Lucha Underground season 3 episode 16: Johnny Mundo vs. Sexy Star, Battle of the Bulls final

Johnny Mundo took his heel status to the next level in the maim event

This week’s episode was stacked with two tantalizing matches and a host of other angles to look forward too. Johnny Mundo defended his Lucha Underground Championship against the superstar he won it from, Sexy Star. The Battle of the Bulls tournament finale was also scheduled to kick off the night, pitting The Mack, Brian Cage, PJ Black and Jeremiah Crane. The winner of the match would get a guaranteed shot at the Lucha Underground championship.

The show began with the customary hype, courtesy of Vampiro and Matt Stryker. They focused on the LU title steel cage main event and the Battle of the Bulls final.

The much-anticipated finale was kicked off this week's in-ring proceedings.

Battle of the Bulls tournament final (winner becomes the no.1 contender for the Lucha Underground Championship)


The Mack vs. PJ Black vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. Brian Cage (Elimination match)

Leaps, slams, drivers, insane counters and what not! The four men put everything on the line!

Considering the talent involved, this was expected to be a classic four-way battle between the best wrestlers on the LU roster. Thankfully, it did deliver. The match got underway with Cage showcasing his brute strength, which was countered by PJ Black's high-flying move-set.

Jeremiah and Black worked in tandem and took the giant down. They both eventually knocked themselves out in the process, and Mack took full advantage of the situation by executing a moonsault on all the men. Mack and Crane then had a brief sequence, with Mack kicking out of a Crane pinfall. Crane got the upper hand and continued his dominance on Black, by sending him out with a springboard kick. He then stunned Black with a suicide dive to the outside.

All the four competitors joined in the ariel party as Cage and Mack leaped onto Crane and Black onto the floor. Black went up to the top rope and executed a perfect moonsault on Cage and Mack. He tried to take Crane down too, but Crane spotted the danger early and caught him in the electric chair position and rammed him face first into the apron.

Crane looked to capitalize on the shift of momentum and attempted a leap himself, only to get caught by Cage mid-air, who slammed him into the floor with a vertical suplex. Cage looked to send Black back into the ring, but Mack got him up into a doomsday device. Black’s high-risk leap failed yet again when he was caught mid-air and power slammed into the mat by Cage. The Mack looked to be the ultimate opportunist when he went for the standing shooting star press on a distracted Cage. Unfortunately for him, he missed. Crane looked to get in on the action when he bounced off the ropes in a bid to take Cage down. Cage thwarted his effort by power bombing him onto Mack.

Crane showed his resilience by kicking out of Cage's pinfall attempt. Cage looked to end Crane’s title aspirations with another powerbomb, but Crane fought out of it and countered with by applying the chokehold. Cage reversed it with a great swinging flatliner.

PJ Black, who was missing out on all the action, decided to fly off the ropes onto Cage, but instead, got slammed into the mat with a destroyer suplex. Cage was dominating at this moment, but it was all about to change courtesy of his bitter rival, Texano. Texano came out and hit Cage on the jaw with the bullropes. A kick by Crane, followed by a stunner by Mack and a springboard 450 splash by PJ Black was enough to put away a visibly hurt Cage. Black pinned the reeling beast to notch up the first elimination of the match.

PJ Black eliminated Brian Cage

Jeremiah Crane took the reigns of the match after the Cage’s elimination and executed a foot stomp on both men on either corner. Crane focused on Black and floored him with a hanging neckbreaker, which yielded him a nearfall.

A top rope spot followed the close pinfall, with both Crane and The Mack jockeying for dominance on the top. After a brief tussle, Crane powerbombed Mack from the top rope and locked in the ankle lock in the transition. Black broke the hold in the nick of time and rolled Crane up for a two-count. All three men take a momentary breather before Crane executed a perfect Cranial Contusion on Black. Vampiro highlighted the fact that Misawa used the move in Japan, popularly known as the double underhook piledriver.

Black smartly rolled out of the ring, leaving Mack and Crane battling it out on the top rope. Mack hit a jaw-dropping stunner from the top rope on Crane. He covered him and successfully completed another elimination.

The Mack eliminated Jeremiah Crane

Mack and Black were the final two men left in what was a grueling match thus far. The final sequence saw Mack recuperate from a jawbreaker to execute the stunner on Black. He wasted no time in going for the pinfall and won the match, much to the delight of the believers in the temple. Mack winning was a great end to a solid match.

Mack eliminated PJ Black and won the Battle of the Bulls tournament. He became the no.1 contender for the Lucha Underground Championship in the process. Truly well deserved!

Fenix and Aerostar search for their partner Drago

A backstage segment aired after the commercial break with Fenix and Aerostar frantically searching for their Trios partner, Drago. Drago was brutally beaten and taken back to the tribe by Kobra Moon and her reptilian tribemates, Pindar and Vibora last week. Fenix and Aerostar were in a bathroom when Kobra Moon appeared. She told them that their search was futile as Drago had rejoined the Tribe. Aerostar countered by telling her that Drago had made a vow never to return to the tribe of reptilians.

Moon laughed it off and stated that they had systematically broken Drago down and that Pindar and Vibora would do the same to the two. Pindar and Vibora made an appearance and assaulted Drago’s Trios partners. Fenix and Aerostar’s couldn’t match the strength and tenacity and were laid out after a hard-hitting battle. The segment ended with the Tribe standing tall over the bodies of Fenix and Aerostar. Moon finished the scene by saying that next time it would be Drago himself who would leave them to die.

Sexy Star and The Mack’s backstage scene

Another break followed and on the other side, Sexy Star and Mack were seen backstage. Star congratulated Mack on becoming the no.1 contender and said that she always believed in the insanely over and gifted star. Mack replied by wishing her luck for her match, later on tonight and stated that he would take the belt off her if she wins. He told her not to be mad at him once that happens soon. Both Star and Mack walk out of the locker room, but that wasn’t it. A spider was seen crawling beside Star as she made her way out, signaling her next challenger and the continuation from last week’s angle.

Jeremiah Crane is out to kill Mil Muertes aka Pascual Mendoza

Another feud was introduced to the believers next when Crane confronted Dario Cueto in his office. He demanded a match and strangely, climbed the ceiling using a chair, ripped off the tiles and took something out. He claimed he’d kept it there when he was a kid, and walked through the halls the temple with the object in his hands.

He bumped into Catrina mid-way and the revealed the object to be an ouija board. He reminded Catrina how they used to play with it years ago and further disclosed that Dario had agreed to a match between himself and Mil Muertes for next week. Pascual Mendoza is what Crane referred Muertes as. He claimed that Mendoza would wish he had died in the earthquake that Catrina saved him from. He vowed to kill Mil next week and have Catrina all for himself before walking past her to end the segment.

The championship main event was up next as Sexy Star looked to regain the LU title she lost to Mundo a few weeks back.

Johnny Mundo (C) vs. Sexy Star (Steel Cage match for the Lucha Underground Championship)

Thankfully for Sexy Star, Dario Cueto banned the Worldwide Underground from ringside for the match. Star was hot right out of the gate as she got the early advantage over Mundo. She continued to control the pace of the match before both the competitors canceled each other’s attempts of escaping the cage,

Star kept up the pressure with a hurricanerana followed by a running dropkick. She tried to escape again, but Mundo stopped her in her tracks. Star fought the resistance and sent Mundo crashing into the top turnbuckle. Mundo landed on his groin, and Star looked to take advantage by using him as leverage to climb out of the steel structure, Mundo grabbed her leg and threw her back into the ring. He executed the backbreaker, and the began to punish Star. He got her up in the fireman's carry position and slammed her repeatedly into the steel cage.

He attempted another escape, but Star stopped him and slammed into the mat with a powerbomb from the top rope for a two-count. She began to climb the cage again, but much to the shock of the believers in the temple, she leaped off from the top onto Mundo. She covered him and got a near fall. Close!

The end was near, and it was quite a shocker indeed, Both Mundo and Star went up to the top of the cage in a bid to escape. They began exchanging strikes and looked to knock each other off the top. Mundo pulled off a cheap and disrespectful trick when he ripped off Star’s mask and shoved her back into the ring. He escaped the cage while Star covered her face in the middle of the ring. And thus Mundo picked up the win and retained the title amid a chorus of boos in the temple.

Johnny Mundo escaped the steel cage and retained the Lucha Underground Championship

Mundo made his way up the stairs and celebrated his disrespectful defense of the title while Star looked on in pure disgust. The Mack cut short the celebrations by attacking Mundo from behind and declaring himself as the next possible LU Champion, by hoisting the strap up high in the air. It was electric in the temple at this point.

The show ended with a scene from Kobra Moon’s Liar. Moon asked a chained Drago whether he’s ready to call her his queen. Drago unsurprisingly screamed, NEVER! She laughed it off and said that she and the rest of the tribe are going to eat and that he would get to nibble on the bones and leftovers. He rebelled and said he would rather starve. She responded by saying that a dragon eventually has to eat some day and this angered Drago even more. He spat a ball of fire as Kobra Moon laughed on to end the scene and this week's episode.


youtube-cover

What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.