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Welcome back to the Temple, Believers! This week Sexy Star looks to get some vengeance against Worldwide Underground for costing her the Lucha Underground Championship. Elsewhere we get some more movements on key stories involving other luchadoras, including the continued effort by the police department to put away the Temple’s proprietor once and for all. Let’s get into it!
Our first luchadora sighting of the night sees Sexy meeting with Dario Cueto.
Dario tells her they can relate to each other. She fights with heart because she’s come from a troubled past. He agrees that the title was stolen from her. He gives her one of his famous unique opportunities. Dario says he’s going to have her face the only member of Worldwide Underground she hasn’t fought yet, PJ Black. However, the match is made under certain conditions, if Sexy wins she’d fight Johnny with Worldwide Underground barred from ringside as the two would fight in a steel cage.
But, if PJ gets the best of Sexy, then she won’t be able to contest for the top prize ever again.
She agrees and then warns Dario, telling him that he may have escaped a troubled past but he should watch out if he doesn’t want a troubled future.
Sexy Star is a former #LuchaUnderground Champion – she is going to be at best, extremely tough to beat.
— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) December 8, 2016
Following that we have a short segment featuring Captain Vasquez who greets the returning Officer Reyes, aka Cortez Castro. She tells him to go back to the Temple. Confused since Dario knows who he is, she tells him to go deeper undercover and hands him a luchador mask.
Next up we have our match as Sexy goes toe to toe with PJ. Let’s watch:
The match starts off a bit slow with Sexy going for strikes but PJ dodges them or reverses her. Sexy tries different variations of hurricanrana’s, headscissors, and submissions but is out maneuvered every time. Watch out for a sick reversal by PJ into a Styles Clash, but it’s not enough to put Sexy away. She makes several comeback attempts.
Boot to the Mush #LuchaUnderground pic.twitter.com/qK1ryqmMJq
— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) December 8, 2016
Towards the end of the bout Jack Evans tries to interfere but Sexy is able to capitalize on the chaos with a quick pin to earn the rematch!
After the bout Kobra Moon appears on a throne.
She says a millennia ago her tribe was the home of venomous warriors. When the great war broke out they were defeated because one of their generals deserted them.
She introduces two snake generals from her tribe to bring back the man who deserted them so long ago. She tells them to bring her the man who was once a dragon and make him kneel before his queen.
Our last sighting of the night is of Catrina who accompanies her man Mil Muertes to a fatal four way match that’s part of the Battle of the Bulls tournament. This tournament will determine Johnny’s first challenger while Sexy remains guaranteed a shot at the title.
After Matanza breaks out and causes havoc, The Mack comes out of the match victorious and will advance in the tournament.
Thoughts: I’m very pleased Sexy’s story with Johnny and the Worldwide Underground is continuing. Though the match was a bit slow paced in the beginning, it picked up by the end and I honestly couldn’t tell who was going to win.
Occasionally Sexy’s matches can get lost in translation because of the pacing. Her chemistry with PJ wasn’t as great as it could have been but PJ tried his best to make up for any shortcomings. Sexy also remains one of the strongest characters in the Temple so any graces she lacks in the ring at times, definitely gets made up for with her ability to tell a story.
The only thing that confused me was commentary at the end when selling her upcoming battle with Johnny. Yes, there is also a tournament going on to determine Johnny’s first challenger to his title but Sexy is guaranteed a shot at the championship. Commentary made it sound like the person who wins the tournament could possibly knock Johnny off, so she wouldn’t get a cage match with him but with the new title holder? I may be reading too much into a mistake.
But, congratulations are in order for Sexy as she becomes the first female to participate in an upcoming match with such a stipulation! I’m curious if this is where her story will end in the Temple? She announced over the summer that she’d be focusing on her boxing career but has since had a change of heart and is working on the indy’s, recently appearing with SHIMMER. I’m hopeful that if that’s the case, she is welcomed back at some point in the future with open arms. There is still a variety of story telling possibilities for her character. She’s a pure baby face with a huge heart, she’s not afraid to get vicious. Like I had said in a previous LU review, it’d be interesting to see her interact more with Catrina and Mil or even the other devious and vile characters that inhabit this universe. Sexy overcoming death would give her a crazy edge.
Kobra Moon continues to work well in her expanded role. I really appreciate the depth her character is being given. What LU continues to do well is showcase its talent in a variety of roles. Her skills in the ring need some more refining but I’m confident she’ll be ready when she gets there again. It looks like she’s part of a larger mythos and that will serve her and her opponents well in the future.
Catrina keeps changing the manager game. Even though she only accompanied Mil to the ring here, she carries such presence and you can’t help but notice her.
I’m looking forward to this cage match and everything else coming to a head in the near future. This episode transitioned from the intense Gauntlet Match last week to furthering new stories as we move forward. It’s always comforting to see them move ahead with a plan as LU continues to deliver every week.
What did you think of last night’s episode? Are you excited to see Sexy vs Johnny in a cage match? Sound off in the comments below.
