Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 1: Wheel of Misfortune
Friends, fans, fellow members of the Lucha Kliq, the wait is finally over. Lucha Underground has officially returned. As you may recall, early last month, I posted an article that counted down the top ten matches of the first two seasons, so, if you require an intro to what Lucha Underground is all about and want to check out some of the better matches of seasons past, go check it out. But for now, let’s get right into the action.
One of the things I love most about Lucha Underground is the fact that it tries to capture the feel of an episodic television show with an ongoing story as well as that of a wrestling promotion. As such, last season ended with Dario Cueto, the owner and promoter of Lucha Underground, being taken to jail for the murder of Mr. Cisco, a wrestler who was forced to wear a wire by two undercover cops posing as wrestlers. We’ll go into more detail on that storyline as it develops this season. Right now though, we open with Cueto in prison being let out thanks to some “friends in high places.” After a surreal, but not unwelcome cameo from former WWE veteran, The Honky Tonk Man as a prison guard, Dario leaves the prison and enters a limo where we finally get a glimpse of Dario’s mysterious employer. Throughout season two this character has been eluded to and built up as a serious force to be reckoned with, but we still know very little about him. As cool as the mystery surrounding the character has been, now that we’ve seen his armored hand and heard his deep gravely voice, one can’t help but expect to hear “I’ll get you next time Gadget, next time.” I joke, but this scene was great. It gives us just enough of this guy to intrigue the fans without giving the secret away up front.
We finally return to the Temple, which looks to have been refurbished a bit since last season, what with the Aztec symbol in the center of the ring now painted red. Dario is in the ring with his brother, the Lucha Underground Champion, Matanza. After announcing Rey Mysterio vs. Pentagon Dark for the main event, Dario reveals the latest in a long line of genius ideas, Dario’s Dial of Doom, a huge spinning wheel with the names of all the competitors who have yet to face Matanza one-on-one on it. Dario says that whoever’s name comes up will receive face Matanza for the title in the opening contest. Dario spins the wheel and Son of Havoc’s name is selected, leading to our first match.
Match #1: Son of Havoc vs. Matanza: Lucha Underground Title Match
This was a great match, with both athletes showcasing their skills in the best ways. What really surprised me was the amount of offense that Havoc, who’s always been portrayed as something of an underdog, got against Matanza. Most of Matanza’s matches have a tendency to be a bit one sided to show the big man’s dominance, but here, there was a great deal of nice back and forth between the monstrous Matanza and the much smaller Son of Havoc. I counted, Havoc got no less than five two-counts over the course of the match. This is not to say Matanza looked weak, one of my favorite spots came early in the match when Havoc went for a flying cross body block and bounced off the un-phased Matanza’s chest like a ping pong ball. Despite nearly dominating the second half of the match, Havoc came up short after Matanza hit Wrath of the Gods and laid out Havoc for the pin.
Next, we go into Dario Cueto’s office, which, as any Lucha Underground fan will know, almost always leads to something good. In this case, Johnny Mundo, flanked by his girlfriend Taya and the World-Wide Underground, barges in demanding a Lucha Underground title match. Dario, not one to be intimidated by a guy wearing bedazzled pants, reminds Johnny that last time he was in the ring, he and the World Wide Underground lost the Trios Titles to Fenix, Drago and Aerostar. Johnny says that they only lost the titles because Angelico interfered, and he’s since been taken care of. This leads to a flashback in which the World Wide Underground ambushed Angelico outside the temple on the night of Ultima Lucha Dos. After a beat down, Johnny slams Angelico’s legs in a car door, nearly crippling him. While Dario finds violence and pain of any kind amusing, he’s still not giving Johnny a title match. However, he does note that Taya was victorious against Ivelisse at Ultima Lucha Dos and gives her a match for Sexy Star’s Gift of The Gods title later tonight. For our next segment, we return to the ring where Ivelisse is on the mic airing her beef with the mysterious Catrina for interfering in her match against Taya at Ultima Lucha Dos. Pissed off, Ivelisse challenges Catrina to a match at Ultima Lucha Tres. The lights go out and Catrina appears on top of Dario’s office to accept the challenge, meaning that we’re only one episode into the season and we already have a match set for the finale.
Match #2: Sexy Star vs. Taya: Gift of the Gods Title Match
Out of the three matches on tonight’s card, this one was probably the weakest. That’s not a slight mind you, the weakest match on a Lucha Underground show is often better than a typical main event match for RAW or Smackdown. Taya is a great wrestler and if you read my Top 10 article, you’ll know my thoughts on Sexy Star. I particularly liked how the match opened with a test of strength, something you don’t often see in a women’s match. The match came to an end when Johnny interfered while PJ Black and Jack Evans distracted the ref. The WWU’s plan backfired however, when Taya collided with Johnny, giving Sexy an opening to roll Taya up.
After the match, The WWU beat down Sexy Star, but the Trios Champions, Drago, Fenix and Areostar made the save.
Once again, we return to Dario’s office. This time, it’s disturbed and psychotic Marty “The Moth” Martinez who wants a Lucha Underground Title match. I really like Marty in this scene. Usually, Marty is shown to be over the top manic and psychotic, but here, that madness is clearly there just below the surface, but Marty himself is subdued and soft spoken, adding a nice extra layer of madness to the character. Dario says that, as his Spanish ancestors learned when they met the Aztecs, if you want to conquer anything, you need to be ready for war. Marty says that he’s ready for anything and Dario gives him a chance to prove it. Killshot wants the dog tags that Marty stole from him last season, and Dario is giving him a chance to take them back in what he’s calling a weapons of match destruction match, which will be taking place next week.
Main Event: Rey Mysterio vs. Pentagon Dark
As you’d expect from one of the most popular stars in Lucha Underground and the most recognizable Luchador in the world, this was a great match with a lot of cool spots including a nicely executed top-rope frankenstiener by Rey. Rey had the definite advantage in agility and experience, but Pentagon had the advantage in mat-based wrestling and ruthlessness. It was a very competitive match with a lot of fast movements and some great back and forth. Towards the end of the match, Pentagon had a stare down with his former master, Lucha Underground color commentator, Vampiro, causing Vampiro to leave the arena. Shorty after, Rey hit the 619 for the win. I really liked this match, and I give huge props to Rey Mysterio. After all these years and more surgeries than I can count, the king of lucha libre is still just as great as he ever was. One little nitpick though, as much as I like Pentagon’s new mask, the vest sadly reminds me way too much of Roman Reigns. Also, if I could change one thing about this match, I would have given Pentagon the win. No disrespect to Rey, but storyline wise, Pentagon just needs it more. Here’s the thing. The Pentagon Dark persona was debuted at Ultima Lucha Dos and billed as a newer and deadlier version of Pentagon Jr. However, despite having shown a new ruthless streak, as of right now, Pentagon has yet to actually win a match since debuting this allegedly more powerful incarnation.
After the match, Pentagon beat down Rey Mysterio and nearly broke his arm but El Dragon Azteca Jr. made the save.
The final segment of the show brings us to the locker room where Prince Puma is lamenting his loss to Rey Mysterio in the main event of Ultima Lucha Dos. Vampiro enters and tries to give Puma a pep talk, but Puma clearly doesn’t trust him. Vamp says that Puma needs to find himself again, and to do that, he needs to go after the man who took the title from him, Mil Muertes.
Awards: For this series of reviews, I will be giving three awards for what I felt was the match of the night, the spot of the night and the segment of the night.
Match of the Night: It’s a close call, but I have to give it to Matanza vs. Son of Havoc. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting Havoc to get nearly as much offense as he did. When Lucha Underground first started, Son of Havoc was often looked at as a joke, to the point where some friends of mine referred to him as “Son of Jobber.” Now though, he’s holding his own against the unstoppable champion. He may have come up short in this match, but I’m still expecting big things from Son of Havoc this season.
Spot of the Night:
Our spot of the night comes from the Son of Havoc/Matanza match. There’s no shortage of great spots in this match, be it Matanza completely tanking Havoc’s cross body block or Havoc’s perfectly executed elbow drop from the ring post, but me, I have to give it to Havoc getting tossed up after Matanza powers out of a pinfall and immediately transitioning it into a cross-arm breaker. The cross arm breaker is a commonly seen move in Lucha Underground, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one executed in such a way. When Matanza powered out, I thought it was the turning point of the match, but when Havoc locked in the cross arm breaker, I could hardly believe my eyes.
Segment of the Night: At first, I was going to give this to The World Wide Underground beating down Angelico, but upon a second viewing, I’m going with Marty the Moth in Dario’s office. As I said, I like this new, more subdued and menacing Marty and the way he and Dario play off one another is great. I particularly like how, at the end of the segment we can see that even Dario is visibly creeped out by Marty. Bare in mind, this is the same man who laughed as he watched his brother, who looks like the love-child of Bane and Leatherface, squash a man’s head like a grape.
Final Thoughts: I am so happy that Lucha Underground is back. The new season is off to a great start with some interesting story lines set up already. Thus far, season three looks to be continuing the level of quality that I’ve come to expect from Lucha Underground.