Kevin’s Lucha Underground Review 10.26.16

The episode begins in Dario Cueto’s office. Sexy Star walks in with the Gift of the Gods Title. She says that Matanza doesn’t scare her and she wants to cash in her title shot next week. Dario agrees, but tells her that she has to defend the title against Johnny Mundo tonight. She says Mundo will be a warmup match, so Dario says she’s not a guy, but she does have huevos. If Fenix, Aerostar or Drago interfere, they will be banned from the Temple.

Marty Martinez w/ Mariposa def. Ivelisse in 4:18
Marty continued to do creep on Melissa Santos. Ivelisse beat Mariposa a few weeks ago but got attacked by the siblings. Marty took control and, as always, nailed every facial expression and character trait throughout. Ivelisse fought from behind and locked in a guillotine choke. He broke it with a spinebuster and won with a full nelson slam. Lackluster stuff here. They played the roles I expected, but it never fully connected. *3/4

The Martinez celebration is cut short by the arrival of Sami Callihan, who appeared in a segment backstage as Ivelisse’s boyfriend. he took out Marty and went to powerbomb Marpiosa but Marty broke it up. Ivelisse got back involved and they all went to war. When things died down and the Martinez siblings escaped, Sami apologize to Ivelisse and they hugged.

The creepiest “white rabbit” video package aired. He looks different here, but this is Paul London for those who didn’t notice.

Ivelisse was shown storming off to her car. Sami apologized again and said that Dario gave him an offer to compete because he wants to hurt people for money. “The couple that slays together, stays together.” She goes to leave and Sami says that Temple can make them stronger. She agrees and calls Dario a piece of crap. If he puts them to fight each other, she’ll kick his ass.

Dario meets up with Councilman Delgado in a limo.They discuss someone’s “ascension” and Dario says that he has two bodies selected as a “host”, meaning Texano and Cage. He’s given a mystery box and leaves with it.

Match Three in Best of Five Series: Texano [1] def. Cage [2] in 7:33
Like the second match of the series, they worked this with some actual purpose. Cage even got his “get your shit in” chants. This was hard hitting and featured some good near falls with a hot crowd. Cage went for a powerbomb but Texano countered into the air raid crash for two. Both guys continued to bring the big offense. Texano kept kicking out because he knew that he was down 2-0. He then countered a Cage suplex attempt into a small package to stay alive. These matches are progressively getting better, which I appreciate. ***1/4

In his office, Dario was looking at the box, when Rey Mysterio Jr. entered the office and asked for a minute. He’s sick of Chavo (like the rest of LU fans) and wants a Loser Leaves Lucha match next week. Dario agrees.

Gift of the Gods Championship: Johnny Mundo def. Sexy Star (c) in 10:58
Mundo took control early with his mat wrestling ability. They went back and forth for a bit until it became time for shenanigans. Sexy had a pin and submission but the referee was down for both. Jack Evans and PJ Black showed up to attack Sexy Star but she was resilient and kicked out. Since Sexy’s buddies were banned, her old friend The Mack came out to give her assistance. Even that failed though because Mundo used brass knuckles to steal the title from Sexy. This disappointed heavily. Too much bullshit in this one. I get that the heel should cheat sometimes and it made sense but it was too much. *1/2

Prince Puma was shown working out in the back. Vampiro came up to him and said that Puma wasn’t done with Mil. He brought up Konnan and said that he hated him but it wasn’t him that put Konnan in a coffin. Vamp said that he always respected Puma.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don’t get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It’s a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

I just couldn't get behind this episode. Sometimes LU nails the intergender matches and sometimes they really don't. Neither intergender match was any good here. Cage and Texano saved this show from an in-ring standpoint, while the Ivelisse/Sami and Dario stuff were fun outside of it.