Gecko Watched Lucha Underground (completed)

[anglarite]

Take it easy and get well

[Deleted]

Said it before but ones health always takes priority...except Emu's f*** Emu's! lol.

So take your time and don't feel any need to rush to things untill you are ready and feel well enough to.

[Rave]

Yeah, take your time and don't rush. Health always takes priority.

"Starry Eyes" is David Arquette, who originally pitched to play the role of Johnny Mundo's lawyer. They went with someone else for it, sadly.

You may have seen Mayu Iwatani if you watched Sinclair-owned ROH, as she held the WOH title for a few months back in 2019. She's also competing for the IWGP women's title on the 20th.

[Gecko]

I think I'm going to a boring time limit draw with my cold/flu/something else in disguise. It refuses to get much better or worse or do anything interesting at all.

S03E17 – The Gauntlet

Last time
• The Mack won the Battle of the Bulls final
• Aerostar and Drago went on the hunt for Drago but instead found, and were beaten up by, The Reptile Clan
• Jeremiah requested a match against Mil and retrieved his Ouija board from Dario’s ceiling.
• Johnny Mundo beat Sexy Star in a cage to retain the LU title, then was attacked by Mack
• Drago is being held captive and starved by Kobra Moon

Recaps of
• Worldwide Underground taking out Angelico, and his eventual return
• Texano and Cage in a best of five series for the “Ultimate Opportunity”
• Jeremiah and Catrina’s relationship
• Vamp manipulating Puma into challenging Mil to Grave Consequences, which he loses, then Zombie Vampiro bringing Puma back to life.

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Starting off away from the Temple this time



Vamp commands his new student to rise and tells him that his journey into darkness begins tonight.

Hell of a makeup job on Vamp. Combine that with the sped up twitchy movements, and you get a great effect.

Puma claims that he’s ready, so Vamp wants him to pledge his allegiance (and become Darth Puma?). Puma calls Vamp his Master and then they disappear in a puff of smoke.
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We’re still La Bamba-ing in the Temple as Vamp and Striker welcome us. They talk about a big match coming up later as we’re getting match four in the best of five, but we’re not starting off small either…

Jeremiah Crane vs Mil Muertes w/Catrina

I’m guessing Mil isn’t aware of the history between Crane and Catrina. There’s lots of ways this could develop, so I don’t think I can even seriously guess at the moment. So my unserious guess: Jeremiah is Mil’s father. (We're apparently going for a Star Wars theme tonight, hope the Moth siblings aren't on the show)

Hard hitting start which ends with Jeremiah bouncing off of Mil and landing upside down, getting folded up.

Quick powerslam by Mil. That always looks great, but if it does go wrong, it’ll go very wrong.

Matt points out that Vamp is being unusually quiet. I was wondering if Puma would be getting involved here, and this makes me more suspicious, as Vamp claims he is just…. Watching.

Catrina is on the apron giving a preview lick to Jeremiah. Mil takes him back to the middle and sets up for the flatliner. The ref is still busy with Catrina, which gives a chance for Puma to run in with the kendo stick and get a couple of good shots in on Mil.

The ref turns back round to see Mil getting taken down by a Jeremiah kick and counts the pin. That’s a win for Crane.

Jeremiah makes a quick exit, only stopping to have a bit of a moment with Catrina, which leaves Puma alone in the ring to continue his assault on Mil. When he’s done, Vamp stands up and Puma kneels in subservience to him.

Now that Vamp has Puma ensnared, he's not bothering to hide the connection.

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Sexy Star is walking backstage when she runs into the Wish.com version of Johnny Mundo.



He congratulates her on being the first woman to be LU champ, and that she shouldn’t feel bad about losing to Mundo, a bunch of times, since he is the best.

Star tries to leave at this point, but she can’t go before he gives her the present that he found in catering that has her name on.
Is there a spider in the box? I feel like it’s gonna be a spider.

Mundo Fan suggests it could be from a secret admirer, or a fan. He used to send Mundo fan mail all the time (since he’s the best), even though he never replied.

Hey, who would have guessed, there was a spider in the box. Sexy Star does some angry screaming.

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Looks like Famous B has his eye on somebody for his next client. He tells Texano that he almost has the complete package; he’s big, strong, and a badass… but he ain’t famous.

B knows why they cheer for Cage over Texano. It’s an image problem. An image problem that he can fix. Texano doesn’t even need to call 423-GET-FAME.

Texano still isn’t sold on the idea, so B backs off before he gets attacked, and tells Texano to just think about it.

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We head back to commentary as Striker tries to ask Vamp about what happened earlier. Vamp says that whatever is between him and Puma, is between him and Puma, and they should leave it at that.
Striker confirms that Mack gets his shot at Mundo next week.

Worldwide Underground (PJ Black & Jack Evans) vs Angelico & Son of Havoc

Wonder how PJ and Jack (or Drack according to Melissa tonight) will get along after the betrayal in the battle of the bulls?

Wait, what happened to Mascarita Sagrada teaming with Havoc? *flashback to Aztec Warfare and Sagrada going against Matanza* Oh, yeah. What a tragic, yet hilarious, encounter.

Havoc didn’t get the memo that the colour scheme for this match is black and green.

Some impressively athletic spots at the start as expected.

You don’t often hear somebody apologising to their opponent in a match after getting caught trying a cheap shot, but most people aren’t Jack Evans.

A fun combination, but Angelico came down hard on his left arm, I really hope it’s not anything serious.

Angelico is looking like he’s in a lot of pain, and the ref throws up the X after checking on him. Commentary is saying that they’re getting word it’s looking like a dislocated elbow and, seeing it (no pic included), things aren’t where they’re supposed to be in his arm.

Jack Evans hits Havoc with a middle rope phoenix splash to get the win in what is obviously a necessary on-the-fly call.

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He’s such a tease.

Ha, Sexy Star bursts in and Dario exclaims, “Champion for a week and suddenly you don’t knock anymore?!”
Star is after Mariposa and wants her in the ring. Dario asks if she wants another No Mas match? But Star just wants a good old fashioned beating.
This is fine by Dario, and he sets that for next week. She leaves and he gets back to peering into his glowing blue box of mystery.
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Best of 5 Series: Cage (2) vs Texano (1)

The obvious winner here is Texano, but maybe they’ll surprise us/me by going with Cage. This would give Texano more of a push to join up with Famous B.

An aggressive Texano goes on the attack from the bell and almost picks up another win with a quick rollup.

The pad has come off of one of the top corners. I don’t know if it was planned or not, but it looked like it was just a thing that happened, so I guess we’ll see if it comes into play or not. Yup, Cage gets dropped face first onto the exposed turnbuckle. Hey, ref, you’re standing a little close to the action there.

A bloody, groggy Cage wanders into a superkick followed by a powerbomb, Texano evens things up at 2-2!

Here’s Dario, probably to throw in a stipulation for the final match. Or not. Dario can’t wait to see who is going to get his “ultimate opportunity” (It’s really freakin’ awesome!), so... we won’t! The final match is happening right now!

Advantage Texano, since he’s not covered in blood. Also, this match: Anything goes!
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Best of Five – Anything Goes: Cage (2) vs Texano (2)

Somehow, they’ve made it so that Cage is an underdog.

Texano opens up Cage more by biting him, and Cage is dripping blood at this point, but he’s still fighting.



Om nom nom nom.

Cage blocks the powerbomb and kicks Texano in the head to give himself an opening for a comeback.

You know those times where there’s a little timing/communication issue and it causes somebody to do something that makes them look stupid?...

Also, The Magnificent Cage is a Flying Machine

It’s time for the Temple Tour portion of the match. They briefly visit the outside of Dario’s office before heading up the steps and into the bleachers where Cage only just manages to get Texano over for a suplex.

How very ECW-ish:

Looking at it more, that has to be on purpose.

This doesn’t really resemble a match anymore, it’s just a fight.

Cage gets pushed down from here:



He comes down on his right hand side and seems to be holding his right arm slightly funny. Another injury?

Texano grabs a chair and smacks Cage over the head with it, leaving a dent (in the chair, although there’s probably one in the head too). I won’t show you it, instead you can see the reaction of the ref:



Texano then goes to work with his rope, before Cage gets his turn with the chair.
OW.


Cage goes for the discus but Texano catches him in the crossface.

A bit more of just solid shots fired each way before Cage finishes it with the Screwdriver.

Yeah, that was great fun.

Cage wins the best of five, 3-2 and now gets the “Ultimate Opportunity”, which he may come to regret.

We may be about to find out as here’s Dario again.
He congratulates Cage and says that it’s a prize so great, so powerful, that he’d rather not give it to him in front of the Believers. They’re too weak minded to understand it. He invites Cage into his office to reward him.

I get a feeling that if we don’t see what happens in the office, the next time we see Cage he will be almost like another person (We learned in episode 8 of this season that Cage and Texano were the potential candidates for the next host body)

We get a ‘tune in next week to see Mack vs Mundo’ sell as we say goodbye.
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Aaaaand we’re in Dario’s office.

Cage understandably wants to know what he’s won. Dario gestures towards the box, and when Cage doesn’t get it, takes the lid completely off.
Cage wants to know what the hell it is. Dario asks him, “Pretty cool, eh?” but Cage isn’t impressed.

Dario tells him to not be fooled, this gauntlet has powers beyond his wildest imagination. OH! It’s an actual physical gauntlet, and not like a challenge gauntlet. Hey, I recognise that!



Cage turns it down since he’s not that much of a renaissance fair guy. Dario hurriedly acknowledges that Cage doesn’t want it, but asks if he will at least try it on. And since nobody ever accused Cage of being the smartest of people:

At least it’s not got all the stones in it yet.

The lightning effect, and presumably, sense of power changes Cage’s mind as he picks Dario up one handed by the throat and says that he’s changed his mind and is keeping it.

Cage leaves and Dario looks pretty satisfied with things. I guess it’s not an immediate effect, but just enough to get the donor to hang onto the gauntlet until he can slowly be possessed.

So things are starting to make more sense. We did see Dr Claw in the limo once, but the next time it was just Delgado by himself and he told Dario that the Descension was complete. I'm thinking that was all about whatever entity this is, leaving Dr Claw and returning to the gauntlet (and presumably leaving the former host body a dried up husk). So it's been sitting in the gauntlet waiting for the next host to put it on so it can slowly possess him.

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Next time: Evil Rising

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Maybe Sexy Star is having some strange therapy to cure her arachnophobia?
- The first Trios champs are seemingly cursed, I’m half expecting Havoc to get injured soon.

- Random late thought: Cage eventually loses the gauntlet thanks to a Penta arm break.

- Even later thought: Interesting that Cage weakened his right arm in the match (the fall and the crossface), which ended up getting the gauntlet on it.

[Deleted]

It is so very fitting (get it because you wear a gauntlet HA).
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We have not gotten to touch on the great use of color lately so ima fill that one here and it works beautifully in how they stage the shot with alot of black and very dark colors for obvious reasons and how the blue parts have dead trees sillouetted but also you could interpet them as like a sickness taking over or any other unsettling way to interpet corruption of ones mind/soul.

LOVE Vamps make up job here that really makes one step back and think about the levels to Vamp there are on this show.

We have "normal" commentary Vamp
We have face painted maestro Vamp
And now we have demon hellish Vamp

But also what I love about this is how different this came about when you compare it to Pentagon.

Pentagon without really a whole lot of nudging was pretty easy for Vamp to get on his side because Pentagon was already an evil shithead , where as with Puma he has had to spend not only weeks getting into his head and manipulating those issues and feelings he has been internalizing but also basically had to have him killed by Mil for him to FINALLLY get him to the point where he calls him master , a great bit of storytelling there that Puma for all the shit he is going through is still at his core a good guy due to the effort had to go through to get him to this point.

But overall I love this scene as short as it is wonderfully shot.

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10 OUTTA 10 CATRINA IS HERE!!! now where are my scissors...I mean how else am I going to cut this piece of paper.

I know there are many a reason not to like Sami Callihan as a person from what I have read if any of those stories are true but as a wrestler there very few others I would ever call on if I need a guy to get absoloutley f***ing killed by a monster character.

Sami really does not get the credit IMO he deserves because he does not half ass anything as far as throwing himself into a match and his character work and him in LU is the enviroment perfectly catered to him in every way.

I really like the finish here simply because it is a really quick but very smart way to protect Mil in a loss because it is just this bam 1 2 finish that you can buy into why Mil got beat here and in a way harkens back to when King Cuerno beat Mil by just straight up cheating by monkey grabbing the ropes , they are very protected losses but also says alot about where Mil ranks in the heirarchy that talents like those know this far into the game that fighting Mil on fair ground is pretty much suicide so they are finding different ways to beat him.

And also furthers multiple stories at once...Jeremiah gets to rub this in Catrinas face (get yo minds outta the gutter this is a family show ) and Pume is back because well because Mil killed him and Vamp just really does not like Mil or Catrina..

And also there are a few key things here.

1.Puma when he does his flip off the rope into the middle of the ring did not kneel like he usually did...a nice sign he no longer respects or cares about his tribe/aztec heritage , that he has thrown that out with the bathwater.

2.Vamp makes it now publicly know he and Puma are a pair

3.Puma using any kind of weapon again anyone outside of a match

It may not be significant in a larger scope but very integral none the less that does show the difference in who Puma was to now who he is and is further indicitive of how much detail LU puts in to everything they do.
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Johnny did not write back his biggest fan....I am sure it was an honest mistake I mean he has to be so busy being the best afterall so we can forgive him right...I know I would...whats Tayas number again? I mean.



Not writing back his biggest fan though just reminds of me something...can't quite remember though I am sure it will come to me at some point.

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Famous B is pretty much the voice of both the writers and the audience here lol.

I like Texano but everything said about him in this scene was the general feeling about him during the time...he was great in ring but he was not putting it together but credit to LU writers like many others they did not just give up on him and what begins with this scene does start to fix that issue.

I love after Brenda repeats the 423-GET-FAME that Texano glances down as if he can see the number lol

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This next match while solid enough ends up being all about Angelico...and this is something I hinted at during Aztec Warfare 3.

Remember when I said that Iveliesse was actually intened to win AW3...well guess who else was also actually discussed to win ..if you guessed Amgelcio you win nothing because I gave you that one so sit down you selfish sweat hogs lol.

But this was confirmed by the creative team and I believe the show runner , now while I have not gone back to listen to the interview where they say this I do remember he was discussed to win AW3 but here is the thing about that and I said this already but that 1 week reign was also in place no matter who won because the end game was always to get the belt onto Johnny.

Erik Van Wagnen dubbed them team glass for this very reason when they won the trios titles again...he was not privey to this creative decision but asked them why the hell are we putting the trios titles on team glass again lol.

And as perception is reality...this injury also had the audience dub him for the logest tim as a man made out of glass.

So yea it was not a great time for team disfunction because LU loved them and had plans for them all but these injuries just kept happening , luckly LU is great at pivoting and usually works out batter and honestly IMO that does not change.

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I said this when this best of series between Texano and Cage started that as it progressed it would get better and the end result here is an absoloute banger of a match , even though it technically can fall into being two parts I consider it one long match.

We have seen spurts of greatness from Texano but this argueably is him in his finest moment even in defeat , both guya are just look like absoloute beats and come out of this match elevated , both guys giving and taking both ways and show how great the chemistry has developed over this series of matches.

This episode is very important to Texano overall in trying to elevate him and LU does a very strong job in facilitating that.

But then we get to the end vingette and oh boy what to say about this...there is something you will bare witness to that involves this that you will absoloutley NEVER forget but as usual I am not gonna hint at what it is but when I am usually good for it when I tell you to trust me...now trust me and jump off this cliff for me will ya lol.

But here is LU with paying attention to the details like pointed out Cage when he puts on the Gauntlet puts it on the arm he "injured" during the match and also through the exhausting war it becomes very easy to understand why Cage became instantly transfixed with the gauntlet was soon as he put it on.

And we get a quick little snippet of what it can do for someone as he just not only lifts Dario but holds him there with one arm like nothing.

This is LU going not only are we great at stories and characters now we are gonna start devloping inanimate objects into being just as important and this already feels more important then alot of wrestling titles.

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Oh and something I absoloutley forgot to mention that I hate myself for not...JOHNNY GOT HIS GOD TIER THEME ,WELCOME TO SLAM TOWN!! I f***ing love this and IMO is the best song he he has ever had in any company.

And incase you are wondering yes there is a music video that accompanies the song but of course can't link you to it because youtube an all...and it involves shirtless johnny playing various instruments including the great one of them all an acordian lol.

[Gecko]

S03E18 – Evil Rising

Last time
• Puma pledges allegiance to Vampiro
• Jeremiah beats Mil thanks to a Puma attack
• Sexy Star gets another spider
• Famous B tries to recruit Texano
• Jack Evans and PJ Black beat Havoc and Angelico (who got injured during the match)
• Sexy Star wants, and gets, a match against Mariposa
• Texano levels the best of 5 at 2-2
• Dario decides he can’t wait for the last match in the series
• Cage wins the last match and the best of 5, by 3-2
• Dario reveals the prize, and what was in the mystery box, as a gauntlet. Cage initially refuses it, but changes his mind once he tries it on

Recaps of
• The Mack winning the Battle of the Bulls.
• The Rabbit Tribe losing their debut match
• Sexy Star accusing Mariposa of being the spider giver, and getting Dario to give her a match against her.
• Kobra Moon holding Drago captive and starving him

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In the darkness, Mil Muertes is questioning how Puma is alive. He knows that he destroyed Puma, buried him…

The candles ignite (like an old fashioned version of the lightbulb going on) as the brains of this duo arrives. Catrina says that it was Vampiro who brought Puma back by toying with dark magics. She knows that if Mil wants to get to Puma, he has to go through Vampiro. Catrina then vanishes, leaving only an echo of ‘Vampiro’ in Mil’s head.

We follow Catrina as she teleported back to a dingy corridor in the Temple. An adorable puppy wanting attention runs up to her… oh, wait, it’s Jeremiah. He asks if she saw? did she? did she see how he beat Mil last week? He boasts that he beat the man she loves. Catrina says that he’s not the man one she loves (don’t know if that’ll be a significant choice of words or not).



Aw, big puppy dog eyes.

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Metalachi are having a great time as commentary welcomes us to The Temple once again. Striker talks about Mack earning a title match for tonight against Mundo, who took the title from Mack’s friend, Sexy Star. And coincidentally, guess who is up first?

Mariposa vs Sexy Star

I was going to comment on Star being quite happy during her entrance for somebody who wanted to put a beating on her opponent, but her attitude changed when she got to ringside.

This probably won’t resemble much of a wrestling match (and not just because Sexy Star is in it ), but a few minutes in and it’s a little closer to a wrestling match than you might expect.

Mariposa, while holding Star in a wheelbarrow position, swings her into the commentary desk 9 times. Why 9? That's all they could manage.

Star looks like her right shoulder is bothering her a fair bit. She does look like she’s got a cut or something on the back on that side, but it doesn’t seem like that would be causing this level of discomfort.

Star manages to pick up the win after a double stomp.

Star leaves and Marty slides into the ring. I already think that he’s not here to help his sister, and with commentary saying he must be here to do just that, I’m even more sure he’s not.

He helps Mariposa to her feet… and then puts her back down with a chokeslam. Yup, typical sibling behaviour.



He does do ‘crazy’ very well, he pulls some hair out and laughs maniacally while flapping his arms.

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We’re now off to visit, pound-for-pound, the strongest person in all of wrestling.



There’s some unsettling music as the camera is in the POV of somebody approaching…

It’s the Rabbits. They’re happy since they believe that they’ve found the white rabbit!



I can honestly say that I would never have guessed this would be the direction that things would go with these loonies, but I already like it.

Mascarita tries to correct them, but London says that they followed him here, he’s their spiritual guide, their guru, their god.
Right, Some tribes get indestructable monsters, some get body-jumping entities, the rabbits get a mini lucha.

London asks if he, the White Rabbit, the leader of their tribe, will join them at ringside to help them achieve victory? Sagrada says that they’re crazy, and walks away. The Rabbits don’t seem put off by this at all.

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The Rabbit Tribe (Paul London, Saltador, Mala Suerte) vs The Reptiles (Kobra Moon, Pindar, Vibora)

Melissa is slightly unnerved by the antics and attention of the Rabbits, but unlike Marty’s stuff, she also finds it a bit amusing.

I mean, when did you ever see a rabbit kill a snake? Unless they smuggled in Monty Python’s Holy Grail rabbit, I think the bunnies are losing this one and will be going back to ask the White Rabbit for help again.

Oh, Drago’s here too



Smart move to bring him to the Temple? While you’re not leaving him alone to possibly escape while unwatched, you have brought him somewhere where there are at least a couple of people who would try to rescue him.

Kobra unchains Drago, and it looks like he might be taking her spot in this match. That was some quick, possibly not completely effective, brainwashing.

We start off with Pindar, who has a history of trouble with keeping his mask on, going against Suerte who looks like he’s having trouble keeping his shorts up.

Yup, Saltador’s outfit in motion still hurts my eyes.

The Rabbits have a habit of making double tags and ending up with three in the ring. Why not keep doing it until somebody makes them stop? If I was looking for a hidden meaning, I’d compare it to rabbits having a reputation for multiplying quickly.

The Rabbits are having too much fun and allow Drago to make a tag to Vibora. Let’s see just what the big guy can do. A (slightly untidy) double chokeslam and a big boot take out the other trio before he tags out again.



Noice.

Paul London starts throwing superkicks around and gets rid of Pindar. They also have a bit of an effect on Vibora, but when London goes for a crossbody, he gets caught and planted with a tombstone.

Drago gets instructed to finish things, and does so by hitting his high-speed running blockbuster on Saltador before pinning him.

As Drago has his hands raised by his partners, Kobra Moon rechains him



That’s a great hypnotised, not quite all there, type look.

Here are Fenix and Aerostar! They take a minute or two to clear the ring of Pindar and Vibora as Moon holds Drago’s chain from the outside to prevent him from taking any part. They drive Moon away and she releases the chain as she flees. Drago is still unsure of which side he is on, but eventually and reluctantly grabs hands with his title partners as Kobra Moon continues to try and entice him from ringside.

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It’s time for Sexy Star and the Spiders (Sounds like a band). Probably. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it.
She greets Mack who says that he saw she squashed that bug, Mariposa, and she says now she gets to see him squash Mundo.

Mack tells her that he’s saying the same thing that she told him: He doesn’t want her out there tonight, he has to prove that he can win on his own. And tells her to go home, before they part with a handshake that ends with a bit that feels at least a little inspired by that one in Predator.

No Spiders here. She’s probably got spiders at home.

Dario arrives and takes the time to check his reflection before he talks to Mack. He checks that Mack doesn’t mind being called ‘Mack Daddy’, Mack says that after tonight, he’s gonna be calling him ‘champ’.
Dario says that he won’t… because tonight’s not for the title. Dario wants Mack and Mundo to go to war in an epic confrontation, so tonight is more of a warm up. As an added incentive, the winner of tonight’s match gets to pick the stipulation for the title match.

As Mack leaves, he tells Dario to Always bet on Mack.
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Johnny Mundo (LU Champ) vs The Mack

Mundo has words with Melissa Santos as she announced Mack with a big smile on her face.

I had a listen to Welcome to Slamtown in incognito mode so that it won’t drag a bunch of other LU stuff in with it. That is a good theme, very fitting for Mundo too.

Looking forward to this one, I think these two could be capable of great things together.

Usually if I’ve not got a lot to say on a match, it’s either a) meh or b) hooked me in. This falls into the latter category. I don’t know what, but there’s just something about it that’s got me invested.

Ref bump as Mack goes for the stunner. The delay allows Mundo to kick out of a Mack powerbomb.
Evans and Black are here to help Mundo out. They distract Mack for long enough to Mundo to get his senses back and then keep the ref looking the other way to let him hit Mack with a low blow. This leads into a rollup and win for the champ.

I still have no idea why I liked that one so much. It’s not like it was particularly notable in any area; it wasn’t excessively violent, it wasn’t a huge spotfest, it wasn’t a technical masterclass. I guess if you just get two good wrestlers, you can just get a good basic match.



Bit of a beatdown on Mack before Evans and Black hold him so that Mundo can tell him what the stipulation will be. But first, the insults: Mundo tells Mack that he sucks and doesn’t deserve to be in the same ring as him. Tonight, he could barely last 10 minutes (ooh, I think I see where this is going).
Yup, Mundo says he’s taking Mack’s fat ass to Slamtown, All Night Long!

Yay!

A Mundo curbstomp (or kerbstomp in the UK ) puts Mack down, but they’re not quite done yet:



Super Triple curbstomp. Then some more insults. Then the celebrations. Then... ruh roh, they better skedaddle sharpish:



Mundo grabs his title and the Worldwide Underground scramble out of the ring, while the refs roll Mack out to safety.

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Mil and Catrina walk slowly down the steps to ringside… and Mil runs over to commentary to start his attack on his target, Vampiro.
The plan works as Puma shows himself relatively quickly. He’s not rushing in to help though, and when he gets up on the apron, Vamp, in position for a flatliner, manages to tell him to go, before getting put down.

Interesting that Vamp doesn’t want Puma going against Mil right now. It’s not even about not wanting Puma to risk himself to save Vamp as shown by a tiny thing that I almost missed in the final seconds of the show; After Mil leaves the ring and Puma gets in to check on Vamp, he starts to go after Mil, but Vamp grabs his leg to stop him.


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Next time: Gods Among Men

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Gods Among Men? Please be a match between Matanza, a semi-possessed Cage, and Mascarita Sagrada.

- Thinking of Cage, is Dario throwing his brother away and replacing him with his shiny new super-powered Cage? We've not seen Matanza for a few weeks, not since he and Dario had their... slight disagreement.

- Mack and Mundo, All Night Long? Yes please, that sounds like it's gonna be great.

[Deleted]

Evil Rising and so is something..e (redacted)

CATRINA IS HERE! 10 OUTTA 10 episode and I am still looking for those damn scissors...how else am I gonna trim this tree.

I always get a little chuckle whenever they let Mil speak more than a word or two because dood has such a thick accent ..HOWSTH PUMATH ALIVETH shall never be unheard lol.

I love how Mil took "you have to go through Vampiro" literally and also no doubt how Catrina meant it and her ability to manipulate on full display here not just with directing Mil and making sure he is pointed in one singular direction with the cool echo effect as she spoopys away.

And while we did not get to see its full display here I will always love seeing the amazing death shrine set piece.

And speaking of manipulation...Catrina is just straight f***ing with Jeremiah now lol you would think a dood who has kept such tabs on Catrina would have immediately went to the most obvious man on the roster first as far as trying to figure out who she "loves"



Jeremiah would be terrible at CLUE confirmed.

But credit to Jeremiah though like I said IMO Sami does not get enough credit for the things he does and here you feel how desperate he is to get Catrina not only to aknowledge him but for her approval and as soon as she dashes his hopes you see all of that hope leave his soul great stuff.

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Mariposa Vs Sexy Star

All one needs to hear is this aint the NO MAS match lol.

Mariposa like everyone else does what she can to get what she can out of sexy star.

But like pointed out I did like how Sexy came to the ring and immediately put her game face on because this is the match she wanted unlike alot of others who come to the ring for a blood feud but wanna do their whole f***ing song and dance schtick, so credit to creative and her for staying consistent with it.

And consistency is the most positive I can give to sexy star but also I do like the growth as far as her interactions with Mariposa go..she went from absoloutley petrified so much so she could not move to now having no fear of her after their battles , it is great character growth through story.

And here be Nut Bag Marty who we have not seen in awhile and beats up his own sister...because Marty does Marty things.
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Step aside Mark Henry THE REAL WORLDS STRONGEST MAN IS HERE!! f*** I love the obsurdity of the lucha gym lol. you wanna impress someone head to the lucha gym and you can probably lift an SUV after 5min.

But the rabbits have found their leader...how they came to this conclusion is somewhere in Paul Londons insane mind and probably included the Giant Gonzalez and thus it is no doubt amazing.

I f***ing love the rabbits just the little antics they do

Mala Suerte come down the steps backwards via riding the railing

Saltador enters the ring by rolling all the way to the other side

Paul London riding the middle rope backwards as he enters the ring

You can put together a nice little book about the odd shit they do and it would a best seller.

Rhea Ripley step aside darling because THIS is how you run a dungeon , Kobra Moon style with a DRAGON ON A CHAIN LEASH! and I love the touch that it had to be a chain because while he may be in human form he is still a Dragon and considering they have exsisted 1000 years makes sense she would retain doing things with ye old shackles.

And like Gecko said already I love Drago's look here because it emphasises that he is clearly not himself and Kobra Moons tactic of starving him has worked ...atleast maybe it has but it absoloutley sells the intent and story without having to get on a mic and explain anything.

lol Paul London poking Vibora as if he has never seen anything that tall...but then again it works actually because where else you gonna see a 7ft tall snake man.

All in all the match is alot of fun with great furthering of the disillision I guess one could say of Drago and I love how they played it at the end where ...was he hesitant to aknowledge his friends of spaceman and mr immortal or was he just confused due to whatever Kobra Moon did to him , I like it because it allows for this story to go multiple ways.
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Mack Vs Mundo

Everything from the vingette to the match is PERFECTLY played because they want you to get completely behind The Mack here no swerves he is the clear cut babyface...from how friendship with sexy star (that handshake is actually a nice call back to the one interestingly enough between Mundo and Puma) to Dario pulling his BS and basically handing all the leverage to Mundo here...from not putting the title on the line to basically ensuring that Mundo was gonna get the sitpulation choice.

People say it is very difficult to make a whitemeat babyface nowadays...well how they write for The Mack proves that no it aint difficult at all because it took no time at all and already you don't just want but NEED to see Mack beat Mundo for his title , this is LU's writing showing its strength once again.

And I love the reasoning for why Mundo chooses this match and it is not your typical reason and it plays into so many things specifically though Mundos character.

Dood is an ego maniac so of course he chooses a match where he believes that just because Mack is a heavier dood that it will be a cake walk for Mr 8 pack himself.

It is not a complex reason but it works perfectly on so many levels and remember when I said there would be sequels to certain matches that possibly surpass their original...well welcome to slamtown because I will say this when I watched this match for the first time I was left visibly shaking because of how invested I was this match pulls you in and does not let up.

I have said this is Johnny's greatest run of his career and this match might just be his masterpiece because this is the match I would point if anyone asks how badly did so and so miss the boat on him...IMO you will absoloutley appreciate both men but especially Mundo coming out of this match so much more.

[Gecko]

Well, the World Cup has started and I'm watching quite a bit of it, so I think we may take a short break until it finishes. Don't worry, it only goes until *checks* December 18th?! and then it's Christmas... and then New Years. Screw that! Let's just carry on.

S03E19 – Gods Among Men

Last time
• Catrina tells Mil that Vampiro is the one that brought Puma back and is the who he needs to go through to get to Puma.
• Jeremiah tries to get some attention from Catrina, she tells him that Mil isn’t the one she loves.
• Sexy Star beat Mariposa.
• Marty came to help Mariposa after her loss, but then attacked her.
• The Rabbit Tribe believe they’ve found their White Rabbit in Mascarita Sagrada.
• The Reptiles, with enthralled Drago, beat the Rabbits.
• Aerostar and Fenix appear to rescue Drago… maybe, sort of.
• Mack tells Sexy Star he has to prove he can win on his on and sends her home.
• Dario says that the match tonight isn’t for the title, but to see who gets to pick the stipulation for the title match.
• Mundo beats Mack thanks to Worldwide Underground help, he choses All Night Long for the title match.
• Mil appears and attacks Vampiro to draw out Puma. It works but Vamp doesn’t want Puma going against Mil yet.

Recaps of
• Dragon Azteca telling Rey that he has his own destiny and it starts with ending Matanza’s life.
• Cortez telling Vasquez his cover is blown and her sending him back in under a mask.
• Famous B trying to recruit Texano.
• Mundo beating Mack and picking All Night Long for the title defense.

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Dario is in his office, telling his visitor that they will see ‘him’ in action tonight.



I wasn’t expecting Delgado, but I guess it makes sense for him to be here now since this is where the Gauntlet and Wearer are. Dario says that Cage loves the gauntlet, he’s consumed by it’s power (yeah, I bet he will be)… little does he realise that the power is consuming him (told you).

Delgado says that soon they will be nothing more than men amongst gods. Dario points out that it will be gods that owe them a great deal of gratitude.

Shockingly, there’s a knock on the door, and Dragon Azteca walks in. Dario tries to introduce him to Mr Delgado, but Dragon says he’s not interested in making new friends, he’s here to destroy old enemies. He wants Matanza in the ring tonight.
Dario is fine with that, and also tries to explain that he didn’t send his brother after Dragon. Dragon says he doesn’t care, Matanza broke Rey, and tried to break him.

Delgado pipes up at this point and says he likes Dragon, he’s got balls. Dragon agrees, which is why he wants Matanza in a Death Match! Dario has no problems with this and gets on his red phone to let… somebody know about the new main event tonight.
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Into the Temple where Metalachi are expanding their repertoire and trying out Jarabe Tapatío AKA The Mexican Hat Dance. Almost everybody is having a good time…



Striker lets us know about the main event and points out that the last time they had a death match, it seemingly ended the career of King Cuerno (oh yeah, that guy), and asks if another career ends tonight.
As Striker tries to bring up what Mil Muertes did last week, Vampiro halts him and talks directly to the camera, with a message for Mil.
He tells Mil that it won’t be tonight, it might not be next week, but his time will come.
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Texano vs Joey Ryan

There’s far too many close-ups on various parts of Joey’s anatomy for my liking (too many is anything other than zero).

The story says that Texano is losing this one to make him more susceptible to B's pitch, or possibly winning thanks to some unwanted help from B.

Texano pulling out some nice little tricks like grabbing the ropes instead of bouncing off them, but he did struggle a little flipping over the top when thrown into the corner.

BWAHAHAHA!



‘Tay-hano’ has a couple of cheerleaders. After some initial confusion (from everybody involved), it appears to be working as Texano takes control of the match.

In this match we’ve had a Punch Out! Reference, and now we move onto Blazing Saddles.

Joey goes for Texano’s rope, so Famous B, very loudly, points out he has to do something before going and grabbing the other end of the rope. The distraction gives Brenda a chance to pull a lucky horseshoe from her bag which Texano makes good use of to knock out Joey and get the pin.

B and Brenda raise Texano’s hands. Well, Brenda does, B struggles to lift the arm before Texano pushes him over. He strangely doesn’t have any problems with Brenda.
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Johnny Mundo is in the ring and has something to say. He first gives a shoutout to Taya who is at home working hard on the documentary.

Oh, it’s not just Mundo who’s out here:



His name is Johnny Mundo, the mayor of Slamtown, the face of Lucha Underground. He tells the believers that they can call him whatever they want, but they have no choice but to also call him Lucha Underground Champion!

He came here as the only star, and he put this place on the map. He beat everybody that stood in his way: Big Ryck, Fenix, Sexy Star, Pentagon, Prince Puma, The Crew, Killshot, everybody. And You People never believed in him. Nobody believed in him, except for these guys in the ring with him. He tells Jack Evans and PJ Black how great they are, which leads to a group hug and pose



He then gets them to moonwalk out of there as he needs a moment alone. He is now talking to Mack. He points out that Mack isn’t built to last All Night Long. He doesn’t deserve to be in the ring with Mundo, it’s insulting that Mundo has to be in the ring with him.
This is Mundo’s world and everybody is going to believe that!

Mack Attack! He stomps down Mundo before Jack and Black return, but he survives the onslaught and manages to hit stunners on them both. A wide eyed Mundo calls for security and we actually get a half dozen Lucha Security people who restrain Mack long enough for the Champ to escape.

Mack takes out his frustration on the security before grabbing the title and telling Mundo that it is going to be his, but more importantly, he’s going to whoop Mundo’s ass… All Night Long!
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Cage vs Veneno



Who is that masked man making his debut? He’s got a spider motif, so he’s probably getting attacked by Sexy Star sooner rather than later.

Cage isn’t wrestling with the gauntlet on, but he does seem to have gained a slight power/aggression boost thanks to it. I also noticed him looking back at it a couple of times during the match.

Veneno putting up a decent fight until Cage takes his head off with the discus followed by the screwdriver (which looks devastating, but also safer than it first appears with Cage having full control of things).

Cage immediately goes and puts the gauntlet back on. The ref raises his hand, which means he gets a little to close to the precious and Cage pushes him away.

Oh, and here’s Sexy Star! Vamp translates her as saying, “It was you!” and “stay away from me.” as she kicks him in the face.
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In the Lucha locker-room, Puma is reliving his history in the Temple while hitting a punching bag with sticks.

As he’s struggling with the memories of Grave Consequences in particular, Catrina turns up and tells him that it’s never the same once you die. Once you cross over, all the awful voices come back with you. She hears them too.

Puma says that there’s only one vision that he can’t get out of his head. There’s blood, and there’s pain. Lots of pain, but it’s not his, it’s Mil’s.
Catrina grabs Puma’s stick (not like that, calm down), and moves it out of her face. She tells Puma that she’s had a similar vision, but it’s not Mil’s blood, it’s his. Before teleporting away.
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Death Match: El Dragon Azteca Jr vs ‘The Monster’ Matanza Cueto w/Dario Cueto

Hope there’s enough room next to Rey for another recovery bed.

I was wondering if Dario would be out here with his brother. There is a chance that Matanza could lose this one though, and give Dario more incentive to dump him.

The first minutes of the match, Matanza can’t make contact with his opponent. Dragon has no issue hitting the monster, but there’s not a lot of effect when he does.

And then things change:



It’s not like he needs it, but Matanza grabs a chair anyway and sets it in the corner.

Dragon changes things up a little and instead of his DDT, does this:



Dragon channels both his inner RVD and Sabu by kicking the chair into Matanza’s face and throwing it at him before using it as a step for a dive over the rope.

Matanza has had enough playing and starts throwing Dragon around before putting him on his shoulder and carrying him up the steps. Well this can’t possibly end well



He does manage to fight out of that, but then gets launched even higher up



Striker says that he’s Spidey like. Hope Sexy Star isn’t listening otherwise we can expect an appearance from her soon.

They fight back along the upper level and Dragon catches Matanza with a ‘rana that almost sends the monster down the steps, but he manages to grab the rail to prevent it.

Dario is looking a bit concerned, but that’s all about to change...

WOW! I wasn’t expecting Dragon to go right through, I just thought we’d get a thud.

Erm… That’s a win for Matanza.

A delighted Dario leads his brother back to the ring to celebrate.

Oh, Rey’s here! He runs up to check on his buddy, Matanza spots him and makes his way up towards him, punching and throwing fans out the way.

Rey continues to struggle against the monster and I think we are going to see somebody go through the roof of the room whose only purpose it seems it to get bits of it demolished.



A Rey backdrop sees Matanza go over the guard rail and through the roof. A panicking Dario (aw, he does care) runs to the door to try and get into the room. He can’t get in, so he rings the bell and shouts for everybody to get out!

We leave the Temple with Rey climbing down under the bleachers where Dragon is getting attended to and Striker says that next time we’ll be going All Night Long.
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Melissa’s got a stalker. You’ll never guess who it is.

As she greets some fans while leaving the Temple, we see Marty staring at her from a distance while partially hiding. Before he can make a move though, he gets kidnapped!

He wakes up in a Saw tribute room, with his captor… Mariposa. She congratulates him on getting her attention and says that maybe he’s grown up.



Marty never lets much get him down as he repeatedly tells himself that he did good as he giggles to himself and tries to chew his way free.
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Next time: All Night Long… Again

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Cage has very quickly gone from ‘nah, I don’t want it.’ to ‘Yeah, ok, this is pretty good’ to ‘My Precious’.
- Going through the bleachers has to be the most unexpected thing I’ve seen in quite a while.
- In a few weeks, the debut of El Dragon Azteca III
- I wasn’t expecting Mariposa to come back strongly like this, she’s not getting thrown to the side if she can help it.
- That was a packed episode, I went back and looked and had almost forgotten that whole Famous B stuff happening.

[Mochi Lone Wolf]

I don’t know if Angelico is just an overall pain to deal with backstage or something because I feel he should be a much bigger star then he currently is.

[Deleted]

Oh boy THIS episode.

No my reaction is not because of the episode itself which is a great one as Gecko has so eloquently laid out , no no no this episode is vitaly important to the biggest downfall for Lucha Underground behind the scenes.

Because I have sporadically touched on it and will go into more depth when the time comes , but in short as far as this goes this was a pivotal moment in really pissing off everyone who enjoyed this show because this was the last episode for FIVE GAWD DAMN MONTHS!!!!!

This was not something the people at LU knew about or planned for and was a complete shock to them as much as it was to the fans , this was a choice by ElRey/Univision all because they were now wanting to put their eggs into the absoloute crap that was Bushido Battleground...what the f*** is Bushido Battleground you ask?...wait what do you mean you are not asking? come back let me force you to witness this spectacle in which they thought f***ing over easily their most popular show by far for a show that no one watching El Rey let alone LU fans cared for.



Boy wasn't that exciting? because it was so exciting when it debuted that it garnered the same rating AS A LU REPLAY AT in the 11PM TIME SLOT!!

Years later just having to go back and remind myself of this really just angers me ...it should not but LU was white f***ing hot it had gained back its moment only to f***ing have it completely haulted by a gawd damn five month removal for a shitty f***ing show that could not even beat a LU replay.

And this was only barely a fraction of what I am going to address in due time.

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Delgado is such a chill dood just showing up the temple to have a nice little chat with our favourite Jefe.

There isn't a whole lot important info dropped here other than Daro proclaiming that the gods will basically owe them one and that Delgado and Dario are getting along a bit more nicely then their intial meeting in that very nice bar moons ago.

And Delgado himself is an appreciator of violence as he will drink to the death match.

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TAYYYY HAAAANNNNOOOOO lol

This here is not about the match which is fine but about the amazingness that is Famous B and his even more amazing suit.

I do like though you can come out of this though believing the only reason Joey got in as much offence as he did is because Texano is coming off of that brutal final match in the best of 5 series so he isn't exactly at his full strength.

But again this is all about B and B-renda , they bring such amazing levity to the show with things like this and I love how it isn't just about trying to spit funny one liners but also the physical comedy ..like Brenda having no trouble lifting Tay Hanos arm but B can't do it and just excuses it off as him being really strong lol.

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"I BELIEVE IN YOU JOHNNY!!" I approve of this believers belief.

I have always found this to probably be the most awkward promo in all of LU and not long after watching this , I had the realization why and it is because this is very much a WWE promo , now I have never found confirmation if that was the intention but it damn sure feels like it because beat for beat it is like every usual WWE promo , because how many times does a LU talent cut a promo in the ring.
And then you get the mid ring brawl and the security (Hi former tough enough alum Erik Wats) and Mack clearing the ring with stunners.

Not saying it is bad because it gets across what it needs to and heats up the coming match but this promo sticks out like a f***ing sore thumb to the rest of the show.

+10000 pts though for PJ and Jack moonwalking outta the ring lol.

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Hey look it's spiderman at home

I love that Cortez thought he could show up back to the temple in just a mask AND THAT IS ALL as if the audience let alone Dario himself would never totally recognize the gawd damn tatoos.

Cortez quite frankly sucks at his job lol , I aint about to blame captain hotness , I could never blame captain hotness just like I could never blame Catrina they are infailable and very lovely so this falls on Cortez for not thinking 10 steps ahead.

Vamp with that T2 reference about peeling once skin back and wondering if that was underneath.

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10 OUTTA 10 MY SCISSORS are not here but CATRINA IS!

Great little segment here and LU does what I love in showing the effects of a situation on someone instead of just brushing it aside like most wrestling does because they aint got to flesh things out but gotta just keep moving to the next thing , but we don't do things like that in the temple.

And I love Catrina now zeroing in on what has happened to Puma and giving him insight in a way that Vamp did not to what happens to those that die and come back to life.

But also what this also nicely kind of explains also is why Mil when he is not killing every other soul when see him , is always meditating in front of his death shrine...that is perhaps his way of keeping those same voices out of his own head.

So not a giant lore drop here but interesting character touches that apply to one character could apply to the other and in how they individually deal with it.

And also that despite all Vamp has done to get Puma to obey him , he did not rid Puma of those emotions and thoughts that torcher him , soa again there are interesting little character touches litered all over that I love that make one really think about the characters in a detailed way no other wrestling show does.

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Not alot to say about the main event other than HOLY SHIT LOL

You have seen people tossed off stages , through tables , through the ring.

Where else you gonna see someone literally tossed through the gawd damn bleachers in an amazingly shot because when Dragon Azteca gets tossed it looks like he got tossed quite literally into the shadow realm.

I love that LU was all like...okay we did the storage closet , we did Dario's office , now where else can we kill people that we not done yet..THE BLEACHERS probably shouts Chris Dejoseph lol.

Credit both Matanza and Dragon Azteca though because there was next to no room for error here he had to toss him in one go making sure not to neck him on the bleachers and they pulled it off perfectly.

Now something I am not quite sure of at the moment I know it is soon but idk if it happened already in the way they tape things.

And the fact we had not seen Matanza for a couple weeks might help me with my timeline.

But this was during a moment where Matanza was having a match withsomeone and he ended up punching out of windows at the peak of the steps there but what he did not realize when he did it was the window he punched was both the wrong one and also had like bars behind it and so when he punched it he ended up cuting open an artery in his wrist so badly that blood was literally squirting out.

And so they rushed him immediately away and had to retape the match , no longer with him punching any windows.

Again my timeline is sketch with this one at the moment but I will look it up to correct but I believe it was around this time I was hearing about it when tapings were taking place although of course at the time people were being vague enough to not spoil anything so.

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Nut job Marty is back on his shit again but this with an interesting development after goozling his sister last time but she seems fine with it.

I love every single thing about this from how it is shot , epsecially Marty lurking in the shadows and the light passing over him before he gets sacked by his sister.

And his child like demeanor before he starts eating his restraints , no one IMO had played crazy better in wrestling IMO because he has just enough over the top expressions that does not cross the line into hokey but remains perfectly unsettling and now he has begun stalking Melissa outside of the temple which is gonna take their interactions to a whole new level of skin crawling.

All in all this episode was stacked , very character driven.

Next episode though WE GO ALL NIGHT LONG.....AGAIN a mach I have said that had left me emotionally drained and my hands shaking by the end of it.

[anglarite]

Feel your pain - the only sport channel here which had Raw, Smackdown and TnA replaced them with local MMA. Not for five months, permanently...

[Deleted]

Nothing like digging through the archives and getting to dig up a oldy but goody pic.

This pic comes to us from Mariposa and this is the aftermath of her No Mas match with Sexy Star.

[Gecko]

What, didn't you see the announcement? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you if you were here for the next episode, but Gecko Watches Lucha Underground is taking a short break, but don't worry, we're trying out something new that I think you will enjoy just as much and GWLU will be back when this new series ends.

Here we go, the entire run of the British version of the show. I hope you're comfortable, there's 3,000+ episodes to get through. It's going to be a fun 57 years....

S01E01 - Pilot

Noel Edmunds welcomes us to this brand new gameshow (based completely on chance) where the contestants could win up t....

If I was patient enough (and a little bit more evil), I would run with this for the next 5 months, which would bring us to April where I would reveal it all as a long April Fools joke. But I'm not, so back to our regularly scheduled programming.

S03E20 – All Night Long… Again

Last time
• Delgado visits the Temple to get an update on the Gauntlet situation
• Dragon Azteca demands a death match with Matanza
• Texano beats Joey Ryan thanks to some unexpected assistance from Famous B and Brenda
• Mack comes out on top of a scuffle with Mundo & co.
• Cage beats the debuting Veneno and is super protective of his gauntlet
• Sexy Star attacks Veneno and warns him to stay away from her
• Catrina tries to get into Puma’s head
• Matanza beats Dragon Azteca after chokeslamming him through the bleachers
• Rey returns and fights off Matanza, dropping him through the roof of the mystery room
• Marty is stalking Melissa, but gets abducted by Mariposa who he now has the attention of

Recaps of
• What lead us to tonight, with Mundo winning the title and Mack becoming no1 contender
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Well, my friends, the time has come
To raise the roof and have some fun

I’m a little sad we didn’t get a Metalachi version of that.

Striker welcomes us as per usual, Vamp is back to his usual jovial self. And that's all the intro we need because here we go...

All Night Long – Lucha Underground Championship: The Mack vs Johnny Mundo(c)

Just in case you weren’t here for the last one, it’s an ironman match that lasts the whole show (or near enough).

The smart heel tactic is for Mundo to take a DQ loss early by using Jack Evans and PJ Black to help beat up Mack, he can then pin Mack and be back level in score but with an advantage over the hurt Mack. Oh, Melissa just mentioned Pins and submissions, that does change things a bit.

I really don’t know who is winning this one. It seems like it’d be a short reign for Mundo, but Mack’s journey makes it seem like he should take the title. I suppose they have shown that they are not afraid of having really short title runs, Mack could win here and lose it back to Mundo next week.

Hey, Striker is stealing my lines (that I stole), again!

A few seconds in, and it’s still 0-0. Man, what a boring match so far.

Mundo tries a shoulder block on Mack but just bounces off, then flinches when Mack twitches towards him



A bit of running back and forth ends with Mack paying Mundo back for earlier in the match and slapping him silly. As the Believers chant, “You got bitch-slapped!” Mundo goes round and round and up and down and inbetween the ropes to get a rollup on Mack.

I didn’t come into this show expecting Mundo to be compared to Lex Luger, only for Vamp to point out that he's doing a yoga technique, not getting gassed.

Parkour!



A trip from Mundo from that position brings a hard landing for Mack, End of the World, The champ gets the first pin

Mack 0-1 Mundo
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32:30 left according to the clock.

I hope nobody ever tells Mack how big he is and that he shouldn’t be able to do some of the stuff he does.

Mundo sets up for the End of the World again, but takes too long posing and Mack rolls him up. Mundo counters the roll up with one of his own:



Thanks to a little help from the ropes, Mundo goes up two!

Mack 0-2 Mundo

Vamp asks why the second ref sitting outside the ring didn’t do anything, Striker points out he’s sitting right outside Dario’s office so may be a little afraid to.

Mundo has started to try and keep his distance when on the defensive.

Mack rolls through a crossbody, pops Mundo up into a powerbomb to get a pin and start the chase.

Mack 1-2 Mundo
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25:55

Very back and forth in this part of the match, Mundo’s big move is a C4 which doesn’t earn him another point, Mack’s is an exploder suplex from the ropes, which puts them both down.

Mundo hits a twisty dive from the top to the outside, but comes down hard and immediately starts rolling around holding his right ankle. The refs check on him then signal that they need medical assistance. I did see Mundo cover his mouth to say something to the ref. Vamp is up from commentary to see if he can help (imagine if you had to go see Dr Vampiro).

Here’s some medical guy… and here’s Mack to grab Mundo and throw him back in the ring. Ah. That was well done.

Although….



Mundo is still backing off and we have the trainer guy, the other ref, and a cameraperson all in the ring. Maybe it is legit.

Just under 20 minutes to go. Striker sends us to a break as the stretcher is brought out by two suspiciously wrestlery looking people

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Ok, if it's worked, it’s very well done. I have no idea if it’s legit or just a Mundo time-wasting tactic. There’s plenty of people in the ring; Mundo, Mack, three refs, three medical personnel… but there’d also be no reason to keep this happening in the ring for so long with a legit injury of this type.

Oh, wow, Mack even comes over to check and they shake, maybe it is a case of they have to postpone th... There he goes! Mundo kips up and runs over to kick Mack between the legs when his back is turned. DDT on the backboard, that’s another point for the champ.

Mack 1-3 Mundo

Mundo is super proud of himself and does some jumping jacks and other exercises just in case you didn’t pick up that he’s not hurt. That was perfectly executed.

It was a good tactic at the time, it ran down the clock and got him another pin… but now he has to deal with a pissed off Mack.

Please, pleeeeaaasssseeeee, PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEEE surf down the steps on the backboard!



YAY! Close enough, I’ll take that.

We go to the final break as we pass the 16 minute mark on the countdown.

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We come back to Mack slowly descending the steps while Mundo frantically tries to free himself from the straps holding him onto his makeshift sledge.

Ow. Mack stands Johnny Backboard up and lets him fall forward. At least his arms were free so he could break his fall (Unlike Rey and Big Show).

The impact frees Mundo and Mack sends him back into the ring. The people are calling for it, so Mack hits it: Stunner!



With a super Scott Hall sell from Mundo.

Mack 2-3 Mundo

Mundo reverts back to his running away mode and crawls under the ring and out the other side before heading away from ringside and into the depths of the Temple with Mack in pursuit.

Here comes Mundo out from under the ring…. Hang on?! HA! Genius! It was a decoy Mundo!

PJ "Mundo" Black leads Mack back to ringside as Mundo hides round the corner with a kendo stick.



As The Two Johnny’s go to work with Kendo sticks, there’s only one thought I have: How long until we see Jack Evans as the third Mundo?

Here he is… and he grew a beard!



I have a feeling this is just the start of the opposing army arriving. That’s the problem with getting on the wrong side of absolutely everybody, there's plenty of people to help out your opponents.

After taking down WWU, Havoc is having trouble waking Mack up so he goes and knocks on Dario’s door?! That’s a first. I also like to think that that bare patch on the wall next to the door is where a doorbell used to be, but Dario took it off to discourage people from trying to see him.

Havoc isn’t there to complain to El Jefe, he’s after something to rouse Mack. Dario hands him a bottle of water, but that won’t do in this situation. What will work is a couple of beers, which Dario also has close by and donates.

A wide awake, kendo stick wielding, beer-covered (and probably sticky) Mack, backed up by Havoc, stalks Mundo and Black who take turns trying to hide behind each other.

Here come the tables. I hope Mack remembers he’s in a match and is currently losing.

After Mundo and Black fight back and put down the other two, it’s time for a mid-match promo from Mundo as he grabs a mic. He asks Metalachi if they know any victory songs? Is La Bamba a victory song? Well, that’s what they’re playing as WWU have a bit of a party below.

The maracas player suddenly decides to leap off the platform onto WWU and reveal themselves as Sexy Star!



PJ Black is removed from ringside by Mack’s Mates. I mean, we’ve still got an absent Jack Evans issue.

Mundo goes headfirst through a couple of tables, courtesy of a Mack reverse piledriver. It takes a while to get back in the ring, but he still gets the pin. Which is good, I wouldn't like to see a kickout of that move at this point in the match.

Mack 3-3 Mundo

A nice little spot as Mack goes for another cover straight away and the momentum of Mundo kicking out reverses their positions and he ends up getting a two count on Mack, who ends up on top again when he kicks out, then Mundo kicks out again and ends up rolling out the ring.

Mundo grabs another table, Mack counters by grabbing a ladder as we get the 5 minute warning.

End of the World attempt again, this time while Mack is lying on a ladder. Mack moves and Mundo looks like he hurt his leg… yeah, yeah, not falling for that one again.

We’ve got less than a minute to go as Mack stuggles to climb a ladder to put the finishing touch on Mundo.



He’s halted by Johnny’s number one fan, Ricky Mandel! Sexy Star and Havoc return to get rid of him too.

Mack is in place at the top of the ladder at 25 seconds!
He takes flight at 20 seconds left!
At 10 seconds the damage has been done and Mack just needs to recover enough to get the pin!




Mack crawls over, he gets on Mundo and hooks the leg, the ref’s count is just a fraction too slow as the time runs out as his hand is coming down for the third time!

Full Time: Mack 3-3 Mundo

Nobody is happy about this, apart from Mundo when he wakes up still champ. Dario? Hello? We ending this in a draw?

Mack is in tears and being comforted by Star.

El Jefe gets a big pop as he appears and tells everybody to hold on. Mack and Mundo put on one hell of a fight, but there are no ties in his Temple! (apart from the one Famous B wears) There must be one winner! So, next week….

AWWWWW!

… we restart the match and the next pin or submission wins, even if it takes All Night Long… Again!

Mack gets in a final Stunner on Mundo and we end with him holding the Lucha Underground Belt.
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Whooo! That was a good one, that is how you do an ironman match. It took a little while to really get going, but once it did, it didn’t stop. Lots of fun spots, with plenty of originality.

The interferences were done in a way that made sense. Havoc and Star were probably on the lookout for WWU running in, so Mundo bypassed it by having one smuggled in early. Mandel, maybe he was under instructions to help out, or maybe he just decided to do it on his own to help out his idol.

It kind of reminded me a little of the crowning of the first trios champs from an emotional side, but without the feel good moment at the end. Maybe we'll get that next week.

Next time: Sudden Death

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Jack Evans was a notable absence here, I don't remember anything happening to him?
- That is the halfway point of the season (by episode number).
- Having the five month break between this episode and the next would probably be even worse than it was

[Deleted]

This match



THIS MATCH



THIS f***ING MATCH





Is perfection on so many levels.

Story
Character
Pacing
Camera work

It is one of those matches that gives you every single thing you could want out of a wrestling match and delivers even more.

I said this was a match that literally my hands shaking because that is how much this match pulled me into the story it was conveying.

Your blue collar fighter vs the guy that has everything with movie star good lucks etc. It is a tale as old as time but it just f***ing works because that is everyday life in some way for someone wherever they may be.

I have stated it before but I do not like to use the word perfect often because nothing is ever truly perfect but this match is damn near it.

And this is one of those matches where I said the sequel surpasses the original...because while the original all night long is a maginificent match , this takes what that did and does it exponentially better and a large part of that is how much Mundo has grown in that time , both in ring and his overall character work.

But what seperates this match from the original IMO is The Mack , in the original match Puma had already ascended to the mountain top as they say so while the drama was still there , it lacked the struggle Mack had to persevere through and Macks's face after the timer runs out tells you everything it is heartbreaking to see him nearly at tears and being consoled by his friend.

And that drama is what really seperates the two for me and largely is why this surpasses the original.

I told you coming of this , one would truly appreciate Mundo because he is on full gawd damn display here , every single thing he does is to ensite the blood loving believers...from just being Mundo to him cheating at every single chance he gets and that is all even before he pulls the biggest heater of the match when he fakes the injury.

Like you aknowledged they played this so perfectly and the key moment that sealed how well they did this is when Mack came over and he and Mundo shook hands basically breaking JUST enough kayfabe to really sucker everyone in and only for Mundo right after to kip and kick Mack in the man pickle and the heat he gets off of this is insane...if the crowd was not sure they wanted Mack to win before this is the moment it completely flips to the crowd demanding Mundos head on a stick.

Everything about that moment was pitch perfect...even the commentators were not trying to be cute and proclaiming Johnny was faking it , they treated it like it was legit and even react in the same manner as they felt suckered in...topped off with even Vamp being pissed at Mundo for doing what he did.

And even more praise THE BABYFACES! come to help their friend instead of just standing by.....THIS is how you cement babyfaces coming to the aid or eachother in the face of unfair odds.

Everything about this match is a highlight reel of everything LU did better than anyone else IMO.

Now I see you wondering about Jack Evans as you mentioned him a few times...well remember when I said at the beginning that you were gonna have to kind of keep an eye out for so weird comings and goings , well the reason Jack was not here is because his Jaw at this point and time was broken and wired shut.

And Taya despite appearing a few episodes back is also not here because she is injured.

So you are seeing a whole lot of maneuvering with how they tape things to adjust.

Hi guy who got killed by Pentagon and now back as Mundo fanboy Ricky Mandel...all I will say about this is this is gonna get really funny.

I cannot praise this match enough , it has everything single thing LU does well on display ten fold and is a must watch for anyone watching LU match...perfection.

Oh and as for the ending...this is the only flaw to this match because the crowd was white f***ing hot for Mack to win and when El Jefe came out it was like DO IT!!! RESTART THE f***ING MATCH!!! and combined that with Mack coming so f***ing close to winning is the highest of drama but then he says next week and completely deflates the crowd.

And even the creative realize this because they have said since they , that they would have changed it and had Mack win looking back on it now.

But at the time they had a plan and wanted to stick to it as they say so.

All in all this match completely cements Mundo and Mack...legitamizes Mundos reign after having to deal with sexy star for weeks on end and Mack is cemented into the mainevent scene...both guys coming out of this smelling like dozens of roses...and beer if you are Mack.

[Gecko]

Probably don't expect an episode tomorrow since, along with me being busy and everybody being extra punchable (aka the run up to Christmas), the world cup is still on and so is NXT tonight. We also got a cold snap over here, so I've gone into partial hibernation mode.

[Gecko]

After an extra long wait, it's time to see if Mack can conquer Mundo. And some other stuff as well.

S03E21 – Sudden Death

Last time
• All Night Long ended in a draw
• Dario says we’re restarting it tonight under sudden death rules

Recaps of
• Catrina’s mindgames with Puma
• Kobra Moon’s imprisonment of Drago and reminder that sooner or later, a dragon must feed.

• All Night Long

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Puma is standing in front of a mirror in the lucha locker-room, and he’s not doing too great. He’s having flashbacks of his history with Mil, seeing Konnan stuffed in a casket, getting stuffed in a casket himself, being resurrected by Vamp... you know, the sort of stuff that could make you go a little crazy.



Suddenly, Rey is there to check up on him. Rey says that he’s worried about Puma and how close he’s become to Vampiro. Rey’s known Vamp a long time, and he doesn’t care about Puma.

Rey tells Puma that Vamp isn’t his friend, isn’t his master. Puma, before he walks away, reminds Rey that he isn’t either.

Aaaah, you said his name too many times while standing in front of a mirror!



I do like the warped/distorted/smudged effect they’ve got going on by shooting the reflection in this whole scene.
Vamp warns Rey to stay away from Puma, or like his last master, Rey will get sent straight to hell.

Rey turns around to confront Vampiro… who isn’t there. Vamp’s warning echoes in Rey’s head as he breaks the mirror and gets seven years bad luck.

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A caffeine filled Vamp welcomes us and thanks Sergio Arau for the live tunes.

Striker runs down how we got the continuation of All Night Long tonight. Assuming the restarted match doesn’t go all night long again (nice little touch), we’ve got a couple of other matches going on tonight: A Trios title match, and Puma vs Muertes in a Boyle Heights Street Fight

Lucha Underground Championship: The Mack vs Johnny Mundo(c)

Before the bell rings, Dario pops out of his office to, knowing him, add a little extra twist to things. He mostly just goes over what we already know, but then since Mundo had the advantage last time (with the whole retaining on a draw thing), he’s going to tip things in Mack’s favour and make this Falls Count Anywhere!

We start off with some familiar moves and Mundo showing that he’s been studying Mack’s repertoire. But, he’s not scouted everything, as springboarding off the ropes, he gets caught in what Michael Cole would call a modified stunner.



Mundo does the smart thing and rolls out the ring. Oh, maybe it’s not that smart since he appears to have temporarily forgotten that it’s fall count anywhere.

Ha, that’s new:



Here come the chairs… well more chairs. The ones that were stored under the ring, maybe to replace any that get broken from stuff like that?

It’s been all Mack so far but Mundo is now making use of his parkour skills. True, it’s so he can run away more effectively, but still.

As Mack is about to chuck his chair at Mundo (who is standing in the middle of the believers), Ricky Mandell shows up to prevent it, this also distracts Mack enough for a Mundo dive.

Striker says that Mandell looks a little like X-Pac, and I was just thinking that myself.

Mandell grabs a bin at the instruction from Mundo, but here comes Sexy Star to even things up. Ha, Vamp doesn’t even know his name and calls him Ricky Martel. That’s one pair down as Star removes Ricky from ringside, Havoc and Black should be stopping by soon.
Mack struggles to drag a table out from under the ring, almost as if somebody is holding onto it to stop him. That somebody is PJ Black who smacks Mack with a kendo stick, before he sets the table up himself.

Mack gets dragged up to the apron by Black, but fights out and hits a stunner on the apron which causes Black to fall off through the table.

The big moves are coming out now, Mundo hits a springboard kick and running knee, but Mack counters the End of the World by getting his knees up and then taking Mundo down with a hard powerbomb.

We must be heading towards the climax as Mack is eyeing the pile of chairs on the outside and looking to hit a suplex from the apron onto them. After Mundo struggles out of the initial attempt, they both end up on the apron.

Well look who’s back



OW! Sunset flip powerbomb off the apron onto the chairs on the outside. And that is more than enough to keep Mack down for the three and Mundo to retain again.

As Mundo celebrates and we get ready to go to a break, Striker informs us that he’s getting word that Dario is coming to the ring with an earth shattering announcement that will have major implications for Ultima Lucha 3.

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We come back to El Jefe already in the ring. He says that this year, LU has revolutionized the entire underground fighting industry. He runs through some of his innovations, like Dario’s Dial of Doom and the Battle of the Bulls. These things have kept LU fun, unpredictable and, most importantly: Violent!

Ooh, sounds like we're getting a Dario original idea, it’s going to go down as one of the most imaginative that this sport has ever seen! And it’s called… wait for it…. Wait for it… he’s really milking this reveal.



Wow, you can win Melissa Santos! Where do I sign up?

Isn’t she gorgeous? It’s The Cueto Cup! Ha. Melissa gets in the ring and holds the cup aloft, only for Dario to snatch it from her and hold it himself and boots Melissa out of the ring.

Beginning next week, we’re starting a 32 person, single elimination tournament for the Cueto Cup aaannnnd a title match at UL3!

Also: Mundo will be defending the title the night that the winner of the cup is decided, it’s just a case of figuring out who gets a shot. Dario was thinking of giving it to Matanza, but a couple of weeks ago he embarrassed Dario and his family by letting Rey make him look weak, so not him.
Dario is going to reward the person that not only brought violence to his brother, but glory and esteem to the Temple: Rey Mysterio!

Dario finished by mentioning that the Trios titles are getting defended right now!

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Trios Championship: Aerostar, Fenix, & Drago(c) v The Reptiles (Kobra Moon, Pindar, & Vibora)

Drago is still not looking quite himself. If I were Aerostar or Fenix I wouldn’t be turning my back on him in case he gets a bit peckish and has a go of that traditional wrestling pastime of biting people.

And now I see the opponents, I’d be even less trusting of the dragon man.

Aerostar seems to be having a bit of trouble with his mask (I’m not saying Drago tampered with it, but…)

I see Fenix standing on the apron doing some over the top gum chewing.

It looks like Pindar wasn’t in position or something here and Aerostar had to abort his dive, but it’s hard to tell since he covered it well by bouncing off the ropes so smoothly.



As Vibora gets the tag, Striker says that Fenix sense things are about to get ugly. It’s probably not what he meant, but Vibora’s offence isn’t exactly exciting.

Aerostar has been the one in the ring for his team this whole match, but when he manages to create an opportunity, Fenix is right in there fighting alongside him. Drago remains on the apron.

Vibora hits the tombstone on Fenix on the outside to remove him from the equation for now.

Aerostar is still technically the legal man for his team, so he goes to tag Drago, but ends up with a face full of green mist instead



Drago steps over his fallen partner as he crosses the ring and stands in the other corner and puts his hand out for the tag from his cold-blooded brethren (I feel like Striker will steal this phrase or maybe I stole it from him). Kobra Moon, who hasn’t actually taken part in the match yet, jumps down to the floor to make room for the actual third member of the team.

Drago hits a top rope splash on Aerostar while he’s being held up by Vibora at the shoulders and Pindar at the feet. That’s enough for the win.

New Trios Champs! Sort of? 2/3 anyway. This is like when Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes lost the tag titles to Ted DiBiase Jr and his partner, Cody Rhodes.

Kobra Moon hands out the belts to her subjects and collars Drago again.
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To the sounds of a budget AC/DC, we see a budget Johnny Mundo sitting in the lucha locker-room. Oh, and here’s the real thing who is walking around in just a towel. Mundo asks where the champagne that he requested is, and is informed that Taya told Mandel to hold on it.

Mundo says that they should be celebrating, all night long! And I think they have different ideas about what that means.



Taya shows up and says that she’s got some bad news. No, It’s not about Jack’s injury, Dario has just announced that Mundo is defending the title against Rey. Mundo tells Ricky to warm up the car since he has to get to his dojo.

Aww, Mundo sent him away because he didn’t want 'the kid' to see him nervous. He admits to Taya that if he’s going to beat Rey, he’ll need to train harder than ever before. Then he leaves without getting changed because there is no time for pants!

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Boyle Heights Street Fight: Mil Muertes w/Catrina vs Prince Puma

Puma sneaks in the back to gain the advantage at the start. I’m also guessing Vamp won’t be staying at commentary all the time in this match.

Mil is breaking Street Fight tradition by wearing his usual stuff, whereas Puma is in regular clothes.

We don’t stay in the ring long, and the tables quickly appear as well. The table disappears just as quickly as Puma sets it up and then turns around into a Mil spear through it.

STOP sign, a DETOUR sign too. They always pick the most dangerous or inconvenient signs to steal.

Mil has a couple of goes at murdering Puma by throwing him off a secondary staircase that we don’t normally see. It leads up to the rear of the upper level.

Puma beats Mil with a shoe that I think he may just have pulled off of a foot of a believer.

Mil carries Puma back down the main staircase on his shoulders, Puma starts to come round when they reach the bottom so Mil squeezes him a bit and spins him round into a TKO.

I’m not going to complain about them not knocking this time:



They don’t catch Dario doing anything too sketchy. Mil tries to throw Puma back out the door, but his aim is poor and he smashes Puma’s head against the wall a few times before he finds the target. Dario, clutching his trophy and bull, comes out to get a closer look at things at Puma smacks Mil in the head with a spanner/wrench.

Mil catches Puma with a hard powerslam, then locks eyes with Vamp.



Striker announces that he’s a coward who is running away (or words to that effect). Nothing else happens before Mil turns his attention back to Puma.

Regarding the ancient seal in the middle of the ring, Vamp cryptically says that maybe there is something just a little bit more ancient…?



And that is… not enough!

The follow up 630 probably is though, which is why Catrina gets in the ring and smashes the rock over Puma’s head.
As Catrina tries to revive Mil, Vamp approaches Puma on the other side of the ring and hands him a brick.



Don’t bring a stone to a brick fight, I guess is the lesson here. And that is it and we leave this episode with a victorious Puma.

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Next time: The Cup Begins

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- We’re just ending the World Cup today, and immediately going into the equally prestigious Cueto Cup.
- I do love me a big tournament, I hate when they say there’s going to be a tournament and it ends up just starting at the semi finals.
- I guess Rey’s not winning the tourney then. Probably not even in it.
- Things are chugging along nicely story-wise, I think next week we'll probably visit some different ones that we haven't seen in a little while.

[Deleted]

WELCOME TO THE BOYLE HEIGHTS G1 CLIMAX!...Dario is the greatest inventor in our modern history...how dare you accuse him of stealing ideas clearly these ideas are his own and we deny everything!! *runs away*

But yes we are getting the Lucha Underground version of a G1 climax sort of..just without the red and blue blocks ..and without being in japan..and it not being the G1 Climax.

I will say that the tournament if nothing else gives us a whole bunch of absoloute bangers and match combinations we would not get unless you intersected some stories that are not crossing paths at this time in the show and so that is the benefit and alot of the best matches of the season are within this tournament.

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

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Mack Vs Mundo

You can see why the creative team long after the fact said they would have changed how the match ended last week because this just feels outside of being a mini banger of a match is a kind of wind out sails thing because Mack as red hot and the crowd clearly would have ate it up if he had won whether last episode or this one.

And that final bump Mack takes is f***ing disgusting because the way his skull just crashes off the chairs is just one of those bumps you wish on no one.

But there are positives here all of them for Mundo though...10 OUTTA 10 TAYA IS BACK!! and Mundo has such immense heat on him he is raidiating at this point after screwing Mack outta the title.

And now Mundo is set for an epic showdown with Rey.

And we get to one of the iconic Mundo vingettes...NO TIME FOR PANTS! is such a great outta nowhere line that I am absoloutley sure he adlibed that.

But the best thing about this is how deadly serious Johnny sells Rey THIS is how you do it as a heel or just in general but we are talking about a heel selling a babyface as a threat and Johnny executes better than just about anyone else I have seen do it.....most heels today wanna be condesencing with handing out back handed compliments but Johnny here sells Rey as something not to be toyed with.

And I do not remember anyone on par with Mundo's standing in any company selling Rey Mysterio like he was a f***ing world beater but Johnny did and it works , it works to sell you immediately on the match , it works to sell you that Rey is gonna be the one to take that title from him , it works to sell you especially coming off of how he treated Mack as a completely nobody to his soul leaping out his body when he was told he would be defending his title against Rey.

That was executed to perfection , that is how you sell a match and sell the competitors especially those that have worldwide credibility....because now the stakes feel even bigger for Mundo because of how he took that news.

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

Not a whole lot to say about the trios match it was solid enough....Vibora at this point still sucks 1000 types of sagging ass.

I do love the twist of Drago turning on his friends but still remaining trios champion and also keeps the trios title from feeling like a completely useless prop here and shows that The Reptile tribe wanted more than simply to have Drago stick it to his friends but wanted that sweet sweet aztec gold to as it helps their power status their queen desires.

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

Puma and Mil have an unreal level of chemistry because every single time no matter the match type they just make literal magic and this one is no different and we got alot of great story telling layers all through out this and nice call backs specifically with Catrina to when she faced off with Dario and Matanza , aztec warfare 2 and the latter half of season 1 , so there is alot of great history at play here.

And here I go again with being bragadocious about LU's production because the camera work in particular in this mathch is just f***ing spectacular especially once they get into the thick of the audience and go up the stairs.

I say it all the time and it has not changed...other wrestling shows or should I say EVERY (yea throwing out that wide net) other wrestling show knows how to use a camera but only LU production knew how to properly shoot a damn show and this yet another mile long example.

Vamp just equated getting beat with a shoe to a public execution....thanks Vamp.

Also what I love is that despite seemingly giving himself fully to Vamp that Puma still feeds off the the audience...something Vamp always sees as a weakness so that is a really nice interesting character bit.



You can't say anything about this less than HOLY SHIT because RVD eat your gawd damn heart out and the fact he just steps up into it like it was just a casual thing he can do makes it all the impressive.

And once again LU production on their game with the sky view of the 630 and the camera following him all the way down beautiful.

And then the irony and character touch of Mil getting put down with a brick is not wasted on me lol.

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

All in all another absoloute solid episode with a banger of a main event , but we are also due like you mentioned feels like now to start getting back to the other stories as Puma and Mil have had a nice chunk dedicated to them here lately.

[Gecko]

What, you were expecting and episode on Christmas Day? Well, you're in luck, but first you must listen to this tale of woe and joy:

Good news: I have a brand new combine harvester PC

Bad news: All the LU episodes are still on a hard drive in my old one

Good news: I can just download the next episode again

Bad news: my text documents are also on the old PC

good news: Cloud storage is a thing and they're backed up there

bad news: I somehow don't have the correct spare leads to hook up my second display

Good news: Working with one screen is a minor inconvenience compared to dealing with my old PC

Bad news: My new PC didn't come with a free frogurt

Good news: There don't appear to be any curses connected with anything nearby

On with the Christmas special!

S03E22 – The Cup Begins

Last time
• Rey tries to warn Puma about trusting Vamp
• Mundo retains the LU title against Mack thanks to Ricky Mandell and a returning Taya
• Dario announces the Cueto Cup
• Aerostar, Fenix, & Drago lose the Trios titles to the Reptile Tribe when Drago switches sides
• Mundo is worried about defending against Rey, and there’s no time for pants.
• Puma beats Mil in a death match with help from a Vamp-supplied brick

Recaps of
• Dario announcing the Cueto Cup and Mundo’s defence against Rey
• Drago rejoining the Reptile Tribe
• And going quite a way back: Black Lotus killing the original Dragon Azteca but prevented from taking the mask off the new one by a Penta arm break rampage, then eventually returning with the Black Lotus Triad which ends with Penta getting both arms broken

------------------------------------------------------------
Starting off with a visit to El Jefe. We join Dario as he is carefully planning the bracket for his Cueto Cup.



(I’ve already added a version into my reference spreadsheet)

We currently have Aerostar vs Drago, and Mack facing the winner of Famous B and Texano.

Somebody enters and Dario, without turning around, tells them to go outside and knock because nobody comes into his office unannounced 😆.

The scary ninja skeleton is back! Penta, after showing that he’s all healed up, gets straight to the point and asks after Black Lotus.
Dario tells him that she’s gone back to Hong Kong and he hasn’t seen her in months. Any, who cares about her? She broke your arm, but Penta broke hers first.

Penta hasn’t changed and says that maybe he’ll break Dario’s arm. When Dario warns him that he doesn’t want to do that, he also points his finger at Penta which may have been a mistake.



Dario saves his arm by telling Penta that he’s in the Cueto Cup, he can hurt his opponents on his way to winning it and then go on to UL3 to win the title. And his first match is tonight.

Penta says that he’ll go on to win the LU Title at UL3 (because Cero Miedo), and warns Dario that if he doesn’t leave Ultima Lucha Tres with Aztec Gold, Dario will be leaving with broken bones.

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A sweaty Vampiro welcomes us to the Temple, thanks Sergio Arau, and we get a look at the bracket with the first section filled in



We get a Highlander reference, which Vamp points out in case you missed it, as we’ll start with 32 but there can only be one winner.

Cueto Cup (1st RND): Mala Suerte vs The Mack

Mala Suerte is from down the rabbit hole, apparently. I’m going to agree with Striker, I also want that t-shirt… well, if it didn’t have the text about doing it like a rabbit on the back.

This match starts off with lots of flippy bits and reversals. If you were watching and weren’t familiar with wrestling, seeing those two do that stuff must make you re-evaluate what you think you know about wrestling.

I think Mack is taking this one, and that means we’ll get more on The Rabbits wanting guidance from their White Rabbit.

When they finally stop for a break, I realise just how long that opening sequence went on. They definitely deserve the applause they get for it.

Time for some Rabbit shenanigans. A handshake from Mala Suerte… no, a left handed handshake… no, a double handshake… no, a double low five… no, a double slap!

Mala Suerte is doing a great job in wrestling as a different character. If it wasn’t the fact that his shape is a bit distinctive, I would have had a hard time guessing who was under the mask.

Wow, German suplex on Mack and he flips all the way over and lands on his face.

Suerte pulls Mack to the corner… and heads to the opposite corner. Of course he does. Who am I kidding? The hop down and run across the ring for a basic move gets me every time. An actual senton from the top that he tries next gets less of a reaction from everybody.

This is also very nice:



Mala Suerte misses yet another senton off the top (maybe that’s why he does the other thing?) and soon after falls to a stunner.

Mack is the first to move onto the next round in the Cueto Cup. He’ll be facing Famous B or Texano in the next round.

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

We join Cage as he’s working out his left arm while admiring the gauntlet on his right. Dario enters and comments on him enjoying this powerful artefact he’s gained. But, it’s not Dario alone that is to thank for it, his friend Lawrence Delgado (have we heard his first name before?) is an influential politician in the area and has asked that Cage goes to his office tonight to celebrate.

Cage: “Nah.” Ooh, a shiny Gauntlet. Cage is struggling to keep his focus on anything apart from his precious.

Cage may not be interested, but Dario suggests it would be a good thing to become acquainted with him and leaves Cage his card with the address. He’ll even reimburse Cage for the ride, but who knows if Cage was even paying attention to Dario when the gauntlet was right there.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Argenis vs Pentagon Dark

It’s time to drag Argenis out of storage again, this time for an easy Penta win.

Melissa is still not a fan of Penta’s and makes a quick exit from the ring as soon as she introduces him and before he even appears.

Hey, shut up, Believers! I can’t hear Penta’s music properly.

To the surprise of nobody, It’s a Penta showcase.

Argenis does manage to get a few moves in, most impressively a springboard moonsault to the outside where he almost turned it into a reverse DDT at the end (maybe not entirely on purpose).

Argenis kicks out of the Cero Miedo Driver. He may seem like he just turns up to make up the numbers occasionally, but he’s at the level where you would believe he could sneak a win every so often. Not here, obviously.

Penta moves on by pinning Argenis after a package piledriver.

Roll away, Argenis! Too late, oh well, I'm sure he'll have time to heal up before his next appearance.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Texano vs Famous B w/ The Beautiful Brenda

I’m not sure how much of a match this will be. Yup, B’s in his very fancy suit. If he forfeits this, Dario will not be pleased.

“Damnit, Melissa!”



B realises he's outmatched and smartly backs off, but still tells her that she was supposed to introduce him as being from Texas. All the while we can hear Brenda agreeing in the background. He goes all in on the cowboy speak here.

B is still trying to recruit Texano, so he’s going to let Texano pin him. Fingerpoke of doom reference from Striker.

1… 2… Texano pulls him off the mat! Haha. He hits the powerbomb on B and then pins him.

Brenda is having fun, she spanks Texano as he leaves and says Giddyup! Texano… doesn’t mind it and goes away with a smile. Brenda comments on him being so much cowboy but with such a small rope, before she remembers the semi-conscious B still in the ring.

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As we see Rey getting ready and training, we hear what sounds like a news voiceover.

“Rey Mysterio Jr has been called a lot of things: A celebrity, a superstar, and the greatest luchador in the world. The only thing you can’t call him is the Lucha Underground Champion.Only one luchador can claim that title, and his name is Johnny Mundo.”

As we switch from Rey training somewhere in the Temple, to Mundo in a fancy, clean, well equipped space.

“Motivated by desire, but fuelled by ego, Johnny’s penchant for cockiness is unparalleled yet equalled only by his talent and ring acumen.”

We go back and forth between Rey, who is jogging on the street and training in the LU ring, and Mundo, who is in his high tech gym, as the voice over continues comparing them: Rey has held lots of titles whereas this may be Mundo’s defining title reign, Rey has all his fans behind him, Mundo has the WWU.

We finish with a Dario Presents title card.

That was fun and different. Being that it'll be a while before we get the match, I hope we keep building it as something extra special.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Drago w/Kobra Moon vs Aerostar

I just realised where Kobra Moon got her jacket from:



Although that does feel like something that I've 'just realised' before... speaking of fashion: Drago is looking festive today.



Aerostar is a stupid good guy and doesn’t bring Fenix with him. He continues to be a clueless face by trying for a handshake and thinking he can snap Drago out of this by talking to him. What you need is to grab him a cheeseburger or some other traditional dragon food. What? Prove that dragons don’t like cheeseburgers.

It takes Aerostar a few minutes to fight back. He builds some momentum and knocks Drago outside, but going for the dive, Kobra Moon trips him.

Bit of (story based) hesitation from Drago now, as the two stop and just look at each other for a few seconds when there’s a bit of space between them, which doesn’t please Moon on the outside.

Aerostar does his best Super Calo impression.



Ow, that didn’t sound good. Hope that was a chair cracking.

Luckily they both get back up. Aerostar is on the apron as the ref checks on Drago, which leaves him open to another Kobra Moon attack.

Aerostar steals Drago’s fancy springboard into a pin and almost gets the win.

I love Drago’s running blockbuster.

Aerostar goes for the fancy pin again, but Drago counters and, after some rolling about that’s basically impossible to follow, ends up getting the pin on Aerostar and moving on in the Cueto Cup!

Kobra Moon instructs Drago to do some more damage, and he complies before she chains him again.

It’s definitely not total control she has over Drago, there's something in there that's resisting.
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What would you do if you saw that walking down the street towards you?

Of course Delgado’s office is at City Hall. Why wouldn’t it be?

Delgado greets Cage and says that it’s good that Cage can’t take the gauntlet off, that means that it’s working.
Cage is confused about “working”, so Delgado reassures him that he was chosen for a reason and soon he’ll have more power than he can ever imagine. And then our work will finally begin.

“our work?” Cage isn’t happy, he says that Delgado may be some sort of big shot, but Cage doesn’t work for him.
Delgado says that he will… and those meaningless days of lifting weights and drinking protein drinks are going to be in the past. Cage’s life will finally have a purpose.

Probably not a good idea to insult the super-powered, not under your control quite yet, machine.



After slamming Delgado into the wall so hard that he leaves a hole, Cage slowly releases him before apologising and saying that he doesn’t know what came over him.
Delgado says that it’s okay, he’s still thinking like a man, but we see the lightning on the gauntlet again and Cage’s expression not looking so confused anymore… and one punch later:

In spoilers cause it’s a bit gorey.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

Delgado has lost his mind… and the rest of his head. That was brutal. And yes, that eyeball does get squished by Cage as he leaves while pointing out that he’s a machine.

Um. Bye Delgado, we hardly knew ye. Was not expecting that, add Cage to the list of killers in the Temple.
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Next time: Family First

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions

- Early prediction: Rey beats Mundo for the title

- I'm guessing that Fenix gets his chance to snap Drago out of it next. Then possibly he and Aerostar trying at the same time.

- I'm suddenly suspicious of Dario's role in Delgado's demise. Did he send Cage there knowing it was likely to end with Delgado's death? Was he looking to get rid of potential competition for rewards while maintaining plausible deniability?

[Deleted]

This episode to me is largely about doing things you should not do and suffering the consequences for it , hell there are plenty in the temple but this episode seems very tailor made around it.

As an example DO NOT POINT AT PENTAGON!...actually do not give him any sort of limb , appendage etc to grab as Dario very quickly learns.

This is a great scene though because we start with Dario so far up his own hiney that he just freely just openly and arrogantely thinks he can tell the gawd damn ninja skeleton that damn nere squash matched brother what to do.

But then as soon as Pentagon threatens to break all his bones , Dario is put back into his place because the realization that yea that is a ninja skeleton who makes good on promises and his brother isn't likely to be able to stop him this time.

It is back to something Dario is great at bringing to this show , how he is able to sell so many emotions so quickly to from arrogant at the start to immediately scared and thinking of a plan to get himself out of ending up in a body cast.

But speaking of Pentagon WHAT A GAWD DAMN POP! and THIS is the Pentagon no other company has been able to channel and is why I keep saying it , this is the best version of Pentagon just the ultimate ruthless murder bastard that is a god to the believers.

Hey look someone found Argenis....and then there he goes.

I mean what else to say about this match we all knew as soon as Pentagon was announced that this was over for argenis , I mean even Vamp straight does this as well lol giving him no chance while Striker commendably (that word? it is now) tries to give Aregnis some cred by running down his family history and being a 10yr pro at that point.

But also there is a fun underlying fight here between Dark and Light that one would not give a second thought to because....it is Argenis but LU always finding very interesting narratives in not just the stories but the characters.

Another little touch I like and this one pretains to the graphic for the overall tournament is that usually you would get to see the full bracket but LU keeps it hidden untill the night of those matches , nice little element of mystery.

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

And remember what I said about a big positive about this tournament was getting to see matches that you normally would not just because certain stories or just people have no reason to currenly be crossing paths whether through alighment or again story and The Mack Vs Malasuerte is a perfect example of that.

Just two likeable extremely talented thic boys showing out and the crowd responded accordingly , they did not hate either guy and just enjoyed the display which was a nice interesting change pace because largely face vs face does not work because it forces the audience to choose or the audience just chooses regardless and it may or may not hurt one of the babyfaces but not in this instance.

A holy shit chant for the senton lol amazing.

Like Vamp said this was just a quality match between two really talented guys can't go wrong with it.

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Famous B going full blazing saddles lmao

GO ON NOW MELLISSA GIT!!!!

There is basically no match here but all about pushing the character and story which is more than fine it is that levity that Famous B brings and you need that in your show IMO.

"so much cowboy , little rope" lol

Everyone just plays there roles perfectly here and really nothing more to say it is great levity to make ya laugh for a moment and Brenda continues to be f***ing brilliant...again whoever chose to just mic her up hopefully got promotion.

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

Welcome to ESPN!

Because that is exactly what they nail here with the Mundo Vs Rey promo with the voice of a guy we have not heard from since Ultima Lucha 1..hi Mike Schavello.

But this is something very different and I love it because normally you would think okay this is maybe too different for LU but this is what the show does brilliantly by blending seemingly every single genre together under one show and making it work.

And this absoloutley works for a few reasons but one of them is because they are doing this with two guys who not only have a long history but also are not supernatrual characters they are very grounded so treating this like something off of ESPN and giving it that big fight legit sport feel works IMO and I go about it alot when it comes to discussion or supernatural elements in wrestling and why that does work.

But why this also works is because it is not something being integrated into the other stories , it is not happening in front of the audience so there is no clashing with the rest of the show this is its own thing and this is why I stress the importance of vingettes because it allows your show to do things like this without throwing the audience into a whiplash scenario of going from a dramatic sell job where someone goes the hospital only then to go Bray wyatt and back to grounded in reality.

Not just this vingette but this show is the perfect understanding of how to blend so many genres but in a way that they work and do not clash with one another , there is nothing on this show that ever clashes IMO and that is a testment to the creative heads of the show.

And then there are other little things in this vingette that just bring this together...like Rey trains in the temple , Johnny at his dojo , Rey trains with partner , Mundo is by himself etc just things that really help define not just the story but the individuals it is perfectly done.

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

And now we get my favourite color sceheme of Drago blood red Dragon look absoloutley fire (get it? HA) and all you simping for Rhea eat your heart out , Kobra Moon not only has a slave of her own but she has got him on a chain leash....Rhea step your game up how you gonna be a domi momi without Dom on a leash.

But speaking of painful things poor Aerostar crashed and f***ing burned on that dive into the audience but this is also par the course of being Aerostar that dude has no fear of death (unless that death is named Mil then be very afraid) because he is out of his f***ing mind as evidenced here.

If you have seen the previous 6 matches then this match comes as no surprise as it is a great match just like the rest , if you very much like straight up lucha libre style then you get in abundence with these two.

I like that there is always a new layer to this friendship , it started as being just two competitors who had respect for eachother , then evolved into standing up for eachother against Black and the Dragon Slayer and now it is evolved again into one fighting to save the soul of his friend , nothing is every the same with this story and it makes for a very compelling friendship and great matches.

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

And now we get to THIS scene...I purposely did not hype this up because I wanted this to come out of nowhere just to see your reaction.

But HOLY SHIT!!! when this first aired everyone (including Delgado) lost their f***ing mind because it has been a while since we saw a full blown murder but what a f***ing reminder that LU is the only wrestling show where when you die (unless you are Mil) YOU GAWD DAMN DIE! , so many wrestling shows quite frankly pussy out when it comes to muder....but LU don't play that.

There is also great touches in this scene like Cage having this power but there is no knowledge (atleast not yet) of what he has in his posession which further confirms that he is not fully posessed and also that brief moment when he apologizes to Delgado.

But Delgado isn't a man that can take a hint as he keeps egging Cage on about how he will be doing his bidding and well.....way to pay for that IN THE MOST PAINFUL GRUESOME AWESOME WAY POSSIBLE!

Now incase you are wondering why they chose to kill off this character , it is because they kind of had no choice as Lorenzo Lamas has a business as helicopter pilot out of Las Vegas and that is it , the man has said he loved his time on the show but simply put he could no longer do this and keep doing his business.

So Delgado likely had more a role to play but unfortunately circumstances just cut it short.

What a f***ing way to go though.

[Gecko]

New Year, new episode?

S03E23 – Family First

Last time
- Penta returned, was unhappy about Black Lotus being absent, threatened Dario, got put in the Cueto Cup, promised future violence against Dario if he didn’t win.
- Mack beats Mala Suerte in the CC
- Dario invites Cage to go visit Delgado at his office
- Pentagon beat Argenis in the CC, then broke his arm
- Texano “beat” Famous B in the CC
- The start of the Rey vs Mundo build
- Drago beat Aerostar in the CC
- Cage went to visit Delgado and after the councilman insulted him without even realising it, Cage… murdered… no… slaughtered… well, it involved a head-exploding punch.

Recaps of
- Dario announcing the Cueto Cup, Penta, Texano, & Drago progressing in it (Mack also won)
- Cage visiting Delgado and the demise of the latter

------------------------------------------------------------
It is still daylight outside when Fenix rolls up in his appropriate car that he still has. He is greeted by Melissa Santos and there’s something cute about the “Hola, Fenix.” “Hola, Melissa” exchange they have.



She says that she hears that he’s in the Cueto Cup tonight, and when he says that he’s thinking of winning it, she says that she knows who she’s putting her money on then.

Hang on, they’re getting very close here and maybe a little flirty? Ah, they do walk off hand in hand, so I guess that clears that one up.

Pan over to somebody who isn’t happy about this development:



What are the odds that Fenix is against Marty tonight? I wonder if he escaped from Mariposa or if she let him go?

Marty puts his head through the pane of glass to try and cope with this tragic turn of events.

Great shots as usual here, I took a capture of basically just his face side on in the darkness, thinking it was a good shot, then they switched to the one that I actually used above which I liked even more.

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Vamp welcomes us, tells us not to blink or change that dial because the drinking game begins now. He introduces himself, Striker, and Sergio Arau.

As they talk about the Cueto Cup, we get to see the next quarter of the bracket.



Should I talk about my memories of Vinny Massaro now, or wait until he is actually killed?

It seems like quite a predictable section. Cage is obviously winning, Marty and Fenix are going through to face each other in the next round, the only question is if Sagrada can pull out a sneaky win somehow.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Vinny Massaro vs Cage

I might need a stopwatch for this one.

It takes a certain talent to manage to look so slovenly while still being able to wrestle.

Something I’m just noticing as Cage puts the gauntlet down is that there is what looks like an Aztec Tribe symbol stamped in it, which makes lots of sense since we know it's related. It’s not something I would have missed if they didn’t have it, but it’s that attention to detail that bumps things up a level.

Cage has his left leg all wrapped up, it’s a shame he doesn’t have a *goes to look up what that bit of armour is called* cuisse to go with the gauntlet. Note to self: go look up if anybody ever wrestled in a suit of armour… why do I feel like I’ve thought of this before?

Vinny does get Cage in the corner and lands some shots, but they are having zero effect on the machine. An eye poke does work… for a few seconds before Cage regenerates and slams Vinny on the apron.

As Cage pulls Vinny back in the ring, he’s not even looking at his opponent, he’s watching the gauntlet. Listening to it perhaps?

Vinny is mounting a comeback! Snoring Elbow! (ok, that's a great call) He might actually have a chance… nope, he’s being a dumbass and looking at the gauntlet. He picks it up and tries to smack Cage with it but misses. You know, maybe he will win when Cage gets himself DQ’d for pushing the ref when he tries to stop the in-ring murder.

Nope, a nasty looking screwdriver finishes things.



After the match, Cage puts the gauntlet on, pulls Vinny to his knees and just repeatedly pounds on his face with the gauntlet. After busting Vinny open, he then chokeslams him off the apron to the floor.

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Time for more Mundo vs Mysterio hype



We start with Rey, going over his history, how he started so young and how the man makes the mask, not the other way round. You get the sense of hard work, overcoming obstacles and respecting tradition from him.

We leave Rey surrounded by legions of fans, to go to Mundo who is training while Taya films. We cover his history too, how he got his break by winning a competition and then used that platform to springboard to fame and fortune.
Mundo talks about how his haters are always going to find an excuse to not give him his due. He moves onto Rey, saying that he’s regarded as the best luchador in the world, but when he beats Rey the world will have no choice but to call him the best.

I’m enjoying these, and they’re doing a great job of building up how important this match is.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Marty “The Moth” Martinez vs Saltador

It says something when Marty is the less weird one in a match. Saltador bounces down the steps, rolls in the ring and continues to roll until he goes out the other side.

If you can somehow ignore all the oddness here, it’s actually a solid match going on, with some nice chain wrestling.

Fun’s over. Marty powerbombs Saltador into the guardrails.

There’s plenty of shots of Melissa during this match.

Saltador sets up for superkick, but it appears that his leg’s gone to sleep. This is highly amusing for Marty, who drops his guard to laugh and then get hit with the superkick.



Don’t worry, crew guy, I don’t think Marty’s gesture was intended for you.

It’s not long after this that an unenthused Melissa announces Marty as the winner.

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You know there’s something odd going on as we join Sagrada at his usual spot in the lucha gym by the fact that it’s all blurry, with red background lighting and a spinny camera.

Ah, it’s okay, it’s just Paul London and Mala Suerte. They are here to appeal to their leader once more as Saltador has failed, so they’re looking to Sagrada to lead the Rabbit Tribe as they ascend towards Valhalla.

That’s how weird the Rabbit Tribe is, they don’t even stick to their own mythology. This week they’re going Norse, next week Greek?

Sagrada still isn’t having it, and leaves.



Paul London, as Sagrada struts away, “That, my friend, is divinity personified.”

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We join Marty in a dark room, that is quickly revealed to contain, well, this:



A shrine to Melissa Santos.

He’s speaking directly to her as he says that while she had front row seats for his performance tonight, she didn’t say anything but he understands.

He pulls the latest crumpled image of her out of his tights, as he says that he knows that she doesn’t want people gossiping about them. It’s smart.
He’s not mad, he could never be mad at her.
He licks the back of the picture and sticks it in his collage.

He now moves his attention to a jewellery box. Inside is a moth, formerly alive or just fake? Hard to say. The thing that he is interested in is a circular tin with an ‘M’ on the lid. Inside the tin is a lock of hair from what has to be Melissa.



I don’t know how he got that, and I’m not sure I want to find out.

A sudden change as Mariposa appears in the mirrored lid. Marty turns to his sister and she asks if he’s forgotten what their father taught them?

A slightly nervous Marty assures his sister that he remembers that it’s family first… family always comes first.
Mariposa states that his lust for Melissa has made him weak. She says that after she beats Fenix, it will be her and Marty in the next round and she will hurt him.

A couple of slaps dished out by Mariposa before she leaves and Marty goes back to talking to his Melissa wall. He says that he’ll just have to make her part of the family too.

There’s a whole spectrum of weird and wonderful in the Temple, and they all manage to be their own thing. Marty has progressed from just being that weird dude who makes you a little uncomfortable, to being fully obsessed with a single person.

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Cueto Cup (1st RND): Pindar w/Kobra Moon vs Mascarita Sagrada

No rabbits with Sagrada, but I think they’ll be showing up at some point during this one.

If Sagrada wins this, the Rabbits are never leaving him alone.

I should learn not to drink during Sagrada matches unless I want to clean up when this sort of stuff happens:



I know I enjoy seeing Sagrada getting thrown around like that, but I also applaud when he does it himself like doing a cannonball out the ring straight into a hurricanrana.

It’s not really needed, but Moon takes a shot at the marshmallow when the chance appears.

They both end up dizzy after this one:

Pindar rolls out the ring and Kobra Moon decides that this is a good time to get in. This just ends in her inadvertently helping Sagrada up to the top so he can hit a ‘rana to Pindar on the outside. She then gets slapped/punched in the face as he walks round the ring past her, which was just unexpected and hilarious.

Pindar finishes things off with a powerbomb with like an extra 180 degree rotation on it so that Sagrada lands face down.

At least the rabbits might move on to their next chosen deity now.
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Cueto Cup (1st RND): The Mariposa vs Fenix

Heading right into the final first round match of this quarter of the bracket.

Pictured below: How to get your main squeeze attacked by your stalker



While Fenix seems to be enjoying himself, he might be being a bit too chivalrous towards his opponent. He offers a handshake a couple of times, hasn’t actually hit her yet, and aborts a superkick when she puts her hands up and screams. I’m sure Mariposa is taking full advantage of it.

Oh, nevermind, he hits a dropkick then shrugs in a ‘eh, what was I supposed to do?’ way. He was fully aware of what the game was.

From a non-kayfabe perspective, Mariposa is having no trouble keeping up with things, Fenix isn’t having to go extra slow or compensate for her.

A call back to earlier in the match, after a release German suplex, Fenix goes for a superkick and again Mariposa causes him to stop by cowering. She is the one that then offers a handshake. Only to get kicked in the side of the head.

Fenix eventually catches Mariposa coming off the top and turns it into a driver to pick up the win.

Thoroughly enjoyable match, that one.

As Fenix gets the ref to check on Mariposa, here comes Marty!

Commentary picks up on the stuff between Fenix and Melissa, and she stands up and shouts for Marty to stop.

Marty and Mariposa get bundled out of the ring, and I don’t like where this is going as Fenix starts his run-up while they are close to Melissa.

It’s okay, she is smart enough to get out of the way, then looks on with a smile as Fenix celebrates.
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Next time: Macho Madness

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- I’m sure the rabbits will win a match some time.
- Of course Marty has a shrine. The advantage of having a static place to film is that they can take their time and put things together properly. Compare this to DDP’s shrine to Taker’s wife, Sarah.
- Half done with the first round of the Cueto Cup, I’ve got no issues. We’re getting some fun matches as well as more story based stuff.