By John Moore
Lucha Underground TV
Taped at Los Angeles, California at The Temple
Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Angelico losing the Trios titles was spotlighted in the introductory video. Also highlighted, was the LAPD storyline, and Mil Muertes facing Matanza Cueto leading to Graver Consequences later tonight. This episode was titled “Graver Consequences”…
Dario Cueto wasn’t in The Temple, he was at a bar meeting with LA City Councilman “Delgado”. Dario Cueto gave him a wad of cash. Delgado said his employer would be pleased. Dario Cueto tried to rush out but the councilman stopped him. Dario had a beer, while Delgado had a whiskey. Delgado called Dario sloppy and strongly insisted that the LAPD had someone undercover in The Temple. Delgado said The Temple was very important to “[his] Employer” and when his dissension is complete, he will come by personally. This surprised Dario. Delgado said the employer was waiting a long time. Delgado asked Dario if he thought Matanza was going to have all of the fun. This ended the scene… [C]
Matt Striker went through the introductions quick and passed it to Melissa Santos who introduced The Crew and Joey Ryan in a triple threat for the last Aztec Medallion. Striker passively said that the Gift of the Gods championship match was next week…
1. Mr. Cisco vs. Cortez Castro vs. Joey Ryan in a triple-threat match for Aztec Medallion #7. Vampiro pushed that Mr. Cisco was becoming a fan favorite while Striker said that Cortez Castro was his athletic favorite. The Crew sent Joey Ryan outside and had an even battle themselves. Castro earned a nearfall after a delayed suplex. Joey Ryan snuck in and stole the victory with a schoolboy.
Joey Ryan defeated Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco via pinfall in 1:24 to earn Aztec Medallion #7.
Joey Ryan did a victory lap and stuck the blue medallion bag in his trunks. Matanza vs. Mil Muertes in Graver Consequences was hyped for the main event… [C]
John’s Thoughts: Strange. Yet another medallion match that lasted around two minutes. They went by so fast that I don’t remember most of the people who have them. As for the intro cinematic, the “higher power” storyline seems to be a standard pro wrestling trope, but I wonder what kind of twist Lucha Underground will have on it. Now to give an honest, non-spoiler, detail from my many visits to the temple after this was taped, I honestly have no clue who this higher power is so I’m intrigued.
Mil Muertes was praying in front of his shrine as Catrina approached Muertes and said she has been waiting 197 years for this moment. She said that was a long time to be a prisoner of darkness. Catrina said that Mil only spent days in the mausoleum of stone before Catrina took him to safety. Catrina said as a man, Mil took weeks roaming the underworld before Catrina freed him from death’s crypt and made him more powerful than ever (in reference to his match against Fenix last year).
Catrina said that was her plan last year but this year before Mil breaks every bone in Matanza’s body and closes the coffin; she wants him to see her lick the face of Matanza Cueto, lick the face of a god. Which will make them immortal. Mil took Catrina’s hand and they both walked out of their shrine room. Unbeknownst to them, King Cuerno was hiding behind Mil’s TV and he crept out and did a pose in front of Mil’s shrine…
The commentators announced that Team Havoc was receiving their rematch for the trios titles. Dario Cueto gave Havoc and Ivelisse Johnny Mundo as a partner due to Angelico’s injury. Dragon Azteca Jr still wore his dumb Dragon thing to the ring… [C]
2. Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Johnny Mundo (w/ Taya Valkyrie) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. in a trios match for the Lucha Underground Trios Titles. Ivelisse started the match off against the human watermelon. Dragon Azteca landed a front slam to start off. Ivelisse quickly got up and maintained several wristlocks. Azteca and Ivelisse had an even chain Lucha sequence. Striker pointed out Ivelisse’s injury history.
Son of Havoc tagged in to face Rey Mysterio. Havoc managed to land a standing shooting star for a quick two count. Rey got a rollup attempt on his end. Rey and Havoc held each other’s leg and agreed to let go at the same time because they couldn’t go anywhere. Johnny Mundo stole a blind tag and Puma tagged in on his side. Mundo managed to send Puma outside with a feint kick where Taya put the boots to Puma on the outside. Ivelisse stopped Taya from interfering.
Mundo had the boots on Puma inside of the ring. Puma escaped the attack with a corkscrew roundhouse. He tagged Azteca in and Havoc tagged in on his end. Azteca got a rollup after a springboard armdrag. Azteca hit a few flying clotheslines on Havoc. Azteca came back with kicks. Havoc hit a cutter to earn the nearfall. Havoc tagged in Ivelisse much to Mundo’s chagrin. Ivelisse and Havoc traded quick tags to dominate Azteca.
Rey tagged in and got a nearfall after a victory roll. Rey set up Havoc for the 619 but Ivelisse tripped Rey before the move could happen. Rey dodged a disaster kick which hit Ivelisse instead. Azteca performed a huracanrana on Mundo into the outside railing. Havoc earned a nearfall after blocking a 619 attempt. Havoc didn’t drop the next attempt. That move set up Puma to hit the 630 senton and Puma picked up the victory.
Rey Mysterio Jr, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. defeated Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Johnny Mundo via pinfall in 8:00 to retain the Trios Championships.
The champs celebrated with their titles in the ring. Ivelisse went to check on Son of Havoc, but Taya blindsided her and hit her with punches. This drew massive boos. What’s funny is Rey, Puma, and Azteca were just shown leaving the ring. I guess it was a babyface lapse in judgement?
John’s Thoughts: Not the most epic of trios matches, but a solid trios match between two good teams. Of course, the story was about rudos Taya and Mundo being interjected into the technico team and it hasn’t gotten old quite yet but I fear it might soon. Seeing Rey Mysterio wrestle in 2016 is still a spectacle too so there’s that as well.
Melissa Santos introduced Graver Consequences next and the Dia de los Muertes skeleton people went to the ring per tradition. The crowd was respectfully quiet for this. The skeleton people laid floral reefs on top of each of the four coffins. One of the skeleton guys had stilts. The last commercial break of the night happened after the competitors made it to the ring…[C]
3. Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) vs. Matanza Cueto (w/ Dario Cueto) in a Graver Consequences match for the Lucha Underground Championship. Mil didn’t wait for the bell to ring before he put the beatdown on Matanza. Mil beat down Matanza in the corner. Matanza came right back with a German Suplex and a clothesline. Matanza tossed Mil on top of the closed coffin outside. Matanza put two coffins next to each other. Catrina hit Matanza in the back with a chair which he no sold. Mil saved Catrina by spearing him into the crowd. Mil put another coffin next to the other two.
Matanza recovered and power bombed Mil on the coffin. Matanza tried to loosen the turnbuckle, but Mil caught up with him and brought Matanza to the ring apron atop of the coffins. Mil Muertes hit a flatliner across all three coffins. Dario Cueto tried to power Matanza up with the key. Mil Muertes dragged one of the coffins in the ring it had a broken top. Dario Cueto grabbed Mil’s leg to distract him and allow Matanza to hit gutwrench German Suplexes.
Mil escaped a third consecutive suplex and hit a shoulder block to ground Matanza. Mil finished unhooking the turnbuckle and grabbed the hook as a weapon. Matanza blocked the hook and smashed the hook on Mil’s face in return. Matanza ripped off Mil’s mask revealing his Judas Mesias hair. Matanza hit Mil with the hook several times over the exposed part of Mil’s mask.
Mil recovered and chokeslammed Matanza on the coffin in the ring. Mil found a toolbox under the ring. He found a lead chainmail glove in the toolbox which baffled Striker and Vampiro. Mil punched Matanza several times with the chainmail. Striker called Mil “Dr. Doom”. Matanza turned the tables with a low blow. Matanza tossed the lid outside which would prevent him from winning with the casket in the ring. Matanza took a while to move some coffins around.
Matanza got Mil in one of the coffins but Mil blocked the lid closure with his leg. Mil Muertes’s hand broke the top of the coffin which allowed him to choke and slam Matanza on the coffin. Matanza took a while to set up more coffins. Mil hit Matanza with the ring bell. Dario Cuerto tried to power up Matanza with the key again before Catrina slapped Dario in the face. Matanza hit Catrina with a chair to the back.
Matanza picked up Mil’s rock and put it in one of the coffins. Striker said that this might have taken away Mil’s power. Matanza put Catrina and the rock in one of the coffins. Mil ran at Matanza with a tope and got fired up. Mil went back in the ring to drag a silver coffin inside. Mil hit a sloppy powerslam next to the coffin. Mil opened the coffin and put Matanza in it. Matanza blocked it himself. Matanza hit a throat punch to escape. Matanza then powerbombed Mil on the silver coffin. Matanza managed to hit a sloppy powerslam himself to put Mil in the coffin and win the match.
Matanza Cueto defeated Mil Muertes in a Graver Consequences Match in 14:48 to retain the Lucha Underground Championship.
The crowd booed the lame finish which Striker acknowledged. Dario Cueto went to check on Catrina’s coffin but she was gone. The Dia de los Muertos skeleton people had epic music as they took Mil’s coffin “to the underworld”. One of the skeleton people was King Cuerno much to Matt Striker’s surprise. The credits rolled and the show ended…
But wait? Of course! There is more! Councilman Delgado met with a man inside of a limousine. He handed this mystery man that $50,000 wad of cash that Dario Cueto gave him earlier. Delgado said he talked to Senior Dario about preparing the temple for the arrival of this mystery man. Delgado said that Dario thinks that Matanza might be the most powerful person walking the earth. He said that’s not so because “You are! My lord!”…
John’s Thoughts: That was a pretty good grave consequences match and they tried their best to utilize all four coffins in the match. The match, just like Aztec Warfare, wasn’t as good as last year’s iteration though. I can’t help but speculate that this match would have been better if Matanza wasn’t the opponent due to his inexperience. Hell, I’m confident that King Cuerno would have put on a much better match with the true monster of the temple, Mil Muertes. The end of the match was sloppy as well with that lame powerslam finish that Mil was forced to sell.
This was an entertaining episode of Lucha Underground with a huge focus on the LAPD storyline. While I like the Black Lotus/Dragon Azteca storyline a bit more, at least this storyline is being given more steam without relying on Joey Ryan and Rickey Reyes. The intrigue is in this “higher power” which I have absolutely no clue of even though I’ve attended many tapings after this one. This was a comedown week after last week’s emotional match. What’s a bit odd is they didn’t really hype up next week’s Gift of the Gods match where Striker only gave a passive comment about it earlier. I am not sure what to read into that. Check out my Hit List later on as well as Will Pruett’s Dot Net member exclusive audio review.
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