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Welcome back to the Temple this week, Believers! The Cueto Cup continues this week and so does the twisted relationship between the Martinez siblings.
The first half of the season left us with a glimpse of Mariposa turning on her brother, who as we know likes to stalk and torture his victims. His latest infatuation is with Melissa Santos.
This week’s episode opens up with Melissa and Fenix innocently flirting while Marty “The Moth” Martinez creeps in the background:
Melissa approaches Fenix, who says he wants to win the whole tournament. Melissa says, she’ll bet on it and he responds by promising to win the tournament for her. Marty looks on from an abandoned building.
Later on in the show Marty defeats Saltador in a first round Cueto Cup match. After the match we’re taken backstage to Marty’s abode as he stands in a room with a bunch of pictures of Melissa pasted on the wall. He takes a picture of her out of his tights and talks to it. He then licks it. He starts smelling makeup and sees Mariposa in a compact mirror.
Mariposa walks in the room and asks “Do you remember what father taught us?” When Marty responds “Family always first,” she tells him that his lust for Melissa has made him week. She will be facing Fenix later and if victorious, it’ll be her versus her brother and she promises to hurt him.
He asks her if he remembers how they used to play? (what? I mean, things have always seemed off but, what?) and she slaps him across the face.
After that segment, Kobra Moon makes an appearance alongside Pindar. She commands him during the match when the bout comes close and taunts his opponent, laying in cheap shots when the ref’s back is turned. He defeats Mascarita Sagrada in the first round of the Cueto Cup.
We get to our main event of the night, which is Fenix vs Mariposa:
Mariposa comes out to a chorus of boos from the crowd while Fenix is met with support. Commentary puts over his triple crown status, the first ever to hold all three belts in the Temple.
Fenix shows good sportsmanship by extending his hand but Mariposa slaps it away. They square up but Fenix backs Mariposa into the corner. Mariposa comes back with clotheslines and attempts at kicks and strikes. He blocks them all.
Mariposa pushes him back and runs at him but she eats a dropkick in the jaw by Fenix. He comes at her but Mariposa kicks him repeatedly.
She forces him down with a tilt-a-whirl DDT and a drop kick. He rolls out of the ring. Mariposa comes after him with more kicks. She transitions into a huricanrana from the ring apron. She forces her boot in his face before rolling him into the ring.
She continues clubbing him down in the ring. Mariposa remains in control with a wheelbarrow slingshot maneuver off the ropes but Fenix won’t stay down. She makes him run the ropes but Fenix comes back with a release German Suplex.
She rises to her feet as Fenix primes himself for a super kick. She stretches out her hand to stop him and he hesitates before kicking the side of her face. He covers her but she refuses to give up.
Fenix gains control of the match and raises Mariposa up for a powerbomb. Mariposa reverses it into a sunset flip powerbomb instead! They start trading blows again and Mariposa rolls out of the ring to collect herself. Fenix goes for a 619 but Mariposa avoids it with a kick to his gut.
Mariposa goes up for a monkey flip but Fenix reverses it and they fight on the turnbuckle. Fenix hits her in the face. He sets her up for another high risk maneuver but Mariposa avoids it. She goes for a crossbody off the top rope but Fenix catches her. He stuns her with a Fenix driver for the win.
Marty comes out after the bout and attacks Fenix. Fenix wards off the Martinez siblings to end the show as Melissa blows him a kiss.
Thoughts: I enjoyed how this episode revolved around the siblings. When we last left off the earlier part of the season, Marty and Mariposa had moved on from Sexy Star and cracks were showing in their relationship. I am glad they are moving forward with such continuity.
This new feud with Fenix is giving rise to more character progression for him, which is a good thing. He’s always been a paper thin character, in my opinion, despite having quite the run. He was briefly chosen by Catrina in Season One as her champion but I’m glad we’ve moved away from that all together. The pairing with Melissa also gives her some more vulnerabilities and deepens her role in the Temple.
Kobra Moon continues to kill it in her role and I’m really enjoying the hold she has on her tribe. She aces all the classic heel traits and it’s refreshing to see a woman with such control.
And the match between Fenix and Mariposa was solid. I was disappointed to see Mariposa lose. I think the next logical step for her character is to face her brother head on soon and this would have given her the opportunity to do so. However, I can also see LU wanting to slow burn it. Marty is definitely not done with Melissa and he’s not done creeping around the temple.
I do want to see Mariposa in action more often though. I get the feeling that we haven’t seen everything she has up her sleeve and involving her in other feuds in the Temple will serve her character well in developing her more. I have a feeling that she could turn herself around while keeping her sadistic tendencies. But, one of the things I like about LU is its ability to give us characters regardless of alignment so good or bad, shades of grey is always something to root for when viewing a character as a wholly developed, well written, entity.
Also, I want to point out props to the brand for having Mariposa vs Fenix as the main event and having it be the most natural thing ever. It always warms me to see the women make such an impact.
What did you think of last night’s episode? What do you want to see Mariposa do next? Sound off in the comments below.
