Gecko Watched Lucha Underground (completed)

[Gecko]

Episode 37 – PenUltima Lucha

Recaps of:
1) The Aztec Medallions
2) Cage replacing Mack in the Trios team
3) Texano and Blue Demon (and Chavo and The Crew)

Dario in his office saying to the person opposite him that they haven’t exactly been seeing eye to eye. He immediately realises his mistake in using that phrase whilst talking to Ryck, and quickly tries to move on by explaining that there were big plans when Dario first signed him, but Ryck has lost focus (oops), he’s been blinded by the money (oops again).
He holds up the last Aztec medallion and says he’s going to reveal their power tonight. He asks Ryck which is more important, money or power?
Ryck takes the Medallion and responds with a question of his own: Why choose? Dario unhappily hands over a stack of cash before Ryck will leave. Just like the end of last episode, Dario kind of lost control of the situation there.
And we end with a shot of that f***ing bull!



The design doesn’t look like a whole lot, but if we turn it upside down:



It’s the Evil Penguin Tribe! (penguins are traditionally associated with Aztec culture, right?)
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Into the Temple we go. Sergio Arau providing the tunes tonight. Commentary with Striker and a hyped, sweaty,  Vampiro. They recap Konnan taking a trip in a coffin last week and let us know that this week we will hear from Puma himself for the very first time.
I swear that me mentioning stuff (like lack of promos) and then something related happening next episode is pure coincidence and not me looking ahead so I can predict things (otherwise I’d know what the deal with the bull is)
Striker mentions UL is two weeks away. Not going by my schedule, it’s not.
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Johnny Mundo vs Texano

Hellllooooo, Melissa Santos.

Chants of “Johnny Zero” and “Texano”. Vamp contrasts the two: Mundo is a pretty boy who’s always in the gym, Texano is a shitkicker.
Shitkicker - noun
VULGAR SLANG•NORTH AMERICAN
1. an unsophisticated or oafish person, especially one from a rural area.
😀

“Oh!” – Striker, The crowd, Gecko, when Mundo takes out Texano’s knee.
Mundo then mocks him by showing how good his own knee is, while Texano doesn’t bother selling it at all.
Still a little odd seeing Mundo as a serious heel when I’m used to him being the comedic variety.

Mundo does his monkeyflip spot where he goes completely round and lands on his face. That kind of feels like a what a modern Mr Perfect spot would be like.

Eventually Texano starts building a bit of momentum, gets Mundo up for the powerbomb, and the crew jump in for the sneak attack. DQ win for Texano.

After a slight pause, The Crew and Mundo decide that they can work together and all three put the boots to Texano.

Heeeere’s Bertie! (Hey, a spooky film reference). He runs Mundo off and turns The Crew into their secret alter egos: The Goons.
Texano grabs his rope and gets some shots in on the goons. Wonder if he’s noticed who’s helping him because Bertie and Texano haven’t been friendly in the past.

Ah, now he notices. They decide to let it go (not a film reference) for now and Bertie leads the crowd in a Lucha Libre chant.
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Don’t know If we’ve seen that panning shot before but I like it.
So yeah, into Dario’s office we go as he correctly guesses that Hernandez is not a fan of galleries or museums. Dario isn’t either, but he is a fan of art, and what Hernandez has done with the strap is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Hernandez rejects the offer of a drink from Dario's selected bottle, his choice of tipple is a can of lite beer. Which he places on Dario’s desk much to the annoyance of El Jefe.
Dario says that he wants UL to be a masterpiece (He said it again, That’s a clue! Surprise appearance by Chris Masters!) so he is extending it to two weeks and it starts next week. He does let the crowd (and commentary) know this as well, later on.

Dario adds Hernandez vs Drago to UL, but it won’t be just a normal match. Hernandez isn’t as good at guessing, as his guess of a strap match isn’t exactly right. The fans hating Hernandez (and the feeling being mutual) gave him an idea.
The fans at ringside will be the ones with straps that they can use on Hernandez or Drago if they get close. It’s called ‘The Believer's Backlash’ (a Dario Cueto original idea and you can't prove otherwise)
Hernandez says that he hopes Dario has insurance because if any of them try to hit him, he’ll paint the canvas red with their blood.
This suits Dario fine, apparently.



‘Now THAT sounds like a masterpiece to me.’
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All this and we’re only 16 minutes in.

The Mack vs Cage

Vamp loves The Mack, he looks like a big jumbly bumblebee that he wants to give a hug to.

Really liked this match from a couple of episodes ago, let’s see if that was a fluke or if they work well together. I know that they have another match next week, so I’m guessing Cage takes this one to even it up.

Vamp thinks that Cage looks like a bumblebee squisher and doesn’t want to hug him.

A very quick start for the two big guys.

Bit of a botch where Mack didn’t ge….. oh, he won.



That was even shorter than last time.

Since it’s been a topic of discussion recently with the Queen’s Cup match lengths: short matches aren’t the issue, it’s a frequency thing. Doing it occasionally for a shock and/or to build a story works (like here), but you can’t do it for every match and expect people to like it. Limit how often you do it, and have a reason for it when you do and things are mostly fine.

Cage is understandably angry and attacks Mack who fights back as a couple of useless Security people get thrown around while trying to separate them. They fight all the way up the steps as more security turn up and manage to separate them.
The commotion brings Dario out of his office (holding a suspicious red coin sized bag). He says he’s going to find everything he can that’s laying around the Temple and put it ringside for them to tear each other apart with at UL. Mack and The Machine will kick off night one of UL in a falls count anywhere match!
On one hand: he didn’t come up with a fancy name for falls count anywhere, but on the other: He is about to tell us what the deal with the Medallions is.

Sudden Idea: Does the red bag contain an eighth Master Medallion to control all the others and the holders of the Medallions become Medallion-wraiths?
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That looks title belt like. Is it a collect all the medallions and put them in the belt deal? Hey, Gecko, why don’t you just shut up and listen to Dario and you’ll find out!?

The seven Medallions together make up what Dario calls ‘The Gift of the Gods’.



A Medallion title belt.
It’s a prize like no other (uh huh, sure it is, Dario). Whoever holds the belt is guaranteed a LU title match whenever they want… but he likes to promote his champion’s matches so there will be no “cash this in whenever you want”. That got a laugh from me and the crowd. Dario needs a week’s notice when it gets activated.
Ooh, it’s also a belt and therefore needs defending, so you could lose it if you take to long to use it.
Once it gets used, the medallions get redistributed and we start again.
There will be a seven way match at UL to decide who gets the Gift of the Gods, the entry fee is an Aztec Medallion.
Dario calls out the Medallion holders. Jack Evans, Aerostar, King Cuerno, The Mighty Bengala, Sexy Star, Big Ryck, …Fenix? No?

The sound effect when the Medallions go in the slots 🤨

Once they’ve all put their Medallions in the Belt, Dario shoos them away in order to address the glaring issue. Fenix won the first Medallion but Mil Muertes destroyed him (which Dario finds highly amusing), so his medallion is going back up for grabs in a battle royal, which switches to pin/submission win conditions when there’s only two people left.

Here’s Fenix! Kind of late there, buddy. Oh. Dario’s going to force him to win his medallion again, isn’t he? Yep, that’s exactly what happens. Dario is such a smarmy git here, it’s great. He's on top form tonight.
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Aztec Medallion Battle Royal: Fenix, Marty, Mascarita Sagrada, Killshot, Argenis, Famous B, Vinny Massaro, Ricky Mendel, Super Fly, Delavar Daivari.

Marty is the last to enter



You really don’t want that much attention on you in this sort of match. Third time lucky for him getting a Medallion? Probably not. Although he’s got a better chance than Mendel, Massaro, and Famous B.



*shudder*

Speaking of …that whole area: crotch chop and Pedigree by Famous B, followed up by a big leg drop, brother. It’s a spoiler risk for me to go looking for exact dates, but this must have been right around the time of the Hogan stuff coming out?

Mandel tries to take advantage of B’s posing, but the ol’ switcheroo sees him be the first out.
B turns around in time to toss Argenis over onto the apron and then kick him off for the second elimination too.

You can see how Killshot is starting to develop in his mannerisms. But he’s not winning as he goes up top and gets pushed off by Daivari. That’s elimination #3.
Daivari gets his second by eliminating Vinny Massaro (#4)

Sagrada tries a monkeyflip on the apron and eliminates Super Fly (#5) but also falls off as well (#6)

Four left: Famous B, Marty the Moth, Daivari, Fenix.

Is that a “Kill The Moth” chant? I approve.

For Famous B’s next impression: Shawn Michaels in a Royal Rumble as he almost gets eliminated with one foot touching the floor. Before he can get back in the ring, Daivari and the Moth team up to push him off the apron. Eliminated #7, He did much better than I was expecting and also got to show off some of his stuff which was nice.

How long will the heels team up? Until Fenix eliminates Daivari (#8). And we’ve got our final two.

Back to a standard match now. Commentary point out Fenix being covered up and wonder if it's because of the injuries inflicted by Mil. I think he's just a bit chilly.



Second clumsy match finish of the night. Wonder if it’s a fatigue thing?

Anyways, Fenix wins his Medallion again. He ascends the stairs to place his Medallion in the Gift of the Gods Title as Dario stands in his doorway and he’s not a happy bunny.
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Commentary run down Ultima Lucha

Falls Count Anywhere: The Mack vs Cage
Johnny Mundo vs Alberto El Patron
Gift of the Gods: Bengala, King Cuerno, Sexy Star, Big Ryck, Jack Evans, Fenix, Aerostar
Texano vs Blue Demon Jr
Trios Titles: Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, Angelico (c) vs Disciples of Death w/Catrina
Believer’s Backlash: Drago vs Hernandez
Pentagon Jr vs Vampiro
LU Title: Prince Puma (c) vs Mil Muertes

That’s a hell of a card. The obvious weak spot is Texano vs Blue Demon, but it might be ok as long as they keep it short, and they’ve got The Crew to help out as well.
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Melissa Santos introduces Prince Puma.

Striker: “Many experts are saying that Mil Muertes is going to be the next Lucha Underground champion.” I guess I’m an expert then, cause I definitely think Puma’s losing the belt.

Commentary point out Puma has a black mask, the colour of mourning.

We’re going to have to wait a bit longer to hear from Puma as here comes Mil (in a suit) and Catrina.
It’s just a distraction (and Catrina is very distracting) to let the Skull Mask Gang ambush the champ.



The Skull Mask Goons don’t last too long.
This is surprising, Mil runs down the stairs to a waiting Puma instead of doing the traditional heel tactic of getting halfway and then turning round and leaving. He doesn’t fair too great either though, Puma hits the 630 and the audio guy hits the play button on the music as he connects.



And we are all set for Ultima Lucha

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Looking forward to seeing if they do anything special presentation wise for UL
- I did catch the thumbnails for UL. Part 1 is fine, but part 2 with Penta: Am I annoyed for having it spoiled or am I looking forward to it more knowing that it’ll be that sort of match? I Don’t Know.
- I like GotG, It’s like Aztec Warfare where they took an established concept (or multiple ones and combined them) and put their own spin on it so that they’re not just repeating the same scenarios that have already been done elsewhere.
- UL was already looking good before this episode, then they went and added a whole bunch more to it and improved it.
- Still undecided on how I’m going to do UL (since it’s essentially three episodes). Probably depends on how early in the week I start it and how I feel when I finish part one. But I am looking forward to it.
- I’m glad I started this whole thing. If I just watched normally, yeah I’d get through it a lot quicker but at best I’d miss a bunch of stuff and at worst it would end up just being background noise while my focus was on something else.

[anglarite]

Do UL any way you feel comfortable with. It's in any case an experience. And if I can tell some small spoiler -- not gamebreaking or plot related -- UL is like their Wrestlemania in more ways than one -- meaning, it will get longer and longer (but always rewarding)
Personally, I'm just grateful I can be along the ride and really like every bit of it. So do not worry about us.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

First and foremost , I have absoloutley loved this and not just because it is LU (eaisest way to my heart apart from Io Shirai who owns both loins and heart) probably should not have said that out loud.

But this has been my wrestling highlight of the week since you started this so very much showing some humble gratitude and just saying thank you.

As for not choosing how to do UL just yet , well lets just say like you said that it will in part depend on how you feel after part 1 then you will definetly be doing it all in one sitting because any LU fan will tell you that you are in for one insanely fun , wild , nutty ride.

I myself have went back to watch all the lead up promos that I wish I could ember because it just fills in alot and really sets the stage but have not been able to find an alternate just yet but if I can without having them reccomend you things that spoil future seasons I will.

But other than that strap in because this end...is really the beginning.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Now as for the episode at hand.

This is a nice window into why I say this is the best written wrestling show of all time because look how much info is dropped into your lap but none of it feels like a lazy cliche wrestling promo because you understand by this point it all means something and thus it should be embedded into the viewers mind to pay attention because you may miss a vital detail of things to come and also helps that Dario is just flat out amazing so much so I want that man to preside over my funeral.

And now we finally get not just my favourite belt in LU but favourite of any recent title in years , it is a gorgeous , innovative , unique title that has so many awesome layers to it...one part MITB , one part collecing the dragon balls , multiple parts aztec lore and all parts epic , and this belt is the brain child of Chris Dejoseph and Chris Roach so even more reason I see that duo as the best creative heads in modern wrestling ever.

I love that there is just so much you can do with not just the belt itself but the individual medallions so many stories and directions to go , the belt and medallions nothing short of creative brilliance.

Did someone say evil penguin tribe!

HA I managed to fit in a Yugioh reference! although I could have done it multiple times but this worked out perfectly.

Oh and another bit about the GOTG , yes it is a real magnetic belt no camera trickery or anything but also incase you were wondering at the tapings atleast yes the medallions did occasionally fall out of the belt lol this is why they have another belt where the medallions are already hard fastened into the belt so incase your eye watches something a bit different about medallions or the belt itself in any way then this is why.

So after going to watch the episode just a bit more I wanna touch on.

Favourite line of the episode goes to Striker after Famous B uses the pedigree: IT'S THE PEDIGREE , IT WORKS EVERY MONDAY NIGHT! lol

And I gotta admit it was a funny as hell troll....PRINCE PUMA TO TALK FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!....NOPE lol

And here is where I fawn over LU paying attenton to detail.

The panning shot before and after we go into Darios office with Hernandez, love how you know clearly this was taped before any living taping with people in the temple but they made sure it seemless blends into the show with the spotlights on the outside going around like this vingette is taking place in the middle of the show and of course the added audio to....chefs kiss to paying attention to these details.

[Gecko]

With all (most?) of the card known in advance, I figured I might as well throw out some predictions, which also ended up including where things could go in the future.

Ultima Lucha Pre-watch predictions

Falls Count Anywhere: The Mack vs Cage
Can’t see Cage losing 3 in a row, so he’s winning this one. This could lead to Mack going back to Ryck to get help to bring out his mean side and become capable of doing what is necessary to win.

Johnny Mundo vs Alberto El Patron
I really don’t know, this one could go either way. I’m pretty sure that Mundo is sticking around longer than Bertie (and is less of a headache), so that might be the deciding factor.

Gift of the Gods: Bengala, King Cuerno, Sexy Star, Big Ryck, Jack Evans, Fenix, Aerostar
Story wise, it makes sense for Fenix to take this. He’s got the history with Mil (see below for that prediction), you could even have it so that Fenix is reluctant to face him again after what happened last time, until some evil act by Mil forces Fenix to make the choice. There's also the Dario Cueto factor, where Fenix might find himself defending the GotG in increasingly difficult situations.

Texano vs Blue Demon Jr
I don’t think the match itself will be that long, but there’ll be a Goon beatdown before it to give Demon the advantage which Texano will manage to overcome.

Trios Titles: Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, Angelico (c) vs Disciples of Death w/Catrina
I could see the Dod winning the titles in order to build up Mil and Catrina being unstoppable, but I don’t want them to because, without the titles, what do the current champs have keeping them together?

Believer’s Backlash: Drago vs Hernandez
On paper, Drago has the advantage by the believers liking him and therefore being less likely to use the straps on him. I think Hernandez is taking the win here though, and he will beat up somebody out of the crowd.
And I just realised that there’s no barrier separating the crowd from ringside, which is an interesting thing for this match.

Pentagon Jr vs Vampiro
Logic says Penta wins here. I’m also kind of giving up on my ‘Vamp is the Master’ theory. From the thumbnail, I already know it’s looking like it’ll be a brutal match, and I think that maybe Penta shows a bit of mercy to Vamp at some point which indicates to his Master that he’s not ready.

LU Title: Prince Puma (c) vs Mil Muertes
Mil is taking the title, I can’t see it going any other way. Not only does it work from a wrestling viewpoint, it works as a tv show season finale cliffhanger to have a recently returned, more powerful bad guy win and gain control.
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I've not made a start yet, but I do have a schedule sort of planned out for it now (I won't say what in case it doesn't pan out).

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Me just patiently waiting for when the day comes to see Geckos entire reaction

self: He has no idea what he is in for

other self: Not a clue

Other other self: It is like playing with the lament configuration...it looks so pretty but sooo many questions await.

[Woo]

Can't wait for your thoughts. Imo one of the best shows ever. I won't spoil much but Drago be Hernandez is one of the most underrated matches ever.

[Gecko]

Surprise! It's a Friday episode for some strange and mysterious reason that you won't find out about until later but I know what it is right now. (HA! how do you like it )

Episode 38 – Ultima Lucha pt1

Recaps of:
1) Mack and Cage
2) Drago and Hernandez
3) Trios titles

So it looks like we’re getting those three matches in this episode. Into the Temple we go...
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Seconds in and I’ve already got a smile on my face. We’re visiting a grimey Black Lotus, but that's not the reason for my smile.



Her cage is bigger than I imagined, but still not any place that's going to get a good review. Her workout is interrupted by some smooooooooth music followed closely by a dapper, Champagne drinking Dario Cueto.



The music was the perfect finishing touch on that. Dario celebrating his grand achievement.

Lotus doesn’t want any Champagne, she gives Dario the finger and kicks the lightbulb above her.

Some growling draws Dario’s attention to his brother. He was hoping that spending so much time near his brother would give her a change of heart. Dario asks if she still believes that he is responsible?

He goes on to make a comparison to pit bulls (I thought he said big bull and got excited about finding out about the bull). They’re not dangerous by nature, but they have that reputation because they’ve been treated so badly that they had to fight back.
Dario’s father made a lot of money in underground arenas, exploiting his ‘little pit bull’: “The Monster” Matanza Cueto (That’s a good nickname ).

Dario admits that Matanza hurt a lot of people, but he didn’t kill the parents of Black Lotus. That was a lie by the person who did kill them... El Dragon Azteca!

Once Dario started talking, I did start thinking that if it wasn’t Matanza, who else could it have been? Aztec Dragon says he was there when Matanza killed them, but we only have his word on that and he also has a history of kidnapping, so who knows what the truth is?

Dario says that her father was the leader of the Black Lotus Triad in Hong Kong and they were at war with Dragon Azteca and his mercenaries. (That came out of nowhere. I never would have guessed this was the way things would go)
He killed her parents and blamed Dario’s brother so that he could have his archrival’s daughter as his apprentice.



WOW! Is that our first look at Matan… oh, nevermind, it’s just an outline on a wall. (Seriously, it took me far too long to realise that). Dario leaves her to contemplate a different version of events.

She starts punching the target and it looks like she'll break through that wall eventually.

Wow, that was a good ending to that episode, I’ll be back soon with the next one… What? We’re not even five minutes in yet?
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Into the arena proper, Melissa Santos welcomes us to Ultima Lucha and commentary lets us know what we’re in for tonight.
Ooh, I like the banners displaying the matches that are hanging around the arena.

Falls Count Anywhere: The Mack vs Cage

Cage doesn’t wait to get introduced, he attacks Mack at the top of the steps, and we’re starting the match up here. Well done on whoever came up with that spot, why wait to get to the ring to start fighting?

Usual quality on the continuity. As they fight onto the top of the roof of the weird empty room, Striker informs us that it’s been reinforced since Fenix was thrown through it.

Fighting on the bleachers, Cage takes an exploder suplex. So many things could go wrong with that, but they are relatively wide.

Spear through the door into the mysterious empty room.



The fire extinguisher that is used looks more powdery than usual and Mack gets covered in it.

Ha, Mack does a decent Stone Cold Steve Austin impression with the beer and a stunner. It doesn’t get the win and when he then breaks a bottle on Cage, it just pisses him off.

There is so much energy in the building.

They end up on top of Dario’s office. I feel like we’re approaching the climax of this one.

After a few more moves up there, including using the railings for the elevated vertical suplex, Cage makes use of one of the things that Dario has left lying around for this match.



And that gets the win for Cage.

Perfect way to start. It had plenty of exciting spots and they didn’t go on for too long, just around 10 minutes. They also didn’t actually get in the ring at any point. I don’t remember ever seeing that before but it worked.
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Commentary runs down the matches taking place next week

Trios Titles: Disciples of Death w/Catrina vs Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, Angelico (c)

Tornado rules, which adds to the chaos. Ivelisse is still on crutches.

Dod take control immediately, as you might have guessed. Ivelisse gets lifted up by Barry, throws away her crutches and ends up hopping round on the outside to reclaim them afterwards.

The guys go back on the attack with some dives and Ivelisse uses her regained crutch on Barry.



Stretch muffler by Tracey as Barry, Sinestro, and the ref try to get her to give up. I don’t want to tell him how to do his job, but would it not make more sense to do it on the injured leg?

Angelico is fighting up the bleachers, you know, next to that high bit he’s got a habit of jumping from.



The first time might be the most famous, but it never gets less impressive, possibly due to there being variations in it each time.

Catrina’s making a move. Ivelisse is there to confront her and they roll around for a bit. Ivelisse was doing quite well until Catrina smacked her in the head with the stone… and then checked that she hadn’t fallen out of her top. (I notice the important details)

Catrina summons the Dod, Barrio Negro gets in the ring and pins an unconscious Ivelisse as his teammates prevent the cover being broken up.
New Trios Champions: Barrio Negro, Trece, El Siniestro de la Muerta; Disciples of Death, lead by Catrina.



That was a fun, chaotic one, it was the right call on making it tornado rules.
Ivelisse’s injury limited what they could do with the title run, but they made it work when they could just have taken the titles off them much earlier.
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Drinking on the job, how unprofessional.

Believer’s Backlash: Drago vs Hernandez

The Believers get an entrance, it’s almost like they’ve been hand picked and the straps aren’t being handed to random people in the crowd.

“If you don’t believe in dragons, you’re not a real man.” – Vampiro

Hernandez being his usual considerate self as he repeatedly walks in front of Melissa while she introduces Drago.

Drago is the first to get thrown out the ring, and the believers… help him to his feet 😊. Hernandez doesn’t like that at all. He goes out to get Drago and, yep, the believers get to work with the straps. That can not be a pleasant experience. His call for a time out is ignored and he realises that getting back in the ring is his best option.

I’m thinking one of those fans is going to betray Drago and it’ll end up he was planted there by Hernandez or more likely Dario, since it seems more like his style.

It seems like (some of) the believers are known individuals, at least to commentary. One of them misjudges things and loses his strap.



Drago’s fancy rollup doesn’t get the job done as Hernandez powers out of it.
He then shows off his power a bit more



The guy in the grey shirt is not having a good night.

Hernandez then attempts to show off his agility:



Not a traditional counter, but it’s effective. Depending on what’s in that stuff, that could really sting after all the whipping he took from the straps. The strapping starts again so Hernandez escapes under the ring as Drago sets up a table.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Dragons! Drago has nunchucks. (Unless you’re watching the UK version where he’s a Hero rather than a Ninja and has some grappling hook thing. That's a real thing that happened). Hernandez is backing away from the strap wielding mob and is unaware of what he's backing into.

That guy in grey’s day is not getting any better as Hernandez uses him as a projectile against the mob. Hernandez turns around and



A few shots from the nunchucks before the chain breaks on them. Things just aren’t built like they used to be.

A splash off the top puts Hernandez through the table at ringside. Drago rolls him back in and goes up again and hits another splash to pick up the win!

That was much better than I was expecting (I really should have learned to have higher expectations by now.), but I would have thought there'd be a more spectacular ending. Kudos to Hernandez, he played his part well in this one and, like I said earlier, taking all those strap shots couldn’t have been fun.

The credits show as Drago celebrates, but we’ve still got a few minutes left…
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Ooh, Aztec Dragon is here. He meets a hooded person just outside and, after a bit of sparring, is told that The prophecy says that he cannot enter the Temple.
He says he needs in because she (Black Lotus) is a prisoner because he failed her.
Hoodie says that he’ll get Puma since he brought Azteca to her once and can do it again.

Well that solves the mystery of who helped him in to The Temple when he kidnapped her.

AD declines the offer saying that Puma has a different path now and he won’t put him in any more danger.
Hoodie offers to go himself, but Dragon says he’s not ready yet.
So Hoodie is another student of Dragon it appears.

Oh, The prophecy says that Dragon will die.
Who knows how, possibly murdered in a violent way by a certain monster?

Dragon convinces hoodie to let him pass. He says that he may die, but El Dragon Azteca will live forever.
Hmm, that sounds like a spirit possessing different bodies situation to me.

He goes in and an anvil falls on him the door closes and the lights go out as we conclude part one of Ultima Lucha.

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions

- Didn't see a lot of Dario, but top notch work from him yet again.
- Glad we're getting a bit more on Black Lotus/El Dragon Azteca/Matanza. It's been a while since they've progressed that story significantly. I have no idea who to believe and can't guess at where it's heading, but I'm enjoying the journey.
- Wonder how commentary will be handled with Vamp having a match next time
- After the second match I realised that there hadn’t really been any actual wrestling, they were both fights. Then I thought that there’s probably not going to be a whole lot of wrestling in the third match either.
- You can’t go wrong with a good ol’ prophecy. The thing with them is that they’re not always as simple as they seem and I'm sure that'll be the case here as well.
- What's this weird feeling? Is it satisfaction that all the matches have a reason for taking place and therefore have emotion behind them? I think it might be.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Living up to the expectations we have placed upon the for you? I do believe it is very much living up to it as fully expected , but that was only side dish before the main course.

LU with their chefs kiss level attention to detail...Cage and Mack in the previous episode finished atop the steps only to start atop the steps here.

That Dario is a dapper man look at that tux.

The giant match banners are indeed amazing always wanted those , those sold of course smaller versions but f*** that I want one I that clearly does not fit into my place.

Love the reference to T2 with Lotus doing pull ups using the bed



And what a web he weaves...is what he tells Lotus the truth , a lie? a half truth and lie? hmmmmm the questions they are plentiful.

Glad you picked up on the fact Cage and Mack never went into the ring...look at that a falls count anywhere that went anywhere but inside the ring wonderful.

Striker: The wooden bleachers that house the asses of the believers ...Striker with a way with words lol.

Speaking of those bleachers I LOVE there is no barrier just adds to the chaos of the temple.

There is no STOPPING the Machine...Striker getting in all his damn puns

When Mack stuns Cage on the floor holy shit it is like a GIANT surge of energy just takes you over insane especially the first time and it never lets up.

"I don’t want to tell him how to do his job, but would it not make more sense to do it on the injured leg?" - Hey Catrina hired skeletons not Rocket scientists and everyone knows you have to be a rocket scientist to focus on an injured limb.

It was such a great effect when Macks head went through the block because of how the block broke into chunks really added to that Cage may have killed him.

Incase you were wondering ...all of those chosen people in the strap match were not plants at all but were regulars to the temple...I know one of them is a guy named Casey and then there is hot tub guy and there was a guy from the former last real heels podcast.

Hernandez is such a fantastic shit bag heel , his reactions here were fantastic he sold the hell out of Drago and I can do nothing but commend him here , Charlotte flair could take lessons from Hernandez about selling for your opponent even just when it comes to reactions.

We get to hear Dragos metal as f*** theme song here pretty clearly and it is one of my favourites I wish there was a clear full version but like most LU themes it is impossible to find.

Also about the strap match Hernandez apparently told all of them not to hit him in the face or the nuts but anywhere else was fair game but also they were told Hernandez had the greenlight to hit back(striker was being legit with him saying waivers got signed)...which is why at one point in the match if you notice it Hernandez had a red mark across his face and this is because someone did not f***ing listen and when he chases one of them is because one of them also hit him in the nuts so no one actually listented to Hernandez lol.

Always mark for the babynutz chant , Konnan put something on him he will never live down lol.

I believe I already mentioned it but if not...the reason Drago got initially banished but then return is two fold in that Drago the character was not suppose to return but the believers support of him brought the character back....again listening to the audence pays off.

And as for that ending.

That is all I shall say....only the tip of on an insane iceberg.

[Woo]

The mist to the diving Hernendez is an incredible moment done perfectly. You won't see Hernendez again for a loooong time in LU and I know people hate him but I thought he was fantastic. His hatch with Drago and match with Puma were great and he was such a despicable heel.

Also the stunner to Cage was such a fantastic moment that really made Mack a star in the temple.

[Gecko]

Oct 29, 2021 15:33:05 GMT -5 Woo said:

The mist to the diving Hernendez is an incredible moment done perfectly. You won't see Hernendez again for a loooong time in LU and I know people hate him but I thought he was fantastic. His hatch with Drago and match with Puma were great and he was such a despicable heel.

I'm not a fan of his so I'm probably a bit more harsh on him than I should be, but he absolutely deserves a whole bunch of credit for this match especially.
He had his cocky, arrogant self to start with but then he showed weakness against the mob while also being aggressive towards them when he got the chance.
His reactions to the situations during this match were great.

[Gecko]

I can now exclusively reveal there was a Friday episode so that there could be this: It's a super surprising Saturday Sssssepisode! Or more accurately, half an episode. Who knows when the other half might appear? (you, if you check near the bottom of the post)

Episode 39 – Ultima Lucha Part 2 (part 1)

Recaps of:
1) General recap of the birth of LU
2) Puma. Including Konnan mentioning that he’s a direct descendant of one of the Aztec Tribes.
3) Penta and Vampiro
4) The builds for the rest of the matches
5) Dario telling Black Lotus his truth about her parents from last time

Here we go….
------------------------------------------------------------
Melissa Santos welcomes us to Ultima Lucha again. Striker is joined on commentary by Michael Schiavello who my research tells me is an Aussie sports commentator (and journalist) who has covered plenty of MMA type stuff.
Initial impressions are good, he seems enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Johnny Mundo vs Alberto El Patron

Mundo heels it up by running away at the start. Bertie gets his hands on him and gets a few shots in before Mundo escapes under the ring and keeps popping out where Bertie isn’t.

Mundo eventually emerges and throws a handful of dirt into Bertie’s face to gain the advantage.



You’ve got a little something on your face there, Bertie.

They get back in the ring and we get our first proper bit of actual standard wrestling stuff in this whole event.
It feels like Mundo has had to slow right down for Bertie.
Backstabber by Mundo while Bertie was sitting on the top. Noice.

Striker explains that people watch the ref when they’re getting pinned in order to get as much time as possible to rest.

Carlito fan is in attendance.

Bertie goes for the armbar but doesn’t manage to get it locked in before Mundo rolls to the ropes.

Bertie 'slips' off the ropes while they’re both up there



Mundo hits the stomp. The delay wasn’t as bad as it can be for that move, Bertie was only there for a few seconds and you could argue that he was still getting over the fall.

Mundo hits the End of the World… it doesn’t get the job done.

Anybody who’s been watching for a while saw this coming from a mile away



Mundo taps out to the armbar, but no ref. On the plus side, no ref means no rope breaks. Bertie hangs over the ropes for his next armbar.
How will Mundo get out of this one?



By having Melina show up and hit Bertie with his AAA title! That is a surprise. I didn’t even recognise her until Striker named her. First time she's been involved in 5 years, according to Striker.Melina throws Bertie back in the ring for Mundo to hit another End of the World and pick up the win.
Mundo celebrates with some Melina smooching.

Nothing groundbreaking, but good enough. Mundo gets to show off his more heelish tactics and Bertie(‘s ego) doesn’t have to take a clean loss. (Gecko from a few minutes in the future: Bertie gets a fair bit more than that out of the deal)

The Melina appearance was completely unexpected, but I also have a feeling that she might not hang around for too long.

Bertie gets back in the ring and attacks Mundo. He clears a section of crowd and throws Mundo into the chairs.
He then takes Mundo and throws him through the glass part of the door to the spooky empty room as payback… Wait, since when did that door have a glass section? Probably since it got busted down last episode and they had to replace it with a new door... that now also needs replacing.

Melina tries attacking Bertie but ends up getting a literal spanking.

Oh, that’s a lot of blood on Mundo. Bertie seems satisfied that he's got his revenge.
------------------------------------------------------------
Back in Dario’s Dungeon (he does things his own way and it’s up some stairs instead of below ground), El Dragon Azteca has made his way there to rescue Black Lotus.
He’s not very good at this sneaking thing as he apparently walked right past Dario standing in the corner without noticing him.
Dario says that he broke an ancient treaty by entering his Temple, but Dragon has never been a man of honour. The punishment for breaking the treaty… death. (Which is it? A treaty or a prophecy? or is this another thing where each have their own version of the truth?)
Dario removes his key from around his neck in order to unleash Matanza.



Dragon begs him not to and Dario replies that he doesn’t have to, just before Lotus grabs Dragon?! Has she made her choice about the truth?

That whole punching the wall thing that Lotus was doing? Turns out that it doesn’t have a good effect when done on human spines and makes them make a cracking noise and the person to fall down dead. So Long El Dragon Azteca, we hardly knew ye. I'm pretty sure you'll be back again though.

Dario opens her cell and says “Come with me.” He said the thing!
Lotus says that she’s got what she wanted (revenge for her parents), but Dario informs her that she’s just started a war and he’s the only one who can protect her now. He says that this place is too dangerous and they must go to a new temple (Oooh!). Lotus asks about Matanza. Dario says that he’s coming with them and then he unlocks the monster/cameraman's cage.
------------------------------------------------------------
Cero Miedo: Vampiro vs Pentagon Jr

Cero Miedo = No DQs, No countout, anything goes.

Penta dressed in white, while Vamp is dressed in…



…well, that’s a choice. He’s not lost any of the theatrics and takes his time getting to the ring.

Penta starts the match by smacking Vamp with a chair while he’s not looking. We’re not messing about with this one, the ringside mats get moved out the way and Vamp gets dumped onto the concrete. Penta then goes to work with more hard chair shots.

It’s not long before the ref puts a stop to things and says that Vamp is done. Penta ignores the ref and chokes Vamp with a cable.
They come out with a stretcher for Vamp and Striker tells us he’s suffered a serious injury and the match is being stopped as they go to break.

We come back as Vamp is getting wheeled away and Penta is in the ring indicating that his work is done for the night.

Vamp attacks the medical guy and staggers back to the ring to the shock of Penta. It's kind of reminiscent of Mankind at King of the Ring '98.

Vamp catches Penta off guard with a spinning wheel kick and, once the skeleton is down, Vamp brings out his toys. He starts with a bag of thumbtacks.

Penta is the first to get slammed into the thumbtacks. Vamp goes up and tries to hit a senton but Penta moves and Vamp has his turn landing on the thumbtacks. Vamp says *BEEEEEEEEEP*

Penta goes under the ring to grab his first toy… a bunch of light tubes?! If you didn’t realise what this match was before, you certainly do now.



Penta grabs one of the ends of the shattered tubes and stabs it into the head of Vamp. Vamp has a whole load of blood running down his neck, which gives Penta the chance to try out the vampire stuff for himself:



Penta is enjoying himself now. He grabs another bundle of lights, and it looks as if he has at least one more set under the ring.

Vamp does look to be getting back in the swing of things and building up his tolerance for the pain. Perhaps this is his darker side awakening again and becoming the more dominant part?

Penta sets up some light tubes in the corner and tries throwing Vamp into them, Vamp puts on the brakes and then hiptosses Penta into them. Vamp then starts ripping at the mask of Penta before he grabs the last? Set of light tubes. He tastes his own blood (he seems happy with the flavour) and then…



You can’t deny that they look great when they shatter.

Mrs Penta: "Hi honey, how was work?"
Penta: "I just want to forget today. At least I'm getting some time off now."
*Then a bunch of ninja skeleton children run past*



And it doesn’t get any better for him as he takes a throw off the top into the mix of thumbtacks and glass that litters the ring.

Vamp grabs some stuff from under the ring and it looks like we’re heading towards a flaming table!

We are, and it’s Vamp who is going through it. Vamp didn't look like he was being the most careful with the lighter fluid, which may explain what happens next.



Stop, drop, and roll (over your opponent)!
That could have turned very nasty. The table broke right down the middle in a suspiciously straight line, but getting Vamp put through the table was a bit fumbled and then obviously when you roll away you don’t want to bring any fire with you.

That’s enough for Penta to pick up the win. He gets back in the ring with a mic, Vamp slowly rolls in as well.
Vamp shouts at Penta, he wants Penta to break his arm? Penta obliges him, before getting back on the mic.

He addresses his Master and tells him that he finished what he started. He asks where his Master is? (in English)
Vamp has a mic. He wants to tell Penta that as his teacher!!, Penta is ready, my son. (which plays into Vamp’s entrance costume).
Just as I gave up on that theory as well .

Never really any question about who was winning that one. It was just a brutal fight, but it still managed to have the story running through it. Well done to Vamp, he didn’t actually have to do too much, but if you’re going to come out of retirement for a match you might at well make it memorable.
------------------------------------------------------------

That’s us at about the halfway point and I think I need a breather after that one anyway, so we’ll pick this up again tomorrow. The second half should have: Puma vs Mil, The 7 way Gift of the Gods, Blue Demon vs Texano, plus whatever other weird things happen.

Post Episode & General Thoughts/Questions
- Schiavello was pretty good especially with how he could have been coming in from MMA. He was maybe a bit too excited at times, but partnering with Striker was the main problem and didn’t do either of them any favours. They’re too similar and need somebody to play off of.
- An accurate prophecy, how’s about that? Now I'm suspicious because it seems too simple.
- So it seems that Matanza isn’t a completely uncontrollable monster. Maybe we’ll get a Beauty and The Beast situation with Black Lotus. Maybe we'll end up with him having split loyalty between Lotus and Dario.
- New Temple, eh? Moving buildings, redecorating or just a safe room? Or maybe Dario is making it all up.
- Penta seemed a bit shocked at the Vamp as Master reveal as well. Shocked because he was unaware it was Vamp, or that Vamp chose to reveal himself to the world?
- Wonder how they’re going to handle the Vamp situation. You can’t just throw him back on commentary and pretend everything is the same.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

GOTTA WAIT TILL TOMMOROW FOR THE REST!

Self: Think he might be gettinf revenge on us for keeping him in the dark on things

Other self: Don't you worrie about that we got WAYY more in store for him muahahahaha

I have never had a real opinion on Schiavello , got no issues with his commentary he brings a legit excitement though which I very much appreciate but I also agree it is like having two Strikers on commentary...1 is enough to drive most insane lol.

Mundo Vs Bertie is a another super underrated match both guys are absoloutley stellar and you see how f***ing good Bertie is but his ego just makes all that talent completely wasted and it is sad.

I believe when Mundo got thrown through the door he was not suppose to bleed that much hell I don't believe he was suppose bleed at all with how much blood was pouring out of him.

So here is some BTS

Pentagon never knew who the master was through out the season and no one else did...except Vamp and Chris Dejoseph and so Pentas reaction is a total shoot (if you of course believe Vamp) and that he did not know who the master was untill the actual reveal so that is an amazing genuine reaction so an absoloutley star making story.

When you said Vamp was taking his time getting to the ring...I was just thinking he has no idea lol , as there is about I wanna say 15-20min on the cutting room floor and most of that is Vamps entire entrance because he took his sweet f***ing time taking in the pop and adulation and producers backstage were PISSED lol because there is only so much time and also now it is just making an editors job that much harder...so yea funny but also bit of a dick move on Vamps part at the time.

You will never see anymore light tubes in LU again from this point on because during the match I believe it is when Vamp hit Penta a solid chunk of light tube flew into the audience and almost decapitated a little girl....they then made the immediate choice that no more light tubes.

I should not laugh but I do whenever Vamp gets set on fire and the fire extinguisher fires off from the side before running out to put out the Vampire on fire.

Other Other self self: He is asking questions again

Self: He is making us wait...we can play this level of super mario bros 3 as well....someone get me the warp whistle

Other self: But that is cheating...here is a game genie instead.

I was impressed you were quick to catch the Vamp as the master...but at the last possible moment you went away from it lol got a nice couple laughs out of me.

But we approach the absoloute chefs kiss of an ending on amazing cake....and just when you think we have reached peak insanity....welcome to season 2.

[Woo]

Oh damn you are making us wait mid episode now?! Cruel

Can't wait till you get to Season 2. Seasons 2 and 3 are even better.

[Gecko]

Episode 39 – Ultima Lucha Part 2 (part 2)

Here we go one more time…

7 Way – Gift of the Gods: Fenix, Sexy Star, Bengala, Jack Evans, Aerostar, King Cuerno, Big Ryck

Ryck takes a few seconds to assess things at the start before he begins clearing the ring.
Great fun spot, Ryck goes for a dive (after some preparation) and the rest of them rush the ring.



The coordinated assault on Ryck is not very… coordinated and falls apart immediately.

Aerostar is the first to break out the acrobatics, but Fenix catches his leap from the apron and turns it into a powerslam, which is not something you see often.

Uncomfortable (I imagine) landing for Star, Sexy.



Ow, looked like Evans might have smacked his ankle on the corner of the stairs when he was thrown out the ring. I know from experience what that’s like.

I saw Aerostar making his way up the steps in the background. Then there seems to be a group of several others that are forming up...

There’s Aerostar. Where the hell is he though?
Obviously somewhere above the group of four…



Make that three, Ryck says Nope. To be fair, I’d probably quietly sneak away too…



I didn’t realise he was that high up.

As Star prepares for what will probably be a much less spectacular dive in the ring, Marty slides in behind her and… hang on, he’s not in the match! Marty does as well as he did previously against Star and gets knocked out the ring. He goes to seek comfort…



Poor Melissa, Marty just gets worse every time he shows up.

Fenix holds Evans and Aerostar for Sexy Star to dive onto. The idiot doesn’t let go at any point and gets wiped out too.

Star takes down Ryck with a hurricanrana, Cuerno removes her with the Thrill of the Hunt and we are left with Cuerno and Fenix in the ring. At least until Bengala springs in.

Arrow from the depths of hell! And he got a full run up on that one, maximum velocity.

Vicious chokeslam by Ryck on Sexy Star. Here comes Daivari? He smacks Ryck with a chair?! Guess that’s the end of that business deal.

The crowd are basically just chanting for whoever is on offence at that moment.

Evans gets Fenix in an octopus hold but Fenix counters it into a Fire Driver and that’s enough for the win!

These type of multi person matches are tricky and can be a bit hit or miss, but I did enjoy this one. Everybody got a chance in the spotlight and there were several points where I thought the match was over.

Hey, if Mil wins the title, we could be getting another Mil vs Fenix match! Which is always a good thing.
------------------------------------------------------------
Texano vs Blue Demon Jr w/Mr Cisco & Cortez Castro

Not expecting a whole lot from this one. Its placement on the card might be telling and it’s getting used as a cooldown match.



The Crew are dressed up for the occasion. Dario Cueto’s influence?

Mr Cisco hands Melissa an envelope. The information contained within is that due to BD’s legendary status, Dario has granted his request to make this match no DQ. That should probably improve the quality anyway.

It becomes 3 on 1 almost from the get go.

Texano hits the powerbomb, but The Crew (They don’t become Goons until they do something noticeably goonish) break up the pin and then hold the cowboy as BD grabs a kendo stick.

Here comes a limping Chavo with a chair…. But whose side is he on?

There’s a bit of a stand off before Chavo’s Guerrero side comes out an he smacks Texano with the chair. So it’s now four on one.

Chavo hands BD the chair and he taps Texano on the head with it. Foot on the chest pin gets the win.

Yeah, not a whole to say about that one. It went about as I expected apart from the Chavo bit which I guess we’ll find out more about in the future.
------------------------------------------------------------
We get shots of Mil and Puma heading to the ring as it is time for the main event

Lucha Underground Championship: Mil Muertes w/Catrina vs Prince Puma (c)

Dario Cueto’s orders: There must be a winner.
This should be a good one.

Catrina’s got a cape. I wasn’t staring, just thought I would point that out.



Wonderful shot. The beloved, smaller champion approaching the lion’s den containing the giant, unstoppable beast.

A brawl to begin, it doesn’t go well for Puma. And out the ring and up the bleachers we go.

Ha, Puma almost hits Catrina but stopped in time. He then picks Catrina up and uses her as a weapon against Mil. I always like somebody using another person as a weapon.

Puma is getting bits of offence in, but nothing is really slowing Mil down.



Puma doesn’t know how to sit on a chair properly.

Schiavello “…and look at Catrina…” OK.

Puma gets a table. He’s still putting up a fight.



Well, he was putting up a fight, maybe not so much after a powerbomb on the ring steps.

Probably even less after his dive doesn’t go as planned



It looked, and sounded, great and was relatively safe, Puma took it on the shoulder.

Puma’s speed is keeping him in this thing.

That table is looming in the background as Puma fights from the apron.



And they almost missed it!
They didn’t even break it, the legs just collapsed. Mil fixes that with a powerbomb. It’s still not enough to keep the champ down for the three though. Mil is showing his frustration.

Mil hits a nice turning urinage type thing and moves to the corner to set himself for the spear. Puma does a fancy spinning jump over him and begins to unleash a series of kicks which end with Mil falling in position for the 630.

He hits it… and Mil kicks out! Puma can’t believe it. He goes up for it again, but Mil rolls out the way of the second one.

Huge spear turns Puma inside out!

Flatliner, 1…. 2…. Kickout!

Mil drags Puma towards the corner, please be going for a 630. Aw, I guess we’ll never know as Puma kicks his way free.

Puma goes up once again, but Mil is on his feet before the champ reaches the top. Puma pushes him off, but Mil channels Kurt Angle and runs back up the ropes to bring Puma crashing down with another Flatliner!



The low camera angle really emphasised the impact of that landing.

That’s enough for the three, your new Lucha Underground Champion, Mil Muertes!

Great match, Mil was in control most of the time but Puma would not give up or back down. It really felt like winning the title meant something, it’s been built up well since Puma won it with a bunch of solid victories. I also liked that it was just one on one, nobody influenced the outcome, it was a fair fight.

The DOD emerge from the smoke to join Mil.



Catrina’s Coterie are draped in gold. There are some dark days ahead.

We still have some time left…
------------------------------------------------------------
In Dario’s office, Lotus is emptying his cash drawer into a bag (don’t forget to pick up the bull) as Dario keeps an eye out for whoever he thinks is coming for them.



“Dark times are ahead” Dario grabs files from his desk, you can tell he’s really in a panic over this. They run out and leave the… he came back for the bull!

They jump into a car. It has a trailer attached. The trailer has a hole in it.



Matanza! That’s our first look at him. Have to get a better look at him, but it’s an interesting look. We know he was forced into participating in underground fights, maybe the mask is to cover the injuries he took from that? Or maybe it's a Hannibal Lector style anti bite mask? Maybe he just has really leathery skin?

Unlike that trio, we still have more time…
------------------------------------------------------------
Haha, of course Fenix would drive a car like that. A Firebird, I believe?. Ooh, and he’s getting followed by somebody in a cowboy hat.

We’ve seen Cuerno looking like that before and he was staring at Fenix at the end of the match. I think he's found his next prey.

Still time for more?
------------------------------------------------------------
Marty playing with a swinging light. He’s talking to … somebody? ...Himself? He asks if they think that he’s some kind of joke? Oh, he’s gone and kidnapped Sexy Star.

He says she won’t be laughing when she meets his sister.
He did a really thorough job on tying Star up.
He laughs and flaps his arms as Star screams.
Oh, he's lost it completely.

One more?
------------------------------------------------------------
Son of Havoc meets Angelico who is on a motorbike. He tells him that they’re going to get those titles back.
Angelico nods and pulls away as we pan over to see Ivelisse sitting on her own bike. Havoc joins her and they leave. How did she do that with a broken ankle?

Drago and Aerostar shaking hands. Drago (in a growly voice) says that they will meet again, he walks out of camera shot and does his exploding trick (complete with Godzilla-ish sound effect).

Aerostar turns into a rocket and flies into space apparently.

Penta asks his master where they are going now? A hooded Vampiro, cradling his arm, tells him that they are going to a much darker place.
------------------------------------------------------------
Hoodie (who let El Dragon Azteca into the Temple) puts on the Aztec Dragon mask. I guess he’s now El Dragon Azteca. He sprays a question mark on the LU sign as we finally end the… nope, still not quite done.

Dario is in the Temple. I thought he left? Maybe this is the new one? As the lights go out, he smiles. That doesn't seem like a good thing for anybody.

And we are done with Season One.
------------------------------------------------------------

WOW!

Fantastic show, it’s right up there with the best of them. I’ll probably go back and watch it all in one go at some point without having to focus on a writeup. Great matches in general, even the low point of Blue Demon vs Texano didn’t take up much time. That is how you finish a season in style.

They've also set up so much for next season:

• Catrina has built her power base with the title wins
  
• Mil’s nemesis has a shot at his title
• Havoc and co have been through enough to create a bond that doesn’t require having the titles to keep them together
• Blue Demon and Chavo have a, possibly shaky, alliance
• Cuerno has marked his next target
• Marty is losing control, What will be the fate of Sexy Star? How safe is Melissa Santos? and is his sister even worse than him? 
• Dario is in peril, maybe he’ll need to unleash Matanza? It seems like Tribal warfare is on the way.
• Penta is heading deeper into the darkness and now he has Vampiro guiding him
• Probably other stuff that I’m forgetting

I love all the little bits at the end of everybody heading off to their own destinations until next time.
-----------------------------
I will be taking at least a couple of weeks off, possibly as much as a month (I know ). I think I’ve earned it and it feels like having a short break before season 2 is the right thing to do. I may jump in with a look back at the season as a whole at some point, but don’t count on it. If anybody else does want to do that themselves, feel free (obviously while not spoiling future stuff).

Thank you to anybody who read any or all of that nonsense.
Extra thanks to those that contributed with their own thoughts and info or even just likes, there’s no point me doing this without that support and feedback happening.
Super special mention goes to Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X for his info dumps after basically every episode.

(My Word document (which is slightly different from the final posts) stands at 143 pages and 66k+ words.)

To be continued.... 

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Again nothing but serious thank you for this , it has been as enjoyable for me as it seems to have been for you because I said when you started this that I can always go back to this entire series because that is how gawd damn f***ing great it is but also getting to be on the journey with someone watching it for the first time even more so.

This I have no doubt was not easy albeit really damn fun and you take however long you need before jumping into the next one....I will give this one up you have a shorter season waiting for you when you get to season 2 so not quite as dawnting as 39 episodes....but the good thing is unlike season 1 there is no having to trudge through the origins where Chavo took up like a quarter of the season , but now from here it just hits the ground running every season and it is amazing.

Glad to see Ultima Lucha lived up to the hype we built it for you , but yea that end montage was absoloutley f***ing mind blowing when it originally aired because it is no joke whenever it is said...there is NOTHING in wrestling like LU and things like that end montage is the prime example.

Just when you think it is over they set you up a whole bunch of hype and questions.


Just incase you were wondering that question mark at the end was just for show...nope it was legit , really authenticating that moment really did happen and just an added amazing touch.

But again big time thank you and I am glad I could help provide added insight into BTS stuff...and definetly wont be the last.

Oh looky I got one more for ya....Martys decent into madness as a character you can thank Vampiro for , he is the one that helped Marty by simply telling him to go watch the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy....so not only did Vamp launch Pentagon into Megastardom by dieing for him but he also basically created the Marty you got at the end and we will see from here on out.....and oh boy.

This was something I contemplated not mentioning but I figure what the hell.....that chokeslam Sexy Star took from Big Ryck in the GOTG match was him taking severe liberties with her and he gets fired for it...so there is no Big Ryck going forward.

There are others you will noticably notice do not return once you get into next season but there is a reason I will not spoil who they are for a very funny reason you will find out.

But again for the 3rd time...thank you for all of this it has been an absoloute highlight of wrestling week and I look forward to when you get to season 2.



Because a much Darker Place awaits.

Oh and one more thing(Jackie Chan Adventures HA)....something that begins with season 2 is that LU puts out an AMAZING movie still trailer before the season that contains a whole lot of cinematics that will be in the season so just lettin you know about that ahead of time.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Oh and it will not be obvious on your first journey through but when Mil and Puma kick out of eachothers finishers in the finale...it the first time either finisher is kicked out of of all season and when they finally are it is by each other.

[Allie Kitsune]

Oct 31, 2021 12:22:39 GMT -5 Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X said:

Oh and it will not be obvious on your first journey through but when Mil and Puma kick out of eachothers finishers in the finale...it the first time either finisher is kicked out of of all season and when they finally are it is by each other.

Just as an aside, and I mean this sincerely, I never get tired of hearing you talk about LU.

[Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X]

Oct 31, 2021 13:30:16 GMT -5 Allie Kitsune said:

Oct 31, 2021 12:22:39 GMT -5 Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X said:

Oh and it will not be obvious on your first journey through but when Mil and Puma kick out of eachothers finishers in the finale...it the first time either finisher is kicked out of of all season and when they finally are it is by each other.

Just as an aside, and I mean this sincerely, I never get tired of hearing you talk about LU.

That truly means alot honestly thank you sincerely and honestly , for as much as I talk about it you are the first to actually ever tell me that so it means a whole lot.

I try to keep myself in line about it which is why I am very thankful to Gecko for this undertaking he took.

Everyone has their sections of wrestling they are passionate about and this is my piece of that pie.

[thatloser]

I've only watched through Lucha Underground once and reliving those moments by reading this thread has been a joy. It's kinda odd to see how much I remember so much of season 1 since I haven't watched it in years. The only thing I forget was the strap match, for some reason I completely blanked on Drago ever fighting Hernandez.

Quite a few of my favourite things kick off in season 2. I'm not going to mention them, but they at least start there and I can't wait to hear Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X explain them (Add me to the pile of people who enjoy their behind the scenes info). And I epically can't wait till Ultimate Lucha 2 where they get to explain the insane behind the scenes info of one character (I'm sure Fenderbaum knows who I'm on about)

Oct 31, 2021 11:41:50 GMT -5 Captain Patren Fenderbaum-X said:

This was something I contemplated not mentioning but I figure what the hell.....that chokeslam Sexy Star took from Big Ryck in the GOTG match was him taking severe liberties with her and he gets fired for it...so there is no Big Ryck going forward.

Wait that's why they never came back? I just remember reading Ryck retired after season 1