block, GREAT)

Trece, Barrio Negro, Siniestro de la Muerte [O] defeated Angelico, Son of Havoc, Ivelisse [X] (c) to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship (6:19, pinfall, OK)

Drago defeated Hernandez in a Believer’s Backlash match (8:46, top rope splash, good)

developments

Black Lotus related story book-ended the show. The show began with Lotus revealed to still be in a cell, working out in preparation of freedom it doesn’t look like she’ll ever get. Dario Cueto checked up on her, and relayed quite a bit of plot. Lucha Underground isn’t the first experience his family has had with combat sports: his father made his money in underground fightning, using Matanza “the Monster” Cueto as his fighter. Dario also claimed it wasn’t Matanza who killed Lotus’ parents, but Dragon Azteca himself. (Black Lotus’s father led a triad in Hong Kong, who were at war with Dragon Azteca’s mercenaries, and set this all up for the irony of using one enemies’ daughter to kill another.) Lotus seemed like she might believe Dario’s story.

Dragon Azteca showed up at the temple to close the show, but was prevented in from a mystery man in a white hoodie. (The white hoodie guy was taller than Dragon Azteca and appeared to be light skinned.) Dragon Azteca blamed himself for Lotus being captured, White Hoodie told him Puma had freed Lotus once and could do it again, but Dragon Azteca said Puma had other things to do now. White Hoodie offered to do it himself, but Dragon Azteca insisted on doing it himself. The White Hoodie warned ‘the prophecy’ said Dragon Azteca would die if he entered the temple. Dragon Azteca said he may die, but “El Dragon Azteca” would never die.

A lot less plot in the matches, which were just good matches where people won or didn’t win. There’s nothing you need to know from Cage and Mack, besides Mack has a good Stone Cold impression. There’s nothing you’d be surprised by in Hernandez and Drago: the lumberjacks all refused to attack Drago and very enthusiastically attacked an overwhelmed Hernandez. Angelico made his big leap in the trios title match, but the match turned on the stone. Catrina used the mystical power of the stone to raise her team from death (or semi-consciousness), and she used the physical aspect of it being a STONE to whack Ivelisse in the head to set up the win.

Ultima Lucha matches remaining

Prince Puma (c) faces Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground championship
Alberto del Rio versus Johnny Mundo
Fenix vs Sexy Star vs Aerostar vs Big Ryck vs Jack Evans vs King Cuerno vs Bengala for the Gift of the Gods
Pentagon Jr. vs Vampiro in a Cero Miedo match
Texano Jr. versus Blue Demon Jr.
(they also taped a battle royal; the commercial for next week indicated it’ll air.)

thoughts

Cage dropped down a little bit after his really big start. Most of that has come on the two losses to the Mack. This win, and how it came about, should raise him right back up and maybe bring Mack with him. Both guys looked outstanding, destroying each other and any door that happened to be in the way. The beer bash was hilarious and the cinderblock finish looked brutal, and this was a really good start to UltimaLucha.

LU is not most wrestling promotions, so this may be a vast coincidence, but the original story of LU letting Hernandez amicable leaving the promotion after season one made complete sense. Hernandez had a title program, lost to a midcard, and really didn’t have any direction left for him in Season 2. This didn’t have to be it, but it wouldn’t cause any problems if it was it. But then everything had to get messed up.

It’s pretty cruel the match where Angelico, Son of Havoc and Ivelisse won the trios titles also may have ended their reign. Ivelisse still hadn’t gained any mobility back at this point – in real time, she just starting wrestling again this past week – and even limping over to face off against Catrina look like immense struggle. The tornado rules allowed the Angelico dive to happen organically, but it also made this match a harder to take seriously competitive. (The numbers didn’t feel as overwhelming in the ladder match, for whatever reason. It felt like it hard more form to it.)

The Disciples sharp new masks looked great. Striker really emphasized the power of the stone, telling us how Catrina raising the stone raised them up, and Catrina dropping the stone made them drop. He said all this, but we mostly just saw Catrina during it. I don’t mind looking at Catrina, but it was very odd we didn’t see the Disciples actually doing those things (which seemed to be actually happening, but off camera.) I do enjoy the stone as a punching people device.

The strap match is now obviously the end for Hernandez, but it didn’t seem as clear as a ending for him as I had pictured. He still got to look strong, he still got to escape Drago’s cradle, he could’ve come back pointing out he had the numbers way against him (and maybe that inspires him to start a trio or something.) It still does work as an end, and it worked as the match. The lumberjacks did not hold back at all, didn’t seem nervous, and appeared totally dedicated to their job of strapping Hernandez just as hard as they possible could. I don’t know if this match was Hernandez’s idea or someone else’s idea, but Hernandez seemed to pretty much regret the idea after just the first time out. It was some good relief in the match and it set up Drago’s comeback well. I don’t think that match works nearly as well without the lumberjacks out there and maybe that’s a first time ever thing for a lumberjack strap match.

Progression, even sometimes confusing progression, is a welcome sight. I’m not sure who the white hoodie man is, but I’m guessing he’ll end up being the new Dragon Azteca by the time next week is up. Saying the Cueto’s were involved in underground fighting actually weirdly grounds Matanza and this whole storyline more to reality (or at least comic back reality?) more than it has in the past. That’s a good thing. They moved the story far enough along that it feels like they get a good conclusion out of it, though I also suspect it’s something intended to carry into season 2.

matches

Texano Jr. defeated Johnny Mundo (5:50, DQ when the Crew ran in, GOOD)
The Mack defeated Cage (0:42, corner sunset flip, OK)
Fenix regained his Aztec Medallion (OK)

• Ricky Mandell eliminated (0:42, thrown by Famous B)
• Argenis eliminated (0:53, thrown by Famous B)
• Killshot eliminated (1:50, shoved off the top by DelAvar Daivari)
• Vincenzo Massaro eliminated (2:34, stunner by DelAvar Daivari)
• Super Fly eliminated (2:47, monkey flip by Mascarita Sagrada)
• Mascarita Sagrada eliminated (2:47, self elimination)
• Famous B eliminated (3:30, slid out by DelAvar Daivari & Marty Martinez)
• DelAvar Daivari eliminated (4:01, by Fenix)
• Fenix pinned Marty Martinez (“huracanrana” 7:09)

17 gifs from the show

developments

The mystery of the medallions was finally explained on this show. Dario Cueto explained the seven medallion holders would fight at Ultima Lucha for a new belt, the Gift of the Gods. The holder of the belt can challenge for the Lucha Underground championship at any time, though they must inform Dario to give him at least a week to promote it. (“No cash-ins.”) The belt can be defended and the title shot can change hands. The medallions come back off the belt once it’s used, and begin being handed out again to repeat the process.

Six luchadors stepped in to attach their medallions to the belt. (Magnets!) Jack Evans, Aerostar, King Cuerno, Sexy Star, Bengala and Big Ryck all placed their medallions on the belt. Ryck was given his Medallion earlier in the show, as part of Dario trying to patch up their relationship. (Big Ryck also took some money.) Fenix was not there, with Dario happily noting Fenix had been destroyed by Mil Muertes.

Dario announced a battle royal (with the final two going to pinfall/submission) to determine the new holder of the Medallion. Fenix came out before Dario went any farther. He did not get the Medallion back, but did get placed in the battle royal – which he won, against some of the lower ranked LU competitors. No one quite explained why Fenix was late.

Dario had a busy night. He explained Ultima Lucha would in fact begin next week. (The August 5th show remains two hours; they’re expanding it.) Cage versus the Mack will be added to that show in falls count anywhere match, after Mack’s flash pin over Cage led to them brawling around the arena and laying out security. Dario promised to put any stray item he had laying around at ringside so they could use it too.

That wasn’t all for Dario: he informed Hernandez that the Lucha Underground fans on Twitter hated him. Hernandez wasn’t concerned until Dario decided to let those fans participate. Next week’s match will be a lumberjack strap match with the fans as lumberjacks (“Believer’s Backlash”.) Hernandez main concern was Dario having good insurance, suggested he wouldn’t be afraid to fight back.

The opener of the show was a competitive match between Texano & Johnny Mundo. Texano looks to have a chance to win until Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro ran into attack him. Alberto made a surprising save, wanting to get after Alberto himself. Alberto and Texano were left alone in the wrong and had a testy staring contest before Alberto left.

The show was to end with a Prince Puma promo. Of course, that didn’t happen – Catrina and Mil Muertes interrupted before Puma said one word. They were the distraction to a Disciples of Death attack, but Puma fought them out and challenged Muertes to take him on right now. Muertes did, but Puma also took him out and landed the 630 senton to end the show. Striker pushed the idea of Konnan not being around; it’s unclear if he’ll be back for the title match.

Ultima Lucha Card (07/29 & 08/05)

1. Prince Puma (c) versus Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground championship
2. Aerostar vs Jack Evans vs Bengala vs Big Ryck vs Sexy Star vs Fenix vs King Cuerno for the Gift of the Gods championship
3. Johnny Mundo versus Alberto el Patron
4. Angelico, Son of Havoc and Ivelisse (c) versus the Disciples of Death for the Lucha Underground Trios championship
5. Vampiro versus Pentagon Jr. in a Cero Miedo match
6. Hernandez versus Drago in a Believer’s Backlash match
7. Blue Demon Jr. versus Texano
8. the Mack versus Cage in a falls count anywhere match

The Mack/Cage was explicitly said to be taking place next week. They were less clear on the other ones, but they’re listed in the preview for next week. It probably will not be announced, but there will also be a ‘everyone who doesn’t have a match’ battle royal along the way.

thoughts

If the last one was kind of simple, this one was extremely busy. New belt, new match, new stipulation, new extra hour to the finale. There were matches too. Texano/Mundo was really fun while it lasted and something I’d enjoy seeing again down the road. They mixed well together, with Texano looking the best he’s been as a face and Mundo’s rudo antics working. They gave the Alberto/Texano staredown a moment to make sure everyone saw, and understood they weren’t still friends, which was nice. It’s like them going over the UltimaLucha card one more time, just giving time to make sure everyone knew what’s going and what’s coming up.

The battle royal had some good moments and some not as good. We got to see the alternate universe where Famous B was one of the top guys in the promotion, and it was not bad. It’s surprising to see Marty get the spotlight at the end instead Killshot or Daivari. It didn’t quite work out with the finish at the end (which looked like it was originally something much more complex, and even the cover up cradle they did should’ve been retried.)

Big Ryck getting a medallion like he did felt like they just ran out of time. Fenix got a big win after his long absence seemingly just to re-establish him as an important figure after his long absence. Big Ryck hasn’t been gone, but – as Dario noted – he hasn’t been a big figure since those early episodes. Ryck’s just been winning a lot of matches for Dario’s opponents.

I didn’t like doing the Prince Puma promo fakeout. It acknowledges how weird it is that he never talks, which doesn’t seem like something they’re going to ever address. They needed an excuse to do the fight and didn’t want to do the faceoff, but it’s a bait and switch. (And since the Mack/Cage match was a bit of a nonmatch, it was the second one on the show where they also had a DQ.)

It’s probably not as much an issue for most people, but I hope there’s an explanation of why Fenix was late and had to be in the battle royal (besides “they wanted to do a battle royal”.) That seems like too inexplicable to be ignored, and they usually go somewhere with those sorts of things.

The Mack/Cage post match brawl was good, but probably suffers a little bit by having the bad timing to come a couple days after Undertaker & Brock did a similar deal. (I think there’s a good chance Cage & Mack have a better match.)

The whole idea of the Aztec Medallions/Gift of the Gods title is interesting and opens up possibilities for the future. There are very clearly defined ways to get a title shot in Lucha Underground, and this opens up a new one without needing Puma to get beat or laid out to do so.

The fight at the end was fun. Mil Muertes is the killer, but the one big change they’ve made with Mil v2.0 is Catrina’s more obviously the one running the show. She’s not his valet, he’s her weapon.

matches

Bengala b DelAvar Daivari (rolling german suplex, 3:31, OK) for the fourth Aztec Medallion
King Cuerno b Killshot (suspended Dragon sleeper, 6:07, OK) for the fifth Aztec Medallion
Sexy Star b Super Fly (La Mistica, 0:32, OK) for the sixth Aztec Medallion
Sexy Star b Marty Martinez (La Mistica, 2:20, OK) to retain the sixth Aztec Medallion

all the gifs from the show can be found here

developments

Six Medallions have been given out: Fenix, Jack Evans, Aerostar, Bengala, King Cuerno, Sexy Star. One remains.

Sexy caught Super Fly in the submission super quick and out of nowhere. Super Fly immediately disappeared to nowhere. Marty stormed out, grabbing the microphone away from a startled Melissa and the medallion away from Sexy Star. Marty explained the medallion should belong to him, because it was a moth medallion, a symbol of his tribe. (The Moth Tribe.) Sexy beat him too in a longer match.

Pentagon doesn’t want medallions. he wants Vampiro. Vampiro responded, again trying ot say he was past all of this. Pentagon appeared to taunt “Ian”, who said Ian wouldn’t wrestle him – but Vampiro would. Vampiro surprised Pentagon with a chokeslam to accept the match.

Delavar Daivari again asked for Big Ryck’s help, and it back fired again.

The main event was supposed to be a one on one face off between Prince Puma and Mil Muertes, but Catrina doen’t respect the laws of Cueto or physics. She signaled the Disciples to help Muerte attack Puma. Konnan made the save with his cane, but Muertes put him down. Konnan was stuffed in a coffin (which still had a dent in it) and Muertes gave Puma the flatliner to end the show.

Current Card for Ultima Lucha

• Alberto el Patron vs Johnny Mundo
• Texano Jr. vs Blue Demon Jr.
• Angelico & Ivelisse & Son of Havoc vs Disciples of Death for the Trios Championship
• Drago vs Hernandez
• Vamprio vs Pentagon Jr.
• Prince Puma (c) vs Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground championship

(Obviously, we’re still missing something with the Medallions.)

thoughts

Nothing bad on this show (unless you’re a Super Fly fan), but this also might be one you can skip by and just watch a minute recap of the show. Things happened, but mostly in checklist fashion. There wasn’t a lot of depth or a great match, but pieces being moved around the chessman to put everyone in their place for the final episodes.

The Pentagon Jr./Vampiro was the most satisfying moment of the show. It was definitely edited from what had occurred, but the intensity still came thru. (The Pentagon/Dario backstage skit was pretty great too.) Puma/Muertes was a typical build up angle for a title match. None of the four matches were anything you need to see. It was good to see Cuerno in action but his match with Killshot never clicked for me. Bengala is a little better than a random mask now, but really needs some sort of background feature. Sexy Star won some matches, that was fine.

the other story

Hernandez and TNA probably should’ve read his LU contract a bit closer. PWInsider says Hernandez is currently prohibited from appearing in TNA in any form and the weeks worth of segments already taped with Hernandez have to be cut out, because he’s actually still under exclusive LU contract. The story (which appears to be informed mostly by the TNA side) claims TNA offered LU a payment to get Hernandez out of his contract, but LU said no. That’s weird, but pales in comparison to TNA not checking to make sure Hernandez was clear to work with them before putting him on TV for months. TNA probably didn’t go directly to LU as to surprise them about the jump, but that seems to have backfired horribly.

I’d guess this would go all away if the worst happened and Lucha Underground was turned down for a second season and ceased to be. The worst situation for Hernandez is for the show to to be in limbo, still holding out hope for being renewed for the next few months even as it doesn’t actually get turned down. This is a reminder that it’s also the worst situation for everyone else on the show.

matches

The Mack beat Cage (4:00, cradle, GOOD)
Mil Muertes beat Son of Havoc (7:08, flatliner, GOOD)
Johnny Mundo [O], Hernandez, Jack Evans, Super Fly beat Alberto el Patron, Aerostar, Sexy Star [X], Drago (9:25, tights pull cradle, GREAT)

all the gifs from the show

developments

The big story of the show was not in any matches, but some segments which surrounded them. The show opened with Pentagon back at the dojo from his personality vignette, asking his (off screen, voice modulated) mentor what he should do next. The mentor encouraged Pentagon, and Pentagon decided his next sacrifice must be Ian Hodgkinson. A sit down interview with Ian – Vampiro to you and me – and Pentagon aired later on. Vamp apologized for getting involved, but Pentagon didn’t seem so interested in that or in naming him mentor. Pentagon instead called Vampiro a coward for backing down and not fighting him, even though Vampiro was once like Pentagon. Vampiro insisted he’s no longer that man, that those days were in his past, but Pentagon insisted Vampiro was just fearful while Pentagon had no fear. Pentagon got in Vampiro’s face before storming off.

As the show was wrapping up, Pentagon came thru the crowd behind the announcers and laid out Vampiro with a kick. Pentagon left, and returned with a can marked Gasoline, dumping the liquid all over Vampiro. Pentagon teased setting Vampiro on fire, but instead warned Vampiro that he had only one more week to accept the challenge, or this would await him. The show ended with Pentagon snuffing the flame.

The rest of the show was not as crazy intense, but issues continue to progress towards Lucha Underground. Catrina confronted Son of Havoc backstage to warn/taunt him about Mil Muertes and was about to lick him when Ivelisse interrupted. Ivelisse threatened Catrina and swung, the lights went out, Catrina disappeared, and Son of Havoc ended up on top of Ivelisse right as Angelico walked in. Angelico asked if they were back together. They are most definitely not. The dysfunctional trios champions, with Ivelisse back on crutches, supported Havoc during his match. Havoc fought Mil at least as well as Drago and Fenix have in recent weeks, but that’s still a losing effort. Catrina made a move on Angelico, which again caused Ivelisse to get involved. Angelico watched that confrontation, and not the Disciples of Death sneaking up on him. That trio laid out Angelico while Catrina got the better of Ivelisse. Son of Havoc made the save for his partners with a big dive, but Mil Muertes finished him when Havoc returned to the ring.

The main event featured four sets of rivals – Alberto/Johnny, Sexy Star/Super Fly, Aerostar/Jack and Drago/Hernandez – with that last one being officially added to Ultima Lucha. It also featured a whole lot of action in the main event, with Aerostar looking impressive early, getting stuck in the ring by the rudos for a long stretch, and then making the tag to his team. Johnny ran from Alberto at almost every chance, though he did break up Alberto’s armbar on Jack with a Fin de Mundo. Johnny also won by rolling thru a Sexy Star cradle and pinning her with a tights pull, so it was a(nother) good day to be Johnny Mundo.

Texano didn’t wrestle on the show, but did appear before the live crowd to explain his actions from last week. In a mostly English language promo, Texano explained he wasn’t a good guy, but he was definitely a Mexican. Texano says he couldn’t be trusted – even by his own brother – but he was loyal to the Mexican people, and he was offended by how Chavo Guerrero disrespected the Mexican wrestlers (even if he still didn’t like them.) Texano challenged Chavo to fight, saying that even if Chavo had one broken leg, he wanted to break the other. Texano got the Crew instead, and Demon making the save. Cisco strangely threw in a chair to Demon, who smacked Texano in the head. The three beat up Texano, as the announcers were generally baffled about what had happened. Striker “speculated” that Demon was angry Texano trying to take his place as representing Mexico and fighting Chavo, though both announcers repeatedly acknowledged this was a strange turn of events. Demon challenged Texano to a match for Ultima Lucha.

To start the show, the Mack/Cage battle was closer than it has been in the past, with Mack having his best singles outing so far. Mack caught Cage with an inside cradle with all of Mack’s weight on top for the surprise win.

A Prince Puma/Mil Muertes face to face confrontation was advertised for next week.

Ultima Lucha lineup So Far

• Alberto el Patron vs Johnny Mundo
• Prince Puma (c) vs Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground Championship
• Drago vs Hernandez

Demon/Texano was challenged for, but not officially announced. You don’t need 20/20 vision to figure out some other matches coming, but we’ll wait for the show to catch up..

thoughts

One of the better episodes of television they’ve done. There are shows with better matches than the main event and this one didn’t have any payoff like the trios tournament final, but this was so strong as far as building towards an upcoming big show while delivering in every match and skit. I think some of – probably most of us? – thought Pentagon being used to give Sexy Star a rivalry win was not a great use of Pentagon. No one was thinking about Pentagon’s win/loss record against Sexy Star at the end of the show, they were thinking Pentagon is the greatest/scariest man alive. The “old veteran pulled out of retirement to fight one last time” storyline is one of the easiest storylines to do right, and Lucha Underground has done it perfectly. The main event that preceded it gave you a lot of match, and left you wanting to see Alberto finally get his hands on Johnny Mundo. Mil Muertes continues to be an unbeatable machine, on a different level than anyone he faces. He could not look any stronger going into the title match.

The one iffy moment of the show was the Texano segment. The original plan appeared to be Chavo versus Texano (or some variation with Demon involved) at Ultima Lucha, but Chavo really did get hurt last week and they did not believe Chavo was going to be back in time for the show. This also took place closer to the finale than it appears – they’re a little out of order at the moment – which meant everyone who was going to mean something was already penciled in for an Ultima Lucha match and there wasn’t time to make someone new. I’m not sure, haven’t been told, but looking at the playing board, the best options were either turning Demon, or bringing back the Texano/DelAvar feud. We’d seen the latter, might as well try the former.

The announcers calling out the sudden and hard to understand change of perspective of Demon helped the segment (much better than pretending nothing strange was happening), but this still came across so fast and abrupt that it was hard to really care. The whole segment was done as well as it could be given what that they had to get across – Texano did much better in his promo than I would’ve expected, Demon threw himself into the heel character – it was just a big reversal in a short time. The Demon/Chavo vignette last week was a good start to this direction, but there really needed to be 2/3 weeks more of those to prepare it better.

Cage & Mack probably gets overlooked from everything that happened after, but it was a really good match that seemed a lot longer than I have it timed. It was a nice mix with everything else; you can guess that things probably aren’t done between the two, but there wasn’t much you had to absorb and retain. There was a lot going on, adding some simple makes it easier to follow.

This was a nice one. I’m not sure how much it’d mean to people who don’t follow the show, because it’s a lot of building on what’s happened over the last month or more, but it was a great one for people who’ve been watching all along.

matches

Texano Jr. beats Delavar Davari (6:09, powerbomb)
Hernandez DQ Drago (6:57, DQ for belt choke)
Alberto submit Marty (0:54, Destiny armbar)
Prince Puma pinned Chavo Guerrero (4:54, 630 senton)

All the gifs from the show are here.

developments

The show was built around Chavo’s title challenge. He asked for it from Dario earlier in the night. Dario offered Chavo anything he wanted in appreciation for his earlier help, and Chavo really took Dario up on it: no DQ, Crew at ringside, and Puma would lose the title if Konnan interfered in anyway. Catrina and Mil Muertes confronted both luchadors, threatening to beat the winner at Ultima Lucha. Prince Puma seemed a little more disturbed than Chavo, but Konnan warned Puma not to let Catrina play mind games. Konnan was busy himself, recruiting an off screen character to get revenge on Chavo on behalf of Mexico and Blue Demon.

It all built to a big main event, but it didn’t turn out to be much of one. Chavo pulled his hamstring bending over for Puma’s roll over backdrop escape. He was pretty much incapable of going on, so the Crew jumped in and did spots with Puma for about 90 seconds before laying Puma out for the frog splash. Chavo very slowly climbed the ropes, while Konnan signaled for help – which turned out to beTexano, laying out all therudos and allowing Puma to get in his 630senton.Texano declared HE wa Mexico.

The show ended with Chavo in the locker room, still in pain. Blue Demon confronted him, mostly to mock Chavo’s failure while promising not to attack an injured man. Chavo took the moment to get in Demon’s head, saying Texano was the real Mexico rep and Blue Demon was a washed up guy who lived in Miami. Demon did not take this well.

Texano had a busy show, seemingly ending his feud with Davari via clean win. Texano charged Davari, but Davari got some help from Big Ryck in fighting back. Ryck again didn’t look totally thrilled with Davari ordering him around. A Ryck lasso punch missed, Texano superkicked him off the apron, then beat Davari with the powerbomb.

Hernandez and Drago met, following up on the recent fights. This one ended as an echo of the last, with Hernandez taking a belt from a fan, strapping Drago with it, then choking him out to get DQed. Hernandez declared dragon’s weren’t real and fans are dumb for cheering for him.

Alberto quickly squashed Marty the Moth. Striker speculated that Dario is trying to run Marty off by feeding him to the top guys. Alberto was aggressive in the match, then declared Mundo had woken up his evil side. Alberto said he’d damage Mundo’s face much like Mundo tried to do him by putting him thru the glass.

Ultima Lucha Card so far

• Prince Puma (c) vs Mil Muertes for the Lucha Underground championship
• Johnny Mundo vs Alberto el Patron

thoughts

There’s been better shows. There was nothing bad on the show, but there wasn’t anything great either. There’s a little bit of things being played out a slower to peak on Ultima Lucha, and obviously the main event had some really bad luck.

Texano/Davairi was the best match of their feud, but also hopefully the last. Announcing have a lot of words to pound home Texano as the working man’s hero. I’s still such a leap since how he was introduced with nothing other than the necessities of the plot to explain it. They’re playing the Ryck/Davari issues much quieter.

Drago/Hernandez didn’t seem to have much chemistry. Drago probably should’ve been more ticked off than Texano, given how much more Hernandez has cost him, but it felt just like another Hernandez match.

Alberto/Marty was a really good squash, and Alberto’s promo was strong.

Chavo/Puma didn’t seem like a thrilling idea, but it really never had a chance. They edited so it just kept going, and the announcers tried to ignore the injury for the most part. (The Demon/Chavo skit was clearly an after the fact addition.) Just a bad fluke.

Next week’s episode looks much better.