Gecko Watched Lucha Underground (completed)

[anglarite]

Not sure if I remember correctly and might had been just a rumor, but I think the whole Sexy Star vs Worldwide Underground feud was actually taped much later to build this thing up after the fact?

In any case, it makes a lot more sense for Angelico to leap in order to help Ive... (which also make me wonder whether the Worldwide Underground beats Angelico after Ultima Lucha Dos was also taped much much later)

[Deleted]

Someone get the konch because it is time for WAR!



Now remember what I have been droning on about seed planting well WE GET EVEN MORE!..don't you love mysteries especially ones that seemless weave their way through so many of the other stories on the show because this is amazing.

We get nods to stuff happening soon and especially much further down the line.

But speaking of amazing things we are pretty much in the midst of Johnny Mundo hitting his apex on this show and you really get to see it here in the opening by him just outright being a massive insurmountable giant prick and it is just perfect this is why IMO atleast this is Johnny's best run in any company because I have said this about him numerous times there is only one man that knows how to write for John and it is Chris Dejoseph he understands Johnny is a ridiculously looking good guy and everyone hates or envys in some way the ridiculously good looking and the vanity that comes with it and he puts that on full display here.

And Johnny directing/telling the legit real life actor "do not look at the camera" is f***ing brilliant meta lol.

And how long has Taya been filming this documentary camera is nearly out of charge.

It is such a great little chess match between these two egos...Johnny thinks he has a fullproof plan (which if he had won it would have been) but Johnny;s hubris f***s him over yet again because Dario one ups him by putting him in at #2 and Dario already believes he has this aztec warfare in the bag and he gets f***ed over because he undersestimates every other talent in the match.

Thematically this Aztec Warfare is how ones ego will always be what befalls even the most powerful atleast to me that is what I believe they were trying to convey especially with the opening scene.

And can I say how PERFECT that music cue is when Dario tells Johnny he is #2...you want to really nail how f***ed Johnny is to the audience that god of war level music is the way to do it and then how Johnny's ego completely goes away in the closing moments are the realization kicks in , and it goes back to what we saw when he was getting desperate and needing the LU title only when he is backed into a corner does Johnny actually take things seriously...it is a great character touch that he is his own worst enemy.

What I like about this Aztec Warfare it is a bit of a subversion for Matanza in comparison to AW2 because while he murked the field in the previous year one COULD take it...well yea but he murked a field of people who had already been through war and there for had a bit of an easier time and also alot of the names who would have caused him even more trouble were already gone.

But this ties into something I said some moons ago , remember Dario has pretty much been complacent if you will he hasn't looked to make Matanza stronger he feels he is untouchable , unbeatable hence how we find ourselves here but leading up and especially here you see how it plays out everyone Matanza previously monster handled is giving him fits , he has been struggling more and more to fend off this roster that he previously wrecked shop up.

It is not I guess technically officially thing but you can see there is some factor of power scaling on the show and it is none more evident then with Matanza because you watch what he did in AW and then watch everyone else rise up , get better , get stronger around him while he remains as is and it is a great bit of underseeded storytelling that while they don't say it you just get that from watching.

Hell Matanza is still Pentagon Dark's bitch so again there is another IMO bit of power scaling.

But speaking of mah boy Pentagon.



TRUST ME!!! WHEN I f***ING TELL YOU WHAT IS COMING! OH I CANNOT f***ING WAIT! I have such a beyond smile on my face everytime I get to rewatch this and what is to come , this is something I have been waiting to watch you cover and it has been a long gradual wait.

Oh and I see you did not realize or recognize who those ninjas are...do not try and figure it out by going frame by frame

Self: Way to give him ideas.

Other self:What if we did reverse psycology and told him to infact go watch frame by frame.

Self: Look if he call him crazy you know he is just gonna feed poor mascarita to like Omos or someone.

Other other self: Poor Mascarita

Speaking of

Poor Mascarita

And going back to Matanza for a second something else you can gather from this match this is very specifically built not only around Matanza but to included alot of people he did not face let alone were not in AW2 which is pretty cool and gives it a fresh feel.

To go back to Matanza for second....think about what I said about power scaling and now here is Marty not only throwing hands with Matanza he closelines him outta the ring and puts him on his ass when the mothman flies! and think about where Marty was not that long ago getting tapping out to sexy star.

I said it before but this season is where alot of those talents who have been bubbling just under the main event surface really get to come up and Marty here is a stand out here.

When Jack Evans came out I immediately got to thinking...THIS IS WHAT DMG CNTRL NEEDS TO BE! just the female version of douche colony here lol.

You know Marty is on the come up when he gets eliminated twice in a row in aztec warfare by Rey Mysterio.

Which is also a nice call back and speaking of great call backs Marty gets stunned yet again by The Mack making his entrance into the match.

It is very nice of Matanza to practice his cpr techniques on Dr Wagner there , always have to stay prepared never know when a murder might take place.

10 OUTTA 10 CATRINA IS HERE!! FOR MY...my heart she is here for my heart (ripped outta my chest by Mil more than likely but she can have it)

You wanna know how nuts LU is...Matanza piledrives Mil on the gawd damn floor and it gets a reaction equivilent to a plain ole bodyslam lol.

And here we get to the biggest kind of I guess proof to what I was saying about there being underseeded powerscaling ..this is basically the same sequence but different people this time where they gang up on Matanza to try and take him out but this time it works ...hell Mack's stunner actually works this time around unlike last time it got no sold and he got murked like a man with no neck.

And Rey gets back a bit of revenge for AW2 by being the one to eliminate Matanza which is another great call back hell the entire sequence is just one AW2 wonderful callback.

And then we get to the end sequence which like I have already said is divise to many but I did explain why this happened like it did and but this is not the end of this because we got a tltle match next week and I got a bit more to add to this story because it is not quite over.

But I will say this I never agreed with it and always thought it was stupid view point of people claiming this ruined Mil and the reason I thought that view has always been stupid because to me if anything this shows how absoloutley teflon Mil Muertes as a character is , how well handled his character has been that a guy just got off of beating Prince Puma in grave consequences can take a loss to sexy star and it not being a damage to his character at all and while a really dumb contingent thought different the majority clearly did not agree because it did damage his character with the believers one single bit.

[saneiac]

Sept 25, 2022 18:18:55 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

It is such a great little chess match between these two egos...Johnny thinks he has a fullproof plan (which if he had won it would have been) but Johnny;s hubris f***s him over yet again because Dario one ups him by putting him in at #2 and Dario already believes he has this aztec warfare in the bag and he gets f***ed over because he undersestimates every other talent in the match.

Thematically this Aztec Warfare is how ones ego will always be what befalls even the most powerful atleast to me that is what I believe they were trying to convey especially with the opening scene.

You didn't even mention this: When Dario forces Johnny to enter at #2, there was one person that really benefited from it. One person that got moved out of the death spot facing Matanza alone at #2 and got to skip an additional 10 people. And she ended up winning. It was the clash of egos between Dario and Johnny that allowed Sexy Star to win the match.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2022 20:57:40 GMT -5 saneiac said:

Sept 25, 2022 18:18:55 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

It is such a great little chess match between these two egos...Johnny thinks he has a fullproof plan (which if he had won it would have been) but Johnny;s hubris f***s him over yet again because Dario one ups him by putting him in at #2 and Dario already believes he has this aztec warfare in the bag and he gets f***ed over because he undersestimates every other talent in the match.

Thematically this Aztec Warfare is how ones ego will always be what befalls even the most powerful atleast to me that is what I believe they were trying to convey especially with the opening scene.

You didn't even mention this: When Dario forces Johnny to enter at #2, there was one person that really benefited from it. One person that got moved out of the death spot facing Matanza alone at #2 and got to skip an additional 10 people. And she ended up winning. It was the clash of egos between Dario and Johnny that allowed Sexy Star to win the match.

That is true but I wanted to focus my view on Mundo and Dario in that scene so especially as I talked about sexy star already and how that etire thing comes together.

But yes to your point sexy star is the biggest beneficiary to Dario and Johnnys ego clash , hell this entire win is luck just being on Sexy Stars side when you really anazlyze the match.

Pretty much all the largest threats get taken out because of their primary conflicts....Pentagon gets taken out by ninjas , Matanza becomes zoned in on Rey , WWU are taken out , and there is no Cage , Fenix , Aerostar , Dragon Azteca etc.

Now does that take away from her win? up to how one views it on the other hand like I pointed out this was not their initial plan or even back up so the way she wins is them basically putting a sort of asterisk on her win.....like yea she won but look at how it all played out and she just benefited from the circumstances...almost like real life lol.

[Gecko]

Sept 25, 2022 18:18:55 GMT -5 @sigmax said:

Oh and I see you did not realize or recognize who those ninjas are...do not try and figure it out by going frame by frame

I think through a combination of bits of randomly remembered stuff and you being so excited, I could probably take a guess at one of them at least, but I'm sure I'll get them all soon.

You wanna know how nuts LU is...Matanza piledrives Mil on the gawd damn floor and it gets a reaction equivilent to a plain ole bodyslam lol.

Yeah, I was going to mention it happening, then I just didn't bother since it just seemed like such an ordinary thing.

But I will say this I never agreed with it and always thought it was stupid view point of people claiming this ruined Mil and the reason I thought that view has always been stupid because to me if anything this shows how absoloutley teflon Mil Muertes as a character is , how well handled his character has been that a guy just got off of beating Prince Puma in grave consequences can take a loss to sexy star and it not being a damage to his character at all and while a really dumb contingent thought different the majority clearly did not agree because it did damage his character with the believers one single bit.

Having had a little while to process it now, I don't see it as a fatal blow for Mil's character. A simple way of looking at is that he's just coming off Grave Consequences so he isn't 100% anyway, he took more damage during the match and then a fall through a table and double stomp follow-up was enough to keep him down long enough for three.

On the other side of the equation: Sexy Star may not have been planned to win it until shortly before but you could say that there was a long build up based around her character instead. Right from the start we've been told how much of a fighter she is, how her past has shaped her resiliency, and she's also been up against men in almost all of her matches before this so it's not like a woman jumping into the men's division and winning.

[Deleted]

Yea I have always looked at it like , it is not that sexy star beat him but that Mil beat himself and pretty well ties back into this Aztec Warfare thematically feeling like it was built on ego being ones downfall.

And you could possibly see this as Catrina herself being arrogant and not thinking she had to worrie thus her lack of involvement at the end combined with Mil not taking Sexy Star seriously at all.

All the major players took big L's here because of their egos and the one pure babyface benefits in the end.

I watched a past interview with Chris Dejoseph and he had an interesting take on babyfaces specifically in that back then and even today it is almost impossible to have a pure whitemeat babyface and that all the best babyfaces have a flaw and that sexy star and fenix at that moment were the only true babyfaces with no corruption but he uses Fenix as the primary example here because even Fenix has a weakness though which is Catrina.

Just wanted to mention that bit because that line about how the best babyfaces today need/have a flaw.

Oh and here is a fun bit of info idk if I mentioned this but going back and just listening to old interviews....Matanza was suppose to be in the original aztec warfare.

[Gecko]

S03E12 –Every Woman is Sexy, Every Woman is a Star

Last time
• Aztec Warfare!
• Mundo declares his intention to use GOTG if he doesn’t win
• Dario is pissed off by Mundo and bumps him from #12 to #2
• Black Lotus and her Ninja crew attack Penta
• Matanza is pinned by Rey, guaranteeing a new champion
• Matanza goes on a rampage and then shoves Dario over as he leaves
• Angelico returns with his trademark leap to take out Worldwide Underground
• Sexy Star pins Mil Muertes after he fell through a table to win AW and become LU Champ.

Recaps of
• Dario’s pre-Aztec Warfare speech to his brother
• Killshot and Dante Fox
• Black Lotus and Pentagon
• Mundo’s GOTG win
• Aztec Warfare itself

------------------------------------------------------------
El Bunny will lead us, and we will follow him.

Yup, we’re starting this one off strangely with the Rabbit Tribe in a ring being weird. A bit of dancing, a bit of wrestling, a bit of slapping each other with carrots… TICK TOCK. THEY’RE HERE

We head into the Temple where Striker is trying to hype up tonight’s event while being punched repeatedly by Vampiro. When Vamp gets a chance to speak, he just sends it up to the ring, since apparently we’re not wasting any time getting going with the in ring stuff tonight.

Trios Championship: The Rabbit Tribe (Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador) vs Fenix, Aerostar, Drago(c)

Oh, so when they said they were here, they meant right here, right now. You only get one chance to make a first impression…

...and they certainly did that. Screw it, give ‘em the titles.

Vamp gives us some history and compares the Rabbit tribe to Norse Beserkers who would take drugs to put them into a psychotic state when they were going to war.

Also, relevant QI clip: Why was the march hare so important to the aztecs?

 

Once they get in the ring, they form a circle and dance around Melissa, who doesn’t look too sure of what’s going on.

Ha, London squinting when he takes his glasses off.

The Rabbits are doing well against the champs. They end up in a 3 on 1 situation with Fenix in the ring.

Ok, these guys are going to be a favourite of mine if they keep doing stuff like this:



Fenix heroically crawls to his corner for a tag, only to find London and Saltador there reaching for it.



The champs finally get going and start putting some stuff together as we see Kobra Moon perched above Dario’s office keeping an eye on Drago and also distracting him from the match.

The checkerboard pattern is really screwing with my eyes at times.

Fenix eventually manages to roll up Saltador to make it a successful title defence.

I was thinking Mala Suerte was very familiar, so I looked it up and it’s Mr Cisco! (thank you cagematch for giving me names with no story elements anywhere to accidentally spoil things) As mentioned earlier in the thread, Saltador is the former Mariachi Loco/Siniestro.

Hugely fun debut for the Rabbits. I wouldn’t have been mad if they had won, but I get the feeling that they may not really need any titles. Maybe the characters don’t care for winning titles and are just in it for the chaos?

I don’t see the titles staying where they for too much longer anyway, with Kobra Moon being a major cause of them losing.

Before we go, Kobra Moon has some words for Drago. She tells him that sooner or later, he will bow in front of his queen.
------------------------------------------------------------
Into the lucha locker-room where Sexy Star is admiring her shiny new accessory. Mack appears from around a corner saying that he still can’t believe it, how could she win AW and that the belt should be his. He can’t hold his composure for more than a few seconds though, and goes to congratulate her when his true feelings surface.

He says that he’s going to be in her corner to take the Worldwide Underground to Stunner town if needed. Star rejects it and says that she has to do it alone to show that it wasn’t a fluke.
------------------------------------------------------------


How many other bands can you name that use a conch shell?

Dante Fox vs Killshot

Striker caught up with Dante earlier. After telling him that he’s not even supposed to be here today , he gives his version of the story about how Killshot left him for dead.
Even if this one even gets to the end instead of descending into chaos, which I doubt, it’s hard to see it having anything that anybody could claim as a clean finish.

This grudge match starts in the middle of the ring with a conversation and a bit of shoving. Which I’m fine with, maybe it’s the first chance they’ve had to talk since the betrayal.

Dante throws the first punch



...but it is caught by Killshot. He gets free and then a match breaks out.

This one is very stop/start so far but from a planned character/story based way and not a ‘they don’t quite know what they’re doing’ way.

Oh God, Striker is starting up with the military talk again.

I like that these two are very similar in their movesets and style, it gives a sense that they did spend a lot of time together and were part of a unit that had to work together to succeed.

Ow, a leaping cutter sees Fox come down vertically right on his head.

Beautiful! Killshot catches Fox’s arm in an armbar as he’s coming off the top backwards for probably a cutter.



I have to say that Fox’s expressions are something that have stood out to me in this match (in a good way). From the shock of his cheap shot not working to the hatred shown when he was just looking at Killshot, they are a nice little bonus that you don’t see done (well) too often.



Ow. Add severe pain to that list of expressions that he can do. A double stomp from the top just to finish things o… Fox kicks out?! I guess all that torture that he probably suffered had a positive effect on some things, like his pain tolerance.

A rush of adrenaline sees Fox string together a good run of moves ending with the Fox-Catcher (muscle/brain buster type thing) to pick up the win.

I’m kind of surprised it was a straight up no shady stuff match, but it was thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m sure we’re not done with this story yet.
------------------------------------------------------------
We join Dario in his office as he’s trying to find a pen that works. Johnny Mundo barges in and claims that he should already be LU champ, but Dario let Angelico take that away from him. Dario says that if he knew Angelico was in the building, he would have put him in AW. He may even have given him Mundo’s spot.
Today is not the day to annoy El Jefe.

Mundo asks if Dario received the fax from his agent/lawyer? Dario says he did and since Mundo now has a restraining order against Angelico, has told him to stay away from the Temple tonight. Mundo cannot help himself and says that Dario isn’t as stupid as he looks.

As Mundo leaves, they call each other a jerk and then pretend otherwise when questioned on it.

There's dislike there, but it seems that they both realise that now is not the time to take it to the next level as they've both got other stuff going on and neither push too hard.

------------------------------------------------------------
We follow, or actually lead, a sniffing, nose wiping Dario down a corridor that takes him back into his office where he finds somebody has made themselves at home in his short absence.



She is here, not for a front window seat for the huge main event, but because she, along with the rest of the Lotus Triad, want Pentagon Dark.

They want to show Pentagon why they’ve been the most feared group in the far east for centuries.
Dario has heard stories about their reputation, and would love to see them in action against Pentagon… in a gauntlet match. The catch: Whether Penta wins or not, the match continues until he has faced them all.
He calls it a welcome home gift.
------------------------------------------------------------
Lucha Underground Championship: Sexy Star(c) vs Johnny Mundo (GOTG)

If Mundo wins here, we’re never going to hear the end of it, he’s going to be insufferable.

As was the case when he defeated Star for the GOTG, Mundo arrives by himself. That time it didn’t stay that way and there’s no reason to believe that it’ll be any different here.

Vamp claims that every beating heart in the Temple is behind Sexy Star 100%. I dunno about that. (Future Gecko: You're more right than you know on that one)

Mundo going for a submission approach to things.

Hugely obvious cut causes everybody to teleport across the ring. Am I terrible for just assuming that Star screwed something up?

It’s been a very one sided match in favour of the challenger with the champ only getting brief periods on the attack, but she’s starting to do more now… like get a poke in the eye

If Sexy Star wins this, I feel like the chances are it’ll be from a quick rollup, possibly while Mundo is celebrating himself.

When I saw that crutch in the crowd, I knew it had to get used as a weapon at some point.



Hang on, that person that Johnny is trying to take the crutch from is very well covered up. Not at all suspicious.

Neither Mundo nor Star are used to crutches as weapons and they both miss their swings, but Star chases Mundo back into the ring and follows with the crutch until the ref disarms her.

The “fan” is still struggling at ringside, so Star goes to help her. No good deed goes unpunished… or something along those lines as Star ends up getting a brass knuckles shot in the face (or at least within 6 inches or so of her face as a slow-mo rewatch shows).

Mundo rolls an unconscious Star into the ring, hits a little bit of End of the World and pins her to become the new Lucha Underground Champion!

Mundo brings the fan in the ring and they unmask to reveal it was Taya! Shocking. Evans and Black arrive to join in the celebrations



The timing was just off otherwise we’d have the group shot with on screen credit reading: Promotional Consideration Furnished by BAGEL BITES

I think even if I didn’t know that Mundo was winning the title at some point, I would have guessed he would get it here.
------------------------------------------------------------
Next time: Breaker of Bones

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- I’ve just realised that we’ve probably seen the last of Dario’s Dial of Doom
- But we do get a new series for the GOTG.
-It feels very much like we’ve moved onto the next stage of the season now.
-It's an interesting dynamic with Mundo as champ since nobody, including the boss, likes him. He only has three other people as allies... and even that is questionable at times.

[Deleted]

Filled with bedazzled jock straps.

Yes , you are dead on that we are now in chapter 2 of this season and alot of what happens from this episode on out lay a lot of the ground work for things in a very quick ammount of time and this is the time LU had gained back the moment that sort of fell off with the IMO disappointing Ultima Lucha Dos , they just hit a white hot streak for the next while here.

And we start off with myself declaring EVERYTHING ABOUT THE RABBIT TRIBE IS GAWD DAMN AMAZING! lol this LU endulging again in just sheer madness and it is so much fun.

But nothing made me happier to see Mr Cisco , that dude is known by Lil Cholo is just a f***ing legend in the cali indie scene and to see him get his shine here without being goober anymore (although they do lose this match) he is having a ball here.



That is one of the greatest comedy spots in wrestling ever but I love how it is clearly a comedic spot BUT it actually works in the context that it is a damaging move because of the long run up he gets , so it works both to entertain but also as a legit move and that is great.

And you brought up something I was going to mention and this applies to alot of LU talent and really the overall core of the show in that the characters and writing is so tight and well done that this trio that has gotten weeks of build only to lose on their debut...is not an issue like at all because of their characters , they are pretty much teflon outta the gate because they lost yes but they showed they are wholely capable...that kick from Paul to Fenix...absoloutley sick but beautiful all at once.

I have always approached any wrestler and this is just me but I view with them with two roads in which to watch them.

1.This is a talent that is largely going to be one where wins and losses define them.

2.The other way is them as a character no matter whether they win or lose they are defined by their character..how they interact the stories around them etc

The Rabbit tribe out the gate tells you they fall into the latter , hell lets go one step further alot if not all the LU roster fall into the latter because while wins and losses still do matter it is not the defining the trait for the majority...though for someone like Mundo though he is squarely placed into the former.

All in all this was absoloutley worth the wait and they bring such a different vibe to the temple and again fulfil a niche in the temple that only Famous B was occupying untill now and now he has serious competiton to being the comedic king of LU because a man with a sparkly cod piece has arrived...and Paul stop humping the gawd damn air...my eyes can only take so much.

Oh and what a simple but perfect explanation to why the rabbit tribe gets a title shot on their debut...because Dario is impressed by Paul Londons reputation , simple and it makes sense...see guys and gals telling a story can be as easy as humping the air with your sparkly cod piece.

Oh and lets give appreciation to Paul Londons freeze frame sell , seriously their is so much to fawn over from just this match because rabbit tribe is just this amazing and fun and all the poisitives as I just keep adding reinforced positive thoughts as I try to move onto the next thing on the show.

That dude stole the konch of war KILL HIM!!!! how dare he put his filthy mits on the glory of the konch!

And now we get to the banger match of the episode with MAH BOY! DANTE! MF'N FOX!

He should go down as one of if not the most talented indy wrestler of his generation to never get to the biggest stage and we get to see just a taste of it here because he is so talented.

Oh and round of applause to striker for the Clerks reference lol he went outta his way for that one and I love it.

But this match was just insane because you see how strong the chemistry is right outta the gate it is pretty much what video gamers would call the mirror match and these two show how well rounded they are as talents and the story being told is just already so strong.

And Killshot in particular I hinted at or outright said mid way through season 2 to keep an eye on him because remember up untill the Marty feud Killshot never called any of his own matches and he had to deal with not only language barrier but still working in a mask , but look at the difference now , he had the absoloute banger with Marty in the weapons of mass destruction match and he looked great in the albeit short Dial Of Doom match against Matanza and here he is putting in another banger , his growth is just so satisfying to watch.

Fox doing the head bump off the rolling cutter was just nasty.

And LU doing right by protected finishers because his double stomp has been strongly protected aod for this to be the time it finally gets kicked out of...perfect , if there is one thing LU never gets credit for is their uncanny timing ability...through the entire show they just have this knack for holding things and then either revealing , pulling the trigger at the perfect moment and the double stomp being kicked out of here in this match was just another of their perfect timing.

Johnny Mundos lawyer is also his agent lol I hate using the word perfect for anything but f***ing if this episode isn't loaded with just perfect moments like this because OF COURSE Johnnys lawyer is also his agent and this goes to what I always say Chris Dejoseph is the only know who actually gets Johnnys character and things like this only reinforce it.

A restraining order in the temple...good luck with that one Johnny lol.

"What a jerk , what a prick" lmao

I love this forever running antagonistic beef between Mundo and El Jefe both absoloute shit heads even to each other it is so wonderful...I demand a sitcom with these two.

Everything here is why Mundos LU run is so praised because he is being such a piece of shit that NO ONE likes him apart from his own circle the writing , the charatcer work is just on f***ing point here.

Everyone likes to joke that Tony Khan does coke...get outta here with that one because El Jefe over here ACTUALLY endulging ...step your game up all yor pretenders because there is only one boss who is willing to just walk around after he just did a line ...allegedly of course because I aint no rat.

I not gonna say anything else about this...BUT CAN WE GET TO THE NEXT EPISODE LIKE NOW!!!! BECAUSE IT IS LIKE A CHILD AT CHRISTMAS!!.

I will just this say this and mentioned it during last season in kind of teeing off little bits of what to expect out of season 3.....the next episode is a top 5 episode of the entire show this is the level of episode you are working with next.

And it was referee Marty Eliases favourite match to ref in his entire time in LU.

I could honestly go on and on but ima save it for next episode.

But I love the little twist he puts on the match that win lose or draw he must face the entire triad...it makes the match less predictable absoloutley love it.

And now we get to this...remember when I said Aztec Warfare 3 was divisive well here is the 2nd part to this.

Because first off PRAISE BE THY JOHNNY MUNDO through all his honest and clean hard work has achieved the boyhood dream!

Now bet you may wondering...wait they went through all of that to get the belt on sexy star only to immediately take it off of her? so why give it to her in the first place.

Good questions....you whoever you may be.

Here is your anwser.

This was always the plan.

No matter who won Aztec Warfare they were always going to drop the title to Mundo immediately , whether you agree with it or not. This was always the plan because the end game was always to get the belt onto Johnny.

But there is still one more piece to this puzzle that I will address in due time so this story is not quite over , but in short Sexy Star simply lucked out but in the end never deviated from their plan of getting the belt onto Mundo immediately after Aztec Warfare 3.

As for this match itself it is what it is...it is a sexy star match and Johnny tries his damdest to do what he can here but the end is absoloutley worth it.

And TAYA IS HERE! I love that when they showed her in the crowd with the mask no one had any doubt who it was because Taya is a very specific and obvious jaw line/shape that there is no way it could have been anyone else lol.

All in all absoloutely great episode to kick off chapter 2 of the season.

BUT NEXT EPISODE!!!!!!! YES YES YES!!!!!

[Deleted]

So doing some parusing as they say I came across a cool little article where the man Skip Chaisson lists off some of his favourite shots from LU and some more nice little insight into the man who created this masterful visuals of this show.

Episode 1: The Opening Fight Scene: "Inspired by an old El Santo comic, this was our first big fight. It established what we were doing with Lucha “real world” fights.

Episode 4: King Cuerno's introduction: "This was one of the moments where I knew we were on to something. The sun was setting and King walks out to the edge of the roof a la "The Dark Knight" with no fear, a total badass hero come to life."

Episode 4: Fenix's introduction: "This was another step we took to build the show's mythology. It was all practical effects here with no compositing. The police almost shut us down that night."

Ultima Lucha: Darkness Falls: "This was a promo we filmed exclusively for YouTube with Vampiro, inspired by the Indonesian action film "The Raid." This was filmed before a similar hallway fight scene was shown on "Daredevil" but released after that show came out, so a lot of fans thought we were trying to emulate that scene but it was not the case."

(This one you did not see because I could not link you to the video because it would take you to the LU youtube page or facebook depending on where I picked it out from)

Season 2, Episode 1: Vampiro in the Asylum: "I always loved the scene in 'Terminator 2' when Sarah Connor loses it in the asylum. Then Chris [DeJoseph, showrunner] came up with the idea of the doctor talking to Vampiro like he's Jason Voorhees and we combined the two films for this scene

Episode 202: PJ Black's Motorcycle Fight: "Inspired by the motorcycle gang fight from the Ridley Scott film 'Black Rain.' It’s always fun when we’re able to take 'Lucha' out into the real world. So taking over a classic location and closing down streets for the motor cycle chase was awesome."

Episode 204: Sexy Star Escapes From Mariposa:
This was inspired by Ripley running through the ship in "Alien." I used to talk with Ridley [Scott] about how he got the shots in "Alien" and we used his style to put the audience into Sexy’s terrified mental state."

Episode 206: Famous B's commercials: "This was inspired by the old Cal Worthington car commercials and by 'The Kentucky Fried Movie.' Chris wrote some hilarious stuff for Famous and Brenda, so we leaned into the ridiculous world of low budget car commercials and out of synch fight scenes."

Episode 207: The Nunchuck Fight: "This was a hilarious shoot. Everyone was so excited that we were going to take advantage of Drago’s nunchaku skills, everyone wanted to get into the act, so we went from one character having Nunchakus to EVERYONE having Nunchakus, crew included."

Episode 216: Dario Meets Delgado: "Inspired by the tracking shot from 'Goodfellas.' We're always looking for new settings we can shoot the characters in so we can expand the 'Lucha' world."

There is more but the ones he talks about after are big time spoilers and about episodes you have not seen yet.

But feel free to enjoy this fun bit of further insight.

[Gecko]

A Saturday night PPV and early Sunday morning F1 race means we're doing a 5am edition this week since it's hardly worth me going to bed.

S03E13 – Breaker of Bones

Last time
• The Rabbit Tribes arrives
• Aerostar, Fenix, & Drago defeat The Rabbit Tribe (Paul London, Mala Suerte, Saltador)
• Sexy Star turns down Mack’s offer to be in her corner tonight.
• Dante Fox beat Killshot
• Mundo took out a restraining order against Angelico to keep him away from the Temple tonight
• Black Lotus and the Lotus Triad are given Penta in a gauntlet match as a welcome home gift from Dario
• Mundo defeated Sexy Star, with a little help from Taya, to become the new Lucha Underground Champion

Recaps of
• Black Lotus has her arm broken by Penta, which prevented her getting vengeance on Dragon Azteca (who also had his arm broken) for the death of her parents (who she believes were killed by the previous Dragon Azteca), then later returning to the Temple from her trip home with the Lotus Triad in tow to attack Penta.

Ok, yeah a gauntlet match probably covers the wrestling portion of this episode by itself.

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We start off in a suspiciously quiet backstage Lucha Gym where Pentagon is wandering. He bumps (literally) into Vampiro who tells him, amidst flashbacks of Penta’s assault on Vamp, that eventually everybody has to pay for their sins.
Even if he makes it out of here alive tonight, there’s still gonna be hell to pay.
Vamp reminds Penta that just because he’s not his master anymore, doesn’t mean that he’s forgotten…



Guess how much fear Penta has?
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A sudden mood shift as we head into the Temple proper with a chirpy, upbeat soundtrack provided by El Conjunto Nueva Ola.

Striker welcomes us, alongside a subdued Vampiro who does not contribute when it is his turn, and goes over the recent history of Penta and Lotus.
I’m suddenly wondering if Vamp has had a word with Lotus and given her and her companions some pointers on strategy against Penta?

Gauntlet 1 of 4:Pentagon Dark vs Doku

Do I get to hear Penta’s music four times tonight? Or even eight times if he wins everything?

First up on the Lotus Triad side: Black Lotus Ninja #1 Doku.



Well, look who it is, the piratey princess herself, Kairi Sane.

Meanwhile, Vamp is telling a tale about a monk and a warrior and the nature of heaven and hell. When Striker asks if he’s projecting, Vamp tells him to just watch the match. Yeah, I’m definitely thinking he’s had a hand in this somehow.

Penta is not doing too well here, maybe he underestim... Ignore the not doing too well comment as he hits a very solid looking dropkick.



The ref appears to have been bought off as he argues with Penta and gives Doku a chance to recover and go back on the attack.

You remember that dropkick that you saw above? Well imagine a repeat of that, but Doku is the one running and it ends with a Penta superkick this time.

As Penta goes on a bit of a tour of the Temple, all the while beating Kairi up, Vamp continues on with his story of the monk and samurai.

You don’t see too many gorilla presses these days.

Doku takes a long beating, but manages to hit a spear on the second attempt and signals that she’s going up for her elbow. I won’t gif it, if you’ve not seen her elbow drop, go watch a compilation of it on Youtube. She hits it, then goes back for another one… but Penta catches her arm on landing, quickly gets her in position and breaks her arm! The bell rings instantly.

One down, three to go. And we get our second listen to his theme.

He can’t break all their arms, surely?

No complaints for what it was. It’s a gauntlet so you can’t start off with your single person struggling to win the first match too much (unless there’s a reason), they have to get more difficult as things progress.
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In a less spooky than before Lucha gym, Jeremiah Crane is getting a bit of a work out in. Catrina doesn’t bother flicking the lights on and off to appear and just walks up to him.
She says that it is a shame what happened to Ivelisse, Jeremiah replies that she hopefully makes it back for the match that she challenged Catrina to at Ultima Lucha.

Ok, time for the weird stuff to happen. Catrina, while caressing him, says that he’s the one that brought her here. She didn’t think that he would return, and asks if he’s happy to see her again?
He says yeah (like any sane person would), and she tells him that he’s not in love with Ivelisse, he’s in love with her… which is why he’s wearing a piece of her stone that he stole!

Wait, so he’s also older than he looks? Ok, hands up anybody whose age is only two digits.

The only problem is… Catrina is in love with someone else (I initially combined someone and somebody and ended up with somebone, which is kind of appropriate). She gives him a lick before vanishing.

It’s going to be really awkward if Ivelisse is the one that Catrina loves.
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Penta is still in the ring. He grabs a mic and says that it doesn’t matter how many of them there are, he’ll break all of their arms. And for Black Lotus, he swears that he will break her arm and break her in two.

Gauntlet 2 of 4: Pentagon Dark vs Yurei



The second member of the triad is one that I’m not familiar with, but careful research says it’s Maya Iwatani (The name does seem slightly familiar maybe, but that’s all) from Stardom.

Just seconds in and this one feels like a very different match than the first, much quicker paced.

The woman in the front row dancing around makes me think of the plant in TNA that posed for the camera in the middle of Bully Ray shouting at her.

Yurei is doing much better against Penta, and actually ends up smiling when she takes a bit of punishment.

Ow. Just ow. I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to be pointed that way.

That was smooth. Yurei went for what looked like possibly a somersault senton/ Molly-go-round, which happened to put her in the perfect position for Penta to catch her upside down in mid-air all ready to go for a package piledriver.

He doesn’t go for the pin, he makes it 2 out of 3 triad members with broken arms.

I did really like that one both as a match by itself and, as part of the gauntlet it felt completely different from the first, Penta also struggled a lot more.

No rest for the wicked as we’re jumping right into another round…

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...after a slight delay while we check in on the Brothers Cueto.
While Matanza is punching walls in his cell, Dario says that he has to be ready because next week he wins back his title.
“No.” Well, that was an unexpected response from Matanza.
And how about after Dario explains how easy it will be for him?
“NOOOO!”
Dario has worked out that it’s not being champion again that his brother wants, so he asks what it is he does want?
“Mysterio!” Yup, that makes sense.



You… um… you’ve got a little something on your hand there, Matanza. Oh. It’s a bit more than just on your hands, it’s a giant question mark punched onto the wall in blood. I’d say he’s pretty serious about this.
Dario smartly backs out of the room, looking a bit shaken.



I do like that it’s not just drawn on and you can see individual impact points.

Gauntlet 3 of 4: Pentagon Dark vs Hitokiri



I dunno who this is, some no-name they got just to fill a spot?

This is the person that I would have guessed as a ninja based on the clues. It is Io Shirai, who sneaks up behind Penta and starts the proceedings with a dropkick from the top and then a moonsault to the outside.

Commentary talking her up, saying that she’s known as the most dangerous one of the three, and she is showing that to be true so far since Penta has had zero offence.

After sending Penta into the rows of chairs at ringside, which from now on will be referred to as the Spanish Announce Chairs, for at least the second time tonight, Io pulls up a section of the mats at ringside.
I can’t remember seeing anybody remove the ringside mats before in LU, so this may be a first.

After she slams Penta on the exposed floor, she repeatedly kicks him, not in a vicious way, but if you could describe kicks as mocking or insulting, this would be them. This does appear to get Penta a bit riled up and may be a mistake.

Vamp on commentary is sounding disturbingly into this.

Penta certainly knows how to make a dropkick work



The way this is going, I think that Penta manages to pull out the win here, then Lotus gets a quick sneaky win.

Penta hands out some mockingly weak kicks of his own. This soon changes into hard kicks to the back of the head and face.

It’s Hitokiri’s turn to take out the Spanish Announce Chairs. To take her mind off that pain, Penta helpfully whips her with a handy nearby cable before choking her with the same.



Or possibly he’s trying to snap her neck?

After a drop toe-hold into a chair puts Penta down for a bit, Hitokiri runs away up the steps like a coward… but only to gain access to Dario’s office roof. He really should either make it easier or much harder to get up there.



No hesitation.

After they make it back in the ring, Hitokiri escapes the package piledriver and hits the destroyer and gets the pin! That was a bit unexpected.

That was great fun, felt like a proper war.

The result didn’t matter though as there’s still one left for Penta to face.



Complete with the wounded soldiers in tow.
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Penta is still down in the ring as Lotus and the Triad stand over him.

Lotus takes out the ref, who was trying to check that Penta could compete, before launching into her attack on the defenceless skeleton.

Vamp is really enjoying this as Lotus sets up to break Penta’s arm. Despite his resistance, she manages to complete the move and snaps his arm.



A new challenger appears! Dragon Azteca is back too!



Ooh, which way is this going to go?
Lotus backs her group away and they leave slowly.

I think I see where this is going. Dragon stands on Penta’s broken arm and wouldn’t you know it, he’s in a perfect position to break the other arm, which he does as he says that this is his vengeance.
Cut to Vamp looking smug. Almost as if he knew what was coming all along.

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Creepy music, candles, crosses. This seems awfully familiar.

It’s Prince Puma waking up in a casket… with a zombified Vampiro who tells him, "Come with me."



I wasn’t sure if he would be back, but I like this for Puma. It’s something different for him to do.

Well that’s a hell of a way to end a really enjoyable episode.
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Next time: Bulls of Boyle Heights

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- I’m guessing with all the broken arms, this may have been a short term thing for the Triad.
- The two gifs this episode were both of dropkicks somehow.

- Vamp has a new pupil, and his old one is out the way for now. Let’s see if his new student will be more obedient than his last.

- I guess I won't get to hear Penta's music for a while, at least not in the Temple.

- The next episode title makes me think we're doing the Texano/Cage best of five.

[Deleted]

Look at them...LOOK AT THEM!!! MY DARLING MURDER SQUAD OF NINJA BEAUTIES!...My heart has long been since been unfulfilled untill STARLIGHT KID became an evil demonic little bitch and we got married in a secret ceremony where she carved out my liver in a gesture of love and we are happily (although she did take my eye as a trophy) in marriage.

But this is not about her this is about my BEAUTY MURDER SQUAD!



Okay lets take this from the very beginning.

I hope you took this one in because this is special in alot of ways but it is also a complete one and done.

Because LU put this together with less than a days notice because that is all the time they had with because STARDOM was doing a STARDOM USA show and also they were stateside to also be at Cauley Flower Alley Club.

Where they just happened to meet a little someone.



But the creative heads in LU knew they HAD to get these women on the show and in 24hrs they had to not only get these women outfits but also get them preped to wrestle Pentagon and Pentagon had to run through 4..well 3 (there is a story behind the 4th) very different matches.

If that is not efficent idk what is to get all of that done in less than 24hrs is nuts.

BUT WHAT A GAWD DAMN IMPRESSION THEY LEFT! and while Threedom were very known amongst the very hardcore . THIS is where WWE's real interest in them began so WWE fans you got LU to thank big time.

But lets get some of me my generalities out the way first here.

First off this episode is arguably both the best non Ultima Lucha episode of Lucha Underground by alot of people but also it might just be the best paced episode because there is next to no flaw here...everything just flows together...we start with a vingette...we got a match...to a vingette to a match and so forth each pushing stories and characters in very strong meaningful and impactful ways.

We get an absoloute f***ing bombshell from Catrina that changes Jeremiah Cranes whole entire purpose ..which went from pretty superfluous of being just Ive's asshole of a boyfriend to now finding out he is alot olde than we have been lead to believe , has deep history with Catrina and has a piece of that stone around his neck because he is in love with her and Catrina is just having fun by taunting him about loving another....LU writing showing its power again in one fowl swoop you make Jeremiah Crane super f***ing interesting now and adding even more layers to Catrinas character and history...this is perfecto.

Hey kids Matanza wants to kill Rey Mysterio....there is a few holy shit moments in this episode and this another and this was exquisite. The camera work was on f***ing point here with the reveal of the bloody knuckles and then how the camera reveals the GIANT BLOODY QUESTION MARK!! on the wall again I hate using the word perfect to describe anything but f*** how do I not in this episode , this is LU knowing they were gonna make this the episode no one f***ing forgets.

But lets get into the show itself because HOLY SHIT , HOLY SHIT , HOLY SHIT!

There is BEYOND so much to love about this because IMO this is one of if not the best gauntlet match ever but also is the best intergender match of all time.

Pentagon Vs Doku - Poor Doku/Kairi so cute and so innocent and then BLAM! Pentagon drop kicks the f***ing cute and soul right outta her , while this is the shortest match of all the ones we get here she makes a hell of an impression in alot of way ,the first going back to my talk about power scaling , remember Pentagon since becoming Dark has shown he can handle Matanza with little to no issue but tiny super cute and super kawaii Doku gives him bigger fits and I love this because it shows the further strength of LU's creative.

It would have been so easy to have Pentagon just run through her because the size difference etc which is always a point when it comes to intergender but that shit be out the door yo in the temple , but she gets in some great moments like that backhand to Pentagon that just cracks him in the face oofa doofa , or when she kicks him in the dick (do Ninja skeletons still have those? quick someone send Gecko to do extensive research) and Pentagon tries to tell Marty Elias that she kicked in the dick like Marty is gonna give a shit right now because like everyone else he was just marking the f*** out (interally) here.

But of course we are dealing with a ninja skeleton here and dishes it out 10 fold as he got it , that dropkick was in f***ing sane Doku may as well have been shot out of a f***ing cannon because that is the moment everyone went from just this is gonna be aweoms TO HOLY SHIT PENTAGON STOP TRYING TO KILL ANIME PLEASE! look how cute she is.

But a significant thing about this match as an entirety is that The Black Lotus triad get Pentagon booed...up to this point no one thought that was possible but commentary even addresses it...and that was HUGE because to get cheered over Pentagon in LU was like a damn unicorn showing up and it really begins here because remember the ladies of stardom while known to hardcores were completely unknown to a casual audience and yet they win everyone over and get Pentagon booed , absoloutley wild.

I love the ending to this match as it showed something different with Pentagon something we have not seen out of him ..he usually does not have to resort to anything beyond just straight up brutality to win his matches but in this he had to outsmart Doku and he shows this by catching her out of her second amazing murder elbow , Pentagon is again not a guy who thinks ahead like that and it was amazing to see that out of him here and it ends with him collecting his first anime arm.

If first impressions are everything then you would have to be all f***ing in by now if that is just the first match.

Pentagon Vs Yurei - This is more or less the traditional wrestling match of all the matches and it works beause Mayu is amazing and is also made of silly putty because she just gets bent in surreal inhuman ways and Pentagon takes full advantage by pretty much destroying her knee but see Mayu is made of silly putty she has no traditional skeleton..she is made of just Mayu ..what is that you ask idk but only Mayu posses Mayu as STARDOM fans will attest to.

Something really fun and interesting about this though is that this is the only time in Mayu's career that she has ever been heel..so it is very unique and I love we see the escalation not only in how the match plays out from the Doku match but also juat sadistic levels because Mayu is taking Pentagon just brutalizing her and welcome more she is loving it.

And again this is LU's strength creatively on display , this might be a one but each woman has a distinct personality shown through the match atleast IMO they aren't simply stone faced killers here...well maybe this last one but we will get there...but Doku is relentless by arrogant and Yurei is the sadist.

And you know Pentagon is out for gawd damn blood when he not only catches Yurei into a package Piledriver but does the run up version and just f***ing obliterates her and of course it aint enough he needs another anime arm to the collection.

But now...NOW! we get to the star of this f***ing show.

IYO is very enjoyable in WWE even though right now it is some horeshit treatment going on with the creative but whatever but also this IYO is beyond subdued she is nowhere near being able to show off her full range.

LU IO/Hitokiri on the other hand? This is Io un f***ing leashed...if people still do not understand why Io is considered the best womens wrestler of her generation here is a huge insight into why because she is on full display from her selling , to bumping to her expressions to just doing everything she knows how to do.

I usuually bring this up if a thread on a LU talent comes up but there is such a gap with pretty much everyone in LU and then them post LU...like LU just got IT with all its talent they quite literally brought out the best in them...because for pretty much all of them it is like the poor mans versions and we see it here...if WWE booked IYO like LU booked her she would be running circles around that division right now and for years to come.

And what a f***ing murder fest this is , neither wanting to give ground to the other and shows how badass IYO/Hitokiri is because the chair spots alone should have killed her and even striker you can hear it when he says this woman is trying to kill herself...he felt legit worried because she was not holding back here and it is amazing.

And lets heap all the praise on Pentagon to because we had not seen him for a few weeks but what a return to form he puts on a masterclass he wrestles 3 extremely different matches with extrordiary women and yet comes out of this entire thing (despite Cero arms) smelling like a damn rose.

And back to Hitokiri for a moment when she dives off that office think about...not even Angelico for all his dives was nuts enough to jump off of there onto 1 single person , that margin is error is so think but yet her and Pentagon more than nailed the f*** out of this spot because LU could have played it safe knowing they only had 1 night with these ladies but no , this is LU respecting and understand the level of talent before them and just let them go AND they have Hitokiri get the freaking pin on Pentagon....if you could not tell they really wanted them back this cemented it they let her go over on Pentagon which at that point and time was a massive.

Ima keep this portion short because Ima just keep rambling if I don't. So I hinted at this earlier but the reason Black Lotus does not get an actual match here is because at the time of the taping she was pregnant..sadly though when this episode aired either a little before or after we would find out that Angela Fong had a miscarriage , so yea alot going on with her in real life at the time.

But what is happy is we get one of if not the great comuppance ever....because this is Pentagons penance for being the ultimate shit head and remember how I said wayyy back that Pentagon is seen as the Vegeta is LU , well here is the other part to that because just like Vegeta (atleast DBZ Vegeta) he never f***ing learns and karma comes down on him hard here and I love how LU made what would be something completely throw away filler in any other company with Pentagons interference at Ultima Lucha Dos and turned it into one of the most satisfying character comuppance of all time...has had his back broken and now has Cero arms and that is mah boy but he deserved this for being a complete shit head lol.

And then we get one last spoopy moment with even more demon looking Vampiro and Puma finally waking up from his bender...I will get to this soon enough though but needless to say this wont be the last time we come back to this episode hint hint.

[Deleted]

Will I continue to fawn over this episode you gawd damn right I will lol.



Touched on it earlier but while this is just your simple standard camera shot just something about the slow pan up to reveal the entire thing is so beautiful.



There are not many women that would be willing to take the bump let alone practically kill themselves for the bump but Io is out of her f***ing mind because her being thrown into the chairs is vile lol but awesome.

[Gecko]

S03E14 – Bulls of Boyle Heights

Last time
• Penta runs the Lotus Gauntlet
• He beats Doku (Kairi Sane) and breaks her arm
• Jeremiah and Catrina reveal their past relationship, which goes back a fair while
• Penta beats Yurei (Maya Iwatani) and breaks her arm
• Matanza emphatically tells Dario that he doesn’t want a title match, he wants Mysterio
• Penta loses to Hitokiri (Io Shirai)
• Black Lotus doesn’t bother with a match and just breaks Penta’s arm
• Dragon Azteca returns and breaks Penta’s other arm
• Vampiro is waiting when Puma awakens in his casket

Recaps of
• Angelico getting taken out by Worldwide Underground, his return at Aztec Warfare to prevent Mundo winning and subsequent restraining order against him by Mundo
• Best of Five series between Texano and Cage for the ultimate opportunity.
• Mundo defeating Sexy Star, who didn’t want any help, with the help of Taya to become LU Champion

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We start with what seems like Godfather (the film not the wrestler) inspired music as we join Dario in his office. He is getting a visit from Angelico who says that he wants Mundo and he doesn’t care if it’s for the title or not.

Wow, Angelico’s voice is jarring in this scene, it does not fit in with anything else.

Dario says that there’s nothing he can do, his hands are tied and Johnny’s lawyer is a real shark (Please be a Shark Boy cameo in a future episode). Angelico threatens to get some legal help of his own since he was beaten, twice, while working for Dario and nothing was done.

C’mon, look at this innocent face



He can’t possibly be to blame for anything, ever.

I also notice at this point that Dario’s office ceiling is looking less than perfect and I remember that he was looking up there quite a while back.

After threatening Dario (not a smart move. It may pay off in the short term, but long term consequences are something else), El Jefe says that Angelico can get Mundo, he just has to win Dario’s new tournament first.

This new tourney is called the Battle of the Bulls. The winner gets a shot at Mundo and the title.

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I do like how Vampiro changes mood depending on the situation. This week, he’s very energetic and upbeat. The commentary runs down how the Battle of the Bulls Tourney works. It’s a lot of fours.
Four Four-way matches with the Four winners of those going onto another Four-way elimination match for a shot at Mundo. Winner of the whole thing is the new number Four One contender for the LU title. 4

Battle of the Bulls: Cage vs Texano vs Joey Ryan vs Dr Wagner Jr w/ Famous B & Nurse Brenda

These ones aren’t elimination, first fall wins.

Famous B tries introducing his client, but doesn’t get too far into it before Cage literally turns him upside down.



I think I agree with Vamp who thinks Wagner’s winning this one… as I look back to the screen to see him on the floor outside the ring.

Texano and Cage soon find each other and continue their rivalry, with Texano getting the better of it and then using his rope to whip the Machine, much to the amusement of B.

Not the smoothest or prettiest moonsault even if it is impressive.

Better than the Charlotte Flair version, anyway.

Random chant of the night:
“Who better than Kanyon?*”
“Nobody!”
*I don’t think the name said was Kanyon, it almost sounded like Gary. Could have been Joey?

I am always impressed by the ‘catch somebody coming off the top in a suplex position’ spot.

Both for the catcher for the strength to catch another adult like that, and also for the person diving who knows that if it goes wrong, they’re probably landing on their head.

Wagner is taking control of the match.

It wouldn’t be a multi-man match without a tower o’ doom. Although, that’s another thing that I’ve not really noticed LU doing much. Cage, as the base of the tower, is first back to his feet and sets his sights on Wagner. Famous B tries getting involved at this point. It does not go well for him.

I’ve changed my mind, Joey is winning this. (If I change my mind to a third person, you can guarantee that the one I never picked will win.)

...Seconds later:

Big powerbomb from Texano on Joey, Cage breaks up the pin then punches the cowboy with his own rope before covering Joey for the win.

Cage advancing to the finals.

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Somebody didn’t get the mmmmmmemo.



Mil Muertes, Mack, Marty Moth Martinez, and… Melon-mask?
That’s what’s coming up later, right now we’re joining an already in progress meeting



Dario says that he’s always liked Sexy. She has a fight in her that can only come from a troubled past, and he can relate to that (which I believe I theorised in a previous episode. Add one to the Gecko scoreboard).

The Title was taken from her by the whole Worldwide Underground, which is why tonight he’s going to give her a unique opportunity. A one on one match with PJ Black, the only one of the group she hasn’t faced. If she wins, she gets a rematch with Mundo…. In a steel cage!

Sexy star doesn’t quite make it out before Dario reveals the twist. If she loses tonight, she never gets another shot at the title.

She catches Dario off-guard by being fine with that, and also mentions that if he's not careful he's going to have a troubled future as well as a troubled past.

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We’re now off to see some people we’ve not seen for a while: Cortez/Reyes and Captain Vasquez.
Vasquez says that it’s been a while, but Cortez gets right to business and tells her that Dario knows about him.
She says that she was wrong about him. She doesn’t trust Meehan (Joey Ryan) anymore (good call), but she does trust him and needs him to be in the Temple. When Cortez asks how he can go back when his cover is blown, she replies that he’ll just need to go in deeper (you know the joke that goes here).
Is he getting a mask? He is! When the arm heals, he’s returning to the Temple as a whole new man!

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Sexy Star vs PJ Black

Dario made the potential rematch a cage match to keep the Worldwide Underground from getting involved in it, but he didn’t do anything to stop them making sure this match goes the way they want…

The match is nothing special, but decent enough… Until Sexy does Sexy. Black went for what looked something like Big E’s Big Ending, but Star put her feet down and with Black holding onto her while he went down to his back, it got an “ooh” from the crowd for an obvious, possibly painful, botch. 23:31

“You might be having some sympathy for Sexy Star, but don’t”. Ok, I won’t.

Black seems a little smitten with Melissa Santos at ringside (who can blame him) and is showing off a little for her.

Oh, that was nice:



So smooth.

Here comes Jack Evans. He jumps up on the apron and argues with the ref while also sneakily throwing a bat in the ring. The ref turns and sees it, and takes it away, which gives an opportunity for a double team… that ends with Black kicking Evans in the face.

Star rolls up Black with a sunset flip to get the win and a rematch in a cage for the title. And I see Vamp wandering around in the background applauding.

Evans is not happy about getting kicked in the face.

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♫ We’re off to see the lizard, the wonderfu… oh, wait, she’s a snake not a lizard.

(That's not a giant candle, it's just in the foreground, in case you were wondering)

Lotsssssss of ‘ssssss’ noisssssessssss happening assssss sssssshe adresssssssessss her minionssssss. Ok, I’m going to stop with that now.

Kobra Moon says that 1,000 years ago, their tribe was the home of the greatest warriors in the Aztec Empire. Their army was led by three of the most venomous, cold-blooded generals to ever live. (I bet I can name two of them.)

Pindar and The other whose name I couldn’t catch, are the two bowing before her. The third general deserted them when the great war broke out. (Gee, I wonder who it could be.). These two survived and helped preserve the royal bloodline, which is why Kobra now sits before them as their queen.

She wants them to bring her Drago and make him kneel before his queen. Well at least she follows up on her threats.

New people(ish) on the way to the Temple! From the little we saw, the masks on those two look great, the same level as Drago’s. One is definitely snakey, the other more lizard looking. Can’t wait to have a better look at them.

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Dario goes to visit his brother to check that he is sure that he doesn’t want to be in the Battle of the Bulls tournament.
Matanza: “Rey!”. Guess that's a no.
Dario assures him that he’ll get Rey when he returns from his injuries. He tries reasoning with his brother, pointing out that Rey’s Protege, Dragon Azteca, returned last week and is in the tourney. He was also blinded by revenge and it almost cost him his arm and career, so he hopes Matanza is smarter than that.

A touching moment as Matanza reaches out to stroke Dario’s head… before pulling him into the bars and knocking him out. The last we see is of Matanza reaching for the key…

Dario was struggling with his brother before this, but now he’s lost control completely and we’ve got a monster on the loose.

I imagine Matanza is off to find Rey and feel like I’m just going to be disappointed if I expect an Austin/McMahon style light-hearted hospital scene with Rey and Matanza next week.
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Battle of the Bulls: Marty “The Moth” Martinez vs El Dragon Azteca Jr vs The Mack vs Mil Muertes w/Catrina

The interaction between Melissa and Marty is still great, she tries to push him away without actually touching him, while he is laughing and smiling about it. Then you can see her in the background wiping at the parts of her arm that made contact with him.

Hey, smart wrestlers! They all team up and jump Mil at the bell. It’s almost a fair fight.

Mil does the Big E spear through the ropes on Marty, but he has a couple of people out on the floor to catch them, which is a good idea. It doesn’t really take away from the move, but does make it safer.

After more teaming up against Mil, it’s left with him and Dragon in the ring. Dragon hits a 450 splash but doesn’t go for the cover and wants to try another.

Oop, here’s Matanza! He steps over Mil as he goes straight for Dragon. Muertes doesn’t get off free though as Dragon is powerbombed onto him.

Since this is no DQ, I guess the winner will be the one that can hide from Matanza and steal a pin.



That doesn’t inspire confidence. At least he’s still got the key. He manages to draw Matanza to him and leads him away from the crime scene/ring. In the ring, Marty is taking advantage and would have got a pin on Dragon if Mack hadn’t got there in time.

Mil looks to be on rough shape on the outside, or he’s possibly just using it as an excuse to be leaning on Catrina.

Running Stunner on Marty and Mack gets the pin!

We have half of our finals: Cage and Mack.

Ok, so Dario got Matanza back this time, but it shows that he has no real control over him if he gets focused on something that Dario won’t/can’t give him.

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Next time: En La Sombra

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Wonder what was on Vamp’s shirt that they had to blur?
- It seems like something I shouldn’t look up myself and since they were speaking English I didn’t get subtitles, so: Name that Serpent General.
- I really should get a list together of the tribes and who belongs to them (so far). It’s one of those things where if I could go back to the start, I’d add it on to my spreadsheet then instead of having to do all the work now.

- I think next week’s title is something along the lines of ‘In the shadows’, which is intriguing.

- It's not just Matanza that Dario is seemingly losing control over. His twist for Sexy Star didn't faze her at all, and Angelico wasn't afraid to threaten him either. Things are falling apart from him at an important time, and after he's been warned by his superiors to keep things running smoothly.

[Deleted]

So after last weeks god tier episode , we find ourselves with just a slight oome down on this one with something we have not gotten in awhile and this is an absoloute showcase (further) of what seperates LU so far IMO above every other wrestling show.





LOOK AT THIS GAWD DAMN SET! everything about this is pure character and tells such a great story , needless to say Kobra Moon has come a good ways from her debut against THE MIGHTY Bengala.

In other companies you will get some semblence of set dressing but it looks terrible and cheap and you could tell oh this is just backstage. But this? this is masterful it feels like a real authentic location in LU's lore with the way they film it , and the music how it swels as Kobra Moon commands her generals and giving further insight into not just her own tribe but also the great war.

This is just another piece to what makes LU so f***ing amazing because not only are they weaving story through promos but the sets they build also tell a story and how it really elevates a character. Kobra Moon before this vigette was being a little rapey but we did not really get a real insight into her other than the little tid bits she would drop to Drago , but this completely changes the whole outlook on her because now we see it for ourselves she really is a queen who has generals at her command...she feels meaningful now and it is IMO all thanks to this vingette.

Oh and here is a little fun tib bit about that throne it was made for LU by a member of Gwar (please do not ask me which member idk lol).

If this isn't the greatest then it absoloutley is atleast top 3 greatest set pieces in wrestling ever.

Oh and the generals names are PINDAR AND VIBORA , I will get more into those two in the near future as this is just a fairly quick to them but when they start doing things I have got things to say.

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

It is an interesting way they treat Dario through out the episode because like Gecko pointed out..this is largely him losing controll and really it should come as no surprise because now that his brother has fallen from his perch , it is like back to square one where Dario isn't quite the threat he was when his brother was head and shoulders above just about everyone else and could not be stopped , the chink in the armor has given new found confidence to everyone now...Angelico was not afraid of Dario and even threatening to sue him (good luck with that one in Boyle Heights) , Sexy Star showing no fear of him either.

He is sort of in the same position Catrina was in when the house of cards fell on her at Aztec Warfare 2.

But unlike her , Dario still has limo mystery murder man sort of in his back pocket even though they have shown very little concern for Dario apart from him being a pawn in a much larger plan , it is a great way to tie back and remind audience to the threat Dario got to start the season that he better keeps things in order or he's a dead Dario.

And the scene with Matanza was all types of interesting in developing this brother pairing and shows that Matanza while he is a monster still has a human aspect to him and that can even overcome the controll of the key to some aspect but also puts into question whether Matanza is really under Dario's controll or whether Matanza is just playing along because it is his brother.

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

"He's buff but he aint very bright" lol if that aint the majority view on Cage idk what is.

I loved that Cage was the one to shut B up after he disrespects Melissa...because for those living under a rock or a cage in this instance Melissa and Cage were dating at that point an time...and of course has since progressed to marriage and a child.

lol did Joey owe Texano money? because Texano slapped the f***ing begeezus out of him holy mutha and I think Joey was legit shocked because he pretty much no sold it but in this instance I think he was legit all WTF.
 
All in all it was a great match and the way this entire tourney is set up sort of reminds of a combo of six to survive and the 4 a unique oppurtunity from Ultima Lucha Dos which is neato....although I wished they would have just done six to survive again which still remains of the coolest match concept titles ever.

Say what one will about her wrestling ability but sexy stars entrance get up here full blown anime Magic Girl is gawd damn awesome with the cape , the staff etc.

I loved PJ Black breaking out the TommyHawk...for you old ECW diehards they are aware this is something Tommy Dreamer used to do before he went to a ddt as his finisher.

This was a very straight forward match nothing else to really say about it....other than sexy star doing a really awkward too long a hold on the finishing pin like a whole 4(HA) seconds after the ref counted.

That hurricanrana into styles though was absoloutley beautiful.

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

The final match of the night was IMO even better than the first one just because Mack is a showstealer ...his flying knee to Marty was disgusting in the best way I love everytime he does it because there is no give to it as whoever is on the recieving end just has to take that full force and it looks great every single time.

I want a physics professor to explain to me HOW Matanza managed to stop Dragon Aztecas pizza ddt mid move and then tossed him from up into the wrath of the gods because this was not real life this was a glitch in the matrix and I will not be convinced otherwise no mat what a physics professor may try and tell me.

And The Mack hitting the cross country stunner just beautiful, I am so glad he won because he has been one of those talents so far on this show that has been bubbling on surface for awhile now.

Dario an his blood soaked towel was both hilarious and amazing...normally a man that gets his faced smash would be unhinged but Dario is all...lets go Matanza back to your hole come , come on lets go with a very easy going demeanor.

All in all like I said this is a bit of a come down from last week(which is not a bad thing I mean hard to be the direct follow up to that) more than solid and we got the debut of one of the best sets of all time which is completely worth it for me.

[Deleted]

And as far wanting to know who is with which tribe as of now...I gotchu.

Moth tribe -- Marty The Moth , Mariposa


The Jaguar Tribe - Prince Puma , NightClaw


The Eagle Tribe - Rey Mysterio Jr , El Dragon Azteca , Dragon Azteca Jr


The Reptile Tribe - Kobra Moon , Pindar , Vibora.


The Rabbit Tribe - Paul London , Saltador , Malasuerte


And then there is 2 more....and nope they have not shown themselves...well that is actually not true BUT they have not been cfficially confirmed nore have their tribes been mentioned on the show by this point so these will remain a mystery to you for now.

[Gecko]

S03E15 –En La Sombra

Last time
• Start of the Battle of the Bulls Tournament
• Cage beats Texano, Joey Ryan, & Dr Wagner to progress
• Dario gives Sexy Star a unique opportunity to either get a title rematch or never get another title match
• Cortez tells Vasquez his cover’s been blown, so she decides to send him back to the Temple under a mask.
• Sexy Star beats PJ Black to earn her title rematch
• Backstory on Kobra Moon and her tribe, she's sending her generals after Drago
• Matanza breaks free of his cage and attacks Dragon Azteca during his match
• Mack advances in the tourney, beating Marty, Dragon Azteca, and Mil Muertes

Recaps of
• Angelico demanding Johnny Mundo and then Dario revealing the Battle of the Bulls.
• Drago and Kobra Moon, with a focus on Pindar
• Rey getting destroyed by Matanza and the attack on Dragon
• Mundo winning the title, Sexy Star earning a rematch

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El Conjunto Nueva Ola are still providing the live music part of the show (the opening number this week is a western sounding tune), and they do fit in well at the Temple.

Battle of the Bulls: Killshot vs Dante Fox vs Mariposa vs Jeremiah Crane



Killshot stares unblinkingly at Dante, Dante shoots a fingergun at Killshot, Mariposa is not quite as creepy by herself, Jeremiah is an idiot who gives out his address (He’s from the Last house on the left)

I’m enjoying the first few minutes of this; it’s relatively fast paced and hard-hitting, and everybody is getting a turn to show their stuff.

Love a dive that goes between the bottom and middle ropes like how Jeremiah does, it’s more direct and feels more impactful.

Four people in the match = four chairs brought out from under the ring by Jeremiah. He throws one at Killshot to knock him off the top and lands a nasty hit on top of the head of Dante, then he adds a few more chairs to the chaos.

Jeremiah sets up six chairs, two rows of three facing each other, and sticks another on top. As he’s setting Killshot up for a superplex into them, the one on top falls off and ends up with it’s legs sticking up. Dante is here to join the fun and this is what he thinks of what he’s about to do:



I mentioned it before, but his expressions are fantastic.

Mariposa completes the line up, and the tower of doom can commence.



They did seem to aim away from the chair legs, but that could cause different landing issues by not landing on the chair seats. Looking closer, they did aim away and Dante did a fair bit of the work to do so. Watch his left hand and you'll see that he holds the rope all the way in order to drag the whole thing that way a bit.

Mariposa is the first, and only, one up and just starts chucking chairs at everybody as they sit in their corners. This does mean the ring gets cleared up a bit, with just a couple of chairs left, one of which is in several pieces.

Mariposa hits the Butterfly Effect (Vertebreaker) on Killshot, through a chair and would have won if not for Dante breaking up the pin. That’s twice in quick succession that I thought she had done it, the other time being a quick counter rollup on Jeremiah from a stretch muffler.

Jeremiah eventually gets lucky enough to connect with the Cranial Contusion (Double underhook into a piledriver) on Dante when the other two were out of the way.

That’s three of the four finalists.

I really enjoyed that one, much more than I was expecting; everybody was on good form, it was well paced, and didn’t rely on the ‘two people in the ring that switch round every once in a while’ formula. I have to also say that this is probably Mariposa’s best showing so far.

We are left with Killshot and Dante in the ring. Killshot proves he’s smarter than the average bear face as he just attacks Dante instead of getting suckered in by the puppy dog eyes.


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It’s time for us to have a glimpse at the Taya produced, Taya Directed, Taya filmed, future award winning documentary… by Taya.

Taya is a saint for putting up with these two amateurs. PJ Black and Jack Evans are so unprofessional as she is trying to get an interview with them done.

Johnny Mundo appears and threatens that if they don’t win tonight, they’re out of Worldwide Underground. Then he says it again, this time in a more dramatic way for the camera.

A fun little segment.
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We move onto a Sexy Star training/standing behind a mesh fence montage. When she’s done, she walks back to her locker and opens it to find…



Ahhhhhhggggghhhhhh! It’s a big spider!

A big, fake spider. Hmmm. The Spider Tribe is on their way! Or Worldwide Underground is expanding their film library by doing a prank show.
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Kobra Moon vs Drago

Guessing Pindar is turning up for this one. Kobra asked Dario for this match, which is not at all suspicious.

This match isn’t bad, but it’s one of those where you know something is going to happen and so that’s all you’re really waiting for.

Huh, Drago pulls out a Dominator, was not expecting that.

Yup, here comes a lizard-man.



I do like that. It’s similar to Drago’s but has a distinct lizardy feel to it. From a practicality side it seems like there’s more work to do as he was adjusting it lots. It also helps add to the lizard feel that he’s got kind of a stocky build to him.

And here comes Fenix and Aerostar to help out their team-mate.

I was wondering if Kobra Moon did the smart thing and dragged both of her generals along with her, and she did.



A surprisingly big… erm…. Vulpix? Nope, that’s a Pokemon. Vibora!

After seeing him move in the ring, combined with his size, I have my suspicions about his identity, and the crowd also end up chanting Luchasaurus, so I think we're in agreement there.

Vibora takes out the trios champs, ending with a jumping tombstone on Drago, while Kobra Moon laughs. They then steal Drago. I think we’re getting a good old fashioned brainwashing.
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This corridor isn’t big enough for the both of them



Mariposa chuckles at Sexy Star before they both start to move on, then she pulls her hair to initiate the cramped hallway fight.

Star is still not over that whole kidnap and torture thing, and when she manages to grab Mariposa by the throat, she also accuses Mariposa of being the one who put a spider in her locker. Star threatens her with what will happen if they go to war again (Mariposa will have no air in her lungs).

Mariposa denies being the spider placer and points out that if she did it, she’d use a beautiful butterfly.

Star aims a punch at Mariposa’s head but misses, which is lucky as her fist went through the wall.

Things have certainly changed since Star was terrified and running down a corridor (possibly the same one?) in a panic, trying to get away from Mariposa.
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Battle of the Bulls: Jack Evans vs PJ Black vs Son of Havoc vs Angelico

Time for the flippiest match in this tourney.
Ok, is it just that either Evans or Black has to win, or that whoever doesn’t win is out of Worldwide Underground?

He’s put in a few appearances, but this is the first actual match for Angelico since Episode 10 of Season 2.

It seems that the former trios champ partners, Angelico and Havoc, have developed the amazing strategy of:
1) Team up to get rid of the other two
2) when that is done, fight each other
3) Get attacked by the other two while they’re distracted fighting each other
4) Repeat

Jack Evans almost “accidentally” pins Black.

And for something more creative than a tower of doom:



Ooh, Doomsday Device by the two members of Worldwide Underground on Havoc, but it looked like Havoc countered by flipping back early off of Black’s shoulders to hit a poisonrana.

This was scary:



You don’t see superplexes that are proper vertical ones too often, then add in the fact that there’s only a couple of people there to catch them instead of a decent sized group as usual. They did overshoot and Jack came right down on the floor with an audible thump.

Fingerpoke of doom reference as Black and Evans clear the ring (after Black pulls Evans in front of a handspring elbow), before Black lies down and tells Evans to pin him. When Evans tries it, Black rolls him up to get the pin for himself!

PJ Black does try to calm Evans down after and offers his hand… which he snatches away when Jack goes for it.

This one was the more spectacular, but I actually preferred the other match tonight, which I would not have guessed.

We have our finalists in the Battle of the Bulls: Cage, Mack, Jeremiah Crane, and PJ Black.
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I initially thought this was Penta’s dojo, but it’s Rey’s retreat. A recuperating Mysterio is visited by Dragon Azteca who doesn’t bring him any grapes, but does tell him that the monster came for him.



When Rey tries to take the blame, Dragon assures him that it was a good thing, he now finally understands what Rey was training him for, why he wears the Dragon mask, he understands his destiny.

Rey tells him that Matanza is too strong and it’s not a fight he can win. Rey tries telling Dragon that it is Rey’s fight, but Dragon says that the days of Rey telling him what to do are over, he’s building his own legacy and it starts with ending Matanza’s life.

Yeah, good luck with that. Rey should maybe start his search for the next person to wear the dragon mask.
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Next time: The Battle of the Bulls

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions

- A rare Dario free episode after last week's traumatic experiences. I imagine for these times he just gets stuck doing paperwork (or "paperwork") in his office all night.

- Evans and Black really are just like a couple of kids, specifically they're like siblings who know exactly how to push each others buttons but can cause chaos if they decide to work together on something.

- The next episode is looking stacked; Battle of the Bulls, The cage match (I think?), Maybe seeing what happened to Drago, and I feel we're about due another Rabbit Tribe appearance.

[Deleted]

Not a particular whole lot to say about this episode as it is more or less feels like a bit simmer episode before ramping it back up. You watch this one for the absoloute banger of an opening match though.

But good to see me and the almighty Gecko one are on the same wave length here as Mariposa looked like the star of this match and this is another particular extrodinary thing LU does , they do not have a dedicated womens division or anything of the sort but their booking of their women is stronger than alot of other companies and you get to see it here , in how they put over Mariposa as she comes particularly close multiple times to winning this match and that butterfly effect onto the chair was a great get the audience to bite on a false finish moment because in alot of other companies she would be the clear cut weak link there to take the pinfall etc.

But this match is just a great showcase of talent that I have been saying are just right there on the cusp of solidifying themselves into the main event , everyone comes out of this IMO looking better and that is no easy feat in a multi person match because usually it is pick 1 or 2 talents to get the bulk of the moments and the others are more or less fodder to that end.

Oh Vibora and Pindar.

I am so glad you noticed it because I am declaring the revival of the PINDAR ZIPPER DRINKING GAME! count your blessings as you drink yourselves to probably death as you can't help but notice every single time he has to fiddle with the damn zipper , which idk whose design choice in the wardrobe it was but it was clearly a bad one but I do think it finally gets fixed later by switching out the zipper thankfully but for now it will be zippermania poor Pindar.

Vibora/LuchaSaurus or my favourite nickname that sadly did not take off and this one coutersy of The Mack.....The Undersnaker.

But oh Vibora at this time he has very tall (rumor has it still is) and that was all there was to him because anyone at the tapings will tell ya...he was absoloute shit in the ring like worse than sexy star and she was being ripped apart for in ring work and he was somehow worse than her during this time , so needless to say he was not well recieved atleast when he gets in the ring.

But what also does not help is that mask because as you can tell it is modeled after an actual snake and if you know anything about the eyes of a snake they have very poor vision and as the snake himself has said he could barely see a damn thing out of it due to it being again modeled after an actual snake.

Needless to say while both are imposing and add alot to the Reptile Tribe , the costumes were a f***ing nightmare for both guys to start.

Poor Jack Evans on that suplex not only does he come straight down but when he hits it is onto the wooden chair needless to say Jack is having a very painful season.



All rise and salute the glory that is the double mushroom stomp.

While I would have swapped the beginning and end matches both are worth their watch and alot of fun , and I love that this one is a revist to season 2.

Dragon Azteca really get embolden after breaking Pentagons arm , now he thinks oh yea the next step is the body enhabiting aztec god because nothing says you are ready like a suicide mission.

All in all like I said this was a solid episode but nothing ground breaking here you and again you would likely only go back to this for the great opening match.

[Gecko]

S03E16 –The Battle of the Bulls

Last time
• Jeremiah books his place in the Battle of the Bulls final by beating Dante, Killshot, and Mariposa
• Killshot attacks Dante after the match
• Mundo threatens to kick Black and Evans out of Worldwide Underground if they don’t win tonight
• Sexy Star is scared by a big spider in her locker
• During Drago’s match with Kobra Moon, Pindar and Vibora attack him and then the Reptiles steal him despite the efforts of Aerostar and Fenix
• Sexy Star accuses Mariposa of putting the spider in her locker, Mariposa denies it.
• PJ Black grabs the last spot in the Battle of the Bulls final by tricking and pinning Jack Evans in a match that also involved Havoc and Angelico
• Dragon Azteca visits Rey and tells him he’s going to do his own thing and also kill Matanza.

Recaps of
• Battle of the Bulls so far
• The Reptile Tribe abducting Drago
• Mundo winning the title from Sexy Star and her earning her rematch

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♫ Para bailar la bamba ♫

I almost fell down a rabbit hole of seeing what this metal/mariachi/cover band known as Metalachi was about.

Matt Striker does the usual stuff, tonight we get a new number one contender and Sexy Star tries to become the first ever two time LU champ.
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Battle of the Bulls Final: The Mack vs “The Darewolf” PJ Black vs Jeremiah Crane vs Cage

Unlike the first round, this one is elimination style.

Striker says that his grandma has a crush on Vamp (It does make sense in context), Vamp asks how old she is… and not in a just politely curious way…. And then it just gets weirder from there. But just from the ring entrances, it seems like commentary is on top form tonight.

Cage is the one in charge at the start, using his power to clear out the ring a bit and then hitting a huuuuuge German suplex on Mack.

Now, now, perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything.

Jeremiah’s dive through the bottom and middle ropes this time looked like sped up footage of him getting out the ring. There wasn’t a whole lot of “dive” involved in it. Everybody else also takes a turn at diving out the ring.

Now for the slightly messy, yet still fun and impressive spot of the match.

Possible injury for Black, looks like Cage came down on his right arm and it’s the wrist or hand that’s bothering him. That’s a setback for his air guitar career.

Cage is on a rampage, he’s like a… machine? Just throwing everybody around.

A wild Texano appears! He jumps up on the apron and smacks Cage in the face with his rope. A quick kick, stunner, springboard 450 combo from the other three is enough to keep Cage down for the three and he’s the first elimination in this match that I definitely remembered was elimination rules.

I think with Jeremiah having his Catrina thing going on, Mack or Black have to win this for the story.

A Mack win sees him either avenging his friend or facing her for the title (with a possible betrayal?).

A Black win sees him facing Mundo who would probably demand that Black lay down for him, which I don't think would happen, or going against the person that beat Mundo (which could cause problems if he wins, or looks like he's about to win)

Impressive from Jeremiah, getting Mack up for a powerbomb.

That guy looks familiar:



And going by Striker’s “Starry Eyes” comment, I'm guessing there’s probably a reason he does. That's not Elvis Costello, is it?

A stunner from the ropes sees Mack pin Jeremiah, to bring us down to a final two in this tournament. Black slips off the rope as we go for a break.

Black hits a stunner that has zero effect. When he turns back round, Mack shows him how to do it properly. Oh, and that’s it! I wasn’t expecting it so soon after a break.
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Aerostar and Fenix are on the hunt for their missing tag partner, starting with his known hangouts:



After they exhaust their stall options, Kobra Moon walks up and asks if they’re looking for Drago? When asked what she’s done with him, she says that he’s come home to her tribe.

Aerostar says that Drago would never go back to the Reptiles, he made a vow a millennia ago. Well, I guess Aerostar was around at that time, so he might have actually been there when it happened.

Kobra says that he’s broken his vow, and now Pindar and Vibora will break them.



Um… is the cameraman actually standing in the toilet to get this shot? That’s commitment.

Cinematic bathroom fight time! Fenix shows his lack of experience in bathroom brawls and doesn’t do too well, which leaves Aerostar to do most of the work. Vibora is the big difference maker here.

Once Fenix is down and out, it becomes a 3 on 1 against Aerostar, who puts up a valiant effort, but quickly falls to the Reptiles as well. Kobra Moon promises that it will be her Drago doing this next time.
------------------------------------------------------------

We’re almost set for the cage match, but first we take a quick detour into the locker-room where Sexy Star is warming up. She turns round and excitedly jumps into the arms of a giant spider Mack, then congratulates him on becoming the number one contender.
Mack says that it’s time for Sexy Star to beat Mundo… but not to get mad when he takes the belt from her. It’s all still friendly though as Star says it would be an honour to defend it against him. As they leave we see the very realistic spider “crawling” along the floor.

Before we get back to the cage, we're stopping by to see Dario in his office. We join mid-conversation as Dario is asking Jeremiah if he’s sure that he wants to do that? While he may have impressed Dario before, tonight he got his ass kicked… but Dario still agrees to give Jeremiah the match that he’s asking for.

Jeremiah… doesn’t leave...

He’s looking for something in the ceiling. He brings something down that he says that he left there when he was a kid. He leaves Dario (and me) to be confused about things.

Ok, so Jeremiah isn't a stranger to the temple. Him being a kid would be more in the past than you might expect... but how long has Dario's office been there?

We didn’t get a good look, but it almost looks like a Ouija board. Maybe we’re about to find out as we follow Jeremiah down a corridor, before flickering lights announce the arrival of Catrina.

Jeremiah shows Catrina his Ouija… board. He asks if she remembers when they used to play with it, Catrina is unimpressed, saying that he just lost a chance to become champ and he’s still playing with his foolish games.
Jeremiah says that he’s done playing games, Dario gave him a match and next week he’s going to make Pasquel Mendoza wish he had died in that earthquake that she saved him from… then she’ll be all his.

Jeremiah then literally walks through Catrina and carries on his way. We’ve seen Catrina pull off very quick vanishing acts, but she’s not been incorporeal before. My best guess is something related to the magic rock/medallion, which they both hold a piece of.
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Lucha Underground Championship Cage Match: Sexy Star vs Johnny Mundo(c)

Even though Worldwide Underground are banned from ringside, I don't think Mundo's title reign is in any danger here.

Mundo spits in the face of Star to start the match, she retaliates with a slap.

Slightly unusual for a LU gimmick match, they’re leaning quite heavily on the gimmick early on with attempts at throwing each other into it and escape attempts from both too. It definitely feels more like a standard cage match structure than a LU one.

This is a strange one. Star climbs up so that she’s on the top rope with her hands on the top of the cage, instead of climbing out, she goes sideways and Mundo then chases her around the ring while they’re both on the top rope.

Lots of Star hanging onto the cage and Mundo trying to pull her off of it in this match.



This is absolutely a match that is happening. I’m mostly writing this so that I don’t have two pictures in a row, which kind of tells you how much interest this match is generating with me.

<This is where the image was supposed to be, but I apparently couldn't even be bothered to do it>

If what is about to happen is what I think it is, that’s not a good idea. Ok, Mundo’s getting to his feet, so at least it won’t be a splash.



I’m kind of impressed by just how little impact that seemed to have. I think that may have been the least impressive/spectacular cage dive I’ve ever seen.

After a bit more of them both almost escaping (with them ending up sitting astride the top of the cage throwing punches before moving back inside), Mundo finally resorts to cheap tactics and pulls Star’s mask off.



This causes her to fall off the ropes to the mat, covering her face. By the time the ref has retrieved it and she has put it back on, Mundo has made good on his escape, stopping only to taunt her before he drops to the floor to win and retain his title.



Aw, the ref gets a hug in celebration.

BIG MACK ATTACK! (Yes, I may have been a little hungry at the time of writing). As Mundo celebrates at the top of the steps, Mack comes in and hits the stunner. We leave the Temple with Mack holding the title up, standing over a fallen Mundo while Star poses atop the cage.
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A chained up Drago is still refusing to acknowledge Kobra Moon as his Tribal Chief Queen. I think it’ll take a bit more than just chaining him up and starving him a bit while mocking him, some people would pay good money for that sort of thing.

Since he’s going to be here a while, Drago practices his fire breathing.

Drago’s been gone for 1,000 years, I’m sure the Reptiles aren’t in much of a rush and can wait things out (which they’ve got a knack for).
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Next time: The Gauntlet

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Spiders. If we get a scorpion showing up, I’m betting on an arachnid Tribe.

- Wonder if that Ouija board was sitting up there making noises and unsettling Dario all this time

- Oh, they're very good. Subtly include Dario's messed up ceiling in a shot a couple of episodes back, which is just enough to jog my memory of it.

- Unlike some, I’m not sure how pleased Ivelisse would be if Jeremiah brought home a stray Catrina to stay with them.
- Just in case there was anybody still on Mundo’s side, he made sure it wasn’t the case after tonight with the unmasking.
- For the second time in a row, the next episode title makes me think I’ve named it wrong. For this one, I was thinking we’ve just had an episode with ‘bulls’ in the title, and now next time I’ll think, “We already did the gauntlet episode.”

- Late thought: Dario got given a mystery box a while back and I joked about there being spiders in it. Maybe I wasn't entirely wrong.

[Deleted]

Striker pimping off his grandma to Vampiro is quintisential LU on commentary lol and the fightening thing is idk who was more serious ..Vamp wanting to bang a drugged up 98yr old grandma or that Striker just seemingly wants to get rid of her lol.

I really like that PJ lately has been getting alot of shine and hasn't just bene beholden to be a goob within WWUG and so we gave really gotten to see more of his talented he is and Vamp putting him over so strongly (not at the detriment of the other competitors unlike other commentators: Stares at Corey Graves direction dissaprovingly) was exactly how it should always be done.

Vamp: "Whatever I am taking I will give you half" lol

I have said before about Cage but he has an aura about him on this show that no other company has been able to replicate and you simply get it off his entrance alone here , LU has done a great job protecting that aura while not making him nigh unstoppable.

I love The Mack's offence because he lays that shit in and it looks so good.

And speaking of beautiful things that springboard asai moonsault by PJ is forever gorgeous and the height he gets on it is wild.

And of PJ did get injured here (I had never heard he did) it would be nowhere near the worst thing he would suffer and I will elaborate on this down the line though.

Texano proving cowboys are assholes.

All in all this match was a great and a nice cap stone to this little tourney but if you are a fan of The Mack this next set of episodes are huge for him and encompasses one of my favourite matches in the whole show , aint quite in my top 5 but 10.

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I love that Drago's friends only search for him in the shitter lol and even go so far as to momentarilly stare at the open toilet waiting for him pop up , the lore one could create from this is unimaginably (I think I made this word up) hilarious.

Fenix has come a long way from being hesitant to hit women to him just straight slugging Kobra Moon in the face here , makes everyone afraid to hit Rhea Ripely look like uber pansies.

But everything about this was fantastic , the fight choreography , the music , the camera work. Say it all time but this what no other company can give that only LU could because this is full blown atleast decently executed fight scene in a pretty confined space.

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Mack and Sexy's kayfabe friendship is genuinely just so wholesome.

And I like the little touch here of Sexy being caught up in being happy for Mack that is untill Mack reminds her that not only is he close to becoming champion so is she and the mood shifts for just a second as Sexy got brought back to reality.

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Oh the Ouiji Board. What I love about this is it does builds on the view poit alot of people had in that the temple isn't just a run down building but it is bascially a character in and of itself on the show and this is a fantastic moment where the build on it and also creates a ponderence of what else is hiding in the walls of this place.

There is quite a bit here to pick apart.

1. We get hints that Dario's office let alone the temple itself has been around alot longer and Jeremiah has been here as long as it has going back to him as a child.

2. this is one of the few times Catrina was left just a bit rattled.

3.He is completely aware of Pasqual Mendoza so he was presumeably there when she saved him.

And like you pointed out he straight up walks through Catrina like he completely knew she was doing like an astral projection of sorts so her powers are very familiar to him and him knowing her this well left her speechless.

And I love how Jeremiah is nowhere near the biggest dude Mil could face physically but he is already laying claim to being an immense threat in other ways , because as we have seen without Catrina , Mil isn't quite the unstoppable force he usually is , it is a very different way of someone coming at Catrina that knows her this well and isn't jotled by any of her hibidy bibidy spoopy tricks.

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As for the main event , it is Johnny doing the best with what he can here lol but good thing is he retains and we are thankfully moving away from Sexy Star circling the title now...so HOORAY!

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Back to this god-tier set piece , I love Kobra Moons atleast presumed plan here is basically to starve Drago to death and revert him to a desperate primal state....not the worst plan IMO.

And that special effect looks so much better here than it did when they first showed it off.

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Next weeks episode though: To infinity....and possibly beyond.

[Gecko]

Probably no episode happening this week (or possibly delayed until later on the week depending on how things turn out) thanks to:
1) A slightly stressful week not doing wonders for my mental health,
2) A cold that I suspect is actually something else in disguise going after my physical health,
C) Exhaustion from crawling around in my loft for hours checking for hidden occult artefacts.

But we'll get back to it soon, Geckonites... Geckoneers... Geckheads... you lot.