Gecko Watched Lucha Underground (completed)

[Gecko]

S03E38 – Ultima Lucha Tres – Part 2

Last time
- Famous B made a deal with Dario and brought in Dr Wagner as his surprise partner
- Texano lost to Famous B (and Wagner) and is now B’s client
- Killshot was victorious in the Hell of War match. Dante Fox won the first fall (first blood), Killshot won the second (No DQ) and third (ambulance)

Recaps of
- The results of the two matches on night 1
- Ivelisse challenging Catrina to a match after she interfered in both of Ive’s previous UL matches.
- Marty’s obsession with Melissa and his goal of unmasking Fenix
- The weird Ivelisse/Jeremiah Crane/Catrina/Mil Muertes relationship situation

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We’re starting off this wrestling show in the bathroom with a couple having relationship problems.



Crane points out he doesn’t understand her speaking Spanish before telling her to shut up.

We get to the heart of the matter as Ivelisse is infuriated that he would pull this tonight, before asking, “Who is she?” Don’t answer that, Crane. It’s not a good outcome anyway and with the name you’re going to say, you might not survive to fight later.

He says he’s known her since he was a kid (you know, a few centuries back or so).
When asked who it is again, he eventually confesses that he is in love with Catrina, not Ivelisse.

And I’ve just realised that this could be another long-term plan of Catrina. If it blew up at the right time (like now), this situation would take Ivelisse’s mind right out of their match.

Ivelisse takes it surprisingly well. She says that she doesn’t need him or any man and, after she finishes beating Catrina’s ass tonight (calm down, she probably doesn’t mean it like that), she’s going to finish beating his.

In a case of saying one sentence too many, as Ivelisse is leaving, Crane says, “Yeah, walk away, bitch!”. The end result is him getting a superkick that sends him through the door of a stall.



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We move into the Temple for the wrestling portion of this soap opera.

Hey, Kevin Dunn, this is how you do quick camera cuts. To the beat of the music, the camera quickly switches to shots of the 5 different banners on display above the stairs before going to a wide shot. (I won’t gif it since it doesn’t work without the music)

Melissa welcomes us to UL3 again as the song picks up, the crowd cheer and Striker introduces himself, Vamp, and Mariachi El Bronx again. After (rightfully) praising the Killshot vs Dante Fox match from last week, he goes on to talk about tonight’s main event, the mask vs hair match. Vamp talks about Catrina vs Ivelisse, then we send it up to Melissa Santos.

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Battle Royal: Joey Ryan, “The Darewolf” PJ Black, Ricky Mundo (still?), Vinnie Massaro, Mascarita Sagrada, Argenis, Mala Suerte, Saltador, Paul London, Cortez Castro, Son of Madness, The Mack, Pimpinela Escarlata

The winner of this gets a “Unique Opportunity”. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a battle royal, they’re not my favourite of matches but this one doesn’t have too many people in it to start with, which is the main issue I have with them.

Pimpi is the only one to get an entrance as a returnee, and it gets milked for all its worth. Pimpi hasn’t been in the Temple since season one, episode 31.

The bell rings and we go to our traditional battle royal opening of small groups of people hitting each other forming.

Vinnie is the first eliminated. He ends up on the apron and tries to german suplex Ricky, who is still in the ring, out. PJ comes in with a superkick that Ricky manages to dodge and it hits Vinnie. Ricky is questioning PJ’s intentions and, when he turns back to Vinnie, PJ dropkicks him in the back which causes him to bump Vinnie off the apron.

The Rabbits team up and chuck Madness away. That’s Madness the person, not Madness their current mental state.

Cortez and Joey end up fighting on the apron and it results in them both going out:



I guess that’s why he may be a tiny bunny deity.

“Something that I watch on the internet is broken up by the Rabbit Tribe.” Striker admits as Pimpi is about to “celebrate” with Sagrada (they did team up quite often in S1), he is rescued by the Rabbits who then have to defend themselves.



At least he’s got a protective codpiece on. The other two Rabbits are reluctant to assist and, as they argue about who will get involved, Pimpi dumps London off the top and out.

A kiss is powerful enough to send Mala Suertes all the way over the top rope and out of the match. Pimpi sits Sagrada on the top rope and threatens to kiss him in order to draw in Saltador, who runs in and ends up knocking Sagrada off the top. Sagrada hooks Saltador with his legs as he falls and eliminates him while landing on the apron.

HAHAHA! If you can’t guess, Sagrada just got kicked right in the face.

Pimpi accidentally eliminates himself as well when he tries to armdrag Argenis out. It didn't look like it was supposed to happen.

We’re down to Ricky Mundo, Mack, PJ Black, and Mascarita Sagrada who gets kicked in the nuts. The Rabbits are hanging out at ringside still.

Ooh. That looked nasty. PJ presses Sagrada out of the ring and it looks like the Rabbits were supposed to catch him and probably chuck him back in, but things didn’t work out and Sagrada ended up going headfirst into the floor.



Ricky ends up on the apron via PJ backdrop and hugs his teammate to try and prevent his elimination at the hands of Mack. It does not work. In a callback to earlier, Mack dropkicks PJ who bumps Ricky off the apron.

Oh, everybody is still at ringside, and it looks like London is having to prevent Sagrada from getting back in the ring, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he wasn’t really aware of what he’s doing right now.

PJ Black or Mack are getting a Unique Opportunity.

Stunner! Mack then launches PJ out the ring and he lands on Ricky.

Yup, that’s about as good as you’re going to get with a battle royal. Fun spots, it didn’t start off with a whole bunch of people who are only there to get eliminated, and didn’t overstay its welcome.

Is Mack’s Unique Opportunity a match with Cage?
Here’s a spruced up El Jefe to let us know the deal. He congratulates Mack and informs him that his unique opportunity for winning the battle royal is *drumroll* a trios title match next week! Hmmm, that’s too easy. Here comes the twist: Dario gets to choose his partners! Dario chooses… Killshot and Dante Fox! Oh, that’s just mean on several levels!
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Catrina w/Mil Muertes vs Ivelisse

That’s a fun switch around with Mil accompanying Catrina.



I’m not expecting a classic here, but Ive is solid and Catrina has shown she isn’t afraid to take a bump. With Mil at ringside, I’m expecting more people showing up and plenty of shenanigans to keep things chaotic. I'm sure they said this was no DQ at some point?

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, bitch!”, taunts Catrina. It didn’t end well for the last person to call her that… and it doesn’t go great this time either.
Ivelisse runs to the ring, takes down Catrina and starts throwing punches.

We head out the ring and Fenderbaum has a heart attack as Ivelisse rips Catrina’s top off.

That’s different. Dario looks up from his notes as Catrina comes into his office, she locks the door to prevent Ivelisse from following.
It’s pretty obvious from Ive’s struggles with the door could that it could open easily. I don’t know why they don’t just actually lock doors in this situation, but I’m not sure that there even is a lock on that one. After trying the other door too, she eventually kicks the door open and gets a bottle smashed over her head.

As Dario watches on, they leave his office and an already bloody Ivelisse gets another bottle to the noggin. And a third.

That’s a fair amount of blood. Ive isn’t done though, and manages to fight back after taking a bit of a Temple tour.

Whoops.

Catrina on the retreat now, and heads straight for the box that Mil was holding for her earlier. We haven’t seen Mil since the start, he doesn’t appear to be at ringside.

Catrina struggles to open her box (no, stop it) but manages to get into it and pull out the rock. The shot with it is blocked and the ladies end up in a tug of war with it.



Ive wins that battle, hits Catrina and then does a step-up ddt with suspicious mid-move camera cut. That gets her the win. She celebrates, holding up the rock… until Crane runs in and smacks her on the leg with a hammer! He pulls her back to the middle of the ring and hits her in the leg again, as Catrina retrieves her rock.

Another one that could’ve ended as filler, but credit to them, they put the work in and it ended up being entertaining and a pretty decent fight. A much better choice than trying for a standard match.
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We’re back and get a slight breather as commentary run down the UL3 card for the next two weeks.
Gauntlet of the Gods: Cage vs Jeremiah Crane vs Mil Muertes
Steel Cage: El Dragon Azteca Jr vs “The Monster” Matanza Cueto
Last Luchadora Standing: Sexy Star vs Taya
Gift of the Gods Ladder match: Son of Havoc vs Pentagon Dark
Career vs Title: Prince Puma vs Johnny Mundo

And of course, the trios title match.

With the way things are going I don’t think it will, but if anything can let things down it’ll be the Sexy Star match.
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Mask vs Hair: Fenix vs Marty “The Moth” Martinez w/Mariposa

Melissa introducing Fenix: 😍
Melissa introducing Marty: 😑

I’ve already said it is kind of obvious who wins since Fenix still has his mask today, but I’m thinking a bald Marty would add to the creep factor.

Mariposa doesn’t take long to get involved by grabbing the leg of Fenix as a distraction. Hey, Melissa, you too busy to get up and help out?

Bit of back and forth, but when Fenix gains a bit of an advantage and goes up top, Mariposa gets involved again.



Overhead suplex off the top, not something you see too much and has a slight Kurt Angle vibe.
It doesn’t get the win for Marty, so he resorts to removing the turnbuckle pad as Melissa screams, “What is that?! What are you doing?!”

Mariposa helps Marty to his feet outside the ring and in return, Marty sacrifices his sister to Fenix’s dive. She does not appreciate this, and leaves after making her feelings known.



Suspicious Gecko suspects that this is an elaborate ruse and Mariposa will return and distract Fenix at a crucial moment by doing something to Melissa.

Marty trips getting back into the ring and faceplants. As he’s tending to his sore nose, he gets a Fenix running knee in the back of the head.

Marty tries to unmask Fenix early by ripping his mask.

Remember that exposed turnbuckle? Fenix gets dropped face first on it from a powerbomb position.

I think I’ve found where all that blood I mentioned last episode came from:



Ew. There was a shot of his face and the blood was pouring out of Fenix’s head in a stream.

Bit of a miscommunication, but they don’t immediately repeat the spot and find an alternative way to get Fenix out on the apron like they planned.

Melissa is up out of her chair and comes round to check on Fenix after he hits a rolling cutter on the apron.

Marty stealing ideas from his opponent:



But Fenix is getting his second wind.



That’s quite the visual. And he is still dripping blood all over the place. "Yo, Melissa! I did it!"

Marty can just not put Fenix away. Even a curbstomp won’t do it and he is getting frustrated. He goes to his lunchbox, presumably for a mid-match snack. Oh, nope, it’s a pair of scissors.

Melissa has lost it completely at this point and gets up on the apron and pleads with Marty to not… oh wow, to not slit Fenix’s throat, which is what he’s threatening.

Melissa tries to talk Marty down, she says that it’s all her fault and that she loves him, that they can run away together.

Marty puts down the scissors… and grabs Melissa instead! He pulls her into the ring. Well, he actually lifts her in over the top rope by the throat.



Melissa has previously shown she’s not helpless, and this time is no different. She slaps Marty to create some distance and then delivers a solid kick between the legs. A Fenix running knee puts Marty down and in position for something a little fancy:

Marty is probably okay with Fenix tagging along if he gets Melissa jumping him, but he still loses.

Melissa grabs the mic and announces Fenix as the winner. Good, now how about getting him some medical attention before he loses all of his blood.

That was another brutal battle. The blood loss was at that point where you worry about it, especially when you see it just pouring out in a steady stream. Me being 99% positive of the result beforehand didn’t take away from it at all, that last little bit of doubt was enough to get me to bite on near falls several times.

It's interesting thinking about how much of the loss was Marty's own fault. His actions meant that he lost his secondary in Mariposa, who could have countered Melissa when she got on the apron. Melissa getting on the apron was only because Marty was going so far in his attacks on Fenix. Even when he was in a winning position, his obsession about Melissa made it easy for her to distract and manipulate him.

Oh yeah, we’ve still got the little matter of Marty losing his hair. Surprise, surprise, he doesn’t want to hang around to let that happen.

Mariposa shows up at the top of the stairs and gestures him to come up to her and get out of there. Definitely no reason for Marty to not trust her, nope, none at all.

After Melissa tells Marty to not be a pussy, Mariposa smacks Marty in the head with a chair when he turns back to face her. She handcuffs Marty to the railings and presents Melissa with a choice of implements to perform the deed.



Now the question is does he leave it like that or get rid of the rest?
Shout out to the person laughing in the pic above, they showed her several times during the cut and she was looking shocked. I guess she got over it, since she is quite amused now.



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Next time: UL3 – Part 3

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Well they’re on target for a great event, nothing bad so far.
- It seems to be, so far, a good mix of proper fights and more light-hearted stuff, which you need to give everybody a break.

[Deleted]

I have touched on this before but the more you watch this show the more you catch on that episodes tend to follow a certain theme and this one kicks off that theme which IMO is all majority about relationships.

Ive and Jeremiah
Marty and his sister
Fenix and Melissa/Melissa and Marty

And it is just a neat little thread LU sets up in alot of their episodes that is used to further push stories and characters.

This opening scene is another layer that shows how strong LU's storytelling is because while this match was officially set at the beginning of the season 38 episodes ago they managed to retain all that heat without Ive making a single appearance to further this feud , instead they tied Jeremiah to Ive's most hated rival which was a stroke of genius and has been building to this match through that entire story ontop of Ive and Catrina directly going back all the way to season 1 and this is with Ive being injured multiple time.

Any other company would have just cleared the deck and moved on but LU has been building this multiple seasons and they stuck with it and the ladies got one hell of a pay off that in alot of ways had no right being as good as it was on this show.

And speaking of

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Ive Vs Catrina

Can I just say how f***ing GREAT it is to see a rivalry built on such hatred feel like both opponents absoloutley hate eachother , because I LOVED when Ive just sprinted to the ring because it immediately sets a tone of this aint gonna be a match , this is a f***ing fight and you feel all that pent up aggression out of Ive right outta the gate....a blood feud actually being treated like a blood feud , not starting with ring introductions or lock ups....just Ive wanting to beat Catrina's ass (that is a good thing on most days...wait).

I said it just a bit a go but this had no business being this good , it comes out nowhere and even includes a nasty bit of blood. This match is all about taking what little expectations this match had and really blowing it outta the water.

I absoloutley enjoy the hell outta this match because of the tone and while the women are beautiful the match is ugly in a great way.

But now I am gonna lay something very interesting on you...this match was NOT suppose to be well this match , I mean yea it was suppose to still involve the same two women but this was an entirely different match that really makes you hate time constraints.

Because and this is straight from the creative and execs , this match was suppose to be basically 2 halves.

the first half would have been a straight up wrestling match but the second half was suppose to have them fight to the back and that is where this entire thing changes because what it would then end up being was.



It was suppose to be Catrina pulling a nightcrawler and teleporting all over the temple with Ive running her down.

When I heard that I was so upset that we never ended up with that because that would have been so f***ing insane with Skip Chaisson filming out would have set such a bar for wrestling action set pieces that IMO no company would have been able to touch even now , just trying to picture how that would have went just makes me wanna wish it into exsistense.

But what we got suprassed many expectations so while we never got the insanity of Catrina being nightcrawler this was still very very enjoyable with great call backs to previous encounters like Ive hitting Catrina with the stone this time...maybe not so much enjoyable for Ive at the end though.

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So here is an interesting little bit about the battle royale since there isn't a whole lot to say about it but this was the TV audience getting to see what was for every previous ultima lucha exclusive for the live audience.

I off the top of my head cannot remember why they made this choice other than guess work about them just wanting to fill out some time.

It was just an outright fun and PimPi is always a good time unless you are Mr Paul London getting allegedly your junk bitten off.

Glad to see Mack both win and now gets a shot at a LU title...dude has been on such a hot streak all season so it feels good knowing LU did just throw him out there for something meaningless or left him off the show entirely.

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Fenix Vs Marty

So a note about this one. Marty's real life fiance (now lovely wife) was in the audience for this match.

And she got the first hand expeience with the lawyer warning about being in the audience and incase one does not know what this is.

The lawyer prior to the show starting comes out in front the audience to warn that you might having the following things happen.

You might have objects pelted in your direction ..gets a little pop

You will experience violence ....gets another fine pop

you may experience blood , sweat and bodily fluids....MONSTER AUSTIN'ESC LEVEL POP!!

After this match it took Marty approx 9 months to grow his hair back

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But this match is insane and going back to what I have been saying all season about this being the season where alot of the guys bubbling under the surface really break out this season and this match , while Fenix is extrodinary is really the show out IMO for Marty because it shows that he can absoloutley hang with Fenix.

Fenix bleeding as if not already obvious was completely unplanned and he was bleeding so fast and so much you see it at times he yanks on his mask because there is pools of blood building under his mask that he has to left out , that is how bad it was getting , when it comes to just sick levels of blood in recent memory IMO this is right there with anything else just witness all the blood leaking from Fenix and how it completely stains all over the mat just completely ups the stakes and emotion of the whole match....so while one does not want to see anyone bleed like this intentional or not there is no denying it takes a very good match into being great.

And the foley arists are having the time of their life in this match with the gun shot sounds especially when Fenix Vandamme kicks Marty I had to hold my hand to my mouth for a second the first time I watched that because Marty's sell is so f***ing amazing it legit looks like he got his head kicked off and him crumpling to the ground is the cherry sell on top.

And Marty not just threatening but legit putting the open scissors to Fenix's throat was nuts just that implication really upped how insane Marty it is , so while Fenix is great as usual this is the match where IMO you truly appreciate how great Marty is because it is every single facet of his in-ring and character coming together perfectly at the right time and shows how far he has come from being the nut job hanging out outside the temple and Dario wanting nothing to do with him.

[Gecko]

S03E39 – Ultima Lucha Tres – Part 3

Last time
- Jeremiah Crane told Ivelisse that he loved Catrina, not her
- Mack won the battle Royal, his reward is a Trios title match with Dario choosing his partners: Killshot & Dante Fox
- Ivelisse defeated Catrina but suffered a post-match hammer attack from Crane
- Fenix defeated Marty in Mask vs Hair. During the match, Mariposa decided she had had enough of her brother and left him, and Melissa made herself useful as a distraction.
- Mariposa prevented Marty from escaping and he had his hair cut.

Recaps of
- The setup for the Trios title match
- Taya and Sexy Star’s issues
- The GotG match ending in a double pin

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Mariachi El Bronx are still providing the tunes as Striker does the standard intro and covers the three matches happening in this part of UL3, before sending it up to Melissa Santos to get us started.

Last Luchadora Standing: Taya vs Sexy Star



The new Taya action figure comes with two fun accessories! Smash your opponent in the face with brass knuckles or smack them in the knee with a custom baseball bat! This new limited edition is in a Harley Quinn inspired black and white outfit to complement the bat, get yours while stocks last!

Star is not looking happy as she stops at the top of the stairs and …stares into the ring. She removes her entrance gear before descending.

I think I can see what Star is about to do. The expression she has suggests that she’s got a mouthful of something to spew at Taya.



Guess not, she’s just got a weird expression for some reason. A mouth guard maybe?

She pulls out her own set of brass knuckles. Both pairs immediately get knocked away and we go into something resembling a wrestling match.

The first move that fits in this type of match is Taya catching Star jumping off the apron and running her into the barrier a few times.

Striker says that Star is wearing a mouth guard.

Taya somersaults into a bunch of chairs as Star moves out the way.

It briefly turns in a prototype for Slap Fight before they head into the forbidden room of mystery by knocking the door down. It really didn’t take a lot to knock the door down, I guess Dario figures why buy expensive doors that are just going to get destroyed anyway.
Oh, they don’t even go in the room. Maybe the door wasn’t supposed to fall over and was gimmicked for another match?

Taya is already bleeding, but that doesn’t stop Star smashing a bottle over her head, before she goes and grabs a table.

Striker says that Star has always fought for what’s right, but adding that she’s always been ethical gets a laugh from Vamp.



Taya grabs a table of her own and stacks it on top of the other one.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the 10 count part of this match.

They fight through the bleachers and end up on a camera platform, conveniently above the stacked tables, where a cameraman struggles to stay out of the way while not falling off and also tries to protect his camera.

They both take the fall through the tables, with Taya on the bottom, and we get our first proper count of the match. It almost looked like Taya had to drag Star off the platform to get her to go.

Oh, and that is that. Star manages to struggle to her feet at nine, leaving Taya on the floor.

It was about what I expected. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t terrible either. At a different time, I might have enjoyed it more, but it is completely overshadowed by all the other stuff that’s been happening in UL3.
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Trios Championship: The Mack, Dante Fox, & Killshot vs The Reptile Tribe (Pindar, Vibora, & Drago) w/Kobra Moon



At least some of them put the effort in to look fancy for the occasion.

I’m predicting a win for the team that probably won’t get along.

Mack leads his bandaged, suspicious of each other, partners to the ring. Hey, at least they’re not fighting yet.
A classic match of one side being a higher quality overall on an individual level (You’d really only expect Drago to put up a proper contest), but the other side being an actual cohesive team. Although, maybe it’s a case of Killshot and Dante having got the whole thing out of their systems now that they’ve had a proper go at each other.

Dante isn’t letting a little thing like being a DDP lookalike stop him, and tags himself in despite Killshot pointing out that neither of them are in top condition. Fun note: To make sure I wasn’t imagining DDP having taped up ribs, I did a search for DDP bandages and it turns out there’s a medical supply company called DDP who do bandages.

After some time in the ring, where every move he does hurts him as much as his opponent, Dante wanders too close to his own corner and Killshot tags himself in to show how tough he is.

On the other side, Vibora tags himself in. Maybe it’s not all perfect over there either… ignoring the brainwashed dragon situation, obviously.

The DDP twins get a double chokeslam to break up their argument.

Nice pop-up cutter from Pindar

The move a couple of minutes later where Killshot gets popped up to stand on Pindar’s shoulders and then backflip off (much to the amazement of Dante and Mack), is nice but ruined slightly by Pindar being very obvious about getting ready to launch him.

Hot tag to Mack who runs wild on the Reptiles.

The first bit of cooperation from the soldiers come as they try to take down Vibora. And at this point in the match, we’ve all kind of decided to ignore the tag part of it.

Luchasaurus Vibora builds up momentum for a dive, but Mack gets in on it and we end with a criss cross leading to a pounce! Striker mentions that this is the first time that Vibora has been off his feet in LU.

Choreographed dives leaves Pindar alone in the ring with Mack. Kobra Moon isn’t confident about how things are going and tells Pindar to use the chain and collar she’s holding



Pindar however, inidicates that no, he wants to do it himself… and all Kobra Moon has achieved here is to distract him.

The three individuals are finally working as a team and, following a Dante’s Inferno, Stunner, & Killstomp combo, win the match! New Trios Champs! And I’m predicting an implosion from the Reptiles in the near future.


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We go back to commentary for a run down of what is coming up next week in a double length episode.
The Steel Cage match between Dragon Azteca and Matanza, The 3-way for the Gauntlet of the Gods between Cage, Mil, and Crane, Puma putting his career up against Mundo’s title. That’s what is confirmed, anything else, we’ll just have to wait and see.

It's now time for an important event. We are about to continue a tradition by performing a ceremony that some people weren't even born yet when it last happened. Watched by an excited and adoring public, we are about to crown a brand new King Gift of the Gods Champion.

Gift of the Gods Championship Ladder Match: Son of Havoc vs Pentagon Dark

It’s not long into the match before Penta takes a time out to re-evaluate his strategy. This just gives Havoc a chance to show off.



I feel like he stuck an extra twist in there for the occasion.

Havoc is the aggressor for the first portion of this match which, thinking about it, is not what I would have expected. Things don’t start going the skeleton’s way until the ladders come into play.

Penta moves all but one of the ladders into the ring



He takes a moment while setting up ladders in corners to kick Havoc hard in the face.

The crowd seem to have turned on Havoc a bit. Despite getting some chants, there’s definite booing when he’s on the attack. If it was against anybody else I’d be a bit confused or concerned, but, y’know, it’s Penta.



No Pentagon III anytime soon. Ow, once is bad enough, but Havoc has several swings, until there’s a big ol’ dent in the chair. He signals that it’s over (bet it’s not) and sets up a huge ladder in the middle of the ring.

After stamping the chair flat again, Penta attacks a vulnerable Havoc who is halfway up the ladder. He goes for the leg (smart) and manages to catch an arm too, which looked like one of those ones where the whole limb just goes numb.

It wouldn’t be a ladder match without …tables?



Well, that was a bit anticlimactic.

Havoc sticks a ladder on top of Penta and goes up top for something that will surely hurt both of them if it hits.



Which it doesn’t. Not a bad attempt at catching the SSP with a cutter, at all. It has to be super tricky to get everything lined up and in sync for it. The worst part of it? Penta landed on the edge of the ladder and now has a sore arse.

Penta goes under the ladder on his runup for a dive, that is 100% the reason he got smacked with a chair instead.

I thought they were setting up the chairs for a spot with the giant ladder that would be the finish, but nope, they do this instead:



Penta could win at this point, but gets distracted setting up more stuff to hurt his opponent… which is the whole reason he’s in this position to begin with.
It actually works out for him this time though, as he dumps Havoc through a table…



And ascends to the Gift of the Gods.

Very good, not a whole lot else to say about it. Ladder matches haven’t really evolved in quite a few years now, and it’s very hard to come up with something that feels different. It says something that the most memorable part of the match didn’t involve any ladders.

We leave the Temple as Penta celebrates.
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We go all spooky with the moon, candles, and creepy music.



Oh, it’s only Puma.

Zombie Vamp tells him that next week, all this comes to an end. These are the last steps of their journey. He says that after Puma takes his title, the circle will be complete. When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the Master. Only a master of evil, Darth.

Vamp says Puma is ready and sends him off to his destiny… before kneeling as a very low, growly voice tells him that he has done well...



..and Vampiro thanks HIS master.

Ooooooooh. Who is Vamp working for? I guess that also means that he’s not working towards his own goals, but that of a greater force.

Has to be another Aztec Tribe God, right? But which one? Let's try an work it out... Vampiro > Vampire > Vampire Bat > The Bat Tribe.

♫ Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Bat Tribe! ♫ possibly. Vamp without his medication is a bit batty, too.

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Next time: Ultima Lucha Tres – Part 4

[Deleted]

This is gonna be a short one...which I will hope to come back to and edit in more thoughts it has just been an exhausting few weeks for me and I need to catch up on my hours and hours of missed sleep.

Last Luchadora standing

This match was not good in comparison to what we have gotten and will be getting on this show.

Taya though was the show out here , looking badass and just being tough as nails through the match.

But we do learn something interesting...Sexy Star cannot count lol because she basically never gets up for a ten count so they had to hard edit to make it look like she stood up.

My favourite part of this was the chop fest they had because and you see the aftermath , they were both just lighting eachother up and it was great.

The brass knucks thing at the start was just weird.

I said this about Catrina and Ive and it applies here that I loved that this felt like a blood feud (literally) , so while this match was not good in general , Taya's presence and performance saves it from completely bottoming out.

But yea not a whole lot to say about this because it was just not good other than if you are a Taya fan there is no reason to really go back to this.
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Trios Championship: The Mack, Dante Fox, & Killshot vs The Reptile Tribe (Pindar, Vibora, & Drago) w/Kobra Moon


And now we get to the opposite end of the spectrum and get to IMO the best match on this night.

It is amazing and surreal to see both Killshot and Dante both wrestling at such a level knowing this was the very next day after pun intended Hell they went through , but they showed the f*** out especially Dante whose back re-opened up during this match.

And take nothing away from Mack who was showing out here as well going full damn speed and showing why this was such a killer season for him.

Pindar proving why he is/was the best base in all of wrestling with that moment when killshot basically stands ontop before flipping off of him which was such a nutty moment.

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Pentagon Vs Havoc - Gift Of The Gods ladder match.

Love to see Havoc get a primetime spot and it nicely ties into his story coming out of Ultima Lucha Dos where he had a chance to main event Ultima Lucha Tres but gets screwed over but yet finds himself on the verge of doing just that with this match.

This match was surprising though...and not for anything positive because if anything this match was hugely dissapointing especially live and you can get this sense even watching it on tv etc.

This is a match where they spend pretty much all the time setting up spots and apparently live they set up spots that they never pay off.

And considering the guys in this match , this match was just a dissapointment to everyone because again it is like 89% spent setting up stuff because when they were not setting up an ikea store it was a good match when it was just them wrestling.

This is one of the extremely rare big misses for this show and that always sucks to say when it comes to this because I love both guys in this match and they are awesome but this match was not their wheelhouse.

.........................................................................................................................................

Good thing is though the finale is FAR FAR better and ends on such a high note.

[Gecko]

Not included in this write up is my fight with a flatpack wardrobe. It was an epic battle lasting many hours, but finally, after sustaining many wounds, I emerged tired and scarred, but victorious.

S03E40 – Ultima Lucha Tres – Part 4

Last time
- Sexy Star defeated Taya in Last Luchadora Standing
- Mack, Killshot, & Dante Fox defeated the Reptile Tribe to become new Trios champs
- Penta defeated Havoc to claim the Gift of the Gods
- Vamp says that Puma is ready and sends him off, then kneels and thanks his own master who says that he has done well

Recaps of
- The Story of Dragon Azteca, Matanza, Black Lotus, Rey & Dario.
- The battle for possession of the Gauntlet, and Dario’s solution if Cage reclaims it.
- Dario acting to keep the title on Mundo, and Vamp’s guidance of Puma and the stipulation for the title match

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It may be a little too obvious, but I’m going to guess that we’re opening with the cage (The structure, not the person) match.



Vamp dressed up for the occasion… and Striker isn’t. This just looks wrong. Did they switch outfits for a joke?

Steel Cage Match: “The Monster” Matanza Cueto w/Dario Cueto vs El Dragon Azteca Jr

Pin, submission, or escape to win.

Matanza pretty much lives in a cage, so he’s going to feel right at home in this match.

Dario leads Matanza around and into the ring, and then has to get his attention as he (understandably) is a bit distracted by Melissa.

…and I’m just remembering that the last time we saw Rey was when he was over the shoulder of Matanza and getting carried off. Dragon comes out alone, which could be him wanting to do it by himself, or it could point to a more sinister fate for his mentor.

Dragon does the smart thing and takes off his entrance gear before he reaches the bottom of the steps.

We come back from the break as the bell rings and Dragon rushes Matanza, only to get launched up and, if he wanted to, is honestly in a position to just hop over the cage.

Right, it’s going to be one of those matches. The first proper move:



A moonsault off the top of the cage. He keeps the offence going with quick moves, but is caught with a clothesline and then the real beating can begin. He gets sent into the cage and slides down between it and the ropes, while folded in half.
With how Matanza is chucking Dragon about, I wouldn’t be completely shocked if we got a St Valentine’s Day Massacre ending where Austin won by getting thrown through the cage….

*30 seconds pass*

I, um… I didn’t mean quite like that.



Dario immediately sprints round to check on his fallen employee stop Melissa announcing Dragon as the winner.
He tells Dragon that there is no escaping his destiny. There is no escaping Matanza. There’s no escaping this match, it’s going to be restarted right now! He also changes it to pin and submission only.

Dragon looks to have done something to his leg. I’m not surprised with that bump.

Dario gets a little too close to the action and is grabbed by Dragon who throttles him a bit and tries to strip him until the monster recovers and puts a stop to it.

Matanza tries to get Dragon back in the ring by squeezing him face first through the mesh. He is unsuccessful.

Dragon’s mask gets ripped slightly. It's only a minor one, not like when somebody has half their mask ripped away, but the act still got a reaction from the crowd.

Hey, look who’s back!



But whose side is she on?

Still the Cueto brothers, apparently. A crossbody off the cage from Black Lotus to Dragon, followed by a superkick leaves him open for Matanza to hit Wrath of the Gods and pin him.

Melissa does not get to announce the winner, again. Dario gets in the ring with the mic and announces his brother as the winner.

Yeah, I liked that one. Not over the top brutal, but not close to being a proper wrestling match either, with a little bit of chaos added in.

OH! We’re not done yet. Lotus low blows Matanza as he is on the turnbuckle literally rattling the cage, Dario doesn’t notice this, but he notices the followup…



She grabs Dario by the throat and screams that he lied. She releases him when he says he’ll tell her.

He quite freely admits that he’s a liar. Probably something to do with a certain Monster that is back on his feet and standing right behind Lotus. Wrath of the Gods puts her down.

A fun little touch during this was the music stopping when Matanza hit the mat on the powerbomb, and then starting again with the impact of Wrath of the Gods.
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For the Gauntlet of the Gods: Jeremiah Crane vs Cage vs Mil Muertes w/Catrina



He’s got a great face/expression for somebody that’s been through a lot and seen some serious shit, and knows he’s going into another battle.

Aw, Crane gives Catrina a little smile and wave… then has a creepy expression while staring at her… ahem... back… when she’s not looking.

That was almost embarrassing for Mil, he stood on his cape as he got up from kneeling and was close to going over.

Describing how he thinks the match will go, Vamp asks what would happen if an avalanche, a tsunami, and a tornado all hit your city at the same time? My answer: You’d be living somewhere that had some very unusual geography. I bet Striker would have gone with a Hurricane, Earthquake, and Typhoon.

Before we get started, Dario (who has changed back into his regular gear) steps out of his office to clear some things up. Ever since he introduced the Gauntlet, it has consumed the three of them. He believes that only one of them truly deserves to wear it, and they will prove it tonight. But he doesn’t want there to be any questions, so he’s making it an elimination match!

This starts off as “OOH!”: The match, as pretty much every hit gets that response.

King Cuerno gets a mention during Striker covering Mil’s achievements, and how he was never seen again after he lost a death match.

A thing that I noticed and will probably not be able to unnotice: The ring mat’s a little loose in one corner and wrinkling up with the movement of people.

Everybody is getting a chance to take charge of the match, which is nice.

Crane does his dive between the lower ropes, and it looks great as Cage drop right down on impact.
Cage does a flip over the top ropes to the outside? OK, it’s a special occasion.
Mil… doesn’t dive over the ropes. Oh well.



He just jumps off the top instead! And takes a couple of swipes at the camera as a reward.

And the tables are coming out.

Is spontaneous bleeding a thing (Like a Ric Flair disease)? Cause I think Crane might have it



Don’t know when that happened.

After setting up his own table, Crane goads Mil in and gets him on the apron. But he’s the one that ends up getting a chokeslam off the apron through the table. No gif, it’s not the best shot they’ve ever done, it’s too zoomed in to really get any impact.

Something that is getting gif’d however is what happens next:

This match is just full of surprises. What next? Catrina press slams Cage? The Ref gets busted open? Mil is unmasked and revealed to be Old Man Withers who runs the haunted amusement park?

A weak powerbomb by Mil doesn’t get a pin, so he goes back to what’s working for him in this match and climbs up top.

Crane is still down in the wreckage of the table, if you were wondering.

Cage doesn’t want to be outdone, sooooooo:

Since this doesn’t get the job done for Cage, he dumps Mil for Crane… who has a handful of… toothpicks? Skewers? Whatever they are, it won’t be good for Cage.

Playing the role of Pinhead in a new, re-imagined Hellraiser, it’s Cage:



Oh, no, it gets much worse. He really hammers them in there, and when Cage stumbles away:



A DDT on the spiked head of Cage and he is done fo… No! Kickout. He still has a single bit of wood sticking out of his bleeding head.

The blood covered Crane puts a hammer in the ring and then wanders off to… oh, I dunno anymore, grab some nails? Are we going to re-enact the controversial ECW crucifixion? Remember when this was just a simple, nice, straightforward, 3-way match?

Crane is in the supply closet, which Striker points out should really have a lock on it by now, and was clearly (pun fully intended) inspired by the previous match that involved a big sheet of glass, as he brings out another.

In the time it takes Crane to set up the glass, leaning it against the wall of the office, Mil has recovered and tries for a spear…



It does not go as planned.

If only there was somebody with a previously established immunity to glass injuries. It’s not Mil though, he has an arm that’s all sliced up now.

Cage hits Mil with the hammer and lays him on the tables. He climbs up the turnbuckles, but Crane pushes him off. Cage gets back up and removes Crane from the turnbuckles… and I see what we’re setting up here.



Surely we have to have an elimination very soon.

And we do. Cage gets Crane back in the ring and pins him after hitting WeaponX. That’s an elimination and we’re down to one on one. Cage vs Mil. Although Mil is still pretty much dead again in a pile of broken tables.
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Back from the break and Mil is alive (?) again and back in the ring. I’m guessing this part of the match will be shorter than the first.

This is seemingly going to be more of an actual wrestling match, even with Mil trying to bring a wooden chair into the ring.

Crane is back! He smacks Cage in his back with a steel chair, which just seems to piss the Machine off and he gets a discus punch for his efforts.

The distraction is enough for Mil to work with. He blocks Cage’s attempt at a discus punch on him, and then hits a flatliner on the steel chair that Crane brought in.

That’s a three count! The winner and new ‘owner’ of the Gauntlet of the Gods: Mil Muertes.

Dario brings out the prize, which Catrina collects.



She presents it to Mil who dons it and slams his fist into the mat, plunging the Temple into darkness.

A single spotlight brings a little bit of light back and highlights a figure standing behind Mil, who is that…?

Holy Shit, it’s King Cuerno!



He kicks Mil in the face, slams Catrina, and then goes back to attacking Mil.

He leaves up the steps and shows off his newest trophy



Wow, that match really did have surprises galore. I really didn’t think we’d see Cuerno again, he’s been gone the whole season. I know Striker namedropped him during the match, but that isn’t something that automatically makes you think he’ll show up as they don’t shy away from naming people that aren’t about. I mean, they still mention Konnan occasionally, but I don’t expect him to show up during the title match to confront Vamp about him mentoring Puma.

---------

That’s about halfway through the episode, so we’ll call this the end of part one of part four of UL3. Now the only question is how long you have to wait for the final part of the season?

[Gecko]

About 33 minutes, as it turns out.

It appears that it is time for a future award-winning documentary premiere.

Mundo mentions the belt giving him the seat at the head of the table. Take note, Roman.

Apart from the intro to each clip where Mundo asks if she’s ready/he should start, which are clearly left in for comedic purposes, you have to say well done to Taya for putting this whole thing together.

You don’t see enough promo packages put together by the people involved in the match.

As those losers, the Believers, are not on John Edward Mundo’s side, he formed his own group to surround himself with. The intern gets relegated to holding the boom mic… badly, while Jack and PJ get starring roles in this ground-breaking documentary.

Ricky Mundo does actually get a separate interview, where he is captioned as a Worldwide Underground Poser.

Ha, a star wipe. What daring, and some might say classic, choices Taya made on the presentation side.

But seriously, that was fantastic. This is the sort of things they should be putting on the Network when they have to fill the gap while Peacock shows ads.
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Hey, I was close on the timing. Striker welcomes us to UL3 and does the introductions again as we head into the final part of UL3.

Wait, are we doing this now? Have we gone through everything else? Not missed anything out? Ok… with 45 minutes left:

Career vs Title – Lucha Underground Championship: Prince Puma vs Johnny Mundo (c)



Ooh, Puma back in his bright colours again. Well, not quite original, he’s got a little bit of darkness creeping up his legs.

Neither rush into anything foolish when the bell rings, which gives Striker a chance to cover their history, which stretches back all the way to the very first episode where they fought in the first main event.

Striker says that there have been some supernatural elements in the Temple. Really? I must have missed them. Try not to be so subtle about it in future, guys.

I’m kind of split on whether there’ll be shenanigans in this one or not. Something like Worldwide Underground interfering only to get removed by the usual suspects would be the norm, but maybe they keep it pure and uncomplicated since it’s such a big match.

Mundo is bleeding from the head. Only a tiny amount though, he's not looking like he ripped his face off, unlike some others.

With the assistance of somebody Striker describes as looking like Vamp if he got stung by bees, Puma busts out the acrobatics.

We’ve got a very solid match going on here, and I expect things will really ramp up as we approach the end… which isn’t going to be for a while going by how long the episode has left.

Frustration building for Mundo after a failed pin attempt.

Hello, obvious ref bump in a few seconds. Nope, denied, Mundo stopped his momentum off the springboard kick… and dodges Puma’s kick which connects with the ref’s head.

And as you might expect, here are Evans and Black to help out their leader. Matching outfits, too.

I really hope Ricky shows up in a redshirt. Taya shows up.. her top is orange, not red, and she brings another ref with her. He only gets to two before Puma kicks out, which has some consequences.



We’ve had this problem before with Dario skimping on paying for as few refs as he can get away with. Mundo better hope the next one can count faster.

That's not a ref:



Angelico! Not as shocking as Cuerno (And now I have the Cuerno/Cueto confusion again), but still unexpected. It seems like he pretty much only does surprise returns anymore. He takes out Worldwide Underground, including causing Mundo to smack Taya in the head with a chair, and finishes off somersaulting over the top onto Mundo.

HAHAHA! They’re just going all out tonight.



Screw it, Rick Knox for champ. As for the execution of the move, eh, I’ve seen it done worse and at least he was committed.

With that all taken care of, Angelico throws Mundo back into the ring for Puma, who hits a 450 and… only gets a two.

Mundo has an ace up his sleeve in his namesake. Ricky comes running out with a kendo stick (as Striker is wondering why Vamp is looking so happy), and runs straight into a superkick from Angelico.
Angelico takes up the kendo stick and chases the rest of Worldwide Underground away. During this, Jack manages to run face-first into a camera, with an audible thud. That won't do his jaw any good.



We’re back to an even playing field. Both exhausted warriors start throwing punches as we come back from a break.

Moonlight Drive from the very top



There are probably not too many pairings that could manage to get that done, nevermind doing it so smoothly. Just a two count.

Puma is reaching out with both hands, like he’s drawing strength from the believers.

I always love little details like this:

Two people who have wrestled multiple times before being familiar with the other person’s moves. Puma knew to roll out the way, but Mundo knew he knew that and so he countered the counter.
It’s similar to Christian vs Randy Orton; Christian caught Orton with a crossbody, next time it happened Orton countered it with the RKO, and then later Christian tricked Orton into trying an RKO by faking a crossbody.

Puma hits the 630 and gets a One… Two…… Three! New Lucha Underground Champion!

…or not. Here’s Dario to probably add a twist to things since we’ve still got a fair amount of time left.

As an angry Mundo skulks off, Dario congratulates Puma. He says Puma has made his hometown, and his ancestors proud. He still has his career and is the first ever two time LU champion.

Buuuuuut….. (You knew it was coming) the night is not over! We’re having one more match!
The believers make it clear who they want to be facing Puma with a Cero Miedo chant.
We’ll have to wait to find out if they’re right, as we’re off for an ad break.
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Before I unpause, I’ve got a couple of thoughts on this.

1) I don’t trust Vamp in this scenario. I half expect this whole Puma thing to be a long con, with the real work going on in the background and Vamp's been positioning the pieces for his master, who is about to be introduced to take the title from a weakened Puma (it would also have worked with a weakened Mundo). Maybe he just told Dario he had an extra violent client who wanted in at the end to cause chaos, I’m sure El Jefe would have agreed to that.
2) If it does end up being Penta, would Dario have agreed to the Gotg cash in? He had his week’s notice, but Dario decreed that so that he could promote title matches, which he hasn’t done. Would he waive the promotion op for Penta? They’re not the best of friends.
3) I dunno. Maybe it’s someone old? Someone new? Someone borrowed? Someone Blue?

Unpause



Oh, look at that smug git, Vamp absolutely knows what is about to happen.

Dario does the introductions (I won’t point out that he doesn’t technically say it’s for the title)

Lucha Underground Championship?: Prince Puma(c) vs …PENTAGON DARK!!!!

Penta came to Dario last week after his victory and said he wanted to challenge the champ, normally Dario would want to promote a match this huge… but since he made the rule and rules are made to be broken, just like bones, we’re getting this match tonight.

This can only end one way, right?

…um, would it be too crazy to suggest that Penta is now Vamp’s master and his guidance of Puma has been at the behest of Penta?

Penta hands over his Gift of the Gods in exchange for making this a title match… and Dario halts proceedings to let us know about one more tiny little detail. The LU title is on the line, but so are both of their careers!
Way to up the stakes. So, you either leave the night as champ, or you just leave completely.

Here we go…
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Career vs Career – Lucha Underground Championship: Pentagon Dark vs Prince Puma(c)

Puma goes on the attack at the bell, he probably needs to get this one done quick to have any chance.

Rolling backstabber by Penta. Noice.



Penta goes right from this into the arm break attempt… and gets it! Wow, that changes things if the match continues.

The ref struggles to keep Penta back as the trainer gets in the ring and Puma grabs some magic tape from the medical bag. The quick fix allows him to continue, but he could do with finding a save point soon.

Well done to Puma for making sure to not use his arm too much. For the vertical suplex, he obviously needed it to get Penta up, but he made a show of it bothering him and released his hold on that side once the momentum to go over was there.

Only in wrestling could you have the crowd side with the evil, arm breaking, scary ninja skeleton over the courageous, valiant, hometown hero.
No, it’s different for me, I don’t live there, I can cheer for the cool heel.

Puma is desperately countering stuff to stay alive in there. He rolls through a Panama sunrise and then fights out of a package piledriver.

Vamp is up and at ringside as Puma slowly ascends… hmm. Ha, it is so obvious with Vamp constantly checking the position of both and you can see him getting ready to make his move.

In a shocking move, Vamp pulls Penta out of the way of the 630 and leaves Puma to crash and burn.
A superkick and Penta driver and a one two kickout!

Striker is not happy with Vamp. He tells him not to come back to the desk and says he’s going to replace him with a little kid that’s nearby.

A running package piledriver is enough to put the Puma down for the count.

Your new New Lucha Underground Champion: Pentagon Dark!

A nice little match with added drama.

Vamp gets in the ring and he and Penta hug (aww.) before he puts the title around Penta’s waist as a confused, jobless, one-armed Puma looks on.



A heartbroken Puma makes his final exit as the believers show their cruel side with a rendition of the “na na na na, goodbye” song.



It does change to a “Thank you Puma” chant as he disappears into the smoke, I guess never to be seen again anywhere ever. Nope.

That belt looks good on Penta. But of course it does, he could do anything and make it work at this point in time.
Promo time with Penta. He reminds us of his name, and that he’s the new LU champ. Therefore, this is now His Temple and he will rule it with… the credits override the subtitles at this point, but there was something about huevos and cero miedo. I’m going to guess he said he’s not afraid to kick people in the balls if need be.

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We leave the Temple and catch up to Puma as the sound of a great theme tune and the believers fade into the background. With his back to us, he unmasks and drops it on the ground as he walks into the light and out of the Temple, out of this life.



Next, we’re visiting an old friend. He has a new item for his collection and it is sitting proudly out front, occasionally doing its lightning trick.

---

We go and see Sexy Star in front of the press having a bit of a photo op / signing session. She is approached by a young girl with a box… We never did confirm if that whole spider issue was sorted, did we?
The girl hands over the box, and tells Star that, “She hasn’t forgotten about you.”
In the box? A big, suspiciously still, spider, which prompts an angry scream from Star.
----
The Rabbits are still worshipping Mascarita Sagrada despite his insistence that he’s not the white rabbit… but he will take them to him. Ooh.
----
Melissa and Fenix drive off as we see Catrina walking past and Crane watching things from up high.
----
Off to visit the Reptiles in their lair next. Drago is properly chained up and I don’t think things are looking good for him.

Hey, Daga’s back, I thought he got eaten or something. Kobra Moon tells him, after letting him show off his sword skills, to take his place as her new king.
We better not be about to sacrifice Drago.

Oh, phew. I’ve just realised that it’s not Drago on the altar, he’s chained up in his usual spot next to the throne, it’s Pindar we’re going to sacrifice. That’s fine then.



One headless Pindar coming up… of course with things how they are, there’s no guarantee that he’s dead.

OOOOHHH! We’re about to meet Vamp’s master. He’s kneeling in his usual home away from the Temple and tells a mysterious figure that he’s done as he was instructed. Puma is gone forever and Pentagon has ascended to new heights.

Growly voice says that now he will make him fall. He tells Vamp again that he’s done well.



See, now that’s a scary skeleton.  But I also have to give props to whoever did Vamp's zombie skin, it really does look disgusting and like parts of it are rotting and corrupted.

The duo fade away as we go check up on Matanza. Aww, he’s got a friend. Rey is in the cell next to his.

Finally? We go back into the Temple and into Dario’s office where he is having a drink with Agent Winter. Dario tells him to turn his boss around, he’s going to get the gauntlet back.
Winter tells him not to worry, he gets a pass. When asked why, he says it’s because Dario will be dead. He pulls out a gun and shoots El Jefe! What?!

He declares that new management will take care of the gauntlet, and all of his other messes. He thanks Dario for the drink before leaving.

Ending the season with a bang

Future Gecko has just noticed the nice tiny detail of the bull ending up on its side, as a representation of Dario's status?

There’s a lot of blood, but Dario’s not quite dead yet. He has just enough strength to dial a number on his big red phone.

Not speaking Spanish and it not being the clearest talking in any case (I'll let him off due to getting shot), I didn’t catch what was said, which doesn’t help working out who he rang, but that is how we are ending this season, with Dario on death’s door.
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There’s a lot to unpack there. You can’t replace Dario, surely. Although I am having a vague memory of it being mentioned earlier in the thread that he will be having a reduced role later on in the series, and this would help explain why.

I knew that Puma had to be leaving at some point, but it still strangely caught me out a little when I realised he’s actually going. He’s one of the originals, he was on the very first episode and was the focus for a lot of time, especially early on.

I have my suspicions on the identity of Vamp’s master, but I’ll keep that to myself for now.

Yeah, it was a long season. I might have a look over the whole thing again to jog my memory and come back with some new thoughts now that I know where things went this season.

I've not even covered Mundo losing the title and what it will mean. Is Sagrada taking the rabbits to meet an actual god, or maybe an actual white rabbit, or maybe a stip club called the White Rabbit? Who knows at this point. The Gauntlet is with Cuerno (welcome back) in his cabin, but it's not like Mil hasn't been there before.

Matanza's fate is probably tied to Dario's. And Rey is kind of dependant on somebody on the other side of the bars doing something to help him.

As always, thank you for coming along on this journey, and if I don’t get round to adding anything else, I’ll see you after I take a few weeks off as is tradition, as we head into the fourth and final season and find out how this adventure ends.

[Deleted]

Oooohhhh boy where to start....the beginning seems fitting because there is SO MUCH to cover both about this and where things are headed for the show as a whole.

First and foremost again BEST ULTIMA LUCHA EVER!!

They put their complete best foot forward on this show apart from the 3rd night which still had the great trios match though , this was LU doing everything fans of the show expect...top level story telling both in and out of the ring and amazing action that rivals anything else in recent memory and...you want blood? well here is enough to fill a mortuary.

And as a whole this remains my favourite season of the entire show and f*** the people that keep only claiming only the first 2 seasons are worth watching.

Ultima Lucha Tres
The cueto cup bangers...Mil Vs Jeremiah anyone?
Pentagon Vs Black Lotus Triad

Just to name just a tiny bit of the amazingness that came out of this season

And then you get into the stories.

The big furthering of The Order and Dario's role in that
Catrina and Vasquez's big reveals
Rise and rule of the World Wider Underground
Puma's further fall and unfortunate penance he pays in the end for putting his trust in a man shaped like an egg


There is beyond so much packed into this season and really shows what LU was truly capable of with full supportive backing (We will get here) and IMO remains un f***ing touchable by any other wrestling show.

But what of the finale itself? glad you asked.

Matanza Vs Black Lotus Melon Head I mean DAJ

This was not very long which is fine because this was largely about tying stories together.

But we do get an amazing cage spot (no not him , he is later).

It took Black Lotus a little while but finally learned what everyone else already knew...ya know since episode 1 of season 1 that Dario is a little itty bitty liar and a big ole shit head , so Black Lotus not the brightest bulb in the room , but I did like how this plays out that while she did cost Azteca the match it was in service to get to Dario and getting him to confess and tried to take out Matanza long enough for her to get her revenge....too bad for her being not the brightest bulb thinking that a simple low blow and power bomb would be enough to take out a monster that single handedly took out 9 of the top talents in the temple on his debut and took an equal amount to put him down in Aztec Warfare 3 , she should probably ask Io for advice considering she took out Pentagon because she clearly can get the job done.

Again a match that does not overstay its welcome and prioritizes the story here which works.

........................................................................................................

Gauntlet Of The Gods and IMO the match that ALMOST steals the show from The Hell of War....untill it doesn't and it is because they make sort of 2 mistakes here and it is bascially a cause and an effect situation here.

1. They made it elimination...this isn't so much an issue until they make their following mistake.

2. YOU ELIMINATED JEREMIAH FIRST!

BUT HOLY SHIT THIS MATCH!!

This is a case of just sending out 3 guys to f***ing kill each other and they more than live up to it.

And no one died better than Jeremiah , I have been praising Sami in LU all season and there is no reason to stop now especially here when he takes an absolute colossal ass whooping by 2 tanks made of flesh.

He is the blood (the glue is already long gone) that holds this match together because it allowed Cage and Mil to do what they do best which is murder any and everyone smaller than them and that is whole lolli pop guild.

MIL BUSTED OUT A GAWD DAMN HURRICANRANA! just casually reminding people yea I am techically still a luchador (a mighty hefty one) and really harkens back to his days in Puerto Rico.

The temple a magical place where monsters can do things a prince Puma can do and it continually blows your mind.

20 OUTTA 10 FOR SOFT CURLY HAIRED CAT SUIT CATRINA!!!....respectfully.

As for how Jeremiah got cut open...I have heard a few different theories but no one can really be sure but the one most seem to run with is that he somehow got cut open when Cage did his flip dive over the top rope , so this was not a case of him blading but absoloutley got it hard way from Cage's boot catching him off of the flip dive.

Can I just say I love how Jeremiah just smacks dudes with a trash can here , not in your usual way but swings it like a baseball and it just looks f***ing cool and all the trash flying about after just little touches like this in LU make things feel so authentic.

And the night just gets worse for both Mil and Jeremiah on the absoloutley insane table spot and it was a brilliant use of all 3 men for a single spot...Mil on the table taking the brunt of the damage , Jeremiah being the oh so helpful 2nd victim and Cage just doing Cage things.

THE SKEWERS!! HOLY f*** , normally the way this is is with someone who had a nice full head of hair so that way you get the effect without ya know jamming skewers into ones head literally , but in this case all Cage had was a decent mohawk with not much else so he is taking pretty well atleast some of those right into his head and doubley so for the very last one stuck in his head when he gets ddt'd which scares the f*** outta me when I watch it.

This match was unreal and if not for the vital mistakes they made this MIGHT have been able to atleast match the Hell of War on atleast a violence level and this IMO is what every company should strive for when you declair a fight is gonna happen THIS is what it should be IMO not pretty in the least with everyone involved using everything not nailed down to kill everyone else and that is what this was , you felt everyone just hated the other and wanted to maime the others and what also helps this is none of them bothered to try and eliminate the others for good while.

But we aint done with this one because then we get to the after match....Mil with the Gauntlet is scary enough (I was wondering when this moment came would the posession even work on a dead guy? or would that make it somehow easier considering the vessel technically no longer has a soul or is of this earthly realm) sadly we do get this anwser because coming off of his 2nd back sugrery CUERNO IS BACK!!! and he puts some serious gawd damn mustered on both that body slam he hits on Catrina gawd damn add that to the Catrina aint afraid to take a bump meter because wow.

Mil doesn't get it any easier because he gets kicked like a soccer ball and gets an equally as gnarly thrill of the hunt for his troubles , absoloutley unexpected but great return and him of all people ending up with the gauntlet just chefs kiss.

....................................................................................................................

I first would like to present the award for GREATEST DOCUMENTARY IN THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING TO TAYA!!

This was amazing in every concievable way , from the eagle screeches to the stap wipe , to Ricky having to hold the boom mic lmao.

And the best part (not just Taya....respectfully) for me is you get a really amazing inception like moment from aztec warfare 3 where this first started...because back then we saw that from the POV of both Taya and us as TV viewers but here we get both of those BUT also the actual real world footage ..so it is a cam within a cam within a cam....within a tv.

Have I mentioned that LU folk know what the f*** they are doing because I would like to add it to the evidence pile as exhibit #74578457985

..................................................................................................................

Prince Puma Vs Johnny Mundo.

Proper long term story telling is how to define this one.

This like mentioned goes all the way to season 1 episode 1 , both guys were positioned as the faces right outta the gate and both had taken very different paths to get to this point.

It would take a nice lengthy indepth look to go through the entire timeline just to recap.

I love that both guys are wearing the same gear they wore on the very first episode (with some little alterations like mentioned Puma having bits of black on his outfit).

And this match is everything you expect out of both with the highest of stakes and really that is the name of the game with this entire thing just upping the ante because the LU title means that much that Puma is willing to put his career on the line for it.

I love the moment when Mundo doesn't hit rick knox but instead lets Puma take him out because as a heel it lets Puma kind of lose his focus and also if the ref would be pissed anyone it would be the cat that kicked him in the head.

But squad Mundo quickly fixes this mistake and just beats Rick Knox up because who needs refs to count a pin anyways , wonder if Dario would have intervened if Mundo had just counted his own pin what with no living refs anymore.

Rick Knox does get his revenge in an unexpected but PWG callback moment (sans cocaine this time) and this comes from Rick Knox himself that says this shitty dive in his fault because his belly caught the top rope when he was flipping hence the not so spectacular dive. So kids see it pays to never skip P.E in school.....allegedly.

But much like it has before this ends with Puma becoming the only (as of this point) 2 time lucha underground champion.

But alas the night is not done for the hometown hero.

Alot people fully expected this the moment Penta won the GOTG but how they did this was actually pretty celever because instead of setting it up in a vingette where you know it is coming , they actually hid this reveal in a youtube video called DARIO CUETO'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS , and it is a very small bit at the very end and so unless one went out of their way to find spoilers at the time this techically comes out of nowhere , because in the video it honestly could have been anyone because you never see nore hear who it is that walks into the office.

And so if the Mundo Vs Puma portion was about the long storytelling stemming from the past then this is about passing the torch , some way it should have happened the previous ultima lucha but and I have spoken about this the creatives reasoning here is because they wanted to really give Penta a bigger build and honestly I think this was the better moment it just felt bigger and more important with stakes as high as they could be.

Puma fighting with one are (he was selling fantastically) by doing most of his moves one armed and everything was a struggle , just to emphasise why Puma was the babyface from the start is exemplified to perfection here ultimate babyface energy but and this goes to real world things now.

The reason the believers were basically shitting on him up untill he finally walks out after losing the match is because Puma made it very well known he wanted out of LU and all he was doing was posting clocks of him time in LU coming to an end in short being a right prick so this was them giving it back to him , now some felt they should not have done it because it sort of muddies the story being told hence why right at the end the crowd does give him a positive reception.

I have said this about striker that while he can be intolerable to some , his anger and call here when Vamp turns on him is FANTASTIC , he gives every bit of his emotion here and I cannot commend him enough for how he sells the story here both Vamps betrayal , the sadness that Puma's career in LU is over , the anger at Vamp and his acceptance that Pentagon now rules the temple.

This entire thing is a masterclass in story telling and emotion in every single way from feeling nostalgic about Puma and Mundo going at it for such stakes , to joy when Puma overcomes , to shock and awe when Pentagon cashes in the GOTG , to maybe middle ground it between choosing between Puma and Pentagon to joy that Pentagon is FINALLY champion to sadness that Puma's career is over to anger at Vamps betrayl.

But here is the thing and this goes back to what I have said for the longest time EVERYTHING matters...and they teed up this Vamp betrayal awhile ago and all one had to do was pay attention to commentary...all the way to Pentagons return in the cueto cup and just listen to Vampiro and then listen to him every time Pentagon wrestles from then on and realize Vamp is oddly positive towards his former student for some reason.

.................................................................................................................................................................

And now we get to one of the absoloute favourite parts of ultima lucha the cliffhangers.

Puma No More.



What a great moment that aknowledges this iconic spiderman comic.

King Cuero in his epic cabin with the gauntlet nicely displayed and I love the camera work here how it starts upside down and flips into the scene so cool....for as many people that will tell you and I will admit it myself season 4 is the weakest , BUT where things like this goes is super interesting though and IMO is a positive of the next season.

Sexy Star and spiders...just to say I do not know who the little girl is I assume it is the daughter of an exec of production person but was exuded a fine little creep factor.

HOLY DECAPITATION! and Hi Daga this was such a WTF moment in the best way but also really ups the reptile tribe and how Kobra Moon is intolerant of failure...she makes Roman look like a pussy cap in comparison , because when people fail him he just gaslights them , Kobra Moon literally beheads you....Roman aint so bad now is he.

But good thing for Pindar no more having to worrie about zippers....or his head mostly the zipper though.

Vamp and his master....okay I am gonna gonna give this away BUT I am not gonna tell the WHO of this yet...but the person that plays Vamps master here will not be who we see next season.

So I am letting you know 2 things that you will see this character again but not in this form sadly.

But this moment is interesting though because it harkens back to the end of season 1 in a way when Vamp took Pentagon as his student and they went off to a much darker place , but this time around Vamp is in the student role and that the reuniting of Penta and Vamp is infact not what it was but instead a complete set up.

And then the final holy shit of this season...DARIO IS DEAD or is he? well he damn sure looks like it after catching a few to the body , this is the moment that threw everyone off the WTF bridge inlcuding myself because no way in hell would they kill El Jefe? nawwwwwwww , would they? this scared so many a watcher because for everyone that is on this show THIS is the man that pulls everyone in the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers.

[Deleted]

Okay I am gonna do my best to summarize the point in the shows history because I do not want to do this when Gecko does get started on season 4 but just to make this digestable I am gonna do my best to summarize and prepare you without spoiling anything ...just so you do not go into season 4 wondering WHAT THE f*** HAPPENED...which you still might.

Let start this by saying that yes it will be by far the weakest season....BUT this does not mean there are not good an even great things in this season.

The season budget was largely slashed which ties into a whole lot of shit behind the scenes but here is your very short and brief version of what happened here because SO MANY people do not really know what the f*** went down because none of them have the actual real info.

But in order to explain this here is a bit of context.

LU had a whole lot of preverbial fingers in the pot.

Investors this includes Lucha Libre FMV which owns the LU I.P.
MGM
AAA
El Rey

This always was a huge issue because everyone wanted their say of this pie , but the real issue here boils down to MGM Vs El Rey or should I say UNIVISION.

Univision specifically is what ultimately ends LU because they were the ones that gave El Rey money operate and then El Rey doled out the seasonal budget from there....and this is always the info no one else that addresses this ever talks about whether they know this info or not but simply wanna shout BAD CONTRACTS at the top of their lungs as if that is the be all end all of why things fell apart.

Univision was such a shit hole that from what I heard people that worked at Univision had no idea who the hell was running the company this is how bad it was over there and they wanted to cut LU's budget down to reality show budget and ontop of that they forced LU to film season 4 within a month.

Incase I never mentioned it before LU's usual filming schedule was when it got greenlit for the season they had about 3-4 months to tape the show....now Univision has not onlyy drastically cut the budget but now the show is being rushed to film what would be 3-4 months of taping down to a month.

Now as far as the contracts thing you will or have undoubtably read about let me address this.

LU and the execs admitted admitted going into season 3 they were very territorial with their show meaning they wanted to lock their guys and gals down BUT those to claim that they were not allowed to work anywhere...is horeshit they may not have been able to work other wrestling TV shows(atleast not in NA) but they were all over the f***ing indies , you could not go to a indy show and not have a LU talent somewhere on there during this time.

Now the other portion of this and let me make this crystal clear...and this was always a thing when LU finished a season and in the words of the execs LU did not exsist because LU did not have a corporate office because it was not a company it was a show and so this bled into the larger issue because go back to what I just pointed out about MGM and El Rey and Univision always butting heads about the spending budget of the show....El Rey/Univision always wanted to make it for less but MGM wanted to make it for more (this was what Mark Burnett wanted as he was head of TV at MGM) and so with them constantly at odds and argueing all it did was continually hold up seasons from getting green lit quickly...and this hold up IS THE REASON THE TALNTED WERE PISSED AND WANTED OUT by the end , so again let me make this clear.

It was not solely the contracts that talents had issue with it was the fact that LU was their primary way of promoting and getting themselves out there but with MGM and El Rey/Univison always hagling over the money it held up the next seasons from getting green lit so talents had to wait months ...or in the case of season 4 nearly 2 f***ing years to get green lit and finally happen and remember what else I just said that when LU was not filming a season they pretty much do not exsist because all the TV people had other things they were doing.

Alot of the creative worked on big brother when not working on LU
Eric Van Wagnen had his own reality shows he was working on
Skip Chaisson is robert rogriguez right hand man so you know he was busy cutting trailers for him and whatever else

Hell most if not all the camera and production folk were free lance.

In the 2yrs it took to finally get season 4 green lit and actually filmed you now should have atleast a little understanding of why by the end everyone wanted out because sitting around for nearly 2yrs for your primary work to return would piss me the hell off and I would want out to.

So I hope I have given you insight into the insanity that begot this show going into season 4...now this is just the brief summary because when you finally finish season 4 and the show as a whole I am gonna link you to some interviews that you can listen to whenever from the execs , creative and even the now known as Santos Escobar where I believe this is the only interview he has done about this because he initiated the court filing to get out of his contract with LU , so you will be able to hear exactly why he did it and all of it , so alot of very juicy stuff I have for the thread coming on all of this.

But also let me reiterate this season 4 does have great things about it even with it being the weakest season but hopefully now you can go in with both a bit of context and maybe a slight bit of leeway on somethings know what behind the scenes was like.

[Rave]

May 15, 2023 18:19:34 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Okay I am gonna do my best to summarize the point in the shows history because I do not want to do this when Gecko does get started on season 4 but just to make this digestable I am gonna do my best to summarize and prepare you without spoiling anything ...just so you do not go into season 4 wondering WHAT THE f*** HAPPENED...which you still might.

Speaking of "WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED" though on a somewhat more minor scale, would it be a spoiler to discuss Sexy Star, considering that the Rosemary incident occurred not long after season 3 finished airing?

[Deleted]

May 16, 2023 0:18:26 GMT -5 Rave said:

May 15, 2023 18:19:34 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Okay I am gonna do my best to summarize the point in the shows history because I do not want to do this when Gecko does get started on season 4 but just to make this digestable I am gonna do my best to summarize and prepare you without spoiling anything ...just so you do not go into season 4 wondering WHAT THE f*** HAPPENED...which you still might.

Speaking of "WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED" though on a somewhat more minor scale, would it be a spoiler to discuss Sexy Star, considering that the Rosemary incident occurred not long after season 3 finished airing?

I think it is fine

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}Outside of the obvious of not mentioning Chelsea Green who we both know is the one they write as both the spider lady and who killed sexy star.

[Rave]

May 16, 2023 7:10:56 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

May 16, 2023 0:18:26 GMT -5 Rave said:

Speaking of "WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED" though on a somewhat more minor scale, would it be a spoiler to discuss Sexy Star, considering that the Rosemary incident occurred not long after season 3 finished airing?

I think it is fine

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}Outside of the obvious of not mentioning Chelsea Green who we both know is the one they write as both the spider lady and who killed sexy star.

Yeah, definitely wasn't about to mention that part.

So I'm sure Gecko will be quite pleased to know that the Last Luchadora Standing match was Sexy Star's last match for LU, despite her being included in the season ending montage. For anyone who doesn't know what happened, at AAA Triplemania XXV in late August of that year, she decided to be incredibly unprofessional (been speculated that she got pissed off at Lady Shani and Ayako Hamada during the match) and injured Rosemary with a shoot armbar that she refused to release post-match. Timestamped video from AAA's official channel is below.



This got her largely blackballed from wrestling as a whole. LU booted her immediately, though AAA would drag their feet a bit before eventually booting her as well. According to Cagematch, she's been slumming it on the Mexican indie scene ever since, though apparently she's still doing MMA as well. Also still thinks she's completely innocent despite all evidence to the contrary. AAA later repurposed the gimmick, so the Sexy Star that appeared for GCW and MLW this year is a different person entirely.

As for the fate of the spider storyline, well, we'll leave that for future Gecko to discover.

[Deleted]

May 17, 2023 0:00:58 GMT -5 Rave said:

May 16, 2023 7:10:56 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

I think it is fine

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}Outside of the obvious of not mentioning Chelsea Green who we both know is the one they write as both the spider lady and who killed sexy star.

Yeah, definitely wasn't about to mention that part.

So I'm sure Gecko will be quite pleased to know that the Last Luchadora Standing match was Sexy Star's last match for LU, despite her being included in the season ending montage. For anyone who doesn't know what happened, at AAA Triplemania XXV in late August of that year, she decided to be incredibly unprofessional (been speculated that she got pissed off at Lady Shani and Ayako Hamada during the match) and injured Rosemary with a shoot armbar that she refused to release post-match. Timestamped video from AAA's official channel is below.



This got her largely blackballed from wrestling as a whole. LU booted her immediately, though AAA would drag their feet a bit before eventually booting her as well. According to Cagematch, she's been slumming it on the Mexican indie scene ever since, though apparently she's still doing MMA as well. Also still thinks she's completely innocent despite all evidence to the contrary. AAA later repurposed the gimmick, so the Sexy Star that appeared for GCW and MLW this year is a different person entirely.

As for the fate of the spider storyline, well, we'll leave that for future Gecko to discover.

And , allow me to tack this on which I may or may not have mentioned previously but if not.

The alleged reason for this even all starting stems back from Taya being stipped of the Reina De Reinas title...which resulted in the supposed fall out with Taya and Mundo being pissed with Vampiro who was basically in charge of creative and has said himself he had no choice because Dorian and the upper of AAA forced him to strip her of the title.

Which in turn lead to Sexy Star returning to AAA and immediately getting the Reina De Reinas title aka the HHH gets handed the world title moment.

This in turn lead to Lady Shani specifically being really f***ing pissed because she assumed Sexy Star politiced her way to just getting handed the title because for the uninformed there are quite a few wrestlers with cartel connections and Sexy Star is allegedly one of them.

But also Taya is Lady Shani's mentor and so that leads to triplemania and Lady Shani just going ham on Sexy Star (I am not sure of Hamadas role here whether she was also pissed or just rollin with the so called punches) but they just shoot beat her up untill she rolls out of the ring and is the moment you can tell she wants none of this match and is pissed and the rest is notorious history.

[Gecko]

"Soon" was supposed to be this weekend, but that's not happening. Things are also busy for the next little while for me, so let's say Season 4 will start after MITB (No, I'm not going). Set the countdown for around 3 weeks from now.

Hey, at least it's better than having to wait a couple of years for it.

[Gecko]

♫Are you ready, kids?

Aye, aye, Gecko

I can't hear you!

Aye, Aye Gecko!

Oooooooh, what exists in a Temple on a mystical seal?

Lucha Underground♫

and so on.

Here we go for the final run.

-----------------------------------------------------

S04E01 – El Jefe

Last time

So, how did we leave things at the end of Season 3?

-Famous B schemed his way to a victory over Texano, who is now his client.
-Killshot and Dante Fox went through hell, but then teamed up with Mack to defeat the Reptiles and become the Trios champs. Pindar, as the one who was pinned in that match, was then sacrificed by a returning Daga.
- Jeremiah Crane and Ivelisse split. Ive went on to win her match against the cause of the split, Catrina. Crane then attacked her with a hammer.
- Fenix beat Marty in a mask vs hair match. Marty abused Mariposa one too many times during the match and she turned on him and made sure that he got his hair cut after he lost.
- Sexy Star defeated Taya in Last Luchadora Standing. She then got given a spider in a box at a post match interview… and then did other stuff which is covered a few posts back.
- Matanza destroyed Dragon Azteca in a cage. Black Lotus returned and finally learned that Dario does in fact lie about stuff if it suits his purposes.
- Mil Muertes survived a fight with Cage and Jeremiah Crane to win the Gauntlet, only to have it stolen away from him by a surprise return in the form of King Cuerno
- Puma defeated Mundo to both win the title and keep his career.
- Penta, who beat Havoc in a ladder match for it, exchanges his Gift of the Gods title for a LU title shot. Dario adds the stipulation that it’ll be Career vs career. During the match, Vamp shows his true colours as he aids Penta and not Puma and we end up with our third LU champ of the night and Puma doing a sad walk away.
- Mascarita Sagrada offers to show the Rabbits to the white rabbit…
- Vamp reveals that he himself also has a master that he is working under.
- Rey is locked up in the cell next to Matanza
- Agent Winter tells Dario not to worry about losing the Gauntlet, because he’ll be dead! And then shoots him. Dario manages to phone somebody as we leave him bleeding out in his office

Recaps of
- Dario getting bailed out of prison and the threat of what would happen if he wasted time again…
- The New Trios Champs of Mack, Killshot, & Dante Fox
- Penta not having to follow up on his threat to break Dario’s bones if he doesn’t leave UL as champ…
- Partly because Agent Winter, who I assume is the “new management” shoots Dario and leaves him for dead.

------------------------------------------------------------

Right, onto the actual new stuff.



Dario was dead to begin with.

That doesn’t look promising… maybe he’ll get better?

It’s not a good turnout for Dario. Just Agent Winter and a second person.
This second person says, in a raspy voice, “Us Cuetos were always better at making enemies than friends.”
Winter gives us a first name to go with the last: Antonio.
Antonio Cueto, who is now in full control of Lucha Underground.

We’re learning all about this guy very quickly as Winter says (While flashing his gun) that the only problem is that since those gangbangers shot Antonio’s son, they can’t use the Temple in Boyle Heights.

“As long as the sacred seal is in the ring, the Temple can be anywhere”
So the seal does actually have more to it than looking pretty.



…That’s Dario in disguise!

More info from Agent Exposition: He heard that Dario tried to call Antonio with his dying breath. Antonio freely admits that it is true.
Winter says that’s cold; trying to get help from the man that ordered the hit!

Ah, LU, how I’ve missed you.
I can see where Dario learned his scheming from.

Antonio says that Dario was always the weak one, which is why the Order chose his other son to be a god. Winter leaves with a final warning for Antonio: Be ready, their friend in the limo will be coming for war before he knows it.

Antonio makes sure to nab Dario’s key before he closes the casket.

------------------------------------------------------------

We head to the New Temple and into the ring where we get a moment of silence and 10 bell salute for Dario.
We make it to the third bell before the interruption. Antonio makes his way to the ring as Striker welcomes us and we get our first decent look at the new setting.



This old Icehouse that Antonio found has a suspiciously similar layout to the Temple.
Hmmm. It took me a minute to work out what was wrong, apart from the bright ring ropes: It’s too clean. The Temple was grimy and grim, felt like there had been years of history behind it.

Antonio doesn’t waste anytime in making sure everybody knows that he is in charge. After launching his son’s portrait out of the ring, he says that it’s likely we’ll have a new LU Champ tonight as Penta will defend the title.
It’s going to be in a match that isn’t actually a Dario original, it’s an Antonio invention…. AZTEC WARFARE!
Wow, we’re starting off big.

------------------------------------------------------------

We come back to Antonio joined in the ring by Killshot and Mack. He tells them that the Trios champs will be competing in AW tonight, but Dante Fox appears to be MIA.
It’s true, there are three belts but only two champions present.
Sooooo… Mack and Killshot will enter Aztec Warfare at numbers one and two, and whoever comes in third will be their new partner.

Lucha Underground Championship: Aztec Warfare

#1 – Mack
#2 – Killshot

#3 – Son of Havoc

Killshot and Mack aren't pleased about having a new partner, but it could have been much worse for them. Also, there’s sliding doors for the entrances.

Now, let’s see if these three are smart and just hang around and wait for the next person to enter and all gang up on them… nope, they start fighting amongst themselves.

#4 – Joey Ryan

C’mon, this is the perfect bonding exercise for the new partners.

Joey doesn’t go with his usual strategy of handcuffing himself to something. Oh, wait, there’s the handcuffs. This year he chooses the ropes as his anchor.

We’re running through entries pretty quick, next up is…



#5 - Mr Pectacular
AKA Jessie Goderz who was a Big Brother contestant before having a run in TNA/Impact. Maybe he did other stuff too, but the TNA stuff is where I know him from.

One thing I am noticing is the camerawork/directing. It is almost like it’s moved closer to a WWE style, which isn’t a good thing.

Killshot sneaks a rollup on Mack and gets the first elimination! (Elimination #1 - Mack)

No time for repercussions though, The Bone Breaker himself emerges from the freezer.



#6 – Pentagon Dark (c)

------------------------------------------------------------

He still has the music. If they had changed it, that would be a very bad omen for how the season goes.

Penta quickly clears the ring, well, apart from Joey Ryan who can’t go anywhere.

Hey, he’s learning, Joey produces a key and frees himself from his restraints. And then immediately undoes my compliment by hitting Penta on the back.

Penta ends Joey Ryan with a driver. Elimination #2 – Joey Ryan

Killshot almost sneaks a pin with a rollup his other partner, but Havoc kicks out. Penta then hits a package piledriver and Havoc lands a SSP and pins his partner (Elimination #3 – Killshot) as the clock ticks down for…

#7 – Tommy Dreamer?!



There’s definitely a thought in my head that we wouldn’t be seeing some of these people if there hadn't been a huge break before this season. I could see Dreamer being a one off.

As Dreamer goes to work with all the weapons he brought with him, Penta quietly pins Mr Pectacular off of a superkick. (Elimination #4 – Mr Pectacular)

As Penta tries to deal with Mr Dreamer and his kendo stick, we say hello to our next entrant.

#8 – Mariposa

Hello!

Mariposa takes charge and puts all the men down with the help of a kendo stick. If wrestling has taught me anything, it’s that Marty is due to show up within seconds.

Oh, nevermind. As Dreamer and Penta fight up the steps, Havoc hits a cutter on Mariposa and pins her. (Elimination #5 – Mariposa)

Dreamer pours a whole load of thumbtacks on the bleachers. That'll be a pain in the arse to clear up... and a pain in the arse if they don't get 'em all.
It ends up being less than spectacular for the end result. Penta spears Dreamer and lands on his feet on the level below while Tommy lands on his back on the tacky step.
Back in the ring they go and a top rope double stomp from Penta gets himself another pin (Elimination #6 – Tommy Dreamer)

Here comes the obvious winner of this whole thing.



#9 – Vinnie Massaro

Vinnie gets a pizza delivery before he makes it to the ring.

He manages to cram a slice into his mouth just before a Penta superkick and then gets a driver onto the pizza itself. (Elimination #7 – Vinnie Massaro).

#10 – Hernandez

Ok, didn’t see him making a return. He missed the whole of seasons two and three and there was no indication or hints that he’d be back.

His first action is to deliver a solid slap to Penta. So, just a one episode return then?

I was joking, but Penta’s retaliation is to break the arm of Hernandez and pin him… so, just a one episode return then. (Elimination #8 – Hernandez)

Penta is going for a high score.

First gif of the season



Add another name to Penta’s list (Elimination #9 – Havoc)

The way things are going, I see Penta getting right to the end and the last person being a debut that beats him.

#11 – Johnny Mundo

Mundo might prove more of a challenge and give the ring a chance to fill up again since Penta is experiencing a shortage of bodies.
------------------------------------------------------------

Halfway through the match, halfway through the episode.



Is that Miz’s dad in the crowd?

Mundo and Penta trade moves with Mundo having the advantage as the next person enters.

#12 – Absent

As Mundo watches the doors slide open and then close, Striker informs us that this spot was supposed to be Angelico. As he tries to find out what is going on (I’m guessing he’s injured as it seems like he always is), the replacement shows up



#12 – A creepy doll (and Ricky Mundo)

Um, I think something has gone wrong with the intern.

To what sounds suspiciously like fake booing, the Mundos double team Penta as the creepy doll sits in the corner and watches.

Ricky is distracted by the doll, which annoys Johnny. Ricky, possibly under instruction from the doll (hope we get a name soon so I don’t have to keep calling it the doll), tries to eliminate Johnny. Ricky seems to snap out of his ‘trance’ when Johnny confronts him about it and tries to blame it on Annabelle.

Johnny does the smart thing and takes out the unpredictable risk. (Elimination #10 – Ricky Mundo)

#13 – Fenix

Fenix, Mundo, and Penta in the ring. Despite the odd names popping up, they’ve still got a solid core with these three and other long termers.

#14 – Jeremiah Crane

And then you’ve got those that haven’t been around quite as long, but have still made a significant contribution.

Jeremiah grabs a chair from under the ring before he enters.

After a bit of countering each other, Crane manages to hit a falcon arrow on the unfolded chair sitting in the ring. Not a good landing for Fenix on first look, but rewatching it, he mostly missed and just clipped it with his leg instead of landing on it with his lower back/arse.

It’s almost as if the entry order isn’t random at all… or maybe it’s just luck/fate as next up is:

#15 – Mil Muertes w/Catrina

Let’s get the important detail out the way first: Catrina’s season 4 look.



Crane blows a kiss to one of them, probably Catrina.

Mil gets in the ring and receives a chair jab to the face which has zero effect. He then goes to work on dismantling everybody.

It takes the others a minute or two, but they end up regrouping and all focusing on Mil. Fenix gets the final shot in:



And that is enough to remove Mil. (Elimination #11 – Mil Muertes)
Catrina can stay though, right? Turns out she doesn’t want to. She is pissed at Mil and storms off without him.

#16 – Daga w/Kobra Moon

Let’s see, something interesting to say about Daga. Oh look, time for the next entry.

#17 – Chavo Guerrero Jr

Hang on a minute. Did the Loser Leaves Lucha condition expire with Dario? If so, that’s an exploitable loophole if you ever sign a contract that you change your mind about.

Striker theorises that it might be an olive branch extended to the Guerreros from the Cuetos.

Crane spends too long looking at Chavo on the outside and allows a sneaky skeleton to ambush him. (Elimination #12 – Jeremiah Crane)

Wait, what?! Fenix gets pinned by Chavo after a bog standard suplex. I don’t know if it was supposed to be a brainbuster or what happened, but that was very odd. (Elimination #13 – Fenix)

Mundo hits a nice combo where he slides under the ropes to german suplex Daga who is sitting on the middle rope and then uses the momentum to push Kobra over onto a front row chair. Back in the ring, he hits End of the World on Daga and pins him as the next person is about to show. (Elimination #14 – Daga)

#18 – King Cuerno



Bit of a new look for Cuerno. Don’t like the change.

#19 – El Dragon Azteca Jr

On the other hand, some changes do improve things.

The black on the mask is better, but still not great overall.

Dragon does some jumping around the place, which ends up leaving Mundo alone in the ring.

A screaming Kobra Moon makes her return and sics Vibora on Mundo. As the reptiles are getting their revenge, the clock ticks down for the final entrant…

#20 – Marty “The Moth” Martinez

Complete with a solid mop of hair.

Their work done, the reptiles slide out as Marty slides in and pins a defenceless Mundo. (Elimination #15 – Johnny Mundo)

The way Mundo got eliminated screams face turn.

That is everybody in the match. The winner will be either Penta, Chavo, Cuerno, Dragon Azteca, or Marty

But it won’t be the dragon. He is pinned after Cuerno pushes Chavo off the top and hits a frog splash of his own. (Elimination #16 – Dragon Azteca)

Odds are looking decent for Penta to retain here, but I’m thinking that Dario also learned his late stipulation/bonus match ideas from dear ol’ dad.

Cuerno does not hit Thrill of the Hunt on Penta due to a minor interruption



Chavo follows up with a Gory bomb. (Elimination #17 – King Cuerno).

A solid kick to the face from Penta is enough to put away Chavo. (Elimination #18 – Chavo Guerrero)

We are down to the final two: Penta and Marty. Mix ‘em together and you get a Party.

I actually am half expecting Marty to win this now, which I think I’d be okay with.
Ooh, he almost got it off of the curb stomp.

Penta is in control and tries to Cero Miedo Marty, but Marty bites his hand. Then hits a double underhook ddt/brainbuster thing and almost gets the win again. They are doing a good job at getting me to bite too.

Penta manages to prevail though, hitting a Panama Sunrise and Package Piledriver to pin Marty (Elimination #19 – Marty) and win the match and retain his title… for now.

I don't think anybody would claim that was the best version of AW. Some odd eliminations and it lacked the emotional highs and lows.

After a few seconds to celebrate, Penta turns his attention to Marty, who is trying to crawl out the ring. Penta treats himself to another arm break.

Papa Cueto exits his office to offer his congratulations to Pentagon. Aw, isn’t that nice, I guess he’s not like Dario at all.

He tells Penta that after watching him suffer in this match, Dario would probably have made him defend his title against another competitor, but Antonio is a much better promoter.

Next week, Penta will be in a match that is more violent than the one he just survived. He will defend his title against… (The crowd start doing the New Day “Who” thing) his only son: The Monster, Matanza Cueto!
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Next time: Darkness and The Monster

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- I was very unsure of Antonio at the start, but I think he’s going to grow on me.

- Due to it being a wrestle-heavy episode with AW, it’s a little hard to judge things quite yet.

- There were some noticeable absences from AW that you would've expected to be in it though. Whether they are still around or not, we shall find out.

- One thing that I've kind of felt since I watched this is that maybe it's lost some of it's personality/identity. Again, it's a bit hard to get too good a read on things just yet.

[Deleted]

And it is a rough one , atleast to start the season.

Okay let me start with the positives here and I am gonna try and do this a little differently because again to reiterate yes this is the weakest season BUT and I stress that just a bit there are positives about this season BUT this is not where that strength is atleast entirely.

Pentagon gets a proper very strong showing for his first outting as champion.

Kicking off a season with Aztec Warfare was an insane choice off the bat when they announced it.

It was great to see alot of the lower tier talent get slight bit of a come up here.

The opening cinematic was great as you would expect it to be , lays out alot of storytelling beats for the season and wastes no time in confirming that yes infact Dario is dead , how his death wasn't simply Agent winter killing him but his gawd damn daddy made the call to do it....showing you that no matter the Cueto evil just bleeds all through this family going as far as to kill eachother (Matanza did kill their mother after all).

But interesting little detail....Agent winter said gangbangers killed Dario and he was clearly ready to cover his ass if Antonio had any hint that he actually did it when he flashed his gun , so this atleast in theory says that while Antonio wanted his son dead he did not want The Order involved in this ordeal but they made sure to get to that deed first , since Dario was a dead man from every side with all his screw ups according to the order...I mean they did lose possesion of the gauntlet to a hunter so.

I like the new look of everything as far as establishing how Antonio does things.

Dario appreicated and reveled in violence and the gritty brutal nature of it all hence why his chosen temple was (in the real life words of Karlee Perez) was a place where everything could give you tetanus

Where as with Antonio is a brightly lit and cleaner looking temple and so it sets them apart and that is a great thing because if they were just gonna rehash everything about Dario then it would not make Dario the special character is if members of his family were just like him.

In real life this new temple was much bigger in size and the benefit of this is that it allowed them to create a whole bunch of more sets and do alot more creative things cinematically which with the budget getting slashed like it did should pretty much up your appreciation for what skip chaisson was able to accomplish especially here really one with one of the absoloute best set pieces not just in LU but all of wrestling.
...........................................................................................................................................


This match was pretty much booty from the onset from what I have heard because if watching this and you sense a serious pacing issue well you are hitting the nail on the head now go get your lottery numbers.

For one , the clock that would count down the next competitor broke so there is out first problem , the next one is the sliding doors at this time were giving serious issues.

And so combined it just generally created a problem ontop of problem.

And also there is the usual Visa issues because there was suppose to be several new luchadors specifically coming in , idk if all of them would have been here in this match but considering the visas around the taping were taking double if not triple the ammount of time , those luchadors do not show up...and since they do not show up I can surely say that Lady Shani was going to be one of the new talents and I had heard but never confirmed Shotzi and Mia Yim were rumored as well....with the former I believe would have been a member of the black lotus triad , again this is just what I remember hearing at the time non confirmation on any of it though.

A big one they sort of address on the show is the M.I.A Dante Fox..he was suppose to be here and I believe he was backstage but he was not medically cleared to wrestle and so I believe Vinnie Massaro is the guy who replaced him if I remember that correctly.

Kobra Moon busted her ass to get into shape this season and you see the result and this is the season where you really appreciate from where she started (being worse than sexy star when she first showed up ) to her at this point.

Another thing about her is that she cried when she first saw the season poster that put her front and centre....speaking of.



This season if I can say especially about the cinematics and it might just be me but this season has the most movie looking cinematics like props again to Skip Chaisson man that man is god as far as cinematic style goes.

There is not much more to say about this first episode , it is indeed a real rough start but again this is why I made sure to prepare you to understand the backstage stuff more than any other season because all of that really more than any other time dictated this and they had to shoot all of this in just a month.

I wish I could find the pic to show you the size of this building with the believers line up getting ready to head into the main area but sadly that is harder to find than I thought.

So while this starts rough there are many a positive to still look forward to so do not fret....the door freezer doors do get fixed lol.

[Deleted]

Just to add some more tid bits I did not address in my recap.

Mil during his time off had double knee surgery and you can tell just by looking at him to start the season from the last time you saw him at the end of season 3 when he was much heavier he had a pretty lengthy ammount of time to suddenly gain an 8 pack lol.

The pizza delivery man that gives Vinny the pizza is japanese indy wrestler Kikutaro.

Hey remember all those times when I would feel rightly so making comparisons to what LU does better than anyone else....well see that Doll that the Intern is hauling around? remember Alexa Bliss and her doll? THIS IS 1000+ miles way the f*** better...yes I am telling you now this is a big hightlight of the season and if there is another sign to point to why this never works in any other company but LU makes it masterfully work this is another onto that pile.

[Rave]

So what I've heard is that, in addition to the technical difficulties, Aztec Warfare IV was said by people in attendance to have had upwards of 30 people total in the match, with several cut from broadcast entirely. It's an interesting thing to think about.

Jul 9, 2023 5:04:46 GMT -5 Gecko said:

…That’s Dario in disguise!

It's Luis Fernandez-Gil playing both parts, if that's what you mean. People were kinda pissy about this, weirdly enough. I mean, LU's got time travel, dragons, possession, a half-dead woman, and ancient Aztec gods, yet the thing people got uppity about was a dude in a wig. Go figure.

There’s definitely a thought in my head that we wouldn’t be seeing some of these people if there hadn't been a huge break before this season. I could see Dreamer being a one off.

Dreamer is indeed a one-off despite having received a graphic for the season, IIRC he was subbing in for someone else.

As Mundo watches the doors slide open and then close, Striker informs us that this spot was supposed to be Angelico. As he tries to find out what is going on (I’m guessing he’s injured as it seems like he always is), the replacement shows up

Um, I think something has gone wrong with the intern.

Angelico actually left LU between seasons. Dude was getting injured repeatedly and saw the writing on the wall.

And yes, something has gone very wrong with the intern! Ricky Mundo's arc is very much one of this season's highlights, dude was fantastic. His companion will receive a proper introduction in the near future.

Jul 9, 2023 12:10:31 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

A big one they sort of address on the show is the M.I.A Dante Fox..he was suppose to be here and I believe he was backstage but he was not medically cleared to wrestle and so I believe Vinnie Massaro is the guy who replaced him if I remember that correctly.

I heard he had travel issues, but him being injured makes a lot more sense.

[Gecko]

S04E02 – Darkness and The Monster

Last time
- Dario = Dead
- Antonio, Dario’s dad, is now in charge of the LU and moves it to the new Temple. It was revealed that he was the one who Dario phoned in desperation and also the one that ordered the hit on Dario
- Penta successfully defended the LU title in Aztec Warfare
- Antonio tells Penta that next week he’s defending against Matanza.

Recaps of
- Antonio introducing himself as the new owner
- King Cuerno stealing the Gauntlet from Mil after he won it
- Havoc replacing Dante Fox as a Trios champ
- Penta defending his title successfully and Antonio announcing his next challenge

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Cuerno’s trophy wall has some unusual items on it



Catrina decides to pop in for a visit. She’s probably here to arrange a deal to regain the Gauntlet from Cuerno. As a reminder, towards the end of last season, she did a deal with Captain Vasquez to hand over her part of Piedre Immortal in exchange for Catrina getting her the Gauntlet. Oh, and Vasquez is her mum.

Cuerno doesn’t appear to be at home, so Catrina decides to just help herself to the gauntlet, but when she uncovers the pedestal, the Gauntlet isn’t home either. Cuerno it turns out, is in fact here and chooses now to show up. He tells Catrina that even he knows that some trophies are too dangerous to display.
He won’t tell her where it is as “The Gauntlet of the gods is the hand that could strike down the descendants of the seven Aztec Tribes”, and he can’t let that happen.
Catrina says that without it, she won’t get her lifeforce back, and she can’t let that happen.

He does tell her that he gave it to somebody for safekeeping and he doesn’t know where or when they hid it… and he doesn’t give a shit if she gets her life back.

That was slightly odd phrasing, until you realise that he just revealed who he gave it to: A certain time-travelling spaceman.

Catrina teleports away without revealing whether she picked up on that giant clue or not.

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New Temple, Same Mariachi El Bronx providing the music as Striker introduces everybody (not individually, that’d take too long, the believers get a group intro).

Let’s Lucha!

Trios Championship: The Mack, Killshot, & Son of Havoc (c) vs Infamous Inc. (Texano, Dr Wagner Jr, & Famous B) w/Brenda

A team that got a new partner they didn’t ask for going against a team with one person who didn’t want to be part of it.

C’mon Melissa, you’ve had two years to practice and you’re still not good enough for Famous B.



He’s out here in a suit along with Brenda who was coughing on the smoke. He tells Melissa she should talk to one of his associates at 423-GET-FAME to stay up to date on things and makes sure to hand out his card before getting in the ring.

A wobbly Brenda (in more ways than one) gets her balance as he tells us that yes, Infamous Inc. are here to capture Trios gold, but Dr Wagner and Texano are currently busy making money for him down in Mexico. (I'm guessing they are actually down in Mexico and unavailable?)

I have to say that Brenda has gotten even better. She’s loud and flamboyant and ditzy. She’s adding to Famous B’s thing without taking over.

We’re about to meet three new clients.

First, somebody B met when he took his Caddie* to the shop. Brenda, bless her, shouts Vroom! Vroom! As she mimes riding a motorbike. Much to Mack’s confusion:




*I like to think he means a VW Caddy van that he stuffs all his clients in the back of instead of a Cadillac.

First, He’s big, he’s bad, he’s…. Big Bad Steve!
Next is one of the hottest young stars on the globe. He’s got skills, he’s got confidence, but he don’t got fame. Well, that all changes tonight for… Sammy Guevara!
Last but not least, B searched the globe and found the hottest free agent in the business. He’s a blue chipper with a chip on his shoulder… “The Savage” Jake Strong! (who looks like he almost tripped down the stairs)

The Dream Team:



The only one I don’t know is BBS.
Swagger Strong gets a huge crowd reaction and “Holy Shit” chant. Brenda is also impressed and immediately goes to see him.

Interesting seeing a Sammy and Hager Strong teaming since they’d go on to work together again in The Inner Circle in AEW.

Onto the match. Sammy starts off trading flips with Killshot. It’s a good introduction, maybe he’s trying a little too hard to impress with all the flippy stuff.

Hang on, now that I get to see him move about in the ring, combined with the way he’s dressed… is Big Bad Steve a former Pindar?

Swagger gets dumped out the ring and looks like he may have tweaked his arm a little. He wanders further from the ring than you would expect (Killshot has to wait for him to come back to follow up) and it does look to be bothering him a bit.

Both teams are working together… well, not together with each other, together with their partners… oh, you know what I mean. A suplex, splash, swanton combo gets broken up as Killshot and Mack save Havoc from the pin.

A great original double team move…

…followed by a “what was that?!” kick.

Famous B and Swagger haven’t quite got on the same page with this cheating thing. B jumps up on the apron which distracts Killshot for a tiny moment allowing Swagger to get back into things, Swagger manages at the end of the next sequence to quite fairly lock on the ankle lock.
And Killshot taps! Shame that B is still distracting the ref.

Mack breaks it up before the ref can spot it, but it does take two solid shots to the face followed by a kick with a runup.

Stunner to Big Bad Steve, with a Havoc SSP followup is enough for the champs to retain!

Not a great result for the new clients, who may be questioning whether being famous is worth it.

After the champs leave, the fallout can begin.

Jake Strong destroys his two partners as B begs him not to. B then gets his ankle snapped (with crunchy sound effects) by his, what now must be former, Client.

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Melissa introduces the new owner, Antonio Cueto, who exits his office. Wonder when we get to see the interior of it.

He says that there were many who called Dario a genius. And here where you think he’s going to say it’s not true, he turns it around and says instead that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
We getting another Antonio Innovation? Nope, Antonio gives Dario his due, Gift of the Gods was a brilliant idea… so they’re going to start the process to crown a new Gift of the Gods Champion!

Minor detail that I just noticed: Antonio’s cane is topped with a bull’s head.



Aztec Medallion #1 – Drago w/Kobra Moon vs El Dragon Azteca Jr

Good to see Drago, he was one of the notable names missing last week.

Should be just a solid match coming up.

Very quick and fluid opening minute, ending with both trying for a dropkick at the same time, twice.

Kobra doesn’t take too long to get involved, tripping Dragon and then getting up on the apron to distract him. Dragon is smart enough to know what is happening and dodges the attack from behind from Drago.

Ooh, Drago has Dragon (there has to be a better way to name these two when they’re together, but Azteca doesn't sound right) sitting on the top facing out and climbs up behind him to start to unlace his mask.
He manages to get the mask off, but Dragon clutches it to his face which leaves him wide open for some free shots for Drago as his opponent gets his mask back on.

Slightly messy running blockbuster that ended up as more of a DDT.

Dragon catches Drago with a victory roll from the top… and gets the win!

Yep, as expected that was enjoyable, these two just mesh well together.

Kobra Moon is in the ring and not happy with Drago… and here’s Mundo!
He stands at ringside taunting Kobra about how her boy couldn’t even beat Dragon Azteca. He continues insulting her, which provides the chance for Taya to sneak into the ring on the other side.
Mundo makes sure Drago can’t help out as Taya goes to work on Kobra.
Then they have a bit of a smooch in the ring... Mundo and Taya, not any other combination of people.

------------------------------------------------------------



I guess that answers that question.
How very… functional.
I see you, weird statue on the desk. There are other little touches like that, similar to Dario’s style, but less showy. He’s got a black phone instead of red, and is not drinking from a selection of fine liquors but something in a plain glass bottle. He also doesn’t keep the key around his neck, but leaves it in a drawer, which could come back to haunt him in the future.

Catrina shows up, much to his surprise as he had heard she could do that, but thought it was all a load of crap. He asks what she is, and she gives him a straight answer that she’s stuck between here and the spirit realm.
All this time and Antonio is the first to just ask what is going on? And he got an answer.
As to what Catrina desires: Fenix in a coffin.
Antonio is immediately under her spell and asks if she wants him to kill Fenix for her? 🤣 He’s lucky he knows the right people cause he’s not exactly discreet about things.

Catrina corrects him and tells him the she just wants him to make the match next week: Mil vs Fenix in Grave Consequences. And when Mil buries Fenix, his life force will belong to her and she will be free. I’ll give her the benefit of knowing what she’s doing since it worked for Mil and he came back stronger.

Antonio makes the match, even though he points out that Catrina will have to knock next time.

Woo! Grave Consequences!

Catrina disappearing gives him another shock, and he sits down looking in a little bit of discomfort. Something more going on there possibly, a very, very slight hint at something medical.

------------------------------------------------------------

Lucha Underground Championship: Pentagon Dark(c) vs “The Monster” Matanza Cueto w/Antonio Cueto

Week two of Antonio trying to get the title away from Penta for some reason. Assuming he survives tonight, I’m guessing this is a running thing.

Melissa is still not trusting of Penta as she makes sure to stand next to the ref and also holds her arm as Penta passes close by.

Apparently Antonio is just letting Matanza wander about on his own as he makes his entrance from the upper level while Daddy Cueto exits his office.

Penta doesn’t wait and goes out to meet his challenger.
As you might expect, this doesn’t resemble a match much. They’ve not even made it in the ring yet and are just brawling on the outside.

They finally make it in the ring after making use of all the hard objects outside, with Matanza having regained control after enduring the initial Penta assault.

I don’t know who is winning this one.
History favours Matanza, but on the other hand:

Oh, he got him! I was half expecting a kick out there.

That’s only Matanza’s second time being pinned, and his first loss in a singles match. I guess Dario’s coaching at ringside really did make a difference, Antonio just hung around his door watching.

You know the best way to celebrate a win? Break an arm!

He gets Matanza in position, and despite the struggle, looks like he’s going to manage it… until Antonio comes back out of his office with the key held aloft.
Matanza powers out and decides to roll out of the ring.

Antonio is pissed and strikes Matanza.

That’s not a reaction you would expect to see from a monster, but it is a great touch and shows how much power, control, and influence Antonio had/has over Matanza.

Even if we didn’t know some of the history about how Antonio was the one who let a god inhabit his son and that he forced him to fight in underground leagues to make money off of him, this tells you all you need to know about their relationship. It also is an explanation for why Antonio isn’t worried about letting Matanza wander about by himself, he knows he is in control and Matanza wouldn't dare do anything without permission.

He tells his son that Dario spoiled him (y’know, by letting him watch TV occasionally in his cell that he was kept in and letting him eat people who were full of harmful chemicals) and he’s totally useless. He walks away with a deflated Matanza skulking after him.

------------------------------------------------------------

Antonio returns to his office, slams the key down on his desk and paces back and forth until Jeremiah Crane enters. He shouts at Crane that it’s a bad time, but Crane insists that he won’t take long.
Next week, he wants to be the one to bury Fenix AND Mil Muertes. Then he can get Catrina back and she’ll realise he’s the only man she needs.
The pervy old man acknowledges Crane’s point of, “Have you seen her?” when asked if he’s going to put his life on the line for a woman.

Wooo! Three Way to the Grave match!

Crane leaves, pointing out that he said it wouldn’t take long, and Antonio says to himself/camera that it looks like his career won’t be either.

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Next time: Rest in Pieces

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Ok, the magic is still there. Not the in-universe magic, the magic that goes into the creation of the show.

[Deleted]

HE'S BIG
HE'S BAD

He is the man with both the greatest and laziest name in wrestling...BIG BAD STEVE and yes that is the former Pindar and zipper free I might add.

LU obsurdity knows no bounds in the best way...one second you are a general amongst one of the seven ancient aztec tribes...next min you are a mechanic from east LA.

And yes Texano and Dr Wagner were infact in Mexico and so it was both a cheeky kayfabe and meta way to explain their absense...hey atleast it got an explainer unlike other companies usually do.

And Steve Pain got quite the reaction and this is because Steve Pain was very well known as he was running a school at the time and he would run live streams occasionally with LU stars popping up occasionally at the school and he has always been known as being the best base in the business.

Unfortunately though his school shut down and idk how true it is but I had only heard he was scamming students out of money and so he moved his school from LA to Mexico and that was the last I heard about him.

Not a whole lot from me to say about the match itself it was solid enough and nice intro to three new faces in the new temple.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

This is infact a 20/20 episode because CATRINA IS HERE!....I mean she is here respectfully.


This is the brilliance of LU at work once again because in just this single scene you learn so much more about Cuerno without having to have your hand held but also creates so much intrigue.

Like we know he is a hunter...but now you see HOW great a hunter he is but also eludes to the fact that either Cuerno has been around ALOT longer (would not be the first one) than we have been lead to believe OR he has been hopping all through time.

Because for 1 that wind or fire wheel (some will say it is a Chakram while it does resemble one it is not) interesting there is only one which means he has atleast been to ancient China at some point.

But the most interesting one...is that gun? laser rifle? rail gun? futuristic shot gun? whatever that is and whatever he used it for is definetly something from the far flung future again eluding to Cuerno having traveled through time.

But then we also get this conversation which atleast implies Cuerno and Catrina have a longer history because it seemed almost passe to him as she mentioned how she needs the gauntlet to get her life force back...a piece of info that would atleast get an eyebrow raise from those that would not have that prior knowledge.

So while this is not a long cinematic at all it drops a whole bunch of very interesting developments into your lap...and Catrina into m....I mean hey look over there.

And here is something I see maybe the keen eyed lizard king did not notice...that little spear Cuerno has there were markings etched all over it that looked like rune markings as in some type of magic...so is it that Cuerno is not just simply a hunter? but maybe a shaman or even a sort of druid.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

And incase one needed anymore proof to how tight the schedule is here with them having to film all of this in just a months time.

We have gotten aztec warfare and they set up both the Gift of gods and a grave consequences match all within the first 2 episodes of the season.

Yet you go back to season 2 which had the same ammount of episodes and see what having 3-4 months to film everything looks like in comparison...incase I have not said it in while f*** UNIVISON.

..................................................................................................................................................................................

Did I say 20 outta 20 episode? I undersold it this is a 40 OUTTA 40 EPISODE! TAYA IS HERE!

Dragon Vs Dragon easily the best match of the episode but you would not expect anything less out of two talents who can go like they can.

Kobra Moon not happy with Drago again...well last time she got unhappy that person turned into a mechanic from east LA so we should expect this time's failure to turn Drago into west Hollywood ballroom dancer.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

We get our first look at Antonio's office which was specifically made to resemble a mourge again going back to really seperating how different Dario and his father are.

Dario's office was always nicely lit with quality drinks on hand as place you would WANT to sit down chill , where as Antonio's feels appropriately like a man on the verge of death and judging by his appearance probably alot closer than he would care to admit and it being so cold and lifeless and he what he is drinking is just a cervesa/beer so he is not one for fancy liquor.

But what is like father and like son is their affinity for the fairer sex and I don't blame the Cuetos in the least.

I did also have a laugh at Antonio immediately jumping to the conclusion and willingness to kill Fenix for Catrina....I mean I am pretty sure that line wraps atleast around all of LA.

But interesting how desperate Catrina is becoming (doesn't help that she is glitching out more) as she first went for the gauntlet and now is going back to ole faithful by trying to kill Fenix , so while it is not expressly said you would have to believe her time amongst the living is running out and so her desperation is kicking in and sort of explains why she was so quick to get pissed at Mil for not winning aztec warfare.

I love the consistency of Cuetos hating that nobody knocks lol.
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"So you are willing to put your life on the line for a woman?"

"Have you seen here?"

There is your very direct and easy summation of Catrina around any man lol

But going back to the comparison of father and son...Dario had his moments of being stressed but most of time he knew how to hide this emotions and keep them in check where as Antonio here when Matanza fails him , he immediately starts stressing out and for a guy who looks like he does that can't be good for the ole pace maker.

As for the match itself it was solid enough nothing really to elaborate about that has not already been talked about this really ends up being mostly about the ending where Matanza cowers in fear to his father and is a real interesting development for not just Matanza but the Cueto family because it takes back to when Dario told the story of his mother and how terrifying she was and paints quite the picture why the Cueto brothers are the way they are because the parents were apparently nothing but the shittiest of shitheads.

But what it also does is make you sympathetic for Matanza because there is no side of this where he was anything but just a tool for everyone to abuse....his brother kept him in a cell and only used him as a weapon , his father sacrificed him to turn him into the monster he is from childhood and his mother as just an abusive evil bitch.

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This episode was definetly better than how the season started and very character and story heavy which is always welcome in the temple.

[Gecko]

S04E03 – Rest in Pieces

Last time
- Catrina finds out from Cuerno that he has given the Gauntlet to a third party to hide and doesn't know where it is.
- Famous B introduces three new clients to challenge for the Trios titles: Big Bad Steve, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Strong. The match does not end in success and Jake beats up his partners and B after.
- Antonio announces the start of the Gift of the Gods process, Dragon Azteca wins the first medallion by beating Drago.
- Drago and Kobra Moon are attacked by Johnny Mundo and Taya
- Catrina gets Antonio to arrange Mil vs Fenix in Grave Consequences
- Penta defeated Matanza to retain his title. After, Antonio insults and hits Matanza, who cowers from his father.
- Jeremiah Crane gets himself added to Grave Consequences.

Recaps of
- Antonio replacing Dario as the guy in charge.
- Grave consequences set up
- Penta defeating Matanza, and the aftermath

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♫All around me are familiar faces
Worn-out places, worn-out faces ♫



PJ Black and Jack Evans are listening in confusion as Ricky tells them that after he got those photos from Dario (Oh, yeah, the creepy haunted pictures S03E03), he found out that Island of the Dolls is a real place in Mexico! And it’s amazing! AMAZING!
Cue the creepy nursery rhyme background music

That’s where he and Rosa met.
He pulls the cord on her back and she says ‘Hola’.

I notice that in their time off, PJ has been experimenting with hair colours, and Jack has taken up smoking.

Before things get any weirder, the rest of Worldwide Underground, Mundo and Taya arrive. Johnny thanks everybody for coming to the emergency meeting, and Rosa backs up Ricky’s claim that she’s super friendly by saying, “You’re welcome.”

After several seconds of just staring, Mundo moves past what is happening and tells the others that The Reptile Tribe have declared war on the Worldwide Underground.
Mundo says that it’s Jack’s turn, he should get out there, call one of those snakes out and take him to Slamtown.
Jack Evans hates snakes. PJ points out that he’s the dragon slayer, and Jack educates him as to how dragons are different to snakes.

The others also get on Jack’s case, so he has a look at his imaginary watch and leaves for a colonic appointment. The others leave too, after Mundo tells them they have their orders… which include keeping an eye out for Angelico. (Do I sense a running joke being born?)

Ricky is left with Rosa, who tells him (by name) to not worry, his secret is safe with her.

We zoom back out to find that Ricky has gone from goofy to creepy.



We leave as the lights flicker. If Rosa ends up being part of the Catrina/Vasquez family, remember that I called it at this exact point.

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After the usual introductions, Striker lets us know that Jack Evans is in the ring and has offered a put up or shut up Challenge.
His opponent:

Jack Evans vs XO Lishus

Hey, it’s XO Lishus… AKA Sonny Kiss. Melissa and commentary are using He/Him, but Wikipedia tells me that Sonny identifies as genderfluid and prefers She/Her, so that’s what I’ll use unless informed otherwise since things can change after several years.

A fun little touch, XO has to tell Melissa details for her introduction.

Melissa doesn’t get to introduce Jack, he snatches the mic and, after telling Melissa that she’s learned nothing despite his tutelage, does his own intro.

XO gets a bit of a chance to show off what she can do in the first few minutes, but gets caught in a crab position and Jack hits a standing moonsault to slow her right down.

Nice dive to the outside by XO, she clears the top rope with minimal contact, if any.

XO eventually gets the win with an X-Factor from the ropes.

Nice little introductory match there.
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We come back from the break, some what appropriately, with Penta in the ring ready to talk.

He says that at Aztec Warfare, 19 Luchadors tried to take the title from him… and failed.
Then Cueto’s Monster tried to take it from him… and failed.
Any one else who wants to take the title from him… will fail too.
Anybody who tries will end up broken.

Simple and to the point.

Here comes a new challenger!

Cage runs in from behind and hits a discus clothesline before laying in to Penta with right hands. He adds a title shot to the face to the attack, and he’s still not quite done.

As he holds the title up, Cage tells Penta that he’s the luchador that can’t be broken, because he’s not a man, he’s a machine! 

And as we all know, machines never ever break, I say as I stare at my, soon to be ex, car.

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Off to see one of the competitors in Grave Consequences.



Hmm, guess they’re still together. Wonder if she’s seen him without his mask yet?

Melissa tells Fenix that she can’t lose him.
He reassures her that she won’t by reminding her that the last time he was in one of these, he won. She correctly points out that last time he only had one opponent to deal with.

He tells her not to worry, he’s the man with 1,000 lives. (I think he’s a little too confident about how things are going to go). Melissa tells him that they (the 1,000 lives) all belong to her, then we have a smoochy session with slow dissolves.
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Melissa returns and we get the intros for

Three Way to the Grave: Mil Muertes w/Catrina vs Jeremiah Crane vs Fenix



We didn’t get similar shots of the other caskets, hopefully we do at some point.

This one, as you might expect is elimination style. The one that doesn’t get stuck in a box wins.



My money’s on the guy in the striped shirt.

Crane is the one to make the first move, he decides on Mil as his target and immediately runs into a brick wall.

I do like that they altered the lighting for this. It’s not as much as they did during the intros, but it makes it feel different while keeping things visible unlike if they, just for a random example, filmed it under a harsh red light.

The first minutes play out like a normal, albeit hard-hitting, match.
Crane goes for his under the middle rope dive out the ring, but it looked very awkward, don’t quite know what went wrong there but it was definitely a bit off.

The casket first comes into play with Mil repeatedly bouncing Crane’s head of off one before powerbombing him on it. Crane does block a powerbomb onto the commentary desk and fights back, but at the end of his lap around the ring to build up momentum, he runs into a Mil shoulder block.

You know what this match needs? Tables! Also, the edits are a little easier to spot when there are suddenly flowers strewn about absolutely everywhere and not just in the one spot they were destroyed.

Fenix runs along the guardrail while trying not to step on the hands of the believers who just don’t want to get out the way.



Fair enough if you were distracted, but once the guy in the mask taps you on the shoulder, get out the way! And don’t leave your hand on the rail when you sit down!

Crane, after smacking Fenix in the face with a bunch of flowers?, gets a chokeslam on the casket. It doesn’t keep him down as he gets in Mil’s face as he is preparing the same for Fenix.



That’s not the reaction you want from somebody that you punch in the face… twice.

Crane and Fenix fight out of the double flatliner attempt, then the double chokeslam attempt, and hit Mil with double superkicks.

I will say that things don’t seem to quite be clicking in this match. Everything seems just a little awkward, or mistimed, or just doesn’t feel like it has much impact.

As Crane gives a piledriver to Fenix at the top of the stairs, Catrina is looking concerned and Mil is…. Oh, there he is.



I think Mil broke one of the doors from hitting them into Crane, it’s sitting at a funny angle.

Fenix climbs up a handy attached ladder on the freezer room and dives off onto the other two, and then celebrates.



They still have some great shots.

Crane and Fenix both take tumbles down the stairs with Mil walking down after.

I feel we’re getting near somebody going for a nap in a box. Maybe two happening very close together. Maybe even at the same time.

As they get back in the ring, it looks like the bottom rope is broken, Don’t know when that happened but it is very loose.



Didn’t see that coming, which is always fun. Fenix follows up with a piledriver off the second rope through a table… shame for him that it was him that was taking the move.
Crane takes a moment to see what Catrina thought of that before opening the Jeremiah casket. No, you fool, you’re going to end up in it since it has your face on it!

Crane takes his time rolling Fenix into the casket. Catrina looks on anxiously, but probably for very different reasons from Melissa. Mil is having a snooze at ringside somewhere.
Crane gets Fenix in the casket and pauses to pose atop it before closing the deal, which is a mistake.



Hammer time! …sorry. A redheaded Ivelisse makes her return and completes her own hammer attack on the knee of Crane. And then the arm when he tries to grab her. And then his hand. And then snaps his finger and smacks him in the face with the, now broken, hammer handle.

A final shot to the bleeding face of Crane knocks him down into the casket and Ivelisse is the one that closes the lid to eliminate him.

They’re coming to take Crane away as we go to break…
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We return with Fenix and Mil in the ring, having a bit of a tidy up and clearing some space before we return to this classic rivalry.



Mil is either curious himself, or has been paid by Melissa to find out what Fenix looks like under the mask as he then starts tearing at it.

Ok, that bottom rope is coming off completely soon. Mil took the pad off the corner and looked like he was working on undoing it before he got interrupted.

Melissa is getting more and more animated as Mil busts Fenix open with the exposed metal before finishing the job of unscrewing the turnbuckle. She gets a little too close to things and has to be rescued by Fenix.

Mil makes the same mistake as Crane and drags the casket with his own face into the ring and leans it in the corner, opened up.



Told ya. Mil does manage to prevent the lid from closing though.

Why do I get the feeling that Melissa is going to be instrumental in deciding the outcome of this match, and not in a good way for Fenix?

Ooh, that was nice:

We are back to the classic situation of: Fenix will not quit, but Mil cannot be stopped. After getting caught coming off the top and chokeslammed onto the casket, Fenix still fights back some more. He gets caught coming off the top yet again, this time with a flatliner.

Mil finally learns, and opens the Fenix casket. Either that or his own is just bent out of shape so much that it won’t open anymore.



Nothing fancy, he just dumps Fenix in and closes the lid as we hear and see a distraught Melissa.

“Can we get a shot of Catrina? She seems to be almost seducing that coffin.” - Striker
There’s a “stiff” joke in there somewhere.

We leave as Fenix is wheeled out.

Maybe people were having an off night, or it’s just one of those combinations that you’d think would work but doesn’t, or a mixture of reasons, but I wasn’t really feeling that match until it became one on one, which is a shame.

Future Gecko: I also realised that we didn't get to see the turnbuckle get used after it was dismantled.

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Aw, he doesn’t even get a cage anymore.



Wonder what happened to his next-door neighbour, Rey? Maybe he got misplaced in the move? Maybe they just forgot about him and now he's having to defend the old temple from a couple of burglars by using improvised traps?

Antonio has a different opinion and says that it’s not much, but it’s better than the cell he’s been locked in.
He says that Matanza must be thinking about how he failed him, but the truth is he failed Matanza. Let me guess, by not being tough enough on him?
Kind of. When he offered Matanza as a vessel, he asked that he retain a sliver of humanity and the gods granted a father’s wish by giving him the key that holds his soul.
Another question answered, there is something more to the key than just unlocking physical things.

Dario wore the key close to his heart because he cared for his brother, but the caring got him killed and made Matanza weak… and that is one thing that Antonio will not tolerate.

He tosses the key down to Matanza and tells him to destroy the soul of his son and become a god.

There is no real hesitation before Matanza does just that. The chains symbolically fall away as the god inside is unleashed and does some practice growling.



Guess that's a power boost for Matanza.
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Next time: Pain, Love, and Sacrifice