Another episode of Lucha Underground is in the books, and as usual, it delivered some cutting edge in-ring action and the promising continuation of ongoing feuds and storylines. Before we move on to this week’s episode here is a recap of last week’s show:
Angelico returned to the temple and looked to exact revenge against Worldwide Underground. A video package on the same aired to kick off the show, followed by a vignette hyping the steel cage rematch for next week between Sexy Star and Johnny Mundo for the Lucha Underground Championship.
The video promo capped off by highlighting the Drago/Kobra Moon and Mysterio/Azteca angles respectively. The cameras cut to the temple as Matt Stryker and Vampiro, who spoke about the Battle of the Bulls tournament, the remaining first round matches of which were scheduled for tonight. They reminded the fans that the winner of the competition would face the winner of Mundo vs. Star for the title.
The first match of the night – the semi-final of the Battle of the Bulls tournament – was up next.
Jeremiah Crane vs. Killshot vs. Mariposa vs. Dante Fox (Battle of The Bulls tournament match)
The match began with some hard-hitting strikes from all competitors. The bad blood between Dante and Killshot led to the two going after each other from the get-go. Killshot got the early advantage when he shut Fox and Mariposa down with snappy kicks. Crane gets in on the action with some kicks of his own on Killshot. The two exchanged close to 16 kicks before Killshot got the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Mariposa went up to the top rope and launched herself onto Killshot and Crane. She put up a valiant fight against the men which was followed by Fox and Killshot exchanging shoulder blocks on each other. Fox knocked Mariposa out of the ring and executed the suicide dive onto the three competitors to lay them all out on the mat.
The frantic action continued as this time; Mariposa leaped onto Killshot and Fox. Crane joined in on the high-flying action too with a dive on the outside, taking out Fox in the process. Killshot recuperated and went for another high-risk leap, only to be stopped in his tracks by Crane’s mid-air chair shot. Crane had something destructive in mind as he arranged many chairs in the ring amidst ‘musical chairs’ chant from the believers.
An insane spot followed that began with Crane setting up Killshot on the top turnbuckle. Fox too made his way to the top to join Crane and Killshot. Mariposa took advantage of the situation by pulling off the tower of doom on the chairs that were neatly arranged in the ring. This was just the beginning of her wrath as she began flinging chairs on her opponents, who were reeling in pain. Crane couldn’t take it anymore and ended Mariposa’s mayhem with the chair. A sequence of kicks followed as Fox first took Crane down with a bicycle kick. Killshot then connected with a kick of his own on Fox. Crane, in the meantime, had returned to his senses and executed a double running kick on both Killshot and Mariposa.
Fox got up and floored Killshot with a great springboard codebreaker on Killshot. Fox’s eyes went towards the chair and he wasted no time in setting it up in the corner in a bid to inflict some more damage on Killshot. Killshot, though, was aware of the danger and slammed Fox onto the chair. Crane’s attempted suplex on Killshot on the chair got blocked, but he couldn't save himself from a Death Valley Driver that followed.
Carne kept up the pressure by laying out Killshot with a sit-out powerbomb. After kicking out at two from Crane’s pinfall attempt, Killshot found himself trapped in an ankle lock, courtesy of Crane. Mariposa saved the match by breaking up the hold and a chaotic brawl between the four ensued. Killshot got caught in Mariposa’s stunner and what followed was a brutal spot of the highest order. Mariposa perfectly executed the butterfly effect on Killshot onto the chair, with Killshot’s head crashing through the edge of the steel weapon. Damn!
Fox didn’t let Mariposa capitalize on the insane move as he broke up her pin on Killshot. Crane, Fox, and Mariposa then jockeyed for bragging rights in the middle of the ring in the final stages of the match. Mariposa was taken out of the equation by Crane, leaving Crane and Fox battling it out to determine the winner in the home stretch of the bout.
Fox got the first substantial offense in with a great springboard exploder suplex on Crane from the top rope. Crane somehow kicked out at 2 and a half. Fox looked to finish things off with a 450 splash, but Crane got his knees up in the knick of time. A vulnerable Fox got hit by a cranial contusion by Crane. He went for the pinfall and successfully got the three-count. What a match to open the show!
Result: Jeremiah Crane def. Killshot, Dante Fox, and Mariposa via pinfall
With the victory, Jeremiah Crane booked his place in the finals of the tournament alongside Cage and The Mack. The post-match scenes saw the continuation of the storyline between Killshot and Dante Fox. Killshot vented out his frustrations on Fox by first executing a running kick to his face, followed by a double stomp from the top rope.
A short commercial break followed, and Taya was seen backstage along with PJ Black (Justin Gabriel in the WWE) and Jack Evans – her Worldwide Underground partners. She had a handheld camera and was seen fooling around with Evans and Black, doing retakes and air guitars. The leader of WU and the Lucha Underground Champion, Johnny Mundo joined the segment. He highlighted the fact that his teammates haven’t been able to beat Sexy Star as he has, and if they fail to win tonight’s Battle of The Bulls match, then they would be removed from Worldwide Underground.
A vignette featuring Sexy Star aired next. The former LU Champion was shadow boxing and working out in the ring and outside of it. She then made her back to her locker room, only to storm out of it in fear after seeing a spider! Moving on. Melissa Santos does the pre-match introductions for the next bout of the night.
Drago vs. Kobra Moon
The budding feud between Drago and Kobra Moon has quite a simplistic yet intricate backstory to it. Kobra Moon and Drago were both part of a reptilian tribe, which Drago left as he thought he was nothing more than a slave the queen Kobra Moon. Moon now is hell bent on getting Drago back into the tribe.
The match got underway after both made their entrances. Some traditional mat wrestling was on display in the initial stages of the bout. Drago got the better of the scramble when he took Moon down with a running dropkick. Drago denied Moon from getting back on her feet with an array of suplexes. To add to the damage, Moon suffered a cringe-worthy bump on her neck as a result of one of the slams.
The match ended quite abruptly when Moon called for some reinforcements in the form of her reptilian mates, who came out and assaulted Drago. The referee called for the bell and ended the match in Drago’s favor.
Result: Drago def. Kobra Moon via disqualification
Drago was in for a wholesome beatdown, and the first round of it was inflicted by one of Moon’s fellow Tribe mates sporting a snake skin attire and a lizard mask. He powerbombed Drago but was eventually taken down by Drago’s Trios partners, Aerostar and Fenix. Kobra Moon had more tricks up her sleeve as she called for another ally from the back in the form of Vibora.
The towering giant with long locks – who was wearing Annunaki mask – came out to and destroyed Fenix and Aerostar by laying the duo out with a double chokeslam. The believers chanted 'Luchasuarus' in a way to mock the giant. Kobra Moon responded by screaming ‘Vibora.' In case you didn’t know, Vibora means a Viper or Snake in Spanish. On the orders of Moon, Vibora delivered a jumping Tombstone Piledriver on Drago and lifted him up on his shoulders. He and Kobra Moon exited from the temple with Drago on their shoulders.
Back from another break, the Sexy Star-spider angle resumed as she confronted her long-time rival Mariposa. Star accused her of planting the spider in her locker room. Star grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the walls. Mariposa pleads her innocence, leading to Star punching a hole in the wall next to Mariposa’s head.
The match to determine the fourth and final opponent in the Battle of The Bulls tournament was up next as the main event of the evening.
PJ Black vs. Son of Havoc vs. Angelico vs. Jack Evans (Battle of The Bulls tournament match)
The winner of this match would join Cage, The Mack, and Jeremiah Crane next week in the tournament finals. The no disqualification, fatal four-way main event began in classic high-flying fashion. WU teammates showed signs of a breakdown early on when Jack Evans attempted to pin PJ Black. Saner heads prevailed, and both men devised a strategy to work as a team to take Angelico and Son of Havoc out.
They worked well in tandem to execute a double team move on their fellow opponents. The fatal-four way transformed into a tag team match from thereon, as the Worldwide Underground members worked well together to remove Angelico and Son of Havoc out of the equation.
After dispatching the two off, Black and Evans resumed their quest of winning the match by going at it at each other. Son of Havoc almost pulled off an early shocker when he executed a swinging neck breaker and a standing moonsault for a near fall on Angelico. Jack and Black broke up the pinfall and continued their tag team dominance in the match, by sending Havoc out of the ring. The infectious chemistry between the two was all there to be seen, as they showed off their showboating skills in the middle of the ring.
Jack and Black shifted their attention to Angelico by systematically wearing him down. However, Angelico fought back and sent Black crashing onto the mat. Jack countered a razors edge buckle bomb attempt from Angelico by sending him into the corner. Angelico got rolled up by Evans for a pinfall, but Havoc broke it up with a double foot stomp from the top rope.
Havoc was on a roll as he stunned Black with a springboard stunner. He looked to cash in on the momentum by going up to the top rope only to see Black follow him up there and deliver the electric chair. Evans too looked to get some offense in when he went for the doomsday device on Havoc. However, Havoc miraculously countered. The action stepped up a notch with all competitors going up to the top rope. Havoc first blocked a tower of doom from Black and then executed a suicide dive on him. Angelico and Evans were still perched up on the top rope in a precarious position.
A moment of madness followed as Angelico suplexed Evans onto Havoc and Black on the outside. The believers popped in awe as a result of the spot. Angelico and Black got back into the ring first to work towards the finish. Black got hit with an Angelico flying knee, but he couldn’t capitalize on it as Evans knocked him off the top rope. Havoc was left with the task of battling the WU members all by himself.
He went for the handspring elbow on Black. Black escaped by pushing Evans in the line of impact. Black picked Havoc up, threw him out of the ring, and then lied down in the middle of the ring. He ordered Evans to pin him, and Evans readily obliged.
In a surprising turn of events, Black turned on him and rolled him up for the three-count. And just like that, Black advanced to the finals of the Battle of The Bulls tournament.
Result: PJ Black def. Jack Evans, Son of Havoc and Angelico via pinfall
After the match, a distraught Evans accused Black of cheating him. The two teammates, however, settled their differences and somehow got on the same page to end the post-match segment.
A backstage video package of the Azteca/Mysterio storyline ended the show. El Dragon Azteca Jr. told Mysterio that Matanza came looking for him while holding Mysterio by his neck. Rey apologized for Matanza’s actions. Azteca, though, parted ways with his mentor by thanking him for his guidance and training. He said that he is prepared to script his own legacy and would begin by killing Matanza. Mysterio tried to convince his student that the battle against Matanza is not something he can overcome. Azteca said he isn’t in this fight to win it and that he doesn’t need Mysterio anymore, before walking away.
Check out all the insane highlights from the show below:
That was it for this week's eventful show. Don’t forget to tune into next week's episode as Johnny Mundo puts his title on the line against Sexy Star in a steel cage match. The new no.1 contender for the LU title will also be decided in the Battle of The Bulls final between Cage, Jeremiah Crane, The Mack and PJ Black.
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