We start with a quick recap of last season and Lotus and Dario Cueto (or his twin brother Daniel) running for their lives after Lotus killed Dragon Azteca. A new Dragon rose to spray paint a question mark on the temple billboard. Last week, Lotus led three bros to Cueto, who fed them to Matanza.
Pentagon Jr. interrupts Prince Puma's workout to speak on this week's match against the Disciples of Death, whom he will sacrifice to his master. Puma, he adds, will be next. Puma silently objects and backs him up with a flip kick. He snarls at Pentagon and leaves. Has Puma not talked ever? Konnan did all the speaking for him last season, right?
Johnny Mundo vs. Killshot I forgot Mundo went rudo last season, and he is playing it up hard tonight. Killshot gets an early highlight by improving upon Trish Stratus's Matrix back bend before leaping outside with a moonsault. Mundo takes over with a Goldberg spear at ringside. Back in, Killshot runs into a C4, and Mundo controls until he goes up. Killshot knocks him down onto the second turnbuckle, trapping him in the ropes and connecting with a superkick, DDT and a tasty 450 splash. He can't get the pin though, and a ref bump allows Mundo to heave Killshot into the air and meet him with a behind-the-back groin kick on the way down. End of the World gets the pin.
Mundo turns his attention to injured champ Mil Muertes on his throne, but out comes Cage (Striker: The Swoleverine! The Iron Man! The Machine!) to challenge Mundo. Mundo runs away, so Cage threatens Muertes. Mundo sneaks back in to attack and escapes before Cage can press slam him.
Marty the Moth has Sexy Star tied to a chair and scares her with his crazy demeanor and creepy laughter. He holds a moth to her face and says it's almost time for them to return to the temple. Well, that was icky. Not as bad as Jericho breaking Chyna's hand with a hammer, but still.
A lengthy promo introduces us to P.J. Black, the Darewolf, who fights biker luchas in a hotel parking lot. This is the kind of presentation Baron Corbin should get in NXT. It goes on for a good while, establishing Black as a fearless thrill-seeker with martial arts skills.
P.J. Black vs. The Mack The Mack gets a lot of love from the audience to start, but this is intended as a showcase for Black. Vampiro teases Striker for almost calling Black by his WWE name of Justin Gabriel. Mack connects with a beefy leg lariat, and later catches Black with a Samoan drop into a STANDING MOONSAULT. They trade chops (not all as loud as last week, so maybe thy don't sweeten them in post after all). Black hits the Blue Thunder and goes up for a 450, but Mack rolls away when Black works the crowd too long. Black tries a springboard move, but Mack catches him with an RKO AND GETS THE PIN. That was a lot of build-up for Black leading to that loss. Let's see if this alters his character any. Mack, we are reminded, came back from having Cage crush his head on a cinder block last season.
A video montage introduces Kobra Moon, a luchadora mixing Catwoman and snake imagery.
Trios Champions Disciples of Death w/Catrina vs. Pentagon Jr. and Puma During the match, Vampiro plays coy about any direction he's giving Pentagon regarding Muertes or Puma, but Striker doesn't buy it. Conversely, Vampiro accuses Puma of sandbagging on his tag partner. The story of the match is the tension between the faces which easily overshadowed the moves. Pentagon takes off the gloves to dish out big chest slaps. He jumps in to save Puma more than once and eventually steals the pinfall after Puma hits the 630. The two go at it, and Pentagon tries for the armbreaker, but Puma escapes it (seemingly the first to do so). Pentagon leaves the ring, taunting Puma.
In a dark room, the new Dragon Azteca listens to an unseen figure talking about inherited mantles and legends. The figure says he would have been the Dragon too, but he chose another path and another mask, and that worked out pretty well. The camera turns to reveal Rey Mysterio.
It's hard to live up to last week's episode, and this was all about setting the table for new characters and feuds.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Konnan did all the speaking for Puma last season. Puma was going to talk for himself near the end of the season but - in Maggie Simpson style - he was interrupted before he could.
Mack doing the kip up to the standing moonsault was unbelievable. I have no problem with Mack getting the win, it feels like there should be more with him, but the debut of PJ Black seemed off.
Sexy Star did escape the armbreaker last season, but Pentagon's got a good success rate for it. I'm excited for Pentagon vs Puma (vs Muertes) and Cage vs Mundo, and whatever Rey ends up doing, btu this episode itself didn't do a lot for me.
Remember when Pentagon Jr. was on a losing streak and it lead to a storyline that made him one of the most over guys in the company? It's like they're purposely going down the list of things WWE keeps fucking up and showing them the proper way to do it.
Johnny Mundo as a heel is a good thing.
I, too, have no problem with Mack getting the win. As Striker pointed out, Willie Mack is a seasoned temple competitor, whereas Darewolf was there for the first time. They made Black look strong and he lost when a high risk didn't pay off. Where's the thrill if you aren't risking repercussions, after all?
What I didn't like was that right after a super serious promo airs, PJ comes out all super smiley. Those two images didn't mesh well.
The main event was good. Nothing outstanding, but a solid outing primarily intended to further a storyline but with some decent wrestling.
It will be interesting to see how Rey does when working with real scripts and multiple takes.
The women's division has some serious potential. Ivelisse is healthy again. Taya Valkyrie will be appearing sometime soon. If Marty the Moth's sister is who I suspect it will be, that's definitely a boon. I have no idea who Kobra Moon is, but I'm intriqued. They might not be quite up to NXT levels but they can easily surpass them storyline/acting-wise.
I wasn't big on Mack until he and Mack had a best of the Attitude/ECW era hardcore match at Ultima Lucha last year. Didn't like his build, but now lumpy black guy with afro pick doing cruiserweight moves while making faces like a cross between Dizzy Gillepsie and Junkyard Dog might be one of the greatest combos I've seen in wrestling in months!
On the opposite hand. Everything Justin Gabriel. The production team that puts together the backstage and out of the ring segments for Lucha Underground deserve several awards. They can make anyone look the star of their own action series. The "darewulf" segment did the impossible and made Gabriel look like a badass instead of the world's ugliest prettyboy. Then he comes out smiling and high fiving everyone like he's at his sweet 16th party all over again. He still takes five minutes to do a top rope move! His new name is dumb. Vampiro is right just call him the Darewulf! I'm glad he jobbed on his debut.
Originally posted by CruelAngel777 On the opposite hand. Everything Justin Gabriel. The production team that puts together the backstage and out of the ring segments for Lucha Underground deserve several awards. They can make anyone look the star of their own action series. The "darewulf" segment did the impossible and made Gabriel look like a badass instead of the world's ugliest prettyboy. Then he comes out smiling and high fiving everyone like he's at his sweet 16th party all over again. He still takes five minutes to do a top rope move! His new name is dumb. Vampiro is right just call him the Darewulf! I'm glad he jobbed on his debut.
Justin Gabriel might be the first misstep from LU. That video didn't do anything for me and he just doesn't look like he belongs there. Granted, wasn't a fan of his in WWE so he has a up hill battle to win me over here, but I don't see it happening. I just don't see him doing much. Willie Mack continues to defy the odds and is quite awesome.
Needs more Marty the Moth! I thought Sexy Star already escaped in one of the promo video for the new season? Why is she still tied up?
Pentagon Jr has very sneaky like, become the best character on the show. He started out looking like 'enhancement talent' and now he fucking owns the place.why is it so hard for other companies to build up their workers like this? Who was the last WWE guy to do this?
I knew Rey was coming and this was an interesting introduction for him. Is that stuff about the mask correct or is it just made up for the show?
Striker and Vampiro are getting better and better. I love what they are adding to the matches and are still carrying on storylines without sounding like stooges. Thank god LU doesn't have them shill for ElRey every 30 seconds.
Thread rated: 4.96
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