By John Moore
Lucha Underground TV
Taped in Los Angeles, California at The Temple
In the recap video, the Trios Tournament was spotlighted. Cage and Johnny Mundo’s feud was also reviewed leading up to Cage in a Cage. This week’s episode was titled “Cage in a Cage”…
Vampiro checked in on commentary and called broadcast partner Matt Striker sexy. We got a new house band this week and they were Bang Data. Striker gave us an update on Matanza and Mil Muertes from last week and said they will be back in action soon. Vampiro said that the Trios Tournament concludes tonight. Striker introduced Melissa and the Cage…
1. “They Call Him” Cage vs. Johnny Mundo (w/Taya Valkyrie) in a cage match for Aztec Medallion #3. The two luchadores met each other with some right hands until Mundo included some kicks in the equation. Cage powered through with right hands and clotheslines. Johnny Mundo dodged a clothesline and tried to escape the but Cage brought him back in the cage.
Cage slammed Johnny Mundo against the cage multiple times to the pleasure of the Temple crowd. Cage gorilla pressed Mundo into the cage. Cage earned a nearfall after an argentine backbreaker. Cage had Mundo in a unique Boston Crab with the help of the second rope. Mundo grabbed Cage’s leg to prevent him from escaping the cage. Mundo managed to crotch Cage on the top rope which Vampiro said “gave Cage a cameltoe”.
Cage’s head was slammed several times into the cage. Mundo tried to escape the cage, but Cage caught up to him. Taya met cage at the top and slapped him with her belt. Mundo hit a Spanish Fly for a good nearfall. Mundo choked Cage in the corner and called him a meathead. Mundo went for a splash in the corner but was met with a Uranage. Cage tried to escape but Mundo recovered and hit a top rope Moonlight Drive on Cage to earn him another nearfall.
Striker said that Cage was distracted by Taya at the corner. Taya gave Mundo a Kendo Stick that didn’t get all the way in because Cage recovered and hit some more power moves on Mundo. After a buckle bomb, Cage bombed Mundo into the cage. Cage tried to escape the cage but Taya was on top of the cage to block him with stick shots. Mundo hit Cage many times with that said Kendo Stick. Mundo earned a solid nearfall after a shot to the head.
Cage caught a stick shot and got the stick himself. Johnny Mundo used his parkour to dodge all of the stick shots. Cage made Mundo catch the stick so he can get a spinebuster on Mundo. Nice sequence! Mundo was then pummeled with the stick and Cage got a close nearfall of his own. Mundo hit a thrust and Pele Kick that didn’t affect cage. Cage hit the discus clothesline for a nearfall. Mundo got a nearfall off a rollup.
Taya sent a chair in the ring and hit Cage with a chairshot to the head. Striker did the classic false finish call of Vince as Mundo earned a nearfall. Mundo went to the top of the cage and gloated a bit. Rather than take the cheap win, Mundo tried to hit Starship Pain from the top of the cage. Cage dodged. Taya went in and hit a crossbody on Cage to give the rudos the advantage. Mundo and Taya hit a modified Magic Killer for a nearfall on Cage. Taya had handcuffs. Cage escaped and handcuffed Taya. Mundo accidentally hit Taya with a chair. Cage recovered and hit a sitout pile driver on the chair to earn the victory and the Aztec Medallion…
Cage defeated Johnny Mundo via pinfall in 13:29 to earn Aztec Medallion #3.
Cage celebrated with the blue bag as the show went to commercial…[C]
John’s Thoughts: The match went about 14 minutes but felt more like 7 minutes in a good way. The match didn’t drag one bit and was really fun and fast-paced. Cage is able to mix it up with the agility guys since he is a hidden agility himself. That’s the reason why he meshed so well with Willie Mack. With Mundo, you had to expect the same greatness and the two wrestlers were extremely creative. The most fun scene was the Kendo stick dodging by Mundo which looked like it came straight from an El Rey action flick.
Back in the Temple, Melissa Santos was about to introduce the Trios finals, but Dario Cueto interrupted her with some “Breaking News”. The crowd chanted “We want Lucha!” to him. Dario announced that Angelico had an “Unfortunate Accident” but the match will still go on. He said that Ivelisse and Son of Havoc will defend the titles for their team and he wished them luck…
John’s Thoughts: If I remember correctly, and this was many months ago when it was taped, Angelico suffered a legit injury while working a AAA match in Mexico. He’s okay at this point, but it’s a shame for his team, especially given the unfortunate circumstances of Ivelisse’s leg last season.
Jack Evans’s team came out first and he told everyone that they didn’t deserve his greatness. The Crew and Joey Ryan were out next. Rey Mysterio’s team was out last and Vampiro said that Rey Mysterio’s long career has influence every single wrestler in the ring. El Dragon Azteca Jr. still wore that hilariously bad Dragon “pelt” to the ring. Drago really has to let him borrow one of his masks or something…[C]
2. Son of Havoc and Ivelisse vs. Fenix, PJ Black, and Jack Evans vs. Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco, and Joey Ryan vs. Prince Puma, El Dragon Azteca Jr, and Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey, Fenix, Ivelisse and Cisco started the match. They all countered each other’s moves to earn an ovation. Fenix hit a hard kick on Ivelisse and met a power slam from Cisco. Cisco earned a chant for himself. Son of Havoc, Prince Puma, Justin Gabriel, and Cortez Castro tagged in. Puma and Havoc dominated their opponents in the corner. The Human Watermelon tagged in and more quick action ensued.
Striker and Vamp couldn’t keep up like I can’t since there is so much action. The Crew slowed things down with a team leg drop to earn a nearfall for Mr. Cisco. Vampiro wondered what happened to Bael. Cortez Castro grounded Black with a back suplex. Dragon enziguri’d Mr. Cisco. Striker asked the same question that he does every week to Vamp about El Dragon Azteca Jr. Vamp responds the same way by saying the mask is important.
Mr. Cisco hit a cool pop-up X Factor on Dragon. Cortez Castro earned the nearfall after a backslide. Son of Havoc did some of his signature spots on the Crew and tagged in Ivelisse. Joey Ryan tagged in and knocked out Ivelisse on the outside to draw massive boos. “Former Lucha Underground Champion” Fenix hit a corkscrew plancha to everyone on the outside. Prince Puma pushed PJ Black off of a plancha. Dragon sent Jack Evans outside and hit a springboard corkscrew moonsault to the outside.
PJ Black used a dangled Puma as a leapfrog. Rey flew outside, and every one essentially did some sort of tope or corkscrew to the outside. Ivelisse teased a tope but Joey Ryan used his body to block it. Ivelisse escaped and armdragged Ryan. Ivelisse dominated and hit a nice German Suplex on Ryan. Castro tried to take advantage of the distracted Ivelisse. Castro recovered and hit a brainbuster. Ryan called for the tag but Castro refused. Cortez Castro’s team was eliminated by an Ivelisse roll-up…[C]
Evans, Havoc, and Puma locked it up in the ring. Evans was sent outside with dropkicks from Puma and Havoc. Havoc and Puma met each other with forearms in the ring. Havoc hit a footstomp and standing moonsault on Puma. Ivelisse hit a few strikes on Evans. Jack Evans kicked Ivelisse and called himself the “Baddest Bitch in the Building”. Evans threw Puma out and tried to isolate Ivelisse. Ivelisse caught Evans with a high kick.
Fenix prevented Son of Havoc from entering. Ivelisse hit a kick on Fenix and a Canadian Destroyer on Jack Evans. PJ Black prevented the pin and knocked out Ivelisse with a kick to allow Jack Evans to eliminate the Trios champs…[C]
Fenix and Dragon Azteca had a battle back from the break. Fenix dominated first with a double foot stomp to Dragon’s head. Dragon Azteca and Fenix did some cool counters with Dragon Azteca ending things with a pop up DDT. Fenix countered with a pop-up superkick. Prince Puma and PJ Black tagged in as Puma did a hot tag sequence. Puma hit the benadryller on PJ Black and went for the 630.
Puma hit the 630. Jack Evans hit Puma in the balls. Puma escaped the isolation and Rey tagged in for a hot tag sequence. Rey caught Evans with a springboard crossbody. Rey hit Black with a 619 to his back. Jack Evans met the real 619. Dragon Azteca was popped up by Puma into a DDT. Rey Mysterio hit a split leg moonsault on Evans for the victory.
Rey Mysterio Jr, El Dragon Azteca Jr, and Prince Puma defeated Fenix, Jack Evans, PJ Black, Ivelisse, Son of Havoc, The Crew, and Joey Ryan via pinfall to become the new Trios Champions.
Rey’s team celebrated with their new belts as the credits rolled and the show ended…
But wait! There’s more! A hooded man walked into Pentagon Jr’s dojo where there was an alter with Samurai Swords. He called for Pentagon. Pentagon rolled in on his motorized wheelchair. The hooded man told Pentagon to “Levantate!”. The hooded man was Vampiro of course. Pentagon couldn’t get up. Vampiro went to pick up what may be Pentagon’s power candle (hmmm… Will Pruett and I might have been right when we said that Pentagon Jr. was transported to Rita Repulsa’s Dark Dimension where the Green Candle was stored). Vampiro took the melted wax and poured it on Pentagon and yelled at him to get up. Pentagon yelled in pain and tried again to get up as evil music played. Vampiro yelled again to get up, but Pentagon just did an embarrassing faceplant into the ground. Vampiro picked up Pentagon a bit and said “you’re weak”. He laid the candle right next to the fallen Pentagon as the show ended with Pentagon staring at the dark candle…[C]
John’s Thoughts: We got two long matches tonight and both of them were great. This is the regular deal with Lucha Underground when they get up and rolling. Week after week, as long as Matanza Cueto and Chavo aren’t involved, you can get fun matches consistently. That Trios final was extremely fun and so much action than I could keep up with. There were topes a plenty, flips, moonsaults, and nice psychology. Ivelisse had some more badass moments as she usually does.
Rey’s team picking up the win could be fun as they are an All-Star team of sorts. Rey really benefits from being in a Trio as he doesn’t have to go all out and possibly break his brittle legs. The one who suffers from that Trio is the human watermelon known as Dragon Azteza Jr because he looks great but he is overshadowed by his celebrity tag team partners. He never got a chance to wrestle in singles competition and establish himself and might as well be any other guy.
This was an in-ring heavy episode and is sure to satisfy fans of in-ring work. The post credits scene was interesting as it sets the table for further weeks building a return of Pentagon Jr who was one of the many causalities of Matanza. I still feel bad for his hermano Fenix, who was unceremoniously buried as champ, but it looks like they are going to spend some time building Pentagon to the main event with Vampiro being inserted back into his story in a prominent way. Thanks for watching along with me and make sure to check out Will Pruett’s member exclusive LU audio review as well as my LU Hit List coming up later.
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