I had to catch the show on my DVR after taking young DolphDrew Jericho Tracker to a routine outpatient procedure. He's good, I'm good, this show is so, so good. So here we go.
Ivelisse demands a title shot at the Disciples of Death for the Trios belts. Catrina balks, saying they have to beat another team first, which leads right to ...
Angelico, Ivelisse, and Son of Havoc vs. Chavo Gurrero, Cortez, and Cisco A quick match, almost a squash by the good guys. Ivelisse remains the most popular of the three and trades kicks and throws with the bad guys. Her team hits simultaneous attacks to ringside. Cortez, seemingly to hedge his bets as an undercover cop, does the bare minimum in his work and eventually eats a double stomp and pinfall by Angelico. Chavo chews out his teammates, but Texano charges in with his rope. Chavo runs away.
Johnny Mundo shows off his martial arts and says he's the real star of the show, and he isn't afraid of Cage.
Joey Ryan taunts Cortez backstage and says he'll show him how a real cop/wrestler/swarthy porn daddy gets the job done.
Joey Ryan vs. Cage Ryan works the match like a combination of Rick Rude and Don Muraco, making him very likable. As a true showman, he mocks Cage while working his shoulder, and this is the only way Ryan has a chance here. Cage eventually hits a beefy screwdriver for the pin.
Mundo attacks Cage in the ring with a spear, but Cage flattens him with Weapon X, the side Russian Flatliner, and Cage is getting scary over in the temple for a white hoss surrounded by flippy luchadores.
Rey Mysterio trains Dragon Azteca and relates the history of the temple. Dario Cueto and the original Azteca wanted to revive the games between the original 7 tribes, and Dario went too far, relying on dark magic to gain power (!), eventually killing his son (!!) to allow the body to be taken over by a demon (!!!) and it's Matanza(!!!!) But Rey thinks there's a way to unite the 7 tribes, presumably in concert with Aerostar, the time-traveler (MY GOD, THIS SHOW!). Rey displayed more martial art-ish moves than I remember seeing from him.
Prince Puma vs. Pentagon Jr. The crowd is rabid and split, and this feels like a big deal in their first-ever match. Puma shows off his superhuman agility, and Pentagon relies on more power moves. Pentagon hits that unbelievably loud chest slap, and Puma shows some attitude by shoving Pentagon's head around and mouthing off (although we never hear it). Pentagon hurls him into the ringpost outside and hits a powerbomb backbreaker, very similar to what Cage did earlier, prompting the announcers to say he's copying moves from the other performers. Striker is a comics fan, and Pentagon's skull mask combined with this gimmick is similar to Taskmaster, the Avenger enemy.
Puma hits a lovely rebound cutter, but Pentagon turns a turnbuckle floatover into a Backstabber. Puma comes back, but can't connect with the 450, as Pentagon nails him squarely with his knees. He hits the running cradle piledriver and wraps Puma up for a surfboard submission, but Puma slides backward. Pentagon adjusts to a modified backslide, but Puma bridges ONTO THE TOP OF HIS HEAD because he is not of this earth, and gets the pinfall. Pentagon celebrates, and when the ref tells him what happened, Pentagon superkicks him out cold. The crowd loves this because he's a magnificent bastard. Puma take him down and tries Pentagon's armbreaker! Pentagon resists, but Puma has the upper hand, and injured champion Mil Muertes STANDS UP. Puma stares him down while releasing Pentagon, establishing him as much as a good guy as Pentagon is the bad guy while warning both men that he can go there if he has to. MAGNIFICENT.
Vampiro, who has been mum about his connection to Pentagon this week, does not look happy with Puma getting so close breaking his protege's arm.
Sexy Star runs backstage from something fearsome. She runs into The Mack, who asks who did this to her. Star can only say "Moth." Mack declares he'll give him the business. But Star breathlessly says "Not him. HER." and points behind Mack. He turns around, eyes wide at something unseen, and we're out.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I had to watch this over the course of a couple of days because I had papers to write and tests to study for, having returned to school last month.
I has ecstatic to see that Mr. Cisco is still hanging around as he was my guilty pleasure of last season. I think that guy has massive reserves of charisma that he hasn't quite tapped into yet but could given an opportunity.
Also, Angelico has completely grown on me. I couldn't stand him for most of last season, though I had to admire his offense. After the last couple of shows last season plus his work so far this season, I'm legitimately a fan.
I liked them ignoring the aftermath of the Mundo vs Del Rio match, only noting that he won, then working in the clip from after he'd thrown Del Rio through the window, vowing that Alberto would never step foot in the temple again.
Cage looks like he's managed to get bigger during the off season. They kind of lost track of him after his feud with Puma ended, but it looks like they're going to utilize him properly this year.
Joey Ryan... I became a fan of Joey Ryan during his NWA Hollywood run with Karl Anderson, shortly before Anderson headed off to Japan. I... wasn't a fan of his in this show. If I didn't know who Ryan was and didn't have faith that Lucha Underground would do something worthwhile, I honestly would have fast forwarded this match. In fact, I started to do so and then stopped myself. It ended far, far better than it started, but I don't think Lucha Underground stands to gain much from Ryan.
Rey Mysterio did a decent job of acting here, which is impressive considering how much his promos have sucked for the past 2 decades.
I'm curious as to where the attempt to unite the Aztec tribes will lead.
Obviously, Puma is one of the members. Marty the Moth claims to be a descendant of the Aztecs and it could be interesting to see them try to get him on board. Dragon Azteca is presumably going to be one of the 7. Will the other 4 be people already on the roster or will they bring in new people? (Or am I just imagining that this is where the storyline will be going? I'm envisioning a team of 7 facing off against Mil Muertes, the Disciples of Death, and whomever he recruits to his side. (King Cuerno will obviously be on Muertes' team, then turn on him without joining the other side.))
Prince Puma vs Pentagon Jr was as good as I was hoping, with an ending that was both satisfying and protected both men. And it's a testament to how good booking works. Halfway through last season, nobody would have given a shit about Puma vs Pentagon. Just a few episodes into season two and it's a legit dream match that the crowd was extremely hot to see. If Roman Reigns jumped to Lucha Underground, they could make him the hottest guy in the company in less than 2 months.
I sincerely hope they unveil the Mothess next week because if it's who I believe it is, I want to see her in the ring pronto.
So, given the laws transitive property, Matt Hardy and CM Punk are not only better than the tag team champions, but also better than Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. Interesting! Sad to see Evan Bourne's undefeated streak go down in flames like that.