Welcome to the Lucha Crítica, where I look at this week’s Lucha Underground. Find out what happened, who had the edge, and who took home some Ancient Aztec Medallions.
MEDALLION MONOPOLY
Dario Cueto was admiring the four remaining ancient Aztec Medallions in his office along with Pentagon Jr. El Jefe was trying to convince Pentagon to compete in a match for one of them, but the luchador with zero fear had zero interest in the medallions. His only concern is pleasing his master, and the easiest way to do that is to destroy Ian Hodgkinson, the man known as Vampiro.
I’m really interested to see where the story of these medallions goes. Up to this point three have been given out to Fenix, Aero Star, and Jack Evans, however not much has been said about them other than they hold mystical power and grant their owner “immortality”, at least according to Dario Cueto. I’m guessing once they are all given out there will be a seven-way match at Ultima Lucha in a winner takes all scenario, and given the quality of Lucha Underground’s multi-person matches like this or Aztec Warfare, it should be a feast for the eyes.
WINNER RECEIVES AN AZTEC MEDALLION
BENGALA VS. DELAVAR DAIVARI (W/ BIG RYCK)
One of the things I love about Lucha Underground is that it embraces unpredictability. As this match was getting underway my mind immediately went to Daivari winning the medallion. In terms of Lucha Underground, he is the more established luchador, and would fit in well with the likes of Jack Evans, Aero Star, and Fenix. Delavar also had help on the outside in the form of Big Ryck, however that would prove to be his downfall. After a miscue that would have Ryck clobber his business associate, Bengala would take advantage with a bridging German suplex gaining the victory as well as a medallion.
Edge: This win was a real feather in the mask of Bengala. He is not only in good company with the fellow holders of medallions, but he got a win over Daivari who is no slouch in the ring himself. The edge goes to Bengala for this much needed win. Hopefully he can keep the momentum going.
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
Vampiro entered the ring with a microphone, clearly looking to share his thoughts from the past week after Pentagon Jr. attacked him and poured gasoline on him. He once again reiterated that his time in the ring has come and gone, saying much of what he has already said over the last couple weeks, until he was interrupted by Pentagon Jr.
Pentagon got a great reaction from the live crowd which is sometimes hard to take. Admittedly, I am a huge fan of Pentagon myself, but he has done some pretty despicable things over the past few months, but he gets as big of pops as many of the técnicos or baby faces in the company. Pentagon continued to verbally bully Vampiro around as Vamp said “My name is Ian Hodgkinson, and I won’t fight you.” Until Mr. Hodgkinson gave the fans the verbal swerve of then saying the man who is going to face Pentagon Jr. at Ultima Lucha is named Vampiro!
Pentagon rushed at Vampiro but got caught in a choke followed by a choke slam. As big as the pops for Pentagon have been, they paled to the ovation that Vampiro received at this moment. Vamp left the ring a stood amongst the believers as they chanted “VAM-PIR-O! VAM-PIR-O!”
THE MEMORY REMAINS
Backstage Sexy Star is getting ready for a match, as she reached into her bag and pulled out a towel, she noticed something. She then pulled out the mask that once belonged to Super Fly. A series of clips followed showing how the mask vs. mask match went down, then Sexy put the mask down, trying to forget the past, at least long enough for her to focus on the future.
WINNER RECEIVES AN AZTEC MEDALLION
KING CUERNO VS. KILLSHOT
Much like the Bengala/Daivari match, this one was a little bit of a surprise. While fans have seen more of Killshot than Bengala, Killshot still has spent far less time in a Lucha Underground ring than King Cuerno, but Killshot proved he could more than handle himself against The Hunter. Killshot utilized a great deal of innovative offense flipping over the ropes into a cutter, and diving to the outside into a hurricanrana. Cuerno wasn’t without some innovation though, slamming Killshot hard onto the ring apron with a powerslam. Killshot came back with some very precise kicks, and even managed to avoid The Thrill of the Hunt, but fell victim to a modified surfboard, allowing King Cuerno to be the fifth person to obtain an Aztec Medallion.
Edge: King Cuerno, he hasn’t been in the championship picture for a little while, but he proved with this match why he deserved to be there in the first place.
WINNER RECEIVES AN AZTEC MEDALLION
SUPER FLY VS. SEXY STAR
When these two first clashed, Sexy Star won the match and Super Fly’s mask. In their second match Super Fly got a measure of revenge with a victory over his former friend. This third match, according to Matt Striker may have had the biggest stakes, as it was for an Aztec Medallion. This blow off match was very brief however, consisting of only five moves total.
The entire match went like this: Sexy chopped Super Fly, Super Fly drop kicked Sexy Star, Sexy kicked Super Fly (which may have been a low blow) then she hit the ropes caught Super Fly in a spinning head scissor which she turned into an armbar that had Super Fly tapping out as soon as he hit the mat. I had expected a little more from this match, being their third contest, this felt way too short.
Edge: Sexy Star, without question. With all due respect to Sexy, this loss really hurt Super Fly. Losing to Sexy Star isn’t the issue though, it’s more about how quickly he lost. Maybe if he asks really nicely she will give him his mask back.
Sexy’s celebration was short lived as Marty “The Moth” Martinez hit the ring. Snatching the medallion from Sexy Star’s grasp Marty took one look at it and said it had a moth on it, it was from his family lineage. He then demanded a match from the luchadora, which, after playing to the crowd, Sexy obliged.
LUCHA UNDERGROUND MAIN EVENT
FOR SEXY STAR’S AZTEC MEDALLION
SEXY STAR VS. MARTY “THE MOTH” MARTINEZ
The reason for the last match being so short is plain to see, and this match is what I expected from the previous one. It was a back and forth contest with Martinez looking like he may pull off a win locking Sexy in a figure four leg lock. However, Sexy was able to turn the hold over despite her much larger opponent, and after a swift kick to Marty’s face Sexy locked in the Fujiwara Armbar and for the second time in one night got her hand raised.
Edge: It’s surprising that, in a world of costumed and masked wrestlers, plainly dressed Marty Martinez is the most cartoonish. I consistently want to hate the guy be he is just too entertaining. That being said, Sexy got two wins in a row here and this second match really made her look good, so she gets the edge again.
FACE TO FACE
With only three weeks until Ultima Lucha, Dario Cueto wanted to have the two men in his main event stand face to face, mano e mano, without their respective managers Konnan and Catrina. As Prince Puma and Mil Muertes stared each other down it had the big match feel that you would expect, until Catrina made her way down the stairs. I expected the distraction to be Puma’s downfall but he was the one who struck first, laying into Mil with punches as Dario made a hasty retreat.
Despite Puma throwing several punches at Muertes, all it took was one right hand from Mil to send Prince Puma to the mat and then the vultures, the Disciples of Death swooped in and all four men started laying the boots to the champion. Puma’s mentor had seen enough and Konnan came to the ring to even the odds with the help of his metal cane. Konnan was able to take out the Disciples, but fell prey to Mil Muertes. The man of 1000 deaths laid out both Konnan and Puma with Konnan’s own cane then forced Prince Puma to watch as the Disciples and Catrina placed Konnan in the same coffin that once housed Mil himself. Vampiro pointed out, that it had a rather Clockwork Orange feel to it, he may have been reaching a bit but I dug the reference.
As the credits rolled, Puma was motionless on the mat, Konnan was being taken away in a coffin, and Mil Muertes raised Puma’s title above his head, rejoicing the carnage in his wake. There’s still three weeks until Ultima Lucha, plenty of time for Prince Puma to exact some revenge, if he can.
Until next week, keep your mask on!
