Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 5: The Prince and the Monster

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Lucha Underground. To open the show this week, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: DARIO’S, DIAL, OF, DOOM! This time around, the dial lands on none other than Prince Puma, who will take on Matanza in tonight’s main event. Dario takes a moment to get some great heel heat by saying that while Puma may have been the first champion, Matanza is the best champion. The segment then ends with a glorious mic drop from El Jefe.

Match #1: Ivelisse vs. La Mariposa

Even though there is no actual women’s division in Lucha Underground, I still love it when two women get a chance to go at it and show up a lot of the women in… that other company. This match in particular was really good, with a lot of really brutal looking submission holds and slams. However, as great as the two women in this match are, the real star here is, of course, Mariposa’s creepy brother, our old pal, Marty the Moth. Every time Ivelisse got hung up on the ropes or stuck at the turnbuckle, Marty would try desperately to assault her in his own creepy way. There was even one point when Marty stared directly into the camera and said “Now the Fun Begins.” He was so twisted in fact, that the crowd started chanting “Kill the Moth” during the match. In many ways this was a two-on-one handicap match for Ivelisse. The match came to an end when Ivelisse hit a very impressive sunset power bomb for the win.

Winner: Ivelisse

Naturally, the moth tribe aren’t exactly known for their grace in defeat, so after the match, Marty and Mariposa took turns beating down Ivelisse.

Next, we go to Dario’s office. This time, Johnny Mundo has a bone to pick with El Jefe. Johnny is pissed that “Mr. Losing Streak” Prince Puma gets a title shot and he doesn’t. Dario simply responds by saying that it was fate that Puma gets a title shot tonight. Johnny however, does not believe in fate. Fate didn’t give him his glorious abs, he earned those abs through hard work, but Dario still refuses to give him a title shot. Johnny then asks for a shot at the Gift of the Gods title, but Dario decides to give a shot to Jack Evans instead. Afterall, Jack was the one who pinned Sexy Star in the match last week. Pissed, Johnny storms off.

After that, we get a brief vignette that tells us to “Follow the White Rabbit” and ends by saying “They’ll be Here Soon.”

Match #2: Cage vs. Texano: Match Two in the Best of Five Series

Once again, with two great talents like Cage and Texano, this match was a blast. Both men enjoy something of a brawling style and it shows. While Texano was certainly impressive, Cage had a lot more impressive spots and was dominant throughout most of the match. Overall, I found this one to be considerably more impressive than their first one, but ultimately, the machine called Cage scored another victory in the series, meaning that’s he’s only one match away from Dario’s Ultimate Opportunity.

Winner: Cage

Next up, we go to the locker room where Ivelisse is recuperating from the attack by the Moth siblings. It is here we learn that since splitting up with Son of Havoc, Ivelisse has found herself a new boyfriend, Jeremiah. Jeremiah is actually portrayed by none other than well-known indie wrestler, Sami Callahan, or Solomon Crowe for those who only know him from his brief time in NXT. Jeremiah wastes no time in demonstrating what a complete lowlife he is. He shows up late to the show, he’s condescending and overprotective towards his girlfriend and he appears to have a drinking problem. Just as a personal note, I sincerely hope that these two are not still together by the end of the season, as Ivelisse can do, and in fact has done much better. Anywho, when the subject of Jeremiah joining the roster comes up, Ivelisse refuses to allow it. Since Son of Havoc, she’s been making a conscious effort to keep her personal life and her work life separate. Jeremiah only responds by taking a swig from his flask.

Main Event: Prince Puma vs. Matanza: Lucha Underground Title Match

With arguably two of the most talented athletes in the temple going at it, this match was bound to be something special, and it was. Both these men have very different styles that complemented one another very well. I particularly liked Puma’s quick evasions of Matanza’s power moves. As I said last week, Puma is a five-star-match magnet, and that’s especially true when the title is on the line. While there was a great deal of great back and forth in this match, Puma came within spitting distance of the victory when he incapacitated Matanza and his the six-thirty splash on the monster. The only thing that prevented Puma from becoming the first ever two-time Lucha Underground Champion was interference by Mil Muertes that allowed Matanza to get his second wind and finish off his smaller opponent. Winner: Matanza

After the match, Mil and Matanza had a nice staredown, harkening back to last season’s Graver Consequences as Puma lays broken in the ring. To close out the show, we see Killshot backstage lifting weights when Joey Ryan comes up and hands him an envelope. Killshot asks what this is all about, but Joey just says that some guy outside told him to give it to him. Inside the envelope, Killshot finds a slightly burned piece of paper that reads “You left me for dead.”

Awards: As I announced last week, we will be revealing the frontrunner for the award of Wes’s Blogs and Reviews Lucha Underground MVP. To elaborate on the process: Match of the night is one point for each of the competitors, spot of the night is one point for the wrestler or wrestlers who performed it and Segment of the night is one point for all involved in the segment (meaning that a non-wrestler could potentially win the award). In the event of a tie, I compare how the individual points were earned. If the two frontrunners have a point in each category, I compare which ones were better between the two. If one has only segments of the night compared to all matches and spots of the night, then the one who was actually performing in the ring gets the nod. We’ll reveal our frontrunner in just a minute, but first let’s give out tonight’s awards.

Match of the Night: Without a doubt, match of the night goes to Matanza vs. Prince Puma. Last week gave us a taste of Puma at his best, but this week we got the main course. Puma’s heart and agility was perfect when compared with Matanza’s strength and savagery. This is the kind of match that reminds us why Lucha Underground is a superior wrestling product to its competitors. Spot of the Night: For the second week in a row, the spot of the night goes to Prince Puma. This time, I have to give it to Puma straight up dead lifting Matanza and hitting a suplex. Puma is an incredible athlete but he is not a particularly large man, so to see him lift a monster like Matanza up over his shoulders is simply incredible. Segment of the Night: I have to give it to Johnny Mundo in Dario’s office. The two have some great back and forth with each other and I love how unapologetic Dario is about blatantly screwing Johnny over. There’s also some nice camera work in this scene as well, especially the beautifully framed shot of Dario reflected in Johnny’s sunglasses.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The time has come to unveil the first front runner for the title of Wes’s Blogs and Reviews Lucha Underground MVP. And, with a total of three points, two for spot of the night and one for match of the night, the award goes to…

PRINCE PUMA!!

Are you all really surprised though? Since Lucha Underground began Puma has routinely proven himself to be one of the best, not just in Lucha Underground, but in all of pro wrestling. With his impressive matches with Siniestro de la Muerte and Matanza Cueto, Puma clearly hasn’t lost a step after three seasons. It’s moments like this that greatly sadden me that word on the street is that this is Puma’s last season with Lucha Underground. Allegedly, Ricochet, the man behind Puma’s mask has signed with NXT and I’m truly happy for him, but the Prince Puma character will definitely be missed. However, that’s a speech for another day, we still have thirty-five more episodes with Puma so we’ll have to enjoy them while they last. The real question now is, can Puma keep up this momentum for the rest of the season? Trailing Puma are Marty “The Moth” Martinez and Dario Cueto with three poits as well and Matanza, Aerostar, Chavo Guerrero, El Dragon Azteca Jr. and Son of Havoc each with two. Can any of them surpass Puma? Will someone else come out of the woodwork and make their way to the front of the line? Only time will tell.

Final Thoughts: Wrestling wise, this was probably the strongest episode so far with three great matches that each featured some phenomenal athletes. In addition, we furthered some storylines with Ivelisse and Killshot that will hopefully have nice payoffs later on. All in all, this episode kicked ass.