SPOILER ALERT! Lucha Underground was mindblowing this week! If you want to watch a product where women are front and center and absolutely tearing it up, then Lucha Underground is where it is at!
Already announced for the show was the finals of the Trios Tag Team Championship Tournament to crown the first-ever holders of the coveted belts. Ivelisse will be teaming with the thorn in her side Angelico and her ex-boyfriend Son of Havoc in the match; it’ll be plain sailing right?
If that monumental trios triple threat elimination match wasn’t enough, Sexy Star is also in action in a match that everyone has been waiting for. The Fearless female will clash with the menace with No Fear, Pentagon Jr. On top of that, we also get a training update from Black Lotus – love it! One whole hour dedicated to women’s wrestling on TV is right up my street!
This week’s episode opens up with another entry in the diary of Black Lotus. She says that she feels ready to fight after 8 weeks of training yet her guardian El Dragon Azteca disagrees. To test her abilities once more, the lights are diminished and Lotus is seen fighting actors thugs in the darkness. She is whacking, flipping and matrixing the men around her before she stomps on the final guy’s family jewels. Yikes.
Lotus looks to be ready yet then El Dragon approaches. He tries to grab her and really test her abilities. She locks in an armbar yet he soon counters it and she is unable to escape. A dejected Black Lotus looks disappointed as the segment closes and Azteca deems her not ready to fight and find Matanza again.
Our first match of the night immediately follows as Sexy Star flies into the temple clad in red. She is all smiles during her entrance yet she’ll have to ditch the smiles and get in zone once she in the ring with her opponent, arch-rival Pentagon Jr. Melissa Santos is far from pleased to be announcing Pentagon, the man who tried to snap her arm last week.
The match starts with Sexy striking like it is going out of fashion! She hits a speedy dropkick which she follows up with stomps and fists before working over Pentagon’s leg. Sexy hits a chop yet Pentagon soon retaliates with two loud-as-hell kicks, both to Sexy’s midsection. The crowd are split as Pentagon talks trash to Sexy and then delivers a sick superkick.
Despite the prior shot being so stiff, Sexy manages to turn the tide again. She hits a drop toe hold and then repeatedly stomps on Pentagon’s head and shoulders in the corner. She then chokes Pentagon as Matt Striker says such a neat little bit of commentary. Love him and Vampiro. Sexy then hits a variation of a Bronco Buster that gets her a near fall.
Pentagon hits back by delivering an ear-shattering kick to Sexy’s thigh. I love the physicality being displayed! He then caves Sexy’s ribcage in with a devastating running kick. Pentagon doesn’t go for the cover, which was a mistake as Sexy Star manages to briefly mount some offense. Sexy ascends to the top rope yet Pentagon catches her mid-air and decks her with a sit-out Implant Buster! Pentagon fails to make a cover again, and this time he opts to try and break Sexy’s arm!
Sexy rolls out of harms way and then lures Pentagon into following her to the outside. She created the space she so desperately needed, a veteran move that sets her up perfectly to hit a monumental tilt-a-whirl DDT – stunning! Unlike Jr, Sexy goes for the pin and the win yet only manages two. Melissa is seen cheering Sexy on as the latter hits a flipping senton through the middle rope to the outside onto Pentagon!
Back in the ring, Sexy charges at Pentagon only to be caught in a dangerous position. He flattens her with a lungblower powerbomb (that is new to me too!) yet somehow, Sexy kicks out! Pentagon hits yet another of those killer moves yet Sexy ain’t dying! She also scurries her way out of yet another arm break attempt from her ruthless foe. Sexy is not going down without a serious fight!
Pentagon clubs Sexy in the back as he sets-up his next move, a one that Sexy counters! Sexy Star is flipping and flying all around Pentagon as she manages to hit a headscissor backstabber! She then gets all of her weight onto Pentagon and secures the win! Pentagon kicks out just after he lost the match yet that doesn’t matter as Sexy is celebrating her biggest win in Lucha Underground so far!
Who wants more action from the female luchadores? Well you’re in luck as Ivelisse is involved in the main event! Ive teams with Angelico and Son of Havoc as they face one team consisting of Big Ryck, Killshot and The Mack whilst the other features Cage, King Cuerno, and Texano.
Ivelisse is all screams and squeals on the apron as she begs Angelico to tag her in instead of getting his ass kicked. Later in the match, Ivelisse kicks Cuerno in the back; it’s just what baddest bitches do. Angelico eventually tags in Son of Havoc, annoying Ivelisse even more! Ivelisse gets over her anger though when she hits a seated senton to King Cuerno on the outside.
We then notice that Ivelisse has somehow now injured her leg and she is clutching her knee on the outside. I know that Lucha Underground features soap opera-esque cut-scenes yet I didn’t want the show to replicated soaps by having off-screen story developments too! What happened to Ivelisse?
The first fall in the elimination match happens shortly after when Daivari of all people attacks Texano after Taxon is thrown onto him in the crowd. The favorites are out so can the underdogs win?
Ivelisse is barely part of the final part of the match due to her bad injury, yet she does manage to muster up the strength and courage to dive from the middle rope. Unfortunately, she fails to knock Big Ryck and The Mack down as they catch her mid-flight. Son of Havoc comes to the rescue after that as he dives onto The Fam too and all four combatants are on the ground. That leaves just Angelico and Killshot, the latter who was just hit with a reverse hurricanrana from Son of Havoc. Angelico picks up the pieces and hits the Fall of the Angels…
AND WINS THE TITLES FOR HIM, SON OF HAVOC AND IVELISSE!!!
Or so we thought.
Before Melissa can even finish annoucing ‘Fun in Dysfunctional’ as the winners (that is my nickname for them), Dario Cueto interrupts. He says that one more personally selected team have been added to the tournament, and they will face Ivelisse’s team right now. To spice things up too, the match will be No DQ! Because the last match featuring an audience member attacking a wrestler resulted in a disqualification… #Sarcasm
After the break, The Crew are revealed as Dario’s hand-picked trio and they begin to destroy Ivelisse’s team. Cortez Castro pummels Ivelisse as the rest of his team dish out damage too. Bael is then seen biting Ivelisse as she writhes in pain on the floor. The guys throw Ivelisse into the ring and set upon her with a Singapore cane! Bael hold Ivelisse hostage until Son of Havoc stops his ex from being pummeled with the wood. I could have perhaps worded that one better!
Bael takes Angelico to the top of temple as Castro beats in Ivelisse in the ring. He then applies a Singapore cane-assisted Camel Clutch to Ivelisse and she is in a world of trouble. To her credit, she refuses to tap out yet she is left a mess on the mat. Angelico saves her though, leaping from the top of Dario Cueto’s office onto The Crew members in the ring.
OH MY SWEET NEYSUS! What a fantastic move!
Ivelisse gasps at what she just witnessed and it looks like she has realised how far her partners are willing to go to pull out the win. She then realises that despite her injury, this is her chance to leave a major mark. The only luchadore left standing, she grabs the singapore cane and decided to have some fun! Ivelisse pelts Bael and Cortez, setting Angelico and Havoc up to hit top rope masterpieces. Both men pin their downed opponents and win yet another match! They are the new Trios Tag Team Champions!
Thoughts: Tonight was such a fantastic night of exposure for mainstream women’s and intergender wrestling. Whilst I had gripes with some elements of the show, I loved most of it.
Onto the negatives, Ivelisse being injured off camera was so lame. Vampiro said it was from her dive to the outside yet she was walking around fine afterwards, as seen in the aerial camera shot. Whilst Ive’s injury made for compelling storytelling throughout both matches, why couldn’t one of the guys had that injury? Why was Ivelisse the one who laid down most of the match? Whilst I loved Ivelisse’s cane swinging moment at the end, I would have booked both matches differently to showcase her in-ring skill some more as opposed to showing how well she can sell, which is amazingly well by the way.
I was also a little let down with the actual triple threat match. Whilst it was fun with some nice spots (mainly from The Mack), I thought Texano and Big Ryck were sluggish and I don’t know, something just seemed a little off and not as compelling as I was expecting. Ivelisse barely getting a chance to do anything was probably why.
I loved everything else though – hooray! The second championship match was way better in my opinion. Everything from the physicality, the camera work, Ivelisse’s breakout hardcore moment and Angelico’s breath-taking dive, this match was a lot more intense and exciting. Whilst I wish Ivelisse was able to mix it up some more with the men, her injury will have made casual fans get behind her more I guess.
Speaking of excellent physicality, Sexy Star vs. Pentagon Jr was Sexy’s best showing in Lucha Underground thus far. Her spinning DDT and headscissor backstabber were both stunning and the arena’s roof was blown off after she got the victory. I was pleasantly surprised to see Sexy be the one to halt Pentagon’s momentum and I am glad that she finally got a convincing win that wasn’t just a roll-up. Pentagon’s very-near kick out and Matt Striker’s commentary suggested that this feud wasn’t over and I hope it isn’t. The two have amazing chemistry (likely due to the fact they are tag team champions together in Mexico) and I would love to see them tussle some more with even higher stakes.
Black Lotus’ promo was one of the highlights of the night – a tremendous video package. Her story is one of the most captivating in pro wrestling and I loved everything about the clip. Her character is followed by so many unanswered questions and I cannot wait to see who she mixes it up with when she finally begins to fight.
Finally, I need to talk to you guys in some spoiler tags. We need to get a little secretive for our final topic of conversation. If you don’t want to view spoilers for upcoming Lucha Underground episodes, do not click below!
Well guys, that rounds off another edition of Lucha Underground Analysis. Until next time!
