The Temple doors are open once more, with three Luchadoras thrust into the spotlight this week. We get an update on Black Lotus‘ story whilst Catrina returns from an absence last week to get physical! Whilst that sounds more legendary than a battle with Mewtwo (Happy 20th Anniversary Pokémon!), LU decided to provide another element of epicness – the debut of a new female wrestler… during the main event nonetheless!
The first segment of the night features Black Lotus, who is stood with Dario Ceuto 375 miles from Boyle Heights, the home of The Temple:
Lotus is more of a bystander in this scene, which details some of Dario’s backstory and why he has a taste for violence. He reveals that Matanza killed their mother after she attacked Dario with a hot iron. Dario is glad it happened as it made him become the man he is today. Aka a sociopath with major bloodlust.
Catrina is next on our agenda, and to make her even more badass than she already is, she engages in hand-to-hand combat with the man who broke Mil Muertes‘ arm, Pentagon Jr:
Because that is how she licks rolls. Pentagon tries to break her arm after a cinematic sequence of fighting but the lights go out and Catrina escapes Penta’s grasp with her mysterious powers. She then warns him that putting his hands on her was the biggest mistake he ever made. *Gulp*
The main event is our next port of call, and is a match pitting Cage against Johnny Mundo:
Towards the end of the match, none other than Taya Valkyrie makes her debut! She is tall in stature, ripped to the high heavens and has the repertoire of moves to back up her look. After helping Johnny get the win with a dirty looking metal pipe, she and Mundo attack Cage. Taya showcases her sassy tongue too before charging at Cage with double knees, “knocking him the F out” as Vampiro so eloquently put it.
Finally the Mistress of Macabre is back, and we see her approached in her office by King Cuerno:
He says that he is already sick of holding his Gift of the Gods Title without being able to cash it in. Clearly, his deal with Catrina was that she ensured he held the belt for a long time in exchange for him not cashing it in.
Cuerno doesn’t want to be the longest reigning Gift of the Gods champ anymore, he wants Mil’s title. Unfortunately for him, Cat deals all of the cards in this F-ed up casino and is certainly not too pleased! Instead of giving King what he wants… she sets up a Ladder match against Fenix for next week for the title. Sucks to be King Cuerno!
Thoughts: Such a strong showing for the luchadoras considering we didn’t have a match this week. It just shows you how important female characters are within the DNA of Lucha Underground that women are playing multi-faceted roles with a serious abundance of layers.
Catrina’s character development was fantastic. She matches Pentagon with his ‘Zero Fear’ approach, and the segment made her seem just as menacing and dangerous as Mil Muertes. What she lacks in physical power she makes up for in that she controls the power of the unknown. No-one knows just what unearthly action she may carry out next.
Taya Valkyrie’s debut was quite the notable event now, wasn’t it?! She is aligned with a high-profile character in Johnny and she took out an absolute beast in Cage. I can’t say I am familiar with her work, but I am perfectly happy finding out. She seems to have an interesting in-ring style, not to mention quite the mouth on her. I look forward to seeing those elements mesh and to learn all about her beef with Cage.
Is it just me or did Black Lotus wrongly murder El Dragon Azteca? Matanza killed his own mother and those guys from a few weeks ago, not to mention Bael in season one. With a reputation like that, did he also kill Black Lotus’ parents? Has Dario been playing Lotus all along? If so, as much of a joyfully enigmatic and engaging character Black Lotus is, I’m not sure she can redeem herself for what she did. Time will tell!
