Episode 16 - Caged AnimalsRecap of the Puma / Cage match and aftermath since we’ve got a rematch tonight. Transitioning into the Cage vs Mundo match recap where Cuerno got involved and Dario restarted it for his best friend.
We also recap Black Lotus finding the cage and getting kidnapped.
We start with the usual shots of the city that seamlessly ends up as a shot following a car. Using one of those cameras with the xray feature, we get to see inside the boot.
Welp, it was nice knowing you, I’m guessing you’re off to get buried in the desert.
Sudden shift in tone as it’s the happy tunes of Mariachi El Bronx.
Aerostar vs DragoCommentary informs us that Aerostar, going with a gold outfit with the iridescent finish today, was the one that requested this rematch after the show of respect from Drago at the end of their match a few episodes ago.
I said last time that I felt like they had more to give and didn’t really get going properly, hopefully we’ll see it this time.
Carrying on where they left off, the opening move is a handshake. And then we’re immediately up to full throttle. Vamp compares it to a speed chess match.
If that sort of stuff happened in chess, more people would be interested in it. Aerostar jumping on the middle rope and then hopping over the top to land back on it again is just ridiculous. That opening gets a much deserved ovation from the crowd.
Aerostar is back in the ring but looks to be having an issue with his ankle. Drago is back on the apron and catches him with a sunset flip, Aero rolls though and tries for a kick, but Drago ducks and rolls him up again for a two count.
Aero’s ankle can’t be that bad as he’s running the ropes, jumping and ducking Drago but eventually runs into a kick followed by a nice springboard DDT from the dragon man. A bit more running about sees Aero end up over Drago’s shoulder, Drago throws him up, spins around and catches him with an x-factor as he comes back down.
Drago seems to be taking proper control of the match. I think there was a botch where Drago was running at Aerostar in the corner and Aero did a sort of somersault/forward flip kind of thing. I’m guessing he was aiming to go over the top of Drago, but it ended up looking more like a kick. Drago doesn’t sell it much and whips Aero to the opposite corner. Aero does the smart thing the second time and simply side steps Drago and trips him into the turnbuckles. He follows up with knees to the back. A missile dropkick gets Aero a two count.
Both men are showing the effects of the match and are taking their time getting back to their feet. Drago kicks his opponent outside the ring and it’s his turn for a dive. He goes for a simple over the top rope, head first with flip. The judges give him a low score due to lack of difficulty.
They both try to get back in the ring at the same time and end up fighting on the apron. Aero runs along the apron with Drago giving chase. Aero plants his foot on the ring post and flips himself back into the ring, whilst Drago plants his face on the ringpost and falls to the floor.
Suicide dive by Aero, he just about makes the distance despite clipping the rope. He should ask Cuerno for some lessons.
Back in the ring and they both end up on the turnbuckles. Top rope armdrag by Drago. That’s an interesting choice. There was an edit as Drago moved from the middle to the tope rope, so I’m thinking maybe they were struggling and it didn’t end up as planned.
Drago with a springboard… rolling around a whole bunch (like how he caught Cuerno out), but Aerostar does some rolls of his own and almost sneaks a win himself.
Sunset flip into a powerbomb from the ring apron to the floor. Drago went splat. Aerostar rolls him back in the ring, springboard splash, 1… 2… 3! Aerostar picks up the win!
That is Aerostar’s first LU win.
I enjoyed that much more than their previous match, bring on the decider.
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Aerostar helps Drago back to his feet and shakes his hand before raising it. Ah, you knew the wholesomeness couldn’t last. Here’s Dario Cueto. He says he wants to see more of them together. They’ll have more matches until one of them wins two more times (so it’s essentially a best of three or five if you count the two matches already done), and the winner will get one of Dario’s “Unique Opportunities”.
*Insert Spiderman/Sin Cara joke here*Video with King Cuerno. It took me a few seconds to work out what was happening, but once I got it, I was right on board with it.
Slow motion of Cuerno running the ropes while what sounds like an engine is powering up. Then he dives out the ring as the camera is on the floor looking up at the ropes. Oh, this is just to promote his match with Mundo.
Cage vs Prince PumaCage is either winning or going crazy here. Puma is beltless and Konnanless. Puma doesn’t wait and jumps in the ring and starts punching Cage. Cage just pushes him down.
Very little wrestling happening, Puma is throwing punches and Cage is throwing Puma (after beating on him a bit).
A discus punch by Puma staggers the machine and gives the champ a chance to create some space. A springboard into a hurricanrana ends with a botch as Cage wasn’t quite placed properly which forces him to catch Puma late and he was unable to recover from that.
Striker goes through a list of notable people in attendance tonig…OW!
Some voodoo happens and the reanimated corpse of Puma makes it back to the ring. Cag brings him in with the middle rope suplex. Another suplex by Cage, this time a stalling one, which gives Puma a chance to drop out of it. A crossbody by the champ doesn’t work as he gets caught by Cage who shows off his strength before tossing Puma over his head.
Cage chokes Puma on the ropes before remembering that he’s now a zombie and tries to twist his head off. His head stays on his neck and Puma uses it for a jawbreaker to get out of the hold. He tries for an enziguri when Cage catches his leg, but the bigger man ducks and hits a wheelbarrow suplex.
Cage hits a nice quick powerslam, but misses the follow up second rope moonsault. Puma is starting his comeback. The crowd is behind him. He sends Cage to the outside. Ok then. It was just a springboard shooting star press, nothing that impressive.
Cage doesn’t move despite having about 10 minutes before Puma landed to get out the way. Puma throws him back in the ring and casually hits a springboard 450. A loooooong two count. The next sequence is about counters. Cage using his strength, Puma his quickness. Another close one for Puma off a hurricanrana.
Cage runs into a superkick but shrugs it off and attempts the discus clothesline. The second kick has more impact on him and he falls in a convenient position as Puma crawls to the corner. Puma lands flat on his face from the phoenix splash attempt. Cage waits for him to regain his feet and hits him with the discus clothesline for the win. No! I really thought that was it.
A pumphandle slam from Cage once he’s calmed down doesn’t get the job done either. He tries a different tactic and locks in the stretch muffler. Hey, here’s Konnan. He encourages Puma to get to the ropes and tries to get the crowd involved.
Puma makes it to the ropes, but he’s still in serious trouble. As Konnan takes off his sunglasses, Cage slams Puma down with a powerbomb / bucklebomb combo. He follows up with a move that apparently is called Weapon X. I’ve seen him do it before, I just didn’t know the name.
Cage doesn’t go for the pin, he just gets on top of Puma and starts pummelling him as Konnan shouts for him to cover up. Konnan throws in the towel! That’s a win for Cage.
I enjoyed that. Possibly a little too much kicking out of stuff for my liking, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been for that.
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Backstage with Konnan who is telling Puma that he just did him a favour whether he knows it or not. He should remember what he taught him about the art of war and it being based on deception (hmmm.) and they should execute their plan.
Dario Cueto’s office. Sexy Star is there, she says that she’s tired of men jumping into her matches to save her, and that she is strong enough to do things on her own. The bull is driving me crazy, why does it have such a prominent position?
Anyway, Star says that it isn’t Ryck she has a problem with (despite him being the one who did what she was moaning about), but the crew. They sent Pimpi and Mascarita to the
local medical facility hospital. Dario offers her Ryck, she says she doesn’t want a partner, Dario clarifies that he meant as an opponent.
The match is set, whoever wins between Ryck and Star gets the Crew and Dario promises that no man will help her out. She looks surprisingly satisfied with this.
Vinny Massaro vs Pentagon Jr
Say hello to the new guy, Vinny Massaro, because this will probably be your only chance to shake his hand without him screaming in pain.
Penta summons Melissa Santos over and whispers in her ear, She informs us that Penta is dedicating this match to his master.
Tie up and Penta is pushed into the corner, the ref gets in between to separate them, Penta doesn’t appreciate that and pushes the ref away before a loud chop to the chest of Vinny. Penta shoots him off the ropes and catches him on the way back with a nice kick. This doesn’t look like it’s going to take too long.
Penta holds Vinny in a half nelson before picking him up, flipping him over and dropping him on his head. And it’s over.
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As Vamp suggest Penta might have calmed down since he won by pinfall instead of the arm break, Penta drags a table out from under the ring. He sticks Vinny on the turnbuckles simply in order to get him in position for the powerbomb through the table. We’re not done yet. Vinny becomes arm break victim #3 on his debut.
King Cuerno vs Johnny Mundo Johnny goes on the attack from the bell, but Cuerno dodges and hits a forearm. It doesn’t really do any damage, it’s more of a psychological, I got the first hit deal. Mundo comes back with a takedown with punches then a solid kick to get the first cover of the match, before going back to punching a downed Cuerno.
Cuerno gives himself some space, but as he should know by now, being on the outside doesn’t guarantee a break as Mundo comes corkscrewing over the top.
A couple of clotheslines work for Mundo, but he switches things up on the third shot and the kick is countered into a backbreaker. Cuerno gets a two count from the legdrop, then lets the ref know that he should be counting quicker.
Overly Suspicious Gecko™ wonders: Why does that guy have a spotlight on him?
Cuerno goes after Mundo’s knee, which he has attacked in the past, with a low dropkick. Knees in the corner by Cuerno, and Mundo is also holding his shoulder. If this were a game, Mundo’s legs and arms would be orange now.
Mundo fights back with punches to the face. And a nice spear! That was unexpected.
Cuerno goes for the Thrill of the Hunt, Mundo counters into what looks to be a crossfa… OBVIOUS EDIT ALERT. We come back from the shot of the applauding crowd to Cuerno getting up while holding his midsection or possibly he has a bad arm.
He’s playing possum as he dodges Mundo’s corner attack and superkicks him back into the sacred corner (the one with the deer head). Unfortunate commentary as Striker mentions how great it is that they give us every second of great wrestling.
A nice springboard knee by Mundo is followed by a corkscrew senton with Mundo catching his legs on the ropes. He moves Cuerno into position for the End of the World…
The deer is going to be a factor here, isn’t it? The crowd actually chants “Use the deer!”, but Mundo brings Cuerno back to his feet and hits the Moonlight Drive and positions him in a different corner. Cuerno is up before Mundo has even left his feet for the End of the World and kicks Mundo out of the ring as he jumps.
The dive didn’t have as much speed as usual, but it also didn’t take place while lined up with the aisle. The result is that Mundo gets squashed against the barrier. Mundo is holding his neck. Those rails are solid and not covered in padding either.
Mundo is hurting all over. Another dive sends Mundo onto the commentary table. Neither man is looking in great shape after that. Cuerno makes it back in the ring, while Mundo has crawled round the outside. Third dive incoming? Yep, and he didn’t bother building any momentum this time.
Cuerno makes it back to his feet, and could make it in the ring, but he pauses to watch as Mundo gets back up as well and both are counted out! Followed by a double clothesline.
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Crowd are not happy with the result, while Cuerno and Mundo continue to fight on their knees. Cuerno almost takes out a cameraman. Mundo dives through the ropes at the corner (like Sami Zayn’s DDT) while he’s distracted.
Mundo gets his face bounced off best friend Dario’s office. They continue to fight all over the place. Cuerno crawls up the stairs with Mundo following. Fighting on the upper level, Cuerno is fed up with the ref trying to get them to stop and takes him out.
On one side is a high fall leading to death or serious injury. They decide not to go that way and instead go with the much safer cardboard box storage area on the other side.
And they have a nice rest there as commentary surrounded by fans watching on their monitors says goodbye. Nope, there’s more.
We’re with the car again, and the camera oh so conveniently avoids showing a driver. The screen fades to black as we hear a car door shut and footsteps. We fade back up again as the boot open on the tied up Black Widow. A man’s voice asks: “What do you know about Lucha Libre?”.
We actually get to see him, not that it helps me identify him. At least he’ll almost guaranteed to be around longer than Vinny whatshisface.
That was a fun one.
Post Episode thoughts/questions- Poor Black Lotus. This is the slowest kidnapping ever.
- I’m looking forward to the Drago/Aerostar series. I’m gonna guess that it goes the distance, maybe ends with a gimmick match of some kind.
- I feel that the Puma zombie jokes are going to come back and haunt me, there’s bound to be a zombie at some point.
- Interesting to see the fallout from the Konnan towel throw. Obvious prediction is that Puma is eventually convinced that Konnan was doing what he thought best, just in time for Konnan to turn on him.
- Mundo vs Cuerno has to be building to a gimmick match, I’m guessing falls count anywhere or last man standing. Leaning towards FCA since they’ve already done a LMS.
- So now we have a mystery man to go with the former mystery woman. He’s not the smartest since he’s asking questions to a person with tape over their mouth.
