Lucha fans – welcome to this week’s Analysis! Now before we get into this week’s historic episode of Lucha Underground (more on that in a few moments), we have to address the elephant in the Diva Dirt room, last week’s Aztec Warfare! Now I didn’t cover it last week as unfortunately, only Taya Valkyrie participated in the match, with 19 other men. She managed to get a pinfall on Cage, in sublimely ridiculous fashion. This is LU we’re talking about though, so we couldn’t expect anything less.
By the end of the episode, Fenix had already lost his championship, and it was to Matanza, the demonic, serial killer brother of Dario Cueto, who has resumed control of the Temple. That Matanza’s a nice chap then. He was utterly dominant and it was a joy to watch. He’s like the lovechild of Jason Voorhees and Brock Lesnar if they had Asuka as the egg donor. Black Lotus was missing from his side, which was bizarre, but we see more of her this week. Without further ado, let’s get into the THREE matches featuring Luchadoras.
First of all, we are treated to mixed tag team action as Taya and Johnny Mundo face off against The Crew:
After their cinder block brutality last week, it’s safe to say Cage may stick his oar in here. Don’t forget here, Cortez Castro is an undercover cop, just to complicate matters further. I hope you’re keeping up with all of underlying storylines and plot developments!
On the agenda next is one of the best things Lucha Underground produces, an epic, cinematic Steven Seagal-type martial arts brawl:
Luckily this week, it features the mysterious Mariposa. Narrating the brilliance is her maniacal sibling, Marty ‘The Moth’ Martinez.
Next up, Catrina has dark words for Dario Cueto:
Although Black Lotus is guarding the door to Dario’s room, Catrina is like a hot verson of Casper, she can float through walls. Cat tells Dario that Mil Muertes wants his title back, and she wants the temple back. She’s sounding a lot like Verruca Salt here, and Dario is one f**ked-up version of Willy Wonka. Dario explains to the Mistress of Macabre that he has gave the Disciples of Death a chance to win back their Trios tag titles, but as he has no stakes in that division, he’s got nothing to lose. I don’t think that’s going to be wool over Catrina’s eyes mind you.
Speaking of that, Ivelisse and her boys are in action. Will they lose their titles more or less as quickly as Fenix lost his?:
Finally, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for judging my the title of this post, the debut match of Cheerleader Mariposa! Getting right into the nitty gritty, she’s taking on a very diminished looking Sexy Star:
Thoughts: A super interesting week here in the Temple, with a first-time ever scenario of three matches featuring women on Lucha Underground. This show just keep smashing those barriers down! I’m loving it.
Taya didn’t lose as cleanly as she could have, but yet another loss for her so soon is hard to swallow. I know she got the major pinfall over Cage last week, but that was with the help of a concrete block. If Lucha Underground really want to blur the gender roles, they’ve got to have the women win without interference or a roll-up. Taya and Johnny’s relationship hasn’t been fully explained yet either, and neither has Taya and Cage’s history. That will come with time hopefully. Lucha Underground’s writers are amazing at storytelling, so we shouldn’t have to wait long for more answers.
As for the match, Taya looked strong shoulder tackling a police officer and his pal around, so I’m pleased with her performance. She did less this week, but after having the only female spotlight in the ring last week, and showcasing how talented she is when she lost the NO DQ match to Cage a few weeks back, I’m ok seeing a little less from her this time around. I just hope she can pick up some wins soon. Do a Kobra Moon and choke a tiger out! Speaking of her, where is she? Shall we stick her on a milk carton?
There’s not too much to say about the Trios Title match this week, considering Ivelisse was eliminated early on. What I did think was utterly tantalising though was Ivelisse’s interaction with Catrina. A match between the two has been teased several times now, and this was the strongest indication yet. Ive’s kick to Catrina was so sick. And no, that last part wasn’t me quoting a NeYo song. Although, we are getting ‘Closer’ to a bout between these two. *crickets*
Much like the slow burn explaining the Cage/Taya/Johnny situation, Black Lotus’ return to the Temple was a little understated. I’m fine with her taking a slight backseat here. Her storyline was the best debut story I’ve ever watched in the history of wrestling, but it was starting to get a little slow towards the end of last season before everything kicked up about 5000 notches. I hope more of her mental state is explored now that she is working for Dario and Matanza. Does she regret killing El Dragon Azteca? Will Rey Mysterio find out that she did? Can you imagine a match between Rey Rey and Angela Fong? That would be the thing of magic mushrooms dreams. Patience is a virtue – we’ve just got to sit back and wait for the fireworks.
Finally, I am super happy to see Mariposa in the ring. I am such a big fan of Melissa’s and to see her use such a carnage-inducing new finishing move was amazing. For her to be given the role of such a prevalent puzzle piece of LU’s aztec history is fantastic. I love her dynamic with Marty; the casting of them as siblings is pretty good as you can see a resemblance. An explanation of Mariposa’s heritage and mask was fun too. Although I’m intrigued and enjoying this debut angle for Mariposa, I think there’s WAAAAYYYY more to come from the character.
Sexy’s character development getting past this roadblock will be a treat to see, but much like the other stories mentioned, we need more explanation of The Mac’s involvement. We need Mariposa to leahe him for dead or something. He can’t just want to help Sexy because “he hates The Mac”. This is not the 2011 WWE Divas division. I’m liking every element of the story so far but it needs a little more fleshing out.
That fight scene promo in the alleyway though? Wowzers. That was a thing of beauty. Right, I’m off to go and watch that all over again. I know I wouldn’t want to come across Mariposa in a dark alley I can tell you that!
