Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 18: Evil Rising
It may be a day late, but regardless, it is time to Lucha. This week, we open with Mil Muertes pissed off that Puma is still alive. Catrina informs him that Vampiro is the one behind Puma’s resurrection, and if he wants Puma, he’s going to have to go through Vampiro. As Catrina walks off, she runs into Jeremiah Crane who brags about his win over Mil Muertes last week. He says that he’s beaten the man she loves, but Catrina just scoffs at this and says the man she loves isn’t Mil.
Match #1: Sexy Star vs. Mariposa
While it’s unclear if Sexy’s nemesis, Mariposa is indeed the one behind the spiders in her locker, beating up on the insidious insect is likely a great way to vent her frustrations. While this match wasn’t quite on par with their now legendary No Mas match, it was still sufficiently brutal. There was even a point where Mariposa slammed Sexy’s head into the announce table ten times in a row before putting her in a series of painful looking submission holds. However, Sexy has been through too much this season to allow the likes of Mariposa to best her, and takes out the woman who once tortured her with a double stomp.
Winner: Sexy Star
After the match, Marty the Moth comes out, seemingly to comfort his sister, but ends up turning on her and laying her out with a choke slam. What does this mean for the future of the Moth Tribe? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.
Afterwards, we got to the back where Mascarita Sagrada is lifting weights. Mascarita’s workout is soon interrupted by the Rabbit Tribe, who seem under the impression that Mascarita is the White Rabbit they followed to the temple and start praising him like some kind of God. Mascarita just thinks that the Rabbits are either high, crazy or in all likelihood, both. Well, they’re probably going to need some of that crazy as tonight, they got a match against the deadly Snake Tribe.
Match #2: The Rabbit Tribe vs. The Snake Tribe
The Rabbits, lead by Paul London and his glorious, glorious codpiece, are out first, and once again, a psychedelic haze, as well as a theme song that sounds eerily similar to Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit, accompanies these bunnies to the ring. As is customary for the rabbits, they dance around the ring before the match, but the dance is soon interrupted by the arrival of the deadly Snake Tribe. Leading the snakes is of course, The Sexy, Seductive, Psychotic, Slithering… well, you the rest, It’s Kobra Moon. Flanking their Queen are her two generals, the muscular Pindar and the towering Vibora. And finally, being pulled along by a chain held by the sapphire serpent herself, is Drago. Kobra orders Drago to compete in the match in her stead and, reluctantly, Drago obeys. To underestimate the Rabbit Tribe would be most unwise as they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, but the physically imposing Pindar and Vibora soon show these silly rabbits that tricks are for kids by demonstrating sheer dominance. The Rabbit Tribe were impressive to be sure, but even with a reluctant Dragon on their side, the Snakes were able to remind their opponents that Snakes eat rabbits in the wild. After Paul London ate a devastating Tombstone, Kobra orders Drago to tag in and pick up the win. Winner: The Snake Tribe
After the match, Kobra once again places the chain around Drago’s neck which seems to put him in some kind of trance, that or he got a whiff of whatever Paul London was smoking backstage. The snakes are about to haul the Dragon back to their lair when Fenix and Aerostar rush the ring to save their friend. While the trios champions are still outnumbered, this time their ready for the snakes and they manage to fight off the monstrous Pindar and Vibora. Drago reunites with his comrades, but is clearly still in some sort of haze.
Next up, we go back stage where Sexy Star is wishing Mack the best of luck in his title match against Johnny Mundo tonight. Much like Sexy once told him, Mack tells Sexy that he doesn’t want her in his corner tonight, as he wants to prove he can beat Johnny on his own. Understanding, Sexy agrees and they do their secret handshake.
Later, Mack gets another, less welcome visitor, Dario Cueto. Dario congratulates Mack on winning the Battle of the Bulls, but gives him some bad news. Tonight’s match is not for the title. Mack is pissed, but Dario reveals that there is a silver lining. The winner of tonight’s non-title match between Johnny Mundo and the Mack will get to choose the stipulation for their match. Main Event: The Mack vs. Johnny Mundo
Johnny played a great heel in this match, but then again, that’s to be expected. Mack showed off his expert brawler skills, but Johnny pulled out every dirty trick in the book to keep the big man at bay. However, as per usual, Johnny’s greatest weakness is his arrogance, which allowed Mack to take advantage any time the champ couldn’t help taunting his opponent. Mack had the match won at one point, but the ref was distracted, not helped by the emergence of PJ Black and Jack Evans. Angry, the mack stared down the World Wide Underground, but Johnny recovered and hit a low blow on the Mack and covered him for the win. Winner: Johnny Mundo After the match, Johnny and his goons beat the Mack down as Johnny grabbed the mic and gave the stipulation. Johnny and the Mack, will face one another for the title, All Night Long.
However, We’re not quite done as Mil Muertes makes his appearance at the top of the temple stairs. As the World Wide Underground retreats, the man of a thousand deaths makes a b-line for Vampiro, dragging him into the ring and beating him down. Puma rushes out to save his new master, but Vampiro, even in the grip of Mil, tells his new student to leave before eating a devastating flatliner.
Match of the Night: Definitely giving it to the epic clash between the Rabbits and the Snakes. These are two factions that have been built up significantly all season and this match shows us the best of both. I particularly liked the antics of the Rabbit Tribe. From their poses similar to those of the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball Z to Paul London poking Vibora to see if he’s real and not a drug induced hallucination. The rabbits used a lot of double team tactics in this match to keep their opponents confused, which plays nicely into their personality. However, this match belonged to the Snake Tribe, who showed that they are a dominant force to be reckoned with. I loved every second of this match and I can’t wait to see more from these two factions.
Spot of the Night:
I gave this one a great deal of thought, but Ultimately, I’m giving it to Vibora catching Paul London in mid-air and delivering a Tombstone pile driver. I’m not saying it’s quite on par with The Undertaker, but it’s pretty damn close.
Segment of the Night: Without question, this goes to the opening segment with Catrina. This story between Catrina and Jeremiah gets more and more interesting by the second. Who is the man Catrina loves? Smart money would say Fenix, as the two do share a history, but perhaps there’s more to Catrina’s story than what we’ve seen and there’s someone else about to enter this picture.
Final Thoughts: Admittedly, this episode had some problems. The lack of a title main event as advertised and no follow-up to the storyline with Sexy Star and the spiders are examples of that. Still, this was a fun episode with some fun matches and as always, it leaves me wanting more.