The show opened with highlights of last week when Big Ryck was turned on by his associates and Dario Cueto saying that Ryck couldn't get the job done. Cueto was then shown talking to Cage, who was lifting weights because, you know, that's what makes a good wrestler. Cueto said that in his debut he sent a man to the hospital and last week he sent a message to Prince Puma. Cueto said Cage wouldn't have to wait because he would get his title shot tonight when he faces Prince Puma. Cage corrected him "When I beat Prince Puma". Cueto said something to the effect of "that remains to be seen", but I like mine better.
In some ways, I feel like Cage is a simpler version of Batista in the way that he just seems so one dimensional and stupid. If he only had three words to say his whole life I'm pretty sure they'd be "I'm a machine". Kudos to Prince Puma, who won the title back on January 7th and is now defending it twice within the same month since winning it. I am mentally preparing myself for the match by thinking of World Champions who were worse than Cage could be (and it's a VERY short list), but let's hope it does not come to that.
Matt Striker and Vampiro check in on commentary. Striker plays up an interview that will be shown later with Vampiro talking to Konnan and Prince Puma. Striker says that Prince Puma won that Lucha Underground Championship in Aztec Warfare and if you have not seen it you should find a video and watch it. Is he endorsing my illegal YouTube stream??
Introductions are sent to the ring for what Striker calls a very important match.
Match 1: Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) vs. Fenix
So apparently if you lose your Championship match you have to face Mil Muertes. Yikes. Though the idea of Muertes vs. Cage is interesting, if only because it means Cage doesn't win the title tonight. (And I really have no idea; I don't read spoilers for Lucha Underground) There was a Mil Muertes chant early on. Muertes hit a huge spear but it was only good for a two count. There were then dueling chants for "Let's go Fenix" and "Fenix sucks". Wow, this crowd is harsh. Mil Muertes went up to the top rope for what Striker said would be a superplex but Fenix reversed it into... something and hit the three count.
This was an all right match, but the crowd kind of threw me off because they were cheering for the rudo. Granted, it would have been nice to see Mil Muertes win so he could move up the ladder in line for a championship match but whatever.
A video package on Cage aired and I still do not care.
Match 2: Argenis, Super Fly and Aero Star vs. Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco and Bael
Apparently, the goons who formerly backed Big Ryck are still known as The Crew. Kind of strange in professional wrestling in 2015 they don't have some kind of adjective and are simply "The Crew". At one point, Argenis went to the top rope with Aero Star on his shoulders. Wow. The Crew hit some rapid fire spots. There were "You can't wrestle" chants directed at I assume The Crew and this crowd is so rowdy. I love it. After a triple move by each member of The Crew on Argenis, which ended with one of them doing the double foot stomp ala Finn Balor, there was a close two count. Matt Striker noted that Argenis reminded him of El Hijo Del Santo and Vampiro said that he's about two meters taller. With everyone else outside of the ring, Aero Star had Mr. Cisco up on the top rope and gave him a head scissors onto the outside which landed Cisco on everyone and wow that was just an incredible move. A 3D turned into a Codebreaker and Cortez Castro picked up the pinfall. I was expecting this to be more one-sided since The Crew should have their act together and as far as we know this is the first time that the other three have teamed, but wow this was a solid match.
Ahead of their sitdown interview Vampiro said "You couldn't cut the knife with the intensity". Yes, really. On a taped show. In the sit down interview, Konnan does the talking for Prince Puma and says that Prince Puma is pissed off because he had to defend his title and then was attacked by Cage. Konnan heeled it up and then got in the face of Vampiro. Both of these guys are fairly old but I bet they can still go, so Konnan vs. Vampiro... please?
Match 3: Prince Puma vs. Cage for the Lucha Underground Championship
Prince Puma is introduced and the champion comes out first. Ugh. What is this, WWE? Matt Striker actually asked if Prince Puma was 100% and, um, since he has had a title defense since winning his title and was beat down by Cage I'm pretty sure he's not 100%, Matt. Dueling chants of "Let's go Puma" and "Let's go Cage" makes me wonder if they were handing out free booze in the Temple on this night. After a fairly competitive match that could have gone either way but seemed to be drifting in favor of Prince Puma, Cage put his hands on the official and then hit a low blow on the champ for the DQ ending. This lead to Cage continuing the beating on Prince Puma until Konnan came in to try and stop it. Cage then beat down Konnan for his efforts and hooray for everyone in the universe except for me because this feud continues.
Well, this hasn't been the worst episode of Lucha Underground. The first match was all right while the second was really good, just above any expectations I had in place for it. The main event left something to be desired because of the DQ finish, but really, what was I expecting? Yes, I was hoping for Cage to lose and go back to where from whence he came, but I think I knew somewhere deep down inside that wasn't going to happen. At least Konnan didn't end up turning on Prince Puma and align himself with Cage, which I thought might be coming.
Ideally, I'd like there to be some sort of ramifications for the actions of Cage. I'd like for Dario Cueto to say, look, you had your chance. We pushed you to the front and you not only got yourself disqualified but you also beat up Konnan. Send him back down the ranks and have him face Big Ryck, Mil Muertes and whoever else and then possibly go back to him in time if needed. But this will more than likely just continue to play out and possibly even with Konnan eventually turning on Prince Puma anyway.
And what the heck was that Angela Fong bit at the end about? For someone who has been lurking in the shadows of The Temple, how did she get into the office of Dario Cueto? Could I get into his office? Perhaps he needs better security.
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