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Welcome to the Temple this week Believers! We’ve got an action packed show to dive into as two of our toughest luchadoras take on some of the seediest characters in the Temple as Ivelisse continues her feud with the disturbing Martinez siblings and Sexy Star defends the Gift of the Gods Championship against the cocky Johnny Mundo.
We start off the night with our first segment as Sexy meets with Dario.
She says he doesn’t scare her and neither does Matanza. She announces with gusto that she wants to cash in the title next week for a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship! He reminds her that she defends her title against Johnny tonight first and she says he’ll be a nice warm up for her.
He then tells her he’s banned the Super Friends from ringside but doesn’t mention anything about Worldwide Underground, hm. She says she doesn’t need any help and tells him to get prepared to announce her as the first female Lucha Underground Champion after next week!
Our first match up of the night is next as Ivelisse takes on Marty The Moth Martinez.
Marty accompanied by Mariposa waits in the ring, hovering over Melissa Santos. Ivelisse makes her signature bad ass entrance. As she gets into the ring Marty tosses his shirt and makes kissy faces towards Melissa. She looks on in disgust.
Marty and Ivelisse square up, with Ivelisse going low with kicks and jabs. Marty just laughs at her and grabs her throat, carrassing the side of her face with his as Mariposa looks on. Ivelisse reverses out of his hold and says, “Come on you creepy bastard!” as he rushes at her.
She goes for a crossbody but Marty catches her and slams her down, not before biting her on the spine. Ivelisse won’t go down, however, as she kicks out of a pin. Marty drags her across the ring as he chokes her.
Marty distracts the ref as Mariposa comes over and bites Ivelisse on the cheek. Marty then works Ivelisse over in a rest hold. She rolls through the rest hold into a pin attempt but it’s not enough. She strikes him in the face with her knee. Marty comes back and fish hooks Ivelisse again.
He corners her but Ivelisse smacks him across the face. She pulls him to one knee but he gets back to his feet as she hits him with a stiff kick and punch. She goes to run the ropes and puts him in a guillotine choke. He tries to reverse it by slamming her back into the turnbuckle. He’s finally able to and she goes down. He then plants her with a submission turned slam for the win.
After the match Marty and Mariposa stand tall in the ring. Ivelisse’s boyfriend Jeremiah comes to even the score! Before he can powerbomb Mariposa, Marty starts attacking him. Both siblings overpower him as Ivelisse decides to make the save. The pair lay into the psychos. As Ivelisse and Jeremiah stand tall they begin bickering before leaving the ring.
After the match Ivelisse rushes to her car. Jeremiah tries to catch up with her.
He apologizes for coming to her aid. As it turns out Dario made him an offer to compete in the Temple and he’s taken it. He says, “you know what they say the couple that slays together, stays together.” She scoffs at him. He tries to convince him that he’s nothing like Son of Havoc and the Temple will make them stronger. She says if they have to fight each other, she’ll kick his ass. They leave together.
Thats… not right. #LuchaUnderground @RealIvelisse pic.twitter.com/cTvvCC09VB
— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) October 27, 2016
Our main event is next as Sexy defends her title!
The match gets underway with Sexy looking to strategize and out maneuver Johnny. They wrestle low to the ground before Johnny starts using heel tactics with a large head poke. This catches her off her guard as he takes control of the match. Sexy starts mounting a comeback but Johnny takes her down.
He tries putting her away with multiple pin variations but Sexy refuses to quit. He tries to make her tap with a body scissor head choke submission but Sexy fights to her feet.
She kicks him repeatedly but Johnny easily picks her up and places her on the turnbuckle. He attempts a superplex but she fights him off. She attempts a sunset flip but Johnny throws her off and she lands on the mat.
Johnny comes down for a moonsault but Sexy kicks him in the guy as he flies past her. She lands a back elbow on him and they trade blows. Sexy dominates before Johnny is able to counter. After performing a code breaker and lung blower, she tries to put Johnny away but he won’t stay down.
Johnny catches her as she flies off the top rope at him. He swings her and knocks down the ref. She pins him but the ref recovers too late. The audience is outraged. Johnny then catches the ref with a spear as Sexy avoids being knocked down. Sexy starts bringing Johnny down to the mat with a chokehold.
It’s not long before Worldwide Underground, PJ Black and Jack Evans, get involved. They beat Sexy down and bring another ref in to count the pins. Sexy doesn’t stay down. They take down the ref after an unsatisfactory job. PJ tosses a chair to Johnny as they place it on Sexy’s face.
The Mack runs out to make the save! Sexy hits Johnny with the chair instead but Johnny still won’t stay down. Sexy gets distracted which allows Johnny to take control again. Johnny tries an End of the World but Sexy avoids it. Johnny attempts to use a chair to subdue her but the ref stops him, pushing him away. He he then uses brass knuckles to sock Sexy in the face while the ref is down to put Sexy away and become the new Gift of the Gods Champion, effectively delaying her shot at the LU Championship.
Your winner, and new #GiftOfTheGods Champion… Johnny Mundo! #LuchaUnderground @TheRealMorrison pic.twitter.com/Ja4tkwibaS
— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) October 27, 2016
Thoughts: Both of this week’s matches featured interference and our heroes were sadly overpowered. With the psycho siblings it was more subdued but chilling. I thoroughly enjoyed the match between Ivelisse and Marty. The Martinez siblings are doing excellent character work and I’m thrilled to see their feud with the Ivy continue.
Ivelisse looked really strong here even though she lost the match. She’s been knocked down in the past but her determination, ability to strategize, and her MMA tactics will push her headlong into her next battles. I’m looking forward to Jeremiah’s inclusion to this story because he could lead to a scary downfall or he could become her best ally. I also can’t wait to see them both pair up in the ring. I haven’t seen much of Jeremiah’s, Sami Callihan, work on the indies or really in NXT, but I’ve heard great things.
Onto our main event. It was overbooked to hell. I enjoyed it and understand why they did it because it effectively made me sad that Johnny was able to use underhanded tactics to take the title from Sexy. This is classic heel stuff and the right move in continuing to build Johnny as an egotistical jerk that you want to see get his just desserts. It’s also the right move to continue building Sexy as a sympathetic face that constantly has to overcome.
I’ve been a big fan of Sexy since her debut and am always vocal about it. I still don’t understand criticism against her. Yes, her pacing can be a little clunky but when she’s given a platform and good story, she always shines and is a fantastic, empowering character. When she’s paired off with a fast worker, like Jack Evans a few weeks ago, she works just as hard. Her character has layers and we saw a new facet tonight when she started getting gutsy in asking for a shot at Matanza. Maybe this was what it took to knock her down a peg before she got a big head?
I want to see where both feuds are going, something tells me they are far from over and I have patience and faith that LU will see this through.
What did you think of this week’s LU? What are your predictions for both feuds? Sound off in the comments below.
